Martial God Regressed to Level 2

[Translator - Asura]

[Proofreader - Gun]

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Side Story 25

"Do you know about the Infinite?"

"Yes. When my father taught me the Primal Chaos Unifying Qi Arts, the very first thing he mentioned was the Infinite."

The Primal Chaos Unifying Qi Arts were a fundamental martial art passed down only to the direct line of the Imperial Family.

He'd taught it to Yoon Seah over there and seen some good results.

But...

'Kang Seol-young's age was clearly over 100... Then, from before that, Jiang Shang was already aware of the Infinite?'

This was worth listening to.

"I would appreciate it if you could tell me about the Infinite."

"Yes. It would be presumptuous for me to speak about theory to the Lord, who has already achieved the Nothingness. I'll focus on what my father said that's relevant to this situation."

Kang Seol-young gathered her thoughts and continued.

"The Infinite is a realm that heads toward the void of origin, the moment before creation. Anyone in the Imperial Family must strive towards it."

"However, while I desire to reach the void, I will not abandon you to do so."

"I know that detachment is the answer, but I cannot abandon the Empire."

Kang Seol-young began her story, imitating Jiang Shang's tone.

Seong Jihan silently stored the information she was providing in his memory.

'In the end... summing up the story that Jiang Shang told her.'

The Infinite was the goal given to his disciples since the very beginning when teaching them the Primal Chaos Unifying Qi Arts.

And judging by how he said detachment was the answer,

Jiang Shang could only reach the Infinite if he abandoned the Empire, but he wouldn't do it for their sake.

That was what he said, right?

'Why does reaching the Infinite require abandoning the Empire?'

Seong Jihan thought about Jiang Shang's Infinite.

The reason he was able to create the Infinite Sword was because...

It was after Urd completely destroyed his world.

Considering that he hadn't reached the realm of the Infinite before that...

'Was it only possible to reach the Infinite back then because everything he had to protect had disappeared?'

Either what you had to protect disappeared.

Or you have to become detached from it to reach the Infinite.

Jiang Shang told his children that he would reach the Infinite through a different way,

But ultimately, even he could only reach the Infinite after the Empire was destroyed by Urd...

'Was this related to the reason I stopped at Nothingness?'

When Seong Jihan was fighting Mitra and Ark, the reason he was able to persevere was because he had things to protect.

But to reach the Infinite.

It was either you didn't give meaning to the things you had to protect, or they had to disappear.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

If that was the case, it was a completely twisted concept.

So, was that why he stopped at Nothingness and focused on manifesting the mixed defiled world?

'Of course, this guess isn't certain either, so I'll have to wait for Jiang Shang's answer...'

Judging from what Jiang Shang said to Kang Seol-young, it certainly seemed like there was a connection.

'And if that was the precondition of the Infinite, there's no way I'd pursue it...'

Even though he gained the power of light and achieved strength close to that of a creator, Seong Jihan had willingly given it up for the sake of those he had to protect.

But there was no way he would have abandoned what he needed to protect or become detached from them to achieve the Infinite.

However.

'The fact that I was insensitive to stimulation in reality could be related to detachment.'

After returning from Ark, Seong Jihan had been completely numb to stimulation, just sitting on the sofa.

Back then, he thought it was a side effect of manifesting the power of creation and then sealing it all,

But seeing that his senses were returning as events unfolded in the mission world, it certainly seemed related to that world.

As Seong Jihan sank deep in thought,

"Lord, then I will go contact my father."

"Please do."

Kang Seol-young bowed and then went back out the living room window.

And then silence filled the house.

Seong Jihan sat in his designated spot on the sofa and continued his train of thought.

'Follow your true feelings... Dongbang Sak seems to be saying that achieving the Infinite is my true feeling.'

Thinking about the preconditions of the Infinite, it was impossible to agree with that.

The message he saw when he first entered the mission world, 'Follow your true feelings,' and what Dongbang Sak said.

Were Dongbang Sak's words really the same thing?

' ...Something's fishy.'

Seong Jihan reviewed the events that happened in the mission world, but ultimately couldn't find an answer and got up from his seat.

There were still only questions and not enough information.

He needed to face more things and figure out the truth.

-If you happen to contact your father, please tell me through BattleTube. I'll come out immediately.

Seong Jihan sent that message to Kang Seol-young and then returned to the mission world again.

And not long after he disappeared.

Beep. Beep Beep.

The front door opened and Sophia came in.

"Jihan...! Ah, he's not here? I clearly saw him log out..."

Sophia, who had come to talk about what had happened with Seong Jihan in the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams Diagram, walked to the living room sofa seat with a worried look after he disappeared.

"He just returned to reality after such a long time, he should have rested a bit..."

She had seen him log out and had only done some basic makeup before coming here right away.

She hadn't imagined he would re-enter so quickly.

'…Jihan. It feels like you're too deep into that.'

Zzzzzzz...

[The Blue Administrator 'Seong Jihan' is starting BattleTube.]

Sophia looked at the notification that Seong Jihan had started BattleTube with a worried expression.

* * *

"...Hoo."

Seong Jihan took a deep breath after re-entering.

His senses had definitely returned more in reality, but

It didn't feel as substantial as this place.

As he was feeling the sensations in his entire body,

"Martial God?"

Sophia called out his name.

From her perspective,

It was understandable why she would think it was strange that Seong Jihan had been silent and dazed ever since she told him about the will that Sophia had left in the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams Diagram.

"Ah. Right. Well... I'll gather strength like you said."

"Ah...! Thank you. I also hope that it can be like what she said."

As Seong Jihan and Sophia's conversation settled down for the time being, Christopher, who had been watching from afar, approached.

"Martial God. So, what are your plans now?"

"What do you mean, plans?"

"Ah... I was wondering if you were going to advance into the Abyss today. It still seems like we have some time."

While saying that, Christopher told him that it was currently 4 o'clock.

They had started early in the morning, but did it really only take that long to take the road to Pyongyang and sweep four giant dungeon portals?

'It seems the time warp in the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams Diagram had a huge effect.'

It was certainly possible to enter the Abyss if it was 4 o'clock.

[Translator - Asura]

[Proofreader - Gun]

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He couldn't keep Christopher tied down here forever.

He had to make the most of him while he could use him.

"Is everyone not tired?"

"You did everything, Martial God, there's nothing for us to be tired of."

"That's right. Let's go further!"

Most of the American First members agreed with Seong Jihan's question to advance.

It was practically like they were just watching the show with their hands behind their backs until they came here.

Since they came all the way here, they wanted to be the first to enter the Abyss and have that honor.

"Let's go. Then."

Following Seong Jihan's decision, the group headed toward the Abyss.

"Martial God... did something happen with Sophia inside there?"

"Why?"

"She keeps looking over here... her gaze also feels a little bit... how should I say, affectionate."

While saying that, Yoon Seah looked at Sophia and Seong Jihan with excited eyes.

"You heard her story, didn't you?"

"You're talking about how you protected her in front of a powerful monster, right?"

"Yes."

Of course, she couldn't say, 'I married Seong Jihan and had two kids with him.'

Sophia had told the group that the 'Martial God had protected her from a powerful monster.'

And Yoon Seah had also heard all the story in the helicopter going to the Abyss, but.

"It feels like there's more to it..."

She looked sideways at Sophia while tilting her head.

It felt like more than just being saved, there was a fire there.

"There's nothing like that."

"Yes..."

They talked like that while the helicopter advanced.

The areas near the Abyss had been completely cleared of monsters thanks to the Dark Soul Vortex that Seong Jihan had deployed.

"As expected of a black hole..."

"But it feels like the size has gotten a lot bigger than before?"

"Did you use more power because it's the Abyss?"

People who couldn't even dream that Seong Jihan had grown even more after entering and exiting the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams Diagram,

Looked at the Dark Soul Vortex that was bigger and guessed that he was using his power in earnest.

As the monsters were all cleared near the Abyss.

Dudududu...

The helicopter landed on the ground and dropped off the players.

"It feels like we're on a tour today..."

"I know right. We really haven't done anything."

The American First players whistled as they came out, but.

Sssssss...

As soon as they came out, the leisure on their faces disappeared.

As if an earthquake had cracked the earth.

A huge crack in the land, where the Abyss existed.

Ominous purple smoke was rising.

"This is the Abyss..."

"Do, do we have to go inside?"

"I don't even know how deep it is because of the smoke."

The Abyss, where access seemed difficult due to the smoke, but,

Swoosh.

As Seong Jihan moved his hand once,

Paaah...!

The purple smoke began to disappear rapidly.

As Seong Jihan walked toward the crack.

"Ooooh..."

"As expected of the Martial God..."

People hurriedly followed behind him.

But soon.

"Wow..."

"I can't see the bottom?"

"How far down do we have to go before we hit the bottom?"

After seeing how deep the crack in the earth was, they looked down with serious expressions.

They couldn't descend in the helicopter they came in because they didn't know what was inside.

People looked at Seong Jihan's face with helpless expressions.

"It seems impossible for everyone to go down. I'll go and come back."

"Ah..."

"Christopher and Seah are coming with me."

"Ah... I, me too!"

Sophia raised her hand saying she would go as well.

"No. You rest. You need time to gather yourself, right?"

"....Yes."

She nodded weakly at Seong Jihan's response.

"Now, then."

Floating gently...

Seong Jihan floated Christopher and Yoon Seah,

"Let's go."

And plunged into the crack.

Shuuuuk...!

-Hey, when is the bottom coming?

-It feels like we're still falling...

-Is this Christopher's last broadcast for today?

-If the Martial God stops his power, there won't even be any corpses left at the bottom.

-It's seriously deep?

"Don't say such unlucky things!"

When Christopher yelled at the chats that were appearing on his channel.

The bottom began to slowly appear.

"Oh!"

Thud!

As the three landed stably on the ground, Christopher quickly looked around.

The ground where the purple smoke kept rising.

However, thanks to the Martial God's power, the smoke was disappearing wherever it approached them.

"Besides the smoke, there's nothing very special..."

"Use Exploration."

"Ah, yes...!"

Christopher activated Exploration at Seong Jihan's word.

Soon, he pointed his finger in one direction.

"There. It seems like something is hidden over there..."

"To the south?"

"Yes."

The crack was split massively north and south.

Seong Jihan looked in the opposite direction as he pointed to the south end.

'Dongbang Sak seems to be over there.'

The end of the north crack.

There, a chillingly powerful energy could be felt.

There was no doubt that the Martial God Dongbang Sak, the master of the Abyss, was there.

'Since Dongbang Sak is so obvious, what's worth searching for must be in the south.'

Since he wasn't going to fight Dongbang Sak right now anyways.

He should go to the south once.

Seong Jihan nodded and sped off to the south with his companions.

And soon, when they reached the end of the crack.

"There, over there!"

Christopher pointed his finger at a wall located at the end of the crack.

As he activated his Exploration once again.

Paaah...!

one side of the wall disappeared.

And a intense purple mist rose from inside.

Then, the first thing that was revealed was an eye and a nose made of stone.

'This is...'

As Seong Jihan was examining it.

Zzzzzz...

A message window appeared in front of his eyes.

[You have cleared the sub-quest, 'Find the Witch of the Void']

[Translator - Asura]

[Proofreader - Gun]

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