The days went by slowly and calmly. Life inside the castle city wasn't much different from the life inside the sect. Eat, sleep, cultivate, repeat. With the times were they walked around and had fun. The trio composed of Jin, Soo-Hyun and Min-Su got closer and closer. They were truly enjoying their time.

But after a month, there was a doubt. Both Jin and Min-Su didn't know how to broach over the topic so, one day, at breakfast, Jin asked Soo-Hyun directly: "Why haven't you broken through yet?" and she glared at him. Then, she got up and left.

It was only for lunch that she came back. Both Jin and Min-Su laughed at her. She did take quite a liking to Min-Su's cooking. The guy was really a talent. Even the random rations provided for free turned into a sumptuous feast in his hands. With nearly money to herself and a belly growling, she had no choice but to come back.

In the end, they asked her again. This time, she answered though in a very low mumble of words: "I'm scared"

After hearing those words, the tactful Min-Su said that he had some ingredients to buy and left the two of them alone. He had the wrong idea about them. In fact, it happens often that wandering cultivators pick two disciples of different genders, a male and female, in hope that they will be talented and fall in love.

If they did, it might end up forming a clan later on. Wandering cultivators weren't stupid. They knew that they likely would never achieve much themselves. But they hoped that those after them would and remember them. Being dead and forgotten was far different from being dead and remembered as the origin of the clan founder's fateful meeting and cultivation paths.

It was also how many clans and sects ended up being formed along the eons of ages. It begins with a lone man or woman taking in disciples. And it goes on, and on. This is how the unknown expect to be remembered... And, as a wandering cultivator himself, while young, Min-Su was no stranger to such practices. As so, he thought that those two were like that... It was a misunderstanding of course.

But Jin and Soo-Hyun were grateful about this. It would be easier for Soo-Hyun to speak her mind and for Jin to help her. While they got closer to Min-Su, he remained a stranger. And so, they began to discuss the problem that Soo-Hyun faced.

She told Jin: "I can't help it! It's scary!" to which Jin replied: "How so?" and she explained: "I am scared of the trial of the heart demon! Demons are scary!"And Jin, as a mature man, couldn't help but laugh. This barbaric teenage girl who roamed around with a big battle axe on her back was scared to face her heart demon? Was this a joke?

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Soo-Hyun didn't find it funny though. She was truly frightened about it.

The heart demon was the final step to forging one's true core and reach the spiritual warrior threshold. At the peak of the fifth realm of refinement, the body would have already gone through five refinement. It was at the peak of the mortal realm. The only way beyond was to face one's mortality and break away from it, settling down one's attachments to mortality and truly embracing spirituality.

Not only would the spiritual energy inside the core solidify and turn the core into a solid, the soul sea itself would undergo a complete change and grow. It would become much stronger and get the property of infinite growth. But in order to do so, one had to face his inner demons.

What were inner demons? They could take the shape of many things but they would always have one thing in common: they were the remaining attachments to mortality, explained through the feelings of powerful emotions. Be it hatred or love, both could turn into inner demons, which is why they were so scary.

Breaking away from mortality and embracing spirituality meant that one would live far longer and become different from the others, from the mortals. From there, many things would be earned but at the same time, a lot would be lost. You would have to accept that a lot of people you knew would die in front of your eyes, and many times. More than anything, you would have to face the fact that the road ahead would be for you and only you to walk on.

Crossing to the spiritual realm wasn't solely about strength accumulation but also the strength of one's will. To abandon some in order to reach for others. To many cultivators, it was indeed a very scary step. It was even more so because the age people tried to break through were generally low. Attempts were usually done as kids. Can a kid truly face off his deepest feelings and triumph over them? It wasn't easy.

Many actually had to attempt it a few times before success.

Soo-Hyun was like that. She was scared before even trying to attempt it. And for once, she didn't get mad at Jin's teasing. Instead, tears were threatening to come down from her eyes. She wasn't joking when she said she was scared. And it was hard for a proud girl like her to admit it. That Jin dared to laugh at her now, it was breaking her heart. It did take a lot of courage for her to admit this...

But Jin was no idiot either. As soon as he noticed her reaction, he deduced how serious the situation was. He stopped laughing at once and grasped her hands in his. He looked straight at her and said with a big smile: "There's nothing to worry about. Why? Because I am here. So, why don't you attempt it with me?"

In the end, she felt touched by Jin's words. Being encouraged like so...it felt warm. She nodded with a smile while using a hand to stop her tears.