"Master!! We must run away!! Huaaagh! This devil hag, her goal was to throw us into the jaws of the Swallowing Heaven Supreme Deity and kill us all along!"
Golden Shaking Bird begins to have a fit, clinging to Jeon Myeong-hoon while screaming.
Kang Min-hee bites down on her long pipe, as if her head hurts watching the scene.
"Huuu... What's that now? Is that your pet, Jeon Myeong-hoon?"
"...There's a reason we're together."
Jeon Myeong-hoon speaks while pushing the Golden Shaking Bird away.
"That one might be a bit violent, even breaking my leg and all, but still, she is my comrade. She didn't drag us in here just to kill us, so calm down."
"No! Master's leg! This devil hag dares—!"
At Jeon Myeong-hoon's words, Golden Shaking Bird seems to calm down but soon growls at Kang Min-hee with fiery eyes."Huuuuu..."
Kang Min-hee clicks her tongue as she exhales a stream of blue smoke.
"Calm down. You're safe as long as you stay with me."
Hwiiiiiiii—
The blue smoke she exhales swirls around us.
And I notice that her smoke draws a circle as it encircles this dark space.
'This is...'
Some power operating in this space forms a circle, protecting us.
"Flawless Mantra. It's the essence that composes the Swallowing Heaven Supreme Deity...and at the same time, it's also a direct channel to the Heavenly Venerable of the Underworld. I'm using the Flawless Mantra to make us recognized as part of the Swallowing Heaven Supreme Deity. So as long as the Flawless Mantra is active, we can stay inside here as long as we want."
"...!"
She looks at me and continues.
"You could probably walk around here even without me. You've learned the Flawless Mantra, after all."
"...Seems like it."
Somehow, this darkness feels familiar.
It feels as though the darkness itself is welcoming me, and even if I step outside that circle where Kang Min-hee's power is at work, I feel like I'd be fine.
'It must be because I've learned the Flawless Mantra.'
"Anyway, Kang Min-hee."
After brushing all her hair, I tuck the comb into her hair and ask.
"You're not your main body, are you? Where's your main body?"
"That's right. I sensed you guys coming and sent a temporary clone. My main body is deeper inside the Swallowing Heaven Supreme Deity. In the place connected to the Heavenly Venerable of the Underworld, I'm learning something special from Them."
It seems she is learning how to draw a taenghwa.
"What exactly are you learning?"
"That...I can't tell you. It's highly confidential."
"I see... In that case, can I ask one favor?"
"What kind of favor?"
"Let me meet the Heavenly Venerable of the Underworld."
At my words, Kang Min-hee's eyes widen.
Jeon Myeong-hoon also looks over, eyes brimming with interest.
"There's something I need to request."
I think of Kim Yeon, trapped in Liberation Peach Garden Village.
And Kim Young-hoon, wandering in the Outer Sea.
But Kang Min-hee speaks with a hardened face.
"No."
"Why? Why not?"
"...You, judging by your winged garment...you're an Upper Immortal, aren't you?"
"That's right."
"At the level of an Upper Immortal, you can't meet Them."
A faint fear lingers in her eyes.
"They...want to capture all of us Enders. At your level, you'll definitely be caught and sealed. I absolutely cannot allow it."
"Then why...haven't you been sealed?"
"That's simply because They value my talent highly. There's no greater reason."
Kang Min-hee places a hand on her chest and continues speaking.
"They said all the strength and talent of us Enders...merely flow from something called fate. But the talent I possess, excluding my fate, still reaches a level comparable to an Ender's, which is why They are specially nurturing me as a candidate for a Judge... No such exception applies to the other Enders. Especially..."
She speaks with a bitter gaze.
"When you advanced to True Immortal...I admired your talent, Seo Eun-hyun, and asked the Heavenly Venerable of the Underworld. I asked if They couldn't take you as Their disciple alongside me. But They told me this. That They 'must not take you as a disciple'..."
"..."
"It probably means you don't meet the criteria. That's why, unless you at least reach the level of Great Net Immortal, I cannot bring you before Them."
Kang Min-hee gestures toward the endlessly stretching world of darkness.
"Currently, all of us Enders are wanted by the beings called Radiance Hall. The reason I brought you all here is because the stomach of the Swallowing Heaven Supreme Deity is the safest place. From now on, cultivate here.
"When you want to leave, you can speak the Flawless Mantra to me or Seo Eun-hyun, and you'll be able to exit. If you're bored, you can go out to the Twin Holding Heavenly Domain and wander around. The Twin Holding Heavenly Domain is where various Earth Upper Immortals and True Immortals not affiliated with Radiance Hall gather, so there should be plenty to see. You're free here. But..."
She speaks with a resolute expression.
"Seo Eun-hyun, I cannot introduce you to the Heavenly Venerable of the Underworld, like you asked. To be introduced to Them, you need to be at least Great Net Immortal, and ideally, you'd have to elevate your realm to the level of Immortal Lord. Otherwise...none of you can meet Them."
"..."
I let out a silent sigh.
I can clearly feel her concern for me.
But I have a definite reason why I must meet the Heavenly Venerable of the Underworld.
"Trust me, Kang Min-hee. Even if I meet the Heavenly Venerable of the Underworld, They won't try to taxidermize me."
"..."
She closes her eyes, as if unwilling to hear any more, and melts into the darkness.
"I'll be with my main body. You all stay here and rest. The power of the Flawless Mantra will protect you as long as you don't step outside that blue smoke. Well then..."
Shiriririk!...
"Hm..."
Watching her fully disappear from the space, I scratch my head.
'Well, this is quite...'
Originally, I planned to show her my Three Great Ultimates right in front of her, but now it's gotten a bit tricky.
'Then, there's no helping it.'
I sigh and decide to go find Kang Min-hee's main body.
'Anyway, if it's her current self, she should be directly communing with the Heavenly Venerable of the Underworld, receiving training. If I go to where her main body is, I should be able to meet the Heavenly Venerable.'
I take out Yeo Hwi, Yu Hwi, Ham Jin, Hong Fan, Jun Jae, and those who were inside me into this space and ask.
"Hong Fan, you look after Yu Hwi, Ham Jin, Jun Jae, and the others here. They haven't woken up yet, but if they do, explain the situation to them. And Jeon Myeong-hoon, Golden Shaking Bird. I'm going to find Kang Min-hee for a bit, so wait for me for a while."
"Mm, got it. But how are you going to find her? This space inside the Swallowing Heaven Supreme Deity's belly...is a darkness where no attraction force or anything else can be sensed..."
"There's a way to handle that."
I speak as I fling open my internal world.
With that, five-colored light blooms from within my internal world.
Among them, the red light merges into Jeon Myeong-hoon in the blink of an eye, while the color mixed of golden, purple, and silver fly off somewhere.
The light pink light disappears on the spot as if teleporting, and the dark blue light cluster quickly shoots past into the darkness beyond.
That must be where Kang Min-hee's main body is.
Kiririk—
In the past life, the movement speed of the lights were so fast that it was hard to chase after them.
'It's a little different now.'
In an instant,
A Pure-White Three Great Ultimates rises behind me.
Triple Divinity awakens my mind.
Triple Divinity is ultimately the extreme blossoming of intent's characteristics.
Thus, the method of operating Triple Divinity is ultimately similar to consciousness.
'Acceleration.'
By the power of Triple Divinity, my mind seems to rise to a new dimension.
It feels as though a new domain of the mind is being created.
Chwararararak!
In an instant, a phenomenon occurs where the world of darkness seems to flatten into two dimensions.
Pabat!
I begin dash through the world narrowed into a two-dimensional plane.
Narayana Nature preserves my mind within this domain.
Shiriririk!
Along with it, Mahesvara Nature erases the 'distance' that has been narrowed, allowing me to chase after those lights.
For how long do I run after the cluster of lights, having entered a new dimension?
Kurururung!
I spot Kang Min-hee's main body in the distance.
The cluster of blue light enters and settles within Kang Min-hee's body.
She seems to be an Upper Immortal who has followed the Earth Upper Immortal pathway, but perhaps because she is only at the level of a True Immortal who learned the Flawless Mantra, even she cannot perceive me, who has arrived in this place in a fleeting instant.
In this world where time seems to have stopped, I gently place my hand on her shoulder and land beside the spot where she is sitting.
She is drawing a taenghwa, but I cannot see what the taenghwa depicts.
The painting itself seems to have some sort of restriction.
However, I soon lose interest in the taenghwa and instead lower my waist, kneeling, and bowing towards the presence I feel before me.
A familiar sensation.
But...
A reverence and awe entirely different from before.
'Unlike before...precisely because I've grown, I can feel just how terrifying that deep darkness is...just a little more vividly...'
I swallow hard, then open my mouth towards the presence before Kang Min-hee.
"This lowly Upper Immortal, Crystal Glass Being Seo Eun-hyun...greets the Heavenly Venerable of the Underworld..."
And then,
Hwarurureuk...
In this frozen world, a familiar figure appears, holding a candle flame.
A being at times resembling Tae Yeol-jeon, at times the village girl from the mountain village, at times Kang Min-hee, and at times Kim Yeon.
'...This is insane.'
Just her very existence makes chills run down my back.
This a dimension reached by accelerating my consciousness, which has arrived at the True Immortal level, to the point of transcendence.
Even for me, moving within this dimension is burdensome, yet she moves so naturally within it.
I realize as I look at her.
'The Heavenly Venerable of the Underworld...is the strongest.'
Not a single authority related to time would work on her.
Aging through time acceleration would not work because her weight class is far too high, and time stop is meaningless as she, too, possesses the consciousness capable of entering a stopped world.
Moreover, time reversal directly deals with past, and since the Heavenly Venerable of the Underworld seized control of the history pathway, it would be effortlessly blocked.
'The Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable is the same. Even though They govern birth, considering that the Reincarnation Judge is effectively under the Underworld's jurisdiction, it wouldn't be strange for Their authority domain to be taken away entirely at any time... And the Martial Arts of the Heavenly Venerable of the Underworld are also at a level comparable to Hyeon Mu, yet her weight class is even higher...'
No other Heavenly Venerable could reach even the tip of the Underworld Heavenly Venerable's toes.
It's just when I think so.
"Each has their own strengths. When it comes to embarking on far-reaching journeys and finding hidden coordinates, Time is a step above me. Sal Tree as well is superior to me in granting birth and fate to life. And Void, as well, I cannot be compared to."
"...!"
Having my thoughts seen through in an instant, I lower my head with a bitter smile.
"Why say such things? I am clearly of the Heavenly Venerable's..."
"If possible, I would prefer not to be called titles containing Heaven (天)."
The Heavenly Venerable of the Underworld cuts off my words with an unexpected request, and I nod.
'So that's why they all called her Imperial Venerable.'
"...Yes, Imperial Venerable. I have clearly experienced the Heart and Heaven Taenghwa Painting of the Imperial Venerable. And when recalling having crossed swords with Hyeon Mu..."
Indeed, that Heart and Heaven Taenghwa Painting carried a similar feeling to Hyeon Mu's Dance of Emptiness.
The only difference was in how delicately its power was adjusted.
"Aren't the Imperial Venerable's Martial Arts...already in the same realm as the True Martial Great Emperor Hyeon Mu?"
At my question, the Heavenly Venerable of the Underworld only smiles faintly.
Then she opens her mouth.
And at her next words, I cannot help but feel great shock.
"This technique you all call 'martial discipline'...is merely a 'technique' I learned to discern Enders. I have not learned his technique to a high realm. This lowly maiden is, at best by your standards, at the realm you call Seated Detachment, Entering Hope, or perhaps the First Step Before the Throne."
"...!"
I flinch in surprise.
"L-Lowly maiden, you say? Why act like this towards me? No, more importantly...Seated Detachment, Entering Hope? But yours is clearly..."
"Through heterodox methods, I merely produced power equivalent to Severing Heaven by your standards. Unlike the versatile other Heavenly Venerables, this lowly maiden is merely...an incompetent being who focused solely on the path of history."
I am taken aback by the Heavenly Venerable of the Underworld's sudden extreme self-deprecating attitude.
"...Where did he suddenly disappear to?"
Jeon Myeong-hoon sits quietly, gazing off somewhere after Seo Eun-hyun suddenly vanished.
After Seo Eun-hyun disappeared, saying he is going to find Kang Min-hee,
Jeon Myeong-hoon felt an immense power welling up within his body and is currently calming that power.
Because of the sudden surge in power, his mind temporarily awakened to the point of connecting to a strange spacetime.
"Anyway..."
Jeon Myeong-hoon looks at Hong Fan in this world where everything has stopped and where the world feels as if it has turned two-dimensional.
"That guy just now... It looked like he moved. Or was it just my imagination?"
It was probably just his imagination.
"Man, what an odd expression."
Jeon Myeong-hoon stares at Hong Fan, who is gazing fixedly at somewhere with an ambiguous expression.
"Where is he staring so intently like that with that face...?"
As he steadies his power in the stopped world, Jeon Myeong-hoon glances towards the spot Hong Fan is fixated on, looking slightly bored.
There is only darkness there.
I look at the Heavenly Venerable of the Underworld, who assumes a lower posture before me, and ask.
"May I know why you are suddenly doing this to me?"
"Hoho..."
But the Heavenly Venerable of the Underworld simply smiles meaningfully and lowers her head even more in her Transformation form.
'Something feels odd...'
It almost feels as though the one she is lowering herself to isn't me.
'Seeing as she's not telling me, she probably won't answer.'
"...Understood. I will not inquire about this matter. In that case, allow me to ask about one matter."
"What is it?"
"I once heard from Yang Su-jin. Strictly speaking, it was from a remnant thought of his. I heard that the Imperial Venerable...tends to capture and taxidermy beings like us up to a certain standard, but if we surpass that standard, you provide support."
"Hoo..."
"I would like to ask."
Woo-wooong!
I raise the Pure-White Three Great Ultimates as I speak.
A force that seems capable of annihilating Heaven and Earth surges from the Pure-White Three Great Ultimates.
"Do I, as I am now...meet the Imperial Venerable's standard?"
"..."
She stares at me silently for a moment.
'...Damn it...'
Just from her 'gaze', I feel as if I am falling into a bottomless pit.
"...At your current level..."
The Heavenly Venerable of the Underworld speaks after seeming to deliberate for a moment.
"You are exactly at the level of Yang Su-jin, right before his advancement to Immortal Lord."
"...! Th-That means..."
"It means you do not meet the standard."
"..."
I almost smile but instead break out into a cold sweat.
'Damn it all...'
For a moment, I even wonder if I am about to be taxidermized.
But I quickly pull myself together.
'No. The fact that she is speaking calmly with me means there is still room left.'
"If it's the level of Yang Su-jin before advancing to Immortal Lord...may I take that to mean I am almost at the threshold?"
After all, Yang Su-jin died when he was an Immortal Lord!
"Yes, well, that is correct. But rather than almost, let's say so-so. Therefore...it is because you are in an ambiguous state that I am leaving you be. If I see no further potential, I will taxidermize you immediately. But since there is still a sprout to be seen, I am allowing you time to grow."
"...So full support is still difficult for now."
"That is correct."
I bite my lip.
'...So full support is out, huh... But that's fine.'
I have something prepared precisely for a situation like this.
"In that case, even if support is not possible...would a 'transaction' be acceptable?"
"Hm... A transaction is fine. However, I wonder if you possess something that would satisfy this maiden."
"It is not an object, but...perhaps this will interest you."
Confidently, I pull out the card that I've kept.
"The true will of Radiance Hall and the Radiance Supreme Deity...and their ultimate goal. Would you care to hear it?"
"...Go ahead and recite it."
She smiles meaningfully with an oddly languid expression.
'So bargaining won't work.'
Seeing that smile, I think.
'First...let's lay out the information, then state what I want.'
The starting point to saving Kim Young-hoon, Kim Yeon, and Oh Hyun-seok lies solely with the Heavenly Venerable of the Underworld!
"Then, I will speak."
Of course, there is the possibility that the Heavenly Venerable of the Underworld already knows.
'Even so, what I intend to propose...should be of use even to her... And if not, she'll just tell me to stop halfway.'
With that, I begin to reveal the ultimate goal of Radiance Hall and the true will of the Radiance Supreme Deity.