Baek Yoonjun was wary of the opponent in front of him.

Not only did he appear out of nowhere in this deep forest, but he couldn't even feel his presence.

'He wasn't caught by my qi sense. On top of that, that appearance is...'

Baek Yoonjun slowly scanned the opponent's appearance.

No matter how he looked at him, he looked similar to himself.

'He looks the same as me?'

Baek Yoonjun's mind became confused. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

At that moment, through the crack of confusion, the ingrained nature of a homebody introvert pushed its way in.

'No, is it not the same? That side is a bit... handsome, isn't it...?'

Baek Yoonjun scanned the opponent again.

Although he had definitely felt they were the same until just before, looking again, it didn't seem so.

Baek Yoonjun's low self-esteem, which pierced the floor, had even blurred his eyes.

Therefore, his attitude naturally became timid.

"Excuse me... who are you...?"

"Can't you tell by looking?"

At the cold reaction of the man, Heuk Yoon, who was so cool as if he had no emotions, Baek Yoonjun's mind-image began to dig the floor below the floor.

In other words, the digging in his mind-image had reached its peak.

Heuk Yoon, who was watching that, felt a small ripple in his own mind-image, which had been extremely quiet.

'My mind-image should be like a clear mirror and still water... this is...'

Heuk Yoon coolly contemplated his inner self. And he found out the identity of that ripple.

'Is this annoyance?'

Why did he, who should not feel emotions, feel annoyance?

As a result of the analysis, the reason was clear.

It was because of the being right in front of him.

'That Baek Yoonjun in front of me, who can be called my main body. His attitude was what was bothering me.'

Having finished his analysis, Heuk Yoon suppressed the ripple in his mind-image and drew the sword he had taken after killing a martial artist on his way here.

"W-what is it? Why are you suddenly drawing your sword?"

As Heuk Yoon drew his sword, Baek Yoonjun also hastily drew his sword.

The blade of the Black Iron Dark Night shone faintly with a black light even under the dark night.

But Heuk Yoon's eyes were not on the sword, but were staring at Baek Yoonjun's trembling pupils.

He began to murmur without realizing it.

"How can the moon reflected in muddy water be noble."

Since the foundation is rotten, how can only the appearance be pretentiously imitated.

Screech.

The tip of Heuk Yoon's sword scratched the floor and drew a strange trajectory.

"Since the main body is blurry... the shadow weeps for the sword."

The sword that has met the wrong master is pitiful, so I, the shadow, will weep for it instead.

Whoosh!

Heuk Yoon's sword flew towards Baek Yoonjun.

Clang!

The two's swords clashed with the same trajectory, as if they were connected by a string.

Baek Yoonjun's face contorted.

'What is this brat, why is his way of swinging a sword the same as mine? And what's with that strange poem!?'

Clang!

The swords clashed once again.

Black and white became each other's shadows and began to dance under the moonlight.

A perfect harmony of black and white.

It looked like a single phenomenon rather than a confrontation.

"Is it not possible to settle this with just swords?"

The one who broke that perfect balance first was Heuk Yoon.

As Heuk Yoon took a step back.

Crackle!

A black electric current that ran wild in all directions arose.

The thunder that had been a symbol of heavenly punishment and purification for a long time.

However, his thunder was as black as jet, as if mocking such a symbol.

Whoosh.

In response, around Baek Yoonjun, a lukewarm and slow blue wind, the Cheongpung, began to gather.

A moment later.

The Cheongpung and the black thunder clashed head-on.

Rumble...!!

A loud noise as if thousands of thunder bombs had exploded at the same time.

The blue wind and the black electric current that had scattered in all directions swallowed everything around and swept through.

As the huge cloud of dust cleared, in the center of a large crater where everything around had been shattered, the two were crossing swords.

A state where their combination matched perfectly.

But a crack appeared in that perfect combination.

Crack.

A fine line spread on Heuk Yoon's sword.

Clang.

The sword shattered into pieces.

Heuk Yoon, whose sword had been shattered, stepped back and looked at the hilt, which had lost its blade, with cold eyes.

"The difference is the sword."

Heuk Yoon threw away the sword whose blade had been shattered without any lingering attachment.

Then he slowly scanned the crater, which looked as if a meteorite had fallen.

"You create such a phenomenon and still think you are a third-rate, no, a second-rate?"

"What?"

Baek Yoonjun frowned at the sudden words.

"I recognize myself as Heuk Yoon, and my memory of you is fading. I am asking out of genuine curiosity."

"What kind of nonsense is that?"

Heuk Yoon did not even glance at the frowning Baek Yoonjun and quietly raised his own hand and looked at it.

For some reason, his fingertips were gradually becoming blurry and losing their shape.

A feeling as if his existence was being erased from this world.

Heuk Yoon realized that the answer to the question he had just asked was in this.

"I see. Is that why?"

"What are you talking about, that only you know, from before?"

"The call of the heavens. Is this to avoid it? I don't know if you're doing it knowingly, or if you're doing it instinctively, as my memory is fading."

"Listen when a person is talking!"

Unable to bear his frustration, Baek Yoonjun stretched out his sword towards Heuk Yoon.

While doing so, he quickly replayed the previous situation in his head.

'That brat, for some reason, he's using the same martial arts as me, though the nature is different. If so...!'

Baek Yoonjun contemplated his mind-image.

The sword of the heart, forged by betting everything he had, which was in it.

As he grabbed the Heart Sword, the Black Iron Dark Night and the Heart Sword became one.

"Let's see you imitate this too!!"

Slice.

A sharpness that glinted like a star shining in the night sky brushed past Heuk Yoon's chest.

Drip.

Heuk Yoon quickly stepped back and scanned his chest.

A lukewarm and sticky blood was flowing down.

He looked at the blood on his hand indifferently and muttered.

"The moon reflected in muddy water... is also the moon."

On his face, which seemed to have no cold emotions, a bitter look flashed by for a moment.

"I see. There is still something I must take from you."

Heuk Yoon nodded his head indifferently.

Baek Yoonjun rushed towards him.

'I don't know what this brat is, but I can't leave him alone!'

An unknown opponent who used the same martial arts as him, though the nature was different.

Feeling the greatest sense of crisis and incongruity he had ever felt, Baek Yoonjun swung his sword at the opponent with all his might.

"For now, my vessel is insufficient to contain you... let's see each other next time, Baek Yoonjun."

But before the sword reached.

Crackle.

The black thunder raged and wrapped around Heuk Yoon's figure.

Slice.

His body was completely wrapped in the black thunder, and at the same time, Baek Yoonjun's sword cut through it.

'There is no sensation of cutting in my hand.'

But what the sword had cut was just the innocent empty air and the afterimage of the remaining black thunder.

Baek Yoonjun, who had swung his sword, lost his balance and fell on his back with that momentum.

It was because he had forcibly swung the Heart Sword in a state where his physical condition was not yet good.

"Keuk...!"

Having let out a groan at the shock, Baek Yoonjun hastily raised only his head and scanned his surroundings.

"Is he gone?"

Muttering timidly, Baek Yoonjun carefully stood up, still not letting down his guard.

"What on earth... is it?"

The word 'doppelgänger', which he had seen in his past life, came to his mind as he muttered in a daze.

'Doppelgänger? Hmm... it's not completely convincing... but it seems right...'

Although he could not see his appearance objectively due to his nature, he had a certain pride in his martial arts, so he had seen it properly.

No matter how he thought about it, the roots seemed to be the same.

'Is it a doppelgänger? They say you die if you meet a doppelgänger, so was it a physical death?'

As his thoughts reached that point, Baek Yoonjun's head felt as if it would explode.

'My head already hurts because I pretended to be dead, so what's this again? No, why can't you just leave me alone?!'

Baek Yoonjun frantically cursed inside.

Of course, it was just a monologue without a target, for fear that the opponent would notice.

'That brat said he would come again...'

The endless worry that could be called the basic quality of a homebody introvert.

After digging a meaningless hole in his heart for a long time, Baek Yoonjun came to a conclusion.

'The outside is dangerous, so let's go back for now.'

He decided to return to the residence that Shinseung had prepared.

---

Drip.

Blood was constantly flowing from Heuk Yoon's chest.

At the same time, the pain in his chest that was rising.

'Pain, suffering. I know it, but it's very bothersome.'

At the endlessly rising pain, a subtle fine line appeared on Heuk Yoon's face, which had not had any emotion until now.

With a slightly contorted face, Heuk Yoon clutched his chest and sat down, leaning his back against a nearby tree.

'I'll have to recuperate for a while. And.'

Pressing his bleeding chest, Heuk Yoon raised his other hand in front of his eyes.

His fingertips were gradually becoming blurry and losing their shape.

'The call of the heavens. Ascension, or was it called immortal ascension. Unlike the meaning of the words, it feels as if my existence is disappearing.'

Heuk Yoon searched through Baek Yoonjun's fading memory to find a solution to this phenomenon, and he found it.

"The main body has recognized himself as a second-rate. Therefore, I, the replica, cannot be more than that."

A dry declaration with no ups and downs in its emotionless tone.

It was neither truth nor falsehood, just a self-suggestion and a constraint for survival.

At the same time as Heuk Yoon's declaration, his fingertips, which had been becoming blurry, regained their original shape.

He clenched and unclenched his hand, which had found its shape, and checked his condition.

'As expected. If one reaches a certain realm, one ascends. Was that why there were no martial artists above the transcendent level?'

As Heuk Yoon's hypothesis was confirmed, he moved on to another problem.

'The Heart Sword. It is a powerful weapon in itself. With that alone, the possibility of me surpassing Baek Yoonjun disappears.'

The absence of the Heart Sword.

A clear difference that had created a huge gap in the battle with Baek Yoonjun.

'I don't know how to solve the absence of the Heart Sword yet.'

There was definitely no difference other than the Heart Sword.

If so, they should be seen as equals, but for some reason, Heuk Yoon could not use the Heart Sword.

'Why can't I use the Heart Sword?'

No matter how coolly he analyzed it, he could not know why he could not use the Heart Sword.

'There's no point in continuing to analyze. Let's move on to another problem.'

Heuk Yoon's thoughts, which had not found an answer to the Heart Sword, sought a solution in another direction.

'If there is a difference other than the Heart Sword, it is the Black Iron Dark Night. I did not have an armament comparable to it.'

The difference other than the Heart Sword was the difference in the sword.

'If I fill the gap in the armament, a path for me to reach the Heart Sword might also open.'

Although there was no evidence yet, since he could not find any other difference, Heuk Yoon's thoughts headed towards filling the gap in the armament first.

As Heuk Yoon was thinking about armament, one sword naturally came to his mind.

'The White Iron Clear Dew. If it is that sword, which was born under the same craftsman, it will have a power comparable to the Black Iron Dark Night.'

As Heuk Yoon thought of the White Iron Clear Dew, the owner of that sword also naturally came to mind.

'Baek Sowol... my disciple... no, to be precise, Baek Yoonjun's disciple...'

As he thought of Baek Sowol, a very small ripple arose in his chest, but Heuk Yoon soon dismissed it.

'It's not difficult. I just have to take it. If she resists, I just have to cut her down.'

To him, pity was a meaningless and unnecessary thing, so he just pursued efficiency without any purpose or anything.

But he did not know.

'If I do that, the possibility of surpassing Baek Yoonjun will rise a little.'

That he was already conscious of his main body, Baek Yoonjun.

Having finished his thoughts, Heuk Yoon stood up from his spot.

If he had decided, he just had to execute it now.

Tap... tap... tap...

At that moment, a bothersome noise was heard in his ears.

And with that noise, a figure approached him.

"Benefactor. You were here."

"The monk from that time."

Tagol Hwasang, the monk who was nearby when Heuk Yoon had been imbued in his current body.

The only impression of Tagol Hwasang that remained in Heuk Yoon's memory was that.

Therefore, he asked without emotion.

"Do you have business with me?"

At that cold voice, Tagol Hwasang flinched.

His gaze lingered on Heuk Yoon's blood-stained chest.

'A monster-like being who annihilated the Hall Master of the True Body in a single blow... is injured? Who on earth did he fight? Could it be...?'

Cold sweat trickled down Tagol Hwasang's forehead.

The worst-case scenario came to his mind.

'Originally, what was supposed to be contained in the Mirror of Karmic Retribution was the White Robed Sword Immortal... but, this being called Heuk Yoon was contained. If we assume that the two beings are related in some way... then could it be?'

Tagol Hwasang, in whose mind a certain assumption had come up, carefully uttered that assumption.

"Did you perhaps meet the White Robed Sword Immortal?"

"Just state your business."

Crackle.

At the same time as Tagol Hwasang's words, the black thunder rose around Heuk Yoon.

Unlike Heuk Yoon's emotionless appearance.

Crackle!

At the sight of the black thunder, which was running wild in all directions as if it were very displeased, Tagol Hwasang's body naturally began to tremble.

'Did I touch a raw nerve?! Q-quickly, I have to turn his attention to something else...!'

Observing Heuk Yoon's face, Tagol Hwasang hastily opened his mouth.

"J-Jijang wishes to see you, benefactor, so I have come to escort you!"

(End of Chapter)