The Path of the Fire Dragon
"Caw!" Having finished his preparations, Jekyeong summoned Cheongo. Before long, Cheongo transformed into a plump little boy and landed before him.
"I am about to begin," Jekyeong said. "If anyone approaches, deal with them. If you judge them too difficult to handle, let me know."
"Okay!"
With all the Vein-Extracting Needles removed, he could feel the spiritual energy of the spiritual vein slowly recovering. However, the pace was like rainwater trickling into an empty cup; it was impossible to guess how long it would take for the spiritual vein to fully restore to its original state.
Still, this should be enough...
Jekyeong reverted to his true form and took flight. A moment later, he landed on Sect Master Peak, the highest of the seven peaks of the Heavenly Fire Sect. Closing his eyes, he took several deep, measured breaths. Within his rhythmic breathing, his turbulent mind gradually settled, and his spiritual nature grew vibrant.
"..."
Meanwhile, Cheongo, who had been looking down at Sect Master Peak as heat haze began to shimmer around it, raised his head. Before anyone realized, a thick shroud of fiery clouds had gathered, spreading from Sect Master Peak across the entire Yanghu Mountain Range.
Whoosh! Pillars of fire erupted, and flames flared up across the mountain range. Strangely, however, the fires only consumed the spots where they ignited, refusing to spread to their surroundings.
Thud! Thud-thud! Fireballs of various sizes began to fall from the sky, soon cascading down like rain. In response, the earth fire beneath the Yanghu Mountain Range surged upward, transforming the entire range into a literal mountain of fire.
"Hot, so hot!" Grimacing, Cheongo wiped his damp forehead with his sleeve. Yet, his wide, round eyes never strayed for a second from the bizarre spectacle unfolding below.
On Sect Master Peak, where Jekyeong lay coiled, a massive pillar of fire rose high enough to swallow the entire summit. Within the flames, a silhouette began to writhe. It possessed a long, serpentine body, yet it had legs, and at the ends of what appeared to be forelimbs, formidable claws had sprouted.
The shadow-like figure shimmering inside the pillar of fire shifted constantly, as if it had not yet decided what form it wished to take.
Making a tiny hole in a solidly built dam, a violent torrent of water forced its way through. Perhaps there was a more elegant way to describe it, but this was the limit of Jekyeong's imagination.
One Qi Penetration. This was the process of tightly condensing the monster power he had accumulated since reaching the Great Yao realm, forging it into a single stream of higher-dimensional energy. What this stage demanded was a cultivator's pure capability. Neither the quantity nor the quality of the accumulated power, nor the control over that power, could be lacking in the slightest.
Jekyeong was confident in this regard. The monster power he had amassed thus far overwhelmed other Great Yo-beasts of the same rank in both quantity and quality. The same went for his control. While he might fall slightly short compared to exceptionally talented human cultivators, he was proud to say that, objectively speaking, he was second to none.
Thus, Jekyeong believed he would pass through the process of One Qi Penetration without much difficulty, and indeed, he did. He felt his overflowing monster power condense endlessly, his very spiritual nature compressing. It was a metamorphosis, a sublimation of quality.
Jekyeong felt as though his entire being, body and soul included, was melting down and being sucked into some unknown void. The indescribable vertigo repeatedly shook his consciousness, bringing him to the very brink of blacking out.
No. I cannot fail.
He had lost all track of time. Subjectively, it felt as though an eternity had passed, though he had no way of knowing the actual duration. At a certain point, Jekyeong intuitively realized that he might not be able to endure this harsh trial any longer, and a profound sense of crisis washed over him.
No.
Gritting his teeth, he held fast to his sanity. He began to consume the spiritual items he had prepared beforehand, one by one. As the spiritual items dissolved into his body and soul, their medicinal efficacy took hold, and his fading soul regained its vitality.
Whew.
Taking a brief moment to catch his breath, Jekyeong focused his mind once more. Having completed the One Qi Penetration, all that remained was the Core Condensation. He had to coalesce this newly refined power, which had shrunk drastically in volume but grown infinitely more brilliant and potent. At this stage, what was required was sheer will and a mental image. The former was a matter of enduring with his life on the line, but the latter was simple.
Jekyeong had long since established his Dao heart as his mental image. What he pursued was the Path of the Fire Dragon. He had heard that the dragons of this world possessed a Dragon Pearl, which was another name for the core of the dragon race. Upon hearing that tale, Jekyeong had recalled memories of his past life. In his previous world, there was a legend that an Imoogi could obtain a Yeoyuju—a wish-granting jewel—after undergoing rigorous cultivation, thereby transforming into a dragon. Jekyeong thought that the Yeoyuju of those legends was exactly like a Dragon Pearl.
But even if I obtain a Dragon Pearl, it does not make me a true dragon.
A Gyoryong might style itself a dragon and indeed be called one by others, but in truth, everyone knew the reality. A Gyoryong calling itself a dragon was like a cat pretending to be a tiger in a mountain devoid of tigers. The cultivators of the world only called them dragons to flatter them, or out of sheer ignorance of what a true dragon actually was.
A Gyoryong was a mortal living creature, but a True Dragon was a divine spirit. They were beings who transcended all shackles, including life and death—true wandering immortals. The dragon Jekyeong envisioned in his mind was precisely such a True Dragon. Forming a Dragon Pearl now was merely the beginning. It was but the first step onto the Path of the Fire Dragon, nothing more than a small step he was naturally destined to climb.
"Roar!"
With a fierce howl, he banished his weakness. His steadfast spirit and unwavering Dao heart rallied his faltering soul once more. As his soul stabilized, his mind cleared. In this instant, Jekyeong knew exactly what he had to do.
In his past life, Jekyeong had both accepted and rejected the power of sheer willpower, and he felt the same way now. He believed that while a strong mind could achieve many things, it could not achieve everything, nor could it turn the truly impossible into the possible. Right now, his soul had clearly reached its absolute limit. The newly reborn monster power from his metamorphosis was only partially condensed; to form a perfect core, he had to take one more step forward. Yet, merely maintaining his current state was pushing his soul to its brink. At this rate, the failure of his Core Condensation was only a matter of time.
There is no other way.
The moment Jekyeong made his decision, the jade bottle—or rather, what was left of it—flew before him.
"..."
Jekyeong stared at the shattered fragments of the jade bottle and the crimson liquid mingled among the debris. So it comes to this in the end. The jade bottle had shattered when he writhed in his semi-conscious state, but the Blood Beads within remained completely unharmed. Though he had hoped to avoid using them if possible, he had taken precautions to protect them just in case.
Come.
The Blood Beads scattered amidst the jade shards wriggled and flowed outward like hatchlings answering their mother's call. Each individual drop of the Blood Beads resembled a brilliantly shining red gem. Even Jekyeong, who knew the true nature of these Blood Beads, felt a momentary pull of temptation at their mesmerizing beauty. Of course, it was only a fleeting instant. His eyes instantly regained their cold composure, and he callously drew the approaching Blood Beads into himself.
Cultivation is, by nature, a struggle against heaven and man. Thus, the distinction between the orthodox and unorthodox paths, let alone good and evil, is utterly meaningless.
He opened his mind and accepted the Blood Beads. As dozens, hundreds of drops of the Blood Beads dissolved into his soul, his tattered spirit instantly regained its original vigor. No, it went far beyond that. Now, he felt as though he could effortlessly manipulate the new, once-unwieldy monster power.
Hum—!
Emboldened, Jekyeong did not hesitate to exert control over his monster power. The energy, which had barely maintained a loose, unstable shape, began to condense rapidly.
Boom! At a certain point, the endlessly condensing monster power erupted with a spiritual roar. However, this explosion did not signify failure. It was akin to the lid of an alchemy furnace blasting open. Just as extremely concentrated heat and medicinal properties forged an alchemical pill, this spiritual explosion meant that his highly condensed monster power had finally reached its destination.
Thump! Thump! Thump! Jekyeong heard a thrumming beat that seemed to shake the world. He could not tell if the sound originated from his own heart or if it echoed from within the core that had finally manifested.
Not yet. It is not over yet.
The spiritual shockwave from the Core Condensation shook his mind. An immeasurable sense of achievement and joy threatened to paralyze his reason, making coherent thought difficult. Yet, Jekyeong knew. Though the Core Condensation had occurred, the formation of his core was not complete. What he aimed for was not a common Yodan, but a Dragon Pearl that conceived his Dao heart. To achieve this, he had to push even further.
He aimed for the Path of the Dragon, and to achieve it, he had to walk the Path of the Fire Dragon. He had originally used the fire energy of a Fire Crystal as his Spirit Seed to establish his spiritual nature, and had nurtured his Origin Earth Fire based on the Sacred Fire of the Fire Spirit Clan. Furthermore, after undergoing repeated shedding, his physical body was practically an acquired Fire Spirit Body. Every condition was met to absolute overflowing. Amidst the unending ecstasy, Jekyeong moved his intent, breathing it into the newly completed core.
"What on earth is happening?!"
Gye Muyang urged the flying vessel forward at maximum speed alongside two other elders. Though they were traveling faster than they ever could flying solo on flying swords, he still felt a suffocating sense of urgency.
Six days ago, contact with Yang So had been severed. Yang So had remained behind at the sect until the very end to oversee the vein extraction, and he had promised to report their progress every three days. Yet, even when the appointed day arrived, no word came. For the first day or two, they assumed he was simply delayed by circumstances, but as four days turned into five, they could no longer sit idly by.
"Senior Brother! If the Fire Demons really ambushed them while the Mountain-Protecting Grand Array was weakened..."
"Even if that is the case, we must confirm it!"
The sect's Mountain-Protecting Grand Array was linked to the spiritual vein, so if the vein's spiritual energy was extracted, the array would naturally lose its power. Knowing this, they had meticulously swept the surrounding area before leaving the sect, slaying any wandering Fire Demons.
Had we grown too complacent? They believed they had prepared thoroughly and that nothing would go wrong. If something had happened to Yang So and the disciples left behind at the sect...
"Martial Uncle! Look!"
The urgent shout was redundant. The blazing Yanghu Mountain Range was already vividly reflected in Gye Muyang's wrinkled eyes.
"W-what is this..."
His heart froze as if plunged into an icy abyss, and his pounding chest fell deathly still.
"Senior Brother, this is..."
"...Let us investigate."
Stowing away the flying vessel, they activated their Presence-Concealing Technique and cautiously flew toward the Yanghu Mountain Range. The closer they drew, the more vividly they felt the terrifying majesty of the colossal flames consuming the entire range.
"Something is strange," one of them muttered.
Although the Heavenly Fire Sect had kept its gates shut and hidden within the Mountain-Protecting Grand Array for a long time, they could not entirely avoid clashes with the Fire Demons. As Foundation Establishment elders of the sect, they had frequently led disciples to exterminate Fire Demons that drew near the Yanghu Mountain Range, and thus they knew the nature of a Fire Demon's flames all too well. The fire currently incinerating the entire mountain range before them was fundamentally different from the flames of the Fire Demons.