Chapter 1833 – 1833. The Ascension Of Light
My fist tingled.
It wasn’t painful. Rather, it was a pleasant sensation. After reaching the Three Perfections Realm, my attacks were far more powerful than I had anticipated.
‘The Dragon Fist is supposed to be an attack that concentrates power… but this level of force is incredible.’
Not only had the amount of my inner energy increased, but its quality had also improved. In particular, the speed at which I could unleash my energy and the total amount I could use at once had increased. My physical strength had obviously increased, and my stamina recovery speed must have improved as well.
‘So this is why people strive to reach higher realms.’
I grinned and took in the scene I had just created.
A hole over two meters in diameter stretched in a straight line from the main gate to the main building. Of course, the main building also had a gaping hole in it. The building itself wasn’t so flimsy that it would collapse from that alone, but there were people who had been caught in the blast.
Three gatekeepers who had dared to block my path and two others inside the main building. A total of five people had crossed the River Styx with a single, casual strike.
“I told you to bow your heads,” I said in a cold voice. Mireyeong, who was holding my left arm, waved her hand gracefully and said to the gatekeepers,
“Come on, come on, my husband has shown you mercy. Hurry up and bow your heads to the ground. Or do you want to die?”
Thud.
The gatekeepers all slammed their heads to the ground. Fortunately, they weren’t completely clueless.
Mireyeong and I walked through the gaping gate. I could feel gazes from all directions. But no one dared to show themselves.
There were two of us at the Three Perfections Realm. Even if there were ten masters at the Five Qi Realm, they could never face two absolute masters at the same time. They were holding back, sensing that they would die if they stepped forward now.
Demonic Divine Art, Demonic Sovereign’s Step.
Demonic energy spread in all directions, dominating the space. With a single step, I had subdued the Dong family. I could feel the exact locations of those who were hiding.
“Cough!”
“Ugh…!”
Those who were somewhat trained clutched their chests and collapsed to the ground. They couldn’t withstand the pressure of the Demonic Sovereign’s Step. These ones were the lucky ones. Those who hadn’t learned martial arts had simply fainted. Most of them were servants who did odd jobs.
“I’ll count to ten. Come out before me and kneel.”
“One~”
As soon as I finished speaking, Mireyeong began to count.
“Two~”
Her voice was playful. At least, that’s how it sounded to me. How would it sound to those who were hiding? Probably as mockery directed at them. And they had no right to be angry about it. They were powerless.
“Three~”
An anomaly occurred. One of the Five Qi Realm masters who had been hiding began to flee. He was quite fast, as if he was confident in his lightness skill.
I frowned. He was still within my domain. I could have used the Demonic Sovereign’s Step to cross space and instantly sever his head. Just as I was about to move, Mireyeong gripped my arm tightly.
I looked at her and saw that she had made a circle with her thumb and index finger on her left hand. The space within the circle distorted, and I could see the back of the fleeing warrior’s head. Mireyeong giggled in a small voice.
“I caught him?”
Blue flames erupted on the fleeing warrior’s body. The blue flames spread over his entire body in an instant.
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”
A terrible scream echoed through Mireyeong’s fingers. The scream lasted for about fifteen seconds before abruptly stopping. He was dead. Mireyeong shook her hand. The faint smell of burning mixed with the wind and disappeared.
“Four~”
There was a change. Some of those who were hiding couldn’t withstand the pressure and came out. They walked over, sweating profusely, and knelt down, prostrating themselves.
“Five~”
There were nine remaining Five Qi Realm warriors. These guys were stubbornly refusing to come out.
‘I guess I can kill one. Meteor Sword.’
A sword appeared in the sky above the annex next to the main building. The sword itself had a crude shape, but it was wrapped in demonic energy. I nodded, and the Meteor Sword fell towards the annex.
Kwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaang!
With a deafening roar, the annex collapsed in an instant. The debris flew all the way to where I was. Mireyeong lightly flicked her fingers, creating a barrier that blocked the debris.
In the place where the Meteor Sword had fallen, there was a pile of rubble and a warrior with his abdomen pierced by the Meteor Sword.
“Six~”
Mireyeong’s beautiful voice rang out. I looked around. One wasn’t enough. Who else should I kill?
“Seven~ Eight~ Nine~”
Mireyeong counted in quick succession.
The Five Qi Realm warriors who had been hiding rushed out. They used their lightness skills to run towards us and immediately prostrated themselves before us.
“You could have come this quickly, but you waited until I was about to count to ten? How naughty~”
Mireyeong pointed her index finger at the Five Qi Realm warrior who had arrived last and muttered an incantation.
Whack.
The space distorted, twisting the warrior’s body. The warrior, who had been kneeling and bowing his head, couldn’t even put up a proper resistance and died with his body twisted. Blood and guts spilled onto the floor.
Tremble, tremble.
None of those who were kneeling and bowing their heads were not trembling. And they had good reason to be. Mireyeong had just killed a Five Qi Realm master in a gruesome way with just a flick of her finger. Even I, who knew it was magic, didn’t understand what was going on. If I had to fight a mage like Mireyeong… it would give me a headache.
“Who is the head of the Dong family?”
“I, I am, Elder,” a middle-aged man said cautiously as he rose to his feet. He was one of the seven surviving Five Qi Realm masters. Looking closer, his clothes were more luxurious than the others.
“We have come to visit the Dong family, so it is only right that the Dong family throws a welcoming party. I’ll give you an hour. Prepare a feast. And don’t call any riffraff.”
“Ah, and I want clothes and jewels as gifts. Got it?”
“Th, that’s…”
The head of the family looked flustered and rolled his eyes. He was probably calculating what to do in his head. There was probably no good solution. Two absolute masters of the Three Perfections Realm. They were not beings that a backwater city like this could handle.
I broke the head of the family’s joint. I could feel the sensation of his shin bone fracturing. It didn’t matter. It wasn’t my leg.
The head of the family forcibly suppressed a scream. He had some sense, as befitting the head of the family. If he had screamed and dirtied the ears of an absolute master like me, I would have cut off his right arm.
“The women over there are quite beautiful. They are worthy of receiving my grace. Wash them, dress them in fine clothes, and send them to me. You must prepare delicious wine and food with care. Ah, and don’t forget to send the best courtesans.”
“Ah, I’ve put up a barrier around here, so you won’t be able to go outside without our permission. Don’t even dream of doing anything strange. Hehehe.”
Mireyeong and I went up to the top floor of the main building. It was quite luxurious, as if it were the head of the family’s room. Of course, Mireyeong and I had no interest in furniture, so we threw it out the window. The wall was smashed in the process, but the cool sea breeze was nice.
“Oh, husband. There’s a good elixir here.”
“What is it?”
“Snow ginseng. This one is probably about 500 years old? You know how good snow ginseng is for the body, right?”
Snow ginseng was among the highest-grade elixirs. Its medicinal effects were outstanding even among elixirs of similar age. And if it was over 500 years old, it could even extend one’s lifespan.
“You eat it.”
“…I thought you’d take it right away. Why are you giving it to me?”
“If it’s snow ginseng that’s over 500 years old, it extends your lifespan. You’re older than me, so you should eat it.”
“Oh, really! Do you want to get hit?!”
Mireyeong clenched her fist and rushed at me. Surprisingly, her stance was quite good. Just because she was a mage didn’t mean she couldn’t learn martial arts… she seemed to have learned the basics. But she was still just a mage.
I pushed away Mireyeong’s fist with my palm and leaned down to hug her waist. Naturally, I buried my face in her chest. The soft, warm sensation that I felt through her clothes was transmitted through my face. The scent that stirred a man’s heart was a bonus.
Burying my face in her chest felt 100 times better than acting like a master.
“Aang. Isn’t doing this here a bit much?”
Contrary to her words, she was pressing down on the back of my head.
Just before I was about to get lost in her, Mireyeong gently pushed my head away.
“That’s true.”
I answered, hiding my disappointment. I knew that Mireyeong would be panting in front of me when night came. She was my woman.
“Then, shall we decorate a little?”
Mireyeong used magic. She blocked the broken wall with a wall made of magic. The space in the room expanded.
I was curious and asked about the principle. She explained that she was twisting the spatial axis by overlapping barriers, but I didn’t understand a word of it.
High-quality flooring was laid on the floor, and lights were installed on the ceiling, flashing brightly. She took out a large table in the center of the room. I sat down in what seemed to be the seat of honor. Mireyeong sat to my right and leaned against me.
Soon after, servants began to bring in food and wine.
“Ah~ say ah.”
“Ah~”
Mireyeong put a piece of meat in my mouth. When I chewed on the meat, I realized it was roasted suckling pig.
“How is it?”
Mireyeong was expecting something. She probably wasn’t expecting me to say, “It’s delicious because you fed it to me.” She knew my picky taste, so she might have wanted me to flip the table.
“It’s delicious?”
“…Really?”
There was no reason to lie. It was really delicious. Since this was the family that ruled the city, the chef in charge of the kitchen was probably the best in the city.
Mireyeong took a bite of the meat and nodded.
“Well, he’s not bad. Then, how about the wine?”
“Daughter Red.”
Daughter Red was a high-quality wine. I took a sip of the wine that Mireyeong poured for me. It wasn’t bad.
“But why aren’t the women coming up? Did they run away?”
“That’s not it. No one has gone outside the barrier without permission. And it’s not a barrier that’s easy to break through.”
Soon, the women came up.
