Sa Woo entered Nangyang Pavilion together with So Jeon.
Although he had cured his lung disease with the help of Neung Gak, that was all.
Due to his long illness, he missed the period when his body should have grown and developed the most, and in the end, his constitution became unfavorable for learning high-level martial arts.
Nevertheless, he did not give up.
He constantly devoted himself to martial arts.
To change his weak constitution, he wandered through deep mountains and secluded valleys under the pretext of traveling the martial world. Meanwhile, he accidentally discovered traces of the Boryeong Herb, which is said to grow only near the wild habitat of the Ten-Thousand-Year Ginseng.
"The Ten-Thousand-Year Ginseng is here."
Sa Woo wore an overwhelmed expression.
An invaluable treasure like a peerless spiritual entity can never be obtained unless fate allows it. If he could just consume it, he would be able to improve his weak constitution to some extent, even if not completely.
"Phew, phew."
Sa Woo pushed through the rugged mountain terrain without rest and moved forward again, searching for traces of the Ginseng.
"It cannot really be alive and moving, right?"
Legend has it that the Ten-Thousand-Year Ginseng possesses spiritual nature, so if someone looks for it, it senses them and moves to another location on its own.
"Even if that is the case, there must be an end."
Sa Woo doggedly pursued the traces of the Boryeong Herb.
Finally, a sheer cliff that seemed to pierce the sky revealed itself. Seeing that the Boryeong Herb became more abundant as he climbed higher, Sa Woo had an intuition.
The Ginseng would be on top of that cliff.
"The only way up is this rock wall."
Sa Woo, who had been wandering through deep mountains and secluded valleys looking for spiritual herbs all this time, possessed skills no less than those of a professional herb digger.
However, this cliff was on a different level.
A single mistake could send him falling into a thousand-fathom abyss.
Grab.
Sa Woo reached out without hesitation.
Even if his body was on the weaker side, he was still a disciple of Nangyang Pavilion.
Without fear or hesitation, he began to climb the cliff with his bare hands. Gasping for rough breaths and crossing the threshold of death several times, he kept heading upward steadfastly without rest.
"I made it."
He finally climbed to the top of the cliff.
However, an unexpected landscape unfolded before him.
The opposite side of the cliff was another precipice, and the Boryeong Herb continued along the cliff below it.
"Damn it."
Sa Woo began to carefully descend downward again.
Finally, the moment he reached halfway down, he doubted his own eyes.
In a crevice between the rocks beneath the cliff where a damp and cold energy lingered, a certain figure was collapsed.
The hem of the clothes was smeared with dust and blood, making it impossible to even discern the original color. The white, long hair was disheveled as if dragging on the ground, and from the body slumped against the rock, not even a faint sound of breathing leaked out.
'Did he lose his footing while looking for the Ten-Thousand-Year Ginseng?'
Swish, tap.
Sa Woo descended below the cliff with swift movements.
When he finally landed on the ground, traces of fresh blood continued while soaking the rocks. At the end of it, a shadow could be seen still shedding blood from a deep and rough wound, as if vomiting it out.
The long hair covered the face, so the appearance could not be distinguished, but looking at the exposed skin, he did not seem very old.
Was it because he had already lost too much blood?
Even in the cold air, a faint fishy smell of blood was spreading.
"Because your body is weak."
The dying man flashed his eyes through his tangled hair and spoke to Sa Woo.
"You must have come looking for traces of the Ten-Thousand-Year Ginseng, searching for spiritual herbs as if your life depended on it."
Surprisingly, he clearly guessed Sa Woo's physical condition and even his desperate heart.
"Who are you?"
"Who knows."
The shadow laughed low.
"You have a heavenly martial skeleton. Shall this Honorable Lord perfectly change that weak body of yours?"
'Honorable Lord?'
Sa Woo furrowed his brows.
"I have no intention of changing my constitution by receiving help from others."
"Your lung disease may have been cured, but your body is completely ruined because you suffered from the illness for too long. Moreover, the Innate Reverse Flow Great Method and the Bone Reforming Great Method have both failed."
Surprisingly, he was perceiving Sa Woo's internal state at a single glance.
"The Nangyang Pavilion spends every single day fighting and obsessing only over work… Naturally, their level of executing the Great Method can only fall short."
Anger welled up in Sa Woo's eyes.
He could endure being insulted himself, but insulting his sect was something he could absolutely never tolerate.
"Consider yourself lucky that you are injured."
Sa Woo had never once stood by and watched anyone who insulted Nangyang Pavilion. However, because he could not lay a hand on someone who looked as if their breath might stop at any moment, he was simply trying to turn back.
"All misfortune stems from the mouth. If your body were intact, I would have never let you be."
Sa Woo coldly turned his body.
Yet, it was strange.
The mere act of turning around brought a chill, and goosebumps broke out across his entire body. When he turned his head to look, the man who had been bleeding and dying was now a massive darkness, flashing a single eye wide.
"There is no room for choice."
From that wide-opened single eye, the absolute, irresistible authority of a superhuman radiated outward.
"Though it is not a perfect vessel, since my body is completely destroyed...."
'What?'
Sensing an ominous foreboding, Sa Woo stepped backward, and the shadow said,
"Be grateful."
The massive form that had become pitch-black darkness from the one-eyed figure was swallowing Sa Woo.
"For becoming the vessel of this Honorable Lord."
"Do you think this body would fall for Mind-Controlling Secret Arts?"
Sa Woo snorted instead.
Although he could not deeply master practical martial arts due to his weak body, he was the very person who had read and absorbed more martial arts secret manuals than anyone else in Nangyang Pavilion.
"Moreover, because my body was weak, did I not even master the Night Hand Secret Art by myself, which no one ever taught me?"
There was no way a man like him would lose his mind to something like Mind-Controlling Secret Arts.
Vroom, vroom.
As his mind rang with a dull thud, Sa Woo instinctively realized that the shadow was not using Mind-Controlling Secret Arts, but rather an ancient Soul-Urging Secret Art.
"Insolent."
Sa Woo concentrated his mind, but the power radiating from the shadow was an unprecedented, immense force the likes of which he had never experienced before. He instinctively realized that it was utterly impossible to escape.
Sa Woo tried to scream, but only a groan mixed with a metallic rasp leaked from his throat.
At that moment, an invisible hand broke through the latch of his mind and dug into his deepest core. Then, like a tyrant invading a fortress, it ransacked Sa Woo's memories at random.
The accident that occurred on a cold winter day, the memories with So Jeon, and so on...
His precious memories collapsed helplessly. In their place, terrifying yet grand memories quickly filled the void, such as primordial wars, the sight of shattering stars, and struggles against incomprehensible entities.
'Ah.'
Sa Woo's insignificant joys and sorrows scattered like dust before the eons of time held by the single eye. Everything that proved his existence as 'myself' was being denied.
Crack, crack.
While his mind was being violated, his physical body was melting from the inside out, as if it had swallowed the flames of a furnace. An agony that felt as if every single piece of flesh was being disassembled and reassembled swept through his entire body. His muscles twisted regardless of his will, and his bones screamed as they attempted to dislocate from their positions.
Thump-thump, thump-thump.
His heart was not beating for Sa Woo, but was pounding frantically like a drumbeat to welcome a new master.
At that moment, he saw it.
In the end, not only himself, but even this world... was actually nothing more than a part of a great existence.
He was no longer Sa Woo. He was everything, and everything was within him.
An ecstatic tremor swept through his recreated physical body. He closed his eyes but could see everything in the world, and he covered his ears but could hear the whispers of the universe.
Flash.
Finally, the newly forged eyelids slowly lifted.
The birth and death of stars were contained within his eyes.
The smile spreading across his lips was not the joy of a human being, but resembled a blessing bestowed by the source of existence itself.
"Ah."
An utterly unbearable pleasure spread throughout his entire body. The shadow that appeared before him was not a human, but a wicked demon disguised in human skin.
How much time had passed?
Sa Woo regained consciousness once again.
Upon opening his eyes, a sudden, splitting headache struck him, and a wave of nausea washed over him.
It had not been long since he felt that chilling ecstasy.
What on earth was this unpleasant and nauseating sensation now?
Eventually, Sa Woo continuously vomited pitch-black water.
After vomiting for quite a while, he looked down at his hand with a bewildered expression.
His hands were completely covered in bright red blood, and weren't there bodily byproducts stuck under his fingernails?
And a disgusting smell, a mixture of the stench of fish and the metallic odor of blood, rose ceaselessly from my throat. "What is this?"
Flustered, he quickly got up.
However, something felt strange.
His body, which had only grown taller while remaining skinny, was now covered in resilient, well-defined muscles. A powerful, explosive energy surged within him.
“What on earth is this?”
Sa Woo, blinking in confusion, lifted his head and froze solid as if turned to ice.
An unbelievable sight unfolded before his eyes.
A scene straight out of hell.
The village had long since lost its original form. Most of the houses were destroyed. Pillars were either ripped out entirely or sliced cleanly in two with terrifying precision. Walls had collapsed, leaving piles of debris. Everywhere, dark reddish soil and unidentifiable fragments were scattered.
And then there were the people.
No—they could no longer be called people.
Some were crushed beyond recognition. Others had been consumed by flames and burned black like charcoal. Severed legs lay mangled beneath cart wheels. Skeletal hands clutched desperately at empty air, frozen cold. Blood had pooled in places or seeped into the parched ground, leaving dark crimson stains.
All that remained was a suffocating silence.
Yet there was one strange detail.
Though their bodies were utterly shattered, their faces remained untouched. Not a single wound, not even a speck of dust. On those clean faces, only one thing was etched with horrifying vividness—the pure terror of their final moment before death.
Whiiiish…
Every time the wind swept through the ruins, the creaking sound of a broken gate echoed desolately.
“This…”
Sa Woo’s trembling gaze fell to his own hands. The tips of his fingers were caked with dried, sticky blood.
Only then did he realize it.
The miserable corpses. The traces of destruction… had all come from his own hands.
“I…”
Sa Woo shook his head.
“Did I really do this?”
Shaking his head violently, he unconsciously pressed both hands against his temples.
Gurgle.
At that moment, his head grew burning hot. A horrific sound like a rusty saw scraping against bone tore through his ears. Pain like ten thousand needles piercing him at once began at his temples and spread across his entire skull.
Trembling.
Sa Woo began to shake violently, unable to even let out a groan.
Blue veins bulged on his forehead, and his eyes rolled back until the whites showed.
In that instant, fragmented memories stabbed into his brain like blades.
In flashes of black and white, the faces of unknown villagers flickered past. Rough breathing, the smell of blood, the clash of metal, warm smiles, and sorrowful tears.
It was someone else’s memory.
Baekri, True Demon.
And along with it came a flood of secrets and knowledge from the martial world that he had never known before.
“Aaaaah!”
Sa Woo let out a roar like a wild beast.
“Three Attendants…!”
When he opened his eyes again, Sa Woo was on his knees, grinding his teeth.
“The True Demon’s servant… Pamyeong…”
An unbearable truth had crashed over his soul.
“He used my body to massacre so many people?”
Indescribable guilt surged forth all at once, threatening to tear his mind apart.
The man who had fallen off the cliff and was dying.
The title used by his subordinates when referring to the True Demon.
The one called Honorable Lord was none other than Pamyeong—the servant who had desperately longed to become the True Demon himself. Using the True Demon’s secret arts, he had stolen Sa Woo’s body and committed countless atrocities to restore his broken flesh.
“I became a puppet of the devil…”
Unable to endure the agony, Sa Woo curled his body inward.
Ziiing.
Another memory pierced through his mind.
While continuing the slaughter, a man in deep blue robes that seemed to swallow all the colors of the world suddenly appeared. Without a word, the man walked toward Sa Woo and slowly drew the sword at his waist.
For a moment, it felt as though the balance between heaven and earth had collapsed. Then, brilliant light of life flooded the entire world.
The man in blue was not human.
He was like a heavenly god descended to correct the laws of the world.
—This is not your fault.
A low, deep voice rang out.
Though quiet, it pierced Sa Woo’s soul like thunder and sent shivers through him like a word of salvation offered to a sinner.
Swish!
Then, the sharp sword pierced through his body.
Sa Woo thought he had reached death.
But what the man in blue had cut was the secret technique of Pamyeong that had been controlling his flesh. When he opened his eyes, the chains binding his soul had been severed in one strike. The revived Sa Woo had regained his clear mind.
“Since I couldn’t obtain the chain of reincarnation…”
Sa Woo rubbed his forehead with a pained expression as he mulled over the flood of information pouring into his head.
Pamyeong’s technique did not completely steal another person’s body. It only controlled it for a limited time.
“He was training a secret art that allows one to inject their own soul into another.”
He had completed the Return Soul Grand Technique—transferring the soul into a living person’s body—in order to achieve immortality like the True Demon.
“Even death would not be enough to atone.”
Having regained his senses, Sa Woo carefully gathered the bodies of the villagers from Mokka Village one by one and gave them proper burials. The only fortunate thing was that most of the young people had been away burning charcoal.
“Anyway, my soul has already been cracked…”
Because of Pamyeong’s incomplete Return Soul Grand Technique, his soul had been severely damaged. The technique forcibly drilled a hole into a complete soul and planted the seed of another soul. Since that hole could not be filled, his soul would eventually collapse completely. In the end, he would once again become a bloodthirsty demon committing massacre.
Srrrng.
He drew the sword at his waist and poured all his power into it.
Clang! Clatter.
The blade shattered into dozens of fragments.
Stab. Stab.
Sa Woo picked up the fragments and drove them into his own vital points, ensuring he could not survive. He buried thirty-six pieces deep into his major acupoints to grant himself a perfect death.
Bleeding profusely, he stood at the edge of a terrifyingly high cliff not far from Mokka Village.
Below, a furious river raged with savage waves. Jagged rocks protruded from the water, creating dangerous whirlpools.
Sa Woo stared blankly at the sky.
There was no trace of life left in his eyes—only deep-seated hatred toward Pamyeong and utter contempt for himself.
‘I must end my life quickly and at least ease the resentment of the Mokka Village villagers.’
Thanks to the servant’s grand technique, his body had become unimaginably strong. It had reached the absolute limit of what a human could achieve. Even after performing the Deadly Blood Needle Technique—driving sharp weapons into thirty-six major acupoints to sever his life force—he had still managed to climb this cliff safely.
Whoosh!
Sa Woo circulated his energy and severed his own meridians. His body fell helplessly down the cliff.
Splash!
A small spray of water rose from the violent rapids, and soon the river flowed on as if nothing had happened.
Sa Woo’s consciousness, submerged in pitch-black depths, began to rise to the surface once more.
‘Am I still alive?’
He barely managed to lift his heavy eyelids.
The first thing he saw through the narrow opening was hazy darkness filling his vision and a musty, stale smell piercing his nose. The damp yet dry air, a mixture of old wood, dust, and thick incense, seeped into his lungs.
When he tried to move, excruciating pain assaulted him as if every bone in his body was crumbling. At the same time, a burning thirst rose in his throat.
‘Why didn’t I die?’
In his blurry consciousness, fragments of memory flashed by—the dizzying height of the cliff and the cold river below.
He had thought he had ended everything, yet he was still alive.
Was this too part of Pamyeong’s curse?
Forcing himself upright, he blinked. An eerie sight greeted him.
Countless coffins filled the interior and the place where he lay was an embalming table used to prepare corpses.
‘A funeral home?’
Sa Woo was dumbfounded.
Did that mean he hadn’t been revived—but had become a jiangshi* instead?
*Chinese hopping vampire/zombie
“Ugh.”
Sudden nausea surged up. Sa Woo buried his face in the large wooden tub below and began to vomit.
“Haa… Haa…”
What he vomited was a thick, viscous black liquid.
After expelling it for a long time, strength left his entire body and his consciousness grew faint.
Thud.
In the end, Sa Woo lost consciousness once again.
Uuuung.
At some point, a low vibration reached his ears.
At the same time, a warm energy began seeping from the thirty-six acupoints.
It gently soothed his exhausted body and mind, warm and comforting.
Yet his consciousness remained hazy, and his body could not move even a single finger.
—To take one’s own life is a great sin.
Then, a low sigh sounded beside his ear.
—If one has committed a sin, should they not live with the suffering and pain, and pay the price?
‘If I committed a sin, then I should live and pay for it…’
—It is only regrettable that, due to despair and anguish, you cannot fully fill the hole in your soul.
Even in his hazy state, the aged voice of an old man deeply touched Sa Woo’s heart. It was not mere advice, but a truth that pierced through the essence of atonement, as if carved from long years of wisdom. It was a judgment and mercy that only a god could bestow.
‘God…’
Standing at death’s door, Sa Woo had encountered the Absolute.
How much time had passed?
Startled, Sa Woo regained his senses and sat up.
He was still lying on the embalming table, and the room was still filled with coffins. However, the cracks in his soul had been partially filled, and his body’s wounds had been cleanly healed.
“Where is this…?”
Sa Woo opened the door and stepped outside.
Looking up at the old signboard above the main gate, he murmured softly.
“Pyeongan… Funeral Home.”
In the yard, only stacks of urns were visible. There was no sign of any living person.
Judging by the piled coffins and the humble interior, this was clearly a place that handled the poor or those who died away from home, making just enough to survive.
“To me, who stood at the boundary between life and death…”
Even the Heavenly Emperor could not fill the hole in a soul eroded by Pamyeong. Moreover, a funeral parlor was a place the living could not enter.
“In the end, God…”
Thud.
Sa Woo fell to his knees.
Unable to bear his sins, he had tried to find eternal rest by throwing himself into the river. But God had commanded him to live and atone, sending him back from the threshold of death into the world once more.
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