Chapter 302 : A New Heaven (4)
Chapter 302: A New Heaven (4)
“So that’s what you were trying to ask before. I’ve never heard of it before, but Grandfather, do you perhaps know?”
Originally, his first objective had been Gwansudo located within the territory of the Five Elements Cult, so he had never brought it up to Yong Seo-hee.
After learning that Gwansudo had disappeared, he couldn’t immediately head toward the territory of the Divine Dragon Family, so he hadn’t asked about it then either.
If he learned the location too soon, he felt like he would rush over there immediately, so he planned to search for it only after settling everything. And now, Jang Woo-hyun had finished settling everything.
“If you mean the Serpent that Devours Dragons, you must be referring to the Serpent-Shaped Archipelago.”
The Serpent-Shaped Archipelago consisted of small floating islands connected in a long chain, so when viewed from the sky, it resembled a serpent.
“There used to be a branch family on the floating island that looked like the serpent’s head. That’s why some people called the Serpent-Shaped Archipelago the Serpent that Devours Dragons. The branch family there disappeared three hundred years ago, so Seo-hee wouldn’t know about it, but any clan member with some age would know. Why are you searching for that place?”
Jang Woo-hyun’s expression hardened at the mention that the branch family had disappeared. If it had been destroyed like Gwansudo found within the Five Elements Cult’s territory, then he might fail to meet Kim Min-soo’s clone this time as well.
“Has the Serpent-Shaped Archipelago disappeared by any chance?”
“The Serpent-Shaped Archipelago is still there. I misspoke. The branch family didn’t disappear, they merely relocated. Though it’s called an archipelago, most of the floating islands are so small that it’s inconvenient for people to live there. Birds only stop there briefly to rest, and there are hardly any beasts either. Is it an important place for you?”
“There should be something left there by someone from my hometown.”
“Haha, if it’s someone from your hometown, they must be an ascended being. They came quite far.”
While the two conversed, Jin Ha-un and Cho-su, who had been listening from the side, showed interest.
“Hyung-nim, is this perhaps that thing you were searching for before?”
“If it’s that strange writing-like thing from last time, we’ll go search for it. You handle your own business.”
The two had previously searched for Kim Min-soo’s traces together before, so they roughly understood what Jang Woo-hyun meant.
“Cho-su-nim?”
“Yeah. Aren’t you supposed to go to that Shrine of Hundred Eyes or whatever? Instead of wasting time, we can split up and search separately. I’ll take the others and head to the place called the Serpent-Shaped Archipelago first. If something was hidden there like last time, then only you’ll be able to use it anyway. And someone else might’ve taken interest in it like they did with Gwansudo. If we can find it, we’ll find it. If not, we can at least guard it.”
Cho-su’s words made sense. Although they had destroyed the Ascension Cult, remnants might still remain, just like those who had aided the Pangu Eternal Life Sect. They could interfere, so it would be better to quickly find Kim Min-soo’s traces or secure the location first.
‘It might be better to go to the Shrine of Hundred Eyes first.’
Kim Min-soo’s traces were the most important, but new information was also necessary. If he combined the information he knew with the information Kim Min-soo possessed, he might uncover something new.
Jang Woo-hyun decided to first investigate the closed world that Yong Cheon-myeong had mentioned.
“Then let’s split up. I’ll go to the Shrine of Hundred Eyes. Cho-su-nim, please search the Serpent-Shaped Archipelago. There should be a place called the Serpent that Devours Dragons, and at the serpent’s tail there will likely be objects similar to the box I showed you last time hidden there. Not just one, but several.”
“That box from before? This sounds fun.”
After hearing the objective, Cho-su grinned.
A small box-shaped artifact hidden under recognition suppression and without even a sense of weight. It wasn’t something easily found, which awakened his competitive spirit.
“Let’s see just how well they hid it.”
Artifacts were Cho-su’s specialty, so he intended to properly search for the objects Kim Min-soo had hidden away.
“Since Seo-hee’s there, I’m taking Ha-un too.”
The Demon-Extinguishing Brigade’s next course of action was decided.
Seo Ryeom, who had been dragged into Thunder Fortress earlier, had somehow come back out and was listening carefully to the conversation between Jang Woo-hyun and Cho-su. He slowly approached.
“Oh! So this time it’s a treasure hunt? Wow, there’s really no time to rest. No time at all. Brother Cho, let’s hurry and go!”
Now that they had a destination, Seo Ryeom bounced excitedly in place, and the other members of the Demon-Extinguishing Brigade behind him also lit up with excitement.
They weren’t heading out to fight immediately, but they looked eager to see what kind of trouble would happen next.
“Hmm…….”
Seeing the excited atmosphere of the Demon-Extinguishing Brigade, Cho-su momentarily regretted his decision. He became worried whether he could actually control these lunatics.
---
After arriving at the main house of the Divine Dragon Family, matters were settled more quickly than expected.
Before Jang Woo-hyun, the Five Elements Cult led by Im Gwan-hwa, or the Beast King Sect led by Dan Hong even needed to step in, Yong Un personally moved and mercilessly punished the remaining forces of the Divine Dragon Family.
He had no choice. If he borrowed more strength from outside sects here, he would have to concede far more later, so he needed to eliminate the opposing forces as quickly as possible.
Of the three Divine Dragon Eight Swords who had gone to war, two had died, while Yong Mun-geuk, who had faced Jang Woo-hyun, was missing.
Yong Wi-gun, the family head, was so severely injured that it wouldn’t have been surprising if he died at any moment, while the remaining elder and one surviving member of the Divine Dragon Eight Swords had completely lost the will to fight, so seizing the main house without a central leader was not difficult.
After taking control of the main house, the first thing Yong Un did was free those imprisoned in the prison.
“Is…… is that really true?”
Those imprisoned could not believe the news of Yong Cheon-myeong’s death.
Even though he had walked the wrong path, Yong Cheon-myeong had been the symbol of the family and its greatest elder. He had also been its strongest master.
Yet for such a Yong Cheon-myeong to die not to another one of the Six Great Heavens, but to a rising martial artist, was unbelievable.
Although they had left the prison, everyone remained frozen in panic.
Toward those who still hadn’t regained their senses, Yong Seo-hee, who had arrived at the prison late, ran forward.
“Uncle!”
Among those standing dazed after hearing of Yong Cheon-myeong’s death, several people’s expressions brightened.
As Yong Seo-hee approached, a square-jawed middle-aged man lifted her into his arms. It was Yong Mu-hwi, one of the Divine Dragon Eight Swords and Yong Seo-hee’s uncle.
“Seo-hee! My youngest!”
Yong Seo-hee’s eyes filled with tears, and Yong Mu-hwi’s vision also blurred. People gathered around them. They were Yong Seo-hee’s cousins and martial artists of the family.
After spinning around with Yong Seo-hee in his arms for quite a while, Yong Mu-hwi finally set her down.
“Let me see my precious girl.”
Yong Mu-hwi carefully looked her over.
She didn’t seem injured anywhere, and her complexion looked healthy. She was crying, but her expression itself wasn’t bad.
“Stop crying. You’ll look ugly.”
“She’s seriously the ugliest one in the whole family.”
“That’s not true!”
At the teasing from her older cousins, Yong Seo-hee laughed while crying. Normally she would’ve smacked their backs and told them to stop, but today, more than ever before, she was happy to hear their voices.
Yong Seo-hee sobbed while talking with her family.
The warm atmosphere gradually cooled the more Yong Seo-hee repeatedly mentioned “Oppa Woo-hyun.”
Yong Mu-hwi’s expression changed the most seriously of all. Since Yong Seo-hee, who was practically like his youngest daughter, kept talking about a man, Yong Cheon-myeong’s death had already become a secondary matter.
“I need to see that bastard personally.”
Whether he had defeated one of the Six Great Heavens or reached the Immortal Realm no longer mattered.
“Father, where is that guy?”
“He is the benefactor of the family. Watch your mouth.”
“No, but Seo-hee is…….”
When Yong Un glared at him, Yong Mu-hwi shut his mouth.
“Understood. Where is the Heavenly Scale Sword Hero?”
“He is outside with the others. He gave me time.”
With Jang Woo-hyun’s strength, he could easily massacre everyone within the family right now. Yet he had waited so that Yong Un could resolve the family’s problems personally.
Naturally, since Jang Woo-hyun wasn’t moving, the others could only wait as well. Though he didn’t realize it himself, both Right Protector Im Gwan-hwa of the Five Elements Cult and Elder Dan Hong of the Beast King Sect regarded Jang Woo-hyun as the leader of the alliance.
“He’s considerate, at least.”
Yong Mu-hwi lightly nodded and headed outside.
He appreciated the thoughtfulness, but that was one matter, and Yong Seo-hee was another.
Yong Mu-hwi led the way like a general marching toward the battlefield, with his three sons following behind him. Martial artists of the family who had always admired Yong Seo-hee supported them from the rear.
Yong Mu-hwi confidently left the prison and arrived at the vast training grounds where Jang Woo-hyun and the other martial artists were gathered.
“Hmmm.”
The first person to catch his eye was the woman standing at the very front of the Five Elements Cult martial artists.
Right Protector Im Gwan-hwa.
Even in the eyes of Yong Mu-hwi, who ranked among the upper tier of the Divine Dragon Eight Swords, she appeared to be an exceptional martial artist.
‘The Thousand-Handed Grim Reaper really does live long.’
The next person he noticed was Dan Hong, the small fox beastman standing at the front of the beastmen. Just as infamous as before, his strength remained intact.
As Yong Mu-hwi examined the experts of the Five Elements Cult and Beast King Sect, the two of them turned their gazes toward one direction. Only then did Yong Mu-hwi also turn toward the man he had been searching for.
A man standing apart from the others.
As though he had merely come to watch, he wandered around the training grounds.
His appearance wasn’t particularly eye-catching, nor did anything about him stand out.
But the moment their eyes met—
“Urgh!”
Yong Mu-hwi clenched his fist and rapidly retreated backward. Instinctively, he raised all of his energy.
“Father?”
“Lord Mu-hwi?”
His sons and subordinates called out to him, but he couldn’t hear their voices.
“Insane…….”
Only then did the excitement and agitation he had felt while worrying about Yong Seo-hee settle down, and his reason returned.
Dragon Emperor Heavenly Lord Yong Cheon-myeong was truly dead.
And the man before him was the one who had defeated him.
Heavenly Scale Sword Hero Jang Woo-hyun.
No, now even that alias would change.
The word “Heaven” would now be attached before Jang Woo-hyun’s name as well.
It was entirely different from when he had looked at Im Gwan-hwa and Dan Hong.
They too were masters and felt like exceptional experts.
But Jang Woo-hyun was different.
‘A heaven…….’
He stood in a place beyond reach.
Jang Woo-hyun was clearly another heaven.
Now, the Central Plains Murim would have to welcome a new heaven.
---
For the spatial transfer, the martial artists of the Five Elements Cult and Beast King Sect moved together. Since relations between the two sects were not bad and they moved comfortably together, the martial artists were loosely mixed together.
Even while savoring the victory of this war, everyone’s attention focused on only one thing.
“Great Hero Jang will ascend as a new heaven, right?”
“You’re asking the obvious.”
“Then what do you think his alias will become?”
A martial artist of the Five Elements Cult asked the wolf beastman beside him.
“Since he slew the Dragon Emperor, perhaps Dragon-Slaying Heavenly Lord? Something like that?”
“What kind of awful name is Dragon-Slaying Heavenly Lord, idiot?”
The bear beastman beside him scolded the wolf beastman for the lazy naming.
“Then what would Senior call him?”
“Dragon-Destroying Heavenly Lord sounds better than Dragon-Slaying.”
“Eh, that’s basically the same thing.”
“Then what about Heaven-Breaking Lord or Heaven-Shocking Lord?”
The Five Elements Cult martial artist who had been talking with the wolf beastman offered his own suggestion.
“Breaking heaven? Then wouldn’t he not be one of the Six Great Heavens?”
“He did break one, but that still sounds strange. He’s supposed to become one of the six heavens. Though he did shock the heavens too, that also sounds odd.”
“Then what should it be? He uses a sword, but there’s already someone sitting in the position of Sword Heavenly Lord.”
“Exactly. What will he be called?”
The surrounding martial artists also became interested and focused on the conversation.
“Great Hero Jang already has another alias, so why are you all worrying so much?”
A middle-aged martial artist of the Five Elements Cult who had been silently listening interrupted.
“Another alias? You mean Heavenly Scale Sword Hero? That one’s too weak.”
“Right, it’s too lacking for Great Hero Jang. Though the path he’s shown so far does suit the title of Sword Hero, it still feels too weak. He’s already a martial artist who reached the Immortal Realm.”
“Not that one. The one the Demon-Extinguishing Brigade was shouting.”
“The Demon-Extinguishing Brigade? What were they saying again? Senior, do you remember?”
“Well, I’m not sure either.”
As the wolf beastman and bear beastman tilted their heads, the martial artist of the Five Elements Cult finally spoke the new alias the Demon-Extinguishing Brigade had been shouting.
“Unrivaled Divine Sword.”
“Ah!”
“Oh, right.”
The moment they heard the alias, everyone nearby nodded intensely.
The Invincible Divine Sword.
There didn’t seem to be any alias more fitting for Jang Woo-hyun than that.
“Divine Sword…… that definitely does suit him.”
The title Divine Sword suited Jang Woo-hyun more than the word Heavenly Lord.
“Then would it become the Five Heavens and the Divine Sword?”
“Eh, can things really be decided however we want? Still, it does sound pretty fitting.”
The Six Great Heavens were legends of the Central Plains Murim. They were beings one might never see even after living an entire lifetime, yet the martial artists of the Five Elements Cult and Beast King Sect had fought alongside Jang Woo-hyun.
Jang Woo-hyun might not have been the strongest among all of them, but to them, he appeared higher and greater than anyone else. After all, he was the only one they had personally witnessed.
At some point, among the martial artists of the Five Elements Cult and Beast King Sect who had fought alongside him, people began saying that the absolute existence of the Central Plains Murim was no longer the Six Great Heavens, but rather the Divine Sword and Five Heavens or the One God and Five Heavens.
And some even claimed that above the five heavens stood a single god.
Thus, Jang Woo-hyun’s alias gradually spread farther and farther.