The Saintess Declines the Title
Drdddrdrdrd!
The Heavenly Lotus Mountain near the White Jade Pavilion trembled violently.
[Do you intend to challenge me here and now, my dear child?]
“How could this humble one dare challenge the Saintess?” I replied calmly, my eyes steady on Baek-woon.
[And just push a blade straight through?]
“It is only for self-protection.”
I stared back at the Saintess with the same composed gaze and continued.
“If you insist on bestowing a title upon me, then explain the necessity. Until you do, I will never accept any name.”
[…Very well. I shall explain.]
Her voice flowed onward like a gentle river of light.
[Do you know the structure of the Heavenly Domain?]
“I humbly beg the Saintess to impart her profound teachings.”
Uuuuuung-
The surrounding space warped.
Baek-woon extended a projection that miniaturized the entire Heavenly Domain before my eyes.
Countless tiny nets, resembling clusters of galaxies, floated across the vast expanse.
[This is the Ilwol Cheonyeok, the smallest heaven at the apex of Sumisan. Most realms divide into the Star Realm and the Subsea Realm, yet the sheer size of the Heavenly Domain itself dwarfs them all.]
Uuuuuung-
A faint, irresistible pull began to seep through her projection.
At the same moment, streams of that power twisted through the miniature heavens, distorting their very fabric.
[The Heavenly Domain is warped precisely because of the gravitational pull from the stars. The most severely distorted regions are where the Junseon dwell.]
I examined those twisted points on the projection.
Roughly one hundred and forty such locations existed.
[Does something seem strange to you?]
As I studied the miniature map of the Ilwol Cheonyeok, Baek-woon asked.
I voiced the question that had puzzled me since the beginning.
“…Not a single trace of the Subsea Realm or the Central Realm is visible.”
It was true.
No matter where I looked, those realms remained hidden.
Baek-woon nodded slowly and began her explanation.
[Indeed. The Subsea Realm and Central Realm lie outside the Star Realm. Most Central Realm beings imagine that somewhere beneath it, the Star Realm and Subsea Realm exist. Yet that is wrong. The lower the realm, the harder it is to perceive the true structure of the Heavenly Domain, and misunderstandings arise.]
Uuuuuung-
The projection shifted once more.
[Originally, the center of the Heavenly Domain is not the Central Realm. It is the Star Realm itself—also called the universe. At its heart, countless living beings are born and, following their own fates, tread the ‘other path’.]
“The other path…? What do you mean by that?”
[I ask you this. When living in this world, do you truly believe that only cultivation is truth and the absolute?]
I shook my head in answer.
“No. Cultivation is merely one way among many.”
[Correct. Cultivation is only one path.]
Clap!
With a snap of her fingers, Baek-woon sent the vision of endless stars rising to life.
Those were living beings.
I saw the souls of Su-kyung and Su-hye who walked the path of cultivation.
They gradually swelled with power, strengthening their lives, and eventually birthed their own gravitational pull within their souls.
After a time, those souls powerful enough began to vanish from sight.
I felt a chill as the meaning dawned on me.
“That…?”
[Yes. Ascension. Now I shall show you.]
Flash!
Baek-woon flipped her palm and the scene changed.
It was pitch-black darkness.
Nothing at all.
And at the center of that void, five colossal glowing spheres hovered above one smaller one.
Around them swirled countless grains of sand.
That place… was the Void Space.
[The Star Realm and the Void Space overlap. Those who master their own power and reach its limit—the so-called ‘cultivators’—all reach the Void Space and enter the Central Realm. Simply put…]
Uung-
Two sheets of paper rose before me.
One depicted the universe; the other was pure black.
As Baek-woon moved her fingers, the two papers overlapped, with the universe sheet on top.
[Cultivators are all the living beings inside these papers. As time passes, their power grows and they draw in the surrounding force.]
Some of the drawings swelled larger.
[And when that power reaches the critical point…]
Uung-
The largest drawing absorbed everything around it and burst out of two dimensions into three.
[Thus they leave their overlapped world behind.]
The drawing that had burst outward flowed into the black paper beneath.
[That is the true nature of ascension.]
I hesitated briefly, then asked.
“So if power grows strong enough, they travel to the Central Realm of the Void Space. Then what about the Subsea Realms?”
[They are the corpses of great beings. And the corpses of great beings carry the same nature as the Star Realm. They are merely a little smaller… but for illustration, this is how it appears.]
A humanoid paper figure appeared in front of the black sheet.
It was torn apart, and the fragments were glued onto the black paper beneath.
I nodded in understanding.
“So, besides cultivation, what is the ‘other path’?”
According to the Saintess, once a living being possesses power they enter the Void Space and reach the Central Realm.
Then could they possess something other than power?
Her smile appeared.
[It is quite simple. You already know the ending.]
“What?”
Another sheet rose before me.
It was a sheet of ash-colored paper.
[All living beings of the myriad phenomena eventually gain power over time. Those with sufficient power reach the Void Space, while those who do not do not.]
Small drawings from the Star Realm swelled and were expelled into the void.
The ash sheet overlapped them once more.
The expelled drawings seeped into the ash paper.
I understood what that ash sheet represented.
“…The Underworld.”
Indeed.
She was telling me that beneath the Star Realm lay the Void Space and the Underworld, overlapping each other.
That explanation finally cleared up why learning the ghost method in Gwanghan Realm allowed access to the ‘outer fringes of the Underworld.’
Because they overlapped.
“Is the structure of the Heavenly Domain simply that the Underworld and Void Space overlap around the Star Realm?”
I asked, and Baek-woon shook her head.
[That is not the end.]
Clap!
Two more sheets appeared.
[Around the Star Realm, both the Void Space and the Underworld overlap. The Void Space receives those who master power; the Underworld receives those who do not. And by harmonizing the changes of power, they reach yet another place.]
One sheet was covered with countless lines, forming a net that seemed to trap the entire universe.
I realized its true identity.
‘Star Vein Eye…?’
“Harmonizing the changes of power… does that mean there is such a cultivation method?”
[No. Changes in power are something ordinary living beings cannot cultivate. If the Void Space and Underworld are places for cultivators and living beings, then this place is where the stars themselves arrive.]
“The stars…?”
[Yes. The stars that make up the Star Realm and the flow of time in this world are harmonized from the other world. That other world is the River of Origin—also called the Fate Realm.]
“…!”
‘So that was it…’
I understood Baek-woon’s words.
The River of Origin was the domain of the Heavenly Lord of Time.
[The River of Origin is the destination of ‘non-living’ beings whose souls are not properly formed. As for the River of Origin, there is no need to concern yourself with it. The remaining place is far more important to living beings like us.]
Uung!
Following her words, I saw the final sheet.
It was filled with a rainbow of iridescent light.
[The Flower Realm—or also known as the East Heaven Flower Garden—is an odd dimension. If living beings of the Star Realm die and go to the Underworld, and non-living beings of the Star Realm go to the River of Origin to be harmonized, then the East Heaven Flower Garden could be called the world that returns the non-living beings in the River of Origin and the souls in the Underworld back to the Star Realm.]
“I see…”
[In short, these five mutually different dimensions overlap to form one Heavenly Domain. The vast majority of Heavenly Domains share the same structure.]
With that, I understood the structure of the Heavenly Domain—and the true nature of my Star Vein Eye.
‘So that’s why. Just as Myeong-gak senses the outer fringes of the Underworld, Seong-maek-an senses the domain of the Heavenly Lord of Time. It is a sense that perceives the ‘outer fringes of the River of Origin’…’
I had assumed I had simply gained the Star Vein Eye by investigating the power of stars and the flow of time.
But perhaps the Heavenly Lord of Time himself had granted it to me, or perhaps the permission of his advanced soul had allowed it.
In any case, it seemed the Star Vein Eye was something that could only be obtained in exceptionally rare cases.
I gathered my thoughts and asked.
“Then, how is the Saintess’s bestowal of the title connected to the structure of this Heavenly Domain?”
My words caused Baek-woon to erase all projections and leave only five sheets hovering before me.
[These five worlds overlapped to form the Heavenly Domain.]
Ssssh-
The five sheets stacked into one thicker sheet.
As I nodded, Baek-woon altered the paper.
The ink pooled in the center, forming a sphere the size of a finger.
Around that sphere the paper itself began to warp.
[When a living being’s power exceeds the critical point, they transcend dimensions in this manner. Then I ask you this. To which world does this ink sphere belong?]
“Since it is a three-dimensional object, it must belong to all worlds.”
[Correct. Then let me pose one problem. This ink sphere has crossed the plane and belongs to the domain of all overlapped papers. So to which place does it ultimately belong?]
“…? What do you mean? The ink sphere has already transcended the plane of the paper.”
[Wrong. Its essence is merely ink. It can be absorbed by any sheet at any time.]
Schlurp-
The three-dimensional sphere was pulled into the ash sheet.
I felt a chill run down my spine.
I understood exactly what the Saintess intended.
[The ceremony of bestowing the title upon you is to ‘bind’ you in a relatively safe place such as the Void Space or the Star Realm. You are like this ink sphere now. You have crossed the plane, but because of that you can be absorbed by any sheet at any time. In other words, from the moment you reach that realm, you will be able to fall at any instant into places ordinary living beings cannot survive—the Underworld, the East Heaven Flower Garden, the River of Origin, and so on.]
A shiver ran through me.
‘That means…’
I recalled the Heavenly Lord of the Underworld who had pursued my regression.
The oldest existence.
The deepest darkness.
It meant she could vanish into the infinite darkness that sought to freeze me at any moment.
“…If I fall into the Underworld I will die, of course… but if I fall into the River of Origin or the East Heaven Flower Garden, I can survive, can’t I?”
[Hahaha, you are very positive. Did I not say the River of Origin is for non-living beings?]
“Yes.”
[If a living being goes there, the laws of that place will turn them into ‘non-living beings.’ Their reason will be forcibly deleted and they will become cosmic dust, expelled back into the Star Realm. The East Heaven Flower Garden is different. It is far more closely connected to the Underworld and River of Origin than the Star Realm or Void Space. If you go there, you should worry less about being able to escape and more about being drawn to the Underworld.]
She looked at me sternly, erased every projection, and declared.
[Accept this. The bestowal of the title exists solely to protect you.]
Yet inside my mind I recalled the Heavenly Domain structure the Saintess had just shown and spoke.
“…Since the three-dimensional ink is at the Star Shattering realm, if absorbing it into another world or binding us to the Central Realm is the intention, then since we already tread ‘another’ world, isn’t that the solution?”
I explained my Myeong-gak.
“I have learned the ghost method and possess the Myeong-gak. That means I already span two worlds—the outer fringes of the Underworld and Gwanghan Realm. As long as the balance between the two worlds is maintained, there is no risk of being drawn into one or the other.”
However, Baek-woon shook her head.
[Nonsense. You think balancing it is easy?! Without spanning at least ‘three’ worlds, it is impossible! Stop being stubborn and accept the title!]
“…Three…”
I pondered for a moment.
Then, with a quick decision, I answered.
“In the end, I will not accept the title.”
[What?!]
“No matter which world I fall into, I will endure it. Then I shall take my leave…”
I bowed to the Saintess and turned to leave the White Jade Pavilion.
And in the next instant.
Thud!
An enormous shock slammed into my back.
[If you insist on being stubborn, I shall forcibly infuse the title…]
I frowned and looked back.
“…You would try?”
Flash!
A brilliant white light exploded from the Heavenly Lotus Mountain.
I tensed and raised my qi.
The next moment.
The Saintess’s arena began.