Chapter 351: Ascension to Immortality (7)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 351: Ascension to Immortality (7)
As is always the case, despair is called despair because it arrives at the most hopeful of times, in the most unexpected of moments.
And absurdity is called absurdity because it cannot be overcome so easily.
Who could have known?
That a being of absurd despair would travel the vast distance from the Heavenly Realm to Hell in a single instant.
Who could have predicted?
That a being would appear whose mere arrival would shatter all divine abilities and reshape the very terrain.
Just as the situation was nearly settled and we were about to regroup, Sun Wukong’s urgent voice echoed in my head.
-Those lunatics. It wasn’t enough to call the Heavenly Army for this… they called me?
At that moment, the embodiment of despair, riding a golden cloud, appeared before us with a lofty and incredibly elegant grace.
As if she were a celestial being, she looked down at us from atop the cloud with arrogant eyes and slowly opened her mouth.
“Go back, Nimbus Cloud.”
As the deity stepped off the cloud with light footsteps, everyone except for me and the professors fell to their knees.
Of course, even the professors were trembling, clearly not in their best condition.
It wasn’t strange.
The moment most people meet that gaze, they lose their fighting spirit and can only pray that the being isn’t hostile toward them.
Even those who fall outside that “most” can barely manage to keep their heads up, unable to stop their bodies from shaking regardless of their will.
Therefore, the only ones with even the minimum qualification to face her would be those who aspire to reach the same realm she occupies.
“Confirming the sinners.”
Did I even need to explain? This was a god.
Long golden hair and black dragon robes.
Between eyes that resembled flames or rubies, golden pupils were…?
Wait a minute.
It took me a moment to realize because it was a look I’d become so familiar with lately.
From that golden tail to her overall features, she was the spitting image of a certain monkey I knew.
The problem was that she didn’t look like a monkey; rather, aside from the lack of twin-tails, she was the spitting image of a woman I knew very well.
…This is weird.
Is that really Sun Wukong? Why does she look like a woman…?
-Is that what’s important to you in this situation…? With my true body right in front of you…?
Sun Wukong spoke as if she found me absurd, but honestly, wasn’t it worth being curious about?
-…You’ve got nerves of steel. I’m speechless. Anyway, I don’t know why the main body looks like me either, but now is not the time to worry about that!
Ah, right. I’d let my guard down because she looked so familiar, but this was an act of utter madness.
What stood before me now was the real Sun Wukong, a being of myth who hadn’t been degraded in the slightest.
I didn’t know how she would act, but far from letting my guard down, she was a being I might not be able to handle even if I focused every fiber of my being.
While I watched her, Sun Wukong, who had been observing us with a languid expression, slowly spoke.
“Was the information about an Earthly Immortal being here false?”
Her tone was incredibly calm, tinged with just a hint of annoyance.
“You have sought out Hell in your living bodies and disrupted the rules. By principle, it is only right to punish and exile you, but if you refuse to comply, you may request a trial in the Heavenly Realm.”
…What? She seems more moderate than I expected?
“However, trials in the Heavenly Realm often result in heavier sentences, so I do not particularly recommend it.”
“…Excuse me, what kind of punishment would we receive?”
Perhaps judging that she was a being capable of conversation, Cathy Noona cautiously asked a question. Sun Wukong replied quite matter-of-factly.
“Normally, since you have disturbed the order, you should be held accountable for a great crime. However, the Jade Emperor does not wish to escalate this incident.”
It was a more moderate reaction than expected, but at her next words, everyone’s expressions hardened, and they began to treat Sun Wukong as an enemy.
“To ensure you can no longer approach Hell, I shall simply pluck out the Fiery Eyes and Golden Pupils possessed by the boy there.”
Quite peacefully, as if it were nothing, she pointed at me and declared she would gouge out my eyes.
Naturally, everyone would be agitated.
However, showing hostility now was by no means a good choice.
“Do you intend to resist?”
Her attitude remained dry, but I felt a subtle sense of surprise from her.
I suppose so; for a long time, she probably hadn’t met anyone who even thought of resisting her.
But that surprise didn’t lead to any other emotion.
It didn’t pique her interest, nor did it grate on her nerves and make her angry.
The small surprise was just that—a surprise, a tiny ripple that briefly revealed her emotions.
She immediately regained her complete composure and declared:
“If you intend to resist, it cannot be helped.”
And then, the world inverted.
The pressure that bore down as if to crush us instantly, and the dizziness that rushed in as if heaven and earth were flipping and shaking, were enough to create the illusion that the world had turned upside down. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the world that had changed.
Only one thing had changed.
The momentum radiating from the deity before our eyes.
What we had previously felt as vast was merely what leaked out even while she was suppressing and restraining it as much as possible.
It was merely the tip of the iceberg revealed above the water.
So this is what a god is.
Just from the pressure she emitted, Cathy Noona and Professor Park A-ram were forced to their knees, and the others were coughing, unable to even breathe properly.
A thought suddenly occurred to me.
I had been careless.
I thought that since I had defeated a Demon King who descended to the surface, I might be able to hold my own to some extent.
Even though I knew that both devils and deities are restricted from using their original power in the Human World.
Just because I’d taken down a weakened Demon King, I’d dared to harbor such a stupid thought.
Facing a real deity was like this.
A transcendent being was still far too immense for them to face.
Therefore.
Without hesitation, I swallowed a pill I’d received from the Doctor.
If I stayed like this, I might be fine, but the others would surely collapse, unable to endure it.
The warning that it would cause extreme pain wasn’t a lie; my eyes felt like they were on fire, and my heart pounded as if it would explode at any moment.
However, I could definitely feel the recovery of my energy slowing down strangely.
The Doctor said I could use my power for about five minutes.
Testing the waters against Sun Wukong was meaningless, so I had to do my absolute best.
7-stack Reinforcement.
My body, already strained by the toxicity of the medicine, screamed as the recoil of the reinforcement was added, but as always, the power granted in exchange was certain.
And for the first time, something that could be called interest flickered across Sun Wukong’s consistently indifferent face.
“Hmm?”
However, compared to my desperate charge, the fist I swung was restrained far too easily.
As if it were nothing at all, like an adult suppressing a child swinging their fists wildly.
She was even subtly gentle, diffusing the recoil my body should have taken as she perfectly intercepted my attack.
“Until just a moment ago, the energy you harbored was vast, but your cultivation was at an imperceptible level. Suddenly, a Taoist Immortal?”
If you’re going to look that interested, I wish you’d at least pretend it hurt.
No, actually, I was the one being stupid.
What did I think I could achieve with just a 7-stack Reinforcement?
I really have grown dull.
On the day I first used multiple reinforcements after my regression.
Even the black lightning—a mixture of all the world’s curses and the Authority of the Creator—that I had tried to block with everything I had, wouldn’t have seemed that threatening compared to the deity before me now.
To think I tried to resist with less power than I used that day.
If she had a slightly rougher personality, I would have lost my life the moment that attack was blocked.
I hurried to put some distance between us, but Sun Wukong did not pursue me.
No, in the first place, I was only able to move away because she allowed it; if she had intended to catch me, she wouldn’t have let go.
A strange interest still lingered on her expressionless face.
If the reason she let me go and the reason I can still stand and face her now is that faint interest she’s showing…
The moment her interest fades, all my remaining chances will vanish with it.
“Are you done now?”
“Grow! Ruyi…!”
Startled by her sudden question, I reflexively extended Ruyi, but far from being surprised, she didn’t even flinch.
“Shrink. Ruyi.”
With just a single word, she neutralized my attack.
…Good grief, even if she is the original owner. Controlling an artifact that has already completed its master-recognition?
-It’s not like that. It only looks that way; she’s just suppressing it with brute force!
…Ah, so it’s not that Ruyi obeyed her, but that she’s just using absurdly strong power to prevent it from growing.
Wait, isn’t that incredible in its own right?
As a result of testing, it seemed I couldn’t use Great Sage Descent, the Cloning Technique, or any powers related to Ruyi.
“You are conversing with my lingering attachment.”
For a second, I wondered how she knew, but since she was the one who sealed her attachment in this artifact, it would be stranger if she didn’t know.
“Yes, then the Fiery Eyes and Golden Pupils make sense.”
However, seeing the interest currently draining from her face in real-time, I didn’t think her understanding would work out very positively for me.
I don’t know what will happen the moment that interest completely vanishes if I slip up even a little more.
To say I wasn’t testing the waters was the height of arrogance.
It wasn’t a matter of testing the waters or not; I was facing a being I might not even reach even if I contemplated whether or not to stake my life.
Since I have the Doctor’s medicine, I probably won’t die from my vessel shattering due to the recovery recoil.
I have to scrape together every bit of Innate True Qi I have left.
“Ho. A Human Immortal?”
As I passed the 8th and 9th stacks and approached the 10th, I felt beyond nauseous—it felt like my head was splitting open—but in exchange, I was able to reignite her fading interest.
Still, this wasn’t enough.
The fact that she was still in the ‘interested’ stage meant I wasn’t at a level where I could wound her.
Unless it was a power that could threaten her, it was meaningless.
So, I needed a bit more power.
By the time I passed the 15th stack and approached the 20th, something closer to surprise than interest finally began to appear on her face.
“…To actually draw out power equal to an Earthly Immortal. A realm that most Taoists cannot achieve even after a thousand years of cultivation, accomplished by such a young boy.”
It hurts.
I forcibly suppressed something that felt like it was about to burst out of my throat and held onto my consciousness, which felt like it would snap at any moment, through sheer will.
“Impressive. With that fist, you possess the power to easily crush great mountains and destroy the Human World. Not many are born with such strength, so you may take pride in it.”
For reference, Sun Wukong is a deity born from the essence of the stars, and the moment she was born, she achieved the realm of Self-Existence, possessing a body and strength more resilient than most war gods.
“However, even so, you cannot reach me.”
Therefore, even with this power, I wouldn’t be able to reach the deity before me.
But if I use more power here, that seems dangerous in its own way.
It was true that I was quite conflicted.
The sight of those who had fallen, and my own self who would soon be in big trouble.
The thought that I shouldn’t overdo it, and the thought that I had to protect them even if it meant overdoing it.
My own safety versus the smiles of those who hadn’t hesitated for a second to smile back when I said I needed help.
After comparing many things.
“…Seriously.”
As always, the answer didn’t come with much difficulty.
“I really didn’t want to push myself.”
Praying that the Doctor’s medicine would somehow hold me together, I scraped the very bottom of the Innate True Qi remaining in my body and poured it into the reinforcement. At that moment…
Something strange happened.
My head, which felt like it was going to break from the dizziness.
My stomach, which felt nauseous.
My body, which felt heavy as if it were about to break—everything became fine.
A refreshment resembling a sense of omnipotence that knew no bounds dominated my mind.
An inexplicable pleasure dominated my body.
As I lightly clenched my fist, a vast power I had never experienced before gathered along with a light I was seeing for the first time.
“…A Celestial Immortal?”
The moment I struck the enemy before me with that vastness.
The light became a blow that pierced through Hell and slammed into Sun Wukong.