A Taste of Transcendence
'As expected, it's not enough.'
Jeok-un assessed the battlefield at a single glance.
For now, Elder Hwang held the upper hand, but that was only because the Beast Poison Demon had failed to react properly.
Once the Beast Poison Demon regained his composure and launched a counterattack, the tide of battle would inevitably turn.
'Well, I already knew that.'
Elder Hwang's dantian was damaged.
It was practically a miracle that he could perform this well in his current state.
'Besides, I drew up this plan precisely because I knew the Beast Poison Demon would be here.'
Before his regression, Jeok-un had raided dozens of Demonic Cult branches. Among the records he uncovered were files on the discarded elder, the Beast Poison Demon, Yul-gi.
The reason the Beast Poison Demon had been cast aside was disloyalty to the Heavenly Demon.
He had discovered a legendary spiritual herb called the Golden Spirit Thread but kept it all to himself. Once this was exposed, he was subjected to brutal torture and interrogation, all of which was meticulously documented in the cult's records.
"Huh? Boss, this is that place!"
"Where?"
"You know! The abandoned mine we visited back when we were running around trying to make salt out of waste stone!"
Yeo Da-il had jumped up and down as he spoke.
"I knew it wasn't just any ordinary spiritual herb, but to think it was the Golden Spirit Thread!"
Yeo Da-il had beaten the ground in regret. But when he heard that the Beast Poison Demon had been executed—discarded like trash—simply for keeping the Golden Spirit Thread to himself, he let out a hollow laugh.
"Those bastards are seriously insane. So what if he ate it? They discarded an elder just for that?"
"Do you think they call it the Demonic Cult for nothing?"
"We really need to wipe those bastards out. Just breathing the same air as them makes me feel sick."
Yeo Da-il had then muttered, "Well, at least it didn't end up in that bastard Heavenly Demon's mouth. If he had eaten it..."
Jeok-un had agreed with that sentiment, which was why he remembered the conversation so vividly.
Where the abandoned mine was, when the Beast Poison Demon had discovered the Golden Spirit Thread, how he had secured it, and so on.
The interrogation records had detailed every single detail, and Jeok-un had committed them all to memory.
Though he possessed a straightforward and explosive personality due to inheriting the blood of Xiang Yu, the blood of the Jegal Family still ran through his veins.
'It's not that I can't use my head; I'm actually quite smart when I try.'
Look at him now, remembering everything so perfectly.
The proof was in the results.
Buying the mine without ever inspecting it beforehand, and sneaking out tonight on the night of the full moon—it was all based on the interrogation records.
According to those records, the Beast Poison Demon had harvested the Golden Spirit Thread on the night of the full moon.
'Elder Hwang was a bit of a surprise, but he's a manageable variable.'
Elder Hwang's sudden appearance and accompaniment were unexpected, but they had worked in Jeok-un's favor.
Had he faced the Beast Poison Demon alone, Jeok-un might have had to deal with a much bigger headache.
'So just hold on a little longer. Everything is going according to plan, and it'll be over soon.'
The Beast Poison Demon was an Established Transcendent, a realm that Jeok-un could handle.
If he joined forces with Elder Hwang, the fight would be even easier.
However, there was only one reason he didn't do so.
'If that bastard can't have it, he's the type to make sure no one else can either.'
There was a saying that one gets a stomachache when their cousin buys land, but the fanatics of the Demonic Cult would go as far as tearing up the deed entirely.
If Jeok-un had immediately neutralized the poison and joined the fray, the Beast Poison Demon would have undoubtedly done whatever it took to destroy the Golden Spirit Thread completely.
'I can't let that happen.'
That was why Jeok-un had left the Beast Poison Demon to Elder Hwang for the time being.
It was obvious the Beast Poison Demon looked down on him. Jeok-un figured that if Elder Hwang stepped forward, it would grant him the freedom to move undetected.
And his prediction had been spot on.
The moment Jeok-un pretended to panic in the face of the poison, the Beast Poison Demon's attention on him had plummeted.
'Just a little more...'
It wasn't time to strike yet.
When the Beast Poison Demon completely regained his composure and began his counterattack—that would be the moment to move.
"Could you be... the Shadowless Killer?"
The moment the Beast Poison Demon recognized Elder Hwang's identity, his aura shifted drastically.
Swish!
Jeok-un moved as well.
With just two strikes, he cut down the Blood Frog Poison and the White-Haired Spider, instantly dispersing their toxic energy.
Intoxicated by his impending victory as he pressed Elder Hwang, the Beast Poison Demon failed to notice.
'Typical of an Established Transcendent.'
Jeok-un sneered at the Beast Poison Demon and walked forward openly.
Yet, no one noticed.
He didn't particularly hide his presence or silence his footsteps.
But neither the Beast Poison Demon nor Elder Hwang perceived him.
By aligning himself with the atmosphere, he slipped into the blind spots of their consciousness.
It was a movement that rivaled Elder Hwang's mastery of extreme speed and unpredictability. Strictly speaking, it was a deceptive stride—a Phantom Step.
An ordinary person wouldn't have noticed Jeok-un moving even with their eyes wide open.
Step, step.
Without anyone stopping or hindering him, Jeok-un stood before the Golden Spirit Thread.
Pluck!
"Ah, smell that fragrance. Yes, this is the stuff."
He tossed the Golden Spirit Thread into his mouth.
"Aaargh! Spit it out! Spit it out, I said!"
The moment Jeok-un swallowed the herb, the Beast Poison Demon charged.
Unleashing his Hundred Beasts Battle Qi to its absolute limit, he looked like a pure beast, running on all fours.
He was like a wild predator that had completely lost its mind.
His speed was terrifying, but...
'Too slow.'
To Jeok-un, the demon's movements appeared sluggish, like a martial artist practicing the art of stillness in motion.
It was as if he had stepped out of the world's flow.
Time slowed down, stretching out as if an eternity could be traced along the tips of his fingers.
Whoosh!
Yet, his body burned hot, as if on fire.
The Golden Spirit Thread melted as it slid down his throat, its energy beginning to permeate his entire body.
Sensing that he could not afford to miss this window, Jeok-un channeled his Overlord's Divine Energy to its absolute peak.
Within this slowed-down perception of time, Jeok-un began to devour the energy of the Golden Spirit Thread with everything he had.
'Come. Become my nourishment.'
Finally, the moment the herb passed his esophagus and settled in his stomach, the massive energy contained within the Golden Spirit Thread exploded, surging through his limbs and meridians.
For an ordinary person, such a violent burst of energy would have torn their meridians apart, causing severe internal injuries.
Rumble!
But for Jeok-un, it was not a problem.
In fact, the more violent the energy, the better.
It was the perfect match for the Overlord's Divine Energy, which pursued the absolute pinnacle of power.
'Good. Very good.'
Jeok-un smiled inwardly with satisfaction.
Like a torrential downpour flooding a parched, cracked field, his limbs, dantian, and every single meridian filled to the brim with internal energy.
Jeok-un circulated the Overlord's Divine Energy to its limit, determined not to let a single drop of this power go to waste.
Crack!
Finally, a barrier within his consciousness shattered.
'So this is the fourth stage.'
Reaching the fourth stage didn't particularly move him.
It was a realm he had already stepped into once before.
However, achieving the fourth stage with the Overlord's Divine Energy—refined through the Great Heavenly Star Divine Art—rather than the ordinary Overlord's Qi, felt truly special.
'This is enough.'
He had obtained the energy of the Golden Spirit Thread and broken through the barrier to the Master Realm.
Though it was no exaggeration to say he had used the herb's power to smash through the wall, there was still more.
'The remaining energy is stored in my meridians.'
Even with his deep immersion in his consciousness, there simply hadn't been enough time to fully absorb all of the Golden Spirit Thread's energy.
However, the unabsorbed power remained in his meridians, ready to be slowly melted down and integrated over time.
'Once I digest the rest, reaching the peak of the Master Realm will be a breeze.'
The moment Jeok-un had that thought, his perception of time snapped back to normal.
His deep state of immersion ended, and the world resumed its regular pace.
At that exact moment...
Crack!
Jeok-un welcomed the charging Beast Poison Demon with a straight punch right to the jaw.
Boom! Crash!
Perhaps because the demon was such a massive bulk of muscle, the sound and the impact were immense.
"Urgh...!"
The Beast Poison Demon, who had crashed into the wall and barely managed to stop himself, stood up with a look of sheer bewilderment.
'What? A mere peak-stage expert pushed me back?'
He had unleashed his Hundred Beasts Battle Qi to its absolute limit.
The description of him as a massive bulk of muscle was not a metaphor; it was a literal fact.
Whether from the perspective of martial arts or military science, an overwhelming mass was a weapon in and of itself.
'How on earth...?'
While the Beast Poison Demon was frantically trying to analyze the situation, Jeok-un clicked his tongue.
"Where do you think you're shoving that ugly mug, you bastard? Do you want to die?"
At Jeok-un's mockery, the Beast Poison Demon's face contorted in rage.
But that anger was short-lived. Sensing the aura of the Master Realm radiating from Jeok-un, Yul-gi's eyes widened to the point of tearing.
'The Master Realm? He broke through to the Master Realm?!'
The Beast Poison Demon wasn't the only one shocked.
Elder Hwang, who had been looking for an opportunity to intervene from behind, was equally stunned.
'...To cross the threshold of the Master Realm at barely twenty years of age?'
The Beast Poison Demon forced his shocked mind to calm down and analyze the situation coldly.
This wasn't something that could be achieved with the Golden Spirit Thread alone.
Although it was a legendary herb, it wasn't powerful enough to elevate a peak-stage expert with no foundation straight into the Master Realm.
If it were that simple, everyone in the martial world would have been desperately hunting for the Golden Spirit Thread.
'Peak-stage martial prowess, a dual-wielder, a prestigious martial family...'
As he connected the clues, they naturally fell into place.
The notorious madman of Sadocheon who had recently risen to fame.
Only now did the demon realize his true identity and background.
"...Jegal Jeok-un."
"Ha, seriously. That damn Jegal name follows me everywhere. It's been ages since I threw that surname away."
At Jeok-un's playful grumbling, the Beast Poison Demon's expression stiffened.
'He's completely different from the Cult's reports.'
Naturally, the Demonic Cult had gathered information on Jeok-un, and the Beast Poison Demon had read those files.
But the Jeok-un described in the reports was entirely different from the man standing before him.
"Did you hide your strength even when you were with the Jegal Family?"
"I told you, I threw that name away. But well, since I got to enjoy a delicious elixir thanks to you, I'll let you off easy just this once."
"You dare...!"
The Beast Poison Demon seethed with rage.
Though fury burned within him, he quickly forced his mind to calculate.
'There's no way he fully absorbed the massive energy of the Golden Spirit Thread yet. If I eat him alive, I should be able to absorb at least half of it.'
Harboring a thought truly worthy of the Demonic Cult, the Beast Poison Demon began to gather his energy.
Crack! Crunch!
He pushed his Hundred Beasts Battle Qi to its absolute limit.
Circulating demonic arts to this extent compromised his stability, but he had no choice.
He had to devour that bastard whole as quickly as possible.
Only then could he absorb even a fraction of the Golden Spirit Thread's energy.
"Grrr...!"
Even his breathing sounded like a beast's growl.
His muscles swelled to a grotesque degree, and his eyes turned completely yellow.
"You've barely crossed the threshold of the Master Realm, yet your arrogance knows no bounds!"
I will tear you apart alive!
With a roar, the Beast Poison Demon kicked off the ground.
Boom!
Gravel exploded outward as he launched himself forward like an arrow.
He was determined to show that even within the Master Realm, there was a vast difference between a novice and an established master.
His speed was incomparable to before.
It was a momentum and speed that would make any newly ascended Master flinch instinctively.
Yet, Jeok-un remained perfectly calm.
Staring directly at the oncoming Beast Poison Demon...
Shring!
Jeok-un drew Wol-ha and slowly took his stance.
Fengfu, Fengchi, Jingming, Chengqi...
As he stimulated the acupoints of the Yang Heel Vessel in reverse order...
Whoosh!
An unprecedented energy began to rage wildly within Jeok-un's body.
'Disperse.'
Jeok-un commanded the energy.
At his command, the energy began to radiate light.
The Third Star of the Overlord's Divine Energy
'And reduce it to nothing.'
Jeok-un's sword pointed directly at the Beast Poison Demon.