Absolute Regression

Chapter 670: It’s About Time I Ate One, Isn’t It?

With the Gentleman’s Sword at his waist, Geom Mugeuk finished looking around the place.

It was because he thought that perhaps the Secret Box might cry. The orb could have been hidden among the weapons or in the drawers of a display cabinet.

But even after inspecting every weapon in the place, the Secret Box did not cry.

Geom Mugeuk walked toward the door leading to the next room. Standing before it, he turned back and offered a bow.

“Thank you for letting me see them.”

It was a greeting to the souls of the martial artists who had once wielded these weapons.

This exhibition valued the lives of those martial artists who had used the weapons more than the weapons themselves.

Geom Mugeuk opened the door and stepped inside.

This time, the room was smaller than the one with the weapons, but still far larger than the first room.

Here, protective armor was on display.

Likewise, there were descriptions about each armor and the people who had used them.

Geom Mugeuk slowly looked around the place.

“Oh, so this is the actual Windy Garment!”

It was the protective robe of the Flirtatious Swordsman who had been popular among lady warriors in the past. On its back was a painting of a beautiful woman — a robe that symbolized him — and not even an average sword energy could cut through this beauty.

“I’m envious! One day, I’ll have one too!”

With that, half in earnest and half in jest, he began properly admiring the armors.

There were truly all sorts of protective armors.

“So this is what the Silver Scale Armor looks like!”

The silver scales gleamed so brightly they almost hurt the eyes. Of course, it didn’t look particularly practical.

“The Dominating Dragon Armor! Impressive, just impressive.”

A roaring dragon was painted across the chest, and just wearing this in front of enemies would likely intimidate them with its sheer presence.

And without a doubt, the finest armor here was this one.

“The Celestial God Armor!”

It was said to be so light and flexible that it felt as though you were wearing nothing at all.

But one should never underestimate it for being thin. Neither sword energy nor sword force could cut through it — it was one of the very best armors in existence.

“You scoundrels, don’t think you can fool me from now on!”

Since the genuine article was stored here, any armor or weapon from this place being sold on the market would be a fake.

Still, would a martial artist really just leave something like this behind? The Celestial God Armor, of all things?

But today, he had no intention of choosing armor here. That was precisely his reasoning.

“Yes, training is the best armor.”

Comforting himself with that thought, he moved on reluctantly.

Then, something stopped Geom Mugeuk in his tracks as he continued viewing the remaining armor.

The Ice Dragon Divine Armor.

The moment he saw it, Geom Mugeuk recalled that time, three hundred years ago.

The Ice Dragon Divine Armor was a gift the Dark Palace Master had presented to the Heavenly Will Palace Master, along with the Heavenly Yin Pill. Geom Mugeuk had witnessed it that day.

At the time, because the Heavenly Will Palace Master was to face the Martial Emperor Divine Sword — a man possessing extreme Yang internal energy — the armor had been given to prepare for such an opponent. But Geom Mugeuk had judged it to be a trap.

The Dark Palace Master had wanted the Heavenly Will Palace Master to lose.

Though he could not say for certain without having seen the battle himself, he guessed that while the Heavenly Will Palace Master had prepared for an extreme Yang attack, an extreme Yin assault must have struck instead.

And surely the Martial Emperor Divine Sword had not been the only one there that day — the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult had most certainly been involved.

He looked around, wondering if there might be something else here connected to that day. And then, another item caught his eye.

‘Ah! This is…?’

It was not armor.

It was nothing more than a long piece of cloth.

The Dream of the Priestess.

Even without reading the name written below, Geom Mugeuk knew what it was.

‘This is the cloth the Priestess used to cover her eyes.’

Three hundred years ago, the Priestess he had met in the world had worn this cloth over her eyes.

Her prophecy came back to him.

Darkness will lead you to your Heavenly Will.

Back then, he had interpreted her prophecy to mean that through the Dark Palace, he would discover the whereabouts of the Great Secret Box.

But after confirming that their descendants had survived even after three centuries, the prophecy now felt different to him.

That the battle with the forces behind them was this Heavenly Will.

Geom Mugeuk slowly picked up the cloth named The Dream of the Priestess.

“!”

The moment he held it in his hand, he felt a certain energy.

It was not the type of energy one might sense from a person’s prayers or martial arts. This was a wholly different, auspicious and mysterious energy.

Perhaps it was because he had once received a prophecy from the Priestess, but Geom Mugeuk could clearly feel the energy that had persisted across three hundred years.

And he instinctively knew — this was not energy meant for him, nor for anyone else.

‘It is meant for one person alone.’

In that moment, one face came to his mind — the one person to whom he felt he should deliver this.

‘If meeting the divine relic left by the Priestess here is fate…’

Without hesitation, Geom Mugeuk took The Dream of the Priestess. It became his second choice.

Both his first and second choices had been for others.

‘For the last one, I’ll choose something for myself.’

With that thought, Geom Mugeuk headed to the next room.

The moment he opened the third door, the scent that wafted out told him exactly what kind of room it was.

That fragrance — delightful no matter when he smelled it — meant this was a place where medicinal elixirs were stored.

“Wow! This is incredible.”

Countless medicinal elixirs stretched out before his eyes.

The first thing that caught his attention was the Millennium Snow Ginseng.

Each root was placed in its own box and displayed neatly.

Had he ever seen so many Millennium Snow Ginsengs gathered in one place? This truly was the first time.

Next to them, the thousand-year-old ginsengs on separate display seemed no more than bellflowers in comparison.

And that wasn’t all. Beside them were the Nine Yang Divine Pills, which granted extreme Yang internal energy, and across from those, as if to say extreme Yin belonged on this side, were the Nine Yin Divine Pills.

In front of those sat the Red Heart Pills. Even a single one was nearly impossible to obtain in a lifetime, yet here were three or four of them.

And there was still more.

The Great Yang Pill and the Small Yang Pill, the Great Principle True Heart Pellet and the Accumulated Cloud Pill, the Radiant Clarity Pill… practically every type of elixir imaginable was here, all in perfect order.

Seeing this made Geom Mugeuk once again realize just how extraordinary it was that Jin Paecheon had allowed him into this place.

What if he decided to eat them all? What if he devoured everything like a madman and ran off?

Even the slightest chance of that happening would be reason enough to never allow someone inside.

The fact that he had been let in meant they truly trusted him.

‘The next room is probably where the secret manuals are stored. I don’t need martial arts anyway, so I’ll have to choose an elixir here.’

He already possessed an overwhelming amount of internal energy, to the point of wondering if he could possibly need more — but internal energy was one of those things where the more, the better.

There was no need to agonize over which elixir to choose. As he walked along the displays, he encountered the ruler of this room at its center.

“Sky-Clear Jade Oil!”

The pinnacle of all elixirs!

There it was — a pure white bottle containing Sky-Clear Jade Oil.

Carefully removing the stopper, he peered inside and saw a few drops of the milky white liquid. Even a single drop of this was more potent than any other elixir in the room.

“I was going to keep it all to myself, but you’re truly fortunate!”

He was speaking to his brother. He had decided to share it, giving him half. Not that he’d give him the whole thing — even if he was fond of him these days, half was generous enough to warrant gratitude.

“Alliance Leader, I told you when I came in, I’d only bring out the very best.”

And so, Geom Mugeuk’s three choices from this place became the Gentleman’s Sword, The Dream of the Priestess, and the Sky-Clear Jade Oil.

Now, the only task left was to find the orb that the Secret Box could absorb. That, to Geom Mugeuk, was far more important than even the Sky-Clear Jade Oil.

He searched the elixir room thoroughly, but the Secret Box showed no reaction.

Geom Mugeuk opened the next door and stepped inside.

As expected, the final room was filled with martial arts manuals.

Dozens of large bookshelves were lined with the precious manuals the Martial Alliance had collected over the long years.

“Ah, what a nice smell.”

It was a different kind of pleasant scent than medicinal herbs — the scent of books themselves.

Ever since becoming acting Cult Leader and immersing himself in the Heavenly Demon Library, Geom Mugeuk had grown to understand the joy of reading.

“I wonder what kind of books they have here.”

He walked slowly, scanning the shelves.

They were mostly manuals of orthodox martial arts. As for demonic arts or unorthodox techniques, the collections focused on martial arts designed to counter them.

It was a display of the resolve and confidence to defeat demonic and unorthodox arts with orthodox martial arts alone.

If orthodox martial artists saw this, they would faint — peerless divine arts, one after another, lined the shelves. But Geom Mugeuk didn’t take any out. The only martial art he needed now was the Nine Calamities Demon Art.

So he strolled between the shelves at an unhurried pace.

‘Come on, Secret Box, cry! Please cry! You’re hungry too, aren’t you? It’s about time you ate one!’

But even after he had circled all the shelves, the Secret Box didn’t cry.

Geom Mugeuk brushed off his disappointment.

‘Well, that happens sometimes.’

He was never in a rush — he hadn’t been straining himself from the start to collect all the orbs’ power. Simply by following the flow of fate faithfully, he had gathered three already.

“No! I can’t just leave it like this! I have to find it!”

He returned to the first room and began his search all over again.

From the Antidote Pellet room to the weapons room, from the armor room to the elixir room, and finally the manual room once more.

He scoured every inch, but the Secret Box still showed no reaction.

‘Ah… so the Martial Treasury doesn’t have an orb after all.’

He had felt sure it would be here.

Regretful, but still mindful of his manners, he decided he should say goodbye before leaving.

“Thank you for letting me see everything.”

Just as he was about to walk out, Geom Mugeuk glanced back at the library.

He had shown his appreciation for all the other rooms, but here he was about to leave without even reading a single book.

“I’ll have you know, I’ve been reading quite a bit lately.”

He reached over to the nearest shelf and picked out the thinnest book he could find.

“It’s a special occasion, coming in here — I should at least read one book before I go.”

In the corner of the library, as if placed for someone to sit while reading, was a small chair against the wall.

But as he approached the chair—

Wooong—

The Secret Box in his chest cried.

Geom Mugeuk was startled. After searching every conceivable place without a single reaction, he hadn’t expected the Secret Box to cry here.

Come to think of it, he had only wandered between the bookshelves — he hadn’t come all the way to this corner.

After all, there had been nothing here except for a single chair. And the chair was so small and simple there was no way an orb could be hidden inside it.

“There’s nothing here.”

At that moment, Geom Mugeuk froze.

“No… there is something!”

His eyes had locked onto the Night Pearl embedded in the wall behind the chair.

It had been placed there to provide light for reading.

‘That’s it!’

Sure enough, as he approached the Night Pearl, the Secret Box vibrated even more intensely.

With great care, Geom Mugeuk pulled the Night Pearl free.

And from behind it, something rolled out with a soft clink.

It was an orb — a yellow one, the Yellow Eye.

Geom Mugeuk let out a cheer.

“Found it!”

Had he found it from the start, it wouldn’t have felt this satisfying. But discovering it after having given up hope filled him with joy.

There was a reason he hadn’t paid this little corner’s chair and Night Pearl much thought.

Night Pearls were embedded all over the place — from the entrance hall onward, high-grade ones decorated every room.

They were so common in each chamber that he had dismissed this one in the far corner of the library without a second thought.

Taking out the Secret Box from his robe, he placed the Yellow Eye on top of it.

Sssssk.

As always, the Secret Box absorbed the Yellow Eye.

It then began to vibrate strongly, and golden energy began to flow out from it.

That energy seeped into Geom Mugeuk’s body through his hands, spreading throughout him as it was absorbed.

Swaaaaa—

The energy rippled like light, washing over him like waves.

The sensation was exquisite — like drinking cool water at the height of thirst, it brought an indescribable, refreshing clarity.

Instinctively, Geom Mugeuk began reciting the mnemonic verse he had learned before.

In response, the dormant energies of the Black Eye, Blue Eye, and White Eye awakened within him.

These three energies began moving in a way completely different from any conventional internal cultivation method, welcoming the newly joined Yellow Eye’s energy.

As the four energies coursed together through all his meridians, Geom Mugeuk experienced something entirely new.

His body felt as light as a feather, as though he could soar high into the heavens.

At the final moment of the mnemonic verse, the four energies merged into one.

In that moment, he felt the immense power contained within the energy — a strength different from the sheer force his existing internal energy had given him.

But the energies did not remain merged. They separated once more, quietly settling back into various meridians.

Geom Mugeuk slowly opened his eyes.

“Haa.”

Now, he had perfectly absorbed the Yellow Eye’s energy.

Only two colors remained — the red orb and the violet orb.

Where could they be?

And if he gathered all the energies, what would happen?

As he lingered in the lingering sensation of this mysterious power—

Clack.

The Secret Box spat out the orb it had absorbed. The Yellow Eye that rolled out was now nothing more than an ordinary stone.

“Had your fill?”

As always, the Secret Box only answered with a silent smile.

Geom Mugeuk placed the now-powerless Yellow Eye back into its hole, then set the Night Pearl back in place.

After that, he sat down and read the book he had picked up. It was a piece written by an old master longing for his hometown. Reading it made him miss his father and the people of his own cult.

After a short while, he finished the book and returned it to its original place.

If he hadn’t thought to read at least one book before leaving, he would never have found the Yellow Eye. He would likely never have another chance to enter this place again.

Long live the Heavenly Demon Library! Long live Geom Mugeuk, the bookworm!

Carrying the three divine relics he had chosen, Geom Mugeuk walked toward the entrance where Jin Paecheon was waiting.

“Thank you for letting me read!”