Chapter 2568 – 2568. The Ascent To The Light

As soon as the Martial Alliance Lord landed on the ground, he reversed the summoning of the Blue Crane and concealed his own energy. The level he was emitting was that of an Aura Master.

“Why are you hiding your energy?”

“If a Harmonious Realm avatar suddenly appears, wouldn’t the monsters be frightened and hide? On the other hand, if it’s at the Aura Master level, wouldn’t the monsters be careless instead of hiding? How about you hide your energy too?”

The Martial Alliance Lord was much more cunning than I thought. So, he must have an ulterior motive for following me around.

I landed and spread my senses.

It didn’t work. I could do it around me, but I couldn’t spread it far. It seemed I couldn’t use my senses for exploration.

Still, it wasn’t hard to pinpoint the location.

‘The flow of the ley lines is moving unnaturally and concentrating in one place.’

The White Tiger aiming for ascension must be there. We began to move.

“Thinking about it, something feels a bit strange.”

The Martial Alliance Lord said. I glanced at him. There wasn’t anything particularly strange.

“What is it?”

“Usually, for an important day when one attempts ascension, they would consult an oracle and choose an auspicious day to avoid misfortune. But we just happened to see a monster trying to ascend while passing by.”

“Isn’t it because monsters don’t know how to consult an oracle?”

“Even if the monster doesn’t know, their disciples might. Or they might bring in a fortune teller to consult.”

“The fortune teller must have been a quack. Or they deliberately told them an inauspicious day.”

The Martial Alliance Lord looked at the sky, which was dyed red. Then he sighed.

“I don’t have any talent for divination, so I can’t read good or bad omens…. I’m realizing that I haven’t accumulated enough merit. You should be careful too.”

“Alright.”

Soon, we found a monster.

It was a bald monster sitting under a tree. The bald monster with jagged teeth was startled and stood up, holding a spear. His cultivation was at the Initial Stage. He was a nobody.

“O-Old sir! What brings you here?!”

He said to me nervously.

Instead of answering, I raised my fist. Whoosh. Transparent wind gathered around my fist.

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

I instantly closed the distance with the bald monster. The monster, as if realizing it only after I arrived, looked up in panic and tried to swing his spear.

He was slow. My fist pierced the bald monster’s abdomen.

Bang!

The wind exploded, sending the bald monster flying backward. The surrounding trees broke and fell.

“That was a flashy fist. Is there a reason you wrapped wind around your fist? It doesn’t seem to have any substance despite its appearance. Just infuse your fist with internal energy and swing it. That’s more efficient.”

“It’s dozens of winds. Even a master familiar with the Transcendent Realm wouldn’t be able to deflect all of that, would they?”

“Oh… was that fist aimed at me? The idea is good. But the will controlling that wind is singular. So there’s no reason why it can’t be deflected.”

“There’s a saying that you can know the depth of ten fathoms of water, but not the depth of a man’s heart.”

“Isn’t that a bit different from this?”

I approached the Martial Alliance Lord and swung my fist, wrapped in wind, just like before. The Martial Alliance Lord also received it with his fist.

Bang!

An explosion rang out. The shockwave flew back at me. I stepped back, enduring the shockwave. The Martial Alliance Lord was unscathed.

‘So, these tricks don’t work.’

The wind fist was a bust. I turned my head to interrogate the bald monster.

“O-Old sirs. I-I’m a good monster…! Please spare me! Please!”

The monster trembled in fear. He couldn’t escape because the Martial Alliance Lord had his shoulder pinned down.

“If you want to live, answer my questions well. Where is the White Tiger who is trying to ascend?”

“You mean the White Iron Forbidden Tiger (白鐵禁虎)? He’s in the White Iron Palace. I know he always trains there unless there’s something special.”

“I didn’t see any palace when I looked from the sky. It was all trees.”

“The White Iron Palace is underground.”

“You built a palace underground? In that stuffy place?”

“Well… it’s to avoid the eyes of humans. Exorcists and the government troops regularly patrol and hunt down monsters… We monsters have no choice but to hide.”

“Some monsters are openly active, though?”

“Those are the foolish ones who can’t control their temper. They’ll eventually get caught by exorcists, government troops, or ronin and be exterminated. I’m different from them. I don’t even touch humans. If you look around this mountain, there’s so much to eat, why would I bother with humans? Please spare me! I beg you!”

“Aren’t you a disciple of the White Tiger?”

“No! I’m a mercenary! They said they’d give me techniques and martial arts if I worked here, so I just decided to stay here for a while!”

“I didn’t see an entrance to the underground when I looked from the sky. Where is it?”

“The entrance is enchanted, so those who aren’t allowed can’t see it!”

“Where is it? At least tell me the general direction.”

I said with annoyance. The bald monster’s face turned pale.

“I-It’s in the northwest from here.”

“Where is northwest?”

“It’s on the left.”

The Martial Alliance Lord interjected.

“You could have just said left or right, but you had to make it sound fancy….”

[Opening the Heavenly Eye (天眼).]

The Heavenly Eye pierced through the trees and rocks and found the entrance hidden by magic. It was a large cave, but it was blocked by a sturdy iron door.

“It’s real.”

Thwack!

The Martial Alliance Lord kicked the bald monster’s head, killing him. I looked at him with surprised eyes.

“Hmm? It seemed like he was already useless, so I killed him. You, were you really going to spare the monster? You were going to spare him, but I killed him. I’ll vouch for your honor.”

“That’s not it. I was going to kill him, but you killed him instead.”

“Think of it as me helping you with your work.”

The Martial Alliance Lord had no mercy for monsters. He even kicked the bald monster’s body away.

Anyway, we headed to the cave entrance. The Martial Alliance Lord only realized the entrance’s existence when he got close to it.

“Your ability to see through magic is better than mine. I have a good idea.”

“I’m listening.”

“You’ll probably charge in head-on and kill all the monsters.”

“You’re stating the obvious. That’s what power is for.”

“I’ll hide my presence and move secretly to help you at the crucial moment. I’ll be your hidden ace. How about it?”

“You can hide?”

“I have a few tricks up my sleeve.”

Clap!

The Martial Alliance Lord clasped his hands together. Soon, the energy of Yin and Yang Tai Chi rippled from his palms and wrapped around his body, making him transparent.

I could see through him with my Heavenly Eye, but I couldn’t feel his presence at all.

“…You had an even better stealth technique than the Slaughter King.”

“It’s just a trick using the power of Tai Chi. I’ll follow you on my own. Begin.”

I stood in front of the iron door. It was a thick iron door, about 30cm thick. To me, it was no different from a 3cm thick wooden door.

I raised my right foot. Internal energy flowed into my right foot, turning into blue lightning. Crackle. I kicked the iron door with my lightning-infused foot.

Kwaaaaaang!

The crumpled iron door fell backward. I stepped over the door and entered the underground. The interior was bright and lavish. They had lit fires with magic and decorated the path with illusions. But I could see the essence of everything. In reality, it was just a damp cave with bumps and bloodstains.

The monsters popped out from all over the cave at the loud noise. Monsters that were very different from human appearances. Two monsters stepped forward among them.

One was a cow monster with a cow’s head, wearing armor and holding a glaive. The other was a faceless stone monster in the shape of a human. The stone monster was wearing a robe.

“How dare humans attack while the Mountain Lord (山君) is trying to ascend!”

“Are you an exorcist? A misfortune has occurred on this auspicious day! Today was supposed to be an auspicious day! I’ll tear that fortune-telling spider who took our money to pieces!”

I narrowed my eyes and gauged the two monsters’ cultivation. Both monsters were at the early stage of the Three Flowers Gathering.

‘Their cultivation isn’t high, and they don’t seem to have good magical artifacts. Did they raise their cultivation through external methods instead of proper training?’

I could tell from the bloodstains all over the cave. These guys had been eating humans to raise their cultivation.

“Why are you silent? Exorcist. What is your name?”

“Since you seem to have great skill, I will hear your name.”

“Don’t act noble, you monsters who resort to cannibalism because of your lack of talent.”

I summoned the Fire Lotus Dagger from my inventory. Crackle. Red lightning flowed along the blade.

“…You speak so nicely. If it weren’t for that hateful emperor, you humans wouldn’t even dare to meet our eyes.”

“I’ll tear you apart alive and offer you to my master. Kill him.”

Kwakwakwa!

A giant centipede monster popped out from the ground beneath my feet.

‘Leap.’

I teleported backward and stabbed the centipede’s body with the Fire Lotus Dagger.

“Did you think I wouldn’t notice you approaching while hiding your appearance with magic?”

Thunder Sky Style (雷天流) Thunder罡 Blade (雷罡刃).

A red slash forged with lightning and qi cut the centipede’s body in half. Taking advantage of the centipede falling down while spewing fluids everywhere, the monsters charged at me all at once.

I pointed my left hand sword finger forward.

“Cloud Command. Wind Blade (風刃).”

Dozens of wind blades mixed with sword qi were created, tearing through the monsters and swirling inside the cave. Most of the monsters were ground to pieces by the wind blades. Only the cow monster and the stone monster were holding on.

Their bodies were as hard as steel, and the wind blades couldn’t even leave a scratch. It seemed to be the technique they had learned.

“That’s an amazing technique. You must be from a prestigious background.”

“But we are also at the Three Flowers Gathering! You can’t possibly face both of us at the same time!”

I blocked the cow monster’s spear with my sword and the stone monster’s fist with my palm. I didn’t even need to use the mysteries of the Transcendent Realm. Their power was weaker than mine.

“Don’t compare me to you, who have learned trash techniques and martial arts. Do you know why martial artists and cultivators want peerless techniques? Because the level is different.”

Zzzzzzt.

Black lightning flashed all over my body and gathered in my legs. I stepped forward without hesitation.

Heavenly Demon Divine Art (天魔神功) Heavenly Demon Descent Step (天魔君臨步).

“Cough?!”

“Kuh?!”

The two monsters coughed up blood as if they had suffered internal injuries.

Thunder Sky Style (雷天流) Thunder Flash (雷光).

Heavenly Demon Divine Art (天魔神功) Dragon Fist (竜拳).

The sword cut through the cow monster’s spear and body, and my left fist shattered the stone monster’s head in one blow. I gathered the black lightning flowing through my body and approached the cave, which had become a sea of blood.

A pale man with a sword was standing at the entrance of the palace.

“He’s not human, he’s a ghost. He has a beastly feeling… Is he a Chang Gui (倀鬼)?”

“Did you come after killing my disciples? …I guess I’ll die here today. My name is Yoo Jae.”

“I’m Sung Yoo Jin.”

[Using Acceleration. Duration: 10 minutes. Remaining stacks: 11]
[Using Instant (刹那). Remaining stacks: 10]
Thunder Sky Style (雷天流) Flying Thunder God (飛雷神).
Thunder Sky Style (雷天流) Mind Sword (心卽劍).

A flash of light appeared, and I was standing behind the Chang Gui.

“Alright. It was nice meeting you. Farewell.”

The Chang Gui was cut in half and fell down, spewing blood.

‘Even if I recognized his mental image, the Mind Sword is still not perfect.’

I massaged my throbbing right wrist and moved forward.