Cheon Miryo—
Like many other warriors of the Demonic Sect, there was a time when she only devoted herself to the martial arts.
She did not enjoy being in a fight, but she had to avoid being identified. The Demonic Sect, it was a place where freedom, power, and even your life would be taken from you if you were not strong.
After reaching Supreme Demon, there was a moment when she ran into the wall. Climbing to the top was slow, and with age, muscles, strength, and even patience would decline.
And so, very naturally, she chose to end up leaving her current life and concentrate on training for her own growth. When she finally reached the last wall—
I will die now.
But what awaited her was pure and clear frustration.
Profound Demon—
A wall that only those who reached the end of Supreme Demon could overcome with natural talent and luck.
It was tough, and Cheon Miryo admitted that she was one of the many who could not cross the wall.
Even snakes were known to grow. Because it was a creature which turned into a dragon in the end. However, at some point, if it no longer shed its old skin, it would eventually die.
And acknowledging it made her feel better. Slowly declining, she tried to organize her life.
“Do you have plans to take on more challenges?”
One day, this old man came for her, and he introduced himself as a mere farmer and even though he looked old, he had this benevolent look in his eyes.
Cheon Miryo refused at first.
It was because she did not want to be swayed by false hope again in a situation where she barely made up her mind.
When one tried hard, nothing was impossible, but when she felt that, she tried even harder.
“I know that too. That I don’t have martial arts like you. I would still recommend it though. Do you not want to experience the world which I see?”
“…”
Even when she thought about it, she could not figure out why she felt so shaken at those words. She could only guess that it was fate or that there was a spirit saying she could improve.
Come to think of it, she was a warrior. And the desire to rise was pretty common.
“Because seeing a thousand miles far doesn’t mean it is because of strong martial arts alone.”
“…Let us try it. just once.”
She was taught by this old man who claimed to not be a warrior. The old man’s way was not that difficult. It was to refine your thoughts and lead yourself to calmness.
“Let the time pass with infinite calmness. Make an ice wall that never melts within yourself.”
Unlike an active volcano, it was different from Demonic Sect’s internal qi, which would explode at any time. Rather it was this mental technique of internal cultivation based on the Justice Faction.
However, such mind training seemed perfect for Cheon Miryo. In the first place, it must have been because it was an ice art which controlled the self and had limitless coldness in the body.
Like that, the endless silence fell. A time when complete immersion in the state of stillness, quieter than coldness began to flow.
At some point she woke up, and like a chick in an egg which woke up on its own without anything teaching it — Cheon Miryo still remembered that day.
As if the strong force had passed away, this rain water began to trickle down on the eaves. Beneath it, an old man with his back bent was sitting there, looking at the rice fields.
“Awake?”
It was a normal outfit, but even in the middle of the day, there was a lot of energy in his eyes. Cheon Miryo was surprised to see the unchanging gaze of the old man and to see the clothes he had on, had aged a bit.
“Master…”
For the first time she called him master. And she realized it—
She crossed the wall. The internal energy and the blood meridians which were blocked at the limit around her body began to circulate and the internal energy which pervaded everything in the world flowed through her naturally.
Taking off the skin which she thought she could never take off, and now the line of death seemed so far.
“For now, we handled it.”
“…Uh?”
“A bird which hatches from an egg has to learn to take care of itself. If you don’t hide yourself then an eagle will come and bite into you.”
Cheon Miryo was puzzled but for now she decided to follow. The pride and sense of achievement of reaching Profound Demon — She couldn’t calm herself.
“Look. At the sky there.”
Did a moment of time change night and day?
The night sky the old man pointed to.
While looking at the shining stars, Cheon Miryo was wide eyed.
“…North Star?”
The center of the sky. The star which is said to be one had now grown to three, and they were shining bright.
“As you see, there are three now. It is a scene where the time and space has changed. Someone died and then came back.”
“How… what strange thing is this?”
“Wel, I have a couple guesses, but I am not too sure. We should watch a bit more.”
Like that, Cheon Miryo lived with the old man for a while, and it was known that she was not a normal person.
Although he had not mastered any martial arts, he was still well aware, and more skilled than most martial arts warriors.
Even she, who had now stepped over the wall of Supreme Demon, had reached the level of fear of missing her master’s presence.
“…The time is repeating itself now. When you get stuck in the bridle of life, your destiny gets fixed and you don’t even know it happened cause it just flows.”
At first, even Cheon Miryo did not know what her master was saying. But after spending a few days like that, she saw many people passing by to get food and wages.
And they were looking at the night sky and not noticing anything unclear, they were just passing around.
“How… don’t they all notice?”
The day when North Star, which should have been one, had increased to seven, and it felt so bizarre that she checked her eyes twice. But no one else knew and no one saw.
“A chick in an eggshell will not know of the world.”
“And then I… how do I look?”
“Aren’t you already out?”
“Uh? Out… Ah!”
She realized that her master was talking about Profound Demon.
In the Justice Faction, it was known as Profound Master — A state of being in harmony with nature. It was possible because he had already created a small universe inside himself.
Because your own time and space has been completed, the time flow of the world — When it mutates to odd energies, you can observe.
Cheon Miryo seemed to be aware of such a trend. The words of her master were certainly easy to say, but the flow contained in them was too esoteric.
So there were many cases where she had to think twice or three times before she could barely understand.
“The Heavenly Demon is dead. The Demonic Sect has changed.”
In the midst of that, there was a day when the master sighed while looking at the night sky.
“This is the start of confusion. The most — A strong being killed the Heavenly Demon of the sect and has put his own person in that position. From now, he will start to shake the time and space of many people.”
“…”
“But this changes nothing. No matter how absolute he is, he cannot go against the order of the heavens. Countless times are being repeated in this reverse, and in the end, he will surely see this unexpected and unusual person.”
Swish
The old man looked at Cheon Miryo and said with a gloomy look,
“Sometimes you need to fight the person who rules the world. Because that will be to save the people who are in pain over time and fate.”
“Disciple… is it possible?”
“If you are alone it would be lacking. As mentioned earlier, time gathers and the flow takes its turns. The gathered beings will all appear. And one will definitely come to you.”
Those words were so clear. The meaning was very simple. And that was why Cheon Miryo asked the question for the first time.
“Master… what kind of person are you?”
“…Just a person who reads a couple books.”
There was this moment of thought before he spoke, but then he smiled.
He was from the Demonic Sect, but after reading the Book of Lord, he devoted his entire life to polish his mind and gain even the smallest enlightenment.
However, Cheon Miryo could vaguely guess that such a small realization would be at least the level of a beginner.
“Wouldn’t it be easier if Master stepped ahead though?”
“…Unfortunately, it isn’t for me. You make the decision. I am not bound by time, so I don’t have the qualifications for it.”
Only those who have suffered the most and who have been forced the most are qualified. The words of her master were always so vague. And so she just remembered that.
“Anyone who can even change the sky of the Demonic Sect and shake the time of the world… isn’t it like an absolute God? Why would such a person…”
“No matter how high a mountain is, it is still under the sky.”
The master often used metaphors.
It was amazing but hard to understand too. Right now, these words also felt the same.
“From a human point of view, it would look infinitely good and high. However, he isn’t a God after all, if he realized there was a god there would be a person like me in here.”
“…In this Disciplie’s eye, Master is no different from a God.”
“Didn’t you say it? Everything is small under the sky.”
Master laughed at that. It was not strange to enter the realm of nature, and this person had the power to overcome demons only through enlightenment with just that.
The one who raised Cheon Miryo, who lived through her entire life as a warrior, to help her with her deficiencies, and reach profound Demon.
It was not strange even if someone called him the absolute being. Her master smiled.
“There is no such thing as an absolute. The absolute isn’t really absolute. Do not forget that.”
That day he was particularly humble. And it was quiet.
“Huh, I don’t know if he is carefree or just lost it.”
“…”
At the sudden voice, Cheon Miryo was back to reality.
The face of the Heavenly Demon. It was her first time seeing him in person, a figure placed by this so-called absolute being who was hiding his identity. They finally saw the puppet who killed the actual sect leader and pretended to be the leader.
“I truly cannot believe this. The one who is out of the law. This kind of thing to exist in the world.”
“…”
And it seems that Cheon Miryo was not the only one confused.
The Heavenly Demon also had these confused emotions on his face at the sight of her.
“Outside the law.”
And the words of his made her shake her head. In the end if her Master’s words were right, if he, the puppet did not even know of this absolute existence beyond.
“Normally I was within the law itself.”
“…Where? What do you even mean?”
“A fish that can swim out of the water can escape the cycle. Time and flow. Because it cannot be absolutely controlled.”
“…What!?”
Confusion was added to the expression of the Heavenly Demon. Clearly, he seemed completely unable to understand the situation. Then, slowly, he seemed to be thinking about something.
“And so… are you saying that you yourself deceived the absolute, the system?”
“Sounds something like it.”
Cheon Miryo did not understand the word “system,” but she could understand that they had the same thought.
“Hehehe. Why?”
“To eliminate the one who will throw the world into chaos.”
“Chaos to the world? Who do you refer to?”
“The person who allowed you to kill the Heavenly Demon of the Sect. The darkness which appears only after you die.”
“…!”
In an instant his eyes widened. It was like someone had just spoken of his darkest secret.
“And your purpose? Why are you turning back time at your will?”
“…”
“Manipulating the world as you please and twisting the fate of others. Is there something you still lack?”
At her question, the Heavenly Demon has this strange look. His expression showed how far this woman knew and what she was thinking.
“This is truly fun. A person who isn’t a player can look into the system and its situations.”
“…”
“Right, you must have been hiding your whole life because of this curiosity, so I will kindly inform you out of respect and patience.”
Heavenly Demon looked around for a moment and then opened his mouth.
“I don’t know where it began, the motive, or the reason. Should I say that it was all in the game for the absolute? He, who has already touched the end, wanted to understand the humans a bit more.”
“…”
“Human beings have to make important decisions and changes every hour in their lives. It changes their lives and the lives of others. What is a life without any regret? It is the ultimate question,”
Said the Heavenly Demon.
“That is why it was done. Should we call it as a human group experiment? That is life.”
“That is a lie. That.”
“…?”
“Because you want to know humans? Then, what is the reason for watching the warriors who have gone through the Profound Demon with his eyes just to stop them?”
Right, the words of test and play were all lies. It was because you constantly repeated life and then acted like you were getting rid of things when they get strong.
“It is hard for you to understand that… Ohh.”
Wooong!
While the Heavenly Demon was about to say something. This strong feeling arose from a far place and this made him grin.
“All happening right according to the plan.”
“You, did you… the Fourth Disciple…?”
“It is a little difficult with everything around. So we had to split you all up.”
The Heavenly Demon had time to spare and continued their conversation.
“Right, as you said, stepping on the Profound Demon level made the absolute a bit wary of things. He wants to see the human realm. But he didn’t want the humans to go beyond their abilities.”
“Seol-Hwi… he isn’t someone to measure your standards.”
“Hehehe. Really? Do you know where he is now?”
“…”
His question made her frown.
They must have surely thought of him too. And that is why, they were the first targets.
“Do you know what he means?”
“How will I know?”
The gazes of Cho Ah-ran and Ack Bi looked around. What was happening? What was this conversation? About time and repeating lives, it all felt too much.
“Right.”
The Heavenly Demon glanced around and all of them retreated to the side.
“Looks like we could have a nice talk but unfortunately I don’t have much time.”
“You think you cannot win if you go against Seol-Hwi. That is how sacred you are.”
“I do not care what you think of. Now.”
He waved his hand, and it slowly looked like the world had stopped.
The martial arts of controlling the time and stopping everything.
“My job is to take your life. Because we need to keep the balance of this world.”
