Multiverse , Leveling Up in the World I Created

Chapter 419: 419 Return to the Volcano 5

’Only 30 years have passed... Was it a mistake to set it 100 years ago?’

Time passed so slowly that I felt a bit of regret.

But since it was a choice made to obtain stronger and more numerous shadow soldiers, I thought it couldn’t be helped.

’Ah, now I understand why people of this era have many children, and why martial artists are so obsessed with martial arts.’

It was different from the time in The Lord of the Rings.

Back then, I had magic to research, beautiful Arwen to spend time with, and the hobby of making various equipment.

People often visited, so I never had a dull moment.

But here, after the Dungeon Project, there was nothing to do, and I was truly bored.

So I decided to pick up a hobby, just like in The Lord of the Rings.

I built a stable, purchased quality horses, and had the manor people take care of them.

Then I began practicing "mounted martial arts," shooting arrows from horseback and making a weapon similar to Lu Bu’s Fangtian Huaji out of alloy.

When the horses arrived at the manor, the disciples and garrison soldiers were delighted.

In this era, horses were like cars, so they examined the horses with bright expressions, as if they had just gotten a new car.

So I also purchased two well-made carriages for myself to use occasionally and for the disciples to use as well.

And around this time, the manor’s resource income turned from a deficit to a surplus.

Thanks to gaining a certain amount of trust in the vicinity, work had increased.

Since I didn’t expand the businesses, there was no friction with the Sichuan Tang Clan.

Rather, as a faction that had been established in Sichuan for some time, they seemed to acknowledge us to that extent.

Thanks to that, even without me spending my own money, the manor had reached a level where it could sustain itself.

Since I hadn’t created the manor to make money in the first place, it had taken a long time to reach this point.

And now that the general manager was getting old, he was training his son in the duties of general manager and preparing for retirement.

Of course, since I handled the finances, there was no particular risk of problems.

"This is, isn’t this ginseng? Such a precious thing..."

"You’ve worked hard for the manor all this time, and you’re getting old, so this is a gift. Father also told me to take good care of you."

"Oh~ I see. Is the former manor lord still in good health?"

"Yes, he said he’s healthy."

"I’m relieved. I received so much favor from the former manor lord that I’ve always been worried."

The general manager said that, his eyes reddening as he recalled the old days.

He was truly a kind and good person.

And he did his job well.

I wished he would live long, but unfortunately, he lived well for five years after that day and eventually passed away at the end of his natural life.

I held a proper funeral for him, and many people came to mourn his death.

Even the proud Sichuan Tang Clan came to pay their respects, which showed just how hard he had worked.

’I’ve lost a valuable person.’

Still, his son had learned his work well and handled things without issue, so that was a relief.

After that, using the excuse that my father had passed away, I said I was going to the Western Regions and traveled around the world for a few years.

During that time, I also raised the [Sniping] and [Throwing] abilities, which I hadn’t been able to level up.

Then, a disciple with exceptional talent in martial arts came to our manor, causing some commotion.

It was good that he created new martial arts based on the manor’s existing ones, but he also modified the existing ones because he didn’t like them.

The martial arts master recognized his talent and actively supported him, but because of that, the other disciples were intensely jealous.

"You brat! Even if our history is short, we’ve accumulated things over time! You can’t just change things so recklessly!"

"With this kind of thing, it’s hard to build a proper foundation! It’s good to change it now!"

"Still, you brat!!"

I chuckled at the sight.

I never expected a Cheongmyeong-like character to appear in our manor.

But a protruding stone gets struck, and aside from the martial arts master, no one acknowledged him, and even the senior disciples were busy scolding him.

"General Manager, was the one causing trouble at the manor lately a guy named Mugang?"

"Yes, it seems he has many complaints about the Jin Manor’s martial arts."

"Really? Call him over. Tell him to bring the manuals he modified or created."

"Understood, Manor Lord."

I called Mugang over and examined the manuals.

He wasn’t quite at the level of a grand master, but he had accurately identified the flaws in the Jin Manor’s martial arts and fixed them.

If this continued, it seemed our manor would produce quite decent experts.

"Hmm... So you made this?"

"Yes, Manor Lord. The existing martial arts are too flawed and shabby."

"Shabby, you say..."

I could see why the other disciples disliked him.

He had no filter.

Even in front of the manor lord, he could have been a bit more diplomatic.

"Then, fine. I’ll give you a chance to prove yourself. Place within the top eight at the Heavenly Martial Arts Tournament held three years from now. Then I will actively adopt your opinions."

"Really!? Understood, Manor Lord!"

When I gave him the opportunity, Mugang excitedly entered secluded training.

The disciples made a fuss about it, but it died down after about a month.

Two and a half years later, he emerged from his retreat.

He seemed more refined, but looking at his overall condition, his internal energy was still lacking.

It seemed he would have a hard time reaching the top ranks.

’I was planning not to help him...’

Honestly, I thought it would take at most a year, but he ended up training in seclusion for two and a half years.

Having tried Byeokgokdan, it wasn’t inedible, but it wasn’t exactly pleasant either.

Training in a dark place with only that to eat must have been no easy task, yet he trained with all his might to prove himself.

I called him over and handed him a small box.

Inside was the ’Honyuan Pill’ I had obtained from the Sword Tomb.

"Take it. It’s an elixir. It’s quite good, so it will help. The other disciples might get jealous, so it’s best to take it here and leave."

Mugang opened the box I handed him.

It was indeed a top-grade elixir, and the moment he opened the lid, a clear and pure energy filled the room, making it obvious even to a fool that it was something extraordinary.

"Th, this is... where did you get this... It doesn’t seem like something our manor could obtain..."

"Never mind that. I obtained it with great difficulty through connections, so just take it. If you don’t want it, you can give it back."

When I tried to take it back, Mugang stepped back and said urgently.

"Ah, no. I’ll take it."

"You should have said that from the start."

He took the Honyuan Pill, sat cross-legged, and began his breathing exercises.

I didn’t know how much he would absorb, but I had no intention of interfering.

My help ended here.

Heh... he’s shitting through his skin again...

Whenever I fed someone an elixir or infused them with internal energy, this process was always an issue.

I understood it was the process of expelling waste through the skin and transforming the body into one suitable for martial arts, but the smell was horrendous.

It was no exaggeration to say he was sitting there shitting himself.

Anyway, after a long while, Mugang stood up and examined his body.

"Did you finish absorbing it?"

"No. The energy was so vast that I only filled my dantian as much as I could and stored the rest in my body. I’ve never tried it, but I wonder if even the legendary Grand Elixir would feel like this. But... Manor Lord, what is this smell... Sniff, ugh!"

Mugang finally noticed the smell coming from his own body and was horrified.

"Go wash up quickly. That’s the waste expelled from your body."

"Th, I see. Understood. I’ll go wash right away."

As Mugang hurried off to wash, I opened the window and used [Life Magic] to clean the area where he had been, removing the smell.

If I didn’t have [Life Magic], I wouldn’t have made him do his breathing exercises there.

As I had felt with Jegal Sohui, this smell didn’t dissipate easily.

After that, Mugang spent the remaining time consolidating the energy left in his body and training to naturally integrate the power of his strengthened dantian into his martial arts.

In terms of pure strength, he had already surpassed the martial arts master long ago, and there was no one in the manor who could match him except me.

Then, as the Heavenly Martial Arts Tournament approached one month away, he prepared to leave.

As expected, this loner was only seen off by the martial arts master and me.

"Then, I’ll be going. Manor Lord, Master."

"Come back safe and sound."

"I wish you both good health as well."

I gave him extra travel expenses, more than usual for a martial arts tournament, and told him to do his best.

Two months later, I heard the results of the tournament: Mugang had placed within the top four.

The manor was in an uproar.

"I can’t believe it... I can’t believe it."

"Then, that guy was right?"

"I need to re-examine the manuals Mugang left behind."

"Me too..."

As a result, a trend of acknowledging Mugang’s manuals spread through the manor, and a training craze based on the new manuals erupted.

The martial arts master, watching this, burst into hearty laughter.

Mugang returned to the manor two weeks later.

When the disciples eagerly welcomed him, he was briefly flustered but didn’t seem displeased.

Upon his return, he immediately began refining the manuals with the martial arts master, adding his own insights.

The completed manuals seemed likely to become the definitive edition of the Jin Manor’s martial arts.

It wasn’t what I had wanted, but with this, our manor had risen from an ordinary sect to a first-rate sect.

It wasn’t yet comparable to the Nine Great Sects, One Sect, or Five Great Families, but now there was no one in the martial arts world who didn’t know our manor’s name.

Twenty years later, the martial arts master passed away at the end of his life, and Mugang succeeded him.

This time, the other disciples had no complaints.

Everyone acknowledged him as the manor’s strongest expert.

In the meantime, I had created another son through my clone and returned in a youthful form once again.

This made me the 3rd generation manor lord.

During that time, I was also able to raise the [Sniping] and [Throwing] abilities to EX rank.

I considered jumping forward in time but decided just to stay.

After all, during my leisurely life, modern time was frozen, so there were no particular problems, and I couldn’t predict what issues might arise.

So I wasn’t very fond of time jumps.

If it were a few thousand years, that would be a different story.

Anyway, time passed, and I had now been here for 80 years.

Though it was all me, I was now the 4th generation manor lord.

There were no particular incidents during that time, but thanks to Mugang diligently teaching his disciples, our manor always placed within the top sixteen at the Heavenly Martial Arts Tournament.

And through marriages between disciples, we had formed ties with the Sichuan Tang Clan and maintained a fairly friendly relationship.

Thanks to that, we were able to open shops in the city to sell goods brought in from the Western Regions.

It was an inevitable choice to provide work for the growing number of manor personnel.

The best-selling items were ornaments and mirrors.

Selling large quantities of pepper would have made a lot of money, but it could have invited checks from other forces and caused various problems, so we only handled it in small quantities.

Now, the time for Yui-seol’s birth was approaching, so I began searching using the [Jack Sparrow’s Compass] ability.

Yui-seol’s family lived in a small house with a yard on the outskirts of Hubei.

She must have been born not long ago, as her father was holding a crying baby and trying to soothe her.

That baby was probably Yui-seol.

Thinking I might as well build a connection in advance, I slowly approached from nearby, stopped in front of the house, and spoke.

"Excuse me?"

Then Yui-seol’s father came out and asked.

"Who might you be?"

"Nothing much. I was just curious to see a house with people living in the middle of these mountains, and I heard a baby crying, so I stopped by."

"Ah, you must have heard my daughter crying. But you’re quite unique yourself. Silver hair and golden eyes... If I’m not mistaken, are you the lord of the Jin Manor?"

It seemed my reputation had spread this far.

"Yes, that’s right."

"I knew it. I’ve heard the rumors. That the lord of the Jin Manor is a Westerner with distinctive hair and eye color... But what brings someone like you to Hubei..."

"I’m traveling around, getting some fresh air."

"Is that so? Please, come in. I’ll offer you some tea."

I accepted Yui-seol’s father’s invitation and entered the house.

His circumstances didn’t seem good; the house was falling apart in several places, and aside from a folded blanket, there were hardly any noticeable possessions.

When he brought tea, I asked.

"Your wife..."

His expression darkened as he answered.

"Her health was poor, and she passed away while giving birth to our daughter..."

"I see. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked."

"No, it’s fine."

I thought for a moment and then spoke.

"Hmm... This might be meddling, but it seems you’re in a lot of difficulty. If you don’t mind, could I help you a little? I’d like to go to the nearby town and buy some food for the baby and some cloth to use as diapers..."

When I said that, he grabbed my hand without a moment’s hesitation and gratefully asked me to do so.

Even I, who had offered to help, was taken aback.

His situation must have been truly dire.

"You would do that? Thank you so much."

"Ahem... Wait here. I’ll be back soon."

I rose from my seat, went to the nearby town, and bought various grains, rice, and cotton cloth that Yui-seol could eat, then returned to the mountain and handed them over to him.

"Thank you. Manor Lord, I will never forget this kindness."

"Not at all. Just think of it as repayment for inviting me into your home. Grind it well and make it into a thin porridge for her to eat."