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Messy. Dangerous. Lee Sungmin felt an unknown feeling as he listened to Master Sungha. The target of the two words was Dok Bejun. However, the swordsman that Lee Sungmin knew did not match those words.
“That… I don’t understand what you’re implying.”
“You seem to have a relationship with Ghost Blade, but it doesn’t seem to be too deep.”
Master Sungha laughed. That’s right. The only connection between Lee Sungmin and Dok Bejun was the several times they met on Mush’s mountain. Baek Sogo and other practitioners shared friendships with Dok Bejun, but not Lee Sungmin.
“You don’t seem to know anything about Ghost Blade Dok Bejun.”
Lee Sungmin could not give a reply to those words. He didn’t know. That was the truth.
“In the past year, Dok Bejun has been in terrible condition, no longer practicing his swordsmanship. So far, he has fought against small to medium-sized monsters and non-powerful savages who wander alone or mercenaries with excellent skills. And he won against all of them.”
“… I’ve… I’ve heard about it.”
He had purchased information on Dok Bejun through Erebrisa. However, what Lee Sungmin bought was information on his ‘location’.
“It is not uncommon for a sudden master to appear in this world. Eria brings people in every dimension for whatever reason. But that doesn’t mean that people who live in this world are insensitive to new powers. Rather, they are very conscious of it.”
“… What… Is the meaning of your words?”
“When I realized that Dok Bejun was heading for the volcano, I learned about Dok Bejun through our intelligence agency. Whoo-hoo! He went around as an unnamed savage? For the prestige of the Volcano? It’s just an excuse to deceive others outwardly. If he was Ghost Blade Dok Bejun, a master of transcendentalism, as a person who wields a sword as well, I wouldn’t refuse to enjoy dueling with such a skilled man. Nevertheless, there is a good reason why I have not fought a round with Dok Bejun.”
Dirty. Dangerous. Lee Sungmin couldn’t get what Master Sungha said out of his head. Master Sungha said to Lee Sungmin, who was listening in silence.
“He is practicing an unorthodox method. Ah. Of course, I have no intention of blaming unorthodox practitioners. I do not deny those who use magic and unorthodox arts. I was summoned to this world 40 years ago … Hu hu! I’ve already understood that this place is not like China, where I lived decades ago. But so what? Even so, it’s still not acceptable to me. I don’t want to fight in a match with those who use unorthodox practices. I can’t accept their technique as being justified.”
That was the end of the conversation with Master Sungha. His errand on behalf of Grandmaster Bulyoung was over. After leaving Master Sungha’s room, Lee Sungmin headed for the mountain entrance. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to look around the volcano a little more, but there was a risk of unexpected troubles coming up when a foreigner like him went around.
Heading to the entrance, Lee Sungmin recalled what Master Sungha said. The Ghost Blade is a heretical practitioner. The technique is unorthodox and dangerous, so I don’t want to do it. I cannot accept it as being justified.
It wasn’t that he couldn’t understand. If he lived 40 years in this world, considering Master Sunghas age, he would have spent much of his youth in China. As a disciple of the Volcanic Sect there, he would have mastered martial arts there: making him unable to fully accept unorthodox practices and magic even after living in Eria for 40 years. Lee Sungmin was well aware that ‘people’ could not easily change their essence and values they learnt all their life.
“Did you see anything?”
Dok Bejun asked as he left the entrance. He was still looking at the entrance of the volcano with his arms crossed. Lee Sungmin felt a little awkward looking at a Dok Bejun whose eyes were wide open, but replied with a nod.
“Yes.”
“Okay.”
“… I met Master Sungha. ”
Lee Sungmin sighed and said. At those words, Dok Bejun looked at Lee Sungmin with round eyes. It seemed that he didn’t think Lee Sungmin would have met Master Sungha inside.
“… Master Sungha … haha! When I asked to meet him, he didn’t come out.”
“The reason for that… I found out.”
It was a little difficult to say. The Ghost Blade had turned to the unorthodox path? He heard that from Master Sungha, but it was difficult for him to think that it was true. In Lee Sungmin’s eyes, Dok Bejun was a proud swordsman who only knew the sword; it was the same in the memories of his previous life.
Was that really true?
Lee Sungmin did not know what kind of person Dok Bejun was. He was just someone he had heard of in his past life. He never thought of learning more about the ‘Ghost Blade’. In fact, this was the first time that Lee Sungmin learned about the Ghost Blade. Before, the two experts, the Ghost Blade, and the Silent Flare, were both murdered by the Minor Heavenly Demon Wijihoyeon before he could ever meet them.
“… He said he didn’t want to fight because you practice heresy.”
Hearing Lee Sungmin’s words, Dok Bejun’s expression shook. He stared at Lee Sungmin’s face for a while and then turned to look at the sky. Dok Bejun looked up at the high sky with his hands behind his back.
“Is that right.”
He said in a small voice. He didn’t deny it. Did that really mean that Dok Bejun turned to the unorthodox path? Lee Sungmin was utterly unable to understand, so he gathered up some courage to ask a question.
“Why did you turn to the heretical path?”
Dok Bejun did not answer. He only looked up at the sky with an unfathomable expression swirling in his eyes.
“Weren’t you used to practicing swordsmanship back at the mountain? Why turn to the unorthodox?”
“Have you ever found yourself at the end of your rope?”
Dok Bejun asked.
“Have you ever felt the existence of a wall that refused to go away no matter how hard you tried? Have you ever realized that you could never break or cross that wall?”
“Yes… ”
Lee Sungmin began to answer, but Dok Bejun firmly cut him off.
“You are too young to talk about having a wall.”
Lee Sungmin shut his mouth.
“Have you ever felt old? Have you ever felt your body heavier by the day? My mind still remembers its heyday, but do you know how it feels to have your body growing older than your mind?”
Lee Sungmin couldn’t answer. The question posed by Dok Bejun, Lee Sungmin could never answer.
“I am sixty years old. My body is already losing its prowess, and the more I wield the sword, the weaker it gets. No one on Mush’s mountain was able to cross over this wall. That… feeling of despair. Do you know it? ”
“… I do not know.”
“They call it heresy. Okay. Then heresy it is. What I am feeling … How would they know? Do you know? You can’t cross the wall; you can’t break it, you can’t escape it. My body gets older as the days go by. There was also a limit to what I could do with my inner qi. Even so. Even then…”
Dok Bejun closed both his eyes.
“I want to do more. That intense desire… do you know it? ”
After saying those words, Dok Bejun didn’t speak anymore. Lee Sungmin came down the volcano after watching the silent Dok Bejun for a long time. What Dok Bejun said was not incomprehensible. Rather, Lee Sungmin felt he was able to understand a little what led him to this point.
It was the same for him. He had given up on practicing because he couldn’t get past the wall he faced. So he tried to rely on the armor. He clung to the comfort and familiarity of the basics instead of pushing himself to comprehend more. So he could understand.
However, Lee Sungmin was young. He was still twenty-two years old, and his body was now in its prime. Unlike Lee Sungmin, Dok Bejun felt old. After getting to a certain age, even someone with profoundly balanced inner qi would not be able to offset the effects of physical aging. Cultivation wouldn’t increase anymore after reaching a peak. No matter how important the mind was in comprehending martial arts, the body was also substantial.
There were many excellent masters in the world. However, among them, how many could reach the peak? Lee Sungmin suddenly thought of Grandmaster Bulyoung and Master Sungha. Their bodies too were already aging.
The same goes for swordsmanship. Just because you don’t want to give up yet. All you can do is practice like crazy, fueled by obsession or use a means other than martial arts to cross the wall.
He couldn’t blame him.
Lee Sungmin was the same.
It was only a matter of time. Lee Sungmin descended from the volcano with complicated emotions. He understood how both Master Sungha and Dok Bejun felt. After all, it was only a difference in values.
Lee Sungmin, who came down to the city, recalled his memory. The dwelling place of Denir, the God of Time, came to him clearly when he tried to recall them, engraved in his mind by Mush.
There are various gods in Eria. Most of the gods stayed in the shrines dedicated to them or chose a region to dwell in without hiding. Right now, Mush was present in her holy land called the ‘Mountain of Mush’, and it was famous enough for Lee Sungmin to have known about it.
But Denir was different. He had never heard the name, ‘God of Time’, even after carefully going through all his past memories. An unknown, secretive God. Lee Sungmin felt nervous and excited to meet such a being.
When he arrived at the place of his memories, the sun was already setting.. Lee Sungmin stopped walking and looked around for a bit. It was a small country house located in the suburbs which could be reached right after leaving the town. This was the place where Mush had indicated.
‘Is it possible that Denir is here?’
Lee Sungmin shook away his doubts and approached the door. The memory was so clear; there was no chance of it being false. He hesitated for a moment before approaching the door.
“Huh?”
It happened when he reached for the knocker. Lee Sungmin’s eyes opened wide. Just now, he tried to grab the knocker, but right at the moment he tried to hold it, the knocker vanished into thin air. Suddenly Lee Sungmin found himself a few steps away from the door.
He was a little embarrassed but approached the knocker again.
It happened again. When he tried to catch the knocker, the knocker was not there. Once more, Lee Sungmin was a few steps away from the doorknob. Going forward again, the same thing repeated.
“Wh..what?”
Lee Sungmin panicked and looked around. He could not touch the closed door.
[Go back.]
Lee Sungmin heard a voice in his ear. He couldn’t tell whether the speaker was male or female from the ambiguous sounding voice.
“You… Who are you?”
[Go back.]
The owner of the voice did not answer the question. Lee Sungmin was convinced that it was Denir. A god would be the only one who could do wonders beyond this understanding.
-If you get the chance someday, go to Drimoor. Tell Denir, the God of Time, that Mush has sent you.
Lee Sungmin recalled what Mush said. He immediately opened his mouth and said.
“I came here on Mush’s instructions.”
[…]
At that, Denir was silent. After a while, Denir murmured in Lee Sungmin’s head.
[Break it.]
The door was opened.
This translation belongs to Centinni.
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