The Eve of the End (2)
From Saintess Baek-woon, we learned that Taesansangje had slipped free from the grip of light. We all prepared for the end of the world.
Ten days had passed.
At the summit of Cheonryeonsan, the White Jade Pavilion of Gwanghan Realm.
The nobles of the Gwanghan Realm had gathered before the pavilion, waiting in silence.
The light descended from the heavens and bathed the pavilion in radiance.
The beings who governed light were granting Baek-woon revelations.
How long had I waited there?
The light gradually faded, and Baek-woon’s voice echoed from within the pavilion.
“Listen.”
We were instantly pulled back inside the pavilion.
“Saintess, what on earth is happening? Is Ilwol Cheonyeok truly the site of the end?”
I thought of the nightmare Taesansangje had caused me and felt cold sweat trickle down my spine.
Baek-woon shook her head.
[No. I received the revelation just now. The violent divine spirit is currently… fighting the master of Sangbi Cheonyeok in the distant realm. It seems he intends to wage war against the masters of other heavenly realms as well.]
“…!”
‘What in the world is he doing? Taesan…’
I swallowed hard and continued.
“Then what becomes of us?”
[My divine spirits have granted me this revelation. To let that violent divine spirit return to Ilwol Cheonyeok, the wars against the masters of other heavenly realms must first end. And the masters of heavenly realms are anything but easy to deal with… so it will probably take tens of thousands of years.]
“…Tens of thousands of years…”
If that was the case, then the only fate left for us was a natural end.
It did not appear to be the sudden end caused by Taesansangje.
That was when the fact Baek-woon spoke sent shockwaves rippling across the entire world.
At the same moment, shadows from places no one present could have known were flying into the void and vanished.
“What is this…?”
I sensed the world-shaking vibration and the shadows and clicked my tongue.
‘The saints. The true immortals. Or those of equal standing… were they hiding here to hear Baek-woon’s revelation from the light? And that vibration just now…’
[…The Middle Capital realms are clashing.]
Baek-woon clicked her tongue and looked sadly beyond Gwanghan Realm.
[The Blood Sound realm has moved and is slamming all its power into the Demon Realm. It seems they are trying to force their way into the Demon Realm. Zisun is desperately defending against Hyeol-eum…]
The moment we heard the news, we offered condolences to Zisun.
“Saying that right in front of Hyeol-eum…”
“As far as I know, the saint of the Demon Realm was originally just a small fry of the Blood Sound realm…”
“Now it seems he was a fragment, not a small fry. And even a fragment speaking that way to the main body…”
“Poor thing. He must have said whatever came to mind knowing the world was ending…”
“But it didn’t end.”
The nobles each clicked their tongues in pity toward Zisun, and I clicked mine inwardly as well.
‘He was too careless. Or rather, the bad luck was mine. If one knew Taesan’s true nature, they would have thought the world was ending right away. Who could have guessed it wouldn’t? A being at the absolute peak of True Immortal could disrupt heavenly qi and see the future, yet…’
The fragment harbored ill will toward the main body.
Not just ill will, but outright malice.
It was not simply that he had gone mad in front of Hyeol-eum.
‘Hyeol-eum probably saw Zisun as his proxy, a fragment that acted on his behalf. He never imagined the fragment could harbor such malice. But now that we know, he has opened the Demon Realm to recover the fragment and retrieve Zisun.’
To be honest, a sliver of fear toward Hyeol-eum still remained.
I had been fatally wounded by Geomgeukcheongun, yet I was still True Immortal.
I feared the day he would return and capture me again.
Then, from the Star Shattering realm, I learned of the ‘prophecy’ True Immortals used…
I still could not escape the prophecy of Hyeol-eum.
‘The prophecy that we will meet again has not yet been broken.’
No, precisely, the prophecy was not “we will meet again.”
From my analysis in the Star Shattering realm, his fate for me was “we will meet again in one hundred years and I will die at Hyeol-eum’s hands.”
The part “we will meet again in one hundred years” had come to pass.
But the part “I will die at Hyeol-eum’s hands” had not, and since I could not escape the prophecy, the chance he would chase me remained.
‘Originally I planned to ask Kang Min-hee for help, but she is currently undergoing her Star Plate ascension ritual, so I cannot receive it now.’
Therefore, for a while I would hide in the Star Realm, suspended for thousands of years.
However…
‘For now, I can relax about Hyeol-eum.’
Until he recovers Zisun, I would focus on him alone.
I exhaled in relief and reached for the Soul Star I had stored in this space to release it into the Middle Capital Realm.
For the residents of the Soul Star, being suddenly displaced to Gwanghan Realm was the greatest gain possible.
But Baek-woon’s voice rang in my ear.
[Seo Eun-hyun. I will return the star you brought here to its original place in the Star Realm.]
“Eh? Why?”
[There are three reasons. First, too many fates have flowed.]
Her explanation continued.
[As a saint of the Middle Capital Realm, I must adjust the population and environment of the Middle Capital. If so many beings suddenly pour in at once, there will be too many lives to adjust across the entire realm. In peacetime it would not matter, but with the end approaching in tens of thousands of years, I have many things to do and no spare capacity to adjust them.]
“Umm…”
The dimension of Gwanghan Realm cracked open, and a passage to the Star Realm appeared before our eyes.
Baek-woon had ordered me to bring the Soul Star back to the mortal realm.
[Second, the Middle Capital is the Middle Capital, but taking one star from the Star Realm is also a problem. For now there is no immediate issue, but because you removed a star connected to its stellar vein, the entire star system of the Star Realm will tremble. Of course, from a macroscopic view that amount of shaking would have no effect on the universe. Honestly, I consider it no big deal. But…]
With her next words, I realized that even though the situation was urgent, the scale of messing with stars was far greater than I thought.
[The fine vibrations connected to the stellar vein are enormous disasters by the standards of ordinary living beings. In our terms they are only slight shakes, but for living beings who cannot flow through the heavenly vein they would feel like the entire universe is on the brink of catastrophe. Minor earthquakes and tidal waves will occur across every star, and countless living beings will die. Of course it means nothing to me, but you are one of the nobler nobles, so I thought I should warn you before you get caught in it.]
“…! If I return the star to its orbit, can I prevent the disaster?”
[Of course. Once the star is returned to the Star Realm, it will automatically reconnect to its stellar vein and absorb the fine vibrations again. Of course the surface of the star will be overturned… but with you, you will be able to protect the living beings from that much.]
“I thank you for your advice. That said… if adjusting the stars affects the stellar veins of the entire universe, would it not be acceptable for the nobles to destroy the stars or climb into the Gwanghan Realm?”
[The nobles are fine. Nobles can climb while still connected to the stellar vein. And the stars you destroy will not vanish completely upon being shattered. Only the stellar vein remains faintly, and it will slowly disappear without disturbing the operation of the universe.]
“I thank you for your guidance. However, if I were to convince you, one of the previous pieces of advice would have sufficed. Why did you insist on ‘three’… do all three hold equal importance? What is the third?”
Uuuung!
As I gradually felt Gwanghan Realm pushing me toward the Star Realm, I asked.
Pa-jik!
Baek-woon’s projection appeared before my eyes.
She alternately looked at me being pushed back and the Soul Star gradually emerging from this space.
The Soul Star was gradually expanding from its compressed state, and she gently stroked it like a beloved child.
[…The last reason is for the junior undergoing the Star Plate ascension ritual. The Star Plate ascension ritual is normally not performed near other Star Plate levels. Because when it is performed in a place influenced by the same Star Plate level’s qi, both parties are inevitably affected. The child’s mind will be influenced by mine, and mine by the child’s.]
Baek-woon withdrew her hand from the Soul Star and continued.
[…In this Three Thousand Great Thousand Worlds, the nobles above True Immortal are divided into two great powers. Life, symbolized by ‘light,’ and death, symbolized by ‘the underworld.’ There are other powers, but they are minor. You know this, for I am the saint of the light side, one of the two great powers.]
“Are you not a saintess?”
[Call me whichever side you wish. Honestly, the Jang clan has far more gender-neutral individuals, and the nobles’ gender division is almost meaningless. Anyway. I serve the light side. And… the child currently undergoing the ascension ritual seems to be receiving direct support from the underworld.]
“…I see.”
[So I am helping.]
“…Aren’t the two powers in competition? Is it acceptable to help?”
Baek-woon nodded.
[I cannot say how my superiors would think, but I believe so. Life and death cannot be seen as simple competition. They are relationships where each needs the other. Even if my superiors clash, the ripples will eventually reach us, and we may fight. Until then, we can exchange relations. Because we are relationships we need from each other.]
She sent me and Kang Min-hee back to the Star Realm where we originally belonged.
‘A relationship we need from each other…’
A relationship that may be opposing beings yet still indispensable.
I realized something profound in those words.
“No, Master. Please wait a moment…”
Outside the star system, Hong Beom, who had been unable to follow me during the displacement, appeared with a sulky expression. I apologized to him and restored the Soul Star to its original orbit.
“…I understand. By the way, Master.”
“Hm?”
“I have completed the full structure and the flow of internal energy of the Flawless True Word. Master should be able to understand it roughly.”
“Ah…! Thank you!”
I received the structure and cultivation method of the Flawless True Word from Hong Beom.
However, upon seeing the cultivation method I felt it was impossible and dared not attempt it.
‘The best cultivation method is… to be reborn at least six hundred and sixty-six times, live inverted upside-down for six hundred and sixty-six lifetimes while chanting the true word until death…’
The first time I heard of the Flawless True Word was in Yu-o’s explanation of the “Obsidian” existence.
And Obsidian had supposedly cultivated it this way through seven hundred and seventy-seven reincarnations.
‘Kang Min-hee is probably doing an abbreviated method.’
No matter what, it was clear that cultivating this true word required living upside-down almost every day.
I pondered above my main body, where I had been training my incarnation body, grown from the seeds of the hundred years I had lived upside-down, to the Integration Grand Completion of the Great Desert Dead Sea Formation.
‘Should I try cultivating it? Formal cultivation is almost impossible right now, so abbreviated…’
Uung!
I inverted the incarnation body above my main body and had it chant the Flawless True Word.
For the first year, nothing happened.
However, as time passed, the Flawless True Word gradually stirred an external attraction force.
‘What is this…?’
With each repetition of the Flawless True Word, I gradually felt it fit me like a perfectly tailored suit.
‘Among all the techniques I have learned so far… it is easier than even the demonic arts Hofung Eungryongbyeon or Dae-mak-sa-hae-seong…’
It was as if the true word had been prepared for me.
I continued chanting the Flawless True Word and sank into the Emptiness in a state of non-thought.
I sank into the warm darkness like a mother’s womb and endlessly chanted the true word.
One day, an odd thing happened.
While chanting the Flawless True Word, I looked into the vast, endless darkness.
I wondered as I gazed into the darkness.
‘Is this… the source of the power of the Flawless True Word…?’
And the darkness answered.
Come.
It will make you feel even warmer and more comfortable.
‘Is this… the true cultivation method of the Flawless True Word? Crossing over at the end of this darkness…?’
Exactly so.
The cultivation method is for you, the Terminating Ones, alone.
Drawing the circle is only for ordinary people. You simply entrust your heart to this darkness.
‘The circle… I do not need to draw the circle… that terrifying… circle…’
I felt my consciousness sinking into the darkness.
Yes.
Drawing the circle was too difficult.
Think of that terrifying, sacred, and ominous circle.
How hard it is.
Simply entrust everything to the darkness comfortably.
I sank into the darkness and completely released my consciousness.
‘A line of salt crystals…’
The Dharma-Destroying True Word stirred within me.
At the same moment, I opened my eyes.
[…]Ah…]
How many years had I been chanting the Flawless True Word in the Emptiness?
‘I see.’
Using the sense of the Great Desert Dead Sea Formation, I read the history and calculated how many years had passed.
By then, eight thousand years had already passed since Jeon Myeong-hoon had been taken captive.
During that time, I had been cultivating the Flawless True Word in the Emptiness.
Around me floated the Heavenly Great Stars I had unconsciously created while cultivating the Flawless True Word: Uicheon Daeseong, Jicheon Daeseong, Mongcheon Daeseong, Yeokcheon Daeseong, and Gukcheon Daeseong.
I had reached the end of the middle stages of Star Shattering.
‘I see…’
But instead of those things, I erupted with a volcanic surge of emotion upon realizing the true meaning of the Flawless True Word.
[Dharma-Destroying True Word.]
Paaah!
The heaven and earth qi around me gathered, forming the five elements of yin and yang, and condensed into a single point before me.
The single point became pure white light and illuminated the universe.
[Flawless True Word.]
At the same moment, the attraction force stirred, drawing an orbit of darkness around the single point.
The dark circle and the white light point.
And they soon became a single carriage wheel.
‘This is…’
The axle and the wheel.
The [complete carriage wheel] formed by combining the two.
‘The starting point to save Kang Min-hee…!’
Eight thousand years.
Within the Emptiness of eight thousand years, I had finally obtained the starting point to save Kang Min-hee.