Chapter 984 – 984. The Ascent To The Light
“……”
Silence reigned all around.
The sky was pitch black, and the occasional breeze had vanished.
Today was the night of the ninth day since the start of the fifth-floor trial. The last night. By noon tomorrow, the fifth-floor trial would end. The martial artist was not happy. He had a gut feeling that something would happen tonight.
This time, I couldn’t just stand by either.
‘I don’t know what the sixth-floor trial will be like. If the sixth floor is a competition trial… these bastards will target me first.’
So, I would make a name for myself here and create some debt.
‘Usually, if you do something good at the end, that impression lasts longer.’
And as everyone had sensed, the enemy appeared.
“Damn it, it’s an Umbrashade! Watch out for the dark places!”
“Two-headed hellhounds are charging from the right!!”
“Frost Hawks have appeared in the sky!”
Hundreds of monsters of three different types attacked simultaneously. The martial artists grouped together. They had learned from the past few days of fighting that scattering meant death, and sticking together meant survival.
I tilted my head upwards. The Umbrashades and two-headed hellhounds weren’t hard to deal with if you kept your wits about you. The most threatening thing right now was the Frost Hawks flying freely in the sky. They looked like hawks, but their entire bodies were covered in frost. If you were caught by them or pecked by their beaks, that part of your body would freeze instantly.
“I’ll take care of the Frost Hawks! You guys focus on the Umbrashades and two-headed hellhounds!”
“You’re going to take on the Frost Hawks alone? Do you think we’ll believe you?!”
Ha Mun-so’s voice echoed from afar. I didn’t answer. They’d see soon enough anyway.
‘Open Heavenly Eye.’
The moonless night sky was terribly dark, but when I opened my Heavenly Eye, it became as clear as day.
‘First, there are a total of 13 Frost Hawks within my sight. More Frost Hawks are appearing in the distance.’
Excluding the Frost Hawks in other areas, there were 7.
‘I just need to take care of the ones in my area.’
I glared at the Frost Hawks and focused my concentration. *Crackle*. I heard the sound of lightning crackling within me. It wasn’t an auditory hallucination. It was a sound coming from my mindscape.
*Kwarururururung!*
A streak of blue lightning fell from the sky and struck a Frost Hawk. The Frost Hawk, which had been flying powerfully, was reduced to a crispy critter and fell powerlessly to the ground.
*Kwarururung!* *Thump! Thump!*
With a loud thunderclap, the surroundings became as bright as day. And when it darkened again, the corpse of a Frost Hawk would invariably fall below.
There was an added bonus too.
“There’s an Umbrashade over there!”
“Kill the Umbrashade! You cowardly bastards!”
They had easily found the Umbrashades that were hiding in the darkness, waiting for the moment to strike.
“Hoo.”
I exhaled a long breath. I had killed 10 Frost Hawks by dropping lightning. But Frost Hawks kept appearing from the distance.
“Seong Ji-gon!”
I called out to Seong Ji-gon, but there was no reply. Seong Ji-gon was at the front, fighting for his life against the two-headed hellhounds.
“…Well, he’s doing fine on his own.”
I moved and grabbed a spear next to me. It was too taxing on my inner energy to keep attacking with lightning alone.
‘Even for me, my inner energy isn’t infinite. I can’t just keep spamming lightning since I don’t know when this attack will end.’
I gripped the spear and lifted it. I spread my legs and raised my head, focusing my gaze on the target. I turned the hand holding the spear backward. *Fzzzt*. Blue current flowed through the spear.
‘One down for now.’
I threw the spear.
*Bang!*
The spear flew through the air with the sound of an exploding shell and accurately hit the Frost Hawk’s body. The Frost Hawk was dragged by the spear and fell far away.
*Bang!*
Another loud impact sound exploded. It was because I had strengthened my shoulder and arm with inner energy before throwing it. As an added measure, I had imbued the spear with lightning. Just in case the spear was thrown, it would fall due to being electrocuted.
But that was unnecessary. My spear throws were always on target. Thanks to the synergy between marksmanship and the Heavenly Eye, I never missed.
‘This is fun.’
If I threw it, it would always hit. There was no way it wouldn’t be fun.
I kept throwing spears. I had probably thrown about 20. There wasn’t a single Frost Hawk left in the sky.
‘It’s starting to end soon.’
I threw the spear towards the ground instead of the sky. The target was the two-headed hellhounds that hadn’t been dealt with yet.
“Yelp!”
The two-headed hellhound that was hit by the spear flinched. The martial artists didn’t miss that opening.
“Now’s the time!”
“Even if it’s a two-headed hellhound, it’s still a hellhound at its core! Its belly is its weak point! Attack its belly!”
The battle ended when the night sky began to brighten. The martial artists had survived. Thirty of the martial artists in my area had died, but no one was sad.
And after a little time had passed, General Bae-woon appeared.
“Congratulations on passing the fifth-floor trial. From the fifth floor onwards, we will heal the injuries of those who pass the trial.”
Behind General Bae-woon were sorcerers. I narrowed my eyes. I didn’t know their exact level, but they were at least recovery-specialized sorcerers above the ‘Emergence’ realm.
“Receive your rewards. And those who want to give up, speak up now. It doesn’t matter if you say it after going up to the sixth floor.”
There were about 60,000 people who had passed the fifth-floor trial. Among them, less than 3,000 gave up.
Of course, Seong Ji-gon, Cheol Oh-dan, and I chose to go to the next floor.
***
Sitting on a chair, Bae-woon quietly gazed at the pond. The pond was showing the fifth-floor trial. He could watch the entrants undergoing the trials through this pond.
An old woman approached General Bae-woon. The old woman, wearing light armor, had white hair and a kind face.
“General Bae-woon. Is there anyone who stands out?”
“Yes. There are a few. There are thirty-five people under the age of fifty who have reached the Five Qi realm. They are worthy of being called geniuses.”
Bae-woon pressed down on the bead in his hand. The scene reflected in the pond changed rapidly. One person after another. Martial artists who had reached the Five Qi realm. Among them was Seong Yu-jin. But General Bae-woon and the old woman’s expressions didn’t change.
“Reaching the Five Qi realm means they have already begun to draw their own mindscape. They are not the talents I desire.”
“They are only just drawing the outline of their mindscape.”
“It takes a lot of time to erase and correct that outline.”
“…I understand. Let’s watch them a little longer for now. This is only the fifth floor of the Manmu Tower. It hasn’t even properly started yet.”
***
The sixth floor was easier than I thought. The trial was to deal with one monster within half a day. I stepped in and helped Cheol Oh-dan. They all went up to the seventh floor.
‘There wasn’t a rule that said you couldn’t join hands with others. This is a freebie. If you only consider the difficulty, the fifth-floor trial was harder.’
I stepped onto the seventh floor.
On the vast land, a mountain stood tall.
“This is the seventh-floor trial. If you pass this trial, you can choose a magical artifact as a reward.”
A soldier spoke.
Magical artifact.
Greed flickered in the eyes of the Cheol Oh-dan members.
“What is the seventh-floor trial?”
I asked in a calm tone.
“Somewhere on this land, there is a staircase leading to the eighth floor. You trial challengers must reach the eighth floor within four days.”
“What about the other challengers? I don’t see them?”
“On this floor, the starting points of the challengers are all different. I wish you challengers good luck.”
The soldier went back down to the lower floor.
*Kroooooooo!*
The cry of a monster echoed from somewhere in the mountains. There must be a monster somewhere in this mountain.
“Seong Yu-jin. I have a proposal.”
Jin Gu-eon approached me.
“A proposal? Speak.”
“We chose elixirs on the sixth floor.”
Cheol Oh-dan had chosen martial arts on the fifth floor and elixirs on the sixth floor. The quality of the elixirs had suddenly increased on the sixth floor. And among the elixirs were spirit pills. Some of the members had chosen the Wisdom City Pill.
The Wisdom City Pill was a spirit pill that helped when reaching the Emergence realm. Even if one was at the peak of the ‘Establishment’ realm, the 10th stage, it was not easy to cross over to the Emergence realm. But with the Wisdom City Pill, the probability of reaching the Emergence realm more easily increased.
“So?”
“Give us just one day. Just one day. We will take the elixirs and become stronger. It will definitely be helpful to Seong Yu-jin as well.”
I looked at Jin Gu-eon and the others. Their eyes were burning with determination.
“You know that taking one day out of four leaves three days, right?”
“We don’t want to hold Seong Yu-jin back. We will work hard. We will definitely show results, so please give us just one day.”
“Since you’re saying it like that, I can’t help it. Alright. Let’s start moving properly after a day. Seong Ji-gon and I will act as protectors, so hurry up and take your elixirs.”
“Thank you!”
Cheol Oh-dan sat down cross-legged on the ground. They all chewed and swallowed the elixirs, then closed their eyes and focused on circulating their inner energy.
Seong Ji-gon and I watched them and chewed on our elixirs.
“Don’t you need to circulate your inner energy?”
“Eh. What’s this little elixir? It’s nothing compared to the elixirs you gave me. I can circulate my inner energy later.”
If you eat a lot of elixirs, you get used to them. Seong Ji-gon had learned how to handle spiritual energy while gobbling down the elixirs I gave him. In the case of low-grade elixirs, you didn’t have to circulate your inner energy to avoid losing spiritual energy. The body had become accustomed to the elixirs.
Half a day passed in that state. A few monsters appeared in the meantime, but they only lost their lives in front of my sword.
The members who had been concentrating on circulating their inner energy got up one by one. Having achieved something, they said with flushed faces.
“Thank you! Seong Yu-jin!”
“Thanks to you, I reached the Emergence realm!”
Three members had reached the Emergence realm, and Jin Gu-eon had reached the 5th stage of the Emergence realm. The remaining members were also at least at the 7th stage of the Establishment realm. Cheol Oh-dan’s power had increased significantly.
“It’s late at night. Should we rest and then start moving?”
“No. We can do it.”
“You’re full of confidence. Good. Let’s move.”
And so, we searched the mountain for two days. It wasn’t easy. A monster appeared every hour to hinder us. But I had a method. I used the Heavenly Eye to find the staircase leading to the next floor.
There was a problem. A Flame Toad was guarding the entrance. The creature, which was over 4 meters tall, breathed out flames every time it exhaled through its nostrils. A transparent liquid dripped from its back. The smell of gasoline could be felt even 30 meters away.
“Yu-jin. That toad… I have a bad feeling about it.”
“It’s not at the Five Qi level… but it’s not a monster I can ignore either.”
But there wasn’t enough time to find another staircase. And what if there was a monster like that guarding the other entrances? We’d just be wasting time.
“Let’s kill that toad. We can do it. No matter what, don’t get that liquid from its back on you.”
I decided not to use lightning. It was obvious that the monster would spray gasoline everywhere. If I used lightning carelessly and started a fire, it would be a disaster.
We quickly shared a plan. I would draw the Flame Toad’s aggro, and the others would attack the Flame Toad’s blind spots. I was the only one who could handle this monster head-on.
“Let’s start.”
I ran towards the Flame Toad. The monster’s eyes snapped open when I got within 10 meters. They were eyes that showed no signs of intelligence. The Flame Toad opened its mouth wide and extended its tongue towards me. The tongue, which stretched like rubber, was on fire.
‘It’s like a flaming whip.’
*Whack*.
I dodged the monster’s tongue. The sound of the tongue hitting the ground was terrifying.
The toad’s tongue moved erratically. I used the moment to accurately grasp the tongue’s destination.
*Slice*.
The tongue was cut off, and the red tongue fell to the ground.
*Fwoosh*.
The toad’s square eyes, which had recovered its tongue, turned towards me. The monster then puffed up its chest and opened its mouth towards me. The monster’s tongue, which had recovered, was now aiming at me again. It was much faster than before, and its tip was sharp like a hook.
‘Moment!’
I cut off the tongue for the second time. The blood from the severed tongue splattered on my body. The monster’s blood melted my clothes and burned my skin. I gritted my teeth at the pain and shouted.
“Now’s the time! Attack!”
Seong Ji-gon ran towards the Flame Toad’s blind spot. Seong Ji-gon was the only one.
“Now!”
Jin Gu-eon shouted. The members of Cheol Oh-dan charged at me. Jin Gu-eon was at the center.
“It has been a long time of humiliation and oppression… We will kill you and return as the complete Cheol Oh-dan!!”
“Shit!”
A curse escaped my lips. I was planning to backstab them as soon as I got to the eighth floor and take all their magical artifacts and elixirs, but I never thought I’d be the one getting backstabbed first!
‘I should have killed them as soon as we got to the seventh floor!’
Regret dripped down.
