Those who knew Kim Rae-won were divided into two types.
Those whose memories of the old Kim Rae-won remained frozen in time, and those who knew the old Kim Rae-won and now stood before this 'Kim Rae-won'.
Yeop Bihwa was clearly the latter.
Therefore, the reason for not killing her was simple.
The pros and cons of killing her.
The benefits and disadvantages of not killing her.
It was the result of an efficient judgment weighing the two.
In other words, as long as she was tied to 'Kim Rae-won', her sword was bound to be closer to a resource than an enemy.
Had he killed her, even though it was a battle like a martial contest, the Hero's Sect would have become an official enemy of the Vast Heaven Infinite Sword Sect.
Furthermore, they could have become a public enemy of the entire Orthodox Faction.
This was by no means the picture Dong Bongsu wanted.
Weren't they planning to use this war as a stepping stone for the Hero's Sect's debut in the Jianghu anyway?
This was a shortcut to selling the Hero's Sect at the highest price, and it was the right thing to do to obtain the greatest 'faith' from the greatest number of people for the Hero's Sect.
Besides, didn't Yeop Bihwa have an unconventional relationship with the past Kim Rae-won?
It wasn't clear if they were exactly friends or lovers in the common sense, but it was certainly a relationship with plenty of value to exploit.
A new resource that didn't exist when he first decided to use Kim Rae-won's name, when he decided to use amnesia as a foundation.
Naturally, a new resource should be kept alive and nurtured as much as possible.
To be more precise, she should be tied down and used as a seed for 'faith' for a long time.
This much was a familiar calculation.
Dong Bongsu did not stop walking, with Yeop Bihwa following behind him.
In a corner of his vision, the item 『Faith Judgment』 quietly lit up once before returning to its original darkness.
He opened the item again as he walked.
『Faith Judgment (Faith Judgment) Lv.1』
[Advanced Magic] [Area of Effect] [Holy Attribute]
Mana Cost: 150 MP
Casting Time: 3 seconds
Cooldown: 300 seconds
Effect Range: 50m radius centered on the caster
Base Damage: 100 (+ Faith Bonus)
: Damage weight based on Trust +10~50% (Stacks): Additional Damage to Unorthodox Path·Demonic type enemies × 200%: Casting interrupted upon being hit
Looking back at what happened earlier, the skill that affected Yeop Bihwa was clearly not a normal 'judgment'.
As a result of the holy attribute light flowing into her empty Inner Core Root, the attack was converted into absorption instead of penetration.
It was purely the result of a series of coincidences.
Filtering out the coincidence and looking only at the pure power of the skill itself, it was still extremely weak.
It was naturally insufficient to resolve various situations, but....
However, the unexpected 'side effect' had to be considered a great gain.
The remnants of the skill's use were still faintly visible on her shoulder.
'A trace of light'.
A by-product of the flow after using the judgment, not the judgment itself.
This had intricately combined with a strand of morning sunlight against the light and the scattering of dust in the air in one spot, forming a circular halo.
It was not a scene that could be easily reproduced, but it didn't seem entirely impossible either.
If he stood in the same place, at the same time, facing the same direction, and used 『Faith Judgment』 in the same way, he could probably create a similar 'side effect'.
I should practice to manifest this in different terrains and at different times.
It would be up to those who saw the light directly to decide what to call it, but the reactions of everyone in the Hero's Sect, besides Yeop Bihwa, were spectacular.
They could call it a halo, call it Immortal Qi, or dismiss it as a hallucination.
Either way, it didn't matter.
The important thing was.
'It was like an atmosphere of welcoming a Buddha.'
The fact that this 'side effect' was very efficient.
Dong Bongsu's lips curved up at an angle no one could see.
Buddha attained enlightenment and founded Buddhism.
And.
It seemed he, too, had gained an enlightenment comparable to that.
That wasn't all.
The Black Hole.
A single strand extending from the tip of Yeop Bihwa's sword.
A scene where the spot it touched vanished without light, sound, or dust.
He pulled out scenes from the battle with Yeop Bihwa and replayed them in his mind.
Some scenes had to be replayed several times.
Only after what his eyes saw and his senses received were put together was a theory about the martial art established.
The phenomenon of space itself being erased by folding and cramming the emitted Sword Aura into a single point, countless times.
'Just like a black hole.'
He lightly opened his left palm.
A blade of grass lying on the roadside landed on it as he walked.
A single, common leaf, plentiful on the roadside.
Swish, swoosh, swoooosh-.
After folding the Super True Qi Field a few times, the leaf bent and was drawn toward the center of his palm.
In the middle of its veins curling into a single point, it was released just before crumbling.
It returned to a flat single leaf and was placed on his palm again.
He brought his palm forward and looked down at it once.
A mass of matter that had been a crumpled, crushed leaf, leaking green juice.
A grin.
Not bad for a first test.
Super Black Hole Aura.
Although much more research would be needed in the future, he had gained an enlightenment about a martial art beyond the Super Spinning Sword Aura.
Thud, thud.
Before he knew it, he had entered a country path on the outskirts of the River Capital.
Low hills lined both sides, and the light of past noon hung slightly behind the crown of his head.
From behind, the footsteps of one person followed at a distance of about two or three steps.
There was no sign of the gap narrowing or widening.
A strand of the Super True Qi Field was now bent backward, and that strand was scanning Yeop Bihwa's movements.
Her breathing was composed.
Her sense of defeat as a Sword Master didn't seem to be great.
However, the single leaf on her shoulder was a rather useful indicator of her emotions.
From the moment they started walking, the woman hadn't thought to remove the ordinary leaf resting there.
The long tear on the chest of her martial robes was also left as it was.
She had only placed her hand there once.
She didn't bother to fix it.
It was too early to be certain, but Kim Rae-won was undoubtedly a significant 'wound' or 'memory' for that woman.
For a peerless Sword Master, so cold as to earn the title of the Iron-Faced Lady, to show such emotional turmoil was in itself a very important reference signal.
"You are...."
It was then that Yeop Bihwa finally opened her mouth.
"Are you human?"
He stopped.
He stopped his feet a little late to make it look natural.
Without looking back.
"What is the standard for being human?"
Ggook, he could feel Yeop Bihwa tightening her grip on her sword and then releasing it.
Only then did Dong Bongsu lightly turn around.
Yeop Bihwa, as expected of a peerless master, was a peerless beauty despite her age.
"If you're asking what kind of animal I am, I'm clearly human-."
Of course, to Dong Bongsu, it was just one insignificant reference point.
"If you're asking whether I'm a person from this place or not...."
After consciously smiling, Dong Bongsu finished his answer.
"I think I'll have to answer no."
After a moment of silence.
Yeop Bihwa's lips slowly parted again.
"Who are you?"
"Kim Rae-won."
"..."
"Why? You don't think so? Should we go another round?"
Yeop Bihwa's sword moved briefly in her hand before becoming still again.
She had touched her sword unconsciously, but her hand didn't move further.
Because her body and mind already knew well that there was no answer she could get with her sword.
Rather, her lips twisted so faintly it was imperceptible.
A smile.
A good sign.
Soon, Yeop Bihwa's steps continued.
For the first time, she walked ahead.
"It was five or six years ago."
Yeop Bihwa's voice came out slowly and intermittently from ahead.
"He suddenly vanished. I tried to catch him, but I couldn't. He went north.... That was the last I saw of him."
"I told you, it's not 'he'."
"...Although you have Rae-won's scent, you are not him."
"Well, believe what you want to believe. If it makes you comfortable, then that's what's right."
Dong Bongsu widened his stride again and overtook her.
As he did, he casually let a word slip.
"It's a good day for a walk. Isn't it?"
A tone close to a monologue, as if he had just let a thought that came to mind slip out.
"..."
But the pace that connected Yeop Bihwa and him was misaligned once again.
Her footsteps paused for a moment and then resumed.
The five fingers gripping the Falling Flower Flying Leaf Needle trembled minutely on the hilt, and though the trembling was hidden by a clench, it did not disappear completely.
'As I thought.'
The line from the memory obtained through observation was effective.
That woman was violently wavering between whether he was Kim Rae-won or not.
The words just now had clearly added weight to one side of the scale.
Appearance doesn't matter in a world like this anyway.
Although it still pressed down on the other side of the scale, the trembling in her fingers was clear evidence that the scale of her judgment was wavering back and forth.
Soon, Yeop Bihwa's voice continued again.
She was feigning composure, but her voice was lower than before, and the ends of her words were not neatly trimmed.
A tone she pulled out after composing herself a few times.
"...Karma Root. Are you also one who bears a Karma Root?"
Karma Root.
It was confirmed again.
That woman clearly knows about the Karma Root Tribe.
She probably heard it from Kim Rae-won.
"Well, seems like it. I'm not sure, though."
Her lips, which had been following Dong Bongsu's back with a long gaze as he trailed off, quivered a few times before finally opening.
"...I don't care if you are Kim Rae-won or not. But can you tell me where his body is?"
"The body is already gone."
He continued, finishing his answer.
"Because I am Kim Rae-won. The very Kim Rae-won you know."
Turning around again, he faced Yeop Bihwa.
"...Is that so? Then that means it's meaningless."
Yeop Bihwa's voice dropped for a long moment.
However, it wasn't long before Yeop Bihwa looked straight at Dong Bongsu and spoke.
"What is your purpose for coming here?"
This question was different from the previous ones.
Are you human? Who are you? Are you Kim Rae-won? Where is the body?.
She must have judged all the previous questions to be useless.
If she can't find out anyway, is she just going to accept it as is?
"Well."
An interesting judgment and an interesting woman.
"Originally, it was a homecoming. Now...."
In that sense, Dong Bongsu paused to choose his answer, then soon revealed his white teeth.
"Cult Leader? No-."
"..."
"Maybe more like a Pope?"