Absolute Regression

The first place I visited was the inn at the base of Hong Mountain.

The inn was bustling with people, and the workers were frantically busy.

I stood at the entrance for quite some time, but no one approached me.

Then, I noticed a young boy carrying dishes between the kitchen and the customers. A smile spread across my face as soon as I saw him.

In my previous life, when I came here to rescue the Thunder Bell, that boy had greeted me as a fully grown man. He looked just the same as he did when he was older.

The boy, who had finally noticed me, ran over to attend to me.

“Hello, warrior. As you can see, we have no available seats right now.”

“Do you have any rooms?”

“No, we don’t have any rooms either. Because of the Blood God Festival, we are fully booked.”

“In exactly ten days. There’s another inn at the end of this street, but their situation is likely the same.”

The boy, who was incredibly busy, left me with those words and ran off to attend another customer who called for him.

I had arrived at the right time, ten days before the Blood God Festival.

The Blood God Festival is the largest ritual held annually by the Heavenly Wind Cult to honor the Blood God.

This was why I needed two months to prepare for the third method to counter the sorcery of the Soul Reaper Demon Supreme.

The Blood God Festival.

Only on the day of this festival could I obtain the means to subdue the Soul Reaper Demon Supreme. Fortunately, the festival was two months away; otherwise, the task of killing the Soul Reaper Demon Supreme might have been delayed for an entire year.

In the past, it took me years to infiltrate the Heavenly Wind Cult leader’s throne where the Thunder Bell was kept.

That was the time it took to learn about the secret escape route used by the cult leader in emergencies.

Although it took less than half a day for me to infiltrate and steal the sacred artifact, learning about that secret passage took an extremely long time. ṟà₦Ô₿Εś

Even though I discovered the secret passage, stealing the Thunder Bell was still not an easy task.

The problem was the Heavenly Wind Cult leader.

He spent most of his time in the throne room where the sacred artifacts were kept.

He even ate and slept there. I couldn’t even take advantage of the short time he spent attending to his physiological needs.

An iron grille made of ten-thousand-year-old iron bars came down to protect the place where the Thunder Bell and other sacred artifacts were stored when he wasn’t there.

Moreover, it wasn’t just the cult leader; there was another person guarding the sacred artifacts.

He lived like a bound spirit around the Thunder Bell, shackled by ten-thousand-year-old iron. Not only was he highly skilled in martial arts, but he also had an innate, exceptional sense of smell. He could detect anyone approaching and immediately alert the Heavenly Wind Cult leader.

Therefore, it was impossible to steal the sacred artifact without avoiding the cult leader’s eyes.

So, how did I manage to obtain the Thunder Bell under such circumstances?

There was one moment each year when the iron grille was lifted, and the Heavenly Wind Cult leader briefly left his position.

This moment was on the day of the Blood God Festival.

According to the predetermined ritual, the cult leader would leave the throne room and perform the rites at the grand martial arts arena.

At that time, the shackled master guarding the Thunder Bell would ring the bell thirty-six times according to the ritual. The moment I targeted was the final thirty-sixth ring.

After the last bell toll, it took exactly one tea time for the cult leader to return from the grand martial arts arena to the throne room.

During that short time it took to drink a cup of tea, I achieved a miracle.

Having practiced my escape dozens of times, I was able to evade the pursuit of the Heavenly Wind Cult members.

Researching, infiltrating, recruiting, fighting, practicing… Many events from that time flashed through my mind like a revolving lantern.

This time, my target was kept in the same place as the Thunder Bell. It was a simpler task than stealing the large Thunder Bell, so this trip to the Heavenly Wind Cult felt like a gift from my arduous past life.

I stood for a moment in front of the inn, watching the bustling crowd.

When the Blood God Festival took place, many sects that interacted with the Heavenly Wind Cult sent delegations to celebrate, so not only the inn but the streets were crowded with people.

This was exactly what I wanted. With so many people, no one would remember my existence. Of course, even in this situation, I thoroughly concealed my identity by wearing a bamboo hat and scarf. I would come quietly and disappear silently.

At various shops in the market, I bought some camping supplies, basic food, and a medicinal decoction pot.

The last place I arrived at was the pharmacy.

“You want Gihwacho?”

The old man at the pharmacy looked at me with a surprised face.

“Gihwacho is expensive.”

Gihwacho was a local medicinal herb that only grew in this area, impossible to find anywhere else in the Cebtral Plains.

“How much for one kilogram?”

“How much do you need?”

“I need two kilograms.”

“It’s eighty nyang per kilogram. You might not know, but it’s a very rare herb.”

“Alright. I’ll buy two kilograms at that price.”

“But what are you going to use the Gihwacho for?”

The old man looked at me again, since Gihwacho was not a commonly used herb.

However, he couldn’t see my face because I had pressed the bamboo hat down deeply when I entered. I was also speaking in a different voice than my own.

“I don’t know either. I’m buying it because I was ordered to.”

The old man didn’t ask any more questions and brought the Gihwacho. After showing me the herbs, he carefully wrapped them up and handed them to me. I paid him and left.

Leaving the pharmacy, I went to another pharmacy far away from the first one. This time, I asked for Dragon Tree Bark and Guihwa.

After obtaining those two herbs, I went to another pharmacy in a distant village and bought Datura and White Sandalwood.

The reason for purchasing herbs from various places was simple. I didn’t want anyone to figure out what I was making by combining these herbs. Although buying everything from one place wouldn’t necessarily cause a problem, it was better to be safe than sorry.

Being cautious never hurts. In life, inconvenience can lead to financial loss, but in the martial world, inconvenience can cost your life.

Having obtained all the necessary herbs, I headed to the mountains.

There was a cave deep in the remote mountains where I used to stay. I cleaned the place thoroughly and started brewing the herbs.

Some herbs needed to be brewed separately, while others needed to be brewed together. It would take at least a few days.

This concoction was to numb the sense of smell of the master who was shackled. He had been held captive since he was young, so he must still be there. The time and cost it took to discover this secret were not insignificant.

While brewing the herbs, I sat in a meditative pose and practiced the Heavenly Demon Body Protection Technique.

I almost died when I first learned it, but now the Heavenly Demon Body Protection Technique had become an indispensable old friend. The more I practiced, the more I felt the uniqueness of the technique.

Was it because of the nature of the Heavenly Demon Body Protection Technique? It awakened me in times of crisis and activated on its own, so sometimes it felt like a living martial art. I knew that it would become even more powerful when combined with the Nine Calamities Demon Art, so I eagerly awaited that day.

I trained until late at night, then left the cave and looked up at the starry night sky.

I had stood here looking at the night sky before my regression, but now there was one fundamentally different feeling.

Back then, my only focus was on returning, but now, that place I wanted to return to was filled with longing for the people I missed. I especially wondered if Seo Daeryong was learning martial arts well from the Blood Heaven Blade Demon.

Both would deny it, but they were surprisingly similar in many ways.

‘You’re doing well, right?’

* * *

On the first day of training, Seo Daeryong was waiting for the Blood Heaven Blade Demon in the courtyard.

He had arrived on time, but the Blood Heaven Blade Demon had not yet appeared.

The thought of learning martial arts from the Blood Heaven Blade Demon made his heart feel like it was going to burst.

He swung his blade around on his own while waiting.

Without using internal energy, it was still too heavy.

Thinking it was better not to waste his strength, he waited for the Blood Heaven Blade Demon.

After waiting for a long time without any sign of him, Seo Daeryong cautiously approached the Blood Heaven Blade Demon’s quarters.

As he peeked through the gap in the closed window, he felt a cold presence beside him.

Startled, he turned to find the Blood Heaven Blade Demon, who had appeared without him noticing, was also peeking through the window.

“What are you peeking at?”

“Ah!”

Seo Daeryong screamed in surprise.

“S-sorry! I was waiting and thought you might be inside.”

“They say the Seond Young Master has left the sect?”

“Yes.”

“They say it’ll take about two months?”

“You’ve heard.”

“That’s enough time for someone to go missing or have an accident and die.”

Seo Daeryong quickly replied.

“The Second Young Master is incredibly intelligent. I don’t believe such a tragic event could happen in just two months.”

“Being intelligent, he’ll soon forget about any tragedy that has already occurred.”

The Blood Heaven Blade Demon mimicked gouging out an eye with his thin, long fingers.

“I’ll never peek again!”

“So what are you still doing here?”

“Oh, yes. I’m going!”

Seo Daeryong hurriedly ran to the center of the courtyard.

The Blood Heaven Blade Demon taught Seo Daeryong how to hold and swing the saber.

Then, as he was going back inside, he said,

“A thousand times!”

Seo Daeryong, drenched in sweat, was swinging the sword.

“Eight hundred fifty-three, eight hundred fifty-four…”

The sword felt as heavy as a thousand kilograms, and his arms felt like they were going to fall off.

“Oh, I can’t do this anymore!”

Seo Daeryong collapsed on the ground, sprawled out. He couldn’t help it, even if the Blood Heaven Blade Demon was watching. He didn’t have the strength to move a single finger.

At this time, he would normally be at home, eating snacks and lying on his bed, reading a book.

“Did I do something unnecessary?”

When his body was exhausted, regret flooded in.

“No, no. I’ve already made up my mind!”

If he failed to complete the training on the first day and got kicked out, he wouldn’t have the face to see Geom Mugeuk.

Seo Daeryong jumped up and swung his dao. He barely managed to complete the thousand swings.

“I did it!”

Sitting on the ground, he looked down at the saberin his hand.

The cold and heavy feel of the blade! Yes, if he followed this feeling, it would surely lead him to a better life than one spent lazing around.

At that moment, the window opened, and the Blood Heaven Blade Demon appeared.

“If it’s too hard, quit. I won’t stop you.”

Seo Daeryong jumped to his feet. His arms felt like they were going to fall off, but he spoke firmly.

“I won’t quit.”

“Why?”

“Because I’ll never get another chance like this in my life.”

“I’m never going to pass down my unique martial arts to you.”

“I don’t expect that. The opportunity I’m talking about is learning martial arts from you, Demon Supreme. When I have children, I’ll tell them about it. That their father, in his youth, learned martial arts from the Blood Heaven Blade Demon. That’s enough for me. As a martial artist, having that kind of memory is enough.”

“So, you do plan to get married.”

“Yes, I do.”

“Why?”

“I want to raise children. I want to give them the fatherly love that my father never gave me.”

There was a story and sadness felt in his words.

“What if your child hates you as much as you hate yourself?”

“Then… would you please train them like this as well?”

The Blood Heaven Blade Demon chuckled at Seo Daeryong’s words.

Seo Daeryong, feeling pleased for making the Blood Heaven Blade Demon laugh, smiled brightly.

The Blood Heaven Blade Demon closed the window and cruelly said,

“A thousand more times!”

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!