The Ghost Spirit Master stared silently at the late-night visitor.
As the master of the Ghost Gate, having navigated mountains of blades and forests of swords, he had experienced many intruders.
They were of various kinds.
Some were full of spirit, some were meticulous, some were skilled fighters, and some were masters of cunning schemes.
Occasionally, there was one who was spirited, meticulous, a good fighter, and skilled in trickery.
Of course, even they could not leave this manor alive.
But the man before him was different from all the intruders he had faced until now.
Looking into those weary eyes that seemed to have tasted all the spicy and bitter flavors of life, only one thought came to mind.
'Damn it, is today the day I die?'
The Ghost Spirit Master, trying hard to hide his anxiety, asked calmly, "Have we met before?"
"No."
The man's voice was low and truly pleasant to the ear.
"Then for what business have you come at this late hour?"
He prayed that the pleasant voice would not say, 'It's a good day to die, you ghost-like cur.'
"I came with a request."
The Ghost Spirit Master, feeling as if he had just been pushed to the gates of hell and back, felt a sense of relief and asked, "Speak."
Then, a request more astonishing than any he had ever heard in his life flowed from the man's lips.
"Send me to the past."
A moment of silence passed.
The Ghost Spirit Master, gazing at his counterpart with a subtle look, asked quietly, "How can a mortal go against the flow of time?"
"I wouldn't know. You, the only one in this world who can perform the Great Regression Art, would have to tell me."
The Ghost Spirit Master did not deny it. "How did you know I could perform it?"
The Great Regression Art was a secret technique passed down only within his family.
"Seo Jin."
At the sound of that nostalgic name, the Ghost Spirit Master was overcome with emotion. "How do you know my younger sister?"
"We were companions during my wandering days."
"Where is she now?"
"She is dead."
"Ah!"
The Ghost Spirit Master let out a deep sigh.
The Great Regression Art had been researched and passed down in his family for hundreds of years.
It was incomplete even in his father's generation, so he and his younger sister had worked to help their father complete the Great Regression Art since they were young.
And ten years ago, his sister, saying she could not bear it any longer, left the family, practically running away in the middle of the night.
The Ghost Spirit Master understood her.
In the name of the family's great work, she had dedicated her entire twenties, the prime of her life, to research.
"How did Jin die?"
"I have taken her revenge, so you need not worry. Before she died, she asked me to deliver this message to you. That she lived a life with no regrets. She hoped her brother would do the same. She said not to live a life only researching the Great Art, but to live your own life."
The Ghost Spirit Master was lost in deep regret.
The man waited until he had composed himself before asking the most important question of the day.
"Have you completed the Great Art?"
The Ghost Spirit Master slowly nodded.
"Yes. In my generation, I have finally completed the Great Art."
For a moment, joy flickered across the man's face.
When he smiled brightly, it became clear that the man was quite a handsome and charming fellow.
"To when can I return?"
"That cannot be set. You could go back ten years, or thirty. You could go back to being a baby, and if you're unlucky, you might only go back to yesterday."
"I'm on the lucky side, so I won't worry."
"You think you can go back right away."
A bitter expression crossed the Ghost Spirit Master's face.
"The Great Art is impossible. If it were possible, I would have already gone back myself."
"Did you not say you completed the Great Art?"
"I have not been able to acquire all the necessary ingredients for the Great Art."
"I will acquire the ingredients."
"I told you it's impossible."
"Tell me."
"Of the ninety-nine ingredients needed for the Great Art, there are five I could never obtain. Even the first one is absolutely unobtainable. Have you heard of the Thunder Bell?"
"The divine relic of the Wind Heaven Sect?"
"That's right. That very thing."
The Wind Heaven Sect was the successor to the Blood Sect and was the most powerful force in the Outlands.
"To perform the Great Regression Art, the sound waves produced when the Thunder Bell rings are needed. But that Thunder Bell is a treasure of the Wind Heaven Sect, placed behind the Cult Master's throne. Can you still claim you can retrieve it?"
The Ghost Spirit Master couldn't even bring himself to ask to borrow the Thunder Bell.
If he did, his family would be annihilated by the hands of that foul-tempered Wind Heaven Sect Leader.
"I will bring it."
With that firm answer, the man turned and left without giving him a chance to stop him.
"Is he mad?"
That was what the Ghost Spirit Master thought at the time, while regretting not asking more about his sister.
The man returned several years later.
One night, while suffering from insomnia, he who had vanished like a midsummer night's dream appeared before the Ghost Spirit Master again.
He was carrying the large Thunder Bell on his back.
The evil spirits carved on the bell seemed even more hideous, as if angered by the long journey from the Outlands to this place.
"Would you like to strike it once?"
The Ghost Spirit Master, with eyes wide open, examined the Thunder Bell over and over again.
"How can this be! Ugh! How can this be!"
It was hard to believe, but this was a genuine Thunder Bell, faintly radiating the Blood Qi of the Blood Sect.
"You madman! How on earth did you get this?"
"I am a man who does what he says he will do. What is the next ingredient?"
The man's plain yet confident gaze showed that his previous boast was no empty talk.
'He is no ordinary person.'
But soon, the Ghost Spirit Master sighed.
"Though you may have been lucky enough to bring the divine relic of the Wind Heaven Sect, you will not be able to obtain the next ingredient."
"What is it?"
"It is the Divine Mystery Incense Burner, a divine relic of the New Dragon Clan. The Great Art requires the incense that rises from the Divine Mystery Incense Burner."
The New Dragon Clan.
A family that had risen to prominence after the Martial Alliance sealed its gates, it was the symbol of the new Righteous Path and possessed the greatest power.
It was known to be stronger than the Wind Heaven Sect.
"Understood. I will hear of the third ingredient after I bring the incense burner."
"You're leaving the Thunder Bell with me? What will you do if I run off with it?"
"I'll inform the Wind Heaven Sect. That you ran off with the bell."
Leaving behind the words, 'try me if you dare,' the man hurriedly left.
And again, the years flowed by.
'Will he really bring it this year?'
It was a doubt that arose with each passing year.
One autumn, after that doubt had repeated five or six times, the man returned with the Divine Mystery Incense Burner.
"You really brought it!"
The Ghost Spirit Master could not believe it, even as he saw the Divine Mystery Incense Burner with his own eyes.
"How on earth were you able to bring it?"
"If I were to write it all down, it would fill five or six books."
"Tell me. I would read ten volumes. I'm curious!"
"There's no time for that."
What was it that made this man turn the impossible into the possible? With such abilities, he could live well in this life too.
And yet, he was so desperate to go back.
"Is the reason you want to go back for revenge?"
"Yes."
"With your skills, you should be able to get revenge in this life."
"It's impossible."
"Who on earth is your enemy?"
A single name flowed from the man's lips.
"Hwa Mugi."
"Gasp!"
That name made a gasp escape the Ghost Spirit Master's lips.
Hwa Mugi.
He had two titles.
The first was Three Seals.
A title that would suit a knowledgeable old scholar well-versed in academics or arts.
But his 'Seal' was not the character for a peak.
Nor was it the character for offering.
Hwa Mugi's 'Seal' was the character for sealing.
Seal of the Righteous Path Martial Alliance.
Seal of the Unorthodox Path Alliance.
Seal of the Heavenly Demon Divine Sect.
The leaders of the three strongest forces supporting the Martial World had all died at his hands.
The Martial Alliance Leader was dead, the Unorthodox Alliance Leader was dead, and the Heavenly Demon was dead.
Their families and the masters who did not surrender were all killed as well.
That is why his second title is the Greatest of All Time.
Hwa Mugi, the Greatest of All Time.
The absolute ruler of this era.
After sealing the three factions, Hwa Mugi declared his home the Number One Alliance Under Heaven, and thousands of masters who revered him gathered there.
People called him the Immortal Martial God for unifying the Martial World.
"Good heavens! He's an opponent you couldn't beat even if you regressed!"
"I will kill him, no matter what."
"How? He's the greatest martial arts genius in the history of the Martial World."
"I also grew up hearing I was a genius."
"He has a Heavenly Martial Body, a gift from the heavens!"
"I, too, have a Heavenly Martial Body."
"What? Who are you?"
"The Heavenly Demon who was killed by that bastard was my father."
"!"
The Ghost Spirit Master was greatly shocked by the man's words.
He had never dreamed that he was the son of the deceased Heavenly Demon.
Now, he understood the feats the man had accomplished.
He knew he was no ordinary person, but he never imagined his identity was this significant.
"Then how did you survive?"
The man then loosened his clothes.
The scar left on his chest was so fatal that it made the Ghost Spirit Master exclaim, 'Good grief, are you not a ghost?'
"When I opened my eyes, I was in a pile of corpses. I crawled out of there just before being buried alive."
"So that's what happened."
"The reason I cannot forgive Hwa Mugi is not because he tried to kill me. Nor is it because he killed my father, nor because he killed my cunning-as-can-be brother. What's the big deal about being killed by someone when you've lived a life marked by the Demonic Path?"
"Then?"
"That day, Hwa Mugi killed all the maids and chefs who didn't know martial arts, and even the young children. He even killed the dogs and cats they were raising. He exterminated every living thing in sight."
"Lies! I can't believe it."
"Whether you believe it or not is none of my business."
The Ghost Spirit Master could feel that the man's words were true.
The man he had seen so far was not one to lie about such matters.
"What kind of person he is no longer matters. In reality, he might be a great hero with a grand purpose. Some might applaud him for having uprooted the Demonic Sect. But to me, Hwa Mugi is nothing but the enemy who killed my family and a cold-blooded man without a shred of mercy. No matter how I think about it, I cannot kill him in this era, so I must go back and kill him. Before I kill him, I have to ask him. You, who are so strong, did you really have to kill even the children?"
The Ghost Spirit Master stared at the man with a dazed expression.
He had never dreamt that the man had such a story.
The man placed a hand on his chest.
"That day, my guard died with a hole here, trying to protect me. A friend who never even married, let alone made a proper friend. Because he was protecting me day and night. Now, stop wasting my precious time and tell me. What is the third ingredient?"
"You are truly…"
"I'm a busy man. So, the next ingredient!"
The Ghost Spirit Master let out the deepest sigh since meeting the man.
"No matter how capable you are, this time you won't be able to get it."
"What is it?"
"The inner core of a Ten-Thousand-Year Fire Carp. The last recorded discovery of a Ten-Thousand-Year Fire Carp was three hundred years ago. It might not even exist in this world anymore."
"What a goddamn Great Art. Should I just cut you down right here and now?"
"Please, bear with me."
"I have to. Look how far I've come. Wait for me. This time, it might take quite a while."
"Hey! Do you think a Ten-Thousand-Year Fire Carp will just bite if you cast a fishing rod?"
"A Ten-Thousand-Year Fire Carp is still a carp, isn't it? It must be in the water somewhere in this world. Wait for me. I will surely bring it back."
Watching his back as he walked toward the impossible, the Ghost Spirit Master thought that stories about his sister or the man's name, which he still did not know, were not that important.