Episode 36

The Roar of the Demon Lord swooshed through the air easily, turning everything into nothing but ash, regardless of whether it was the statues or the vengeful spirits. After the sparkles disappeared, Tan Xing and Chen Jing were the only ones left standing on the artery.

Chen Jing’s clothes were all gone and so was his human skin, revealing a monster body covered with nothing but blisters. At the same time, half of his monster body was gone too, as if a ferocious dragon had bitten a chunk off.

Tan Xin, on the other hand, was surrounded by a red glow. Once the attack was over, the red glow disappeared and she could be seen panting heavily. That red glow was probably some form of protection she had exchanged for in a previous Challenge.

“Dang, a Handbook owner isn’t always so easy to kill!” Su Jin scoffed before collapsing onto the ground. The Roar of the Demon Lord had also caused great damage to his own body. Wisps of black smoke rose out from the Demon Lord’s Longbow and entered his body, making him feel like an army of ants was eating slowly into his flesh. The pain he suffered drove him to the brink of insanity.

“Damn…damn you! I can’t…I can’t believe you had so many tricks up your sleeve! But so what? You’ve LOST! And now, you’re going to lose your life too!!” Tan Xin walked towards Su Jin with a maniacal smile on her face. As she walked past Chen Jing, a vajra appeared in her hand and she suddenly thrust it backwards into Chen Jing’s head.

Chen Jing convulsed violently as he fell to the ground. Tan Xin cackled as she pulled the vajra out again and licked the blood on the vajra. Her entire body shuddered and she looked like she could die happy now, as if she had just tasted the most delicious thing in the world.

Su Jin’s vision was getting blurry and it was hard for him to even remain conscious, but he could sense that Tan Xin was coming for him.

“I lost to Tan Xin after all?” Su Jin’s eyelids trembled slightly as a feeling of indignation filled his heart. At the end of everything, it was his fault for not being decisive enough. If he had killed Tan Xin immediately after he realized she was suspicious, he wouldn’t be in this state and Shi Teng wouldn’t have been sliced into half either.

“Time to meet your maker!” Tan Xin raised her vajra and brought it down hard towards Su Jin’s head.

But just then, a beam of light hit Su Jin from behind and pulled him backwards at high speed. Kano Mai was standing right next to the heart and had already flung Shi Teng in, so she quickly used her Soul Whisperer to snag Su Jin from behind to pull him towards her.

Tan Xin was surprised for a second, then ran with all her might when she saw that Su Jin had been rescued from under her own nose. But because she was badly injured, she couldn’t run for long. So, she retrieved a gun from her Handbook and started shooting like a madwoman at him.

Su Jin had no strength to avoid any of her bullets, so the best thing he could do was to curl up and hope hard that his Mecha Armor could block most of the bullets for him. But even so, Su Jin’s arms and legs were hit multiple times and he left a bloody trail behind as Kano Mai reeled him in.

Kano Mai pulled Su Jin aside and raised her Soul Whisperer to shoot at Tan Xin when the entire area suddenly started shaking violently. There was nothing for them to hang onto, so if this shaking went on, they might end up getting thrown off the artery they were on.

“Never mind her! Let’s go!” Su Jin yelled through his heavy panting. Kano Mai quickly helped him up and they exchanged glances before she carried him and jumped into the heart of the statue.

Immediately after they had leaped in, Su Jin could hear a voice announcing in his ears, “Temple of the Origin of Heaven Challenge completed! Entering Personal Hell Domain now!”

Once inside his Domain, Su Jin’s body was enveloped by a white glow and all the pain he felt earlier disappeared. This place could heal all injuries, illnesses and curses, so any owner that made it back here would be able to revert to his best state.

Su Jin exhaled deeply, then placed his Handbook in its slot on the pedestal. “Start Point Calculation!”

Level C Challenge “Temple of the Origin of Heaven” completed: 1000 points

Number of Surviving Team Members: 2, 200 points

Degree of Challenge Participation: A, 700 points

Completed optional mission of killing guardian of the Temple, did not eliminate Special Characters: 500 points

Points Received: 2400

Total Points: 2700

Remaining Points: 2700

Compared to the Fengxi Town Level B Challenge, he had received more points for this Level C Challenge. But that was also because he had completed an optional mission and there was a new category for surviving team members. Without points in these two areas, he would have gotten fewer points than the last time.

“So, Tan Xin had suddenly killed Chen Jing just now because she wanted to complete the mission. Even though we were enemies in the Challenge, the optional missions are for any Handbook owners in the Challenge to complete and we share the achievement.” Su Jin was surprised that he had actually completed an optional mission without intending to at all.

On top of that, he noticed that the Analysis and Deduction of Challenge category that appeared in the last round didn’t appear this time. He guessed that not every Challenge had a special story behind it, or perhaps an analysis of the events in the Challenge was too hard. He had completed that category inadvertently the last time too.

“Start the Reward Exchange!” said Su Jin to the Handbook.

The Handbook instantly flipped itself to a page with a whitish glow. This page only appeared when he was in his Personal Hell Domain.

While Su Jin looked through the new selection of items, Blackie piped up, “I need to remind you at this point that your Ultra Light Mecha Armor has been destroyed and you need to do something about it asap.”

“It has been destroyed?!” Su Jin blinked in shock before looking down at his chest. He realized that the armor that usually concealed itself from sight was now in full view and in very bad shape.

“It’s in such bad shape now and I actually survived the Challenge. I was so lucky,” exclaimed Su Jin as he marveled at his good fortune. There were areas on the armor that were even broken. If he didn’t have this armor on, those silver needles or the final shower of bullets would have killed him if he were hit in these areas with no protection.

Since the armor was beyond saving, Su Jin’s top priority was now to find something that could protect him like this armor did. This Challenge had taught him that having bodily defense was really important for his survival.

His first instinct was to look for the exact same armor, but the menu he was given this time didn’t have this particular armor. In the end, he chose to exchange points for a different defense armor, the Tensan Silk Armor.

Tensan Silk Armor (made from the rare tensan silk and weaved together by the best craftsmen, this armor provides an extraordinary level of defense and it is both fitting and comfortable to wear): 150 points

Once he had received the armor, he put it on. This armor looked no different from an undershirt and it was as comfortable as advertised.

Now that he was done with finding a new armor, his next priority was to find a weapon. He had relied entirely on his Boning Knife and Longbow, but he knew that he couldn’t use these items too frequently from now on, or he’d lose himself before long.

Since he couldn’t rely on these two powerful weapons, he had to try finding something equivalent to them. Only three weapons were offered to him this time. One was a rhombus-shaped piece of blackened metal, a stealth weapon named Rumor; one was a black gun with gold carvings named Black Fire; and the last one was a handheld cannon named The Tyrant.

Rumor: Stealth weapons are the best weapons in the world, and nothing is as lethal as rumors and gossip. This weapon is named Rumor and it used to be a pair with another weapon named Gossip. But now, Gossip no longer exists so Rumor is the only one left. Requires 1 point of Spirit Power per attack. After it hits its target, it will fly back to the owner automatically. Damage inflicted will depend on the owner’s ability. Points required: 900.

Black Fire: Used to belong to an infamous pirate and has gone on countless strange and incredible adventures with him. Black Fire is a gun that uses special bullets and they can be exchanged for within the fixed items category. Points required: 700.

Tyrant: A handheld cannon. Requires 100 points of Spirit Power per attack, powerful enough to blast a hole in a city wall. Points required: 600.

Su Jin nearly cursed out loud after looking at all three items available. He was only offered one cheap weapon the last time and had no idea how expensive these things could actually get. It was impossible for him to exchange for all three at the same time since they cost so much. Two was his maximum.

“I’ve got to think through this carefully! I’ve got to think this through carefully!” Su Jin reminded himself to think twice before making his selection as he kept looking at the three items again and again.