In a memory whose time he could not recall.
An unusually vivid red light flowed through it. The air was thick with dampness, and his body was so cold that frost seemed to gather upon it.
Along with his trembling flesh, rigid breaths circulated throughout his entire body.
Amid those unpleasant sensations—
—Not bad.
A voice reached him.
A chilly voice laced with an incomprehensible laugh.
A fishy scent of blood lingered within it. He wanted to find out what was happening, but his deeply bowed head showed no intention of rising.
It felt as though he did not dare look upon that face.
As he remained in that state, staring only at the ground as though his body had frozen—
The voice came again.
—Yes, you will do. Child of the Thunder Firmament.
He felt a hand at his throat.
—From now on, you are my servant. You should be pleased.
Heh heh.
Along with that cold laughter, the consciousness he had barely maintained was severed.
And then.
His closed eyes opened.
“…!…”
With a jolt.
The gaunt old man came to his senses and immediately sat up.
He hurriedly rose, staggering as he did so, and surveyed his surroundings.
“…Where is this…?”
Startled.
Just as he was about to panic at the unfamiliar surroundings, a wave of pain struck him, and he clutched his head.
What was this?
Why did his head hurt so terribly?
He forcibly held back a groan, but even that was difficult.
“Ugh….”
As the old man endured the pain, the people around him finally began to react.
“The Heavenly Venerable has awakened…!”
“…I shall report this to the family head!”
“Doctor! Bring the doctor!”
It was noisy.
The old man broke into a cold sweat as he looked around at the murmuring people.
Under normal circumstances, the sounds were not especially loud.
Yet for some reason, they seemed exceptionally loud to him.
“Hoo… hoo….”
He drew heavy breaths.
The pain remained.
With his head feeling as though it might split apart, the Heavenly Venerable had to wonder.
Where was this place?
Why was he here?
He could not understand anything.
The Heavenly Venerable clutched his head and closed his eyes.
He could feel that his memories were empty, as though holes had been punched through them here and there.
What had happened to him?
As the Heavenly Venerable pondered amid the pain—
“You have awakened.”
A familiar voice reached him.
The Heavenly Venerable barely managed to raise his head and look up at the voice.
“After making such a grand spectacle of yourself. Tsk, tsk. You look absolutely dreadful.”
“…You.”
Another old man was looking down at the suffering Heavenly Venerable with a pitiful gaze.
That man was none other than—
The Divine Doctor.
**************
Immediately after making Nahi realize that she had no choice—
I left her there, trembling, and began walking once more.
I would have liked to feed her the jewel right then and there, but—
‘Things aren’t quite convenient at the moment.’
I had merely informed her of the situation. Told her to understand it clearly. Told her that she had work to do.
‘It would be a waste to throw her away just like that.’
Dang Deok’s role had already been decided.
Although for now I was keeping him close and focusing on taming him, he would have work to do later on as well.
Compared to him, Nahi was not particularly useful.
She could be used as an informant, but if the Tang Clan had reached this state, there was no need to go out of my way to use her.
So what should I use her for?
‘There’s no need to use her at all.’
She was hardly necessary.
Her level? Nahi’s realm was the Peak Realm. She might reach the Mature Peak Realm with a little more progress, but people of that level were scattered all over the Central Plains.
‘Not exactly scattered everywhere, but there would certainly be plenty of them.’
Her status as an assassin might make her more useful, but—
If I tried to find some use for her, nothing came to mind at the moment.
‘Because I’ve already thought of someone to use for that purpose.’
Since I already had someone else in mind, there was no reason to keep Nahi as well.
Which meant that, originally—
‘I intended to use her appropriately and then get rid of her.’
I had never planned to let Nahi live for long.
I had intended to dispose of her as soon as my business in the Tang Clan was finished.
Even if I did not kill her myself, I had never intended to give her any important role.
‘But in this situation, she has some use.’
The jewel continued to rattle in my hand.
It could serve as the subject of an experiment to see whether this could be put to use.
‘If it works, good. If it fails, it can’t be helped.’
If Nahi absorbed the jewel properly with my help, and that gave her some practical use, then it would be a good thing.
Even if the experiment failed, it would not matter.
That was Nahi’s current position.
‘Even if she succeeds, I’ll have to see what happens afterward.’
How far would her realm rise?
How much would her body change?
I had to observe those things.
‘Now that I’m doing it, it’s a bit of a hassle.’
Having to watch all of this one thing at a time was thoroughly bothersome.
Should I just eat it myself and be done with it?
If my energy increased, I would have more work to do to bring it under control, but that could be handled simply by reducing my time spent resting.
I really wanted to do that.
“Ah, this is seriously annoying.”
The fact that I could not simply do so irritated me.
There was a reason I was going through all this.
“Why did I have to discover something like this?”
Besides the jewel, there was one more thing weighing on me.
Another object obtained by interrogating the First Elder with demonic qi.
Rustle.
I reached into my robes and pulled out a sheet of paper.
It was an old letter, neither especially large nor thick.
The problem was what it contained.
“…Hmm.”
The Birth Plan for a Heavenly Martial Body. Decades of time invested for that purpose, along with the most suitable materials and proportions discovered through that research.
Even instructions for using it in the essence.
A secret art containing all those explanations now rested in my hands.
[Do you actually intend to use it?]
For some reason, a sharp emotion seeped into Noya’s voice as he asked the question.
I knew what his voice meant.
“Am I insane? You think I’d use this?”
Noya was afraid that I might use it.
Judging only by what was written here, this letter described something far too cruel for a human being to use.
It would be difficult even to gather the ingredients.
Leaving aside the task of collecting poisonous demonic beasts—
‘I would have to gather more than a hundred humans.’
And they had to be humans who had not yet reached adulthood.
It described a method of refining them again and again, then using the result to alter the vessel and the flesh.
The crucial ingredients were their blood, flesh, and innate qi.
It was astonishing enough that such things could be extracted. But to refine them, then mix them with blood and flesh imbued with the poison of demonic beasts?
There was no denying that it was a mad method.
I frowned as I looked at the jewel clenched in my hand.
“For the righteous sects to make something like this.”
Even as I called it something so insignificant, another thought arose in my mind.
An elixir that could turn someone into a Heavenly Martial Body simply by eating it.
There was no doubt that this was an item of immense historical value.
The method of creating it was simply far too far removed from human ethics.
‘…If this secret art were merely scattered throughout the world, it would be more than enough to plunge everything into chaos.’
There were plenty of people in this world who would throw ethics to the dogs.
I knew that all too well, which was why this could not easily be released into the world.
[Is that truly your only reason?]
‘…Of course not.’
I shook my head at Noya’s mocking words.
Naturally, that was not the only reason.
Since when had I possessed such a sense of justice that I would worry about something like that?
There was only one reason I cared about this.
If it could turn an ordinary person’s body into the absurd physical form known as a Heavenly Martial Body, then this possessed tremendous value, no matter what it was.
Therefore—
‘If it can be used, I want to use it.’
Rather than give it to someone else or burn it, I wanted to find a way to use it myself.
[…Brat.]
‘I know.’
I let out a small laugh at the heavily somber tone in Noya’s voice.
‘Don’t worry. I have no intention of doing what you’re afraid I’ll do.’
Noya was worried that I might use the method written in this secret art.
I felt a little strange, wondering if he really saw me as such trash, but—
From Noya’s perspective, it was something worth worrying about, so I decided not to say anything more.
In truth—
‘I had considered it.’
If I made several of these and fed them to people I could trust to help them grow, they might be of use in the war that would come in the future.
‘But this crosses the line.’
I did not want to go that far.
It was an act that crossed the ‘line’ I had drawn for myself. I could not go beyond it.
That line was what allowed me to recognize that I was still human.
‘Even if my flesh already says otherwise.’
Even if my body changed, even if my circumstances changed—
This act crossed the line that allowed me to barely consider myself human.
‘So I’ll have to find another method.’
I could not use the secret art exactly as it was written.
In the first place, the reason poison had been added to the medicine was solely for the sake of the Tang Clan’s bloodline, so I would exclude that.
Assuming there was something capable of replacing human blood, flesh, and innate qi—
‘…It might be possible to use it a little differently.’
Even if the power originally possessed by the elixir were diminished—
It might be possible to create something with a similar effect.
That was why I was contemplating the matter.
If I could accomplish it, it would certainly help in the blood calamity that would come in the future.
[That is a dangerous thought.]
‘Yes, I know that as well.’
I nodded at Noya’s warning.
I knew how dangerous this idea was.
Even so—
‘Wouldn’t it be worth attempting?’
[…]
‘I think it’s better than not trying at all. It’s best to try everything you can before giving up, isn’t it?’
[Yes… That conviction of yours is both your flaw and your strength.]
Try until it became impossible, then let go.
In my previous life, I had been unable to do that. It was a conviction I had resolved to change in this life.
‘I’m not saying I’ll do this immediately.’
Even excluding the task of gathering humans, and setting aside the search for demonic beasts—
There were still a considerable number of materials.
There were also countless expensive medicinal herbs.
Gathering them all would take some time.
‘Even after gathering the herbs, I’ll have to refine them, of course….’
I needed materials to replace the humans and demonic beasts. Before anything else, I had to determine whether such materials existed at all.
‘Though I don’t know if they do.’
If I could find them, they would provide a considerable advantage to my plans for the future.
‘It would be an item far superior to the elixirs of Shaolin or Mount Hua.’
If I succeeded in making it, it would be superior to the Great Rejuvenation Pill, the Purple Dusk Pill, or even the Poison Heaven Pill.
It would be an extraordinary object, capable of transforming the human body itself and expanding its vessel.
Moreover—
‘…This is only a guess.’
I did not know about a replacement for human blood and flesh, but as for something that could replace innate qi—
Something came to mind.
I did not know whether it would work, though.
‘First, I’ll deal with Nahi.’
After confirming whether this elixir truly worked, and what state it would leave her in if it did—
If I judged it useful, I would begin in earnest.
‘…I have to decide on my path before I reach adulthood.’
I did not have much time.
I had three years left until I turned twenty.
Within that time, I had to establish the direction I would take and formulate my plans in detail.
This was related to that as well.
“Hoo….”
Lost in complicated thoughts as I walked, I soon arrived at my quarters.
Father was probably in the middle of handling the Poison King’s request, and the entire Tang Clan would be in an uproar, so my quarters should be relatively quiet.
‘Then, what I have to do once I get inside is—’
The task I had to complete today.
‘…What to do with Noea.’
Noea, which I had shoved into a drawer because it was so noisy. The person inside it whom I suspected to be Namgung Myeong.
I had not yet finished speaking with him about this.
Before Father returned, I should at least finish that much.
Just as I entered my quarters with that thought—
“…Huh?”
I sensed the presence of many people inside the quarters that should have been quiet.
—No! You crazy bastard!
At the same time, noisy voices reached me without pause.
That sharp voice was…?
‘It sounds like the White Lotus Sword.’
It was the voice of that White Lotus Sword woman.
…Why was that woman making noise in my quarters?
‘What is she trying to do this time?’
I was already afraid.
Every time that woman came here, she spouted some bizarre nonsense, leaving me thoroughly uneasy.
“Sigh….”
Immediately after letting out a deep sigh, I entered my quarters.
And, as expected, I had to let out a cry of shock at the completely unexpected words I heard this time as well.
“…What did you say?”
The problem was that the person who had uttered those unexpected words was not the White Lotus Sword.
“You’re going where…?”
“…”
When I asked with my eyes wide open, the woman standing before me answered.
“…The Northern Sea….”
A woman with long blue-white hair.
A woman with beautifully fair skin.
My fiancée, and the person who had died for me in my previous life.
Namgung Bia looked at me and spoke again.
“…I’m going to the Northern Sea….”
She said that she was going to the Northern Sea.