There was still some time left before the Ice Crystal could be fully infused with cold energy.
Seo-jun sat cross-legged, staring at it absentmindedly.
Though watching it filled him with a strange sense of satisfaction, just sitting there doing nothing felt like a terrible waste of time.
He figured he might as well use the extra time to reflect on the new realm he had pioneered.
If Baek Seolhyang had been around to hear this, she would have started seriously worrying about Baek Seo-jun’s mental health.
But since she wasn’t here, the lunatic Lee Seo-jun proceeded with his contemplation of martial arts.
"Do I need to come up with another name?"
Casually, Seo-jun began considering a name for the bizarre new realm he had created, which encompassed Transcendence, Extreme Demonic, Qi Deification, and Demonic Flame.
Chaos-Origin Realm? Union Realm? Namgung Realm? No, that didn’t sound right. Fourfold Realm? That sounded weird too.
"Eh, I’ll think about it later."
Pouting slightly, Seo-jun brushed aside his yet-to-begin dilemma.
It wasn’t that he was abandoning his thoughts on martial arts.
It was just that there was a more pressing matter to consider than naming his realm.
In fact, it was something he should have pondered long ago.
His domain—Ideal World.
Looking at the domains of other Transcendence Realm martial artists, Seo-jun couldn’t help but feel a sense of doubt about his own.
Because Ideal World wasn’t just a domain—it was an entire world.
It had a sun, a moon, oceans, trees—if he ever got bored, he could just toss something else in for fun.
From what he knew, mental realms weren’t supposed to be cultivated like a garden, adding whatever was missing whenever it became apparent.
That discrepancy was unsettling.
Especially when it came to localized deployment.
The Eight Cold Hells? Sure, calling it a mere fragment of his mental world sounded nice in theory.
But in reality, Seo-jun practically had multiple domains at once.
"It’s a good thing, but..."
He couldn’t shake the question—why only him?
Dismissing it as mere talent felt far too simplistic.
A world contained within a mental realm. What was the implication of that?
Why was his domain different from everyone else’s?
Pondering the question, Seo-jun turned his focus inward.
His consciousness slowly sank deeper, and he observed the small universe within himself.
Who am I? And what exactly is the seed of the Lord of Ten Thousand Demons?
The world within his mental realm was vast.
Day and night flickered past in an instant. Rivers merged with the sea, rainfall replenished the currents.
The sound of insects chirping. The rustling of plum blossoms in the wind. And when he lifted his gaze—there, piercing the sky, stood a colossal tree.
"Am I simply the seed of the Lord of Ten Thousand Demons?"
A question, thrown into the void, sent ripples through his mind.
Everything he had accomplished—was it truly his achievement?
Or was it simply the result of his talent?
The contemplation, which had started as an analysis of his domain, slowly began reversing its flow.
Why was his domain different from others’?
Was it truly just a matter of talent?
He had already decided that dismissing it as mere talent felt unsatisfying, yet somehow, every possible conclusion led back to that very answer.
Beyond his domain—what he had achieved—had he truly accomplished it?
If not him, then his talent.
But then, could talent be considered separate from himself?
And if so, then wasn’t he merely relying on his talent all along?
If his talent was taken away—then what was he?
His thoughts deepened.
Innate gifts. The fundamental elements that shaped a person.
Was talent something one was merely given?
If so, by whom?
The heavens? His parents?
When a human is born, their will plays no role in the process.
Their body, their mind—it all originates from their parents.
So what does a human truly create for themselves?
If talent was something bestowed by another, just like their body and mind, then what was their existence?
"Oi, Seo-bit-bit."
The inner Qi Chunbong gave him a thumbs-up.
"Stop thinking. Just keep it simple."
Seo-jun glanced at the little Qi Chunbong.
Its cheeks were adorably plump.
And where, exactly, did those cheeks come from?
That cuteness, its appearance—those were innate qualities too.
Did that mean they belonged to Qi Chunbong? Or did they not?
He already knew the answer.
Qi Chunbong’s cuteness was something unique to her—an absolute truth, aligned with the principles of the universe itself.
Even appearance was a talent. Something inborn, yet something that could be refined and polished further.
One’s looks were no different from an incredible ability to fold a paper airplane using one’s toes.
(Not that usefulness mattered in this argument.)
Even after Qi Chunbong had undergone a rebirth, she had preserved her plump cheeks.
That meant her cuteness wasn’t merely something she was born with, but a culmination of effort, time, luck, and choices.
(Sure, the innate factor was significant, but that was just the nature of the world.)
And then there was Baek Seolhyang—a perfect counterexample.
She was born with an innate talent for seclusion, yet her role as Palace Lord had suppressed her true potential.
(Whether that was a good or bad thing was irrelevant to this discussion.)
Had she not been burdened by the responsibility of leading Beihai Ice Palace, she might have fully embraced her innate talent.
Not just an elite recluse, but one who could have transcended [N O V E L I G H T] into a true master, reaching the peak of the Transcendence Realm—or even Manifestation Realm.
"Talent, huh..."
Seo-jun examined the scattered thoughts in his mind.
A meaningless contemplation, one that had been going in circles, had finally taken a step forward.
He lifted his gaze to the brilliant stars in the night sky of his mental realm.
Humans admire the stars in the night sky.
And yet, they resent them.
They want them to shine forever, but at the same time, they want to drag them down.
There exists nothing in humanity that isn’t innate.
The concept of talent, which they both admire and despise, is nothing more than a part of what makes a person human.
It is something people are born with, something beyond their control.
They can’t reset their lives like restarting a game with a fresh account.
"It’s undeniable that I was born with ridiculous talent."
There was no need to feign humility in his own thoughts.
A fact was a fact.
And then, he suddenly recalled a common saying about those who were naturally gifted.
"You just got lucky to be born with talent."
Luck.
Did luck truly exist?
Before the vast, absolute truths of the universe, human perception was utterly insignificant.
What people called luck was nothing but inevitability from the perspective of a higher existence.
For beings that could never be self-made, talent was an inescapable fate.
Talent was talent.
I am me.
Losing talent didn’t mean losing himself.
It was no different from losing an arm or a leg.
If Seo-jun lost an arm, would he no longer be Seo-jun?
No matter how the world defined him, he was still himself.
"Oi, Seo-bit-bit. So what the hell are you even trying to say?"
Qi Chunbong sprawled out on the ground, scratching her head. Seo-jun looked at her.
"I get it now, Qi Chunbong."
The flow of his thoughts, which had been moving in reverse, returned to their natural course—talent and self, then back to his domain.
"It doesn’t really matter."
So what if he was different? So what if there was some profound truth hidden behind it?
He could think about all of that later.
His mind was already too cluttered.
They say you can see ten fathoms into water, but not even a single fathom into the human heart. His own mind was no different.
If there was one undeniable truth within all this mess, it was this:
The puffed-up cheeks of Qi Chunbong.
The soft flesh of Namgung Sua, a nourishing meal for the soul.
And the simple fact that life... just kind of works out somehow.
Thus, for a being that could never be whole from the start, the only way to achieve wholeness was through martial arts.
By destroying everything that made him incomplete, he would eventually become whole.
With this rather extreme philosophy now firmly planted in his heart, Lee Seo-jun opened his eyes.
Qi Chunbong, who hadn’t yet disappeared from his mind, let out a wry chuckle.
"What kind of bullshit is that, Seo-bit-bit? You just skipped the entire middle part."
"No, Qi Chunbong. That was perfectly structured."
Seriously, even if he had some incredible secret about his birth, what was he supposed to do with that information?
At the end of the day, he could just do more than others, so wasn’t that a good thing?
There was no need to question his talent.
He already had it, so wasn’t it best to just use it well and move on?
If he never doubted himself, the only thing that could break him was an external force.
With that realization, Seo-jun dismissed all the talk about talent.
If anyone was going to be a threat to him, it would have to be someone stronger than he was.
And so, if he became stronger than anyone, that would be his happy ending.
Qi Chunbong, listening to his explanation, made a rather displeased expression but still nodded.
"Fine. Sure, Seo-bit-bit, whatever you say."
"Great. See you later, Qi Chunbong."
After bidding farewell to Qi Chunbong, Seo-jun turned his attention to the immovable pillar that had settled within him.
A firm conviction in himself.
The great tree that had taken root in his heart, linking his various realms together as one.
Seo-jun felt that his newly attained realm had stabilized just a little more.
And as a bonus, he noticed that the Ice Crystal floating before him had finished charging.
"Guess it’s time to go."
With this, he had completed the third task requested by the Palace Lord of Beihai Ice Palace.
Although the information about Baek Yoon he was supposed to receive was now useless, Seo-jun didn’t consider his efforts a waste.
After all, he had gained something far greater—a new realm, a new realization.
Feeling satisfied with his own growth, Seo-jun turned and headed back toward Beihai Ice Palace.
****
"N-No...! Where do you think you’re going?! We haven’t even cleaned the Ice Palace together yet...!"
...He had not expected this.
Seo-jun was genuinely caught off guard.
What the hell was going on?
He had already figured out a way to lure out the culprit behind the Geum Clan massacre.
Even if she wanted to bring up Ice Palace chores, fine—but for Baek Seolhyang to cling onto him like this, whining...
This was not in the script.
"I mean, look..."
"I know! If you leave now, you’ll never come back to the Ice Palace again, will you?!"
...That wasn’t exactly true.
He hadn’t planned to return, but it wasn’t like he had sworn never to set foot here again.
As Seo-jun awkwardly rolled his eyes around, Baek Seolhyang clamped onto his sleeve.
"Ah! I know! I’ll take care of half the chores!"
"It’s not about the chores, I have things to—"
"Then will you come back soon?"
Baek Seolhyang stared at him intently.
Seo-jun averted his gaze slightly.
"Well... that’s..."
"Urgh...!"
Baek Seolhyang’s eyes began welling up with tears.
She couldn’t accept it.
The fact that her grand plan had been shattered before she could even put it into motion was infuriating.
And before she knew it, she blurted out something she had never meant to say.
"I—I thought we were friends...!"
It wasn’t exactly shocking, but... Baek Seolhyang had no friends.
From a young age, she had been recognized for her talent, rising to the position of Young Palace Lord and dedicating herself to martial arts.
After ascending to the rank of Palace Lord, everyone revered her.
And reverence was fundamentally incompatible with friendship.
The warriors of the Ice Palace could never be her friends.
They simply sought to be loyal subordinates.
She hated it.
Having idolized the idea of friendship, Baek Seolhyang felt utterly alone in her solitary life as Palace Lord.
She wanted a friend, not a subordinate.
Because what could be better than...
Eating meals together, chatting late into the night, saying whatever came to mind without a second thought?
No one knew, but Baek Seolhyang had actually written down a secret list of things she wanted to do if she ever got a friend.
Cleaning the Ice Palace together. Exploring villages.
Things like that...
And so, these past few days had been some of the most fun she had ever had.
A friend.
A true companion.
Just hearing the word made her heart race.
Then, from the heavens above, Baek Seo-jun had fallen into her life—becoming her first-ever friend.
At least, that’s how Baek Seolhyang saw it.
But now...
Today, Baek Seolhyang was on the verge of losing her first friend.
And she refused to let that happen.
Thus, the Transcendence Realm martial artist, the pillar of the Seven Dark Gates, the Palace Lord of Beihai Ice Palace, the undisputed master of Ice-White Divine Arts and Northern Myung Divine Arts, a peerless martial artist whose internal energy was second to none in all the world...
...finally broke down.
"D-Don’t go...! Whatever you want, I’ll give it to you!"
It was the pathetic cry of a nine-year-old kid who didn’t want to see their childhood friend move away.
And Baek Seo-jun, who still insisted that he retained the heart of a human, hesitated.
"Hmm... That’s a bit..."