At that time, in the eyes of Lee Seongmin, Xeon, an SS-class mercenary, appeared to be one of the greatest and strongest beings in the world.
Of course, reflecting on that thought process in retrospect now, Lee Sungmin knew that Xeon was nothing in front of the current him, but for Lee Sungmin in his previous life, Xeon was as distinguished as a king.
But there was one true king among the mercenary world that even Lee Sungmin of the previous life knew of.
The Mercenary King, Dimitri.
Any pish-posh mercenary would have heard of the name Dimitri, the Mercenary King. The C-Class mercenary, known as Lee Sungmin in the previous life, knew that even Xeon was nothing compared to the true Mercenary King. But, Lee Sungmin was surprised that such a popular figure, like the Mercenary King, was secretly a member of the Six Divinities from Beyond the Heavens.
“Kang Seok is a wanderer. I wouldn’t know since he is always wandering around the world and not even the other Six Divinities would know his whereabouts, since he’s strong enough to handle himself in the face of disaster. As for Wolhu….”
Qian Zun hesitated for a moment, and eventually spoke out.
” He is living in Mount Yuzhkia. There is a mansion where the others normally reside, including myself, had I not been hiding here.”
“I’ve heard there is a Divine Maiden who is the one who gives the orders inside your organization. What would happen if we were to compare them… with someone like Guan Zun?”
“That’s not worth even mentioning.”
Qian Zun said with a bitter expression as he shook his head.
“There’s no use comparing the two. None of the Six Divinities, including Wolhu and Kang Seok, is comparable to the Divine Maiden.”
“……What about Lord Sima Ryunju of the Sama Order?”
“……Sima Ryunju is one of the most recognized martial artists of all time, not only of this era, that much is true. But I don’t know how the two would compare right now between each other. The Divine Maiden is actually the same as the Divine Spirit, and she went into closed training. We use the term Divine Maiden to throw off those who seek to investigate us”
“Why would someone who has entered the realm of a mystical being want to kidnap Wijihoyeon?”
“……for the sake of our cause.”
“Then tell me what your cause is.”
Qian Zun was silent for a moment. A short while later, he sighed and said.
“This world is… very wide. Do you know about the organization known as Predator?”
“I do.”
“Predator is an organization full of monsters who abandoned their humanity. They’ve been enemies of our organization for a very long time, but even the Divine Spirit couldn’t take down Predator. One of the purposes of Beyond the Heavens is to destroy all the monsters in the world, including the organization Predator.”
[What a load of nonsense.]
Heoju spat out suddenly inside Lee Sungmin’s conscience.
[Killing all of the monsters in all of Eria would be impossible. Even if all the monsters in Eria were killed, it does not mean new ones will surface. If one gives up their humanity over time and loses their sanity, they can and will become a monster, that’s just a fact. It is impossible to destroy all the monsters in the world, unless one eradicates the entire human race as well.]
Lee Sungmin nodded in his mind and spoke out what Heoju had just said to Qian Zun. Qian Zun nodded at the words.
“Yes, but when humans start to lose their own sense of humanity and become monsters… what if our organization had acquired a way to remove the very law of the world that allows that to happen?”
[That’s ridiculous.], Heoju continued to rant off in Lee Sungmin’s head.
“There are Liches and Death Knights that we can take for example. They offer their humanity and souls to a devil that they manage to contract with. But if we interfere with that process and remove the devils and their interference from this world, that very interference that is allowed with this world is the law that we seek to break.”
“And how do you plan on destroying that law?”
“The Divine Spirit proclaimed that we would interfere with that law since we cannot completely destroy it on our own as martial artists, magicians, sorcerers, transcendents or even mystical beings for that matter. The Divine Spirit said that only Gods can do such a thing and the God we worship needed The Minor Heavenly Demon for that reason…”
“So you don’t even know why you needed to kidnap her or place yourself under this curse?”
“… I do not.”
“Is that simply the only goal for Beyond the Heavens?”
Lee Sungmin asked again to clarify and make sure. Qian Zun opened his mouth again after a brief silence.
“If the devils can’t interfere in this world, and if there’s no undead or monsters in this world, then only humans and the other subraces of humanity will be left. After that……Our organization will bring law and order to the world and create a new religion…”
“HAHA!”
Listening to Qian Zun, Lee Sungmin burst into laughter because he was speechless at the fanaticism of Qian Zun.
“You’re making a religion after taking over all forms of order and government in the entire world of Eria? How ridiculous.”
“……but everyone in our organization follows the will of the Divine Spirit. It’s only order but extremely effective. If we are to ever meet a warrior that has the possibility of reaching the realm of Transcendence and you cannot persuade them to join our cause or recruit them… Then kill them then and there so that they do not become an enemy in the future.”
“How many numbers are there exactly in your organization? I don’t think it’s just some 6 individuals and this so-called Divine Spirit.”
“The Divine Spirit has been around for many years. In the meantime, She had pulled strings from behind the scenes around the world. The King of Mercenaries, Jehu, the current leader of the Murim Alliance and Black Dragon Association all are aligned with our organization’s efforts and goals.”
Lee Sungmin’s expression suddenly turned cold. Sima Ryunju had clearly told Lee Sungmin to be wary of The Black Dragon Association and not to trust them. Lee Sungmin himself was also falsely accused of killing Zhuge Taeryong and Murong Seojin. Not only that, but the order for the lancer known as ‘Ironclad’ to fight Lee Sungmin even though it was a certain death…. It was clear now to him that the Black Dragon Association had a hand in it, and thus must have been because of this mysterious organization known as ‘Beyond the Heavens’.
‘If The Black Dragon Association is part of Beyond the Heavens. Then it could be said that all the orthodox factions and 5 Great families must be moving at the will of this organization…’
The influence of this organization that Lee Sungmin was just laughing at earlier, was actually much deeper rooted than he initially thought.
“I don’t know exactly how much power and influence our organization has. The only person that knows all of it would be the Divine Spirit herself.”
“You’re a so-called Divinity, yet you do not know anything too important about your own organization. How pitiful.”
But he wasn’t lying. Qian Zun, who swore an oath on behalf of his mana, was not dead. Through the conversation with Qian Zun, Lee Sungmin, although he mocked Qian Zun, had actually learned quite a bit.
It was an incredibly radical and even questionable purpose. Was it simply just to eradicate the devils and demons from the other dimensions and their interference? Something was fishy about all of it, Lee Sungmin thought.
Not only that, but as long as ‘Beyond the Heavens’ insisted on following their purpose, they would continue to aim for Wijihoyeon. Furthermore, it was discovered that the mercenary king and the murim alliance were being led around by the nose in accordance to this organization’s will.
Not only that, but since Lee Sungmin had already slain Guan Zun and was going to kill Qian Zun shortly, there was no way they would leave him alone. Previously, he had been chased only through rumors and information networks, but it was likely since he had achieved a new realm of power and influence, they would pursue Lee Sungmin more openly and in a direct manner.
“One last question.”
Lee Sungmin raised himself up.
“The gauntlets your daughter has. I could tell they were made of Dragon Scales. Where the hell did you obtain them?”
“……I didn’t know you’d be curious about it. Those gauntlets were received a long time ago as evidence of our village’s friendships with the dwarves. It was crafted by the chief of dwarves himself at the time.”
“Is that chief still alive now?”
“No, it was over a thousand years ago. Dwarves are long lived, but the chief from that time is now long dead.”
Lee Sungmin clicked his tongue. But it wasn’t completely useless information either. Selgerus also had said that the current chief of dwarves could process the draconian materials Lee Sungmin kept on his person. He would have to surely visit the city of dwarves soon someday to get his materials processed properly.
“I’ve heard everything I’ve needed to hear.”
Lee Sungmin grabbed the spear and approached Qian Zun. Qian Zun at the back of his heart hoped that Lee Sungmin would spare him if he told the truth to him, but in front of Lee Sungmin’s frigid and ruthless words, it was of no use.
“I will not let you live even if you release the curse. As long as you are a part of Beyond the Heavens you will only be my enemy later on. Not only that… but you have caused me to see a terrible and bitter sight. You harmed and tried to kill my first friend Wijihoyeon. I will never allow you to leave here alive”
“……I see.”
Qian Zun murmured in a soft voice.
“Are there any last words you have?”
“Will you even remember them if I say them?”
“No.”
“Then there’s no point.”
Qian Zun closed his eyes quietly. Lee Sungmin lightly stabbed Qian Zun who had his eyes closed. Qian’s body, which was weakened by the curse, did not resist Lee Sungmin’s spear. There was a hole in Qian Zun’s chest with blackened blood leaking trickling from it. Lee Sungmin, who penetrated the heart neatly, watched Qian Zun’s body collapse.
‘Still…’
In his dying consciousness, Qian Zun recalled his daughter, who would be out of the woods by now.
The death of his ancestry was prevented.
He had also prevented the death of his own people. He also succeeded in hiding the existence of their ‘God’ while answering Lee Sungmin’s questions.
‘That’s all I have to do….’
Lee Sungmin confirmed Qian Zun’s death. Then he started to address the last bits of work he had to do there. Lee Sungmin searched the body of the dead Guan Zun and recovered his spatial pocket as well as collecting the sword Guan Zun had wielded in his fight against him.
The sword of Guan Zun was an incredible and extraordinary sword.
He also searched for Qian Zun’s spatial pocket, but sadly, Qian Zun did not have it on his person.
‘I can’t help it.’
Lee Sungmin checked inside the spatial pocket of Guan Zun. There were various antique collections of famous swords he only heard about in the past, different currencies and some small potions. Lee Sungmin sadly did not acquire any kinds of medicinal pills or elixirs.
Lee Sungmin raised himself up after packing what was important to pack.
[Where are we going now?]
‘We will go meet Sima Ryunju and Wijihoyeon.’
Lee Sungmin replied. All the work he had in the South, was finished. Lee Sungmin started to recall the two other faces he had travelled with at the start of his journey to the South and quickly avoided his bitter memories.
He had some questions for Sima Ryunju… and he wanted to go see her.Wijihoyeon.
* * *
Flinching, Wijihoyeon’s body suddenly trembled. Wijihoyeon, who was sitting on her bed and receiving the dense natural energy of the forest as usual, immediately noticed the changes that had occurred to her body.
Her pain and heaviness that she had been experiencing had slowly started the process of disappearing.
“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…”
The curse was being lifted. Wijihoyeon scanned down her body with surprised eyes. She felt strange because it had been so long. Wijihoyeon staggered to her feet.
She could definitely feel the curse had been lifted, but it was not easy to move right away. However, her vitality and internal energy was starting to quickly recover, and she would have freedom to move again, soon.
“It seems Qian Zun has died.”
She heard a soft and quiet voice. Wijihoyeon jerked and turned her head in the direction of the voice. Sima Ryunju was standing a bit away from her watching her closely.
While Wijihoyeon had spent her time in the forest, she did not interact with Sima Ryunju much. Since coming to the forest, she had not reached out to talk to Sima Ryunju much, nor had he reached out to her.
For the months she had been in the forest of fairies, she had been soaking her body and dantian in the natural and condensed energy of the forest.
“Ghost Spear. It seems our little brat killed Qian Zun.”
She was indebted to him. Wijihoyeon slowly recollected her breath bit by bit, recalling Lee Sungmin.
She was determined to pay back this favor someday. Wijihoyeon strained to circulate her internal energy slightly. The dantian she had been soaking in the natural energy of the forest and had been solidified like a rock due to the curse, was slowly starting to melt and gush with energy.
Her internal circuitry started to gush vast amounts of internal energy at an incredibly fast pace and with completely renewed strength.
‘The amount of pathways in my internal circuitry has increased and so has the density of my internal energy’
She had been absorbing the natural and dense energy of the forest for over a year now. Even though she could not discern the changes while being cursed, the change was so blatantly evident that she couldn’t help but be shocked.
Since the martial arts of the Heavenly Demon she was learning was able to compress, circulate and absorb much larger amounts of internal energy than any other person in all of Eria, she already had an incredibly fathomless amount of internal energy even compared to others that were in the Realm of Transcendence, but now it had increased more than twice her original amount. It was a ridiculous amount of internal energy circulating within her body.
“……I don’t think it’ll be a problem if I settle down and train for about three or four days.”
Wijihoyeon murmured. Sima Ryunju, who was wearing a silly looking bear mask today and playing with a fairy on his shoulder, glanced over at her.
“So?”
“Then, I want to train with you.”
Wijihoyeon said. Sima Ryunju didn’t answer her. The fairy on Sime Ryunju’s finger pushed and pulled playfully with him, but this time he didn’t have any kind of exaggeratingly playful antics.
“Are you sure about that?”, Sima Ryunju mumbled in a voice that Wijihoyeon could hear.
And then, after a brief silence, Sima Ryunju replied to her request.
“I might kill you. Are you going to be okay with that possibility?”
“I don’t care about that, you old man.”
Wijihoyeon said, staring at Sima Ryunju.
“Because… I might just kill you, too.”
She meant it from the bottom of her heart. She recalled what Sima Ryunju had offered to Lee Sungmin. If Lee Sungmin came to this forest, Sima Ryunju would accept him as his disciple. She genuinely did not want that.
When she first heard that…… Wijihoyeon immediately protested the thought in her head.
Yeah, she didn’t like it.
So it was simple in her mind. She wanted to kill Sima Ryunju.
“Okay.”
Sima Ryunju smirked.
“It would be fun to beat up a cheeky little brat to pass the time.”
Sima Ryunju spoke and then laughed at her.