The Wizard Who Endured the World of Murim - Chapter 56

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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 56
Magic is magnificent.
It grants the ability to wield freely the forces that would otherwise remain beyond reach—the vast spectrum of elemental magics.
As I mastered the manipulation of elemental magic, my tactical responses naturally became more diverse and refined.
And at the pinnacle of such mages.
Ilhyang, the founder of Circle Magic, was.
I understood far better than anyone how to effectively confront creatures like Cheongpung Eung—those that took the form of birds.
“Make the body heavy, and it becomes simple. They cannot flee.”
From that creature, I sensed the dense, palpable spiritual essence of wind attribute.
Geumok might know this as well, but that Blue Hawk, despite its different appearance.
Was undoubtedly a variety of wind spirit.
Screeeee—
[How dare a mere human trespass upon my domain. Have you lost your mind? A pathetic creature that has barely served as a single meal!]
The Blue Hawk’s demon rank was, remarkably, that of a Demon King.
In the surrounding regions, it was called the Sovereign of the Skies.
Even in the Immortal Cultivation Realm, where demon beasts were classified according to human preference, a Demon King held a considerably elevated position.
An ordinary demon beast, a creature of the Qi Gathering stage.
Through prolonged cultivation or the acquisition of surrounding resources, it evolves into a Demon Spirit of the Qi Condensation stage, thereby gaining the qualification to ascend to the Upper Realm.
Once a Demon Spirit ascends to the Upper Realm and similarly acquires cultivation or resources to become a Greater Demon of the Foundation Establishment stage, it gains dominion—a power to rule over a defined territory.
This could be compared to a kind of Mental World that humans could manifest.
And this dominion becomes an exceptionally efficient force when they actually govern a region.
Even at the Greater Demon level, one could command thousands of demon beasts beneath them.
And should one evolve further to become a Demon King of the Core Formation stage?
That dominion becomes far more formidable.
No longer merely commanding.
Within the territory they govern, they hold absolute power over life and death of the demon beasts beneath them.
The tier above, the Demon Emperor of the Tribulation Transcendence stage, could wield dominion not over a mere region but across an entire vast continent.
From the Demon Emperor onward, the Immortal Cultivation Realm placed them under special management.
The destructive power and influence wielded by a single Demon Emperor was so tremendous that each individual was given a name or epithet, with bounties placed upon them.
Of course, there existed tiers even higher than this—those called Demon Stars of the Immortal Ascension or Great Vehicle stages.
These were the ultimate pinnacle among the bloodline demon clans, the very roots of all demon creatures.
They were not even within the classification that the Immortal Cultivation Realm could manage, such that even Immortals would flee or hide upon their appearance.
Truly, they were calamities of nature incarnate.
In this manner, demon beasts possessed a meticulously designed progression of growth stages.
In any case, a Demon King was equivalent to the Core Formation stage of humans.
However, assuming that demon beasts were typically ranked one or two stages higher than humans of comparable power.
Cheongpung Eung’s actual strength was equivalent to an Immortal of the Tribulation Transcendence stage.
Indeed, the Demon King Cheongpung Eung had constructed a nest within a vast cave on a cliff.
And within it, I was currently in a half-human form, resting in a relaxed state.
This was what was called assuming a humanoid transformation.
His two wings had transformed into something resembling human arms, with brilliant blue feathers sprouting to envelop them.
His face was a perfect blend of human and hawk—neither fully one nor the other.
Yet this fusion suited him remarkably well, lending him the appearance of a sharp-featured, cold-eyed beauty.
Cheongpung Eung’s frame was roughly the size of an adult male.
Though he wore no garments, his lustrous blue plumage draped across his entire form like the finest silk, radiating an aura of overwhelming majesty.
He sat upon a blue throne at the innermost recesses of the nest, his expression betraying a hint of indifference.
Ilhyang stood at the nest’s entrance on the cliff edge, observing the interior in silence until their eyes met across the distance—then he smirked.
“You’ve quite literally turned this place into a harem.”
The nest was filled with hundreds of female hawks, sitting demurely in their respective positions, each cradling multiple eggs.
Scattered throughout were several small chicks as well.
However, the fully mature male hawks appeared to have been driven out to the cliff edges beyond the nest’s perimeter, where they constructed precarious dwellings of their own.
This sanctuary housed only a select breeding stock of females, subjugated to serve him alone.
“Your tastes are certainly… refined.”
[Hmph, you wretch. If you approach me now and offer your eyes as tribute, I may spare your life and use you as a slave instead. I’ve heard human eyeballs are quite the delicacy.]
“And you—if you surrender your inner core willingly, I might just let you live. I’m known for being rather merciful, after all.”
[Kekeke, so I’ve heard that human innards are savory and rich in flavor. Why not come closer and let me open your belly to see? It would make for rather amusing entertainment for our young ones.]
Chirp-chirp—chirp—
The female hawks in the nest emitted soft cries in agreement.
At this display, Ilhyang let out a low chuckle.
“Ah, I see. Your inner core alone won’t suffice. If I pluck those magnificent feathers of yours raw, I could fashion quite the serviceable flight artifact. And they’d make a decent umbrella too, or perhaps even a fine quilt.”
The two of them spoke only what they wished to say, each quietly watching for an opening.
The first to move was the Demon King Cheongpung Eung, who stretched his arms leisurely to either side within the nest.
He flicked the tips of his wings, firing razor-thin feathers forward.
Whoosh—
Ilhyang turned his head, narrowly evading the projectiles, and immediately unleashed the magic he had prepared.
He harbored no confidence in capturing this monster using ordinary spells.
So he deployed the ultimate magic at his disposal.
“Observing the Sea.”
Tremendous light erupted from Ilhyang’s body.
Across a radius of three hundred zhang—roughly one kilometer—a highly compressed Mental World materialized.
This was Ilhyang’s unique Mental World, a recreation of the deep sea’s abyss made manifest in reality.
For the first time, Cheongpung Eung’s previously composed expression hardened with genuine tension.
“Now do you feel like having a serious conversation? Your body feels heavier, doesn’t it?”
[I never imagined you’d be the type to take hostages—even family.]
The Demon King Cheongpung Eung surveyed his surroundings with a darkened expression.
It was an ocean.
A murky, oppressive sea that felt like the very depths of the abyss, completely consuming the space around him.
His ears rang with pressure, and his entire body twisted as if being wrung like wet cloth in real time.
Yet fortunately—or perhaps unfortunately.
This pressure was directed solely at him.
My family was still safe and sound.
Of course, there was no guarantee they would remain so forever.
“If you cherished your family so much, you should have escaped long ago.”
[How absurd. Wasn’t it you who invaded my domain without permission in the first place?]
“Ah, you have a point there. I apologize for that part.”
Faced with the creature’s shameless attitude, Cheongpung Eung rose from his position with a darkened expression.
The tremendous water pressure made his body feel as though it would be flattened, weighing him down immensely.
This pressure naturally became shackles, continuously constricting Cheongpung Eung’s entire form.
But.
The moment Cheongpung Eung fully rose to his feet.
Faint blue flames began to flicker across his entire body.
For the first time, a low groan escaped from Ilhyang’s lips as he watched with apparent ease.
“This is truly the worst. A wind spirit that can even wield flame attributes?”
Cheongpung Eung.
At first, Ilhyang thought it referred to some kind of race.
Like Jigang Apryong.
He assumed it denoted the bloodline of some demonic beast.
‘So it wasn’t that—Cheongpung Eung was an actual [name].’
Cold sweat trickled down my spine.
A high-ranking spirit that had been given a name, no less.
And on top of that, this superior spirit possessed a physical body it could directly inhabit and control?
Under these circumstances, even confining that creature within my Mental World offered no true assurance.
In fact, I needed to be even more vigilant.
Because the Mental World itself could rupture and collapse.
A Mental World constructed by a 5th Circle Master.
Not just any 5th Circle—this was a work I had meticulously compressed by narrowing its scope, utilizing every ounce of my expertise.
This was already difficult to maintain.
And if it were forcibly dispelled, the backlash would be catastrophic.
As Ilhyang hastily wove hand seals to reinforce the Mental World.
Cheongpung Eung did not remain idle.
The creature that had been crushed beneath the deep sea’s pressure moments before.
Now wielded its sharp talons to rapidly slash through the void.
Whoosh—whoosh—!
Along the trajectory of Cheongpung Eung’s strikes, hair-thin lines were carved into the deep sea.
Using those lines as centerpoints, faint mist began seeping from the surroundings.
Pure white fog spreading like ink through the heart of the deep sea.
Under different circumstances, I might have paused to admire that eerie yet phantasmagoric sight.
But as the fog spread further, cold sweat only poured down my brow—I had no leisure to appreciate it.
‘It’s far more powerful than I anticipated.’
In terms of attributes, I held no disadvantage whatsoever.
If anything, it was advantageous.
Cheongpung Eung was currently displaying two primary attributes.
The wind attribute that the Blue Hawk named Cheongpung Eung possessed as an innate bloodline trait.
Since the wind attribute derived from the wood element, it grew stronger when encountering the water attribute.
Ilhyang’s Mental World was currently submerged beneath the sea, making it a water attribute realm.
Naturally, the Demon King Cheongpung Eung’s power had been amplified to its absolute limit.
But the same held true for me.
Each time the Demon King’s winds churned through my domain,
sharp trajectories formed in the surrounding space.
Yet conversely, the pressure mounting against my Mental World intensified layer by layer.
Crack—!
Splash—
The Demon King Cheongpung Eung’s limbs twisted grotesquely as muscles strained against bone, then snapped back into place—a pattern repeating several times over.
It was a clear sign that just as I sensed the danger, the Demon King Cheongpung Eung was also pushing himself to his limits.
The fire attribute that Cheongpung Eung displayed as his second element held no power whatsoever in this Mental World.
No matter how fierce the flames, they could never burn beneath seawater.
‘The real problem is how quickly the mist spreads.’
This pale white fog diffusing through the seawater like poison.
It was an extraordinarily serious threat.
I could feel my domain trembling bit by bit, my control slipping away gradually.
What technique this was,
what his objective might be—his scheme was painfully obvious.
Therefore, my countermeasure was equally conventional, and I understood the method well enough.
Yet there remained one fatal problem.
‘I lack sufficient power.’
Even with Geum-ok channeling her full strength to support me.
The most primal of obstacles.
And thus the most difficult to overcome.
My gaze upon the mist grew steadily calmer, more composed.

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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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