As the sun began to set, I stepped outside my quarters to stretch my body.
Judging by the time I lost consciousness, which was just past noon, I must have been out for several hours.
Stretching lightly,
Crack.
Pain coursed through my body—not just muscle soreness, but the kind of pain that felt like my entire body had been broken.
Though it was undeniably painful,
"This is manageable."
Compared to the agony of using Tua Pacheonmu, this was nothing.
This level of pain?
Thinking back to the torture I endured in my past life, this was hardly worth flinching over. Considering I survived with all my limbs intact back then, it was nothing short of a miracle.
Other demons had their eyes gouged out and tongues ripped off when captured, but I’d only had my vocal cords damaged. In hindsight, I’d say I was lucky.
Though, now that I think about it…
"It wasn’t luck, was it?"
I suspect it was someone’s doing.
I can’t be sure, but looking back now, it feels like there was some kind of intervention.
The events I went through couldn’t have been mere coincidences—they felt too deliberate.
"This…"
It was like a fog lifting after my last conversation with Tang Jemoon.
My perspective on Cheonma and other matters had shifted since then.
Perhaps I had been deliberately avoiding the truth—or maybe I simply didn’t want to know.
Now, though, I can feel a clarity that wasn’t there before, as if the haze has been swept away.
"Could Tang Jemoon have done something?"
I can’t say for sure, but her words lingered in my mind:
She claimed to have erased the veil of forgetfulness that hung over me.
Crack.
I rotated my arms, ignoring the pain that shot through my spine and into my skull. Slowly, I assessed the aftereffects of my earlier strain.
Pain aside,
"My energy flow feels off."
The sensation of my qi not circulating properly wasn’t an illusion—it was very real.
"Hmm."
Is this the backlash from using an incompatible artifact? If so, the efficiency is terrible.
While not debilitating, I estimated that my strength would be reduced by about 30% in actual combat.
The silver lining was,
"The recovery doesn’t seem like it’ll take too long."
Even with the strain on my body, my recovery rate was impressively fast.
As I stretched, I could feel my tired meridians healing and my sore muscles recovering quickly.
It was like the pain spurred the blood to circulate more rapidly, allowing me to feel the recovery in real-time.
"Not bad."
This wasn’t the first time I noticed it—similar thoughts had crossed my mind after taking a beating from Paejon.
Not only had my durability increased, but injuries that should have left me bedridden for weeks healed in just days.
"Good."
A resilient body capable of enduring harsh trials—an invaluable asset for what lay ahead.
Despite the immediate pain, the gains were undeniable.
"I can use any artifact."
It’s still not entirely certain, but I feel confident in the idea.
I thought back to how I had managed to convert Thunder Qi into Fire Qi while using Noe-a and began to consider Guijeong as well.
"Was it really ignorance of Guijeong’s potential that kept me from utilizing it?"
With a light touch of my will, I felt Guijeong stir.
Though it appeared to be just a strip of cloth, it was undoubtedly an artifact.
A shape-shifting one, capable of taking various forms.
The question was,
"Is there a reason I can use this thing?"
Ever since I discovered I could wield Noe-a, that thought had lingered in my mind.
Once blood-red, Guijeong had turned blue at some point—around the time I shed my old self.
This was no coincidence. Anyone could see that.
Guijeong had changed as I changed.
And not just Guijeong.
Ssshh.
From my hand emerged the little Red Water Snake, now with shimmering blue scales.
Even its appearance had transformed.
Once a simple serpent, the creature now possessed a form that could shift at will.
At the moment, it appeared as a slender snake, but it could grow massive—a size comparable to a small ox—if it desired.
Watching its tongue flicker innocently, I asked,
“Hey, where have you been?”
Ssshh?
“Seriously, where have you been all this time? I haven’t seen you around.”
With everything that had been happening recently, I hadn’t paid much attention to the snake. But now, seeing it so calm and not even begging for food, it seemed it had been fending for itself just fine.
"Surely you didn’t transform into that massive form and go hunting, did you?"
While not as large as some demonic beasts, its appearance stood out enough to attract attention.
The radiant blue scales, the fur along its body—it was clearly something more than a simple beast.
If it roamed around in its original form, it could cause trouble.
“If you’ve been doing something like that, be careful. If you cause any issues, I’ll eat you myself.”
Ssshh…
It shivered slightly at my words, almost as if guilty.
"I’ll have to figure out what’s going on with you too."
Born from the egg left behind by the Red Water Snake, nourished by my energy, this creature had become something else entirely.
As I mused over these matters, I couldn’t help but laugh.
"So much to do."
The tasks kept piling up, more and more as time went on.
After confirming my body’s condition, I steadied my breathing and performed a Qi Conversion Technique.
Crack—!
My bones twisted as my body gradually reverted to its former state.
The sensation of my viewpoint lowering was always unsettling.
“Haa…”
With a weary gaze, I looked around, sensing movement in the underbrush nearby.
Soon, someone appeared.
“There you are.”
Frowning slightly as she approached, it was none other than Moyong Hee-ah.
I looked at her and asked,
“Is it over?”
“…Over?”
She didn’t seem to like my question, as her gaze turned sharper.
“What’s with that look?”
“You’re seriously asking that?”
“Yeah.”
“Ha…”
Moyong Hee-ah sighed deeply before continuing.
“How could you just leave us like that? We nearly suffocated in there…!”
“What? Father said he’d be leaving soon anyway, so I thought it’d be fine. He even said it was alright.”
I’d mentioned to my father that I wanted to step out to check my condition, and he had granted permission.
Besides,
"It was awkward being around Namgung Bi-ah."
[Awkward? No, you were just embarrassed.]
"…"For once, I couldn’t refute Shin Noya’s jab. Damn it.
Naturally, Moyong Hee-ah didn’t know what was going through my mind and simply seemed displeased with the situation.
“It’s not about whether it was fine. Just leaving like that…ugh.”
“Are you really that upset? Did Father say something to you?”
“No. He didn’t say anything.”
That, she muttered under her breath, was the problem.
“He just stayed quiet the whole time…and then said he had something to do and left.”
“Really?”
If he left so quickly, it likely meant his work wasn’t done yet.
So he came to see me despite being in the middle of something.
Well, considering the Poison King’s request wasn’t a simple matter, that made sense.
As I contemplated, Moyong Hee-ah, struggling to hide her fatigue, asked me in a somewhat exasperated tone,
“…Fine. Let’s say I’ll let that slide. But, Young Master.”
“Hmm?”
“…What’s going on this time?”
“…What do you mean?”
“This incident—it’s connected to you, isn’t it?”
“…”
Once again, I was struck by how she seemed to know everything. Her certainty was a little frightening.
I decided to feign ignorance, just as I had before.
“…What are you talking about? What does this have to do with me?”
“Really? Nothing?”
“Of course.”
“Then why are your eyes lying?”
“…”
Her words made me instinctively avert my gaze, only to realize that doing so was as good as admitting guilt.
"Damn it."
Sure enough, Moyong Hee-ah exhaled sharply, her expression filled with certainty.
“…Tch.”
She clicked her tongue, clearly not about to let this go.
“You’re not going to let this slide, are you?”
“…I haven’t even said anything yet.”
Even before I spoke, her resolute answer made it clear—I wasn’t escaping this conversation.
What should I do?
"It’s not like this information will stay hidden for long anyway."
Considering the Poison King’s actions and Moyong Hee-ah’s information network, it wouldn’t take her long to piece things together.
Keeping that in mind, there wasn’t much point in hiding it.
After a quick mental review to filter out what couldn’t be said, I gave her a condensed version of the information.
“…Human experimentation?”
Moyong Hee-ah’s reaction was immediate.
While she seemed unfazed by details about past plans or the elder’s schemes, the mention of human experimentation to create miraculous elixirs clearly hit a nerve.
Her response wasn’t simply shock at the atrocity—it was more than that.
“…And the Poison King is acting like this?”
Even with such a scandal, she couldn’t understand his actions.
Executing the elder responsible, moving to deal with the third and fourth elders—it was all too drastic.
Absorbing their factions would be challenging enough, but handling it so openly would provoke significant backlash.
Even Moyong Hee-ah found it incomprehensible.
"If it were me, I’d feel the same way."
The lack of prior knowledge about such incidents was itself a problem.
The Poison King might be trying to prove his innocence by acting so decisively, but that wasn’t the only explanation.
"It’s too bold."
Not only bold but conspicuously so.
Rather than covering things up, he seemed to want everyone to know about it.
"He even contacted the Alliance, didn’t he?"
Apparently, a message detailing the situation had been sent to the Martial Alliance as well.
"What’s his endgame?"
His intentions were impossible to decipher.
If this spread across Zhongyuan, the consequences could be catastrophic.
"If things go badly, the Tang Clan could lose its place among the Four Great Clans."
The power structure could shift dramatically, given the number of prominent families vying to replace the Tang Clan.
The Poison King undoubtedly understood the risks involved in such actions.
"…Unless."
One possibility came to mind—the Poison King might be trying to force the Martial Alliance’s hand.
By exposing the situation, he could compel the Alliance to intervene.
However,
"That’s too dangerous a gamble."
If that were the plan, he would have handled it with more secrecy.
"I don’t get it."
At this point, the Poison King’s motives were entirely unclear.
As I mulled over these thoughts, Moyong Hee-ah suddenly exclaimed,
“Ah…!”
Her eyes widened as if she’d realized something.
“…Could it be? So that’s why?”
“What’s wrong?”
Her pupils quivered as though she’d pieced something together.
“What…”
“Young Master, I have to go.”
“Huh? Hey, wait…!”
Before I could stop her, Moyong Hee-ah spun around and sprinted away, disappearing into the distance.
“…Guess she’s feeling better.”
The cold energy that had previously been affecting her seemed to have subsided.
Of course, if I’d wanted to, I could have caught her.
Even in my current state, she wasn’t fast enough to evade me.
But I let her go, curious about what she’d realized.
Turning my gaze away from her retreating figure, I looked toward the shadows behind me and said,
“It’s been a while. Feeling better now?”
At my words, the bushes rustled lightly before a figure emerged.
A young man clad in black robes stepped forward, approaching me at a leisurely pace.
“…It’s been a while.”
It was Paejon, who had been absent for days. Where had he been all this time?
Appearing only after the dust had settled—how convenient.
“So, an incident happened, huh? A big one, it seems. And…”
Paejon glanced around before continuing.
“Your father was here too, wasn’t he?”
“How do you know that?”
Had they crossed paths?
As I studied Paejon, he smirked and said,
“Who else could emit such intense heat? Only your father.”
“…Hmm.”
It was a reasonable answer, so I nodded.
Still, as I looked at him, I couldn’t resist asking,
“And by the way…”
“What is it?”
Now was the perfect time to ask something that had been bothering me.
I fixed my gaze on him and said,
“Why do you talk so casually, little brother?”
“…”
Sure, it had been a while since I’d seen him, but hierarchy was hierarchy.
Until the seventh night passed, I was still the elder one.