A place where moonlight fell.

At its center, a brilliant flower was in bloom.

White petals spread thickly from it, and there seemed to be far too many of them for a single flower.

Maybe it was because it was taking in the moonlight, but at a glance it looked faintly blue. Still, it was obvious the moonlight alone was not the issue.

A haze is rising off it.

A blue haze. Sparse strands of energy were rising from the pure white petals.

Alien, yet wondrous. That was the first sensation I felt the moment I saw it.

...So that’s a spirit herb.

It was my first time seeing one in person. Spirit herbs had always been like that. I had come across them plenty in information and records, but this was the first time I had ever looked at one with my own eyes.

So this is what it feels like.

The strange sensation coming off the spirit herb was more than enough to seize my gaze in an instant.

And on top of that—

...The yin energy really is overwhelming.

The monstrous yin energy said to be contained inside the Moonlit Night Herb.

The reason this cave was so cold, the reason every inch of it was packed with moisture—

It all seemed to be caused by the energy pouring out of that Moonlit Night Herb.

Ssssssss.

Gooseflesh rose across my arms. Part of it was the cold, sure.

The yin energy is just too strong.

At this level of yin energy, there was nothing strange about my body reacting.

How strong does it have to be for there not to be a single spirit around it?

If it was ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) yin energy, ghosts should have been thick around a place like this. But even those things could not be felt anywhere nearby.

Because the yin energy of the Moonlit Night Herb was just that strong.

Splash.

I took a step forward. The water was so cold it was hard to endure.

I was slowly moving toward the Moonlit Night Herb when—

[Stop.]

I froze on the spot at Yoo Cheongil’s words.

“Why?”

[There is something laid out in front of it. Do not just walk straight in.]

“...”

The moment I heard that, I put power into my Moon Eyes. I stared ahead, wondering if there really was something there, but—

There’s nothing there.

I could not see anything in particular.

Then—

[Use Moon Heaven.]

“...”

Yoo Cheongil spoke in a calm voice.

Hearing him, I invoked Moon Heaven again.

WHOOOOOOSH—!!

BZZZT—!!!!

I had already used it to climb up here, so I did not have much internal energy left.

The instant I activated it, a faint dizziness washed over me.

[Now go forward.]

Splash.

I moved slowly through the water. Even then, I did not really feel anything unusual.

What the hell had he set up here? The question had barely begun to form when—

BZZZZT.

“Hm...?”

As I drew close to the Moonlit Night Herb, I felt something brush across my body. A prickling numbness, maybe.

I could see every hair on my skin standing up. What was that?

While I was still staring in confusion—

[Good. Release it now.]

Yoo Cheongil spoke in a tone that sounded relieved.

“What was that?”

I dispersed the energy and asked. Yoo Cheongil answered with the same flat expression.

[I put down a formation.]

“A formation?”

[Yes. A formation that would crush the rock and ruin the Moonlit Night Herb if someone entered without using Moon Heaven.]

“...What the hell?”

There was a formation like that?

No, more importantly—

“You know how to use formations too?”

That old bastard knew high-grade techniques like that too?

I stared at him in genuine shock.

[What is with that look? Did you think I could not use formations?]

“...No. It was just unexpected.”

[I can’t. That was done by that brat Jin.]

“...”

Yeah. That makes more sense.

I held back a sigh at the way Yoo Cheongil chuckled.

...And in the middle of all this, it was actually Jegal Jin.

My maternal grandfather.

If Cheonrijinan had personally set the technique in place—

That means Cheonrijinan knows where the Moonlit Night Herb is too.

And on top of that—

Only someone using Moon Heaven can come in?

The fact that he had built a formation with that kind of prerequisite was surprising too. So that was even possible.

It was fascinating.

Anyway—

So I made it through safely.

I braced myself slowly against the rock and looked ahead.

The yin energy felt far fiercer than before.

The spirit herb was right in front of me.

Looking at it, I asked Yoo Cheongil,

“What do I do now?”

[Go closer.]

“...”

I lowered my gaze and bent at the waist. The distance between me and the spirit herb narrowed to about half a handspan.

[Listen carefully.]

Yoo Cheongil spoke as if telling me to focus.

[The moment you pull it up, swallow it whole. Do not leave behind a single piece.]

“The roots too?”

[Yes. Even a slight delay may let the energy scatter, so you must eat it at once.]

“...”

Gulp.

I swallowed dryly. I was tense.

Can eating this really trigger Reforging the Body?

I had my doubts, but I had already come this far.

I steadied my breathing.

One shot.

I firmed my resolve and grabbed the stem.

Then—

SNAP—!

I yanked it free. I did not need to use too much force or anything. It came out perfectly clean, roots and all.

Weird. Why did it pull out that easily?

I did not even have time to stare at it in curiosity before—

Crunch.

I shoved it straight into my mouth. I had never swallowed a flower raw before, but it was a lot more disgusting than I expected.

Gnash.

It tasted awful. Bitter, and that peculiar floral scent spread through my mouth. It was enough to make me want to retch, but I had to force myself to chew.

There was even dirt in it. That was probably from the roots. I had eaten that too.

Goddamn it.

This was not something I would do twice.

Thinking that, I forced myself to chew and swallow it.

Gulp.

It was not very large, so I managed to get it down somehow.

I wanted to drink water right away, but—

[Sit.]

I could not even do that because Yoo Cheongil spoke first.

I fixed my posture.

[Focus. From here on, it will be very hard.]

He warned me.

What could possibly be that hard?

I did not need to wonder for long.

KUUUUUNG—!!!

“...!!”

I felt it soon enough.

“...Ghk...”

My dantian convulsed. The opened middle dantian trembled regardless of my will, and inside my body—

...Cold.

A vast mass of yin energy began rotating through my acupoints.

THUD—! THUD—! THUD—!!

It was an explosion.

The moment the Moonlit Night Herb entered my stomach, its energy began filling the vessel.

My lower abdomen shook from the freezing force.

“...Ngh...”

My teeth ground together. It was cold, yes, but more than that, the violent upheaval of the energy hurt like hell. It felt like every bone in my body was ringing.

Just as it felt like a scream was about to burst out of me—

[Endure it.]

Yoo Cheongil cut in.

[Do not make a sound. Keep your mouth tightly shut. Not a shred of energy can be allowed to leak out.]

That was a fucking insane thing to say.

In a situation like this, I was not even supposed to scream?

Unbelievable.

Damn it.

I endured it. My whole body really hurt, and I had to hold all of it in.

What a joke.

Barely, I endured and endured again.

How many times in my life had something hurt this much?

THUD—! THUDTHUD—! KUKUKUNG—!!

The collision of energies.

Now I understood what Yoo Cheongil had meant by friction.

They’re really tearing into each other.

The energy inside my body ran wild, and the swollen yin energy began fighting it head-on.

As if each one meant to devour the other, they started clashing like mad.

And every bit of damage from that upheaval came straight to me.

They were fighting that violently inside me, so the whole house was being blown apart.

This is insane.

Crack.

I heard a sound I should not have heard. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

What was that? Where had it come from?

Everything hurts so much I can’t even tell what just broke.

Something had clearly broken, but I had no idea what.

Was this really right?

Is this really right?

Going through this was supposed to lead to Reforging the Body?

Could I seriously trust that?

I just want to die.

I clenched my fist and endured it again and again, but the only thought rising in my head was that I wanted to die.

FWHOOOOOOOSH—!!!!!

The yin energy whirled as though it meant to freeze my body solid.

THUDTHUDTHUD—!!!

My internal energy danced as though it meant to smash my entire body to pieces.

Whatever it was—

I can’t hold it.

I had no vessel capable of containing both of these.

Right as I was thinking that, my arms trembling—

[Focus.]

Yoo Cheongil cut in.

[There is no need to force yourself to contain it. If you try to hold something excessive, it will only overflow. Then you gain nothing.]

Then what the hell am I supposed to do?

If I could not contain it like this, was I just supposed to sit here and endure the pain?

He might as well have told me to die.

Without realizing it, nothing but negative emotion kept spilling out of me. It hurt that much. I hated it that much.

As though he knew exactly what I was thinking, Yoo Cheongil grinned and said,

[If you cannot contain it, then at least wind it around.]

Wind it around?

[Better that than letting it go to waste. Let it flow.]

Let it flow.

At those words, I examined my body.

THUDTHUDTHUD—!!

The violently surging energy. The yin energy trying to spiral and whirl.

Even the last sliver of reason and strength I was barely holding onto.

The moment I loosened my grip, it felt like all the energy would break free and my body would explode.

...And he wants me to loosen it.

If I let it go and let it flow, then what happened to the body being torn apart?

Just imagining it made me tense up harder.

Maybe because of that, the pain only kept intensifying.

[Are you afraid?]

Yoo Cheongil asked.

[Of course you are. But, kid—if you do not release it, you die anyway.]

That was a spectacularly irresponsible thing to say.

Who was it that told me to eat this in the first place?

You tell me to eat it, and then if I do not release it, I die?

What kind of bullshit was that?

[That does not mean throw it away. Let it flow. Then move it along the path. That is the method.]

“...”

Do not release it.

Let it flow.

I swallowed dryly.

Trying to find an answer in those words, I loosened what had been blocking the energy, just a little.

KUUUNG—!!

Fuck.

The instant I loosened it, the energy convulsed as if it were angry.

I wondered whether I should clamp down on it again, but—

Let it flow.

I carefully adjusted the energy. I adjusted it and adjusted it again, like I was trying to calm down something furious.

Follow the flowing yin energy...

I sent my internal energy into the countless streams of yin energy already spinning through my acupoints.

Of course they did not mix.

The energy was rejecting the yin energy to begin with. There was no way they would simply blend.

Then what?

If they won’t mix, but I still have to let it flow...

—!

My mind flashed.

...Don’t mix with it. Rotate around its center.

Without mixing with the yin energy, while still letting it flow at the same time—

I rotated my internal energy along the central axis of the yin energy, moving in the same direction.

Like a whirlwind formed around a taut string.

The moment I pictured that and tried to control my internal energy accordingly—

[Good.]

Yoo Cheongil let out a strange sound.

[That is enough to set it in place. Now—]

A hand brushed my neck.

[Move aside for a moment.]

The strength left my body.

At the same time, my consciousness cut off.

*****

I opened my eyes.

“Hah...!”

The instant I gasped, I clapped a hand over my mouth.

I did it because I remembered being told not to make a sound.

“What the hell?”

Then I realized I did not need to.

Because I could see my body below me.

The one sitting cross-legged with its eyes shut was my body.

It was on the very rock where the Moonlit Night Herb had originally been.

Then...

Was that Yoo Cheongil now?

Was Yoo Cheongil using my body in my place and manipulating the energy himself?

“Hah.”

Unbelievable.

FWHOOOOOOOSH—!!!!!

THUD—! THUD—!

I could see energy pouring out of my body and spinning at high speed.

I could also see my flesh jerking under the shock.

Was that really okay?

I had never once heard of anyone going through Reforging the Body by proxy.

“Tch.”

Was this really okay?

Right as I was worrying about that—

Tap.

“Hm?”

Something brushed against me.

What was that?

Frowning, I turned around.

No, wait.

Could anyone even brush against me now that I was in soul-form?

The moment I belatedly realized how strange that was—

“Huh?”

I came face-to-face with someone standing behind me.

Inside a pitch-black shadow,

a man with red eyes.

“Long time no see.”

It was the Heavenly Demon.