Chapter 225. I am an Egg (1)

Once he imbued mana into it, the crystal spat out a clear light. It repeatedly alternated between bright and dark.

Ten minutes passed by in a blink. The call didn’t go through no matter how long he waited.

‘Why isn’t she picking up now…’

It wasn’t uncommon for someone to not pick up immediately.

One might chalk up the first couple of times to coincidence, but it would be hard to do the same starting from the third.

He knew Kim Hannah wasn’t the type of person to be taken out lightly, but still…

‘Scheherazade.’

Seol Jihu closed his eyes. Kim Hannah had told him to keep away as much as possible until he grew his strength.

In the past, his clueless self feared Sinyoung, but things were different now.

Seol Jihu had gotten incomparably stronger than before, and he had several powerful comrades as well. Unless Sinyoung had gone completely crazy, it was hard to believe they would openly scheme against him.

After a long period of deliberation, Seol Jihu decided to head to Scheherazade after his business in Haramark finished.

He was prepared to visit Sinyoung’s headquarters if need be.

There had to be a reason.

A reason that he couldn’t get in touch with Kim Hannah.

*

Jang Maldong returned four days later. He brought along two beggars with him, who turned out to be the Yi siblings upon closer inspection.

Just what awful experience did they go through?

Seol Jihu swallowed hard as he saw Yi Seol-Ah and Yi Sungjin collapse as soon as they stepped into the office.

“Welcome back.”

“Mm.”

Jang Maldong personally carried the siblings to their room before sitting down on the couch. Then, he spoke with a brusque voice.

“Show me the spear and the books.”

He went straight to talking about the fruits of the expedition.

Seol Jihu took out the Spear of Purity and the two technique books. Jang Maldong opened the books, put on a magnifying glass, and narrowed his eyes.

“Hm…”

Flip, flip.

He studied the faded books for tens of minutes. After entirely skimming through both the books, Jang Maldong looked up at Seol Jihu with a renewed look.

“Lucky bastard.”

“?”

“You must have been born under a lucky star.”

Seol Jihu’s complexion brightened. It sounded like the two books were rather extraordinary.

“It’s too early to be happy.”

Jang Maldong replied curtly.

“Is there a problem?”

“A problem? It’s a problem, alright. The mana cultivation method is one thing, but this Crescent Blade Spear Technique is just too much… Have you taken a look?”

Seol Jihu nodded.

“I skimmed through it. But I didn’t really understand anything because it was full of complicated passages.”

“I figured.”

Jang Maldong took off his glasses and nodded.

“This Crescent Blade Spear Technique is a supreme spear technique that consists of seven ultimate arts. But my god, even the first art uses One With the Spear as the basis… This spear technique might be more exquisite than the Sacred Empress’ Jade Spear Technique.”

Jang Maldong sighed while shaking his head.

Seol Jihu was taken aback as well. He was happy about finding a good spear technique, but it turned out to be barely useable. For a good reason, of course.

If there was one thing he got out of this exchange, it was that he could not underestimate this Crescent Blade Spear Technique.

Jang Maldong picked up the other book.

“Let’s start with this Righteous Heart. This is a mana cultivation method, just like you said. It translates to having a virtuous mind, but considering its use, it’s probably correct to interpret it as refining your internal energy.”

“Yes, it seemed like a cultivation method that focuses on purifying your mana.”

“Exactly. That’s why it’s perfect for you.”

Seol Jihu tilted his head.

“But I drank Psyche’s Tears in the Neutral Zone.”

“Psyche’s Tears should have removed the waste stuck in your mana circuit and body, but the mana circuit, where your energy flows, is different than your mana.”

Jang Maldong spoke firmly, but Seol Jihu still looked confused.

“To put it simply… you gained one wing by consuming Psyche’s Tears. The reason I say one is that the speed at which your mana flows and the efficiency of your mana application increased, but the power of the mana itself did not increase.”

Jang Maldong rubbed his temple as if he was still a bit tired.

“The Righteous Heart Cultivation Method will purify the mana you have. In other words, it will increase its purity.”

“Right.”

“Come to think of it, you liked martial arts novels, right? Then you should know that having purer qi makes you stronger. It’s the same with mana. The purity of your mana is directly proportional to the strength you can display.”

Excluding the times when two completely conflicting energies were clashing, when Magicians of equal mana level were fighting, one side would often lose in an overwhelming fashion. Jang Maldong said this was because of the difference in the purities of their mana.

“You have anti-evil power as well. It’s a perfect match.”

Seol Jihu finally understood.

The purity of mana and the cleanliness of the mana circuit. These two elements would surely have synergistic effects and match well with the evil-annihilating power of Soma.

In other words, learning the Righteous Heart Cultivation Method would complete his pair of wings, on top of giving him a jetpack booster.

Jang Maldong held up the Crescent Blade Spear Technique next, but Seol Jihu could tell how troubled he was by his expression.

Jang Maldong knew how to help with the cultivation method, but the spear technique was on a different dimension of difficulty.

Seol Jihu and Jang Maldong could put their heads together and try to figure something out if it was only mildly difficult, but not even Jang Maldong had any idea where to begin with this spear technique book.

Even a master of the spear would need several months of nonstop study to attempt to decipher it.

Baek Haeju, for example.

In any case, Jang Maldong had to at least attempt to explain it, so he started speaking reluctantly.

“So about the Crescent Blade Spear Technique… you’ve read Romance of the Three Kingdoms, right?”