Unknown was a non-corporeal living entity whose emergence was shrouded in mystery. Its identity was concealed from the public, classified at the same level as rumors of extraterrestrials and shadowy organizations pulling the world’s strings from behind the scenes. Only a handful of individuals held clearance to know this terrifying truth—officials directly involved, or victims who had suffered at its hands.
The system’s explanation shattered every belief Jinyo had accumulated over the course of his life. If the system was something created by beings whose wisdom surpassed anything humanity currently understood, then it knew the identity of Unknown—something humanity could not explain.
That Jinyo had lost both his future and his beloved mother to what the system called enemies from Heaven—did that mean the Heaven people had revered and worshipped since time immemorial intended to annihilate the human race entirely? Heaven was goodness. Heaven was what maintained the world’s balance. Heaven was the destination where the virtuous would ascend in the afterlife. Everything written in the textbooks—the truth was that it was humanity’s enemy.
“Heaven demons must be eradicated completely.”
“...” Jinyo listened to the emotionless words reverberating inside his head.
Was Heaven responsible for his mother’s death?
Heaven was the one that stripped him of his power. That shoved him over the edge of despair’s abyss. The perpetrator that condemned his friends to bleak futures and an endless cycle of battle. The image of Ryse’s smile and Gretel’s sullen, innocent face surfaced in his mind. Memories of the funeral where Rina shed tears. And another young woman who wasn’t here—she who had vanished without a trace, forcing Rina to bring her daughter to this mansion for safekeeping.
“Our existence deserves to be eradicated… don’t spout that nonsense.” Jinyo spoke directly before the thing called an enemy from Heaven.
“You’re saying everyone’s sacrifice was Heaven’s will? My mother, the senior disciples, my school friends—that everyone in the family had to die because Heaven wanted to wipe us out?!” Jinyo’s eyes burned crimson. Emotions held in check came flooding out without end. This mansion was once brimming with people. People who were kind to the two siblings. Beloved friends. So many people who had created peaceful, happy memories.
Now only two remained. Just Jinyo and Naho.
Unknown spread its planar aura across the Sword Garden. Meat scraps scattered by the explosion assembled into vaguely humanoid forms beyond description—nothing more than masses of tendon, bone, and rotting corpse flesh held together with cold, lingering blood.
It didn’t care that the powerful Chimera Wolf was gone. It simply needed flesh bodies to eradicate the Heaven demons that threatened their extinction from this planet. The raw killing intent stirred the pain and resentment accumulated from the past into fuel for one man to rise and fight on.
“I always thought I was just unlucky. A jinx. Because whether it was my mother’s death or anyone else’s, all I could think was that they were accidents—natural disasters. I didn’t know who to direct this hatred at… because you can’t exactly take revenge on a flood or a storm, can you?” Jinyo laughed bitterly. The terrible feelings transformed into a searing heat building in his chest.
“If Heaven’s will is to wipe us humans off the face of the earth, then I’ll be Heaven’s enemy!” Flames of battle blazed in his emerald eyes, sparkling brilliantly as though he had discovered the very meaning of being alive. The pain inflicted by the brain wave interference was swept away. Blood boiled through his body until his skin flushed deep crimson. Pink planar radiated outward, scorching blades of grass and rice stalks.
[You face the enemies from Heaven directly. Bloodline Limit: Ancient Flora has temporarily awakened.]
[Nature Synthesis Technique—Beginner Level: skill proficiency temporarily changed to Level 100.]
[You have received the skill: Heaven-Destroying Demon Sword.]
The wooden sword lying on the ground spun through the air and latched onto his left hand. Roots sprouted from his shirt hem and fused with the decayed old wooden blade. Sword spirit and dense planar enveloped the weapon. Jinyo stepped forward and flicked the sword. The blunt wooden blade had transformed—he couldn’t say when—into a pink metal sword whose blade throbbed like a living pulse. A razor-sharp, living thing in the form of an iron sword.
Unknown rushed to possess the unfinished meat puppets. They charged headlong at Jinyo, who had no strength left to run. Intense sword will resided within the blade he held. Planar vibrated in waves across his body. All sixty-four meridians linked as one, channeling their power into the sword. A demonic shadow overlaid the white-clad young man’s form, transforming him into a demon lord who would lay waste to Heaven.
“I am the wicked demon—my lifespan stretches beyond eternity.”
“My body vast as the mountains of the cosmos, branches spread to shade nine worlds.”
“Stars are but mist and cloud, descendants of glory number in the tens of thousands.”
“I endure through every age—past, present, future.”
“All things, become my sword—and strike my enemies into submission beneath the lightless dark forest.”
Bang!
Every chanted verse reverberated into the souls of all who listened. The sword in his hand unleashed tremendous, frenzied power—power that drew no line between wickedness and righteousness, that answered to neither Heaven nor Earth. A battle cry born from a heart wracked with anguish and despair, leading to devastation that shook heaven and earth.
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“Universal Era Sword Song, First Movement”
Heaven-Destroying Demon Sword
No technique. No strategy. Just raising the sword and cutting in straight lines.
But they were perfect straight lines. The blade cleaved through the grotesque meat puppets, conjuring visions of flower gardens modeled after an imagined Heaven. Dense planar swept away rotting flesh until it dissolved into ash, returning to the earth as fertilizer to nourish new life.
Residual shockwaves from the sword strikes radiated outward, demolishing trees and small hills hundreds of meters away. Nothing survived within the Heaven-Destroying Demon Sword’s radius of destruction. Jinyo gradually lost consciousness from planar depletion. The earlier technique hadn’t drained his planar—it had burned away portions of his life force and lifespan. Red fluid streamed from his nose and mouth, sprinkling across the ground. He wanted to sleep but feared he would never wake again.
‘I won for sure, right? Please. Don’t let there be a third time.’ Jinyo tried to steady his breathing to hold onto consciousness. But the instant his body weakened to its absolute limit, agony tore through him. Something circulating within his meridians was corroding his flesh, blood, and life force. His entire body twisted in pain—blood vessels, internal organs, bones.
‘This is insane! The planar—’
Three patterns of planar that the Chimera Wolf had delivered through its attacks gnawed and rampaged through his body, sending the kingdom within him into collapse. Jinyo crumpled to the ground. His mouth hung open. His chest seized—he couldn’t breathe. He was losing control, drifting closer to death with every passing moment.
[You have completed the Territory Upgrade quest. Distributing rewards.]
[Territory upgraded by 1 level. Shop function unlocked. Sect function unlocked. Livestock function unlocked.]
[Spirit Essence +10 (permanent).]
[100-Day Plant Incubation Ticket.]
[All stats +20.]
[Spirit Servant Summon Chance ×2.]
[Purchase Box capacity +1,000 kg.]
[Skill Tome: S-Rank—Botanical Arts.]
[All plants within the Sword Garden undergo 100 days of accelerated growth. Takes effect immediately.]
Natural energy from the surrounding forests and mountains surged into the Sword Garden. Celestial rice flourished and thrived. Happy carrots swelled until they broke through the soil’s surface. Potatoes in the neighboring field burst forth, ready for harvest. Agricultural produce absorbed the world’s tremendous energy and grew to enormous size. A brilliant golden light sparkled at a certain point in the garden. Spirit Essence grew visibly denser. But Jinyo had no presence of mind to celebrate. His life was counting down toward death with every passing second.
“Jinyo!” Rina used her Treading Blossom technique to leap into the Sword Garden. She saw the black lines tracing across Jinyo’s body—the sixty-four power meridians, poisoned by toxic planar. Rina had seen comrades in battle fall to this condition before. Her eyes trembled. Her breath hitched as she reached out to touch him gently.
“Don’t die, Jinyo! You can’t die! If something happens to you, I’ll… I’ll…”
“…” Jinyo couldn’t hear a single word Rina was saying. He pointed toward the spot where the golden light shone, as though giving her a clue. The young woman sprinted to the source of the golden glow. There, among the happy carrot patch, one carrot stood apart from the rest—not the usual orange, but a radiant golden carrot. Rina pulled it from the soil and raced back to Jinyo.
Jinyo had a special constitution. She had noticed that whenever he was exhausted or drained, he would eat dried potatoes or sliced carrots and recover his energy in the blink of an eye. She understood that enchanted produce held extraordinary properties, though when Naho ate the same things, the results were never as dramatic as Jinyo’s. Rina drew her sword, sliced the carrot into small pieces, and fed them into Jinyo’s mouth one piece at a time.
[Moonlight Carrot]
[Quality: A]
[Status: Moonlight (SSR)]
[Species: Happy Carrot]
[Properties: Moonlight 1★, Eye Nourishment 3★, Skin Nourishment 3★, Detoxification 3★, Mood Regulation 4★]
A miraculous carrot born from a miracle. It had absorbed energy from moonlight and evolved into a rare magical plant—one in a million among all carrots. Whoever consumed this carrot would receive the love of the Moon Goddess.
Beneath its luminous golden skin lay succulent flesh with a flavor sweet, fragrant, and velvety—utterly unlike any carrot Jinyo had eaten in his entire life. Its aroma was distinctive yet not overpowering. The crisp texture melted as he chewed, sliding smoothly down his throat. It awakened a hidden hunger within him, turning it into a ravenous beast that craved to devour everything whole. His tongue lapped at even Rina’s fingertips as she fed each piece into his mouth.
When the last piece of Moonlight Carrot was chewed to nothing and swallowed, Jinyo closed his eyes and circulated restorative energy to repair the damage, expelling the toxic planar from his body as quickly as possible. The carrot’s 3-Star Detoxification property would surely pull him through this crisis.
But something unexpected happened.
[You have consumed a Moonlight Carrot—an enchanted plant with Moonlight status. Bloodline Limit: Ancient Flora is responding. Initiating bloodline refinement to align with Moonlight status. Bloodline refinement will begin in 3… 2… 1—]
“AAAGH!!” Jinyo convulsed violently. His heart nearly burst as violent surges of energy coursed through his entire body. Every organ churned as though being melted down. A soft light bathed his skin, turning Jinyo into a dim lightbulb that gradually brightened—yet it didn’t burn. On the contrary, it was a light that was cool and gentle.
“This is… bloodline refinement.” Rina witnessed a transformation that many would envy. Bloodline refinement brought enormous benefits—it could awaken powers from ancestors separated by countless generations, or create entirely new abilities unlike anything seen before. She watched Jinyo writhing on the ground, groaning in agony and pleading for help.
This was a change at the genetic level. There was nothing Rina could do but watch in silence. Waste accumulated in his body was expelled through sweat. The toxic planar dissipated during the refinement process. Jinyo thrashed in torment, on the verge of losing consciousness at any moment.
“Don’t fall asleep, Jinyo. You have to endure this. You can do it.” Rina kept reminding him. If someone lost consciousness during bloodline refinement, they had a fifty-fifty chance of dying.
“If you said you’d save Ryse and Gretel, then you have to keep fighting. Don’t you dare give up. There are still things I haven’t told you—so many things. So giving up is absolutely forbidden. That’s an order.”
Rina’s words drilled into his ears over and over. The young man clenched his fists. Black blood seeped through his skin. His white clothes were stained with filth that reeked to high heaven. The pain gradually subsided after fifteen minutes passed. Rina carried Jinyo behind the hut, stripped off his clothes, and dropped him into a wooden tub filled with cold water to bring down his dangerously high body temperature.
Jinyo sat motionless in the tub for hours.
Rina remained close by, stealing anxious glances to make sure he hadn’t lost consciousness or stopped breathing. Time passed until morning, and at last, Jinyo’s condition stabilized.
[Bloodline refinement complete. Ancient Flora bloodline awakening progress: 50%.]
[You have obtained Moonlight status. You have gained a second elemental planar: Lunar Element (G). You have broken through to Ordinary Tier 6. Maximum mana capacity: 6,000. Charm +200. All other stats +50.]
[Moonlight: When cultivating under moonlight, cultivation speed +100%. When fighting under moonlight: Charm +50 (temporary), Fortitude +25, Speed +25, Energy recovery rate +25%, Lunar element technique effectiveness +20%.]
“Hah… hah… my body… my body, it—” Jinyo was frightened. His body was no longer the same—it was fundamentally different from before. It wasn’t just the Stone Apes who thought Jinyo wasn’t human or a creature of this world. Even he himself felt like something alien now, drifting further from humanity with each passing moment.
When Rina heard his voice, she lifted her head and turned to look at Jinyo lying in the tub. But he wasn’t the same anymore.
He was no longer the Jinyo that Rina knew.
The young woman’s heart pounded in a way it never had before.
Two hundred additional points of Charm—more than enough to make him a prize that every demoness would fight to claim.
