The Heavenly Demon Analyzes (2)
"Explain it in detail."
The sorcery of this place resembled the martial arts I practiced? What did that mean?
"Min-ga. When you circulate your energy, have you not absorbed the surrounding qi with your own inner force?"
"I have."
It was a method far removed from normal qi circulation. Only possible thanks to the unique nature of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art and my absolute confidence that I could control it perfectly. Anyone else who tried to imitate it would fall into qi deviation far faster than they could strengthen their energy. A truly reckless technique.
"I was watching the movement of energy right beside you at the time. It was a flow I had never witnessed in all my long life."
"And that movement resembles the sorcery existing in this place?"
"I did not say they were identical. Only that the sensation is similar."
After saying this, Baru led me around various parts of the Place of Gu, offering explanations as we went. The sorcery in one area resembled the way my own energy surged and overflowed. Another spot felt similar to the moment my inner force devoured other qi. And yet another...
"In other words, it is like this. Do you understand?"
"Roughly."
After listening to Baru's explanation, I asked her to wait a moment and spread my energy. Just as I did when circulating qi, I released the inner force of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art into my surroundings and began devouring the energy lurking there.
Only then did the things Baru had described start becoming visible to me.
Her explanation was correct. It would be difficult to call them perfectly identical, but there were undeniable similarities.
When I had stayed in the Heavenly Demon Cult, I had simply thought of this as a place imbued with mysterious power. To think that secrets related to the Heavenly Demon Divine Art were hidden within it.
Back when I had first possessed this body, the man who had been Baek Hwaryeong's father told me that this place was created by the founder of the Heavenly Demon Cult. If that was true, did it mean the first Heavenly Demon had not merely been a master of martial arts, but one who had also practiced Taoist sorcery?
Huh. I had brought Baru here to resolve my questions, yet new curiosities kept sprouting.
Frustrated, I put my pipe to my lips.
To investigate the Place of Gu, I would need to dig through the history of the old Heavenly Demon Cult. But all the books recording that history had burned when the cult collapsed. The survivors had somehow managed to save the martial arts texts, but that was all. If my memory served, most other books had been lost. Any records concerning the Place of Gu had likely suffered the same fate.
I would still look for them, but it was better not to get my hopes up.
Seeing me click my tongue, Baru let out an awkward laugh, perhaps guessing my thoughts.
"Even for me, most of the spells here are things I have never seen before in my life, so I cannot give you a clear answer right away."
"I am not reproaching you, so do not worry. Did I not say it earlier? There is no need to rush."
Spending time here would not cause the Heavenly Demon Cult to collapse or make the Place of Gu disappear. These things had tenacious lifespans. They were the ones who had protected themselves until the moment I left this place and returned to the modern world. I could afford to take it easy for the next several decades.
As I said this and stroked Baru's head, one thought suddenly occurred to me.
If the one who created the sorcery here was also the originator of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, then perhaps the principles of the spells lurking in this place were not so different from it.
I withdrew my hand from Baru's head and once again spread my energy around me. I had long since grown used to painting with qi. After all, I had practiced it to the point of exhaustion.
I traced the energy that had been deployed here. What I desired was ferocious inner force that devoured everything around it.
The moment the painting was completed, every single flow of energy that had been moving continuously inside suddenly vanished without a trace.
It was the first true emptiness I had encountered since gaining the ability to see the Dao. A bizarre landscape precisely because it was so hollow.
Yet the scene did not last long. As if asking when it had ever been silent, the world filled once more with countless currents of energy.
The ferocious maw that devours all surrounding qi, leaving only perfect emptiness in its wake.
"...What?"
Leaving the stunned Baru behind, I lightly bit the end of my pipe.
The scene from a moment ago had not been the Dao disappearing from the world. It was that the sorcery I had deployed had devoured every bit of energy inside this place. With that same voracious mouth as the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.
As proof, the energy I had just swallowed was now rampaging inside my body, struggling to be released.
"Min-ga! Just now, what exactly was that?!"
"It seems the one who created this place truly was the originator of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art."
The sensation from a moment ago had been identical to when I used the Heavenly Demon Divine Art to devour inner energy.
Puff.
I had thought I had grasped everything about the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, yet something new still remained. I did not know what to say.
A wall. A new wall.
The shape of that wall I had faced on that small Korean island became even clearer. And so did the method to break it down.
Cough.
Blood stained the hand I raised to cover the cough that burst out.
As expected. The method I had just used was not the correct answer. It seemed that trying to follow an unprecedented realm through mere speculation naturally led to mistakes.
"Min-ga?!"
"Baru. Wait here for a moment. I will return soon."
A backlash had struck my body, just like when I failed to use martial arts. My twisted meridians would not let me last long.
In times like these, it was truly fortunate that this was inside a game. No matter how big the failure, I could simply try again.
"Ah, and one more thing. Could you go to Baek Hwaryeong, get some paper and a brush, and draw the flows of energy present in this place? It is too troublesome to come here every time I want to study them."
I could not predict what might happen while researching and practicing this. I could not do it here. Whether the Heavenly Demon Cult was destroyed or not was none of my business, but it would be different for Baek Hwaryeong.
"...Understood. I will do so, so return quickly."
"What, it is not like this is the first or second time."
"It is a problem precisely because it is not the first or second time, you fool."
I let Baru's scolding—that even if I was an outsider, I should not treat my body so recklessly—go in one ear and out the other as I closed my eyes.
For the time being, I would have to devote my free time to researching this.
Ideally, I would want to seclude myself and focus solely on it, but I had too many things going on. Streaming, MyTube, school, my promise with Enry. Coming to the modern world had changed my surroundings quite a lot.
In the murim where I had cut off all my connections with my own hands, there would have been no reason to think this way. It was annoying, but not bad.
Thread. A VR fantasy survival game that came out about a year ago. It was a game where you were dropped naked into a world of swords and magic straight out of a 2000s fantasy novel, growing stronger while facing various threats and fighting other players.
The game itself was exceptionally well-made. When Thread first launched, Enry had stayed up countless nights playing it. However, as time passed, Thread became unsuitable as a streaming game. Not because it lacked entertainment value for viewers. The problem was sniping.
Because of Thread's nature—requiring players to spend days on public servers to properly enjoy the content—streamers were far too easily exposed to other users' sniping. Especially someone like Enry, who had a large audience. Mentally unstable people who enjoyed watching streamers get angry and viewers get upset would commit all kinds of trolling without hesitation.
Many victims reported these users, but the developers remained completely silent, treating even player trolling as part of the game. As a result, most streamers reached a point where they could no longer enjoy the game and eventually abandoned Thread.
But recently the situation had changed. The developers had enabled players to host their own servers. The message was clear: if public servers were too painful, play with people you actually liked.
Streamers who had once enjoyed Thread welcomed the news. It meant they could play without worrying about getting harassed by snipers. Bae Min-hwang, the one currently talking to Enry, was a prime example. The moment personal servers became available, he declared he would open a streamer server and contacted dozens of Turret streamers. He was a man obsessed with Thread.
"Haha. Your editor sure is greedy. Didn't you already upload a ton of MyTube videos recently?"
This was clearly Enry's own karma. She had done so many things that her editor had no choice but to pressure her. Though calling it pressure was a bit much—Enry herself wanted to join this streamer server. She still had fond memories of thoroughly enjoying Thread in the past. Even if most of her knowledge had been reset, making her no different from a newbie now.
"I'm not sure yet. Nothing's confirmed. I have some people in mind, though."
"Of course I am. ...Wait, Bae Min-hwang. You haven't invited her? The woman who's basically a MyTube view-count cheat code right now?!"
The Queen of Kindling, Ara, who was constantly setting the community on fire in the best possible way. She had proven the power of her presence by making her MyTube channel wildly successful. In a game where player-versus-player combat was the main focus, a person like Ara was practically a cheat code, and he wasn't even going to invite her? Had Bae Min-hwang lost his broadcasting senses completely?
"Ah."
However, Enry immediately understood what Bae Min-hwang said next. Hwaryeong was a cheat code, but she was also the main culprit behind starting fires. If the woman who had blown up an entire mountain in Sky's End while in an ordinary person's body descended upon the streamer server and caused mayhem, there would definitely be complaints.
"You're telling me to be the sacrifice?!"
"How is that my problem no matter how much you suffer?"
Although Enry had teased Bae Min-hwang relentlessly, she eventually accepted his request. She knew that even though he was opening the server because he wanted to, he was still going through a lot of trouble.
"I'm really curious what kind of fire she'll start this time."
"Probably not?"
At least, from what I had seen of Ara so far, that was the kind of person she was.