Kurururung!
The sky above the Lightning Sacred Sea momentarily darkens with storm clouds before the authority over it completely falls into my grasp.
After taking control of the Lightning Sacred Sea, I use the Extinguishing Divine Tribulating Heavens Technique to prove my status as the [successor of the Golden Divine] and release Golden Shaking Bird.
Pasasasasak!
It seems she had been borrowing quite a bit of strength from the Lightning Sacred Sea.
The aura of the Golden Shaking Bird weakens slightly.
She, while weakly slipping on soft socks and floral shoes to cover her delicate feet, speaks.
"If you've lied to me, I will bestow upon you the greatest misfortune I can muster and then self-destruct. Crystal Glass Being Old Man."
'An old monster that's lived for 120,000 years dares to call me, who's lived barely over 10,000 years, Old Man?'Clicking my tongue at her choice of address, I reply.
"Try coming up with a different form of address other than Old Man."
"Understood, Elder Crystal Glass Being. In any case, I mean what I say. We Thunder Beasts were originally created to curse our opponents. I am confident in my curses, so do not give me a reason to hold a deep grudge."
"Elder... Fine, I understand. But there's nothing to worry about. I swear upon the Owner of Names, the name of the Immortal Beast Pangu. He is an entity who came from the same homeland as Yang Su-jin, carries the same fate as Yang Su-jin, and inherited Yang Su-jin's techniques."
"...I will choose to believe you."
"Then, first, after finishing a few matters in the Sun and Moon Heavenly Domain, we will head to the Bearing Tree Heavenly Domain to meet that brat."
At my words, she asks with a puzzled expression.
"By the way, the Great Desolate Path cannot currently be activated. It lacks the main soul (魂) required to function."
"That's fine."
I show her the celestial sphere given to me by Yeong Seung.
"I know that the Great Desolate Path is an Immortal Treasure modeled after the South Polar Ritual Treasure. This artifact was personally given to me by the South Polar Ritual Treasure himself. With this, I can activate the Great Desolate Path."
"The South Polar Ritual Treasure... So it's Yeong Seung's split soul. If this is consumed, it could allow two individuals to leap across a Heavenly Domain. However, knowing Elder's personality, it seems likely that you'll bring all of those within you along."
Golden Shaking Bird glances at the Hong Fan and Yeo Hwi residing within my body and asks.
I nod.
"Hmm, that's true. But even so, Yeo Hwi is my Immortal Treasure, and Hong Fan is merely at the Integration stage—surely they can fit in between you and me?"
"Hah, as if that's possible. The standards for crossing the Heavenly Domain using the Great Desolate Path are strict. Each activation strictly allows [one person].
"When the main soul of the Great Desolate Path existed, it could accommodate up to three people at most. The rank of the beings traveling doesn't matter. After all, it was originally an Immortal Treasure designed to escape the Heavenly Punishment Supreme Deity.
"It was specifically designed to identify distinct [existences], preventing crossing the Heavenly Domain without proper [seats]. This was to prevent any possibility of the Heavenly Punishment Supreme Deity from slipping in and squeezing among the seats."
"Hmm..."
After some thought, I speak.
"In that case, leaving Yeo Hwi behind temporarily might—"
"Hehe, are you seriously suggesting leaving behind Yeo Hwi, one of the disciples of the Northern Dipper Seven Heavenly Lords, the allies of Radiance Hall, in the Sun and Moon Heavenly Domain? If we leave, she'll surely throw the doors of the Lightning Sacred Sea wide open, inviting the True Immortals of Radiance Hall wandering the Sun and Moon Heavenly Domain to host a grand tea party. Isn't that what's bound to happen?"
"..."
Kurururung!
Indeed, the one who tried to betray me just a short while ago is Yeo Hwi.
'If I don't tighten her leash properly, leaving her behind would definitely be unsettling.'
"Then what should I do? Do you have a method?"
"There's a very simple method. Kill her. No, rather than simply killing her, why not offer her as a living sacrifice to the South Polar Ritual Treasure, delighting him while enhancing the celestial sphere—or perhaps even obtaining another one?"
At Golden Shaking Bird's words, Yeo Hwi, who is in the process of being refined, starts to convulse and desperately begs me.
"...She may be frustrating, but she is still someone I've decided to use as my Immortal Treasure. I do not wish to casually discard someone I've accepted. Besides, she's a disciple of the Northern Dippers, so wouldn't offering her to Yeong Seung displease him? Isn't she practically one of his own?"
"The South Polar Ritual Treasure does not get along with the Northern Dipper Seven Heavenly Lords. He would actually be delighted. During my master's lifetime, there were 70 disciples of the Northern Dippers in the Sun and Moon Heavenly Domain. However, my master captured 21 of those disciples, offered them to Yeong Seung as living sacrifices, and received blessings from him in return."
"..."
As soon as Yeo Hwi hears about Yang Su-jin's deeds within me, it's as if unpleasant memories resurface. She falls into immense terror and starts convulsing.
Hearing about Yang Su-jin's headache-inducing actions, I shake my head.
"...In any case, no. What about simply sealing her or borrowing the Naming Supreme Deity's power to enforce an oath and leaving her behind?"
"Seals and oaths can easily be undone. If she prays to Radiance Hall, they can request their allies, the Liberation Supreme Deity or the Naming Supreme Deity, to nullify them. However, since Elder seems to prefer a moderate approach, I'll suggest a method that, while slightly painful, leaves no aftereffects, keeps Yeo Hwi intact, and causes no problems. It's a very good method."
At Golden Shaking Bird's words, Yeo Hwi begins sobbing from within and pleas desperately, begging me not to listen to Golden Shaking Bird.
Though I do feel sorry for her, she is, after all, a traitor. Thus, I lend my ear to Golden Shaking Bird's words rather than hers.
"Go on, speak."
"Since her refinement as an Immortal Treasure is nearly complete, I will enter Elder's body and add a small extra process during the later stages of refinement. That way, once the refinement is complete, not only will her rank as an Immortal Treasure increase, but she'll also radiate magnificent golden lightning"
"Oho... What exactly are you planning to do?"
"It's nothing complicated. Among the methods for refining Thunder Beasts, there's a process where you gather the targets' spirits and mix them together. Inside Elder's body, I will mix that thing being refined with a portion of Elder's spirit body, temporarily making that thing treated as a [part of Elder]."
"What!? Wouldn't that cause her to be destroyed?"
"There's no need to worry about that. I will take measures to ensure that even after mixing, it can later be separated again."
Pajijijijik!
As she speaks, she forms a lightning banner in her hand.
"This is the Ascetic Lightning Curse Banner, a Thunder Path spell. Since Elder acquired the Extinguishing Divine Tribulating Heavens Technique, you must have seen it before."
"Oh, I know of it."
"As you know, the Ascetic Lightning Curse Banner is both a torture spell and a spell that 'protects' the target's mind."
"That's true."
The Five Elements Blood Curse Banner, a variation of the Ascetic Lightning Curse Banner, works the same way.
It protects the mind with the energy of the Five Elements and helps concentrate one's consciousness—that is the Five Elements Blood Curse Banner.
"If this is elevated to the Plane of Fate, the realm of Immortal Arts, even if the target is mixed, it can protect the consciousness and later undo the mixing, returning them to normal."
"I see... So what you're saying is that after planting the Ascetic Lightning Curse Banner into her mind, you'll mix my spirit body with Yeo Hwi's, temporarily making her a part of me to reduce the headcount?"
"Exactly."
"Hmm, what about Hong Fan? Are you perhaps planning to implant the Ascetic Lightning Curse Banner in Hong Fan as well?"
"That won't be necessary. That one may be a disciple of the Northern Dippers and an ally of Radiance Hall, but that Integration stage...is Elder's loyal devotee, is he not? I think it would be fine to simply leave him in the Lightning Sacred Sea or some appropriate lower realm."
At those words, I nod.
Indeed, unlike the traitor Yeo Hwi, Hong Fan is my loyal subject, so leaving him in the Lightning Sacred Sea would be fine.
However, at that moment, Hong Fan cries out.
[Master, I too wish to follow you. Please allow it!]
"Hmm... Can you endure the Ascetic Lightning Curse Banner?"
[That much is no problem. I will endure with the single-minded determination to follow Master!]
Feeling slightly moved by Hong Fan's words, I ask Yeo Hwi.
"Can you include Hong Fan in the process as well? In the least painful way possible..."
"It's possible, but if it's just an Integration stage bug...isn't there an even simpler and less painful method?"
"Oho, such a method exists? What is it?"
Hearing there's a simpler method, I brighten and ask with interest.
If such a method exists, I too would prefer to avoid causing Hong Fan pain.
However, as I listen to Golden Shaking Bird's following words, it feels as though I've been struck on the head.
"Just kill him painlessly, and before his soul gets dragged into the Underworld, go to the Bearing Tree Heavenly Domain and use a prophecy to resurrect him in the Heavenly Domain. Then his soul will cross over along the outskirts of the Underworld and revive cleanly in the Bearing Tree Heavenly Domain."
"..."
"Regarding the devotee of Time who reached the Entering Nirvana stage... If we try to kill and resurrect her, there's a high chance she'll pass through the Source River during the process and confess everything to her master or Radiance Hall, making it impossible. If we were to pass through the outskirts of the Underworld, our presence would be too big and we would be immediately detected by the Reapers or the Heavenly Immortals of Radiance Hall. Therefore, it's a method only possible for that Integration stage bug."
"..."
"Is there some issue with this as well?"
"...No...there isn't. It's just..."
I let out a bitter smile.
Before I knew it, I've become a being who can freely preside over the lives and deaths of others.
Killing the living and resurrecting the dead has become possible.
I clearly feel I've risen to an unfathomable height, but for some reason, a thought crosses my mind.
Is it truly right for a single being to wield such immense authority?
Suddenly, the words of Salt Sea Cheongmun Ryeong come to mind.
His words about cultivators obtaining 'excessive power'...
'Though I intend to restrain myself with such authority...if just one of the True Immortals harbors malice, couldn't they torture beings of lower ranks endlessly, killing and resurrecting them for eons?
"...It's just that I realize once again I've become a True Immortal."
"I see."
"Indeed. However, since Hong Fan might find it unpleasant, I'll ask for his opinion."
'Truly...is granting such power to a single existence...right? Can it really be right for beings to possess such authority?'
I click my tongue deeply in thought.
"What's the point of asking the opinion of such a bug?"
"...Don't call Hong Fan a bug."
"Then is Elder saying to refer to the centipede as an insect?"
"...If you're going to argue like that, just call him an arthropod. Referring to him simply as a bug doesn't feel right."
"Elder is quite particular, I see."
I stick out my tongue at the unexpected rebuttal and turn to Hong Fan to ask for his opinion.
"Hong Fan, I plan to momentarily kill you and then resurrect you in the Bearing Tree Heavenly Domain. Would you find that unpleasant?"
Even if it's a master-servant relationship, no one would like their master killing and resurrecting them at will.
Worried about this, I carefully ask Hong Fan for his opinion.
If there's even the slightest hint that Hong Fan feels bad about it, I'll have no choice but to accompany him myself and use another method like summoning Golden Shaking Bird.
However, Hong Fan gives an entirely unexpected response.
[That's fine, Master! For some reason, thinking about briefly visiting the Netherworld makes me feel quite pleased!]
"...Hmm?"
Slightly taken aback by the unexpected situation, I ask again.
"Aren't you...afraid of dying?"
[Not particularly. I'm not sure why, but...I actually feel extremely excited and happy! For nearly three thousand years, I haven't felt this good... Even I find it curious.]
Hearing Hong Fan's response, a certain scene suddenly flashes through my mind.
'Come to think of it, in a previous cycle, the nun Tae Yeol-jeon was the Heavenly Venerable of the Underworld.'
And as soon as Hong Fan saw her, his eyes turned upside down, and he began clinging to her immediately.
It looked as if he completely threw away his role as my aide that he considered his fate.
'Yet, in the very next cycle, he showed disgust and contempt, calling the lazy Tae Yeol-jeon smelly and repulsive...'
If I consider the fact that Tae Yeol-jeon's true identity turned out to be the Owner of the Underworld...
'Could Hong Fan's welcome attitude towards visiting the Underworld be related to that in some way? Perhaps Hong Fan was...'
"Hong Fan, perhaps you were one of the Reapers of the Underworld in your past life."
[Oh...is that what Master thinks?]
"It's just a guess. Just consider it something to keep in mind as you try to recall your past life."
[Understood. Thank you for the consideration.]
I nod after giving advice to Hong Fan.
"Alright. Since Hong Fan has agreed, we'll proceed as you suggested. For now, while I take a look around the Sun and Moon Heavenly Domain, help with the refinement inside my body. How long will the refinement take?"
"It should be completed by the time you've made a round around the Sun and Moon Heavenly Domain. Once I enter, please spare a portion of your spirit body to be merged with that thing."
"Understood. Then I'll leave it to you."
I accept Golden Shaking Bird into my body, and she approaches Yeo Hwi, who is undergoing refinement inside me.
"Ahahaha! Ahahahahaha!!!"
Golden Shaking Bird laughs madly with her eyes blazing red as she stares at Yeo Hwi who is trapped in the prison of Seo Eun-hyun's Glass True Fire.
"Who do we have here!!?? It's been so, so long. Truly...it's something worth living all this time for. To think there would come a day when the vicious Evil God of the Black Bird Star True Sect (黑鳥星眞門) would lie beneath our feet..."
Yeo Hwi trembles all over, her body shaking with humiliation and fear, as she looks up at Golden Shaking Bird.
"...Y-You lowly spirits of a minor sect that once offered me sacrifices... Do you dare defy your god (神)?"
"God? You mean 'old god'! Master saved us from your tyranny and changed our sect to the Thunder Bird Golden Shaking Sect. Now, you're nothing more than our 'former master'."
"You lowly creatures...to dare speak to your former master like—"
Kwang!
Before Yeo Hwi can finish her sentence, her head is slammed into the ground with a single nod from Golden Shaking Bird.
With a face full of ecstasy, Golden Shaking Bird steps on Yeo Hwi's head with her soft foot.
"To think I can do whatever I want to my former master... Back when Master hunted you all down and offered you all as sacrifice, I regretted not being able to catch you. But now...such a thing has actually come to pass."
"You...you dare...? You dare, to me..."
"Consider this retribution, Yeo Hwi. You took living sacrifices from us...violated and killed them, and then pretended to show generosity while bestowing us nothing but calamities. The grudge of the Black Bird Star True Sect...has finally come back to you."
Sneer—
A massive banner crackling with lightning appears in Golden Shaking Bird's hand.
"W-Wait! Though I killed them, they died experiencing pleasure! I'm saying I killed them after making them happy! S-Senior, please listen to my words for a moment!"
The lightning banner, named the Ascetic Lightning Curse Banner, rises to the Plane of Fate and becomes an Immortal Art.
Smiling to the point her mouth threatens to tear, Golden Shaking Bird tramples Yeo Hwi underfoot as she looks down at her.
"The time Elder will take to circle the Sun and Moon Heavenly Domain won't be long. At most ten days? Ahaha... But for you...it will be a long ten days."
Licking her lips, Golden Shaking Bird presses the Ascetic Lightning Curse Banner, along with countless other dharma tools made of lightning, towards the tightly bound Yeo Hwi.
"Let's have a delightful time together, our...former Evil God..."
On the vast expanse of the colorless glass sword mountain.
In that place, one laugh and one scream echo across the land.
Sun and Moon Heavenly Domain.
Interdimensional Void.
I arrive at the five Middle Realms located there.
'Directly entering the Bright Cold Realm would be too dangerous.'
First of all, the Sacred Master of the Bright Cold Realm, Baek Woon, is a devotee of Radiance Hall, and the Bright Cold Realm has long been renamed as the Bright (Light) Cold Realm.
'It's practically the stomach of Radiance Hall. If I go there, regardless of the Crystal Glass Being Immortal Title, the Sword Spear Heavenly Lord could come chasing after me.'
Thus, I decide to save the Bright Cold Realm for last and send in a puppet clone instead.
'Then, where should I go first? Ancient Force? Nether Ghosts? True Devil?'
It's when I am deliberating.
Suddenly, one location comes to mind.
'...Come to think of it, the place I'm most curious about right now...is that place.'
I gaze far into the distance.
Towards a certain world located at the center of the Middle Realms.
No, to be precise, it's not exactly at the center, but rather slightly deeper into the Interdimensional Void than the Middle Realms.
It is the Head Realm.
Perhaps because I have become a True Immortal, simply gazing at the outer surface of the Head Realm no longer brings any significant shock.
It just makes my eyes ache slightly.
Wo-woong!
I select a suitable puppet remaining inside an artificial star and overlay a powerful illusion onto it.
Then, I blow my split soul into the puppet and temporarily seal the split soul's memories.
Now, the split soul within this puppet is no different from an ordinary mortal.
Even if it looks up at the sky of the Head Realm, it will sense nothing.
"Go."
Tuk—
I push the puppet clone, overlaid with the illusion of [Seo Eun-hyun], towards the Head Realm.
"Golden Shaking Bird, Hong Fan, Yeo Hwi. I'm sorry, but it seems it will take a little more time. Please just wait another 30 or 40 years."
[Haha, for beings of our level, that amount of time is no different from a fleeting instant, Master.]
[Yes! I am fine with it, Elder.]
[Eup, eup, eup! Uhuuueup, uuueup...huk...]
Three responses reach me. Seeing that everyone seems to agree, I smile faintly and look at the puppet clone I sent to the Head Realm.
It will meet the factions I yearn to see on my behalf.
"Heok!!!"
[I] snap my eyes open and rise from where I was lying.
"This, this place is..."
Looking around, I find myself in some strange cave.
I get up in a panic.
My head hurts.
"Where is this...? And why am I..."
Suddenly, [memories] surface.
'I was definitely driving my coworkers in the car to our destination...when we were caught in a landslide...'
Throb!
That's right!
I was caught in a landslide!
But for some reason, when I opened my eyes, I found myself in this strange place!
'While I was unconscious...it feels like I had a very long dream.'
However, I cannot clearly recall the details of the dream.
I stagger and, for now, head outside.
"Where the hell is this? Where are my coworkers?"
It's then.
Some 'knowledge' suddenly surfaces in my mind.
Ascension Path.
The name of this place is Ascension Path.