Call Of The Spear [EN]: Chapter 570

Tales of the Divine Swordsman – Extra Story 9

Numerous heavens.

Among them, the greatest is undoubtedly the Daluo Heaven [a paramount heaven in some cosmological beliefs].

Then what do the heavens beneath it exist for?

“They’re just offspring, offspring.”

“…Offspring?”

While fending off the parasites of the Interstice of Existence [a dangerous, chaotic realm between dimensions], Hori spoke calmly.

“There’s a story that the heavens of other Upper Realms, though not the Interstice of Existence, are all tributaries derived from the great Daluo Heaven.”

Nothing is born suddenly, without reason.

Everything has a reason and a purpose.

The heavens of the Upper Realm are the same.

“The Upper Heaven where we live is also said to have originated that way….”

“Father told you that?”

“Yes, I’ve heard him talk about it like that.”

Only then did Cheonseon nod.

She had been wondering why Hori suddenly brought up such a profound topic, but it seemed she had heard it from Cheonbeom.

“But why are you bringing up that story all of a sudden?”

It was Sacheon.

They had been in the Interstice of Existence for three days, defeating mindless parasites as they went. They entrusted their path entirely to her, filled with expectations of new opportunities or revelations to break down their walls. To them, her words were puzzling.

“Everything has a cause, and phenomena arise from that cause.”

It wasn’t wrong, but it wasn’t exactly the kind of thing one would expect to hear right now.

But it was unlike her.

For a woman who always spouted nonsense to utter words of wisdom that even a renowned immortal might say, it was dumbfounding.

So, she was indeed a Prime Immortal [a high-ranking celestial being] after all. It felt like they were finally seeing a glimpse of the true Prime Immortal Taesa.

Thus, it felt unfamiliar and awkward.

“Does that mean something is about to happen here?”

It was Cheongyeon.

Sensing that Hori’s condition was unusual, he immediately braced himself.

If Prime Immortal Taesa was speaking so seriously, it could only mean that something bad was about to happen.

Moreover, this place wasn’t an ordinary space, but an unknown realm where anything could occur, chaos itself.

Wasn’t it the Interstice of Existence?

As Cheongyeon spoke, Cheonseon and Sacheon also flinched and looked at Hori.

The Interstice of Existence was a truly dark and unknowable space.

Bizarre parasites never seen before resided there, and creatures large and small lived in strange ecosystems.

Among them were those who could threaten their lives in an instant.

Fierce beasts.

Or Great Fierce Beasts, living in their own domains even within the mysterious space of the Interstice of Existence.

They thought that she was probably keeping them in mind when she spoke so seriously.

They thought.

“No. It’s not that.”

But Hori shook her head, firmly denying it.

“Then what kind of….”

To their earnest question, Hori also replied with a serious expression.

“I’ve lost the….”

“Lost what?”

“I’ve lost the way.”

“Lost the way… what?”

Blink, blink.

The children’s eyes lost their light like dead fish. Their expressions were truly miserable.

As if she couldn’t bear to face the children, Hori kept her eyes downcast, avoiding their gaze.

Lost the way.

Was it a direct expression, or an indirect one?

Or perhaps it was a metaphorical expression imbued with the deep insight and enlightenment of an immortal.

Thus, they had no choice but to ask again.

“What do you mean…?”

Cheonseon asked, but Cheongyeon answered.

“She must mean she’s lost the path of the Dao [the fundamental nature of the universe]. She’s saying that she’s found a new enlightenment upon reaching the Interstice of Existence and is finding her way again, right?”

Cheongyeon wanted to deny the current situation in a roundabout way.

But reality was harsh.

“Is that even the same thing, you idiot.”

Cheongyeon’s face turned pale at Sacheon’s blunt reply.

“N-No way….”

Faced with the harshness of reality, Hori also gave up and accelerated.

“This lady does not lie!”

At her words, this time Cheonseon flared up and retorted.

“You are lying!! How can you confidently bring us here and then say you’ve lost the way?!”

“That’s why I told you. We’ve lost the way, but that’s just one of the many heavens, so we just need to find a new way.”

Such sophistry.

Wasn’t all the nonsense she spouted earlier just a stepping stone for this?

Should they call it meticulous, or petty?

“You mean that might not be the way to the Upper Heaven?”

“You got it right. Hahaha!”

“Are you laughing right now?”

“I can’t cry, can I?”

“Haa….”

Clutching her throbbing forehead, Cheonseon muttered quietly.

“This is why Mother told me not to hang out with Little Aunt….”

“Tsk! You don’t need to listen to what that Choa says!”

“No! Those were words I should have listened to! Losing the way in the Interstice of Existence, how can that even….”

“No! It’s exactly as I said. Even Prime Immortal Taesa can lose the way in the Interstice of Existence. That’s why so many Prime Immortals throughout history haven’t recklessly entered the Interstice of Existence.”

“Why are you saying that so proudly.”

“So it’s not my fault. It’s beyond my capabilities, so there’s nothing I can do!”

Sacheon took out her Twin Destructions [likely a pair of powerful weapons].

Cheongyeon stopped her.

“Let go.”

“W-What are you going to do!”

“I’m going to tear her to pieces and kill her.”

“Still, she’s Prime Immortal Taesa and your Little Aunt, you can’t do that!”

Cheongyeon desperately tried to stop her, but Cheonseon just watched.

“Why bother stopping her? It’s not like anything will change even if she attacks.”

“Ah, that’s true.”

Sacheon’s realm was Minor Immortal [a lower-ranking celestial being].

And Hori’s realm was Prime Immortal, said to touch the heavens.

No matter how great a treasure the Twin Destructions were, it was the Minor Immortal who was in danger, not the Prime Immortal.

Cheongyeon immediately released Sacheon, and she shot out like an arrow, thrusting her spear.

However.

Tsk.

“Little one. This is the gap between the heavens you and I are standing on.”

“…Tch.”

Sacheon clicked her tongue and sheathed her Twin Destructions.

It was frustrating, but there was nothing she could do.

She hadn’t done anything.

It was just that her aura, which flowed out unconsciously, had stopped the Twin Destructions.

No, that wasn’t it.

‘I couldn’t break through it.’

She hadn’t been able to break through her aura.

After all, no matter how much a Minor Immortal struggled, how could she possibly wound a Prime Immortal?

Even though she looked so hopeless on the outside, she was still a Prime Immortal.

Prime Immortal Taesa, whom all the cultivators of the Upper Realm looked up to.

“But don’t worry too much. I have my own way.”

“As expected! I believed in you!”

“Really? What is it?”

“It’s probably more nonsense.”

Amid everyone’s expectations, Hori took out a strange box from her bosom.

“What is this?”

“It’s the Myocheong Stone Plate.”

Saying that, she gave a strange smile and handed it to Cheonseon.

“Open it. Then it will show you the way you desire.”

* * *

At the same time.

Saha, the head of the Sa Clan, which governed the Book of Documents, was filled with an inexplicable anxiety and felt uneasy.

“Hmm….”

So, she strolled around the pond in a corner of her favorite pavilion.

How many hours had she walked and walked aimlessly?

Suddenly, the sound of approaching footsteps stopped her.

“Who is it?”

The red sunset cast long shadows.

What descended on the darkening ground was even darker.

Saha’s eyes narrowed.

The footsteps that steadily approached sounded strangely familiar, and the relaxed demeanor reminded her of someone.

“You….”

But that someone was someone who shouldn’t be here.

Saha asked with a bewildered look, wondering how she was here, how she could be here.

“Why are you here…?”

As she asked with a puzzled expression, she replied.

“Can’t I be here?”

She answered curtly.

Saha shook her head.

“That’s not what I mean. Don’t you know?”

“What do I know? I’m just breaking the sealing formation that the Great Tiger bastard made for the Heavenly Calamity Substitute and coming out of seclusion.”

“…Pardon?”

“What… is it? Why are you reacting like that?”

Saha’s pupils trembled violently like a leaf floating on the water.

“T-Then how long has it been since you came out of seclusion…?”

“Hmm… let me see. About one or two thousand years?”

Saha’s complexion turned pale.

She hurriedly took out a letter she had received earlier from her bosom.

“This, didn’t you send this?”

“What’s this?”

Swish.

As she unfolded and read it, she frowned.

“I didn’t send it?”

Saha’s eyes widened like lanterns.

It was an unbelievable statement.

If she hadn’t sent it, then who had sent this letter?

‘According to the report sent by the Madam, I heard that her appearance was confirmed in the Heavenly Palace….’

Then who was the one here now?

What could she say about the woman with hair as black as night, wearing a fox’s ears and tail, with a face that seemed both sulky and dazed?

“It seems like something big has happened.”

Hori, who had been reading the letter, also nodded, sensing the seriousness of the situation.

“No matter how immature I may be, I wouldn’t be crazy enough to take children to the Interstice of Existence! Who is this bastard, daring to impersonate this lady!”

Her title was Gwangmyeol.

The Prime Immortal Taesa who used Hori as her name.

Gwangmyeol Hosa Hori.

The fact that she was here meant.

“The one who took the children….”

Was something disguised as Hori.

She had been in seclusion for one or two thousand years.

That meant that while she was gone, they had been secretly infiltrating their borders.

“Such a subtle disguise that even the other Prime Immortal Taesas couldn’t notice.”

It was definitely no ordinary being.

Moreover, since they had forced their way to the Interstice of Existence, they must have had sinister intentions.

Whatever it was.

“The children are in danger.”

* * *

The Myocheong Stone Plate.

It was a unique but unremarkable box made of smooth stone.

But Cheonseon, who held it in her hand, couldn’t help but feel a strange sense of déjà vu.

‘This feeling…. I feel like I’ve felt it somewhere before, but what was it?’

But she couldn’t quite remember.

“What are you doing, open it quickly. You said we can find the way if we do.”

“Don’t rush me. I’m opening it now.”

Click.

Squeak.

Soon, the Myocheong Stone Plate opened.

Moist smoke rose from inside the box and swallowed them all whole.

Whirr.

Thud.

The Myocheong Stone Plate, which had swallowed the three children, was silent again as if nothing had happened, and only then did the woman with a smile on her lips hold it in her arms.