The Wizard Who Endured the World of Murim - Chapter 41

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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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Surviving in the Martial Realm as a Mage: Episode 41
When Ilhyang moved to the Higher Dimension, though my body had changed,
my soul remained that of a Grand Mage of tremendous power.
Thus, when it came to mental magic, I possessed overwhelming resistance.
The Three-tailed Fox did not know this.
“I was genuinely trying to negotiate fairly. You started this first, didn’t you?”
A bright, innocent smile.
But what startled the fox was something else entirely.
It was those eyes.
Clearly a human child.
Despite being merely a young boy who could not have lived more than a few years,
those eyes alone were as solid as someone who had lived an eternity, and as deep as a lake.
‘I’ve been had.’
Only then did the fox realize.
This creature had never fallen for the Hundred Joys Enchantment from the start.
Just moments ago, he had merely pretended to be caught to close the distance.
‘Deceived again! I’m such a fool.’
Cheonho had warned me that humans were so cunning.
I had been careless.
But he said the Hundred Joys Enchantment would definitely work?
The fox felt tears welling up at the situation she found herself in.
“I’ve been confused about what kind of demon you are this whole time, but now I finally understand. You actually used the Succubus Queen’s mental magic on me? That’s absurd.”
Ilhyang remained completely unmoved, whether the cute-faced fox whimpered or not.
This was the same Ilhyang who had resisted with pure willpower even against the seduction magic wielded directly by the Succubus Queen herself.
‘To be honest, it was close back then.’
The members of the Hero Party at the time had spouted nonsense about how I could endure because I had no experience with women, or that I was a cold-blooded person who didn’t understand love.
But that was wrong.
It was truly a pure contest of willpower.
And I had emerged victorious.
‘Tch, mere commoners could never understand a battle of such higher dimensions.’
Suddenly, after such a long time, the faces of those foolish members of the Hero Party flashed through my mind one by one.
They had all become protagonists in heroic tales that would be recorded in history books.
Yet in my memory, they were nothing but idiots and fools.
‘Well, despite all that, it was quite enjoyable back then.’
It was my first experience with group living.
Though it brought many exhausting moments, if I’m being honest, it was filled with rather pleasant memories.
Comrades I could trust with my back and rely upon.
It was only then that I first learned how truly precious such beings were.
‘Alone, one cannot go very far.’
Though Ilhyang was ordinarily selfish and self-righteous,
To go further, I had come to understand precisely that I needed trustworthy companions.
‘Even if not companions, I need subordinates or disciples.’
Ilhyang had formed a clear objective.
I would construct a Magic Tower in this world as well.
And through the Magic Tower, I intended to collect every spell and mystery that existed in this realm.
For that, I needed trustworthy beings above all else.
Spirits—creatures that could be bound securely through soul contracts—would prove to be the ultimate trump card.
Then.
Papapak—!
“Keng! Kehek!”
The Three-tailed Fox, its leash grasped in my palm, thrashed desperately trying to escape.
Its hind legs raked across my forearms repeatedly.
But.
This much posed no threat whatsoever.
Ilhyang matched the fox’s gaze and whispered softly in the distinctive voice of a child.
“You started this fight in the first place. Yet you lost, didn’t you? The match is already over. Now you must obey whatever I demand of you.”
“…!”
A unilateral declaration.
Clear terror gradually crystallized in the eyes of the Three-tailed Fox facing me directly.
This small human was serious.
It was a threat made while holding my lifeline.
But it wasn’t merely a threat.
This was someone capable of executing that threat mechanically, without hesitation.
‘How could a male withstand the Hundred Strikes of Joy completely?’
This human was a monster beyond imagination.
‘Am I really going to die like this?’
When I was captured by that monstrous Female Swordmaster and Old Sorcerer who had emerged from the Namgung Clan not long ago.
It had been just as desperate as now.
They had even, after capturing me.
Casually discussed using me alive as material for something.
The terror I felt then crept back into my mind once more.
‘What is this human child trying to do? Is he planning to extract my core right now?’
The Three-tailed Fox berated itself for its stupidity while curling its toes tightly.
Fear had suddenly gripped me.
After being captured so pathetically by a human not long ago.
Yet I had unconsciously looked down upon humans.
I had let my guard down because the human’s appearance was small.
‘I deserve to die.’
If only I had just kept running to the ends of the world.
If only that were the case.
Even humans would not have been able to pursue me so easily.
When the Three-tailed Fox trembled with fear, ears drooping and tears streaming down her face.
Ilhyang remained unmoved by her adorable appearance.
He simply thought that the fox had become obedient.
His mind was too preoccupied with suppressing the elation surging within him.
‘This situation is absolutely perfect for me. She approached so clumsily that the hierarchy became crystal clear. Perhaps I can even establish a formal contract.’
However, I had never contracted with a spirit that possessed a physical body, so I was curious what reaction would occur.
If there was rejection, or if she resisted strongly during the contract, it would be troublesome.
Fortunately, upon closer inspection now.
This fox didn’t seem to have the audacity for that.
‘A wind spirit with a physical body, huh.’
Even now, trapped in my grasp.
She was attempting to use wind-form transformation magic to escape.
‘How naive.’
From the start, I could read the form and arrangement of surrounding mana.
Once caught in my hand.
It was no different from being under endless anti-magic suppression.
And that descended upon the fox as overwhelming terror.
‘My magic doesn’t work at all!’
The fox was now sensing a colossal wall before Ilhyang.
For some reason, even her innate unique magic refused to activate.
After a brief moment of mutual probing.
I felt all the strength drain completely from the fox’s tense body.
‘Good. This should be enough to establish a contract.’
Reading that the fox had fallen into a state of surrender, Ilhyang opened his mouth.
“If you swear a covenant oath, I’ll let you go.”
“…?”
In that instant, the fox’s drooping ears perked up sharply.
“What do you say? Will you swear a covenant oath with me?”
The fox realized a chance to survive had appeared.
She had thought this small human would extract her core immediately.
So she would agree to anything right now.
Thus her eyes blinked continuously.
Ilhyang smiled with a slightly sinister edge.
“Good. This is my first time doing this in this region. But it shouldn’t be too different.”
Pure white light erupted from Ilhyang’s eyes.
In that instant, the fox felt every muscle in her body contract sharply.
‘Huh? Wh-what?’
She had experienced this before.
In a dream, from the Demon Immortals.
The sensation I felt when facing Cheonho.
When confronting a being of higher order.
That overwhelming pressure from which there was absolutely no resistance.
The Three-tailed Fox, tense and alert, lowered its tail submissively.
In that state, Ilhyang slowly released the hand that had been gripping the fox’s neck.
[What is your name?]
[My name… I don’t have a name yet.]
A mid-tier spirit without a name?
Ilhyang frowned slightly at this point.
Bestowing a name upon a spirit consumed a considerable amount of mana.
[I shall give you a name.]
[…Very well.]
The moment I gave the fox a name.
Perhaps this creature’s [rank] might ascend to a higher level.
‘I should give it a name that suits its nature.’
I couldn’t simply assign a name carelessly, as I had done with the Jiangshi that lacked self-awareness.
For a brief moment.
Ilhyang, burning mana to maintain the spirit language magic while lost in thought,
gazed quietly at the fox’s crimson fur and golden eyes before suddenly speaking.
[Geumok. From now on, your name is Geumok.]
[Geumok… My name is Geumok.]
Now that I thought about it, the Succubus Queen who had died in my grasp had golden eyes as well.
While Ilhyang was momentarily lost in other thoughts,
the newly named fox’s eyes began to blur and glaze over.
Ilhyang felt an enormous amount of mana suddenly drain from his body and was startled.
‘Ugh…! Before it’s too late, I must complete the contract first….’
As Ilhyang detected changes occurring in Geumok’s body, he urgently opened his mouth.
[From this moment forward, Ilhyang and Geumok shall be bound by the threads of soul. Whenever one is needed by the other, both must strive to aid each other to the fullest.]
The covenant activated smoothly, and the fox’s golden eyes began to tremble.
At the same time, Ilhyang staggered backward, distancing himself from the fox.
Soon, from the fox’s body, as if the morning sun were rising,
a brilliant light poured forth.
* * *
“So you just let that kid go? Tsk tsk~ Our Gwang-sik is getting old. Maybe you should retire. Should I set you up with a shop?”
Song Gwang-sik of the Myeongwol Sword.
He spoke with an awkward expression to the red-bearded middle-aged man before him.
“I couldn’t stay close myself, but Seo Jang-gwe from the Jinseong Transport Company is right on his tail. We should be able to gather information through him. I’ve already briefed him beforehand.”
“So, can this Seo Jang-gwe fellow dig into anything about the Bloodfiend Territory?”
“Of course not.”
“Then what’s the damn point of any of this!”
“Ah! But there is one thing I’ve come to understand with absolute certainty, Elder.”
“Understand what? That our Gwang-sik is retiring now?”
“That the little monster isn’t an uncontrollable villain. At the very least, he’s clearly a rational one.”
“How can you be so certain of that?”
Chusal Daeju, the Myeongwol Sword Song Gwang-sik, gazed at the supreme master Lightning Sword Expert Namgung Hyeok seated before the table, kneading his own aching shoulders as he spoke.
“Honestly, if he’d wanted to back there, he could have killed all of us. But he didn’t. That means at minimum he’s not a raving murderer. Of course, his background and origins are highly suspicious, but it proves he possesses basic rationality.”
“But they said even the Moshan Sect doesn’t know about him?”
“Well, we’ll have to learn more as time goes on. As long as we don’t provoke him unnecessarily.”
“Ugh, if I had my way, I’d go find him myself….”
“Aren’t you under house arrest right now, Elder? If the Family Head finds out, your legs will be broken. The rumors have already spread everywhere.”
At Song Gwang-sik’s words, Namgung Hyeok’s crimson eyebrows shot upward.
“You bastard! And whose fault is it that I’m in this mess!”
“What? You’re saying it’s because of me? I’m truly hurt. I merely shared some good information with you specially… and you were planning to use me like this and blame me…ack!”
Whoosh―
“You thunder-struck fool!”
Song Gwang-sik suddenly drew near, seized his head, and began shaking it vigorously, and Namgung Hyeok immediately apologized.
“Ughhhh! Ack! I’m sorry, Elder! I deserve to die!”
Along with the sensation of his brain being rattled, the world spun dizzily before his eyes.
Namgung Hyeok’s grip technique, which forcibly induced nausea, caused Song Gwang-sik to bend over abruptly.
“Sigh, I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve suffered at your hands because I can’t control this curiosity of mine.”
At Namgung Hyeok’s sigh-laden confession.
Song Gwang-sik staggered about before breaking into a subtle smile.
“…But honestly, you enjoyed it, didn’t you?”
“That’s… true. You cunning devil. The problem is you understand my tastes far too well.”
Song Gwang-sik and Namgung Hyeok gazed at each other and chuckled softly.
Namgung Hyeok had participated in the interesting cases Song Gwang-sik had brought to him over time, earning renown throughout the Kangho while accumulating quite respectable rewards.
Song Gwang-sik, in turn, had used Namgung Hyeok as a reliable windbreak to resolve difficult cases.
Thus both had benefited from one another.
“Anyway, the Moshan Sect knew absolutely nothing about a boy named Ilhyang.”
“I expected as much.”
The Moshan Sect.
The only sorcerer collective among the righteous factions.
The Namgung Clan had contacted them directly, and a reply had come back.
They knew nothing whatsoever about this boy called Ilhyang.
“So they said they’d come in person, didn’t they?”
“Yes, they said they’d come by this way anyway. One of the Moshan Sect’s Yuk Ji-no-goe’s disciples—supposedly his fifth disciple—is coming.”
“Hmm, when he arrives, I’ll go meet that boy together with him.”
“I’d like to go too, but….”
“Ha, with so much karma weighing on you, there’s nothing to be done about it.”
“Are you mocking me right now? You shouldn’t do that to anyone else, but not to me, right? Hm?”
Before Namgung Hyeok’s eyes could turn fierce again, Song Gwang-sik spoke up quickly.
“I’ll bring back as much information as I possibly can!”
“I want to see it myself!”
Song Gwang-sik indulged the Youngest Elder’s whining complaints in full before carefully asking his question.
“Then… what about Young Master Namgung Min?”
“Ah! That fellow. Seems like he really messed up this time.”
“Losing the Sam-mi-ho is certainly a major blunder.”
Spiritual creatures had become so rare in recent times that they were practically extinct.
And to have actually captured one alive, no less.
This was valuable enough to command whatever price one asked for it.
“Turns out it was a spiritual creature our Second Sister risked her life to capture. She spent several months digging traps with some female Daoist from the Moshan Sect before finally catching it. Since it was a fox spirit, it was wickedly cunning beyond measure.”
“Ah… so it was the Cheonbong Sword Maiden’s handiwork.”
The Cheonbong Sword Maiden.
The only woman in the Namgung Clan to reach the pinnacle of martial mastery.
“Right, so after all that effort to capture it, he lost it during transport. That bastard is truly finished. Our Second Sister’s temper is no joke.”
“My goodness…”
It was certainly unfortunate, but ultimately none of his concern.
He simply offered a quiet prayer for the man’s fate.
“Anyway, when you’re away on business, keep in touch regularly. I’m bored out of my mind lately. Understood?”
Namgung Hyeok.
Despite already being past sixty years old.
This young-spirited old master, still childish at heart, reluctantly let Song Gwang-sik go.
“Yes, yes. I’ll contact you regularly without fail.”
“Strange. Your answer sounds rather insincere.”
“How could I possibly presume to…”
Song Gwang-sik barely managed to extract himself from the Youngest Elder’s relentless questioning before stepping outside.
He arrived at the Chusal Division Office in the Main Family House with an exhausted expression, only to freeze at the new information he received.
His entire body went rigid.

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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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