“Seven days,” Arin said quietly, his voice carrying no warmth. “That’s how long your new face will last. After that, you either come back or die where you stand.”Jin Ryeo stared at him, the dim light of the inn’s candle reflecting off his newly altered features. His eyes were darker, his jaw sharper, his once-familiar expression replaced by the calm severity of a stranger. “And if I’m caught?” he asked, his tone flat but laced with a trace of unease.“Then die before they question you.” Arin’s answer came without hesitation. He didn’t look up from the intricate mana lines glowing faintly across the air, finalizing the sigil that held Jin’s disguise. VEIL OF MIRAGE – Flesh Transmutation shimmered once more before fading into his skin. “Your purpose is infiltration, not survival.”Jin swallowed his retort. The boy before him didn’t speak with cruelty; he spoke like someone who had already buried the idea of compassion. He doesn’t care if I live or die, as long as the mission succeeds.

"The guards won't see me," Arin whispered to himself as he approached the grand complex from the shadows. The night watch had changed exactly as predicted, and the outer walls stood nearly empty.He extended his hand and blue mana flickered between his fingers. ARCANE THREAD – Soul Weaving. The threads stretched outward, sensing the Ki signatures of the few remaining guards. Their presences glowed like distant flames in his awareness.Two on the eastern gate. One pacing the northern corridor. Three in the council chamber. None near the vault entrance.Arin moved forward, and the air around him shimmered. VEIL OF MIRAGE – Flesh Transmutation wrapped around his body, not to change his appearance but to bend light itself around him. He became part of the shadows, indistinguishable from the darkness that surrounded the walls.A guard passed within arm's reach and saw nothing.The vault entrance loomed before him, a massive bronze door sealed with protective runes that glowed faintly in th

"This cannot be real," the Alliance Leader whispered, his voice barely audible as he watched the transformation unfold before him. He stood motionless in the vault, his ancient eyes tracking every moment of Arin's metamorphosis. His name was Kang Myeong-ho, a man who had cultivated for nearly seventy years, and in all those decades, he had never witnessed anything like this.The first beast core dissolved into pure energy, flooding through Arin's veins like liquid fire. The pain transcended physical suffering, touching something deeper within his consciousness. Every nerve ending screamed in protest as the concentrated life force tore through his body, forcing pathways that had never been meant to accommodate such raw power.The second beast core followed. Then the third.Kang Myeong-ho's Ki pressure wavered slightly as he sensed the magnitude of what was occurring. The energy signature within the small boy's frame was escalating exponentially, climbing toward levels he had not encoun

"I will not return to Hwagok City yet," Arin murmured to himself as the threads of blue light carried him through the darkness. AETHER STEP had deposited him far beyond the city limits, in the open expanse of the Jungwon Plains where the cool night air swept across grasslands untouched by human settlement.His body was exhausted. The battle with Kang Myeong-ho had drained more of his reserves than he had anticipated. The newly awakened power was still unstable in places, the beast core energy not yet fully integrated with his mana channels. He needed rest. He needed time to meditate and allow his body to stabilize completely before facing the Lotus Palace.The original plan remains unchanged, Arin thought, moving across the plains with careful deliberation. The Lotus Palace will fall. But not today. Not while my power is still recovering from the confrontation.He walked for hours, the Jungwon Plains stretching endlessly before him under the stars. The cool air carried the scent of gr