Chapter 239
Chapter 239
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 239
Chapter Title: Cultivator's Mountain (13)
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Word of someone challenging the 59th floor spread far and wide.
Even to the households of Yugu, including Arisa, known as the monster of the mid-mountain.
A record unbroken for so long.
Even Arhan who'd climbed past the 51st floor could be counted on one hand.
'That's an opponent no one can possibly beat.'
Arisa descended from the mid-mountain to the base of the peak.
A throng of Arhats had already gathered at the tower's entrance.
All staring tensely at the Mysterious Tower, wondering if a new record would be set.
"Arisa?"
"...The mid-mountain monster."
"Guess you were curious if your own record would be broken."
In that instant, a few Arhats spotted her and began whispering.
Arisa paid them no mind.
She simply stood with arms crossed, gazing up at the tower.
She hadn't come down out of curiosity about the record.
The stiffened corpse on the 59th floor.
It was something that shouldn't exist in this world—a foe no living being could ever defeat.
And so, perhaps.
The challenger who'd reached the 59th floor, unlike before, wasn't advancing quickly.
They'd been stuck there for ages, locked in battle.
Or maybe they'd already died.
"Looks like the new record was too much after all."
"If it were that easy, someone would've done it ages ago."
"What a shame."
The Arhats shook their heads.
Arisa let out a quiet sigh inwardly.
If only they'd given up quickly and fled, they might've survived.
Instead, they'd pushed too hard and met their end.
An Arhat who should've risen to the mid-mountain and built their fame had died pointlessly.
Soon, Arisa glared at Anton.
He wore an expression steeped in strange relief.
'Anton. You've broken the taboo.'
He'd created a stiffened corpse that should never have been made.
One utterly opposed to the spirit of this All-Gods Hall and the mountain.
If it were exposed, it would spell total ruin.
Arisa hadn't spoken up because the 'Stiffened Corpse School' backed him.
If a secret realm native like her opposed the Stiffened Corpse School, she'd vanish without a trace.
'...I heard they're from the secret realms too.'
The secret realms.
The final exile grounds and prison for those cast off the mountain.
Arhats from there were treated beyond description.
The mid-mountain was their limit.
Even Arisa couldn't climb higher.
Thus, secret realm natives knew each other to some degree and shared tight bonds.
'Who could it be?'
That was the question.
She didn't know every secret realm figure.
But someone strong enough for the 59th floor? She'd know them.
Unless they'd emerged from an unopened 'demonic realm' door.
'Every demonic realm but one has opened.'
Demonic realms.
Deeper than the secret realms.
The 'true prisons' sealed there.
They called the places holding absolute masters prisoner 'demonic realms,' and all but one now lay open.
Masters from demonic realms emerged as cripples, but their martial knowledge was boundless.
Arisa herself was born of a demonic realm master.
Therefore.
'Absolute Demonic Realm. Avici Hell... The masters inside must be long dead by now. It has to be someone I know.'
If not from Avici Hell, it had to be a secret realm native Arisa knew.
But anyone emerging from 'Avici Hell' was impossible to begin with.
「The Twelve Heavenly Kings. The twelve greatest demonfolk were imprisoned in that demonic realm five thousand years ago.」
「It hasn't opened once in five thousand years, so they're surely dead.」
「What a pity. If their martial arts had been passed down, the mountain's new martial arts and our secret realm styles might've clashed on equal footing!」
Figures from five thousand years ago.
No living being survived that long.
Not even dragons, unless extraordinary.
Besides, demonic realms were barren hells.
The masters trapped there had their tendons severed, reduced to cripples.
Surviving five thousand years without food or water? Near impossible.
'...What a shame.'
Arisa clenched her fist.
A golden opportunity for a secret realm Arhat to ace all three base trials with top marks.
Of course, secret realm natives' limit was still the mid-mountain.
The nine houses' heirs and disciples skipped trials, heading straight to mid or upper sections.
If those bastards climbed the 'Mysterious Tower,' Arisa might not hold the top record.
The true masters of All-Gods Hall, trained in new martial arts.
An uncrossable gap separated them from secret realm Arhats.
Five thousand years ago, 'Godslayer Taebaek' became All-Gods Hall's new lord and changed everything.
Conquering it alone, he reformed martial systems, sharing knowledge only with followers.
For five thousand years, All-Gods Hall advanced under Taebaek, revering him as supreme.
That knowledge never reached the secret realms, naturally.
Tsking in regret, Arisa turned to leave.
Whoosh!
"...!!!"
"L-Light!"
"New record!"
The Arhats buzzed.
Arisa whipped her head back.
At the same time.
'...Victory over that stiffened corpse?'
Arisa's eyes shook in disbelief.
The moment he reached the 59th floor, Park Chan-woo's eyes lit with fresh intrigue.
This jiangshi differed fundamentally from the previous ones.
'A demon made into a jiangshi?'
Setting aside if it was possible, an Arhat—who should despise demons—had crafted one from a demon.
Fire with fire, maybe? But it had crossed a line.
'Did they really join hands with a true demon?'
The question lingered.
This 'Mysterious Tower' was unmistakably a Creation Abyss.
And only 'demon lords' could create abysses.
That alone raised suspicions, but now a real demon appeared.
Doubt hardened into certainty.
They'd allied with a specific demon lord to mass-produce jiangshi variants.
With a Creation Abyss blatantly at the mountain's base, All-Gods Hall must have approved.
'They've embraced demonic power and tech. The mountain's already corrupted beyond repair.'
No overt demon infestation, but calling Arhats demon-foes felt dubious now.
Park Chan-woo eyed the approaching demonic jiangshi.
He'd overcome his negative level but remained weak.
Its movements were sluggish.
Yet it wasn't ordinary.
'...A unique specimen.'
Demons were typically low-, mid-, high-grade, but rare 'unique specimens' defied classification.
Their abilities were too peculiar.
This one before him qualified.
The rune etched on its forehead.
'Demon of Self-Explosion.'
A demon wielding self-explosion like an authority.
In crisis, it perished with its foe.
Turning such a demon into a jiangshi meant, in other words.
'Its demon lord master must've intervened.'
Forced into jiangshi obedience by command.
The issue: did its explosion weaken with level?
As an innate authority, likely independent of level.
A wrong touch, and even he could get caught—truly die.
...Now he understood.
Why no one cleared the 59th.
That instant.
Grrrrr...
A beastly growl emanated from Baal's sword.
Like a starving beast before prey.
Ding!
'Gluttony?'
Baal's sword had once devoured every treasure in Aheta's vault.
Boosting its performance, perfecting it as 'transcendent exclusive gear.'
Yet 'Gluttony' wasn't just for treasures, apparently.
'Baal reacts to unique specimens.'
......Baal's belt too.
Gear bearing Baal's name stirred before rare abyss uniques.
Some connection, perhaps.
'Gluttony.'
Park Chan-woo swung the sword.
Instantly, Gluttony's authority activated.
Craaaack!
Crunch!
The blade morphed into a massive maw, devouring the demonic jiangshi.
Simultaneously.
Ding!
"......"
He couldn't help but be stunned.
Gear levels were fixed absent special conditions.
Like infusing coins as with Arhats' golden mysteries, or barely raising via immortality banners.
Yet here, 'Baal's Sword' had leveled up by devouring a unique itself.
More research needed on its 'Gluttony' authority.
Park Chan-woo shrugged and advanced to the next floor.
The 60th floor held another demonic jiangshi.
The rune on its body confirmed it as a unique.
A grin wouldn't fade from his lips.
They'd gathered rare demons in one spot.
Letting Baal's sword feast.
'Jackpot.'
The tower continued.
Post-60, uniques appeared as expected.
Specimens that spelled certain death for ordinary Arhats.
Before Baal's sword, mere snacks.
Thus he climbed relentlessly. How much time passed?
...The real deal appeared.