After hearing those words, I apologized to him and went to my room. While I was walking, my thoughts were clashing. I have a family, money, and everything… so why was I never happy? And how can I become happy? I was like someone who finally found the thing he had been searching for for a long time. I was nervous and did not know where to begin.
Suddenly, I saw my aunt looking at me angrily. My mother was always worried about me, so whenever she traveled to the "Purple Mist" clan, she would send my aunt to check on me. My aunt knew everything about me since I was young; she was like a second mother to me.
I felt tense. I had no other choice but to speak. So I told her everything I had been feeling. My aunt was the type who never revealed secrets, and she was always kind to me. After we sat together, I began speaking:
"The truth is, I am not sad because I failed to obtain a sword, or because I do not have a master. I am sad because everyone I tried to impress, everyone I worked hard to please, began to look at me with anger slowly, as if they were waiting for the chance to call me a failure.
When I was young, a man came to see us. My father asked him not to tell anyone what he said because it was not confirmed yet. The man agreed, but he said that if the seer saw the same dream three times, then the vision was real. That made me train harder than anyone else. I helped others because I wanted everyone to know that I was not useless.
But after four years, everyone in the clan learned about the vision, because the seer dreamed it three times.
I was loved by both students and teachers. I helped them in everything, studied hard for the teachers, and acted exactly as they wanted. I truly believed they were my friends… but I was wrong.
I loved the sword, but I was not allowed to use it the way I wanted. There were strict rules. No one followed them except me, yet I did so just to hear them praise me as 'the best student.'
I sacrificed everything for them. But now, no one cares about me. Worse than that, not a single master chose me as his disciple. That made everyone think I was worthless.
I know that my spiritual core is weak. I truly loved the sword, but I gave up everything I loved just to gain their approval.
Four years passed. I lived alone. No one spoke to me, which made me afraid to speak to anyone. I only ate, trained, and slept. My life was not good. It was not what I wanted."
I no longer even cared about swords anymore. All I thought was that if I had a strong sword, maybe everyone would treat me better."
After saying everything that had been in his mind all this time, he felt greater relief. He looked at the ground. "Ilya" listened carefully, and when he finished speaking, she nodded and then said:
"If you want to start over and discover your truth, you must do as every member of the Seongir family did. If you are truly serious, you must live in a place far from the sect that is the cause of all this. If you agree, your life will change day after day."
If a person had to distance himself from his family and leave everything and start over just to change, he would refuse. But for Lang Biol, it was the best thing, because for him any place was better than the Red Sea Sect and the Purple Mist Sect. When he thought about this, he raised his head with enthusiasm. "Alright, I agree."
When my aunt heard that, she smiled. My aunt already knew someone who lived in a small isolated village, and she said, "The person you will live with is just an ordinary old man."
I looked at her seriously and agreed. I did not ask who he was, because I trusted her completely. And indeed, I went to live with that old man—or literally, I ran away and told my aunt not to tell anyone about my location, not even my mother or anyone, and she agreed. I was sixteen years old when I ran away from home.
I went to that old man in that village. It was exhausting at first, because he made me do all the housework. But who would have imagined that this old man was actually the "Purple Sword Master"? He was the one who helped me discover my truth…
While he was walking, immersed in these memories, the beautiful ones and the painful ones, he stopped at the edge of a cliff and looked at the ocean. He remembered a day when he was eating pastries, and the old man asked him:
"Lang Biol, what would you do if you had a legendary pill that could send you back in time?"
The two were sitting on chairs, in front of them a table, a plate of pastries, and a cup of tea in a small wooden house. Lang Biol looked to be in his twenties then, happy, smiling cheerfully while eating, his long hair tied with a red ribbon in a ponytail. When he heard the question, he stopped eating and looked at him seriously, and after a moment he spoke…
"What nonsense are you saying? You are starting to grow old… oh wait, you are already old! Hahahahaha!"
"Ahhhh!"
The old man's face turned red with anger. Unable to argue, he grabbed a long thin stick and struck Lang Biol. Lang Biol was laughing, but after one sharp hit, he stopped and held his head in pain.
The old man shouted in annoyance, "I am speaking seriously!"
After that, he looked at him again and began to think. Lang Biol's smile faded into something sadder. The old man noticed that and decided to change the subject, but before he could, Lang Biol spoke:
"Hmm… I think I would do everything I want. I would care more about my family, meet my friends when we were younger, ignore what others say, and enjoy training with the sword with my father. I would join the 'Golden Research Sect' and do many other things.
Oh, and I would kill that lying bastard with the cursed dream. I would make him regret his three supposed dreams. And everyone who believed him, I would take revenge on them all! Hahahaha hehehehe!"
The old man sighed deeply, regretting asking this madman anything. Then he took out a small wooden box. Lang Biol noticed it immediately, still immersed in daydreams about how to punish those who called him a failure, and finally decided to ask:
"Master, what is this?"
"Listen, Bioln. Take this. Do not use it unless you are about to die. Understood?"
Lang Biol took the box, examining it curiously. "Can I open it?"
"No."
Despite the warning, Lang Biol slowly began to open it and was quickly struck on the head again with the stick...
When he remembered that, he smiled faintly. But he heard footsteps. He turned and saw the men who were searching for him.
"Listen, Lang Biol, if you surrender, then—"
Before he could finish speaking, his head was separated from his body. The others rushed toward him quickly, angered by the killing of their leader. But Lang Biol looked at them coldly, and before they could even move, they turned into pieces.
He looked at the sword that had chosen him and smiled sadly.
"Although I never understood why you accepted me, and you know that my core is weak and that I cannot awaken you…"
There was no response from the sword. He smiled sadly, sheathed the sword, and walked toward the edge of the cliff overlooking the ocean. The height was immense, but he did not seem to care. He took out the wooden box and opened it slowly. Inside was a glowing blue jewel.
As he looked at it, he remembered his father and his brothers. "I am the only one who has violet eyes like my mother, unlike my father and my brothers." He smiled bitterly, took the jewel, and swallowed it. He knew it would not truly send him back in time, but he did it because it was the old man's last will.
After swallowing it, he looked at the ocean. But before he could do anything, someone attacked him from behind. He turned quickly, but it was too late. The sword had already pierced his heart.
When he looked up, he was shocked. It was his third brother, looking at him with eyes full of hatred. But Lang Biol's expression was calm. "I already knew that he hated me." He smiled weakly at him… and whispered farewell words and fell into the ocean.
Just before he fell into the ocean, he saw a man with red hair, wearing black clothes adorned with a golden dragon. "I did not know who he was, but I remembered my mother's stories about the 'Black Blood Emperor.' It was my favorite story of all."
And in that moment, I wished… if only I could truly go back in time. I feel regret. If only I could go back in time….
The darkness was deep, and then he heard a woman's voice:
"Young master, it is time to wake up!"