Chapter 102: The Infinite Heavenly Flame
— What kind of tea would you like?
“Anything is fine.”
“Then prepare Dragon Well tea.”
At Chu Taesu’s soft-spoken instruction, the waiter, who was clearly tense and on edge, quickly replied.
“A-Alright!”
First Demon Domain.
Located directly beneath the cult’s main headquarters, the First Demon Domain was a district packed with various luxury facilities intended for the high-ranking members of the cult, excluding the Six Demon Families.
But no matter how often one might encounter powerful figures within the cult, the clan heads of the Six Demon Families were in a class of their own.
No wonder the server looked ready to pass out.
“Oh, and make mine cold.”
“Pardon??”
“I said, make it cold.”
“Ah! Understood! Find someone with Ice Qi mastery!”
There’s nothing quite like an iced Americano to clear your head—but of course, in this world, there was no such thing as coffee.
And since the worldbuilding here was absurdly committed to its internal logic, tea was always served hot.
[The fact that you want to drink cold tea is what’s strange, you fool.]
Skybreaker grumbled.
[By the way, even during the last gathering, I got a strange feeling from that protector.]
Behind Chu Taesu stood a gaunt escort wearing a deep bamboo hat that obscured his face.
[Something’s off. I can’t sense their Qi properly.]
This was coming from Skybreaker, who had partially achieved Three Flowers Gather at the Summit—someone extremely sensitive to Qi. If he found something suspicious, it definitely wasn’t baseless.
As I looked toward the escort, Chu Taesu followed my gaze and said,
— Ah, our protector doesn’t talk much.
A silent escort with an undetectable aura, paired with Chu Taesu?
There was only one likely conclusion.
“No problem. I’ll just sprinkle some salt at home later.”
At my words, Chu Taesu narrowed his eyes slightly.
...Damn. I shouldn't have said that. But I was just too exhausted to filter myself.
Quickly changing the subject, I asked,
“So, what did you want to say about the Firebird?”
Right then, the ordered Dragon Well tea arrived.
Apparently, they had actually gone and found a practitioner of Ice Qi. My tea had a thin layer of frost floating on the surface.
Crushed ice would've been better, but this was still a win.
— Yes, that’s what I wanted to talk about. Oh, this tea is exquisite. I must visit more often.
“T-Thank you!”
The waiter bowed low and scampered away.
—First, I’d like to congratulate you. I heard you’re now the fiancé of the Supreme One.
“Nothing’s been finalized yet.”
—Hahaha, but if not the Master of the Sado Clan, then who else could possibly be worthy? With your talents, those tasks should be trivial.
“If all you’re here for is small talk, I’ll be leaving. As you can see, I’ve finished my tea.”
—How much do you know about the Firebird currently appearing in the Red Dragon Region?
“Let’s see… I know it’s no ordinary mystic beast, judging from what happened to Hyuk Mun.”
The man didn’t just get hurt—he had to show up wrapped in bandages.
Still, it probably wasn’t a fatal wound. With some help from Demon Physician, a few months of rest should be enough.
Chu Taesu nodded.
—Exactly. Though Lord Hyuk Mun is known for being hot-tempered, he’s also been a Transcendent Peak master for decades. If it were just an ordinary beast, he would’ve captured it the moment he acted.
“You wouldn’t have called me here just to state the obvious.”
—Then how about this—what if I told you that the Firebird isn’t a mystic beast, but a divine beast?
Divine beast.
Beasts that attain spiritual energy become mystic beasts.
Among those, if a creature possesses extraordinary power or abilities—and can even communicate with humans—it is elevated to the status of divine beast.
A classic example is the Red Dragon, which the Red Dragon Hyuk Clan claims as their ancestral being.
“Still sounds like something anyone could guess. Can I leave now?”
Was Chu Taesu also suffering from protagonist-induced intelligence debuff?
If someone as strong as Hyuk Mun got beat, obviously it wasn’t a normal mystic beast.
—“And what if I told you we’ve identified exactly what kind of divine beast it is?”
I paused and sat back down.
“You’ve identified it?”
—“Indeed. It was hard to tell because it’s completely engulfed in flames, so people just dubbed it the Firebird. But its true identity has now been revealed.”
“What do you want?”
At that, Chu Taesu gave a chuckle behind his hand.
Honestly, it was the kind of move you’d expect from some edgy villain in a fantasy novel, and it pissed me off.
—“I want nothing.”
“Nothing?”
—“Yes. Nothing.”
There’s no way Chu Taesu would offer info without strings attached.
“If you’ve got an ulterior motive, best speak now. I really don’t like being lied to.”
—“Ulterior motive? Please. This is just goodwill.”
If there’s one word least suited for Chu Taesu, it’s “goodwill.”
He was basically a 0.7x version of Sado Gwang.
—“I figured you wouldn’t believe me, so I’ll be blunt. The Firebird is the Infinite Heavenly Flame.”
“Infinite Heavenly Flame…”
I’d heard that name somewhere. Literally translated, it means eternal, limitless heavenly fire—quite the name.
I vaguely remembered it being mentioned in some reference material in passing.
—“Ah, seems you recognize it. Yes, it is a direct descendant of the Vermilion Bird, one of the Four Divine Beasts.”
Vermilion Bird.
In real life, that name gets thrown around so much it’s kind of silly—but in this world, it was anything but trivial.
The Four Divine Beasts were considered the pillars that upheld the world—true divine entities. They took on the form of beasts but were said to be far beyond mere animals.
They never appeared directly in Return of the Murim, only in vague texts and legends.
“A direct bloodline of the Four Divine Beasts, huh… This really is way off from the original story.”
Come to think of it, when I was discussing improving my body with Skybreaker, he had mentioned that I’d need an elixir formed from a mystic beast containing the power of the Four Divine Beasts.
Those elixirs don’t appear until much later in Return of the Murim, and even then, the MC only hears about them through trade—never sees the beasts themselves.
If a divine beast shows up, that’s basically endgame content.
[This could be your chance to heal me!]
Skybreaker sounded excited, but...
Even solving one piece of the puzzle might not be enough to fully recover him.
Still, if I researched with Demon Physician, maybe I could make more progress.
If the Firebird was really Infinite Heavenly Flame, Hyuk Mun losing was understandable.
“How can you be so sure it’s a Vermilion Bird descendant?”
—“Simple. Our clan uses sorcery. Among our techniques are those that control divine beasts. Identifying one is child's play for us.”
Chu Taesu then continued.
—“So? Shall we help you? If we did, you’d capture it in no time.”
“So that’s your angle.”
—“Angle? I’m offering help out of goodwill.”
“I don’t need it.”
—“Because of that talented little one, perhaps? What was his name again… Cho Ryang, I believe?”
I clenched my hand. The teacup shattered.
“You seem very interested in matters of other clans.”
—“Perish the thought. It’s just that the Poison Demon kept praising him so highly. Said he’s quite gifted for someone raised in a cradle.”
Cradle?
So Cho Ryang really was raised in one of the secret training grounds.
Using the Poison Demon as a shield, Chu Taesu had just issued me a warning.
“There are no hard feelings for the info. But anything more than this would be interference.”
—“Of course. I just wanted to mention… as I said during the council meeting, the Sun and Moon Region is right next to the Red Dragon Region. If you’re going to attempt the task anyway, it’d be nice if you did it soon.”
That wasn’t the real reason. If it were, he wouldn’t be smirking like that.
“I’ll be going now.”
—“It was a pleasure. I hope we meet again.”
I certainly didn’t.
[What will you do now? Is it Cho Ryang again? Wait–You’re telling me you predicted all this back when you first returned to the cult and went looking for him??]
“Sort of. But first…”
I could barely stand.
“Let’s talk after I sleep. I feel like I’m going to die.”
Even so, duty is duty.
After returning home, I penned a letter for Cho Ryang and had it delivered.
And then I passed out.
When I opened my eyes, to my surprise, two full days had passed.
I hadn’t woken once in that time. No dreams. And I’d wisely instructed not to let anyone in.
After sleeping like the dead for two days, my mind finally felt clear again. I realized that mental fatigue was more lethal to me than physical fatigue.
[I thought you were dead.]
“You knew I wasn’t.”
[It’s a figure of speech.]
Skybreaker rattled with impatience.
[Now let’s go finish that task! The power of the Four Divine Beasts!]
“Don’t get too excited. This won’t be easy.”
[Exactly why we need to tackle it head-on!]
“First, let’s call Cho Ryang. I’m starving. We’ll eat together.”
I relayed the message through a servant.
A little while later, a meal so grand it would shame a royal banquet was laid out, and Cho Ryang entered.
“You called for me, Clan Head—Oh!”
“Have you eaten lunch?”
“I did… but hehehe…”
“At your age, you’re always hungry, right? Join me.”
“Thank you!”
He bowed and sat across from me.
When we first met, he had this wild, rebellious aura.
Now he seemed so docile, almost too innocent.
Seeing that made my heart ache a bit. He probably hadn’t been rebellious by nature—just a kid who grew up alone, putting up thorns to protect the other kids.
“Infinite Heavenly Flame… munch munch... you called me about that, right?”
“Let’s eat first, then talk.”
I couldn’t let him steal all the meat.
After a satisfying meal, I asked the question.
“So, did you find out anything about the Infinite Heavenly Flame?”
“Yes! It wasn’t in our library, but I found records in the Poison Demon’s archive.”
“In the Poison Demon’s archive?”
“Yes!”
“Explain.”
With a proud expression, Cho Ryang began.
“Infinite Heavenly Flame is a divine beast, a direct descendant of the Vermilion Bird, one of the Four Divine Beasts. It’s a massive bird with feathers made of flame. Its blood has powerful purifying effects against almost all contamination, and consuming its elixir gives at least one full 60-year cycle's worth of Extreme Yang Qi.”
“Despite its fiery and fierce appearance, it’s extremely cautious and tends to avoid fights. It doesn’t like conflict.”
So then why had it shown up in the Red Dragon Region, causing damage?
It had to be one of two things:
Either Chu Taesu was lying, Or something had happened to the Infinite Heavenly Flame.
“So, have you thought of a way to catch it?”
“I think I can do it… if I can get close enough. But it’s so cautious it won’t come down easily.”
“Difficult, then.”
“But I read it really likes intense, pure flames.”
“Oh?”
That gave me an idea.
Wasn’t there someone around me who could spew pure, scorching fire?
I immediately grabbed Cho Ryang and headed out.
“Huh? Me??”
Yes, you.