A Greeting from the Past
In the stone building where the Yangu clan had made their home, Hyeon-gwi sat perched atop a bed inside, her gaze fixed somewhere far away.
“Have you obtained the intention of the pet Yangu clansman?”
Her eyes held a mocking glint, yet a trace of pity lingered beneath it.
“How pitiful it is to strive so desperately for something as obvious as this. How heartbreaking. There is no act more meaningless than such desperate thrashing…”
With a tsk of her tongue, Hyeon-gwi closed her hollow eyes once more, lying down on the bed as if sleep were the only thing that truly mattered.
Perhaps, she thought, sleeping quietly here was far more significant than the strange events unfolding far away.
* * *
I analyzed the inspection for a while longer before setting it aside.
‘Got it. I’ll research it later.’
Further analysis would have been pointless.
After completing the inspection, I stepped out of the stone building into the open air.
Not long after, the investigators from Black Forest Temple emerged once more.
“It looks like everyone has gathered. Shall we head to the next region? Our own human clan once served as pets to True Dragon Jeungryong’s pocket dimension, so we should find an even better harvest there.”
[Did the clan really serve as pets to True Dragon Jeungryong?]
I re-elevated my aura to block out the surrounding heat and asked.
Hyeon-gwi kindly explained.
“Indeed. According to the records, during the war with the Demon Realm, many clans from the Central Plains sought refuge in True Dragon Jeungryong’s pocket dimension. Jeungryong himself accepted them here in the Water Realm layer.”
[Hmm…]
‘Then they should be “protected” rather than “pets,” right?’
Hyeon-gwi kept insisting on the terms “sustenance” and “pets,” yet upon reflection it felt more like the concept of a “safe haven.”
‘…Was it simply a misunderstanding between Hyeon-gwi and my own interpretation?’
I tilted my head slightly but decided to let it go.
We arrived at yet another basin, its ruined stone buildings clustered at the center much like the last.
According to Hyeon-gwi, this basin had once been a vast lake.
Now dry and cracked, it was now a basin. But back then those stone structures had all been floating houses.
We entered the basin and reached the stone building.
“This was where the human clan lived. Since we missed many things last time, let us thoroughly search again.”
We scattered once more to examine the stone structures.
I searched the human-clan buildings and discovered a small jade pendant beneath one bed.
[This…]
It was remarkably concealed, its subtle concealment array so advanced that even a Nascent Soul cultivator would have struggled to detect it.
‘What kind of object requires such high-level concealment?’
Yet the pendant contained instructions for projecting images with heavenly power. Following the method, I moved my heavenly power and created the image, speechless with astonishment.
[Ah, no…]
This pendant was a type of erotic scroll.
It had clearly been an item much loved by the basin’s master.
I paid my respects and turned the pendant to powder in honor of its owner.
At that moment.
Zzzzt—
[Hm?]
The erotic scroll vanished, replaced by an image of a small, emaciated man.
“First, I thank you for breaking this pendant. I had set it so that when I die I become powder, but if the settings malfunction… I worry it will be passed to later generations. If that happens, I may have to die twice out of shame even though I have already died once.”
[…]
The man’s voice continued.
“Lately the outside world has been engulfed in war. Honestly, so many terrifying beings are wielding their power that even someone like me, a Nascent Soul remnant, must huddle here protected by the True One. Yet there is nothing to do, which is why… this pendant’s contents were a way to pass the time. Still, it is no small compensation for destroying the pendant… I will show you my entire life from this room. If you wish to see the records I left behind, watch.”
Zzzzt—
The image spread across the entire room, then the illusion technique enveloped it thinly.
Eyes gleaming, I watched the scene unfold.
The emaciated man’s life played out in the illusion.
Although he had spoken of watching many erotic scrolls, he did not touch any.
Instead, he wandered the room with a troubled expression or wrote books.
I peered over his shoulder as he wrote.
The books should have been long gone by now, so viewing them through illusion was even better.
The title of the book he was writing was “Regarding Immortal Arts.”
Intuiting what he was writing, I read along with “Regarding Immortal Arts.”
It was a treatise on the very concept of “immortal arts.”
“Low-realm cultivators rely on incantations and charms.”
“And the higher the realm, the more the cultivator’s arts manifest through their will and knowledge.”
“From the Heavenly Person stage onward, knowledge merges with heavenly power itself, erasing the boundaries of arts. Thus they research specialized powers to create things like ‘self-named divine arts.’”
“Yao beasts’ magic is much the same—replaced by physical potential and understanding of inner power.”
“So how do the high-realm cultivators differ from us?”
“I once witnessed a confrontation between a fallen judge and a True One. When asked how he survived, the answer was he did not. The shockwaves from that vision were immense; he had to die and be reborn. Yet he gained the opportunity to understand what immortal art truly is—an immeasurable gift.”
‘Immortal art?’
We called the path we walked “the path of cultivation,” but the reason we called ourselves “cultivators” rather than “immortals” was simple.
The word “immortal” was not easily applied.
At the end of the path of cultivation lay the ultimate realm of the “immortal.”
And precisely because of its rarity, any technique or concept labeled “immortal” was considered extraordinarily powerful.
So what exactly was “immortal art,” the arts of a True Immortal?
Curious, I kept reading.
“Immortal art is the power of fate. It is not the petty power wielded by mere Nascent Soul cultivators. It is the power that reaches the true realm of names and ranks.”
“In other words, if one can influence the name and rank, alter fate, or twist the thread of history to change its direction, that is what is called immortal art.”
‘Ho-oh, then…’
I recalled my Myeolsin Geopcheon.
Yang Su-jin’s Myeolsin Geopcheon was itself a form of immortal art.
And then I was startled.
‘Wait, if power that affects names and history is called immortal art…’
Wondrous Castle.
Yeon-ui Yeon.
Were those not also immortal arts?
According to the book, Goe-gun had spent his entire life with a mortal body mastering the arts that place one in the realm of immortals.
‘Perhaps it is more believable that he had eight Terminating Ones.’
In truth, Goe-gun could not have been from Earth either, given how monstrous his talent was.
I understood why the Black Dragon King had flown into a frenzy the moment he sensed Yeon-ui Yeon in the previous loop.
‘Immortal art… The Black Dragon King sensed its aura and came running. He must have thought any being capable of using immortal art in the Central Plains would only be at the Fissure Opening stage, not True Immortal…’
While pondering Goe-gun, a strange thought occurred to me.
‘Wait, if the power to change fate is immortal art… then isn’t the entire path of cultivation itself immortal art?’
In the end, cultivators were those who defied the heavens.
Changing one’s own fate was cultivation.
Unfortunately, the book did not cover that.
Instead, the man described the feeling of glimpsing immortal art and the terror of it.
At that moment, the man paused while writing, closed his eyes, and seemed to recall a scene from when he had glimpsed immortal art.
Right then.
“Hah… hah… kuak, it hurts, it hurts!”
The man suddenly contorted in agony, rolled his eyes, and frantically scribbled on paper.
No, it was more like gouging.
Uuuung—
At the same time, the illusion technique that had been stable began to violently shake.
As if to say that recording this scene with mere illusion was disrespectful.
‘What… is this?’
I watched the illusion warp.
The man’s eyes rolled back.
He suddenly began tearing at the book he had written.
‘What?’
He devoured the pages like a feast, licking his fingers, then calmed.
Surrounded by horror, he looked around.
Once the “gouged” contents vanished, the illusion technique stabilized again.
The room had become a mess from the outburst.
The man muttered.
“Th-that was… could it… be a vision? Y-yes, it is a vision. H-how, how… If True Dragon Jeungryong dies, will I become his revival body? Will he revive inside my body?”
His face paled in fear.
“N-no. This being is not True Dragon Jeungryong. Then who is it? Who are you? Who could be… Ah, no. No! This is even greater than True Dragon or fallen judges…”
He clutched his head, then suddenly drove his hand into his abdomen.
Puk!
Red blood sprayed.
And I saw something like a stone fall from his lower abdomen.
Simultaneously the illusion destabilized violently around the “stone.”
“How long! How long is this flowing out! Stop, stop coming out! Haaaarrr!”
The man screamed in terror, using some technique.
The illusion warped beyond recognition, but I saw him cast a sealing technique to trap the “stone.”
After the sealing was complete, the man’s illusion returned to normal.
Yet the emaciated man did not.
From then on, instead of writing books or pondering, he crouched in the corner of the bed, idly producing erotic scrolls.
It was as if he was fleeing from something by focusing on the scrolls.
And after some time.
The man hid the pendant containing the erotic scrolls beneath the bed and in various places, then left the room.
Time passed. When the pendant beneath the bed and all other pendants turned to powder.
The man had died.
The illusion technique on the walls stopped after some time.
I paid my respects to the nameless man.
At the same time, I remembered his words.
“Will he revive inside my body?”
Greater than True Dragon Jeungryong, he must at least be a True Immortal.
‘Then… he is saying True Dragon Jeungryong is reviving inside his body?’
Cold sweat ran down my back.
‘Cheongmun Ryeong had the same symptoms???’
The symptoms were identical: writing bizarre things while insane, eating one’s own writings, then spewing out stones containing terrifying power from one’s lower abdomen.
It matched Kim Young-hoon’s description of Cheongmun Ryeong far too closely.
Even more so, since Cheongmun Ryeong had been Nascent Soul, yet he spewed stones without a hint of the “stone” that had been found in his body.
‘Then, through the current Cheongmun Ryeong, a True Immortal is reviving in the Water Realm?’
“Hah… hah…”
Thinking of him, my elevated aura faded and sweat poured down.
‘Damn it…’
I had been determined to save Cheongmun Ryeong.
But once I realized a True Immortal was reviving through him, I could not bring myself to return to the Water Realm.
For a long time I sat inside the room, unable to rise.
‘Why… am I hesitating to protect my own body…!’
Just thinking about it, if I had decided to save my previous master, what would the difference be?!
I suddenly grew disgusted with myself and gnashed my teeth.
Sighing, I stood up.
‘…First, I must find out what that stone is.’
Recalling the illusion I had seen earlier, I searched for the spot where he had sealed the stone.
It was on the ceiling.
‘Now that I think about it, this ceiling…’
I had not noticed before, but I felt an eerie power flowing across the ceiling.
No, it was magnetism.
Magnets were attached across the ceiling like stars, invisible to the naked eye.
Using the flow and arrangement of the magnetic force, I could interpret and unravel the seal.
And I realized the method was identical to the one Hyeon-gwi had used to read the heavens and interpret the formations.
‘Was this a technique commonly used in ancient times?’
Perhaps Hyeon-gwi had obtained some ancient forbidden text.
The seal was unbreakable without at least Nascent Soul power.
After all, it required inner power to remove.
Clang—
When I moved my inner power to unlock the latch, the ceiling rippled like water.
I flew up and reached into the ceiling.
A box-like object was within reach.
I extended my awareness, but nothing else was inside.
I retrieved the box. The ceiling returned to normal.
The box was a luxurious lacquered case made of black lacquer, covered with dozens of talismans drawn in blood that had formed a formation.
‘The formation has long since decayed.’
Tap—tap—
When I tapped a few talismans, they crumbled to powder.
They had once been effective formations, but now their power had long since ended.
I shook off the talismans and opened the lid.
“Hm?”
Inside the box was no stone, only a faint liquid.
The liquid felt strangely mysterious.
But when I extended my awareness to examine it, it was ordinary water.
I felt strangely dazed and reached out as if entranced.
The moment my hand touched the water.
Ting—
“Huh!”
I felt a tingling sensation inside my mind, like a mental needle, and my mind cleared.
It was strangely refreshing.
‘What just happened?’
It had been a vague, disoriented feeling.
And as I pondered, I remembered what it had been.
‘Ah, right. That feeling…’
Cold sweat ran down.
The vague, disoriented feeling was the same as the time I had been drawn into a dream after seeing “[something]” in the Water Realm.
If the “[something]” I had seen in the Water Realm was a deadly poison, this liquid felt even more terrifying—capable of reaching the liver without any warning.
Using Earth terms, if the “[something]” in the Water Realm was Chernobyl, this liquid was radiogenic like rare earth elements.
‘I almost fell under its spell… but if I had concentrated my awareness, I could have blocked it…’
I examined the liquid while keeping my hand on it.
And I realized it contained far more poison and turbidity than I had initially thought.
The long passage of time had simply diluted it to a safe level.
Zzzzt, zzzzt…
While my hand rested on the liquid, I succeeded in reading some knowledge within it.
Surprisingly, this liquid was a type of “jewel.”
“Cheongrin-gap?”
This jewel controlled the divine treasure known as “Cheongrin-gap.”
Chiii—
After absorbing the jewel, the liquid instantly vaporized and disappeared.
Yet no information remained about Cheongrin-gap, nor was any armor-like divine treasure listed among the items shown by the previous Black Forest Temple investigators.
Nor was anything left in the room.
“Hmm…”
I made one final sweep of the room before leaving.
While I had been inside, the Black Forest Temple people had emerged and were sorting the items they had obtained.
Especially many items that looked like spiritual medicines.
Yet I had no interest in spiritual medicines and searched for divine treasures or cultivation manuals.
Nothing related to the Cheongrin-gap control jewel I had acquired.
“Senior, did you perhaps obtain anything?”
“No, nothing in particular.”
“Understood. Then we shall depart once more.”
We continued onward.
We defeated flying devils and obtained black liquid, or occasionally plucked the fruit from a tree that bloomed in fire, yet we no longer encountered stone buildings.
According to Hyeon-gwi, only two stone buildings—the Yangu and human clans—remained on the path to the second floor.
After some time, we reached the entrance to the second floor.
Clank, clank—
An eerie sight.
The second floor entrance was shrouded in thick fog and steam.
In other words, there was moisture.
Chiii—
I stared at the “water chains” spurting steam with mad intensity.
At the end of the Water Realm that had once been a river of flame.
There was no longer any land behind; only endless sky remained.
And above that sky, water chains stretched endlessly, their upper parts perpetually burning with flames that evaporated the water.
Yet the water chains continued to spurt steam even while engulfed in fire.
“Truly, the divine arts of a Fissure Opening True One are wondrous…”
Hyeon-gwi laughed heartily when I voiced my amazement.
“All new arrivals react this way. First, we will ascend. Confirm how you arrive, then we shall wait.”
The Black Forest Temple people stood before me one by one, elevating their spiritual veins.
Scales, tails, and horns emerged. They transformed into half-humans, half-dragons, then leapt onto the burning chains.
Chiii—
It looked incredibly hot, yet their Yin energy cooled the heat and they swam upward inside the chain.
“An interesting method…”
I manipulated my inner power.
My inner power and even my yin-dun technique still could not be used, so I had no choice but to adopt this troublesome method.
“Swim upward while cooling the inside of the chain with Yin energy…”
Uuuung—
I once again spread my elevated aura.
Yin energy spread outward. Frost formed everywhere.
I revealed eighteen heads and watched the final Black Forest Temple investigator leap onto the chain, then approached myself.
And just as I was about to leap onto the chain.
Puk!
Someone walked through the steam behind me.
It was a Blood Cultivator named Gyeom, a shark-headed Yao.
Behind him stood over ten Heavenly Person Yao cultivators.
‘Were there not more than me among Gyeom’s followers originally?’
Their numbers had dropped by about a quarter.
When Gyeom and the Yao saw us, they all froze in shock.
[Who are you?]
I burned my elevated aura even thicker and asked.
Gyeom answered awkwardly, lowering his head slightly.
“Haha, Dugu. You may not have heard, but I am Gyeom, a Nascent Soul Blood Cultivator of the Blood Cult. I know a great deal because I have been to the pocket dimension before. Since you are unfamiliar with True Dragon Jeungryong’s pocket dimension, I wish to offer you a modest amount of assistance.”
[…Why would you offer help all of a sudden?]
I opened all eighteen mouths to show my intent.
Gyeom stepped back awkwardly and laughed.
“Originally, our Blood Cult has good relations with humans. During the War of the Three Clans, we heard that the Blood Cult’s artifacts helped destroy the dimensional barrier of the Demon Realm…”
[Hm… that is true…]
“I want to have a good relationship with Dugu, so please understand. First, do you know the method to ascend to the second floor?”
[Yes.]
“Then do you know what the second floor is?”
[I only know it is the Fissure Opening layer.]
“The Fissure Opening layer is the true pocket dimension of the True One. If the Water Realm is the Fairy Island, the Fissure Opening layer is filled with divine treasures offered to the True One, spiritual pills and essences offered as tribute, and cultivation manuals. Especially, while ordinary humans go to the human tribute altar inside True Dragon Jeungryong’s pocket dimension to search for divine treasures, spiritual pills, and manuals, there is another place that contains items beneficial to humans.”
[Ho-oh?]
Without my asking, Gyeom began reciting information about the Fissure Opening layer.
“The Fissure Opening layer has a region where the shaman priests who offered tribute to the True One for each clan once lived. And among them is the area where the human shaman priest lived. The problem is that this shaman priest region lies beyond the Sea-Yao tribute altar, so no humans know its location.”
[Can I simply go to the Sea-Yao tribute altar?]
“Yes, yes. After crossing the Sea-Yao tribute altar, enter the grand palace among the ones that match human living styles. That is the human shaman priest’s base. There are far more precious items than the usual human tribute altar.”
I tilted my head.
[I am not sure what you are saying. Would you like to come with us?]
But Gyeom suddenly leapt and shouted.
“How could I! I would not dare walk the same path as a human!”
[Eh, you are a sea Yao, right?]
“N-no, I did not come here to fill my own desires. I came to obtain cultivation manuals or spiritual medicines suitable for the young ones here. Therefore, we must go elsewhere. Please forgive us!”
[No need to forgive. Got it. Thank you for the good information.]
Although I had many intentions, I still expressed gratitude to Gyeom for showing even superficial goodwill.
[You must remember this well. You will be with me.]
No matter how it was, the help was help.
Since the Man-sang Inyeondo was unavailable for recording, Gyeom would one day be recorded inside it as the cultivator who had helped me after I cured my true body, and he would become part of me.
But Gyeom trembled in fear and stammered.
“G-glory, it is an honor. P-please… let us go. I will see you… later.”
For reasons unknown, Gyeom feared me and seemed ready to flee at any moment.
I watched him leave, then leapt into the chain.
* * *
“Hah… hah…”
Gyeom panted heavily, sweating.
“The madman… even after giving me help, he wants to kill me?”
Many Nascent Soul cultivators used the Outer Law Sacrifice.
Especially among the Yao beasts, where survival of the fittest was the rule, the Outer Law Sacrifice that gained power by killing opponents was overwhelmingly common.
The best targets for the Outer Law Sacrifice were early Nascent Soul cultivators. Gyeom was well aware he had been one such target, and he had obtained a forbidden technique that allowed him to temporarily unleash the power of a mid Nascent Soul cultivator to overcome it.
Nascent Soul cultivators did not fight unless they were hunting with the Outer Law Sacrifice.
They had reached the Nascent Soul stage by conserving their lives and clinging to the will to avoid death, so they only fought when attacking the minority in numbers.
Or when they were absolutely certain of victory.
In other words, only in dire straits.
Because of this, the fact that Gyeom could temporarily use mid Nascent Soul power itself acted as a deterrent against other Nascent Soul cultivators attacking him carelessly.
But in Gyeom’s view, the mad man was different.
‘Madman, madman…’
From the deathly aura emanating from all eighteen heads, they were all at least mid Nascent Soul.
Yet the mad man had only one accumulated Outer Law Sacrifice.
Still, he had twenty-seven Nascent Soul cultivators on his shoulders like trophies.
It was clear.
The human mad man who had mastered demonic arts was a pleasure killer.
Humans who had been turned into soft pills and eaten were common, but hanging them on shoulders like trophies had never been seen before—especially seventeen of them!
Gyeom was terrified.
‘That mad man intends to kill me too… it is certain!’
He wanted to make me one with him!
In Gyeom’s mind, an image flashed: his own skull hanging on the mad man’s shoulder.
‘Damn it! Once I die in a thousand years, dying again will end it!’
He had already been revived once; dying again would truly end him.
Gyeom clenched his teeth.
“Damn it… unless I obtain the Cheonryeon Fruit, I cannot save my wife…! Should I just retreat here?!”
Spitting red blood, Gyeom said through gritted teeth.
“Everyone listen! You have all seen that mad man!?”
A few of the few Yao gathered nodded.
By the time they reached here, Gyeom had sacrificed many of the Yao he had followed as offerings, so his reputation among them had deteriorated.
Some Yao even suggested defecting and fleeing.
And in reality, some of them had planned to seek help from Seo Lip and kill Gyeom.
But after seeing the cruel pleasure killer Seo Lip, their thoughts changed.
They would kill Gyeom without hesitation and rip off his head to hang it on their shoulders!
What would become of those who remained if the pleasure killer killed Gyeom?
It was obvious.
They would also be slaughtered and refined into artifacts.
The Yao who had resented Gyeom until now united in fear after witnessing the cruel human mad man.
* * *
Splash—splash—splash—
I swam upward, cooling the chain with Yin energy.
Covering my body with elevated aura, I reevaluated the Black Forest Temple.
‘Now that I think about it, they should have told me these things before I entered the pocket dimension. They are not the kind of information that requires the kind help of a friendly Blood Cult cultivator.’
The Black Forest Temple seemed to control the information that came to me.
I burned my elevated aura and thought.
‘Are they planning to betray me…?’
I recalled the Black Forest Temple’s strength.
The Black Forest Temple used the Spirit Origin Realm to leap over a stage by borrowing external power.
The currently estimable strength was Hyeon-gwi and the seven Heavenly Person cultivators, totaling four Nascent Soul cultivators.
And seven more Origin Realm cultivators, seven Heavenly Person cultivators.
If they unfolded a formation, their strength would rise, so one should consider five Nascent Soul cultivators.
‘Of course, even with external power, the stage would not exceed early Nascent Soul.’
Early Nascent Soul, five in total.
And I was currently mid Nascent Soul. With Goe-gun’s circuit, I could raise my power to late Nascent Soul.
‘It might be worth fighting…?’
With my combat experience, it was not impossible.
Yet when I thought of Hyeon-gwi, an uneasy feeling arose.
‘That guy is hiding something…’
The vague uneasiness from Hyeon-gwi.
I guessed that if the Black Forest Temple betrayed me, Hyeon-gwi would be the biggest variable.
‘If they betray me… first, I must eliminate Hyeon-gwi.’
I resolved to be most wary of Hyeon-gwi as I ascended to the second floor.
Fwoosh—fwoosh—fwoosh—
The second floor was even hotter than the first.
Black flames burned everywhere.
And I approached the Black Forest Temple people waiting for me.
“You have arrived. Then we shall depart.”
[Wait, where are we going?]
“First, we will stop at the Human Tribute Altar, then head toward the passage to the third floor. From there we will subdue Jae-yeom.”
[Before that, I will go somewhere for a while.]
“Where do you wish to go?”
[Where do the sea Yao offer their tribute?]
“Heading west leads to the Sea-Yao Altar, but how do you intend to find it?”
[I have to deal with one Sea Dragon, so I plan to find a suitable bait.]
Upon hearing this, Hyeon-gwi nodded.
“Then we will wait at the Human Tribute Altar. I will provide the coordinates; come find us.”
I bid farewell to the Black Forest Temple people and headed toward the Sea-Yao Altar.
It was a place overflowing with sea Yao customs.
The buildings everywhere were filled with the customs I had seen in the Sea Dragon Palace.
They were so similar that one might mistake it for the Sea Dragon Palace if not for the flames.
Yet there were far more items useful only to sea Yao, so humans had no need to come here.
‘Oh, is that the Haeran fruit?’
I looked at the Haeran fruit, considered a heavenly spiritual essence for the Sea Dragon clan, and clicked my tongue.
The Haeran fruit required balanced absorption of Yin and Yang energy to grow, and especially Yin energy from the sea and Yang energy mixed with demonic energy—making it extremely difficult to obtain.
Yet True Dragon Jeungryong’s pocket dimension seemed to accidentally satisfy both conditions.
‘It is the spiritual essence Seo Ran mentioned.’
It contained spiritual energy extremely similar to that of the Sea Dragon clan, so consuming it would unconditionally raise one’s realm and grant water-attribute divine arts.
It could also be used to refine the Sea Dragon clan’s unique divine treasure by removing the spiritual essence, and it had the effect of amplifying the Sea Dragon clan’s power. If the Sea Dragon clan reached Integration, they would constantly use it.
‘If I meet Seo Ran later and give it to him as a gift, that would be perfect.’
I stared at the Haeran fruit for a moment, then left the White Orchid Blessing Gate inside it so it would grow even fresher.
After leaving the Haeran fruit, I passed the Sea-Yao Altar region and arrived at an area densely packed with grand palaces.
I entered a palace that appeared to belong to humans.
Inside the palace, spiritual energy was so dense that flames could hardly approach.
Yet the second floor was even hotter, so the interior was even warmer.
The interior of the palace was quiet.
But I clicked my tongue upon seeing the spiritual energy radiating everywhere and the spiritual fluctuations caught by my awareness.
‘Gyeom… what a kind cultivator.’
I resolved to remember this good information given for free.
It was quite a connection.
“Hm, perhaps it is thanks to the blessing of wealth.”
I relaxed my elevated aura and observed the blessings inside me.
According to what Yeon-wi had said earlier, the Blessing of Wealth affected fate to some degree.
Therefore, acquiring the Blessing of Wealth should also raise one’s wealth luck.
I walked around the palace and collected wealth.
Especially, I examined the divine treasures with care.
Yet among the divine treasures in the palace, there were no armor-type ones.
‘What exactly does Cheongrin-gap mean?’
Why was there a stone left behind by a presumed True Immortal?
What liquid remained after that stone disappeared, containing a “Cheongrin-gap control jewel”?
It seemed difficult to find in this palace.
I opened my pocket dimension and flicked my fingers, summoning my usual small-scale Seojanggun.
The Seojanggun, which had looked displeasing, grew wings and flew to other palaces to investigate the divine treasures.
From the results, I learned one thing.
“There is no Cheongrin-gap on the second floor.”
And through the Seojanggun, I learned another.
“It is a Tanghwa.”
I walked to the highest floor of the palace and looked at the Tanghwa discovered by the Seojanggun.
‘In this life, I seem to be particularly entangled with Tanghwa.’
Inside the Tanghwa, an awe-inspiring dragon danced.
There were twenty-one Tanghwa in total, each depicting a different aspect of the dragon.
“This…”
It seemed to depict the dragon dancing.
I sensed that the dragon’s movements carried meaning.
It was not a martial movement, but rather like the Taesan Yeolje Art of Heon-won—a ritualistic movement carrying spiritual meaning.
“Hm…”
While I was contemplating the Tanghwa on the highest floor, I discovered a small jade pendant.
Like the book I had read in the Water Realm, this pendant was written in the common language of the Gwanghan Heavenly Race, so there were no problems reading it.
The book was a diary about the Tanghwa.
The author, the palace master and shaman priest who offered tribute to True Dragon Jeungryong, had passed down the method of painting Tanghwa to Jeungryong.
It described methods and insights for painting Tanghwa more beautifully.
“Hm…”
While reading the diary, my eyes fell on one scene.
“The True One looked at the Tanghwa we painted and was extremely displeased. He said we had come to draw such things and called us bug-like. In a fit of rage, he had us hung upside down and whipped us severely.”
[…]
True Dragon Jeungryong also did not seem to have a good temper.
‘No, he turned the shaman into a human-shaped being and whipped him with raw strength, so perhaps it was merciful?’
I continued reading the diary, thinking absurd thoughts.
“The True One gathered the shaman priests and gave a long speech. He said the Tanghwa we learn is a Tanghwa of immense legacy. The great painter and judge of the netherworld learned it from the God of Death, and the God of Death taught it to you.”
“In other words, the Tanghwa we learn is a Tanghwa transmitted from the God of Death. Even though we were learning such a great Tanghwa, I felt ashamed of my dissatisfaction. The True One showed mercy to us, who are like insects, and the tribute we offer is merely a ritual; in reality we are using it.”
“What the True One demands of us is simply to paint Tanghwa, yet even that I was unwilling to do, and I am ashamed. Even though it is a Tanghwa transmitted from a great being, not a trivial one…”
“I thought being hung upside down and whipped was shameful. But when I think about it again, if he had whipped me with the dragon shape, I would have become powder. Instead, he transformed me into a human shape and beat me with raw strength without using spiritual power.”
“…Now that I think about it, even that alone caused my unique domain to be ripped away and nearly killed me, yet the True One was still thinking of us. The true shame was not the whipping, but my own heart.”
“…He was an Integration-stage cultivator.”
The palace master had apparently been an Integration cultivator who could expand his unique domain.
‘Yet a Fissure Opening Yao beast was whipped with raw strength until his domain was ripped away and he nearly died…’
What kind of beings were True Dragon Jeungryong… and the Fissure Opening cultivators, exactly?
I clicked my tongue while reading the diary.
No more eyes fell on it.
‘A Tanghwa transmitted from the God of Death…’
The style of the Tanghwa resembled that of Tae Yeolje Art to an eerie degree.
* * *
Clank-clank-clank-clank—
Wondrous Castle flew through the night sky.
The Puppet Castle.
Inside it.
A small old man’s eyes flashed.
“The smell… there is a smell…”
His bloodshot eyes widened as he licked his lips.
“Seo Hyul…! It is Seo Hyul’s smell! Let’s go quickly, my beloved! Seo Hyul has finally appeared again! Look! I am meeting Seo Hyul!!”
Goe-gun howled at the sky from the highest floor of Wondrous Castle, tearing at his hair.
In Goe-gun’s future prophecy, his meeting with Seo Hyul was depicted.
“Turn your course to the west! Fate is leading me to Seo Hyul! That hidden guy has finally come out! Hihi! Seo-jaho. Seo-jaho. Seo-jaho. Seo-jaho. Seo-jaho. Seo-jaho-seo-jaho-seo-jaho-seo-jaho-seo-jaho-seo-jaho-seo-jaho-seo-jaho-seo-jaho…! Let us make Seo-jaho!”
* * *
In a dark, damp cave.
A pale man in white robes smiled gently and reached into the mist around him, eyes shining.
“It took a long time. But… I have found you, Seo Dugu.”
His eyes split vertically.
It was clearly a human body, yet it resembled that of a reptile.
“This is your [pillar]…”
The man laughed, reaching toward the hazy mist.
Kwaak!
He grabbed something inside the mist.
But nothing happened.
“…”
For a moment he was silent, then began laughing.
“Huhu, now that I think about it, I was still Heavenly Person. It is surprising. I have been raising my realm while searching for the pillar… It must be the talent of a cultivator born from the ‘Man-sang Inyeondo.’ If it was not to seal my talent inside it, it would not make sense.”
Smiling meaningfully, he stood from his seat.
“But that too is now over. As long as I hold the power of attraction, I can approach the pillar and break the seal. So now… I will raise your realm with my power.”
Swish—
The man in white robes used the clothing technique to cover his body in blue robes.
“Huhu, how do you feel, Seo Dugu? Obtaining your Man-sang Inyeondo is now right before your eyes.”
Yet no reply came.
“Huhu… huhuhuhuhu…”
It did not matter.
Seo Hyul laughed, as if something was extremely entertaining.
===
Author’s note: I want to see Seo Hyul, the grinning Seo Hyul, breaking down. But because he is such a laughing friend, it may take a long time to see him howl no matter how much I torment him.