Ranker Who Shatters Myths - Chapter 147

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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 147

Wuyou King (3)

 

 

 

“Aaahhh!”

“Ahh!”

“Save me……”

“My arm! My aaarm!”

A hospital ward overflowing with injured patients.

Most of them were survivors from Ping Xin.

Lu Wuchen was moving among the patients with his face covered by a mask, dedicating himself to treatment.

Beside him, his secretary was reporting on the day’s events.

“……So currently, Ping Xin is in a state of complete annihilation. It will take considerable time to finish counting the survivors.”

“So they tried to use Ping Xin as a sacrifice but ended up getting wiped out instead? Heh heh. The Committee, no, the Party will be in quite an uproar soon.”

“……”

A calm tone.

But the secretary kept his lips tightly sealed and gave no response.

Just then, Lu Wuchen, who had been placing the final acupuncture needle on the patient he was treating, wiped the sweat from his forehead and spoke.

“Arrange a negotiation meeting with White Burn.”

The secretary’s eyes widened.

It meant he intended to surrender.

“N-No! The Party will have something to say…!”

Lu Wuchen simply stared at him silently.

The secretary’s face turned pale.

“B-But the Party has o-ordered us to r-respond h-harshly to th-this incident……”

“I’ll take responsibility.”

“……”

“If we continue to maintain this confrontational stance with White Burn, the only path left is self-destruction. We couldn’t even properly stop a single combat unit, and if ASTRA gets involved too? Could we handle that?”

A sharp criticism.

The secretary pressed his lips tightly together.

In China, criticism and refusal of Party orders was taboo.

Yet Lu Wuchen brushed it off as if it were nothing.

Was this confidence coming from being a top ranker, one of only 9 among billions of people?

Or was it his natural disposition?

“Any more than this would be pointless damage. The Committee might suffer irreversible harm.”

“……”

“I don’t want to see that happen. The Party will be noisy for a while anyway, so they won’t be able to impose direct sanctions. Proceed with it.”

“……Yes. I understand.”

At this moment, the secretary realized something.

‘He’s just naturally different. Unlike those superiors who don’t care how many subordinates die and only care about their own advancement, he’s on a different level……!’

In fact, this scene alone was proof enough.

When a big shot like Lu Wuchen comes down, usually the key figures in the region gather to curry favor.

But Lu Wuchen had thoroughly hidden his visit. He even ordered the hospital director to keep quiet.

So that unnecessary protocol wouldn’t interfere with the medical staff’s treatment.

He had even personally selected and treated only the most severely injured patients.

The secretary’s heart swelled with the fact that he was serving such a person.

So he was hurrying to carry out the order when suddenly junior secretaries rushed over urgently and whispered something to Lu Wuchen.

“We’ve lost contact with some Committee branches in the Shanxi and Sichuan regions. There are reports of signs of troop movement and gathering in those areas.”

“Chairman Peng’s close associates have disappeared one after another. Evidence of some of them making contact with Russian overseas Chinese forces was discovered just moments ago……”

That was just what could be overheard.

But the following details seemed even more serious.

In some regions, military supplies and Hunter auxiliary funds had disappeared.

‘R-Rebellion!?’

It seemed Feng Jinghao wasn’t stepping down quietly and had caused some trouble.

Lu Wuchen’s expression also hardened.

“You heard that? Hurry up.”

“Y-Yes!!”

The secretary ran off urgently.

It seemed the storm that had struck the Central Hero Committee was still far from over.

 

* * *

 

Lee Hyeon swallowed the Nine Gods Plaque as Son Wukong had instructed.

He couldn’t understand the concept of eating a Sacred Relic,

but after actually swallowing it, he seemed to understand the reason.

The Nine Gods Plaque melted and went straight down his esophagus.

And then,

Whoooosh!

“……!!”

His mana circuit surged violently.

The amount hadn’t increased.

However, it had become fierce.

Like a wild beast.

 

[You have absorbed ‘Sacred Relic: Nine Gods Plaque’. The Sacred Relic activates, causing your magic power to take on a violent nature.]

 

[Nine Gods Plaque]

A Sacred Relic used by the Nine Gods Great Sage Wuyou King during his lifetime.

A jade plaque created by gathering the malice accumulated from devouring countless immortals and Buddhas. Just possessing it causes magic power to take on an extremely violent and ominous nature.

Sometimes it may even target its owner, so be careful.

-Type: Sacred Relic. Talisman.

-Origin: Myth ‘Journey to the West’

 

According to Son Wukong, the Nine Gods Plaque was a type of talisman.

It wasn’t used like a weapon, and simply keeping it in one’s inventory was usually enough to see its effects.

The evil karma accumulated from killing immortals and Buddhas would seep into one’s magic power, granting tremendous destructive force.

Since it was from the dark arts lineage, it connected well with inner emotional changes.

However,

‘A power that could devour its owner if used incorrectly.’

A blade tainted with evil karma never distinguished between friend and foe.

「The Nine Gods Plaque is different from Sha Wujing’s curse incantations. Curse incantations are well-refined, expressing various techniques in written form, but the Nine Gods Plaque draws out primal malice and evil karma from within. It’s more ferocious and violent.」

Lee Hyeon closed his eyes to control his magic power. Son Wukong’s voice reached his ears.

「But precisely because it’s so faithful to emotions, it also pairs well with demonic senses. Of course, only if you can handle it properly. Or if the master remains unharmed.」

A slight tension crept into Son Wukong’s voice.

「But right now the original owner is out of his mind, you know? The Sacred Relic is definitely messed up too, so keep your wits about you.」

Lee Hyeon couldn’t respond. The bubbling magic power reached his pineal gland in an instant.

The feeling of his brain being contaminated.

Or the feeling of cracks spreading through his soul.

Whiiiing!!

 

[The Golden Headband maintains a mental barrier. The Ruyi Jingu Bang regulates bodily metabolism with Super Recovery.]

 

「Then let’s begin.」

In that moment, stars burst across Lee Hyeon’s black vision.

 

[A sworn brotherhood contract begins! Yu Rong Wang is currently not in a state to voluntarily enter a contract.]

[With the help of ■■Great■ ■■kong, the contract with Yu Rong Wang proceeds. Part of the myth reveals itself.]

 

Flash!

His vision inverted.

He was in some dark and damp place.

‘A cave?’

But it was different from an ordinary cave.

A place filled with the stench of rotting blood and skulls.

‘The smell is terrible.’

Countless skulls were stacked like towers along the cave’s back wall.

Ding!

 

[You have entered an event dungeon.]

 

[Dungeon ‘Yu Rong Wang’s Cave’]

[You have currently entered somewhere within the myth of the ancient great sage Yu Rong Wang, whose divine nature has completely collapsed and is oxidizing.]

[Until he met the Seven Great Sages, Yu Rong Wang was originally a demon king who drove countless immortals and Buddhas into terror. To other demons as well, he was a symbol of fear.]

[From now on, build a friendship with such a Yu Rong Wang.]

 

[Achievement Conditions]

1. Demon Recognition

2. Friend Recognition

 

[Upon Success: Obtain sworn brotherhood qualification.]

[Upon Failure: Death.]

 

Finding Yu Rong Wang, the target whose favor he needed to win, wasn’t difficult.

Crack.

Crunch.

A giant-sized ape was right in front of him, breaking bones and sucking out the marrow.

An enormous size exceeding 3 meters.

The demonic energy flowing along his red fur was incredibly intense. That level could probably be called evil energy.

‘This one is… Yu Rong Wang.’

They said he had devoured the most immortals and Buddhas in the world.

That tower of skulls must be those very victims.

‘Too much resentment and grudges are layered upon layers here. How could anyone possibly survive in such an environment?’

On one hand, he wondered if a proper contract could even be made with such a being, when,

Clang-

A metallic sound came from the cave entrance.

“Well, I’ll be damned. What a sight. Immortals, Buddhas – you really are devouring them all, aren’t you?”

The sound of the Ruyi Jingu Bang striking rock.

Son Wukong in human form entered. He clicked his tongue with an expression of disbelief.

Yu Rong Wang slowly raised his head.

Bloodshot red eyes slowly scanned him.

Drip. Drip.

Blood still flowed from the corners of his mouth. The creature let out a low, deep sound.

“…What are you, monkey…? Why did you come here…?”

“Me? I just came to take a look.”

Son Wukong smiled coldly as he shouldered the Ruyi Jingu Bang.

“I heard there was a monster bastard here even worse than me. I was curious what kind of guy it was.”

“Curious… Mere spectators… don’t survive long…”

Yu Rong Wang’s fist clenched around a bone with a dull thud. But his speech was still slow, carrying a sinister resonance.

“Then try devouring me too. Or,”

Son Wukong pulled something from his back pocket and waved it.

A gourd bottle.

It gave off a refreshing fruit scent.

“Want to have a drink together? Though that might be harder for you.”

Yu Rong Wang looked at Son Wukong with slow eyes.

As if he couldn’t understand what he was thinking.

“Hm?”

But Son Wukong still smiled as he shook the gourd bottle,

“……”

A brief silence. Even the air inside the cave sank heavily.

And then,

Yu Rong Wang slowly rose from his seat.

 

* * *

 

Thunk!

“Blood wine… My most precious liquor…”

“This is fruit wine. I gathered fruits from Flower Fruit Mountain in rock crevices and fermented them for hundreds of days to barely make this.”

“I… like alcohol… Let’s share and drink together…”

Yu Rong Wang placed two upturned skulls on a table made by cleanly cutting rock.

Each skull cup contained different liquor.

One was fruit wine that gave a clear, refreshing feeling.

The other was rotting blood wine that reeked terribly.

The contrast was stark.

Son Wukong crossed his arms and stared intently at the blood wine placed before him.

“Don’t like it…?”

“Why wouldn’t I like it? It’s alcohol. I’m just curious since it’s my first time seeing it.”

“It’s my… precious liquor… Aged with the blood and marrow of… a Buddha I treasured…”

Yu Rong Wang sat across from Son Wukong with slow movements. A slight smile played at the corners of his mouth.

Lee Hyeon watched the entire scene with fascination.

‘It seems like a method where the contract is made using myths related to Son Wukong as a catalyst… What are you planning to do? I’m not adapting well here either.’

Since he didn’t know much about Yu Rong Wang, seeing that overwhelming presence and grotesqueness made him think, ‘So this is a demon king.’

However, the young Son Wukong gave off a different feeling.

Too pure to be called a demon, too domineering to be called an immortal or Buddha.

A feeling of being suspended somewhere along that boundary line.

However,

Lee Hyeon found the young Son Wukong even more frightening because of that.

Perhaps he was called the Demon King because he was so intensely unpredictable.

‘He’s different from the lingering thoughts I saw in Hwagok too. I should definitely learn something like that, right?’

Lee Hyeon intended to capture everything about the past Son Wukong with his Golden Eyes of Truth.

However, the problem remained of how to form a contract here…

“But… that thing… is it a snack? Can I… eat it? But… humans… taste bad.”

“…!?”

Just then, the Macaque King suddenly turned his gaze this way.

As if he was looking directly at Lee Hyeon.

His eyes were quite sharp too.

In that moment, Lee Hyeon’s face hardened,

“Won’t you open your eyes properly? How is that human? It’s a friend.”

Son Wukong subtly gestured with his eyes. Telling him to sit here.

Lee Hyeon realized that this drinking session was precisely the contract method.

Then, how should he appear to be the same kind of demon?

Lee Hyeon completely opened his mental energy based on a sudden thought.

Gooo-

 

[‘Trait: Fighting Style’ is applied, revealing demonic senses!]

 

“I’ve been playing in the human world and forgot to hide my senses. Would this be enough qualification to join you?”

He deliberately lowered his voice as well.

Compared to the Macaque King or Son Wukong, he would be nothing more than a tiny speck of dust,

but it was still enough to change the Macaque King’s sharp gaze back to drowsiness.

“Sorry… I was mistaken.”

‘Thank goodness. It worked.’

 

[From now on, you will begin to be perceived as a demon.]

[You have achieved the first condition of the sworn brotherhood test.]

 

Demons have a different cognitive system from humans.

What they perceive is not form but essence.

Fortunately, it seemed to work well.

“But you also… have to bring out liquor… We both… brought out liquor… I… hate guys who like freebies…”

But he couldn’t brew liquor that didn’t exist right here on the spot.

Lee Hyeon pondered what he should offer to win the favor of the Macaque King from the distant past.

‘Wait, what about that?’

Then a thought suddenly occurred to him.

This sworn brotherhood test would be more beneficial the more he won the Macaque King’s favor.

He would probably be able to control the malevolent nature of the Nine Gods Plaque that much better too.

But the way the Macaque King was looking at him now was closer to bluntness rather than favor.

It was only because Son Wukong was in front that this was possible; otherwise, even sharing a table would be impossible.

Then he had to offer a very big gift. Something that would drive the Macaque King crazy.

Coincidentally, there was just the right item.

Lee Hyeon spoke with a slightly mischievous tone.

“Would something like this be acceptable?”

Lee Hyeon took something out of his inventory and shook it.

The Jade Emperor’s Sacred Relic, Heavenly Void Furnace.

“…!!!”

At that moment,

The Macaque King’s pupils sparkled and glittered as if they contained a cluster of stars.

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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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