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Jinseong’s appearance, stripped of rags, was pitiful.

The flickering fire cast a strange light on him, creating an odd atmosphere, but his attire looked far too light for a fight. He wore thin leather clothing that barely qualified as protection, and his physique was so frail that calling it “trained” would be a stretch at best.

He seemed endlessly inadequate to call himself a warrior, and even to be considered a soldier under someone else’s command would only earn him a barely passing grade.

Though he clutched a spear made of gold, sharp as it was, it felt more like a toothpick compared to the wild boar.

Even glancing at a body that had grown far beyond the size of a house, one could doubt if a single spear could inflict any meaningful damage. Moreover, the boar’s tusks were larger and longer than the lances once wielded by knights in the medieval times, and its drool, dripping with defilement, looked grotesque enough to rot a human’s body with just a touch.

The difference was not like that of David and Goliath—it was akin to the gap between an ant and a human.

Yet, in comparison to the wild boar, Jinseong looked terribly pathetic.

In such a sorry state, he bravely raised his spear and shouted.

“I shall undergo trials here to prove myself a human! Mother Moon, shine your light upon me! Father Sun, may the metal blessed by your light grant me your favor!”

Jinseong wasn’t adorned in anything special.

He lacked the clothes plastered with all sorts of magic and symbols that mercenaries used to wear, and he had no enhanced exoskeleton that fighters relied upon. No steel armor worn by mercenary wizards, nor carbon fiber protective gear that every mercenary would wear.

He was merely dressed in leather clothing and a pair of leather boots.

Despite this, Jinseong bore no fear.

Even facing the wild boar, he was armed just as well as if he were naked, yet not a shred of fear showed on his face.

“Father Sun, shining upon the world, let forests grow, and Mother Moon, casting darkness, let beasts appear in those woods!”

His only fear was of repeating the pitiful end he experienced in the past and was likely to face in the future.

“I am here to undertake the trials I must carry out in the blessed space given to me! Light of the Sun, darkness of the Moon, grant me your favor here!”

The wild boar before him was meant to be the first step toward transcendence.

Jinseong lifted the gold spear high, aiming at the boar.

Then, twisting his waist, he hurled the spear into the air.

Swoosh-!

Although his physique was lacking in muscles, the force generated was commendable, perhaps thanks to his experience roaming the battlefield. The spear flew through the air with a convincing trajectory toward the boar.

As it glimmered in the moonlight, its golden arc painted a mesmerizing trail until it finally struck its target.

Thud!

Squeaking-!

The spear embedded itself into the robust body of the wild boar.

Its coarse fur seemed to give way like swaying seaweed, and the resilient hide broke apart as if stabbing a jellyfish washed ashore with a knife.

The boar screamed in pain, twisting its body as the spear punctured through, raising itself on pillar-like legs and began rampaging.

Boom-!

Crash!

The boar rolled about, kicking up dust, and perhaps out of rage from its pain, it rolled its eyes back and charged in all directions, smashing everything in its path.

The scrawny trees standing guard were uprooted with a snap, flying off into the distance, while the house, in ruins, became unrecognizable. And in that process, the unlucky evil spirits and ghosts standing in the way were crushed, bursting like sardines caught beneath an oncoming tide.

It was truly a bone-chilling sight to behold.

However, strangely, the wild boar did not approach Jinseong despite its chaos.

It acted as though it was unaware of Jinseong’s existence.

Jinseong silently observed the boar’s rampage, then knelt and reached out to the sky as if in worship, shouting,

“Mother Moon, cloak my body in darkness!”

He then poured the salt he had placed in the cart onto the ground.

As the salt spread, Jinseong trampled it to mix with the dirt, muting its color. Finally, when the salt vanished into the soil, he took a handful and tossed it into the air.

“Father Sun, help me prove my courage!”

The mixture of dirt and salt rose until it fell back to earth.

But strangely, as if someone intervened, it began to push away from each other like magnets with like poles. And the separated dirt and salt started clustering with their kin.

Dirt with dirt.

Salt with salt.

What was dusty dirt when thrown into the air transformed into clumps of dirt and salt upon landing.

Jinseong grasped the clump of salt that had fallen to the ground and threw it onto a pile of charcoal.

WHOOSH!

Immediately, the softly glowing flames soared as if they had absorbed oil, and Jinseong watched as the flames twisted through the darkness, yearning to reach the Moon. When he felt it was time, he jumped up, seizing the cart.

He released the cloth tied to the cart and hurled it toward the flames.

BANG!

As soon as the cart made contact with the campfire, a tremendous sound erupted, scattering charcoal dust everywhere, and the flames, which had soared high, momentarily flickered before settling.

But soon, as if realizing what it had to do, the flames began to morph.

The pillar of fire that had shot up condensed into a single point, taking on a ball-like shape, continuously shrinking until it formed a furnace made of fire.

WHOOSH.

The flames flickered as if they loathed wasting heat escaping and sent their tongues inward like a serpent. The flickering tip of the flames, which had to move outward, reached for the cart, winding in and out, gradually heating up to a bright red.

Ssss-!

Then, with a serpentine hiss, the now incandescent cart began to melt away.

The molten metal, glowing red, flowed downwards, moving slowly outside according to the flames’ guidance.

The charcoal dust mixed with dirt flew straight out of the flame, and as if someone had intervened, it swiftly cooled, shaping into a long spear. When the spear became roughly the same length as the golden one Jinseong had thrown, it snapped off, forming a sharp point.

It looked like a spear was being crafted in a factory of flames.

Jinseong grasped the darkness entwined around him, waving his hands as if pulling at non-existent fabric to cover himself. He drew cold air from his fingers, making a few awkward motions.

And when his hands turned utterly cold, he picked up the spear that had fallen to the ground.

Sssss!

The still-warm spear hissed in a chilling manner as it touched Jinseong’s hands, trying to burn him.

“Great Father Sun, you have granted me a sturdy and sharp weapon! I shall show you a bravery as brilliant as the shine embedded within!”

With that, Jinseong shouted and hurled the spear at the wild boar once again.

Swoosh-!

This time, the spear flew in a silvery arc, striking the thrashing wild boar squarely in the head.

Screeeech-!

The boar shrieked in agony, the spear was buried deep into its skull, a cry as piercing as if pleading for someone to recognize its pain, and it rolled its massive form, destroying everything in town.

Jinseong quietly observed the suffering of the wild boar, just like a hunter after his prey.

Like a warrior intent on sealing the fate of his quarry.

And as he watched, whenever a new spear was made from the flames, he would seize it without hesitation and hurl it at the boar.

“With a stone that holds light!”

The spear shot out from the flames, piercing the wild boar.

“By the blessing of Father Sun!”

Each movement of Jinseong’s hands drove the spear deeper into the boar’s flesh.

Into its head.

Into its belly.

Into its legs.

Into its neck.

“With a flame-imbued spear!”

His hands flew without pause, as if trying to turn the wild boar into a porcupine, and each time, the boar let out thunderous cries of agony, thrashing about in pain.

And then….

“Here I now prove my bravery!”

At last, the moment had arrived.

The gigantic wild boar lay flat, stretching out its limbs, its tongue hung out, contaminated with an ooze that spoiled the earth.

Its defiled eyes rolled back, losing all focus as its once prickly fur fell limp and its hide turned gooey, with an open wound pouring out its corruption into the ground.

Thus, the wild boar.

The corrupt manifestation created by Jinseong.

Completed its role beautifully.

Jinseong, noticing the boar had collapsed, rushed towards the campfire to grab a hefty piece of charcoal.

Sssss!

Holding the burning coal, he dashed toward the fallen boar.

Then, from a distance, he threw the coal.

Thump!

The coal, engulfed in flames, hit the boar’s head before falling to the ground.

And….

Whoooosh!

With a monstrous roar, flames ignited.

Fueled by the corruption the boar was spilling, the flames fed on it, swelling in size.

The fire greedily wrapped around the boar, as if wanting to consume the offering made to the gods, cloaked in a dark hue that completely obscured its shape.

Jinseong knelt, shouting at the sight.

“I have proven my courage!”

Then the Moon hanging in the sky illuminated him.

Like a spotlight focused on an actor, a pale light shone upon him, and upon touching Jinseong, that light began to transform his body.

The change was subtle and not immediately noticeable.

Yet it was what Jinseong had long awaited.

Sssss-

The gentle cold created by the moonlight caressed Jinseong’s skin, diving deeper into him.

As this chill seeped in, it swam through his body, balancing out the imbalances within.

The bones, previously hardened by the cold from Lake Baikal, began to soften as they mixed with the chill of the moonlight, transforming into a pliable form, tough enough to endure yet resilient enough not to shatter.

Moreover, this structure tightened, becoming more able to withstand impacts, allowing him to rapidly return to shape even if injured, powered by the energy derived from the chill.

And as it transformed, the imbalances within him began to harmonize with the flames he bore and the formless chill, weaving together in a dance.

This was truly a free-spirited, natural essence.

As if the warrior’s dantian was a wild manifestation, yet still, it responded with a speed rivaling Qi.

It wasn’t as efficient as the mana flowing through the heart’s dwelling and adorning the veins, but there was a clear restraint within its freedom.

‘The imbalance has been resolved.’

Jinseong realized that both Yin and Yang now dwelled within his body, forming the image of a Taiji.

 

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