Chapter 112
Chapter 112
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 112
Chapter Title: Preparation Before the Summoning Comes First
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"Here you go."
Olka handed the crystal rod to Geon-woo, catching his gaze.
"Hm?"
Geon-woo reflexively took the rod, offered without any conditions.
But the moment it touched his hand, the crystal rod turned golden.
"Whoa, it really works?"
Olka's eyes sparkled in surprise at the sight.
"What is this?"
Geon-woo's voice turned icy cold.
He didn't like some unknown situation unfolding right in front of him.
"Hehe. No need to get mad. It just means the invitation has found its owner."
"Its owner?"
"Apparently, these invitations start appearing everywhere once the Dimensional Expedition Qualification Exam begins."
"There are a lot of them?"
"Yes. More than you'd think get circulated among people. But not everyone who gets one can take the exam."
"Only if it changes like this?"
"Exactly. And once an invitation picks its owner, only that person can use it."
"Hmm."
"Oh, and while there are many invitations, they're not easy to get. Even then, you need to be at least a marquis-rank to hear about them. That's how I managed to snag this one for you."
"That doesn't add up. You said they're scattered everywhere, but now it's hard to get?"
"I mean there are plenty compared to the number of exam participants. But they're not just rolling around on the streets."
Olka was emphasizing how valuable it was.
Geon-woo nodded.
He hadn't even known the exam had started or that invitations were out there, so Olka deserved credit either way.
"Yeah. Thanks to you, I have this now."
"Right? So about that mistake I made before..."
Under Geon-woo's praise, Olka slyly brought up her past error.
She meant the issue with Priscilla, the mistress of the Ice Garden.
"I'll consider it a mistake and let it slide."
Geon-woo gave her the response she wanted without dragging it out.
It meant no disadvantages for Olka in clinic operations going forward.
"Thank you."
Olka understood and bowed her head with a bright smile.
"But when does this activate?"
Geon-woo shook the golden crystal rod at her.
From what he'd gathered, it contained some kind of summoning ritual.
The kind that would pull the rod's holder to a random location at the appointed time.
"I heard it activates 100 days before the exam starts. Only the person recognized as the owner can see the mark."
Fortunately, Olka had the answer to his question.
Geon-woo infused mana into the golden crystal rod to test its reaction.
"The summoning ritual's still dormant. But I have no idea how it recognizes the owner."
He was curious what had turned the rod gold.
"I don't know either. You need at least grand duke-level power, and there are strict qualification conditions, but no one knows what they are."
Olka's voice grew quieter under his gaze.
"Oh, and this exam, it's just the owner going alone. Don't forget."
"Can't bring subordinates?"
"Yeah, that's what I heard. You can check the invitation."
"Well, it seems like it only summons the owner, so I'll find out when I go. Even alone, there should be ways to summon others later."
There was no way he'd be separated from Ilryeong.
Plus, his sa-jiangshi and living jiangshi were core forces—would they really restrict that?
Such ability limitations would be unfair to participants, so it probably wouldn't happen.
"Still, I need to prepare."
He now had a chance at Dimensional Expedition qualifications.
What could be more important?
Geon-woo headed straight to Paeng.
"You're here? Olka stopped by?"
"Yeah. She brought this."
Geon-woo showed Paeng the golden crystal rod.
"What's that?"
"Well..."
Geon-woo began explaining the invitation to Paeng.
After the explanation.
"So you're telling me to take charge of building the city here?"
Paeng pouted, clearly displeased.
"In return, let's name this place Ars."
"What?"
"You said to call the new city Ars, right? Let's do that."
"You call that a concession? Me managing this whole place alone? You think that's a fair deal?"
"Yeah, and I'll make you mayor of Ars too."
"Whoa, like I'd want to be mayor?"
Paeng gaped in disbelief.
"Who else can I trust but you? Can't leave it to the bio-armor quartet."
"Why not? They could handle it."
"You think they'd agree? They have no intention of leaving the demon vein."
"Yeah, fair point."
"So Paeng, you handle it."
"And run the clinic too? Manage Earth exchanges?"
"You'll oversee the staff we recruited and brought here too."
"Sigh. So you'll be prepping for that exam in the meantime?"
"Yeah. Honestly, I still feel like I need that one big punch. I'm gonna try for it."
"Chaos mana, right?"
Paeng asked as if it was obvious.
"Yeah. Honestly, I haven't seen anything with more destructive power."
"But you accumulating it yourself..."
"Impossible. That requires bio-armor factors. And I'm not injecting them into myself. Too unstable."
Bio-armor factors manifested differently in each person.
Bad luck, and you could mutate into an armored monster.
The stronger your abilities, the lower the risk, but no perfect way to avoid it yet.
That's why Geon-woo had no intention of accepting bio-armor factors.
"Yeah. Never try accumulating chaos mana directly. Got it?"
"Got it. Don't worry."
Even after Geon-woo's assurance, Paeng made him promise again, and he nodded.
Thanks to that, Geon-woo could leave everything in Ars to Paeng and focus on demon vein training.
* * *
Chaos mana repels all energies in the world.
In a calm state, meeting other energies, they cancel each other out.
But if not calm, it creates extreme explosions.
Even those explosions vary wildly depending on how the chaos mana is shaped.
"Mana, aura, mental power, soul energy, mystic power, etc. Every energy has efficient ways to use it. That's what secret arts are. Chaos mana is no different."
- But chaos mana is hard to handle.
Geon-woo was researching ways to use chaos mana in the great demon vein.
"In that sense, I've got a bit of a cheat."
He praised himself shamelessly.
The reason.
- My lord doesn't need to create effects using only chaos mana.
Bio-armor implant recipients had to use chaos mana for their abilities after acceptance.
They went through trial and error recreating old abilities with it, often downgrading them.
Even so, chaos mana's power multiplied the final output several times, so no regrets.
They just obsessed over higher efficiency.
"Yeah, that's what I can do."
In the training grounds, Geon-woo activated his psychokinesis.
Purple ripples shimmered in the range it touched.
His psychokinesis's mental energy clashing with the local chaos mana, canceling out in light.
But Geon-woo didn't flinch and continued.
The purple quickly vanished from the psychokinesis range.
Meaning the clash and cancellation stopped.
Kugugugugugu!
He hadn't stopped the psychokinesis.
Ground surged in spots across the training grounds, forming a miniature of a massive city.
"I can use my powers as is, just mix in chaos mana. Still rough, but."
Geon-woo refined the tiny city further.
- As expected, with chaos mana, even the great demon vein's ground becomes putty.
Geon-woo couldn't hide his satisfaction with his chaos-infused psychokinesis.
"And this too."
He snapped his fingers midair as if struck by inspiration.
Papatapatak!
Far beyond a casual snap.
Explosions rocked spots in his miniature city, debris flying everywhere.
"It'd be the same for a real city. Scaled the chaos mana to the model."
Geon-woo's gaze turned to the sa-jiangshi that appeared beside him.
It was made from a sinful bio-armor implant recipient.
He could use its accumulated chaos mana like his own energy.
So he wielded aura, mana, mental energy, etc., coating them with the sa-jiangshi's chaos mana.
Originally, he sourced from jiangshi spirits made from great demon vein residents, but outside, their weaknesses showed.
Being pure chaos mana, they annihilated on contact with other energies.
He'd settled for borrowing jiangshi spirits' chaos mana, but eventually coated his power with it to prevent cancellation.
Then, obsessing over chaos mana use, he could now use jiangshi made from Gangsi Fist practitioners among bio-armor implants.
"Thanks to the coating, I don't need to tweak skills or techniques for chaos mana."
Meaning he could shape chaos mana most efficiently.
And it wasn't just for coating.
Even using pure chaos mana, he based it on normal energy, guiding the chaos along that path.
Unlike other bio-armor users, Geon-woo maximized chaos mana's effect.
"Now I really should meet the great demon vein's master."
With self-assessment of mastering chaos mana, he resolved to tackle his postponed task.
* * *
Demon veins are conduits for chaos mana.
From the vast underground great demon vein, chaos mana extends through capillary-like demon veins.
At the ends, it meets other powers, flashes purple, and cancels out.
"Considering it, the vanishing chaos mana is immeasurable. Funny thing: in calm cancellation, the energies match in quantity."
Geon-woo had learned that recently.
At demon vein entrances, chaos mana cancels with other energies in similar ratios.
- But shaped and used, its power exceeds normal energy tenfold or more.
Indeed, shaping chaos mana was that devastating.
"Looks like I've arrived."
Now he could meet the great demon vein's chaos mana source.
All residents blocking his path had been scattered by chaos mana; none left.
"Oh, right—Ilryeong first!"
- Yes, my lord.
"Go back to Paeng and update him."
- Leave your side at such a crucial time?
"Summoning's soon. If I don't go, they'll worry."
- True, but...
"If time slips and we're both summoned here for the exam, it'd be trouble. I'll try to exit and say goodbye before, so tell him that."
- My lord...
"And if anything happens at the clinic, Paeng will feel secure with you there. Please."
- ...Understood, my lord.
Reluctantly, Ilryeong formed a body of multiplying metal, activated a barrier, and left the great demon vein.