Chapter 316 : The Demonic Spirit Realm
Chapter 316: The Demonic Spirit Realm
"Radiant Wings isn't actually a ship?"
As he flew aboard a small boat with Po-uk, Jang Woo-hyun looked at the colossal structure in the distance and asked.
"It may look like that, but it is indeed a ship."
Could that truly be called a ship?
It stretched for more than ten ri in length, while its width and height each measured several hundred zhang.
It undoubtedly possessed the shape of a ship.
Yet Radiant Wings was so immense that it resembled a towering wall or a mountain range.
"With the technology we possess today, we can no longer build a vessel of that size."
Even by giant standards, it was excessively large.
Radiant Wings was one of the sacred relics of the Land of Giants.
The vessel had been built by their ancestors long ago, and the method of constructing it had long since been lost.
All they could do now was repair damaged sections whenever necessary.
The boat carrying Po-uk and Jang Woo-hyun rapidly approached before landing atop Radiant Wings' deck.
The deck was vast enough to resemble an endless plain.
Aside from a massive building that appeared to serve as the bridge, giants hurried busily around the area.
"So you've arrived?"
Unlike everyone else, Gyeong Myeong-un looked completely relaxed as he walked over.
"We're almost finished. We'll be departing soon."
"Are you coming with me?"
"Yeah. It's an important ship for our people. Every time it sails, at least one Great Warrior has to be aboard."
"So besides you, quite a few people are needed as well."
"It takes at least two hundred giants to operate something this big."
While the three chatted on the deck, a heavily bearded giant approached them.
"So you're the Little Human Lord Seopcheon mentioned."
"I'm Jang Woo-hyun."
"I'm Seop Myeong."
"You can think of Myeong here as this ship's captain."
"If I'm the captain, then just call me the captain. What's with 'something like a captain'?"
"It's not exactly an ordinary ship. Anyway, why are you here? Shouldn't you be getting ready to depart?"
"I should at least greet our guest. Besides, I was curious about something."
"Curious? About what?"
When Gyeong Myeong-un asked, Seop Myeong turned toward Jang Woo-hyun.
"Warrior Jang, I was honestly wondering... do you have some prior connection with Lord Seopcheon?"
"No. This was our first meeting."
"Huh... To think Lord Seopcheon would take such an immediate liking to someone he'd just met. I've never seen him hurry like that in my entire life."
"If I've caused any inconvenience, I apologize."
"Not at all. There's nothing inconvenient about it."
"Exactly. Thanks to Lord Seopcheon stepping in, everything was handled much faster."
"Stay out of this, Great Warrior. Warrior Jang has nothing to apologize for. I was simply curious because Lord Seopcheon behaved so differently than usual."
Pausing briefly, Seop Myeong pointed at Gyeong Myeong-un.
"I heard you saved our people and even helped our Great Warrior. As one of our people, I'd like to express my gratitude. I'll help however I can."
Just as Seop Myeong finished speaking—
A massive bell rang across the ship as though everything had been prepared.
"It seems we're ready. Then we'll depart now."
Turning around, Seop Myeong returned toward the towering bridge.
A few moments later—
The entire ship began glowing brilliantly.
Countless pictographs appeared across the deck, while dozens of wing-shaped symbols along the hull radiated dazzling light.
Without sails or masts—
The enormous vessel slowly rose into the sky.
The glowing wing symbols shone brighter and brighter.
Then—
In the blink of an eye, the colossal ship vanished without leaving even a trace.
---
"Unlike summoning demons, traveling to the Demonic Spirit Realm takes a little time."
Summoning used pathways that had already been established, allowing demons from the unimaginably distant Demonic Spirit Realm to arrive instantly.
Radiant Wings traveled differently.
It now sailed through the empty void between worlds where no path existed.
"You can think of it like tunneling through solid earth instead of walking through a cave."
Seop Myeong explained the situation in simple terms.
"Even so, Radiant Wings is fast. It won't take more than a few days. Feel free to stay inside until then. There's more than enough room."
After entering the ship's interior, Jang Woo-hyun was astonished yet again.
Although the vessel had already appeared gigantic from the outside—
Its interior was far larger than expected.
Space itself had been compressed.
It was large enough to fit an entire continent.
With nothing to do during the journey and no way to help operate the ship, Jang Woo-hyun made a request to Gyeong Myeong-un.
"You want me to show you my martial arts? I don't know any martial arts."
"More precisely, I'd like to see the energy you wrapped around your body when we fought that Great Ascension Stage cultivator."
"Oh, that? Then are you asking for a spar? If you and I fought seriously, Radiant Wings wouldn't survive."
"No. I don't want to spar. I simply wish to observe that technique."
"You're a strange Little Human. What good would my technique do you?"
Although puzzled, Gyeong Myeong-un began gathering his energy.
Whoooosh!
The erratic aura that even Mak Ya-wol had been unable to judge gradually intensified.
The mere pressure radiating from him was enough to flatten entire mountain ranges.
As Gyeong Myeong-un inhaled deeply and focused—
The surging aura abruptly contracted, wrapping itself around his body.
Layers of armor formed entirely from qi appeared.
One layer.
Two.
Three...
Soon dozens became hundreds.
Hundreds of layers of condensed qi armor covered him.
His entire body shone with brilliant golden light.
"There's nothing particularly special about this technique. If you've fought giants before, you already know how we fight."
The giants' technique detonated qi at the point of impact.
It was an incredibly crude and inefficient method of controlling internal energy.
The resulting explosions could even injure the user.
However—
Giants compensated for that weakness through their unique breathing method, which absorbed every trace of surrounding energy, along with their overwhelming reserves of internal energy.
The golden armor surrounding Gyeong Myeong-un represented the perfected form of that technique.
After quietly observing the golden giant—
Jang Woo-hyun inhaled.
"I realized something from fighting your people as well."
After battling giants several times, he had developed a new breathing technique.
As he slowly drew in a breath—
Qi began revolving around him.
The tiny vortex rapidly expanded before devouring all the surrounding energy.
Now that he had reached the Immortal Realm, gathering qi this way served little purpose.
Even so—
He activated the Heaven-Devouring Breathing Technique to show Gyeong Myeong-un.
"...Huh?"
The reaction was immediate.
Recognizing what Jang Woo-hyun was doing instantly, Gyeong Myeong-un's eyes widened.
"A Little Human... is copying us?"
Martial artists of the Central Heavens Realm possessed their own martial arts.
There was no reason for them to learn the crude techniques of giants.
After all—
These techniques had never been designed for humans in the first place.
'Wait a second...'
Then another realization struck him.
'Can Little Humans even learn this?'
It was the first time Gyeong Myeong-un had ever witnessed a human imitating the giants.
---
Boom!
"Urgh!"
A violent explosion erupted inside Jang Woo-hyun's body.
He groaned as he staggered.
Bang! Bang!
His right arm and left side exploded open.
Instead of blood and flesh—
Countless blades burst from the wounds.
Sweeping away the blades that had erupted from his own body, Jang Woo-hyun regained his stance.
Watching the scene, Gyeong Myeong-un frowned.
'What kind of lunatic is this?'
Even giants would shake their heads at such insane training.
He had never heard of humans cultivating martial arts in such a suicidal fashion.
Despite his body literally exploding—
Jang Woo-hyun immediately began analyzing the result, preparing to continue.
'At this point, this isn't training anymore. He's just abusing himself.'
After spending several days observing Gyeong Myeong-un—
Jang Woo-hyun had managed to imitate the technique to a certain extent.
Naturally, he couldn't erase Minor Worlds or destroy the world itself as Gyeong Myeong-un did.
Nor had he intended to.
'Is it impossible to contain...?'
Just as Baekmu had once helped him merge the power of his Minor Worlds—
Jang Woo-hyun now attempted to condense that same power within a suit of compressed qi armor.
It proved far from easy.
Every time he compressed the power of his Minor Worlds—
The recoil tore his body apart.
Even attempting to control it was nearly impossible.
The power contained within his Minor Worlds was simply too immense.
Even as his body continued breaking apart—
He refused to stop.
Watching him became exhausting even for Gyeong Myeong-un.
"That's enough. At this rate you'll kill yourself."
"..."
"If you keep going, you'll damage Radiant Wings too. Even I'm reaching my limit."
Only because Gyeong Myeong-un continuously suppressed the erupting energy beside him had the ship remained intact.
Otherwise—
Radiant Wings might already have been torn open.
In the end—
Jang Woo-hyun had no choice but to stop training.
"Did you gain anything?"
"No. I still can't grasp it."
He had hoped to recreate the power he once used against Yong Cheon-myeong.
He had hoped to discover the next step.
But this time—
He gained nothing.
"That new domain you create... you called it a Minor World, right?"
"Yes."
"I don't know much about it, but I don't think martial artists fought like that in the past."
"What do you mean?"
"I've heard that martial artists in ancient times didn't create Minor Worlds. They simply fought head-on with their bodies, like we giants do. Didn't you notice something while fighting that Great Ascension Stage cultivator?"
"What are you referring to?"
"Your Minor World. It gave you the advantage against the Great Ascension Stage cultivator."
Jang Woo-hyun had thought the same thing.
A Great Ascension Stage cultivator became one with the world.
Under normal circumstances—
Attacking such an opponent was nearly impossible.
Just as when he had fallen into the Blood Devouring Realm—
The world itself had rejected him.
Yet the instant he unfolded his Minor World and created a new world—
Everything reversed.
He gained the advantage.
"Maybe martial artists evolved in that direction specifically to fight cultivators."
"That's certainly possible. I'll have to think about that as well."
"Don't overthink it. I'm not certain either. I barely even remember where I heard that martial artists didn't originally create Minor Worlds. If I'd known, I would've asked Lord Seopcheon before leaving."
Realizing he might have confused Jang Woo-hyun unnecessarily, Gyeong Myeong-un hurriedly added,
"I'll simply consider it as one more possibility. There's never only one road to reach a destination."
"Good. That's the right attitude."
Just as the two finished their discussion—
【Warrior Jang, we've almost arrived.】
Seop Myeong's voice echoed through an artifact.
【You may come up to the deck now.】
When they stepped onto the deck—
An entirely black world stretched before them.
Multicolored streaks rushed past Radiant Wings as it flew through the void.
Traveling between dimensions—
The ship had nearly reached the Demonic Spirit Realm.
Whoooom!
The vessel gradually slowed.
【Straight ahead.】
Before them—
Black-and-white mist churned violently.
【Prepare yourselves. Beyond that lies the Demonic Spirit Realm. We'll enter briefly before immediately exiting again. When we do, jump.】
Jang Woo-hyun cupped his fists toward the bridge where Seop Myeong stood.
Then he turned back toward Gyeong Myeong-un.
"Lord Myeong-un, thank you for everything."
"Are you really sure you'll be alright alone?"
"I know a demon there."
"...I know."
Gyeong Myeong-un had heard all about the Wind-Passing Great Sage during the voyage.
Yet he still couldn't believe it.
"Of all demons... it had to be that lunatic."
Demons were naturally unpredictable.
Some occasionally helped humans.
Others even became friends with them.
'But him...?'
The Great Demon obsessed with battle—
The Wind-Passing Great Sage, Monkey King.
The demon Jang Woo-hyun claimed to know happened to be infamous even throughout the Central Heavens.
It was impossible not to worry.
"It'll be alright. We've known each other since the Lower Realm."
"I don't know... You'll manage somehow. Myeong, let's go."
At Gyeong Myeong-un's command—
Radiant Wings accelerated.
It pierced through the swirling black-and-white mist.
A moment later—
The ship emerged once more.
Only Gyeong Myeong-un remained standing upon the deck.
"Return to the Land of Giants."
Even as he issued the order—
His eyes never left the black-and-white mist.
"Of all beings to become acquainted with in the Lower Realm... why did it have to be that lunatic?"
Leaving Gyeong Myeong-un's worries behind—
Jang Woo-hyun remained within the Demonic Spirit Realm.
---
Somewhere within the Demonic Spirit Realm—
Among towering stone mountains that seemed to pierce the heavens—
A bird-headed demon sat atop one of the peaks.
Suddenly—
The demon blinked.
"The Fifth?"
He sensed the aura of his younger brother from afar.
"What has that idiot done this time? Hm? No... that's not the Fifth. It's..."
His eyes narrowed.
"He branded someone again, just like before."
It was something his battle-crazed younger brother often did.
The mark served as proof of ownership.
A declaration that the prey already belonged to him.
It was also a warning not to interfere.
"If I touch it, he'll throw a fit."
If he killed the prey—
His younger brother would undoubtedly come looking for him.
And become an enormous nuisance.
No matter how many battles he fought, the fool never seemed to tire.
Sometimes he even picked fights with his own brothers.
After all—
He was the Great Demon infamous for his obsession with combat.
'He even challenges Eldest Brother. I'd better move the prey somewhere else.'
Leaving the human alone wasn't an option.
If his younger brother came searching—
The entire region might be destroyed.
His plan was simply to throw the prey somewhere far away without killing it.
"Let's see..."
Blinking several times—
His vision sharpened until he could clearly see the distant figure.
The instant he recognized who it was—
The bird-headed demon's eyes widened.
"A human?"
Standing within his territory—
Was a human.
And one he seemed to have met before.
He hadn't recognized the face itself.
A Great Demon of his level could perceive the traces of fate connecting people.
That was how he recognized him immediately.
'Who was it...? A human...'
Searching his memories—
He recalled a single human he had briefly encountered in the Lower Realm.
"So it's that fellow!"
The moment he recognized the human—
The bird-headed demon spread his wings.
Jang Woo-hyun had completely forgotten.
The only Great Demon he had met in the Central Plains...
Had not been the Wind-Passing Great Sage alone.