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The six who entered were white-robed priestesses performing a sword dance to grace the finale of the martial arts contest.

They were also successors to the Harmonious Flower Sword Style, one of the best sword techniques I had created since coming to this world.

‘My first masterpieces created in the human world.’

Those who had transcended the realm of sword intent and reached the level of displaying blooming flower illusions.

In the martial world, they were in the realm of transcendence, an area for the chosen few.

Among the disciples who came under me, only Prigos and Duber had reached the realm of excellence.

In fact, considering the age of entry into martial arts and the lack of special elixirs, the level of growth of these two was exceptionally fast.

Naturally, there was no way that anyone among the ‘humans’ could have reached the realm of transcendence yet.

Among the ‘humans’.

Outside, they were called ‘Maidens of Life’ in a folksy way, but the true identities of these priestesses were succubi, sisters and subordinates of Aliya.

Lamiya and the four succubi who had surrounded me at the time, and one who wasn’t there.

Having survived for hundreds of years in the Eastern Continent, they possessed considerable energy within their bodies.

In terms of quantity, about three times that of the forest keeper Elf before I left the forest?

It wasn’t much for the abilities of a survivor who had fought for hundreds of years, but it was a vast difference from the perspective of humans.

‘That’s why Prigos was always disappointed.’

Prigos was not an idealist.

Even if he wanted human power to grow in the distant future, he didn’t ignore the powerful sword in front of him because of that belief.

However, Aliya and the succubi had to be Prigos’ hidden cards.

The subordinates of Ul Kanadiel generally possessed an aura that felt evil and repulsive to the creatures of nature.

And the nature of the succubi was… well… lewd…? Something like that.

Even Aliya, who controlled her energy well, subtly exuded a sexiness that was hard for human men to withstand.

Roa’s hunt was impossible with humans alone, and the help of the succubi was essential.

Therefore, Roa’s hunt was only carried out with trusted soldiers under Prigos’ command.

It wouldn’t be good to let the public know that they were close to women who flew through the sky with ominous bat wings and emitted an evil aura.

And when Prigos began to study under me, he asked me a question along with a request about those succubi.

‘Can martial arts change the nature of those children?’

Prigos wanted to bring the succubi, the most important force among the human forces, into the light.

After that, I began to think.

The theory of martial arts to control the succubi’s yin energy and reverse it into the realm of yang.

Above all, it was necessary to change the nature of the energy, which was close to evil (魔) rather than righteous or heretical, from Central Plains martial arts.

A무리 containing the principle of dispelling evil and revealing the truth (破邪顯正).

So, I thought of martial arts with religious overtones.

In Central Plains, martial arts with religious overtones were also highly developed.

Representatively, the Buddhist Shaolin Temple, a representative among the giant martial arts sects called the Nine Great Sects.

The Taoist Wudang Sect of Grandmaster Zhang Sanfeng, comparable to Bodhidharma of Shaolin.

The Taoist Mount Hua Sect, founded by Yinxi, a disciple of Lao Tzu, who is considered the originator of the Hundred Schools of Thought and the leader of the Five Great Swords Sects that developed in the rugged areas of the Central Plains’ Five Peaks.

Including heretical sects such as the Demonic Cult and the Blood Cult, it was a faction of martial arts that encompassed a very diverse area.

In the first place, sorcery and martial arts were not two separate things.

Anyway, they wanted to bring the succubi into the light, but I couldn’t teach them demonic arts.

I didn’t actually want to create something like demonic arts, so naturally I referred to Buddhist or Taoist martial arts.

Any of them were good, but the one I referred to the most was the martial arts of the Mount Hua Sect.

The martial arts of Shaolin and Wudang also had excellent ideologies, but basically the ideological concepts were alien to this world and the underlying knowledge was lacking.

In comparison, the ideology of the Mount Hua Sect’s martial arts was tied to the land.

Mount Hua was one of the Central Plains’ Five Peaks and consisted of very rugged mountain ranges.

Moreover, the environment was so harsh that it would be difficult for a secular sect to survive, rather than a sect with religious tendencies like the Mount Hua Sect.

The Plum Blossom Sword Style, which represented the Mount Hua Sect before its death, was born in such an environment.

The Taoists of the Mount Hua Sect, who trained in the harsh nature, must have identified with the plum blossoms that did not fear frost and snow, broke the frozen ground, bloomed their beautiful flowers, and added fragrance to Mount Hua.

The desire to bloom like that someday, overcoming the difficult times of hardship.

I believe that the Plum Blossom Sword Style is not just a simple sword technique, but an ideological martial art (思想武功) created by the aspirations of those who live in that land.

Shaolin and Wudang are excellent, but I wanted to create ideologies and philosophies that were unique to this world, not ideologies and philosophies from another world.

That’s why I chose the fundamental ideology of the Mount Hua Sect.

The earnest desire that those who walk this land feel when they see ‘something’.

I needed ‘something’ that would be the source of martial arts.

The discovery was not difficult.

In the first place, the fact that everyone can see and feel the same thing means that it is close by.

When I saw that tree, it looked like a date palm tree I had seen in Central Plains.

Trees that grew with great vitality even on barren sandy land where nothing else grew.

The branches were laden with fruit, and a sweet smell wafted from them.

Date palm tree.

Those in the area where this tree grew called it the ‘Tree of Life’.

Dried dates were also distributed in large quantities in Pohlen.

If you were to say the most valuable crops in the human world, it would be barley and dates.

‘Let’s do this.’

Just as the Taoists of the Mount Hua Sect felt something when they saw the plum blossoms blooming on Mount Hua.

So that the people here can feel something when they see the date palm tree, which exudes vitality even in the harsh nature.

The properties of the date palm tree are strong life and fertility.

Ironically, it was a surprisingly good match for the succubi.

Those who had survived hundreds of years of war and arrived after overcoming stormy seas.

And while excessive lust is a sin, new life cannot be conceived if one is only pure.

I began to weave martial arts by sublimating those concepts and the aspirations of the humans of this land into ideology.

What I created was the Righteous Life Divine Art (正命神功) and the Harmonious Flower Sword Style (棗花劍法).

In my previous life, I had encountered many martial arts, but I had never seen the martial arts of a sect leader or a one-person transmission.

However, I was sure that the martial arts I had created now would not be lacking compared to the Violet Cloud Divine Art and the Plum Blossom Sword Style of Mount Hua.

Although it became a sword technique with a much stronger religious color than the Plum Blossom Sword Style of Mount Hua.

After the succubi began to learn the Righteous Life Divine Art, their energy, which was close to evil (魔), began to change into an energy full of life and warmth, like ink dissolving in warm water.

In this way, the first six Harmonious Flower Swordsmen (棗花劍手), priestesses who offered sword dances to God and the strongest human force that subjugated the 72 demons with the king, the earthly agent, were born.

Since the mother World Tree, El-Prigion, is also a tree, and the date palm tree is a very common and important tree in the human world, it became one of the symbols of the Emigration Church.

The reason why the type of tree that is the incarnation of the mother World Tree behind the throne in the World Room of the Great Temple is a date palm or a Martial artist is also the reason.

The incarnation of the mother is the sacred tree (神木) in the Emigration Church, and the hilts of the swords used by the Harmonious Flower Swordsmen are all made of branches of this sacred tree.

Perhaps someday, if a Harmonious Flower Swordsman emerges from among humans, they will receive a sword hilt made of a branch of the sacred tree.

But considering the current situation of humans, it will be a distant future.

“Araya, the warriors of the martial arts contest are waiting in front of the World Room.”

“Okay, good work. Everyone, prepare to welcome the new children.”

I answered the Harmonious Flower Swordsman, who broke my short reverie, and spoke to those around me.

Those who had been kneeling and praying in the vast World Room without chairs moved quietly and in an orderly manner.

In an instant, the priests and disciples lined up in rows and columns to the left and right.

When they were ready, the Harmonious Flower Swordsman nodded and gave a signal to the outside.

Then, nine men of different ages wearing green martial uniforms entered.

Although they had been treated, some of them still had swelling from their severe injuries.

“Welcome to the embrace of God, young warriors.”

It was quite a funny sight for a third party to see me, who looked about 10 years old, speaking to a group that included a man who looked over 30, but I continued to speak as solemnly as possible.

“This place is a divine land (神地) where humans who have descended to earth do not understand the reason.”

I raised the abundant branch of the sacred tree placed next to the throne.

“”…!””

The humans inhaled as I moved to the front of the first warrior in the line with a single step.

“I do not know what position you held in the secular world. But here, you are just humans with finite bodies.”

“”Kneel!””

The Harmonious Flower Swordsmen shouted, and the nine knelt.

I walked sideways and brushed the humans with the branch of the sacred tree.

In front of the last boy, who looked about 13 years old, I stopped my hand for a moment.

A child with eyes that seemed to be filled with resentment.

‘I feel like I’ve seen him somewhere… Ah, that’s right.’

The slave boy who was repairing the fortress walls when I first arrived in Pohlen seven years ago.

The child who was being beaten by the supervisor while hugging and protecting a small child.

‘…This is something.’

If you worked as a slave in Pohlen for only five years, you could become a free person.

But in the last row, the third one.

The youngest age group of the slave class in the martial arts contest.

That meant he was still a slave.

He was trying to hide it as much as possible, but he couldn’t hide the venom in his eyes from me.

This is the era, even a child must have had his own story.

‘But, now that you’ve come here, you have to forget your ties to the secular world.’

I moved my stopped hand again, brushed the last child, and sat back on the throne in one step.

“With this, you have shaken off all ties to the secular world. From today, you will be devoted to God as servants here, forget everything in the secular world, and receive new names.”

I gave the first eight the names that Aliya had prepared.

I was leaving this part to Aliya, which was a bit irresponsible.

I’m not good at naming things anyway.

When it came to the last child’s turn, I somehow wanted to give him a name myself instead of the name Aliya had prepared.

“A child with deep emotions in his eyes. The name of you who are embraced in the arms of God will now be Iscariot.”

I watched the child, the first among my disciples to be given a name directly, look up at me emotionlessly, and somehow I couldn’t help but laugh.