Chapter 981 – 981. Ascension To The Light
“I am Baeun, a general serving the Western Ox Deity. People call me the White Snow Spear. I am currently in charge of managing the Myriad Tower, and I have been assigned to oversee the first trial of the Myriad Tower.”
The Western Ox Deity is one of the four great deities of the Jin Empire. As the name suggests, the Western Ox Deity is the general in charge of the west. For reference, the four great deities are among the top ten most powerful figures in the empire.
“To cut to the chase… the first trial is one gold tael. Pay me one gold tael before sunset today, and I will send you up to the second floor.”
One gold tael is by no means a small amount. The average commoner’s monthly income is about five silver taels. Simply put, one gold tael is equivalent to two years’ worth of a commoner’s earnings.
And most of the martial artists who come to the Myriad Tower are ronin. There is a widespread perception that ronin are poor. And it’s true. Instead of saving money, ronin tend to spend it right away. They live each day as if it were their last, spending money without regret before they die. That was the ronin’s mindset.
Therefore, it was only natural that complaints erupted from all directions.
“Pay to enter the Myriad Tower? Since when has the Myriad Tower become so greedy for money?!”
“We came to overcome the trials of the Myriad Tower with our skills! Not to spend money!”
“As far as I know, the first trial of the Myriad Tower last year was a martial arts contest! Why is it different this year? This Myriad Tower is my last chance!”
It became as noisy as a marketplace. Baeun looked around once and stomped his foot. BANG! The loud sound was a threat that spread in all directions. The ronin, feeling threatened, shut their mouths.
“Money represents value. The most reasonable standard of value is money. A martial artist who cannot earn one gold tael is not even worth a third-rate martial artist. It doesn’t matter how you do it. Borrow money, steal money, sell your belongings, make one gold tael. Prove your minimum value.”
“…You said it doesn’t matter how we do it. Do you really mean that?”
“However, do not harm civilians. If you harm the citizens of Myriad City, you will be executed. Your heads will be cut off and displayed in the square of Myriad City.”
“……”
Baeun’s words were brutal. And he had the power to back them up.
At that moment, a group of people approached Baeun. There were over 50 of them. They were wearing matching outfits and stood as if they were protecting the young man in the center.
“I am Oh Jimu, the young master of the Three Severance Sect. Here is 55 gold taels. May we proceed to the second floor of the Myriad Tower?”
Baeun handed the pouch of gold to his subordinate. The subordinate counted the gold and reported to Baeun.
“…Pass. Go in.”
“May I ask what the trial on the second floor of the Myriad Tower is?”
“You will find out when you go up to the second floor. And you will receive a reward for passing the first trial.”
“A reward… It will probably be a reward worth less than one gold tael, right? I don’t have high expectations.”
“You talk too much. Do you want to provoke me that much?”
“I apologize. I didn’t know my place.”
Oh Jimu immediately backed down. He knew that there was no benefit in fighting with the manager of the Myriad Tower.
Then, Oh Jimu and the members of the Three Severance Sect slowly walked into the Myriad Tower. Then, one person, a middle-aged martial artist, bumped his face into an invisible wall. He could not enter the Myriad Tower.
“A, a barrier? What is this all of a sudden?!”
“You are over 50 years old.”
“No! I am 49 years old this year!”
“You must be mistaken. This barrier cannot be crossed by anyone over 50.”
“I am 49 years old!”
“Don’t be annoying and get lost. I will not tolerate any more disturbances.”
“Th, then at least give me back my one gold tael.”
“Why should I? It’s already money paid to me. Get lost.”
“Ah, ah….”
The martial artist lowered his head and stepped back.
I watched the whole process and turned around. All the members of the Iron Crow Clan were rummaging through their pouches.
“Yujin, we have enough money. It was worth raiding the Black Lotus last time.”
Seong Jigong said, holding up one gold tael. And the gazes of the other ronin around him changed. Sharp auras were felt from all directions, and the ronin rushed at Seong Jigong all at once. It was okay to steal money. General Baeun had said so.
“Not so fast.”
Seong Jigong jumped into the air as if to say it was impossible.
“Jumping into the sky? You’re asking for death! You fool!”
The ronin’s weapons were aimed upwards. Seong Jigong pulled out his sword from his waist. He swung his sword in a large circle. Clang, clang, clang, clang. The swords aimed at Seong Jigong were deflected. Seong Jigong landed on the ground and swung his sword again. This time, the ronin’s bodies were cut, and fountains of blood spurted out.
The ronin hesitated and distanced themselves from Seong Jigong. They realized that he was not someone they could handle.
‘How foolish. Seong Jigong’s current level is that of an expert. He’s not someone that just anyone can handle.’
Most of the people around here haven’t even reached the 5th stage of the Entry level, let alone the expert level.
“Damn it. That guy is the real deal.”
“Target someone else!”
The ronin began to fight among themselves. The Iron Crow Clan, centered around Jin Gu-eon, stood together and blocked the ronin who were charging at them.
‘Those who fight recklessly to steal money are all the same.’
Skill and wealth are proportional. The higher your skill, the more money you can earn. Those who are truly skilled already have about one gold tael.
“Yujin, what should we do? Should we go into the Myriad Tower right away?”
“No. The deadline for the first floor is until sunset. There’s no need to rush. Let’s eat first. They might not provide food inside, so let’s also check out the emergency rations.”
I watched a group of people carrying a lot of luggage enter the Myriad Tower. Once you enter the Myriad Tower, you cannot come out unless you give up.
‘I have an inventory, but… I don’t have food for the Iron Crow Clan.’
The members of the Iron Crow Clan trust me. I haven’t touched the Iron Crow Clan for the past two months. Rather, I’ve taken care of them. I raided bandits and distributed the money equally.
‘And they know my skills too. They will try to cling to me. These guys will also receive elixirs if they pass the trials… Let’s kill them and take them.’
Then I can get more elixirs.
What a wonderful plan. I am impressed by the plan I made myself.
We ate and packed our supplies and walked towards the Myriad Tower. The area in front of the Myriad Tower was quiet. There was no one fighting, but there were many corpses. Blood was constantly flowing on the ground, and corpses were scattered in the corners. All of them were naked. Crows and eagles were excitedly pecking at the corpses.
“At least 30,000 must have died.”
“Wow… It’s no joke.”
I turned my head to the side. In the relatively clean space, a merchant had set up shop.
“I buy! I buy things!”
Stealing is not the only way to get money.
Of course, we already had enough money, so we passed the merchants and went up to the Myriad Tower.
General Baeun was sitting still with a stern face. I handed one gold tael to his subordinate.
“Pass.”
His subordinate said.
Baeun’s eyes moved and looked at me. But his eyes returned to their original position. Then, Seong Jigong and the members each handed one gold tael to the subordinates.
“Pass.”
We were able to enter the Myriad Tower.
Perhaps it was because of the barrier. As soon as we entered, the air itself felt different. It was cool yet stuffy.
A soldier inside the first floor saw us and pointed to the right.
“The stairs to the second floor are over there. Ah, before that, please receive your rewards here.”
“What are the rewards?”
I asked the soldier. I couldn’t treat the soldier carelessly. Not only was this soldier’s affiliation important, but his skills were similar to Seong Jigong’s.
“Here is the list. Magical artifacts are provided from the 7th floor.”
I checked the scroll he handed me. The martial arts and elixirs provided on the first floor were all third-rate trash.
The martial arts were so bad that even the ronin shook their heads. The only thing to choose here was the elixir.
‘Five-year-old He Shou Wu, three-year-old Astragalus… What are these? Herbs with only a little bit of spiritual energy.’
They were herbs that were not even worthy of being called elixirs. If you wanted to buy them, you could easily get them for about 50 silver taels. They were not completely ineffective, but they did not have a significant effect on improving martial arts.
When everyone sighed in disappointment, the soldier said as if he had been waiting for it.
“The land and barrier of the Myriad Tower are special. If you consume spiritual herbs inside the Myriad Tower, you can see more effects. The land of the Myriad Tower is comparable to the spiritual mountains known to the world. So, if you have chosen an elixir, I recommend that you take it immediately.”
“Indeed, the Myriad Tower. Impressive.”
I said nonchalantly. I had roughly known this information while researching the Myriad Tower. Even if the effect was good, it would be about 10%? I knew it wouldn’t be that much.
‘Still, it’s better than having no effect at all.’
Chew, chew.
I put the five-year-old He Shou Wu in my mouth and chewed it.
‘It’s not as good as the spiritual herbs that the Heavenly Gang System gives every week… Sometimes, even a hundred-year-old He Shou Wu comes out… Ha. This won’t even make a dent.’
There’s no need to put such herbs in the Ascension to the Light. It’s just a waste of time. It would be more helpful to strengthen it by adding other spiritual herbs.
After chewing the herb, I went up to the second floor.
Thud! Thud, thud, thud! Thud!
As soon as I went up to the second floor, the sound of things bursting echoed from all directions. I quietly looked around. Many people were hitting scarecrows. Many of them were wielding swords, but strangely, the scarecrows were not cut.
A soldier approached us.
“The second trial is to destroy the scarecrows. If you destroy the scarecrows, you will receive a reward for passing the trial and can go up to the third floor.”
“Is there a time limit?”
“It’s until the hourglass over there runs out.”
The soldier pointed to one side of the wall. There was a huge hourglass.
‘If that’s the case, is there about three days of leeway?’
We each stood in front of a scarecrow. I threw a punch at the scarecrow.
Thwack!
The scarecrow shook slightly.
‘Even though I held back a bit, I hit it with enough force to knock someone out, but all it did was shake? It’s not an ordinary scarecrow.’
It must be a scarecrow made of a special material, or it must have a spell on it. I thought it was the latter. If it was a special material, they wouldn’t make something as simple as a scarecrow.
Crack.
Lightning flashed between my thumb and index finger. I tried to burn the scarecrow with lightning. Whoosh. A flame was about to rise, but it fizzled out.
‘They don’t allow tricks. Is that what it means?’
I clenched my fist and hit the scarecrow several times harder than before. The scarecrow shook greatly, and cracks appeared on its surface. The cracks were automatically repaired.
‘In game terms, you have to inflict a certain amount of damage.’
Having roughly figured it out, I became bored.
I put a lot of internal energy into my fist and threw an uppercut at the scarecrow.
KWA-AAANG!
The sound was different. The scarecrow was uprooted and stuck to the ceiling, not falling down. The gazes of those around me gathered on me.
“What are you looking at, you losers.”
I raised my fist and growled. They quickly turned their heads and began to hit the scarecrows.
I turned my gaze to the side and checked on Seong Jigong. I wasn’t worried about Seong Jigong. He would easily pass the second trial.
Seong Jigong glared at the scarecrow and raised both fists.
“Hoo…”
Seong Jigong, who had let out a low breath, rushed into the scarecrow’s embrace and threw punches.
Thwack, thwack, thwack, thwack, thwack!
He threw punches without stopping. Cracks appeared on the scarecrow’s body. Before the cracks could be repaired, punches exploded, and the scarecrow began to break down.
Seong Jigong stopped just before the scarecrow was completely destroyed.
“Yujin, this is quite fun. It seems like it could be good training. Can I play here for a bit?”
“Don’t overdo it.”
Seong Jigong was sure to pass. Jin Gu-eon, who was of similar skill, was also fine. However, it seemed like it would take some time for the regular members.
‘If they can’t even do this much, I’ll just have to abandon them.’
