CH 137

“Ack! That was close.”

After changing his gear once more, Merlin sat down cross-legged and gathered his breath. The Golden Pill Immortal Technique allowed him to circulate qi in any stance, but since he was also recovering from some internal injuries, he decided to take a more stable position this time.

“Phew. It seems like there’s less backlash after my internal energy capacity increased. The Golden Pill Immortal Technique’s operation speed has also increased.”

Fortunately, Merlin quickly healed after he was injured while outputting 80 years of internal energy. Once he fully understood the essence of the Spiritual Power Transfer Method, his Golden Pill Immortal Technique reached Level 9, which was likely one of the reasons his recovery was so swift.

“However, the force behind the output has decreased to 80 percent- no, 70 percent of what it was before. Well, I did expect a reduction….”

Merlin had used the Spiritual Power Transfer Method to empty all of the internal energy within him. This was a normal part of the process; however, what he did afterward was not normal. Using the core principles of the Dark Northsea Divine Technique, Merlin had gathered more internal energy than he had emptied, and after condensing this newly acquired internal energy, Merlin used his monstrous image-making abilities to create a new internal Gold Core. This sort of approach went beyond common sense and was something only Merlin could do, but it wasn’t a cheat with no drawbacks, as it made Merlin’s genuine qi purity level drop dramatically. The instability was considerable in the beginning, but it settled down over time.

“The next guy will probably be Level 12… hmm, this is starting to get tough. What Level 12 monsters do I know of?”

Merlin recalled quite a few monsters. Actually, the lich that he just fought could have easily been a Level 12 monster if it had developed a few more skills. If the lich was a newly minted 5th-class mage, it was the lowest type of lich amongst its species.

“Outside of the lich… an ogre champion perhaps? Or a cyclops warrior?”

While stabilizing his internal energy, Merlin started thinking about potential opponents and what tactics he could use when fighting them. Then, he understood something.

“Do I really need to go down the road of a martial artist…”

Merlin recalled the sword art that Arthur had shown before. Arthur’s spiritual qi was so clear that it shone like light; moreover, like Merlin, Arthur was an abnormality surrounded by a sea of normality. Arthur was a fellow Irregular. When he saw Arthur’s sword qi shining, Merlin instantly knew that he’d never catch up to Arthur in martial arts. Of course, Merlin was confident that he’d someday achieve what Arthur had shown that fateful day, but Merlin also knew that Arthur would be much further ahead once Merlin caught up. If someone couldn’t run faster than the person in front of them, they would always be looking at their back. Arthur’s preparation of Bursting Sword Light, an improvement on the already perfected Dispersing Light Sword Technique, was proof of this fact.

“My only other option is to use magic power….”

Merlin was already a relatively powerful mage. There weren’t many who could cast a spell just from imagining it. However, his magic was limited to a restricted field; since he couldn’t calculate coordinates properly, Merlin was essentially a halfling mage. This wouldn’t be an issue if he went down the Enchantment Mage path… no, even an Enchantment Mage would need to do some basic coordinate calculations and mapping to execute any meaningful magic spells.

“I really detest math, though….”

Merlin couldn’t do anything about his hatred for math.

There wasn’t any other reason; he was just incapable of doing something he disliked. Merlin could dive headfirst into any topic that caught his interest, but he avoided anything else like the plague. When it came to things he detested, Merlin couldn’t even muster the courage to make an attempt.

“Such a stupid reason.”

“…”

The young boy had considerable talent in commenting at the most poignant times. At some point, the young boy appeared in front of Merlin.

“What? What are you pissed off about now?”

“Man, I’ve been restraining myself, but I don’t think I can hold back any longer.”

“What are you talking about?”

After Merlin questioned him, the young boy’s demeanor became cold.

“You can’t properly utilize magic because you’re bad at math…. Did you forget to grow up, you idiotic dunce?”

“…”

No matter how many times Merlin heard the young boy’s demeaning manner of speech, he couldn’t get used to it. The young boy was clearly his other inner self that appeared after executing the Duality Cultivation Technique, but he seemed to utterly despise Merlin.

“You don’t like it, so you don’t do it… fine. Then let me ask you something, why do you hate math?”

“Why does anyone dislike something? There’s no specific reason per se; I just don’t like it. Is there anyone who truly loves studying?”

Hearing Merlin’s pitiful answer, the young boy grumbled menacingly.

“Shut it. Common fields of study should be easier than arithmetic for people like you and me. It should be akin to breathing, but you’re saying that math is difficult. You’re not saying that it’s annoying, but that you detest it. Essentially, even in a life-or-death situation, you’re telling me that you still won’t be able to do it, right?”

The young boy was huffing and puffing with anger. His typically cold demeanor had changed to pure fury.

“Shall I tell you why you dislike math? It’s because others have told you that it’s challenging! Do you know why you find English difficult? It’s because the people around you have told you that it’s difficult to learn! Why! Why do you need to stoop to the level of normal people?”

“…”

At a loss for words, Merlin just stared at the young boy. He stared because the young boy was entirely different from him. Although he was undoubtedly his other inner self, Merlin felt a sense of foreignness from the young boy.

“Whatever! Do what you want!”

After shouting, the young boy instantly disappeared. In addition, there was a change in the collected inner qi on the top of Merlin's head. This inner qi had been put in place when he executed the Duality Cultivation Technique, and it moved freely throughout his body and evaded him. Yet, now it had returned to Merlin’s control.

“… Hmm?”

Merlin realized that the Duality Cultivation Technique had stopped operating, and his other inner self had vanished.

“What the heck….”

Merlin looked confused, as he couldn’t understand what was happening. Did the Duality Cultivation Technique have this type of effect? Merlin had never read about this result from what he’d seen on fan sites regarding the Duality Cultivation Technique. In fact, the only information he noticed was how the Duality Cultivation Technique allowed someone in a battle to multitask or use both hands in tandem, both dominant and non-dominant.

“He said whatever he wanted and disappeared of his own accord….”

Merlin wondered if he should re-execute the Duality Cultivation Technique. Even if he did, there was no assurance that the same effect would occur, as the young boy had voluntarily disappeared.

Whoosh!

As Merlin was contemplating this, the next monster appeared, so he shook his head to clear his mind.

“I should focus on the upcoming battle.”

A magic circle appeared and spun in midair before taking on a spherical shape. Based on the size of the magic circle, Merlin could tell he wouldn’t be facing an abnormally large monster.

“It seems like the next monster won’t just be higher-leveled than its species level but will also have some skill. Is it going to be something like a heroic lizardman?”

As Merlin circulated his genuine qi and thought this, a man stepped out from the magic circle. Of course, it wasn’t a human being. The man had two horns protruding from the top of his head and small wings attached to his back. Was he a demon? Unperturbed, Merlin checked his opponent’s qi. Unlike the other monsters that immediately rushed at him once they materialized, this man calmly looked at Merlin.

“How surprising. There aren’t many users who reach this stage.”

“Oh, it’s a monster that possesses consciousness. What do you call yourselves again… unique monsters?”

Unique monsters were those like Sword Sovereign Sungmuk; there was only one instance of such a monster. These monsters were conscious and knew they were mobs, and they also possessed incredible skills and abilities. Soon, Merlin realized what he was up against, as he felt a thick demonic qi radiating from his opponent.

‘A demon.’

The man was a demon, and a stronger-than-average demon at that.

‘If I recall correctly, a mid-tier demon starts at Level 11.’

The lowest tier demons were Level 5, and the demon tiers increased every three levels. In other words, low-tier demons were Level 8, intermediate-tier demons were Level 11, and high-tier demons were Level 14. The Level 12 demon in front of Merlin was probably a run-of-the-mill mid-demon.

“I’d like to make some conversation, seeing as I haven’t met a human for a long time, but I guess that wouldn’t be appropriate right now, right?”

Crack!

Accompanied by the annoying sound of a massive monster’s teeth grinding against each other, a vast horn sprouted from each of the demon’s arms. The horns seemed sharper than a formal dress sword, so they probably served a functional use rather than being merely ornamental.

“I see.”

Merlin was about ten meters away from the mid-tier demon. This could be considered a long distance, but it was definitely too close for him to use his bow. Moreover, it would be absurd to think that an arrow could injure the demon at this distance, as the demon was looking straight at him, possessed high intelligence, and had considerable skill. Of course, Merlin could take advantage of a weak point and use Momentary Blink to strike the demon, but even a Level 6 werewolf could recognize that method of attack and meet the arrow head-on. Thus, even if Merlin shot the demon’s eye, he probably wouldn’t inflict much damage.

Woong!

Merlin’s Golden Pill Immortal Technique started circulating internal energy.

‘I’ll end this with one strike.’

Merlin wasn’t thinking this way because he felt at ease, and he wasn’t looking down on his opponent either. Merlin knew he’d be in danger if he didn’t end this battle in one hit.

“Hahaha! Though my body is chained, I should still try and have some fun!”

Whoosh!

Laughing merrily, the mid-tier demon took a step forward. The horns that protruded from his arms- no, his two swords started burning with black flames and sparks.

Bam!

Merlin’s gold-colored left hand collided with the mid-tier demon’s sword. With only one cycle of internal energy remaining after his last battle, Merlin amplified ten years of that single cycle, turning it into 40 years of internal energy with Mercury and Venus. Merlin used this to barely block the demon’s attack. He had decided against using Earth due to its 30-second cooldown, as this was an amount of time that Merlin couldn’t waste in this fight.

Pff!

Merlin took an angled step forward and quickly made his way to the mid-tier demon’s side. He had accelerated his comprehension and thought processes, so the demon’s movements looked slow.

‘Okay, I’ll output everything on this strike….’

Whoosh!

The demon didn’t only have a single sword. Obviously, Merlin knew that the demon was wielding two swords. Yet, in an incredible show of speed, the demon swiftly transformed his other sword into a scythe and swung it at Merlin’s neck as if to behead him. If Merlin didn’t take immediate action, he’d be beheaded.

Bam!

“Ack! What the!”

Merlin had been about to use his right hand to attack, but instead, he hit the demon’s oncoming sword strike, causing the sword and the arm wielding it to rip away and fly high into the air. The demon screamed in surprise at the unexpectedly powerful blow, but Merlin wasn’t in the best situation either.

‘Dang it! I’m in trouble!’

Merlin had used all three planets of his No Living World to amplify ten years of internal energy into 80 years, which he channeled into the Great Strength Vajra Hand. While the Golden Pill Immortal Technique was stable enough to output all of the practitioner’s internal energy at once, if Merlin used amplification, he was restricted to using ten years of internal energy at most. The limit of his Gold Core and the capacity of his planets were two different things.

‘If my Golden Pill Immortal Technique’s internal energy was a little purer, I could have possibly amplified 15- no, 20 years of internal energy in one go….’

However, this was all no use. Since Merlin’s Earth had a 30-second cooldown period, he had to wait at least 30 seconds before he could launch another amplified attack. At this moment, he had 29 seconds remaining. The demon was surprised by the previous clash, and it had taken some internal injuries, so it was already reinforcing its defenses. The only positive for Merlin was that he still had 40 years of internal energy left.

Whoosh.

As many thoughts whizzed by Merlin’s mind, the demon’s remaining sword slowly made its way toward Merlin. In truth, Merlin could only see these movements because his thought process had been accelerated; the demon’s sword was actually traveling at nearly the speed of sound.

Bam! Bam!

Merlin started using his Plum Blossom Hand. In one breath, Merlin deflected the demon’s attack and launched a barrage of hand strikes at the monster’s body. However, demonic qi arose and blocked every attack. The demon seemed to have been somewhat injured, but this was nowhere near enough to ease Merlin’s mind. Merlin had just used ten years of internal energy on his last attack, so he now had 30 years remaining. In addition, Venus was now on its cooldown of half a second; in such a fast-paced close combat situation, this sort of cooldown was problematic.

‘Ugh! How are each of your strikes so powerful!’

Yet, the demon was having a hard time as well. Merlin looked a bit weak, so the demon hadn’t expected much, but each time the demon’s sword clashed with Merlin’s hands, the reverberation and blowback of each collision would rattle his bones. Furthermore, Merlin’s second attack had ripped off one of its arms and sent it flying through the air.

‘Damn it! The service hasn’t been open that long, so how come there’s such a monstrous human?! First off, I’ll need to create some distance between us!’

Creek.

“Huh?”

At that moment, some unknown physical force took hold of the demon’s body. This was caused by the two spirits that had been hovering around Merlin. Actually, the force exerted by the two spirits wasn’t that much; at any other time, the demon would have easily deflected it. However, in such a high-stakes situation, this brief pause created a critical opening.

Boom!

Merlin continuously launched Plum Blossom hand strikes through his Great Strength Vajra Hand skill, first destroying the demonic qi as it tried to reform around the demon’s body. With that done, he could then attack the demon’s body directly.

“Ugh!”

The demon was thrown into the air with a gasp. However, the force behind the hand strikes was less than the demon initially expected. This was because Venus’s cooldown time of half a second had not yet passed, so he was only using Mercury to back his attacks with 20 years of internal energy.

‘Alright, with this much distance between the two of us….’

While flying backward through the air, the mid-tier demon made a hand pattern to gather his magic power. The demon species possessed considerable intelligence, so they were often accomplished mages. If the demon could cast a spell on Merlin from this distance and inflict some damage, the demon felt it could buy some time to counterattack. Though this train of thought wasn’t wrong per se, Merlin had already extended his hand for another attack.

Bam!

The demon’s face was crushed inward in the shape of Merlin’s hand as he used the Great Tantra Hand.

/You have cleared Stage 6! Another monster will appear in ten minutes!/

“Ha… ha… ha! Ugh….”

Once he confirmed that the mid-tier demon had died, Merlin collapsed to the ground and started panting. He only had ten years of internal energy remaining. If he had used up all his internal energy, Merlin would have entered Qigong Deviation, which would have rendered him immobile during the battle. Just the thought of this possibility caused Merlin’s hair to stand on end.

“Man, Level 12 is no joke. Would it have been easier if I used Magic Eye?”

Merlin grabbed the external Gold Core that hovered over his shoulder and started absorbing the internal energy within it. Since Merlin didn’t know what to expect, he felt the need to replenish his internal energy as soon as possible, and the Golden Pill Immortal Technique would never be able to restore one cycle of internal energy within ten minutes.

“The next monster will be Level 14, right? I think I’ve overstepped my bounds.”

Merlin sat up on the ground as he tried to remember the Level 14 monsters he had come across in the past. However, Merlin couldn’t recall any such monsters.

“What level was Sungmuk?”

Merlin fell into thought. At that moment, in the distance 200 to 300 meters away, a magic circle appeared. This magic circle was much larger than any that came before it.

“Huh? No way….”

Slither!

An immense snake with an exceptionally sharp horn atop its head appeared. It was a monster that was at least 200 meters long. Oddly, it was something that Merlin had seen before.

“One-Horned Fire Snake.”

Roar!

The absurdly large monster instantly noticed Merlin and belted out a roar. The size of this One-Horned Fire Snake was smaller than the one that Heavenly Flower had defeated, but the amount of fighting aura it emanated was almost precisely the same. Since the One-Horned Fire Snake in the Phantom Monster Magic Islands and Heavenly Flower were both Level 15 beings, this One-Horned Fire Snake was just slightly weaker than those two, a difference of merely one level.

“Ha, hahaha.”

In the face of such a ferocious roar, Merlin chuckled. And then….

“I surrender.”

Merlin left the placement test.