Sleep is important.
No matter how much a Martial Artist can use internal energy to invigorate the body, and thanks to that, go several nights without rest without any major problems…
That only means one can endure a little longer—it does not mean one can go without sleep altogether.
In fact, there is a subtle difference in the body's condition between when one has slept soundly and when one has forced oneself to stay awake for days.
However, no matter how important sleep is, when it is time to wake, one must wake.
Whether there is an early morning schedule, or training to be done, or… hunger.
Growl.
"Ah."
The terrible hunger I hadn't felt in a long time snapped my eyes open. It was a familiar room.
The scenery I had seen when I first entered the Tang Clan. This was clearly the private quarters behind the Medical Pavilion.
As I was still half-asleep, trying to grasp the situation, an unfamiliar physician beside me shouted in a voice so loud I couldn't tell if it was a scream or a cheer.
"T—Tang Clan Head! Medical Pavilion Head!!"
Well, it seemed I had managed to survive somehow.
***
Slurp.
I nearly drank down the porridge made of finely ground meat and vegetables. The flavor was better than I expected.
"Oh my? No matter how urgent you were, to spill this much while eating. You must have been quite famished, young hero Cheon."
"…Well, I'm feeling a bit better now. I did eat three bowls, didn't I?"
"It's fine. Even if you were a little sloppy, I can just cover for you."
Tang So-wol smiled brightly as she wiped my chin and the front of my clothes.
The distance between us felt closer than usual, which was oddly burdensome, but at least she seemed fine, so that was a relief.
Though I said it was burdensome, it wasn't unpleasant—if anything, I rather liked it.
I set down the third bowl, scraped clean, and looked around.
Not long after I came to, the head of the Medical Pavilion came in to check on my condition.
Right behind him, Tang So-wol, Seol Ri-hyang, Seomun Hwa-rin, and even Tang Jincheon burst in with an aura that nearly tore the door off its hinges.
I felt like I was starving, so the first thing I did was ask for something to eat—which brings us to now.
"Whew. I might actually live after all. So, are you going to tell me now? What happened after I lost consciousness?"
"Ah, well, you see."
Tang So-wol paused for a moment before speaking. She busily cleared the small table, then snatched half my blanket and sat down right beside me, shoulder to shoulder.
"I did draw the poison energy out of your body, young hero Cheon, and I patched up your internal injuries as best I could with whatever I could scrounge up… but honestly, I don't know much about what happened after that. All I know is that Father and Sister Hwa-rin came and took us away."
Tang So-wol had been refusing to leave my side even for a moment since earlier. I subtly glanced at Tang Jincheon, but surprisingly, he just nodded silently without a word.
"To be honest, we didn't do much either. By the time we heard the news from the daughter of the Sama Clan you sent and hurried to the Seomun Clan Head and the Heavenly Poison Sect… everything was already over."
"That is true. If I had to name what this woman and the Tang Clan Head actually did, it would be bringing the two of you back to the Tang Clan. Rather, I should be the one asking what happened on your end."
"Didn't you already hear it from Tang So-wol?"
"I did hear it, of course. But what happened to you is something only you know, is it not? Do you know something? You were unable to open your eyes for a full ten days."
As Seomun Hwa-rin said this, her eyes… no, the eyes of everyone present were filled with deep concern.
It was ticklish yet welcome, and a small smile slipped out of me.
"Ten days just at the Tang Clan. Add in the travel time and it'd be even longer. No wonder I was hungry. Tang So-wol, when did you come to?"
"It hasn't been long for me either. Let me see."
She counted on her fingers one by one, then nodded and continued.
"I came to on the third day after arriving at the Tang Clan. I visited you every day for the Seven Days and Nights, so I'm certain of it."
"Isn't your way of counting days a bit odd…?"
Tang So-wol silently shrugged at me, looking amused.
I shook my head and turned to Seomun Hwa-rin.
"Let's get back to the main point. I'll explain what happened to me. First, about the moment I came out of Elder Gwiyeong Sin-tu's secret vault…"
She calmly continued explaining everything that had happened.
How she had been struck down by the Poison Demon, how Tang So-wol had surrendered herself as the price for saving me, and how she had swallowed Spiritual Medicines indiscriminately to heal her internal injuries before rushing to the Heavenly Poison Sect.
And she even told him how she had deliberately induced a Qi Deviation to block the poisoning, and how she had only managed to ignite her Sword Force through the Enlightenment she gained when she was on the brink of death.
After hearing the entire story, Tang Jincheon quietly lowered his head.
"Son-in-law. I owe you a great debt once again. Thank you for saving So-wol. …And I am truly relieved that you are safe."
"Please raise your head, father-in-law. Receiving such gratitude for something that was only natural makes me uncomfortable."
"Only natural, you say. Who in the world could call throwing yourself into a Qi Deviation to fight a natural thing?"
"Is it not natural to risk one's life for family? Did you not rush over without any support the moment you heard that I and Tang So-wol were in danger?"
"Family… Yes. You have been a member of the Tang Clan for quite some time now."
She said that the two of them—me, who had lost consciousness fighting the Poison Demon, and Tang So-wol—had been carried back by only two people.
It wasn't as if the Tang Clan lacked talented people, so why had only two come running?
Because the only ones who could move the fastest, without rest, were Tang Jincheon and Seomun Hwa-rin, who had reached the Harmony Realm.
"Ah, Senior Seomun Hwa-rin. In that case, allow me to offer my thanks now. I never imagined you would rush over like this when you're not even family."
"Tch! Why would you suddenly say something so cold?! And besides, you're already—!"
"I'm joking."
"…"
Seomun Hwa-rin puffed out her cheeks and kicked the corner of the blanket that was half-covering me with her feet.
She couldn't bring herself to hit me while I was in pain, but she apparently wanted to make it clear that she was angry nonetheless.
At that, Tang So-wol and I looked at each other and, without a moment's hesitation, burst into giggles at the same time.
Tang Jincheon, whose expression had been stiff with gratitude and guilt the whole time, was also lost in the lingering echo of the word "family," and Seomun Hwa-rin, though she pretended to be hurt on the surface, had a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.
There had been all sorts of trouble, but for now, the mood was one of pure joy at each other's safety.
That didn't last long, though. Seol Ri-hyang, who had been examining me this way and that to make sure I was all right, suddenly jumped as if she had realized something.
"W-wait a moment! Sword Force, you said? Then that means you, Cheon Hwi…"
"I suppose I've reached the Harmony Realm."
"Good heavens. This goes beyond being surprised—I simply can't believe it."
"I feel the same way. That's why I plan to check a few things once my body recovers a bit."
I let out a brief chuckle at Seol Ri-hyang's flustered reaction. Seomun Hwa-rin patted her on the back as if she understood.
"If I had only heard about it, I would have had the same reaction. …But having seen it with my own eyes, I can't help but believe it."
"What do you mean?"
"The sword strike that cleanly sliced off an entire floor of the hall."
"Excuse me…?"
"Of course, I didn't see him unleash the Sword Force myself. However, anyone who looks at the top of the hall can tell it was cut through in a single blow by a sword. And there's no need to guess who did it."
Seol Ri-hyang was at a loss for words, a blank expression on her face at the news that an entire floor had been cut through.
As I had told Seol Ri-hyang a moment ago, I too find it hard to believe. I've finally reached the Harmony Realm I longed for so much… but it still doesn't feel real.
Perhaps it was because my body had become so weakened.
It was then that I unconsciously recalled the sensation from that time and clenched my hand tightly.
"Tch."
Seomun Hwa-rin suddenly crouched down and blocked my hand with hers.
Tang Jincheon hadn't gone that far, but he wore a deliberately stern expression and shook his head.
"Don't."
"Huh?"
"First of all, the fact that your life is not in danger has been confirmed by me, the head of the Seomun Clan, and the head of the Medical Pavilion, so that's fine. What I'm concerned about is… the fact that your body's condition is a bit unusual."
"What do you mean by unusual?"
"According to So-wol, when you had just struck down the Poison Demon, you were in a state where it wouldn't have been strange for you to die at any moment."
"That's probably true. Not a single meridian was intact, and parts of my body were poisoned and on the verge of necrosis. But didn't the Bone-Exchange Rebirth heal all of that?"
I hadn't aimed for the Harmony Realm because I didn't know I could reach it, but regardless, it was certain that I had ascended to it.
If so, the Bone-Exchange Rebirth should have naturally followed. I had thought the reason I was relatively fine was thanks to the Bone-Exchange Rebirth, but… it seems there's something more.
As I blinked, Seomun Hwa-rin finally released my hand and continued speaking.
"It is true that you were saved by the Bone-Exchange Rebirth. However, it is also true that you were not in a situation where the Bone-Exchange Rebirth should have been possible in the first place."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Bone-Exchange Rebirth is the process by which Intent melts into one's martial art, permeates the entire body, and reconstructs the physical form. In this process, the most important element is, of course, the Intent… but it is the internal energy that unites this Intent with the flesh."
"…And my Meridians were torn to shreds, so I couldn't even circulate internal energy properly."
"Correct. Even Bone-Exchange Rebirth requires a certain amount of leeway, does it not? If So-wol had not helped you as she did, you would have failed to achieve Bone-Exchange Rebirth and lost your life right then and there."
"You mean Tang So-wol?"
I turned my head and looked at Tang So-wol, who was playfully twisting my hair this way and that.
Feeling my gaze, Tang So-wol smiled brightly and opened her mouth.
"It's true. I didn't do it because I knew what I was doing—I just gathered up every poison I could find and combined them into a new one, hoping to improve young hero Cheon's condition even a little. It's a poison that temporarily protects the meridians and speeds up healing, but…"
The effect sounded familiar, and I asked with a sense of disbelief.
"Does that mean that once you're poisoned, you have to keep receiving the poison periodically?"
"…How did you know?"
"I just had that feeling."
When I answered with a faint smile, Tang So-wol tilted her head in confusion.
In her place, Tang Jincheon cleared his throat and continued the story.
"Ahem. At that moment when your body was briefly in relatively good shape, you achieved Bone-Exchange Rebirth in time, healing all the external and internal injuries you'd accumulated. So far, so good."
"You're saying it wasn't a normal Bone-Exchange Rebirth."
"Exactly. Your meridians were being sustained by So-wol's poison, and since your body was reconstructed in that state, it naturally became one with the poison—that's the body you have now."
"Originally, Bone-Exchange Rebirth is also a process by which a martial artist is reborn as a complete being. However, you reconstructed yourself by accepting another's energy."
Seomun Hwa-rin added this, looking at him with eyes dripping with worry.
"This is a case rarely seen even in the long history of the martial world. Just in case, do not touch a sword until your body is fully healed. Don't even think about it."
"And this applies to you as well, So-wol."
"Huh? Me too, Father?"
"The Poison Demon's poison… I hate to admit it, but it's a poison worthy of its name, capable of poisoning even those in the Harmony Realm. And you, So-wol, absorbed it all in one go. The other poisons of the Heavenly Poison Sect are the same."
"Ah."
Knowing full well that she had done something reckless, Tang So-wol offered an awkward smile.
"Until you and your son-in-law are fully recovered, you must never use poison art again. Do you understand? Absolutely never."
"Yes…"
Tang So-wol nodded a little sullenly at Tang Jin-cheol's voice, which emphasized it over and over. Of course, that didn't last long.
Tilting her head slyly, Tang So-wol whispered to me in a playful voice.
"Then we just have to lie here until we're both better, right? How about we push our beds together so we're not bored?"
"…"
Honestly, I was a little tempted.