After smoothing out the relationship between Black Grief Valley and the Heavenly Horse Church, I returned to Lord Heukmuhyang’s Palace.
We made up, but there’s no way this relationship will last forever.
Both the Heavenly Horse and the people on either side want to be the best in their region.
Once my influence starts to wane, they might ignite war again soon.
Swish, swish.
“That might not happen, you know.”
“Meow? Why not?”
“Well, there’s a bit of land to spare.”
Centered around Lord Heukmuhyang’s Palace, I began to sketch out various magic techniques imbued with diverse spells.
Next to me was Yena, enthusiastically writing characters infused with the Cosmic Spirit.
“Right now, the human territory is small, but if the land increases, won’t it be okay?”
The human territory is relatively large, but it’s cramped for ascetics with inflated egos to live comfortably.
Jangmugye might be vast, but roughly 80-90% of it is the ‘turbulent zone’, a place where life cannot survive.
One could say it resembles the uninhabitable oceans of Earth.
“Oh ho?”
“If it were about three times larger right now, everyone might be able to stretch out and protect their own territories. Then the skirmishes would reduce.”
“Isn’t that like a land reclamation project?”
“Hmm. Quite similar. Not exactly the same, though.”
“…I wonder why you’re doing that here in our palace.”
Yena and I turned our heads.
Around us were Lord Heukmuhyang’s servants, who were anxiously hopping back and forth, unable to do anything.
For the record, a few of them had already fallen trying to stop us.
“Well, it’s most efficient to do it here.”
“No.”
[LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL]
[Hey, just stay still]
[Let’s break Heukmuhyang’s palace~]
[Ah, they’re offering a land reclamation]
[LOL LOL LOL]
[Lily, angel, why?ㅠㅠㅠㅠ]
[Heukmuhyang really is annoying, haha]
[Let’s bring the Heavenly Horse along too]
[Why isn’t the Heavenly Horse joining?]
“Hmm. It would be nice if Lord Heavenly Horse could join, but… he’s a bit busy at the moment. Let’s just try it out among ourselves for now and call him if we get the chance.”
“Sounds good.”
“Then, let’s do this… Done.”
With the final character complete, I finished the formation of all the magic techniques.
All that remained was to activate the spells through this palace.
The highest-ranked servant cautiously asked.
“…You’re not thinking what I think you are, right?”
“You evacuated everyone, right?”
“Please don’t do that. It’s an act that would kill everyone!”
“If they dodge, there’s no problem at all.”
“No problem at all.”
“From the start, this magic technique is neither for killing someone nor for sacrificing anyone.”
“The ‘proposal’ only holds malice for me.”
Promotion proposal.
I planned to conduct the display case promotion in Lord Heukmuhyang’s Palace.
There are various reasons, but the most important one is to call Lord Jooam.
Even though he might have run away, who would miss a promotion proposal at his own house?
“Of course, it’s not like he’s a person or anything.”
Still, since he’s an archlord, if he doesn’t want to see his house in ruins, there’s a high probability he would come.
If there’s another reason…
“This place is where the Cosmic Spirit gathers. It’s a perfect spot for a promotion proposal.”
“Well, it’s obvious that the archlord’s palace is a good place…”
“Don’t worry. I’ll cover all the costs.”
Even though Jooam ran away and has debts, I had no intention of using him retaliatorily.
Of course, I’d pay, and part of that price could be considered as a reclamation project.
“Circumstantially, Jangmugye is the corpse of the True Immortal who died long ago. It has a structure slightly different from that of a world governed by physical laws like a planet.”
“…isn’t that right?”
“A part of Infinite Completion triggered by the promotion proposal will stimulate the endlessly spread ‘turbulent zones’ in Jangmugye due to the influence of the magic technique. And naturally, as the Cosmic Spirit condenses, land suitable for life will emerge.”
“Mm, mm. I’ve already conducted a small experiment.”
I had already achieved minor success in the experiment.
In reality, highly skilled ascetics often expanded their territories in this way.
However, it was nearly impossible to expand land with an ordinary level of Infinite Completion; only a promotion proposal at the display case level could do it.
‘But the real purpose is different.’
The servant mumbled something, but couldn’t get the words out.
No matter how much he wanted to argue, it wasn’t a situation where he could stop me.
“…When will you do it?”
“Now?”
“…Didn’t you say we had time to evacuate?”
“It’s been over three hours since I said to evacuate.”
At this point, isn’t it a problem if they’re hesitating and not leaving?
[LOL]
[That poor guy]
[Just let them all go, LOL]
[What are they waiting for, hurry up]
[Let’s just kill them all]
[Lily’s so nice for expanding the land]
[For real, LOL]
“If you don’t evacuate quickly, you might get caught up in it.”
“If we don’t do it from the start…”
“Mm. Then I guess we have no choice.”
I reach out.
The powerful magic technique emanating from the top of Lord Heukmuhyang’s Palace covered the area.
Sizzle…!
The ascetics, unsure due to the surge of electrical magic, flinched for a moment, but it wasn’t a threat.
“Thunder Stream Return. Transmission.”
Whoosh!
As one of the thunder element’s Record Phases activated, all thirty-two thousand ascetics in the vicinity were safely transported.
They were sent to lands suitable for their respective races, places they had been at least once in their lives, so there shouldn’t be a big issue.
Now, only Yena and I remained near Lord Heukmuhyang’s Palace.
“Shall we begin?”
“Aren’t I supposed to be out of the way too?”
This wasn’t just any ordinary upgrade; it was a display case upgrade, after all.
Yena needed to be far away because a storm of Infinite Completion would hit, unlike any upgrades she had experienced before.
The reason I hadn’t brought the Heavenly Horse was that it would also need to be out of the way anyway.
“Uh, Miss Yena should stay back too. I’ll send you to where Lord Heavenly Horse is.”
“Okay. If anything happens, just call me, okay?”
Whoosh!
Yena moved along with the current of electricity.
Now, I was the only one left here.
[Going?]
[Let’s do it~]
[Is the display case finally happening?]
[GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG]
[I will stand in the sky]
[Can I finally use the Marriage Device now?]
I pulled out the Dragon Heart.
I had gathered all the enlightenment needed for the display case and the Axis of Life containing one hundred thousand lifespans.
All that remained was to open the door to the upgrade proposal.
“Let’s get started.”
I opened the door to the upgrade proposal…
Thunder rumbled…!
A thick, black storm cloud gathered over Lord Heukmuhyang’s sky.
What was contained in those clouds was the wrath of the heavens.
The sky seemed to roar in anger, as if saying it would no longer show mercy.
And then.
─Not allowed.
“!”
Lord Heukmuhyang’s Palace was obliterated.
■
A considerable distance away from Heukmuhyang.
Lord Jooam, the house owner unable to enter his own house, swallowed hard at the immense Infinite Completion striking his land.
Boom!
Even though he was quite far away, it felt as though the storm of Infinite Completion was crashing down right in front of him.
“…That crazy kid finally did it.”
He hadn’t intervened even when it was rampaging in his own home.
To Jooam, Heukmuhyang was merely a tool for his own ascension, nothing more, nothing less.
While it was necessary to raise Heukmuhyang for a smooth ascent, it wasn’t worth sacrificing his own lifespan to protect it.
It was necessary to grow, but it wasn’t worth sacrificing one’s lifespan for.
Thus, whether it was using Lord Heukmuhyang’s wealth or interfering with other small territories, I merely watched.
‘If I hadn’t made the promotion proposal.’
It wouldn’t just be some random promotion proposal from a Display Case; the Infinite Completion wouldn’t descend so casually.
“A soul-burning Infinite Completion…”
It was a powerful lightning that could turn even those who had become ghosts after losing their flesh into a handful of Celestial Aura.
This might even impact ‘that location’ where Lord Jooam had stored countless souls for his future Marriage Device.
I had set ‘that location’ deep within Lord Heukmuhyang’s underground and couldn’t take care of it separately, never dreaming such a thing would unfold.
Even so, who would be a Ascetic proposing promotion in the ‘enemy’s stronghold’ despite having confidence in their abilities?
Usually, if one did such a thing, nine times out of ten, it would end up burning their soul under the pretense of a promotion proposal by someone else.
“…Guess there’s no choice.”
To catch someone doing something crazy, I guess I’ll have to do something crazy myself.
Lord Jooam muttered bitterly while clutching one of the axes that constituted him.
■
The night sky.
It was no different from the night sky.
In every single strand that made up the colorful night sky, Infinite Completion dwelled, and a level of Infinite Completion surged that was hard to absorb even with a Dragon Heart.
Kwah-jijijijik!!
The sky pressed down on me.
“…It’s overwhelming.”
Promoting a Display Case was certainly not a trivial matter.
I wasn’t assisting Yena’s promotion, but it was still on a comparable level.
At this level, the existing Archlords probably couldn’t withstand it…
[Lily you okay?]
[Wow]
[That lightning is dope]
[Totally cool lmao]
[Whoa]
[You good?]
“It’s bearable. I might be a bit angry, though.”
It probably had a lot to do with the sky remembering my past Karma.
You could argue this was a separate issue, but it was still important information.
It meant that the sky too had ’emotions’ just like living beings.
“Let’s start slowly.”
I drew my spear.
Today, I would see the essence of the sky.
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