Avison spoke with an awkward expression.
The equipment or treasures used by the Flame Emperor?
Where would such items even be?
If Avison had known where they were, he would have obtained and used them himself when he was still alive.
The Flame Emperor was the man known as the strongest on the West Continent at the time.
It was impossible to steal the items or skills of such a person, so one would have to know where they were hidden…
<…The only place I know of is Chimgeom Mountain.>
Avison had only obtained information about Chimgeom Mountain by sheer chance.
“Wait, weren’t you supposed to be a Flame Master or a Great Fire Mage?”
<…>
Avison had no words for Lee Tae-sung’s sharp criticism.
However, he was angry.
To think that he, a great archmage, was being treated like this!
“That’s because I haven’t been practicing it for very long!”
“…It’s fast?”
Lee Tae-sung tilted his head.
He was practicing the Sun Holy Power, but he wasn’t sure if it was particularly fast or good.
It had great synergy with fire-type skills and high potential, but was the mana growth rate truly fast?
‘I don’t think so. If it weren’t for the elixirs, I’d still be struggling with a lack of mana.’
He was lucky to have resolved the mana shortage issue even slightly thanks to the elixirs and lucky breaks he had encountered.
If not for those, his internal mana would still be completely exhausted after just a few shots of the Heavenly Net Flame Palm.
“I don’t know. The West Continent’s strongest?”
“?”
“Wait…”
What kind of ignorant training method was that?
‘…Is he a total lunatic?’
If one believed Avison’s words, the man was nothing short of a world-class maniac.
“…Is that true?”
No matter how much he thought about it, it sounded like a trick to get him burned to death.
Lee Tae-sung felt like the spirit was more than capable of lying.
However, the spirit of the Spirit Ring could not lie when speaking as a reward.
Avison’s words were undoubtedly the truth.
“Well… if it’s true, then I suppose it is.”
He could have denied it, but the Spirit Ring was an item made by Avison during his lifetime.
He couldn’t deceive it with a clumsy lie.
Lee Tae-sung truly thought this advice was a fairly good reward.
It was then.
—Fire!!
—Everyone, evacuate!
“!”
A shout was heard from afar.
As Lee Tae-sung moved quickly, flames were surging from one of the Flying Dragon Gang’s buildings.
Looking at the direction of the smoke, it was the dining hall.
It seemed like an accident had occurred while the chefs were preparing food.
‘How is the timing like this?’
Accidental fires breaking out was something that happened more often than one might think.
It was rare for them to become such large fires, but Lee Tae-sung wondered if the heavens were giving him an opportunity.
A fire broke out at the exact moment he heard the advice about the Sun Holy Power from Avison.
Lee Tae-sung moved toward the building.
The closer he got, the more he felt the hot flames, causing him to swallow hard.
If the Sun Holy Power wasn’t effective within the flames, he would just be walking into a fire for nothing.
Still, he trusted himself.
As his proficiency in the Sun Holy Power increased, his fire resistance had also risen significantly.
He wouldn’t burn to death if he went in there.
*Whoosh*
The flames lashed at his skin, but he endured by coating himself heavily with mana.
It was certainly bearable.
In that state, he operated the Sun Holy Power.
Protecting his body, focusing his mind, and using the mana circulation method at the same time… it was a series of difficult tasks.
Perhaps because of that, he didn’t seem to see much effect.
At that moment, Avison popped out of the Spirit Ring he had tucked in his pocket.
“Of course not.”
Relax the body into a comfortable state and breathe naturally—this was a common method applicable to everyone, whether it was magic, martial arts, or a Hybrid.
But he was being told to do that inside this demonic fire?
‘Whatever. I don’t know!’
With his increased fire resistance, he wouldn’t die instantly.
As long as he didn’t die, he was a game character, so he could recover his body somehow.
Lee Tae-sung trusted Avison and withdrew his mana.
He felt as if the flames would immediately spread across his entire body.
At that moment, Lee Tae-sung operated the Sun Holy Power with all his might.
*Vrrrrm*
“!”
It was an amazing experience.
The Sun Holy Power went wild, as if asking why he had waited until now.
It reached outside his body to absorb the essence of the external flames, which were then steadily stored as mana in Lee Tae-sung’s heart and Dantian.
‘The efficiency is almost seven times higher than when I usually train!’
It was a staggering level of efficiency.
Avison asked from the side, but Lee Tae-sung wasn’t in the right mind to answer.
He was simply busy storing the mana that was pouring into his body like a tide.
“Yes!”
Lee Tae-sung answered vigorously and immediately moved deeper inside.
His previous suspicion of Avison was nowhere to be found.
Instead, his expression showed growing trust as he continued to operate his mana.
And for good reason—in the places where the flames were strongest, mana was accumulating with an efficiency over eight times higher than usual!
Avison sighed deeply.
He had worked so hard to catch the Flame Emperor during his lifetime, and he couldn’t understand how he had ended up like this.
Regardless, the flames faltered and lost their momentum.
At this rate, the fire would naturally go out over time.
“Cough, cough… H-Help me.”
“There’s… someone here.”
“!”
At that moment, the voices of people in distress could be heard from inside.
Startled, Lee Tae-sung moved toward them and found people unable to move because a ceiling beam had collapsed due to the fire.
They seemed to be the staff who worked here.
*Rumble*
“Come this way!”
Lee Tae-sung spoke as he cleared the debris to make a path.
Since the flames were losing their strength in the path he had traveled, they were able to endure enough to get out.
“W-We’re saved…!”
“T-Thank you!”
Though they staggered, they didn’t forget to express their gratitude before escaping.
Afterward, Lee Tae-sung absorbed every last bit of the fire’s core.
When the efficiency was no longer that great, he left without hesitation.
By then, the flames had lost their vigor and were slowly dying out.
“Is everyone okay?”
Lee Tae-sung checked if the people he had rescued were injured.
They had minor burns and seemed to have some bronchial issues from inhaling smoke, but their lives didn’t appear to be in danger.
Lee Tae-sung took out potions and distributed them.
Unfortunately, there weren’t enough, so everyone only got a single sip.
‘I really should learn at least one healing skill.’
It would be hard to find such a thing among martial arts, so the next time he took a request from the Magic Tower, he would ask for one.
Nothing would be as helpful as that in situations where potions couldn’t be used.
“Did you go inside and rescue the people!”
The General Manager came running in a flurry, looked around, and stared at Lee Tae-sung with a moved expression.
“Ah, yes.”
Lee Tae-sung nodded.
To be precise, he had only gone in because he wanted to try operating his mana inside the flames and saved the people because he saw them…
“I’m so glad there were no casualties!”
As the General Manager in charge of the sect’s affairs, he wouldn’t have been able to avoid a reprimand from the Sect Leader or the Elders if any deaths had occurred.
However, a single kitchen building being incinerated was something that could be easily smoothed over, so the General Manager spoke with relief.
“Ho ho. As a fellow member of the Flying Dragon Gang, I am truly grateful. This is a contribution to the sect, so I won’t forget to ensure you receive your contribution points.”
“…! I only did what was expected of me…”
“Others find it difficult to do what is expected. You don’t need to humble yourself so much. For now, I have to clean up here, so I’ll see you later. You did great work, so go get some rest.”
After saying that, the General Manager moved quickly to look after the injured.
***
—How are you doing?
I moved immediately after that and arrived at Chimgeom Mountain.
It’s quite a long distance, and I had a hard time getting here quickly… (Omitted)… Chimgeom Mountain is a vast place.
I’m searching here and there, but I haven’t found any traces of the Flame Emperor yet.
I feel like it would take years to search this place alone without finding anything, so I need an assistant.
However, rumors must not spread about what we are looking for, so I would like you to come and help.
If you’re okay with it, will you come to Chimgeom Mountain?
‘Hmm…!’
Lee Tae-sung fell into thought as he burned the letter that had arrived for him at the training ground.
It was a letter from Baek Woon-ho, who had left for Chimgeom Mountain.
Searching for traces of the Flame Emperor—he had expected it wouldn’t be easy.
If it were easy, grave robbers would have found and looted it long ago.
If it still remained, it would be hidden away very securely.
Since Baek Woon-ho lacked a specialized search skill, he was certain that the Flame Emperor’s Hybrid was hidden somewhere on Chimgeom Mountain, but he hadn’t found any clues.
Moreover, because of the nature of the item, rumors would spread and people would swarm like bees if they hired just anyone.
If it was the Hybrid of the strongest man from hundreds of years ago, even unrelated martial artists or mages would likely come out of interest.
‘I should go.’
Baek Woon-ho had asked him to come if he had time, but Lee Tae-sung decided he would make time even if he didn’t have any.
Afterward, Lee Tae-sung spent his time training until evening.
As dusk approached, he stood up.
The General Manager had sent someone in advance, asking him to visit around this time.
‘Practicing normally definitely has a much lower efficiency.’
Once he had operated the Sun Holy Power inside the flames, training in a normal daily environment felt unexciting.
He felt like he understood why demonic practitioners became obsessed with demonic arts.
‘It’s not like I can just go around setting fires everywhere…’
Lee Tae-sung headed to the General Manager’s office while entertaining such useless thoughts.
Come to think of it, many things caught his eye in a new light.
This was also an old wooden building.
Perhaps because there were many documents to process, being the General Manager and all, piles of paper were stacked everywhere like mountains.
‘If a fire broke out here, training would go well… No, that’s not right.’
It was a very wicked thought.
Regardless, if things were left like that, they might all burn down if even a slight mistake occurred.
“What are you looking at so intently?”
The General Manager asked Lee Tae-sung, who was glancing around here and there.
Lee Tae-sung shrugged his shoulders.
“Well… I just thought we should be careful so a fire doesn’t break out here too.”
Hi tl. Please redo this chapter. It is utterly unreadable
okay.. tnx for spotting the mistake.