Chapter 319: A Thousand Years Ago (2)

“Kill… kill… kill….”

The moment that being, who seemed to be Ma Seoyeon, let out a dazed voice.

‘It’s coming!’

Ignoring all balance, only her arm sliced through the air with terrifying speed.

And then—

Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa!

The technique I had seen countless times before.

The Ten Thousand Violent Blood Seas surged toward me.

I swallowed hard at the overwhelming tide of blood rushing in mercilessly.

‘It’s much stronger than before.’

If the woman before me was really the Ma Seoyeon I knew from that time, it was no wonder.

Everything had changed—her stance, our relationship, and our skills.

‘But I’ve grown stronger than I was back then as well.’

I gripped my sword, took my stance, and created a Spiral Dragon Fist Wind to counter the charging Ten Thousand Violent Blood Seas.

Kwaaaah!

As if I was hearing the sound of crashing waves, her energy gradually got pulled into the tip of my sword.

The moment I saw that, Ma Seoyeon’s bloodshot eyes widened in shock.

“…The Ten Heavenly Record Immortal Sword?”

In that brief moment of hesitation—

I combined her power with mine and unleashed it straight ahead.

“This is a gift from your youngest, Senior Sister.”

Heaven and Earth Ultimate Progression

It was the old technique of the Ten Heavenly Record Immortal Sword.

A move that merged the power of another with one’s own, aiming straight toward Ma Seoyeon.

But she paid no attention to my strike.

She focused only on the word ‘youngest.’

“Youngest? Did you say youngest?”

Crack! Creak!

Blood gathered in her arm, forming something like a massive hand.

She swung that hand at my incoming strike.

Kwaaang!

Like a water-filled balloon bursting, the Heaven and Earth Ultimate Progression shattered and scattered instantly.

I clicked my tongue internally at the sight.

‘She’s a complete monster.’

I hadn’t used Resonance Qi or any other advanced technique, but to see it broken that easily…

‘One thing’s certain. This isn’t the Ma Seoyeon I used to know.’

And I wasn’t talking about mere relationships.

For the greatest swordsman of the Demonic Path and the founder of the Blood Dragon Demonic Clan to block my strike in such a way was clearly strange.

As she radiated killing intent, Ma Seoyeon questioned me.

“I… I have no such thing as a youngest. Who are you?”

I paused for a moment at her words.

Should I avoid this fight and just take Eldest Senior Brother’s sword with me?

Or should I face her and try to calm her down?

The decision didn’t take long.

“I am the youngest. And now, I will prove it to you.”

“…!”

As I began to operate my inner energy in earnest, Ma Seoyeon’s figure stiffened slightly.

It wasn’t just the overwhelming force I was releasing.

Above all, it was that unique wave of black and red energy—something she had seen her whole life and could never forget.

“Heavenly… Demonic… Divine Art?”

“Allow me to formally introduce myself, Senior Sister.”

I reversed my grip on my sword and lightly bowed before her.

“I am the Eighth Disciple of our Master… your youngest, Jin Yeomyung.”

“The… Eighth Disciple?”

“That’s right.”

After chewing over my words for a while, she suddenly twisted her expression.

“…Don’t be ridiculous.”

“……”

“Don’t be ridiculous! Don’t be ridiculous! Don’t be ridiculous!”

The blood demonic energy swirling around her grew even more intense.

“There is no such thing as an eighth! Not even seven! We… we were all six!”

Seeing her so violently deny my existence, I felt a bitter taste in my mouth.

Her energy looked like it could come crashing down on me at any moment.

But—

I quietly threw a question at her.

“Then why have you been guarding this place for over a thousand years, Senior Sister?”

Flinch!

“Eldest Senior Brother told me. That his sword and his enlightenment remain here.”

At my words, her figure stiffened.

“That ‘someone’ you mentioned earlier—surely, you were not referring to our Master, but to Eldest Senior Brother, weren’t you?”

“……”

“Did you not come here, deceiving our Master and the other Senior Brothers, to protect this place left behind by Eldest Senior Brother?”

Ma Seoyeon stayed silent for a while.

She barely opened her mouth to speak.

“Do you… really consider that man our Eldest Senior Brother?”

“Yes.”

Even now, she called him ‘that man’….

“To think you would consider the man who dared cut down our Master, betrayed the Senior Brothers, slaughtered countless warriors of our Cult who had just found their path, and fled… your Eldest Senior Brother?”

‘Hmm….’

I almost lost my words for a moment.

It seemed my Eldest Senior Brother had caused more trouble than I thought….

But my answer had already been decided.

“Yes.”

“…!”

“I believe he must have had a reason.”

“A reason… you say?”

“You wouldn’t still be lingering here if you didn’t believe that yourself, would you, Senior Sister?”

At the word ‘lingering,’ her shoulders flinched again.

I stared directly at Ma Seoyeon, who was still shedding bloody tears.

“Eldest Senior Brother held more respect for our Master than anyone else. Though I, as a distant descendant, do not know exactly what happened back then, at the very least, the Eldest Senior Brother I met was never someone who would betray our Master.”

“……”

“There must have been another reason.”

Ma Seoyeon’s black eyes narrowed slightly.

“So, that’s what you believe.”

She lowered her head and murmured softly.

“Still… I’m glad. That a descendant has finally appeared who knows even a fragment of the truth….”

Jjeojeok!

Suddenly, cracks began to appear all over Ma Seoyeon’s body.

Jjeojeojeojeok!

Like a cicada shedding its shell, the dark and ominous energy surrounding her peeled away.

Kwaa-jik!

The sinister aura completely vanished, revealing what lay beneath….

It was Ma Seoyeon, looking far more mature and aged than I remembered—a future version of her, with wrinkles marking the years.

I had thought we would battle for at least several days, but to my surprise, the confrontation between me and Ma Seoyeon ended far more anticlimactically.

Forty… no, fifty?

Perhaps even older than that.

After all, a top martial artist could maintain their youth for a long time.

Especially someone like the future Ma Seoyeon, who had at least reached the Transcendent Demon Realm, would have been able to preserve her youthful prime until just before her death.

While she gazed up at the ceiling with eyes full of lingering regret, she turned her gaze toward me.

“Thanks to you… I’ve finally come to my senses.”

Unlike the ghostly figure she had been moments ago, she had completely regained her clarity.

“When you kept muttering about killing me… that was just you being dazed—”

Thunk!

I didn’t even finish my sentence before a lightning-fast kick landed in my side, sending me flying.

“Shut up.”

“……”

“Still, you’ve achieved impressive skill for your age. You’re worthy enough to call yourself my Junior.”

Clutching my side, I muttered inwardly.

‘As expected… ridiculously strong.’

Had I not instinctively gathered defensive Qi at the last moment, my side would have burst open.

Holding out her hand to me, she spoke.

“I should properly introduce myself as well. I’m Ma Seoyeon.”

Taking her hand, I stood up from the ground.

“Once again, I greet you. I am the youngest, Jin Yeomyung.”

“This isn’t exactly the best place for a conversation, but since this formation will collapse once I vanish, just bear with it.”

So it was a formation after all.

No wonder I hadn’t felt the warmth of life from her touch.

“I can endure it.”

“Good. Follow me. I’ll take you to where Eldest Senior Brother’s sword is.”

Ma Seoyeon turned sharply and walked deeper into the space.

After following her for about a dozen steps—

‘No way….’

There stood a sword, radiating an unmistakable, extraordinary aura, firmly rooted in place even after a thousand years.

‘Not a single speck of rust after all this time…’

Cheon Yura’s Heavenly Demon Divine Sword and even the Chamseong Sword I had used until recently both had histories exceeding a thousand years.

But those had been meticulously cared for through the generations.

This one, however, had withstood a thousand years of the formation’s venomous energy unscathed.

Looking at the sword with its green blade, reminiscent of the Jade Heavenly Divine Sword I had once wielded, I muttered.

“So this is the Ten Heavenly Record Immortal Sword….”

“You recognized it after all. I suppose it makes sense, if you heard it directly from Eldest Senior Brother.”

I slowly reached out toward the Ten Heavenly Record Immortal Sword.

But then—

“Wait.”

Ma Seoyeon raised her hand to stop me.

“Is there a problem…?”

She shook her head.

“There’s no problem. But if you take that sword now, you’ll immediately face Eldest Senior Brother’s arrangement.”

Of course.

Yoo Jeon must have placed his enlightenment within that sword for his future self.

“And once you pass that trial, this place will collapse, and I’ll disappear along with it.”

She looked at me with a kind of desperate longing in her eyes.

“Before that happens, let’s talk for a while.”

Talk, huh.

Did she, like the other Senior Brothers, want to hear about the outside world?

Unlike Ma Seoyeon of Yoo Family's Sacred Mountain, who had family, the Ma Seoyeon before me had spent a thousand years in utter solitude.

‘Family….’

I cleared my throat lightly, choosing my first topic carefully.

“Then, shall we start by talking about the Blood Dragon Demonic Clan you founded—”

“Not interested.”

…Huh?

I thought she would be pleased to hear about the Blood Dragon Demonic Clan, which was currently one of the leading factions among the Six Great Demonic Clans.

But she dismissed it outright?

Ma Seoyeon sneered.

“I couldn’t care less what happened to those descendants. The clan itself was nothing more than a political marriage forced upon me by Master, so I never really cared for it. Whether they were wiped out or not, it doesn’t concern me.”

“……”

Honestly, though I hated to admit it—

I never thought the day would come when I felt sorry for those Blood Dragon Demonic Clan bastards.

While I stood there, unable to hide my bitterness at the thought, Ma Seoyeon, as if reminiscing about a distant past, spoke with a faraway look in her eyes.

“The events in the South… I remember them well. That was where we left behind the turning point of our fate.”

“……”

“If you, as a distant descendant, are connected to us, then it’s most likely from that place.”

“That’s right.”

“If I had known it would come to this… perhaps back then…”

I instinctively grew solemn, knowing what she truly wanted to ask.

“W-What I really want to know… is the ending we left behind back then.”

She looked at me, her eyes filled with deep longing, and asked,

“Did we… I, Eldest Senior Brother, and the rest of our Senior Brothers and Sisters… did we find happiness in the end?”

“……”

I closed my eyes for a moment before answering.

Ma Seoyeon, who had self-detonated as the awakened Heavenly Evil to go ahead and wait.

And Yoo Jeon, who had accepted her as his partner.

I slowly opened my eyes again and met hers.

“There’s a lot to tell about what happened in that place… but let me start with the conclusion.”

I began to recount the moment when Ma Seoyeon and Yoo Jeon had finally acknowledged each other’s hearts in that world.

“Ah……”

The lips of Ma Seoyeon, who had struggled to maintain her composure, began to part.

“Ah… ugh…!”

For the first time, tears—not tears of blood—welled up in her eyes.

“Ah… uwaaah… aaah!”

As she covered her face and broke down sobbing, I gently grasped her trembling shoulders and brought her the closure she sought.

“In that place, you called Eldest Senior Brother ‘Gaga’. And he… he didn’t call you ‘Junior Sister’, but Seoyeon.”

Gaga (哥哥).

Though it was a word women might use for close men, between those two, it was something that could never be spoken unless they had completely opened their hearts to each other.

Upon hearing those words, Ma Seoyeon’s figure finally collapsed to the floor.

“Eldest Senior Brother… Eldest Senior Brother! Eldest Senior Brother!! Hkk… uhhuhuhh…!”

A grudge carried for a thousand years.

Ma Seoyeon, the founder of the Blood Dragon Demonic Clan, hearing the ending they had never reached in this world—

Had finally shown the tears she had never allowed anyone to see.

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