Chapter 6

Chapter 6

At first, everything went smoothly.

I swallowed the Demon Spirit Pill, felt its energy spread through my body, and began absorbing it little by little.

Everything seemed to be going exactly as it should.

The problem appeared only after some time had passed.

Flash!

One year's worth.

Two years.

Three years.

And then exactly five years' worth.

When I had absorbed around five years of the Demon Spirit Pill's enormous thirty years of energy...

I heard the cry of a beast.

It sounded strangely familiar.

Then something inside me suddenly opened its eyes.

Flash!

Black energy began wrapping around my entire body.

The hot energy that had been flowing through my meridians had already stopped inside my dantian.

That meant the strange energy now surrounding my body wasn't coming from the Demon Spirit Pill.

It was something else.

Did this kind of energy already exist inside me?

Maybe it was the remains of the internal energy that Cheon Sowol once possessed.

Just as that suspicion began growing stronger...

Awooooooooooo!

I heard the sound again.

Actually, saying I "heard" it might not be accurate.

It didn't come through my ears.

It felt more like the sound was echoing from inside my dantian.

And as if responding to that howl, the strange energy began surging even more violently.

My consciousness slowly sank inward.

Darkness appeared.

Then I began to see what was happening inside my dantian.

It was almost like an image forming directly inside my mind.

There was an empty space.

And floating within it was a single glowing sphere.

That was definitely the energy of the Demon Spirit Pill.

If that's the Demon Spirit Pill...

Then what was underneath it?

I focused.

The other strange energy slowly took on a clear shape.

And there...

Was the owner of that howl.

Awooooooooo!

A dim light rose from beneath the Demon Spirit Pill's energy.

Gray.

In the middle of that gray darkness...

Two eyes opened.

They were golden.

Eyes like those of a wolf.

Or perhaps a dog.

It was difficult to say exactly what kind of beast it was.

Ah.

I knew those eyes.

Right before I died in the modern world...

Inside the explosion that swallowed my body...

I had vaguely seen a black shape with those exact eyes.

The creature that appeared as though it had been pushed out from the strange energy leaking from the box.

After waking up in this body, I hadn't thought much about it.

But apparently...

It was still here.

Not anywhere else.

Inside me.

It looked like a wolf, but rougher and much larger.

Judging from its size alone, calling it an ordinary animal felt ridiculous.

In this world, something like this would probably be called a spiritual beast.

The huge creature lay with its chin resting on its front paws like a dog or wolf.

Its golden eyes were fixed on the energy of the Demon Spirit Pill.

After spending so many years on battlefields, I had become fairly good at reading eyes.

The eyes of someone intending to kill.

The eyes of someone terrified.

The eyes of someone hiding something.

Animals weren't that different.

And I could read several emotions from this creature.

It looked like a bear that had just awakened from a very long hibernation.

There was hunger.

Severe hunger.

And greed.

It wants that energy...

The moment I realized that, another mystery suddenly clicked into place.

Why had I never been able to accumulate internal energy despite constantly practicing qi circulation?

Maybe...

It was because of this wolf-like creature.

Perhaps the small amount of energy I had gathered until now had been feeding it while it slept.

And once exactly five years' worth of energy gathered...

It finally woke up.

At least, that explanation made sense.

Fortunately, there was something reassuring.

Its eyes didn't look hostile.

Actually, they looked surprisingly friendly.

The creature turned its gaze toward me as though it knew I was watching it.

That meant it could recognize me even though neither of us seemed to have a physical body in this strange mental space.

And there was one thing animals were terrible at hiding.

Their tails.

Its tail kept swinging from side to side.

That was about as friendly a reaction as an animal could give.

It almost looked happy to have finally awakened after such a long sleep.

I decided to try communicating with it.

Step. Step.

Slowly.

Carefully.

I formed an image of myself inside this mental world and approached the creature.

One step.

Then another.

Even as I got closer, it showed no aggression.

Its tail remained honest.

Still wagging.

It truly seemed happy to be awake.

Stroke. Stroke.

I cautiously reached out and touched its fur.

The moment I did...

Its emotions began flowing into me.

Hunger.

That was the first thing I felt.

An overwhelming, almost painful hunger.

Only then did I understand.

The hunger I had felt when I first saw the Demon Spirit Pill hadn't been mine.

It had belonged to this creature.

The next emotion was friendliness.

The creature seemed perfectly satisfied living inside my dantian.

It had no intention of attacking me.

It couldn't speak.

But we could communicate through emotions and energy.

If this wasn't a spiritual beast, I didn't know what was.

It was you, wasn't it?

The day I died in the modern world... you were the one who brought me here.

It looked exactly like the creature I had seen at the moment of death.

I had always wanted to ask.

At my question, the creature lowered its head slightly.

Then its golden eyes answered.

Yes.

Thank you.

Thank you for giving me another chance to live.

I looked toward the glowing energy of the Demon Spirit Pill.

You want that energy, don't you?

If you eat it, you won't be hungry anymore.

For a moment, I looked between the beast and the Demon Spirit Pill.

The pill's energy still floated there like a shining sphere, radiating heat.

Of course I wanted it.

How could I not?

Thirty years of internal energy.

Who would willingly throw that away?

But there was something else I had learned during my years on battlefields.

If you receive something, you should give something back.

Greed always invited disaster.

And debts of gratitude should always be repaid.

Excessive greed had often returned in the form of bullets.

On the other hand, kindness I had shown others had more than once opened a path to survival.

This time...

I decided to give up the Demon Spirit Pill's power.

"You can have it."

"I need it too, but you need it more than I do."

I needed internal energy.

Of course I did.

But I had never possessed internal energy before anyway.

So how could I refuse to give something I had never owned to the creature that had given me another chance at life?

I made my decision easily.

The creature blinked.

It seemed to ask again if I really meant it.

I simply stroked its head.

That was my answer.

The creature looked between me and the Demon Spirit Pill several times.

Then it finally stood.

It looked weak.

Almost exhausted.

Step. Step. Step.

It slowly approached the Demon Spirit Pill's energy with heavy footsteps.

Then it looked back at me one last time.

Its golden eyes met mine.

Our minds were already connected.

Maybe it could feel that my decision was genuine.

Only then did it open its enormous mouth.

Whoooooosh!

The Demon Spirit Pill's energy began flowing into its mouth like air escaping from a balloon.

The enormous amount of energy disappeared in only a few seconds.

After swallowing everything...

The creature looked completely satisfied.

Awooooooooooooo!

It released another long howl.

Maybe because our emotions were connected...

I almost felt full too.

Good.

That repays the debt.

I wasn't a saint.

But I wasn't the kind of bastard who forgot a debt either.

Now that the account was settled, I actually felt more comfortable.

Grrrrrr. Rrrr. Grrr...

Perhaps the creature understood how I felt.

It approached me while wagging its tail.

Then it began rubbing its enormous head against me.

Its head alone was bigger than my entire body.

Yet it kept pushing against me as though demanding that I pet it.

Had it already become attached to me?

I took the gesture as affection and reached out again.

Then...

The gray body of the beast suddenly began glowing.

Just like before.

The warm light surrounded me, similar to the energy of the Demon Spirit Pill.

Then it began illuminating the darkness inside my dantian.

At the same time, a warm and powerful energy spread through every meridian in my body.

There was no doubt.

It was exactly the same energy the creature had just swallowed.

What is this... now?

Before I could understand what was happening...

The overwhelming energy filling my body caused my consciousness to fade again.

Awooooooooooooo!

The last thing I heard was its howl.

This time...

It sounded brighter.

Almost cheerful.

And strangely enough...

I didn't dislike it.

How much time had passed?

My eyes opened.

I was back in my room.

My entire body was soaked in sweat.

Every muscle ached as though heat had burned all the way through my bones.

"Young Master, are you all right?"

The moment Jin Woon heard movement inside, he reacted.

"Yeah. I'm done. You can come in."

Slide!

"How... did it go?"

The moment I gave permission, Jin Woon practically stuck his head into the room.

Before answering him, I focused on my dantian.

I checked it carefully.

There it was.

Something quiet.

Heavy.

And familiar.

Along with that familiar shape.

"It worked."

"As expected! The Sacred Moon protected you, Young Master! Then... did you manage to absorb all fifteen years?"

"No."

Jin Woon's face was practically shining with joy.

He looked ready to start jumping around the room.

He probably wouldn't look like that after hearing what came next.

I grinned at him.

Then I told him exactly what I had gained today.

"Thirty years."

Jin Woon's jaw dropped.

It had truly been a night blessed by the Sacred Moon.

Morning came after that sacred, moon-blessed night.

Just like always, I went to the training ground and began warming up.

Nothing looked especially different.

There had been no dramatic transformation to my appearance.

But inside my dantian...

For the first time...

There wasn't emptiness.

Something warm and quiet was breathing there.

Thirty years of internal energy.

Jin Woon had said that gaining even fifteen years would count as an incredible fortuitous encounter.

I had obtained twice that much.

All thirty years.

But internal energy wasn't the only thing living in my dantian.

Deep inside, the gray beast with golden eyes was still there.

A creature that looked halfway between a wolf and a dog.

It rested its chin on its thick front paws while lazily wagging its tail.

Sometimes it yawned.

Sometimes it rolled onto its side.

It seemed to have completely settled into its new home.

I had clearly seen light bursting from its body before losing consciousness.

Then all the energy of the Demon Spirit Pill had entered my body.

Put those two events together and the conclusion was simple.

The creature had absorbed the Demon Spirit Pill's energy...

Then shared it with me.

That was the most reasonable explanation.

Not bad.

I had gained energy I thought I had sacrificed.

And considering every emotion I had received from the creature from the moment it awakened until now...

It didn't seem hostile toward me at all.

If this was symbiosis, I could live with it.

Even if it ate internal energy, that energy didn't disappear from my body.

I could still use it.

What am I now...?

Was I some ninja with a nine-tailed fox sealed in his stomach?

Somehow, I had ended up sharing my dantian with a giant beast.

Well... let's get along from now on.

I didn't say it out loud.

Naturally, there was no verbal answer.

Instead...

The creature gave its tail one big wag.

Apparently, that had become our method of communication.

"Do not think too deeply about it. Perform your movements as you normally would while imagining the internal energy flowing through your primary meridians."

"So I imagine it spreading out from the dantian like... whoosh! Something like that?"

"Correct. You already reached this level once before, so it should not be difficult."

Jin Woon stood below the training platform and patiently explained how to use internal energy.

He said it should be easy because I had reached this realm before.

Unfortunately...

That experience belonged to Cheon Sowol.

Not me.

Still...

How hard could it be?

I could only try.

"All right. I'll start with the simplest move I'm confident in."

I took my stance.

My feet stayed firmly planted on the ground.

I spread them shoulder-width apart.

Then I began drawing energy upward from my dantian.

Visualization was apparently the main principle behind controlling internal energy.

I imagined the energy spreading outward.

Immediately, my dantian grew hot.

The place where the beast had made itself at home released a stream of energy.

It moved exactly where I wanted it to go.

My right fist.

Grip the ground with the front foot, twist the waist... then bam!

The movement I intended to use was simple.

A straight punch.

Just drive the rear hand forward and hit hard.

Normally...

That was all.

But today...

Something was different.

The moment my back foot pushed against the ground and my hips began rotating...

Power from my dantian flowed into my clenched fist.

I combined that energy with the rotation of my hips.

Then I punched.

KRA-KRA-KRA-CRACK! BOOOOM!

A completely different sound exploded through the training ground.

My stunned expression was probably hilarious.

Jin Woon, meanwhile, looked incredibly satisfied.

I was the one who had thrown the punch.

Yet I was somehow the more shocked one.

I immediately turned toward Jin Woon.

What the hell was that?

But...

Tap-tap-tap!

Jin Woon was already rushing toward the platform.

His satisfied expression disappeared.

Only then did I realize.

My consciousness...

Was fading again.

Fortunately, Jin Woon had apparently expected this.

Before I could hit the ground...

He caught me.

All strength left my body.