Absolute Regression

Episode 11 One day is enough.

I was surprised to see what kind of medicine came out of the cut iron ball.

Demonic Dan (魔精丹)!

The Demonic Order was an elixir that was refined only once every ten years at our school, and it was a shrine that could gain a significant amount of magical power if taken by a demonic person who had mastered magical arts. The amount of inner energy that can be obtained varies depending on the user’s constitution and the mental techniques he or she has learned.

I was truly impressed. It was a magic altar, but what surprised me even more was the exquisiteness of the sphere.

If the sphere is cut with a sword knife, the heat will block the passage where the medicine is hidden, preventing the magic essence from coming out.

A reward given only to those who cut with a sword, not a sword.

Currently, the thing I lack the most is my skills, so Majeongdan was truly a gift from heaven.

“Nice to meet you, Majeongdan! “Thank you, father!”

Without hesitation, I sat down and took the pill right away.

The magic essence gave off a spicy aroma that melted in the mouth and spread throughout the body.

A powerful energy circulated through the blood vessels of my entire body. As I immersed myself in meditation, I began to absorb all the energy.

Since I had taken the elixir several times in my life before returning, it was not difficult to dissolve and absorb the elixir. Because of the physical characteristics of Cheonmujiche, he was able to absorb more energy than ordinary people.

So I fell into a trance and had a fortune-telling breakfast, and it was only after two examinations that I opened my eyes.

The spiritual energy of Majeongdan was absorbed into the blood vessels of the whole body like a sweet rain that fell after a drought, and was stored in the Danjeon with pure inner energy through several sincere fortune-telling ceremonies.

I got up from my seat and raised my spirits.

Love love! Pow!

The sound from the thrown fist was different. The sound of cutting through the air was more cheerful, and the sound of an exploding blow seemed like it would explode my ears. I felt a sense of joy as if I was flying at the power that was incomparably stronger than before.

“Ha ha ha ha ha!”

Laughter of joy that could not be concealed echoed throughout the cave.

‘Oh maybe?’

Wasn’t the point in the hunt that you were telling me to figure out the cutting line on the iron ball? Maybe because my father also succeeded in cutting it off in the same way?

But soon I shook my head. No matter how special my father was, he couldn’t have predicted that I would end up in Socheon-dong due to Hyeolcheon Doma. No, he thought about going later… Whether it was

because he wanted me to obtain the Demon Spiritual Order or to save face with the Hyeolcheondoma, I gained a great opportunity thanks to my father.

‘Thank you, father.’

After taking control of my body and mind by going through the natural energy, I walked towards the next step.

So we arrived at the third gate.

一 Distinguish between life and death.

ii. If you do not succeed, you will be given another chance in five days.

3. Those who are prepared, stand in the red circle.

Distinguish between life and death? What kind of gateway is this?

And the deadline for retrying was reduced to five days. For some reason, I felt like it wasn’t something I would enjoy.

As I stood in the red circle, a table rose from the floor.

The moment I saw it on the table, a smile spread across my face.

There were ten herbs lying there. This gateway was the gateway to distinguish between medicinal herbs and poisonous plants.

It is said that the things to be careful of in martial arts are the elderly, children, and women, but in reality, the thing to be most careful of is poison. You should not carelessly consume alcohol or food given to you by others, and if you have no choice but to consume it, you must check for poison with a silver needle.

So, everyone was aware of poisons, but did they ever study how to identify poisonous plants? Those who studied would have been delighted, and all the challengers who had not studied would have been embarrassed.

I belonged to the former. There is something I said to the ghost before returning.

―I can confidently say that I am an absolute expert in Santagi swimming, diving, and camping. You could probably draw a map of the central plains with your eyes closed.

It is I who wandered all over the central plains in search of Mannyeonhwari. How can you be good at swimming and diving? He knew how to distinguish all kinds of medicinal herbs and poisonous plants, and even knew their efficacy in detail. If a decent herbalist gives me his name, I can just go there and get some bellflower or cashew.

Therefore, there was no need to look at the writing my father left now.

I confidently picked one of them up. Among the ten poisonous herbs, it was the only herb that was not poisonous.

Then the table went down and a new table with new herbs came up.

This time, there were ten herbs placed there, and they were different from the herbs listed previously.

“ah!”

I got lucky and had to guess twice in a row to prevent it from going through the gate.

I could only imagine how difficult this test would be.

Think about it.

You have to get it right both times, but there are ten numbers each. What are the chances of getting it right twice in a row?

If you just try to guess this and that, if you are unlucky, you may end up picking poisonous plants for the rest of your life.

‘In the end, you have to take this test to find out.’

As if that was the correct answer, the amount of poisonous weed was placed just enough not to cause death. Of course, if you were poisoned, you would have suffered for several days.

Still, this method is the best. If you are lucky and find the herb quickly, you will get out quickly. If you are unlucky, it will take a long time.

Among the second herbs, I chose one that was not poisonous. I was a little excited to see if a third herb would appear, but it wasn’t that harsh.

When I correctly selected the herb the second time, the door to the next step opened.

Was there anyone like me who found non-poisonous plants at once? A challenger who likes to play solo would have found it at once, but most would have spent a lot of time struggling here.

I was curious about the writing my father left, so I went to the wall where the challengers had left their writing.

-shit! If I continue like this, I will end up becoming a poisonous person.

-What kind of idiot came up with this test? How many times do we encounter poisonous plants like this on a daily basis?

-There will definitely be a clue to find the herb. You have to study it.

-I can’t even remember how many times I failed. Would you rather eat all that poison and die? Now Byeokgokdan feels like a poisonous plant.

-I should have calculated it well from the beginning. I resent myself for trusting my intuition.

-Success after 96 attempts. Tears are filling my eyes!

-I took too much poison and lost a lot of hair.

At the bottom was a note left by my father.

-You idiots! Don’t believe in luck.

I could tell. My father remembers that he took poisonous herbs one by one from the first attempt. He realized right away that leaving it to chance was ultimately a waste of time.

I heard that your father came back after two months.

Even though I was told not to believe in luck, my father seems to have been quite lucky during this passage. Or, since you have knowledge about poisonous plants, you may have excluded a few herbs.

“Luckily our rich man’s hair was saved.”

* * *

The fourth gate was the last gate. It was written on the tombstone that it was the final gateway.

一 Survive in the life and death illusion camp.

ii If you die in the camp, you will die in real life.

ii Those who are prepared should stand in the red circle.

Surprisingly, there is a gateway to death if you fail.

Welcome to life and death.

If you die within the formation, you really die.

This time, the writings left by our ancestors were written by those who survived.

-It was a really, really hard fight. Someday, when I become the Heavenly Demon, I will find the person who created the illusion of life and death and kill him.

-It was so scary and difficult.

-Damn it! Who on earth created this strategy?

―I will never again step into the realm of life and death again in my life.

There was also my father’s writing here. There was no swearing this time, just a word of advice.

-Don’t rest.

Of course, these words were left as a clue to this gateway, but I felt like they were words spoken for my future life. It may be because it is the last gateway.

‘Yes, I will keep moving forward without stopping.’

After calmly praying and filling up my energy, I walked towards the red circle.

As I stood in the circle, the illusion of life and death was activated and the surrounding scenery began to change.

A moment later I was standing in the wasteland.

The sand flowing between my fingers, the dry leaves on the bare trees, and the bugs on the rocks were all real. No, it felt real.

“The top line is really amazing.”

I was able to feel a sense of wonder beyond mystery. How can we create such a realistic reality? I truly feel that true geniuses exist in the world.

It was then.

Soldiers appeared along with the wind carrying sand. Those without eyes, nose, and mouth on their faces were illusions created by Jinbeop.

All numbers are thirty.

An illusion is an illusion, but it was an illusion with substance. Like the rock I touched a moment ago, their swords must be real.

Illusions surrounded me and radiated murderous energy. Even those who have mastered the martial arts of Ascension will find themselves flinching at this moment if they lack practical experience. The anxiety of being stabbed in the back and the pressure from multiple enemies is greater than you think.

Of course, I have experience fighting more opponents. Moreover, I felt at ease because the other person was not human.

I leapt forward and quickly landed between them.

Sigh! Sigh!

The fight began with successive stabbings in the chest of the left and right illusions.

Instead of showing mercy, they stabbed their necks and stomachs, broke their arms, and smashed their heads. Since he wasn’t human anyway, there was no need to feel remorse.

Sometimes I dodge attacks and sometimes I hit back. I attacked one herbivore without using internal power, and sometimes I attacked it with internal power. Because my opponent was not tired, I was able to perform several tests.

When they die, they explode with a popping sound, and every time I hear that sound, I feel refreshed.

After defeating all the first thirty people who appeared, a moment was given.

As I was about to have a quick breakfast, I remembered the words my father left behind.

don’t rest

‘Oh, this is it.’

My father’s advice was to fight without filling up my energy even though I was given time to rejuvenate. The advice is to make good use of your internal strength and fight as if it were a real fight.

If it were a real fight, there wouldn’t be time to fill up your strength like this. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to control my strength in real life.

‘No matter what, it’s a life and death situation where you have to live or die. Don’t you want to rest? This is truly fatherly advice.’

As my father wanted, I waited without recovering my strength.

After the time had passed to overcome the true spirit, the next illusion appeared.

This time there were twenty people, and although the number was reduced, they were much stronger than before. The movements were faster and the martial arts used were also top-tier. Moreover, this time I used a variety of weapons, not only swords, but also arrows from a distance, and I also used memorization.

A dangerous fight that could cost my life was going on, but to be honest, I was excited. This is because I was able to experience real combat for the first time since returning.

‘late! ‘Come faster!’

I stepped on their shoulders and even knocked out dozens of memorized words flying at me out of the air. I fought by subduing illusions and using them as shields, and I also fought against them with my eyes closed.

Even after the second fight was over, I didn’t eat anything. I don’t know how many levels there will be, but I fought with the intention of using only half of my remaining strength.

A third illusion appeared.

Ten people this time.

I was sure they would be the last. Judging by the welcome momentum that appeared this time, this was the limit that the challengers could handle.

Many challengers must have died here.

Indeed, the enemies that appeared this time were incomparably stronger and faster than the previous two encounters.

On the contrary, I was disappointed.

‘It’s already over!’

I wanted to fight more.

I walked among the phantoms, practicing avoiding their attacks.

And just when I thought it was time to end it, it ended with a bang.

I was sure that it was the last fight anyway, so I put all my effort into it.

My sword created a dazzling sword line. From past experience, the evaluation of Bicheon Swordsmanship varies depending on the opponent. In the end, martial arts was a way to show as much as you knew, so the lower the opponent, the more superficially flashy the swordsmanship was evaluated as shallow, and the more expert the swordsman was, the more surprised he was to realize that the seven sword styles that made up the flashiness were swordsmanship with infinite variation and depth. .

As the seasons of Bicheon Swordsmanship unfolded one after another, ten illusions swept in one after another. These were the strongest illusions in Jinbeop, but they were destroyed the fastest and hottest. The sight of enemies exploding seemed like fireworks.

As the last illusion disappeared, the illusion of life and death was broken.

My level was so high that the urgent situation my father wanted could not be created. However, it was a fight that made me feel relieved, and I felt like the anger built up in my heart was being released.

Yes, this also has enough meaning to me.

When the illusion of life and death disappeared, the door leading outside was opened and a tombstone was erected next to it.

一 Push this monument to the side to exit.

ii Congratulations on passing the gate safely. I hope you will use your strength for the development and revival of the Heavenly Demon Church.

This is the end of the gateway to Socheon-dong.

Surprisingly, I passed through the gates of Socheon-dong in just one day.

If this news gets out, the school will probably be in an uproar. It took my father two months, but he came out in just one day? It will be filled with distrust rather than praise.

Koo Pyeong-ho, who had an affair with me, would be foaming at the mouth, thinking that I must have used a trick to manipulate it. My father and Palmazon will also try to find out how I was able to leave in one day. There will be more than one headache.

In the end, I decided not to go out.

Okay, let’s practice.

I’m training here. We have to save our father’s face, so let’s go after just 100 days.

Fortunately, there was a lot of training to do and even more jangly Byeokgok Altar piled up.

Let’s practice! While enjoying solitude and Byeokgokdan.