Call Of The Spear [EN]: Chapter 502

Nangseon’s Romantic Tale – Part 2, Chapter 211

What allowed Cheonbeom to become a Wonseon [a being who has transcended mortality] was the union with the mountain’s spirit, enlightenment through death, and the Wolmoja women.

It was because he accepted the energy from the phoenix’s sacrifice.

In any case, although Beom was not the mountain itself, he had a duty to resolve the mountain’s deep-seated resentment.

He had promised to grant it complete death, and he was the one who had watched its life more closely than anyone else.

So now, he stood here in place of the mountain, and Cheonbeom was more connected to the mountain than ever before.

‘She must have mistaken me for the mountain and accepted me as a disciple.’

He couldn’t know her reasons, but he suspected they weren’t good. Considering the favor she had shown Beom, he felt a sense of unease….

‘She is a woman who would betray a close friend of many years.’

A woman whose intentions were shrouded in mystery.

There was no room for sentimentality.

“What you taught me was quite useful, so it would be wise not to underestimate it.”

Click.

As Cheonbeom snapped his fingers, golden flames, the Geumcheonjihwa [Golden Celestial Divine Fire], erupted from the ground in all directions.

Whirr!!

As pillars of fire spread, the subtle mist dissipated, revealing the true nature of the Chokmyeon space [a pocket dimension or realm].

Behind her stood a giant tree, clearly not of this world. Its height pierced the sky, and its girth was immense.

Moreover, it was laden with enormous fruits, causing Beom to frown.

‘Jeolmyeong Sinmok [Tree of Severed Lifespan]?’

The divine tree behind her.

It was the Jeolmyeong Sinmok, which he had also encountered in the spirit realm.

It devoured the bodies of infants as nutrients, and when it bore them as fruit, they were reborn as new incarnations.

Cheonbeom had even been swallowed by the Jeolmyeong Sinmok himself in the spirit realm.

There was no way he could fail to recognize it.

‘What I saw back then was just a glimpse.’

The Jeolmyeong Sinmok that Shinwi manifested possessed a majesty that dwarfed the previous divine tree. It was like comparing a towering oak to a sapling.

The energy it exuded, having consumed so many lives, was both pure and terrifyingly powerful.

There weren’t many fruits hanging, but each one pulsed with tremendous energy.

Crack, crackle.

The fruits split open, revealing their contents.

Thump! Thump, thump!!

The incarnations emerging from the splitting fruits primarily took the form of dragons.

The black dragons that landed on the ground unleashed ferocious roars and spewed fire, resisting Cheonbeom’s Geumcheonjihwa.

“These are the children I have nurtured over the years. I hope you find them… engaging.”

Shinwi remained stationary, a strange smile playing on her lips.

However, the incarnations spawned from the Jeolmyeong Sinmok were anything but passive. The dragon incarnations surged toward Cheonbeom.

Ninety-nine colossal black dragons unleashed torrents of scorching flames from their maws.

The intense heat, threatening to incinerate even the soul, evaporated the moisture in the air, instantly parching and cracking the ground.

A devastating assault.

“You didn’t think Hwasintong [a fire-manipulation technique] would work on me, did you?”

But she had misjudged her opponent.

Who was he, after all?

He was Cheonbeom, inheritor of the Phoenix’s true power, who had even absorbed the sun’s fiery essence during his ascension to Wonseon.

No matter how intense the extinguishing fire (滅火) spewed by the Jeolmyeong Sinmok’s black dragons, it was merely fire to him.

Fire is just fire.

Kwaaaaaaa!!

The overwhelming flames of the extinguishing fire engulfed Cheonbeom.

But a translucent, circular shield enveloped him.

“Ilsimmancheonokgyeong… [One Mind, Myriad Reflections Mirror]”

It was a Simgyeong (心鏡) [Mind Mirror], a defensive technique created using Shinwi’s Shinshik [Divine Awareness].

“That’s quite a versatile technique.”

Cheonbeom effortlessly blocked the black dragons’ flames.

It was a testament to the strength of his Shinshik.

Even without the Ilsimmancheonokgyeong, the black dragons’ flames wouldn’t have harmed him.

But he used it nonetheless.

“Enough with the games.”

Click, he snapped his fingers.

Instantly, the pillars of fire from Cheonbeom’s Geumcheonjihwa transformed into thousands of razor-sharp spears, targeting the black dragons and Shinwi.

The sight of Cheonbeom’s Geumcheonjihwa morphing into golden spears across the entire space was truly breathtaking.

“Go.”

Chwazazazazazak!!

What followed was a massacre.

The black dragons were impaled like skewers in a gruesome feast of blood.

A horrifying scene unfolded in an instant, yet Shinwi remained unfazed.

It was then.

Suddenly, letters etched themselves onto the Jeolmyeong Sinmok behind Shinwi, causing it to glow with an eerie light. The wounds on the black dragons, pierced by Cheonbeom’s spears, began to heal, and the light returned to their lifeless eyes.

“Time law, huh.”

It was as if time itself was rewinding, the severed flesh reattaching, and Cheonbeom’s spears reverting to flames.

‘She’s reversing the flow of time within this space.’

Cheonbeom could manipulate the time of a specific target, but altering the time of an entire space was a feat of a different magnitude.

It was only possible because this was a space created by Shinwi.

In other words…

It meant that any attack he launched here would be rendered useless against Shinwi.

Swish.

The power of the time law blurred the colors and crept toward Cheonbeom.

As his body gradually stiffened, as if time itself had stopped, Beom’s eyes narrowed.

After a long silence, when he showed no sign of movement, Shinwi slowly approached.

The restored black dragons glided to her feet and hovered beside Beom, flanking Shinwi.

“Time here is mine. San, no matter how adept you are at mimicking my teacher’s creations, you are bound by my time within this space.”

It was Shinwi’s Byeokgongbu Chongmyeol [Secret Art of Spatial Domination].

She had subtly employed the time law while diverting his attention with the Jeolmyeong Sinmok.

Shinwi gazed at him.

He, frozen in time, was like an apparition detached from reality.

She gently cupped his cheek, caressing it with eyes filled with conflicting emotions – resentment, longing, and then a sudden withdrawal.

“You were careless. You haven’t changed that much.”

Shinwi, lost in old memories, offered a bitter smile and stepped back.

Soon, color returned to Cheonbeom’s body, and time resumed its flow.

Crack! Snap! Beom’s eyes were dark, and his hands were stained with blood.

Clutched in Cheonbeom’s grasp was a slender woman’s arm – Shinwi’s arm.

Shinwi stumbled backward, her face contorted in pain.

“How did you break it…? Even if you’ve mastered the same techniques as me, this space is the Chongmyeong space I created. It’s impossible to defy its fundamental principles!”

She exclaimed in disbelief.

But Cheonbeom replied matter-of-factly.

“Did you forget something? Creation encompasses all laws. Besides, how could I avenge past grievances if I couldn’t even overcome this much?”

Shinwi bit her lip.

And then, as she spoke, Seonchukmun [Ancient Celestial Script] letters materialized in the Chongmyeong space, radiating a blinding light.

The arm that Cheonbeom had torn off dissolved into mist, and Shinwi’s hand was restored as if it had never been injured.

She had reversed her own time.

‘Annoying.’

It was a truly vexing ability.

The fact that she could undo his attacks by manipulating time itself was a significant obstacle for Beom.

“Shinwi, are you still unwilling to answer my question?”

“You can wonder for the rest of your life.”

Beom nodded.

He clasped his hands together and chanted, and the world trembled with a deafening roar!

Instantly, Geumcheonjihwa spread everywhere, and a colossal mandala [a symbolic diagram] unfurled behind him, bathing Beom in golden light.

His body split into three, creating the Three Bodies [a Buddhist concept of multiple forms], and a mysterious energy permeated the surroundings.

As the energy of the Three Lights subtly emanated, cracks appeared in the air, creating earth-shattering roars.

“Three Bodies….”

Kwaaaaaaa!!

Crackling!!

“I can’t kill you here, no matter what I do. But what if this space itself collapses?”

Soon, the Three Lights expanded.

It could be described as the life force of creation. A space governed by all kinds of laws, a realm saturated with Shinwi’s principles.

What would happen if the life force of creation were injected into such a place?

Deviations would occur in the intricately woven laws, creating fissures.

And Cheonbeom would exploit those fissures.

The voices of Cheonbeom, now the Three Bodies, reciting Buddhist scriptures, resonated in triplicate, causing the space to twist and crack.

“Do you think I’ll let you!”

Shinwi wouldn’t stand idly by.

Bang!

As she stomped her foot, the roots of the divine tree erupted from the ground, attempting to ensnare Cheonbeom.

But he had anticipated this. Without pausing his incantation, he briefly altered his hand seals, and a firestorm erupted around Cheonbeom, forming a fire dragon of Geumcheonjihwa that completely enveloped him.

The roots of the divine tree were incinerated without a trace in the firestorm.

It was utterly futile.

“How dare you…! Gather!!”

Shinwi’s mouth twisted in anger, and the incarnations born from the Jeolmyeong Sinmok converged at her command.

The ninety-nine black dragons coalesced in her grasp, transforming into a black spear.

Kugugugung!!

The black spear, radiating an ominous aura, was hurled toward Cheonbeom like a javelin.

Once again, Cheonbeom’s hand seals shifted, and the fire dragon that had been shielding him swelled and lunged forward to intercept the black spear.

But then.

Kwaang!!

Cheonbeom’s fire dragon exploded.

The space between the eyebrows of Cheonbeom, in his Three Bodies form, narrowed.

It was no ordinary spear.

Cheonbeom drew a spear with two blades from his chest and hurled it forward.

The Twin Extinctions [a spear technique] flew, scattering purple lightning, and collided with the black spear, unleashing a cataclysmic roar.

Kwaaaaaang!!

Squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak!!

The clash of spears emitted an ear-splitting shriek.

But Cheonbeom didn’t relent. He continued his incantation, and the Three Bodies merged back into one.

Soon, Beom transformed into a Samduyukbi [a deity with three heads and six arms].

Two heads chanted spells, and four arms formed hand seals.

Kwajangchangchangchang!!

The distortion of space intensified due to the aftermath of the Twin Extinctions and the black spear, and the cracks widened, threatening to shatter the realm.

“Bulcheonbulbyeok [Unyielding and Unchanging].”

It was then.

The Twin Extinctions shattered, and the Bulcheonbulbyeok residing within spread its wings in the form of a thunderbird, unleashing lightning.

Kururung, kwaang!!

Kwazazazazazaza!!

“San!!”

Shinwi seized the air, distorting the space.

In the warped space, a black short spear materialized in Shinwi’s hand.

As she hurled it, Cheonbeom’s eyes snapped open.

“Changcheon Geumhwa (蒼天金火) [Azure Sky Golden Fire].”

The suns that bloomed from each of his six hands collided with Shinwi’s black spear.