The Giant Tree
“Insistence is futile! No matter who you are, your intrusion into Yeon Kingdom, the land of the Makri and the true martial artists, will never change! I shall personally judge you!”
“Judge…? A mere Foundation Establishment peak dares to judge whom? You speak boldly. Since the Dragon Vein lies over this land, this place belongs to the Three Mountains. As for arrays, formations, and foundational techniques, even if we add the entire Yeon Kingdom, Byeokra Kingdom, and Seongje Empire, no one surpasses me, Cheongmun Ryeong. What do you know to act so arrogantly?”
“Hah! Insistence is… yes, Cheongmun Ryeong. I have heard the name before.”
Makri Jun sneered as he continued.
“Among the three great figures in Foundation Establishment investigation, there is Yeondan’s Makri Yunyeon, Gongmyocheonseok of Faegi, and Cheongmun Ryeong in arrays and foundational techniques. I once investigated what kind of figure you were to compare you with our family’s Yunyeon-nim. Gongmyocheonseok is narrow-minded, yet his skill is said to be genuine. You have trained for hundreds of years and still remain at the initial stage of Foundation Establishment. Even that is not the first layer, but the final layer? How stupid, foolish, and lazy must you be to not reach the peak of even Foundation Establishment?”
The man laughed coldly, his killing intent flaring.
“You are the very disciple of that master—thoroughly stupid, foolish, and lazy. It is said that a parasitic creature at Cheongmun Clan’s main estate who steals meals from the family busies himself with useless foundational techniques, foresight, and afterthoughts, sitting and studying. That foolish boy who begged for his guidance is also stupid, foolish, and lazy. He must be nothing but trash.”
“So this is the land of the Three Mountains now? If you kill me, the Dragon Vein will recede and the main family’s land will be restored.”
Kugugugugu!
Dark clouds swirled above his head.
Yin energy surged from him, drenching everything around.
I stared at those dark clouds.
Dark clouds.
A curtain that blocked the sky.
The sky had rejected me, I realized with a bitter smile.
“…Master.”
“Speak.”
“This disciple… lived a life that accomplished nothing. I am ashamed. Ashamed beyond words.”
Master clenched his fist tightly.
Yet, he remained silent for a moment, as if deciding to listen first.
“But… Master. I know your skill. After clashing with you in this Foundation Establishment investigation, I have confirmed it more clearly.”
Stagger, stagger…
I staggered to my feet and walked toward Master.
“Master is at the initial stage of Foundation Establishment, yet I know he can still defeat me. That means… the efforts you have made over your lifetime have no meaning, do they?”
“Isn’t the value of the time you spent striving for your sake meaningful? Master, I feel my lifespan is nearly gone. I dare ask of you.”
Thud.
I knelt behind him and pleaded.
“I want to see with my own eyes that the guidance you gave me… and everything you devoted your life to learning… had meaning. Please make this thug who spoke rudely to Master regret his words. You should not have to endure such insults, Master.”
“…Yes.”
Master finally turned his back to me.
He embraced me once, then took my hand.
His palms were calloused and wrinkled, filled with scars from a lifetime of training.
“I was planning this all along, my disciple.”
Kuuu!
A dragon cloud fell from the sky toward us.
“Die and enjoy it well!”
Flash!
Boom!
Master raised his hand, and the dragon cloud exploded in place.
Master turned his back again and glared at Makri Jun.
“First, there are several things your empty words need correcting.”
Kugugugugu!
Green spiritual energy erupted around Master.
Wood-attribute spiritual power.
“First. I am indeed the lazy, stupid, parasitic creature you said. But… my disciple is not stupid. Stupid ones are those who have talent yet still refuse to exert effort.”
The spiritual power of trees and wood moved, drawing arrays around Master.
“Second. My disciple is not foolish. He simply lacks talent, but how can a foolish person cultivate martial arts and pierce through the spiritual sea?”
The ground swelled with green spiritual energy.
Then light beams erupted from every spot on the earth.
“Third. My disciple is not lazy. He practices mantras until his throat is hoarse and seals until his hands bleed, all while constantly training his own sword technique. This boy is never lazy.”
Green spiritual energies gathered from all directions and began sprouting seedlings across the ground.
Within a ten-lie radius of Master’s influence, countless spiritual sprouts burst forth from every corner of the earth.
The darkness of the sky seemed to yield to the light blooming from the ground.
“Fourth. My disciple is not trash. Far from it. My family’s children who were born with good talent still shirk their duties and only serve the family casually. I have always worked hard, worked harder, and shown respect to my master, you. If this boy is trash, then who in this world is not?”
“Hah, who would deny he is a parasite? You are defending your disciple so enthusiastically.”
“Fifth…”
Paaaa―
Trees made of spiritual energy grew lushly around Master.
A new spiritual forest had taken root.
“You seem to dismiss me as a parasite, yet… our Cheongmun Clan does not rank families by bloodline alone.
The Cheongmun Clan reveres the martial way and holds the Annual Martial Immortal Assembly every few years to determine the ranking of all clans. Clans with lower ranks are pushed to outer territories, while those with higher ranks receive the right to reside in the main estate. And… I have lived in the main estate for nearly 150 years, continuing my research into foundational techniques.”
“…What does that prove? You are at best Foundation Establishment first host, initial stage. I am Foundation Establishment second host, mid-stage. If Uncle Makri Jun suppresses the true martial artist elder outside, even a Foundation Establishment third host would join you. You can never win!”
“Sixth.”
Flash!
The spiritual forest that had filled the ground suddenly began to grow rapidly.
Kugugugugu!
“My lifetime of foresight and afterthought… the teachings I gave to my disciple… were never wrong!”
Countless trees merged, forming a colossal tree that seemed to touch the sky.
“Disciple, I was a deficient master. That is why I could not give you anything… or give you more. All I could do was… the things I taught you, the things you learned…”
Kuuuu!
The dragon cloud roared as it surged toward the colossal tree.
“That it was never wrong. That it had no meaning… I can only show you that now.
Disciple… you and I.
We were never wrong.”
And the colossal tree began to move.
“From now on, I shall prove it.”
Kwaquaguqu!
Branches of the tree stretched out.
Sharp thorns burst from the branches and trapped the dragon cloud.
‘Ground-binding mantra principle…? No, this is…’
I stared at the colossal tree in shock.
It was no mere clump of spiritual energy.
Countless, countless, even countless millions and billions of mantras and incantations formed the tree.
Uncountable curse characters composed the tree.
At the same time, spells began to shoot from the colossal tree.
Kwaquakuang!
A torrent of light surged.
Thousands upon thousands of spells fired from the tree, carving holes into the sky.
The dark clouds tore apart, revealing a night sky dotted with stars.
“Ugh… what in the…”
Foresight and afterthought. Many speak of these as if they are equal… foresight and afterthought. The words sound noble, but they simply mean relying on natural talent to casually raise one’s realm at one’s leisure!”
Makri Jun hurriedly cast spells and divine techniques.
Yin energy condensed, and rain began to fall.
But the colossal tree radiated light.
Master chanted at a speed imperceptible to the eye from atop the tree, forming seals with hands so bloody they would crack.
“That is the meaning of foresight and afterthought. Those who rely on nothing but instinct and high realm for their spells, and those who master every spell and barely reach their peak by relying on that foundation, the successors of all foresight and afterthought… how could they stand on the same level as me?!”
Spells from the colossal tree and divine techniques from the dark clouds clashed repeatedly.
With each collision, the air trembled and spiritual waves swept across heaven and earth.
“I, who have reached my peak as a foresight and afterthought successor, am confident I can overwhelm even the mid-realm!”
With every clash of the colossal tree and dark cloud…
The form of the colossal tree gradually changed.
The colossal tree began to take human shape.
A giant wooden man swung his arms.
A dragon cloud of dark energy charged downward from the sky.
Clang!
A gale howled, the clouds forming a round pattern.
The dragon cloud Makri Jun had created tore apart, and the wooden man became even clearer.
The wooden man had taken Master’s appearance.
A giant with deep roots sunk into the earth, reaching toward the sky.
That was Master.
Master had become the colossal tree.
Thud, thud…
Ah… beautiful.
At the same time, my heart began to beat strangely.
The day I would die.
The moment of death was approaching.
‘Can I not…?’
I had not yet fully absorbed everything Master was showing me.
How could I die now?
Unfair.
‘Heaven, you give me nothing, yet you snatch my life so cruelly…’
Thud, thud…!
Then I suddenly sensed something wrong with my heart.
‘Heart attack…!’
My body had already reached Five Qi Consorting with the Origin, undergone body reconstruction; my life force was still vigorous.
My internal organs had been slightly crushed, but I was not yet at the point of death.
I wondered how the heavens could kill me, yet…
My death sign felt like sudden death.
‘Is this how it ends…?’
I felt my vision blur, straining to see as much of Master’s final struggle as possible.
‘Master, this useless disciple…’
Suddenly, a sense of unfairness struck me.
Master was desperately fighting for me.
What was I?
A mere heavenly mandate.
Was that why I had to leave without receiving the last gift Master was giving me?
Could humans truly not defy the heavenly mandate!
‘No, no!’
Then what about the successors?!
What about the pills Makri Clan made?!
‘Even with trash pills, one can extend life… so am I truly to surrender to this lifespan!!!’
It could not be.
I would die if I had to die.
But this one scene, today!
Only this one scene of Master fighting to the very end!
I would engrave this into my eyes!
Paaaaat!
Strong qi etched in my palm.
The power called Seongji-level qi among Foundation Establishment successors.
I brought my hand holding the qi straight to my chest and slammed it brutally into my heart.
“Kuuuueup!”
It hurt!
My heart felt like it would burst!
Yet, the stimulation from the qi made my heart beat again.
Thud, thud, thud…
‘Heaven! What now! My heart is beating again!’
I would not die now!
Kugugugugu!
Suddenly, the tree behind me cracked and fell toward me.
“Kueup…”
Ignoring the pain in my heart, I rolled my body and barely dodged the falling tree.
Kwaak!
“…!”
When I pressed my hand to the ground, a snake suddenly appeared from the ground and bit my fingertips.
It was a highly venomous viper.
‘Does a man who is to die have to die at his own appointed time?!’
It was impossible.
Was I going to die like this?!
Chiiik!
I controlled my inner energy, expelled all poison that had invaded my blood vessels, and spat it out from my fingertips.
Thud, thud, thud!
Yet, no matter what I tried, I could not die.
The heavens stopped my heart again.
But I kept pouring qi into it, constantly stimulating my heart.
‘My heart… refuses to listen…!’
My heart would not even beat if there was no qi stimulation.
If I stopped the painful stimulation for even a moment, it would stop completely.
But!
‘Now!’
Thud!
My heart was beating.
On this day, at this time, at this moment.
Right now!
I should have died!
But!
‘I am… alive!’
Stimulating my heart with qi, forcing it!
Even if my inner energy was exhausted and I died right there…
I was still alive like this.
‘Heaven… I have lived. Even if I die soon after… I shall engrave this moment and die!’
While enduring the pain that felt like my heart was being crushed, I kept watching Master’s final struggle.
The colossal tree gradually became an exact replica of Master.
And finally.
Flash!
The form of the colossal tree became perfectly that of Master.
“My array has been completed.”
The colossal tree transformed into Master’s form began forming seals.
Paaaaat!
The giant wooden man formed seals at a speed far beyond its size—exactly like Master’s usual speed.
Around the wooden man, spells that had grown enormously appeared again.
“W-what… that was not the end…!”
Kugugugugu!
Thousands of spells once more surged toward Makri Jun, this time in their massive state.
The dragon cloud technique he spread like a lethal move was barely comparable to the basic spells the giant wooden man used.
It could not overtake them.
And that was not the end.
Sparks flashed, and an array proportional to the colossal man’s size began to form around the giant wooden man summoned by Master’s techniques.
The entire surrounding mountain range fell within the array’s influence.
“This… what is this…? This spell range… is it not Core Formation…?!”
“Activate!”
Master formed a final seal, and the wooden man did the same.
At the same time, spiritual sprouts burst forth around them and transformed back into the colossal tree.
Then the colossal trees merged and shot straight into the sky.
The colossal tree pierced through the clouds.
Puuuk!
“Push!”
At the same time, a massive anti-force seemed to emanate from the colossal tree at an immeasurable height, ripping the dark cloud around Makri Jun apart in a circle.
The beautiful star-filled night sky hidden behind the dark cloud was revealed.
“Bind!”
At the same time, new sprouts burst from the ends of the colossal tree’s branches, blooming with flowers and bearing fruit.
The fruits shone like stars.
The small sprouts that had grown from the ground now glowed like the stars in the sky.
“Remove!”
And the fruits fell.
I understood.
Each of those fruits was an aggregation of countless massive spells!
“Ah… aaaah…”
Makri Jun stared in shock at the fruits raining down on him, letting out incomprehensible groans.
Kwaquakuang!!
A storm of light raged.
A massive spherical explosion occurred, and that was the end.
Inside the explosion, Makri Jun and even the scraps of his robes vanished without a trace.
“Remove!”
But that was not the end.
The remaining fruits floated lightly and headed toward the Foundation Establishment mid-stage successor of Makri Clan who was still fighting in the distance.
“W-what…!”
Kwaaaang!
Makri Jun waved his hand, causing a massive green wave to block the fruits.
But in that moment, Kim Young-hoon, who had rushed in, spat out a strong qi wave.
“Ah, no…”
And in an instant.
Kim Young-hoon’s qi wave pierced straight through Makri Jun’s heart, and he fell to the ground.
Several remaining fruits fell toward the spot where he had crashed.
Kwaaaang!
A massive explosion swept around them.
Thud, thud…
And the giant wooden man technique that had been soaring toward the sky began to collapse.
Thud, thud…
At the same time, I realized my inner energy and spiritual power were nearly exhausted.
‘Just a little more… just a little more…’
I had to give my final greeting to Master!
Pulling inner energy and spiritual power, converting it all into qi, and forcing my heart to beat.
My qi and blood became tangled, my dantian ruined, but I greeted Master while spitting blood.
When Master landed again, his face was pale.
“…I pushed myself a little. I showed you everything I needed to show.”
I asked, looking at his face.
“You consumed your original essence, didn’t you?”
“Hmph! A bastard like that, if it were a long battle, I could have dried him out and killed him. If I had finished the wooden man’s technique and tried a second transformation from there, you would have won stably. I rushed it because I thought you couldn’t last.”
“Haha… thank you, Master.”
“….”
Thud, thud…
“…Disciple, you were my pride. Many children of the family came to ask for my guidance, but none could endure my blunt words and nagging.
But… you stayed until the end, receiving my foresight and afterthought teachings… diligently.”
Master walked over, placed a hand on my shoulder, and pressed the other to my forehead.
“This is all I could give you. What I could do… is only grant you the technique you could not learn….”
Uuuung!
Knowledge flowed into my mind.
A spell that directly injected knowledge by interfering with each other’s consciousness.
In my mind, the divine techniques Master had just used and the content of the Foundation Establishment skill he had mastered flowed in.
“Even to a dying disciple, it seems meaningless… but this is my heart. If I were not me, I would receive it.”
“…Master’s… grace.”
I smiled and stood up.
“How could it be a burden to me?”
Far away.
The night had passed, and dawn was breaking.
Finally, with sheer determination, I forced my heart to beat.
I had survived a full day more than my lifespan!
A full day!
But now, it seemed it was ending.
My inner energy and spiritual power were completely gone.
It was over.
The morning sun shone beyond the mountains.
Thud…
It was truly over.
‘…But as a disciple, I cannot end it like this.’
If I only received from Master and did not even offer a proper thank-you…
How could I call myself a true disciple?!
Kwaang!
My inner energy had vanished, but I slammed my fist hard into my chest.
An imprint of my fist formed on my chest.
With my punches, the heart that was trying to stop again forced itself to beat once more.
Kwaang, kwaang, kwaang!
‘Since I am going to die anyway, let me die more painfully.’
Master, perhaps sensing what I was about to do, trembled his lips, then sat in seiza in determination.
I bowed to the seiza Master.
Once, twice, three times…
My heart stopped again, but I kept pounding my chest until it hurt, forcing my heart to beat.
Four times, five times, six times…
Dduk, dduk…
Why was the surrounding area dark blue even though the dark clouds had disappeared?
Why was it still raining?
‘Ah, it is not the dark cloud.’
It was Master’s sorrow. Master’s tears.
Seven times, eight times, nine times…
I performed the nine bows and nine prostrations.
The nine bows and nine prostrations were originally nine bows to Master, not nine of the nine ways of prostration.
A distorted etiquette from martial arts that had become twisted.
However, even with this distorted etiquette.
Nine was not enough to express my heart.
What could be more fundamental in etiquette?
If it was enough to express this heart, it was enough.
Finally, one more time.
I performed ten bows and called out in a hoarse voice to Master.
“I have received the greatest grace until now. Thank you. And farewell.”
“…Yes. Go well.”
Water was falling.
I thought it was Master’s tears falling, but it was also from my eyes.
“Rest well, beloved disciple.”
That was my last words. I closed my eyes.
* * *
Amid the morning light dyeing the sky.
Master, who had received his disciple’s bow, shed tears and spoke to the disciple who was already cooling.
“You were the giant tree of my heart.”
At first, it was clearly a small sprout annoying to handle.
After ten years.
After twenty years.
The sprout grew, became a tree.
Grew and grew.
It became an unignorable colossal tree.
That colossal tree was the pillar supporting Cheongmun Ryeong’s heart.
But now, that colossal tree was gone.
“Rest in peace.”
The disciple who had strived his entire life.
Cheongmun Ryeong prayed for his disciple to rest even in death, then properly laid out the corpse of his disciple with a bow.
Cheongmun Ryeong took a seed from the twilight and placed it on the disciple’s chest.
When he infused the seed with wood-attribute spiritual power, it began to react.
Paaaaat!
Kugugugugu!
The seed sprouted, growing rapidly.
Soon, roots from the seed wrapped around the disciple’s body and grew into a colossal tree.
When the tree grew so large that no trees in the nearby forest could compare, Cheongmun Ryeong finally withdrew his hand.
The tree was a loquat tree.
Cheongmun Ryeong stroked the tree that looked exactly like his disciple and spoke.
“I will not forget you.”
Huiiiiiing!
Immediately, a strong wind blew from the base of the loquat tree as if the soul of Seo Eun-hyun had ascended to the heavens, rising into the sky.
Cheongmun Ryeong looked at the sky through the branches of the loquat tree.
That was his seventh regression.