Toward the Heart of the Secret Realm
Jin Somyeong let out a quiet sigh.
He looked down at the mountain rogue who had tried to ambush him and become a corpse for his trouble, and thought, So this is what kind of place it is.
Now he understood, in a way hearsay never could, what the much-discussed Red Cloud Secret Realm truly was. After a brief silence, he kicked off the ground and shot forward.
As he headed toward the central region where the Foundation Establishment spiritual object grew, he checked the storage pouch he had just acquired.
Only thirty-two Spirit Stones. And this is a Flameburst Talisman?
Perhaps the man had already spent nearly all his wealth before entering the secret realm, because there were not many Spirit Stones. Still, there was a fair number of odds and ends inside, including talismans that detonated in flame and all manner of combat tools.
If he'd fought properly, he would've been annoying. As expected, suppressing or killing them as fast as possible is better.
Jin Somyeong selected only what he needed and stored it in his subspace. The half-empty storage pouch he fastened at his waist. At his current level, it would look strange not to have one, so it served as camouflage for others to see.
Tap!
How long had he traveled without resting for even a moment?
As Jin Somyeong passed beneath the shade of a fairly large tree, he flinched.
A man sat in meditation within the dark shadow, eyes closed. The other man's presence was so faint that even Jin Somyeong, with his keen senses, only noticed him after coming within ten meters.
A disciple of the Giant Sword Sect?
The clothing was familiar. He had to be a disciple of the Core Formation-grade immortal sect, one of those who had arrived riding the enormous flying sword.
Just as Jin Somyeong narrowed his eyes, the man slowly opened his own, apparently having failed to sense him as well, and looked puzzled.
"..."
They watched each other in silence, each on guard. The air seemed to scrape against the inside of the throat.
At last, after seeing Jin Somyeong's sword, the other man spoke a single word.
"A swordsman?"
"And if I am?"
"Good. Shall we cross blades?"
"What?"
Jin Somyeong glanced around, just in case, but there was nothing. It was a barren wasteland with one tree standing in it.
They had not discovered some treasure and fallen into competition over it, so why in the world did they need to fight? That would be a waste of time. Right now, he had to reach the central region with the Foundation Establishment spiritual object as quickly as possible.
Then a sharp whistle of wind stabbed his ears. A flying sword, wrapped in a cluster of light, came flashing in like lightning.
His body moved faster than thought.
Clang!
The moment he drew by instinct, he knocked aside the sword that had shot straight toward his heart. The two streams of Sword Qi collided with an explosive roar, and the incoming flying sword circled through the air like a living thing before returning to the disciple of the Giant Sword Sect.
The instant he was attacked, Jin Somyeong's gaze changed.
Wuuung!
He drew spiritual energy from his dantian and spread it through his entire body. In the span of a breath, he entered combat stance and glared at his opponent.
A calm voice, utterly devoid of emotion, reached him.
"Good Sword Qi. But you think too much. Live like that, and before long your Sword Qi will lose its edge."
Jin Somyeong's expression twitched. He kept his mouth shut, because the disciple's words had jabbed at something deep inside him.
"A swordsman must look only ahead and advance. What seems foolish at first glance may be the only road to achieving the great Dao..."
Click.
The nameless swordsman slowly sheathed his blade and turned away.
"If you don't wish to, I won't force you. But the next time we meet, I hope your sword has become a little freer."
Watching the man leave just like that, Jin Somyeong clicked his tongue.
Ridiculous.
He roughly understood what the man meant, but found it difficult to agree.
That disciple belonged to the Giant Sword Sect, a Core Formation-grade immortal sect. Jin Somyeong did not.
If you make it out of here alive, someone will hand you a Foundation Establishment Pill. But not me.
He had to seize everything himself, from beginning to end.
The Red Yang Sect?
There was no chance that narrow-minded sect would give him a Foundation Establishment Pill. He would be fortunate if they did not kill him out of fear of his rapid cultivation speed.
"..."
Still, he had learned one thing from the Giant Sword Sect disciple's words.
So to reach greatness, you have to devote yourself to the sword alone, without thinking of what lies before or behind you. They really are sword lunatics, true sword demons.
From a certain perspective, swordsmen were half-insane. Was it normal to think one could cut through every bizarre and dreadful spell with a single sword?
And yet there was something in it that stirred the heart.
After a long silence, Jin Somyeong resumed the steps he had halted.
Jin Somyeong shook the beast blood from his blade and muttered to himself.
It should be visible by now.
He concentrated spiritual energy in his eyes. As he scanned the area near the horizon, his expression brightened.
A massive barrier had begun to appear in the distance, faint but unmistakable.
Whoosh!
As he increased his speed, Jin Somyeong ignited the spiritual energy in his dantian and raised his body temperature. It was to counter the air that grew colder at a frightening pace the closer he came to the horizon.
Cold.
White breath escaped him every time he breathed. Even with the tough body he had gained from practicing body-refinement arts, the bitter cold was hard to bear.
It was hot just a moment ago.
The abrupt change in environment felt less fascinating than grotesque. After thinking for a moment about the Red Cloud Secret Realm, Jin Somyeong's eyes gleamed.
He had arrived before the enormous ice wall that soared high into the sky.
Beyond this endless wall of ice lay the central region of the secret realm, the place he had longed for.
The method of crossing it was not complicated. One observed the long stretch of ice wall, chose a thin point, and smashed through.
Simple doesn't mean easy.
Instead of recklessly attacking the ice wall, he concealed his presence. At the very edge of his senses, he had detected a group of cultivators.
Middle to late Qi Refining?
They were three mountain rogues, a mix of sixth- and seventh-layer Qi Refining cultivators. Jin Somyeong approached silently and listened to what they were saying.
"This looks like the thinnest spot, doesn't it? If we break through this ice wall and cross over, that's the central region with the Foundation Establishment spiritual object, right?"
"Yeah. I'll break it."
One rogue stepped forward with complete confidence.
When he drew out a heavy hammer-type magic artifact, the companion beside him spoke with a tense face.
"W-wait! How about we climb over instead?"
"Nonsense. Have you ever seen anyone climb the ice wall and survive? Stop making noise and keep watch."
"...Be careful. I don't know the details either, but they said breaking this ice wall isn't easy."
"Hmph. It's just a bit of ice."
The rogue snorted and threw the hammer into the air.
In an instant, the hammer expanded dozens of times in size and charged toward the ice wall.
Boom!
At the same moment as the violent impact, the mountain-like wall of ice shuddered as if it would collapse at any second.
Craaaack!
Centered on the point where the hammer had struck, fissures spread with a skin-crawling sound.
"..."
The rogues flinched and swallowed nervously, but nothing happened.
After a while, the rogue who had thrown the hammer burst into laughter.
"See? It's nothing."
"...Looks like it. Hit it five or six more times and we should be able to open a hole big enough."
"Good. Here goes again."
The rogue gestured. The hammer hanging in the air slammed into the ice wall once more, and...
Craaaack! Tick!
The instant a single fragment of ice fell from the fissure...
KWA-A-A-ANG!
A pillar of fire erupted with such force that it painted the sky red. The flames that burst forth writhed as though alive.
"Wh-what is that!"
The mountain rogues panicked, but their response was practiced. They pulled out shields, talismans, and other tools, forming a sturdy barrier of energy while naturally cooperating into a defensive formation.
It was a response that left nothing to criticize.
It had no effect.
Bang!
The rising pillar of flame transformed into a whip and lashed down on the rogues.
Everything turned to ash and vanished.
The mountain rogues who had been so confident burned away without even a chance to scream.
Fwoosh!
After incinerating its targets, the flame gathered in midair and became a blazing firebird. It cried out long and loud like a real bird, then flew off somewhere.
Just as I heard. Incredible.
Watching silently, Jin Somyeong narrowed his eyes.
The firepower was tremendous. Even he, standing at a distance, could feel his skin prickle with heat.
The mountain rogues had apparently lacked the information, but breaking this ice wall was extremely dangerous. To create a hole large enough for a person to pass through, one had to strike it, and that was the moment when one had to be most careful.
The heat trapped inside the ice could explode.
And it isn't ordinary heat.
The flames possessed a faint spirituality. They retaliated against anyone who attacked the ice wall like living beings, which, frankly, was absurd.
If someone freed you from being trapped in ice, shouldn't you be grateful?
Cultivators held many different opinions about this phenomenon. Some said that among the five elements, fire had always been ferocious. Others claimed the firebirds were guardians that protected the ice wall.
There were various explanations, but because the flames possessed spirituality without enough intelligence to think, the prevailing view was that it was simply an instinctive response to being attacked.
Jin Somyeong silently observed the ice wall, then glanced upward.
I'll go over the top.
There was more than one way to cross this barrier. With the abilities of a Qi Refining cultivator, even a sheer vertical cliff could be climbed.
It was so high that its end could not be seen, but it was possible.
Of course, as the rogues had said earlier, this path had dangers of its own.
Hss.
Jin Somyeong regulated his breathing and focused.
He deployed the Flame Concealment Art with far greater care than usual, and then...
Tap!
Using a movement art that combined the Wind Riding Art and Ascending Dragon Step, he leapt upward.
He climbed by stepping on tiny cracks in the ice wall.
Had he ascended about half of the dizzying cliff?
Whiiiiing!
A cold, knife-like wind brushed past the nape of his neck, but he did not lose focus. He manipulated even the raging gusts with the Wind Riding Art, using the wind itself as a foothold to maintain his balance.
By the time the air grew thin enough that breathing felt difficult, he glanced down and saw the ground hidden beneath mist.
I should be arriving soon.
He recalled the information from the map and concentrated.
Then his field of vision opened wide.
Empty sky stretched before him. The seemingly endless ice wall was finally nearing its top.
A smile came to him unbidden, but he did not let down his guard. Since he had deliberately avoided flying on his sword, he poured all his attention into hiding his presence.
Thud.
He carefully climbed onto the summit, then stopped.
The snowfield spread across the top of the ice wall was far too peaceful.
It was wide enough that it was difficult to believe it lay higher than the clouds. It felt like a meadow covered in transparent ice.
The ice wall is much thicker than I expected. If someone can't find the thin places properly, even opening a hole won't be easy.
As Jin Somyeong quietly scanned his surroundings, he soon found the danger.
Kreeek! Kee-ik!
On one side of the snowfield, he saw flocks of icebirds gathered in clusters, dozens upon hundreds of them.
He did not approach recklessly, observing from afar instead. The icebirds had folded their wings and lowered their heads; at a glance, they looked like birds carved from ice.
Even the weakest are upper first-rank. Each one is stronger than an ordinary Qi Refining cultivator.
Jin Somyeong narrowed his eyes and looked up at the sky.
There were dozens of times more icebirds gliding leisurely above than there were on the ground.
The moment he revealed his presence here, this enormous flock would descend on him all at once.
Hoo...
That clear threat made tension rise within him, but he pressed it down with reason.
It doesn't matter. I just need not to be discovered.
The Great Turtle Breathing Art, the Flame Concealment Art, and the Boundless Great Ability.
He drew on every ability he had accumulated so far and performed his stealth art. One step at a time, he moved carefully toward the far side of the ice wall.
Just as he was focused on crossing the snowfield...
Kee-ik!
Caw! Caw!
Sharp, threatening cries struck his eardrums.
Jin Somyeong flinched and immediately gripped his sword, but the icebirds' target was not him.
More than half the icebirds filling the sky flew toward the eastern heavens.
Boom! Kwa-boom...!
From the distant explosions, he understood what had happened.
Someone must have tried to cross the ice wall like me and been discovered.
He did not know who it was, but it was unfortunate. Surviving an assault from hundreds of icebirds was close to impossible.
Sure enough, after only a few seconds, the noisy explosions vanished as if washed away, and silence returned to the top of the ice wall.
Jin Somyeong remained quiet, then moved on. He did not stop until he had broken through the snowfield.
When he finally reached the edge of the cliff, a gust of hot wind welcomed him.
At last. The central region of the secret realm.
A rush of emotion swelled in him, because the majestic scenery filled his vision.
There was a particular thrill to looking down from a high place.
The central region of the secret realm was, at its foundation, formed of rugged terrain like volcanoes and deserts. Like the outskirts, green forests could be seen here and there, but strangely, he could see those forests expanding.
The plants' vitality was so powerful that it looked as if green paint had been spilled across the desert.
With life force that strong, of course a Foundation Establishment spiritual object would grow there.
Jin Somyeong compared the map in his head to the actual landscape, then paused.
At the sudden question that arose in his mind, his head tilted slightly.
The central region of the secret realm was far larger than most capital cities, but from this height, its general shape was visible.
And yet the form of the ice wall looked strangely familiar.
Not just to Jin Somyeong. It would be a shape familiar to most people.
The way it circled the desert and volcanoes in a ring was like...
A cauldron?
Once he saw it as a cauldron, it continued to look that way. The sudden impression was hard to shake.
It was enough to make him imagine, absurdly, that this entire secret realm might be a cauldron someone had once used.
No. Surely not.
Jin Somyeong shook off the idle thought, and his eyes gleamed.
After choosing a suitable volcano and gauging his direction...
Tap!
He leapt without hesitation from the dizzying cliff.
The Foundation Establishment spiritual object isn't far now!
Toward the central region where hot winds surged, he rode the air and flew.