Commander Seong immediately entered and brought back a pristine set of the White Tiger Heavenly Garments, and Unwi, receiving it with his blood-free hand, draped it over Wonyang’s shoulders.

“…Ah, you really didn’t have to…”

“How long have you been here?”

Commander Seong answered that question.

“I’ve been here ever since you left, young master.”

The current time was around the middle of Inshi (3 AM to 5 AM).

It had taken Unwi about one si-jin (two hours) to finish his work in Yangnyeong County.

Including the time spent traveling and the delay caused by the heavy snowfall on the way back.

“So you’ve been here for nearly four si-jin.”

Unwi murmured quietly as he gazed at Wonyang.

“Commander Seong.”

“Yes, young master.”

“Prepare four boxes and place the severed heads in them.”

“…Yes. Understood.”

“And Wonyang, you follow me.”

There was no time for her to even ask where they were going.

“We’re heading to the training ground.”

Commander Seong looked like he wanted to stop him, thinking it was too much for someone already clearly exhausted, but gave up when he saw Unwi shake his head.

Commander Seong knew.

Since his return, Unwi’s stubbornness had grown to unimaginable levels.

****

On the way to the training ground, Wonyang kept trying to dissuade me, saying it was fine, that we could train later.

It was clear she said it because, even outwardly, I looked severely fatigued and obviously needed rest.

But I couldn’t leave it alone.

In my judgment.

At least from the sharpened sense I had right now, Wonyang was right on the verge of stepping into the Four Realms of Refined Qi.

This had to be pushed through.

At the training ground, bathed in moonlight, Wonyang, wearing the White Tiger Heavenly Garments, seemed very burdened by the attire she had on, but it was fine.

“It’s just clothing, after all.”

“But this… this is clothing that only polar bloodline successors like you should wear…”

“It’s merely a formality.”

“…”

“Even if you weren’t wearing the White Tiger Heavenly Garments, the fact that you’re a polar bloodline successor wouldn’t change.

Besides, I was the one who borrowed your clothes first, and they ended up as rags. Returning rags would not be the proper thing for a person to do.

So keep wearing it until tomorrow.”

“Young master…”

And then.

“Are you confused?”

“…What are you referring to?”

“I’m talking about your current state, standing at the end of the Celestial Cycle Realm.”

“Ah… so that’s what you meant… Yes. I’m confused right now.”

Maybe it was the weather, but Wonyang’s breathing was strangely rough.

“Steady your breath.”

At my words, she took a deep breath and began to calm herself.

Having reached the final stage of the Celestial Cycle Realm, she was # Nоvеlight # now ready.

“Your Middle Dantian is about to open.”

Quietly, only my voice echoed across the training ground.

Staring at Wonyang, whose eyes widened, I continued calmly.

“Your internal energy is already sufficient.”

I slowly circled around her.

“To move from the final stage of the Celestial Cycle Realm to the Twin Radiance Manifestation, it’s not about accumulating more internal energy.”

I approached Wonyang.

Then I extended my right hand and placed it firmly over the center of her solar plexus.

Looking at her blushing face, I spoke briefly.

“Focus.”

“…Yes!”

My energy penetrated her body.

“…Mmm…”

“Can you feel it?”

“…Yes.”

“Your internal energy is swirling around your Middle Dantian, like a guest knocking on a door.

But that door doesn’t open from the outside.”

As soon as I finished speaking, Wonyang’s breathing quickened, as if she was concentrating all her senses inward.

Inside her body, her internal energy slowly began to swirl.

It was an incredibly pure flow of energy.

“Until now, you’ve been accumulating internal energy.

But the Four Realms of Refined Qi is different.

It’s not about accumulation, it’s about realization.

Just like the sun naturally rises, it must come naturally.”

The chill radiating from my hand seeped into Wonyang’s body, stimulating her internal energy.

“The Middle Dantian is already within you.

You simply haven’t seen it yet.

Close your eyes.

Feel the path your internal energy flows.”

Wonyang closed her eyes.

Her consciousness began to follow the flow of her internal energy.

“Until now, your internal energy has only been rising upward.

But true realization begins from descending, just like water flowing from high to low.”

As my words continued, Wonyang’s internal energy gradually began to change.

The energy that had only been surging upward now started to flow downward as well.

“You truly are quick to learn.

That’s right.

Feel the rise and fall, the cycle.

Twin Radiance Manifestation begins where the two lights meet.”

Wuuuuung—!

A special resonance began to emanate from Wonyang’s body.

Her Middle Dantian had started to open.

“Can you see it now?”

At my quiet voice, Wonyang nodded silently.

I continued without stopping.

“Those who reach the Four Realms of Refined Qi can wield great power even with small amounts of internal energy.

The Middle Dantian is not merely a source of strength.

It is the starting point of transformation.”

Tears welled up at the corners of Wonyang’s eyes.

They were not tears of pain, but tears of realization.

“Yes, feel it.

This is the beginning of the Four Realms of Refined Qi.”

Without anyone telling her, Wonyang sat down cross-legged on the spot.

As she closed her eyes and began to regulate her energy, a distinct light started to leak from her body.

It was a signal that she had entered the threshold of Twin Radiance Manifestation.

As I quietly watched over her, someone approached and held an umbrella over me.

It was Commander Seong.

“You went a little far this time, young master.”

“I don’t feel that way at all.”

“…Are you really going to see this through to the end?”

I chuckled.

“What exactly are you so worried about, Commander Seong?”

“…Everything.”

“I appreciate the sentiment, but you’re worrying unnecessarily.”

“…”

“The severed heads?”

“I placed them in the four boxes you ordered.”

I nodded.

“…Soon, Han Janggwang will break free from his seclusion.”

“He will.”

“By today, all the warriors of the Four Great Sects will gather and march on Seolap.”

“That’s how it’ll be.”

“Han Janggwang is a master of the Ogi Formation.

If he emerges from seclusion, he will have fully matured his True Elixir Field.”

I just laughed.

“Are you worried?”

“Wouldn’t it be strange if I weren’t?”

“Then don’t worry.”

“…”

“The things I do may seem insane.

But this is the path I’ve chosen.”

“…Understood.

Please get some rest, then.

You look extremely exhausted.”

I spoke before he could finish.

“Wonyang looks cold.”

“…”

“Since it seems you have nothing else to do anyway, I’d like you to keep the snow from piling up.”

“…If I do that, will you rest immediately?”

“I will.”

“Understood.”

Commander Seong stood next to Wonyang, holding the umbrella.

I turned around and headed toward the armory located in the corner of the training ground.

I sat down at the entrance and leaned my back against a pillar.

Hoo…

My whole body felt sluggish.

“Commander Seong.”

“Yes, young master.”

“I want to write a letter.

Do you have a brush and paper?”

“…Shall I fetch them?”

I nodded, and Commander Seong planted the umbrella into the ground and vanished from the spot.

With a soft sound, his body disappeared completely from view, and before I could even count to five, he appeared before me.

“Here they are.”

I took them and immediately scribbled something onto the paper, then handed it back to Commander Seong.

“At dawn, deliver this to the Four Great Sects.”

“Shall I use the Open Gate Sect?”

I nodded.

“Understood.”

Commander Seong returned to where Wonyang was and picked up the umbrella lying on the ground.

It was almost the exact same scene as before.

I felt a bit sorry.

With power like his, all he could do was act as a bodyguard.

When I smiled faintly, Commander Seong gave a slightly awkward smile in return.

I then pulled out a small box from inside my robes.

Before I killed Jang Muhwi, I had asked him: what had he bought with all the money he had embezzled?

At that moment, Jang Muhwi had reacted.

Unconsciously, he had glanced at his own chest.

So when I severed his head, I searched his chest.

And that was where I found this.

When I opened the box, there was a tiny glass bottle inside.

It contained a small amount of opaque liquid—barely enough for two drops.

Commander Seong, who had been watching me from a distance, opened his mouth wide in shock.

It was understandable.

Because this was the famous Empty Clear Stone Milk.

“Y-Young master, that’s…?”

“Shh.”

Commander Seong was standing close to Wonyang, and if he spoke too loudly, it could affect her.

I quietly lifted the glass bottle.

What is Empty Clear Stone Milk?

First of all, it’s an elixir.

An elixir with two effects.

The first: immediate recovery from fatigue and circulation of internal energy.

The second: expansion and reinforcement of the meridians.

My blood vessels are thicker than those of ordinary martial artists.

Because of that, I can unleash more than double the internal energy that a typical practitioner at the Twin Radiance Manifestation stage could, with almost no side effects.

The only side effect, if you could call it that, is the exhaustion that comes from completely wringing out all available energy like now.

Jang Muhwi probably obtained this elixir in preparation for advancing to the Ogi Formation.

His judgment was correct.

The Ogi Formation is the stage where the True Elixir Field is completed, and adding the energy of the Empty Clear Stone Milk would make the True Elixir Field even sturdier, allowing one to unleash even greater energy.

But unfortunately for him, it’s now in my hands.

Drinking this wouldn’t immediately let me ascend to the Five Dragon Apex, but that didn’t matter.

I was planning to ascend to the Five Dragon Apex within half a month anyway.

Right now, what mattered was recovering my strength, expanding my meridians, and filling my completely emptied Dantian.

That would be enough.

Without hesitation, I opened the glass bottle and consumed everything inside.

The reaction came immediately.

I sat cross-legged and began circulating the Grand Void Immortal Blood Heart Technique.

Taihe Xuan Blood Connects All Principles.

The profound blood of the Grand Void connects to all principles.

Innate Vital Blood Turns to True Void.

Innate vital blood transforms into true void.

All Laws Return to One, Revealing the Great Dao.

All myriad laws return to one and reveal the Great Way.

It had truly been a long day, but today was merely the beginning.

From sunrise onward, things would get very busy, and Yangnyeong County would be cleared out within the day.

I had to recover my strength.

There was so much work to be done.

Such stray thoughts quickly sank below the surface of my consciousness.

Now was the time to focus entirely on the energy of the Empty Clear Stone Milk.

I closed my eyes.

And I sank into a state of selflessness.

****

Commander Seong, to be honest, was not someone who startled easily.

Since joining the White Snow Phantom Corps, he had experienced countless things.

He had traveled to Zhongyuan, worked as an assassin, and served as a regular bodyguard as well.

He had gone through countless experiences.

Yet lately, Commander Seong found himself being startled unusually often.

And all of it was related to one person.

Seol Unwi, the young master.

When he first heard that Seol Unwi had reincarnated, he honestly hadn’t believed it, but the more he thought about it, the harder it was to doubt.

A person’s way of speaking and acting does not change in a short period of time.

The Seol Unwi of the past had truly been weak, but the Seol Unwi now was not.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep