Namgoong Seolhwa’s brows faintly furrowed.

A trial?

She understood well enough that this being was no human.

She also understood that its cultivation level was so far beyond her that she could not even dare to grasp it.

For that reason, she considered that this proposal might well be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for her.

However—

“No.”

[!]

She had yet to confirm anything—whether the battle with the Fifth Blood Lord had ended, whether the disciples of Mount Hua were safe, whether the Namgoong military forces or Seop Mugwang were alive.

In such a precarious moment, she could not allow herself to be swept away by an unknown entity.

“I do not know what you are, but let me out of here. I have something I must do immediately.”

[If you pass my trial, you may gain something great.]

“I know that too. But if I disappear without a word, there are many who will worry.”

Had it been her former self, she would have leapt into the trial without hesitation.

But the current her could no longer do so.

“I cannot make my people anxious.”

To have people she must protect—

Some might call that a shackle, but for the Seolhwa of now, they were precisely what gave her reason to live.

[So it was you that those who have been making a ruckus in my domain were searching for.]

“!”

They are looking for me?

“Are they people of the Namgoong Clan?”

[Now that I consider it, they do bear the aura of the Azure Sky. One of them is quite formidable—perhaps around the Flowing Realm?]

It was Grandfather.

If Namgoong Mucheon was searching for her, it meant the battle with the Fifth Blood Lord had ended.

That Namgoong Mucheon was unharmed meant the battle had ended well.

‘Good. It’s over safely.’

[Do not concern yourself with them. One who dislikes noise has gone to them. He said to let them know you are safe while he is there.]

“...”

[Now that there is nothing in your way, I shall ask you once more. Take my trial. You, who seek strength, should not find this a poor proposal.]

“!”

[I watched the battle that unfolded within my domain. It has been a long time since I saw one wielding blood energy. It was rather intriguing.]

“You... know about that power?”

[If you wish to hear my answer, take the trial.]

“...”

The vast being was cooperative, yet revealed nothing beyond a certain limit.

It displayed curiosity—but not trust toward Seolhwa.

Seolhwa hesitated.

The battle with the Fifth Blood Lord was over.

And the being had said it would inform her grandfather that she was safe—should that not be enough?

[I do not offer this kind of opportunity to just anyone. In several thousand years, the number of humans who have stirred my interest could be counted on one hand.]

“...”

[The moment you leave this domain, you shall never see me again.]

A spirit beast? Or perhaps a divine creature?

If it possessed a spirit capable of communicating with humans, then it must have existed for an incredibly long time.

‘Strength...’

That was what stirred Seolhwa’s heart.

Through the events at Mount Hua, Seolhwa had come to realize something.

‘Simply preparing for what will happen is not enough.’

Raising the strength of the Namgoong Clan, preventing Mount Hua’s self-destruction—all of it was meant to prepare for the war with the Blood Demon Cult that would erupt in a few years.

She had laid the groundwork so that the righteous sects would not collapse easily in the war and suffer devastating losses.

Along the way, she had happened to kill the Sixth Blood Lord, and had now weakened the Fifth Blood Lord’s forces as well.

Having gone through it all, she now understood.

Simply fortifying from within was not enough.

‘I must counterattack—from this moment forward.’

She had to take the initiative to prevent the Blood Demon Cult’s expansion.

Just as the cult infiltrated the righteous martial world to undermine it from within, she would now begin to target and shake the very foundation of the cult by drawing in those who might otherwise form its core.

The ones who formed the foundation of the Blood Demon Cult as it emerged into the martial world—

‘The Black Path.’

The unorthodox sects.

Before the righteous sects could be toppled, those sects had spread the name of the Blood Demon Cult and laid the groundwork for its expansion.

‘The large and small Black Path factions, Suro Stronghold, the Green Forest, and the Hao Clan.’

Though, on the surface, the White Path sects seemed to uphold the order of the martial world, one could not ignore the influence of the Black Path forces.

The Blood Demon had seen this keenly and expanded its power through them.

In this life, that must be prevented at all costs.

‘If I want to keep the Black Path forces from being absorbed by the Blood Demon Cult...’

“Can you truly give me power?”

[Of course.]

“Can I become stronger than I am now?”

[Do you consider yourself strong?]

No.

She was not strong.

No matter how often she was called a monster, it was only “for a thirteen-year-old.”

As she was now, she was just a weak child who did not even qualify to stand among the top hundred martial artists.

‘If I want to defeat the Blood Demon...’

She had to become stronger.

Even if others saw her as strange—she had to become stronger, and faster.

‘Only then can I protect everyone.’

In that sense, the proposal of this being who claimed it would make her stronger was indeed a stroke of fate for Seolhwa.

She did not know what awaited at the end of this trial.

But she nodded.

“Very well. Fine. What must I do?”

[A wise choice.]

At that moment, a field covered in a blue sky spread before Seolhwa’s eyes.

Somewhere, the sound of a child’s bright laughter echoed.

She turned toward the sound, then looked back—and before her eyes now stood a grand estate.

[This is your inner world.]

Seolhwa immediately recognized the vast manor.

It was her home—the Namgoong Clan.

[You must face your essence. That is my trial.]

****

Tap—Tatadat—

As Namgoong Mucheon scoured every corner of Mount Hua in search of Seolhwa’s traces, he suddenly stopped walking.

He gazed toward a certain spot.

In the blink of an eye, someone appeared there.

Namgoong Mucheon’s lips parted slightly, then closed.

He clasped his fists in greeting toward the man standing before him.

The man received Namgoong Mucheon’s salute with his hands clasped behind his back, but did not return the bow.

“It has been a long time, Heavenly Dragon Sword Emperor.”

“It is truly an honor to see you again. Were you here, Guyangdo, Honored Senior? We have not heard word of you for so long.”

“I have been here for quite some time now. The world grew noisy, so I went into hiding. You, too, have grown old.”

“...”

“Are you looking for your granddaughter?”

“!”

Namgoong Mucheon looked at Guyangdo with eyes wide in surprise.

He already knew that Mucheon was searching for his granddaughter.

“Do you know where my granddaughter is?”

“Your granddaughter is well. It seems she caught his eye.”

“By ‘him,’ you mean...?”

“The master of this mountain.”

“!”

“I am but a guest. But he—he has spent countless ages on this mountain. He is its master in truth.”

The... master of Mount Hua?

Guyangdo had been known as one of the most distinguished sword-wielders under heaven even decades before Namgoong Mucheon earned his place among the Ten Great Masters.

Then, one day, he had vanished entirely. His whereabouts unknown, the martial world had declared him dead.

To see such a man reappear now, stronger than ever—and on top of that, to hear him speak of yet another being he acknowledges as a master?

“My granddaughter has encountered a stroke of fate.”

“Whether it becomes a stroke of fortune or not depends on your granddaughter.”

“...”

Though Guyangdo was famous as a wandering swordsman bound to no school or code, Namgoong Mucheon remembered him as a man of deep chivalric virtue.

If such a man said she was well, then it could not be a dangerous situation.

Namgoong Mucheon offered him a second formal bow.

“I /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ entrust my granddaughter to your care, Honored Senior.”

“I am not the one behind this stroke of fate.”

“But even seeing her at all—Honored Senior, that alone is a blessing. It may be shameless of me to ask, but please—watch over her, so she may return safely.”

Guyangdo gave no reply.

But Namgoong Mucheon knew that his request would be honored.

“I shall take my leave now.”

Namgoong Mucheon, having maintained courtesy to the end, turned to go.

“There is always another sky above the sky.”

“...”

“Do not forget that.”

Namgoong Mucheon gave a final, short bow.

When he raised his head—Guyangdo had already vanished.

****

Crunch.

Seolhwa stepped beyond the great gate.

The gate was so massive that she had to crane her head fully to read the plaque above it, and even then, it felt even larger than she remembered.

It was not just the gate.

The pavilions towered around her, and the paths of the manor stretched wide as oceans.

As though she had become small—

‘I have become small, haven’t I?’

Seolhwa looked down at her own hand.

It had never been large, but now it was even smaller—clearly the hand of a very young child.

She glanced around, searching for a surface where she could see her reflection.

At last, she came face to face with her own appearance.

A child who looked no older than four or five.

‘I returned to being thirteen, and now I’ve gone back even further.’

Why does this keep taking me into the past?

It was strange.

She was still absentmindedly squishing her own chubby, squishy cheeks when—

“Seolhwa!”

A familiar voice made Seolhwa whip her head around.

Someone was running toward her from afar—someone whose figure she knew well.

Her father, Namgoong Cheongun.

And behind him... there was a woman.