Chương 677: Tragic History (1)

Countless moments brush past before my eyes.

And now, I once again arrive at that moment.

Entering Heavens Beyond the Path

"Formless Sword."

A single streak of a sword of formlessness cleaves through the blue lightning and rends apart the thunderclouds of the heavens.

'How splendid...'

I smile at my past self as I recall that moment.

How many times have I ever felt such excitement for Martial Arts as I did then?

The moment I first obtained the Formless Sword it truly felt as if I had obtained everything in the world.

Surung— Recalling that scene, I once again refine the Impermanence Sword.

As I watch the me who obtained the Formless Sword, the Impermanence Sword becomes ever so slightly sharper.

And it is at that moment.

Paaaatt!

'This is...'

Indeed.

The moment when Yang Su-jin's lingering thought drew me in!

In a mysterious space where seven-colored lightning rumbles, I face Yang Su-jin's lingering thought.

And I am able to understand a truth I could not grasp before.

'This space...!'

The space of seven-colored lightning where Yang Su-jin's lingering thought appears.

This space is not inside the Head Realm.

'So Shattered Heaven Peak of the Head Realm was merely an entrance to arrive at this place...!'

Becoming aware of this new truth, I perceive my surroundings and identify the nature of this space.

'This is...!'

The space of origin.

The starting point of creation.

It is the place I once reached with the Golden Speed Heavenly King Kim Young-hoon—the outskirts of the Void.

And now, I can read the traces engraved somewhere within this space, traces that I could not decipher before due to my insufficient cultivation.

'Traces of battle...'

Numerous lightning-forged spears, swords, and weapons—shattered as they resisted [someone]—remain here as fragments.

The remnants of these lightning weapons are so strong that they seem etched into the world itself, but it is clear that the existence who faced these weapons utterly snapped and crushed them as if they were mere twigs.

'Are these the traces of a battle between the Future King and Yang Su-jin...? This is like...'

A battlefield where a peak master played with a snot-nosed child.

I get the sense that Yang Su-jin, in all likelihood, was toyed with like a child in front of the Future King.

'I see now...'

I had many doubts about the point in time when Yang Su-jin left behind this lingering thought, but now, many of them are resolved.

'Yang Su-jin must have, after being defeated by the Future King, barely managed to leave this trace while dying.'

Even that was probably not due to his own power, but rather due to the peculiarity of the authority created by the Absolute he possessed.

As I observe the traces left in this space of origin, I come to understand yet another thing.

'And judging by the aftermath left behind... it is highly likely that the battlefield of Yang Su-jin and the Future King was not merely the Audience Chamber, but the 'entire world'.'

Audience Chamber.

Head Realm.

The whole of Mount Sumeru.

Outer Sea.

Even the outskirts of the Akashic Records—all these regions must have been thrown into chaos by their battle.

From my analysis as the one closest to the ultimate of Martial Arts, these remnants are just a portion of the massive scars left by a battle that swept through countless regions.

'But then why are the beings of this world unaware of the aftermath of that battle, and why have I also failed to discover it until now? No, that's a foolish question. It's simple. Whether through a revision by the Head Realm or fate manipulation by the Future King, there are many methods that could have been used...'

After analyzing several aspects through the seven-colored space itself, I finally see Yang Su-jin's lingering shadow appear within the depths of the space.

Kurung, kurururung!

[O Ender of the later generation...] Then, unlike my past self, I appear directly before the lingering shadow of Yang Su-jin, halting the revision of the Head Realm through the [Wheel].

Kugugugugu!

The presence of me, who has reached the peak of Heaven-Earth Great Net, causes Yang Su-jin's shadow to flinch for a moment.

"I've been wanting to meet you, Yang Su-jin."

Though in terms of timeline, he is technically my senior, our actual age gap is so vast that I discard formalities and ask directly.

"I have many questions. Can you answer them all?"

[...] At my question, Yang Su-jin's lingering shadow sheds tears of blood and replies.

[The time allowed for us to meet is very short...] Clank!

In response, I distort spacetime with attraction force through the Northern Dipper Sealing Immortal Flag and the Phenomena Extinguishing Mantra, making time flow more slowly.

It is the same thing the Liberation Supreme Deity Bong Myeong once did to me within the Serving Command Ark.

Then, by once again turning the [Wheel] and rewriting part of the principle, I create the conditions for a slow conversation with Yang Su-jin.

"That should do."

[...] Of course, even with that, Yang Su-jin's shadow continues to gradually fade, but it is clear that we can now converse for a much longer time than before.

Yang Su-jin's lingering shadow speaks in a tone that seems a bit dumbfounded.

[... Do as you please.]

"First, let me ask what I'm most curious about. Have you faced the Future King?"

[... It is only obvious. But there's not much I can say about him. If I speak of him too often, he will notice...]

"I understand. I'll ask only three questions. That should be fine, right?"

[Go ahead.]

"Do you know the true name of the Future King?"

I immediately ask about the Future King's true name.

If I know that name, I feel that I may be able to deduce something about the three faces of the Future King I've encountered.

[■■■■... is what it's said to be... but can you understand it?]

"..."

[... Strange. With the level of authority you have, you should surely be a Heavenly King... yet you cannot comprehend it. Then again... to hear my arrangements, you'd normally have to come before awakening your fate... Hmm... what a contradictory existence you are.]

"... I get it for now. I can't understand it at my current rank... and seeing you mention Heavenly King, it must mean I need, at the very least, the authority related to the Absolute in order to hear it... In other words, I need to reach the Heavenly Venerable level."

Grabbing my throbbing head, I let out a sigh.

"Then, here's the second question. Do you know the purpose of the Future King?"

[... Not in detail. But one thing is certain. He seeks salvation.]

"Salvation...? What do you mean by that?"

[Is that the third question...? We are reaching a dangerous point. If I answer this and you continue questioning about the Future King, he will notice. No... perhaps he already has and is simply letting it happen.]

"... Understood. I won't count that as the third question. Here's the final question about him... How does the Future King think of us?"

[...] At my last question, I can feel Yang Su-jin's lingering shadow glaring at me.

[You are courting danger... You are aware that sentence contains 'two questions'. You are cutting it too close...] That's right.

Through a slight trick, I attempt to ask 'four questions.'

'How does the Future King think of us?' contains two distinct questions: 'How does he view us?' and 'Does he think?'

'If I receive the answer to this question, I can resolve the doubt of whether the Future King is a personality-bearing being or not. And also to some extent, what he intends to do through us.'

What does he think of us?

That very question would reveal whether the Future King is a sentient being or not.

[... Can you handle it? If I answer this, he may immediately come looking for you...]

"... Don't worry. He won't find me. Especially... not in 'this place'."

[... How arrogant... You act like a mountain divine spirit walking the Immortal Dao of the Mountain.]

"..."

Yang Su-jin criticizes me, but since I am in a state of confidence, it is something I can say.

"Answer me. I can bear it."

At those words, Yang Su-jin's lingering shadow looks at me as if it's absurd and slowly opens its mouth.

[To the Future King, Enders are... seeds to be sown and fruit to be harvested, toys to play with, chess pieces and setups on a board... and at the same time... mass-produced goods that can be recreated again and again, thus he places no great value on us... To him, we are nothing but trash...] The moment I hear those words, I shoot out from Yang Su-jin's space.

Shiver!

Alongside a foreboding intuition, I feel the same ominous and repulsive aura in the far distance that I felt when Oh Hye-seo uttered her fate.

'No. Not yet. He hasn't seen me yet.'

There's still time!

The place where Yang Su-jin's space resides is in the outskirts of the Akashic Records.

In other words, it's the very space Kim Young-hoon once used as a foothold to activate the Golden Great Thousand Worlds.

'Found it!'

I fly toward the golden trajectory visible in the distance.

Sure enough, the trajectory through which Kim Young-hoon transcended all spacetime to head toward the future exists in this spacetime as well.

Landing there, I immediately draw the Impermanence Sword.

'Now!'

And just before the repulsive 'gaze' of some being reaches me— I hide my body within the golden light and grind down my entire form using the Impermanence Sword.

Pasasasak!

Heavenly Escape!

Chwaaak!

My Heavenly Escape, now infused with the enlightenment of Martial Pinnacle, drags me into a depth of the domain of purity I've never reached before, completely hiding me from every place in the world.

'Ahhhh...'

As I lose consciousness, I feel Heaven and Earth enshrouded by Taiji.

At the same time, I sense the disgusting gaze of that entity sweeping just above the golden trajectory into which I melted.

'Just as I thought...'

Just as I anticipated, the gaze only skims above the traces of Kim Young-hoon's Absolute and fails to detect me who has dissolved below. Through this I realize another truth about the Future King.

'His current state is not complete... It's another matter if he sees me with his main body... but merely overlooking Mount Sumeru from the Audience Chamber with three faces detached... he cannot... find... me...'

Tsuaaaaaaaa!

With that final thought, the world is once again revised.

☯

"Hm..."

I return to stand before Yang Su-jin's lingering shadow.

'So I've returned to when I just encountered Yang Su-jin's shadow. Then the memories of just now...'

[You madman... I've seen the arrangements and lingering thoughts of my predecessor Enders and witnessed countless madmen, but your level of madness—I've seen only in Silver Basket, Obsidian, and Lapis Lazuli.]

"Impressive. Did you resist the revision?"

[That's impossible... It's merely that the place you escaped to coincidently happened to be a trace of a Golden Body, and due to the resonance between the Golden Body's fate and my power, as one who absorbed the corpse of the Ender of my generation who bore the Golden Body's fate, I just barely managed to remember the moments before the revision...]

"... You ate your comrade's corpse?"

[Do not misunderstand. What I devoured belonged to a soldier who unjustly oppressed and tried to kill me. We were never comrades. That bastard was an enemy even back on Earth.]

"... Still, I thought you saw Earthlings as 'humans'... Didn't you ever think of it as cannibalism?"

[What's done is done. What is there to speak about? Do not speak carelessly when you don't know much about me. Besides, at the time I absorbed him, he was a 'true non-human,' so it doesn't matter.] Unable to follow Yang Su-jin's line of thinking, I ask dumbfoundedly.

"After non-human comes 'true non-human'...? What do you mean by that?"

[It's something I only realized after reaching the Audience Chamber. Looking at you you've already figured it out too... We didn't have a soul... We were merely fragments of some law that constitutes this world.] I nod, and seeing my reaction, Yang Su-jin continues weakly.

[The reason I considered the living beings of this world as 'non-human' was solely because I believed they were ruled by fate... But the truth is, we too were ruled by fate and didn't even possess a soul. Thus, we Enders are actually more wretched than the living beings of Mount Sumeru. We were the 'true non-humans'...]

"..."

I feel a headache coming on from a way of thinking so twisted I don't even know where to begin pointing it out.

Having a conversation with someone who's already settled on such an extreme conclusion feels like talking to the Great Mountain Supreme Deity.

'Of course, he's a little different from Gwak Am in direction... but the degree of madness is the same... And this kind of lunatic dares to call me crazy. Ridiculous. If we'd lived in the same era, I'd have beaten him even more than Jeon Myeong-hoon. No, maybe I should just say he's practically the same as Oh Hye-seo from 120, 000 years ago...'

If we'd lived in the same time, it probably would've been regular knife fights between us.

But I shake my head, clearing away the stray thoughts, and ask him another question.

"You just said 'at the time I absorbed him, he was a true non-human'. Then are you saying there comes a time when an Ender is not a 'true non-human'?"

[Sharp one, aren't you. If you'd existed in my generation, you'd have been worthy of being a comrade... A pity.]

"..."

[That's right. Because we lack a soul, we are true non-humans... but there exists a [time when the soul is born].]

"What...!?"

That truth is something no one has ever told me before, so my eyes widen and I ask.

"Is that true? We, too, can gain souls?"

[Yes... Are you familiar with the beginning, development, twist, and conclusion of Enders?]

"I am."

['A new world...' No, that's not quite right. ['Returning to one's hometown and opening one's eyes.' ['Meeting someone precious in the hometown, and cherishing them.' ['Someday losing that person, and awakening to fate.' ['Then returning to the Head Realm and gaining an audience with the Future King.' [This... is our beginning, development, twist, and conclusion. A fixed result... A fate that cannot be changed.] At those words, I let out a silent sight. For even I had not fully understood the final part—the conclusion—of an Ender's fate.' So gaining an audience with the Future King... is the end of our story.' I recall the 'Ender's Tale' that the Underworld once showed me. Come to think of it, that was how it was. It was the same with the Ender's Tale, and the myth of the Future King explained by Tae Yeol-jeon. They all end with the Seven Brilliances Kings or the Enders returning to the Supreme Deity of Heaven, or the Future King, and living happily or enjoying eternal paradise. Just like Yang Su-jin says, it's as if...' A fruit is being harvested.' [Our soul... is born after we gain an audience with the Future King. That's why so few Enders have left behind split souls or lingering shadows. The detailed principle is that only after the audience, when the Absolute within us is suppressed, can the foundation for the soul's sprouting be formed.]"...!" This is also the first time I'm hearing this. But I understand.' From the beginning, all those I gained information about Enders from had never actually entered the Audience Chamber...' Figures like the lingering thought of the Tridacna Vast Cold Heavenly King or the Obsidian Devil Heavenly King never gave me any information about the Audience Chamber, so this post-Audience Chamber information is something I'm hearing from Yang Su-jin for the first time." Wait... if our soul only comes into being after the Audience Chamber..." [Yes. It doesn't really mean much... If you don't surpass him, whether you have a soul or not, there's no hope either way...] Gigigigigik— I notice the Wheel behind my back gradually overloading.' Resisting the revision of the Head Realm is putting quite a burden on it.' Even though I've stretched time, it seems there isn't as much left as I expected." Is the very act of our soul being born after gaining an audience with him... part of our beginning, development, twist, and conclusion?" [That's right.]"... Then one more thing. If a soul is born... what happens after we are defeated by him...? Can you tell me?" [... That's information about him. It is his domain, so if I speak of it, he will notice.] I let out a silent sigh and nod." Alright. Then do you... know anything about the Radiance Mantra or Heuk Sa?" At my words, Yang Su-jin responds with a slightly bewildered tone. [...? Are you talking about the Radiance Supreme Deity? What's the Radiance Mantra? Is it something those idiots made after I died?]"... It's nothing." It seems Yang Su-jin doesn't know anything about Heuk Sa or the Radiance Mantra." One last thing..." Kigigigigik! Realizing the Wheel is overheating and on the verge of exploding, I pick one final question." Does 'a trustworthy Governing Immortal' refer to a Governing Immortal who has cast off their Immortal Title and wears no leash?" [Correct. In my era, there was only one such person, but judging by your words, it seems a few more exist in the later generation.]"... Can the Underworld... be trusted?" I recall the compassionate and trustworthy image the Underworld once showed me. And also... the subtly suspicious schemes I sensed beneath it all. As the Head Realm revises the world, the power of the Wheel reaches its limit. [There's only one reason I trusted that one. Though it is partially because that one possesses no Immortal Title, and thus is not mere livestock... But the reason I, with power barely at the level of an Immortal Lord, dared to enter the Audience Chamber is...] Yang Su-jin's figure begins to fade beyond the Taiji. Even so, his lingering shadow sheds bloody tears and continues to look at me. [Because that person brought their Gandhara and faced the Audience Chamber together with me. That person may have their own schemes... but they are my comrade-in-arms, and they are truly someone you can trust... Trust them. And... comfort them...] Tststststststss— As the world is swallowed by the Taiji, Yang Su-jin shouts in a bitter tone. [As much as all the arrangements left behind by the Lapis Lazuli Heavenly Kings... are always personally retrieved by that one... That one is the saddest being in this world... We... must become that person's hope... Only that person... must be trusted. Only them...] At last, Yang Su-jin vanishes into the Taiji, and as I feel the flow of the world's fate returning to normal, I receive Yang Su-jin's final words as a point of topic. [For only that one... is the being the Fate Supreme Deity treasures most dearly...] With that, I return to the original flow of fate. ☯