The Hollow One (Part 3)
Well then, is there any concrete way at all to pull Jeon Myeong-hoon out of there right now?
The easiest way would be this.
What is it?
I’ll split the souls of your companions using my Takhon Mancheon and arrange them into arrays. Then I’ll copy those arrays and attach them to suitable living souls…
I don’t need any of that. If you ever touch my friend’s soul like that, I’ll kill you even if it means the universe itself perishes.
Understood. I’ll discard that method. Then, second approach.
Seo Hyul began laying out his plan.
Within Noe-seong-hae, inside the Trial Tower, the countless naesu that reach the Sugyeong… I’ll seonrae all of them.
You can seonrae Seonja Geum-jin-jo?
Nothing I can’t do. I’m sure you’ve already guessed my purpose?
…Probably something involving Hyeoleum’s seonrae.
I’ve been watching your every move, and from that I’m guessing you’ll seonrae the split soul of Hyeoleum, then keep pushing all the way back through the haeryong clan and even Seonja Yeon-eum himself to replace him completely.
‘From the haeryong clan all the way to Yeon-eum… you’ve been seonraeing your way upward. So the final target has to be Hyeoleum, of course.’
Moreover, I already read the old Seo Hyul and understood that his real goal was to seonrae someone.
By seonraeing Hyeoleum, you want to turn this last remaining speck of a thing into someone who truly has independent selfhood. That’s the conclusion I’ve drawn after all this time watching you. Isn’t it?
…
Seo Hyul only gave a faint smile. He didn’t even answer the question.
‘Whether that’s his true purpose or not, it’s clearly something that matters a great deal to him.’
He smiled again, then continued.
…Well, even if that’s the case, why do you think I chose to climb up through the worthless haeryong clan instead of going straight for Hyeoleum with Takhon Mancheon?
The gap is simply too overwhelming.
Even if Hyeoleum is rotten, he is still Jinseon.
That’s the seat of the Lord of the Underworld, Myeongwangmo.
He’s the leftover of Yu Ho-deok, the former Chief Judge General, who once stood at the top of the Underworld’s ranking and even restored some of Yu Ho-deok’s authority.
He’s still a strong one among Jinseon.
Exactly. The gap is too vast. Compared to Hyeoleum himself, I’m nothing but filth. No, not even filth—worse than an inanimate object. The difference between one grain of sand and a human is immense. If a grain of sand were to seonrae a human, do you think it could succeed?
Impossible.
Correct. But a grain of sand, when it pours every last drop of power into it, can seonrae other grains of sand. It can seonrae any inanimate object. And eventually, living bodies are made of blood, bones, flesh, organs… even down to cells or what we call genes. Even those are still made of inanimate matter. A grain of sand can’t seonrae a human, but it can seonrae the building blocks that make up the human one by one.
He drew a spiral in the air.
That was the spiral of genes, cells, and the countless parts of the human body—nails, toes, hair, skin, blood, organs, bones.
One grain of sand to one strand of gene. One strand to two. Two to five. Five to one cell. One cell to five cells. Five cells to nail, toe, hair, skin, blood, organ, bone… all the way to the human brain. To turn a person into himself.
He finished sketching the perfect human figure and clenched his fist violently.
Schlurp—
The human sketch was sucked inside his hand.
That’s how a being worse than filth can seonrae a human and win. You must seonrae every single building block that makes up the bottommost existence and make it your own. If you’ve come this far, Seonja Seo Eun-hyun, you should be able to guess.
…So the 107th floor of the Trial Tower in Noe-seong-hae, starting from the Qi Condensation-level naesu on the first floor… climb through floors two, three, and four to reach the Queen of the Brain Peaks… and in the end, seonrae Geum-jin-jo?
Exactly. The only way to rescue my companion Jeon Myeong-hoon.
I looked at him and asked.
Even with this alone, it seems I’m not needed at all. But you obviously have something in mind that requires my help.
Correct. The only target I’ve implanted Takhon Mancheon inside Noe-seong-hae is your companion Jeon Myeong-hoon. Therefore… I must infect the first-floor naesu through him. But right now Jeon Myeong-hoon is being tormented by Geum-jin-jo’s feet on the 106th floor while he’s being watched. At Jinseon level, implanting something like Takhon Mancheon is impossible.
What do you need me to do?
Tell me about the hidden technique of Geumsincheonroemun. Or rather, the secret art. Myeolsin Geopcheon? The technique that lets you avoid the fate the True Immortal grants instead of covering it with fate itself.
I hesitated a moment, then asked.
From what I know, the Seonja are beings tied to history. A technique that avoids fate in front of people who are tied to history… that sounds pretty inefficient.
Hmm… there’s a misunderstanding here, Seo Eun-hyun. Geum-jin-jo is only called a Seonja because she’s a Jinseon-level naesu. She’s not a real Seonja at all. She was created by forcibly fusing sect members into a lump and is nothing like a true Seonja. She can never use the power of history. In fact, since she was Geumsinja’s weapon when he was still a Heavenly Clan, she’s the one who deals with fate.
I understand. But… it might be difficult to pass on Myeolsin Geopcheon to you.
Seo Hyul tilted his head in confusion.
Why is that? I’m well aware that mastering the entire Geumsincheonroemun Brain-Dao Technique is the condition. Right now, with Takhon Mancheon, the condition can be met…
That’s not the problem.
I sighed and repeated the incantation of Myeolsin Geopcheon in my mind.
Myeolsin Geopcheon is a technique based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Yet at the same time…
‘Yang Su-jin… this man…’
‘The non-human does not transmit.’
It was his will itself.
Before I could finish the thought, I saw the characters of the Myeolsin Geopcheon incantation forming before my eyes. I clicked my tongue.
At the same time, I felt Yang Su-jin’s will telling the people of this world: never teach the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
‘He doesn’t want it passed to non-humans at all. That’s harsh.’
It felt like his will was not only denying the people of this world the right to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights but even preventing them from ever knowing about it.
…It seems Myeolsin Geopcheon isn’t the kind of thing that can be passed to someone else. Geumsinja’s will is blocking it.
…There’s no helping it. Understood. Then I’ll have to use Myeolsin Geopcheon directly.
You want me to personally cast the spell that scatters Myeolsin Geopcheon on Jeon Myeong-hoon?
There’s no other choice. Without this method, there’s no way to rescue my companion.
Understood. Then what exactly do you plan to do with it?
Seo Hyul explained the plan to me: use Myeolsin Geopcheon to blind Geum-jin-jo’s eyes while spraying Takhon Mancheon in the meantime.
After hearing the strategy, I nodded.
Good. Let’s begin right away.
Understood. I’ll prepare as well.
Seo Hyul melted into the shadows while still wearing Yeon-eum’s body, and I rose into the sky, revealing my true form.
Ku gu gu gu gu!
As my main body emerged above the stars, the eyes of the human tribes and all the living beings living on them widened in shock.
I suppressed my existence as much as possible, carefully controlling it so I wouldn’t overload the brains of the living beings and cause them to explode, then sent a voice to every star.
[Listen, residents of the stars. This sovereign comes from a distant other realm. This sovereign will bless you, so prepare yourselves to receive my blessing.]
After sweeping across the vast realm from the Universe of Eternal Heaven, every living being on every star bowed to me in their own languages and prayed.
Days later.
The residents of the stars fully worshipped me as their god.
I issued commands to them through the oracle, and before long the grandest altar was built at the very center of the star continent—where the spiritual veins were richest.
An altar for Myeolsin Geopcheon.
Countless scriptures on curses and fate-covering were engraved in the language of Gwanghan-gye.
But I continued nurturing the altar for several months, waiting for Seo Hyul’s signal.
And six months later.
A message finally arrived from Seo Hyul.
[Let us begin, Eun-hyun. Everything is ready.]
[Very well.]
I issued a final oracle to the star residents, promising them blessings from this sovereign, then prepared the ceremony.
Three days later, all preparations were complete.
Pa ah ah at!
My avatar descended onto the altar the star residents had built.
The residents of the star all bowed to me in their own languages. I raised both hands without a word.
Pa ryeo do hae seong
Ssang hwa jang cheon
Hwa reu reu reuk!
Yin-hwa and Baek-ran flowers bloomed in my hands.
Glass True Flame spread across the entire altar, activating every single curse and fate-covering scripture engraved there.
Horrifying demonic fire began to burn on the altar.
[Ready, Seo Hyul?]
And Seo Hyul’s answer came.
Tsu ah ah ah ah!
The stars near Noe-seong-hae began to lose their light one by one.
The entire sky darkened.
For the past half-year I had prepared Myeolsin Geopcheon, while Seo Hyul had seonraed the surrounding stars and wrapped them in the power of Yeon-eum, preparing Takhon Mancheon.
Soon all twenty-eight stars around Noe-seong-hae had lost their light, and they began forming arrays.
The star veins twisted.
Spiritual force concentrated toward Noe-seong-hae.
Hwa reu reu reu reu reuk!
All the spiritual veins of the star I stood on rushed toward me. I resonated with my main body and pulled Glass True Flame even more fiercely.
[Then let us begin.]
Pu k!
Glass True Flame surged, and my avatar reached the stratosphere of that star—the place where Noe-seong-hae could be seen clearly and where I could easily communicate with the stars Seo Hyul had already infiltrated.
[Myeolsin Geopcheon]
[Takhon Mancheon]
Seo Hyul’s darkness enveloped me.
At the same time I drew out the Asim-gom and began resonating with every Asim-gom I had already planted in my companions’ hearts.
[Please trust the plan. When my Takhon Mancheon and Seo Eun-hyun’s Asim-gom reach Jeon Myeong-hoon through the soul resonance, use Myeolsin Geopcheon and every other method you can to distract Geum-jin-jo. In the meantime, I will infect the lower naesu of the Trial Tower.]
[Understood.]
I entered Noe-seong-hae through the soul resonance alongside Seo Hyul in the darkness.
Far away, I felt Jeon Myeong-hoon’s wave.
Although it seemed distant, the moment we activated Asim-gom and Takhon Mancheon at the same time, it came closer in an instant.
Pa ah at!
And at the same time I entered Noe-seong-hae.
Ku ru ru ru ru!
The swirling meokjang-gun clouds I had drawn with fate-covering spread outward.
Meanwhile, Seo Hyul secretly extended his shadow beneath those clouds of fate-covering.
I looked back at the Jeon Myeong-hoon I had been able to reach after entering Noe-seong-hae, wondering whether I could even save even his soul.
[…Jeon Myeong-hoon…]
He was tied up with what looked like thin white strings around his eyes, mouth, and entire body, and tiny fairies whispered endlessly into his ears as if trying to seonrae him.
It was the moment I reached out to him.
Pu k!
Some of the meokjang-gun clouds parted, revealing a familiar figure.
It was Geum-jin-jo.
She had transformed into a perfect thunderbird form and glared at me, shouting in the language of Jinseon.
[[How dare someone like you, who doesn’t even know their place, interfere with my lord’s precious time? It was thanks to my good fortune in obtaining my lord’s technique back then. How dare you grant fate-covering and use Myeolsin Geopcheon on my lord? Disgusting. Pathetic. You look so foolish that even I, who knows how to counter Myeolsin Geopcheon, can’t believe you’d try it.]]
She was trampling me under her existence itself now, treating me as if I was nothing, and was about to kill me.
I tried my best not to face her directly and kept maintaining Myeolsin Geopcheon.
But…
‘I’m being pushed back. My Myeolsin Geopcheon…!’
Every time her wings flapped, the meokjang-gun clouds of Myeolsin Geopcheon I had gathered scattered.
[-Are you far away?! Seo Hyul!]
[I need more time.]
Was it because she was Yang Su-jin’s diary and battle weapon?
Geum-jin-jo was fast—fast enough to not only counter Myeolsin Geopcheon but to completely dismantle it.
If this continued, Seo Hyul who was supposed to infect Takhon Mancheon would get caught.
‘I need a last resort.’
I bit my lip hard.
Honestly…
I really didn’t want to use this method unless it was absolutely necessary.
But right now it was absolutely necessary.
‘If I miss this moment, Jeon Myeong-hoon will be trained and seonraed by this madwoman for a hundred thousand years and his personality will be ruined forever!’
No matter what!
No matter what!
I had to buy time!
To do that, I swallowed the name of the being I hated calling again.
[Jeong-ryeo!]
First shout.
A faint attraction formed.
It was a weak attraction that would probably disappear if I left it alone.
[Jeong-ryeo!!]
Second shout.
Geum-jin-jo rushed at me in rage, and I barely blocked her strike by applying Su-mi-gom-mu and Myeolsin Geopcheon at the same time.
At the same time the attraction grew stronger, and I felt a connection with the being beyond it.
[[How dare you call an existence that defiles the sacred ground of someone like me inside?!]]
It felt like Geum-jin-jo was pouring every last bit of her power into killing me, as if she was genuinely furious.
And in the final moment.
[Jeong!!! Ryeo!!!]
I squeezed every ounce of strength and called for Jeong-ryeo with all my might.
The next instant.
Kwa chi ji ji ji ji ji!
Between me and Geum-jin-jo appeared an existence with feet cleaner and purer than any of Geum-jin-jo’s feet—far beyond comparison.
Pa ah at!
All the countless techniques and thunder powers Geum-jin-jo had summoned to kill me were instantly deleted, and she was forcibly pulled back from her naesu form into a girl’s form and collapsed in front of the white-haired woman.
[Get away. Don’t come. Disappear! Disappear, you demon!]
Geum-jin-jo, whose ability to speak Jinseon had been stripped away in an instant, shouted in the language of the gods and struggled to get away from the white-haired woman while lying on the ground.
And the white-haired woman brought one finger to her own face.
The gesture looked exactly like “shhh.”
“A… aaaa… aaaaa…”
Geum-jin-jo, who had almost been a thunder spirit, changed into a completely human body with that single action, and her voice became flesh and blood.
The white-haired woman approached Geum-jin-jo.
Geum-jin-jo, still unable to believe she was dealing with a Jinseon-level being, crawled like a worm toward the white-haired woman in a pitiful attempt to escape.
But she seemed to have been paralyzed, so she simply collapsed right there. The white-haired woman walked up behind her, grabbed her face, and began whispering something into her ear.
And Geum-jin-jo began to sob.
“D-d-don’t… don’t lie… I’m your master. My master has come back. It’s my master. My master has been reborn. Don’t lie. Don’t lie. Don’t lie. Don’t lie. Don’t lie. Don’t lie. Don’t lie. Don’t lie…!
Geum-jin-jo struggled against the white-haired woman’s whispers, then suddenly found strength in her will and roared in the language of the gods.
[Get out of Noe-seong-hae! You wretched monster!]
Ku ru ru ru!
Yang Su-jin’s severed ring finger shook madly, and thunder rumbled from all directions.
Thunder tried to drive the white-haired being out of this world.
But the white-haired being didn’t seem affected at all. Instead, she spread her arms wide and laughed.
Dru du du du du!
Just the sound of her laughter made the entire Noe-seong-hae tremble.
It felt like even the roar Geum-jin-jo had used to attack Baek-woon was no match for this being’s laughter.
‘That… must be her real realm….’
And the white-haired being.
Jeong-ryeo finally opened her mouth.
[[I am the leftover trash left by Geumsinja, who ruled me. Don’t think you can ever seal him inside your body forever. One day, through him, he will free me from this prison.]]
[Don’t prophecy! Don’t give fate! I won’t allow it! I won’t let him go! My master is mine now! Inside Noe-seong-hae, I am the god! My master’s fate is decided by me! Disappear! You filthy traitor!]
[[Betrayal was what he did…]]
Ku gu gu gu gu gu!
After speaking those words, Jeong-ryeo transformed into the very essence of thunder itself, leaving behind a sinister laugh, and was pushed out of Noe-seong-hae by Geum-jin-jo.
Her form grew faint.
And a reply came from Seo Hyul.
[You may leave now, Seo Eun-hyun. It is complete.]
I glanced one last time at Jeong-ryeo’s left ring finger with two identical ring fingers on it, then ran out of Noe-seong-hae together with Seo Hyul.
If we had stayed there any longer, Geum-jin-jo would have seized our minds and tortured Jeon Myeong-hoon for a hundred thousand years.
Ku ru ru ru!
Huge thunderbolts flickered across the surface of the dimensional barrier of Noe-seong-hae.
I shivered looking at those thunderbolts, remembering the realm Jeong-ryeo had just shown me.
‘She was even bigger than I expected. Jeong-ryeo….’
The realm she showed was not inferior to Emperor of the South Pole at all, and in pure destructive power it might even surpass him.
‘More than that… I thought she would do something to me too… but she just left without doing anything.’
I was relieved and sent my avatar back to the star where I had just performed the Myeolsin Geopcheon sacrifice.
[You have all suffered greatly preparing to receive this sovereign’s blessing. This sovereign now bestows blessings upon this world.]
I filled the entire star with the heavenly and earthly spiritual energy I had produced with my main body.
Then I breathed my own breath onto the priests, shamans, and laborers who had participated in the altar construction.
Hoo woo woo—
A lump of heavenly and earthly spiritual energy formed around them, giving them spiritual nature. The spiritual energy was absorbed by them.
Those who had once been mere disciples saw their realms rise, while those who had once been criminals all received spiritual roots.
The sudden recipients of spiritual roots were bewildered, and those whose realms had risen were grateful to me because their long life problems had been solved.
For the next hundred years that star would at least have heavenly and earthly spiritual energy at the level of Deungsunhyang. Countless strong beings would surely appear from that star.
After taking that action, I retrieved my avatar and returned to my main body. I wrapped the entire star in Wansuigungmurok.
Uu wooong!
I cut away every sense—Star Vein Eye, Birth, Underworld Sense, Emptiness Sense, and consciousness area—so that the existence itself would be erased.
Pa ah at!
The star instantly disappeared from the universe’s orbit as if it had never existed.
This Wansuigungmurok would last for more than three hundred years.
Geum-jin-jo would never discover that star, nor would she know that this sovereign had blessed it.
And when three hundred years passed, all traces of the blessings would have vanished. Even if she tried to punish me then, she would have no grounds. By then I would be spending time with Jeon Myeong-hoon and wouldn’t care about that star at all.
After taking that action, I quickly climbed onto the star’s path.
Ku ruung, ku ru ru ru!
The space around Noe-seong-hae trembled.
At the same time, I felt an enormous killing intent shooting toward me from inside.
Geum-jin-jo, who had regained her senses, was glaring at me.
Kwa ru ru ru ru!
A massive arm of thunder exploded out of Noe-seong-hae and flew straight at me.
Geum-jin-jo was putting all her strength into catching me.
Pa ah at!
I leaped onto the star’s path and quickly soared across the distant universe, asking toward my shadow.
[So, how long will it take you to ‘guide’ Geum-jin-jo?]
I had asked beforehand, before executing the plan.
Can Takhon Mancheon truly control Geum-jin-jo?
Seo Hyul had said it was impossible.
Truly seonraeing a Jinseon was something that the word itself couldn’t do.
What he would do was plant Takhon Mancheon inside Geum-jin-jo’s body to create a ‘gap’ through which she could escape, thereby ‘guiding’ her.
And even guiding her required such complicated preparations.
Seo Hyul’s answer came.
[Ten thousand years. Roughly nine to ten thousand years will be needed.]
[…The end of the world is approaching.]
[It’s not that easy to plant a technique that guides a Jinseon’s mind.]
[…Understood.]
Ten thousand years.
It was an immensely long time, but compared to the hundred thousand years she had threatened, it was still a possible time frame.
I wondered if we could hold out for ten thousand years.
‘Just hold on for ten thousand years, Jeon Myeong-hoon.’
I will definitely save you.
While jumping thousands of light-years away, I evaded the thunder arm chasing us and prayed for Jeon Myeong-hoon’s safety.