Within the white space, the flowing ash is visible. A thick dust swirls over the scorched earth.

Cough.

He coughed up blood from the situation. The whirlwind rising inside him caused blood to surge uncontrollably.

It was painful.

It felt like his insides were being torn apart and shredded.

He tried desperately to hold it in, but even that was not easy. He tried to clench his trembling hands.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Boom—!!

Gasp...

Once again, he felt the shock pressing down on his body.

Thud-!

His body made a cracking sound. It felt as though the bones in his back had completely shattered. Not just his spine—his ribs had broken as well. The bones dug into his flesh.

His organs were tearing. The blood flowing inside soaked through his body.

"I told you not to move. Seems like you don’t listen very well."

Grrr...

"What’s this attitude? I’m your ancestor, speaking to you, and yet you can’t even show any gratitude. Instead, you display such a disrespectful attitude?"

What?

Upon hearing those words, his eyes flashed open.

Gratitude?

"Shit..."

The curse slipped out naturally.

"First, you attack me out of nowhere, and now you’re talking about disrespect? Are you insane?"

The moment the creature saw him, it attacked without hesitation. He tried to block it, but that too was not easy. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

Thanks to that, this is the state he found himself in. And now? Gratitude?

"Haha."

He heard laughter. At that moment, his vision shifted.

Whooosh!!

His body felt the wind. Breaking through the pressure, it shot forward at high speed.

His body was thrown. Realizing this, he mustered all his strength.

Crack-!!

Ugh!

Shattered bones returned to place, and his body began to regenerate. His ruined internal organs were restored. With his body healed, he surrounded himself with energy.

But.

Click!

The flames didn’t emerge.

"Dammit."

Once again, this mess.

It had been like this before.

He gritted his teeth. Immediately, he gave up on the flames and switched to Tua Pacheonmu.

Chirik-!!

The blade of his energy rotated through his body, amplifying the pain.

As he felt this, his face contorted. The pain was much more intense than usual.

This wasn’t supposed to be this painful, was it? It was shocking.

But there was no turning back. He activated Tua Pacheonmu, releasing energy to his body.

Thud!!

The fighting energy created a ripple that wrapped around his body.

The energy released from his body slowed its speed.

At the same time, the energy surrounded his body, strengthening his physical form.

He cast Heaven's Break.

Only then did his speed finally begin to slow down.

Just as his body was about to completely stop—

Boom—!!

Cough!

A shock hit his head from behind.

He was struck by something and fell to the ground.

His body fell much faster than when it was thrown.

Kaahhh—!!

His body collided with the ground in a loud explosion, and white fragments flew in all directions. His body spun as it crashed into the earth.

Despite the searing pain, he quickly tried to lift his upper body.

Crack.

His neck was grabbed and he was lifted into the air.

"Your speech is pathetic. Looks like your training was terribly lacking."

Ignoring the words, he gripped the wrist holding his neck.

He tried to apply strength to break free.

"This is troublesome."

With a tone of annoyance, the figure before him placed another palm on his chest.

And then.

"What kind of disrespect is this?"

Kwaaa—!!

"Ughhh!"

Flames wrapped around his body starting from his chest.

He screamed as his skin burned. It was excruciating.

He felt like his body would melt away in the flames.

Even as he struggled in pain, he tried to look at the situation. His eyes darted, trying to see the one who was causing his torment.

Despite being helpless against the flames, his focus remained on that detail.

The extreme pain squeezed him, overwhelming him despite his mastery over fire.

"Interrupting someone while they speak, how ridiculous."

Grrrr—!!

After a while of screaming, the flames suddenly vanished.

Shiii...

In an instant, the flames disappeared. His burned body released smoke.

Gasp...

With his voice choked in pain, the arm around his neck loosened, and he collapsed weakly to the ground.

Gasp... haah...

His body immediately began to regenerate. The regenerative power seemed to work as the burned flesh replenished itself.

It wasn’t slow. The regeneration was quick. At least that was a small relief.

As he looked at the regenerating skin, he clenched his teeth.

The flames didn’t appear, and it seemed that everything he had achieved through fire arts had disappeared.

That included his resistance to the flames. If not for that, he wouldn’t be feeling this much pain.

"Tsk tsk..."

He heard the sound of someone clicking their tongue. It wasn’t the creature that attacked him.

Looking to the side, he saw Shin Noya crouching down, watching him.

"...Isn't this a bit much? You should resist at least properly."

"Noya..."

He looked at Noya in disbelief, asking.

"What’s going on here...?"

What is this situation? He couldn’t make sense of it.

He rolled his eyes, scanning the surroundings. A world transformed into white. The scorched ground and rising ash.

Though it wasn’t familiar, it was a place he recognized.

Of course, he did. He had been here once before.

This was the place he had visited during his time in Sichuan.

And then.

“What should I do with this?”

The figure before me—I had seen him before.

I lifted my gaze and met the eyes of someone looking down at me.

Someone who looked exactly like me. No—exactly like my past self. I had already encountered him once and knew his identity.

I judged what he truly was.

“...Nine Flames Firewheel.”

The essence of the fire art contained within my body.

He was the embodiment of Nine Flames Firewheel, and this place was my inner world.

That was the conclusion I had reached back then.

“Ancestor...? What do you mean?”

I narrowed my eyes at his words. Ancestor?

Unable to understand, I questioned him. In response, he smirked and spoke to me:

“It’s exactly as I said. I am your ancestor.”

“...Ancestor?”

Ancestor?

I stared at him with a distorted expression. Ancestor? Not the essence of Nine Flames Firewheel, but my ancestor?

Hearing those words, I wondered—

Why was he here? Why did he appear in my inner world in this form?

But beyond those questions—there was only one thing I wanted to say to someone who dared call himself my ancestor.

“...You bastard.”

“...Huh?”

At my clear insult, he froze. His expression shifted, as if he had misheard me.

But he heard me right. I didn’t hold back the fury rising within me and lashed out.

“If you screwed things up, the least you could do is clean up the mess, you damn bastard...!”

“......”

My voice dripped with resentment, and the so-called ancestor flinched.

That’s right.

That bastard—he was the root of all evil.

He had turned the Gu family into a disaster—no, he had played a major part in wrecking my entire life.

If he had done his job properly, I wouldn’t be in this wretched state.

Hell, Zhongyuan itself wouldn’t have ended up in chaos.

And now—

“What, ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) you suddenly show up and say you’re my ancestor? With everything you’ve done, you expect me to treat you like some honored forebear? Are you out of your damn mind?”

“......”

“You son of a bi—mmpfh—”

The curses kept pouring out of me. But before I could finish, Shin Noya clamped a hand over my mouth, clearly having had enough.

“Mmph! Mmph!”

“...Alright, alright. Calm down. Just calm yourself for a second.”

“......”

As Shin Noya tried to settle me down, the bastard before me...

His eyes softened slightly, looking oddly forlorn.

“You’re right. What you’re saying... it’s all true.”

His voice carried a sorrowful weight, but I didn’t give a damn.

I glared at him, then tapped at Shin Noya’s hand. It meant, Let go. I get it. Just let me talk.

Seeing my signal, Shin Noya slowly withdrew his hand.

“Ptoo! Ptoo!”

I spat twice, annoyed from having my mouth covered, then faced him again.

“So? What’s your deal? Why are you here in this form?”

“Because your vessel has grown beyond its limits. The shattering of this world is proof.”

“......”

Crack, crack, crack...

The sound of my inner world breaking apart—

It signified the collapse of my vessel.

My vessel is breaking? I recalled the unsettling instability I had felt in my body recently. Was it because of this?

‘Then what happens next?’

It wasn’t my first time experiencing a vessel breaking.

The first time—when Lady Tang tested me, I had been thrown into another timeline.

Back then, when my vessel shattered, I became a dragon.

But now, years later, for my vessel to break again—

‘What happens this time?’

If a shattered vessel breaks once more—

Then what?

As uneasy thoughts swirled, I darted my eyes nervously.

“If this continues,” the bastard—the so-called ancestor—said,

“You will vanish, along with your shattered vessel.”

My body stiffened.

“...So choose.”

Choose? Choose what?

“If you absorb me, your vessel will recover.”

“...What?”

Absorb him?—and live?

The words caught me off guard.

“What are you talking about?”

Absorbing him would restore my vessel?

What nonsense was this? My first thought wasn’t even why—

It was—

“And then what?”

Absorb him, and my vessel recovers.

But something about it felt wrong. Especially coming from him.

I stared, my voice heavy with suspicion. “If I do... then what?”

I demanded the truth.

And what he said—

Shook me to my core.

“There’s a condition,” he said, his eyes lifting toward the sky—

The sky of my collapsing inner world.

“Once you finish absorbing me...”

His voice was somber, each word landing like a hammer.

“You will become...”

His gaze, distant and heavy.

“...The calamity you so despise.”

“......!”

My eyes widened in shock.