Thump, thump, thump, thump...
The beating of a heart is audible.
Blink—
I blink.
For some reason, I feel a soft sensation from the back of my head.
"Ah, you're awake."
"...!"
I can't help but flinch for a moment.
Swoosh!
It's Buk Hyang-hwa.She's giving me a lap pillow while working on something.
Upon closer inspection, it looks like she's drawing a blueprint for some magic artifacts.
"...Where is this? What's the situation?"
I try to spread my consciousness but quickly realize that my soul is still strained, so I ask her instead.
'I used too much mental energy cutting down Tainted Soul Filling the Heavens.'
They say if you stare into the abyss, the abyss stares back at you. Or that those who slay monsters slowly become monsters themselves.
These words hold true.
The very nature of Transcending Mountain Ridge Embedment is influenced by Tainted Soul Filling the Heavens, and even though it's meant to deal with it...
It seems that's precisely why I had to exert so much mental energy.
Seo Hweol's murky, dark, and hollow heart is too similar to my own heart essence.
Because of that, I had to expend significant mental strength to avoid falling to Heart Demons while cutting down Tainted Soul Filling the Heavens.
Throb—
I clutch my head as I get up, and Buk Hyang-hwa supports me while explaining the situation.
"We're currently in a guest room within the Heart Tribe territory, specifically in the Cedar Wood Grove (杉木叢)."
"Cedar Wood Grove...it seems we arrived safely. What's the current situation?"
"The Heart Tribe's Supreme Council nearly started a war after the Human Race teleported here...but for now, Sir Young-hoon and Yeon Unnie, who possess Heart Tribe qualities, are mediating. Especially since there are talks going around that the Cult Leader is an outstanding member of the Heart Tribe, the Supreme Council said they would meet the Cult Leader first before determining the fate of the Human Race."
"...My shoulders are heavy..."
I smile bitterly and speak to Buk Hyang-hwa.
"That aside, let's stop with the title of 'cult leader.' How can there be a cult leader without a cult...?"
"Then..."
"Just something casual..."
I'm about to tell her to call me something casual, but I suddenly realize that in this life, my relationship with Buk Hyang-hwa has always been that of the 'Cult Leader' and 'Conqueror King.'
And as that thought crosses my mind, I realize a truth I have been trying to ignore since meeting Buk Hyang-hwa.
'From the start, ours is a relationship that can never be casual.'
I gaze at Buk Hyang-hwa with slight discomfort.
She is a complicated figure for me.
She is the same person as the Buk Hyang-hwa from my 10th life, yet at the same time, she is not.
Being with her means constantly seeing the shadow of her 10th cycle self standing behind her.
The past and present versions of her are different individuals, but as a person, I can't see her as a completely different being.
Because of that, I can't treat her purely as 'this life's Buk Hyang-hwa.'
'That's why I've avoided creating opportunities to face her directly...'
But somehow, we ended up in a moment like this, facing each other alone.
Opening and closing my mouth, I finally settle on a proper title.
"Daoist. Just call me Daoist Seo. No...since I am no longer a cult leader, please do so."
I consider my current position and decide to address her respectfully, as I used to.
However, she responds somewhat awkwardly.
"You can just speak comfortably. After all, you are an elder and my senior..."
"..."
The mention of 'elder' makes me feel somewhat sad, but I shake my head and reply.
"Before, our relationship within the organization dictated a certain formality, but now that we walk the same path of Immortal Cultivation, it's only right that I show respect."
"Mm...if that's what you wish...I understand. Daoist Seo..."
She tilts her head slightly, looking a bit awkward as she calls me 'Daoist.'
For a moment, silence hangs between us.
"Hmm...do you have something to say, Miss?"
Reading the subtle emotions on her face, I ask her.
At my question, she hesitates for a moment before speaking.
"I...I have one thing I'm curious about, Daoist...Seo."
She shows me the blueprint she's been drawing beside me.
'This is...'
Looking closely, it's not exactly a magic artifact blueprint but rather a kind of 'system,' similar to the Mad Lord's circuits.
However, while it seems influenced by the Mad Lord, it clearly appears to be something entirely unique.
"A remarkable artifact system. What type of artifact system is this for?"
"This...is a system for analyzing Qi and projecting scenes."
"Oh, like a vid..."
"A few hundred years ago, Daoist Seo gave me this."
She gently strokes the jade norigae hanging from her waist.
"..."
"Ever since the day Daoist Seo gave this to me, I've been studying it, and I've discovered that this norigae is always connected to somewhere. And when I focus my consciousness, I can shift my consciousness to somewhere filled with thick, hazy mist through this norigae. Recently, after meeting Daoist Seo, I realized that the place of hazy mist is within your 'Canvas of Myriad Forms and Connections'."
Buk Hyang-hwa looks directly into my eyes as she speaks.
"Until now, Daoist Seo has never properly answered why that is. That's why I've been researching it all this time. After meeting Senior Mad Lord, I was able to grasp a significant clue. A technique that disassembles Qi and traces a target's past."
"...!"
"With this, I plan to trace the causality between Daoist Seo's Canvas of Myriad Forms and Connections and my norigae."
I quickly realize what she plans to do.
Just like what Oh Hye-seo did.
Or what the Black Dragon Immortal Beast did.
She plans to trace my past and uncover the truth behind the norigae.
But as seen in the cases of both the Black Dragon Immortal Beast and Oh Hye-seo, the secret of the Canvas of Myriad Forms and Connections is not something that can be easily unraveled.
Both of them have the authority to trace the past, yet they still failed.
In other words, unless Buk Hyang-hwa's abilities surpass those of the Black Dragon Immortal Beast, I don't have to worry about her discovering my secret.
However, since I understand why she's saying this to me directly, I can't carelessly dismiss her actions as being 'useless.'
"If it's the eyes of Daoist Seo, you probably know why I'm telling you this right now. Since you possess the same eyes as Sir Young-hoon."
"..."
Behind her subtle heart essence lies overwhelming despair and sorrow.
And a deep determination.
"Please don't ask me for the reason. But I will say this: uncovering the truth about the norigae is one of my deepest wishes, so I won't give up easily."
In other words, she is implying that if I don't want her to challenge and uncover the past between me and the norigae, I'd better tell her the truth.
But I can't.
In this world, I've come to painfully realize that [speaking something aloud] holds tremendous impact.
So I respond vaguely.
"...This is related to True Immortals, so I can't speak of it lightly. If mishandled, Miss's life could be at risk..."
"It's fine."
She looks at me as if life and death doesn't matter at all.
"It doesn't matter, so if there's anything you can tell me, please do."
"...It's something I cannot speak of. Please understand."
"...I understand."
She nods, seemingly bitter.
"I guess I'll just have to do what I can, to the best of my ability."
"Miss Buk..."
"Then, please excuse me. I will take my leave. Please rest and join us when Daoist Seo is ready."
With those words, Buk Hyang-hwa turns and swiftly exits the guest room.
Seeing her heart essence, I feel conflicted.
Woong—
I gradually feel my consciousness domain and authority returning, transcending space to the outside of the guest room.
I head towards the place where Qi and intent are clashing.
There, centered around Kim Young-hoon, twenty-two shadows are colliding their intents.
Chuararararak!
The martial scene they are painting momentarily shakes my foresight.
'Each one of them can be considered masters who have reached the ultimate of martial arts...'
They are confronting Kim Young-hoon, who is specialized in speed, using their own secret techniques, and they bombard him with moves that keep up without falling behind.
On the surface, it looks as if the projections of the Heart Tribe's Supreme Council are just standing still around Kim Young-hoon, but with my vision, having reached the Plane of Soul, I can see the massive currents of intent raging.
Normally, their will alone should have stirred up an overwhelming storm in reality, but everyone here is restraining themselves to the point where not even a speck of energy leaks out. They are competing purely in skill, so the battle of intent occurring at the Plane of Soul is not affecting the physical world at all.
"Yeon-ah."
"Yes."
Kim Yeon quietly appears beside me the moment I speak, and I raise an eyebrow.
Centered around the Demon Core within her body, I see that her intent has perfectly balanced into nine strands.
'If this were before, I would've missed that movement.'
It isn't a matter of martial skill or realm.
Martial artists accelerate their minds through techniques like Ultimate Pinnacle, but cultivators beyond the Nascent Soul stage can simply accelerate their minds through their vast consciousness.
They don't even need to divide their consciousness into forms like a Gang Sphere clone and then merge them again. By just compressing their consciousness, their mind gradually accelerates.
This is how cultivators at the Nascent Soul stage and beyond use techniques like the Flying Escape Technique to fight at high speeds in battle.
The 'Hidden Consciousness Technique' given to me by Mad Lord similarly compresses my consciousness to accelerate my senses, allowing me to 'feel spiritual energy through the spiritual root,' so 'compressing consciousness' itself is a way to accelerate the mind.
Currently, with her Demon Core as the center, Kim Yeon is aligning her consciousness 'like the Demon Race' and 'compressing' it, adding a tenfold acceleration to her already compressed consciousness.
Before even considering the level of her cultivation, albeit through a somewhat abnormal growth, she now possesses speed surpassing the Integration stage.
'If she's already this fast with Ultimate Pinnacle, which allows consciousness to simply become speed...'
If she reaches Entering Heavens Beyond the Path, where consciousness can be directly converted into 'power', what kind of authority will Kim Yeon wield?
Suddenly, I become curious.
'Of course, reaching Entering Heavens Beyond the Path isn't something that can be solved just by pouring in time, so it's hard to say how long it will take...'
I set away my thoughts about the distant, uncertain future and speak to her.
"Do you know how long I've been unconscious?"
"It's been exactly three days. It's also been a while since we came to the Heart Tribe territory to avoid Min-hee Unnie, and the Human Race has been in a psychological warfare with the Heart Tribe's Supreme Council to find a place to settle while waiting for you to wake up."
[TL/N: Kim Yeon uses 당신, which means you, but it has the nuanced meaning of 'dear' between spouses, being polite or formal, or being disrespectful or confrontational.]
"...?"
'Something has changed.'
I glance at Kim Yeon with a sense of strangeness.
The way she addresses me has subtly changed.
It isn't the 'Eun-hyun Oppa' she comfortably used before.
It feels like she's keeping a distance, yet at the same time, it seems she's even closer to me.
Kim Yeon continues explaining.
"Because of Min-hee Unnie, the original Human Race territory has become a land of ghosts where no living being can survive, just like the Nether Ghost Realm. Other territories near the Human Race lands that were suitable for human habitation have ended up the same way...as a result, the Nether Ghost Realm is also preparing to invade the Bright Cold Realm. They say it will take about a thousand years to restore the land to its original state. However, according to the judgment of the Grand Cultivator Association, the rampaging Min-hee Unnie...in other words the 'Ghost Guiding Holy Mother', will inevitably return to the Bright Cold Realm within a few hundred years due to the attraction force between her and the realm."
It means that in the end, we've completely lost our original foundation.
And a beast that has lost its den will eventually find a new one.
"It seems the Human Race wants the Heart Tribe territory as their new home."
"Yes. The Heart Tribe territory is in the Chaos Realm, so even if Min-hee Unnie returns, it won't be easy for her to find it. Moreover, it's one of the stable lands within the Chaos Realm, so they believe it's a safe place to live. That's why the Grand Cultivator Association is proposing to expel all of the Heart Tribe from the Heart Tribe territory and take over."
"...Foolish."
I click my tongue.
It's a land that Jang Ik stabilized in the first place, so what do they plan to do when Jang Ik returns?
Jang Ik himself is supposed to return in a few hundred years.
As I click my tongue, Kim Yeon continues her explanation.
"But...the entire Grand Cultivator Association was brutally defeated by the Heart Tribe Supreme Council, and Young-hoon Sunbae alone is dealing with the aftermath to prevent the entire Human Race from being annihilated."
"..."
They recklessly stretched out their legs without even properly checking where they were going to lie down.
'They've underestimated the Heart Tribe far too much.'
The 22 members of the Supreme Council.
'They must be Jang Ik's 22 disciples.'
I can sense it.
Each one of them is a supreme expert of Seated Detachment, Entering Hope.
'In other words...there are 22 people who can unleash a single strike at the Grand Perfection Integration-level during emergencies.'
Moreover, among them must be some at a higher level who can unleash consecutive Grand Perfection Integration-level single strikes.
The Heart Tribe is one of the three great powers of the Bright Cold Realm.
If one considers that the Six Great Races of the Heaven Tribe account for 60% of the Heaven Tribe's power, while the other races make up 40%, then the current strength of humanity is only around one-tenth of the Heaven Tribe's.
Even though the Heart Tribe is the weakest of the three great powers, they still have enough strength to overpower the Human Race, which is just 'a part of the Heaven Tribe.'
Step, step...
While I'm silently assessing the Human Race, someone approaches from a distance.
It's a maiden with white hair and red eyes, wearing light armor of violet and white.
"You've woken up."
I pause, trying to recall who she is, and eventually, her identity comes to mind.
"...Cultivator Gol?"
Her identity is none other than Gol Maek of the Grand Cultivator Association.
Since she usually hides her body within her rugged bone armor, it took me a moment to recognize her in this state with just her body.
Kim Yeon, seeing her, explains further.
"The entire Grand Cultivator Association is currently imprisoned by the Heart Tribe...except for Grand Cultivator Gol Maek. She was the only one who fiercely opposed fighting against the Heart Tribe."
Gol Maek sighs and speaks.
"...It was simply a rational decision. Aside from me, none of the other Grand Cultivators, except for Hon Won and Wi Ryeong-seon, have ever directly fought against the Heart Tribe. Even then, Wi Ryeong-seon only fought against Heart Tribe members below the second stage of Manifestation, and Hon Won, who has some proper fighting experience against them, is currently unconscious due to an internal clash of Yin and Yang energy. That's why the others didn't realize how terrifying the Heart Tribe is and rushed in recklessly, only to end up imprisoned."
"...That's strange. The Grand Cultivators must have lived for at least thousands of years. How could they not have experience fighting against the Heart Tribe, nor understand their fearsomeness?"
I'm puzzled, but I understand immediately after Gol Maek speaks.
"Most of those who fought even once against a Heart Tribe of the third stage of Manifestation or higher died before they could rise to the rank of Grand Cultivator."
"..."
Indeed, even ordinary cultivators are struck by 2,400 strands of Heavenly Tribulation when advancing to the Integration stage.
However, if they have a history of fighting against a Heart Tribe at the third stage of Manifestation, the number of Heavenly Tribulation strands increases to 3,600 without question.
Even if they manage to fight after reaching the Integration stage, once they've fought, they would never be able to attempt another advancement again.
Thus, it might be that reaching the position of Grand Cultivator is only possible if you avoid fighting the Heart Tribe.
"...In any case, Sir Young-hoon is currently 'communicating' with the Heart Tribe Supreme Council to prevent the entire Grand Cultivator Association from being executed."
"Communicating, huh..."
I look at them exchanging scenes furiously with intent, blending in enlightenment.
'It is a form of communication, I suppose.'
"And..."
"Hmm?"
As I briefly look toward Kim Young-hoon and the Supreme Council, Gol Maek bows deeply to me.
"Please forgive us for not fully grasping the Elder's true intentions earlier. In the end, you were right. Elder...is the savior of all humanity."
"I merely did what had to be done."
It seems even the Grand Cultivator Association has come to understand what I did.
"How could the salvation of humanity be something that's merely 'what had to be done'...your merits will be remembered for generations to come."
"Thanks."
"And...if I may ask for one favor...please ensure that Sir Young-hoon remains safe."
She looks at me as she speaks.
"Although it seems he is communicating with the Supreme Council, should things go wrong, only the Elder saving him can ensure the future for our Human Race."
"Hmm..."
Indeed, no matter how exceptional a martial artist Kim Young-hoon is, if he were to duel with the leaders of the Heart Tribe, who have a history of being abused by humans, there's a chance they might try to kill him.
'Though, that doesn't seem likely from the look of things right now.'
Currently, the Supreme Council of the Heart Tribe, who are sparring with Kim Young-hoon, are all feeling excitement, admiration, and respect. It doesn't seem like such a request is necessary.
"Alright, if Kim Young-hoon is in danger, I will step in."
"...Thank you!"
I accept the proposal, feeling like I'm clearing a debt.
Gol Maek thanks me several times, then hurries off, saying she'll deliver the good news to the Grand Cultivator Association.
For a moment, I stand next to Kim Yeon, watching Kim Young-hoon's spar.
Kim Yeon, having a level of sight around Entering Heavens due to the Wonderfully Mysterious Innate Heart Canon,
And me.
For both of us, the spar using intent is as clear as day, like watching fireworks. We can fully observe the exchange of intent between Kim Young-hoon and the Supreme Council of the Heart Tribe.
As I watch the display of fireworks, I turn to Kim Yeon and speak.
"...Yeon-ah."
"Yes."
"You have something to say, don't you?"
"..."
I ask while sensing Kim Yeon's emotions.
Though she's pretending to be fine, her mind is so devastated that it feels like she might collapse at any moment.
Her sudden change in how she addresses me must be related to this.
Kim Yeon takes a deep breath beside me.
It seems she's trying to control the overwhelming emotions welling up inside her.
After a moment of gathering herself, Kim Yeon slowly reveals a shocking truth.
At last, I understand why Buk Hyang-hwa came to me with that request earlier.
"...Hyang-hwa, she's going to die soon."