Chapter 194
“Was it truly the Heaven-Slaughter Star?”
Despite this being our first meeting in a long while, Monk Gak-jeong skipped any greetings and immediately asked if it was really the Heaven-Slaughter Star.
Though his body was here, his mind was clearly elsewhere—it was obvious just how much the Heaven-Slaughter Star was weighing on him.
Abbot Jeong Hyeon let out a wry smile and opened his mouth to say something, but I responded a little faster.
“At least from what I’ve seen, yes. Others also share that certainty. Of course, since none of us have encountered a real Heaven-Slaughter Star before, it might still be mistaken.”
“No, if Young Benefactor Cheon says so, then it must be true. After all, to this monk’s knowledge, you're the martial artist most adept at handling murderous intent, and now your level stands among the highest in Murim.”
“Is it that obvious?”
“Anyone who has once reached the same realm would be able to tell. Even if their body can no longer sense qi.”
Monk Gak-jeong nodded slowly, pressing his palms together as he continued.
“Forgive this monk for being too hasty in my concern. It has been a while, Young Benefactor Cheon. And congratulations on becoming one of the new absolute masters. It seems this old man will live to see a new wind blowing through the martial world before he’s buried.” “Thank you. Though I feel like the road ahead has only grown longer.”
“Whether it's the path of martial arts... no, whatever it may be, anyone striving for the end of their path will likely feel the same. What once seemed a destination becomes a new starting point. Still, I’ve heard there is something more important you wished to share than an old monk’s advice. Could you tell us in more detail?”
“Do you know how shocked I was when I heard from Master that the Heaven-Slaughter Star had been found?”
Jeong Hyeon let out a hearty laugh, but in his eyes, there was a trace of resentment and even more resignation.
It wasn’t directed at me. Rather, it was because he had witnessed Monk Gak-jeong’s obsession with the Heaven-Slaughter Star ever since losing his disciple—and now, here they were entangled with it again.
Whether to ultimately kill the Heaven-Slaughter Star once more, or this time desperately trying to save her...
Either way, it was only further deepening Monk Gak-jeong’s lingering regrets and wounding him again.
Still, the reason I had summoned Monk Gak-jeong despite knowing this, and the reason Abbot Jeong Hyeon hadn’t stopped him but accompanied him, was simple:
Just as was said earlier, the Heaven-Slaughter Star’s existence was a matter so rare and momentous that it stood out even in a world like Murim, where fantastical events happen frequently.
All the more so if Monk Gak-jeong had managed to uncover even a part of its secrets.
I nodded inwardly and opened my mouth, careful not to trigger any mental restrictions.
“First, let me explain why I came to visit the Jeomchang Sect.”
***
There wasn’t much left to explain once all the unspoken things were filtered out. By the time we arrived at the training grounds, I had conveyed nearly everything.
As the Flowing Cloud Sword Immortal reeled from the surprise that the Abbot of Shaolin had suddenly come in person,
Monk Gak-jeong and I merely offered him brief greetings before heading straight to where Heo Soye was.
There, seated in the center of the training hall in lotus position, was Heo Soye. Beside her, Jang Inam kept glancing anxiously at his beloved.
Opposite them stood Seo Mun-Hwarin, passionately explaining something.
“Senior Seorin, it’s time to switch shifts. Also, the guest you’ve been waiting for has arrived.”
“Thus, the only way to overcome murderous intent is by resolutely strengthening one’s own will from day to day... Hm?”
Seo Mun-Hwarin turned toward me, her solemn expression instantly blooming into a bright smile.
“Ah! Half a day already! But the guest is...?”
“It’s been a while, Benefactor.”
“You arrived much sooner than I expected.”
Though they hadn’t spoken much at Shaolin, they were at least acquainted.
Recognizing Monk Gak-jeong, Seorin exchanged a few light words with him, then introduced Heo Soye and Jang Inam.
Afterward, while observing Monk Gak-jeong conduct some inquiries to determine whether Heo Soye truly was the Heaven-Slaughter Star, I asked:
“Senior Seorin, just earlier, you seemed to be teaching them something. May I ask what it was?”
“There’s no reason you can’t. I was teaching how to endure murderous intent.”
“Not suppress it, but endure it?”
“Correct. Her beloved said he felt powerless and resentful when she was at her worst and he could do nothing.”
It seemed the one being taught wasn’t Heo Soye, but Jang Inam.
Understandable. A rampaging Heo Soye couldn’t be subdued easily by anyone in the Jeomchang Sect unless they were a mature master like the Flowing Cloud Sword Immortal.
Judging from his presence, Jang Inam had just passed the threshold into the Peak Stage. Far from helping her, he’d likely be paralyzed by her murderous aura.
If it were me, I’d also feel frustrated and worthless.
“I see. But then, are you not teaching anything to Lady Heo?”
“She knows how to release emotion and empty her heartscape to fill it with something new... but she’s not one to maintain composure.”
“Is that so...?”
Right now, Seo Mun-Hwarin laughs easily, but before regression, she was the opposite—always serious except for rare moments.
I definitely prefer her now. That former heaviness had come half from resignation.
At least now, she seems truly happy.
As I thought that, Seo Mun-Hwarin’s eyes narrowed and her voice took on a more solemn tone.
“Indeed. Whatever method I could think of, she’s surely already tried. After all, what I know isn’t how to suppress the Heaven-Slaughter Star’s murderous aura—but only how to pierce through it and kill, no matter how terrifying it may be.”
“Well, we can’t say that with certainty.”
The more Monk Gak-jeong conversed with Heo Soye, the more intense the fire in his gaze became.
He, too, had committed many killings in the name of upholding the Dharma. It was precisely such killings that led him to slay a disciple he might not have needed to kill.
And now?
Though his obsession had deepened, his heart was filled with a desire to genuinely help the Heaven-Slaughter Star this time.
Though no doubt he was also prepared to kill her again, should it become necessary.
After a while, Monk Gak-jeong nodded and looked toward me.
“Could you bring in the others?”
“Understood.”
I summoned Abbot Jeong Hyeon and the Flowing Cloud Sword Immortal, who were chatting some distance away, and once they had gathered, Monk Gak-jeong began to speak slowly.
“Sect Leader. While I haven’t personally witnessed her rampage, your daughter is without a doubt the Heaven-Slaughter Star. She matches many aspects of my former disciple.”
“I see.”
The Sect Leader nodded calmly, seemingly already aware of this. But what came next shook him slightly.
“And... she appears to have a gentler nature and greater self-control than my disciple. To think she’s maintained her sanity at this age...”
“Pardon?”
Had he been expecting harsh criticism? The unexpected praise made the Sect Leader blink.
Monk Gak-jeong smiled warmly and continued.
“Many nowadays think the Heaven-Slaughter Star is a type of innate constitution, but based on my direct observation and experience—it is not. Do you know why it’s called ‘Heaven-Slaughter Star’?”
“That’s...”
Apparently caught off guard by the question, the Sect Leader hesitated, so I spoke up instead.
“If it were a constitution, it would have a name indicating such. But it was given a title derived from the stars above because...it’s a trait so incomprehensible and unresistible by human means that it feels like fate.”
“That’s half right. The ancients likened it to a celestial omen—an unavoidable fate of slaughter bestowed by the heavens. But this monk believes that while there may be such things as life’s fate, there is no true destiny.”
From Monk Gak-jeong now radiated a force not tied to cultivation, but to his core as a person.
“Neither Buddhism nor Taoism teaches that all things are fixed. There are things that change and things that do not—but even those interact and create constant change. That’s why so many monks and Taoists strive to become better people and live better lives.”
“Fate... Still, isn’t there a saying that when fortune runs out, gold turns to iron, and when the time is right, iron becomes gold?”
Nothing is truly impossible. It’s just that we don’t yet know the method or have the right conditions—someday, it will be possible.
Such comforting words. And for Monk Gak-jeong, who foresaw the Heaven-Slaughter Star by reading such fate, and for me, who changed many futures through regression—it’s not merely comforting, but truth.
Still, it’s also true that right now, it’s impossible.
Why didn’t I kill the Heavenly Demon when I regressed to the moment he was at his weakest?
Because I couldn’t. At that time, I wouldn’t have even made it to where he was—I’d have been killed by the Demonic Cult's martial artists before that.
“It may be possible someday—but the most important moment is always the present.”
“Young Benefactor Cheon is right. But for this monk, the present has already passed.”
Monk Gak-jeong smiled bitterly, then began pulling items out of the large bundle he had brought.
“Shaolin rejects Esoteric Buddhism (密教), but it was the practitioners who strayed, not the teachings. This, too, is part of the Buddha’s wisdom.”
“Wait—those are old Shaolin ritual implements we don’t even use anymore! When did you take those, Master?”
Abbot Jeong Hyeon looked dumbfounded as he saw the contents. But Monk Gak-jeong simply brushed off his disciple’s protests.
“No one noticed, since they weren’t being used.”
Just as Daoist sects once practiced sorcery more than swordsmanship, there was a time when Esoteric Buddhism, which uses implements and mantras, thrived in Buddhist sects.
Now, due to various issues, all Buddhist sects except the Potala Palace have distanced themselves from it.
But Monk Gak-jeong had decided to try using it once more.
“And now, memorize this incantation I’ll teach you. It won’t fully prevent the Heaven-Slaughter Star’s awakening, but it should at least stop her instincts from going berserk over minor triggers.”
He even passed down a heart mantra imbued with both Shaolin martial arts and his own enlightenment.
Monk Gak-jeong was motivated, and Heo Soye readily accepted his instruction.
There was no certainty—but with hope, things were going smoothly.
Heo Soye had not gone berserk once. The faces of the Flowing Cloud Sword Immortal and Jang Inam were smiling again, and even the skeptical Abbot Jeong Hyeon began to harbor a faint hope.
If things continued this way, perhaps for the first time in Murim history, someone would successfully control the Heaven-Slaughter Star.
That’s what I thought.
***
There is no trigger for the Heaven-Slaughter Star’s awakening.
Because the sky is clear, you want to kill. Because today’s food was delicious, you want to kill. Because your lover’s words were sweet, you want to kill...
That is the Heaven-Slaughter Star.
Heo Soye, who had been doing fine—went berserk.
While walking in the courtyard with Jang Inam.