Baek Mu-Gi didn't move.
He just stood there, eyes locked on Mae-Bi like a blade that hadn't been drawn yet.
The boy had passed the Heavenly Demon's oath test. The centipede hadn't reacted. But still…
Something was off.
Mae-Bi was too calm. Too composed. His words, his timing, even his breathing had been perfect.
Not like Jin.
Jin was clearly shaken. Confused. Just another loyal dog following orders.
But Mae-Bi?
He acted like a man with answers to questions no one had asked yet.
Something isn't right, Baek Mu-Gi thought. He doesn't look afraid. He looks like someone who already played this game before.
But suspicion wasn't proof.
And proof was the only thing that mattered in the Blood Blade Cult.
They didn't punish based on feelings. They punished based on blood.
So Baek Mu-Gi said nothing.
Just watched.
Above them, a rustle of robes.
Hyeolgeom Gunju stood.
Like a storm rising from calm water, his presence swept across the pavilion. Four veiled maids, kneeling beside him all this time, stood as well heads bowed, silent as shadows. They followed a step behind as he descended from the platform.
Neither Jin nor Mae-Bi dared raise their heads.
They stayed kneeling, eyes on the ground, breathing slow and measured.
As the Lord of the Blood Blade passed, he made no sound.
Only a flick of his hand the smallest gesture.
Retreat.
They both understood.
No words were needed.
Mae-Bi and Jin bowed low, then disappeared into the night like smoke in wind.
...…
Mae-Bi shut the door to his room and collapsed onto the bed.
His body was still trembling.
Today was scary for him so scary he almost shit his pants and he had come Too close to death.Too close to exposure.
If the system hadn't shielded him from Hyeolgeom Gunju's pressure… if he had spoken one wrong word…
I'd be dead. I'd be gone. Just another name no one remembers.
He stared up at the ceiling.
His heartbeat was finally slowing, but his mind wouldn't stop spinning.
The scent of blood still lingered in his nostrils. His hands were sore from clenching the dagger. And behind his eyes, he could still see Cho Gwan's face, that last expression,not angry, not even scared. Just confused.
Mae-Bi sighed and sat up.
"I didn't hate him," he muttered. "We weren't close… but he wasn't cruel. Just loyal."
In another life, Cho might have made a decent person.
But in this one… Mae-Bi had needed him out of the way.
To protect innocent lives in the future.
To rise.
To see what the cult was hiding behind its velvet robes and golden altars.
He clasped his hands together.
And for the first time in years he bowed his head.
"Buddha… or whatever god is still listening… guide Cho Gwan's soul. He didn't deserve to be born here."
A pause.
"And forgive him. I'll carry the burden."
He stood.
"System."
[Online. You survived. Congratulations.]
He smirked faintly.
"I'm ready to take the pill."
[Warning: The artifact pill you consumed earlier has been identified.]
[Name: Crimson Meridian Elixir.]
[Effect: Forces breakthrough into the next cultivation stage by artificially expanding the Qi core and purging one meridian blockage. Success rate: 80%. Death rate: 15%. Madness rate: 5%.]
Mae-Bi blinked.
"…That's why he was so pissed."
[Correct. That pill was priceless. And it wasn't meant for someone like you.]
He chuckled.
"Well, it is now."
Without waiting, he sat cross-legged and took a deep breath.
His Qi stirred.
[Activating absorption process. Brace for pain.]
Mae-Bi closed his eyes and swallowed it whole.
Mae-Bi sat cross-legged on the cold floor of his room.
The pill had already dissolved in his stomach.
But the power it carried it hadn't even begun to settle.
[Crimson Meridian Elixir: Absorption initiated.]
[Warning: Internal Qi system will be forcibly expanded.]
His breath caught then the pain hit.
Not like a wound.
Like a storm.
A roaring, white-hot pressure surged from his core his dantian twisting, swelling, stretching beyond its limits. He clenched his teeth so hard he thought they might shatter.
His hands dug into the mat.
His back arched as a wave of fire shot through his spine.
Then—
Crack.
His left shoulder seized.
His tendons convulsed.
It felt like his bones were breaking from the inside out.
"Guhh—!!"
He screamed into his sleeve, biting it to muffle the sound.
He couldn't afford to be heard.
The pain wasn't just physical. It was spiritual.
His meridians, long scarred and tangled from years of forced training, were being forcefully rewired. The blocked paths inside him burst open like glass under pressure.
[Right Arm Meridians: Purged.]
[Qi Flow Capacity: +38%. Core Expansion: In Progress.]
"MAKE IT STOP—!"
He slammed his fist into the floor. Blood dripped from his nose. His vision pulsed red and black.
The system didn't respond.
Not this time.
Mae-Bi was alone with the pain and the storm it unleashed.
His body convulsed as raw Qi surged through him, wild and unfiltered. The air around him howled. Papers, cloth, even the floor mat were hurled against the walls by the force radiating from his core.
A blinding light burst from his eyes, his mouth — pure spiritual overflow, as if something divine and violent was trying to rip its way out of him.
He screamed.
Not in fear but In survival.
The light danced across the walls like fire made of thunder.
The pain lasted for what felt like hours.
Time lost all meaning.
It was just agony. Strain. Pressure.
Then—
Stillness.
His heart slowed down and His breath evened.
His Qi once wild and devouring began to spiral inward. Coiling. Compacting. Turning into something dense and sharp.
A new weight settled in his abdomen.
Like a storm that had learned to obey.
[Breakthrough Complete: Early Pulse Opening Stage.]
[One major meridian cleared. Core capacity expanded.]
Mae-Bi collapsed backward.
Steam rolled off his body, sweat soaking through his robes. His hands still trembled, but his pulse was calm and Controlled.
He wasn't dead.
He was alive.
Barely.
"…It worked," he whispered.
And then everything went black.