Chương 702: Annihilation and Flower (3)

The first time I sense something strange is when we are intermingling within the Plane of Fate.

Kurururung, kurung!

I take the form of a spiraling whirlwind, and Kim Yeon takes the form of a tide of fully bloomed quince blossoms.

White light and pale pink petals intermingle with one another.

Perhaps from a third-person perspective, it would look much like nebulae blending together.

Hwiooooooo!

Above a vast, cosmic expanse.

We mix together, creating massive nebular lightning above the recreated Earth.

Ururung, kwang kwang!

Each time our essences collide, the inner chamber of the Nether Treading Ship Song Jin vibrate with a humming sound, and countless stars and celestial phenomena appear and vanish repeatedly.

Kwarururung!

We shed all physical forms, intermingling purely as essence, becoming one.

In our blending, like a solar wind, protons and electrons are expelled at tremendous speed into the surrounding space, dyeing the world.

The inner chamber of the Nether Treading Ship Song Jin is designed for True Immortals, so even its sheer size alone is equivalent to dozens of stellar systems.

Thanks to that, we are able to release our powers freely and collide without restraint.

Kwarururung!

Waves of pale pink petals and white light swirl together, spiraling and becoming a vortex.

Oooooooo— Strange sound arises from the collision of our Immortal Bodies, and several degenerate stars decorating the chamber shatter and scatter.

Kwarururung!

And then, at a certain moment.

As immense nebular lightning radiates from our intermingling and fills the chamber.

'This is...?'

From within the pale pink energy flowing from Kim Yeon's body, I discover a stream that feels foreign.

It resembles Kim Yeon, but is unmistakably different.

Kuoooooooo— While joined with Kim Yeon and forming a vortex together, While swirling in union with Kim Yeon, I spot that faintly oscillating something within her flow.

'That's...!'

It is fate (命).

Amidst the union of Kim Yeon and me, from the merging of vast being with being...

A new fate is being born.

'Wait, Yeon.'

:: Oooooooo—:: I try to tell Kim Yeon to stop for a moment, but perhaps due to the excitement of our merging, only a monstrous cry that seems to shake the cosmos erupts from my mouth.

:: Ooooooo—:: Kim Yeon, perhaps being mixed with me, seems unable to control herself and doesn't respond properly.

—Kim Yeon. Wait a moment!

In the end, I speak firmly to Kim Yeon through heart language, and only then do we pause our actions briefly.

Kugugugugu!

The two intermingled nebulae slowly unravel.

After a while, I take form as the White Round Collar Mountain God, and Kim Yeon regains her composure, transforming back into the immense divine spirit clad in a palace gown made of cascading pale pink energy.

:: What's going... ah!:: Just as she is about to question me, she suddenly senses the alien strand of pale pink flow forming within her body, and flinches in shock.

:: Th-This is...:::: A new Fate (命)... That is to say...:: For True Immortals, children can only exist in a transcendental form.

:: It seems... to be... our child...:::: U-Uh...:: Kim Yeon suddenly looks a bit flustered.

Whatever the case, everyone except me has only been a True Immortal for not even a hundred million years yet...

By the standards of True Immortals, they are no different from young infants.

Therefore, to us, a 'child' could only be imagined as something conceived within the body of a mortal being.

Yet now, our first child appears in the form of fate. It's a form that is naturally and understandably bewildering.

:: F-For now... Hello, Child...?:: Perhaps flustered, Kim Yeon greets the fate that could be called a baby.

I, too, still a little taken aback, offer a greeting to the newly born fate.

:: We are... your parents... but. Hmm... how are we supposed to treat you?:: As I am in the midst of pondering— Kugugugung!

Suddenly, the space within the chamber we are in distorts, and a pure white 'hand' appears, gripping the space and beginning to cross over into this place.

:: You are...!:: The Immortal Beast White-Winged Heavenly Pegasus suddenly appears within the chamber.

I stare at them, dumbfounded by this absurd turn of events, and Kim Yeon also looks blankly at White-Winged Heavenly Pegasus.

Kuheok! Kurluk...

As soon as they arrive, White-Winged Heavenly Pegasus coughs up Immortal Beast True Blood and staggers slightly as they step into the chamber space.

:: Forcing myself across boundless space... was a bit much... Damn it, I feel like I'm going to die.:::: White-Winged Heavenly Pegasus... Why did you suddenly—no. How did you appear here?:::: Our Granny Samsin sensed the authority of Conception and used the point of its birth as coordinates... Then all the Flower Overseers of the Eastern Heaven Flower Field lent their strength to bring me here. The power I just felt was definitely...:: At their following words, Kim Yeon and I can't help but flinch in surprise.

:: Sal Tree Old Man... It was his authority, the power of Life Designation (生命占指)!::::...! Could it be... the fate that Yeon and I carry... is the power of the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable!?:::: Hm...:: White-Winged Heavenly Pegasus frowns as they watch the power of the fate that was born between us, which has now left Kim Yeon's body and is starting to affect the space within the chamber.

:: What is this? Is it your kid or something?:::: It is...:::: That's confusing... Usually, when True Immortals have a child like this, the Old Man doesn't designate them directly. The Old Man's and our usual role is to designate children for mortal beings...:::: Wait a moment, then... what happened to mortal beings after the Eastern Heaven Flower Field became frozen?:::: Don't worry too much.

The Flower Overseers are temporarily assisting the Underworld side, continuing to help new lives be born under the new Reincarnation Judge's leadership. But... compared to the days when we could borrow Sal Tree Old Man's authority, the total fertility rate has dropped significantly, and it's become a serious low-birthrate issue across the universe.:::: That's... a heavy burden.:: I click my tongue in sympathy, and White-Winged Heavenly Pegasus tilts their head as they look at the newly born fate.

:: Still, is this kid really the Old Man's power...? I can't tell. Something feels different... No, more than that... it feels somehow familiar...:: White-Winged Heavenly Pegasus tilts their head with a puzzled expression, staring at the flow of the newly born fate for a long time before shaking their head.

:: I'm not sure. But it's not impossible. After all, the Old Man's has gotten strange lately... and somehow, his power seems oddly stronger too. Originally, designating the child of a True Immortal would be interfering with the fate of a True Immortal, so it was a bit much even for the Old Man. However... if it's the Old Man whose strength has grown... who knows.::::...:: I gaze at our child with complicated eyes.

Kim Yeon also speaks with a worried look.

:: Then what should we do?:::: Do as you please. In the end, the ones who gifted life to this being are you two, so whether you keep it or not is also up to you.:: White-Winged Heavenly Pegasus speaks bluntly, as if there's truly nothing wrong.

:: The Old Man once said this to me. That the ones who gifted him 'life' when he originally had none were all of us in the Flower Field, myself included. So... if the day comes when he awakens the darkness buried deep within his essence and loses his mind... he asked us to end him with our own hands.:: They speak as they look at us with resolute eyes.

:: So... let me stay here too. The Old Man just used his power of designation here, and that means he will likely continue to use the power of designation in this vicinity to bring about life. Which means... if I stay here, I'll be able to meet the Old Man. I must meet him... and see for myself whether he has reached the point where he needs to be put to sleep... just as he asked me long ago.::::...:: I look at White-Winged Heavenly Pegasus for a moment, then look to my child.

And after a while, I ask them a question.

:: By the way... do you, by any chance, know how to raise a True Immortal's child... as a person?:: I decide, for now, to stay with White-Winged Heavenly Pegasus.

And even if this child is something Sal Tree designated with a purpose...

I resolve to accept this child as my own and raise them.

:: That much isn't difficult. All the divine spirits of the Eastern Heaven Flower Field are used to seeing children, after all.:: So from that day on, we begin raising our child together with White-Winged Heavenly Pegasus.

Within a vast darkness.

There, Ham Jin cultivates the Radiance Ten Heavens and creates a fixed star.

Planets begin to form around it, and a stellar system is created.

A cradle in which countless living beings can live is naturally being formed.

Originally, in the Outer Sea where the hands of the Underworld cannot reach, there are no souls for reincarnation, so aside from plants or microorganisms, or beings with extremely faint spirits, no living beings are born...

But perhaps it's because Sal Tree is intervening?

As soon as this cradle of life is created, living beings begin to be born rapidly.

:: As expected, the Old Man is definitely using his power.:: White-Winged Heavenly Pegasus looks around at the new stars with interest, and watches the beings being born upon them.

Then all of our comrades who heard that Kim Yeon and I had given birth to a child gather around...

And look upon the [cradle] we have created.

Tststststs— As living beings prosper on the planets, the fate we have given birth to settles upon them.

Jeon Myeong-hoon and Oh Hyun-seok hit me on the shoulder and offer their congratulations, while Kang Min-hee stares at the child for a long while before whispering something to Kim Yeon.

Kim Yeon smiles shyly and thanks Kang Min-hee, and Oh Hye-seo gazes at the child with no particular emotion.

:: First of all... there is a method to breathe an ego into a child born between True Immortals. In the case of a fixed star, since it is essentially an innate Sacred Vessel, you take time and slowly create planets and moons that belong to the fixed star, giving it the realm of the Sacred Vessel stage.

Then, by refining a unique domain to give it the realm of the Integration stage, and securing axes to give it the realm of the Four-Axis stage, it gradually gains an ego from there and forms the realms of Heavenly Being, Nascent Soul, and Core Formation on its own. Once it even creates the realms of Qi Refining and Qi Gathering, only then is its personality truly complete. However... the fate you two have given birth to is a little different.

:: White-Winged Heavenly Pegasus continues their explanation, and Kim Yeon and I listen intently.

:: What exactly is different?:::: Before explaining that, I should first clarify the difference between the fate used for prophecy by True Immortals, and the fate born through their union. The fate used in prophecy is essentially your fortune being refined to create a future.

:: However, fate born from union, the union between True Immortals, is treated as fortune itself, birthing a future without any waste. But unlike normal prophecy, the future that is born isn't one you imagine, but a mixture of parts of your lived lives. And... since it's a future not born of your imagination but of your essence, that future possesses 'power' in and of itself.:: Woo-wooong!

Upon the hand of White-Winged Heavenly Pegasus, the form of a peacock appears.

:: For example... to draw a comparison with Glass Peacock, one of their famous children is the [fate to copulate with over ten billion living beings]. The reason such a fate came to be is because Glass Peacock's entire life is soaked in mating, and since part of Glass Peacock's life got mixed in, that kind of fate was born.:: It seems Glass Peacock's experiences are so numerous that even ten billion can only be considered 'a part' of their life.

:: Also... even if such a fate is imbued, how many beings could there be that could actually do such a thing? That is why, the fate born as the child of True Immortals inherently holds 'power'. If we continue the comparison with Glass Peacock...

:: If Glass Peacock were to personally select a living being and declare the prophecy that 'this being will copulate with over ten billion beings,' that being may try to realize that prophecy, but die mid-reproduction due to an utter lack of strength.

:: But the living being imbued with the fate that is the child of Glass Peacock inherently receives 'power' from that [fate to copulate with over ten billion living beings], so they would never die from exhaustion during reproduction and could actually realize that fate.:: I understand the concept White-Winged Heavenly Pegasus explains.

:: The fate born as the child of True Immortals... is essentially a mantra.:::: You've understood well. But it's actually the other way around. A mantra is something more artificially made. A fate that is the concentration of 'power' rather than the 'future'.:: That's right.

True Immortals unite to give birth to 'laws'.

If that law is not particularly specialized on either side and is at an ordinary level, a fixed star is born.

If that law creates a 'future,' then a fate is born.

If that law creates 'power,' then a mantra is born.

Such are the children born of those at the True Immortal level.

Jeon Myeong-hoon looks a little confused and tilts his head, while Kang Min-hee gazes at our child with meaningful eyes.

White-Winged Heavenly Pegasus continues their explanation.

:: Since it seems you've understood, let's continue... Anyway, in the case where this kind of fate is your child, it's much simpler to create an ego for that fate than it is for a fixed star. If you gather all the power of that fate into one place and allow a single being to wholly receive it... then that being's personality becomes your child's personality.

Usually, True Immortals like you who want to bestow an ego on their child push that fate into a newly conceived baby, and live as the parent of that living being.:: They speak while looking at the cradle where living beings are now being born under the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable's designation.

:: There are many new children that have just been born among those living beings, so choose one among those babies and imbue your fate into them. In doing so, your child will also have an ego, and will become a proper innate Sacred Vessel.:: At those words, Kim Yeon and I nod.

I send her a message through heart language.

—As expected... sending our incarnations to the Lower Realm, conceiving a child there, and letting our child's fate dwell in that body would be best, right?

—Yes. I think that would be best.

After a brief discussion, we nod together.

:: Thank you for the explanation. Then, we just need to follow your instructions?:::: Yes. But before that, make sure to properly check your child's fate. The newly birthed personality will be heavily influenced by that fate, and so will their future life.:: At White-Winged Heavenly Pegasus's words, Kim Yeon and I slowly focus our consciousness and begin to properly read our child's fate.

:: Our child's fate is...:: After focusing her consciousness for a while to read the fate, Kim Yeon turns to me with a trembling voice.

:: [A fate that overcomes fate]... That's what it says...?::::...?:: What in the world does that mean?

Not just me—everyone present widens their eyes, unable to grasp the meaning of our child's fate.