Call Of The Spear [EN]: Chapter 588

Special Side Story 14

“How are you feeling?”

[Just as you see. This much is nothing a little spit can’t fix.]

Gu Yeong, lying prone in his true form, was clearly not in good condition. Any other being would be waiting for death with such wounds, but he was born from chaos, so he could survive.

Most of his nine heads were severed, but after a few years of sleep, they would grow back like a lizard’s tail.

Such things might happen to beings of the Lower Heavens, but this was the Great Beyond [a higher plane of existence in this context].

Such a bizarre state would be impossible for anyone but Gu Yeong.

‘Well, the fact that he has nine heads in the first place is a miracle.’

Fortunately, it seemed he would recover from his injuries soon, so all they had to do was wait.

[I’m sorry. Did I delay things too much because of me?]

“Not at all. We can’t go to the Great Jade Palace [the Celestial Emperor’s residence] where the Celestial Emperor resides without any preparation. Both you and I need time.”

[Even so, the fact that I’ve become a burden doesn’t change. If only we could go to the Netherworld, we wouldn’t have to waste time like this….]

“Netherworld? Is there a way to do something if we go to the Netherworld?”

[Ahem… When I went to the Netherworld Heaven a long time ago, I entrusted a spirit pearl I obtained there to one of the Ten Great Underworld Kings. If I could just retrieve that, I could regain my original power, and my injuries would heal quickly….]

Gu Yeong subtly glanced at Cheonbeom, constantly watching his reaction.

“There was such a pearl?”

[It’s quite precious, so you can’t get it in the Great Beyond, let alone other Outer Heavens. Actually….]

Gu Yeong slightly lifted his head, looking around, and then moved his lips, conveying it to him through telepathy.

-I hid my head in that spirit pearl.

“!”

A head!

Cheonbeom quickly cast a barrier.

“So, you originally had ten heads?”

[That’s right. Even if my true body is completely destroyed, if only that one head remains, I can be reborn anew.]

“You’re truly immortal. Did you have nine heads when you rampaged in the Great Beyond Battlefield before?”

[Of course. If my heads were intact from the start, I wouldn’t have been defeated so easily. The Celestial Emperor wouldn’t have been able to banish me so easily either!]

So that was the reason.

Cheonbeom was newly amazed and once again realized the mystery of Gu Yeong.

“Then we just need to go to the Netherworld Heaven right away.”

[That’s….]

Judging by his reaction, it didn’t seem like a place they could easily approach.

Currently, they were in Gyuncheon, the center of the Great Beyond.

It was located in Seohwangnyeong, slightly to the west of there.

[Do you know that the place where we destroyed the Heavenly Codex was Bukgongcheon?]

“It was the highest sky in the Great Beyond. Then, is the Netherworld Heaven perhaps the lowest?”

[You’re smart, so it’s easy to talk to you. As such, of course, going there isn’t easy either.]

Netherworld Heaven (冥途天).

As a word that can be easily heard even in the Lower Heavens.

It is easier to see the dead than the living there.

But the Netherworld is also its own Netherworld.

The Netherworld in the Great Beyond is not such a place where ordinary spirits go.

[Even if you arrive, the stagnant Heavenly Energy there is turbid and decaying, so ordinary True Immortals will have their soul, body, and spirit separated with just one breath of the turbid energy.]

You would know the end of a True Immortal whose three components are separated without me having to tell you.

[The turbid energy of the Netherworld has many things that possess their own will. There are many bizarre things, but it is so dangerous that it is difficult to approach without the Underworld Kings and the True Immortals there who have been accustomed to the turbid energy of the Netherworld Heaven for a long time.]

“Even if I go?”

[That’s….]

“Enough, just tell me who you entrusted your head to.”

Gu Yeong hesitated, rolling his eyes, then tightly closed his eyes and answered.

[It’s Fudō Myō-ō, one of the Ten Great Underworld Kings.]

* * *

Crunch.

Sanghee, who was happily watching Cheonbeom chew and swallow a Golden Sky Peach after a long time, handed Cheonbeom another Golden Sky Peach.

“Is it delicious?”

“Yes. Haven’t you ever eaten one, Hee?”

“No. I’ve seen what happens when I consume Golden Sky Peaches too many times… I don’t really feel like eating them. And it’s better to watch Seon eat them than for me to eat them.”

Cheonbeom chuckled at Sanghee’s smiling face.

“But you said you were going to the Netherworld Heaven.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Cheonbeom, who had come to see Sanghee, who manages the Golden Sky Peach Tree inside Tamhwa’s belly located in Seohwangnyeong, looked around and nodded.

Tamhwa, who had swallowed Seohwangmo, had been quite quiet, so he wondered if anything was wrong, but that wasn’t the case.

She kept saying she was sleepy because she felt full, so it seemed she was gradually devouring Seohwangmo’s energy.

“I remember hearing that the Netherworld Heaven is quite a scary place. If you ask Seohwangmo….”

It was then.

Suddenly, Seohwangmo’s flames soared from Sanghee’s body, and her expression changed.

“You need my help.”

Her tone and atmosphere changed.

It was Seohwangmo.

“I have to go to the Netherworld Heaven. I have something to receive from Fudō Myō-ō, one of the Ten Great Underworld Kings there.”

“You’re going to a pretty interesting place. The turbid energy of the Netherworld is a place even the divine beasts of Seohwangnyeong avoid.”

“But I have to go.”

“Then you’ll need to find a guide.”

“A guide?”

“The Netherworld Heaven is an easy place to get lost. The turbid energy of the Netherworld has its own will, so even the Underworld Kings find them quite troublesome. So, if you don’t want to get lost in such a place, you must have a guide.”

“Where can I find a guide?”

“…Go to Donghwangnyeong. They will provide you with an easy path.”

Whoosh.

The blue flames subsided, and Sanghee’s eyes returned.

“Um? Why are you staring at me like that?”

She wondered if something was on her face and touched her face.

Did she not know that Seohwangmo had possessed her?

Cheonbeom felt strangely sad about Sanghee’s existence.

And he could roughly understand how much she cherished Sanghee.

“It’s nothing. I’ll have to go to Donghwangnyeong.”

“Why are you going there?”

“I need to find a guide. They say the Netherworld Heaven requires a guide.”

“Ah! Then I’ll go with you! I really wanted to see Donghwangnyeong once!”

“Let’s do that.”

* * *

Jeongpogyeol (井浦訣) [Name of a location].

The Manyueoldang (萬月堂) [Ten Thousand Moon Hall – a business/organization] located there has been completely transformed by its aggressive business acumen and drive since its owner changed.

“Lord. This….”

“Yes.”

Cheonchoa’s pupils sparkled as she looked at the letter sent by the servant.

“They’re looking for a guide in Donghwangnyeong. It seems quite urgent. To think that we would receive such urgent news.”

A guide to lead the way in the Netherworld Heaven.

“Do we have anyone among our True Immortals who can serve as a guide?”

“We wouldn’t. Moreover, being a guide in the Netherworld Heaven is likely to lead to death, so who would want to do it? That’s why Donghwangnyeong sent us such urgent news.”

Even if you learn the relevant laws and act as a guide, the Netherworld Heaven is too dangerous.

You barely became a True Immortal of the Great Beyond.

What good would it do if you were corrupted by a momentary mistake and became a Turbid Energy Body (濁氣替) [a corrupted being] of the Netherworld?

“Still, the reward is tempting. They’re offering the Heavenly Nest, the egg of Baekhan (白鷳) [a white pheasant], which is said to foretell the future, and a drop of blood from the Dragon King of the Four Seas Heaven (四海天) [another realm].”

“Donghwangnyeong seems quite desperate. To offer such great treasures as rewards! I’ve never seen anything like this in my tens of thousands of years….”

What on earth happened that they offered such conditions to a guide in the Netherworld Heaven?

It also seems quite urgent.

“Yes. It’s not like someone grabbed them by the collar and shook them to hand over a guide… Anyway, it’s a very good condition.”

“If only we could find a guide, that is.”

But where on earth can we find a guide to go to the Netherworld Heaven?

“Chwihwan, how about you?”

“I’d like to decline. It’s not that I can’t be a guide in the Netherworld Heaven, but I don’t particularly want to. I don’t want to waste the life that Lord barely saved.”

“I can’t help it. Then, what about the matter regarding Geumcheonjin-gun?”

Chwihwan swallowed her regret and answered Choa’s question.

“It’s the same. Other than the information that Geumcheonjin-gun is staying out of contact in Seohwangnyeong, there’s nothing else.”

No matter how much Manyueoldang buys and sells information, it is difficult to easily obtain information from a place like Seohwangnyeong.

They are pouring a huge amount of money into buying information, but it is quite burdensome at the level of Manyueoldang, and even then, there was no one to provide proper information.

“I see. Contact with Seohwangnyeong is….”

“There’s no response. They wouldn’t respond to a letter from Manyueoldang in such a great place. From the beginning, after the name of Geumcheonjin-gun spread widely in the Great Beyond, there have been countless letters wanting to meet him in Seohwangnyeong. It seems that the reply that Lord wants will not come….”

“Is that so? Hooo-.”

A small sigh.

Chwihwan clenched her fist without realizing it at her deep sigh.

She was originally one of the Myoseon who was exploited by Gagwol in Manyueoldang.

But she was a True Immortal who received great grace after Gagwol died and Choa became the new Lord, so she wanted to be her strength.

She didn’t know why she wanted to meet Geumcheonjin-gun, but Chwihwan soon realized that it was one of affection.

It’s been over three hundred years since she was with Lord Cheon, so she couldn’t not know.

The expression she showed whenever she talked about Geumcheonjin-gun was so obvious that even a baby would know.

“Still, I’ll try to find out just in case.”

“Yes, please do.”

Chwihwan, who left the Lord’s office, returned to her seat and worked.

One month later.

She held a letter from Donghwangnyeong in her hand.

They still hadn’t found a guide, and there was an even greater reward than before. But even so, who would volunteer to be a guide?

“The immortals of the Great Beyond don’t have life-threatening situations, and they can live peacefully if they want to, so it’s natural that no one would volunteer.”

“Chwihwan-nim. Here, breaking news.”

“Hmm.”

Chwihwan’s pupils dilated as she read the letter.

A brief description of the situation in Donghwangnyeong was written, and it couldn’t help but be quite interesting.

“A strangely dressed man who roams around Donghwangnyeong like his own home has appeared.”

His hair was black.

The man’s appearance was young, and his eyes had a subtle golden glow.

Just listening to his appearance, he looked exactly like that man who was spreading the aura of hegemony in the Great Beyond.

“Strange.”

Not only that. Donghwangnyeong suddenly issued a statement that they would select True Immortals to watch over the guards and others to serve in other positions.

The number was also quite large.

“To recruit as many as a hundred True Immortals at once. What on earth is going on….”

Did they fight a big battle?

The only reason to newly recruit True Immortals, who have no limit to their lifespan, is if they all die out.

So it’s really strange.

Such things have been happening one after another in Donghwangnyeong, which had been quiet for tens of thousands of years.

“A man who suddenly appeared.”

And the guide of the Netherworld Heaven.

The recruitment of personnel from Donghwangnyeong.

All of this seemed to have a strange connection.

“Could it be….”

Chwihwan’s Adam’s apple moved up and down.

The thought that the person who appeared in Donghwangnyeong might be him was stuck in her head.

Declaring that he would kill the Three Pure Ones, killing all the Calamity Immortals of the Heavenly Codex to eliminate the Heavenly Calamity, and slaughtering even the Imperial Jade Immortals, who were no different from the Celestial Emperor’s bodyguards.

A Great Beyond Immortal who is also called a Rebel Immortal (悖仙) [a rebellious immortal] in the world.

Geumcheonjin-gun.