"Wha... What is going on?!"
Jian Blu Eva stared at Shi Yun Lan.
He was still standing in the same position as before, but there was a huge difference.
His joints had gone pale, almost white., and his exhausted body was trembling.
The other patients felt sorry for him.
They wanted him to stop.
But Shi Yun Lan remained determined to meet Jian Blu Eva.
When Jian Blu Eva finally returned, the people stepped aside and allowed her to pass.
Her eyes fell on Leon.
The guard was trying to convince his young master to stop and was even preparing to carry him away.
"Shi... Yun Lan, isn't it?"
At that moment, Shi Yun Lan stood up.
The sound of his stiff joints cracking echoed through the area.
He looked more like a homeless wanderer than a noble young master.
His skin was covered with cracks, his lips were pale, and his eyes were red from remaining open throughout the entire night.
"..."
Jian Blu Eva felt guilty when she saw him.
But Shi Yun Lan spoke first.
"First of all, I apologize for my brother."
He took a deep breath.
"If there is anything I can do, tell me."
He continued firmly despite his exhausted body.
"Secondly, I came here to learn about the human physique and how to enhance it."
He bowed.
"Please, accept me as your apprentice."
His voice was firm.
His body, however, told a completely different story.
Jian Blu Eva looked at him for a moment.
Then she sighed.
"You can rest first.
When you wake up, I'll ask you some questions."
She gestured toward Leon.
Leon immediately understood.
He carried his young master away to rest.
...
Night came.
Shi Yun Lan opened his eyes.
He immediately sat up and waited for Jian Blu Eva.
He noticed that Leon wasn't beside him.
However, he trusted his guard and was certain that Leon would return soon.
After finishing her rounds, Jian Blu Eva finally entered.
"I see you're doing well."
"That's because of your care."
Shi Yun Lan wasn't lying.
He could still feel traces of her aura inside his body.
After checking his condition, Jian Blu Eva immediately asked,
"Did you heal a woman on your way here?"
"Yes."
His answer was brief.
Jian Blu Eva suddenly stood up and grabbed him by the shoulders.
"How did you do that?!"
Her eyes were filled with enthusiasm and hope.
Shi Yun Lan remained calm.
"I used my aura. That's all."
"..."
Jian Blu Eva fell silent.
Then she asked,
"Don't you have any medicine?"
"No."
Shi Yun Lan opened his hand.
His deadly aura radiated from his palm.
"That's all I used."
Jian Blu Eva stared at the aura.
A slight fear appeared in her eyes.
"What is this?"
"(Aura of the Death)."
He looked at his own hand.
"It's a technique from my (Art of Annihilation)."
Jian Blu Eva frowned.
"I have to admit that its power is impressive.
But it shouldn't be able to heal the plague."
Shi Yun Lan explained,
"The aura represents the power and mood of the warrior.
My aura represents me."
Jian Blu Eva looked at it again.
She could feel how easily it could kill.
Yet that same aura had saved a dying woman.
"Tell me..."
She looked at him seriously.
"What exactly did you do?"
Shi Yun Lan answered,
"First, I found the girl who asked me to rescue her mother.
So I went with her.
I saw the deadly aura inside her mother's body and immediately noticed the cause.
It was related to the blood."
He raised his hand.
"Then I used my second technique, (Blood of the Dead)."
A bloody aura appeared in his palm.
"I used the blood to annihilate the corrupted blood.
Then I found the source of the deadly aura.
And I killed it."
Jian Blu Eva became confused.
Shi Yun Lan noticed her expression.
"I killed the source of the illness."
"Oh!"
She finally understood the principle.
But she immediately asked,
"Killing the source isn't everything.
How did you make her body recover?"
Shi Yun Lan answered without hesitation.
"The human body is interesting.
It can surpass its limits again and again.
So I gave her body another reason to overcome my aura.
After that, it recovered."
"That's...!"
Jian Blu Eva couldn't accept it so easily.
Her expression became angry.
"Did you experiment on that patient?!"
"No."
Shi Yun Lan answered immediately.
"I experimented on myself first.
Only after finding an effective solution did I use it on her."
He wasn't lying.
He had experienced the plague himself when he first entered the village.
"..."
Jian Blu Eva carefully searched his expression for any trace of a lie.
There was none.
She finally exhaled in relief.
"I'm sorry for getting angry."
"No worries."
Shi Yun Lan accepted her apology.
Then it was his turn.
"Now, can I learn from you?"
Jian Blu Eva stared at him in disbelief.
"Why don't you go to someone else?"
"The physicians and trainers couldn't stay with me for even a short time.
They all escaped."
Jian Blu Eva understood immediately.
His Aura of Death wasn't something ordinary people could endure.
"So you want to become my apprentice?"
"Yes."
She thought for a moment.
"Then I'll give you a mission.
If you manage to complete it, I'll accept you."
Shi Yun Lan nodded.
"Name your mission, and I will accomplish it."
Jian Blu Eva felt guilty.
She was about to trick him.
But she continued,
"I want you to find the source of the plague."
She expected him to object.
Instead, Shi Yun Lan simply nodded.
"Consider it done."
...
Several days passed.
Jian Blu Eva tried to use Shi Yun Lan's method.
But her aura was curative.
It couldn't annihilate things the way Shi Yun Lan's aura could.
She began regretting allowing him to leave.
Yet she couldn't force herself to trust anyone else after the catastrophe.
Especially not someone from the Shi family.
"I hope my father won't go mad at me."
She muttered those words while working.
Then a cold, deadly voice penetrated the atmosphere.
"I came."
Jian Blu Eva immediately turned around.
Her eyes widened.
Shi Yun Lan was walking toward her.
"I found it.
The source of the plague."
"!!!"
Jian Blu Eva immediately left her patient and approached him.
"Really?!
Where is it?!
How did you find it?!"
Questions poured out of Jian Blu Eva.
He looked at her calmly.
"Won't you check it yourself?"
Jian Blu Eva nodded.
She immediately followed him, leaving the patients in the care of her assistants.
While they walked, Shi Yun Lan explained,
"I used my aura to detect the tiny living creatures."
Jian Blu Eva looked at him in confusion.
"That's strange.
We tried to use our aura to detect them, but it showed nothing."
"That's because the illness acts on instinct to avoid detection.
My aura, however, isn't lively.
It's deadly.
It couldn't move around my aura, so I followed its traces."
He explained the difference.
His aura had only one nature.
Death.
Other people's auras possessed countless forms and characteristics.
Jian Blu Eva became increasingly interested in him as they walked.
Eventually, they reached a waterfall near the village.
Shi Yun Lan entered the cave behind it.
He pointed toward a strange flower.
The flower carried the exact same aura as the plague.
"So, did I manage to complete your mission?"
"..."
Jian Blu Eva wasn't listening.
She was staring at the flower.
Her expression became furious, but somehow, even her anger couldn't diminish her beautiful eyes.
"Shi Yun Lan."
She turned toward him.
"Come with me.
Help me heal the patients."
Shi Yun Lan asked,
"Are you trying to make use of me?"
Jian Blu Eva became frustrated.
"How could I do that to my disciple?"
Shi Yun Lan didn't celebrate.
He simply bowed.
"I will do my best."
"It's not the time for formalities!"
They destroyed the flower and left the cave.
Then Jian Blu Eva asked Shi Yun Lan to take care of the patients until she returned from the Jian family.
"..."
Shi Yun Lan hadn't expected to be tested on his first day.
Nevertheless, he was serious.
He began the treatment.
For one week, he observed and studied the patients' anatomy.
He learned a great deal.
But he also gained a new title in the village.
"The Death Physician."
He always wore black.
His Aura of Death surrounded him.
He healed people with an aura that frightened them more than the plague itself.
Yet the final result never changed.
They were cured.
When Jian Blu Eva returned, she was surprised to see so many people healed by Shi Yun Lan.
But she also noticed their fear of him.
She shook her head.
Still, she couldn't deny the help he had provided.
She decided to fulfill her promise.
"Shi Yun Lan!"
Shi Yun Lan stopped studying and walked toward her.
"Greetings, Mistress Jian."
She looked at him.
"From now on, you are my disciple.
You have the authority to walk wherever you want within reasonable limits.
I've already arranged the subjects you need to study.
But I will test your knowledge myself."
"..."
...
They eventually left the village.
Another week passed.
During that time, Jian Blu Eva asked Shi Yun Lan countless questions.
He answered everything he could.
He had come to learn, and he took every opportunity to expand his knowledge.
Jian Blu Eva was impressed by his foundation.
She began teaching him the basics of physique-enhancement techniques.
Then—
A year passed.
Shi Yun Lan had grown taller.
His body had developed powerful, engraved muscles beneath his pale skin.
His reputation spread throughout the Jian family.
Yet his title remained unchanged.
The Death Physician.
Jian Blu Eva was sitting inside her infirmary with Shi Yun Lan.
He hadn't used his Aura of Death for a long time because of her request.
"Lan..."
She looked at him.
"Will you leave us tomorrow?"
"Yes."
His answer was as calm as always.
But there was something different about him.
He was more human.
More normal.
His eyes were clearer than before.
Jian Blu Eva lowered her gaze.
"Well..."
She smiled faintly.
"Keep yourself safe."
There was disappointment in her voice.
During the past year, she had discovered that Shi Yun Lan was actually a good person despite his terrifying presence.
They had grown closer.
She had even started calling him by his first name.
And Shi Yun Lan now regarded her as an older sister.
The hatred she had once felt toward the Shi family had gradually disappeared.
Jian Blu Eva suddenly sighed.
"You know...
My family has been pressuring me to marry.
That's disappointing."
Shi Yun Lan looked at her silently.
After thinking for a moment, he finally said,
"I think they're worried about you."
Jian Blu Eva smiled bitterly.
"I know they want to see me with a good man whom I can depend on.
But after what happened last year..."
Shi Yun Lan nodded.
He remembered the young masters who had come to challenge one another.
Their competition had ended up harming innocent people.
"If there is a man you have in mind...
Just marry him."
His words were finally more thoughtful than before.
But they were still painfully direct.
Jian Blu Eva looked at him.
"It's not like that.
I mean..."
She hesitated.
"Just forget it."
She stood up and began closing the infirmary.
"Let's have dinner together.
Who knows if we'll ever meet again?"
Shi Yun Lan looked at her.
Then—
He smiled.
It was the first genuinely warm smile of his life.
It wasn't perfect.
It was slightly awkward, as if he were still learning how to smile.
But it was real.
He walked beside her.
There was no trace of the Art of Annihilation surrounding him.
...
The next day, Shi Yun Lan stood before Jian Blu Eva.
"Well...
It's farewell."
"Hmmmm..."
She smiled.
"See you next time?"
"Who knows?"
"Well, goodbye."
"Be safe."
Shi Yun Lan bowed to her once more.
Then he left the Jian family.
But he carried something new with him.
Feelings.
Something that even reached Shion Lan.
For the first time, Shion felt filled with life.
And hope.
...
Shi Yun Lan finally returned home.
His father was waiting for him.
Shi Yun Han was shocked by his son's height.
He hadn't seen him for an entire year.
"I'm home, Father."
Shi Yun Han stared at his son.
He immediately noticed the difference.
The old Shi Yun Lan had been cold, distant, and almost inhuman.
The young man standing before him was different.
Still cold.
Still terrifying.
But somehow...
More alive.
Shi Yun Han couldn't hide his happiness.
He took his son away from his maids and guard.
Then he asked,
"So, what will you do now?"
Shi Yun Lan answered,
"I think I'll get some rest before training again."
Shi Yun Han clenched his fist in victory.
'Yes!
He'll train again eventually, but at least he'll rest first!'
The decision to rest made his father feel relieved.
Shi Yun Lan, however, felt something strange.
He later heard about Shi Yun Suan's punishment for what had happened in the Southern Continent.
He didn't care much about his brother.
Instead, he decided to follow Jian Blu Eva's advice and rest.
After that, he would train with all his strength.
But then Shion noticed a familiar vision.
At the same time, Bi Ri approached him.
She spoke warmly while pouring tea into his cup.
Shi Yun Lan looked at her.
Then—
He smiled warmly.
For a moment, Bi Ri froze.
Her face became red.
She quickly escaped.
Shi Yun Lan sat on the floor of his room.
He closed his eyes.
His expression became serious.
"I won't leave this room until I reach the Pillar Level."
His aura erupted.
"(Art of Annihilation: Aura of the Death)!"