In the place where the Sanggun departed with his lips pouted.

Cheonyeong, left alone, carefully observed his surroundings.

There must be something left here.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have carved (those connected by fate at the end of the text on the gourd.

An old pavilion crumbling under the ravages of time, and behind it, a deep and dark forest spreading out.

"Huh?"

When a gust of wind swept his hair, a strange sound was detected in Cheonyeong's ears.

Whiiiii.

At first, it sounded like a low whistle or a cry.

Yet surely only he was here?

Feeling something strange, Cheonyeong walked toward the direction of the sound as if drawn by something.

The forest grew deeper and deeper.

"Huh?"

Cheonyeong couldn't hide his bewilderment.

It was a clearing.

A common, ordinary clearing.

It was the kind of place you'd pass by without paying attention.

But what was that receiving the moonlight among the lush grass...

"White-headed Old Man?"

Commonly called Anemone, it's a plant.

It grows well anywhere—mountains, fields, anywhere.

However, it needs a sunny spot and shouldn't be surrounded by dense undergrowth.

Cheonyeong, who slightly raised his head, saw a night sky with stars pouring down in his eyes.

Though surrounded by dense trees, that spot seemed completely open.

Cheonyeong gauged the direction.

"The sun must shine well here."

When he rubbed and touched the soil on the ground with his hand, unlike the soil elsewhere that was damp with moisture, it was dry.

The sun would have risen in the east, shining through the trees.

The shadows would have disappeared, and sunlight would have continued along the sun's path, staying warm until sunset.

But looking at the lush grass around it, this wasn't an environment where Anemone should grow...

Cheonyeong, observing the surroundings, felt something strange.

Whiiiii.

The sound came again.

It was right beside him.

"What is this...?"

Cheonyeong, examining the area, finally noticed a shallow mound near the Anemone.

The sound was coming from there.

Whoosh!

For some reason, Cheonyeong grabbed the grass on the mound and pulled.

"Huh?"

The area hidden by grass was full of stones.

Wasn't that even stranger?

"Could it be...?"

Cheonyeong looked around once more.

Shing!

With a faint hope, Cheonyeong drew his sword and cut down the surrounding grass without hesitation.

The grass fell under the low sword strike, and a large clearing was created around the pile of stones.

And the sound grew stronger.

Whiiiiiii!

The stone placed at the center of the clearing Cheonyeong had created.

And the wind passing between those stones created the sound.

It was strange.

No matter how much he looked around, this wasn't an environment where stones should accumulate.

Would the landscape change just because time had passed?

Rather, if stones had undergone weathering and become soil, that would be one thing, but soil doesn't become stone.

If that were the case, someone must have deliberately carried stones here and stacked them, and there was only one reason that came to mind.

"A tomb."

Made by someone long ago.

It wasn't anything special.

Stone tombs were something you'd often see in wild places when traveling the world, weren't they?

Someone had died here as a traveler, and since Gunsan was an island, there was nowhere to move the body.

So they must have hastily built a stone tomb here.

Perhaps Namgwangro even knew there was a tomb here.

But he would have just passed over it.

Would he, who took pride in being a pirate, pour precious alcohol on an unknown stone tomb and even perform grave maintenance?

He would have just left it alone.

As if it were part of the scenery.

The same went for others.

Who would be crazy enough to think, "Huh? What's that stone tomb doing there?" and dig it up?

Rather, they'd first worry about the superstition that disturbing the dead's rest would bring a ghost's curse.

But it was different for Cheonyeong.

Why here?

Why was there a stone tomb in the place where he had come to find Samyang by following the text left on the gourd?

He had to check.

Clink.

Cheonyeong moved one stone.

As the wind escaped, it created a variation in the ghost sound.

His hand movements became faster and faster, and soon a pile of stones accumulated beside Cheonyeong.

Tick.

Then something caught in his hand.

Bones?

His careful hands gently scraped away the soil.

"Huh?"

What he thought were bones was a small iron box covered in rust.

His heart raced.

Now he could be certain.

An object left by Samyang Shengjun.

Cheonyeong pulled the object into his arms and carefully observed the surroundings.

He listened intently and held his breath.

As if he had become an assassin, he breathed low and slowly, suspecting if anyone was watching.

Instead of the wind sound that had brushed past the stone tomb before, only the sound of chirping insects filled the air.

"Phew..."

After being cautious for a while, Cheonyeong chose a place to hide his body and set up a formation.

Who knew what might happen?

Since the world's affairs couldn't be predicted even a moment ahead, he had to be thorough with safety.

The Euncheon Hidden Formation.

Only after the formation was activated did Cheonyeong relax his guard, sit down, and look at the iron box in his hand.

What had he left?

Creak.

The rusted lock, unable to withstand the long years, crumbled helplessly under Cheonyeong's hands.

The crude hinges also couldn't endure and broke.

Cheonyeong, with trembling heart, lifted the lid of the iron box, which had become like a sealed container.

Inside the small, square box.

"Wooden tablets?"

Inside were scrolls made of split wood woven together.

It was proof of how much time had passed.

"Phew."

Cheonyeong, calming his trembling heart, carefully took out the wooden tablets and unfolded them.

If they broke like the hinges, it would be a disaster.

As he spread the thin wooden tablets one by one on the ground, they easily reached about one meter in length.

"Tsk, he really loved those connected by fate."

Like the beginning of old documents, the wooden tablets also started that way.

But the content was different from what he expected.

"I am Gongsun Yuan, a person from Changsha."

Suddenly his motivation plummeted.

"Damn it, I thought it was Samyang Shengjun."

As far as he remembered, Samyang Shengjun was a person from Kangju in Shanxi, with the courtesy name Qingdao and the name Jingxiese.

But suddenly Gongsun Yuan?

Wasn't he an ancestor of the Gongsun family?

Cheonyeong, whose eyes had become listless, gathered his mind again and looked at the wooden tablets.

No, wait. That's not right.

The gourd necklace was originally a Gongsun family item.

Wasn't it natural for an ancient ancestor of the Gongsun family to appear?

And the text left at the end of the gourd was definitely "Yeonja" and Samyang.

Cheonyeong slowly read the wooden tablets.

Starting with Gongsun Yuan's greeting...

And soon his eyes grew wider and wider.

"What is this? Gongsun Yuan was a friend of Samyang Shengjun?"

What was written on the wooden tablets connected with the history of Samyang Bigup that he remembered.

"I am a person named Jingxiese.

A person from Kangju in Shanxi, with the courtesy name Qingdao and the title Samyang.

I was born in Kangju, Shanxi, but to cure my illness, I served various masters and wandered the world. In my later years, I devoted myself to the way of Jeonjin.

Throughout my life, I pursued the ultimate martial arts, so I didn't only follow what was called 'righteous,' but also took interest in heterodox methods. Eventually, I was excommunicated and spent my life being chased.

I didn't mind others pointing fingers and calling me evil, but I regret not achieving the ultimate before death.

This was the history of Samyang Shengjun that Cheonyeong remembered from the first volume.

But on the wooden tablets...

There was a war.

A war started by one of the friends Samyang could meet while wandering in pursuit of martial arts.

He wanted to possess the world, and when Samyang awakened him to his wrongdoing, the world was divided in half.

Samyang, who had always lived alone, realized the insufficiency of power and gathered friends. These became the Eight Immortals.

After a long battle, they reached Dongting and blocked an offensive like a series of victories. That friend died fighting Samyang, and the counterattack from the central plains began.

Peace was restored, but Samyang couldn't recover, and he lamented that the world would become chaotic again with future upheavals.

Samyang didn't raise successors, so he left his martial arts to us who mourned his passing.

Train later generations.

He divided the Samyang Secret Manual into front and back halves, saying that if the one we trained became the most outstanding among the eight, we should pass on the rest.

If one learns the front half and the Ganggung opens, they will naturally know where the back half martial arts were left.

He said this was how it was for him...

"What?"

Reading halfway through, Cheonyeong couldn't hide his bewilderment.

What is this talking about?

War? Eight Immortals?

Does this mean the first volume of Samyang that was called the front half was divided into eight places? And when reaching Ganggung, one would naturally know where the back half is?

Only more questions arose.

But Cheonyeong continued reading.

What followed was the story of Gongsun Yuan after Samyang Shengjun's death.

From that day on, he always climbed Gunsan in Dongting to reminisce about Samyang.

But he never left a will to anyone.

He also lamented that he couldn't raise talented successors.

And at the end of the text.

They are searching for Samyang.

I lack the strength to shake off their pursuit, so ultimately I must hide what I have.

I sincerely hope that the descendants of the Eight Immortals will find the Gongsun family in later generations and cherish what I have left.

Cheonyeong stared blankly at the wooden tablets for a while.

Then he folded them neatly and violently smashed them on the ground.

"Damn it!"

He thought there would be something.

That's all?

There wasn't a single clue about this volume, and he only learned that the first volume was divided into multiple pieces.

"Argh! I'm so frustrated!"

Whether it was an heirloom left by the Gongsun family's ancestor or not!

Unable to contain himself, Cheonyeong trampled and rubbed the wooden tablets, venting his anger fully.

Crunch crunch!

Birds that had been sleeping hidden in the forest were startled and flew up into the sky.

They even defecated.

Eight places in total.

In his previous life, the Secret Manual that Cheonyeong obtained was one of them.

This damn thing.

He should have left only one.

Or he should have torn one and divided it!

Why did he make eight copies!

On top of that, he had already learned that the Jingagu bastards were searching for Samyang Shengong with their eyes on fire.

If that's the case, shouldn't he block eight places instead of just one?

And now, just one.

He had only found the ancestor of the Gongsun family.

Then what about the rest?

Who were the other seven?

"This is insane! What am I supposed to do! He should have left names! Not lumped them together as the Eight Immortals! He should have left detailed information about who is who!"

Was it because he was so angry?

The Samyang true energy in his body was vented in all directions.

Bang! Crack!

Trees broke, and the ground exploded and scattered.

"Argh!"

As Cheonyeong's angry shout accompanied the Samyang true energy sweeping in all directions, the forest was devastated in an instant.

"Huh? Why is he like that? Is he practicing martial arts?" 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

Namgwangro, waiting far away for Cheonyeong to finish thinking of a name, was simply bewildered.

Wasn't the usually quiet fellow recklessly destroying the mountain peak?

"Indeed... they say the pain of creation is like the pain of childbirth."

But Namgwangro's worry for Cheonyeong was brief, and internally he was pleased.

He was so troubled thinking of his name.

It seemed like a good name would come out.

(End of Chapter)