Chapter 321 : Madman, Mad Monster
Chapter 321: Madman, Mad Monster
“No! Absolutely not! This is completely out of the question! Are you trying to get someone killed right now?”
The elephant monster rejected the Wind-Passing Great Sage's request with his entire being. His enormous body bounced up and down in place, causing dust and pebbles to rain from the ceiling.
“Get out! You crazy monster! Just get out already!”
Bring that person the Wind-Passing Great Sage had just mentioned into the Demonic Spirit Realm?
That would create a disaster far greater than the incident in the Buddha Realm.
That was a being whose very name was forbidden within the Demonic Spirit Realm.
If he became involved by mistake...
'The Great Monsters of the Demonic Spirit Realm will all come to kill me!'
It was that dangerous.
Even if the Wind-Passing Great Sage was insane, there were still things that simply could not be done.
“Really?”
“I absolutely cannot do it!”
“Then die now.”
“What?”
Whoosh!
A razor-sharp wind spread in every direction as the Wind-Passing Great Sage's body slowly rose into the air. Terrifying power began condensing into both of his hands.
“Then just die. I'll find someone else.”
“Y... y-you...”
He could not bring himself to curse the crazy monkey.
His instincts screamed that if he said the wrong thing now, he would really die.
Feeling the overwhelming power radiating from the Wind-Passing Great Sage, the elephant monster forcibly calmed himself.
“W-Wait a moment. Please consider my position as well. You know perfectly well that I don't get along with him. One of my sworn brothers was beaten into a bloody pulp and nearly died. How am I supposed to contact someone like that?”
Long ago, the elephant monster had once been known in the Lower Realm as a Demon King alongside his sworn brothers.
At that time, they had fought the being the Wind-Passing Great Sage was talking about.
Because of that bitter grudge, the youngest of the three brothers, who had been the strongest among them, had later been beaten nearly to death.
Even to a monster, it had been an unbelievably brutal and terrifying sight.
“I don't care. Why should I know about that? So are you doing it or not?”
“Let's discuss this after you calm down a little. Don't be so frightening. I'm too scared to even speak properly.”
Without replying, the Wind-Passing Great Sage clenched his fist even tighter.
“I said wait a moment! Fine! Let's say I contact him! Then what are you going to do about the Great Strength Emperor? Can you handle him?!”
The elephant monster roared.
The Wind-Passing Great Sage hesitated for a brief moment.
Even he could not simply ignore the name that had just been spoken.
The Great Monster whom some monsters respectfully called the Emperor was someone very close to him.
The Great Sage Equaling Heaven.
The Great Strength Bull Demon King.
The eldest of the Seven Great Sages and their leader.
Alongside the youngest, his name was the most famous throughout all dimensions.
Naturally, his strength matched that reputation.
Simply speaking his name filled the elephant monster with fear.
The Wind-Passing Great Sage standing before him was infamous as a mad monster, but he still could not compare to the Bull Demon King.
That being truly stood on another level.
He was a king among monsters.
After mentioning the Bull Demon King's name, the elephant monster cautiously observed the Wind-Passing Great Sage.
He thought that should be enough to end the matter.
But his expectation was wrong.
The corners of the Wind-Passing Great Sage's mouth stretched all the way to his ears.
“If Big Brother gets involved, then that's good in its own way.”
Madness shone within that bizarre smile.
The elephant monster squeezed all four of his eyes shut.
'This lunatic...'
He had heard countless stories about how insane he was.
But he had never imagined it was to this extent.
This mad monster fully understood what kind of disaster this would become, yet he still wanted to stir everything up.
The elephant monster had once been powerful enough to be called a Demon King himself.
Even so, he was nowhere near qualified to involve himself in the game the Wind-Passing Great Sage was setting up.
No.
Forget him—even if it were another monster, no one would want to get dragged into this.
“You just have to pass along the message. We don't even know if he'll come, so why are you overthinking it? Are you doing it or not?”
After locking eyes with the Wind-Passing Great Sage, the elephant monster pondered briefly before unconsciously nodding.
He had already been swept away by the monkey monster's madness.
Refusing was no longer possible.
“Very well. Since it's come to this, let's do it. I know nothing about this. You will bear full responsibility for everything, Wind-Passing Great Sage.”
“What responsibility? We'll just fight together if it comes to that.”
The elephant monster shook his head at the casual response before letting out a deep sigh.
“I have one question before I do this.”
“What is it?”
“If I do this, what do I get out of it?”
Since he had already decided to go through with it, he wanted to gain something in return.
The panic had completely disappeared from his face.
Instead, greed gleamed within his eyes.
This was the elephant monster's true nature.
“Oh? You want to negotiate with me?”
“Not that. I should get something too. This isn't exactly an easy task.”
“Why? Haven't you already gained something?”
“What are you giving me?”
“I'm not killing you right now.”
“...”
The elephant monster cursed wildly in his heart at that shameless answer.
How could anyone be this brazen?
“And stop being so greedy. Just how much human flesh have you eaten? Your name's White Elephant, yet your whole body is red.”
“This isn't because I ate human flesh. It's all beca—”
“Enough. Just get to work already. And don't go outside for a while. If people find out you've been eating human flesh, someone might beat you up.”
“...Who would beat a monster just for eating a little human flesh?”
He had heard the Wind-Passing Great Sage was obsessed with fighting.
But after listening to him, he realized he was simply insane.
“And besides, no one except you would cause trouble here, Wind-Passing Great Sage. This is territory watched over by the Gyoma King and the King of Dark Clouds. Who would dare make a disturbance here?”
White Elephant spoke seriously.
Boom!
As though his words had been timed perfectly, an earth-shattering explosion echoed the instant he finished speaking.
It was not the vibration caused by the giant turtle moving.
This impact was powerful enough to have destroyed several mountain peaks at the very least.
“Uh...?”
The situation was so unexpected that White Elephant could only stare with his eyes wide open.
“Hahahahahaha! See? I told you!”
The Wind-Passing Great Sage clutched his stomach and burst into laughter.
After the Wind-Passing Great Sage and Gong Ryo headed toward the basin, Jang Woo-hyun casually found a place to sit.
He closed his eyes while seated in the lotus position.
The moment he opened them again, the surrounding scenery had changed.
A world filled with nothing but blades.
The Sword Forest of Dosan.
Entering his inner world, Jang Woo-hyun reviewed both his own power and the previous battle.
The Roc Demon King, who had shattered the world itself through sheer force.
The power of that Great Monster, whose wings could cover the heavens, completely overturned Jang Woo-hyun's preconceptions.
He possessed the absurd power to create an entirely new world.
Yet he had still confined his thinking within familiar limits.
Even though he possessed the power of the Microcosm, which seemed capable of anything.
Now Jang Woo-hyun had become a being entirely different from ordinary martial artists.
Yet he still judged everything according to human standards.
'Perhaps I need a perspective from a higher dimension.'
He disliked becoming intoxicated by omnipotence, sinking into boredom, and treating weaker beings like insects.
Because of that, he had unconsciously restrained his own mind.
Otherwise, he felt he would become someone else entirely.
'Let's broaden my perspective a little.'
Without imposing any limits, he expanded his consciousness.
The shackles he had placed upon himself were now released.
His perception spread farther and farther.
An overwhelming sense of omnipotence filled him, making it seem as though anything was possible.
Without even turning his head, he could see Gong Ryo walking around inside the basin.
The basin surrounded by mountain peaks resembled a marketplace.
Stone platforms had been laid out everywhere, displaying countless strange objects.
Not only Gong Ryo, but many other monsters wandered around while chatting.
'Weak monsters.'
Every single one of them lacked strength.
It felt as though he could crush them all with nothing more than a finger.
'But I shouldn't.'
He no longer viewed weaker beings as insects.
Unlike before, he had trained under Lü Dongbin and had not lost himself.
His experiences in the Lower Realm had caused him to fear unnecessarily and suppress his consciousness far more than needed.
'I should've let myself ascend a little higher.'
Everything felt strangely light.
The weaker beings around him appeared insignificant.
But he believed he could still control himself.
Ignoring the monsters chattering in an incomprehensible language, Jang Woo-hyun prepared to expand his consciousness even further.
At that moment—
He heard a language he could understand.
“Do you even know how many humans it takes to make this?”
“Then don't buy it. I don't care either.”
“Come on, add a little more. To produce human oil—”
The words "human oil" shook his consciousness.
Within his inner world, Jang Woo-hyun instantly turned his head.
In the next moment, he was already standing in one corner of the monsters' marketplace.
It was not because he had used movement arts.
His body had simply responded to a thought, instinctively crossing the distance in an instant.
The sudden appearance of Jang Woo-hyun drew the attention of every nearby monster.
【Hu... mon! Why did you suddenly come down here?!】
Gong Ryo hurried over while desperately hiding the fact that Jang Woo-hyun was human.
【I told you to stay where you were. Why are you wandering around on your own—】
As Gong Ryo approached, their eyes met.
He immediately froze.
With the hide given to him by the Wind-Passing Great Sage concealing his human presence and suppressing his aura, Jang Woo-hyun did not appear powerful.
But after meeting his eyes...
Gong Ryo understood.
'I'll die.'
If he approached any closer, he would unquestionably die.
That thing merely wore the shape of a human.
Its true existence transcended all comprehension.
This judgment had nothing to do with what the Wind-Passing Great Sage had told him.
It was instinctive terror.
Subconsciously, Gong Ryo moved his dozens of legs backward.
A desperate attempt to survive.
—You could tear apart every Demon King here with your bare hands.
Only now did the Wind-Passing Great Sage's words strike deeply into his heart.
'What in the world happened...?'
Jang Woo-hyun had promised to remain at his residence.
Yet he had suddenly appeared here.
And for just a brief moment...
Gong Ryo had seen rage burning within his eyes.
He had absolutely no idea why.
Jang Woo-hyun watched Gong Ryo retreat before slowly turning his head.
Standing before him was a peculiar group of monsters.
Their bodies resembled humans.
But they had no heads.
Instead, their enormous torsos were gigantic faces.
A large eye sat in the middle of the chest, while a mouth occupied the place where the navel should have been.
“Gong Ryo. These are monsters too, right?”
Jang Woo-hyun asked without even looking back.
【Y-Yes. They're descendants of Xing Tian—the lineage of an ancient god known as Xing Tian.】
“Gods? Like Gyochung or those Eight Gods?”
【That's correct.】
Now that he knew Jang Woo-hyun's true nature, Gong Ryo remained far away, bowing respectfully as he answered.
“A monster that took human form? Centipede elder, who is this?”
One of Xing Tian's descendants pointed the tip of his spear at Jang Woo-hyun.
“Who are you? Showing up out of nowhere acting all important. Need something?”
Without answering, Jang Woo-hyun simply raised one hand and clenched it into a fist.
“Aaaaargh!”
At the same instant, the arm of one of the Xing Tian descendants standing behind them exploded into a mangled mass.
It was the very monster who had been negotiating with another monster moments earlier.
A rough ceramic bottle had somehow appeared in Jang Woo-hyun's hand.
“So it was true.”
He did not even need to inspect its contents.
He already knew what was inside.
'Human oil.'
The suffering, sorrow, and every negative emotion left behind by dead humans emanated from within.
“You bastard!”
“He's an enemy!”
“Fall back! We can't fight here!”
“He attacked first! Forget that—just kill him!”
Boom!
Roughly twenty descendants of Xing Tian expanded their bodies all at once.
Originally, their shoulders had been about Jang Woo-hyun's height.
Now they had grown to well over eight feet tall.
“How many people did you kill to make this?”
“Shut up!”
“Die!”
Boom!
Five headless monsters, including the one closest to him, charged forward wielding spears and axes.
The ground exploded beneath their feet as overwhelming force surged toward him.
Jang Woo-hyun remained motionless.
He merely watched them approach.
Slice!
Just by looking at them, the monsters who had inherited the power of a god were cut into hundreds of pieces that scattered across the ground.
It was Mind Wills Death.
The Formless Sword that killed whatever he desired.
He had revealed no aura whatsoever.
The hide given to him by the Wind-Passing Great Sage concealed his identity completely.
His presence was so faint it was almost nonexistent.
Yet simply by looking at them, he had slaughtered five descendants of Xing Tian.
The marketplace fell into absolute silence before that incomprehensible sight.
When Jang Woo-hyun's gaze shifted toward the survivors...
The remaining descendants retreated frantically in terror.