Chapter 318 : The Demonic Spirit Realm (3)
Chapter 318: The Demonic Spirit Realm (3)
"Jang Woo-hyun!"
After attacking the Roc Demon King, the Wind-Passing Great Sage ran over to Jang Woo-hyun.
"You attacked your own brother—"
"Let's go! He'll break out soon."
"...What are you talking about?"
"He'll tear his way out in a moment. Hurry, let's leave."
The Wind-Passing Great Sage pointed toward the tiny sphere that had not only begun swallowing everything around it but was even warping the surrounding space.
"Run away?"
"Not run away. Just fall back for a bit."
Jang Woo-hyun frowned slightly.
'This isn't like him.'
He stared suspiciously at the Wind-Passing Great Sage.
The monkey demon was never the type to retreat during a fight.
Even now, the corners of his mouth refused to come down from excitement.
'And yet he's telling me to retreat?'
No matter how he looked at it, something felt off.
This wasn't the Wind-Passing Great Sage he knew.
Besides, now was the perfect opportunity.
The Roc Demon King was alone.
On their side were both Jang Woo-hyun and the Wind-Passing Great Sage.
'I don't think it's because they're brothers.'
Whatever relationship existed among the Seven Great Sages, it certainly wasn't like the one between him and Jin Ha-un.
That much was obvious from the attack just now.
The Wind-Passing Great Sage had attacked with genuine intent.
"Oh? He's coming out. Hurry."
Though he remained suspicious, Jang Woo-hyun decided to follow the monkey's suggestion.
After all, he would need the Wind-Passing Great Sage's help while in the Demonic Spirit Realm.
"We need to hurry. Third Brother is almost as fast as I am."
"Didn't you say you were the fastest among your brothers?"
"I am... but Third Brother's almost as fast. You saw those wings earlier, didn't you?"
"Just because someone has wings doesn't necessarily... never mind. Let's go."
At the level of an Immortal Realm martial artist or a Great Demon of the Demonic Spirit Realm, whether one possessed wings or not shouldn't make much difference in speed.
Still...
After witnessing those impossibly enormous wings earlier, Jang Woo-hyun decided not to think too deeply about it.
Trying to apply common sense to demons was pointless.
'Right. Wings mean flying, so I guess he'd naturally be fast.'
Having reached that simple conclusion, Jang Woo-hyun kicked off through the air alongside the Wind-Passing Great Sage.
Then—
The sphere devouring everything exploded apart.
The gigantic monstrous bird burst free.
【Fifth! You dare attack me!?】
Rumble!
As the Roc Demon King grew enraged, the entire world trembled.
His murderous intent became tangible, tearing apart the surrounding space.
【Today I'll finally put an end to your reckless behavior.】
The Roc Demon King spread his wings.
They expanded beyond dozens of li.
Growing larger and larger—
Until the entire sky was once again filled with his wings.
Just as he was about to move—
【Third Brother! Let's let this one go today. A friend of mine came to visit.】
【......】
The instant the Wind-Passing Great Sage's voice reached him—
The wings covering the heavens vanished as though they had never existed.
"...Huh?"
A dumbfounded sound escaped the Roc Demon King's beak.
What had he just heard?
No...
Had he actually heard that correctly?
The bird's head, previously adorned with two horns and filled with rows of razor-sharp teeth, transformed into the head of a chicken.
The chicken-headed Roc Demon King widened his eyes and tilted his head over and over.
The words he had just heard were that shocking.
No—
Since becoming sworn brothers with that monkey demon...
They were the most shocking words he had ever heard.
"A friend?"
Not prey.
Not an enemy.
Not a toy.
Not a target.
Not bait.
Not food.
He had clearly said—
Friend.
Unable to believe it—
The Roc Demon King simply stood there in stunned silence for quite some time.
---
Jang Woo-hyun and the Wind-Passing Great Sage fled from the Roc Demon King at tremendous speed.
Whatever trick the monkey demon was using—
Simply remaining beside him allowed Jang Woo-hyun to fly through empty space at astonishing velocity.
An ocean-like lake.
A volcanic region spewing crimson lava.
Plains covered with flowers sporting rows of sharp teeth and poisonous grasses.
A desert consisting of nothing but endless sand.
Each leap through the sky was nearly as fast as Shrinking the Earth, causing the surrounding scenery to change with every step.
'So this is his true strength.'
Though he had yet to witness the monkey's full power, simply traveling beside him gave Jang Woo-hyun a rough understanding.
The power possessed by a Great Demon rivaled that of an Immortal Realm martial artist.
Had this been before he reached the Immortal Realm—
He likely wouldn't even have been able to stand beside him.
While Jang Woo-hyun evaluated the Wind-Passing Great Sage's strength—
The monkey was secretly observing him as well.
'Hehehe...'
Simply watching him caused the corners of the monkey's mouth to rise.
'You've gotten even stronger!'
How had he become this powerful?
Even to a Great Demon, Jang Woo-hyun's growth rate was absurd.
The monkey would wager there had to be some extraordinary reason behind such talent.
But—
He didn't particularly care.
He wasn't interested in such things.
Nor did he want to know.
He was simply delighted that Jang Woo-hyun had become stronger.
'Should I fight him now?'
His icy blue eyes gleamed.
His grin stretched all the way to his ears.
Among every being in every world—
Jang Woo-hyun was the most entertaining existence.
'How much fun would it be to fight this guy?'
Unlike before—
Jang Woo-hyun had now grown strong enough to battle his true body.
Perhaps...
It would become the greatest joy of his life.
The Wind-Passing Great Sage slowly raised a fist.
The instant he clenched it—
Space compressed as power gathered within it.
'Just a little taste.'
Just as he was about to throw the punch—
Jang Woo-hyun turned and met his eyes.
He had sensed the sudden change in the monkey's aura.
Without hesitation—
The Wind-Passing Great Sage punched himself in the face.
Boom!
Holding Baekmu, Jang Woo-hyun frowned.
"What are you doing?"
"Hehehe... nothing."
The monkey shook his head and regained his composure.
'That was close. I almost did something even a stupid mouse wouldn't do.'
A fight against Jang Woo-hyun.
It would be unbelievably enjoyable.
But—
It would have been a foolish decision.
'You can't stop after eating just one sweet.'
If he waited—
One sweet could become two.
Or three.
Or even ten...
Twenty.
He had nearly ruined everything.
'I've already got plans. I need to endure.'
Hadn't Jang Woo-hyun himself once said—
If you endured, the sweets would multiply?
The old Wind-Passing Great Sage would have fought the Roc Demon King just now.
And immediately afterward—
He would have fought Jang Woo-hyun too.
But he wasn't such a simple demon anymore.
He had learned to think.
He had gained patience.
Suppressing his overwhelming desire to fight—
He willingly stepped back because he had his own plans.
"Why are you smiling like a creep?"
"Hehehe... Isn't it obvious? Now that you're here, I'll be getting more sweets."
"Sweets?"
"Something like that. We just need to get past over there."
Looking toward where the Wind-Passing Great Sage pointed—
Jang Woo-hyun's eyes widened.
Once again—
He witnessed a completely unfamiliar sight.
Ahead of them—
The sky and earth rippled like reflections on the surface of water.
---
"Now we can finally relax."
After traveling for quite some time, the Wind-Passing Great Sage and Jang Woo-hyun landed within a reed field.
The reeds surrounding them looked remarkably strange.
Each one was larger than an ordinary tree.
Their leaves possessed a metallic sheen.
And at the very top—
Each reed had several mouths.
La la la la—
As the metallic leaves clashed in the wind, they produced sounds resembling musical instruments.
In harmony with them—
The countless mouths began singing.
It was a bizarre spectacle.
But Jang Woo-hyun simply accepted it as another peculiarity of the Demonic Spirit Realm.
The reeds weren't what mattered right now.
"What was that back there?"
The region they had just crossed had truly rippled like the surface of water.
It hadn't been an illusion.
Nor had it been a hallucination.
"That was an unstable region. Unlike the Central Heavens Realm, there are a lot of unstable places in the Demonic Spirit Realm. And let me warn you now—be careful whenever you use Shrinking the Earth. If you accidentally enter unstable space, you could get thrown completely out of the Demonic Spirit Realm."
"...I don't think I understood that properly. You're saying the world itself is unstable and constantly changing?"
The Wind-Passing Great Sage nodded and raised both hands.
Above his left palm floated a sphere, a disc, and a square plate formed from qi.
"Most worlds are like this. They're not literally shaped this way. Think of it as meaning their forms are fixed. Of course, the boundaries of the Central Heavens Realm change too, but that's only at the very edges of the world."
Then—
Another sphere appeared above his right hand.
The sphere wriggled as though someone were kneading it.
Suddenly—
Tentacles sprouted like an octopus.
A rod protruded from the top.
A smaller sphere formed at its tip.
Then the rod bent freely in random directions.
"The Demonic Spirit Realm is like this. Some places remain stable and unchanged, but large portions are constantly shifting and moving. The place we just crossed was one part of the realm beginning to transform. If we had passed through it directly, the world itself would have broken apart. Third Brother would have had to take a huge detour before catching us."
"So... the world itself is alive?"
"Not quite. It's more like... the world's a complete mess that does whatever it wants."
A reed field with mouths growing from the plants was already strange enough.
But hearing that the world itself constantly changed was even more unbelievable.
It was difficult to accept.
Even so—
Jang Woo-hyun tried his best to understand.
If that was simply how the world worked, there wasn't much else he could do.
"You said you came here looking for someone, right?"
"Yeah."
"Before that, take a look at this. I found it. It looked similar to those things you used to read."
"What things did I use to read?"
The Wind-Passing Great Sage held out a hand, signaling him to wait.
Then he opened his mouth wide.
Wide enough to swallow an entire person whole.
He casually shoved his arm inside his own mouth.
Moments later—
He pulled out three stone tablets and handed them over.
"That's a disgusting way to store things..."
The instant Jang Woo-hyun accepted the tablets—
His eyes widened as though they might split apart.
It was something he had never expected.
Inscribed upon the stone tablets—
Were the writings left behind by Kim Min-su.
"You can read these, right?"
Without taking his eyes off the tablets, Jang Woo-hyun nodded.
The three tablets differed only in the number engraved at the top.
Everything else was identical.
[땽쒼위 찌꿈 뽂꾜 있뉸……]
'What you are reading now was left behind in a place called the Demonic Spirit Realm.'
Jang Woo-hyun slowly read Kim Min-su's message.
—If you can read this, then you're probably from South Korea. Maybe you suddenly fell into this world, or perhaps you followed my trail here. I'll assume you don't know me and introduce myself. My name is Kim Min-su.
To calm his excitement—
Jang Woo-hyun slowly exhaled.
Then he continued reading.
—I happened to meet a merchant who traveled between worlds while dealing with various matters in the Central Heavens Realm.
'Dimensional Merchant.'
Cho Su had mentioned them before.
They were unusual merchants who traveled between different Middle Realms conducting business.
—Because of an ancient oath made by their ancestors, they traveled through the worlds collecting something.
Kim Min-su admitted that even he didn't know what exactly those merchants were gathering.
—While speaking with them, I learned about a certain man. He may have come from Earth, just like you or me.
Crack!
Without realizing it, Jang Woo-hyun tightened his grip.
The stone tablet cracked slightly.
Coming back to his senses, he loosened his hand.
—He should have left behind countless traces, yet none could be found anywhere in the Central Heavens Realm. Eventually I learned there might be records related to him in the Demonic Spirit Realm.
—At first I wondered, "Why the Demonic Spirit Realm of all places?" But now I think I understand. He wanted his records to survive. Even beings from the Upper Realm cannot easily interfere with the Demonic Spirit Realm.
Stopping his reading—
Jang Woo-hyun looked up.
"Monkey... the True Immortals of the Upper Realm can't send their power into the Demonic Spirit Realm?"
"They can."
"But only for a very short time."
"What do you mean by a short time?"
Grinning broadly, the Wind-Passing Great Sage answered.
"Because the moment they come down, I—or someone else—beats them to pieces."
The Demonic Spirit Realm was home to demons who feared no True Immortal.
It also housed beings who possessed godlike power within their own territories.
Perhaps—
There was no better place to hide from the gaze and influence of the True Immortals.
Understanding what the monkey meant—
Jang Woo-hyun returned his attention to the tablet.
—I found several traces after arriving in the Demonic Spirit Realm.
—And I finally learned who the person I was searching for really was.
The next words were written normally.
Only—
They had been traced over several times so they would resemble the distorted writing surrounding them.
[True Martial God Lee Tae-seong]
Crunch!
This time—
The stone tablet finally shattered beneath Jang Woo-hyun's grip.
'Just as I thought.'
His suspicions had been correct.
The person Kim Min-su had been pursuing—
Was Lee Tae-seong.
And—
He had come from Earth.