Chapter 310 : Great Ascension Cultivator
Chapter 310: Great Ascension Cultivator
The Land of Giants was located far from the region known as the Central Murim.
At first, they traveled quickly using the World Tree, but once they entered a certain region where no World Trees existed, they had no choice but to fly aboard the Thunderbolt Fortress.
Even though the Thunderbolt Fortress was fast, they still had a long journey ahead of them.
The martial artists of the Demon-Extinguishing Brigade spent their spare time training as usual.
Without missing a single day, Seo Ryeom, Mak Ya-wol, and Gongson Jung-rak stuck close to Jang Woo-hyun and asked him countless questions.
Unlike before, he was no longer teaching through physical movement, so Jang Woo-hyun mostly spoke about the things he had learned from Yeo Dong-bin.
At times, the three wore deeply serious expressions as they sank into thought, while at other times they looked completely unable to understand what he meant.
Though they could not fully comprehend and absorb everything, the time spent receiving help from Jang Woo-hyun was immensely valuable.
“If it weren’t for the Captain, where else could we ever learn something like this?”
Mak Ya-wol and Gongson Jung-rak nodded in agreement.
Being able to receive guidance on martial arts from an absolute master of the Central Murim was a luxury among luxuries.
“But why are you the one acting all smug about it?”
Though the two agreed with Seo Ryeom’s words, they could not stand his behavior.
“Ahem, I’m only warning you two because you don’t do anything. Every day you just stand around with your hands behind your backs, watching random nobodies approach. It bothers me. How could I ever entrust the Demon-Extinguishing Brigade to people like you?”
“Entrust it my ass. Anyone hearing you would think the Demon-Extinguishing Brigade belongs to you. And where exactly are you going?”
“I’m not going far, but I’ll have to leave my post eventually.”
Mak Ya-wol stared at Seo Ryeom with an expression that clearly said he could not understand him.
“I think I’ll become very busy once I sit in the Assembly Master’s seat.”
“Bullshit. Absolute fucking bullshit.”
Mak Ya-wol’s face twisted at the nonsense.
“You think I’m just gonna sit around while you become Assembly Master?”
“Hah. Fine then, let’s settle this today. After receiving the Captain’s guidance, I’m no longer the Seo Ryeom of the past.”
“Oh really? Then come here, bastard. I’ll crush that noisy mouth of yours today.”
“Go fight outside. Don’t wreck the Thunderbolt Fortress.”
As the two bickered pointlessly, an indifferent voice cut through their argument.
Turning their heads, they saw Cho Su walking over carrying a long box.
“I’m not going easy on you anymore. If you break even a little bit of it, I’ll never let you ride the Thunderbolt Fortress again.”
Instantly suppressing the quarrel between Seo Ryeom and Mak Ya-wol, Cho Su approached Jang Woo-hyun.
“No matter how much I look at it, I can’t figure it out. This isn’t an ordinary Dharma Treasure or weapon.”
Inside the box he carried was the World-Opening Sword.
At Jang Woo-hyun’s request, Cho Su had spent some time examining it.
It was certainly no ordinary sword.
Yet he could not find anything particularly special about it.
He could not even tell whether that was due to the damage it had sustained or if it had originally been like this.
To Cho Su, the World-Opening Sword was simply a peculiar weapon of unknown origin.
“My skills might just not be enough to discover anything. Maybe my father or one of the Three Great Artisans could figure something out. What do you want to do? Should we take it to the Giant Nation?”
At the suggestion, Jang Woo-hyun shook his head.
If even Cho Su sensed nothing from it, then Cho Yul and the other artisans of the Giant Nation likely would not fare any better.
And they did not have time to visit the Giant Nation either.
“No, I think I’ll just see what this guy does.”
Jang Woo-hyun drew the Dragon King Scale from his waist, where it had been vibrating.
It had remained quiet while the World-Opening Sword was in Cho Su’s possession, but now it was causing another commotion.
The moment the Dragon King Scale left its sheath, it separated on its own without needing to be controlled.
The blade-like scales formed the shape of a beast’s mouth and immediately swallowed the box containing the World-Opening Sword.
Gulp!
As always, the World-Opening Sword vanished into thin air.
As though it had been sent to another dimension.
Having devoured the World-Opening Sword, the Dragon King Scale casually returned to the form of a sword as though nothing had happened.
Jang Woo-hyun spoke with a strange expression.
“When is this thing finally going to be able to talk?”
Cho Su and Cho Yul had clearly told him the Dragon King Scale was a growing Dharma Treasure.
It had developed several functions, like the ability to fly, but after that, nothing had changed.
‘All it does is eat.’
It had devoured quite a large number of ores and Dharma Treasures.
Recently, what it consumed had even been fairly significant.
The golden orb left behind by Yong Cheon-myeong, one of the absolute masters of the Central Murim.
The World-Opening Sword left behind by Yeo Dong-bin, the Sword Immortal, and the sacred treasure of the Heavenly Sword Family.
At this point, something should have happened, yet it never spoke, nor did it express any will.
All it ever seemed to want was food.
“Well…… there definitely were some changes at first.”
Even Cho Su found it strange that the Dragon King Scale merely continued eating like this.
He had expected it to gradually change and eventually reveal its true form, even if the transformation was slow, but aside from gaining a few additional functions, nothing else had happened.
“Hey, brat. Try talking once in a while instead of only speaking up when you need something.”
Apparently finished with what it wanted, the Dragon King Scale gave no response.
‘What, now that you’ve eaten everything you wanted, you’re done with me?’
Jang Woo-hyun sighed quietly and returned the Dragon King Scale to its sheath.
“Huh?”
At that moment—
The Thunderbolt Fortress and the companions around him vanished.
His vision filled with black darkness and countless shining stars within it.
It was a place Jang Woo-hyun knew well.
“Outer space?”
Then unfamiliar scenes began flowing into his mind one after another.
Dozens of meteors suddenly crashed down, causing the center of space itself to explode apart, and planets shattered like broken ice.
Stars crumbled apart, while holes were punched through self-luminous suns before they exploded.
Finally, an entire planetary system resembling the Solar System was split in half and vanished.
“What…….”
At first, he thought he was witnessing someone’s memories.
But he quickly realized that was not the case.
Yeo Il-mun’s words suddenly surfaced in his mind.
-There were rumors that it was a secret art left behind by an existence dwelling in an extremely high place.
‘Don’t tell me…… this is martial arts?’
A chill ran through Jang Woo-hyun’s body.
For the first time, he felt fear after witnessing someone’s martial arts.
The power was utterly absurd.
It was a force that the current Jang Woo-hyun could not even begin to imitate.
Splitting an entire planetary system like the Solar System in half?
It was so ridiculous that he could not even properly comprehend it.
A power too immense to even imagine.
That was the scene he had just witnessed.
‘Was this why it was making such a fuss to show me this?’
Before handing the World-Opening Sword over to Cho Su, he had inspected it repeatedly.
He had even swung it around personally.
But he had seen nothing.
Nor had he sensed anything unusual.
The difference between then and now was—
‘The Dragon King Scale has devoured the World-Opening Sword.’
Just like the memories it had shown when Mukya was still known as the Black Sword before gaining its name, the Dragon King Scale had displayed something left behind within the World-Opening Sword.
In the space resembling outer space, Jang Woo-hyun raised his hand.
In it rested a sword formed from hundreds of thin blade-like scales fused together.
‘What exactly are you?’
Though it had been with him since the Lower Realm, he still did not know the true identity of the Dragon King Scale.
How it had been created, what kind of power it possessed, and why it had chosen him.
He knew nothing.
‘Can’t you just explain things clearly already?’
The Dragon King Scale remained silent.
---
Before he realized it, Jang Woo-hyun had returned from outer space and was staring silently at the Dragon King Scale for quite some time.
Since he said nothing, the companions around him merely watched quietly.
Only after an incense stick’s worth of time had passed did Cho Su finally fail to contain his curiosity and speak up.
“What? Did that thing finally talk to you?”
Only then did Jang Woo-hyun take his eyes off the Dragon King Scale.
“No. I’ve been talking to it, but it’s not answering at all.”
“Let’s wait a little longer. It’s helped us all this time, so eventually it’ll probably tell us what it wants.”
“I hope so, but—”
Jang Woo-hyun abruptly stopped speaking and rapidly turned his head to one side.
His sudden action made the companions around him tense up.
“What is it?”
Without answering, Jang Woo-hyun focused his senses.
His perception spread outward without limit.
Far away, he sensed an immense power.
Someone was fighting at a distance so great that even the Thunderbolt Fortress would need to fly for a long time to reach it.
“Senior Seo. Senior Mak.”
Seeing that Jang Woo-hyun’s expression differed from usual, the two immediately grabbed their weapons.
“There’s something there. Cho Su-nim, stop the Thunderbolt Fortress here. I’ll go ahead first.”
“What’s happening?”
“I think I’ll only know for sure once I get there. They’re incredibly powerful. At this level……”
As he sensed the distant force, Jang Woo-hyun spoke his final words.
“They’re on the same level as me.”
The moment he finished speaking, he disappeared from the spot.
---
Jang Woo-hyun folded space and moved rapidly forward.
Each step carried him hundreds of li.
Though there was still a great distance remaining, he could already feel the force upon his skin.
The entire world trembled.
Just as he folded space again and attempted to take another step—
【A worm dares interfere.】
Clouds gathered high in the sky and formed into a human face.
【You shall never leave this place.】
The instant the giant face spoke—
Even when Jang Woo-hyun used Spatial Compression, he could not move forward.
He had clearly folded space, yet he remained in the same spot.
After using Spatial Compression once more, he realized what was wrong.
‘This is…….’
To confirm his suspicion, Jang Woo-hyun swung the Capital Blade.
A gigantic slash powerful enough to split mountains surged forward.
Yet at some point, the rapidly flying slash suddenly stopped in midair.
“Hah…….”
Seeing the bizarre sight, Jang Woo-hyun immediately understood the situation.
‘It didn’t stop.’
The slash was still moving forward, but the space itself kept expanding, making it appear motionless.
The world was continuously growing larger.
It expanded faster than Jang Woo-hyun could fold space using Spatial Compression.
‘Some kind of illusion art?’
Though briefly startled by something he had never experienced before, he quickly regained his composure.
He attempted to fold space again, but it no longer worked as intended.
This time, it became impossible to fold space at all.
‘What the hell is this…….’
The world itself rejected Jang Woo-hyun.
Just like when he had fallen into the Blood Realm, it felt as though the entire world hated him.
But the Jang Woo-hyun of then and the Jang Woo-hyun of now were different.
Back then, he had lacked strength.
Now he did not.
Wish-Fulfillment.
A realm where all things could be shaped according to one’s will.
Jang Woo-hyun forced his will into the flow of the world itself.
He twisted providence and imposed new laws.
‘Fold the space.’
And move forward.
But it failed.
Some invisible force gripped the laws of the world itself.
He could neither twist providence nor create new laws.
It felt as though the world itself rejected him and sided with someone else.
【A worm places faith in such pitiful power and dares rampage.】
The face made of clouds glared down at Jang Woo-hyun.
【Die here.】
At its cry, gigantic floating islands flew in from both sides.
The floating island to the right shattered apart and transformed into dozens of meteors aimed directly at Jang Woo-hyun.
The floating island approaching from the left had all the beasts living upon it crushed instantly, forming a gigantic heart and blood vessels.
As the blood vessels burrowed into the floating island, a giant made of earth and stone rose to its feet.
The world transformed merely through spoken words.
A power unlike anything Jang Woo-hyun had ever encountered before.
From the waves filling the surroundings and the force arbitrarily molding the world, Jang Woo-hyun realized who his opponent was.
A power fundamentally different from martial artists.
The one fighting in the distance was not from the Martial World.
‘A Great Ascension cultivator.’
Existences whom even the True Immortals of the Upper Realm treated as people rather than insects.
The pinnacle of Middle Realm cultivators and beings who had stepped into the domain of gods.
Just from the abilities displayed before him, Jang Woo-hyun could estimate the power of a Great Ascension cultivator.
Even without using their full strength, they manipulated the world according to their will.
It was as though the Great Ascension cultivator had become the world itself.
RUMBLE—
The giant formed from floating islands threw a punch.
Burning meteors rained downward.
Space screamed apart as the sky ignited.
Facing the incoming attacks, Jang Woo-hyun unleashed his full power.
If the world rejected him, then he would simply create a new world.
He opened his Minor Universe.
KWAKWAKWANG!
The incoming meteors were impaled upon gigantic spears rising upward.
The giant throwing its punch was cleaved apart by swords falling from the heavens.
【You bastard, Immortal Rea—】
BOOOOM!
The face formed from clouds exploded apart after being pierced by a sword.
The endlessly expanding space shattered.
The heavens became covered in silver blades, while mountain ranges formed entirely of weapons rose upward.
KUUUNG!
The very world itself that had rejected Jang Woo-hyun broke apart.
When he took another step within the world filled entirely with blades, two beings fighting each other came into view.
A giant wrapped in golden light.
And the cultivator battling against him.
They were the true source of the power Jang Woo-hyun had sensed.