Broken Ranker Devours Myths - Chapter 100

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Broken Ranker

Devours Myths

 

Chapter 100

Apostle Trial (5)

 

 

 

Lee Hyeon tried to calmly assess his current state.

He had learned a new way of perception by expanding the domain of ‘self’,

but now that his actual sense of touch had returned, that perception felt even more vivid.

‘It feels like my body is bound with chains or restraints.’

Lee Hyeon pulled his hands and feet inward.

His body moved unnaturally.

It was difficult to even get up.

Expanding his domain further, he seemed to be alone in a large sealed room.

‘I feel like a prisoner in a movie… First, I need to find the gatekeeper of this floor. Where exactly is he?’

Lee Hyeon was about to draw out his Lightning Energy, thinking he should first break these chains binding his limbs,

“Hmm… I was excited that a qualified candidate had finally entered the trial grounds, but why has such a strange fellow entered?”

The air across from him trembled slightly, and someone slowly walked out.

Using the waves of consciousness that expanded ‘self’, he could roughly guess the opponent’s appearance and actions.

The figure of an old man leaning on a staff.

His eyes, which had only white like glass beads, were very warm yet clear. It was like looking into a mirror.

But what was even more surprising was,

‘A monkey…?’

The opponent was not human, but a fairly large ape.

 

[The gatekeeper of the first floor, Lingming Stone Monkey, has appeared.]

 

It looked exactly like the Flower Fruit Mountain monkeys he had seen in or .

No, it was a demon with a slightly larger build.

“Human child. What exactly are you… Ah, right now you won’t be able to hear my voice because of the trial.”

The elderly monkey, Lingming Stone Monkey, cleared his throat lightly and opened his mouth.

『Ah. Ah. Can you hear my voice, child?』

‘…!’

Lee Hyeon’s eyes widened slightly at the voice that directly penetrated his mind.

A method of transmitting thoughts that seemed like a voice yet not quite a voice.

It was different from the vocal method that Son Wukong or Sha Wujing used when they took on smaller forms.

Should he say it was like conveying one’s will directly to the opponent’s soul?

Or should he say it was like bringing out the voice of one’s inner thoughts?

Along with the thought that conversation was possible in this way,

he was amazed at how deep and vast a consciousness one would need to casually use such techniques.

『Who exactly are you to be able to enter this place? This is a trial ground that only apostles of the Great Sage Equal to Heaven can enter.』

A voice as benevolent as a sage.

『And why,』

But within it was full of wariness and suspicion toward Lee Hyeon.

『Do you possess not only that person’s Sacred Relic, but even his techniques?』

Lingming Stone Monkey brought his staff to Lee Hyeon’s nape.

『Are you a plunderer?』

Lee Hyeon finally understood what Lingming Stone Monkey was suspicious of.

‘He’s suspicious that I came instead of Suchan hyung.’

Lee Hyeon could now understand who the gatekeepers of each floor were.

‘The Four Monkeys… Monkeys who were Son Wukong’s retainers or possessed comparable talent. This is one of them.’

 

[Four Monkeys]

Four monkeys who received the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. They are Son Wukong’s four great retainers.

Though they possessed the qualities to become demon kings of various regions, Son Wukong made them all his retainers, or forcibly subjugated those who were enemies.

-Origin: Myth ‘Journey to the West’

 

Among them, Lingming Stone Monkey means a spiritual and wise stone monkey.

Originally Son Wukong belonged to this category, but when he became Buddha, he passed this qualification to his most beloved subordinate.

‘That seems to be this elderly monkey…’

Lee Hyeon swallowed dryly.

‘That means all the Four Monkeys are in this Five Elements Tower.’

After Son Wukong’s fall from heaven, the monkeys of Flower Fruit Mountain ran around the Lower Realm to revive him.

They searched for new apostle candidates and made arrangements everywhere to prepare the foundation for his growth…

The Four Monkeys would naturally have been at the center of this.

After completing all the arrangements, wouldn’t they have rested in trial grounds like this?

Earnestly praying that the apostle would complete the arrangements well and bring back Son Wukong.

But…

‘It must be confusing since I came instead of the apostle they had marked.’

Lee Hyeon finally felt his mind clearing up bit by bit.

『Hmm, it’s difficult to converse in this state, isn’t it? Still, you should be able to hear my thoughts, so try writing something on the floor with your finger.』

Lee Hyeon was about to write on the floor but hesitated for a moment.

He felt the desire to have a proper conversation with Lingming Stone Monkey.

Simply conveying his intentions through writing could easily lead to misunderstandings.

‘Isn’t there a way?’

Lee Hyeon carefully observed Lingming Stone Monkey’s method of communication.

He could feel the vast consciousness greatly rippling whenever it expressed some will.

At the same time, certain patterned waves flowed out little by little, and when he directly encountered them, he heard the voice.

‘Those waves… Maybe I could enhance the power by putting them not just into will, but also into movements or skills.’

Was it thanks to his accelerated thinking speed from the Golden Headband?

Lee Hyeon could roughly understand its uses too.

‘Drawing out one’s will or mental images to the outside… It’s different from thoughts that only remain as traces. It moves really vividly. With mastery, even form control might be possible.’

It felt like glimpsing a higher realm that couldn’t be expressed in words.

A technique completely different from skills or Divine Authority.

Fortunately, if he made good use of the Lightning Network he had currently shot out to detect the outside,

even if not exactly the same, he felt he could roughly imitate it to some degree.

He just needed to infuse mental images into the Lightning Network.

‘Dou Zhan technique. Right. In the traces of the Great Sage’s training I saw at Flower Fruit Mountain, there were definitely such mental images…’

『You there, do you perhaps not know how to write?』

Lingming Stone Monkey pushed his staff closer.

Lee Hyeon intuitively knew that the moment the will he sensed was loaded into the staff, it could become a sharp blade and strike his neck.

‘Let’s try it.’

Fortunately, Lee Hyeon had a secret weapon.

Whiiiiiing!!

The Golden Headband began to rotate.

 

[The Golden Headband generates white heat. As thinking speed accelerates, it creates intention (意念) that patterns mental images!]

[You have mastered a new way to use the Golden Headband.]

 

‘Intention? So this is what they call intention? I’ve learned something interesting.’

Lee Hyeon realized that his expanded consciousness could produce a ‘voice’ and slowly spoke out.

『Why is there no response at all,』

『Ah, ah. Is this… the right… way?』

『……!?』

『So this is how it’s done. Can you hear me now?』

Lee Hyeon’s voice would sometimes cut off or have mixed up volumes,

but the intention he wanted to convey was accurately transmitted to the Spiritual Stone Monkey.

Thanks to this, the Spiritual Stone Monkey was startled.

『You knew how to use intention? But why didn’t you speak all this time,』

『This is my first time trying it.』

『What?』

『More importantly, it seems my voice is being heard well, which is fortunate. Now we can finally have a conversation.』

『This is really your first attempt?』

『That’s right. Is there some problem?』

『No, no, there’s no problem but… How on earth… Even if you’re using the Golden Headband… Ha!』

The Spiritual Stone Monkey looked utterly incredulous.

Lee Hyeon’s intention was now becoming as smooth as actual speech.

His comprehension speed was impossibly fast.

Considering that even when ordinary humans awakened intention, it took considerable time to draw it out, this was an incomprehensible sight.

Originally, intention was the basic material for completing martial arts (武) and techniques (術).

To receive the transmission of combat techniques, one absolutely needed intention.

『Normally, this is a skill that one would aim to realize only after passing through this entire trial ground… No. Rather, is it because you have such talent that you could come this far despite not being an apostle?』

The Spiritual Stone Monkey muttered to himself in words Lee Hyeon couldn’t understand, then focused his gaze again.

『This works out well then. So, who exactly are you? Why is a human pretending to be an apostle when you’re not one?』

Thud…

Heavy power flowed along the staff.

『You’d better explain properly. We very much dislike lies.』

Lee Hyeon nodded and slowly began to speak.

It was exactly the same reaction he’d seen when first meeting Son Wukong.

The Spiritual Stone Monkey’s transparent eyes seemed to operate differently from the Golden Eyes of Truth, discerning the truth of the other party.

He had no intention of lying anyway.

『The Su-chan you’re referring to…』

And so began Lee Hyeon’s explanation.

The Spiritual Stone Monkey’s pupils shook violently.

『…The original apostle sacrificed himself in your place and passed the Golden Eyes of Truth to you? After that, you met the King and came here?』

『That’s correct.』

『And even the Fire Monk and Queen Mother Lü… I did sense the Tower of Five Elements suddenly changing, but their apostle trials too? What on earth is this.』

The Spiritual Stone Monkey seemed confused by the flood of information.

But there were no lies.

Moreover, besides Son Wukong’s blessing, Sha Wujing and the Peng Demon King’s blessings were also being added to the tower.

The sudden change in external environment seemed to be due to that as well.

『So you are the King’s new apostle? The King has also acknowledged that you may now take the trial?』

『That’s correct.』

He didn’t know how many times the same question had been asked,

but Lee Hyeon nodded again this time too.

『…You are indeed handling three Sacred Relics. Ha. Haha. How am I supposed to understand this?』

The Spiritual Stone Monkey soon organized his thoughts and narrowed his eyes.

『Strange, and far too strange. I find it difficult to easily accept your existence.』

The Spiritual Stone Monkey seemed to suspect Lee Hyeon even more now than at first.

『Could you tell me what seems suspicious?』

『Your very existence itself.』

『…?』

『Are you not human?』

What was wrong with that?

『How can a mere human become the King’s apostle? He is the King of demons born with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, one who transcended the limits of the demonic path to be reborn as a Buddha.』

Deep anger was embedded in the Spiritual Stone Monkey’s voice.

『He became a god (神) as a demon (魔), ultimately encompassing even the Heavenly Realm and able to directly meet the gaze of beings from the distant Outer Sea. How could a human who cannot embrace the demonic nature from birth inherit this?』

Lee Hyeon couldn’t understand terms like Outer Sea or innate nature,

but he could easily grasp the meaning contained in his words.

『Are you saying I lack qualification?』

『Qualification is not the issue.』

The Spiritual Stone Monkey shook his head firmly.

『It means humans cannot become the King’s apostle in the first place.』

『How does that make sense? Then Su-chan was…』

At that moment, Lee Hyeon could glimpse the hidden side of truth he had never known.

『…Do you mean Su-chan wasn’t originally human?』

Lee Hyeon’s face hardened.

 

* * *

 

In fact, if he thought back with a suspicious mind,

there were many aspects about Moon Su-chan that could be questioned.

‘Neither I nor the orphanage director knew anything about Su-chan’s past or parents. He never mentioned them either.’

But he hadn’t particularly suspected he wasn’t human because of this.

After all, most children in the orphanage had similar pasts.

He had only thought that Moon Su-chan simply disliked mentioning his parents.

‘…I was the same way.’

But there were actually several more suspicious aspects.

His appetite during military academy days, which was several times larger than others,

His exceptionally sharp senses during mission operations,

Or,

‘The way he often associated with demons during childhood.’

Hadn’t Moon Su-chan obtained the Golden Eyes of Truth by associating with monkey demons in some cave?

But considering that demons generally antagonize rather than associate with humans,

Moon Su-chan as an existence was certainly distant from the category of ordinary humans.

‘Did he know his own identity?’

Lee Hyeon thought he probably knew.

Even if he didn’t know, he would have at least known that he was subtly different from others in some ways.

He had always been perceptive in strange ways.

‘Right. Whatever his identity was, what does it matter.’

Lee Hyeon shook his head.

‘He’s just my brother. That fact doesn’t change.’

It only made his heart ache more.

Missing so much the brother who sacrificed everything to save his worthless younger brother…

『The King must have known this fact as well. Hmm. Why on earth would he make such a choice…?』

He spoke to Yeongmyeong Seokhu, who still hadn’t withdrawn his suspicious gaze.

『What’s so important about that fact?』

『What?』

『What’s most important to you all is ultimately whether the Great Sage’s apostle is qualified or not, isn’t it?』

Yeongmyeong Seokhu pressed his lips tightly together for a moment.

His pupils, which had been transparent like glass beads, wavered.

Lee Hyeon said.

『Aren’t you seeing it? I already have more than enough qualifications to take the test.』

『……You wouldn’t understand as a human, but this isn’t something that can be concluded so easily. The matter of whether one is a yokai or not,』

Crack-

Clang clang clang!!

Lee Hyeon maximized Dueoksini’s fury output and broke the iron chains with all his might in one go.

Then he stood up from his seat.

『……!!』

Overwhelming intimidation.

Yeongmyeong Seokhu’s eyes widened.

Rumble-

Flash! Flash!!

The interior of the sealed room, which had only been filled with darkness and cold air, was instantly filled with blue-white lightning and hot winds.

『I don’t care about such circumstances, so you choose one of the two.』

This was an opportunity Moon Su-chan had created by giving everything he had.

He had a duty to run with all his might until the very end of that opportunity.

『Will you administer the test, or won’t you? If you refuse to the very end,』

Lee Hyeon spoke in a cold tone.

『I’ll step on you and climb up.』

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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