Chapter 304 : Shrine of Hundred Eyes (2)
Chapter 304: Shrine of Hundred Eyes (2)
“The difference between ascension and soaring ascension?”
“May I ask why you’re asking that?”
“You ask the same thing as that child Yong Cheon-myeong.”
“I do not understand why you would think such things. Perhaps it was because of that peculiar way of thinking that the child guided you here.”
They were things Yong Cheon-myeong had already asked as well. Jang Woo-hyun gained little from it.
Hundred Eyes did not seem to care about the difference between ascension and soaring ascension at all. In fact, she appeared entirely uninterested.
“Do you know why the world does not progress?”
When he asked about the flow of time, every one of Hundred Eyes’ eyes wrinkled. It was the expression of someone hearing absolute nonsense.
“I do not understand what you are saying. The world does not progress? Do you believe the flow of time itself has stopped?”
‘She can’t perceive it at all.’
Even after tens of thousands of years, the time of the Lower Realms was no different from being frozen, yet this went beyond simple disinterest. She outright rejected the idea.
Something immense was definitely twisting people’s awareness and thoughts themselves.
‘These two topics are impossible to discuss.’
Since the subjects were important yet impossible to discuss, he decided to set them aside. If he asked any further, it felt like she might become angry.
Instead, he decided to ask about things Hundred Eyes could answer.
“Are there cases where someone from a closed world crosses over to this place?”
“You mean an actual person crossing over rather than merely a soul?”
“Yes.”
“Because it is an incomplete world, there are extremely rare occasions when someone crosses over. They would fail to properly adapt to the changed world and die quickly, but perhaps once every hundred thousand years, one person might cross over.”
“Uh…….”
It was an answer Jang Woo-hyun had never expected. If it was once every hundred thousand years, then it made no sense for both him and Kim Min-soo to exist together.
“Why do you react so?”
“Uh…… well…… I mean. Just among the people I know, there are already two.”
“Two? Then there must be at least ten or twenty thousand years separating them. That level of discrepancy—”
“No, there’s only a difference of a few hundred years.”
“…….”
Hundred Eyes fell silent. She closed three of her eyes and thought deeply about something.
“I do not know. Even I cannot be certain. But it may not be impossible. After all, beings crossing over from a closed world are beyond my ability to judge. If coincidence upon coincidence were to overlap in extremely rare circumstances, perhaps such a thing could happen. Though only at an incredibly slim probability.”
“Is that so? Then that’s a relie—”
Jang Woo-hyun suddenly trembled violently as a thought struck him.
Come to think of it, it wasn’t just him and Kim Min-soo.
In the scenes shown by the Three Thousand Silver Treasure Heavenly Venerable, countless people had clearly died.
At minimum hundreds, perhaps even thousands. And they possessed talents similar to his and Kim Min-soo’s.
“Lady Hundred Eyes, not just two people, but dozens—”
“Impossible. One or two crossing over because of some discrepancy could occur. But dozens crossing over from a closed world? That is impossible. I can state that with certainty. Such a thing absolutely cannot happen.”
“…….”
Though Hundred Eyes did not know everything, there were things she could say with certainty. And Jang Woo-hyun agreed with her thoughts.
Even crossing from the Lower Realms into the Middle Heavenly World was difficult, so crossing from a completely independent dimension would surely be hundreds of times harder.
‘Then what was it?’
Had it simply been an illusion shown by the True Immortal?
Or was there another world or truth Jang Woo-hyun still did not know?
‘It wasn’t an illusion.’
At that time, the True Immortal had conveyed the will: “Only two remain now.” If it had been a mere illusion, there was no reason to say such a thing. That bastard had definitely killed countless people.
The more he talked, the more complicated his thoughts became.
‘No, let’s not think too deeply about it.’
Trying to uncover everything at once was greed.
Simply discovering the relationship between Earth and this world was already a tremendous gain. On top of that, there was still much more to learn from Hundred Eyes. He only needed to obtain as much useful information as possible here.
“For some reason, I do not like your expression.”
“Huh? Ah, it’s nothing. Hardly anyone knows about closed worlds, right?”
“Even the child known as Dragon Emperor Heavenly Lord did not know before hearing it from me.”
If even Yong Cheon-myeong, one of the absolute rulers of the Central Plains Murim, did not know, then it was correct to assume almost nobody did.
“What I know of closed worlds is knowledge of the Upper Realm I glimpsed while alive. Even those called the Six Great Heavens likely do not know.”
“Is there no chance they learned through another method?”
Hundred Eyes shook her head.
“Even if they once learned of it, there is a high chance they no longer remember. I can speak of closed worlds only because I ‘stored’ my memories. Had I still been alive, I would have forgotten as well.”
“……Is that because of some existence from the Upper Realm or some kind of force?”
Jang Woo-hyun’s expression stiffened again as it seemed another incomprehensible force was at work.
“I do not know the exact reason either. Perhaps it is because such information is not yet meant to be known within the Middle Heavenly World.”
“Then how do I know about it?”
At the question, Hundred Eyes looked at Jang Woo-hyun as though wondering what kind of fool he was.
“Are you not a human from a closed world?”
“Ah…….”
“And until just now, you did not know the term ‘closed world,’ did you? You merely knew you had come from another world. Even if you spoke to others, you likely only said you came from another place rather than from a normal Lower Realm.”
“…….”
There was not a single incorrect word in what she said, so Jang Woo-hyun could not answer. He had learned too much at once, and his mind was not functioning properly.
To clear his head, Jang Woo-hyun slapped his cheeks several times with both hands. Then he quickly organized his thoughts.
“Lady Hundred Eyes, can I speak the name of a True Immortal here?”
“You may. This place is no different from my world. Their gaze and power cannot reach here.”
“Do you know the Three Thousand Silver Treasure Heavenly Venerable?”
“The Three Thousand Silver Treasure Heavenly Venerable. Another name for Silver Light Thousand Hands.”
When Hundred Eyes waved her hand, the stone eyes Jang Woo-hyun had seen earlier filled the blue-lit space.
With another gesture, one of them flew nearby and lifted its eyelid.
Light gathered inside the eye, and the form of a completely silver giant appeared. The giant possessed too many arms to count.
“Silver Light Thousand Hands. A True Immortal with a silver giant body. The gauntlet of the Immortal Emperor and the vanguard of the Palace of Ten Thousand Immortals. Do you know the term Immortal Emperor?”
“I’ve heard of it before. But this is my first time hearing of the Palace of Ten Thousand Immortals.”
Existences standing at the highest level even among the True Immortals.
Those called Immortal Emperors or Heavenly Emperors were effectively the kings of the True Immortals.
He had already heard roughly about them from Gwan Wi back in the Gigantic Kingdom.
“Silver Light Thousand Hands calls himself the Immortal Emperor’s gauntlet. That is why he is called the gauntlet of the Immortal Emperor. The Palace of Ten Thousand Immortals is the place where the True Immortals gather. Even though they possess power close to gods, there are enemies in the Upper Realm as well, so at times they must combine their strength.”
Information he had never heard before poured forth effortlessly.
“Silver Light Thousand Hands is one of the True Immortals whose traces remain. Since you came this far, you must already know, yes? The current state of the Upper Realm.”
“I heard the traces of the True Immortals and Martial Gods disappeared.”
“Even I do not know the exact circumstances. Things were very different when I was alive. After hearing Cheon-myeong’s stories, I tried to investigate as much as possible, but in my current state there is much I cannot know as before.”
Since Hundred Eyes was already dead, she could not properly utilize her original power.
“Some kind of problem occurred in the Upper Realm, and the traces of many True Immortals and Martial Gods vanished.”
“But Silver Light Thousand Hands is perfectly fine?”
“That is correct. There are still many cultivators who worship him. And the vanguard of the Palace of Ten Thousand Immortals neither hides nor retreats. He does not conceal his traces either. It is his nature to boldly stand at the forefront and face enemies directly.”
“…….”
Jang Woo-hyun swallowed the words “That’s not true” internally. The Silver Light Thousand Hands described by Hundred Eyes differed from the one he knew.
That bastard had been petty and skilled at scheming. That was the Three Thousand Silver Treasure Heavenly Venerable Jang Woo-hyun had seen.
But from Hundred Eyes’ description, he sounded hot-blooded and straightforward. Naturally, Jang Woo-hyun did not agree.
Afterward, Jang Woo-hyun asked several more questions before eventually asking about the next realm.
“Beyond Immortality lies Primordial Origin.”
Primordial Origin.
A term referring to heaven, earth, and the universe.
Beyond the miniature universe that could be created at the Immortal Realm, the next realm used a word that meant the universe itself.
Not a miniature universe, but the true universe. In some ways, perhaps it was the most fitting term possible.
“Primordial Origin is the beginning of a Martial God. I apologize, but beyond that, even I know nothing.”
“That alone is already enough.”
Jang Woo-hyun repeated the words “Primordial Origin” to himself for quite some time.
‘Is it related to the miniature universe? Or is it literally the universe itself?’
He sank into thought briefly, but nothing significant came to mind. No realization emerged either.
“Are you finished now?”
At Hundred Eyes’ words, Jang Woo-hyun snapped out of his thoughts. He set aside contemplation of the next realm and prepared to ask his final question.
“No. There’s one final thing I want to ask.”
“Speak.”
“Do you know of an existence called the True Martial God?”
The martial artist who had rampaged through the Cultivation World.
He asked whether there were any records remaining of him, the being whose traces had vanished for unknown reasons.
“The True Martial God?”
Hundred Eyes blinked as she searched through her memories.
A moment later—
The face of Hundred Eyes, which had only lightly wrinkled until now, twisted violently.
“How dare they……!”
Hundred Eyes widened her eyes and frantically looked around. Each time she moved, the stone eyes floating through the air darted rapidly as well.
After turning her head around for quite some time, Hundred Eyes finally spoke. Panic colored her voice.
“Someone tampered with my memories.”
“What?”
“They erased the parts concerning the True Martial God.”
She had divided and hidden her memories in preparation for situations like this, yet unbelievably, only the information regarding the True Martial God had been erased. If Jang Woo-hyun had not asked, she might never have realized it had been removed.
“Who is this person?”
Jang Woo-hyun explained everything he knew by chance about the True Martial God. That he hated the Cultivation World and was a martial artist strong enough to slaughter dozens of Great Ascension cultivators.
“A martial artist whose strength rivaled the existences of the Upper Realm, and yet all records vanished. This was done by those above. Only beings of that level could tamper with my memories.”
It was not difficult for Jang Woo-hyun to realize that “above” referred to the Upper Realm.
“I do not know who did this, but they are meticulous and patient. Someone who prepared for this over a very long time.”
Hundred Eyes had set up numerous safeguards to preserve her memories. Even a True Immortal would not have been able to erase them without sending down proper power.
Yet the culprit had slowly seeped in without her noticing, erasing only a tiny fragment before disappearing. They had likely spent at least several hundred years, perhaps even a thousand.
“I do not know who is doing this, but there is still one way to investigate the True Martial God. You know the people of the Gigantic Kingdom, yes?”
“Yes. One of my companions is from there.”
Even Hundred Eyes found it unexpected that he traveled alongside someone from the Gigantic Kingdom, causing her reaction to pause briefly.
“……I see. Then this will be easier to explain. If you go to the Gigantic Kingdom, there is a place beneath their royal palace where records are stored. If you go there—”
“I already went there.”
“What?”
“That’s where I first learned of the True Martial God. There were only extremely brief records there as well.”
“…….”
Realizing her solution had become useless, Hundred Eyes blinked in brief confusion before searching for another method.
After some time passed—
Hundred Eyes found another possibility.
“If you go to the Great Human Kingdom, there may be records there. Among the giants of the Great Human Kingdom are people called Record Keepers who pass down their memories and experiences to their descendants.”
Unlike the records of Hundred Eyes or the Gigantic Kingdom, the records of the Great Human Kingdom were directly tied to living people rather than the dead. If someone had tried to erase them, they would have immediately noticed and resisted.
“The Record Keepers mainly preserve records related to the Great Human Kingdom, but if the True Martial God was truly that extraordinary, he surely affected the entirety of the Middle Heavenly World. Even if there is not much information, there should still be proper records. So if you wish to learn about the True Martial God, go visit the Great Human Kingdom someday.”
“I’ll definitely go someday.”
“Then are you finally finished?”
“Yes. Many of my questions have been answered. Thank you.”
“Then before you leave, may I ask one thing?”
“To me? Yes, of course.”
Jang Woo-hyun thought he should answer whatever question she asked with complete sincerity.
“What was Cheon-myeong’s final moment like?”
“Uh…….”
However, Hundred Eyes’ question was not something he could answer comfortably.
“You already knew?”
“Did I not tell you? I possess eyes that see many things, even things unseen. You need not feel burdened. Both you and Cheon-myeong are martial artists. Death is inseparable from your lives. Simply answer honestly.”
After hesitating briefly, Jang Woo-hyun told her about Yong Cheon-myeong’s final moments, including how he had asked whether they could have become friends.
“That child was always lonely. If he had that at the end, then it is enough.”
“…….”
Jang Woo-hyun could not bring himself to speak because of an inexplicable guilt.
Hundred Eyes was someone who had sacrificed herself for her clan, and standing before her was Jang Woo-hyun, the man who had killed the Divine Dragon Family’s greatest master.
‘In some ways, I might even be her enemy.’
Yet Hundred Eyes had told him everything.
Even the secrets of the world.
“Um…… Lady Hundred Eyes, I—”
“That is enough. Take this with you and give it to the girl outside.”
A white necklace now rested in Jang Woo-hyun’s hand.
“Huh? What is thi—”
“You should leave now.”
When Hundred Eyes waved her hand, Jang Woo-hyun disappeared.
“It is I who should be thankful.”
The oval-shaped stone eyes surrounding her vanished, leaving only the blue light of dawn behind once more.
“Thank you for saving the child of the Divine Dragon Family and my clan.”
There was no way the eyes of Hundred Eyes, who could see even what was invisible, had failed to notice what Jang Woo-hyun had done and the bond he shared with Yong Seo-hee.
Jang Woo-hyun had saved Yong Seo-hee, and Yong Seo-hee had risked her life to help Jang Woo-hyun in return.
Their bond was obvious to see, so she could not reject him merely because he had defeated Yong Cheon-myeong.
“Did I not clearly say it before?”
That he possessed the qualifications.
She had not been referring to the golden orb Yong Cheon-myeong had given him.