Chapter 314 : Land of Giants (3)
Chapter 314: Land of Giants (3)
As Jang Woo-hyun observed the birds flying away to avoid Heavenly Thunder Fortress and the aquatic creatures swimming beneath the sea, he realized something.
'It's like the Great Forest.'
Just like the Great Forest he had once visited while searching for the Storm Archipelago, every living creature here was enormous.
The trees, flowers, and other plants were probably much larger than those he was accustomed to seeing as well.
"Is this another world?"
"Not quite. It's more accurate to say the ecosystem is simply different."
"It seems similar to the Great Forest."
"You know about the Great Forest too?"
"Yes. That's where I met Tarun and Tawi."
"Tarun? Tawi?"
Repeating their names several times, Gyeong Myeong-un shook his head.
"I've never heard those names before. They must be members of our people who live in the Great Forest."
When Jang Woo-hyun confirmed it, Gyeong Myeong-un continued.
"We don't know much about the members of our people who live outside. Nor are we particularly interested. Not just me—most of us feel the same."
There was a reason Ban Un-hwang of the Eternal Gate of Pangu didn't concern himself with whatever the cultivators were doing alongside the Murim Realm.
"We simply live within our own territory."
Most giants had little interest in the outside world.
There were a few clans that were curious about lands beyond their borders, but those giants had already chosen to live outside.
"We don't provide aid, nor do we keep in contact. Though there is one exception."
There was one giant who periodically traveled beyond their territory to watch over their kin and exchange information.
"That's what makes Po-uk special."
He cared for the giants living outside the Land of Giants while maintaining communication with his homeland.
Without Po-uk, they likely wouldn't even know if something happened to those giants living beyond their borders.
"Oh, they arrived sooner than I expected."
Turning his head, Gyeong Myeong-un waved.
"Hey!"
A single small ship approached from the far distance.
The Land of Giants had dispatched soldiers after identifying the suddenly appearing Heavenly Thunder Fortress as a potential enemy.
"It's me! They're my guests!"
Though he merely shouted, Gyeong Myeong-un's voice was so powerful that Heavenly Thunder Fortress shook.
The giants quickly crossed space itself to reach them.
After exchanging greetings with Gyeong Myeong-un, they escorted Heavenly Thunder Fortress toward the Land of Giants.
---
After flying for quite some time, an enormous continent appeared.
Passing over mountain ranges, forests, and long winding rivers, Heavenly Thunder Fortress eventually arrived at a city.
It was a strange city.
Judging by the number of buildings, it was rather small.
Yet because everything was enormous, its overall scale rivaled that of a great metropolis.
"Land over there."
Gyeong Myeong-un pointed toward an open area.
Perhaps it was the giants' architectural style, but there was a great deal of space between each building, with vast open fields scattered throughout the city.
The largest clearing was spacious enough for the floating fortress, Heavenly Thunder Fortress, to land.
After Cho-su landed the fortress, the members of the Immortal-Slaying Brigade stepped outside.
"Everything's huge."
Just as Jin Ha-un had said, every building surrounding them was colossal.
Each one was tall enough to be called a tower, and their size rivaled imperial palaces.
Even considering the physical stature of giants, the structures were absurdly oversized.
As the members of the Immortal-Slaying Brigade looked around, giants began gathering.
Seeing the escort accompanying Heavenly Thunder Fortress, they realized the newcomers were guests rather than enemies or prisoners.
The crowd formed a wide circle around the fortress while keeping a respectful distance.
"They're Little Humans."
"They're really tiny."
"Did only children come?"
"No, that's how big adult Little Humans are."
"Really? They're so small."
"Mom, there's a mouse over there."
"That's not a mouse, dear. That's a Beastfolk."
Most of the giants stood between one and two zhang tall.
Even children were roughly the same height as Jang Woo-hyun.
The giants continued whispering among themselves, fascinated by the visitors.
"Please make some room."
Several giants pushed through the crowd.
The elderly giant leading them was someone Jang Woo-hyun recognized immediately.
"Hero Jang!"
It was Po-uk, whom they had rescued alongside Tarun and Tawi.
His face overflowed with joy as he approached.
Apparently Gyeong Myeong-un had already contacted him during the journey, as Po-uk had been waiting in the city.
"It is an honor to meet you again."
Although they hadn't been apart for very long, Po-uk greeted Jang Woo-hyun as though welcoming a beloved family member after decades.
Feeling slightly embarrassed by such a warm reception, Jang Woo-hyun smiled awkwardly.
Before he could respond, Gyeong Myeong-un interrupted.
"I've already explained everything. Just follow him."
"...Pardon?"
"Just go with him. Take this fellow to Lord Seopcheon."
"I shall."
Unlike the bewildered Jang Woo-hyun, Po-uk immediately accepted the instruction.
"You'll have to wait a little before using Radiant Wings. It's not something that can be prepared immediately. I'll go discuss a few things. Just follow Po-uk. Didn't you say you wanted to ask the Record Keeper something?"
"Ah."
Gyeong Myeong-un had already made all the necessary arrangements while contacting Po-uk.
"It's best to finish important matters quickly. We'll meet again later."
Having said everything he wanted, Gyeong Myeong-un strode away.
Several giant children ran over to greet him.
He picked a few of them up, tossed them high into the sky, then caught them again.
Despite being thrown to incredible heights, the children only laughed happily.
"I've prepared a boat."
Standing before Jang Woo-hyun, Po-uk pointed in a certain direction.
"I'm sorry, but only Hero Jang may accompany me. Everyone else will need to wait here."
"Go on. We'll look around while you're gone."
"Have a safe trip, Brother."
"Captain, I'll keep a close eye on everyone and make sure no one causes trouble. Go without worries."
Considering Seo Ryeom looked the most likely to cause trouble himself, Jang Woo-hyun couldn't help feeling uneasy.
However, Cho-su and Gongson Jung-rak both nodded reassuringly.
Trusting them, Jang Woo-hyun followed Po-uk.
"Please show our honored guests around the city while they wait. Treat them well. They are the benefactors of our people."
Po-uk instructed the accompanying giants to guide the members of the Immortal-Slaying Brigade through the city.
Unlike the giants they had seen earlier, these escorts all seemed calm and composed.
Leaving his companions behind, Jang Woo-hyun boarded a small boat with Po-uk.
True to giant craftsmanship, once they left the city, the boat leaped through space and sped rapidly forward.
One gak later—
The boat reached the mountainside of an enormous peak.
"This way."
After disembarking, Jang Woo-hyun asked something that had been on his mind as they walked along the mountain path.
"Does a giant's height indicate their strength?"
He had seen countless giants throughout the city.
Yet none of them had been larger than Gyeong Myeong-un.
Even the tallest barely exceeded two zhang, not even reaching his shoulder.
"Not exactly. Some people are naturally larger, others smaller. It's simply individual variation. However, those with larger bodies generally inherit stronger giant bloodlines. Naturally, the purer the bloodline, the greater the chance they'll become powerful."
"So natural talent is greater, but size itself isn't the measure of strength."
"Precisely."
Jang Woo-hyun continued asking various questions as they walked, and Po-uk answered each one kindly.
After their brief conversation—
They arrived before a massive cave guarded by two giants.
Po-uk stepped forward and exchanged a few words with them.
"Hero Jang, please."
As Jang Woo-hyun approached, both guards looked at him with curiosity, though neither spoke.
The cave was so enormous that ten giants could easily walk through side by side.
Stepping inside, the damp scent unique to caves greeted them.
The ceiling was lined with glowing artifacts, and everything had been meticulously maintained.
Rather than a cave, it resembled a carefully constructed corridor.
"Partway through, you'll feel the surrounding aura change. We'll be entering inside, so there's no need for concern."
Just as Po-uk had said, after walking for a short while, Jang Woo-hyun felt his body become strangely weightless.
The sensation quickly vanished.
Soon, they reached the end of the cave.
"This is..."
The exit opened onto the side of an immense cliff.
Looking around, Jang Woo-hyun noticed what appeared to be a gigantic wall in the distance.
'Is that... a pillar?'
Looking more carefully, it wasn't a wall.
It was a pillar.
It was simply so enormous that it looked like a wall.
A moment later—
He realized it was neither.
"...A leg?"
Its size was utterly beyond reason.
The cliff where he stood was nearly a thousand zhang high.
Yet the section before him was only the giant's shin.
Even tilting his head back as far as possible, he couldn't see the top.
It stretched beyond sight.
The place they had entered through the cave wasn't the original world.
It was a created space.
Within it stood a giant whose head nearly touched the heavens.
The giant's skin resembled stone, completely covered with countless unfamiliar characters and intricate symbols.
'So this is how they preserve their records.'
The Record Keepers of the Land of Giants inherited the memories and records of their predecessors.
Baekan had once said they were living records, unlike the archives beneath the palace of the Nation of Mechanical Marvels or the shrine of the Divine Dragon Family.
Now Jang Woo-hyun finally understood.
The Record Keepers engraved knowledge and information directly onto their own bodies.
That was why no external force could erase their records.
'Still... it's unbelievably enormous.'
At that size, ordinary life would be impossible.
Even mountains a thousand zhang high seemed insignificant beside him.
"That isn't his true body."
Noticing Jang Woo-hyun's confusion, Po-uk explained.
"Just as members of the Divine Dragon Family transform into dragons, he enlarges his body in order to engrave the records."
Po-uk's explanation confirmed Jang Woo-hyun's guess.
The Record Keepers preserved memories and knowledge by engraving them upon their own bodies.
"He's currently recording new information, so he's maintaining that form. Normally, when he's not organizing or engraving records, he's not much larger than I am."
The explanation made everything clear.
"I've heard there's something you're searching for. Tell me, and I'll ask on your behalf."
"I want to know about the records concerning the True Martial God."
"The True Martial God. Understood."
Po-uk stepped forward and spoke in an unfamiliar language.
Rather than complete sentences, he uttered short words one after another.
When he finished—
A voice so vast it shook the heavens echoed throughout the space.
Then black mist drifted from the giant's body.
Po-uk held out a stone tablet.
The moment the black mist touched it, strange symbols and characters engraved themselves across its surface.
'Are these pictographs?'
Although there were written characters, most resembled illustrations.
"There aren't many records concerning the True Martial God. The only surviving account is a diary written twenty thousand years ago by one of our ancestors."
Looking down at the stone tablet, Po-uk began reading.
"The True Martial God... Lee Tae-seong. A martial artist of the Central Heavens Murim Realm."
The instant he heard the name—
Jang Woo-hyun's body tensed.
'Lee Tae-seong.'
It was a name he had never heard before.
He had no connection to it.
Yet instinct immediately told him—
Now that he had reached the Immortal Realm, Jang Woo-hyun could perceive the world's flow and will more clearly than ever.
Every instinct within him cried out.
'He's from Earth.'
The True Martial God had come from the same place as he had.
And somehow—
Jang Woo-hyun felt certain that the person Kim Min-soo had been tracing all this time...
Was Lee Tae-seong.
---
—I happened to meet a Little Human named Lee Tae-seong. He was a man of few words, speaking only when necessary. At times, he appeared more like a doll than a human, as though he possessed no emotions.
—He traveled alongside a mysterious dragon-like creature of unknown origin and came to the aid of our people.
—Lee Tae-seong's strength was abnormal. Could a martial artist truly become that powerful?
—Even cultivators who escaped death through their own secret methods failed to survive his attacks.
—Four Great Ascension Stage cultivators. Ten Integration Stage cultivators. That was the number of cultivators who died by Lee Tae-seong's hand.
—To be honest... I was afraid of him. It was the first time in my life that I had ever feared another person.
—I shouldn't have behaved that way toward someone who had helped our people.
But I wanted to avoid him.
—He was simply too dangerous.
Every instinct I possessed constantly warned me never to become involved with Lee Tae-seong.
—Lee Tae-seong requested the Sunstone and the Moonstone from us.
Long ago, they had been treasures of our people, but by then they had long since lost their power, to the point that almost no one even remembered them.
How had he known about them?
—I was so frightened of him that I wished only for him to leave as quickly as possible.
Because of my strong insistence, our people gave him the Sunstone and the Moonstone.
Besides, both stones had already lost their power.
Compared to what he had done for us, it was a pitiful reward.
—After receiving them, he departed.
Not long afterward, I learned that he had become known throughout the Murim Realm as the True Martial God.
—The True Martial God.
Some denied that title because he had never ascended to the Upper Realm.
But anyone who had witnessed his strength firsthand would never say such a thing.
In my opinion, even the title True Martial God was insufficient to describe Lee Tae-seong.
—Afterward, I deliberately avoided learning any more about him.
Partly because I feared him...
And partly because I felt ashamed.
.
.
.
—Looking back now...
I think I treated him too harshly.
He had asked for payment, yes...
But compared to what we received, his request had been insignificant.
—Four Great Ascension Stage cultivators and ten Integration Stage cultivators.
That force alone was enough to shake the entire Land of Giants.
He was the man who saved our people.
Yet we became so terrified of his strength.
His blade had never once been turned against us.
.
.
.
—As time passed, I realized there had been several strange things.
—Somehow, Lee Tae-seong knew what would happen before it occurred.
He knew where the cultivators would attack from.
He even knew what spells they would use.
—I don't know whether it was some supernatural ability or simply martial arts that had reached the heavens...
But at times...
He seemed like a prophet.
—There was something else.
Perhaps it was only my imagination...
But whenever he looked at me, there were moments when his gaze carried a warmth completely unlike his usual self.
—Perhaps it had been that way from the very beginning.
Maybe I resembled someone he once knew.
Perhaps there was a story he never told me.
Maybe that was the true reason he helped us.
Perhaps the Sunstone and Moonstone were merely an excuse.
.
.
.
—Only now do I realize what a fool I was.
My words will never reach him now...
But still—
Benefactor of our people...
I am sorry.
And thank you.
If we meet again in another life...
I will call you my friend.