Call Of The Spear [EN]: Chapter 471

Nangseon Gihwandam – Part 2, Episode 180

“Is that really true?”

“Yeah, it is. I was being chased by the Maryeong Valley guys not long ago and went to Gonggakchun, and there wasn’t a single centipede covering the place! The forest that was there, even what looked like the Great Ominous Tree, everything was gone, completely! I thought I was dreaming!”

“You didn’t just have a drunken dream?”

“No!! I’m telling you, everything was gone, clean as if nothing had ever been there!!”

The martial immortals, skeptical, tilted their heads but could only believe him after going to Gonggakchun themselves.

“There really is nothing there….”

Gonggakchun, once rampant with vermin, had vanished without a trace.

Some said the centipedes had eaten everything and disappeared, while others claimed a renowned immortal had taken Gonggakchun whole.

But the truth was unknown to anyone, and everyone could only click their tongues.

* * *

Meanwhile.

While some were talking about Gonggakchun, others were furious.

“Bring him! Bring him!! Bring the thief who stole the Woncheon River of Gonggakchun, which I’ve painstakingly cultivated for ages, to me right now!!”

He was a skeleton with only bones attached to his entire body, and all the martial immortals around him trembled and bowed their heads at his roar.

“Donlang. You go and catch him.”

“I obey the command of Mangol-nim.”

As the man called Donlang paid his respects and disappeared, the one called Mangol gnashed his teeth and sat down.

“How did he take it… Unless his divine power transcends the Myriad Epochs and is of the bloodline of the ancient greed, there’s no way he could have done it. Damn it… This is infuriating.”

* * *

At the same time.

The thief and his party, who had stolen the Woncheon River of Gonggakchun and devoured the Vermin King, inheriting the bloodline of greed, were enjoying a hearty feast at an inn.

The man’s sleeve fluttered, missing an arm, and the girl diligently devouring the food possessed a beauty that would make anyone look twice.

The two were, of course, Cheonbeom and Tamhwa.

Tamhwa had matured more than before but had not yet shed her childishness.

Her appearance had gone from looking like a ten-year-old to looking about fourteen.

“How can you eat so much and still have room?”

“Uh!”

“Yes, eat a lot.”

The gazes watching Cheonbeom’s party were divided.

Some saw them as a friendly father and daughter and watched with a smile, while others stared with strange eyes at the girl who was eating a mountain of food.

Of course, there were those who coveted the man’s wealth, seeing him order so much food.

Some ignorant local minor immortals tried to pick a fight, coveting his money bag, but were blocked by an invisible barrier and couldn’t do anything.

After punching the barrier a few times and breaking their own fists, they quickly ran away.

“This isn’t the kind of situation I learned this technique for.”

The barrier from before was the newly learned Ilsimmancheonokgyeong [One Mind, Myriad Heavens Jade Mirror].

It was a protective divine power that created a jade mirror containing one’s own energy in the divine sense.

Cheonbeom’s Ilsimmancheonokgyeong, which had a subtle golden glow, had only achieved the first star out of three, but its solidity surpassed Hyeongakbulgoe [Immovable Diamond Body].

So it was only natural that it was unshaken by the fists of minor immortals.

“You’ve worked hard, so you can order more if there’s anything else you want to eat.”

Tamhwa devoured all the vermin in Gonggakchun and ascended to the realm of Fragrant Mountain Immortal.

Her true form had become three times larger than before, and her ominous energy was also extraordinary, so Beom had to teach her how to hide her energy. He also gave Tamhwa the fruit containing the secrets of the Eoryeongtaehaenggyeol [Mystic Infant Great Cycle Art] he had received from his teacher.

An Eoryeong [Mystic Infant] had now formed within Tamhwa’s body, turning her into a sealing tool that, once swallowed, was impossible to escape from.

“Really? Then this, and this, and this, this, this, this, this, this, this!”

“Yes, yes. Bring my daughter what she wants to eat.”

Then the waiter rushed over and said.

“I, I’m sorry, Immortal. We’ve already run out of ingredients for today, so we can’t bring out any more dishes….”

The waiter spoke apologetically, trembling with great fear.

The man and his daughter, who appeared to be renowned immortals, had extraordinary realms, so every word was cautious.

“Is that so? Then there’s nothing we can do. Tamhwa, let’s go somewhere else.”

“This food is delicious. I bet other places will be delicious too, right?”

“Surely.”

Cheonbeom got up from his seat and dropped a money bag on the table.

“It should be enough.”

“Thank you!!”

Cheonbeom, who came out of the inn, asked the people around him and found another inn, and only after emptying several more inns in a day did Tamhwa fall asleep contentedly on Cheonbeom’s back.

“Shall I help you?”

“It’s okay.”

It was Hwaran.

Beom firmly held Tamhwa in his one arm and slowly walked down the street.

Holding Tamhwa was easy enough with one arm, but it looked very uncomfortable to others.

“Why don’t you create an arm?”

It is not impossible for an immortal to recreate a damaged body.

Even if it takes a long time, it can be made sufficiently, and it is not difficult to attach something else.

But Cheonbeom had left his severed arm as it was for the past four hundred years.

At Ran’s question, he briefly looked at his empty sleeve and then curved his lips.

“It’s the result of carelessness. I want to leave it like this for a while.”

“It’s been four hundred years. Tamhwa has also become a Fragrant Immortal, so shouldn’t you leave now?”

This place is still near the Fragmented Realm [a border region between immortal realms].

He is currently disguised as a martial immortal, but the Immortal Slaughter War is still ongoing, and Beom is a water immortal of the Water Realm.

It’s time to go back soon.

At such a time, it would be difficult to form hand seals with only one arm, and it would be cumbersome to unleash his full power.

But Ran was only anxious because he was saying such carefree things.

“Having an arm attached is something I’ve taken for granted all my life. But now that it’s gone, it’s quite new and amazing. Of course, it’s also inconvenient.”

“Then hurry….”

“I will when the time comes.”

It seemed impossible to break his stubbornness.

“I won’t help you even if you say it’s heavy.”

“There’s no need….”

There was no need to receive help.

Beom carried Damhwa on his back and walked along the road with Ran.

A nameless mountain village near the Fragmented Realm.

It was a peaceful rural village located on that land.

It is a small village where minor immortals, no different from ordinary people, are born and raised, except that water immortals occasionally pass by.

“Where are you going this time?”

“Well. Both Tamhwa and I have been stuck in Gonggakchun for four hundred years, so I want to look around a bit more before going.”

Once he left, he didn’t know how long he would have to spend on the battlefield.

Ran honestly wanted to tell him to live as he pleased without worrying about the Immortal Slaughter War or anything else, but she couldn’t bring herself to do so.

“It would be fun to see the world, and it would be nice to get lost in the mundane world and forget about cultivation.”

“That’s true. Tamhwa likes to eat, so how about opening an inn? Mountain Monarch hunts for the ingredients needed for cooking, and I carry the dishes to the guests.”

“Well, I’m worried that Tamhwa will eat everything before we can even serve it to the guests.”

But just imagining it made it seem like a carefree and happy life.

“I don’t know about an inn… how about a medicinal herb garden?”

“That’s not bad either. The number of divine herbs that Mountain Monarch possesses is too numerous to count.”

That’s not bad either.

“Shall we do that?”

“…Are you serious?”

“There will still be time. It wouldn’t be bad either, would it?”

“That’s… true.”

When she asked if he was really okay, Cheonbeom showed a self-deprecating smile.

She thought he was joking, but it seemed like he really had such a mind.

Could it be that he was feeling disturbed by the various things that had happened?

“Well, one of your arms was cut off, and you learned several techniques in Gonggakchun and broke through a wall, so it wouldn’t be bad to rest for a while. If you stay here, you’ll hear various stories… and it’s not bad to forget about cultivation for a while and live an ordinary life.”

He was a man who had been running non-stop. Living an ordinary life would be a very good opportunity at this time.

“You have more than enough money.”

“That’s right. There’s a lot of money….”

“But aren’t you worried?”

“What worry?”

“About Saha-nim [a respectful title].”

“Well….”

It was a different reaction than before.

Ran was curious about his thoughts.

What kind of change of heart had caused the word ‘well’ to come out?

“Why is that? You’ve saved Saha-nim several times, saying that her past life was the benefactor who saved Mountain Monarch’s life. You said you didn’t want to grieve her death again.”

That was Cheonbeom.

“Have you paid off your life debt now?”

“How can I repay a life debt? No matter what I do, I won’t be able to repay it.”

“Then why?”

At the word ‘why,’ Cheonbeom closed his eyes tightly and then opened them.

His eyes were filled with dizziness.

“Death exists for everyone. Even if I’ve brushed it off a few times, there’s no guarantee that it will be immortal.”

“…So wasn’t that why you’ve been protecting her all this time?”

“I did. I did… But the word ‘death’ has changed within me. So I’m curious.”

“What is it?”

“What death really is. I’m curious about it, and I felt the need to contemplate and redefine it.”

Necessity.

Ran paid attention to that point.

He seemed to think that contemplation about death had a great connection to the progress of his cultivation.

Unless he redefined death within himself, his cultivation would no longer progress.

“Is it also closely related to the newly learned techniques?”

“Unfortunately, it is.”

“….”

There are several techniques he has learned.

But among them, the most powerful and main one is the technique called Byeokgongbu Chongmyeol [Void Art, Final Extinction], which contains the law of time.

“Time can be many things.”

Time can be years to someone, experience to someone else, and death to another.

Time creates many things and returns many things to nothing.

Ran didn’t understand everything it meant.

But she roughly knew why he was curious about death.

He had experienced several things before, so there was a change in his perception.

‘You’ve become a mid-stage Fragrant Immortal….’

It might be even more so.

“Anyway, what you want to do now is… live an ordinary life like a normal minor immortal? A kind of play?”

“I just thought it wouldn’t be bad.”

“It’s sudden, but it’s okay for a while. A hundred years is a long time for minor immortals who live short lives.”

Ran looked at his eyes, which seemed to be thinking about many things, and pondered.

When he comes to his own definition of death.

What kind of change will it bring?

Hwaran knows the end of those who are familiar with death.

‘Attrition of emotions.’

The change it will bring will not be something passionate.

On the contrary, it will be something cold and ruthless.

But Ran will remain by his side no matter what he chooses and what he decides.

‘As I have been until now….’

It will remain unchanged in the future.

* * *

One hundred years later.

A small medicinal herb shop was established in Ieongol, a mountain village.

The medicinal herb shop run by an old couple who appeared from somewhere had many mysterious medicinal herbs, perhaps because the owner was talented.

They quickly blended into Ieongol and soon became an indispensable member.

The mysterious small medicinal herb shop in Ieongol.

Its name was Beomranhwa (梵蘭化) [a combination of their names].