The sensation of cold raindrops striking her face. At that, Tang So-wol, who had been lying for a long time, opened her eyes.
"Young hero… Cheon."
A voice cracked from being parched beyond dryness. Tang So-wol, moistening her throat with rainwater, slowly raised her body.
In truth, she had regained consciousness quite some time ago. She had recovered her senses, but had been unable to lift even a single eyelid.
The Grand Ritual had been halted by Cheon Hwi's intervention, but that was only a temporary phenomenon.
In reality, the Poison Demon was merely no longer progressing—hadn't he still been drawing out and using Tang So-wol's poison energy through the still-connected Grand Ritual?
That was why Tang So-wol only regained freedom of her body after the Poison Demon's death.
However, even though she had been unable to move her body all that time, her senses had remained alive, so she had been able to hear and feel what was happening.
That meant she could roughly guess what reckless act Cheon Hwi had committed and how he had brought down the Poison Demon.
Perhaps it was the aftereffects of having her poison energy drained to its limit and her meridians roughly torn apart. Even the slightest movement or breath brought sharp pain crashing through her, yet Tang So-wol's movements did not stop.
She pushed herself up, descended from the altar, and barely managed to stand.
What lay before her eyes was Cheon Hwi, who had lost consciousness without managing to take even one final step.
Kneeling on one knee, sword planted into the ground, drenched in rain—it was a sight far too pitiful to belong to a victor.
Tang So-wol forced her unbearably heavy legs to move.
"Kugh!"
Squelch.
The step was nearly a stumble, yet it carried Tang So-wol one step forward, and only then could she see Cheon Hwi up close.
Even as the rain washed over him, his entire body remained stained red with blood. His eyes were wide open, as if he refused to give up even in the moment he lost consciousness, and his grip on the sword was so fierce that it showed no sign of loosening.
Had it not been for his faint breathing, she would have mistaken him for a corpse—that was how dire his condition was.
But Tang So-wol could easily guess that what was hidden inside was far worse than what was visible outside.
"Qi Deviation… and poison on top of that…"
As she checked Cheon Hwi's pulse, a note of urgency crept into her voice.
The poison left behind by the Poison Demon in his body was, at best, a trace of a trace. Even in her weakened state, Tang So-wol could absorb that much without difficulty.
The real problem, however, was the already-destroyed meridians and internal injuries.
With a clear mind, a renowned Spiritual Medicine, and a master skilled enough to help in case of unforeseen circumstances, one could barely manage to cling to life.
He might never be able to use his martial art again, but surviving was what mattered, wasn't it?
Right now, however, none of those things existed.
Cheon Hwi had lost consciousness, Tang So-wol herself had nearly become the Spiritual Medicine rather than having any left over, and there was no master nearby capable of helping Cheon Hwi.
"At this rate…"
Tang So-wol bit her lip as an ominous thought flashed through her mind.
Then, as she desperately searched for a way, something suddenly came to her.
Tang So-wol's gaze turned toward the scattered corpses of the Poison Demons.
She saw blood still carrying the Extreme Poison—undiminished even in death—corroding the floor with a bubbling hiss, and a firm resolve rose in her expression.
"Clearly, the Poison Demon used its own poison as if it were its own."
The poison had been drawn out by wresting control from Tang So-wol through the Grand Ritual, but it was the Poison Demon's skill that had blended it into one and amplified its power.
And Tang So-wol possessed the Poison Spirit Constitution. When it came to poison, she lagged behind no one.
"If the Poison Demon could do it, then I can too."
More precisely, she had to.
Poison, depending on how it was used, could also become medicine. Moments ago, Tang So-wol had thought of a combination of poisons that might offer at least a little help for Cheon Hwi's internal injury.
The problem was that she didn't have that poison. After all, hadn't the Poison Demon ripped most of Tang So-wol's poisons out by the roots?
At best, she could only use one or two of the most basic poisons.
But what about the Poison Demon's poison, which had mixed the poisons it had taken from Tang So-wol into the decades of poison it had accumulated on its own?
Surely everything she needed was in there.
"Hoo."
Tang So-wol took a light breath and reached out toward the trail of the Poison Demon's blood that had flowed right up to her feet.
"Ugh!"
At Tang So-wol's will, the vessel of her Poison Spirit Constitution, now completely empty, began greedily absorbing the poison contained in the poison blood, as if determined to reclaim its lost contents.
Veins rose on her white hands, stained purple—a clear sign that this was no ordinary poison.
"Just a little more… just a little more…"
Tang So-wol muttered, cold sweat beading on her forehead.
The Poison Spirit Constitution was indeed a special constitution that allowed one to control poison at will, but it was not absolute.
Just as she had barely been able to use her poison art while controlling the poison energy that had grown more than twice as strong after absorbing the purple poison-nurturing herb.
How much poison she had accumulated over time, and the level and amount of poison she could absorb at once, all depended on Tang So-wol's own ability.
In that sense, Tang So-wol was pushing herself to the very limit right now, beyond what she could safely handle.
If she made even the slightest mistake, the Extreme Poison that had slipped from her control would burst out in all directions, and not only would it kill Cheon Hwi, who was already barely more than a walking corpse, but it might very well snuff out Tang So-wol's own life as well.
But she did not stop. She did not hesitate either.
"Young hero Cheon pushed himself and risked his life for my sake. I cannot very well step back now."
It was strange. She had clearly resolved to sacrifice herself to save Cheon Hwi, if no one else.
Yet when she came to her senses, Cheon Hwi had once again thrown his life away to save her.
Until now, Tang So-wol had always felt as though she was the one forcing Cheon Hwi to overextend himself—always grateful, yet secretly guilty.
But only now that she found herself in a position where she was the one staking her life for Cheon Hwi did she understand.
It was certainly a remarkable thing, but at the same time, it was also only natural.
To stake everything one had for someone dearer than oneself—that was simply the natural flow of things.
Indeed, when Tang So-wol came to her senses, she had already offered her own neck to the Poison Demon, and even now she was absorbing the poison with no time to think deeply.
If Cheon Hwi had been burning himself just moments ago, now it was Tang So-wol's turn.
That was all there was to it.
The pain of blood vessels blazing, of her heart stopping for a moment before beating again. Even in her hazy senses, Tang So-wol's mental image was growing clearer and clearer.
Holding Cheon Hwi's hand and chatting about trivial things. On fine days, it would be nice to go on an outing.
Just the two of them would be good, and sometimes wandering around together with the people she cared for wouldn't be bad either.
She wanted to hear Cheon Hwi's voice last before falling asleep, and to see Cheon Hwi's face first upon waking in the morning.
It was fine even if there were no sweet words or a dependable back. What she wished for was just one thing.
A landscape where Cheon Hwi was present.
She only needed him to be by her side. That alone was enough.
The moment Tang So-wol's will became clear, not only the poison blood she was touching but even the poison energy lingering in the air reacted to her Poison Spirit Constitution and began to be drawn in.
Dominion over the poison that covered an entire floor. No—surpassing that, the range was steadily expanding.
Fourth Floor, Third Floor, Second Floor… and finally, all the way to the First Floor.
Before she knew it, the entire hall of the Heavenly Poison Sect had come under the influence of Tang So-wol's will and the power of her Poison Spirit Constitution.
Under normal circumstances, this would have been impossible. But this was an exceptional phenomenon that occurred because her emptied Poison Spirit Constitution instinctively craved poison, and Tang So-wol's will blazed with unprecedented intensity.
Not only the poison of the already-fallen Martial Artists of the Heavenly Poison Sect, but also the venom of all the poison creatures raised in the hall, and the toxins of the rare minerals and plants hidden away in the storehouse.
Literally, all the poison of the Heavenly Poison Sect began to concentrate on Tang So-wol alone.
"…!"
Gritting her teeth, Tang So-wol began to sweep the incoming poison into herself.
The poison energy swirled, growing ever more vicious. Countless poisons mixed and separated in endless repetition, deriving countless combinations.
But among the combinations too numerous to count, what Tang So-wol sought was just one thing.
It was a reckless act, no different from stirring a vast ocean with a twig to fish out a single drop of water… but it was not meaningless.
Even at this very moment, the image growing clearer in Tang So-wol's mind became a single lamp, drawing in the poison she needed and filtering out what she did not, over and over.
As if to prove it, the swirling black-violet poison energy around Tang So-wol gradually subsided, and then a deep green energy bloomed within.
A poison created for only one person. For Cheon Hwi alone.
"Young hero Cheon."
"…"
Cheon Hwi could not even answer the voice calling his name. Tang So-wol gently stroked his cheek, then carefully pulled him into an embrace.
Her arm curled around his neck. Damp rain and a cold body temperature. Yet a faint, rising and falling sign of life.
As if to etch this moment into herself, Tang So-wol held him still for a while, then spoke.
"If I am the moon, Hwi, then you would be my light."
Tang So-wol, who called Cheon Hwi by his name, unlike her usual self. The clear green energy born from the swamp of vast poison energy began to concentrate into a single point.
"Because I can only shine when you are by my side."
Having said that, Tang So-wol carefully pressed her lips to Cheon Hwi's.
As before, it was still a kiss reeking of blood. But what flowed past that was not the bitter sleeping poison.
It was a strangely sweet liquid.
Tang So-wol herself did not know it, but by a curious coincidence, this was the same poison she had fed him before the regression to heal the internal injuries Cheon Hwi had suffered.
After injecting poison into Cheon Hwi for a long while, Tang So-wol slowly pulled her lips away.
The rain had weakened without notice. Perhaps it was because the faint sunlight breaking through the ash-gray clouds was so dazzling.
Tang So-wol buried her head in Cheon Hwi's chest just like that. From her lips, slack with fatigue from handling such a vast amount of poison, a low voice emerged.
"I need you, young hero Cheon."
With those words, Tang So-wol lost consciousness once more.
Before long, the rain came to a complete stop. A small sound came from Cheon Hwi's body.
Crackle.
The sound of something breaking apart and reassembling. With Tang So-wol's poison temporarily stabilizing his meridians, the long-delayed Bone-Exchange Rebirth had begun.
His tattered meridians grew wider and stronger, his ruined internal organs regenerated, and the skin that had been dissolved by poison energy peeled away like a shed shell, revealing new skin beneath.
However, none of this was accomplished by Cheon Hwi alone, even if he had reached the Harmony Realm—he was still dying.
Cheon Hwi's Bone-Exchange Rebirth was being driven by Tang So-wol's poison at its core.
The name of that poison was Love (Yeonjeong).
***
Half a sijin later, what Tang Jincheon and Seomun Hwa-rin discovered as they rushed over after hearing the situation from Sama Yuryeon was—
Cheon Hwi and Tang So-wol, fast asleep in each other's arms.