I Became the Genius Mage of the Martial Academy

“Dharma Dragon!”

“Dharma Dragon!”

As I descended to the ground, listening to everyone's excited shouts, I found myself already surrounded by numerous martial artists.

In the heightened atmosphere, as I took a step forward, the crowd naturally parted. I could feel emotions of surprise and awe in their gazes.

‘It’s going to be noisy for a while.’

Since the battle was over for now, I headed straight to the barracks.

“That was insane, you. How on earth did you do that?”

“…Did you get stronger again?”

On the way, Cho Min-ha and Baek Hasin spoke to me from the side, but I didn't give any particular answer. I was immersed in the sensation of having reached the 4th circle.

‘It feels different from before.’

Everything was new. It felt like I could use mana on a completely different level than before.

‘My body feels light, too.’

Although I had used a lot of mana, I didn't feel any particular exhaustion, perhaps thanks to the Azure Jade Nectar.

As I was adapting to the power of the 4th circle in the communal barracks, I heard a voice calling from outside.

“A banquet has been prepared. We request your attendance.”

Even though he said that, he seemed ready to stand there until I came out. I have no choice. Since things have turned out this way, I have to go.

I tidied up my clothes appropriately and headed to the meeting place where a large barracks had been set up.

At the banquet hall, I was the main character. Everywhere I went, everyone was talking about the Dharma Dragon.

“You were amazing, Dharma Dragon.”

“I was impressed. My blood boiled for the first time in a long time.”

An elder from the Shaolin Temple approached and greeted me. Besides him, the captain of the Namgung family's Azure Sky Sword Unit came to acknowledge me, and the vice-captain of the Zhuge family's Heavenly Qi Unit also came to praise my achievements before leaving. They hadn't even shown their faces when I was at the family estate before.

I dealt with the approaching people appropriately and then took refuge in a corner of the banquet hall. Everywhere I looked, there were only high-ranking officials, so it was a bit burdensome for someone as young as me to be there.

In the first place, it was a place where only the key figures of each faction were invited, so there were bound to be many famous people. The fact that they invited me despite this must mean that my performance this time was that impressive.

As I was killing time appropriately, a heavy voice asking for attention was heard from the front stage of the banquet.

“This victory was possible thanks to all of your hard work!”

It was Do Ja-cheol, the captain of the Martial Alliance's Fierce Tiger Unit. As he was continuing the awarding of merits, reciting the prestige and achievements of each faction one by one as a formality.

“But those of you who are here will know. That the true contributor to this battle is someone else!”

He exaggeratedly extended his hand and pointed this way. At that, the gazes of the crowd turned toward me in an instant.

“Then please come out! Dharma Dragon!”

In the midst of the burdensome gazes, I let out an inward sigh and walked onto the stage. I could hear the excited voices from the surroundings.

“Amazing! To think he has such sorcery at an age not even twenty!”

“He is a great talent.”

Do Ja-cheol looked at me and raised his voice.

“A young new star who decided the victory of the war this time. His performance was so great that there must be a suitable reward. After putting our heads together with the strategist of the Martial Alliance, we have decided to bestow a special reward!”

I thought I would just get some additional credits later, but it was more serious than I thought. He seemed to be a person who was thorough with awarding merits.

‘A reward, what could it be? Money? An elixir? A weapon?’

In the original story, I had never been this active at this time, so I was looking forward to the reward. As my curiosity grew, Do Ja-cheol finally revealed its identity.

“Hoping that the fame of the young master will spread for a long time, I will bestow a title upon Young Master Zhuge Cheonwu, borrowing the authority of the acting Martial Alliance Leader!”

My anticipation deflated. No matter how important a name was in the central plains, an elixir was more important to me right now.

But the content that followed was unusual.

“In the sense of opposing demons, I have created the title of ‘Dae-ma’, and in the sense of a Taoist who uses sorcery, ‘Beop-sa’! Congratulations, Great Mage!”

“Great Mage!”

“Great Mage!”

While I was dumbfounded by the exquisite choice of words, a commotion broke out from all sides, shouting the title. I responded with a weak smile, feeling an indescribable emotion.

‘Let’s think positively.’

The troublemaker Zhuge Cheonwu is no more. There is only the hero Zhuge Cheonwu.

This fame will be useful someday.

And so, the banquet went on. After a long series of greetings from the high-ranking officials, I came out of the barracks for a moment to catch my breath, and someone approached me from the side.

“Young Master Zhuge Cheonwu. May I have a word with you for a moment?”

It was Do Ja-cheol, the captain of the Fierce Tiger Unit who had just given me the title of Great Mage. When I quietly accepted his proposal, he called me and the other group members into a private barracks.

“I have a favor to ask.”

He continued with a serious face.

“You must know that the Martial Alliance Leader and other masters did not participate in the main battle this time. In fact, they went to the Blood Mountain where the Blood Demon is. But we haven't heard from them yet.”

He said that was already three days ago. No matter how vast the Blood Mountain was, the fact that they hadn't been able to get out for three days meant that something had gone wrong.

So, taking advantage of the leeway gained from this great victory, he said they would go to the Blood Mountain for support.

To the mountainous region of Sichuan and Kunlun where the Blood Cult had created the Blood Corpses.

“What will you do?”

Do Ja-cheol asked. Since we had no responsibility to command the martial artists below, we were the most suitable personnel for a small elite group.

I looked around at the students who had been called out together, including Baek Hasin and Cho Min-ha. It seemed they were waiting for my decision.

‘Their eyes already show they’ve decided, yet they pretend otherwise.’

This was the main event. It was dangerous, but I couldn't miss it. If we couldn't drive out the Blood Demon here, the situation could spiral into the worst-case scenario.

Above all, there was also a reward I was aiming for at the Blood Mountain.

“I will go.”

The other students, including me, seemed to have the same thought and immediately nodded their heads.

“Thank you.”

Do Ja-cheol bowed his head and expressed his gratitude. If he hadn't been in the position of acting Alliance Leader, he would have wanted to go for support first.

Since we had to go quite a long way to get to the Qinghai area where the Blood Cult's main headquarters was, we decided to move as soon as dawn broke.

The mountain path was rough, so carriages were also impossible. But there was no worry. Because Namgung Dohyeok, Cho Min-ha, Bong So, Cheon Ga-seong, and Baek Hasin were there.

Around the time the first light of dawn began to break, the group consisting of three super-peak masters and three peak masters set off. A force capable of annihilating a medium-sized sect overnight.

Baek Hasin's momentum had changed again, as if he had grown in the meantime. He was managing his demonic qi much better than before he participated in the war.

‘The protagonist buff is something else.’

I rushed forward, feeling the unfairness.

After two days of traveling with the footwork of masters, we arrived at the entrance of the mountain range where the Blood Mountain was. Somewhere in that mountainous region, shrouded in the darkness of evening, the Blood Demon and other monsters would be hiding.

- Be careful from here on.

Namgung Dohyeok's telepathic message came through. The rugged mountain range was a good terrain for ambushes.

- Just a moment.

I responded and stopped walking. I could feel the energy of a formation from a distance. As it was in front of the Blood Mountain, it seemed they had prepared various security devices. I disarmed them and headed inside secretly.

In the middle of that, there was a formation that sent a signal in all directions as soon as I interfered.

‘This is?’

It was a formation on a similar level to Zhuge Hyeonguk's. From the encryption of the formation to the immediate signal transmission divided by sections.

‘Come to think of it, did the Blood Cult also have a special-grade formation master?’

I looked around and informed them that we had been detected. And then I quickly ran into the valley, which was our destination.

Now that our location was specified, it was a battle of speed. How many minutes had we run? With a loud bang, a crimson arrow shot at high speed flew in.

‘The Red Demon Archer!’

As I lowered my posture, I shouted, looking at the arrow shaft that had broken through the rock and dug in.

“It’s an ambush!”

Simultaneously, a barrage of arrows fired by the ambushing archers began to pour down.

I drew the Martial Arts Sword to deflect the arrows, and at the same time, I operated wind magic in the area to correct the trajectory of the arrows or slow them down.

Except for the Red Demon Archer's arrows, they were not very threatening. Even those were blocked by Namgung Dohyeok, Cheon Ga-seong, and Cho Min-ha. The average martial skill itself was much higher on this side.

As soon as I saw through that, we headed deeper inside while avoiding the rain of arrows. In the first place, this was the Blood Mountain; we had expected an ambush.

‘They have no choice but to chase us anyway. Since they are the ones defending.’

If we ignored them and broke through, they would have to chase us recklessly. If we could just avoid the opponent's pursuit and infiltrate the Blood Mountain, it would be our victory.

In the midst of the pouring arrows, we headed for a terrain with many covers. So that they couldn't properly utilize their sniping. There were a few dangerous moments with curved shots, but thanks to placing the super-masters mainly on the outside, it was easy to respond.

‘The archers’ stamina will be consumed more than ours.’

An archer was ultimately just someone who used an efficient sword qi. Naturally, the consumption of internal energy was considerable. I had also used this point when I fought Oh Bin-hu.

Of course, the variable now was that their numbers were large.

So I created a smokescreen by spewing fog around us with a combination of water and fire magic. To prevent them from properly sniping at this side.

‘If I just hide my qi sense, they won’t be able to aim recklessly.’

As I was running like that. Something rushed towards us from the front.

“Ugh-argh…!”

“It’s a Blood Corpse!”

We cut down the necks of the Blood Corpses that started to rush in and moved forward. An enemy of this level was not enough to stop us.

At best, it would only delay our progress for a few seconds. But from the enemy's perspective, that seemed to be enough.

Kwaaaang!

With a roar that shook the earth, the top of the mountain broke, and a landslide occurred from above. And we were at the bottom.

The enemies had deliberately set a trap and then triggered it. Even for a master, it was dangerous to receive a barrage of hundreds of tons of rocks and earth completely.

But that was only if I wasn't there.

“This way!”

I created a foothold with a shield and jumped about 10m into the air, then called them.

Then, the five men stuck to me on their own. Thanks to that, while the six of us were avoiding it in the air, the landslide safely swept past under our feet.

Thinking this was the time, a snipe flew in, but the interception skills of Namgung Dohyeok and the others were far superior.

“Let’s move again.”

As the landslide subsided, I released the shield and started running again. I had already learned the general terrain of the Blood Mountain, and since I was also breaking the formations installed in the middle, there were no obstacles.

Just as we were about to reach the large mountain peak called the center of the Blood Mountain. I felt a gruesome gaze from somewhere.

‘They’ve finally appeared.’

In the original story, there was a being that you would always encounter when you came this far with the support group.

“Kwooooooar!”

With a monstrous roar that felt like it would tear my eardrums, a wolf the size of a house appeared on the top of the mountain in the distance, with the new moon as its background.

The beast, standing there, scattering a ferocity incomparable to the Blood Corpses, looked down at this side with eyes stained as red as blood.

The beings surrounding it were the Blood Cult's blood mages and martial artists, including archers. Their number was well over a hundred.

A demonic beast, a corrupted spiritual beast, a monster stronger than a decent super-master, began to rush towards us.

(End of Chapter)