It felt like my head had exploded from the monster's tentacle attack at the end, but surprisingly, there was no pain. When you die that way, you don't even have time to feel the pain, despite the gruesome nature of the death. Of course, my neck felt stiff and my eyes were bloodshot, but in a way, it could be said that I died without pain.
What I was thinking about now was why I had done it.
Why did I do such a thing?
Even after being scolded by Wangliang and Han Jin, why did I foolishly end up fighting a horde of monsters? Was I really an incurable fool? Why did I make such a fatal mistake now, after doing so well until now?
After a long time, I understood the reason.
"I must have wanted to die..."
That's right.
I was so miserable in life that I wanted to escape.
Even though I had been practicing the secret technique I had longed for and training in martial arts, the past few years of living under Li Guang's watchful eye had been incredibly painful. Li Guang treated me as a traitor for betraying his expectations, and each day was a struggle. I had endured with the single-minded belief that I had to become stronger, but perhaps I had reached my limit.
And when I met Wangliang, I regained confidence in my strength by cutting down the monsters and, wanting to show my strength to Wangliang even more, I made a poor judgment.
Looking back, it was a foolish decision, but the psychological pressure I had been under had led me to make a poor choice. This was because deep down, I had the mindset of "it's fine to die."
When I actually died and started my tenth reincarnation, a wave of intense regret hit me.
If I had listened to Wangliang's advice, I could have heard more detailed information about what had happened from him! And I could have found new clues in the secrets hidden in the phoenix fragment and the time Wangliang had spent!
I had lost so many opportunities because I couldn't control my momentary anger.
I felt ashamed of myself for making such a foolish mistake despite the many people who had given me advice.
I remained motionless for two hours, watching the dawn. Normally, I should have gone to get the Dark Heaven Secret and taken the elixir, but my mind was empty due to the intense self-reproach and shame.
"......"
The sky brightened. I watched the morning sun rise while leaning against the stable wall. As I gazed at the sunlight with blurry eyes, I thought to myself.
'What should I do now?'
Getting the Dark Heaven Secret, going to Mount Huang to eat the thousand-year-old ginseng, and pulling Muye out of the ruins to perform a ritual are all set. After pulling Muye out, I'll have to move quickly, but I can deal with that.
But what about after that?
I have already learned most of the techniques of the Azure Dragon Martial Hall, including the Thundering Breath. Of course, I can't use them at the master level, but I have indeed mastered all the advanced techniques. If I were to enter the Azure Dragon Martial Hall for training now, it would create a huge sense of alienation.
'If they find out I know the Thundering Breath... Li Guang will definitely kill me.'
Even if I can hide my level, it's a problem. I have been under Li Guang's cold gaze for years, and it even made me want to die. I don't want to return to the Azure Dragon Martial Hall in my current state of mind. It would only sap my strength.
I shook my head and muttered.
"I don't know. I don't know at all."
Fortunately, there are many 'clues' I need to uncover.
The existence of the Demon Suppression Hall, which operates behind the Jin Yi Wei, how the Demon Suppression Hall obtained the Seven Treasures, and what the 'new interdimensional being' summoned by the Demon Suppression Hall is. After thinking about these things, I came to a conclusion.
"This time, no matter what happens, I will live as long as possible. I will act cautiously and trust Wangliang's words."
I deliberately spoke out loud to set my resolve. I felt I needed to do this to keep my mind from breaking. Then, with a renewed sense of determination, I stood up. I was determined to survive at least twenty years this time.
'And I won't return to the Azure Dragon Martial Hall.'
At least not in this life. I might need a more desperate power, but for now, I didn't even want to see Li Guang's face. I set this arbitrary goal and started running out of the stable.
After obtaining the Heavenly Rock Secret, I immediately rushed to Mount Huang. Comparing the speed of my lightness technique now to the past, it seemed much faster since I had mastered the Heavenly Execution and occasionally used the Thundering Breath. So, I reduced the time to reach Mount Huang by two days compared to before.
Squeak
I stopped on a rock above the mountain and looked down at Mount Huang. Thinking that I had done this almost ten times, I felt a bit tired of it. But I forced myself to gather my resolve and prepared to head to the secret realm of Mount Huang.
After entering the secret realm of Mount Huang, I ate the thousand-year-old ginseng and the black and white lotus again. This time, I didn't feel the sensation of my meridians opening; instead, it felt like energy was accumulating below my dantian. It seemed that my body's meridians were almost fully opened, and I had entered the stage of energy accumulation. Feeling no significant progress, I was somewhat disappointed.
'Probably, eating the thousand-year-old ginseng won't bring much progress from now on.'
Thinking this, I felt despondent. I had been living partly for the pleasure of eating the thousand-year-old ginseng, but if it had no significant effect, what would I live for now? Grumbling to myself, I dived into the pond this time.
Splash
I entered the Water Demon's ruins and stood in front of the altar again.
First, I moved the wooden box containing the gold ingots outside, then returned to my position and thought.
'Why can I read this text?'
Until now, I had been so focused on obtaining the Water Demon's sword Muye that I had never thought about this. This text clearly looks like the strange language of another dimension, so how can I read the text in the Water Demon's ruins? If I couldn't read it, I wouldn't have thought of spilling blood on the altar and would have wandered around for thousands of years.
Being able to read a language I've never learned is clearly strange.
Rumble
After pondering, I spilled blood on the altar again and watched the stone wall open. This time, I prepared with a spear instead of a sword. I had imagined this scenario dozens of times, so I decided to break through the spider guardian in a different way this time.
"Let's go..."
I focused the Thundering Spirit Qi on the spear and stood quietly at the entrance of the log bridge, waiting. Soon, a huge explosion sounded, and something black appeared. The giant spider guardian leaped from the ceiling, spotted me, and rolled its blood-red eyes.
Squish - !!
I gritted my teeth. Strangely, the guardian wasn't as scary as before. This was probably because I had fought hundreds of interdimensional monsters just a few days ago. I raised the spear with a fierce look in my eyes.
Swish!
A basic spear technique called "Lan" shot out. The spider's front leg, which was flying fiercely toward me, was caught in the spinning spear blade and tore off with a sizzling sound. The spider's front leg was incredibly tough, almost like solid steel, but it was shattered by a single application of the Thundering Eight Techniques.
At the same time, I didn't need to worry about the attack range and skillfully deflected the guardian's silk threads with the "Na" technique, advancing half a step and stepping into the Zhen position.
"Ha!"
Whirr!
The thrust of "Cha" pierced the joint of the giant spider's large leg. The rotation of the spear instantly expanded several times, successfully severing one of the spider's eight large legs.
Squish - !!!!
Scream -
A chorus of voices erupted from the spider's mouth. Confirming that I had landed an effective blow on the spider for the first time, I grinned.
"Ha... So that was its real face?"
Crack
Suddenly, red bubbles sprouted from the spider guardian's eye area, and a giant human face appeared between the bubbles. The human face, clearly human, exuded a sinister aura.
Swish swish swish
Swish swish swish swish!!
The spider, seemingly enraged, began spewing hundreds or thousands of white threads from its entire body without even trying to make a web. This was the technique that made me think I couldn't possibly defeat the giant spider when I first encountered it. I had no confidence in breaking through the waterfall of silk and killing the giant spider.
But I was different now. There was no reason to give the spider time to spew all its silk. I immediately activated my ultimate technique.
Thundering!
The world slowed down. Thundering Spirit Qi surged through my entire body, making my nerves feel like lightning. In the world that had turned black and white, I leaped without hesitation and threw the spear. It was the only spear-throwing technique in the Thundering Spirit Style.