Chapter 581 - Sunlight Hunting (1)

Chijijijijik!

I begin to perceive my surroundings through my hazy mind.

I regain my senses.

'Already six...'

Six suns have formed.

It seems about six million years have passed.

'For six million years... I was completely enthralled by the poison of light, becoming nothing more than a machine instinctively spewing out stars...?'

What a truly terrifying being.

That existence called light...

'I need to regain my senses right now...'

I quickly focus my consciousness to clear my mind.

Yet, for some reason, not only my body but even my will refuses to move as I command.

'Wh-What is this...?'

I cannot move.

Even though I have reached the realm of a True Immortal, my Immortal Body stiffens as if poisoned by a powerful venom, rendering me unable to move at will.

'My body...is focused solely on producing light!?'

Panicked, I try to reclaim control over my own body, but it is futile.

Woo-woooong!

My body remains dazed, mechanically creating new fixed stars just like the poison of light orders it to.

Chijijijijik!

A silver-white light begins to emerge in my hands.

And within that light, I seem to glimpse a [silver-white snake biting its tail].

As soon as I see that [snake] symbol, my mind becomes blank again, and I feel as if my consciousness is being consumed by the light.

'No...! With just my will alone... I can't break free. If this continues...'

I grit my teeth.

But just then, as I gaze at the silver-white snake, someone comes to mind.

The face of the one I had briefly unmasked.

Yes, Gyeong-i's face flashes through my head.

Woo-woong!

The moment I recall her face, the poison of light inexplicably seems to weaken.

'Gyeong-i... I see. When I think of Gyeong-i's face, the light weakens. As expected, the lights of the Radiance Ten Heavens are the Radiance Ten Heavenly Lords. In other words, connected to the Radiance Eight Immortals of the present.'

However, while it becomes easier to maintain my consciousness, my body remains addicted to the light, endlessly generating more of it.

'This won't do. I need another method...'

Just then.

'Th-This energy...!'

I flinch in surprise at the presence of a familiar energy emanating from somewhere.

Saaaaaaaa—

It is evil.

The authority of the sinister Devilish Path.

The treacherous stench of blood and the scent of corpses.

The fragrance of the Great Mountain Supreme Deity's Corpse Mountain Blood Sea seizes my mind.

'This is Gwak Am...! No, no... If it were Gwak Am, They would never forgive the pathetic me who is being controlled by light. They would have called me pathetic as soon as They saw me and killed me on the spot. The use of this Corpse Mountain Blood Sea is...'

Realizing who has intruded upon this space with the energy of Corpse Mountain Blood Sea, my eyes snap open.

'Oh Hye-seo! Oh Hye-seo is extending her power into this spacetime. I see... Six million years have passed, so the others must have grown significantly stronger as well.'

I rack my head.

'Why on earth would Oh Hye-seo extend Corpse Mountain Blood Sea here? To devour me? How persistent... If her realm has risen this much, she should have realized that the Great Mountain Supreme Deity's words were lies. But regardless, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me.'

Corpse Mountain Blood Sea fundamentally rejects light.

Perhaps it is because Gwak Am's will, which rejects Radiance Hall, is deeply embedded within it.

Thus, if I were to use that Corpse Mountain Blood Sea, I might be able to escape the light's poisoning through the principle of fighting poison with poison.

'What I need right now is information.'

Directly facing my consciousness and Immortal Body that refuse to move as I will, I begin repentant enlightenment.

'Immortal Cultivation is repentant enlightenment...'

Wo-woong!

As I recite the Phenomena Extinguishing Mantra, the sensation in my body begins to return, albeit slowly.

Tstststststs!

Though I do not immediately regain my physical body, my 'senses' begin to return.

'I can see...'

The planes of Qi, Soul, and Fate become vividly readable.

I read through history, grasping the current situation.

And then, I realize what is happening.

'Damn it. Filling the Heavens Governing View is sealing all advancements. At this rate, I won't be able to do anything! This can't be... This can't do. I need someone who pierced through my Filling the Heavens Governing View. Someone...huh!'

As I read through history, I suddenly uncover an unexpected truth.

'Yeo Hwi, Ham Jin, Yu Hwi...'

They are making plans to destroy the results of my Radiance Ten Heavens.

'I see. You all...even if it means joining hands with Oh Hye-seo, are working hard to regain my mind...!'

I feel like crying.

It's been six million years.

Six million years!

Even Ban Ta, who had been stuck in the Purple Gold Realm for five hundred thousand years, whined about how hard it was.

Yet these three have been trapped in this suffocating world for more than twelve times that duration, struggling to save me.

At their loyalty, that can't even be compared to the whiner Ban Ta, I inwardly bite my lips.

'I swear...'

I make a vow here and now.

'I swear...at the very least, I will not let you be unhappy...!'

This is my oath.

To those who have sworn loyalty to me.

To at least my subordinates—no matter how many lifetimes pass and no matter what I must do, I will strive to grant them what they desire.

... Of course, I still need to stop Yeo Hwi from kidnapping people and making them die from excessive pleasure.

'I will not...forget you.'

Gigigigik—

Engraving their heart into my chest, I begin using the Phenomena Extinguishing Mantra with all my strength to resist the poison of light.

I will definitely escape from this poison.

And I will step beyond this spacetime of emptiness!

Ham Jin lets out a sigh.

Kugugugugu!

Before he realizes it, seven million years have passed.

His master shows no signs of regaining his mind.

With Oh Hye-seo's help, they have tried time and time again to secretly detonate the fixed stars.

But it is impossible.

Though all three of them are at the Sacred Vessel stage and thus capable of using some level of Immortal Arts, their mere Immortal Arts alone cannot break through the Immortal Art of the Crystal Glass Being Seo Eun-hyun.

Filling the Heavens Governing View.

A powerful and cruel Immortal Art that fixes all outcomes to [failure].

Built upon Seo Eun-hyun's countless failures, that Immortal Art is unbreakable no matter what they try.

The one aiding them, Oh Hye-seo, also regards Filling the Heavens Governing View with the greatest caution and fear, exhausting every effort to find its weakness, but it proves impossible.

Ham Jin feels as if he is wandering through a hazy fog.

Even by creating a prophetic star and offering it as a sacrifice to summon Oh Hye-seo's sincere single strike, the result was the same.

Seo Eun-hyun, poisoned by the venom of light, so effortlessly shattered Oh Hye-seo's single strike with the power of Filling the Heavens Governing View.

Not once has any of their attacks even properly reached Seo Eun-hyun's fixed star.

Ham Jin feels himself growing anxious.

The seven fixed stars that have at some point risen to the sky.

The seventh sun emits a silver-white light, dyeing the Crystal Glass Realm.

Moreover, the situation in the Crystal Glass Realm is gradually worsening.

There are seven fixed stars.

Though Seo Eun-hyun has created stellar systems, he holds these stellar systems in place with attraction force with him at the center, preventing them from straying far away from him. Because of this, the Crystal Glass Realm is growing increasingly cramped as new planets and fixed stars continue to be born.

Of course, the very act of living is not an issue, as Yeo Hwi, Ham Jin, and Yu Hwi, all at the Sacred Vessel stage, carefully manage everything.

However, even they cannot completely block the 'light.'

Gradually...

The world is heating up.

While the attraction force of the fixed stars does not cause any harm, the light, heat, and solar winds continuously emitted from the fixed stars are warming the Crystal Glass Realm.

Yu Hwi is creating countless gemstones that absorb heat to lower the temperature, but...that alone is the limit.

'If Teacher creates another sun...from that point on, it will truly become difficult to bear. It will get noticeably hotter. Senior Yeo Hwi and I will try our best to guide the seas and ice ages, but...in the end, most planets will start turning into deserts.'

Yu Hwi is creating heat-absorbing minerals, and Yeo Hwi is bringing forth ice ages to counter Seo Eun-hyun's light and heat as much as possible to protect the living beings.

But that is all they can do.

'At this rate...do I have to watch all the living beings Teacher has brought into existence go extinct under Teacher's light?'

Ham Jin lands on a planet within the Crystal Glass Realm and lets out a deep sigh.

With his eyes lifeless, he slumps onto a rock and gazes at the ground.

Even if it's Ham Jin, who has the confidence to not yield against any external pressure—

Against the madness of Seo Eun-hyun, whom he regards as his teacher, under that unending light of insanity...he feels as though he might give up.

Just as Ham Jin sags down, about to sink into bleak thoughts—

"Mister, what are you doing here?"

"Hm?"

Ham Jin looks down at a young child tugging at his collar.

Sucking on his fingers, the child gazes up at Ham Jin under the scorching sunlight.

He strokes the child's head and replies.

"... It's just...someone who is like my father is very sick."

"Heok! Really? Here...this is a herb I picked. Please take it with you."

The child extends a handful of grass growing nearby with tiny hands.

Ham Jin chuckles and shakes his head.

"Thank you, but that person isn't sick in body. He is sick in heart...this won't be able to heal him."

He sighs and pats the child's back before smiling.

"I appreciate the thought, but it's okay. Go home now."

"Yes...! Okay. Then I'll go home and bring some different medicine."

"No—"

Before Ham Jin can stop him,

The little child scurries off, running towards the village where his home is.

Curing his teacher afflicted with madness.

It's a child's naïve fantasy.

But Ham Jin smiles as he watches that innocence.

The next day arrives.

The child brings yet another herb.

"I'm sorry, but I don't think this one will work either."

"Eh! Then I'll bring a different one tomorrow."

"It's alright. My teacher is..."

Not listening to Ham Jin's words, the child continues bringing herbs.

The next day.

The day after that.

And the day after that...

The child does not give up.

And so, time passes.

The child has become a boy.

"Mister Ham Jin. I came again today."

"... You've come again."

"The villagers say I'm crazy. That I come up to an empty rock every day to talk and play."

"Hahaha..."

"Mister, are you a ghost?"

"Who knows? I'm a being that only those with a pure heart can see."

"Aha, so you were an immortal!"

Ham Jin bursts into hearty laughter.

"An immortal, huh... No, I'm not an immortal, just a disciple of one."

"I knew it...! There had to be a reason you never aged even after all these years. Anyway, Mister, I've realized it!"

"... What is it?"

"That teacher Mister talks about. Regular herbs won't heal him, right?"

"You've realized it, at last... Haha. That's right. My teacher can't be healed with herbs. Only by eliminating the root cause will he recover."

Ham Jin lifts his head and looks up at the sunlight.

"What's the root cause?"

"... Sunlight. It's the sunlight."

Hearing Ham Jin's words, the boy asks with a puzzled expression.

"Light? Can light make someone sick?"

"... It seems so. Because of light, one can even become poisoned."

"... I see."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"... Mister."

The boy speaks.

"I don't have parents. I grew up in a temple since I was little. I wasn't a child monk or anything...just an errand boy."

"Is that so."

"My parents...died on a hot day. The head monk said...it was heatstroke."

"... I'm sorry."

"...? Why is Mister apologizing? Anyway. Ever since that day, I've had a thought. That it would be good if there weren't any more people hurt like my parents. That's why when I grow up... I thought about becoming a physician."

"I see."

"But just now, I changed my mind."

"Hm?"

Ham Jin, suddenly sensing a powerful will from the boy, looks at him.

"I'm going to become a hunter."

"A hunter? What do you plan to hunt?"

"... The sun."

"The sun?"

"Yes. My parents...and Mister Ham Jin's teacher, were both hurt by the sun. So I... I'm going to hunt the sun."

"Why insist on doing that?"

He looks at the boy with a bitter expression.

"That is impossible, difficult, and doomed to fail. And though the sun may seem hot and makes life difficult, it is an existence essential for life. More than anything... I can understand your parents, but what does my teacher have to do with you that you are trying to save him?"

"... I know. I saw it. The villagers call me a madman who sees things that aren't real...but I definitely saw it, Mister Ham Jin."

The boy looks into Ham Jin's eyes.

"I saw Mister bring rain to our village. Mister is an immortal, aren't you? One who protects our village... Thanks to Mister, we still have our village and our temple. My parents may have regretfully passed away, but...they always said so. That we live each day by the grace of the divine spirit. That one day, we must repay that grace."

"... I..."

Ham Jin lets out a quiet sigh.

He couldn't even save the boy's parents.

Such words rise to his throat, but he swallows them back.

"I will repay that grace. I will hunt the sun that brings pain to Mister's teacher."

"..."

'So that's how it is.'

Ham Jin understands what kind of child the boy is.

He was born with a consciousness domain more powerful than anyone else's.

Because of that, he saw what others could not and perceived Ham Jin, whom others could not sense.

He is even brimming with talent for Immortal Cultivation.

But as the price for being born with such abilities, he was born with lacking intelligence.

From that day on, the boy began bringing a small wooden bow and began practicing shooting wooden arrows at the sky.

'... With a mere human body, to hunt the sun that even we failed to do... It is an impossible task. No matter how much this child advances in cultivation, he will never surpass the Grand Perfection Integration stage. Unless he pierces through Filling the Heavens Governing View, anything beyond that is impossible. With a Grand Perfection Integration stage body...what kind of sun does he think he can hunt...?'

And yet, Ham Jin wonders why.

As if mesmerized, he watches over the child's growth.

Every day, the boy shoots his bow at the sky.

Ten years pass.

Twenty years pass.

The boy becomes a young man, then a middle-aged man, then an old man.

And even as the time of his death approaches, he still shoots his bow at the sky.

"... Mister... Ham Jin..."

The boy, who has already become an old man, looks at Ham Jin and speaks.

"I...improved a lot, didn't I?"

"... Yeah. You improved a lot."

The child has become an old man.

And he spent his entire life shooting his bow.

The archery skills of the old man, who had become one with his bow, continued to improve and improve. Now, he reached the realm where with a single shot of his bow, his arrows can reach the clouds.

"... I think, the arrow, I shoot today, will be my last. I can feel...my life fading."

The old man looks at Ham Jin and smiles.

"... You will...watch, won't you?"

"... I have always been watching."

Ham Jin never took the boy as his disciple.

Instead, he adjusted his fate so that he may live a long, healthy life, meet an ordinary woman, fall in love, and return to a normal life.

But in the end, the boy always came back to Ham Jin and shot his bow.

Ham Jin wished for him to avoid the cruel and arduous path of cultivation, to live a peaceful and happy life, but the boy never chose that path.

Even as he rejected the life Ham Jin laid out for him, he never let go of his bow.

A madman who still refuses to let go of the childish vow he made in his childhood.

That, is the old man Ham Jin sees.

"... Before you go on your final journey. Tell me your name."

"Haha, Mister... Ham Jin. You mean, you didn't...even know my name?"

"I know, of course... I just want to hear it from you. After all, despite all this time, you never once introduced yourself to me. I only knew because I heard the villagers calling you by it."

"Ah... I see. My introduction...is a little late. Mister Ham Jin..."

The child who became an old man.

The child who became a madman.

He smiles brightly as he pulls back his bowstring, aiming towards the sun.

"My name is... In Yeon."

"..."

"My parents passed away before they could give me a proper name beyond my childhood name, so the head monk at the temple gave me this dharma name. It's a name taken from the names of two people called Su In and Hong Yeon."

"... I see. In Yeon."

Ham Jin looks at In Yeon and smiles.

"Show me...your final shot."

"I have received your command, sir divine spirit."

In Yeon pulls back his bowstring with all his strength.

The bowstring stretches taut.

Then, In Yeon releases it.

In Yeon's arrow soars into the sky.

Ham Jin looks up.

'Your final shot... I will remember it in my heart, and no matter what... I will not give up on curing my teacher.'

Ham Jin thinks of it as the last desperate struggle of an ordinary human who, despite having the talent for Immortal Cultivation, was born with something wrong in his mind in exchange.

He etches that final struggle into his heart, determined never to give up and to search for a way to save his teacher.

To Ham Jin, In Yeon's last moments are only to that extent.

However.

"... Uh?"

In Yeon's arrow reaches the clouds.

"H-Huh?"

Ham Jin rises from his seat.

The arrow pierces through the clouds.

"What...!?"

Piercing through the clouds, the arrow does not fall.

As if, for some reason, it is unaffected by attraction force.

"Wait...!!!"

Ham Jin's eyes open wide.

The arrow continues to soar.

The arrow breaks through the atmosphere of the planet.

And after piercing through the stratosphere, the arrow finally comes to a halt as it quietly crumbles.

"... In Yeon...ah..."

Ham Jin stares blankly at In Yeon.

The final arrow of his life.

That single arrow transcended every limit of a human who has neither learned martial arts nor cultivation methods, escaping the world they live in.

Ham Jin understands what miracle this is.

It is Immortal Art.

A mere human, in the final moments of his life, awakened Immortal Art.

Had Seo Eun-hyun seen it, he would have called it Entering Heavens. But by Ham Jin's standards, there is no other way to describe it but Immortal Art.

He stands frozen in place for a long time.

In Yeon remains stiff, dead along with his final Immortal Art.

He died standing.

A childish heart.

That pure and innocent heart, determined to save Ham Jin's teacher who suffers from the light, had reached the heavens.

In Yeon's children come to retrieve his body.

Thanks to Ham Jin, In Yeon lived a relatively peaceful life.

Before long, his descendants had multiplied.

Yet, even when In Yeon's children retrieve his body, he remains rigid.

It is simply too unbelievable.

Ham Jin only regains his senses when In Yeon's son steps forward to the same spot where his father once stood and begins shooting arrows.

In Yeon's son follows his father and begins to shoot his bow.

Ham Jin watches blankly.

Is it to carry on his father's will?

Is it In Yeon's dying wish?

He does not know for sure.

Perhaps it is something In Yeon asked of them to please Ham Jin, the divine spirit.

But even after In Yeon's death, the bow he once used continues to shoot into the sky.

Ham Jin simply stares at the sight, dazed.

When In Yeon's son dies, his grandson takes his place.

Then his great-grandson, and then his great-great-grandson.

At some point, Ham Jin begins to observe them seriously.

And at some point, he realizes that a certain [power] has begun to take root in their bloodline.

That [power] is being passed down to one another, being gradually inherited by the next generation.

And with each inheritance of that [power], In Yeon's family begins to display an ever-greater natural talent for archery.

Ham Jin eventually discerns its identity.

"... So it's you. Oh Hye-seo..."

Someone chuckles from within Ham Jin's shadow.

—Is this the bloodline you placed your hopes in? I decided to gamble on your hope as well.

"... What have you done to them?"

—Nothing much. I simply laid Tainted Soul Filling the Heavens upon them.

"Tainted Soul Filling the Heavens...!"

—Do not worry... Tainted Soul Filling the Heavens is...different from before. It no longer aims to erode others. From the moment Seo Hweol passed it on to me, it transformed entirely... This power...has become the power of inheritance.

Oh Hye-seo, residing within Ham Jin's shadow, speaks as she watches the unending inheritance of In Yeon's will.

—Let us endlessly pass down their talent, their will. Then, surely, something useful will come of it in time, don't you think?

"... No."

Ham Jin denies Oh Hye-seo's words.

"It will not be something as simple as...useful."

A statement founded on nothing but hope, with no evidence to prove it.

Yet, for some reason, Ham Jin feels certain.

In Yeon's family.

His will, that has begun its endless succession, will one day cover the sky itself.

He is sure of it.

"That child's...goodwill...will definitely..."

Ham Jin smiles as he watches In Yeon's clan, who have grown in strength and have now purchased the entire mountain as their training ground.

"Surely...hunt the sunlight."

Before long, the four seasons pass, and spring arrives once more.

The peach trees planted by In Yeon's family begin to bloom atop the mountain.

The entire mountain is filled with the scent of peach blossoms.

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