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Chapter 837: Side Story - Mythical Relic (2)
"In the Mythic Age. There were those called the Three Great Nightmares, or the Three Calamities."
Ahn Geum and Makli Hyun-ah's group follow the man and hear about the myths of the Vast Cold Realm.
"The first nightmare was the Ghost Mother. She had the legendary talent called the Ghostly Yin Transformation Immortal Root and entered Black Ghost Valley, growing into a brilliant disciple, but...she could not overcome her own talent and became a monster that commanded ten billion ghosts, and it is said she turned the Vast Cold Realm into a wasteland."
“…Hm?”
Ahn Geum suddenly has a strange look in her eyes as she recalls something.
For some reason, her master who led her to Black Ghost Valley, Gongmyo Min-hee, rises vividly in her mind.
"Mm, that's good news for me."
Ahn Geum nods and keeps that information in mind.
"The second nightmare of the Mythic Age was the Sword Devil! When the Ghost Mother ran rampant, that monster wreaked havoc in the Human Race territory, threatened and tortured the Sacred Master of the Vast Cold Realm of that age, and they say they even contributed to the Vast Cold Realm being eroded by the Blood Yin Realm. Because their evil name is so widely known, some cultivators of the Vast Cold Realm sometimes admire the power of the Sword Devil's devilish arts and use it as a symbol. Our clan also uses the form of the Sword Devil as a symbol."
The man takes a spirit tablet out from his chest, and a crest that looks like his family emblem is carved into it.
It is a terrifying ghost with at least more than twenty heads.
Just looking at it makes one's knees go weak and sends chills down the spine, like a vicious demon.
"It really is a terrifying devil...!"
Makli Hyun-ah trembles and cannot even look at the Sword Devil's symbol, and even Ahn Geum flinches and trembles at that vicious appearance.
Only Makli Cheon-sa merely tilts her head in puzzlement.
"That's scary...?"
"Well...there are people who aren't afraid, but this is only the Sword Devil's early form. It is said that later, the Sword Devil wrapped themselves in a terrifying death and their heads soared up to 999. In legend, they ultimately reached the extreme of True Immortality, and they say their heads grew to as many as three thousand."
"Th-Three thousand heads...what kind of devil is the monster called Sword Devil?"
"It isn't for nothing that they are passed down to this day as one of the Vast Cold Realm's Three Great Nightmares and is called a myth, is it? Imagine that appearance. You have no choice but to call it a true devil from the True Devil Realm, from the Blood Yin Realm!"
"By the way, what kind of world is the Blood Yin Realm?"
"I heard that in the Mythic Age, they called the True Devil Realm the Blood Yin Realm...I don't really know well, either."
Makli Hyun-ah, Ahn Geum, and the others shudder all over at the image of the dreadful called the Sword Devil and shake their heads.
To the end, Makli Cheon-sa seems unable to understand why the Sword Devil is frightening.
"So, what being is the one called Mad Lord?"
At Makli Cheon-sa's words, the man shivers.
"Compared to the Ghost Mother and Sword Devil, they are a being whose fame is weaker. Until not long ago, they were treated as nothing more than a monster that was passed down as a nightmare just to fill out the set of three. However..."
The man's complexion turns pale as he continues.
"Twenty thousand years ago, a race living near the Light Spirit Pond of the Vast Cold Realm mistakenly touched one of Mad Lord's artifacts...and the relics of the Mythic Age began to 'move' again."
"Wait, wait."
Ahn Geum asks because she cannot understand.
"If it is the Mythic Age and not even the Ancient Era...isn't that at least ten billion years ago? And you're saying relics left by a being called the Mad Lord from tens of billions of years ago still work even now?"
"We also didn't believe it at first. But we have no choice but to believe it. Those monster-like puppets constantly self-repaired themselves and endured immeasurable ages!"
"Self-repair...?"
"Yes, the lord of puppets. The biggest characteristics of the puppets left by the Mad Lord are three. [Self-repair], [mass production], and [technological evolution]. Because of these terrifying traits...the awakened puppets fully restored themselves, built [factories], plundered the Vast Cold Realm's resources to proliferate, seized cultivators and turned them into living puppets, and made their own technology evolve on its own."
"..."
Ahn Geum is left speechless at the unbelievable level of technology, and Makli Hyun-ah clicks his tongue, thinking of the concept of Grey Goo from Earth.
'This is the real Darwin's demon... It's scary, but kind of cool?'
"Anyway, these terrifying mechanical puppets...sweep across the entire Vast Cold Realm, and like a swarm of locusts they sweep away everything in the Vast Cold Realm. Without resting, with no purpose at all, they evolve themselves...so the humans of today avoid that locust swarm, dig burrows underground, and live hidden. Ironically...what the Ghost Mother left behind, who is one of those same disasters and nightmares, ended up helping."
"Didn't you say what the Ghost Mother left behind is only a few traces of ghostly energy?"
"The ghostly energy too, but the biggest is the alternate spaces that came along with that ghostly energy...they are called the 'Ghost Mother's Tombs'."
"By Ghost Mother's Tomb, you mean..."
"We arrived just in time. Welcome. This place is the new resting place of the living beings of the Vast Cold Realm..."
Those who follow the man soon realize that they have entered a strange space.
A strange alternate space spreading out deep underground greets them.
They definitely came down underground, but...for some reason, a night sky spreads out, and there is also a place that looks like the sea.
An endless horizon and sea horizon spread out.
"This is the Ghost Mother's Tomb. Countless cultivators of the Hundred Schools and various races modified the alternate space the Ghost Mother left behind and changed it so many people can use it. Originally it was a perilous space, but now it has become quite safe."
Ahn Geum inhales the faint ghostly energy mixed into this space and smiles comfortably, and Makli Hyun-ah also naturally inhales it since ghostly energy is familiar to him.
Ahn Geum speaks with a relaxed face.
"Please do not worry too much now. Anyway, I am at the Grand Perfection Integration stage... If I just have a few ten thousand of years, I am confident I can advance to the Star Shattering stage. The upheaval caused by the Mad Lord's relic will also soon be pacified."
And at those words, the man clicks his tongue as if asking what she is saying, and speaks.
"...It seems you have a rather strong self-love. Sorry, but you seem to be a cultivator of the Immortal Family Method...you aren't much help. It is good if your realm is high, but those of the Immortal Family Method bear the worst matchup against the Mad Lord's puppets. Even if you become a Star Shattering stage Esteemed One...there are records that the Mad Lord already made Star Shattering stage puppets from the Mythic Age, so following those records the puppets already evolved, and Star Shattering stage puppets are not just one or two."
"...Pardon?"
Ahn Geum blinks, looking a little dumbfounded at those words.
What in the world does that mean?
Star Shattering stage puppets are not just one or two?
"Rather, what we need right now is not a Star Shattering stage Immortal Family Method cultivator, but a Heavenly Being stage, Four-Axis stage level Non-Immortal Family Method Cultivator.
"The bizarre and mysterious powers they have are powers the puppets still have not fully analyzed, and there are many things that can't be dealt with by simple firepower or human-wave tactics alone, so they are very efficient at dealing with the puppets."
"Ah, m-me! I am a Confucian Family Method cultivator!"
For some reason, Makli Hyun-ah gets excited at the man's words and introduces himself, and the man stares at him with eyes wide open.
"What did you say, Confucian Family Method!?"
"Yes, and also..."
"Hm... The Confucian Family Method is very good...but honestly, it has bad compatibility with puppets, so..."
"Hng...but I have also learned the Naming Family Method..."
"...! What!?"
At Makli Hyun-ah's words, the man turns back to him with eyes wide open.
"What a delight!? A Naming Family Method cultivator. Follow me at once. Naming Family Method cultivators are rare, so they are greatly valued among the Human Race! Follow me. Since I have brought you this far, I will take you all the way to the Human Race Grand Alliance's main headquarters. Register your identity there!"
"Uh, uh...thank you."
As soon as the man learns that Makli Hyun-ah has learned the Naming Family Method, his attitude completely changes, and he escorts them with great courtesy and brings them to the Human Race Grand Alliance.
Ahn Geum, who thought she will be treated well as a Grand Perfection Integration stage cultivator, instead seems to feel unpleasant when Makli Hyun-ah, whose realm is lower than hers, receives better treatment, and she follows them with a sullen expression.
***
Human Race Grand Alliance Headquarters.
When Makli Hyun-ah arrives there and reveals that he is a Naming Family Method and Confucian Family Method cultivator, he becomes so dumbfounded he can only stare as he sees those who welcome him fervently.
"The Naming Family Method! And you are a Confucian Family Method cultivator as well!? We will serve you at once. Another Non-Immortal Family Method cultivator to face the puppets has come—this is the Human Race's good fortune!"
Even the Human Race Grand Alliance Lord, a Quasi-Star Shattering stage cultivator, comes out and greets Makli Hyun-ah, so Makli Hyun-ah has no choice but to become even more flustered.
'No, it's to this extent? What did I even do?'
"Thank you for coming to the Vast Cold Realm, Cultivator Makli Hyun-ah. I heard you have come for Axis Foundation Practice. You seem to have reached the Ascending Metamorphosis stage... In the Vast Cold Realm, we will provide every convenience for Cultivator Makli Hyun-ah. In return, if you would make a bit of contribution for the Human Race which is currently in crisis, we would be grateful..."
"Uh, umm...what contribution are you speaking of...?"
"Immortal Family Method cultivators have poor compatibility with the Mad Lord's puppets. They use that tactic of dragging in a heap of same-realm puppets and using human-wave tactics...and the puppets that crush you down with destructive power can absolutely not be handled... However, martial artists of Heart Dao Blooming or Non-Immortal Family Method cultivators like Cultivator Makli Hyun-ah can deal with puppets far more efficiently. Yet, the martial artists of Heart Dao Blooming...the ones collectively called the Heart Tribe are all individualists and don't listen to what they're told, so Non-Immortal Family Method cultivators like you can be said to be very good talent for us."
"Ah...I see. So what I have to do is..."
"Help us a bit with the Naming Family Method... Especially since it seems you reached the Ascending Metamorphosis stage with the Confucian Family Method, if you practice the Naming Family Method and Confucian Family Method together, there will be a tremendous effect. Surely you will be of considerable help in facing the puppets."
At the Human Race Grand Alliance Lord's barrage of praise, Makli Hyun-ah's mouth stretches into a grin and he naturally accepts the proposal.
"Uh...if you really need it, I will help a bit. So, what should I help with first?"
***
"You're doing a fine thing."
Ahn Geum snaps at Makli Hyun-ah.
"Just because that person praised you a little, you go grinning along and now you're about to end up volunteering."
"But...they said that if I gather contribution points, they will support me with anything thy can support..."
"Think about it. If you need something, later at night when Sacred Master Ban Ta calls you while you sleep, you can just tell the Sacred Master, right? If it's Sacred Master Ban Ta, your master, he'll do anything to send you cultivation resources or whatever you need, so why go out of your way to suffer for nothing?"
Makli Hyun-ah listens to Ahn Geum's nagging and follows the guidance of a cultivator from the Human Race Alliance, heading toward the waiting area for the puppet suppression squads.
"Uhh...sorry..."
"Whew, fine. I'll protect you for now, but if you feel it's dangerous, you have to pull your feet out right away. Got it?"
"Alright...by the way..."
On the way to the subjugation squad waiting area, when Makli Hyun-ah passes beneath a banner, for some reason the road feels far too long, and he thinks he wants to get there quickly.
"Wanna have a match? To see who arrives first?"
"..."
Ahn Geum hardens her expression and stays silent, and when Makli Hyun-ah sees that sight, he gives an awkward laugh and speaks to the cultivator acting as the guide.
"Looks like we roughly know the direction anyway, so should we have a contest? Who arrives at the subjugation squad waiting area first?"
The cultivator acting as the guide seems to ponder for a moment, then nods.
"Understood. I will show you the taste of the Flying Escape Technique of an Immortal Family Method cultivator."
"Haha, don't look down on a Confucian Family Method cultivator's movement technique either. Then...start!"
The guide who cultivates the Immortal Family Method uses the Flying Escape Technique, and Makli Hyun-ah quickly heads for the subjugation squad waiting area through the method of turning into letters.
The guide is fast as well, but because he is only at the Nascent Soul stage, he cannot compare to Makli Hyun-ah, who has reached Ascending Metamorphosis.
Makli Hyun-ah is like a hare, and the guide is like a tortoise.
Makli Hyun-ah sneers at the guide and goes far ahead, then sees a big tree stump.
"Huaaam... The tortoise-like guide looks like he'll take a long time to arrive, so I should sleep a bit."
The hare leans his body against the tree stump and starts taking a nap.
In the meantime, the tortoise, slow but steady, keeps walking toward the destination.
At some point,
The tortoise passes the napping hare and finally reaches right in front of the destination.
Only then does the lazy hare wake from his nap, spot that the tortoise has almost reached the destination, and run quickly, but it is already too late.
The tortoise arrives at the finish line, and the lazy hare ends up losing to the diligent tortoise.
All the animal friends gather and say to the hare.
Because you were not sincere like the tortoise and you lazed around in arrogance, you lost.
And so the hare carves that day's lesson into his heart...
Smack!
Makli Hyun-ah only comes to his senses when Ahn Geum's hand smacks the top of his head.
"Uh, uhh?"
"You almost became a hare. Snap out of it!"
With her expression stiffened hard, Ahn Geum stands with Makli Hyun-ah in front of the subjugation squad waiting area and glares inside.
The guide, too, seems flustered by what just happened and pats at his own body.
Just now, the guide was right on the verge of turning into a tortoise.
"If that story had reached its ending, you would really have had to live after turning into a hare and a tortoise. Of course, the guy who used this method would have turned you back again...but these bastards really start picking fights the moment we come to the Vast Cold Realm."
Kwaaang!
Ahn Geum kicks open the door to the subjugation squad waiting area and barges in, growling with eyes filled with anger.
"Who is the dog bastard that just tried to pin a story on us and turn my fiancé into a hare?"
At Ahn Geum's growl, someone sitting inside the waiting area chuckles and stands up.
"I heard a new Non-Immortal Family Method cultivator...and on top of that, a cultivator of the very rare Naming Family Method came to the Human Race territory, so I tried to give a little test, but I didn't know you were a bug who couldn't even notice the story. I apologize for not matching your level."
Only then does Makli Hyun-ah realize that the man standing up in front of him is the one who just dragged him into the 'The Hare and the Tortoise' story and tried to turn him into a hare, and he glares at him.
"You...what are you doing? Just now, that was..."
"Eloquence Family Method. Or the cultivation system called the Novelist Family Method."
Ahn Geum does not hide her anger and reveals her aura.
Kwadudududuk!
Ahn Geum's aura blankets the entire waiting area and shakes the space.
"It's a method that, through a story, assigns roles to targets who enter the story's range, or enforces the rules within the story... Us passing under that banner earlier was probably the trigger.
"It's an annoying method, but...at merely the Ascending Metamorphosis 1st tribulation level, you dare touch me and my fiancé. You want to die, don't you?"
"Ahahaha, how foolish. If you kill me, the suppression success rate will plummet, so how does a commonplace Immortal Family Method cultivator dare think she can do anything to me, a Non-Immortal Family Method cultivator? I would receive no punishment even if I kill you, but you will face an enormous punishment if you so much as defy me..."
"What are you saying? Die."
Kwaaang!
And right after that,
Ahn Geum beats the prattling, so-called Novelist Family Method cultivator, to death with a single strike.
At Ahn Geum's vicious strike, everyone inside stands up and aims their respective weapons and killing intent at Ahn Geum.
"How excessive. Even if his prank went too far, taking his life is far too much!"
A white-clad martial artist with pockmarks and burn scars on his face draws two short spears and levels them at Ahn Geum.
Ahn Geum curls her lips into a cold smile and starts drawing up her power.
"Too much? Fine, then punish me. I'll take on as much as you like."
Kwadudududuk!
Kiiyaaaah!
Tens of millions of wandering souls appear from Ahn Geum's shadow, screaming, and begin to blanket the entire area.
A hair-trigger tension begins to cover the space.
At that moment.
"Stop. Everyone, stop."
At a single person's voice, all the Non-Immortal Family Method cultivators gathered there, except for the white-clad martial artist, withdraw their killing intent at once and bow themselves toward that direction.
Ahn Geum and Makli Hyun-ah look at the blind woman who has appeared, leaning on a cane, and feel puzzled.
It is because the woman in front of them is a mortal who learned neither the Immortal Family Method, nor martial arts, nor any other cultivation of the Hundred Schools.
"Martial Artist Ha-eun. You too...put away your weapon."
"...Yes. Miss Yeon."
At her direct order, only then does the white-clad martial artist put away his weapons and move to the blind woman's side.
"Nice to meet you. I am the chief strategist of the Mad Lord puppet suppression force...Jo Yeon. Could you explain what happened?"