The Hero Returns

With the Bull Demon King's completely unruffled appearance, not a single hint of anxiety could be spied on his expression.

Sure, something like anxiety would no longer show up on a face of a creature about to become a god, but still, such an attitude was more than enough to cause nervousness to bloom within the Jade Emperor's heart.

"It can't be…Prince Nezha?" the Jade Emperor thought.

The Jade Emperor shook his head.

Such a thing could never happen.

Just what kind of existence was Prince Nezha?

He was a top-ranked god who fought against Yogoes for what must have been like an eternity, which earned him the nickname "the god of battles" in the process.

Someone like him losing to not the Great Sage Heaven's Equal but a mere human? Even if that human was powerful?

"Unless this means the return of the progenitor of the Sage Arts…"

A human whose name wasn't even recorded.

Also, without the progenitor of the Sage Arts, who taught both the Great Sage Heaven's Equal and the Great Sage who Pacifies Heaven and chose to give up on his position as a god to descend back to the mortal realm, such an event would have never occurred.

Nezha, along with Erlang Shen, was like a star that symbolized the Heavenly World. If someone like him was defeated by a human, then the planned battle against the Great Sage Heaven's Equal would run into a massive issue later.

Gulp—

It certainly had been a long time since the Jade Emperor had to gulp in nervousness.

And as he began thinking that the brief blip in time felt like an agonizing eternity, one of the two men who fell underground—Su-hyeun and Nezha—crawled out from the gaping hole.

Grab—

Fuu-wuu—

A human was climbing out by barely managing to hook his arm over the edge.

Su-hyeun, completely breathless, plopped straight down on the ground after reaching the surface. "Man, I thought I was going to die for real…"

He didn't have any strength left in his body.

He still had some magical energy left, but all of his tension had abandoned him by now, and the exhaustion was washing over him like a tidal wave.

The reality wasn't too far off either. He had to deal with the penalty for a while when his use of the "Immortality" skill had ended.

"No, this…What kind of nonsense is this…?"

The Jade Emperor's previously narrowed eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when Su-hyeun reappeared after defeating Nezha.

Prince Nezha had fallen. At the hands of a human, no less.

"That's a relief," said the Bull Demon King with a grin and lightly clapped his hands.

CLAP—!

Jiiii-iiiing—

That single clap caused a massive ripple to spread within the battlefield. The ear-splitting noise prompted Sun Wukong to stop swinging his Ruyi Jingu Bang at Erlang Shen and froze in his spot.

"Big brother?"

It was the same for Erlang Shen on the opposite side as he was about to wield his lengthy blade.

As a general of the Heavenly World's army, he had no obligation to heed the Bull Demon King's orders, but he simply couldn't make another move after sensing the scary aura contained in the hand clap just then.

"Why don't we call it a day? My front yard has become too messy, you see."

The Bull Demon King's voice was soft, but it was still clear enough for everyone in the Heavenly World's army that blanketed the sky to hear.

After making his suggestion, he affably chuckled. He seemed to be deeply entertained by something as he scanned the state of his so-called front yard.

Rather unsurprisingly, his words caused the flames of rage to explode in the Jade Emperor's heart. "You want to end it here?!"

Grit—

His teeth gritted loudly.

Prince Nezha was dead, yet only the opening curtains of the war had been pulled back.

"Is that something you should say in this situation?!"

Su-hyeun looked as if he couldn't continue fighting anymore, so much so that if the Jade Emperor sent out one or two Heavenly World's gods after him, he should easily be killed off.

That was only possible because of Nezha's sacrifice.

The Jade Emperor thought that the human must be finished right at that moment. If they were to stop there, then Nezha's sacrifice would have been for naught.

"Oh, in that case…"

When the Jade Emperor bared his fangs, the Bull Demon King finally began unleashing his hidden aura for the first time as well.

Crack, spliiiit—

Gu-gugugugu—

The world began rumbling. The ground below buckled, and the surrounding atmosphere quivered unsteadily as if the whole world was in a panic.

The Jade Emperor felt the entire world quivered through his skin. Just the simple act of unleashing some aura was already that much.

The Bull Demon King wasn't angry. He was simply sending a warning message.

"Do you wish to fight some more?"

A warning that he would participate in the battle next.

Gulp—

The Jade Emperor had forgotten about it momentarily out of rage.

The Bull Demon King. He was an existence who must not enter the battle. The one directing this battlefield was not the Jade Emperor but the absolute being about to step into godhood.

"If you wish to continue on, then I won't stop you. No, wait. I guess there's no need for me to stop you in the first place. Well, then…"

"W—wait."

The Jade Emperor quickly waved his hands about.

No matter how upset he was, he should definitely avoid fighting against the Bull Demon King in that place.

A long time ago, the Bull Demon King used to behave exactly like a raging bull—the kind that did not stop no matter what once it started rampaging around.

Even if his emotions had gotten faint, it was still hard to tell whether or not that nature of his had disappeared as well.

However, if that side to him still remained, then, never mind the Heavenly World's army present, he would even go as far as to utterly devastate the entire Heavenly World and then some.

"I get it. W—we shall withdraw."

"A wise decision."

The Bull Demon King soon began smiling affably again after raising his aura as if he would start murdering everyone.

The world that was writhing viciously abruptly calmed down just then as if it was all a lie. It was so abrupt that the world up until a second ago felt like a mirage.

The Jade Emperor managed to pry open his own unwilling lips. "We shall return to the base."

That announcement caused Erlang Shen who was fighting against Sun Wukong to open his mouth first. "But!"

"Erlang Shen!"

Despite the considerable distance between them, they could hear each other clearly, which meant they could sense their emotions as well.

"Did you not hear my order to retreat?"

A heavy amount of rage was laced in the Jade Emperor's voice.

And so…

"Understood."

Erlang Shen's voice was filled with several emotions, including ruefulness, rage, and even sorrow.

Shu-wuwuwu—

The Heavenly World's gods began rising up into the sky one by one. In the meantime, Erlang Shen descended below the ground and retrieved Prince Nezha's corpse.

If it was in the past, Sun Wukong wouldn't have just watched the gods retreat like this. However, this situation wasn't the handiwork of the Jade Emperor but the Bull Demon King.

Even if the Jade Emperor ordered the retreat, this was actually the will of the Bull Demon King, so Sun Wukong had not much of a choice but to watch the gods run away.

"Big bro, is that for real?"

However, Sun Wukong was preoccupied with something else at the moment.

And that would be Nezha's corpse currently slung over Erlang Shen's back.

Sun Wukong had fought the longest against Nezha, so he would recognize that face anywhere and do it better than anyone alive. And since he even possessed the Fiery Golden Eyes, he could definitely confirm that Nezha was not breathing anymore.

He didn't need to verify Nezha's death any further than that. So, he instead shifted his gaze over to Su-hyeun who was struggling to stand back up. "This guy, just what is he exactly?"

<hr />

A day had passed by after the gods of the Heavenly World retreated.

Su-hyeun had been sleeping right through it. His aching body needed a lot of time to properly heal—all because of the Yogoe Capturing Rope.

The confining rope capable of restricting gods and Yogoes alike would exert enough pressure to crush one's bones as soon as it tightened around the target's body.

Chirp—

His ears caught a bird's pleasant chirping.

Su-hyeun's tightly closed eyelids slowly opened. He pushed aside the sheets and raised his torso.

"How long did I sleep for?"

Ever since he arrived, he somehow developed a habit of falling into a deep sleep.

Su-hyeun scratched his head. His sleep had been so deep that he just couldn't wake up at all, so he loudly slapped his cheeks with his hands.

After waking up a bit more, he got up from the bed and left the house.

When he did…

"What the?"

The surrounding view he grew familiar with entered his vision.

Thick verdant trees spread out as far as his eyes could see, and the refreshingly cool early morning air and the comforting scent of earth tickled his nose.

But that view should have been wrecked beyond recognition from the previous battle.

"You're awake."

"You're awake."

"You're…"

Sun Wukong's voice echoed around.

Su-hyeun dazedly looked at him.

Sun Wukong lightly leaped off from the bamboo spear and left his clones to continue with the training. "How's your body feeling now? You're not in pain anywhere, right?"

"Ah, that. Yes, quite amazingly, I'm perfectly fine."

Only after listening to Sun Wukong's question did Su-hyeun belatedly check up on his body's status.

He didn't even have to take a closer look. It was with amazement that he found his condition to be at its absolute peak.

"But it felt like all of my bones were crushed, didn't it?" he thought.

He felt it right after he had used up his "Immortality" skill, so he didn't have much magical energy left in him, and physically speaking, he was quite exhausted as well. But even then, to think that he would recover so perfectly after only in a single day.

"Well, big bro's pretty handy with his healing ability, you know. You might have not noticed it yet, but your body's probably been improved a bit now, too."

"It seems that way."

For sure, his body did feel lighter than usual. It previously felt fatigued and heavy for some reason, yet now, the featherlight sensation that dominated his body felt like he had gained a new pair of wings.

"Just what did he do exactly?" he wondered.

Seeing that it was already morning, Su-hyeun figured that he had rested for a full day.

Upon realizing that he slept for a long time again, he ended up sighing in disappointment and regret, fully knowing that every second was too precious to him.

However, it was at that moment that…

"Ah. The breathing technique," he realized.

Su-hyeun had forgotten to maintain his breathing technique, but an expression of astonishment quickly formed on his face.

"Hey, man, why do you sigh so much anyway? You haven't even lived for that long, you know."

Sun Wukong tutted in disapproval at the sight of Su-hyeun sighing.

However, the latter didn't really pay attention to what the Yogoe said just then. "Big bro, am I…?"

"What about you?"

"My breathing pattern…"

"What's wrong? You're breathing properly, aren't you? Yeah, that's the correct pattern."

Sun Wukong replied as if he couldn't see a problem.

But that was precisely what Su-hyeun found odd.

The breathing technique he barely managed to maintain consciously had now become so natural that he could no longer remember the previous breathing pattern anymore.

"No way…" he thought.

[Basic Breathing Technique]

<ul>

Grade: -

Category: Active (activation type)

The Sage Arts' basic breathing method. Maintaining the breathing pattern reduces magical energy consumption by 32%.

Proficiency: 48.25%

Your magical energy concentration will increase depending on your proficiency.

</ul>

Su-hyeun was stunned once more after confirming his proficiency.

Over 48%.

His magical energy consumption was now reduced by 32%.

The proficiency that hovered around the 10% mark for the last few days had shot up greatly after a good night's sleep.

"If the consumption reduction is now 32%, then…" his thoughts trailed off.

Whenever a need to use skills or magical power arose in the future, he would get the same result as he did in the past while only unleashing 68% of output.

To flip that around, consuming the same amount of magical energy as before would result in even greater firepower now.

Since the breathing technique was basically a cheat skill, he feared that its proficiency wouldn't rise that quickly, but as it turned out, he was wrong.

"What's wrong? Are you surprised by how natural it is?"

Sun Wukong didn't know about the existence of the "system," so he merely thought that Su-hyeun's shock was caused by how natural his breathing technique had gotten.

The truth wasn't too far off, though.

The meaning of the proficiency increasing was the same as him becoming that much familiar with the technique, after all.

Pang—!

Sun Wukong powerfully smacked Su-hyeun's back.

The impact force was strong enough to crush the spine of a regular person. However, to Sun Wukong, such a smack was nothing more than a friendly pat.

"Kids are supposed to grow up by fighting a lot. Remember that."

"Ah, I see. Sure…"

"Oh, and big bro said you should go and see him in his room when you wake up. I came here to tell you that. I was wondering if you were feeling alright, too," Sun Wukong said, pointing to the Bull Demon King's room.

Su-hyeun lightly shook his head as he watched Sun Wukong quickly leap back up on top of the wooden spike.

"The Bull Demon King is waiting for me?" he thought.

He still couldn't sense anything from that room.

But that was obvious. He couldn't sense him in the past, and most likely, he would not be able to in the future as well. To him, the current Bull Demon King was an existence similar to Mother Nature itself, someone he couldn't even dare to get close to.

Step, step—

"Huh?"

However, with that thought running in his mind, Su-hyeun had to briefly stop walking as he headed toward the Bull Demon King's room.

Something strange had happened.

The Bull Demon King's presence, something he thought he would never pick up, he could feel it now.