'She thinks I should grow my hair out...?'

It was a jest from the supreme being who alone guarded the World Tree. She was so exalted that it was difficult to imagine her joking at all. Nothing she said could be taken lightly. Not by Jung Yeonshin.

He recalled his efforts to rescue Heon Wonchang. To gather information, he had debated the sword with local martial artists. By deliberately losing those verbal contests to win their favor, he had learned how to indulge others.

He would grow his hair once he became a master. He took that to heart.

'Still, surely she'd consider the fortress's captains masters, at least?'

The realm of black robes supposedly meant attaining the qi-circulation achievements of Three Flowers Gather at the Crown and Five Qi Return to the Origin. He had heard that core energy responded instantly to intent at that stage. It was a realm in which one could contend with renowned elders of the Nine Great Sects.

At that level, he doubted anyone could seize his long hair during close-quarters unarmed combat. Once he stepped into the higher realms, he could let it grow.

The thought lasted only an instant. When he met those green eyes again, the Desolate Fortress Master spoke.

“You look so determined. It was only an idle remark.”

A faint smile touched her lips.

“Even among all the martial artists who keep death as their companion, the Lightning Genius would not lack for intensity. It is not an unpleasant sight.”

“... You honor me.”

“There is no need for gratitude or humility.”

Her tone was as gentle as a breeze. She continued slowly.

“This fortress is not stingy with its rewards. I summoned you to reward the deeds your aspirations have brought about. I shall grant you what you rightfully deserve.”

At last.

Finally, the fortress master's words set his heart racing. He needed to calm himself, but could not. Even a long exhalation did nothing to still his pounding heart.

The Desolate Fortress Master must have perceived it all, yet her slight smile remained.

Everything in his vision slowed. Her lips, which had just promised him a reward, parted once more.

“Your contributions are very great. I shall name two.”

He no longer noticed the beauty that testified to her peerless martial prowess. He merely stared at her face, which looked only four or five years older than his, as though engraving it in his mind.

“For enabling us to locate the headquarters of an evil cult that preyed upon the people, and for contributing greatly to the destruction of those rebels without losses on our side.”

“...”

The first achievement had merely come about because the Seventh Apostle coveted Jung Yeonshin's worth. That was how the affair at the headquarters had begun. Yet he felt no embarrassment. At this moment, the reward to come mattered more than anything else.

“Your achievements may be deemed sufficient. They warrant a test of your qualifications.”

As she spoke, she extended her hand again. Her palm, improbably white for a martial artist, rose slowly. Something exceedingly strange happened.

The moonlight behind the Desolate Fortress Master was drawn toward her hand and began to warp. She was creating a truly transcendent spectacle. This was no human feat. That was how it felt to Jung Yeonshin.

“This...”

A breeze swept outward from the enormous tree trunks surrounding the office, seeming to tickle his body. Leaves turned green by the full moon's dazzling breath brushed across her entire figure.

“...is the Fruit of the World Tree. A small fragment of it.”

It looked as though she had scooped up a handful of the moon reflected upon a lake. A fragment of light budded above her hand, hazy as though fashioned from moonlight.

“...”

Jung Yeonshin remained silent. A stray breeze from the wall-less expanse outside teased his neck and passed on. Of everything he had seen in his life, this was the strangest miracle.

HUM.

Even its hum sounded sacred. He stared intently at the fragment of light resting in that exalted palm.

Here was his life's goal, yet he could sense nothing. It was unlike the spirit medicines commonly said to increase internal energy. There was no surging qi. It was simply filled with a sense of the miraculous.

“I know what the world says of it.”

The Desolate Fortress Master spoke. He raised his head and met a gaze like a bottomless forest abyss. She was watching him steadily.

“It is all wrong. This is not a spirit medicine that bestows tremendous power.”

“You spoke of qualifications. Then what...?”

“You will understand when you feel it.”

Her hand moved forward slightly, bringing the fragment of light closer. The longer he looked, the more mysterious it seemed, almost as though it were not of this world.

“Try eating it.”

He instinctively raised his hand at her words. She slowly shook her head.

“It loses its efficacy when separated from my body. You must bring your mouth to it.”

There was an expression: rare and wondrous treasures.

It meant treasures both precious and strange. Lesser dragons, spirit beasts, uncanny creatures, even wild ginseng in human form. Such were the natures of the Central Plains' famous spirit medicines and the many divine swords said to work miracles.

Things that defied ordinary reason were said to abound in the upper reaches of the martial world.

'It loses its efficacy when separated from her body?'

The Desolate Fortress Master spoke as though she herself were the World Tree. Countless questions arose in his mind. Were they joined by some spiritual bond? Did the title of the World Tree's guardian encompass that meaning?

Yet he dared not voice them. He feared overstepping his bounds. Such was Jung Yeonshin's present standing. The fortress master did not yet call him a master. He was in no position to do anything but accept what she bestowed.

'Senior Chung Myung said the information available to you changes as you rise through the ranks.'

For now, he would set his sights on black robes. That would have to suffice.

'Even so.'

Even so, the fragment of the World Tree before him was a fitting reward. He ought to claim it.

Without hesitation, Jung Yeonshin lowered his head slightly toward her hand and slowly opened his mouth. His lower lip touched her hand first, then the tip of his nose brushed it.

“Huh?”

He let out a puzzled sound. The Desolate Fortress Master had withdrawn her hand.

“This does not look seemly.”

Her tone was composed. As she spoke, the fragment of fruit slid down to gather at her fingertips.

She smoothly extended her hand toward him. The hazy light slowly filled Jung Yeonshin's vision. It was not moving toward his mouth.

It was aimed straight at his head. The passage leading directly into his upper dantian already seemed to respond. Her long finger touched the space between his eyebrows.

Then it happened.

“Gasp!”

His internal-art breathing broke off instantly. It could not have been otherwise. In a single moment, his consciousness was swept away.

Even as he felt himself sinking into an abyssal mire, an endlessly mounting sensation enveloped every thought and surged upward in a rush.

This was no increase in power. It was an experience.

It felt as though he had entered the mind of an unapproachable being. A tidal wave of sensation rose with astonishing speed. He drew in the qi of nature while perceiving every constituent of the air brushing his skin.

His senses had sharpened beyond anything he had ever imagined. Such perception felt as though it would drive him mad and kill him on the spot.

Suddenly, he became aware of time flowing slowly. He could see the moonlight moving.

In that moment, Jung Yeonshin had become the Desolate Fortress Master. He sensed time and the atmosphere together. Through her eyes, he gazed at himself. The fortress master's features reflected in his pitch-black pupils looked mysterious.

Among all the wonders under heaven, could anything else like this exist? He could scarcely believe it.

... That instant felt like an eternity.

Her delicate breathing was utterly distinct, yet she had not even finished a single exhalation. The breeze that brushed his ears had yet to pass away. Even so, it was unbearable. His own upper dantian gradually began to feel as though it would ignite in its desperate effort to endure.

“Enough.”

The instant the Desolate Fortress Master murmured those words, time, stretched to a suffocating length, abruptly resumed its flow.

Everything rushed back.

Jung Yeonshin returned to himself. His body swayed, seemingly from having experienced senses that surpassed even the loftiest martial realms.

Just as he was about to lose his balance, a gentle hand closed around his shoulder as though embracing it.

It was the Desolate Fortress Master.

“Not yet. It is too soon.”

At her words, Jung Yeonshin merely raised his head to meet her eyes.

“What do you mean, too soon...?”

“Your attainment is too shallow to accept the fruit. Devote yourself to training.”

“Just now, what exactly did it do?”

“I tested whether you could accept the World Tree's spiritual nature. Once the vessel of your intent grows firm, you will no longer ascend to immortality through your Baihui point, so long as our people's tree does not wither. You will live forever.”

She spoke of spiritual nature. It seemed she meant that sharing the World Tree's sacred essence would tether his life in place. This, too, defied ordinary reason.

Jung Yeonshin asked whether he had understood correctly.

“Your interpretation is correct.”

The Desolate Fortress Master nodded slowly. The fruit was the medium.

'What...?'

He had experienced with his entire being one of the martial world's greatest mysteries. Before entering this world, he had imagined a cure-all passed down in legends.

He had been only half right. Feeling hollow, Jung Yeonshin asked another question.

“I must rise to the rank of Divine Sword Squad Leader... and earn a whole fruit through fitting achievements. Then I must withstand the World Tree's spiritual nature with the attainment required to wear purple robes. Is that what you mean?”

“That, too, is correct.”

“... Then the senses your unworthy disciple possessed just now...?”

He asked about the world he seemed to have seen and felt through the fortress master's eyes. The corners of her mouth lifted slightly.

“They were inevitable.”

The soft hand on his shoulder gently pushed Jung Yeonshin away.

“And a gift.”

“Ah.”

He stepped down from the tree trunk. All his senses had returned to normal before he knew it. Yet the peerless world he had experienced remained vivid in his memory.

That was why it was a test, and why it was a gift.

He did not know what she meant by inevitable. But the experience would one day guide him a great distance. Perhaps it might even help with his imminent mission. Inspiration for creating a mental cultivation method was stirring within him. It was intensely powerful.

“May you fare well until you reach Southern Zhili.”

So she said. Apparently, she knew Jung Yeonshin had been selected for the matches to punish the Namgoong clan. He had heard that the Command Bureau handled all matters within the fortress, great and small, but some things evidently drew her interest.

'I'm being dismissed.'

She had wished him well. That meant he could leave.

“May you remain at peace as well, Fortress Master.”

Jung Yeonshin calmly paid his respects.

RUSTLE.

The soft brushing of his clothing sounded newly distinct.

The fortress master leaned back slightly, reclining gently against the tree trunk. Watching her slowly close her eyes, Jung Yeonshin turned away.

The moment he left the office, the stone doors that had opened on their own earlier closed by themselves. It was likely the subtle working of the Desolate Fortress Master's remote manipulation. He was accustomed to it now.

Jung Yeonshin descended the stairs. Unlike on the way up, the journey felt very short.

'So that's what the fruit was.'

He felt strange. Was it because he had experienced something unimaginable? He had fully grasped one of the martial world's unfathomable mysteries. He thought anyone who experienced it would feel the same.

She had even spoken of eternal life. It was a notion far removed from his present self. He stood at the opposite extreme.

'Even if I receive the fruit...'

He now knew his attainment was insufficient to contain its efficacy. Experience on missions would advance his martial arts and increase his merits. In the end, he had to return to the fundamentals.

STEP.

Having emerged from the Desolate Fortress Master's inner citadel, the boy walked on in silence. Beneath the bright moonlight, his shadow gradually lengthened. The deep night was drawing to a close.

* * *

The next day, at the Radiant Demon Squad's main training ground.

An official document arrived through the Command Bureau. It was a letter detailing the next mission.

Seated in the middle of the training ground, Jung Yeonshin unfolded his mission assignment. His seniors stood in a circle around him. The sight of them gathered together, peering down, was a little comical.

“The Lightning Genius is listed among the representatives for the matches. His name really is there.”

“A great honor indeed. If only I were ten years younger...”

Some of his seniors, whose eye techniques far surpassed Jung Yeonshin's, seemed to have skimmed it already.

The boy read down the letter headed ‘Deployment Roster.’ He skipped the miscellaneous preliminaries and went straight to the names.

[The following five shall be executed in life-and-death duels.]

The Namgoong clan's Changnyeong Flower Mistress.

The Namgoong clan's young clan head.

The Namgoong clan's Vast Heaven Sword Corps Leader.

The Namgoong clan's Council of Elders Leader.

The Namgoong clan head.

[The following warriors of this fortress shall make due preparations.]

The Suncheon Wing's White Qilin.