Murim Login - Chapter 478

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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 478
I hadn’t targeted that spot from the beginning. No—I hadn’t even known it was there.
It was like trying to easily spot a squirrel hiding deep within a dense forest.
The mutated Water Dragon’s body was simply too massive to discover such a vulnerability, and I never imagined there could be such a gap in a part it had meticulously protected throughout our battle.
But….
‘There it was.’
A weakness existed—one capable of severing the stubborn lifeline of this colossal monstrosity.
And I did not squander this golden opportunity to end this fight.
Thunk!
– Krrgh…!
How fascinating creatures are. They endlessly compensate for their vulnerabilities and evolve to match their surroundings.
If even humans, who barely glimpse an average lifespan of a hundred years, do so, then surely this exalted being that had lived for centuries could not be different.
‘Coincidence? Or fate?’
Either way, it mattered not.
What mattered most in this moment was that a gap the size of a single scale existed in the creature’s neck—the very spot surrounded by its hardest scales—and I had not missed that opening.
“You’ve done well.”
A final word of respect—a privilege only the victor could claim.
I drove my spear’s blade precisely into the soft hollow beneath its jaw, where a human’s uvula would be, then pushed deeper with all my strength, gripping the shaft.
Squelch—!
A brief, gasping whimper escaped as the scale-covered jaw trembled violently.
Its pitch-black pupils wavered, and the sphere of water nearly complete at the tip of its gaping maw began to slowly dissipate.
Whoooosh.
The incomplete Water Breath was nothing but ordinary water.
I did not dodge the deluge crashing down upon my head—I took it full force.
As the unusually cold waters of Dongting Lake drenched my entire body, my mind settled into perfect calm.
‘I’ve won.’
Simultaneously, an electric sensation surged up my spine.
The end of a long and fierce battle.
I had survived once more, and I had driven my spear through a formidable foe’s throat. And as always, the conclusion of a life-or-death struggle distilled itself into only two words.
Vertical and horizontal.
The victor standing tall and the vanquished falling.
Even a malevolent being that had lived through eons could not escape this absolute law of survival of the fittest.
Whooooom. Splash!
The body that once held such formidable and unyielding power crumbled, collapsing into the waters of Dongting Lake.
Between the towering spray, I could see its eyes blinking slowly and its snout trembling faintly.
No.
I heard it.
– So you remain unchanged.
“…!”
The moment a voice echoed through my mind, my hand—poised to drive the spear deeper to finish it completely—lost all strength.
Gazing into the massive eyes of the mutated Water Dragon as though entranced, I felt my body stiffen involuntarily.
‘What in the world.’
The monstrous visage that had gleamed entirely in pitch-black, bearing the mark of a malevolent star, was nowhere to be found.
As though storm clouds had parted after unleashing torrential rain, there existed eyes clear and profound, mirroring the azure heavens.
– There is nothing to be startled by. It is an ability naturally acquired after living some five hundred years.
“…Spiritual transmission?”
– Rather, it would be more accurate to call it intention-resonance.
The mutated Water Dragon—or rather, the divine entity bearing another name, the Horned Serpent of Dongting Lake—conveyed its intention with serene composure.
– You do not know me, yet I know you. Exactly as I beheld you in a dream long ago. I had dismissed it as mere illusion and forgotten it…. Yes, this too must be the natural order.
A dream? The natural order?
Damn it all, I cannot fathom how this situation is unfolding.
“That is, what I mean to say is.”
– Heh.
My hesitation, unable to find words, seemed to amuse it greatly. A rumbling laugh escaped from the Water Dragon’s jaws, drenched in blood.
– Do not attempt to understand, nor should you try. It is merely the lament of an aged proto-dragon who failed to ascend through insufficient cultivation. Yet if there is one regrettable matter, it is that I have little time remaining.
The Water Dragon’s words were truth. Its body, already at its limit, stood on the precipice of death, and the light within those profound eyes was slowly fading.
‘Damn it.’
Regret comes too late when the water is already spilled.
I clenched my teeth firmly.
I felt both sorrow at the Water Dragon’s impending death, and if I spoke plainly, a sense of loss.
This divine entity, awakening to clarity before death itself, held a crucial key to unraveling the mystery.
‘Dark Heaven.’
A spiritual and wise proto-dragon could not have become a deranged beast slaughtering humans without reason.
There must have been someone’s interference, and if so, Dark Heaven—occupying the highest position among suspects in all the incidents unfolding in the Martial World—could not be excluded.
“Who did this? How?”
A brief question, yet one containing everything.
But the Water Dragon’s intention that soon resonated through my mind exceeded my expectations.
– Witness it directly.
“Pardon?”
To my question, the Water Dragon answered by blinking its eyes.
Slick.
The blue liquid pooling in those massive eyes—what all call tears—slowly slid across its scales, and the moment it touched my body, I grasped the meaning behind the Water Dragon’s earlier words.
Ding.
–
[Water Dragon]
wishes to share a portion of its memories with you.
–
[Fragment of Memory]
has been acquired.
–
[Fragment of Memory]
The power dwelling within draws you into the Water Dragon’s recollection.
Along with the system notification echoing in my ears, the Water Dragon’s tears unfurled like a curtain, draping across my vision.
Whoooosh.
With the cool touch of water, the world came to a halt.
* * *
It was, quite literally, a fragment of memory.
Five hundred years of time preserved by the Water Dragon, intact yet fractured by the influence of mutation—some portions hazy, others crystalline—a memory fragment scattered across time.
And the beginning of it all was birth.
– Croak?
Somewhere in the depths of Dongting Lake, a newly born creature gazed about in bewilderment.
Aquatic plants swayed as if dancing, and countless underwater beings gathered in that sacred place.
The people, having sensed the birth of a divine being, rejoiced and swam through the waters with fervent strokes.
That day marked the auspicious birth of Dongting Lake’s new master, and a grand coronation ceremony was held.
– Croak? Croak!
The new river’s master, tilting its head with puppy-like curiosity, soon began to swim with its small body.
As the being, blessed with brilliant wisdom and power from the moment of birth, moved, countless creatures followed in its wake, and the river itself parted before it.
Sploooosh!
The graceful yet powerful form cutting through Dongting Lake’s waters gradually swelled in size.
Silver scales sprouted upon the soft pink body, and beneath its snout grew dignified whiskers of considerable length.
Perhaps it was from that moment onward.
Those who witnessed this divine being reveal itself once every several decades—or longer still—bestowed upon it a new name, spoken with reverence.
A name I myself knew well.
‘Water Dragon.’
Due to the two horns upon its brow, it was also called the Two-Horned Beast, yet most refrained from calling this beautiful and mysterious being merely a creature, instead revering it as the spirit of Dongting Lake.
And the proto-dragon, having received a new name from humanity, often performed deeds that seemed truly divine.
It rescued sailors on the brink of drowning and carried them to distant shores, and it was countless times that it used its innate abilities to quell the violent currents.
Moreover, it was the Water Dragon itself that slew the malevolent being that once stained the Yangtze River with blood.
After a fierce battle, the Water Dragon defeated the turtle-formed evil creature and came to dominate both Dongting Lake and the Yangtze River.
Time flows like water.
As five hundred years passed in such manner, the Water Dragon grew beyond all comparison to its former self.
It was a benevolent proto-dragon possessed of tremendous power and profound wisdom, a magnificent ruler who cherished its people.
Yet even such a Water Dragon harbored one concern.
– Alas, in the Lower Realm, conflict never ceases.
The horrors the Water Dragon witnessed across those long ages were truly ghastly.
Humans endlessly clashed and fought, and with each conflict, countless blood and corpses scattered upon the river’s waters.
As two empires crumbled and warfare continued, the Water Dragon grew anxious and weary.
– I have already spent an eternity in the Lower Realm, yet when shall I ever ascend to heaven?
Though people revered the Water Dragon as the spirit of Dongting Lake and as a dragon, its true nature remained that of a proto-dragon not yet ascended.
For such a being, ascension was a destiny as immutable as birth itself.
Yet heaven seemed to mock my efforts—my cultivation advanced at a glacial pace, and enlightenment remained forever beyond reach.
It was then that news brought by a school of fish proved sufficient to stir the curiosity of the weary Water Dragon.
– A human has appeared, you say? But no one has ventured to that place in decades.
An uninvited guest had discovered the deepest and most secluded corner of Dongting Lake—a treacherous wilderness untouched by human footsteps for ages.
Seized by sudden curiosity, the Water Dragon made his way to that place, which had once served as his dwelling, and the moment he arrived, he sensed that something was terribly wrong.
– What in the…!
The shock was not the Water Dragon’s alone—a creature of the past.
I too, witnessing that scene through fragments of memory in this very moment, felt the same horror.
‘Surely not…’
Something viscous and repugnant crawled slowly up my spine.
Gripped by disbelief, confusion, and the sensation of being struck from behind, I stood frozen in bewilderment.
‘…A Gate.’
There was no doubt. Having traversed Gates hundreds, thousands of times over, I could be certain.
The black energy streaming through the crevices of the enormous boulder was unmistakably magical power.
‘This is insane…!’
My vision swam, and a torrent of curses echoed through my mind.
Had I not been trapped within the Water Dragon’s memories—had I possessed the freedom to move and speak—I would have shattered everything around me. I would have screamed until my throat tore.
‘Damn it, a Gate. Magical power!’
My head felt ready to burst with countless thoughts. Unspoken screams scattered across my tongue.
With eyes wide in shock and fury, I stared blankly at the scene unfolding before me.
– Stop! I command you to stop!
The master of the river was using his entire body to shield himself against the countless creatures surging toward him.
The teeth of the fish exposed to magical corruption were sharper than saw blades, and their scales were stained pitch black.
– Please, I beg you, cease this!
Yet his desperate pleas could not reach the fish already transformed by magical corruption, and the Water Dragon found himself forced to make a terrible choice.
Should these fish, grown unnaturally fierce and savage, escape this place, all of Dongting Lake and the Yangtze River would be drenched in blood.
Sacrifice for the greater good was necessary.
– …Forgive me.
The battle that unfolded in the deepest waters of Dongting Lake naturally ended in the Water Dragon’s victory.
Yet the Water Dragon was afforded no time to grieve.
This ancient and wise proto-dragon, who had lived for centuries, understood what he must do, and he positioned his own body to seal the massive rift that ceaselessly poured forth ominous energy.
– I know not what you are, but you shall not have your way.
Kuguguguung!
It was the longest and most fierce battle of all the ages the Water Dragon had lived through.
For seven days and nights, their power locked in perfect equilibrium, the waters of Dongting Lake and the Yangtze River raged violently, and the people on land trembled, believing the spirits had grown wrathful.
And the outcome of this battle, I already knew.
– Krrrrgh.
The Water Dragon, stripped of his brilliant intellect and corrupted into a beast, released a low, pained cry.
By absorbing most of the magical corruption, he had protected his domain and his subjects, yet he could not bear all of that power.
Tssssss.
A pair of eyes slowly staining crimson.
Yet the last grain of reason remaining within the Water Dragon compelled it to surge upward through the water’s surface.
It was the will of the ancient proto-dragon, seeking to find the culprit responsible for such a horrific atrocity.
Sploooooosh!
In the dark night, the blackened river waters parted asunder.
Reflected in the crimson eyes of the Water Dragon as it rose like a dragon ascending to heaven was a single figure sitting upon a moss-covered boulder, splashing in the water.
“What vigorous energy. It was worth the long journey.”
A clear and melodious voice, a neck so dazzlingly fair it seemed to glow.
And a silver hairpin securing long black hair twisted up and pinned in place.
‘…Hong Ran.’
Along with the name of that one person surfacing in my mind, the entire world surrounding me shattered into fragments.

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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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