The Saintess’s Final Duel
As I emerged from the Three Wood Grove, my twenty-one disciples of Jang Ik and Kim Young-hoon all stepped out in front of me in the blink of an eye.
“Lord Venerable, what exactly is going on?”
Ryeo-hwa asked, sounding bewildered. I quickly summarized the situation for them.
“T-that is to say…”
“You are refusing the Venerable title and are fighting the Saintess?”
I gave an awkward nod.
“I am deeply sorry. Yet this was something important in its own way, which is why I acted so.”
At my words, they all wore shocked expressions and exchanged glances before bursting into forced laughter.
“…All right. In any case… several issues have arisen because of what the Venerable did.”
“…What kind of issues?”
I asked cautiously. Ryeo-hwa of the Hwacho Clan spoke up.
“First… the Heavenly Race’s information network is the biggest problem. Thanks to their unique future-sight and divination skills, they already know that the Venerable belongs to the Heart Tribe. Because of that, countless Heavenly and Earthly Race members are rushing to invade the Three Wood Grove right now. Normally the Heaven-Sinking Venerable’s prestige kept them away, but now that the Saintess has been harmed, it seems their heads are spinning.”
“…You said several issues. What else?”
“The Ghost Race.”
“…!”
Before Ryeo-hwa could finish speaking, a colossal lifeform flew in from far away and began pouring a ray of light into the Three Wood Grove.
Boom boom boom! Bang bang!
CRACKLE!
Fortunately, the Three Stars stage masters of the Heart Tribe rushed forward and blasted the monster apart with a combined Thousand-Year Calamity.
But I instantly sensed that the Ghost Race beings I saw were not just one or two.
“The Ghost Race of Gwanghan Realm that the Saintess was holding back are now swarming in at once. Ghosts have the ability to swallow Heavenly and Earthly Qi. Right now they will start by attacking the An-gye region, but the more of them that come, the higher the chance they will reach us.”
“Ugh… I really caused a disaster.”
The reason I had intended to draw out Baek-woon’s Lightning Spear and discuss matters with her was not because I was stupid. It was because the role the Saintess performed was real and unavoidable.
“It is fine. The Heaven-Sinking Venerable has toppled Heavenly Race factions more than once or twice. But I would be grateful if the Venerable protected the Three Wood Grove after all you have done.”
“It is only natural. However… before that, there is one thing I wish to ask of you.”
“The highest authority over the Supreme Council belongs solely to the Heaven-Sinking Venerable, but given the current situation, if the Venerable’s orders are reasonable, we will obey. This is not a request. Issue an order, please.”
I thanked them and conveyed my request.
“First… it may sound sudden, but one of my companions is suffering from the Heavenly Child’s curse and is dying. I hope you find a way to dispel her curse.”
Kim Young-hoon nodded and answered in her place.
“Miss Buk’s curse-dispelling method is already being researched carefully in the Three Wood Grove. But even using soul herbs, soul pills, or specialized healing formations from the nearby regions has not worked…”
“Then I will head into the Heavenly Race’s territory and request their help.”
“Eh?!”
At my words, the Heart Tribe Supreme Council stared at me like I had gone mad.
After all, asking them to kill me and this was no different.
Yet I continued explaining my plan until the end.
“Please listen carefully, my sworn brothers and sisters. I intend to use all of you as terminals.”
“Wha…?”
One glance was worth a thousand words.
I silently connected my consciousness with theirs and mine through the Strange Star-Mind Scroll.
Even though it was only an instant, what I perceived would be recognized by them to some degree.
I drew out the Colorless Glass Sword and half-closed my eyes, adopting a stance.
Swish swish swish-
Heavenly and Earthly Qi began to be sucked toward me with a sound like my breath.
Boom boom boom boom!
I observed the Integration stage within my body.
I observed the soul’s realm of consciousness.
I observed my own body, qi, and spirit.
And then… swung.
* * *
“I will kill you! I will kill you! I will kill, kill, kill…! You filthy human Heart Tribe trash!”
In the Heart Clan territory.
Inside a fortress there.
A Four Pillars stage Heart Clan cultivator was crying blood from his eyes while shouting.
Not only him.
Most of the absolute experts in the Heart Clan territory were moving frantically and venting their rage at the same time.
CRACKLE!
A colossal monster descended from the sky.
Ghosts from the Void Space.
Bang bang!
The Four Pillars stage Heart Clan sect leader hurled a wooden spear at the Ghost of the same realm.
Squelch, squelch, boom!
Wooden spears grew inside the Ghost and pierced through its body. Branches exploded from the Ghost and it detonated.
Of course, the exploding Ghost did not die immediately and became a smaller, weaker one, but even that was enough for the Heavenly Person stage Heart Clan experts to rush in and finish it off.
“Aaaaargh! Saintess! Human Race! You filthy, disgusting, trashy human Race! And it’s a Heart Clan spy and Ghost Realm spy! You human Race who defiled my Saintess!”
The Four Pillars stage Heart Clan expert howled like a madman and shattered the Ghosts one after another.
“Mine, mine, mine Saintess. It was my Saintess! I, I, I fell for her first… I was the one who… first…”
The Four Pillars stage Heart Clan expert kept fighting courageously, but his strength gradually faded.
“I am….”
And suddenly.
Whoosh!
Fifty Integration stage Ghosts pierced through the clouds and appeared.
“…Ah, hahaha…”
Including the sect leader who had been screaming, countless Heart Clan members inside the fortress looked at the sky with hopeless eyes.
At that moment.
CRACKLE!
Together with a blinding light, the heavens and earth shook.
At the same time, the eyes of the Heart Clan members widened.
“….”
Everyone present saw it.
A massive sword qi that covered the sky swept away all fifty Integration stage Ghosts in an instant.
The Heart Clan members, who were sensitive to Heavenly Qi, read the heavenly qi from the sky and traced the origin of the sword qi from moments ago.
And terror filled their eyes.
“Ghost… Ghost… it came all the way from the Heart Clan area…?”
* * *
In the Feather Wing Clan territory.
There, the Integration stage leader of the Feather Wing Clan, who had barely managed to defeat three Integration stage Ghosts moments ago, was staring blankly at the sky.
“…Integration stage Ghosts, thirty of them…? Haha… I guess today’s Feather Wing Clan ends here…”
He cleared his throat and looked at his own body.
“…Damn it, my body isn’t even fully healed… even if we die together, how many comrades can I take with me…”
Right then.
“…!”
Before Baek-myung could react.
From an incredibly distant place, a massive sword qi flew over and swept away thirty Integration stage Ghosts in one blow.
Baek-myung’s eyes widened as he read the heavenly qi and earthly qi.
Baek-myung, who trained in the Twin Heavenly and Earthly Qi technique, could read more information than other leaders because he possessed sight from both sides. It was enough to instantly trace the origin of the sword qi.
“Ghost… Ghost… Heart Clan area…”
Baek-myung’s pupils trembled.
His wings began to shake violently.
“Ghost… Heart Clan… sword qi… enormous… h, h… haaaa! S-Sun hyung! Venerable Sun! Save me! I was wrong! I will never boil the meat with the Ghost Clan again! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry…! Haaaaaaa!!”
As if something had touched his bad memories, Baek-myung began rampaging toward empty air.
* * *
Including the Heart Clan and Feather Wing Clan, the Yama Race, Equilibrium Race, and Half-life Race.
No matter where in the Earthly Race’s large clans, the enormous sword qi flew and swept away the Ghosts that were attacking their territories.
The Heavenly Race read heavenly qi, while the Earthly Race traced the earthly qi. Everyone in the Gwanghan Realm knew the sword qi’s origin.
It was the Three Wood Grove, the Heart Clan area.
There, ‘someone’ had sent sword qi from tens of millions of li away to help them.
BOOM!
The Dragon Alliance of the Earthly Race.
One of the administrators of Bongmyeong-ju and a recent Dragon King who had reached Integration stage, Gyu-ryeon, was startled upon recalling the sword qi that had swept away hundreds of Ghosts while fighting the ones that had appeared in the sky.
“W-what is…”
Whoosh!
She traced the origin of the sword qi by reversing the flow of Heavenly and Earthly Qi.
“Heart Clan area…? Even if taken to the minimum, it is over a hundred thousand li away…”
Her face turned pale.
“Who exactly…”
In her mind, the ‘malicious ghost’ that had tortured the Saintess moments ago through the Thousand-Year Calamity appeared.
A demon with twenty-one heads that was madly insane.
In the information sent by the Saintess Baek-woon, countless others including her realized that the demon was of the Heart Clan.
‘Was it the demon that helped us just now…?’
Shiver!
Gyu-ryeon shook her head.
‘No way. That demon tormenting the Saintess right away would never help us. The Heart Clan has a reputation for matching outside and inside. An existence like that demon who looks evil on the surface would never help others. But… even this kind of strike couldn’t have been sent by anyone less than a Venerable…’
Gyu-ryeon and countless other Integration stage Demon Kings were all struck with terror by a sudden realization.
‘Then… could it be that two Venerables have been born in the Heart Clan!’
It was truly a terrifying thought.
That day, an emergency council was held at the Dragon Alliance’s Bongmyeong-ju regarding the “two Heart Clan Venerables born.”
* * *
Kiiing-
Light and shadow revolved inside my body.
And as the light and shadow revolved, the consumed qi was restored to its original state.
This was the Divine Law of Time.
Clang!
After sending a Venerable level strike, I once again adopted a stance and launched another attack.
Boom boom boom boom!
My strike rose to the soul’s realm in an instant, crossed through countless spatial dimensions, and swept away the Ghosts from the Tae-ho Clan territory, which was over tens of millions of li away.
Then I took a stance again.
Kiiing!
The law power recovered as light and shadow revolved.
This was the 23rd stance of Danak Sword Art!
A technique that continuously returned to its original state to attack without end.
The only difference was that the usual Danak Sword Art was activated through my inner power, body, and techniques, but this one fused with the Divine Law of Time and spread almost infinitely.
‘Amazing…’
This was the effect that appeared when the Six Divine Abilities of Integration stage flesh were combined with martial arts.
Boom!
I poured my full concentration into my sword and swung again.
Once more my sword qi crossed through boundless spatial dimensions and reached another weak clan’s territory, sweeping away the Ghosts.
Drip, drip…
Sweat fell.
Although law power consumption was almost zero, using the Divine Law of Time was quite mentally draining, so my mental energy was steadily depleting.
‘This should be the last one.’
I once more launched the final sword qi to wipe out the Ghosts attacking the weak clans, then paused briefly to wipe the sweat.
“Huuu…”
After briefly cutting the connection of the Strange Star-Mind Scroll.
I said to the Supreme Council members who had their mouths open around me.
“Do you understand?”
“…I understand. You are sending us to the corners of the Gwanghan Realm as terminals and pouring more precise sword qi there to eliminate the Ghosts.”
“Exactly.”
They glanced at each other briefly and nodded.
Ryeo-hwa, the vice-leader of the current Supreme Council, looked at Kim Young-hoon and said,
“Young-hoon senpai, please protect the Heart Clan area together with the Venerable. We will leave briefly with our disciples and followers.”
“Can I trust you?”
“We have shared enlightenment a lot over the past ten years, so there is no need to be cautious between us. I trust Young-hoon senpai. And…”
She gave Kim Young-hoon a meaningful smile.
“Ever since I was young I have been good at picking quality seeds. As long as the seeds look like they will bloom, I will give them stability.”
I looked at Kim Young-hoon at Ryeo-hwa’s words.
He only smiled bitterly.
“You are overpraising me. To reach that realm is still infinitely far…”
“Huhu… excessive modesty can itself become arrogance. Then, Young-hoon senpai and Yu-yeon, please stay and protect the Heart Clan area.”
After deciding that, Ryeo-hwa quickly received my soul and took it into her own body.
After that, they began scattering in all directions of the Gwanghan Realm, taking three-stage Heart Clan experts with them.
Now they would wander the Gwanghan Realm and become my terminals.
I would send attacks through them to clean up the Ghosts of the Void Space.
If so, they would be able to warn the Heavenly Race that the Heart Clan area would not be invaded, while riding on my prestige, and at the same time obtain information about Buk Hyang-hwa’s curse.
‘Good. Let’s see how this goes.’
And just then, as I was about to clean up the Ghosts of the Void Space through the scattered Heart Clan members.
Whoosh!
I suddenly dodged Yu-yeon’s surprise attack from my side.
The Feather Wing Clan’s Yu-yeon looked at me with qi-filled fists.
“…What is the meaning of this, sworn brother?”
“I am your sworn sister.”
“Ah… I truly apologize, my sister. I thought you were a brother because I saw the yin-yang ratio in your body…”
“It is fine. Everyone gets confused a lot. As a Feather Wing Clan member, I have had yin-yang qi boiling in my body since I was a child.”
“Th-that…”
Before I could finish.
She rushed at me and extended her fists again.
BOOM!
A tremendous boom erupted from her two fists and swept the area.
I dispersed the dust cloud and asked her.
“It seems you want to spar with me.”
“Our Heaven-Sinking Venerable’s disciples are sensitive to fighting spirit. I already noticed that the Venerable wanted to compete with us.”
“…Are you all right?”
I asked, looking at her.
“As you saw last time, Gyu-chang hyung died at my hands.”
She lowered her head and said.
“I remember. Gyu-chang hyung was especially close to me. From the beginning… both the name of our technique and Gyu-chang hyung’s is exactly the same as Hago (River Bend).”
“….”
“Since I was young I have been with Gyu-chang hyung, and I was able to enter my master’s sect following him. My life… only had meaning because I followed behind him.”
What kind of emotion was this?
It was even pink.
But at the same time it was a collection of countless other emotions.
“My Hago is Wind Steady and Wave Calm. To calm the yin-yang qi that had been boiling since I was young, for the peaceful life of our Feather Wing Clan… this is the technique I obtained by dedicating my life.”
Behind her, countless resolutions seemed to rise.
I briefly read scenes from her past through the Divine Law of Time.
A young girl of the Feather Wing Clan born with a deformity.
She met a boy of the Small Person Clan, honed her talent, and developed it into the name Hago, becoming part of the Heart Clan.
The two trained under Jang Ik, endured countless storms, and reached this place.
And now.
The moment Gyu-chang died.
She stood in front of me to follow what Gyu-chang had seen last.
Only that.
Whoosh!
She threw away the shrimp-like shell covering her body.
Soon, the form of Yu-yeon, similar to a Small Person Clan girl, was revealed.
Chiiiii!
Her skin began to burn as soon as it received sunlight.
Her skin was too delicate, so she had to wear the shrimp shell; she lived in flowing water normally and was the most fragile species, easily caught in the current no matter how tiny it was.
That was the Feather Wing Clan.
Boom boom boom!
“I am coming!”
-What did Gyu-chang hyung see at that time?
Her heart seemed to call out.
-Now that the Venerable has given birth to one more, we have nothing to worry about.
On her two fists, a tremendous power that matched Gyu-chang’s sudden gale filled the heavens.
-So, what remains is only to clash with all my strength… only to follow behind my hyung!
I raised my sword with a solemn expression.
The next moment.
No words were needed.
I faced her technique with the strongest destructive technique I possessed.
“Danak!”
“Pungjeong!”
A blinding light boiled toward each other.
The next moment.
The light faded, and our positions were reversed.
Poof!
“…Ah…”
Yu-yeon smiled brightly.
“You reached it. Hyung…”
She turned into powder and scattered on the wind.
I saw a small soot at the tip of my Colorless Glass Sword.
The soot immediately scattered into the air and flew away.
I tried to catch the wind, but the wind only scattered from my hand.
It was her trace.
Looking at her who had left so emptily and beautifully, I once again grasped the key to an instant.
Time is when instants become one and complete,
but the wind may symbolize that all instants will eventually disappear.
“…This is… the Wind?”
Right after I obtained the Divine Law of Time.
I killed Yu-yeon, the second disciple of Jang Ik’s disciples.
And I understood the Wind.
The Wind is the wind that draws its own will.
Not for attachment or desire, but simply a matter of drawing on the heart.
Even if it eventually becomes wind erosion and disappears.
The traces left by the Wind will remain as clouds, seas, and sacred mountains.
-Rise with the Wind.
Recalling the incantation of the Dharma-Destroying True Word and her final first line, I finally understood the Divine Law of Wind.
It was my second Divine Law obtained.