'What kind of crazy talk is this?'
Although events regarding True Immortals are always like this, I am amazed at the bizarre actions of Bong Myeong, which surpass common sense even for ordinary True Immortals.
"This feels like a status window."
Jeon Myeong-hoon, seemingly fascinated, touches the words floating before us.
"Ahaha, look, Seo Eun-hyun!"
Then, as if manipulating the words here and there, he quickly discovers how to use them.
"It's completely a status window! If we act diligently according to the roles we've been assigned, we can accumulate experience points, and through that, we can increase the rank of our roles. It seems that as the rank of the roles increases, we can gain special privileges concerning this world. To put it simply, it's a job change!"
"Hmm...it's difficult."
"Indeed. I am not familiar with this kind of thing either..."Kim Young-hoon and I spend a long time searching and examining the abilities of this status window.
After a while, Kim Young-hoon completely masters the status window, and I only finally grasp it much later.
"From what I can see, it seems we have to perform the missions the status window guides us through at least once a day to fulfill our roles. Otherwise...it says we will get caught by the light."
"Hmm...but what is this light?"
"Regarding that, let's ask Seo Eun-hyun."
Jeon Myeong-hoon explains the status window, and I give them a brief overview of the light and the Radiance Eight Immortals.
"...For these reasons, we must not get caught by the light and the Radiance Eight Immortals. Moreover...currently, the forces of light have put a bounty on us 'Enders.' So, for now, I believe it is best to move according to Bong Myong's intentions here... Oh, and as for what an Ender is..."
I explain more about Enders to Kim Young-hoon in detail and then speak.
"That's pretty much the basic knowledge. For now, we should explore a bit about this world inside a picture."
Woo-woong!
I grasp at the void.
'I can use attraction force. Prophecy and revision as well...Everything is usable just as before. However, the senses of Heaven, Earth, Heart and the consciousness domain are restricted.'
What measures has Bong Myeong taken?
The planes of Qi, Soul, and Fate are not visible.
Only by focusing on one of Qi, Soul, or Fate for a long time can any of the three planes barely be faintly seen.
Moreover, the consciousness domain is also restricted by powerful laws.
'Yet the world itself...is quite soft.'
It's a fragile world one wouldn't think a Supreme Deity created.
If I clench my fist once, it feels like it would just crumple and burst apart.
'Of course, if I did that, I'd be caught by Radiance Hall, right?'
I decide not to destroy the world in a single strike.
'And...'
I look at my body.
'It's my main body.'
Currently, my physical body is the main body of an Immortal Beast.
I'm only in the form of a human through Transformation. I am ready to change back into a Candle Dragon at any moment.
'Jeon Myeong-hoon, and Golden Shaking Bird inside Jeon Myeong-hoon, are the same. Everyone has been sealed in this world with their True Immortal main bodies.'
When Bong Myeong captured us, it seems They even dragged our main bodies from the True Immortal Realm.
'Although this world breaks when force is applied...how much power can I actually exert?'
Wiiing!
I draw upon my power as an Immortal Beast.
However, as I draw upon my power beyond a certain level, an extremely ominous foreboding fills me.
Whisperwhisperwhisper...
The world is whispering to me.
That if I reveal more power beyond this point, I risk exposure to the entities outside.
'Is this the limit?'
It appears that the total amount of power one can wield within this landscape world is around the Heavenly Being stage to the early-mid Four-Axis stage.
"First, as you all might have felt, there seems to be a risk of being detected by the Radiance Eight Immortals if we exert power beyond the Four-Axis state in this world. Therefore, it seems it would be challenging for us to leave this world solely with our strength. I will try summoning others as well."
Woo-woong!
With those words, Jeon Myeong-hoon brings out Golden Shaking Bird from within his body, and I release my subordinates, Hong Fan, Yeo Hwi, Yu Hwi, and Ham Jin from within mine.
'Opening and closing the internal world isn't much of an issue either.'
"Hmm... Master, where is this place?"
Hong Fan looks around with suspicious eyes, while Ham Jin and Yu Hwi bow to me.
As soon as Golden Shaking Bird and Yeo Hwi emerge, they furrow their brows.
"Emm, Master. What on earth is this place...?"
"The world seems to be forcing a form on Golden Shaking Bird. Golden Shaking Bird will change her form for now."
Parurururu!
Golden Shaking Bird transforms into a hummingbird, and Yeo Hwi into a crow.
And the two newly transformed Immortal Treasures are exuding aura only at the early Four-Axis level.
This seems to be the restriction applied to them by the world.
I explain the current situation to them.
"...This is the situation. For now, do any of you see the text...for example, something called a 'status window'?"
However, Hong Fan and the others shake their heads.
Yeo Hwi shrugs her wings and says,
"It seems I've been treated as rubbish rather than formally invited, so I'm only subjected to restrictions and not given such roles. However...as Master said, if I try to exert power beyond the Four-Axis stage, an extremely ominous intuition overwhelms me. For now, I will transform into a bird demon beast at the Four-Axis stage to assist Master."
"Besides that, the power restricting us seems much stronger than the power restricting the masters. Although I'm fused with the Great Desolate Path and considered an Immortal Treasure, I am in reality in the realm of a True Immortal. I feel I have to squeeze quite a bit of my power to just barely overcome this restriction."
I nod at their words.
"Alright. Then, everyone transform into the form you feel most comfortable in and follows us. Hong Fan, do you prefer the form of a human?"
"...No. It seems the world wants to restrict me because I have exceeded the level of power the world allows. I will transform into a smaller form like Golden Shaking Bird and Yeo Hwi."
Surururuk-
Saying that, he transforms into a small, black centipede and climbs onto my shoulder.
"I will follow in the form of a centipede. It seems this world prefers it as well."
"Alright. For now, hide in my clothes and follow along. Later, I will make a pouch for you to stay in."
I look at Ham Jin and Yu Hwi.
"What about you two?"
Since bringing them from the Sun and Moon Heavenly Domain, I've been intermittently explaining the situation and infusing them with 'wisdom', so they seem to understand and follow the current situation well.
"We are...only restricted by about one stage, but we are not pressured to transform into something or to shrink."
"It seems to be because our original realm is at best at the Integration stage. Although it could also be because we are originally of the Human Race. We will...follow as Master's human subordinates."
"Alright. Go ahead then."
We quickly determine our positions.
Paatt!
Just when the general situation is grasped.
In front of Jeon Myeong-hoon, Kim Young-hoon, and me, the status window begins to change.
The status window, composed of an array of words, assigns us daily tasks.
"Go to the village, settle in, and identify your role. Then prepare to act according to your assigned roles...?"
Jeon Myeong-hoon slowly reads the status window and then lets out a hollow laugh.
"...I'm going to go crazy. It's telling me to go to someone else's house and set off flames."
"...Fortunately, I'm just told to draw a map of the village. Seo Eun-hyun, what about you?"
"..."
I grit my teeth as I look at the daily task assigned to me.
I feel like I am already getting a headache.
—Go to the village, settle in, and identify your role.
—Your role is [Human Soap Merchant]. Please prepare to act your role.
—To capture people to make soap, a detailed kidnapping plan is necessary. Please devise a thorough kidnapping plan.
"...They want me to...kidnap people."
Feeling a throbbing in my head, I first descend to the village with my comrades.
After going to the village and gathering some basic information, we somewhat grasped an understanding of this landscape world.
First, the people here call this world [Liberation Peach Garden Village].
'Peach Garden Village...it's a kind of Peach Garden Painting.'
A type of storage scroll used by cultivators when putting living creatures inside, known as the Peach Garden Painting.
This Liberation Peach Garden Village seems to essentially be a gigantic Peach Garden Painting.
Liberation Peach Garden Village consists of four nations on a single vast continent: 'Sea Nation,' 'Square Nation,' 'Center Nation,' and 'Circle Nation,' each situated in the east, west, south, and north of the continent, respectively.
Each nation is about the size of Yanguo in the Head Realm, and their overall culture seems similar.
Beyond the continent lies an endlessly vast sea, and it looks like if you travel far enough across the sea, you emerge again on the opposite side.
'It's not a spherical world.'
Through the words of the residents, I gained an understanding of the world.
It isn't merely that the planet is round and sailing across the sea brings you to the opposite side.
If you go to the eastern end, you come out at the western end, and if you go to the southern end, you emerge at the northern end.
It's not a spherical world like a planet, but a flat world akin to a Decaying Corpse Realm.
However, instead of the world shield force, there's a peculiar spatial distortion that relocates entities reaching the world's edge to the opposite side.
'And...the residents also don't seem like normal inhabitants.'
"Ugh... Ah..."
"What is the name of this country we are in? Do the people of this world use martial arts? Are there cultivators? What about rumors of monstrous strength and chaotic spirits, tales of demon spirits and phantoms, and of ghosts, tigers, and immortal monsters?"
Sitting on the wooden porch of the house set as my role's 'home', I watch Yu Hwi interrogate the neighbor, Mr. Jang, using the soul-invoking art.
"Our country...is in the west of the continent...Square Nation... Martial artists...exist. There are also...pseudo-daoists called...sorcerers, though...I've heard legends...of Immortals...parting the skies...and summoning lightning...demons spirits...do exist..."
"Understood. Forget today's events and return to your work..."
Sururuk...
With a gesture from Yu Hwi, the spirit of the neighbor, Mr. Jang, slowly returns to his body.
"This seems to be the extent of what we can extract from this one, Master. Like other worlds, cultivators seem to be hidden among the mortals"
"Well done. But Yu Hwi...didn't you feel anything while using the soul-invoking art?"
"Pardon? What do you mean?"
"...Try bringing over the spirits of the passing dog, cat, and person for a moment."
"Yes."
Yu Hwi follows my order and briefly extracts the spirits of those passing by in front of the house.
"..."
I glance at the spirits and let out a silent sigh.
"I see..."
Looking at the souls, I feel an inexplicable chill.
'I was wondering why each and everyone felt familiar... They carry the scent of the flames of the Underworld Ten Kings. These beings...none of them are living people!'
All the residents of this world are deceased.
They are beings dragged out from the depths of the Underworld, temporarily escaping from the Underworld flames.
Each and everyone is a sinner who escaped from hell.
'Did They momentarily pull out the vile souls who committed atrocious sins in their lifetime and were suffering in the flames of hell to fill Their world as supporting characters?'
Upon realizing this, I feel two opposing emotions.
One is a flimsy defense mechanism that slightly alleviates the guilt of performing a mad role like 'Human Soap Merchant.'
The other is a feeling of desolation.
'This world...is not free even in death.'
Only sinners have been dragged here.
But...doesn't being pulled into the realm of the living even after death mean that, for a True Immortal that has friendship with the Underworld, it is possible to drag out either sinners or noble spirits from the afterlife, torturing them for eternity or manipulating them like puppets at will?
'Both life and death are at the whims of True Immortals.'
Throb!
For some reason, it feels like the sword scar left on my shoulder by the Sword Spear Heavenly Lord is throbbing a bit.
'Bong Myeong seems to be a being capable of discerning good and evil...but what about other beings?'
Is the fate decreed by the heavens truly only evil?
I weigh between the Way of Light and the Way of Salt that Gyeong-i told me before, pondering over which one is truly right.
'Perhaps...the Way of Light may not be so bad after all...'
For some reason, the thought that the Way of Light might be right does not leave my mind.
A chaotic space where everything is mixed together.
There, eight giant gods of light appear and take their positions.
The representative of Radiance Hall, the Great Forest Heavenly Lord, and the executor, the Rain Dew Heavenly Lord, join forces to create eight thrones of light and the symbol of the [Black Snake Biting Its Tail] in front of them.
Upon those thrones, the other Eight Immortals take their seats.
The Flower Plant, Great Sun, Torch Candle, Pearl Jade, and Great Sea Heavenly Lords are each communicating with the dimensions of their respective domains in real-time, continuing to tend to various tasks even from their seats.
The Sword Spear Heavenly Lord is looking and continuously whispering to a hazy, misty something made from someone's Vestige.
They are ceaselessly infusing [wisdom] that symbolizes the Way of Light.
Only the Sword Spear Heavenly Lord knows why they are doing such a thing.
And, beginning with these Radiance Eight Immortals, various colossal entities reveal their wills in that place.
Amidst the chaos, several powerful 'symbols' begin to appear, each engaging in conversation with one another in their respective languages.
There are a total of eight symbols gathered:
[Black Snake Biting Its Tail]
[Transparent Seed]
[Bird Trapped in a Cage]
[Spear of Lightning]
[Black Sun]
[Taiji In The Shape Of A Fetus]
[Mountain Exuding Darkness]
[Six Interconnected Stars]
The wills of the eight Imperial Kings (帝王) marks their presence in this space.
The Imperial Kings Banquet is about to begin.