Chương 758: Devil Lord (3)

Dududududu!

A strange Heaven and Earth spiritual energy fills the surroundings.

Instead of the usual power of Heaven and Earth spiritual energy, something peculiar that evokes twilight (光陰/Light and Shadow) completely fills the area.

Due to that peculiar energy, among the cultivators of Heavenly Human Island, the cultivators at the Nascent Soul stage, the Heavenly Being stage, and the Four-Axis stage, who are most affected by Heaven and Earth spiritual energy, collapse in place and can only gag and gasp.

Ururung!

A dragonoid whose body is covered in glass-colored dragon scales rises into the sky and inhales the Heaven and Earth spiritual energy of the Vast Cold Realm, converting it into peculiar twilight true energy.

Soon, after devouring a certain amount of power, the dragonoid begins to shine resplendently.

And across the entire Vast Cold Realm.

The 'shadows' of countless existences, struck by the light spewing out from the dragonkin, transform into the dragonoid's form.

In an instant, all living beings of the Vast Cold Realm experience the strange sensation that the dragonoid is burrowing into the depths of their heart essence.

Deep within Penglai Palace.

Inside a bedchamber further within, Hon Jin clears his throat.

Outside his window, peculiar glass-colored rays shine on him and are altering Hon Jin's shadow.

Hon Jin looks at his altered shadow.

That shadow has changed into that of a young man familiar to Hon Jin.

[... I am sorry I cannot meet you directly.]

"... Haha... What is there to apologize for? Even if I face Elder's main body, I cannot withstand your rank anyway."

[That is not so. If I control my rank, I can very well come see you.]

"Do not blame yourself. How could I not know you are busy. Heh heh..."

Hon Jin smiles faintly as he looks at the glass-colored rays outside.

"Are you... plotting something that looks wicked on the surface like back during the Wuji Religious Order days."

[... I am preparing to fight the divinity known widely as the Amitayus Buddha... In the course of that preparation, I need this kind of confusion... so I have ended up doing these things.]

"Ahaha, if I had followed along, I would have seen many interesting things. How unfortunate... Is Ham Jin doing well?"

[Were you and Ham Jin acquainted...]

"When Elder was advancing to True Immortality, he once briefly came to Penglai Palace. Are you not a bit too uninterested in your subordinates' pasts? Even though you can read history."

[No... if one goes around reading history just because one can, what about privacy.]

"True. Ham Jin was a bit of a promiscuous fellow. Even though he is younger than me, he didn't discriminate between women, men, elders, and beasts... Hoo... I will stop here."

[Well... it does not matter. I have met many who are far worse anyway... Thinking back, someone like Ham Jin is a gentleman.]

"There are those worse than Ham Jin?"

[Yes. Someone named Yeo Hwi for example... No, to begin with, the Immortal Beast Glass Peacock is...] For a while, Hon Jin and the shadow chat about various miscellaneous topics.

"Hahaha, I see. Is Hong Fan doing well again? If you think about it, Hong Fan and I are in a senior-junior brother relationship."

[Indeed. Come to think of it, you were among those who witnessed when Hong Fan first reached the Transformation stage.]

"Right. In fact, if Hong Fan had at least transformed into a cute woman or man, I planned to pursue him. The ancestor kept nagging inside me, it was hard and also lonely... But I did not expect him to come out as such a shriveled old man."

[... You planned to pursue Hong Fan?]

"Yes. As you know, Hong Fan and I are not on bad terms. From the start, including Ancestor Yeon Wei who switched between male and female, our family is not particularly bound by human, beast, insect, and such categories."

[... You all seem even more outrageous than Ham Jin...] The two sometimes speak of serious matters, and sometimes chuckle heartily.

Before they know it, what sits in the bedchamber no longer looks like a dying old man and a suspicious shadow...

They look like a youth in white and a young boy with black and white hair.

However, as time passes, Hon Jin's breathing grows rough.

"... So then... where did we leave off?"

Unlike the appearance of an old man, Hon Jin speaks to the shadow before him as if a young boy is asking a question.

The shadow also laughs heartily and responds to Hon Jin's words.

[We were giving each other counsel, were we not. Did you not say you worry over which of your sons or daughters you should pass Penglai Palace on to?]

"Ah... that is right. So... Elder, could you not hand me some Divine Descent Great Method to pass down to one of my children?"

[It is not something I cannot give. Here.] The shadow takes out something like a jade tablet from its hand and places it beside Hon Jin.

"Good. Then I just need to leave a will that whichever child masters this great method for divine descending Elder's power perfectly shall be the next Palace Lord."

Woo-wooong— Hon Jin seems to leave some record on the jade tablet through a ritual, and the shadow speaks as it watches.

[... Will you really not rise to the Star Shattering stage?]

"... Yes. I know well enough that living long is not always good."

[...]

"Above all else... I am a descendant of Ancestor Yeon Wei. As a human... I want to close my eyes while feeling pride in that bloodline. To reach the Star Shattering stage and become a divinity regardless of bloodline or race is... something that does not suit me."

[...]

"Do not make such a face. Elder, you should unburden yourself of your troubles."

[I am about to fight the Mountain God who harassed your family.]

"May you win."

[Is that all?]

"What more do you expect?"

For a while, the sound of quiet chuckles passes between them.

[... Before fighting the Mountain God, I may die... so I plan to leave arrangements so my later generations can live in a slightly better situation. It is the work of putting a bridle on the being of light called the Amitayus Buddha. But... in the process, I must toy with the life of one person. Just like the Mountain God who toyed with the lives of Hon Won and Yeon Wei.]

"..."

[When I grant that person happy times, I too feel joy. But sometimes, I have to cause misfortune with my own hands. At such times... I feel this is not something I should be doing. I really... do not know what I should do.]

"... Must you truly do it?"

[... It is the foundation for defeating the Mountain God who toyed with the lives of Yeon Wei and Hon Won... and it is the justification for which I must stake my life. By this, I can make arrangements that are worth my life.]

"... So you must truly do it. Then, is that the best method?"

[From what we can think of now, yes.]

"... Well..."

Hon Jin faintly moves his lips.

He moves his lips as if to draw in even a little more of the spiritual energy in the room, then speaks in a weakened voice.

"Then there is no helping it. Do it. When living, and bearing responsibility for others... there are times when one must act even knowing it is not right. I felt that bitterly when I married Hon Wei."

[...! You married Hon Wei?]

"Senior Brother Myeong-hoon even visited me in a dream then to give his congratulations, but Elder, you did not even congratulate me."

[... I am sorry. At that time, I may have been in the Outer Sea and unable to enter a dream...]

"Hahaha, it is a joke. It was a political marriage, so I do not mind. In the first place... by genealogy, Hon Wei is practically my ancestor, so it always felt burdensome. I always thought that marriage was not right. But... at that time, it had to be done to unite Penglai Palace. Even beyond that, among the darker affairs of Penglai Palace, there were numerous things I had to handle myself."

[...]

"To be one who bears responsibility means to permit with one's own hand the dirty and the dark. You say you are toying with one person's life? Seated as the Palace Lord of Palace Penglai, one decides and toys with the lives of tens, hundreds, hundreds of millions of humans. Though not on the level of a True Immortal, the position of an Integration stage Grand Cultivator is fully sufficient for such a thing."

Hon Jin exhales and continues.

Gradually, he begins to close his eyes.

"If it is needed for yourself. And if it is needed for those who follow you... then even plundering and exploiting others is needed. Life, Immortal Cultivation, is not solely plunder, but plunder is certainly a part of it. Even if you do not plunder, someone else will. Someone else will toy with that person's life."

[...]

"So... if you wish to hold guilt, then hold it. But do not, because of that guilt, let go of the work you are about to do for yourself and for all."

[... But...] The shadow's voice trembles.

Clearly, the shadow is a transcendent being and has lived countless lives...

It is an existence far older than the old man before its eyes.

Yet right now, Hon Jin gives off an even more strange dignity.

[... Even so... if the resentment and the screams of the one whose life I try to toy with are too painful to hear... what should I do?]

"..."

Hon Jin hears those words and smiles as he closes his eyes.

"... Even after so much time has passed, you are still truly clear. Clear and pure..."

[...]

"Well... it must be because you are that clear that you saved us. Elder, your way is not wrong. So, if you truly cannot shake off that sense of sin... carry everything through, then go to the one whose life you toyed with, reveal the whole truth, and ask for forgiveness. Sincerely."

[Ask for forgiveness...] At those words, the shadow smiles bitterly.

[Would one whose life is toyed with by a True Immortal forgive the True Immortal.]

"Of course they won't. If everything is forgiven with a single bow, why do wars exist? Why is Elder even fighting that Mountain God in the first place?"

[...]

"So... do not think of being forgiven and just prostrate yourself. Whatever that one does to Elder, whatever resentment and screams they pour upon you... accept it as is. Only that... is the way... for a being toyed with... by a True Immortal... to feel... even a little... at ease..."

Thump, thump, thump...

Gradually, the sound of Hon Jin's heartbeat weakens.

"Even if the path you now take is mistaken, if it is for everyone, proceed firmly... and later... cast away everything... apologize and... seek for... give... ness..."

[... Thank you.] Having listened to the shadow's worries, Hon Jin smiles with a peaceful face.

And right after.

Hon Jin shouts loudly.

"Is anyone there!!"

There is no answer.

Everyone in Penglai Palace is bewildered by the glass-colored rays that suddenly illuminate the world and by the change in their own shadows.

But amid that chaos, Hon Jin again shouts in a ringing voice that tears his throat.

"Is anyone there!!"

Seeing that, the shadow waves a hand.

At the shadow's touch, the rope beside Hon Jin is pulled, and the bell tied to the cord rings.

Jingle jingle—

"Is anyone there!!"

At that sound, his attendants and maids enter Hon Jin's room.

At that sound, Hon Jin's page and maids come into his room.

"Elder Hon Jin!"

"Palace Lord, did you call?"

Hon Jin smiles at the attendants and maids who come to him.

Lifting the jade plaque the shadow gave with a hand trembling from lack of strength, Hon Jin lets out his last breath.

"... The next Palace Lord... shall read what is written... inside. It was a good life. Everyone... I am grateful."

Thud— With those words, the hand holding the jade plaque falls.

And Hon Jin's breath completely stops.

"P-Palace Lord!"

"Penglai Palace Lord!"

"Father! Father!"

"Grandfather!"

Soon, Hon Jin's children belatedly enter the room and surround Hon Jin, and the shadow, after watching the final moments of his old friend, slowly looks upon his soul as it slowly descends into the black shadow.

[... Go well, my friend.] Thus...

Sending off his first Human Race cultivator friend, Seo Eun-hyun turns around.

Kurung, kurururung...!

The sky of the Vast Cold Realm ripples.

And beneath that rippling sky...

Wol Ryeong grits her teeth and looks around.

"... Release me."

She mutters while glaring at the Heavenly Being stage cultivators binding her with chains.

Every one of them bears the character Supervision (監) in their eyes.

What she feels from them is the same fanaticism she felt when fighting the Lightning God in Thunder Resonance Valley.

"Junior Sister Ryeong."

"Junior Sister, don't do this and come join us."

"They will send us to an ideal world where all are equal."

"If you return to Them, you can reach an even higher realm!"

Even if Wol Ryeong was in the Heavenly Being stage and not the Star Shattering stage, she is still young by Heavenly Being standards, so those currently binding her are mostly her senior brothers and senior sisters.

But right now, Wol Ryeong has not the slightest intention of respecting them.

"If you do not release me, I will kill you."

"Ahaha, Junior Sister. Don't be like that. In Junior Sister's current state of being bound by these chains, you can never break free..."

"If you do not release me."

Kwaduk!

The chattering Heavenly Being cultivator bursts apart and dies.

Their spirit does not fall to the Underworld but instead drifts off toward some distant world.

That sight looks similar to the cultivators of Thunder Resonance Valley who returned to the Lightning God.

"I said I would kill you."

And then, the other Heavenly Being stage cultivators burst apart in the same way.

Kwadududuk!

Once all the Heavenly Being disciples of the Radiance Spirit Sect who restrain her are dead, she is able to become free from the chains and rise.

Clang...

With cold eyes, she stares at the chains that once bound her.

Her chest burns hot, but having once been slammed into the ground by those chains, her head is able to remain cool.

Fiercely cool, to the point even she is surprised.

'In the end, breaking the chains with brute force is impossible. Even with my Star Shattering strength... once caught by the chains, using attraction force became impossible, so if I had not rewritten the world through the Immortal Art Various Omens with only my consciousness, it would have been dangerous.'

Normally, Immortal Arts are activated through attraction force.

Rain, Sunlight, Heat, Cold, Wind, Time.

All of these are activated only through a cultivator's mind and attraction force, and all higher Immortal Arts likewise activate in a similar way.

There are some claims that Immortal Arts can be activated purely by the heart alone without attraction force, but as far as she knows, none have been proven.

However, since she has always relied less on attraction force than others, mixing consciousness in, and since she reached the verge of the paper flower when fighting the Lightning God, she could borrow some of its power. With the paper flower's strength and the power of consciousness together, she was able to use Immortal Arts.

'They called it Heart Dao Blooming... I am still far off, but it's fortunate I can borrow at least some power. And it is also fortunate that Immortal Arts can be activated by mixing Heart Dao Blooming and the strength of the consciousness.'

In many ways, her luck is good.

Clatter...

Wol Ryeong presses her foot against the chains and contemplates their properties.

Since childhood, she has strangely been able to discern the substance and abilities of dharma tools and dharma treasures of the Metal attribute.

But...

For some reason, she cannot read the composition or the abilities of these chains at all.

'It is as though... this is not a material that exists in this world.'

It seems like a metal from a completely different otherworld.

It is when Wol Ryeong galres at those metals.

"Ryeong-ah, are you all right?"

Bi Hwa approaches Wol Ryeong with a worried face.

"My goodness, what is going on. Why did those monsters come out of my formation? Do you have any clue...? More than that, those Heavenly Being stage disciples just now... didn't it look like their souls flew off somewhere when they died..."

Cheok- And Wol Ryeong aims the radiance halberd at Bi Hwa as she approaches her.

"Senior Sister Bi Hwa."

Wol Ryeong's voice is nothing but ice cold.

"It is Senior Sister Bi Hwa who set up the descent formation until now."

"W-Wol Ryeong. Don't tell me... you are suspecting me? Get a hold of yourself! Our Radiance Spirit Sect is not divided merely by realm. No matter that you are now at the Star Shattering stage, I am still your Senior Sister! Mind your manners!"

"And that energy Senior Sister Bi Hwa is hiding... That energy and the energy filling Heaven and Earth right now are the same. It is also the same as the energy coming from that dragonoid."

"W-What... you really..."

"Lastly."

Wol Ryeong's eyes shine an icy blue.

"When I suffered at the hands of the Heavenly Being lower-stage disciples... why did Senior Sister Bi Hwa not stop them? Why did you not help me?"

"That was because it was too sudden..."

"Why did you not help me... and instead go to Seo Gyeong and subdue him?"

"..."

Tsuaaaaat!

Her gaze erodes the surrounding space.

For a moment, the Heaven and Earth spiritual energy Wol Ryeong generates pushes out the twilight true energy, overturning the surrounding scenery that seems peaceful.

The illusion formation made by Bi Hwa breaks apart, revealing Seo Gyeong, who is restrained by Bi Hwa's binding art with his body nailed through with a multitude of stakes.

Seo Gyeong has pure-white stakes driven all over his body and is tied with a pure-white rope, tethered to the ground.

Seeing that, Wol Ryeong's eyes shine even colder.

And at that sight, Bi Hwa gives a faint, helpless smile.

"Amazing. Illusions unfolded through twilight true energy are not easily seen through unless one is familiar with twilight true energy... and you saw through it this quickly? The Star Shattering stage is indeed the Star Shattering stage."

Seeing Bi Hwa, who now even loses the appearance of wanting to make excuses, Mu Geom shouts out loud.

"Bi Hwa! What on earth are you doing! Are you... betraying the great Radiance Spirit Sect!"

"Betrayal!? I... am only trying to lead the Radiance Spirit Sect to a new beginning."

"What nonsense are you..."

"To you both, it must be nonsense. You are the direct blood descendants of Heaven Immortals. A human like me, with no bloodline at all, who reached the Grand Perfection Integration stage on nothing but my own talent... do you even know how hard I had to struggle to follow after you?"

Budududuk...

Bi Hwa grits her teeth.

"I studied formulas every single day as if my life depended on it. Though Breakthrough before Understanding is our sect's doctrine, to catch up with you I even learned Understanding before Breakthrough as well. But even so... I could not catch up to those of you born with bloodlines. Senior Brother Mu Geom already reached the step beyond the Integration stage, and Wol Ryeong became a Star Shattering Esteemed One before even turning 100, but...

I alone, even after living 500 years, am still only at the Grand Perfection Integration stage...!"

Other Integration stage cultivators would snort as if it's absurd if they heard it, but Bi Hwa grits her teeth as if she is truly aggrieved.

"But now I have obtained a way for even an existence like me to head toward a higher realm. Through that being's grace! If you accept that being's grace, you can grow even more. This is a blessing! A blessing! No, not only you."

She points at Seo Gyeong.

Inside Seo Gyeong's body, the pure-white stakes she stabbed in are slowly sinking deeper.

"Everyone, everyone of the Radiance Spirit Sect can receive that being's blessing and grace. If you receive that being's baptism... everyone can rise together to the highest realm by effort alone, without being bound by things like innate talent! I... have become that being's envoy, and from now on I will arrive at the Radiance Spirit Sect and deliver that being's teaching to all seniors and juniors of the Radiance Spirit Sect."

In Bi Hwa's eyes, the pure-white character of supervision (監) is embedded.

"Join hands with me, Senior Brother Mu Geom, Junior Sister Wol Ryeong... Before, I have been jealous of you, but now I no longer am. I only... want you to come along with me. For all of us... to gain salvation through that being."

"..."

"... Junior Sister."

Wol Ryeong stays silent, and Mu Geom lets out a silent exclamation.

After a while, Wol Ryeong opens her mouth.

"I will give you one last chance, Senior Sister. Stop spouting nonsense, throw away the power given by the Mountain Divine Spirit, and help me. If you do, I will forgive you."

Budududuk...

At those words, veins bulge on Bi Hwa's face.

"... I... am your senior sister, Wol Ryeong."

"I see that clearly."

"... This bitch... I've never liked that about you since long ago. Because your future is bright, because your talent is overwhelming... you always smile on the surface, but never care for those inferior to you, and since your master favors only Seo Gyeong, you only try to take Seo Gyeong as if he is some sort of collection piece... That attitude of yours... I have always found it disgusting since long ago...!!"

"I am giving you a chance because you are my senior sister. It's noisy, so decide before I count to three. One, two."

"Fine, I understand, I surrender. I surrender, and I will do as you sa—"

"Three."

Kwaaaang!

At the count of three, Wol Ryeong mercilessly thrusts the halberd into Bi Hwa's face.

Tukwaaaaang!

With just a single thrust, Bi Hwa's upper body and her Integrated Dao Domain, along with the western part of Heavenly Human Island, directly collapse.

Wol Ryeong, who killed Bi Hwa in a single blow, frowns.

Hwarurururuk!

It is because glass-colored flames surge, and Bi Hwa's naked body instantly regenerates.

'I tore apart even the Integrated Dao Domain in one strike. Yet she survived unscathed. An anomaly that surpasses the ordinary domain of the Integration stage...'

"I surrendered, so why attack!!"

"You just approached acting worried while hiding the fact you are driving stakes into Seo Gyeong with an illusion. How could I believe your words? It's obvious it is a lie, so there is no reason to believe them."

"... I truly hate you, Wol Ryeong."

Clang— In that instant, Bi Hwa's fingers transform like swords.

The breath she exhales turns into glass-colored flames, and above her head sprouts coral-like glass horns.

"I have evolved into the higher race, the Sword Glass Race (劍璃族)."

Kugugugugu!

Wol Ryeong and Mu Geom frown and step back at the energy bursting out from Bi Hwa.

'She's surpassed the Integration stage. This isn't even the Quasi-Star Shattering stage. This energy is...'

"I will show you the power bestowed by God...!"

'Esteemed One...!'

Thus, Bi Hwa, sponsored by the God of Sword Mountain, and Wol Ryeong, sponsored by the Fate of Light, begin to clash on the island of Heavenly Humans.