By the time Seo-jun reached the northernmost region of Shaanxi, he detected an exceedingly faint trace.
A remnant so subtle that only someone with an acute sensitivity to qi could perceive it.
In other words, the vast majority of Zhongyuan’s martial artists would never notice it.
But Namgung Jincheon would have had no trouble at all recognizing it.
A peculiar sense of unease crept over Seo-jun as he activated Hunwonbo and swiftly pursued the trail.
Then—
A colossal surge of energy erupted in the distance. The sheer force of it sent a chill down even Seo-jun’s spine.
"A clash between transcendent warriors."
Urgency surged through him. Seo-jun increased his speed, pushing Hunwonbo to its limits.
BOOOOOOM!!
He arrived at the desert.
There, all that remained were corpses, Namgung Jincheon on the verge of death, and Namgung Yeon, unconscious.
Seo-jun's eyes darted around, searching for answers.
"My son-in-law…"
"No… this… how could this happen…!"
"It’s a shame… that I won’t be able to see the engagement ceremony…"
It was impossible to believe.
That Namgung Jincheon? Who? Who in Zhongyuan could have done this?
Who in this world could have reduced the greatest warrior under the heavens to such a state?
"Who…?"
Seo-jun instinctively gathered natural qi, desperately trying to accelerate Namgung Jincheon’s recovery.
But the wounds weren’t just physical.
His internal damage was devastating, and more than that—his very existence had been struck.
Healing him was nearly impossible.
"No… There’s no such thing as impossible."
Still, he couldn't just stand by. He had to keep him breathing, no matter what.
But Namgung Jincheon refused even that.
"Don’t… do that… It’s time for me to move forward now…"
"Moving forward starts with staying alive!"
"No… My path does not lie here…"
His expression was peaceful.
Almost… happy.
Seo-jun couldn’t understand.
Why was he welcoming death so readily?
It was all too sudden. One unexpected farewell was already too much.
A memory flashed through Seo-jun’s mind—the sight of his father, pierced through by a blade, dying before his eyes.
"My son-in-law…"
"…Yes."
"Be careful… it’s not over yet…"
Why was he worrying about him even in his final moments?
"Still… I trust you will succeed…"
Why did he believe in him this much?
They had barely met. They were strangers, connected only by the fact that he was engaged to his daughter.
Yet… why did it feel like his heart was being ripped apart?
Distrust.
Namgung Jincheon took his final breath.
Loss.
A suffocating weight pressed down on him.
The emotions he had long ignored came crashing down once again.
"You again."
Seo-jun turned at the voice.
"Take the unconscious Namgung scion and leave. If you withdraw quietly, I won’t stop you."
The words were familiar. The feeling behind them, even more so.
Seo-jun had already experienced it—when his father was cut down before his eyes.
That gut-wrenching loss.
He had told himself it would never happen again. That time itself would no longer be able to take anything from him.
But the reality that had been shoved in his face was cruel beyond words.
It left no room for denial.
"Aah…"
The moment he stopped looking away from his emotions, his divine nature crossed the threshold.
Everything that should have been processed over time now struck him all at once.
His expanded divinity merged with the surrounding space, harmonizing his being with the natural flow of qi.
And Seo-jun—transcended.
Namgung Jincheon was dead. He would never be seen again.
He would never witness the engagement ceremony he had anticipated.
Nor his daughter's wedding.
Nor his grandchildren playing at his feet.
Nothing.
"He will never see any of it."
"You arrogant brat."
The Gilyeon Sect Master clicked his tongue, forming a seal with his hands.
Though he had already expended a great deal of energy, that child was still not at a level to challenge him.
Yocheon-doji (Reversal of Heaven and Earth).
The sky and ground inverted.
Before the boy could fully adjust to the realm of transcendence, he had to be eliminated.
Slaaash!
Distorted space stretched, rushing toward Seo-jun.
His crimson eyes saw everything.
Swish—
A single slash of Yeokcheon Ilwol Ganggi cut through space itself.
The Gilyeon Sect Master’s spell scattered.
"Tch."
That same irritating technique again.
The Gilyeon Sect Master clicked his tongue in annoyance as Seo-jun’s flying swords hurtled toward him.
His fingers traced a bizarre pattern in the air.
Buzz—!
Space warped.
The flying swords veered off course, turning against their master, aiming for Seo-jun’s vitals.
They emerged at point-blank range.
Fwoosh!
But they never struck him.
Instead, the swords naturally dispersed, orbiting around him in perfect harmony.
Seo-jun fixed his red eyes on the Gilyeon Sect Master, realization dawning upon him.
He turned his gaze toward Je Cheon-hyeok’s corpse.
Around the fallen body, radiant flowers had bloomed.
Following their trail upward, he saw the sky—clear, beautiful.
"So, in the end… you completed it."
The Living Sword (Hwalgeom). Also called the Heart Sword (Simgeom).
A path he had forged in an attempt to cure his wife’s illness—yet, too late, when it had already lost its meaning.
"So that’s what it was."
Namgung Jincheon… had gone to reunite with the one he had longed for.
Slaaash—!
The Gilyeon Sect Master’s sorcery relentlessly surged toward Seo-jun.
But Seo-jun didn’t move.
His mind was awash with countless thoughts.
Namgung Yeon, unconscious.
Namgung Jincheon’s lifeless body.
And the broken sword beside him.
"At the very least…"
"…I will uphold what he sought to protect."
A crimson light flickered in Seo-jun’s eyes.
At the same time, he extended his hand—
And clenched it into a fist.
The entire flow of qi within his domain—froze.
The Gilyeon Sect Master’s eyes widened.
Seo-jun unfurled his fingers.
BOOOOOM—!
His domain expanded endlessly.
"What kind of domain is this…?"
The Gilyeon Sect Master let out a breathless laugh.
Seo-jun simply gazed at him in silence.
His qi—unifying the divine and the mortal—was far superior to anyone else’s.
And his domain… far more vast than any before it.
"What a waste of effort."
Whoooosh—!
At the Gilyeon Sect Master’s gesture, the desert sands surged skyward.
Between his palms, the sand compressed, stretching into the shape of a long spear.
A vast domain meant nothing. What truly mattered was its solidity and application.
As the Gilyeon Sect Master extended his hand, the sand spear traversed space itself.
It would never have worked against Namgung Jincheon, who could erase space itself—but against another opponent, it was a different matter.
A rift in space opened, and the sand spear shot forward, emerging just inches from Seo-jun’s face.
It was meaningless.
Fwoosh!
The sand spear unraveled, swirling around Seo-jun instead.
The Gilyeon Sect Master’s eye twitched.
"…My sorcery…"
It didn’t work.
This was different from Namgung Jincheon.
All qi in the area was bending to his will.
The very sand he had manipulated now hovered protectively around the boy.
The Gilyeon Sect Master’s expression twisted.
At that moment, Seo-jun turned inward and looked into his own heart.
A storm of emotions raged, chaotic and tangled.
The True Self.
He remembered a fool he had once met on Mount Tian.
Hadn’t that fool said that humans could never fully understand each other?
It was true. It was only natural.
To be omniscient about another was no different from playing with puppets.
It was because humans were not omniscient that they lived alongside one another.
There was no need to understand oneself completely either—only to live as one was.
All that mattered was having the strength to protect what was important.
Nothing more.
He filled the void.
His domain was still incomplete.
Though he had seized control of the surrounding space, it was only half of what a true domain should be.
Just as stars shone above internal energy, a domain required intent—a vision that made it whole.
And this was no difficult task.
He need only imprint upon it the desire that already lay in his heart.
What I seek is…
A sanctuary.
A walled fortress where his precious ones could be protected—while the outside world was torn apart.
His intent filled the domain.
And so, Seo-jun named what he had created.
"Ideal Realm."
Hwaaaaaaaa—!
A wind howled.
The Gilyeon Sect Master blinked, looking around.
A vast blue sky. Solid ground. The sun and moon governing day and night. Rivers flowing into seas. Plum blossoms blooming across the plains. Thunder flashing between drifting clouds.
A complete world.
"How…?"
How could someone who had just reached the realm of transcendence create such a solidified domain?
No—more than that…
How could a single human’s intent be so vast?
The Gilyeon Sect Master’s face stiffened.
At the same moment, Seo-jun raised his hand.
This was his domain.
And the moment he expanded it, he had instinctively understood how to wield it.
At his gesture, the sky came crashing down.
The Imperial Sword Form.
"Tch—!"
The Gilyeon Sect Master swiftly dodged, forming a hand seal.
Space distorted, enveloping him.
BOOOOM!
The Gilyeon Sect Master crashed into the ground.
Seo-jun traced a line upward with his finger.
The earth surged in response.
Dominating Titan’s Might.
CRAAAASH!
A fist of compressed land smashed into the Gilyeon Sect Master.
He barely managed to land on the sea.
Swooosh—!
White foam trailed along the path of his retreating feet.
"You arrogant brat…!"
The Gilyeon Sect Master immediately began forming another hand seal.
But Seo-jun was faster.
He never allowed him the chance.
His hand clenched into a fist.
Gwaaargh—!
The sea itself swayed, dragging the Gilyeon Sect Master toward its depths.
Hundred Rivers Returning to the Ocean.
"Urgh…!"
The Gilyeon Sect Master twisted space to escape.
A gentle breeze scattered the plum blossoms.
Seo-jun’s fingers drew a graceful arc.
Plum Blossom Sword Form.
Countless plum blossoms encircled the Gilyeon Sect Master.
His mouth twisted in fury.
"What kind of insane…?"
With a wild swing of both arms, he unleashed waves of distorted space, attempting to scatter the blossoms.
BANG!
At the same time, he sought to take control of the domain.
But—
Space itself had hardened.
"What… is this?"
To manipulate space, one required a medium.
That medium was qi.
And yet, the qi here had escaped his control.
Even considering the exhaustion from his battle with Namgung Jincheon, this was absurd.
"That wretched brat…!"
The Gilyeon Sect Master glared daggers at Seo-jun.
Seo-jun met his gaze in silence.
Those crimson eyes—
For the first time, a shiver ran down the Gilyeon Sect Master’s spine.
Seo-jun lifted his hands, uniting heaven and earth.
Primal Sun and Moon Art.
The world collapsed into a single point.
Heaven and earth twisted together.
The sea, the wind, the rivers, the clouds, the sun, the moon—
Everything returned to its primordial state.
The Gilyeon Sect Master’s pupils quivered.
All matter around him spiraled into a taiji formation, converging at a single point.
He knew exactly what this was.
If a spiraling taiji were to be forcibly sealed into a single dot…
There was only one outcome.
BOOOOOOM!!!
An explosion devoured the world.
Seo-jun gazed at the spot where the Gilyeon Sect Master had stood.
There was nothing left.
"Run all you like."
He still hadn’t escaped Seo-jun’s domain.
Hwaaaaak—!
Demonic energy surged from Seo-jun’s body.
Three flowers bloomed at his feet.
Crunch. Crack.
The three flowers withered, scattering into countless petals.
The petals devoured the corpses littering the battlefield.
They had been warriors at the peak of transcendence.
"A shame…"
Seo-jun did not yet know how to retrieve a soul once it had departed its body.
But if it was before death…
Perhaps…
"Father-in-law…"
For a moment, he entertained the thought.
Then, he shook his head.
It was a useless hope.
Instead, he focused on what was within his grasp.
The Gilyeon Sect Master, fleeing in desperation.
Within his domain, Seo-jun saw it all as if it were in the palm of his hand.
His crimson eyes narrowed.
Something was shifting.
His ascension to the transcendent realm was merging with the demonic extreme.
The two paths were slowly…
Becoming one.