Chapter 48: Sama the Heretic 3

Before leaving, Baek Moo-jin casually entered the manor and took a bundle of receipts these murderous maniacs had collected.

The vouchers surprisingly totaled over several thousand nyang.

It was far too much money to leave behind in a place like this.

He couldn’t help feeling uneasy about taking money from murderers, but he took it anyway, thinking it might come in handy.

After walking a few steps, Baek Moo-jin looked back at Hong Rakjang.

His heart sank heavily at the thought of how many people had perished here.

Suddenly, Baek Moo-jin felt an urge to burn the entire place to the ground.

But carelessly setting fire with the torches scattered about risked engulfing the entire mountain in flames. Of course, he could expend his energy to prevent the fire from spreading. But there was no need to go that far.

‘If So-hye were here, she would have handled this perfectly.’

In that moment, words flowed from deep within Baek Moo-jin’s heart.

[Purify it with fire.]

Baek Moo-jin nodded, recalling Woo-sa’s words. That would be the best method. Yet Baek Moo-jin suddenly stopped in his tracks, his expression darkening. The usually composed Baek Moo-jin began scanning his surroundings with tense eyes.

Only a desolate wind blew.

There was no sign of life anywhere.

But what exactly was that sound that had just echoed within his own mind?

‘Was it an auditory hallucination?’

Or was it because Woo-sa’s words lingered in his mind?

Suddenly, Baek Moo-jin quietly recited the doctrine of the Seonghwa Palace.

“Purify with fire.”

At that moment, something stirred within Baek Moo-jin’s dantian. He feared no external threats. But if something was happening inside his own body, there was ample reason to be tense.

Yet, absurdly, the one who came to mind at this moment was Yeomje.

“Could it be?”

Relying on his judgment and common sense, Baek Moo-jin summoned the White Flower Palm to his right hand without any basis. The cold air erupting from his hand swirled around, unable to leave his palm, and materialized into the form of a white flower.

This was not difficult for Baek Moo-jin.

Yet, an inexplicable sense of unease lingered. Baek Moo-jin recalled the time he had intervened to assist Jin So-hye with her Great Heavenly Circuit, only to find himself locked in combat with Yeomje. For a master of Baek Moo-jin’s caliber to fail to properly gauge his own physical state would indeed be strange. However, he only felt a sense of lightness in his body; he felt absolutely no amplification in the total volume of his internal energy.

It was the same now.

Still, Baek Moo-jin kept focusing on the faintest ‘change’. He concentrated his energy, releasing waves of extreme cold one after another. Even amidst this, he kept the white flower contained within his palm.

When still no change came, Baek Moo-jin instinctively murmured again.

“Purify with fire.”

In that instant, a surge of scorching energy erupted from Baek Moo-jin’s dantian.

“Huh…?”

The white flower had transformed into a form of white flame within Baek Moo-jin’s hand.

Where in the world could such a white flame exist?

Baek Moo-jin muttered, his mind blank.

“What is this…?”

Could there be a more bewildering moment?

If that white flame had contained the fiery energy to burn objects, even the composed Baek Moo-jin would likely have been terrified. Whether it was fortunate or not, the form of the white flame still held a chill.

However, the purity of the coldness faintly emanating from the white flame was distinctly different from before.

It was a chill so intense that even Baek Moo-jin couldn’t easily touch it.

When a human body comes into contact with an extremely cold energy, it causes frostbite, which is similar to a burn from fire.

The white flame in Baek Moo-jin’s palm was precisely that. If one had to describe it, perhaps it was a flame of freezing. It was a contradictory expression that didn’t quite make sense.

Baek Moo-jin organized his thoughts.

‘Keep it simple. It seems I received a portion of the Yan Emperor’s power while helping So-hye.’

Just how effective would it be?

Baek Moo-jin sent the white flame he’d conjured from his hand toward the estate he’d intended to burn, then watched it, swallowing hard.

Somehow, even its speed felt peculiar. The way it rippled and danced through the air made it seem as if the flame itself were alive, performing a dance. Yet, it could hardly be called fast. But speed could be adjusted later; the result was what mattered now.

It was the moment the white flame touched the manor’s roof.

Baek Moo-jin’s White Flower Divine Art differed from his previous techniques in its explosive power. The tiny white flame, small enough to be cupped in a palm, exploded upon contact with the manor’s roof like a colossal thunderbolt. A bizarre sound echoed as a chill spread out, enveloping the entire roof.

“Haah…”

Only Baek Moo-jin’s startled, ragged breathing echoed through the Hongrakjang. But that wasn’t the end. While Baek Moo-jin’s cold energy usually focused on freezing objects, the white flame he had just unleashed was literally melting the roof with a screeching sound. Then, the center where the white flame had struck collapsed, crashing down into the manor’s interior with a thud.

Though he hadn’t committed any crime, Baek Moo-jin glanced around briefly. Of course, no one was there. Only then, as he descended the mountain path, did Baek Moo-jin define what had just transpired.

‘My innate power… has now been infused with the essence of flame.’

It was the moment an unprecedented, extraordinary martial art was born in the history of the martial world.

2.

There are many masters in the world.

Judging by their mastery of the sword, there were likely quite a few swordsmen in the martial world of that era who surpassed Baek Moo-jin. Even beyond swordsmanship, masters from renowned families, whose lineages stretched back a hundred years at the shortest, a thousand years at the longest, would have established their own unique schools.

Some through their sword stance.

Some through their weaponry.

Some through the depth of their internal energy.

But a master like Baek Moo-jin was so unique that even if one roughly estimated the history of the martial world at a thousand years, there was not a single person even remotely comparable to him. This was speaking purely in terms of uniqueness and singularity.

That was precisely why Baek Moo-jin found his own power perplexing. This was the same Baek Moo-jin who, just moments ago, had struck down a group he believed to be Sammaeodo. Yet he wondered if the nature of this power he now possessed wasn’t closer to Sammaeodo itself.

It wouldn’t have been strange for the old masters of the orthodox sects, with their rigid views, to call Baek Moo-jin’s martial arts demonic. Only then did Baek Moo-jin begin to understand the deeper meaning of the letter his father had left behind.

Baek Moo-jin closed his eyes quietly for a moment and shook his head.

‘Power is merely a means. If my heart is righteous, even the power of the demonic path matters not. For I shall use it for what is right.’

Opening his eyes, Baek Moo-jin wore a faint smile as he walked alone once more.

Baek Moo-jin had believed he had already perfected his martial arts at Seolui Peak. But he had vastly underestimated human destiny. Baek Moo-jin thought that if he had never set foot in the martial world, he would never have encountered the opportunity to grow stronger and stronger.

‘I am growing stronger. Then I must see just how far this path leads.’

Yan Zhe’s power wasn’t rooted in his martial arts. Therefore, he decided he needed to refine his martial arts to smoothly harness Yan Zhe’s power.

‘Above all, it’s somewhat slower than when I unleashed the White Flower.’

Furthermore…

‘Could I unleash cold energy and white flames simultaneously?’

Descending the mountain path, Baek Moo-jin would occasionally halt his steps, then lose track of time as he sank deep into thought.

This was precisely why Baek Moo-jin was so formidable.

From the most trivial things to great revelations.

Baek Moo-jin was constantly examining himself and growing.