What Does One Live For (5)
Crack—
We had casually called it a “door,” but it was more like a brand.
A red dragon brand had been stamped onto Kang Min-hee’s body.
*That’s…*
It was the exact formation I had seen from the highest floor of Bongmyeong Castle.
The formation was now layered over her body and the ghost kings surrounding her, turning into a passage between the Star Realm and the Void Space. It began binding her in place.
Whoosh!
A faint shadow of the Star Realm began to appear behind her.
The brand on her body was pulling in the scene of a universe filled with countless stars.
And through that scene, I finally understood why Seo Hyoel had stretched his thousand-year curse of blindness into a twenty-billion-year period.
*Seo Hyoel, you crazy bastard…*
The scene of the Star Realm.
Beyond it, just as the name suggested, stretched out was an endless sea of stars.
And within that sea of stars:
Flame whales living inside stars, civilization-dwelling beings on blue planets, insect-like species crawling through thick clouds of poison—every kind of civilization and every kind of life filled the Star Sea.
And right in the middle of it all was Seo Hyoel.
Thud!
On a planet that looked like a human world, one of the clan elders of that species stood with his back to us, smiling faintly.
Thud, thud, thud, thud!
*Hu hu…*
The surrounding species began laughing in perfect unison, all in the same posture.
*Hu hu hu hu…*
Thud, thud, thud, thud!
The alien laughter spread like a wave across the entire Star Sea.
And the same thing happened on every other planet.
On the poison-cloud planet, the poison bugs stood up, waving their antennae as they laughed.
Even the flame whales inside the stars stopped swimming and began laughing where they floated.
Every living creature on every planet in the scene behind Kang Min-hee was already infected by Seo Hyoel.
Just counting them gave me tens of billions.
No, maybe hundreds of trillions.
*This crazy bastard. What the hell was he thinking when he was blind?*
If he were fully submerged in the Muddy Soul Filling Heaven, from that moment on he would practically be identical to the real Seo Hyoel.
If even one of those trillions of Seos casually dumped trash by the roadside or bumped into someone on a daily basis, those crimes would easily fill twenty billion years.
It was the moment I froze.
*Wait—Seo Hyoel… this kid isn’t…*
I understood what he was trying to do the moment I sensed that familiar aura coming from somewhere far beyond the Star Realm.
Oh Hye-seo was exerting her power.
Just as we could exchange intentions and powers because our minds were connected through the Strange Star-Mind Scroll, Oh Hye-seo was exchanging power with Seo Hyoel through the Muddy Soul Filling Heaven.
Whooom—
A Tai Chi appeared above the countless planets inhabited by Seo Hyoel’s servants.
The Muddy Soul Filling Heaven.
The Muddy Soul Filling Heaven, linked to Oh Hye-seo’s power, began moving the Qi.
Thud!
All the Seos formed a single formation.
Insects used their antennae, sea beasts their front limbs or tails or fins—everyone used the exact same formation.
I opened my mouth in shock.
*The Star Vein Eye… is changing.*
A chill ran down my spine.
I had only heard about it in passing, but I had never known exactly what Seo Hyoel was doing. Now I understood and it made my stomach drop.
*He’s linking the souls of all the planet residents he contaminated with Oh Hye-seo’s power, synchronizing them with the law of Qi and the veins of the world, and…*
He was brainwashing the stars themselves.
Kugugugugu!
Even the stars had souls, but they were completely different from living creatures.
Souls possessed almost no will or reason.
Yet Seo Hyoel had temporarily brainwashed every living thing on every planet, then used those lives to overlay his own personality onto the stars that possessed only faint reason.
Whoosh!
At last the Seopmyeong Ship leaped through dimensions and briefly entered the Void Space outside the Star Realm.
Kang Min-hee, still branded by Seo Hyoel, also leaped through the boundary alongside the ship.
From behind, I felt the Wondrous Castle slowing to a sudden halt as it tried to chase us.
*[Seo Hyoel!!!]*
Goe-gun was screaming from the Wondrous Castle, tears of blood streaming down his face.
*[You! Did you erase the most important memory of mine?!]*
The Muddy Soul Filling Heaven binding Goe-gun was unraveling.
*No way…!*
He began to go mad, and Kim Young-hoon moved, dragging Hong Beom from the Wondrous Castle through the Seopmyeong Ship.
*[Seo Hyoel! Seo Hyoel! Seo Hyu-yuuuul!!!]*
Goe-gun’s consciousness was collapsing. As he roared, the Wondrous Castle that had been chasing us sank back inside the dimensions.
Goe-gun was cursing Seo Hyoel with everything he had, but Seo Hyoel didn’t even glance at him and kept chanting.
*The Star Vein Eye… is moving.*
The gravitational force of the stars Seo Hyoel had brainwashed began shifting freely. The Star Vein Eye changed.
Deeng—
From the senses of the Star Vein Eye, I heard a deep bell toll echoing from some distant place.
The Star Veins moved, drawing a massive formation across the universe.
Deeng—
The bell rang. Above the formation in the sky, the light of the divine immortals—black dragons, imperial phoenixes, azure cranes—rose.
It was Oh Hye-seo’s power.
And the figures of the immortals began howling in unison.
Whooooo—
Kugugugugu!
The instant the immortals roared, gravitational force began gathering at the center of the formation.
Kang Min-hee’s speed slowed.
All that remained was Seo Hyoel pulling and me pushing.
But the situation was worse than ever.
*This time I have to do it alone.*
I couldn’t even react to Kang Min-hee’s struggling body.
I had to shove her away!
“I’m sorry, Kang Min-hee.”
I looked at the dark figure crying blue tears in the void and raised the Triple Tai Chi, shoving her with both palms.
“Farewell.”
Seo Hyoel and Oh Hye-seo pulled.
I pushed.
Kuguguguguuk!
Kang Min-hee was gradually being pushed backward.
She began moving toward the scene of the universe.
That was when—
Flash!
Her hand glowed blue. She reached out toward the two Seopmyeong Ships ahead.
Kuguguguguuk!
Gravitational force on an interstellar scale dragged her toward the ships.
It wasn’t her will.
It was the billions of original souls she carried demanding the blood of the humans who had ridden those ships.
Of course, the ghosts of the ships themselves carried the same aura she had trained to sense, making the pull even stronger.
*Aaaaaaaa!!!*
Kang Min-hee’s scream shook the Void Space.
*I’m sorry, Kang Min-hee.*
There were so many things I still hadn’t said to her.
I had no idea how much pain she had endured.
I had experienced my own hell, but I could never fully understand how deep the suffering of billions of original souls must be.
But right now, I couldn’t comfort her like I once could.
She had already lost far too much.
My heart was too worn out to lose any more—her people, her colleagues, her life itself.
I would protect her now.
Who whoom!
Yet I could feel the terrifying power of Kang Min-hee and broke out in cold sweat.
*Too… strong.*
My expectations had been wrong.
Her strength was only the beginning.
The Seopmyeong Ships and Kang Min-hee shared the same aura.
She was a disciple of Black Ghost Valley.
She was the Black Ghost Valley itself and its gravitational force.
The ships ahead were also Black Ghost Valley’s.
To completely repel her was an almost impossible task.
*There’s no time to hold back!*
Kugugugugu!
I stared at the ships being pulled toward Kang Min-hee by her gravitational force and made my decision.
*Do everything I can and shove her away!*
I pulled out the Colorless Glass Swords, concentrating my sword intent.
That was when—
Whoong!
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa!
Explosive power erupted from inside Kang Min-hee and slammed me away like a ragdoll.
“Kyaaah!”
I flew backward and was instantly sealed inside one of the Seopmyeong Ships by the severed strike of the Ghost Blade.
Swa-kwa-kwa-kwa!
I felt my head go completely white.
The impact had shattered half the waist of the Seopmyeong Ship.
Fortunately it hadn’t fully split or snapped. It was hanging by a thread.
I shouted toward the ship.
“Activate the Seopmyeong Ship’s self-destruct! To the maximum—!”
And then—
Flash!
Blue light bloomed. Along with it, the elders and ghost kings of Black Ghost Valley, including Heo-gwak, rushed forward and completely shattered the half-broken waist of the ship.
“W-what…?”
I was stunned.
Thud, thud, thud, thud!
The elders of Black Ghost Valley, led by Heo-gwak, pushed the remaining half of the ship toward the other half that was speeding ahead.
The ghost kings on the opposite side pulled the half-ship in with their gravitational force.
Most of the people on the pushed half were low-grade, young monks.
Kugugugugu!
The elders of Black Ghost Valley—including Heo-gwak—formed the sect’s traditional salute and fled, looking back at the ship being dragged toward Kang Min-hee.
Kung, kung, kung, kung!
The elders on the other side, led by Heo-ryeong, returned the same salute.
I asked Heo-gwak.
“…Why did you stay behind? You could have escaped with your ancestors.”
Heo-gwak gave a bitter smile.
“…You remember, don’t you? Min-hee is the child I brought.”
He turned and saw Kang Min-hee reaching out toward us.
The elders and ghost kings of Black Ghost Valley transformed into ghost kings in unison.
Wings sprouted from Heo-gwak’s body.
He became a ghost king with wings.
*[The Ship Lord must sail together with his ship and fate. To stand above something is to carry responsibility. I was Min-hee’s responsibility, and I am also the responsibility of this Seopmyeong Ship.]*
The ghost kings of Black Ghost Valley, led by Heo-gwak, looked at Kang Min-hee above the ship and gathered their aura with dignity.
*[Therefore, we will not flee in the face of our responsibility!]*
Whoooooosh!
Without hesitation they all leaped into the darkness where Kang Min-hee was.
Heo-gwak, the last to jump, steered the half-split Seopmyeong Ship and rammed the remaining half toward her.
I watched them fall and remembered their final act.
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa!
The Seopmyeong Ship detonated. The moment it exploded, Kang Min-hee who had absorbed its aura hesitated for an instant in the familiar explosion.
All the elders who had ascended from the Water Realm—Black Ghost Valley—lost their lives without exception.
I looked at them and took out something from my domain.
Who whoom!
A head-sized orb of pure white light.
The Heavenly Lotus Fruit.
Gulp, gulp, gulp…
Just eating it would turn the perpetrator into a Four Pillars cultivator. A crazy spiritual fruit.
A snack that true immortals loved to eat.
As the Heavenly Lotus Fruit grown by Haeyeong entered my stomach, a storm of spiritual energy swept through my domain.
How much spiritual energy was required to turn a perpetrator into a Four Pillars cultivator?
At the very least, enough to forcibly gather the Pillars of Heaven and Earth.
And with that level of spiritual energy…
*Early, mid, late… even the Great Yuan!*
My realm was already at the Great Yuan stage before the regression.
I had simply fallen a little during the loop.
Kwa-rurururung!
The sound of rumbling rose from all around as lightning flashed.
*Cutting my realm…*
I would unleash the strike that had severed the calamity of the Gaeyeol stage experts.
A Star Shattering is one star.
Just as a domain appears inside the body of a Taesu or Youwang, a domain appears inside a Star Shattering cultivator’s body.
Its size was only the size of a moon, but to a mortal it was still large enough to call a star.
In other words, to land a fatal blow on a Star Shattering realm being, you had to be able to cut a star in half.
*That’s why you gave me the task of cutting a star, Lord of the Heavenly Thunder, isn’t it?*
I charged at Kang Min-hee and unfolded my sword dance.
And at some point…
*Aah…*
I felt as if I had entered a pure white space.
It was the awakening stage reached while facing an ultimate strong enemy.
I clearly knew what path I had to take in this pure white space.
I felt it.
The power to cut a star was boiling inside me.
The spiritual energy contained in the Heavenly Lotus Fruit was strengthening my mind.
One more step and I would gain the realization of the ultimate and cut down Kang Min-hee!
New realms began to appear before my eyes. I reached out toward the bright realization and began the Sword Dance.
The next instant I realized I had been completely messing up the initial forms of the Dan-ak Sword Art until now.
A new horizon was opening.
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