Soar, Yeon-hun!
Kugugugugugugug!
The gravitational pull grew even stronger. It was the force of the Curse, and the power of the Mountain God had begun to pull us inexorably toward a swamp. Kugugugugug!
The moment we slipped out of the Goryeok Realm and entered the Void Space, I felt countless terrifying spirits gathering in front of us. ‘This is insane…’
The entire Void Space was filled with corpses of the Four Pillars realm. Heavenly Persons were nowhere to be seen. Even Integration level ones numbered in the thousands. But that was not the real problem. Kwoong—
Far away, from that distant place, I felt three overwhelming presences and broke into a cold sweat. It was truly overwhelming energy! The power of the Mountain God, the Light God, the Heavenly Venerable of Time, or the Venerable of Eternal Life had been beyond my comprehension—terrifying—but the presences that appeared from afar were so large that even their size became comprehensible, making them even more overwhelming. I could never defeat those existences. Kwoong—
Three presences. They were three Venerable-level spirits. Kwoong—
They had not even revealed their forms, yet their mere presence was terrifying. The spirits of the Void Space were themselves the bodies or husks of the True Humans. It was because of that that they had withstood heaven and earth for countless eons. They were the symbol of anti-heaven, yet they were also the world itself. Because the subject that received heaven and earth and the subject that descended from them had become one, when heaven and earth entered the spirits’ bodies, the heaven and earth inside them multiplied without end and exploded. But I could feel it. After the Creation of Heaven and Earth, the Venerables had the role of generating heaven and earth spiritual energy and spitting out the constellations of the universe. Even if the Venerable-level spirits were to have heaven and earth amplified inside them, they could probably continue to generate heaven and earth spiritual energy and constellations for a long time. They would spit out heaven and earth spiritual energy or constellations equal to the amount of heaven and earth that was destroyed. ‘Damn it…’
In that case, even after defeating the Mountain God, it would only be fifty steps forward and a hundred steps back. There were thousands of Integration-level spirits; I could have pushed through them and escaped. But not these. Not these at all! Just then, I was watching in a daze the aura of the Venerable-level spirits coming from afar. Kwajik, kwajijijik!
A hole opened in my domain, and from inside it a thunderous giant body burst forth. Then, from inside it, Jeon Myeong-hoon burst out as well. “Jeon Myeong-hoon…” His eyes were dark. Not as dark as mine, but he was showing quite a bit of pain. Yet in the midst of the pain he was groaning and speaking. [I have always trusted you.] “….” [Since that time, over and over again. No matter what I say. No matter how much doubt there is.] “… I am…” [I still trust you.] Red light poured from his two eyes. [So, guide us this time as well.] “….” The red light turned into crimson lightning and wriggled like tears beneath his face. It looked as though red tears made of lightning were flowing down. [Over and over again we have failed, but in the end you have led us, haven’t you?] He stood before me. His domain unfolded, and from inside it the people who could immediately become my combat force—Kim Young-hoon, Oh Hyun-seok, Kim Yeon, and Buk Hyang-hwa—burst out. [Find the answer! Now!] With those words my companions turned their backs on me and began to protect me. They were buying me time to think. I looked at that scene, clicked my tongue, and clenched both fists. ‘The words are right.’ I had to find the answer. Whether I entered the Goryeok Realm again or descended to the lower realm, I had to find the answer no matter what! No matter how much I searched, saying there was no answer was only an excuse. I had to do anything! Uwoong—
With my desperate will, I squeezed my head and saw something appear in my eyes. “…That is…” It was the Star Vein Eye. “….” Right now, in the Void Space around us, there were a total of three lines of Star Vein Eyes. They were Star Vein Eyes spewed out by Star Shattering-level spirits. The Venerables were connected by Star Vein Eyes. But wasn’t that strange? There were three Star Shattering ones. Yet there were only three lines connecting them. The three Star Shattering Star Vein Eyes did not form a triangle. Like constellations, the spirits’ Star Vein Eyes were connected to something somewhere. The first spirit, the second spirit, the third spirit. Like that. And the third spirit and that ‘somewhere’ were connected by Star Vein Eyes. When Star Vein Eyes connect, it means there is a star at the end. ‘Thinking that the Venerables are connected by Star Vein Eyes, the Venerables themselves are probably also treated as one star.’ In other words, there might be another Star Shattering-level spirit in this place, or even higher realm spirits. But after staring at the end of that Star Vein Eye for a moment, I figured out the identity of the final Star Vein Eye that was connected to the Venerables. ‘Ah… I see.’ Crack—
I let out a dry laugh. When I thought about it, it was too obvious. I should have noticed it from the moment the Curse was given to me. I almost wanted to sit down right there and cry with emptiness and absurdity. But I could not. I had to prepare myself and challenge, but there was no time for that either. I had to go up right now and cut it down. Failure was annihilation. I told my companions. “Right now! We are going to the Venerable-level spirits down there!” [What?] Jeon Myeong-hoon looked at me with eyes that said I must have gone crazy. But after meeting my eyes he seemed to ponder for a moment and nodded. […Understood. It is not the end, right?] “Yeah, I will tell you the detailed plan.” I quickly transmitted my plan to my companions. “After we move to the lowest Venerable, we will follow my command and move through the Star Vein Eyes between the Venerables… I mean, roughly the gravitational pull. Using the gravitational pull between the Venerables, we will gradually move upward to the higher Venerables. After that, we must leap from the last Venerable even higher than that!” I did not have time to explain exactly what the plan was, and my companions did not even know our goal, but they nodded with sparkling eyes at my words. “Escaping between the Venerables will probably only be for a moment. The problem is that the energy is insufficient, so we can only do it once…” [Don’t worry.] Jeon Myeong-hoon’s eyes sparkled as he stretched six arms toward Kim Young-hoon. In an instant Kim Young-hoon was wrapped in six giant hands, but then crimson lightning from Jeon Myeong-hoon flowed into him and something changed. Kwajijijik! The Crimson Heavenly Tribulation changed into Golden Divine Thunder. [I do not know why, but my Crimson Heavenly Tribulation reacts and changes for you. It was something confirmed in the Water Realm as well.] “…Indeed, this golden lightning… is optimized for me to use.” He looked surprised and seemed to feel the golden lightning for a moment, then began to compress the golden lightning inside his body. [If the two of us combine our power, moving between the Venerables will be no problem. But the problem is moving all the way in front of the Venerables. We cannot waste energy until we move.] And with Jeon Myeong-hoon’s words, Buk Hyang-hwa shouted and transmitted her voice into my domain. A while later. Kugugugugug! Inside my domain, where Seo Ran had taken shelter, a ship appeared with the Seopmyeong Ship. “There are many things I want to ask, but… for now it is urgent, so I will follow!” Seo Ran said in a hurry and quickly handed over the command authority of the Seopmyeong Ship to Buk Hyang-hwa. Buk Hyang-hwa told Oh Hyun-seok and Kim Yeon. “You two must help me! Venerable King of Annihilation, use Seo Ran’s help to supply power in the power space of the Seopmyeong Ship, and when I make the Seopmyeong Ship go wild, Venerable King of Strange Ghosts, control the Seopmyeong Ship. With the power of the Seopmyeong Ship, we can surely reach right in front of the Venerables!” We quickly exchanged opinions and set off. Kugugugugug! Oh Hyun-seok became the power device of the Seopmyeong Ship and activated it, and Seo Ran opened the authority of the Seopmyeong Ship with his master’s authority. Through that authority Buk Hyang-hwa made the Seopmyeong Ship go wild, and Siho guarded Seo Ran and Buk Hyang-hwa on the deck of the Seopmyeong Ship. And Kim Yeon’s consciousness seeped into every part of the Seopmyeong Ship. Because of the wildness the Seopmyeong Ship, which had risen to Four Pillars level, began to rise even higher under Kim Yeon’s control. Originally, the Seopmyeong Ship was not a combat-use magic boat. In the Black Ghost Valley era, I heard from the Ghost King that the true purpose of the Seopmyeong Ship was to collect and store souls. And to transport them to the Myeonggwi Realm. And the Seopmyeong Ship had the ability to use its transport function to temporarily transport the hull itself to the outside of the Void Space or the Myeonggwi Realm and then perform space movement. Kugugugugug! It seemed a gloomy aura was spreading around the Seopmyeong Ship, and we entered the shallowest part of the outside of the Myeonggwi Realm in an instant. It was close to reality. Because it was very shallow. Even if the surroundings were just a little hazy, the spirits around us seemed unchanged. But I already knew. Why were ghosts scary? Because their attacks passed through us, but our attacks passed through theirs—unfair beings. Whoosh— whoosh—
The Four Pillar spirits poured attacks at us, but we completely deflected their attacks while in our transparent state. I, Kim Young-hoon, and Jeon Myeong-hoon had saved our power for the right time, and Kim Yeon piloted the Seopmyeong Ship and flew toward the Venerables at high speed. Kugugugugug! Heavenly Venerable level spirits flew in. Because each of their attacks carried the power of one hit, even at the outside of the Myeonggwi Realm they flew with a certain mass. And Kim Yeon moved her hand. Blink, blink! The main cannon of the Seopmyeong Ship fired. The main cannon of the Seopmyeong Ship, with greatly amplified ghost energy by the Wi Hyeon and Eum Wa couple, flew and pierced through the spirits’ bodies. Our attacks, which had not properly passed through the opponent, pierced with amplified power. Uwoowoon! “Go!” Kim Yeon frantically piloted the Seopmyeong Ship and rushed toward the Venerable-level spirits at high speed. Uwoong—
I saw the distant Venerable-level spirits. Instinctively I knew. No matter how far we were at the outside of the Myeonggwi Realm, it was useless against the Venerable-level spirits. But it did not matter. We had already arrived! Paaaat! I unfolded my domain, pulled Kim Young-hoon and Jeon Myeong-hoon and the entire Seopmyeong Ship inside my domain, and joined with them. [Crimson Heavenly Tribulation!] Kwajijijik! Crimson lightning swirled and hit Kim Young-hoon, turning into golden lightning and a character appearing on Kim Young-hoon’s back: Golden Divine Thunder. It was similar to the situation in the Water Realm. A Venerable raised a giant arm toward us. “Run!!” I shouted, and Kim Young-hoon raised his saber. In the next moment we saw a golden bird made of thunder and lightning. The golden bird carried me and quickly dodged the Venerable’s hand. I opened my Star Vein Eye and guided the golden bird toward the Venerable’s Star Vein Eye. Pazzijijik! Through the Star Vein Eye the golden bird flew to the next Venerable. A spirit shaped like a snake opened its jaws wide. The golden bird made a tail of thunder and lightning and dodged the snake-like spirit in midair, then again flew toward the last Venerable by my guidance. Uwoong! I raised the sensation of the Star Vein Eye even higher. The Star Vein Eye was strange. The more I rode it by chance, the closer I came to the essence of the Star Vein Eye and my consciousness rose to what kind of world. I roughly guessed what it was. Like how the Ghost Dao Gong method made my consciousness approach the outside of the Myeonggwi Realm. The more I recognized the Star Vein Eye, the more I rode it, the more my consciousness approached the realm of the Heavenly Venerable of Time. [Next!] I pulled up the power of my domain and released my voice. Finally, Kim Young-hoon and Jeon Myeong-hoon escaped from the last Venerable’s hand and rode the Star Vein Eye that connected to the unknown place. The Star Vein Eye and my consciousness merged, and my consciousness and vision were elevated to a higher level world. ‘Ah…’ It appeared. Far away. The star that had been connected to the Venerables. Kugugugugug! That star was spewing gravitational pull. The essence of that gravitational pull was the Curse. Tzuzuzuzut! There it was. That was exactly the essence of the Curse that had slowly begun to torment me since the Goryeok Realm. It had been a mysterious misfortune that had chased me for so long. ‘Thinking about it, when the Mugeuk Sect entered the Goryeok Realm, it caused tremendous shock waves and the vibration spread throughout the entire Goryeok Realm.’ It was a funny thing. Even if we calculated the mass of the Mugeuk Sect, Gwangum Region, Jeon Myeong-hoon, and me to be Integration Grand Completion level six, why would one Integration Grand Completion level six shaking the entire Heavenly Venerable Realm? It was really nonsense. The shock waves that swept the entire Goryeok Realm were not caused by us. It was the shock waves caused by that [star] that had chased us into the Goryeok Realm. The reason I saw gravitational pull in the Goryeok Realm without heaven. It was obvious. Because there were stars in the Goryeok Realm. Just as in the lower realm we used curse dolls when cursing, the existences of the Great Venerable Realm used stars when giving the Curse. Then, who had given me that star? Who had given me that Curse? I already knew. The fifty or so malice that blew from the star. The malice of the Myeonggwi Realm semi-selected ones who had peeked at the Dharma-Destroying True Word. In addition, the malice of the master of Taesan was added, making a powerful bundle of Curse that gave misfortune to me from a high level. Swirrring—
Kim Young-hoon and Jeon Myeong-hoon became my support. They did not understand what I was trying to do because they had no Star Vein Eye, but they knew that they trusted me. That alone was enough. I organized my righteousness. And with all my life’s will and energy squeezed, I prepared the technique of striking with the Venerable of Eternal Life’s power as a portion. Dan-ak Sword Art Thirty-first Form Accumulating Dust to Form a Mountain! Starting with horizontal slashes, vertical slashes, and stabs, all of my heaven and earth heart-breaking sword techniques merged. The Ten Thousand Phenomena Affinity Diagram that held my history shone clearly and misted the sword with hazy fog. But I knew this was not enough. I did not swing the sword of Accumulating Dust to Form a Mountain, but instead focused my soul while keeping it in my hand. Kiieeing—‘More.’ Kiieeing! ‘More!’ Paaaaat! “More!!” I compressed it. I compressed the Total Heavenly Sword, which had been compressed into an Invisible Sword, and kept pressing it with my own history itself until it became mad compression. The Total Heavenly Sword began to thin. The thing in front of my eyes was a star, but at the same time it was also a concept. To cut a concept, what I held had to turn into a concept as well. Kiieeing! The Total Heavenly Sword gradually began to thin. I recalled memories from a very long time ago. It was when I was very young. At the imperial palace, fighting with a Qi Condensation third star martial artist and realizing Sword Thread. I merged Sword Qi into my will. Thus, compressing the qi like threads of will. The Total Heavenly Sword in my hand was compressed with will. It required pressure completely different from when I compressed the Sword Qi. Like the line of will, I turned my sword into a painting. The sword art was the total of three things. Slash, stab, block. Slash became line, stab became point, block became surface. And the best form to do those three things actually had one more. I closed my eyes and then opened them half. In my hand, something was held. It was extremely thin, yet stronger than anything in the world. The first time I saw the line of will when entering the martial world. It was a form extremely similar to that. This was no longer a sword. Its name was… “The line of cutting is the same as cutting falsehood.” I felt the gaze of Taesan looking down at me from above. But it did not matter. I had already found my will. External pressure was not scary. Rather, I would cut off this fellow’s gaze from this place right now! The Total Heavenly Sword, which had become a line, began to heat up white. “Just as small salt grains gather to form the sea… stack the mountain by passing through falsehood.” Tzuzuzuzut! I lifted the Total Heavenly Sword. The Total Heavenly Sword shone the clearest in the world of the Star Vein Eye. “The only way to reach the sky the fastest is by stacking mountains of salt…” All who chanted this true word were annihilated. I can still feel it now. This true word was the power to call Taesan. By the Dharma-Destroying True Word, I felt that the gaze of Taesan looking at me was gradually becoming stronger and the gravitational pull between us began to form. If this was the case, I would live my whole life as a puppet to dance under Taesan’s master like Heon-won and die. “Hold each other’s hands, swallow salt together with everyone in the sea, and fly up with the wind.” Gradually I felt the gravitational pull between Taesan and me growing. If this was the case, perhaps Taesan would descend again. But at this part I twisted the true word. “Merging the will to make it formless…” Kiing— The correct sequence of the Dharma-Destroying True Word was twisted, and the gravitational pull became greatly misaligned. The whiteness of the Total Heavenly Sword remained, but most of the haughty qi felt from the sword evaporated. I did not care. After all, I had not thought of borrowing others’ things. What I had accumulated from the beginning was enough. I rather inferred the sequence of the true word and focused even more on the will. The whiteness of light seemed to be shining close to formlessness. Taat! I jumped from the golden bird that supported me and lifted the Total Heavenly Sword even higher. ‘Is it insufficient?’ I did not know. Could I cut the star? If I had melted the star over dozens of years with a curse, it might be possible, but cutting a star in one blow was a frightening thing no matter how much I was. The distance was ambiguous. If I could get just a little, just a little closer, I could surely cut it down! And at that moment. Taat! Hong Beom, who had escaped from my domain, pushed my back. “Please show it, Master.” “….” I smiled. “Embrace all relationships and become without permanence.” While chanting the Dharma-Destroying True Word that I had twisted, I swung what I held in my hand. “That is right…” I felt it. Taesan wanted to descend right now to trample me. But it would be cut here. Taesan’s gaze too. The misfortune that remained for us. Any fate that would come in the future. I would cut it down. My masters brushed past before my eyes. And I held the words of my masters in my chest and spat them out. Before my eyes, a pure giant who had sacrificed himself to sing righteousness appeared. -Having faith, touching the star. “The method of touching the star.” The Dharma-Destroying True Word twisted. At the same time, the star in front of my eyes shattered. The power of Taesan that had given me a gravitational pull and gaze was completely gone by the twisted Dharma-Destroying True Word that nullified the gravitational pull. The salt mountain came out of my arms. It had been my lifelong treasure that had been refined for a long time, but I did not think of catching it. How could I rely on such an external object. What I had accumulated was already inside me. The Curse that surrounded us had now disappeared. Taesan’s gaze was also cut away with our inspection. What remained now was only to forge ahead. Plop! I, with my domain and soul and body all in tatters, spit blood while supported by Kim Young-hoon, Jeon Myeong-hoon, and Hong Beom. “H-have we, have we done it, Seo Eun-hyun!?” Jeon Myeong-hoon asked urgently. I smiled faintly. “…We will do it.” “No damn it… the Venerable-level spirits are fine! What about the thousands of Integration-level spirits! Damn it! What did you do?!” “How… ever… it will… work…” Words did not come out. My whole body felt crushed. But we could escape. The Curse that had surrounded us had disappeared. Kugugugung! In my eyes I saw the star of the Curse I had cut exploding. With the Curse gone, the aftershock of the explosion blew wind. It was the favorable wind of fate. And. Paaaat! Yoo Yo came out from my domain. She looked back at me and my companions and bowed her head. “…Thank you for until now.” I sensed her intention and asked. “Are you all right?” “…For me, that place is home.” She offered us a bow and quickly flew up to the salt mountain. When she arrived at the salt mountain, the salt mountain shone brightly. At the same time the miniature salt mountain and the palace of salt crystals enlarged again. She arrived at the peak of that salt mountain. “…Are you all right?” I asked again. This time it was not toward Yoo Yo, but toward Baek Rin. Baek Rin, who had escaped from my domain, smiled faintly. “…Please take good care of Si Hyeon and Eum Wa.” “Understood. Go.” “Your virtue was immense.” After finishing his words, Baek Rin quickly flew and stood next to Yoo Yo. Baek Rin was a being that was loved in his own way. Not only by Wi Hyeon and Eum Wa, but also by the teachers. The previous disciples of Baek Maekmun who had become teachers. But now they were gone. So he had only gone to chase those among the remaining who he loved most. I read Baek Rin’s resolve. Even if the world ahead was a fantasy, he had the resolve that his feelings for her were real. Baek Rin held Yoo Yo’s hand in front of the palace and looked back at us. Then the two sea demons who had looked at each other and laughed. No, the two people entered the palace. In the last moment. Before my eyes, the two people were not the ghost with only bones left and the wanton sea demon, but a neat young man and a pure princess. Blink! The two crossed to another world, the favorable wind of fate blew and pushed us, and the formation of Bongrae Island activated. [Kiiiaaaaa!] [Kikeggeggeggek!] [Kweongeeee!] The Venerable-level spirits and Heavenly Venerable-level spirits were sucked into the formation and disappeared all at once. They no longer chased us. In a world where we could not know whether it was a fantasy or real, we would live forever. “I will not… forget you…” I looked at our companions who were leaving us again, yet who had not met their final end, and laughed with tears. With the favorable wind of fate, so until we arrived in the Gwanghan Realm. I cried and laughed with the sense of loss and joy and emotions that could not be expressed in words. And so, the long Heavenly Venerable Realm pilgrimage finally came to an end.