I blankly swung my sword, received a scolding from Yoo Doha, and then sat down and sighed. I thanked him for bringing me warm water and when I tilted the cup, his mouth opened.

“Do you have a lot on your mind?”

“On my mind…”

I stared blankly at my reflection in the water inside the cup and raised my head. I saw Yoo Doha’s face looking at me with concern. I quietly looked at him, then raised my head and looked up at the ceiling.

Yoo Doha kept silent as if waiting for me to open my mouth directly. After organizing my thoughts in that brief moment of silence, I slowly opened my mouth.

“Has Yoo Doha entered the Flowering Realm?”

“In the Demon Cult, we use the term Transcendent Demonic Realm instead of Flowering Realm. Since what we aim for and achieve are different, we make a separate distinction. You asked, so I’ll answer, but I still haven’t broken through the wall. Currently, the only known people in the Demon Cult who have broken through the wall are the Cult Leader, the Young Cult Leader, and the Vice Cult Leader.”

Is that so… I muttered quietly and sipped the water. Yoo Doha, who was observing my reaction, tilted his head diagonally. I held the warm water in my mouth, quietly organized my thoughts, and spoke again.

“Yoo Doha is amazing, isn’t he?”

“I’m not really amazing…”

“I heard. Yoo Doha is one of the strongest, except for those three. That’s why, even though he doesn’t hold the position of an elder, he is in charge of the Blood Flow Thousand Wolves Corps. That’s not an easy task.”

“That may be true… But it’s not something I would describe as amazing. If you look right now, you’ll see that the Young Cult Leader broke through the wall at an even younger age than me. The term amazing suits him, while I’m still far behind.”

His reaction, feigning modesty, made me sigh. If that man is not amazing, then what am I?

“By the way, why are you asking about that all of a sudden? Is there some problem…”

“Just… I was wondering if I could really overcome that wall when even someone as amazing as Yoo Doha hasn’t broken through it yet.”

“Hmm, I see. In fact, the saying that you can do anything if you try hard may sound good depending on how you hear it, but it’s not the truth. Among the thousands and tens of thousands of martial artists, it’s extremely rare to break through the wall and achieve harmony in the Transcendent Demonic Realm or Flowering Realm. You can count them on your fingers. Even in the Central Plains, there are less than eight people who have broken through the wall of the Flowering Realm. It can be said to be a path in the sky.”

I tilted my head. The supreme and pure realm that only eight out of the martial artists who train throughout their lives have reached. Can I really reach there?

After Monk Jeongun’s visit, Man Do and Dojin told me that the path to the Flowering Realm is arduous but not impossible. Along with the fact that my blood vessels are open and if I absorb the enormous amount of internal energy, it’s not impossible.

However, while others call the path to the Flowering Realm a wall, Hyuk Dojin said that for me, there is no wall but a door. Unlike others who have to break through the wall, I have to open that door. He said if that happens, everything will be in harmony, but it still felt like grasping at clouds.

“Haah…”

“Don’t worry too much. By the way, I heard that a physician recently checked your pulse again… How did it go? Were there any good results?”

I slowly nodded my head at his words. To be precise, it is good news. Since they said I can buy time. In fact, Monk Jeongun disappeared for three days, then brought back medicine and needles and started treating me.

Perhaps it’s thanks to the various medicinal herbs and acupuncture he used to balance the broken harmony of yin and yang. Recently, I’ve been feeling that my physical condition has definitely improved compared to before.

The sleeping time that kept increasing returned to normal, and warmth slowly circulated in my body that used to be only cold. A red flush appeared on my cheeks, and the sunlight no longer felt as hot as before.

Although my condition has definitely improved compared to before, Monk Jeongun always emphasized that I still shouldn’t overdo it and that I need better medicinal herbs.

Even the Body Refining Pill, of course, is not a medicinal herb to be ignored, but he said it’s not enough to balance the broken yin and yang. He said that I need to raid Shaolin Temple and bring back three or four Great Rejuvenation Pills*, or if not, boil and drink about ten ginseng that are a thousand years old to see a definite effect. (tl/note: It can not only bring the dead back to life, but also has the effect of curing all internal and external injuries and increasing one’s power.)

But the Great Rejuvenation Pill and thousand-year-old ginseng are things that even if you have money, you can’t obtain them, so where can I get them?

Monk Jeongun kept emphasizing the need to bring the necessary medicinal herbs while expressing regret.

However…

“There are good things, but there are also worries piling up, so that’s the problem.”

“What worries do you have?”

After glancing at Yoo Doha’s face, who asked cautiously, I answered slowly.

“I want to cross the high mountain in front of me, but to do that, I lack physical strength and muscle strength. But I don’t have much time to build up my physical strength and muscle strength, so I’m thinking about what the answer is.”

“…What does that mean?”

What does it mean? It means I’m frustrated. After finishing all the water, I got up from my seat. My head was complicated, and I had a lot of distracting thoughts. After hanging the wooden sword on the wall, I put on a thick outer garment.

“Yoo Doha. Let’s stop here for today. I’m sorry. I should do more, but I can’t concentrate because I’m distracted.”

“What? Ah, it’s alright.”

I slowly smiled at him, who had a surprised expression, then bowed my head and opened the door. The training ended quickly, and Joo Hwarin wasn’t there, so the corridor was empty. I moved my feet to return to my room.

While walking along the corridor for a while, I noticed a door leading to the end of the corridor. I stared blankly at that door and slowly approached it.

Beyond the door, I could see the courtyard located behind the pavilion. The snow that had fallen a few days ago hadn’t melted completely, so there were white powders scattered here and there in the world.

Would it be cold? As I slightly opened the door, a chill rushed in. Normally, I would have shivered from the cold, feeling my body tremble, but somehow that chill made me feel good.

I hesitated at the door, feeling the chill, and then opened the door and stepped outside. I took a deep breath, inhaling and exhaling the chill touching my skin, and looked around. An empty stone fence path. I walked on it, breathing a few times.

I saw a frozen pond in the winter wind. I quietly looked at the pond, and when I pressed the frozen ice with my foot, small cracks formed.

The ice broke, and the pond was revealed. And from below, air bubbles rose up.

In the not-so-deep water, there were fish enduring the cold winter.

As I smiled faintly, a voice was heard from the side.

“This winter seems like it will be harsh.”

Startled by the heavy voice, I turned to the side. There stood a middle-aged man with his hair neatly combed, smiling with his hands clasped behind his back. He was looking at the pond I was looking at.

When did he come? I didn’t even sense his presence.

I tried to step back, being wary of the man who suddenly appeared, but before that, the man’s gaze shifted from the pond to me.

“The wind is cold.”

“…”

He stared at me blankly without an answer, then glanced at my hair fluttering in the wind and smiled softly.

“It’s as if snow has fallen only on your head.”

“…Who are you?”

I asked cautiously, but the man just smiled instead of answering. I narrowed my brow at that smile, which strangely reminded me of someone.

“Do you know this? It’s not the warm sunshine or the hot fire that protects against the harsh cold of winter, but the snow piled up softly. Even in the freezing cold that feels like you’ll freeze to death, if you go into the snow, the warmth in the snow protects your body temperature. Isn’t it amazing? The coldest thing of all, snow, protects people from the cold in winter.”

The sudden philosophical words related to snow were not the answer I wanted. The middle-aged man looked at the pond again and spoke slowly.

“In general, a single property cannot be the essence of something. As time passes, thoughts that were considered a single truth are shattered, and another truth takes their place.”

“…”

This man wasn’t asking for an answer from me. I turned my head and looked down at the pond facing me. If he wasn’t demanding an answer, there was no need to force myself to speak.

“I, too, once believed in it. I believed that I alone could do anything. But it didn’t take long for me to realize that my existence is just a single dot in this vast nature.”

A long breath flowed out. In the winter chill, the breath that came out of his mouth became white and scattered.

“The price was terrible. Only after losing many things did I realize how foolish I had been, but by then, the precious things had already left.”

“Do you still regret it?”

“I regret it. I always regret it. Sometimes I think I should have educated my only son better…”

A small chuckle was heard. He unclasped his hands behind his back and lightly rubbed his cheek.

“It will snow again. This year will be harsh.”

With those words, he turned around. I slowly opened my mouth as I watched the man leave with his back turned.

“How do you endure the cold of winter?”

“…”

The man stopped in his tracks and quietly looked up at the sky. Beyond his tilted gaze, the sky was filled with dark clouds, as if it would soon snow heavily. A small sound of wind passing was heard.

“…I see. The cold.”

The man quietly muttered and turned his waist to look at me. His eyes were smiling.

“I’ve never thought about it, as it passes by if you endure it. I haven’t even thought about such trivial things in the decades I’ve naturally endured.”

“What did you do when your family was cold?”

“Nothing.”

He answered briefly. A bitter smile lingered on his lips.

“I did nothing for them. I just thought that if I could endure it, they could endure it too. But it seems I was the only one who could endure the harsh cold.”

A small sigh flowed from his mouth. It was an endlessly heavy sigh, without substance or weight.

“That’s probably why they left.”

“Do you regret that too?”

“…”

From the sky to the ground. From the ground back to me, the man’s gaze slowly returned and stared at me. His unwavering eyes seemed to move slightly, and then a smile appeared on his lips.

“Interesting. I think I know why many are paying attention to you.”

He lightly bowed his head. The man nodded and turned around. His voice slowly came back as he turned his back.

“Next time, I hope to meet you properly, not sneaking glances like this.”

“I understand.”

“Don’t keep me waiting too long. It’s already enough.”

He finished speaking and moved his legs again. I quietly looked at his back. As he was approaching the door, the man let out a short exclamation of ‘Ah!’ and took out a small box from his bosom, lightly throwing it towards me.

I reflexively reached out my hand, but the distance was a bit short. However, strangely, the box floated and gently landed on my palm.

“This is…?”

I shifted my gaze from the man and looked down at the box.

I opened the lid. At that moment, a spicy aroma pierced my nose. Inside, there was a root about the size of a forearm, covered in a red cloth.

“What is this…?”

I was about to ask what it was, but the man who had been in front of me until just now had disappeared. Just as when he came, he left without leaving a trace or any presence. I quietly looked at the stone fence where the man had been standing and closed the lid of the box.

“They’re very similar.”

The smiles of the father and son couldn’t be that similar.