The Wizard Who Endured the World of Murim - Chapter 50
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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 50
Crunch—
Crackle—
The seal binding Yuk Ji-no-goe’s soul was being torn at in real time.
I could vividly hear the sound of his spirit and flesh being ripped apart like tattered rags.
Oh!
This was undoubtedly the price of forcefully exerting power while bound by the seal.
A tremendous backlash of energy had erupted as a consequence.
“Suppressing your own realm by force to deceive the heavens, are you? It seems punishment is in order.”
Ilhyang stood motionless in place.
Looking up at the transparent fist descending rapidly.
This was a world within the Secret Realm, after all.
Yuk Ji-no-goe had apparently managed to release the limits of his power to some degree.
But still.
Perhaps once was manageable, but twice in succession was not.
I could already see the connection threads of his soul growing loose.
‘He’s realized his secret has been exposed and is panicking.’
Yet he must have understood that forcing his power like this was a self-inflicted wound.
‘And his opponent was far too unfavorable.’
Ilhyang slowly extended both hands upward.
And bid farewell to Yuk Ji-no-goe, now so distant he had vanished from sight.
“Your kind in this world seem entirely ignorant of Anti-Magic, don’t you? Even so, you’re far too hasty.”
Ilhyang chuckled softly.
And slowly expanded my own Mental World, touching gently against Yuk Ji-no-goe’s Mental World.
That is, against the transparent giant’s hand.
The moment I made contact.
‘Ah….’
Ilhyang’s attention fixed on the scene unfolding before me.
This was Yuk Ji-no-goe’s Mental World.
It was a very ancient bookstore.
An Ancient Bookstore untouched by human hands.
Within that bookstore, abandoned in a corner for an immensely long time, dust had accumulated in layers upon.
A landscape resembling worn and weathered books.
This conveyed a spirit that had undergone rigorous cultivation for an extraordinarily long time.
And a mental world elevated by that vast span of cultivation was transmitted vividly, as if tangible in my grasp.
‘Certainly solid and unyielding.’
Compared to that girl from the Mansi Sect I had encountered before, the gap in mental world strength was as vast as heaven and earth.
But.
The gap in mental worlds.
Changes in judgment whenever the comparison shifts.
The solidity and hierarchy of the Mental World were inherently relative concepts.
“Gahhh!”
Yuk Ji-no-goe trembled violently, clutching at his chest.
“Elder? No, what on earth is happening suddenly? What? Does something hurt? This wasn’t part of the plan, was it? Please stop. I’m frightened?”
While Peng Tian-yu floundered about in panic.
Yuk Ji-no-goe barely lifted his head, thick veins bulging grotesquely across his entire face.
“Gahhh… Krrrrgh!”
His eyes, bulging as if about to burst, fixed upon someone far away in the distance.
In his vision, a White Room now spread before him.
And within that room, a young man in strange, unfamiliar garments stared directly at him with a smile.
The young man’s lips moved as he spoke.
‘You pushed yourself too hard.’
Yuk Ji-no-goe Gao Shiji.
Perhaps the strongest living being in the Lower Realm—from his eyes and nose.
Black blood now began to pour forth in streams.
For the glory of the Moshan Sect.
He had willingly accepted the fracturing of his own soul, tearing his entire spirit and body to shreds, reducing them to an extreme degree.
Through the torn spirit and flesh, he had pierced holes with hellfire and bound them together at fixed intervals with chains so they would not separate.
This was an action and resolve that could not be undertaken with ordinary resolve.
The pain of a soul tearing was a kind beyond even imagination.
Thus Gao Shiji maintained the soul’s original size.
Folding each torn fragment carefully upon the others.
Deceiving the world’s rules so that from heaven’s perspective, he appeared as merely a small soul.
Even while enduring the ridicule and contempt of the Murim and the Celestial Watchers.
He had hidden his fangs to the very end.
‘I cannot ascend until I create a legacy… a legacy of the Original Sect.’
The Moshan Sect unfortunately possessed no legacy connecting them to their ancestors.
Because of this, they were always second-rate.
They had no history of opening their own heaven anew.
Thus, from ages long past, they had been utterly disregarded by other orthodox sects.
And this was not something that ended in mere contempt or mockery.
‘It was something that could lead to the sect’s extinction.’
Yuk Ji-no-goe Gao Shiji.
He had to do something for the future, no matter what.
Thus Yuk Ji-no-goe monopolized the sect’s resources for a long time.
And with tears in his eyes, he consumed the bright, diverse talents of the promising newcomers who entered the sect.
‘For the sake of a legacy, this is merely a trivial sacrifice.’
Forcing himself to turn away from the miserable reality in this manner.
His soul’s rank swelled, and he became a monster.
Thus, solely for the sake of the Moshan Sect’s great legacy.
I had been quietly and painstakingly gathering resources.
The process was far too difficult to be expressed in mere words.
While deceiving the heavens themselves.
And simultaneously piercing through the competition of countless Suseon Sects.
I had gathered resources and materials from the barren Lower Realm to create a legacy unique to the Moshan Sect.
And that had taken three hundred years!
‘If only I could handle this Secret Realm properly. Then everything could have flowed according to natural order!’
The goal had drawn within arm’s reach.
If I could just overcome this crisis, I could have created the legacy.
And I myself could have escaped the shackles and ascended beautifully.
Could I not?
Rather, because I had defied the will of heaven.
Had the Heavenly Tribulation come in this manner?
I did not know. Even Yuk Ji-no-goe could not comprehend that far.
Consciousness grew increasingly dim.
I felt my soul being sucked into something within the luminous space.
Yuk Ji-no-goe could not even let out a final scream.
As I collapsed to the ground and my soul was being torn away in real time.
Conversely, Ilhyang was experiencing an emotion so full and abundant that it could not be concealed.
‘What fortune.’
That Yuk Ji-no-goe, Gao Shiji, had lived for over three hundred years while deceiving the heavens, accepting the grinding away of his own soul to create the Moshan Sect’s legacy.
This became apparent immediately after the Mental World connected.
Just how ruthlessly and viciously he had accumulated power and resources.
All of his deeds were recorded intact in the ancient texts of the Mental World.
‘He had exceeded his natural lifespan and lived desperately suppressing his power.’
Truly, what a pitiful creature.
He had suppressed his power for a long period and lowered his own standing.
As a result, his weight class had fallen to an absurd degree.
Naturally, he should not have been a match at all.
In fact, the gap was so vast that combat should not have been possible.
‘He lowered his own weight class for me. How fortunate could this be?’
Moreover, he had even recklessly charged at me first.
For Ilhyang, this was no different from treasure rolling toward him of its own accord.
Combat within the Mental World.
This was nearly the only method to rapidly expand one’s mental fortitude and the magnitude of one’s soul.
‘This is incomparably more exquisite than that Kid from the Mansi Sect back then.’
To use an analogy to make the current situation easier to understand.
It was as if a massive elephant had walked entirely into the mouth of a lizard the size of a finger.
Normally, the belly should have burst and death should have followed.
But Ilhyang’s enlightenment had already reached an overwhelming level.
My body was not rupturing; instead, it was growing at an accelerated pace.
Even now, fireworks continued to detonate ceaselessly within my mind.
Thus, Ilhyang stood motionless in the heart of the desert, greedily inhaling the endless stream of meticulously refined soul fragments that surged toward him.
Normally, he would have been unable to digest them, forced to discard more than half—but this was far from normal.
The Red Fox, bound to Ilhyang through their soul connection.
Geum-ok was absorbing a considerable portion of the burden, dramatically amplifying the efficiency.
[Uuuaahhh….]
Of course.
Geum-ok herself trembled violently, unable to adapt to the sudden tsunami-like surge of spiritual growth.
With eyes half-lidded, Ilhyang stood in the desert’s heart, rapidly gulping down soul fragments of Yuk Ji-no-goe and Gao Shiji, ascending through the circles in a single breath.
‘Fifth Circle.’
Ilhyang had surpassed the Fourth Circle Master realm and shot directly to the Fifth Circle Master stage.
Since this was enlightenment he had originally possessed, there was no particular sensation of spiritual growth.
Rather.
The expansion of the vessel—the container that held his mental world and spiritual power—was distinctly palpable.
‘So the vessel can expand independently.’
Separate from spiritual enlightenment, the sensation of the vessel’s capacity expanding to hold his mental world and willpower felt genuinely pleasant.
Moments later.
When Ilhyang opened his eyes.
Chul Mu-geuk’s expression, complicated and unreadable, came into view.
“My congratulations.”
“Thank you.”
“You’ve now ascended to a place I can no longer reach.”
When Ilhyang had stopped, gazed upward at the sky, and suddenly trembled violently across his entire frame, Chul Mu-geuk.
Instinctively recognized it as a moment of enlightenment.
Simultaneously, he felt an undeniable surge of jealousy rising from a corner of his chest.
However.
‘What use is coveting something that was never meant to be mine?’
Chul Mu-geuk’s cultivation was not shallow.
His nature was not so malevolent as to covet another’s possessions.
He knew how to preserve his integrity and dignity.
Thus, he quietly took his place beside Ilhyang as a guardian.
Should the Murim Alliance attempt to approach and provoke them, despite the considerable distance, he would actively intervene.
Fortunately, something seemed to have occurred within the Murim Alliance as well.
They gathered among themselves and departed toward some destination.
Until half an evening had passed, Ilhyang remained motionless in that spot.
Only when dawn broke anew could Ilhyang finally stabilize his growth to some degree.
He gently stroked Geum-ok, who still could not regain her senses and convulsed across her entire body, and spoke.
“Shall we depart now, Senior?”
“Lead the way.”
“Understood.”
Ilhyang walked forward with a smile, his strides confident and purposeful.
The moment Chul Mu-geuk saw his retreating figure, an overwhelming certainty seized him.
‘We no longer need to skulk about in hiding in this place.’
Regardless of how many masters and mages had gathered here.
Chul Mu-geuk felt no concern whatsoever about whatever they might attempt.
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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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