“To control fire?”
“Just as it sounds. The one who absorbs the Flame Jade suffers no harm from fire, no matter the intensity. Moreover, it's said that they can manipulate flames at will, as if their limbs. According to the records, even without firewood, they can ignite flames from their own body. Especially…”
Cheol Muguk continued in a trembling voice.
“The flame of the Flame Jade is said to produce Blue Fire.”
In Return of the Murim, jades are crystallizations of mystical energy.
They grant miraculous powers that defy both physical laws and martial arts logic.
Just look at the Blink Orb. Simple movement techniques can be replicated through martial arts, but passing through walls? That’s beyond martial skill.
So—
“To control fire… it’s unbelievable.”
There are many stories where fire-users are portrayed as weak or gimmicky, but in truth, fire is a terrifying force by its very nature.
Even the lightest contact can cause critical injuries. Beyond burns, fire can damage the respiratory system or cause permanent harm to muscles just through heat exposure.
“Sure, martial artists with strong internal energy might endure it for a bit…”
But if this jade allows one to control fire, then even they won’t last long.
Considering the power creep in this world, even an ordinary person who knows nothing of martial arts could, by absorbing the jade, output firepower equivalent to a Peak expert.
“If I absorb this…”
I imagined it.
If someone closes in, I blind them with the flash-tassel, breathe fire to block them, then Blink out. From long range, I’d just play with fire from afar. Like that one game where you just keep clicking buttons to win.
It’d still be more than enough power.
[What are you waiting for?]
Skybreaker said to me.
[Absorb it now. The Flame Jade is your rightful spoil. Not using it would be foolish.]
“You’re not wrong.”
If I were to describe my stats in NovelBin terms, my attack, defense, and health would all be F-rank trash.
Maybe, just maybe, when Skybreaker draws sword energy by absorbing my qi, I might hit B-rank. Maybe.
In that situation, absorbing the Flame Jade would at least push my attack power to a usable level.
It could bring even a commoner to Peak level firepower.
But…
[Then why hesitate?]
“Even if I absorb the Flame Jade, can I use it to its full potential?”
To put it simply—it’s a matter of survival and opportunity cost.
[What nonsense is that?]
“If I use that jade myself, it means I’ll end up on the front lines more often.”
There are many who’ve learned Heat Yang Technique, but none who wield the power of a jade.
It’s a rare and unique ability, so more people will seek me out. I might even become a target just for absorbing it.
“The more I step up, the more dangerous things become—for me and us.”
If I were like other possession-type protagonists in NovelBins, leveling up easily and crushing all opposition, I’d have used it without hesitation.
But my situation is different.
Even if I absorb the Flame Jade, nothing changes the reality that I’d be one-shot in a real fight with experts.
And using its power doesn’t guarantee I could win against such experts.
“Absolutely not.”
Just take Saweol, for instance. Even if I spewed fire at her, she’d step through space with her Ghost Step of the Old Willow and stab me in the heart before I could even react.
If the jade was for defense, or like the Blink Orb with evasion, I wouldn’t hesitate. But since it’s offense-focused—
“What if I gave it to Cheol Muguk instead? As an investment.”
[Like you did with Paeng Soso?]
“Exactly. Give it to someone who can make better use of it, and reap the real benefits. Think about it.”
I’d be running Martial Arts Corp. Sado Hwan, Ltd.
[Nonsense.]
Skybreaker immediately retorted.
[...If you were a proper cultist. But for a monster like you? That might actually be the right call.]
“You’re agreeing a little too easily.”
[Hmph.]
If Paeng Soso hadn’t brought back such good results, Skybreaker probably wouldn’t be thinking this way. But she exceeded all expectations. There’s now a precedent.
And Paeng Soso and the Treasure Hoarders could have come back with nothing.
Some ruins are just trap-filled death pits for greedy fools.
“But with Cheol Muguk?”
If I can secure a Heaven-grade blacksmith on my side, I gain access to high-quality treasures and weapons with ease.
[Can you be sure you won’t regret it? This could be a once-in-a-lifetime chance.]
“I have to take the shot.”
I closed the lid of the box containing the Flame Jade.
“Clan Head Cheol.”
Cheol Muguk’s eyes went wide like lanterns at my next words.
“Absorb this.”
Cheol Muguk looked like he doubted his ears. Blacksmiths often suffer from hearing loss due to years in noisy forges.
“What did you say???”
“I said absorb the Flame Jade.”
Cheol Muguk waved a hand in front of my face.
“Are you out of your mind?”
I frowned and pushed his hand away.
“Stop that.”
“You don’t seem to get it. This is jade, jade! Even the Heavenly Demon Treasury has only two jades listed. They’re that rare. And this one’s not just any jade—it’s verified!”
“I know.”
“Then why are you giving it to me?”
Cheol Muguk asked, baffled. I answered calmly.
“Because I don’t need it on the path I’m walking.”
That answer was so composed that Cheol Muguk was left speechless.
“You’re still young. Is it that you don’t understand the ways of the world? That’s a very arrogant thing to say.”
“Clan Head Cheol.”
The moment our eyes met—
“…You mean this?”
“Clan Head. I may not know blacksmithing, but I can say this.”
I held out my hand.
The palm was covered in thick calluses, the kind that only form after bursting and healing countless times.
“So you’ve worked hard too, is that it?”
Cheol Muguk was dumbfounded.
The realm of Transcendent Peak is one only the heavens can grant.
To reach that realm in one’s early thirties? That takes godlike talent.
And yet, this boy who reached that level—was trying to lecture him on hard work?
But—
“No.”
I shook my head.
“Not everyone can reach that realm through effort alone. Effort is merely the minimum requirement.”
“Then what are you trying to say?”
“If you’ve set your goal, if you’ve chosen your path—and if effort alone is not enough—then you have to do whatever it takes to achieve it.”
“What…?”
“Clan Head, you already know. You can’t ignite Cheonghwa at this rate.”
Cheol Muguk’s brows furrowed at my words.
“If you know that, then stop clinging to old methods and talking about persistence and hard work. Use whatever means necessary to get there. Otherwise, it’s just a foolish obsession.”
“Obsession?”
“Accept your limits, Clan Head. That is the greatest key to reaching the next level.”
“…Hah…”
Cheol Muguk felt something stir within him. It was unpleasant—yet also liberating. Like a thorn long lodged deep inside had finally been pulled out.
No one had ever dared call him foolish or obsessed. But the young man before him, with that strange, swirling gray gaze, had done just that.
“…I see now.”
It was like waking from a long, hazy dream. He realized—he had never truly wanted it. He hadn’t acknowledged his limits. He had simply drowned in the illusion of effort.
And that realization had come from just a few words.
Was it the youth’s mysterious eyes filled with swirling energy?
Or that he’d pointed out something even Cheol Muguk hadn’t realized himself?
“For this Flame Jade, a seal of gratitude would be insufficient.”
I nodded.
“Of course.”
“From now on, everything used by the Sado Clan—swords, chopsticks, even spoons—will be supplied by the Cheol Clan.”
“That alone won’t be enough.”
“Then, as long as I live, I’ll send one Dragon-grade treasure and two Standard-grade artifacts to the Sado Clan each month.”
“That will suffice.”
“To think someone that powerful would trade away something so precious not for personal gain, but for their clan... it seems the Sado Clan has finally found its true heir.”
Sado Hwan only gave a slight shrug in response.
“Let’s head to the forge.”
***
[I get that your words were smooth as flowing water, but are you seriously saying a seventy-year-old man gave up his lifelong stubbornness just from that?]
Skybreaker grumbled. Honestly, it had been a gamble for me too.
“Maybe those were the words he’d wanted to hear his entire life.”
Given Cheol Muguk’s age and position, there probably hadn’t been anyone around who could point that out to him.
Geniuses don’t have a monopoly on suffering. If anything, mediocrity carries more silent pain.
Or maybe it’s just the result of an intelligence debuff. Either way, it worked out.
When we reached the forge, Cheol Muguk lit the furnace and placed a piece of Unma Iron on top.
He then removed his thick outer coat with reverence, as if preparing for a sacred ritual. His upper body, revealed beneath, was surprisingly gaunt for a blacksmith.
“Give me the jade.”
I took the Flame Jade from its box and handed it to him.
Cheol Muguk gazed at it with a distant look, then clenched his hand.
Crack!
As the jade shattered,
Goooo—
A deep, thunderous resonance began to spread from Cheol Muguk’s palm, like the tremor of an earthquake.
And then—
Ffwoosh!
Blue flames surged up from Cheol Muguk’s hand, engulfing him in an instant.
“W-what’s going on?!”
Perhaps due to the commotion, the door burst open and Young Master Cheol rushed in with a panicked expression.
“F-Father!”
Seeing the blue flames consuming him, Young Master Cheol leapt toward the fire in shock.
“Stop.”
At my words, Young Master Cheol—his eyes rolled back in panic—suddenly shifted his movement.
“You bastard! What did you do to my father?!”
A fierce energy surged from Young Master Cheol’s body.
Behind him, a massive phantasmal image began to take form.
[A Manifestation!]
A giant made of fire was rising behind him. And Young Master Cheol’s already large frame was growing even bigger.
Is that a person or a goddamn Hulk?!
Shit.
Up to this point, every Manifestation I’d encountered had been in safe conditions.
This time was different.
One wrong move and I’d lose my head.
[You have to Blink out of here.]
Timing is the problem.
“You dare face me without even calling forth your Manifestation?!”
Young Master Cheol shouted, moving to attack. Since I couldn’t track his movements with my senses, I focused all my energy on timing my Blink perfectly—
“Stand down.”
At that moment—
Cheol Muguk’s voice rang out, low and steady.
“Father?”
The blue flames that had engulfed him vanished completely—and in place of the white-haired old man stood a man with jet-black hair, now middle-aged in appearance.
[…He really reversed aging.]
Returning to Youth.
A phenomenon where the body physically becomes younger again.
It typically occurs alongside a complete bodily transformation when one reaches the Transcendent Peak.
Just by absorbing the Flame Jade, Cheol Muguk had become young again.
He approached the furnace. With a sweep of his hand—
Ffwoosh!
The reddish flames inside turned a pure blue in an instant.
The Unma Iron resting within melted immediately, becoming a mysterious liquid glowing like golden starlight.
“Th-that’s… Unma Iron?!”
Young Master Cheol shouted in disbelief.
“F-Father?! Is that really you?”
“Well, I wouldn’t be your mother, now would I?”
“H-how… how is this possible…”
“Step aside. And quit making a fuss.”
At Cheol Muguk’s words, Young Master Cheol extinguished his Manifestation.
Then, Cheol Muguk approached me.
Swoosh—
He bowed deeply.
For someone like him—an elder, a senior of the cult, and a head of one of the Six Demon Families—to bow like that was nearly unthinkable.
“Clan Head Sado. You are my benefactor. Thanks to you, I have fulfilled my life’s greatest wish—and have now become a Heaven-grade blacksmith.”
I nodded calmly, doing my best to maintain a neutral expression.
“Sopyeong.”
“Yes, Father?”
“Go fetch the Clan Head’s seal. If anyone objects, tell them this old man has lit the Blue Fire.”
“U-understood!”
Young Master Cheol quickly rushed out of the forge.
Now that we were alone, Cheol Muguk turned to me.
“Clan Head Sado.”
“What is it?”
“That sword…”
At those words, I nearly lost my composure.
“…Is that the Skybreaker Sword?”