Chapter 75: The Massacre (2)
The Black Bear Demon Beast.
Incomparable to the White Night Black Wolf—this was a supernatural creature surpassing even the Transcendent Peak realm.
In a word.
"A monster the size of a house."
It was no ordinary bear.
According to legend, the Black Bear Demon Beast was a creature that had awakened as a spirit animal on the southern plateau. From birth, it had been twice the size of its siblings, and it had grown even larger as it transford into a spirit animal.
The Black Bear Demon Beast was greedy and confident in its own strength.
Ordinarily, when a creature becos a spirit animal, it quietly cultivates the Way within its own territory in pursuit of enlightennt—but this one had chosen a faster path.
That path was killing other spirit animals and consuming their inner cores.
The Black Bear grew rapidly stronger.
Then one day, upon returning to its cave after a fierce battle—
It found all of its cubs dead.
Revenge carried out by the other spirit animals it had slain, or their subordinates.
The Black Bear Demon Beast spiraled into grief and fury, falling into a state of cultivation deviation.
Spirit animals rarely drew the attention of humans, but the maddened Black Bear began to spread as a legend throughout the martial world.
A bear that has beco a spirit animal undergoes a transformation of its gallbladder—what becos known as a bear gallstone—turning it into the highest grade of spirit dicine. Its efficacy rivaled that of the Thousand Year Green Ginseng, making it an extraordinary treasure.
Because of this, countless masters sought to hunt the Black Bear Demon Beast.
One of the Black Bear Demon Beast's eyes had been blinded when a master of the martial world drove a blade through it, and the swords and spears thrust into its back by the legends of the martial world still jutted out in jagged rows.
Even carrying that weight, the Black Bear Demon Beast never fell.
The weapons embedded in its back were not trophies of glory—they were a curse.
Rusted blades drove into its flesh, and the agony drove the creature further into madness.
For such a creature, this cave—with its Gold Sulfur Crystals that helped it forget its pain and sink into hallucination, and its Dark Spirit Sand scattered across the floor—was the perfect refuge.
The beast licked the Gold Sulfur Crystals daily and slept atop the Dark Spirit Sand.
It had beco a body that could only survive in this place.
Amid a mind tangled in blood and agony, the Black Bear Demon Beast no longer recognized anyone as an enemy.
It simply tore apart anything that moved.
Hwang Cheol-un, the supre master of the orthodox sect Heavenly Palm Gate, had been evaluated as soone who had surpassed even the Transcendent Peak realm.
He went to subdue this bear and returned with his right arm torn off and his mind shattered.
Go Cheon, the head of the Demonic Cult's Dragon Slaughter Pavilion, had been a master of poison arts—but in his attempt to kill the beast with poison, he instead lost his entire lower body.
No one in the martial world dared speak of it aloud, but every seasoned master in the martial world knew.
‘Do not enter the Black Bear Demon Beast's cave.’
And yet.
I had to enter this cave—and I was standing inside it right now.
My objective.
‘Reaching 28th floor within 10 minutes.’
The thod to clear this cave was to defeat 3 black bears, but those creatures wouldn't even appear until 10 minutes from now.
And when they did, they'd co swarming in by the dozens.
According to information I'd obtained in advance from the Black Market, the inside of the cave was like a labyrinth, and even running for a full day, there was no end in sight.
But I.
‘Know the shortcut.’
Splash!
I leapt into the blood-red pond.
I activated the Fish Swimming Through Water Art.
Having beco a single fish in a pond where nothing lived, I sliced through the current at trendous speed—
Passed through an unknown underwater cave, and the mont I broke the surface—
A ssage appeared.
【Bonus Mission Success】
【Rapid Breakthrough of the Black Bear Demon Cave.】
—Mission (27th floor) Deed Complete!
—Happiness Points ＋300,000!
—Soul Spirit Flower will be dispensed.
【Ti Taken to Complete Mission: 4 Minutes 12 Seconds】
【Overwhelming Achievent (GOLD)!】
【Murim Tower 27th floor turns golden.】
【The entire world is watching the Republic of Korea's Tower.】
This, this.
If I spread the word about this underwater cave, the world would be in an uproar all over again.
I pulled myself out of the pond.
【Entering Murim Tower (Republic of Korea) 28th floor.】
【This is the first entry.】
【Mission (28th floor): Defeat 5 Black Bears within the Black Bear Demon Cave.】
—Ti Limit: 3 Days
—Upon Success: 100,000 Happiness Points Awarded
【A Bonus Mission is given upon first entry.】
【Bonus Mission: Rapid Elimination of 5 Black Bears.】
—Ti Limit: 10 Minutes
—Upon Success:
① Mission (28th floor) Deed Complete (GOLD)
② Happiness Points Triple (×3)
③ Blood Azure Vine will be dispensed.
—Upon Failure: All black bears on this floor will awaken, and all Bonus Mission rewards will be permanently lost.
‘Just as I thought.’
The 28th floor reward was the Blood Azure Vine.
‘Which ans, if I keep clearing floors like this, I can complete the Divine Immortal Waste.’
The problem was needing to kill 5 black bears within 10 minutes.
Black bears were the Black Bear Demon Beast's subordinates.
A spirit animal almost always had mbers of its own species that followed it.
The aura emanating from a spirit animal was like a spirit dicine to others of its kind.
The Black Wolf Squad of the White Night Black Wolf was a similar case.
The black bears had followed the Black Bear Demon Beast here when it made this cave its lair.
But the Black Bear Demon Beast had gone mad—
And began tearing apart anything that moved, so the black bears couldn't even approach it. In effect, they were trapped here.
That said, this Black Bear Demon Cave was filled with spiritual energy, and the black bears were gradually transforming into spirit animals themselves.
‘So I can't underestimate them as re bears.’
The strength of a single black bear was probably just slightly below that of the White Night Black Wolf.
I knew this because I had fought in this cave in my past life.
‘Back then, I killed roughly 10 black bears, if I rember correctly.’
My estimate was that around 20 black bears total lived in this cave.
Of course, killing them with my current strength wasn't particularly difficult.
‘The problem is ti.’
I had to eliminate 5 of them within 10 minutes in this labyrinthine place.
On top of that, bears had no habit of gathering in groups.
They guarded their territory with their lives.
There was no way to kill 5 of them within 10 minutes by raiding only one or two spots.
I quickly laid out what I had prepared.
What I pulled from the large pack I'd bought at the Murim Tower Item Exchange was a massive chunk of at—
at with blood still dripping from it.
And then.
‘The sweet sll that drives bears wild.’
I poured the honey I'd brought without reservation over the chunk of at.
The cloying honey scent mixed with the sll of blood and wafted out heavily.
‘This alone won't be enough.’
I took out the Wind God Sacred Jade.
Being careful not to let it touch my bare hand, I put on gloves and channeled my internal energy into it, and at once a fierce wind rose.
"Co on! All of you, co to !"
I had sared mud from near the pond onto my body to eliminate my scent as much as possible.
Even as black bears transford into spirit animals, they were still bears.
Sensitive to sound and sll.
If they detected that I was targeting them, they might not co close.
Waiting with growing anxiety, I moved through different parts of the cave and made preparations to receive them.
Contrary to my worries, it didn't take long.
From the deep darkness of other passages connected to the cave, pairs of red eyes began to appear almost imdiately.
"……"
I sat cross-legged in a corner, holding my breath as I observed them.
Thud—. Huff huff—.
Black bears sniffing and flinching as they inhaled. So began to inch forward, but—
When they sensed that other black bears in different passages were also sniffing and flinching, they held back and didn't move rashly.
Bears were suspicious by nature, but equally driven by curiosity.
Moreover, these bears were in the midst of being involuntarily transford into spirit animals within this cave.
Which ant.
‘They're dying of hunger.’
Crwoooar—!
Before the words had even finished in my mind, one bear from the group that had only been sizing things up lunged at the chunk of at.
Understandable.
‘Did you ever imagine you'd get to eat honey-slathered at like this inside this cave?’
At that, the other bears all burst out at once.
Exactly 5.
The black bears buried their heads into the chunk of at and tore into it.
It was an enormous chunk—barely manageable to carry—but with their massive fras all piling in at once, it was nowhere near enough.
They quickly began fighting among themselves.
Crwoooar!
A bestial shriek erupted as one reared up and struck another with its forepaw. anwhile, another was so absorbed in devouring the at it couldn't be bothered.
"Now!"
I unleashed the Blood-Forming Crimson Thread Net I had prepared.
Woven from Yama's Life-Chasing Threads, a martial art that ensnared caught enemies and sliced them apart!
The Yama's Life-Chasing Threads, which could cut through iron itself, severed 2 black bears in a single sweep.
True to its na—Blood-Forming—a rain of blood poured down like blossoming flowers.
"Damn!"
If I'd had far more Yama's Life-Chasing Threads, I could have killed all 5 in one go, but 2 was the limit.
Fortunately, one of the bears caught in the Blood-Forming Crimson Thread Net was howling with its forepaw severed.
‘Leave that one for now!’
2 bears remained unhard.
The black bears glanced over at as I appeared, then imdiately turned and fled.
‘Sharp instincts!’
They had sensed instinctively that I was not an opponent they could handle.
I imdiately executed Celestial Maiden Scattering Flowers and killed the nearest one instantly.
Activating Wind God Steps toward the other side, I launched myself forward and hurled Iron Instrunt God's throwing blade.
Pfft—! Blood sprayed as it struck true, but the black bear kept running.
Craaash! The fleeing black bear crashed into the cave wall and sent a section of rock tumbling down.
The creature's charge continued.
‘Just stop already!’
I hurled my body like an arrow and landed on the beast's back.
It was the largest of the 5.
Iron Instrunt God's throwing blade was buried so deep that the handle wasn't even visible.
I shoved my hand into the wound, gripped the blade, and drove it deeper.
Crwoooar!
Even as it scread, the beast kept running—crashing bang! boom! into wall after wall without stopping.
"Gah!"
The throwing blade had lodged itself in what appeared to be the black bear's spine and wouldn't co free.
I twisted it hard.
Crrrack! The sound of breaking bone rang out.
Crash! Skrrrrt—.
The black bear finally ca to a stop.
But its legs were still thrashing. The position was bad.
If it had been a long sword, I could have reached the heart in an instant—but with a throwing blade, I couldn't tear through to it.
I roused my internal energy.
The energy flowing through the ridians surged powerfully.
A sword energy extended a full foot from the throwing blade and burst the creature's heart.
From the spot where the blade was ripped out, blood gushed like a fountain even from a body whose pulse had stopped.
"No ti!"
Preparing and waiting for the bears had taken about 8 minutes.
Wasting over 1 minute on this single one had squandered far too much ti.
"Damn it!"
I pushed Wind God Steps to full intensity and sprinted back to where the bear with the severed forepaw had been.
The pulse of energy struck my ears.
The cave shook with every step I landed.
Could I actually be failing this?!
My heartbeat, thundering with tension, felt like it was hamring at my eardrums.
‘I can see it!’
The chunk of at was close—and when I finally reached it—
My eyes went wide.
"……!"
The last one that should have been here was nowhere to be found.
It had clearly had one forepaw severed!
I turned my head in every direction and spread my energy sense to search.
But the widespread blood and the overwhelming scent of gore left behind by the Blood-Forming Crimson Thread Net threw everything into disarray, and I couldn't locate it.
Given ti, I could find it—but I had no such luxury.
I bit my lip. Ti to choose!
The total number of other cave passages branching from here was 7.
Of those, 3 had blood dripping at their entrances.
‘The middle one!’
I sprinted again into the middle cave, where the most blood had fallen—but.
‘……It's not here!’
Instinctively I realized I had failed. A mistake.
I should have killed the one with the severed forepaw first, then chased the ones that fled.
My head began to swim—
Ding!
【Bonus Mission Success】
【Rapid Elimination of 5 Black Bears.】
—Mission (28th floor) Deed Complete!
—Happiness Points ＋300,000!
—Blood Azure Vine will be dispensed.
【Ti Taken to Complete Mission: 9 Minutes 55 Seconds】
【Overwhelming Achievent (GOLD)!】
【Murim Tower 28th floor turns golden.】
【The entire world is watching the Republic of Korea's Tower.】
"……Huh?"
I succeeded?
A bewildered laugh burst out of .
I went back and entered the left-most of the remaining 2 caves with bloodstains.
Inside was the black bear with a single severed forepaw, lying dead with its tongue hanging out.
A purple tongue.
"Ah……"
It must have eaten the poison pill I'd planted as insurance inside the chunk of at.
"Hehehe."
As expected.
"There is no such thing as failure for the Poison Demon."
……Ahem.
I cut the bear gallstones and right forepaws from the scattered corpses—materials that could serve as spirit dicine.
Including the one that had been poisoned.
In truth, a black bear's paw pads weren't spirit dicine—
But right forepaws of black bears were being traded at extraordinary prices throughout the Republic of Korea and China.
"Sorry about this. In your next life, don't go dreaming about becoming a spirit animal—just live and die in peace."
Whmmm—.
【You may now enter Murim Tower (29th floor).】
【You may return to the herb and poison herb field.】
A door to the upper floor and a door back to my herb field both opened.
Without hesitation, I gathered my spoils and returned to the herb field.
‘29th floor needs to be handled with Park Seon-su.’
I returned ho and placed the spoils inside the energy fridge.
Then quickly washed up and made a call.
The recipient was Kang Hae-san.
The school bully whose arm had been severed—like the black bear.
After being discharged from the hospital, he had beco one of my subordinates and was following my orders.
The task I had assigned him was to shadow Park Seon-su and confirm when he would attempt his climb.
"Hello?"
"It's ."
"Oh……Tae-yang."
"Are you doing your job properly?"
"Yeah. I've been following Park Seon-su around for days."
"When does he plan to climb?"
"He said the morning 2 days from now."
"What ti?"
"I don't know. I'll keep following him."
"Understood. Keep reporting."
As I was about to hang up, Kang Hae-san spoke urgently.
"T-Tae-yang. That dicine? The one you said would make my arm… grow back."
"Wait. I'll deal with it after this is taken care of."
"O-okay."
"Stay on him properly. If you lose track of him even once, forget about any dicine."
"Trust ."
【Kim Tae-yang is happy. 3,000 Happiness】
The morning, 2 days from now.
When Park Seon-su enters 29th floor of the tower, filled with dreams of joining the Red Dragon Gate—I intend to enter the tower as well.
Using this key.
【'Silver Key' has been summoned.】
—You may force entry into the Murim Tower of the Republic of Korea.
The Black Bear Demon Beast, the Divine Immortal Waste, Park Seon-su.
I'll sweep them all up in one go.
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