The Soul's Immense Reward
[Creation Force +10,000] x3,000,000
“Hah.”
Kim Jihun stared blankly at the notifications flickering before his eyes. His mind went numb from the sheer volume of Creation Force pouring into him—an amount too vast to even count.
He just gaped at it in a daze, his expression one of utter bewilderment.
“30 billion Creation Force?!”
Before clashing with Alquinoa, Kim Jihun had possessed a mere 430,000 Creation Force. Even after steadily building it up since dipping into biological creation, there had been clear limits to his growth.
But now? He held 30 billion. His jaw dropped in shock.
Jihun turned to the woman smiling brightly before him—Asrie—with eyes pleading for an explanation.
She began to clarify.
“Souls are among the highest levels of existence, alongside time and space. Handling them grants massive Creation Force.”
Souls ranked among the most noble things that could be created. Unlike ordinary matter or even living bodies, they formed the fundamental essence of life—a sacred entity. Simply manipulating them yielded tremendous growth in Creation Force.
That was how the Great Law valued them: 10,000 Creation Force per soul.
Having restored roughly three million souls to their bodies had netted him 30 billion Creation Force.
Asrie continued with a gentle smile. “Oh, and Kim Jihun—your divine power circuits are pretty damaged right now, aren’t they?”
Jihun nodded at her question. “Yeah. I pushed my abilities too hard with the Void still lingering, and most of my circuits got wrecked.”
He let out a deep sigh.
Every circuit in his body was a mess. They were severed in places by the Void’s energy, tangled to the point where he could barely control his Creation Force or divine power.
They weren’t completely ruined, of course. He could force it out with poor efficiency—and excruciating pain.
Watching Jihun lament his state, Asrie offered advice. “Don’t you have that absolute-grade recovery potion from your promotion battle reward?”
“Ah!”
Jihun suddenly remembered the item he’d tucked away. The absolute-grade recovery potion he’d earned for first place in the promotion battle.
He immediately pulled it from his subspace.
◈ Effect: Heals any injury or disease.
◈ Usage: Consume.
The golden liquid sloshed gently inside the glass vial, emitting a soft glow and subtle ripples. It was breathtakingly beautiful.
Jihun gazed at it for a moment before saying to Asrie, “Isn’t this super rare?”
“It’s valuable, sure, but not as much as divine power essence. What, you used the essence to save Asria but think this potion’s too precious for yourself?”
“No, it’s not that. Just curious.”
Truth be told, it felt a bit wasteful. But Jihun uncorked the vial and downed it in one gulp.
A bizarre sensation began swirling through his body.
“Ugh!”
His twisted, shattered divine power circuits mended. Burst blood vessels reconnected, and his faltering heart regained its rhythm. In an instant, his body returned to perfect health.
Jihun marveled. This is absolute-grade!
True to the description, it cured any injury or illness—even corrosion from the Void.
But side effects soon hit, making him groan. “Urgh... I’m so sleepy.”
“Restoring your body took a lot out of you. Sleep it off. I’ll move you to your house.”
Jihun nodded and nestled into Asrie’s embrace, closing his eyes.
Asrie smiled down at him. “Good work, Jihun.”
Her white wings enveloped the sleeping young man.
...
“That was close.”
Leila had come to Kim Jihun’s house. She gazed at Jihun and Asrie from his bedroom doorway.
Jihun lay peacefully asleep on the bed, unconscious. Asrie watched over him with a soft smile.
“Lucky he pulled through unscathed,” Asrie said, gently stroking his forehead. Jihun’s expression relaxed under her touch.
Leila watched the scene for a moment before speaking to Asrie. “You’re pretty harsh on him, Asrie-nim.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
She tilted her head innocently, still smiling faintly.
But Leila knew better. “You could’ve saved Jihun sooner, but you let it get that dangerous.”
Asrie fell silent at Leila’s words, then replied, “You figured it out.”
“Just a hunch, but it checks out.”
Asrie clicked her tongue in admiration. For a fresh-faced mid-level god to pierce her deception with mere speculation? Impressive.
Curious, Asrie asked, “How’d you guess I deliberately arrived late? I could’ve been delayed fighting those 300,000 Ma-shin.”
“That’s the weird part.” Leila glanced at Jihun’s face—peaceful in deep slumber after his ordeal. “You value him more than your own divine realm, Asrie-nim. No way you’d ignore his danger just because Ma-shin were in front of you.”
“What if I hadn’t noticed his peril?”
“No, you’d always sense it. You made him wear your artifacts constantly—the ones with hidden communication powers.”
Asrie grinned and patted Leila’s head approvingly. “Smart girl. Just like your mother, Ray. Rivals back in school.”
“You know my mom?”
“Yep. We were rivals at the school.”
Leila’s jaw dropped. She’d never imagined her mother, the high creation god Ray, had ties to Asrie—the guide of Kim Jihun.
Ignoring Leila’s stunned look, Asrie explained. “Right. I embedded communication functions in all the artifacts I gave him.”
She wiggled her finger slightly. Jihun’s bracelet and ring glowed faintly, displaying text.
As shown, Asrie’s communication power was active in Jihun’s bracelet, letting her monitor him anytime, anywhere.
“Plus, a high creation god could mop up Ma-shin easily, right?”
“...Haha. You know high creation gods too well, Leila.”
“My mom’s one too.”
Asrie stroked Jihun slowly as she continued. “True. Dealing with the Ma-shin took no time. I went straight to Earth, hid my presence, and watched him fend off Asria.”
“...”
“I timed my intervention. To give him more experience—especially with souls. You know handling them builds tons of Creation Force, especially for a low-level god.”
Asrie lifted her hand from his cheek. Jihun stirred slightly in his sleep, as if missing the warmth.
She pulled something from her subspace: a superior soul stone, far more radiant than Jihun’s.
She murmured while showing it. “So while he fought Asria, I deactivated my soul stone. Letting the lions’ souls gather in his.”
Normally, those souls wouldn’t go to Jihun’s stone—they were imprinted to their realm lord’s. But Asrie had disabled hers, redirecting them.
Leila said incredulously, “You ignored your duties as a creation god just to boost him?”
“Yep.”
Asrie pocketed the soul stone again. “Earth matters, but Jihun matters more to me.”
In her endless life, he was finally a subordinate worth having. She wouldn’t abandon him—or let him stagnate.
“So I played a little dirty, giving him experience with mass souls.”
Three million—an insane number under normal circumstances. But Jihun had borrowed her divine circuits and managed it.
Just restoring them to bodies had amassed 30 billion Creation Force. Why not?
Leila frowned. “Exploiting a loophole in the Great Law? Aren’t you scared of getting caught?”
“Hmph. I’m a high creation god. At my level, I can resist its constraints somewhat. Still gotta be careful.”
She stood and stepped back from the bed, yielding the spot.
Leila eyed her curiously, but Asrie smirked. “Go on.”
“...Do what?”
“You came here for a reason, didn’t you?”
Leila scowled, annoyed. “You knew all along.”
“Your personality gave it away. Not gonna do it? Fine, I will.”
As Asrie moved forward again, Leila cut in. “No. I’ll do it.”
She strode to the bed and placed her hand on Jihun’s forehead, infusing her vast divine power.
Transferring it to him—permanently reducing her total reserves.
Asrie watched. “Doesn’t that hurt? Your total divine power drops a whole tier forever.”
“It’s fine. He saved my life—this is the least I can do.”
She was sharing her core divine power, not a temporary boost. To promote a low-level god to mid-level quickly, one absorbed divine power essence or received a transfer from another god.
Leila was doing the latter—for Jihun.
“We’re going to mid-level school together next month. I don’t want him lagging behind.”
She kept pouring it in. Her overwhelming reserves—greater than most high-level gods as Ray’s direct descendant—shrank to average mid-level god levels.
Meanwhile, Jihun’s low-level god core swelled to mid-level.
He’d promoted without even knowing.
“Hmph. Wake up already.”
Leila grumbled as she finished the transfer.
Asrie smiled at the endearing sight.