"Huh? Why?"
As So Okrim asked, Bu Eunseol spoke with a serious expression.
"It is because I have been to a place similar to this before."
When Bu Eunseol briefly explained the situation at that time, So Okrim shook her head.
"It's not like that. I have entered this place several times."
Fortunately, the flow of time in the Sacred Fire Branch was not different from the outside.
"I see. That is a relief."
What if he made a mistake and lost contact with the Death Spirit Corps for a long time?
The Death Spirit Corps might also misunderstand that he had met with a mishap like other intelligence operatives while investigating the desert tribe.
If that happened, an emergency system would be activated to find him.
Such movements could become an opportunity for other intelligence organizations to grasp the information system of the Death Spirit Corps.
It was something that absolutely had to be avoided.
"Let's quickly go take a look."
As the two walked side by side and went inside for a long while, numerous pavilions came into view far away.
They were all composed of elegant curves without a single sharp edge or seam, and a faint light flowed from the buildings themselves.
It did not look like a place where people could live.
'Come to think of it.'
Seeing the dragon scale-like patterns covering the roofs out of nowhere, Bu Eunseol let out a deep sigh.
'I need to form a contract with the Primeval Dragon quickly.'
By now Baekri Yeha would be working on his behalf, for the day he returned to the Baekri Family.
She would be gathering forces quietly, out from under the surveillance of the fake Baekri Geomha.
He had to form a contract with the Primeval Dragon as soon as possible and enter the Baekri Family.
"Those are mechanism devices that support the branch."
When Bu Eunseol paused while looking at the roofs, So Okrim calmly explained, thinking he was feeling curious about the pavilions.
"There are no places for people to rest, and if you go inside, it's filled with all sorts of wondrous devices."
"I see."
"In order to enter the place where the secret vault is located, you have to pass through three gateways."
After walking for a while, So Okrim pointed to a long bridge that appeared before their eyes.
"That Mind Sword Bridge is a place that filters out those who harbor evil thoughts such as murderous intent, doubt, or greed, which are unsuited for the Sacred Fire Branch."
She continued speaking.
"If such a person were to cross, the bridge would immediately disappear and..."
Before those words even finished, Bu Eunseol stepped in front of the Mind Sword Bridge and crossed the bridge in an instant.
"As expected!"
When he effortlessly passed through the first gateway, So Okrim ran over with a bright smile as if she were excited.
"The whole world knows that you have no greed and no evil thoughts. Yes."
After walking for a long time, a massive wall stood this time.
Transparent light flowed across that wall, and jade-colored sparks flew from it now and then.
It looked sturdy enough that it could not be destroyed even if hundreds of thousands of gwan of gunpowder were detonated all at once.
"This is called the Shadowless Heaven Wall. It is a wall that absolutely cannot be destroyed or passed through with force."
So Okrim wore a worried expression.
"If you get closer, wounds of the past will revive and torment you. And if you cannot overcome it... they say you will walk a path with no exit for the rest of your life while trapped in an illusion."
And she spoke in a bitter voice.
"It took me a month and a half of preparation to pass through the Shadowless Heaven Wall. Because I have an indelible pain in my heart."
The Essence Three Realms in the Western Regions had been destroyed by an unidentified master, and the masters who had raised her since childhood had also been cruelly murdered.
Because So Okrim had chosen revenge, she could not easily pass the test of the Shadowless Heaven Wall that amplified agonizing memories.
"What preparation did you do for a month and a half?"
"I forcibly cultivated a secret to control my mind."
So Okrim spoke casually.
"Because I couldn't take revenge before I even properly mastered the Sacred Fire Secret Transmission."
She was doing it for the sake of revenge.
And paradoxically, that meant continuing her training while reining in even her thirst for revenge.
"Are you alright now?"
"Of course."
So Okrim smiled, revealing her large front teeth as if nothing was wrong.
Looking at her face smiling like a child, Bu Eunseol let out a deep sigh inwardly.
'She is hiding her sorrow and pretending to be bright.'
Bu Eunseol could guess that there was an unfading pain and agony inside So Okrim's heart.
Because he was the same.
It was so as not to wound the hearts of the precious people around him.
He had never once forgotten his revenge, and yet he had gone on acting as though he had.
"I see."
Muttering lowly, Bu Eunseol directed his steps toward the Shadowless Heaven Wall.
"Wait, I will tell you the secret to controlling your mind. With you, you should be able to master it in about three days."
"It is alright."
Bu Eunseol wore a faint smile.
"It is because I have experienced such things to a tiresome degree."
Until now, wandering the martial world, he had broken through all sorts of mechanism formations.
Among them had been traps that pierced the spirit and forced a man to watch the nightmares of his past over again.
Bu Eunseol had chewed over his grandfather's death countless times, and that was the most painful agony the world had to offer.
To such a man, a gateway that forcibly dragged up the pain of the past was nothing at all.
Step, step.
The moment he entered the Shadowless Heaven Wall, illusions brushed past his eyes.
Surprisingly, they were not agonizing and sad memories.
The happiest days. The times when his soul was boundlessly pure and filled with happiness.
'So that was it.'
His gaze became endlessly lonely. He finally realized what the essence of the Shadowless Heaven Wall was.
A sense of loss.
The most agonizing thing in the world is this.
It is the loss of a hope that shone for a moment like a single ray of light in pitch-black darkness.
Because it makes one deeply realize that that warm warmth is no longer mine forever.
Bu Eunseol wore an agonizing expression for a moment, but soon, maintaining his composure, he slowly took his steps.
Such a sense of loss as well... he had experienced it countless times a long time ago.
There was not even anything left to lose anymore.
Flash!
As he calmly overcame the agony of loss, a bright light was seen far away.
Upon passing through the light, the scenery of the branch slowly revealed itself once again.
He had easily passed through the second gateway as well.
"Wow."
So Okrim let out an exclamation of admiration.
She had known that Bu Eunseol's spirit was sturdy.
But there was a limit to what the gateway of the Shadowless Heaven Wall would yield to a firm and upright mind alone.
Because it did not simply inflict agony, but slowly ruined the spirit starting from the warmest and happiest memories.
Yet he overcame even such agony in a single breath?
"I was planning to forcibly drag you out if push came to shove."
So Okrim let out an exclamation of admiration.
"I didn't know you would pass through in one go."
Despite her praise, Bu Eunseol asked back with a stoic expression.
"But wouldn't it be unreasonable to say that the branch chooses people with something like this?"
The two gateways were merely tests to check the soundness of one's disposition and the sturdiness of one's spirit.
It could not be said that the branch chose a person as she had confidently declared.
"Would I really tell a lie?"
So Okrim took the lead and walked once again.
At last the end of the path came into view.
And before they knew it, a door appeared, engraved in relief with a sky that seemed to show the movement of vast celestial bodies.
"This is the place I mentioned, where the branch chooses people."
So Okrim rubbed her nose.
"Because only a person who can perfectly synchronize with the energy of the Sacred Fire Branch can enter inside this."
With her arms crossed, she spoke with a serious expression.
"You could truly call it a place that tests one's fate."
"Has anyone else ever entered this place?"
"No."
...She replied as such, but for some reason, she was avoiding his gaze.
She was clearly telling a lie.
"What happens if things go wrong?"
"Well."
"Instructor So."
When Bu Eunseol wore a solemn expression, she had no choice but to reply.
"You split."
"Split? What does that mean?"
So Okrim laughed heartily with a casual expression.
"Splitting means you just split apart. Hahaha."
Because she laughed so naturally, Bu Eunseol almost burst into laughter as well.
"Put simply, it means you die if you do not receive the branch's selection."
"That is true, but..."
So Okrim's eyes sparkled.
"I believe. That such a thing will absolutely not happen."
Looking into So Okrim's eyes filled with conviction, Bu Eunseol let out a sigh.
She truly believed that he could pass through the gateway.
'Perhaps it might be a gateway that discerns the blood of the Baekri Family.'
In fact, Bu Eunseol was not particularly worried.
The Essence Three Realms were those who inherited the dying wishes of the Baekri Family, and he himself was a blood relative who had inherited the blood of the Baekri Family.
Even if he did not receive the branch's selection, there wouldn't be traps that would harm a blood relative of the Baekri Family.
"Shall we go then?"
As So Okrim smiled brightly, Bu Eunseol nodded.
Rumble.
However, the moment he opened the door and entered, Bu Eunseol intuitively realized that something had gone wrong.
The moment he was inside, the strength went out of his fingertips.
And at the same time, a feeling as though his whole body were crumbling began to spread through him.
'Ah.'
In that moment, he realized that he had forgotten one exceedingly crucial fact.
That he was a blood relative of the Baekri Family... but he had also inherited the bloodline of the True Demon as well.
Crack.
His bones twisted, and he felt an agony as if the back of his head, his spine, and the entire rear of his body were burning in fire.
It felt as if his body was splitting, not left and right centered around the Baihui acupoint, but front and back.
'Because the blood of the True Demon's bloodline flows in my body, it is trying to forcefully carve out that half?'
The blade-like force pouring from within was striking down vertically starting from the Baihui acupoint, trying to split his body front and back.
What if he could not block that force?
The back part of his body would be completely split off.
'No way.'
Suddenly, the wings of a bizarre imagination spread out.
The corpse of the fake Heavenly Emperor that had been beneath the Solitary Enlightenment Hall of the Martial Alliance in the past.
That man had either been born to the bloodlines of both lines, as he himself had been, or had them mixed artificially into him like a Holy One.
Perhaps his body had been split that way while passing through this final gateway of the Sacred Fire Branch? That was the thought that came to mind.
'Thinking comes later.'
What if he could not break this force or find a way to resist it?
He, too, would have half his body split off just like the corpse of the fake Heavenly Emperor.
"Uuuu."
However, even when he exerted his power with all his might, for whatever reason, he could not resist the force striking down vertically on his Baihui acupoint.
Pshh.
Eventually, blood flowed out from near the crown of his head.
Soon, he would be cleanly bisected front and back without even being able to resist.
"Bu Eunseol!"
Intuiting that something had gone wrong, So Okrim quickly ran toward Bu Eunseol.
Crack.
Then, blood flowed from her Baihui acupoint as well, and an agony as if her body was about to separate into two pieces spread out.
"Why?"
So Okrim was flustered.
Although she had not completed the Sacred Fire Secret Transmission, she was strictly the successor of the Essence Three Realms.
Moreover, since she had already received the branch's recognition, there were no restrictions whatsoever even if she entered and exited this place several times.
Yet why suddenly did the branch...
Was it trying to split not only Bu Eunseol but even her into two pieces?
'Is it because I let him in?'
The reason was unknown.
The important thing was that Bu Eunseol's body was in a situation where it would split.
"No...!"
To protect Bu Eunseol, So Okrim bore the agony and ran with all her might.
She spread both arms wide and caught him around the back, holding on with everything she had.
Because she was a head taller than Bu Eunseol, she was able to wrap around him with her entire body.
"Do not harm him!"
So Okrim shouted loudly, but it was to no avail.
Rather, even the force trying to crush Bu Eunseol's body was transmitted to her.
"Uuuu."
Along with the agony as if her entire body was splitting, the amount of blood flowing from her Baihui acupoint increased even more.
The force crushing her head was so powerful that it felt as if her body had already split.
However, what was even more horrifying than that was the agony spreading to her spirit.
The stronger the crushing force became, a fear as if everything that made up the existence named So Okrim was being dismantled and torn apart washed over her.
'My memories.'
The memories of receiving martial arts from her grandfathers in her childhood, the excitement when she stepped into the martial world, and... even the times she spent together with Bu Eunseol after meeting him.
The threads of all those memories were disappearing as if being forcefully unraveled one by one.
Everything is disappearing.
Is death, perhaps, something like this?
However, there was a fear deeper than the terror of death.
It was the disappearance of the warmth of Bu Eunseol she was holding onto, the erasure of his existence from the world.
For him to die because of her was something she could never accept.
"No, absolutely not!"
So Okrim squeezed out all her remaining consciousness.
Amidst the fragments of memories that were trying to scatter, she held onto a single thought.
Protect Bu Eunseol.
It was a blind, foolishly pure obsession.
Even in a situation where her body was breaking down, she hugged Bu Eunseol even tighter. And she flowed the Sacred Fire Secret Transmission she had cultivated all this time into his body.
Because the Sacred Fire Secret Transmission could be called the power of the Sacred Fire Branch.
Using her own body as a vessel, as if trying to contain Bu Eunseol's scattering existence, she was ceaselessly infusing all her power like that.
'My body must become a shield to protect him.'
So Okrim made a resolution.
If my soul could be torn to become his fence, I would gladly do so.
Meanwhile, a minute fluctuation flowed into Bu Eunseol's spirit, which was sinking into a distant abyss.
It was an agony different from the pain he was feeling, but it was an oddly warm and affectionate will.
It was none other than So Okrim's emotions.
Even amidst the waves of agony tearing her body to shreds, So Okrim was infusing a warm power into Bu Eunseol's spirit.
'Instructor So.'
It was not only the agony So Okrim was feeling at that moment.
The reasons and the emotions behind why she held onto him, even through the agony of tearing flesh and twisting bone, came through to him intact.
―'Please transfer all the agony to me.'
And what flowed in was not only her will.
It was the memories with Bu Eunseol contained in So Okrim's mind.
The clumsy wariness when they first met.
The trivial joys felt while being together.
The nights she was secretly hurt by his indifferent remarks.
The moments her heart sank while watching his lonely and gloomy figure.
And... even the smiles she secretly formed while looking at his profile.
So Okrim's memories and emotions became broken fragments and were flowing into his consciousness.
―'I like you.'
Her feelings, which had never been expressed in words and which she had painstakingly hidden, became a massive wave and shook Bu Eunseol's mind.
Behind that figure who always laughed heartily and carried on as if nothing troubled her.
A deep and guileless affection had been hidden all along.
Bu Eunseol could feel it.
So Okrim was doing this to protect him.
Everything she possessed.
Even the precious memories and the soul that were her very existence... she was burning them without leaving a scrap behind.
With nothing but her blind heart and her affection for a lantern, she was standing against the endless darkness of annihilation.
'I cannot pass this agony onto her.'
In that moment, a blue light formed in Bu Eunseol's left eye, and a dark red flame formed in his right eye.
Due to So Okrim's supreme and pure affection, he had regained a clear mind even amidst the agony of his Baihui acupoint splitting.
Rumble, crash!
And unconsciously manifesting the Profound Divine Technique Qi and Soul Demon Dharma Energy at the same time, he was resisting the power of the Sacred Fire Branch.
Whoosh.
His body, which had become a dark blue flame, was sucking in all the agony that So Okrim had to experience.
However, this act was ultimately no different from destroying Bu Eunseol's physical body from the inside.
Crunch.
A sound as if something was breaking inside his body was heard, but Bu Eunseol did not care and protected her.
"Do not do that."
So Okrim, perhaps having felt that as well, hugged Bu Eunseol's body even tighter.
"I can endure it."
In that moment, a pure white light was flowing out from So Okrim's body.
She was a pure human being of neither the Baekri Family's bloodline nor the True Demon's bloodline.
That pure and fierce vitality of hers.
That blind affection turned toward Bu Eunseol.
It was covering over the two clashing energies in his body, gently and completely.
Rumble, rumbbbbble!
At that time, thunder struck from somewhere, and a brilliant light poured down.
And that light turned crimson and began to be absorbed into the bodies of the two people.
But Bu Eunseol and So Okrim were straining for each other's sake, each trying to take the pouring agony onto themselves.
Neither of them noticed it in time.
How much time had passed?
Chirp, chirp chirp chirp.
The sound of birds chirping was heard from somewhere. And a somewhat cold and clear air was felt.
"......!"
Bu Eunseol, who had lost consciousness while hugging her, suddenly opened his eyes.
And he looked around in surprise.
The surroundings were filled with flowers in full bloom in all directions, and chirping birds and animals playing here and there were seen.
It was truly a scene like a Peach Blossom Paradise.
"Does this mean I have died?"
Bu Eunseol rubbed his eyes.
He had definitely entered the third gateway of the Sacred Fire Branch, so why was he seeing a scene out of the heavens?
"Who... died?"
At that time, a voice like rolling jade beads was heard in his ears.
When Bu Eunseol turned his head, there was a woman of a beauty beyond any words to express.
And was she not clinging to him tight as glue, both arms wrapped around his back?
Because Bu Eunseol's bodily senses had momentarily disappeared, he had not sensed the presence of the woman in time.
"Who are you?"
"Huh?"
The woman only then opened her eyes, which she had kept tightly closed.
Then, deep and beautiful eyes that seemed like looking into a clear lake were seen.
"Oh?"
The woman stared intently at Bu Eunseol's face, which was close enough for their noses to almost touch, and blinked her large eyes.
"Are you alright?"
She came down from behind Bu Eunseol's back and stood facing him.
Then she reached out both hands, stretched his cheeks left and right, and presently parted his lips up and down.
In that moment, Bu Eunseol felt dizzy.
He finally realized who the beautiful woman standing in front of him was.
"Instructor So?"
The beautiful woman whose appearance and figure could not even be described was none other than So Okrim.
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