70
Chapter 70: Expedition
As a blacksmith with that level of strength, there would be almost none in the world.
Perhaps only one. Dong Bong-su assumed so.
Assuming that, the Eight Directions Armory blacksmith could only be Soldier Eccentric, one of the Two Divinities, Three Eccentrics, Five Supremes, and Ten Greats. There was plenty of possibility he wasn't, but Dong Bong-su guessed so. And in any case, it didn't matter much even if he wasn't.
Anyway, Dong Bong-su had already used him to solve two of the questions about New Murim Online's system, and would soon receive one useful item as well.
Were items the system gifted him, like the Novice's Sword, truly unbreakable and unmeltable?
This question was solved when Soldier Eccentric melted the Novice's Sword. And in that process, one other supplementary question was also solved.
Before entrusting the Novice's Sword to Soldier Eccentric, Dong Bong-su had let several people try holding the Novice's Sword. Since the Novice's Sword had various stat-increasing options attached to it, if those were also applied to NPCs who were people of this place, he couldn't carelessly let it circulate. Though the increase from the Novice's Sword wasn't significant, even that much would be enough to be called a divine sword or demonic object if taken out to the Martial World. Having others try holding the Novice's Sword was a type of experiment to prevent such a situation from happening in advance.
The experiment's result was 'no.' For NPCs who weren't players, items were useless. To NPCs, items were just ordinary objects that were a bit harder or more durable. Perhaps it was because they didn't have an equipment window, Dong Bong-su estimated.
So the people used in the experiment luckily survived. None of them noticed at all how remarkable the Novice's Sword was. If they had noticed, they would all have been dead on the spot.
After the experiment, Dong Bong-su could safely entrust the Novice's Sword to Soldier Eccentric. Though he had no confidence he could beat Soldier Eccentric, he was at least confident he wouldn't die, and above all, he had faith that Soldier Eccentric wouldn't attack him because of the Novice's Sword.
Soldier Eccentric was a madman. A man mad for weapons.
Dong Bong-su had seen pure madness in Soldier Eccentric's eyes. Simply the desire to melt the Novice's Sword and create something even better. Nothing gave safer trust than that.
In any case, through his chance meeting with Soldier Eccentric, Dong Bong-su had solved two questions and would soon be able to obtain an item he had needed for a while. Though it wasn't completed yet, judging by the speed at which Soldier Eccentric was working, he would be able to receive the finished product when he returned from this Harvest.
When Dong Bong-su had thought this far, a large clearing appeared before him. He had arrived at his training ground. It was a circular track-shaped vacant lot with a diameter reaching as much as 50 meters.
As soon as Dong Bong-su arrived there, he drew his sword. It was a sword that had turned jet black with blood caked all over it.
[Wanderer's Sword]
A longsword that has swept through countless battles together with the Wanderer. Like a Wanderer who grows stronger the more steeped in blood, this longsword also grew by feeding on blood.
Attribute: None
Required Class: Wanderer series
Required Level: 10
Minimum Attack Power: 25
Maximum Attack Power: 66
Critical Hit Increase Effect: ?
Minimum Martial Arts Attack Power: 41
Maximum Martial Arts Attack Power: 97
Martial Arts Critical Hit Increase Effect: ?
Additional Ability: Upon successful attack, absorbs 1% of damage dealt as player's health.
This sword was one of the items the system had gifted Dong Bong-su when he changed class to Wanderer. If he hadn't had this to begin with, Dong Bong-su wouldn't have used the Novice's Sword so easily for experiments.
Not only the [Wanderer's Sword], but there wasn't a single piece of the Novice set remaining in his equipment window. The Wanderer set—[Wanderer's Heavy Armor], [Wanderer's Leather Shoes], [Wanderer's Bamboo Hat]—had each replaced the positions that the Novice set—[Novice's Clothes], [Novice's Shoes], [Novice's Hood]—had occupied a year ago.
The Wanderer set not only had far superior ability increases compared to the Novice set, but all had special additional options. Moreover, since he already knew that stacking equipment had no effect, Dong Bong-su no longer needed the Novice set.
[Wanderer's Sword]
Additional Ability: Upon successful attack, absorbs 1% of damage dealt as player's health.
[Wanderer's Heavy Armor]
Additional Ability: Returns 1% of damage received from an enemy back to that same enemy.
[Wanderer's Leather Shoes]
Additional Ability: Movement power increases by 1% when worn.
[Wanderer's Bamboo Hat]
Additional Ability: Converts 1% of damage received from an enemy to JP.
Lifesteal, retaliation, movement speed increase, energy drain.
Though the effects of these additional options were minimal, the difference between having them and not having them was like heaven and earth. These were exceptional abilities that didn't exist in this Martial World.
Dong Bong-su, who could use those abilities completely, was naturally an exceptional and special existence.
Skills, items and their attached additional supernatural abilities, plus the martial arts he was learning. Dong Bong-su—he had already become strong enough to overcome a level difference of 10 or more.
'Was it called an overpowered character?'
He seemed to have heard such terminology somewhere when he was in that world. Yes, where could there be a more fitting expression than that?
Dong Bong-su—he was already an overpowered character and a cheating human in this New Murim Online.
However,
It still wasn't enough.
Dong Bong-su was still hungrier.
Swish, swish.
The Wanderer's Sword began to move.
If not for the low friction sound that occurred as the wind and sword brushed past each other, probably no sound would have been made at all—his sword was that static. Yet it was fast. That it was fast yet made no sound was in itself a tremendous advantage. In the eerie silence of Ghost Wailing Forest, the sword moved like a shadow and when necessary, whether wind or tree or ant, it cut through everything according to Dong Bong-su's will.
Dong Bong-su's Windless Sword Technique had clearly developed greatly over the year.
Right now his sword was moving following the sword paths not only of Three Talents Sword Technique and Heavenly Wind Sword Technique, but various other sword techniques. These were all movements that Dong Bong-su had refined in his own way from the sword techniques and blade techniques he had obtained at Seonjoong Mountain. All those movements naturally melted into Windless Sword Technique and silently cut through the empty air between Ghost Wailing Forest.
Now it seemed his sword could no longer be called a technique. It was free yet stealthy, and also systematic with discipline. Like flowing water it was natural, yet like lightning it was sharp and precise. At a glance it was an incomprehensible combination, but clearly Dong Bong-su's movements, and his body movements, were exactly that.
He had surpassed technique to create his own method. That's how it could only be seen. Not just in stats and skills, but Dong Bong-su's sword had also tremendously advanced compared to a year ago.
From Windless Sword Technique to Windless Sword Method.
Swish, swish, swish swish...
Dong Bong-su was growing stronger today as well. He had grown stronger without rest for the past year, and was evolving at this very moment.
Tomorrow would be a bit more complete than today.
Swish, swish, swish swish...
***
New Murim Online 9th Law: Items gifted by the system are not indestructible. They melt, break, or wear down.
—Addition 1: No one besides Dong Bong-su, who is a player, can feel the effects of items or receive their benefits.
—Addition 2: Items cannot be worn in duplicate.
ex) Even if wearing Wanderer's Leather Shoes over Novice's Shoes, only Novice's Shoes will be displayed as equipped in the equipment window.
※Still, all these laws may not be established or certain.
***
Guisui.
A naturally blessed fortress and the breathing hole of the grasslands. To the north, the Yinshan Mountain Range and Daqing Mountain stretched three thousand meters east to west, and to the west the Great Gobi Desert blocked the way.
This city-market was situated in a narrow gorge created by Daqing Mountain and the Yinshan Mountain Range, and going through that gorge could save thousands of meters compared to bypassing the desert or mountain range to reach the great plains to the north. Therefore, if one occupied only this place, the northern nomads could very easily possess the fertile Hetao Plain to the south.
Conversely, if a Central Plains dynasty occupied this place, they could not only grasp the lifeline of the northern barbarians in one hand, but also gain the Hetao Plain as a bonus.
In short, occupying Guisui meant being able to establish the foundation to become the hegemon of the north. Because of this, since time immemorial, the northern nomads and Central Plains dynasties had continuously fought to occupy this Guisui region.
When Central Plains dynasties occupied Guisui, great peace came to the Central Plains, and when the northern nomads occupied Guisui, they used Guisui as a base to command all the north, and sometimes the entire world.
The beginning of the Byeongin Incident, that humiliating event that occurred just forty-some years ago, also started with the fall of Guisui. Northern nomads who came down through the Yinshan Mountain Range gorge in the dead of winter occupied Guisui through a surprise attack, pacified the surrounding grassland areas, then passed Datong to besiege Beiping where the imperial palace was located.
After that, they indiscriminately plundered outside the outer walls. After several months, the northern nomads eventually withdrew, but the material and psychological damage the Central Plains suffered at that time was beyond words.
Eventually, the emperor who set out for revenge recaptured Guisui after four expeditions, but when he died, the northern nomads invaded again and Guisui once more became the barbarians' den.
Ten years after that.
The city-markets near the Great Wall became very impoverished, the population sharply decreased, and public sentiment became turbulent. If Guisui wasn't recaptured soon, there was no law saying something like the Byeongin Incident wouldn't happen again.
Thus, another war was imminent in this place.