D.I.O

Chapter 243

[Guardian of the Silent Forest]

[Sword King, Sungmuk]

Standing at 190 centimeters, Sungmuk was considered tall even by human standards, let alone among other orcs. Moreover, he had a robust physique and impressive agility, so he gave off a drastically different impression than other ordinary orcs.

After brushing away the users, Sungmuk closed his eyes and meditated.

He obtained the title of Sword King after mastering Plum Blossom Swordsmanship, reaching the 12th stage in the technique; however, since then, he had entered a period of stagnation and was unable to develop further.

Relatively speaking, reaching the 12th stage after a mere ten years of training was already an outstanding achievement. Most practitioners of Plum Blossom Swordsmanship never even made it to the 10th stage, no matter how much they trained. However, Sungmuk didn’t consider this feat anything special because, for the past ten years, he had devoted every waking hour to developing this technique, even meditating in his sleep.

“… Hmm?”

Sungmuk was just about to fall into a deep state of meditation when he suddenly opened his eyes.

Then, Sungmuk grabbed his Divine Red Sparrow Sword and circulated internal energy throughout his entire body, and simultaneously, the space before him shuddered and opened as if it had been waiting for this moment.

Flash!

“Woah! Why is the teleportation so rough? I protected my body with monster power, but I still feel like I’m going to throw up,” Miho complained.

“Oh, really? But Arc doesn’t seem to mind….” Merlin replied.

“It’s not that bad,” Arc commented.

“Ugh. Alright, sorry.”

From the empty space, three users appeared: one man and two women. Accompanying them was an eagle with red feathers and a cat with blackish-blue fur.

The eagle and cat were Merlin and Arc’s pet, respectively. Miho had previously existed in DIO’s world as an NPC but had been resurrected in the real world. Thus, she was now re-entering DIO as a user.

“I haven’t seen you in a while… Irregular.”

“Huh? Wait, you knew that about me? Did you know all along?”

“You’re quite famous amongst [us].”

As he saw Sungmuk nod calmly, Merlin took a step forward with a sense of satisfaction.

“Ah, then… I’ve made a good choice. Actually, I came here to-”

Flash!

Yet, what greeted Merlin was a flash of light and a suffocating fragrance of plum blossoms. As if it were the natural way of things, Sungmuk had unleashed his attack.

Boom!

Above Merlin’s robe was a text box that read, [Extreme Reinforced EX 18 Layers]. Immediately after Sungmuk struck, layers of defensive barriers appeared and blocked the plum blossoms.

Sungmuk’s skill was powerful enough to immediately tear through eight of the robe’s defensive barriers, but it couldn’t reach or affect the equipment itself, leaving the user untouched.

Merlin raised his right hand while his barriers operated, and then, a wave of his magic power emanated from the blue diamond embedded in the back of his hand. This diamond was proof that he had reached the 7th stage, just below the ultimate stage of the Seven Jewel School of Magic, Zero Shining.

“Cry! Thunder!”

Rumble.

“…!”

Along with a deafening roar, a thunderbolt thick enough to be clearly seen even in the daytime struck down toward Sungmuk.

It was an attack with an overwhelming current and voltage, enough to turn a thousand-year-old tree into a heap of ash instantly. Yet, surprisingly, a purple light arose from Sungmuk’s body and completely blocked and deflected the bolt.

“Ooh. The Body Strengthening Self-Defense Technique. And if I’m not mistaken, out of the various aspects of the technique, you’re specifically utilizing Purple Mist Singular Qi.”

Singular Qi was entirely different from Strong Qi. It could only be acquired through rigorous, incessant martial arts research and development, and it formed when an individual comprehended a concept to the utmost limits. In other words, Singular Qi was a power that only existed in the pure martial arts world.

Learning to wield Singular Qi was an achievement that neared the transcendent realm.josei

A Grand Master’s Strong Qi was a kind of authority obtained after completing three abilities: [Basic Mana Control], [Absolute Mana Dominance], and [Synchronization with All Things]. With these feats, the Grand Master gained authority over something.

Strong Qi was an ultimate force that interfered with more than just the matter existing in the world but also with [conceptual] elements, such as time and space.

On the other hand, rather than being a form of authority, Singular Qi was closer to the culminating crystallization of martial arts that many practitioners obtained at the end of dozens, hundreds, or even a thousand years of research and training.

Singular Qi was considered a lower-level power, incomparable to mighty Strong Qi, which was considered a god’s authority. Regardless, Singular Qi was seen as the strongest force within its level due to its exceptional cutting power and other special effects, and as such, it definitely couldn’t be easily ignored.

Singular Qi was a concept akin to modern computers, nuclear weapons, and rockets, created through numerous past studies, hypotheses, experiments, and data accrued over time. Even without being a genius, if someone were trained by a pre-existing method and understood its teachings, that person could comprehend the concept. Actually, simply being a genius wasn’t enough to acquire this understanding.

In fact, amongst new transcendents, if one weren’t originally from a civilization where martial arts had developed, oftentimes, a transcended wouldn’t know about the existence of Singular Qi.

Of course, after transcending, the relatively low-leveled Singular Qi wouldn’t have much meaning….

Anyway, this was the power Sungmuk was using right now.

“Wow, you’re great. In the past, I felt like you were only using it to a certain extent, but it seems like you’ve completely mastered it now. Is this your finished product?”

“Oho. So, you’re now judging me, huh?”

Sungmuk smirked. When he did, the orc species’ unique long fangs showed their menacing appearance.

“Oh, wait. I’m not here to fight you.”

“I’m sorry, but we exist to fight opponents like you!”

Sungmuk became one with his sword and rushed toward Merlin like lightning.

The killing intent Sungmuk exuded was thick and heavy, so Merlin couldn’t help but face the assault seriously.

Moreover, in truth, Sungmuk’s internal energy and swordsmanship skills were beyond the state of transcendence.

“I was going to have Eunhye deal with him for training purposes, but… it seems I’ve made a huge miscalculation.”

Surprisingly, Sungmuk was developing at a faster rate than most users, who received all kinds of assistance from the DIO system.

Undoubtedly, now that Sungmuk had recently entered a lull in his development, he’d be blocked by a wall for the foreseeable future, perhaps even being halted forever. Still, considering that Sungmuk was a monster, his startling growth speed startled Merlin.

Whoosh!

The Plum Blossom Swordsmanship, which had become so famous that there was no user who didn’t recognize the skill’s name, unfolded in front of Merlin. Countless petals swirled around like snowflakes blowing in the wind, and the visuals were accompanied by a strong scent of plum blossoms, seemingly suffocating the mind and causing dizziness.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The individual petals appeared exceedingly light and airy, but they were as heavy as a boulder, and the power and force contained in each one were formidable enough to pierce any modern composite armor.

The +11 Robe of Protection, a reinforced defensive item currently up for sale in the Exchange Center for tens of billions of gold, would have lost all its defensive abilities and immediately be rendered useless after sustaining Sungmuk’s current attack.

“Even so….”

Merlin was unconcerned. Although the attack was so ferocious that a normal user would be torn to pieces, Merlin calmly stepped forward and raised his right hand as if he wasn’t facing anything special.

“You need to learn how to hold a conversation with others.”

Ting!

In response to Merlin’s spirit, the Golden Pill Immortal Technique awakened his dantian and soon injected 50 years of internal energy into his inner world.

The internal energy of 50 years was amplified to 100, 200, 400, and then 800 years after it passed through Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars.

Eight hundred years of internal energy…

A whopping 13 cycles and then some… this amount of internal energy was unheard of for martial artists, and Merlin was using all of it in a single blow. Even the output of the self-destruction technique, Explosive Demonic Art, didn’t come close, and that technique detonated the entirety of the user’s internal energy at the cost of their life.

Rumble!

The space in the area trembled like a stone being thrown into a calm lake, causing the entire surface to ripple.

Although Merlin’s ultimate hand skill, Irrational Hand Strike, did not have the ability to interfere with space, the simple yet overwhelming physical force could affect higher concepts when its destructive power surpassed a certain limit.

“Dang it… ugh… I feel sick every time I see this technique. It can break down the entire field and study of martial arts itself.”

Merlin’s pet, Quiet Heaven, was sitting on Arc’s shoulder armor, grumbling as it braced itself so that it wouldn’t be swept away from the skill’s aftershock.

The only reason Quiet Heaven could remain calm and cool-headed was that it had seen Merlin’s amplification attack several times before, but Miho’s reaction was a little more intense.

“Oh, my God! You can release such ridiculous destructive power without any preparation or process… Hey, bird brain, am I hallucinating right now?”

“Hey, wait just a minute! Who are you calling bird brain?”

“Huh? But you’re a bird, so you have a bird brain….”

“!”

Miho was taken aback by the absurd scene and began arguing with Quiet Heaven. All the while, Arc used magic to collect data.

Arc’s pet, Ellie, muttered in disgust from beside Arc.

“I’ve heard many things about Irregulars… Irregular this, Irregular that… but this is just ridiculous. It’s more than incredible… it’s terrifying.”

“Merlin has always been like that. He’s constantly able to accomplish the unimaginable with ease. He… really is extraordinary. Whenever I see things like this, it makes me want to change my cultivation technique.”

However, Arc knew that changing her cultivation technique wouldn’t allow her to do the things that Merlin could.

The principles of the Golden Pill Immortal Technique were all aimed toward the goal of crystallizing Genuine Qi. For any typical mage, these doctrines couldn’t coexist with the use of magic power, as the metamorphosis of one’s Genuine Qi was considered dangerous for a magic user.

Moreover, even with No Living World, most practitioners would only be able to create one planet. After training to the ultimate degree, the second planet was the limit.

“Ugh….”

Shockingly, Sungmuk was still alive after facing the hand skill head-on.

Merlin’s overwhelming hand strike couldn’t be avoided. Thus, Sungmuk utilized his Singular Qi and a Plum Blossom Swordsmanship grafting illusion skill to barely survive.

However, as expected, it was impossible for him to avoid any injury.

Both arms, as well as his shoulder blades, were smashed in, and his right leg, which had landed on the ground, was also crushed. Actually, there was nothing left below his right kneecap.

The internal energy that had circulated forcefully throughout his body like the mighty Yellow River instantly evaporated from Merlin’s one attack. This caused Sungmuk’s internal energy, which normally couldn’t be used in [such a way], to be controlled to muster a defense.

If this place had been a martial arts world rather than a virtual one, Sungmuk would have been unable to use internal energy ever again.