Chapter 208
In the span of fifty years.
Gyubaek had undergone countless trials in the depths of hell.
At first I guided her alone, but as time passed Jang Ik began to mentor her as well.
Her skill grew by leaps and bounds.
Somehow she reached the peak of the Deungbongjogeuk realm under my and Jang Ik’s guidance.
She stood on the threshold of the Woldoipcheon.
Yet she never truly stepped into the Woldoipcheon.
Swish—!
Gyubaek’s Ganghwan overlapped with her consciousness, triggering a shift inside her mind.
Slosh, slosh…
For a moment her unstable consciousness twisted like a rope or a chain, then collapsed completely.
“What… is this? Are you playing a trick on me?”
The owner of the domain, the Monkey Demon, struck his chest in frustration at Gyuryeon’s antics.
Gyuryeon sighed briefly, then curled her fingers.
Crack—!
Yellow lightning gathered at her fingertips.
Soon the aura of a golden dragon erupted from her entire body.
“Wh-what is this? I’m at the Fissure Opening stage? Yet this body… has reached the Integration realm…!”
The next instant.
Gyubaek accelerated her consciousness with Ganghwan and pounced like a beast on the Monkey Demon.
She moved with the wild grace of a dragon.
Dragon-Shaped Flying Tiger Claw—
That was how she fought, born from the dragon movements of the dragon clan that Gyuryeon once commanded.
Because the technique had been crafted according to Gyuryeon’s battle style, it carried her own wild ferocity.
Whoosh—!
The Dragon-Shaped Flying Tiger Claw brushed against the Monkey Demon’s body.
It seemed to hunt him like a savage dragon, yet the technique allowed perfect control, pressing the opponent while displaying the exquisite artistry of martial arts.
The move had grown far more refined than the first version I had created fifty years ago.
Gyubaek had refined it herself and also received advice from Jang Ik.
With her now at the Integration realm, she crushed the Monkey Demon in an instant.
“Kheh—! I— I’ll spare you… live…!”
The Monkey Demon begged for mercy as his initial momentum vanished.
Gyubaek withdrew her Ganghwan and descended.
“How does it feel?”
“You have grown much, senior.”
At my praise Gyubaek crossed her arms with a smirk.
“I’ve told you a hundred times—it’s only training.”
“Yes, yes.”
While watching her, Jang Ik approached.
[When charging, widen your footwork slightly. Pay more attention to the integration of intent while using the Fissure Opening aura.]
“Yes.”
As Gyubaek listened to Jang Ik’s lecture, I walked over to the Monkey Demon and offered him the array flag I had made.
“Listen here, big brother. I heard you are the leader of the monkeys around here.”
“That’s… right.”
“Could you have your monkeys plant this array flag in the swamp where spiritual energy is most concentrated?”
The Monkey Demon glanced sideways at Gyubaek, who had beaten him, then nodded.
“I’ll do it… for you.”
“Good. Don’t forget to follow my instructions.”
Whoosh—!
Feeling the pressure of my Nascent Soul-level spiritual energy, the Monkey Demon’s face paled and he nodded frantically.
“Yes, of course, senior! I’ll obey you completely!”
After leaving the installation duties to the kind Monkey Demon, I joined Gyubaek and Yuhwa, who were still listening to Jang Ik’s advice.
“Today is the final array installation. From now on, you must prepare yourselves properly.”
“Got it.”
“Good.”
With Jang Ik, we headed to the barren wasteland where we had first fallen—
the very place where Gyuryeon’s corpse lay.
Whoong—!
Gyuryeon’s corpse was as large as a mountain range and still completely covered the wasteland.
Gyubaek stared at the body with a complicated expression.
Even after fifty years the corpse still radiated its former majesty, its blood long since dried up.
Her golden scales remained untouched by time, her claws still sharp.
Her two horns had been torn away by Seo Hyul.
Gyubaek watched the corpse, biting her lip.
“…So when do we achieve the ascension?”
“The arrays will activate simultaneously tonight. That is the only time we can do it.”
“…I understand.”
Gyubaek’s expression turned troubled as she stared at Gyuryeon’s corpse.
She vanished somewhere with a complicated face.
[It’s time for farewell.]
“Yes. Thank you for everything, Venerable.”
[It’s nothing. I had the most fun teaching you two during this boring assignment.]
Before I knew it, under Jang Ik’s guidance I had reached the limit of the Sapcheon realm and was grasping the comprehension beyond it.
Yuhwa had also reached the final month of the Lower Heavens under Jang Ik’s guidance.
Gyubaek continued to glance at the Woldoipcheon.
[Probably Gyubaek will never reach the first step of the passion for martial will.]
Jang Ik clicked his tongue as he watched Gyubaek leave.
[Her mind is still too chaotic. Her longing is strong, but she hasn’t unified it into any single concept.]
“…But you saw it yourself, didn’t you? The way Gyubaek’s consciousness briefly changed.”
At my question Jang Ik shook his head with disbelief.
[That isn’t passion for martial will. I’d call it a consciousness cultivation method. No, more accurately a shamanic ritual of the Heavenly race? Or ancient spellcasting through forbidden arts?]
Jang Ik continued.
[What Gyubaek reached wasn’t true passion for martial will. She immersed her body and mind in an ancient spell called the Gwanghan Covenant, which made her look similar to someone who had already achieved the first step.]
“…Then does that mean the passion for martial will can be used at places connected to the Gwanghan Covenant?”
[Hah. The first step of passion for martial will that activates only on a specific target… It’s possible in theory, but Gyubaek is too dependent on the Gwanghan Covenant. That covenant is a long-forgotten ancient spell whose activation conditions were never found. Activating the covenant won’t even work properly. It’s a half-baked implementation at best.]
Jang Ik clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction with Gyubaek.
Gyubaek had found the thread of the Woldoipcheon.
But the realm she had reached was a bizarre version of the Woldoipcheon that depended heavily on the Gwanghan Covenant still tied to Seo Hyul.
Without Seo Hyul present it would not activate at all.
Even if the covenant’s conditions were met, the activation would be only half-baked.
It could not be used normally.
In short, what Gyubaek had obtained was something strange born from her obsessive longing for Seo Hyul—
a passion for martial will that only worked when focused on Seo Hyul.
“But… if Gyubaek faces Seo Hyul alone and meets the conditions for passion for martial will…”
For Seo Hyul, perhaps Gyubaek’s passion for martial will might become a terrifying, inescapable realm.
The strange passion for martial will that Gyubaek had obtained, the one born from nothing but longing for Seo Hyul and yearning for their reunion.
That was Gyubaek’s passion for martial will.
“It really is peculiar…”
I thought it was amusing inside and walked over to Gyuryeon’s corpse, gently stroking her scales.
“Venerable, since the day of departure is drawing near, may I ask a few questions?”
[Go ahead.]
I asked the Venerable all the questions I had wondered about the Heart Tribe for so long.
“How is the Heart Tribe’s cultivation system divided? And how far can the Heart Tribe grow?”
[There are three levels corresponding to the Fissure Opening, Nascent Soul, and Heavenly Person realms. Or there are three steps of passion for martial will, and beyond that there is still a third step.]
“If it’s the third step…”
[It corresponds to the one that matches the Four Pillars, Integration, and Star Shattering realms. The third step matches the Fissure Opening realm.]
“So the third step is simply the name of the realm beyond the third level of implementation?”
[It varies by individual. For example, Yuhwa calls the realm beyond the first, middle, and last months of the Lower Heavens. I call mine the Three Steps of Venerable’s Court.]
“…You said the third step corresponds to the Fissure Opening realm, so the realm that corresponds to the True Immortal realm is something you don’t know?”
[Unfortunately I don’t. I was the one who originally conceived the concept of the third step. Since it was not taught to me by someone else, I don’t know the higher realms.]
“I see… Understood.”
He crossed his arms and looked at me.
[Is there anything else you want to ask?]
“Yes, one more thing.”
[Go on.]
I was silent for a moment, then asked cautiously.
“I heard that all the Star Shattering Venerables of the middle realms except the Underworld are currently away on business. They’re supposedly searching for something in the Star Realm, the Subsea Realm.”
[That’s not entirely wrong.]
“If it wouldn’t be rude, may I ask what exactly you are searching for?”
[It’s not a big secret. I’ll tell you.]
He spoke lightly, as if it were nothing important. Yet the next words from Jang Ik left me stunned.
[Right now, all the Star Shattering Venerables of every realm are gathering at the location where the remains of the madman of twelve thousand years ago, the Thunder Immortal Yang Su-jin, are located.]
“The Thunder Immortal… Yang Su-jin’s remains…?”
[Correct. Some of Yang Su-jin’s remains have been shattered and roam the Star Realm. Some of those remains have already transformed into the Subsea Realm.]
“The Subsea Realm…”
Indeed, the Subsea Realm seemed to be the lower realm formed from pieces of a True Immortal’s corpse.
[Forty thousand years ago… He descended to the Water Realm to find Yang Su-jin’s remains, but learned there were none there. Countless high-level cultivators searched the entire continent and finally located the traces of Yang Su-jin.]
“…Why does he cling so desperately to Yang Su-jin’s traces?”
[…Yang Su-jin stole something of immense value from every middle realm during his lifetime. He didn’t return it. To reclaim those things from him is why.]
It seemed he deliberately did not reveal what that something was.
[Yang Su-jin embedded his legacy into the middle realms. If his remains are found, the way to reach his legacy will open.]
“Yang Su-jin’s legacy… the Heavenly Thunder Banner?”
I suddenly recalled the Heavenly Thunder Banner.
“Could it be that the Heavenly Thunder Banner is that legacy?”
Yet Jang Ik laughed faintly and shook his head.
[The Heavenly Thunder Banner is not Yang Su-jin’s legacy. The legacy he used is true, but according to legend he stole it from some noble existence in the True Immortal realm.]
“…”
[It’s just my own thought, but the one who had their legacy stolen from Yang Su-jin is probably waiting with tears of blood for the day they can reclaim it. Hahaha…]
It was a story I could not swallow.
According to that, the True Immortal who would descend into the Geumsincheonroemun later would be a noble of the True Immortal realm who harbored deep resentment toward Yang Su-jin.
“If I just take the Heavenly Thunder Banner and drive it into the mouth of the Underworld Judge… it would solve the problem…”
Perhaps at the moment of the True Immortal’s descent, all the sects tied to Yang Su-jin’s legacy would have been wiped out.
I asked Jang Ik a few more questions I had been wondering about.
Finally, after some time had passed and a full day had gone by, I felt the arrays I had installed across the planet begin to activate.
Whoong—!
Gyubaek and Yuhwa also gathered around me.
The sparse spiritual energy of the entire planet flowed through the planet’s veins and rushed here.
Though sparse, when concentrated in one place the spiritual density was far greater than the Heart Tribe continent.
Kiing—!
At the center of the energy veins I formed a seal and began to open the space rift.
Whoosh—!
For fifty years I had created an array for ascension to the upper world—the Return to the Light Realm Array.
I controlled the Return to the Light Realm Array and greeted the clone of Jang Ik who was watching us.
“Thank you for your help until now.”
[You’ve all worked hard. Seo Eun-hyun, you don’t have anything particular to say. Keep practicing steadily and you’ll reach the third step of passion for martial will and the third level of implementation.]
Jang Ik inspected us in order and continued.
[Yuhwa, you reached the final month of the Lower Heavens, but your realm isn’t yet stable. And once you ascend, the Ascension Platform is under the control of the Heavenly and Earth races, so you’ll need to be cautious. You’re skilled in one-on-one fights, and with the Moon Palace Stealth Technique I taught you, you should be fine even in the crowded Four Pillars realm. Besides, there’s also an Integration-grade Taesu staying in Geongon City… If you use the method I taught you, even the Taesu won’t dare act rashly.]
He offered advice to Yuhwa, then turned his gaze to Gyubaek.
[Gyubaek, to be honest, you were the worst student I ever taught. The issue isn’t talent—it’s your state of mind.]
“…”
[You always think of yourself as worthless, but you are also Gyuryeon herself in a way.]
“…That’s impossible…”
[Hah. The Heart Tribe reaches higher realms by reflecting on the essence of existence. How can you, a Star Shattering Venerable of the Heart Tribe, not believe that?]
“…”
[You always see yourself as worthless, and you’re consumed by hatred for Seo Hyul. You’re a troublesome girl with a wavering mind. But…]
Jang Ik placed a hand on her shoulder and smiled.
[Leave the Heavenly, Earth, and Heart races behind. As one senior, I hope you find happiness.]
Uwoong—!
Jang Ik poured something into her consciousness.
[All right, then go ahead! It was a short but wonderful meeting!]
Whoowhoong—!
I activated the Return to the Light Realm Array and bowed to Jang Ik.
Yuhwa and Gyubaek also paid their respects in their own ways.
After bowing to Jang Ik I looked at Gyuryeon’s corpse.
Gyubaek also looked at Gyuryeon’s corpse.
Gyubaek had always claimed she was Gyuryeon’s fragment, her leftover.
According to her, the real Gyuryeon had died long ago, so the corpse before me was the final image of Gyuryeon I remembered from this life.
“Rest in peace, senior Gyuryeon.”
Thank you for everything until now.
I also bowed from the heart to Gyuryeon.
And at the same moment the Return to the Light Realm Array glowed brightly, sending us shooting toward the other side of the space.
Swish—!
Yuhwa, who had reached the Sapcheon realm, began to glow with golden light, and I and Gyubaek pressed close to her to resist the spatial pressure.
Thus, after being betrayed by Seo Hyul and fifty years having passed, we began our ascension to the upper world.