Due to deal restructure text to speech player is currently unavailable. Will find a solution soon.

Chapter 307: Chapter 307

* * *

One year had passed by .

Su-hyeun was sitting in a lotus position . He did this not only for the good it caused to one’s body but also to improve his concentration . He learned all about this while living with the Bull Demon King, and it had become the most comfortable position for him since then .

Shu-wut, shu-wuwu—

Clouds moved around Su-hyeun’s vicinity .

It was the Somersault cloud .

Thick clouds rising like fog covered the surroundings . They eventually blanketed the mountainside, and everything became so hazy that it was almost impossible to see .

—Even now, the consumption of energy is too great .

The Somersault cloud spoke, and Su-hyeun wiped the sweat trickling down his forehead and focused .

For the past year, he had been stuck in a certain time frame . Su-hyeun had been refining the methods of controlling both the Somersault cloud and the Palm Leaf .

He needed to master these two divine artifacts through the Sage Arts . They helped greatly in raising the overall proficiency level of the discipline itself .

“Command the clouds personally…,” he reminded himself .

Su-hyeun focused his attention on controlling the Somersault cloud . It had become a part of him . He wasn’t sure exactly when it started happening, but the cloud would engage him in a conversation every so often .

The cloud would usually remind him to try not to control it through his energy, but to rely instead in the forces found in nature .

‘I can feel it . ’

Su-hyeun succeeded in spreading the ‘fog’ all around this expansive mountainside . Right at that moment, Su-hyeun began to lose his sense of where exactly his body was .

He felt as if this massive fog was part of him as well .

‘This is…this is the Somersault cloud . ’

The Somersault cloud was the cloud of the beginning . It was also another type of ‘authority’ that he was given .

At first, Su-hyeun simply thought of it as another ability that allowed him to command the clouds and summon lightning bolts . Maybe he took the Somersault cloud as yet another item or skill rather than the ‘cloud of the beginning’ or the ‘living divine artifact’ .

But as he gradually got more familiar with it and his understanding deepened, he realized what kind of an entity the Somersault cloud actually was .

—The first cloud to be created in the beginning…the proof of godhood and the living divine artifact…

The Somersault cloud revealed to Su-hyeun when he first asked what or who it was .

He had forgotten about the bit of it being the ‘first cloud to be created in the beginning’ . Moreover, he had not fully understood neither claims of ‘proof of godhood’ nor the ‘living divine artifact’ . He solely focused on the abilities it offered . That’s all .

But now that he got this far, it felt as if he finally understood one-tenth of what those statements meant .

‘This is the proof of godhood . ’

The godhood signified the ‘qualification’ to become a god, and the Somersault cloud was part of nature . The authority to control the nature’s power as if it was part of his own body was basically the Somersault cloud in a nutshell .

The Somersault cloud was the ‘authority’ that possessed an ego but had no physical form .

‘It seems like I have figured it out just a little bit . ’

Bang!

Su-hyeun opened his eyes the moment he heard a noise coming directly at him .

A massive shadow cast over the hazy fog from beyond, and many smaller shadows were standing around it as well .

Su-hyeun’s brows furrowed, and then he spoke irritably, “So noisy . ”

“Guruk, gururuk…,” the reply came to him, although it sounded rather scared .

His entire summons, including the Ouroboros and the Chief Gatekeeper, instantly stopped moving when they heard him sounding annoyed . They were trained well .

Miru was flying around the world at the moment . Thankfully, the red dragon and the other summons were under his control, and the Broken Sandglass’s effects applied to them as well .

‘I’m still not sure whether I should be happy or not about these guys gaining some ego after the application rate has gone up…’

He was also diligently raising the ‘Dead Summoning’ skill’s proficiency . Normally, he didn’t need to utilize this skill, but, while staying in this place, he left them summoned all the time .

As his proficiency improved, so did the application rate . Prince Nezha, for instance, had regained about half of his original appearance by now .

However, their curiosity and consciousness had improved gradually as well . Thus, when no particular orders were issued, they would often do what pleased them .

Just like now…

He ordered them not to go too far, but they ended up causing a ruckus in the surrounding area after messing around among themselves for a while .

He figured that allowing them some degree of freedom would greatly improve their proficiency, so he didn’t restrict them from doing what they like . However, he certainly could not accept them causing a commotion, which disrupted his concentration .

“In any case, at this point, I’m happy with the Somersault cloud,” he commented .

It took him a year to get to this stage—improving proficiencies for the Somersault cloud, the Necromancer trait, and also the Dead Summoning .

He reached the goal he had set for the period of one year . He felt like his degree of understanding in the Sage Arts had deepened while learning to control the Somersault cloud better .

‘Next up is…’

Su-hyeun stood up and unsheathed his sword .

‘…the Palm Leaf . ’

He slowly waved the Palm Leaf Sword around and roused some wind . At first, the wind was gentle . But he continued to swing the weapon to his heart’s content until a strong typhoon emerged, wreaking havoc .

* * *

A year and a half had passed .

The Palm Leaf proved harder to control than the Somersault cloud .

It was as if trying to tame an enraged bull . Suppressing and restricting the Palm Leaf’s powers was extremely difficult . Even by injecting a little bit of strength into it, Su-hyeun felt like waving a hiltless, blunt iron rod .

Even so, he was getting used to the sensation . There was an unexpected advantage from all his concerted effort to better control the Palm Leaf .

[Basic Breathing Technique]

* Grade: —

* Category: Active (activation type)

* The Sage Arts’ basic breathing technique: While maintaining the breathing technique, the magical energy consumption will decrease by 45% .

* Proficiency: 71 . 21%

* Depending on the proficiency, the magical energy concentration will improve .

[Sage Arts]

* Grade: —

* Category: Passive

* It is a type of discipline created by Taoist gods . It improves the magical energy’s purity . One can also acquire related skills . A unique ability will manifest with the improvement in the proficiency .

* Proficiency: 21 . 81%

* The proficiency for the Somersault cloud and the Palm Leaf is +15% .

Su-hyeun had no idea on how to improve the Sage Arts’ proficiency .

The Bull Demon King wasn’t around to guide him, and he didn’t have any mentors to give him pointers about the Sage Arts . As such, all he could do was stick to what the Bull Demon King had told him before, which was to meditate and strengthen his mind to refine the Sage Arts .

That’s why he decided to improve the Somersault cloud’s and the Palm Leaf’s proficiencies . He thought that learning to freely wield them was the fastest method to become stronger .

But a happy variation appeared in an unexpected place .

‘The opposite of that idea was also a possibility . ’

Mastering the Sage Arts would make it easier to wield both the Somersault cloud and the Palm Leaf . However, the reverse of that was him working hard on freely wielding both the divine artifacts caused the Sage Arts’ proficiency to increase naturally as well .

Su-hyeun had confirmed his status for the first time in the past two and a half years, and he was quite satisfied by this sudden change . On the other hand, he was also somewhat puzzled by it, too .

‘But what exactly had changed about me?’

Su-hyeun had been hoping for an improvement in the Sage Arts’ proficiency . He figured that maybe he would actually reach the realm of the gods once the proficiency reached the 100% mark .

But even after it had significant improvements, he could not really tell what had changed about him . The only thing that did change was the numerical value .

‘The proficiency has increased by more than 10%, too…’

Su-hyeun scratched his head .

“I don’t get it,” he muttered, annoyed and frustrated at the same time .

With the change not in proportion to the numerical value, his body did not seem to have undergone changes . Su-hyeun could only smack his lips in frustration .

He wondered if he was being too ambitious .

‘But being ambitious is a positive trait… Too ambitious?’

He had already gotten so much better in controlling both the Somersault cloud and the Palm Leaf, anyway . The proficiency for the Dead Summoning had improved, and the scope of the Necromancer trait’s usage had expanded as well .

His rate of growth reached the original target he had set for himself .

“Let’s not get impatient here…,” he reminded himself .

Su-hyeun recalled once more the Bull Demon King’s advice to be patient . He remembered that nothing good or worth having would come out of things done in haste .

* * *

More time went by .

Su-hyeun had only a day left .

‘Has it been three years already?’

He hardly noticed it . How should he go about spending this one day, though?

He had been thinking about this for a while, but he couldn’t really think of anything . There was still much that he could do or accomplish in one day .

After contemplating some more, Su-hyeun finally managed to come up with something ‘special’ .

“Everyone, go back,” Su-hyeun ordered all the summoned creatures .

Shu-wuwu—

For the past three years, Su-hyeun had the grunts and cries of the summons for company . Miru had not much to do anyway, so it slept most of the time . It had grown bigger as a result .

Su-hyeun had Miru return as well . Then, he made his move . He searched for the most scenic location in the surroundings .

He found a grassy plain with a nice view and the sun overhead . Then he lay on the ground . He felt the cool, gentle breeze .

The wind shouldn’t blow in this kind of world, however . Yet it did .

—You worked hard .

The Palm Leaf had brought that wind, complimenting Su-hyeun .

‘Thank you very much . ’

Su-hyeun lay down and used his hands as pillows .

‘Worked hard, it said,’ Su-hyeun repeated, feeling good about himself .

That was the first thing the Palm Leaf said in the past three years .

For some reason, hearing those words from the Palm Leaf had put his mind at ease . He felt that he really did work diligently and that he deserved anything good that would come out of this .

The breeze tickled his cheeks .

Even the grass on his back felt comfortable and inviting . Although it was not as comfortable as an actual bed, no presidential suite could top its atmosphere and spectacular view .

‘This is great . ’

The final day ought to be special . It was to…

‘That’s right . ’

…to stop worrying altogether and take a long break .

‘I really worked hard after all, didn’t I?’

Three years… No, I still had one more day . Not exactly three years yet .

In any case…

‘As for the remaining day, I don’t want to bother with anything . ’

Stuck in a time frame where nothing moved… As such, it was truly a quiet world, too .

At first, he found it rather unnatural . But now that he started to ease up, he began to ponder that rather than lonely and isolated, everything seemed so peaceful and still .

In other words, it all depended on his state of mind .

‘How long has it been since I was like this?’ Su-hyeun recalled .

To go somewhere far away without anybody to disturb his peaceful sleep as the wind gently caressed him…

It might seem way too simplistic, but this was how Su-hyeun wanted to spend his last day .

Shu-ru-ruk—

Su-hyeun closed his eyes . In less than a minute, he fell into a slumber .

[The Sage Arts’ proficiency has increased by 10% . ]

A system message popped up, but Su-hyeun didn’t get to see it .

In his hazy, dreamy state, he briefly wondered if something happened . But he chose not to care . He didn’t bother to check, thinking that he could always look into it later when he woke up . For the time being, he didn’t want to be interrupted by anything else .

Eventually, the period of three years afforded by the Broken Sandglass came to an end, and…

Whoosh!

The wind began to blow once more . However, the Palm Leaf did not cause this wind .

The clouds overhead moved, and the sunrays touched Su-hyeun’s face .

Once again, time moved forward .

And right at that moment…

Wu-wuong, buzz—

The world’s aura started to gather around Su-hyeun . It was silent and swift .

Even then, Su-hyeun did not wake up . He was in deep sleep . His mind and body was finally able to get its much-needed rest .

[Magic count has increased by 1 . ]

[Agility has increased by 1 . ]

[Stamina has increased by 1 . ]

[Reflex has increased by 2 . ]

[Death Aura has increased by 25 . ]

[Strength has increased by 1 . ]

[Strength stat has reached 100 points . ]

[Your body has taken a step beyond the boundaries of man . ]

[You have acquired the qualification of godhood . ]