A Silent Gaze at the Salt Pillar
Mountain summit, Thirty-Three, Audience Chamber...
Four incomprehensible words.
I raised my gaze beyond them.
There it stood, a salt pillar, for some time. pGT>I stared at it—Cheongmun Ryeong. pGT>Why... why...
Clench.
Suddenly, my grip tightened. pGT>As always.
When I tried to change my companions' fates in my early regression loops.
When I sought to rescue the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect.
No matter what, it was the same.
Fate always dragged everything back to its original course.
And from the traces Cheongmun Ryeong left in this world, one thought surfaced. pGT>The Dabcheon Desert Massacre orchestrated by Won Rip...
had been rewritten as the Cheongmun Ryeong Expedition. pGT>The fate that said beings of the Nascent Soul level would be plunged into chaos after leaving the Water Realm... pGT>had remained completely unchanged. pGT>Tch...
I gritted my teeth. pGT>Kim Young-hoon turned his head away, as if the sight of Cheongmun Ryeong encased in a salt pillar pained him. pGT>Thud... thud...
I walked straight toward the salt pillar. pGT>Don't touch it. If you touch it...
Kim Young-hoon warned me, but I ignored him and reached out to Cheongmun Ryeong.
And that was when my hand made contact.
Splash! Splash!
My fingertips gradually turned snow-white, and my body began to salt-ize. pGT>Ah...
I was momentarily startled, but I kept my hand there.
And a short while later.
Crack!
I had become completely salt. I tore my arm free from the pillar.
As the pillar separated from my body, the salt-izing stopped.
Whoosh... whoosh...
When I concentrated my strength, my arm regenerated.
Meanwhile, the section of the pillar where my arm had been fused became dislodged and collapsed, piling up salt beneath it. pGT>Back in the original expedition, some Foundation Establishment monks who tried to consume Cheongmun Ryeong to raise their cultivation level had stood face-to-face with the salt pillar and gotten salt-ized...
Buk Hyang-hwa had even lost a finger while investigating the pillar and had to regenerate it.
I see...
I was stunned that anyone would even think of eating it.
And then, I gathered my will and began to manipulate the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy to extract the salt from Cheongmun Ryeong's body. pGT>Whoa!
It happened when I touched the salt pillar with my will.
Khhh...
I clutched my head and sank to the floor.
Khek! Khhh! Kaaaaaaaak! pGT>[Brain]! pGT>[Part of the brain] was salt-ized!!!
Crackle! Crackle!
I expelled salt crystals from my scalp and regenerated my brain.
Just touching it with my will turns parts of the brain related to consciousness into salt...
That's why spiritual techniques don't work.
I wondered if even tools would turn to salt. pGT>The salt pillar around it... salt is slowly accumulating bit by bit. pGT>The air itself touching the pillar was probably turning to salt at a snail's pace.
I reached out again with my Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy and pulled my arm back this time.
Whoosh... pGT>This time, it came back as a lump of salt.
Those who directly touch the salt pillar become salt, and the transformed salt... can they be touched?
But the changed salt was just ordinary salt, with no peculiarities.
I stared fixedly at the salt pillar. pGT>It's fine, but don't try to move Cheongmun Ryeong.
Is there a reason?
Yes.
Kim Young-hoon nodded heavily and said.
Those who tried to move him all turned into salt pillars just like Cheongmun Ryeong on the spot and died instantly.
Whether wrapped in salt or lifted from the floor, the same thing happened. pGT>That 'intention' itself... might even be treated as irreverent.
I see...
His words carried weight, and I realized something.
There was a clear criterion for dying from salt.
And that criterion included the 'intention' Kim Young-hoon spoke of.
Perhaps the perceptions we feel were included in that as well.
His senses were connected to some hazy 'somewhere.'
In other words... the pillar was likely connected to that same hazy place.
I sighed.
So I just have to watch?
Yes.
With a groan, I told Kim Young-hoon.
But...
I know. Yeah, Cheongmun Ryeong...
My gaze and his met at the same time and turned toward the salt pillar. pGT>He's still alive. pGT>Indeed. pGT>Even though Cheongmun Ryeong had turned into a salt pillar, a clear [will] was leaking out.
Only those who live and possess emotions and thoughts leak will.
Cheongmun Ryeong was, in fact, still alive.
Curiously, Cheongmun Ryeong's will was neither mad with madness nor soaked in sorrow—it was very calm and peaceful. pGT>As if he were comfortably sleeping a deep sleep. pGT>...
Looking at him made my heart ache.
He had worked so hard for Cheongmun Ryeong, and I had even tried to change fate for him.
But this was the result? pGT>Cheongmun Ryeong...
I looked at the salt pillar gloomily and thought.
Are you at peace?
There was no answer.
Only the will symbolizing peace was leaking from the salt pillar. pGT>I said to Kim Young-hoon.
I have seen such will-leaking objects in inorganic matter. pGT>What?!
Kim Young-hoon jumped at my words.
You mean you've seen something similar to Cheongmun Ryeong?!
Yes. And I've also seen those who share the same will as Cheongmun Ryeong.
I recalled the cycle when I first met the owner of the Heavenly Tribulation.
The moment the humans of Cheonin-do collectively surrendered.
Their emotions when they were turned into lightning and sucked away were exactly the same as what was leaking from the salt pillar now.
And I recalled the being who, though inorganic, emitted will. pGT>Jeong-ryeo.
At first I thought it was just a law treasure, but I recalled her existence who leaked will and even conversed with me in my mind. pGT>The Heavenly Thunder Banner only leaked will; it couldn't look into my mind.
Cheongmun Ryeong was the same. Inorganic matter, but leaked will, and couldn't look into my mind.
The difference with Jeong-ryeo was that she answered in my mind...
Cheongmun Ryeong was simply standing still as a salt pillar.
What is it? Is there any clue that can turn Cheongmun Ryeong back into a human?
Kim Young-hoon's urgent question made me shake my head.
There's a law treasure used by one of the highest True Immortals. Its condition is similar to Cheongmun Ryeong's current state.
Perhaps... Cheongmun Ryeong has surrendered to some high-level being.
Surrender?
I don't know exactly. As far as I know, True Immortals roughly govern certain realms and absorb the beings of those realms they govern.
So Cheongmun Ryeong...
Is he in the state of being stared at by some monster True Immortal while observing the sky?
I don't know well, but...
I recalled the owner of the Heavenly Tribulation.
That being absorbed countless lives into surrender yet seemed to have no particular interest.
Probably not. Those existences above the sky probably don't take much interest in humans.
It was simply that Cheongmun Ryeong recognized that existence, which is why it happened.
Is that so... Then there's no way to do anything?
I don't know that far either. I just have to believe there's a way in the Goryeok Realm.
I sighed softly.
...Let's go back. I've confirmed Cheongmun Ryeong's condition.
I feel like resting a bit.
I cleared my gloomy mood and left the Cheonmun Pavilion.
Mountain summit, Thirty-Three, Audience Chamber... Those abstract words, I had no time to think about them. pGT>I...
Still can't do anything.
Once again, before those gigantic existences called True Immortals.
It felt like I was just a bug that could do nothing.
Paaaah!
Thinking as I left the Cheonmun Pavilion in my mind and slowly headed toward the continent.
Let's grow my strength.
Even as a weakling, I can survive within fate.
But to ultimately change fate, I would have to climb even higher.
For a while, I will investigate how Seo Hyul performed the Qixi Ceremony at the four places in the Water Realm and then ascend to the Gwanghan Realm to enter the Four Pillars.
I looked at the sky.
With the Heavenly Person realm, my Heavenly Qi Eye became even more concretely filled with fragments of the future.
The future where I, together with Jeon Myeong-hoon, would escape the Water Realm and ascend.
Fate's gravitational pull is guiding me toward the Middle Realm.
By fate, I would probably ascend soon.
It was already scheduled to happen.
What I can do is nothing but climb as high as possible.
If I had been at the Star Shattering level instead of the Heavenly Person realm, would I have been able to do nothing to the transformed Cheongmun Ryeong?
Just leave him like that?
No.
From the Star Shattering level onward, one could see even more truths and touch even more principles.
At the very least, I could have figured out why Cheongmun Ryeong had become like that.
Let's train.
Climb even higher, until the day I can properly change fate. pGT>***
I briefly parted ways with Kim Young-hoon and visited Yeon Kingdom. pGT>I need to borrow some astronomical records from the Yeon Kingdom imperial family. pGT>I planned to read all the astronomical observation data from various countries. pGT>Among the basic spiritual techniques, Qi Condensation 1st and 2nd layers. pGT>The Seventy-Two Stars and Thirty-Six Thousand Rivers are spiritual techniques derived from the 108 kinds of energy possessed by the stars in the sky.
I intended to apply the spiritual technique knowledge I had taught Cheongmun Ryeong to the astronomical observation data and interpret it. pGT>It wouldn't be as accurate as what was observed at the Sea Dragon Palace, but I would push through with a mountain of data.
I didn't know what Cheongmun Ryeong had witnessed, but I had the Myeonsin Geopcheon. pGT>The Heavenly Tribulation owner's curse was repelled with the Myeonsin Geopcheon.
Even if I received the salt-izing curse, I could endure it.
Moreover, my life is not particularly precious compared to others... pGT>My own spiritual technique knowledge was shallower than Cheongmun Ryeong's.
Yet Cheongmun Ryeong, who had reached the Core Formation realm, had accumulated even more understanding.
So he was probably at the peak level for understanding and foresight in the Nascent Soul realm.
Even so, with my level of understanding, the probability of me knowing what he had gained is high...
Still, I should at least try to decipher it.
I entered the celestial observatory in the Yeon Kingdom imperial palace and began reading the data.
Although the imperial city was filled with various formations, they weren't at a level that troubled me, so I passed through them smoothly. pGT>Let me see...
It was then that I was reading the astronomical data in the celestial observatory. pGT>Hey! Hey you little bastard! pGT>...
I turned my head when I suddenly heard a loud voice.
There stood an old man in a stiff red robe.
How dare you sneak into the imperial celestial observatory! pGT>Ah...
Thinking back, I had passed through the imperial formations so naturally that I had forgotten to use the Wansuigungmurok or stealth techniques. pGT>Oh well, sorry about that. I'll just read this and leave. Please bear with me for a little while.
From Qi Condensation level onward, consciousness merges halfway with Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy.
Lower-level cultivators couldn't sense the consciousness of higher-level ones unless they deliberately revealed it.
Moreover, because the law power in the body of a Heavenly Person cultivator harmonized with Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy, the pressure of the spiritual energy actually disappeared.
Therefore, from the perspective of lower-level cultivators, a Heavenly Person cultivator looked indistinguishable from an ordinary person.
So, what he saw of me was probably no different from an intruder who had broken into the observatory.
You lowly intruder! You infiltrated the imperial palace of the Da Jin Clan and still look straight at the monks without knowing your crime! pGT>Hmm...
I looked at the early Qi Condensation cultivator and thought what to do.
Since I didn't want to scare the little kid, I said. pGT>Go play somewhere else. pGT>Yeeek...!!!
The Jin Clan disciple's face turned red with anger. pGT>He formed a fist seal and shot a fireball at me.
Whoosh! pGT>Die, intruder! pGT>And. pGT>Toong!
I placed Gang Qi on my fingers and flicked the fireball away. pGT>Hmm... When forming a fist seal, I should focus more on the intent of the fist seal. pGT>Instead of pulling energy from the Spiritual Root, I recommend seeking the meaning contained in the fist seal. pGT>Eh? How!? My one-hit that was just finishing the 1st layer of Qi Condensation!!! pGT>The Seventy-Two Star Fist Seal, which I had fully mastered just before breaking through to the 2nd layer!!! pGT>...
Since I had nothing to say, I shook my head and waved my hand. pGT>Really, just read this and leave. Get out. pGT>Thinking about it, if I revealed my consciousness and spiritual energy level, the little guy might even suffer a heart attack and die. pGT>I simply decided not to show any power and gestured at the cultivator. pGT>He trembled and left outside. pGT>Guards! All the guards gather! An intruder has appeared in the celestial observatory!!! pGT>...
At that sound, in an instant, supreme experts above the Peak realm appeared inside the hall. pGT>There was even a Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown expert who pressed a sword against me threateningly.
He seems to have a decent amount of skill since he was startled by a cultivator.
But our imperial celestial observatory guard unit...
Crack!
I clenched my fist, and the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy naturally transformed into a sleeping spiritual technique and seeped into the warriors. pGT>The supreme experts couldn't resist even a little and fell unconscious where they stood. pGT>Khhh... pGT>The Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown expert, who seemed to be the leader, tried to resist, but the technique he used now was just a minor spell used with far lower power than simply breathing. pGT>You too, grow up.
As a martial artist belonging to the imperial family, you should always be hiding under walls or beds, so it's probably tiring. pGT>K... hah! I don't take orders from you! pGT>Whoong! pGT>He had a fair amount of spirit, as he swung his sword at me with Gang Qi on it. pGT>But... pGT>Kraang! pGT>His sword, Gang Qi and all, shattered and bounced away.
Even a Foundation Establishment cultivator had pure spiritual power flowing through his body.
In other words, Gang Qi naturally created protective Gang Qi.
What about someone at the Heavenly Person level?
I didn't even use any defensive techniques, yet I possessed a stronger protective Gang Qi than a group of Core Formation cultivators who formed defensive formation arrays.
I reached out to the martial artist whose pupils were wildly shaking from the shock and said.
Although your spirit was good, I'll give you a reward. pGT>K... hah... hah...
He could no longer endure the sleeping spiritual technique and passed out.
I stuffed the complete cultivation method up to the Five Qi Consorting with the Origin into the head of the fallen guy.
And the martial arts cultivation method that helps reach the Five Qi Consorting with the Origin.
After dealing with that, I was about to continue reading the astronomical data. pGT>This old man! This damn kid! I have brought the elder of the Jin Clan!!! pGT>The old man who had fled earlier came back, bringing a young woman with him. pGT>He looks quite young... Is he a highly anticipated late-stage expert of the Jin Clan?
Although I hadn't asked, the old man began to introduce her himself.
This is Jin Wi-yeon, a senior! A highly anticipated late-stage expert of the Da Jin Clan and an imperial inspector who came from the main family of the Jin Clan.
Oh... really?
No need to struggle! Judging by him, he seems to have mastered some martial arts.
But this person is a Six-Star expert of the Qi Condensation realm! A senior who is discussing the Qixing Ceremony! pGT>Huh...
The old man puffed out his chest like a fox with a tiger on its back and said. pGT>To an insignificant person like you, I will tell you what kind of existence a Six-Star Qi Condensation cultivator is.
That is indeed interesting.
What kind of existence exactly? pGT>Jin Wi-yeon, the cultivator, also shouted while forming a law seal. pGT>Look at the power of the Six-Star Qi Condensation! pGT>---