That night.
Jin Muhon returned to the estate and rose when everyone else was asleep, heading to the rear garden.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
The estate had been noisy all day with constant banging as repairs were made everywhere.
Now that the hammers and laborers' shouts had fallen silent, an eerie quiet hung in the air.
"Hm. This must be it."
Jin Muhon arrived at the rear garden and gazed at a structure built off to one side.
A training chamber specially ordered from Jiganghyeon's craftsman.
It looked like an ordinary ancestral shrine from the outside, but the interior was reinforced to withstand even severe impacts.
Jin Muhon circled the shrine, thumping the walls. A deep resonance traveled up his fingertips.
"Regrettable, but this is the best we can do."
It was laughably inadequate compared to the Demonic Cult's facilities.
Still, for a craftsman from a small village, the result exceeded expectations.
Creeeak.
Jin Muhon pushed open the training chamber door and stepped inside.
He lit the wall lanterns, revealing dark, somber walls.
As the flames flickered, his shadow wavered ominously.
Clunk. Rattle.
He locked the inner door and sat cross-legged in the center.
The night was still chilly; cold seeped up through his buttocks.
"Let's see."
Jin Muhon carefully unrolled the weathered manual.
The rustle echoed in the silence.
— Cloud Peak Mist Sea Heart Method —
Cheonjihyeonhwang Giunhoejung (Heaven-Earth Profound-Yellow, Qi Fortune Embraced)
Practicing a heart method—especially the initial stage of forming the dantian—required utmost caution. Even a slight shock could lead to qi deviation.
And Cloud Peak Mist Sea targeted not the lower dantian but the upper one, multiplying the danger several times over.
Even the Sword Demon, who had crushed countless demonic fiends and orthodox masters beneath his heel, had delayed training until this chamber was ready.
"Hmmm... Heaven-Earth Profound-Yellow."
Sangdanjeon-nae Honyeon-eungjwi (Within the Upper Dantian, Primordial Chaos Condenses)
Simjeong-mugi Sincheong-un-saeng (Heart Still, Mist Rises; Spirit Clear, Clouds Form)
⟨ Cloud Peak Mist Sea ⟩
The origin energy gathers in the upper dantian.
When the heart is still, mist rises; when the spirit clears, clouds are born.
"Hah! Mist and clouds? As if commanding wind and rain."
The approach was so unlike conventional heart methods that Jin Muhon struggled to focus.
Yet he was the one who had ascended to transcendence through demonic arts fraught with qi deviation risks.
He filled the incomprehensible gaps with demonic insights, methodically imprinting Cloud Peak Mist Sea into his mind.
Bong-un-su-ryu Geom-sim-bul-i (Peak Clouds Flow, Sword Heart Unmoved)
Mu-hae-sim-cheo Seon-geom-tan-bang (Mist Sea Depths, Immortal Sword Blooms)
Yun-bong-mu-hae Yu-a-so-yo (Cloud Peak Mist Sea, I Alone Roam Free)
Heo-jang-geom-ui Mu-je-yu-hyeong (Hide Sword Intent in Void, With Nothing Subdue Form)
⟨ Sword Heart Eternal ⟩
Clouds flow over peaks, yet the sword heart remains unmoved.
In the mist sea's depths, the immortal sword shall bloom.
In Cloud Peak Mist Sea, I alone roam freely.
Hide sword intent in the void, subduing form with nothingness.
"...What nonsense. Not even fit to scare ghosts."
He had sensed it at a glance, but delving deeper only confirmed it.
This wasn't martial arts.
Charitably, an immortal method; uncharitably, Taoist drivel.
"Tch. Those long-nosed bastards, always acting profound."
Jin Muhon had always despised Confucian scholars and Daoists; under normal circumstances, he'd have tossed it aside immediately.
But now, he had someone to protect.
He needed power, yet couldn't use his lower dantian.
Finding another upper dantian art at this point was nearly impossible.
"Fine. Let's try it."
Feigning ignorance, he repeated the incantations until memorized perfectly, then slowly closed his eyes.
No time to waste on lofty immortal riddles.
No desire to ascend as an immortal.
Hell awaited him anyway.
Thus, even as he began Cloud Peak Mist Sea's upper dantian practice, he envisioned complementary demonic arts.
...Ma-seon.
Jin Muhon recalled the bizarre heart method from Cheonma Mugo.
An unnamed manual crafted from human skin, left by one called Ma-seon.
A madman seeking immortality through demonic arts.
Whether he succeeded was unknown, but blending Ma-seon's techniques could grant substance to Cloud Peak Mist Sea's ethereal clouds.
Shall we begin?
Jin Muhon gathered the scattered qi within his body.
A mere trace compared to his Sword Demon days, but better than starting from nothing.
To the upper dantian...
He consciously redirected the naturally downward-flowing qi.
Upward, upward, upward.
The thin, feeble energy slowly ascended along the major meridians.
The upper dantian, where a single mistake could trigger qi deviation.
Sweat poured down Jin Muhon's body.
Ugh...
Pain surged. It grew relentlessly.
Was something wrong?
For the first time in ages, fear stirred.
Death held no terror.
But thinking of Jin Hayeon left alone again twisted his heart.
Rumble—
Then, thunder echoed from somewhere.
Rumble! Boom! Roooar!!
The thunder intensified.
His body trembled as if struck by lightning.
His whole frame burned like plunging into fire, while his scalp and fingertips froze like sinking into the North Sea.
Invading heat and cold ravaged his organs.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A tremendous shock battered his head.
The Heavenly Aperture.
The natural seal on the path to the heavens, closed since birth.
There it is.
The Heavenly Aperture was the road to the sky.
Breaking it open would unlock the upper dantian.
Come on! It's me! The Sword Demon!
The sealed aperture resisted fiercely.
As if the heavens rejected mortals.
Boom! Boom! Boooom!
At some point, Jin Muhon forgot his goal, igniting his battle spirit.
He failed countless times, attempted countless more.
Crimson blood poured from his seven orifices.
Yet he pressed on.
He who had once reached the pinnacle knew: walls must be breached to advance.
Booooom!
Then it happened.
A faint moonlight seeped from the sealed ceiling above.
Impossible, for it was firmly shut—yet Jin Muhon felt the moonlight.
Now!
A gap had formed.
Miss it, and the path would seal forever.
Jin Muhon condensed all his qi into a single point and charged the aperture.
Kaboooom!!
A deafening shockwave erupted, as if his eardrums would shatter.
His body seemed to disintegrate into dust.
Bones cracking, flesh bursting, meridians snapping—in that hallucination, Jin Muhon slowly opened his eyes.
"...?"
The world had changed.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Roooar! Roooar!
The Jin estate.
Once shunned as haunted, it now brimmed with vitality like a noble's manor.
Credit to Jiganghyeon's laborers and their sweat.
But for days now, they had halted work, gathering in the rear garden.
"Good grief! At it again. How many days has it been?"
"Five days today."
"Is the family head really in there?"
"Who else? Only he has the key."
The training chamber Jin Muhon had rushed to complete.
For days, it had shaken with deafening roars.
"Ha... Uncle Baek. What if something happened to Uncle? We should go in and save him."
Jin Hayeon, in the rear garden with the laborers, bit her nails anxiously, staring at the chamber.
Sleepless for days, her fair skin had dulled, dark circles under her eyes.
Baek No shared her worry but forced calm, soothing her.
"Miss, don't fret. The young master is likely breaking through to a new realm. The previous head trained like this for days too."
"Really? He'll be okay?"
"Trust me. He'll emerge stronger. Everyone, stay back until then. Understood?"
Baek No gestured for the laborers to leave.
They smacked their lips reluctantly and withdrew.
"But Uncle Baek, we've got nothing for days now... How long do we twiddle thumbs? We need to finish the estate to take other jobs."
The lead laborer grumbled as he approached Baek No.
Baek No glared sternly.
"You'll get paid for idle days too. No complaints."
"It's not about the money."
"Then get out. The young master needs focus."
"Fine, fine."
Baek No shooed them away.
Paid for nothing? They grinned and shuffled off.
"Hope the family head trains longer."
"Brother, let's grab some rice wine after ages."
"Yes! Everyone, come on!"
The laborers chattered as they exited the gate.
Baek No frowned, watching them go.
Uncle, please be safe.
Jin Hayeon clasped her trembling hands to her chest.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Hummmm!
A bizarre sound. Jin Muhon raised his head.
"..."
Blood-red clouds raced like waves.
Black lightning flashed between them; bursts of light flickered as if something burned.
A twilight neither day nor night.
He lowered his gaze.
The endless horizon stretched empty.
Nothing visible. Nothing felt.
Yet Jin Muhon sensed everything.
As if this entire realm was him, and he was the realm.
"So this... is the upper dantian."
Opening the Heavenly Aperture to form the upper dantian.
A step toward ascension; known effects were exceedingly rare.
Few immortals existed, after all.
Jin Muhon raised his hand.
Tsss.
A sword materialized in his empty palm.
Not the cheap iron sword from the marketplace, but his favored blade from Sword Demon days.
He swung it horizontally with ease.
Red mist billowed along the edge.
"Blood... huh."
No mere mist.
The faint scent invading his nostrils was unmistakably blood.
The aroma of battlefields and death.
"I see."
Jin Muhon smirked, glancing down.
The cracked earth writhed; rotten corpses crawled forth.
Hands caked in mud and gore, empty eye sockets, gaping jaws.
Orthodox hypocrites, mad demonic fiends of the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains, slimy unorthodox scum.
All slain by the Sword Demon's blade, their souls lingering.
The corpses slithered, clutching his legs. Cold, wet grips tightened around his ankles.
Crunch! Crack!
Sharp nails dug into his flesh.
Jin Muhon gazed down impassively.
"Wait. I'll join you soon enough."
Shwaaaaa!!
Red mist erupted around him.
Cloud Peak Mist Sea fused with demonic arts, infused with the Sword Demon's interpretation—a new divine art.
Incantations rearranged in the void, forging a fresh martial technique.
⚡ First Stage: Rise Mist ⚡
Invoke blood mist with upper dantian breath.
—Kieeeek!!
The specters engulfed in mist shrieked and thrashed.
Flesh melted, exposing black bones.
⚡ Second Stage: Void Change ⚡
Body disperses into mist, evading all strikes.
Jin Muhon's solid form dissolved into the fog.
The specters, denied prey, flailed blindly.
Slash! Slice! Slash!
His sword flashed from the mist.
—Graaaah!!
Specters slain anew by the Sword Demon wailed in agony.
Amid it, Jin Muhon gazed beyond the mist, innovating his art.
A grandmaster in life.
Now with upper dantian open, thought deepened and accelerated, stacking insights like a tower.
⚡ Third Stage: Cloud Sea ⚡
Expand blood mist domain exponentially.
⚡ Fourth Stage: Absorb Essence ⚡
Absorb foe's energy through blood mist.
⚡ Fifth Stage: Sword Intent ⚡
Command souls and sword with pure intent.
Slicing through thousands upon thousands of specters, Jin Muhon constructed up to the fifth stage.
He could only manifest the second for now, but steady accumulation would reach the fifth effortlessly.
A realm he had attained even as Sword Demon.
Not yet. Not enough.
Yet now, a new boundary glimmered ahead.
Doubtful for mortals—a domain of immortals.
It shimmered just beyond.