NOVEL NEXT Chapter 560
Chapter 560 – Dark Heaven Village
The next day, I went to visit Master Mangnyang.
‘Is it because Cheon Woo-jin isn’t here… It feels so quiet.’
Cheon Woo-jin had currently been brought in with the obsidian, allowing him to enter Master Mangnyang’s village without any hassle. As I walked deeper inside, I realized it was almost time and shouted,
“Master Mangnyang! I have something to say.”
Swoosh.
Before I knew it, I was slipping into a dream, standing on the familiar path I always took to see Master Mangnyang. This time, he appeared in the form of a black cat, walking toward me from the other side of the path.
[Called Yeodong-bin again, have you?]
As expected, Yeodong-bin’s spirit was summoned next to me. Once again, I had invited him into the dream space right before I fell asleep. Yeodong-bin seemed a bit displeased, his expression stiff.
Master Mangnyang asked me,
[What brings you here this time?]
“I figured you might know already.”
Master Mangnyang’s cat-like eyes stared at me emotionlessly.
[Speak for yourself. Don’t get too carried away with your own words.]
Nodding, I replied,
“I want to know more about the Primordial Void and Chaos! And how to merge them.”
[Why do you want to know that?]
I shot Yeodong-bin a glance before responding to Master Mangnyang.
“Yeodong-bin doesn’t tell me anything about the Martial God, and I think I need to know how to become stronger than gods in the future!”
In truth, right after chatting with Lee Cheong-un yesterday, I had summoned Yeodong-bin to probe about the Martial God, the Primordial Void, and the Four Spirits. But Yeodong-bin remained silent, almost ignoring me entirely, leaving me with no leads. After spending all this time with him, I felt a bit disheartened that he hadn’t said a word.
Then Master Mangnyang spoke up,
[To become stronger than a god… do you even understand what that means?]
I answered confidently,
“It means that in the future, when I use the Seven Luminaries, I can deal with those [Old Rulers]. If I amplify the power of the Seven Luminaries by merging the powers of Chaos and the Primordial Void, it should be entirely possible!”
[……]
Master Mangnyang slowly walked over and leaped onto the roof, curling up and yawning like a dumpling.
[It is indeed possible.]
Yes!
I internally cheered. I had shouted it confidently, but I was uncertain whether it would truly work. But now I received confirmation from a divine being, Master Mangnyang, who was at least equal to [Old Rulers]! As I clenched my fist, Master Mangnyang continued,
[It’s strange, but I can feel plenty of causality from you. Feeling something bizarre in a human who has lived for less than thirty years, with causality hundreds of times greater than ordinary humans. But without questioning it, I’ll explain about Chaos and the Primordial Void.]
“Wait, I don’t have to make offerings?”
What a surprise!
Actually, I had brought more than half of the treasures I had to use in this negotiation. According to the situation, I was prepared to give it all up, having consulted with Zhuge Sa and Mangnyang yesterday, and filled the wooden armor with goodies. But now, Master Mangnyang was offering information without asking for anything in return.
Seeing my confusion, Master Mangnyang waved his tail.
[There’s no need to be surprised. If sufficient causality exists, providing information is causality in itself. It’s nothing more than the principle of mutual benefit. Just a part of the flow of fate.]
“… Don’t use such complicated words! It just makes my head spin.”
I scratched my head in frustration. That guy had a unique talent for saying things that make no sense sometimes, driving me up the wall. Master Mangnyang slowly began to speak.
[Chaos is… ]
“……”
[……]
“……”
[……]
What’s going on?
Why is he suddenly stopping?
I looked at Master Mangnyang, who had paused mid-sentence in confusion, but moments later, he surprised me by saying,
[I’m hungry…]
“Huh?”
Master Mangnyang stood up and looked at me.
[Hurry, give me a snack.]
“What… didn’t you just say you didn’t need offerings?”
As I cried out in surprise, Master Mangnyang responded with another nonsensical statement.
[That and this are different. Currently, I am manifesting based on the essence recognized by your consciousness among the many possibilities in this multidimensional space. Maintaining a nature close to that of a cat, I naturally want to eat a snack. This is unavoidable since I chose to manifest in a dream to avoid the side effects of causality.]
“Wait, what?”
I felt Master Mangnyang’s intense gaze fixate on me.
I looked over at Yeodong-bin. He said with a glum expression,
[Why are you staring at me, Yeon-ja?]
“Did the Sword Master have this kind of experience with Master Mangnyang as well?”
[He didn’t look like that when you met him.]
“What should I do?”
[Figure it out yourself.]
Damn it… so you’re not going to help me!
With no other choice, I started rummaging through the items I had hidden inside the wooden armor. When I presented the pork I had stashed away, Master Mangnyang sniffed it for a bit and then said with obvious displeasure,
[I don’t like pork.]
“Ugh… What do I do?”
[You’re not going to share your snack…?]
Master Mangnyang turned his head sharply, sounding disappointed.
I panicked and shouted,
“Hang on a sec!”
What do cats like?
I frantically dug through the wooden armor.
‘Huh? Why did I put this in here…’
I pulled out a chicken leg that I had accidentally stashed away during my last drinking binge.
“What about this?”
[Hmm… not bad.]
Master Mangnyang seemed satisfied as he extended his paw and began to nibble on the chicken leg.
Success!
I fed Master Mangnyang a snack!
For a while, he enjoyed the chicken leg, seemingly in good spirits, and opened up.
[Chaos is the ‘Father’ and the source of this world. It is the very foundation that fills the entire universe. All races in this world, no matter how many or few, carry Chaos within them, even the gods.]
“Are you saying everyone has Chaos within them?”
[Yes. Even if they are insignificant beings, they still possess Chaos.]
Master Mangnyang continued explaining.
[And the Primordial Void is the ‘String.’]
“A string?”
[The string of causality. Also, that string is the smallest thing in the world.]
“I don’t get it. What does the string have to do with anything?”
Master Mangnyang stared at me silently before speaking.
[Causality means that if there is an ‘in’, there is an ‘out.’ It is the state where causality connects, and the string that connects causality is called ‘fate,’ within which all things arise and extinguish.]
“……”
[The Primordial Void exists as ‘Qi’ most of the time, but when it breaks down, it returns to being the ‘String of Causality.’]
I was lost. Why was Chaos and the Primordial Void so complicated?
I could feel cold sweat forming from the overwhelming explanations, and I replied,
“Um… it’s too hard for me to understand. Can you explain it simply?”
[Wait a moment.]
Saying so, Master Mangnyang slowly began to devour the chicken leg. After a while of enjoying his meal, he pushed the bones aside and continued speaking.
[It isn’t difficult for humans to merge Chaos and the Primordial Void at all. You guys are originally a race born from Chaos, and everyone inherently possesses the Primordial Void. Thus, if you realize that foundational condition, even a newborn could attempt the fusion of Chaos and the Primordial Void.]
“Really?!”
[Yes. It’s true that there is a way to surpass the gods. Because you can overcome the limits of your race by reaching the Void.]
My heart raced.
“Teach me how!”
Finally… finally, I seemed to have a way to bridge the desperate gap between me and the gods!
Even if I couldn’t completely surpass the gods, if I could obtain at least the power comparable to that of my sect master back then, that would be a huge confidence boost. Especially since amplifying my power using the Seven Luminaries could multiply it many times over. And if that potential could drive a stake into the neck of the [Old Ruler], my past-life adventures would surely go smoothly!
Wiying.
Master Mangnyang lifted his front paw and suddenly conjured a glowing orb.
[Now. Gather the inner Chaos and connect it to causality through the Primordial Void. That will complete the fusion.]
“……”
[It’s very easy.]
“Oh, no, you have to tell me how to do that.”
[Hmm.]
Master Mangnyang dispelled the orb and continued,
[Well, gods can directly see the world of causality, so it’s easy for them, but it would be impossible for mortals. To reach that state, you mortals will need three types of training.]
“Three types?”
[First, you must be able to feel the Chaos you possess and move it freely. Second, you need to break down your Qi to the level of the original source and turn it into the Primordial Void, and be able to feel it and manipulate it freely. Lastly, you must have enough mental strength to endure the massive Void at the moment of fusion.]
I was flabbergasted and responded,
“How do you feel and move the Chaos?”
[Even though Chaos is latent in you humans, it’s drastically low since you are the most inferior race in the entire universe. You will need to raise the amount of Chaos to understand it as if swimming in water.]
“So… how do you break down Qi into the Primordial Void?”
[Chaos has the property of breaking down Qi. If overwhelming Chaos is condensed, Qi will extinguish in that space, leaving only the smallest essence, which is the Primordial Void.]
“Hmm.”
I could somewhat grasp Master Mangnyang’s explanation. And I came to a conclusion.
‘So, only the Master of the White Lotus has reached the realm of fusion among humans!’
According to Master Mangnyang, there was one absolute condition to realize the realm of fusion.
You must hold an overwhelming amount of Chaos power within you!
You need to be immersed in massive Chaos to feel and command it, just like you need a sufficient amount of Chaos to break down Qi and revert it to the Primordial Void. Therefore, to meet this condition, one must possess overwhelming Chaos power, and in the human world, only the Master of the White Lotus, who borrows infinite power from the throne of Chaos, could do that. Thus, only he could realize the realm of fusion.
Perhaps even the Great Immortal couldn’t grasp such enlightenment? Only the Master of the White Lotus, who made a contract with Chaos, could uncover the secrets of this world.
I cautiously asked Master Mangnyang,
“Then… if I claim to have realized the realm of fusion, how much training will it take to be on par with the Three Sovereigns?”
[Quite a long time.]
“So how long is that?”
[Practicing the realm of fusion means that in a mortal body, you refine the sacredness of Chaos to become a deity. You’ll need at least several hundred years, and it might take thousands of years before you can be of any use in the world of the gods.]
Master Mangnyang spun his tail and continued,
[If you want to fight evenly against the true bodies of the Three Sovereigns, you would need to train for at least tens of thousands of years.]
“……”
What the heck? Are you kidding me?!
Those words crept up my throat. But since I had directly experienced the overwhelming power of the true bodies of the Three Sovereigns, I had no choice but to acknowledge it in despair. The absolute power of those gods that could annihilate humanity at will was far from easy to overcome.
‘No, it’s too early to give up…’
While the training period was several tens of thousands of years, it was not necessary to spend all that time. Because I had the Seven Luminaries. Even if it was just a fraction of the power of the Three Sovereigns, amplifying it using the Seven Luminaries could perhaps injure them.
While I was feeling all excited about gaining a significant clue, Master Mangnyang glanced at Yeodong-bin and muttered,
[There might be other ways, though…]
“Huh?”
Yeodong-bin, receiving Master Mangnyang’s gaze, said nothing. He only sighed briefly.
I continued asking,
“Master Mangnyang. I currently possess the power of the Yin Spirit ability from Jeon Wook. Can this also be considered Chaos?”
[It’s power that has been processed once, not pure Chaos. Jeon Wook, being a masked figure, probably couldn’t display his pure Chaos. So it’s a stretch to call it that.]
“Does that mean it won’t work?”
[It might be possible if your power reaches its peak and breaks through the boundary.]
“I see.”
Then if I encountered death about thirteen times, I too could come to feel and command the essence of Chaos. That’s because I would need to absorb the Yin Spirit power from Jeon Wook’s statue until I reached the pinnacle where it could break through the boundaries of the ancient techniques.
No, there might be other methods as well?
Suddenly, I felt a bright spark about my future, and my mood lightened. I had gone through so much hardship to reach the Absolute Realm, but now I felt like the path was finally opening up.
As I was grinning to myself, Master Mangnyang slowly rose and began to disappear over the path.
[The snacks were delicious. Next time, make sure to have chicken legs ready…]
Moments later, I awoke. Just as I stood up to leave, I flinched.
“……!!”
Before the shrine of Yeodong-bin. A Sword Master Yeodong-bin had manifested in the material realm. This was a manifestation without my consent, arising solely from the energy he had accumulated as the Great Immortal. I couldn’t help but be stunned; throughout all my past lives, Yeodong-bin had never manifested willingly.
Standing before the shrine, Yeodong-bin silently stared at it before speaking,
“Yeon-ja.”
“Wh-why do you call for me?”
Then Yeodong-bin turned to face me and said,
“Are you trying to become a monster to catch monsters?”
“……?”
“… If it can save humans in any way, what does it matter…”
Muttering that in lament, Yeodong-bin continued,
“However, I, Yeodong-bin, will withhold my judgment on you…”
Sssssss.
With that, Yeodong-bin returned to the celestial realm. Of course, he could come when called since our connection remained, but I felt a strange unease. It was as if Yeodong-bin would never speak to me again.
“Huh?”
I suddenly noticed something placed inside the shrine and approached it.
In the dark and narrow shrine of Yeodong-bin, there was a rusty iron sword laid out. It looked like it would crumble at any moment. I picked it up and swung it; it turned out to merely be a worn-out piece of junk, devoid of any divine or spirit aura. I couldn’t dare use it wrong, fearing it might break.
‘Who offered this to Yeodong-bin?’
As a weapon, it failed miserably. Who would present such a useless sword to Yeodong-bin?
But somehow, it seemed that just before he manifested, Yeodong-bin had been watching this sword closely.
“… Should I leave?”
I placed the outdated sword inside Yeodong-bin’s shrine and turned back to Jangryeong Valley.
Now that I had caught a clue, all that remained was to grow stronger.