Chapter 1820 – 1820. Ascending To The Light
I ran towards the Heavenly Demon Tomb.
The fifteen days that Baekran had mentioned. Looking back, it was a tight schedule. There was no guarantee that I could master the Heavenly Demon Divine Art in one go. So, to minimize travel time, I ran towards the Heavenly Demon Tomb with all my might.
‘Damn it. My speed isn’t that great.’
I was running faster than most cars. After all, I was a master of the Fifth Stage. But by my standards, it was slow.
‘It’s because I don’t have a Light Body Technique.’
A martial art that makes the body lighter. Also called Light Body Technique or Lightness Skill. In this world, it was like a martial art specifically for running.
‘I have space-shifting scrolls and a space teleportation system, so I haven’t really needed it until now.’
There weren’t many times I had to run urgently. If I was in a hurry, I’d rather take a carriage. Running around was not my style.
‘I should have gotten a movement-type artifact.’
It wasn’t like I could get one just because I wanted to. Most movement-type artifacts were quite expensive. This world was ridiculously vast, so that was to be expected.
‘The Thunder Sound Step of the Thunder Sky Style allows for a quick burst of speed… but I can’t maintain it for long.’
The Thunder Sound Step was for short-distance running, and what I needed now was a marathon-type lightness skill.
‘Ah, right. I have some martial arts I’ve acquired. There must be a lightness skill among them.’
Without stopping my run, I took out some martial arts manuals from my spatial storage.
The Great King Divine Fist, the Absolute Awakening Sword, the Undying Heart Method.
I quickly scanned the three manuals I had randomly pulled out. Normally, with my talent, I wouldn’t have been able to properly grasp any of these three, but… I was different now. Maybe it was because of my Heavenly Star System VIP Level 3, or maybe it was thanks to reaching the Fifth Stage, but just by skimming through them, I could grasp the power and profundity of the martial arts.
‘They’re decent martial arts among the ones that are easy to obtain… but they lack depth. They’re not enough to be called ascending martial arts. Especially the Great King Divine Fist. It’s all flash and no substance, the worst of the bunch.’
I tossed the Great King Divine Fist aside. It wasn’t even worth one Heavenly Jade. The others were at least worth more than one Heavenly Jade.
‘There’s no lightness skill among these. Let’s look at others.’
After rummaging through my spatial storage a few more times, I found a lightness skill.
The Fragrant Wind Lightness.
It was among the top ten martial arts I had obtained from the market.
‘Running like a fragrance carried by the wind, huh…’
As the name suggests, it was a wind-attribute lightness skill. It was suitable for martial artists who wielded wind energy, but even though I was born with thunder energy, it wasn’t like I couldn’t learn it at all.
‘I just need it for now, so I shouldn’t delve too deeply into lightness skills.’
I read the manual while running. Even though I was in a situation where I couldn’t concentrate, the contents of the manual entered my eyes easily. It felt like each phrase was being directly imprinted into my mind.
‘This must be the effect of the Heavenly Star System. Is it because I’m VIP Level 3? It wasn’t like this at Level 2.’
I grasped the essence of the Fragrant Wind Lightness. I put the manual back into my spatial storage and recited the incantation of the Fragrant Wind Lightness. Thunder energy flowed through my entire body.
My body became lighter. The effect was tremendous. With just a little force on my feet, I could propel myself forward. The burden on my stamina with each step was greatly reduced.
‘This is the basics of Light Body Technique!’
I felt good now that I was lighter. But I couldn’t be satisfied here. This was just the basics of lightness skills.
‘The Fragrant Wind Lightness uses the wind. I need to create wind and ride on it.’
I needed to be able to use wind energy as a base.
Fortunately, the wind was blowing from behind me. Even without wind energy, I could ride the wind. I entrusted my body to the blowing wind. The wind pushed my back. The important thing here was my legs. I had to move my legs in the manner of the Fragrant Wind Lightness.
『The Fragrant Wind Lightness is not a suitable martial art for the user.』
The Heavenly Star System warned me.
It was the first time this had happened. Maybe it was because my VIP Level had increased.
‘I know. I’m just experiencing it. Experiencing.’
I trusted the wind and rode it.
My legs, which had been running on the ground, were now on top of a tree. My feet stepped on the air. No, it was similar to a bird flapping its wings. The Fragrant Wind Lightness was a lightness skill that allowed one to fly in the sky.
‘This is fun!’
Flying in the sky was great, but what I liked even more was that I had mastered the Fragrant Wind Lightness in one go. Even if I was using the Fragrant Wind Lightness in a makeshift way.
I was about to burst out laughing. My body fell downwards. It was because the wind that had been blowing from behind had changed direction.
‘Oh, crap.’
Since I wasn’t born with wind energy, I couldn’t manipulate the wind as I wished using my energy. That was my limit.
‘Can’t I create a lightness skill using the Thunder Sky Style?’
I made my body lighter.
That sensation was somewhat similar to the Gale Lightning of the Thunder Sky Style.
Crack.
Thunder Sky Style Gale Lightning.
I used the Gale Lightning as I thought of it.
Thunder Sky Style Void Step.
I stepped on the void, balancing my body as it fell to the ground, and stepped on the foothold I had created with thunder energy, and ran forward.
I immediately frowned.
‘This isn’t it.’
My body became lighter?
It was my mistake. The Gale Lightning was not a technique that made the body lighter. It was a technique that strengthened the body. I had mistaken the increased strength for a lighter body. In reality, the weight of my body hadn’t changed at all.
‘It does make me faster.’
The efficiency was terrible. The fuel consumption was excessively bad. Lightness skills were learned to run faster and longer. The Gale Lightning was not suitable for a lightness skill.
I released the Gale Lightning. If I ran using the Gale Lightning, I would be exhausted in less than 10 minutes.
‘But I’ve found a clue.’
The Void Step surprisingly consumed little thunder energy. As my proficiency increased, I could create just the right amount of foothold. The foothold didn’t need to be sturdy, and if my body became lighter with a lightness skill, the burden on the foothold would also decrease.
‘The Fragrant Wind Lightness used the wind. Then I should use lightning.’
My mind began to race.
I resisted the urge to use the time of a genius. I had to save it in case I needed it when learning the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.
『Assisting the user.』
‘Right. This fast-spinning brain of mine is thanks to you.’
I thought about the characteristics of lightning. It falls. It’s fast. It’s a straight line.
‘……It’s not a straight line, is it.’
When you look at lightning strikes, they are crooked. They don’t draw a straight line. But the lightning I shoot out flies in a straight line.
‘Whether it’s a straight line or not, it doesn’t matter. The important thing is that it extends like lightning. I am lightning.’
I utilized the principle of the Light Body Technique.
The weight of my body decreased. It continued to decrease. The wind blew. My lightened body couldn’t withstand the wind and soared into the sky. My body was continuously becoming lighter.
This was dangerous.
My body being blown by the wind was nothing. As my weight disappeared, it felt like my existence was disappearing. It felt like I was becoming empty. I regained my focus.
‘If I’m too light, I’ll be affected by the air and wind. This will only backfire.’
A suitable weight that wouldn’t be swayed by the wind and could receive its help. Finding that weight wasn’t difficult.
‘The rest… no, what’s lacking, I’ll fill it with lightning.’
Crack.
Thunder energy settled in my body. But the thunder energy had no direction.
‘Let’s go forward.’
I set the direction. I stepped on the Void Step and moved forward. It was much better than when I used the Gale Lightning. This alone could be called an excellent lightness skill. But compared to the Fragrant Wind Lightness, it was crude.
‘The Fragrant Wind Lightness is a fragrance carried by the wind. Then what am I?’
What should I do? The answer didn’t come easily. Frustrated, I put strength into my legs. The thunder energy that hadn’t been completely controlled came out of my body and scattered in all directions. It was like lightning flying through the air.
‘That’s it!’
I moved my body with thunder energy. The sensation of controlling my body with a subtle current, not nerves. It felt like I had become lightning.
I imagined riding on the flying lightning.
‘I already know something similar.’
The Thunder Sound Step. A footwork that makes a thunderous sound with each step. Does it really only make a thunderous sound? No, a small amount of current remains in the place where the footwork was used.
‘If I remove the thunderous sound from the Thunder Sound Step and use the Void Step appropriately…’
My body became lightning and flew into the sky.
Not a footwork, but a Light Body Technique.
I gave this technique a new name.
Thunder Sky Style Flying Thunder God.
It looked like I was flying like lightning, but in reality, I was running using the Void Step. Because the movement of my feet was minimal, it looked like I was being shot out when viewed from the outside.
This was not a footwork, but a Light Body Technique.
I instantly rose above the clouds. I looked around. It was a bit hard to breathe, but the open view was very pleasing.
I went higher. A height where the universe could be seen. At this point, the world should look round. But the ground and sky were flat.
‘The world is so damn wide that even after coming up this high, it still looks flat.’
It was too uncomfortable to breathe, so I went down.
Thunder Sky Style Flying Thunder God.
At a suitable height, I began to run through the sky using the Flying Thunder God. Because of the thunder energy leaking from my body, others would see me as lightning flying through the sky.
‘Heh heh. The sense of speed is amazing. It’s incomparable to a motorcycle.’
I didn’t know exactly how fast I was going. What was certain was that it was at least over 500 km/h.
As I was flying happily, I saw a battle taking place nearby. It was very visible because 20 martial artists were fighting each other for their lives on a wide lakeside. Even more so because I was running as if flying in the sky.
‘Look at these bastards. Daring to fight in my territory?’
The place my gaze reached was my territory.
I couldn’t just ignore such a sudden event. It was the perfect situation for farming. Kill them all and take their Heavenly Jades, artifacts, and martial arts manuals.
‘Looking at them, there aren’t any Fifth Stage masters, just a bunch of weaklings. It’s the perfect situation to test the Flying Thunder God.’
Besides, there was a pretty decent-looking beauty among them.
Bang!
I stepped on the Void Step and changed the direction of the Flying Thunder God. It wasn’t easy because of the built-up acceleration.
Those who were trying to kill each other stopped fighting when they discovered me. I landed between them.
Tzzzzzzzzzz!
I tried to land coolly, but my body was pushed back due to the damn momentum.
‘Ten Thousand Pound Weight! Ten Thousand Pound Weight! Ten Thousand Pound Weight!’
I actively used the Ten Thousand Pound Weight to at least prevent myself from crashing into a tree.
