Chapter 847 - Side Story - Path of Immortal Cultivation (2)

Kirik, kiririririk!

Darkness is sucked in.

The entire universe resonates as if it is screaming.

Centered on Ban Ta, a sword of endless slaughter awakens within nothingness.

Ban Ta overcomes his fear, barely grips that sword, and in that moment,

The sword begins to rotate.

Shiririririk!

A sound like a snake hissing spreads as vibration through the entire dimension, and in that moment.

Paaaatt!

Darkness lights up all things and rips through spacetime.

■■ (True Martial Arts)

■■■ (Emptiness Sword)

Third Move.

The name of an ultimate art that not even Great Net Immortals, never mind mortals, can properly perceive rings out in the void.

Neither Glass Peacock, who turns their back and flees from it, nor Ban Ta, who unfolds it in his hand, nor even Ju Soo Ryeon, who recalled it once more and lent it, can steady the pounding emotions in their hearts.

And finally,

Within the rotation, darkness bursts out as light.

Light.

: : I have to avoid it, but... I am being...sucked in...! : :

Glass Peacock does not confront it and tries to flee, but they are ultimately sucked into the vortex raised by the rotation of that bright light.

Kwadududududuk!

The life force of an Immortal Beast is far stronger than even a Heaven Immortal's.

Because they are divine spirits of life itself, their bodies are harder, tougher, and more elastic than anything else, and they never easily wither.

They are the ones closest to true undying.

Perhaps the one who made the Immortal Cultivation system did so because, in the process of leading someone onto the path of an Earth Immortal, they wanted that someone to not die.

But now,

On that path of Immortal Cultivation, the great divine spirit who chose the pathway of the Immortal Beast and has the Immortal Beast King in their sight is, within that light, having their entire body shredded away so emptily.

Immortal Beast Glass Peacock.

The great Immortal Beast King candidate wears a hollow smile, and as they die with their whole body twisted and snapped, they quietly let out a single sentence.

: : It seems connection still grants you a chance. Fine. I will sleep a little longer for now... : :

Within that light, the essence of existence splits apart...but the opponent is Glass Peacock.

They are the existence closest to the Immortal Beast King, and an existence with Governing Immortal in sight.

Since they are practically at the level of the Underworld's Chief Judge and Deputy Judge, even death cannot bind them that strongly.

: : But this death will not be that long. Since this is a case where, after reviving once, I meet physical death again, if short I will open my eyes again in a few years, and if long I will open them again in a few hundred million years. When that time comes... I hope there is change in you. : :

In the end, Glass Peacock cannot resist within the light that brightens the universe, and with their whole body twisted and snapped, their body collapses more and more violently as they die.

Only after Glass Peacock completely disappears from the universe does Ban Ta click his tongue and shake off from his body that terrifying surge of Emptiness.

"... Sorry, but by then, even if I do not change, my sleep period will have passed...so unless you become the Immortal Beast King, I can safely defend something like the Purple Gold Realm."

If he uses the domain called the Purple Gold Realm, Ban Ta is the strongest when it comes to defense.

That's when it happens.

"Uuugh..."

Splurt!

Ban Ta vomits up a mouthful of black blood and staggers.

"Keheok...uuggh..."

Ju Soo Ryeon's flame emblem disappears from Ban Ta, but Ban Ta trembles all over and recalls the ominous technique he just unfolded with his own hand.

"Without even properly manifesting the original power...with only a projection that merely imitates the form...the killing intent corroded my soul this much...?"

What he just unfolded is, quite literally, a feat that reaches the ultimate of killing. Even simply imitating it makes it feel like his reason is being corroded by that thick killing art.

On top of that, Ban Ta's body is also a problem.

"The backlash is strong too. For a while, I need to recuperate in Ban Ta Castle. Even if it was to drive out Glass Peacock...if Ju Soo Ryeon raised the projection rate even a little more, my body would have burst and I would have died..."

At the power of that terrifying ominous technique, Ban Ta looks at his own hand that unfolded it.

Chiiiiik...

From the erosion of killing intent and the influence of backlash, the hand that swung the sword is rotting away.

Killing intent contaminates his soul and the inner spirit veins throughout his body, and the backlash twists the flow of bone, muscle, and life.

That grip where the two combine is already turning necrotic.

No matter how strong Ban Ta's vitality is, it is an injury he cannot heal in a short time.

"Looks like I have to recuperate for about a thousand years to suppress the killing intent, and then recuperate for a hundred thousand years to drive it all out. Healing my body comes after that... For a while, rebellions are going to be everywhere in the Purple Gold Realm again. I have to do that exhausting political wrangling again."

Ban Ta shudders in disgust and starts heading back into the Purple Gold Realm, and as he looks at his necrosing grip, he thinks.

"Even just borrowing a projection for a moment left me like this...so how on earth did that guy do it?"

About forty billion years ago.

The Mythic Age.

A time when the Owners of Light, the true masters of the Immeasurable Life Buddha Religious Order, had not yet declined.

A person who, against the forces of light, restored two more ultimate techniques linked to the ominous technique Ban Ta just used, used them personally as they went about, and waged war against the Owners of Light.

Ban Ta naturally cannot help but recall that person from the Mythic Age, looking at his own hand.

"... To rise to a similar level as that person, I am still far away. Even if it is during the sleep period...the ultimate technique that person easily fired off while not even holding a Seat...has given me, one who holds a Seat, a backlash to this extent."

Feeling the gap between himself and someone from the Mythic Age, Ban Ta returns to Ban Ta Castle.

* * *

Splurt!

"Heok, a-are you alright...?"

Makli Hyun-ah asks after seeing Ju Soo Ryeon, who said she is lending strength to his master and transmitting something with his body as a medium, suddenly vomit up a mouthful of black blood.

Ju Soo Ryeon slumps down in place, her face a little paler than before.

"... Huh?"

Makli Hyun-ah somehow gets the feeling that Ju Su-ryeon's aura is reduced.

Up until just now, she clearly seemed like some existence he cannot put into words, but somehow now...she looks like an existence at the Grand Perfection Star Shattering stage.

'Ironically, the aura of the Grand Perfection Star Shattering stage feels stronger than at True Immortality... Is it because at the True Immortal level we simply cannot perceive her?'

"Your realm...seems to have dropped."

That is not all.

As if even her personality has shifted strangely, Ju Soo Ryeon's way of speaking, which until now was relaxed, changes into a way of speaking that shows honorific politeness.

"Yes. What I just lent to Teacher Ban Ta...takes quite a bit of strength just to project. They say that if you master the principle and can embody the intent inside it, you can use it sufficiently even at the Upper Immortal level, but... I am only projecting it, after all."

Ju Soo Ryeon staggers to her feet and speaks to Makli Hyun-ah and Ahn Geum.

"If it is possible, may I stay aboard the Nether Crossing Ship for a while and recuperate? If it is about a hundred thousand years, I seem able to recover my energy again and return to my original realm."

"Yes, of course it is possible, but...this Nether Crossing Ship is on its way using the Nether Ghost Realm as its coordinates. Might it not be that Lord Immortal has business and is staying in this sea of chaos? Even if you go to the Nether Ghost Realm with us, is that alright...?"

"Hoho...please do not worry."

Ju Soo Ryeon smiles faintly and starts to explain, and Makli Hyun-ah briefly has the stray thought of, 'Why does this woman also go hoho?'

"A few ten billion years ago, the reason I stopped raising my realm and entered this Outer Sea was because I wanted to escape the fear of the past projection I just lent to Teacher Ban Ta...to the terror of that ominous technique, and the wound in my heart I received in that moment."

"I do not know the details, but...are you saying you spent tens of billions of years in the chaos to overcome that fear?"

At Makli Hyun-ah's question, Ju Soo Ryeon's expression turns bitter.

"It is probably...because the ultimate technique I lent to Teacher Ban Ta is the technique that killed me in my previous life. If I cannot escape the fear that technique gives, then even if I raise my realm, someday I may go mad from a mental split. So I set my body adrift in this sea of chaos, which can be called perfect stillness, and in repentant enlightenment I pursued to drive out that fear for several ten billion years... And finally, today, by lending that to Mister Ban Ta, I realize that I have overcome the fear to some extent."

Ju Soo Ryeon, atop the Nether Crossing Ship, looks out at the endless world of chaos.

A world like constantly undulating ash-gray smoke.

The Outer Sea.

Makli Hyun-ah cannot even dare to grasp what kind of fear it is, enough that she has to overcome it by doing secluded cultivation in this gloomy, unpleasant world.

'How terrifying a technique is it, that she has to drive out fear of it for tens of billions of years?'

Whether she reads that thought, or whether she is simply quick to catch on.

She speaks to Makli Hyun-ah.

"The technique is indeed a frightening technique...but the fear toward the existence that unfolded it is bigger. If you are not someone who directly witnessed that person with your own eyes, you cannot understand."

"Pardon? If it is the existence that unfolded it...do you mean the existence that killed the Elder True Immortal in your previous life...?"

"Hoho...that is right. But from here on, please do not be curious. It is knowledge you must be at least a True Immortal to bear. Even after becoming a True Immortal, it is wisdom you can only learn without great difficulty when your rank is at least a Great Net Immortal."

"Heok, I, I understand."

Makli Hyun-ah quickly nods at the True Immortal's words.

"Hoho, you are a child who listens well. Anyway...since you let me nourish yang for a while on the Nether Crossing Ship, I will get some sleep in the Nether Crossing Ship's Ghost Den Room. If there is something you need, or something you are curious about, please come find me. I can give you some basic things as a lodging fee."

"Ah, in that case, O True Immortal..."

Ahn Geum pleads in front of Ju Su-ryeon.

"When can we arrive at the Nether Ghost Realm...?"

"Ah right, come to think of it, mortal beings cannot freely leave the Outer Sea, can they? Please do not worry."

Woo-woong!

When Ju Soo Ryeon snaps her fingers, the Nether Crossing Ship is seized by some powerful attraction force, and it begins to move quickly toward that place.

"As for the Nether Ghost Realm, I too have a connection of my own. I linked the attraction force of the Nether Ghost Realm and the Nether Crossing Ship, so we will arrive steadily within five to ten years."

"Ah...!"

Only then does Ahn Geum's expression relax, and she bows to Ju Soo Ryeon.

"Thank you, True Immortal! For the hundred thousand years you complete your recuperation, I will serve you with devotion."

"Do not be so formal. I plan to be almost asleep entirely for the hundred thousand years, so it is better if you treat me as if I am not here. Then, everyone. my energy is too depleted, so I will quickly rest in a suitable place. Then, I take my leave."

Paaaatt!

After finishing speaking, Ju Soo Ryeon yawns with a tired face, and just like that, she melts into the shadow of the Nether Crossing Ship and disappears.

"... By the way, Ahn Geum. What is the Ghost Guest Room (鬼窟室)? It is my first time hearing it...and it's not even a VIP Room (貴賓室) either..."

[TL/N: Ghost Guest Room and VIP Room have the same Hangul.]

"It is a Ghost Path dimension inside the Nether Crossing Ship, meant to serve powerful Ghost Kings or great existences. It is directly connected to the Nether Crossing Ship's power source, and anyone who has not learned the Ghost Path Method cannot enter it...so just think of it as a place you can't get in."

"I see...by the way, you look like you're in a good mood."

"Well. It's like I found a way to return home from a vast sea... Anyway, Makli Hyun-ah."

Ahn Geum flicks Makli Hyun-ah on the forehead and speaks.

"Hurry up and refine the Acceptance at Fate's End Axis. We have a lot to do. We also have to turn the Nether Crossing Ship into a mechanical warship, and when we get to the Nether Ghost Realm, it would be good for you to take ghost souls as your citizens too. Ghosts terribly love the bodies of puppets. If you can supply the bodies of puppets steadily, you can gain a considerable number of people, you know? From now on, your path of Immortal Cultivation will be wide open...so hurry and start cultivating."'

"Hehe, got it. Then I'm off!"

Makli Hyun-ah quickly goes into his quarters inside the Nether Crossing Ship and prepares to refine the Acceptance at Fate's End Axis.

At the same time, Makli Hyun-ah smiles as he looks out beyond the Nether Crossing Ship's window.

"The weakness of the Confucian Family Method is gone, and I also gained the true meaning of the Naming Family Method. And to cultivate the Canvas of Myriad Forms and Star Genesis, I also need a True Immortal I know, and that condition is met too! Good, all the conditions are properly filled."

If it goes like this.

If it goes like this, truly...

He will be able to rescue his older sister Lee Seo-ah, uncover the suspicious secrets of the One Qi of the Primordial Chaos Religious Order, and escape the grasp of an evil divinity.

"Good, my path of Immortal Cultivation starts now!"

Thus, Makli Hyun-ah raises his fist toward the sky with a voice full of hope.

* * *

Vast Cold Realm.

Human Race territory.

Kururung!

Kwajijijijik!

A crack forms in space, and someone falls to the location of the Human Race restoring their territory.

Kururung!

It is Lee Seo-ah.

Wrapped in Glass True Fire, she looks around her surroundings.

"Ahn Geum... Hyun-ah...where are you two?"

Kiiiiing—

Lee Seo-ah's eyes read celestial energy, and she grits her teeth.

"They're not here...? Did they already run from the Vast Cold Realm to another world? In that short amount of time, they couldn't have gotten the Acceptance at Fate's End Axis, so what happened? Ahn Geum, that bitch..."

Bududuk...

Lee Seo-ah looks around with the veins standing out on her face.

It is then,

Lee Seo-ah suddenly discovers that, in one of the places being restored in the Human Race territory, several statues are erected.

"This is..."

Even if she excludes the unfamiliar names Ha-eun and Jo Yeon she sees for the first time...the names on the remaining statues are far too familiar to her.

Saintess Ahn Geum.

And...

Darkness Queen Makli Hyun-ah.

Below the statues, an explanation from the maker is written, saying they left statues to honor the four great people who saved the Vast Cold Realm, and Lee Seo-ah places her hand on Makli Hyun-ah's statue and half-opens her eyes.

Kiriririck!

Taiji whirls in her eyes, and through Makli Hyun-ah's statue, she comes to realize something.

"I see. Ahn Geum and Hyun-ah, it looks like you both had a fortuitous encounter in this world. And...the direction you head toward is...the Nether Ghost Realm."

She pulls out Makli Hyun-ah's statue from that spot.

Budududuk...

"Hey, what are you doing!?"

"You dare damage the heroes' statue!?"

In the Human Race territory, Human Race cultivators approach her, but Lee Seo-ah shakes them off, flies high into the sky, and looks down at the Human Race territory.

The Mythic Age.

The trace left behind when the person called the Sword Devil, who lived in the Human Race territory, faced the Ghost Mother.

According to her master Jin Young-hoon's words, that trace still remains in the Human Race territory as terrain.

And those words are true.

"Aaaah..."

Across the entire Human Race territory, several sword scars still remain, in the form of enormous valleys.

"I see. This is the Sword Devil's sword will..."

It is one of the fortuitous encounters her master Jin Young-hoon said she can obtain if she someday goes to the Vast Cold Realm.

Tsaaaaaaatt!

Within that sword, Lee Seo-ah can perfect her own sword will even more.

Soon, when she turns her gaze toward the Human Race cultivators who chase after her, they are instantly subdued in spirit by her sword will, blankly frozen in place.

Right after,

Having gathered her enlightenment through sword will, Lee Seo-ah opens her eyes wide.

Tsaaaaaaatt!

"... I see it. The path to the peak star of Crystal Glass to Treading Sea... I must melt the Sword Devil's sword will into my own."

Kududuk...

She grips space and tears it open.

Sword will dwells in her hand and instantly cracks the dimension.

"The next time we meet... I will definitely save you from that evil witch of the Infinite Life Buddha Religious Order. Hyun-ah...!"

Using Makli Hyun-ah's statue as a medium, Lee Seo-ah crosses dimensions once again.

Thus, the strange chase of siblings trying to save each other is only now beginning on the path of Immortal Cultivation.