Oslo’s wings vibrated slightly. Countless particles of light float around her.
It looked like hundreds of fireflies floating in the air around her. Following the gestures of Oslo, the lights also started to surround Lee Sungmin.
The masks made by Oslo had the ability to completely suppress internal energy like the ghost mask that had been made for Lee Sungmin, were used with this very power.
It wasn’t just some simple magic that other mortals could use either. Even Sima Ryunju, if he wore a mask made by Oslo, could not circulate his own internal energy if restricted like this.
Since Oslo herself said it was a seal, with her help, even if Lee Sungmin completely consumed the heart of Sima Ryunju in full, would not be able to run free if he went berserk and lost all rationality.
[It’s not complete though.]
Heoju warned. Lee Sungmin didn’t dismiss Heoju’s warning either. Oslo had said that it would not be a complete and permanent seal. It would just be a temporary seal to block off the power that could consume his consciousness, and that it would help him consume it slowly. Regardless, there was still a very strong chance he could be consumed by the power later on if he did not find a balancing factor.
It was up to him to find a way to do so. The seal was something like putting a cork on a fizzling bottle of beer. It would only stop the bottle from exploding temporarily.
Lee Sungmin took these thoughts in, and prepared himself as he understood the risk he was about to undertake.
Lee Sungmin reached out to the red sphere that was floating in the air. It was the processed and liquidated form of his master’s heart.
Clearly, since methods were important, this was a lot safer than eating a human heart raw like a monster.
In this sense, Lee Sungmin was slightly grateful for Oslo’s actions.
Oslo had done this though, merely out of the fact that she didn’t want to see such a cruel sight either.
Though it was not a normal occurrence, consuming his master’s heart would not result in any kind of immediate change in terms of absorbing his master’s former powers.
Lee Sungmin wrapped his hand around the bloody sphere.
It was the same when he ate Dragon Heart. Too much immediate power would put a strong burden on Lee Sungmin’s body. Therefore, the Black Heart already inside of him, would slowly apply the new power bellowing his body to go through a slight metamorphosis to adjust properly.
Between Aine, and Lee Sungmin, this was a huge difference. Aine’s body was a chimera’s and was built to accommodate the Black Heart in full, whereas Lee Sungmin was a human who had something foreign in his body and did not want to give up his humanity completely.
But, with Aine, her body was not at it’s limit and had much more room to grow. But now, Lee Sungmin who had been at a complete halt after hitting his ceiling, would have a much higher amount of room to grow.
Sima Ryunju had warned Lee Sungmin several times. Effort and Luck were something that was required to transcend any kind of limitation. To gain a new and higher ceiling of power, Lee Sungmin would likely have to give up something of equal exchange.
Lee Sungmin fully reached the level of strength that he had reached in Denir’s Trial, and even took a few steps further as he became Sima Ryunju’s disciple and learned the Dark Storm Arts.
But that was his limit. Heoju was warning him of the same things his master had. To break such bound limits, he needed to be able to pay the price.
Lee Sungmin was not blessed with god-given talent like Wijihoyeon, so the only way he could grow stronger was to take every opportunity he had and to put inhuman amounts of effort.
His body had become a bit more ‘talented’ as it had changed with the Black Heart, but he needed effort and luck to get even stronger. Especially when he was currently in the Realm of Transcendence, which very few people had ever achieved.
Countless geniuses that were hailed to have much better talent than Lee Sungmin, had tried to break through the wall over to Transcendence, yet none of them were able to. Luck was a factor that nobody dared to dismiss when becoming this strong.
To inherit the power of his master, who had reached a place even farther than normal Transcendent Realm martial artists, Lee Sungmin had to be prepared to inherit such power and not be corrupted in his mind.
But with this possibility of newfound strength, he would no longer have such a constrained ceiling.
Even if he had a lot of power as he was, this was something that would be able to help him attain even more so that he could fulfill his goals.
How much power he would be able to inherit from his master’s heart was entirely up to him, and it was possible he might not be able to gain anything if he wasn’t careful.
While taking a deep breath, Lee Sungmin took the red shere wrapped in both hands, towards his mouth.
It wasn’t much different from eating the Dragon Heart.
It was completely tasteless.
Suddenly, Lee Sungmin felt an explosion inside of his body.
Cooooong!
Feeling the pain of his guts being torn apart, Lee Sungmin took a gasp of air. He knew exactly what to do here.
Lee Sungmin immediately started to rouse his internal energy and sat down. He started to circulate the breathing technique that Sima Ryunju had given him to use the Dark Storm arts, and the previous breathing technique he had inherited from the village that worshipped Heoju.
It was a huge surge of force that started to course through Lee Sungmin’s internal circuitry and blood vessels. It tore through his circuitry with immense vigor and reached the dantian. His dantian, which became full quickly, was not able to completely capture and handle all of the incoming energy at once.Lee Sungmin felt his body creak.
Roar…!
The sounds he was hearing in his body were atrocious. It was the sound of the monster within his mental world howling to be let free and go rampage.
Squeak… Squeak…….
He could hear the sound of sharp nails scratching against the wall Heoju had set up in their shared consciousness. It was a brutal sound that viciously tried to distract Lee Sungmin as much as possible.
[It’s coming.]
Hoeju warned as he too, felt the unknown and foreign energy start to surge inside of Lee Sungmin’s body.
Lee Sungmin’s body started to writhe and rise up off the ground as the corrupt internal energy started to become clear. He was desperately walking a tightrope right now, and had to concentrate to not lose himself here.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
A pillar of purple internal energy shot up and arose from Lee Sungmin’s body, which immediately collided with the seal that Oslo had placed around Lee Sungmin to let him concentrate.
Roar!
The barrier, which was protecting the entire Forest of the Fairies, started to shake violently and tremble with the large amount of power clashing with it from Lee Sungmin’s body. The barrier however, successfully blocked out the power and dispersed it evenly around the inside of the barrier, dyeing the entire area around Lee Sungmin a dark and ominous violet.
“Oh my god…!”
Scarlett, who was watching the sight before her unfold, shuddered with the wicked and ferocious energy that enveloped the entire forest.
Oslo flew a little higher, spreading her wings wider with a stiff look on her face.
As Oslo moved her hands, the flow of force, which had become darker and stronger, was suppressed.
Lee Sungmin concentrated his mind as much as possible while trying to stuff his dantian with as much internal energy as possible. The surging force was rampant and almost completely uncontrollable, and he could constantly hear the monster within his mind screeching and howling to take over his body.
Even if the methods were different than how he had consumed power with the Black Heart before, the result was becoming the same. Lee Sungmin started to absorb the power of Sima Ryunju’s heart into his body.
It was an act that gave a lot of meaning to Lee Sungmin. Lee Sungmin had the Black Heart as his only method to grow stronger at this point, and his master had left this behind for him to grow stronger with. But this was his final and last gift for Lee Sungmin, and Lee Sungmin had no intentions of messing this up.
But the Black Heart inside of his body did not care for such sentimental pretenses. The power of ‘predation’ kicked in, and the psychological factors started to be taken into account.
Sima Ryunju was Lee Sungmin’s master and also the strongest person in the entirety of Eria. The monster inside of Lee Sungmin was going crazy, desperately trying to take over and have its fun with the bountiful harvest in front of it.
Lee Sungmin clenched his teeth.
The internal energy that had escaped his body originally, was controlled by Oslo, and Lee Sungmin was starting to circulate that lost energy back into his body. Lee Sungmin grit his teeth and started to go deep inside of his own consciousness to face the monster inside of him.
The face of the monster running wild with its sharp teeth looked exactly like Lee Sungmin.
‘It’s not time for you to come out. I have to do this.’Lee Sungmin memorized the words deeply and recited them like a mantra.
Suddenly a giggle was heard. Then it erupted into laughter. It was the same laughter of the random child he had heard when he recently encountered Aine.
Whose laughter is this? No, Lee Sungmin knew. There may be different voices and different ages mixed in with the child’s, but Lee Sungmin recognized the identity of the laugh.
This was his own laugh.
The force suppressed by Oslo started to return to Lee Sungmin’s body.
Lee Sungmin could no longer hear laughter in his head. The power of Sima Ryunju’s heart no longer continued to ravage his internal circuitry and pain his body.
The pain started to completely dissipate as suddenly different black and white images started to fill Lee Sungmin’s head.
They were the memories of Sima Ryunju’s life. Among the many experiences Sima Ryunju had undergone, the essence of martial arts was slowly integrated into every corner of Lee Sungmin’s consciousness.
But it was not finished yet. Oslo put her hands together and raised them towards Lee Sungmin’s figure.
A transparent chain of light wrapped around Lee Sungmin’s body. Inside of the chains, Lee Sungmin was oblivious to his surroundings as he was still integrating the memories and experience of martial arts his master left behind for him.
The Dark Storm Arts. The pinnacle of strength that Sima Ryunju had attained as a human being was being etched into Lee Sungmin’s mind. The essence of speed becoming everything, and at the same time, nothing.
At that very last moment, everything that Sima Ryunju wanted to leave and convey to Lee Sungmin was passed over to him.
When Lee Sungmin opened his closed eyes, it was already night time in the Forest of Fairies.
Lee Sungmin quietly raised himself up. Thanks to Oslo’s seal on the barrier she created, the rampant energy did not escape and was circulated properly and efficiently back to Lee Sungmin. Furthermore, it completely prevented him from running on a rampage as a mindless beast.
Lee Sungmin started to immediately review his body to find the changes. Although his overall understanding and comprehension of martial arts had increased significantly, his actual body and internal circuitry had not changed much despite using the ‘Predation’ skill of the Black Heart.
As with what had happened when Lee Sungmin consumed the Dragon Heart, Lee Sungmin’s body did not undergo any immediate changes to his body.
But Lee Sungmin had expected as much. His ceiling was much higher now, and he had a sense of direction now and a means to get there thanks to his master.But there was one thing Lee Sungmin still thought about after inheriting the memories and experiences of his master….
“……where exactly did my master go?”
“That’s… I don’t know. The place where Ryunju-ssi was headed was not somewhere in this world, but an entirely new place where I can neither observe nor interfere in. The martial path that your master took, is towards a place where other Transcendent Realm martial artists who ascended their limits, go to. They reach the Absolute Realm.”(T/N : we finally learn of the realm above Transcendence!)
In Lee Sungmin’s head, Heoju was especially listening to Oslo quietly.
The Realm of the Absolute. That was the road he had seen at that time.
Heoju was able to go down that path as well, but gave up the chance because he didn’t want to leave Lee Sungmin behind and on his own.
Even now, he knew he could walk down that path whenever he wanted or chose to.
‘Not yet.’
He couldn’t leave Lee Sungmin behind just yet.
“What are you going to do now?”
Ye-Hwa asked in a subdued voice. When asked that question, Lee Sungmin lowered his master’s body that he had been holding when he retrieved the heart.
“The Lord… No, my master wanted to be buried in this Forest.”
“What will you do then now?”
“I can’t be a leader like he was.”
Lee Sungmin replied, shaking his head.
As Sima Ryunju had mentioned in the will, Lee Sungmin was well aware that he could not be the vessel and leader to now represent the entirety of the large organization known as the Sama Order.
He also knew that maintaining such an organization would be difficult and hard to lead on his own.
“I am going to order all the members of the Order to disband and leave for the time being.”
“There will be a big backlash.”
“I don’t mean to force the decision. If they don’t like it, they do not need our blessing. ……With the death of my master, the Sama Order, itself can no longer be a shield for the unorthodox practitioners. I’m not good enough to replace him and his role.”
He didn’t know what all the changes of the future would be with the death of his master.
Perhaps Musin would start to move in earnest and trample on the Sama Order completely. His master would have known that that might be the case if he had died.
Nevertheless, Sima Ryunju left this choice up to Lee Sungmin in the end.
“What master wanted was not the protection and continuation of the Order. You were also a part of the Order in the guard unit. Master also mentioned something for you as well in the will, I’m sure you know that.”
“However….”
“Follow your own will from now on.”
Ye-Hwa closed her teary and swollen eyes at the words. She spoke, bowing her head slowly.
“……we could be of some help to you with your plans from now on.”
Ye-Hwa continued to speak in a trembling voice.
“Me and the other guards that the Lord himself had taken under his wing…… everyone had a direct transmission link to the Lord in their head. Most of the guard unit were also the Leaders of the different factions under the umbrella of the Sama Order”
Lee Sungmin recalled his first task that Sima Ryunju had given him when they left the Forest of the Fairies for training.
Through that transmission that Ye-hwa spoke of, they had been given orders as well when Lee Sungmin came in person to the Order for the first time.
But judging from Ye-Hwa’s words, the Vice-Leader of the Order was likely to also be part of the Red Flower guard.
“I know we are helplessly inadequate. None of us are Transcendent Realm martial artists. But our intelligence and numbers…….”
“It’s alright.”
Lee Sungmin no longer listened to Yehwa.
“You have given your entire lives to the Sama Order and my master. It’s time for you and the Red Flower unit to have your own lives outside of the orders you follow. If anything, that was the last order given in the will.”
It was spoken in a subdued voice, but there was a firmness in Lee Sungmin’s tone that he would not listen to any forms of rejection.
Ye-Hwa could no longer argue and bowed her head deeply.
Lee Sungmin briefly thought about the enlightenment of the Dark Storm Arts he had just gained through his master’s absorbed memories and insight into martial arts.
‘I didn’t go crazy. But… it’s still incomplete in terms of filling, absorbing the power I gained. I don’t even know when it’s going to explode.’
For now, Lee Sungmin would not be able to handle the time when the monstrosity inside of his consciousness exploded with rage and tried to take over. It was like holding onto a timing bomb, not knowing when it would go off.
‘I haven’t had a complete transformation.’
As Sima Ryunju, his master, had said, there was a keen and important difference between Transcendent Realm martial artists.
Because Sima Ryunju’s body and internal circuitry had gone through two different stages of body metamorphosis, he was much faster and stronger to suit his own martial arts with the Dark Storm Arts, and had become stronger than any other being in all of Eria.
That power was demonstrated through the fight against Musin. Musin was incredibly strong, but was inevitably weaker than his master in the end.
“What are you going to do now?”
“What about Ms. Scarlett?”
To Scarlett’s question, Lee Sungmin only replied by posing the question right back at her.
“I’m coming with you.”
“It would be more dangerous to go around with me.”
“I thought you’d be lonely.”
Scarlett said with a smirk.
“……a week.”
Lee Sung-min looked up at the sky with blank eyes.
“I think I need that much time. I wonder what kind of rumors will spread around the world. I think we need to see what happens in regards to the South during the span of the next week. I don’t know Musin is planning. And then…. There’s also what to do about Jehu, the Black Dragon, and Kang Seok, the Spear King.”
‘And…’
“I think I still need to sort things out.”
Lee Sungmin murmured, pressing his hand on his forehead in pain.
“So much has come in my own mind and body, my head is about to explode.”