"...Who are you?"
Bi Hwa stares at the black silhouette before her and speaks.
She feels it.
The opponent before her is a being she cannot defy.
If so, rather than resist, she will at least pretend to hear what the other wants and then politely refuse.
'Under no circumstance must I provoke that being.'
: : I am...a Mountain Divine Spirit. : :
'Mountain Divine Spirit!?'
Bi Hwa flinches in shock at the being's answer.
She too knows all too well about the wicked Mountain Divine Spirit.
Startled, she looks around to see if there is a 'mountain' and squeezes her eyes shut.
All across Heavenly Human Island, there are not just one or two cave residences built by cultivators on mountains.
To begin with, the hidden area she is in is also a cave residence hollowed out beneath a mountain called Gatap Mountain of Heavenly Human Island.
There is plenty of room for a Mountain Divine Spirit to intervene.
"...Why has the great Owner of Mountains come to seek out a mere mortal being like me?"
: : I am not yet the Owner of Mountains. : :
'Yet?'
: : And also it is not I who has sought you. You have sought me. : :
"...What do you mean...?"
At Bi Hwa's words, somehow a feeling as if the being behind the silhouette is laughing spreads.
: : Do you not want to surpass Wol Ryeong? : :
"..."
That one line.
At that one line, Bi Hwa bites her lip.
: : I can bestow talent upon you. I can give you the [Eye]. : :
It is an all too tempting offer.
Yet even within that intense temptation she steadies her heart.
But her chest trembles despite herself.
"...I thank you for offering grace. However, I am a believer in the Amitayus Buddha of the Heavenly King Heaven, a follower of Light. Therefore, I cannot carelessly borrow the great Mountain Divine Spirit's power as the great Mountain Divine Spirit wishes. If I borrow your power, someday I will receive punishment from the Amitayus Buddha. Please forgive me."
: : Hahaha, do not worry, child. How could I drive you into hardship? What I will give you is not my authority but a portion of my enlightenment and talent. With such a thing, the Light will never notice. : :
"...However..."
: : I see. : :
As Bi Hwa hesitates, only then does the Mountain Divine Spirit laugh as if in understanding.
: : You feel guilty that you alone will receive that power. Then...I will show you a new scene for a moment. Now, look upon the disciples of the Radiance Spirit Sect in the hidden area beneath the Gatap Mountain you have made. : :
Tststststss—
At the voice of the afterimage, the appearance of Gatap Mountain becomes transparent.
It seems the Mountain Divine Spirit has briefly lent her eyes that penetrate the mountain to her alone.
Before she can even be surprised at the strangeness, Bi Hwa cannot help but be surprised at other things.
"...! Th-Those..."
The disciples who ascended from the Radiance Spirit Sect to the Vast Cold Realm at Bi Hwa's order.
Most of them are in their own cave residences, snorting suspicious white powder through their noses, or scattering it on the floor and licking it with their tongues while chanting suspicious formulas.
She, being in the Integration stage, can make out the identity of those suspicious formulas.
Because if she transfers the power of this being she feels right before her into a formula, they would become those very formulas!
"A-Already...they are using your power...?"
: : It is so. And, do you remember their faces? : :
"..."
Bi Hwa looks over their faces.
Since they are only disciples at the Heavenly Being stage, she has not paid attention before, but now it is clearly strange.
"...That one, he was only at the Nascent Soul stage until just recently..."
: : Even that child was only at the Core Formation stage not long ago... He has a body well-suited for my enlightenment. : :
"...!!!"
: : You too can become like that. Your cultivation at the Grand Perfection Integration stage, stagnant for decades without progress. I hold in my hand the key to pierce through it at once. : :
"B-But..."
Bi Hwa's body trembles.
She is a proud disciple of the great Radiance Spirit Sect, and a believer of the Amitayus Buddha.
A follower of Light.
Such a person as she cannot allow her body to be given to the wicked Mountain Divine Spirit.
Yet, the wicked Mountain Divine Spirit's scheme finally breaks apart the deepest place in her heart.
: : Do you not see that all of them have already accepted it? Even if one more such as you accepts me, there is no problem. They are all already doing it. : :
"..."
Everyone is already doing it.
That one phrase melts her chest all too sweetly.
: : Do not worry. You may refuse. I will cause you no harm. : :
Moreover, that attitude which somehow even feels kind makes it seem that perhaps the Mountain Divine Spirit is not such an evil existence.
And finally—
: : This Immortal is merely lonely. There has been no medium until now who could directly receive this Immortal's will as you can. Among those there who strive to lick fragments of my power, none have directly faced this Immortal's will. None less than you will suffice. : :
"M-Me? None less than me...?"
: : That is so. Therefore, even if you refuse, this Immortal will not harm you. I will only have no choice but to go seek out your friend Wol Ryeong and make the same offer... : :
"What!?"
She grits her teeth.
"Seek out Wol Ryeong? You said I am a good medium!"
: : ... : :
"No, don't go to Wol Ryeong. Fine, I will specially accept your power. Instead! Promise me!! Never go to Wol Ryeong!! You must never lend power to Wol Ryeong!!"
: : ...I vow not to go to Wol Ryeong in the form of a god. : :
"G-Good...then let me ask one more thing. If I take that white thing of yours...can I truly surpass Wol Ryeong?"
: : ...You... : :
And then, the Divine Spirit of Sword Mountain laughs.
: : From the very moment you met this King, you had already surpassed her... : :
Kugugugugu!
Beyond the afterimage of the Sword Mountain.
From that afterimage, she feels a gigantic 'hand' reaching toward her.
And soon, Bi Hwa feels her whole body enveloped by that 'hand,' her body heating up as her eyes roll back.
"Ah, aaaaaah..."
There is no pain.
What exists is only the boundless joy of communion with an unfathomable being, sharing transcendental sight and talent!
She trembles at the ecstasy of [wisdom] refined by a transcendent being and infused into her to fit her being.
"Cultivation is repentant enlightenment..."
"Like tiny grains of salt gathering to form the sea..."
"Build mountains through repentant enlightenment."
A dark chamber.
There, several cultivators gather, engaging in fierce dual cultivation.
Wo-woong—
Sitting in a lotus position, they press their palms against each other, chanting a suspicious formula and endlessly circulating each other's energies in a kind of dual cultivation.
All six cultivators are at the Heavenly Being stage, and the power flowing in circles between them as they press their hands together is at an immense level.
It is when they are chanting that suspicious formula—
Chijik, chijijijijik!
Suddenly, the six cultivators see a pure white light form at their center, from which a pillar of salt grows.
"O, ooooooh!"
"A salt pillar, it is a salt pillar!"
"They have come!"
"S-Salt...please. The mighty salt of the great god..."
They lick at the salt fragments bouncing off the pillar of salt as if it's sacred water, fervently consuming them as they gaze at the pillar.
Before long, an apparition appears at the center of the salt pillar.
It is the apparition of a small boy.
That boy's face is that of Seo Gyeong, Wol Ryeong's senior brother.
And as Seo Gyeong's apparition appears inside the salt pillar, the cultivators bow on the spot and cry out.
"Eternal life, eternal life, eternal eternal life! We greet the envoy of the great Mountain God!"
"We greet the envoy of the Mountain God!"
[...The revelation of God has descended.]
"Oooo, from God!"
"O envoy, please let us hear the jade voice of God!"
[The Integration stage Senior Sister Bi Hwa has also joined our side. Soon, centered around Bi Hwa, we shall prepare here the descent formation that will summon the Star Shattering Esteemed Ones Baek Jin, Baek Eun, and Baek Geom who have gone too far away into the Astral Realm to subjugate the puppets of the Gi Clan in the Earth Boundary Heavenly Domain.]
Inside the dark chamber, within the pure white pillar of salt, Seo Gyeong continues speaking, his form shown only as an apparition.
[God intends to act through the descent formation of the Esteemed Ones. Therefore, when we unfold the descent formation, we will replace the summoned target of that formation with the divine body of the God.]
"Ooooooh!"
"Th-Then will God...personally descend to this Vast Cold Realm!?"
[Strictly speaking, it will not be God's main body, but only a part of God's divine body shall descend. Yet even that alone is enough to easily pacify the Vast Cold Realm and the Earth Boundary Heavenly Domain, and you shall obtain the qualifications to enter the divine nation. You shall cast off the frail flesh of humans and grasp the chance to become a higher race...]
"Ahhhh, O God!"
"God's white thing! Make the white thing even more...! Ahhh...!"
[...Do you really have to speak of salt in that w... Hoo...fine. Do as you please. Soon the time of revelation shall come upon this land. Now then, all of you, come close to this envoy...and be baptized by the [Eye] so that you may better see the will of God...]
At those words, the six cultivators crawl on all fours toward Seo Gyeong's apparition, and Seo Gyeong, briefly wondering why they have to crawl in such a way, sighs and reaches out a hand to them.
Before long,
In the eyes of the six cultivators, the pure white character for supervision is engraved.
It is the eye of God.
A few days later.
The seven members of the 'Esteemed One Descent Formation Installation Teams,' centered on Bi Hwa, busily go about constructing the formation that will summon the Star Shattering Esteemed Ones.
The Integration stage Grand Cultivators of the Heavenly Human Island, especially the Penglai Palace Lord Hon Jin, lend them many resources, and thanks to that, they steadily complete the Descent Formation that will descend a higher existence.
Wo-woong—
The formation Bi Hwa installs resonates with its counterpart, scattering some of the Heaven and Earth spiritual energy from the opposite side into the Vast Cold Realm.
That peculiar Heaven and Earth spiritual energy that spreads outward while tracing a Taiji in the form of Twilight makes the ordinary Radiance Spirit Sect disciples marvel, thinking that the Earth Boundary Heavenly Domain's Heaven and Earth spiritual energy must be unusual.
Meanwhile, Bi Hwa and the few other cultivators flush red and tremble as they resonate as much as possible with the existence on the other side of the descent formation.
Twin Holding Heavenly Domain, Heavenly Escape Realm.
Deep within, a being as great as a mountain raises their upper body.
Before that being's eyes, a tiny hole, nothing but dust compared to the being, appears.
From the opposite side of that hole, the being comes to sense familiar Heaven and Earth spiritual energy.
It is the Heaven and Earth spiritual energy of the Vast Cold Realm.
They wear a pure-white round collar robe made of sword mountains formed entirely of swords, their face burning like a pale candle flame with a head of white horns—a Faceless White Round Collar Robe God.
The White Round Collared Robe God raises a hand to their head, then pulls something out from it.
It is a single strand of that being's hair.
Having plucked one strand of hair, the being places the hair on their palm and blows upon it.
Kugugugugu—
The hair, imbued with the power of a divine spirit, instantly gains life and becomes a gigantic dragon, then head to the front of the dust-speck-like hole leading to the Vast Cold Realm that has appeared before the Mountain Divine Spirit, and there it breathes out its breath.
On the day the descent formation is completed, the divine spirit's hair shall descend to the Vast Cold Realm.
: : This Immortal's divine body, go to the Earth Boundary Heavenly Domain and become the cornerstone that accomplishes this Immortal's grand plan. : :
Granting a fate to the dragon-shaped existence born from the hair, which possesses power at the Sacred Vessel stage and above from birth, the faceless White Collar Robe Mountain Divine Spirit reclines their body once more upon the throne of stars where they sit.
Flash!
Wol Ryeong, Seo Gyeong, and also Mu Geom, whose whole body was shattered but is in the process of recovering, traverse the Earth Tribe territory through the teleportation formation.
Even for Integration stage Grand Cultivators, one cannot recklessly use inter-territory teleportation formations, so once they use a teleportation formation, they must wait at least ten days before they can take the teleportation formation to the next region. Because of this, Wol Ryeong ends up having no choice but to take an unexpected tour of the Vast Cold Realm.
"This place is..."
"It looks to be a place called the Light Spirit Pond of race called the Cold Spirit Race."
Seo Gyeong smiles brightly as if he is feeling delighted as he looks around.
Wol Ryeong looks at the Cold Spirit Race, who are similar to the Human Race but have slightly bluer skin and exude cold energy.
"Hmm, but this is..."
But what catches her attention is the lake called the Light Spirit Pond.
A gigantic lake, made literally of life force itself!
Looking at that golden lake, Wol Ryeong cannot help but marvel at the strange beauty she is seeing for the first time.
"Mm...I didn't realize it then, but now I see the Light Spirit Pond was formed from heart fragments clumping together and sinking down toward the belly, where it later pooled divine blood. Their heart ruptured in an instant and the pieces clumped together. Just how did they get struck...?"
"...? Seo Gyeong, what did you say?"
“Ah, nothing. Just...letting my imagination run a little. Look, there's a guide tablet written over there, right?"
Where Seo Gyeong points, there is an inscription about the legend of how the Light Spirit Pond was created.
It is a legend about how in ancient times, when Heaven Immortals waged war, the bloodline spilled by one Heaven Immortal fell here and formed the Light Spirit Pond.
"Oho, the blood of a Heaven Immortal..."
Wol Ryeong, curious, approaches the Light Spirit Pond and buys a few drops of its water from a Cold Spirit Race selling it, and drinks it down.
"Mm...!"
Wol Ryeong instantly feels life force spreading through her entire body and smiles.
"Seo Gyeong, if we infuse this into Senior Brother Mu Geom, I think he will recover in no time."
"I think so too, Ryeong-ah."
Unexpectedly finding a miraculous elixir that can quickly heal Mu Geom within another race's territory, Wol Ryeong buys a large amount of Light Spirit Pond water and begins sightseeing cheerfully with Seo Gyeong.
The Cold Spirit Race's territory is indeed mysterious.
As befits a race that handles Cold Spirit, yin energy and cold energy are everywhere, but thanks to that refreshing chill, countless spirit herbs bloom around the Light Spirit Pond.
Fields of spirit herbs are spread all over, and if one goes a bit farther out of the territory, there is a dense jungle.
"It's beautiful. We should have looked around the True Dragon Alliance a bit more too."
"Haha, at your level you'll soon step into the Star Shattering stage and will be able to sightsee the True Dragon Alliance as much as you want."
"Ahaha, even for me, the Star Shattering stage is a little bit much. I'll challenge it in a few hundred years."
Chatting with Seo Gyeong, Wol Ryeong enjoys sightseeing as they fly through the jungle around the Light Spirit Pond.
After flying for some time around the Light Spirit Pond, Wol Ryeong suddenly sees ahead the unique cold energy of the Cold Spirit Race clashing with fearsome yin energy and ghostly energy.
"Huh, that's..."
"Someone is fighting. Let's go, it'll be fun."
Thinking it will be interesting, Wol Ryeong tucks Seo Gyeong at her waist and flies toward where the battle is taking place.
There, two groups are engaged in battle.
"Oh? Over there is...Black Ghost Valley?"
She spots a familiar banner on one side and flinches in surprise, then realizes that those fighting on the other side are the native forces of the Cold Spirit Race and feels puzzled.
Soon after, the cultivators of Black Ghost Valley notice Wol Ryeong's presence and brighten with smiles.
"Hahaha, it is a Grand Cultivator of the Human Race! Lord Grand Cultivator, please come here and hear our grievances!"
At those words, the faces of those on the Black Ghost Valley side brighten, while the faces of the Cold Spirit Race natives darken.
"What is going on here?"
"Greetings, Lord Grand Cultivator. I am a Black Grand Elder of Black Ghost Valley, Wei Jo."
"Mm...but you, are you truly human?"
"Ahaha, in truth my parents are ghostly creatures from the Nether Ghost Realm. My father is of jiangshi origin, but since the body that serves as the base of jiangshi is that of the Human Race, I am more or less treated as a member of the Human Race."
Looking at the burly man who introduces himself as Wei Jo, Seo Gyeong's eyes shine.
"Huhu, Black Ghost Cultivator Wei Jo. Nice to meet you. I am Seo Gyeong, a fellow disciple of Grand Cultivator Wol here."
"Ah, nice to meet you, Lord...Grand Cultivator Seo."
Wei Jo glances at Seo Gyeong, who is carried at Wol Ryeong's waist, sees that he is only at the early Integration stage, and pays him little mind before grinning at Wol Ryeong instead.
Since he possesses a cultivation that is a half a step beyond the Grand Perfection Four-Axis stage, he apparently does not wish to show much courtesy to Seo Gyeong who is only at the early Integration stage.
'This guy, did he fall for Wol Ryeong?'
Reading Wei Jo's attitude and intent, Seo Gyeong smirks, and Wol Ryeong, perhaps sensing a bit of Wei Jo's attitude as well, twitches her brows, steps back a pace, and speaks.
"Indeed, it is good to meet you, Wei Jo. So, what are you doing now with the Cold Spirit Race natives?"
"Ah, that... We purchased land in the Cold Spirit Race territory to open a Black Ghost Valley Cold Spirit Race branch within their territory. It was land the Cold Spirit Race themselves sold cheaply, saying it had been ruined hundreds of thousands of years ago. But when we actually developed the land and tried to establish the Black Ghost Valley branch, they opposed us to death! This land is land we of Black Ghost Valley purchased legitimately, yet no matter how many times we explained, they refused to vacate, so it came to a clash of force."
"Hm... Did you perhaps smash all the houses of the native forces living here and tell them to get out?"
"How could that be! They are people who believe the old superstitions of this land, and they are doing this because they claim some nightmare is buried beneath it! They are doing this because they believe a legend that if the power of that nightmare awakens, the Cold Spirit Race will be destroyed."
At Wei Jo's words, the Cold Spirit Race side shouts loudly.
"Do not lie, you ghostly creature bastard! If you were truly only building a branch, we would have stayed still. But did you not deliberately seek to awaken the nightmare sleeping beneath this land!!??"
"What nonsense! And whether I do awaken the nightmare or not, this land and everything in it is something I obtained through a legitimate transaction with the Cold Spirit Race Grand Cultivator! Who are you to stop me!?"
"That nightmare must never awaken! Lord Grand Cultivator, please hear our words. Our Cold Spirit Race, hundreds of thousands of years ago, suffered under the dreadful nightmare and..."
"Hmph, ridiculous talk! Hear Me! Since Lord Grand Cultivator has arrived, now is the time! Pour it!!"
When the Cold Spirit Race tries to say something, Wei Jo seems to watch Wol Ryeong's reaction, then gives an order to the other disciples of Black Ghost Valley.
At Wei Jo's order, the Black Ghost Valley disciples form hand seals and summon something.
One disciple flips the earth with the Earth Escape Technique, and another, through water-element spells, guides the 'water' they summon to flow precisely down into the overturned ground.
It is the water of the Light Spirit Pond.
Seeing this, the Cold Spirit Race natives cry out with eyes flipped.
"Insane Human Race bastards! Hear me, everyone, sweep away those lunatics!!!"
Kwarurururung!
Five Great Perfection Four-Axis cultivators on the other side unfold a Four-Axis Canopy and unleash powerful cold energy.
It is a clear killing move, and since the Black Ghost Valley side has only one Four-Axis Grand Perfection cultivator, Wei Jo, normally that one attack should have blown them all away.
However, seeing that killing move, Wol Ryeong has no choice but to stretch out her hand and block it.
"Lord Grand Cultivator! You must not!!!"
Chwarurururur!
And then, driven by the Black Ghost Valley disciples, the Light Spirit Water from the Light Spirit Pond they summon finally falls all the way down into the deep underground.
Wol Ryeong furrows her brows.
"You, did you use me?"
"I apologize, Lord Grand Cultivator. For this matter, Black Ghost Valley will compensate. Yet if this succeeds, the pitiable ghostly spirits who unjustly lost their bodies and wander within Black Ghost Valley can obtain salvation. Please show leniency."
"You..."
It is just when is about to draw out the radiance halberd to deal with Wei Jo, who tries to slip by with only an apology.
"Grand Elder! It is coming!! [That] has opened its eyes!"
Kugugugugu!
Wol Ryeong suddenly widens her eyes at the tremor that rises from the deep underground where the Light Spirit Water was poured down.
'This is...!'
It is unmistakably the wave of an Integration stage cultivator.
And in the instant she comes to that realization—
Kwarurururung!
Something bursts out from the deep underground.
It is a puppet in the form of a hunchbacked old man with the wings of a bee.
Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang!
Strange circuits flow across the puppet's surface, and along those circuits the power of the Light Spirit Water seeps in, awakening the puppet's strength.
Inside the puppet, countless mechanical devices begin to turn and activate.
Seeing this, Wei Jo lets out a scream of ecstasy.
"It has come out!!! At last!!! At last we succeeded in excavating [Nightmare]! Hahaha, thank you, Lord Grand Cultivator! With this, our Black Ghost Valley can take a great leap forward!"
"What? You, can you not speak clearly!? What is that puppet!?"
Wol Ryeong frowns at the puppet radiating unmistakable Integration stage fluctuations, while Seo Gyeong slips down from Wol Ryeong's hold, his eyes tinged with a look of reminiscence.
"...So that is buried here too."
Wei Jo throws back his head in mad laughter and speaks.
"From the ancient era of hundreds of thousands of years past, it is a legacy of the [Three Great Disasters] that once swept across this Vast Cold Realm. The existence who reached Star Shattering through the power of puppets alone...the relic of the Three Great Disasters, the Mad Lord! With this, Black Ghost Valley and the Human Race can turn the Heaven Tribe's Two Heads into Three!"
Clangclangclangclangclang...
But before Wei Jo even finishes speaking, an ominous clattering rings from within the puppet, and a red light bursts out.
The crimson glow gathers in the puppet's eyes, and from its mouth erupts a voice.
[Youyouyouyouyouyou... YoudaretoawakenmeIamthesubordinateofthegreatElderJoYeonhowdareanignorantbarbarianwithnoattainmentinpuppetryawakensmeinthissavageway... Youyouyouyouyouyou... Thief who activated the device without proper authorization shall be punished chijijijik... Punish, punish, nishpunishpunsih...chijijijijik...]
At that grotesque sight, Wol Ryeong glares at Wei Jo.
"...You claim this is safe? Celestial energy shows me nothing but visions of it attacking us."
"Haha, please do not worry. Through the method my father taught me of seizing the [circuit], if it's me, I can make that puppet into my very own body. I will show you. Beneath there, other than that one, there are many Integration stage puppets buried... If I succeed, Black Ghost Valley can mass-produce the Integration stage at—"
Kwaaang!
Before Wei Jo can finish, the hunchbacked puppet with bee wings smashes its fist into Wei Jo's face.
Jjeoooooong!
Wei Jo is struck and sent flying far away, and the disciples of Black Ghost Valley, who lost their boss in an instant, fall into panic.
[Youyouyouyou... I shall turn you all into the soldiers of the Fortress. Factory, activate!]
Kugugugugugu!
At the puppet's voice, from deep underground comes the roar of something starting up, and a violent tremor shakes the ground.
Seo Gyeong, as if recalling unpleasant memories, speaks with a bitter expression.
"...That is a General Puppet with administrator authority right. Ryeong-ah, let's retreat for now and request aid from the Cold Spirit Race Grand Cultivator. A General Puppet is extremely..."
"Step aside, Gyeong-ah."
But Wol Ryeong, with the face of someone who has found an interesting toy, draws out the radiance halberd and tempers the Integrated Dao Domain into its blade.
"A relic of the ancient disasters, is it? Shall we see what it can do."
Clang!
The General Puppet opens its mouth and spews out a light beam, and Wol Ryeong, smirking, deflects the beam.
"So this is the acclaimed power of the so-called Three Great Disasters of antiquity..."
Immediately after, having its attack repelled, the General Puppet opens its mouth again, and through the summoning formation inscribed inside, calls forth something.
Kwaaaang!
Right after, Wol Ryeong is struck by the combined assault of fifty Integration stage Grand Cultivator-class bio-puppets summoned from the hunchbacked puppet's mouth, and like Wei Jo, has her limbs smashed apart and sent flying far into the distance.