Chapter 1071

Chapter 1071

Even before he became a true Transcendental, Bender was already mighty. Although Minhyuk had broken his record of breaking the Transcendental’s trial, he could still break the first trial in just six minutes. Nevertheless, the fact that Bender was a powerhouse that was still out of Minhyuk’s reach remained the same.

Bender groaned after dropping the pen in his hand. He thought, ‘When did he... grow this much?’

Minhyuk tied down Bender’s movements using Overpower, a skill that could put any opponent before Minhyuk into a stunned state for two seconds. He then took the pen from his hands for a total of eight times.

‘He took the pen away, put it back in my hands, and took it away again.’

Upon a closer look, Bender realized that Minhyuk had done a combination of two moves. This meant that he made sixteen moves in just two seconds.

‘He has gotten faster.’

Bender realized that Minhyuk was incomparable to how he was a few months ago.

‘I want to see.’

He wanted to see how much Minhyuk had truly grown, but there was something far more important than that.

“Who wants to eat something delicious?!”

“...!”

The first to raise their hand was none other than Bender.

Now that Minhyuk had obtained Bender’s approval, he wanted to satiate the hunger of these people. After all, they had come a long way to get here.

“I-I raised my hands first!”

They had eaten rotten centipedes and bugs in the Fortress of Fantasy for thousands of years. Of course, they would never forget the taste of Minhyuk’s dishes. In particular, the taste of the very sweet Sea Honey still lingered in their mouths.

“Munch, munch, munch!”

“Chomp, chomp, chomp!”

“Slurp, slurp, slurp!”

Minhyuk smiled as he watched them devour the spaghetti he made.

They came here to visit Minhyuk and thank him, but the biggest reason was probably to eat.

Minhyuk said, “Nekk, does it taste good?”

“Aaah! It’s always delicious! Munch, munch, munch!”

“Do you know what this is?”

Nekk was a blacksmith with a gigantic, muscular build and a bald head. He looked at the plate of food presented to him with interest.

“These are oven-baked drumsticks and wings.”

The dish looked very appetizing. When Nekk stretched out his hand to pick a piece, Minhyuk pulled the plate back.

Minhyuk teased, “I got a lot of materials this time. Can you please take a look at them?”

“O-of course, I’ll take a look. So, quick! Give me some!”

[You have received Nekk’s consent and approval to confirm the artifact materials and artifact production.]

Minhyuk grinned. Bender had approved Minhyuk learning from him, while Nekk had agreed to check and process the materials for him.

“I’ll stop by once and make something delicious for you again.”

“O-ooooooooh...”

All of them were left in awe.

Having finally finished his meal, Bender said, “Is there anything we can do to help your empire?”

“Help?”

“Well, we ate such a delicious meal, so we can’t just sit still and do nothing, right?”

The Transcendentals’ help would surely have a tremendous effect on Minhyuk’s empire. Minhyuk felt deeply moved when he heard their offer.

‘My training succeeded... no! My graciousness and kindness worked successfully!’

“Then, can I tell you if I have something I need help with?”

“Unfortunately, we don’t have much time. We have to go back in five hours.”

“I understand. I’ll quickly check if there’s something and let you know. Ah. Please have some of these.”

The Transcendentals saw a bread in the shape of a fish. It was the food that they had been sniffing earlier!

“This is what you call a bungeo-ppang.”

Of course, the filling was made by mixing Sea Honey and sweet red beans in perfect harmony. The Transcendentals hurriedly devoured the bungeo-ppang.

“It’s so sweet...”

“G-go and report this to Sir Brod. Quick...!”

The evaluators ignored the guards as they slowly entered the Beyond the Heavens Empire while talking.

“The evaluation this time around should be more strict and demanding.”

All of them agreed. To be honest, they would rather cut him down and even undermine him.

Each of the Pillar Evaluators had their duty to uphold.

Captain Evaluator Luba checked whether the opponent truly had strength. Of course, he was naturally powerful and could match the opponent well.

For evaluators, most of their powers were sealed. Yet even though they were in that state, they were still at a level humans could never dream of attaining.

Evaluator Royer was in charge of checking the opponent’s special talents. Most of these talents were related to dexterity. Dexterity was essential to maintain the balance of the world. After all, most races required food, clothing, shelter, and tools to live.

The third evaluator, Evaluator Arshad, had a pair of round glasses perched on his nose and an evaluation sheet in hand. He was the one who would evaluate and see through what kind of person the opponent was.

All of the Pillars were naturally gifted. Every single one of them had their own stories as well. Arshad looked through the stories that detailed how much effort they had put in, the hardships and trials they went through, and a variety of other things that would express what kind of character the Pillar was.

Arshad sighed deeply. “There’s no way a foreigner would have a story like that. There will be no stories about going against adversities, trials, and sufferings and putting in effort beyond the human limits, or any of the sort for someone like that.”

Stories counted toward the evaluation more than what one might think. Taking Evil God Obren’s case as an example, he was hailed as the Evil God, but he was initially a good and kind being and had only fallen from grace after the betrayal of his dear friend.

Arshad also possessed an extraordinary power called Intuition. When he encountered a person suitable to become a candidate for a Pillar, his Intuition vividly relayed their information to him.

The evaluators walked toward the imperial palace. Captain Evaluator Ruba opened his arms gracefully and cried out, “Beyond the Heavens’ Emperor, come and welcome us, the Pillar Evaluators.”

The evaluators had always been treated graciously and generously wherever they went. Most of the candidates were leaders of their races or the strongest of the continent. There was one thing that they all had in common: they would always come running whenever the evaluators visited them. They would even go so far as to bow their heads courteously toward them. That was just how great the influence the evaluators have.

“...!”

At that moment, Arshad’s Intuition reacted fiercely.

‘Are you telling me that he did not become a candidate merely because he was a foreigner?’

Goosebumps rose all over Arshad’s body. His Intuition was a power with an ego of its own.

His Intuition explained briefly, ‘He is the one who has never shown his back to his enemies.’

When Arshad turned his head, he saw an old man standing with a spear. The moment he made eye contact with the old man, Arshad saw the life that the old man experienced in a panorama through his glasses.

Arshad was delighted with what he saw. He even unknowingly clapped his hands.

Clap– Clap, clap, clap–

It was thrilling, to the point that a shudder ran down his spine. What did he see through his glasses? It was a continental spear drunk on its power, killing many enemies that blocked its path. He saw a person who lost something dear and precious to him and wallowed in despair and frustration. Then, he saw it.

“Y-you even sold your soul to the gods?! And you even died hundreds of times just to achieve your goal!”

His Intuition was correct. This man had never shown his back to his enemies. He did not know how to back down.

“You have gone beyond the limits of a man and became a god!”

It was an incredible story.

‘It’s not him.’

The shocking thing was that this man was not the candidate they were looking for. Nevertheless, Arshad could not deny that he approved of this guy.

Brrrrrr–

“Heok!”

The other evaluators looked at Arshad, who was acting strangely and talking to himself as if it were normal.

For a moment, Arshad was left breathless. He was sweating cold bullets, and his entire body spasmed out of control. Something else made him react this way.

Twitch– Twitch–

Arshad felt like his blood was circulating backward. His body twisted and spasmed with every step he took toward this unknown being. Finally, his special pair of glasses caught sight of a wolf-like man. Just like before, this man's life passed by like a panorama.

“Heoooook!”

Arshad’s breathing turned rough from what he saw. This man had a talent that even the Battle God was afraid of. He was betrayed by a dear and trusted friend, who lost everything. Surprisingly enough, he overcame these hardships with willpower and became the king of the mercenaries. He started a new life. He worked hard and even protected a queen.

At that moment, the panorama in front of Arshad’s eyes was overshadowed by an illusion. It was the illusion of the man looking down upon hundreds of millions of people.

A shudder ran down Arshad’s spine once again.

“The greatest emperor! The emperor who overcame despair and ended up with the most beautiful story! Hahahaha!”

Arshad could not hide his joy and delight.

“Huh?”

Then, he saw something unknown in the illusion. There was a blurry figure of a man standing behind the wolf-like man. In the illusion, the greatest emperor, the wolf-like man, knelt before this person and worshiped him. The face of the man, who was sitting cross-legged on his chair, was vague and blurry, but Arshad could tell that this man's eyes were filled with pride, nobility, and majesty as he looked down upon the hundreds of millions of people below him.

Shwaaa–

Goosebumps rose all over Arshad’s body once again. Yes, what he saw in the illusion was the “master” that the man, who would become the greatest emperor, was serving.