Chapter 355
I snapped awake.
In front of me, the “believer” I had been staring at suddenly opened its eyes and glared back.
I had just shifted my body into human form. That was the residue.
The true monarchs called those who had been infiltrated by them “believers.”
*Just how anyone can call them believers—*
They were nothing more than pitiful victims who had accidentally met the wrong person under the heavens.
Who on earth would ever ask for this kind of existence!
*Uuuung―*
I seized the All-Heaven Sword.
A moment ago I had hesitated to swing the blade, but not anymore.
―Swing.
*Swing.*
The will of the All-Heaven Sword and my own will had become one.
I raised the sword high and brought it down with pure force.
A downward slash from high to low.
From above the position to below it!
Danak Sword Art.
Mountain Heart’s Deep Fall!
*Boom!*
*Shuk!*
I cleaved the believer standing before me into pieces in a single stroke.
Thirty true-monarch believers were sliced apart by the Mountain Heart Deep Fall and began to scatter into dust.
The burning sensation I had felt earlier was nothing more than hatred for the true monarch lurking behind the believer.
But now that I had seen the reverse horn and everything was in chaos, there was no reason to fear.
*Tsuaaang―*
The dozens of heads attached to the believer’s body melted away in an instant.
The pitch-black body disintegrated and scattered like ash.
Then, inside that vision, I saw a neatly dressed old woman in black robes bow slightly toward me.
―Thank you.
Her will reached out to me.
I simply nodded.
*Chalaraara―*
The moment she vanished, the entire mold that had blanketed the desert region turned to ash and disappeared.
Far in the distance, Jeon Myeong-hoon and Oh Hyun-seok walked toward me, carrying the disciples of the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect on their shoulders.
“You saved all the disciples… but you were the one who destroyed it, weren’t you?”
I nodded, then looked at the Thunder Sect disciples they had brought.
Everywhere on their bodies, mushroom-shaped skulls were sprouting, but the mushrooms quickly turned to ash and scattered.
“These guys… the ones who went all the way to the Ghost Realm.”
“Yeah. Because they were influenced by the true monarchs’ infiltration, they collapsed like this. I roasted the poison that had taken root inside them with the flames of a million lifetimes. But with their vitality too low, it’ll probably take a few more days before they wake up.”
“I’ll leave that to Hong Beom.”
I quietly reached out and stroked the sleeping disciples’ heads.
*Finally…*
I had succeeded in rescuing every survivor of the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect.
It had been a long, long road.
I closed my eyes.
Hong Su-ryeong’s face floated before me.
“…For now…”
I opened my eyes again.
*Ku gu gu gu!*
And, pulled by the ear, I activated the king of ghosts once more.
“Summon all the Four Pillars Protectors and the Thirteen Guardian Ghost Kings!”
*Kwarrurung!*
Jeon Myeong-hoon instantly turned into lightning and shot off into the distant Echo Realm. A short while later, he returned with the Four Pillars Protectors, along with Baek Rin, bringing the total to thirteen Guardian Ghost Kings lined up before me.
[Listen well.]
I spoke, my voice glowing with the power of the king of ghosts.
[From now on, the main sect will take root in this land that once bore the traces of the true monarchs. Do not worry about the infiltration. Our Sect Lord has just erased every trace of them, so there will be no problems.]
I looked around at everyone gathered here.
Jeon Myeong-hoon, Oh Hyun-seok, Kim Yeon, Hong Beom.
And the thirteen Guardian Ghost Kings.
They were all my precious bonds.
[However, while facing the traces of the true monarchs, our Sect Lord met the will of the true monarchs. They have decided to oppose the main sect from now on.]
At my words, the will of everyone present shook violently.
I hurried to finish the next sentence so their fear and worry would not spread.
[But their will is directed solely toward the main sect and the Sect Lord. Therefore, as long as you leave, there will be no problems. If anyone here wants to leave, you may go at any time. When we fled here, I checked. We do not treat those who leave as traitors or enemies. You may take your precious ones with you and leave freely.]
However, no one showed any intention of moving.
Weishun grinned and said,
“Haha, even the Sect Lord told us last time not to leave the White Sound Realm because he wasn’t satisfied, and yet we all survived every trial and escaped. The disciples who left the Wugeuk Sect back then are probably regretting it and hitting their chests right about now.”
His words continued.
“The Sect Lord saying something like that means he has some conviction, doesn’t he?”
I let out a bitter laugh at those words.
[Correct. There is conviction. But… this time it’s not that grand.]
*Uuuung―*
I revealed my realm through the flow of the river.
And I explained the shortcut as well.
[After successfully accumulating all the shrinkage, I will flee once more. This time it won’t just be a change of region… I will go to an entirely different world. Can you follow?]
At my words, they looked at one another.
Weishun stroked his chin and said,
“Indeed, our ghosts have trained the most well in the Ghost Realm.”
[Yeah, you’re still…]
“But what the ghosts fear most is… the power of the Underworld.”
He grinned.
“And the ‘body’ that allows us to escape the power is an extremely precious thing that cannot be casually traded even among family. Yet the Sect Lord gave us those ‘bodies’ for free. Because of the ‘techniques’ and ‘blessings,’ we’ve grown stronger step by step. Honestly, that kindness is something I can’t even put into words.”
[…]
“Until we repay that kindness, who would dare leave the sect?”
[…It wasn’t particularly difficult for me, and I didn’t give them anything valuable. I just gave them puppet bodies at will.]
“If the recipient is happy, isn’t that enough? Haha, we receive what we want, and we stay in the sect of our own free will…”
*Thud, thud, thud, thud!*
All the Guardian Ghost Kings, even the newly arrived Baek Rin, who had only just received the techniques and blessings, knelt.
“Please accept us!”
I looked at them and trembled slightly.
[…I understand.]
I gave a faint smile.
[Then come with me for a longer journey.]
At my words, everyone answered in unison with a resounding “Yes!”
I withdrew my smile and spoke solemnly.
[Guardian Hong Beom, Vice Guardian Kim Yeon, hear this! Bring the Echo Realm here and land it on this land! From now on, we will stay on this continent! The two guardians, manage the Echo Realm!]
“Yes!”
“Understood!”
[Vice Guardian Oh Hyun-seok, Great Guardian Jeon Myeong-hoon, hear this! From now on, the Sect Lord will enter closed-door cultivation for a long time to accumulate shrinkage. Until now we have done it gradually and slowly, but from now on we will accumulate it properly with proper consciousness! Until then, you will have to protect me perfectly!]
“Yes!”
“Yes!”
*Ku gu gu gu gu!*
The guardians and ghost kings brought the Echo Realm and began landing it on this land. I watched the solemn scene from below and my eyes shone.
*Soon, every power in the Ghost Realm will come looking for this place. I tried to get along well with the Black Bone Palace, but if the true monarchs still have influence there, it’s meaningless. I’m sorry to Yu Hwa, but I can’t send him away for now.*
We had truly become public figures in the Ghost Realm.
Not just three great powers—our power would even reach the Heavenly Dao Pavilion.
And whereas before we had sent only a few Core Formation cultivators to hunt demonic cultists, from now on we would designate the entire Wugeuk Sect as “public enemies” and charge in.
If the true monarchs, who had rooted themselves in the Underworld over countless years, moved their forces, the result was obvious.
*They would all truly throw themselves at us with sincere hearts!*
Before they could gather, I would accumulate shrinkage as fast as possible and open the shortcut to return to the Gwanghan Realm.
*This time, without fail…!*
I would not let my companions die easily.
---
Ham-jin sat in his place, breathing in deeply as he recalled the past.
He had been just one of the ordinary beggars born in Yu-hwa Country in the corner of the Ping-yun Continent.
Even in Yu-hwa Country, born in a remote border region, he had no grand dreams and simply hoped to grow strong enough to do some work.
However, that dream shattered the day the bandit gang raided the village.
But Ham-jin modified his goal just a little.
After all, it was a worthless life. Modifying the goal wouldn’t make him die anyway.
Ham-jin thought as he was sold to a slave trader.
*If I can just find a decent owner and work, that would be good.*
And Ham-jin was sold to a water master.
That water master was a vicious water master who cultivated demonic arts.
Ham-jin’s goal shattered again.
Still, he didn’t tire and modified the goal once more.
He thought while being experimented on by the demonic water master who called himself his teacher.
*If I can just survive as an experimental subject after a little experimentation, I can go home.*
And Ham-jin’s goal shattered again.
Because while the teacher was away, he had seen the research logs in the books and experiments the teacher usually studied.
The teacher was turning his disciples into experiments, creating the most suitable bodies for demonic arts from among them, and planning to “swap” them into those bodies.
And at the time, forty disciples had survived.
Of those, Ham-jin was the “top-tier” body in the teacher’s eyes.
His cultivation at Qi Condensation layers one and two made no difference.
He had just realized he possessed a special physique called the Ghost Furnace Body.
The Ghost Furnace Body was said to be the ideal vessel for communicating with the great beings of the Upper Realm, easily gaining their favor, and perfectly suited to borrowing their power.
The teacher wanted to borrow power from the great beings of the Upper Realm and one day become a non-cultivator.
That was why he was targeting his own body.
The moment he learned the truth, Ham-jin’s goal changed again.
*I want to live!*
This time, it wasn’t “just a little.”
*I really want to live.*
It was a worthless life, but even so, dying without achieving anything was too much.
It was unbearably unjust.
*I will live! I will definitely live!*
From that day on, Ham-jin secretly stole the teacher’s books and read them.
And he learned how to communicate with the great beings of the Upper Realm.
*If I make an offering to them, I must be the perfect vessel to borrow their power?*
Then it was simple. Just use them.
So Ham-jin took the gap when the teacher was away and chose the book called “The Great Ghost King Offering Scripture” from the teacher’s collection and made the offering.
And he met the “great being.”
That being asked something strange of Ham-jin, took possession of his body, flew up to the heavens, looked around, and tried to pull out the entire valley where Ham-jin lived. When Ham-jin resisted, it returned.
And in return for taking his body, it gave him a strange “sensation.”
*Uuuung―*
Ham-jin opened his eyes.
Countless yin and yang energies swirled around him.
The great being had said it would return in three months.
Ham-jin was terrified of that being!
The Ghost King with nineteen faces, shedding bloody tears while tending to the curse flower field!
A great being who appeared terrifying even in dreams.
Ham-jin gritted his teeth.
Still, even if it was that kind of being, it was better than the teacher who wanted to steal his entire life.
“O great one…”
Ham-jin prayed to the being while the teacher was away.
“Please descend upon me.”
*Ku gu gu gu gu!*
He fell into a pure white space.
It was a familiar place.
Inside his spirit world.
And he saw nineteen-headed shadows entering a corner of the pure white space. With a trembling heart, he knelt.
“O great one, what do you desire from me?”
Ham-jin had felt it from before, but he knew that being wanted to do something through him.
*The great beings are supposed to grant wishes only by receiving something precious or accepting a lifespan. But if that one wanted something from the start…*
He wondered if he didn’t even have to give his lifespan!
Without knowing what he was thinking, the being with nineteen heads looked at Ham-jin and asked.
[Did you use the sensation I gave you well last time?]
“Yes? Ah, yes! I’ve been using it really well.”
Word for word.
Even though it was a demonic being’s sensation, Ham-jin was using it far too usefully.
The simple reason he had been able to read the Great Ghost King Offering Scripture from his teacher’s collection was this:
While the teacher was experimenting in the research room next to the collection, one experimental subject exploded, shattering not only the research room but the formation that had been spread across the entire collection.
At that time, Ham-jin had secretly taken the scripture through the broken formation.
But from that moment on, he no longer needed to wait for such luck.
Because the heaven-and-earth spiritual energy was so clear that it caught the sensation!
He could predict how the formation would react based on exactly how he had spread it and which parts to touch to make it ring.
He read the heaven-and-earth spiritual energy and avoided the formation to pass in and out of the teacher’s collection almost every day.
There was no fear of being monitored or the teacher suddenly bursting in.
Because the heaven-and-earth spiritual energy warned of danger!
He just had to keep that sensation of the heaven-and-earth spiritual energy in check!
He even boldly stole the teacher’s spiritual medicine storehouse once or twice.
Thanks to that, Ham-jin’s cultivation had skyrocketed, reaching Qi Condensation layer three.
“Truly, truly helpful. I am grateful for such noble kindness.”
[It was helpful… I am glad.]
*Ossik!*
Ham-jin felt a chill run down his spine from the terrifying being’s voice.
He was afraid that being might suddenly say “You’ve grown well!” and eat him.
But Ham-jin swallowed and waited for the rest of the words.
[Well, you’ve grown magnificently. Very good. You’ve already reached Qi Condensation layer three… With your body, I can exert my authority a little more…]
The shadow with thirty-eight eyes spoke with a chuckle.
[But it’s not enough. From observing this valley through your body, I’ve realized the valley is quite heavy…]
He opened thirty-eight eyes and said.
[I want… the power beneath this valley.]
*Ku gu gu gu gu!*
The shadow clenched its hand.
Ham-jin’s spirit world began to shake violently.
No, not just that.
Ham-jin realized the “outside” world was actually shaking.
The entire valley was experiencing an earthquake simply because that being had clenched its hand!
[Kid… and to grasp that power, I need your help.]
“What… may I help with?”
*Huuuum…*
The great being bowed its head slightly toward Ham-jin.
*Ku gu gu gu!*
Just that made his spirit world darken.
[You’re still… far too weak. A normal water master would need at least the Nascent Soul realm to properly receive even one-tenth of my authority.]
“…!”
Ham-jin opened his mouth in shock at those words.
*Wait, Nascent Soul…*
Even his teacher had only reached Core Formation!
The teacher who was grinding his teeth, determined to reach the Nascent Soul realm in this lifetime.
Ham-jin’s mind went blank the moment he heard the word Nascent Soul.
[But thanks to your special physique, you seem to be able to receive my power a little better. With your physique, you should be able to accept my power even more easily. If you reach only Core Formation, you should be able to receive one-tenth of my power. Then I can use your body to completely pull this troublesome valley out and obtain what’s beneath it…]
Fortunately, Core Formation was a realm Ham-jin could look up to, though it was still far away.
But even that was distant.
“I’m sorry, O great one. To reach Core Formation, I will have to cultivate day and night for the next two hundred years. And my teacher will soon take my body away in just a few years…”
His eyes trembled with fear.
The worst ending flashed through his mind.
His teacher had already reached Core Formation. After stealing Ham-jin’s body, he would transplant his golden pill into Ham-jin’s body, then immediately reach the Core Formation realm.
Then that being could draw power and be satisfied, and the teacher could borrow the great being’s power and be satisfied!
The only one who would be unfairly dealt with would be Ham-jin, who was still only at Qi Condensation layer three!
Just as Ham-jin was sweating, the great being spoke kindly.
[Don’t worry. I came to help you, so I won’t betray you. But two hundred years is too long. I don’t have that much time to wait either, just like you.]
“Th-then…”
The shadow, with thirty-eight eyes blazing, held one of its heads in one hand and looked at Ham-jin.
[Then I’ll have to use a shortcut.]
The shadow chuckled.
[One year. From now on, I will turn you into Foundation Establishment within one year.]
“Yes…!?”
Ham-jin’s eyes widened in utter disbelief at the absurd proposal.
Foundation Establishment? Was that some kid’s prank realm?
But the being spoke as if offering him breakfast.
[As payment for that power, you will give me the bottom of this valley and the “power” guarded by the dragon veins of this entire country.]
“Th-to obtain that, you said I would have to pull out the valley, didn’t you?”
[To simply obtain power, yes. I know you don’t have that much power. But instead of lacking power, you are a resident of this world. Use the technique I teach you to weave the dragon veins of this valley. Gather all the power in this area into your grasp. Weave the dragon veins like weaving clothes or nets, and weave the formation I teach you.]
The shadow laughed.
[When the time comes, I will activate the formation. The dragon veins will move and lead me with their “power.” How about it? Will you accept my offer?]
After listening to the shadow’s proposal, Ham-jin turned his head.
And he realized.
No matter how he turned his head, there was no better offer than this.
And without borrowing this being’s power, he would inevitably have his body stolen and die.
There was no better offer!
And he was in a position where he had to grab even a rotten rope.
*I can’t choose.*
Finally, Ham-jin made his decision and said firmly,
“Yes, I understand. I will follow the words of the great one!”
*Huhu, good. Since you’ve decided, engrave the knowledge I give you.*
*Whisper, whisper, whisper…*
Ham-jin communicated with the great being and received the knowledge it descended.
---
*Ptuk!*
“Tsk, another experimental subject died.”
In Yu-hwa Country, there were beings called the “Three Great Sage Gods.”
The legendary Core Formation water masters of Yu-hwa Country were them, and among them, the strongest of demonic arts, called “Demon God.”
Heikyo Yomok Yumok!
He looked at the dead experimental subject with a mildly dissatisfied expression, then suddenly slammed his fist down on the altar where the subject had been placed.
“Damn it! Again a failure! Why are my disciples so weak! What kind of useful body will I get with this!”
The roar of his anger echoed throughout the entire Juek Valley.
His frustrated disciples, barely at Qi Condensation, trembled inside the valley.
“Damn it, damn it, damn it! Only thirty-nine are left! Why is there no one showing results!?”
Yumok chewed his lips and pulled his hair.
He burned the corpse of the experimental subject who had died from anger, then shouted.
“Gather immediately! You useless things!”
At his words, his disciples quickly gathered in front of the eastern side of the valley.
Yumok looked at his disciples.
Besides two who had reached Qi Condensation layer six, everyone was at Qi Condensation layer one or two, and some hadn’t even properly completed the Qi Condensation stage.
“These useless things! Why were you born without useful talent! Why!? Your trash-like lives are only valuable when extending the lifespan of beings like me, the Sage God!!!”
*Kwaang, kwaang!*
He threw everything in the research room at disciples below Core Formation, then shouted.
Even so, he was still angry, so he started beating the Qi Condensation layer one and two disciples.
After a while, only about three healthy disciples remained inside his research room.
Wije of Qi Condensation layer six.
Yu-eun of the same level.
And Ham-jin of Qi Condensation layer three.
Looking at Wije and Yu-eun of Qi Condensation layer six, Yumok said with eyes bloodshot.
“You guys should be ready to take the Seven-Star Ceremony soon, right? If you haven’t reached that level today, I’ll grind you into pills!”
At those words, the two disciples trembled and nodded.
“Yes, yes, Master! We’ve all completed layer six. The Seven-Star Ceremony will finish us!”
“Same here!”
“Hmph, foolish kids…”
He looked at them with a dissatisfied gaze, then finally stared at Ham-jin.
*Huuuum…*
He slowly approached Ham-jin, felt his body everywhere, opened his mouth, and checked his teeth.
“Good… you’re very healthy. Do you brush your teeth well these days?”
“Yes, yes. Thanks to the good salt you gave me last time, I brush them clean every day and make sure my breath smells good.”
“Mm, you should already be used to bathing, and you’ve been exercising diligently, right?”
“Yes. Recently, my muscles seem to be starting to grow.”
*Huhu, very good. Very good. And look… oh, amazing. You’ve already reached the middle of Qi Condensation layer three?*
“Yes…”
“Hahahaha! Magnificent. But as I’ve said many times, don’t just focus on training—go out and get some sunlight, and do your best to build a healthy, sound body.”
“…Understood.”
Yumok stroked Ham-jin’s head with a kind expression.
It looked like he was treating a precious favorite disciple.
However, no one in this place envied or glared at Ham-jin with jealousy.
Rather, whenever Yumok stroked him with the attitude of handling a precious item, everyone looked at Ham-jin with pity.
No one among Yumok’s disciples was unaware that Yumok had marked Ham-jin as half the target for the body-swapping technique.
“Well, I’ll go out for a bit because of material collection. While I’m gone, clean the entire research room again.”
After stroking Ham-jin, without even looking at his disciples, Yumok grabbed the Juek Valley and left the eastern side.
He used the Cloud Escape Technique to exit the valley.
*…Since the earthquake, Ham-jin has become strange.*
Yumok frowned.
Several months ago, a huge earthquake had struck the Juek Valley.
Thanks to that, the few materials he had barely obtained had flown away, and he had to run around frantically.
But the problem was that after the earthquake, Ham-jin had changed a little strangely.
Previously, he had hidden in the teacher’s collection many times to steal books.
Of course, Yumok knew and left it alone.
After all, Ham-jin’s body would become his in a few years.
But after the earthquake, Ham-jin never hid in the collection again.
The formations he had cleverly layered over the collection had all functioned perfectly.
And today.
Today, because of another sudden earthquake, the experiment he was conducting had failed, and the experimental subject had died without results.
And again, Ham-jin had become strange.
Normally, when Yumok groped his body, Ham-jin would pretend to be unaffected but would panic.
But today was different.
*No reaction at all.*
No, beyond no reaction, it felt like Ham-jin was looking down on him.
*Why did that brat suddenly change? Huum… that brat is hiding something from me. He has some scheme.*
Yumok thought for a moment, then grinned.
“So… it’s that. The secret beneath the valley. The strange power that caused the earthquake and made Ham-jin, whose physique is easily affected by external forces, affected by that strange power.”
Yumok clenched his fist with a greedy expression.
“If I just get that power, maybe reaching Core Formation isn’t a dream! With that power and Ham-jin’s body, I might reach the Nascent Soul realm this life! Huahaha, after reaching Nascent Soul, offering his body to beings from another world to borrow power—Heavenly Person is nothing!”
Heikyo Yomok Yumok.
He burst into laughter and left the Juek Valley.
“I will become not just a Sage God whose name is spoken, but a ‘real’ Sage God!”
---
*Ti-ing―*
A clear wave spread from somewhere.
It was from the realm of the Submerged Sea where my consciousness had gone.
From that Submerged Sea, someone’s lifespan was being pulled toward this side.
I accepted the lifespan and converted it into shrinkage and accumulated it.
Recently, I had almost fused with the Gongryeong-ji, stretching my consciousness across numerous lower realms and receiving countless offerings faster and faster.
Even just the offerings I received today were already three times.
Of course, two of them were from wicked demonic cultists, so I received no price and instead burst their heads.
A third of the countless offerings were like this.
Demonic arts practitioners who offered sacrificial victims.
I had always ignored the offerings they gave, so my accumulation of shrinkage wasn’t particularly fast.
But even so, because I had fused with the Gongryeong-ji and stretched my consciousness into the lower realms in earnest, the shrinkage was accumulating quite quickly.
*…Strange.*
However, recently, while looking at the rapidly accumulating shrinkage, I thought this.
More precisely, after facing the Gaeyeol true monarchs.
*The Gaeyeol true monarchs pulled my consciousness out to the surface using power.*
That method was so similar to what I was doing now—stretching my consciousness into the lower realms and pulling the spirits of my contractees into the consciousness world—that it was almost the same.
Because my contractees were “connected” to me, I could connect with them anytime and pull them in.
And that fact made one inference possible.
*To pull someone using power, “giving” is necessary.*
Giving my power.
Giving them benefit.
Only by performing such an act could my spirit connect with theirs via power, and only then could I pull them in without offerings at any time.
The evidence was that I had formed no “connection” at all with the demonic water masters who had simply crushed, summoned, caused earthquakes and tsunamis, poured out curses, and inflicted irreversible fatal wounds without giving anything.
*If even those wicked beings had a connection, I’d have to go find them every time to push back the backlash—that would be a pity.*
In short, those who performed the “giving” act had formed a connection with me via power, while those who did not had not.
And the “giving” act meant fortune (blessing).
The fact that a connection was formed between me and someone via power through a “giving” act meant that fortune was the true essence of power.
Why did beings from Four Pillars onward handle power?
I seemed to understand that reason a little through this inference.
Because from Four Pillars onward, beings gained the qualification to manage fortune (blessing), and sharing fortune meant connecting with other people.
And connecting with other people meant power.
*But if I thought that way, the fact that the Gaeyeol true monarchs pulled me in using power was strange.*
They had never given me any fortune. They had only scattered backlash.
And yet they had pulled me in.
*Then I could think of two possibilities.*
They had given me fortune without my consent at some point.
Or, they had summoned me not because of fortune, but because of calamity.
*Calamity is not a real thing.*
It was simply referring to the situation where fortune was absent.
“Giving calamity” was nothing more than an expression; in reality, it was closer to “taking away existing fortune.”
But I could not connect with those who had taken my fortune from me.
If they had never given me fortune, how had they connected with me?
*…Had they called me “with the intention of giving fortune”?*
I now finally understood the principle by which the true monarchs had pulled my spirit up to the surface in an instant.
The contractees and I give each other what we need.
Thus, power is formed between us.
Just as the lower-realm spirit lords made offerings to me with the Great Ghost King Offering Scripture and called my spirit, the Gaeyeol true monarchs had also performed a summoning ritual from the surface.
The calling of the lower-realm spirit lords was so slight that I didn’t have to respond if I didn’t want to, and I didn’t need to accept the summoning.
However, the voices of the true monarchs were so enormous and their power so strong that I had no choice but to be pulled in.
*The way the lower-realm spirit lords transmitted their calls was under the concept of “giving” something. The act of giving is only said that way because of our realm difference, but in reality it is nothing more than giving and receiving. In short, the Gaeyeol true monarchs performed a ritual of “giving” fortune to me to call me down. That way, they could connect with me as if I were “behind” them…*
“….”
When that thought developed.
I reached a conclusion about [something].
*Wait a second.*
If giving and receiving fortune was the essence of power.
The way Su, Bu, Gang-nyeong, and Yu Ho-deok gave and received what they needed from the lower-realm beings and [connected with them] to obtain each concept was.
But let’s think.
“…From the beginning… if my lifespan was simply ‘given’ to the Ghost Realm and the Ghost Realm ‘gave’ shrinkage to me…”
Wouldn’t power be formed between the Ghost Realm and me?
The Ghost Realm symbolized lifespan, so wouldn’t the power directly connected to it truly be shrinkage?
*One shrinkage requires ten thousand years of lifespan.*
The lifespan given with each shrinkage was also ten thousand years.
“Ah… ha ha… hahahahaha!”
The Four Pillars water master received fifty thousand years of lifespan.
Ten thousand years when first reaching Four Pillars.
And ten thousand years for each additional shrinkage.
*I understand.*
My thought, which had developed from the simple essence of power and the Gaeyeol true monarchs’ method, had finally reached a conclusion that even “demonic cultists who live their entire lives grinding teeth for longevity fruit and immortality” would absolutely never accept.
“The ‘real’ name of Four Pillars… is not Four Pillars.”
I now knew the ‘real’ name of Four Pillars.