Pain blossomed everywhere deep, overwhelming, suffocating.
It was no longer sharp, no longer something that came in spikes. It was a crushing force, as if my entire body were being compressed from all directions, bones grinding, flesh screaming beneath an invisible weight.
I gritted my teeth, jaw trembling.
Not yet.
I couldn't stop yet.
At the final movements of the third cycle, my limbs froze mid-motion.
Completely still.
No matter how fiercely I commanded them, no matter how much will I poured into every inch of muscle, my arms and legs refused to move even a fraction. It was as though my body had turned to stone, rejecting me outright denying my right to control it.
For the first time that night, fear crept in.
Cold.
Insidious.
If I stopped now…
The backlash alone would cripple me. Worse—this chance would be lost.
No.
I forced my breathing to steady, dragging my scattered thoughts back into order.
This wasn't my first life.
This wasn't the first time I had stood at the edge of collapse, staring into the abyss.
I remembered hunger so deep it hollowed the soul. Powerlessness so complete it crushed dignity. I remembered watching others decide my fate with a casual wave of their hands. Watching people disappear friends, acquaintances, faces I never even learned the names of vanishing as if they had never existed.
That helplessness.
That rage.
Those memories burned.
They became fuel.
With a low, feral growl torn from my throat, I pushed harder pushed past pain, past fear, past the limits my body tried to impose.
Something gave.
My frozen limbs trembled violently.
Then… they twitched.
Slowly. Painfully. Inch by inch.
They began to move.
Fourth cycle.
The moment I crossed into it, everything escalated beyond control.
Blood seeped from my pores, beading across my skin before streaming down in dark crimson lines. Above me, the starlight grew denser, heavier, its heat intensifying until it felt as if the heavens themselves were pressing down, searing my flesh directly.
It was unbearable.
Every nerve screamed in protest. My vision blurred, edges of the world warping as my breath came in ragged, broken gasps.
And yet,
I didn't stop.
The pendant resting against my chest pulsed softly, releasing a cooling sensation that spread through my mind, anchoring my consciousness and sharpening my focus just enough to keep me from slipping into madness.
First movement of the fourth cycle.
Agony exploded through me.
Second movement.
My consciousness wavered, darkness licking at the edges of my vision.
Third movement.
I clenched down on my will.
And then—something shifted.
Amidst the torment, I felt it.
Adaptation.
My body began to change, to respond. The pain, while still immense, lost its wild chaos. It became structured. Refined. Purposeful—like a hammer striking steel, not to destroy it, but to forge it.
By the time I reached the final movement, my focus was absolute.
There was only my body.
Only my will.
Only the motion.
The instant I completed it.
Hummmmmm.
A deep, resonant vibration rippled outward from my core, echoing through flesh, bone, and blood alike.
My heart slammed violently against my ribs.
Bum. Dum.Bum. Dum.
Each beat thundered like a war drum, echoing through my chest until it felt as though my heart might tear itself free.
An intense itching spread across my entire body deep, maddening, impossible to ignore. It wasn't on the surface alone; it felt as if it clawed its way up from beneath my skin.
A sharp cracking sound split the night.
My breath hitched as I stared down in disbelief.
Fractures spread across my blood-soaked, faintly glowing skin like shattered porcelain. Thin, jagged lines raced over my arms, chest, and legs, branching and multiplying in an eerie web.
Then, my skin began to fall away.
Chunks of bloodied, hardened scabs mixed with broken skin peeled off my body, dropping to the ground with wet, sickening sounds.
At the same time
Fresh skin regenerated at a terrifying speed smooth, luminous, pulsing faintly with power.
I could watch it happen with my naked eye, the new layer of skin forming cell by cell, seamlessly replacing what had been cast aside, as if my body had never known damage in the first place.
I glanced down at my newly revealed skin.
It was stronger
Denser.
More refined than anything I had gained during the earlier stages of skin tempering.
The regeneration continued relentlessly, unstoppable, until not a single trace of the old skin remained. The shedding and rebirth overlapped, destruction and creation occurring in the same breath, until my body reached a new equilibrium.
After what felt like an eternity, but was likely no more than the time it took for a single incense stick to burn, the process finally ended.
The maddening itch faded.
The scorching heat subsided.
I stood there trembling, breath ragged, my body slick with traces of blood and residue, muscles still humming faintly with lingering power that had yet to fully settle.
The ground beneath my feet was littered with fragments of my old skin, a grotesque testament to the transformation I had just endured.
Without hesitation, I activated the farm robe's cleaning function.
A faint shimmer washed over me.
In an instant, blood, waste, and discarded scabs vanished completely, leaving my body spotless. A cool sensation followed, soothing my overheated skin as clarity returned to my senses.
Under the pale moonlight, my skin gleamed faintly smooth, almost delicate in appearance, betraying none of the violence that had just taken place.
I raised my hand and touched my forearm.
Firm.
Resilient.
It felt nothing like flesh.
More like tempered metal concealed beneath a layer of silk.
To test it, I retrieved my Tier-1 High-grade farmer sickle from the system space. This wasn't an ordinary tool it was sharp enough to slice through tough spirit crops with ease, capable of cutting even reinforced materials.
I pressed the blade against my arm and applied force.
Harder.
Harder still.
Only a thin red line appeared.
No deep penetration.
Blood oozed slowly, but before it could even drip, the wound closed, healing at a speed visible to the naked eye.
I let out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding.
"So even high-grade Tier-1 artifacts can't seriously injure me anymore…"
A faint smile tugged at my lips.
This wasn't just improvement.
This was transformation.
I tilted my head upward, gazing once more at the endless stars above silent witnesses to the rebirth that had just taken place.
The night was quiet.
I stood there for a long time after testing my skin.
The night wind brushed against my bare arms, yet I felt no chill. My body radiated a steady warmth, not violent like before, but deep settled like embers buried beneath ash.
Only when my breathing fully stabilized did I slowly sit down on the ground.
The earth was cool.
I placed my palms against it, letting the sensation anchor me.
The fourth cycle…
I had crossed it.
Barely.
If my will had faltered even for a moment, if the pendant had not intervened when it did, my body might have shattered instead of shedding.
I closed my eyes.
Inside, my qi flowed smoothly, far more obedient than before. Every meridian felt wider, sturdier, as if they had been reinforced alongside my skin. The faint hum within my body hadn't vanished it had simply become a constant presence.
I exhaled slowly.
"This wasn't part of the original plan," I murmured to myself.
I had intended to stop at consolidating the early skin tempering stage. Instead, driven by suppressed emotion, memory, and intent, I had forced my way forward.
Results were undeniable.
But so was the risk.
I tilted my head back, letting my gaze linger on the moon before lowering it slowly to the ground.
Pale moonlight washed over the backyard, revealing faint scorch marks etched into the soil subtle yet unmistakable. Darkened patches traced where my blood had splashed and where fragments of discarded skin had struck the earth moments earlier.
I frowned slightly.
If left like this…
I quickly invoked the Earth Moving Art, unwilling to leave behind anything that might alarm the children or Grandfather.
The ground beneath my feet responded at once.
Like a silent suction current, the soil loosened and shifted, swallowing the scattered fragments of skin and dried blood. The earth folded over itself smoothly, layer by layer, burying every trace of the mess beneath it.
In just a few breaths, the courtyard was restored.
Clean.
Undisturbed.
As if nothing unusual had ever occurred there at all.
I laughed softly once.
A short, humorless sound.
I clenched my fist slowly.
The air tightened around it, compressed by nothing more than the movement of my muscles. If I wanted to, I could probably shatter stone with just air force generated from the punches.
But strength like this…
If left unchecked, it would consume oneself more than enemies.
My fingers loosened.
I reached for the pendant at my chest, letting it rest against my palm. Coolness seeped into me, washing over the lingering agitation like a steady stream over burning coals.
Gradually, my thoughts slowed.
' I wonder if I my parents really died? but whenever I see this pendant I feel like they were still alive helping me through this.
Maybe this is the care of parents even if they were not here, they are still helping me in my difficulties. '
I tightened my grip around the pendant, emotion swelling in my chest, I felt overwhelming thinking about my parents
After sometime I finally rose to my feet and dusted off my clothes, glancing once toward the house. All was quiet. No lights. No movement.
Grandfather was asleep.
The children too.
Good.
They didn't need to see this side of me.
Not yet.
I lifted my hands beneath the moonlight.
They looked ordinary.
Deceptively so.
No one would guess what I intended to do tomorrow with these hands.
But inside me, somewhere deep within my heart, beneath layers of restraint and preparation, the ember of revenge burned brighter than ever.
waiting for Tomorrow...