Chaos (2)
What on earth has happened…‘
“Senior Seo, do you see that? Oh my, a fiery orb is floating through the sky!”‘
I sat at the bow of the flying ship, watching Kim Yeon chatter beside me.‘
After receiving Changhoja’s order,‘
I boarded the vessel with Kim Yeon and set course for the entrance to the Demon Realm.‘
‘The Demon Realm…‘
I had heard the stories.‘
Four thousand years ago, during the Great War between the Gwanghan Realm and the Demon Realm—the Great Demon War—‘
the Demon Realm had suffered total defeat at the hands of the Gwanghan Realm. Since then, various species in the Gwanghan Realm had been forced to cede portions of the Demon Realm as colonies.‘
The different species of the Gwanghan Realm supplied resources from these colonies to the disciples training in demonic arts.‘
Especially the Human race: they captured demon beasts from the Demon Realm as slaves, turned them into the legendary Pill of Demonic Origin that grants the Nascent Soul realm and beyond. The pill was sought after by countless species.‘
Yet the very people who created the pill had only provided minimal rear support during the Great Demon War. As a result, when the colonies were distributed, the Human Union had no share and used this pretext to declare an invasion of the Demon Realm to establish new colonies.‘
‘…Is it right for me to participate in this war?’‘
No matter the justification of protecting Yeon, unease settled in my chest.‘
“Senior Seo, Senior Seo?”‘
While I pondered, Kim Yeon approached me.‘
“Ah, what did you say?”‘
“Ah, I just mentioned how beautiful the scenery was. Since you were lost in thought, I worried you might be unwell…”‘
“It’s not that I’m unwell. I was just thinking…”‘
“I see. Actually, I heard it from Vice Captain Oh.”‘
Kim Yeon swept her hair back with a bitter smile.‘
“You… lost your memories?”‘
“…Yes. Only fragments remain, and I can’t recall anything clearly.”‘
“Hmm…”‘
She sat beside me, gazing together at the vast scenery of the Gwanghan Realm flowing past behind us.‘
“Senior Seo, no, Oppa Eun-hyun.”‘
“Hm?”‘
“I spoke with Vice Captain Hyun-seok too. What do you think?”‘
Kim Yeon turned to me and spoke.‘
“I’ll tell you about the version of Oppa Eun-hyun I remember from our company days.”‘
“Ah…”‘
“I may not know everything about Oppa Eun-hyun, but I can speak about the one I remember.”‘
“…Before that.”‘
I felt a flicker of embarrassment and asked her.‘
“…First, could you explain where we came from?”‘
“Ah…”‘
And so her explanation continued.‘
* * *‘
‘Ah, I see.’‘
So I was born in that world.‘
I poured the history of our homeland and the world history Kim Yeon had explained into my mind.‘
‘Earth. I came from that star.’‘
“…Actually, from our perspective, this world is a little… illogical. The world is flat, for one thing… and human rights aren’t properly protected…”‘
“…Our homeland had human rights, then.”‘
“Ah… Well, not everywhere on Earth, but our country was roughly like that. At least, there were no open modifications or monsters devouring people.”‘
She rubbed her arm.‘
The puppet arm that had been controlled by Goe-gun had now regenerated into flesh and blood.‘
She had torn the puppet limb away and allowed it to regrow.‘
She found the absurdity absurd, yet the regeneration had been complete a few days ago.‘
“Well… roughly, that’s how world history and our homeland’s history go. Do you remember?”‘
“Um, actually, not very well. Sorry.”‘
“It’s fine. Anyway, can I explain about Oppa Eun-hyun?”‘
“Sure.”‘
She began to describe ‘me’ slowly.‘
The senior who supported her as a subordinate, who took on any burden, who fixed her errors without complaint, who never passed on her superiors’ scoldings to her juniors, who looked foolish sometimes yet still completed every task she was given, who loved crab apple blossoms and kimbap, and so on.‘
‘That’s… me?’‘
Most of what she said carried only the positive impression.‘
Because she liked me, all the negative impressions had vanished.‘
Still, thanks to her, I could roughly guess who ‘I’ was.‘
‘Before regression, Seo Eun-hyun was that kind of person.’‘
Of course, sadly, nothing more came to mind.‘
Memories refused to surface.‘
As if the fragments themselves had been torn away.‘
For days she sat beside me, recounting everything before we came to this world, and Oh Hyun-seok joined in the middle to describe the ‘me’ he remembered.‘
Thus, aboard the ship, for days we chatted about who ‘I’ was.‘
* * *‘
[The flying ship from Changhan-do has arrived at the Demon Realm entrance. All disembark.]‘
The captain’s voice echoed across the ship.‘
“Wow… It’s been almost a month since I last touched solid ground.”‘
“Indeed.”‘
Oh Hyun-seok and Kim Yeon stepped onto the ground.‘
I savored the feel of soil after so long and scanned my surroundings.‘
“This place… is the Demon Realm entrance.”‘
Whoosh…‘
The pitch-black fog swirled in the wind.‘
Twitch, twitch…‘
Red, writhing tentacles pierced the sky, tearing and maintaining gaps in space.‘
It seemed the tentacles themselves interfered with space to create the holes.‘
The holes they made were miles across and beyond them, thick black fog pressed close.‘
“The Blood Shark Clan lent us the Void Devouring Grass. One of their treasures that can bore dimensional gaps by creating holes in the sky.”‘
As I stared blankly at the giant tentacles, a man in a black robe approached.‘
“Thank you for sending support to the Demon Realm vanguard from Changhan-do.”‘
The man in the black robe surveyed us and the others who had just disembarked behind us.‘
202 disciples from Changcheon Gaebyeokmun, excluding Oh Hyun-seok and Kim Yeon.‘
1024 disciples from the other sects of Changhan-do.‘
In total, 1229 people sent from Changhan-do to the Demon Realm vanguard.‘
“The representative sect of Changhan-do… was Seoryeongmun?”‘
“It has changed to Changcheon Gaebyeokmun.”‘
“Ah, two hundred years ago it was Seoryeongmun, but now it’s changed again. Well, glad you came anyway. I am the chief of staff of the vanguard, Hyun-wun. From Heukrin-do’s Heukrin-eoryeongmun. Please take care of me.”‘
“Nice to meet you. I am Oh Hyun-seok, the direct disciple of the founder of Changcheon Gaebyeokmun, the representative of Changhan-do.”‘
“Likewise, I am Seo Eun-hyun, his direct disciple.”‘
We greeted Hyun-wun in turn, and he showed us where we would stay.‘
“First, inside the spatial rift you see ahead. That pitch-black fog is protecting the dimensional boundary of the Demon Realm. Our mission is to destroy the barrier protecting the Demon Realm’s boundary, then enter the Demon Realm and erode its inner regions with Gwanghan qi.”‘
Whoosh!‘
Hyun-wun held up a glowing golden crystal orb.‘
“Using this Guanghan Jade, go to the Demon Realm. Plant the Guanghan Jade where the Demon Realm’s demonic veins are and unfold the formation. Gradually, the Guanghan Jade will pollute the demonic veins and transform them into Gwanghan qi. The place where it is buried will soon become a space with the circulation of heaven and earth qi like the Gwanghan Realm. We will slowly erode the Demon Realm and create space for the follow-up forces. That is our main mission.”‘
“I see…”‘
Whoosh!‘
I nodded at the brilliantly glowing golden jade.‘
The golden jade radiated light; simply looking at it stabilized the surrounding qi and slowly increased the progress of inner cultivation.‘
‘An immense treasure.’‘
Of course, the cultivation-boosting effect only worked for me at the Core Formation stage, not above the Nascent Soul realm.‘
“For now, before the other vanguards all arrive, everyone climb onto the formation before the dimensional boundary and perform the operation of breaking the boundary. It’s nothing special—just stand on the formation and supply spiritual power; the formation will handle the rest.”‘
“Yes, thank you for the explanation.”‘
We listened to Hyun-wun’s words and each climbed to the corresponding section of the formation before the rift.‘
‘Well, since it’ll be months before the dimensional boundary is broken and the vanguard departs, during that time I should recover my cultivation.’‘
Last time, while escaping from Goe-gun, I had used Void Walking with my cultivation burned away, so it had dropped one layer.‘
The cultivation that had reached Core Formation Unity had now fallen to Core Formation Late Stage; it was a good time to recover.‘
I climbed onto the formation and, supplying spiritual power little by little, began operating the techniques to absorb the surrounding heaven and earth qi.‘
“Ah, you must be a disciple of Changcheon Gaebyeokmun?”‘
‘Hm?’‘
Someone approached as if they knew me.‘
He was a young man in golden robes, left hair white, right hair black, an odd combination.‘
“Do you know me?”‘
“Ah, not personally… I am a disciple of the Geumshin Cheonroemun. I joined this Demon Realm vanguard. By the way, I heard Changcheon Gaebyeokmun is from the Water Realm.”‘
From his words, it seemed he was simply a newly recruited disciple from where the sect was based, not someone who had directly surpassed in the Water Realm.‘
“…Just, I spoke with you because we are all at the same Core Formation stage…”‘
“…Well, no harm in getting along. I am Seo Eun-hyun.”‘
“Seosa Seo, I am Yeon-jin. Just call me Yeon.”‘
I exchanged words with Yeon-jin and suddenly remembered something.‘
“Does your sect have a man named Jeon Myeong-hoon?”‘
“Ah! The direct disciple of the Supreme Patriarch! Yes, that senior brother is famous in our sect. He has already mastered all the techniques our founding ancestor created and has surpassed the Nascent Soul realm.‘
Haha, that senior brother is truly amazing. All the elders of our sect are praising him, saying that in a hundred or two hundred years, perhaps even a Unity Core Formation disciple will appear in Geumshin Cheonroemun. He is a genius incomparable to someone like me.”‘
The young man Yeon-jin called Yeon seemed to admire Jeon Myeong-hoon so much his eyes sparkled.‘
“…Excuse me, but may I ask how old Seosa Yeon is?”‘
“Ah! I am already ninety this year.”‘
“Ninety… You are still young. Reaching Core Formation Middle Stage at your age means Seosa Yeon has exceptional talent, yet you seem so downcast.”‘
“Haha, talent?”‘
Yeon-jin gazed at the ground with a bitter expression.‘
“In the Gwanghan Realm, Foundation Establishment is reachable by anyone once they reach a certain age, and Core Formation is within reach for anyone with a slightly clever mind. But that is it. From the Nascent Soul realm onward is the realm of absolute talent; without it, even if one uses all the lifespan gained at Core Formation, they cannot reach it.”‘
“…“‘
“I was fortunate to enter Geumshin Cheonroemun and reach Core Formation Middle Stage from Foundation Establishment. But it seems this is my limit. No matter how many pills I take, no matter how much I close off my cultivation, the progress slows, so I doubt I can reach Core Formation Unity in this lifetime.”‘
He smiled bitterly and looked at me.‘
“Seosa Seo, your cultivation has reached Core Formation Late Stage with the Purple Origin. So reaching the Nascent Soul realm this lifetime should be no problem. Truly enviable…”‘
“…No, well…”‘
It had taken over two thousand years to reach this point.‘
But I did not say so to comfort Yeon-jin.‘
“I am older than I look. But no matter what, if one grinds through cultivation, the time invested is never betrayed. Seosa Yeon, you said ninety years old. Reaching Core Formation Middle Stage before one hundred years old is a truly blessed talent. Please do not be so downcast; keep cultivating diligently.”‘
At my words, Yeon-jin’s eyes filled with emotion as he looked at me.‘
“Thank you, Seosa Seo! Hearing that makes me feel stronger!”‘
“Haha, I am glad it helps.”‘
We exchanged pleasantries while I slowly continued operating the techniques.‘
And as a result, within a month I had recovered the strength of Core Formation Unity.‘
“No way, Seosa Seo… you reached Core Formation Unity in just a month? This is…”‘
“No, this is…”‘
Of course, I had to work a little to dispel Yeon-jin’s misunderstanding.‘
‘Anyway, I have reached the peak of Core Formation Unity and gained more than enough insight over two thousand years.’‘
The Demon Realm vanguard was not yet fully assembled, and the dimensional boundary collapse formation was not yet complete, so there was still time before departure.‘
‘Time was sufficient, and since it was on the formation meant to collapse the Demon Realm boundary, it was actually safer here with nearby guards.’‘
For this chance, I decided to challenge the Nascent Soul realm.‘
‘I had lived two thousand years and gradually caught a feel for the boundaries with my Invisible Sword.’‘
Insight did not lag.‘
‘Then… before departing for the Demon Realm, shall I obtain the Element Spirit?’‘
I sat on the formation, straightened my qi, and closed my eyes.