Three days later, at the outskirts of the Red Thunder God’s Gate.
Kuurung!!
Kwagagagakang!!!
The Leader of the Red Thunder God’s Gate, Nua Hyogyeom, watched the multicolored lightning coloring the sky from as far away as possible from the disturbance.
Beyond the rain of lightning came a torrential downpour, no, a barrage of lightning far beyond that.
Seeing ‘her’ enduring hundreds of storms at once, Nua Hyogyeom couldn’t help but chuckle.
Three days. Three days.
Lily, the Practitioner from the Transition Device who had come seeking information about the Avatar Phase, had entered the upgrade process just three days after settling into the annex.
Nua Hyogyeom had known for a while that Lily was a high-ranking Practitioner hiding her powers, but he couldn’t believe his ears when he heard she was undergoing a promotion.
He thought she was merely concealing her realm, but it turned out she was a true Practitioner from the Transition Device.
Of course, it was possible that she was deceiving him with some kind of unique technique or spell he didn’t know about, but somehow, he didn’t think that was the case.
‘Why deceive?’
Deceiving an opponent implied they were somehow threatening or wary.
Currently, Lily posed no threat whatsoever to the Red Thunder God’s Gate.
There were many questions, but all Nua Hyogyeom could do was watch the promotion proposal from a distance.
‘No matter how exceptional the talent, around 150 should be the limit.’
For the upgrade to the Avatar Phase, usually, around 60 to at most 90 storms would fall.
Nua Hyogyeom saw about 70 to 80 storms striking while the current leader of the Jeokho, the Display Case Practitioner, had supposedly endured a staggering 130 storms.
“Insane…”
But what was this?
‘What I can see’ is only the hundreds.
Countless colors of storms, including blue ones, were fiercely targeting Lily.
Had they determined she could withstand them, even more lightning was raging above the higher skies.
The number was a whopping…
‘One thousand!’
A total of one thousand storms.
The sky over the Red Thunder God’s Gate was like a sea of lightning, no exaggeration.
It was a display of power and numbers that could be believed even as a promotion to the Display Case Practitioner.
What was more astounding was that right in the middle of that ‘sea of lightning,’ Lily was enduring it all without a care.
Nua Hyogyeom was sweating cold, and the other practitioners, Ilroe and Iroe, watching alongside him, were gaping in disbelief.
“…Or could she really be a Display Case Practitioner?”
But it was strange.
Currently, there were only five Archlords among the Display Case Practitioners within the Jangmugye, and there were no other Display Case Practitioners.
While there were more practitioners in the past, a series of events including wars had left only five alive.
Given how busy the Archlords were, it was unthinkable for one to come all the way to a human territory and engage in such antics, meaning she must be a completely new person.
The busy Archlord wouldn’t come all the way to the human territory to pull such a stunt, so that person must be completely new.
One possibility could be…
“A fallen existence…?”
Once a high being, but as mentioned earlier, they’ve lost their power and ego due to a “series of events” and now are weakened entities.
If they’re often referred to as “fallen,” it makes sense why the author has such strength.
This world is full of battles and death, and falling from grace happens more often than you’d think.
Whether it’s conducting a promotion proposal or randomly walking in claiming to be a 400-year-old practitioner, it’s all due to that fall from grace.
The problem is that the author is currently in a “weakened state”…
“…Is that…?”
Nua Hyogyeom swallowed hard, watching Lily casually gaze at the sea of Nua.
Just how “high” did they fall from to show such strength?
Countless “hierarchies” passed through Nua Hyogyeom’s mind.
Avatar, record, display, marriage… or perhaps…
‘……’
Nua Hyogyeom’s head spun.
And then he made up his mind.
“…Everyone listen.”
No matter what, they would not antagonize that person.
■
Crackle…!
Puff.
“……”
The lightning had ceased.
While conducting a minor promotion proposal for the Avatar Phase, I gazed quietly up at the now calm sky.
I had intentionally made the proposal as weak as possible to receive more of the infinite completion, and I didn’t absorb it all at once.
While my goal was to gain a promotion, I also aimed to pack as much of the “infinite completion” into the Dragon Heart as I could.
“…Looks like it’s not falling anymore?”
[Seems like it?]
[Looks like it’s all done]
[ㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇ]
[Whoa]
[It’s electrifying]
[Great Lily]
[Infinite completion rocks]
[No matter how you slice it, lightning immunity is cheap as hell, haha]
[Avatar Phase ascended!]
I moved my slightly floating body down to the ground.
Transcending the human realm, I had reached the Avatar state.
I had become stronger than before, but did my power significantly amplify? Not quite.
Right now, I was demonstrating overwhelming force with minimal strength, and while I had gained a bit, it wasn’t a drastic transformation.
Still, I could say I had regained some power compared to before.
“Just one display case… or I should at least become a marriage device to surpass completely.”
“It has to completely surpass it, huh?”
To treat the penalty as completely nonexistent, I felt like I had to rise to that level.
“When the Marriage Device happens, the episode ends, though.”
The Marriage Device is essentially reaching the status of Junseon.
“Hmm.”
As I lightly clenched my hand, even the small currents that were lingering around me were all absorbed.
Only after all influence had vanished did Nua Hyogyeom and his disciples, who were far away, fly towards me.
“Congratulations. You’ve ascended to the Avatar Phase.”
“Thanks to you. I appreciate it.”
“No, it was just providing information and location. With Lin’s skills, you could have obtained them without us.”
“Still, I received help, so it counts as help.”
“In that case…”
Nua Hyogyeom looks at me with somewhat expectant eyes, mixed with fear.
I had my concerns, but the words I was going to say were already set.
I nodded.
“I’ll make sure to help you ‘well.'”
“…! Thank you!”
“Thank you!”
“Thanks a lot! Senior!”
Nua Hyogyeom and the other disciples repeatedly bowed their heads.
Since they had helped me, I obviously intended to help them in return.
“Though that might differ slightly from what they think.”
But isn’t good still good?
I drew forth the power of the Avatar Phase and floated up.
■
Unsa, the leader of the Uncheong Blue Gate, was feeling unusually good lately.
The Uncheong Blue Gate had long been referred to as the limbs of Lord Cheongmuhyang.
This wasn’t so much a forced relationship, but rather, it felt natural since the Cloud Sky Stone, known as the sect’s holy artifact, was given by Lord Cheongmuhyang.
They had carried out various missions according to Lord Cheongmuhyang’s will, and this war was somewhat reflecting Lord Cheongmuhyang’s intent.
While there were some sacrifices and expenditures, they were pressing the Red Thunder God’s Gate, and today, they had achieved a significant result.
“They’ve been pushed back considerably from Unryusan. Is it a slow result, though?”
Unryusan, a high mountain situated between the territory of the Red Thunder God’s Gate and the Uncheong Blue Gate.
It wasn’t quite a livable area, but the Cosmic Spirit was much denser here than elsewhere, and here, the medicinal herb known as Unryuchao grew.
This herb was extremely useful for practitioners engaged in cultivation and was also important for stacking the Record Phase’s axis.
Doing battle was ultimately to offer many herbs and spirits to Lord Cheongmuhyang, and time and again, countless practitioners bled on this land.
And now, the Red Thunder God’s Gate, which occupied less than half of Unryusan, had recently been pushed back suddenly, losing a significant amount of territory.
The Red Thunder God’s Gate recently lost a lot of territory due to a sudden collapse.
“Haha… It held out for a long time, but it was the inevitable outcome.”
“That’s right. What can those guys do, at most shoot lightning and run wild?”
“Exactly.”
Unsa nodded at the words of his loyal subordinate.
Honestly, it would be a lie to say they weren’t threatening, but they were definitely not in a position to lose.
Unryusan was land favorable to those with heavenly attributes rather than lightning and would win about 6 to 7 times out of 10 battles.
It was just to minimize the unreasonable damage that they couldn’t completely wipe them out.
The guys from the Red Thunder God’s Gate were aggressive and ignorant enough that if the damage wasn’t significant, they couldn’t finish it in one go.
“Surely they’re retreating for good, right?”
“Yes. We sent scouts to check, and it seems there’s a problem on their side. They probably won’t set foot on Unryusan for a while.”
“A problem? What kind of problem?”
“I couldn’t confirm the details due to the protective magic array… but I suspect someone might be making a promotion proposal.”
“…What?! You’re not saying that Nua Hyogyeom guy is leveling up, are you?!”
Oof!
Unsa’s thick hand almost crushed the servant.
Nua Hyogyeom was currently in the Record Phase.
From the Record Phase, to ascend to the Display Case, one must undergo a total of five promotion proposals, and both Unsa and Nua Hyogyeom had already completed three each.
Thus, the powers of each leader were similar, but if Nua Hyogyeom completed just one more proposal, the balance of power could collapse.
The servant felt a crushing sensation and blurted out.
“D-Don’t worry! I didn’t sense that crazy lightning guy’s aura!”
“…Really?”
“Y-Yes.”
“Then who’s making the promotion proposal? They wouldn’t be making a fuss over an ‘Avatar Phase’ proposal.”
“I’m currently checking that. I’ll report as soon as the detailed circumstances are revealed.”
“…Understood. First, make sure to secure Unryusan.”
“Yes!”
Unsa released his grip, feeling uneasy, but there was nothing more to be done at the moment.
All he could do was firmly secure the now empty Unryusan.
And so, Unsa took pleasure in the aesthetics of waiting, and finally, the result arrived.
Knock knock.
“It’s the Peace Delivery Person.”
With the source of the problem along with it.
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