Call Of The Spear [EN]: Chapter 501

The Mountain and the Tiger

Nangseon’s Romantic Fantasia – Part 2, Episode 210

The mountain and the tiger were different.

A mountain is a mountain, and a tiger is a tiger.

The lingering echo of the past created by Sawoljehang [a treasure imbued with the laws of creation] was a landscape etched into the mountain’s soul.

The tiger momentarily mistook it upon seeing it, but quickly realized his error.

Similar, yet the mountain and the tiger were fundamentally different.

Therefore, he had no choice but to acknowledge the truth.

“If it were me, I wouldn’t have met such an end.”

It was a memory tinged with regret.

But a memory is just that—a memory.

A past that isn’t his own.

No matter how deeply he regrets the past, he can’t rewrite it.

All that remains is to understand the intertwined causal relationships and the mountain’s spirit now mingled with his own.

After a time.

The form of Cheonbeom, radiating dazzling light, was now identical to that of a Wonseon [a celestial being who has achieved enlightenment].

His appearance after completing Seungseon [ascension to immortality] was outwardly unchanged, yet he was profoundly different.

‘Why was I so helplessly defeated… I’m beginning to understand now.’

The incident with Yedong flashed through his mind.

Wonseon was insignificant compared to Hyangseon. It was like comparing a tiny needle to a finely honed, razor-sharp sword.

From the very beginning, Hyangseon and Wonseon occupied different tiers of existence.

Now, he finally grasped the truth.

“It was rainwater collected in a well.”

Now the realization dawned.

As this understanding settled deep within him, he felt a mixture of relief and lingering regret.

The number of Wonseon Taesas [Grand Masters] he sensed within the Sinshik [spiritual realm] exceeded a dozen.

He recognized some familiar energies, but one particular presence was absent.

‘Was that your answer?’

He felt a pang of longing for the energy of the now-vanished Phoenix.

But he didn’t succumb to grief.

“That, too, is part of the Dao [the natural order of the universe].”

Only the heavens knew what had become of her.

The reason she, who had found her answer through long enlightenment, continued to exist… was likely connected to that.

For a long time, under the heavens of the Upper Realm, only the mountain had maintained a deep connection with her.

Closing his eyes to recall her, he frowned as he sensed several gazes fixed upon him.

“How impolite.”

The gazes belonged to the Wonseon.

The feeling of being spied upon was deeply unpleasant.

Cheonbeom summoned the flames of the sun behind him and inscribed a massive character in the air.

The character he wrote was simple: Kill (殺).

Instantly, several gazes retreated.

Cheonbeom recognized familiar energies among those withdrawn.

Taking a step forward.

Whirr, golden flames erupted around him, and he vanished, reappearing instantly beside Choa.

“Husband!”

Choa’s expression was a complex tapestry of emotions.

She looked happy yet sad, sorrowful yet filled with joy.

Cheonbeom couldn’t help but smile at her multifaceted expression.

But the smile faded as the mountain’s final moments resurfaced in his mind, filling him with worry.

‘He wasn’t indifferent to death.’

He possessed immense power, but his inability to coldly sever ties led to the mountain’s tragic demise.

Seeing Choa, he was overcome with concern.

Even beyond Choa, he cherished many women.

And even beyond women, he had children and future relationships to consider.

If, before the battles with the malevolent forces he would inevitably face, he was burdened by those who would hold him back, he might suffer the same fate as the mountain.

‘My power was always… meant to protect those around me.’

Even after becoming a Wonseon Taesa, he was so preoccupied with protecting his own that he began to question the true meaning of power.

But even so, his precious relationships were what he needed to safeguard.

Cheonbeom gazed at the sun behind him and declared.

“We will need our own sky.”

“A sky…?”

Puzzled, she tilted her head. Cheonbeom gestured towards the immense Sawoljehang.

Instantly, golden energy streamed from his hand, enveloping Sawoljehang and swirling around it, shrinking it in size.

The Sawoljehang, now significantly smaller, floated above Cheonbeom’s palm, radiating light.

As he murmured an incantation, the light intensified, and Sawoljehang, bathed in golden radiance, ascended into the sky, merging swiftly with the dazzling sun.

“What did you do?”

“I simply created a new sanctuary in a place where no one would dare to act carelessly. No one would risk approaching it there.”

Cheonbeom said, his gaze fixed on the blazing sun. Choa understood his meaning and gasped.

“You created it… inside the sun?”

“Yes. Sawoljehang is, after all, a treasure imbued with the laws of creation. It is a treasure of the Great Firmament, so it won’t be consumed by the sun of the Upper Realm.”

It would be an impossible feat with other treasures or spatial divine powers, but Sawoljehang and Cheonbeom’s combined power made it possible.

Cheonbeom had sensed the sky created by Sawoljehang more clearly than anyone else.

He knew it was within his grasp.

Moreover, by connecting the entrance to Tamhwa, he could travel back and forth at will.

With that in place, Cheonbeom wouldn’t have to constantly worry about those he cherished.

“…If that is your will, husband, I will follow. I don’t want to be a burden.”

“I never said you were a burden. I’m simply greedy and unwilling to lose what’s mine to anyone.”

Cheonbeom immediately summoned Tamhwa and Hwadam and entered the space created within Sawoljehang, along with Choa.

Beom named this place Cheollakgyeonggon (Heavenly Paradise) and shaped it to resemble the sky of the Upper Realm, providing a comfortable environment for Tamhwa, Hwadam, and Choa to thrive.

It would have taken others eons, but for him, it was a simple task, given his mastery of the Three Lives Three Gods and the laws of creation.

With a mere gesture, mountains rose, oceans surged, and a myriad of creatures emerged.

Choa and Tamhwa were awestruck as they witnessed him effortlessly performing feats that only a creation god could accomplish.

It was truly a paradise. A place free from all worries—Cheollakgyeonggon.

Not content with that, Cheonbeom even retrieved the Great Chaos Ice Lotus from Jamo Wol and planted it in Cheollakgyeonggon.

All of these events unfolded in an instant, created as easily as breathing, demonstrating the profound depth of Cheonbeom’s divine power.

Cheonbeom had absorbed everything the Phoenix had accumulated, and even then, his vessel remained difficult to fill, so he drew upon most of the Yang energy emitted by the sun of the Upper Realm.

He had only recently achieved Seungseon and become a Wonseon Taesa, yet his divine power had reached a level that no Wonseon in the Upper Heaven could afford to underestimate.

“This is sufficient.”

Cheonbeom, having created Cheollakgyeonggon in a matter of days, surveyed the space that mirrored the Upper Realm and bore a resemblance to the Lower Realm, and felt a sense of satisfaction.

“Now we can have children and raise them without undue worry.”

Choa’s face flushed crimson.

As she lowered her head shyly, Beom smiled and turned away from the simply constructed thatched house.

“Where are you going?”

“Just for a moment, I’m going to listen to some old stories.”

“…Will it take long?”

“No, I’ll be back soon, so you don’t have to worry.”

Beom embraced Choa and patted her back.

“I’m just going to meet an old friend for a while.”

* * *

Inside the distorted space.

When the being who felt his gaze saw him inscribe letters in the sky, she had no choice but to withdraw her gaze.

The one who withdrew her gaze was the owner of Gaegye Oggyeong.

Oggyeong Gyeju.

She held a black jeongdanjuk [a type of smoking pipe] in her mouth and exhaled cigarette smoke languidly, a faint smile playing on her lips as she looked at the sky.

“Now, what will you do? Will you come to kill me, or will you go to kill Aggeom….”

Tuk, tuk.

She tapped the black jeongdanjuk, then gave a strange smile.

“Either way, I’ll be leaving this tedious life, one way or another.”

Just then.

She flinched, and Oggyeong Gyeju trembled, seeing the man who had invaded her space.

Her Adam’s apple bobbed.

It was the first time anyone had breached Oggyeong Gyeju’s space, which had remained inviolate until now, without any warning.

But the invader’s face was familiar.

It had to be.

He was the owner of Gaegye Oggyeong.

Oggyeong Gyeju’s disciple, and her fellow disciple, Wonseon Taesa.

It was Cheonbeom.

“Surprised, are you?”

Beom’s appearance was largely unchanged. But the energy he radiated was as different as heaven and earth, and Shinwi felt as if she were looking at a completely different person.

Like looking at her fellow disciple, who was once as high as the sky.

“…I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t surprised. Who wouldn’t be startled by an unannounced visit?”

She tried to sound calm, but Shinwi’s heart pounded in her chest like never before.

“You don’t need to be so alarmed. I’ve only come today because there’s something I want to ask.”

Cheonbeom conjured a chair out of flames and leaned back as if he were out for a leisurely stroll.

Shinwi’s eyes narrowed.

‘To wield the power of law so effortlessly within the space I created….’

She had long concealed herself within the resentment of other Wonseons, using her divine power.

As the guardian of a realm of principle that had never been violated, she found this situation both unsettling and absurd.

However, since it was him, Shinwi calmly took her seat.

“Something to ask? I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“You probably have a good idea.”

At Cheonbeom’s blunt words, Shinwi tapped the black jeongdanjuk.

“I don’t know. I don’t even know what to call you anymore, so how would I know that?”

Cheonbeom chuckled.

His appearance was still that of Cheonbeom.

He was Oggyeong Gyeju’s disciple, so her uncertainty about what to call him wasn’t simply because he had become a Wonseon Taesa.

“You know better than anyone who I am. I dislike drawn-out conversations, so I’ll be direct. Why did you betray me?”

At Cheonbeom’s sudden question, Shinwi froze as if struck by an arrow.

“You came all this way to ask that…?”

“A long time has passed, and it’s an irreversible matter. Asking won’t change anything, but I couldn’t simply ignore it. I can forgive Aggeom, but Shinwi… I never imagined you would do such a thing.”

For the most part, Shinwi had been a friend, someone who had spent his childhood alongside San.

He considered her a friend.

A fellow disciple with whom he had shared countless moments without reservation.

That made her betrayal all the more shocking.

The shock San experienced was indescribable.

“I never thought I’d be asked such a question now. Why did I betray you… Well, it’s been so long that my memory is hazy. Can you give me some time to recall?”

At Shinwi’s playful demeanor, Cheonbeom’s brow furrowed.

“Was my question too vague? Then I’ll rephrase it. What was your purpose in betraying me?”

“San, you’ve already died once, yet your frustrating personality remains unchanged. Purpose? You ask about purpose? Do you truly want to hear the reason behind your question? A truth so obvious it’s practically self-evident!”

Beom nodded silently.

“San, are you aware of the circumstances surrounding my arrival in the Upper Realm from the Lower Realm?”

“Your talent was highly regarded, and your teacher brought you here.”

“Yes, but my teacher is no longer in the Upper Realm. Do you understand what that means?”

Shinwi spoke, barely containing her anger, crudely masking her low-pitched fury.

“It was as if my reason for existence had vanished. To me, my teacher’s existence was my sole purpose. But after he ascended, I was left with nothing.”

“You could have strived to cultivate and open the path to Daera [Great Attainment].”

“Because I can’t!! I felt a desperate conviction that I was incapable of it! San, you, with your heaven-sent talent, wouldn’t understand! You effortlessly surpassed us simply by cultivating alone in this desolate land! You have no understanding of my despair! You’ve never experienced our frustrations, so you wouldn’t know!!”

Cheonbeom’s eyes narrowed.

“So you betrayed me.”

“Yes. I did so because I was told that if we killed you, we would rise to the same level as you. Aggeom’s judgment proved accurate. You died, and we shattered the barrier.”

It was the answer he had anticipated.

He wasn’t particularly angry.

He had expected as much.

So, instead of succumbing to anger, Beom posed another question.

“Then why did you accept me as a disciple?”

She would have already glimpsed the traces of San within Cheonbeom’s body.

That was the nature of a Wonhyeong Shinseon [a celestial being close to perfection].

A being infinitely close to Jinseon [a true immortal] like a Wonseon Taesa could easily discern the subtle traces of a soul hidden within a body.

It might have been difficult if the trace was as faint as dust, but Oggyeong Gyeju had served as Cheonbeom’s teacher.

She had carefully observed his body, so unlike Yedong and Aggeom, she couldn’t possibly have remained unaware.

She would have known.

That he carried San within him.

“I didn’t understand. If you knew I was San, it would have been natural to eliminate the threat in advance, but you didn’t. Moreover, you accepted me as a disciple and even taught me the Gongbeop [cultivation techniques], hoping that I would inherit your mantle. What was the reason for that?”

Upon hearing his question, Shinwi fell silent.

“You won’t tell me?”

“I have no obligation to answer your questions.”

There was no obligation.

“Then I can simply create that obligation.”

Whirr. The chair burst into flames, and golden heavenly fire erupted around Cheonbeom as he rose from his seat.

“Didn’t you just say that you only had something to ask today?”

“I have no obligation to keep promises either.”

Especially not to someone who drove a friend to his death.

“Unlike you, who has only recently regained your memories and power, I have cultivated repeatedly across countless eons. Can you handle it? You.”

“We’ll find out when we try.”

Just how long or short it will be. The outcome.

Call Of The Spear [EN]

Call Of The Spear [EN]

Tale of the Floating Sages Call of the Spear Cystic Story Die Chroniken des Berggottes Fantastic Story of Nangseon L'Épopée du Dieu de la Montagne La historia de la reencarnación del tigre Lang Xian Fantasy Talk Lãng Tiên Kỳ Đàm Nangseon Story Story of Thorny Spear The Story Of The Reincarnation Of The Tiger The Story of Thorny Spear История перерождения в тигра Причудливая история о горном небожителе ตำนานผู้บำเพ็ญเพียรพเนจร 浪仙奇幻談 浪仙奇幻谈 낭선기환담
Status: Completed Author: Native Language: Korean
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[English Translation] In the heart of Baek Mountain, Sangun, the revered tiger lord, lived a life of serene solitude. But destiny, as it often does, had other plans. A vision in white hair, a young girl named Choa, arrives at his doorstep, proclaiming herself his bride. Sangun's world is instantly upended. He recognizes her lineage – the White-blooded Demon Beast, a creature of terrifying power and whispered nightmares. He knows he should send her away, protect himself and his domain from the chaos she embodies. But beneath her ethereal beauty, he sees a vulnerability, a soul adrift with nowhere else to turn. Against his better judgment, he takes her in, unaware that this act of compassion will unravel his peaceful existence and plunge him into a whirlwind of trials, tribulations, and a destiny far grander than he ever imagined. Prepare to be captivated by a tale of ancient spirits, forbidden love, and the awakening of a power that could save the world... or destroy it.

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