Chapter 296: Heaven-Defying (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 296: Heaven-Defying (2)
Late at night, Seo-jun stepped out of the private quarters provided by the Taiji Sword Immortal and stood in the courtyard.
With a light leap, he landed on the perimeter wall to survey the Wudang Sect. The sprawling panoramic view was shrouded in darkness.
Only the faint glow of moonlight and the even fainter starlight illuminated the grounds.
Occasionally, the dim flicker of a candle leaked from a few rooms, but the vast majority of the Daoists were already asleep, contemplating the Dao in the dark, or reflecting upon themselves.
It was a stark contrast to the Namgung Clan, where one could still hear the faint bustle of life late into the night if they listened closely.
The Nine Great Sects and One Clan, and the Six Great Clans.
While every sect and family possessed its own unique disposition, there was a reason the world's most influential powers were broadly divided into these two categories.
Perhaps the Wudang Sect was just unique, but if the other Nine Great Sects were anything like them, they probably didn't place much weight on the distinction of being part of the Righteous Faction.
They simply immersed themselves in finding and polishing their own Dao, seeking to build their cultivation according to their sect's teachings.
I guess it would just be a nuisance to them.
After observing the Wudang Sect for a while longer, Seo-jun hopped down from the wall.
"It's too late today. I'll do it tomorrow."
Rushing wouldn't yield better results anyway.
With a relaxed mind, Seo-jun headed back to his room.
Meanwhile, watching Seo-jun’s retreating back, Chun-bong sniffled.
"S-Sniff... M-My brother..."
Realizing that a tiny sprout of something called 'social awareness' had finally begun to grow in her older brother, she shed tears of profound emotion.
"I never thought I'd see the day..."
"......?"
Bi-yeon couldn't help but shoot a bewildered, almost profane look at her master.
*
The next morning, Seo-jun woke up brimming with energy and stood upon the wall once again.
Morning came early at the Wudang Sect. In this regard, it seemed the Six Great Clans and the Nine Great Sects were no different.
After finishing his meal, Seo-jun spent some time observing the Daoists bustling about while muttering to themselves. Finally, he stood at the starting point of his great journey.
That journey was the exploration of Heaven-Defying—a chemical experiment of unparalleled fun.
"Alright, is everyone ready?"
Seo-jun turned his head to look at his companions standing a short distance away. They nodded.
"Setting all clear."
Ju Won-jang, who was surprisingly fluent in Western slang, gave a big thumbs-up.
Seo-jun returned the gesture and aimed at the target hovering before him.
A blue sphere.
It was a fragment of the 'Mental Imagery of the Heavens' that Seo-jun had plucked directly from his own mind.
In other words, it was the very essence of the Namgung.
At the tip of Seo-jun’s finger, which was aimed dead at the sphere, Heaven-Defying Qi began to coalesce.
Following Bi-yeon’s advice, he intended to fire Heaven-Defying Qi directly at the 'Heavens.'
"Three, two, one."
The countdown finished. Then, the launch.
"Go shoot!"
Swaaaaaaaaak—!
The Heaven-Defying Qi, moving entirely according to Seo-jun’s will, slammed into the Mental Imagery of the Heavens.
Space flickered for an instant as the two forces collided. A momentary ripple—one only someone of Seo-jun’s caliber could even notice—spread far and wide.
At the exact same time, the result manifested.
"Blegh...!"
The idiot who had just crushed his own mental imagery violently vomited blood.
"S-Seo-jun!"
While receiving frantic nursing from a startled Namgung Su-ah, Seo-jun nodded seriously.
"That was a stupid move."
"I-I-I'm so sorry..."
Bi-yeon, her face deathly pale, bowed her head repeatedly. She felt entirely responsible, as the trouble had only started after she brought up that strange suggestion.
Of course, she was the only one who actually thought that.
"No, I don't mean the experiment itself was stupid. I just fired the Heaven-Defying Qi way too hard."
After casually regenerating his mental imagery, Seo-jun stood back up and prepared to try again.
"Second experiment, starting now."
"Good luck."
Ju Won-jang excitedly gave another thumbs-up, only to immediately shrivel under the fierce glares of Chun-bong and Namgung Su-ah. In that brief moment, Seo-jun fired the Heaven-Defying Qi toward the Mental Imagery of the Heavens once more.
The Heaven of Namgung was the spirit of a sovereign.
Previously, Seo-jun had created the Heavenly Demon Divine Art by fusing the Heaven of Namgung with Heaven-Defying.
Although his current Heaven-Defying had developed rapidly through his enlightenment of Primordial Unity, the Heaven of Namgung was by no means inferior to it.
Keeping that in mind, the fired Heaven-Defying Qi struck the Mental Imagery of the Heavens, and the two forces immediately clashed.
The Heaven sought to embrace even Heaven-Defying, while Heaven-Defying sought to crush and annihilate that Heaven.
────────────!!
A massive force erupted in an instant.
He had significantly lowered the output based on the painful lesson from the previous experiment, yet the shockwave was still enough to push Seo-jun’s body back slightly.
Covering his face with his sleeve and peeking out just enough to observe the interaction between the two forces, Seo-jun saw it.
He saw the murky, stained Heaven converge, and finally, vanish.
That power just now...
It was a familiar force.
It was... gravity.
The attractive force generated by an object with mass.
However, the force that had just erupted had pushed Seo-jun away instead of pulling him in.
"Hmm..."
As Seo-jun stared silently into the empty air, Chun-bong cautiously approached him.
"How did it go?"
"I don't think this is it."
What had just happened occurred because the Mental Imagery of the Heavens had embraced Heaven-Defying. One could say the power of the Heaven was slightly stronger in that exchange.
However, Seo-jun had an intuition.
Even if he perfectly balanced the two, they would ultimately just clash and explode.
"Uuuu..."
Bi-yeon was shrinking into herself while Chun-bong stroked her head to comfort her. Meanwhile, Namgung Su-ah was gently stroking Seo-jun’s head, and Ju Won-jang was cautiously approaching him with a smirk.
"Tsk."
Seo-jun clicked his tongue, a displeased expression crossing his face.
Namgung Su-ah looked at him with startled eyes. Her hand, which had been stroking his hair, froze.
"Was it too strong?"
"Huh? Oh, it's not that."
Seo-jun let out a sigh and allowed a murky energy to flow from his fingertips.
It was a simple gesture, but everyone present immediately locked their gazes on his hand, feeling an inexplicable pressure bearing down on them.
"That is..."
"It's Primordial Unity."
He didn't vomit blood from this level of output anymore.
He didn't know if it was because the inner demon in his heart had lost its spirit after being beaten half to death by Giga Chun-bong, or if his own vessel had simply grown enough to endure it.
Seo-jun just stared intently at the Primordial Unity.
"I thought it might be something like this."
Seeing a cold, unfamiliar expression on Seo-jun’s face—a look she had rarely ever seen—Namgung Su-ah tightly gripped his sleeve.
Without a word, Seo-jun fired the Primordial Unity high into the sky.
The murky energy left a hazy trail in its wake as it settled in the upper atmosphere.
Then, Seo-jun fired a blast of Heaven-Defying Qi, aiming directly at the Primordial Unity.
Similarly, it left a murky trail as it shot upward and made contact with the Primordial Unity.
Wuuuuuuuuuuung─────────!!!
The collision of the two forces drew out a profound logic that transcended human understanding.
Primordial Unity is the cradle of all things.
The reason an object enveloped by Primordial Unity cannot maintain its original essence is simply that it becomes mixed into the Primordial Unity, which embraces infinitely more than the object itself.
It is not extinction.
It is merely a Return to Source—a return to Primordial Unity.
According to this logic, all things that appear to vanish do not actually disappear.
In the world drawn by the Heavens, true extinction does not exist; things simply return to Primordial Unity, or become a part of it once more.
Primordial Unity is identical to all things in the world, and all things in the world are but a part of Primordial Unity.
It was Primordial Unity that gave birth to the world, and all Dao eventually converges back into Primordial Unity.
Primordial Unity is the creator of the world, the Heavens, and everything in between.
In other words, the 'Heaven' that Heaven-Defying sought to negate was Primordial Unity itself.
"......."
Heaven-Defying endlessly annihilated the infinitely existing Primordial Unity.
Seo-jun continued to pour more power into the Heaven-Defying Qi.
Heaven-Defying, which had been constantly pushed back by Primordial Unity, finally seemed to swallow it whole. But then, a sudden gust of wind spread out from the empty space where everything had just vanished.
I don't understand it.
If the Heaven that Heaven-Defying seeks to negate is Primordial Unity, then why did he harbor such Primordial Unity within himself?
And why was Heaven-Defying so familiar to him, despite him harboring Primordial Unity?
If that being he had seen in his dream—the one who created and destroyed countless universes with a mere toss and turn—was not just a figment of his imagination, then why did he see it?
Who am I, and what am I?
Closing his eyes and exhaling slowly, Seo-jun gently pulled on Namgung Su-ah’s hand, which was still tightly gripping his sleeve.
Namgung Su-ah obediently followed his lead, and Seo-jun buried his face in her chest.
The scent of her skin, her warmth, and the cozy softness gently enveloped his face.
After burying himself in her embrace for a while, Seo-jun suddenly lifted his head.
"Dyu-dya..."
I am Mega Su-ah’s fiancé, Geum Chun-bong’s older brother, and the rightful owner of these breasts and cheeks.
The corners of his mouth lifted, and Seo-jun let out a soft chuckle.
"Third experiment, failure."
*
Originally, the initial goal of the experiment had been the exploration of Heaven-Defying.
However, the goal of an experiment was like a maiden's heart, swaying easily like a reed in the wind.
Before he knew it, the objective had shifted to finding a harmony between Primordial Unity and Heaven-Defying.
"Wait, all of a sudden?"
"Yeah, all of a sudden."
After playfully bumping Ju Won-jang’s shoulder, Seo-jun stepped out of the courtyard and soon sensed a familiar presence.
It was True Human Heo-do.
And beside him was another familiar presence.
Mu-hye?
The girl who was friends with Myeong-i.
The same girl who... during the Yongbong Gathering, almost had her head crushed by him just for grabbing Chun-bong’s wrist...
Feeling a lingering pang of guilt, and also wanting to speak with True Human Heo-do anyway, Seo-jun led his group toward the source of the presences.
"No, what the..."
The distance was quite far, and Ju Won-jang was horrified to realize that Seo-jun’s Qi Sensing was somehow enveloping the entire Wudang Sect. But to Seo-jun, it wasn't a particularly big deal.
He’d been thinking this a lot lately, but Ju Won-jang really did have great reactions to things.
"I'm telling you, this is definitely something to be surprised about!"
"Look at our Chun-bu-i and my sister. They're perfectly calm."
"Now that I look at them, these ladies aren't exactly sane either, are they?"
"I guess you have more than one life to spare, huh?"
"Huh? What does that... Whoa!"
They arrived at a temple while Seo-jun was busy pummeling Ju Won-jang.
As Seo-jun quietly observed the grand structure, Ju Won-jang offered a brief explanation.
"This is the Three Purities Hall, the temple where the Three Purities are enshrined."
"The Three Purities? You mean like the Big Three of Daoism?"
"Well... you could put it that way."
Ju Won-jang smirked and led the way.
"Usually, the martial arts of the Wudang Sect follow the teachings of the Grand Pure One, the Lord of the Way and its Virtue, who is one of the Three Purities."
"Are they strong?"
"They'd have to be, wouldn't they?"
"True."
Seo-jun nodded. Then, he turned and asked True Human Heo-do, who had just come into visual range.
"By the way, who’s stronger between the Three Purities and the Buddha?"
True Human Heo-do turned his head with a completely flabbergasted expression.
What kind of madman would try to start a hypothetical deathmatch between the Three Purities and the Buddha?
But as soon as he saw Seo-jun’s face, he reflexively nodded.
"Ho-ho, that is something a mere mortal cannot possibly know. If the opportunity arises in the future, you should ask those who have ascended yourself."
"Hmm, but don't you think the Three Purities would win since it's a three-on-one?"
Faced with Seo-jun’s persistent questioning, True Human Heo-do quickly changed the subject.
"Oh my, look at the time. Have you all eaten? If you'd like, I can give you some excellent lunch recommendations."
Mu-hye, however, just stared intently at Heo-do.
"So, which one is stronger?"
*
The many years True Human Heo-do had lived were not in vain.
After skillfully deflecting the troublesome topic with his seasoned social prowess, he finally noticed Ju Won-jang standing next to Seo-jun and hurriedly offered a fist and palm salute.
"My apologies for my narrow vision; I have been rude."
"It's fine. Talking to this guy naturally narrows anyone's vision. I understand completely."
Seo-jun looked back and forth between True Human Heo-do and Ju Won-jang.
A white-haired elder of significant age, and... just a young brat.
"Hey, you disrespectful punk. How dare you speak so casually to an elder?"
When Seo-jun raised his hand to strike, Ju Won-jang let out a hollow laugh of disbelief.
"I've lived at least a hundred years longer than that guy!"
"What."
"Aha, this is perfect."
Catching a lucky break to assert his dominance, Ju Won-jang smirked.
"Why don't you, the oh-so-polite Evil-Annihilating Heavenly Lord, give your elder a proper greeting?"
...The 'elder' was promptly beaten until he shriveled up.
After finishing his pummeling of Ju Won-jang, Seo-jun turned and asked True Human Heo-do, who was watching the scene unfold with a dazed expression.
"Can I ask you something?"
"No, wait. Is it really okay to do this?"
"It's fine. This is just how we play."
Ju Won-jang looked at Seo-jun with utterly absurd eyes, but it was fine.
Wasn't this how everyone played with their friends?
When you hung out together, you got beaten up a bit, got shaken down for pocket money, handed over your secret martial arts, ran errands, and stuff like that.
Lee Seo-jun, the shameless perpetrator of Murim schoolyard violence, simply shrugged his shoulders.
"What should I do if I want to harmonize two opposing forces?"