Leaving Cheondong Forest, we headed toward Daechurim.

As always, the third-ranked drunkard Yeobin guided me to the Drunken Master.

Crossing the lake by boat, I asked her,

“Master, do you still drink a lot these days?”

“At one time, you cut back a lot, but recently it seems you’ve been drinking heavily again.”

Her eyes hoped I would try to restrain him a bit. Yeobin liked the Drunken Master and was the only woman who sincerely cared for him.

We arrived at the island and climbed to Chwimongru.

The Drunken Master was already drunk.

“No matter what, you really come last? Am I the worst among the Drunken Masters? This can’t be.”

He did not hide his disappointment.

“I like meeting you last so I can drink comfortably.”

“Nice excuse.”

“Oh, please understand. It’s been a tiring day.”

I stretched out my legs comfortably in front of him.

“Don’t you know? I’m most at ease when I’m with you.”

“Probably because I’m easygoing!”

“Is that so?”

Shaking his head as if at a lost cause, the Drunken Master poured the liquor. His expression softened without elaborate excuses. Rather than lengthy justification, just a simple “Is that so?” can be more powerful.

We drank together.

The strong liquor burned down my throat. It was stronger than what the Drunken Master used to drink before.

“You said you cut back, but you were drinking stronger liquor.”

“If it’s strong, drink this.”

He brought out other bottles piled in the pavilion and poured me a drink. Then he drank the strong liquor he usually drank.

What could be troubling him?

I was curious but didn’t ask first. To get the truth from a drunkard, there are only two ways: either sober him up or give him more to drink.

“Here, one more drink!”

Whatever his worries, drinking with the Drunken Master again after a long time made me feel good.

“The mood is perfect.”

Tonight, the thick mist and the moon glowing faintly through the clouds only enhanced the night’s charm.

“Even when I was away, if I thought of drinking, this place always came to mind. I wondered if you were drinking too, floating on the lake?”

“Now it’s cold, so I don’t go in the water much.”

“Time really flies.”

It was spring just the other day, and now it was already cold. We fell into our own thoughts for a while, drinking quietly. The Drunken Master definitely drank more than usual.

“They say Yeomuin worries a lot when you drink too much.”

“Yeobin worries all the time.”

“When she worries, treat her well. Don’t regret it later.”

“Regret?”

The Drunken Master sent a questioning look but I didn’t answer. Why ask when you know? Though he seems to always just drink, he’s a sensitive and delicate person. How could he not know Yeobin likes him as a man? He just pretends not to.

Come to think of it, none of the Drunken Masters ever had a family. Only the Quonma recently had a daughter. They all lived alone like this.

Could it be, as Hyeolcheon Doma often said, that family is the enemy? Or that family is a weakness?

“Come out for a moment. There’s somewhere I need to take you.”

The Drunken Master put me on the boat.

He rowed across the lake to the opposite shore. After disembarking, he walked into the forest. Although I usually only came to Chwimongru, Daechurim was a vast place.

After walking for a long while, thick mist surrounded us. It felt strange, and upon closer look, it wasn’t mist. It was liquor vapor. I had never seen liquor vapor spread like a mist before.

“If you are exposed here, you will get drunk and collapse. This isn’t vapor that can be drawn out by energy, so ordinary people cannot pass through. Stick close behind me.”

As he walked, the vapor parted to make a path.

Like something alive, the vapor closed behind us as we passed.

Running with lightness was impossible. The vapor was so thick that visibility was zero, and the path twisted like a maze. This was the forbidden territory of Daechurim that only the Drunken Master could traverse.

After we escaped the maze, the vapor finally cleared.

Before us stood a building.

“For generations, this is where Daechurim Masters brew and drink liquor.”

We entered following him. It looked like a brewery. The facilities were old and worn, but each piece seemed extraordinary. The wall display cases held liquors favored by past Drunken Masters.

“I like drinking various liquors, so I don’t drink much here. Also, while I’m good at drinking, I’m not skilled at brewing. So I come here occasionally to rest.”

In the center of the brewery stood an unusual drinking cup.

Looking down at it, the Drunken Master spoke seriously.

“The liquor went bad recently.”

Sure enough, there was a rotten smell.

“Since becoming a Drunken Master, this has never happened before.”

He added with a dark expression,

“It’s ominous.”

Now I understood why he looked so troubled.

“Do you think I’m going to die?”

“You don’t want to die, huh.”

“There’s still so much liquor I haven’t drunk.”

“Don’t worry. If you die, I’ll buy all the liquor from the Central Plains and pour it on your grave.”

He sighed. In his anxious heart, it was as if flocks of birds were flying before an earthquake and animals were running in herds. I never thought his worries were this serious.

“What kind of Drunken Master believes in superstition?”

“My master once said that if the liquor goes bad, something big will happen. Either something will happen to the Daechurim Masters or the main sect. Of course, I didn’t believe it.”

Now that the liquor had gone bad, he seemed unsettled.

“If it bothers you so much, tell Father.”

“No! I just cleared up the misunderstanding with the sect leader.”

The Drunken Master had originally misunderstood that his father disliked him, but later realized it was the master who disliked him and had cleared the misunderstanding.

“If you give liquor to the sect leader as a gift and say you’ve been well, wouldn’t you feel uneasy hearing that the liquor went bad? That’s just like master and disciple. Damn drunkards.”

I thought it strange to worry about such things, but the Drunken Master was a delicate person. At least when it came to his father, even more so.

“Father will dismiss it as superstition and drink it anyway. That’s the kind of person he is.”

I examined the cup containing the spoiled liquor and asked,

“How do you get rid of this? I accidentally broke it. Don’t scare people with tales that it’s a treasure of Daechurim, a thousand years old.”

“Why? Should I get rid of it now? No, I’ll do it later.”

“What later? You’ll be thinking all kinds of gloomy, bad thoughts alone. Get rid of it quickly while I’m here.”

We emptied the spoiled liquor together.

While I fetched water to wash the cup, he prepared to brew fresh liquor.

While washing the cup, I said to him,

“It’s not because of you that it went bad. Someone has been trying to disturb the main sect recently. It’s because of that troublesome guy.”

“Don’t make things up to comfort me.”

“I’m not making it up. We’re investigating using both Hwangcheongak and Tongcheongak.”

“Is there really such a guy?”

“There is. You shouldn’t underestimate our brother. He even figured this out.”

Still, the Drunken Master’s expression didn’t relax. I couldn’t just watch him fall prey to superstition.

“Do you think people’s futures are predetermined?”

“To some extent.”

“I don’t. Depending on what I say to you right now, our relationship changes. So what is predetermined? I think the liquor going bad is fate making you bring me here. If that hadn’t happened, I’d never have known this place existed. How can anyone know the world? Someday, I might be in danger and run away here. This isn’t a bad omen, but a great sign of destiny saving a younger brother’s life.”

“You really are good at making things up.”

I laughed at the absurdity, but it seemed to relieve some of his ominous feelings. The Drunken Master’s expression brightened.

“You waited so long just to hear this?”

He admitted willingly.

“This was beyond what I expected.”

“Please use me often from now on, sir!”

I placed the clean cup back in its original place and said,

“The price for use is one drink and our brother who likes superstition.”

When I returned to my quarters, the night watch greeted me warmly.

“You look tired.”

Since returning from the Gangseo Branch, I had hardly rested and met people nonstop. And these weren’t ordinary people.

“I’m ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) going to rest now. Do not disturb me.”

I came into the room as if ready to throw myself on the bed, but instead of sleeping, I activated the Space-Time Switching Technique.

My way of dealing with ominous feelings? Training.

If something bad happens, you destroy it. You become a being even bad luck cannot touch and endure. I endure through such effort. Bad luck, what can you do?

Within the Space-Time Switching Technique, I again used the Heavenly Skill to make time flow differently.

Thanks to relentless effort, I gained twice the time of the outside world. I don’t hope for infinite time. The final goal of the Heavenly Skill is to create a tenfold time difference. Just enough time to master the Ninth Flames Martial Art’s Twelve Star Mastery.

Today’s training was Ninth Flames Martial Art. Until now, I’d only practiced the first form, but instinctively felt it was time to learn the second form. This is the pinnacle of my martial arts level.

Ninth Flames Martial Art, Second Form:

Great Destruction Form.

If the first form, Annihilation, targeted one person, the second form, Great Destruction, was for multiple opponents.

As I performed the second form, a silent evil spirit appeared before me, turning its back.

Among the four evil spirits appearing in the first form, this one was the scariest.

For a moment, its body trembled slightly.

Ssslik.

The evil spirit split. The split count was three.

Kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa!

The three evil spirits brandished swords, sweeping forward.

Nothing remained where they passed. This attack wiped away everything.

As mastery of the second form rises, the number of splits increases.

Later, it will split into dozens, sweeping away everything before me.

Of course, the amount of internal energy consumed also rises with the number of splits.

I wondered how many splits my father could create.

I will surpass the number my father produces.

What will my limit be?

Thinking of evil spirits sweeping away everything before me stirred my heart.

Remembering that, I couldn’t sleep.

I devoted myself to second form training until morning, and by sunrise, I was nearly exhausted.

Now was truly the time to rest.

I released the Heavenly Skill and activated the Space-Time Switching Technique again. My most cherished space unfolded.

Hot sun, blue sea, white sandy beach, comfortable chair under broad leaves.

It had been a long time. I had saved this day on purpose to open this place.

I flopped down into the chair.

Looking at the blue sea and sky, the color of my sword spirit, I felt at peace.

Whether the liquor had gone bad, the troublemakers, or the unknown backers — at this moment, I forgot everything and rested.

I put down the Bikwui I carried at my side. Someone had drawn eyes and mouth on it like a human face. It was smiling broadly.

I had always said “Open, open!” to it daily, insisting it would open eventually, but since getting it, I had never told it to open again.

“You should rest too. People must have been nagging you for so long to open. It must have been hard. You rest, I rest.”

Sleep came over me. Suma guided me as someone I hadn’t seen in a long time.

In my dream, I stood in the sky.

Above the sea that resembled the sky, inside my prayer.

Then a shadow darkened the world. Looking back, something huge was blocking the sun. At first, I thought it was a tidal wave as tall as a fortress wall, but it wasn’t.

Cheonmah-hon.

It appeared in my dreams again, having shown itself several times before. Cheonmah-hon looked down at me with its arms crossed. With the sun behind it, I couldn’t see its face clearly.

But instinctively, I knew. This was my Cheonmah-hon.

I tried to stare it down to see its face, but not even the Divine Eye Technique worked at that moment.

“Do you want me to reach you sooner too?”

Cheonmah-hon just silently looked down at me.

Three days later, I received the first report at Seodaeryong’s office.

“Despite thoroughly investigating Saujong’s assets, we found nothing suspicious.”

“No traces of money movement?”

“No. Analyzing his saving and spending habits, he doesn’t seem very interested in money.”

Seodaeryong asked cautiously,

“Do you think he really tried to die at Seophon Mazon’s hand?”

I shook my head.

“It’s worse than that. What you say means he was moved by something other than money. If he was a chivalrous man, he’d act for justice, but he’s not that kind.”

“So you think there is someone behind that guy?”

“I keep all possibilities in mind.”

Considering Baek Cheong-gyeong of the Mokcheon family, who infiltrated the Martial Alliance, I can’t guarantee that our sect doesn’t have such a person. We must always consider the possibility of a hidden mastermind behind any future events.

“This is the record of Saujong’s daily routine surveillance.”

I calmly reviewed the paper outlining his day. His daily life was no different from ordinary martial artists, except for one notable thing.

“What is this garden?”

“Lately, he’s been going there often. Just sitting blankly. Since Ilhwageomjon helped tend the garden, it’s not unusual he comes here.”

“No, it’s strange. If it were me, I’d hate to even see flowers. I wouldn’t suspect if he had gone to learn the geomungo out of nowhere. But everyone regularly visits a place they don’t suspect?”

“Thinking that way, it’s suspicious. Ah, I’m glad you’re not my peer. I wouldn’t have been accepted at the top.”

I laughed at his joke and stood.

Since where I would go next was clear, Seodaeryong looked at the potted plant by the window and said,

“You’re the third-ranked, you’ll be making friends.”