Multiverse , Leveling Up in the World I Created

Chapter 435: 435 Return to the Volcano 21

This time, I didn’t run far.

I just circled around near the Beggar Sect’s headquarters, dodging their attacks.

Vroom—!

"Ugh! Just get hit!"

With my hands behind my back, I evaded the Beggar Sect members’ attacks like a ghost, deflecting them as they came.

The various sect leaders attacked for a long time, but not a single one landed a blow.

Some of them eventually gave up attacking, stopping in their tracks with expressions of despair.

"What exactly are we fighting right now? Is Shintu really a demon?"

"Get a grip! That can’t be!"

"This is insane... With so many of us attacking, we can’t even touch his clothes..."

Completely dumbfounded by my ghost-like footwork, they couldn’t bring themselves to attack anymore and just stared blankly at me.

Then, as if that state was contagious, they all stopped attacking.

"It was fun for a while. Why don’t you keep going?"

When I said that, an old man pushed through the beggars and spoke.

"Please stop, senior. No matter how senior you are, it’s not good to torment your juniors like this. You’ve lived over a hundred years now, isn’t it about time you stopped this sort of thing?"

The old man spoke to me respectfully.

"Who are you?"

"I am Pungyeong Singae."

"The Beggar Sect leader. I’ve heard your lightness skill is renowned in the martial arts world. How about a match?"

The sect leader smiled wryly and shook his head.

"I’m sorry, but I am no match for you, senior. At first, I thought the rumors about you were somewhat exaggerated, but seeing you with my own eyes, the opposite is true. Even the world’s praises fail to fully capture your abilities."

The compliment felt good, but on the other hand, I wondered why he was acting like this.

"So what do you want? Are you telling me to retire now that I’m old?"

"Given all the deeds you’ve done, senior, and what you’ve taken from the palace, not to mention the considerable wealth you just acquired, it’s enough to last a lifetime in luxury. Please stop stirring up the martial arts world and call it quits here. If you do, the Beggar Sect will no longer pursue you."

I was dumbfounded by that.

"You’ve got it all wrong. Even if the Beggar Sect continues to chase me, what would change? You just saw it yourself. Besides, I find these chases quite entertaining. So why would I willingly stop?"

The sect leader seemed to realize something and sighed.

"Hah... I understand now. You’ve been doing this not for wealth, but for reputation and amusement."

I chuckled and shrugged.

"You finally realized that? A bit late. So if you’re thinking of convincing me, you’d better give up."

"Since you don’t kill, I thought persuasion might be possible, but I was mistaken. You will never rest easy until the day you die. No matter the cost, we will catch you. The very existence of someone like you in the martial arts world is a calamity."

"Yes, that’s exactly it. The reaction I wanted. But unfortunately, I don’t have much time left. Having stolen and consumed countless elixirs over the long years, my internal energy has surpassed the limits a human can bear. And after several great enlightenments, in the end, I’m being called from above."

I pointed to the sky as I spoke.

The sect leader asked in surprise.

"Surely, you don’t mean ascension to immortality?"

"Yes. At most, I won’t last more than three years. So I’m enjoying my final amusement right now. So, junior, if you truly want to catch me, you’ll have to see it through before then."

"Hah... I don’t know whether to believe this or not..."

"Well, I’ve had enough fun for today, so I’ll be going now. Try hard to entertain me, junior. Hahahahaha!!!"

With those words, I let out a wild laugh and vanished.

Only the sound of laughter echoed in the air for a while.

The beggars just stared blankly at the spot where I had disappeared.

Not a single one dared to think of pursuing me.

I returned to the manor and decided to spend the loot from the beggars first.

For some reason, keeping their money felt dirty.

Even if I cleaned it with [Life Magic].

That’s why, a hundred years ago, the first wealth I scattered to the poor was what I had stolen from the Beggar Sect.

So I opened the [Internet Shop] to see if there was anything to buy.

’Oh, there’s something like this.’

I was scanning the sales list when I stopped at the Warhammer shop.

They were selling ingots of Ceramite, Adamantium, and Oramite metals.

Ceramite and Adamantium were alloys used as core materials for Space Marine power armor and Terminator armor, while Oramite was the metal used in the armor and weapons of the Emperor and the Custodian Guard, the Emperor’s elite guards.

The problem was the price.

Ceramite and Adamantium were expensive but affordable, but Oramite was absolutely insane.

’Wow... one ingot costs as much as a small starship... is it because of its rarity?’

Still, since it was something I didn’t have, I bought it anyway.

Once I had the metal, I could use [Naked Eye] to analyze its structure and duplicate it as much as I wanted.

Thanks to that, the loot from the Beggar Sect and the treasures I had taken from the palace were almost depleted.

But it was unexpected.

The metals from Warhammer weren’t as insane as I had thought.

They weren’t on the level of Marvel metals that defied the laws of physics.

’Well, they do get destroyed, so that makes sense.’

Still, I couldn’t say the money was wasted.

The Warhammer metals were resources that perfectly filled the gap between the Chitauri alloy I always used and Vibranium.

Above all, they didn’t have the clear weaknesses that Vibranium did.

Even if their performance was slightly inferior, they were much easier to handle and had a wider range of applications.

In particular, Oramite was a metal that was very friendly with energy.

It couldn’t compare to Urna or Orichalcum, but compared to Mithril from The Lord of the Rings, it had better hardness and weight, making it a more suitable metal for weapons.

They were also selling Necron Living Metal and Tau Nano-Crystal Alloy, but they didn’t appeal to me much.

Living Metal’s shape-shifting ability was certainly attractive.

A metal that could change its own form—in terms of utility, it was quite remarkable.

But thinking of the ’Luna Filament’ from the Fragmata world I would acquire later, I thought, "Why bother?"

After all, the ultimate shape-shifting metal was the Luna Filament.

And right now, the nanotechnology from the Marvel universe was sufficient.

A few days later, the story I had told the Beggar Sect leader began to spread throughout the martial arts world.

"Well, that makes sense. Having lived over a hundred years, the elixirs he’s stolen must be piled high as a mountain."

"But ascension to immortality... doesn’t that mean immortals actually exist? I should start living righteously."

"Shintu becoming an immortal... he’s scattered so much wealth to the poor, so it’s only fitting."

"Isn’t that all nonsense? Maybe he’s just dying of some disease."

"Didn’t you hear that the entire Beggar Sect couldn’t even touch his clothes? If he had a serious illness, that would be hard to do."

"I suppose so... but what will happen to all the wealth he’s stolen over the years if he ascends?"

"I don’t know. He’s probably hidden it somewhere."

The martial arts world was abuzz with the news for a while.

Moreover, with the news that Shintu was ascending to immortality, many people became curious about the whereabouts of the wealth he had stolen over the years.

’Hehehe, slowly dropping bait is fun too.’

While I was thinking that, Yui-seol frowned and spoke.

"You’re smiling weirdly again. Just hurry up and make the pizza."

"Okay."

Over time, Yui-seol had absorbed many elixirs and trained alongside me, eventually reaching the state of Ogi Jowon.

Moreover, her body itself had undergone Hwan Gol Tal Tae, reaching an incomparable level.

She certainly had talent and had worked hard, so she was a case where the [Master] ability had fully taken effect.

Her appetite remained the same, though.

In addition, the new shops opened at the manor and the businesses in Huayin, which I managed on behalf of Mount Hua, brought in considerable profits, significantly increasing our surplus funds.

Thanks to that, we could manufacture more elixirs and raise the disciples’ levels even further.

While spending time like that, one day, with one year left until the next episode, I suddenly felt that I had stayed in the Return of the Mount Hua Sect world for too long.

It was an enjoyable place, but it seemed like time to leave.

So I decided to visit the Return of the Mount Hua Sect world again later and ended my leisure life.

[Ending the Return of the Mount Hua Sect world.]

[Calculating rewards.]

[Yui-seol Bond Level 9]

[Hyeonjong Bond Level 7]

[Cheongmyeong Bond Level 7]

[Hyeonyeong Bond Level 6]

[Baekcheon Bond Level 6]

[Hyeonsang Bond Level 6]

[Unam Bond Level 5]

[Ungeom Bond Level 5]

[Tang Xiaoxiao Bond Level 4]

[Yoon Jong Bond Level 4]

[Jogeol Bond Level 4]

[Pungyeong Singae Bond Level 2]

[...]

[...]

[You have acquired 30,501 points as a reward for progressing through Return of the Mount Hua Sect.]

"Status window."

[Park Tae-jin]

Strength: 627 (+6,081) Stamina: 652 (+4,400) Agility: 681 (+4,200) Intelligence: 531 (+7,655) Mana: 953 (+8,000)(+5,052/0) Divine Power: 11,582

Possessed Points: 72,485

Going through the Warhammer and Return of the Mount Hua Sect worlds, I had completed the [Sentry Serum] ability, so my physical stats had increased significantly.

I thought that at this level, I could probably hold my own even in Dragon Ball or DC worlds.

’I have over 50,000 points, so let’s start with a gacha first.’

This time too, I used magic to raise my luck and did a 50-draw.

The new abilities were [(EX) Infinite Energy Engine (Dr. Gero’s Android)], [(A) Discount], [(S) Explosion Manipulation (Redeemer)], [(S) Demon Blood Art: Lightning Breathing], and [(A) Navigation].

Duplicate abilities included [(S) Drawing], [(S) Charm], [(SS) Taming], [(S) Alchemy (Potion)], and [(A) Fire Manipulation].

[(EX) Infinite Energy Engine (Dr. Gero’s Android)]

A perpetual energy source created by Dr. Gero.

Grants 4000 Mana and 1000% Mana Regeneration.

[(A) Discount]

Receives a 10% discount at all stores.

[(S) Explosion Manipulation (Redeemer)]

Allows the manipulation of explosions.

[(S) Demon Blood Art: Lightning Breathing]

When a slashing attack is applied to a target, the body gradually tears apart and collapses in the form of lightning bolts.

[(A) Navigation]

Allows knowledge of the world map and location information, and provides guidance on the optimal route depending on the mode of transport.

"Wow... [(EX) Infinite Energy Engine (Dr. Gero’s Android)]..."

The power source for the androids developed by the infamous scientist Dr. Gero from Dragon Ball—the Infinite Energy Engine—had appeared as an ability.

Now I essentially no longer had to worry about running out of mana.

What’s more, since it was implemented as an ability, there was no device implanted in my body, which was a big plus.

Moreover, the accompanying abilities—[(A) Discount], [(S) Explosion Manipulation (Redeemer)], [(S) Demon Blood Art: Lightning Breathing], and [(A) Navigation]—also seemed quite good.

’I’m really lucky this time. That aside, the [Discount] ability came a bit late...’

[Discount] seemed pretty overpowered, but upon checking, I was disappointed that it didn’t apply to the Leisure Life shop.

Still, it was a relief that it applied to the [Internet Shop] ability.

And now that I had the [Navigation] ability, I wouldn’t need to launch satellites or go up into the sky to make maps.

But even this ability had limits.

It accurately told me the names of terrain, buildings, and stores, but it didn’t pinpoint the location of specific items.

’Redeemer... country mouse... ahem...’

Redeemer’s ability was similar to Gambit’s ability from Marvel, which I frequently used.

However, it wasn’t just similar; in terms of versatility, it was actually a step above.

[Demon Blood Art: Lightning Breathing] was a demon blood art that Kaigaku from Demon Slayer awakened after becoming a demon.

Like Kokushibo, it was a unique case where the breathing technique itself sublimated into a demon blood art during the process of becoming a demon.

Its power was equally vicious.

It was a terrifying blood technique that made the target’s body gradually collapse in the form of lightning bolts, just from a grazing slash.

After experimenting with the new abilities and understanding them, I checked the items from the gacha.