Chapter 986 – 986. The Ascent To The Light
I couldn’t go straight up to the 8th floor. The door to the 8th floor would open in a week.
“You will be given some time after each trial. If you use that time well, it will be a great help.”
It was time to learn new martial arts, absorb elixirs, and increase the proficiency of magical artifacts.
I found a suitable spot at the end of the 8th floor and set up a tent. I did encounter other entrants, but there wasn’t the same tension as on the 5th floor. This was because the soldiers of the Manmu Tower provided food and water for free.
During the break, I returned to Nakwol Mountain. The space teleportation scrolls and space transfer system could not be used due to the barrier of the Manmu Tower, but the mirror tunnel was different.
“Seong Ji-gon. You must protect this mirror.”
“I know, so go and come back comfortably. I’ll be training.”
After returning to Nakwol Mountain, I had sex with the Namgung sisters and Mireong, and received training from Wi Yu.
A week passed, and it was time to challenge the 8th floor trial.
A soldier handed me and Seong Ji-gon iron badges. The word “Manmu” (萬武) was engraved on the front of the iron badge.
“Please keep the Manmu iron badge safe. It is the most important item in the 8th floor trial.”
The soldier urged.
“This iron badge looks ordinary?”
“The 8th floor trial requires you to collect five Manmu iron badges within a week.”
“……So, the Manmu iron badges weren’t only given to us. Did the other entrants also receive iron badges?”
“That’s right. You can somehow take the iron badges from the other entrants and bring five of them to us. We will be in the center of the 8th floor. There are no restrictions on how you take them. You can take them through fair duels, or you can ambush and take them. Stealing is also allowed. The important thing is that you must collect five iron badges and come to us.”
I realized the Manmu Tower’s intentions.
The Manmu Tower intended to eliminate more than half of the entrants on the 8th floor. It wasn’t a bad thing. Seong Ji-gon and I were confident that we could pass the 8th floor trial as well.
Ding. Ding. Ding. Ding!
The sound of bells rang from all over the 8th floor. It was the sound of bells announcing the start of the trial.
“You can go this way.”
A soldier pointed to a passage. Seong Ji-gon and I headed to the passage without hesitation. When we came out of the passage, it was a desolate land. The open land was full of rocks. And less than 100 meters away, we encountered those who had just entered the 8th floor trial area. They also found us.
“There are about 30 of them. Are they the Ronin Group?”
“The atmosphere is just like the Ronin Group. If not, they were newly formed on the 8th floor. Yujin, what should we do?”
The purpose of the 8th floor trial was to collect iron badges, not a battle royale where the last one survives. They could work together for their own benefit. It wasn’t a foul.
“What do you mean, what should we do? We have to kill them all and take their iron badges.”
“Oh, really? Not make them your subordinates like the Cheolodan?”
“There’s no merit in making them subordinates. The soldier said a week ago that tricks wouldn’t work.”
“But it would be convenient to have them. You can pass on various annoying tasks.”
“If you dominate them with force, they’ll try to betray you at the first chance they get. It’s also annoying to manage them.”
They drew their swords and rushed towards us with a fierce momentum. Seong Ji-gon and I leisurely took out our weapons. They were just a bunch of nobodies with numbers.
“Seong Ji-gon. They are to be annihilated.”
“Hmm. Doesn’t look difficult.”
Kwarururung.
Lightning fell from the sky.
And 10 minutes later, we were standing among the corpses. Manmu iron badges were hanging all over Seong Ji-gon’s and my hands.
We walked to the center. We had passed the 8th floor trial in less than 3 hours since it started.
As a reward for passing the 8th floor trial, I chose an elixir. The level of magical artifacts was not good, and I wasn’t very interested in martial arts either.
“You have passed the 8th floor quickly. The 9th floor trial will open in a month.”
“A month? The time is longer than I thought.”
“The Manmu Tower also needs various preparations. And you also need time to absorb elixirs and learn new martial arts, don’t you? A month is a long time for ordinary people, but for martial artists like us, a month is a short time.”
I had forgotten for a moment, but the lifespan of martial artists in this world increases as they reach higher levels. Even reaching the level of Chulji increases their lifespan to 150 years. A month is not a long time.
I watched Seong Ji-gon eat an elixir and circulate his energy, then moved to Nakwol Mountain.
I met Wi Yu. It had been quite some time since I met her, but she had hardly changed compared to when I first met her.
“Yujin. It’s not difficult to improve the forms of the Yeongcheon Style. Considering the trial and error, it will be fine in about a year.”
“That short?”
“It’s just a slight improvement to make the forms easier to use. It won’t take long.”
“Still, it’s much faster than I thought.”
“The problem is the mental cultivation method. This will take at least 10 years.”
“The Yeongcheon Spiritual Energy Technique? Isn’t the Yeongcheon Spiritual Energy Technique good enough to be called a divine technique?”
“As you said. The Yeongcheon Spiritual Energy Technique, which is based on the Yin-Yang Dao, is very complete. But the current Yeongcheon Spiritual Energy Technique is not suitable for you. The Yeongcheon Spiritual Energy Technique is a mental cultivation method and a spiritual energy technique for geniuses.”
“Not suitable… Even if it’s what my master says, it’s hard to agree. I’m actually doing well.”
The foundation of the Yeongcheon Spiritual Energy Technique is the Hunwon Taeguk Gyeol. This is something I heard directly from Jin Se-yeong, so it’s certain.
I also acknowledge that it’s a spiritual energy technique for geniuses. But it’s not something that resonates with me. The Yeongcheon Style exists as a characteristic of the Yuhee Life app. If I have enough points, I can increase the level of the Yeongcheon Style as much as I want.
I held out my palm. Crackle. A blue current appeared. It was a current created using the Yeongcheon Spiritual Energy Technique, not the [Lightning] characteristic.
“You can’t use any of the other powers of the Yeongcheon Spiritual Energy Technique.”
There are two powers in the Yeongcheon Spiritual Energy Technique.
One is Lightning Light (雷光). The power to control lightning.
The other is Dark Shadow (暗影). The power to control darkness.
Yuria handled both easily. The black lightning that combined those two powers had tremendous power.
Jin Woo-seong, the 11th sect leader of the Yeongcheon Style and the head of the Yeongcheon Sword Hall, could also use Dark Shadow, although not as much as Yuria.
Jin Se-yeong had almost no talent for Dark Shadow, but as she grew, she gradually learned to handle Dark Shadow little by little.
On the other hand, I had no idea about Dark Shadow at all. To be honest, I vaguely thought that someday, when the level of the Yeongcheon Style characteristic increased, I would be able to do it.
“I, I can do it if I try.”
“Is that so? Then try it.”
“…Now?”
“You are a martial artist who has reached the Five Energies. It is called the Five Energies because you handle five kinds of energy. You are already good at handling lightning energy. It is possible to handle dark energy.”
I stimulated the core within my body. Crack. Lightning energy flowed through my body. I stretched out my palm. A black aura slowly appeared.
“That’s not dark energy. It’s demonic energy.”
“……”
I couldn’t argue.
My core was based on lightning energy and had demonic energy added to it. When I thought of darkness, demonic energy flowed out.
‘If I raise the Yeongcheon Style characteristic further, will I be able to use Dark Shadow?’
I couldn’t be sure. I knew that lightning light and dark shadow were basically a matter of talent.
‘Let’s think of Yuria. Yuria used lightning light and dark shadow without difficulty. I thought it was natural because she was the greatest genius in the world. If my talent becomes the same as Yuria’s… I will be able to use Dark Shadow too.’
[Activating Genius Time for 10 seconds.]
I activated Genius Time.
For just 10 seconds. I became a genius just like Yuria. No, the me in this world has the Cheongangseong System, so if we only consider talent, I would be better than Yuria.
[Genius Time has ended.]
“……”
My expression was not good.
Even though I used Genius Time, I couldn’t use Dark Shadow. I realized the reason. It wasn’t a matter of talent.
“Looking at your expression, it seems you have realized it.”
“…Yes. I am too biased towards lightning light.”
And that was probably because the [Lightning] characteristic had a significant influence.
“That’s right. Dark Shadow is not suitable for you. If you want to have Dark Shadow… you need to discard lightning light once. You need to build it up again from the beginning.”
It was a difficult thing to say. It might mean that I would have to discard lightning for the time being.
‘Is it necessary to go that far to get Dark Shadow?’
Dark Shadow is not so much powerful as it is versatile. And it is also true that it becomes stronger when combined with lightning light.
‘It’s not like pure lightning light is weak. If I lack power, I can just overwhelm them with stronger lightning.’
And even without Dark Shadow, I have the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.
I made a decision and looked at Wi Yu. While Genius Time was activated, I had already grasped Wi Yu’s intentions.
“I understand what my master is thinking. I will give up Dark Shadow as my master wishes.”
Choice and focus.
I decided to abandon Dark Shadow and focus on lightning light.
Wi Yu smiled, raising the corners of her mouth.
“You have made a good choice. We will change your Yeongcheon Spiritual Energy Technique into a divine technique only for lightning light. That is our goal. And to do that, we need preparation.”
“Preparation?”
“You happen to be in the Manmu Tower. You are lucky.”
“…What kind of preparation is it? Is it something like an elixir?”
“If you want to overhaul a martial art, you obviously need a martial art for reference, don’t you?”
“Master, you know so many martial arts, don’t you?”
“In my case, it is limited to swordsmanship. I don’t know much about other martial arts. So, bring me a mental cultivation method related to lightning energy. The more outstanding the martial art, the more helpful it will be.”
I nodded.
If it was a tremendous martial art at the level Wi Yu wanted, I would have to go up to at least the 15th floor.
“Then, I guess I have to start with swordsmanship training. The basics are important everywhere. Swing your sword 100,000 times by the end of today.”
“…What? No, no. I’m not at the stage where I need to train the basics anymore.”
“The basics are something you can train for your whole life. I’ll be watching you, so don’t even think about running away.”
“……”
***
The training over the past month had been effective. I had reached the 5th stage of the Five Energies, and Seong Ji-gon had reached the 6th stage of Chulji.
We ascended to the long-awaited 9th floor. The 9th floor of the Manmu Tower. The 10th floor was just around the corner.
We followed a soldier into the trial area.
There were nearly 30 martial artists in the narrow room. A soldier went up to the platform and opened his mouth.
“Please pay attention. I will explain the 9th floor trial. You 30 people are in 55 groups. This flag is your heart.”
The soldier brought a flag that was over 2 meters tall. It was a simple design with the red letters “五十五” on a white background.
“For the next ten days. Protect your heart and take two hearts from other groups.”
The surroundings buzzed. The groups seemed to be randomly formed. Judging by the fact that I wasn’t separated from Seong Ji-gon, they must have formed them very roughly.
“Then, I have told you everything I need to say… I wish you good luck.”
The soldiers left the flags and retreated.
At that moment, three people went up to the platform. All three were wearing black clothes and had their faces hidden by bamboo hats. Surprisingly, the martial artist in the center was a woman. Her protruding breasts, slender waist, and voluptuous hips were visible.
She took off her bamboo hat. A black veil covered her face.
“Everyone. In order to pass this trial, everyone’s cooperation is necessary. I am Hwangbo Ga-hye. A martial artist from the Hwangbo family.”
Zzzzzzzzzzz. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
A loud noise echoed from somewhere. I frowned and glared around. Strangely, everyone else seemed not to hear this sound and was looking at the female martial artist standing on the platform.
Zzzzzzzzzzz. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
‘Ugh, it’s noisy. What is this sound? Where is it coming from…’
My head, which had been looking around, stopped abruptly and turned downwards.
Zzzzzzzzzzz! Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!
The culprit was me.
It was the sound of my dick compass spinning.
