Chapter 420
Shiver—
My body trembled as I stood in the form of the Water Realm and the position of the worlds surrounding it. I cleared my mind.
“I cannot grasp anything worth thinking about right now.”
Stay alert, but do not let thoughts linger. Thinking too deeply invites interference from some unknown presence.
“…Thank you for the precious information.” __[Yes. Then you may go now.]
After fully releasing the acceleration of her consciousness, Baek-woon Saintess permitted me to return at any moment.
I spoke to her.
“May I return after resolving a few remaining oaths?” __[Hmph…]
She seemed to ponder my words for a moment before speaking. __[To confront me before Star Shattering, first stabilize those disasters.]
“Goe-gun and Kang Min-hee, I suppose.”
I thought for a moment and nodded.
“…Understood. I will give it my best effort.” __[Good. Then I shall see you later…]
With those words, I was swiftly drawn back from Cheonryeon-san, the sacred mountain where Baek-woon Saintess resided.
Zzzt—
When I opened my eyes, the scene before me was exactly as it had been moments earlier.
Kugugugug!
Yin energy filled the heavens as Kang Min-hee descended.
“If Jeon Myeong-hoon and Kim Young-hoon combine their strengths, they can unleash Star Shattering-level speed.”
The remaining companions were all capable of fighting as a single unit.
With Baek-woon Saintess’s authentication of my power level and Star Shattering realm, we could at least stall the arriving Kang Min-hee.
Sreung—
I advanced through my domain and withdrew the colorless glass sword from the void, moving toward my companions.
Kuurung—
Darkness spread across the sky as space distorted and a gray sphere began to form at its center.
A phenomenon where the space on the outskirts of the Myeonggwi Realm forcibly overlapped with reality.
Yet that was not the end of it.
Kuwong—
Was that the sound of a musket firing?
Or a grenade detonating?
Or a mountain being blasted away by some technique?
Similar explosive booms echoed from within.
Kuwong—
However, instinct told me these were no ordinary explosions—they were heartbeats.
Yes, those were the unmistakable thuds of a heart.
The fourth heartbeat rang out.
The sphere cracked, and something seemed about to burst from within.
I said in a cold voice,
“Brother Young-hoon, Myeong-hoon, everyone, enter the seopmyeong ship first.”
I had been mistaken.
I had assumed the Star Shattering Kang Min-hee we faced was the same one I had confronted with Seo Lip in the eighteenth loop.
Back then, Kang Min-hee had only recently entered Star Shattering, similar to my own level at the time.
Among all the Kang Min-hee I had ever seen, the most overwhelming had been the thousand-year-later version.
The Ghost Dao Holy Mother who made me, Jang Ik, personally come to confront her.
Therefore, the current time—around five hundred years after that moment—was not yet her true thousand-year-later self.
I had foolishly believed I could still face her.
“What are you saying, Eun-hyun? Abandoning your companions?”
“We can each handle our own share…”
“Get out of here now!!!”
I cut off their words and roared.
Only because my power had reached Star Shattering could I be certain they had not yet noticed. The others remained at the Integration realm.
Kim Yeon, whose consciousness had exploded in size and reached the level beyond Integration, understood my meaning. She nodded with a cold sweat beading on her forehead. Hong Beom stared at the sphere with dazed eyes, as if sensing something.
“J-just as you say… everyone…”
Kim Yeon’s hands trembled as she spoke. Even Kim Young-hoon and Jeon Myeong-hoon, though unable to read the situation as clearly as before, exchanged glances and asked with dark faces.
“Are you all right?”
“If it’s only the two of you missing, I can mobilize every method to hold on.”
“…Good.”
Jeon Myeong-hoon nodded, then shared his power with Kim Young-hoon and flew toward the seopmyeong ship that had left for the Black Ghost Valley, transformed into golden lightning.
“You forgot that the death messenger of the Myeonggwi Realm intervened… Are you an idiot, Seo Eun-hyun?”
I cursed myself wildly.
Kuwong—
Kwang!
At last, I looked at the long hand that had pierced through the sphere.
Kugugugug!
In my estimation, this Kang Min-hee was far stronger than any I had faced before.
Because she was…
Kwachik!
Cheo-eong!
‘Finally here.’
Thanks to the death messenger’s intervention, by the five-hundred-year mark in this world, her thousand-year-later strength had already surpassed ours.
Sogong-sogong-sogong—
Countless whispers echoed in my ears.
Unintelligible murmurs.
Grudges, wails, screams, prayers, screams…
The languages of the dead souls poured out from a single point.
The lord of the ghosts who had brought forth trillions of vengeful spirits.
It was the words of Ghost Dao Holy Mother Kang Min-hee!
Sogong-sogong-sogong—
Kuguk!
Even her whispers alone created massive waves. I realized the power of that wave was similar to an Integration-stage assault.
“It is similar to the laughter of the Star Shattering Venerables I saw in the Thunder Star Sea.”
Thanks to my own growth since that time, I could still stand.
A black ghost with a body ten li long, tearing at her own head as she poured forth endless whispers.
Her head stretched ten li into the darkness, her body clad in darkness, blue tears streaming from her eyes.
It was Baek-mu.
I shouted toward Ghost Dao Holy Mother Kang Min-hee.
“Here.”
Huok!
Her gaze locked onto me.
Kuguguk!
Her single glance caused the land beneath to rot with yin energy, and ghosts began to emerge from all directions.
However, I calmly met her gaze and forced a bitter smile.
Sreung—
“…We have much to talk about that we couldn’t finish before.”
I raised the colorless glass sword and assumed a sword stance.
“Let us begin now.”
The next instant, Kang Min-hee appeared before me.
Kwang-kwang-kwang!
She swung her arm down.
A strike that would have buried me deep into the earth if I had been the me of before.
However, I gently deflected her hand through the sword and rolled into the air.
The blue sky approached rapidly, shrinking the vast territory of the Human race until it looked small.
‘Cheonryeon-san is visible.’
I glanced at the Cheonryeon-san where Baek-woon Saintess had been moments ago, then turned back to Kang Min-hee, who had followed me.
Cheok!
Her mouth opened.
Her blue fangs, sharp as a shark’s, protruded like daggers.
“Your fangs are still healthy.”
Kwaduk!
Kang Min-hee mocked me as she gripped my colorless glass sword.
Of course, she had no intention of accepting it. She used her neck strength to pull me down and drove me toward the ground.
Hwarrureuk!
As a meteor burned through the atmosphere, fire engulfed me and her.
“It will hurt. Sorry.”
Buwung!
Amidst the blazing heat, I twisted the colorless glass sword that had bitten into my mouth.
Kak!
With several sword cries, the direction of the twisted colorless glass sword changed.
At the same time, the colorless glass sword caught between her fangs sliced straight through Kang Min-hee’s skull. __[Kiaaaaaaaa!!!]
The terrifying ghost valley cry spread beyond the Human race territory to the Epta race lands.
Ulkk, ulkk!
Black liquid flowed from the spot where her head had been cut, and two heads grew in its place.
An interesting trick, but I had created twenty heads. Rather than admire her, I seized the opportunity while she was dazed and leaped onto her body.
Ugeuk!
She thrashed, trying to throw me off, but her human-form arms were locked firmly beneath me. __[Kiyaaaaak!]
Another upper body erupted from her back.
The new upper body reared up toward me, but it was too late.
I withdrew my twenty-headed core and, using the Heavenly Gravity Descent technique and adding the mass of my domain, overloaded her with continental-level weight.
Kwang-aaang!
Cracks appeared across the entire ruined Human race territory as tectonic shifts occurred.
It was a slight inconvenience to the neighboring Epta race, but earthquake tsunamis were surely raging across their land as well.
“Sorry. I didn’t have the strength to evacuate you all.”
I activated my emergency alert, offered a small apology to the Epta race and nearby species who were finally beginning to flee, then raised my sword toward the writhing darkness beneath my feet.
From high rank to low.
From high stance to low target.
In an instant.
A very short moment, yet a Mountain Heart Afterstrike that surpassed even the speed of the Brilliant Light Dao. It struck the Ghost Dao Holy Mother.
Buwung!
The fifty-thousand-li Human race territory was halved by my sword qi.
The sound did not catch up to the speed and arrived only afterward.
However, I kept my expression rigid and, without hesitation, retreated from the Ghost Dao Holy Mother after delivering the strike.
Ooooooo—
The ghosts were singing.
The tectonic shifts caused by stabbing the Ghost Dao Holy Mother across the entire Human race territory.
From the cracks in that tectonic shift, yin energy and resentment surged forth.
Kugugugug!
“…You damned…”
I identified the true nature of the yin energy and spat out a low curse.
Why do humans rank among the Six Great Races as the two evils?
It was not only humans who turned living beings into slaves with drugs. Many other races did the same, and the mindset of invasion and plunder was not unique to humans.
Hypocritically, the Long-arm race and the Heavenly-wing race.
Creepily, the Fusion race.
Ugly, the Rotting flesh race.
In battle, the Ghost-devouring race surpassed humans.
Yet humans still ranked as the two evils.
Why?
The truth was simple: desire.
Among the countless celestial races, humans appeared the most ordinary.
But humans were a race that, even when not needed, coveted what was not theirs.
They could kill without need, craved comfort beyond what was necessary, and sought only comfort beyond what was necessary.
The power of their desire exceeded the combat prowess of the Ghost-devouring race.
Their ugliness surpassed the Rotting flesh race,
Their creep surpassed the Fusion race,
Their hypocrisy surpassed the Long-arm and Heavenly-wing races.
Countless species were captured and experimented on by humans and turned into slaves with drugs.
So where did all those “countless souls of slaughtered species” go?
Kugugugugug!
Why did the Human race leave their own land untouched and instead build a sky-fissure dome to live on it?
Ooooooo—
Oooooooo—
Aaaaa!
Huaaaa—
It hurts— it hurts—
Stop— don’t do it, stop…
Fifty thousand years after the Gwanghan Realm’s creation.
During those fifty thousand years, the ugliness of the Human race that had slaughtered and devoured countless species finally revealed itself after countless lifetimes.
Gugugugug!
I stood at the bottom of the Human race territory.
Below me, I looked at the endless souls of resentment flowing from where I had stabbed the Ghost Dao Holy Mother. My heart felt heavy.
When a race’s territory was plundered, humans extracted their internal dan and jade core to make slaves, turned their blood and skin into talismans, their bones and internals into laws, and even absorbed their souls into magic arts to drain their energy. The remaining waste was all dumped beneath the sky-fissure dome like garbage.
That way, the weakened souls could not become vengeful ghosts even if they wished, no matter how wronged they were.
If they later tried to regain strength slowly, the countless other resentful ghosts falling from above became vengeful and stole each other’s energy in endless struggles.
Those unable to go to the Myeonggwi Realm because they lacked strength and could not even enter the Underworld because of resentment fought each other on the ground beneath the sky-fissure dome, stealing energy.
The land beneath the sky-fissure dome was nothing but humanity’s garbage dump.
However, thanks to Kang Min-hee, the countless vengeful ghosts that had suffered torture and oppression in the Human race territory woke up at once and regained strength.
Or rather, I felt that Kang Min-hee was only a conduit; somewhere deep, she was pulling power through her to supply the vengeful ghosts. __[Humans—humans—humans…] __[Kill—kill—kill—kill…] __[Join us—join us—join us…] __[It hurt—I hurt—I hurt…] __[We’ll make you feel the same as us…]
The vengeful ghosts who had been sacrificed by humanity now gained strength and, as one, became beings at least at the Foundation Establishment level.
I stared at her with a dazed expression. The strength of the vengeful ghosts surging through her at once grew.
Kugugugug!
Trillions of vengeful ghosts flowed toward her, making her size even larger.
At first ten li long, her body now exceeded forty li, reaching four li.
I looked at her wildly swinging body and laughed hollowly.
“…Damnable humans.”
Kkwang-kwang-kwang!
Her enormous hand slammed down where I stood.
I had completely abandoned the idea of stalling her.
‘I have to run.’
Even the form of the Ghost King with twenty heads was useless before her.
At first the ghosts that had flinched at seeing me now burned with madness and reached out wildly toward me as she grew.
As one. __[Sorry, but traveling with my mistress makes things awkward.]
Chuwaaaaak!
I wove through the black hands that covered the sky like a net and looked out at the Human race territory that had become completely engulfed in darkness, like the Myeonggwi Realm.
Uuwooong!
Though slightly cold, I used all of my Triple Taiji qi to evade her hand and began to flee.
The phrase “my qi is Star Shattering level” meant that my qi was at the early Star Shattering stage in size.
Even so, I had no chance against her.
Kang Min-hee, who had accepted all the filth of humanity, was now equivalent to mid-Star Shattering.
Flicker, flicker!
I used every available technique—gliding, cloud-piercing, weight-holding, anti-gravity flight—and fled.
And the darkness that had covered the Human race territory began to chase me.
Kugugugug—
‘Can even Jang Ik not stop that?’
I sweated coldly and looked up at the darkness of Ghost Dao Holy Mother Kang Min-hee that was swallowing the territory of other races.
Urrung, urung!
Black lightning flashed as jet-black lightning poured out from within and swept away one of the Human race’s neighboring races, the Baek-gak race.
Kugugugug!
Countless Xuantian Sect disciples.
And, as always, the celestial races that had birthed the Heart Tribe.
The Human race was the most vicious, but no other celestial race was without atrocities.
Each of those races had slaughtered species and been plundered by others.
And those countless souls of the species they had plundered were now being sucked into the darkness of Ghost Dao Holy Mother Kang Min-hee and gaining strength.
Kururung!
I watched her qi grow gradually larger with each black thunderclap.
‘Crazy…’
I felt my breath might stop.
Each time she swallowed one race, the darkness grew larger.
The change was not as abrupt as when she swallowed the souls of the Human race, but one could see with the naked eye that she grew stronger each time she took a race and the souls oppressed by it.
It was no wonder she had swallowed half of Gwanghan Realm in the thousand-year-later timeline.
And the current Kang Min-hee, already possessing power beyond the thousand-year-later timeline after meeting the Chief Judge, was in the early outbreak phase.
“Baek-woon Saintess… it seems I should have summoned her main body rather than a clone.”
I looked back with a dazed expression.
At that moment, a massive hand from within the darkness leaped across space and reached toward me.
“…!”
Before I could react.
With Star Shattering space manipulation, her hand reached me, and I was sent tumbling across one of the celestial race territories.
“Kuh… uh…
Tuk, tuduk…
Blood poured from my seventh orifice.
It would heal soon, but the vast difference between me and the Ghost Dao Holy Mother was clear—I could not even react.
However, I looked beyond that to the enormous storm of darkness still approaching from afar.
“…Kang Min-hee…”
I had clearly heard it when her hand struck me.
—Save me.
It was a will that only someone who was both celestial, earthly, and Heart Tribe could hear.
“…”
I should have fled the moment I came to my senses.
Instead, I opened my eyes wide and looked at Kang Min-hee with slightly dazed eyes.
Huooooo—
Once more Kang Min-hee was approaching, having annihilated one of the celestial races.
It would probably take about a hundred seconds.
“…Kang Min-hee…”
I called to her and pressed my dry lips together.
And the reply came from beside me. __[Huhu, so this is the name of that existence, Seo Doo.]
Danak Sword Art.
Twenty-second form.
I turned to the voice I did not wish to hear and immediately used the Break Mountain sword form without hesitation.