Call Of The Spear [EN]: Chapter 266

The stone slabs gathered and transformed into a lotus-shaped altar, shining like a heavenly lantern and illuminating the world.

The pillar of light extending from the heavenly lantern soared as if to pierce the sky. Dark clouds swirled and gathered, creating a storm that seemed to tear open a path to the heavens, with thunder and lightning crashing down.

The stone slabs floated in the air, circling the pillar of light one by one, creating a lotus illusion that illuminated the path, which soon stretched to the end of the sky.

A lamp lighting the path of heaven.

It was a sight worthy of being called a heavenly lantern, an indescribable marvel.

However.

“Yeon-ah!!”

Nothing else registered in San-gun’s eyes.

The thought that Yeon-ah might die soon consumed him.

“Don’t say anything! Don’t answer!”

San-gun rushed straight toward the heavenly lantern, shouting and throwing a punch.

KWA-AAAAANG!!

KOO-OONG!

With a mighty explosion, the barrier trembled, rippling like water.

However, the barrier didn’t break. Instead, it seemed San-gun’s fist had broken.

“PU-HWAK!”

The skin on his clenched fist tore, blood streaming down. He vomited blood like Wan-gyeong, likely from the backlash of hitting the barrier.

‘Damn it….’

San-gun clutched his chest, wiping the blood from his mouth with his sleeve.

[Answer.]

[Do you intend not to answer?]

The Goshinbyeong [divine soldiers] demanded an answer.

Yeon-ah looked dazed, not in her right mind, her face extremely pale from internal injuries.

Her expression suggested she could die at any moment, and San-gun’s anxiety peaked.

“Don’t speak!!”

It was right after Pengjo, who had answered their words, had been brutally murdered.

Since it was impossible to know what kind of answer they wanted, a careless response might cost Yeon-ah her life.

[If you do not answer, we will simply kill you.]

However, the Goshinbyeong pressed for a response.

San-gun gritted his teeth.

He was trapped.

At this rate, he would have to watch his disciple die.

“I won’t let that happen.”

What was the reason he had endured so much hardship to gain power until now?

It was to protect his people.

If he couldn’t even protect the disciple in front of him, even after reaching the pinnacle of the Human Realm, what was the point of his long years of cultivation?

“I will protect her.”

WHOO-OONG.

The air around San-gun shifted.

The black robe fluttered, and the energy surrounding him writhed as if screaming.

This barrier was a powerful restriction created by a divine object from the Upper Realm [realm of gods].

It was impossible to break it with the divine power of the Human Realm.

‘I can’t use the Taecheon Oeyang Shingong [Great Celestial Outer Yang Divine Art].’

He couldn’t use it, and it wasn’t an efficient divine power at the moment.

“Kuh-heuk.”

Swallowing a groan, San-gun clasped his hands in a gesture of prayer, and blue lightning erupted in all directions from his palms.

A sense of pressure, as if space itself was trying to crush him, constricted his entire body. He felt as if he would be obliterated if he relaxed for even a moment.

Even so, San-gun endured.

This was all he had.

“Hwaran…!”

Amidst the crackling lightning, the sword spirit of Hwaran revealed itself.

San-gun grimaced as if in pain, but when he drew Hwaran, a glimmer of hope seemed to appear.

However.

“To me, ascension is….”

Yeon-ah began to speak.

“Don’t say any more!!”

Despite his blood-soaked shout, Yeon-ah didn’t seem to hear, answering with a blank face.

“It has no meaning.”

At her answer, not only San-gun but also the Goshinbyeong wore bewildered expressions.

“No meaning? What does that….”

In the capital, ascension was the ultimate goal of the Way [path to immortality].

But to say it had no meaning!

He had never imagined that his disciple would have such thoughts.

“I was… just a common girl born in a small village. As was the way of the times, a girl who could read a little had nothing she could do, and my fate was decided by the whims of a spoiled eldest grandson from a wealthy family… I was a worthless girl.”

Yeon-ah’s clouded eyes gradually regained their light, and her words became clearer and more distinct.

“I tried to take my own life, but my benefactor and teacher took pity on me and took me as a disciple, and I have lived to this day to repay that kindness.”

Far beyond the lifespan of an ordinary person.

Hundreds, two hundreds, more than six hundreds of years had passed, and she had lived until now.

“I’ve lived long enough. What is ascension or eternal life to a country girl who has nothing special? It has no meaning to me.”

The Goshinbyeong were silent for a long time before asking again.

[Then what is meaningful to you?]

“My teacher’s well-being, I suppose.”

Her answer resonated deeply.

It was unknown how others would hear it, but it resonated deeply with San-gun, at least.

‘So that’s how she’s been living.’

With such a heart.

She had been living like that all along.

For a moment, San-gun, who had lost his strength, forgot that he was about to draw Hwaran and silently looked at Yeon-ah’s face.

The face of that young child had faded over time, but her heart hadn’t changed an inch since then.

That heart was true eternal life, and if it wasn’t the mindset of a divine being, what was it?

[Open the Heavenly Road.]

With the Goshinbyeong’s declaration, the heavenly lantern of the giant lotus clicked and began to spin.

Only now did Yeon-ah seem to come to her senses, and she looked bewildered, not knowing what was going on. The Goshinbyeong smiled faintly at her and said.

[You are very weak. In that state, even with the power of the Heavenly Lantern, it will be difficult to withstand the pressure of the Heavenly Road and the energy of the Heavenly Lightning.]

[Therefore, we will use the power of the Heavenly Lantern to extract the poison of the mortal world.]

“W-What does that mean?”

Soon, Yeon-ah’s body began to soar into the pillar of light of the Heavenly Lantern.

At the same time, the light surrounding the lotus gradually entered Yeon-ah’s body, and her aged skin cracked like stone, and black liquid poured out incessantly.

Her cracks spread throughout her body, and when she was completely absorbed into the pillar of light, her skin burst as if her entire body was exploding.

“Rebirth. Or rather, reverse aging?”

It was as Wan-gyeong had said.

She shed her aged body and transformed into a younger appearance.

Hundreds of years ago.

She returned to the small, childlike appearance she had when she wrestled with the mountain rabbit in Mount Baek.

“T-Teacher!!”

She looked dazed for a moment, but soon she saw San-gun outside the barrier and shouted, unable to hide her joy.

However, the Heavenly Lantern didn’t wait for her.

The pillar of light was swallowing her, and Yeon-ah was being submerged in the pillar of light, rising higher and higher into the sky.

It was a time that anyone belonging to the Taoist world [world of cultivation] would yearn for, but Yeon-ah didn’t seem interested, reaching out her hand towards San-gun.

No, towards her teacher.

Her hand looked very small and fragile.

Seeing that hand, San-gun’s chest felt heavy, and his Adam’s apple bobbed.

“Teacher!!”

She called out, her voice full of longing as she looked at him with such desperate eyes. Even though San-gun was right in front of her, she seemed at a loss, as she was rising into the sky.

Tears even streamed down her face, and she seemed bewildered and sad, as if she was being separated from her teacher, whom she had just reunited with.

“You’re old enough to eat your fill, why are you looking for your teacher so desperately?”

Was it because her appearance had become younger that even her mind had become younger? He could only force a smile and let out a bitter laugh.

“What’s so sad about a guy who’s ascending before his teacher that you’re crying like that? Don’t cry. Meeting and parting are part of fate, so even if we part now, we will meet again later.

I will make it so, and we will make it so, so there’s no need to shed tears.”

His words might not be heard, but this feeling would surely be conveyed.

“Wait for me first. Your teacher will follow soon.”

Certainly.

He had no doubt that it would be so.

KOO-GOO-GOO-GOO-GOO!!

Soon, the pillar of light of the Heavenly Lantern completely swallowed Yeon-ah, and an enormous gale erupted as if piercing the sky.

A roar that seemed to shake the heavens and the earth began to spread for thousands of miles, and a mandala of lotuses bloomed around the pillar of light, illuminating the path. Not only the surrounding plants and animals but also the Taoists who were wandering nearby rushed to witness the scene of ascension.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!”

San-gun watched the scene and laughed joyfully for a long time, unlike his usual self.

“What are you so happy about?”

When Yae-un asked,

San-gun replied.

“My disciple has ascended to the Upper Realm and is now embarking on a path of smooth sailing, what teacher wouldn’t be happy!”

San-gun laughed like that for a long time, and as the light of the Heavenly Lantern faded, he turned around.

“I’m in a very good mood today.”

His face, still full of excitement as he spoke, was like a bright full moon.

Had he ever laughed so happily in the past few hundred years?

San-gun himself hadn’t thought that he would be so happy.

It was regrettable to be separated from his disciple again, whom he had just met, but what could be happier than reuniting and meeting again in the future?

“There probably aren’t many teachers in this world who can witness their disciple’s ascension. I’m a really lucky guy… don’t you think?”

However, Wan-gyeong said nothing, only looking at the bracelet on San-gun’s wrist.

It was right after seeing Yeon-ah ascend with the Heavenly Lantern. The longing for ascension must have become much stronger than before.

“Are you really in such a good mood?”

Wan-gyeong asked.

San-gun readily replied.

“Of course, I am.”

“Then, is there a slight chance that you might give that bracelet to this Wan-gyeong….”

“There’s a slight chance, sure.”

“Is that true?”

“Of course, I’m thinking of beating you to death!”

KWANG!! San-gun instantly used Chukji [instant movement technique] and threw a punch, but Wan-gyeong blocked it with his gauntlet without panicking.

“You must be sad that you don’t have Wan-gong?”

“…I will make you meet a more miserable death than my children!! I will ascend to immortality with your bracelet and wait for your reincarnation forever.”

KOONG! KOONG! KOONG!

San-gun and Wan-gyeong exchanged a few more punches before finally separating.

“Try it if you can.”

TTTAK!

As he said that and snapped his fingers, the air cracked with a tearing sound, and a double-edged sword covered in red flames spun out from within.

“Hiss!!”

It was San-gun’s Hwanhohwan Sword.

The Hwanhohwan Sword aimed for Wan-gyeong’s right hand, but somehow he noticed and quickly twisted his body to avoid it.

“Hmph, is that all you could come up with… Keuk!!”

However, he couldn’t avoid Tamhwa’s Black Serpent, which San-gun had hidden beneath the ground.

One strand of the Black Serpent shot out like a needle from the ground and wrapped around Wan-gyeong’s thigh like a snake, severing it.

“Kkeu-eu-eu-eu-euk!!”

Wan-gyeong collapsed with a thud, groaning in pain, and quickly formed a hand seal when he saw the Hwanhohwan Sword flying towards him.

SWOOSH.

San-gun’s eyebrows rose as Wan-gyeong disappeared like a mirage.

‘He disappeared?’

It wasn’t Chukji, but his presence had completely vanished.

He narrowed his eyes and tried to expand his senses by spreading his Shinshik [divine sense], but the Cheonmanggengno [Heavenly Net Meridian Restraint] still hindered the release of his Shinshik.

Then, Wan-gyeong’s leg came into San-gun’s sight, and his eyes widened only after seeing it up close.

“He wasn’t human.”

Wan-gyeong’s leg had the same appearance as an insect’s leg.

It resembled a grasshopper’s leg, and San-gun immediately realized what it was.

“I wondered….”

He thought it was strange that he was so sad about the death of a Bokchung [a type of insect monster].

“It wasn’t just a simple Bokchung, but his own children?”

These legs were very similar to the legs of Wan-gong, whom San-gun had killed before.

They were larger and sturdier than those, but there was no mistake.

Only then did Wan-gyeong, who had revealed himself near the Heavenly Lantern, growl and come out.

His face was already like Wan-gong’s, with the head of an insect, and he looked like a grasshopper carrying a giant gourd on his back.

The severed leg had strangely healed, as if he had already stopped the bleeding.

“I didn’t expect you to be a Yeongchung [a type of insect spirit].”

And to think it was Wan-gong….

[I will never… I will never let you die peacefully. I will. I will definitely do that!!]

JJE-JJE-JJE-JJE-JJE!!

KOO-OONG!!

The space around Wan-gyeong cracked as if hitting an ice plate.

Immediately after, small holes appeared in the gourd on his back.

[I will suck every strand of your hair so that you can’t even wander in the Nine Heavens!!]

Wan-gyeong shouted, spitting out blood, and the more he did, the redder and larger the gourd on his back became.

“Wow, you’re really angry.”

San-gun put a hand to his mouth with a seemingly relaxed attitude and chanted a Buddhist incantation, causing the Hwanhohwan Sword to spin madly.

The Hwanhohwan Sword might be a bit lacking for him, who had reached the realm of Eternity.

However, its unique ability to tear space was impeccable.

The lacking parts could be made up for with skill and immense spiritual power.

WHOO-EE-EE-EE-EE-EENG!!

As the Hwanhohwan Sword spun fiercely, red flames scattered, causing the surrounding space to ripple and crack as if cut by the sword.

The space around Wan-gyeong and San-gun was so distorted that it was difficult to see even an inch ahead. It was natural, as space and space Shintong [divine abilities] were colliding.

[You dare to try to compete with me, Wan-gyeong, with space Shintong? You arrogant bastard!!]

KOO-KOO-GOONG KWA-GA-AAANG!!

A huge roar erupted as space and space Shintong collided, and soon lightning flashed and a violent earthquake began to occur.

“Kkeu-euk!! No…!!”

Then, San-gun’s groan was faintly heard from within the distorted space.

[Do you think you can stop my, Wan-gyeong’s, Shintong with that measly space Shintong!!]

He hadn’t even unleashed his full power yet, but hearing the scream made him burst into laughter rather than feel frustrated.

[Keu-ha-ha-hat! That’s it!! It’s a pity that I can’t see your dying face! Hahaha!!]

Wan-gyeong accelerated even more, swallowing the space and revealing a victorious smile.

But that was when.

“No! You can’t come out, Tamhwa!!”

In the distorted and torn space.