"-I only removed the demonic nature the heart possessed and left the toxic qi as it was. Since you mentioned having poison resistance, it will actually be of great help in cultivating your poison resistance."
In the span of half a day, he was soaked in fatigue as if a person had competed in an Ironman triathlon twice in a row.
Derek, who certainly lived up to such an assessment, looked as though he would collapse at any moment, yet a vibrant light lingered in his eyes.
"The medicinal properties were so potent that they lacked harmony, so I also prepared three different pills imbued with Water Qi, Earth Qi, and Wood Qi. You must consume them in order."
"...Um, thank you."
Ihan only offered a plain word of thanks for his efforts.
He could have expressed his gratitude with a long speech, but that wasn't Ihan's style, and it would likely be burdensome for him as well.
As if knowing this, Derek also wore a plain smile.
"...Yes. Then the rest a little la—."
Thud.
Unable to finish his sentence, he simply collapsed.
"Seems like this guy needs to take the medicine instead."
Having anticipated his collapse, Ihan caught him as he fell and laid him onto a hammock set up in the corner.
Then, he looked at the medicines placed on the desk.
Hwaak—.
"How splendidly brilliant."
His tone was plain, but an undeniable astonishment lingered in his eyes.
He had only requested simple processing, yet something beyond imagination had appeared.
Anyone could tell this was a peerless spiritual medicine.
Despite being mere medicine, heat hazes rose from it.
The three pills Derek told him to take.
They looked like radiant pearls emitting water-light, gold-light, and green-light respectively, appearing as if they would melt in the mouth the moment they were consumed.
'Nurture Earth Qi with Water Qi, grow Wood Qi with Earth Qi to protect the entire body... Was this guy's major Eastern Medicine?'
A miraculous medicine that seemed to achieve the harmony of Yin, Yang, and the Five Elements.
It was nothing short of extraordinary.
However, even such an extraordinary medicine couldn't compare to a single other pill.
"This isn't a medicine, it's a monster."
Whoosh!
If one could melt a radiant red sapphire like water, would it not look like this?
The beautifully shining red liquid emitted light like a fluorescent substance, and inwardly, he wondered if it was really okay for a human to consume this.
However.
"He told me to eat this first."
Ihan did not hesitate.
Wasn't this a medicine he had poured all his heart and soul into? It was his duty as a grown man.
'I have to eat it without leaving a single trace.'
He immediately consumed the three pills.
Contrary to the thought that they would melt like water, the pills did not melt until he swallowed them.
However, the moment the three pills traveled down his esophagus.
Kuuung—!
"!!!"
A shock incomparably stronger than any other time struck the inside of his body.
It wasn't the concept of an explosion.
It was simply that a phenomenon just as intense had occurred within his body.
'Wait, isn't this taking away all the qi inside my body?'
Not only did the three pills use each other's qi to expand their presence, but they were outright devouring Ihan's qi as well.
The sensation of having all the vitality and energy he had painstakingly recovered through painful treatment from the cleric completely stripped away.
Someone might even misunderstand and think they were fed this medicine intentionally to poison them to death.
To that extent, it felt like his lifespan was decreasing in real-time.
Such an intense sense of repulsion arose, and he wanted to spit out the pills immediately, but—.
'It feels like it'll be fine if I leave it be...?'
Ihan stood by and watched his qi being devoured until it was dangerously close to the brink.
He had faith that that coward wouldn't threaten his life, and above all, he didn't feel like the qi of the pills was threatening his life.
Rather, how should he put it, the more these qi absorbed his vitality, the more refreshed his body felt in a different sense.
It was as if qi that didn't matter whether it was there or not disappeared, increasing his internal [Capacity]....
It somehow felt like forcefully emptying a vessel.
Like that, he left the three pills alone to run rampant as they pleased for several tens of minutes.
"....Keuk."
Having lost even the energy to speak, Ihan felt dizzy.
His vision blurred before his eyes, and he wanted to lose consciousness right then and there.
Also, if there had been a mirror here, he would have been horrified.
Because his body, which the term "gigantic" suited so perfectly, was beyond skinny—on the verge of withering away entirely.
He couldn't help but feel fortunate that his eyes were dim and there was no mirror in the current situation.
And without even seeing the changes that had occurred in his own body, Ihan reached out and strugglingly picked up the bottle containing the red liquid.
It was heavy.
It couldn't even be 250g, yet lifting it was incomparably difficult.
Pain, suffering, the desire to sleep, and even his appetite were beyond his control.
He wanted to eat anything and everything, yet he also felt like he didn't need to eat anything and just wanted to lie down and sleep—these two desires fiercely surged up, driving him mad.
It was an unprecedented situation where, if his lust hadn't been sealed, he might have put on a shameful display.
In such a situation, Ihan suppressed all desires and suffering solely with his 'Endurance'.
Because he prided himself on not losing to anyone when it came to patience, even when severe pain and desires tried to dominate his entire body like an uncontrollable current, he resisted.
'Shut up, shut up..., shut up—!'
Ihan commanded his entire uncontrollable body.
As if ordering it to follow his will if it was his body.
Gulp—.
And Ihan finally pushed the red liquid into his mouth.
Crack—!
That was closer to the act of chewing rather than drinking.
He was clearly drinking a liquid, but it kept squirming in his mouth as if he were eating tough pork skin or a struggling live octopus.
"━━."
However, Ihan did not spill a single drop of the liquid.
He just repeated the act of chewing, and chewing again.
He kept it in his mouth so it could never escape, and finally.
Gulp!
He chewed and swallowed it without leaving a trace.
However, was swallowing it the beginning of the ordeal?
Kuung—!
Kuuuung.
His entire body felt like it was electrocuted, tingling all over.
If there was a little person smaller than a finger, and after accidentally swallowing it, the enraged little person relentlessly struck the inside of his stomach with an absurdly large war hammer—it would probably feel like this.
It was a maddening pain enough to evoke such thoughts, and Ihan's body convulsed, leaving him no room to even think about enduring it.
"Keueueugh...."
Even a proper scream wouldn't come out.
He lacked the strength to scream, and his eyes felt like they would roll back at any moment.
It wouldn't be strange if he lost consciousness at any time.
His vision went yellow.
Was the pain of childbirth a mother experiences perhaps like this?
'No, I'm a man, though?'
Ihan was simply dumbfounded for a moment, wondering if this was really happening.
However, having the luxury to think meant he wasn't in enough pain to die yet.
The qi of the three pills was probably holding back the medicinal properties that were as fierce as a wild bull.
'Hah! You call this medicinal properties?!'
He had heard the medicinal properties were strong.
He also knew that the three pills were prepared for this.
But wasn't this far beyond the level of just being brushed off as strong medicinal properties!?
Ihan couldn't even feel the pain from the toxic qi and simply felt his mind go blank before the medicinal properties of the Ghost King's heart.
If the presence of the pills he took first hadn't protected his stomach, he would have lost consciousness from the pain long ago.
'...I might rather lose consciousness.'
A bitter laugh escaped him, but Ihan knew that losing consciousness wasn't a good choice.
He had to know exactly what was happening to his body.
Thus.
'Damn it! Let's see who wins.'
Chomp—.
He instantly bit his tongue to draw blood.
A metallic taste lingered, and through another pain, he barely managed to hold onto his fading consciousness.
And soon.
"Huu, huuu!"
Tap, Tadak, Tadadak.
He started stepping.
Boxing steps.
Like shadow boxing, he slowly began to extend and thrust his fists.
A body devoid of vitality, with fatigue and the desire to sleep endlessly soaring.
Yet, due to the pain, he couldn't even fall asleep properly, putting him on the verge of going mad.
Then it was better to force his body to move.
Focusing on something else would be better, if only to protect his mind.
Others might see it as simply foolish behavior, but Ihan willingly chose to sweat to overcome the pain.
Hoo—!
He repeatedly extended and retracted his fists.
At first, it was endlessly slow.
After all, the act of moving his body itself was endlessly painful right now.
Creak—!
But Ihan was stubborn.
As if he wouldn't lose to mere pain, he put his utmost effort into extending his fists and moving his body, and his punches, which were incredibly slow at first, began to speed up.
Punching into the air.
It was undoubtedly a feeble punching that couldn't even catch a fly at first, but as Ihan continued to throw punches.
Hoo, Huuuuk!
Speed picked up, and power circulated in his fists—no, throughout his entire body.
Hadn't he realized it the day before?
That there is power within softness.
Like this, power exists everywhere, and even if his muscles had completely deflated like a balloon, it was possible to emit power.
In whatever way.
In the endlessly accelerating punches, a threatening sharpness began to dwell.
Even if there was no power, it was imbued with a sharpness like an awl or a large nail.
However, this wasn't really an enlightenment.
He was simply doing what he could; it was nothing more than a desperate struggle against the pain and the rushing sleep demon.
And that struggle.
Crrreak—!
Gradually began to take effect, as he started to absorb the medicinal properties.
It was originally a process that should have taken an entire day, but as if defying that common sense, Ihan forcibly moved his body to absorb—no, adapt to the medicinal properties.
"-----."
From some point on, Ihan was simply punching in a trance, with no focus in his eyes.
With his consciousness half-clouded, his body simply moved as his will dictated.
Thus, he couldn't see it.
What was gradually rising from his body.
Ssssss—.
The steam, that is.
Fwooooosh—.
The true identity of the steam emitted from his body was the waste that had accumulated in his body until now.
The side effects of unidentified drugs the wizard had forced him to swallow when he was young, or the corpse poison that had accumulated while wandering the battlefields.
Things that had unknowingly piled up flowed out of his body like sweat, and the heavy fatigue that had occupied Ihan seemed to have completely drained away.
Furthermore.
Kwaang! Kwaaang!
The medicinal properties took a step further and inflated his skinny body once again.
It wasn't simply a bloated, bumpy swelling.
His body had certainly been hard as a river stone before, but now, not only was it as hard as a river stone, but it had also gained elasticity like a spring or rubber.
Because he had already tempered his body to its limits, Ihan thought his room for physical improvement was infinitely minor, but his body was achieving a leap beyond elastic growth.
This was a 'fortuitous encounter'.
However, this fortuitous encounter couldn't simply be dismissed as the help of medicine.
It bore fruit because of the desperate life of the man named Ihan, and his fierce, life-risking training that ordinary people wouldn't even dare to attempt.
If someone other than Ihan had taken the spiritual medicine, they would never have even dreamed of such growth.
It would have been nothing more than taking an expensive nutritional supplement.
A leaping growth achieved solely because it was [him].
It shouldn't be simply dismissed as the help of medicine.
...However, unfortunately, at this historic moment where the results of his efforts appeared, Ihan, who was coincidentally in a trance, was unaware of the changes occurring in his body and continued punching the air—. No,
Kwajik, Kwajijik—!
He was merely repeating the unconscious Hundred-Step Divine Fist.
Endlessly, that is.
──And, ten minutes later, Derek, who barely regained consciousness, ended up being horrified.
Partly because he saw the walls on the verge of destruction, but....
"Y-You just consumed that? Without even waiting for me to wake up?"
"......."
"I-I clearly said there was an order of consumption before I collapsed, do you not remember? No, more importantly, did it not hurt? If you don't follow the order and take it, it's like pouring oil on a fire..."
"......."
"Y-You could have died trying to endure that pain......"
"...Umm."
"....Did it hurt a lot?"
"Kheum!"
Ihan looked at the far-off mountains.
Since they were underground, he couldn't see any mountains, but he wanted to do that right now.
And he thought.
No wonder....
'...It hurt like hell.'
He was a knight who newly confirmed that the lesson "if your head is ignorant, your body suffers" wasn't there for nothing.