I purposely spoke out loud to solidify my resolves, as doing so might help keep me sane. With my resolve strengthened, I got up. This time I was determined to at least stay alive for twenty years.

‘And I won’t go back to the Azure Dragon Martial Arts School.’

At least not in this life. Unless I absolutely need more power, I’d rather not see Lee Kwang’s face again. I set my own reckless policy and sprinted out of the barn.

Once I got the Dark Secret, I immediately rushed to Mount Huang. Comparing my speed, after learning Heavenly Gathering Kill and occasionally using Thunderclap, I felt like I was moving way faster than before. I even managed to shave a whole two days off my previous time getting to Mount Huang.

Skreeee!

I paused on a rock at the summit of the mountain, looking down at Mount Huang. It was almost painful to think that I had done this ten times already. But I forced myself to gather my energy and headed toward the secrets of the mountain.

Once I entered the secret site of Mount Huang, I devoured the Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng and Black and White Lotus. This time, it didn’t feel like my meridians were opening up; instead, it felt as if my energy was just pooling neatly beneath my Dantian. My meridians must have been almost fully penetrated, shifting my energy accumulation stage. It was discouraging that I didn’t feel any apparent progress.

‘It seems from now on, eating Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng won’t yield much improvement.’

That thought dampened my spirits. I had enjoyed the thrill of eating the ginseng up until now, but if it’s not useful, what am I supposed to live for? Complaining under my breath, I dove under the pond.

Plop!

After entering the ruins beneath the pond, I stood in front of the altar.

First, I moved the gold bar from the hidden wooden armor outside, then returned to my spot and began to ponder.

‘How can I read this text?’

I never thought about it before, as I had been so focused on getting the Water Element Divine Sword and working hard. This text looks clearly like some strange otherworldly language, so how am I able to read the inscriptions in this site? If I hadn’t figured this out, I might have just ended up endlessly circling the altar without a clue.

Being able to read a language I never studied… it felt exceptionally bizarre.

Ku-ru-ru-ru!

While pondering, I bled onto the altar, and the stone wall began to open. This time, I was armed with a spear instead of a sword. I had imagined my approach dozens of times, and now I was set on breaking through the Guardian Giant Spider in a different way.

“Here we go…”

I focused Thunder Spirit Technique into my spear as I stood silently at the entrance of the narrow bridge. A moment later, a huge thunderous roar announced the entrance of something dark and hefty. The Guardian Giant Spider jumped down from the ceiling; upon spotting me, its glowing red eyes rolled dramatically.

Skreeee – !!

I gritted my teeth. Strangely enough, the guardian didn’t seem that scary anymore. After all, just days ago, I’d been surrounded by hundreds of those otherworldly monsters, fighting like mad. With a glint of poisonous energy in my eyes, I swung the spear.

Spiraling!

One of the basic spear techniques, Spiraling, burst forth. The front leg of the charging spider got caught up in the rotating blade of my spear, and with a sizzling sound, it was ripped off. The spider’s leg, as tough as solid steel, was flung off by just one application of the technique.

At the same time, I didn’t even need to worry about the attack distance. I deftly dodged the spider’s thread attacks with the Na technique, and stepped half a pace forward, stepping into Ground-impact Technique.

“Slam!”

The thrust hit cleanly, piercing the joint of the Guardian Giant Spider’s large leg in one strike. The spear rotation multiplied in seconds, and I successfully blew away one of its eight giant legs.

Skreeee – !!!!

The spider emitted a terrifying scream layered with many voices. I chuckled, feeling satisfaction at being the first one to land a solid blow on it.

“Ha… so that’s your real face?”

Suddenly, from the spider’s eye section, red bubbles began to form, revealing a gigantic human face amidst them, exuding a fierce evil aura.

Swish, swish, swish!

The giant spider became truly enraged, and instead of weaving a web, it released hundreds of white threads from its entire body, reminiscent of the overwhelming techniques that once left me powerless to fight back. I couldn’t imagine piercing through the downpour of those threads again.

But this time, I was different. There was no way I’d let it have time to expel all those threads. I activated my deadly technique.

Thunderclap!

The world slowed down as the Thunder Spirit Technique surged through me, making my nerves feel electrified. In the world that had morphed into black and white, I leapt in without hesitation and threw my spear. This was the only throwing spear technique in the Thunder God Lineage.

Thwack!

The spear flew in a parabolic arc and pierced the spider’s head in a straight shot. In that split second, where more than half the spear was buried deep into its skull, I closed the distance and drew my sword.

Lightning flowed down the handle. With all my internal power, I swung down my sword. It was a manifestation of the Ten Thousand Success Sword Technique, coupled with the ultimate Thunder Blade slashing strike. All the internal power I had built up concentrated into a single point and shattered the spider’s head again.

BOOM!

This wouldn’t be a single slash. Dodging the jet of spider fluids that erupted amid the Thunderclap’s grip, I thrust my sword deeper. The Lightning Blade shattered through its resistance and began to wreak havoc inside the creature. I wasn’t done yet; I withdrew my sword and slashed again.

This was the Ten Thousand Success Sword Technique—Ten Thousand Slashes!

Reciting the name of the technique, I continued with the Thunder Spirit Technique, stepping on the spider’s back and leaping towards the opposite side. Ordinarily, one would fear the spider’s counterattack, but I’d already landed so many deadly hits, making it incapable of retaliation during this brief moment. I didn’t have to worry about a thing as its blood slowly oozed out in a series of heart-stopping moments.

With that, I grabbed the Manya and again turned back to launch an enormous Lightning Blade as a sword wave. This should have been impossible for an ordinary martial artist, but I didn’t care. Five Lightning Blades, each roughly the size of one palm, shot out in rapid succession, lifting the Guardian Giant Spider off the ground. I approached and cut down once more, landing gracefully at the entrance.

This was the result of a single breath’s worth of Thunder Spirit Technique. As I dashed for the exit, I could hear the thunderous splatter of the spider’s purple fluids surging behind me.

Skree – Kreeek – !!!

“Man, what a tough guy!”

The giant spider was layering up the damage without dying, echoing throughout the ruins. I scowled and retrieved a dagger from my pocket, tossing it at the creature.

Clang!

The dagger slammed against the giant spider’s hulking body. During my training at the Azure Dragon Martial Arts School, I managed to learn how to fully utilize my powers, and now I was capable of packing tremendous weight into even a small dagger. As I sensed the spider’s wild writhing begin to ease, I quietly slipped out of the Water Element Divine Sword ruins.

After leaving the pond, I collected three Black and White Lotus roots and stowed them away in my bag. Huddling my bag, I muttered, “Next time, I’ve got to take some Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng with me.”

This time, I’d swallowed it like I meant to, but somehow it felt like I needed more than just the Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng to thrive. I found myself eager to try it out for something beyond just my own consumption.

I immediately started racing toward Jinrang Valley. Remarkably, thanks to my mastering of Thunder Shadow Step and further refining sacred techniques of the Azure Dragon Martial Arts, my speed had dramatically increased. I dashed across the plains at windswept speeds, stirring up a sound behind me that echoed like a gale. Climbing over treacherous terrains and cliffs, I kept sprinting without feeling the slightest bit slow.

Of course, I made sure to stop at Taekyung Village to sneak out the Phoenix Fragment hidden in the study.

Tap, tap, tap!

Upon arriving at Jinrang Valley, I climbed up to meet Mangnyang in broad daylight. He was absorbed in examining a “Spring Flower Collection” when I suddenly appeared, causing a startled expression to break out.

“Huh… who are you?”

I forced a wry smile. “Just a fool who didn’t listen to you and got himself killed.”

“…?”

I had sprinted fast enough that this time, I ended up with time to spare. So I sat down directly across from Mangnyang, calmly explaining what had happened up until this point. At first, he looked at me like I was insane, but then his expression transformed into one of deep interest, eventually growing serious as he listened.

“…So, I disregarded your words and ended up dead, starting my tenth life now.”

“Hmm… Baek Woong, have you ever considered writing a novel? With your storytelling skills, you’d quickly become the most famous storyteller in Luoyang,” he suggested.

“Don’t seem to believe me, huh?”

“Would you believe a stranger suddenly showing up saying such things? Given your skills, I’m at least listening, but this is all too surreal.”

“Maybe this will change your mind,” I declared, producing the Manya, Phoenix Fragment, and Black and White Lotus roots in order. Seeing the golden oracle bone script emerging from the Manya left him utterly astonished. With such solid evidence in hand, he had no choice but to believe me. As he held the Manya, his hands trembled.

“Wh… what is this? Does this mean it’s all real?”

“Yep. And it sounds like you were battling against the Demon Suppression Hall to form the Bancheon Alliance, but after they got the Seven Luminaries, it plunged the world into danger with monsters from another realm being summoned to take lives.”

“The Bancheon Alliance… Ha ha,” Mangnyang chuckled as if recalling an old story. “That’s a group from the martial novels I used to scribble in my youth…”

“Proof that you created that group,” I pointed out.

“Well, I believe you to some extent. Seriously, it feels like I have been through all kinds of bizarre situations.”

After a moment of reflection, Mangnyang asked, “But what’s your plan now?”

“First, I aim to head to Cheon Woo-jin and work together to prevent the calamity of the Manya.”

“No, what I mean is how are you going to defeat the Demon Suppression Hall.”

“…?”

Mangnyang’s expression reflected concern as he rested his chin on his hand. What he said struck a point I hadn’t considered at all.