An indisputable winter.

A dry, cold north wind blew.

Mount Hyeong, one of the Five Great Mountains, normally has a relatively mild climate.

Even in winter the forests rarely became bare or piled high with snow.

But this winter was different.

No, it would be more accurate to say it had been different ever since the world changed three and a half years ago.

A cold snap had come even to Mount Hyeong.

Trees stood stripped bare, and the snow that had fallen days before came up to the ankles.

When you exhaled, a white mist puffed out.

A young man sat crouched before a fire.

A kettle of water hung above the flames.

He was boiling water for tea.

The young man’s name was Il-oh.

He was a follower of the Evil Cult, but not an ordinary one.

Originally he came from the cult’s internal division, but now he served directly under the Cardinals.

That did not mean Il-oh’s martial skill was extraordinary.

Most of his duties amounted to nothing more than boiling tea like this.

Il-oh carried out that important task faithfully.

He placed the Mojeom tea from Xinyang into the prepared teaware.

Since the world changed, even finding tea leaves had become difficult, so this was very precious.

A mellow tea fragrance spread.

Though Il-oh’s master did not fuss over tea flavor, Il-oh always brewed it with care.

He poured the well-brewed tea into a cup.

The cup was about twice the size of a normal teacup. It held almost all the tea from the bowl.

Il-oh put the cup on a silver tray and brought it to his master.

One of the three great divine seats of the Evil Cult.

To the Cardinal, Heuk-am.

Heuk-am sat perched on a rock.

The rock was dark and ordinary, but with him seated it looked like a throne.

It was not a wrong statement. Heuk-am had once been an ancient ruler and certainly a king.

“I’ve brought the tea.”

He took the cup from Il-oh.

The large cup looked small in Heuk-am’s hand, like a drinking vessel.

Perhaps because Heuk-am’s hands and frame were so large.

It couldn’t be dismissed so simply.

Heuk-am had always been tall.

But now he was truly a giant.

He stood over three meters tall. His large hands seemed able to easily grasp an ordinary person’s head.

“Is it to your taste?”

Heuk-am drank a mouthful of the scalding tea.

His gaze was deep and hollow.

His hair was long, and his enormous body still wore black robes.

Around his face, a faint glow seemed to shimmer for some reason.

Almost like the halo of a saint…

“Not bad.”

Heuk-am threw the cup to the ground and shattered it.

“There is no need to brew tea anymore.”

Il-oh bowed his head in fear of Heuk-am.

His master had changed like that three and a half years ago.

When the heavenly path opened, the weight of causality and karma diminished.

Then the Cardinals gradually began to regain their former stature.

A succession of reincarnations stretching back to antiquity.

Their origin was clearly the rulers of the Zhou dynasty.

In a time when humans were stronger than they are now, Heuk-am had been the king who led a country.

Though now reborn into a far frailer body, the rank of his soul had not vanished.

His inadequate body had begun to grow to match the rank of his soul.

Thus the present Heuk-am had come to possess a body that completely transcended humanity.

Il-oh knew his master Heuk-am had once been the greatest under heaven.

So how much stronger was he now?

“Stand back.”

Il-oh stepped back quickly.

Heuk-am sat quietly on the rock.

Despite it being midwinter, flies hovered near him.

Was there a swamp nearby?

Even so, their number was great.

The insects multiplied and began to cluster, as if dancing.

It did not take long before those insects formed the shape of a human face.

Even at this astonishing sight, Heuk-am merely narrowed his eyes slightly.

The insects crawling beneath the face writhed, and from what looked like its mouth a voice flowed out.

“…Mang-hon.”

Astonishingly, it was a communication from Mang-hon.

Even if the two were not on good terms, they were cooperating for a shared purpose.

“Is the Heavenly Leader alright?”

“Yes, though he can no longer speak.”

Heavenly Leader refers to the leader of the Evil Cult.

Mang-hon and Gwi-ryeong did not exist in the Central Plains.

Mang-hon grumbled.

“If the Shamanic Gu Formation had worked perfectly and sacrificed all those inside as offerings, this would have ended long ago.”

The Shamanic Gu Formation spread across the Crouching Dragon Basin.

The formation, completed through countless arrangements, had achieved only half its goal.

They had intended to kill all 150,000 martial artists inside to offer up their karma, but for some reason they failed.

Even Mang-hon, as the initiator, could not recklessly interfere with a formation already completed.

“Well, I’m looking for a way to intervene in that formation. If we kill them all, the job will be finished easily.”

Surprisingly, Mang-hon was searching for a way to tamper with the Shamanic Gu Formation.

At this rate, the lives of about eighty thousand survivors would be in danger.

“Are preparations for the Fengshan Ritual ready?”

Heuk-am asked; to him, that was most important.

Fengshan was originally an imperial ceremony performed for heaven, but they seemed to use it in a different sense.

“We’ve gathered the rest of the keys, but one is missing and it bothers me.”

“Do you mean the incident at Potala Palace when we were humiliated by man of the Central Plains?”

The flies representing Mang-hon buzzed and trembled.

They expressed anger and humiliation.

“That ratlike bastard. If I catch him he’ll pay, mark my words.”

“Pathetic beyond measure.”

In the end, it was Mang-hon’s shame that they neither destroyed Potala Palace nor evened the score with Yi-gang.

The problem was that one of the keys to open the Sealing Box had been stolen then.

But neither Mang-hon nor Heuk-am showed any sense of crisis about it.

“It doesn’t matter anyway. A missing key or two won’t prevent us from opening the Sealing Box.”

Control had already passed to the Evil Cult.

The opening of the Sealing Box was an inevitable fate.

“So move soon.”

Mang-hon instructed Heuk-am as such.

“Seize the Sealing Box.”

Seize the Sealing Box that Azure Forest has guarded.

“Finish off the Guardian Gate.”

Bring down Azure Forest.

Heuk-am nodded obediently.

When Mang-hon ended the communication, the clustered flies scattered in alarm.

After a moment, Heuk-am rose from his seat.

He looked less like a person than a colossal statue standing up.

He turned his body slowly.

Beyond the snow-covered ridge, pavilions rose up.

That place was Azure Forest. The place which was once called the Guardian Gate.

It was the last sect remaining to resist the Evil Cult.

Heuk-am would strike Azure Forest today.

Beneath him, in that valley, countless Evil Cultists stood waiting.

They looked up at Heuk-am as he rose.

Those who could use Psychokinesis each displayed a divine rank beyond transcendent masters.

Heuk-am’s voice thundered, making the mountains tremble.

Then a thousand Evil Cultists rose in unison.

After losing consciousness from the possession.

When Yi-gang woke again, horrible pain would pierce his whole body.

His head throbbed as if about to burst and his eyelids were unbearably heavy.

Alerted, Yi-gang instinctively prepared for that pain.

Yi-gang snapped his eyes open.

There was no pain. Instead, his body felt lighter.

“This place is…”

He thought it might be the cave where the Heavenly Demon and Zhang Sanfeng had fought, but it was not.

This place was a dugout hollowed out by people.

Yu Su-rin and Jun Myung, who had been sitting by the fire, jumped to their feet.

“Junior Uncle!”

“…Yu Su-rin.”

“You’re awake. That’s a relief.”

“Where is this?”

“We’ve gotten out of the Impenetrable Net. Fortunate of us, right?”

Yu Su-rin explained what had happened in the meantime.

After Yi-gang rode the sword and flew off, the Heavenly Demon possessed Ha-jun and pursued him.

The party left behind said they tracked Yi-gang together with Dam Hyun.

Dam Hyun had barely found the cave hidden by a sorcery. Inside, Yi-gang and Ha-jun lay side by side.

They said they carried the two out and escaped the Impenetrable Net.

“It must not have been easy.”

“It’s thanks to Junior Uncle’s defeat of the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King. He was the focal point of the Impenetrable Net.”

To be precise, it wasn’t Yi-gang alone but the cooperation of Zhang Sanfeng and the Heavenly Demon.

Yi-gang nodded heavily.

Still, his bodily condition was not normal.

Ha-jun continued to lie there as if asleep.

Yi-gang suddenly thought of the Heavenly Demon and Zhang Sanfeng.

Where were they now?

「Hey, don’t be discouraged.」

「Shut up.」

Voices like that came from outside the dugout.

Yi-gang stood up and stepped out of the hollow.

Zhang Sanfeng and the Heavenly Demon sat a short distance apart.

They looked at Yi-gang with awkward expressions.

「You’ve awakened, Priest?」

Zhang Sanfeng greeted him first.

They had once borrowed the bodies of Yi-gang and Ha-jun to fight each other and been restrained.

Seeing those who had raged like mad now so calm felt strangely odd.

In particular, the Heavenly Demon did not look at Yi-gang, staring instead at distant mountains.

He had heard ‘don’t be discouraged’, was the Heavenly Demon truly discouraged?

Zhang Sanfeng seemed to have noticed Yi-gang’s thoughts.

「Don’t worry. A young man need not fully understand the stubbornness of his elders.」

‘Stubbornness?’

「Did he not fail to fulfill his vow?」

The Heavenly Demon’s vow to kill Zhang Sanfeng.

It had been stopped by Yi-gang and Ha-jun.

Still, he had never imagined the Heavenly Demon would be so dejected…

「Shut up, Taoist. I’m not discouraged. I’m contemplating how to embark on the path of transcendence.」

「Do as you please. Ponder to your heart’s content.」

He hadn’t expected Zhang Sanfeng to mock so easily.

Yi-gang found the word ‘transcendence’ troubling his thoughts.

Were they speaking of the what lied beyond the Absolute Realm, the realm of immortals?

Then Zhang Sanfeng asked first.

「Priest Yi-gang. For what purpose do you cultivate so?」

His face was very serious.

Yi-gang did not contemplate long before answering.

‘I’ll rescue those trapped in the Crouching Dragon Basin and stop the Evil Cult.’

That was his current goal.

「That path will have many upheavals. You may be forced to give up one of the two. Even so, can you refuse to stop?」

‘Of course I will.’

「A fine answer. Now that you’ve begun to move, you must not stop. Never forget your initial purpose, even if you come to regret it…」

Zhang Sanfeng had originally intended to seal Yi-gang against his will in order to protect him.

But now he had resolved to respect Yi-gang’s will.

「I can no longer remain by your side. The Heavenly Realm has become aware of my existence.」

‘…!’

He felt the inevitable had come.

Hadn’t the heavenly generals come previously to seize Zhang Sanfeng?

「Before I go, there are things I must tell and pass on to you. Before, it would have been divulging heavenly secrets… but now I can speak.」

“I’ll listen.”

Zhang Sanfeng had previously invoked causality as a reason not to speak of the Heavenly Realm.

「Humans, you see, have inherent limits.」

Zhang Sanfeng said so.

Warriors like him were those who challenged human limits.

To finally become a superhuman and be able to move the laws of the world is the Absolute State.

And Zhang Sanfeng had ascended to become an immortal.

Saying this, Zhang Sanfeng smiled bitterly.

「No, that’s merely our human delusion. No matter how much you expand a person’s vessel…」

The Sword Emperor had once said.

The vessel of a peak master is like a pond.

The vessel of a transcendent master is like a lake.

And the vessel of the Absolute Realm is like a vast ocean.

And to ascend is to rise into that sky.

In other words, to challenge the extremity of humanity.

「Yes, it’s only that much.」

Zhang Sanfeng and the Heavenly Demon’s expressions darkened.

「When I entered the Heavenly Realm I realized. Terrestrial immortals like me and those heavenly gods are different.」

‘How are they different?’

「They are not human. They are… monsters akin to the laws of nature themselves… Do you remember the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King?」

The image of the giant who lifted a stone pagoda and blasted rays.

「His true form had six arms and three faces.」

「If I were to fight Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King in that true form, I would be defeated.」

Such beings exist in that Heavenly Realm?

「Remember Queen Mother of the West. Such beings dwell above.」

「Humans have clear limits. That is the conclusion reached by me, the Eight Immortals, and the Heavenly Demon after our inquiries.」

It was a dreadful thing.

「Transcendence is…」

At that moment, the Heavenly Demon interjected.

「Transcendence is precisely the challenge to surpass that limit.」

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep