The Black Snake (1)
I stood there in silence, unable to grasp the words for a moment.
And then the next instant.
“I see you have no words, perhaps you are ashamed. Then let me check… First, in addition to the brain body, I will investigate the bloodlines you possess and find the woman most suitable for your bloodline…”
“Wait, slow down!”
I snapped out of it and hurriedly stopped the elder.
“Double cultivation?”
“Correct, double cultivation. Didn’t the Taesang-jangmun explain it to you earlier? How to learn the Thunderbody Law and why our Geumsincheonroemun sect members have such tight bonds… You’re from the Water Realm too, so you should know, right?”
“….”
I had no idea.
No, that wasn’t the important part.
Double cultivation meant amplifying cultivation by having two or more cultivators exchange their auras with each other.
It could involve sworn brothers practicing together or sect disciples forming double cultivation arrays to share qi. But the ordinary kind that involved yin and yang, or male and female, was something else entirely.
Most double cultivation relied on sexual techniques to boost aura, far from the healthy versions.
And now the elders used the word “dual partner,” making it crystal clear.
The elder in front of me wanted to find a woman to pair me with for double cultivation.
“We don’t arrange double cultivation partners right after joining Geumsincheonroemun. It risks disrupting the gender balance, so normally we wait until you’ve learned the basic techniques and passed the Seven Stars Ceremony.”
“Then why am I…?”
“Because cultivators with your legendary constitution should pair up quickly to learn the true Thunderbody Law. It benefits everyone. Of course, this is…”
Thwack!
He snapped his fingers. A ball of light burst from a flask at his waist, then gathered on the ground and took the form of a person.
It was the unconscious Jeon Myeong-hoon.
“Same with this one who carries the Heavenly Thunderbody. Both of you have awakened the legendary bloodlines passed down in Geumsincheonroemun. Pairing you up quickly will be an enormous help.”
“….”
I stayed silent for a moment.
“Tricky situation.”
I had decided long ago whether to give affection to In-yeon or not. No matter how many regressions I went through, In-yeon was a connection I could only see in this life, so if I could give affection, I would.
That was my principle.
But this was different.
Becoming a couple and sharing affection wasn’t about meeting each other; it was about the bond itself being formed. Even without love, living together for decades would inevitably deepen feelings.
And Geumsincheonroemun would eventually be destroyed when the owner of the Heavenly Thunder Banner came.
“It won’t solve anything just by keeping Jeong-ryeo’s name a secret…”
My entire body turned into lightning and “entered the holy gate,” gaining knowledge of thunder.
In the process I also gradually understood the attraction between the Heavenly Thunder Banner and its owner.
Whether I called Jeong-ryeo’s name or not, the owner would one day come to the Gwanghan Realm through their predestined bond.
From the moment I left the Water Realm, that was already set.
“Until the Heavenly Thunder Banner is sealed in the Water Realm, I can’t give affection so carelessly.”
And there was also…
“What if I make Kim Yeon a double cultivation partner as well…”
I might even have to turn her into my general right after saving her from Goe-gun. Better to be cautious.
“I want to learn the basic techniques first.”
“Hmm?”
I expressed my opinion to the Heavenly Person elder.
“I don’t want special treatment just because I carry a special constitution. I want to build the foundation step by step from the Geumsincheonroemun basics and rise from there.”
“Hmm…”
Two elders remained in the room with me and Jeon Myeong-hoon to arrange double cultivation partners.
One nodded at my words, the other looked displeased.
“Principally that is correct.”
“But leaving a talent like yours unused until the Seven Stars Ceremony…”
Opinions split.
After a short debate, they sighed and lifted the unconscious Jeon Myeong-hoon.
“Come now, wake up.”
Crack!
One elder sent electric shock through the unconscious Jeon Myeong-hoon. He jerked violently and screamed.
“Huaaaaaak!”
“First…”
The bearded elder grabbed Jeon Myeong-hoon’s head and began drawing in spirit energy.
And I saw him rapidly injecting knowledge into Jeon Myeong-hoon’s mind, including the common language of the Human Alliance.
“Huek!”
Jeon Myeong-hoon screamed in resistance but could not fight the elders’ hands.
Watching it made me feel bitter.
“If I had been weaker or less experienced back then, I would have been the one in that state.”
Realizing how terrifying Heavenly Persons were made me understand how lowly my level had been.
Now, with the power of the Heavenly Declaration and the Stealth Illusion Technique, I could fight even one elder in the short term without fear.
But in the Water Realm, even the Nascent Soul stage had been a source of terror to me.
“This life’s initial goal is to accumulate power as fast as possible.”
Even just recovering the original level…
No, if I recovered everything up to the sixteenth regression level…
“Late Nascent Soul and even great Integration would be crossed in a flash without parallel.”
That would bring me right to the Heavenly Person stage.
“I will definitely reach Heavenly Person in this life.”
Not just aiming for mid Nascent Soul.
I would definitely break through to Heavenly Person.
For some reason, the sensation told me that if I brought the Heavenly Thunderbody Law, the Earth Human Law, and the realm beyond the Heavenly Declaration together, something would change for sure from the Heavenly Person stage onward.
And now Jeon Myeong-hoon had finally regained consciousness. He looked dazed, clutching his head and looking around.
He was probably confused.
Suddenly kidnapped by Geum Byeok-ho, waking up in an unfamiliar place in Deungsunhyang, then blasted with strange knowledge.
“Understood my words?”
Jeon Myeong-hoon flinched at the Heavenly Person elders’ question, then answered in a thick voice.
“W-where… who are you…”
“Good, good. Language input successful. Not only that, I also input the basic culture of the Seongje Kingdom, Geumsincheonroemun, and a brief overview of the cultivation world. No need for explanations.”
“Y-yes? Geum… Thunder Sect… cultivation world… ugh…”
Jeon Myeong-hoon clutched his head, clearly suffering from the new knowledge.
After a while he opened his mouth, eyes shining with trembling voice.
“Is this… a wuxia novel? The world of a wuxia novel?”
“…?”
“What is that?”
Jeon Myeong-hoon laughed awkwardly.
“So this is the world from a wuxia novel. And I have entered the novel. A transmigration novel? Hah… just looking at me, it’s clearly the world of ‘Thunder Patriarch’ that I used to read.”
“….”
I looked at the confused Jeon Myeong-hoon with pity.
He had probably been reading those wuxia novels where the protagonist was a salaryman thief…
“Not at all.”
I roughly knew what he was reading.
But fundamentally, it was different.
Jeon Myeong-hoon, thinking he had become the protagonist of a novel, crossed his arms and said to the elders.
“So, tell me again. What are you giving me?”
The elders frowned at his words.
“You need to learn etiquette before double cultivation.”
Thud!
The elder’s hand struck Jeon Myeong-hoon’s head, knocking him unconscious again.
After Jeon Myeong-hoon fell, the elders sighed looking at me.
“We know you and he are colleagues, but why does this guy treat us adults so arrogantly right from the start? Does he know he carries the Heavenly Thunderbody?”
“…No idea. His personality is like that… he grew up in a noble family and lacks some etiquette. Please understand.”
“I see… the water of the mortal world has not yet been washed away from him.”
The elders clicked their tongues and brushed off their hands.
“Then first… you will learn the basic techniques after the sect stabilizes. And he will receive etiquette training before double cultivation.”
“Who should teach the etiquette? Everyone will be busy stabilizing the sect for a while…”
“Gyu-ryeon can do it. Originally a member of the discipline army that punished sect disciples who broke rules. Because of her direct blood relation to the Taesang-jangmun, she will be protected inside the sect during this stabilization period…”
“Perfect.”
Thus, Jeon Myeong-hoon and I would not undergo double cultivation for now.
Rumble—
I looked up at the sky with the unconscious Jeon Myeong-hoon and the two elders.
The entire Noeryeong-do trembled, and lightning began to writhe across the whole sky.
* * *
“The betrayer of Geumsincheonroemun who entered the Noeryeong-do, come out and present yourself for the count of ten.”
Geum Byeok-ho stood with a stern face, holding the Heavenly Thunder Banner and gazing at the Noeryeong Peak.
The spiritual mountain where the greatest concentration of天地 qi was gathered.
At the edge of Noeun-bong, thunder qi began to vibrate.
“Is that the betrayer who betrayed Geumsincheonroemun several hundred years ago… the supreme Four Pillars?”
Geum Byeok-ho quickly made his judgment.
A terrifying senior who had mastered the Great Taiji Thunder God Law.
If he bought even a moment, it would be Geum Byeok-ho who suffered.
“One, two… ten.”
Geum Byeok-ho counted to ten and immediately swung the Heavenly Thunder Banner.
Whoosh!
Lightning roared across the entire Noeryeong-do.
Boom!
A bolt of lightning swallowed the area around Noeryeong Peak.
All the Heavenly Person elders of Geumsincheonroemun were forming protection arrays behind Geum Byeok-ho to avoid the thunder power.
Crackle, crackle, crackle…
Yet Geum Byeok-ho felt his whole body tingle even as the entire Noeryeong-do and Noeryeong-do were engulfed in lightning by the thunder tribulation.
“He is a being who has reached the Integration realm…”
Incredible.
“He is practically a great Integration expert…”
He was one of the few monsters who had reached the Integration realm in the long history of Geumsincheonroemun.
Besides Yang Su-jin’s direct disciple, no other genius had ever existed before or after him.
If not for the Heavenly Thunderbody and the brain body that had just entered, perhaps Geum Byeok-ho would have chosen to abandon cultivation and spare him.
“But now there is no need for traitors in the sect.”
The Heavenly Thunderbody was now in hand.
The time had come to revive the glory of Geumsincheonroemun, which had once shone across the continent and the Three Thousand Worlds during Yang Su-jin’s lifetime.
“Bad precedents are cut off!”
Boom!
Geum Byeok-ho poured more power into the Heavenly Thunder Banner, increasing the lightning’s force.
Sizzle!
A bead of sweat began to form on Geum Byeok-ho’s forehead.
Whoosh!
The shape of the great Taiji emerged from the lightning.
The yin-yang symbol rotated and absorbed the lightning of the Heavenly Thunder Banner from the spot where Noeryeong Peak had stood.
Boom, boom!
The space that had been nothing but lightning was now filled with the flow of the Taiji. The shape of Noeryeong Peak and Noeun-bong reappeared as the thunder was swallowed.
The peak of Noeun-bong.
In a small pavilion at the top.
The Taiji shape rose above it and, after swallowing the thunder, began to transmit the absorbed thunder power into the pavilion.
[The difference in our bloodlines is forty thousand years… what are you doing to the elders of the past sect?]
Crackle—
Geum Byeok-ho felt his head spin and his insides churn from the other party’s voice.
“Don’t joke, Geum Wi. You were exiled with the Ancestral Order, so remove the ‘Geum’ surname from the ‘Geum’ bloodline given to those who qualify as sect master. Who do you think you are, calling yourself an elder of the past sect! Don’t you know how much the status of Geumsincheonroemun plummeted forty thousand years ago because of your betrayal! I am telling you the price of your sin!”
[Forty thousand years ago, even your great-great-grandfather hadn’t been born yet. What does a presumptuous brat like you know! …Do you even know what I did for Geumsincheonroemun?]
Crack, crackle—
The pavilion where the voice came from gradually split apart.
And then.
Boom!
The roof of the pavilion exploded open, and a long arm burst out from inside.
Geum Byeok-ho began to sweat cold sweat.
[At that time, if the name of Geumsincheonroemun that had inherited the Ancestor’s clothes had existed in the Zhongjing Realm, it would not have been allowed. That is why I cried blood and erased every trace of the Ancestor.]
A massive arm.
Unlike a human’s, it was thin and withered, slathered in thunder qi, and only as tall as a small hill.
Gurgle—
Soon another arm burst from the pavilion.
And inside the cramped pavilion, the form of a gigantic monstrous creature began to appear.
[But what are you doing now? Not only did you bring that ominous creature to the Zhongjing Realm, but now you are challenging an elder of the past sect?]
“What nonsense… The Heavenly Thunder Banner has been the sacred relic of our sect, revered for generations! Stop speaking blasphemous words!”
[That ominous one was brought here as a sacred relic? How much has the sect broken down after the events forty thousand years ago… Geumsincheonroemun is doomed. Ancestor, how can you abandon your descendants!]
Gurgle gurgle gurgle—
Finally, the true form of the great one appeared before Geum Byeok-ho.
“This is the appearance of Geum Wi who has mastered the Great Taiji Thunder God Law…”
Messy black and white hair.
The withered giant with two heads rose on the peak of Noeun-bong.
The black-haired head was painted with flamboyant and sinister patterns that did not suit its withered body, while the white-haired head had thick drool and a beard.
On the giant’s back hung four dark bells in a circle, each decorated with the Four Symbols: noise, yang, taeum, and tae yang.
[Come on, try me, brat. I hope you can defeat me. If you lose, I will swallow all my disciples and cover the sky with horror to avoid humiliation…]
The male and female voices overlapped, and the Heavenly Person elders spat blood.
“Was the legend of the cannibal monster who ate his own companions true… What trash. I will punish you right here!”
[Without even knowing what happened, you are talking nonsense… As soon as I came up, I reached the Four Pillars stage. My talent seems similar to yours, but I will not be like the Four Pillars you imagined…]
Whoosh—
Above the bells with the Four Symbols drawn on them, characters appeared.
Longevity, wealth, peace… and earth.
Boom—
All the lightning that had been crashing across the entire Noeryeong-do rushed toward Noeun-bong.
Above Noeun-bong.
Six arms held six-colored flags. Atop the heads floated the thunder god holding the Heavenly Thunder Banner. In front of him rose the two-headed ghost with messy black and white hair, swallowing lightning as it stood up.
The clash between the two monstrous existences shook the heavens and earth.
* * *
Boom—
The two Heavenly Person elders formed protection arrays to shield me and Jeon Myeong-hoon.
Watching the “aftershock” of the destruction outside the array, I broke out in cold sweat.
“Is that the peak-era Yeon Wi and Geum Byeok-ho holding the Heavenly Thunder Banner…?”
Geum Byeok-ho himself was not that strong. I could beat him.
But the moment he held the Heavenly Thunder Banner, it was an absolutely vicious power that could rival the great Integration King Gyu-ryeon.
Crackle, boom—
“…!”
Even as the heavens trembled, I watched the distant scene of the thunder god being gradually pushed back by the two-headed ghost and held my breath.
“Is that… Yeon Wi is pinning down Geum Byeok-ho?”
Exactly.
The black-and-white-haired ghost swallowed lightning, then spat it back out, driving the thunder god backward.
Every time an attack was reflected, the thunder god retreated further.
And just when the withered two-headed giant tried to rush the thunder god.
The thunder god absorbed all six flags in its hands, then grabbed the Heavenly Thunder Banner with its six hands.
The Heavenly Thunder Banner absorbed surrounding lightning, growing larger until it fit perfectly in the thunder god’s hands.
Yeon Wi suddenly started screaming.
[You madman! What are you trying to do! Stop it! How do you plan to face the consequences?!]
The sound of Yeon Wi’s scream echoed throughout Noeryeong-do, and the Heavenly Person elders and I all felt the anger in that voice and froze.
Eventually a “tent” made of thunder qi appeared around Yeon Wi and swallowed the two of them.
* * *
The two-headed ghost with messy hair.
Yeon Wi glared at Geum Byeok-ho with bloodshot eyes.
“You have finally loosened the seal by one layer on that monster. You fool. You have made the worst choice to end the family fight. Since you have loosened the seal placed only by the Ancestor, the monster will more easily bring humiliation! What kind of stupid idea was that to loosen the seal!?!?”
Yeon Wi spat the words at Geum Byeok-ho in a smaller voice than before.
But Geum Byeok-ho only smiled viciously and swung the enlarged Heavenly Thunder Banner.
[I also know about the seal placed on the Heavenly Thunder Banner by the Ancestor. It is a seal only the Heavenly Thunderbody can do, right?]
[Yes, you fool! Without the Heavenly Thunderbody that only appears in myths, it is impossible to restore the seal. The crime I committed by swallowing my own sect members with tears in my eyes is greater than yours!]
[…It is fine.]
[What?]
Boom, boom—
The thunder god swung the enlarged Heavenly Thunder Banner with its six arms and shouted.
[The Heavenly Thunderbody is already in hand. Even if one layer of the seal is loosened, it can be restored once the Heavenly Thunderbody reaches late Nascent Soul!]
[…You say you have put the Heavenly Thunderbody in hand?]
Yeon Wi stared at Geum Byeok-ho with dazed eyes, neither dodging nor swallowing the lightning that was being fired at him.
After a while.
Yeon Wi was struck directly by the reinforced Heavenly Thunder Banner and turned to ash.
Thus, Yeon Wi, a great Integration expert who had lived for forty thousand years, passed on.
Sizzle—
Only ash remained on the peak of Noeun-bong.
Geum Byeok-ho removed the thunder god transformation and looked at Yeon Wi’s body leaning against the huge charcoal-like form and said.
“Is there a last will?”
“…You say you have the Heavenly Thunderbody? Hah, hahaha… what nonsense… Then what did I do forty thousand years ago… What was I for… what were my fellow sect members for…”
The strange voice that had overlapped male and female voices gradually merged and changed into the voice of a young woman like a jade bead.
After rambling for a while, he raised his charcoal head with a trembling voice.
“Geumsincheonroemun will once again enjoy the name of ten thousand years. Congratulations.”
“Is that your last word?”
“My sin cannot be washed away, but I cannot let the Heavenly Thunderbody stack sins in the wrong way later. I will tell you about the orthodox qi axis.”
“Orthodox qi axis?”
“Yes. It is the truth I heard from the ghost cultivators of Heuksaekgwi-golgok who came from Myeonggwi Realm during the war forty thousand years ago.”
Puff—
The charcoal gradually crumbled, and between the two, Geum Byeok-ho and Yeon Wi exchanged a few words.
“Send someone to Myeonggwi Realm. You will learn more.”
“I will do so.”
“I am the great sinner of the sect, but I can deliver good information for the sect in my last moments… go…od…”
Puff—
Finally the charcoal of the gigantic ghost was completely dispersed, and only the body of a woman remained.
Still, the lightning had turned it all to ash, so her original form was unknown, but Geum Byeok-ho closed his eyes looking at Yeon Wi, his predecessor in the sect, and bowed his head slightly.
“Rest in peace, senior…”
And then.
Flash!
A ball of light flashed from Yeon Wi’s body and flew away at lightning speed.
In the moment when Geum Byeok-ho and the Heavenly Person elders had relaxed and sunk into silence, that ball of light flew into the gap.
A spark flew from Geum Byeok-ho’s eyes as he watched the ball of light.
“Damn it… was it all an illusion!?”
Boom—
When Geum Byeok-ho swung the Heavenly Thunder Banner, a lightning bolt struck the soul of the flying Jeong-ryeo.
The soul struck by the lightning twisted but did not stop; it flew onward. Geum Byeok-ho chased after it but finally gave up.
“He hid his revival body somewhere in advance. That speed is the speed at which a revival body is pulled from the opposite side.”
“Taesang-jangmun… what then? If the past sect betrayer, the mad monster, appears again seeking my strength…”
“Hmph! Probably not easy. Having its soul hit directly by the Heavenly Thunder Banner’s lightning will take five hundred years to recover its vitality. And that time is enough for the Heavenly Thunderbody that came to us this time to reach great Integration!”
Geum Byeok-ho commanded while holding the Heavenly Thunder Banner.
“The maximum power in Noeryeong Peak is dead. Quickly drive out the Noeryeong Peak and stabilize Geumsincheonroemun! And… send someone to Myeonggwi Realm, so gather the exploration teams that will go to Myeonggwi Realm! Also search everywhere in Noeryeong-do for the descendants of Geum Wi! After these who came up this time, hunt down and catch every Geum family member. He will surely revive by finding his descendants!”
Geumsincheonroemun set foot on Noeryeong-do.
In one day.
Geumsincheonroemun began to stabilize quickly.
* * *
“Well, although the sect is busy with stabilization, we cannot let your talent go to waste… From today, I, the current branch master of Geumsincheonroemun and an elder of great Integration, will become your master and teach you the basic techniques.”
Jin-hwi, the current branch master of Geumsincheonroemun, decided to become my master.
Originally Jeon Myeong-hoon was supposed to learn the basic techniques with me, but he would enter training only after a few days because he had to receive the culture and etiquette of this world together with Geum So-hae.
I entered the library of Geumsincheonroemun together with Jin-hwi.
Inside the library pulled from Shattered Heaven Peak, it was overwhelmingly larger and more spacious than the library of the Heavenly Thunderbody Law.
“The techniques of our sect are vast, but there are three most famous ones.”
Jin-hwi took out three technique scrolls from inside the library.
“Chilryeongjin-gyeong, the Great Taiji Thunder God Body, and Myeollyeongnaecheongong.”
Chilryeongjin-gyeong was the technique where the Six-Color Giant transformed and controlled seven-colored lightning, used by Geum Byeok-ho and Jeon Myeong-hoon.
The Great Taiji Thunder God Body was the technique learned by Yeon Wi and Yeon-jin.
And Myeollyeongnaecheongong was a technique that formed a thunder palace inside the body, giving extreme resistance to thunder attribute magic, and was optimized to hold ceremonies in the sky centered on the thunder palace.
“Choose what you want to learn first.”
I answered without hesitation.
“I want to learn all of them.”