Chương 760: Devil Lord (5)

:: Dimensional confinement complete.:::: Ten Heavens sealing complete.:::: Radiance Rope binding complete.:::: Heavenly Domain imprisonment, five parts complete.:::: How ready is the conferment of the Immortal Title?:::: We can start right now.:: Where the communication of countless beings come and go, the brightest place in the Sumeru Three Heavens Great Thousand World.

Within the Radiance Hall.

Farther inside.

In a cavern there, a gigantic existence is bound by sealing arts and Immortal Treasures numbering in the thousands and hundreds of millions.

That existence, whose whole body is impaled with innumerable spears of light, swords, and other weapons, is what the Immortals of Light call the Devil God of Sword Mountain, or a wicked Mountain Divine Spirit.

:: While we do this, the Underworld is not going to run rampant again, will they?:::: Impossible. Even the Underworld is currently accumulating strength to prepare against the power of the Great Mountain Supreme Deity. They cannot intervene.:: The wills of countless great existences go back and forth.

Having succeeded in shackling the wicked Mountain Divine Spirit, Seo Eun-hyun, the Radiance Eight Immortals stand at the center and look down on him.

:: Your merit is great, Sword Spear.:::: I only did what was natural.:::: No, if you had not taken the lead, accepted sacrifice, and driven the sealing ritual into their Immortal Body... we would not have been able to capture them.::::... Thanks for thinking kindly of me, Pearl Jade.:: The Pearl Jade Heavenly Lord keeps praising the merit of the Sword Spear Heavenly Lord, and the other Eight Immortals look indifferently at that Pearl Jade, then turn their gaze back to the Mountain Divine Spirit below.

::... We acknowledge that Sword Spear's merit is great. Above all, from now we will confer the Immortal Title that suppresses their rank, so the merit will only grow further.:: The Great Forest Heavenly Lord speaks calmly and forms hand seals, and the Eight Immortals, including the Sword Spear Heavenly Lord, begin to form a ring around the Divine Spirit of Sword Mountain.

:: Then from now, we shall enfeoff the Mountain Divine Spirit, the Immortal Beast King Seo Eun-hyun, who has been the great adversary of our Radiance Hall, as our Radiance Hall's Envoy of the Final Age of Dharma and faithful subordinate, as a Lord (君) who bows to us.:: Wooooooong!

The Sword Spear Heavenly Lord begins to pour out their power.

And toward the power poured out by the Sword Spear Heavenly Lord, the faces of other powers begin to gather.

Before long, the Torch Candle Heavenly Lord and the Great Sun Heavenly Lord each raise their left and right hands.

Between their palms, something like a small universe rises.

Within that universe, instead of stars, [names] whirl and surge, forming galaxies and milky ways.

The Seat of Naming.

The Origin of the Immortal Dao, also called the Origin Essence of Names.

As the Torch Candle Heavenly Lord and the Great Sun Heavenly Lord draw power from the Origin of Names, the authorities clustered around the Sword Spear Heavenly Lord's power begin to take shape one by one.

They are certain characters.

Sword (劍).

Mountain (山).

Lord (君).

As the three characters are born within the light, they become sharp stakes by the will of the Eight Immortals.

:: Go.:: At the same time, those three stakes fall toward the Divine Spirit of Sword Mountain.

Puk, puk, pukwak!

At last, the stakes driven into the Divine Spirit's body melt straight into them and bind their spirit and flesh.

Now, in addition to the character of Devil (魔) they have previously driven into them, the characters Sword, Mountain, and Lord are added, and thus they become the Sword Mountain Devil Lord (劍山魔君).

Kuguguguk— An Immortal Lord-level Immortal Title that is affixed to a Governing Immortal-level existence forcibly suppresses their rank and authority, and combined with the seals the Eight Immortals have so far attached to the Sword Mountain Devil Lord, drops their grade and authority down to the level of a Vestige Liberation Immortal.

Moreover, those seals are gradually becoming stronger as they assimilate with them over time.

:: It is done. As long as ten thousand years pass like this, all seals and the Immortal Title will assimilate into them, and that one will lose even their Immortal Rank, becoming an imbecile whose every memory and authority are sealed. If only the ten-thousand-year seal is completed...::: If it comes to pass, their very personality will change, so even if they accumulate strength again, they absolutely cannot rise above Immortal Lord-level, bound by the Immortal Title of Devil Lord we have attached.

:::: Gradually, even their rationality will thin out by the seal, and they will become a beast. When that time comes, we will be able to educate them to have us as masters.:::: Now the Sword Mountain Devil Lord is our slave.::::... What we must be wary of now are the other comrades of the Sword Mountain Devil Lord. They and the Sword Mountain Devil Lord will surely plot yet another scheme. There is no way they will leave the Sword Mountain Devil Lord alone for ten thousand years without incident.

:: At the words of the Sword Spear Heavenly Lord, all the Heavenly Lords look at her.

::... Sword Spear, that is not a matter for you to concern yourself with. According to the decision of Great Forest and Rain Dew, a perfect grand stratagem to capture them is prepared, so you must devote yourself to fostering the next Sword Spear.:::: Is it a grand stratagem that only Great Forest and Rain Dew must know?:::: That is so.::::... I understand. I accept. Then I will take my leave...

:: As the Sword Spear Heavenly Lord finishes speaking, she disappears somewhere, and the other Eight Immortals mutter as they look at the place she stood.

:: They sensed something strange.:::: It seems they realized they are under suspicion.:::: If truly they have done nothing worthy of suspicion, they will obediently accept it and retrain themselves, but if not, then they will surely plot something. They may not reveal it openly, but Sword Spear knows they are in a situation where they are suspected, so they may indeed scheme something. At such a time, we must expand surveillance thoroughly, for their sake and for ours.

:: At the Rain Dew Heavenly Lord's words, all the other Eight Immortals nod.

After Rain Dew Heavenly Lord finishes speaking, the Great Forest Heavenly Lord looks down below.

:: That aside, can we truly not fathom the scheme of that Sword Mountain Devil Lord?:::: It is impossible. But... it does not matter what scheme they are plotting. So long as they are sealed inside Radiance Hall's inner sanctum, escape by their own power is absolutely impossible.:: The Flower Plant Heavenly Lord, who is in charge of the sealing within the Radiance Hall, shakes their head.

:: Innumerable Envoys of the Final Age of Dharma are on constant standby to suppress the Sword Mountain Devil Lord should they attempt to escape, and until the ten-thousand-year seal is complete, all thirty-two Envoys of the Final Age of Dharma are forbidden from leaving.:::: Moreover, Sword Spear, who might possibly aid in the escape of the Sword Mountain Devil Lord, has been sent outside Radiance Hall for the time being.

:::: Our Seven Immortals will guard this place for ten thousand years while watching over the Sword Mountain Devil Lord's compatriot, so there is no problem.:::: Furthermore, once the exclusive Heavenly Domain for sealing them is completed, and the Heavenly Domain sealing is finished...:::: It will be the end.:: The stern gaze of the Rain Dew Heavenly Lord looks toward the center of Radiance Hall.

:: Even the power of the Swallowing Heaven Supreme Deity, which in theory can move anywhere inside Mount Sumeru. Even the power and revisions of the Heavenly Venerable of the Underworld, the Wheel, and even the power of the Heavenly Venerable of Time who governs space-time and dimensions... none of them can ever take them away.:::: Beneath the glory of the Radiance Supreme Deity, they will never escape.

:: There, beneath the Radiance Seat's power that directly beams down and strengthens the seal in the Radiance Hall, they all raise their hands in prayer while gazing upward at the Radiance Seat.

:: Glory to the Radiance Supreme Deity!:: Thus, shouting the slogan of the Radiance Eight Immortals, they continue to strengthen the seal of the Sword Mountain Devil Lord and begin to surround them with countless prophecies.

They never think to let down their guard, even though they have captured them once.

Perhaps after ten thousand years, they might, but not yet. For the Sword Mountain Devil Lord has not yet sunk into complete sealing.

Especially the Pearl Jade Heavenly Lord, who is both the quartermaster and strategist, together with the Flower Plant Heavenly Lord, searches for methods to strengthen the seal, and unceasingly keeps their gaze fixed upon the bound Sword Mountain Devil Lord.

Even though the Radiance Eight Immortals have found a way to capture and enslave the Sword Mountain Devil Lord and are executing that plan, the being sits in a lotus position with their main body without the slightest movement.

Somehow, that sight looks as if they are asleep.

'It must be because they have leisure that they can sleep. We must not let our guard down for even a moment. Whether it is the bizarre authority unique to an Ender, or whatever else... we must bind them so they cannot flee into another timeline or parallel dimension, into a dream world or a painting, or into a story.'

Looking at that figure, the Pearl Jade Heavenly Lord makes such a resolve.

It seems like an absurd imagination, but all the Enders whose records the Radiance Eight Immortals have read are all bizarre beings for whom such things are possible.

Yet somehow, the figure of the Sword Mountain Devil Lord sitting in a lotus position and sleeping...

It keeps drawing the Pearl Jade Heavenly Lord's gaze.

'What dream does that one dream, to look so peaceful...?'

The Pearl Jade Heavenly Lord glares at the Sword Mountain Devil Lord, who is suspected of having connections with the Sword Spear Heavenly Lord, and prays inwardly that the dream that being dreams...

Becomes the most wretched nightmare possible.

Earth Boundary Heavenly Domain.

Since Wol Ryeong has become a Star Shattering Esteemed One, one thousand and five hundred years have already passed.

Kurung, kururururung!

On the outskirts of the Earth Boundary Heavenly Domain, while receiving the baptism of countless Heavenly Tribulations, the one who stabilizes their final stage— Wol Ryeong half-opens her eyes.

[Huuuu...] Before she knows it, by spending a mere one thousand five hundred years, she has reached the Grand Perfection Star Shattering stage.

And then, Wol Ryeong looks at her same-sect fellow disciple who, right before her eyes, has reached the Grand Perfection Integration stage.

[Ryeong-ah! You finally reached it!] Kugugugugu!

She compresses the true bodies of the Grand Perfection Star Shattering stage and transforms.

Soon, he and Wol Ryeong face each other.

"Yeah, Seo Gyeong. You are also Grand Perfection now."

"Ahaha... Unlike you, my aptitude isn't that outstanding. It took me as long as one thousand five hundred years for me to barely reach Grand Perfection..."

"Don't worry too much. In fact, that pace is considered normal among ordinary beings."

"But..."

Seo Gyeong, looking a bit dejected, gazes somewhere.

At one side of that far-off galaxy.

From there, someone flies over.

"Wol Ryeong, Seo Gyeong!"

It is Pal Jin, who entered the sect alongside Wol Ryeong and Seo Gyeong.

Pal Jin's Refining Void Dharma Treasure gave enormous help for the Star Shattering stage advancement, so he has already advanced to become an Esteemed One like Wol Ryeong.

Although Pal Jin is only at the early Star Shattering stage rather than Grand Perfection.

"Just in time, you two also finished your advancement. Unfortunately, Senior Brother Mu Geom... once again failed to advance from the Quasi–Star Shattering stage and resurrected, and is now re-accumulating his cultivation again starting from the early Integration stage."

"Well... stopping a Star Tribulation isn't easy."

Clicking her tongue, Wol Ryeong looks toward the star system Mu Geom went to.

Pal Jin also speaks with a regretful expression.

"That aside, the elders are calling us now. Let's go."

"... Alright."

With those words, Wol Ryeong starts moving through outer space together with Seo Gyeong.

Before long they arrive at a large nebula.

And above that nebula— Countless beings have gathered and are holding council.

Paaaatt!

As Wol Ryeong and her party appear in the hall, those in conference look toward them.

Pal Jin steps forward before them and speaks.

"Radiance Spirit Sect disciple Pal Jin brings the Radiance Spirit Sect disciple Wol Ryeong as requested."

They are the Entering Nirvana stage and Sacred Vessel stage beings of the Earth Boundary Heavenly Domain, the Radiance Spirit Sect Master Baek Yeong, and the Radiance Spirit Sect's elders at the Sacred Vessel stage and above.

"You have come at just the right time. I apologize for summoning you so urgently right after you advanced to the Grand Perfection Star Shattering stage."

"It is nothing."

The Radiance Spirit Sect Master Baek Yeong pats Wol Ryeong on the shoulder and speaks.

"However, as you know as well, this incident is one that befell our Radiance Spirit Sect's Esteemed Ones. It is also a major affair that can affect not only the Earth Boundary Heavenly Domain but other Heavenly Domains as well. Therefore... your testimony is indispensable."

"I understand."

"Then... show us the memory of that day."

Wo-woong— At Baek Yeong's words, Wol Ryeong directly uses a basic illusion art and shows what happened that day.

Within the illusion, seeing the moment when the nightmare of that day reappears through Bi Hwa's descent formation, Wol Ryeong breathes heavily.

Although she no longer needs air, it is behavior that remains because of the lingering habit from her mortal beings.

At that moment, Seo Gyeong grasps Wol Ryeong's hand.

Only then does Wol Ryeong's breathing return to normal.

Wol Ryeong looks at Seo Gyeong for a moment.

'You really are... a mysterious child.'

From the early Star Shattering stage to reaching Grand Perfection, one thousand five hundred years of time have passed.

During those years, Wol Ryeong experienced the heart's transformation into attraction force.

What tormented her the most as she underwent that conversion was...

The emptiness that made it feel as if everything was losing its meaning.

In that emptiness, where even the pain, the hatred, and the anger from losing her master Baek Geom seemed to be forgotten, Wol Ryeong even harmed herself, trying to remember those feelings.

If Seo Gyeong had not been there, Wol Ryeong's self-harm would likely have continued until the late Star Shattering stage.

'You held onto me.'

Strangely, even as her heart converts into attraction force, she experiences the bizarre phenomenon in which only her feelings toward Seo Gyeong do not convert.

She does not know why.

But whenever she thinks of Seo Gyeong, she feels as if the paper flower is drawing closer within her heart, letting her endure.

Because Seo Gyeong is there, Wol Ryeong can preserve the feelings and memories of that day without having to abuse herself.

And...

Having leapt beyond the heart's conversion into attraction force and now being able to control that phenomenon, even when the nightmare of that day drove Wol Ryeong toward Qi Deviation, Seo Gyeong let her endure.

Now, Seo Gyeong is no longer a mere friend or fellow disciple to her.

He is a pillar that firmly supports her heart.

She grips Seo Gyeong's hand tightly as she once again faces that day's nightmare.

The nightmare of the dragonoid ripping Baek Geom apart, swallowing the Heaven and Earth spiritual energy of the Vast Cold Realm, and then leaving for the Earth Boundary Heavenly Domain.

After some time, at last, the memory of that day ends.

Tstststststs— The illusion disappears, and the Entering Nirvanas and Sacred Vessels, as well as the Star Shattering Esteemed Ones in the hall stir noisily.

[... Quiet, quiet.] Then, the Entering Nirvana Quasi-Immortal of Entering Nirvana stage who presides over this council, Dae Jin-wook opens their mouth.

[Now... we can finally grasp the outline of that existence. The identity of that devil, who since a thousand years ago, appeared in the Earth Boundary Heavenly Domain, spread their wicked energy throughout, bestowed wicked wisdom, plundered the Heaven and Earth spiritual energy of the Earth Boundary Heavenly Domain, and even coiled itself within the palace of the God and Lord of the Earth Boundary Heavenly Domain... the [Owner of Liberation], feeding off that power while preparing to advance to True Immortality. The identity of that fiend.] [Ooooh... as expected of Dae Jin-wook.] [Truly fitting of the Quasi-Immortal closest to True Immortality.] At Dae Jin-wook's words, countless Quasi-Immortals and Sacred Masters let out silent sighs and exclamations.

Then their words continue.

[Judging by its power, its form, and the scenes and techniques drawn from this child's memory... that one is the wicked Mountain Divine Spirit. The God of Sword Mountain, whom the recent Gods of Light named as the Sword Mountain Devil Lord...!] [...!] [...!!] Each time words like Owner of Liberation, Gods of Light, or Sword Mountain Devil Lord leave Dae Jin-wook's mouth, many beings flinch.

No matter how much Quasi-Immortals try to strip the 'power' from the words, a part of the fundamental energy contained in them cannot be restrained.

The only ones who remain unaffected in that place are Seo Gyeong, who arrived here hand in hand with Wol Ryeong in the body of the Integration stage— And Wol Ryeong herself, who has some resistance after hearing the true name of Jeon Myeong-hoon, a holder of one Heavenly Seat.

[You mean the main body of that God of Sword Mountain!?] [If that evil god who compressed the Earth Axis Heavenly Domain, exterminated all beings inside, recreated it, and renamed it as the Axle Heavenly Domain has descended directly...!] [Calm yourselves! Surely that is not the case. Surely it is but the evil god's Immortal Treasure.] [Do not spout nonsense! For an evil god of that level, even their Immortal Treasure would still be of Upper Immortal level at minimum. What calmness are you telling us to have!?] Shouts and uproars ring from all sides, and watching this, Dae Jin-wook, the eldest Entering Nirvana of the Earth Boundary Heavenly Domain, lets out a thunderous roar.

[Gal! Enough already. The true nature of that devil spirit is nothing more than a terminal part of the Sword Mountain Devil Lord's divine body. It appears to be their body.] [If it is a terminal part of the divine body... is that fortunate...?] As a Sacred Vessel Sacred Master still fails to grasp the situation and tilts their head, the Radiance Spirit Sect Master Baek Yeong steps forward.

[... As you know, those in the Radiance Spirit Sect who bear the surname Baek (白) are directly supported by the Gods of Light. Because of this, we can closely contact the Baek surnames of other Heavenly Domains, borrowing the power of Immortals. I myself... have a sworn sister who bears the Baek surname, named Sacred Master Baek Woon.] At Baek Yeong's words, everyone's gaze turns to her.

[All of you present here surely know of that Lightning Immortal of the Yang surname.] At those words, the faces of all the Entering Nirvana Quasi-Immortals present simultaneously turn rotten.

[That dog fucking insane dege—no, that lunatic, you mean?] [The madman who refined my children into pills and ate them!] [Why bring up that one!?] [My sworn sister Baek Woon said that with just that one's ring finger, all the Quasi-Immortals of her Heavenly Domain combined nearly suffered defeat. Therefore, even if it is only a terminal part of the divine body, it must not be underestimated.] At those words, Dae Jin-wook speaks in a troubled tone.

[... Yet, from this Immortal's perspective, that dragonoid, that devil spirit's identity... is not something like a pinky.] [Then what is it?] [... A strand of hair.] [...?] [That devil spirit is... understood to be just a single strand of the Mountain Divine Spirit's hair.] At those words, much of the tension among the Entering Nirvanas and Sacred Vessels present begins to relax.

[Hahaha, then it is nothing much.]