In Faiser's room...
He was lying on his bed, his breathing slow… steady.
But—
he wasn't completely asleep.
Nor was he fully awake...
He was… in between.
In that strange moment where consciousness separates from the body, without a person realizing when it happened.
Then—
everything disappeared.
No ceiling, no walls, no light, no sound… just absolute darkness, as if the world… had never existed at all.
Faiser slowly opened his eyes.
He looked around.
"…?"
Silence.
He stepped forward—he heard no sound, he felt no ground.
"Where… am I?"
His voice came out, but it did not echo… as if it had been swallowed.
He stopped.
Stared into the void.
"This is not a dream… nor is it reality…"
He raised his hand in front of him.
He couldn't see it clearly.
As if his body… was incomplete.
"Then…"
He paused.
Then said slowly:
"This… is me."
Silence.
Then—
"Or… my consciousness?"
At that moment—
without any warning—
something appeared behind him… he did not hear it, nor feel it, but he… knew.
He slowly turned around.
Then—
he froze.
In front of him… there was something… that resembled nothing.
Not a heart, not an organ, not pure energy.
But—
a twisted, composite mass, its shape irregular… as if it had been created without any law.
But—
the moment he saw it… he understood.
"…a vessel."
Silence.
His eyes slowly widened.
"This… is… my vessel?"
He stepped closer… then another step.
And the closer he got… the more he began to see.
Cracks, fractures, and breaks...
The vessel… was not intact.
But—
clearly and terrifyingly broken, impossible to ignore.
And within those cracks… there was energy, but it was not stable.
It was—
leaking, like smoke… like water from a pierced container.
The words left Faiser slowly, as if his mind was trying to connect what he saw with what he had read:
"The vessel… according to what I read… is the foundation of everything. It is what holds energy, purifies it, balances it, and prevents it from leaking. It is what makes power stable… and capable of development…"
He paused, then looked again.
Then—
he let out a faint laugh, then louder.
"Hah… but this…"
He pointed at it.
"This is not a vessel… this is… a catastrophe in every sense of the word, hahaha."
He moved closer, staring into the cracks.
"This vessel does not retain… it leaks. It does not purify… it compresses… and distorts… it does not balance… it destabilizes… as if it is about to explode at any moment."
Silence.
Then—
he leaned slightly, looking deeper.
"And this…"
He paused.
"is my vessel."
Stillness.
Then—
he smiled.
A strange smile.
"Hahahaha…"
He laughed.
Softly.
Then—
louder.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA!"
He raised his head.
"Even this world… it seems it wasn't satisfied with just throwing me into it… it also decided to mock me."
He paused.
Then—
his voice lowered, but his eyes ignited.
"A broken vessel… in a world that relies entirely on vessels… a… perfect beginning, hahaha."
Silence.
Then—
"But…"
He paused.
"What if…"
He stepped closer.
"This is not a flaw… but rather… a difference."
Stillness.
Then—
"Everyone in this world… strengthens themselves through containment… through order… and through balance…"
He raised his head.
"But me…"
He smiled.
"I have… a catastrophe."
He laughed.
Slowly.
"And a catastrophe…"
He paused.
"has no limits."
He closed his eyes for a moment.
"If my vessel cannot retain… then that means… it has no clear limit."
He opened his eyes.
"And if there is no limit… then there is no ceiling."
Stillness.
Then—
he raised his hand.
"Then… I won't fix it."
He smiled.
"I'll use it."
Suddenly, he shouted—
laughing madly:
"HAHAHAHAHA!!!"
"No matter what…"
"I will turn this flaw…"
"into an unstoppable power!"
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"And no matter what… I will make this catastrophe useful to myself…"
Everything shattered—
Faiser woke up in the same room, the same ceiling.
But—
his breathing was different.
The night was still present… dawn was approaching.
He slowly sat up.
Then—
he removed his upper clothes and sat in a meditation position…
closed his eyes—
and in an instant—
he returned.
To the same place.
That void...
The vessel.
He smiled.
"So… this is it… this is the place where everything is tempered… consciousness… the soul… the vessel."
He took a deep breath.
"Alright…"
"Let's begin."
Silence.
"Instead of trying to fix this ruin… I will exploit it."
"I will open everything. I will let energy flow in… without limits… without order… without fear of the consequences others fear."
He paused.
"Because my vessel…"
He smiled.
"does not function like a normal vessel at all… so let's try…"
Faiser began…
Energy… moved from everywhere, rushing toward him at an abnormal speed.
"Hooooof…"
"This… is much faster… I'm not absorbing… I'm devouring, hahaha."
The energy entered, began to compress and surge.
The vessel… started to shake.
"This is difficult…"
He said in a broken voice, yet long and steady despite the pain:
"But at the same time… this proves that my idea wasn't wrong. My rate of energy absorption exceeds the normal by far, and the pressure inside the vessel, despite its instability… is still holding. This means that my limits… are still unclear… and that in itself…"
He paused.
"…is terrifying."
A pulse… followed by another… his heart and the vessel.
"…?"
"The same pulse…?"
"This… is not normal."
Suddenly—
"W-what is this…?"
"AAAAAAH!"
Pain exploded.
"What is happening to me?!"
The energy—
accumulated, compressed, and tore through him… his veins bulged.
They turned—
red.
His eyes—
reddened.
"AAAAAAAAAAAH!!!"
He screamed.
"This pain…!"
"It's as if my body is being torn apart from the inside… as if every particle of energy that enters does not simply pass through… but tries to occupy me completely, as if it doesn't want to be part of me… but to replace me!"
He clenched his teeth.
"But… I won't stop… not now… especially now… I cannot retreat!"
Time passed.
The night ended.
Morning had come.
Outside—
Shin was walking in the corridor.
He stopped in front of Faiser's room door.
He knocked.
"Faiser…?"
No response.
"Are you still asleep?"
Silence.
"Hmmm…"
He sighed.
"Alright… I'll come in."
He opened the door.
And said:
"Excuse me—"
Then—
he froze.
"…?"
His eyes—
widened.
"W-what is this…?"
Faiser—
was sitting.
But—
the aura… was visible.
And violent.
"This… spiritual power…?!"
He stepped back.
"This is impossible… this cannot come from someone…"
He stopped.
Then—
in a trembling voice:
"He is still at… the Dormant Seed level…"
Suddenly—
"No… wait… hold on… this… is impossible. Faiser is no longer at the Dormant Seed level… this can't be, impossible, impossible, impossible… did he… ascend… to the… Pulsating Seed level!!!???"
Shin's voice faded.
He could no longer hear himself… nor even his own breathing.
All he could see… was Faiser sitting there, unmoving.
But—
the world around him… was not still.
The aura emanating from him… was not just energy.
It was—
striking, pressing, breathing… like a living entity.
"This…"
Shin whispered, his voice barely coming out:
"This is not… normal tempering…"
Another step back.
"This is not even a natural cultivation method…!!!"
His eyes trembled.
"This is… something else entirely."
At that moment—
Faiser slowly opened his eyes.
A faint redness was on his body...
But—
his gaze… was not that of someone in pain.
But—
of someone… who endured pain.
Then—
he smiled.
A small, calm smile.
But—
terrifying.
He looked directly at Shin and said in a low voice… tired… but clear:
"Ah…"
He paused.
Then continued:
"It seems… you saw something… you weren't supposed to see this soon."
Shin froze.
His heart—raced.
He didn't know why…
But—
for the first time in a long while…
he felt—
that he was standing before something… he did not understand… and could not… measure.
And in that moment—
between a steady gaze… and a calm smile…
Shin realized only one truth—
that Faiser… was no longer the same person who entered the gate yesterday.