251. East, Cheonseon Academy (16)
There is a small garden in the center of Sky Island where Cheonseon Academy is located.
This garden is only open for special occasions in the school building, but there are some students who don’t understand why there is something so special about the garden that they strictly block entry and exit with three or four layers of barriers.
Students of the academy can set foot in the garden around the time they graduate and leave the academy, and many students can’t hide their wonder as there is only a stone decoration made in the shape of a bizarre fruit.
Thousand Peninsula.
An ordinary stone in the shape of a flat peach.
It looked the same as when I saw it in the game.
Originally, in order to enter this garden, you have to complete a time-consuming and cumbersome quest, but you can access it by bypassing the barrier using Shady’s power.
It was fortunate that there wasn’t a barrier all the way to the bottom like Hanzo’s tomb had been before.
[ Putting such a strange ornament under an old tree… Is it a decoration with a different meaning? ]
“There is a tradition that has been handed down to Cheonseon Academy. Graduating students come here and drop a drop of blood and swear an oath.”
[ What oath? ]
Sierra asked, staring me in the face, and I drew the sword from her waistband and made a shallow cut in the palm of her hand.
Instantly, drops of red blood formed on my palms.
“I don’t know. Didn’t I swear that I would firmly keep the mindset and attitude that a martial artist should have? Moorim is such a place.”
She replied, clenching her fists and dripping blood.
Blood drips down.
ㅡTalk.
The drops of blood hit the Cheonbando, creating a red crown.
There was only blood on the stone.
Aside from that, nothing special happened.
[ What are you trying to do? ]
“I wondered if this meaningless stone might really be the stone that brings the power to become a hermit.”
[ …I don’t understand. ]
“I thought it might be bloodstone.”
[ Bloodstone? ]
“Even though blood ties are unique, it’s just a group of blood mages, right?
[ If this large-sized stone is bloodstone, it must have the power to become a hermit. ]
“But… I wonder if my guess was wrong. I don’t feel anything special otherwise.”
I swept the blood on the cloth and smelled it. No blood had been absorbed.
And each bloodstone has a special recipe. When blood that does not fit the recipe is absorbed, the bloodstone loses its power and shatters.
So, if Chunbando is bloodstone, after absorbing blood, one of the two reactions that strengthened the power of the bloodstone that broke the bloodstone had to appear.
[ In the first place, there is no red light from the bloodstone. On the outside, it looks no different from an ordinary block of stone. ]
Yes.
From the beginning, bloodstone is red.
So I wondered if only the surface was coated with stone powder, but it didn’t seem to be the case.
[ Now what? ]
“I have to go back. There’s nothing good about staying here too long.”
I tried to turn away, resisting the urge to click my tongue.
However, while brushing off the blood-stained fingers, I felt a strange sensation.
“…Wait a minute.”
Suddenly, a number of cases flashes in my head at the minute sense that ordinary people would not even notice.
‘Powder…?’
I hurriedly approached Cheonbando and slowly scanned its surface.
I took the powder from the surface of the Cheonbando on my tongue.
[ My, disciple… That’s not a fruit… You know that too. Now I’m trying to eat even a stone…]
“…It’s not dust.”
[ Huh? ]
“This powder on the surface… It’s not dust. It’s the powder that came from the grinding of the stone. If my guess is correct, the stone was also recently chipped.”
[ But the history of the Cheonbando is long… No way… ]
It was only then that Sierra’s eyes narrowed as much as she realized my meaning.
“Yes, I think Wei Zihan moved the Cheonbando. This must be an imitation prepared by him. That’s why there was no reaction to my blood.”
If Wei Zihan took advantage of the chaos caused by the attack of the monsters that collaborated with the King of Blood, he hijacked the real Cheonbando and left the fake Cheonbando he had prepared.
It was a plausible hypothesis.
If that’s the case, everything fits.
Attack of the monsters.
I still have some doubts about it, but the deal with the Blood Sea King.
The reason why Yui Zihan entered the academy without rebuilding the Huashan Sect.
A plan that took quite a long time.
However, a bloodstone of such an enormous size that it is worth investing that much, a thousand bandos.
It might not be so wrong to say that a bloodstone of this size would take 9,000 years to ripen.
To complete the bloodstone by collecting blood that meets the conditions, it must have required the blood of quite a lot of people.
I guess it has to do with the tradition of academics who swear by sprinkling blood all over the peninsula upon graduation.
On the contrary, there is a question as to whether Cheonbando was originally a normal block of stone, but the question could be refuted by the stone powder that can be seen and touched in front of the eyes.
[ After hearing it, it doesn’t look like a stone that has been worn out over time. ]
Aside from being clean, it was an amount of powder that could not have been created unless it had been made recently.
“Let’s go back for now. I don’t think there’s anything more to do here.”
After reaping such a meaningful harvest, I met Volk briefly and waited for Keraf before joining the cadets.
“Did you know what I asked for?”
Volk, whom I met at the restaurant, ate his food in a hurry and thumped his chest as if he had answered my question.
I handed over the water, and Volk immediately drank it in.
“Ha ha… I recognized it. I acted picky as if I was asking something like that, but when I gave him a little compliment, he opened his mouth.”
“I’m surprised. I never thought you were good at talking.”
“Adults think that children can’t lie.”
Volk smirks.
He knows very well that he is young.
Should I say that objectification is good?
Volk was a character that I couldn’t talk to much in the game, so it was fun to talk to him because more interesting things came out than I thought.
“There must have been several accidents in which people were injured, both large and small. They passed it on saying that it was an accident that could not be helped because it was a place where unmanned people gathered. Anyway, the Cheonseon Academy said that even if such an accident occurred, it would stand firm every time.”
“Speaking of a big accident…”
“Common accidents like getting seriously injured while taking a test?”
There are a lot of cases depending on the recipe for bloodstone, but it doesn’t seem like they intentionally created an accident each time.
Soon after Volk looked around for a moment, he whispered in my ear.
“Can I come over here anyway?”
“Why?”
“There are urinary collectors.”
“Oh, that’s right.”
“They’re staring at you…?”
“That’s right. They must have come after me.”
As Volk said, there was a figure presumed to be a urethra collector in one corner of the restaurant.
Uncommonly blonde hair and dark skin.
Long slit red eyes, an impression that doesn’t look good at all. Even the old-fashioned clothes that seem to cost quite a bit.
‘This is perfect…’
Geumsun.
It was a visual that reminded me of that word…
“The food at the school is truly a delicacy.”
“Would you like to try this?”
“hahahaha, I’m fine.”
… Judging by his immediate attitude toward the people around him, he may have more basic manners than you think.
[ You sure have a urethra. ]
“How many bags are there in all?”
[ Just looking at it roughly, it goes beyond seven sacks. ]
“You carry so many swords and no one thinks it’s strange?”
[ Well, what kind of people are ordinary people who pay a lot of money to visit the Cheonseon Academy? I guess everyone is going to do that and move on. ]
“Anyway, I think it’s clear that they’re targeting me. To be precise, they’re targeting Master.”
Ever since I entered the restaurant, his eyes hadn’t looked away from me.
I was keeping a reasonable distance because it was far away right now and I didn’t think I would rush at it blindly in such an open place, but I was able to instinctively notice one thing in his eyes.
‘Seeing how they look, they will attack sooner or later.’
What he’s after is Sierra.
Having a urethra that goes beyond seven bags must be aiming for the ‘Gudoma Ring’.
The world of demon swordsmanship is complex and difficult.
Among them, there is also a ridiculous skill that handles nine urethra at once called Kudomahwan (九刀魔環).
It is a kind of secret swordsmanship that can only be completed when possessing nine urethra, in which the nine urethra form a loop behind the caster’s back to intercept nearby enemies.
In the game, the advantage of ‘automatic hunting’ was great, but the damage wasn’t very strong, so I didn’t really consider it because I was confident in the control.
What I’m curious about more than that is ‘how did he steal someone else’s urethra?’
Usually, a urethra has a strong tendency to attach itself to a single host. On the contrary, if there were many guys who became monsters because they couldn’t let go of them even if they tried to escape, there were many, but being robbed had to be seen as a special case.
Moreover, my urethra ‘Sierra’ has already been sealed. So taking Sierra away from me won’t be so easy.
If there is a method or item that can steal the belonging item from that guy, I might be a little greedy.
Anyway, I’m not going to attack right now, so I’ll put off the collector’s side for a while.
“Zetto, you are here.”
From noble mtl dot com
Keraph has arrived.
Keraph, his eyes wide open, sat down next to him asking if his business was over already.
“What happened to Yui Zihan?”
“I found Jeto to tell you that. He entered the basement in the middle, but there was a barrier there, so it was difficult for my lower spirits to approach.”
“It’s a basement…”
Why are the villains digging up such a mess to build a secret basement?
Then I slowly explained to Keraf what I had investigated and what I was guessing.
“Really? Bloodstone?”
“Voice loud, Keraf.”
“I’m sorry. But wouldn’t it be too much for a bloodstone of the size Zeto described?”
“It’s a big deal, but I think it’s been connected from the beginning for some reason.”
In the game, everything went according to schedule, so Innocence Academy wasn’t at the center of it. In the beginning, the next destination was a patriotic country and a ‘festival’ to be held in the patriotic country, so a series of events had to be seen as connected.
“What do you mean…”
“Well, that’s what happened. So what do you think of Keraf? What do we do now?”
“Even if Wii Zihan stole the Thousand Peninsula, I don’t think he would carry the goods to the blood bridge himself… I guess he would have left it to the transporter.”
“It’s a carrier… What if the blood hasn’t been filled yet? I’ve been using my strength this time.”
“I heard that a mountain was built with the corpses of monsters.”
“Rumors are always exaggerated. Actually, it wasn’t like building a mountain. Like a hill…”
“…Unlucky as ever.”
Volk frowns all over his arrogance just because he threw a joke.
“hahahaha…”
Yeah, this was a bit unlucky when I thought about it.
But it was true that it was difficult.
It is better than not being ignorant of hardships by not being condescending.
Then, Keraf, who didn’t like my legend, continued talking about Wei Zihan.
“If the blood wasn’t filled enough, wouldn’t they be anxious to replenish it somehow? It’s only natural to feel impatient as they reach the finish line. The cadets are just about to come to the academy… And maybe the tourists too. ..”
“Whoa… Turtle…”
“If that’s the case, just look at what kind of schedule Yu Zihan has prepared, and you’ll find the answer.”
With those words, I stood up from my seat.
“Are you leaving already?”
“There should be one or two women waiting for me.”
[ …Do it in moderation. ]
I meant to make fun of Volk, but Sierra’s capital, which had been hit unintentionally, was immediately stabbed in the back of the head.
“What can we do?”
I answered Keraf’s question by rubbing the back of my head.
“Well… Watching Wei Zihan doesn’t seem very useful right now… Why don’t we find a carrier?”
***
Meanwhile, Wei Zihan, head of the Cheonseon Academy in the basement, was drooling while looking at the neatly cut halves of the body.
“Huh…”
It was Lafert’s body that he arranged in the middle of the night.
“Did you find out who did it?”
In response to Wei Zihan’s low-key question, a blood mage nearby opened his mouth.
“That’s… When I read the blood, all I hear is the hum of a certain girl.”
“The girl? You mean it was the woman who killed Laferte?”
“Right now… It seems so.”
“Tsk, anyway, since the only transporter died… You should inform the Blood Church of this fact. This time, tell them to send a better guy.”
“Yes!”
The blood mage uttered a roaring answer and disappeared into the basement.
“……”
Ouija Han, who was staring down at Laperte’s corpse with his eyes narrowed, turned his head.
There was a bloody stone in the shape of a flat peach where his eyes were directed.
It was a thousand peninsula.
Wui Zihan, who was staring at the unfinished Cheonbando, bursts into laughter at last.
“Even that young serpent wouldn’t give blood without a blind man’s neck… Huh, really… Maybe he’s possessed by a ghost. Completion is just around the corner. There’s nothing to be done.”