Absolute Regression

Chapter 597: You Were an Impressive One

Everyone was exhausted.

The martial artists of the Heavenly Will Palace, gathered around the campfire, didn’t even bother with small talk. They simply stared at the burning flames with weary eyes.

Just then, someone approached, a box slung over his shoulder. He was Geom Mugeuk, dressed in the attire of the Heavenly Will Palace’s martial artists.

"That’s a face I haven’t seen before."

At the question from a martial artist across the fire, Geom Mugeuk put down the box and sat among them.

"Of course you haven’t. Now, scoot over a bit, will you?"

A few of the others let out chuckles. With so many people stationed here, it wasn’t easy to know who was who. He was probably someone newly arrived to fill a spot left by the dead.

Geom Mugeuk pulled a bottle of liquor from the box he brought and took a long swig. Then he tossed the bottle to the man who had first spoken to him.

"Where’d you get the liquor?"

"You want to know?"

"No."

The man drank. The others waited and then took turns drinking as well. These days, with the prolonged fighting, getting alcohol was as hard as plucking stars from the sky.

Geom Mugeuk’s manner was so natural, and with him sharing liquor no less, that no one questioned this unfamiliar face. After all, if he were an enemy, he wouldn’t deliberately walk in and join them like this.

Geom Mugeuk had successfully infiltrated quite deep into the Heavenly Will Palace’s camp. His target was the central tent ahead.

‘This won’t be easy.’

There was strict surveillance in the area surrounding it, but those guards weren’t the problem.

He didn’t have enough internal energy to use the Nine Calamities Demon Art, but he could modify and utilize the Wind God’s Four Steps. Avoiding the eyes of those guards wasn’t difficult.

The real problem was the Heavenly Will Palace Master and the elite warriors guarding him at close range. There was no way to sneak past them unnoticed. Still, it was too much of a waste to come all this way only to turn back. He needed to find a way.

Just then, the man from earlier asked Geom Mugeuk,

"Got any more liquor?"

"I do. But are you sure you could handle it?"

Geom Mugeuk pointed with his chin toward the central main tent. He meant that the liquor was headed that way. Stealing one bottle might slide, but if more were taken, they could end up paying a very steep price.

The man didn’t dare ask for more and instead started complaining.

"Damn it. When will this damn war ever end?"

Others seated around joined in with their own comments.

"It’ll be over soon. Didn’t you hear the rumor that the Martial Emperor Divine Sword has arrived? He’ll be clashing with our Palace Master any day now."

"What if our Palace Master loses?"

"What do you think? Then we’re all dead, that’s what."

Everyone laughed at the mention of death.

Listening to the conversation, Geom Mugeuk realized that these people were no different from the martial artists of the Martial Alliance. At first, they must have joined the war with all sorts of meanings and convictions, but in the end, as time passed, everyone came to wish for just one thing—

that the war would end quickly.

At that moment, a martial artist came running from a distance and shouted,

"The Palace Master has returned!"

Everyone jumped to their feet, and the surroundings became hectic.

Geom Mugeuk’s eyes sparkled.

‘Then that means the Heavenly Will Palace Master isn’t in that tent right now, doesn’t it?’

With the box in hand, Geom Mugeuk quickly moved toward the main tent. He set the box down nearby and put his skills to use.

Even without some flashy movement technique that would let him slice a nose without being noticed, sneaking into a tent guarded by regular martial artists wasn’t difficult.

Sure enough, the inside of the tent was empty. Everything inside was luxurious—the fur draped over the chair, the small table, and even the liquor bottle and cups on top of it.

Despite knowing that the Heavenly Will Palace Master would be coming, he entered this place because he was relying on one thing he trusted.

At that moment, he heard movement outside, and soon, two people entered.

By the time they stepped inside, Geom Mugeuk was nowhere to be seen.

He had activated the Temporal and Spatial Transference Technique. The space Geom Mugeuk created was just large enough for one person to stand in, a space filled with pitch-black darkness, not even a single strand of light leaking in.

It was the only space he could form with his current level of internal energy. Even this had become possible only because his mastery of the Temporal and Spatial Transference Technique and the Heavenly Time Secret Art had advanced enough to open a space with minimal energy.

From within the Temporal and Spatial Transference Technique, Geom Mugeuk watched the two men enter. One was an elderly man, the other a man in his middle years.

Though the elder’s face bore the deep traces of time, there was something about him that made calling him "old" feel inappropriate. His back was straight, his eyes sharp. And more than anything, what emanated from him was not the glow of a setting sun at life’s end, but the heat of a still-blazing sun.

This man was none other than the Heavenly Will Palace Master, Wi Mucheon.

He was the very one who had initiated a war against the symbol of the orthodox sects—the Martial Alliance.

Wi Mucheon abruptly paused and looked around inside the tent. He seemed to sense something off. It was a moment that revealed just how powerful Wi Mucheon’s martial skill truly was.

"Is something wrong?"

The middle-aged martial artist who had entered with him asked.

He had a strong, unyielding presence, the type who wouldn’t back down under any circumstance. He was Baek Yanggi, the Palace Master of the Guardian Palace, one of the three Great Divine Palaces of the Heavenly Will Palace.

"It’s nothing."

Wi Mucheon hadn’t noticed the Temporal and Spatial Transference Technique Geom Mugeuk had cast.

He sat down in his chair and poured himself a drink from the bottle on the table beside him.

"Then please rest."

As the Guardian Palace Master turned to leave, Wi Mucheon asked,

“Do you know why the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult and the Unorthodox Alliance are not intervening in this war with the Martial Alliance?”

The Guardian Palace Master turned back to Wi Mucheon and answered,

“They probably hope that the righteous sects’ spiritual foundation will be thoroughly damaged by this war.”

At his composed reply, Wi Mucheon nodded.

“That’s right. The strategy of killing with a borrowed knife. They use Heavenly Will Palace as the blade to strike the Martial Alliance. That is their true intention.”

Wi Mucheon had begun this war despite knowing that intention better than anyone.

It was a strategy that took advantage of Orthodox, Unorthodox, and Demonic faction’s long-standing hatred. Because of that deep-seated resentment that could never bear the other’s prosperity, he believed they would never come to help, even if the other side was under attack.

As expected, the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult and the Unorthodox Alliance did not assist the Martial Alliance. On the contrary, they supported the sects aiding Heavenly Will Palace.

“They probably believe that by fighting with the Martial Alliance, we’ll both end up destroyed.”

A smile traced across Wi Mucheon’s lips, formed by the creases at the corners of his mouth, filled with confidence.

“Because of their arrogance, we will win.”

The Guardian Palace Master’s gaze deepened as he looked at him. Just who, truly, was the arrogant one here? Did the Heavenly Will Palace Master really believe he could unify the martial world?

“Have a drink.”

Wi Mucheon held out a cup to the Guardian Palace Master. The Guardian Palace Master respectfully received the drink.

Trrrring.

“You were against this war.”

As the liquor trickled into the cup, their eyes met over it.

The Guardian Palace Master knew. He knew the Palace Master’s desperate dream was to unify the world. That he had prepared for this over many years. And yet—

“The Martial Emperor Divine Sword is a powerful man.”

The Guardian Palace Master was fully aware that these words could bruise Wi Mucheon’s pride. But it was something that needed to be said.

Even if he were to kill the Martial Emperor Divine Sword, once the Martial Alliance collapsed, many hidden masters of the orthodox sects would emerge from seclusion.

And that was not all.

The Unorthodox Alliance remained. The Heavenly Demon Divine Cult remained.

Unifying the world.

Those three characters could only be written with blood.

And the moment those characters were fully written, they would form a monster that could never be sated no matter how much blood it consumed.

No one could even imagine just how much blood would need to be poured to complete those words.

Wi Mucheon silently poured himself another cup.

Of course, the Guardian Palace Master knew. Wi Mucheon wasn’t some madman crazed by blood. He was simply a man with an unshakable will to unify the martial world.

He also understood his ambition. A genius in martial arts, Wi Mucheon was the strongest martial artist among all the Heavenly Will Palace Masters in history.

“I apologize.”

At the Guardian Palace Master’s apology, Wi Mucheon spoke unexpected words.

“This war is not my war.”

Wi Mucheon emptied his cup. The Guardian Palace Master waited until he finished, then poured him another drink and asked,

“Then whose war is it?”

“Heaven’s will.”

A brief silence followed.

The will of the heavens.

The Heavenly Will Palace existed to uphold that heavenly will. No one knew exactly when the Heavenly Will Palace had been founded, but what never changed was that it was an organization created to guard the will of the heavens.

“I don’t believe the heavens desire blood.”

The Guardian Palace Master spoke his honest thoughts. He knew this, too, might severely offend the Palace Master, but it was something that needed to be said. After all, the Guardian Palace existed to protect the Heavenly Will Palace.

Wi Mucheon stared intently at the Guardian Palace Master. The tension thickened, but the Guardian Palace Master did not flinch.

As if he had expected such a reaction, the Heavenly Will Palace Master did not grow angry. Instead, he delivered astonishing news.

“The Secret Box has awakened.”

“!”

The Guardian Palace Master was visibly shocked. So was Geom Mugeuk, who had been listening silently. He had known that the Secret Box was related to the Heavenly Will Palace, but to hear it mentioned in this conversation was unexpected.

What did it mean that the Secret Box had awakened?

“As you know, the Secret Box is a divine relic of this palace, said to carry the will of the heavens. No one knows who created it or for what purpose, but after the First Palace Master of the Heavenly Will Palace obtained it, the palace has existed ever since to protect the Secret Box.”

Through Wi Mucheon’s explanation, Geom Mugeuk finally understood the connection between the Secret Box and the Heavenly Will Palace.

‘So the Secret Box was a divine relic of the Heavenly Will Palace.’

And now he could see even more clearly why the Secret Box had brought him here.

The Guardian Palace Master looked at Wi Mucheon in disbelief.

It was hard to accept. For all these years, the Secret Box had existed merely as a symbol—like a bell in a temple, an incense brazier in a sanctuary, or a sword enshrined in a hall.

‘But now he says that Secret Box has awakened?’

Wi Mucheon then showed direct evidence. He took something from inside his robes.

“The Secret Box gave me this.”

What he produced was a small Secret Box.

The moment the Guardian Palace Master laid eyes on it, he dropped to his knees and offered formal respect. It had the exact same form as the large Secret Box.

“In accordance with the will of the heavens, I shall devote this body to the divine relic’s will.”

The Secret Box, a divine relic of the Heavenly Secret Palace, was not something one could dare to gaze upon directly. In fact, it had always been stored in the palace’s treasury, a place only the Palace Master could enter.

Even Wi Mucheon’s eyes were filled with awe and reverence as he looked at the Secret Box.

“I can feel the power within it. A fearsome power. It's not something someone like the Martial Emperor Divine Sword could stand against.”

Now the Guardian Palace Master understood—why the Heavenly Will Palace Master had dared to launch such a reckless war.

It was at that very moment.

Astonishingly, the Secret Box began to resonate.

Wooooooong.

Even Wi Mucheon was taken aback. Since acquiring this small Secret Box, it was the first time it had shown any reaction.

Wi Mucheon raised the Secret Box high, and the Guardian Palace Master bowed his head.

“I began this war according to the will of the heavens.”

“I shall assist you, Palace Master, so that you may surely achieve unification of the world according to Heaven’s will.”

A resolute expression appeared on the Guardian Palace Master’s face, showing his determination to harbor no further doubts about the meaning of this war.

Watching this unfold, Geom Mugeuk came to a realization.

‘The Secret Box didn’t resonate because of the Heavenly Will Palace Master.’

Because right now, the Secret Box in his own possession was also vibrating. Geom Mugeuk could instinctively sense it.

‘It’s the same Secret Box.’

Across three hundred years of time, the two identical Secret Boxes were resonating with each other.

The reason he could be brought here across that vast time was surely because that Secret Box existed in this place.

‘You... you were such an extraordinary thing, weren’t you?’

Sorry. I drew a smiling face on you, never even realizing you were such an incredible divine relic.

At that moment, a subordinate’s voice came from outside.

“The Priestess of the Priestess Palace has arrived.”

The Priestess was the Palace Master of the Priestess Palace, one of the other Three Great Divine Palaces.

The mention of her arrival surprised both men. For her to come directly to the battlefield meant something extremely important had occurred.

“Escort her in.”

A moment later, women clad in white robes entered first.

As they lined up on either side to form a path, the Priestess walked through the center.

Ye Seol, Palace Master of the Priestess Palace.

She wore a white cloth covering her eyes. Though her eyes were hidden, she was known to see all things in the world.

A sacred aura emanated from her body, and with every step she took, it felt as if mystic energy rippled from her like shimmering waves.

Wi Mucheon greeted her respectfully. Though she was technically his subordinate, she was a being of special significance.

“What brings the Priestess to such a harsh place?”

Then the Priestess spoke astonishing words. Her voice held a calm dignity, the kind that made everyone around pause to listen.

“A prophecy has descended.”

Wi Mucheon and the Guardian Palace Master were both startled.

This was the reason the people of the Heavenly Will Palace held the Priestess in such reverence—because she could read the will of the heavens and deliver prophecies. Among all previous Priestesses, she was known for the most accurate predictions.

Wi Mucheon and the Guardian Palace Master simultaneously offered a martial salute, showing full respect.

“On behalf of this palace, we listen to the will of the heavens.”

Hope rose in Wi Mucheon’s eyes. A prophecy delivered before such an important battle—he could only pray it would speak favorably of his unification of the world.

“It has been foretold that unification of the world shall be achieved.”

Joy bloomed across Wi Mucheon’s face. Of course—it all made sense now. There was a reason the Secret Box had awakened. He now understood why it had cried out.

And then, an unexpected statement emerged from the Priestess’s mouth.

“However, the will of the heavens does not lie with the Palace Master.”

“!”

Wi Mucheon’s face filled with confusion.

Hadn’t she just said unification would be achieved? But now she claimed that Heaven’s will was not with him?

From the Priestess’s lips came a prophecy that shook them to the core.

“The moment of Heaven’s will being fulfilled shall come... three hundred years from now.”