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A flow of ash can be seen in the White Space. A dense dust swirled heavily over the scorched ground.

“Cough.”

I spat blood in that situation. It felt like the storm boiling up inside me was forcing blood to flow out.

It was painful.

It felt like my insides were being torn apart.

I tried to hold on, but even that was not easy. I applied strength to my trembling hands.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

Boom-!!

“Cough….”

Once again, the shock pressed down on my body.

Crack-!

A noise escaped from my body.

It felt like the bones in my back had completely shattered. Not just my spine — my ribs were out too. The bones broke and pierced into my flesh.

My insides were tearing apart. The blood flowing inside dampened my body.

“I clearly told you not to move. You must have trouble understanding words.”

“Ugh…”

“Of all the people, your ancestor is speaking to you, and instead of showing gratitude, how can you exhibit such an insincere attitude?”

What?

I blinked at those words.

Gratitude?

“Shut the hell up….”

Curses escaped involuntarily.

“Attacking me without warning, and you call that insincerity? Are you out of your mind?”

The guy charged at me the moment he saw me. I tried to block it somehow, but even that was not easy.

As a result, I ended up like this. What? Gratitude?

“Haha.”

I heard laughter. At that moment, my vision blurred.

Whoosh!!

My body felt the wind. It pierced through the pressure and dashed swiftly.

I was being tossed around. Realizing that, I tried to force my strength.

Crack-!!

‘Guh!’

As the shattered bones returned, my body began to regenerate. My damaged insides healed as well. The energy flowed through my restored body.

But.

Tick!

The flames didn’t come out.

“Damn it.”

Here we go again.

It was like this back then.

I clenched my teeth. I instantly gave up on the flames and shifted to the Tua Pacheonmu.

Swish-!!

The blade spun from my body, maximizing the pain.

I twisted my face in response to the sensation. The pain was significantly worse than usual.

Was it not supposed to be this bad? It was shockingly painful.

But I couldn’t stop. As I invoked the Tua Pacheon Technique, energy erupted from my body.

Bang!!

The Qi generated waves that wrapped around me.

The energy released from my body slowed my speed.

At the same time, it fortified my physical body.

I cast the Changcheon.

Only then did my speed finally start to reduce.

Just as I was about to come to a complete stop.

Boom-!!

“Cough!”

A shock hit the back of my head.

I was hit by something and fell to the ground.

My body dropped faster than it did while flying.

Bang-!

With a loud noise, my body crashed into the ground, and white fragments burst forth in all directions. My embedded body twisted.

With my body throbbing, I quickly tried to raise my upper body.

But—

Crunch.

I was caught by the neck and lifted.

“Your attitude is rather poor. It seems you were somewhat poorly educated.”

Ignoring what he said, I gripped his wrist tightly.

I was ready to break it.

“How rude.”

Crash—!!!

Fire engulfed my body starting from my chest.

I screamed. My skin burned. It hurt like hell.

It felt like my body was melting away in the fire.

Amid the pain, I struggled to see the situation. I rolled my eyes to look at him.

I couldn’t believe I was this immobilized by the flames, rather than the pain, I focused on that part.

Despite my physical body mastering the Fire Technique, an enormous pain constricted me.

“It’s absurd to interrupt someone while they’re speaking.”

Aghhh—!!

While I was screaming for quite some time.

Suddenly, the flames on my body disappeared.

Sssss.

The flames disappeared in an instant. My burned body emitted smoke.

“Cough….”

While I was whimpering in pain, the arm gripping my neck released, and I slumped down helplessly.

“Cough… haah.”

My body immediately regenerated. It seemed my regeneration ability was intact, as the burned flesh filled back up.

It wasn’t slow. The regeneration was rapid. Was that a relief?

I gritted my teeth as I saw my recovering skin.

Not only was the flame not coming out, but it seemed that everything I gained from the Fire Technique had also vanished.

Even my resistance was lost. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be this tormented by the flames.

“Tsk tsk….”

I heard a clicking sound. It wasn’t the guy who attacked me.

Looking to the side, I saw Shin Noya squatting and staring at me.

“…Aren’t you taking this too heavily? You should at least put up a decent resistance.”

“Noya….”

I looked at Noya with incredulous eyes and asked.

“What exactly is this situation…?”

What a messy state this was. I didn’t understand.

I rolled my eyes, surveying my surroundings. A world turned white. The heavily scorched ground and rising ash clouds.

I might not be familiar with it, but I knew where this place was.

Of course. I’d been here once before.

This was the space I had come from in the past, from Sichuan.

And.

“What should I do about this?”

The being in front of me was also someone I had seen before.

As I lifted my head, I saw someone looking down at me.

Someone who looked exactly like me. More precisely, it was someone who looked just like my previous life, and I had already seen his identity.

As I tried to discern what he was, I said.

“…Technique of the Flame Wheel.”

The essence of the fire technique contained in my body.

It was the manifestation of the Technique of the Flame Wheel, and this place was my inner world.

I had concluded that back then.

“Ancestor…? What do you mean by that?”

I contorted my face at his words. Ancestor?

Unable to comprehend, I asked him, and he lifted the corners of his mouth to speak to me.

“It means exactly that. I am your ancestor.”

“…Ancestor?”

Ancestor?

I stared at him with narrowed eyes. Ancestor? Not the essence of the Technique of the Flame Wheel, but an ancestor?

Hearing that, I recalled.

Why would such a guy be here? Why was he in my inner world in that form?

Putting aside those questions, since he called himself an ancestor, I had only one thing to say to him.

“…You bastard.”

“…Huh?”

As I voiced a clear curse, he paused. His expression changed. He looked as if he couldn’t believe he heard that.

But he definitely heard me. I couldn’t hold back my rising anger and poured it all out on him.

“If you make a mess, at least clean it up properly. You filthy bastard…!”

“…”

As I spoke with resentment, the one who called himself an ancestor hesitated.

That was right.

That guy was the root of all evil.

He had turned the Gu Clan into chaos, and it was his actions that twisted my life.

If he had handled things well, I might not have ended up like this.

And the Central Plains might not have become such a mess in the first place.

And yet.

“Suddenly appearing and what? Ancestor? After causing this mess, how do you expect to be treated like an ancestor? Are you out of your mind for real?”

“…”

“Hey, you bastard— Ugh!”

I couldn’t suppress my curses, ready to unleash more. But Shin Noya couldn’t take it anymore and covered my mouth with his hand.

“Ugh… ugh!”

“…Okay, okay. Calm down. Just try to relax a little.”

“…”

As Shin Noya was trying to calm me down.

The guy stared at me with somewhat dry eyes.

“That’s correct. You’re right.”

His pitiful voice pricked at my ears, but I didn’t care.

I glared at him while giving a couple of firm pats on Noya’s hand. It meant to let go since I understood now.

Gradually, Noya released my hand.

“Phew, phew.”

After spitting out the discomfort of having my mouth blocked, I looked at him and asked.

“So what is it? Why are you in this state?”

“Your vessel can no longer bear its burden. The world is breaking down, which means that.”

“…”

The breaking world signifies the collapse of my vessel.

Did the vessel break? Recently, I recalled my body feeling somewhat unstable. Was that the reason?

“Then what happens now?”

This wasn’t the first time I experienced the breaking of my vessel.

When it shattered for the first time, it happened during Lady’s trial when I was sent to a different time.

Back then, when the vessel broke, I became a dragon.

Now, years later, to think my vessel broke again.

“What will happen now…?”

It was not the first time for the vessel to break.

When it first broke, I became a dragon.

Now, years later, to find out that this vessel has broken once again raises concerns for me.

“Are you saying that if this continues, both the broken vessel and you will cease to exist?”

The ancestor bastard said.

“So choose.”

Choose? What?

“If you absorb me, you can restore your vessel.”

“What?”

Absorb the ancestor to survive?

That was a shocking statement.

“What do you mean by that?”

Suddenly, absorption? Do I need to absorb the ancestor to restore my vessel? Instead of questioning ‘why,’ I was only left with thoughts.

“So what happens then?”

After absorbing him, the vessel gets restored? That felt odd. Especially since it was difficult to trust him after he said that.

I asked him, trying to ascertain if restoration and recovery were indeed correct.

The ancestor then offered another shocking revelation.

“However, after the absorption is complete…”

He looked up at the crumbling sky as he spoke.

“You’ll have to become the calamity you so despise.”

“…!”

My eyes widened at the ancestor’s words.

 

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