Chapter 21
Chapter 21
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 21
Chapter Title: Millennia Stone Mushroom That Ate the Inner Core
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Martial God (21)
Millennia Stone Mushroom That Ate the Inner Core
[I'm not writing this in hopes that someone will read it. No living person can come here. I simply want to leave a record of my life.
Regards, thanks, and the promise of the Solar Temple Robe—they were all just jokes I jotted down.
Now, let's begin.
In the end, it came to this.
Uneasy cohabitation crumbles, and convictions without certainty shatter. Our six factions were each too powerful to stay united.
On top of that, a century of peace had dragged on too long.
When the same situation persists, those craving change multiply, and the ambitious emerge. Allies form, enmities arise, and secret alliances and schisms take shape.
The downfall of the six factions was plain as day.
So the ancestors built a tower in the heart of the Central Plains. No—they carved and shaped a mountain into a tower. And within it, they created a new world.
In the upper levels, they left behind each faction's strongest martial arts and spirit elixirs granting a thousand years of cultivation.
On the day the tower was completed, the six faction leaders declared that whoever passed through the topmost level would be named the Martial God and rule over the six factions. Becoming master of the six meant becoming master of the Central Plains.
The ancestors' prediction proved correct.
The six factions fixated on the tower, forgetting all about war. They poured every effort into conquering the top. Centuries passed.
When not a single Martial God emerged, the warriors grew weary. In truth, it was impossible for one to appear. To prevent a Martial God from another faction, each had installed mechanisms and formations—not for passage, but for defense.
Breaking through such traps to reach the summit was a pipe dream.
Doubts began to boil over.
One leader thought: Why not seize supremacy without conquering the top?
It was a dangerous notion that invited war, but unstoppable. Amid the chaos, each faction relentlessly challenged the tower, and our Solar Heaven reached a height worth noting.
Perhaps that's what unsettled the other five. They made their move.
In a world of strong and weak mingled, the weak are culled. But in a world of only the strong, the strongest falls first. The rest band together.
The five attacked us.]
"Tch!"
Black Wind clicked his tongue softly.
"Humans just don't know satisfaction. They have everything, yet..."
Sometimes, the one who has one seems happier than the one with nine. The one with nine strives desperately to get ten, even committing crimes, while the one with one is content.
Standards differ, so neither is better. But from Black Wind's view, a life without mental pressure or impatience seemed preferable.
"Maybe I'm just rationalizing my own penniless state by saying, 'I'm happy with just one.'"
He shrugged and unfurled the robe.
Great Radiant Martial had said he left martial arts manuals in the robe.
[This robe is called the Solar Temple Robe. The bow is the Heavenly God Solar Bow, the sword the Solar Heaven Sword, and the ring the Divine Demon Solar Ring.
The Solar Temple Robe's greatest virtue is that it never tears. Warm in winter, cool in summer. With it, you need never buy another robe till you die.
The Solar Heaven Sword's techniques are all four sword forms. First Sword: Solar Storm Bullet—a storm of sword bullets and qi. Second Sword: Solar Ink Cloud Qi—a cloud of sword bullets and qi.
Third Sword: Solar Thunderstorm—a storm of thunder qi. Fourth Sword: Solar Light Rain Calamity—a storm of light.
The Divine Demon Solar Ring unleashes three techniques.
First move: Death Shadow, called the shadow of death. Second: Blood Rain Calamity, turning the world into a sea of blood. Third: Pacifying the World, a state of utter peace with nothing left.]
"Pacifying the World means everything alive dies for perfect peace, yet he says it so casually."
Black Wind chuckled.
"But... no archery techniques."
No matter where he looked, nothing for the Heavenly God Solar Bow.
"What a grand name, but no techniques. Well, no need for fancy martial arts to hunt."
He donned the Solar Temple Robe. About the same height, it fit perfectly.
"No word yet."
He'd eaten the inner core, expecting changes. None came. Well, one thing: all his internal injuries healed.
"If Great Radiant Martial knew his own inner core only healed internal injuries, he'd faint. But why die here?"
Curiosity struck.
This place was reachable only through quicksand, and exit required it too. Yet one of the world's six strongest lay dead here, alone.
Black Wind brushed dust from an untouched spot.
More writing.
[And the bell became the Heaven-Earth Solar Bell, crafted by Border Wastelands leaders as a token of loyalty. Inside and out, the Border Wastelands Eight Thousand's strongest martial art is engraved.]
Black Wind eyed the bell. Five inches in diameter and height, tied to a one-chi cord. Tiny script covered inside and out.
"Later for that..."
Back to the text.
[They came.
Not five, but two. We fought a full day. The three of us ended battered. In the final moments, they spared me. One asked if I had anywhere to go. I said no.
He said he had nowhere either.
The two came here to die with me. With Solar Heaven fallen, their families could live.
They abandoned their weapons at their tribe and kingdom's treasure vaults, shouting, 'We're free now!' and left.
I took Solar Heaven's weapons separately.
Unlike their shabby ones, Solar Heaven's screamed treasure—no hiding with Border Wastelands gear. Then I dove into the quicksand under the Solar Temple.
To live, you don't need money or martial arts. You need passion.
Without passion, even riches make you as good as dead.]
"I like money best."
Black Wind scratched his head. Never having too much, money seemed tops.
Passion...
"Dog eat dog nonsense."
Black Wind plunged into the quicksand.
He plugged nose and mouth, surrendering to the flow.
Drifting, he pondered Solar Heaven techniques. So powerful, they demanded vast inner energy. His current state? Mere pictures.
'Still, gotta learn them. Like the others.'
Savoring each form's manual, he let the sand carry him. After nearly an hour, he dropped sharply.
Black Wind opened his eyes.
He fell toward a sand waterfall.
Sand poured into a crater-like depression. Soon, Black Wind slammed bottom.
The fallen sand drained away. Free of it, Black Wind poked the floor. Hundreds of wrist-thick holes pocked it. Sand vanished into them.
"A filtration tank for filth."
Black Wind scanned around. Debris everywhere—beast bones, human bones. Weapons scattered too.
"Not a tank. A grave."
Probing, his gaze hit behind the waterfall: a cave mouth. Something beckoned.
He pierced the waterfall into the cave. As expected: two ancient corpses, bones embracing.
"That's a woman."
Smaller frame caught his eye as he muttered.
Lovers or spouses, likely.
"But why here..."
Black Wind approached the skulls.
They left writing too.
[We're husband and wife. Not an affair.]
"Pfft! Got it. I believe you. If flesh remained, I'd spot it easy. Too bad, dear!"
Black Wind bellowed.
"...No drop means you're legit."
Black Wind grinned wide.
[I don't want to reveal our status.]
"This makes it an affair?"
Black Wind tilted his head.
"Honey!"
Louder now.
"Affairs shatter at 'honey'..."
Black Wind glanced below.
[I'll just leave martial arts. Learn if you want.
I know tons, but only two. You won't master them till death.]
"No plans to master. Anyway, I'm Ten Thousand Commander. Name's Ak Muyoo."
Ak Muyoo was Black Wind's real name.
Over ten years unused, even he nearly forgot.
"Wrote it so I don't forget. Call me Ak Muyoo from now. Let's see."
Ak Muyoo eyed the floor.
[The technique I leave is Mad Blood Calamity Demon Flow. It has a thousand moves total. Impressive, right?]
"Not impressive—insane. How learn a thousand? Memorizing alone takes a lifetime."
[Don't worry. Who am I? Demon Heaven of the demonic skies. Special secret for you: Master a thousand via Mad Thousand Blood Steps. Easy, right? Footprints marked.]
Ak Muyoo looked aside.
As Demon Heaven said, footprints dotted the floor. Deep cave, it seemed.
[First fifty are feints. Real starts after.]
That was Demon Heaven's full legacy.
[One last word.
Free the Calamity Demon, become the Blood Ghost.]
Ak Muyoo tilted his head. The final line baffled him.
"Anyway, let's try."
Ak Muyoo shook his head, eyed beside Demon Heaven's text. Delicate script there.
[I'm Milun.
I leave three techniques.
First: Chaos Concealment, the ultimate stealth art. None better exists.
Second: Phantom Demon Twelve Forms. Usable with staff or sword. Power unmatched in the world. Third: Heaven-Shattering Finger, a finger wind. Master it, punch holes in the sky.
Mushrooms by our heads. Eat one, last ten days maybe.
Work hard.
P.S. Not an affair.]
"Pfft!"
Ak Muyoo chuckled. Husband leads, wife follows—their personalities matched.
He checked by Milun.
True enough: fist-sized mushrooms by their heads.
[Didn't want corpses left, so extracted inner core, planted Millennia Stone Mushroom. Might not melt till death.]
[Brat, melt it? Frenzy Mad Thousand Blood Steps like mad.]
"I'm not the brat—Ak Muyoo, Ak Muyoo."
Ak Muyoo read the lower manuals.
"Whoa!"
Dumbfounded, he stared at the skulls.
World's best? Humble—insanely strong.
"You two sought Great Radiant Martial."
Ak Muyoo nodded.
Great Radiant Martial's arts nearly equaled theirs.
If picking, Demon Heaven's—for liking Mad Thousand Blood Steps, not superior power.
"I'll learn. First..."
Ak Muyoo yanked the Millennia Stone Mushroom that ate the inner core, shoved it in—soil and all, lest elixir essence散.
"This time..."