Chapter 96
Chapter 96
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: uly
Chapter: 96
Chapter Title: Vessel
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The Heavenly God Five Pools took the shape of a star—that is, the form of a human body with arms and legs spread wide.
The head corresponded to the Mixed Heaven Pool, the left arm to the Thunder Extreme Iron Pool, the right hand to the Five Elements Supreme Ultimate Pool, the left foot to the Fire Spirit Ultimate Pool, and the right foot to the Ice Extreme Cold Pool.
The group led Ak Muyoo to the Thunder Extreme Iron Pool.
The Thunder Extreme Iron Pool was entirely blue.
It brimmed with iron energy infused with thunder energy.
Byeok Noe tossed Ak Muyoo into the Thunder Extreme Iron Pool.
Splash!
It wasn't the sound of water but something akin to thick gruel.
Flash! Flash!
As if provoked by the sudden intruder, the thunder energy surged wildly. The moment Ak Muyoo entered, the inner energy rushed at him ferociously, as though he had turned into a lodestone.
"It's true. That kid has a Chaos Body."
Byeok Noe's voice trembled as he spoke.
"Finally..."
Naengsa muttered, her face alight with ecstasy.
"Bring him up."
Hwa Gyeok said.
"Shall I?"
Byeok Noe extended his hand toward the Thunder Extreme Iron Pool.
Swish!
Ak Muyoo's body soon floated up above the pool.
The thunder and iron energies within stretched out like pulled dough.
"What a sight."
The group clicked their tongues in amazement.
It was as if a passage had formed between Ak Muyoo and the Thunder Extreme Iron Pool, with the combined energies being sucked into his body.
"I can't fathom where all that is going."
Tae Mu said, unable to hide his astonishment.
"Tae Mu, does your belly swell when you breathe in a lot of air?"
Naengsa asked.
"Sure, but no matter how I look at it, that kid's stomach isn't bulging. And what's with all those tattoos on his body?"
Tae Mu asked.
They hadn't noticed before amid the excitement, but Ak Muyoo's body was covered in countless tattoos.
"They're not tattoos. They're all scars."
Byeok Noe answered.
"All of them?"
"Yes."
"What kind of life has he lived..."
Tae Mu muttered softly.
"The funny part is this."
Byeok Noe pointed to the bundled clothes. They were Ak Muyoo's possessions.
"What's this..."
Tae Mu unfolded the clothes.
"Whoa! Mad Demon Armor, Sun Heaven Sword, Heavenly God Sun Bow—this is Secret Heaven Ruyi Ink, and even the Sun Protection Robe...! What the hell is this guy?"
Tae Mu asked, his face stunned.
"I'm more curious about the identities of you old-timers."
"Gasp!"
"Eek!"
The five elders jumped in surprise. They hadn't expected Ak Muyoo to speak.
"You're awake?"
Byeok Noe asked.
"If he weren't, why would he be talking?"
"......"
The elders were momentarily speechless.
"What are you old fogeys doing?"
"You're not startled."
"Why should I be?"
"You're not curious about your current state?"
"People who've lived worry-free like you elders would panic at the slightest change in their bodies, but someone like me, who's weathered a life full of ups and downs, is numb to external changes."
"What makes you think we've lived worry-free?"
"Your faces are gleaming with baby fat."
"......"
"Muyeong or Nuran?"
"You think we're their descendants?"
"If you're not, there's no reason to live here."
"You're sharp."
"I told you, I've lived a turbulent life."
"Muyeong Kingdom was the name before Nuran Kingdom."
"What's the order?"
"What order?"
"Between Muyeong Kingdom, Paradise Kingdom, and Nuran Kingdom, which came first?"
"You're not just sharp—you're quick on the uptake too."
"Being sharp means you're smart."
"......Muyeong Kingdom."
"So you lived here before moving to Paradise Kingdom?"
"Yes."
"Why go to Heavenly Mountain?"
"The lake vanished, they say."
"You had no choice but to relocate?"
"You can't survive here without water."
"So it's Muyeong, then Paradise. Which came first, Chacha Kingdom or Nuran Kingdom?"
"You know about Chacha Kingdom too?"
"They say it was founded by survivors of Paradise Kingdom."
"Correct. Chacha Kingdom was founded by the second-in-command family of Paradise Kingdom, while Nuran Kingdom was founded by the rest."
"Did they go to war?"
"Yes."
"Over what?"
"They split over who would come here."
"The vanished lake reappeared?"
"Yes."
"Didn't they consider living together?"
"I didn't live in that era, so who knows. But if they got along, wouldn't they have come together?"
"True. But how long are we going to..."
Suddenly, Ak Muyoo plummeted downward.
Splash!
"Oof."
Ak Muyoo sank bubbling.
The elder used void grasping to pull him out, then floated him in the air as they walked.
"What's your name?"
Ak Muyoo asked the elder.
For some reason, he couldn't move a muscle.
"I'm Byeok Noe. The hot-tempered one is Hwa Gyeok, the cold one is Naengsa, and the two behind are Tae Mu and Cheon Dam."
"Where are we headed?"
"Fire Spirit Ultimate Pool."
"Isn't that one of the Heavenly God Five Pools?"
"You know of the Heavenly God Five Pools?"
"I'm really into spirit medicines and such."
"......"
"You've seen my body, so you know—I've got no dantian."
"You thought a spirit medicine might form one?"
"Until recently, I dreamed of devouring some ultimate elixir, forming a dantian, and shedding my mortal form."
"Not anymore?"
"I've given up."
"......The place you just came from was the Thunder Extreme Iron Pool."
"Did I absorb all its energy?"
"You sucked it dry. According to legend, you should now be the supreme martial artist of past and present."
"Heh!"
Ak Muyoo chuckled.
"Why laugh?"
"My belly's not even full."
"What do you mean?"
"You recognized the Mad Demon Armor, Sun Heaven Sword, and Secret Heaven Ruyi Ink earlier..."
"Mad Demon, Sun Heaven Sword, Sun Protection Robe, Heavenly God Sun Bow, Divine Demon Solar Ring, and Secret Heaven Ruyi Ink are six of the Ten Treasures of Muyeong Kingdom."
"I don't know if they're treasures, but the ones who left them were what people called Heavenly Lords. The Heavenly Lords of Sun Heaven, Calamity Heaven, and Hidden Heaven. They didn't just leave treasures—they left martial arts and inner pellets too. Being Heavenly Lords at the peak of the Six Ultimate Heavens, their power ranged from at least ten jia to as much as a thousand years, right?"
"Probably."
"I ate all three of those pellets."
"......And?"
"I nearly starved to death."
"......"
"That day was truly depressing."
"Hmm! Heh heh heh!"
"Heh heh heh!"
"Ke ke ke ke!"
"Ha ha ha ha!"
"Wah ha ha ha!"
The elders burst into laughter.
Laughing, Byeok Noe's group continued to a new place.
Before them was a pit of scarlet liquid bubbling like lava. This was the Fire Spirit Ultimate Pool.
"Know what?"
Ak Muyoo said.
"What."
Hwa Gyeok replied.
"Tossing me in there won't do squat."
"We still have to."
"That stuff looks good for the body, so you old-timers should take it. Bathe in it when you're all decrepit—it'll add ten years to your life, right?"
"We can't enter."
"Why?"
"Too hot—why do you think?"
Hwa Gyeok hurled Ak Muyoo into the Fire Spirit Ultimate Pool.
"Arrrgh!"
A agonized scream erupted from Ak Muyoo's mouth.
Terrifying heat enveloped his entire body.
His hair and every hair on his body burned away in an instant. Yet his skin remained intact.
"Gaaack!"
His mouth gaped open involuntarily, a scream pouring out.
"I-if I g-get out of h-here, y-you old f-fogeys are d-dead."
The heat was so intense he could barely speak. Stranger still, he couldn't move. The five watched Ak Muyoo in silence.
"You old..."
—Circulate your energy.
Ara's voice whispered in his ear.
Ak Muyoo slowly turned his head. A hazy shadow flickered at the entrance.
—I don't know why they're throwing you into the Heavenly God Five Pools, but absorbing all their energies might make your body explode.
‘Will circulating energy change that?’
Ak Muyoo thought inwardly.
—It's all you can do.
‘......Got it.’
Ak Muyoo immediately circulated the Myriad Phenomena Great Heaven Force.
He wished he could fall asleep like before, but that didn't happen anymore. He couldn't tell if he was circulating or what was entering. As Ara said, it was all he could do, so he circulated diligently.
Ak Muyoo didn't know what was entering or leaving, but to the watchers, the changes in the Fire Spirit Ultimate Pool were clear. The boiling lava-like pool gradually calmed and soon turned transparent.
"Too fast?"
The five tilted their heads.
He'd been in the Thunder Extreme Iron Pool for quite a while, but here it took less than a quarter hour.
"Let's go to the Ice Extreme Cold Pool."
Swoosh!
Using void grasping, they lifted Ak Muyoo and headed out.
Soon they entered a place buffeted by frigid energy.
"You aren't raising me just to eat me later, are you?"
Byeok Noe flinched at Ak Muyoo's question.
"You see yourself as a pig, huh."
Byeok Noe said.
"A pig doesn't know it's a pig. Anyway, if that's your plan, forget it. You'd all die by my hand before stepping outside."
"You think we're a joke."
Hwa Gyeok said.
"Not a joke—just equals."
"......"
"One thing I'm curious about."
"What?"
Byeok Noe said.
"Why am I absorbing the Heavenly God Five Pools' energies?"
"Because you have a Chaos Body."
"What's a Chaos Body?"
"It means the energies composing your body are in their primordial state. That's why no dantian has formed."
"So all sorts of junk piled up?"
"Exactly. But that junk has the power to draw in primordial energies."
"So I'm a vessel?"
"Vessel?"
"Vessels hold valuables, grain, water, or whatever—from precious to worthless. But the vessel itself gains nothing. It wears out and gets tossed, or used as kindling. That's me, right?"
"......"
"Funny bunch."
Ak Muyoo chuckled and closed his eyes.
Eyes shut, he circulated the Myriad Phenomena Great Heaven Force. As Ara said, the only thing he could do now.
He would do it.
—He passed out.
Naengsa said.
—Let's go.
Byeok Noe's group fished out Ak Muyoo and headed to the next place: the Five Elements Supreme Ultimate Pool. There, he absorbed all the energies without pain.
Finally, they put him into the Mixed Heaven Pool.
The Mixed Heaven Pool looked like muddy water.
Ak Muyoo absorbed its energies too. Soon, the Mixed Heaven Pool turned to clear water.
Rumble rumble rumble! Rumble rumble! Rumble rumble!
The ground shook like an earthquake.
"Finally...!"
The five exchanged excited glances.
"Ja Bu!"
Byeok Noe shouted toward the outside.
"Yes."
A burly man entered the Mixed Heaven Pool chamber.
"Take him to the Primordial Chamber and report to His Highness."
"Understood."
Ja Bu wrapped up Ak Muyoo.