Lee Seong-jun's decision struck like thunder: he would not choose between the two treasures. Instead, he would claim them both. Mokuru of the Suin and Fahrenhof of the elves, who had battled fiercely to lower their prices, were stunned into silence. Their rivalry had ended not in victory for one, but in triumph for the warrior who stood before them.
Though uneasy, the two masters accepted. Pride could not erase the truth—both of their life's works had been acknowledged. Yet they clung to one last question: which elixir would he consume first? Neither expected the answer that followed.
Seong-jun did not intend to take one before the other. He would take them together.
For ordinary hunters, such an act was suicide. Elixirs were condensed miracles, masses of raw energy forced into the body. Even a single pill placed unbearable strain on blood vessels and meridians. To consume two at once was to risk collapse, madness, or explosion from within. Fahrenhof and Mokuru, both craftsmen who understood their own creations, had pleaded that he reconsider. But Seong-jun's mind was firm. He had walked a path of blood no ordinary human could imagine. He had been Demon God, master of the Blood Cult, unrivaled in control over his own body.
With calm certainty, he swallowed both treasures—the Blessing of the Forest, pure and cool as spring wind, and the Earth Dragon Pill, heavy with the essence of mountain and beast. The moment they touched his core, energy erupted like a storm. His calm gaze faltered for the first time as power surged far beyond expectation.
The two elixirs did not clash. They fused. Spirit and earth, ki and flesh, weakness and strength—each filled the other's void. Their harmony created something greater than either alone, an explosive tide that surged toward the level of divine elixirs once whispered about in the Thousand Continents.
But harmony did not lessen the strain. Veins split, blood burst from his body in red fountains. Pain seared every limb as energy rampaged unchecked. To any other, it would have meant certain death. But Seong-jun endured. He wielded the Blood Spirit Sura Divine Art, forcing the torrents of power through his meridians with ruthless precision. He treated his very veins like muscle, tearing and repairing them again and again, each time reforging them stronger.
Hours passed in agony and focus. At last, the storm of energy began to settle, shaped and tamed under his relentless will. Blue light swirled within him, compressing into brilliance before fusing entirely into his blood and marrow. His body, once on the brink of shattering, now pulsed with vitality sharper than ever before.
Then came the system's response.
The absorption of Mokuru's Earth Dragon Pill strengthened his flesh, agility, and blood. The Blessing of the Forest refined his inner ki, raising his blood energy further still. But the true miracle lay in their fusion. Together, they granted him an additional surge—an all-round elevation that no single elixir could ever match. Forty points of growth, equivalent to years of natural cultivation, achieved in a single moment. Even his control of internal energy doubled, every movement now more efficient, more lethal.
Lee Seong-jun opened his eyes, blood-soaked but unbowed. His body was renewed. His power now rivaled that of SS-rank hunters, the apex of Earth's current strength. What to others was impossible, to him was but another step forward.
A smile curved his lips. Not bad. Yet he did not mistake this for his destination. This was only the beginning of reclaiming what he once held as Demon God. He had returned not to dominate, but to live—to walk beside his family, sharing warmth that no power could replace.
The sky outside darkened. Time had slipped away within cultivation, and the clock pointed toward evening. For Seong-jun, it meant only one thing: the most important part of his day had come. Leaving behind the storm of growth, he turned his thoughts toward preparing dinner, where strength mattered less than simple togetherness.