One day, when winter was starting to creep in.

In Henan’s prestigious families—

inside the Blue Moon Sect, a young man was stomping along, breathing fire.

“Goddamn it—!!”

People nearby reflexively turned at the shout.

But the moment they recognized who it was, they looked away like nothing had happened.

Because this had become a familiar sight.

“...That fucking bastard...!”

His face was already sharp to begin with, but when his expression twisted, it looked downright vicious.

Even the ones watching flinched, their bodies tensing.

The young man’s name was Tang Cheonil.

A direct-blood relative of the Tang Clan Head, the Poison King Tang Gyeongak—and the Poison Dragon, one of the Seven Prodigies.

Tang Cheonil kept walking with a face full of rage.

His destination was deep inside Blue Moon Sect—off in some back corner. So far out it was barely even “inside,” more like the edge of the outside.

Normally, a guest like Tang Cheonil wouldn’t even be allowed near the place.

But—

—You already got permission from the Sect Master. Come open it in a month.

Tang Cheonil had permission from Moon-Thread Sword, the Blue Moon Sect Master, so he was allowed to come and go.

Which was fucking fantastic. Truly.

‘That bastard. Seriously.’

Grinding his teeth, Tang Cheonil kept recalling the one responsible for ruining his mood.

‘How long has it even been since we made that agreement, and he’s already—!’

It made his blood boil. How could it not?

‘A month? A whole month?’

Not seven days and nights.

A full month.

They’d agreed on lessons at least once every few days, and he was already pulling this shit.

‘Yeah. I knew better than to trust him.’

He hadn’t trusted him from the start.

Even if it was an order from his father—the Tang Clan Head—being told to learn from a bastard like that?

How many times had he slammed his forehead into the ground for that one thing?

He’d practically been a servant in all but name, and Tang Cheonil had endured it through sheer stubbornness.

But then—

—I’ll be gone for a month. Keep that in mind.

He’d been hit with that outrageous notice out of nowhere.

A month.

Before Tang Cheonil could even argue, the bastard had vanished and gone straight into seclusion.

‘Insane piece of shit.’

How could anyone be that brazen?

This was the Tang Clan. The Tang Clan.

And it was an agreement made with the Tang Clan Head.

Did he really think he could just spit on it like this?

‘Even if he’s the Sword Saint’s successor.’

CRUNCH.

Tang Cheonil bit his lip. A little more pressure and he might’ve drawn blood.

He had to admit it, even if he didn’t want to.

The bastard was the Sword Saint’s successor.

Tang Cheonil’s face tightened as he remembered that spar.

That sword force he’d shown.

The brilliance, the distance of it—it had carved itself into Tang Cheonil’s memory.

For a moment, he’d even felt ashamed for acting arrogant based on appearances alone.

‘Coward. Hiding his strength.’

If Tang Cheonil had looked more carefully, he might’ve caught the power the bastard was concealing.

It was his own mistake—looking down on him, not getting a proper read.

‘...Once I master Myriad-Flowers Rain.’

Then he’d crush that bastard into paste.

He’d endured and endured, clinging to that thought—

‘And he fucks me over like this?’

He’d only taught a handful of times, and he was already pulling a stunt like this.

Tang Cheonil’s anger hit the ceiling. He couldn’t stand it.

At this point, lessons or no lessons, he didn’t care.

‘I’ll smash him.’

It would be different than last time.

Last time might’ve been a loss from carelessness, but now it would be different.

‘And seclusion?’

He’d be coming out of seclusion—his condition wouldn’t be perfect.

Tang Cheonil would use that ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) and beat him into the dirt.

With that in mind, Tang Cheonil arrived.

A scholar had tried to block him at the entrance, but Tang Cheonil flashed the seal he’d gotten from that dog bastard, Bang Sungyeon, and forced his way through.

A massive boulder.

And in its middle, an iron door.

A seclusion chamber the Blue Moon Sect used when someone went into seclusion.

A place you couldn’t open from the inside once you entered, until someone else opened it for you.

“Tch.”

Tang Cheonil approached, staring at it.

The moment the door opened and that bastard appeared, he’d swing.

Strike first. Win first.

He’d beat the bastard down—hard enough to hurt, not hard enough to kill.

What about the consequences later?

He didn’t care anymore.

If he didn’t do something right now, he felt like he’d die on the spot.

So he steeled himself and grabbed the iron handle—

“...”

And stopped.

His hand hovered in front of it.

‘If I just... don’t open it like this...’

They said nobody could open it from the inside anyway.

If that was true, couldn’t he just pretend he never came?

‘Not a bad idea, actually.’

It was a smart method, even by his own standards.

Tang Cheonil nodded and started to pull his hand back.

He almost did.

Then—

SHHK—!

“Hm?”

He heard something slice.

And—

CRACK—!

A blue line appeared across the iron door in front of him—across the door and even the rock wrapping around it.

“Huh?”

What was that?

The moment Tang Cheonil voiced the question—

KRRRRUMBLE—!!! KRAAASH—!!

The rock shattered along that line.

“Keuk—!?”

Tang Cheonil stumbled back as the boulder collapsed.

What the hell was this?

He widened the distance, narrowed his eyes, and stared ahead.

Beyond the rising dust, something wavered.

THUD.

“...!”

At the sound of footsteps, a chill ran down Tang Cheonil’s spine.

THUD—!

The sound came closer.

Tang Cheonil looked down at his own hand, slick with sweat, and his eyes widened.

At some point, without realizing it, he was gripping a dagger.

‘What is this?’

What the hell is this?

He raised his eyes again, tense—

FLASH—!

Blue eye-light flared inside the dust.

FWOOOSH—!

Wind blew through, scattering the dust in one sweep.

And what appeared was a young man in a wrecked state.

Long bangs covered most of his eyes, but his gaze still burned through.

His cheeks were a little hollow, making him look leaner, poorer—but even then, his face was still unfairly handsome.

Except—

“Ptuh. What the hell is this.”

Compared to the neat, mild-looking face, his way of speaking was rough as hell.

“Damn it. I’m never doing this shit again.”

Growling, the young man shoved the sword he was holding back into his waist.

Watching that, Tang Cheonil couldn’t say a word.

‘What?’

What was that?

‘How?’

How did he come out?

No—don’t tell me—

‘...Did he cut it?’

Did he cut through that thick rock and the iron door?

They said it was built so you absolutely couldn’t escape from inside.

And—

‘What the hell is that killing intent?’

Killing intent pouring off Bang Sungyeon. Not just thick—rank.

Just looking at it made Tang Cheonil’s knees want to fold.

Cold sweat wouldn’t stop. His body stayed locked in a defensive posture.

And hardened qi seeped into the dagger on its own.

Separate from his instincts screaming at him, Tang Cheonil’s mind filled with one thought.

‘I want to run.’

I want to get out of here.

Don’t fight that killing intent.

That was all he could think—

“Mm?”

“...!”

Bang Sungyeon’s blue eyes turned toward him.

Tang Cheonil flinched.

And then—

GRIN—!

Bang Sungyeon smiled.

“Oh, long time no see?”

“...”

“What’d you come here for— ah. Right.”

Bang Sungyeon spoke as he walked closer.

Tang Cheonil tried to back away—

‘...My legs.’

They were frozen.

“I told you to come open the door in a month, right? You came to open it for me?”

Bang Sungyeon asked as he approached.

Tang Cheonil forced his stiff body to move.

He was close.

If he stabbed with the dagger, maybe, somehow—

Thinking that—

“Yes... I came... to open... the door.”

Tang Cheonil pulled a towel from his robe and offered it.

“Oh. You’ve got some sense?”

Bang Sungyeon gave a small laugh and took it.

“...”

Watching that, Tang Cheonil thought to himself.

Fighting him should probably wait.

‘Yeah. He just came out of seclusion. Attacking him now and dropping him wouldn’t mean anything.’

Do it properly.

Fight when he’s at full strength and crush him then.

That was the right way.

And with that judgment, Tang Cheonil decided to postpone the fight.

At least...

At least not right now.

*****

The first thing I did after I came out of the seclusion chamber was wash myself.

Maybe because I hadn’t been able to wash for a month, I stank. And I’d been rolling around in dust the whole time, so I was a complete mess.

The moment I dipped my body into water and watched it turn cloudy, I couldn’t help flinching.

“FWOOOOOO... Now I can finally breathe.”

I scrubbed every inch of myself, changed clothes, then let out a satisfied sigh.

Only now did I feel human again.

“Seriously... I’m never doing that again.”

I shook my head like I was disgusted, remembering the past month. No matter how I thought about it, it wasn’t something a person was meant to do.

I’d managed to claw my way out, but there was no way I could do it again.

And—

‘Even if I got results.’

Even if I’d gotten something out of seclusion, I didn’t want to do it twice.

That was how goddamn miserable it had been.

[Heh heh heh.]

A laugh. I lifted my head. Yoo Cheongil was looking at me, smiling.

[Listen to yourself. Someone might think you got nothing out of it.]

His blue eyes flashed as he spoke.

[I spent a whole month spoon-feeding you. And you’re making that face?]

“Spoon-feeding my ass... I was the one rolling around on my own, wasn’t I?”

Anyone listening would think he taught me something every day for a month.

‘It was just me, grinding myself into the ground like an idiot.’

Yoo Cheongil couldn’t appear because he was using spirit-dreams, and during the day I had to train alone.

In the method he’d given me—stupid, and then even stupider.

Then I’d fall asleep and go through hell inside a spirit-dream.

That, over and over, for a month.

‘And then I barely woke up at the end...’

A loop of situations that felt impossible to solve.

I didn’t know how many hundreds of times I died in a single night.

One day like that, and then another, and another—until it became a month.

Vicious. And then even more vicious.

Days where I kept thinking, when the hell am I ever going to win?

And at the end of them, on the final day of seclusion, I barely managed to wake up from the spirit-dream.

Because I’d gotten something at the very last moment.

[That alone made the entire month worth it. You know that, don’t you?]

“...”

I didn’t argue. Miserable or not, like Yoo Cheongil said, I’d gained something at the end of seclusion.

But—

[Hey. I’ll say it again.]

“Yeah. I know. You’ve told me a thousand times already.”

I sighed at Yoo Cheongil.

“Don’t use it carelessly until I’m used to it. I heard you loud and clear.”

[Good.]

There was a problem with what I’d gained—enough that Yoo Cheongil had warned me.

And—

‘Even I can tell.’

It was still power I couldn’t just throw around.

It was good, sure.

I’d used it to slice open the seclusion chamber and break out.

Thinking of that, I clenched and opened my hand.

‘How much stronger did I get?’

What exactly was the harvest of seclusion?

My realm hadn’t skyrocketed. I was still pinnacle.

But—

‘It feels... better.’

Compared to before, it felt a lot better.

How much better, though?

As I wondered—

[You’re a funny one.]

Yoo Cheongil spoke with a mocking curl to his mouth, like he could see right through me.

[You think one month turns you into something special? You’re full of greed.]

“...I was just curious.”

[Put even that away. You’ll find out soon enough anyway.]

“...”

He wasn’t wrong.

I smacked my lips and opened my hand again.

Soon enough, I’d know.

And I knew exactly what he meant.

I’d brought up something with Moon-Thread Sword.

And that was why I’d spent a month grinding myself into dust.

As I was thinking that—

“E-excuse me.”

A voice suddenly called out. I turned.

A third-generation disciple of the Blue Moon Sect.

“...The Sect Master requests your presence.”

“...Of course.”

Speak of the devil.

How did he find out I’d come out? He’d sent someone like a ghost the moment I surfaced.

“Tell him I’ll be there soon.”

The moment I spoke, steam puffed out of my mouth. I could feel the season had changed.

And—

As the weather grew colder by the day,

it wasn’t just the cold I had to think about.

Something big was coming.

A massive orthodox celebration held once every few years.

It was time for the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering.