Some time had passed since the martial artists of the Zhuge Clan and Wudang Sect joined forces and set out together.
After fighting several more battles in addition to their first together, they had finally managed to enter Dengfeng County in Henan Province.
"We've finally arrived."
"That is Mount Song, the forbidden sacred land. Truly, it is worthy of being called one of the Five Great Mountains of the Central Plains."
Having overcome all manner of obstacles, the group, now drawing near to their destination, admired the scenery with satisfaction.
'There shouldn't be any more fighting now.'
That was the thought shared by everyone at that moment.
From Dengfeng County to Mount Song, where the Shaolin Temple was located, was but a stone's throw away; one could safely say there was almost no chance of problems arising here.
The fact that conflicts had sharply decreased the closer they drew to the Shaolin Temple's sphere of influence could also be taken as proof of that.
"As expected of Shaolin. To think they have public order stabilized to this extent. Thanks to that, haven't we been traveling in relative comfort lately?"
"It's a conference held after a long time, so Shaolin must have put in considerable effort as well."
Just as everyone was walking along, looking around with much more relaxed hearts—
Unhyeon-jinin, the representative of the Wudang Sect, was lost in his own thoughts with a grave expression.
'...His name was Ha Seung-hun, if I recall.'
The question that had recently consumed him was none other than the young man included in the Zhuge Clan's delegation.
A talent he had taken an interest in and kept an eye on since their impressive first meeting.
'Remarkable.'
His interest in the youth had grown even further since the first battle where the Wudang Sect and Zhuge Clan fought together.
And it was only natural.
How could it not be, when he had watched the youth's growth right by his side the entire time?
'Ever-new, day by day (日新又日新).
He is truly a talent that perfectly embodies the saying of growing fresher by the day and advancing by the day.'
As a master of the Transformation Realm, there was no way he could fail to notice the changes in someone he was watching with such interest.
He was already aware of Ha Seung-hun's inexplicable growth speed, and had also grasped that it was achieved under the influence of the martial artists around him.
'It seems he has been considerably influenced by our Wudang this time as well...'
That was precisely why he was so troubled now.
The youth's sword and movements were gradually coming to resemble those of Wudang, but at his current level, it was too ambiguous to call him out on it immediately.
He hadn't stolen any breathing formulas, nor had he copied any forms.
How could one take issue with someone who had simply been influenced in real combat and independently grasped the knack to develop further?
It wasn't as if Wudang alone wielded the Soft Sword (柔劍) in this world.
Unhyeon-jinin, who knew nothing of "Imitation" and its associated abilities, could not help but fall into deep thought, thinking along those lines.
And above all else...
'It would be a terrible waste to let him slip away like this.'
He had sensed something while traveling with the Zhuge Clan all this time.
Namely, that the bond between the youth called Ha Seung-hun and the Zhuge Clan was not as strong as he had thought.
The way they maintained formalities with each other, as if treating a guest they had only recently met rather than someone belonging to a family they had long been with, was enough to overturn his initial hypothesis.
That much was clear just from how Zhuge Junghyeok, the head of the clan, treated him so indifferently.
And what was most decisive of all—
The fundamental martial arts the youth used had absolutely no connection to those of the Zhuge Clan.
'Perhaps I was mistaken from the start. If he is not a rising star nurtured by the Zhuge Clan, but merely a sojourner temporarily lending a hand...'
A strange light flickered in Unhyeon-jinin's eyes.
If that were the case, couldn't this be an opportunity to recruit him into the Wudang Sect?
Judging by appearances, he seemed quite compatible with the Wudang sword; offering excellent martial arts as bait to recruit him seemed a fine method.
'Though he may not match one who has trained in Wudang's mental arts from a young age, with such potential, that should not be too great an issue.'
The world had changed.
It was an era where mighty martial might was absolutely necessary even to peacefully pursue the Dao (道).
Of course, Wudang's teachings could not be passed to just anyone, so he would need to observe and consider more carefully, but the character he had witnessed thus far was more than passing.
'There is still plenty of time ahead. I'll have to find a moment to subtly broach the subject.'
Unhyeon-jinin glanced sideways at the youth, who was looking around at the scenery like the others.
There was still a long time before the conference would end anyway; there would be ample time to converse in the meantime.
While Unhyeon-jinin was thus lost in vain musings, the group steadily moved forward.
"Amitabha, welcome. You must have had a tiring journey."
Finally, they were able to arrive at the Shaolin Temple on Mount Song, where the conference would be held.
***
"Hugo is growing smoothly, too."
The entity named Hugo, alias Ha Seung-hun, who had gone to study alone in the Ganghwan Realm to become an excellent martial artist and had been fighting bitterly.
Following Harris, who had helped him lay his initial foundation, and with Hallie's support, he had just entered a full-fledged growth period.
'First it was the "Cheon-gi Jiche," and now the "Nameless Art (無名功)".'
A martial art without a name.
Just in case, he had tried here and there to give the skill a name, but the system showed hardly any reaction.
It was probably because its direction hadn't been properly set yet...
'A growth-type skill probably means it continues to evolve depending on what the user does.'
If that was the case, worrying about it right now held little meaning.
He just needed to press forward steadfastly, as he had done until now.
"Hubert is still in the middle of analyzing the secret manuals."
Having raided quite a number of sects this time, the martial arts manuals that had come into their possession had increased accordingly, leaving Hubert, who had been examining secret manuals in between his existing duties, extremely busy.
Unfortunately, not a single martial art ranked S-grade or higher had been discovered among them.
'There are a few that are around A-grade, though.'
Had they not raided the Asura Sect, a giant unorthodox sect led by a master of the Transformation Realm, they wouldn't even have had those.
Considering that A-grade techniques were counted among the supreme secret arts even in major sects, it was a natural state of affairs, but from the perspective of someone who had already encountered the S-grade "Muyu Palgwae Bigong," that level was far from satisfactory.
'Still, maybe I should learn a few of them. They might become a catalyst for the growth of the "Nameless Art."'
I, who had been pondering briefly, made my decision and nodded.
After roughly organizing my thoughts on Hugo, the next thing that came to mind was Hallie, who was also staying in the Ganghwan Realm.
'Hallie had a hard time this time, too.'
Though most of it had been focused on destruction and slaughter, hard work was hard work regardless.
Thanks to that, I had reaped quite a decent amount of Karma as well.
So since I was already in the Ganghwan Realm, I had been planning to learn at least one worthwhile martial art...
"...It's not easy finding something that suits Hallie. I expected as much, to a degree."
I let out a deep sigh that had escaped me unconsciously and shook my head.
Naturally, it wasn't just once or twice that I had tried to have Hallie use systematic martial arts with her body.
It was true that I had harbored high expectations about how effective it would be if Hallie, who literally possessed the best physical stats, were to employ proper martial arts.
However, the results had been far from good.
'Of course, that wasn't to say it hadn't helped at all.'
That was evident enough just from Hallie's exploits thus far.
Things like how to use the body efficiently, how to properly project power—these had clearly shown what could happen when a monster learned human techniques.
However, the moment one advanced into the realm of higher-dimension fist arts, footwork, and other systematically refined martial arts (武術), the story changed.
It was as if forcing on ill-fitting clothes; rather, she couldn't properly exert her strength.
'At least for Hallie, a fist swung by feeling is stronger than a punch that follows the principles of martial arts.'
So I had hoped that in the martial realm dimension, where all sorts of bizarre and extraordinary martial arts overflowed, there might be a martial art that suited Hallie...
Unfortunately, no results had been seen yet.
'Well, if I keep looking, it'll turn up someday. It's not like a martial art that fits Hallie perfectly and is high-level enough to satisfy me is all that common.'
Hugo's... no, Ha Seung-hun's martial arts journey had only just begun.
Once he entered a full-fledged period of activity, he would naturally come across diverse martial arts and secret manuals.
It would be more than enough to pick something he liked then.
'It's not like it's urgent.'
They had just arrived at the Shaolin Temple, but they would have to wait a while longer before the full-scale conference began.
It was only natural, as it was a gathering of people scattered across every corner of the continent.
So today...
"Hmm, maybe I'll tear into some chicken."
As a way to console Hugo, who would soon be forced onto a vegetarian diet at the temple for a while.
***
Deep within the northern mountain range, the Castle of the Undead was engulfed in its usual bizarre aura.
[Hmph, this is no use right now.]
An eerie voice flowed out from a laboratory deep within its interior.
It was a sinister voice that would cause the faint-hearted to lose their minds just from hearing it, and would freeze even those called heroes in their tracks—
[I had wondered, but so it is... For now, I suppose I must simply store it away.]
It was Hans, the Undead King, the archenemy of Auterica.
Having somehow delivered the finishing blow to the Buncheon Assembly's leader and stolen a part of the divine body, he had returned to the Castle of the Undead to properly manage it and recover his damaged body; recently, he had come across an interesting subject and holed up in his laboratory.
Though that had just ended.
Sssshk.
As he lightly flicked his hand, several corpses lying on the experimental tables were swallowed by shadows rising from below and silently began to disappear.
The corpses had pale faces drained of blood, and wore unique clothing unseen in Auterica.
They were experts of the Ganghwan Realm, supplied through Hallie.
'As expected, it seems difficult to turn other-dimensional natives into undead using existing methods.'
The case was different from when making the Awakened into undead.
These individuals had been born and raised purely within the laws of the Ganghwan Realm; in Auterica, they were existences no different from foreign matter of the world.
As if this world rejected the mysteries of another world.
'Well, they have all trained in the internal energy of the Ganghwan Realm, so it can't be helped.'
In the current situation, the best option to turn them into proper undead was for Hans to cross over to the Ganghwan Realm himself.
As an Awakened who existed outside the laws of the world, Hans would have no particular problems using black magic there.
Though the quality of the results might drop slightly since he wouldn't be able to use the latest equipment and high-grade materials here...
[No.]
Hans, halting his contemplation, flashed a piercing light from his eye sockets.
It was only natural for efficiency to drop when using this world's undead manufacturing techniques in another world.
Then wouldn't it be better to supplement the deficiency by adding techniques usable over there?
'Yes, I heard there is a sorcery in the Ganghwan Realm for creating jiangshi.'
The Zhuge Clan where Hugo had stayed did not deal with such evil methods, but he had easily obtained information about it during the intelligence gathering process.
He had even heard it from Zhuge Hyemi, who was said to be weak and only read books in her room.
'It was said to be a method mainly used by forces like the Demonic Cult or the Blood Cult.'
Since they mainly operated in the shadows, they inevitably lacked military power compared to those who operated in the open.
To compensate for that insufficient power, they devised various methods, one of which was the jiangshi technique that allowed them to freely control the corpses of the strong.
[Kekeke—a jiangshi technique, this is interesting. What would happen if it were additionally applied to other undead... especially the Awakened?]
He had heard that the jiangshi of the Ganghwan Realm, while extremely difficult to create, possessed such might that even mass-produced ones easily surpassed first-rate experts.
Hugo, who had grown even stronger after obtaining strong external martial arts corrections through skills and stats, as well as the "Nameless Art," was now just barely at the level of the Peak Realm, a stage above first-rate...
'It's about time I went out on a field trip.'
Hans, leaving the laboratory, gently stroked his jawbone.
There was nothing much for Hans to do in Auterica anymore anyway.
Heinrich, who remained in the Order, was busy preparing for the northern advance and setting up the final battle.
Eventually, the time would come to pack up and leave after everything was finished; since things had come to this, it didn't seem like a bad idea to make a preliminary visit to the place he would move to before completely relocating his base.
'First, I'll have to whip the kids back into shape.'
And so—
The invasion of the otherworldly Demon King drew near to the collapsing martial world.