Time passed unexpectedly quickly, and soon it was the registration day for the martial arts tournament.

We hadn’t visited Huashan yet.

Even though Chun-bong said it was fine, I wasn’t about to gamble with her life, no matter what the odds were.

I would never do something like that in the future either.

“Wow, there are so many damn people here.”

The spacious plaza in Hwaeum Prefecture, where the registration desk was located, was swarming with people like a colony of ants. Seo-jun grimaced at the sight.

He wasn't exaggerating—his hands trembled with the sheer urge to cut the population in half right then and there.

“You maniac!”

Noticing his shaking hands, Chun-bong smacked them with an exasperated look.

She sighed deeply, the kind that came from her core, and grabbed his hand.

“If you even think about letting go of my hand...”

“Oh, my heart’s fluttering.”

“Just cut the crap, will you?”

It seemed like even the Huashan Sect had anticipated this kind of crowd, as they had set up multiple registration desks.

Standing at the end of what seemed like the shortest line, Seo-jun clicked his tongue as he scanned the area.

“Not all these people are participants, right?”

“No, but if you gathered all the participants together, it would look like this.”

“Seriously?”

How could that even make sense? How many days would the tournament take at this rate?

As Seo-jun grumbled to himself, his eyes suddenly lit up.

There, among the crowd, was someone kindly offering a distraction from his boredom—a man attempting to cut in line.

Seo-jun immediately sprinted over.

“Hey, you bastard! No cutting!”

“I’ve got an urgent matter and need to be at the front.”

“Oh? Is that urgent matter, by chance, a romantic date with the Grim Reaper?”

“Y-you insolent brat! Do you even know who I am?!”

After giving the line-cutter a good beating and sending him on his way, Seo-jun felt a bit of his stress melt away.

“Ah, that felt nice.”

He nodded in satisfaction, while Chun-bong sighed. But just then, they spotted another person trying to cut the line.

“That bastard, too!”

Seo-jun quickly dashed over and once again dispensed justice.

After beating up about a dozen more line-cutters, the seemingly endless queue had shortened quite a bit.

“Why are there so many people trying to cut in line?”

“This is actually not that many.”

“This?!”

Seo-jun let out a disbelieving laugh. Martial artists really were a different breed.

“Looks like there’s some sort of test.”

Near the registration desk was a large log, and martial artists were seen swinging their weapons at it.

It seemed like cutting the log was part of the test to qualify.

“Of course. If they just let everyone in, the tournament would last for months.”

“That makes sense.”

After waiting for about an hour, it was finally Seo-jun’s turn.

Or rather, it was Chun-bong’s turn.

“Huh? Wait, you’re participating too?”

“Why? Got a problem with that?”

“No, I just thought you wouldn’t.”

Chun-bong snorted at Seo-jun’s words and approached the person sitting at the registration desk, giving her name.

“Chun-bong.”

“Yes, just cut the log over there and you’ll pass.”

The tired receptionist waved a hand listlessly toward the log.

Seo-jun noticed there were people cleaning up the debris of previously cut logs.

This tournament wasn’t for the faint of heart, that was for sure.

While Seo-jun was still clicking his tongue in disbelief, Chun-bong drew her sword.

Shiiing—

Without a single trace of sword energy, her blade effortlessly passed through the log.

“Huh?”

Seo-jun was startled.

As Chun-bong lightly pushed the top of the log with her hand, it revealed a perfectly clean cut, and the log toppled over.

“No way, you did that without using sword energy?”

“What are you talking about? You can do it too.”

“Seriously?”

This log was thicker than a man’s waist. Was it really possible to just slice through it with a sword alone?

While Seo-jun was lost in thought, Chun-bong received a token from the receptionist and tapped Seo-jun on the waist.

“Hey, it’s your turn.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Seo-jun gave his name to the receptionist and stood in front of the log, rubbing his chin.

‘I won’t take any chances.’

Honestly, he wasn’t sure how well this would go.

He coated his sword with sword energy and sliced through the log cleanly, receiving his token from the receptionist.

“Next.”

Leaving the lifeless receptionist behind, Seo-jun walked out of the plaza, fiddling with the sword at his waist and looking deep in thought.

“Chun-bong.”

“Yeah?”

“Before we head to the inn, let’s stop by somewhere first.”

Chun-bong chuckled.

“Wanna cut some more logs?”

“Yeah.”

“It’s really not a big deal. Once you reach a certain level, anyone can do it.”

“No, but this seriously doesn’t make sense.”

Of course, in a world where manipulating qi was possible, there was no reason why cutting a log couldn’t be done.

But doing it without emitting qi, and without any visible internal movement of energy, was a different story.

If you gave a modern-day kendo practitioner a real sword and asked them to cut through a log, could they do it?

By Seo-jun’s logic, it should have been impossible.

“This spot should be good.”

They reached an isolated area on the outskirts of Hwaeum Prefecture, and Seo-jun eyed a suitably large tree.

No need to hesitate.

Swish—

Seo-jun unsheathed his sword and swung it horizontally with force.

Thunk!

The sword embedded itself halfway into the tree.

“What the...”

Seo-jun blinked in surprise. The cut was cleaner than he had expected.

Chun-bong blinked in surprise too.

“What the hell are you doing?”

At Seo-jun’s level, failing to slice through a mere tree didn’t make any sense.

If she were to face Seo-jun in a life-or-death battle, Chun-bong wasn’t confident she could win.

And yet, here he was, struggling to cut through something she had sliced with ease?

They stared at each other, both tilting their heads in confusion.

“Chun-bong.”

“Yeah?”

“You said mastery is about how well you control qi, right?”

“That’s right. Hmm… maybe that’s why?”

Chun-bong picked up a branch from the ground. Now that she thought about it, she hadn’t really explained the concept of mastery to him in detail.

“What do you think third-rate martial artists are?”

“Trash?”

“Well, yeah, but…”

Scratching her head, Chun-bong began drawing letters in the dirt with the branch.

‘Third-rate.’

“Third-rate martial artists are those who have just started learning martial arts. They’ve created a danjeon and have internal energy, but they don’t know how to use it.”

“Ah, got it.”

‘Second-rate.’

“Second-rate martial artists have learned how to use their internal energy to strengthen their bodies.”

‘First-rate.’

“First-rate martial artists can not only use internal energy within their bodies, but they can also emit it externally. Things like sword energy and fist energy come from this level.”

‘Peak.’

“And peak martial artists can freely manipulate the energy they emit. While they can’t control it once it leaves their body, they can still release it.”

“Like shooting qi bullets?”

“Yeah. But you’re different. Normally, when peak martial artists release qi like that, it scatters a lot, so the power isn’t that strong.”

Even though there was a mastery level for martial artists, a lower-tier martial artist would still struggle to withstand such an attack. However, against another peak martial artist, it was more of a deterrent than a serious threat.

Seo-jun nodded at Chun-bong’s explanation.

“That makes sense. I just focus on keeping it tightly packed before I shoot it.”

“That’s not normal, you idiot.”

“I’ve been pouring all my internal energy into it recently, and the power’s pretty decent.”

Sigh…

Chun-bong shook her head.

“That’s not even realistic.”

To be able to pour all of one’s internal energy into a single attack was ridiculous in and of itself.

Even if it was one’s own energy, there’s a limit to how much could be expelled at once.

It was like poking a hole in a large barrel—yes, a lot of water would come out at once, but there’s a limit to the size of the hole.

“Well, you always manage to pull off some bizarre feats, so whatever. Moving on.”

‘Transcendence.’

“To be honest, from here on out, I’m not really sure. Everything I know is just theory.”

“Well, that’s better than nothing.”

“I guess so.”

Chun-bong enveloped the branch in a thin layer of platinum-colored internal energy.

“Remember what I told you? When sword energy is imbued with a star, it becomes sword strength.”

“Yeah, I remember.”

“And you remember the part about divinity being infused into qi, right?”

“Yeah, that internal energy is imbued with one’s will.”

Chun-bong nodded.

“By the time you reach the peak level, your body and energy are roughly balanced. The balance between essence, energy, and spirit is aligned.”

“And to use sword strength, you have to balance spirit as well?”

“Exactly. When essence, energy, and spirit are in harmony, your internal energy becomes much easier to control. And only when your control is that advanced can you reach transcendence.”

This is why martial artists have to open their meridians and connect their inner channels. Only by achieving this can they absorb the energy of the heavens and earth, and complete the Great Circulation.

However, the contradiction lies in the fact that to reach that level, you already need to possess the ability to do so beforehand.

And this is why transcendence is called superior perfection. It’s a realm beyond human limits, attainable only by those who have mastered all aspects of martial arts.

As Seo-jun mulled over her words, he asked a question.

“So, you can’t reach transcendence just by getting better at handling qi, can you?”

“No, I don’t think so. Anyway, back to what we were talking about.”

Chun-bong pointed at Seo-jun with the branch.

“Your swordsmanship has changed. It hasn’t regressed, but its purpose seems completely different now.”

Seo-jun blinked at the sharp observation.

To him, the sword was merely a tool to execute the Merged Origin Divine Art.

“Is that a problem?”

“No, not really. It’s your path, after all. It’s just a bit of a shame.”

With a sigh, Chun-bong plopped down on the ground.

“Have you heard of the Fist King?”

“The Fist King? I know a guy named Ralph.”

“Don’t be an idiot.”

Chun-bong playfully swung her fist at him, a soft cat punch.

As Seo-jun looked at her, she continued.

“The Fist King’s level is second-rate.”

“What?”

A second-rate martial artist as the Fist King?

Seo-jun stared at her as if she was spouting nonsense.

“He never releases internal energy outside his body. He only circulates it internally, strengthening his body to the extreme.”

“And?”

“With his extreme external training on top of that, it’s said that his fists can clash with sword energy and come out unscathed. So technically, he’s second-rate, but in terms of strength, he’s one of the strongest transcendents.”

Chun-bong met Seo-jun’s gaze.

He could tell what she was getting at.

Mastery isn’t absolute. It’s just a general benchmark.

Seo-jun had similar thoughts.

What internal energy could accomplish also depended on the martial arts one had learned.

If someone focused solely on shooting sword energy, then even a first-rate martial artist could probably do it.

“This is interesting.”

Seo-jun smirked.

“What about beyond that?”

“Transcendent Harmony?”

“Is there anything beyond that?”

His excitement was building.

A realm beyond heaven, a stage beyond human understanding. Would he ever reach it?

Had anyone already pioneered this frontier?

His golden eyes sparkled with excitement at the anticipation stirring inside him.