Chapter 2097 – 2097. The Path To Ascending To The Light
I took the unconscious Mireyeong back home. I couldn’t just leave her in that desolate, empty cave.
I laid her naked body on the bed in her room. Just that alone seemed to raise the room temperature by five degrees.
“It feels like the middle of summer. Shouldn’t we turn on the air conditioner?”
“It’s better to leave it as is. If the surrounding temperature drops, the amount of fire energy she emits will increase. Then she’ll dry up and die faster than expected.”
I looked at Mireyeong. Her eyes were tightly shut, and she seemed to be sleeping peacefully. If I were to grab and shake her, she looked like she would wake up and smile brightly. But in reality, even though Wiyu had dressed her, she showed no reaction.
“…How did it come to this?”
I clicked my tongue. Those who fail while trying to transcend their realm. I had heard the stories, but I never imagined Mireyeong would be one of them.
“Half of it is your fault. She must have been stimulated by seeing you grow stronger at such an absurd rate. She always said she wanted to be helpful to you.”
“…She’s already more than helpful enough without pushing herself like this.”
“It seems she doesn’t feel that way.”
We went outside the room to discuss the matter. The answer we came up with was one: find an expert and seek a way to deal with this. I planned to seek out the regressor Baekran. But since Wiyu might have a better plan than me, I asked her.
“Master, do you know any sorcerers we could ask for help?”
“It’s been a long time since I cut ties with the secular world. All the sorcerers I know have already left this world. There are some who maintain a faint connection with the Namgung Clan, but… I don’t think they’d be of much help in this situation.”
“If we ask the Namgung Clan for help…”
“The Namgung Clan is a martial arts family. They might have sorcerers working for them. But do you think they’d be of any help to a sorcerer who failed while attempting the Harmony Realm?”
“I don’t think so.”
No matter how much I thought about it, it seemed reasonable to seek out Baekran. Other renowned sorcerers? I couldn’t easily trust those guys. If there was no other way, I would have to seek them out as a last resort.
I ended my brief conversation with Wiyu and left Mount Nakwol. Wiyu decided to stay at Mount Nakwol to look after Mireyeong. If anyone could handle an emergency, it would be her.
• • •
The regressor Heavenly Demon Baekran. The regressor was currently working as a First-Class Imperial Guard, not for the Heavenly Demon Church, but for the Imperial Palace.
She wasn’t someone I could just meet because I wanted to. Of course, I had a way to contact her. She and I were also collaborators who had joined hands.
‘To meet and talk as quickly as possible… I have to move myself.’
Thunder Sky Style Flying Thunder God.
I became a bolt of lightning from Mount Nakwol and soared through the sky. The fastest means of transportation I could use was a space-movement scroll, but unfortunately, I didn’t have a space-movement scroll with the coordinates of my destination.
‘The Flying Thunder God is much faster than talking, so in this situation, running with the Flying Thunder God is the best option.’
My destination was a city near the capital. Since the land was so vast, I would have to run for several days.
It goes without saying, but running without rest using the Flying Thunder God wasn’t easy. Even though it was a body technique, it still consumed stamina. In the case of the Flying Thunder God, it felt like flying, but in reality, I was running hard. As time passed, I grew more tired.
Normally, I would rest in the middle to replenish my stamina, but… I ran as if my heart would burst. When my body was so exhausted that my legs wouldn’t move, I used Complete Recovery. Since the cooldown of Complete Recovery was faster than my exhaustion, I could run almost infinitely. Food? I ate while running.
On the fourth day.
As I was running through the sky and crossing a mountain as usual, a thunderous voice echoed.
“Stop!!”
The shout, clearly directed at me, was filled with undisguised hostility.
I tried to ignore it and pass by. I wasn’t someone who would stop just because they told me to. But they didn’t let me go.
‘Is it a formation?’
I couldn’t move forward. I was blocked. Before I knew it, I was trapped inside a formation set up on a large mountain.
I wasn’t very knowledgeable in this area. I couldn’t tell exactly what kind of formation it was. One thing was certain: it was a troublesome formation that even I, who had reached the Three Flowers Realm, couldn’t ignore.
I descended from the sky. It was like a lightning strike. Sparks crackled around my body. I spoke without suppressing my lightning energy.
“Show yourselves.”
They revealed themselves. It was as if they suddenly appeared from the thick fog, perhaps due to the influence of the formation.
They were ragged, wearing clothes made of leather, and carrying weapons. They were bandits.
“This is absurd. Are these bandit bastards daring to block my way?”
The one who seemed to be the leader stepped forward. His face was so scarred that it was hard to make out his features. He laughed heartily, as if it was the most natural thing to do.
“Hahaha! I don’t know which renowned expert you are, but this Mount Yirang is the territory of our Baeryeong Mountain Camp. Anyone who wants to pass through the mountain must pay a toll, without exception.”
I narrowed my eyes and sized up the bandit leader. Judging by the energy I felt, his realm was the mid-stage of the Five Energies. It was excessively high for a mere bandit leader.
“Are you affiliated with the Green Forest?”
The Green Forest was a gathering of bandits who had mastered martial arts, a force under the Mountain King of the Four Kings Alliance, a union of evil sects.
They pretended to be something important, calling themselves the Green Forest, but in reality, they were just a group of criminals made up of criminals. The reason why the bandits had mastered martial arts was because they were originally from martial arts sects. They were criminals who had been excommunicated or were on the run.
“Haha. What else would we be if not the Green Forest? If you want to pass through this mountain, you must pay us a toll. The only exception is the government army, but… you clearly aren’t one of them. The toll is different for each person. In your case, it’s ten heavenly jades.”
Hand over heavenly jades to these guys? Heavenly jades were both currency and a resource for me to grow stronger. I couldn’t give even one heavenly jade to these bandits.
“Are you so desperate to die? Do you really think you can stop me?”
“Why are you so on edge? Did someone in your family die recently? Think rationally. Do you think we would have blocked your path without anything to back us up? The formation set up on this mountain doesn’t just block your path. It also enhances our power.”
The energy of the bandit leader and his subordinates began to grow increasingly violent. They were temporarily growing stronger by using the power of the formation. It wouldn’t be a power without a price. I didn’t know what the price was, nor did I care.
“Even if you’re an absolute expert who has reached the Three Flowers Realm, you’re not invincible. If you understand, pay the toll. I’m telling you nicely.”
“You should be kneeling and begging for forgiveness…”
Heavenly Demon Divine Art.
Dark demonic energy flowed from my body. The demonic energy didn’t rise but sank gloomily, spreading in all directions. The bandit leader’s expression twisted. The scars on his face writhed like insects.
“Demonic energy?! Damn it. I thought he was just some nameless expert, but he’s from the Demonic Cult?!”
The bandit leader swung his sword. A red sword aura cut through the demonic energy. But the demonic energy didn’t disappear completely.
“Ugh, boss…”
“Don’t be scared by that strange phenomenon. Just kill him! Attack!”
Before the bandits could charge at me, I raised my right foot and stomped on the ground.
Heavenly Demon Divine Art Heavenly Demon Sovereign Step Wave Form.
The wave of demonic energy that spread low to the ground spread in all directions, centered on me. The bandits who were touched by the wave trembled as if they had malaria. Some of them couldn’t even breathe properly and collapsed on the ground.
The bandit leader’s complexion also changed.
“This is bullshit… To have my insides turned upside down with just one step… This is the Heavenly Demon Sovereign Step?! Could he be the one who ascended to the title of Little Heavenly Demon 30 years ago?!”
I summoned the Fire Lotus Flying Dagger and held it in my hand. Black demonic energy surged onto the red blade, transforming into the shape of a blade.
Heavenly Demon Divine Art Heavenly Demon Sword.
“Damn it! Why is the Little Heavenly Demon here?!”
The bandit leader, screaming as if in despair, threw his sword at me. I lightly deflected the sword with the Fire Lotus Flying Dagger. His sword spun in the air and returned to the leader’s grasp. It wasn’t an ordinary sword, but a magical artifact.
Heavenly Demon Divine Art Heavenly Demon Sword Return to Heaven.
I swung the Fire Lotus Flying Dagger. A sword aura swept through the surroundings in an instant. The air trembled as if resonating with it. The upper and lower halves of the bandits around me separated and fell.
But this wasn’t enough. There were more alive than dead. Not to mention the leader, who was charging at me with a protective aura around his body.
I moved my will. The demonic energy that had spread low to the ground slowly moved clockwise.
Heavenly Demon Divine Art Returning Heavenly Demon Dragon.
The demonic energy rotated, momentarily cutting off the world. Severance was synonymous with cut.
Once, twice, three times, as the rotation continued, everything around me was torn apart. The severed bodies of the bandits, including the bandit leader, spun in the air and fell to the ground.
I let out a long breath. I had overexerted myself momentarily, and my insides were slightly shaken. It was a level that was embarrassing to call an internal injury.
‘The formation is still active.’
It was unlikely that the bandits had set up this formation. Someone must have set it up for them. Probably a skilled sorcerer.
‘I don’t know how to dispel a formation with sorcery. But that doesn’t mean there’s no way at all.’
Formations have a core. If you destroy or change it, the formation will disappear. It would take a long time for me to find it myself. The core of a formation is usually hidden. I, an outsider, couldn’t find it in an instant.
‘In the case of this kind of formation, it uses the power of the mountain. In other words, if I destroy the mountain, it will be over.’
I swung the Fire Lotus Flying Dagger once more. The black rotation became a small storm that swept through the mountain.
Heavenly Demon Divine Art Returning Heavenly Demon Dragon.
Trees were cut down, the ground was overturned, and rocks flew far away.
As expected, when the mountain was damaged, the formation failed to function properly. I became a bolt of lightning and soared through the sky.
