“Ha!”

Origin of the Celestial Divine Arts had reached Great Completion, and he could use other martial arts perfectly with the State of Perfection skill. Moreover, he had reached the peak-class stage and the amount of internal energy he possessed had become meaningless.

Choi Yeonseung no longer had any reason to train by constantly executing Origin of the Celestial Fist. But he kept doing it anyway.

He clenched his fists, breathed, then punched. Every repetition caused the space to shake and a shock to explode. Even though its power was different from when he used to execute it on Earth, Choi Yeonseung’s mindset remained the same as he extended his fist.

He was sincere and upright. He did his best with a grateful heart! It didn’t matter if this no longer made him stronger. He did it because he wanted to.

This tenacity was rewarded.

[You have lived a life worthy of your existence. The power of your existence has risen.]

“!”

Amid his punches, Choi Yeonseung blinked at the message window that appeared. He didn’t expect it to rise so easily. Did he aim for this from the beginning?

‘No. It likely wouldn’t have risen if I had been consciously aiming for it.’

The end of the path to becoming a constellation couldn’t be reached with shortcuts and shallow intentions. Such a thorny road could only be traversed by dedicating himself to it!

-Kuooooh!

Soon, he heard a monster’s roar. Choi Yeonseung stopped his training and straightened his posture. He had to fight any monster in this realm that dared come at him!

***

Adaquaniel, the Goddess of Balance Who Walks Ahead’s angel, left the realm of the goddess and started to wander around the Abyss. It was rare for a constellation’s household member to leave their realm! Hence, the nearby constellations started to observe her in unison.

[The ’Observer with a Hundred Faces’ is curious about the household member going out.]

[The ‘Insidious Demon God of Fire’ promises a reward if you tell the truth.]

[The ’Expert of Twisted Hallucinations’ is speculating about the goddess’ intention.]

However, Adaquaniel was a seasoned angel who had been fighting for the goddess’ household for a long time now. She didn’t care about the constellations’ eyes. They couldn’t directly interfere anyway. And even if they could, constellations didn’t waste time on battles they wouldn’t gain anything from.

At best, they would send a household member or subordinate, but Adaquaniel was confident that she wouldn’t lose no matter who it was. Moreover, she also had a card up her sleeve—the ability to prevent the constellations from observing her at key moments.

[Adaquaniel has used the skill ‘Goddess’ Veil.’]

[The eyes of the constellation can no longer enter.]

Adaquaniel used her skill to block the constellations’ eyes, causing those watching her to protest in anger. 

[This shallow skill angers the ’Observer with a Hundred Faces’l!]

[The ’Expert of Twisted Hallucinations’ is booing at the goddess’ spiteful behavior!]

Since the constellations couldn’t leave their thrones, rendering them immobile, watching these household members was a pleasure. Why watch over those who weren’t a part of their own household and even support them every now and then?

Because it was fun!

Of course, they also had the purpose of turning that being into their own household member, but that was a rare occurrence. The joy of bringing vitality to their boring lives in the Abyss was far more important. Most of the constellations had lived bound by their own rules and principles for hundreds of thousands of years. The races of the Abyss looked up to and worshiped the constellations, but the constellations were envious of the races who could roam freely.

The sparkling life of free spirits! There was nothing more pleasant than that for the constellations. Hence, the constellations’ outpouring boos and pretests didn’t come as a surprise when Adaquaniel used her skill to keep her actions a secret.

[The ‘Insidious Demon God of Fire’ promises you the skill ‘Hellfire' if you remove the veil!]

Adaquaniel pretended not to hear the constellations’ words despite one of them claiming he would give her an 8th-circle spell.

[The ’Observer with a Hundred Faces’ promises you important information. He asks only that you let him see through the veil.]

Of course, she acted the same way toward the demands of the other constellations. Why did the Goddess of Balance Who Walks Ahead send Adaquaniel? It was because she was the coolest and most thorough among the household members. An angel the temptations of seasoned and cunning constellations couldn’t shake!

The constellations continued to telepathically express their anger, but Adaquaniel ignored them.

“Have you seen a male human male around this place? He’s around this tall and looks like this.”

“I’ve never seen him before.”

“I see. I understand.”

Adaquaniel jumped to her feet and flew away again. She repeated those actions over and over. If she was faced with a monster, she subdued it and talked to it telepathically. If she came across a race she could converse with, then she would use her words. She asked in every visible area if Choi Yeonseung had been seen.

“I’ve never seen him...”

-I’ve never seen him...

“Why should I tell an angel like you? Kuaach, die! Cough! Cough! I was wrong. Spare me! I haven’t seen him! Kuaaaak!"

To be honest, she didn’t think Choi Yeonseung was still alive.

‘Can humans survive the Abyss? Didn’t he get caught up in a magical storm?’

By all accounts, the answer was ‘no.’ Even so, Adaquaniel didn’t give up. After all, this was her master’s order. That alone was enough. Furthermore, the goddess’ foresight was telling her that the human could still be alive.

… She had been wrong so many times now, but...

***

“N...No. Onix?!”

Choi Yeonseung was shocked. He came across a friend he had separated from a long time ago. The giant rock snake had become bigger. It was now around the size of a city that could be traversed if it stretched out. And it wasn’t alone anymore. There were giant rock snakes nearby that seemed to be members of its family.

Thump! Thump! Thump—!

The giant rock snakes were fighting a formidable monster.

It was a giant nine-headed giant snake—a hydra! It was a super-sized monster that never appeared on Earth. But if it did appear, it would’ve been treated as an S-grade or higher emergency.

The abandoned lands of the Abyss were teeming with monsters that even the constellations were reluctant to face. Unlike the constellations, those monsters hadn’t reached the limits of their existence. Hence, they rampaged with their innate strength and magic power instead!

Choi Yeonseung felt his skin tingle due to the wave of magic power the hydra exhaled.

‘Its magic power is more than Barigos!’

It didn’t use magic as sophisticatedly as Barigos, but the amount of magic power it released was far superior. It was like an ocean full of money.

The hydra was moving its nine heads in a fluctuating manner to deal with the rock snakes. Every time the hydra’s mouth opened, it released a terrifying breath. Each shot turned the area upside down and tore it apart. Still, the Magic Breath was better. Occasionally, the sly hydra would spew out venom.

Each attack frightened the rock snakes and forced them to either block or avoid it. The hydra’s huge size, enormous magic power, and terrifying regenerative power were all threatening, but...

The hydra’s poison posed the most danger. Even the constellations were reluctant to face it!

[The hydra, a nine-headed serpent, has been found!]

[The skill ‘Suppress the Strong and Support the Weak’ has been activated. The power of your existence will increase if you win against the hydra!]

[The skill ‘Overcoming Oneself to Become Strong’ has been activated. The power of your existence will increase if you win against the hydra!]

[The skill ‘Resonance From the World, Undefeated Incarnation of Training’ is resonating!]

[You are the Undefeated Incarnation of Training. Live a life worthy of your existence.]

Choi Yeonseung’s skills were activated at once, telling him to fight the hydra. However, it didn’t matter whether he had these skills or not. It hurt his friend, so Choi Yeonseung planned to fight it regardless of whoever the opponent was.

“Keep away from them, snake!”

Choi Yeonseung’s voice rang out coldly. Filled with internal energy, his voice reached even the noisy space.

-Kkiing?

“No. I’m not talking about you.”

The rock snake paused in a flustered manner. Choi Yeonseung was also taken aback.

‘Come to think of it, this guy is a snake as well.’

The rock snake paused, revealing a gap, but the hydra didn’t attack right away. It was wary of Choi Yeonseung, the human who appeared out of nowhere. Two of its heads turned quickly and stared at him with a strange glow in their eyes.

-Die, you trivial guy.

“!”

The hydra seemed to know how to use telepathy. Each of the heads’ telepathy painfully stabbed Choi Yeonseung’s mind. However, Choi Yeonseung couldn’t care less about its killing intent. He had fought tens of thousands of times in the realm of the demons.

Origin of the Celestial Step.

Choi Yeonseung disappeared and reappeared in front of the hydra’s head.

Origin of the Celestial Fist!

The moment the first head’s eyes widened, Choi Yeonseung’s fist had already hit it. Filled with white concentrated fist energy, his fist exuded tremendous power even though it didn’t directly connect to its target. One of the hydra’s heads exploded, causing its neck to bend backward.

-Kkiiing!

His power startled the giant rock snake. In the past, Choi Yeonseung’s fist wasn’t this powerful. The human being had changed so much from before!

“It is annoying because you are so big,” Choi Yeonseung muttered, but he was actually holding his own quite well despite the huge size difference.

Choi Yeonseung’s stage meant that size didn’t mean much anymore. Its size was that of a building with dozens of floors, but it didn’t matter. Its body would be sent flying for as long as he could properly hit it once with concentrated fist energy.

It was the crystallization of concentrated energy. Attacks imbued with concentrated energy dealt damage while ignoring the size difference. Moreover, Choi Yeonseung was awakening into a constellation. When combined with the power of existence, his concentrated fist energy caused even more terrifying damage than normal concentrated fist energy.

His attack connecting to even such a small part of his opponent was enough to send the hydra’s head flying away with an explosion.

[The hydra’s head has regenerated thanks to its skill ‘Eternal Regeneration.’]

Ever since he started walking the path of a constellation, Choi Yeonseung had been able to read the world messages better. The world told him that the hydra’s skill was resurrecting one of its heads. One of its strengths was tenacious regeneration, after all! The legend of two heads growing back when one head was cut appeared to be true.

‘Eternal Regeneration... It is a great skill.’

The skill’s name alone already told him how fraudulent it was. He had never seen it on Earth, but if it had been released, it would’ve hit an all-time high price. The way to keep the nation’s power, the hunters, safe!

In fact, defense and recovery skills were more expensive than attack skills. Even A-grade hunters often died of ridiculous reasons in dungeons. Defense and recovery skills were like extra lives!

‘How much did the 3rd-circle ‘Mana Armor’ sell for...?’

3rd-circle magic’s minimum prices started around one billion, so Immortal Regeneration would probably be... 

No, this skill probably couldn’t even be sold in the auction house. Governments would likely step in and take it.

-Are you frightened by my majesty?

“Huh?”

While he was thinking of something else, the hydra finished its regeneration and looked down at Choi Yeonseung. The hydra laughed slyly, thinking the unmoving Choi Yeonseung was scared.

-You will die soon. I’ll praise you for removing one of my heads, but you will have to pay for daring to touch my body.

“What nonsense is this?”

-You will feel it soon. After all, no hero is powerful in the face of my venom.

[The skill ‘Immunity to Ten Thousand Poisons’ has absorbed the hydra’s poison.]

“...Um. Yes. Poison hurts.”

-Kyahahahaha! Die, you trivial being! You look pretty good, but heroes like you are common all over the Abyss!

Choi Yeonseung ignored it and resumed his attack. He decided to beat the hydra a few more times while it was off guard.