Chapter 30: New Realm
The blood mist churned, something approaching from within.
Its form gradually took shape.
Ssssss—
It was shaped like a human.
"Ugh..."
"Uh... uh..."
The red blood mist grew thicker.
Affected by it, even the group deep in slumber groaned and tossed in their sleep.
Jin Muhon quickly scanned his companions.
They didn't seem in immediate danger yet, but it was surprising that Muheo of all people hadn't woken.
"Mm..."
He had no idea what had caused this phenomenon.
But at that moment, the red, smoke-like evil spirit was drawing closer, step by step.
Jin Muhon stood still, observing it closely.
Its entire body flickered like rising flames, its face blurred.
Oddly, it had only one arm.
"Hm?"
Jin Muhon's eyes sharpened.
Now that he looked, the build and gait seemed familiar.
Jin Muhon stirred the energy in his upper dantian.
Wuuuuuung—
As the world slowed, his accelerated thoughts sifted through memories.
Soon, a man whose life had ended by his own sword resurfaced.
"Blood Light... Mad Blade. Could it be you?"
The evil spirit rippled in response to Jin Muhon's murmur.
Blood Light Mad Blade.
A mad demon who had ravaged the Central Plains in a blood frenzy, true to his moniker.
He hadn't originally been part of the Cult. He was a mere farmer, untrained in martial arts.
His crime? His sister was too beautiful.
And a scion of a righteous sect had set his sights on her.
"If you're dead, go to hell. What are you doing here?"
—Uuuuuugh.
A grudge-filled wail shook the night's darkness.
A sound not heard by ears, but felt in the heart.
Even Jin Muhon's cold heart felt the full weight of the Blood Light Mad Blade's resentment.
Srrrring.
Jin Muhon slowly drew the Four Emperors Sword.
Kiiiiieeeeeek.
In the frozen time, the blood mist's scream stretched and twisted.
At the same time, the Blood Light Mad Blade's deathly aura rapidly expanded its domain.
"Come. I'll cut you down again."
His sister raped and killed, himself dying with an arm severed.
Saved by a passing merchant, he threw himself into the Cult, training in forbidden demonic arts for decades.
After vengeance, he drowned in madness, staining the Central Plains red.
He even returned to the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains, swinging his grudge-filled blade until the Sword Demon severed his head.
—Kraaaaaah!!
The Blood Light Mad Blade roared and charged.
Jin Muhon raised the Four Emperors Sword to meet it.
Shaaaeek! Kaaang!
"...!"
A heavy energy flowed through the blade.
His wrist numbed. A chill of death climbed his arm.
Stronger than the power the Blood Light Mad Blade had shown in life.
Jin Muhon stepped back, sweeping the Four Emperors Sword horizontally.
Shaaaeek!
The Blood Light Mad Blade scattered like smoke, evading, then targeted Jin Muhon's flank.
Without time to be surprised, Jin Muhon spun and struck down.
Kaaang!
The trajectory of the Blood Light Mad Blade's sword twisted.
Jin Muhon advanced, slashing upward with the Four Emperors Sword.
Shaaaeek!
Again, the Blood Light Mad Blade dispersed into red smoke.
But Jin Muhon had no intention of letting it go. He thrust forward, exploding sword force in all directions.
Kuwaaaaaaaaang!!!
Red sword force like a sunset evening slashed through the darkness.
Air was rent, deep gashes scarred the ground.
Jin Muhon slowly turned.
"..."
Beyond five zhang.
The one-armed swordsman was reforming, creeping back into shape.
Wuuung-wuuung-wuuung.
The Four Emperors Sword vibrated faintly, humming.
Looking down, the pitch-black blade now held red sword force within.
He glanced around.
Despite the commotion, no one woke—odd, since the world remained frozen.
The campfire casting faint light, embers hovering in the sky, companions motionless, branches still.
A world like one where everything had died.
"Hell?"
Jin Muhon smirked at the Blood Light Mad Blade.
As if a ghost were dragging him to hell.
Before, he might have accepted it gladly.
Not now.
"Sorry, but I still have work to do."
Whiiik!
As if understanding, the Blood Light Mad Blade closed the distance in an instant, swinging its sole arm's blade.
Jin Muhon unleashed his upper dantian energy at full power to clash.
Kwaang! Kwaang! Kwaang! Kwaang! Kwaang!
Sword and blade collided, shockwaves bursting repeatedly.
The more Jin Muhon drew inner energy, the stronger the Blood Light Mad Blade grew.
Muscles screamed in agony. Sweat poured down his body. Strain on his upper dantian brought sticky blood from his nose.
Then, suddenly.
Lightning struck Jin Muhon's mind.
'Could it be... this guy...?'
It had been some time since he first activated Cloud Peak Demon Sea with the blood mist.
Current attainment: fourth stage, Absorb Essence.
Absorbing enemies' inner energy via blood mist.
Yet no such phenomenon before.
No new realm ascended.
So the change was one.
'You.'
The Four Emperors Sword.
Shiiiik!
In that split-second distraction.
A thick bloody scent preceded the Blood Light Mad Blade's sword slicing toward his eyes.
Jin Muhon leaned back to dodge, thrusting the Four Emperors Sword forward.
As a test, he reduced the inner energy in the blade.
'Let's see.'
If his guess was wrong, it was suicidal mid-battle.
But,
Whooo!
The Blood Light Mad Blade scattered like smoke instead of countering, retreating.
Then, like in life, it spun its crimson blade with its one arm—whoooong-whoooong.
"I see."
Jin Muhon nodded in understanding.
The sudden evil spirit.
After dinner, Jin Muhon had gripped the Four Emperors Sword in deep contemplation.
Missing even the group falling asleep—samadhi-like.
There, blood mist manifested, summoning the Blood Light Mad Blade.
In other words, the Blood Light Mad Blade stemmed from him.
When he grew stronger, so did it.
When he eased power, it weakened.
A thread of new insight appeared.
With the Blood Light Mad Blade before him, Jin Muhon slowly closed his eyes.
The next stage of Cloud Peak Demon Sea surfaced in his mind.
Death Unavenged, Soul Unscattered
Grudges unresolved in death, souls refuse to dissipate.
Borrow Thy Will, Wield Sword's Edge
I borrow those grudges to swing the sword by my intent.
'That is... Sword Intent.'
Cloud Peak Demon Sea fifth stage: Sword Intent.
He had guessed it might be a kind of mind sword when first dividing realms.
Now, its meaning was clearer, more concrete.
Jin Muhon slowly opened his eyes.
First, the red mist-shaped Blood Light Mad Blade.
"..."
Beyond it.
He cast his gaze into the blood mist.
Imbuing it with newfound insight and will.
Tzzzzz.
The blood mist surged like waves.
Within, forms began manifesting one by one.
Sword-bearers, spear-wielders, axe-men, bare-handed, even wielding bizarre weapons.
Dozens at least.
Imbued with thick deathly energy and sky-shaking grudges.
Evil spirits.
"Pitiful fools."
Though blurred, Jin Muhon vividly recalled cutting them down.
His fingertips trembled faintly.
The Four Emperors Sword had catalyzed the insight, but this was a technique hidden in Ma-seon's enlightenment.
Ma-seon had enslaved even enemies' souls in pursuit of ascension.
Realizing that, his upper dantian energy scattered.
Wuuuuung—
Stopped time resumed flowing.
Hovering embers flew skyward again; a cool wind rustled leaves ssssh.
"Mm..."
His head throbbed like it might split.
Jin Muhon closed his eyes, assuming lotus position.
Released from summons, the evil spirits dissolved into smoke.
Even the Blood Light Mad Blade, silently watching till the end, returned to nothingness.
Thus, Jin Muhon began his solitary battle.
'Not on your terms.'
Ma-seon's power encroaching on his upper dantian.
But it was merely a fragment of Ma-seon's enlightenment.
Cloud Peak Demon Sea's foundation was the family ancestral art, Cloud Peak Mist Sea.
'Let's see who wins.'
If alien energies could merge into one,
Conversely, unified energy could be divided.
For the first time, Jin Muhon circulated the Dual Intent Divine Art.
First time in real combat, but he'd contemplated it mentally countless times—no great difficulty.
'It works!'
First, he separated Ma-seon's enlightenment from Cloud Peak Demon Sea.
Then focused on the original ancestral Cloud Peak Mist Sea.
Balance unexpectedly collapsed.
This way, qi deviation was inevitable.
Righteous and demonic arts.
Time to balance orthodox and demonic.
***
The next day, morning.
Chirp-chirp—chirp-chirp-chirp—
Birds sang in the forest from early dawn.
The campfire tended all night had burned to ashes.
Dew on grass sparkled in sunlight; wind through trees carried refreshing energy.
"Aigoo... ugh! Aigooya!"
Muheo stretched, rising with cracking joints.
"Crushed by a dream or something. Why so stiff?"
Muheo casually loosened up, but inwardly he was unsettled.
'Me, sleeping like this?'
Even in old age, his night sleep was light.
His senses as a master, razor-sharp.
Yet he'd slept through to sunrise.
First time in decades.
'Sword Demon!'
Sensing something amiss, Muheo scanned around, seeking Jin Muhon first.
Not far off, he found Jin Muhon in lotus position.
"...!"
Seeing Jin Muhon, Muheo froze in place.
"Ahh, slept well!"
"Mm... Poison Tail. Wake up. Why didn't you rouse me?"
"Ssp. Huh! Elder! Already morning?"
Han Somwol, Chu Sahwan, Oepari rose one by one.
The quiet forest morning bustled in an instant.
"Huh? Elder? What're you staring at?"
The three, rising near-simultaneously, eyed Muheo—rooted like a statue—with puzzlement.
"Elder?"
"......"
Normally quick with a jest, Muheo now stared in shock, eyes piercing something.
Han Somwol, Chu Sahwan, and Oepari followed his gaze.
"Why the shocked look?"
"Elder, some nymph bathing or what?"
"...?"
Following Muheo's gaze, the three also widened eyes, mouths clamping shut.
Where their gazes converged.
Trees slashed every which way like struck by thunderbolt, ground churned.
At the center.
Jin Muhon sat in lotus, deep in meditation.
"Uh... that... right now...?"
Yet a wondrous sight caught their eyes.
Wind blew then stopped around Jin Muhon repeatedly. Closer look: it was his breathing.
A soft glow emanated from his body.
"Ah...!"
A gasp escaped Han Somwol unwittingly.
A serene expression never seen on Jin Muhon before.
Nothing like the Sword Demon who felled countless, wading rivers of blood.
Just then, leaves above rustled in wind, sunlight pouring down.
That light mingled with Jin Muhon's glow, forming a faint halo behind his head.
Ssssss.
Grass around him bent one way.
Trees swayed in dance.
A pleasant floral scent wafted on the air from somewhere.
Chu Sahwan snapped to, asking Muheo.
"Elder! What's happening to the family head?!"
Muheo, eyes wide in awe, spoke entranced.
"Spiritual transformation... ascension..."
"What?? The family head's becoming an immortal?!"
Chu Sahwan shouted incredulously.
And suddenly.
The auspicious aura filling the forest vanished like a lie.
"Huuu..."
Jin Muhon snapped his eyes open, exhaling deeply.
"Almost ascended."
"......"
Muheo's eyes blinked madly.