Childhood Friend of the Zenith Novel MTL - Chapter 997

Chapter 997

Swoosh—

A soft radiance drifted down from above. Gradually, bit by bit, it settled beneath a canopy of pure white light. Like embers from a dying fire, the glow descended gently.

I stared upward, mesmerized.

A sky woven from raw power. A sky I had forged.

“Hah…”

A laugh escaped me. How could it not?

“It actually worked.”

It had worked.

After achieving mastery over the Nine Flames Firewheel, I had tried this multiple times.

I hadn’t known the method—I had only a memory to go on. I’d fumbled in the dark, unsure where to even begin.

But now, I finally understood.

…It wasn’t something that required study. It didn’t demand conscious effort.

This power wasn’t earned through strain.

One only needed to become aware of it.

Once I arrived, the knowledge was just there.

It felt like understanding a dragon’s innate authority.

Fwoosh.

I opened my hand and summoned fire.

A blue flame bloomed. But its hue was distinctly different from before.

Brighter.

No, not just slightly. It was significantly brighter.

If it was once a deep ocean blue, it was now the color of a clear midday sky. It held a brilliant, almost sacred, light within.

Flick.

I closed my fist, extinguishing the fire.

Then, I looked back up at the sky.

The expanse I had cleansed with my energy remained, pristine and unchanging.

And as I watched it, a single word surfaced in my mind.

Transcendence.

Transcendence.

The final height a martial artist could aspire to.

A state said to be possible only after perfecting one’s art.

In my previous life, I never came anywhere near it.

Chiiiik—!

I stood in a stunned silence, watching the wheel of fire spin behind me.

…I actually reached it?

I had spoken of transcendence.

The epiphany I’d had while executing the Cheonma Divine Art—the instant I grasped it, it was as if a shell around my spirit shattered.

…I had reached transcendence.

By the time I became conscious of it, my realm had already expanded.

Fwoosh.

When I focused, my body transformed into living flame.

Not just cloaked in fire, but becoming fire itself.

A foreign sensation.

I had caught a glimpse of this upon reaching mastery, but I never imagined the transition would feel so natural.

Remembering what I had just unleashed, a slight tremble ran through my fingers.

The highest and final technique of the Nine Flames Firewheel.

The power my father had once displayed against a White-Rank beast.

Nine Flames Supreme Mountain Five Forms…

A power only accessible upon achieving transcendence in the Nine Flames Firewheel.

Chiiiiik—!!

When I released it from my fingertips, the sky-blue flames intensified.

Then, they soon turned white, the heat concentrating in my palm.

It wasn’t White Flame. I hadn’t tapped into Pama’s energy.

The heat had simply grown so immense that it burned white.

«……»

So this is an ultimate technique.

The force that had scoured the sky clean.

The force that emitted such a dazzling light.

Then—

What was this power truly for?

I had used it, but I needed to comprehend its exact nature.

Fortunately, that, too, was an instinctual understanding.

Besides, hadn’t my father already shown me its capability?

I reached toward the heavens.

In that moment—

Fuaaaaaaa—!!!

The once-blue sky, as if transformed into broad daylight, began to quake.

Then, coiling into a vortex—

Kwaaaa—!!!

A pillar of light shot downward, coalescing into my open hand.

The sky turning to white night was no illusion.

Though it appeared as a white night, in truth—

It was Red Heaven.

The domain technique of the Nine Flames Firewheel.

It was Red Heaven.

Only now, fused with an ultimate technique, its effects had been magnified to an extreme.

The core of Red Heaven was the amplification of heat and the enlargement of flames.

Originally evolved from the Nine Flames Great Wheel, a technique for expelling fire, but now, interwoven with an ultimate technique—

It felt as though I had genuinely fashioned a sky.

A breathtaking panorama unfolded before my eyes.

And then, as if to withdraw it, I gathered it all into one hand.

Chiiiik—!!!

The sky compressed into my palm.

What I held was a flame jewel, pulsing with a vivid, cerulean light.

Incredible.

Even as its creator, I was in awe.

Not only was its form captivating, but its unprecedented color and the sheer purity of its energy set it utterly apart.

Was this the fruit of transcendence?

I gripped the flame jewel and stepped forward.

And in that instant—

Splash.

«……»

My surroundings shifted once more.

I was back on the surface of the lake.

A lake that, just moments ago, had been filled with euphoria and arrogance.

A lake so deep and dark that falling into it would have meant drowning, losing myself forever.

But now—

It had become shallow.

It had receded so much that I could see the bottom.

What? When did this happen?

What had changed?

Just as the question formed in my mind—

“I see you still have the focus to be distracted.”

A voice cut through the air.

On the far side of the lake, standing with his hands behind his back, was Shin Noya.

“You’ve reached the extreme and finally touched a new realm. How does it feel?”

«……»

How does it feel?

“I don’t know.”

I didn’t know.

What was I feeling in this moment?

Pure wonder? Or was it disorientation?

I wasn’t sure, and that uncertainty was itself perplexing.

“Good. That is the correct answer.”

Shin Noya, far from being displeased, smirked with approval.

“Hold onto that unfamiliar, subtle emotion. And grasp the fleeting emptiness that follows.”

Shing.

As he spoke, he brought his hands forward.

A sword was now in his grip.

My eyes widened.

“Eternal Bind…?”

It was Eternal Bind.

I glanced down hurriedly at my left arm.

It was gone.

Eternal Bind, which should have been sealed to my arm, was now over there.

When had that happened? I hadn’t sensed a thing.

Eternal Bind had shed its bandaged form and taken the shape of a sword.

And in Shin Noya’s grasp—

Rumble—!!!

An overwhelming battle aura erupted. The lake beneath our feet trembled.

By the time the spray of water touched my ankles—

«……!»

My vision sharpened back into focus.

I stared, wide-eyed. Though I had drawn the white night sky into my hand, erasing it, the surroundings were unchanged.

Fwoosh!
Sizzle—!

Lingering embers continued to consume everything in sight. The rocks and trees had melted away, leaving only the scent of scorched earth.

Was this—

Did I do this?

I had no memory of it, but the residual flames were unmistakably mine. As if to confirm it, the moment I reached out, the fire swirled obediently toward me.

I controlled the swirling inferno and turned my gaze to Shin Noya.

He was still emanating that crushing aura as he advanced.

“Now that your senses have returned, shall we continue?”

«…….»

Why was I fighting this old man again?

It took me a moment to reconstruct the events.

Right.

I had seized the white flame…

I had used the Cheonma Divine Art, merging it with the Tua Heaven-Piercing Fist, forming Cheonma’s Single Fist.

With that, I had annihilated the white flame.

Something in that instant had triggered a realization, thrusting me past my limits.

And then—

My memory grows fuzzy.

What happened after that?

I must have instinctively sought out Shin Noya, feeling that something was wrong.

I believed that if anyone could help me, it was him.

He must have grabbed me and thrown me outside the moment I arrived.

And that led to now.

Throb!

A sharp pain lanced through my chest. I pressed a hand against it.

When I looked down, my palm was smeared with blood. I had been wounded.

That, too, must have just occurred.

I recalled Shin Noya’s Mind Blade cutting into me.

Fortunately, my body was already healing.

The night was not over, and my Moonlit Night Tribe physiology was still active, accelerating my recovery.

But the real question was—

…Did I really need to keep fighting?

Whether I healed or not, was there any point in continuing this battle with Shin Noya?

If I had to guess, he was fighting me because of my own state.

Was he trying to shock me back to my senses?

There’s an old saying—sometimes a good thrashing is the best remedy.

And after taking a few strikes from this old man, my mind did feel considerably clearer.

The euphoria and arrogance that had been swelling inside me had vanished completely.

All that remained beneath was a thrilling excitement for this new realm I had entered.

Maybe I should tell him I’ve regained my senses and stop?

That would be the most rational course.

But instead—

“Hoo.”

I exhaled deeply and clenched my fist.

This was greed.

I wanted to try it.

I wanted to see how much I had changed.

To understand what this transcendence I had yearned for truly meant.

I couldn’t let this chance slip away.

So, I tensed my entire body and met Shin Noya’s gaze.

Vwooooom—!!!

Behind me, the azure flame wheel whirled violently.

Heat flooded through me, power surging into my limbs.

Fwoosh—!!

Flames raced along my shoulders.

I channeled even more energy into the fire bursting from the Flame Jewel in my hand.

Fwoosh—!!

Light flared from it instantly. Its size didn’t increase.

But I could feel the power within it reaching its absolute peak.

What was the true nature of an ultimate technique in the Nine Flames Firewheel?

It wasn’t about gaining a new kind of power.

It was—

To burn what I already possessed even hotter.

To ensure it could incinerate anything.

To make the wheel spin faster. To make the flames blaze brighter.

It was simple, intuitive—yet the result was profoundly significant.

I grasped the Flame Jewel. As I did, its shape morphed.

It shifted into the form of a spear, and I seized it.

I didn’t even need to exert my mental force.

The Flame Star Spear had materialized so effortlessly it surprised even me.

“Hoo.”

Gripping the azure-blue spear, I fixed my eyes on Shin Noya.

Just how much stronger had I become?

The opportunity to find out sent a thrill coursing through me.

If it’s Noya…

No matter what power I unleashed, I was certain he could handle it.

That conviction settled deep within me as I tightened my stance.

Fwoosh—!

Sparks flew as my battle aura, infused with flames, burst outward.

Rumble—!!!

It collided violently with the aura radiating from Shin Noya.

I’ll break through in one go.

I needed to be cautious of his Mind Blade, which could strike from anywhere, and his blinding swordsmanship.

But for now, I would advance with pure, overwhelming force.

I’m going in.

Rather than throwing the spear, I would breach his defense while holding it.

I gathered all my power for that single purpose.

Kwaaaaa—!!!

Through the blazing aura, I locked onto Shin Noya.

I prepared to charge with everything I had—

“Cough—!”
“Huh?”

At the sound, my body froze.

Suddenly, Shin Noya raised a hand to his mouth and let out a harsh, ragged cough.

The overwhelming aura he had been emitting vanished instantly.

What in the world?

Why was he doing this now?

Was it a trick to lower my guard?

If so, it was the most absurd method possible.

Bewildered, I started to speak—

“Noya, what are you—”

“Cough…! Guh….”

His coughing worsened.

Then, with a heavy thud, he collapsed to one knee.

Drip—!

Blood trickled from his lips, staining the ground dark crimson.

“Noya…? Noya—!”

Only then did I realize something was terribly wrong.

I rushed forward, dropping to my knees beside him.

“Noya! What’s happening? Wake up!”

«…….»

He did not respond.

Shin Noya had lost consciousness.

“Noya!”

And he was coughing up thick, dark blood.