A Heartfelt Reunion
‘The Purple Gold Realm… it seems you reside in the Purple Gold Realm, Master Ban-ta.’
I had heard that the Purple Gold Realm’s sage stayed there. It felt like an invitation to celebrate my achievement of the Star Plate realm. It seemed he was throwing a party just for me. ‘Going once should be fine.’
I stared at his twinkling eyes for a moment, lost in thought, when something suddenly came to mind. ‘Ah, Senior. Please wait a moment.’
I tried to pull my hand free from his handshake. He had a habit of holding on a little too long, but the moment I produced the Half Soul of Hyeol-eum from my palm, he finally let go. ‘What is that…?’
‘It is the Half Soul of Hyeol-eum.’
It had been lodged inside the Heavenly Lotus. ‘Just a moment ago, through Kang Min-hee, I had briefly glimpsed the Underworld. Thanks to that… I successfully performed the abbreviated Seven-Star Ceremony that Hyeol-eum had entrusted me with.’
From now on, the absolute nature of Hyeol-eum’s fate was preserved. Only one thing remained. Uuuung!
I raised the Half Soul of Hyeol-eum and concentrated my intention. ‘It can be felt… Uuuung-’
In some far-off corner of the universe, there was a [star]. It was a star connected to the Half Soul of Hyeol-eum through my intention. And it was also connected to me through that intention. I quickly headed toward it. ‘I, Seo Eun-hyun, will meet Hyeol-eum again within a hundred years and perish at his hands.’
An abbreviated Seven-Star Ceremony. The only difference from the ordinary Seven-Star Ceremony was that this one declared that I had fulfilled my fate before the heavenly stars. That star had been created by Hyeol-eum himself, just as the Gaeyeol stage immortals had collectively created stars to bestow fate upon me. Hyeol-eum had also created a star and given me this prophecy. Deeeeng!
Accompanied by the tolling of a great bell from the deep reaches of the universe, I finally understood that I had broken free from the star’s intention. ‘I fooled fate!’
With that, I crushed the now-unnecessary Half Soul of Hyeol-eum right where I stood. ‘I hope I never have to see you again, Hyeol-eum.’
Thinking of the body it was connected to, I spoke to the Half Soul. ‘I could launch a powerful Jinseon-level curse or misfortune at you, so you’d better prepare.’
But it didn’t matter. ‘Fates of the same kind develop immunity, so I won’t have to suffer the absolute torment as before!’
In other words, the fate of Hyeol-eum yearning for a reunion with me would now be much harder to fulfill. But since Hyeol-eum could still personally plot misfortune, I had to stay careful. Just as I was thinking that… ‘…?’
Unexpectedly, the Half Soul of Hyeol-eum simply dispersed into the void without any resistance. Through the fading Half Soul, I felt Hyeol-eum’s gaze. Inside that gaze, I sensed that there was no trace of anger. ‘Why? He should be raging, right?’
Perhaps facing Hyeon-won had unexpectedly been helpful. * * * * *
The Void Space. In the outer regions beyond the Star Realm, in the empty domain of the void, Hyeol-eum burned. Crimson flames consumed his entire body, delivering pain that even Jinseon immortals could feel. Yet Hyeol-eum did not resist the pain. He simply endured it calmly. Crimson flames. Unlike the hellfire he had once handled, this one had been bestowed by the Myeongma Jin-gun I had glimpsed in the Underworld just moments ago. Hyeol-eum seemed lost in deep thought rather than angering at Myeongma Jin-gun’s actions or being overwhelmed by the pain. :: The original plan was wrong. ::
He looked at a certain section of the Void Space. It was where the Gwanghan Realm existed. :: Was that not the thread of light? How could that be? Even though it was not the thread of light, how did he satisfy the requirements for summoning the Eight Immortals of Brightness? ::
Hyeol-eum muttered with a bitter expression. :: Without faith toward the light, absolute requirements are never met. How… did the Venerable know this? Did he not? All I can do is hide in the Ilwol Cheonyeok and only watch as the sinister light works… ::
After muttering to himself for a while, Hyeol-eum let out a small sigh and surrendered his body to the pain within the red flames. Hyeol-eum had decided to lie low inside the battle of the giants for a while. But he would keep watching Seo Eun-hyun. After all, the light he knew was an existence so sinister it transcended imagination. It might even be a conspiracy to reach the deepest recesses of the Underworld through Seo Eun-hyun… * * * * *
Hyeol-eum’s gaze remained fixed until the Half Soul fully dispersed, then cut off. Yet I felt as if he was still watching me. The Heavenly Secrets had not read it, but since immortals’ actions were impossible to read with mortal eyes, it had no meaning anyway. ‘…Well, either way. Right now, I have completely blocked Hyeol-eum’s demonic hand.’
Of course I was still a little concerned about the remaining Gaeyeol stage immortals, but they would either enter the Middle Realm or head toward the path of the stars and seek help from those in the Realm of Evolution, so it should be fine. What remained now was… the end. And what would happen when ‘Heon-won’ died. ‘The chain reactions born from Heon-won’s death, which I learned from the Withering Flower of Sarasu Cheonjon. To stop that… I cannot let Heon-won die.’
And the last one was… ‘Seo Hyoel.’
I confirmed Seo Hyoel’s movements and suppressed him. I recalled Seo Hyoel, who had become a ‘blue earthworm’ in my last life. In this life as well, would Seo Hyoel have become a ‘blue earthworm’? ‘He probably stayed fine.’
The last moment of my last life. The reversal of the white chariot wheel shown by the [Most Ancient One]! ‘With that reversal, my regression began, and the three Lefts that had been swallowed by darkness began to emit light once more.’
In a way, the fact that the Taesan Emperor and other Imperial Immortals had survived the regression was also arranged by the [Most Ancient One]. Thanks to that, Seo Hyoel had also returned this time. ‘My goals for this life are survival in the end, blocking the source of the chain reactions from Heon-won’s death, and complete control of Seo Hyoel. That’s the first order of business.’
And on top of that, it would be best to raise my realm as high as possible. ‘I also need to train for the Star Plate realm… the Gaeyeol promotion ritual… I might even manage it within this life if fate cooperates.’
The Gaeyeol promotion was quite lenient, so even a talentless person like me had nothing to worry about. The real problem was the Jinseon promotion ritual. ‘Well, the Jinseon promotion is still a bit far off, so I’ll put that aside for now…’
Anyway, I decided to aim for reaching the limit of the Void Shattering stage and achieving the Star Plate Grand Completion within this life. And once I had set all my life goals, I turned to Ban-ta and spoke. ‘All urgent matters are now resolved.’
‘Oh, then… and what I have to offer is…’
‘To give?’
After rummaging through my domain, I took out something I had stored in my last life’s domain. When I checked it, Ban-ta’s eyes widened. Uuuung! Even though I hadn’t examined it closely in my last life, it was incredibly beautiful now. It was a purple stele one zhang in size. Although it felt compressed, like something originally much larger, when the compression was undone its size would probably exceed ten or a hundred li. Large characters were deeply engraved on the purple stele, and I recognized them as ancient script names. The Bright Hall. The Messenger of the Fall of the Dao. The Wealthy Seat Master. The Purple Gold Heavenly Lord. Black Dark. ‘The Bright Hall…’
From what I had heard, the Purple Gold Heavenly Lord was apparently a spy planted by the Underworld side in the light side. That was why his title was also under the Bright Hall. Uuung! The moment I saw the name, my head grew dizzy and a small temple appeared in the distance. Beyond that temple, a figure shrouded in shadow could be faintly seen. Paat! But there was no further vision. ‘A black temple… is this related to the true nature of the Purple Gold Heavenly Lord…?’
I shook my head to dispel the Purple Gold Heavenly Lord’s influence and took out the others. Familiar names appeared. Chief Judge of the Underworld. Yu Ho-deok, the Myeongma Jin-gun, Wealthy Seat Master. Deputy Chief Judge of the Underworld. Hae-nying, the Goryeok Jin-gun, Wealthy Seat Master. Rebirth Judge of the Underworld. Yu Su-ryeon, the Myeong-gui Jin-gun, Wealthy Seat Master. And the last one… Master of the Final Fate Seat. The Gwanghan Heavenly King. Those were the true names and titles of the Five Blessings Immortals from the distant legends. And the powerful waves of power emanating from within them. ‘These are… the [symbols] of the five Middle Realms… I stared blankly at the symbols for a while, then suddenly realized what these steles were. The power they emitted was so overwhelming that I hadn’t noticed immediately, but I knew the material of these steles well. ‘Salt Crystals!’
Surprisingly, all these steles were salt crystals. Uuuung! Ordinary salt crystals sent their users back to the Goryeok Realm, but these salt crystals felt as though they could return their users to the connected Middle Realm. ‘They’re not ordinary salt crystals.’
Generally, the qi gathered in the Goryeok Realm formed ancient stones that became Inspection Jades. Thousands of those Inspection Jades gathered and became salt crystals again. But these [symbols] of each Middle Realm felt like not ordinary salt crystals but enormous salt crystals formed by gathering billions of such salt crystals. ‘If this is the case… I can open and close [gates] connecting to each Middle Realm from anywhere at any time, not just descend consciousness to the lower realm or shine like an Inspection Path to show where I’ve been.’
After briefly gazing at the [symbols], I moved the stele bearing the true name of the Purple Gold Heavenly Lord, the symbol of the Purple Gold Realm, toward Ban-ta through my intention. ‘The end is coming soon. Junior Seo Moo will present the symbol of the Purple Gold Realm to Senior Ban-ta.’
Ban-ta, staring blankly at the Purple Gold Realm’s symbol for a moment, brushed the stele with his hand. Then he spoke in a trembling voice. ‘You… are truly… capable.’
‘Your praise is excessive.’
‘It is not excessive at all. You are truly capable. Unlike the rabble from the Purple Gold Realm, you have responsibility and a likeable face, so you will win the hearts of the masses. You are qualified to govern.’
‘It is embarrassing. This junior is still far from being a leader.’
I shook my head, but Ban-ta, with strangely flickering eyes, said, ‘Far from it! Even your humility is perfect. How can such a perfect person exist… hehe… As a senior, I am… truly satisfied!’
He reached out with his flickering eyes and grabbed my hands with both of his. ‘I really want to invite you. If you visit the Purple Gold Realm, even if it’s only the day you visit, I am willing to change your name to ‘Eun-hyun-seong’ for you.’
‘I am grateful for the offer… but…’
‘Are you coming now?’
‘There is something I must check first.’
I sought permission from Ban-ta for a moment and slipped out of his increasingly forceful grip, heading toward Kang Min-hee. I had left her in a certain star cloud after a short confrontation with the Gaeyeol stage Junior Zen. Paat! In one of the distant star clouds, I found her again sitting among the ghostly souls that had turned Qing-white. Her hair had changed to blue, and she wore a dress mixing black and blue. Unlike before when her hair had been disheveled, it was now neatly groomed, reaching down to her hips. Although her face looked a bit tired, it appeared much cleaner than before. Kang Min-hee’s gaze met mine. ‘I told you not to come! I said I could die… anyway, my words never get through.’
‘Well, I didn’t die in the end.’
‘Next time, I’ll stop you from doing this. Got it?’
I chuckled and nodded. ‘Do as you please, Kang Doo. And…’
At my continued words, Kang Min-hee let out a faint smile. ‘Welcome back. Kang Min-hee.’
‘…Yeah, Seo Eun-hyun.’
I walked up to Kang Min-hee and hugged her once. After nine hundred and ninety-nine lives, I had finally succeeded in rescuing Kang Min-hee from the Ghost Dao Holy Mother. ‘…It’s finally over.’
After a moment of hugging me, Kang Min-hee pushed me away, coughed, and avoided my gaze. ‘The other colleagues were all gathered, right? Where are the others?’
‘They are inside my body.’
‘…?’
‘It was a dangerous situation. If I had left them as they were, we would have all withered away together. So I had no choice but to move their positions for a short while. It was sudden, but I’m sure the colleagues understood.’
‘What does that mean…?’
‘It’s not an excuse, but I received a prophecy from some great being. It was an unavoidable choice to avoid that fate and prophecy. Honestly… the colleagues would probably be more comfortable inside me.’
I explained the situation to Kang Min-hee in detail. A while later, Kang Min-hee finally understood what was happening and, instead of being surprised at first, she slapped my shoulder and said, ‘Wow, you little glutton!’
‘Haha, so? Are you ready to meet them?’
‘…Yeah. It’s been a while… I need to see their faces. A lot has happened in the meantime…’
‘I see. Then…’
I opened the colorless barrier and moved Kang Min-hee inside it, then sent a projection body inside. From the colleagues’ perspective, after entering the Bongrae Island world, they had suddenly been kidnapped into my inner world and spent days there when Kang Min-hee suddenly appeared. Everyone except Jeon Myeong-hoon looked surprised. ‘What?! You’ve reached the Star Plate realm!’
Starting with Oh Hyun-seok. ‘You… your momentum has become sharper. What did you see?!’
Kim Young-hoon, bouncing at the sight of my momentum that had acquired the Kunlun. ‘Mmm mmm mmm! Mmm mmm mmm.’
Still unable to understand what Kim Yeon was saying. ‘…Don’t worry. I trusted you. But… suddenly reaching the Star Plate realm… I’m a little bewildered about how you did it, but you must have done it skillfully.’
Jeon Myeong-hoon, sending a smile of trust. No one was unmoved by the surprise. Kang Min-hee also looked astonished at the colleagues’ reactions. ‘…Kim Young-hoon… the deputy boss…? What happened to your head…?’
‘Huh? Haha haha! Whoa whoa whoa! I missed you, Deputy Kang!’
‘Kim Yeon…? What happened to you?’
‘Um… mmm mmm mmm mmm.’
‘…’
Kim Young-hoon’s head had reversed, and Kim Yeon had gone mute. And what astonished Kang Min-hee the most was something else. ‘It’s been a long time, Kang Min-hee.’
‘You are…’
It was Jeon Myeong-hoon. He gently stroked Geum So-hae’s hand and approached Kang Min-hee, calmly greeting her and apologizing. ‘I’m sorry for the past. I did many wrong things to you. There are some things I can’t reveal here, but I believe you can understand what I mean. At that time, I was too young and couldn’t make proper judgments. I don’t expect forgiveness. Just… as a colleague from now on, I hope this world doesn’t cause you any discomfort when we face it together.’
‘…’
At Jeon Myeong-hoon’s attitude, Kang Min-hee opened her mouth slightly and stared at him before rubbing her eyes. ‘…It’s not hallucination. What… what happened to you, Jeon Myeong-hoon?’
‘It’s a long story. I’ll tell you later.’
He smiled bitterly and stroked Geum So-hae’s hand again. Kang Min-hee also smiled bitterly. ‘…Everyone… you all went through a lot.’
She looked at the other colleagues and, perhaps moved by finally meeting them again, gently held Kim Yeon’s and Jeon Myeong-hoon’s hands and lowered her head for a moment. ‘…Still, I’m glad everyone is safe.’
We all hugged Kang Min-hee tightly. ‘There’s a lot to talk about. Let’s have a conversation inside for a moment.’
Dduak! I created a house made of crystal inside the colorless barrier and welcomed everyone in. From the moment they entered Bongrae Island, there was much to talk about. Seo Ran and Siho had gone in… and I was about to bring in Hong Beom last. At that moment, Hong Beom approached me and asked, ‘Master.’
‘Oh, what is it, Hong Beom?’
‘You have obtained a new chariot wheel technique.’
‘Um…! Did you notice?’
The time I had actually used the Chariot Wheel technique in real time was only a short while in front of Hyeol-eum, briefly revealed before the immortals, and used before the Myeongma Jin-gun. It was only a fleeting use of the technique, yet Hong Beom had immediately noticed I had acquired the technique. ‘As expected of you, Hong Beom. Yes, I obtained a new chariot wheel technique.’
‘Who taught you that technique?’
Hong Beom asked me with a face that was almost expressionless, very businesslike and dry. However, I didn’t know what to say and cleared my throat. ‘I can’t say I obtained it while assisting Kang Min-hee’s Star Plate promotion ritual before my regression….’
I cleared my throat and said, ‘Um, it’s a bit difficult to explain… you know, there are some things that shouldn’t even be mentioned.’
‘…I am also curious about that technique. Could you pass it on to me?’
‘Hmm… that might be difficult.’
It felt like it. If I carelessly transferred the Chariot Wheel technique, there was a high chance it would be stopped by the Myeongma Jin-gun or the Underworld side, just as I had carelessly used the Taesan Yeolje Art and the Taesan Emperor had appeared at the end of the loop. This Chariot Wheel technique gave the same feeling. What was certain was that I could not casually leak it. ‘…’
At my answer, Hong Beom looked at me for a moment. ‘A… nostalgic feeling. For some reason, in that technique, it truly feels… nostalgic…’
Hong Beom’s eyes when he spoke those words seemed, for some reason, the same as the eyes with which I had first met Tae Yeol-jeon in her nun state.