Murim Login - Chapter 720

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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 720
A soft exhale escaped my lips.
The cool breeze brushed against my skin. I drew a shallow breath and surveyed my surroundings.
The Sacred Ground.
Could any other place be more fitting for those two characters?
Yet the spot where I now stood was merely its body.
‘Even this Sacred Ground has its heart elsewhere.’
A place brimming with the essence of life and purification.
The very location that had once revived my dying flesh.
I moved slowly toward the Sacred Pond visible in the distance.
Though there was no sun, the light streaming down upon my head was warm, and the flowers and grasses blooming abundantly all around me were refreshingly vibrant.
Jeok Cheon-gang and Beast King Miao Wang, their expressions bewildered as they observed this strange space, parted their lips as if to speak, but soon clamped their mouths shut and followed behind me.
Yet their patience did not last long.
Splash.
As I stepped unhesitatingly into the Sacred Pond, the cold water swiftly rose to my waist. At the sight of me, Jeok Cheon-gang let out a cry of alarm.
“That bastard…!”
He seemed to think I was committing suicide.
Jeok Cheon-gang looked ready to seize my collar and drag me out at any moment, but instead of explaining, I bit down on my pinky finger.
A dull ache.
The flesh split, and blood flowed forth.
Yet I flashed a grin at the wide-eyed Jeok Cheon-gang before unhesitatingly submerging my hand in the clear water.
‘One. Two. Three…’
After slowly counting in my mind and withdrawing my hand, my pinky finger—completely healed in mere thirty seconds—emerged before their eyes.
Both Jeok Cheon-gang, who looked ready to plunge into the water himself, and Beast King Miao Wang, who had been restraining him, uttered sounds of disbelief at this impossible sight.
“What is this…?”
“…Everything Yo-hee said was true. It was all true.”
The ancients surely did not coin the phrase “seeing once is better than hearing a hundred times” out of boredom.
Indeed, no amount of talking could match the speed of a direct demonstration.
‘A kind of performance, really.’
Fortunately, this performance proved effective, and through it, I was able to reconfirm one crucial fact.
‘Its power still remains.’
To be honest, I had worried somewhat.
Just as a golem crumbles when its core is destroyed, I feared the Sacred Ground itself might have vanished due to the Divine Stone being consumed by demonic energy.
But my concern dissolved as cleanly as the wound on my pinky, replaced by something approaching certainty.
‘This was it. The answer.’
The System had never once lied to me.
It always conveyed only the facts as they were, and finding new paths within that monotonous text was entirely my responsibility.
Just as now.
‘The Quest information clearly stated “by any means.” It definitely did.’
That was right. From the beginning, my Quest had been the ‘disposal’ of the Fallen Divine Object, not its ‘destruction.’
I came to understand the meaning relatively late, and from the memories intertwined with Su-ho-ryung, I could recall a mysterious place.
A memory of a certain pond that had healed my body when it lay in critical condition and purified the waste within me.
‘Healing and purification.’
Though I knew not the source of that mysterious efficacy beyond understanding, there were no other options available.
I took a step toward the center of the pond.
Splash.
Gentle ripples spread outward from where I stood. The pond’s depth was not particularly deep, and upon its crystalline surface, the face of one person—rigid with tension—wavered and undulated.
Gulp.
I swallowed hard and gazed at my clenched fist.
Along with the solid sensation of the [Fallen Divine Stone], I felt a tremendous demonic energy surging and welling up between my fingers.
‘…But if this goes wrong, we’re talking about a complete catastrophe.’
This was no exaggeration—with demonic energy of this magnitude, it could devastate not just the pond but the entire Sacred Ground.
Then this place would truly become the Poison Blood Land itself, and Su-ho-ryung, who had just finished registering for the afterlife, would appear in my dreams every night, gnashing his teeth.
But then again….
‘What am I supposed to do? There’s no other choice.’
Hell, I don’t know.
With my eyes squeezed shut, I plunged the [Fallen Divine Stone] I held directly into the water.
Splash! Whoooosh!
The calm surface scattered, and the spray of water that erupted soaked my entire body.
And… everything fell silent.
“…?”
What is this? Why is it so quiet?
In a brief moment that felt like eons, I hesitated before opening my eyes.
Slightly. Just slightly.
And the moment I carefully cracked my eyes open.
Bubbling.
Along with bubbles rising to the surface.
Whoooosh.
From the center of the pond, turbid darkness mixed with water swirled into a vortex.
Which meant….
‘Damn, right here?’
In the same instant came a moment of realization, a massive column of water erupted from beneath my feet.
* * *
Roooaarrr!
There was no time to react. There was only water and darkness all around.
Caught in chaos that descended without warning, I thrashed with all my strength. Or rather, I tried to thrash.
Had I not grasped reality in the next moment, that would have been the case.
“…!”
I saw and felt it clearly.
The water and darkness swirling powerfully around me, and the fresh air and wind that should not have existed beneath the water.
‘Air? Wind?’
I blinked and surveyed my surroundings.
There was no sensation of floating through water. The liquid that had risen to my chest had vanished.
Beneath my feet lay solid ground, and all around me, currents and darkness swirled endlessly.
‘It… enveloped me?’
Without question. This colossal pillar of water had wrapped around my entire body instead of sweeping me away, and beyond the darkness and waves that blocked all directions, an impossible sight flickered past.
Whoooooosh!
‘This is.’
I understood instantly.
What I was witnessing now was not some hallucination born from extreme confusion. It was merely the history of a place contained within this pond.
Or perhaps it was the memory of a divine artifact that had shared its birth, this land, and its destiny together.
“…Divine Stone.”
I murmured like a groan, my eyes wide with awe as I gazed at the pillars of water that blocked all directions.
Within the ceaselessly flowing currents, distant time flowed as well.
From barren, desolate earth, a tender sprout emerged and grew into a towering tree, and as grass and flowers flourished, animals appeared one by one.
‘It’s so fast.’
In a span so brief it could hardly be called an instant, the landscape reflected in the currents transformed endlessly.
Day and night alternating dozens of times in the blink of an eye. On some days, thunder and lightning filled the entire world, and on others, mountains crumbled and erased rivers.
Hundreds. Or perhaps thousands of years.
Yet even through this ever-changing flow of vast time, the Divine Stone remained steadfast in its place, and there were beings who guarded it as well.
Horses. Monkeys. Leopards. Bears….
Beasts of different species and appearances. Yet beings that could not dare be called mere beasts.
They shone like stars in the night sky, countless times, before fading, and then a single white Baek Ho began to guard the Divine Stone.
‘Su-ho-ryung.’
And then darkness came. A darkness so terrifying it made one shudder, a sticky and malevolent aura that rippled through the currents.
After countless ages, the memory of that fateful day finally arrived.
But the last Su-ho-ryung charged forward, its pristine mane streaming behind it. It roared and tore and clawed at the darkness.
Until demonic energy seeped into the scars that covered its entire body. Until that moment when its pale blue eyes turned black.
And all memories contained within the Divine Stone ended as well.
Or perhaps it was a new beginning.
Ripple.
The water’s surface trembles once more. The darkness fades, and a face appears within the pillars of water that envelop all directions.
The figure of a Young Man with eyes tightly shut, submerging something clutched in his hand deep into the pond, was unmistakably familiar.
The Divine Stone’s new memory. Its beginning was none other than me, and this meant only one thing.
Ding.
With a clear bell’s chime piercing my ears, the darkness that had writhed within the water column vanished without a trace.
A translucent holographic window materialized before my dazed eyes.
–
[Life Pond]
purifies all wicked and impure energies.
–
[Fallen Divine Artifact]
The demonic energy permeating
[Demonic Qi]
has completely vanished!
–
Mission
: [Fallen Divine Artifact] Disposal (Complete)
– Quest
[Fallen Divine Artifact]
successfully completed!
– You have acquired vast experience and renown as a quest completion reward!
– Level Up!
– Level Up!
– You have achieved an incredible Achievement!
.
.
Ding. Ding. Ding.
System notifications rang out ceaselessly, and holographic windows filled the empty air.
Yet everything surrounding me felt distant, overshadowed by a single object gleaming solitary between the gradually dispersing columns of water.
Whoosh.
The water parted as my enchanted hand reached forward.
Smaller and lighter than a child’s fist, yet impossibly warm—the moment my fingertips touched it.
Brilliant radiance erupted!
A dazzling luminescence swelled outward.
The water columns that had blocked all directions shot skyward and exploded in a violent cascade.
Tremendous power surged forth!
Beyond the hidden Sacred Ground, the force of life spread endlessly toward distant horizons.
Holding the new Divine Stone in my hand, I suddenly tilted my head back to gaze at the sky.
Between the falling droplets, a clear bell’s chime rang out once more.
Ding.
–
[Life Pond]
The essence contained within transforms into rain, seeping into every corner of this land.
– The earth grows ever more fertile, vegetation remains eternally verdant, and the wounded shall be healed.
–
[Life Pond]
has lost all its essence and withered. Yet do not despair. Time possesses the power to change all things.
–
[Divine Stone]
will continue to exist on this land as it always has. With a new
[Su-ho-ryung]
alongside it.
A new Su-ho-ryung?
Before I could fully grasp the meaning of those words, the sound of footsteps reached my ears.
Thud.
A massive front paw pressed against the desiccated ground—what could no longer be called a pond.
Snow-white fur, pristine as fresh snow, drifted on a wind that had blown from somewhere, and those clear, vivid blue-white eyes bore an unmistakable resemblance to someone from my memories.
“…Yes, it’s you.”
Growl.
Mu Ya-ho—or rather, the new Su-ho-ryung—approached and rubbed its head against me.
I silently stroked the creature’s neck, while Jeok Cheon-gang, who had been staring at this entire scene with a vacant expression, finally managed to part his lips.
“…Could this beast not be taken by me?”
In that instant, Beast King Miao Wang’s expression grew serious as he countered.
“Is that permissible?”
They did not yet realize that among the raindrops falling upon their heads, tender green leaves had just begun to unfurl.
And that this rain would drench the entirety of the Southern Barbarian Lands over the course of four days.

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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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