Chapter 175
Chapter 175
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 51
>Chapter Title: Three Eyes (2)
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“What do you mean, a family member? I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“...”
Mok Kyung-un’s eyes narrowed at the eyeball’s response.
He had been certain this eyeball was the Three Eyes, so he assumed it had sealed away the monster raccoon dog in the secret pavilion of Blood River Gorge.
But the eyeball seemed completely clueless.
Which meant,
‘This isn’t the one.’
This was an entirely unexpected outcome.
So who the hell had sealed that monster raccoon dog there?
It was definitely a sorcerer with three eyes.
At that moment, the eyeball spoke.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I’ve never once been to the secret pavilion in Blood River Gorge.”
“You’ve never been there?”
“That’s right.”
Mok Kyung-un furrowed his brow and stared intently at the eyeball.
“You really don’t know about that Immeasurable Beast that looks like a raccoon dog?”
“Raccoon dog... Immeasurable Beast?”
“Yes.”
At that, the eyeball trembled violently, convulsing.
It looked just like it was overcome with fear.
Why was the eyeball suddenly acting like this?
As he wondered,
“Ho... could you possibly mean the Sea Slayer King, Guhwan Cheon-gu?”
“Guhwan Cheon-gu?”
Mok Kyung-un repeated the unfamiliar name.
Was that the monster raccoon dog’s name?
Just then, Yeo Su-rin, who had been keeping her distance out of embarrassment from earlier, suddenly showed interest with a startled expression.
“What did you just say?”
“Hm?”
“Did you say Guhwan Cheon-gu?”
Mok Kyung-un turned to Yeo Su-rin and asked back.
“You know it?”
“Of course. My master told me about it.”
“Your master... you mean that...?”
“Yes. That person.”
The Red Eyebrow Old Immortal.
Yeo Su-rin’s master and the pavilion master of Harmonious Immortal Pavilion, one of the two most mysterious pavilions among the Sixty-Four Barrier Pavilions.
Yeo Su-rin’s eyes sparkled with interest as she replied.
“My master told me about it.”
“What is it?”
“Huh? Don’t tell me you don’t know about the leader of the six spirit beasts said to have existed since ancient times?”
“Leader of the six spirit beasts?”
Naturally, he had no clue.
Yeo Su-rin looked dumbfounded at Mok Kyung-un’s reaction.
Was this guy really a sorcerer who’d learned barrier arts?
Then the eyeball spoke in a trembling voice.
“...Those beings stand at the pinnacle of all Immeasurable Beasts. They are not entities a human woman like you can casually judge.”
Mok Kyung-un asked,
“The pinnacle of Immeasurable Beasts? Are they divine beasts by any chance?”
According to the Book of Strange and Extraordinary from the Classic of Mountains and Seas that he had memorized, anomalies were divided into six grades based on their danger level and power.
The lowest grade was fierce beasts.
The Immeasurable Beast Gu-yeo from Yeo-a Mountain, which Mok Kyung-un had encountered first, was the lowest-tier fierce beast.
Of course, even low-tier ones were stronger than most lingering spirits.
The next, fourth grade, was called strange beasts.
The wolf-like monster that had made pig-like squeals on the way through Blood River Gorge’s pass was a strange beast known as Galjeo.
The next, third grade, was demon beasts, and the Immeasurable Beast Heum-won from Kunlun Mountain—currently flapping its wings futilely in Mok Kyung-un’s grasp—belonged to this category.
The next was the second grade, magic beasts, which were so rare that even renowned sorcerers rarely saw them, earning them the title of walking calamities.
And then there were the Immeasurable Beasts that, when one appeared, were called heavenly disasters—they were known as spirit beasts.
These spirit beasts appeared perhaps once every few hundred years, and even a single one could reduce a castle to ruins, placing them in the realm of catastrophes.
‘Divine beasts.’
The final, highest grade: divine beasts.
The Classic of Mountains and Seas stated that divine beasts might appear only once every few thousand years. They belonged to the realm of heavenly phenomena or divine punishment, beyond human control—great calamities that could destroy an entire nation and wipe out humanity.
So Mok Kyung-un wondered if the pinnacle of Immeasurable Beasts meant divine beasts.
But,
‘Divine beast? They can’t exist in this mortal world to begin with. Once demonic power reaches that level, it transcends the natural order.’
“The natural order?”
‘Don’t you know what the natural order is?’
“What is it?”
‘The natural order sustains this world. Well, it’s not something humans can easily grasp.’
“You’re being vague.”
‘The natural order is the natural order. Step beyond that boundary, and the natural order will push you to the other side.’
“The other side of the boundary?”
As he puzzled over it, Yeo Su-rin interjected.
“It’s talking about ascension.”
“Ascension?”
A light flickered in Mok Kyung-un’s eyes.
Come to think of it, he had heard something like this from Cheong-ryeong when she taught him swordsmanship and martial arts.
[Internal energy, the foundation of martial arts, originates from Daoist breathing techniques. Daoism controls inner energy through breath control, evolving the body as a result.]
[Evolving the body? You mean getting stronger?]
[That’s part of it, but in Daoism, evolution means shattering the body’s limits, comprehending the flow of heaven’s energy, and achieving spiritual awakening.]
[Spiritual awakening?]
[Yes. That’s what they call ascension or feathered immortality.]
[Feathered immortality? Becoming an immortal and ascending to the heavens?]
[Exactly. Anyone who practices martial arts naturally seeks enlightenment through martial prowess to achieve ascension. Of course, these days, that ideal has faded—martial arts have devolved into mere symbols of power, tools for self-defense and killing others.]
[Ho. But isn’t that the truth?]
[Yes. Martial arts were originally meant not for cultivating the Dao, but for easily killing others. However, if you seek higher realms, you need to think on a more profound level.]
That was Cheong-ryeong’s teaching.
She had told him that to master martial arts and reach higher realms, he should aim for ascension.
Of course, Mok Kyung-un had zero interest in that.
His goal was power for revenge, not becoming some immortal sage.
Still, he had asked out of curiosity.
[But Cheong-ryeong, has anyone actually ascended?]
[Yes.]
[The Bodhidharma, founder of Shaolin martial arts; Jang Sam-bong the True Man, founder of Wudang; and the Sword Immortal, said to have beheaded a dragon in seclusion. There are surely other unknown eccentrics too. You never know with the ways of the world.]
[So people have actually ascended?]
[Of course—that’s why they pursue it.]
If the feathered immortality Cheong-ryeong mentioned meant crossing to the other side of the boundary as the eyeball described, then didn’t that mean humans, by honing their martial arts, could reach the same realm as the divine beasts from the Classic of Mountains and Seas?
Somehow, both barrier arts and the martial world felt strangely interconnected at their pinnacles.
As his thoughts deepened, the eyeball spoke again.
‘Yes. That seems to be how it was. Humans called crossing the boundary due to the natural order ascension.’
“Hmm. So those six Immeasurable Beasts you mentioned...”
‘Six Demons.’
“Yes?”
‘Immeasurable Beasts with awakened intellect call them the Six Demons or Six Demon Kings.’
Mok Kyung-un’s eyes narrowed slightly at the eyeball’s words.
He had thought it a mere anomalous fragment, but now he knew its true nature.
The thing itself recognized its existence as an Immeasurable Beast—an anomaly.
With that level of demonic power and ego, it would be odd to dismiss it as just a byproduct of some anomaly.
“Six Demon Kings? Quite the grandiose title.”
“Wow... I’m learning about this for the first time too.”
Yeo Su-rin said with sparkling eyes.
She was already very interested in Immeasurable Beasts, but encountering one with true intellect was like finding a needle in a haystack.
So hearing about the leaders of the six spirit beasts from an Immeasurable Beast’s perspective was naturally fascinating.
“Eyeball. Tell me more. I want to know if the Six Demons you’re talking about are the same as the leaders of the six spirit beasts I know.”
‘...’
At her urging, the eyeball clamped its mouth shut.
It was wary of this guy, but did it really have to reveal this to the woman too?
Just then, Mok Kyung-un spoke up.
“The name doesn’t matter—what matters is that monster raccoon dog is called Guhwan Cheon-gu.”
‘The Sea Slayer King.’
Its voice was filled with fear.
From this reaction alone, it was clear the eyeball held the monster raccoon dog in profound awe.
Thinking back, even sealed and weakened, that monster raccoon dog had possessed tremendous demonic power.
No wonder the eyeball was terrified.
“Whatever—Sea Slayer King or Guhwan Cheon-gu, you’re saying there are six monsters of that caliber?”
‘Yes.’
“You know all of them?”
‘How could I not?’
Mok Kyung-un pondered briefly at the eyeball’s words.
Did he really need to know about these beings? But it couldn’t hurt.
Who knew if that monster raccoon dog—no, Guhwan Cheon-gu—was still sealed in Blood River Gorge’s secret pavilion?
Knowing about such entities could prove useful later.
“Can you tell me what they are?”
“What’s the white ox spirit beast called?”
Then Yeo Su-rin cut in.
Mok Kyung-un shot her an annoyed look.
Pouting, she said,
“I helped out too, so can’t I at least ask this much?”
“...”
Shrugging as if to say do what you want, Mok Kyung-un relented.
Yeo Su-rin grinned excitedly and asked,
“What do you call that white ox spirit beast that’s hundreds of feet from head to tail?”
‘...The Great Power King.’
“Great Power King? Ooh, so that’s what Immeasurable Beasts call the giant ox spirit beast. Then what about the fallen蛟dragon that failed to ascend?”
‘The蛟Demon King.’
“The northern sea bird spirit beast with wings as white as snow?”
‘The White Peng Demon King.’
“Fits perfectly. Then the lion-shaped spirit beast with black wings and sharp thorny mane?”
‘The Lion Tearing King.’
‘Hmm.’
Thanks to Yeo Su-rin’s questions and the eyeball’s answers, Mok Kyung-un naturally learned the appearances and titles of the spirit beasts.
He was glad he’d let her ask.
Then Yeo Su-rin continued.
“That stone ape supposedly trapped under Five Finger Mountain...”
‘No.’
“Huh? How do you know what I was going to ask?”
‘The being you mentioned vanished long ago due to the natural order. It no longer counts among the Six Demons.’
“Oh... That’s different from what my master said.”
The eyeball asked incredulously at Yeo Su-rin’s words.
‘You... who the hell is this master of yours? How does she know about the Six Demons from ancient times?’
“Heh. Now that you’re posing as a sorcerer, eyeball, you must know who my master is?”
‘What?’
“Heard of the Red Eyebrow Old Immortal?”
‘...No way—the pavilion master of Harmonious Immortal Pavilion, one of the Six Barrier Gods?’
The eyeball immediately recognized who it was upon hearing the name.
Having shared a body with the barrier master Jo Tae-cheong, it naturally knew the renowned sorcerers.
To an Immeasurable Beast like the eyeball, they were mortal enemies.
Yeo Su-rin looked triumphant as she glanced at Mok Kyung-un and said,
“See? Even this anomalous yokai knows my master.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
Yeo Su-rin’s lips pursed like a duck’s at Mok Kyung-un’s dry response.
Was this guy really a sorcerer?
Her master was so renowned and famous, yet he showed no interest?
Normal sorcerers would be scrambling to make connections.
Clicking her tongue inwardly, Yeo Su-rin asked the eyeball again.
“Fine. If it’s not the spirit beast trapped under Five Finger Mountain, then what’s the last of the Six Demons?”
‘The Hundred Faces King.’
“Hundred Faces King?”
‘Yes.’
“A hundred faces? First I’ve heard of it... What kind of spirit beast is that?”
At Yeo Su-rin’s question, the eyeball in Mok Kyung-un’s hand shivered even more violently than when discussing the Sea Slayer King Guhwan Cheon-gu.
Shrinking back, the eyeball spoke.
‘It’s said to be the oldest among the Six Demons—even worse than the Great Power King. That being is malice incarnate, leading all to ruin.’
“...Leading to ruin?”
‘Because of it, nations like Yin and Zhou perished since ancient times.’
“Yin, Zhou? Wait, eyeball, the spirit beast you’re talking about...”
Before Yeo Su-rin could finish, the eyeball spoke in a meaningful tone.
‘A fox with golden fur and nine tails. Golden Fur Nine-Tails.’