What Baek Yoonjun, who had thought that something like the wooden puppets he had seen at first would appear, saw before his eyes was an unexpected sight.

First, a strange phrase was written on the wall.

-The value of a person is not the same, so there is also a single emperor who reigns above...

Baek Yoonjun realized that that strange phrase served the same role as the sword marks he had engraved in the secret cave.

'Martial arts? Could this be the so-called incantation that I've only heard about?'

Baek Yoonjun, who had never learned martial arts through an incantation, quietly recalled what he knew about incantations.

-What an incantation is, it's different for each work, but in some works, it's like magic that takes effect just by memorizing it.

-That's quite convenient.

-It's not that easy. First, if your realm or comprehension is lacking, it's often useless even if you know the incantation.

-How troublesome.

-And in some works, it's said to be a way to explain or cleverly hide one's own learning.

-That's a bit much. Why make it complicated for no reason?

-The former is to pass down the martial arts a little more accurately, and the latter is to hide or release it.

-So there was a reason.

-In any case, the common point of both interpretations is that it cannot be obtained easily.

Having recalled his memory, Baek Yoonjun analyzed what kind of incantation the one in front of him was.

'Since it seems I can understand it right away, does it correspond to the former? Then it seems the martial arts incantations of this world are a type where you can use the martial arts by memorizing them.'

By reciting the incantation, Baek Yoonjun felt an unfamiliar martial art being acquired by him.

Although he couldn't completely learn the martial art because the incantation was not perfect, he could vividly feel what kind of martial art it was.

'This is.'

Having confirmed the type of martial art, Baek Yoonjun rarely contorted his expression.

'It is a martial art that should not exist.'

Cold sweat drenched Baek Yoonjun's clenched fists.

The only time he had shown his emotions on the outside to this extent while living in this world was when he had been on the verge of death from the three martial artists.

Baek Yoonjun muttered without realizing it.

"It is sorcery!"

The words he hated to hear the most.

'No, that's not it. This is on a different level.'

Baek Yoonjun gritted his teeth and shook his head.

"Demonic art."

Then he muttered without realizing it.

And so, Baek Yoonjun's mind, which had unconsciously muttered, was filled with questions.

'Demonic art? I've definitely heard this before...'

As Baek Yoonjun delved into his own mind, he remembered the word 'demonic art'.

The answer was not in his present life, but in his past life.

-Demonic art? Of course, it's the martial arts that the demonic cult guys use.

-How would I understand if you say it like that?

-Hmm. How should I explain this? Ah! Right! To put it simply, you know about the demon king, right?

-Yeah. It's like the big bad guy in a fantasy.

-Right. So you can think of it as the techniques that the demon king and his subordinates use.

-Is it like black magic?

-Right! Well, depending on the work, it can also come out as a good thing, or it can come out as a martial art that just pursues power, but you can usually think of it as an evil martial art.

-In a word, it's a bad technique used by a bad guy, right?

-Huh? W-well, right?

-Why do you explain it so complicatedly when you can explain it simply?

With the face of his friend who had looked at him as if he were crazy at the end, Baek Yoonjun finished his recollection.

'Anyway, this martial art is a heinous martial art that is not lacking to be called a demonic art.'

Baek Yoonjun glared at the incantation engraved on the wall with eyes that seemed as if they would pierce the wall.

Crack.

It actually felt as if it had been slightly dented.

As Baek Yoonjun was glaring at the wall, a worry slowly rose in his chest.

'Come to think of it, Sowol also named the martial art I made for her with a martial art that has the character 'demon' in it.'

However, the direction of his worry was a little different.

'At that time, I just thought it was a symptom of chuunibyou that she liked because of her childish heart, but she's not really being tainted by something bad, is she?'

Recalling his disciple Baek Sowol who had left the mountain, Baek Yoonjun stroked his chest, which was full of worry.

* * *

The time went back to when Baek Sowol had just reached the Heavenly Mountains.

On a journey that had been close to three years, Baek Sowol's party was quite exhausted.

"Finally!"

"We've arrived!!"

The paradise of the Heavenly Mountains, which had only existed in rumors.

As they confirmed its reality, the caravan members cheered.

"Thank you, Great Hero Baek!"

"If it weren't for Great Hero Baek, we wouldn't have been able to arrive here."

The caravan members, without exception, all expressed their gratitude to Baek Sowol.

"Not at all. I was also able to arrive here safely thanks to all of you in the caravan."

Baek Sowol humbly received their greetings.

Due to the long journey, Baek Sowol, who had now shed her childhood and was closer to a mature woman, looked at the village of the Heavenly Mountains, which was visible in the distance, with eyes filled with various emotions.

She didn't know if this was the place she had heard about in the rumors.

A village hidden deep in the Heavenly Mountains as the rumors said.

It was a place whose existence would have been hard to confirm if not for the sensitive senses that had been trained by Baek Sowol's master.

At least on the outside, it looked plausible.

Although it was built in a rugged mountain, the buildings were in a decent shape, and the people were bustling.

And the gatekeepers of the gate that Baek Sowol's party had just arrived at had a decent physique, and their faces were full of vitality.

"Have you come from the Central Plains?"

The gatekeeper who saw Baek Sowol's party asked them with courtesy.

"We have."

"What is the purpose of your visit here?"

"We were originally merchants who stayed in Anhui, but we couldn't stand the tyranny of the Namgung family and left, and we have arrived at this place that we had only heard about in rumors."

"Oh dear, you have suffered a lot. Please wait a moment."

The gatekeeper who was exchanging questions with the caravan leader immediately disappeared behind the gate, and a short while later, he appeared in front of the party with a few people.

Baek Sowol spread her senses, observed them, and frowned.

'Most of them are second-rate, and the man who seems to be the leader has entered first-rate.'

Although it was a martial prowess that Baek Yoonjun would have evaluated as third-rate or lower and cut down in a single stroke, originally, even just being second-rate or higher was a martial prowess that could not be ignored in the military, and if one were first-rate, it was a martial prowess that would be called a master anywhere.

Although Baek Sowol would have originally thought like her master, with Zhuge Hyun's crash course, she was able to know about martial prowess to some extent accurately.

'Since they are in such a remote place, they will need martial power, so is it not strange?'

While agreeing with her own thoughts, Baek Sowol felt something was off.

As Baek Sowol was observing them with complicated thoughts, her eyes met with the first-rate martial artist.

"Young lady, you seem to possess an extraordinary martial prowess. Are you with these people?"

"I was not originally with these people, but I happened to save their lives and came to move with them."

"Hoh, you have done a righteous thing. Young lady, would you please follow me for now?"

Answering the question of the martial artist who was asking with a polite fist-and-palm salute, Baek Sowol tilted her head.

"Is there a reason you are calling me separately?"

"It is just that I am being cautious because the young lady's martial prowess seems extraordinary. I would be grateful if you would cooperate, even if it is inconvenient."

"So that's the reason. I understand."

Following the guidance of the first-rate martial artist, Baek Sowol passed through the gate and went inside.

The inside was a rather plausible village, just as it had looked from a distance.

'Something is strange.'

A place that could be called a village where a rather large number of people lived.

There, Baek Sowol felt a strange sense of incongruity and moved her feet according to the guidance.

The place she was guided to was a splendid building close to a palace.

"Young lady, please relieve your travel fatigue for now, and we will talk later."

"Thank you for your consideration."

Guided to an outer building of that place, Baek Sowol received a very lavish treatment.

In a splendid residence, Baek Sowol ate her fill and even received a bath service, washing her body.

After that, lying on a soft bed, Baek Sowol's mind became complicated.

'This place, do they have this much leeway?'

Baek Sowol recalled the rumors about this place.

A place where those with nowhere to go gathered and lived together.

To be in such a place, the residence where Baek Sowol was staying was too large and splendid.

On top of that, the food was a feast.

'Why do people who serve exist?'

It was strange that there were people who served in a place where people lived together.

'Do they have their own class system?'

While feeling a sense of wonder, since the fatigue of her journey had accumulated considerably, Baek Sowol fell into a deep sleep.

And so, it was a few days after that that Baek Sowol came to realize the reality of that place.

* * *

'I wonder if Sowol is doing well.'

Baek Yoonjun scanned his surroundings, holding a worry for Baek Sowol.

Besides the passage engraved on the wall, another phrase was written.

[He who wishes to obtain the peerless martial arts written here, go to the left. That person shall obtain the peerless divine art and immense wealth.]

Baek Yoonjun frowned as he looked at that phrase.

'Besides that evil martial art, did they also pile up gold and silver treasures?'

As Baek Yoonjun controlled his heart, which was slightly tempted by the gold and silver treasures, he read the rest of the phrase.

[He who is not, go to the right. However, what is there is only hardship.]

Having read the entire phrase, Baek Yoonjun fell into thought.

'No matter how I look at it, it's telling me to go to the left, and if it were just gold and silver treasures, I would have been tempted, but I really don't like that martial art.'

Baek Yoonjun once again carefully examined the incantation.

Although he couldn't know the complete identity of the martial art because the incantation was not a complete one, he could gauge its identity to some extent. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

'It seems it can raise the martial arts level in one go.'

The martial art contained in the incantation seemed to be able to raise the level of a person who had learned the martial art in one go.

'However, if there is a person who has learned the same martial art, it seems they can be freely controlled depending on the height of their realm.'

Although it was not something he could know for sure yet, it seemed to be a martial art full of the danger of being completely dominated by a person of a higher realm who handled the same martial art if one were to learn this martial art.

'Although I'm not sure yet, if what I saw is right, isn't this really a demonic art?'

While shuddering at the identity of the martial art, Baek Yoonjun fell into thought, unable to be sure.

'But if I learn this, I might be able to rise to second-rate.'

Due to the recent events he had experienced in Sichuan, Baek Yoonjun's desire for second-rate had deepened.

Therefore, he glared at the left passage with a complicated heart.

From what Baek Yoonjun had observed with his senses.

It was true that there were gold and silver treasures in the left passage.

And in the right, although he didn't know its identity, he could confirm that something existed.

'But come to think of it, in fantasy novels and such, weren't places with good conditions usually traps?'

Baek Yoonjun's heart was hardened by a few writings he had read in his past life.

'Usually in a place like this, the one that doesn't look good is the right answer! The right is correct! If I'm wrong, I can just run, so let's go to the right!'

And so, Baek Yoonjun set foot in the right passage.

As Baek Yoonjun walked straight through the right passage, he felt a strange energy rising from his surroundings.

'Is this a formation?'

Baek Yoonjun immediately recognized the identity of the energy he felt and quickly scanned his surroundings.

At that, the surrounding scenery wavered and completely changed its appearance.

Although it was definitely inside a cave, the surroundings had completely changed to the middle of a wide-open snowy mountain.

"It's quite well-made."

Impressed by the level of the formation, Baek Yoonjun looked around.

Although it was a rather elaborate formation, it didn't seem difficult to break.

'Should I just watch for a bit?'

Since it didn't seem particularly difficult to break, Baek Yoonjun leisurely watched the phenomenon with a relaxed heart.

Crunch, crunch.

A short while later, he saw a blackish phenomenon walking towards him from the front.

'This is!'

Feeling the hair on his body stand on end at the black phenomenon in front of him, Baek Yoonjun glared ahead.

The black phenomenon took on the form of a person and slowly drew its sword at Baek Yoonjun.

Although it was not complete, a being that had taken on the phenomenon of a person.

'How strange.'

Baek Yoonjun was quite interested in that being.

"You."

The first time he had seen it.

"You are third-rate."

A being that had risen to third-rate, on the same level as himself.

Feeling an interest in the being that was close to his own level, which he had met for the first time, Baek Yoonjun drew his sword, and at the same time, his energy drained.

'For just a third-rate, why are you appearing so grandly?'

Although Baek Yoonjun's energy was drained because what had appeared was just a third-rate martial artist close to his own level, he was by no means careless.

And so, the two third-rates glared at each other, took a battle stance, and.

Kaang!

They clashed.

(End of Chapter)