Chapter 28
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Lee Seon plopped down next to the man.
The man glanced at him briefly before turning his head away.
“Why did you come here? This is no place for the living.”
At the man’s question, Lee Seon looked puzzled.
“Didn’t you summon me here?”
When the sword’s resonance echoed, and he regained his senses, he had arrived in this place.
“It seems you’re an idiot through and through.”
The man could tell that Lee Seon wasn’t lying.
Anyone could see that he genuinely didn’t understand what was going on.
“Is that thing on your neck just an ornament?”
Lee Seon had nothing to say.
He was certain that this was somehow related to him, but he couldn’t explain the reason.
“Then why don’t you tell me? Surely you would know.”
The man scrutinized Lee Seon closely.
Even subtle movements, posture, breathing, and aura could provide insight.
The greater the disparity in skill, the easier it was to discern information about the other.
For someone at the pinnacle of martial arts, merely observing could reveal the nature and characteristics of the opponent’s techniques.
“Have you ever opened your Upper Dantian?”
Upper Dantian?
“Now that you mention it, I did forcibly open my Upper Dantian using poison not too long ago.”
The man couldn’t hide his astonishment.
“I can’t fathom what madness drove you to defy the natural order like that, but what you did was utterly reckless. It’s a miracle you’re still alive.”
Even a supreme martial artist said this.
It made Lee Seon realize again just how dangerous his actions had been.
Lee Seon chuckled.
Well, it wasn’t like he had any other choice at the time.
Opening the Upper Dantian was akin to unlocking a path connected to the heavens.
It felt as though something within him had changed since then.
“I thought the pathway would close again.”
“Once a pathway is opened, even if it wasn’t done through conventional means, there’s no way to close it.”
So, because of the poison, he had entered this place.
One mystery solved.
“So, what are you doing here?”
“I’m protecting Mount Hua.”
Mount Hua?
The unexpected answer left him bewildered.
The mountain of corpses where the man sat was grotesque.
It might technically be a mountain of sorts, but nothing about it seemed reminiscent of Mount Hua.
Could he have gone mad from being trapped in such a scene?
Lee Seon subtly distanced himself from the man.
“So, you’re saying this place is Mount Hua?”
“What part of this looks like Mount Hua to you?”
The man gave him a disdainful look.
“…Didn’t you say you were protecting Mount Hua?”
“Killing demonic humans here serves Mount Hua’s interests.”
Even as he answered, the man seemed distracted, as if waiting for something more important.
“In the past, you were the head of Mount Hua and known as the Taehwa Sword Immortal, weren’t you?”
The man reacted to the mention of Mount Hua.
“Taehwa Sword Immortal…”
“That’s a nostalgic name. There was a time when I was called that.”
His gaze became distant, as though he were looking at something far away.
“Suddenly, I feel like seeing the scenery of Mount Hua.”
“Why don’t you just go see it, then?”
The man muttered somberly.
“Killing one more demonic human would do more for Mount Hua than that.”
But Lee Seon couldn’t agree with him.
This place was a mental image.
No matter how many people were killed here, it wouldn’t affect reality.
Still, he didn’t want to point this out.
It was the least he could do to show respect for a senior who had made sacrifices for future generations.
Playing along for a bit wouldn’t hurt.
Lee Seon glanced around.
A mountain made of corpses and a river of blood.
“Even after killing so many, are there still demonic humans left alive?”
The man muttered gloomily.
“There are still far too many. I’ll have to keep swinging my sword until my soul is completely worn out.”
The overwhelming killing intent sent chills down Lee Seon’s spine.
The man’s eyes glimmered with an eerie light.
“Honestly, I’m surprised. Everyone I’ve met here so far was a demonic human. I assumed you were the same.”
“I thought I was going to die.”
Lee Seon wiped the blood pooling around his lips.
Even being near the spirit bound to the sword had left him in this state.
This man must have reached the Profound Boundary in life.
The Profound Boundary—a realm that represents the absolute pinnacle of martial arts attainable by a human.
It was clear why he had been regarded as the greatest head of Mount Hua.
“I have a question.”
Those who practiced the Dao often aspired to become immortals.
In the Daoist tradition, martial arts were a means to achieve immortality.
Having reached the peak of martial arts, this man could have ascended if he wished.
Why, then, had he remained in such an incomplete form?
“Are you wielding your sword even in death for Mount Hua’s sake?”
Lee Seon found it hard to understand the man before him.
His robe, once pure white, was now stained dark red.
The plum blossoms that should have adorned his sleeves were nowhere to be seen, covered in blood.
“Did someone command you to do this?”
“No one can command me.”
At that, the man let out a bitter laugh.
“I chose this path of my own will—to protect Mount Hua.”
Lee Seon nodded.
“To protect Mount Hua.”
His hatred for demonic humans was immeasurable.
And his love for Mount Hua was just as profound.
But then, why did he look at the world with such hollow eyes?
Eyes that held nothing but emptiness.
Once, those eyes must have burned with anger and hatred.
But now, there was nothing left in him.
Though he spoke of eradicating demonic humans, his voice was desolate.
It was as if he was trying to remind himself of why he had chosen this path.
“You…”
At that moment, the mountain of corpses began to stir.
A booming sound, like the beating of a drum, reverberated through the bloody air.
It sounded like thunder or the pounding of a colossal heart.
“What’s that?”
The man reacted as if he had been expecting this all along.
He rose from his seat.
Though he had appeared frail while sitting, he was surprisingly tall.
Lee Seon had to crane his neck to look up at him.
“I told you. Demonic humans are relentless in their attempts to attack Mount Hua.”
The blood coalesced, forming a single figure.
It was human, yet not quite human.
Still, its appearance seemed strangely familiar.
A wrinkled face, worn by the passage of time, with an expression of malice etched deeply into its features.
“…Is that a demonic human?”
The figure the man called a demonic human bore the exact likeness of Hyeonjo.
“Does that thing look like anything but a demonic human?”
The man casually pulled the sword from the corpse next to him.
“…Judging people by their appearance isn’t the right thing to do.”
“Can you still say that after seeing this?”
“Well…”
Lee Seon hesitated.
Indeed, based on Hyeonjo’s current appearance, no one would confidently declare that he wasn’t a demonic human.
“…I admit that he looks like a demonic human and that the situation makes it hard not to misunderstand. But he’s not a demonic human.”
He was a Mount Hua elder, after all.
Someone like that couldn’t possibly be a demonic human.
Though their acquaintance had been brief, the aura of virtue radiating from Hyeonjo had been real.
No matter how much the Taehwa Sword Immortal insisted otherwise, Lee Seon chose to trust his own observations and experiences.
“Then what is he?”
The man gestured toward Hyeonjo with his chin.
“To me, he looks exactly like the Mount Hua elder of this generation.”
The man furrowed his brow at that.
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
Before them, Hyeonjo glared with malicious eyes, a sinister grin on his face.
Something felt off.
It was all too contrived.
Hyeonjo’s sudden appearance.
The man’s unhesitating attack, assuming him to be a demonic human.
Lee Seon began reciting the mnemonic of the Flame Emperor’s Thousand Poisons Art.
Flames burst from his body.
Whoosh.
The grotesque scene of blood and corpses dissolved into a dense forest of trees and grass.
The malevolent demonic human disappeared, and a visibly tense Hyeonjo appeared in its place.
“What is that?”
The sword the man held was not the Taehwa Divine Sword.
It was a grotesque weapon, like a patchwork of human skin stitched together.
The blade’s surface was veined with blood vessels, and two eyes blinked eerily.
A horrifyingly grotesque sword.
But what truly shocked Lee Seon wasn’t its grotesque appearance.
It was the familiar face embedded within the blade.
The face of the escort warrior who had been consumed by the Demonic Sword.
“Save me… please…!”
Hyeonjo struggled to parry the strikes.
“For a demonic human, you’re holding up quite well.”
Each time the swords clashed, the escort warrior’s face wept tears.
His tears ran down the blade and soaked the man’s hand.
Each clash was accompanied by the escort warrior’s anguished screams.
“Please… someone… help me…!”
The man swung the sword without a hint of hesitation.
To him, those cries were inaudible.
Lee Seon clenched his teeth.
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