Call Of The Spear [EN]: Chapter 420

Nangseon Gihwandam – Part 2, Episode 129

“Steal? Cheongmyeong, did I hear you correctly?”

“Yes, Brother. How could a mere Lesser Immortal like me legitimately obtain such ancient texts? Though it’s a paltry skill, it’s the only trick that has kept me alive until now.”

He was dumbfounded, yet also felt sorry for the life his younger brother had lived.

“Where did you pilfer it from?”

“I sneaked into the Black Tortoise Clan, who are experts in Wood Divinity and have a large Medicine Herb Garden in the Black Tortoise Star, and took it.”

While inquiring about Divine Wood, he naturally had to go there.

In any case, the ‘Dry Sky Record of Wood’ that Cheongmyeong brought would be a beneficial book for Cheonbeom in the future.

“You’ve worked hard.”

Upon being praised for his hard work, Cheongmyeong lowered his head as if trying to hide his smile.

“Why are you doing that?”

“It’s nothing, just…”

“Just?”

“Just that… when you praise me directly, my lips twitch involuntarily, and it’s hard to hold back…”

“Is there a need to hold back? If you can’t even smile freely while living a difficult life, then what is the point of living? The reason we endure even when we are tired and want to die is to eventually have that smile move our lips on its own.”

To smile in the end.

To be happy while smiling.

Isn’t that what we hope for as we live?

“So, you can smile. There must have been many times when you had to suppress your laughter to survive your past, but now that you have become my brother, Cheonbeom’s brother, it’s fine to laugh as much as you want when you want to laugh, and cry as you please when you want to cry.”

Is there a need to hide it?

That’s how everyone lives.

“To smile in the end…”

Cheongmyeong mulled over Cheonbeom’s words for a long time, as if there was a phrase that resonated with him.

Beom smiled faintly as he looked at his newly acquired younger brother.

Then, he looked at the Dry Sky Record of Wood.

Written on the Dry Sky Record of Wood was ‘Extinction Divine Wood’.

After carefully examining the contents, Cheonbeom was lost in thought for a while.

‘If what’s written here is true…’

The Extinction Divine Wood sprouts and bears fruit by using life as fertilizer.

The reason it’s named ‘Extinction’ is also because of that.

‘A widow, along with her child, sought a tree to hang themselves to die, and as they hung the rope, at some point, the Divine Wood moved, swallowed the child, and bore fruit that fell.’

That’s why it’s ‘Extinction’.

‘But the reason it’s a Divine Wood is because the child is extinguished but reborn anew.’

As a guardian deity protecting the Divine Wood.

The fruit swallows the child and uses it as a raw material to be reborn as a guardian deity.

The guardian deity born in that way protects the Divine Wood and the surrounding land.

The appearance of the guardian deity is sometimes the appearance of someone close, and sometimes a beast.

‘Because it is a tree that achieves death and birth simultaneously, it is a Divine Wood.’

Because it contains the cycle of life itself, it is a Divine Wood.

It must be the Extinction Divine Wood.

‘As time passes, the Extinction Divine Wood becomes more powerful, eventually forming a forest and creating its own territory.’

The Extinction Divine Wood recorded in the records was at least hundreds of thousands of years old, with a single root as thick as a dragon’s torso, and the tip of the tree touching the sky.

And the guardian deities that protected it took on the forms of all kinds of beasts, their numbers countless, and each one possessed the power of a Fragrant Immortal [a high-level immortal].

The author of the Dry Sky Record of Wood concluded that a fully grown Extinction Divine Wood would possess the same power as a Primeval Celestial Grand Master.

‘It is very difficult for a cultivator to artificially cultivate it. It requires a great number of lives and pure Hwajeong [spiritual essence] to conceive them.’

Pure Hwajeong is needed….

Cheonbeom, who had closed the Dry Sky Record of Wood, got up from his seat and went to the Gyewol Pavilion, facing the wind and organizing his thoughts.

The missing children of the Black Tortoise Star.

And the Extinction Divine Wood that took them.

The number is countless…

If the Divine Wood finishes taking Hwajeong and completes its growth, then wouldn’t it become like the stories of the Asin Church [a potentially malevolent religious group] that have been created among the people?

Without their own will.

Just under the Divine Wood.

Wouldn’t their souls be bound, becoming dolls protecting this land for the rest of their lives?

“Did I drink too much?”

He seemed to have become unnecessarily sentimental.

“Brother.”

“Are you leaving?”

“Yes, I have to go see my master. He’s still not feeling well.”

“Alright.”

Cheonbeom threw a pouch from his chest to Cheongmyeong, who was saying goodbye.

“This is…”

“A small token of gratitude for the Dry Sky Record of Wood. Take it. You can use it, or give it to your master.”

When he opened the pouch, there were one thousand geun [a unit of weight, approximately 1.1 pounds] of Origin Coins inside.

“T-This is too much!”

“Is that so? How strange. It seems like a very small reward to me.”

“Brother…”

“It’s small to me, but you consider it excessive.”

Cheongmyeong didn’t know what to say and closed his mouth.

“Become a man with great ambitions. Trembling over a thousand geun is not an attitude a man should have.”

“…I understand.”

Cheongmyeong bit his lip, said something, and disappeared.

“A brother…”

It didn’t feel very real.

But Cheonbeom smiled for no reason, as he didn’t dislike the resonance.

“Master.”

At that time, Gayeon hurriedly approached and whispered in his ear.

“Vice-Commander Woo has arrived. There were also cultivators from the Celestial Palace beside him.”

“How many were there?”

“About five thousand.”

Five thousand.

More than he thought.

“Perhaps it’s the will of the Celestial Palace.”

It didn’t feel real because this place was so peaceful, but the Celestial Realm was at war.

Five thousand as escorts was more than enough, but it was a reality that he couldn’t simply dismiss.

“Let’s go greet Vice-Commander Woo first.”

The location of the Gyewol Pavilion was on the outskirts of the Black Tortoise Star, so if he stayed still, Yeon-ah would find her way here on her own.

First, greeting the hardworking Woo-myeong was the priority.

‘The peaceful times are all gone.’

* * *

At the same time.

In the Black Tortoise Clan’s office, there was a round table made of ancient wood.

The round table had a strange indentation on the top, where water was collected.

However, when Muk Gyerye flicked his index finger on the surface of the water, the scenery of the water surface changed with a faint ripple.

“As expected, the envoy of the Celestial Palace has arrived.”

As Muk Gyerye said that, the two men reflected on the water surface nodded.

They were the leaders of the Ak Gok Clan and the Immaculate Clan.

They were Cheolshim and Mumyeol.

[The time has come when the Black Tortoise Star can no longer avoid it.]

[It’s clear they’ve come to threaten us to participate in the war. Even if they say they’re protecting the envoy of the Water Realm, the numbers are too many. It’s obvious what their ulterior motive is.]

The Black Tortoise Star had been delaying its participation in the war, putting it off day by day.

The accumulated karma was now starting to stab them in the side.

[I can’t send my disciples and sons to that foolish war!]

[You are right. Thousands of years have already passed with only meaningless attrition, but they have never occupied a single piece of land in either the Chaos Realm or the Human Realm. It is a meaningless war, and lives are being lost in vain.]

“But this time, they must be coming with a firm resolve. You won’t be able to avoid the Celestial Palace’s request now.”

[But there is no suitable method…]

In response to Clan Leader Mu’s words that there wasn’t one, Clan Leader Cheol replied.

[There is one.]

[What is it?]

[Don’t you know? We must capture that bastard and quickly bloom the Divine Wood to make the Black Tortoise Star an Iron Ark! If we do that, the Black Tortoise Star will rise as a new land between the Celestial Palace’s rule and the Chaos and Human Realms!]

But to do that….

“The envoy of the Water Realm. We must capture or entice him.”

His Hwajeong is indispensable.

It cannot be without.

[Didn’t that bastard want Muk Clan Leader’s Hyeon-gak Bulgoe [a rare and valuable artifact]? How about trading it with our Mu-beop Hyeol [another rare and valuable artifact]?]

[Is there a need to do that? If we just catch him and throw him as food, he won’t be able to say anything when the time comes!]

Clan Leader Mu suggested enticement.

Clan Leader Cheol suggested resolving it with force.

Muk Gyerye listened carefully to both of their opinions and pondered.

And decided.

“Let’s capture that bastard. If we just throw the Avatar into the Divine Wood as food, the Divine Wood will take care of everything later.”

* * *

Half a day passed.

Dusk.

Cheonbeom, who had met with Vice-Commander Woo and the cultivators of the Celestial Palace, was standing in the Seon Room [meditation room] where his main body was, deep in thought.

[Did you know? The Black Tortoise Star has never participated in the war between the Celestial Palace and the Heavenly Palace.]

Therefore, the cultivators of the Celestial Palace had come to apologize to Beom, the envoy of the Water Realm, and to receive support from the three major clans of the Black Tortoise Star to support the front lines.

It was information that made him think a lot.

“They must be in a dilemma.”

The reason they were raising the Extinction Divine Wood must also be because they didn’t want to drive their disciples and children into a meaningless war.

But now that the cultivators of the Celestial Palace had come directly, there was no more cliff to run away to….

“Even a rat will show its teeth when cornered.”

He looked at the Moon Law Blood in his hand.

The cultivator of the Celestial Palace had given it as a sign of apology, along with many treasures.

He had already roughly examined the Moon Law Blood, and the bottle was empty after he drank it.

The Heavenly Law Blood and Lawless Blood in his body.

And even the Moon Law Blood mixed in, filling him with unparalleled Seon Power [spiritual power].

When he calmly closed his eyes and activated the Golden Celestial Earth Transformation throughout his body, the golden flowers made of Taehwa Mandung [a type of divine flower] in the Seon Room shook.

The scenery of the flowers shaking all around was just like his confused heart.

But the more it did, the brighter and clearer the Golden Celestial Earth Transformation bloomed.

A bright flame covering everything.

Covering even the sky with gold, Golden Celestial.

Covering the ground below, Earth Transformation.

Cheonbeom’s Golden Celestial Earth Transformation slowly permeated into his body.

Chiiiiik.

The skin turned golden, and the heat turned into smoke and rose.

It felt like the blood in his whole body was boiling, and heat rose, and the skin became bumpy and cracked.

The Heavenly Law Blood wrapped around the blood vessels, the Lawless Blood accelerated the circulation, and the Moon Law Blood slashed everywhere.

As the Golden Celestial Earth Transformation permeated into it, the Law Blood that had been mixed in rebelled.

Whooong!!

A powerful energy spread throughout the Seon Room. With one rebellion, a whirlwind swept through, and this was exactly what Cheonbeom wanted.

He had seen the power that used the rebellion of demonic energy and Seon energy in the Twin Union Strange Art [a powerful technique].

The Law Blood, which was usually quiet, rebelled more than ever when the Golden Celestial Earth Transformation permeated into it.

If he made a mistake, he would die.

But that’s why he also exerted greater power.

It was similar to the mystery of the fleeting moment of brilliance.

Kuuuuuuuu!

Blood clouds rose from his whole body.

Blood poured out through the sweat glands and evaporated at the same time, creating a blood-colored smoke.

Red lines began to appear on the golden skin.

The blood vessels were bursting.

But he couldn’t stop.

If he stopped now, he would only suffer deep internal injuries and achieve nothing.

“It was foolish from the beginning.”

Cheonbeom had been trying to put the Hwa Blood [blood of fire] into his body after saying he would create it.

With the body of the Avatar made in the form of a human.

So, of course, a weak human body could not become a vessel to contain the Hwa Blood. In addition, it was natural since it was an Avatar body based on Heavenly Law Blood and Hwajeong.

So he thought.

To abandon the form.

Cheonbeom’s body crumbled.

The hands and feet became flames and scattered, and the blood clouds rose even more.

In an instant, even the upper body and head burned and disappeared, leaving only blood droplets and golden Hwajeong.

The blood droplets hovered around the burning Hwajeong.

The three Law Bloods, which had turned into blood droplets, jumped into the Hwajeong.

Immediately, the Hwajeong, which had the shape of a golden bead, emitted the Golden Celestial Earth Transformation throughout its body and soon began to lose its shape and melt.

The Hwajeong that had lost its shape could no longer be called Hwajeong.

It was a golden liquid.

But it was also burning.

This was the Hwa Blood Cheonbeom wanted.

It was the Golden Celestial Hwa Blood.

Golden blood.

The Golden Celestial Hwa Blood flew around in the air as if it was excited, and at some point, it stopped abruptly and looked at Cheonbeom’s main body.

And at that moment.

Whoosh!

The Golden Celestial Hwa Blood crouched down and entered the mouth of the winged tiger that was sleeping.

After a while.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

A violent heartbeat was heard from the main body.

Kugugugugung.

Cheonbeom’s wings spread.

They were huge pairs of wings.

And the tiger’s eyes were opened.

The golden pupils were piercing as if they were seeing through something.

[Come.]

As Cheonbeom’s mouth opened.

All the treasures and five Extreme Mountains that had been in the Seon Room.

And the Taehwa Mandung that had been blooming here and there withered and scattered into flower petals, gathering in an orderly manner.

The Law Weapons and Law Treasures permeated into Cheonbeom’s body, which had transformed into a form of detachment.

The Five Elements Extreme Mountains transformed into the Five Elements Sixty-Four Trigrams Gods [powerful deities] and took their place behind Cheonbeom’s back.

The Gyuncheon Treasure Flower [a rare flower] also bloomed into a Mandala [a spiritual symbol].

The Five Elements Trigram Gods and Gyuncheon Treasure Flower behind his back permeated into his body again.

“Simsimyo [a sacred artifact].”

He also summoned the Yeonjabo Simsimyo [a time-altering artifact] of the Law of Time, which he had vowed not to use.

The Simsimyo, which had been in the form of a rabbit Avatar, flashed brightly.

It turned into a pure white ring and was put on Cheonbeom’s index finger.

“Hoo-oo-oo-oo.”

Cheonbeom, who took a deep breath, took out a small plate from his chest.

It was a plate-shaped Law Weapon connected to the underground of the Immaculate Clan.

‘If I delay any longer, I’ll die.’

It was the body of the main body.

It was a cultivation that had been forcibly stopped.

After swallowing the Golden Pig Divinity Statue into his mouth, he blew his Divine Sense into the plate Law Weapon.

The Divine Sense that was given was incomparable to when he did it with the Avatar body.

Thousands of Blood Paths instantly floated in Cheonbeom’s head, and at the same time, a flash of light shone and entered the Blood Paths, arriving somewhere.

Thud.

The scenery changed.

A faint vermilion light hung from the ceiling.

A huge cavity.

But what was there was an ominous tree of dark red light.

The outlines of children in the thousands of vermilion fruits that seemed to be hanging in the sky.

That was the Extinction Divine Wood.

Kugugugung!!

As soon as he appeared, the roots moved as if they had been waiting and slowly began to bind him.

“Do you want to eat me that much?”

As he asked with a bitter smile.

The Extinction Divine Wood pulled him in even faster, as if responding to it.

The Divine Wood’s stems bound him, and the center of the tree split vertically, greedily opening its mouth.

The inside of the Divine Wood’s mouth, like a bottomless pit, was dark and nothing could be seen.

But Cheonbeom smiled deeply.

“Me too.”

And soon.

Kuoong!

The Extinction Divine Wood’s mouth closed.

Once again, the Divine Wood’s space maintained its usual tranquility.