The Key (1)
Parararararar!
With Goe-gun’s death, the patterns that had bloomed across his face glowed a soft pink and scattered like flower petals.
And in the darkness untouched by that light—
Someone watched the scene, trembling violently.
[Finally….]
He smiled brightly and began to shake with excitement.
[Finally…! The Liberating Dharma Talent has been born! The [Key] has fallen into my hands!]
The being gazed beyond the distant sky, overflowing with ecstasy.
Staring into that dark, empty expanse, he clenched his fist.
[Now… it is only a matter of time.]
* * *
Kugugugugu!
Blossoming pink quince flowers bloomed atop the tree of the Wondrous Castle.
I could feel it.
A tingling, crackling sensation…
An ‘infinite’ power so vast that even I, who had reached the Empty Space Shattering stage, could barely breathe!
‘This is…’
Dudududududud!
The earth trembled, and pink pollen began to flow beneath the coral-red ground of the Gwanghan Realm.
Somewhere, the scent of peach blossoms drifted on the wind and tickled my nose.
‘The power of Gwanghan…’
Flash!
The entire world filled with pink light, driving away the red sky.
: : Gwanghan!!!! : :
A voice filled with longing, despair, and rage echoed beneath the heavens.
And then Kim Yeon began to wield her power.
Wiiiiiiing!
Seven orbs of light rose around the Wondrous Castle.
‘Those are…’
Goe-gun’s masterpiece.
The very thing [She] had needed to reach the Star Shattering stage.
Artificial Stars.
Originally, they were incomplete constructs that could only operate for five seconds even if the Wondrous Castle poured all its power into them.
Yet beneath the quince blossoms, I could feel the Artificial Stars being fully recharged.
No…
Even the seven Artificial Stars could not properly contain that power and were becoming overcharged!
Kugugugugu!
At the same time, the Wondrous Castle at the center of the Artificial Stars—
No.
Kim Yeon began to display the true might of a Star Shattering cultivator.
Perberberbeong!
Gyucheon, who had been flaunting his immense power after absorbing Hyeol-eum’s strength, was flung away like a ragdoll.
The Wondrous Castle began firing its main cannons, drawing upon the power of the seven stars.
Perbeong!
“…!”
The northern tidal wave evaporated in a single strike.
The cannons continued their barrage.
The southern heat flames, the eastern lightning tribulations, and the western storms all vanished at once.
The world, overturned by pink radiance, returned to its original state.
Kiiiiii!
The materialized Simcheonma rushed forward all at once.
Because they did not charge in massive clumps like natural disasters, the cannons could not eliminate them one by one.
However, Kim Yeon extended a single palm.
Kugugugugu!
Overwhelming.
No… it was a colossal force so tyrannical that it could only be called domineering.
It began to gather in her hand.
Her stance itself was not particularly precise or sharp by my standards.
Yet power coalesced before Kim Yeon, and quince blossoms began to bloom.
Flash!
A beam of light—similar to the dragon wave of the Dragon Clan, or the main cannons of the Seopmyeong Ship and the Wondrous Castle—erupted alongside her palm strike and annihilated the Simcheonma in a single blow.
And that strike was not the end.
She continued to dance, endlessly sweeping away the Simcheonma.
Kim Yeon’s feet moved.
With each step, her dance flowed without end, her twin palms endlessly blooming quince flowers and firing beams in every direction.
Chiiiiiiii-
I felt smoke rising from my entire body and gasped for breath.
The backlash of the Moving Mountains with Foolish Strength was subsiding within me.
In the past, even activating the ultimate technique of Moving Mountains with Foolish Strength would have meant certain death.
But after reaching the Integration stage, where my body had become the world itself, it only produced a little smoke.
‘Of course, if I truly used it endlessly, I would theoretically die…’
After calming my breathing, I looked toward Cheon-ryeon-san.
Ever since Kim Yeon had bloomed the Full Bloom Flower, an enormous killing intent had been pouring out from within Cheon-ryeon-san.
“So that’s the wedge Hyeol-eum drove into this world.”
“Yes. Hyeol-eum was eroding the Gwanghan Realm by driving a wedge inside Cheon-ryeon-san.”
Twitch, twitch….
Seo Hyoel appeared beside me with a faint smile and explained.
The moment Gwanghan’s power manifested—
The red sky had changed back into a blue sky, and the Hyeol-eum Realm was reverting to the Gwanghan Realm.
“The original plan was for Seo Dou and I to combine our strength and drive the Gwanghan power cultivated by Goe-gun into the wedge inside Cheon-ryeon-san, but…”
Seo Hyoel let out a dry laugh.
“I never expected that immortal to amplify Gwanghan’s power. Thanks to her, Hyeol-eum must be experiencing a shock beyond anything he could have imagined. If Seo Dou purifies the wedge in this state… Hyeol-eum will undoubtedly suffer a fatal wound.”
Perhaps because Hyeol-eum’s sky had retreated, Seo Hyoel kindly explained the current situation and what I needed to do in a normal voice.
“Go, Seo Dou. Make a hole in Cheon-ryeon-san, draw out the power of the wedge, and have that immortal strike the wedge with Gwanghan’s power. That alone will bring Hyeol-eum crashing down completely.”
“Understood.”
Tap!
Seo Hyoel placed a hand on my shoulder and smiled.
“I will cast Takhonmancheon upon you. I know what you are thinking, but this time it is not a trick. Without me, you would not be able to face Hyeol-eum’s will head-on.”
“…”
“…I cannot play any tricks because of our contract. Besides, if you grow suspicious, you can simply shake it off with the power of the Heart Tribe.”
“I did not say anything…”
Though uneasy, I had no choice but to nod.
Seo Hyoel smiled faintly, placed his hand on my shoulder, and inserted something sticky and pitch-black into my soul.
I could feel his sticky personality overlaying my soul.
It felt as though my soul had been wrapped in Seo Hyoel’s packaging paper.
I steadied my posture and leaped from the Wondrous Castle toward the center of Cheon-ryeon-san—
Toward the place where that terrifying killing intent could be felt.
Kwaaaang!
My charge tore a hole straight through Cheon-ryeon-san.
I drove my sword forward, piercing through the mountain, and finally entered a vast cavern.
Kururung!
‘This place…’
I frowned.
What should have been an ordinary cavern was instead filled with sticky blood and something resembling brain matter.
Fleshy walls, seemingly belonging to some living creature, had grown across the cavern’s surface.
And at the center of the cavern—
Thousands of red energies writhed like tentacles, enveloping something in the shape of a sphere.
From the center of the red sphere, a pitch-black dot formed and glared at me.
“Hmph…!”
Chiiiiiiing!
An enormous [Gaze].
The moment I met that [Gaze], I felt my mind melting away and my body trembled.
“Krrrrgh! Grrrrr…”
‘So this is the vision of a Star Shattering cultivator.’
Through the Empty Space Shattering vision, I read the malice that blanketed the entire hierarchy of souls.
Immense malice and ugliness.
A mass of filth, obsession, and stickiness!
The moment I met [It]’s eyes, thousands of demonic arts and demonic paths of understanding were carved into my mind, gnawing at my sanity.
And I realized that even this was only barely manageable because Seo Hyoel’s Takhonmancheon was protecting my mind.
‘From the Star Shattering stage onward, the higher one’s realm, the greater the strain when directly facing a [Higher Existence].’
It seemed that as one’s vision of the world grew wider, more delicate, and more magnificent, the understanding and pain one could perceive also increased proportionally.
It was the same principle as how someone with sharper senses felt pain more acutely!
Ziiiiing!
I felt a will being transmitted from the tentacle-like sphere resembling an eyeball before me.
: : Pray to me. Worship me. You shall uphold my will… so turn back at once and slay the insect spewing Gwanghan’s power. Do so, and you may become a Venerable under my command… : :
Chiiiiing!
I could feel an immense will trying to twist my own.
I understood.
If I lost focus even slightly, my consciousness would be devoured by that will and I would become a puppet in an instant.
If Seo Hyoel’s Takhonmancheon had not served as the bare minimum protective measure, I would have been swallowed by Hyeol-eum before I even had the chance to steel my will.
I stood before Hyeol-eum and opened my mouth.
“…This humble one has always respected the Chief Judge General of the Underworld, Myeongma Jin-gun, Yu Ho-deok.”
Whoosh!
A fountain of blood erupted from my entire body, but I paid it no mind and continued speaking.
I could feel Hyeol-eum’s eyes no longer trying to control me, but instead listening to my words.
“He was noble. And he possessed a character worthy of everyone’s respect. I truly regret that he met his end while rushing to aid a friend, acting in accordance with the righteousness befitting his authority.”
No will could be read from the eye before me.
Yet because this space itself no longer rejected me and seemed to be quietly listening to my words, I realized that it was quite ‘pleased.’
“As a mere mortal who once respected a noble person, I offer this humble request. Is not the will of the great one immortal within you? Was the Gwanghan Realm not the body of your friend? O great one, please withdraw in honor of your friend’s honor. If you remember and act upon that honor, all gods of the Three Thousand Great Thousand Worlds will once again witness the righteousness of the Chief Judge General of the Underworld.”
At my words, the space itself trembled.
The tentacle-formed eyeball sent a strangely satisfied gaze and transmitted its will.
: : You know propriety. I see that you possess eyes capable of recognizing true greatness. However, there is something you misunderstand. The reason I seek to enter Gwanghan’s body is precisely because only I can claim the body of my friend. : :
His words continued.
: : After Gwanghan’s soul departed, he has been continuously desecrated for hundreds of thousands of years. Gwanghan’s name was changed to allow light to enter, and Baek-woon, the Saintess of Light, erased Gwanghan’s traces from within his body, controlling and suppressing him all this time. I merely wish to raise Gwanghan’s body once more, challenge Baek-woon who desecrated him and the detestable light, and restore the honor of Gwanghan who has been desecrated for hundreds of thousands of years. : :
I smiled bitterly and spoke.
“This humble one dares to speak the truth. If you are truly the noble Chief Judge General… then to wash away a friend’s honor, should you not cultivate your own strength rather than raising your friend’s corpse? As one who judges the right and wrong of the dead, should you not properly determine whether raising your friend’s body is truly right…?”
And at my words, the sphere’s gaze changed.
: : Are you now trying to prove my qualifications? I am Yu Ho-deok!!! No matter what anyone says, I am the strongest Jin-gun and the greatest Chief Judge General who received the favor of the most ancient one! I am Yu Ho-deok, and I do not need to prove myself to an insect like you!!! : :
Perhaps my words had scratched at his pride, for his eyes gleamed.
: : Burst and die, insect…! : :
Kugugugugu!
An immense pressure crushed down upon me.
I barely resisted and smiled.
“…Understood. Then I shall treat you not as the Chief Judge General, but as Hyeol-eum.”
: : How dare you!!! : :
At that moment—
Kwarururung!
Jeon Myeong-hoon appeared beside me.
With the influence of the Hyeol-eum Realm gone and the Simcheonma expelled from his mind, he seemed to have regained his senses.
Drip, drip….
He was crying.
“Is there… nothing I can do?”
It seemed he had heard everything through the Takhonmancheon Seo Hyoel had cast upon him.
“That bastard… showed me [that day]… over and over…!”
It appeared the Simcheonma of Hyeol-eum had repeatedly replayed the day of Geumsincheonroemun’s destruction inside Jeon Myeong-hoon’s mind.
I grinned and spoke.
“When I launch my attack, trigger the Heavenly Tribulation right after.”
“What…?”
“Kim Yeon!”
I called out loudly to Kim Yeon, and an immense power surged toward me from behind.
Kim Yeon was activating Yeon-ui Yeon.
Mansang Inyeondo and Yeon-ui Yeon resonated, summoning figures from my ‘past’ to this place.
I grinned and pointed at the center of the red-energy sphere.
“Isn’t the one inside Baek-woon the Saintess?”
I could feel it.
Baek-woon inside, and the remnants of Yang Su-jin embedded within her.
He must have captured Baek-woon the Saintess, placed her under his control, and used her as the center to erode the Gwanghan Realm.
In other words, if I could shock Baek-woon the Saintess, I could draw upon Yang Su-jin’s power within her and drain Hyeol-eum’s strength.
Once Hyeol-eum’s power was drained, Kim Yeon’s final strike would end it.
Before Hyeol-eum could react, I took my stance and shouted.
“I will save you, Saintess!”
I would bring down the Heavenly Tribulation and stimulate Yang Su-jin’s brain spear.
I recalled the countless Heart Tribe members I had met and seen within the Heart Tribe domain.
The ten thousand Implementation Stage 3 Heart Tribe members.
And… Jang Ik’s twenty-two disciples.
Hagok (River Bend).
“Untimely Wind and Rain!”
Flash!
The single strike of Gyeong-chang, who had glimpsed the next realm at the moment of his death, erupted from my sword.
The method I had used against Seo Hyoel in the fifteenth cycle burst forth from my hand.
But it was different from then.
Within my heart now resided the lives of ten thousand Heart Tribe members and twenty-two individuals!
You wish to reclaim Gwanghan’s body and restore your realm and position?
This is a world where even attempting to recover one’s realm brings down the Heavenly Tribulation!
Go ahead and keep coveting Gwanghan with your endless greed!
I will bring down a Heavenly Tribulation you cannot possibly withstand!
Bearing the weight of everything in Sam-mok-chong upon my back, I began to dance with my sword.