As Max struggled to open the Gate of Life nestled within his heart, he was also enduring the torment of the red miasma wreaking havoc inside his body. Time slipped by in silence, and before anyone realized it, a full month had passed.

A lot had happened during that month.

Some squads exploring the Mourning Depths were completely annihilated by infernal beings, their names vanishing into dust and blood. Others, by sheer luck or desperate strength, managed to turn the tables—killing the infernals and reaping rare rewards like Bone Frames and the infamous Infernal Demon Tattoos.

The squad Max belonged to, led by the battle-hardened Old Man Grey, had not been spared either. From the original number, only five members were left standing now. The rest... lost to the darkness.

It was the same everywhere. Some squads stumbled upon fortunes. Others fell into death traps. The Mourning Depths had no favorites—only trials, luck, and tragedy.

But Max remained isolated from it all, deep within a hidden underground cave. While the world above shifted and squads fought for survival, he stayed rooted in place—body trembling, soul focused, eyes closed—as he attempted to break through the Gate of Life.

Now, his body was cloaked in a brilliant golden glow, so bright it lit up every inch of the cavern around him. Hovering quietly nearby was Blob, floating in silence, watching over him like a silent guardian.

Crimson wisps of miasma danced around his glowing form—like snakes coiling, hissing, biting. Each one invaded his body, shredding him from the inside out, leaving his organs screaming and cells collapsing.

He looked nothing like the boy from a month ago.

His skin had shriveled and clung to his bones, dried out and paper-thin like a corpse left under the sun for too long. His face was sunken. His lips cracked. His limbs looked as fragile as sticks.

If someone were to see him now, they'd think he was already dead.

But he wasn't.

Somehow, he was still holding on. Still fighting.

Still alive.

Just then, the golden glow surrounding Max's body vanished—snuffed out like a dying flame. All that remained were the red, chaotic wisps swirling around him, hungrily tearing into his flesh.

Blob's expression darkened. A frown crept across his face, but he didn't move. He simply hovered there, watching in silence.

The red miasma grew thicker with every passing second, spreading like wildfire until it engulfed Max's entire body.

Then, without warning, Max's body began to rise—slowly, weightlessly—into the air.

And in the next moment, he exploded.

Flesh. Bone. Blood.

Scattered like ash in the wind. Torn to pieces.

Blob's eyes widened in shock.

What remained was a soft, gentle blue glow, flickering in the air—barely stable. It was surrounded by the same crimson miasma, now twisting around it like a predator circling prey.

"...Boy, you're not dead yet… right?" Blob muttered, his voice barely a whisper and laced with disbelief. His round form trembled slightly.

He had seen people absorb Bone Frames before. He had witnessed warriors cripple themselves and rebuild their bodies anew. But this… this was something else. Something far beyond that.

BRR!

Suddenly, the faint blue light began to pulse.

With each pulse, it grew brighter. Stronger.

The red miasma tried to resist, lashing out violently—but it was too late.

The blue glow consumed it.

Devoured it whole.

And then, it blazed.

It shone with the brilliance of a newborn star, bathing the cave in an ethereal light. Warm. Pure. Sacred.

But the true miracle was yet to come.

The light began to converge, condensing toward a single point—shrinking, tightening, compressing into something tangible.

A sphere. Small. Perfect.

And then, slowly, that sphere began to change.

Limbs formed. Fingers. Toes. Eyes shut in peaceful slumber.

Within moments, the light had reshaped itself into the form of a newborn baby—an infant, fragile yet radiating the same gentle blue glow.

"What… what is this?" Blob muttered, his voice cracking. "Reincarnation? Rebirth?"

He could barely believe what he was seeing.

A being who had lived for tens of thousands of years—who had witnessed emperors rise and gods fall—now found himself speechless, utterly flabbergasted. The scene before him didn't just defy logic. It shattered it.

Not even in the depths of his ancient memories had he encountered something like this.

The infant—born from pure light—began to change.

A thin, blue layer of vital essence gently wrapped around the tiny body, soft and glowing like divine silk. It wasn't just energy—it was life, weaving itself into muscle, bone, and soul.

And then, the impossible happened again.

The baby began to grow.

First, it aged days in seconds. Then weeks. Then months. His limbs lengthened, his body matured. A boy of one, then five, then ten. Time folded in on itself, warping reality as if the laws of nature bowed down to this moment.

And finally, he stopped aging—at the form of a fifteen-year-old.

A familiar one.

White hair that shimmered like moonlight, flowing gently down to his shoulders. Skin smooth, but pale from the rebirth. And those eyes—bright pink, glowing faintly, carrying a fire that hadn't been there before.

Max.

Wrapped in the blue essence like a robe of light, standing barefoot and floating in the air—reborn, remade, something entirely new.

Blob didn't dare speak.

And then Max opened his eyes.

His gaze flickered with confusion, awe, and disbelief. He looked down at his own hands, then at the faint traces of energy dancing across his skin.

"…Holy shit," he whispered.

The words escaped his mouth before he even realized it.

His eyes widened.

Reality came crashing back in.

He remembered everything.

Everything he had just been through.

The pain. The destruction. The end.

And now—this.

Max had never imagined that breaking through would involve the complete destruction of his body—literally ripped apart, atom by atom—only to be rebuilt from scratch. The thought alone was terrifying. And yet, standing there now, reborn and alive… it felt nothing short of miraculous.

Just as he was trying to process everything, glowing notifications blinked into view in front of his eyes.

---

[Congratulations to Max Voidwalker for leveling up to Adept Rank – Level 1.]

[Congratulations to Max Voidwalker for obtaining the physique: Unholy Trinity Body.]

---

Max raised an eyebrow. Unholy Trinity Body? The name alone sent a strange chill down his spine. He was just about to open the detailed status screen when he noticed Blob staring at him, eyes wide and unblinking.

"Huh? What?" Max asked, half-curious, half-weirded out by the floating creature's expression.

Blob floated a little closer, voice unusually quiet. "Nothing. I just… I've never seen anything like what I just saw. It was… enlightening."

Max nodded slowly, understanding the sentiment. Even now, a part of him struggled to believe he'd made it through. Rebirth wasn't supposed to be this literal.

He reached into his spatial ring, pulling out a fresh set of clothes. As he began dressing himself, he gave Blob a playful wave. "C'mon, snap out of it," he said, then casually pulled Blob into his Dimension of Spirit with a flick of his fingers.

With the glowing essence still clinging faintly to his skin, Max slipped on his clothes and ran a hand through his white hair, trying to get it into some kind of order. But just as he was about to sit down and finally check the full details of his new physique—

The ground shook.

Violently.

Crack—

A deep rumble echoed through the cave, followed by jagged tremors rippling across the floor and walls.

Max snapped to attention. "What the hell?!"

The walls quivered. Stones crumbled. Cracks split open in the ceiling like angry veins.

The cave was collapsing.

"Damn it!" Max didn't wait. He surged upward, a blur of motion, shooting out of the cave just before the entire underground structure began to cave in behind him.

But what greeted him outside… stopped him cold.

His blood ran ice.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay