Martial God Regressed to Level 2

[Translator - Asura]

[Proofreader - Gun]

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Side Story 24

“Solved... is it.”

Seong Jihan sighed quietly at Yoon Seah's question.

Well, it was solved.

A message popped up that the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams diagram in the west giant dungeon portal had collapsed.

'And the power I gained there, it's still here.'

The ability of Seong Jihan from his "American Sword" era was still maintained, having been converted into Blue, even after coming out of the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams diagram.

'My Blue is at 6.'

Considering that he got 1 for every sub-quest he completed.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

The power gained from the collapse of the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams diagram was worth 2 sub-quests.

On top of that.

[Sub-quest, 'Destroy the surrounding portals of the Abyss' has been completed.]

The quest completion message appeared as the last remaining giant portal in the west was also destroyed.

Ssss…

Then, a blue light flickered on his body,

and his Blue stat increased by 1.

Now, the total was 7.

'In the end, I gained a lot.'

The success rate, which was 0.01% when his Blue was at 4, had now reached 1%.

In terms of growth, there couldn't have been a better opportunity.

However.

'…'

When the Taiji Sword pierced the American First Guild building.

And when darkness devoured it at once,

Seong Jihan felt an emotional upheaval that surprised even himself.

'When you think about it, she's a child I've only met for less than a day...'

The daughter of Seong Jihan and Sophia, Ellie.

Since the name Ellie was often used as a nickname, he didn't even know her full name.

As such, it hadn’t been long since he met her.

But thinking about the child who called him Daddy and followed him being buried by the Taiji Sword.

For some reason, he felt a heavy sensation.

Paaah…!

The giant dungeon portal collapsed due to the disappearance of the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams diagram.

Seong Jihan, who had been standing silently until the group came outside,

“……Sophia? Did she come out?”

Finally regained his senses and asked Yoon Seah.

"Yes. But she came out unconscious."

"Unconscious? Hmm... She came out earlier than me?"

"Yes. There wasn't a big difference in time, but Ms. Sophia came out first, and then the Martial God came out."

Seong Jihan approached the area where Sophia and the others were.

Sophia lying down with her eyes closed, and the American First members looking worried about her.

"M, Martial God... um, would it be alright to ask what happened inside? My sister won't wake up..."

Christopher cautiously asked Seong Jihan with a worried expression.

What happened inside.

There was no need to tell them that he had a child with Sophia, and moreover that she was pregnant.

"It's better to hear it directly from your sister. She's about to wake up."

As Seong Jihan said that and looked towards Sophia who was lying down,

"Umm..."

Just as he had said, Sophia was fluttering her eyelids, trying to regain consciousness.

“Sophia!”

"Are you okay?!"

The American First Guild members gathered in one place to check Sophia’s condition.

She looked around with a dazed face, and then.

Swoosh.

She spotted Seong Jihan, who was looking at her from afar.

"I... I'm fine. More than that, just a moment."

She slowly got up from the ground.

"It’s gone..."

She touched her belly once and came closer to Seong Jihan.

“Martial God. Um... can we talk for a bit?”

"Sure. I had some questions too."

Somehow, the distance between the two seemed closer after they came out of the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams diagram.

'Huh? What is it?'

'Did something really happen inside?'

'They came out of that formation pretty fast though…?'

It had only been a short time, less than 15 minutes, that the two were sucked into the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams diagram and came back out.

But, was there an event that made them so close in that short period?

Sophia naturally grabbed Seong Jihan’s arm and led him first.

People were just staring at the scene with dumbfounded faces.

-Wtf... Sophia? What are you doing right now?

-Why? Isn't it a good thing to be close with the Martial God?

-That’s right. Being close to the Martial God is always a good thing, look at how he destroys dungeon portals.

-But I don't like that my Sophia is getting close to a guy!

-??? Can you stop with the nonsense? :(

Christopher tilted his head upon seeing the chats that were being posted on his channel.

"…It's the first time I've ever seen her act like that. She was definitely scared a moment ago."

Meanwhile.

Sophia, who was looking around after getting away from the others,

"Martial God. Um... before I died, I heard my own voice.”

She lowered her voice and began to tell him what happened inside the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams diagram.

* * *

"Barren warped me, the child, and Mom to the guild... We were under the protection of the guild members inside."

At the time when Seong Jihan and Dongbang Sak were fighting,

Barren had evacuated Seong Jihan’s family and launched an assault on Dongbang Sak.

Of course, he couldn't even put up a proper resistance against Dongbang Sak and was destroyed.

But it was still surprising that he risked his life like that.

‘That Barren… I should treat him better than before.’

Seong Jihan thought that and continued to listen to Sophia.

“But, suddenly the guild building was covered in darkness, and the moment my mother and the child disappeared... I heard my voice."

"Your voice?"

"Yes."

Sophia continued to tell her story to Seong Jihan with a dark face.

“She said that this destruction could be reversed, and begged Seong Jihan to please save this world... She kept on saying that several times.”

"By this world, are you referring to the place from before?"

“Yes... that if he defeats him, it can be saved...”

Seong Jihan pondered over those words.

If he defeated Dongbang Sak, that world could be saved?

'That doesn't make sense.'

If he defeated Dongbang Sak here, this world would be destroyed too.

The world inside the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams diagram, which was bound to this place, couldn't possibly be saved.

At first, he thought Sophia might have made some kind of mistake, but she continued her story.

"So she asked him to gather power as he is doing now, leaving behind a final wish.”

"As I am doing now...?"

Was she talking about breaking the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams diagram and raising his Blue stat by 2?

As Seong Jihan was reflecting on Sophia’s words,

Ziiing...

The sub-quest window appeared in front of him.

In the quest window, where the middle was empty after clearing two quests and only 1 and 3 remained.

Swish...

Letters began to appear.

1. Yoon Seah reaching Diamond League

2. Absorb ‘Taiji's Lost Soul’ (Recurring Quest)

3. Find the Witch of the Void

Absorbing ‘Taiji's Lost Soul’

Was she talking about the cases where he would enter the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams diagram and gain Seong Jihan’s power, like before?

[Translator - Asura]

[Proofreader - Gun]

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'It looks like the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams diagram isn't just that one.'

Considering that it was a recurring quest, there must be at least one or two more.

'…If I keep increasing my Blue like this, I can definitely overcome him.'

Dongbang Sak from inside the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams diagram only used the Taiji Sword.

His Blue stat was so lacking that it was difficult to maintain even Nothingness, but.

If he kept accumulating power like this, he could definitely beat him.

However.

'…Does that mean that I have to endure situations like before?'

The family members that were swallowed by the darkness of Taiji.

In the current situation where his Blue stats were lacking, he might have to witness that kind of scene multiple times.

He still felt that heavy sensation from the emotional turmoil,

Would this sensation be accumulated every time he dismantles a Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams diagram?

Or,

'As Dongbang Sak said... will my emotions be chipped away and dulled?'

Seong Jihan recalled his words again.

-To reach the Infinite, one must first become emotionless.

-Seong Jihan. Follow your true feelings...

To reach the Infinite, become emotionless.

And was that his true feeling?

‘Yeah. There was a time when I tried to manifest the Infinite. I won't deny that.’

When he was in the Ark, there was a time he had to exceed the ‘data’ in order to suppress the final enemy, Mitra.

Since the Infinite was not analyzed by the system, it was an effective way to exceed the data.

Seong Jihan kept trying to create it and make a data saturation.

'But in the end, I couldn't reach the Infinite and changed my way to mass-produce Nothingnesss...'

During his 100 years of training.

Seong Jihan completed the Nothingness, and added Ashoka’s enlightenment on top of it.

And he focused on imbuing it with the power of the mixed defiled world.

He had tried to manifest the Infinite at first, but.

He quickly realized that it was impossible and gave up, focusing on imbuing the power of the mixed defiled world into Nothingness instead.

'…But why did I think it was impossible?'

Completing the Nothingness wasn't as hard as he thought.

Back then, Seong Jihan had the ability to absorb the light's authority and was extremely talented.

Even Jiang Shang had said that he didn't expect him to learn that so quickly, and was impressed.

But why did he give up on the Infinite so quickly after trying it and instead focus only on imbuing mixed defiled world’s power into Nothingness?

He couldn't remember it clearly now.

'That's weird... Normally, there’s no way I can’t remember that.'

His decision to give up on the Infinite easily and focus on the Nothingness.

That was a very important matter for Seong Jihan.

If there was a valid reason, he should be able to remember it clearly.

However.

Strangely, he had completely forgotten the reason why.

'This... I need to meet Jiang Shang.'

It was Jiang Shang who had assisted Seong Jihan for 100 years.

If it was him, he would know the definite reason.

He logged out immediately on the spot.

Then.

[Starting Temporary Log Out.]

[The world in the mission will be paused.]

[If you do not log in for 24 hours, the mission will be reset.]

At the same time as that message appeared.

His body returned to reality.

"......Huh?"

And the moment he returned to the real world, he felt that the stimulation in his body was enhanced even further.

'Compared to when I'm in that world, the amount of stimulation is still not that much, but...'

Thud. Thud.

Seong Jihan went to the kitchen and put sugar in his mouth like before.

Last time, he had to fill his mouth to taste a slight sweetness, but.

'Now, I can taste the sweetness even with just one spoonful.'

The changes in the amount of stimulation were much stronger than before.

Was it just because his Blue stat changed from 4 to 7 or was it due to what happened in the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams diagram?

‘I can’t know for sure yet, but…'

Seong Jihan ate a few more spoons of sugar and put the spoon down.

It was good that the stimulation was coming back.

But somehow, since the change was so clear, he felt uneasy.

'I should meet Jiang Shang first.'

Jiang Shang, who was currently wandering the universe, tracking the Void.

The fastest way to contact him was through his daughter, Kang Seol-young.

'Her contact information is definitely...'

When Seong Jihan picked up his phone to contact Kang Seol-young.

Dddrrr...

A few minutes had barely passed.

When the living room window opened.

"Lord..."

Kang Seol-young, wearing a pure white martial arts uniform, entered the living room.

She looked at Seong Jihan with a worried expression.

"Are you alright?"

"What do you mean, alright?"

“Even though it was an event within the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams diagram. You still lost your family.”

"......It would be a lie to say that I'm completely fine. But right now, I have more questions.”

“Questions...?”

“There’s something I want to ask father. Would it be alright for me to ask you for a favor?”

Kang Seol-young nodded at those words.

"Yes. I will contact my father right away. However, it may take some time to get a reply… Should I ask for the matter when I contact him?”

Since they didn't know where Jiang Shang was in the universe right now, it would be faster to ask the question when contacting him.

'Well, there's no reason to hide this from Kang Seol-young.'

Seong Jihan told her that he wanted to know the definite reason why he had given up on the Infinite.

Then.

“Ah... the Infinite. My father in the video also said that. Yes, I will relay that story directly to my father.”

Kang Seol-young immediately agreed to relay the information.

“...Um, if it’s not rude, may I speak about the Infinite that I know about?”

She then mentioned the Infinite.

[Translator - Asura]

[Proofreader - Gun]

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