Chapter 265 (1/2)
Act 1
After finishing his sparring session with Sun Wukong, Su-hyeun took a short nap. He needed to refill his drained stamina and magical energy reserve, what with the war against the Heavenly World scheduled to take place in only a matter of days.
A while later, he woke up, and while using his still drowsy eyes, he confirmed that the room was completely empty. He then exited from the residence. The Bull Demon King and Sun Wukong, who were chatting away outside, briefly checked his mood and waved their hands.
“You’ve woken up?”
“Oh hey, you’re here?”
It kind of felt like they were hiding something from him.
Su-hyeun studied them with a suspicious glint in his eyes. Unsurprisingly, the Bull Demon King showed no change in his expression, while Sun Wukong, a poor liar to begin with, did his best to avoid meeting his eyes and whistled as nonchalantly as possible.
The contrast here was truly stark, as perhaps the world’s most straight-faced liar was standing right next to someone incapable of lying.
“Did you sleep well, big brother?”
“I, uh, I woke up just now, too.”
“…Is that so?”
Su-hyeun studied Sun Wukong’s face for a little while before turning around.
If they wanted to keep secrets from him, then he wasn’t going to dig any deeper. If this had been in the beginning, then sure, he might have asked, but now, he trusted them implicitly and had no reason to doubt them.
“Where are you headed off to?” the Bull Demon King asked after noticing that Su-hyeun was walking toward the rear of the residence.
The latter glanced at Sun Wukong, who was still seemingly minding the atmosphere, and replied, “There was something I wanted to confirm, actually.”
“Could it be the Somersault cloud?”
“Yes.”
“Do take care, then. Ah, and on your way back, please get some firewood as well. The rooms were cold last night.”
“I will.”
That was a request for a simple errand.
Su-hyeun tried to eavesdrop on their conversation as he slowly walked away, but he couldn’t hear what the two of them were saying. It seemed that they blocked off all sound to ensure that he would not hear anything.
“Which means they have something private to discuss.”
Su-hyeun left them behind and climbed the mountain. Although the route to the summit was steep, he didn’t take long to reach it. He stood at the point closest to the clouds and was greeted by the wide-open vista and the refreshingly cool air that entered deep into his lungs.
The mountain’s summit was home to a wide flat plain where all the trees had been cut down. Su-hyeun stood in the middle and slowly closed his eyes.
Then, he spoke inwardly.
“Come.”
He automatically came to know the command word without anyone telling him. Although he couldn’t tell whether that was one of the effects of the Somersault cloud belonging to him or the system doing its thing again, not knowing the truth didn’t stop him from unhesitatingly calling out in his mind again.
“Somersault cloud!”
Shu— Shushushu—
Pure white air currents suddenly generated all around Su-hyeun. They then enveloped his body like some kind of armor. No, they actually were no different from real armor now.
“Okay, so I’ve managed to materialize it to this point…”
While he was resting on his back, Su-hyeun hadn’t been completely idle. He was picturing how he would go about using the Somersault cloud.
This divine artifact’s utilization wasn’t fixed to one method, and how it should be deployed was wholly dependent on the user.
Sun Wukong primarily used the Somersault cloud to fly around, as well as to summon storms to rain down lightning bolts. There must have been other ways to use it, but those two were the most famous techniques that symbolized the Great Sage Heaven’s Equal, Sun Wukong.
Of the two, Su-hyeun didn’t require an ability related to long-distance travel. Although not as fast as the Somersault cloud, Miru would still be by his side. Considering the red dragon’s raw pace, it would be possible to reach the other side of Earth in only a few hours.
So, the other way Su-hyeun came up with to use the Somersault cloud was to materialize it like a set of armor.
As for the second one…
“Attack.” Su-hyeun raised his hand toward the sky and murmured, “Thunderbolt.”
Flash—
Rumbleeee—
Blinding streaks of white light flashed above the darkened clouds in the sky.
However, they couldn’t descend to the ground. His control over the Somersault cloud wasn’t quite good enough for that yet.
“This is harder than it looks.”
He had been thinking that it would be easy to pull off while picturing it in his mind.
The Somersault cloud that now belonged to Su-hyeun allowed him to use several new abilities like regular skills. One of them let him call forth lightning and create storm clouds.
“Controlling nature is originally the domain of a Taoist god, right?”
He recalled what the Bull Demon King had told him during a theory lesson in the past.
Assimilation with Mother Nature itself. Such a thing was possible for the Bull Demon King who had reached the very pinnacle of the Sage Arts and was infinitely close to becoming a true Taoist god. Once one became a god, then one could easily call forth storms and make it rain, or even cause an earthquake to break out.
In a way, the Somersault cloud could be referred to as a divine artifact that possessed the powers of a Taoist god. Considering that Su-hyeun—a complete beginner in the Sage Arts compared to either Sun Wukong or the Bull Demon King—was able to manipulate the weather, even if only by a little, it could be said that such a feat was already pretty special.
[Basic Breathing Technique]
<ul>
Grade: –
Category: Active (activation type)
The Sage Arts’ basic breathing method. Maintaining the “Basic Breathing Technique” reduces your magical energy consumption by 39%.
Proficiency: 61.91%
Your magical energy concentration will rise depending on your proficiency.
</ul>
[Sage’s Eye]
<ul>
Grade: –
Category: Active (activation type)
Category: Sage Art
It is the “eye” that sees the world’s truth. All objects and the surrounding world will slow down in your view and allow you to see what you wish to find. Additional abilities will be granted as your proficiency improves.
Proficiency: 25.22%
Granted ability: “Gyeol”
</ul>
[Sage’s Eye: Gyeol]
<ul>
Grade: –
Category: Active (activation type)
Category: Sage Art, Sage’s Eye
It can only be used when the “Sage’s Eye” is active. It can analyze the weaknesses and characteristics of the designated target caught in your view.
Proficiency: 23.17%
</ul>