Chapter 133 – Interesting, Interesting, What the Hell!

Long, long ago—measured by the time scale since the Undead Emperor’s birth—it had already sensed a bottleneck.

Especially after using a certain Experience Stone, this bottleneck left it increasingly perplexed.

It had even asked the omniscient Lord, who said that beyond technique lies the Concept. However, the path of the Concept can only be grasped intuitively, not conveyed in words. Even if two people share the same ‘Sword Intent,’ their interpretations could be vastly different.

Some people’s Sword Intent sharpens their own power, allowing them to easily tear through an enemy’s armor.

Others’ Sword Intent drives them forward without retreat; when they advance courageously, they can unleash power far beyond the ordinary.

It all depends on the individual.

Deadbone hadn’t yet figured out what his own Concept was. Coupled with his busy daily schedule—such as scouting enemy intelligence, subjugating monster Tribes, researching and upgrading Cultivation Methods, improving the Undead Behemoth, and developing more stable combat techniques—the study of the Concept was pushed to the back burner.

He temporarily set this issue aside.

But now, as he stepped into the Hero Arena, Deadbone brought up this question once more.

“What is the Concept?”

On the grassland, a pack of giant wolves were trapped by suddenly rising bones, while Deadbone sat cross-legged among them, lost in thought.

It seemed he understood.

There was no fluctuation of energy, but a faint, indescribable charm began to emanate from Deadbone, growing stronger and stronger.

The Concept was about to emerge.

“No, I don’t understand yet.”

Deadbone stood up, cutting off the budding Sword Intent.

That wasn’t the Concept he desired.

The Concept shouldn’t be such an inconvenient thing.

Squelch—

As he rose, the surrounding bones tightened like giant silver pythons, crushing the trapped wolves to death.

In the next moment, Deadbone entered the second stage.

He didn’t draw Death Lament, using only his bones as a Sword, weaving through Goblin Warriors and Shadow Assassins.

He didn’t attack, only defended.

This battle lasted for dozens of seconds before Deadbone mused, “But it’s not enough, still not enough.”

Deadbone thrust his Sword forward. The tip of the blade seemed slow yet fast, weak yet strong. Without releasing any energy, the surrounding enemies fell one by one.

Deadbone then moved to the third stage.

Here, he pondered a bit longer.

While fending off the Ox Chieftain’s powerful and unparalleled attacks, most of his mind was immersed in contemplation.

This was an extremely dangerous approach.

The slightest misstep could lead to his demise at the hands of the stage guardian.

But the Hero Arena’s rule of no permanent death allowed General Deadbone to focus entirely on his thoughts.

If he died in battle? It meant he had identified his shortcomings—a good thing.

Deadbone spent a long time contemplating in this stage. He and the Ox Chieftain might have exchanged hundreds of moves, or even more.

After fighting until the very Dao was worn away, Deadbone finally emerged from his deep contemplation.

That faint, profound charm once again emanated from his body.

But it still fell short.

Thus, the charm faded away once more.

Deadbone looked at the tall and robust Ox Chieftain before him, his gaze deep and fleeting.

He began to attack with full force, his Bone Spikes dancing wildly, tracing extraordinarily profound trajectories.

Three moves later—

Thump—

A small bloody hole appeared on the Ox Chieftain’s forehead, and its massive body collapsed to the ground.

“My respects.”Deadbone entered the fourth stage;

…

The Undead General advanced with unstoppable force.

…

The Undead General went on a rampage.

…

Several hours later,

Lord Mu was being utterly defeated… ahem, Lord Mu was gradually finding his own path.

When skill reaches its peak, the mysterious gate to the Concept realm swings open with a thunderous crash.

「Prompt: Your hero ‘Dolai’ has comprehended the Fire Concept during training. Dolai’s fire-type spell power +30%.」

In a parallel training space,

Dolai was enveloped in faintly visible flames—not energy, but the manifestation of its Concept. Under the Fire Concept, using the same energy to cast the same skill invisibly boosted its power by a significant margin.

After stepping into this profound realm, Dolai found its control over energy had improved by leaps and bounds.

Unlike before, when it would overflow with energy from eating too much in the trial space, it could now ensure this wouldn’t happen again. No matter how much it ate, it was no problem~!

With the Fire Concept, its control over charcoal-grilling game became increasingly refined, seemingly making the ingredients even more delicious… The charred but still squawking large bird before it emitted waves of roasted meat aroma.

Dolai’s mouth watered.

This was its Concept~!

…

Distracted by the prompt, Lord Mu was once again hacked to death by a flurry of blades.

After reviving, he fell into deep thought.

“I didn’t seem to hear any prompt about the Undead General?”

“Or was I too immersed to notice it?”

Meanwhile,

Deadbone, who still hadn’t pushed open the gate to the Concept realm, had been steadily advancing through contemplation and arrived at the sixth stage of the Hero Arena.

Here, there were no more environments like grasslands, forests, or rocky fields—only plain, flat ground.

Opposite him, a figure stepped out from a spatial door that had been pushed open.

He stood ramrod straight, clad in silver-white battle armor with an orange-red flame emblem engraved over his heart.

He glanced at Deadbone.

“Bone boy.”

“Though you’re not human, since you serve under humanity, this old man won’t hold back.”

“Come, let this old man see what skills someone who can reach this place possesses.”

“Don’t disappoint me.”

Perhaps because he rarely saw visitors, this guardian—who appeared youthful but had an exceptionally weathered voice—was rather talkative.

But even as he spoke, he had already made his move.

He materialized a Greatsword and swung it forward, deceptively slow yet incredibly fast, as if crossing layers of space in an instant. Simultaneously, a faint, profound aura emanated from the guardian.

Sharp edges swirled around him, an intangible Qi like blades seeking to slice through armor.

This was the Concept.

Regardless of amplification, the mere killing intent of this Concept was enough to make the weak lose their will to resist.

Deadbone also drew Death Lament and swung his sword in response, exchanging several blows in the blink of an eye.

“Interesting.”

The guardian showed a trace of astonishment.

This was the final stage. He would employ strength slightly superior to the challenger’s level, providing the best tempering experience.

Thus, he increased his power.

The Sword Intent hummed sharply, like thousands of birds crying out.

He completely suppressed the bone boy, battering him relentlessly and forcing him into constant retreat, fraught with danger.

Even then, still hiding the Concept and not using it?

No, it seemed this bone boy hadn’t even comprehended a Concept yet!

“Interesting!””You haven’t even stepped into the Concept Realm, yet you’ve managed to fight your way here… Should I call you outstanding, or…”

Relying solely on physical strength to overcome obstacles is undoubtedly impressive.

But having advanced this far without comprehending the power of a Concept suggests rather ordinary comprehension abilities. It’s not actually poor—just inevitably disappointing when compared to his extraordinary physical talent and superior skills.

Yet it’s merely disappointment.

The Guardian of the Dawn Blade has witnessed countless prodigies, more numerous than carp in a river. No matter how peculiar or even bizarre the genius, they’ve grown accustomed to it all.

They simply continued increasing their output, pressing and squeezing to extract every last bit of potential from the one being tempered.

“Come, don’t disappoint me. Push open the gate to the Concept.”

A faint, mysterious and profound aura finally began to diffuse.

Yet it seemed as if a thin sheet of paper still separated them, unable to break through.

Thus,

the Guardian of the Dawn Blade once again invoked the power of the Concept. The sky seemed to hang with one luminous sword after another, locking onto their opponent from afar.

Even wielding a Greatsword of the same type as Deadbone, they swung it as if it were a swift sword, with flowing shadows and impenetrable density.

Finally, under their intense pressure, the skeleton lad pushed open the gate to the Concept.

That mysterious and profound aura grew richer, as if brewing something within.

The Dawn Blade nodded slightly, unable to suppress a satisfied smile: yet another genius had been nurtured by their hand.

Then, with surprise, they noticed that before the Concept had fully taken form, the profound aura continued to rise, as if accumulated strength had burst forth. The moment the gate to the Concept was pushed open, it bypassed the ‘initial entry’ and reached directly for a higher Realm.

In this regard, the skeleton lad’s comprehension wasn’t poor after all—he possessed top-tier potential.

“Interesting!”

Maintaining a similar level of offense, they quietly observed.

The skeleton lad used a sword, so what sprouted would inevitably be Sword Intent. It was just unclear which aspect it would emphasize.

Would it be the pressure of momentum, the domineering of invincibility, or perhaps the unadorned mastery of simplicity?

「Prompt: Your Hero Deadbone has learned ‘Sword Inte……’@%#￥~&……」

「Prompt: Deadbone has initially entered XX Concept.」

「Prompt: Deadbone’s XX Concept has reached Minor Achievement.」

「Prompt: Deadbone’s XX Concept has reached Major Achievement.」

Sword Intent is often associated with sharpness and offensive power.

Deadbone wasn’t averse to it—he just didn’t want purely offensive power.

He sought stability, yet not for the sake of stability alone or mere survival. A power that could only protect itself was not worth having.

What he desired was for the entire Exploration Corps to return unharmed, for threats within hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of miles around the Tianyuan Territory to be utterly erased… This was the stability he sought.

The mysterious and profound aura around Deadbone vanished, as if he had failed to push open the gate to the Concept.

Even his entire being—his entire skeleton—seemed to become ordinary in an intangible way.

In this state of ordinariness, he lightly raised the black Greatsword and delivered an equally plain and unremarkable strike.

There was no overwhelming sharpness;

No techniques worthy of admiration;

Nor energy that stirred the heavens and earth like a god or demon;

There was only simplicity—a strike so plain it reached the extreme.

Just like an unremarkable atomic bomb erupting the moment it hits the ground, the plain strike, upon impact, unleashed a force that could destroy and erase everything.

There was no deafening roar.However, in the direction pointed by Deadbone’s Heavy Sword, the flat and hard ground had been forcibly shaved away, carved into a crescent moon shape.

The area behind Deadbone remained completely intact, without a single fallen pebble.

The front and back appeared as two different worlds.

And he was the wall at their intersection.

“Though not entirely satisfactory… this will have to do for now.”

Deadbone sighed.

In the distance, the tattered-clothed Sword of Dawnlight stood frozen in place, gripping his sword. He stared at the invisible ‘Sword Intent’ that seemed to possess its own protective shield, his throat moving for a long moment as he struggled between speech and silence.

“This Sword Intent!”

…

「Great Sun Lord has begun to comprehend the Fire Concept.」 (Note: Quietly retconning, the second-to-last sentence of chapter 131 changed “a certain Wang” to “Lord Wang Ba”.)

「Great Sun Lord has entered the fourth stage.」

In the waiting area of one officially controlled entrance to the Hero Arena, located on the outskirts of the Taixuan Alliance.

Great Sun Lord emerged from the light gate.

“Reached the fourth stage, not bad.”

“In terms of pure combat prowess alone, I am stronger than King Overlord.”

After all, his background was far inferior to lords like King Overlord, Divine Thunder Lord, and Wave Caller.

He needed to strive harder, to prove himself more.

And at least here in the Hero Arena, his performance surpassed King Overlord’s.

Even,

“I am significantly stronger than Tianyuan Lord.”

“Tianyuan Lord doesn’t seem to have comprehended any Concept yet? Perhaps his personal combat ability is weaker than imagined – he didn’t even participate in the battles during the Secret Realm competition.”

“Even Tianyuan Lord has areas he’s not proficient in.”

Great Sun Lord remained clear-headed, understanding the vast gap that still existed between his territory and Tianyuan Territory. But at least he now had some aspects where he surpassed Tianyuan Lord.

This was truly encouraging.

Tianyuan Lord wasn’t invincible.

Another notification flashed briefly on the light gate.

「Hero Deadbone has achieved Major Achievement in XX Concept.」

…

「Tianyuan Lord has begun to comprehend the Thunder Concept.」

「Tianyuan Lord has begun to comprehend the Spear Concept.」

…

Great Sun Lord: “???”

Lord Mu, who had fought numerous battles in the arena, wiped sweat from his temples.

“Took over eight hours just to comprehend a Concept. Indeed, this is truly difficult.”

(End of Chapter)