Call Of The Spear [EN]: Chapter 459

Nangseon Gi Hwan Dam – Part 2, Episode 168

“I assume you know what this is.”

“Of course. Isn’t that a phoenix feather fragment?”

“Knowing that will speed things up. I have this, of course, due to the Great Commander’s orders.”

It seemed the story would be long.

“I’m listening.”

“The Great Commander, sensing that the Seonsal War was developing into a meaningless stalemate, summoned me, entrusted me with this, and told me to go to Gye Gye O Gyeong.”

“Gye Gye O Gyeong?”

“It’s the name for a string of small islands near the Bunggye border.”

“It seems there’s something there.”

Beom’s guess was correct.

Gye Gye O Gyeong was a place created by an ancient immortal, where several islands formed a Jinbeop [a type of magical formation]. Anyone could enter, but not just anyone could leave.

“The Great Commander told me to meet someone there with this. If I did, they would hand over an item, and I must bring it back.”

“What is it?”

“….”

Miseipa slightly raised the corner of his lips at the question filled with curiosity.

“Is it a secret you can’t tell me?”

“No, I don’t know the details either. But I’m just guessing that you might be planning to use the Janjangyeongjeongdo.”

“Janjangyeongjeongdo!”

A treasure among treasures of the Water Realm that played a significant role in the last Seonsal War.

“To properly use the Janjangyeongjeongdo, a rare item is needed, but nothing is known for sure. I just think that’s why.”

What item could it be that they would give up a phoenix feather fragment as payment?

Cheonbeom’s worries deepened.

‘The quickest way for Bong to awaken is to recover the scattered feathers.’

Even as a Beom who had become an immortal of Hyangsan, the energy contained within the fragment was dazzling.

However, giving it as payment to activate the Janjangyeongjeongdo made it difficult to act rashly.

“So, I was wondering….”

Miseipa subtly asked if he would like to accompany him.

“Is there any benefit for me?”

“The Water Realm’s benefit is our benefit. What nonsense are you spouting? If you’re taking money from Sugung [the Water Palace], if you are under the Great Commander’s order, shouldn’t you help me?”

“But the Great Commander didn’t order me. Isn’t this a mission entrusted to you because he trusts you? A humble non-ascended cultivator from the Lower Realm cannot dare to defile such a sacred mission.”

“….”

Miseipa’s cheek twitched.

His face was filled with dismay.

“Besides, if it’s just handing over the payment and receiving the item, you wouldn’t need my help.”

“Think about it. We are at war. It’s like walking on thin ice, not knowing when and where the Seonsal army will appear. Just a day ago, many lost their lives in a Seonsal attack near Bunggye.”

However, Gye Gye O Gyeong, which they were heading to, was about thirty years away in terms of distance, and it would take about fifty years at the pace they were traveling through the war.

He would have to tiptoe through the war for fifty years to safely reach Gye Gye O Gyeong, and he was saying that it was a bit too much for him alone.

“If that’s the case, from the beginning, a small elite force….”

Beom was about to speak but closed his mouth.

Looking at his expression, he knew.

‘They’re all dead, aren’t they.’

He had started with several units, but they had all died in several battles.

“Bunggye and Sagye aren’t fools either. They also know about the Water Realm’s Janjangyeongjeongdo. They can’t possibly not know about the treasure that killed their ancestors in the previous Seonsal War. They are also preparing for it, and thanks to that, this tedious stalemate has continued. We are living in a state of uncertainty, but the more time passes, the more disadvantageous it is for us.”

“Hmm….”

It was quite a pessimistic assessment, but Beom said nothing.

Mangakbyeonwang had told him.

That in a war lasting thousands, tens of thousands of years, it would be impossible not to be careless.

And that the moment they were deceived by familiarity and became careless would be the moment the war would end.

“Don’t the Water Realm and the Seon Realm have Wonseon Grand Masters [powerful immortal cultivators]? Even so, Miseipa, do you think the tide of war will turn in favor of the Seonsal?”

“Of course.”

“Why?”

“Because we are on the defensive.”

It was a thought-provoking statement.

It is certainly more difficult to defend than to attack.

If it were a normal war, it might be different, but this is the Upper Realm.

A place with countless mysteries.

Even as Beom was talking, unimaginable divine powers and Gongbeops [cultivation techniques] were being created right here.

This is the world of cultivators.

So, if they decide to attack, there is no telling what methods they will use.

As time passes, they will be gnawed away here and there like maggots eating the flesh of the dead.

“Help me. You are also a cultivator of the Water Realm.”

Beom, who was planning to tease him a bit, lost interest when Miseipa became earnest.

‘It’s interesting, but….’

The location is not good.

Being adjacent to Bunggye’s Geonwon Sea, they could be surrounded and die without being able to do anything.

According to Miseipa, Gye Gye O Gyeong is isolated from the outside world by Jinbeop, so once they enter, it’s as good as being safe….

‘Getting there is dangerous.’

However, the phoenix feather fragment in Miseipa’s hand bothered him.

What if he was defeated by someone else and the phoenix feather was taken away? Finding the feathers scattered all over the world again would be harder than finding a needle in a desert.

“If you were to refuse, I swear I wouldn’t breathe a word of it anywhere….”

“Enough. I will accompany you.”

“Re, really?”

He was startled.

His reaction suggested that he didn’t think he would really accept.

“But I have a favor to ask.”

He couldn’t stand helping for free.

Shouldn’t he get everything he could?

“Tell me anything. I will do anything within my power!”

“I need you to get me a Yeouiju [a wish-granting orb].”

“Yeouiju? Hmm, it won’t be easy to find one for sale at a time like this….”

Since the war had broken out, it was not a time when most goods or treasures were traded.

“Can you get it or not? If not, let’s forget about this.”

“I, I can get it! That’s right! Gye Gye O Gyeong! If it’s Gye Gye O Gyeong, the owner there has any item, so if we get there, I will get you a Yeouiju at any cost.”

Gye Gye O Gyeong.

A place where everything that doesn’t exist in the world exists, and everything that exists is there.

“Was that such a place? But if it’s close to Bunggye, isn’t that where the Demon Immortals are?”

“That’s not it. I don’t know exactly, but the owner there was originally human, and now he’s a Wonseon Grand Master occupying a position in the Sangcheonhaewol [a celestial organization]. But unlike the others….”

He doesn’t belong to any place and doesn’t interfere. He always maintains neutrality, and because he rarely shows himself, even though he is one of the few Wonseons in the Upper Realm, only a handful of people have met him.

“Anyway! Are you really going to accompany me?”

“I don’t speak with two tongues.”

“Good. Then let’s take a few days of rest and leave right away.”

* * *

Sreureuk.

In the pitch-black darkness, her eyes opened.

“Have you awakened?”

The woman standing beside her asked, but the woman in the darkness saw that the red thread above the lake in front of her was layered several times more than before.

However, there were many threads that had lost their color and fallen to the bottom of the lake as much as the red threads that had been added.

The red-haired woman felt her master looking at the red thread and said with a pitiful look.

“Many have fallen off.”

The red thread meant the ties that were connected, and the lake meant the boundary between life and death.

The red thread at the bottom meant death.

Ties that she might have built friendship and affection with.

And ties that had already been built with blood and affection.

The woman in the darkness stared blankly at the collapsed thread and said calmly.

[There is no immortality. There is always an end, so the ties that are connected will also collapse in vain someday.]

The death of acquaintances.

The death of relatives.

The death of companions.

Death is everywhere and always comes.

Therefore, the first thing to do in cultivation is to cut off emotions.

There are countless people who ruin great things by being swayed by personal feelings.

So, the beginning of practice is to awaken indifference.

“But you were trying to twist that principle, weren’t you?”

But what you know but can’t do is indifference.

“Because the grudges of your past life continue to this day, you are suffering to correct them, even to the point of becoming like that.”

At the woman’s words, grumbling that it was pitiful, the eyes in the darkness moved.

[It was an unavoidable measure. I couldn’t twist and cross space-time like her, so I had to use tricks to cross the wall.]

“Thanks to that, you can’t do anything now as a reaction to it.”

[…That’s only temporary. The time will come when I have to start moving.]

“Are you talking about the Sangcheonhaewol?”

Hwareureuk!

Flames spread across the wall that had been dark and invisible.

As the candle was lit, the appearance of the voice that had been invisible was revealed.

A fox-like beast with fur as black as if it had absorbed the darkness.

The tail behind its back had more than nine.

However, the size of the tails was large and small, showing that its condition was not normal.

[He forgot, but I remembered. How could I forget that grudge? Even now, when I close my eyes, happy days come to mind. But now it’s all a fleeting dream, so all I can do is take revenge on him, who betrayed us and became infinitely close to the sky.]

Guuuuung

The darkness emanating from her devours everything.

It even swallows the flame of the candle, covering everything in pitch black.

“Hold on. You’ll get sick.”

Sreureuk.

Her eyelids closed.

[It won’t be long. When that time comes… I’ll be able to tell him everything too.]

“Yes, you have to.”

Her voice, muttering that when the time comes… disappeared.

It seemed she had fallen asleep again.

The woman next to her felt her master falling asleep again and muttered, looking blankly at the red thread floating on the lake.

“This journey won’t be all that difficult.”

* * *

Fifty years later.

“Is this the place?”

“According to the map, this is the place.”

The scenery they were looking at was a group of several islands located on the Geonwon Sea, which was eerie like a fog, forming a circle intricately, and resembling a mysterious Seonchukmun [a type of celestial gate].

When viewed with the naked eye, it looked like an ordinary island, but when the Dallyeongeumjeong [a magical artifact] was activated and viewed with the six gates, it felt ambiguous to call it a simple island.

However, Beom could not clearly understand it either and only felt that some kind of law was added. He couldn’t exactly describe what it was.

“It was a long and arduous journey.”

“But it’s not over yet.”

Gye Gye O Gyeong.

The place they had been searching for for the past fifty years, this was Gye Gye O Gyeong.

During the past years, they had moved secretly, and there had been more than one or two times when it was dangerous due to frequent battles, and they had done many reckless things to break through the path.

Thanks to that, Miseipa’s army was reduced from seven hundred to only one hundred.

However, now that they had arrived like this, half of the mission was as good as successful.

“Let’s go in.”

“Hmm.”

In the center of Gye Gye O Gyeong, there was a slightly larger island than the others.

They went down there at once, and everyone around, including Cheonbeom and Miseipa, was embarrassed.

“Flight restriction?”

Various restrictions began to bind their bodies.

“I heard that you can’t act freely in Gye Gye O Gyeong due to various restrictions. Don’t panic.”

Miseipa reassured the soldiers.

쿵!! [Sound of impact]

They fell from the sky at once, and a loud noise echoed.

More than a hundred people fell from the sky, but no one was hurt, and not a single mark was left on the ground.

It was not an ordinary place.

Beom immediately looked around.

When he activated Dallyeongeumjeong and looked around, the entire area was made up of layers of restrictions.

There were many restrictions, starting with the flight restriction and even restricting the release of Qi [spiritual energy].

‘Is it a law restriction?’

It was impossible otherwise.

Blocking the release of Qi also meant that they couldn’t exert their proper strength here.

‘Then isn’t this a favorable space for those who have mastered Gangche [a specific martial art or skill]?’

After thinking carefully, he summoned Huhae and threw a punch.

Then a strange thing happened.

“U, Uwaaak!!”

Cheonbeom’s fist stopped right in front of Huhae’s face.

“I, I was surprised, Great Father….”

“I can’t hit you.”

“Yes? Were you really going to hit me?”

When he unfolded Dallyeongeumjeong, the law restrictions were like tiny microorganisms that couldn’t be seen with the naked eye, and they blocked Cheonbeom’s fist.

“At this rate, no one will be able to commit slaughter here.”

He didn’t know about Wonseon Grand Master, but anyone below that level wouldn’t be able to fight here.

Cheonbeom unfolded Dallyeongeumjeong and looked around, but soon he couldn’t unfold it as he pleased.

The restriction blocked Dallyeongeumjeong.

As everything was blocked, he felt uneasy.

“Are you guests?”

He flinched.

The existence that appeared as if it had sprung from the ground bowed politely.

She was a beautiful woman wearing a Jangsams [traditional Korean clothing], and she sent a refreshing smile as if she was used to the fearful gaze looking at her.

“Is this your first time to Gye Gye O Gyeong?”

“…That’s right.”

“I am the guide of Gye Gye O Gyeong and Haseon of Ogyeonggyeju, the owner of this place. Most people here call me Madam Go, so please call me that.”

“I understand. Madam Go. We have come here to deliver the payment to Ogyeonggyeju, the owner of this place, and receive the item.”

When Miseipa spoke politely, Madam Go nodded as if she knew.

“Then I will guide you.”

Madam Go began to climb along a mountain path, and Beom and his party exchanged glances and began to follow her.