Thumbs Up, Level Up

Chapter 245

The doomsday clock had only been slowed down. But humans would rather see the bright present than the dark future.

Even though they knew their world was becoming darker by the minute, they never changed. It was inevitable, since nothing had happened that would alert the entire human race until the end of the world was upon them.

What happened in New Jersey could?have been their wake-up call if Ji-Cheok had not stopped the Cyclops… However, if he hadn’t stopped them, the doomsday clock would have also run faster.

“It’s not a matter of faith, grandpa,” Ji-Han said.

“Then what is it?”

“It’s a matter of fact. And you know that Bi-Ga has known this for a long time.”

“I know that Bi-Ga is delusional, if that’s what you are implying. Hm… I still find it hard to believe.”

“I am not going to try to convince you.”

“I see.”

“I am just doing what I have to do, and I would appreciate it if you didn’t interfere.”

“What are you gonna do if we do interfere?” Su-Gi interjected again.

Ji-Han looked at Su-Gi expressionlessly.

“Anyone that hinders my plan will be dealt with.”

“You little… How dare you… in front of our grandfather…”

“Huhuhu. You’ve become very bold,” Man-Deuk smirked.

Ji-Han wondered how he could name his grandchildren according to their future abilities, but not predict this destructive future.

Ji-Han had regressed a lot of times, but it was still extremely difficult to figure out what was going on inside his grandfather’s head. But for some reason, he had a feeling that the man was just testing his grandchildren now.

“Grandpa, our world needs to survive the apocalypse for your empire to exist. Unless you have joined hands with the Golden Horizon, you will have to take my words to heart.”

Ji-Han turned away after saying his last words.

“Are you leaving?” Man-Deuk said.

“Yes.”

“Then, I’m going to take the SL Group.”

“Do as you wish.”

With those words, Ji-Han left the room without hesitation.

“Hahaha! When did he get so big…”

“Well then, grandpa. I will work out a plan to make the SL Group ours.”

“Alright. You can leave now.”

“Yes.”

Su-Gi left.

Now alone in the room, Man-Deuk sighed deeply.

“So, do you think my grandson can do it?”

[Huhuhu. The future is in chaos. There is no such thing as a fixed future.]

A voice echoed from within Man-Deuk’s shadow.

“You’re right. The world we live in… There is no such thing as a predetermined destiny.”

[So, what are you going to do?]

“Well, what can I do at this age, but just sit and relax?”

[Haha. You’re right. That’s why you are the ‘Iron-Hearted Merchant’.]

Jung Man-Deuk’s job was called the Iron-Hearted Merchant. He could trade anything, and he always came out on top. It was the Fragment of a God that he had obtained. He had learned of the end of the world early on and had made deals for his own survival and future.

It was a top secret that even Ji-Han didn't know about, in spite of regressing who knew how many times. And he would never know in the future either, because Chairman Jung had no intention of stepping up to the plate and doing something about it.

He had already done his deal a long time ago.

? ? ?

“This is difficult.”

Since time flew by differently in the Training Space of the God of War, Ji-Cheok made sure to enter every day. He was training his Mind Sword.

It was said that if a mortal reached the Mind Origin Sword Realm, they could slice and dice even a God. Unfortunately, that point was moot—no mortal could use the Mind Origin Sword anyway, and even Ji-Cheok, in spite of being a God already, had yet to reach that level.

‘It’s not like a God can’t kill another God in the first place, it’s just a matter of being stronger than the other God.’

?Isn’t it because you have not practiced your sword techniques properly??

Cheok-Liang, who was watching him, commented.

He was right. Of course, Ji-Cheok did not train with a sword like a real swordsman. He had gotten this far by acquiring various techniques with his Likes. He had made cultivation his primary offensive skill, and he had even been taught by the God of War, but even so, he could not say that he had ever truly trained in cultivation.

?Why don’t you start with the basics??

‘Do you think I have the time for that?’

.

?Buf if you do not, you might not be able to reach the Mind Origin Sword Realm. If that is the case, you might as well stop cultivating and just purchase another power with your Likes…?

“That makes sense, which is why I’m worried…”

‘Learning the basics, huh… At a time like this, calling for a competent teacher is the right answer.’

“Purchase the Teaching of the God of War!”

The prohibitively expensive Teaching of the God of War was now quite affordable.

‘Isn’t it great that something that felt expensive in the past is now cheap?’

“Oh… Did you call me?”

Before Ji-Cheok knew it, the man was already in front of him.

The God of War wore the same clothes and had the same appearance as before. However, seeing him now, as a God, made Ji-Cheok feel a sense of crisis.

‘So this is the God of War…’

“So, it seems like you managed to become a God, huh?”

“Yup, it seems like it, sir,” Ji-Cheok replied politely.

Technically, he was Ji-Cheok’s master. It was said that in the world of cultivation, the relationship between a master and a student was like a father and a son. However, right now he was not in the world of cultivation, he was in the world of Gods, which was even better!

“Your livestream made me laugh like I haven’t in a really long time,” the God of War said.

“I’m glad you enjoyed it.”

Ji-Cheok’s heart lept with excitement as he thought of the satisfaction the God of War might have felt as he watched Ji-Cheok run around, using his cultivation skills.

‘He is the master of cultivation, and the essence of martial arts! In that sense, I’d really appreciate it if you could teach me Mind Origin Sword Realm well, hehe!’

“Anyway, I heard everything you were talking about earlier, and it’s true. Your summoned beast is right.”

“So Cheok-Liang was right….”

“You bet yer ass he’s right. You have no foundation in the first place, you just forced things together with the power of the System. Remember what I told you when you first summoned me?”

“Without a foundation, it’s like building a castle on sand...”

“At least your powers glued the sand together well enough to make a castle out of it. Otherwise, you would have died because of cultivation deviation. Of course, now that you are a God, I don’t think you will ever get cultivation deviation.”

‘Ah… the perks of being a God. It feels good to be immortal.’

In fact, Ji-Cheok could survive without his body because he was a God. The body was just a shell for a God, whose main body was the soul. As for the soul, it was immortal and could be resurrected at any time. Even a cockroach was no match for him.

Of course, he still had to be careful, because if his current body died, he would be in a lot of trouble.

If his body died, he would be limited in his ability to interfere with the current world. There were two reasons why he was able to roam freely here while other Gods couldn’t: he was an Earth-born being and he had been reborn as a God while still on Earth. This meant that as long as he kept his body, he could use his powers as a God on his own planet.

The problem was that he was still a baby God, and his powers were not remotely enough to save the planet.

That was why he had to reach the Mind Origin Sword Realm. There were going to be a lot of people trying to stop him from building the dimensional barrier, and he needed to be able to deal with them.

‘I could spend ten billion Likes for it, but why would I want to spend ten billion Likes when the world is so close to being destroyed? I have to be frugal.’

Slap!

“Ouch!”

“You have too much on your mind.”

Before he was even aware of what was going on, the God of War had already smacked him on the head.

‘When did he hit me?’

“Listen, when I say ‘martial,’ that’s just a fancy word for duking it out with people. In the heat of battle, thinking things through rationally will only slow you down. Your subconscious and instinct must lead the way.”

“Ugh…”

“So how do you do that? You have to let your instincts and subconscious drive your martial strength. Make a true reflex out of it, like breathing. That is the foundation. If you had a solid foundation, you would have blocked or at least dodged my attack just now.”

“I don’t think you had to hit me to teach me that.”

“Well, cultivation is meant to be learned by doing things like this. You learned more from being hit. It sounds stupid, but it’s true.”

‘This feels like the infamous Korean teaching from the 80s. The teaching of cultivation seems a bit old-fashioned, with no regard for student rights.’

“Anyway, for that reason, if you want to master the Mind Origin Sword Realm, you should start with some foundational sword arts. Since I have taught you the basics of inner cultivation, you’ve progressed quite quickly. Also, outer cultivation is no problem for you. The only thing you need to think of right now is practicing with the sword.”

“Okay. Then, I will start practicing my Sword Art.”

The Heaven and Earth Chaotic Divine Art had combat techniques from many different categories—palm techniques, fist techniques, leg techniques, sword techniques, and so on.

‘There’s a reason why this skill is so damn expensive.’

“Hm… Are you thinking of just practicing the sword techniques that come with the Heaven and Earth Divine Art?” the God of War asked.

“Uh… That was exactly what I was thinking.”

“How is that training your foundation? You idiot!”

“Huh?”

“The foundation of the spear can be expressed as ‘Lan Na Zha’. Then, what do you think the foundation of the sword arts is?”

“Lan Na Zha… I don’t even know what that is…”

A moment of cold air passed between Ji-Cheok and the God of War.

“Huh… How can a dumb freshman like you use the Mind Sword?!”

Whoosh~

This time, Ji-Cheok actually saw the attack! He quickly dodged the God of War’s hand.

“Oh… you dodged! That Heaven Martial Body sure is a great thing to have.”

“What’s this got to do with the Heaven Martial Body?”

“Your body’s senses recorded my previous attack into your subconscious and made you instinctively dodge it. That’s all thanks to your Heaven Martial Body, and that is why it’s better to be hit when you have the Heaven Martial Body. The more you get hit, the stronger your body becomes.”

‘That’s what happened? I had no idea it could do that!’

“Anyway, Lan Na Zha is the foundation of all spear arts. ‘Lan’ means to push, ‘Na’ means to pull, and ‘Zha’ means to thrust.”

‘Oh… So profound! Push, pull, thrust…’

“Sword arts are different. The foundational techniques of the sword are known as ‘Qie Ci Gan’.”

“Qie Ci Gan?

“Pretty much what it sounds like: cut, thrust, parry.”

“Wow, that sounds incredibly basic.”

“No shit, why do you think it’s called the foundation? It has to be as simple as possible.”

“That…is fair enough.”

“Okay. Now you are going to learn…”

The God of War pulled something out from his sleeve and flicked it to Ji-Cheok.

“The Sixfold Sword Art?”

‘This thing looks really plain…’

“The Sixfold Sword Art is a sword art that allows you to attack and defend in six directions. It is indeed one of the most basic sword arts, but it is also one that fully expresses the essence of a sword art and is acknowledged by me, the God of War.”

“I…see.”

“You need to learn this. Thankfully, it’s very easy to learn.”

“What do I need to do?”

‘This is where it gets real. The teaching of the God of War! Teach me something as strong as the Heavenly Demon Divine Art!’

“Well, there are only twelve techniques. Six offensive techniques and six defensive techniques. Practice each technique ten thousand times a day. That will add up to 120,000 repetitions.”

“What?!”

‘Ten thousand times?!’

“You can do one offensive technique ten thousand times, then do a defensive one ten thousand times. Just keep alternating like that, and you will acquire the necessary foundation thanks to the Heaven Martial Body.”

‘Wait… That’s like digging a tunnel with a teaspoon! Does he want me to dig a tunnel in a mountain for fifty years?!’

However, he could not bring himself to talk back. It was not some GodTube fan telling him to do this—it was the God of War himself.

“Okay, I’ll do it. I’ll practice the techniques 120,000 times a day!”

Ji-Cheok didn’t think about it too much and accepted the God of War’s training routine.

“A normal human would be exhausted by the thousandth repetition, let alone the ten thousandth, but you are a God, so you should be able to do it. Good luck!”

The God of War disappeared into thin air.

Ji-Cheok opened the book.

‘Alright, let’s do this!’

1. The author uses the term 攔拿扎(parry, catch, thrust), a foundational set of three techniques used in most Chinese schools of spear. The author’s explanation here is not exactly accurate.

2. The hanja used here is 切刺干, but we could not find any reference whatsoever for the term.