EPISODE 1

"It has been ten years," I said as I stared at the old man, who was lying down.

He rolled his eyes, glanced in my direction, and yawned. "What are you trying to say?"

"That is how long I have been stuck on this mountain peak."

"Already, huh? Time flies so fast," he remarked.

"Now isn't the time to be saying that. Master, when can I leave the mountain?"

After a brief silence, Bai Luguang—the First Under Heaven, Martial Immortal of Spirit Mountain, and my master—blinked. "Youngest Disciple."

"Yes."

"You are strong."

My expression remained unchanged despite the First Under Heaven's compliment. On the contrary, I felt uncomfortable, as if I was sitting on a thorny cushion.

My master continued. "No matter what you do, it will be hard for you to even graze my collar. Still, you are certainly strong."

"I am well aware, Master. I am but an unworthy disciple who wouldn't dare speak of such things before you, the First Under Heaven, the greatest martial artist in history. After all, you are a perfect superhuman born of the heavens and the one who stands at the pinnacle of humanity."

"Yes. You are well aware of your inexperience. There is no shame in that. Before me, any genius is like nothing more than a firefly beside the sun," he stated matter-of-factly.

My master nodded with satisfaction before suddenly changing his tone. "Eldest Disciple dropped by two days ago."

"Eldest Senior Brother? Didn't you say that he went off to a perilous place?"

My master had five disciples, including me. Eldest Disciple naturally meant the eldest among us.

Eldest Senior Brother rarely stayed at Spirit Mountain. All the other disciples, apart from me, were like that.

"He did. However, that isn't important."

"Did something happen?"

"I expelled Eldest Disciple," my master revealed.

"Huh?"

"To be exact, he went out on his own. You need to catch him, Youngest Disciple."

"What—"

Smack!

"Ack!"

I took a hard hit.

There was a saying that my master's fingers were powerful enough to bring down mountains. Hence, I instinctively covered my forehead.

"What do I hate the most?" my master asked.

"Repeating yourself twice. Still, I need to understand the situation better. If Eldest Senior Brother left on his own, is there any need to bring him back?"

The word "expelled" indicated conflict between the two.

Putting that aside, Eldest Senior Brother was so skilled that it wouldn't be unreasonable to consider him a powerful master.

The fact that he was stepping out of our master's shadow to create his own martial arts style was something to be celebrated.

"We need something from him," my master confirmed.

"What is it?"

"He stole the Spirit Pill before he left."

"Uh..."

The Spirit Pill was a supreme creation that my master had crafted with meticulous care over an extended period.

While I wasn't particularly interested in pills and didn't know much about them, I gathered from my senior disciples that it was a treasure of an entirely different caliber compared to the so-called divine pills.

"Why did Eldest Senior Brother do that?"

It wouldn't have been hard to steal it. After all, my master hadn't really hidden the Spirit Pill—he had simply left it out in the open.

What intrigued me more was Eldest Senior Brother's motive.

"He probably thought it was necessary to achieve his goal."

His goal?

I tried to picture Eldest Senior Brother's face.

The first thing that came to mind was his ever-present smile and his gentle way of speaking.

On days our master had beaten me badly, he would carefully apply herbs to my wounds. Therefore, among all my seniors, I was the closest to Eldest Senior Brother.

"I believe the madness that lay dormant within him has returned. This isn't all that surprising, though. After all, he used to have many unnecessary thoughts."

"Um..." I trailed off, opting not to press further.

Instead, while gently rubbing my throbbing forehead, I asked, "I understand what you are saying, but... why me? I believe you can resolve this issue much more easily if you go there yourself, Master."

"Didn't you say that you wanted to leave the mountain?" he asked back.

I remained quiet.

"In addition, I can't do it."

"Why?"

"You will know when you get there," he answered. "That aside, I feel like your tone is a bit disrespectful today. Is it just my imagination?"

"Just your imagination, Master."

I bowed politely, my mind racing.

I didn't fully understand his intentions, but my master was never the type to change his mind once he had reached a decision.

"Still, it would be difficult to bring Eldest Senior Brother home on my own."

"That is only natural—but only if you'll be facing him as you are now," my master said cryptically. My master stood up, making me gulp nervously.

He was thin, shabby, and dressed in rags, yet I felt as if he was bigger than a great mountain.

My master advanced, taking one step at a time toward me. An ominous feeling began to settle within me.

"Youngest Disciple."

"Y-yes?"

"How old were you when we first met?" he asked out of the blue.

"Twenty-five, Master," I answered.

I would never forget that day.

I was utterly desperate and on the verge of death back then. Just as I had thought that all had been lost, my master appeared.

Therefore, that encounter was nothing short of a miracle for me.

"Not that young, then. There is a saying that there is no age limit to learning, but when it comes to martial arts, it's a bit different because the mind and body are so closely connected.

"At that time, your bones and sinews were still underdeveloped, and your body was stiff. This prevented you from reaching the most optimal form for the Supreme Art of All Time," my master commented.

This was something I also found regrettable.

That was the reason my training on Spirit Mountain was far more grueling than others'. I came close to death countless times.

"Nevertheless, thanks to my perfect training regimen and kind teachings, you have reached an acceptable level... Tsk," he humble-bragged.

I stammered, "I-I will forever be grateful for your overflowing grace."

What on earth was he trying to say?

I stepped back as my master drew closer, overwhelmed by the pressure around him.

"What do you think you would've done if you had been exposed to the Supreme Art of All Time when you were young?"

"Who knows, but wouldn't I be stronger than I am now?" I responded.

Puzzled, I then asked, "Wasn't that a long time ago? You're acting a bit strange today."

The master I knew didn't dwell on the past.

This type of "what if" assumption was something I had never encountered before.

My master burst out laughing. "Just hear me out. Didn't you ask me earlier when you could leave? Do you still not understand? Why have I not allowed you to leave the mountain all this time?"

"Isn't it because you need someone to take care of you?"

"That's right, but that isn't the only reason." My master's playful expression faded.

He had already backed me to the edge of a cliff. I inadvertently glanced behind me, finding a steep drop surrounded by strange fog.

"Seeing something once is better than hearing about it a hundred times."

Thud.

He pushed me.

"What—"

I tried to circulate my internal energy, but it was too late. My consciousness started to fade. Seemingly bound by chains, I couldn't move either.

I fell like a bird with broken wings.

The fog obscured my master's face as quickly as I fell.

Strangely, his voice echoed clearly, even during the descent. "Let's see... Fifteen years old seems appropriate. Another advantage of the Supreme Art of All Time is that you don't have to start practicing it from childhood."

"W-wait a minute!"

"Let's meet again in ten years, Youngest Disciple."

Right after hearing those words, I blacked out.