Heartless time flowed on without restraint.
The world still belonged to Hwa Mugi.
Rumor had it that Hwa Mugi had grown even stronger.
He walked the path toward the ultimate state of martial arts through endless training.
Ruling the Number One Alliance Under Heaven were twelve peerless masters among his followers.
The world called them the Twelve Zodiac Kings.
Although the absolute one had unified the Martial World, life did not improve for the people.
All sorts of injustices ran rampant in connection with the Twelve Zodiac Kings.
Gaining their favor brought fame, while defying them meant losing one's life.
Life had become even harsher than in the days when the Righteous, Demonic, and Unorthodox Sects were divided.
Meanwhile, the Martial Alliance, the Unorthodox Alliance, and the Demon Sect still could not lift their seals.
Everyone said that as long as Hwa Mugi was alive, they would never be able to lift their seals.
Just when it was thought he must have died in some nameless valley, the man returned.
When they first met, the man had been in the prime of his youth, but now he was a middle-aged man with graying hair at his temples.
The man exuded an incomparably more mature aura than before.
He had changed.
His face and body were tanned as if he had roamed the entire world, and he had several new scars.
He had changed frighteningly, but his gaze—cold yet clear, simple yet deep—was the same as when he had first come to see him.
"Here, this is the inner core of a Ten-Thousand-Year Fire Carp."
Inside the box he held out was indeed the inner core of a Ten-Thousand-Year Fire Carp.
"It really existed!"
The Ghost Spirit Master's voice trembled.
"How on earth did you obtain it?"
"I searched every place it could possibly be. I can confidently say I'm a peerless master of mountain climbing, swimming, diving, and camping. I could probably draw a map of the Central Plains with my eyes closed."
"Truly remarkable."
"What's remarkable isn't that I obtained it, but that I didn't go mad in the process."
The Ghost Spirit Master had a sudden thought.
Perhaps this wasn't the inner core of a Ten-Thousand-Year Fire Carp, but the man's will itself.
As he was lost in the strange fantasy of a sky-blue will flowing from the man's body to form the inner core, the man urged him again.
"Now, what's the next ingredient?"
"Aren't you eager to boast?"
What grand tales of adventure must there be from obtaining the previous ingredients? If it were him, he wouldn't have been able to resist bragging about his success to anyone.
"I'll do all my boasting later, to his corpse after I've killed him. I'll say it again and again, turn him into a mummy, and boast for the rest of my life. About how you killed yourself..."
"It's strange to hear you make such a joke."
The Ghost Spirit Master wanted to laugh and chat with this man, talking about the Martial World and life.
But the man, as always, was in a hurry.
"Now, what is the fourth ingredient?"
"Money."
At the unexpected answer, the man asked.
"How much do you need?"
"Five million Nyang."
It was an unimaginable sum of money, but the man's reaction was unwavering.
"I'll be back."
The Ghost Spirit Master knew that even if he had said a hundred million Nyang, or a billion Nyang, this man would have stood up and said he would be back.
But this man was one who would silently stride toward his goal.
The Ghost Spirit Master was witnessing the extreme example of how fearsome a person's will could become when they were truly pushed to the edge.
"Wait a moment."
"Why?"
"I will provide the money. My family has been saving money for generations for this Great Regression Art. I will use that money."
"The reason?"
"Because succeeding with the Great Regression Art is also a long-cherished wish of mine and my family."
"Good. Thank you, thank you very much. This will save a lot of time."
The man was truly delighted.
"So, will you have a drink with me for today?"
"I'll have just one drink and then I'll leave."
"What a heartless friend."
He brought out wine, and they sat side by side on a rock in the yard, pouring it into large cups to drink.
The two men savored the wine slowly.
"When we first met, both you and I were full of vigor."
"My body is aging, but my heart is the same. I'm desperately trying to live youthfully."
"Why make such an effort?"
"Because I will return to the me of my youth. Whether I return at fifty, sixty, or a hundred, I am the same person who came to see you back then. My time stopped that day."
If he had heard these words when they first met, he would have thought, 'The effort is commendable, but is it even possible?' But now, he knew better than anyone how formidable the man's willpower was.
"If the Great Regression Art truly succeeds, and you are able to return to the past, may I ask a favor of you?"
"Speak."
"If you return to the past, please make sure to find me."
"And then?"
The Ghost Spirit Master let out a long sigh and said.
"Stop my marriage."
At the unexpected request, the man burst out laughing.
"Hahaha."
It was the first time the man had laughed since they met.
"I'm not joking. Please, you must stop it."
"Is that more important than five million Nyang?"
"To me, it is more important. Just tell me to live my whole life alone. Please do that."
"I understand."
The Ghost Spirit Master told him the year he got married and pleaded again.
"Promise me. That you will definitely stop it."
"I promise."
The two men finished the rest of the wine.
"What is the final ingredient?"
"It's something you know as well."
"What is it?"
"Demon Soul Essence."
Knowing what it was, the man's gaze darkened.
"It's the divine relic of your late father."
"I know. My father never let it leave his side for a moment."
"Do you have it?"
The man shook his head.
"Do you know where it is?"
"I don't know."
"What if, by some chance, Hwa Mugi has it?"
"Then all these years will have been for nothing. Fortunately, even if it remains at the Main Sect, it won't be easy to obtain."
Currently, the Demon Sect was sealed, led by a new Cult Master.
Although they couldn't lift the seal due to Hwa Mugi's power, the Demon Sect had spent the past years building its strength and solidifying its foundation.
They would hardly welcome him, the son of the previous Cult Master.
Rather, the new Cult Master would try to kill him upon his reappearance, thinking he was dead.
"Still, let's hope it's at the Main Sect."
"Don't take too long. I'm old now."
"Do not die before I return. Thank you for the wine."
Downing the last of his wine, the man departed.
The Ghost Spirit Master stood there for a very long time, watching the man disappear into the distance.
The man who left did not return.
There was no news of any incident at the Demon Sect.
Still, he always kept his ears open.
Years flowed by, and now the Ghost Spirit Master had also aged, the flowers of the underworld blooming on his face.
Today, too, he sat blankly on the wooden porch, staring at the spot where the man always stood.
Then, the Ghost Spirit Master rubbed his eyes as if he were seeing a phantom.
He saw someone staggering towards him.
It was him, the man.
The man who had left to find the final ingredient had returned.
He was so changed.
His face was severely disfigured, making him look like a different person, and he had lost his right eye and left arm.
His body, which seemed as if it would be covered in scars if he removed his clothes, was soaked in blood.
At this sight, the Ghost Spirit Master was at a loss for words.
After handing over the Demon Soul Essence, the man collapsed where he stood.
"You... How on earth did you manage to get the Demon Soul Essence?"
"... Let's go to the place where we can perform the Great Regression Art."
He didn't even have the strength to answer.
The Ghost Spirit Master supported him and went to the space where the art was to be performed.
All preparations were complete there.
The final ingredient, awaited for so long.
The Ghost Spirit Master took the Demon Soul Essence and placed it in the center.
Then, like the final touch on a dragon's eye, the Demon Soul Essence shone brightly, and all sorts of strange drawings and characters began to appear around it.
The Ghost Spirit Master stood before it and began to chant an incantation.
Blue and red light began to envelop the surroundings.
The Thunder Bell rang, and incense rose from the Divine Mystery Incense Burner.
The moment the Ghost Spirit Master's chant reached its peak, the main ingredients merged into one, and a shimmering halo of light appeared.
It looked like an entrance to somewhere.
"We did it!"
The Ghost Spirit Master's face overflowed with emotion.
It was the moment he fulfilled his family's wish, passed down for hundreds of years.
The Ghost Spirit Master approached the man leaning against a pillar.
Was it because he had lost so much blood? He was unconscious.
Instead of waking and helping him, the Ghost Spirit Master said softly.
"... I'm sorry."
He had decided to return to the past himself.
"I'm truly sorry."
He felt even more sorry because he knew well how hard this man had worked to obtain the ingredients.
But these ingredients were things that could never be obtained again.
"I will surely find you and tell you of the troubles to come. I promise."
The Ghost Spirit Master stood up and turned toward the halo of light.
"Returning to the past was my family's lifelong wish. It was my wish, too."
Just as he was about to walk toward the halo of light.
"Ugh."
The Ghost Spirit Master flinched and stopped in his tracks.
His paralyzing point had been struck.
He didn't even know when it had happened.
A languid voice came from behind.
"How could you do this?"
The man he thought had been unconscious stood up.
"Hey."
The Ghost Spirit Master's voice trembled.
The man staggered over and stopped in front of the Ghost Spirit Master.
"You of all people... how could you do this!"
The man grabbed the Ghost Spirit Master's neck.
The old and frail neck of the Ghost Spirit Master felt like it would snap at any moment.
"... I must have lost my mind. Sob, I'm sorry. I'm truly sorry."
The Ghost Spirit Master thought the man would kill him.
Yes, he of all people shouldn't have done it.
Because only he knew how hard the man had worked to prepare the ingredients for this great art.
Then, the man released his grip on the Ghost Spirit Master's neck.
"I'm a selfish person, too. I was able to gather all those ingredients because I only think of myself. So it's okay. If it had been anyone else, I would have struck them dead with a single palm, but I understand you."
The man didn't rebuke the Ghost Spirit Master.
Instead, he spoke warmly with a sincere look in his eyes.
"Thank you for waiting a lifetime for me."
At the man's heartfelt words, the Ghost Spirit Master's eyes welled with tears.
Apology and regret mingled within him.
They could have had a better parting.
They really could have.
It was the very moment a tear dropped from the Ghost Spirit Master's eye.
As if in a lie, the world stopped.
"Huh?"
The man, startled, looked around.
All movement had ceased.
A flying butterfly hung in the air like a painting, and a blade of grass swaying in the wind remained bent over.
The Ghost Spirit Master standing before him was the same.
The tear he shed also hung suspended in mid-air.
The man wondered if he was seeing things due to his blood loss.
It was then.
An old man appeared in that place where time had stopped for everyone but the man.
"You have passed all the tests."
At the old man's words, the man asked in surprise.
"Who are you?"
"The one who can send you to the past."
"!"
"How could the power of a mere human go against the will of Heaven? Did you think that spiritual creatures and artifacts could make such a thing possible?"
When the old man raised his hand, the five artifacts the man had spent his life collecting reappeared and floated around him.
They were the ingredients that had vanished with the Great Regression Art.
In that moment, the man knew.
The old man was an existence beyond human.
"The true ingredients of this great art were not these artifacts, but the effort you dedicated to gathering them."
The old man waved his hand, and the artifacts vanished like smoke.
"You have passed the test. You sacrificed your whole life to live for a single purpose. And forgiving that Ghost Spirit Master was the final test. In fact, it was the most difficult test, yet you passed it with the most ease."
The man's whole body trembled.
He had lived his life thinking the heavens were indifferent, that there was no such thing as heaven.
Yet, an existence that could be considered heaven stood before his eyes.
Soon, his surprise turned to anger.
"Are you a being that only responds after one strives this hard? Are you that great an existence?"
"Don't be too angry. People can see me more easily than you. There are even those who meet me every day. But a wish like yours is not something I can grant so easily, is it?"
The man had to agree with those words.
His wish wasn't to become rich or marry a beauty.
His wish was to return to the past.
"Let me return."
"And then?"
"I will kill the one who must be killed and save the people who should not have died."
Killing Hwa Mugi and saving everyone is the first thing.
And there is something just as important.
"And... I want to live my life properly. Perhaps the reason I want to go back so desperately is not just my anger toward Hwa Mugi, but also because I regret my life."
"What do you regret so much?"
"Everything. From the day I was born until now, my life wasn't one I led, but one I was pushed into. Pushed this way and that, and it ended just like that... Was it you? The one who pushed me?"
The old man chuckled awkwardly and asked.
"After you've had your revenge, what kind of life do you want to live?"
"I don't know either. Whether I will succeed my father and become the Heavenly Demon, live quietly with my back to the world, become a lecher who possesses all the beauties of the world, leave the sect and live a life of beating up trash, or become trash myself... I haven't decided anything."
"I, too, am curious about what kind of life you will live. I look forward to that new life."
"Thank you."
"Let's have a drink next time we meet."
With those words, the old man disappeared.
'Next time?'
He had a premonition that the old man might appear before him again someday.
At the same time, the stopped time began to flow again.
The suspended butterfly fluttered its wings and flew into the sky, the grass swayed in the wind, and the Ghost Spirit Master's tear, which had been frozen in mid-air, fell to the ground.
"I'm sorry. Truly."
The man stared silently at the Ghost Spirit Master, who was shedding tears of apology.
He would never know in his wildest dreams.
That his great art was a magnificent one connected to the will of Heaven.
Although the final decision was made by heaven, the Ghost Spirit Master's art was undoubtedly the medium that connected him to it.
The Ghost Spirit Master pleaded with a desperate face.
"Ah! I know it's a shameless request, but don't forget the promise you made me! You have to stop my marriage!"
The man let out a small laugh.
Even at this old age, facing death, he was making the same request.
"Is it still hell?"
"A hotter hell. I have no face to ask, but still, I beg you. If he doesn't listen to the end, just tear his manhood off."
"Is it that bad?"
"Worse."
"Good. In that case, that will be punishment enough for trying to betray me, so experience that hell one more time."
"Aah! Hey! Please!"
The man walked toward the halo of light, leaving the wailing Ghost Spirit Master behind.
Watching the halo of light begin to embrace him and scatter brilliantly, the Ghost Spirit Master was swept up in intense emotion, but in the end, what he wanted to say was this.
"I want to go too! Aaaahhhhh! I said I want to go!"