n

n

nChapter 153 Boundary (4)

nHe had to endure Heavenly Buddha’s powerful attacks; only then could he save Cheon-ma and himself. His purpose was clear, so the only problem left was the process. How could he endure this?

n“…”

nThe definite way was to enter an invincible state for 10 seconds with {Immortality}. But he used

u0007b Immortality} while entering Cheonma-dong, and the 30-day cooldown hadn’t yet passed. He had to find another way.

nThe first thing that came to mind was another invincible skill: Vajra Step. But…

n‘I can’t use this either.’

nAlthough it had several characteristics, at its core, Vajra Step was a skill that invalidated all damage while he was mid-air. In other words, the effect was released as soon as his feet touched the ground. Therefore, it would be difficult to use it properly in the current situation where walls were tightening in on them from all sides.

nIt only ignored the damage; this skill couldn’t destroy the Buddha’s attack or penetrate the walls.

n‘In the end, I have no choice but to use my body….’

nMagic wouldn’t be consumed in the state of

u0007b Demonify}. When he first got this skill, he thought he could reach a state nearing invincibility by using its synergy with Skywrath Energy. But he couldn’t just rely on this anymore.

n

n

n‘Is the probability 50:50?’

nWhen his heart was penetrated by the skill Soul Arrow at the lake, the system decided he was on the verge of death and protected him. In other words, it meant that it would have otherwise been immediate death. For Yoon-seok, his magic was his life force, and his magic was infinite in the state of

u0007b Demonify}, so how was that possible?

nAs always, the answer would be in the Tower. There were infinite skills and effects there. It wasn’t surprising to hear that there were conflicting abilities that worked against Yoon-seok among them. His ability didn’t work on Heavenly Buddha because instead of Resurrection, it was Pre-defense since Decapitation provided a counter characteristic to revival.

n‘Let’s give it a try.’

nHe didn’t like gambling, and even more so when it was a life-threatening situation. But he had no other choice. The dice had already been rolled.

n“Don’t do anything. Stay close.”

nYoon-seok put more strength into holding Cheon-ma’s shoulders.

nBooooooooom-!

nFinally, the palms clapped around him, applying a pressure that threatened to crush his flesh and bones. No, it did crush him, but he was recovering at the same time.

n“…!”

nYoon-seok ground his teeth and endured. The Heavenly Buddha’s Adbhutadharma Palm was the Tower’s power, and if it had a countering effect like Soul Arrow, he wouldn’t be able to overcome it. But if that wasn’t the case, he could endure.

n“…”

nA moment was enough for the winner and loser to be decided. The moment fell over them like an eternity trudging by in silence until Cheon-ma broke that silence.

n“Are you okay?”

n“…Yes.”

n“…You did your best.

nCheon-ma gently pushed Yoon-seok away. Unlike before, Yoon-seok released her. Now, his role was over. All that was left was to watch.

n“Amitabha…”

nWas Yoon-seok’s intervention unexpected? Heavenly Buddha clicked his tongue after chanting the prayer out of habit. He looked exhausted; perhaps he had used up all his strength in that blow.

n“You have a good student.”

n“He didn’t go through the bowing ceremony. I don’t deserve him.”

n“…Yes, does that mean that you’re old, too?”

nHe brought it up first, but did he not expect a positive reply? Heavenly Buddha, who was slightly surprised and flinched away, nodded.

n“You’re an old man. What are you talking about?”

n“True. I was talking about mental discipline.”

nIt didn’t look like a conversation held in a deathmatch, but they enjoyed a short break. In the meantime, their conversation was cheerful, as if they had been friends all their lives. But Yoon-seok could feel it.

nA solemn tension flowed whenever the eyes of the two absolute masters met. He didn’t take his eyes off Heavenly Buddha, but suddenly Cheon-ma spoke to him.

n“Did you ask me if I can win just now?”

n“…What?”

n“Rest and watch.”

nTo understand it roughly, he thought she just declared that she would win in a cool way, but she didn’t feel as powerful as before. Somehow, she felt a bit shy.

n“Crazy monk, since we’ve rested enough, why don’t we start over?”

nCheon-ma raised her sword with a dry cough, and Heavenly Buddha replied in a dignified voice.

n“…I’ll stop here today.”

nHe would run away because he wasn’t sure if he would win or lose. Cheon-ma frowned.

n“Crazy monk, did you grow so old that now your liver is as small as a bean?”

n“There is something to learn even from rolling stones. Don’t be mistaken just because I happened to become enlightened when I saw you.”

n“Enlightenment?”

n“You were not afraid of dying, but you were afraid of disappearing without leaving anything in the world. So let’s continue the next part of today’s work when our lingering feelings are completely gone.”

nLooking into the Heavenly Buddha’s eyes, it didn’t seem to be an excuse. His obsession with Yoon-seok as a creature to leave something behind was close to his instinct.

n“You’ll let me go?”

n“I don’t know. You look so energetic that I might not be able to stop you from running away.”

n“…”

nCheon-ma clicked her tongue. It was now a fact that Heavenly Buddha was running away. But before he left, Heavenly Buddha turned to Yoon-seok.

n“It’s a shame that I couldn’t shake off all your Devil, but this is also reasonable. Still, I’m relieved to have minimal restrictions.”

nThe Urna. If he had this, no matter how much Yoon-seok pursued the Demon Path, he would have no choice but to restrain himself to a certain degree.

n“Next time I meet you, I hope you will be devoted and free from anguish.”

nAt that moment, the Three Thousand Worlds collapsed.

nDrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr-!

nSpace shook, and the three orbiting wheels turned to powder and scattered. At the same time, a gold glow flashed somewhere far away and vanished.

n“Is it over now…?’

nWhen he came to his senses, he was in a stone room in Cheonma-dong, and Heavenly Buddha was nowhere to be seen. He thought he should practice the Heavenly Sword techniques again as planned. Sadly, however, the stone chamber was gradually sinking and trembling.

n“This place is collapsing because of that crazy monk. Let’s go outside for now.”

nCheon-ma ran without hesitation through the wall she cut down earlier.

n“It could be dangerous, so follow me.”

nBeyond the wall lay an abyss. He was reluctant, but Yoon-seok believed in Cheon-ma and quickly followed after her. A sense of weightlessness wrapped around him, but there was no problem crossing the space.

nWhoosh! Whoosh!

nWhether he walked over the ground, water, or air, it had been a long time since he felt uncomfortable with such environmental constraints.

n“Where are we?”

n“Gap.”

n“Gap?”

n“I also don’t know in detail, except that it’s just a space between dimensions.”

nIt didn’t appear like she was trying to hide the truth. He silently followed her.

n‘Moisture?’

nAfter a while, he could feel the moisture in the air. It grew darker as they moved forward, and he realized the place was filled with water. From above, dim moonlight was filtering down.

n“Pooh!”

n“Come here and dry your body first.”

nThough it felt like he had emerged from tremendous depths, it turned out to be a very small pond. Yoon-seok dried his clothes by injecting fire into Skywrath Energy.

n“Where are we?”

n“Why? Scared that I would bring you to a strange world?”

nCheon-ma made a joke, but it was hard to tell because her eyes were so serious.

n“It’s a little further from the mountains. If you go that way, you’ll reach Horizon Lake.”

n“I see.”

n“Is it regretful?”

n“What?”

n“It’s… you came all the way here, but Cheonma-dong was destroyed because of that crazy monk.”

nIt was a let-down since he hadn’t learned any of the second-half techniques of the Heavenly Sword, but he gained more. He learned a new concept entirely by watching the intense battle between the two warriors closest to the sky.

n“No, I’m fine. Anyway, I have a question. Is it okay to ask?

n“Ask.”

n“Why did you come to Moorim? I heard from Sword Demon you had to meet someone that has nothing to do with Cheonma-dong.”

nIt might be a useless question now. The incident happened anyway, and now it was all over. But Yoon-seok wanted to know. If he hadn’t come to Moorim, was he still destined to fight Heavenly Buddha?

n“There is a person I knew a long time ago. In the past, I agreed with him, and on that day, we chatted for a while. That was already two weeks ago.”

n“What have you been up to afterward?”

n“…So you’re curious about me.”

nHe almost thought he had made a mistake, but Cheon-ma smiled.

n“This is fun. Where did that guy who shouted at me go?”

n“That’s because the situation was urgent… I’m sorry.”

n“It’s not something to apologize for. Anyway, to answer the question, I was having fun.”

n“What?”

n“As the word suggests, I had fun. I drank a lot of alcohol out in nature, and I’ve traveled to cities I’ve never been to in my life.”

nIt was very awkward that she said it with a serious expression, but somehow she looked happy.

n“Anyway, it was then I heard an interesting story. That the Co-Sect Leader defeated several masters and entered Cheonma-dong. So I stopped by to see how you were doing. I didn’t know that the crazy monk would be there.”

n“…I see.”

nIn other words, if Yoon-seok hadn’t come to Moorim, Cheon-ma wouldn’t be in danger. But he didn’t have to say it aloud. Since they met like this, Yoon-seok asked what he had been curious about.

n“I wrote that down when I was asked to put a nickname, and it turned out that someone else was using the name. I heard that Chief Jeong went through the same thing.”

nStarting with the origin of her weird nickname.

n“Way to see… come to think of it, I did teach someone a lesson while climbing the Tower.”

nEven anecdotes related to the way to see. Yoon-seok was quite surprised to hear the answers. He just wondered why she didn’t tell him how to use it.

n“Why didn’t I teach you? Because knowing how to see poorly makes one more likely to fall to their inner demons.”

nAt some point, he was convinced. Afterward, Cheon-ma asked if he had satisfied his curiosity, and Yoon-seok nodded.

n“Then it’s my turn.”

n“What?”

n“What are you surprised about? I also have questions.”

nWhile Yoon-seok stuttered over the unexpected change of events, Cheon-ma hesitated for a moment longer before questioning him.

n“Why did you try to save me? Is… it because of loyalty or kindness?”

n“No. It’s not that.”

n“…Then why did you?”

nYoon-seok answered without hesitation.

n“Because I had to.”

nThat was the only way out back then. Unfortunately, no one but her could stop Heavenly Buddha. Perhaps Yoon-seok’s answer was unexpected.

n“Had to…”

nCheon-ma, repeating the words, asked carefully once again, wetting her dry lips.

n“Were you confident that you could endure it?”

nIt was a very unexpected attitude from Cheon-ma, who was always confident, but it was something he could understand. She must feel ashamed of the fact that she was saved by someone else. Yoon-seok answered honestly again this time.

n“I wasn’t sure.”

nHe wasn’t; the probability was 50:50 at best. Well, if he failed, he would be able to go back five minutes using his pocket watch and try something else.

n“I-I see…”

nShe didn’t look like she fully understood Yoon-seok’s words. However, she nodded continuously, and the corners of her mouth went up slightly.

n“Did I solve all your questions?”

n“No, there’s still one left.”

nIt was nothing but about the Urna. She asked what the minimum restrictions the Heavenly Buddha spoke about before leaving, and Yoon-seok answered with everything he knew.

n“If you kill someone without saving them, you’ll lose your life? What kind of evil…”

nHe didn’t know if it was right to use the word evil at times like this, but Cheon-ma resented him as if she was the one suffering.

n“Maybe I have a way.”

n“What?”

nThere’s a solution? It was Cheon-ma, not anyone else, saying this, so it was to be expected. Yoon-seok’s ears perked up.

n“Can you tell me how to do it? Can you tell me what it is?”

n‘All stats 1.’

nTo be honest, this advantage was very attractive. But the Urna’s downsides were troublesome. He tried to think of it as positively as possible because there was no other way, but if there were, it would be better to throw it away.

n“Do you know about Unique Power?”

n“Yes, I know.”

n“Then we can get straight into it. I got something pretty good.”

nDemon Body And Soul Cleanse. According to her explanation, it was a power to force one’s transformation and change them into a demon.

n“Not only do you get a new body, but it also washes the soul anew in effect. But I don’t know what improvements it will have.”

n“But it’s kind of weird to use the power that you can only use once when you aren’t even clear on what it does….”

n“There’s nothing to waste because it’s a power that I can’t use for myself anyway.”

n“What? What do you mean you can’t use it for yourself? Why did you choose that power? Was the explanation not written?”

n“It wasn’t that there was no explanation… no, it’s done. Well, that’s what happened. So you’re not going to do it?”

nCheon-ma changed the subject. Yoon-seok replied after thinking for a while.

n“…I’ll be in your care.”

nMaybe it was a lie that she couldn’t use it on herself. Likely it was due to the mental burden of being saved. If this was the way to relieve her burden, Yoon-seok decided to accept.

n“Then, I’ll start.”

nWhen Yoon-seok sat cross-legged as instructed, Cheon-ma gently put her hand on his back and activated her power. Her magic permeated his body through his spine. The energy was overwhelming yet somehow, paradoxically, cozy.

n

n

nWhoooosh-!

nWhen her magic began to circulate about his whole body in earnest, he felt like a newborn baby washed by his parents with all their hearts. Yoon-seok fell into a trance without realizing it.

n“It’s over.”

nWhen he opened his eyes-

n「The Eight-spoked Dharma Wheel engraved in your soul has been destroyed.」

nThe 108 Urnas, which were densely stamped on his chest, vanished. And instead, a new black tattoo was placed on him. Yoon-seok smiled upon noticing it.

n「All stats increase by 1 due to the effect of Demon Body And Soul Cleanse.」

n「In the event of a certain amount of killing, the ability increases further.」

nAs expected, was the answer Demon instead of Buddhism? He liked it.

n