Chapter 125

"Why are you trying to die?" Dongfang asked in confusion. "Think about it again. Look at all of the weapons floating above you. Those are the remnants of constellations who lost against the Wandering Martial God. Each was a master of their own star and confident in their own strength, yet they were still all defeated.

"Ah, I see," JiHan said.

"Do you think you can beat the Wandering Martial God just because you have Martial Soul? It's impossible. You'll end up just like those other constellations if you get too attached to that stat.

Dongfang was being sincere. The Wandering Martial God was a constellation hunter, so how could a mere human beat him?

"Are you obsessed so much with martial arts that you're willing to claim Martial Soul for yourself despite the risk?"

"That's not the case," JiHan answered.

Martial Soul was certainly desirable, but he didn't want to get it at the cost of having to constantly worry about an unbeatable being like the Wandering Martial God.

His goal wasn't to reach the peak of martial arts. Instead, he wanted to solidify Earth's presence in the Space League so he could prevent humanity's extinction.

"Then are you just a masochist who likes picking the hardest path?"

"That's not the case either, but…" JiHan looked around. "Contrary to your words, this star's owner doesn't agree with you."

"What…? What do you mean? That's clearly what the Wandering Martial God said."

"This is called the Fight Star, right?"

"Yes."

"Wasn't this place also created with Martial Soul?"

Dongfang looked at JiHan, surprised, and then he slowly nodded his head. "That's true…"

The Wandering Martial God's strength was evident in how he had created the entire star with his Martial Soul while JiHan could only extend his to about 20cm.

"How did you know that?"

"I felt something strange when my Martial Soul overlapped with his."

Dongfang stroked his beard. "You felt something strange… As a fellow martial artist, I'm envious of that statement. A hunch… is an innate feeling. It's a natural gift that no amount of effort can grant you."

There was genuine envy in Dongfang's voice.

"I heard the Wandering Martial God's will through our overlapping Martial Souls," JiHan explained.

The Wandering Martial God had spoken to JiHan through their overlapping fields while Dongfang had been giving him his options.

[If you seek to defeat me, I will gladly wait.]

Despite what Dongfang said, the Wandering Martial God wanted him to have Martial Soul, but if he wanted to give up on it and choose a constellation's weapon instead…

[If you decide to back out, you'll have to become my servant forever.]

'It's better to confront him than to become his servant.'

The Wandering Martial God seemed sincere, so JiHan could rest well knowing that the constellation would wait for him to be ready.

That being the case, the answer was clear.

'I'll live my life for now, even if it means I could die later.'

The Space League was about to start anyway, so he needed to be able to operate freely.

"He said I'd become his eternal servant like you if I took a weapon," JiHan said.

Dongfang stopped stroking his beard for a moment before continuing again. "It isn't bad to live as a servant. Especially if he's your master."

"Being eternally bound to someone else's will? I don't wish to live like that."

"The key word here is 'eternally'. Everyone wants to live forever, and those who haven't lived long usually think they'll be unhappy if they were immortal, but… once you experience it, you'll know how much happiness eternal life brings.

"Weren't you already immortal before becoming his eternal servant?" JiHan asked.

Dongfang was known for living for over three thousand years, after all, so how was what the Wandering Martial God offered him any different?

Dongfang nodded. "That's right. My martial arts allowed me to suppress aging, but it wasn't complete immortality."

"How did you even meet the Wandering Martial God?"

"It seems that you have many questions," Dongfang said. Then, he removed a section of his beard, which burst into smoke and took the shape of a sword.

"I will answer your questions if you become my successor."

"That doesn't seem likely," JiHan said.

"Actually, I think you'd be a good fit. That's why I cannot stand idly by while you meet a tragic end."

Swoosh-

Illusory images rose from Dongfang's sword and soon merged into the pattern of a taijitu.

"That's…"

"The Wandering Martial God is quite generous with vacations. Last time, I had a great time drawing patterns in the hills of my hometown village."

"Drawing patterns?" JiHan asked.

White and black colors interlocked and swirled in the taijitu that Dongfang described as a simple pattern.

"Indeed. Some children were interested in this pattern in particular and asked to become my disciples, so I played the leader for a while."

"Played the leader…"

A name came to JiHan's mind as he looked at the swirling pattern.

"Could it be that you were going by the name 'Zhang Sanfeng'?" he asked.

"Oh, how did you know?"

"And was the hometown village you talked about 'Mount Wudang'?"

"That's right. Conversation between us will be easy since our cultural spheres overlap anyway. That makes me even more keen on having you become my successor."

Donfang's eyes sparkled. "This is a small trick I came up with as I was resting." He began to slowly rotate the taijitu. "Thinking of challenging the Wandering Martial God might as well be nothing more than a dream if you can't overcome this."

The taijitu swirled and applied pressure on JiHan. How could such a pinnacle martial arts technique be called a small trick?

Then…

WHOOM-

[Send him back.]

The taijitu stopped rotating as the ground shook and an absolute being's voice echoed over the chamber.

Dongfang lowered his sword and bowed toward the sky. "I shall follow your order, Wandering Martial God."

He'd looked like a true warrior moments ago, but he bowed to the Wandering Martial God as if he were a servant.

"Seeing you bow like that makes me want to become a servant even less."

"It isn't a big deal. I was called the 'Heavenly Demon' during the holiday before that."

"…" JiHan was lost for words. Wasn't the man basically saying he'd singlehandedly become the highest expert in both the Heavenly and Demon sects commonly found in martial arts novels?

"It's a pity," Dongfang said as he waved his left hand. His robe fluttered, and the pitch-black darkness through which JiHan had arrived reappeared. "Let me know if you change your mind."

"Your goodwill is more than enough already," JiHan drily replied as he walked away from Dongfang, who was overflowing with regret.

A system message soon popped up.

[You will now return to your original world.]

Sae-ah nervously paced back and forth in front of the training room.

'Wh… What should I do?' she wondered.

JiHan had said he wouldn't take long, but she hadn't seen him leave for two days, and it was already almost time for his test.

The Administration had even sent a car to wait for him an hour prior, and there were only 30 minutes left until his test against the national team's Warriors started.

'Ugh… What should I do? He said it was important training, so it's not like I can barge in. Should I just wait for time to pass and for him to naturally fail the test?'

The test wasn't as important as training, but she still felt troubled by her uncle's actions.

'Uncle was confident enough to say that he could easily beat the national team's Warriors. He even agreed to a livestream.'

If he said he wasn't able to make it to the test due to draining, even he could face public ridicule and criticism.

"Uncle…" she called out in a soft voice.

He wasn't inside in the first place, so there was no way he could hear her.

Brrr-

Her cell phone vibrated as she continued to anxiously wait.

[Ms. Yoon, is Mr. Sung still inside?]

"Ah, that…"

[There are less than 15 minutes left… Wouldn't it be better to cancel today's match now?] Yoon-sik, who was waiting downstairs, cautiously asked, thinking it might be better to cancel in advance than to have viewers watch as JiHan never showed up.

[We'd probably still be late if he came out to the car this second… It also doesn't seem like he'll be in good condition. Perhaps it's better to have the match another day…]

"Ah. That's… Then…"

She was just about to agree to postpone things when…

Click-

The training room's door opened.

"Sae-ah, can you give me the phone?" JiHan asked.

"U-Uncle!"

He'd heard their conversation as soon as he arrived back on Earth.

'I would have had more time if Dongfang hadn't been so clingy.'

He made a disgusted expression when he remembered how desperate Dongfang was to make him his successor. The representative test would have fallen through if the Wandering Martial God hadn't intervened.

"I'll go by foot if traffic is bad. Please, go back to the Administration at your own pace."

[Ah… It's okay! We can still make it.]

"No. Running is faster," JiHan said as he walked toward the penthouse window.

"Uncle?! Where are you going?"

"I'm going to take the fastest route."

"Uncle… this isn't a game," she said as she looked at the window.

"Sae-ah, go ahead and ride with Yoon-sik."

With that, he waved his hand and dropped from the window.

"Uncle-!"

Nameless Divine Arts Footwork Technique: Lightning Thunder Step.

Sae-ah rushed toward the window, but JiHan was already flying into the distance, a trail of white lightning sparking in his wake.

"Haa… Seriously," she said as her eyebrows twitched and JiHan vanished into the horizon.

Somehow, he seemed faster than when they'd played in their last game. Players should have been more limited in reality, so how was he moving even faster?

'Is it because he's running with all his might?'

* * *

Sae-ah switched the in-car television on as soon as she entered the vehicle with Yoon-sik.

= Ah, it seems like JiHan will be late.

= The others have already been waiting for an hour.

= Apparently, he's been training for the past two days.

= No matter how important training might be, you should still keep your commitments to others, right? The national team representatives are his superiors, so I think this is especially inappropriate…

Sae-ah pouted when she saw the commentator criticizing JiHan so harshly.

"They're already streaming before the promised time."

= I don't think this is the case… but could he be feeling pressured?

= There's no way that's the case.

= Training might be an urgent matter, but this isn't a martial arts novel. How commonly do people go through closed-door training anyway?

= Well, it's almost unheard of.

"Isn't he going too far? Is he JiHan's sworn enemy or something?" Sae-ah exclaimed in frustration.

"He's known to be close friends with Kim Dong-woo. Maybe that's why he's being so harsh," Yoon-sik said.

"Ah… Is that so?"

Shouldn't such biased comments be prohibited?

Then…

= What?! We've just been informed that Sung JiHan has arrived!

= Really? But I heard the Association's car is still at the Sword Palace.

= They're saying that he came flying in…!