Tsuaaaaaaa—
While I'm talking with Oh Hyun-seok, the Nether Crossing Ship enters Mount Sumeru.
'Hm? This feeling...'
I notice that for some reason, the entirety of Mount Sumeru is shrouded in a faint steam.
'Naming Supreme Deity...!'
It's Hyeon Rang's power.
Hyeon Rang's power blankets Mount Sumeru, and from within, I read a faint malice directed at us.
: : It seems the Owner of Names is targeting us. I will move us to the Underworld immediately. : :
Perhaps having sensed the malice, Song Jin attempts to make contact with the Underworld. Whether fortunately or unfortunately, the entrance to the Underworld gradually begins to open to greet us.
That's when it happens.
Whoooong—
Deep inside the Mount Sumeru covered in steam.
From within, a massive fist of vapor comes flying toward us.
'The power inside is unimpressive.'
I draw the Impermanence Sword toward what I presume is Hyeon Rang's single strike, cutting downward then rising up.
Just then.
[No, Seo Eun-hyun! You must not even graze it!]
Oh Hyun-seok shouts in panic.
Wuduk—
The [name] [Seo Eun-hyun] becomes a shackle binding me, rendering me unable to move.
'Damn it, I have no choice but to take one hit...'
Just as I prepare to take one blow from Hyeon Rang's strike and counterattack—
Oh Hyun-seok throws himself between me and the fist of mist, knocking me away, and extending his hand toward the first.
Kwaaaaaaaang!
Unable to endure the fist of a Supreme Deity, Oh Hyun-seok is flung back, bleeding from every part of his body.
"Hyun-seok Hyung-nim!"
I hastily catch Oh Hyun-seok, who mutters while coughing blood.
"Keheok, keok... M-Master's strike...must not even be grazed. If you so much as graze it...your [name] will be swallowed by Master, and the ownership of your [name] will pass to him...then Master will gain the authority to rename your original name..."
"...!"
"For now...you absolutely must not...confront Master head-on. Master is too difficult an opponent to face with sheer strength alone! No matter how strong you are, now is the time to regroup!"
At Oh Hyun-seok's urgent words, I grit my teeth and call out to Song Jin.
"Song Jin!"
: : It is ready. I shall escort you. : :
At that moment, Song Jin's hull melts into Mount Sumeru and returns to its true form, the attraction force toward the Netherworld.
Tchwaaaaaaa—
My comrades and I naturally flow into the Underworld along with Song Jin, and when we regain our senses, we find ourselves at the deepest depths of the Underworld.
We have arrived at the Audience Chamber of the Heavenly Venerable of the Underworld.
However, only I and the Enders Jeon Myeong-hoon, Kang Min-hee, Oh Hyun-seok, Kim Yeon, and Oh Hye-seo have reached this place. It seems the rest have not made it here.
"You have succeeded. On top of that, Hee-ah has awakened as a Heavenly King, and it seems everyone has gained some enlightenment."
At the words of the Underworld, we let out bitter smiles.
"All matters concerning your child have just been conveyed to me through Song Jin. You must have many thoughts...but there's no need for great concern."
Suruk—
Following that, the Underworld points a finger at Kim Yeon.
"The day that child becomes a Heavenly King, you will come to understand everything."
"Can't you just refreshingly tell us right now?"
"This is the one thing I cannot reveal to you right now. It is a plan Vast Cold emphasized repeatedly..."
It seems that the power of In and Yeon left behind by Vast Cold is a plan in and of itself.
In a way, it might feel as though our bond has been toyed with by Vast Cold, and such a feeling could bring discomfort.
But for some reason, both Kim Yeon and I feel strangely at ease.
Perhaps...
Because the realization the child gave us is about choosing life under fate,
Even if it's a fate left behind by Vast Cold, we've already decided in our hearts to accept that child as our own within it.
"In that case, it can't be helped. I will wait a little longer."
"Thank you for your understanding."
I nod as I face Kim Yeon, and seeing this, the Underworld gives an ambiguous bitter smile.
"Now then, did you bring the 'feat' placed upon Sal Tree?"
"Yes."
Tsuaaaat!
At the Underworld's words, I summon Gracious Soul Filling the Heavens.
On the head of Gracious Soul Filling the Heavens is Sal Tree's sealed 'feat' that blooms in the form of a flower.
"Reveal your essence."
Woo-woooong!
As soon as the Underworld speaks, the white flower sealed in Gracious Soul Filling the Heavens folds in on itself and condenses into a small shape.
The small, compressed flower soon transforms into a 'transparent seed' and flies into the Underworld's grasp.
"The primordial form of ancient force...Zero (零)... The seed of all possibilities, and yet now nothing more than a meaningless lump..."
She holds the transparent seed, gazing at it for a moment.
Then, a little while later, the Underworld throws the seed toward the Wheel behind her.
"...!"
Woo-woooong!
The Wheel seems to suck in the seed, and soon the seed is pulled into the strange rotational force swirling around the Wheel and vanishes somewhere.
I realize what the Underworld has done.
'She...reincarnated the ancient force?'
Woo-wooong!
The seed, guided by the Wheel of the Underworld, travels to a faraway Heavenly Domain and reincarnates as a living being there.
"Wh-What have you just done? What if Sal Tree resurrects...?"
Treating the 'feat' branded onto Sal Tree as a soul and reincarnating it into the womb of a living being.
That act could very well lead to the resurrection of the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable, so I can't help but panic.
"Do not worry. Sal Tree will not revive because of this. Rather, this is precisely the way to seal and slowly extinguish that 'feat'."
The Underworld explains calmly.
"If the ego embedded in this ancient force is made to endure endless lives while having its memories sealed temporarily...then the feat experienced in the past, and the personality derived from that feat, will gradually distort and deteriorate. It is not merely the scale of the thousand past lives you experienced through the Flawless Mantra... Through reincarnations numbering in the tens of thousands, hundreds of millions, reaching even the scale of kalpa, this feat...this ancient force will be transformed into a single soul and severed from the control of the Owner of Fate. If such an independent soul later reads the memory embedded in its past, the memories embedded in the 'feat', and interprets them according to its current circumstances, then that alone can be considered to have extinguished the value of the feat."
[Editor: In Hinduism, a kalpa is 4.32 billion years. In Buddhism, there are many types of kalpa. Though it is not standardised, conventionally, a regular kalpa is ~16.8 million years, a small kalpa is 1000 regular kalpas (~16.8 billion years), a medium kalpa is 20 small kalpas (~336 billion years), and a great kalpa is 4 medium kalpas (~1.344 trillion years).]
"...But what if that soul remembers its past and instead reawakens as the essence of the Future King, as the Eastern Twin Sal Tree?"
"Do not worry. Even then, the self-consciousness formed through reincarnation will remain within that ancient force."
At the Underworld's following words, we can't help but shudder.
"That ancient force will believe it is the true Future King, and in the end, it will fight the currently existing Future King in a struggle for control over mind and sovereignty.
"Therefore, if this ancient force awakens as the essence of the Future King, it will become our ally, and if it does not awaken, it will simply dissolve within the eternity of reincarnation, weakening the power of the Future King..."
"...An impressive strategy. Then, do we also have to seal the Heavenly Venerable of Time's Gandhara in a similar manner and bring back his feat?"
"There is no particular need for that. When the time comes to challenge the Audience Chamber, The Heavenly Venerable of Time will control his own 'feat' accordingly so it does not become part of the Future King's strength. As for Hyeon Mu, thanks to you and Kim Young-hoon, she has practically been reduced to a near-useless state... In fact, by the time you all challenge the Audience Chamber, most of the potential powers that could become the Future King's strength will have already been sealed."
At the Underworld's continued words, I smile faintly.
"Therefore...thank you for your efforts. Now, rest for a while."
As if there's nothing more to command or concern herself with regarding us, the Underworld praises us and opens the gate of the Underworld's deepest depths, as if to say we may leave whenever we wish.
Now, until Oh Hyun-seok, Kim Yeon, and Oh Hye-seo become Heavenly Kings, there doesn't seem to be anything I particularly have to do.
Even if the Naming Supreme Deity is said to have awakened the will of the Future King, just one Naming Supreme Deity can be sufficiently subdued if Oh Hyun-seok, Kim Yeon, and Oh Hye-seo join forces, so there's no real concern.
But I do not leave the chamber but instead gaze at the Underworld.
"Thank you. However...there are many things I wish to ask."
I speak aloud the questions I've most wanted to ask.
"Kang Min-hee's Origin Essence...has fundamentally changed in some way from what I knew. Is this, too, the work of the Imperial Venerable?"
It's a matter I've known all along because of her overwhelming presence, but I haven't been in the right state of mind to ask until now.
'Kang Min-hee's Origin Essence has changed.'
More precisely, from the moment she went out to the Outer Sea with us and had a brief conversation with Oh Hye-seo, something about her presence itself seems to have changed.
I believe it must be because of an order from the Underworld.
If not for a command from the Underworld, why else would Kang Min-hee's Origin Essence have changed so completely?
Kang Min-hee answers my question.
"I'll explain. It was Master's suggestion. She told me to divide off the part of my Origin Essence of Vice that governs Evil, and give it to Oh Hye-seo so she could advance."
"What...?"
"Because of that, the Immortal Dao Oh Hye-seo is currently walking is..."
Oh Hye-seo cuts in and answers.
"Severing Evil (斷惡). It's the Immortal Dao for Severing Evil. If I can reach the position Immortal Lord through this, I should be able to rise to Heavenly King."
"...Right. And after giving Oh Hye-seo a portion of the Immortal Dao of Vice, what remained of my Origin Essence of Vice became the Origin Essence of Karmic Retribution (業報)."
Huarurururuk!
Above her hand, Karmic Fire blazes fiercely.
Unlike before, this Karmic Fire now burns blue, well suiting Kang Min-hee. Seeing this, I realize she has fully seized the Karmic Fire.
"The Underworld wishes to support us with everything she has, and because of that, she needed an appropriate Immortal Dao for the current Vestige Liberation Immortal, Oh Hye-seo. That is why she ordered me to split my Origin Essence. Also, thanks to splitting it, I am now able to control Karmic Fire even more perfectly."
"Hm, certainly..."
Indeed, Kang Min-hee, who seized the Origin Essence of Karmic Retribution, seems to handle Karmic Fire more easily than before, and the portion given to Oh Hye-seo also seems to suit her quite well.
Just as the Underworld once recommended the Immortal Dao of Abyss to me, it seems she has long been aware of the optimal Immortal Dao for each of us.
And as I look up toward the Underworld, I bring up the conversation I had with Oh Hyun-seok.
"In that case, there is something I wish to report to the Imperial Venerable. It is a question regarding the Immortal Dao of Seven Stars that Hyun-seok Hyung-nim is currently walking."
"It is most likely about Oh Hyun-seok's Origin Essence, I presume."
"...Yes. Currently...is Hyun-seok Hyung-nim...like how the Imperial Venerable commended Min-hee to split off her Immortal Dao...cultivating in the Immortal Dao split from the Great Mountain Supreme Deity's Origin Essence?"
"That is half-correct."
"Half...?"
"Because right now...the seat of the Immortal Dao of Seven Stars that Oh Hyun-seok is cultivating is embedded within the Corpse Mountain Blood Sea of the Great Mountain Supreme Deity, being slowly reabsorbed."
"...!"
At those words, my body trembles as I realize what the Underworld is trying to say.
"By 'reabsorbing' means...you mean the Immortal Dao of Seven Stars was split off from the Immortal Dao of the Mountain..."
"After the death of the Salt Sea Supreme Deity, it was done by the Great Mountain Supreme Deity Gwak Am. And the reason Gwak Am went so far as to split his Origin Essence...you already know why."
Her fingertip points toward Oh Hyun-seok's Blue Sky Armor.
"The Immortal Beast Mountain-Destroying Demon Ape. Despite dyeing himself with the Devilish in order to overcome fate, that part of Gwak Am that could not be stained and remained pure...and so, Gwak Am had to cut the part off with his own hands and devour it again from the outside. His Heart Demon and the personality that threatened him the most.
"In order to split off that personality, Gwak Am went as far as severing even his own Origin Essence and created a new Immortal Dao. The result of that splitting from the Seat of Salt Mountain...is the Seat of Sea of Nature (性海). It is the Immortal Dao that the Naming Supreme Deity slightly altered under the name of Seven Stars."
At the following words of the Underworld, Oh Hyun-seok bitterly strokes his Blue Sky Armor.
"And the original material of that armor you're wearing...is one of the fragments that formed when the Mountain-Destroying Demon Ape resisted as he was hunted down and killed by the Great Mountain Supreme Deity. In other words...you and your sect, the Azure Heaven Creation Sect, have been deeply connected to the Immortal Dao of Seven Stars from the beginning."
"Thank you. That must be the reason, then, why Master...recommended the Immortal Dao of Seven Stars to me."
"More precisely...he was probably trying to reach Mountain-Destroying Demon Ape through you."
"Mountain-Destroying Demon Ape...?"
"Yes. Mountain-Destroying Demon Ape who had split off from the Great Mountain Supreme Deity and Hyeon Rang...were friends of a kind that will probably never again exist in this world. Perhaps, through Mountain-Destroying Demon Ape, he was trying to restore the broken Great Mountain Supreme Deity."
Oh ■-seok hears those words and asks a question.
"Then, O Imperial Venerable. I must face my master from now on. And...I am still merely a Great Net Immortal of Heaven and Earth Dual Cultivation, and I haven't yet completely resolved the personality division problem that True Immortals of Heaven and Earth Dual Cultivation experience. Moreover, if the Origin Essence I must reach is being reabsorbed by the Great Mountain Supreme Deity, then what must I do going forward? I beg the Imperial Venerable...please help me. Please lend me your wisdom on what I must do..."
At Oh■■'s plea, the Underworld's eyes twitch before speaking.
"You already know the answer and yet you ask me."
"..."
"Firmly hold a righteous heart and move forward. With the heart that acts for chivalry, keep your faith. I have no words beyond that to offer you."
"...Understood."
I realize what ■■■ has resolved to do.
'I see.'
■■■ intends to reclaim with his own hands the Origin Essence of Seven Stars that is being absorbed into the Great Mountain Supreme Deity.
The Seat, or Origin Essence, is not something fixed, but a kind of law that exists in this world.
If one possesses a nature more compatible with that law than even the Great Mountain Supreme Deity, then taking it away is entirely possible.
'If it hasn't been completely absorbed into the Origin Essence of the Mountain, then it's of lower difficulty than mine.'
He doesn't need to kill the Great Mountain Supreme Deity and take his position of Supreme Deity. He only needs to retrieve the Origin Essence that is ambiguously held in his hands.
'■■ Hyung-nim...'
The Naming Supreme Deity has awakened to the essence of the Future King.
And when that news reached us, though he didn't show it openly, the one who had the most intense reaction was ■■■.
Everyone may have remained silent, but they all understood.
Just as White-Winged Heavenly Pegasus ended the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable—their teacher and parent—with their own hands,
So too must the Naming Supreme Deity be ended by ■■■'s hand.
After those words, ■■ Hyung-nim bows to the Underworld and, without a trace of hesitation, turns and begins leaving the deepest depths of the Underworld.
"■■ Hyung-nim..."
"...Eun-hyun-ah."
I call out to him quietly, worried for him, but instead, he calls out to me and speaks.
"...Just this once...I can't borrow your hands. This is a matter between my master and me, between disciple and teacher. So...even if I...die, just this once, let me...put Master to rest with my own strength alone."
"...? Pardon? Even so...even if Jeon Myeong-hoon, Kang Min-hee, and I can't help...can't at least Kim Yeon—no, at the very least, can't Oh Hye-seo help you?"
I ask, not understanding his words.
"If you must insist, then one thing. Only after I die fighting Master...only then, intervene. It's a request."
"Even White-Winged Heavenly Pegasus, who defeated the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable, received our help."
I understand that it must be with his own hands that he defeats Naming Supreme Deity, but why must it 'only' be his hands?
"I know that too. But there's one reason that I insist on facing Master alone."
■■■ turns to look at us and smiles faintly.
"Either way...I'm finished now..."
"...!"
Suddenly, I notice something in ■■■'s gaze.
'■■■... What was...his [name] again?'
I can't remember.
Suddenly, I recall that ■■■ once took a direct hit from Hyeon Rang's strike.
'Has he already retrieved his own disciple's [name] and is now controlling it...'
"Either way, once you've been struck by Master even once...even the Underworld can't protect my end. The title of 'Owner' of something...means that one really is, within that domain at least, close to 'absolute'. Since he has retrieved my [Name], I'm already...beyond saving."
As the disciple of the Owner of Names, he seems to sense his end.
'Damn it...'
I've become strong.
Now, unless it's someone like the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable, someone of the Heavenly Venerable rank who has awakened to the essence, it is nearly impossible to kill me.
However, even if I cannot die, I still can't stop the death of my comrades.
'I'm still...pitifully weak.'
No, it's beyond weak.
It's pathetic.
Even after becoming this powerful, even after becoming this close to omnipotence...
I still can't protect even a single friend.
I grit my teeth tightly, feeling pain and disgust from that fact.
'Just what am I...'
It is at that moment.
"But even if the me of the 'present' ends...if I die, then please look after what comes 'after'."
"...Pardon?"
"I won't go into details. You haven't said anything all this time either...so I'll believe there's a reason."
"...!"
'...Did he...notice...'
It's not like with Jeon Myeong-hoon.
But still...
He seems to have noticed that I tamper with time in some way or another, or target what comes after their deaths.
'...I see. It's Oh Hye-seo.'
In this life, Oh Hye-seo hasn't been fully moved by me.
And yet, without any clear causality, she follows me obediently. He must have drawn a clue and made his own deductions from that.
'He read the power of the oath and vow sworn by the Oh Hye-seo of the previous timeline, who was moved by me and swore to follow me.'
He is, after all, the disciple of the God of Contracts and Oaths,
My friend...
And Oh Hye-seo's family.
He recognized my change through the change in his family.
—Use my death as nourishment.
I listen to ■■■'s heart conveyed through Indra's Net and grit my teeth.
—And...through it, uncover Master's essence, the 'role' imposed upon the ones known as the Three Heavenly Venerables and the Western Zero King, and the 'will of the Future King' that has been imposed upon him... Uncover it all.
He declares his resolve to defeat the Naming Supreme Deity without our help and steps beyond the Underworld.
Seeing him like that, I realize there's absolutely no way to stop him.
—Even if the current me dies, as long as I can someday reach my family...it doesn't matter what I sacrifice. So...I ask of you, Seo Eun-hyun. You're a father now too, so you should understand.
Kwaaang!
■■■ kicks off from the Underworld and soars, rising straight toward the sky...
Toward the massive giant of vapor in the sky.
And so, ■■■ stands against the vast heavens that is the Naming Supreme Deity.
That is...
The first battle between ■■■ and the Naming Supreme Deity.