Chapter 235
Be careful with the light.
It was a story I had heard even from the one whose name I could not remember.
“What exactly… is [light]?”
“He is one of the Imperial Immortals.”
“Imperial Immortal?”
“Those who have transcended the limits and boundaries of True Immortals are called Imperial Immortals. The Sovereign and the Heavenly Venerable are among them, and there are only ten in all of the Three Thousand Realms. The Six Emperors and the Four Heavenly Venerables are those ten.”
I swallowed hard.
The moment I heard the words Sovereign and Heavenly Venerable, every ounce of strength drained from my body at once.
At the same time, my mind began to grow hazy.
Juuruk, jurrureureuk…
For some reason, I felt as though I were floating.
And somehow I realized my own body was melting away.
‘No… no, wait…’
It was no illusion. No mere thought.
Before my very eyes, Yang Su-jin’s figure was slowly dissolving like candle wax.
“Pull yourself together.”
“H-heuk!”
‘H-how did I end up like this!?’
Terror made me want to scream, but the next instant.
Snap!
Yang Su-jin flicked his fingers in the darkness.
The instant he did, my body snapped back to normal.
“It seems even knowing one’s existence is still too much for you yet.”
“…???”
I could only stare in utter confusion.
“T-that was… just now…”
“Because you absorbed the knowledge of those at the extreme of the world, your genes were thrown into fear and began to dissolve you at the cellular level. Though it’s strange… even Imperial Immortals usually don’t react this violently just from knowing someone exists. Unless one of them is watching you.”
Yang Su-jin muttered to himself for a moment, then flicked his fingers once again.
Chijik, chijijijik!
At the same time, crackling static electricity began to surge wildly around us.
“Ah, I see. The Lord of the Underworld has noticed that a Jongmyeongja has entered your domain. He is descending here.”
“…Yes?”
“Don’t worry. Because of the oath I made with you in our lifetimes, even the Lord of the Underworld will take some time to reach the place of our conversation. After all, it is still his own land.”
I could not think of a single thing to say to the sudden torrent of information.
‘Lord of the Underworld? Sovereign? Heavenly Venerable?’
I was completely at a loss.
Yet even in the midst of all this, a thread of reason still held fast.
“You say the Lord of the Underworld is one of those Imperial Immortals?”
“Exactly. One of the Heavenly Venerables. The one who is obsessed with monitoring Jongmyeongja is the Sovereign of Light. And, as you already know if you learned about the Heavenly Thunder Banner through the Myeolsin Geopcheon, its original owner is also one of the Sovereigns—the Sovereign of Heavenly Punishment.”
“!!”
I was shaken by the sudden flood of information.
‘In such a short time… all this information…’
I took a deep breath.
“Then… you said the one who is the Sovereign of Light has received the Sovereign’s decree to search for Jongmyeongja. And the remnant I saw on Shattered Heaven Peak earlier claimed that someone was chasing a Jongmyeongja. Are these the same being?”
I spoke carefully, slowly, watching for any slip that might make my listener notice me.
“The same existence. Though I treated Sovereigns and Heavenly Venerables with due respect, in truth that being is the true Sovereign. The rest are merely honorary titles…”
“Who is that being? Why would he hunt Jongmyeongja?”
I swallowed again.
Only now did the clear truth about the thing that sought us finally emerge.
“I do not know.”
“…Yes?”
Yang Su-jin simply clicked his tongue in the darkness.
“Because I am only a separated thought before my true self met that being and settled matters. After the encounter my true self was erased, and most of our ancestors Jongmyeongja met the same end after facing him. So perhaps he simply does not welcome us very much.”
“…”
“However, those who truly know about that being know. When you grow stronger, go find him.”
“Who is that being?”
“The one who is currently knocking madly on the door outside this space. The Lord of the Underworld—the Myeongwangmo who rules the afterlife and reincarnation. He is the oldest of all Sovereigns, Heavenly Venerables, Imperial Immortals, and True Immortals, so ask him later.”
I asked, confused.
“Why should I ask him later? Why not now?”
“The Lord of the Underworld is a rather mysterious man. When Jongmyeongja are weak, he becomes obsessed with trapping them in the lowest depths of the Underworld. But once they grow as strong as he is, he willingly offers cooperation.”
“…”
“If you were caught by his hand in your current state, you would only be sealed in the lowest depths of the Underworld for eternity.”
I swallowed hard.
If that were true…
‘All of us—including my comrades and the Jongmyeongja—must be careful not only of [light] but also of the being called the Lord of the Underworld?’
“…Then the one called the Lord of the Underworld…”
“That topic will do for now. The lowest depths of the Underworld mean other Sovereigns and that being would have little reason to worry, but the Lord of the Underworld’s power and gaze are far clearer. Simply thinking of him and mentioning him creates an invisible pull between you.”
“!!”
The moment I heard those words, goosebumps rose on my skin and I instinctively clapped a hand over my mouth.
“I can guess what you are curious about. However, as long as Jongmyeongja have not yet entered the Underworld, the Lord of the Underworld will not interfere much. While you live, as long as you do not go to the Underworld, there is little to worry about. Of course, the reason he does not leave the Underworld is not a restriction but his personal matter, so do not grow too complacent.”
“…Yes. I understand for now.”
‘The Heavenly Venerable can leave the Underworld?’
A chill ran down my spine.
The fear that I could do nothing no matter what an existence I could not even comprehend did.
‘…Do not let fear consume you. Use the remaining time to learn what you must.’
“First, aside from anything about Imperial Immortals, why did you call for me?”
“Good. You have escaped the fear of Imperial Immortals so quickly. Your will is strong.”
Yang Su-jin gave me a satisfied nod as I asked my question.
“The reason I called you is to determine whether you are my heir who inherited my decree or simply a Jongmyeongja.”
“Your decree…?”
“Exactly. The decrees given to Jongmyeongja are fixed and immutable. When all the ancestors Jongmyeongja disappeared before that being, the later ones received new decrees and were reborn into this world. Of course, the abilities granted by each decree differ because the world supplies the optimal power for achieving that decree…”
“…Do I share the same decree as you?”
“Um…”
Yang Su-jin seemed to glance at me in the darkness.
“It does not appear so. You possess an entirely different decree. Yet…”
‘Yet?’
I waited for his next words.
“Looking at the suffering and despair that has carved deep furrows into your history, your decree is just as ugly as mine. Heh heh…”
“Yes?”
My decree is ugly?
That was when I was struck dumb.
“First… I should explain why I created the Geumsincheonroemun.”
Yang Su-jin began his explanation.
“My original cultivation method was the Chereul Cheon Geop Gong—Red Thunder Heavenly Tribulation Technique. Only those who possess the Heavenly Golden Thunder Body or hold the exact same decree as me can learn it. Using this method, one can draw out the power of the Heavenly Golden Thunder Body to its absolute limit. Even without the Heavenly Golden Thunder Body, any Jongmyeongja who has received the same decree can learn this technique and obtain the Heavenly Golden Thunder Body.”
“!!”
“And you learned every technique of the Geumsincheonroemun, found the hidden codes between techniques, and recited the final line of the one famous in our homeland, didn’t you?”
“That is correct.”
“When all the techniques of the Geumsincheonroemun are combined, the resulting technique is the Myeolsin Geopcheon Gong—Extinction of the Divine Heavenly Tribulation Technique. You have already tried using the techniques; you know it is not actually a cultivation method but a kind of incantation and sacrificial ritual.”
“Then… why did you create it?”
I asked Yang Su-jin.
I remembered how Hong Su-ryeong had reacted when told about the nameless technique Yang Su-jin called the Myeolsin Geopcheon Gong.
―It is a ritual that strips the attributes of the thunder technique?
―The ultimate technique of the Geumsincheonroemun created by your ancestor… is that the ritual that causes the sect to lose its very identity?
―For the sake of twelve thousand years of history… what was it running toward? To lose its identity?
“To reach the Geumsin Cheonryeol Gyeol—the Heavenly Golden Thunder Decree.”
“The Geumsin Cheonryeol Gyeol…?”
“The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a declaration that protects the rights of existence. And I used it for my entire life to change my decree through the rights and freedoms of ‘humanity.’ Changing one’s decree was my greatest desire and torment….”
I felt his fist clench in the darkness.
“Most of us Jongmyeongja live miserable lives. But among us, there are those who were granted ‘good’ decrees and those like you and me who received ‘ugly’ decrees. Heh heh… I wanted to exchange my ugly fate with another Jongmyeongja’s. The Chereul Cheon Geop Gong symbolizes my current fate. The Myeolsin Geopcheon Gong symbolizes the will to twist my fate. And finally… the Geumsin Cheonryeol Gyeol symbolizes my successful future of changing fate. If I truly succeeded in changing my destiny and felt joy, the Geumsin Cheonryeol Gyeol would have been born. But…”
Yang Su-jin’s voice grew faint.
“As you see, I failed. I tried until the moment before I met that being, but changing fate turned out to be nothing but a lie.”
“…Then the Geumsincheonroemun…”
I listened to Yang Su-jin’s words and caught a glimpse of the true meaning of the Geumsincheonroemun, and my body trembled in shock.
“Was it the object of the ritual to change your fate?”
“Exactly. More precisely, it was the material for the ritual used when changing fate. A failed work that ultimately did not succeed.”
I shot back at Yang Su-jin’s tone with genuine disbelief.
“Calling your descendants a failed work… is that not going too far? The one who inserted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights into the hidden code, how could he speak like that?”
“Hmm?”
Yang Su-jin instead looked oddly at my words.
“You are speaking strangely.”
“Yes?”
“What is strange about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights? It is a declaration that protects the rights and freedoms of humanity.”
“Yes, but why…?”
“Let me ask you one thing. What is [human]?”
“Yes?”
I asked, bewildered.
“Dignified, free, and possessing intelligence…”
“Yes. You know well. The essence is ‘freedom.’ Only those who possess ‘freedom’ or have the possibility of acquiring ‘freedom’ are [human], and only those existences are qualified to enjoy the rights of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”
Yang Su-jin’s fist tightened in the darkness as he shouted.
“Therefore, only we Jongmyeongja are [human], and every existence in this world—including True Immortals—is [non-human]!”
“…”
I opened my mouth in stunned silence.