Heavenly Tribulation (11)
Woong, woowoong.
Where... am I?
I rose unsteadily, clutching at my reeling mind.
“Uweeegh… uweeegh…”
A sudden wave of nausea struck. As I opened my mouth, a handful of blood mixed with fragments of my organs spilled out.
“Guhk… kuhk…”
I looked down at my body.
It was roasted brown, smoke still rising from the charred flesh.
‘Ah, right.’
Memory returned.
Until moments ago, I had been fighting Jeon Myeong-hoon. After he closed in, he activated the Heavenly Thunder Revolution Belt and summoned the Heavenly Thunder Banner nearby.
That final swing of the banner was my last recollection.
“Hah… hack…”
Gasping, I surveyed my surroundings.
Whooooosh—
The grand formation Hong Beom and Geum Wi had poured their hearts into lay in ruins.
Hong Beom’s toxic qi had completely evaporated. Throughout the battlefield, disciples of the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect drew power and unleashed overwhelming lightning force.
Countless Heavenly Person and Nascent Soul cultivators surrounded me.
And ahead, Jeon Myeong-hoon stood gazing down at me, the Heavenly Thunder Banner in his grasp.
“Jeon… Myeong… hoon…!”
I tried to stand, but my legs gave out and I collapsed again.
Upon closer inspection, the muscles in my legs had been burned away entirely; it was a miracle I could move at all.
“The Heavenly Thunder… Banner…!”
I clenched my teeth.
Where had it all gone wrong?
Should I have ignored Hong Su-ryeong’s words from the start and killed or taken some as hostages to drive the rest away?
Or should I have torn Jeon Myeong-hoon’s body to shreds the moment he dared to attack?
Or perhaps crippled his cultivation and spared only his life?
I didn’t know.
But the result was already here.
The Heavenly Thunder Banner had fallen into his hands.
“Jeon… Myeong… hoon…”
I forced power into my scorched vocal cords, regenerating them just enough to speak.
“The Heavenly Thunder Banner… must remain sealed… in the lower realm…”
“…Explain why.”
“If I explain… you will all… go mad…”
“Unacceptable.”
“Please… believe me…”
“…We did believe you. Until you betrayed us and stole the Heavenly Thunder Banner.”
Jeon Myeong-hoon’s voice was ice-cold.
“You betrayed our trust. You want us to believe you again? I don’t know what world you see, but you refuse to share it with us. You alone believe you can do something. It isn’t that you can’t explain. You simply choose not to.”
“…”
“This is your last chance. Explain.”
I bit my lip.
How could I possibly speak of the Imperial Immortals, the Lord of Heavenly Punishment, Jeong-ryeo, Yang Su-jin, the Terminating Ones, and the countless colossal beings?
How was I supposed to open my mouth?
I ground my teeth.
Yet in the end, I could not speak.
Jeon Myeong-hoon regarded me with frigid eyes.
“So you cannot explain.”
“…”
“Understood.”
He reached into his robes and drew something out.
It was a command token engraved with the words “Founding Ancestor’s Token.”
“I, Jeon Myeong-hoon, bearer of the same Heavenly Golden Thunder Physique as the Founding Ancestor, disciple of Geum Jin-chan, and captain of the pursuit force against the traitor Seo Eun-hyun, hereby command with the authority of the Founding Ancestor’s Token!”
Clang!
The sound of a heart sinking echoed.
“From this moment forth, Seo Eun-hyun is permanently expelled from the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect! Seo Eun-hyun, you are hereby excommunicated!”
Kuuuung!
At the same time, a familiar will emanated from the token.
It was Yang Su-jin’s will.
Expel!
A massive character for “expel” was carved into the air and slowly descended toward me.
Flash!
The character seemed to imprint upon my body before vanishing.
Hisss—
Simultaneously, I felt something change.
Clang, clang, clang!
The heavenly qi shifted.
And beyond the heavenly qi, beyond fate itself, I felt the karmic ties that had bound me to the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect sever completely.
‘…Ah…’
At the same time, the transparent energy that had flowed through my body began to transform.
The ritual art, directly linked to the change in destiny, responded.
Myeolsin Geopcheon.
I felt Myeolsin Geopcheon become completely subordinate to me.
At once, I understood its true intent.
‘…So that was it.’
Those who mastered Jeokroe Cheongeop-gong would lead the sect and become family.
Then, by being cast out by that family, they would deny the sect itself.
By denying those bound to them by fate, “I” and “those who were once family” would be separated.
Those separated were now non-humans with no connection to me.
Therefore, offer these non-humans—who had once been part of me—as sacrifices to twist fate.
Reach a new future with that twisted fate.
That was it.
Yang Su-jin, who viewed all things as non-human, had sought to grind the entire world down if it meant his own happiness.
A demonic art that sacrificed everything to complete only oneself and approach happiness.
That was Myeolsin Geopcheon.
Whisperwhisperwhisper…
Somehow, Yang Su-jin’s voice seemed to echo in my ears.
—Offer them as sacrifices.
—Become the priest yourself. Use the non-humans who abandoned me as sacrificial offerings to block the calamities of fate, twist destiny, and seize a new future.
—First the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect.
—Then even more people.
—Then even more and more people.
—In the end, grind even this world itself and complete only yourself.
No. This was not Yang Su-jin’s voice.
It was the heart demon within me.
“From now on, the sinner Seo Eun-hyun shall be sealed!”
Step, step, step, step!
The elders and grand elders of the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect formed hand seals and took positions around me, activating the sealing formation.
Myeolsin Geopcheon continued to whisper.
My heart demon tempted me.
Use Myeolsin Geopcheon.
Use it to shift the calamity onto them and change fate.
But I remained still.
I simply listened to the heart demon’s voice with indifference.
Gazing at the sky, a single tear fell.
‘If they were non-humans, there would have been no need for all my efforts until now.’
Myeolsin Geopcheon, my heart demon, whispered.
Offer the sacrifices now and change fate.
But the future I had wanted to change was one where I saved those very “sacrifices.”
“…I…”
I gathered every last ounce of strength to rise.
The Heavenly Person elders flinched at my movement but did not stop the sealing art.
“I…”
Tears streaming down my face from unbearable injustice, I reached toward the sky.
“I am an Earthling… from a civilized society…”
I was a human from a world without fate.
Then, were the beings of a world with fate slaves to destiny, mere non-humans?
Did that mean their fate could never change, no matter what?
“O heavens…”
I reached for the sky and closed my eyes.
The sealing art enveloped me, and darkness covered the surroundings.
‘Is fate… truly…’
* * *
Shhh—
Jeon Myeong-hoon stared at the small jade orb before him.
“The sealing is complete.”
The Heavenly Person elders wiped sweat from their brows as they spoke.
The small orb containing the sealed Seo Eun-hyun.
Jeon Myeong-hoon looked at it and clenched his teeth.
He had thought capturing Seo Eun-hyun would bring relief.
Yet strangely, he felt uneasy.
Wondering if some unavoidable calamity or great misfortune remained, he looked up at the sky, but the heavenly qi showed no anomalies.
Suddenly, Jeon Myeong-hoon glanced at the Heavenly Thunder Banner.
‘Why did Seo Eun-hyun tell me not to call the banner’s name?’
He didn’t know why.
But out of nowhere, an impulse to call the Heavenly Thunder Banner’s name surged within him.
“J…”
And then—
Ziiing!
The Ohaeng Hyeoljubeon still embedded in his head vibrated, interrupting his words.
“Kugh, damn it… I need to find a way to remove this restriction too.”
He set aside the urge to call the banner’s name for later and picked up the jade orb sealing Seo Eun-hyun.
“Is Geum Wi nowhere to be found?”
“There is a Gongryeong-ji underground, and traces of someone below it, but no one remains now. It seems they fled.”
“I see…”
Jeon Myeong-hoon began to clean up the area.
Geum Wi—
That is, Yeon-jin—had escaped too quickly to catch, but they had captured the traitor Seo Eun-hyun.
“We’ll take this puppet back to Bongrae Palace.”
Bongrae Palace had sent many people, so they wished to claim General Seo as spoils. The Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect had no choice but to allow it.
“You surrender as well, Hong Beom.”
“Yes.”
Hong Beom offered no fierce resistance. He allowed himself to be captured, as if accepting his fate.
Hong Beom too was sealed by the Nascent Soul elders and imprisoned in a jade orb smaller than Seo Eun-hyun’s.
“…Now.”
Jeon Myeong-hoon looked up at the sky and spoke.
“It’s all over.”
Gazing at the heavens, he murmured, half relieved, half wistful.
“It’s truly all over…”
Now, it was time to go “home.”
* * *
Jeon Myeong-hoon and his party returned to the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect.
Having heard the news, every disciple of the sect had come out to watch him.
Standing before the main gate, Jeon Myeong-hoon silently drew forth the Heavenly Thunder Banner for all to see.
“…!”
“…!!”
“…!!!”
Deafening cheers erupted from every direction.
The ground itself seemed to tremble from the roar.
Amid the cheers, Jeon Myeong-hoon proudly approached Geum Byeok-ho and returned the banner.
Geum Byeok-ho patted his shoulder with approval.
“There was a time I thought teaching you was a waste.”
“…”
“I was wrong. It was my own greed. You are the true successor and disciple of the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect.”
Geum Byeok-ho gazed at Jeon Myeong-hoon for a moment, then took his hand and shouted.
“Hear me! The disciple who was once the next-next sect master betrayed the sect’s trust, stole the Heavenly Thunder Banner, and was excommunicated! Because of this, the position of next-next sect master remains vacant!”
At Geum Byeok-ho’s words, Jeon Myeong-hoon looked at him in surprise.
“I ask you! Who, who should occupy the seat of the next-next sect master?”
“Senior Brother Jeon Myeong-hoon!!!”
“Jeon Myeong-hoon!”
“Jeon Myeong-hoon, Jeon Myeong-hoon, Jeon Myeong-hoon!”
His name echoed from every corner.
Geum Byeok-ho laughed heartily and declared.
“From this day forth, I bestow the surname Geum upon Jeon Myeong-hoon and appoint Geum Myeong-hoon as the next-next sect master!”
“Waaaaah!”
“Geum Myeong-hoon! Geum Myeong-hoon! Geum Myeong-hoon!”
Thus, amid the cheers of the disciples, Geum Myeong-hoon finally felt the relief that “home” had returned to normal.
For the first time in a long while, he smiled brightly.
Geum Myeong-hoon smiled, Geum So-hae smiled, and Geum Byeok-ho smiled.
Everyone in the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect smiled.
And Jeong-ryeo smiled as well.
[Ahaha, ahahahahaha! Ahahahahaha!]