Chapter 2554 – 2554. The Ascent Of Gwangmyeong

“Is it really okay for me to go?”

“You’re going as a disciple in place of your master. Of course, it’s fine. Besides, I can’t be away from Nakwol Mountain for long.”

Gu Eoksin cautiously interjected at Wi Yu’s words.

“The Nakwol Goddess only needs to decide whether to attend. The mages within the Imperial Palace will prepare the teleportation.”

“I suppose so. The reason they came two years early must be to prepare the teleportation. But as I just said, my disciple will attend the banquet in my stead. Tell the Emperor that.”

“…Understood. I will convey it to His Majesty as it is.”

“Do so.”

Gu Eoksin drank the tea Wi Yu offered and descended Nakwol Mountain. I used my senses to monitor Gu Eoksin, making sure he didn’t pull any tricks. Nakwol Mountain was my home, and uninvited guests were never welcome.

Wi Yu handed me a letter.

“It’s stamped with the Emperor’s jade seal. That alone makes it an imperial edict. In the current secular world, the Emperor’s authority is equal to the heavens, so that edict alone should resolve most issues.”

“I know that much. It’s also the Emperor’s invitation.”

“Don’t abuse it too much.”

“How can I abuse it when the Emperor is so terrifying?”

I carefully took the edict. The letter’s contents were nothing special. It was a greeting and an invitation to the millennium anniversary banquet. The important thing was the Emperor’s jade seal.

Having been an Emperor a few times, I knew this kind of thing well. It was power in itself.

“But, Master, were you acquainted with the Emperor?”

“It’s nothing much. We had a connection in the past. The Emperor requested a duel, and I accepted, and we crossed swords.”

“Did you lose?”

At my provocative question, Wi Yu smiled leisurely.

“Do you think I would have lost? The Emperor back then wasn’t an Emperor, nor was he the strongest in the world. Ah, after the duel, I even received a confession from the Emperor. He said I was the only woman for him. It was quite a ridiculous confession.”

I was shocked. I almost jumped off the floor.

“That Emperor confessed to you, Master? Did you perhaps accept?”

“If I had, I would be called the Imperial Consort. Why, are you jealous?”

“Whew. I almost got jealous. Then, Master, you’re still a virgin, right?”

Wi Yu’s face crumpled. She grabbed my ear and twisted it.

“Ouch!”

“You, a disciple, can’t even distinguish what to say and what not to say to your master? You’re still so immature even though you’re old.”

“Master, you can’t keep looking down on me. Someday, you’ll be my wife. It’s only a matter of time before my master becomes my honey.”

Wi Yu paused for a moment, then sighed in disbelief and picked up her sword.

“Alright, you crazy bastard. I’ll teach this unfilial brat a lesson today.”

“Aaaah!”

It was too late when I screamed. I was kicked by Wi Yu and soared into the sky. It seemed like I wouldn’t be having a peaceful day.

• • •

A few days later, I set out on my martial arts journey.

I wore a jet-black robe and the Hwaryeon Flying Daggers at my waist. I didn’t forget to wear a stylish bamboo hat. It was the look of a wandering martial arts master.

“I’ll be back, Master.”

“Why are you making such a big deal out of saying goodbye? You’ll be back tonight anyway.”

That was true. With the Cheongang Star System’s space teleportation system and space travel scrolls, I could travel to and from Nakwol Mountain relatively freely. There was no need to camp out.

My plan was this:

For a year, I would travel the martial world and engage in martial arts competitions. I would show off my strength by defeating the weaklings and seek out masters of the Three Supreme Realms for duels. That way, I would naturally resolve my trials. Then, I would go to the Imperial Palace and eat and play until the millennium anniversary banquet.

‘This is my chance to meet the Emperor.’

Even the current Heavenly Demon of the Heavenly Demon Cult couldn’t meet him easily. The Heavenly Demon had suffered a qi deviation just from meeting the Emperor. I was curious about how great a being he was.

I walked leisurely, enjoying the scenery, and then dashed through the sky with the Flying Thunder God technique. It was too boring to keep walking leisurely. Above all, this world was so vast that I couldn’t achieve my goals just by walking.

Whenever I moved, I always scattered electromagnetic waves. I could sense about 30km at all times. If I concentrated, I could sense over 100km.

‘A battle is happening 10km away. They’re divided into two groups. Is it a fight between bandits and caravan guards?’

It was a common occurrence.

Since I had nothing else to do, I decided to intervene.

Thunder Heaven Style (雷天流) Flying Thunder God (飛雷神).

While running through the air with the Flying Thunder God, I deliberately transformed my body into lightning and moved. The sensation of weightlessness and being forcibly pulled towards the target point. Fortunately, that slightly unpleasant sensation ended quickly. The moment a flash of light appeared, I was already at my destination.

‘Turning into lightning is good and all, but the further the distance, the more concentration and internal energy it consumes.’

I landed on the ground and slowly looked around.

The guys who were fighting each other were staring at me with shocked eyes. The ragged ones were bandits, and the ones who were decently dressed were caravan guards.

I focused a little and examined them. Most were at the Emerging Will (出志) stage, but the two leading each group were at the Five Qi (五氣) stage.

They were excessively skilled for mere bandits and caravan guards. The Five Qi stage was the level of a sect leader of a medium-sized sect. Even if they were low-level Five Qi, they would be treated well anywhere. They were not at the level to be doing banditry or caravan guarding.

‘If they’re from a large caravan company or a greenwood camp, then the story changes.’

They were low-level Five Qi, so they were nothing to me.

The leader of the caravan guards, who seemed to be the head guard, stopped fighting and bowed to me. The bandit who was fighting the head guard flinched. He was cautiously watching me. If it weren’t for me, he would have attacked the head guard.

“I am Meok Jugun of the Gu-eung Caravan Company! May I ask for your name, sir?”

Ignoring Meok Jugun’s greeting, I looked at the bandits.

One second. Two seconds. Three seconds.

The arrogant bandit bastard still hadn’t bowed.

I drew the Hwaryeon Flying Daggers from my waist. I didn’t infuse it with killing intent. Why would I need killing intent to kill a bug?

A blue slash cut off both of the bandit leader’s legs.

“……?!”

I swung the Hwaryeon Flying Daggers again. This time, a blue slash rose and cut down the surrounding bandit thugs.

Only the bandit leader was left alive. I sheathed the Hwaryeon Flying Daggers again and looked at the bandit leader. The legless bastard glared at me as if he would kill me.

“You crazy bastard…! Do you know who I am?! What we are?! How dare you commit such atrocities…!”

“Do I need to know the names of bugs? Well, I don’t feel too bad, so I’ll give you one last piece of advice. If you meet a stronger master than you, lower your eyes first.”

I approached the bandit leader and stepped on his right arm. When I stepped on it with internal energy, his thick arm was crushed like a reed.

“Kuh-eup?!”

“And don’t hesitate and bow your head first. From a master’s point of view, seeing a piece of shit like you holding your head up high is unbearable.”

The bandit leader swung his left fist in a desperate attempt. It was useless. I easily dodged it and delivered a soccer kick with internal energy. His left arm exploded.

I moved leisurely and placed my foot on his forehead. It was very easy to crush his head.

“Hmm. Now that I’m about to kill you, I’m a bit curious. What did you believe in to act so cocky in front of me?”

“My sworn brother is a member of the Four Kings Alliance, and the Mountain King, the supreme leader of the greenwood! If you kill me, the Mountain King will find you and kill you!”

The Four Kings Alliance (四王聯).

The Mountain King of the greenwood. The Sea King of the rivers and seas, the Fist King of the orthodox evil sects, and the Assassin King, the king of assassins. The Four Kings Alliance was a union of evil sects led by those four.

I tilted my head as I listened to his words. The bandit leader laughed, spitting blood, as if he understood.

“Are you regretting it now? No matter how strong you are, you can’t compare to the Four Kings Alliance. Save me now and find a renowned mage to reattach my legs! Then I’ll spare your life!”

“This bastard is really getting on my nerves.”

I was about to kill him, but I held back for a moment. I had a question.

“I killed the Mountain King, Baek Ocheol, at Domyung Mountain. He died on the same day as his brothers.”

Domyung Mountain. That was where I obtained the Jueun Spirit.

The blood drained from the bandit leader’s face.

“Y-you killed the former Mountain King? You, someone like you? That, that can’t be! Don’t bluff!”

“Do I have any reason to bluff to someone like you? You said the Mountain King would come after me if I killed you. Good. If he’s the Mountain King, he must be an absolute master of the Three Supreme Realms.”

“S-stop! I was wrong….”

Thud.

The bandit leader’s head exploded. Since I had a protective aura around my body, his blood and brain matter didn’t directly touch me.

I turned my head and looked at the caravan guards. All of them were bowing with their heads down, staring blankly at the ground. Their posture of lowering their eyes was good.

‘I was going to kill these bastards too.’

There was no reason to kill them, and no reason not to, so I was just going to kill them. In the martial world, if a master told a subordinate to die, they had to die. That was the way of the martial world.

If I killed these bastards now, there would be no one to spread the rumors. The rumors had to spread for the Mountain King to come looking for me.

“I haven’t received your greetings yet. Don’t move or make a sound until I receive your greetings.”

Gulp.

Some bastard dared to swallow his saliva.

I directly beheaded him.

“I told you not to make a sound. Did my words sound like shit to you?”

“……”

I walked among the guys who were sweating profusely. If there had been a woman among them, I would have massaged her breasts with the hands of a master, but unfortunately, there weren’t any. It was all a bunch of dicks.

I headed towards the cart that the caravan guards were desperately protecting. It wasn’t a baggage cart, but a handcart. And there was only one. I didn’t know what was inside. It seemed like it wasn’t an ordinary cart, as my senses and electromagnetic waves were blocked. I didn’t bother activating my Heavenly Eye. It felt like I was doing a gacha, so I was a little excited.

‘They put this much manpower to protect just this one thing? Is there something good inside?’

I opened the cart’s lid.

Clank! Thud!

As soon as I opened the cart, hundreds of pieces of metal were shot at me.

Crackling.

The metal pieces were stopped in mid-air by magnetic force. When I looked down, the metal pieces were embedded in the ground.

‘Is this a machine gun? If they had something like this, shouldn’t they have told me in advance? Were these bastards trying to screw me over by keeping their mouths shut? Should I kill about half of them now?’

Just as my hand was reaching for the sword hilt, something in the cart caught my eye.

Inside, there were many elixirs. And they were quite high-grade. They weren’t very helpful to me right now, but they would be quite useful if I took them to the real world or another world.

‘Even if their effects are reduced when taken to another world, I can make a good profit by selling them through brokers in the real world. In the Baekhwan world, I can raise maids or female knights.’

I took all the elixirs and put them in my inventory. They would be a great help to my daughters who were born in the [Baekhwan] world.

Feeling good, I decided to accept the caravan guards’ greetings.

“I will accept your greetings. You can make noise now. But if you make any shitty noises, I’ll kill you.”

They still kept their eyes down. They were smart. If they had tried to make eye contact with me, their heads would have flown off immediately.

The head guard cautiously stepped forward and said to me.

“Sir. Thank you for your help. We will repay you later in the name of the Gu-eung Caravan Company.”

“I didn’t do it for a reward. What you need to do is spread the word that I killed the Mountain King’s sworn brother. And also that I’m the one who killed the former Mountain King.”

“…We will do our best to spread your fame, sir. To do so, we must know your honorable name. Would you be willing to tell us your honorable name, sir?”

“I’ll only say it once, so listen carefully. I am Seong Yujin, the son-in-law of the Daenamgung Family and the Little Heavenly Demon of the Heavenly Demon Cult.”