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Originally, she had wanted to recover all of her chi before attempting to expel the remaining poison from her body. However, she did not have much time left. The poison was much more toxic than she had expected. Even now, it was eating her up from the inside out.

She had not told this to Jin Mu-Won, but the poison she was afflicted with was one of the most dangerous poisons ever made by humans.

The Blood Disintegration Poison (血血化混毒).

Just as its name implied, the Blood Disintegration Poison would dissolve one’s internal organs into a bloody mush. One mouthful of the poison was enough to kill. It was mostly forgotten now, but a few decades ago, this poison had taken countless lives.

Eun Ha-Seol had honestly thought the poison would kill her, but Jin Mu-Won had saved her by giving her the Heart-Protecting Detoxification Pill.

Although the pill hadn’t completely eliminated the poison, it was extremely effective at suppressing it. It was thanks to this suppression that her life was prolonged until now.

However, the effects of the Heart-Protecting Detoxification Pill were reaching their limits. If she let things continue as they were, her life would be in danger before she could recover all of her chi. Thus, she decided to take a gamble and use the chi she had already recovered to expel the poison from her body.

Eun Ha-Seol focused all her concentration on the poison removal process. She first performed two checks to confirm that there was nothing else wrong with her body. Then, she began to circulate her chi.

Currently, the poison was concentrated inside a small part of her spleen. She needed to move it carefully to the ring finger on her left hand. If something went wrong with her chi circulation, or if she got distracted now, she would cough up blood and the poison would kill her in an instant.

Bit by bit, she moved the poison through her body. As her concentration reached its peak, beads of sweat appeared on her forehead. The sweat dripped down her face and nose, making her feel itchy, but she maintained all her focus on controlling her chi without squirming.

The poison that had been trapped within her spleen started to flow. Suddenly, it began to resist her will, just like a living thing.

“Ugh!”

Her concentration was broken, and the chi which she had wrapped around the poison almost dispersed. The poison’s resistance to treatment was unusually strong. It seemed to know that if it got transferred to a certain place, it would be eliminated.

The war between Eun Ha-Seol’s chi and the poison raged on for a while. Eun Ha-Seol knew that if she didn’t suppress the poison soon, she would be in for a drawn-out battle. She reallocated her chi to make it last as long as she possibly could.

Time passed, and Eun Ha-Seol’s face became paler and paler. It seemed that, because she had decided to expel the poison before her chi was fully recovered, she had overexerted herself and her body was screaming in defiance.

She felt as if her entire body was being squeezed and twisted like a rag. Eun Ha-Seol grit her teeth. If she screamed now, the flow of her chi would be affected and the poison would quickly spread throughout her body. If that happened, not even the most powerful gods could save her.

Stay focused, Eun Ha-Seol. Your life is at stake here, she told herself.

Eun Ha-Seol gave it her best. She concentrated so hard that she ended up soaked in sweat.

GUSH!

Suddenly, a burst of poison gushed through her body. She jolted as if she had been struck by lightning. She didn’t scream, but it was obvious that it had come as a shock to her.

SPLURT!

Black blood flowed from her mouth and her face turned completely pale. She immediately tried to expel the poison again, but it was useless. The strength she had left was not enough to suppress the poison that had acted up violently.

“Is this… the end?”

Eun Ha-Seol’s vision began to blur. She had only just realized that she no longer had any control over the poison.

Suddenly, the image of a person appeared in her mind. It was not the person she admired the most, nor was it her teacher or her family.

You weirdo.

Just then, she heard a voice.

“Young Mistress, calm down.”

A powerful chi was injected into her body, flowing through her blood vessels. The unfamiliar chi merged with her own and quickly contained the poison in her blood.

“Young Mistress, gather your focus and help guide my strength.”

Eun Ha-Seol nodded wordlessly, then channeled the chi within her body. The person helping her followed her guidance and moved their chi accordingly to assist her in expelling the poison.

If she used force, they would do the same. When she got tired and took a short rest, they would rest with her.

How much time has passed? Color returned to Eun Ha-Seol’s pale face. All the poison was now aggregated in her left ring finger.

DRIP!

Drop after drop of smelly black liquid formed on the tip of the finger. It contained the Blood Disintegration Poison that had almost devoured Eun Ha-Seol as well as some contaminated blood.

Eun Ha-Seol summoned up the last of her concentration and squeezed out the remaining poison. It had resisted to the very end but lost to the combined strength of two people. Finally, all the poison was gone.

“Phew!” The person who had helped Eun Ha-Seol heaved a sigh of relief and stood up. They were covered in bloodied loose-fitting black clothes from head to toe, hiding their figure and making it impossible to determine their gender. One thing was for sure, though, their aura was familiar to Eun Ha-Seol.

Eun Ha-Seol opened her eyes. Her eyes shone with a welcoming light.

“Sa-Ryung (邪靈),[1] you’re still alive.”

“Young Mistress, I apologize for being so late. I didn’t know where you were hiding, so it took a long time to find you.”

Sa-Ryung, the black-clothed person, got down on one knee in front of Eun Ha-Seol and lowered their head.

“I will gladly accept any punishment for placing Young Mistress in danger.”

“There's no need for that. In that kind of situation, even Master couldn’t do anything, much less you. Where have you been all this time?”

“I have also been in hiding, recovering from my injuries.”

“Then, you also don’t know if Master is safe?”

“That’s correct. Right after my wounds had closed, I went looking for Young Mistress.”

Eun Ha-Seol’s face turned black. As if they could read her mind, Sa-Ryung’s eyes lit up. They said, “Don’t worry, Young Mistress, the Madam is definitely safe. For me, the most important thing right now is Young Mistress’s recovery.”

“Mm.” Eun Ha-Seol nodded. However, her expression was anything but happy.

“The Northern Army Fortress is a fine place to take refuge. You have made an excellent decision, Young Mistress. Those guys would never think to look for you here. You should continue staying here while you recuperate from your wounds.”

“What about you, Sa-Ryung?”

“I will search for the Madam’s whereabouts.”

“Thank you.”

“Please don’t say that. I was born to serve you and the Madam.”

Sa-Ryung’s tone was completely flat and emotionless, with no high or low tones that would betray their thoughts. Even so, Eun Ha-Seol knew that they were telling the truth.

Sa-Ryung stood up, and an explosive power erupted from their body.

“First, I will clean up this place so that Young Mistress can live comfortably.”

The evil spirit Sa-Ryung’s blood-red lips split open to reveal pearly white teeth. That was the only proof that they were still alive.

From Eun Ha-Seol’s condition, Sa-Ryung guessed that she hadn’t received proper medical treatment in this place. They had heard about the fall of the Northern Army, but the living conditions in this ruin were much worse than expected.

To Sa-Ryung, Eun Ha-Seol was the most exalted person in the world. If there was even the slightest possibility that anyone in this place was a danger to her, they would immediately nip it in the bud.

If they wanted to, Sa-Ryung was strong enough to instantly massacre every living thing inside the Northern Army Fortress.

“No, Sa-Ryung.”

“Young Mistress!”

“I will be better off with him by my side.”

“Yes, Young Mistress.”

Sa-Ryung did not raise any more objections.

“Please hurry up and regain your strength, Young Mistress.”

“I will.”

Eun Ha-Seol sat down cross-legged and started circulating her chi to recover. Sa-Ryung stood on guard beside her like a stone statue.

Some time later, when Eun Ha-Seol had recovered some of her physical strength, she opened her eyes. Sa-Ryung was nowhere in sight.

She knew that Sa-Ryung had already left to find her master and wouldn’t return until they had found her.

“Sa-Ryung.”

Eun Ha-Seol stared blankly at the window Sa-Ryung had vanished from.

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

“Hoo!” Jin Mu-Won took a deep breath. It was still freezing outside, but the temperature had clearly increased compared to a few days ago. He felt that spring would be arriving very soon.

This had been a very eventful winter for him. First, a suspicious girl called Eun Ha-Seol had showed up. Next, he had entered the first stage of the Art of Ten Thousand Shadows. Finally, he had picked up swordsmithing and made one sword after another.

Repeating the same routine day after day had made him grow as a person.

He was now seventeen. He still didn’t look like an adult, but his eyes were deeper and more refined than a typical man’s. He had also grown taller and now boasted a height of six cheok.[2] At first glance, he already had the build of a full-grown man.

Jin Mu-Won raised his head and looked up at the sky. The rays from the sun shining on his face were warm. Very soon, the heat from the sun would melt all the snow, making the white slush that could bury a person disappear into nothing.

Winter would pass, and spring would then begin. Similarly, Jin Mu-Won felt that his days of suffering would one day reach an end, followed by the arrival of the spring of his life.

He smiled refreshingly and went for a walk. As usual, he traversed the Northern Army Fortress and headed for the basement of the Tower of Shadows. There, countless broken wooden swords were piled up like corpses, but Jin Mu-Won didn’t care about them. Whenever he broke one wooden sword, he would just make himself a new one.

He picked up a wooden sword that he had made previously and stood in front of the bedrock wall. He had been hitting the wall with wooden swords all winter, but there still wasn’t a single scratch on the wall.

Doing this was tiresome, but Jin Mu-Won did not feel frustrated or disappointed at the result. He simply swung his blade quietly.

THWACK!

The sounds of his wooden sword hitting stone echoed around the basement room. Unlike before when the wooden sword would break after a few hits, he could now hit the wall a few dozen times and the sword would still be perfectly intact.

This meant that after months of training, he had attained much more precise control over his strength and had truly grasped the essence of swinging a sword. With his current ability, even if he swung the sword forcefully like before, it rarely broke or flew out of his hands any more.

As long as one gives a task their everything and persists tenaciously at it, one will definitely reap the rewards when the time comes. No one had taught him, but Jin Mu-Won had still succeeded in learning how to control a sword through rigorous training.

I have to rotate my waist a little faster and tense up my shoulder muscles…

Jin Mu-Won regulated his breathing as he swung his sword. In his mind, he was constantly analyzing his own movements, trying to optimize the balance between power and form.

His goal was to achieve the perfect harmony of mind and body. By doing this, he hoped that it would allow him to wield his sword to perfection.

How many times have I swung this sword? Jin Mu-Won couldn’t remember. He had completely lost himself in his training and fallen into a trance.

His mind and body fell into perfect sync. Before he realized it, he had taken another step closer to Mind-Body Unification (心身一體), the flawless union of the mental and physical selves.

Just then, his shadow chi that had been lying dormant all this time awoke from its slumber. The Shadow Space inside his chi center, which he had created using the Art of Ten Thousand Shadows, came to life and a dark light seemed to radiate from within. As Jin Mu-Won swung the sword down, all the energy within him burst forth through the wooden blade.

SWOOSH!

The wooden sword cut through bedrock like it was tofu. Shocked, Jin Mu-Won instantly snapped back to his senses.

He looked at the slash on the wall, eyes glittering. Although he had done it unconsciously, he clearly understood what this meant and how it had happened, from the changes within his body to the strike that had led to this result.

He had taken yet another step forward on his chosen path, and could now inject his chi into his sword. The proof of that was right before his eyes.

Jin Mu-Won’s instincts told him that he could not let go of this moment.

He had to carve the memory of this feeling into his mind before this sense of immersion and serenity faded away.

He raised his sword once more. He did not consciously try to inject his chi into the sword, but instead recalled the feeling of that strike just then.

SHIING! SHIING!

His sword sliced through the bedrock again and again.

In general, certain telltale signs would appear when one’s swordsmanship reached a certain level of proficiency. First, energy would be seen emanating from the sword forming a shroud over it. This phenomenon was referred to as Sword Chi (劍氣), and its appearance meant that one had reached the first stage toward Transcendence.

The State of Transcendence (上昇之境) was also known as the State of Ascendance. Those who had attained this state were able to merge their inner chi with the chi in their surroundings. This meant that no matter how much chi they used, their inner chi reserves would never run dry, and they would be able to perform miraculous feats like creating a sword domain to cross a river.

Even among the disciples of famous sects, few managed to reach Transcendence. The ones who did only succeeded because of a combination of their own diligence, their master’s guidance, and the support of their sect in the form of pills and medication.

Once in a while, a genius would appear who could open the path to Transcendence without help or guidance from others, but those were few and far between. Although Jin Mu-Won had no visible sword chi, the fact that he had slashed through a solid stone wall like it was tofu was the most convincing evidence that he was such a person.

Jin Mu-Won swung his blade again and again until he had no more chi left to use.

So what if I’m as slow as a snail?

As long as I keep moving forward, one day, I will travel a thousand miles to the final destination.

When Jin Mu-Won returned to his room on the top floor of the tower, the sun had already begun to set. He had been so absorbed in his training that he hadn’t noticed the passing of time. His body felt as heavy as lead, but his mind was refreshed and spirited.

“Hmm?”

Jin Mu-Won made a confused expression when he noticed Eun Ha-Seol sitting on a chair in his room, sulking.

“Why are you here at this hour?”

“Do you really not know?”

“Eh?”

“I haven’t seen you since yesterday morning.”

“You’re telling me that an entire day has passed?”

A sudden realization came over Jin Mu-Won. He hadn’t been training from dawn till dusk; he’d been at it for nearly two whole days.

So that’s why she’s so angry.

“Does that mean, you haven’t eaten for two days?”

“Hmph!”

Jin Mu-Won shuffled into the kitchen under Eun Ha-Seo’s watchful gaze. Unbeknownst to him, she heaved a sigh of relief.

When Sa-Ryung had disappeared, so had Jin Mu-Won. She felt that there was no way that Sa-Ryung would have disobeyed her orders, but she still worried about him.

Eun Ha-Seol was very angry at herself too. This was the first time she had worried about anyone other than her master. It was an unfamiliar feeling. She looked at Jin Mu-Won’s back as he cooked, a complicated look in her eyes.

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Jin Mu-Won sat on the roof of the Tower of Shadows, looking down upon the Wall of Ten Thousand Shadows.

The words hidden within the interplay of light and shadow gradually revealed themselves to him in the light of dawn.

Although he could see this sight every day during this time, today was special.

Yesterday, during his daily self-inspection, Jin Mu-Won realized that several large changes had occurred inside his body. He had finally overcome the barrier that had been impeding his progress.

The time has come.

Besides the Art of Ten Thousand Shadows, there was another martial art that the former Lords of the Northern Army had created and refined over several generations. Like the Art, this martial art was also inscribed on the Wall of Ten Thousand Shadows.

It was a complex sword technique that had been invented for the sole purpose of war.

In order to meet the basic requirements for learning this sword technique, Jin Mu-Won had trained his swordsmanship like crazy.

As the sun rose higher over the horizon, the words written on the Wall of Ten Thousand Shadows became more well-defined. Jin Mu-Won focused his gaze on one particular line.

Footnotes:

[1] Sa-Ryung (邪靈): Sa-Ryung is more like a nickname or code name rather than a real person’s name. It means “Evil Spirit”. Also, the gender of Sa-Ryung hasn't been revealed so we are using the pronouns they/them.

[2] six cheok: Approximately 6’, or 180 cm tall.

[3] Shadow Blade of Destruction (滅天魔影劍): Literal translation – Shadow Blade of Heavenly Destruction and Demon Slaying. Manhwa TL: The Shadowed Blade of the End and The Shadowed Blade of Destruction. The explanation for our translation is in C43. The sword of shadows (影劍) created to destroy the heavens (滅天) and slay all demons (滅魔).