Call Of The Spear [EN]: Chapter 233

Nangseon’s Chronicle – 232

Cha Ryuk’s appearance was exactly as San-gun remembered.

Not the current form with blue hair, eyes, and protruding horns, but a woman with neatly styled black hair and a graceful demeanor.

It was the image Yang So-pyeong would remember before his descent into demonic madness.

[I don’t know what… I should say. This letter might end up in Yang Hyeong’s hands. I believe doing this is both my last wish and for the sake of the demonic influence that has taken root within me.]

In the illusion, Cha Ryuk seemed very nervous, fidgeting with her hands clasped demurely in front of her.

[But greeting you should come first. Have you been well?]

Cha Ryuk’s face, as she said this with a smile, was somehow bitter.

[I am also doing well. I am enjoying undeserved happiness, and I am working hard in Dae-do, away from Kunlun.

I cannot tell you where, but there’s no need to say it. We have already gone our separate ways, and because of that, we will see different ends.]

San-gun’s eyes sank deeply.

He had already seen that end.

He had already seen Yang So-pyeong’s end, and Cha Ryuk’s end was no different.

She said this and that afterward, but the core message of the letter was this:

I am living well.

Don’t look for me.

Forget me.

That is better for each other.

“Was she trying to convey just this by wanting to rebuild Kunlun?”

The content was truly insignificant.

But the sincerity contained within was endlessly tender.

Her last act, with death imminent, was only concern for her beloved.

“She could have at least complained. Why didn’t you look for me? How could you let me become like this? Why did you run away alone when leaving Kunlun? It would have been better if she had demanded answers….”

How could she be so selfless?

“I think I know why she disappeared as if running away.”

She said she was living well, but now she was only waiting for the day she would die, so how could she not be ashamed?

She might not have been certain, but she would have roughly realized it.

‘This is unsettling.’

A sigh escaped involuntarily.

It couldn’t be said that he had no connection, but speaking coldly, it wasn’t a problem he needed to worry about so much.

San-gun was not Yang So-pyeong.

Cha Ryuk was not his lover either.

However, he was currently in a state of emotional turmoil regarding Cha Ryuk, having become assimilated with Yang So-pyeong’s memories.

It wasn’t a good feeling.

‘There are no coincidences in the world.’

Bong’s words suddenly came to mind.

Does the absence of coincidence mean that her connection with him is inevitable?

Is this also one of the trials he must endure and a tribulation in advancing the Great Way [a concept in Taoism referring to the path to enlightenment or immortality]?

‘This is doggone.’

The only way to express his complicated feelings was through cursing.

“Another woman?”

It was then.

Suddenly, a playful voice flowed from the air.

“…Hwaran.”

San-gun’s original spirit weapon [a weapon imbued with a spirit or consciousness].

It was Hwaran.

“You haven’t spoken or shown yourself for a while, what’s going on?”

Judging by her subtle smile, she was fully intending to play another prank.

“I have some sense. Since you’re meeting your wife after a long time, shouldn’t the concubine step back and hide like a dead mouse? My master is nothing more than a lecher who only lusts after my body… sob sob.”

Here she goes again.

“When did I ever do that?”

“It’s fine. What can a concubine dare to say? I can only take off my clothes if told to, and embrace if told to, that’s my fate.”

“You’re talking nonsense again. Isn’t it you who lusts after my body!”

“You always use me as a sword, so I’m just taking care of my salary that way.”

“What a brazen….”

Letting out a hollow laugh at her absurdity, Hwaran met San-gun’s eyes with a blank face and began to tease him even more.

“But seeing you today, it seems San-gun has desires that your wife and I cannot satisfy. Now you’re even coveting your senior brother’s woman….”

San-gun’s face crumpled.

“Enough with the nonsense.”

When he became serious, Hwaran crossed her arms with a sulky face and asked back.

“Isn’t it true?”

“It’s not.”

“Then what is it?”

“That’s….”

He couldn’t answer what it was.

What should he call the feelings San-gun had for Cha Ryuk?

“When I became a sword spirit, I also glimpsed their memories. That’s why I know why San-gun is acting like this.”

However.

“San-gun is San-gun.”

Not Yang So-pyeong.

“I know you have a debt of gratitude to them. But that doesn’t mean you should confuse yourself with them.”

San-gun must be only San-gun.

The moment he ceases to be himself is the moment the demonic influence deepens, and it is the mind that a cultivator must be most wary of.

“Who are you now?”

“….”

“Are you the San-gun I know? Or someone else melted inside him?”

Hwaran’s sharp question left him speechless. As much as he had been helped by their memories and experiences, their unfavorable emotions were also contained within.

“San-gun. You don’t need to worry about them too much. Although their lives and powers are melted into San-gun, you don’t need to live their lives for them.”

But it was also true that he couldn’t ignore their lives.

‘At least….’

Wouldn’t freeing their spirits also lighten his heart?

“You have many worries. I can’t help it.”

Saying that, Hwaran wrapped her arms around San-gun’s neck and brought her face close.

“Isn’t it said that a woman should embrace a man’s worries?”

“Embrace what? Am I an egg?”

“San-gun, just stay still. I’ll take care of everything.”

“Take care of what? Uh-oh? Why are you pulling at my clothes!”

“I’m not pulling, I’m taking them off. What’s wrong? It’s not the first time.”

It was then.

A gentle light emanated from the Gongjeonggang [a magical artifact or space] floating in the air.

“Are you done with your business…?”

It was Cho-a.

“Oh… yeah.”

“What are you doing? And why are your clothes like that….”

Asked as if puzzled, San-gun straightened his clothes and rolled his eyes.

“It’s nothing.”

“Just a moment….”

Cho-a straightened San-gun’s clothes again and smiled brightly.

“It’s done.”

“Oh, thanks.”

“I roughly cleaned up the inside. There’s a small pavilion and a pond, and there’s a lot of stuff. We don’t need to make a separate place to stay.”

She must be talking about the things she got from Geumhwanseonhyang. The tiled house there didn’t look ordinary either, so she put it in whole, and it turned out to be helpful.

“Ah, yeah. Right.”

“Why do you look like that? Like someone who’s hiding something.”

“No way.”

“Really? Perhaps, are you hiding another woman besides me?”

She asked with a playful face, but San-gun answered with a serious face.

“…No way. There’s no such thing.”

There are swords, though.

Cho-a tilted her head and then rounded her mouth again.

“Then let’s go in. It’s not good for my husband to stay here for too long.

I know you have a lot to do, but shouldn’t we also make up for the time we’ve been apart, at least for today? I’m already waiting enough.”

Saying that with a smiling face, he felt a chill for some reason.

The time they had been apart was at least three or four hundred years, so it was enough. San-gun had also longed for the day he would meet Cho-a again….

‘There’s still time, so I can think about it later.’

Nodding his head, he disappeared back into the Gongjeonggang with Cho-a.

* * *

Three months later.

Bong, in front of a giant cauldron, was spreading mystical energies while seated in meditation.

The cauldron in front of him had three legs and three dragon heads.

It was something San-gun had received from Cha Ryuk, a cauldron exclusively for alchemy called Yeonyonghojeong (練龍號鼎) [a cauldron specifically designed for alchemical practices], used in the Immortal Realm.

From the dragon’s heads, blue energy was emitted from the mouths and then sucked back in. Then, the characters engraved on the surface glowed, and it had been maintaining this state for three months already.

Around the cauldron, pure white smoke rose and roamed around in the form of dragons, making Bong’s surroundings seem like another world.

But was even that coming to an end?

The three dragon heads exhaled pure white breath, and the cauldron lid spun around and floated into the sky.

Then, a mysterious light of smoke billowed up, and the smoke soon transformed into ten beasts and soared.

The transformed cloud of ten enormous beasts roared sharply and rushed at Bong. Most of them were in the form of dragons, but there were also four-legged beasts.

They looked threatening as if they were actually alive, but Bong only smiled faintly.

“Not bad.”

The cloud in the form of a dragon’s head opened its jaws wide towards Bong.

However, when Bong lightly touched the dragon’s nose with his finger.

Bang! The cloud transformed into ten beasts disappeared like smoke in an instant.

As the cloud emanating from Yeonyonghojeong disappeared, what floated in the air was a small elixir emitting a mysterious light.

Bong instantly pulled it in, put it in a small wooden case, and hid it in his sleeve.

“Beom will like it.”

Afterward, he took out the Gongjeonggang from his sleeve and entered it in an instant.

The inside of the Gongjeonggang was originally a scene where messy objects floated around, but it was now very different.

“You’ve set up a whole household.”

It was literally true.

Inside the Gongjeonggang, there were small cliffs and thatched houses and pavilions that seemed to be placed on top, and ponds were arranged to create an atmosphere like an immortal realm.

Vast amounts of spirit stones, seemingly forming a sea, were densely piled around the cliffs, and several swords and treasures floated around in various places.

It was clear that if an unpermitted person approached, those hundreds of weapons would relentlessly target the intruder.

Bong stroked his chin for a moment, then turned his head to look at one place.

It was an empty space, but something seemed to be visible only to him.

“Pitiful thing. You don’t even know whether what’s holding you is a wish (願) [a desire or aspiration] or a grudge (恨) [a feeling of resentment or bitterness]. As time passes, you will naturally come to know….”

Shaking his head, Bong soon moved to the pond above the cliff.

Various spirit herbs were densely planted under the pond.

These were from the Lower Realm, but among them, there were many spirit ginsengs with extraordinary energy.

Among them, there was a spirit ginseng with a strange flame that even Bong was surprised by, and Bong smiled with satisfaction when he saw it.

“Dragon Flame Ginseng… Is a different flame planted than Blue Flame? How strange. Bongak Cheonghwa shouldn’t mix with other things.”

That’s not all.

The nearby medicinal herb field also had immortal herbs that cultivators in the Lower Realm would never see, and it was a sight that others would not be able to hide their surprise at.

As he looked around like a stroll, he heard a voice welcoming him.

“Have you come?”

“Hmm, your complexion is bright, it seems you’ve had some small achievements in the meantime.”

“It’s nothing much.”

He was waving his hand, saying it was nothing, but he couldn’t deceive Bong’s eyes.

‘He has reached the Eternal Epoch Realm.’

It is a realm that other cultivators cannot reach even after hundreds of years without a single lucky encounter.

However, he has various spirit herbs and immortal herbs.

And….

‘Is it thanks to his partner?’

It seemed that he had easily reached the Eternal Epoch Realm thanks to the special constitution of his partner.

“This is what you asked for.”

With a flick, he threw the wooden case, and San-gun received it, examined it, and raised the corners of his mouth.

“Thank you. But….”

“I know. What’s inside is the elixir of Sipsaeng Geumeocho [a rare and potent elixir], but there’s only one.”

He knew that his partner.

He meant that he needed one more for Cho-a.

“Is it possible? This is a place where the moon doesn’t rise.”

“What can’t be done? It is operated by receiving the Yin spiritual power of the moon.”

If there is an energy to replace it, then it is possible enough.

“It’s just a matter of using a little of my own immortal power. It’s not difficult to replicate about Sipsaengdan [another name for the Sipsaeng Geumeocho elixir].”

Then San-gun’s face became strange.

Suddenly, he narrowed his brows and looked at Bong with strange eyes.

“Why is that?”

“Originally, Sawoljehang [likely a technique or ability] could only be used when the full moon rose. But, if it can be replaced by Bong’s immortal power….”

Couldn’t he continue to replicate it not once a month, but without being bound by time?

As if realizing his thoughts, Bong’s face frowned deeply.

If he did that, his own immortal power, which he was barely gathering, could be depleted.

Unnecessary consumption of power would not be beneficial.

“Greed is not good.”

“I have no intention of being greedy.”

“What is that if not greed?”

At the sharp tone, San-gun calmly opened his fist.

“That’s….”

“It’s just a necessary measure.”

Five swords were spinning around on his fist.