A Face-to-Face Meeting (Part 2)
Chirrrrr… chirrrrr…
I recognized the being before me and felt a chill creep all the way into the depths of my heart.
Exactly as the words suggested.
The existence inside the Jade Palace before my eyes was nothing less than the world itself.
The more I tried to comprehend it, the more my consciousness felt like it was sinking into a swamp.
It was not the pressure of might, but a sense of utter despair that rose first.
The administrator of Gwanghan Realm.
Saintess Baek-woon.
I knelt without realizing it and prostrated myself before Saintess Baek-woon in worship.
“I, Seo Eun-hyun of the Human Dao, beg to be allowed to present myself before the Saintess.”
Clang!
With the sound of something bouncing, I suddenly found myself once again inside the Jade Palace.
I was standing in a grand hall vast enough to hold an entire star.
‘This power…’
I had once witnessed a power that pulled someone else’s consciousness, extracted it, and brought it before me.
Those were the abilities of the True Immortals.
Of the Gaeyeol True Immortals.
That meant…
‘The being before my eyes is, in truth, on par with the True Immortals.’
I gulped down my saliva.
Even if the Saintess tried to disperse my soul and kill me right now, I wouldn’t be able to resist… or so I thought.
Still, it was clear that whatever stood before me right now could harm me at any moment.
“How have I been called by the Saintess despite being nothing more than a mortal?”
The Saintess’s clear voice echoed through the palace in response to my question.
[Raise your head.]
I lifted my head with trembling resolve.
And what I saw was a giant.
Kugugu gugugu!
A giant whose upper body alone was two or three ri long sat on a jade throne carved from white jade, looking down at me.
The Saintess’s skin showed patches of tree-like bark, and her head was dotted with white tree branches sprouting from every corner.
She wore a pure white robe, and from her eyes flowed faint streams of starlight.
I watched her for a moment and realized the vision was an illusion.
Hik!
Snapping out of it, I focused my consciousness, and the giant in my vision vanished.
In its place, a withered, tree-like old man sat on a small jade throne, his appearance pathetic.
It was as if a scarecrow made of withered wood had been draped in a woman’s clothes.
Seven lightning spears of different colors were embedded in her chest and abdomen, flickering with faint lightning as they bound her movements.
Gold, scarlet, azure, purple, pale pink, black-red, and pitch black lightning crackled wildly, chaining her in place.
Baek-woon Saintess nodded slightly and spoke.
[As expected… even your body size is at the Void Shattering stage. You saw through my qi and gazed directly into my true body.]
“…”
I stared at those lightning spears and felt an inexplicable certainty that I knew who truly owned them.
My eyes met those of the Saintess.
Her body was as withered as a tree, yet the eyes remained exactly as they had been in the illusion—clear eyes brimming with starlight.
The vision I had seen moments ago must have been her true form from her youth.
[Do you know why I called you? You, a traveler from a cursed world.]
“…”
Too many possibilities swirled in my mind, leaving me unable to grasp the truth.
As I broke into a cold sweat, she let out a cold laugh.
It was not as powerful as the laughter of Void Shattering Venerables, but I felt far more danger from it.
While the Venerables’ laughter carried unrestrained strength, the Saintess’s laughter felt like she had perfectly restrained that vast power, leaving only pure amusement.
A danger even more restrained than the Venerables’.
That was what the Saintess was.
[You survived even after meeting the arrogant Lord.]
“…”
The title was slightly off, but I instantly knew whom she meant.
She must have already learned that I had faced the Lord of Taesan and lived.
“Yes.”
[The fierce Imperial Immortal would not have left without reason.]
“…”
I was startled by her words.
She mentioned “Imperial Immortal” so casually.
My expression changed slightly, and she tilted her head.
[The reason we cannot casually recognize or speak the names of True Immortals is that it creates a karmic connection. Beings of lesser cultivation will die from shock because of that connection. But as someone of my level, I can remove the power hidden in the title and speak freely.]
Then I can casually discuss them without much difficulty.]
“I see.”
[So, will you answer my question?]
I swallowed hard.
I had crossed nineteen thousand years of time using the power of the Heavenly Venerable of Time, only to be caught by the Mountain God and nearly killed.
Speaking is simple.
But so many Imperial Immortals were tied to this conversation.
Even if Baek-woon could control the karmic link from my words, controlling the links of so many beings seemed impossible.
She clicked her tongue at my answer and tapped the armrest of her throne.
“…”
I spoke to the Saintess.
“Though that is the case, if you have no more words, may I ask one favor?”
[What is it?]
“I wish to enter the interior of Gwanghan Realm. Please help me subdue her and restore the cycle of cause and effect.”
She responded.
[Why should I do that…?]
“…”
I stared at her in confusion.
“Ah, no… She is not sentient. She is a Void Shattering-level existence. As it stands, I cannot stop her. And the Saintess… as far as I know, you are the one who guards the Gwanghan Realm…?”
[I seem to have misunderstood something.]
She clicked her tongue.
[You, a traveler from a cursed world, are here to manage the Gwanghan Realm, not to protect the lives within it.]
“That is… never mind.”
I tried to understand her words but remembered time was running out and shouted.
“If you have no more words, please return me! I will stop her—even with my own hands!”
[I cannot do that. I must first check whether you carry the karma of the arrogant Lord. If you are his puppet, releasing you would bring about the end of the world.]
I understood what she meant.
It was the intuition I had felt when facing the Lord of Taesan.
Yet I could not withdraw.
Zutzutzutzu-
I drew upon the power of the Dharma-Destroying True Word and scattered salt-like spiritual energy around me.
I had no intention of using the Dharma-Destroying True Word lightly.
This was purely for intimidation.
“Release me at once. I must go and stop her. Otherwise I will detonate it.”
It was a crude threat.
I had learned the Lord of Taesan’s ferocity to the bone, and I had sworn never to misuse my connections with True Immortals again.
Nevertheless, it did not seem like a mere threat to her.
She trembled slightly and spoke with a gentle tone.
[If you are worried about time, do not be.]
Clang!
Uwoong!
I felt an inexplicable distortion of the surrounding environment and heightened my tension.
Her next words made my tension unbearable.
[I have accelerated your consciousness a hundredfold.]
Time to talk will be available for now.]
“…”
She casually pulled someone else’s consciousness and accelerated it.
I had once done the same in Kim Yeon’s dream, but that was because it was inside her dream.
Baek-woon Saintess possessed the power to casually interfere with someone else’s consciousness in reality.
[Within this accelerated consciousness, I will investigate the karmic link in your soul.]
It is not a true investigation, but if you have questions, ask them. I will answer as much as I know.]
She would investigate me in the accelerated world and then grant me freedom from my consciousness.
I nodded after a moment of thought.
“Very well. Then, first, why did you allow the Ghost Army that massacred the lives of Gwanghan Realm to remain, and why did you allow the Void Refinement Ghost Dao Holy Mother to swallow the Gwanghan Realm?”
[I told you. I am the administrator of the Gwanghan Realm, not its protector.]
“What does that mean?”
[Hmmm…]
She paused as if thinking, then spoke.
[To explain this, I will need to speak at length.]
Do you know the significance of the existence of the Saintesses?]
“I know nothing beyond the fact that they are administrators of the world.”
[Why do you think we manage the world?]
“How would I know that?”
[Haha… arrogant. Listen carefully. The Saintesses begin their cultivation through the power of fate.]
“…”
The power of fate—that was something only True Immortals could wield?
‘No. When I think about it, even the Lesser Saints used the power of fate to grant me blessings.’
I wondered if I had reached a level where I could wield fate in the later stages of the middle realms.
[We cultivate by sensing the eight kinds of fate powers. And a vast world is essential for that process. The best is the middle realm, the second is the Star Realm, and the worst is being captured by a living True Immortal and turned into a slave.]
“…”
[Do you understand why the worst is specifically a living True Immortal?]
“…”
[If that is the case, we can also manage dead True Immortals… is that it…?]
Baek-woon nodded.
[Indeed. You would have guessed something similar.]
The middle realm of the Ilwol Cheonyeok, from which we came, is the corpses of dead True Immortals—except for one.]
“…”
I felt a shock, but since I had already suspected it, I simply sighed in understanding.
[Fifty thousand years ago, led by the great Gwanghan Heavenly King, four Underworld Heavenly Venerables, one Underworld Spy, and countless armies of the Underworld. Five Divine Beings and their countless servants and True Immortal armies descended upon our Ilwol Cheonyeok.]
The Gwanghan Heavenly King fought four Heavenly Venerables to prove his strength, then descended here to wage war.]
How wondrous.
Perhaps it was because she could control the power contained in her words.
The knowledge was dangerous, yet I felt no harm in listening.
[After fighting the four Heavenly Venerables, the Gwanghan Heavenly King waged war with something in the Ilwol Cheonyeok. But the Gwanghan Heavenly King’s forces, including the Underworld army, were utterly defeated.]
From fifty thousand years ago, her mouth—the origin of the Gwanghan Realm—began to flow.
[Do you know the poems of the Void Space? The flaws True Immortals shed when they advanced from Lesser Saints.]
Or their corpses… Even True Immortal-level beings occasionally give birth to poems from their bodies if they die wrongfully.]
And… the corpse of the tragically slain Gwanghan Heavenly King was an easy corpse to birth a poem from.]
If it were the poem of the Gwanghan Heavenly King, who had fought equally with four Heavenly Venerables, how terrifying would it be…?]
“…”
[A single poem could have destroyed the entire Ilwol Cheonyeok.]
That was why the Gaeyeol True Immortals of the Ilwol Cheonyeok gathered to discuss. “Someone must take on the bodies of the four Heavenly Venerables and the Gwanghan Heavenly King and become a Saintess to prevent the birth of poems.” “A tomb keeper is essential to manage their remains.”]
Baek-woon Saintess sighed.
[Thus, the corpse of the Gwanghan Heavenly King was taken by the Saintess of the Gwanghan Realm, the descendant of the Heavenly Venerable, Jeong-ryeo, who lowered her cultivation for a time. In the Goryeok Realm, Hae-yu, the son of the Goryeok True Army, was captured. In the Myeonggwi Realm, Yu-o, a subordinate of the Myeonggwi True Army. In the Jinma Realm, the former slave of the Underworld Demon True Army, Hyeol-eum. In the Purple Gold Realm, a child who had advanced to Saintess near the end of the formation was captured and brought in as a Saintess… And after time passed, Jeong-ryeo killed him and I lowered my cultivation to enter as a Saintess… Do you understand now?]
She clenched and opened her withered hands as she continued.
[I am not the protector of the lives of Gwanghan Realm. If I were still in the process of cultivation, I would have protected them through the power of fate. But I already understand the meaning of fate power, so there was no need.]
I am not protecting your lives, but binding the mass of this middle realm with the power of fate to prevent the world from dividing and spawning terrifying poems.]
“Then you will not help us?”
[I have done enough. Since I called Jang Ik, the bastard will arrive in about five hundred years.]
Five hundred years is enough to wait. Jang Ik’s clone will arrive and will handle the Ghost Army and the Void Shattering Ghost Dao Holy Mother.]
“Five hundred years of lives being massacred… is that what you call mercy?”
[Five hundred years is nothing. What are you worried about?]
The Saintess supported her chin with one hand and pointed at her abdomen.
[In any case, I suffered a fatal wound fighting Yang Su-jin’s left little finger twelve thousand years ago. I have no room to waste my strength. Calling Jang Ik is already the maximum mercy I can extend for the sake of your lives.]
“…”
I sighed as I comprehended the immense truth I had just learned.
Uwoong-
Paah!
I suddenly realized that something inside my body that I had not sensed had left.
[Investigation complete. The connected karmic link is not visible… You need not worry about the arrogant Lord suddenly reappearing.]
“Then you will release me now?”
Even though my consciousness had slowed, time had passed while listening to her.
It would not be long before Kang Min-hee arrived.
[I have one final question before I release you.]
“…”
I thanked her and began.
“Finally, you said I am a traveler from a cursed world.”
I wanted to ask why Yang Su-jin and Jeong-ryeo and others among the high existences treated the Water Realm so cruelly.
She had many other questions, but this one felt the most important.
She stiffened slightly and spoke.
[Do you know how the six middle realms are arranged?]
“I do not.”
She tapped the armrest with her finger.
Tok!
From the spot she tapped, waves spread, and the surroundings were soon dyed in illusion.
I found myself in an enormous darkness.
Five suns of light and one small red-black light appeared in the darkness.
Her voice echoed from the darkness.
[Those lights are the six middle realms. The red-black one is the Hyeol-eum Realm. Look closely. It is a model I created so you could see.]
Observing the middle realms as she instructed, I saw corpses inside the light masses.
I could not see their detailed faces, but they all appeared grotesquely twisted or pierced.
Especially the Goryeok Realm—heads crushed, bodies turned into pulp.
The Hyeol-eum Realm was just red-black mist, so details were impossible.
Clang!
She flicked her hand, and tiny lights began to appear again.
[These are the corpses of the Jinma Realm. Fragments of the Underworld army and Gwanghan’s followers who were killed by something.]
Look closely.
I trembled as I saw the small light that had appeared at the center of the five middle realms.
It was the head of someone whose eyes had been turned inside out and was rotting.
“Water Realm…?”
The Water Realm was in the center of the five middle realms.
Closest to Gwanghan Realm, yet not that close, and slightly lower than the others.
[That place is the Water Realm. The cursed world from which you came.]
“Yes… it is in the center of the middle realms.”
[That is not the important point. Look back at the direction the middle realms were killed from.]
“Yes…?”
I saw the corpses inside the light masses.
The Goryeok Realm, now pulp with only a head left, faced the Water Realm.
Gold and Silver Realm—heads and arms severed, all facing the Water Realm.
Myeonggwi Realm—bodies grotesquely twisted even in death, heads facing the Water Realm as if stretching out hands.
Jinma Realm—bodies mutilated, but all facing the Water Realm.
And the Gwanghan Realm, whose body had been brutally twisted in death.
Even the Gwanghan Heavenly King appeared to be reaching toward the Water Realm.
Only then did I feel a hair-raising fear.
[Do you see? Your victorious Water Realm—the gods who once shone across the entire realm—died as if they had charged toward it in desperation.]
“…”
For some reason, the characters “Audience Chamber” written by Cheongmun Ryeong in front of my eyes flickered.
Audience Chamber.
The place where great existences are welcomed.
[Do you understand why the Water Realm is considered a cursed place?]
Then what kind of being was the Audience Chamber itself that had forced the great Gwanghan Heavenly King and the Heavenly Venerables to twist their bodies in such a manner?