Leveling with the Gods

Ru Yi Bang fell from the sky.

Kwaang-!

Guuuuurrrrrrrrr.

The sound and impact did not stop at once.

Goo, goo, goo, goo.

The Five Elements Mountain trembled.

Beyond that, Lee Rangjin brandished his Unbreakable Sword and opened his mouth.

"It seems the alter egos have moved."

Twack-!

The attack was blocked by the Bull Demon King's fist, and Lee Rangjin moved his body again, spinning the Unbreakable Sword in circles.

Bum!

Kwagwagwagwagw-!

A storm erupted from the tip of the sword. Tiny scar-like forms appeared all over the Bull Demon King's body, which was trapped within it, and at the same time, his hand reached forward.

Kwak-.

Boom-.

Grasping Lee Rangjin's hidden fist in the storm, the Bull Demon King immediately threw it downward.

Kwaaang-!

Koo-koo-koo-koo-.

The ground gave way.

Lee Rangjin's body trembled for a moment.

But only for a moment.

Drrrr-.

Lee Rangjin stood up from the ground, dusting off his clothes.

"So, this is your plan?"

Dozens of alter egos.

Even the Celestial Realm knew that there were dozens of Son OhGong's alter egos scattered throughout this Tower, and although they knew their power was not insignificant, the Celestial Realm could only look the other way.

They didn't know where they were or how they were hiding.

And yet, so many had gathered.

It was impossible to know what had happened or why.

"It's only been a month since I escaped from your prison."

The Bull Demon King looked through the Five Elements Mountain towards where YuWon and the Son OhGongs were fighting.

"How could I have gathered all those selfish bastards?"

"Then..."

Kaaaak-.

Lee Rangjin's hand, holding the Unbreakable Sword, grew stronger.

"Was it really Kim YuWon?"

"...You're wrong."

"You're lying."

Lee Rangjin opened his mouth with a slightly bitter expression.

"I suppose it's true."

He was a coveted talent.

No.

Not only was he coveted by the Celestial Realm, Lee Rangjin wanted him so much that he could even entrust him with the future of the Celestial Realm.

All the more reason to hope that he wasn't the cause of this.

But apparently, it was in vain.

"I cannot give you the Great Sage, Heaven's Equal."

"You speak as if he's yours."

"He is the greatest sinner of the Heavens."

"He is my younger brother."

A red aura glowed in the Bull Demon King's eyes.

Thud-.

Opening his fist and flexing his knuckles, the Bull Demon King stomped and headed towards Lee Rangjin.

"If you stand in my way, I will cut your neck first."

Thud-.

The presence was even greater than before.

That was when Lee Rangjin thought of the Bull Demon King's other title.

"Great Power Demon King."

Apart from Hercules, he was the strongest High Rank in the Tower.

And so, he began to display his power to the fullest.

"Grow."

"Grow."

"Grow."

Three Son OhGongs simultaneously pointed their staffs to the sky.

In response to their actions, the Generals of the Celestial Realm took a step forward.

"Stop!"

"It's Ru Yi Bang!"

The Generals and Soldiers rushed forward.

Hundreds of Soldiers stood in front of Ru Yi, weapons unsheathed, and one of them, wielding a hammer the size of a house, struck the staff with an outstretched hand.

Boom!

Zhiyiying-.

The two weapons clashed, creating a deafening noise. After knocking down Ru Yi Bang, the Ranker puffed his chest with pride and shouted.

"The Great Sage, Heaven's Equal is no longer great in this world!"

"Long live the Celestial Realm!"

"Woah-!"

Morale skyrocketed.

After deflecting Ru Yi, the Ranker smiled satisfactorily and spun his hammer in the air.

"If I do well in this fight, my rank will rise even higher. I might even get a promotion..."

But then...

Crunch.

The sensation of the hammer in his hand changed.

The weight of the hammer grew lighter and lighter.

Thud, thud, thud-.

Shattered fragments of the hammer fell.

It had been shattered by the impact of the strike that blocked OhGong's Ru Yi Bang a moment ago.

"Eh...?"

The bewildered Ranker's pupils blinked.

And at that moment...

Shhhh-.

Skaaak-.

A single vertical red line was drawn on the Ranker's body.

And that was it.

Screech-!

"General Bukcheon!"

"With just one strike of his sword..."

"That's not Son OhGong, who is this guy?"

YuWon, who had entered the depths of the battlefield in an instant, wiped the blood off his sword and looked around.

With morale plummeting again, the Celestial Realm's Soldiers were unable to withstand the onslaught of Son OhGong.

"What, isn't this too easy?"

The first alter ego murmured somewhat incredulously, with Ru Yi hanging from his shoulder.

The fight was more one-sided than he had thought.

Power was unequally distributed.

Moreover, Lee Rangjin, who could be said to be the greatest power in the Celestial Realm, was being held back by the Bull Demon King.

The power difference was already too great. Each and every one of OhGong's alter egos possessed High Rank power.

Furthermore, among them, the alter egos with a certain degree of rank had skills as good as most High Rank ones.

With such overwhelming power difference, it shouldn't be difficult to break through this battlefield.

"Break the spell first. Don't focus too much on the fight."

"Ah, yes."

The first alter ego nodded at YuWon's words but continued to grumble.

"You're not my mother to be scolding me like this..."

Fortunately, however, Son OhGong listened quite well to YuWon.

Kwak~.

And in the midst of all the chaos on the battlefield.

The heads of YuWon and OhGong turned at the same time.

In the middle of this vast battlefield, they immediately recognized the key player.

"Mm?"

"Is that Li Jing?"

"Probably, unless it's Lee Rangjin."

Somehow, it was too easy.

Even the Celestial Realm knew that OhGong's alter egos and the Bull Demon King had joined forces, so they couldn't rely solely on Lee Rangjin to save the day.

Li Jing, the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King.

As a warrior from the previous generation, he was probably the one who had prepared to capture the Bull Demon King along with Lee Rangjin.

"It is an honor to meet the rumored Great Sage, Heaven's Equal."

An old man with a hunched back.

Such an old man wore a blue dragon-scale armor and alternately looked at Son OhGong and YuWon.

"Um... I see there is an unexpected person here."

Goo-goo, goo-goo-.

As if refusing to engage in further trivial conversations, he immediately released his Mana.

The path that had seemed so easy to navigate a moment ago now felt blocked.

If they wanted to rescue Son OhGong, they would have to reach the interior of the Five Elements Mountain, and Li Jing stood firm in front of them, aiming to stop them.

"That guy is mine."

"Didn't you hear me? You have another job to do."

"Tch..."

OhGong scratched his head, annoyed, with his head lowered as if he disliked something.

But only for a moment.

"Alright."

OhGong obediently nodded and walked toward the Heavenly King of Li Pagoda.

Jeobuck, Jeobuck-.

The distance between them closed little by little.

Soon, their paths crossed, but Son OhGong continued forward, leaving Li Jing behind.

"You feel inspired, don't you?"

"Don't worry, I will catch up with you soon."

Neither of them looked at each other, as Li Jing couldn't take his eyes off YuWon.

YuWon walked toward Li Jing.

Around him, the three Son OhGong clung to each other. It seemed that the other OhGongs wanted to confront him.

YuWon didn't bother to stop them.

The Li Jing before him was an opponent of whom he couldn't even be sure of victory or defeat.

Li Jing looked YuWon in the face and gripped the spear he carried on his shoulder.

"I haven't seen you before, who are you?"

"Do you need to know?"

"You seem young, but you're a bit short on words."

"Why be polite when we're about to kill each other anyway?"

"Hmm, fair enough."

Boom-boom-.

The tip of Li Jing's spear moved.

Kak-.

A small scratch appeared on YuWon's cheek.

A wound that wasn't very deep. A wound so superficial that it didn't even bleed, caused by the tip of the spear of the Heavenly King of Li Pagoda, which had leaped the distance.

Hwareuk-.

YuWon's Golden Cinder Eyes shimmered.

With a single move of his spear, Li Jing looked at YuWon with even more interest than before.

"Good judgment. Is it because of those eyes?"

A moment ago.

Li Jing's movement was to cut everywhere except for the place where YuWon stood.

If YuWon had moved to avoid the spear, he would have been forced out of his only safe spot.

'He's not an easy opponent.' YuWon thought.

Through the Golden Cinder Eyes, Li Jing's body was clearly visible.

The hidden Mana flow within the armor. That flow was speaking to him, telling him that Ji Ling was dangerous.

"As for the Rankers to watch out for in the Celestial Realm, everyone knows they are the Jade Emperor, Lee Rangjin (Erlang Shen), and Ne Zha."

When asked about the Celestial Realm, Son OhGong wasn't much help.

He hadn't created a faction or thought too much about things, so his knowledge was limited, and most of what he knew was what others knew.

Thus it was, until Odin mentioned the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King.

"The Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King, he must also be in the Celestial Realm."

"The Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King?"

"He may not be as prominent as the top three, but all of you know his name, right?"

"I know his name, but didn't he retire?"

"He retired during the last Great Celestial War, so he's more or less a forgotten Ranker."

A forgotten Ranker.

It meant a Ranker who remained in the rankings but whose name had been forgotten due to their lack of activity.

Such was the case with Li Jing.

A being who was active during the founding of the Celestial Realm long ago but had since become a recluse, leaving most of his activities to his son, Ne Zha.

And now, he was here to prevent the resurrection of the Great Sage, Heaven's Equal.

"At least a power on the level of Poseidon. He didn't come here to be my opponent in the first place."

The Celestial Realm was unaware of YuWon's existence in this matter. The only reason he was here was to capture the Bull Demon King with Lee Rangjin.

One of the Three Gods, a Ranker comparable to Poseidon.

A fighter from the previous generation, he was quite a daunting opponent for the current YuWon.

Therefore...

Thump, thump-.

[The power of a giant permeates your entire body]

[The power of a giant is imbued in your right arm]

[You have partially achieved "complete gigantification"]

[You have achieved "complete gigantification" of the right arm]

On the outside, it didn't look any different from normal, but YuWon's arm felt like a balloon that would burst if touched.

At the same time, an enormous amount of Arcane Power surged through his right arm, something he had never felt before.

Gigantification.

YuWon was one step closer to the final stage of gigantification that Hercules had mastered.

"Gigantification, as well as the Golden Cinder Eyes... Hehe, you truly are someone special."

As an old Ranker, Li Jing instantly recognized the abilities used by YuWon.

"A peculiar fellow is my opponent."

Perhaps thinking that further conversation would be a waste of time, Li Jing moved his lance once again.

And at that moment...

Boom!

The Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King's lance stabbed at YuWon's head.

Pang!

YuWon's sword and Li Jing's lance clashed.

Fajijijik!

Then, Li Jing's lance, which was precisely aimed at YuWon's head, began to show signs of penalty.

"You..."

Li Jing's eyes widened at this unexpected penalty.

"Aren't you a Ranker?"