Cold.
That was the first thing Daniel felt.
Not pain. Not mana backlash.
Just an endless, bone-deep cold that swallowed consciousness whole.
When his eyes opened, the world was wrong.
The stench of blood and smoke choked the air. Broken banners littered the scorched ground, their once-proud emblems trampled into the mud. Corpses—too many to count—lay frozen in expressions of terror and defiance.
Daniel’s heart skipped.
This battlefield…
He knew it.
“No…,” he whispered hoarsely.
He looked down at his hands.
They were not Daniel Maxim’s.
Slimmer. Scarred. Calloused by years of orthodox training.
Tao Han’s body.
Before him stood a man cloaked in writhing black qi, crimson symbols crawling across his skin like living scars. His demonic aura distorted the air itself.
The Demon Cult Leader.
The nightmare that ended Tao Han’s life.
“So the righteous dog still stands,” the cult leader sneered, demonic energy erupting outward. “Kneel. I’ll grant you a painless death.”
Daniel’s breath grew heavy.
This wasn’t memory.
This wasn’t illusion.
This was real.
He moved instinctively, orthodox qi surging as he launched into the same techniques he had once mastered to perfection. Sword intent cleaved the air, footwork precise, flawless.
But it didn’t matter.
Each strike was swallowed by demonic qi. Each clash rattled his bones.
The cult leader laughed, countering with a brutal palm strike that sent Daniel skidding across the blood-soaked ground.
This is wrong…
Daniel’s mind raced.
The move.
The final technique that once decided this battle.
He tried to execute it.
Nothing.
His qi stuttered, fractured, refusing to align.
His eyes widened.
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I can’t use it…
Panic threatened to rise as stamina burned away rapidly. His breathing grew ragged. Muscles screamed. He knew the truth better than anyone—
Without that move, Tao Han could never defeat the Demon Cult Leader.
A heavy blow crashed into his chest, ribs cracking. He staggered, barely remaining upright.
“So weak,” the cult leader mocked. “Murim’s so-called hero ends here.”
Daniel clenched his teeth.
Then—
Ding.
A familiar translucent window appeared before his eyes.
[ Hidden Quest Triggered: Test of Asura and Yama
Objective: Pass the Trial
Reward: Depends on performance
Failure: Death ]
Daniel froze.
Then exhaled shakily.
“…So it wasn’t a dream,” he murmured.
Being Daniel.
The system.
The dungeon.
All of it was real.
But relief vanished almost instantly.
Because the problem remained the same.
How do I defeat him?
His stamina was nearly half gone. Another direct clash would end him.
His eyes flicked back to the quest description.
Test of Asura and Yama.
A spark ignited in his mind.
The Demon Cult Leader’s power—
It was Asura essence.
Raw. Violent. Dominating.
And Yama Arts…
They were suppression. Judgment. Execution.
Daniel’s pupils sharpened.
What if the test isn’t strength…
What if it’s understanding?
“What if…” he whispered, blood dripping from his lips, “…I analyze his Asura essence—”
“And merge it with Yama.”
The cult leader lunged again, demonic qi surging like a tidal wave.
Daniel didn’t retreat.
He opened his senses instead.
Asura raged within the enemy—chaotic, destructive, devouring everything in its path.
Daniel mirrored it.
Not by copying.
But by understanding.
He circulated Yama Arts—not to suppress—but to structure the chaos.
Pain should have followed.
But it didn’t.
Instead, something clicked.
The battlefield soldiers watching from afar stared in disbelief.
“T–That qi…?”
“He’s using demonic arts?!”
“The Hero of Murim has fallen?!”
Whispers spread like wildfire.
But Daniel didn’t hear them.
His resolve was absolute.
This isn’t real, he told himself.
Only the result matters.
Again and again, he refined the circulation. Asura essence analyzed. Yama judgment imposed. Failure after failure.
Blood soaked his robes.
Bones screamed.
Yet slowly—
The flow stabilized.
The cult leader faltered, eyes widening for the first time.
“What… are you doing?!”
Daniel stepped forward.
His aura changed.
It was no longer righteous.
It was no longer demonic.
It was final.
With a roar, the cult leader unleashed everything he had.
Daniel met it head-on.
The clash tore the battlefield apart.
Then—
Silence.
The cult leader’s body froze.
A thin line appeared down his center.
And then he collapsed—his soul shattered, erased beyond reincarnation.
Daniel dropped to one knee, gasping.
Ding.
[ Hidden Quest Completed
Performance Evaluation: Perfect Efficiency
Ultimate Reward Acquired: Soul Annihilation Art ]
Another window appeared, heavier than the rest.
[ Legendary Achievement Unlocked
You have dominated the two most vicious demonic arts.
Title Acquired: Soul Dominator
Title Effect:
? All Stats +5
? Aura Pressure: Fear +50% ]
Daniel stared silently.
“Soul… Annihilation Art.”
A description unfolded.
[Soul Annihilation Art:
An art created through the analysis and fusion of Asura Essence and Yama Judgment.
Lethality: ×10 compared to individual arts.
Cost: Extremely High Mana Consumption ]
Strangely…
It felt easy.
The Asura and Yama that once tore him apart now felt… free.
No pain.
Only control.
Ding.
[ Quest Complete
Strength +2
Agility +2 ]
The battlefield dissolved.
Darkness swallowed him once more.
Daniel awoke with a sharp inhale.
Stone ceiling.
Torchlight.
The dungeon.
The two guards stood frozen mid-step, eyes blank—untouched by time.
“…So for them,” Daniel murmured, “…nothing happened.”
Moments later, the rift closed as if it had never existed.
They returned to the Maxim household soon after.
No one questioned the guards.
No one sensed the change.
It was as if time for the guards were frozen.
But Daniel knew.
Five days remained.
The duel was coming.
And this time - The Crimson House would witness something it was never meant to understand.
