Global Transformation and the Dragon Heart Dao Seed
Over the past years, if one were to name the change that had struck ordinary people most deeply, it would undoubtedly be the astonishing array of new technologies invented by Exion Vertex, the joint venture company established in Korea.
The breakthroughs in fundamental survival sectors such as agriculture and construction may not have touched daily life directly for everyone, yet they created undeniable shifts. The improvements in food, clothing, and shelter were felt especially keenly in nations that had once struggled merely to survive.
In the industrial and economic spheres, solid-state battery technology and wireless energy transmission were nothing short of revolutionary. It was no exaggeration to say humanity had achieved near-total freedom from power outlets.
The AI innovations applied to social systems, particularly in education and public security, sparked tremendous controversy. Yet those who experienced them firsthand found their utility and convenience impossible to abandon.
In the realm of culture and information, the new virtual reality and augmented reality interfaces fundamentally overturned both the creation and consumption of content. To describe the impact, one could only call it the equivalent of a nuclear detonation.
Finally, the new technologies in the field of mysticism represented inventions so profound they could elevate human civilization to an entirely new dimension. Not only did they provide the foundational support for all the changes listed above, but they also unfurled the infinite possibilities of the future.
Naturally, despite its relatively recent founding, Exion Vertex had risen to become the world’s foremost corporation. It stood on the verge of swallowing its parent companies, Exion and Vertex, in reverse.
If those were the transformations that resonated most with ordinary citizens, the perspective of awakened hunters was somewhat different.
Han Yujin’s training methods and awakening herbs, which had begun spreading across the globe roughly a year earlier, triggered an earthquake of change.
Originally, hunter evaluations weighed awakened ability at eighty percent and training plus experience at twenty. After the training methods spread, the importance of raw ability dropped to forty percent.
At the same time, hunters’ combat strength more than doubled. Anyone possessing even above-average talent could now be evaluated as an A-rank hunter.
The number of individuals recognized as S-rank had exploded into the four digits. Without corresponding advancements in other fields, this rapid upheaval might have spiraled into uncontrollable chaos.
The AI-driven security systems proved exceptionally effective at suppressing rampaging hunters.
Moreover, a new foundation of military force had emerged to support those systems: the upgrade of conventional weaponry through the Soulheart Tree.
When the tree’s fruit was mixed with specific materials to create a special ink and precisely inscribed onto bullets or shells, the result generated powerful mystical impacts.
This innovation caused the prestige of S-rank hunters—once treated as strategic assets—to plummet. Beings that previously could only be harmed by bombs or missiles could now be slain with standard small arms.
Many newly ascended S-rank hunters who failed to recognize their limits died as a result.
Long-standing dictators who had ruled over backward nations on the outskirts of Africa fell virtually overnight.
The enhanced military power was not limited to Earth’s internal affairs.
The dimensional navigation techniques obtained from subjugating the Aheti race gave birth to methods for controlling and stabilizing rift openings. A true age of adventure and pioneering had begun.
Humanity could now send modern equipment and weapons into the rifts. From the construction of pioneer bases to the extermination of extraterrestrial creatures, national power could now be projected into every task that had once depended solely on hunters.
In short, a new Age of Exploration had dawned.
The great rifts were no longer troublesome hazards where risk outweighed reward. They had become treasure troves of resources harboring enormous profits and boundless potential.
Some nations attempted to abuse this knowledge by secretly opening new great rifts, only to be detected and stopped the moment they tried by the Order. Several other countries received stern warnings and quietly withdrew.
The newly opened era of adventure projected humanity’s conflicts and frictions outward, bringing peace. But not every nation followed that path.
There were those who sought to wield their improved military strength against neighboring countries to settle old grudges and expand territory—particularly in the Middle East, long considered a powder keg.
They received a visit from Han Yujin before they could even properly declare war.
Those who refused to listen until the end suffered regime change through the beheading of key officials and their closest subordinates. The shock was comparable to the time he had forced surrender declarations from the United States, China, Japan, and Russia.
The military enhancements granted by the Soulheart Tree held no power against Han Yujin. Once it became known that the tree itself had originated from his hand, everyone was forced to understand the truth.
The absolute being remained absolute, and would continue to be so.
There was good reason why those who had attempted to secretly open new rifts abandoned their plans after receiving stern warnings. It had become painfully obvious that no one could stop Han Yujin’s whip—and that he offered carrots alongside it.
The training methods, awakening herbs, and opportunities to enter and explore the rifts were not provided at exorbitant cost.
Some voices accused his interventions of being interference in internal affairs, but because far more nations benefited than suffered, those criticisms were quickly buried beneath countless counterarguments.
The main points of those counterarguments were straightforward: the training methods and awakening herbs had originated from Han Yujin, so his authority over them was natural; moreover, the rifts carried risks that affected the entire world, and thus could not be monopolized by any single nation.
In this natural, universally acknowledged yet unavoidable manner, the world order began to reorganize itself around Han Yujin and the Order he led.
Korea, which had maintained close ties with the Order from the beginning, received enormous benefits. Its international standing rose at astonishing speed; within a decade or two, it seemed destined to be called the world’s supreme power.
As a side note, as the Order established itself at the center of global order, it began influencing units and terminology across various fields.
The old level system was now used only among specialists requiring precise classification.
Rumors abounded that the alphabet-based hunter ranking system would soon be restructured as well.
With the number of S-rank hunters surpassing four digits, the differences in actual strength even among those of the same rank had become too pronounced. People inevitably began using more accurate descriptors such as “late-stage post-initiate” or “early Dharma Soul” to convey power levels. Fewer and fewer people failed to understand what those terms meant.
Naturally, as it became known that Han Yujin’s own realm was Nascent Soul, many began studying and contemplating the true meaning behind it.
The more capable and insightful the person, the more profoundly they sensed the vastness and majesty of that realm.
And so.
Han Yujin was increasingly acknowledged as the absolute being. Without displaying overt acts of domination, he was accepted as one who reigned supreme over the world.
Inside the main hall of Mugeuk Manor, within the Mountain Sea Pearl.
Han Yujin sat with his eyes closed in shallow meditation, wearing the garments Eun Miryeong had sewn for him. Sprawled across his lap was Mu-yong, likewise dressed in clothing made by Eun Miryeong.
The Soul-Splitting Tribulation was truly a fearsome calamity.
Once again, memories of those who had been broken by it flickered through Han Yujin’s mind.
The leather-skinned demonic monk he had encountered in the underground chambers of the Dark Shadow Demon Cult in the martial world.
Elb, the supreme fusion intelligence of the Luminous Sanctuary and queen of the rebel AIs.
Even the two cases he had witnessed personally were horrific beyond words. When combined with dozens of other instances recorded in books and documents, the mere thought was enough to send chills down one’s spine.
Fortunately, Han Yujin possessed the journal on the Soul-Splitting Tribulation that Queen Elb had written.
She had attempted countless solutions to overcome her own tribulation while gathering vast quantities of data through every possible channel. Even in the cultivation world, few likely possessed as much information on the subject as she had.
While tribulations inherently had no fixed countermeasures and each person had to overcome them in their own way, the methods that worsened the condition seemed ironically universal.
Simply knowing those worsening factors in advance and avoiding them granted an enormous advantage.
You must not treat it like a heart demon.
The more one suppressed and tried to resolve it, the more fiercely it would rebound later, no matter how effective it seemed in the moment. Instead, one had to coax the fracturing thoughts and emotions gently, guiding them back into their original flow so they could fuse once more.
At the same time, one needed to examine the roots of those splitting thoughts and emotions in detail, as if investigating where and why alternate selves had been born.
Han Yujin’s own Soul-Splitting Tribulation had undoubtedly been triggered by the awakening of his dragon bloodline. The thoughts and emotions attempting to fracture were strikingly similar to the well-known traits of dragons.
Fierce. Arrogant. Possessing overwhelming pride. Greedy. Capricious.
Yet despite those flaws, dragons were a race born with such overwhelming potential that their shortcomings seemed trivial.
Intelligent. Wise. Powerful. Self-assured. Refined.
There were many other strengths and weaknesses, but there was no need to list them all. The most important fact was that they were cosmically superior lifeforms.
Regardless, he had an intuitive sense of the situation.
Since I now possess a Dragon Heart within my Nascent Soul, overcoming this Soul-Splitting Tribulation will be exceedingly difficult.
It sounded deeply pessimistic, yet upon further reflection, it was not necessarily hopeless.
If I succeed in transforming the Dragon Heart according to my will, I may be able to resolve the tribulation at the same time.
Having contemplated the plan for so long, he had already chosen its name: the Dragon Heart Dao Seed.
The first stepping stone for that Dragon Heart Dao Seed had been completed only recently—the recipe for the Taeeul Five Elements Soft Body Pill required to form the Taeeul Five Elements Ancestral Body.
“Huu…”
Releasing a long breath, he concluded his light meditation and rose to his feet. Mu-yong, who had been sprawled across his lap, immediately woke and claimed his arms as her rightful territory.
As he headed toward the garden, he found Wonhui standing quietly, admiring the deer statue placed there.
She sensed his presence at once. Still with her eyes closed, she offered a faint smile and moved to embrace him. As always, she ignored Mu-yong’s existence completely.
Jjik—!
At that exact moment.
As if she had been grinding her teeth in frustration, a sudden burst of light erupted from Mu-yong. She swelled in size, slipping free of his embrace and expanding until she was nearly the size of a bear. She completely blocked the path Wonhui had been taking toward Han Yujin.
Jjijik…! Jjijijik!
She emitted squeaks that sounded unmistakably like mocking laughter. Both Han Yujin and Wonhui froze for a moment.
Wonhui quickly tried to circle around the obstruction to reach him again, but Mu-yong’s slightest shift once more cut off the route completely. Mu-yong continued squeaking, clearly enjoying herself immensely.
Yet Wonhui simply changed direction again, attempting once more to embrace him. Mu-yong blocked her again, but she showed no sign of giving up, repeating the attempt without pause.
The first few times had been amusing. Even after four or five, it remained funny.
But after six or seven, then ten, and finally more than twenty attempts…
The atmosphere shifted from absurd amusement to something bizarre and faintly chilling.
Wonhui continued trying to hug Han Yujin like a malfunctioning machine, showing no reaction whatsoever to Mu-yong’s antics.
Jjik…!
Unable to endure the eerie strangeness any longer, Mu-yong shrank back to her original size and stepped aside.
Wonhui embraced Han Yujin exactly as she had at the beginning. There was no trace of satisfaction at the obstacle’s removal, no irritation, no sign that she had been enjoying the game. Nothing.
With a small sigh, Han Yujin returned the embrace and realized the truth.
Wonhui had indeed suffered far too great a loss. Her intelligence had not diminished, but she occasionally displayed these emotionally deficient behaviors.
“Let’s hold hands and walk together.”
When he made the suggestion out of pity, Wonhui simply nodded with a delighted expression, bobbing her head repeatedly. A moment later, Mu-yong leaped up and settled onto his opposite shoulder.
Having left the Mountain Sea Pearl, he examined the current situation through the Sect formation linked with the fusion intelligence spirit Elb.
Two more entrance examinations had been conducted since then, along with two duels between inner sect disciples.
The Order now numbered three thousand members, and the buildings and facilities within its grounds had grown far more numerous and varied than before.
It was a scale sufficient to continuously gather Karma while exerting influence across the entire planet.