The Wizard Who Endured the World of Murim - Chapter 77

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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 77
Jigang Apryong.
Ruler of the Yeollyeom Jade River region and a Third Realm lower-grade demon cultivator.
He had originally lived in comfortable contentment, reigning as king over the Second Realm Spirit Vein of the Yeollyeom Jade River.
Then one day, a True Immortal suddenly descended from the heavens and led him to the location of the 4th Realm Spirit Vein.
Ah, what a magnificent sight it was!
From that day forward, Jigang Apryong lay his body upon the 4th Realm Spirit Vein.
Singing songs of gratitude for the True Immortal’s grace.
With each passing day, I could feel the inner elixir within my body expanding in size.
At this rate, it was certain I would soon surpass Third Realm middle-grade.
Truly, the 4th Realm Spirit Vein!
Then.
[My lord! My lord!]
The Red-scaled Lizard.
My loyal right hand came scurrying over and prostrated himself, crying out.
[What is all this commotion about?]
[She has come! A Fourth Realm Demon King came and inspected the boundaries of the spirit vein, then left!]
[Hehehehe, so it begins at last…!]
Jigang Apryong licked his lustrous yellow scales with his tongue as he spoke.
[And did you discern who this visitor was?]
[Yes! It was certainly Hyeol-an Majoo! I saw her clearly with my own two eyes!]
Jigang Apryong found himself.
Involuntarily swallowing hard at the appearance of Hyeol-an Majoo, ruler of Gueum Valley, which lay roughly a month’s journey away.
A Fourth Realm Demon King-class spider demon beast.
Hyeol-an Majoo.
She possessed an unusually intense obsession with territory.
Typically, once a Fourth Realm Spirit Vein was claimed, the lower-grade spirit veins such as Third Realm veins were left largely unattended.
After all, lower-grade spirit veins offered little assistance in cultivation advancement.
‘But she is a spider demon beast.’
Spider demon beasts were renowned for bearing an exceptionally large number of offspring.
While most spider demon beasts showed little affection for their spawn, Hyeol-an Majoo was uniquely devoted to her children, cherishing them dearly.
Thus, she forcibly expelled the masters of the Third Realm Spirit Veins surrounding the Fourth Realm Spirit Vein she controlled.
And had them managed or inherited by her own offspring.
As a result, among the Fourth Realm Demon Kings in this Dongseung Divine State, Hyeol-an Majoo possessed the most expansive territory.
[Tsk, so that greedy old hag now covets even the Fourth Realm Spirit Vein! How lamentable!]
[Hyeol-an Majoo’s love for her children is renowned throughout the entire Dongseung Divine State, my lord.]
[A vexing hag.]
Surely the distance between Hyeol-an Majoo’s base and this place was considerable.
So how did she intend to defend her own territory?
I wondered, but there was no immediate solution at hand.
In this Demon Immortal Realm, strength was justice, and strength was law.
Weakness was a sin.
Jigang Apryong hastened his preparations to depart.
[Pack up quickly!]
[Understood, sir!]
The two Red Lizards hurriedly commanded the demon beasts beneath them to gather the spirit stones excavated from the 4th Realm Spirit Vein.
They completed their preparations to leave for the Yeollyeom Jade River where they originally dwelled.
[Everyone, move out!]
[Moving!]
Jigang Apryong severed the tip of his tail, concealed it at the edge of the 4th Realm Spirit Vein, and swiftly departed with his subordinates.
* * *
“I met that bastard.”
“You did?”
“Something felt off about him, I tell you. I couldn’t help but pay attention, couldn’t help but look his way.”
Jecheon Daeseong Sun Wukong.
The golden-furred monkey regarded the Nine-tailed Fox chattering away before him with a slight frown.
Suddenly, Cheonho began lingering before him with a peculiar smile.
“If you’re planning to spout nonsense, get out.”
“No, no~ I haven’t said anything. Why are you reacting so sensitively?”
Cheonho smiled faintly.
He gazed at the Celestial Great Sage.
“You’ve taken a liking to that girl, haven’t you? Even our prickly Celestial Great Sage develops feelings for humans like this?”
“….”
“I was so curious I couldn’t eat anything. Food wouldn’t go down.”
The Celestial Great Sage sighed, rose from his seat, and retrieved a small wooden fish from one corner of the cave.
It was very old.
An ordinary wooden fish with no apparent special function or efficacy.
“What’s that?”
“A keepsake of my Master.”
“Your Master? Ah! Subodhi Patriarch?”
“Yes.”
Jecheon Daeseong Sun Wukong.
The great immortal of ancient times who had given him his name directly and taught him the dharma arts.
In those days, the boundaries between Buddhism and Daoism were blurred.
“Since my Master, this was the first time. A human who caught my attention. Remarkably, she carried the same scent as my Master.”
“…To that extent? Could she be his reincarnation?”
“I don’t know. But even though I’m seeing her for the first time, somehow she stirs something wistful within me.”
The Celestial Great Sage was born with the destiny of a Battling Immortal from the very beginning.
Thus, he never learned how to love others as his own.
It was Subodhi Patriarch who taught him how to live alongside others.
For some reason, that small human called Ilhyang emanated a scent similar to Master’s.
The sensation was so overwhelming—as if I might tear out his liver and gallbladder at any moment—that I had no choice but to flee that place in haste.
“Still, thanks to you, I’ve solved one mystery.”
“A mystery? What mystery?”
“I’ve discovered that he doesn’t inspire this feeling in me alone. This is a very important clue.”
“Right, it’s definitely strange. Why would he do that? He actually captivated me, the very foundation of all foxes in this world? Can you believe it?”
“Still, the sample size is too small. Next time, I should conduct the final test with a different subject.”
“A different subject?”
Sun Wukong nodded and gazed toward some distant place.
“I need to send someone completely different from us.”
And so, when Ilhyang came to the Demon Immortal Realm next time.
Sun Wukong was already storing the image of the new friend he would meet in his mind.
* * *
“The Magic Tower has finally been completed, Master.”
“You’ve worked hard.”
“I merely did as you instructed.”
Gong Jeol-gang gazed up at the Magic Tower before him with pride, a humble smile playing at his lips.
“Now it seems we only need to inscribe the magic circles.”
“Indeed. That’s all that remains.”
The structure was complete.
But it was merely a building, serving no function whatsoever.
‘In the Lower Realm, it could manage at most a Second Realm Spirit Vein, or perhaps a Third Realm Spirit Vein if we’re fortunate.’
Since the pathway to the Upper Realm had been severed, the ecosystem was fundamentally altered.
There were limits to drawing mana from the surrounding area.
Yet even that much was remarkable.
The Lower Realm had never possessed a proper spirit vein at all, so creating an artificial one was an extraordinary achievement.
‘Perhaps it will prove even more valuable to the Murim practitioners than to us.’
The Murim practitioners could not access the Upper Realm.
Without immortal roots, they lacked the very concept of ascension.
Before the heavens were sealed long ago.
Various expressions had existed among the Murim practitioners—transcendence through immortality, liberation, and such—but they were gone now.
All paths to ascension had been blocked for them.
According to what I heard from Namgung Jincheon.
This too had its reasons.
‘Tathagata, Yuqing, Nuwa. The three primordial immortals sacrificed their own bodies as offerings, yet it still wasn’t enough—they even took away the future of the Murim practitioners.’
They seized the infinite potential of Murim practitioners without immortal roots and created an absolute wall between the Lower and Upper Realms that could never be crossed.
This was an unavoidable choice to increase humanity’s survival rate.
And so a closed world was created.
Within this Lower Realm at least, humans could finally be free.
‘In return, the three primordial immortals left behind one gift.’
Nuwa had not merely taken away humanity’s potential.
Nuwa.
She had granted those humans without karmic merit a different possibility.
‘Creating a microcosm within the human body.’
A small world belonging to no other realm—one’s own and alone.
Through this, humans could rise through their own strength without relying on external aid.
‘Namgung Jincheon had achieved a microcosm state, or so he said.’
The Sword King Namgung Jincheon, now bedridden in the Separate Quarters, lay incapacitated.
According to his account, there existed a martial technique created solely to counter the Celestial Watchers.
It was called Immortal Severing Annihilation.
Even as Ilhyang, I could scarcely fathom how much blood and sweat from countless geniuses had been poured into this single technique.
‘This martial art can only be wielded by those who have forged their own microcosm, or so it seems?’
That made perfect sense.
After all, the very concept of Dispel itself was a magical framework I had devised to effortlessly shatter an opponent’s mental world.
Witnessing a similar manifestation in this realm stirred an inexplicable sensation within me.
‘It appears human thought follows remarkably similar patterns.’
With that reflection, I began to slowly gesture, commanding the mana currents surrounding me.
Immediately, a tremendous maelstrom of mana erupted around me.
Rumble—!
As Gong Jeol-gang observed each turbulent flux of mana with admiring eyes.
My mind continued to weave through other thoughts.
‘First, I’ll establish the Magic Tower. Then, after that….’
After that?
Was there anything left to accomplish in the Lower Realm?
The finest treasures in the Lower Realm paled before even the lowest-grade items in the Upper Realm.
Thus, the Lower Realm served only as a sanctuary.
‘Must I truly construct the Magic Tower merely for that purpose?’
As my thoughts chained together.
My consciousness suddenly drifted toward Namgung Jincheon, half-dying in the inner Separate Quarters.
‘One without karmic merit cannot ascend to the Upper Realm.’
Karmic merit was a form of passage permit.
An identity credential to enter the Upper Realm.
Having reached that conclusion, I simultaneously completed both a climate spell and a control magic circle that forcibly drew in the surrounding mana currents, breaking into a radiant smile.
‘Sneaking in without a ticket has always been the most thrilling approach, after all.’
The countless martial masters dwelling in the Lower Realm.
What would transpire if I unleashed those who had forged their own microcosms into the Upper Realm en masse?
Thus, my next objective had crystallized.

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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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