Chapter 340

Chapter 340
## Chapter 340

A New Farming Ground (1)

Creak— Thud!

A heavy vibration reverberated across the wide area, which was packed with a variety of training machinery.

The zone was vast, offering plenty of space for dozens of individuals to practice concurrently, yet it was occupied by only a single person.

Of course.

This was a restricted athletic chamber, constructed solely for his personal use.

“Huu…”

I dropped the specially crafted barbell, cleaned the perspiration off my skin using a cloth, and gripped a container of performance beverage.

Gulp— Gulp—

“Ah!”

A chilling sensation instantly sated my parching throat, and a massive wave of vitality poured back into my spent frame, rapidly restoring my exhausted stamina.

“The results are undeniable.”

Such a spectacular outcome would have astounded anyone else, but it was second nature to me.

It was merely an everyday component of my regimen.

‘World Tree foliage. It clearly isn’t just a myth.’

I put down the container, which was infused with extracts from the World Tree, and began limbering up my muscles.

These materials served as a fundamental element in the premier restoratives and tonics concocted by the Elves, possessing an indisputable regenerative quality.

‘Naturally, I tailored the potency to maximize my personal conditioning.’

Even the most incredible substances could prove counterproductive if one relied on them excessively.

The dosage was dialed perfectly to stimulate my 「Sturdiness」 and trigger 「Super Recovery」, maximizing the gains from my physical exertion.

“Talk about… absolute indulgence.”

A faint smirk crossed my lips.

Consuming a fitness drink derived from the leaves of the World Tree, a legendary and priceless commodity.

If the inhabitants of the Elven Kingdom discovered this, they would likely lose consciousness from shock.

‘Still, I’ve provided immense aid to their people. They can tolerate a minor indulgence like this.’

If he wanted to be truly greedy, he could have pillaged the entirety of their stockpiled World Tree remnants.

Then again, given that he regularly plundered their storehouses anyway… the distinction was practically nonexistent.

Shaking off the imagined protests of the World Tree caretakers, I scanned the perimeter of my personal training hall.

This fluid was hardly the sole extravagance dedicated to my physical progression.

“Mm, superb artistry.”

The vast array of lifting apparatus filling the chamber each represented an ideal marriage of utility and visual design.

Every single machine was a bespoke creation forged by Howard, the Dwarf.

Utilizing the fundamental mechanics of contemporary fitness gear, he engineered them to match my body measurements precisely, utilizing incredibly scarce resources and crafting every mechanism with his own hands.

It was an absolute paradise for any weightlifter.

‘Furthermore, their performance far exceeds the gear I used previously.’

I gave a slow nod, an expression of quiet pride washing over me.

This wasn’t a mere delusion.

The 「Artisan’s Soul」 possessed by Howard allowed him to elevate an item’s inherent capabilities to their absolute apex through sheer manual brilliance, elevating them to the level of enchanted devices.

As a consequence, his handiwork was infinitely superior to standard, factory-made alternatives.

“That concludes the session for today.”

With my daily physical training finished, I positioned myself before a reflecting pane.

My exposed torso was defined by tightly packed, chiseled muscles.

With a minimal body fat ratio, every single muscular strand stood out with stark definition, shifting smoothly beneath the surface.

‘Granted, I still don’t match up to Harley or Heinrich.’

Those two were statistical anomalies, far outside regular metrics.

How could a dedicated gym enthusiast hope to rival a biologically modified freak of nature or a holy knight who had scaled the absolute zenith of physical capability?

Even so, my current development was nothing to look down upon.

A prolonged period of intense labor, blended with physical upgrades bought via Karma points and the healing traits of 「Super Recovery」, had propelled me far past the boundaries of standard mortality.

When supplemented by attributes such as 「Super Strength」 and 「Hypersensitivity」, I could likely crush a lower-tier returnee utilizing nothing but my raw grip.

‘Yet, this alone falls short.’

Those who return are not characterized merely by their singular traits. They also bear the accumulated internal power of the foreign dimensions they inhabited.

Since I had never crossed over to an alternate reality, I lacked a native source of specific energy… and yet…

Clench!

I squeezed my hand into a fist.

An intense pulse of vitality surged through my forearm.

It was far more than mere muscular power.

Wooong—

A deep crimson blaze, resembling ignited lifeblood, flared up around my knuckles.

「Bio-Aura」, a metaphysical trait that transmuted raw biological essence into pure kinetic ruin.

I did not pause there, however.

The moment the bloody flames dwindled, a radiant, silvery-gold sacred energy blanketed my hand.

Directly following that, a dark, bottomless void essence, resembling a shimmering heat mirage, danced along my fingers.

A crimson, metallic-scented current burst forth next, replaced instantly by a soothing, tranquil earthly essence, which ultimately gave way to a dense, overbearing inner martial energy.

I nodded in quiet approval, having cycled through multiple distinct energy profiles across mere moments.

‘Flawless.’

The passive assistance granted by 「Individual Projection」, paired with unyielding practice, had yielded immense fruit.

Granted, these manifestations lacked the raw devastation they would possess if the true manifestations wielded them directly… but the capacity to tap into any of them on a whim provided a massive tactical edge.

Because this power was not actively stored within my physical vessel, no observer could identify my status as an awakened entity until the moment I chose to release it.

‘Furthermore, when paired with the “Existence Denial” of Heinz the Second, my presence remains completely untraceable.’

No lingering energy traces, no aberrant spiritual weight…

Even an entity as perceptive as the Heavenly Demon would fail to pierce the deception.

‘Besides, I can always deploy “Individual Projection” if things take a turn.’

I was insulated from real peril.

Then again, I had no intention of wandering into hazardous scenarios to begin with.

I cleansed myself in the water stalls, ridding my skin of perspiration, before easing into the automated massage lounger, adhering to my usual sequence.

“Huu…”

I lowered my eyelids, savoring the rhythmic thumping of the machine while straightening out my internal thoughts.

Developments were advancing smoothly across the alternate realms.

This applied not only to Auterica, my established harvesting territory, but also to Ganghwange, my fresh undertaking.

My focus drifted toward the military action that had just wrapped up.

‘The Demonic Cult is effectively dismantled. Isolated splinters persist, but with their central fortress under our thumb, wiping them out entirely will be a swift affair.’

Hans, who had executed a solo assault against the Demonic Cult, had at last secured their primary stronghold.

An iron-fisted conquest, achieved via his monstrous capabilities and his mastery over forbidden sorcery and the energy of the abyss.

The cultist combatants attempted a defense, but they lacked the strategic command and cohesion required to mount a meaningful resistance against him.

‘The forces that accompanied the Heavenly Demon to strike the Shaolin Temple have yet to reappear.’

The same went for the alternative vanguard groups tasked with seizing the Dragon’s Children.

With even the Cult’s secondary commander, Grand Strategist Yalu Huan, away from the premises, the fortress was essentially unguarded.

Naturally, security measures remained operational, including the corrupted jiangshi alongside various protective arrays and curses… but—.

‘Such obstacles only stymie commonplace intruders.’

Regrettably for the defenders, Hans, the extra-dimensional Demon King, was anything but commonplace.

As a result of his raid, he had successfully claimed all their materials, encompassing the undead thralls, tactical arrays, and occult scripts.

“Mm, I will permit Hans to manage that sector. They both fall under the demonic umbrella, even if their foundational elements diverge slightly.”

Subduing dark entities was precisely where Hans excelled!

He was an experienced Demon King, having commanded the Immortal Army across ages.

He would likely crush the remaining pockets of the Demonic Cult before they even comprehended their predicament.

‘As for the Golden Island Sect… they are performing adequately. They are aggressively backing Horus due to the resurgence of the Demonic Cult.’

Horus was currently concentrating his efforts on blending his Dragon Orb and Dragon Heart into a singular unity.

Utilizing them as separate entities proved highly inefficient.

‘His reservoir of power is immense. Implementing a dual-core configuration is undoubtedly the most rational path.’

However, his grasp of mysticism had not yet matured. He required greater lore to devise an exact methodology.

It was merely a question of duration.

‘…Duration is of little concern. With Hans dominating the Demonic Cult, our operational window is wider than they anticipated. Furthermore, gathering the Dragon’s Children remains our primary objective regardless.’

Predictably, no living specimens of the Dragon’s Children remained within the headquarters of the Heavenly Demon Cult.

The cultists had been tracking and seizing them, but they chose to immolate them to fuel their own power reserves, desperate to prevent the full reconstitution of the Dragon Heart.

This explained how the Heavenly Demon managed to wield the sacred power of the Master of Heaven’s Turn Society without suffering immense backlash, and why the martial artists of Murim found their inner reserves fractured.

‘They were the chosen vessels meant to reconstitute the Dragon Heart, the ultimate enigma of Ganghwange. They served as flawless catalysts for sacrifice.’

I clicked my tongue, a shadow crossing my expression.

The paradigm was far more intricate than my preliminary assessments suggested.

The total population of the Dragon’s Children remained uncertain, though the figure was bound to be minuscule.

‘They enter the world with frail constitutions, meaning those born to destitution would perish long before adulthood. Factor in the relentless pursuit by the Demonic Cult, and the numbers dwindle further… ’

The exact quota of Dragon’s Children required for the manifestation was a mystery, but a larger pool was always advantageous.

It would be an exercise in futility to engineer a theoretical fix only to stall out due to a shortage of physical components.

‘I must take a more direct hand in this. While their standard operating procedure involves transferring them to the central base for slaughter, some targets might attempt to flee.’

Harley, who was presently indulging in a relaxed tour through the territory of the Golden Island Sect, would be ideally suited for this assignment.

He had been searching for an opportunity to… experience the local culinary scene… though following his altercation with Dool, the populace gave him a wide berth.

Given that he had been tearing through the wilderness in his colossal state, such a reaction was entirely logical.

‘It is of little consequence now. I unearthed a massive cache of fiend nuclei within the Demonic Cult’s research laboratories.’

The Demonic Cult and the Golden Island Sect possessed a deep historical enmity, perpetually hunting one another down.

Consequently, their central base was packed with war prizes, including skeletal pieces from apex fiends and even mythical entities.

‘A fragment of the Black Tortoise, a horn from a Kirin, and even an independent Dragon Orb… a literal goldmine.’

He did not hesitate to claim them.

I pivoted my consciousness away from Harley, moving toward my final manifestation operating within Ganghwange.

Hugo, who had attached himself to the Zhuge Clan for their return trek.

With Harley previously clearing out the path ahead, their transit had been remarkably tranquil.

Had he not broken the trail, they would have faced an endless gauntlet of surprise attacks.

“Their arrival should be imminent.”

Though it was slightly delayed, the data they possessed would prove highly valuable for mapping out the positions of the remaining Dragon’s Children.

I kept my awareness anchored there for a brief moment before returning my attention to my primary objective.

With the current landscape thoroughly evaluated, only a single action demanded my focus.

The premier task.

‘Time to reap the rewards of my investments.’

A wide smile stretched across my features.

The intake of Karma from Auterica remained dependable and uniform… but my anticipations were incredibly high for Ganghwange, which had just played host to a sequence of monumental disruptions.

“…Oh?”

His retained Karma pool, following the recent ‘random lottery’ acquisition that yielded 「Mimicry」 along with supplementary traits, had stood at roughly 3.6 million…

『Karma Owned – 6,212,830』

This fresh cultivation territory was… spectacularly lucrative.