Return of the Sword God-Rank Civil Servant-Chapter 377
Hwa
Yasakani no Magatama.
It is called a curved jewel, written as Palcheokgyeong Guok or Palcheokgyeong Gokok, but read the same as “Yasakani no Magatama.”
“In our country, thanks to a famous Japanese manga character’s technique, the name Palcheokgyeong Gokok is more familiar.”
Su-ho checked the information on the Yasakani no Magatama.
[ Yasakani no Magatama ]
Grade : S
# A mysterious curved jewel carved from jade.
# Only those who have seized qualification can obtain it, and it is also a key that allows one to enter deeper into the Dizzying Mountain.
Seeing the item information, Su-ho smiled.
The Yasakani no Magatama is one of Japan’s Three Sacred Treasures, treated with great reverence in Japan.
But for something so revered, its option information was rather unimpressive.
“As always, you see as much as you know.”
It didn’t matter if it seemed unimpressive.
Even without special options, the fact remained that the Yasakani no Magatama was a divine treasure all of Japan longed to reclaim.
As soon as Su-ho obtained the Yasakani no Magatama, the surrounding scenery changed.
The fog-filled mountain mouth was gone. Instead, a clear sky with no trace of moisture spread out.
The stone pagodas also disappeared.
In their place, a path he had never seen before appeared.
Because he had proven his qualification by obtaining the Yasakani no Magatama.
Before stepping onto the newly opened path, Su-ho opened his status window.
[ An Su-ho ]
Lv : 240
Class : Rage Crusader
Traits ▲ : <New Blood> <Candidate of Heracles> <King of Annihilation> <Power of the Sun> <Power of the Moon> <Guest of Greed>
Strength (N) : 19
Mana (N) : 28
Perception (B) : 4
Command (N) : 59
Bonus Stats : 17
Level 240.
And 17 bonus stats.
The gap had always been overwhelming, but now no Player would ever be able to catch up to Su-ho.
He invested 13 points in Strength and 4 in Mana, making the two values equal.
“Ten more levels and the skill window will change again.”
His leveling speed was far too fast.
But he wasn’t displeased.
Usually, when one grows too fast, people say things like “look at the direction, not the speed” or “make the foundation solid.” But Su-ho’s direction was certain, and his foundation was firmer than anyone else’s.
That’s why he stepped forward onto the newly opened path without hesitation.
Of the Three Sacred Treasures, he had now obtained the Kusanagi no Tsurugi and the Yasakani no Magatama. Only one remained.
And of course, that last one could also be obtained in the Dizzying Mountain.
The Yasakani no Magatama was the key that led to the place where it could be found.
Not long after Su-ho began to move forward—
Tok- tok- tok- tok- tok-
A strange sound.
It was like the squeaky shoes worn by children, echoing from all directions.
Surprisingly, it was the croak of a toad.
It didn’t sound like a frog’s croak because this was no frog—it was a toad.
“At first I thought I misheard too.”
But after checking in person, the cry of a toad was indeed quite peculiar.
At the same time, a drizzle began to fall from the sky, and slowly the surroundings blurred.
Fwhooooosh!
The wind blew.
The toad’s cry continued.
Looking up at the sky, Su-ho muttered.
“It’s begun.”
If one divides the Dizzying Mountain into stages, the first stage belongs to Japan’s Three Great Evil Spirits.
Otakemaru the Great Demon, Shuten-doji the Drunken Child, and the White-faced Golden-haired Nine-tailed Fox.
These three are so famous they’re always grouped as a set.
And there’s another set just as famous as them.
The Three Great Spirits.
In that sense, the second stage belonged to the “Three Great Spirits,” just as famous as the Three Great Evil Spirits.
Though called the Three Great Evil Spirits, in truth, through Japan’s unique spirit beliefs, they are worshiped as gods.
“Which is why they’re far stronger than the Evil Spirits.”
And more than that.
Though called the Three Great Spirits, in reality, they’re more like the Four Great Spirits.
Because there’s always one more name debated, always brought up.
Perhaps because of that, the system seemed intrigued and included that controversial one as well, making the second stage into the stage of the Four Great Spirits.
The toad cry echoing now belonged to that controversial fourth spirit.
As the rain began to fall, Su-ho stomped the ground.
Thud!
[ Blessing activates. ]
[ Holy Enchant activates. ]
[ Mana Perception activates. ]
[ Endurance activates. ]
[ Enhancement activates. ]
[ Eye of the Blacksmith activates. ]
His buffs wrapped around him.
And he leapt forward.
[ Gyeongshinbo activates. ]
With Gyeongshinbo, acceleration surged.
The toad cries that had been only in his ears now burst forth in reality as toads leapt out, some stretching tongues toward Su-ho.
But they were too slow.
None of their tongues reached his body.
Su-ho kept running forward.
The toads grew larger, and finally the biggest toad hiding in the darkness revealed itself before him.
Seeing Su-ho charging recklessly, the great toad laughed as if amused.
- Amusing fellow...
Ssskkt!
[ Steel Severance activates. ]
[ Enhancement applies. ]
[ The power of Steel Severance grows stronger. ]
But its words never finished.
Before the toad could finish speaking, Su-ho’s sword came down in a vertical slash.
A long trajectory.
The blood sword’s length extended drastically as he swung.
At the same time, holy white flames rose upon its body.
It was inevitable.
The second stage was the stage of spirits.
For Su-ho, the Rage Crusader filled with wrath and holiness, this was the perfect environment.
At that moment, a welcome notification popped up before his eyes.
[ You have slain Amakusa Shirou Tokisada. ]
[ A mountain lord has been defeated. ]
[ You have received the recognition of the mountain. ]
The controversial spirit was dead.
His name: Amakusa Shirou Tokisada.
A long name.
But Su-ho had killed him before even checking the name card.
No regret.
There was only one spirit in this second stage worth Su-ho’s attention.
So he dashed quickly and cut him down on sight.
Nothing to salvage.
As a spirit, he left no shadow, no corpse. Being a spiritual entity, he dispersed the moment he was slain, leaving nothing even for Bloody Hand to absorb.
Which was why the mountain lord notification appeared immediately.
Su-ho kept running.
The second stage continued forward.
There was no return path, no stone pagodas to topple.
Only a single road forward.
After running for a while, the scenery changed again.
The unpleasant toad cries were gone, and the rain stopped.
Instead, a narrow, endless cliff path stretched out.
[ Entering a new mountain. ]
[ You have entered the Path of One Hundred Poems. ]
[ Pass the path to the end to receive the recognition of the mountain. ]
Glancing briefly at the notification, Su-ho continued running.
Though the road was a narrow cliff path, he maintained the same speed as before.
Then a gloomy voice echoed in his head.
- Kuhehe, an interesting one has appeared.
“......”
Su-ho did not answer.
The second spirit’s identity was Sugawara no Michizane, revered in Japan as the god of learning.
Which is why.
True to the intelligence concept, he never showed his body or fought physically.
As Su-ho kept running without reply, Sugawara no Michizane chuckled.
- Hooh, seeing the determination in your eyes, it seems you came prepared with a strategy for me. But too bad. No matter what tricks you’ve brought, without innate intellect you can never pass here.
“......”
- Huhu, very well. Let’s see how long you last. First, let’s take a look inside that empty head of yours.
Fwoooosh!
On the narrow cliff road, light flashed, and soon gathered into Su-ho’s mind.
Sugawara no Michizane’s specialty was not physical attacks but mental assaults, luring enemies to fall into the abyss.
He would invade an opponent’s mind directly, forcibly flooding it with immense knowledge and overly complex, incomprehensible information, causing overload.
“You’ll soon learn how foolish it is to keep your mouth shut before me.”
And so, Sugawara no Michizane succeeded in infiltrating Su-ho’s mind.
True to his title as god of learning, he began pouring his vast knowledge into Su-ho’s head.
Gwaaaarrrshhh!!
The torrent of knowledge flooding in.
It was everything Sugawara no Michizane had studied in his lifetime.
The amount was monstrous.
He had been praised as the greatest genius of the Heian period, and had even overcome class restrictions to rise to the post of Udaijin, the Right Minister.
For any ordinary mind, the flood of knowledge he possessed was impossible to withstand.
“......”
Tatatat—
Su-ho kept running.
His expression never changed.
The waves of information still surged into his mind.
But Su-ho, without even a frown, kept running.
At long last, the end of the cliff path appeared in the distance.
That was when Sugawara no Michizane began to sense something was wrong.
“What? Why is he fine?”
Impossible.
Many had reached this far before, but they were all violent martial brutes.
None of them had ever passed his trial.
Most collapsed within seconds of the information flood, clutching their heads before tumbling into the abyss.
But Su-ho kept running, expressionless.
Sugawara no Michizane could not comprehend it.
The man before him was clearly the type suited for physical combat.
Growing anxious, he delved deeper into Su-ho’s mind.
And the moment he entered Su-ho’s mind, Sugawara no Michizane froze at a sight he had never imagined.
- What is this...
Inside Su-ho’s head, what he saw.
A colossal library.
From the ceiling, countless sheets of paper rained down—those were the very torrents of information he had been injecting.
Shrrrrrrr—
Like the sky had been torn open, the papers poured down.
They looked as if they might soon flood the place entirely—but no.
Each falling paper gathered into books, slotting neatly onto the shelves of the library.
The overwhelming, impossible sight left Sugawara no Michizane staring blankly, as if watching a fountain.
The place he was in was, of course, Su-ho’s mind.
Specifically, Su-ho’s mind under the effect of the skill “Library of Memory.”
And then—
[ You have successfully crossed the Path of One Hundred Poems. ]
- What?!
A short system notification.
At the same time, Sugawara no Michizane’s form inside Su-ho’s mind burst into white flames.
- Nooooooo!!
[ You have slain Sugawara no Michizane. ]
[ A mountain lord has been defeated. ]
[ You have received the recognition of the mountain. ]
[ Your level has increased. ]
[ All stats increased ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) by 1. ]
[ You have obtained 1 bonus stat. ]
Seeing the notifications, Su-ho smirked.
And still, he did not stop running forward.
