Fiery Realm.
The Fiery Realm, comparable to the Extreme Demon Realm, embodies the expansion of one’s divine presence, transforming the surrounding space into a personal domain.
The key to this lies in the concept of "divine expansion." Divine—Shin (神)—is tied to the martial artist’s mental image, their willpower, and spiritual energy. But what exactly does this entail?
In simple terms, it could be referred to as the upper dantian. More broadly, it encompasses all mental and spiritual activities.
Seo-jun recalled the words of the Sword God:
"The time required for your divine presence to mature. That’s the only thing you lack to reach the Fiery Realm."
Lately, Seo-jun had started doubting whether the Sword God’s advice could be trusted, but regardless, the Sword God was a transcendent figure who had surpassed the Manifestation Realm and ascended into the Immortal Realm.
Maybe the Sword God didn’t fully grasp the nuances of the Extreme Demon Realm—it wasn’t his area of expertise, after all.
Nonetheless, according to the Sword God, the only thing Seo-jun lacked was time.
But what exactly did "time" mean in this context?
For fruit hanging on a tree, time ripens it naturally. For humans, however, sitting idly by does not cultivate divine presence.
While it’s possible to achieve enlightenment through meditation, the Sword God’s advice didn’t imply that Seo-jun needed such introspection.
"Humans accumulate diverse experiences as time passes."
In essence, the Sword God’s words meant that Seo-jun needed to gather more varied experiences. In his view, "time" was synonymous with "experience."
Seo-jun was confident. From a martial perspective, his experiences were already sufficient to ascend to the Fiery Realm. His combat experience, though not necessarily vast in quantity, was undeniably of the highest quality.
So, what kind of experiences was he lacking?
The answer was clear—ordinary experiences. In other words, life experiences.
It was hard to see how mundane experiences could relate to ascending in martial arts, but after reflecting on the ideals of orthodox martial arts, Seo-jun had a realization.
To them, martial arts weren’t merely techniques for killing.
Martial arts were a path to becoming a greater being, a method of refining oneself through rigorous training.
"In short, traveling and experiencing life is, in itself, training for ascension."
Varied life experiences? That was practically the definition of traveling.
It was perfect timing. Chun-bong and Sua had both reached the Supreme Peak Realm.
As long as they could handle their Qi Manipulation to a reasonable extent, traveling through orthodox sect territories wouldn’t pose much danger.
And if any trouble arose, Seo-jun could simply unleash the Extreme Demon Realm as a last resort.
“Thus, we’re going on a training journey,” Seo-jun declared.
Chun-bong hesitated but eventually nodded. “Y-yeah…”
Their eyes met, and Seo-jun awkwardly scratched his chin. Namgung Sua quietly stifled a laugh. Ever since the engagement fiasco, the atmosphere between Seo-jun and Chun-bong had become noticeably strange.
It felt as though something significant was bound to happen sooner rather than later.
“Well… does everyone know why martial artists see such a dramatic increase in power when they reach the Supreme Peak Realm?”
Namgung Sua raised her hand.
“Yes~! It’s because of Qi Manipulation, right?”
“Correct.”
“Don’t I get a reward?”
Namgung Sua tapped her lips playfully. Seo-jun glanced around nervously before leaning in and planting a quick kiss on her lips.
“Ahem. Anyway, the reason neither of you can properly handle Qi Manipulation despite reaching the Supreme Peak Realm is…”
Chun-bong’s hand shot up enthusiastically.
“I know! It’s because we haven’t formed the vessel to contain our divine essence yet!”
“Chun-bong is amazing!”
“Y-yeah!”
Chun-bong nodded vigorously, then closed her eyes and puckered her lips. Seo-jun sighed but leaned in to give her a quick kiss as well.
"What even is this?"
Seo-jun shot a glance at Namgung Sua, who was snickering to herself as if thoroughly entertained.
Well, it wasn’t bad, but something about the situation felt odd.
“…Qi Manipulation involves imbuing one’s divine presence into their energy. To sustain this, the foundational energy must be solid enough to hold the divine—what we call mental imagery or intent.”
Seo-jun extended his hand, releasing his internal energy. It swirled like flames, forming a vague elongated shape.
“This is roughly what your current state looks like.”
The shape was formed, but it lacked stability.
“To properly wield Qi Manipulation, it should look more like this.”
With a flick of his wrist, his golden energy quickly condensed into the shape of a sword.
Namgung Sua gasped. “It’s the Celestial Sword!”
The sword was a replica of the Namgung Clan’s signature weapon, rendered so vividly that every decorative detail was unmistakably clear.
Buoyed by her admiration, Seo-jun decided to take it a step further.
“Eventually, you’ll be able to do things like this.”
With a flourish, the golden sword began to change color.
Ordinarily, the color of internal energy was determined by the practitioner’s cultivation method and could only be altered by changing that method—a nearly impossible task.
But Seo-jun was different. He had mastered multiple techniques and could freely alter the color of his internal energy.
The result?
“…Huh?”
Chun-bong and Namgung Sua’s jaws dropped.
It was no longer an energy-formed replica. The actual Celestial Sword appeared, floating above Seo-jun’s hand.
“What… what is this?”
Chun-bong, momentarily forgetting her earlier embarrassment, tentatively touched the blade of the Celestial Sword.
Ting—
Seo-jun flicked the blade lightly with his finger, and a clear, resonant sound echoed in the air. The sword felt slightly cool to the touch, its surface smooth like polished metal. It truly seemed like a weapon forged from real steel.
“By slightly altering the properties of internal energy in different sections, you can replicate the texture of metal or even leather,” Seo-jun explained.
“Why…?”
“Hm? Why what?”
“Why can you even do this?”
It was incomprehensible. Was this truly within the realm of human ability?
Creating something from nothing couldn’t be considered a human skill—it was the domain of creation itself!
"Hmm, is it really that impressive?"
Seo-jun felt a bit awkward in the face of Namgung Sua and Chun-bong’s amazement. He hadn’t expected such an extreme reaction.
"I wonder if I could manage something like a clone technique someday," he mused, tucking the thought away into the corner of his mind as he dispersed the energy blade in his hand.
“Oh…”
Namgung Sua and Chun-bong looked disappointed, but they couldn’t just spend the entire day gawking.
“Alright, so now you understand what needs to be done, right?”
At the Supreme Peak Realm, it was nearly impossible to give internal energy such a distinct and stable shape.
However, once a martial artist reached the stage of imbuing divine intent into their Qi, the Qi and divine essence would reinforce each other, creating a stronger and more stable form.
“Practice this for a while.”
“W-wait a moment…!” Chun-bong protested.
“Hm?”
She extended her hand, releasing a surge of internal energy. Unsurprisingly, it failed to form the shape of a sword.
“You want me to form a sword out of Qi alone? That’s a Qi Blade! It’s impossible at my level!”
She wasn’t wrong—it was a technique far beyond someone who hadn’t even mastered Qi Manipulation.
“Of course not. I’m just asking you to make the energy coating on your sword more distinct,” Seo-jun clarified.
“Oh… I see.”
Chun-bong, now a bit embarrassed, nodded in understanding.
“I’ll work hard on it.”
“Go for it, Chun-bong! I’m stepping out for a bit, so you too, Sua—give it your all.”
“Alright, I’ll do my best.”
“Good.”
Satisfied, Seo-jun nodded and headed off. His destination: Cheonyakdang, the Namgung Clan’s alchemy workshop.
****
It had been quite a while since Seo-jun last visited Cheonyakdang.
The workshop was unusually quiet. While a faint, strange scent lingered in the air, suggesting some alchemical processes were still underway, it wasn’t as bustling as it had been during the creation of the Heavenly Elixir Pill.
"Well, if they kept that pace every day, they’d shorten their lifespans," Seo-jun thought, recalling how much Namgung Yeongbo had complained about dying back then.
With a faint smile, he knocked on the door to the alchemy room.
“I’m here.”
At his words, a chaotic noise erupted from within, followed by the door flinging open.
“Oh my! Young Master, you’ve come!”
Namgung Yeongbo greeted him with a wide grin, bowing deeply in exaggerated fashion.
This kind of reception was familiar by now. Seo-jun nodded casually in response and stepped into the room.
“How’s it going?”
Before Yeongbo could answer, one of the alchemists, Yang Songbaek, spoke up.
“The process is technically complete, but… can you really transform the energy from this into pure Qi?”
At that heretical remark, Namgung Yeongbo immediately exploded.
“You insolent fool! How dare you doubt the Young Master? What blasphemy!”
“Well, to be honest, you’re curious too, aren’t you?”
Namgung Yeongbo hesitated, glancing sideways before sheepishly turning to Seo-jun with a laugh.
“Um, might we… observe your work, Young Master? We promise to be absolutely silent—won’t even breathe too loudly!”
“Just make sure you keep breathing,” Seo-jun said with a chuckle, following Yeongbo to where his materials were stored.
The item in question was none other than the Horn of the Green Bamboo Sage.
When the box containing the horn was opened, a palpable pressure filled the room.
“Everything’s ready, right?” Seo-jun asked.
“Yes. We’ve prepared all the necessary materials, calculated to perfectly complement the energy purified from the horn.”
If Seo-jun could successfully transform the energy into pure Qi, the resulting elixir would be unimaginably potent.
Of course, converting such a high concentration of demonic energy into pure Qi was nearly impossible.
But for Seo-jun, it wasn’t particularly difficult.
The horn of the Green Bamboo Sage? Impressive, but it was nothing compared to the demonic energy contained in the Azure Flame Tree he had previously handled.
After a brief moment of contemplation, Seo-jun activated his Heavenly Demon Divine Arts.
Whoosh—!
The Extreme Demon Realm flared to life, exerting a strange pressure on the surroundings. Namgung Yeongbo’s eyes widened as he instinctively stiffened.
“Young Master, is that…!”
To maximize the potential of the elixir, Seo-jun had decided to reveal the Extreme Demon Realm. Though he trusted the Namgung Clan’s people, he couldn’t help but feel a bit tense.
“That form…! You’ve evolved it into a state optimized for alchemical refinement!”
“…Excuse me?”
“Of course! Judging by the shape of the horn, it must be incredibly sensitive to the surrounding energy flow!”
“Well… you’re not wrong.”
“That’s incredible! At such a level, handling materials tainted with demonic energy must be far easier!”
While technically accurate, this wasn’t quite the reaction Seo-jun had expected.
“Uh, sure. Anyway, let’s get started.”
“Yes, sir! We’ll watch closely and learn!”
And so, Seo-jun, the master alchemist of the Extreme Demon Realm, got to work once more.