‘…’

In an instant, So-ah was lost in silence.

His mind was in a jumble.

Furthermore, the memories of the past that were in a corner of his consciousness flashed through his mind like a revolving lantern.

‘Bodhidharma and Sun Wukong were my grandfather and my childhood self.’

Suddenly, the Samryunbong Manor of Mount Daeak in Sichuan came to mind.

The memories with his grandfather and Im-i.

The memories with Brother Chan, who had sometimes climbed Samryunbong and roamed Mount Daeak together.

Even the time with Huidungi.

As the distant childhood that he had forgotten but never forgotten brushed past his consciousness, a corner of his heart was touched and became moist.

And…

‘Grandfather… Heavenly Demon, grandfather…’

As the tension eased, the life-and-death struggles he had in the dream of the third ordeal came to mind.

700 times.

So-ah had died about 700 times in the ordeal.

And the experience of dying while fighting with all his might.

For a martial artist, a life-and-death duel becomes a driving force for dramatic growth.

But.

So-ah had fought while experiencing death as many as seven hundred times.

‘Phew… now I’m really a God of War.’

Even So-ah himself was dumbfounded.

At first, he had died helplessly without being able to throw a single punch, and even after being revived 100 times, he could not touch a single hair of Sun Wukong…

The sense of elation and accomplishment after defeating Sun Wukong, who was a perfect form of the God of War that he could not reach.

Became an infinite heart-pounding feeling that was hard to describe in words.

‘I’ve become stronger!’

It was a sentiment unbecoming of So-ah.

But it was inevitable.

The feeling of his whole body being electrocuted.

The feeling that if he kicked the ground right now, he would fly to the end of the sky.

Above all.

‘I will kill that old man Blood Demon.’

He was confident that he could successfully take revenge on the Blood Demon, who had given him his second defeat in his life.

In that moment.

“Huh?!”

So-ah was faced with a tremendous dizziness and lost consciousness.

***

Flash—

“Hah!”

When he regained consciousness.

The surroundings were already covered in a pitch-black shadow.

It was a relief that the time difference between reality and the dream was enormous.

If it hadn’t been a dream, several years would have passed while he was reincarnating 700 times…

Fortunately, the time So-ah had spent in the life-and-death struggle in the dream was only half a day.

And.

So-ah’s gaze shifted to the small wooden box that was placed in front of him.

“It’s you!!!”

So-ah, who had recognized the identity of the wooden box, shouted so loudly that the mountain seemed to shake, without knowing it, out of joy.

There was no hesitation.

No!

Where was the time for that?

So-ah immediately picked up the wooden box and, with a brightened face, opened it.

At that…

“I hit the jackpot!!!”

A small pill, with a round shape and emitting a strong medicinal scent, caught his eye.

“The smell is so strong. How great must it be to have such a smell? Hahaha.”

If you were to pick the person who had taken the most spiritual pills among the martial artists of the time, it would undoubtedly be So-ah.

But even So-ah had never seen a spiritual pill that emitted such a strong medicinal scent.

“This is a jackpot… a jackpot!”

So-ah’s heart, with the <Myriad Streams Returning to One Divine Core> in front of him, was pounding like crazy.

“Phew… even when I took the <Vajra Bronze-Man God Core>, I almost died. This one will be worse, right? Ah… I’m scared, really.”

What was the potential power of the <Myriad Streams Returning to One Divine Core>?

He even imagined that if he took it wrong, his body might not be able to withstand the power of the spiritual pill and might burn up.

Just then.

A shabby piece of parchment, neatly folded next to the <Myriad Streams Returning to One Divine Core>, came into his sight.

‘What is this?’

So-ah unfolded the folded parchment.

At that, a mysterious thing happened.

On the parchment, where no letters or pictures were inscribed, a brilliant white light slowly gathered and began to form into wriggling characters.

【To the owner of the Ghost Valley Mountain Manor—】

—I do not know who it will be, but I declare to the future sage who will read my will.

I am a person of the Zhou dynasty, born into the world with the fate of the Heavenly Martial Star, and my name is Dokgo Yeong-tan.

When I reached the age of twenty, I could not find a rival in the world, and when I reached the age of thirty, I gained the enlightenment of the heavenly ki and the five elements, and I learned all the spells that exist in the world, and when I reached the age of forty, I came to know the foundation of all things in the universe…

Now that I am over 100 years old and am on the verge of ascending to heaven, I have no lingering attachment to the secular world, but if there is one thing I regret, it is that I have not raised a disciple.

Therefore, I have gathered all my wisdom and magical power to create an unprecedented treasure called the <Map of the Ghost Valley Mountain Manor>, and in the future, I do not doubt that this fateful opportunity will choose its own master and make him the best master in the world.

But I, fearing that an evil person would gain power, have planted three devices in the Ghost Valley Mountain Manor.

This is an ordeal that can never be overcome by a person whose character and disposition, which are bestowed by heaven, are not upright, no matter how outstanding their martial arts or spells are, so you, who have overcome all the ordeals leading to the third room, are truly a good person and a person with a clear soul.

Here is the <Myriad Streams Returning to One Divine Core>, which contains all my lifelong thoughts.

The <Myriad Streams Returning to One Divine Core> is not a simple spiritual pill, but the truth of martial arts is contained in the pill itself, so the moment you take it, you will gain the power of a God of War…

Please do not abuse the unprecedented power for personal gain, but use it for the sake of all people—

“Phew…”

A low exclamation flowed from So-ah’s mouth after he had read all the words.

Surprisingly, at the same time, the wriggling characters scattered into the empty air like smoke and disappeared.

“This is not something to be taken lightly… I’m a really lucky guy.”

So-ah was reminded of Jeon Woo-chi’s words once again.

—The one whom heaven helps.

At that time, he had just snickered, and as time passed, he had wondered if it was really true.

…and now, So-ah was convinced that those words were true.

In that moment, the faded parchment that he was holding in his hand also crumbled away like the disappeared words.

Towards the parchment that was slowly turning into powder and flying away, So-ah made nine deep bows.

“I will eat well!”

Although the person named Dokgo Yeong-tan who had made the <Map of the Ghost Valley Mountain Manor> was a sage of the Zhou dynasty who had left a distant history behind, from the <Great Purity Limitless Divine Core> to the <Vajra Bronze-Man God Core> and the <Myriad Streams Returning to One Divine Core>…

Since he was a person who had had a profound influence on the foundation of So-ah’s martial arts, the sage Dokgo Yeong-tan could be called a benefactor and a master.

Therefore, So-ah had shown his respect by making nine deep bows to the parchment on which the true words were engraved.

And…

“I will chew and eat it now.”

So-ah, who had curled the corners of his lips, quickly threw the <Myriad Streams Returning to One Divine Core> into his mouth.

***

“Huh?!”

It was a situation where he couldn’t help but feel a real “huh?”.

“It’s this fine?”

When he had taken the <Great Purity Limitless Divine Core> or the <Vajra Bronze-Man God Core>, which he had obtained after overcoming the ordeal of the Ghost Valley Mountain Manor.

He had had to endure a pain that was not an exaggeration to be called a fiery hell.

The important thing in taking a spiritual pill was whether the user’s body and mind could withstand the power of the spiritual pill.

The <Great Purity Limitless Divine Core> and the <Vajra Bronze-Man God Core> had such a powerful force and energy that even So-ah, who had cultivated the Supreme Meridian Energy, could only accumulate them in his body after a life-and-death struggle.

But…

For some reason, there was no change in So-ah’s body even after taking the <Myriad Streams Returning to One Divine Core>.

‘Is this for real?!’

In fact, before taking it, So-ah had made a special resolve.

Although he was second to none in terms of patience, he was suddenly scared when he recalled the thrilling extreme pain he had felt when he had taken the <Vajra Bronze-Man God Core>.

But fortunately, there were no side effects from taking the <Myriad Streams Returning to One Divine Core>.

On the contrary, So-ah soon felt his mind become as clear as a mirror-like water, and a pleasant yang energy was surging in his chest.

Furthermore, his body felt so light that he felt like he could walk on the clouds at any moment.

“There are really no side effects.”

Soon…

So-ah sat down in a cross-legged position and closed his two eyes.

At the same time, he recited the incantation of the Supreme Meridian Heart Law and calmed his breathing.

“Ho… oop!”

At that,

From the depths of his lower dantian, a low roar that echoed in the abyss began to slowly encroach on the surroundings.

‘No way… can such a power be created?’

So-ah’s heart pounded with surprise.

The Supreme Meridian Heart Law.

The Supreme Meridian Energy, which was the foundation of So-ah’s internal energy, was a power that had the martial principle of the middle way, which was neither yang-strong nor cold.

But the <Great Purity Limitless Divine Core>, <Vajra Bronze-Man God Core>, <Inner Core of the Snow Mountain Giant>, <Summoning Pill>, <Great Return Pill>, and <Three-Flower Ice Soul Pill> that he had taken so far each had their own characteristics and had provided So-ah’s body with effects that were contrary to the Supreme Meridian Energy.

Because of that, So-ah had usually stored the power of the <Great Purity Limitless Divine Core> and the <Vajra Bronze-Man God Core> separately in a corner of his dantian and had shown the resourcefulness of mixing them with the Supreme Meridian Energy only when he was raising the power of ‘awakening’.

But the <Myriad Streams Returning to One Divine Core> was different.

The <Myriad Streams Returning to One Divine Core>, as its name suggests, performed the feat of gathering all the power of the spiritual pill into one, as if it were the source of all the power in the world.

Furthermore, it had come to naturally mix all the power of the spiritual pill as if it had been one with the Supreme Meridian Energy from the beginning.

In other words, the taking of the <Myriad Streams Returning to One Divine Core> had created a miraculous event of tying all the power of the spiritual pills obtained through fateful opportunities into one and making it consistent with the Supreme Meridian Heart Law.

Once again, a quiet and low, but.

A heavy and heavy roar flowed from So-ah’s body.

‘This is the true power of the great whale.’

The great whale meant the ruler of the sea, the whale.

So-ah had sometimes wondered why the Supreme Meridian Heart Law was named the Supreme Meridian Heart Law, and today he had come to realize it.

The vitality that was endlessly gushing out.

The great power that seemed to be able to part the sea and climb the mountains backwards.

The powerful force of the great whale, which seemed to be able to swallow everything in the world, was warming his whole body, and was keenly awakening every corner of his blood vessels and every single cell.

The internal energy of the Supreme Meridian Heart Law circulated through his body once.

…once again.

…and once again.

…through the endless circulation of energy, So-ah became a single whale swimming freely in the sea of internal energy.

Thus, time passed in the deep mountains.

***

“Lord Yeon. I think I should go and look for him. I’m so worried that I can’t stand it.”

Jeon Woo-chi made a fuss with a pale face.

It was inevitable…

So-ah, who had gone out to test the degree of recovery of his illness by testing his internal energy, had been out of touch all night, so it was not unreasonable to be worried.

“Jeon Woo-chi. What could be wrong? It often happens that martial artists gain enlightenment while circulating their energy and stay up for several nights, right? Young Hero Jin has shown progress close to a complete cure, so he will be fine.”

The chairman of the Manchu Pharmacopoeia, Yeon In-hak, comforted Jeon Woo-chi.

It was understandable, as So-ah’s martial arts were such that he could even slap King Yama in the face and return to the present world even if he was thrown into hell.

Lord Yeon could not understand Jeon Woo-chi, who was so anxious as if he had left a child by the water’s edge.

“That’s true, but…”

“Jeon Woo-chi. Let’s trust Young Hero Jin. There must be a reason for it, right?”

“Phew! Chairman!! Still, I’m anxious. If it’s my flying art, half a shichen is enough to search the whole mountain, so I’ll be back.”

In the end, Lord Yeon could not break Jeon Woo-chi’s stubbornness.

“Hmm… if you’re so worried, then do so.”

But, just then.

—The number one in the world! The number one in the world! The chivalrous man is coming! If you don’t want your head to be crushed, will you move out of the way?!

…a very familiar.

…a song with impressive and bizarre lyrics that he had heard countless times until now echoed loudly from outside the mansion.

“Haha! What did I say? I told you there was no need to worry about Young Hero Jin. Listen to that song… is there anyone else in the world who would sing that song with such a grotesque arrangement?”

Lord Yeon patted Jeon Woo-chi’s shoulder with a smile.

At that, Jeon Woo-chi also let out a hollow laugh.

“Hah… really! I was worried for nothing. That voice, that song. It’s So-ah, all right.”

But then, soon,

‘Huh? But that song… isn’t that the song So-ah sings when he hits the jackpot?’

That brat.

Did he dig up some wild ginseng all night?

What?!

‘That brat So-ah… he must have hit a big one again this time.’

I can smell it.

The smell of a jackpot.

…and a jackpot of all time at that.

(End of Chapter)

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep