The fire had long since died. Only embers glowed in the dark.
Jin Mu-Won sat cross-legged, eyes fixed on the half-buried stone tablet. Faint lines of script shimmered whenever the wind blew, as if mocking him.
Heaven and Earth are but a furnace. To survive, refine yourself. To dominate, refine the world.
He touched the carvings again. A sting ran through his palm. Blood seeped into the grooves, and the words shifted, revealing more:
> "The body is the vessel. The mind is the flame. Burn weakness, and the ashes will become strength."
His heart pounded. He had heard of secret manuals, demonic inheritances, treasures hidden in the world. But to stumble upon one now, abandoned and half-dead in the forest?
Was it chance? Or fate?
Jin sneered. Fate? No. I don't believe in such chains. This… this is mine because I bled for it.
---
That night, he began to practice.
The tablet spoke of a brutal method: using pain, exhaustion, and hunger as fuel to harden the body and sharpen the mind. No gentle breathing techniques. No pills to ease the process. Only suffering turned into strength.
So Jin forced himself.
He ran until his legs buckled. He punched trees until his knuckles split. He pushed rocks until his vision blackened. Every wound screamed, every muscle tore. But each time he collapsed, he dragged himself up again, whispering through bloody lips:
"Refine yourself."
---
Days passed. The forest became his training ground. The wolves that once circled him kept their distance now, sensing the killing intent in his eyes.
He noticed changes. His body still bore scars, but his movements grew sharper, his senses keener. The world felt clearer — as if the fog of weakness was being burned away.
But strength attracted danger.
One evening, while drinking from a stream, Jin froze. Across the water stood three men — wanderers armed with blades, their clothes stained with dust and blood.
Bandits.
Their leader smirked, eyeing him like a rabbit in a snare. "Well, well. A crippled brat all alone. Boys, looks like tonight's meal is free."
Jin Mu-Won rose slowly, wiping his mouth. His eyes glinted with cold amusement.
"A cripple, am I? Then try me. See if I break easily."
The men laughed, drawing steel.
Jin's heartbeat quickened — not from fear, but anticipation.
For the first time, he would test the furnace of flesh not against beasts… but against men.