Chapter 305 : Search
Chapter 305: Search
“That black bastard ran away?”
At Sword Heavenly Lord Seon Woo-baekrin’s blunt words, Jang Sam-bong burst into laughter.
“He didn’t run away. He simply left.”
“That’s the same thing. Why did that lunatic run off? Weren’t you in the middle of a wager?”
As they fought while raising their realms one step at a time, Muk Geom-yeong suddenly said, “I lost,” and departed.
At the First-Class Realm, Jang Sam-bong won.
At the Peak Realm, Muk Geom-yeong won.
At the Transcendent Peak Realm and Absolute Realm, Jang Sam-bong won twice consecutively, but at the Transcendence Realm, Muk Geom-yeong achieved an overwhelming victory.
Perhaps because he was too powerful, limiting his strength became difficult, and the higher the realm became, the more fundamentally different Muk Geom-yeong’s power grew.
Had they continued fighting, Jang Sam-bong would have been beaten continuously. Yet Muk Geom-yeong suddenly withdrew.
“That bastard isn’t the type to simply leave. Strange.”
“I think the Demonic Heavenly Lord sensed it as well.”
“Sensed what?”
Instead of answering, Jang Sam-bong turned his head to one side.
An empty sky where nothing could be seen.
Yet Seon Woo-baekrin knew what Jang Sam-bong was looking at.
The death of Dragon Emperor Heavenly Lord.
One of the absolute rulers, Yong Cheon-myeong, had perished completely.
It might become another beginning for the Central Plains Murim. Perhaps even the catalyst that changed the world.
“Did he sense something from the serpent’s death?”
No one knew what exactly he had sensed. But he would not have withdrawn without reason.
“Ugh, I don’t know either. If he left, then he left. But what the hell is Jang Woo-hyun anyway?”
She had known he was an outstanding martial artist, but she never imagined he would grow this quickly.
Even to Seon Woo-baekrin, one of the Six Great Heavens, Jang Woo-hyun’s growth speed was horrifying.
“That brat is way too strange. This makes no sense. Even that black bastard wasn’t this ridiculous. Old man, don’t you know something? Aren’t you helping him this much because you know something?”
“Other than the fact that he possesses extraordinary talent, I know nothing. I merely help a little as a senior who walked the path ahead of him.”
At the absurd answer, Seon Woo-baekrin’s eyebrows furrowed.
“What nonsense are you spouting? Who blocks the Demonic Heavenly Lord just to ‘help a little’? You’re hiding something from me, aren’t you?”
“How could there be such a thing? However.”
Jang Sam-bong shook his head before continuing.
“There must be a reason that child possesses such talent. In chaotic times, heroes are born.”
“With Jang Woo-hyun’s strength, whether it’s chaotic times or not doesn’t even matter. At this rate, he’ll soon surpass the Middle Heavenly World and reach other worlds too…….”
Seon Woo-baekrin suddenly stopped speaking as something came to mind. Her aura, which had always been cheerful and light like a cool breeze, instantly grew heavy.
“……The chaotic times you mentioned.”
Her gaze sharpened.
Like that of a beast targeting prey.
“You weren’t talking about the Middle Heavenly World.”
Without answering, Jang Sam-bong simply smiled faintly.
Just as Seon Woo-baekrin suspected, Jang Woo-hyun’s talent likely was not limited to the Middle Heavenly World and its surrounding realms.
And at that very moment, some kind of problem was occurring in the Upper Realm.
Jang Woo-hyun’s talent might exist so he could transcend the Middle Heavenly World, ascend into the Upper Realm, and accomplish something no one else could.
“Perhaps I should meet him.”
Seon Woo-baekrin muttered quietly as she turned her head.
Her gaze stretched toward the distant place where Jang Woo-hyun would be.
---
In front of the coiled dragon statue.
Though Jang Woo-hyun had emerged outside, he did not move immediately.
His thoughts were tangled, one leading endlessly into another.
‘Don’t overcomplicate it. Throw away everything unnecessary and focus only on what matters.’
After pondering for a while, Jang Woo-hyun decided that moments like this required simplicity.
He pushed aside the complicated thoughts and recalled only what he had gained.
The relationship between Earth and this world, the next realm called Primordial Origin, and even the method for finding traces of the True Martial God.
‘This isn’t bad.’
He had gained much.
And now he needed to go meet another clone of Kim Min-soo.
‘Instead of wasting time thinking, let’s move.’
Just as he reached his conclusion and turned around, he sensed someone approaching.
“Oppa!”
Unable to run because she was in a hurry, Yong Seo-hee approached with quick steps.
As soon as she came near, Jang Woo-hyun suddenly extended his hand.
“Seo-hee, this.”
“Huh?”
Seeing the white necklace in his hand, Yong Seo-hee widened her eyes.
“Wh-What is this? Is it a gift?”
“It’s not exactly a gift. Lady Hundred Eyes told me to give it to you.”
“A treasure given by Lady Hundred Eyes……. May I examine it for a moment?”
Yong Un, who had approached behind them, took the necklace from Jang Woo-hyun.
He rotated it back and forth for quite some time while examining it carefully.
“I cannot tell what sort of power it possesses. Did she truly say to give it to Seo-hee?”
“Yes. She told me to give it to the girl outside.”
At the words “girl,” Yong Seo-hee widened her eyes and shook her head. It was somewhat difficult to call her a child.
However, Jang Woo-hyun thought differently.
‘From Lady Hundred Eyes’ perspective, she probably does look like a child.’
Hundred Eyes was the ancestor of the Divine Dragon Family, so she could certainly speak that way.
‘At least she said girl.’
If she had said “the boy waiting outside,” he would have had to give the necklace to Yong Un.
“She is not someone who would harm the clan. Seo-hee, accept it.”
“Uh…… are you sure it’s really meant for me? I’m originally someone who isn’t even allowed to enter this place.”
“There must be a reason we do not understand. Are you finished with your business? Then let us leave.”
Yong Un handed the necklace to Yong Seo-hee before walking ahead.
For some reason, he seemed rather hurried.
“Oppa, two whole days passed.”
“That much time passed?”
“Yes. So I was worried again because I thought it would take forever this time too.”
“Because of Seo-hee, I came here dozens of times each da—”
“Grandfather!”
Yong Seo-hee pinched Yong Un’s side to stop him from speaking further.
Watching the two, Jang Woo-hyun immediately understood the situation.
Now that Yong Un had become the highest elder of the Divine Dragon Family, he likely had countless things to do.
‘Since I didn’t come out, he probably couldn’t leave the place unattended.’
But Yong Seo-hee must have worried about him and dragged Yong Un here dozens of times a day. Unable to resist his granddaughter’s pestering, Yong Un probably hadn’t gotten any work done.
Even without seeing it directly, Jang Woo-hyun could feel Yong Seo-hee’s concern, causing him to smile slightly.
“What’s the point in hiding tha—”
“Ah, enough already!”
Watching the adorable argument between grandfather and granddaughter, they soon crossed the canyon and returned to the cave.
“What do you plan to do now?”
“I’m going to head toward where my companions are.”
“You said there was something you were searching for. Then go ahead. Now that you’re out, I finally need to get some work done. Someone pestered me so much that I couldn’t accomplish anything.”
Though Yong Seo-hee glared at him, Yong Un simply smiled slyly and finished speaking this time.
“Then I’ll be leaving now.”
“I’ll go with you too. Oppa, you don’t know where the Serpent-Shaped Archipelago is.”
“You just need to tell me the direction.”
Jang Woo-hyun extended his hand toward Yong Seo-hee.
Yong Seo-hee glanced at the hand once before looking at Jang Woo-hyun’s face.
“Is it uncomfortable? Then should I just carry you on my back instead?”
“Huh?”
“I’m taking you with me anyway.”
Jang Woo-hyun turned around and lowered his posture.
As though he truly intended to carry her.
“No, it’s fine. Holding hands is enough.”
Yong Seo-hee immediately grabbed Jang Woo-hyun’s hand.
“It’s over tha—”
Before she could even finish speaking, the two vanished.
“Huh…….”
Standing where the two had disappeared, Yong Un furrowed his brow.
“He’s using Shrinking the Earth, so why are they holding hands?”
With Jang Woo-hyun’s level of skill, he could move others together with him without needing physical contact.
But because Jang Woo-hyun had never traveled with someone else before, he instinctively held her hand while moving.
It was simply a situation caused by his unfamiliarity with using Shrinking the Earth alongside another person, but to Yong Un, Jang Woo-hyun’s circumstances were irrelevant.
“Hah, honestly.”
The grandfather who had his granddaughter stolen away stood there grumbling for quite some time.
---
“We’re searching like this?”
“Just do it already. Is Brother Cho the expert or are you the expert? Just do as you’re told. Why are you talking so much? At this rate, you’re going to start claiming you’re the Captain of the Demon-Extinguishing Brigade.”
“I’m just asking because I’m curious—”
“Ya-wol, Ryeom is right this time. Why’s a grown man nitpicking every little thing so much?”
Crunch.
At the scolding from Seo Ryeom and Gongson Jung-rak, Mak Ya-wol gritted his teeth.
Dealing with just Seo Ryeom had already been exhausting, but somehow Gongson Jung-rak was starting to resemble him as well.
Two Seo Ryeoms.
The mere thought was horrifying.
“Brother Cho, we just hold this thing and spread our energy in every direction?”
Ignoring whether Mak Ya-wol ground his teeth or not, Seo Ryeom asked about the task at hand.
In his hand was a box-shaped artifact roughly the size of a human head.
“You just go to the position I assigned and release energy through the artifact. If nothing reacts, manipulate the artifact and release energy again.”
After arriving at the Serpent-Shaped Archipelago, Cho-su intended to actively utilize the three masters of the Infinite Realm to search for traces of the artifacts left behind by Kim Min-soo.
“The hidden artifacts should have recognition suppression placed on them. We’re exploiting that. If the energies of the three of you overlap and something reacts—or conversely, if there’s a place where the energy weakens—search that spot.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but let’s just try it. Tell me my position.”
At the tail section of the Serpent-Shaped Archipelago, where small floating islands stretched like a serpent, Cho-su assigned positions to the three.
The Infinite Realm masters released their energy, while Cho-su altered directions and adjusted positions in an attempt to locate the hidden artifacts.
【Turn the handle on top of the artifact once.】
Using communication artifacts to coordinate, they repeated the same actions over and over.
After about two hours, Cho-su identified several suspicious locations.
From that point onward, he no longer needed anyone else’s help.
Hundreds of bee-shaped autonomous puppets loaded with simple commands flew through the sky and searched the places Cho-su had pinpointed.
After another four hours—
Four small box-shaped artifacts, identical to the ones they had seen before, rested in front of Cho-su.
“They really hid a lot of these.”
Two had already been destroyed, while the other two remained intact.
“What’s inside them?”
“Woo-hyun has to come and check. If we open them wrong, they’ll break.”
“Even you can’t open them, Brother Cho?”
“They’re designed to break if forced open. That’s probably the part they focused on the most. And honestly, the person who made these was more skilled than expected, so it’s not easy.”
“Huh? Wait a second. Does that mean our work is already done?”
“That’s right.”
“Then what do we do now? We’re just going back like this?”
Seo Ryeom looked at Cho-su with eyes full of disappointment.
“We have to go back. The job’s finished.”
“Ah…….”
Small sighs erupted all around them.
Everyone had followed along expecting something exciting to happen, but now that nothing had occurred, they all looked disappointed.
“We’re returning immediately, so don’t do anything stupid, all of you.”
As soon as the decision was made, sighs echoed from every direction.
Some people even picked up and then put down their weapons.
Just as Cho-su repeatedly warned them while preparing to return to the main house of the Divine Dragon Family—
Gongson Jung-rak, Seo Ryeom, and Mak Ya-wol simultaneously turned their heads.
A familiar aura had suddenly appeared near Thunder Fortress.
“Seo-hee?”
Before anyone could even properly grasp the situation, Jang Woo-hyun and Yong Seo-hee entered Thunder Fortress.
‘So they came together using Shrinking the Earth.’
Only after seeing Jang Woo-hyun did everyone understand why Yong Seo-hee’s aura had suddenly appeared.
“Why are you back already? Did you come because you were worried Ryeom might cause trouble?”
“No. Everything’s finished.”
After briefly speaking with Mak Ya-wol, Jang Woo-hyun approached Cho-su.
Unlike usual, he was visibly in a hurry.
“We finished too. We found things similar to the ones we saw before.”
Cho-su handed over the artifacts he had discovered.
Black boxes with almost no weight to them.
They weren’t much different from the ones he had seen previously.
On top was a numbered panel, while below it were words he had not seen in a long time.
[썀윣뀨…….]
At first, they had been unpleasant to look at, but now merely seeing them made him smile.
These were traces left behind by Kim Min-soo, and the only means of communication known exclusively to him and Jang Woo-hyun.
After memorizing the long password written beneath it, Jang Woo-hyun pressed the numbers on the panel above the box.
Click.
With that sound, the box opened.
Inside was a bracelet.