Chương 678: Tragic History (2)

'... It is a meeting that gives me much to think about.'

Through this encounter, I obtain information that is truly one-of-a-kind in this world.

'The testimony of a being who reached the Audience Chamber... It is unimaginably precious information.'

At this level, honestly, it is information valuable enough to propose a deal even if I face the Great Mountain Supreme Deity again a hundred million years from now.

'Of course, considering the Great Mountain Supreme Deity's cunning and meticulous nature, there's a possibility he will shut his mouth after the deal or forcibly ignore the agreement...'

Still, it's information worth enough to buy some time.

'Thank you, Yang Su-jin...'

I offer deep gratitude to the lingering thought of Yang Su-jin, and continue to read through the time that has passed.

As time passes, at the end of the 9th cycle— I meet a truly welcome face.

"Haha, Yuan Li, you rascal. Seeing you after so long, you're really endearing. Have you been well? Did you finish your closed-door training enjoyably?"

[Kughk... Kururuk...] I reveal my presence, controlling it at roughly the Star Shattering stage level, and Yuan Li collapses on the spot, trembling all over.

[H-How does the G-Great One... know this lowly concubine...?]

"Lowly concubine? So your gender identity was female?"

I ask out of curiosity.

[That is...]

"Aha, I see. Since I appear male, you're wracking your mind to appeal to me. So your gender identity doesn't particularly lean either way? Well... there's no need to worry. Why would I kill you?"

[A-Ahaha, thank you very m—]

"Enough. Shut up. There's no need to answer."

I grab Yuan Li by the hair and speak.

"Seeing your history makes it all the clearer. You're still someone who deserves to die."

I already thought he was a disgusting bastard before, but reading Yuan Li's history at my current realm makes it clear again.

This trash is far filthier than I expected.

I click my tongue as I count the number of innocent mortals he tortured and refined into Ghost Kings, the living beings he murdered and tortured just to craft a single dharma treasure.

Frankly, even touching him right now feels like touching filth. It's disgusting, but I have no choice.

I need to vent my anger right now.

'If I cross into the 10th cycle in this state... I'm not confident I'll be able to keep my sanity when this bastard kills Buk Hyang-hwa.'

Even if it's time that has already passed, I absolutely cannot forgive this bastard.

Therefore, I need to tear him apart to my heart's content right now before witnessing the moment he kills Buk Hyang-hwa to ensure I don't lose my sanity in the next cycle.

"Let's start light... Shall we relive some old memories?"

Recalling the time back on Earth when I played shuttlecock kicking with my friends, I fold Yuan Li in half and start using his body as a shuttlecock.

Poeong! Pooooeong!

"Kuaaaagh! Kuaaagh! Senior! Please spare me! I-I'll serve you!"

"If you say one more word, I'll rip out your tongue and use it for jump rope."

[Uup, uuuup...] At my words, Yuan Li sobs but keeps his mouth closed, and after thoroughly enjoying my shuttlecock game, I draw out Glass True Fire and form it into a whip.

"Since I've had fun with shuttlecock, shall we try top-spinning next?"

[Uuuuuup...!] Sensing something ominous from my Glass True Fire, Yuan Li trembles in fear. I press him down and compress him into the shape of a spinning top, craft a suitable board nearby, place him there, and begin lashing him mercilessly.

Chwaaak! Chwaaaak!

"Kkeuuuuuuuugh!"

"Don't scream. If you scream, I'll jump rope with your torso."

[Uup, up...]

"Oho, look at this guy. Seeing you not scream, I guess you can still endure. Then shall I raise the power?"

[Kuaaaaagh! You bastard! Just what in the world did I do wrong that you're doing this to me!?] As I toy with Yuan Li and feel a refreshing clarity, he screams with tears of blood.

I find it absurd and ask in return.

"This idiot. If you had died after ascending from the Head Realm and ended up in the Underworld, the punishment you'd have received would've been far more painful than this. I'm being merciful to the point of a gentle caress right now, so why the outrage? More importantly... when you tortured mortals and lower-stage cultivators, you tortured them just like this, didn't you?"

[H-How do you kn...? C-Could it be...? You can read someone's history so... S-Sacred Vessel...?]

"By the way, I believe I told you I'd jump rope if you opened your mouth again..."

I grab the spinning Yuan Li, twist him like a pretzel into a rope, and start jump roping.

Yuan Li screams madly, but it doesn't matter.

Tsuuaaaaa— The very bottom of Yuan Li's Black Castle.

There, tens of thousands of vengeful souls who had been tortured by Yuan Li and were unable to attain release due to their resentment, begin to find peace upon hearing Yuan Li's screams.

"Can you see it, Yuan Li? Right now, those who suffered at your hands are attaining peace through your screams."

[Kuaaaaaaagh! Kuaaagh! Senior, please forgive me! I-I'll live righteously! I'll abandon my cultivation and just live at the Core Formation stage—no! I'll live at the Qi Refining stage!]

"You still say you want to live? Listen well. You'll only be released from my hands... when every last soul at the bottom of the Black Castle hears your screams and feels satisfied."

[Th-That's...]

"Let's see... There are even souls for whom screams are not the condition for release. If I calculate the time it'll take for all of them to let go of their grudge through your screams... about twenty thousand years should be enough."

[... H-Huuk...] Finally, Yuan Li seems to truly fall into despair and bursts into tears.

[Hu... huaaaaagh! Huaaaaaaagh! K-Kuhuhahahaha!] And then he completely snaps.

With no hope in sight, his mind collapses.

[Huaaaaagh! Hwaaahwaaah! Kuheok! Kuhihihihit!]

"Hm... broken, huh."

Clicking my tongue as I watch him, I stab a consciousness thread into Yuan Li's head and begin reassembling his shattered soul into the state it was just moments ago.

[Heoheoheok! Guh, gueook! Kuaaaagh! Ha, haaaaghk... Th-This is...]

"Who gave you permission to go insane?"

I look down at Yuan Li with cold eyes and speak.

"When you captured those weaker than you and experimented on them, tortured them, devoured them, and used them as materials for dharma treasures—was it fun? Did you think a day like this wouldn't come? Listen well."

At my icy words, Yuan Li can no longer even scream, only gagging helplessly.

"This is retribution... Of course, I can't bring retribution to every devilish cultivator in Mount Sumeru. But... at the very least you... for you alone... I will definitely return retribution... until the words 'spare me' no longer leave your mouth... So... just accept it already. You can't even go insane anymore."

With those words, my venting toward Yuan Li begins once again.

This time, I communicate directly with the souls asleep within the Black Star Fortress and take their opinions into account.

Most of them request to torture Yuan Li in the same way they were once tormented. I honor their requests—boiling him, grinding him, cooking him in every way, and repeatedly shattering his mind with illusion techniques.

Unfortunately, the Wheel overloads, so I cannot actually maintain this for a full 20 thousand years. However, by accelerating the souls' minds, I grant them and myself a perceived twenty thousand years and endlessly torture Yuan Li until all the souls attain complete release in a short period.

Kwaaaang!

I kick Yuan Li one last time, and in front of his eyes, I grind to dust every dharma treasure, pill, and artifact he has ever amassed.

"H-Huaaak... Huaaagh..."

Yuan Li collapses on the spot, groaning with his physical voice, and endlessly prays in his heart to 'be killed'.

Shiiiii— I watch as the last soul attains peace, and only then do I fling Yuan Li into the Heaven-Treading Desert and flick my finger.

Pukwak!

Yuan Li explodes on the spot and died, and I watch as the Head Realm revises the world.

'I wonder what happens to the living beings of this world when they die...'

Even without asking, I know the answer.

The Head Realm is where Omniscience resides.

They are simply absorbed into the Omniscience and at an appropriate time, repeated once more.

No punishment awaits the wicked. No compensation awaits the suffering.

A world where everything is fixed for all eternity.

'Truly... is it impossible to intervene at this time point...'

I genuinely feel regret that I cannot intervene with the Head Realm because the flow of fate has already been determined.

'At the very least, I want to bless them... so their next lives escape the Head Realm... and they can live a better life...'

Is it truly impossible to do anything in this timeline that I returned to through the Radiance Mantra?

Finding it unfortunate, I once again accept the history that is revised.

History repeats itself.

In the ninth cycle, I am ultimately captured by Yuan Li and killed, turned into a Blood Tree.

As I feel the consciousness of the me of this cycle fade, I continue to ponder.

'Is it truly impossible... for past cycles... for stories that have ended... to be reversed?'

The regret toward those I couldn't save in previous cycles, those I couldn't help reach peace.

The rage toward villains like Yuan Li.

And the suffocating frustration I feel when facing a fixed fate. Amid all those emotions, I prepare to move on into the 10th cycle.

'Is a story that has already progressed truly unchangeable...?'

And then, I see a green deer.

Blink— The 10th cycle of fate approaches.

I slowly rise from my seat.

'Just now... I think I saw something...'

Was it just my imagination?

I can't quite remember.

Perhaps it was just a hallucination.

The Head Realm is full of bizarre things after all.

But why is it?

I feel as if I've very faintly grasped a sense of direction for the answer to my question.

'A story that has already progressed cannot be changed... A story that has already progressed...'

Yet I don't grasp it clearly. It's more like I've just received a topic of contemplation.

And to not lose that topic, I endlessly continue to ponder in the depths of my heart essence.

The events of the tenth cycle pass by rapidly.

In past cycles, if there were moments of frustration, I would sometimes intervene and feel momentary satisfaction. But in this cycle alone, I absolutely do not interfere carelessly.

Because intervening in this cycle feels like an insult to the me of the past who lives through it now, and an insult to Buk Hyang-hwa.

And...

The promised time arrives.

"Well then, fare... well... Cultivator Seo."

—I wish to be with you again, Seo Orabeoni.

Buk Hyang-hwa, her lower body gone, completely closes her eyes.

The past me, with eyes flipped, exudes the Yin Soul Ghost Incantation and flies toward Yuan Li, while I remain in place.

Seo Eun-hyun of the past chases after Yuan Li, but the me of the present remain only as a spirit form and sit beside Hyang-hwa's corpse.

It's because though I tortured Yuan Li to my heart's content in the last cycle, if I were to see him again at this point...

I feel I wouldn't be able to hold back and would destroy the Head Realm.

I see Buk Hyang-hwa's soul fade and rise to the sky, absorbed into Omniscience.

"..."

Words are unnecessary.

I gently brush her hand.

That much, the Head Realm does not stop me.

'... You can't put a value on connection, but if I were to assign value... you would be the most precious connection to me. Hyang-hwa...'

Hwiiiiiiii— I sit next to Buk Hyang-hwa's corpse and mourn her for a long time.

Not long after, the Seo Eun-hyun of this point in time returns, buries her, and vows vengeance on Yuan Li.

'If I had simply continued on like that...'

Reflecting on my past self, I come to realize something.

If I had continued on in that state, I might have ended up like Oh Hyun-seok after killing Yuan Li.

'I would have probably pursued power like Yuan Li... blindly followed the Dao of the Great Mountain Supreme Deity, and, unable to withstand the pain, drowned in drugs, alcohol, and debauchery.'

I would have become a completely ruined person, seeking the Devilish power, and eventually ascended to the Blood Yin Realm.

'And after spiraling down like that... maybe I would have devoured all my other comrades as well.'

Whatever the outcome, I would have become someone completely opposite of who I am now.

"Truly... I thank you again and again, Hyang-hwa. And..."

I offer my gratitude to Buk Hyang-hwa of the 10th cycle, and also to the 'other being' who twisted the course of my fate.

"O Imperial Venerable."

I look up at the girl who appears before me, dressed like an ordinary countryside woman in shabby clothing.

Starting from this cycle, I have chosen not to accompany Seo Eun-hyun of this point in time. I remain in spirit form by Buk Hyang-hwa's side and offer a respectful bow to the one who appears before me.

"So this is the point. The moment you intervened..."

Seo Eun-hyun of this time vanishes, and standing before Buk Hyang-hwa's grave is the Heavenly Venerable of the Underworld.

The Heavenly Venerable of the Underworld looks at me for a moment, then silently reaches into the void and makes a gesture as if grabbing and pulling something.

It is then.

The spirits of Cheon-saek City and Buk Hyang-hwa, which had been pulled into the Akashic Records, Omniscience, seem to flow in reverse then vanish into 'somewhere'.

I watch the scene with gleaming eyes.

"That is..."

"Though the living beings of the Head Realm are normally sucked into Omniscience after death, I arranged for at least a few to be able to go to the afterlife. For I have made it so a part of the river of the Netherworld flows into the Head Realm through the Head Realm's Black Ghost Valley."

Kugugugugugu!

At the same time, I feel an immense presence covering the entire Head Realm and marvel.

The Underworld has descended into the Head Realm, using that being as a medium.

In an instant, yin energy fills the sky, and dark clouds cover the heavens.

Within those clouds, the sun and moon of the Head Realm momentarily lose their light.

'That must be... the ship of the Nether Crossing River I've only heard of. The original version of the Nether Crossing Ship...'

The concept is so overwhelming that I let out a gasp without realizing.

The moment I perceive it, I am left speechless and dumbfounded.

I am once again reminded how unbelievable Bong Myeong is, to have created that not as a Supreme Deity, but while he was still an Immortal Lord.

"This must be your first time meeting, isn't it? Say hello. This is the original version of the Nether Crossing Ship that you know of—Song Jin (淞津)."

Sensing that the being before me is practically beyond even Yeong Seung, I greet them.

Though this being carries the concept of a 'ship,' they are not a literal vessel.

They are closer to a formless law, affecting even Indra's Net.

They are the attraction force of the Underworld that pulls in beings from the Nether Ghost Realm, and all death energy that exists in the world.

The very 'death aura' that accumulates in my soul each time I die and regress.

The very 'attraction force guiding souls to the Underworld'—that is the original version of the Nether Crossing Ship.

'The black death energy that let me use the 'Death Path Three Great Ultimates'... is that one called Song Jin...'

And I, staring blankly at Song Jin, suddenly flinch in shock.

"... The name... is Song Jin?"

"Are you surprised because it's the same name as the candidate Hyeon Rang? No need to be. To sever the repetition of Hyeon Rang, I, of this point in time, had the Hyeon Rang born in the Head Realm enter Black Ghost Valley and gave them the Dao Title Song Jin."

"... Then the sibling Song Jin had who was named 'Song Gil'..."

"They are the main personality of the warship 'Song Jin' that was monitoring the candidate Hyeon Rang. Since staying in the Head Realm too long can drive you mad, I had them ascend to Black Ghost Valley before they lost their mind."

"..."

I gape at the shocking truth behind the original version of the Nether Crossing Ship, Song Jin, who now blankets the sky and temporarily cuts off all observation from the Head Realm, and I awkwardly offer a greeting.

On Song Jin's side, they also seem a bit bewildered as they greet me in return, seeing me, a Heaven-Earth Great Net Immortal, suddenly appear in the Head Realm during this point in time.

"The name 'Song Jin (淞津)' itself implies the meaning of [Harbor of the Nether Crossing River]. It's surprising you didn't find it strange the moment you first heard it. Then again... I suppose you of this time point was too young."

"..."

Thinking back, it makes sense.

The name Song Jin means [harbor of the river], and considering that Song Jin is part of Black Ghost Valley, a sect under the Netherworld, it's highly likely that the 'river' in his name refers to the Nether Crossing River of the Netherworld.

"... Thank you for revealing such an astonishing truth. And... once again, I offer my deepest gratitude for taking in Hyang-hwa."

"Do not thank me. I took her in solely for my own use. I do not deserve gratitude."

I rise from my seat at the Underworld's words.

Glancing up at the sky, I see that Omniscience is attempting to revise again, but it seems the Underworld is holding it off for a moment.

"The fact that you've come to me at this point in time... means you have something to say, doesn't it?"

"Yes. Even I did not expect you to make use of that mantra. Of course, I also didn't anticipate you'd end up trapped inside such a fixed fate either."

"..."

"In any case, though it is a shortcut through the mantra, since you have 'returned to Mount Sumeru after learning the disgrace of the Heavenly Venerables'..."

Ttak!

With a snap of her fingers, the Underworld and I are transported into the deepest depths of the Underworld using Song Jin as a medium.

"Now you can truly be accepted as a member of the Underworld, and the time has come to tell you what can be told."

The Heavenly Venerable of the Underworld returns to their true form, sits down, and begins to speak.

"You asked before. What it means that I've returned from the Audience Chamber multiple times..."

I nod.

And then, I flinch in surprise.

Because a change appears in the Underworld's expression.

It is humiliation.

"... Not once have I ever given up hope."

"... Pardon?"

"Whenever the Enders appear... every time. Every single time. I challenged the Audience Chamber together with them."

"...!"

I am startled by those words.

"... I challenged it during the time of Silver Basket. During the time of Golden Body. And also during the time of Agate, of Lapis Lazuli. Afterwards, countless Enders emerged... and even when the Obsidian Devil Heavenly King activated the Immortal Art that devoured Mount Sumeru and made the challenge, I was there. When the Salt Sea Supreme Deity gave it their all and made the challenge, I was also there together.

"During the time of the Tridacna Vast Cold Heavenly King... there truly seemed to be hope, so not only I, but Yu Hao Te, Hae Nyeong, and others joined too. Even though I tried to stop them... With countless others, I challenged it again and again and again.

"Even during the time of Yang Su-jin, who was among the weaker Enders, I still joined the challenge together. And... every time, I was [sent back]..."

The Heavenly Venerable of the Underworld's face begins to fill with pain and sorrow.

"Did the Heavenly Venerables... ever say this to you? That they are livestock... and I am free, the closest existence to being a person...?"

"..."

At the Underworld's continued lament, I can only be stunned.

"... They are wrong. Even if I challenge the Audience Chamber every time, the Future King revises history through the Head Realm and turns it into something that [never happened]... and sends me back. Then he extracts that history from the Audience Chamber and erases the memories. That is why I remember nothing from my time in the Audience Chamber..."

The Underworld, carrying the Wheel on her back, shows an agony in her eyes that I have never seen before.

"But... there is one thing I remember. The 'emotion' of the Future King... It was... [fondness]..."

I gape at the shocking truth pouring from the Underworld's lips.

"Have you heard the saying that the Supreme Deities are livestock, and the Heavenly Venerables are mere guard dogs...? That perhaps I am free...? No... If they are livestock, then I... am nothing more than the Fate Supreme Deity's pet."