Chương 679: Tragic History (3)

Kuung!

My chest tightens at the Underworld's soliloquy, and I feel as if I'm becoming distant.

'... The Heavenly Venerable of the Underworld... is a... pet...?'

How is one supposed to win against something like this?

Even if we've vaguely known we must fight the Future King, shouldn't there at least be a glimmer of hope for us to challenge him?

If the Great Mountain Supreme Deity feels like a towering, sheer cliff, the Future King feels like a horizon stretching endlessly into the distance.

'Is it even... possible to reach that...?'

I feel the overwhelming difference in rank indirectly and swallow a dry breath.

And then, I realize the true meaning behind Yang Su-jin's words that the Underworld must be consoled.

'I see. The only reason the Underworld has endured until now is... because the will to resist the Future King is still alive. If the will of the Heavenly Venerable of the Underworld breaks, and the Underworld ultimately aligns with or pledges loyalty to the Future King...'

If we fail in this generation, and leave it to the Enders of the next...

Even if we leave behind some kind of arrangement for the next Enders, defeating the Future King will become impossible.

Radiance Hall, which governs life and fate.

The Underworld, which governs death and history.

If both powers come to obey the Future King...

I feel like I'm suffocating.

'The moment the Underworld breaks, all hope is lost' Just imagining it is this suffocating...

What would it be like if it actually happens?

"... O Imperial Venerable..."

Just as I'm about to let out a silent sigh.

"... There's no need to comfort me. I've already absorbed all my despair and grief into the arrangements of the successive Lapis Lazuli Protecting Heavenly Kings, so that I won't give up on my own."

"...! I see..."

I've always wondered why Kang Min-hee seemed to receive none of the arrangements from previous Enders. Now I understand.

'So the Underworld used all the arrangements meant for Kang Min-hee as vessels to contain her sorrow and heartbreak.'

Originally, I might've criticized the Underworld for stealing what was meant for Kang Min-hee. But after learning the truth, I can't dare bring myself to do so.

'Is receiving the arrangements meant for Kang Min-hee... better than sharing the sorrow and grief of the Underworld? Is it the right choice?'

If the Underworld collapses under her own heartbreak and gives up, that itself would be an even greater catastrophe.

'They say Hyeon Mu lived through time equivalent to the sands of the Ganges. The Underworld must be even older. And unlike Hyeon Mu or the other Heavenly Venerables... the Underworld has carried within her body countless lives over countless nayutas, embracing their joy, anger, sorrow, pleasure, and grief... If anything, staying sane is what's strange.'

But, as I dwell on these thoughts, I suddenly arrive at a certain conclusion.

"... Wait, O Imperial Venerable. There is something I want to ask."

"Speak."

"... You..."

I glare at the Heavenly Venerable of the Underworld for the first time and growl.

"... All those massacres Kang Min-hee committed as the Ghost Guiding Holy Mother... all those times she killed herself... Were they not simply madness from absorbing resentful spirits... but because she accepted a portion of your sorrow and went mad...?"

"..."

At my words, the Heavenly Venerable of the Underworld seems to look down at me, then gently closes her eyes and speaks.

"That's right."

"..."

I feel heat rush to my face as I spit out the words.

"... Then what reason do I have to follow you, Imperial Venerable? What reason do I have to trust you?"

"A reason, huh...?"

At my words, the Heavenly Venerable of the Underworld slowly opens her mouth.

"There are many reasons I could give. But those aren't the reasons you want to hear, are they?"

"... I want to hear what the Imperial Venerable truly desires."

To be honest, I don't know the true intentions of the Heavenly Venerable of the Underworld.

What does she really want?

What is her relationship with the Future King, and why do Hong Fan and Hyeon Mu owe her an apology?

None of that can be understood without first hearing the Underworld's true purpose.

The reason I haven't been able to fully trust the Underworld is also because she has never truly opened up her inner thoughts to me.

"I must hear it now. What is it that you desire, Imperial Venerable!? Please, answer me!"

"..."

At my words, the Underworld looks down at me for a moment, then slowly responds with a face as if dreaming.

"... I... wanted happiness."

The Underworld begins to speak again.

"A long, long, long time ago. Back when I was a mortal... all I wanted was to meet someone, fall in love, happily care for my parents... bear a child, raise that child, grow old and die slowly, and spend a hundred years together with my partner in happiness. That was... the purpose I had when I first felt what is called 'reason'."

"..."

"But such a thing was never to be. Life was always full of hardship, and countless misfortunes and disasters rained down upon me. They struck my surroundings. They collapsed my neighbors, my country, and my star. And... as I alone survived in the midst of it all, I began to think. Why can't we be happy? To seek the ultimate answer to happiness, I set out on a long journey. That was the reason I first stepped onto the path of Immortal Cultivation."

From the Underworld's lips, her story of the past flows out.

"Through the traces of countless lives, I came to one realization. That even if fate tries to harm me... there is some kind of will protecting me. Some existence that guards me, ensuring that even if all else perishes, I alone remain safe. I thought about why that will protects me, and pursued it... and finally realized. That existence... wishes to protect me even beyond fate. So... I, who first chased after happiness, began to chase after that existence."

"..."

"And while chasing that being, uncovering their true nature and tracking them down... I rose to True Immortality, and attained the realm of Governing Immortal. And at last... I established a feat that approaches the Absolute, and grasped a clue to that existence."

"A feat that approaches the Absolute...?"

"That's right. At that time... there was no such system called the Cycle of Reincarnation. The proper reincarnation system only came into being after Salt Sea and I combined our strength to create the [Wheel]. However... in any case, the beginning of the 'reincarnation system,' including the [Wheel], was something I created for the first time in that era."

As the Underworld continues speaking, I grow confused.

"I was the first to remember a previous life."

"If there was no reincarnation system, how could you remember a past life?"

"First... to explain that, we need to briefly talk about what a world without reincarnation... in other words, what the ideal world that the Heavenly Venerable of Void Hyeon Mu advocates for, is."

"Pardon...?"

"Back then, when the reincarnation system didn't exist, living beings that died would go to the domain of purity. And... during the times when Enders do not appear, the number of spirits that melted into the domain of purity would be born again in equal amounts into the world. Do you understand what that means?"

"...!"

I instantly grasp the meaning behind those words.

'During the times when 'Enders do not appear'... spirits are born?'

The meaning is obvious.

The very thing that brings spirits into existence in this world is the third Absolute.

In other words, the origin of us Enders.

'I had suspected it through Triple Divinity... but it's still a shock.'

I inhale sharply at the startling truth, and listen to the Underworld's words.

"Your deduction is correct. Your Absolute is the origin that births spirits into this world. This is just a hypothesis, but when all of you die, your Absolute would go beyond the Audience Chamber, merge into 'one Absolute'... and from that single, merged Absolute, spirits would be created. And if the Future King or Heuk Sa... or anyone else uses the Splitting Heaven Mantra to recreate you all, from that moment on, spirits would no longer be born."

"... Hmm..."

"In other words, spirits are originally born from the third Absolute, live their lives in the world, and upon death, return to the third Absolute. If the third Absolute is absent, they melt into the domain of purity. Without the reincarnation system, all beings become [one] within the third Absolute.

"That is the ideal world the Heavenly Venerable of Void argued for. For if death means becoming one with the third Absolute, then that itself can be called the ultimate of Martial Arts... All beings could reach Martial Pinnacle just by dying."

A world where all beings can easily reach Martial Pinnacle.

The ideal world that the Heavenly Venerable of Void pursued, and the reason she declared that the Underworld must be overthrown lies in this very background.

However, hearing the Underworld's words only confuses me more.

"That was the era without the reincarnation system that the Imperial Venerable lived in, and the law of that time?"

"Correct."

"... Then it's even stranger. If you draw a cup of water, then pour it back into the sea, and later draw water from the sea again, that water could never be the same, could it?"

Because once the water mixes with the sea, it becomes an entirely different water.

It's the same principle as not being able to scoop up spilled water with exactly the same composition.

"That's true. But what if you think of it this way? You pour a cup of water into the sea, then track every single particle that was in that water, and retrieve only those particles from where they ended up in the sea?"

"..."

"If so, then even spilled water can be gathered again... and even water that became one with the sea can be restored to its original state and verified. That's the kind of brute-force method I used to confirm my past life."

The Underworld continues.

"At first, it took time that was like eternity. But as time passed, I grew more accustomed to recalling past lives. And as I confirmed a total of 108 'past lives'... I discovered something."

The Underworld's next words feel strangely steeped in a dream.

"The will of that someone who protected me... did not begin with this life, but had continued since past lives. [Someone]... had been endlessly watching over the existence called me since birth... and had been guarding and protecting me in every life. And at last... after confirming around three thousand past lives, I was able to uncover that being's identity from one of those lives."

"Who... is it?"

The Underworld looks down at me and speaks.

I can't help but be startled at her next words.

"That child who follows you."

"... What?"

"The first of the Radiance Ten Heavenly Lords... In other words, a seat among the First Radiance Supreme Deity."

Tingle, tingle!

The Radiance Mantra vibrates.

At the same time, as if triggered by the Underworld's words, a memory from a distant past flashes through my mind.

A scene where a dozen or so beings, seemingly Immortal Lords, are holding council within light.

At the head of that gathering sits Hong Fan, and beside him...

Standing beside Hong Fan, holding his hand and blushing, is the Heavenly Venerable of the Underworld.

—You should voice your opinion too, Yang Hwe (楊回). I'll say it again. Without you, there wouldn't even be a Radiance Hall.

Hong Fan, gently calling the Underworld by the name 'Yang Hwe,' wears an expression warmer and more emotionally vivid than any I've ever seen on him before.

"I don't know his true name... but in every life, that being who always bore the name Hong Fan (洪範) was the very will that watched over me across all those lifetimes."

"..."

"And I recalled the life where I formed a bond with him. Through that, I came to understand. As ironic as it is, it seems I was once one of the original members of the First Radiance Supreme Deity."

With a blank face, I gaze at the 'original member of the First Radiance Supreme Deity' standing before me.

"But... even if I was one of the Radiance Supreme Deity. Even if I once safeguarded fate. I still remember. Hong Fan... sincerely cherished and loved me. That memory alone has never faded. And, in a distant past, in one of my past lives, Hong Fan once said something to me."

The Underworld looks down at me with their black eyes and speaks.

"That only me overcoming and surpassing fate is the [end of the story], and only then will he and I find the ultimate answer.'"