FWF Chapter 278 : Final Curtain of Infinity (2)
Chapter 278 : Final Curtain of Infinity (2)
Chapter 278: Final Curtain of Infinity (2)
Sewoon could not hide the surge of emotion rising in his chest.
It was because the trust embedded in the way she looked at him was far too unwavering.
‘If only I had realized this child’s true worth just a little sooner.’
Boyeon Divine Nun let out a deep sigh of regret inwardly.
Every one of Sewoon’s actions had gone far beyond the bounds of her common sense.
The reason he had willingly borne infamy and declared himself part of the unorthodox path.
The lonely journey in which he had tried to shoulder everything alone after the Sword Emperor’s death.
And even the desperate trajectory of a life in which he had sacrificed himself to prevent all of these tragedies.
Sewoon alone had acted for the sake of stopping the Blood Demon.
Memories surfaced of the moments when she had once condemned Sewoon.
At the time, she had believed he was merely walking a foolish and misguided path.
But now that she looked back, she realized how lacking she herself had been, how narrow her view had been.
Sewoon was trying to accomplish the greater cause by staking everything he had.
Her past self, who had doubted such a man, felt unbearassingly shameful.
Yet whether he knew her feelings or not, Sewoon clasped his hands in a formal salute and spoke with utmost courtesy.
“I will humbly accept your excessive praise, offered for the sake of a junior.”
“Heh heh, even that side of you resembles that fellow.”
She spoke with a smile, yet sorrow lingered within it.
The one Boyeon Divine Nun was referring to was, of course, a single person.
The Sword Emperor, Yoo Jinhak.
Her closest friend, who had met his end at the hands of the Blood Demon.
A fragment of the past flickered before Boyeon Divine Nun’s eyes.
Here, on Lotus Peak of Mount Hua, sitting face to face with her, Yoo Jinhak had once shared drinks with her.
“Ha ha. Boyeon, with you here, I truly feel reassured.”
“…If you’re drunk, then go back to your room and sleep properly.”
His voice had been vividly alive, his gaze utterly unshaken.
Back then, she had not known.
Yes, it was only after losing him that she understood.
The one who had actually been reassured by leaning on another’s shoulder had not been him, but herself.
But that, too, was only for a brief moment.
Boyeon Divine Nun, who had been immersed in memories, spoke again.
“Then since there isn’t much time, shall we slowly move on to the main matter?”
Sewoon nodded. Then he asked calmly,
“Did you obtain results?”
“Yes. I have yet to ascend myself, but I have clearly found the path beyond the extreme of the Manifestation Realm toward the Life and Death Realm. It was all thanks to you.”
“No, that is not the case. How could that possibly be my merit?”
“Heh heh. You explained in detail the sword formula he left behind, as if creating annotations. If it is not your merit, then whose could it be?”
The reason Boyeon Divine Nun had not joined the battlefield—
That was because of a single letter Sewoon had sent her.
The contents of the letter were as follows.
[Divine Physician, I will take responsibility for the battlefield.]
[Please devote yourself to carrying on the Sword Emperor’s martial learning for the sake of the final battle.]
After receiving Sewoon’s letter, she agonized over it repeatedly.
In the end, Boyeon Divine Nun left everything about the battlefield behind and remained at Mount Hua.
And she clung to the relics the Sword Emperor had left, devoting herself day and night to training.
At last, a new path opened before her eyes.
Swoosh.
At that moment, Boyeon Divine Nun drew a single sword.
An old blade bearing the traces of countless hardships and training.
It was the Pine Pattern Ancient Sword once used by the Sword Emperor.
“Heh heh. That damned fellow Yoo. He really leaves nothing but burdens behind, right until the end.”
“……”
It was the very relic the Sword Emperor Yoo Jinhak had left to his close friend, Boyeon Divine Nun.
Of course, the sword Yoo Jinhak had wielded in his battle against the Blood Demon had been consumed as pure yang material.
However, the sword he had used during his closed-door cultivation had remained.
This time, as Sewoon looked at the sword, a memory surfaced of the moment he had received it.
“Please accept this sword.”
The Sect Leader of the Wudang Sect had spoken sincerely to Sewoon, his eyes brimming with tears.
Within his gaze were deep respect for Sewoon, along with self-reproach over his own weakness.
“This sword is…”
“Yes. It is the sword the Sword Emperor left behind.”
The Sect Leader carefully produced a single old blade.
“He said that if this sword were given to the Venerable One, you would naturally understand his intent.”
Even as he spoke, his voice choked.
How bitter and painful it must have been for them, unable to uphold the will entrusted to them due to their lack of strength.
“Do not worry. As you wish, I will interpret it and deliver it to the Divine Physician.”
“…We sincerely thank you.”
The Sect Leader of Wudang and its martial artists all bowed to him at once.
At some point, they had come to regard Sewoon as the Sword Emperor’s final disciple and true successor.
It was not mere words.
In this war, every member of Wudang was following not anyone else’s command, but Sewoon’s.
At that moment, Boyeon Divine Nun spoke softly.
“A truly vast amount of enlightenment was contained within this single sword. Thank you for finding, one by one, the things that could not be seen unless one truly looked.”
“It is nothing. This must be the reason the Sword Emperor left it to me.”
To Sewoon’s eyes, which had already reached the Life and Death Realm, it was visible.
Within the traces of training etched into the sword were countless paths of the sword engraved.
Just as the Heavenly Demon had left traps within his own martial learning.
For the sake of his prideful friend, Yoo Jinhak had left behind, not a book, but a sword formula embedded within the blade itself—a gift of sorts for his close friend.
‘As if he had foreseen his own death…’
Thinking of Yoo Jinhak once more, Sewoon felt his chest tighten.
But he quickly composed his expression.
If he himself felt this way, how devastating must it be for Boyeon Divine Nun?
With that thought, Sewoon reached into his robes and took out another item.
“However, there is actually one more item the Sword Emperor left behind.”
“Hm?”
“It was too dangerous to send casually, so I brought it myself.”
Swoosh.
What Sewoon took out was none other than a wine flask.
Boyeon Divine Nun let out a faint chuckle.
“Is it perhaps a thousand-year-old ginseng wine?”
“That is correct.”
“…What?”
“It is a medicinal wine brewed from countless spiritual medicines, including Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng and even ten-thousand-year fleeceflower root.”
“!!”
“Drink it yourself.”
Boyeon Divine Nun said so and instead handed the medicinal spirit wine back to Sewoon.
Her gaze did not waver.
“Now that I have truly examined it, it contains an utterly absurd amount of energy. If one could drink this and fully contain it, the increase would be close to three-tenths of the energy accumulated over an entire lifetime. What use would such a thing be to an old woman like me? So this should be for you—”
“Absolutely not.”
As expected, Sewoon refused without hesitation.
“This item is something the Alliance Leader left for you, Divine Physician.”
Yoo Jinhak’s final consideration.
A life woven entirely from sacrifice and devotion.
This medicinal spirit wine was no different.
The medicinal spirit wine, in which Boyeon Divine Nun’s latent power and energy had been condensed, would clearly open a path for her to reach the Life and Death Realm.
There was no way he could take for himself such an item, of all things.
Thus, for quite some time, the two of them continued their stubborn back-and-forth.
Neither yielded even a single step.
And then, at last—
“Hah… Very well.”
“Yes, you have made the right decision.”
Boyeon Divine Nun stepped back.
She no longer persisted after Sewoon’s resolute refusal.
It seemed as though she had given up.
A faint smile flickered in Sewoon’s eyes.
“Then… could you perhaps help me with the absorption?”
“Of course.”
Soon after, the two sat facing each other in the lotus position.
They looked like a pair of grandparents and grandchild.
Except it was not a grandmother caring for her grandson—
it was the grandson, Sewoon, exerting himself to assist Boyeon Divine Nun.
“I will begin.”
“Yes.”
Gulp, gulp.
Boyeon Divine Nun emptied the entire wine flask without hesitation.
As the clear, transparent medicinal spirit wine flowed down her throat—
Sssssss!
Shaaaaa!
An overwhelming surge of energy began to flood through her entire body. Her blood vessels expanded, and her muscles and bones screamed in protest.
“Khngh!”
“You must concentrate!”
Boyeon Divine Nun’s expression twisted in pain, yet her eyes did not waver.
Seeing this, Sewoon drew out his full strength.
‘Assist the absorption with Golden Heaven Harmonization Qi!’
Thud.
He placed both hands against Boyeon Divine Nun’s back.
Then he began to transmit his energy.
From his entire body, golden radiance began to shine brilliantly.
Golden Heaven Harmonization Qi was an energy of mutual generation.
Even after entering another person’s body, it could provide ample support.
Sssss!
Ssshhh!
As expected, the energy within the medicinal spirit wine was being absorbed smoothly, without a trace of waste or loss.
‘It’s working. If this continues—!’
But then—
[Forgive me. Please forgive me.]
With Boyeon Divine Nun’s sudden voice, the situation changed abruptly.
Sssss!
Kwa-ga-ga-ga!
The energies she had absorbed—
No, not just those, but all the energy she had accumulated until now began pouring back toward Sewoon instead.
It even included her Innate True Qi, the very source of life itself.
Naturally, Boyeon Divine Nun’s complexion rapidly worsened.
‘…!!’
She had realized it.
To defeat the Blood Demon, the only possible answer was for the young child before her to become even stronger.
Rather than her stepping beyond the extreme of the Manifestation Realm and reaching the threshold of the Life and Death Realm, it would be far more beneficial to saving the world for this child to enter the extreme of the Life and Death Realm.
Unlike herself, whose limits were clear, Sewoon was a being of infinite potential.
If she devoted everything she had to him, he would surely gain greater power and defeat the Blood Demon.
‘This cannot be allowed!’
Sewoon panicked.
He realized her intent.
She was trying to sacrifice her own life and pass all the energy she had accumulated over to him.
If it had been anyone else, they would have closed their eyes and accepted it.
The energy of Boyeon Divine Nun, who had gained enlightenment through Yoo Jinhak’s legacy, was both immensely pure and vast.
And with the power of the medicinal spirit wine added on top of that, it would surely shatter the wall blocking his path.
But Sewoon was not such a person.
‘I will never become stronger by sacrificing someone else’s life!’
Sewoon’s gaze hardened.
In his heart, Yoo Jinhak’s final 모습 surfaced.
That noble figure who had sacrificed everything for his sake.
Watching him, Sewoon had made a vow.
That such a tragedy would never be repeated again.
[I am sorry as well.]
Sssssss!
Shaaaaa!
Instead of accepting the energy pouring into him, Sewoon reversed its flow and sent it back into Boyeon Divine Nun’s body.
‘…!’
Boyeon Divine Nun’s eyes flew open.
Her body trembled as Sewoon’s pure energy pierced into her.
Like a starving dragon encountering water, it flowed through her blood vessels, cleansing her meridians.
And at that moment—
KWA-A-A-A-AANG!
A tremendous explosion erupted from within her body.
With a massive internal detonation, dazzling, multicolored light burst forth from Boyeon Divine Nun.
Above her head, a white lotus bloomed, and all surrounding energies whirled violently around her.
It was the sound of the wall of the Manifestation Realm being shattered, giving way to the Life and Death Realm.
‘Ah…!’
Without realizing it, Boyeon Divine Nun entered a state of selflessness and cried out.
She had crossed beyond the extreme of the Manifestation Realm and ascended to the Life and Death Realm.
But it did not end there.
At the very moment Sewoon transmitted his energy to Boyeon Divine Nun—
‘This is…!!’
All the energies within Sewoon’s body began to connect perfectly into a single path.
Lower, middle, upper.
The three dantians began to unite as one.
Paaaat!
An enlightenment of perfect harmony, where everything became connected as one.
‘Circulation…! So this is true circulation!’
A new world unfolded before Sewoon’s eyes.
It was the moment he stepped onto the absolute extreme of the Life and Death Realm.
Shaaaaaaaa!
The golden light emanating from Sewoon’s body shifted into a deep blue radiance.
From beneath their feet, waves of blue light spread outward, and the blood-red energy that had grotesquely blanketed Mount Hua vanished in an instant.
Before his eyes now—
Only the blue sky remained.