Then, another message appeared from the shattered altar.
[Sacrifice an ally to gain abilities.]
[Suggested sacrifice: Yoon Sejin]
[Sacrificing him will increase your Red stat by 40.]
“Is this really a test?”
Bang!
The message offered Yoon Sejin, providing significantly fewer Red points compared to Yoon Seah.
Seong Jihan furrowed his brow and continued to stomp on the altar, reducing it entirely to dust.
[Red +30…]
[Red +20…]
During this time, the message kept proposing sacrifices to gain Red points.
But Seong Jihan completely ignored them.
[Sacrifice an ally to gain abilities.]
[Suggested sacrifice: Barren]
[Sacrificing him will increase your Red stat by 3.]
Upon seeing Barren’s name, he hesitated momentarily.
‘……There is no need to sacrifice someone who has come to his senses.’
Boom!
Seong Jihan obliterated the altar completely.
Sssss…
“You choose not to take the easy path.”
Then,
From the end of the underground path, Ashoka emerged.
Looking up with a bored expression.
“No one is watching right now.”
He spoke quietly to Seong Jihan.
“What…”
“Considering you stopped on the thirtieth step, your Red stat must be around 30.”
Seong Jihan paused at those words.
Red stat.
After investing all his remaining points, he managed to reach a Red stat of 30.
Ashoka had accurately identified the number.
“Accumulating 30 in Red not as a constellation is commendable. But thinking of your enemy, that number is woefully inadequate.”
“My enemy would be…”
“The Martial God.”
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})Before Seong Jihan’s eyes,
A gigantic image of the Martial God appeared.
Not just the appearance, but a presence imbued with overwhelming power.
Compared to him, Seong Jihan was but a feeble firefly before the sun.
‘…’
A perfect suppression in terms of sheer aura.
Yet, Seong Jihan remained calm, merely observing the Martial God intently.
Ashoka quietly watched him and then spoke.
“To oppose a god, sacrifices are essential.”
“So you want me to offer sacrifices?”
“I slaughtered 99 of my brothers to ascend the throne.”
“Congratulations.”
“Humph…”
At Seong Jihan’s retort, Ashoka faintly smiled.
With a slight movement of his hand,
Rumble…
Red skulls began to rise from the floor of the stairs.
Unlike the ones Seong Jihan had faced before, these skulls glittered in gold.
A total of 99.
‘Are these the brothers he mentioned slaughtering?’
They seemed quite formidable individually.
While Seong Jihan gauged their strength,
“To inherit my throne, follow my path.”
“You mean by sacrificing?”
“You may spare your dearest friend. An acquaintance, enemies, or those you weren’t that close to, can be sacrificed. Isn’t it acceptable to sacrifice 100 acquaintances to save your dearest friend?”
Ashoka pointed upward with his finger.
“No one is watching your decision right now. Obtain the Red stats and come to me. Then I shall pass on the throne.”
Sssss…
A golden crown appeared in Ashoka’s hand.
Receiving that would likely increase his traits level.
‘Following his words would raise both the Red stat and traits level.’
The Red stat demanded a significant amount of points.
Despite being at Level 450, he only had 30 Red points. Sacrificing people would be an easy way to boost this stat.
By closing his eyes to morality and sacrificing around 100 people, he could easily raise the Red stat.
Rumble…
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})Before him, the altar rose again, urging him to offer sacrifices.
However,
“I’ll just get rid of it.”
Chiii!
Seong Jihan slashed the altar with his blade and pointed his sword downward.
“If I want that crown, I can just go down and take it, can’t I?”
“Forsaking the easy path for a more difficult one…”
“The easy path?”
Seong Jihan smirked.
“That’s not an easy path, but a dirty one.”
Fundamental Divine Arts,
Dark Shadow Technique:
Dark Soul Vortex
A vortex of darkness ensued, mixed with light.
The surrounding red skeletons were sucked into it.
[Finally, death…]
[Guh…]
Drawn into the Dark Soul Vortex, the undead perished altogether.
But the 99 golden-headed undead thought to be Ashoka’s siblings stayed motionless below.
‘Is it because he is blocking the BattleTube feed that the Star buff isn’t applying?’
The Star buff’s 80% skill amplification,
Without it, his abilities took a hit.
While pondering how to counter the broadcast block,
Seong Jihan enlisted every means possible to augment his strength.
Tap.
Donning the half-mask to amplify the Void,
Activating his constellation trait resulted in:
[Constellation reaching level decreased to 761.]
Seong Jihan’s level dropped by one as his strength grew.
Swoooosh!
Gradually, the golden skeletons were drawn into the vortex.
[…]
In the midst of being drawn by the Dark Soul Vortex, they still stared at Seong Jihan without any other movement.
When a couple of them were nearly pulled into the black-and-white vortex,
Flash!
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})Ashoka’s eyes gleamed red.
Whoosh!
The golden undead reversed and returned to their original positions.
‘Really annoying abilities.’
Reversing time.
What a fraudulent ability.
“No matter how you resist, it simply wastes your energy. Take the easy path.”
“The easy path… Sure.”
Instead of using the Dark Soul Vortex, he should have gone all-out from the start.
Seong Jihan revealed his trump card.
“I shall follow those words.”
Behind him, a Taiji formed.
* *
Rumble…!
The Taiji that appeared behind Seong Jihan
Expanded endlessly and drew everything underground into it.
Starting from the stairs, red skulls,
Even leading to the golden-skull-bearing siblings of Ashoka.
“Taiji Swordsmanship… to think you’ve reached this level already. Impressive.”
Whoosh…!
Before the golden skull touched the Taiji, time reversed again.
Since using Taiji Swordsmanship,
Time had been reversed numerous times already.
“Didn’t know you cared so much for your siblings, Ashoka.”
“Slaughter and remembrance. Even those are virtues of a king.”
“Are all kings just inherently broken individuals?”
“A bit of you must be broken to assume the throne.”
Conversing freely,
Seong Jihan’s internal situation was far less relaxed.
[Constellation reaching level decreased to 760.]
[Martial Soul consumed: 1.]
After five more minutes had passed, the constellation reaching level dropped further, and
Martial Soul being consumed as a cost of using Taiji Sword was a notable impact.
‘That time-reversal… it’s practically invincible.’
Ashoka just guarded the golden skulls, leading to a stalemate.
If he had actively used time-reversal offensively, Seong Jihan would likely already have been defeated.
However, Seong Jihan also had a variable to depend on.
‘Within the Taiji Sword’s domain, time-reversal doesn’t fully reset everything.’
Since he used Taiji Swordsmanship,
Seong Jihan descended 20 more steps from the initial thirtieth step due to partial resistance to time-reversals.
‘Drawing out the sword within Taiji should offer better resistance.’
Recalling the first time he implemented Taiji Swordsmanship, concentrating on perfecting it,
He adjusted the expanding Taiji.
The process of drawing the sword within the Taiji,
Recollecting Kang Sang’s teachings and sensations,
He walked down the steps, focusing exclusively on maintaining Taiji.
With determined concentration,
Seong Jihan descended closer to Ashoka.
However,
“Your skill has improved considerably, yet…”
Thunk!
The heads of the 99 golden skulls fell,
Breaking down red bones reassembled behind Ashoka.
Crack. Crack…
The bones reassembled behind him formed a colossal wheel.
Its ends adorned with 99 heads, its core loaded with red bones.
“The golden wheel’s movement cannot be opposed yet.”
Crrrrk…
As the giant wheel revolved,
Despite maintaining the Taiji, Seong Jihan found himself back on the original thirtieth step.
“Huh…”
Having climbed down so far, only to be sent back by a single spin of the golden skeletal wheel.
As Seong Jihan sighed dejectedly,
[Constellation reaching level decreased to 760.]
[Martial Soul consumed: 1.]
A message appeared before his eyes.
“…”
760, huh?
This had already decreased earlier.
Hastily checking his Martial Soul count,
Maintaining Taiji Sword continuously had reduced it by just a single consumption.
“Oh…”
The penalty resets with time-reversal?
“You’re still not up to par. I recommend the easy path.”
“Sacrificing allies?”
Slyly,
Seong Jihan responded with a smirk.
“This seems easier than that.”
Taiji Sword’s severe penalties.
With resets, he had found the perfect place to train Taiji Sword.
The Taiji behind Seong Jihan expanded once again.
“Let’s go again.”
“Persistently choosing the harder path…”
Ashoka remarked quietly, observing Taiji.
A subtle smile played on his lips.
“Come at me, then.”
* * *
“Not yet.”
Ashoka’s wheel, the Golden Wheel.
“Not yet.”
Each time Seong Jihan neared it,
He would turn the wheel, resetting time.
[Constellation reaching level decreased to 760.]
The message, seen hundreds of times,
Seong Jihan remained at the thirtieth step, without harming Ashoka in the slightest.
“No progress.”
Smiling subtly, Ashoka looked up at Seong Jihan.
Despite his words, Seong Jihan’s Taiji Sword
Didn’t expand endlessly anymore.
‘Taiji control… finally manageable.’
Kang Sang’s full-body state rebuked him for failing to control Taiji.
After constant reset attempts, Seong Jihan finally controlled the first phase of Taiji.
Now, drawing the light sword in the second phase was left.
He had only succeeded once involving Kang Sang’s full-body state.
‘Lacking a medium means creating something from nothing.’
The first phase, Taiji control, was basic.
The true potential lay in the second phase of Taiji Sword.
Drawing the sword without a medium,
Seong Jihan pondered absent-mindedly over Taiji.
Following the full-body state’s method?
But how?
“While Taiji Sword is Kang Sang’s final technique… adding void isn’t unnatural.”
From below,
Ashoka, looking up, offered.
“…What?”
“Kang Sang sought immortality, consciously excluding void from Taiji Sword.”
“…”
“But considering you’re not aiming for immortality, void should naturally be part of the sword.”
Seong Jihan widened his eyes at the words.
He had been unsure about Ashoka’s intent, avoiding harm while resetting time.
“…Could you have been assisting my Taiji Sword all along?”
“Assisting? Just waiting for your foundation to solidify.”
That’s essentially helping.
Perplexed, Seong Jihan stared at Ashoka.
Talking about demanding sacrifices,
Now he aided his practice by turning the Golden Wheel.
What exactly was this man’s true intention?
“So can you integrate the void into the sword?”
“If that completes it.”
“Upon completing void’s inclusion, immortality must be forsaken. Your World Tree will be compromised, eventually collapsing.”
The World Tree.
Incorporating void would eliminate his eternitiy stat?
“Human lifespan isn’t lengthy. If your World Tree falls, your body capable of thousand-year survival will fail.”
“So, how old will I live?”
“In robust health, a century perhaps.”
“That’s sufficient.”
With these words, Seong Jihan invoked the void without hesitation.
Swoooosh…
Within the Taiji, darkness surged forth.
Ashoka’s eyes sparkled more brilliantly witnessing it.
“Finally… Someone like you has emerged.”
His face bore an expression of sheer ecstasy.
