Unhwi slowly opened his eyes.

No one was visible. He had told Chief Seong clearly. Do not let anyone in.

In Unhwi’s current condition, even a small disturbance could cause a major setback in his recovery.

And yet the presence he felt now was impossible to ignore, and Unhwi trusted his own instincts.

This was not an uncertain judgment.

It was the clearest certainty of all.

“Who are you?”

At Unhwi’s curt question, a “monk” leaning his back against a pillar across from him gave a small laugh.

“It’s good to meet you, Seol, my fellow practitioner.”

Unhwi’s eyes flashed in an instant.

Since when had he been there?

It was hard to believe Unhwi hadn’t sensed him at all, but the moment he took in the man’s appearance, he understood everything.

It was correct that he couldn’t gauge him.

The monk’s appearance was far too plain. A shaved head, a very small frame, and a ringed staff slung over his back.

His eyes were gentle, filled with sharp intelligence.

His cheeks were hollow and his nose was high—if not for his slight build, he would clearly have been a strikingly handsome man in the past.

His body was about five feet and three inches, yet the presence pouring out of that small frame was overwhelmingly dominant.

Unhwi’s eyes narrowed. He had never imagined “that man” would come here.

And yet.

“Why am I a fellow practitioner?”

That form of address was used in the Buddhist tradition.

A companion who follows the Buddha’s teachings and cultivates.

It was also often said as “Dharma companion,” but no matter how one looked at it, Unhwi was not a person of the Buddhist path.

He did not deeply follow the Buddha’s teachings, either.

“Heh heh… You’re not asking because you truly don’t know. I usually have little interest in the martial world, but there was a rumor I heard, so I had no choice but to come pay my respects.”

The monk’s voice was warm, but deep power lay hidden within it. Like a massive dragon sleeping beneath a placid lake.

“Before that, will you forgive the rudeness of my visiting in the dead of night?”

Unhwi let out a hollow laugh. When a supreme master who had reached No-Extremes Incarnation said such a thing, Unhwi had nothing to say.

“I’ll forgive it.”

“Heh heh… That’s pleasing to hear. May I sit?”

“Yes. Sit. And if possible, would you sit across from me?”

“Hm?”

“As you can see, my body is like this.”

The monk smiled faintly and sat facing Unhwi. Unhwi continued.

“At this late hour, what brings the Undying Maitreya of the Maitreya Brahma Sect?”

The Undying Maitreya’s eyes flashed for a brief moment. It was unexpected that Unhwi had identified him so easily.

“You knew?”

“Yes. Your appearance has no strong distinguishing marks, but my knowledge is broad.”

“I ceased activities in the martial world a hundred years ago. At a time when few even know the name Maitreya Brahma Sect, you infer my name at once? Indeed… Seol, my fellow practitioner, you truly are extraordinary. As if blessed by the Buddha.”

He spoke as if in admiration, but Unhwi could read the intent hidden within.

It was a probing exchange. Testing how much Unhwi knew.

“You flatter me. But what brings you here?”

“Heh heh… There are those who still move in the martial world even after the Gold-Dust Ablution Rite. Would mere closed gates amount to anything?”

The Undying Maitreya laughed with ease. But Unhwi could feel the iron will hidden behind that ease.

This was being shown to him.

That he knew of the Mukse Society.

That there were people striving to rebuild the Millennium Demon Cult.

That he knew all of it.

He hadn’t realized it before, but seeing it now, the Maitreya Brahma Sect’s intelligence network was clearly beyond imagination.

“So that’s why you broke your closed gates and came—because of Shaolin’s martial arts.”

The Undying Maitreya’s expression shifted slightly. He was still smiling, but the smile sharpened.

“Shaolin’s martial arts… What specifically are you referring to?”

“The Muscle-Tendon Transformation Classic.”

The Undying Maitreya fell silent for a moment. Tension flowed between the two men.

“Heh heh… As expected, Seol, my fellow practitioner, you are not ordinary. Then you also know what I wish to say.”

“Do I have to say it with my own mouth?”

“If you know, then say it yourself once.”

Unhwi thought briefly, then spoke evenly.

“Your mouth is not my mouth. And as I’ve said, I do not follow the Buddhist teachings. So before we continue, I would appreciate it if you refrained from calling me a fellow practitioner.”

“If I do not call you that, then all the more, I see no reason you would possess the Muscle-Tendon Transformation Classic. Isn’t that so?”

Unhwi gave a small laugh. The Undying Maitreya laughed as well.

The moment their laughter overlapped, the air grew heavier.

The Undying Maitreya slowly opened his mouth.

“You’ve said it. Yes. The Muscle-Tendon Transformation Classic—I am curious about it.”

“I understand the Maitreya Brahma Sect has scriptures comparable to it. Why cling to an artifact of the past?”

“Because that artifact of the past is the original text of the Myriad Dharma Returning-to-Origin Scripture.”

The Myriad Dharma Returning-to-Origin Scripture.

It was the Maitreya Brahma Sect’s supreme scripture.

A martial manual and a grand compendium at once—something that, in the truest sense, could be called a divine object.

Unhwi’s eyes flashed. It was an answer he had expected, but hearing it directly carried a different weight.

“It differs somewhat from what I know.”

“Hm? In what way does it differ?”

“For someone who enshrines the Buddha to speak such a lie—at this point, it’s hard not to find your intentions questionable.”

The Undying Maitreya’s gaze turned cold for an instant. But he soon returned to a gentle expression.

“It seems you know a thing or two.”

“My ears are brighter than you think.”

“Then speak. I will listen.”

“Fine. As I understand it, the Maitreya Brahma Sect’s Myriad Dharma Returning-to-Origin Scripture is not originally the Muscle-Tendon Transformation Classic. The Ten Thousand Returning-to-Origin Treatise, born from reinterpreting the Muscle-Tendon Transformation Classic, consisted of an upper volume and a lower volume—two volumes—and a single appendix.”

The Undying Maitreya’s eyes widened. He had not expected Unhwi to know it in such detail.

Unhwi continued.

“The Ten Thousand Returning-to-Origin Treatise, created using the upper volume and the appendix, produced side effects as time passed. In the end, to resolve those side effects, you mixed not only Buddhist martial arts but Daoist martial arts as well, and completed the Myriad Dharma Returning-to-Origin Scripture.”

“Seol, my fellow practitioner, it seems you know more than I thought.”

Wariness entered the Undying Maitreya’s voice.

“It’s a minor talent.”

“Minor or not, one cannot know this much in such detail. Did ‘he’ involve himself?”

Unhwi fell silent for a moment. There was no way he would not understand that the “he” the Undying Maitreya meant was the Heavenly Daoist.

And it had nothing to do with the Heavenly Daoist. But—

“I don’t wish to say.”

“……”

The Undying Maitreya stared at Unhwi.

It was surprising enough that Unhwi faced him so boldly, but even more surprising was that the boldness did not feel forced at all.

“My fellow practitioner, having come this far, I cannot return empty-handed.”

“I understand completely. But I cannot hand over the Muscle-Tendon Transformation Classic for nothing.”

“Do you intend to give it?”

“To be honest, not in the slightest.”

The Undying Maitreya’s gaze sharpened for an instant. Unhwi did not shrink at all.

“It’s only because you are overwhelmingly stronger than I am that I speak this way at all. To be frank, you should not covet the Muscle-Tendon Transformation Classic.”

“Heh heh… If, as one who serves the Buddhist path, I felt no desire after hearing you speak, that would make «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» no sense, would it?”

“The Muscle-Tendon Transformation Classic is an item I obtained from the Ascetic Zen Master. So under no circumstances do I intend to give it to anyone. But the matter is different for a few of the martial arts recorded within it.”

The Undying Maitreya’s expression turned intrigued.

“If you want to trade with me, bring something that will tempt me. Then I will trade.”

The Undying Maitreya stared at Unhwi.

No-Extremes Incarnation was a realm fought over for the seat of the martial world’s supreme. Bluntly put, they were transcendent masters who could smash the heavens and erase mountains.

And yet he faced him like this? He hadn’t understood from rumor alone, but seeing it in person—his nerve was no joke.

It was astonishing.

“Heh heh… Then I will come again before long.”

“You intend to trade?”

“Of course. How many martial arts are recorded within?”

“Five. Of those, there are two I can trade.”

“Two… That’s little.”

“I consider it a lot.”

The Undying Maitreya sank into thought. Even two, if they were Shaolin’s supreme arts, were value enough.

“If you dislike it, you don’t have to do it.”

“Heh heh… Very well. Two. We will trade. Seol ‘my fellow practitioner.’”

He still called him that. It was his stubbornness.

In Unhwi himself, the Undying Maitreya saw the Buddhist path. Of that, he was certain.

“Is there something you want? Say it.”

“Nothing comes to mind.”

“……Were you truly saying I should bring something on my own?”

“Yes. And it’s not enough to simply match something. It must suit my taste as well.”

“This… heh, a young fellow practitioner is giving homework to a senior who stands far above. Very well. I understand.”

Smoke rose from where the Undying Maitreya sat. It was very faint, and when it reached the side of his face, there was a soft pop—and his body vanished.

A movement art beyond reason. Unhwi silently stared at the place he had disappeared.

The Undying Maitreya Unhwi had seen in his prior life had been a man one could speak with.

He had been famous for being unpretentious compared to his realm, and for feeling no shame in revealing his own desires.

More than anything, he handled matters rationally. If he judged that the other party did not even deserve to possess something, he would tear their throat or chop their limbs—steal it in whatever way necessary.

That was the kind of man he was.

If Unhwi had been cowed by the difference in realm and been unable to speak, the Undying Maitreya would have made no effort to hide his disappointment—then tortured Unhwi on the spot.

And he would have added this, as well.

That it was law, so accept it.

To survive in the martial world, one could not let their guard down for even a moment.

With the reputation he had accumulated and the many cards in his hand, Unhwi could at least open “a table for conversation,” and escaping danger through that could be called fortunate.

But only once or twice.

If it continued, then he was no longer a martial artist, but no different from an administrator.

A sigh escaped him.

He had grown and grown, yet even now, Unhwi was still weak. It was an undeniable fact, and he had to cultivate further.

Before someone like the Undying Maitreya—one who had reached No-Extremes Incarnation—Unhwi was nothing but a feeble existence. No matter that he had memories of a prior life, no matter that he could use Blood Demon Soaring-Heaven Art, before the absolute gap in power he was helpless.

That was why it was all the more desperate.

He had to become stronger.

At the very least, he had to recover the level of power he had in his prior life.

At most, ten years.

Within that, he intended to rise.

Just as Unhwi was about to settle back into meditation, he let out another sigh.

“Not even letting me rest.”

This time, the voice came not from the pillar, but from behind him.

It was a presence unlike the Undying Maitreya’s.

Sharp and cold, yet somehow familiar.

“You should consider that I have been waiting for more than fifteen days.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep