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Chapter 828: Side Story - Purple Gold Realm (1)
Center of the Purple Gold Realm.
Inside Ban Ta Castle, inside the central pavilion.
There, someone opens his eyes.
"Such a strong fate...astonishing. Has someone with a fate this strong ascended from the Lower Realm again? Is this the New Fate that rumors have been going around about among the True Immortals lately?"
He gives a grim smile and laughs in the darkness.
'...This time is certain. Three fates this strong. I also made thorough preparations, and I even spread barriers across the entire realm so that the Star Shattering stage Esteemed Ones absolutely cannot escape... This time, I will definitely succeed. This time...!'
"I have been sitting in this place for 40 billion years. I must not fail again. This is the last time...! If I still cannot succeed this time...I will not forgive it. Hand over the opportunity to me, One Qi of the Primordial Chaos...!"
Inside Ban Ta Castle.
At the center of the pavilion, the man in the darkness looks up at the starry sky and clenches his fist.
***
In many Middle Realms, there is a place called a Void Spirit Pond.
The Void Spirit Pond is the place that serves as the Flying Immortal Platform that connects to the Lower Realm, and it is also said that in the distant past, when there was no Flying Immortal Platform, the Void Spirit Pond served as the Flying Immortal Platform.
And above one Void Spirit Pond in the Purple Gold Realm.
Light flashes, and two people and a broken boat-shaped flying magic artifact reveal themselves.
"Keheok!"
"Kieeek!"
It is Makli Hweol and Makli Hyun-ah, who have just ascended from Penglai Star.
Makli Hweol spits blood and looks around, and as if he recognizes that they appeared above a Void Spirit Pond, he hurriedly grabs Makli Hyun-ah, uses escape light, and flees outside the Void Spirit Pond while holding him.
"Isn't this the Flying Immortal Platform of the Purple Gold Realm? Why is there nobody here?"
Confused, Makli Hweol looks around with a puzzled expression and grasps the situation.
'At the last moment, did we hit the realm barrier of the Purple Gold Realm and get bounced out from the place that was our original target? Tsk... For now, there seem to be no humans around, so we should hide while we figure out what's going on.'
Carrying the unconscious Makli Hyun-ah on his back, Makli Hweol uses the Flying Escape Technique and flies around the area.
In an instant, Makli Hweol arrives at a village more than a thousand li away and frowns.
'Are they in the middle of a war? Why is everything in ruins?'
While thinking this and that about the situation in the Purple Gold Realm, Makli Hweol first goes inside an abandoned house in the ruined village and lays Makli Hyun-ah down.
After doing so, he takes out Makli Hyun-ah's beast scroll and brings out his demon beasts that ascended together with Makli Hyun-ah.
"Come out, Badger. Rabbit Seven Heavenly Lords!"
Flash!
At the same time, one raccoon and seven rabbits appear from Makli Hyun-ah's beast scroll.
The raccoon has already become as tall as a person, and is at realm where a faint pressure of demonic power can be felt.
Both the raccoon and the rabbits have reached the Core Formation stage.
Makli Hweol asks the raccoon demon beast, Badger, for a favor.
"Miss Badger. Could you please scout this area nearby?"
"Leave it to me, my lord!"
Badger laughs with a 'hehe,' takes the rabbits, and quickly runs out into the surroundings.
After some time, Makli Hweol is able to hear the information Badger brings back.
"I asked small Demon Races like mouse demon beasts or pigeon demon beasts nearby. They say that a few days ago, the Demon Race and Human Race cultivators waged war and then left, so there is nothing nearby. They say powerful forces collided with each other, laid waste to the entire area, and flew south...so it seems they will not come back again in the near future."
"Hm, I see. Thank you, Miss Badger. Then this one will recover body and mind...so I ask you to be my Law Protector for just a few days."
"Yes, just leave it to me!"
After finishing his words, Makli Hweol takes out formation flags and formation plates inside the abandoned house and sets up a protective formation, then takes out bedding and fire attribute spirit stones from the storage scroll, warms the space, takes a healing medicine, lies down, and falls asleep.
It seems he is trying to relieve the fatigue that has piled up during ascension.
Watching that sight, Badger stands beside Makli Hweol and looks at Makli Hweol with a meaningful look in her eyes.
"Hm...strange. He acts as if he has no memories at all... Did he really seal his memories completely...?"
Badger roughly lifts Makli Hyun-ah, covers him well with the blanket, and looks at Makli Hweol.
"I hope you regain your memories quickly..."
With her fluffy tail, Badger lightly brushes across Makli Hweol's face, and for a while she stands guard to protect them as they sleep.
***
In the darkness.
Makli Hyun-ah suddenly sees a blue light floating before his eyes.
"You are..."
He can tell.
The thing that, at the time of ascension, made Makli Hyun-ah turn back...
It is the light emitted by a voice that carries the same feeling as Guildmaster [Silver Snake] Ji Hwa.
"Who are you? What relation do you have with Guildmaster Silver Snake?"
And at those words, laughter bursts out from the cluster of blue light.
For some reason, it sounds like a hollow laugh.
[Silver Snake? Silver Snake, you say? Ha, haha...hahahahaha...! I see. So they went to your world...]
"What...?"
The tone is as if it knows Guildmaster Ji Hwa.
At those words, Makli Hyun-ah's pupils constrict tightly, and he opens his mouth toward the blue light.
"What do you mean by that? Do you...know Guildmaster Ji Hwa?"
[Ji...Hwa... Truly a name I have not heard in a long, long time... They go around revealing their name carelessly to the point even you, an ordinary person of that world, heard their name. They completely forgotten our mission and spirit, is it...? How lamentable...!]
Tststststststs...
As if enraged,
The wavering of the blue light grows stronger.
Makli Hyun-ah feels his eyes start to ache.
His head feels like it is going to swell.
It feels the same as when he saw the [Hand of Starlight].
[Kukuk... Enough. What is the point of the lament of the defeated? Right. How are they doing? From the fact that even you, who was originally a mortal and only received talent, know their name, they surely made a name for themselves in that world... Did they conquer a country? Ruin it? Start wars? Restore order?]
"Uh..."
At those words, Makli Hyun-ah feels a bit at a loss for excuses about what he should say.
He is not Guildmaster Ji Hwa, yet for some reason he feels a little sorry to answer exactly as it is.
[If they are the kind who flipped this world upside down and sold body and soul to an evil god, then surely...they flipped that world over too...because they are definitely that kind of existence...!]
"Um...th-that's..."
Makli Hyun-ah breaks into a cold sweat, then gives an awkward laugh and decides to tell about the achievements Ji Hwa accomplished in the guild.
"She raided the [Guardian Dragons of the Fallen Nation] more than twenty times...in other words, she did mass hunting. And she beat the [Black Sorcerer] to death as many as seven times. As for [Devil Hunter] as well, she beat them to death all by herself so many times that I can't even count. And on top of that, the guild of the Guildmaster has a world ranking of...I mean, in the overall rankings of the entire world, it has achievements that place it within the top three."
[Is that so...? I do not know well, but even just hearing the names, those are powerful achievements... So they made a name for themselves in that world as well... They did not throw away their pride completely. Even if the ones they protect changed, they are still a guardian of order...]
"..."
To protect Ji Hwa's dignity, Makli Hyun-ah decides not to open his mouth any further.
"Th-Then, just a moment...who on earth is Guildmaster Ji Hwa?"
Swallowing, Makli Hyun-ah asks the blue light.
"At the last moment...I saw her driving a truck and killing us. After I got run over by her truck and came to my senses, I already fell into this world. Why did she drop us into this world? What relationship do you have with her? Do you know her identity?"
At those words, the blue light swells as if it is exploding.
The black space dyes in blue light, as if it is being swallowed in blue.
[I do. Because they were one of us.]
Tsaaaaaaat!
From the source of the blue light, Makli Hyun-ah sees a [Blue Snake Biting Its Tail].
Seeing that, Makli Hyun-ah cannot help but widen his eyes.
Because it is the guild emblem of their guild, [Loot Farming Heavenly Lord].
The only difference is that the emblem Ji Hwa made is silver.
That symbol soon fades, and from the center of the light, some existence reveals itself.
That existence at the center of the blue light wears imperial robes, wears a dignified imperial crown, and their face is impossible to discern as they wear a mask made of light.
And on that face, a faint character 'Gab' (甲) is written.
[I am the First Seat of the Radiance Seven Heavenly Lords...Great Forest. I am the chief seat of the Heaven Immortals who opposed the evil god that rules the world...]
"...!"
True Immortal?
Makli Hyun-ah realizes that the being before his eyes is an existence of overwhelming rank, and his body stiffens.
[In a distant ancient age...when we were called not the Radiance Seven Lords but the Radiance Eight Immortals.
[There was one evil god. That god negated all reason and order of this world and created a new heaven, and...in that process, with evil heresy and schemes, they brainwashed and corrupted the Fifth Seat of the Radiance Eight Immortals, who was one of our own. And...that is our former companion whom you call Ji Hwa...]
'B-Brainwashed and corrupted?'
Only now does Makli Hyun-ah understand why, whenever Ji Hwa entered a boss-raid fight, she would go 'Keeeek' and smash so many keyboards while hurling abuse at the guild members.
'So that's it...it was the aftereffect of being corrupted!? No wonder she's so violent!'
[After that evil god was ascended to an unbelievably powerful realm...they created fates that bring chaos and despair to this world, and they called in souls from other worlds to carry those fates forward, and they are trying to devise evil schemes once again...]
"C-Could it be...!?"
[That is right. You and your companions are precisely...that evil god's scheme. The New Fates...!]
"Th-That...then what am I supposed to do!?"
[That evil god is one who toppled the light and seized all possibilities and probabilities of the whole world into their grasp... Avoid their gaze, accumulate strength, and raise your realm. If you can ascend to True Immortality, then we, the Radiance Seven Lords, will surely make you break free from the evil god's grasp...!]
The True Immortal like an Imperial King, who calls themselves Great Forest, holds out their hand to Makli Hyun-ah.
[We...will be your friends. Always remember us...and also strive to break free from the evil god...]
Drip...drip...
Makli Hyun-ah flinches as he sees a red aura flow like water beneath Great Forest's mask.
Are they shedding tears of blood?
Even if he does not know for sure, he can tell that they are trembling with immense rage and pain.
[Until you reach that realm, always be careful and careful again. All [stars] are their subordinates. Beware of [stars]...the stars of the sky are all their [eyes]...]
Shiver!
[Your ability does not end with the Extreme Ghost Path Body. But remember this.
[Do not rely too much on abilities and fortuitous encounters... The evil god's schemes fill the heavens, so it is impossible to know how far their arrangements spread...]
Tsaaaaat.
Finishing their words, Great Forest's light grows faint on the spot and hides their form.
In the endless darkness, Makli Hyun-ah recalls the time long ago when he entered this space.
Since the memories from when he was born to now are all vivid after he reached the Heavenly Being stage, it is not hard to remember.
'How many people are taking up residence in my unconsciousness...?'
Starting with Makli Cheon-sa, then Jegal Mikhail, that suspicious chain monster.
Now there is even a Great Forest, the First Seat of the Radiance Seven Lords.
Makli Hyun-ah comes to resent his own constitution called the Extreme Ghost Path Body.
'Thinking about it, Jegal Mikhail also said that if I reach the Heavenly Being stage, I could know his identity...but even now, honestly, I still can't quite get a feel for it... What on earth is Mister Jegal Mikhail...?'
Makli Hyun-ah, feeling puzzled, starts to come out from within his unconscious.
After he reached the realm corresponding to the Nascent Soul stage, going back and forth into his unconsciousness became easy in its own way, so he searched within it for Jegal Mikhail and other beings.
But he found nothing at all except Makli Cheon-sa's split soul.
'Tsk... Is Mister Jegal Mikhail just an aspect of my PTSD, or is he really living inside me...?'
Makli Hyun-ah sighs, and as he ponders his worries, he exits his unconsciousness and awakens from sleep.
***
"This place is..."
Makli Hyun-ah looks around and rubs his eyes.
Nearby, Makli Hweol sits in a lotus posture and seems to be circulating his qi and healing his injuries, with Badger and the Rabbit Seven Heavenly Lords guarding the two.
"Hey, Badger. What's the situation?"
Makli Hyun-ah asks Badger about the situation, and after hearing everything, he nods.
"Ascension succeeded, but...we still don't exactly know where this place is? Daoist Makli Hweol is healing the internal injuries he received while ascending... Hmm..."
Just as Makli Hyun-ah is in the middle of thinking,
Kugugung!
A powerful explosion rings out nearby, and Makli Hweol, who is healing his internal injuries, opens his eyes and lets out a sigh.
"It seems someone is fighting nearby. From the aura I feel, it seems to be at the Nascent Soul, Heavenly Being level... For now, let us go out together and take a look."
Makli Hweol goes outside with Makli Hyun-ah, frowns, and searches for the source of the blast.
A little away from the ruins, a green small person, a human wearing a black robe, and a blue-robed cultivator who commands countless ghosts are locked in a three-way battle.
"Wail, Ghost Devil Banner!"
Kieeeeeee—
Countless ghosts pour out ghostly wails from inside the banner, and at that wailing, the green small person and the black-robed person's complexions worsen.
However, in the next moment,
"Hung, now the conditions are all met. You Immortal Family cultivators cannot dare use your power against the Confucian Family!"
Tudududududu!
The black-robed person points a finger with a vile smile, and the blue-robed cultivator who is swinging the Ghost Devil Banner falls straight to the ground.
"Kuuugh...! Kuaaaaaa!"
Collapsing there with countless ghosts and dropping to his knees, the man grits his teeth and screams.
"Don't...make me laugh...! I...do you think I, Heo Yak-ham of the Great Azure Ghost Valley, will be defeated...!?"
[TL/N: The Hangul for Heo Yak-ham means weakness/frailty.]
"Kukuk...this is the Confucian Family Method! You Heaven-Earth Tribe cultivators can't even dare lift your heads before a Confucian scholar...huh?"
The black-robed man, wearing a smug and vile smile, tries to mock the green small person and the blue-robed cultivator to his heart's content, but he soon feels puzzled when he sees that the green small person does not kneel.
"Wh-What is this...? I should have sealed off not only spiritual power but also demonic power... How can a yaoguai bastard stand on two feet? Are you saying you aren't a demon beast?"
At those words, the green small person pulls out a pair of podaos from behind their back and snickers.
"Hehe... Have you never even heard of the Heart Tribe...? Even if you ascended recently and lack common sense, this is pathetic beyond worlds... Kekeke...!"
"Heart Tribe...? That Heart Dao Blooming thing? But that won't work either. No matter how well you swing a blade, if I suppress that thing you call internal energy, what can you even do!?"
Tududududu!
The black-robed man, who seems to have learned the Confucian Family Method, mocks the green small person, pulls out a beast scroll, and begins to call out countless people from inside it.
"Hear me, bring that impudent dwarf before me and make him kneel!"
The people wearing constable uniforms, the moment they come out of the beast scroll, rush at the green small person all at once at the black-robed man's order.
However, in the next moment,
The green small person grins, regulates his breathing, and begins to leap up into the sky.
"Fool...! The fact that the realm of Blooming has fully matured means..."
And then, the slaughter begins.
Shikagagagak!
Saber marks scatter in all directions, and the spear-shafts and bodies of the constables are ripped to shreds.
"Even without any internal energy...with just that itself...!"
Kagagagak!
He is like a green storm.
Even though he reveals no mystical power, no strange powers or chaotic spirits,
Just by controlling his own body well, he calls forth a blood-red storm!
"One weapon can dominate all under the heavens!"
Soon, green flashes gleam, the constables are slaughtered to the last, and green Gang Qi begins to shine on the green small person's podaos.
"Th-This makes no sense! I definitely suppressed Qi!?"
"Qi is intent. As long as you cannot seal a martial artist's will...! I shall never fall!!"
Kwagwagwang!
Immediately after, the small person's podaos split the black-robed man in half.
The robed man, dead and split in two, stares at the green small person with a blank, dumbfounded expression, then collapses.
Tsuaaaaaat!
As the black-robed man's Confucian Family Method exhausts its strength, the oppressed Heaven and Earth spiritual energy is released again, and the blue-robed cultivator also seems to regain his strength.
"Ha, haha, so there are times when you are useful, Heart Tribe. I don't like you, but still, you are worth acknowledg—"
"What are you babbling about by yourself, Heaven Tribe bastard!? I'll feed you my podaos too!"
"Kuaaghk!"
The two thought to be on friendly terms after bringing down a common enemy end up fighting again because of the green small person's first strike.
They clash like mad for a while, and finally the green small person smashes the blue-robed cultivator's Ghost Devil Banner and starts to seize the advantage.
"Kuaaaak! My Ghost Devil Banner!!"
"Die, you trash Heaven Tribe bastard!!"
And then, Makli Hyun-ah and Makli Hweol step forward and block the green small person.
"Hoho, my apology fellow Daoists, but please stop now."
The green small person looks back and forth between Makli Hweol and Makli Hyun-ah, then smacks his lips.
"Tsk...! You look like vile bastards. My stamina is spent, so I'll have to put off greetings with you. Aiya!"
Peobeong!
The green small person takes something out from his embrace and throws it.
Smoke billows thickly all around, and the small person runs away beyond the smoke bomb.
'This smoke...interferes with the flow of consciousness...!'
Makli Hyun-ah frowns at the power of the smoke, then walks up to the blue-robed cultivator, who grows gloomy after losing his dharma treasure.
"Are you all right, fellow Cultivator?"
"Ah...you are fellow Heaven Tribe Daoists. Thank you very much...! Ah, One Qi of the Primordial Chaos...!"
The blue-robed cultivator shows courtesy to the two and briefly mutters something like a prayer.
"You two...judging by your aura, seem to have just ascended. Is that not so?"
"Hoho, you have keen eyes. That is right. We just ascended from the nearby Void Spirit Pond...and it is a bit bewildering that it's a place like this the moment we ascended. Could you tell us what is going on?"
"Of course. First, in this Purple Gold Realm, war between countless forces never ceases. That is why everywhere in the world is a complete mess. Still, they usually do not touch places where a Flying Immortal Platform is...but as the war grew larger, it seems even the Star Master Jurisdiction, where the Flying Immortal Platform was, got swept away completely."
"I see. Which force are you a cultivator of, Daoist?"
While continuing his explanation, the blue-robed man seems to remember something and offers them a belated greeting.
"Ah, I apologize. I am late in introducing myself to my benefactors. Thank you truly for saving me. I am 'Heo Yak-ham (虛藥艦)' of the Black Ghost Valley. Including the Black Ghost Valley I belong to, many Heaven Tribe, Earth Tribe, and Heart Tribe cultivation sects belong to a force called the 'One Qi of the Primordial Chaos Religious Order'."
"One Qi of the Primordial Chaos Religious Order?"
"Yes, it is one of the personifications of the laws of the Immortal Family, the progenitor owner of Heaven and Earth. Rather than an actual personal god, you can think of it as a concept."
"Ah, I see..."
"Since it has come up, would you perhaps like to join the One Qi of the Primordial Chaos Religious Order? If you join, I can refer you as one who is affiliated with the One Qi of the Primordial Chaos Religious Order, but..."
Heo Yak-ham urges them to join the One Qi of the Primordial Chaos Religious Order, and takes something like a membership form out of his embrace.
"The joining procedure is simple. If you just stamp your handprint here and leave your aura, you will be recognized as half affiliated with the One Qi of the Primordial Chaos Religious Order. For formal joining, you must go to the cult decree, though."
Makli Hyun-ah looks at the part of the form where one is meant to stamp a handprint.
There, a nebula filled with countless starlight is drawn.
Shiver!
Makli Hyun-ah recalls Great Forest's words who wanted him within his unconsciousness.
The stars in the sky are all the evil god's [eyes].
And even the [Hand of Starlight] that chased after them...
Heo Yak-ham says that One Qi of the Primordial Chaos is not a personal god, but a personification of a law, but ...
Makli Hyun-ah cannot hide a deep sense of ominousness.
'Is the existence called One Qi of the Primordial Chaos...not that existence called the evil god...? Is the One Qi of the Primordial Chaos truly just a personification of a law...?'
On the first day he opened his eyes in the Upper Realm,
Makli Hyun-ah faces a member of a cult that serves an unknown divinity called the One Qi of the Primordial Chaos, and his body trembles with fear whose end he cannot know.