Chapter 2
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Translator: MJK
Chapter: 1.2
Chapter Title: Tiger Father, Dog Son; Dog Father, Tiger Son
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An Hoi withdrew his killing intent all at once, shaking his head with a troubled expression.
Regression hadn't undone everything.
His heart felt torn to shreds, and deep within, he carried a wound that refused to heal.
The stench of blood and screams still lingered at the tip of his nose and in his ears.
If things stayed like this, he'd wake up every night gasping for breath, and during the day, he'd be swept up in madness without reason.
"That guy Si Yeong called this PTSD."
In simple terms, the terror he'd endured on the battlefield still hadn't released its grip on him.
"If Mother ever found out about this..."
He squeezed his eyes shut.
His mother had cast aside even the family honor for his sake, diving into the world of commerce at a young age.
Now that An Hoi truly understood her sacrifice, he didn't want to sadden her anymore.
Fortunately, he had a way to overcome this PTSD.
The first time he'd shown these symptoms was because of the Demon King of the West.
He'd been caught in the curse of weakness that the Demon King of the West had unleashed.
Thankfully, his body had barely escaped thanks to the blessings of the gods, but his mind couldn't shake off the curse.
As a result, he'd suffer multiple episodes a day.
To break free, he'd sought every possible method and finally obtained a divine art.
That was the Two Forms Divine Art.
"I need to get started on this Two Forms Divine Art as soon as possible."
The problem was that this divine art belonged to the second hierarchy.
Its effects were undeniable.
"Because the Two Forms Divine Art divides the mind."
An Hoi planned to shift all the PTSD elements into one half of his divided mind.
He'd actually tried this before, and after mastering it, he'd completely freed himself from PTSD.
The reason he'd fallen back into it was because he'd confronted that utterly wretched Evil God.
In the war against the Evil God, his spirit had ultimately been torn apart, and a part of it had corrupted.
He hadn't escaped the Evil God's curse, and unfortunately, it lingered even after the Evil God was destroyed.
"At least that damned curse was shaken off through regression..."
But the aftereffects he couldn't shake had triggered this PTSD.
Still, the Two Forms Divine Art would surely save him again, just as it had in the past.
"It's second hierarchy, though..."
If the Two Forms Divine Art had been first hierarchy, he might have sought another way.
Second hierarchy changed everything.
In the past, to learn it, he'd received a great deal of help.
After all, gaining power from a higher hierarchy than one's own violated the laws of nature.
To do so required someone who met three conditions.
First, one who could twist the laws; second, one who could handle spirits; and third, one from a higher hierarchy.
Usually, fulfilling even two was enough to proceed.
Meeting all three was incredibly rare.
In such cases, the burden on the one gaining the power was immense, but that was unavoidable.
The best option was help from someone who met all three.
"It's trickier than I thought to make that connection..."
But once connected, heroes of higher hierarchies often helped without demanding much in return.
Not out of overflowing humanity or boundless compassion.
Facing absurd beings like the Evil Gods, they knew becoming strong alone couldn't end that hellish war.
An Hoi was the same; he'd elevated nearly a hundred heroes himself.
He had no such hero to help him now, but he could still learn the Two Forms Divine Art.
"Regression took my power, but not my insights or knowledge."
Especially the insights he'd awakened, firmly embedded in his spirit.
This was no small matter.
He might not reach his pre-regression divine level, but assuming the stature of a dragon—a semi-divine being—was no challenge.
For someone who'd once wielded his spirit to twist laws and impose his will on the world, handling a spirit like this was effortless.
And above all...
"I've mastered the Two Forms Divine Art. No, mastered doesn't even cover it."
In the seven-year war against the Evil God, to evade its curse, he'd repeatedly evolved the art.
As a result, he'd elevated it to first hierarchy, but even then, it only briefly improved things; he couldn't fully escape the plague-like curse.
It had failed in the end, but forcibly elevating the art's hierarchy like that made him, as Park Si Yeong had said, not just a stagnant pool in martial arts, but a rotten swamp.
Naturally, the fleeting gap created by twisting the laws was enough for him to initiate the Two Forms Divine Art.
"Ah... I really don't want to do this."
Separate from that, he truly dreaded it.
Since it was a shortcut, the pressure from the distorted laws would be immense.
"But I have to. What choice do I have..."
Thinking he needed to act while still in his right mind, he began preparations.
-Rustle!-
"It's been a while, so it's not easy."
As he inscribed alchemical runes on the floor, energy currents began to flow.
It was a transmutation formation, a ritual that entangled the law of equivalent exchange to offset the cost.
"Whew~. Regression has its perks, but going back to before I faced the Gate of Truth is rough on the body."
What he meant was astonishing.
Transmutation formations had five stages, and the one facing the Gate of Truth was the fourth.
After regression, he'd lost the qualifications, so drawing the intricate formation from memory was grueling.
Still, unraveling alchemical runes into formulas was easy for him, and in just three days, he completed it.
"...Finally done."
Muttering curses under his breath like a sigh, he activated the formation without hesitation.
-Whoooong!-
Soon, a bizarre energy flowed from the formation, light bloomed, and the laws loosened solely in his space.
"Success!"
This was advanced alchemy; expecting possible failure, An Hoi clenched his fist at the instant success.
"Ngh."
But only for a moment, as he let out a low groan.
Loosened laws meant reversion to chaos.
Naturally, his body and mind were affected.
It wasn't severely harmful.
Just a languid weakness, like depleted energy.
"Hooo..."
Exhaling deeply at the center of the loosened space, he delved into his inner self and soon confronted his spirit.
Facing his origin spirit, An Hoi cautiously imprinted his will upon it.
A moment later...
Something earth-shattering unfolded.
-!!!!! -
He shed his human shell.
Heaven and earth trembled in shock.
It was only natural—a ascension far greater and more astonishing than a serpent swallowing a yeast pearl to become a dragon.
-...Whooong.-
Fortunate, perhaps?
The world-shaking event, which had truly vibrated heaven and earth, passed in an instant and vanished without a trace.
The divine general-like being reverted to a puny boy.
-.....-
At the incomprehensible phenomenon, heaven and earth briefly showed vacancy, stirring the surroundings chaotically before resuming their normal flow.
"Ngh!"
An Hoe, who had rocked the world, was busy groaning and recovering.
Separate from that, his complexion wasn't as bad as expected—the results were better than anticipated.
In a mere instant, no different from a blink, he'd successfully learned the Two Forms Divine Art.
And what An Hoe gained from this wasn't just that.
"Hoo..."
Even struggling to hold his form, he forced himself into a cross-legged position for breath regulation, then opened his eyes with a bright smile.
"Straight to 30%? This is beyond anything I expected!"
He looked genuinely thrilled, and rightly so.
The 30% he mentioned related to the second hierarchy integration.
To descend from third to second hierarchy, one had to forcibly bind those laws to oneself.
Methods varied by power, but for martial arts, it was brute force: mastering second hierarchy arts.
Depending on the art, elite divine arts granted over 10% upon initiation, nearly double upon mastery.
Yet merely initiating the Two Forms Divine Art had pushed his second hierarchy integration to 30%, so his joy was justified.
"That said, it's also inexplicable."
What he'd learned was the original Two Forms Divine Art, which was somewhat lacking as a true divine art.
In fact, pre-regression, it had only increased his integration by a mere 5%.
"Well, that's why I could learn it under those circumstances back then."
Yet now, it jumped straight to 30%—six times the previous rate.
Pondering briefly, he came up with two plausible reasons.
"This world has never experienced something like this, so maybe it couldn't resist?"
His original world crossed hierarchies daily, but this one might mark him as the first.
Lower resistance meant weaker defense against invading laws from another world.
If that was the first possibility, the second was...
"The ascension I attempted reached higher than I thought."
An Hoe had been shocked himself at how far his stature had risen beyond expectations.
Such a level was felt only from upper-tier semi-divine beings, like Dragon Lords.
Even among first hierarchy natives swarming with monsters, few reached it, so binding him wouldn't be easy, laws or not.
Thrilled by this unexpected stroke of luck from an unforeseen variable, he soon let out a low sigh.
"Haa. Thinking about it, it's not all good news."
The process had been too swift.
As second hierarchy integration progressed, the pressure from those laws intensified.
Pressure, though it was a natural side effect of the process.
What happens when exposed to two worlds' laws?
The body wastes away, the mind destabilizes.
Even for those with superior intellect and physique; for ordinary folk, it's madness and death, like schizophrenia.
One might think, why not learn multiple arts at once?
"...That would be the worst outcome."
Each additional art diminishes integration gains progressively.
Eventually, it hits zero.
"Experiments show seven or fewer is ideal."
For that, the first two elite divine arts must be mastered first.
Then conquer the rest sequentially to fully claim second hierarchy.
Considering even geniuses struggle to master one divine art, it's an excruciating path.
"Above all, rising integration amplifies the mental and physical toll."
An Hoe had overcome that grueling fight twice to reach first hierarchy.
Even while bearing demon kings' curses, earning his place among the 17 heroes.
Thus, hitting 30% with a lower-tier divine art like Two Forms was monumental.
"The issue is this body can't endure it..."
Only twelve years old, untrained by a proper master.
His self-tempering was decent for his age, but nothing remarkable.
Not even entering true growth spurt, bearing this burden wasn't easy.
"Gonna be rough ahead..."
Yet An Hoe didn't see it as overly daunting.
He'd walked this path once; compared to pre-regression hell, this was nothing.
"Yeah, compared to the Demon King of the West's curse, this is cute."
Beyond martial arts, he already held various awakened powers.
And as a martial arts rotten swamp, he'd find shortcuts to ease the path.
Sorting through his thoughts, he shook his head.
"First, I need to raise my attainment in the Two Forms Divine Art."
PTSD was urgent, so he'd handle it first, then proceed step by step.
That day, An Hoe elevated the Two Forms Divine Art to 3-star attainment in half a day.
Absurd progress, but on a familiar path, not so strange.
With this, he could divide his mind, freeing himself from the tormenting PTSD.