Chapter 103 - Opening Act 1

Translator: HH Editor: thursdays

“Why are you smiling like a cat that ate the canary? What, did something good happen? You’re not planning on doing something crazy again, right?”

“Geez, old man. You make it seem like I always do crazy things.”

“Humph! Are you saying you don’t?”

The Martial King laughed at the elder, who looked at him suspiciously.

Eh, after all, he did do a lot of crazy things when he was younger. And the elders always paid the price.

“Today is the day.”

“The day?”

“To see how great our son-in-law is.”

“Ah, that’s what you meant.”

The elder nodded his head in understanding.

The elders knew Yeon-woo had received permission to enter the skill archives for four days.

And that he had the ridiculous quest to create a new Mugong in that time.

“So then is Edora planning on giving the Yin Sword to that guy?”

“Looks like it.”

“Guess that was obvious. Defeating Jang, who climbed up 30 floors right after finishing the tutorial at that age...I suppose it’ll be hard to find something like him again. It’s a shame that we can’t see his face behind the mask though.”

“I’m sure he’s good looking.”

“Hm? How do you know that?’

The Martial King just smirked without giving him a response.

The fact that the Martial King laughed like that meant he was hiding some trick up his sleeves again.

No one was able to stop him when he did that. Not even the Psychic Medium, whom the Martial King was supposed to submit to.

“Anyways, just don’t go overboard. Finishing Mugong in four days? What kind of ridiculous quest is that? I know you were planning on making him feel weak, but if you go overboard, he’ll rebel.”

The elders didn’t think that Yeon-woo would complete the Martial King’s quest.

Even the Martial King, who was called a genius back in his days couldn’t do that.

But the Martial King kept a mysterious smile on his face without responding.

The Martial King sneakily changed the subject.

“What about the egg? How are things?”

“The further we go on, the less we understand.”

“So a Legendary Beast?”

“Well.”

The elder organized his thoughts because he didn’t know what to say, and then he spoke in a serious tone.

“It’s definitely on that level....but we’ll tell you the details later. We can’t say anything for sure right now.”

“Seems like it’s a big deal. Alright.”

The Martial King steadily got up.

It was time to go check up on Yeon-woo.

“Now, shall we see how our son-in-law is faring?”

***

“Dang. This kid shrunk to half his size! Edora, what have you been doing, not feeding the guy?”

The Martial King let out a surprised laugh at how much weight Yeon-woo had lost.

Even though his face was covered by the mask, it was obvious to see that his entire body had lost some weight.

There were black circles under his eyes beneath the mask as well.

But his eyes were sharper than ever.

The Martial King was able to understand after seeing those eyes.

‘This fella, he’s achieved more than I expected.’

Then, Yeon-woo spoke up.

“Should I show you here?”

“Sure.”

As soon as he received permission from the king, Yeon-woo activated his Magic Circuit.

At that moment.

[The newly completed ‘Heaven Wing Mana Control (Elements: Fire, Darkness, Electricity)’ is being revealed outside.]

[The proficiency of ‘Heaven Wing Mana Control’ increased. 12.9%]

*Flash*

A hot wind with Yeon-woo at its center spread out in a circle around its surroundings.

A shocked Edora quickly jumped back. The wind tickled her chest.

This was clearly a warning.

If you got closer, you would be in danger.

As if to prove that, the grass in areas where the wind passed turned golden-brown.

The air heated up and the earth cracked, as if a drought had occurred.

Then, sparks flew out, causing a fire to spread all around.

The column of fire grew taller while hugging Yeon-woo.

Then through that column, she was able to see a figure wrapped in fire.

He looked like a divine being with armor made out of fire, or an angel, with wings of blazing flames. No, a devil.

Together, the black armor he originally wore and the red flames made him look all the more threatening.

The heat that was warming up the air was also pushing down the people around him.

With the Tendon Transformation Scripture as its foundation and adorned with the Yukyanggong, it was the perfect completed Inner Cultivation.

It was a great show of martial power.

“....!”

Edora was tongue-tied at this spectacle. Her eyes, looking on with Insight, shook rapidly.

‘More than two times the original amount....! No...three times?”

She checked Yeon-woo’s magic power and was shocked. She couldn’t believe the creation of a new Inner Cultivation had led to this result.

What exactly did he create?

On the other hand, she had this thought.

‘Then how inefficient was his magic power beforehand? No, he was still that powerful when his magic power was inefficient? Then how much stronger did he get after the use of Mugong?’

Even with his inefficient magic power, he was able to exert the power he did before. Now, with the beginner’s Inner Cultivation that he started, he was already showing that much potential. If he furthered his Inner Cultivation...

If the Martial King upheld his promise of Mugong lessons, his power would grow exponentially. It was impossible to predict how powerful Yeon-woo would be.

“Huh, this kiddo’s a monster!”

The Martial King looked at Yeon-woo and sniggered.

He expected Yeon-woo to complete the quest, but not to provide these shocking results.

Of course, there were still some areas that could be improved, but it was still an amazing feat.

“But. This.”

The Martial King thought Edora and Phante had brought an amazing person.

Also, he couldn’t help but feel his blood pulsing wildly.

After the rise of the Nine Kings, he had gotten so strong that it was hard to find a rival. For the first time in a long while, he felt sincere curiosity about someone.

The guy in front of him was a beast.

Like him.

So.

The Martial King asked, not knowing he was baring his teeth.

“Me, you copied me, right?”

When Yeon-woo used Mana Control, the Martial King saw who Yeon-woo had modeled his Mugong after.

It was so similar to the Supreme God’s Grace he himself mastered.

Yeon-woo didn’t bother denying the fact.

“Because you’re the most powerful person out of everyone I know.”

“Haha. You don’t have to flatter me like that, eh? Even if it’s true.”

The Martial King smirked and looked Yeon-woo up and down. His shining eyes were observing Yeon-woo’s Mana Control.

“Hmmm.. looks like using the Tendon Transformation Scripture as the base, you combined it with the Third Inner Cultivation. And you added Thousand Dragon Gong for the balance. For the color....is it Yukyanggon, Strong Hyul Magong, Neuebyeoksae, and Light Inner Cultivation?”

Yeon-woo clicked his tongue as the King named all the Mugong’s details.

He thought no one would be able to recognize it.

The Martial King was the Martial King for a reason.

“Seems like you focused on increasing attack power and destructive power. But you added Light Inner Cultivation to the mix to even it out. But I think if you fix this a little bit like this, it would be better.”

Yeon-woo realized the Martial King was giving him advice and stood up taller.

The amount of information he read from books wasn’t comparable to the advice the King was giving him.

“Can I ask why?”

The Martial King snickered.

“Just ’cause.”

“.....what?”

Yeon-woo accidentally said what he was thinking.

The Martial King spoke in a joking tone.

“Because it seems like that.”

“....”

“Why are you looking at me like that? It really just seems like that. How do I explain that? Geniuses like me know right away after they see something.”

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Yeon-woo really wanted to curse.

When he had first started learning about the concept about mana, his annoyance really reached the limit because of how his little brother and Yul explained it.

Did all geniuses have a passive skill called arrogance?

“But this is enough to pass. Congratulations. You passed my test. You’re the third person to do so.”

[You have completed a high level of Mugong. The quest [The Martial King’s Test] has been finished with the highest conditions.]

[You have accomplished something that isn’t easy to achieve. Additional karma will be rewarded.]

[You have received 2,000 karma.]

[You have received 1,000 additional karma.]

[You have received the qualification to learn from the Martial King. Please learn from the Martial King to move to a higher tier.]

[You have received the Skill Book . Request it from the Martial King.]

[You have received the succession of the . For more details, please discuss it with the Martial King. You can ask for more rewards.]

[All stats have increased by 15.]

[The proficiency of ‘Heaven Wing Mana Control’ has increased by 5%. 26.1%]

Feel-good messages rose up in front of Yeon-woo’s eyes, signaling the completion of a quest.

“Take it.”

The Martial King threw something in front of Yeon-woo before he finished reading all the messages.

Yeon-woo lightly caught it.

It was a book, and on the cover, it said ‘Eight Extreme Fists.’

With his Draconic Eyes, he was able to see that there were a lot of densely packed flaws.

‘It means it’s of superior rank.’

What was the identity of this Mugong? It seemed like it was a type of book on fighting just by looking at the title.

“As promised, from now on, I will help you master Mugong, and I’m planning on teaching you with the Eight Extreme Fists. Of course, you can’t say no.”

The Martial King joked and explained further.

“As you already know, we have to participate in a war soon. So for a while, follow me as my assistant while I teach you. I won’t teach the same thing twice.”

Yeon-woo’s eyes twinkled.

If he was able to stick by the Martial King’s side, he would be able to see the Martial King’s performance in the war.

His Draconic Eyes would definitely improve.

And if he got one-on-one teaching from the Martial King?

This was an opportunity to greatly increase his physique, which hadn’t been able to grow because he spent all his time on looking for hidden pieces.

The quality of the software didn’t matter if the hardware couldn’t catch up with it.

“There’s something I want to ask.”

“Go ahead.”

“I got something called the succession of the Yin Sword. What is that?”

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. Of course, you can reject it if you want. Anything else?”

“You said I was the third person to pass this test. Then can I ask who the other two people were?”

“Haha! This kid, though! You’re already curious about them? You’ve probably heard about one of them before. He’s quite famous.”

“Who is it?”

“The Sword God.”

“.....!”

Yeon-woo’s eyes widened.

The Sword God was the leader of Cheonghwado’s five Martial Gods. When dealing with swords, no one could compare to him.

Even Allforone acknowledged his skills.

That kind of person was the first person to pass the test?

“That guy was originally my disciple.”

The Martial King casually said shocking words like he was talking about the weather.

Yeon-woo became more surprised. It was something his brother hadn’t known either.

‘The relationship between Cheonghwado and the One-horned tribe. They’re closer than I realized. If I end up fighting against Cheonghwado, will I have to go against the One-horned tribe too?’

Yeon-woo gulped.

“Well, now it’s been a while since he’s been excommunicated. Anyways, what I’m trying to say is, that’s how amazing of a teacher you have. So you should try to be genuinely thankful. And respect this teacher more. Got it?”

The Martial King continued to praise himself.

“Then who’s the second?”

“It’s a secret. Not because I don’t want to tell you, but because you won’t know even if I tell you.”

Yeon-woo thought it might be a skilled player that wasn’t very well known.

As the Tower was overflowing with talented players, there were many player who wished to conceal their strength as well.

Those people usually liked to climb the tower by themselves.

“And I would like to make one more request.”

“What is it?”

At that moment, Yeon-woo’s eyes under the mask shined.

“I would like to see the ‘real’ strength of the Martial King.”