Entering Divinity (1)
“Young Master Hyeon... This is the hidden chamber of our valley, a natural haven crafted by the heavens themselves.”
Seon Ye-jin, the renowned Dark Heaven Fist Peak—a peerless heroine of the unorthodox paths and a celebrated talent of the younger generation.
By nature, she was bold and hot-tempered, the sort who made even her own valley's folk wary of crossing her. Yet before Hyeon Yucheon, she spoke with the grace of a yojo suknyeo, a vision of delicate beauty.
“Oh!”
Seon Ye-jin twisted her body coyly, ever conscious of Hyeon Yucheon, but his attention lay elsewhere.
The place she guided him to was the Fog Rock Zone deep within Great Rock Valley—a secret chamber, just as she said, sculpted by nature's hand into something breathtaking.
“Does it please you?”
Seon Ye-jin beamed, practically bouncing with joy at his delight.
“Yes! It suits me perfectly.”
Hyeon Yucheon was thrilled purely because this Fog Rock Zone made an ideal spot to consume the Saryeong Pill, but to Seon Ye-jin, his strikingly handsome face—so stirring of maternal instincts—set her heart racing uncontrollably.
“The exit is guarded by me and our valley's escort warriors... so please, young master, make free use of it. If anything should happen, call for me without hesitation.”
Blushing, Seon Ye-jin met his gaze as she spoke.
For the first time in her life, she felt such emotions stir within her.
Thank heavens the ancient grudge between Demon Sword Sect and Great Rock Valley had thawed, paving the way for this new era of alliance—and how joyful it made her.
“Understood. Thank you truly, Lady Seon, for your kindness.”
Hyeon Yucheon, oblivious or not to her feelings, flashed a bright smile and offered a courteous fist salute.
“Not at all! You're our valley's honored guest.”
Seon Ye-jin grinned ear to ear in response.
“Then I wish you good fortune.”
True to her warrior lineage, Seon Ye-jin was quick on the uptake.
Sensing the intense focus Hyeon Yucheon mustered for the great task ahead, she tactfully withdrew.
Hyeon Yucheon quite approved.
A lovely lady, and sharp besides.
For now, his feelings toward her were mere fondness.
Indeed, beauties like Yeon Jinjin and Jeong Se-in already surrounded him, yet he poured his energy not into idle romance but into reviving Demon Sword Sect.
“A truly fitting place for secluded cultivation.”
Alone now in the Fog Rock Zone, Hyeon Yucheon surveyed the vista once more.
Nearby, a steaming hot spring bubbled, keeping the air balmy even in winter's depths—a perfect warmth for elixir absorption.
Smoothly, he drew the Saryeong Pill from his bosom.
Master, lend me your aid to fully melt this down!
Even with his matured mind, in moments of great trial, Hyeon Yucheon always sought his master first.
His parents flickered in his thoughts next, then he settled into the lotus position.
With resolve firm, a man acts without delay.
He opened the pill case and placed the Saryeong Pill to his lips.
True to its potency, it dissolved into fragrant liquid, seeping into his mouth. Fitting for an unorthodox elixir, its near-black crimson hue tricked the eye into thinking he bled.
Oh... oh!
An elixir was an elixir, indeed.
Hyeon Yucheon had seen and consumed many, but he could swear this otherworldly marvel was a first.
Frankly, at first bite, he wondered if he'd swallowed poison by mistake—perhaps a trap from Great Rock Valley's folk.
—All supreme medicines share a thread with supreme poisons.
What heals one may slay another if constitutions clash or timing falters.
So don't gobble rare elixirs willy-nilly.
Hyeon Yucheon recalled his master's words, gleaned from the Demon Sword Fiend's vast knowledge and experience.
Once, Cheon Baeksang had gathered his three disciples and lectured them sternly on the matter.
Master was right. Elixirs and deadly poisons differ only in balance and who takes them, when. They diverge sharply by circumstance.
A pure orthodox elixir might differ, but the Saryeong Pill, infused with unorthodox essence, could be boon or bane as his master advised.
And lo and behold?
Bubble, bubble!
A ferocious heat surged through Hyeon Yucheon's body, like immersion in boiling lava venting steam.
One might panic, yet he smiled.
Smirk.
He was a man who truly savored the thrill.
Yes—the unorthodox world's finest elixir demands no less.
Taming a wild stallion that bucks and rears beats placid words any day.
Hyeon Yucheon met the invading torrent head-on, refusing retreat.
The slightest hesitation against the Saryeong Pill's fury, and its precious effects would dissipate.
Unfazed, Hyeon Yucheon countered the rampaging Saryeong energies with this supreme art.
The Demon Sword Fiend's ultimate heart method—the pinnacle of unorthodox arts, wielded by history's mightiest.
It claimed all things, forging them into one's own power—and its effects manifested at once.
Whoosh!
Hyeon Yucheon circulated the Formless Myriad Things Heart Method, and the wildly cavorting Saryeong energies wilted like spent flames.
Yet the pill's power was vast and tenacious.
It pounced like a specter at any lapse in Hyeon Yucheon or his method.
But only briefly.
Now it's mine!
At last, Hyeon Yucheon absorbed every last wisp without waste or loss.
As proof, the searing agony yielded to the soothing bliss of a hot spring soak.
And more besides?
Rumble, rrrumble!
The Saryeong energies sought his brimming dantian, reacting strongest in his upper elixir field.
This meant... Hyeon Yucheon could transcend his Super Peak realm, stepping into the elect domain reached only by history's supreme masters.
The Entering Divinity realm beckoned.
Now's the moment!
Such chances rarely knock.
Through insight and toil alone, Hyeon Yucheon might need his remaining teens—perhaps his twenties entire—to reach Entering Divinity.
But this Saryeong Pill offered a shortcut: seize it right, and ascend in one leap. A gamble worth taking.
“Haaap!”
Thus, Hyeon Yucheon wrung every ounce of power, melting the pill fully to shatter his limits.
Another trial, no less.
Rest content in current attainment, or challenge Entering Divinity?
I've always chosen the challenge.
Of course, the latter.
Fear held no sway.
His master, the Demon Sword Fiend Cheon Baeksang, had already trod this path to Entering Divinity—it was no uncharted wilds.
Having absorbed all his knowledge and experience, Hyeon Yucheon could infer the safe ascent.
And the result!
Whoosh!
Behind Hyeon Yucheon in lotus pose gleamed the soft, full radiance of a full moon, sage-like.
Yes.
He had surpassed Super Peak, entering the realm where one vied for world's greatest.
Entering Divinity.
Flash!
Hyeon Yucheon opened his eyes.
A ferocious yet profound aura overflowed, incomparable to before.
His gaze alone could overwhelm mere mortals—such intensity.
“I... finally...”
Rising, Hyeon Yucheon felt his body no longer solely his own, but fused with great nature.
A wondrous, ecstatic strangeness.
“So this is it, Master. The Entering Divinity realm...”
The words slipped out unbidden.
At last, the Demon Sword Prince had matched the realm of the man he revered: Demon Sword Fiend Cheon Baeksang.
Compared to that prime, gaps remained—but purely by realm, they matched, and by inner power alone, he surpassed.
He'd inherited all his master's cultivation, then claimed the full Saryeong Pill besides.
In inner power, I'm undisputed world's greatest...
Few in the world could stand one-on-one against present Hyeon Yucheon in martial prowess.
Even among Heaven's Five Venerables, scarce two or three were said to have touched Entering Divinity.
“Like being reborn.”
Still incredulous, Hyeon Yucheon scanned his form.
It echoed the sensation when his master once saved him.
Hyeon Yucheon had reached Entering Divinity.
Did this end his martial studies?
No.
—I, the Demon Sword Fiend, achieved all as an unorthodox warrior of murim.
My blade subjugated all murim; every demon knelt to me.
Yet... I regret failing the final three forms of Formless Flash Quick Sword's latter stage.
Even history's supreme, Demon Sword Fiend Cheon Baeksang, had not mastered them: the final three forms of Formless Flash Quick Sword.
Each a divine technique to sunder worlds, the quintessence of all martial arts.
Master couldn't master those final three due to... insufficient inner power, likely.
The thought struck Hyeon Yucheon.
What if he tried?
With inner power far eclipsing his master's, might he not essay the least daunting of those three—the first form?
“Yes! Let's try!”
Strike while the iron's hot—he sprang up.
Absorbing the Saryeong Pill faster than expected left time to spare.
Proof: Seon Ye-jin and Black Wolf Three Swords' lead, Cheonu, awaited outside as escorts.
They figured it'd take longer to fully assimilate.
In the interim, Hyeon Yucheon challenged the first of those final forms.
“Huuuup.”
The Demon Sword Prince drew breath.
As expected of Entering Divinity, all felt transformed.
Nature's air and flows, the world's myriad things breathing in harmony—all allies now.
Somehow, I can do this now.
Thus inspired, Hyeon Yucheon summoned formless sword auras into both palms.
These final three forms emerged solely from such sword auras.
Steadying himself, he exploded his full power at last, manifesting the form even his master could not.
The first ultimate technique of Formless Flash Quick Sword—endless invisible sword strikes unleashed.