"My friend’s dantian was destroyed, causing him to lose his energy."
Pointing to Seo Jinha, Bu Eunseol explained calmly.
"He practiced a unique energy, making ordinary treatments impossible. The only way to fully restore his energy is to open his upper dantian through the Ten Thousand Transformations Wheel."
Understanding his intent, Hwa Mi nodded.
For a martial artist who cultivated internal energy through the lower dantian, opening the upper dantian required dismantling their existing energy.
But since Seo Jinha had lost his energy due to a destroyed dantian, there was no loss.
Moreover, having once possessed immense energy, mastering the Ten Thousand Transformations Wheel would allow him to easily recover his former strength.
Not only that, opening his upper dantian anew would enable him to surpass his previous level and reach higher realms swiftly.
It was akin to a skilled chef easily mastering a new recipe.
"Many outer sects cultivate internal energy through the upper dantian. Why seek our palace’s method?"
At Hwa Mi’s question, Bu Eunseol answered again.
"I heard the fundamental method to reach the Three Elements and Three Harmonies, and the Primordial Spirit’s Emergence, lies in the Wall Sea Palace’s teachings."
This was what the Blood Vajra, who had taught him internal energy, had said.
"To not only restore his former energy but to advance to a higher realm, the Ten Thousand Transformations Wheel is the only way."
"I see." Nodding, Hwa Mi sighed. "Finding our isolated palace is impressive, but we cannot impart our internal energy method to outsiders."
But Bu Eunseol’s expression remained unchanged. Frowning slightly, she continued.
"Our palace allowed you entry because we were curious why you brought Kwangyang Temple’s Great Wish Mirror."
Despite Hwa Mi’s firm rejection, Bu Eunseol stood impassively, as if waiting for her to continue. As silence fell, Supreme Palace Lord A-Min, who had been quiet, spoke as if recalling something.
"Palace Lord, isn’t there a way to impart martial arts to them?"
Hwa Mi frowned.
"How could they possibly pass that gate?"
"Giving them a chance wouldn’t hurt."
Bu Eunseol clasped his hands again. "If you give me a chance, I’ll accomplish it, no matter the task."
Hwa Mi spoke reluctantly. "Our palace has a longstanding prohibition, which is why we remain hidden from the world."
"A prohibition?"
"Someone must break the Heart Sect Gate for us to be able to leave for the secular world."
Taking a deep breath, she continued explaining.
"You must endure the gate for four days and break the Heart Sect Gate. But no matter how I think about it… it’s impossible." Hwa Mi’s eyes darkened. "If you can break it, you’ll be our palace’s benefactor, and we can impart the Ten Thousand Transformations Wheel."
"Oh, breaking things is my specialty." So Okrim, who had been listening quietly, grinned confidently.
Turning to Bu Eunseol and Seo Jinha, she said.
"I’ll handle it." Flexing her thick arms, she laughed heartily. "I’ll smash anything in one go! Hahaha!"
"Let me be honest." Hwa Mi shook her head with a sigh. "The Heart Sect Gate can only be passed by reaching the Martial Supreme Realm."
At that, not only So Okrim but Bu Eunseol’s face stiffened.
The Martial Supreme Realm.
It signified reaching the pinnacle of martial arts.
Even Bu Eunseol, known to transcend age and status, had only just stepped into the Supreme Heavenly Realm. If the Heart Sect Gate required the Martial Supreme Realm, it was impossible to pass in their current state.
"Moreover, failing to pass the gate often leaves one crippled or insane. Our palace hasn’t challenged it repeatedly… because we’ve seen such outcomes too many times."
Hwa Mi’s expression and eyes were not joking.
So Okrim, who had been grinning with confidence, suddenly paled. Stepping back, she coughed abruptly.
Cough.
Drooping her shoulders, she said weakly to Bu Eunseol and Seo Jinha.
"But I used up my strength fighting Kwangyang Temple’s Vajra Monks, so I can’t do it."
"I’ll go." Bu Eunseol spoke without hesitation, but Seo Jinha shook his head.
"There’s no need."
With utmost seriousness, he sent a transmission.
[Restoring my energy is a small matter. But if something happens to you, what about the subordinates who rely on you alone?]
Bu Eunseol was the leader of the Death Shadow Corps and Majeon’s heir. He wasn’t a carefree mercenary responsible only for himself.
[It’s fine.] Bu Eunseol replied via transmission. [The Martial Supreme Realm isn’t a state defined by martial arts. It can’t be made into a gate.]
Bu Eunseol had directly experienced the prowess of the Demon Emperor, said to have reached the edge of the Martial Supreme Realm, and others like Ak Muryeong and Jeok Bung, slightly below him. The Martial Supreme Realm was merely a phenomenon of varied prowess, not something that could be crafted or expressed as a gate.
[Besides, if the Azure Cloud Sea Palace’s founder reached the Martial Supreme Realm, they would have left a significant mark in the martial world.] Bu Eunseol sent a confident transmission. [They must be calling something else the Martial Supreme Realm.]
[Bu Eunseol.]
[Trust me.]
At Bu Eunseol’s resolute transmission, Seo Jinha sighed.
Even if his words were true, the gate was undeniably perilous. The aura of Hwa Mi, disguised as a young girl, was as formidable as Bu Eunseol’s.
"Are you serious?"
"Yes." At Hwa Mi’s words, Bu Eunseol clasped his hands with a firm expression.
"I’ll challenge it now."
***
At the Cloud Sea Palace, Bu Eunseol was assigned a place to rest with Seo Jinha and So Okrim while he faced the gate.
Seo Jinha wanted to help but, without his energy, he’d only be a burden. So he grabbed Bu Eunseol’s shoulder and gave a reassuring smile.
"Go smash it quickly."
Unwavering trust.
In this situation, that was all he could offer.
Nodding, Bu Eunseol followed Hwa Mi deep into the palace’s underground. After walking endlessly through an artificial passage, a gleaming metal door appeared.
Humm.
As Hwa Mi touched something to the wall, the heavy door slowly opened.
Inside was a large stone chamber. Upon entering, the oil lamps on the walls flared up.
Simultaneously, the opposite wall glowed with a transparent light. The wall was made of a material so clear it reflected faces, yet it seemed slightly opaque, like stone rather than glass.
The Heart Sect Gate.
This was the prohibition that had kept the Azure Cloud Sea Palace hidden from the world.
"This is the Heart Sect Gate." As Bu Eunseol approached, light emanated from it, and transparent text began to appear.
"It’s our palace’s Clear Spirit Heart Method," Hwa Mi said, her eyes narrowing like crescent moons. "When the gate begins, you’d do well to rely on this method."
Bu Eunseol didn’t understand.
If it was the palace’s heart method, it should be exceptional. But the text inscribed on the Heart Sect Gate was far from deserving the name "Clear Spirit."
'They call this the Clear Spirit Heart Method?' The inscribed methods amplified killing intent, and merely reciting them evoked a strange bloodlust.
To call such a method "Clear Spirit"?
"There are two types of heart methods that purify the mind," Hwa Mi said, as if reading Bu Eunseol’s doubts. "Entering the orthodox path from the demonic to find serenity, or entering the demonic path from the orthodox to find serenity."
Serenity.
It meant calming the mind, but in internal energy methods, it referred to suppressing all elements that disrupt the spirit.
Thus, whether through demonic or orthodox means, the method of suppression didn’t matter. But that was theoretical. A heart method transitioning from demonic to orthodox was unheard of in the martial world.
"Then this is a heart method transitioning from demonic to orthodox?"
"Correct." Hwa Mi said in a low voice. "Once the door closes, the Heart Sect Gate’s gate will activate. This door won’t open for four days, so… prepare yourself."
"Understood."
"Good luck." Hwa Mi slowly exited, and the heavy iron door began to close.
'Strange.' Bu Eunseol sensed something odd in Hwa Mi’s expression.
Her face was consistently dark—not out of concern for his life or lack of expectation.
Discontent.
She clearly disapproved of him challenging the gate.
'Does she not want the prohibition broken?'
That couldn’t be.
Living isolated at the edge of this high mountain couldn’t be satisfying. There must be internal matters within the Cloud Sea Palace that Bu Eunseol didn’t know.
Hummm.
The chamber seemed to tremble, and an unfamiliar sound began to echo in Bu Eunseol’s ears.
It was a low, sinister sound emanating from the Heart Sect Gate.
It resembled the curse of a demon trapped in darkness or the chanting of strange mantras. Listening to it, Bu Eunseol felt a killing intent a hundred times stronger than when he read the Clear Spirit Heart Method.
—"The Heart Sect Gate requires risking your life and reaching the Martial Supreme Realm to pass."
'So that’s it.' Bu Eunseol finally understood Hwa Mi’s words.
The sound reverberating in the chamber had a similar effect to the Illusion Upon Illusion Technique of Ak Muryeong, the Horned Yaksha Lord.
A direct assault on the spirit.
The Heart Sect Gate required enduring this spiritual assault for four days.
'This will be tough.' Bu Eunseol had to acknowledge it.
The Heart Sect Gate was a trial far greater than any he had faced.
'Though not as powerful as the Lord’s Illusion Upon Illusion Technique…' The sound from the Heart Sect Gate was a hundred times weaker than Ak Muryeong’s technique.
The problem was enduring it for four days.
'No choice.' If he simply endured, he’d become insane or his spirit would shatter. Bu Eunseol reluctantly looked at the Clear Spirit Heart Method inscribed on the transparent wall.
To survive four days, he had no choice but to recite it.
"Ugh."
A day passed.
A groan escaped Bu Eunseol as he endlessly recited the method.
No one could sustain killing intent indefinitely. Just as a well dries up when overused, energy depletes when constantly expended. Energy could be replenished, but continuous expenditure reduced its total capacity.
Yet Bu Eunseol’s killing intent didn’t diminish even after a day. In terms of total capacity, it matched unleashing the Unmatched Thunderbolt for an hour.
'Ugh.' As extreme killing intent erupted from his body, Bu Eunseol struggled to maintain his sanity.
He wanted to draw his sword and kill someone immediately.
Bloodlust.
When he annihilated the Sahyang Clan, his spirit had entered a demonic state, captivated by the allure of bloodlust.
Now, he felt an even stronger killing intent.
'Instead… let’s use this.' Clenching his fists, Bu Eunseol poured out the killing intent that was staining his mind red.
He didn’t want to become a blood-soaked demon.
If he unleashed his killing intent for four days, could it lower the latent bloodlust in his spirit?
'I’ll pour it all out.'
An ordinary person would have gone mad by now.
But Bu Eunseol, even in this situation, kept thinking and seeking enlightenment. Using this trial as an opportunity, he unleashed his killing intent with full force, unrestrained.
Hummm!
His craving for blood melted his rationality, but he didn’t care.
Sizzle!
The intense killing intent became a scorching heat, burning his clothes. But he ignored it, crouching and pouring out his killing intent.
Three nights passed.
'…' Suddenly, the world fell silent.
Sensing something odd, Bu Eunseol slowly straightened his crouched body.
The incessant sound in the chamber had stopped.
He instinctively knew it was the fourth day.
But why had the sound ceased before the promised four days ended? Feeling something strange, he looked around the chamber.
"…!" As he turned his head, it moved sluggishly, as if in a dream.
The sound hadn’t stopped; time was passing extraordinarily slowly.
Bu Eunseol instinctively looked at the faintly glowing Heart Sect Gate. A miraculous scene reflected on the transparent surface.
'Am I two people?'
On the left, a figure in black robes with glowing red eyes, exuding dark energy.
On the right, a figure in white robes, carrying the Ice Soul Sword, surrounded by thirteen streams of the Thirteen Guiding Energies.
Both were Bu Eunseol.
One was a cold, emotionless demonic grandmaster by nature. The other, a just and righteous orthodox grandmaster.
'The wall is reflecting my spirit.' The two figures stood back-to-back, radiating sharp auras, as if ready to fight to the death.
'This is…'
Exhausted from pouring out killing intent for four days, Bu Eunseol wasn’t mentally clouded.
'The Heart Sect Gate… so that’s what it is.'
The Heart Sect Gate was a gate that destroyed the spirit, requiring the Martial Supreme Realm to pass. To defend against an intangible force directly attacking the spirit, one needed that realm.
But Bu Eunseol had endured Ak Muryeong’s Illusion Upon Illusion Technique without reaching that realm.
When he overthrew the Sahyang Clan, he had adjusted his spirit from demonic to neutral. He thought it was due to the Cleansing Heart Method, but now he realized it was because his spirit was inherently divided.
'I must choose.'
Bu Eunseol took a deep breath.
He was in a mild demonic state induced by the Heart Sect Gate.
To overcome it and break the wall, he had to choose one aspect of himself. If he didn’t, his divided spirit would keep fighting, and he’d become crippled.
'Hmm.' He closely examined his reflections on the Heart Sect Gate.
The black-robed figure was his true, innate self.
Its cold, emotionless nature had been his strength in countless crises. Without it, he would have faltered.
But the white-robed figure was shaped by his grandfather’s teachings.
Its rich emotions allowed him to observe deeply, gain insights, and advance his prowess. Without it, he wouldn’t have achieved his current level.
A harsh, innate coldness and an acquired warmth from his grandfather’s teachings.
Both coexisted in his spirit.
'But they cannot coexist.'
It was like trying to hold water and fire in the same vessel. If he didn’t choose, the fire would die out, and the water would diminish.
Insisting on coexistence would regress his prowess or drive him to madness.
'What should I choose?'
His ultimate goal was to avenge his grandfather, which suggested choosing the demonic path without hesitation. But that path would bring misery to those around him and make him a puppet of those secretly manipulating him.
'Isn’t life without clear answers?'
Life was a series of choices and regrets.
No matter what he chose, he’d feel regret later.
'But I must decide clearly at least once.' Realizing his spirit was divided, neutrality was impossible.
Without choosing a path, this would repeat endlessly.
'Fine.'
Without hesitation, Bu Eunseol chose one path.
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