"Let's move first."

Zhuge Wuhyun scanned his surroundings at Shinseung's question and then whispered quietly.

His eyes were full of interest in the current situation.

"I understand. Then please come this way."

They moved to Shinseung's residence, where Baek Yoonjun had stayed before.

Although the neat scent lingering in the room seemed to calmly press down the atmosphere, since the human named Zhuge Wuhyun was a ruined human who had long since forgotten the word 'neat', it was not very effective.

As he sat down, Shinseung opened his mouth first.

"Would you like a cup of tea?"

"More than that, Abbot, I would like to ask how you knew that I had recovered 'that'."

"In fact, it was just a casual guess."

Zhuge Wuhyun observed Shinseung's complexion.

The thoughts hidden behind the benevolent smile were not visible at all.

'I don't know if it's the truth. But there's no reason to hide it, and isn't it more fun to reveal it?'

Zhuge Wuhyun carefully took out a piece of a stone tablet from his bosom and placed it on the table.

"This is?"

"The Wuhou Eight Gates Formation Diagram. It is a fragment of it."

An object that exuded an unusual pressure at a glance. However, since he could not know its identity, Shinseung asked again.

"My knowledge is short, so I cannot know what it is. What is it?"

"It is the legacy that the Marquis of Wu left at the end of his life."

"Hah, an object that has endured a thousand years... it is truly a precious item."

"It is precious if you say so. However, its true nature is..."

Zhuge Wuhyun dragged his words for a moment. A strange complexity and pity crossed his eyes.

"It is an object that could drive the world to ruin."

"This... is it?"

Shinseung carefully examined the stone tablet.

Although he did not feel any great energy, Zhuge Wuhyun's atmosphere was more serious than ever before.

Therefore, although he thought it was not nonsense or a joke, it was still difficult to accept his words as they were.

"Honestly, it is hard to believe."

"I was the same, but have you not heard about Namgung Jehyun at the Shaolin tragedy?"

Shinseung recalled the testimonies he had heard after the Shaolin tragedy.

A martial power that surpassed the transcendent level, the bizarre phenomena of cut flesh regenerating and internal energy being neutralized.

Since several testimonies matched, he had no choice but to believe it.

"Are you saying that all those phenomena were the influence of the Wuhou Eight Gates Formation Diagram?"

"That is so. And that is only a part of it."

At Zhuge Wuhyun's confirmation, Shinseung's face hardened.

That that disaster was only a part.

"Are you, Benefactor Zhuge, collecting these fragments?"

"That is so. It is also the biggest reason why the Zhuge family was established."

"For what purpose?"

"Only for the purpose of sealing."

Shinseung observed the complexion of Zhuge Wuhyun, who was answering.

Although he could not read all his inner thoughts, there seemed to be not a single lie in his eyes.

'Why does he seem to be having fun?'

Although it seemed there was no lie in his eyes, it seemed a look of fun was also mixed in.

Shinseung shook his head, repeating 'it can't be' to himself.

"Shaolin will also actively cooperate."

"We welcome it. However, since the sealing can only be done by our Zhuge family, please be sure to let us know if you discover its location."

"Of course. I will let you know as soon as information comes in."

A moment later, when the tea would have all cooled down, Zhuge Wuhyun changed the subject.

His eyes glinted again.

"Come to think of it, Abbot, are you not looking beyond the transcendent level?"

"That is so, but..."

"Did you not feel anything there?"

Shinseung contemplated his inner self and was lost in thought.

"The moment I step into that realm, for some reason, I feel a strong feeling that I must turn my back on the world."

"It is likely so. Because the heavens do not tolerate humans stepping out of the domain they have set."

Although Zhuge Wuhyun was far lacking in both realm and age, his conviction about what was beyond overwhelmed Shinseung.

"Do you perhaps, Benefactor Zhuge, know the way to go beyond that?"

"That is so."

Zhuge Wuhyun answered without hesitation.

Shinseung's heart shook.

The wall he had faced at the end of the martial arts he had cultivated his whole life. The forbidden door that he had not dared to step into, even after obtaining an enlightenment he could reach.

As if he had seen through such a Shinseung's inner self, Zhuge Wuhyun had a meaningful smile.

"You know that Great Hero Baek is already beyond that, do you not?"

"I know. As expected of one who has reached a high realm, he is an unpretentious person."

"Do you really think that is all?"

Zhuge Wuhyun's gaze shone brightly.

"Great Hero Baek's unpretentiousness, it should be seen as him deceiving even the heavens. Or, it must be that he holds a 'chivalrous heart' in his heart, which even the heavens cannot dare to do anything about."

"Ah..."

Shinseung was thrilled.

'To deceive the heavenly secrets with the words 'third-rate' or 'second-rate'... how can one fathom that depth.'

Awe for Baek Yoonjun filled Shinseung's chest.

The appearance of a mastermind who deceives the heavens as if mocking them.

But what was contained within was the mercy of a holy monk to look after the sentient beings, which was in contrast to that.

'It is like the mercy of a devoted Buddha who has turned his back on the Pure Land and covered himself in dust to take care of the sentient beings.'

Baek Yoonjun's own opinion was not broadcast, and Shinseung's own inner enlightenment continued.

"The moment one steps beyond the transcendent level, the call of the heavens, ascension, in the teachings of Buddhism, the state of nirvana..."

Shinseung, who had been laying out several grand words, soon shook his head.

"...The moment one steps beyond the transcendent level, one's existence disappears from the present world, is that correct?"

At Shinseung's confident question, Zhuge Wuhyun just smiled meaningfully.

Seeing that, Shinseung gained conviction.

'My master was right.'

The cry of his master, who had secluded himself in a stone cave and had screamed, "The heavens do not allow one to escape from its frame!" struck his ears.

At that time, Shinseung had not known why his master had screamed so.

However, now he had realized.

And now, unlike his master, Shinseung could see a way to move forward.

At that moment, a huge wall crumbled in Shinseung's inner self.

The desire to become strong, the craving for power packaged with the justification of saving the sentient beings.

He realized that all of that was an obstacle blocking the 'path forward'.

Shinseung closed his eyes and contemplated his mind-image.

He could see the 'path beyond', which was full of a brilliant light.

If he entered that path, he would reach nirvana, and all suffering would disappear.

But Shinseung was hesitating in front of that path.

In such a Shinseung's mind, the previous Shaolin tragedy passed by.

'At that time, if this humble monk had moved his feet, if he had stepped into the realm beyond the transcendent level, could he have stopped it? That is the question.'

The regret of the past.

'Since the sound of wailing does not cease in various parts of the Central Plains, is it not that power is needed to save them? That is the question.'

The salvation of the sentient beings.

Although his mind became more and more complicated as time passed, his outer appearance, on the contrary, could not move at all.

Is it right to step in to prevent a situation like the previous one that he had regretted?

Is it right to step in to save the suffering sentient beings?

Is it right to crave strength based on regret... with salvation as a justification?

'No.'

An answer bloomed in Shinseung's heart like the bud of a lotus flower, and a flower called conviction bloomed in his chest.

'The path this humble monk must take is not strength itself.'

Shinseung boldly stopped his feet.

'As a Buddhist practitioner, one must not pursue only strength.'

One cannot save the sentient beings with just strength.

That is why he had stepped onto the path of Buddhism.

No matter how much the realm beyond the transcendent level, which everyone dreams of, is in front of him.

'This is not this humble monk's path. What I must hold in my heart is not a longing for strength, but the Buddhist faith itself.'

Shinseung boldly gave up on moving forward.

'Strength is something that naturally follows behind the Buddhist faith. Strength itself must not become the purpose. That is not this humble monk's path.'

The path in front of his eyes was disappearing.

The path that would become brilliant and brilliant the moment he stepped on it was gradually disappearing in front of Shinseung.

'It would be a lie to say I have no lingering attachment. However, this is the path this humble monk must take.'

Shinseung's faith was firm.

The brilliant and brilliant path scattered like a fog.

"Namu Amitabha."

The moment the speck of lingering attachment in his heart disappeared like the scattering fog.

A new path, rough and crude but full of the smell of earth, stretched out longly from under his feet.

A path that was not splendid but firm, not high but vast.

A firm path, just like the Buddhist faith that Shinseung held in his heart.

'It seems the path was not one. And it seems this was my path.'

Shinseung moved his feet without hesitation.

As he moved his feet, the Buddha in his heart became larger and larger, and his Buddhist faith became firmer.

Although that path was not brilliant and was rough, it was firmer and nobler than any other path.

A large wall appeared in front of Shinseung, who was walking the path.

At the same time, the air around his body in reality began to shake strangely.

"Oh! It has come!"

Zhuge Wuhyun's eyes sparkled.

An invisible wave harmoniously blended around Shinseung's body, and even the old furniture and a speck of dust seemed to find their place and were submerged in a silence.

Shinseung slowly opened his eyes.

In his pupils, there was no longer any anguish or craving.

There was only a clear lake that contained the world completely.

"Congratulations on moving forward."

Zhuge Wuhyun politely performed a fist-and-palm salute towards Shinseung.

Shinseung also, still with a benevolent appearance, performed a half-palm salute.

"So the world was this harmonious. Even without forcibly twisting it, all things were flowing according to their own flow."

"That is why our Zhuge family calls that realm the Realm of Creation."

Shinseung smiled benevolently and looked at Mount Song outside the window.

A single gust of wind, a single trembling of a blade of grass, was breathing as one with him.

---

Around the time Shinseung had stepped into the noble realm beyond the transcendent level, his disciple, Hyejin.

"When I was in Shaolin, at least my back was warm, and I didn't skip my meals..."

"Hey, because it's a temple, there's nothing but grass! They don't even put in firewood, so the floor is cold! But what do you mean your back is warm and your stomach is full? Mister, are you talking straight?"

"This humble monk is no different from a novice who has not even received the full precepts, so please do not call me 'mister'..."

"What are the full precepts?"

"The completed precepts that a monk must keep to become an official bhikkhu..."

"Forget it! Your face is exactly that of a mister, what are you talking about!"

At Hyejin's complaint, the beggar lying next to him picked his nose and gave him a scolding.

A village they had arrived at after leaving Mount Song, a street where a cold wind was blowing fiercely.

Hyejin closed his eyes with his hands neatly put together.

But the tip of his nose was flaring like a dog's towards the smell of meat coming from a nearby inn.

'All dharmas are empty. All things are originally without substance. That smell of meat is also just a momentary delusion...'

Rumble...!

But Hyejin's stomach, as if its training was insufficient, was roaring.

'...is bullshit! If the scent has no substance, then is the pig that is dripping with juice in that inn not a substance! I feel I can only realize the emptiness of all things when I have enshrined that in my mouth!'

Although his master had entered the Realm of Creation and had become one with all things.

'Buddha, just one piece! No, three pieces will be enough! Namu Amitabha!!'

The disciple was continuing his desperate ascetic practice on the street, as if he had fallen into the realm of hungry ghosts among the six paths of reincarnation.

(End of Chapter)