Chapter 125. The Black Flame Dragon Who Gives Opportunities (5)
Seeing a space where heaven, earth, and every direction were all white, Eun Seol-ran let out a small sigh.
They called it an ultimate formation that drove people mad with nothingness and killed them. To think she would end up experiencing those words herself.
“How…… did it come to this?”
Her sect was based in Bukhae and had no reason to install a Mystic Gate Formation, and once her mandatory service ended, she would no longer be active in the murim. She had no reason to be trapped in a formation like this, yet the reason she had applied for this event anyway was a small hope that, since she had no one to rely on in the murim, she might be able to gain something.
“I should not have entered this place.”
If one were to look for the indirect cause, it was because of Hong Sa-ryeon, who had entered with her. If one were to look for the direct cause, it was because Eun Seol-ran had been distracted by the floral scent coming from her body and had stepped backward.
The moment she entered this space where no objects or smells could be sensed, a body scent she normally could not smell became strongly noticeable. Unlike Sa-ryeon, she was startled by the smell of sweat coming from her own body and had only taken one step back, but the people standing in front of and behind her had vanished without a trace.
“Haa…….”
Originally, her relationship with Sa-ryeon had not been this uncomfortable.
Sa-ryeon’s sect, the Ice White Palace, was a sect located at the lowest end of the One Hundred Eight Peaks, just like the Taeul Sect.
In the past, there had been a legendary master called the Plain Hand Divine Maiden as its Founding Patriarch, and her signature ultimate art, the Plain Hand Divine Art, had been passed down from generation to generation. But in truth, after the Plain Hand Divine Maiden, no one had ever mastered the Plain Hand Divine Art beyond the Fourth Star.
The absence of experts weakened the sect, and now it was often mocked with the saying that they lived in “Ice White Cave” instead of Ice White Palace.
Perhaps that was why she had quickly become close to Sa-ryeon through a sense of shared misery.
‘But too much has changed.’
The moment their relationship went wrong.
To be precise, the moment Eun Seol-ran began distancing herself from Sa-ryeon, was when the name of her Eldest Senior Brother, the ‘Black Flame Dragon,’ began shaking the murim.
As he saved thousands on the Demon Spirit Plateau, received recognition from Wind Earl Sword-Breaker at the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly, and stormed through the Regular Exam, Eun Seol-ran felt more and more distant from Sa-ryeon.
The Academy students who had looked at both Sa-ryeon and her with indifference gradually began taking an interest in Sa-ryeon.
To the disciples belonging to the One Hundred Eight Peaks, the Black Flame Dragon was practically an object of admiration.
It was not that she herself did not admire the Black Flame Dragon. But the fact that he was Sa-ryeon’s reliable Senior Brother.
And the fact that Eun Seol-ran had no Senior Brother like the Black Flame Dragon made her draw away from Sa-ryeon.
“A pathetic bitch does pathetic things all on her own.”
Even when the names of the Black Flame Dragon and the Taeul Sect rose and fell from people’s mouths, Hong Sa-ryeon had been the same as before.
No, rather, she had even said she would introduce Eun Seol-ran to the Black Flame Dragon.
She said the Black Flame Dragon had heard about Eun Seol-ran and wanted to meet her.
But to Eun Seol-ran, whose vision was already blocked by twisted inferiority, even that did not sound good.
Why would such a great rising star who had shaken the murim want to meet someone like Eun Seol-ran?
It was all just Sa-ryeon’s consideration.
“Phew.”
And all those feelings of inferiority had created the current situation.
A desperate situation where there was no one she could blame.
“So I die like this in the end…….”
Eun Seol-ran sighed as she put her hand into her empty pouch of Fasting Pills.
When she first entered the Soul-Destroying Formation, they had given her one full day and night’s worth of Fasting Pills and water, and she had wondered what it was for. But if those things had not been there, Eun Seol-ran would have starved to death long ago.
But now, even those had all run out, and she could no longer remember how long it had been since she last put food in her mouth.
“Haha…… haha.”
When she sensed death, an awkward laugh flowed out. But that laugh could not spread widely. It was soon buried in the silence and emptiness.
The perfect stillness she had never once felt in her life was enough to make Eun Seol-ran feel an unfamiliar terror.
Hummm.
When she drew up the Plain Hand Divine Art, white steam flowed from both hands.
Only after Eun Seol-ran pressed those hands against both cheeks did she feel that she was still alive.
‘In the end, I never uncovered the secret of the Plain Hand Divine Art either.’
She did not think she could solve a secret that no one had uncovered for hundreds of years.
Even so, what left her with regret was the fact that she would die without even getting to try to solve that secret through her activities in the Murim Alliance and by meeting masters of ice arts and fire arts.
For the last time, to feel that she was alive before she died, Eun Seol-ran used the Plain Hand Divine Art again and again. Her meager inner arts quickly bottomed out, and the cold energy began to weaken.
Once all the inner arts in her qi center disappeared, the strength drained from her entire body.
Since the only sensation of life she could feel right now was the Plain Hand Divine Art, she forcibly squeezed her empty qi center.
As if desperately clinging to life.
Crack, crack.
Startled by the sound coming from her hand, she took her hand away from her cheek.
“What…… is this……?”
Instead of white steam flowing from her palm, a thin layer of ice had formed there.
“…….”
After stopping the Plain Hand Divine Art, she slowly brought her palms together and melted the ice with her hands.
The ice gathered in her hands soon turned into one mouthful of water.
“Ah…… ah…….”
Eun Seol-ran revived the sensation from a moment ago and circulated the Plain Hand Divine Art.
Crack, crack.
Ice formed as if molded after the shape of her palm.
Unable even to think of wetting her already dried lips, Eun Seol-ran began shedding salty tears.
After the Plain Hand Divine Maiden died without passing on her teachings, no one had properly mastered the Plain Hand Divine Art.
After a full four hundred years, Eun Seol-ran, who was dying inside the Boundless Indestructible Soul-Destroying Formation, had uncovered the secret of the Plain Hand Divine Art.
“Sniff…… sniff…….”
How happy would the people of Ice White Palace be if they knew this? How happy would her father and mother, who led Ice White Palace, be?
And along with that, she lamented her own fate, in which she would die here without being able to pass on this realization.
“Damn it…… sniff, damn this rotten world!”
Eun Seol-ran spat out a curse she had never once uttered in her life.
The ice crystals that flowed from her palm, scattered recklessly, spread in every direction and disappeared.
“It would have been better if enlightenment had never come…… sniff.”
More than the death immediately before her eyes, the fact that she could not pass on the secret upset her even more.
As she cursed in anger at the absurdity of the world—
“Wouldn’t you be happy if enlightenment came?”
“!!!!”
At the voice that suddenly came, Eun Seol-ran’s eyes became as round as a rabbit’s.
She turned her head so sharply her neck felt as if it might break. There, a man whose clothes and sword were both black stood with his head tilted, wearing an expression that said he did not understand.
“Bl-Black Flame Dragon…… Gr-Great Hero?”
“You’re Eun Seol-ran, right?”
“You know me?”
The moment her name was mentioned from his mouth, Eun Seol-ran’s heart began pounding wildly.
“I’ve heard a lot about you from Sa-ryeon. But did I steal an important moment from you?”
The Black Flame Dragon looked at the ice crystals held in Eun Seol-ran’s hands.
“N-No. I already grasped the feeling and finished organizing it.”
“Then should we leave now?”
“L-Leave?”
The man looked like a black dot placed in the middle of a vast blank sheet. At his words, Eun Seol-ran could not gather her thoughts.
“I understand wanting to gain more enlightenment, but I’m rather worried about the state of your body. It looks like you’ve used up all your food and water too. Isn’t it hard?”
“I-I want to leave! I want to leave this place!”
The Black Flame Dragon smiled with picturesque warmth.
“Then let’s go.”
When the Black Flame Dragon walked past Eun Seol-ran and took the lead, Eun Seol-ran tried to walk quickly so she would not lose him this time.
“Ow.”
But her exhausted body would not listen.
“If it’s all right, may I carry you on my back? If you take another wrong step this time, I don’t know when I’ll be able to find you.”
To be carried by a man—was that not something that only happened in books? Before the flustered Eun Seol-ran could answer, the Black Flame Dragon lifted her onto his back.
Contrary to how he looked from the outside, his back was broad, firm…… and warm.
“Hold on a little. We’ll be out soon.”
“……Um, but Great Hero…….”
“Great Hero? That sounds a bit embarrassing.”
“Aah. I-I’m sorry. Then what should I call you? Senior?”
“We’re in the same class, aren’t we? Senior is awkward too. Since you’re Sa-ryeon’s friend, how about calling me Older Brother?”
“W-Would that really be all right?”
For some reason, Eun Seol-ran felt heat rise to her face.
“If you’re Sa-ryeon’s friend, you’re basically my little sister. But why did you call me?”
Eun Seol-ran had forgotten what question she had originally been trying to ask.
It was because the words ‘my little sister’ and ‘Older Brother’ were multiplying wildly in her head, stopping her thoughts.
“I-I forgot.”
“Then let’s think about your question after we get out.”
In that complete stillness, in that space of emptiness, Eun Seol-ran was no longer lonely, isolated, or despairing.
“Thanks to you, I could finally breathe a little easier.”
At Jegal So-myeong’s words, White-Bearded Divine Sword Hyeok Mu-gang’s eyes grew round.
“Hoho, that child Jin So-un must truly be special.”
“Even from my position, there truly was nothing I could do.”
Jegal So-myeong wore a complicated expression, but the smile at his lips did not disappear.
To Hyeok Mu-gang, that scene too was nothing but surprising.
Was Jegal So-myeong the sort of person who gave words of thanks? To begin with, he was a man who gave to others, not a man who had regrets enough to ask someone for a favor.
“I have never seen a report with such perfect justification for budget allocation.”
Because he was a person who strictly observed principles and rules, if one followed those strict principles instead, even impossible things had no choice but to become possible.
“In any case, thanks to the Alliance Leader’s Hall lending us the budget, I could breathe easier.”
“As it happens, the department head of the Alliance Leader’s Hall was foaming at the mouth. He was asking what they are supposed to do.”
When Hyeok Mu-gang spoke in a subtly weak voice, Jegal So-myeong nodded.
“I will prepare the budget as quickly as possible and return it. Also, starting next year, it would be best to create a separate contingency fund.”
“That child Jin So-un truly changes many things about the Grand Strategist.”
At Hyeok Mu-gang’s teasing, Jegal So-myeong nodded.
“What choice do I have? Though he did not write it directly, he linked it to the existence that appeared on the Puyang Plains and implied the ‘Demonic Cult.’ I had no justification to reject it at all.”
“Still, thanks to that, unexpected effects are already appearing, are they not?”
“They say one layer of the seal on the Plain Hand Divine Art has been loosened.”
“Hooh…… That is an auspicious event. Ice White Palace must be pleased as well.”
After matching his rhythm for a moment, Jegal So-myeong drank a cup of tea and brought up the main point.
“By the way, I heard the Alliance Leader will also attend tomorrow’s Soul-Destroying Formation demonstration.”
“Yes. I have also become rather curious about what sort of formation it is.”
Jegal So-myeong nodded as if that could be so, then his eyes flashed as he spoke.
“Then I must stay glued to your side and assist you.”
At Jegal So-myeong’s words, Hyeok Mu-gang’s brow furrowed faintly.
“I heard the Grand…… Strategist was too busy and would not be going…….”
“How could I not go when the Alliance Leader is going?”
“No, since when have you ever been like that……?”
“It seems the Alliance Leader finds my going uncomfortable?”
“That is…… not the case…….”
“As expected, is it more convenient for you if I am not there when you meet Jin So-un?”
“…….”
At Jegal So-myeong’s abrupt question, Hyeok Mu-gang could not answer, as if he had honey in his mouth. Watching him, Jegal So-myeong raised his eyebrows.
“I knew it……! I knew this would happen! You were trying to climb onto the stove first like a quiet cat!”
At Jegal So-myeong’s words, Hyeok Mu-gang also felt rather displeased. Was he not the one who had pushed through thirty thousand gold taels because emergency funds were needed this time?
Did it make any sense that he could not even meet Jin So-un alone?
“Are you not being too much, Grand Strategist? It is not as though I said I would steal him away…….”
“They say that when a person sees something, he wants to touch it, and when he touches it, he wants to possess it. Absolutely not.”
“……Ahem. Good grief. I am saying I merely want to meet him…….”
Hyeok Mu-gang had been unable to suppress his curiosity about the ability that had even captivated Jegal So-myeong.
This time, he had no intention of backing down easily either.
“If you insist…… I will resign from the position of Grand Strategist as well.”
“No! What are you suddenly saying?!”
“This old servant has already grown tired, and the day he becomes a lonely ghost is not far off. It is time for me to return to my hometown. I had intended to somehow discover and raise a talent suited to Mantongbu and Sim Hyeon-gak before returning, but since you obstruct me like this, it means I no longer need to be here.”
“Wow…….”
The moment Jegal So-myeong vanished from the Murim Alliance right now, countless political disputes would surely rise to the surface and erupt, and if that happened, the Murim Alliance would certainly split apart.
He absolutely could not be absent.
“Very well. Very well. I will not entertain even the slightest thought of bringing Jin So-un to the Alliance Leader’s Hall, so please do not say such horrifying things.”
“You bestow a kindness as vast as the great sea upon this insignificant one, so I do not know how I can repay you.”
Seeing Jegal So-myeong offer thanks with an even more moved expression than when he had thanked him earlier for lending thirty thousand taels, Hyeok Mu-gang could only think that this was dirty and petty.
“Phew…….”
A sigh escaped me.
I had told her so many times, so why would she not listen?
“Please wear it.”
As if it were only natural, the head maidservant held out the silk clothes.
“Why did you embroider something useless again?”
At the ends of the sleeves, the word ‘top scorer’ had been engraved countless times, hidden as if pretending to be a pattern.
“Did they not say high-ranking people from the Alliance are coming today?”
“What does that have to do with anything? This is not even an official event.”
Eun Seol-ran, who had been in the third group to enter the Soul-Destroying Formation, had gained enlightenment inside the Soul-Destroying Formation and uncovered the secret of the Plain Hand Divine Art that no one had been able to solve until now.
After that, the hundred spots that had seemed as if they would never be filled all filled up in a single day.
‘Along with that, I also created a connection with the Plain Hand Jade Maiden.’
The greatest result was undoubtedly that I had been able to establish a relationship with the Plain Hand Jade Maiden.
Was she not the Plain Hand Jade Maiden who would transform Ice White Palace into the Bukhae Ice Palace and display invincible divine might so that the Demonic Cult could not invade Bukhae, at least?
‘Since she’s friends with Sa-ryeon, should I try to coax her into coming to White Wolf Pavilion later?’
Of course, it would not be easy, but it was certainly worth trying.
In any case, because of this incident, the Alliance’s interest in the Soul-Destroying Formation had also risen, and the Academy wanted to invite the Elder Hall and Pavilion Masters to hold a demonstration.
“If high-ranking people are coming, then naturally, the one who should stand out is you, Young Master. If you do not catch their eyes at such an opportunity, it will also be difficult for you to rise in the future.”
“I have no interest in rising in the world. If I were interested in that, I would not have thought of making enemies of the Nine Sects and One Gang or the Five Great Clans in the first place.”
“That is precisely why, in such a situation, you should make yourself stand out even more. Appearance governs people far more than you think, Young Master. If you show the bearing of an emperor, more people will be moved by that and wish to stand with you.”
While we were talking, I felt something strange. Although she was always stationed at the Academy as the head maidservant, how did she know so much about what was happening among the Academy students?
“How do you know so much about the internal circumstances?”
“……I am the person who assists you, Young Master. Naturally, these are things I must know.”
The head maidservant seemed to have something more to say, her lips twitching slightly, but soon closed her mouth. I did not ask any further.
“In any case, I will not wear it.”
“You must wear it! Girls, close the door!”
“……Just what is your intention in trying so hard to make me wear these clothes?”
At my question, the head maidservant let out a small sigh.
“My child had a deep interest in martial arts from a young age. My husband and I also made our living in the Alliance, so we did not feel any great resistance to it. Therefore, wanting to give the child an opportunity, we had him take the entrance exams of renowned sects, but he failed them all.”
A common story.
As talented people gathered in renowned sects, the entrance exam competition for places evaluated as decent sects continued to rise endlessly.
“When he was young, he had been so happy simply learning at a martial hall. But at some point, he seemed to have decided his own limits. And even as we saw him despair before that wall, there was nothing we could do for him.”
The gap that arose from the starting line.
And the walls that prevented those gaps from being narrowed always broke those who tried something new.
“Recently, my child started attending the martial hall diligently again. The reason he trains day after day without rest and has come to hold hope for the future is…….”
The head maidservant looked at me with trembling eyes.
“It is thanks to you, Young Master Jin.”
“…….”
“I sincerely hope that you continue to rise from triumph to triumph, Young Master. And I hope you become a good example for my son. But because you are so very humble, it seems my wish cannot possibly be fulfilled. I understand. I will have them prepare different clothes.”
“…….”
After saying this and letting out a sigh, the head maidservant showed a tired expression that she normally never revealed.
I picked up the clothes and looked at them carefully.
“Next time, I would appreciate it if you made these letters look a little more like patterns.”
“!”
The middle-aged maidservant’s face brightened.
I did not know why, but I felt as though I had been tricked a little.
“Of course, that does not mean I will wear them all the time. Just make them less obvious.”
The head maidservant nodded repeatedly.
“Understood.”
And so, in the end, I went out to the Grand Riding Ground wearing the ‘top scorer’ formal attire.
Nearby, the place was packed with Academy students who had swarmed in to see the high-ranking people from the Alliance.
After I pushed through them, the sixth group, which had finished the theory lesson yesterday and would enter the Soul-Destroying Formation today, was waiting.
However, even though the demonstration was about to begin, the atmosphere felt oddly unsettled.
Moreover, there were far too many people gathered for it to be only spectators.
Even the key members of the Nine Sects and One Gang, the Five Great Clans, and the Twelve Peak Citadels, who had seemed as if they would never approach this place, had all gathered.
When I entered the Grand Riding Ground, Yu Ji-ryang and his party, who had been speaking with an Academy administrative officer, ran toward me.
“You have arrived.”
“There are more people than I expected. Is even the Murim Alliance Leader coming, perhaps?”
“Yes. That is correct.”
“Pardon?”
Yu Ji-ryang immediately brought up his next words, as if the matter of the Murim Alliance Leader coming was nothing special.
“More importantly, we have a serious problem.”
“……A more serious problem?”
What could be a more serious problem than meeting the Murim Alliance Leader, whose face was difficult to see even once in a lifetime?
“The members of the Nine Sects and One Gang…… seem to have secretly entered the Soul-Destroying Formation and cannot come out.”
“……These insane bastards.”
