Call Of The Spear [EN]: Chapter 240

Nangseon Gi Hwandam – 239

I remember a conversation we had while playing by the pond in Gongjeonggang.

It went something like this:

‘A spirit beast that fails at Jinsoo Myeonghwa [a transformative process for spirit beasts] faces two possible fates. Either it turns to dust and returns to nothingness, or it becomes a Jinmyeong tree, reaching for the sky.’

‘Reach for the sky?’

‘Jinmyeong trees are mostly like that, I hear.’

Perhaps because they failed to reach the sky in their previous form, the trees they become try to grow incredibly tall and reach for it.

‘If I ever become a Jinmyeong tree, make sure to cut off my branches and use them. The tree I turn into will be quite sturdy and strong.’

‘…What would I make?’

‘Well.’

He smiled wryly, gently taking Choa’s hand and offering a faint smile.

‘Make a swing or something.’

‘A swing?’

‘Or you could cut off a branch and make a hairpin, or cut down my trunk and build a house.’

‘…That won’t happen.’

At her sulky grumble, the Mountain Monarch awkwardly looked up at the sky.

‘Are you anxious?’

The reason he was saying such things was probably due to a hint of anxiety.

It was definitely not something he, who was always so confident, would say.

‘You never know what might happen with people, let alone spirit beasts.’

‘But….’

Choa couldn’t finish her sentence.

It felt like no matter what she said to him now, it wouldn’t be properly understood.

The ascension of a spirit beast is different from that of a human.

Failure in Jinsoo Myeonghwa only leads to death.

Since there is only death, Choa, being human, could understand the concept but not truly empathize with it.

That’s why she held back her words.

‘A swing would be nice.’

‘Yes?’

‘A swing would be nice.’

Suddenly, as if struck by an idea, he said it with a pleased look.

‘If you hang a rope on my branch and make a swing, wouldn’t you ride it often?’

‘Is that something to say….’

Choa, about to snap back that it wasn’t something to say to a partner, sighed and closed her mouth at the Mountain Monarch’s playful face.

‘Please do that for me.’

However, at his seemingly detached words, Choa couldn’t refuse any further.

When she said she understood, he smiled, the corners of his mouth turning up as if satisfied.

‘I’m curious about the reason.’

Why a swing of all things?

Why a swing among so many possibilities?

But he only wore a meaningless smile, caressing her cheek.

His eyes, looking down at her, were so sorrowful, unlike his smiling lips.

She couldn’t ask any more.

Because asking more would hurt her too.

And it seemed like it would hurt him too.

It felt like it.

She couldn’t ask any more.

* * *

“Ah….”

Ah.

Ahhhhh.

“Ahhhhh!!”

Choa, seeing the Mountain Monarch turned into a tree, could only scream.

Her hands and feet trembled, and her jaw dropped, unable to close.

Her blue eyes, as big as lanterns, blinked dozens of times as if unable to believe the reality unfolding before her.

Thud.

She collapsed in front of the giant Jinmyeong tree, trembling with a blank look.

Unable to believe it, she couldn’t say anything and only sobbed.

As if she couldn’t breathe properly.

She clawed at her chest.

Unable to control her emotions, a pure white frost formed around her.

When it covered the tree, she was startled and jumped up.

“Ah….”

She had a blank face as if she had forgotten how to speak.

Seeing her trying to brush off the frost on the tree with such a face, anyone would feel heartbroken.

She did that for a long time, then shed tears and stared blankly at the tree that had grown so tall it seemed to reach the sky.

‘A swing would be nice.’

A swing would be nice.

Why do only those words come to mind?

Why.

Why did you say such things and make people hurt so much?

“Hic… Uwaaaaa!!”

Even if she pounded her stuffy chest, it wouldn’t ease the pain, so would something be relieved if she cried it out?

But what was being relieved was the thought of him, relieved and filled to the brim, only filling her heart with sorrow.

However, the tree soaring high into the sky did not change back.

Choa slid down and leaned against the Jinmyeong tree as if unable to accept it.

She didn’t feel any warmth, only the hard bark of the tree.

That made her even sadder, and she cried and cried again.

She cried and cried, pouring out her sadness endlessly, but it wasn’t refreshing.

Well, how could it be refreshing?

The hand that would caress her cheek.

The arms that would embrace her.

Now they were all gone.

Too sad, only tears came out, and the tears created a well of bitter feelings again, so she couldn’t possibly vomit them out [release them].

“Husband….”

Bong, who had been staring blankly at Choa, who had collapsed from exhaustion, looked at the Jinmyeong tree that the Mountain Monarch had turned into with his usual expressionless face.

“Following the lightning tribulation [trial] and the water tribulation, a wood tribulation… he really made up his mind, it seems.

It seems he really intends to kill him.

Others only receive one tribulation, but he received three at once….”

But that’s why Bong was even more 기대가 되기도 했다 [anticipatory].

He was amazed by just the lightning tribulation followed by the water tribulation, but on top of that, he was receiving the wood tribulation as well.

How could he not know what that meant?

“When you overcome all these tribulations. I’m really curious how you will change.”

It is a truth that the more one receives and overcomes tribulations, the more one can grow.

From the beginning, he possessed a power that transcended the framework of eternal life.

Such a person is receiving three tribulations at once, so he couldn’t help but look forward to what kind of changes he would face when he endured all those tribulations and came out.

It would be quite different from ordinary eternity.

Furthermore, the wood tribulation, unlike other tribulations, is one of the tribulations that can greatly enhance one’s mental growth.

Of course, the range in which he can grow is bound to be large.

“The Great Liberation Heaven hates people like you.”

His eyes deepened as if recalling ancient events.

But that was only for a moment.

“But that’s why I will need you even more. The more hated you are by the Great Liberation Heaven, the more you will be the one I need.”

He looked at the Jinmyeong tree with a face that was impossible to know what he was thinking, then narrowed his brows as he looked at one place.

There was something felt outside the barrier he had created. It was the energy of a cultivator who possessed something similar to the Mountain Monarch but different.

“There won’t be much time.”

Bong is inside the barrier he made himself, but he is not yet fully recovered.

It is only a matter of time before that guy breaks through the barrier.

If it’s a guy who chased him this far, he will break through the barrier by any means.

“Hurry.”

Because that guy is coming.

* * *

There was a man walking along, looking quite shabby.

The man’s name was Dang Chun.

He had followed the Mountain Monarch all the way into the Youmu Valley, but he couldn’t move easily because of all the ferocious beasts lurking there.

He had wandered for a hundred years, suffering all kinds of hardships, but he was exhausted from not being able to find even the Mountain Monarch’s footprints.

No matter how much he was unaffected by the influence of Youmu thanks to the treasure he received from Geomno, he couldn’t erase the unique nature of Youmu Valley. And the same was true of the ferocious beasts located there.

All sorts of bizarre parasites roamed around, and strange creatures that were difficult to name wandered about.

Dang Chun had almost died several times in it, so he now shuddered at the thought of Youmu Valley.

But even so, he couldn’t run away from here. Appropriately, he had a stubbornness that made it seem like he wouldn’t be satisfied until he caught that guy and took him away.

“Hmm….”

What was fortunate was that the valley was full of the energy of heaven and earth, so he could easily fill the divine power within him.

It would take a god hundreds to thousands of years to fill his divine power, but it was different here.

It was fortunate that he could replenish it in dozens of years because it was full of the energy of heaven and earth.

“What is it.”

It was then.

Suddenly, the energy of heaven and earth was shaking violently, and the space was distorted.

“Heavenly Tribulation?”

A look of joy appeared on Dang Chun’s face.

If a tribulation was happening in this place, there must be someone receiving that heavenly tribulation.

Then who would that be?

“He let his guard down.”

To undergo a heavenly tribulation in this place.

But it was a golden opportunity for Dang Chun.

Immediately, he sat cross-legged, formed a hand seal, and spread his divine sense to gauge the heavenly energy.

Originally, he wouldn’t have been able to spread his divine sense thanks to the other ferocious beasts, but now the heavenly energy was disturbed due to the heavenly tribulation.

Thanks to that, it was possible.

And.

“I found him.”

* * *

He saw many things.

Their lives.

The memories of his past life.

Experience.

Enlightenment.

The more he ruminated on the vast amount of past lives and enlightenment, the more his head seemed to open, and all the holes in his body seemed to open, accepting the energy of heaven and earth and then discharging it again.

It was a strange sensation.

All the holes in his body were like waterways, constantly rushing in like a tide, so he couldn’t focus at all. But the waterways were like ebb and flow, and if he didn’t catch them, they would escape, and if he caught them, they would accumulate and seem to burst.

Such a vicious cycle was repeated.

The waterways came in and out.

The more that happened, the more empty his inside became, and the more the senses of his whole body began to dull.

But for some reason, his mind became even clearer.

In that mind, he could summon rain clouds with a single gesture, control thunder and lightning, and create typhoons.

It was as easy as water flowing, and it was natural.

Like opening your eyes when you wake up.

Like falling asleep when you lie down with your eyes closed, it was an extremely natural thing.

Those things were possible.

Not only that, but he could instantly devise and use divine powers that he had only thought about until now.

It was like a dream.

Behind him, ten thousand giant swords flew around, and in one hand, purple lightning, and in the other, blue flames, rose up, turning into birds, horses, and all kinds of beasts, running around on their own.

“Hahahahahahahahahahaha!!”

He was inspired by his own power and burst into laughter that seemed to tear the sky apart.

He was happy.

The experiences of his past life that his senior brothers had given him.

With enlightenment together, he made them all his own, so he couldn’t help but be intoxicated as if the heavens and the earth were in his hands.

In that way, the Mountain Monarch performed his own cultivation method and trained his divine powers.

The g訣 [key formulas/mantras] of the Great Heavenly Outer Yang Divine Art that Cheonoe Yanggun had told him also gradually began to be understood.

Before, he didn’t understand what it meant at all, but as he ruminated on the g訣 and chanted it, he gradually understood it one by one.

It already seemed like hundreds of years had passed just by digging into the g訣 of the Great Heavenly Outer Yang Divine Art, but he didn’t care.

He couldn’t help but stick out his tongue at the greatness of this divine art, which aimed to create another sun outside the sky.

Before, it only seemed like catching clouds, but the more he unraveled and re-established the g訣, the more he could realize how great Cheonoe Yanggun, who created this divine art, was.

Creating another sun.

For some reason, it was a heart-pounding thing.

He was 육사 [Yuksa – Fire Deity], a fire deity who embraced and handled flames, but flames and the sun were inherently different.

It was after a thousand years in his time that he fully realized that.

Time seemed to have passed so quickly.

But he didn’t care.

Although a thousand years had passed, it was a number that was worth enduring enough compared to the divine powers and enlightenment he had realized.

He was acquiring the Great Heavenly Outer Yang Divine Art at a relatively fast pace.

There was no one to teach him, but he didn’t need a teacher.

He also liked the taste of realizing it alone.

There is a taste in solving difficult problems by worrying about them directly.

And so, these two thousand years passed.

After cultivating for three thousand years, he mastered the Great Heavenly Outer Yang Divine Art completely.

He perfected the Great Heavenly Outer Yang Divine Art, gathered the energy of heaven and earth based on its foundation, and created a small sun in his hand.

The sun, the size of a millet, gradually created a magnetic force to the point of creating a storm and increased its size.

He watched that scene, his heart pounding and overflowing.

Another sun that he created increased in size, swallowing everything and emitting a dazzling light.

Two suns floating in the sky.

How could it not be touching since he had created one of them?

But he couldn’t be satisfied with this.

He applied the Great Heavenly Outer Yang Divine Art and devised his own unique divine powers.

He mixed it with his Gyuncheon Bohwa [a divine power] and created a powerful sword formation called the Great Heavenly Bohwa Sword Formation along with the Great Heavenly Outer Yang Divine Art.

Not only that, but he grasped the nature of Gyuncheon Bohwa and learned more about swords more clearly. He also didn’t leave his Bulcheon Bulbyeok [another divine power] alone.

His main divine power is the fire deity, but Bulcheon Bulbyeok is also lightning derived from fire.

If he did well, he could make this into a more powerful divine power as well. No, if it was him, he could definitely make it.

So time flowed and flowed again.

After a thousand years.

After five thousand years.

Ten thousand years had passed.

Now he had reached the extreme of his divine powers and began to touch the principles of all things and the laws related to them.

Creation, which is closely related to him.

But the law of creation was also extremely difficult for him.

It was because creation was a mixture of all kinds of laws.

That’s why he was familiar with space.

And the law of cause and effect.

Finally, he began to cultivate with the law of time in mind.

And it was then.

The law of time.

As he began to worry about it and try to grasp its mysteries, he began to feel a strange sense of incongruity.

It was even more so because he had been engrossed in cultivation without thinking.

He thought he had reached a state where he no longer cared about time, but that was not the case.

Time flows and always flows.

Time is like a waterway, and the world is entrusting itself to that waterway, and living in it is a living thing.

And that includes himself.

So, following a question that suddenly came to mind, he looked back on his actions.

And what he realized was….

“Who… am I?”

What is he, and why has he devoted himself to cultivation for so long?

A fundamental question began to arise.