The Hollow One (2)
When I spoke, Jang Ik frowned.
[...] You... Did you meet and contact the being I met in my memories...?
I gave a slight nod.
Jang Ik seemed to be pondering something serious and said,
[Just spit it all out. How can you be so certain that the being you met in your memories is a god?]
[I have no choice but to be certain. The one I saw at the end was...]
I felt my body trembling as I barely managed to steady myself.
Yet I could not steady it.
Every martial art I had trained until now seemed utterly trivial compared to the sacred and sinister rune I had seen at the end.
My refined martial arts felt like trash, making me feel ashamed even to unfold more.
Jang Ik must have read my thoughts and let out a sigh.
[First, it seems rest is necessary.]
With that, Jang Ik grabbed my head and headed toward a nearby star.
The other Venerables followed Jang Ik.
The place Jang Ik had gone to was a star near the Thunder Star Sea.
It was the very spot Ham-jin had briefly visited long ago and created dozens of wives.
“Tsk. The mind is so shaken that we can’t even communicate. I’ll have to give you some shock therapy to wake this brat up...”
As he entered an atmosphere-bearing planet, he spoke in a low voice and stroked his chin. At that moment, Jinwol-ryeong approached and said,
“That’s easy. Hey, Venerable Human Race. Let’s mate.”
She came close and lightly slapped my face.
Kwa-rurung!
I was slammed straight to the ground and driven all the way to the star’s magma layer.
Earthquakes shook the star, volcanoes erupted, and tsunamis surged.
“You’re a broken one! Come now, I’ll properly educate you!”
She charged at me, but Jang Ik grabbed her hair and hurled her into the sky.
Flash!
From Jang Ik’s body burst dozens of spirit spears that scattered across the star, sealing off the disasters.
Kukung!
Watching that scene, Guryul-jin sighed and spun his foot.
The crust rose and I was blasted free from the magma layer, emerging onto the surface.
“Insane muscle-brain race.”
Jang Ik shook his head and clicked his tongue.
“Is there no one with a proper solution?”
He glared around and spoke, but all the Venerables except those of the Gwanghan Realm avoided his gaze.
I said with a hollow expression,
"...It's fine, Master. I just... want to be alone for a while."
“Hmm...”
Jang Ik looked into my mind for a moment and sighed.
[I see. Do as you wish. But you must return to the Gwanghan Realm. And...]
He looked at me and asked,
“You were just discussing the Star Path. The one you used when you came here last time...”
When Jang Ik spoke, every other Venerable’s eyes widened in shock.
“Is that true, Seojang?”
“Unbelievable! How in the world did you use that path?!”
I handed over the green jade token from my pocket and roughly explained what had happened in the Pyong-ung Realm.
[...] So the seal on the Star Path, which had been weakened after we left, was broken by the Yin Ghost Venerable.
With the seal gone, the aura he carried also scattered... and even his body, which everyone had struggled to pierce before, was easily broken through.
In that case, we can return through the Star Path!
The Venerables all showed faces full of joy.
And Weimu-cheon, belonging to the Sea King Tribe, laughed loudly while taking the jade token from me and said,
“I’m very grateful, Seojang. Without you, my return to the Zhong-gyeong Realm would have been delayed by a thousand years. You shortened the Venerables’ thousand years. I won’t demand repayment for that. The Star Path reaches the Goryeok Realm in just a few days, so you can ask the Saintess directly about the exile decree you were marked with.”
Jang Ik came to me and said,
“Then we’ll take our leave. Also, I’ll keep the Star Path active at the edge for five hundred years. During that time, even without the jade token, you can use the Star Path to ascend to the Goryeok Realm. I hope you find inner peace within that period. And...”
He turned to leave, then paused for a moment, met my eyes, and grinned.
“When you recover your mind and come to the Gwanghan Realm, I hope you recreate the ultimate of the formless for me as well.”
[...] Yes. I will.
Among the Venerables heading into the sky, I looked at the Black Jade Venerable of the Jinma Realm and spoke.
“Black Jade Venerable Omu.”
He jolted in surprise and froze in place.
“W-why, Venerable Seojang?”
“You once brutally tore me apart back then.”
That was true.
The Black Jade Venerable Omu was the Venerable who had brutally torn me apart and devoured me when I visited the Thunder Star Sea with Jang Ik.
He avoided my gaze and cleared his throat.
“I will apologize for what happened back then. First... our Black Jade Tribe originally comes from the Heavenly Demon of the Blood Sword Realm. We merely left that line after rejecting its domination. Although we were originally Heavenly Demons, we carried instinctive savagery... so when I saw you back then, I couldn’t contain my savagery. I offer my deepest apologies for that time, and I will make amends later as well.”
[...] I accept your apology. And... what about the Tam-seong Venerable?
I looked at Tam-seong Venerable Yowun.
“I heard you come from the Geuk Clan. There is a child in our Jinma Realm Geuk Tribe that I know. Would you be so kind as to care for that child? Also, that child’s future husband is a Snake Tribe Ma Demon. If possible, take that child as well...”
I requested care for Seo Ran and Hong-yeon for Yowun, and Yowun nodded silently.
“Then we will take our leave. Stay well.”
The Venerables who had come on the Thunder Star Sea expedition waved at me as they ascended into the sky.
Those left behind were only Ham-cheon Venerable Jang Ik and the Do-cheon Venerable Geuk-gwang.
“What are you doing, Ham-cheon?”
[...] Somehow I feel unpleasant. Like something sticky is clinging to my soul... Hmm... It would be better to investigate once we reach the Gwanghan Realm. Why does this... feel so dirty... If I pay a little more attention, it might settle...
He summoned spirit spears and spewed killing intent while glaring into empty space.
Geuk-gwang clicked his tongue while looking at him.
“Do it later. It would be best to ask the Saintess to see your soul.”
[...] I understand. Let’s go quickly.
Jang Ik shook his head at his words and followed the other Venerables.
And the last one left behind, Geuk-gwang, gave me an oddly knowing expression and comforted me.
“I understand the feeling of a life’s purpose being shattered. Though you’re not a likable person, your situation reminds me of mine from back then, so I can’t withhold advice.
Even if a life’s purpose becomes meaningless, never give up. Keep training yourself and strive to reach the same viewpoint as your opponent.
When you rise to the same viewpoint as your opponent and share their gaze, that is when true growth begins. You haven’t even started yet, so there is no reason to despair yet!”
I leaned against the rock and looked up at Geuk-gwang and said,
[...] Excellent words. Thank you for the comfort. That ‘opponent’ you speak of... is it Baek-woon Saintess?
I asked, thinking about the way Geuk-gwang looked at Baek-woon.
He nodded.
“That’s right. I have been working toward a union with her for tens of thousands of years. Though she does not look at me, I do not give up. Even when we were only at the Integration realm... even at the Void Refinement ascension ceremony....
Thinking of how I am truly her family and thus in a far better position than the other Branch Tribes, I condensed my original nature with that resolve and hope. As a result, I was able to reach the rank of Void Refinement Venerable. You too, even if there is no meaning in your purpose, keep moving forward. Until you reach the same viewpoint as your opponent, all that was rejected before holds no meaning!”
[...]
The words were certainly splendid and somewhat comforting, but I realized something strange was mixed in.
[...] What exactly do you mean by “that I am truly her family” with Baek-woon Saintess?
“Ah, my mother’s grandmother once received Baek-woon Saintess’s flower pollen in her youth and bore it. As a result, my mother’s father became Baek-woon Saintess’s descendant. So... in relation to you humans, Baek-woon Saintess is my great-grandfather.”
[...]
[...]
A profound silence hung between us for a moment.
Geuk-gwang frowned upon seeing my gaze.
“What? Why are you looking at me like that? Do not judge the Branch Tribe by human generational standards! We Branch Tribes have no concept of male and female, and our concepts of parents, children, and ancestors are completely different from your mammal tribes!”
[...]
“Even those who give this advice say nothing, yet you gave me special consideration and comfort. If you’re going to comfort me, at least be honest. You’re a foul-tempered human like me. Fine. I’m leaving!”
Geuk-gwang looked at my gaze with irritation and then ascended toward the Star Path after the other Venerables.
I stared blankly at the place Geuk-gwang had gone, then suddenly realized.
[...] Ah.
Geuk-gwang’s words were too absurd, so the shock had pulled me slightly out of the formless ultimate that Hyeon-gwi had shown me.
[...] I really wasn’t in my right mind.
The Venerables I had just been fighting were suddenly being kind to me, and even Geuk-gwang, who hadn’t helped before, comforted me.
I wanted to deepen my bond with those strong, but...
I stood up with a gloomy expression and took out the Colorless Glass Sword, sitting on the rock.
“You’re nearby, right? Come out. Before I scatter the Asim-geom across the entire star.”
Twitch... twitch...
From ahead of me, shadows under the trees began to stir, and a familiar face emerged from within.
Black robe. Black horns. And naturally spreading gloomy energy around.
“It’s you. You made the Venerables comfort me.”
The man with the face of the Black Dragon King Hyeon-eum simply smiled gently.
“Hehe, Seo Doo.”
“I heard Hyeon-eum died to Goe-gun and swapped bodies somewhere... Did you succeed in taking his place? Seo Hyul.”
“Thanks to Doo’s help. Thanks to Blood Sword taking unexpected catastrophic damage... I didn’t have time to worry about my clone Hyeon-eum. Truly... I offer deepest thanks to Seo Doo, who played an unexpectedly great role in many ways.”
[...] By the way, is your true self Doo? Call me senior.
[...]
I spat out the Jade Transformation to encircle him.
It was to taste the pain of Hell if he tried any tricks.
I guarded Seo Hyul and asked,
“No matter how deeply you infiltrated the stars and seeped into every corner of the Star Realm... how did a Venerable like you who couldn’t even become a Venerable lead the other Venerables?”
“I believe you hid Seo Ran in interspace. If you release him for a moment, I will show you exactly how that was possible.”
“I see. Hyeon-eum, then.”
A Taiji symbol appeared in my eyes.
The extreme of Geuk’s senses, as told by Jinwol-ryeong just now.
Para-rararak!
Like turning the pages of a book, the Taiji reversed and revealed Blood Sword’s split soul that Seo Hyul had taken.
Hyeon-eum’s past history flooded into my mind.
“I was puzzled why a being with such a high level of True Immortal split soul was only a Integration realm Dragon King, but now I understand.”
I leisurely read Hyeon-eum’s history and examined Seo Hyul’s tricks in front of me.
“Hyeon-eum was never just one entity. Just like Geom-mun Beopjae... a conceptual existence manifested a part of its existence in the material realm.”
If Geom-mun Beopjae’s destiny had manifested as a talent,
“Hyeon-eum was the ‘information set’ created by Blood Sword weaving together parts of the history of the First Black Dragon and True Dragon.”
And that information set became living beings called the Black Dragon Tribe in the material realm.
“And... the true origin of the conceptual body was originally in the Star Realm. That was it.”
I understood why Seo Hyul suddenly fled to the Star Realm.
And why he had brainwashed the stars there, and why Blood Sword could contract with the Gaeyeol realm True Immortals there. And how, while in the Void Space, he could instantly deliver information about ‘me’ to the Gaeyeol True Immortals.
“The stars. Blood Sword imprinted the information body created from the history of the First Black Dragon and True Dragon as star maps in the Star Realm, then connected with the True Immortals through those star maps and formed contracts. And using the power of that star map, it manifested in the Gwanghan Realm’s starry sky to create the Black Dragon Tribe, and then slightly superior individuals within that Black Dragon Tribe were infused with a portion of consciousness to control them—that was ‘Hyeon-eum’.”
I understood the full story of how Seo Hyul had taken Hyeon-eum’s flesh.
“The fifth seat of the Gwangmyeong-palseon, Geomgeukcheongun, collapsed a corner of the universe with her authority, scattering a portion of the star map’s power and striking Blood Sword. In that moment, through the star maps you had brainwashed, Hyeon-eum was devoured by you, Seo Hyul.”
“Hehe... You’re getting quite scary, Seo Doo.”
He smiled while facing me who was showing the Taiji pattern.
Apparently he had already known about Geomgeukcheongun and wasn’t greatly shocked.
“The more you use it, the more familiar it becomes. This Geuk’s senses...”
I read Seo Hyul’s history through the Geuk’s senses and clicked my tongue.
‘If Geuk had possessed such senses from even the Qi Condensation level like the Heavenly Race... perhaps the Heavenly Race would have been greatly disadvantaged.’
A sense that reads history.
This sense could read a portion of the history of any desired target.
Just as I had done with Jang Ik, I could enter one scene of history that the subject himself permitted and observe the history, or like I had done with Seo Hyul just now, read only the necessary information in an instant.
However, it was not omniscient; I could not read histories where ‘I had no involvement.’
I had investigated the relationships between Seo Hyul, Blood Sword, Hyeon-eum, Purple Soul Filling the Heavens, and Muddy Soul Filling the Heavens as I passed through the Water Realm, Gwanghan Realm, and Goryeok Realm, and because Hyeon-eum eating Seo Hyul was so closely related to my own actions, I could immediately read the hidden truth.
‘The past regarding Seo Hyul himself... is not easily read.’
Yet I noticed that the past regarding ‘Seo Hyul’ himself was not read and clicked my tongue.
It was surrounded by something black and turbid because of his Muddy Soul Filling the Heavens, so it was impossible to read clearly.
‘This was probably Oh Hye-seo’s power.’
Just as Kim Yeon had obtained a monstrously large consciousness, she seemed to have gained the extreme of Geuk’s senses beyond the Void Refinement realm.
‘With her higher adaptability... she might have the extreme of Geuk’s senses beyond the Void Refinement realm. That legendary physique of the Dugu Tribe, the ‘Gu-ryul-jin-hoe-gwang-sin’ or whatever it is, was probably that kind of thing from the beginning.’
I guessed at Oh Hye-seo’s power and looked at Seo Hyul with eyes showing the Taiji.
He smiled faintly and raised both hands.
“I cannot match you, Seo Doo. As expected, everything was revealed. Hehe... It’s fine. After all, Seo Doo is the one who provided tremendous help to me in devouring Hyeon-eum.”
I looked at Seo Hyul with transparent eyes and asked,
“What is your purpose? Why did you lead the Venerables to awaken me?”
I could not read his purpose at all.
“I am a being who would be harmful to you. If I could lead the Venerables to some extent, wouldn’t I have to use them to push you further?”
I read his history to probe his true intentions and asked a question that would expose any loopholes.
Seo Hyul said with a smiling face,
“There is a correction. Because I only recently devoured Hyeon-eum, I am not yet at the level to compare to the true Venerables. I have simply gained powerful authority over the Black Dragon Tribe, the Sea Dragon Tribe, and the Heavenly Demons of the Blood Sword Realm only. ‘For now’ I cannot freely control the Venerables. The reason the Venerables comforted you is that there was some intention from the beginning to deepen your relationship with Seo Doo among the Venerables.”
[...]
I interpreted Seo Hyul’s words and tried to read his intentions through the information he gave me with the Geuk’s senses.
‘It isn’t reading.’
It was pure falsehood.
“And... Seo Doo is not a being who is harmful to me.”
[...] What?
I was startled by his words.
The result read through the Geuk’s senses and Heavenly Tribe’s senses.
Seo Hyul’s declaration was ‘sincere.’
“Just now you said it yourself with Seo Doo’s mouth. Seo Doo is a shield that protects me, so Seo Doo is not a being who is harmful to me.”
‘...This isn’t reading either.’
But guessing from context, it seemed as if I was gaining an advantage because I had thrown Geomgeukcheongun at Blood Sword.
Using my actions as a shield and then pursuing personal gain behind the scenes, such as devouring Hyeon-eum.
[...] Then do you intend to help me?
“Of course it’s possible. In my view, the two things Seo Doo most needs right now are... One is Gui-do Seongmo, one of Seo Doo’s companions. And the other is...”
He pointed to the Thunder Star Sea floating above us and said,
“A companion of yours, Jeon Myeong-hoon, who has been captured in the Thunder Star Sea and is suffering the suffering of a soft-footed creature in the Heavenly Prison. Those two, aren’t they?”
[...] !
I was startled and asked,
[...] You... know Jeon Myeong-hoon’s current situation?
“Hehe, it is regrettable to Seo Doo, but among Seo Doo’s companions, none are uninfected by me.”
[...] [The seventh seat of the Gwangmyeong-palseon, Dae-cheon Venerable!]
[...] ! Kuuueueueugh!
Kuuueueueugh...!
Jeon Myeong-hoon and I collapsed where we stood, bleeding from the seven gates.
I rose earlier and glared at him.
“The crime of casually planting Muddy Soul Filling the Heavens on a companion. If it were normal, I would have fed you the Asim-geom and poured the entire Jade Transformation into you... But today, no matter who you are, I will not tolerate it.”
I approached Seo Hyul, grabbed his shoulder, and pressed down while asking,
[Tell me. Can you help me escape Jeon Myeong-hoon from the Thunder Star Sea?]
He looked up at me and smiled.
Now he no longer looked as terrifying and gigantic as before.
‘I can control him. This guy is nothing.’
So receiving his help was acceptable.
With his help...
I would save Jeon Myeong-hoon as soon as possible so he wouldn’t be damaged.
“If you fulfill one request, I will help.”
[If you say something like Seo Ran’s...]
“After saving Gui-do Seongmo and Jeon Myeong-hoon... the 107th floor of the Trial Tower in the Thunder Star Sea, the treasure vault of Yang Su-jin. Confirm what lies beyond.”
[What?]
“If Seo Doo ascends to the 108th floor of the Thunder Star Sea, I will support you with all my strength. How about it?”
I was silent for a moment.
And then I spoke.
[I understand.]
In that way, to save Jeon Myeong-hoon,
I shook hands again with a snake-like Seo Hyul.