Onslaught of the Blue Giant Star
In the Yeonha Baek family, Baek Mu-ae issued a strict order to all the retainers, commanding them to keep their mouths shut about the existence of Pill Refiner Gok Elder's Thousand Tribulations and the Danmun Ohaengdan. To prevent any rumors from leaking out, he even strictly controlled the family's external movements for the time being. The Yeonha Baek estate locked itself away in silence, cut off from the outside world.
In such a gravely tense atmosphere,
the appointed day finally arrived for consuming the Danmun Ohaengdan.
Baek Cheong bathed and purified herself early in the morning with spiritual spring water. It was to empty her mind of distractions and prepare her body and spirit in their purest state.
"Hoo..."
Dressed neatly in a plain white robe, she headed to the Supreme Family Head's residence with a resolute expression.
Upon arriving at the Supreme Family Head's residence and entering the hall, all messy, energy vanished as if she had stepped into another space, leaving only pure, clear qi filling the air.
"Grandfather, Pill Refiner Grandfather."
At the center of the hall, atop the jade platform, Baek Mu-ae and Pill Refiner Gok Elder sat cross-legged in solemn expressions, waiting for Baek Cheong.
A late-stage Gold Core elder revered by the family and a Refining Pill grandmaster who had stepped into the 5th layer of Gold Core. It was an unprecedented sight: two Gold Core powerhouses standing guard to assist a Qi Refining child's pill consumption.
"Are you prepared in mind and spirit?"
When her grandfather asked about her resolve, Baek Cheong took a deep breath and nodded.
"Yes, Grandfather."
"Good. Sit in the center of the platform."
As Baek Cheong took her seat on the jade platform, she pulled out an ornate jade box from her bosom.
The lid opened, and amid a brilliant rainbow glow, the Danmun Ohaengdan—engraved with silver runes—revealed its lustrous form.
"Don't hesitate. Swallow it in one go, then close your eyes and focus your consciousness on the spiritual roots in your dantian. No matter what pain or sense of alienation you feel, you must never let go of your focus. If things go awry, we'll help you, so trust in us."
At Pill Refiner's firm admonition, Baek Cheong picked up the pill with determined eyes.
The moment her fingertips touched the cold surface and its silver runes,
a faint tremor accompanied a profound qi from heaven and earth.
Gulp.
The Danmun Ohaengdan slid down her throat.
There was no scorching heat or freezing chill like ordinary pills. It felt as serene and gentle as swallowing air, smoothly descending toward her dantian.
But this tranquility was merely the prelude to what was coming.
The moment the pill's energy touched the five elements spiritual roots deep in her dantian,
Baek Cheong's consciousness was flung out of her physical shell into a vast, infinite heart-mind realm.
'Where... is this?'
Before her stretched an empty white space.
In the center of that space, the Danmun Ohaengdan began hatching like a primordial egg, pouring out five elements qi.
The water qi surged as clear life-giving water, soaking the land; atop it, wood qi sprouted green buds, forming lush forests.
Fire qi rose as a blazing sun, heating the earth; earth qi raised sturdy mountains; metal qi condensed into sharp veins, reinforcing the mountains' frame.
A single pill had forged a grand nature within the heart-mind realm.
The five elements' generation and conquest meshed like perfect gears, compressing eons of birth, growth, decline, and extinction into a cycle displayed before her eyes.
Baek Cheong lost herself in awe before the great, beautiful laws of nature.
Overwhelmed by reverence, she didn't notice her sense of self gradually fading.
Instead, an intense longing to shed her individual shell, merge into that vast peaceful nature, and join the eternal cycle invaded her soul.
It was the bizarre phenomenon of the Danmun Ohaengdan's heavenly dao fragment assimilating her soul, reverting her to part of nature.
'Ahh, so peaceful... like this, forever...'
Just as her self began transparently scattering into the natural landscape,
an intense light rose from beyond the horizon of the heart-mind realm, too blinding to even open one's eyes.
Simultaneously, a colossal blue giant star emerged, as if to devour the entire sky.
The moment the blue giant star appeared, the peaceful five elements cycle twisted into grotesque discord.
Lush forests withered, clear rivers evaporated without trace.
Even the blazing red sun was crushed by the blue sun, losing its light; earth and mountains crumbled like sandcastles.
All the qi composing nature was sucked toward the blue giant star filling the sky.
'No...!'
Baek Cheong's consciousness snapped awake from assimilation.
She instinctively knew that if the blue giant star devoured the inner space, her dantian would collapse catastrophically, dooming her eternally to mortality.
She desperately grabbed the five elements qi being pulled toward the blue giant star, fighting to restore the cycle.
But the tidal wave of energy unleashed by the Danmun Ohaengdan ignored her control, rampaging unchecked toward the blue giant star.
'At this rate, it'll all get sucked in!'
Fortunately, the overwhelmingly powerful blue giant star, after partially emerging beyond the horizon, showed no sign of rising higher into the sky.
But that offered no comfort. Its inherent suction was too strong, devouring every nearby five elements qi without mercy.
At this rate, her inner heart-mind realm would be utterly destroyed, leaving the blue giant star starved and ultimately nothing behind.
In this desperate moment, two massive, majestic streams of energy—like twin stars—burst from somewhere, slicing through the sky in binary form.
The twin stars' energy charged without hesitation toward the blue giant star dominating the heavens.
Upon frontal collision, they twisted together.
And then the miraculous happened.
The twin stars' energy wrapped around the blue giant star like enormous ropes, forcibly dragging its immense bulk beyond the distant horizon.
Suppressed by the twin stars' power, the blue giant star was helplessly pushed back.
Finally retreating to a safe distance, it hung partially over the horizon, losing its sky-dominating pressure and reduced to an ordinary star emitting a faint blue glow.
As the blue giant star receded, the frenzied suction of five elements qi halted.
The shattered earth reformed, dried rivers refilled with life-giving water.
The five elements qi regained stability, returning to the cycle, achieving exquisite balance with the blue giant star and nature.
But due to the aftermath of the blue giant star's predation, the fantastical moment of awe-inspiring peaceful assimilation was gone.
The instant the twin stars' energy fulfilled its role and vanished without trace,
Baek Cheong's consciousness was forcibly ejected from the heart-mind realm, crashing back into her physical body.
"Hngh...!"
Baek Cheong's eyes snapped open as she gasped ragged breaths.
Her body was drenched in cold sweat, the plain robe clinging damply to her skin.
And a fullness she'd never felt before brimmed in her five elements spiritual roots, vigorously asserting its presence.
"Are you back to your senses?"
At the voice from above, Baek Cheong blankly turned her gaze.
Her shoulders were firmly gripped by the thick palms of her grandfather and Pill Refiner.
"Grandfather... Pill Refiner Grandfather..."
Baek Mu-ae and Pill Refiner showed pleased smiles but couldn't hide the cold sweat trickling down their necks from what had transpired with Baek Cheong.
Outwardly, no signs had appeared, yet a perilous crisis had unfolded in the heart-mind realm.
Fortunately, being Pill Refiner's creation, they sensed the change and intervened in time.
At the same time, they confronted a mighty spiritual root's presence.
Something different from the five elements spiritual roots...
"What just happened..."
Baek Cheong could tell from looking at her grandfathers.
The powerful twin stars' energy that had subdued the rampaging blue giant star and restored balance in the heart-mind realm belonged to her grandfather and Pill Refiner.
"No need to dwell on what passed in the heart-mind realm. You've entered the 5th star, so your body and mind must be exhausted after five full days. Return to your residence and rest well."
Baek Mu-ae scattered her thoughts, wary of any chance she might sink back into the heart-mind realm on her own.
It was unlikely to worry about ordinarily, but with her exceptional intellect, extra caution was needed.
"Ah..."
Unaware of their inner concerns, Baek Cheong let out a sigh and nodded.
She left the Supreme Family Head's residence with heavy, thoughtful steps.
"Gok Cheon."
Baek Mu-ae, who had watched her until the end, cautiously spoke.
"Can you inscribe runes even on a 3rd realm Mirror-Breaking Pill?"
"Didn't you say you wouldn't rely on pills forever?"
"Seeing my granddaughter, it seems relying on the natural order alone won't suffice."
"No reason to make such a beneficial pill for a guy like you."
Pill Refiner—no, Gok Cheon—spoke frankly.
In his later years, he'd found a prodigy to teach as a pastime, only to gain his own fortune and incur a considerable debt.
And to him, childless, she was more a granddaughter than a granddaughter.
"However, for that child's sake, I have no choice."