Form Refinement (3)

“Rank ascension!”

A quiet gasp of wonder slipped from Hyun Si-woon’s lips.

The grade of an item that had refused to budge for so long had finally moved.

With a soft rasp of steel, he raised the Formless Sword.

Fine cracks spiderwebbed across the blade’s surface as if an old husk were shattering. Steel fragments crumbled away, and the form that had been hidden within was revealed.

“Oh. So this is the Formless Sword?”

The newly born blade shimmered with the soft luster of flowing moonlight. Every trace of its former crude weight was gone. It was sleek, refined, carrying a lofty dignity of its own.

Hmph. Still far from finished.

Ha-wol snorted.

Compared to the Formless Sword this lady once wielded, this is barely a seed that has just sprouted. The road ahead is long.

Even so, it was good. Its original shape had been no different from any low-tier Climber’s sword. Now, at last, it felt ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠as if it had escaped the mold of mass-produced steel.

With trembling eyes, Hyun Si-woon opened the information window of the reborn Formless Sword.

“Nice.”

Attack power had jumped from five to twenty. A dedicated trait had even appeared. And that was not all. The Thunder Dragon Spear, the World Tree Shield, and the Spirit King’s Pact had all risen to Rare as well. From now on, even if he obtained other growth-type weapons, they would begin at Rare.

As he had noted before, growth-type weapons transformed according to their user’s level.

“Oh.”

The Thunder Dragon Spear’s attack power remained at zero. In exchange, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠its summon duration had soared from five seconds to thirty, and the cooldown had been cut in half—from thirty days to fifteen.

Incredible.

Five seconds and thirty seconds were worlds apart. Borrowing the power of a Ranker—one of the absolute highest tier—for a full thirty seconds at random was essentially a free pass through the Tower of Despair.

Hmm.

This one was identical to when it had been Normal.

Feels less like a shield and more like a key.

A veteran’s instinct told him this was no ordinary tool meant for defense. The odds were high that it served some special purpose—opening a gate in a specific region, or awakening a hidden existence. He tucked it deep into his inventory for now.

Last of all, he reached for the Spirit King’s Pact.

The bow, in which the auras of the four elements flowed in perfect harmony, now radiated a far more luminous light than before.

“Hell yeah.”

At last they had risen from lesser spirits to mid-tier spirits. Salamander of fire, Undine of water, Gnome of earth, Sylph of wind.

Without hesitation, Hyun Si-woon drew the bowstring.

Twang! Twang! Twang! Twang!

Four sharp notes of air being split filled the room in an instant with the auras of the four elements. These were no longer the adorable little ones from before. If the previous forms had been infancy, these were adolescence.

Flames roared. Salamander was a far longer, handsomer lizard than before, the heat coiled within it incomparable to what it once held.

Water surged. Undine, the mid-tier water spirit, was no longer a child. A girl with blue hair that fell to her knees. Her translucent skin glowed softly as if steeped in moonlight, and her unfathomable eyes mirrored the still depths of the sea.

……Master……

She even seemed to speak, if only in brief fragments.

The once-clumsy Gnome had become a sturdier, more reliable earth spirit. His body of solid granite was larger and far more robust than before.

Hmph. I wait. Command me.

Even his voice had grown heavy and deep.

And last of all—

Kyarr!

Sylph now carried the air of a mischievous fairy, her eyes sparkling with pure playfulness.

Hyun Si-woon smiled in satisfaction.

Good.

It was not only their appearances that had changed. Just as he himself had transformed, the caliber of power flowing from them had shifted. If lesser spirits had been on the level of Grade-9 beasts, these now felt like Grade-7. Together, the four could hold their own against a Grade-6, and with Si-woon’s qi behind them they could face something even stronger.

Honestly, this alone made the past three years of training worth every moment.

Now you finally look the part.

Ha-wol laughed.

Truth be told, the lesser spirits could no longer contain your vessel. It was like forcing a newborn tiger cub to suckle a rat. Far from quenching your thirst, they were becoming shackles that hindered your growth. These mid-tier spirits are different. Only now do they possess a grade worthy of forming harmony with the Form Refinement realm. Heh.

“You’re being way too harsh on our cute little spirits.”

Hmph. I merely spoke the truth.

Even under Ha-wol’s sharp retort, Si-woon only smiled.

“Anyway, thanks to this, the long training is finally over.”

He stretched, loosening his body. Three years. The achievement waiting at the end of that brutal stretch of time was sweet. Yet it still did not feel entirely real.

Form Refinement.

The realm of forging qi. Sword qi that wounds flesh. He understood it with his head, but his body had yet to fully absorb the sensation. From here on, he would have to master it through endless real combat.

“Shall I try it once more?”

He stopped before the steel scarecrow he had cut down thousands—tens of thousands—of times over the past three years. This time he did not swing at once. He simply closed his eyes in silence and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠gripped the newly born Formless Sword.

A soft inhalation. As he breathed in, every current of energy in the world seemed to be drawn into his dantian.

Now it feels truly natural.

The sense of connection Yoon Seo-a had spoken of. Threads of qi unspooled from his dantian, flowed along the meridians, passed through his arms, and spread through the entire blade.

A low hum. Silvery-white sword qi rose from the tip of the blade like heat haze. No longer an unstable cluster of light. It was realized energy that shaped itself and writhed as if it were a living thing.

So this is sword qi?

Heh. Look at the baby so thrilled he just managed his first steps.

A soft slicing sound. He drew a trajectory through the air, and the steel scarecrow was cleanly severed at an angle, toppling to the ground. Overwhelming destructive power. Hyun Si-woon felt a surge of pure, boiling exhilaration.

For the first time in three years, he opened the community window. The familiar hologram felt almost nostalgic.

I wonder how the world has changed.

He scrolled through the free board. Many events had come and gone, but nothing mattered more than news of his members.

They’ve broken through to the nineteenth floor.

He had given them a rough strategy. Very rough. Clearing that much would have demanded considerable effort. The name “Pioneer” had long since been forgotten. Filling that empty space were the titles each member had forged into legend within their own domains.

Kang Si-a is still Divine Archer.

Jang Cha-yul was Dragon Spear, Baek Yeon-ho was Iron Bastion, and Baek Do-hee remained the Saintess. Their exploits were magnificent. After taking first place in the server war, they had climbed without pause.

“Pfft.”

Only Hwang Dae-un was still “Bear-tank.” Three years had passed, yet his overwhelming physique and straightforward fighting style had clearly never shaken that first powerful impression.

But the one who held Si-woon’s gaze longest was, without question, Yoon Seo-a.

Sword Emperor Yoon Seo-a.

The community already treated her as a living legend.

“Hoo.”

The astonishing part was that she had already stepped into the early stage of the eighth rank of Moon Spirit Divine Art—Hard Qi—and she had done it alone, without his help. Hard Qi was the realm of supreme masters. Her talent was simply monstrous.

However.

Even the monster Yoon Seo-a had hit a wall: the ninth stage, Full Moon. Ha-wol called it the beginning of the Realm of Transformation. It was not a stage one could reach simply by piling up qi and polishing technique; a master’s guidance was essential. Without fortune, a person could spend an entire lifetime wandering at the threshold of that enlightenment. No matter that she possessed the Heavenly Yin Body, surpassing that wall in a mere three years was impossible.

And beyond it?

Tenth stage: Moon Shadow. Eleventh: Heart Moon. Twelfth: Moon God.

Ha-wol said she herself reached Moon Shadow.

The absolute peak of the Realm of Transformation. From Heart Moon onward lay the Profound Realm, and Moon God was the Mythic Realm. The founding sect master of Wol-ryeong had reached Heart Moon; Moon God existed only in theory.

Interesting.

It was enough to steal his breath, yet Hyun Si-woon found it fascinating. The higher the mountain that had to be climbed, the hotter a veteran’s blood ran.

In any case, it was time for real combat. He closed the noisy community window without a word. At the same moment, he drew the Whisper of the Spiral from his inventory.

It’s been a while for this book too.

The Despair Stones were still sitting in his inventory. Eighty-six of them. That, too, left him grateful. In three long years, not one of the members had ever asked about them. Even though the reward had naturally included their share, they had kept silent as if the stones had never existed at all.

I have to treat ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠them well.

Because of his selfish training, he had essentially abandoned them for three years. And yet, without a single complaint, each of them had quietly grown in their own place.

I’m sorry, everyone.

He fully intended to repay that gratitude someday. But not now.

First, reach Moon Hardness.

With a cascading rattle, he poured all eighty-six Despair Stones into the book at once. The same phenomenon as before unfolded. The stones sank into the black cover, and the book began to pulse.

Ohh? A mortal who stakes everything from the very start and knocks upon an unknown door… how surprising.

“……!”

Even after all his training, the pressure was immense.

Still.

One thing was clear: that voice did not know he regressed.

Oho. From you… a peculiar scent rises. How is that possible? Defying the Tower’s laws… yes, having slipped free of the threads of causality? Hmmm?

The way it spoke as if meeting him for the first time confirmed it.

Open the door.

Interesting. A most interesting scent. Originally I intended to bestow only moderate knowledge and be done with it… but I have changed my mind. I shall specially grant you the chance to face me directly.

Just as before, the door opened. Hyun Si-woon threw himself through it without the slightest hesitation.