When he came to his senses, he found himself standing tall in pitch-black darkness.
Regrettably, the realm beyond the sixth stage—which had seemed so close at hand—dissolved like mist.
"..."
Enlightenment always came in a flash like this. No telling when the next one would strike, but for now, this would have to suffice.
Jin Muhon pulled his consciousness back to reality and slowly surveyed his surroundings.
Nothing was visible.
Yet everything could be felt.
The walls hemming him in on all sides, the extinguished lamp, the door's position... and even the anxious heart waiting desperately for him just outside the training chamber.
"This is…"
A world viewed through the upper dantian. Not from the ground, but from the heavens looking down.
Jin Muhon nodded, stroking his jaw with one hand.
Quite some time must have passed—his chin felt rough with stubble.
Step. Step. Step.
He walked toward the entrance.
Clunk. Clunk. Creaaaaak.
He unfastened the lock and pushed open the sealed door of the training chamber.
Under the stinging sunlight.
Jin Hayeon stood there, eyes brimming with tears.
Her face was haggard, eyes puffy and swollen, lips trembling.
For a moment, they simply gazed at each other in silence.
Jin Muhon slowly opened his mouth.
"Why are you crying?"
"Waaah!!"
With a rush of footsteps, Jin Hayeon threw herself into Jin Muhon's arms.
"I thought something terrible had happened! Uncle! Waaah!!"
Hot tears soaked his chest.
"You can't just leave me alone and go off somewhere!"
"Where would I go?"
"Waaah!"
Jin Muhon gently patted her back.
Jin Hayeon clung to him even tighter.
Beneath the bright sunlight.
Their shadows stretched long across the ground.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Time flew by.
Before they knew it, a month and a half had passed since Jin Muhon arrived in Jigang County.
In that time, the crumbled walls and buildings had been rebuilt, and furniture filled the once-empty rooms.
Changes had come not just to the Jin estate, but to Jigang County itself.
With the Ghost Soul Sect's underlings vanished, the townsfolk's faces had grown noticeably brighter sometime around then.
And though people were still whispering about it, word had spread that the new head of the Yunbong Jin Family stood behind it all.
Meanwhile, the Ghost Soul Sect and Iron Blood Society kept spilling blood in skirmishes here and there.
For Jin Muhon, it was a welcome development.
"Hm…"
Jin Muhon sat in the estate's rear garden, reading a report.
Ha Chonggwan had hired people to gather intel on the Ghost Soul Sect and Iron Blood Society. It wasn't from a proper intelligence network, so the contents were sorely lacking, but it was better than nothing.
Rustle. Rustle.
The sound of turning pages echoed peacefully.
Jin Muhon closed the report and looked up at the sky. Whether from the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains or here, the heavens were the same—yet the feeling they evoked was worlds apart.
Suddenly, he recalled the Blood Shadow Unit, his personal intelligence squad back in the Demonic Cult.
"So, not your run-of-the-mill unorthodox rabble, then."
According to the report, the Iron Blood Society's leader was a fallen military man.
Unlike the alleyweed thugs of the Ghost Soul Sect, he seemed to have some pride and fancied himself on the side of justice.
Shing. Shing. Shing.
The sound of a sword slicing through the air reached his ears.
Jin Muhon lowered his gaze to the garden.
In the center stood Jin Hayeon, swinging her sword with fervor. The hem of her white training robes fluttered, and wind whistled from the blade's tip.
The power in her strikes was still lacking, but she'd taken on a proper form.
"Hah! Hah!"
The Yunbong Sword Technique of their clan.
True to its name, Jin Hayeon looked like a graceful fairy frolicking through the clouds as she swung her blade.
"Not bad."
The family had fallen on such hard times that Jin Hayeon had never been properly taught the sword forms.
So Jin Muhon had dredged up the memories and instructed her himself. She had talent; in just a month, her skill had improved markedly.
But as with their ancestors, practicing swordplay without a heart method had clear limits.
"Can't pass on the Cloud Peak Mist Sea either…"
He'd found the manual, but even if Jin Hayeon trained in the Cloud Peak Mist Sea her whole life, she wouldn't form so much as a pea-sized dantian.
And the Cloud Peak Demon Sea—his own demonic-infused interpretation—was utterly out of the question.
He was a filthy soul bound for hell, but Jin Hayeon had to remain pure.
A flower of the righteous path.
"Need to find her a heart method."
In the end, he'd have to procure a suitable one.
Jin Muhon ran through a few conditions in his mind.
First, a proper righteous heart method.
Second, a useful spirit elixir.
Righteous heart methods grew too slowly compared to demonic arts.
They were stable, sure, but Jin Muhon wanted Jin Hayeon to grow strong quickly.
Which meant he'd need an elixir to offset the drawbacks and boost her inner energy in one go.
"Hm…"
None of it would be easy to obtain.
No way gutter unorthodox scum like them would have such treasures, ripe for the plucking.
One of the Nine Great Sects—like the Wudang Sect—would be the minimum for decent goods.
"Wait. Wudang Sect? Hm… Wudang…"
Suddenly, a figure popped into his head.
The former Wudang elder who'd climbed the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains with just one disciple.
The old man with the immortal-like white beard, strutting arrogantly until the Sword Demon beat him down and sent him packing.
'Wonder if that geezer's still kicking. Might pay him a visit.'
He owed Jin Muhon for sparing his disciple's life back then.
No way he'd ignore that debt.
Assuming the Nose-Hooked Taoist had any shame left.
"Uncle! Uncle!"
"Hm?"
Jin Muhon snapped out of his thoughts at Jin Hayeon's call and turned.
"How was that?"
Jin Hayeon proudly held her sword upright, beaming.
The corner of Jin Muhon's mouth twitched upward.
"You're doing well."
"Hee! You say that every time."
"It's the truth."
Jin Hayeon leveled her sword at him with a whoosh.
"Then spar with me!"
"Spar?"
"Yeah! Warriors need real combat experience to grow strong, right?"
A spar wasn't true combat, but it wasn't entirely wrong.
Still, who the hell had fed that nonsense to this sweet girl?
As Jin Muhon rose, he asked,
"Who told you that?"
"One-Armed Uncle."
Jin Muhon's eyebrow twitched.
Daring to wag his tongue at the Jin family's precious pearl. Next time they met, he'd cut off the tongue instead of the arm.
"Fine. Let's do it."
"Yes!"
Jin Muhon grabbed a wooden sword from the side and faced her.
Now that they stood opposite each other, tension wiped the smile from Jin Hayeon's face.
"Come at me."
"Got it! Be careful! Hah!"
Jin Hayeon stepped forward with footwork and swung.
Jin Muhon retreated just enough, matching her level with his own swings.
Clack! Clack! Clack!
"The foundation of martial arts is footwork. Don't just focus on your arms—always mind your toes."
"Haaah!!"
Clack! Clack-clack! Clack-clack-clack!
"Your stance is too rigid. The essence of the Yunbong Sword Technique is fluid grace like drifting clouds. Imagine clouds as you swing."
"Eek!!"
Clack! Clack! Clack!
As he parried her strikes time and again.
'Hm?'
Far off in the distance.
A sharp presence pierced Jin Muhon's senses.
Whoosh! Thwack!
"Ow!"
Jin Hayeon's wooden sword spun through the air.
He must have tensed up sensing the intruder.
"Be right back."
"Huh? Where are you—"
Jin Hayeon clutched her stinging hand and looked up at him.
Fwoosh!
Jin Muhon unleashed his lightness skill.
His figure soared into the air and vaulted the wall in an instant.
"Uncllle!!"
Her voice trailed long behind him.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
The moment Jin Muhon cleared the wall, he poured on full speed.
He kicked off walls, bounded across rooftops, cut through alleys. White clouds and green trees whipped past in blurs.
Tat-tat-tat-tat!
Cloud Peak Mist Sea.
No need for ultimate techniques beyond the realm of martial arts. For Jin Muhon now, simply being able to use inner energy again was enough.
It paled against the bottomless reserves of his Sword Demon days, but opening the upper dantian proved useful in many ways.
Like now, pinpointing enemies beyond his line of sight.
'Over there.'
Jin Muhon locked on and pursued.
Pure speed alone might make it tough, but he ignored the enemy's zigzags, doggedly closing in.
Once they'd left Jigang County behind.
Jin Muhon halted his lightness skill atop a hill overlooking the Yangtze River.
"Come out."
He spoke indifferently to a tree on the hill.
No answer.
Instead, a fishy wind from the river tousled his hair as it passed.
Shing.
And then.
A chilling red streak sliced toward him in a razor arc.
Clang!
A dagger.
Jin Muhon calmly swung to deflect it.
Shing!
This time from the left.
Drawing his eyes, then striking from an unexpected angle.
Stealthy as a shadow, with afterimages from astonishing footwork.
Jin Muhon stepped back and countered.
Claaang! Clang! Cliiing!!
Several exchanges flashed by in an instant.
The foe's dagger struck like a serpent—swift and venomous as a scorpion.
A killer's technique, aimed solely at vitals.
'It's been a while.'
A flicker of fondness.
Then thick killing intent licked his skin like a snake's tongue.
Jin Muhon smirked and unleashed the Cloud Peak Demon Sea.
'First stage. Rise Mist.'
Shaaa.
Red blood mist rose around him.
The enemy, who'd pressed relentlessly, startled and leaped back.
"Oh my! What's this? Picked up a new trick while I wasn't looking? Didn't your dantian get smashed?"
The attacker stood atop the hill, eyeing him.
Red training robes, red hair, tall for a woman.
A rare redhead in the Central Plains grinned broadly at Jin Muhon.
"Sent by the Cult Leader?"
"Aw, Vice Leader. Such harsh words. Would I ever listen to the Cult Leader? I only follow your orders."
She spun the daggers in both hands with sparkling eyes.
Her mouth smiled, but she'd rip out his throat at the first opening.
"Your killing intent feels pretty real, though."
"Can't bear to watch a fangless tiger get torn apart by mongrels."
Jin Muhon chuckled.
So very like her.
"Here to put me out of my misery, then?"
"Pretty much. The mighty Sword Demon, dantian shattered—what's the point of living? Hell on earth, right? But…"
Her eyes gleamed.
"Your claws are still sharp."
Swoosh—
Before finishing, she closed the gap with startling footwork.
The blood mist scattered as the dagger reached his eyes.
A strike laced with true intent to kill.
'Second stage. Void Change.'
Fwaaah!
Jin Muhon's form dissolved like mist.
The dagger sliced empty air.
"Huh?!"
He reappeared in an instant, sword to her nape.
The cold blade nicked her pale skin.
Drip— red blood trickled down the edge.
"Last words?"
In the law of the jungle that was the Demonic Cult.
Anyone who drew steel on him died.
That was the Sword Demon.
Clang. Clang.
She dropped both daggers to the ground.
Then slowly turned, knelt on one knee, and saluted him formally. Red hair cascaded over her shoulders.
"Blood Shadow Unit Leader Yeon Jeokhwa. Reporting completion of mission and return to duty."
"..."
Blood Shadow Unit Leader Yeon Jeokhwa.
Commander of one of the four units under the Vice Cult Leader, and one of the Death Envoys the Sword Demon trusted most.
When he'd toppled the Cult, Jin Muhon had sent the Death Envoys on missions abroad to spare them the Cult Leader's wrath.
Staying meant losing their heads.
And now.
One of the four had come to Jigang County.
"I see."
Jin Muhon lowered his sword, face grave.
The thick blood mist slowly dispersed.
From the hill below, the Yangtze's waves murmured faintly.