The Wizard Who Endured the World of Murim - Chapter 54

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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 54
“Y-yes, that’s correct. It’s a magical artifact crafted from seven precious gemstones woven together with thread. It’s an aerial transport vessel.”
“An aerial transport vessel?”
“Yes, Master.”
Hearing the explanation, I grew even more intrigued.
Now the situation was entirely different.
Ilhyang continued, absently stroking his smooth jawline.
“Let’s take the commission.”
“Pardon?”
“I said, let’s take the commission.”
“But Master, this commission carries tremendous risk and burden.”
“From now on, you needn’t concern yourself with risk, Disciple.”
A thin smile played across Ilhyang’s lips.
It was a smile brimming with absolute confidence.
And indeed, Ilhyang was confident against any opponent.
He knew there existed no master in the Lower Realm capable of standing against him.
Had the Namgung Clan offered material wealth as compensation, he would have naturally refused.
But magical artifacts? That was another matter entirely.
‘I’ve already acquired quite a number of them while subjugating those creatures in the Secret Realm.’
The more magical artifacts one possessed, the better.
The greater the sample size.
The more thoroughly I could unravel how the artifacts of this world functioned.
“By the way, how is the Magic Tower construction progressing?”
“Ah! As you can see there, we’ve already raised it to the third floor.”
A massive silhouette began to emerge faintly beyond the carriage window.
“Quite impressive.”
“Yes. Following your instructions, Master, we spared no expense and procured materials from all directions, so it’s rising rapidly.”
Indeed, it was exactly as described.
Through the carriage window stretched a magnificent vista. Across an expansive plot of land that seemed to stretch endlessly.
The Magic Tower rose like a colossal stone wall, its form quite convincing.
“These Murim practitioners certainly possess impressive strength. To construct something like this so swiftly.”
“Yes. Their bodies are remarkably durable.”
If one gathered several skilled earth mages and drove them relentlessly for about a month.
A Magic Tower of three floors could honestly be constructed quickly enough.
But of course, it would consume an enormous amount of mana, and resources would be staggering.
However, if one simply stacked the tower through pure physical labor?
‘The only real expense would be food costs.’
On the Seven Continents, recreating a construction site requiring that level of labor would necessitate mobilizing at least ten Knight Orders.
And the proud, arrogant masters of those Knight Orders would never deign to perform such menial work.
‘But here, it was possible.’
The Murim was absolutely teeming with martial artists—their numbers were staggering.
Moreover, the treatment afforded to these warriors was far from generous.
The Orthodox Sects carried themselves with a certain haughtiness, much like the Knights of the Seven Continents once did.
But the Unorthodox Faction and the Murim’s public enemies? What of them?
No matter how many I captured and enslaved, not a soul dared to complain or harbor resentment.
‘If anything, they offered praise.’
Ilhyang bared his teeth in a radiant smile, delighted by this fantastical environment.
“I find myself growing quite fond of this world, my Disciple.”
“I am relieved to hear it, Master.”
Gong Jeol-gang seized the opportunity and hastily flattered him with jingling obsequiousness.
Ilhyang gazed contentedly out the carriage window.
‘For now, I shall construct only up to the tenth floor.’
After that, I could afford to take my time completing the rest.
After all, this world harbored no mages.
There remained ample time before the full expanse of ten floors would be exhausted.
‘Come to think of it.’
As Ilhyang gazed through the carriage window, I flicked my fingers lightly, instantly weaving an abundance of concealment magic around the carriage.
Gong Jeol-gang’s expression twisted in shock as the sensory-blocking enchantments unfurled instantaneously.
With no change in expression, I completed the spells and stroked Geum-ok at the nape of my neck with a sly grin.
The probability was admittedly slim.
Yet I cast this precaution in case those from the Upper Realm happened to be watching.
“I intend to visit the Upper Realm briefly soon, my Disciple.”
“…Pardon?”
Not to ascend to the Upper Realm.
But to visit and return?
The way he spoke of it—as casually as stepping out to a nearby tavern—left me momentarily bewildered.
“Do you mean you shall ascend to the Upper Realm and then descend back to the Lower Realm?”
Was such a thing even possible?
If it were feasible from the start,
the countless Immortal Sects scattered throughout Kangho would have long since extracted the power and legacies of their ancestors dwelling in the Upper Realm.
‘Had that been the case, the Immortal Sects would have had no need to hide and flee as Murim’s public enemies.’
The laws of heaven were naturally structured to prevent such things.
Consequently, the Immortal Sects had been forced to flee relentlessly, hunted as public enemies by the Martial Arts Alliance—a mere gathering of ordinary mortals.
They could not withstand the violence of sheer numbers.
“It is possible to return from the Upper Realm to the Lower Realm.”
Ilhyang’s plan was elegantly simple.
The formidable dimensional barrier created by the hierarchical difference between Upper and Lower Realms—
I intended to exploit it fully to construct my own world within the Lower Realm.
‘Without interference from anyone.’
Those from the Upper Realm could exert no influence upon the Lower Realm.
There was no need to worry about them launching an attack.
This was the most optimal condition—one where I could attack unilaterally without restraint.
‘The Upper Realm bastards will have no choice but to sit idle and watch.’
A delighted laugh bubbled up from deep within my chest.
The thought of secretly infiltrating the Upper Realm, gathering materials, and breaking through the 9th Circle—my original realm—once more filled me with anticipation.
‘And if the opportunity arises later, I could even construct a Magic Tower in the Upper Realm.’
Once I reached my original state.
No matter how formidable the beings in the Upper Realm were, I would have nothing to fear.
A thick, palpable joy began to bloom across my face as I gazed out from the carriage window.
* * *
What I set my mind to, I accomplished swiftly.
After completing my business on Sungwha Island in a flash, I immediately attempted to traverse into the Spirit Realm.
And upon opening the door to the Spirit Realm and stepping through, the first sensation I felt was the hot, humid air caressing both my cheeks.
‘It’s sweltering.’
Then, the moment my feet touched the ground, I felt an explosive vitality surge through me.
Verdant trees enveloped everything in all directions, and beyond them, lava fountains erupted with thunderous roars.
No matter where I turned my gaze across the heavens and earth, this overwhelmingly dense life force saturated everything.
A world where the very air screamed and boiled around me, even in stillness.
“Ha, this is insane.”
The Demon Immortal Realm.
My first impression upon entering this place was nothing short of astonishment.
Though I had traversed quite a few worlds thus far.
Never before had I encountered a place where energy was so densely concentrated that its liquefied masses rained down like precipitation in all directions.
“So this is what happens when phase inversion deliberately channels the flow of energy into a confined space.”
Like a funnel of sorts.
Energy that should have been thinly and evenly distributed across one world.
Compressed into a single realm with extraordinary density.
“That’s why superior materials cannot be obtained from the Lower Realm.”
I had no idea whose mind originally conceived this design.
But it was ruthlessly selfish and remarkably efficient.
Truly the ingenuity of a mage, was it not?
I genuinely wanted to offer my praise.
Ssshhh―
I began moving slowly through the air using levitation magic, carefully avoiding the ancient wood and vegetation debris scattered across the ground.
As I moved, thin, spider-web-like clusters of mana brushed against my skin, providing a pleasant sensation.
It was like returning to the womb, submerged in amniotic fluid.
My body felt extraordinarily light.
It seemed I could accomplish anything.
Indeed, any magic I cast would be instantly replenished.
The burden of casting spells was negligible.
But.
[My body feels far too heavy.]
Unlike Ilhyang, who was experiencing the most exquisite sense of liberation,
Geum-ok’s reaction bordered on displeasure.
The air in this place felt suffocatingly dense to her, making each breath labored and difficult.
Moreover, the weight of her physical form—something she had never felt before—pressed down upon her like being forced into thick, unyielding armor.
“It can’t be helped. Spirits originally had no physical bodies, after all.”
I had given a bodiless spirit a physical form.
Some penalty was only fitting.
Without it, wouldn’t that be terribly unfair?
As Ilhyang drifted slowly through the air, peering curiously at his surroundings, he encountered the first inhabitants of this world after roughly half an hour.
Crackle, crackle—!
Boom—!
With each step, the earth fractured in all directions like the shell of a tortoise.
A magnificent creature, easily thirty meters tall, its entire body covered in iron-like scales.
[What in the world is this? A human? Fuhahahaha! My devotions to the Demon Lord have finally borne fruit!]
[Truly, the great Jigang Apryong! Your piety has reached the heavens and brought us this blessing! It has been eight hundred years since a lost human fell into our Yeomyeol Daejji!]
A towering Yellow Lizard standing upright on two legs, reaching toward the sky itself.
The creature’s face twisted with excitement, its vertical pupils dilating as it thrust its protruding snout skyward, releasing a continuous, booming laugh.
Beside it, two red lizards pressed close, bowing and scraping incessantly.
“What is that thing?”
[I’m not certain. But given that its name contains the character for dragon, it appears to be a demon beast of earth dragon bloodline.]
Boom, boom—!
The creature bounded toward Ilhyang on two legs, exhaling scorching breath with each step.
Simultaneously, it stretched out its short arms to seize Ilhyang suspended in the air.
“Hup! That’s quite the enthusiastic welcome.”
Ilhyang’s body shot upward through the void, leaving Jigang Apryong grasping at empty air, flailing helplessly.
[Grraaagh!]
[No! How dare this insignificant human evade the great one’s grasp!]
[This human fool knows no respect! Punish him, great one!]
Boom, boom—!
The two red lizards under Jigang Apryong’s command lashed their long tails against the ground.
Meanwhile, Ilhyang hovered in the air above Jigang Apryong, muttering to himself.
“Hmm, a demon beast at the Core Formation stage.”
[I’m terrified….]
Geum-ok trembled violently throughout her entire body.
That Yellow Lizard was of an extraordinarily high rank—something that could never be found in the Lower Realm.
Even its subordinates, those red demons, were at least at the Qi Gathering stage.
One could easily gauge just how severe the power inflation was in the Upper Realm.
‘Generally speaking, demon beasts are said to be one to two ranks stronger than celestial watchers of the same level, aren’t they?’
Which meant that demon was at minimum a Nascent Soul stage monster.
Then.
The golden lizard stretched its claws upward several times from below, but finding it futile.
Its eyes gleamed as it finally drew in a deep breath.
And immediately opened its maw wide, exhaling a stream of green vapor.
* * *
Jigang Apryong was the ruler of the Yeollyeom Jade River region in Dongseung Divine State.
Yeollyeom Jade River referred collectively to a vast gorge where lava fountains erupted from the ground and flowed downward like a great river.
Jigang Apryong had been the ancient master of this domain for eons.
His armor-like scales allowed him to withstand the region’s characteristic scorching heat.
His massive body stood out conspicuously in this terrain, which had few natural obstacles.
As a result, the demon inhabitants dwelling here granted him absolute reverence.
Yet the truth behind his dominion over this region was remarkably simple.
Higher-ranking demons had long since abandoned this place and departed.
The Yeollyeom Jade River region was desolate, and its spiritual veins—classified as the lowest grade of the Upper Realm, mere Qi Gathering stage—held little value.
For great demons who had transcended the Qi Gathering stage long ago, this region offered no appeal.
It provided no meaningful contribution to their advancement.
In short, among the demon realms of the Upper Realm.
This was one of the most remote backwaters. A true desolate wasteland.
In such a barren region, having abandoned growth for an eternity.
Jigang Apryong, who had merely lorded over his domain with creaking joints, became far too excited upon spotting this blind prey that had arrived after so long.
Thus he forgot the obvious fact that his [Venomous Breath] would dissolve living prey into nothingness.
Kwaaaaaaah―
‘Oops!’
The instant he exhaled, Jigang Apryong recognized his blunder.
He hastily clamped his jaws shut to stop the venomous breath.
But already half of the exhalation had reached its target.
[Kheup! Kheheok!]
The backlash of power forced tears from his eyes as he desperately inhaled to regain control.
Jigang Apryong swiftly twisted his head side to side, gradually managing the raging force within.
[Khaaap! Kheok! Ptui!]
[M-My lord, are you alright!]
Jigang Apryong shook his head, tears trickling down, at his subordinates’ worried inquiry.
His excitement had caused him to lose this delicacy that had appeared only once in eight hundred years—the disappointment was unbearable.
Then.
Tok―
[Hm?]
The human who should have long since melted into a corpse.
Was standing atop his massive bridge of his nose with both hands raised.
[Whoa! You survived, human!]
[Oh! The human is alive!]
Jigang Apryong and all of his lizard subordinates gleamed with excitement, their tails standing rigidly on end.
“There’s a particular spell that works exceptionally well against lizards with hardened scales.”
[Hmm? What are you saying, human?]
As Jigang Apryong tilted his head in confusion, asking the question.
“And conveniently, the target is large and perfect.”
Small sparks began crackling from Ilhyang’s raised hand pointing toward the sky.
And then.
[Thunder Storm]
Crackle-crackle-crackle—!
The dark storm clouds undulated like waves, then unleashed a torrent of devastating lightning.
Those tremendous bolts struck directly at the massive body of Jigang Apryong.

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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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