It was a fundamental question.

Up until now, he had thought a martial artist’s path was simply learning martial arts and raising one’s realm.

But now that he saw it, that was far too shallow an understanding.

A true martial artist was an existence that harmonized with nature.

The small inner power a human possessed had limits.

No matter how high one’s realm became, in the face of the vastness of heaven and earth, an individual’s strength was no more than a fragment.

But if he could make the energy of heaven and earth his own.

Heaven-and-earth spirit energy. It is the root of all things.

Chief Seong’s realization deepened further.

As his energy centers fused, change began to ripple across his entire body.

First, his breathing changed. Until now, he had to control his breath consciously, but now he was breathing naturally in step with the flow of heaven and earth.

His inhalation and exhalation were harmonizing with the flow of heaven and earth.

Next, his senses expanded.

Even with his eyes closed, everything around him felt vivid.

The texture of rock, the temperature of the air, even the sound of wind carried from far away.

Everything came through with sharp clarity.

So this is… Celestial Being.

A step beyond human limits. But it was not complete transcendence yet.

Above him, a higher mountain called the Realm of Martial Divinity still waited.

A faint light began to seep from Chief Seong’s body.

It was a mysterious phenomenon produced as the energy of nature circulated through him.

That light gradually grew brighter, until it finally wrapped his entire body.

It was the moment the upper energy center and middle energy center achieved complete unity.

Celestial Being.

Chief Seong had finally reached that realm.

When he slowly opened his eyes, the world looked completely different.

Everything seemed brimming with vitality, and he could faintly sense the flow of heaven and earth.

Chief Seong did not realize it, but being able to feel heaven-and-earth spirit energy to this degree was also clear proof that his talent would not stop at the Heaven-and-Earth Fourfold Realm.

It was something even Sim Munryong, who had reached Celestial Being not long ago, had not been able to feel.

Looking at Unhwi standing guard, Chief Seong felt a deep gratitude. All of this was thanks to Unhwi’s consideration and trust.

Chief Seong rose slowly. His movements were completely different from before. More natural, more harmonious.

“Young master.”

Even Chief Seong’s voice had changed. It was deeper, steadier.

Unhwi turned his head. A satisfied light flickered in his eyes.

“Congratulations.”

“Thank you. Everything is thanks to you, young master.”

Chief Seong clasped his fists in deep salute.

Unhwi said to him.

“If you need time to sink into the afterglow, I can give it to you.”

“No. You do not need to.”

It was confidence without basis, but strangely, he was certain he could face Ya Suyeong and Mujin at the same time.

“Let’s go right away. I will guard you at your side.”

At that, Unhwi snorted in amusement.

“You were already gallant. Now you are a bit more gallant.”

He simply smiled.

Now it was time to show it with actions, not words.

And so the two of them began walking again.

***

This hidden realm consisted of two checkpoints.

The first checkpoint also had an end, and after dismantling about five more traps, Unhwi and Chief Seong arrived at the final point.

This place was even more enormous than the cavern that had greeted them when they first entered the hidden realm. Its height reached several dozen spans, and its breadth was wide enough to comfortably hold several hundred people.

Around the massive stone gate at the far end, countless glowstones emitted a dim light.

Unhwi and Chief Seong quietly stopped in place.

The delay caused by Chief Seong stepping into Celestial Being had been about eight watches.

Unhwi was the abnormal one; to dismantle traps of that level, this amount of time was normal.

Already, more than a hundred martial artists had gathered in the cavern, and in front of them, Ya Suyeong and Mujin were explaining something.

Behind them, exactly two passages had formed.

One clearly led to the second checkpoint, and the other was just as clearly the exit from the hidden realm itself.

Yet no one headed that way.

Sensing something amiss, Unhwi and Chief Seong listened closely.

“So, to summarize.”

Ya Suyeong’s voice echoed through the space.

“The traps weren’t particularly high-level, but if each of you had tried to dismantle them on your own, it would have taken a considerable amount of time. A few of you would probably have died.”

The martial artists murmured. In truth, most of them lacked knowledge of formations.

Mujin lightly tapped his monk’s staff on the floor and spoke.

“Blessed Light. Benefactor Ya Suyeong speaks correctly. If we had not maintained order, this place would already be filled with corpses.”

“And the spirit pills obtained that way total fifty.”

Her voice was relaxed, but the expressions of the surrounding martial artists were grim.

“But we made a promise to the Merit Sword Emperor before entering the hidden realm, didn’t we? To give him one-third of the hidden realm’s treasure.”

Mujin tapped his staff against the floor in agreement.

“Blessed Light. A promise must be kept.”

“So out of fifty, sixteen must go to the Merit Sword Emperor. That leaves thirty-four.”

Ya Suyeong pointed at the spirit pills with her finger.

“Out of these thirty-four, Master Mujin and I will take twenty. Consider it a fee for maintaining order and our efforts.”

“Then what about the rest?”

One martial artist asked in a trembling voice.

“The remaining fourteen can be divided among all of you.”

Silence fell. A heavy silence.

Fourteen pills to be divided among more than a hundred people? Was that the price of risking their lives to enter this hidden realm?

No one denied that those two had maintained order.

But if asked whether those two had dismantled every single formation, the answer was no.

There were a hundred people here.

Was there really not a single person proficient in formations?

There had been thirty formations. Those two dismantled eighteen of them, and the remaining twelve were dismantled by other martial artists.

And now, with only fourteen spirit pills, they were supposed to divide them? And even be told to share?

What kind of brazen banditry was ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) this.

“This is… isn’t it too much?”

Someone finally gathered the courage to speak, but Ya Suyeong snapped back as if she had been waiting.

“Too much? Then why don’t you try making it through the hidden realm on your own?”

“……”

“If we weren’t here, you’d all be killing each other by now. And you’re dissatisfied even with this?”

Mujin slammed his staff heavily against the floor.

Boom!

“Blessed Light. Greed brings calamity.”

The martial artists’ faces twisted, but no one dared respond.

Ya Suyeong’s tone was infuriating, and the bald monk chiming in beside her was nauseating, but the most important point was this: both of them were Celestial Being experts.

No one present dared imagine facing two Celestial Being masters.

That was why, even in the face of the blatant greed of those two, no one could say a word.

That was when it happened.

Wearing a peculiar smile, Ya Suyeong shifted her gaze toward Unhwi and Chief Seong.

“Oh? The two from the Azure Cloud Sect? You’ve finally arrived.”

“Are we late?”

“No, not at all. We were just having a nice discussion.”

Ya Suyeong looked at Unhwi as she spoke.

“By the way, how many spirit pills came out from your passage?”

Both men saw through her intent, but they did not care.

Unhwi answered with a smile.

“About twenty came out on our side.”

At Unhwi’s reply, Ya Suyeong’s eyes gleamed.

“Twenty! That’s quite good. Then we should apply the same principle.”

“The same principle?”

“Yes. Fairness.”

Ya Suyeong smiled slyly.

“Over a hundred people obtained fifty pills, but the two of you obtained twenty by yourselves. If you calculate it per person, the two of you took far more.”

The surrounding martial artists began to murmur. It sounded as if they found Ya Suyeong’s words reasonable.

“So let’s divide things fairly. How about the two of you put out about ten of the twenty you obtained, for everyone’s sake?”

Mujin nodded as well.

“Blessed Light. Benefactor Ya Suyeong is correct. What is obtained together should be shared together.”

Ya Suyeong spoke as if inciting them.

“Everyone, what do you think? We’re trying to divide things fairly like this. Surely the two of them can’t be exceptions, right?”

All eyes turned toward Unhwi.

In their gazes were expectation and pressure intertwined.

Ya Suyeong stepped forward and said.

“What do you say? Let’s all share fairly.”

Unhwi looked at her. His expression was calm, and his voice was even.

“I refuse.”

Ya Suyeong’s brow creased sharply.

“Did I hear wrong? What did you say?”

“I said I refuse. More importantly, I believe the transaction already ended earlier.”

“Well… it isn’t that simple.”

“Then let’s do this.”

“How?”

“We will give you ten of the spirit pills we obtained. In exchange, Senior Ya and Senior Mu will give all twenty of the spirit pills you intended to take to the martial artists over there.”

“……Leave empty-handed?”

“Not empty-handed. You could think of it as giving your juniors a chance to grow.”

At those words, several martial artists let out sighs.

The reason was simple.

Listening closely, wasn’t this similar to the deal Ya Suyeong had proposed to the Merit Sword Emperor Geum Mujeok before entering the hidden realm?

She had said this.

Give the juniors a chance, and in return, she would give one-third of the hidden realm’s treasure.

And now Unhwi was saying something similar.

Give the juniors a chance.

Return empty-handed.

Then he would go along.

Ya Suyeong let out a crooked grin.

The bastard had been irritating from the start.

“Junior, you really have a way with rough words.”

“I do not believe the content is wrong, regardless of how rough my words may be.”

“……”

“A promise made once should be kept. As a martial world senior, there is such a thing as dignity. Is that not so?”

Ya Suyeong’s expression twisted.

The relaxed smile she had worn until now vanished without a trace, replaced by cold anger.

“So… you really intend to go through with this to the end.”

Ya Suyeong began to walk forward. One step, then another. With each step she took, the surrounding air grew heavier.

When only about one span remained between her and Unhwi, she stopped.

“I’ll ask one last time.”

Her voice was low, but clear, echoing through the entire cavern.

“Are you really refusing?”

“My answer will always be the same.”

Unhwi’s reply was simple and concise.

There was not the slightest hesitation, nor any change in tone.

Ya Suyeong let out a long breath.

“Ha… really.”

It was at that moment.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep