Alchemy of Souls: Light and Shadow will begin where every character embarks on their new journey.

Jang Uk who was reborn with the power of ice stone now has unimagined mage strength. But he was labeled as a criminal, the one who protect and release the shadow assassin. He was responsible for the chaos in Songrim and the death of many, so he had to leave Songrim and the capital, hiding in the darkness.

One of those who still side with him is Master Lee, who understands his power. Master Lee sees similar energy with his former master Seo Gyeong within Uk. That’s why Master Lee helped Jang Uk to reach his full potential by using his King Star energy.

Just in a short time, Jang Uk appears stronger than ever, but he’s destroyed inside. The heartbreak of losing the one he loved made him choose a dangerous path. Holding the sword of his former master, Naksu, he begins to hunt for soul shifters that run wild in the city. Uk wished he could destroy Jinmu and all of his plans, along with the soul shifters legion that he had created. In his journey of hunting soul shifters, he had little hope that he might find his beloved one, even though he was not sure whether she was dead or alive.

The notorious blue scarf Naksu comes back, it’s Jang Uk with his vengeful agenda. Mages of songrim along with Cheonbugwan start to look for him. But just like his former master, Jang Uk is just like a shadow. No one can catch him that easily.

The other one who helped Jang Uk is Yul. Yul abandoned his duty as Seo’s heir and start looking for Naksu, because he believed she was still alive. He will trace all possible places, starting from Danhyanggok, Sari Village, and other places. He will exchange the information he gets with Uk. Together they try to solve the mystery about what did happen in the red wedding, and they both tried to save Naksu from the great punishment she could get after what she did. Meanwhile, Songrim with unanimous assembly also tried to decide to clear Naksu's father, Cho Chung name because he’s also the victim of the same sorcery.


The body of Jin Bu Yeon who’s almost petrified is being kept by the Jin family in secret. The mother Jin is sure that Mudeok’s body belongs to her daughter. Being in agony, she tried to eject Naksu’s soul from her daughter's body using Jinyowon relics. But Buyeon’s soul tried to interrupt the process.

The ice stone power within Buyeon body, Jinyowon relics and high priestess's power somehow finally created a new body for Naksu’s soul that is ejected. Naksu escaped from Jinyowon meanwhile Bu Yeon’s body remain half petrified in Jinyowon.

Dressed in white, the form that Jinyowon relic gave her, Naksu tried to run away but she was badly injured. She has nowhere to go, but there’s only one place she could go for help. It’s Chwiseonru. But of course, she knows no one will recognize her and no one will help her if they know she’s Naksu. So she’s back at pretending to be a poor girl and trying to flatter Ju Wol. She might introduce herself as Yeong-ah (without Cho) and call Ju Wol “eonni” with her flattering skill. In Chwiseonru she knows about the rumor that Jang Uk is still alive but now he’s gone. She asked Ju Wol to give her a job that will make her able to travel far away, in hope that she will arrive in the city where the notorious soul shifter slayer Jang Uk existed. Naksu will never be able to reveal herself to Jang Uk because of her guilt, she just plans to help him from afar, or even pretend to be someone else again to be able to help him. She will be his shadow again. She readily sacrifices herself if anything bad happens to him. But her plan can be ruined if she meets Yul, because Yul probably can recognize her. Jang Uk won’t need to much time to recognize Naksu anyway.


Additional: Theory about romance in part 2

Jang Uk was Daeho’s former playboy who propose to 13 different girls in his life. It’s not hard for him to fall for the 14th girl. But the recent heartbreak had left his heart in a great void. He decided to practice chastity and train with master Lee because he had loose hope in marriage. It made him master ice stone energy faster than ever.
But just like master Lee, drinking chaste tea every day doesn’t mean that he can’t have a worldly desire towards someone. He’s so confident that he’s not gonna attracted to a woman again, not until he meets Yeong (Naksu). He had to drink lots of tonics later. LoL.
Naksu in her og form is the girl Yul in love with since the beginning so he will try to approach her again. The love triangle is inevitable. CP will also be attracted to Naksu, at least he will be curious about her.

The sad ending is possible since Naksu's body might not survive for a long time based on my theory about Jinyowon's relic. But the happy ending is still possible because Uk can use ice stone power to protect Naksu's body (if possible). 

 Sarah:
1. About Uk retrieving from the ashes at the last scene, is it because of the King's star energy or ice stone?

2. Do you think original Naksu could come back from the ashes with the same way as Uk?

3. "Light and Shadow" explained by Hong Sisters, it was Uk as Light and Naksu as Shadow. According to the season 2 preview, I think they switched the roles. Uk is now Shadow and Naksu is Light? What do you think?

1. Both. When you are born with King's star energy, you have mastered all spells since birth but you have to try it so those spells/power come to you. You can also use ice stone power as you like which is from the sky.

2. Maybe but Uk wouldn't turn into ashes in that short amount of the at ep 20 ends.

3. King's star is the main protagonist of the story so I don't think Uk will be a shadow. Instead, he will shine brighter cos now he understands that you need the power to protect your loved one. You can't just run away to protect your love. Uk might just create another organization like Songrim just like Master Seo Gyeong did instead of becoming a king & he didn't want the throne or hate CP. He could understand CP jealously & he knew that CP didn't know MD was Naksu. I am hoping to see CP redemption.

 Ukie_charm:
the happy ending is still possible because Uk can use ice stone power to protect Naksu's body (if possible).

This is a must! The sole purpose of the ice stone! XD

1. Jang Uk being the son of the late King, is it going to reveal to the world? Now there are only Jin Mu, Master Lee, Park Jin and Kim Do Ju left who knows it. But Park Jin has the evidence, the late King's letter to prove it. 

2. Who is going to reveal it? How do you think?

3. Is it possible it will never reveal?

 Isabella:
Who is going to reveal it? How do you think?

It will be revealed and Songrim is going to stick with Uk. The rest will follow him too cos now they know that he is the King's star. Just to protect Uk; not to take the throne.

 Ahead:

It will be revealed and Songrim is going to stick with Uk. The rest will follow him too cos now they know that he is the King's star. Just to protect Uk; not to take the throne.

Not taking the throne? Before episode 20, absolutely. After episode 20 I'm not so sure. Jang Uk knew Mudeok was being mind-controlled and he was murdered in cold blood by his own lover. After he comes back to life, he would want to investigate thoroughly what exactly happened on that day ( he's basically the Sherlock Holmes of AOS given how smart he is ) and make everyone involved in the tragedy pay the price for what they did, direct or indirect involvement, doesn't matter too much.

Quoting Secret Forest / Stranger, "everyone who remains silent is an accomplice." During his investigation, he would surely figure out Jin Mu was the one that mind-controlled Mudeok, and in the process, he might discover that CP knew exactly where Jin Mu is but didn't turn Jin Mu in, which led to the tragedy that caused Jang Uk and Naksu to lose everything. This might enrage Jang Uk because CP promised to take care of everything else after he sacrificed all of his powers to deal with the ice stone crisis. This is why he was okay with giving CP all the credit because he wanted to move to somewhere far away with Mudeok and live a peaceful life. Now that CP violated his end of the deal because of pure pettiness and jealousy, I don't think Jang Uk would care at all that CP was manipulated by Jin Mu, he just wants revenge against CP (and Jin Mu) as CP didn't do what he was supposed to do. If CP had turned Jin Mu in, Jang Uk and Mudeok can live happily ever after and finally enjoy their second chance at life. CP's inaction and his decision to remain silent about Jin Mu made him lose everything he has ever cherished in his life.

Jang Uk's King's Star and his true identity as the former King's son will surely be revealed and this actually gives him a legitimate right to the throne. In fact, he is far more qualified to be the next king of Daeho than Go Won, since Go Won was not born with the King's Star and he is also not intelligent and extremely petty and prideful. What happens if Jang Uk is now vengeful and wants CP to pay 100% for what he did? After all, Jang Uk's entire aura changed drastically after his rebirth. As shown in the preview, he used to represent the light but now that Naksu is gone, he represents the shadow and he cruelly and efficiently kills soul-shifters using none other than his master's sword as a memento and to always remember what happened that day. This new version of Jang Uk reminds me of Vincenzo and using episode 17 of Vincenzo as a reference, I think his revenge philosophy would be similar to that of Vincenzo's. 

Episode 17: "Don't worry, it won't be today. You see, I've got a principle. 'A painless death is a blessing.' I will give you two things: A humiliation worse than death, and...a slow death, where you'll experience it...every step of the way." The first part is definitely most effective against CP because of how prideful he is while the second part mostly applies to Jin Mu. ( Honorable mention: Episode 18: "You're going to witness...the Babel tower falling from your cell." = taking away everything you've ever cherished in your life yet there's nothing you can do about it in the face of absolute power. ) If Jang Uk becomes as ruthless as Naksu was, then this kind of revenge can actually happen. Jang Uk fully understands what kind of person CP is. He is prideful and petty and he wished to be a gracious king. So...just take ALL of it away from him. This is the only fitting punishment as CP let Jin Mu loose as a result of his jealousy and prideful anger. ( This kinda karma is not something new in the AOS universe. The real queen desires beauty and she disregards the lives of others, thus she received the ultimate punishment of having to live with a damaged and ugly body for the rest of her life. )

First off, CP's pride and he loves face. Basically announcing to the world that Jang Uk is the real King's Star and the real person responsible for solving the ice stone crisis will destroy CP's pride. People will think he's utterly shameless for taking the credit and his reputation will be dragged through the mud. Secondly, he wishes to be a gracious king, well Jang Uk can swoop in and announce that he is the former King's son and therefore is a rightful heir to the throne, more so than the current CP who wasn't even born with the King's Star. Whether or not Jang Uk actually wants to become the King is irrelevant, as long as it successfully generates discussion among the general public as to whether CP is even fit to be King, the damage is already done. For such a prideful person, this surely will be a punishment worse than death, Jang Uk doesn't even need to do much to punish him. Effortless but extremely effective. Jang Uk can absolutely go this far and he very well might if he finds out CP's indirect involvement in the tragedy. This is why, unlike most people who had hope in CP even now, I've lost all hope in him after episode 20. 

Maybe I'm reading too deep into this and watched too much "Again My Life" to come up with something like this, but I genuinely hope the main focus of part 2 is not "romance" but rather..."vengeance". The only way to justify the cruelty in episode 20 is to make sure that everyone who wronged Jang Uk and Naksu gets exactly what they deserve, that includes the Crown Prince. If CP ends up not being a villain in part 2 and tries his best to right his wrongs, then this reveal will probably come as a surprise to Jang Uk and create a massive gap in their relationship so Uk is gonna be pissed but less likely to take full revenge against CP. If CP turns out to be a bad guy in part 2, then easy, no dilemma whatsoever, straightforward revenge and make him and Jin Mu pay. (*as you can tell, I'm still extremely pissed after watching episode 20 so this is kinda ranty lol)

 ShinHyeSunFan6021023:
make everyone involved in the tragedy pay the price for what they did, direct or indirect involvement, doesn't matter too much.

Uk is not vengeful. But if he is, he might really do what you have written. Thanks for taking the time to write a very detailed revenge story. I really like it. Now, I might want CP to go bad. LOL

 Ahead:

Uk is not vengeful. But if he is, he might really do what you have written. Thanks for taking the time to write a very detailed revenge story. I really like it. Now, I might want CP to go bad. LOL

I mean, have you seen him in the preview? Dude is dressed in dark blue / black with Naksu’s sword and he is not messing around anymore. Unlike Yul, he was shown with a very dark background or he’s covered by shadow. I think it’s very likely that the new Uk is vengeful and we get to see some Vincenzo / Taxi Driver-esque satisfying and brutal revenge from Jang Uk and Naksu. Like I’m talking Jin Mu getting the Vincenzo ep 20 “spear of atonement” levels of payback. If the revenge is not satisfying then it’s hard to justify what happened in episode 20 to Naksu imho. What she went through is just way too cruel. From my point of view, if I was the writer, I would give the villains what they deserve and make them lose everything before moving on with any romance.

Have they(TvN/the producer) confirmed that Jung So Min won’t be in part 2?

 RickRoss:

Have they(TvN/the producer) confirmed that Jung So Min won’t be in part 2?

Pretty sure she will be in part 2, at least as a supporting character (Jin Bu-Yeon). 

 Ahead:

It will be revealed and Songrim is going to stick with Uk. The rest will follow him too cos now they know that he is the King's star. Just to protect Uk; not to take the throne.

Look like Songrim kicked him out and also lost his rights to be next Gwanju. Gwanju position is Jang family tradition which they kept it for many generations (I think). 

I think Park Jin might reveal it to the royal family (which Uk being the late King's son) to save Uk's life from being killed with the crime related to Naksu.

 ShinHyeSunFan6021023:
I mean, have you seen him in the preview?

Yes. IMO, Uk has a forgiving nature so I said that. But the revenge story sounds good to me too. Both are fine for me.

 Isabella:
Look like Songrim kicked him out and also lost his rights to be next Gwanju.

Yeah. But that was before Uk came back from the dead. Park Jin loves Uk so he is totally going to be a protective father now; if not, I would be disappointed with Park Jin. I don't like Park Jin and Jang Gang in the first place cos they were so harsh on Uk but I like Park Jin cracking jokes with Do Ju and Dang gu and sometimes with Uk.

 RickRoss:

Have they(TvN/the producer) confirmed that Jung So Min won’t be in part 2?

Scratch that, apparently TVN said officially that JSM won't be in part 2. I have no idea how that can possibly happen given that part 1 ended with 2 people from Jinyowon pulling Mudeok's body up. Are we legit not even gonna see Jin Ho-Kyung confirm whether or not Bu-Yeon is really her daughter? We are jumping straight to GYJ as Naksu? I find that EXTREMELY hard to believe. How do you even pull that off in a convincing manner? Is Bu-Yeon really not gonna talk to her mother about everything that happened and try to convince her to help make a new body? If JSM literally makes ZERO appearances in part 2, this kinda nukes a lot of theories and speculations. I hope it's perhaps a miscommunication issue ( this is my copium ) because I don't understand how that's possible.

 ShinHyeSunFan6021023:

Scratch that, apparently TVN said officially that JSM won't be in part 2. I have no idea how that can possibly happen given that part 1 ended with 2 people from Jinyowon pulling Mudeok's body up. Are we legit not even gonna see Jin Ho-Kyung confirm whether or not Bu-Yeon is really her daughter? We are jumping straight to GYJ as Naksu? I find that EXTREMELY hard to believe. How do you even pull that off in a convincing manner? Is Bu-Yeon really not gonna talk to her mother about everything that happened and try to convince her to help make a new body? If JSM literally makes ZERO appearances in part 2, this kinda nukes a lot of theories and speculations. I hope it's perhaps a miscommunication issue ( this is my copium ) because I don't understand how that's possible.

I agree with you 100 percent. The show maybe slow at times but they always been logical in the storytelling. Let say that So Min does not make any appearances at all.  Why did Jin Ho-Gyeong say she wanted Mu Deok/Naksu alive to Jin Cho-Yeon?! I would be very disappointed if the first episode of part 2 and straight away we  see Go Yoo Jung making appearance just  like in the trailer, no backstory on how she return went back to her old body. We'll have to wait and see if she actually does appear. Also weird that So Min herself(her agency) does not confirm this instantly... 

Here's an alternate theory for you, guys, how Naksu will return into her body that doesn't involve any crazy divine intervention shenanigans:
Jin Mu now knows Naksu is alive, he used her in Bu-Yeon's body to sneak into Songrim and assassinate people for him and then he ordered her to go to the lake and die. Those women may as well be his minions, not mama Jin's servants, who will fish her out of the lake. They were suspiciously fast to get there considering she didn't even reach the bottom, as if they were waiting for her. Alternatively, his minions will intercept these women. Then the rest is the same as with the old theory - he got her real body on ice somewhere and will simply use a soul ejector to move her soul to her og body so that she'd continue to serve him. By force with the magical bells, if needed. And then she'll escape somehow.
This, however doesn't give any justice to Bu-Yeon, or solve Naksu's soul shifter problem, considering how Jang Kang was still one even in his own body.