The Heavenly Demon, Kim Hae-Yi’s participation in the tournament caught nobody’s attention.

No, it caught two people’s attention.

Click.

Alberu touched the screen.

The community was currently full of talks of the Strongest Under the Heavens Competition.

Until the top ranker, Ahn Roh Man’s Imperial Crown Prince crowning ceremony, or even possibly during the ceremony itself, this competition may take all of the community board’s attention.

===================

< Confirmed participants in the Strongest Under the Heavens Competition >

*User.

#3, Sword Ghost.

#7, Hands of Dawn.

#12, Knight of Abundance.

…

===================

He checked the comments.

===================

– Damn, the Sword Ghost is coming out? I thought that guy only did solo play? Wow… That fucker, the Martial God, really hates the Sword Ghost, doesn’t he?

– Y y. Hates him so much. The Martial God bastard gets all sorts of support from the country, but the Sword Ghost suddenly appeared as a ranker and took all the attention away.

===================

The Martial God of China.

As someone with a guild, he claimed that he would become the God of Martial Arts and follow the will of the Martial Arts World. As such, his guild followed the style of the Martial Arts world and its clans.

However, the Sword Ghost only did things solo.

He was always covering his face with a bamboo hat or a mask so not many people knew of his identity, but, as his name may indicate, the Sword Ghost was known for being crazy about the sword.

===================

– The Hands of Dawn, that person is completely nuts, no? Isn’t that the bastard who rips apart both monsters and people with his bare hands?

– Correct. He may rip a person apart during the competition. This bastard really rips everything.

– I guess the Church of Abundance allowed their Holy Knight to attend? The Knight of Abundance is here.

– Even the Church of Abundance has to understand this bitch. This girl even started the Church of Abundance in real life, didn’t she?

– She truly is crazy. This woman probably said this to the Church of Abundance. ‘I will offer up the Lan Kingdom to the Church of Abundance!’

– Holy moly. That actually sounds plausible.

===================

It was full of all sorts of comments.

Even side from #3, #7, and #12, numerous rankers had appeared.

===================

– Anyway, a lot of rankers who focus on solo play are coming out.

– It’s an opportunity. The winner is guaranteed to become the heir to the Lan Kingdom. They would be idiots to miss this chance.

– Don’t you think the bastards with their own factions will appear as well?

===================

A large number of the solo playing rankers had appeared.

Even the ones whose faces or specialties were not well-known had appeared, making it pretty clear that they were all interested in this competition.

“Mm.”

Rosalyn was checking the community board as well.

===================

< But do you think it would be possible for a user to win? >

*New World.

‘The five major factions of the Lan Kingdom are all participating.

The Sky Sword (Bastards crazy about the sword) : Heir. (TL: The Sword Emperor’s thing was called this too. Author, you just reusing terms now?)

Dao of Zen Temple (Similar to the Shaolin or Wudang Sect of Wuxia) : Youngest genius Elder.

Snow Flower Sect (Group of female martial artists. You’re in trouble if you mess with them. Serious trouble. You basically have to quit the game.) : The Sect Leader’s younger sister.

Cooperative Alliance (Same as the Orthodox faction, gathering of all sorts of sects and clans) : …The alliance leader

Dark Pulse (These bastards are even worse than the Unorthodox faction!) : The alliance leader here as well…

I don’t know the faces of everybody associated with each faction, but I think everybody who doesn’t use magic or elementals have basically joined.

I’ve basically stuck to this registration desk for a few days to confirm.

===================

“If magic was allowed, I would have participated. What a pity.”

Alberu gently chuckled at Rosalyn’s comment.

“…….”

“…….”

The two of them looked at each other after a moment of silence.

“What a spectacle.”

Alberu responded to Rosalyn.

“We look like shit.”

Both of them were covered in dust and looked extremely shabby.

“Anyway, we are done with everything here so we are heading to the Lan Kingdom next, right?”

“Mm. I think we will miss the preliminaries but we should make it for the main competition.”

The Devil’s Boundary.

The two of them had finished what they needed to do in this place and now headed for the Lan Kingdom.

Alberu needed to receive the Sun Sword from Choi Han.

“The Heavenly Demon… Is he strong?”

Rosalyn answered Alberu’s question without any hesitation.

“He is behind Choi Han in strength. But he is at a distance where he can see Choi Han’s back.”

It was an answer that allowed Alberu to understand the level of the Heavenly Demon’s strength.

Alberu asked with a gentle look on his face.

“Shall we rest a bit more? I think it will be fine if we just make it there by the finals then.”

Rosalyn answered with a gentle chuckle this time.

* * *

The Sword Ghost, #3 in rank.

He sat down in a lotus position. A sword was in his arms.

“…….”

He was quietly meditating with his eyes closed when someone stopped in front of him.

“The bastard crazy about swords wants power now too?”

“…….”

There was a feeble looking short guy in front of the Sword Ghost.

“Who?”

The man scowled at the Sword Ghost’s question.

“…I am the Hands of Dawn.”

The Hands of Dawn, #7 in rank.

The nearby users all looked toward them.

It was not just the users.

“Hooooo. Sword Ghost, it’s been a while.”

One of the Lan Kingdom’s five major factions, the Sky Sword.

They were people who worshiped the sword and thought that the sword was the only way to reach the apex of martial arts.

Many individuals from that group were participating.

“…….”

The Sword Ghost quietly observed the person.

The Sky Sword member who was talking to him was the heir, Seo Rak.

Seo Rak, who was thirty this year, was so talented that calling him a genius in the way of the sword was not an overstatement.

But the fact that he was participating in this competition and aiming for the position of the next ruler of the Lan Kingdom made the gazes gathered around the Sword Ghost increase.

“Haha. You are still such a reserved person.”

Seo Rak was an amiable person who left favorable impressions.

“…….”

The look on the Hands of Dawn’s face was slowly getting worse.

Seo Rak and the Sword Ghost were completely ignoring him.

However, the Hands of Dawn, who dared not to speak to these two, especially to Seo Rak, bit down on his lips and moved away from them.

“I look forward to meeting you in the tournament!”

Of course, he left that threatening comment to the Sword Ghost before he left.

Neither the Sword Ghost nor Seo Rak paid him any attention.

“Let’s have a meal with my grandfather later.”

The people around them started to whisper at Seo Rak’s comment.

“Did he say his grandfather?”

“Is he talking about the Sword Emperor?”

The current leader of the Sky Sword.

He was the Sword Emperor, Seo Rak’s grandfather.

“…….”

The Sword Ghost still remained silent.

That silence actually made the people around them anxious.

They felt like a fight might break out or something.

However, the Sword Ghost finally opened his mouth.

:…A spar will suffice.”

Seo Rak let out a loud laugh.

“Hahaha!”

He seemed quite entertained.

“This must be why my grandfather cherishes you so much. Sword Ghost, our Sky Sword is always open for you. Come whenever you’d like.”

“Wow.”

Someone gasped.

Seo Rak was basically trying to scout the Sword Ghost.

A regular user, a foreigner…

There were many New World factions that accepted him as his own faction.

However, those users were accepted at the lowest levels. It was rare for the heir to such a large faction to even mention the leader while recruiting someone like this.

“Mm.”

The Sword Ghost just closed his eyes without rejecting or accepting it.

Seo Rak, who watched with satisfaction, opened his mouth again.

“Today’s test should be so simple to you it is like breathing. I’ll tell you the inn we are staying in, so come on over if you get some time.”

Seo Rak then left as well.

“…….”

The Sword Ghost watched his back before closing his eyes again.

The Strongest Under the Heavens Competition.

The participants were currently in the thousands, and this was too many for even the primaries. They ended up proceeding with an initial ‘qualifications test’ to cut down the numbers.

“Fuck!”

One user swore as he left the testing ground.

The testing ground was a large training ground that was surrounded by large walls to prevent people from looking inside.

The Sword Ghost was seated in an open area near the testing ground.

“They should at least give you a chance to fight!”

There were some New World NPCs swearing as well.

But most of them seemed to accept the results.

“This much is easy.”

“Oh. I’m jealous.”

There were quite a lot of people coming out after passing the tests as well.

One test finished and the administrator stepped forward to call the next group.

“I will now call the next group of participants! Those who know your number, please come forward.”

These qualification tests had taken a couple of days already.

The administrator called out some names.

“…Kim Hae-Yi… Sword Ghost!”

It was the Sword Ghost’s turn.

He slowly opened his eyes and stood up.

He could see a group of three people in front of him as he walked forward with a stoic look on his face.

“Oh young master-nim, you must pass!

A blonde-haired man who was dressed too cleanly and stylishly to be an attendant frivolously, no, mockingly commented.

“…….”

The red-haired man who walked behind the one called the young master as if guarding him was quiet.

For some odd reason, the Sword Ghost couldn’t help but focus on that man.

“…….”

He then saw the sword on the man’s waist.

‘Something is odd.’

The Sword Ghost.

He had been crazy about swords in both reality and the game.

As someone who had trained in the way of the sword for his entire life, the game world was similar to heaven.

As long as he controlled things properly, he could train with the sword without sleeping and still not die.

Furthermore, there were numerous sword arts here unlike in the real world, as well as many people he could fight against.

That was why the Sword Ghost fell into and then became obsessed with this world.

He himself could feel it.

He believed that if he died like this, he would become a ghost of a sword.

He was not being stubborn, it was conviction.

“…….”

He subconsciously placed a hand on his scabbard.

‘That red-haired man…

I want to fight him.’

As he had that thought…

“……!”

The red-haired man turned around and looked at him.

The Sword Ghost was surprised.

‘I didn’t release any murderous intent at all.

How did that guard look at me at this exact moment?’

“…….”

He got chills down his spine.

“…….”

“…….”

The red-haired man’s face looked pure as he looked at him, but his gaze was indifference itself.

‘What is going on?’

This was the first time.

The Sword Ghost felt something was odd.

The guard holding his sword…

Why was he imagining this despite having never seen it before?

And why could he not even form an idea about how this guard swung his sword?

What was the difference between the two?

“What is it?”

The blonde-haired man addressed the guard at that moment.

Then the black-haired man, the one called the young master, placed his hand on the guard’s shoulder.

“You can stop looking at him. You don’t need to worry.”

The black-haired man then looked at the Sword Ghost.

The Sword Ghost flinched the moment they made eye contact.

“!”

He got unexplainable chills down his back.

However, the black-haired young master looked away from the Sword Ghost and leisurely walked into the testing ground.

“Please come back soon, young master-nim! Sir Guard and I will be waiting for you right here!”

The young master disappeared into the training ground as his attendant and guard waved.

Cale and Choi Han were seeing the Heavenly Demon off as best as they could, well, half mischievously. The Heavenly Demon completely ignored them.

The Sword Ghost stood there and recalled the man’s name.

“…Kim Hae-Yi……”

He then walked quicker than before to enter the testing ground.

“The Sword Ki Stone. You simply need to make even the tiniest of scratches on your respective Sword Ki Stone. You pass as soon as we confirm the mark!”

The twenty participants each had a Sword Ki Stone the size of an average adult in front of them.

Sword Ki Stone.

These were stones that were so strong that you needed to be able to channel more than a set amount of ki into your sword in order to cut through it.

It could be said to be a fitting minimum requirement for this qualifications test.

“Haaaaaa!”

“Mmph!”

People started to channel their strength into the Sword Ki Stones.

Ooooooooong-

Ooooooooong-

Whether through their swords, hands, dao, or whatever…

They all moved their ki to break the Sword Ki Stone.

“…….”

The Sword Ghost quietly stood there not doing anything.

Some of the participants around here peeked at him but he was looking at the Heavenly Demon, the guy he knew was Kim Hae-Yi, who was standing a bit away from him.

Kim Hae-Yi had nothing in his hand.

However, the Sword Ghost could not look away.

“!”

The Sword Ghost flinched at that moment.

‘Our eyes-’

The two of them made eye contact.

Kim Hae-Yi.

The man looked at the Sword Ghost before looking away.

He then looked down at the Sword Ki Stone.

Shh.

His hand came out of his baggy sleeve.

The hand looked as if no sort of energy was around it at all.

The man’s hand moved.

One time.

It moved just one time.

The hand moved in the air making an odd formation.

“!”

The Sword Ghost instantly stiffened.

As for the Heavenly Demon, he leisurely walked over to the administrator.

“Can I leave if I’m done?”

Everybody looked toward him.

Some of them scowled.

“Huh? Is he giving up?”

“It doesn’t look damaged at all.”

The Sword Ki Stone in front of Kim Hae-Yi looked the same as the beginning.

Most people thought he was giving up.

“…….”

However, the administrator had a different gaze.

Three administrators were thoroughly keeping their eyes on the participants. The administrator who had been keeping his eye on Kim Hae-Yi slowly walked over.

“Yeah. It is smart to give up quickly if you think you can’t do it!”

As one swordsman said that and sneered…

The administrator stood in front of the Heavenly Demon’s Sword Ki Stone and opened his mouth.

“Pass.”

—!

Everybody’s eyes opened wide in the silence.

No, only the Sword Ghost looked relaxed.

He had already felt so many emotions to the point he got chills.

“Pass? Just look at-”

As one of the participants protested…

Tap.

As the administrator touched the middle of the top portion of the Sword Ki Stone…

Craaaaaaack.

Almost similar to a flower blooming…

The Sword Ki Stone started to break from that spot and crumbled down.

“!”

“……!”

As nobody managed to open their mouths…

The Sword Ghost was looking at Kim Hae-Yi.

‘It’s a sword-

I’m sure that this guy waved his hand, but it was like a sword.’

Furthermore-

‘Apex!’

It was a sword that had reached the apex of sword mastery.

What was this sword?

What was this power?

“I’ll be heading out then.”

Kim Hae-Yi leisurely walked out of the testing ground.

The Sword Ghost stared at his back with a piercing gaze.

Both competitive spirit and fear was visible in the Sword Ghost’s eyes.

And in a corner of the testing ground…

An old man who was standing in a blind spot watching inside…

Cha Run, the Queen’s teacher and the head of the Martial Arts Curriculum, raised his hand.

“One-, I found one.”

His fingertips were shaking.

Excitement and joy was visible in the old man’s eyes.

—

Translator’s Comments

Man, the Heavenly Demon is so OP.

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