The Demon God Returns as a Max Level Player – Chapter 13

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Wjin
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“If Returnee Lee Seong-joon accepts my request to clear the E-rank Gate, we will pay you double the usual reward, 30 million won in cash.”

This amount, double the average reward, would have small and medium-sized guilds scrambling to win the gate’s bidding rights.

For Lee Seong-joon, who needed money, it wasn’t a bad offer.

‘I can’t be led around by the nose for a mere 30 million won.’

As mentioned earlier, Lee Seong-joon knew how to raise his value.

And the most important thing in raising one’s value was to not show any weakness or vulnerability to the other party.

If they knew he was short on money, they would use that in negotiations to subtly lower his price.

Therefore, Lee Seong-joon spoke with a hardened expression.

“Is that all?”

Jo Kang-hyun’s face darkened at Lee Seong-joon’s calm reaction.

‘He’s hooked. He’s more skilled at negotiating than I thought.’

His intuition, honed from meeting countless returnees over the years, told him this.

‘Lee Seong-joon, this man isn’t just a fool who mindlessly trained his strength in another world.’

He possessed at least a decent level of political sense and negotiation skills.

He absolutely couldn’t treat Lee Seong-joon like a fool or take him lightly.

In fact, at this point, it wouldn’t matter even if his actual combat ability was somewhat lower than expected.

‘I don’t know how many years he spent in another world, but he’s a man with invaluable experience. That alone will surely be of great help to us.’

He was a talent that absolutely couldn’t be lost to the Returnee Association.

‘And if his skills are proven to be at the level Seong-hoon mentioned…?’

He felt his mouth go dry without realizing it.

Since the other party was a returnee, it was a very likely story.

‘He’s a big fish. A record-breaking big fish.’

Having firmly imprinted this fact in his mind, Jo Kang-hyun bowed his head deeply once more.

“I apologize that the offered reward is somewhat insufficient. Given my current position as team leader, this is the limit. However, I promise you, I’ll stake everything on this. If Returnee Lee Seong-joon successfully passes this test, I will report to my superiors and ensure that you are properly compensated.”

At the clear change in Jo Kang-hyun’s attitude, Lee Seong-joon rested his chin on his hand and fell into thought.

‘I don’t like that the reward isn’t clearly defined, but I think I’ve pushed him as far as I can.’

Considering the prestige of the Hunter Association, they would provide a decent reward.

In any case, it was the best situation to raise his value.

The deadline given by the Hunter Association was seven days. If he exceeded that, he would fail the test.

Conversely, the shorter the deadline, the higher his value would soar.

Seeing the corners of Lee Seong-joon’s mouth curl upwards, Jo Kang-hyun cautiously asked.

“So, do you accept?”

He had been planning to go hunting in the gate anyway.

Now, he could get additional compensation and even get a private hunting ground full of monsters.

Depending on the results, he could even raise his value.

There was no reason to refuse this offer, which could benefit him in three ways.

“Please send the gate’s location and information about the monsters inside via text message.”

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After finishing his conversation with Jo Kang-hyun, Lee Seong-joon busily made his way back to the house he had just left.

‘It seems like it will be a more arduous day than I thought.’

It couldn’t be helped, as he had to seize this opportunity.

Jo Kang-hyun had given him a deadline of seven days to clear the E-rank gate.

Naturally, he had no intention of using all seven days.

It would be best to clear it as quickly as possible to gain an advantage in future negotiations and raise his value.

Of course, he didn’t plan on acting rashly, blinded by greed.

‘I’ll finish my preparations today and clear it by tomorrow.’

It wasn’t baseless confidence.

Entering his room and sitting in a cross-legged position, Lee Seong-joon slowly regulated his breathing.

As the Blood Spirit Demon God Technique activated, his internal energy began to circulate.

Even though he had raised it to his current limit, there was no strain on his body.

‘I should be able to reach level 3 of the Blood Spirit Demon God Technique.’

Lee Seong-joon hadn’t put in all the effort and arduous training for nothing.

‘Martial arts are basically about the mind, technique, and body.’

To advance in martial arts, the balance of these three elements – internal energy (mind), technique (skill), and physical body (body) – was crucial.

It was only natural.

Even with efficient techniques and internal energy, it was meaningless without a body that could withstand it.

However, Lee Seong-joon, who hadn’t trusted the system at first, used all the bonus points gained upon level-up on only internal energy and blood energy.

But there was no need to regret or despair.

The effort and arduous training he put in to get stronger was second nature to him. Therefore, it wasn’t difficult to make up for his lacking body.

In fact, ever since the day he had returned to Earth, Lee Seong-joon hadn’t missed a single day of training.

‘It’s time to reap the rewards of all my hard work.’

Lee Seong-joon immediately closed his eyes and started reciting the formula for the Blood Spirit Demon God Technique.

‘All things are created of blood, so no matter how high or low they are, if they are connected through the power of blood, they will become one…’

As he continued to breathe and chant the ancient formula from his memories, he could feel the energy stirring in his dantian below his navel.

The violent internal energy cultivated through the Blood Spirit Demon God Technique started circulating from his Renzhong acupoint, located just below the nose, to his Changqiang acupoint, located below his tailbone.

It was the circulation of energy through the Conception and Governing Vessels, what’s commonly referred to as opening the two vessels.

The circulating blood energy forcefully struck the stagnant energy blocking the acupoints.

Bang-!

‘Ugh-!’

Lee Seong-joon forcibly suppressed the scream that was about to escape his lips.

And once again, he circulated his blood energy.

Bang-! Bang-!

The collision and expulsion of the stagnant energy within his body was by no means an easy feat.

If Lee Seong-joon had not trained his body through practice, it would not have been able to endure and would have collapsed.

Like that, he endured terrible pain again and again.

There was no such thing as getting used to it.

The pain of striking his own acupoints was always new, no matter how many times he experienced it.

But he didn’t think it would be impossible.

He had already expelled a certain amount of waste products from his body through prior training, effectively setting up the stage for his blood energy to run wild.

Indeed, the blood energy circulating through the Blood Spirit Demon God Technique seemed to move slowly at first, but it soon picked up speed like a sports car racing down a well-paved road.

Whoosh-!

The sound of the blood energy circulating through his body echoed like a strong gust of wind.

An explosive sound erupted from the acupoints that had been completely blocked by stagnant energy.

Boom-!

Compared to the loud noise, it was a tiny pinhole.

However, the blood energy did not miss the opening and quickly began to penetrate.

It was completely different from simply pushing out the waste products in his body.

Even though it was stagnant energy, it was still energy, so it naturally possessed a certain level of force and resistance.

This made it much more difficult than simply breaking through waste products.

It was only possible for a martial artist at or above the first-rate level in terms of internal energy control, and it was an essential requirement to reach the third level of the Blood Spirit Demon God Technique.

But Lee Seong-joon was different.

He possessed the memories of the Blood Demon and god of pestilence, a figure acclaimed as the greatest martial artist of all time.

Therefore, he was confident that he could raise the Blood Spirit Demon God Technique to the third level regardless of his current level, as long as he had a strong and stable body and the potent internal energy from the technique.

And this confidence soon became reality.

First, the fiercely rotating blood energy succeeded in completely expelling the stagnant energy that was blocking the area between the Renzhong and Changqiang acupoints.

However, he couldn’t let his guard down.

The stagnant energy that had suddenly lost its foothold could move to vital organs like the heart or brain, resulting in a terrible death.

Therefore, he had to capture the randomly moving stagnant energy and draw it out.

Even though he was drenched in sweat, Lee Seong-joon’s concentration didn’t waver in the slightest.

Until the very last moment, he completely expelled the stagnant energy.

‘It’s finally over.’

Finally, his internal energy, which had been moving through unnecessary acupoints, began to move quickly through the straight path that had opened up.

“Phew…”

At that moment, Lee Seong-joon exhaled, and all the acupoints for energy circulation quickly changed.

Lee Seong-joon naturally opened his eyes, and a bright smile spread across his face.

“Good.”

Just then, a familiar alarm rang in his ears.

Ding-!

Light shone from Lee Seong-joon’s eyes as he looked at the green holographic system window.

‘I didn’t expect this kind of growth to be reflected in my stats…….’

Once again, he couldn’t help but be surprised by the system’s ability.

It didn’t just stop at raising the Blood Spirit Demon God Technique to level 3. It accurately detected the internal changes and immediately reflected them in his stats.

‘Opening the Conception and Governing Vessels isn’t just about breaking through acupoints blocked by stagnant energy.’

As the paths of energy flow had completely changed, it was only natural that his body grew as well.

Back on the Celestial Continent, simply by opening the Conception and Governing Vessels, he had made a leap from a first-rate martial artist to a peak expert.

Of course, he couldn’t reach the peak expert level now because he wasn’t as physically prepared as he was back then, but there were definite results.

‘…I’ve reached the second-rate martial artist level.’

He had reached a level where he could call himself a martial artist even on the Celestial Continent.

It was not a particularly high level, not a realm of extraordinary expertise.

However, it was not a level to be trifled with.

When he had first arrived on the Celestial Continent, it had taken him two whole years to grow from a third-rate martial artist to a second-rate one.

He had never imagined that he would reach the second-rate martial artist level in less than ten days.

Even to himself, this rate of growth was absurd.

If he only had his experience and memories, he would not have been this fast.

The bonus points earned upon level-up accelerated his growth, making this possible.

‘If I keep growing at this rate…….’

He was confident that he could reach the level of a first-rate martial artist, a true martial artist deserving of respect, within a month.

A wry smile spread across his face as he recalled all his past efforts and time invested in reaching the first-rate level.

‘Amazing.’

But this was just the tip of the iceberg.

The system’s ability wasn’t just about the instantaneous reflection and easy growth through bonus points.

Job advancement, a power known as the privilege of the system.

It wasn’t an exaggeration to call it a privilege.

After reaching certain levels, such as 10, 40, and 80, one could obtain a class and learn the corresponding skills by simply proceeding with job advancement.

Since it was a well-established piece of common knowledge on present-day Earth, Lee Seong-joon nodded without hesitation.

‘Y.’

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