Chapter 36

Chapter 36

Heavenly Slaughter Star Lord.

That was what Baek Cheon-myeong was called.

The origin of the title Heavenly Slaughter Star Lord came from a star known as the Heavenly Slaughter Star (天殺星).

The Heavenly Slaughter Star was a star of terrible fate, one destined to stain everything around it with blood.

Baek Cheon-myeong had been born under that star.

Kang Ha-min had no idea what Baek Cheon-myeong had experienced in the past.

But judging from his reaction, it seemed to be something unpleasant.

Mr. Baek Cheon-myeong, are you okay?

"I'm fine. I simply remembered something from long ago."

Baek Cheon-myeong raised his head with a frown.

"Still, the Tower did disgusting things in the past, and it continues doing them now."

[Stella, the One Who Embraces the Stars, shows bitterness.]

What had happened in Baek Cheon-myeong's past?

Perhaps the Second Floor Realm was designed to disturb his memories.

The Tower adjusted itself according to the person climbing it.

Still, you cleared it safely.

This time, Kang Ha-min had truly been nervous.

He knew Baek Cheon-myeong was strong.

But that battle had been on a completely different level from the monsters they had faced before.

The woman called the Poison Venerable had been terrifying.

If the Eleventh Floor is already like this...

What would the floors after this be like?

Kang Ha-min's worries continued piling up.

Ding!

[You have obtained the right to challenge the Floor Lord of the Eleventh Floor.]

[Would you like to challenge the Floor Lord of the Eleventh Floor?]

A window appeared before Kang Ha-min.

The right to challenge a Floor Lord.

Come to think of it, every floor starting from the Eleventh Floor had its own Floor Lord.

A Hunter who broke a floor's record obtained the right to challenge that Floor Lord.

Kang Ha-min had earned that right through this clear.

The Floor Lord of the Eleventh Floor is...

Tenzin of Vajra.

He was quite famous among Hunters.

Tenzin operated a martial hall on the Eleventh Floor to help Hunters climbing the Tower.

He did good work.

There was no real reason to challenge him.

"Master, issue the challenge."

What? Do we really need to?

But Baek Cheon-myeong thought differently.

"The more floors Master rules as Floor Lord, the greater the benefits the Tower grants you."

There was something like that?

Even Kang Ha-min, who had worked in a Hunter-related government department, had never heard of it.

"Judging by your reaction, it seems this world doesn't know."

Baek Cheon-myeong's lips formed a dangerous smile.

"Or perhaps those who climbed the Tower intentionally kept it hidden."

The more floors a Floor Lord controlled, the greater their benefits.

If that information became public, more people would challenge the Floor Lords.

So the Floor Lords had silently agreed not to reveal it.

I can understand why they'd hide something like that.

Still, it was rather shameless.

Then do you become stronger immediately after becoming the Floor Lord of just one floor?

"No. One floor alone won't create a noticeable difference."

"But once you control ten floors, it becomes different."

"More importantly..."

Baek Cheon-myeong looked upward.

"Becoming a Floor Lord is the minimum requirement to advance beyond the rank of Demigod."

Demigod.

A rank that only Tower Ascendants who had passed the 100th Floor could reach.

There was something beyond Demigod?

Kang Ha-min clenched his fist.

That strangely makes my blood boil.

Men naturally liked the idea of becoming stronger.

Now that he had a goal, motivation rose inside him.

All right.

If they needed to break through the 161st Floor,

they had to take every advantage they could get.

Ah, wait. If I become Floor Lord, can I still let the previous Floor Lord keep managing the floor like before?

Becoming stronger was one thing.

He didn't want to steal the work someone else had been doing.

Few things were worse than taking another person's livelihood.

If that person had unfairly stolen someone else's livelihood first, that was different.

But taking something from someone who managed it properly went against Kang Ha-min's sense of decency.

It's not like I'm starving.

More importantly, managing a floor sounded annoying.

Watching Baek Cheon-myeong climb the Tower and doing his own training already kept him busy enough.

Kang Ha-min didn't want more work.

"That depends entirely on Master's wishes."

Hmm.

In that case,

there was no reason not to challenge.

All right. Let's do it.

Kang Ha-min raised his head toward the window.

"Hunter Kang Ha-min challenges the Floor Lord of the Eleventh Floor."

BOOM!

The moment he declared it, Baek Cheon-myeong's vision shook.

The place beneath his feet began changing.

After some time,

a massive arena appeared.

An open sky.

Completely empty spectator seats.

A battlefield designed for nothing except combat.

[Floor Lord Hall (君主戰堂)]

Baek Cheon-myeong stood in its center.

Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom.

Drums began to sound.

Then something started appearing throughout the empty spectator stands.

They were symbols.

A sword.

Flames.

A flower.

A tree.

Earth.

The sea.

The moon.

The sun.

Stars.

And many others.

Symbols representing all kinds of things.

Kang Ha-min quickly understood what they were.

The gods.

Only gods were spectators here.

To the gods, battles between Floor Lords were entertaining games.

But if gods could observe this place,

Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom.

then the Demigods who had climbed the Tower could come as well.

Shadows shaped like humans appeared between the divine symbols.

One after another,

they filled the seats.

Tower Ascendants.

Those who had reached the rank of Demigod had appeared here.

Baek Cheon-myeong had recently been breaking Tower records one after another.

His existence had become known not only on the surface,

but even among the Tower Ascendants.

They had come to see the new super rookie.

They wanted to know whether he could reach beyond the 161st Floor,

the floor they themselves had failed to overcome.

The stands filled with gods and Demigods.

No one had probably ever gathered this many before.

Yet Baek Cheon-myeong didn't even look at them.

AAAAH, why are there so many?!

Kang Ha-min was different.

Baek Cheon-myeong might look calm,

but the pressure released by the gods and Demigods filled the arena.

It was so intense that breathing became difficult.

Every time one of their gazes moved,

it felt like a hand squeezed his heart.

And they weren't even revealing their true forms.

They had merely placed their eyes here through symbols.

If Kang Ha-min had personally met them,

he might have fainted.

[Don't worry, Master.]

Baek Cheon-myeong's presence exploded outward.

The crushing pressure that had filled the arena disappeared in an instant.

[Volcano, the One Who Governs Fire, laughs loudly.]

[Mare, One Who Dwells in the Deep Sea, shows displeasure.]

[Avalanche, One Who Brings Disaster, glares at you.]

[Solva, Guardian of the Forest, shows dislike.]

[Stella, the One Who Embraces the Stars, looks anxious.]

The gods weren't reacting well.

Some were laughing,

but several were clearly hostile.

Especially gods who had never appeared before.

M, Mr. Baek Cheon-myeong, is this okay?

[It's fine. This is better for these bastards.]

Baek Cheon-myeong showed no mercy even to gods.

And it wasn't only the gods.

[One Who Trampled a Million Enemies shows interest.]

[Spear That Pierced the Sky bursts into laughter.]

[One Who Knows No Defeat sneers.]

[One Who Cast Off the Crown looks at you as though seeing something strange.]

The Demigods also reacted strongly.

Unlike gods, they didn't possess divine names.

Instead, they displayed titles representing themselves.

[Gods are beings that cling to the Tower, and Demigods are failures who couldn't reach the summit.]

[They are not Master's enemies.]

Only Baek Cheon-myeong could casually look down on gods and Demigods.

"You don't retreat even before gods and Demigods. A truly distinguished guest has arrived."

A voice rang out.

Baek Cheon-myeong turned.

A man stood there.

[Challenger's Authority activated.]

[The Floor Lord's strength will be adjusted to the same level they possessed when they first challenged this floor.]

A special restriction of the Floor Lord Hall.

When challenged,

a Floor Lord's stats returned to what they had possessed when they originally challenged the floor.

Naturally,

the Floor Lord still retained all the experience accumulated afterward.

But purely in terms of raw ability,

the challenger at least had a chance.

The man wore a pleated red lower garment wrapped around his waist.

A sleeveless red upper garment.

And a rectangular yellow Buddhist robe rested over his shoulder.

The clothing of a Tibetan monk.

Tenzin Dorje.

The Tibetan known as Vajra.

When his eyes met Baek Cheon-myeong's,

he placed his palms together and bowed.

"It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Tenzin Dorje."

The man called a living Wisdom King of Buddhism.

Even the gods and Demigods reacted to his appearance.

Tenzin was famous even high within the Tower.

"Hmm?"

Baek Cheon-myeong examined him closely.

"You're not someone who should have remained the Floor Lord of the Eleventh Floor."

"Why didn't you achieve Tower Ascension?"

Tenzin had stopped climbing at the 99th Floor.

Since then,

he had remained as the Floor Lord of the Eleventh Floor.

When Baek Cheon-myeong saw through that,

Tenzin smiled faintly.

"Haha. You flatter me."

"I simply understood the limits of a person like myself."

"Even if I achieved Tower Ascension, I doubt I would progress very far."

"Giving up on something before even challenging it is the greatest waste."

"Yes. I think so as well."

No matter what Baek Cheon-myeong said,

Tenzin merely smiled.

Baek Cheon-myeong looked bored.

Arguing with monks had never been entertaining.

"So."

Baek Cheon-myeong slowly drew his wooden sword.

"Who ordered you to kill me?"

For the first time,

Tenzin's body stiffened.

He had maintained a calm attitude from beginning to end.

Now worry appeared across his face.

"I study the teachings of Buddha, but I am still an ordinary being unable to fully embody them."

Tenzin lowered the hands he had held together.

Almost like performing a dance,

his arms slowly drew circles through the air.

"I have always carried my people in my heart."

"I cannot abandon my desire to live for them."

Tibet had been placed under Chinese control

and had suffered severe oppression.

It was the sorrow and wish of the Tibetan people.

Tenzin was Tibetan too.

No matter how deeply he followed Buddhism,

he could not release his anger toward China

or his sorrow for Tibet.

"I see. So you also refused Tower Ascension for the sake of those people."

Tower Ascendants couldn't return to the surface.

The surface couldn't withstand beings who had reached the rank of Demigod.

So they could only remain within the Tower.

"Yes. If I disappeared, my people would be forced to endure even harsher oppression."

For future generations.

For his people.

Tenzin had remained below instead of achieving Tower Ascension.

"And yet, if I oppress a younger Hunter for the sake of my people..."

Golden Vajra energy flowed from Tenzin's entire body.

It was powerful enough to explain why he was called Buddhism's living Wisdom King.

"Then I would be no different from those I hated so deeply."

"There's no need to feel guilty."

Baek Cheon-myeong's sword energy slowly rose against him.

"The result will be the same regardless."

Whoever stood in his way,

Baek Cheon-myeong would crush them and continue upward.

That was the kind of man he was.

"More importantly."

Baek Cheon-myeong grinned.

"You don't even understand what you're truly facing."

Baek Cheon-myeong was only a corpse.

Those who didn't know what existed behind the sun

had no chance of defeating him.