“Sift through them and extract only the Murim martial artists.”
“H-How many?”
[To understand Murim, martial arts, and their history and culture, data from at least ten thousand individuals is required.]
“Ten thousand.”
Ichan’s eyes shot wide open.
“I can’t do that!”
“Huh?”
Sinhyeok’s hand rose.
Straight toward the World Tree.
“Aaaaaah!”
Ichan was about to have a fit.
“I’ll do it! I’ll do it!”
“That’s more like it.”
As Sinhyeok lowered his hand, Ichan let out a sigh of relief.
“It’s too many! Hyung, you have to help with this too!”
“Hmm?”
Having thought it over, Ichan voiced his complaints, perhaps feeling it was unfair.
“You use magic too! Necromancy is magic too, so let’s do it together!”
“Huh?”
Ichan, his anger gauge rising from the semi-coercion, glared.
“You do it too!”
“Me?”
“Yeah!”
“You try it first. I’ll watch and follow along.”
“Watch closely!”
Ichan placed his hand on the World Tree and focused.
“But that kid basically has Necromancy as a base passive.”
Sinhyeok took Soul Crystals from his inventory.
He filled his hand with them.
*I can see them clearly.*
Having run out of Nether Spirit Water, he held Soul Crystals instead.
At least the specters were clearly visible.
*Come.*
Ichan’s will flowed through the World Tree.
Sinhyeok placed his hand on the World Tree to see more clearly.
“Hmmm.”
Despite being an immature World Tree, an ineffably vast world existed within it.
Countless wandering souls were flowing into the netherworld connected through Notdrasil.
*Please find peace within the Father.*
Ichan’s earnest wish was being conveyed to them.
Furthermore, he was guiding them, leading them one by one so they wouldn’t stray.
“So that’s why he was sitting here all day.”
Inside the vast Night World Tree, he was classifying the wandering souls by type and condition, guiding them to various branches.
“Hyung, hurry up and do it.”
Ichan hinted subtly.
“Wait. You don’t use black magic.”
“Ah. Right.”
“Look for some magic.”
He took out the book of the Enchanter, one of his teachers, from his inventory.
“Soul, Domination. Can I do it with just these two?”
Since he didn’t know black magic at all, it seemed he would have to create something new.
“I’ll just follow where my hand leads.”
Then his hand stopped.
Thinking of black magic, he recalled the Paimon Core Fragment he had acquired recently.
“Wait. Isn’t that black magic?”
He suspected that the magic unique to the demon race belonged to that system.
*‘Akashic?’*
He called out to it, and it immediately output the desired answer.
[An accurate answer is impossible due to insufficient data.]
“Just tell me.”
[The keywords of the demon race’s unique language detected within the core fragment are estimated to be ‘Earth,’ ‘Domination,’ ‘Earthquake,’ ‘Space,’ and ‘Connection.’]
“One more thing. In your opinion, does combining Runic language with another language increase effectiveness?”
That was the questionable part.
Why hadn’t Paimon used pure Runic language to craft the magic circle, but instead added the demon race’s language?
Or was black magic originally like that?
[Insufficient data.]
Akashic was rigid.
“If you infer?”
[Accuracy is low. However, such a possibility exists. Even in the records of the Mukwol Clan of Dark Elves, there exist certain magics created by combining a unique language with Runic language.]
[Research results that classify this type of magic as Unique Magic also exist.]
“Okay, thanks.”
Something entered his head.
Something was about to click.
Sinhyeok hurriedly extracted the part of the Mana Heart within his lower dantian.
In other words, he extracted the core fragment.
[Extracting the energy of the lower dantian from within the body.]
[A unique core fragment is extracted.]
Holding the core fragment, Sinhyeok observed Ichan’s appearance carefully.
*‘Magic is a phenomenon captured through the unique language of Runes.’*
*‘It is said that magic is an imitation of the greatness of the divine through words.’*
“Therefore, if you write out those words in great detail, isn’t that magic?”
Strange nonsense flowed out.
However, he ignored it and proceeded.
“I’m right. If I prove it, I am the answer.”
Instead of the demon race’s language, he used the collected Mukwol Clan (Dark Elf) language.
Of course, the Akashic Pocket kindly translated it for him.
[Material Transmutation – Core Fragment, Soul Crystal, Night World Tree leaf.]
[Enchant – 42 Unique Runes, 52 Mukwol Clan Words.]
Various things mixed together.
A crystal radiating bright light formed in his hand.
[A new branch of magic is being created.]
[Please name this magic.]
“Call it Soul Magic.”
The magic Sinhyeok tried to create was as follows:
[Soul Stream Memorize] [3rd Circle] [Soul] [Magic]
=======================
It is a soul-system magic that can be activated by consuming Soul Crystals. It collects the memories of the vast, flowing specters.
=======================
[Caution]
This magic is activated by consuming Soul Crystals and Night World Tree leaves.
If the above materials are unavailable, mana consumption increases exponentially.
=======================
[A new school of magic has appeared.]
[Registering this magic in the system.]
[Sharing the magic with suitable targets.]
“Something unusual was made.”
[This magic is permanently activated using a core.]
[Soul Stream Memorize is permanently engraved upon the World Tree.]
[The Akashic Pocket, this magic, and the World Tree are linked.]
Messages burst forth in succession.
Soon after, the Akashic Pocket output a welcome message.
[With the addition of a new function, all memories of the netherworld are automatically collected as data.]
“Nice.”
[Data classification is urgent.]
[Category expansion is necessary.]
“Damn.”
One problem solved, another crops up.
Ichan tilted his head at the new message announced by the World Tree.
“Hyung, what is this? It says Soul Magic appeared!”
“It’s me.”
He answered simply.
“You don’t have to do that anymore.”
“Yes!”
[Opening unclassified raw data documents.]
“Ah, there really is a lot.”
The document count was 120,000.
Wait, it was rising by ten thousand every second.
“Hey.”
[Please hurry.]
[Vast data collection in progress.]
“Tsk.”
He sighed and opened the documents, beginning to sort them by type.
“Add a category for this. Call it Murim.”
[Category added – Murim.]
“This one can be a subcategory called Martial Arts.”
[Subcategory added – Martial Arts.]
It continued endlessly.
Around the time his throat became hoarse and parched, the Akashic Pocket evolved.
[Over 100 categories created.]
[Trait evolving once.]
[Growing into the Akashic Cabinet.]
[Informing you of additional options.]
[Automatically classifying data.]
“Nice!”
[Inference performance based on data evolving once.]
“Oh!”
[Error.]
[No suitable device exists for the evolution of inference performance.]
[The user is requested to craft a suitable golem capable of utilizing the Akashic Cabinet.]
“Hmmm.”
This was something he had worried about for a while.
“Let’s do it later. Once sufficient data has been accumulated, diagnose Namgung Jincheon-nim’s condition immediately.”
[Diagnosis is possible now. For an accurate diagnosis, please observe the target in Mapping Precision Mode.]
*It’s changed.*
It accurately identified what Sinhyeok possessed and made meticulous suggestions on how to proceed.
“Okay.”
He went straight to find Namgung Jincheon.
When he went to the room, Baek Arin and Namgung Sohye had been looking after him all day.
“Excuse me.”
Seeing him enter so abruptly, the two looked at him curiously.
[Mapping – Precision Mode.]
Ten probes scanned him meticulously.
[Diagnosing.]
[Diagnosis: Brain Poison Assailing the Spirit.]
[The cause of this symptom is estimated to be micro-injuries to the blood points and meridians caused by Thunder Qi during the training of the Heavenly Thunder Overlord Divine Art.]
[Reference data confirms that over 30% of the Namgung Family’s direct lineage became crippled during the training of Heavenly Thunder Qi.]
[A problem arising from the incompleteness of the martial art known as the Heavenly Thunder Overlord Divine Art.]
[This martial art lacks formulas and training methods to accept and assimilate Thunder Qi into the body. Compensation is required.]
It scrolled straight down, pinpointing every problem immediately.
*What has already happened cannot be helped, so to resolve this?*
[Inferring…….]
[Proposing two solutions.]
[First: Remove all the internal energy of the Heavenly Thunder Overlord Divine Art formed in the lower dantian and focus solely on healing.]
He flinched at Akashic’s proposal.
“Mister, what’s wrong?”
Baek Arin looked at Sinhyeok curiously, seeing his expression.
After a moment of thought, Sinhyeok spoke plainly.
“I found a way to save him.”
Namgung Sohye was the happiest.
“Really?!”
She sprang up and stared at Sinhyeok.
“But the first one involves eliminating his inner energy.”
“…….”
Sohye’s expression darkened.
Because despite her youth, she was a martial artist who could understand the meaning of those words.
“That is…”
Sohye turned to the side for a moment.
She looked at her grandfather lying helplessly.
“I cannot make that decision.”
The granddaughter gazing at her grandfather fell silent.
Watching the silence stretch on, Sinhyeok called for Jegal Seyun, who was the most relevant person present.
“What is it?”
He entered the room and heard the situation.
He too fell silent.
“One of the alternatives is to destroy the dantian.”
He let out a hollow laugh.
“This is precisely the kind of method you people would propose.”
He looked at the collapsed Namgung Jincheon with a devastated expression.
“Do you know? Hyung-nim actually already abandoned martial arts.”
“What?”
The bewildered Sinhyeok looked at him and asked.
Jegal Seyun spoke with a hollow laugh.
“The Namgung are not fools. The Heavenly Thunder is the Namgung’s millstone. It is an extreme martial art that only a select few can master.”
He relayed his circumstances.
“I heard there was an accident when he grasped the enlightenment to enter the Gang Qi realm beyond the Peak. I heard he barely survived then, too.”
“Why that martial art again?”
“Why do you think? Because he had to struggle to survive. Everyone was dying; to live through it, wouldn’t he have had to do the same? Have you never had such an experience?”
“…….”
Jegal Seyun looked at everyone pitifully.
“I abandoned my beliefs, my family’s pride, and even the honor of being orthodox. I dabbled in unorthodox martial arts, forbidden martial arts, and even sorcery. Just to survive.”
He touched Namgung Jincheon’s leg.
“This hyung-nim would have been the same. He couldn’t let it go because he had to survive. Even if his own body burned in lightning, he couldn’t let it go.”
Jegal Seyun smiled with a somehow lonely emotion.
“This hyung-nim at least kept his pride. So please, let him keep even that pride.”
[Proposing the second alternative.]
[Recommend a modified version of the body-mounted artifact equipped by Huskak, the Demon King of Earth.]
[The required materials are as follows.]
=======================
1. Administrator’s Core Fragment
2. From Blue’s Core Fragment: ‘Nature Resonance’
3. From Blue’s Core Fragment: ‘Regeneration’
4. From Blue’s Core Fragment: ‘Internal Synthesis’
5. Spirit Stone
=======================
[Combine with the target through biological synthesis.]
[Success rate: 10%]
[The key to success is the target’s will and vitality.]
[This method references the research of a certain black magician.]
[It was research that attempted to cultivate a transcendent being through artificial fusion of spirits and living creatures.]
[The main cause of failure in this research lay not in the materials, but in the subjects.]
[Even with transcendent materials, if the subject’s caliber does not match, there is a 90% chance of synthesis failure.]
“…….”
This was as good as telling him to die.
*‘You…’*
[Providing additional compensation for this.]
[Compensation formulas for the Heavenly Thunder Overlord Divine Art complete.]
[The optimal path is to proceed with synthesis simultaneously while raising the realm from the current Peak to Transcendent Peak.]
[In this case, success rate increases by 40%.]
He had to bring out the second proposal from Akashic.
The second proposal that they might accept.
“There is a second method.”
Twitch.
The finger of the man lying as if dead moved.
Sinhyeok, who did not see that, continued speaking.
“It will involve a type of body modification. The success rate is low, and a gem-like object must be embedded in the dantian. Side effects are unknown, and during the body modification, the subject must forcibly raise their martial arts realm.”
Namgung Jincheon, who had collapsed after losing consciousness, struggled to grab Sohye’s hand.
“Grandfather!”
Startled, Sohye looked at the bed.
Sohye brought her ear close to her grandfather, who had barely managed to open his mouth.
“Do… it… that… way.”
He answered with difficulty.
Immediately, Baek Arin stood up and channeled spiritual energy into him.
He regained a glimmer of vitality. Gazing at Sinhyeok, he gestured with difficulty.
Sinhyeok got up and went close to him.
“One…… request……”
“Yes.”
“My granddaughter…… I entrust…… to you.”
Sinhyeok understood what his request was.
He immediately nodded.
Upon that, he showed a satisfied expression.
“Prepare…… it. I…… am…… ready.”
Jegal Seyun and Namgung Sohye tightly shut their mouths and looked down at Namgung Jincheon.
“Mister.”
Namgung Sohye looked up at Sinhyeok with a face barely holding back tears.
“Please save my grandfather. Perfectly intact.”