Chapter 327 : The Real Kim Min-soo
Chapter 327: The Real Kim Min-soo
【You dare show yourself before us!】
The Roc King's fury split the heavens in two.
The humanoid monster with the head of a bird disappeared, and in its place, a gigantic monstrous bird appeared in the sky.
【Big Brother! This has gone far beyond a joke! You actually called the youngest here? You've truly gone mad!】
Even the Ox King, who had not raised his voice even once until now, twisted his face in rage.
To the Seven Great Saints, Son Goku was an existence akin to a taboo.
【If you've chosen to stand alongside that traitor, then die here.】
The Lion Camel King clenched the empty air and pulled.
The Great Monster's supernatural ability dragged the very ground along with it.
Thud!
The Wind-Passing Great Sage planted his silver spear into the ground.
Strangely, although the ground flowed rapidly like a river, the Wind-Passing Great Sage and Son Goku remained standing in place.
"Why do you keep calling him a traitor? Maybe he just thought it'd be more fun fighting on the other side."
【Big Brother! You've gone too far! Have you forgotten what he did to us—】
"Big Brothers! It's been a while! But we've got a big problem! Take a look at this!"
Son Goku shouted loudly, drawing his brothers' attention as he raised the Ruyi Staff.
"This one's fake!"
Bang!
With a loud pop, the Ruyi Staff vanished, leaving behind only a single strand of golden fur.
At the very same moment—
Boom!
Once again, the gigantic Ruyi Staff descended from the heavens, driving the three Great Monsters deep into the ground.
It was a trick he had prepared from the very moment he recalled the Ruyi Staff.
"My brothers... you're still far too naïve."
Shaking his head as though disappointed, Son Goku turned toward the Wind-Passing Great Sage.
"So what now, Big Brother? They seem genuinely angry."
"What else? We came here to fight, so we'll fight."
"You really called me here just to fight?"
"Yeah."
At the brief reply, Son Goku fell silent.
He had never imagined that was truly the only reason.
Throughout every realm, Son Goku was notorious as a troublemaker and an unruly rogue.
Yet the Wind-Passing Great Sage was remarkable in an entirely different way.
"...Very well. But what's with the fist? Are you trying to fight me? Or are you telling me to spread out a little?"
Son Goku pointed at the Wind-Passing Great Sage's outstretched fist.
"Fight? Why would I fight you? We're on the same side."
"The same side?"
"Yeah. You bump fists, and that makes us allies."
"Huh."
Did Big Brother ever do something like this before?
As the thought crossed his mind, Son Goku spoke.
"Don't tell me... Brother Jang taught you this?"
"He didn't teach me. I just... well."
Watching the Wind-Passing Great Sage awkwardly trail off, Son Goku let out a dry laugh.
"A person can really change this much... No, can a monster really change this much?"
"What do you mean change? I'm still the same. Though... I did realize something."
"What?"
"I think I finally understand why you sided with the humans back then. They're interesting. There's a lot to learn from them."
"Uh... uh..."
Son Goku was so shocked that he couldn't even do a somersault.
The words that had just come from his sworn brother struck him like a blow to the head.
He simply stood there with his mouth hanging open, blinking blankly.
"Wahahahahaha!"
Then he burst into laughter so loud it seemed capable of sweeping away the entire world.
"Hahahaha! Exactly! Humans really are interesting. Even if they're weak, there's still plenty to learn from them. Hehehe... To think I'd hear you say something like that, Big Brother. Coming to the Demonic Spirit Realm was definitely worth it. Well then, let's see how well we get along."
The Ruyi Staff, transformed into a gigantic pillar, trembled violently.
This time, it failed to suppress them for long.
【I'll kill both of you.】
Dense killing intent and savage aura surged outward.
The aura released by the three monsters alone overturned the earth.
The Ruyi Staff, bearing the weight of an entire mountain range, slowly rose before shooting skyward as though piercing the heavens.
The Lion Camel King, buried beneath the earth, had flung the Ruyi Staff away through sheer strength.
"I've always said Fourth Brother's strength deserves respect."
Son Goku smiled as he summoned the Ruyi Staff back.
The golden staff settled into his hand.
A radiant halo then appeared behind him.
"Hehehe... though I wonder if I can handle this."
Although they were known as the Seven Great Saints, not all seven possessed equal strength.
He was the youngest because he had lived for the shortest time.
However, if strength alone were considered, Son Goku should have been competing with the Ox King or the Flood Dragon King for the position of eldest.
Spinning the Ruyi Staff once in his hand, Son Goku bumped fists with the Wind-Passing Great Sage.
"Let's go, Big Brother."
Golden fur and white fur.
A golden staff and a silver spear.
Crimson eyes blazing like flames and icy blue eyes.
Different, yet somehow alike.
The two monkey monsters kicked off the ground together.
Five of the Seven Great Saints clashed atop the Living Spirit Mountain Range.
The Demon Spirit Mountain Range of the Central Heavens Realm.
Home to hundreds of thousands of peaks, it was renowned as the territory of the Demonic Heaven Palace.
When Zhang Sanfeng headed there, he found it easier than expected to meet the Demon Heavenly Lord, Muk Geom-young.
"I didn't expect you to be waiting for me."
As Zhang Sanfeng approached the Demon Spirit Mountain Range, a demonic practitioner appeared and guided him to the highest peak.
The towering summit that seemed to reach the heavens was where Muk Geom-young resided.
"One of those above has begun to move."
Muk Geom-young's hollow eyes briefly looked toward the sky before returning.
His gaze silently asked whether it was connected to what was happening now.
"I don't know that much. I came because I have a favor to ask."
"You're planning to go to the Demonic Spirit Realm, aren't you?"
Zhang Sanfeng flinched at how accurately Muk Geom-young had predicted his intentions.
"How did you know?"
"Because the gaze from above is also directed toward the Demonic Spirit Realm."
A being identified as a True Immortal was extending its power toward the Demonic Spirit Realm.
Normally, beings of the Upper Realm could not send much of their power into the Middle Realm.
Yet that being was forcibly tearing through the dimensional barrier.
"Why are you going to the Demonic Spirit Realm?"
"To meet a child I once helped."
Muk Geom-young frowned slightly.
He did not immediately understand whom Zhang Sanfeng was referring to.
A short while later—
Muk Geom-young realized who Zhang Sanfeng meant.
The Divine One who had defeated the Dragon Emperor Heavenly Lord.
Jang Woo-hyun of the Heavenly Scale Sword Hero.
He was now known by the title Invincible Divine Sword, and both the Five Elements Cult and the Beast King Sect even placed the Invincible Divine Sword ahead of the Six Heavenly Sovereigns.
"What exactly is he?"
"Would you be angry if I simply said he was a child fate brought me to?"
"Then let's continue our match from last time."
Zhang Sanfeng chuckled before continuing.
His calm voice was filled with sincerity.
"I've met countless martial artists throughout my life. There were times I believed my own talent was exceptional."
He had every reason to think so.
After all, Zhang Sanfeng's name had become part of legend.
"But from time to time, I met those whose talent equaled—or even surpassed—my own."
The Central Heavens Martial World.
A place where martial artists from countless Lower Realms gathered.
Many were worthy of being called geniuses.
Furthermore, throughout the vast Central Heavens Realm existed races born with extraordinary power.
"The greatest talent I had ever witnessed belonged to the Demon Heavenly Lord."
The man standing before him.
Muk Geom-young.
The one known as the Primordial Heavenly Demon.
Even among geniuses, his talent stood unrivaled.
Not merely the greatest in the Central Heavens Martial World—
The greatest in the entire Central Heavens.
Zhang Sanfeng had believed he would never witness talent surpassing Muk Geom-young's.
"But that was before I met Woo-hyun."
Jang Woo-hyun had surpassed even Muk Geom-young's talent.
Talent beyond common sense.
Talent beyond prediction.
The word genius itself was insufficient to describe it.
"When the world grants someone talent like that, there must be a reason. He may one day become entangled in some great event beyond even my imagination."
Zhang Sanfeng's gaze briefly shifted behind Muk Geom-young before returning.
"Not long ago, I suddenly felt that I needed to see that child again. More precisely... I felt compelled to help him. I wondered why such a thought had suddenly come to me, but after meeting the Demon Heavenly Lord, I think I finally understand."
If the gaze of the Upper Realm was directed toward the Demonic Spirit Realm...
Then it was most likely because of Jang Woo-hyun.
After hearing everything, the corner of Muk Geom-young's mouth rose slightly.
For someone whose expression rarely changed, that was practically a smile.
"A talent that surpasses mine..."
Zhang Sanfeng was one of the very few martial artists Muk Geom-young truly acknowledged.
Naturally, his curiosity had been piqued.
"Very well. I'll go see him myself."
Muk Geom-young turned around.
Following his movement, Zhang Sanfeng's gaze shifted toward a nearby location.
There was a pitch-black hole.
Its interior was so utterly dark that nothing could be seen.
Yet strangely, whenever it emitted a faint glow, it resembled a Black Moon.
Even before Zhang Sanfeng arrived, Muk Geom-young had already been preparing to cross into the Demonic Spirit Realm.
Son Goku's Projections carried the black building away.
"Back! You over there! Hurry up and move back!"
"Me?"
"No, not that me. The other me over there."
The Projections all referred to themselves as "me" while exchanging opinions.
It was chaotic enough to make anyone dizzy, yet somehow they coordinated perfectly and carried the black building far away.
The monkeys holding shields told Jang Woo-hyun not to worry about what was happening outside.
Urged on by the identical monkey monsters, Jang Woo-hyun reluctantly stood before the Silver Sphere once more.
As he entered the modern city again, the noise from outside disappeared.
Once again, he followed the words written on the ground.
Sometimes he listened to the conversations of the people passing by.
He crossed roads.
Entered alleyways.
Walked along broad streets.
After walking for quite some time through the crowded city, he arrived at a park filled with trees.
One side of the park was so overgrown that it could have been called a jungle.
Following the glowing green words, Jang Woo-hyun entered.
After circling around inside two or three times—
He returned to reality.
Not because he had chosen to.
Everything had simply come to an end.
Click. Clink—
The sound of metal shifting echoed through the air.
The scales surrounding the sphere before him began to move.
Moments later, they opened an entrance just large enough for one person.
'This is it.'
The place where Kim Min-soo was waiting.
And perhaps...
The place where the hidden truth lay.
The moment he stepped inside, he might finally learn truths unlike anything he had known before.
Taking a deep breath, Jang Woo-hyun stepped forward.
As his body disappeared into the sphere, the scales shifted once more, sealing the entrance behind him.
A white space bathed in a gentle glow.
There were no walls.
No ceiling.
Even the entrance through which Jang Woo-hyun had entered had disappeared.
The only things visible were a distant sphere of light...
And a man sitting weakly before it.
'Senior Kim.'
Jang Woo-hyun recognized him immediately, even from behind.
The man with whom everything had begun through the absurd manual known as the Gyoma Divine Art.
The man who had sacrificed himself and helped Jang Woo-hyun time and again.
The Gyoma Divine Sword Hero, Kim Min-soo.
At last...
He had finally met him.
Step.
Without realizing it, strength entered his footsteps.
He wanted to rush over immediately.
But he was too nervous to do so.
He paid no attention to the floating sphere of light.
Right now, nothing mattered more than Kim Min-soo.
Every ounce of his attention was fixed on him.
Step by step, Jang Woo-hyun approached the man with whom he shared such a long-standing bond.
"Senior... Kim?"
It was undoubtedly the Kim Min-soo he knew.
Yet he was different from the Projections he had met before.
The relaxed expression and playful smile were gone.
Instead, he looked like someone who had lost everything.
His unforgettable eyes, which had once shone with a gentle radiance, were now dull and lifeless, like those of a dead man.
Jang Woo-hyun had seen his slumped back from afar.
But he had never imagined he would be in such a state.
Naturally, he had expected another prank.
Instead, reality left him bewildered.
"Senior Kim."
Jang Woo-hyun knelt on one knee until they were at eye level.
Only after calling him several more times did Kim Min-soo slowly raise his head.
A faint trace of light finally returned to his lifeless eyes.
"Who...?"
"It's me. Ah, let me give you this first."
Jang Woo-hyun handed him the Memory Orb that the second Projection had entrusted to him.
"This is..."
Kim Min-soo recognized the orb immediately.
Yet instead of doing anything with it, he simply lowered his hand while still holding it.
His reaction was completely different from that of the Projection, which had swallowed it.
Turning the glowing orb over in his hand, Kim Min-soo looked at Jang Woo-hyun with a bitter smile.
"So... you followed the traces I left behind?"
"Yes. I obtained the Gyoma Divine Art in the Lower Realm and Ascended."
When Jang Woo-hyun mentioned the Lower Realm, Kim Min-soo's eyebrows rose slightly.
That was his only reaction.
"Aren't you going to use the orb?"
"If you came from the Lower Realm, then you must have met one of my Projections. This orb should contain its memories. Am I correct?"
Jang Woo-hyun nodded.
"Yes."
"I see. You worked hard to make it this far... but now you should return."
"...What?"
"What you're doing is meaningless. Go back. Live your own life somewhere in the Central Heavens Realm."
"What are you talking about? This is the place the True Martial God left behind!"
Jang Woo-hyun's voice gradually grew louder as the conversation headed in a direction he had never expected.
"There had to be a reason this place exists. He must have left something behind. Why are you saying this? Why do you look so lifeless? Don't tell me this is another prank."
Although everything felt completely different this time, he still asked.
Deep down, he desperately wished that this was simply another one of Kim Min-soo's elaborate jokes.
The Kim Min-soo Jang Woo-hyun knew...
Should never have looked like this.
'Just what happened to him...?'
And what had he learned...
That had reduced him to this?
Jang Woo-hyun suppressed his emotions with all his strength.
Otherwise, the frustration building inside him felt powerful enough to destroy the entire space.