The Wizard Who Endured the World of Murim - Chapter 42

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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 42
“That little monster unified the Yan Wang Faction and Blood Wolf Faction?”
“Yes. The atmosphere among the heterodox sects in that region has become quite unusual.”
I could understand Ilhyang swallowing up the Jiao Long Faction.
It was clearly self-defense by any standard.
Whether the young monster went there and played the role of alley boss or not, the Namgung Clan couldn’t really fault him for it.
But he absorbed the Yan Wang Faction and Blood Wolf Faction too?
“This is getting rather complicated.”
I knew well enough that the Yan Wang Faction and Blood Wolf Faction had both lent a hand in this incident.
But.
‘Still, the scale of this is too large.’
The middle reaches of the Liu Chang River overlapped with the Namgung Clan’s territory.
The reason the Namgung Clan had left the water bandits alone until now was because they had prostrated themselves first.
They were the type that would keep spawning like cockroaches anyway.
We simply left them be for management purposes.
But now a massive sect of unknown identity emerges in that very place?
This was something I couldn’t help but be concerned about.
“I’ll need to report this to the higher-ups.”
“Then what about the spirit elixir we promised as compensation for this matter? The Jinseong Transport Company is waiting for a definitive answer.”
Now that I thought about it, we had promised a spirit elixir as compensation for the escort mission.
The Great Restoration Pill—something the Namgung Clan had gone through considerable effort to obtain.
It was originally allocated to Namgung Min, the heir to the Family Head.
But after Namgung Min bungled the escort mission so badly this time.
We decided to give that elixir to Ilhyang instead.
Song Gwang-sik pressed his throbbing forehead with his palm for a moment.
Then he exhaled and spoke.
“…Put that on hold for now. If we say we’ll deliver it separately, the Jinseong Transport Company will gain from it. I think we need to consult with the higher-ups about this again.”
“Understood. I’ll convey that to the Jinseong Transport Company.”
A typhoon was brewing over the previously calm Kangho.
In times like these, one needed to keep one’s antennae raised high.
Chusal Daeju Song Gwang-sik’s face was noticeably contorted as he instructed his subordinates to gather more detailed information about the region.
But there were others facing a somewhat more immediate crisis than Song Gwang-sik.
* * *
A peaceful rock island in the downstream reaches of the Liu Chang River.
There stood the Ooryong Chae, the smallest of the Eighteen Gangs of the Yangtze Waterway.
For a water sect, the Ooryong Chae had very few members.
Including the water bandits and their families, there were only about five hundred in total.
The leadership of the Ooryong Chae consisted of exactly five men.
They were now gathered in a meeting with grave expressions, having abandoned their daily duties.
“What exactly is happening?”
“Listen here, Boss. How many times do I have to spell this out before it sinks in? The Jiao Long Faction, Yan Wang Faction, and Blood Wolf Faction—all three of them got completely demolished in a single night. You haven’t heard?”
“Those bastards? Why would they fight each other? Those old dogs would never turn on one another.”
“That’s just it—they tried to pull off some big score together, but it backfired spectacularly. The rumors are spreading like wildfire.”
The Faction Leader of the Ooryong Chae.
Jo Beom, a man of somewhat diminutive stature, listened to the entire account before tilting his head in confusion.
“Something doesn’t feel right about this. Am I overthinking it?”
“We all got the same feeling, Boss. But you’ve got a sharper head than the rest of us, so make the call for us.”
“Wait… let me think about this a bit more.”
Jo Beom, the master of Five Dragon Stronghold, was originally a high-intelligence Water Bandit who was even known to participate in the provincial examinations.
He stroked his unimpressive goat beard repeatedly, confronting the unease swirling in his mind head-on.
‘If we’re going by order, we’d be next, wouldn’t we?’
For one thing, approaching from the Blood Wolf Faction to here at the Ooryong Chae by following the river and sailing a ship was far too convenient.
The Ooryong Chae was positioned downstream from the Blood Wolf Faction.
With a sailing ship and favorable winds, they could arrive in just a matter of this frame of time.
“Information… we’re critically short on information.”
“That’s exactly what I figured you’d say, Boss, so I already sent out a few sharp lads to scout.”
“Good work, Hong Chun. Have you tried reaching out to the Grand Leader?”
“That old man’s in the dark just like we are, so he probably already knows everything without needing a report.”
As Hong Chun, a broad-faced middle-aged man, answered in his thick dialect,
a rather clean-looking bald man standing beside him suddenly spoke up.
“The problem is if the Grand Leader knows but is simply observing the situation, sir.”
“You’re saying that old bastard sees this as an internal matter?”
“It’s quite likely, sir. It wouldn’t make sense for the Grand Leader not to know what we’ve already figured out.”
“Hmm. But that’s the thing…”
The Yangtze River Waterway Eighteen Gangs was fundamentally a loose alliance of eighteen water sects banded together.
When external forces like government troops or major sects attacked, they would band together tightly to resist or find solutions.
But when internal power struggles or upheavals occurred, they would stand apart and watch from a distance.
“If the Grand Leader considers this an internal matter, the situation becomes extremely grave.”
“Exactly. It means we have to hold our ground with our own strength alone. Hell, this is maddening.”
He didn’t know the scale of the enemy or how many formidable masters they possessed. Everything was vague and unclear.
With nothing concrete to go on, he had no choice but to sit around twiddling his thumbs, waiting for those scouts he’d sent out to return.
…Normally, that is.
“…Or maybe not?”
“Sir?”
“Get the fastest ship ready immediately.”
At Jo Beom’s irritable command, the leadership of the Ooryong Chae cried out in alarm.
“Surely not… right, sir? You’re not, are you?”
Jo Beom gazed at his sworn brothers, then tapped the round table and stood.
“I need to see this with my own eyes and make a decision. There’s no time to waste on this.”
Jo Beom, Faction Leader of the Ooryong Chae, the Grass Carp of the Yangtze.
He had made the decision to move personally.
* * *
Fundamentally, the concept of circle magic was something entirely new that Ilhyang—or rather, the Archmage Fabius Tvalier—had established.
Before that, magic was called primitive magic and was used by indiscriminately accumulating mana in the heart.
Primitive magic could only handle a single elemental attribute found in nature.
The circle magic that Tvalier established overcame that limitation, allowing a single person to manipulate all attributes.
That is why the very concept of what a mage was changed completely before and after the Archmage Tvalier.
The 1st Circle grants basic elemental attributes.
In other words, the common ones we know—water, fire, wind, earth, wood, metal, light, darkness, and so forth.
One could gain basic affinity with the elements found in nature.
And it made it possible to manipulate them to some degree.
The 2nd Circle advances further, allowing one to maximize the power of elemental magic.
The 3rd Circle enables the combination and use of all elements one can handle.
From the 4th Circle onward, one could manipulate not only elemental magic but also what is called mental or spiritual magic.
So precisely from the 4th Circle.
One becomes capable of creating a kind of boundary in this world—what is commonly called an inner world.
“That is why in our world, only from the 4th Circle onward were they called true mages. Before that, we considered them merely apprentices.”
After contracting with a spirit and collapsing from mana exhaustion, Ilhyang had awakened.
Exactly two days later.
And during that gap, the elderly disciple who had faithfully handled his duties in his stead.
Was now receiving proper instruction for the first time.
“Master, from what you say, the 4th Circle in our world appears to correspond to the 6th or 7th stage of the Celestial Watchers.”
“That is likely the case. However, it will not align perfectly. This world’s system concentrates mana in the dantian.”
“Then, should this disciple completely seal the dantian now and create a circle in the heart instead?”
The elderly disciple Gong Jeol-gang.
When he asked with an expression of longing, Ilhyang shook his head.
“You have come too far for that. You would need to start from the beginning, but could you bear such a burden?”
“This disciple can certainly bear it.”
Ilhyang gazed at his disciple’s face, lined with wrinkles and burning with enthusiasm, and smiled bitterly.
It was the same everywhere.
Whether magic or martial arts.
Those who truly pursued knowledge were filled with madness like this old man.
That is why I felt a certain pity.
This elderly disciple, who for the first time in this world had laid bare all his secrets honestly.
Thinking back, our first meeting was not particularly pleasant.
Yet I had formally accepted him as my first disciple.
Because of that, I spoke the cruel truth without evasion.
“Regardless of your will, has your body not grown too frail?”
Once the vast mana that Gong Jeol-gang currently held in his dantian dispersed.
His body would rapidly return to his true age.
Right now, I appeared to be in my forties or fifties at most.
But the moment my mana dispersed,
I would revert to my true age—a man in his seventies.
There simply wasn’t enough time, physically speaking, to accumulate mana in my heart anew.
“Then… does this mean your Disciple cannot advance to higher realms anymore?”
Gong Jeol-gang, who had been trapped at the seventh stage for an eternity.
In truth, even the seventh stage alone represented what common folk called the pinnacle or transcendent mastery—an extraordinary achievement.
But where does human greed ever find satisfaction?
If he could ascend just one more stage and reach the eighth stage of Yeon-gi-gi,
he would become a supreme master whose equal would be nearly impossible to find in this world.
Watching my elderly Disciple’s deeply disappointed face and trembling voice, I fell into thought for a moment.
And now, having become a habit,
I answered while kneading my soft, sagging chin.
“Well, there are methods worth attempting, though not many. But it’s a path no one has ever walked. So I cannot guarantee success or failure.”
“Your humble Disciple trusts only in Master.”
Watching Gong Jeol-gang bow so deeply, I let out a soft chuckle and spoke.
“You’re putting quite the burden on me.”
“…”
Gong Jeol-gang merely swallowed hard, seeking both instruction and compassion from his young Master.
Understanding his earnest heart, I nodded.
“For now, it’s far too dangerous to attempt. Let’s try when I reach the sixth circle at least.”
The sixth circle was the true realm of an Archmage.
By this world’s standards, it would be beyond Yeon-gi-gi, past Chuk-gi-gi,
and likely equivalent to the stage of Gyeol-dan-gi or Won-yeong-gi.
‘Though I’m not entirely certain it maps perfectly.’
Perhaps because our pursuits differed,
the circle magic and the sorcerer’s stages didn’t align precisely.
I was simply forcing them to fit by this world’s standards.
“Then… when might you reach it?”
“You’re impatient, aren’t you?”
At my rebuke, Gong Jeol-gang laughed awkwardly and scratched the back of his head.
Even he thought it was an impatient question.
But he couldn’t help being impatient.
So I answered readily.
“I should reach the fourth circle within days. I went through considerable effort to make a contract with that creature for it.”
I gestured with my chin toward something.
Gong Jeol-gang opened his mouth cautiously, looking at the red-furred fox lying at the head of the bed.
“The Three-tailed Fox… or rather, now that another tail has grown, you mean the Four-tailed Fox?”
“Yes. I made a contract with Geumok.”
On the pillow placed on the bed,
Geumok lay sprawled across the ground with a languid expression, her tail swishing lazily as she yawned.
Gong Jeol-gang swallowed hard at the sight, his lips parting to speak.
“I had always understood that Disciples find it difficult to achieve deep communion with spirits. Yet seeing Master command such a spirit with such ease has made me intensely curious about the technique behind it.”
There existed separate methods for controlling spirits and demons.
But most of those were closely guarded family secrets, unknown to the outside world.
Ilhyang regarded the elderly Disciple with his covetous gaze, tilting his head slightly before—
gently stroking the Red Fox’s back as if to soothe her evident discomfort, then spoke.
“Strange words indeed. There is no different method to communing with spirits. One simply converses with them.”
Forcibly controlling a spirit?
Of course such methods existed.
But that was clearly a shortcut.
And through such means, one could never fully harness a spirit’s true power.
One would become nothing more than a puppet.
“I… I see.”
Yet despite Ilhyang’s explanation, Gong Jeol-gang could not hide his disappointment.
The value of spirits was truly immense.
If he could obtain the inner core of that four-tailed fox spirit right now—
‘At minimum, I could reach the eighth stage. With fortune’s favor, perhaps even the ninth…’
Truthfully, the desire to ask his young Master for that spirit’s inner core had risen all the way to his throat.
‘Get a grip on yourself.’
Excessive greed always invited calamity.
He could not afford to be deceived by his Master’s youthful appearance.
Gong Jeol-gang barely managed to suppress his desires, bowing deeply in respect before carefully opening his mouth.
“The tunnel excavation work you instructed the water bandits to undertake is nearly complete. The urgent repairs to the ships have also been finished.”
Ilhyang watched Gong Jeol-gang’s clumsy attempt at changing the subject, then let out a quiet chuckle.
The old man had been consumed by countless troubled thoughts just moments before.
Seeing him somehow manage to compose himself stirred something peculiar within me.
‘At least he’s not completely foolish.’
Ilhyang pretended not to notice the elderly Disciple’s deflection and spoke.
“I shall be in the Underground Training Hall for a while. Handle the rest.”
“Understood.”
As Ilhyang descended into the Underground Training Hall with the Red Fox—
Gong Jeol-gang released a deep sigh he had been holding back.
“Phew, this damned greed keeps pushing me beyond my place.”
Had senility finally caught up with him?
Because his Master’s appearance was that of a child, disrespectful thoughts kept raising their heads.
Gong Jeol-gang shook his head repeatedly, recalling his awkward first meeting with Master Ilhyang over and over in his mind.
Perhaps he should go outside and beat some sense into those ignorant water bandits to clear his head.

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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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