Chapter 237

Chiwoo examined the text that appeared before his eyes once more.

[You have entered the ‘Mystic Tower’.]

[‘Jiangshi’ will appear according to your combat power level.]

[The higher the floor, the stronger the Jiangshi become.]

[The more Jiangshi you defeat, the higher the score you can receive.]

[Floor 1. ‘Common Jiangshi’ appears.]

[The strength of the appearing ‘Jiangshi’ is adjusted to match the challenger’s strength.]

[Challenger ‘Chiwoo’ has far surpassed the limits of a ‘Common Jiangshi’.]

[‘Common Jiangshi’ is adjusted to maximum level (Level 80).]

A purple sky without a single cloud.

Flat, brown earth without a single blade of grass.

And a single Jiangshi that appeared before him.

Chiwoo immediately grasped the nature of the third trial.

“A trial borrowing Jiangshi, I see. So there are still clans that handle Jiangshi remaining.”

Even in his era, there were clans that handled Jiangshi.

However, they were so difficult to create, and their limitations were so clear, that they could never join the ranks of the transcendent.

“Have they succeeded in mass-producing Jiangshi?”

The chronic problem was volume.

They boasted extreme inefficiency, barely producing a single unit after injecting all kinds of drugs and techniques into a corpse.

And since a Jiangshi could not exceed the limits of the person it had been in life, the clan was inevitably doomed to decline.

Yet they were presenting this as a trial at the very foot of the mountain. It seemed they had solved those chronic problems to some extent.

He had thought they would have disappeared long ago.

“Let’s see…”

He extended his foot.

A Jiangshi with nothing particularly special about it.

He intended to check just how far they had progressed.

A Jiangshi made from an utterly ordinary corpse.

The internal energy he sensed was, at best, that of a third-rate warrior.

Swoosh-!

Thud!

“…Oh ho.”

The Jiangshi blocked his fist.

Moreover, he felt a slight repelling force.

It was not at the level of Repulsion Force Energy, but it meant it could momentarily handle energy.

It was certainly far from the Jiangshi he knew.

It was on a different level from the shoddy Jiangshi that were weak to immediate reactions and could not properly handle energy.

It had evolved much further.

Perhaps… during the years he was absent, all types of martial arts had advanced another step.

The question was the method.

How had they solved the chronic issues?

The Eight Trigrams of the second trial was also a method unimaginable for the old Hall of all Gods.

They valued pure martial power alone, so they never even considered relying on tools.

In other words.

‘It has changed.’

The Hall of all Gods has changed.

The Mountain of Practitioners is no longer the place he knew.

Whether that change is positive or negative was something that needed to be observed further.

However, he was uneasy.

Because…

‘Arahan accepted an incarnation.’

At the site of the second trial, the successor had said there was an incarnation.

The demons made Arahan into an incarnation.

And Arahan accepted becoming an incarnation.

Because one cannot become an incarnation without the consent of both parties.

Things that would not even have been spoken of in the past were happening one after another.

“…I can’t just sit back and become an old man relegated to the back room.”

Crack!

Having made up his mind, Chiwoo quickly snapped the Jiangshi’s neck.

[Floor 2. A slightly stronger ‘Common Jiangshi’ appears.]

[‘Common Jiangshi’ is adjusted to maximum level (Level 81).]

The higher the floor, the stronger the Jiangshi became.

Chiwoo was curious.

What kind of Jiangshi would be waiting at the top of the tower?

Would there truly be a Jiangshi capable of facing him?

He was one of the Heavenly Kings who achieved Reverse Aging after enlightenment.

Now, six of the Twelve Heavenly Kings would have to rush him to face him.

He could likely contend to some degree even with the Godslayer, whom all Twelve Heavenly Kings had rushed at and barely managed to sever one left arm.

Therefore—

“This is fun.”

Chiwoo smiled.

Old-era martial arts and new-era martial arts clashed.

What had changed, and how far had it advanced? Just imagining it was fun.

—

The Nine Families.

That was what they called the greatest families within the Hall of all Gods.

The strongest group revered by all Arahan, and the de facto masters who led the Hall of all Gods.

Among them, the Undead Sect was notorious for being the most cruel and vicious.

And the third examiner, Anton, had committed a great sin against his own clan, the Undead Sect.

‘Because I awakened a Jiangshi that should not have been awakened.’

Originally, it was something that should have been atoned for with death.

But there was only one reason he survived.

Because the Jiangshi Anton awakened recognized Anton as its master.

If Anton died, that Jiangshi would vanish as well.

That was why Anton had been demoted to the position of “third examiner” at the foot of the mountain.

It was only natural that he, who had originally been in the upper levels of the mountain, became the subject of scandal the moment he fell to the foot.

He, too, was filled with the desire to ascend again.

He had not the slightest intention of remaining at the mere foot of the mountain forever.

‘I will definitely ascend again.’

No matter how far he had been demoted, there was a way to rise.

He only needed achievements worthy of his clan’s desire.

And the foot of the mountain was a suitable place to produce achievements.

‘This place is overflowing with fresh corpses.’

The Arahan taking trials to enter the mountain.

Their corpses were optimized for making Jiangshi.

Of course, in the Abyss, when you died, no corpse remained.

The Mountain of Practitioners was no different.

The Undead Sect, too, had once walked the path of decline because of this chronic problem.

However, the Undead Sect perfected Necromancy.

They could summon back the body of someone who had died not long ago.

Although, contrary to the name Necromancy, the summoned body was empty and held no soul, in the Abyss, the body itself was treated as the soul itself.

In any case, the Undead Sect, having perfected Necromancy, proudly placed its name among the Nine Families.

Naturally, Anton, as a member of the Undead Sect, could also use Necromancy.

‘…If I complete the incomplete Jiangshi, they will see me differently.’

Anton smiled bitterly.

He had placed the strongest Jiangshi he had secretly awakened at the top of the tower.

But that Jiangshi was still incomplete.

Because Anton awakened it before it was finished.

Some parts of its body were still unsuitable.

A more perfect body, a more complete Jiangshi, was needed.

No Arahan of a satisfactory level had appeared yet.

However—

‘The one who received consecutive top grades. I don’t like that he’s from a lowly Hidden Realm… but with his body, I might be able to fill in the remaining parts.’

The Arahan taking the trial this time were different.

If Lee Sabek and Yula acknowledged him, the potential of that body would be close to infinite.

The only flaw was that he was from a Hidden Realm.

Hidden Realm.

The Nine Families did not associate with Arahan from there.

Minor clans trying to expand their influence might covet them, but even they did not entrust important clan duties to those from Hidden Realms.

Weren’t they the descendants of those who committed great sins and were pushed down to the Hidden Realm?

Descendants of sinners.

They could not help being lowly from birth.

The fact that they were allowed to ascend the mountain at all was something they should be grateful for.

Anton shrugged as he looked at the tower.

Inside, the two beggars from the Hidden Realm would die.

And they would be reborn as Jiangshi.

A very fitting end for the two of them.

“It seems they’ve already reached the 10th floor,” Examiner Lee Sabek muttered.

A bright light shone near the 10th floor of the tower.

It meant someone had conquered the 10th floor and climbed higher.

“Anyone can reach the 10th floor.”

Anton still did not lose his composure.

While there were countless Arahan who could not even reach the 10th floor, the two who entered now were both people who had received unprecedented scores.

If they could not do even this much, he would have been disappointed instead.

But…

“Isn’t the speed a bit fast?”

“Hm. Both are unstoppable.”

Their speed was not decreasing.

Even after reaching the 15th and 20th floors, they continued climbing.

And it was not just one of them—both were the same.

“What was the highest record?”

“I think it was around the 53rd floor, right, Anton?”

“59th floor.”

At Lee Sabek and Yula’s question, Anton answered.

This, too, had been a record set by an Arahan from a Hidden Realm.

But he had not reached the summit.

The Mystic Tower had the characteristic of strengthening Jiangshi the higher the floor, similar to the Creation Abyss created by Creators.

Depending on the situation, they could be strengthened beyond the Jiangshi’s original limits.

On the higher floors, one had to face Jiangshi far stronger than one’s own level.

Reaching the 59th floor was a miraculous feat.

“…30th floor.”

“…Fast.”

Lee Sabek and Yula’s expressions gradually hardened.

Anton’s did as well.

Normally, once someone reached the 30th floor, their speed slowed.

But neither of their speeds were decreasing.

It was impossible.

No Arahan had ever climbed the tower at this speed until now.

Reaching the 30th floor and giving up was enough for a mid-level score.

Above the 40th floor was high-level, and only one Arahan had ever climbed above the 50th floor.

‘No way.’

Anton forcibly shook his head.

It seemed like they were up to something, but even that would soon hit its limit.

This was different from the first or second trial.

…It had to be different.

He had to prove that his trial was more perfect, so he could ascend the mountain again.

—

Park Chan-woo pondered for a moment.

‘Too fast?’

He was cutting down the Jiangshi the moment they appeared, but he wondered if he should start adjusting his pace.

[Floor 31. ‘Peak Undead’ appears.] [The strength of the appearing ‘Jiangshi’ is adjusted to match the challenger’s strength.] [‘-27 Levels’…….] [All stats of the appearing Jiangshi are fixed at 1.]

He still had not moved out of the negative range.

He did not know how many floors there were, but it meant he would have to go through the same situation at least 27 more times.

But seeing that the 31st floor was ‘Peak Undead’ meant there were limits to the Jiangshi that could appear as well.

‘Similar to the trial of Game Master Andariel.’

It was similar to the ‘Death Booking’ he experienced on the first night.

Back then, he had used Sword King Lee Hyuk-soo to handle it.

Park Chan-woo himself had merely watched from behind with his hands clasped.

But now was different.

He was fighting alone against Jiangshi whose levels were steadily increasing.

The reward he received back then was mind-blowing.

So what about this time?

If he reached the limit, perhaps a different reward would be given.

The reason he thought so was simple.

‘It’s not a simple trial. It’s a Creation Abyss.’

This place, the Mystic Tower, was undoubtedly a Creation Abyss.

It was absurd that the exclusive domain of a Demon Lord, a Creator, was openly placed at the foot of the mountain.

But if it was a Creation Abyss, then once a certain level of achievement was reached, a corresponding reward should fall.

He was also very curious how far Chiwoo would climb.

Park Chan-woo nodded.

‘I should go as far as I can.’