The Cyan Light Treasured Sword had shown Soeun Yu much.
Meeting Gayoung Jin, visiting the Hangsan Sword Sect, reuniting with So So Namgung, and even enduring the Blood Tribulation at the Hangsan Sword Sect—it had all been revealed.
Yet, amidst it all, what truly startled Soeun Yu was this:
“Sa, Lord…”
Not once in all of this had Byul Rak ever engaged in any foul deeds.
It wasn’t merely about slaying bandits or massacring evil cultivators.
There was something deeper, something that every human ought to possess: “desire.”
Whether it was hunger, the need for sleep, or even lust—every human had desires.
But what of Byul Rak’s actions thus far?
“Why… do you restrain yourself so completely?”
Byul Rak emitted no desires.
Even if he did, it was only the faintest trace.
Things like enjoying his favorite chicken leg—none of it seemed to stir him much.
Even if his realm had transcended to the point of controlling the Five Desires and Seven Emotions, wouldn’t the most basic desires still linger within a person?
Not for Byul Rak.
He was like a machine.
Sleeping when he should sleep. Eating when it was time to eat. Spacing out when idle, and working when duty called.
A monotonous life without any trace of leisure.
Day after day, it was the same.
Like a worn-out person—or worse, a machine following a schedule, waiting for death to come.
Soeun Yu understood the reason.
“Kuks…!”
A flood of worry washed over her.
Perhaps, in the end, this was all her fault.
He had worn himself out undoing time for her sake.
And she…
What… had she done to him?
“Quickly, quickly, show me the next scene…”
Driven by a rising sense of guilt, Soeun Yu urged the Cyan Light Treasured Sword on.
The sword, seeing this, smirked faintly and skipped ahead a few scenes.
Of course, the Cyan Light Treasured Sword bore no goodwill toward Soeun Yu, so the next scene turned out to be anything but positive.
“What… is this?”
“Hey you! How dare you not bow to my father-in-law!”
“…???”
At the sound of the words, Soeun Yu reflexively turned her head.
After all, Byul Rak’s father-in-law could only be one person—her own father, Venerable Dokgo Gupae.
Yet, when she turned with anticipation, she found…
“Jin Woo-yong, I am the one they call Supreme Sage.”
Instead of her father, an oddly grumpy-looking large old man sat cross-legged.
Though disappointment was understandable, Soeun Yu quickly shifted her attention.
In truth, she had no choice.
“Why… why have you led such a life?”
“Exactly what kind of life could have led to this state?”
“What manner of existence could have left your soul in such a condition? Even the soul of the ancient Lord of Asuras wasn’t this bad.”
Before Soeun Yu’s eyes was Byul Rak’s mental landscape.
“What… what is this? Why does it look this way?”
It was a sight too horrific to describe.
Only two words fit: the Realm of Asuras. The Realm of Hell.
And Byul Rak’s soul form—a body missing chunks, drenched in blood and wounds—was enough to confuse Soeun Yu entirely.
“Da… Damn it… how could a person’s heart become like this…”
“Let’s see just what kind of life you’ve lived then.”
With little hesitation, Jin Woo-yong, opened Byul Rak’s memories.
Simultaneously, grotesque screams echoed loudly,
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!”
“Endure… endure… endure… endure… endure… endure… endure.”
“Can’t give up… can’t give up… can’t give up… can’t give up… can’t give up.”
“Living again is fine… living again is fine… living again is fine.”
The endless repetition of crazed phrases, followed inevitably by guilt.
Although Soeun Yu pleaded to skip further, it only led to scenes of even greater agony.
“Ah… Sa, sa… Lord…”
Unaware that blood flowed from her eyes, Soeun Yu empathized deeply with Byul Rak.
“Please, don’t suffer anymore… It’s my fault… let me hold you…”
Attempting to console him by opening her arms to embrace him, she found that her semi-transparent body merely passed through him in vain.
“Uaaaaaah…”
If there were any Celestial Emperor, she silently prayed to let her touch him, to console him, if only for a moment.
But the Celestial Emperor was merciless.
*
“Argh…”
Time passed in her memories, and Soeun Yu had now reached the point near the Hall of Seven Flowers.
In other words, she had fully grasped the truth of Byul Rak’s deterioration.
“What to do… Master… what will you do?”
Soeun Yu recalled a detail from the First Scripture.
It was this—this chapter was the “last.”
Being naturally gentle-hearted and empathetic, Soeun Yu could easily identify with Byul Rak’s plight—a bitter irony.
“This isn’t right… how can you face such treatment?”
After abandoning countless lives to achieve a peaceful existence in one cycle, in this very cycle, Byul Rak himself perished.
This was the “last” cycle, with no further retreat.
“Uhrg.”
She felt a sharp pain in her stomach, a sensation that had haunted her throughout as she relived these memories.
“You… why are you here? No, why does your voice sound like that?”
“…Now you speak to me with respect again.”
In the midst of the memories, the gazes of Byul Rak and Soeun Yu met in the air. Unbeknownst to them, a desperate Soeun Yu observed, her soul aching.
“P… please don’t…”
The spectral Soeun Yu pleaded with the Soeun Yu within the memory.
“Hurry… beg for forgiveness already! Why aren’t you doing so? Hurry!”
With desperate urgency. Begging fervently, she wished for her voice to be heard.
“Was it from… thirteen years ago? From when your feelings for me began to fade?”
“Stop it! Please stop it!”
“As soon as I hit puberty, you became cold as ice. But I understand now.”
“What do you even understand, you idiot!”
There was only more heated argument.
No apology to sever regret. No sweet reconciliation.
“Watch your mouth. I’m starting to get annoyed.”
“For thirteen years, you haven’t seen me as a woman, haven’t you? You thought I didn’t know?”
“Don’t act like you know nothing, you fool! Please… just shut up…”
“Well, back then I didn’t have emotions, so… ah forget it. Just go already.”
“Yes, I’ll be leaving then. Sorry for rambling on personally.”
“What are you sorry for?! That’s not it at all, you fool!”
The futile cries that go unheard.
Their bad ending.
The figure walking away, all too real now for Soeun Yu, cutting her to the core.
This was a tragedy made worse by its finality.
“Shall we skip this one as well?”
“…Please.”
“Considering how you yearned to see him, you don’t find this sight too pleasant, do you?”
“I’m sorry.”
“You idiot.”
Once more, scenes sped by swiftly.
Scenes from the Hall of Seven Flowers flickered through Soeun Yu’s mind.
The scene began with herself and Su-a Namgung being pelted with snowballs, ending with the Sword of Huashan’s energy enveloping the Great Moon.
Ironically, the Cyan Light Treasured Sword stopped skipping right as Byul Rak’s fiery rage began.
“Sword Sage, are you truly evil?”
“Feel this power that I emit right now.”
“…”
“Is there even a speck of malevolence in this power?”
“It appears… you are not.”
The conversation between the Heavenly Lord and its aftermath—an act of crying.
Watching it, Soeun Yu felt joy at the Cleansing of Byul Rak’s stigma.
“Who’s watched me for longer than anyone else? You wouldn’t misunderstand me, would you?”
“Keh! Who’s losing to whom!”
“I am not evil. The world and you are the ones who are evil.”
“…! You, you bastard! Are you playing some kind of trick right now!”
“Does it seem like I’m playing tricks right now?”
Next, scenes unfolded showing his conversation with Jade Flower.
Believing falsehoods to be truths just as he once had, Jade Flower came to her own truth in a somewhat different way.
“Dao Go? A woman who deserves such heavenly retribution…”
“So, what would you have me do?”
“I can’t bear the thought of an evil person like me continuing to exist…”
“But, repent and live on. It’s none of my concern how you do it, just live.”
“I see… that’s what I’ll do. Thank you, Cheol Bin.”
“Call me Byul Rak.”
In the end, she received a noble forgiveness.
Unlike herself, who was already too late.
“Kuks…”
Why was it that Soeun Yu’s stomach ached as she watched this scene?
Certainly, it was a precious moment where Byul Rak’s stigma was lifted.
She shouldn’t harbor such impure feelings here.
“I… I should have apologized back then…”
Hadn’t she deserved the place Jade Flower was now in?
Could she have been the one bowing to Cheol Bin?
It was another case of too-late regret.
And…
“Ah.”
The awaited turn of Soeun Yu within the memories had arrived.
She still remembered the day clearly.
How could she forget such a day, one that had once felt humiliating but now only carried the weight of guilt?
“Wh… Why are you here?”
“I needed some air. Is there a problem?”
“…No, what could I possibly have to discuss with someone like ‘you’?”
“Please… don’t say things like that… Please don’t speak so carelessly of Lord… I don’t deserve such respect…”
She struggled to speak through her agony.
