Chapter 163: Drastic Change (2)
‘How did it come to this?’
"Deputy Seo, do you see that? My goodness, there's a fireball floating through the sky!"
I’m sitting on the deck, looking at Kim Yeon, who is chattering away beside me.
After receiving the order from Azure Tiger Saint,
I am currently on a Flying Ship from Azure Cold Island, headed towards the entrance of the Devil Realm with Kim Yeon.
‘The Devil Realm…’
I had heard about it.
According to what I’ve heard, there was a great war 40,000 years ago called the Bright-Devil Great War, between the Bright Cold Realm and the True Devil Realm.
In the Bright-Devil Great War, the True Devil Realm was defeated by the Bright Cold Realm, and afterwards, it was said that the True Devil Realm had to cede some of its territories as colonies to various races of the Bright Cold Realm.
It was said that these races from the Bright Cold Realm would bring resources from these colonies in the Devil Realm to cultivate devilish arts for their cultivators.
Especially, the Human Race would buy devils from the Devil Realm as slaves and grind them into a pill called Devil Origin Pill, which was sought after by many races not only for reaching the Nascent Soul stage but also for cultivating in the Nascent Soul stage itself.
However, the Human Race, which made the pills, only provided a little rear support during the Bright-Devil Great War and could not get a share of the colonies when they were distributed. As a result, it seemed that the Human Race Grand Alliance decided to use the previous incident as an excuse to invade the Devil Realm and create colonies.
‘...Is participating the right thing to do?’
Even though the reason is to protect Yeon, I feel uneasy.
"Deputy Seo? Deputy Seo?"
While I’m contemplating, Kim Yeon came in front of me and asked.
"Ah, what did you say?"
"Oh, I was just saying how astonishing the scenery is, but you were spacing out, so I wondered if you felt sick..."
"I'm not sick, just had something on my mind..."
"I see. Actually, I heard it from Chief Oh."
Kim Yeon brushes her hair back with a bitter expression.
"You’ve... lost your memory?"
"...Yeah, I only remember bits and pieces, barely anything concrete."
"Hmm..."
She sits down next to me, and together we look at the majestic landscapes of the Bright Cold Realm passing by.
"Deputy, no, Eun-hyun Oppa."
"Hm?"
"I’ve talked about it with Chief Hyun-seok, but how about this?"
Kim Yeon looks at me and begins to speak.
"We’ll tell you about what happened at the company, the things we remember about you, Eun-hyun Oppa."
"Ah..."
"Not that I know everything about Oppa, but I can tell you about my memories of you."
"...Before that."
I ask her, feeling a bit embarrassed.
"...First, can you explain to me which world we came from?"
"Ah..."
And then, her explanation continued.
’Ah, I see.’
So, I was born in such a country.
I absorbed the history of our country and the world history that Kim Yeon explained to me into my mind.
‘Earth. So, I come from such a planet.’
"...To us, who come from Earth, this world seems a bit... nonsensical. Something about the world being flat and all that... And that's not to mention the complete lack of proper human rights..."
"It seems our homeland did have something called human rights."
"Ah... well, not the entire Earth, but the country we lived in was more or less like that. At least it wasn't a place where people openly turned humans into puppets or where monsters that eat people existed."
She caresses her arm.
Her arm, which had been modified, reverted back to its original flesh and blood state.
She removed the puppet arm and regrew it.
Though she was dumbfounded by this absurd treatment, her arm regenerated a few days ago.
"Well... that's roughly the history of our world and our country. Do you remember any of it?"
"Um, I don't really remember much, sorry."
"That's okay. Anyway, can I explain about you, Eun-hyun Oppa?"
"Sure."
She begins to slowly describe 'me.'
A person who supported her as a senior, who almost unconditionally helped with difficult tasks, who would patiently revise all the documents she messed up without showing a hint of annoyance.
A person who, despite occasionally being scolded by superiors, never passed that frustration onto his subordinates.
Someone who might seem foolish at times, but nonetheless stubbornly and reliably completed his assigned tasks.
A person who liked quince flowers among flowers, and kimbap among foods.
This person, that person, such a person....
'That was me?'
Her descriptions leaned heavily towards positive aspects.
It seemed that her fondness for me had somehow made all the negative impressions fly away.
In any case, thanks to her, I was able to get a rough idea of what kind of person 'I' was.
'So, the Seo Eun-hyun before regression was that kind of person.'
Sadly, nothing more comes to mind.
No memories surfaced.
As if the pieces of memory themselves had been torn away.
For several days, she stayed by my side, telling me about the times before we came to this world, and Oh Hyun-seok also joined in to share his memories of 'me'.
Thus, as we flew on the ship, we spent days talking about what kind of person 'I' had been.
[The Flying Ship from Azure Cold Island has arrived at the entrance to the Devil Realm. Everyone, please disembark.]
The voice of the Flying Ship's captain echoed throughout the ship.
"Wow... it feels like it's been almost a month since we last touched land."
"Indeed."
Oh Hyeun-seok and Kim Yeon spoke as they stepped onto land.
I too savor the feel of the earth under my feet for the first time in a while as I look around.
"This is... the entrance to the Devil Realm."
Whooooosh....
A black fog-like substance is swirling in the wind, coming towards us.
Wriggle, wriggle....
Reddish tendrils are creating a massive crack in the air, maintaining a gap in space.
It looks like the tendrils themselves are interfering with the space to create a hole.
The hole created by the tendrils is wide enough to be about five li in radius, with thick black fog-like substances densely packed beyond it.
"It's called the Devouring Space Grass, lent to us by the Blood Shark Race. It's one of the Blood Shark Race's treasures capable of creating holes in the void to pierce through dimensions."
As we are gazing dumbfoundedly at the gigantic tendrils, a man in a black robe approaches us.
"I thank you for sending reinforcements from Azure Cold Island to the Devil Realm expedition force.”
The man in the black robe looks around at us and the people who just disembarked behind.
From Azure Heaven Creation Sect, 202 disciples besides me, Oh Hyun-seok and Kim Yeon.
From other sects on Azure Cold Island, a total of 1024 disciples were sent, making a total of 1229 people sent by Azure Cold Island to the Devil Realm expedition force.
"The representative sect of Azure Cold Island was... West Spirit Gate, was it?"
"It has changed to Azure Heaven Creation Sect."
"Ah, when I visited 200 years ago, it was West Spirit Gate. It seems it has changed since then. Well, anyway, glad you could come. I am Hyeon Woon, the Chief Advisor of the expedition force. I come from the Mystical Scaled Fish Commanding Sect of Black Scale Island. I'm looking forward to working with you."
"Pleased to meet you. I am Oh Hyun-seok, direct disciple of the founder of Azure Heaven Creation Sect, the representative sect of Azure Cold Island.”
"Likewise. I am Seo Eun-hyun, also a direct disciple."
We each greet Hyeon Woon, who then informs us of where we will be going.
"First, inside that spatial rift you see in front of you. That pitch-black fog is protecting the dimensional barrier of the True Devil Realm. Our mission is to break through the barrier protecting the True Devil Realm, enter the interior of the True Devil Realm, and erode its inner regions with the spiritual energy of the Bright Cold Realm."
Wo-woong!
Hyeon Woon shows us a brightly shining golden jade orb.
"With this Bright Cold Jade, go to the Devil Realm, find the devil veins, plant the Bright Cold Jade, and deploy the formation. Gradually, the Bright Cold Jade will contaminate the devil veins with spiritual energy, converting them. The places where the Bright Cold Jade is buried will soon be transformed into areas where the spiritual energy of the Bright Cold Realm flows, just like our realm. Our main mission is to gradually erode the True Devil Realm, creating regions for the follow-up teams to operate."
"I see..."
Wo-woong!
I nod as I look at the brightly shining golden jade orb.
The golden jade orb illuminates brilliantly, stabilizing the surrounding spiritual energy and slowly enhances cultivation just by looking at it.
‘Such a tremendous treasure.’
Of course, the cultivation enhancement effect seems to only work on someone at the Core Formation stage like me, and not much on those Nascent Soul stage and above..
"For now, until all the other expedition teams arrive, everyone should stand on the formation in front of the dimensional barrier and work on breaking through the dimensional barrier. There's nothing special to it, just stand on the formation, supply it with spiritual power, and the formation will do the rest."
"Yes, thank you for the explanation."
We listen to Hyeon Woon's explanation and climb onto the respective parts of the formation in front of the dimensional rift.
‘Well, since it'll be several months before the dimensional barrier is breached and the expedition starts, I should recover the cultivation that fell to the late stage of Core Formation.’
During my escape from the Mad Lord, I used my cultivation foundation to power the Flying Escape Technique, causing my cultivation to drop a level.
My cultivation had reached the stage of Grand Perfection of Core Formation but had fallen to the late stage, so it’s a good opportunity to recover it.
As I stand on the formation, supplying a bit of spiritual power and absorbing the surrounding heaven and earth spiritual energy through my cultivation methods, someone approaches me.
"Ah, are you a disciple of the Azure Heaven Creation Sect?"
"Hm?"
Someone seems to recognize me.
He’s a young boy wearing a golden robe, with his left hair white and his right hair black, a peculiar hairstyle.
"Do you know who I am?"
"Ah, not personally... I am a disciple of the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect. I've volunteered for this Devil Realm expedition. I heard that the Azure Heaven Creation Sect is also from the same Head Realm."
From his words, it seemed he wasn't directly ascended from the Head Realm but rather a newly recruited disciple from where the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect is based.
"...I just wanted to say let's get along as fellow Core Formation cultivators...."
"...Well, there's no harm in being friendly. My name is Seo Eun-hyun."
"Ah, so it’s Cultivator Seo. I am Yeon Jin (Abyssal Quake). You can just call me Yeon whatever you want."
As I start talking to Yeon Jin, I suddenly remember something.
"Does your sect, by any chance, have someone named Jeon Myeong-hoon?"
"Ah! Are you talking about the direct disciple of the Supreme Sect Master? Yes, Senior Brother Jeon is quite famous in our sect. He has mastered all the techniques of our Founding Ancestor and is already looking beyond the Nascent Soul stage.
Ha ha, Senior Brother Jeon is truly amazing. All the elders in our sect are praising him, saying that in another 100 to 200 years, perhaps there will be another Integration stage cultivator in the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect. He's an unparalleled talent compared to someone like me."
Yeon Jin seems to admire Jeon Myeong-hoon, his eyes sparkling.
"...If I may ask, how old are you, Cultivator Yeon?"
"Ah! I am already ninety this year."
"Ninety... You're young. Reaching the mid-stage of Core Formation at that age means you're quite talented, why are you so disheartened?"
"Ha ha, talented..."
Yeon Jin looks at the ground with a bitter gaze.
"In the Bright Cold Realm, reaching the Qi Building stage is something anyone can achieve with a certain age, and anyone with a bit of enlightenment can reach the Core Formation stage as well. But that's as far as it goes. From the Nascent Soul stage onwards, it's a domain of absolute talent. Those without talent cannot reach it even if they use up all the lifespan gained from the Core Formation stage."
"..."
"I was fortunate to enter the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect and reach the mid-stage of Core Formation from the Qi Building stage. But, it seems that might be my limit. No matter how many elixirs I consume or how much I seclude myself for cultivation, the progress of my cultivation is slow, and I doubt whether I can reach the Grand Perfection of Core Formation in this lifetime."
He speaks with a bittersweet smile, looking at me.
"It seems you've achieved a high level of cultivation in the late stage of Core Formation, Cultivator Seo. Reaching the Nascent Soul stage in this lifetime shouldn't be difficult for you. I'm truly envious..."
"...Well, you know..."
It took me more than 2,000 years to reach this point.
But I don't bother to mention that and instead offer Yeon Jin some encouragement.
"I may look younger than I am, but regardless, grinding your teeth and persisting in cultivation will not betray you. Cultivator Yeon Jin, you mentioned you are 90 years old, but reaching the mid-stage of Core Formation before 100 is indeed a sign of blessed talent. Don't be too disheartened, and it will be good to continue your diligent practice."
Touched by my words, Yeon Jin looks at me with moved intent.
"Thank you, Cultivator Seo! Hearing those words, somehow, I feel energized!"
"Haha, I'm glad to be of help."
As we exchanged some encouraging words, I continued to practice my cultivation methods slowly.
As a result, I was able to regain the level of Grand Perfection of Core Formation within a month.
"No, Cultivator Seo... to reach the Grand Perfection of Core Formation in just one month, how on earth..."
"Well, this is..."
Of course, I had a bit of trouble clearing up Yeon Jin's misunderstanding.
‘Anyway, I've reached the pinnacle of Core Formation and have gained enough enlightenment over 2,000 years.’
The Devil Realm expedition force hasn't fully assembled yet, and the formation to breach the dimensional barrier hasn't been completed, so there's still time before we depart.
‘With plenty of time and being above the formation for breaching the Devil Realm barrier, it's relatively safe with the surroundings being guarded.’
I decide to take this opportunity to aim for the Nascent Soul stage.
‘I've lived for 2,000 years and have gradually grasped an understanding of planes with the Formless Sword.’
Enlightenment isn't something to be underestimated.
‘So... before we depart for the Devil Realm, shall I attain Nascent Soul?’
Sitting on the formation, I settle my energy and close my eyes.
