After Cheongmyeong died, I moved the Heavenly Demon's corpse and Cheongmyeong's body to another location for a moment. Then I returned to where the other martial artists' bodies were and spoke.
"Arise."
Then, the surroundings flickered with dark shadows, and countless shadow soldiers began to rise. The reason I had come to Return of the Blossoming Blade was also to increase my number of shadow soldiers. High-level shadow soldiers who had learned martial arts. Moreover, I could also obtain martial arts from them, so it was killing two birds with one stone.
The countless shadow soldiers knelt before me, awaiting orders.
"From now on, if any of you have martial arts manuals or elixirs you possessed, bring them all."
With that order, some of the shadow soldiers searched the corpses or went elsewhere and brought back martial arts manuals and elixirs. I gathered them all, put them in my inventory for now, and then gave them another command.
"All of you, find your own corpses."
Following that command, the shadow soldiers began finding their own corpses, starting from the top of the pile. Then, after placing the corpses in wooden coffins, they began sorting them by faction and putting them into my inventory. There were also Demonic Cult members, but I just buried them in the Shiwanda Mountains. Of course, I carefully stored Cheongmyeong's body in a coffin along with the Mount Hua disciples' bodies. I left the Heavenly Demon's corpse where it was.
"There's still one more."
I took out [Jack Sparrow's Compass] and began searching for Cheongjin.
Cheongjin was a person who suffered severe injuries during the war with the Demonic Cult and was sidelined. His bones were even inscribed with demonic energy, and judging that it would be difficult for him to survive, he took the Mount Hua secret manuals and went into the Shiwanda Mountains. He found a mountain that resembled Mount Hua, specifically a spot corresponding to the location of the Mount Hua Sect's martial arts hall, dug a cave, and hid there. He then died with the secret manuals of the Jaha Divine Art, Jaha Vital Energy, and the Plum Blossom Sword Art in his arms.
The reason Cheongjin was carrying secret manuals that only the sect leader could learn was because the sect leader had permitted it. His body was weak and he had no talent for the sword, but in terms of theory, he was more outstanding than anyone, so he seemed to have made this choice for the sake of future generations.
Anyway, I went to the cave where Cheongjin was resting, placed his body in a coffin, and took all the secret manuals as well.
After that, I traveled around the Central Plains at night, secretly returning the disciples to their respective factions. Of course, to let them know I had brought them, I didn't forget to leave a Divine Thief card on top of each coffin.
The reason I did this was, in a word, employee welfare. Rather than the bodies of the shadow soldiers who would work for me for a long time becoming food for crows in the Shiwanda Mountains, I thought it was better for them to receive proper funerals in their own sects.
Finally, I moved to Mount Hua. Instead of returning the bodies directly, I chose a sunny spot in the mountains near Mount Hua, buried the Mount Hua disciples there, and erected gravestones.
After finishing that, I poured a drink in front of Cheongmyeong's grave and spoke. Though he wouldn't hear me.
"Cheongmyeong, I'll return the martial arts manuals as promised, but I never said I'd return them right away. I'll slowly return them later. Hahahaha."
Mount Hua, soon after, would be attacked by demonic followers enraged by the Heavenly Demon's death, nearly being destroyed. But because of that incident, some of Mount Hua's disciples left the sect and lived in the Central Plains. Yoo I-seol's father was one of them.
"There must be no unfortunate event where Yoo I-seol isn't born."
I felt like I could hear Cheongmyeong cursing, but I ignored it and teleported back to my manor.
The refugees at the manor were now being sent back to their homes. I gave food and money to those who wanted to return. For those who wanted to stay, I either hired them at the manor or found them jobs in Sichuan. Then, a rumor came that Mount Hua had been attacked by remnants of the Demonic Cult. It seemed to be proceeding as in the original.
"I've now obtained everything. I'll come back later."
I ended the Game Life.
[Ending the world of Return of the Blossoming Blade.]
[Settling rewards.]
[Cheongmyeong Affection Level 4]
[Emperor Affection Level 1]
[...]
[...]
[For progress in Return of the Blossoming Blade, you have earned 2,315 points.]
As expected, the reward was low. It was only natural, since besides Cheongmyeong, I had no connection with the main characters of Return of the Blossoming Blade, nor did I progress the story. But I had obtained something, and I had fun, so I considered it enough.
"Status Window!"
[Park Tae-jin]
Strength: 376 (+1428) Stamina: 369 (+300) Agility: 350 (+300) Intelligence: 313 (+2252) Mana: 652 (+4000)(+669/0)
Points Held: 58,086
"Fortunately, I have over 50,000 points."
I had been worried because I spent a lot of points in Return of the Blossoming Blade by modifying the setting to go 100 years into the past, causing a deficit. Fortunately, I still had over 50,000. So I immediately used magic to boost my luck and started a 50-pull draw.
Duplicate abilities were: [(A) Shaping], [(SS) Busoshoku Haki], [(S) Pressure], [(A) Cold Resistance], [(S) Telepathy], and [(S) Literature]. New abilities were: [(S) Parallel Thinking], [(SS) Online Shopping], [(EX) Matter Creation], and [(S) Decomposition]. As before, duplicate abilities were automatically combined, raising their rank or being absorbed into existing abilities.
[(S) Parallel Thinking]
Allows multiple thoughts to be processed simultaneously.
[(SS) Online Shopping]
Using the currency of a given universe, you can purchase modern items. (Instant delivery, no returns)
[(EX) Matter Creation]
Allows the creation of matter.
[(SS) Decomposition]
Allows the decomposition of matter down to the atomic level. (Living organisms cannot be decomposed)
"Oh~ [Matter Creation] finally appeared. But what's [Online Shopping]?"
I tried using the [Online Shopping] ability. A semi-transparent window appeared in front of me, allowing me to choose from various items, just like real online shopping. Among the items, not only food but also cars, airplanes, and even weapons were available. Even hydrogen bombs were for sale. It seemed that almost all objects existing in reality could be purchased.
"Ah... What a shame. If this ability had appeared a little earlier, Game Life would have been so much easier..."
Now, I had almost everything I needed, and I could just use [Matter Manipulation] or [Matter Creation] to make things, so it was a bit disappointing. But I thought it was an ability worth using occasionally when something was complicated or troublesome to make. However, there was one small problem. As I tested it, I couldn't pay with gold bars, but I could pay with the cash of the martial arts world, gold ingots. It seemed that it had to be recognized as currency.
"This problem shouldn't matter."
And [Matter Creation] also had a slight issue. Creating matter using mana was fine, but while single elements were no problem, complex objects composed of multiple elements were difficult because the entire structure needed to be known. It wasn't simply 'Lamborghini, appear! Poof.'
Fortunately, with my [Genius], [Parallel Thinking], and [Control] abilities, and with [Nano] assisting, it was possible to create them all at once. But if I had gotten [Matter Creation] when I had no abilities, I probably wouldn't have been able to use it much besides creating gold.
And compared to the way of creating objects by shaping existing matter using [Telekinesis] and [Control] and then using [Matter Manipulation] to create the desired material, the fact that the matter itself appeared directly meant that once I got used to it, it wouldn't take much time to create needed objects.
The [Decomposition] ability was also quite unique. It couldn't decompose living organisms. Testing on animal carcasses, it could decompose as desired, separating blood, muscle, skin, fat, etc. This seemed more like a convenience ability than an offensive one.
[Parallel Thinking] was, as the name suggests, the ability to think multiple thoughts simultaneously. The advantage of this ability was the ability to do multiple things at once. For example, it allowed using more abilities simultaneously, and it allowed dividing calculations to process them faster. In computer terms, it meant having more cores.
"I'm glad only useful abilities came out."
Now, I checked the items I received. [Elixir], [Affection Level Upgrade Ticket], [Random Devil Fruit] x2, [Item Fusion Ticket], and for food, [Delicious Fruit Set] x100 appeared.
"So an [Affection Level Upgrade Ticket] finally appeared. I was wondering when it would."
It was an item I had expected to appear someday.
I passed on the equipment, as there was nothing special. Interesting items included [TS Pill] x10, [Giant Enhancement Pill] x10, [Latex Full-Body Restraint Suit] x100, [Aphrodisiac] x100, and [Lavender Scented Love Gel] x100. I was worried that my inventory might get flooded with adult goods.
Other than those, various useless items from creative works appeared.
Curious about the [Latex Full-Body Restraint Suit], I took one out. It was, as the name suggests, a full-body restraint suit made of latex. What was peculiar was that it restrained even the head, leaving only the breathing holes and mouth. It was designed so that the important areas could be opened, allowing one to fully enjoy while wearing it. I had honestly never seen such clothing before.
"Wow... I didn't know such things existed. I'm surprised... This world's inner energy was weak. Anyway, I'll try using these later..."
I put the [Latex Full-Body Restraint Suit] back in my inventory. Since I had gotten two [Random Devil Fruits] this time, I decided to use them all at once, along with the ones I had saved up before.
"Five in total. I wonder if I'll get at least one Logia. I hope I get the 'Pika Pika no Mi'."
Actually, even if not the 'Pika Pika no Mi', there were many fruits I wanted. The 'Gomu Gomu no Mi', the 'Gura Gura no Mi', the 'Mirror Mirror Fruit', and so on.
[Would you like to use the Random Devil Fruit?]
"Yeah."
I had five [Random Devil Fruits] in total. I used them all at once. Then, I received the 'Mera Mera no Mi', the 'Toki Toki no Mi', the 'Suika Suika no Mi', the 'Ope Ope no Mi', and the 'Mogu Mogu no Mi'. The 'Mera Mera no Mi' was a fruit I already had.
"A Logia did appear, but a duplicate... At least the 'Ope Ope no Mi' appeared, so I should consider myself lucky."
I set aside the duplicate 'Mera Mera no Mi' for now. I ate the 'Toki Toki no Mi' and the 'Ope Ope no Mi'. I put the 'Suika Suika no Mi' and 'Mogu Mogu no Mi', as they were useless, into my inventory.
"Hoo... The taste is still just as bad."
The 'Ope Ope no Mi' was Trafalgar Law's fruit, a fruit with a wide variety of abilities. It was a fruit I had coveted, but I had never been able to obtain it. To kill Trafalgar Law to take his ability felt wrong since he wasn't a villain, and as a fan, it felt off to take his ability. For it to appear like this was, for me, very fortunate.
The 'Toki Toki no Mi' was the fruit eaten by Kozuki Toki, Oden's wife. This fruit allows the user to send themselves or others up to 20 years into the future. If time travel is ever needed, this fruit would be more than welcome. Especially for someone like me who enjoys Game Life. However, this fruit does have a drawback: you cannot go back to the past. Once you go to the future, it ends there.
Then, I looked at the 'Mera Mera no Mi' and wondered what to do with it. First, I needed to know if eating this fruit would also raise the fruit's rank. But it felt like a waste to use a precious Logia fruit for that.
"What should I do..."
After a moment's hesitation, I decided to check using a different method. I decided to use one [Ability Upgrade Ticket] on my frequently used [(SS) Goro Goro no Mi (Awakened)]. That way, I could see if Devil Fruit abilities could also be upgraded.
[[(SS) Goro Goro no Mi (Awakened)] has reached its maximum rank. Cannot be upgraded further.]
Fortunately, the [Ability Upgrade Ticket] was also preserved, and I learned that a Devil Fruit could not be upgraded beyond SS rank.
"That's a relief."
After finishing the draws like that, I rested for a while, then went to the training ground I had created on Earth.
As soon as I arrived, I summoned the shadow soldiers I had created in Return of the Blossoming Blade, and I checked and learned various martial arts. Since I also learned these by creating shadow clones, it didn't take very long. I had watched the Heavenly Demon fight many times, so I didn't need to steal or separately learn his martial arts. I also awakened the new Devil Fruits I had eaten.
After training for a while like that and learning all the martial arts, I returned to the mansion and started Game Life again.
"It's been a while. I think I'll go to One Piece."