Climbing the Tower with Multidimensional Avatars - Chapter 14

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 14. Galactic Martial Arts World – Reincarnation (5)

As the Beggar’s Sect began encroaching on the Hao Sect’s domains—hotels, trade, and more—the Hao Sect responded by launching their own assault on the internet.
The Beggar’s Sect had maintained a firm grip on the internet, and customers rarely switched platforms unless facing significant problems or inconvenience.
Though the Beggar’s Sect had abandoned its origins as beggars, they became all the more devoted to their raison d’être: justice.
Righteousness was both the Beggar’s Sect’s greatest shield and their fatal vulnerability.
Just as the martial world divided into orthodox and heterodox sects, light and shadow paths, so too did the internet possess its luminous and shadowed realms.
The dark web.
The Hao Sect began penetrating the internet’s darkness, where criminals predominantly operated.
The Hao Sect’s gambit succeeded.
By seizing the territory the Beggar’s Sect could not bring themselves to touch, the Hao Sect escaped their encirclement and began contending with the Beggar’s Sect on equal footing.
The two Major Sects, their boundaries violated, waged an invisible information war both online and offline, across light and shadow alike.
As tensions between the Beggar’s Sect and the Hao Sect intensified, the international order began its descent from the age of peace.
Global warming and natural disasters stemming from rampant development and environmental pollution worsened, while competition among nations vying for world hegemony intensified.
Though the age of peace was ending, a full-scale war like those of previous eras could not be waged; thus, nations competing for supremacy confined warfare to localized conflicts and devoted themselves to espionage—an invisible war.
It was the dawn of the twenty-second century’s frozen new Cold War espionage era, so frigid that the twentieth century’s Cold War seemed warm by comparison.
Naturally, espionage was information warfare, and the Beggar’s Sect and Hao Sect were undoubtedly the most active forces of this age.
The documentary covered only famous anecdotes in passing, yet even those few tales revealed the severity of the situation.
The new Cold War’s espionage era ended in the late twenty-second century, thanks to humanity’s earnest venture into space.
The new Cold War evolved into a space development race, much like the old Cold War, and with support from multiple nations, space exploration proceeded smoothly.
Terraforming of the Moon and Mars.
Technologies for constructing colonies at Lagrange Points were developed, and naturally, Earth became the testing ground for these technologies.
Through terraforming technology, Earth successfully slowed the pace of global warming.
Once terraforming technology became sufficiently established, space exploration gained momentum.
Of course, even with terraforming technology established, space’s environment remained far harsher than Earth’s.
It was then that the overwhelming vitality of martial artists gained prominence.
A life force that could not be killed by artillery explosions or poison gas attacks.
Based on such vitality, it was not impossible to develop martial arts allowing survival even in space.
Thus, martial artists brimming with life force took the vanguard in space exploration, and where martial artists moved, the Major Sects followed.
And so humanity ventured into space, concluding the fourth documentary.
From episodes five through seven, the Martial Alliance—the predecessor to the Galactic Martial Arts Alliance—became the central focus.
In brief: amid competition between nations for hegemony over the Moon and Mars, the Major Sects began breaking free from state control.
The Major Sects could escape state control because, in space’s harsh environment, terraforming and colony development were impossible without martial artists.
As they gained authority proportional to their hardship, the Major Sects grew to a point where nations could no longer easily control them.
In this process, a representative capable of negotiating with various nations became necessary, and the Martial Alliance and its Alliance Master assumed that role.
Should power concentrate in a single sect and the balance among sects collapse, the sects risked falling back under state control.
When warp navigation technology capable of transcending the solar system was finally developed, the Major Sects scattered across the galaxy like adventurers seeking golden lands, competing in development.
Whoever discovered and claimed a star system first became its master, so they moved with urgency.
From this point onward, the Major Sects transcended their identity as mere martial artist collectives and began to embody the characteristics of quasi-national entities.
Remarkably, the protagonists of volumes eight through twelve were none other than the Cheon Family Clan, into which I was born.
More precisely, the central figure was a prodigy of unparalleled brilliance born into the Cheon Family Clan—the Martial God Cheon Yu—a clan that had barely secured a single position among the Major Sects at that time.
In the struggle to claim each star system throughout the Galaxy, a terraforming craze swept across the entire Galactic Martial Arts World without regard for propriety, igniting countless wars both great and small.
Though the Galaxy contained innumerable star systems, by the technological standards of that era, only a handful of planets and moons—such as Mars and the Moon—could be terraformed, and the wars were fought to seize control of these precious celestial bodies.
In the desperate struggle to claim planets, a bloodbath ensued regardless of factional boundaries, and during this chaos, those known as the Demonic Cult frequently crossed every conceivable line.
After centuries of warfare, around the twenty-eighth century, the Martial God Cheon Yu, born into the Cheon Family Clan, achieved the impossible—at merely under three hundred years of age, he pioneered a realm beyond the Natural Boundary, the supposed limit of martial artists, and ascended to become the supreme master of the entire Galaxy.
For a moment, hearing the age of three hundred, I wondered if this was actually an immortal cultivation world rather than a martial arts world, but it was not.
The Martial God Cheon Yu, having reached a realm beyond anyone’s imagination, began to exert his influence across the entire Galaxy as if organizing traffic.
His first action was to resurrect the Martial Alliance—which had become a hollow institution as the activity range of various sects under the Cheon Family Clan’s leadership had expanded far too widely—as the Galactic Martial Arts Alliance, uniting the righteous factions under one banner.
He then personally took the vanguard and began to suppress the heterodox Major Sects engaging in tyranny and the Demonic Cult, whose transgressions far exceeded all bounds.
As the saying goes, one hand cannot stop ten, and the Martial God Cheon Yu could not appear on every battlefield.
However, the battlefields where he did appear were primarily the Old Ten Thousand Mountains Star System and the Old Heavenly Mountain Star System, which were the strongholds of the Demonic Cult, as well as the Old Tyrant King Star System, Old Tyrant Path Star System, and Old Second Tyrant Path Star System, which were the bases of the Tyrant Path Alliance, the confederation of heterodox Major Sects.
The reason the character “Old” preceded these star system names was that the planets terraformed by the Demonic Cult and the Tyrant Path Alliance were utterly obliterated by the Martial God Cheon Yu’s assault.
Before one could even think to question how a person could destroy a planet, the documentary showed footage of the crust being overturned and the mantle exposed, leaving planets still in a state of fiery hell, and even footage of an actual planet being cleaved in half during that era.
Honestly, watching the footage made it seem like an immortal cultivation world rather than a martial arts world, but it was not.
Thus, the Demonic Cult was believed to have been annihilated before the Martial God Cheon Yu entered seclusion, and the territory of the heterodox factions dwindled to almost nothing.
Of course, after the Martial God Cheon Yu’s seclusion, they gradually expanded their power again, but the primary rulers of the current Galactic Martial Arts World were the righteous factions—the Galactic Martial Arts Alliance.
To be precise, they controlled the Galaxy in proportions of approximately sixty percent righteous factions, twenty-four percent heterodox factions, fifteen percent Demonic Cult, and one percent others.
In any case, the Martial God Cheon Yu had entered seclusion but was confirmed to still be alive, and the Cheon Family Clan, the primary architect of the Galactic Martial Arts Alliance’s founding, was enjoying the reputation of being the supreme clan of the Galaxy, surpassing all other Major Sects.
“Siu.”
After finishing the documentary, I called out to Siu, and she set down her cleaning device and approached me at my summons.
“Yes, Young Master.”
The cleaning device of the fifty-first century produced virtually no noise—quite remarkable.
So this is the technological prowess of the future.
“What’s my realm?”
My pronunciation was imperfect due to my teeth not yet having fully grown in.
“Are you asking about your own realm, or are you inquiring about how the realms of martial artists are classified?”
“Both.”
“Both, I understand. With my artificial external dantian and martial arts drive, I can engage in combat at a level equal to or slightly superior to a martial artist at the Transformation Boundary realm.”
Siu was originally not a nursemaid android but a sparring android for training purposes, created before my birth for my father, who had since passed away.
Naturally, even now that she serves as my nursemaid, Siu remains a master of the Transformation Boundary.
“The realms of martial artists are broadly divided into fifteen stages.”
The Initiate stage, wherein one perceives and absorbs the ambient qi to form a dantian.
The Third-Rate stage, wherein one expends the qi of the dantian to strengthen the body.
The Second-Rate stage, wherein one transcends mere body strengthening to fortify external objects.
The First-Rate stage, wherein one can manifest Sword Qi upon weapons.
The Peak stage, wherein Sword Qi begins to take tangible form, allowing one to create Sword Threads.
The Super-Peak stage, wherein Sword Threads converge to form a singular blade known as Sword Steel.
The Transformation Boundary stage, wherein one can compress the materialized Sword Steel to create Sword Rings.
The Mysterious Realm—where the body’s meridians open to commune with the world, and inner power never depletes below a certain threshold.
The Realm of Life and Death, said to transcend the cycle of mortality itself.
The Natural Realm, said to accept nature as it is.
The Star-Self Realm—transcending nature to embrace the stars, becoming a star oneself.
The Star-Transcendent Realm, which surpasses the stars.
The Ethereal Realm, which surpasses the Star-Transcendent Realm.
The Ascension Realm, the realm beyond that.
The Martial God Realm—a realm only the Martial God Cheon Yu has ever reached.
After hearing the explanation, I spoke to Siu.
“From the Realm of Life and Death onward, the explanations become uncertain?”
“Yes, from the Realm of Life and Death onward, the descriptions are unclear.”
Siu somehow understood my garbled words.
“That’s because most testimonies from those who’ve reached the Realm of Life and Death or higher are esoteric and incomprehensible.”
“So the interpretations can’t be understood?”
“Yes, the interpretations cannot be deciphered. That’s correct.”
At Siu’s answer, I nodded in understanding.
“But why can the Martial God live so long?”
“Once a human reaches the Fire Realm, they undergo a complete metamorphosis and achieve semi-immortality. From the Mysterious Realm onward, aging slows progressively as one ascends through higher realms. According to records, those who reach the Realm of Life and Death or the Star-Self Realm undergo another complete metamorphosis.”
What Siu said next left me astonished.
“Your great-grandfather, the Clan Lord, is currently 681 years old, and your grandfather, the Outer Clan Lord, is 503 years old.”
About thirty years ago, Cheon Ja-su, the Sword King who became Clan Lord, was a master of the Star-Transcendent Realm, and my grandfather Cheon Gyeong-ho was known to be a master of the Natural Realm.
“What about my father?”
“Your father, Cheon Ju-yu, was at the Fire Realm. Your mother, Seo Gyeong-ae, was a martial master of the highest caliber.”
Siu answered carefully, uncertain how discussing my parents would affect my emotions.
“I see. Understood.”
“Yes, you understand. If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask anytime.”
After finishing her response, Siu returned to cleaning.
Why did Cheon Ju-yu, the Clan Lord’s grandson, die?
Even if it was the death of a direct blood relative close to the Clan Lord, it should have made the news, but I couldn’t search for it, which was frustrating.
I fumbled with the remote control for the television embedded in the wall to see if I could search, but only movies and dramas appeared—I couldn’t find an internet search function.
Seeing that only movies rated 15 and under were available suggested they’d blocked anything inappropriate to prevent a child from seeing strange content.
Hmm, there is one trick I know for situations like this. Should I use the forbidden demonic technique?

(To be continued in the next chapter)

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