Chapter 359 ·Epilogue – Yong Seo-hee
Chapter 359: Epilogue – Yong Seo-hee
"Young Miss, you mustn't go too far! If you do, you'll end up locked in your room for another month!"
"I know, don't worry. I'm just going to look around nearby. Just for a little while. I'll be right back."
"Young Miss!"
Although Yong Seo-hee had lost her parents when she was young, she had grown up surrounded by the love of her grandfather and the rest of her family.
To put it kindly, she was cheerful and optimistic.
To put it less kindly, she was immature and always did as she pleased.
Today was no different, even though her confinement had just ended.
She ignored her nanny's warnings and stepped outside the family estate.
As always, she transformed into a dragon and soared through the vast skies of the Middle Heaven Realm.
Her grandfather and everyone in the family had repeatedly warned her not to go anywhere dangerous.
But had she been the type to listen, she never would have been known as the family's troublesome young lady.
As always, she headed wherever her heart desired.
As a descendant of the Divine Dragon Family, inheriting the bloodline of dragons, she possessed considerable martial strength and was among the fastest members of the family.
Fortunately, that speed had allowed her to avoid danger until now.
Even when she occasionally found herself in peril, Yong Seo-hee had always managed to escape through her own abilities.
"Ah!"
Today was no different.
The monster that appeared by tearing through empty space was far beyond anything Yong Seo-hee could defeat.
Rather than acting recklessly, she immediately fled.
Entering the Wind Cloud Path, Yong Seo-hee flew through the skies at incredible speed.
The monster was unlike anything she had ever seen.
Even in her dragon form, it was larger than she was.
It continued growing bigger and bigger until it became larger than most fortresses.
From that moment onward, a relentless chase began.
Yong Seo-hee could not completely shake off the monster.
The monster, however, could not catch her either.
Whenever the distance between them closed, Yong Seo-hee's speed increased just a little more.
"This is actually fun."
Even while being pursued, she found herself growing stronger little by little.
Before long, the entire situation became exciting.
Since she did not truly feel endangered, she simply enjoyed the exhilarating speed and continued flying for several days.
She had no idea where she was going.
At the moment, that hardly mattered.
Her speed continued increasing.
Eventually, she finally left the strange monster far behind.
"I won."
Although she had flown so far that she had left the borders of the Central Heavens Martial World, she did not think she was in immediate danger.
She simply felt proud of her own growth.
She was happy.
"Everyone must be worried."
Only after calming down did she regain her senses.
She had said she would only be gone for a moment, yet far too much time had passed.
Still, she smiled to herself, thinking she now had something to proudly tell her grandfather about her improved strength.
Just as she was about to return—
"I never expected to meet one who carries the blood of dragons here."
The moment she heard the amused voice, Yong Seo-hee reacted without hesitation.
She did not even look to see who had spoken.
She fled at the greatest speed she could possibly muster.
Yet escaping proved far from easy.
Before she realized it, an enormous manor had appeared, blocking the Wind Cloud Path.
From within it, tens of thousands of chains shot out and covered the heavens.
Yong Seo-hee squeezed out every last ounce of her strength to dodge them all.
Just as she thought,
"I've made it!"
...the same voice spoke from directly behind her.
"Got you."
Boom!
A tremendous impact sent Yong Seo-hee crashing down.
She reverted to her human form.
Only then did she finally see the face of the man whose eyes shone as though stars had been embedded within them.
Asura Ghost Yang Jeon-gun.
That was the name of the Cultivator who had captured Yong Seo-hee.
Yang Jeon-gun was a man who obsessively collected everything he came across.
Dharma Artifacts, Dharma Treasures, all kinds of ores and materials, living monsters, and even members of other races.
"Your dragon blood is thicker than I expected. This should prove extremely useful."
Yang Jeon-gun used Yong Seo-hee as the power source that kept his mobile manor running.
Several days after she was captured...
Her entire body was covered with tubes and cables that drained away her strength.
There was nothing she could do.
All she could do was slowly wither away day after day.
"Maybe... I should just die..."
She had that thought countless times.
But every time, she endured by thinking of her family.
No matter how much time passed, enduring was all she could do.
Then, just as thoughts of death filled her mind once more...
Someone took hold of her hand.
"Let's endure until the very end."
It was the child who occasionally brought her food and water.
Every time the child came, they would tell her all sorts of stories.
Then she realized something.
Even if she died here, Yang Jeon-gun would never give up.
"He'd use my corpse even after I died."
He was more than capable of doing something like that.
So she resolved to endure until the very end.
Time passed.
She no longer knew whether months or years had gone by.
Her vitality gradually faded.
She drifted endlessly between sleep and wakefulness.
Eventually, she could no longer tell whether she was dreaming, whether what she saw was reality, or even whether she was still alive.
One day, after countless days repeating in the same way...
A tiny light appeared within the pitch-black darkness.
As she moved toward the light...
A man with warm, gentle eyes looked down at her.
Gathering every last bit of strength she had left, she barely managed to speak.
"Who...?"
"I've come to rescue you."
Rescue me?
Who?
How?
She wanted to ask so many questions.
But her lips would not move.
Neither would her body.
Yet there was one thing she clearly felt.
For the first time in so long, she was no longer lying upon the cold floor.
She was resting within someone's warm embrace.
Without saying another word, the man entrusted Yong Seo-hee to someone else before disappearing.
That was her first meeting with the man named Jang Woo-hyun.
At first, she thought of him only as the benefactor who had saved her.
But on the journey back to the Martial World after leaving the Cultivators' territory, she realized he was a rather unusual person.
"But... why am I calling you Oppa?"
"Huh? What do you mean? Isn't it obvious?"
When she first heard his age, she assumed she had misunderstood something.
"I'm not even two hundred years old yet."
"Well... I'm not even a hundred yet."
"...Excuse me? Say that again. I think I misheard you."
"I said I'm not even a hundred years old yet."
She thought he was joking.
How could someone powerful enough to defeat Yang Jeon-gun have lived for less than a hundred years?
"So... how old are you exact— No! Never mind! Don't tell me! Let's just follow the Cultivators' way instead."
Since she believed he was far her senior, she eventually forced herself to call him Oppa.
What did age matter?
He was that powerful.
Besides, she had already started calling him Oppa.
Changing it now would only be awkward.
"Oh, whatever. He's Oppa."
An overwhelmingly powerful martial artist.
And a rather unusual person with whom she had formed a special bond.
That was who Jang Woo-hyun was in Yong Seo-hee's eyes.
Then, after more time had passed...
"My goodness..."
Jang Woo-hyun stood proudly against the overwhelming power of a True Immortal descending as though to shatter the world itself.
The heavens became filled with radiant light.
The countless martial arts pouring forth from intricate patterns were so magnificent that they were beautiful.
Watching Jang Woo-hyun oppose a True Immortal...
"He's so cool."
Her heart raced.
Their connection continued afterward.
When she stole the Heavenly Escape Sword Art, he was the very first person she thought of.
In the end, it was Jang Woo-hyun who rescued her once again.
Slowly...
Or perhaps from the very beginning...
Yong Seo-hee might already have fallen in love with the man who had saved her.
Then, more than ten years ago, Jang Woo-hyun crossed into the Demon Realm because he had something he needed to do.
There had been no news of him.
Then, not long ago...
He finally returned.
This time, Yong Seo-hee resolved that she would not let them part so easily.
【Big Sister! This is bad!】
Lost in memories of the past, Yong Seo-hee was jolted back to reality by the sudden voice coming from her communication Dharma Artifact.
【Jang Woo-hyun's meeting another woman!】
"What?!"
【Why would you phrase it like that?】
【Then how else should I say it? I'm not wrong!】
【I'll explain.】
"Young Hero Jin?"
【Sister-in-law, this is an emergency. The Young Palace Master of the Ice Palace has come looking for Big Brother.】
"What?"
Yong Seo-hee had heard much about the Young Palace Master of the Northern Heaven Ice Palace.
Seol Ha-rin, the Ice White Flower.
The woman rumored to be the most beautiful in the Middle Heaven Realm.
Her heart suddenly raced.
Without even taking her communication Dharma Artifact with her, Yong Seo-hee rushed out of her residence.
"Thank you very much for telling me all of this."
"It was nothing. I didn't really tell you much."
With Hwa Jin-myeong, the Young Palace Master of the Solar Palace of Flame, rapidly making a name for himself, Seol Ha-rin had been gathering information about him from every possible source.
As the Young Palace Master of the Ice Palace, it was only natural for her to keep a close eye on the Young Palace Master of the Solar Palace of Flame, whose sect had long been their bitter enemy.
During her investigation, she learned that Jang Woo-hyun had some connection with Hwa Jin-myeong.
To learn more, she had personally come to the Three Pure Ones Taiji Sect.
Just as their conversation came to an end...
Yong Seo-hee, Jin Ha-woon, and Gun Yu-hye approached.
Jin Ha-woon looked somewhat flustered.
The other two women looked as though they were generals marching onto a battlefield.
"Then I'll take my leave."
"Take care."
Seol Ha-rin gave the approaching trio a slight bow before departing the Three Pure Ones Taiji Sect with her attendants.
Although she could feel their piercing gazes, she paid them little attention.
"You traitor!"
Gun Yu-hye suddenly shouted.
"How could you leave Big Sister Seo-hee behind and—"
Step.
The sound of heavy footsteps cut her off.
Even Gun Yu-hye could tell that Yong Seo-hee's current mood was anything but ordinary.
Seeing Yong Seo-hee glaring with fierce eyes, Jang Woo-hyun tilted his head in confusion.
Then he immediately understood the situation.
A mischievous idea crossed his mind, and the corners of his lips curled upward.
"Ah, you've arrived at the perfect time."
"The perfect time?"
Yong Seo-hee frowned slightly.
"I actually had something I wanted to discuss with you, Miss Yong."
"Miss Yong?"
Jang Woo-hyun's smile only grew wider.
Meanwhile, Yong Seo-hee's eyebrows rose higher and higher.
"There's something I'd like to ask. We established our relationship according to the Cultivators' customs, but now that I'm weaker than you, shouldn't we change it?"
"Hah! Change it? Change what? Fine. What exactly do you want?"
"I think we should reorganize how we address each other... and our relationship."
"Hey, Jang Woo-hyun!"
Unable to hold back any longer, Yong Seo-hee shouted.
Jang Woo-hyun simply grinned and walked toward her.
"You're laughing? You're actually laughing right now?"
"Seo-hee, let's go on a date."
"...What? A date? What's that? Ah, a Great Two-Way Duel? You mean we fight each other twice? Fine! Let's beat each other up today and settle how we're going to address each other from now on! Want to start right now? Wait... S-stop coming closer. Why are you walking over here? H-Hey... why are you so close? S-Stop! Stop coming over here!"
As Yong Seo-hee retreated in a panic, Jang Woo-hyun strode forward and took her hand.
"A date means going around together with someone you like, seeing different places, and eating delicious food. Come on. Let's go on a date."
"...Huh? Eh? W-What? Whaaat?!"
Simply having her hand suddenly taken was shocking enough.
But hearing him say "someone you like" completely overwhelmed Yong Seo-hee's mind.
Jang Woo-hyun tightened his grip and gently led her forward.
Still completely flustered, Yong Seo-hee also tightened her hand so she would not lose his.
When Jang Woo-hyun used his movement technique, her body naturally followed.
Strangely, it felt as though she were walking upon clouds.
Hand in hand, the two of them kicked off into the air and departed together.
Watching them disappear into the distance, Jin Ha-woon nodded with a satisfied smile.
"Heh, now that's nice to see. This should've happened a long time ago. They took far too long."
He happily clapped by himself.
There was, however, someone who found the sight utterly unbearable.
Thud!
"Ow! What? Why?"
Jin Ha-woon turned toward Gun Yu-hye, who had just kicked him.
"What? You want to spar? Wait until later. Big Brother and Sister-in-law have gone off to... what was it? Ah, a date. Don't you feel anything?"
The longer he spoke, the darker Gun Yu-hye's expression became.
Unable to endure it any longer, she kicked him once again.
"You're the one who doesn't feel anything!"
"Me? What did I do?"
"You idiot!"
Jin Ha-woon stepped back and effortlessly dodged the kick filled with emotion.
Ever since childhood, he had been called a genius and had devoted himself solely to martial arts.
After meeting his sworn brother, he had never rested for even a single moment while chasing after him.
Matters between men and women were simply beyond him.
He understood nothing about them.
Finally losing all patience, Gun Yu-hye drew her blade and swung it.
"Just die!"
As always, the utterly oblivious Jin Ha-woon easily blocked it.
"What did I even do wrong..."
"Just die already!!"
Their fight continued for quite some time.