“Haa, haa.”

The heavy breathing of Seo Dae-ryong, who was lying on the ground, spread out toward the night sky.

The moon that had been floating in the sky was nowhere to be seen. It was a training session that had started before dinner after work, but it was now well past midnight.

‘I finally did it!’

He swung it a thousand times again, even though he felt like he couldn’t swing it even once. Swinging this heavy sword two thousand times in one day.

Seo Dae-ryong couldn’t believe that he had done it. Of course, his posture would have collapsed later, but he gritted his teeth and swung it.

He thought he should get up and go home, but Seo Dae-ryong couldn’t move. Sleep came crashing down.

Seo Dae-ryong had a dream.

The sword dance was surrounded by enemies and in danger. At that very moment, when the enemies were rushing at him who was injured.

The sword dance that stretched out like lightning swept away the enemies. The enemies who were swept by the pottery disappeared like blood cakes.

Immediately after, like a plum blossom falling, he landed between the enemies and Geommu-geuk. °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° Now that he had become the best master of the Taoist arts, he was holding a large sword like a bloody chopping board.

He looked back at Geommu-geuk and asked with a faint smile.

“Are you okay? Your Majesty!”

A satisfied smile appeared on the corner of Seo Dae-ryong’s lips as he was sleeping.

“Right arm! You came!”

Seo Dae-ryong turned to the enemies and said coolly at Geommu-geuk’s words filled with emotion.

“I’m here, so rest! Take a deep breath!”

At that moment, a familiar voice was heard from somewhere.

“Why don’t you just wake up?”

Seo Dae-ryong instinctively ignored the words and turned around. He didn’t want to wake up from such a pleasant dream. The dream of becoming a master and traveling the world was also his real dream.

Seo Dae-ryong continued to sleep.

After saving the beauties in danger in his dream, they set sail together. He woke up with a happy smile as he watched the women fight over who would monopolize his love. Among them was Jo Hyang, his junior.

It was the first time he had ever woken up smiling like this.

He felt so good. He didn’t want to get up… … But where was this?

An unfamiliar ceiling.

No, it wasn’t completely unfamiliar.

‘No way?’

Seo Dae-ryong suddenly sat up and screamed.

“Ugh!”

Aside from the pleasant dream, his whole body ached as if it was going to break apart. It felt like someone had been beating him with a club all night.

Seo Dae-ryong looked around.

‘This is it?’

It was the very same Hyeoncheon Doma bedroom where he had slept after drinking.

‘Oh my God! Why am I sleeping here?’

I remember swinging the sword the second thousand times and lying on the floor.

Fortunately, Blood Heavenly Sword was not in the room.

He groaned and got up, walking carefully.

When he walked to the window, Seo Dae-ryong was startled.

Blood Heavenly Sword was swinging his sword in the yard where he had swung his sword yesterday. Seo Dae-ryong, who was about to run over and greet him, stopped.

His eyes were caught by the sight of him swinging his sword.

Blood Heavenly Sword swung his sword in the exact same posture he had taught him yesterday. The way he held the sword was the same, and the way he swung it was the same.

At that moment, Seo Dae-ryong knew. The training he had taught him was the training that Blood Heavenly Sword had done when he first learned martial arts.

‘You didn’t do it just to make me suffer.’

At that moment, Blood Heavenly Sword, who had been swinging his sword as if he had eyes behind him, suddenly spoke.

“Can you just pretend not to have a footnote?”

“Huh! Now that I think about it?”

The sun was high in the sky.

“Ugh! I’m late.”

Seo Dae-ryong quickly put on his clothes and came out.

“I’ll go.”

Seo Dae-ryong bowed and turned around, but then turned back again.

“Thank you so much for letting me stay here again.”

Even if Blood Heavenly Sword had given him money or a place to stay, he wouldn’t have been this upset. Oh, of course he would have been happy, but his feelings were different from his current ones.

Wouldn’t it be harder for Blood Heavenly Sword to let someone sleep in his own bed than to give them money? This feeling of being considered precious was incomparable to anything else.

“If something similar happens next time, throw it in any guest room. Just drink it. Then I’ll see you later this afternoon.”

Then Blood Heavenly Sword asked with a surprised expression.

“Come?”

“You should come.”

“I won’t let you off because you’re sick. Today is two thousand times.”

At the words two thousand times, my whole body froze and I screamed that I couldn’t do it, but my mouth said yes! My mouth wasn’t tired anyway.

After answering vigorously, Seo Dae-ryong ran out.

“I’m late! I’m late!”

I was so tired that I thought I was going to die. I didn’t even want to imagine practicing again today, but strangely, I felt good.

I wanted to keep learning from Blood Heavenly Sword. To be honest, I wanted to look good to him.

* * *

After several days, the master potion was completed.

I put the potion I made into a palm-sized medicine bottle. There were still five days left until the blood god potion.

Now that the medicine has been made, I plan to go scout the seat of the Pungshin cult leader today to check if the secret passage is working properly.

After descending, I arrived at a wasteland not far from Pungcheon Bridge.

It was a place with a few withered trees and rocks, scurrying poisonous insects and snakes, and trash blown in by the wind. It was a place where no one would come even if I stayed all day.

There was a large rock there, and I operated the hidden devices on both sides of the rock.

Swish.

Then the rock opened and a passage appeared. I was amazed at that time, but even now, it was a really well-made machine. How could they make such an unmarked passage?

When I entered the rock, the door closed automatically.

When I operated the hidden device again from the inside, the door opened from the floor.

I took out the night magic and went down into the underground passage. The passage was wide. It seemed to be a passage made to transport the thunder bell in case of emergency. Thanks to this, I was able to sneak the thunderbolt through here.

I took out the vial and applied the medicine to my face and hands.

If I apply this medicine, the masters with excellent sense of smell will not be able to smell me.

I walked slowly through the passage.

I stopped far away from the secret passage in the room where the throne was. I used to go closer to look, but now I didn't need to. There was a safe way to look.

I closed my eyes and emitted my energy. A single stream of energy followed the passage. After turning a corner, the energy continued for a long time and reached the secret passage.

I didn't know that I could use this thin and long energy for exploration in real life until I first learned this secret technique from my father.

The energy escaped through a small gap in the passage.

The moment my energy entered the new space.

I felt a tremendous presence on one side.

‘It’s the leader of the Pungcheon cult!’

As expected, the aura felt unusually strong. I quickly moved my qi in the opposite direction.

What I found again was that master with a sensitive sense of smell.

Sure enough, he was near the Eumryejong.

My qi disappeared after checking both of them. Since it had already happened once, there was no need to take the risk of being caught.

After safely completing my reconnaissance, I returned to the mountain.

After finishing my meal of jerky, I sat cross-legged and practiced the Cheonmahosingong.

For the remaining five days, I would stay in the mountains without moving at all. If I wandered around aimlessly and got entangled in a strange incident, I could have gotten into trouble.

Not creating variables, that was the least I could do for my past efforts.

* * *

The day of the Blood God Festival dawned.

Before I left, I looked up at the sky once and prayed for success today.

When my father told me about two ways to stop the sorcery, I thought to myself that there was a way that was a hundred times easier.

Hoping that my thoughts would be right and that I could finish this matter safely, I went down the mountain.

The road to Pungcheon Church was crowded with people who wanted to participate in the ceremony.

They were of various types. From the heads of the major sects that had relations with Pungcheon Church, to the small sects that wanted to get their stamp of approval, to the merchants who wanted to sell things to the attendees.

On the day of the Blood God Festival, everyone, regardless of their status, had to walk to Pungcheon Church like this. This was the authority of the Blood God Festival.

I watched them walk from afar and headed to the wasteland where the secret passage was.

As I walked there, many thoughts crossed my mind.

What if the door suddenly didn’t open? What if the event was suddenly canceled? What if the leader of Pungcheon Church personally rang the bell? What if I had misunderstood how to get it?

This is how anxiety attacks our souls.

At times like this, all we can do is believe in ourselves. Belief that such misfortune will not come, and belief that even if it does, we will overcome it. The best weapon to fight anxiety is belief in ourselves.

After arriving near the room where the seat of the leader of the Pungcheon sect was located through a secret passage, I waited there for the right time. Of course, I had applied a drug that would prevent me from smelling, all over my face, hands, and body.

It was decided when I would move. When I started to strike the thunder bell thirty-six times, it was time for me to begin my operation.

How long did I wait in the darkness like that?

The sound of the bell began to faintly ring. I waited, counting the sounds.

When the bell rang thirty-three times, I slowly moved and went down the secret passage.

When the bell rang for the thirty-fifth time, I quietly opened the secret passage on the floor next to the seat and went outside.

The chained master was about to ring the last bell. Since the Fengchun sect leader did not allow anyone else to enter this place with the holy water, there were only men in chains.

The moment he rang the last thirty-sixth bell.

I used my Fengshen Sabo. I used my shadowy power to approach the chained man. I approached him silently like a ghost and simultaneously hit his demon blood and water acupoints. He fell asleep standing up without even realizing that he had been hit.

It happened in an instant, but it was a technique that showed the best skills one after another.

After subduing him like that, I went to the blood Buddha erected behind the Eumrye Bell.

The time given to me was now the time it took the Fengchun sect leader to return here.

I pressed the closed eyes of the blood Buddha and it opened them wide.

Da.

The blood fire that opened its eyes was scary.

When I pressed it again, the pupils popped out.

About a third of the bulging pupils were filled with white liquid.

This is why I came all this way.

The root of the soul-sucking technique that the Sub-Hon Demon Lord learned was the Blood Sect's magic.

The successor of that Blood Sect is this Fengcheon Sect.

Up to this point, even my father knew, but there was one thing he didn't know.

Blood-eye Purifying Water.

It was a holy water that was secretly passed down only to the leaders of the Fengcheon Sect.

If you put this Blood-eye Purifying Water in your eyes, you can see the method of destroying the Blood Sect's magic. You can see the essence of the magic with your eyes.

I heard that it was made and passed down from ancient times to prevent rebellion within the school, but the manufacturing method and management method were only passed down to the leader and his successor, so outsiders never knew about its existence. The person who told me about this was none other than the son of the leader of the Pungcheon sect, Lingbaekgu.

When I came here before, I ran away with the thunder bell, so I didn't have time to put it in.

Now, it was finally time to get the blood eye essence.

I took out the blood eye pupil of the blood fire. There was a small hole above the eye pupil.

Knock!

The blood eye essence contained in the right eye pupil was one drop in the right eye.

Knock!

The blood eye essence contained in the left eye pupil was one drop in the left eye.

When the blood eye essence entered my eye, it felt hot and burning as if it was on fire. It was painful, but fortunately, I didn't lose my sight.

When I put the eye pupil back in its original place, it went inside, and the blood fire closed its eyes again.

The remaining essence in the pupil was enough, so I could put it in the next successor without any problems, and they wouldn’t even know that these two drops of blood essence were gone.

I went into the underground passage and blew two gusts of wind before the door was completely closed.

Shh.

The chain master woke up.

He was momentarily confused, but soon confirmed that there was nothing around him and started doing his job. It was a move that no one of my level could have ever done.

I wondered why that man was tied up like that, but it wasn’t a situation where I could save him, who I didn’t even know. He wasn’t someone whose fate would change with my return.

I quietly exited the secret passage.

When the time came, I had decided to collect the Dafa materials and the related coincidences one by one, but thanks to the Sub-Hon-Ma-Jon, I obtained the blood essence sooner than I thought.

No matter the reason, there is joy when you accomplish something big. Especially since I gained a power I had never had before, the joy was hard to express in words.

It wasn't just because I could kill the Sub-Hon-Ma-Jon. I believed that this new power would be helpful in some way on my journey toward the Fire Weapon.

After exiting the secret passage, I could have enjoyed the Blood God Festival with the leisure of a victor, but I ran towards the main school without looking back.

The variable until the end was the envoy.