Never Fall Asleep!
Sa Do-myeong gave him no chance even to stall for time, leaving Yeop Hyeon flustered.
What do I do? There's no way I can win head-on!
Right then, Sa Do-myeong's overwhelming aura crashed down on Yeop Hyeon like furious waves engulfing a tiny boat.
Yeop Hyeon had no time to think. He hastily gathered his energy and swung straight ahead.
One Sword Determines Life and Death!
This single strike's power was in no way inferior to Sa Do-myeong's aura.
Boom—!
The moment the two forces collided, the surrounding trees and rocks exploded in an instant. At the same time, Yeop Hyeon was pushed back a dozen zhang. He had quickly thrust his sword into the ground, minimizing the damage to this extent.
Sa Do-myeong, meanwhile, had only retreated about ten steps.
Sa Do-myeong gazed at Yeop Hyeon with a slightly graver expression.
"Indeed, it's clear now that I underestimated you! I finally understand why Hogye Meng is so desperate to eliminate you!"
At that moment, Sa Do-myeong shouted while looking to Yeop Hyeon's right.
"Let's take him together!"
As Sa Do-myeong yelled at empty space, an old man appeared from Yeop Hyeon's right side.
It was someone Yeop Hyeon had never seen before. What mattered was that he too was a True Law Realm powerhouse.
Two True Law Realm experts!
Yeop Hyeon's face filled with dismay. He hadn't expected the Sado family to invest this much effort just for him.
This is too much!
As if reading Yeop Hyeon's thoughts, Sa Do-myeong sneered coldly.
"Do you know the difference between Cangmu Academy and us? It's that Cangmu Academy underestimated you from the start and never went all out. If they had taken you seriously from the beginning, you would've died a hundred times over by now. I'm not as foolish as Cangmu Academy—I won't give you the slightest opening!"
With that, Sa Do-myeong charged alongside the old man. In that instant, Yeop Hyeon shouted.
"Wait!"
Yeop Hyeon, who had cried out urgently, opened his mouth with a serious expression.
"Don't we have some bond from our time together? For the sake of that friendship…"
"Hahaha! I'm not foolish enough to fall for such sweet talk. Even if the heavens themselves collapsed today, I will eliminate you!"
Sa Do-myeong no longer played along with Yeop Hyeon's words. He and the old man left afterimages as they lunged at Yeop Hyeon simultaneously.
It was the terrifying pincer attack of two True Law Realm powerhouses.
Yeop Hyeon bit his lip hard and took a step forward. In that moment, a small pagoda shape suddenly appeared at the center of his forehead.
Gyeok Ok Tower!
The instant the Gyeok Ok Tower manifested, the clear sky darkened abruptly. Sa Do-myeong and the other old man's bodies froze in place, as if pinned by nails. The two tried desperately to channel their profound energy, but they couldn't move a muscle.
At that moment, a black character meaning "Prisoner" suddenly appeared on their foreheads.
Sa Do-myeong and the old man looked at Yeop Hyeon with faces full of terror. Yeop Hyeon's entire body trembled violently. Not only that, his face was twisted beyond recognition from its original features.
"You bastard! What the hell did you do to me?!"
Yeop Hyeon barely managed to move his lips, forcing a mocking expression as he replied.
"Haha, think… about it carefully… ugh…"
Yeop Hyeon's voice trembled terribly.
As Sa Do-myeong hurriedly tried to ask something, Yeop Hyeon shouted with all his might.
"Take them away!"
In that instant, the Gyeok Ok Tower shuddered, and Sa Do-myeong and the old man vanished from before Yeop Hyeon. The place they reappeared was none other than inside the Gyeok Ok Tower.
Falling into the tower, Sa Do-myeong and the old man looked around in bewilderment like startled rabbits, facing a situation they'd never encountered before.
Right then, the "Prisoner" mark on their foreheads turned red.
Witnessing this on the other old man, Sa Do-myeong cried out desperately.
"Y-Yeop Hyeon! I get it! Let's negotiate as you want! I swear on the Sado family name that if you let me out of here, I will never harm you…"
"Hahaha! You ignored me when I tried talking nicely earlier, and now you want to negotiate? The ship has already sailed!"
Yeop Hyeon's voice echoed through the tower.
And this was the last human voice Sa Do-myeong ever heard in his life.
Soon, the two inside the Gyeok Ok Tower vanished without a trace. Only two lead caskets remained on the floor.
Outside the tower, Yeop Hyeon felt his head throb as he collapsed to the ground. The world spun as if heaven and earth had flipped. All he could think was how badly he wanted to sleep soundly.
No! I absolutely cannot fall asleep!
Yeop Hyeon quickly bit down hard on the tip of his tongue. The intense pain snapped him awake in an instant.
And unbeknownst to him, a character meaning "Earth" had been engraved at the center of his forehead.
Dochik!
Earthly power began flowing into Yeop Hyeon's sprawled body. The power of the earth coursed through his hands, feet, organs—every part of him—restoring his body.
A moment later, Yeop Hyeon felt his body growing lighter bit by bit.
After recovering somewhat, Yeop Hyeon first checked the Gyeok Ok Tower. As expected, it had closed again.
But the difference this time was the enormous amount of spirit stones he possessed!
Currently, he had two Heavenly Realm swords, one set of Heavenly Realm armor, four point five billion top-grade spirit stones, and a top-grade spirit vein.
This top-grade spirit vein was the one planted at Canglan Academy, which he had taken with him upon leaving.
Yeop Hyeon took a deep breath and began feeding spirit stones into the Gyeok Ok Tower. Soon enough, it devoured one billion just like last time. But that wasn't enough. The tower didn't budge.
What's going on?
Yeop Hyeon tilted his head and fed in more spirit stones.
One hundred million… two hundred million… five hundred million… one billion…
Only after shoving in another billion did the Gyeok Ok Tower stir back to life.
This time, it required two billion top-grade spirit stones—a full billion more than before.
Yeop Hyeon flopped onto the ground spread-eagled.
He nearly spat blood. If he could, he'd grind Sa Do-myeong to dust and drink him down. Because of Sa Do-myeong's sudden attack, he'd burned through two billion spirit stones.
It felt like just yesterday he'd been thrilled receiving them from O Ru-ju, and now he'd offered them all up to the Gyeok Ok Tower before the warmth had even faded. And this time, it was double the previous amount. He didn't even want to imagine how much more it'd cost next time.
Yeop Hyeon squeezed his eyes shut.
He wanted to cry, but he had no tears left.
This Gyeok Ok Tower was truly a money-devouring beast.
Lying still on the ground, Yeop Hyeon waited for his body and mind to fully recover. After about an hour, he sprang up and examined the lead caskets left by Sa Do-myeong and the old man.
The first casket contained a single Heavenly Realm spear, about five chi long. The spearhead gleamed red. Gripping it sent a scorching heat through his hand, like flowing lava, yet the tip was as cold as midwinter ice.
Fine spear!
Turning it over, Yeop Hyeon suspected it might be a higher grade than his two Heavenly Realm swords.
Even among Heavenly Realm items, there were top-grade, standard, and low-grade.
This spear was at least standard Heavenly Realm.
A standard Heavenly Realm item was worth about the value of a city.
Disappointed by the spirit stones lost to the tower, Yeop Hyeon felt his mood lift again.
Sa Do-myeong was a True Law Realm powerhouse of the Sado family. It was only natural for him to carry such a treasure.
Then, Yeop Hyeon spotted two characters near the spear's hilt that seemed to be its name.
[Incineration]
On a whim, Yeop Hyeon lightly swung the spear. Flames erupted from the tip, incinerating all the surrounding trees in an instant. It was imbued with fire attributes.
Impressive!
Feeling good, Yeop Hyeon grinned. Auctioning this treasure would fetch at least three billion top-grade spirit stones. Even the lowest-grade Heavenly Realm weapons went for over two billion.
In truth, Heavenly Realm weapons typically required purple origin crystals rather than spirit stones for trades.
His spirits lifted, Yeop Hyeon examined the next items. Sa Do-myeong's casket held no other Heavenly Realm treasures. Just as disappointment set in, Yeop Hyeon's eyes widened.
He quickly reached in and pulled out a thick book and a black spirit tablet inscribed with "House Lord Token."
Flipping open the book's first page, Yeop Hyeon was startled.
Family registry?!
The book was the Sado family's genealogy, detailing their lineage from the founder to the present generation, packed with names.
And that wasn't all. It covered secretive matters too: total family members, total wealth, number of dispatched spies—all in meticulous detail.
Closing the registry, Yeop Hyeon grew excited again.
The Sado family's entire fortune amounted to a staggering eighty billion top-grade spirit stones. Moreover, they held over three hundred thousand purple origin crystals.
Purple origin crystals contained not ordinary spirit energy, but a special purple origin qi. Rare to find, they were far pricier than spirit stones. Acquiring a single Heavenly Realm treasure required at least five hundred million of them.
Suddenly, spiritual energy fluctuations emanated from the book's cover, as if some formation had activated.
Yeop Hyeon figured it was a safeguard to destroy the registry in case of emergency. Leaking all the Sado family's secrets would cause an enormous uproar.
Unfortunately for Sa Do-myeong, he'd been dragged into the Gyeok Ok Tower and obliterated in the blink of an eye, with no chance to trigger it.
Eighty billion top-grade spirit stones, hundreds of thousands of purple origin crystals…
Just imagining it set Yeop Hyeon's blood aflame.
But he quickly regained his composure. No matter how many spirit stones, they belonged to the Sado family—not him.
No!
Yeop Hyeon's mind raced. His gaze shifted to the token in his hand.
House Lord Token!
A moment later, meaningful laughter echoed through the area.