After the initial pep talk about staying alert, the rest of the meeting was finalizing the defense formations and the overall war operation. Naturally, Leo didn’t miss the chance to chip in and recommend a few modern tactics in hope of giving the Society a slight edge.

‘Intelligence might not decide the result in the world of Murim, but we have to be prepared in case we end up on our own.’

Although the letters had been sent out, there was no way for either Yeon or Leo to know if their call had been answered. In the first place, the letters strictly stated that whoever chooses to stand by the Society’s side shouldn’t make their presence known… Since the Society couldn’t afford to let Geochin get cold feet.

Time wasn’t on his side, but knowing that he had more opponents in this battle could make him start another quick recruitment tour, which would offset the reinforcements and destroy the whole point of the backup plan!

As such, if anyone had truly come over to help, they had to be hiding somewhere close within the flat plains, shielding their aura from the hawk-eyed Murim Lord.

With no way to distinguish the result of the mailing venture as the response would be exactly the same, the Heavenly Strength Society had to be prepared to face the whole Liberation Army on their own!

‘I’m not sure if this will be enough, but that was surely the most I could make out of this limited time.’

[ Book 2 ]

Name: Cheon Baek-Ho (Leo Lock)

Age: 22 (18)

Role: Reader

Reading Points: 7045

Personal Statistics:

Internal Energy: 2,168/2,168 (Scarlet Sky)

Physique: 12

Mind: 1.77 (+2.47)

Personal Skills:

‘Advanced Swordsmanship’ – Chapter 3 – page 8/10

‘Advanced Spearmanship’ – Chapter 3 – page 8/10

‘Advanced Footwork’ – Chapter 3 – page 7/10

‘Advanced Close Quarter Combat’ – Chapter 3 – page 5/10

‘Intermediate Halberdmanship’ – Chapter 2 – 9/10

‘Intermediate Bowmanship’ – Chapter 2 – 7/10

‘Intermediate Smithing’ – Chapter 2 – page 5/10

‘Intermediate Horsemanship’ – Chapter 2 – page 3/10

‘Intermediate Staffmanship’ – Chapter 2 – page 4/10

‘Beginner Throwing’ – Chapter 1 – page 10/10

‘Cooking’ – Prologue – page 4/10

Personal Abilities:

– ‘Scarlet Sky Breathing’ – No-Restraint – 8/10

– ‘Internal Energy Channeling’ – 9/10

Personal Talents:

– ‘Cleared Energy Channels’ –

– ‘Body of Accelerated Recovery’ –

– ‘Eternal Flame Enhancement’ –

– ‘Spatial Affinity’ –

– ‘Expanded Dantian’ – 6/10

Events:

– Suffering Delayment – Unique

– A Star’s Emergence – Unique

– Sleeping Dragon – Unique

– Twin Star Shining – Unique

– Twin Star Rising – Unique

– Marching Beyond – Unique(*)

– Reshaped Footprints – Unique (7)

– Chance Exchange – Epic

– Disaster Avoidance – Epic

– Bonanza Snatching – Epic

– Forced Relation Erasure – Epic

– Reverse Victory – Legend

As the final Scarlet Sky Council came to an end, Leo took the chance to take one last look at himself and the epitome of what he could achieve in the book.

The last five months were stressful, but they were strangely cleansing both mentally and physically. Leo had not only gotten over most of the regrets he was bound to have when he left this world, but he also achieved the balance that he had been seeking for a long while.

Despite the fact that there was still a difference between the two, seeing both Swordsmanship and Spearmanship on the same page made Leo feel like he was on the right track.

Sure, it made the time he invested into the sword in an additional lifetime look meaningless. However, it showed just how much more progressive Leo had been in this world! He had combined an additional six techniques into his White Tiger and Black Dragon, reaching a total of 18 integrations!

Additionally, even though Leo had only held his other weapons when he was in a slump when it came to developing his main Martial Arts, he had pushed them one page further!

Of course, the biggest gain from this whole training was still mastering what being an Unrestrained means, but…

Cling! Cling! Cling!

“Reporting! Reporting!”

Just as Leo was about to conclude his thoughts over the accumulation of his last crunch, the bell at the center of Mount Heaven rang after decades of silence!

“The enemy’s forces have been sighted!”

Despite just announcing that war was on the doors, the old man who rang the bell spoke firmly without any fear showing on his face or his body. This was likely his first time doing this, but he was clearly showing the spirit of the Heavenly Strength Society!

“Listen up! Teams one, two, and three maintain your positions in preparation for fallback. Team four, and five, take position for shooting…”

While everyone was joining up at the center, Yeon soared into the peak of the Sky Spiral before starting to give orders. Everything was already decided more or less, but it was normal to forget everything upon panicking, so Yeon’s words were more of a wake-up call.

Although Society members weren’t exactly that prone to pressure, it wasn’t every day that they faced the threat of extinction, a good leader knew to do their part whether it looked like it was needed or not.

‘It’s time.’

Without waiting any further, Leo followed Yeon’s lead as they stormed out of Mount Heaven accompanied by the majority of the Society’s combat forces, dressed in their black and red robes, they looked like a swarm of killer wasps surging out of their nest!

However, the sight that met their eyes from afar was just as aggressive! A whole fleet of locusts was dashing hungrily in their direction!

‘This is… Terrifying.’

A long-distance war like this would usually have been administered on horseback, but the great Murim made it possible for a whole army to run to their target like an endless sea of zombies.

Now that his arrival had been revealed, Geochin had no plans to slowly make his way to Mount Heaven, he was literally going to stomp it down!

Standing at the very front of the army that had quickly taken position, the Heavenly Demon and the Four Pillars of the Society sturdily formed the head of the Spear. In particular…

‘We meet again.’

Someone’s lips seemed to curve into an unknowing smile when suddenly faced with all of that pressure.