Chapter 2353 – 2353. The Ascension To Radiance
“Om mani padme hum. It seems the esteemed guest is surprised.”
“Of course, I’m surprised. It would be stranger not to be surprised by this sight.”
The Vajra of Sakra, or was it called the Vajra Divine Lightning? My eyes were fixed on it, unable to look away. The shimmering golden light was alluring.
I had to hold back for now. Before me were Jeonjeong and eight high monks. It seemed difficult to just steal the Vajra Divine Lightning right away. I needed a different plan. And also, information about the power of the Vajra Divine Lightning.
“Is the power of the Vajra Divine Lightning sealing the hole in the Underworld?”
“The Vajra Divine Lightning is a Dharma Plate. Ah, do you perhaps know what a Dharma Plate is?”
“…I do know. A Dharma tool imbued with divine power. Something like a symbol of a god. But I know not all gods possess a Dharma Plate.”
I spoke, recalling the original Ascension to Radiance. Dharma Plates only appeared in the latter half of the original work. And even then, not in the human realm but in the celestial realm. Even in the celestial realm, Dharma Plates were considered treasures among treasures.
“Sakra is a guardian deity who protects the Buddhist law. The Vajra Divine Lightning, imbued with his power, has the ability to eliminate and suppress evil. Thanks to its miraculous power of subduing demons, it has been able to suppress the hole in the Underworld for decades.”
“Was suppression all it could do? If that was the best it could do… how are you planning to eliminate that hole? My help isn’t meant to replace those high monks, is it?”
“The Vajra Divine Lightning has weakened.”
“What, why? No, more importantly, why is Sakra’s Dharma Plate here?”
“You have many questions. I understand. This situation is not easy to accept. I will explain everything to you. As you know, the history of our Thunder Sound Temple is very long.”
“History lesson. I hate things that drag on.”
“It won’t take long. Do you know why the Thunder Sound Temple is located here?”
“Because the Bodhi tree is here.”
“That is also true, but it is also because the Vajra Divine Lightning fell here. The reason why the Thunder Sound Temple is rich in thunder energy is because the Vajra Divine Lightning stayed here for a long time, naturally creating the environment. It took tens of thousands of years.”
“…Tens of thousands of years?”
I wasn’t surprised by the vastness of time itself. What surprised me was…
“Even after tens of thousands of years, the Vajra Divine Lightning is still here? Did Sakra abandon his own Dharma Plate? That can’t be. Dharma Plates are said to be symbols of gods… they are like the god’s alter ego.”
There was no way Sakra wouldn’t have retrieved his Dharma Plate for tens of thousands of years. Was it because this was the human realm? Even so, that didn’t seem like the reason. Beings from the Underworld were appearing, after all. A god like Sakra should be able to come to the human realm.
“Do you know about the Great War of Heavenly Extinction?”
“I’ve never heard of it.”
“That’s understandable. It’s only recorded in very old texts… The Great War of Heavenly Extinction was a war. A war that occurred tens of thousands of years ago, a war that almost led to the destruction of everything in this world. It was a war between the Underworld and the Celestial Realm.”
It felt somewhat familiar… a war between the celestial race and the demon race? Was that some cliché story from a third-rate game?
‘Ah, a third-rate game is mixed in. Martial King Online. Suddenly, it all makes sense.’
I suppressed the sudden urge to yawn and urged Jeonjeong with my gaze.
“The Celestial Realm won the Great War of Heavenly Extinction, and peace has continued until now. However, the Celestial Realm was not without damage. Many gods and immortals of the Celestial Realm were annihilated and disappeared in the Great War of Heavenly Extinction.”
“Are you saying Sakra is among those who were annihilated and disappeared?”
“…We can only speculate. Otherwise, there’s no way the Vajra Divine Lightning would have weakened this much.”
Jeonjeong looked sad as he fiddled with his prayer beads. After a moment of silence, he opened his mouth.
“We have been researching for decades and have created a technique to eliminate the hole in the Underworld. And the Vajra Divine Lightning has the ability to assist the technique. The problem is the thunder energy. A massive amount of thunder energy and thunder energy affinity are needed, but there is no one who can handle that massive amount of thunder energy.”
The need for thunder energy affinity meant… even if one had thunder energy, they couldn’t handle it unless they were a Thunder Spirit.
“You want me to do it? Why don’t you do it? You’re also a Thunder Spirit, and in terms of cultivation level, you’re higher than me.”
“I cannot handle the Vajra Divine Lightning.”
“You?”
Jeonjeong suddenly started taking off his monk’s robe. Had he suddenly gone crazy? I was contemplating whether to take out my Slayer of Gays when I saw the magic circle drawn on the center of his chest. It was a complex magic circle that I couldn’t understand at all.
“This is a restriction left by the previous abbot. Because of this restriction, I cannot handle the Vajra Divine Lightning. I have been researching for decades to lift the restriction… but there has been no progress.”
“Indeed. When I came to the Thunder Sound Temple, was that why the monks were so happy?”
“That is so. But you are not ready yet. In order for you to use that technique, you need at least a few months of training. I will help you… let’s go back now.”
I turned around, following Jeonjeong.
-Are you just going to go back? You’ve been listening too, haven’t you?
The Heavenly Demon Divine Art, which had been quiet for a while, spoke.
I had been hearing a small noise like static for a while. I didn’t know it was coming from the hole in the Underworld.
-Hell is calling you. Fall into hell. Hell will become your power.
The Heavenly Demon Divine Art was starting to lose its focus and act up. I began to recite the Buddhist scriptures I had heard countless times in the Thunder Sound Temple in my mind.
‘Scold! Buddhist scriptures are perfect for you! Maha Prajna Paramita Hridaya Sutra! Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva! When practicing the profound Prajna Paramita!’
-Kaaaaaak!
• • •
Six months had passed at the Thunder Sound Temple.
Of course, I spent most of those six months on auto-pilot. There was no reason for me to live an ascetic life for long. Honestly, I wanted to throw it all away even now. If it weren’t for the development of the Thunder Heaven Style, I would have.
‘Annoyingly, the training is quite helpful.’
Anyway, today was the once-a-month outing day. The other monks of the Thunder Sound Temple couldn’t even dream of going out, but I was an exception. I wasn’t a real monk, but a guest.
I put on the monk’s robe of the Thunder Sound Temple, held the prayer beads in my hand, and went outside the Thunder Sound Temple. The air felt instantly stale.
‘Jeonjeong told me to keep wearing the monk’s robe as long as I was a guest at the Thunder Sound Temple. And the prayer beads I received as a gift are a Dharma tool that allows me to use one technique unconditionally.’
At first, I didn’t think much of it. But after learning a bit about the techniques of the Thunder Sound Temple, I understood. This monk’s robe had a tracking technique similar to a location tracker on it.
‘I don’t have any talent related to techniques, so I can’t use them… but I’ve gained the ability to recognize low-level techniques.’
The other monks were wearing clothes with the same technique on them, so it was ambiguous to argue about it.
‘Well, then….’
Thunder Heaven Style Electromagnetic Wave.
As the energy wave spread, all the information around me, except for the Thunder Sound Temple, entered my mind. The Thunder Sound Temple was blocked by a barrier.
‘Found it.’
A figure hiding in the shadows above the pavilion, watching me.
It was four months ago that I realized she was watching me. I felt a gaze, so I scanned with the electromagnetic wave and found her. She didn’t seem to have noticed.
‘She’s not much of a threat, so I’ve left her alone until now. But it’s different now. I need to start planning so I’m not late.’
Thunder Heaven Style Flying Thunder God.
Crack.
I jumped onto the pavilion and appeared in front of her in an instant. Midokakbi’s eyes widened. While her mind was flustered, her body reacted without hesitation, throwing a poisoned dagger at me.
I summoned the Fire Lotus Daggers and deflected all the poisoned daggers. The daggers spun and fell to the ground.
She threw the daggers at me and immediately jumped back. She had no intention of fighting me from the start. I poured thunder energy into the prayer beads. The Dharma tool manifested a technique.
Thunder Shackles Binding.
The lightning that shot out of the prayer beads turned into chains, stretching out and binding Midokakbi.
“Kuh….”
Midokakbi tried to break free by forcefully releasing her inner energy, but the Thunder Shackles Binding sparked and stopped her.
“It’s one of the techniques of the Thunder Sound Temple. The more you try to break free from the lightning chains, the more it will sting.”
“…So. Do you think I would succumb to this much pain?”
Midokakbi forcefully moved her right arm. The chain that was holding her wrist shattered with a crack and disappeared. Her right hand took out a dagger from her bosom and held it in her hand.
“It seems it’s not that strong of a binding after all.”
“That’s because you focused your strength on your right hand. It would take quite a while to break free from the other parts like that.”
“I can buy time. This space is already poisoned.”
That was when she released her inner energy earlier. The surrounding air was already poisoned.
“I know.”
“Knowing that, why are you so relaxed?”
“This level of poison can’t do anything to me. As soon as it enters my body, the thunder energy burns away the poison. If you want to poison me, you need to use a potent poison.”
I approached Midokakbi. She swung her dagger at me. I grabbed her wrist and easily subdued her. She was an assassin. A direct confrontation was her weakness.
The distance closed. The poison coming in through my breath was definitely stronger. I grabbed her chin with my other hand and examined her face. Eyes, nose, mouth, face. All of it was pleasing. She had outstanding beauty.
“…Hehe. It seems you’ve accumulated a lot while training at the Thunder Sound Temple for half a year? It seems you want to hold me?”
“If I say I want to hold you, will you obediently let me?”
“I’ll give you a kiss. If you can.”
She narrowed her eyes provocatively and slightly parted her lips. Inside her purple lips, I could see her neat teeth and a wet, crimson tongue.
She was blatantly seducing me. I knew the reason. I could feel the strong poison in her breath.
‘Is she a poison user like Dang Soso, who was a disciple of the destroyed Mount Hua Sect? Her cultivation level is higher than Dang Soso back then, so her poison must be stronger.’
Her bodily fluids were definitely a potent poison that I couldn’t ignore.
“What’s your name?”
“Is that important?”
“It’s important to me.”
“…Yoo Yeoryeo.”
“Your name is pretty too.”
I covered her lips as if devouring them. I rubbed her plump and soft lips and pushed my tongue inside.
“Ugh…”
Yoo Yeoryeo frowned. She wasn’t used to it. I didn’t care and moved my tongue, mixing it with hers. There was a squishing sound as saliva mixed. Her saliva entered my mouth.
It was sweet. Not figuratively, but literally sweet. It was similar to the taste of the cheap candy I used to buy for 100 won when I was young. It was strangely addictive.
Gulp.
The sweet saliva went down my throat.
Thump.
My heart stopped. The poison spread throughout my body, centered on my heart.
My body lost strength. I couldn’t hold on and dropped my head onto her chest. Yoo Yeoryeo’s face was calm. Her purple lips reflected the sunlight and sparkled, and her eyes were calm, as if saying, ‘I knew it.’
Crack.
The thunder energy moved. It turned into an electric current and pierced my heart. It forcefully made my heart beat and burned away the poison spreading throughout my body.
I put strength into my head and buried it in her chest.
“Ah, your breasts are big. Are they G-cups?”
She was startled and couldn’t hide her agitation. I grinned and grabbed her face, putting my thumb between her lips.
“Your lips are sweet, and I like them. Let’s keep going.”
I kissed her again. I used my thumb to prevent her from closing her mouth and forcefully violated her tongue. More fiercely than before. I even bit her tongue and sucked on it.
“Ugh, hngh?!”
Yoo Yeoryeo’s poison kept trying to stop my heart. Each time, the thunder energy forcefully made my heart beat.
Her poison was dangerous, but I was getting used to it over time. I was overcoming the poison. To be precise, my resistance to Yoo Yeoryeo’s poison was rapidly increasing. I guessed it was probably the effect of [Poison Resistance Lv.1].
‘If I just keep kissing for about an hour, I think I’ll develop complete resistance to Yoo Yeoryeo’s poison.’
I pulled away and looked back. Annoyingly, an intruder had appeared. A slender, handsome man was looking at us. I asked him.
“Are you one of the Eight Evils?”
He grinned.
