Chapter : 29
My Fortuitous Encounter is a Status Window (29)
The underground library archive.
The moment I stepped into the space, I felt it—this must be the archive.
A row of small communal halls stretched straight ahead, each with its own separately built library tower.
Every tower was filled to the brim with books.
Among them were secret martial manuals, and tomes of spellcraft for cultivators.
And at the center of the round archive stood a massive stone slab.
It seemed to be the slab where Jurthagen had organized all the core research topics he was working on.
The problem was—
“Mongolian script…?”
Most of the densely carved letters on the stone slab were not Chinese.
They were almost entirely written in Uyghur-Mongol (traditional Mongolian script), with only a handful in Chinese.
Qi Refining Stage
Foundation Establishment Stage
Core Formation Stage (or Golden Core Stage)
Nascent Soul Stage
Spirit Transformation Stage
Half-Emptiness Stage (sometimes translated as Semi-Immortal Stage)
Great Ascension Stage (or Mature Ascension Stage)
Tribulation Crossing Stage
Great Dao Golden Immortal (or Grand Golden Immortal)
Chinese words inscribed on the slab.
Qi-Condensing Stage… Foundation Building… Core Formation?
It looked like a list of stages.
Rankings for cultivators?
Like martial artists being second-rate, first-rate, peak, transcendent….
“Brother. Do those words—Qi Condensing and Foundation Building—refer to cultivator ranks?”
“Yes. Realms. Stages one must climb to reach transcendence.”
As expected.
Qi Condensing, Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul, Spirit Transformation, Half-Void, Mahayana, Tribulation Crossing, Grand Luo Golden Immortal…
Among the listed realms, Core Formation had been circled.
“So that means here, huh?”
Out of nine stages, it was only the third.
So nothing special, right?
“Brother, Core Formation is circled—”
“I already expected the creature to be in Core Formation.”
“Then it’s not much, is it? Only the third stage.”
Sure, he was only the third.
But you, brother, are at the very top a martial artist can reach, right?
This is already in the bag—heh heh.
“It depends on how many cores (丹) he’s secured. If his spiritual power is stronger than expected, it may become a hard fight.”
Huh?
He’s only in the third stage and it could be a difficult fight?
Do cultivators play by different rules than martial artists?
“What’s spiritual power?”
“It’s what we call internal energy—inner strength.”
“And it could be stronger than yours?”
“You saw it yourself—how he strengthened it through every filthy method imaginable.”
“Oh….”
“He’s been doing that for hundreds of years. Since before I was weaned, most likely.”
Harvesting human serum.
Draining essence from spirit beasts.
Doing that for centuries?
And the power gathered that way functions like inner energy.
My body shuddered.
I’d followed Hye-gong thinking, Who could possibly beat him?
But this… might not be so easy.
“If only we could read Mongolian…”
Aside from the realm names, everything on the stone slab was Mongolian.
Hye-gong, frustrated at not understanding Jurthagen’s research, let out a sigh.
Golden element obtained. Sun element found. All can be combined.
Moon element requires eternal ice frost.
The locations of the remaining five elemental bodies need to be found….
So this is Mongolian? Can’t read—hm?
I was about to avert my eyes—assuming if Hye-gong couldn’t read it, neither could I.
But then, letters I had never seen in my life began to flow effortlessly in my mind.
“Brother…”
“What.”
“I think… I can read this.”
“Oh? As expected from an enemy spy! Now you reveal your true skill?”
“That’s not it… When I got the status window, I learned to read. I think it made me capable of reading other scripts too.”
“Amazing! Go on—read it.”
“Golden Core obtainable. Sun Yang Core obtained. Moon Yin Core requires thousand-year ice crystals…”
The first section listed the cores Jurthagen had successfully created,
and what ingredients he still needed to make more.
“Changbai Mountain—Spirit of Mount Head. Possesses Wood Core and Earth Core. Estimated late Core Formation, possibly at Nascent Soul. Must never be confronted.”
“Mount Head Spirit? Another big-shot cultivator like Jurthagen?!”
“Based on context… yes.”
The second paragraph was a list of cultivators Jurthagen intended to defeat and absorb later.
At the top was Mount Head Spirit.
Next to his name, the character 不可 (impossible) was added.
Seeing no others marked impossible, he seemed to be the strongest cultivator known.
Mount Head Spirit?
The name sounds rustic…
But I guess he’s something big.
“Keep reading.”
“Yes. Mt. Fuji—Kizuna (Fox)…!!”
As I read—
Hye-gong shot forward and cast his body-shielding inner energy over me like lightning.
—KAAAAANG!
A translucent golden dome formed around us,
and instantly a blood-red whip lashed against it.
The impact was strong enough to violently shake the dome Hye-gong personally cast!
We didn’t need to look to know who had arrived.
“So you were the rat scurrying around.”
When I turned, a young man stood there—nowhere near what you’d expect from someone who’d lived centuries.
Pale skin.
Blood-red silks.
Hair neatly tied.
Features too symmetrical—almost unnervingly perfect.
The face wasn’t likable at all.
“So the cowardly novice monk from Shaolin has come?”
Coward? Novice monk?
Hye-gong…?
Ah…
This bastard seems to have folded time and tucked it away.
Calling a man nearly two hundred years old a “boy monk,” seriously…
“It’s been a while, Jurthagen.”
Hye-gong approached and returned the greeting.
「Dan-cheon. When I signal, run.」
Run?
Ah… because it’s dangerous.
Fair enough.
When whales fight, shrimp backs get broken.
I’ll run at the signal.
「He’s stronger than expected. This will be a hard fight. Don’t wait for me—run all the way toward the Central Plains.」
“……!!”
Ah…
He told me to run because he might not win?
Then seriously…
If even a peak martial artist can’t win…
Are cultivators the strongest beings in the world?
If the righteous alliance’s strongest—King of Fists, Hye-gong—can’t win…
Who possibly could?
Martial artists stand no chance.
If Hye-gong can’t, no one can.
Damn it… should I have become a cultivator instead?
Did I pick the wrong path?
Has martial arts become outdated?
Is cultivation the trend now?
Harvesting blood serum, sucking essence out of beasts!
Gathering “spiritual power” to get stronger?
Like hell. The status window would’ve had to give me a mission to become a cultivator first…
Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t.
The status window owns me.
It sent me here to kill cultivators—nothing more.
“So you rose as far as a martial artist can go?”
Jurthagen sized Hye-gong up, looking oddly pleased.
“A martial artist has no limits.”
“Hee-hee-hee. Foolish words. Bodhidharma, who founded Shaolin, barely surpassed you. Do you think it’s because he lacked talent that he didn’t go higher?”
“Bodhidharma transcended.”
“Hee-hee. Another lie invented by Shaolin. A martial artist cannot ascend. Inner energy has limits. You should know that by now.”
Jurthagen’s face twisted in pity.
Like an adult looking at a stubborn teen.
“You cultivators don’t ascend either. You only mistake it for ascension.”
“Oh? That is new. I’ve never heard such talk.”
“You may gather all your spiritual power, soar into the sky—but the weight of your sins will drag you straight into hell.”
“As expected—your limited view makes you no different from ordinary mortals. Sins? My harvesting of blood? My taking essence? You call that sin?”
“……”
「Prepare. The fight begins soon.」
While Jurthagen’s tone rose, Hye-gong’s voice slipped into my mind one last time.
I could feel it.
This was the final signal.
I steeled myself.
“When humans slaughter pigs for meat, is that sin?
When humans cultivate rice for food, is that sin?”
“……”
“From the universe’s perspective, all things follow natural law. Providence has no emotion. Perhaps the pig feels wronged, though.”
Damn it…
Jurthagen’s logic sounded… annoyingly reasonable.
We slaughter pigs for meat.
He slaughters humans and spirit beasts for power.
Not so different…
We stuff pigs into cramped pens and butcher them when they fatten up…
Still, locking a turtle spirit up forever and draining its life—that’s crossing a line.
But who drew that line?
Me?
Jurthagen?
Damn it.
It’s all too complicated.
I just want every last one of these filthy cultivator bastards erased.
“Right. The pig probably does feel wronged.”
“Hee-hee. So you sympathize with pigs?”
“No. I sympathize with you.”
—WOOOOOM.
Inner rings surged upward.
Dozens—no, hundreds of golden halos.
The underground archive was already bright from night pearls,
yet the halos blazed so brightly it became dazzling.
“Because you’re about to die like one.”
「RUN!」
The instant I heard Hye-gong’s voice, I bolted toward the cave entrance.
—KWWWAAAAAANG!!!
A colossal detonation resounded.
I didn’t look back.
I left everything to Hye-gong.
He can handle it! He’ll win!
He has to.
He’s the righteous world’s strongest fist—King Hye-gong!
—KWAANG! KAAAANG!
—KWAANG!!
Explosions one after another.
—CRRRRUMBLE….
The cave ceiling cracked, raining dirt and sand.
Faster!
The whole thing would collapse any moment.
I drove my body forward with every ounce of Na-han footwork I could muster.
“Huff…!”
I burst out of the entrance like being fired from a bow, gulping fresh air.
—RRRRUMBBLE.
The ground shook like an earthquake as the cave entrance twisted and buckled.
Get farther away!
I remembered Hye-gong’s warning.
Go as far as possible.
I got up and sprinted again.
South—toward the Central Plains.
But wait, I didn’t finish the mission…
The status window suddenly came to mind.
I still hadn’t gotten all 100 kills.
Status window.
[Objective: Kill 3 Blood Bridge monks]
[(Support available: Hye-gong)]
[Time limit: 288 days 8 hours]
[Reward: One Hundred-Beast Pure Mind Dew]
[Failure: Stage 4 metastatic spinal cancer (liver, lung, heart)]
Three.
Exactly three short.
Just three more…
If I deal with a few nearby—
Most of the monastery was already wiped out by Hye-gong’s halos anyway…
There weren’t many people here to begin with.
Considering the size of the estate, the staff was oddly small.
Based on Jurthagen showing up late, it seemed most forces had been deployed elsewhere.
—KWWWAAAANG!!
Another blast from the cave!
Startled, I turned back.
The cave outright exploded, blasting debris everywhere.
“Holy—!”
I dove behind a nearby hall pillar and waited through the dust storm before peeking out again.
—BANG! BANG! KAAAANG! CLANG!
Above the ruined cave,
Hye-gong and Jurthagen clashed midair—one a mass of golden energy, the other of blood-red aura.
Each collision carved craters into the ground and collapsed nearby buildings.
They’re going all out!
They were evenly matched—a dragon versus a tiger.
A brutal clash.
Ah… Hye-gong, please.
Win.
If you don’t, I am so dead.
If you fall, Jurthagen won’t let me walk away.
“Who goes there!”
As I watched the heavenly duel—
A voice barked at me from behind.
Three Blood Bridge monks.
Each holding serum jars—probably just returned from collecting in a nearby village.
They clearly had no idea what was going on—panic on their faces.
“Perfect timing, you bastards.”
Three missing.
And three show up.
Couldn’t be more convenient.
Time to finish the mission.
And butcher these pigs.
