Bu Eunseol was dreaming.
Below the endless horizon, a plain where only dry earth and worn wind blew could be seen.
No matter where he looked, there was nothing blocking his view, and due to the boundless silence, he could not feel the flow of time.
And in the middle of the plain, Baekri Geomha, wrapped in black true qi, stood tall.
It was a somewhat sorrowful and lonely gaze that he had never seen before.
'He could make an expression like that, too?'
Even though it was clearly his childhood appearance, it always looked like an unfamiliar face.
But now that isolation and loneliness emanated from him, it felt like the same appearance.
Rumble!
Suddenly, the sky collapsed and white dragons appeared.
Lightning flashed around their white scales, and roars that tore the clouds shook the plain.
Baekri Geomha began to fight the white dragons.
As the dragons swooped down and clawed the ground, the earth overturned and piles of rocks shot up.
Baekri Geomha slashed the white dragons with black true qi, but the severed parts were filled with white scales again.
When the black true qi and dragon fangs clashed, an ear-splitting metallic sound spread out, and the surrounding air was dyed with the stench of blood and burning heat.
Baekri Geomha detonated true qi and staunchly continued the battle, but.
As time passed, his wounds increased, and his clothes began to be dyed with blood.
He fought fiercely without giving up, but,
Thud.
In the end, with his limbs torn apart, he fell to his knees.
Bu Eunseol's gaze met the blood-covered Baekri Geomha.
[…….]
Baekri Geomha moved his lips minutely.
In an instant, a barely audible voice lingered in his ears.
Bu Eunseol woke up with a start.
Only then did he realize that he had been in a deep sleep, having lost consciousness.
As he raised his body, the interior of a simple cabin came into view.
Looking around with faint vision, he saw the figure of a woman brewing tea.
Her two cheeks, slightly flushed from the rising steam, were full of life like peach blossom petals holding the dawn dew.
And her abundant eyelashes over eyes like a serene lake were blinking slowly like a butterfly's fluttering wings.
"This place is."
As Bu Eunseol, pressing his forehead, rose from the bed, the woman brewing tea slowly approached him.
She wore a simple outfit made of coarse hemp, with her hair barely fixed with a single wooden hairpin.
Even so, she was more dazzling than being dressed in splendid silk and adorned with jewels.
She was truly a beauty imbued with enough tranquility to make one forget all the worries of the world. It was none other than Dali.
"You are."
Bu Eunseol was greatly surprised.
To think she, who had left suddenly, had come back to find him?
"Lady Dali."
Bu Eunseol tried to approach her with a look of utmost joy.
Stagger.
But he staggered before he could take a few steps.
Currently, his body was completely ruined.
Exposed to the explosion of power unleashed by the Heavenly Emperor, and with even Baekri Geomha in the abyss gone.
He had become an invalid without an ounce of strength in his body.
"Have you been well?"
But Bu Eunseol showed a bright smile without showing it.
Clatter.
Instead of answering, Dali handed him a bowl filled with black liquid.
She hadn't been brewing tea, but preparing herbal medicine.
The medicine in the bowl didn't smell very good, and unknown impurities were floating in it.
But Bu Eunseol accepted the bowl without hesitation and drank it.
Even knowing that she was Pasun, he drank it without a single grain of doubt.
In an instant, Dali's eyes blurred.
That pure and upright heart.
It constantly shook her spirit, which was as serene as a lake.
Swoosh.
She quietly stood up and cleared away the empty medicine bowl.
Seeing Dali's face full of worry, Bu Eunseol asked with concern.
"Has something bad happened?"
Dali silently shook her head horizontally.
Creak.
And she opened the window.
As the wooden window opened with a friction sound, fresh air rushed in.
Beyond the window, a quiet landscape of a steep valley untouched by human hands could be seen.
Between the valley, jade-colored streams of water flowed down like beads, creating a faint sound of water as they hit the rocks.
The water mist, receiving the sunlight, shone golden and seemed to permeate into the front yard of the cabin.
Under the cliff soaring towards the sky, red autumn leaves and deep blue pine trees stood shoulder to shoulder.
And wildflowers were blooming on the small stone wall in front of the cabin.
It was truly a quiet and peaceful paradise-like scenery, like a painting where immortals might live.
Bu Eunseol, as if bewitched, opened the cabin door and walked outside.
Crunch.
Along with the sound of dry leaves getting caught on the tip of his foot and breaking, his body swayed lightly.
His physical body was so ruined that he couldn't even walk properly.
But he didn't care and slowly took steps.
As he went outside the cabin, the autumn mountains and rivers burning entirely in red and yellow light came into view.
The cool but clear air seeped deep into his lungs, and the shattering sunlight scattered like gold dust over the lake.
Like a person trying to engrave the beauty of the world in his eyes... in the final moment of his life, he stood in that scenery, lost in a daze for a while.
"Cough, cough."
A dry cough burst out.
Once it started, the coughing shook Bu Eunseol's empty body and continued persistently.
His shoulders trembled as if he would collapse at any moment.
Even the pleasantly passing autumn breeze felt like a sharp blade cutting into his flesh.
Dali silently approached and covered him with clothes.
Because her warm body heat lingered on it.
Bu Eunseol felt a coziness as if she was hugging him.
"……."
Dali silently stood side by side next to Bu Eunseol and looked together at the scenery he was gazing at.
Before long, as the sky was dyed with blood-red sunset.
Dali went into the cabin, lit a firewood fire, and began cooking dinner with clumsy skills.
Her touch was rough and clumsy.
Her knife skills were awkward, and the smell of burning rice and burning meat mixed and rose from the pot soon after.
The herbs he inadvertently tasted were so bitter that they naturally made him frown.
Dali dropped her gaze as if sorry.
But Bu Eunseol didn't care and picked up his chopsticks, put a heap of rice that had turned into crust into his mouth, and chewed the bitter herbs.
"It is truly delicious!"
Bu Eunseol let out an exclamation.
"The sages of old said that originally, food should have a slightly bitter taste like life to be truly tasty."
He said, putting a handful of burnt rice into his mouth once again.
"Luckily, I get to taste food that faithfully recreates the secret recipes of those sages."
At his joke, Dali gave a mute smile.
And she too deliciously ate the burnt food.
When the meal was over, Dali carefully brewed tea leaves.
As the hot teacup was placed in Bu Eunseol's cold hand, he quietly felt the warmth and closed his eyes.
The fragrant scent of tea filled the quiet silence between the two.
As the night deepened and the sky was densely studded with stars, Dali took out a small gourd bottle from her bosom and went outside.
Having familiarly lit a campfire, she handed the gourd bottle to Bu Eunseol.
It was that very rare and famous wine that Bu Eunseol had praised so much in the past.
The crackling flames cozily illuminated the faces of the two.
Like that night when they first met.
The two sat side by side and drank.
The words they wanted to ask were piled up like a mountain, but there was no conversation exchanged.
Just like a married couple who had lived together for decades, they were expressing their hearts with just their gazes.
As the night deepened, Dali quietly leaned her head on Bu Eunseol's shoulder.
The scent and warmth transmitted from his shoulder.
For that moment at least, it was precious enough that she wouldn't trade it even if given the whole world.
The two vacantly watched the stars flowing in the faraway night sky.
Like that, the precious and eternal single day of just the two of them was quietly passing by.
Presently, it was around the time of dawn.
"It was a day like a dream."
Bu Eunseol murmured lowly.
"Enough that this one day is better than living a thousand years."
In an instant, Dali's eyes wavered.
She had recalled the phrase Bu Eunseol had left for her in the past.
―Whether the mundane world prospers or perishes is not my concern,
Even if heaven and earth overturn and are destroyed, how could it be my fault?
I only wish to hold the hand of the beautiful you and retreat from the mundane world……
A single day of joy would be better than a thousand years of life.
Bu Eunseol slowly raised his body.
And he said in a calm voice.
"Now, make your move."
He knew.
That Dali had brought him here.
That it was to spend a day with him so that she wouldn't have any regrets even in death.
As Dali seemed to hesitate, Bu Eunseol slowly turned his body.
He turned his back so that she could make her move comfortably.
"I don't have any strength anyway, so I can't resist."
Bu Eunseol said in a gentle voice.
"It would be better to die by your hands than to be killed by others."
In an instant, killing intent flowed from Dali's eyes.
Bang!
Along with an explosive sound, a transparent air current spread in all directions from the back of the upright Bu Eunseol.
She had fired a palm strike at Bu Eunseol's Mingmen acupoint.
Trickle.
Bu Eunseol, who had been bleeding from his mouth while standing tall,
Thud.
Eventually collapsed just like that.
"……."
Dali looked down at Bu Eunseol with an agonizing expression.
For someone like him to willingly give up his life on his own is impossible.
Because he carried many things on his shoulders.
Because he had to get revenge and protect his subordinates.
But he gave up his life without hesitation.
To show that his feelings up until now were sincere.
Grind.
Dali bit her lip until it bled.
What if Bu Eunseol had shown room for resistance, or used his head to somehow survive?
She would have viciously made her move and cut off his life, even if she shed tears of blood.
But he didn't doubt her in the slightest and gave up his life without hesitation.
How could she kill a man who possessed such boundless, utmost sincerity?
How could she accept this deep love?
She looked at Bu Eunseol with an agonizing expression, then went into the cabin again.
And she left a letter there.
"Let us meet again in the next life."
Leaving that single sentence, she disappeared into the distant sky once again.
How much time had passed?
Twitch.
Bu Eunseol's body moved slightly.
At the same time, a faint radiance flowed near the Mingmen acupoint and spread to his entire body.
She hadn't fired a palm strike to destroy his body.
To dispel the energy eating away at his body, she pushed all her power into him and pierced his blood points.
Crack, crackle.
The energy she injected through the palm strike was not only extremely mysterious but also very pure.
Bu Eunseol's entire muscles and nerves were being minutely readjusted, as if undergoing a shedding of the body and exchanging of bones.
Ziiiing. Ziiiing.
Before he knew it, a faint radiance was spreading from his body.
Due to the energy Dali injected, the vicious energy inside his body was expelled, and his life force was reviving.
Hummmm.
Bu Eunseol floated in the empty air while lying down.
His pale complexion quickly recovered, and a golden radiance began to thicken.
Having recovered his life force again from the brink of death, the most profound secret art of Shaolin in the world, and.
The Prajna Great Power, containing the power of the Great Life-Saving Art, was manifested.
Crack, crackle.
As the Prajna Great Power activated, the twisted blood and qi began to clear up little by little.
Thud.
Bu Eunseol's complexion as he came down from the empty air was surprisingly not very good.
Even though his internal injuries were healed, his strength hadn't perfectly returned.
Bu Eunseol checked his body.
Excluding the internal energy enough to execute movement arts.
All that remained was the secret art of Darkness, which was not affected by strength, and the power of the Poison Saint.
"It wasn't that my power disappeared from being caught in the explosion."
Bu Eunseol put on a dejected expression.
Having healed his internal injuries with Dali's power, he had figured out why his body's condition had become like this.
"The Profound Divine Technique Qi and the Heavenly Emperor's energy were absorbed into my body."
The technique the Heavenly Emperor used must have been the explosion of the power he possessed.
The white-clad figures would have poured out the Profound Divine Technique Qi against that.
In the end, the two great powers were absorbed into his body, and the two powers were still fighting inside his body as if clashing.
"Has she left?"
Desolation lingered in Bu Eunseol's eyes.
All that remained was a single cabin standing lonely.
Dali had disappeared without a trace.
"Dali."
Bu Eunseol felt agony.
She still seemed not to have recovered even the memories of when she met him in the True Demon Palace in the past.
Even so, she had unsparingly used her power to heal him.
Even knowing clearly that he was the great enemy who opposed the True Demon.
Creak.
Bu Eunseol opened the door again and went into the cabin.
Dali's scent seemed to still remain there.
"This is."
However, an envelope was placed demurely on the table.
When he opened it, a letter written in beautiful handwriting was revealed.
Dali had left a message.
―The Three Attendants were originally a destined tie determined by heaven.
Only Pahon rejected it, refusing to follow the will of heaven.
He hides in Jiaozhi, concealing his body and mixing with the world.
Only by meeting him will you regain all your lost power.
'Jiaozhi.'
To the northern region of the Dai Viet.
A place where all kinds of foreign tribes gathered and lived, and where a massive Mercenary Market existed.
It was also a refuge where criminals and fugitives gathered.
―With the wisdom of a sage in his heart and the appearance of a hermit in his body,
It will be hard for him to accept mere reckless valor.
You must prove your path among the common people,
You must seek him out together with the wandering knights.
In short, the person named Pahon.
He had rejected the fate of the Three Attendants and was hiding his body in Jiaozhi.
'A hermit with the wisdom of a sage, who absolutely won't meet anyone who comes seeking him using military force…… huh.'
Summarizing the contents of the letter.
To see Pahon, he had to go to Jiaozhi.
And he could only find him by moving together with the group of wandering knights.
"Is she trying to escape the fetters of the True Demon?"
The mysterious power Dali injected into him.
It was a destructive power that was extremely pure yet could extinguish everything in the world.
It was none other than the Soul Demon Dharma Energy.
"Giving everything to me."
Bu Eunseol put on an agonizing expression.
Pasun was known to control all logic of the world among the Three Attendants.
And that being possible must be thanks to the extremely pure Soul Demon Dharma Energy.
Injecting that into another person was the same as injecting her life force.
Didn't it mean she was trying to escape the position of the Three Attendants?
'It is impossible.'
Bu Eunseol bit his lip.
The True Demon, and his kin…… would never leave Dali be peacefully.
The path she was trying to take was ultimately a path of death sprinkled only with despair and sorrow.
―If you seek, you shall obtain, and what is lost will eventually return.
And at the end of the letter, this content was written.
'What is lost will return.'
Bu Eunseol chewed on the contents for a long time.
Those words meant that if he sought out Pahon, not only could he regain his power, but he could also obtain what he had lost.
"There are only two things I seek."
The enemies of his grandfather and parents.
If not that…….
"Could it mean the Heaven and Earth Divine Energy?"
Pamyeong said he had been constantly practicing martial arts in the Infinite Land.
If so, it meant they knew where the Infinite Land was generated.
Since Dali had taken Bu Eunseol's pulse, she must know that what he needed most was the Heaven and Earth Divine Energy.
Perhaps it could mean that.
"Is she trying to give up everything for me?"
Telling him the name and location of the one who rejected the fate of the Three Attendants.
It was the same as laying down the position of Pasun herself.
Perhaps because she had already resolved herself for death, she might be trying to cast off the fetters known as the Three Attendants.
"There's no need to do that."
Bu Eunseol swallowed his agony.
"You knew you wouldn't be able to kill me, that you would heal me."
Bu Eunseol has a pure and upright nature, but.
That didn't mean he had the personality to abandon his revenge or turn a blind eye to the numerous people he had to protect.
If she had truly tried to kill him?
He guessed that she wouldn't have done such a cumbersome thing, and she had just purely shown her heart.
Perhaps because she too was capable of such a passionate and pure love……
She could steal Bu Eunseol's heart.
"If you seek, you shall obtain, and what is lost will eventually return."
Repeating the final phrase she left behind, Bu Eunseol put on a painful expression.
Perhaps this phrase.
Could mean the memories and ties between the two of them connected by the Wondrous Soul-Fading Caress Art in the True Demon Palace.
"What more must I offer……."
Bu Eunseol looked up at the sky with a miserable and agonizing expression.
"Will you be thoroughly satisfied?"
An ominous premonition squeezed his heart.
He had barely regained his lost memories, but for some reason, it felt like they were trying to take away something even more precious this time.
Heaven never gave anything for free at any time.
If you try to hold something in your hand, it always demands that you offer something else, and didn't it ruthlessly demand that price?
The sublime and pure heart that Dali showed.
It felt like the prelude to a tragedy that would strike in the next moment…… making it unbearable.
"First, let's regain my power."
Bu Eunseol, having braced his heart, drew up his internal energy.
Fortunately, there was still internal energy remaining that could execute qinggong.
He had to go to Jiaozhi as soon as possible and meet Pahon.
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