The beginning was the wind.

As Zhuge Hohyeon flicked his finger, a whirlwind blew on the stage and soon began to transform into a vortex.

I could see the black jewel embedded in the bracelet on his wrist, which was inside his fluttering sleeve, glistening.

‘Wind.’

Although it was difficult to handle because it was a fluid, it was a fast and powerful attribute.

I could have blocked it by raising a wall, but I wasn’t in the mood to cower today.

I raised the Daoist Scholar’s Fan and aimed it at the vortex.

Hwa-reuk-

Soon, a flame soared and began to be sucked into the vortex as if it was being driven.

Soon, the wind and fire mixed, creating a pillar of fire. The vortex, which was heating the area with red heat, swayed precariously.

“A misjudgment? In a battle of fire and wind, this side, which can guide the flow, should be more advantageous, right?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

Because I was planning to burn it all down.

I poured in my mana and rapidly grew the flame.

Hwa-ak-!

Then the flame ate up the airflow, making it bulge, and then it burned.

The flame, which was swelling sporadically, rather weakened the rotational force, and the airflow began to scatter.

Although Zhuge Hohyeon tried to control it somehow, the firepower that this side was bursting was much greater.

Peo-eong!!!

In the end, the whirlwind could not be controlled due to the immense high heat and exploded.

“You broke it with force. Your stamina loss should be greater, right?”

“Didn’t I tell you?”

The water that this side had formed poured onto the ground, which had been heated up.

Chi-i-i-i-ik!

I looked at Zhuge Hohyeon beyond the steam that was rising like a fog and said.

“That it doesn’t matter.”

Simultaneously, the waves and tidal waves that had filled the stage before I knew it rushed at Zhuge Hohyeon.

“I thought you were a child who resembled water. You’ve returned as a torrent.”

With a monologue mixed with appreciation, he raised his hand.

Simultaneously, three large vortices swirled and clashed with the waves. The streams of water that were being sucked up into the sky like a waterspout.

Swaaaaaa-

Soon, the water that had soared began to pour down as rain.

Zhuge Hohyeon, who was being hit by the warm raindrops, expressed his impression.

“It rained when you were born.”

“I see.”

“Cheonwu, although the Chinese characters are different, I thought you resembled the rain.”

A child who was always somewhat gloomy and shaded. He had seen it correctly. Zhuge Cheonwu had lived such a life.

As an existence that was abandoned, unable to belong anywhere and not acknowledged.

To Zhuge Hohyeon, he must have been just a person born with the sorrow of losing his wife.

It was truly exquisite. Rain falling from the sky.

“Then you saw it wrong.”

I controlled the flame again and flew it.

The family head, who had been struggling to block the waves just now, this time raised a wall that had a good compatibility and blocked the flame.

And then, to make vines sprout from under my feet and counterattack, was as expected of the head of the Zhuge family.

Hwa-reuk!

I immediately surrounded the vines with flames and burned them. In the meantime, the trees that began to fill all four directions.

It seemed he was planning to use the water that this side had formed, as trees were soaring from the ground, which was full of moisture.

“I have no intention of becoming something like rain and crawling on the ground.”

With a flame that had grown even more in momentum, I burned all the trees and formed a huge flame.

The flame, which had swelled its size, greedily swallowing the ground like a snake, was now to the point where the ground was completely dry.

Just as I was about to aim the huge flame snake that had transformed so largely, the tree trunks that had not yet been burned came into view.

Something shiny that was reflected in the ashes. It was metal.

‘Was it a trick?’

He had planted metal in the tree trunks.

Soon, the electric current that burst from Zhuge Hohyeon’s fingertips spread between the metal rods and approached me.

Finally, the electric current that had surrounded me as the center burst out in an instant.

The flash subsided, and what was revealed was a pile of burned black stones.

The pile of stones that was collapsing as its surface fell off like a baked eggshell. I revealed myself from the center of it.

“Is this all?”

The flame, which had been compressed into the shape of a snake, melted even the surrounding metal rods and was shot at Zhuge Hohyeon.

“Amazing.”

A whirlwind made of a stream of water was shot from in front of Zhuge Hohyeon.

In an instant, steam rose as if exploding, and the ultra-high temperature flame and the stream of water began to have a power struggle in the middle of the stage.

In terms of compatibility, water is superior.

But it was no match for the karma fire that had grown its size by swallowing the trees.

The stream of water began to boil in the flame that seemed to burn even the ground, and then it exploded and rushed at Zhuge Hohyeon.

A flame soared and blew away the place where Zhuge Hohyeon was without a trace.

And what was revealed was just a bare ground.

Soon, one side of the floor swelled and split, and from inside, Zhuge Hohyeon jumped and landed on the ground. He had dug a hole in the floor and had gone in at that moment.

“Amazing.”

Probably the first compliment I’d ever heard. Considering Zhuge Cheonwu’s life, it should have sounded meaningful, but it just felt so empty.

“Do you know that?”

“What do you mean?”

While Zhuge Hohyeon was expressing his doubt, I was still pouring my mana onto the stage.

The match was not over yet.

“The rain, I mean. It doesn’t just fall.”

“That’s of course…”

Zhuge Hohyeon’s words could not be finished. Because the huge shadow that had been cast over his head before he knew it had already covered the entire area.

The flame that had been boiling from the bottom of the deep layer finally exploded and soared into the sky with steam.

Until it became an endlessly dense cloud and finally covered the entire sky.

To bring down not rain, but a heavenly thunderbolt.

“It just gathers and gathers and then pours down.”

A thunder like the low roar of a dragon quietly shook the area.

Simultaneously, I folded the Daoist Scholar’s Fan that I had been aiming at Zhuge Hohyeon.

A dark heavenly thunderbolt.

Under the dark clouds that filled the sky, a brilliant thunderbolt that was so bright it would blind one’s two eyes poured down.

The formation broke, and all the illusions that had been unfolding on the stage scattered, and the interior of the formation hall was revealed.

A ruin where the ground was not just broken but had a hole dug in it.

At the center of it, Zhuge Hohyeon was standing still.

As befitting a Transformation Realm master, he looked fine. It was natural that he couldn’t be defeated with a formation of this scale.

But he didn’t say anything. As if he was in shock.

He, who had been silent for a long time, finally brought out a word.

“You’ve gotten strong.”

“Yes, thanks to you.”

It was a word with a bone in it.

“You won the bet. Talk to me later when you need the Cheongi Unit.”

“Yes. Then I’ll be leaving now.”

Leaving him, who didn’t answer, I headed for the entrance.

Although I had won, there was still a point that bothered me.

He must have already expected it. That he was no match for me in a formation battle.

Since he had witnessed me grasping the weakness of the large-scale formation and breaking it in the battle with the Blood Cult, and thanks to Zhuge Hyeon-guk’s praise for my formation skills, the rumor had spread throughout the family.

Given the characteristic of the Zhuge family, which originally did not fight a losing battle, the fact that Zhuge Hohyeon had voluntarily accepted the bet might have been Zhuge Hohyeon’s own way of atoning.

‘It’s just a guess.’

Even so, I had no intention of accepting it.

Because his soul had already disappeared, or it seemed to have fused with me.

Just a slight sense of relief remained.

After opening the door of the formation hall, I went outside.

With this, I had obtained everything I could from the Zhuge family.

‘Then next is Shaanxi again, huh.’

Just then, Go Du-gyeong approached this side in a hurry.

“We need to dispatch the mountain keepers to the sacred mountain right now.”

“What do you mean?”

When I asked back, wondering what he meant, he informed me of some surprising news.

“While we were away, the Heaven-Shattering Faction invaded the sacred mountain.”

“The Heaven-Shattering Faction?”

The fanatical groups that thought they were the descendants of the Heaven-Shattering Demon. Naturally, they were also a force that coveted the Martial Academy and even the sacred mountain.

“What about the damage?”

“Other than some injuries, it’s just some of the Heaven-Shattering Demon’s belongings, like his clothes. It’s probably a feint. They must have stolen something hidden in the sacred mountain. We don’t know everything about the sacred mountain either.”

To not even know what they had taken. There were more than one or two suspicious points.

‘Even in the original story, they would occasionally invade and cause trouble, and they would sweep away all the items related to the Heaven-Shattering Demon, so they were called the Heaven-Shattering Demon otakus.’

Since they were a force that was not worth paying much attention to because their danger level was low, I hadn’t been very interested, but now that I was involved, it was a bit hard to ignore.

“Then let’s have the mountain keepers return to the sacred mountain first. I have a place to go, so let’s part ways here.”

“No, we’ve identified one of the Heaven-Shattering Faction’s bases. We can’t just take it lying down. We’re going to wipe that place out.”

And then he looked at me.

“You’re also our leader now, so it would be better for you to participate at a time like this.”

He was right. Power always comes with responsibility. When an organization is in crisis, you have to know how to take responsible action. Because the mountain keepers were not just a convenient service group.

It seemed he was also conscious of the public opinion within the mountain keepers.

‘Since I’ve received help so far, it’s not bad to cooperate.’

“So where should I go?”

“Northern Henan.”

“That’s good.”

Because I had a reason to visit the Shaolin Temple.

***

The place I visited with Go Du-gyeong was a riverside city in the north-central part of Henan.

A region that was once famous for its mining industry but now lived on trade after the mines were closed.

There, we joined the mountain keeper who was in charge of the pursuit and headed for a nearby abandoned mine according to his guidance.

“This is it.”

The place he pointed to was the entrance to an abandoned mine that looked like it had been closed for a long time.

For a branch of the Heaven-Shattering Faction, it was simple.

I headed into the mine with the mountain keepers. Just as I was heading into the dark cave.

– Stop.

I sent a telepathic message to the mountain keepers. Then everyone stopped in their tracks.

– What’s wrong?

– Look at your feet.

I said, pointing to the ground.

A thread at the ankle of the mountain keeper who was leading the way.

– I’ll step over it without touching it.

– No.

The mountain keeper also answered with that in mind, but that wasn’t the problem.

– Look at the floor beyond the thread.

I cleared the dirt with wind magic. Then what was revealed was a trap that had been covered with mud on the floor.

If he had stepped on it by mistake while avoiding the thread, the security device would have been activated.

A classic trap.

I was glad I had been suspicious after seeing the handprints on the wall.

Since the trap was in the middle like that, the enemies must have had to move while holding onto the edges.

In the first place, I had also caught it because I had been tapping the ground lightly with psychokinesis as I moved forward.

After that, I continued to move forward, removing the security traps.

After walking for a long time, when I finally arrived at the inner part of the mine, I could feel a presence in the distance.

From here, it seemed to be their living quarters, as there were no traps, so I nodded my head to Go Du-gyeong.

With a signal, the mountain keepers quietly approached the enemies, covered their mouths, and then cut their throats.

It was a display worthy of a peak-level master who specialized in covert operations.

With the enemies falling silently as a signal, we entered.

From now on, it was a race against time.

The goals were three. To find the key figures and discover a clue leading to the main camp of the Heaven-Shattering Faction, to annihilate this Heaven-Shattering Faction branch, and to retrieve the stolen items.

“Huh?”

I flew a First Blade at the Heaven-Shattering Faction guard who had recognized this side from beyond the darkness and pierced his neck.

Although I wondered why I had defeated the enemy so casually, there was no way an organization that was plotting something secretly in a place like this was a proper group.

The probability of the mountain keepers’ investigation being wrong was also low. It was a matter of taking action first and then judging.

And so, as I was dealing with the enemies and reaching the depths of the mine. A high-speed spear strike flew from beyond the bent space of the passage, aiming for my head.

I immediately raised the Demon-Slaying Sword and blocked it.

“How dare you know where this is!”

An enraged middle-aged man. The energy emanating from his whole body was unusual. The impact transmitted to the Demon-Slaying Sword was heavy.

‘A super-peak level?’

It was the appearance of an unexpected master.

“Are you the person in charge here?”

“That’s right.”

With the answer, the opponent’s momentum grew. As expected, the one who was blocking my path seemed to be an executive of the Heaven-Shattering Faction.

“Then you must know a lot.”

I muttered, unfolding the Daoist Scholar’s Fan.

(End of Chapter)

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep