Chapter 130 : Chapter 130
Chapter 130. Reunion
“I had no idea you possessed such a side, Young Master.”
Kwon Gi-il spoke in mild surprise as he listened to Dam Jeok-san.
He had thought Dam Jeok-san was a solitary figure, standing aloof and alone.
Yet it seemed he harbored unexpectedly deep affection for his subordinates.
“I have lost them once.”
Dam Jeok-san replied lightly, having understood what he meant.
“That day, I did not lose only my Dantian.”
The forces that had followed him had also scattered into nothingness.
And it was then that he realized the weight carried by being someone others chose to follow.
“After losing them once, I came to understand how precious it all was. Martial arts, people… and even the hope that one can move forward.”
“Heh heh heh… You surpass this old man who has lived more than sixty years.”
At that answer, Kwon Gi-il looked at Dam Jeok-san with fresh eyes.
He realized that he could not even begin to imagine the weight contained in the words ‘lost them once.’
Unlike Dam Jeok-san, he had never lost everything.
Not even after dancing on the edge of blades for so many long years.
Yes. On the path of martial arts, the length of one’s life was not everything.
Even ancient monsters who had lived more than a century could not surpass the Martial Sovereign, the Heavenly Demon, or the Sword Emperor.
Then how did such people grow strong?
Kwon Gi-il felt as though he had just glimpsed the answer through Dam Jeok-san.
‘The density of his life is different.’
He could not help but admire it.
The depth of suffering borne by a mere twenty-five-year-old youth was that profound.
And before they knew it, the two arrived before Dam Jeok-san’s subordinates, who were being led by Myeong-cheon, the former Northern Wind Sword Corps Commander and the other half of the Black Dragon.
***
“It has been a long time.”
The one who greeted them first was the white-haired beauty, Myeong-cheon.
At the sight of her, Kwon Gi-il flinched reflexively.
It was not because of the pressure she exuded.
Nor was it because her strange appearance—white hair with barely any wrinkles—reminded him of the Sword Emperor.
This was—
Fear carved into his bones.
Heh.
Seeing that, the corners of Myeong-cheon’s lips curled faintly upward.
“You encountered the Sword Emperor.”
She said this while looking at both Dam Jeok-san and Kwon Gi-il.
Heaven-Dominating Saber Kwon Gi-il.
Though he was now an Entering Transformation master and a neutral elder who carried weight even within the Council of Elders, he had once been a low-ranking member of the Severing Sword Unit under the Northern Wind Sword Corps.
And even back then, Myeong-cheon had been the Northern Wind Sword Corps Commander.
A strange, mysterious, merciless, and cold transcendent being.
That was the impression she had left upon Kwon Gi-il.
Thus, even after reaching the Entering Transformation Realm, he still flinched reflexively upon seeing her.
“Yes. You noticed?”
Dam Jeok-san glanced briefly at Kwon Gi-il before answering Myeong-cheon.
“That child shook heaven and earth with his sword intent. How could I not notice?”
Myeong-cheon replied as though it were obvious.
Sword Heaven Descends was a technique that summoned intent and altered the world itself.
As one connected directly to the world as part of the Black Dragon, there was no way she would fail to sense it.
[Still… it was a bit disappointing.]
Myeong-cheon suddenly spoke to Dam Jeok-san through mind-speech.
[What was, exactly?]
Dam Jeok-san tilted his head in question.
[I had thought I trained your subordinates rather well… yet you have grown even stronger than that.]
Just as she had sensed Sword Heaven Descends, Myeong-cheon had also sensed Dam Jeok-san erasing it.
He had grown so strong that it would not be an exaggeration to say he was an entirely different person from when he left for the North.
[…I went through many things.]
[The same could be said for them, you know?]
[…]
At her words, Dam Jeok-san fell silent, unable to respond.
[They have grown strong enough.]
But only for a moment.
Dam Jeok-san sent his reply with firm conviction.
[There is no need to say that to me. You can praise them directly.]
[No. Did you not guide their desperate resolve in the right direction? I should offer my thanks.]
[If you do so, I will appreciate it. In any case, I should also speak with that child, Kwon Gi-il, after so long. You should go to your subordinates.]
With those words, Myeong-cheon faded like an illusion and reappeared before Kwon Gi-il.
And Dam Jeok-san, without the slightest hesitation, ran toward Gyeong-un and Black Panther Spear.
“You both worked hard. You look haggard.”
He said as he firmly grasped their shoulders.
In truth, they had trained in a near-fasted state.
Only when one’s vitality was exhausted could latent potential be forced out, or so Myeong-cheon claimed.
Her methods as a spellcaster diverged greatly from those of ordinary martial artists.
“Young Master…!”
“We missed you… so much.”
Gyeong-un called out with a voice filled with joy.
And Jang U-ryang, who had always carried himself with composure, burst into tears as though reunited with a lost lover.
“…What happened to you two?”
Dam Jeok-san scratched his head, visibly flustered.
He fully understood that they must have endured no small amount of hardship.
Having reached the very edge of Ultra-Peak, he could now see through their realms with near-perfect clarity.
‘Black Panther Spear is at the edge of Peak… practically standing before the wall of Ultra-Peak.’
More precisely, he was in a state where he could reach Ultra-Peak at any moment given the right trigger.
At his current level, he could likely claim at least a seventy percent chance of victory even against the former Crimson Suppression Commander, Baek Ri-gwan.
It was an achievement difficult to believe was gained in such a short time.
Ordinarily, it would have required at least ten years of dedicated cultivation.
And the more astonishing one was Gyeong-un.
“I cannot imagine what happened to you.”
Dam Jeok-san murmured as he looked at him in disbelief.
“You have become a Peak master. And at a mature level, no less.”
Considering that Gyeong-un had previously hovered between the upper first-rate level and the early stages of Peak, it was nothing short of a dramatic transformation.
“At this level, you are better than most of the younger disciples of major orthodox sects.”
He said this sincerely.
“…Thank you.”
Gyeong-un replied in a voice on the verge of tears.
“I thought I might finally be able to stand proudly at your side, Young Master.”
But as he continued speaking, his voice grew softer.
Gyeong-un thought to himself.
‘I was confident when we parted at the Northern Branch.’
Yet now, standing before Dam Jeok-san, his thoughts changed.
Dam Jeok-san felt endlessly vast.
As though he had grown closer to completeness even without them.
“I should be congratulating you on achieving great accomplishment, yet…”
“Do not be too disheartened. This is not because you are lacking, but because I am excessively gifted.”
Dam Jeok-san said lightly as he turned his head away from the dejected pair.
There, Myeong-cheon and Kwon Gi-il were exchanging a reunion decades in the making—though it was mostly Myeong-cheon expressing her delight.
“Would you not agree?”
“That is true.”
Heaven-Dominating Saber replied, barely concealing his discomfort.
Dam Jeok-san’s achievements would be counted among the very few even across all ages.
Reaching the edge of Ultra-Peak at that age was beyond what even the term ‘peerless genius’ could fully describe.
“Indeed. In all of my long life, few have shown achievements comparable to yours.”
Even Man Su-geuk, the current Martial Sovereign Castle Lord, had only crossed the wall of Entering Transformation upon reaching thirty.
And among his predecessors, none had achieved such feats at a younger age.
In Myeong-cheon’s eyes as well, Dam Jeok-san was an enigma beyond comprehension.
“See? Do not lose heart.”
Dam Jeok-san shrugged as if to say, This is who I am, and looked at his subordinates.
“Hahahaha!”
Black Panther Spear was the first to laugh.
“That is right. This is exactly the kind of person you are, Young Master.”
Survive. Absolutely survive and make it back to the Martial Sovereign Castle.
Do not prove loyalty by dying—prove it by living and staying together to the very end.
Dam Jeok-san had told him that once, with utter confidence.
Back when he was not even this strong.
“What does it matter if we cannot help right now? I will grow stronger, no matter what.”
Black Panther Spear slammed the butt of his spear into the ground with a THUD.
The Ultra-Peak Realm felt within arm’s reach.
Yet he knew.
Countless people failed to cross that wall for their entire lives.
‘But I am not one of them.’
He had not been able to say that with certainty while training under Myeong-cheon.
But seeing Dam Jeok-san now, he was certain.
The day he reached Ultra-Peak was not far off.
‘If I follow behind the Young Master.’
If he failed to become even an Ultra-Peak master, he would die.
Instinctively, Jang U-ryang understood that staying at Dam Jeok-san’s side meant living within such a hellscape.
Watching him, Gyeong-un stepped forward with a resolute expression.
“Young Master.”
“Yes, Gyeong-un.”
“I will… protect you.”
He declared, clenching his teeth.
“How will you do that?”
Dam Jeok-san asked playfully, a teasing smile curling at his lips.
“I will grow stronger. Strong enough to stand at your side.”
Gyeong-un answered without the slightest hesitation.
“Do you believe you are insufficient right now?”
At the question, Gyeong-un slowly nodded.
“Yes. If an enemy capable of threatening you appears, I would be of no help at all.”
It was not incorrect.
An enemy capable of threatening Dam Jeok-san would be, at the very least, an Entering Transformation master.
Against such foes, the current Gyeong-un would struggle to withstand even a single exchange.
“But I will not despair. I now know that I can advance.”
He had died hundreds, thousands of times within formations, only to rise again and move forward.
Through that, he realized that the path he walked was not wrong.
That he possessed the talent to find the right path.
And the will to never stop walking it.
Dam Jeok-san, who had gained considerable achievements of his own, gazed at his still-hungry subordinates and fell briefly into thought.
He was to become the Northern Wind Sword Corps Commander.
And direct subordinates of the Commander had to be capable of contending with Corps Commanders at the very least.
“I will set a goal. Two years. Within two years, I will make both of you Ultra-Peak masters. Only then can you be called the direct subordinates of the Northern Wind Sword Corps Commander.”
“…! Northern Wind Sword Corps Commander?”
Surprise flickered across both their faces.
More than the promise of becoming Ultra-Peak masters, the words ‘as the Northern Wind Sword Corps Commander’ struck them far more deeply.
“Yes.”
Dam Jeok-san drew an order document from his robes.
And—
“Oh…?”
Myeong-cheon, who had approached at some point, craned her neck to look at it.
“That is truly the current Castle Lord’s seal.”
She spoke with an admiring tone.
Having remained in the North for centuries, she understood the Martial Sovereign Castle’s power structure perfectly.
Granting the position of Northern Wind Sword Corps Commander to a mere twenty-five-year-old meant the Castle Lord’s favor had already begun to tilt.
If that were the case, no matter how many supported the First Young Master Jeok Yeon-jun, victory was still well within reach.
‘He has achieved what he desired in an instant.’
Suppressing her admiration, Myeong-cheon opened her mouth to tell him what he needed to know.
“But did you know? The final authority over personnel matters in the Northern Branch belongs to the Branch Lord.”
“Ah.”
No matter the Castle Lord’s decree, appointing the Northern Wind Sword Corps Commander ultimately fell under the authority of the Northern Heaven Sword Venerable.
Even if she cherished Dam Jeok-san deeply, she would not fail to exercise her rightful authority.
In fact, precisely because she cared, she would judge him by even stricter standards, leaving no room for dissent.
“This is the first I have heard of it…”
“You are confident, then?”
“No matter who tests me, I will pass.”
Dam Jeok-san stated this without hesitation.
If he had not possessed that confidence, he would never have accepted the position so readily.
However, before long, Dam Jeok-san would come to regret those words.