From the sky to the ground.

A beam of light descends.

A single line carved across the vermilion sky. Following this line, the man's body was severed.

His vision spun.

One side was upwards. The other, downwards.

In the moment his torso was split in half, a sharp clank echoed.

His body suddenly returned to its original form, and his vision reverted to normal.

“Cough...!”

A gasp escaped him. The man grabbed his chest, his eyes trembling.

“Huff... huff...”

He focused on his breath, recalling the sensation from moments ago.

It was clear. Just moments ago, he had been ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) on the brink of death.

“Wha...?”

What was this sensation? To almost experience death.

“I’ve ascended in rank...!”

His body had ascended to an exalted level. Yet, what had just happened?

Grinding his teeth, the man stared ahead.

Then, the one who had split him in a single strike came into view. An old man with wild white hair, reaching his waist. His unkempt beard was thick and unruly.

The old man, with vermilion eyes and a weary expression, looked down on him.

He was someone the man knew well.

Their connection wasn’t deep, but he was someone unforgettable.

“...Long time no see.”

Just as the man was about to mention the name of the old man, the old man spoke first.

“Shin Сheol.”

Before the man could speak, the old man interrupted.

“My name is Shin Сheol.”

“....”

“Call me that.”

“Shin Сheol...”

The man spoke, lifting the corners of his mouth. It didn’t matter what name he was called by.

“I’ve felt it for a while, but you really are an outlier.”

Names had no real meaning. What mattered was what kind of being he was.

“Clearly, your rank is exceptionally low, yet you walk around with your head held high. And that strength...”

The man had long suspected it.

Shin Сheol, whom the ruler of Mangye had referred to as an outsider, had been extraordinarily strong.

Even when he briefly came to the position of general under the ruler’s authority, it was clear.

Generals, by nature, were top-tier warriors even in their own worlds.

And yet, despite being under the ruler’s command in Mangye, Shin Сheol had stood out.

One day, a Yusa, brimming with pride, had gone after him, claiming Shin Сheol was an outsider with a low rank. After that day, the Yusa never dared challenge Shin Сheol again.

What had happened between them was known only to them, but the change in the Yusa's attitude was evident.

Even if that was the case—

“The great Du Ryeong even hesitated to fight him.”

That foolish general had avoided a fight with him. It was a strange thing. The ruler had not granted any powers when bringing in the generals.

It had been a condition, perhaps? Likely, yes.

And still—

“Even then...”

When Shin Сheol fled with the sacred tree, no one could stop him. Even after the generals had joined forces and attacked, they were ultimately defeated.

Truly overwhelming strength.

In the end, the ruler had personally stepped in and placed a leash on him.

Countless restraints were imposed, but the most important one had been:

“Do not interfere with the affairs of Mangye.”

“Do not engage in battle first.”

These were the conditions.

As long as it was not his business, Shin Сheol could not make the first move. This rule applied to battles as well.

Thanks to these restraints, the old man had remained in Mangye all this time.

“This is...”

The man let out a hollow laugh.

One strike.

One downward sweep had almost brought him to death.

“Isn’t this ridiculous?”

Even with his ascension, could this still happen to him?

Whissss...

A breeze brushed his nose, carrying the scent of flowers.

The petals fluttered gently.

As a leaf flew past his face, he murmured.

“What’s this?”

“...!”

A voice rang out right in front of him.

The trident he held moved. A beam of light shot from it, heading straight for Shin Сheol.

“Have you gone deaf?”

Crunch.

With a slicing sound, the trident cleanly cut through the air.

The problem was—

“You don’t answer when I ask a question.”

“Cough!”

Along with the trident, the man’s body was once again severed.

His body shook. Just as he was about to be cut in two, it was forcibly restored to its original state.

“Hmm.”

Shin Сheol squinted his eyes at the sight.

Then—

Swishhhhh!!!

“Guh-hah!”

Petals scattered as Shin Сheol swung his sword. Like the petals, his strikes slashed through the man’s body. Numerous sword blows poured down on him.

There was no resistance. Pain invaded endlessly, but his body continued to regenerate.

“You bastard—!!”

The man gritted his teeth. Each time he moved, his joints were already scarred by the sword.

His body was sealed as it regenerated.

He had managed to block the dangerous parts, but the situation was still frustrating.

Unable to bear it anymore, the man finally bit his lip and shouted.

“Stop...!”

A command shot through the air, binding Shin Сheol.

“Hah!”

Crash!

“What...?”

With a roar, the chains binding Shin Сheol shattered. The man’s eyes widened in shock.

What had just happened? Had the command been undone?

How?

The man's face revealed disbelief, but there was no time to dwell on it.

The vermilion light from Shin Сheol’s sword descended.

Crack—!!

“Ugh!”

The man hissed as his arm was cleanly severed, flying through the air. It was a close call. If he hadn’t dodged just now, the outcome would have been far worse.

His eyes darted. It was fortunate that he avoided it, but now a new problem arose.

“What... is this?”

The severed arm couldn’t regenerate. Could this be the force that harmed even divinity? No, that wasn’t it. His rank remained unaffected.

Then what was this? Before he could voice his confusion, the man realized the cause.

“The energy...”

From the cut on his arm, energy was writhing. It was preventing regeneration, continuously hitting him.

“This is absurd...”

The energy itself seemed to have a will, constantly hindering his regeneration. This wasn’t just raw power—it was the result of meticulously condensed and controlled energy.

“A lowly being with such a rank...”

How could someone like this be so capable? A mortal, who hadn’t even lived a millennium.

Crack.

Gritting his teeth as if to crush them, the man moved his trident.

Scrape—!

He slashed once more at the cut, and only then did the energy that had been bound to the wound sever and allow regeneration.

Feeling his body regenerating, he distanced himself.

It seemed best to put some space between them first. Thinking this, he quickly increased the distance.

Even then, Shin Сheol stood still, lowering his sword, simply watching the man.

“What in the world...?”

What had just happened?

What was the gap between them?

He had obtained divinity and ascended to his master’s level. But just now, what had happened to him, at the hands of that lowly creature?

Even worse—

“Why didn’t the command work?”

It should have worked. Despite the clear difference in rank, the command failed to affect him.

No, it wasn’t that it didn’t work. The command had clearly affected him, but—

“He released it.”

He broke it with sheer willpower. What kind of madness was this?

“This bastard...”

What was he?

“What is your true identity?”

“Hm?”

At the man’s question, Shin Сheol tilted his head.

True identity?

“Well...”

There wasn’t much he could say about his true identity.

Shin Сheol.

The patriarch of the Mount Hua Sect.

The hero who saved Zhongyuan.

The greatest sword of all time.

So many titles came to mind, but they would all eventually fade away in his mind.

But the essence was clear.

“I recently learned something.”

How long had it been since he arrived in Mangye?

A body that neither grew nor decayed.

Energy neither increased nor decreased. His body neither deteriorated nor improved.

There were issues with his soul, but aside from that, Shin Сheol had retained everything he had possessed before his death.

It had been a contract.

Thus, he had never really desired growth.

Honestly, at his age, what would he have to gain from pursuing growth? For a moment, he thought this, but—

“In this old, decaying mind, there’s still desire.”

In Mangye, he had come to realize things he hadn’t known before.

“What?”

“No matter how much I remember, the essence remains embedded in my body. There’s nothing I can do about it. Thinking this way, I found myself improving a bit.”

“What are you saying...?”

“You asked what my true identity was?”

Shin Сheol shifted his posture. Turning his body to face the man, he raised his sword and held it gracefully.

The greatest plum tree of the Mount Hua Sect.

Shin Сheol spoke of his true identity.

“A warrior.”

“Huh?”

A warrior? What did that mean?

As the man pondered this, Shin Сheol continued:

“Never stop yearning, never stop growing. No matter what wall blocks your path, you will ultimately overcome it.”

A warrior was such a being.

There was no dead end. A wall in the way was merely something to climb over or break down.

The essence of a warrior was growth and enlightenment.

For Shin Сheol, being a warrior meant exactly that. Even in a life in Mangye where nothing could be gained, he still sought something.

A body that did not grow.

But what of his soul?

He had pursued.

He had yearned.

What was martial?

What was the sword? What was Mount Hua?

What did the things he had achieved mean?

As he pondered all these questions, one thing became clear.

There was no end to martial studies.

That meant, as a warrior, there was no limit.

Faintly, he had removed the excuse that he couldn’t move forward because he had already faced death.

He had only stopped walking because of the weight of his excuses.

And so, he let go of them.

Swoosh.

Shin Сheol’s sword shot into the sky.

The man’s eyes trembled. He had to block this.

Thinking so, his body instinctively lunged forward.

White energy wrapped around him, and a gleam filled his blue eyes.

“It doesn’t matter what you are.”

Clearly, the man was no ordinary being, but Shin Сheol’s only thought was that it didn’t matter.

What did it matter what the opponent was?

“You’re going to lose anyway.”

Though he didn’t take many steps, just one—

Shin Сheol had moved one step forward, and he could feel it.

That was enough.

He had not stopped, and that was enough.

His sword could cut through anything.

That was what he had lived for, and that intention was contained in the sword’s edge.

Plum Blossom Sword Style. The Path of the Sword.

Shin Сheol’s improvement.

Plum Blossom Late Sword.

Scrape.

The slow-moving sword cut through the man, and the world split apart.