Chapter 332 : The Sighing Heavenly Treasure Dragon
Chapter 332: The Sighing Heavenly Treasure Dragon
Even as his body gradually faded away, Lee Tae-seong's eyes remained clear.
At first, Jang Woo-hyun thought he was looking directly at him.
But after observing more carefully, it seemed that while he knew the general direction, he could not pinpoint the exact location.
'Is he... not actually looking at me?'
Everything Jang Woo-hyun had witnessed until now had been Lee Tae-seong's memories.
Yet they had unfolded not from Lee Tae-seong's perspective, but from someone else's point of view, as though someone had been standing beside him watching the entire time.
"You're over there, aren't you? I don't know your exact location, but you're definitely there. Jang Woo-hyun, I am talking to you."
Hearing his name spoken so suddenly, Jang Woo-hyun flinched.
"How...?"
The words escaped him unconsciously.
These were supposed to be memories. How could they recognize him and speak to him?
His question was quickly answered.
"You've seen everything until now. Then you should know what kind of ability I possess."
"Ah..."
Lee Tae-seong could glimpse the future.
Then it was entirely possible that he had foreseen Jang Woo-hyun coming into contact with these memories.
"Silver Radiant Thousand Hands. That bastard isn't dead. He orchestrated everything."
"What?"
"He even predicted my regressions. He knew I would die, and he knew I would destroy the Upper Realm. The only thing outside his predictions... was you."
"What do you mea-"
"That's all I can say. I only wanted to leave you with these final words. I hope you succeed."
Lee Tae-seong, now completely faded, disappeared.
Perhaps because he had manipulated both time and space in this final life...
He was unable to regress again.
Thus ended Lee Tae-seong's unimaginably long life.
Where his body vanished, one final sphere of light appeared.
Together with hundreds of silver scales...
It flew toward the Demon Spirit Realm.
Having witnessed all of the memories, Jang Woo-hyun finally understood why Kim Min-su had fallen into despair.
If reincarnators regained the memories of their previous lives and awakened extraordinary abilities through the spheres of light Lee Tae-seong had sent into countless worlds...
Then even the lives they were living now could be denied.
After all, beings stronger than themselves could rewrite their memories and alter their destinies whenever they wished.
'But that's still not the end.'
The Three Thousand Radiant Silver Treasure Heavenly Venerable was still alive.
And Lee Tae-seong had said that bastard had orchestrated everything.
On top of that, Lee Tae-seong had personally spoken to him and declared that he alone was the exception.
"I don't understand what you mean by saying I'm the exception. Wasn't my talent something I received from Lee Tae-seong?"
"That's right. You are the exception."
The sudden voice caused Jang Woo-hyun to turn around.
The moment Lee Tae-seong's memories ended, Jang Woo-hyun arrived in a completely empty white space.
Turning around, he saw an unusual man.
The man wore only trousers.
His entire body was covered in silver scales.
His smiling mouth was filled with sharp fangs, and his left arm was strangely formed from crimson gemstones.
The instant Jang Woo-hyun met the gaze of the man with vertical pupils like Yong Cheon-myeong...
He immediately realized his identity.
"The Sighing Heavenly Treasure Dragon?"
"That's one of my names. The Dragon King's Scale hanging from your waist is also my name."
The man before him was the consciousness and an avatar of the Sighing Heavenly Treasure Dragon that had accompanied Lee Tae-seong.
And, just as expected, the Sighing Heavenly Treasure Dragon was directly connected to the Dragon King's Scale.
"What did you mean by what you said earlier?"
"Before that, there is something I need to explain."
"You suddenly appear and... no. Fine. Go ahead."
"You've seen Tae-seong's memories, haven't you? At the end, he divided his power and sent it down to the Lower Realms. The people who received it became the reincarnators of this world."
Himself.
Kim Min-su.
And those who had been dying in the scene the True Immortal had shown him before.
-One or two people crossing over due to an anomaly is possible. But dozens crossing into a closed world? That's impossible. I can say that with certainty. It can never happen.
White Eyes had been correct.
Those people had never crossed dimensions.
They had simply been reborn in this world and granted new lives.
"Tae-seong learned the truth through his gift of foresight. Everything was orchestrated by that bastard, the Three Thousand Radiant Silver Treasure Heavenly Venerable."
"What exactly did he orchestrate?"
"Look at this first."
The Dragonkin covered in silver scales pointed upward.
A universe filled with countless stars appeared in the empty sky.
"Over there."
Following his fingertip...
Far in the distance, Jang Woo-hyun saw a spiral galaxy where countless stars, cosmic dust, and interstellar matter swirled together.
Strangely...
Two identical spiral galaxies floated close together.
"What is tha-"
The moment he looked at the two galaxies...
His body collapsed.
His consciousness shattered.
His very existence as Jang Woo-hyun began to disappear.
An irresistible power.
A form that could not even be properly perceived.
He could not even comprehend what sort of existence it was.
Within his collapsing consciousness...
Jang Woo-hyun realized...
That the two spiral galaxies were someone's eyes.
Eyes belonging to an existence so far beyond the limits of perception that it could not even be measured.
"Oh dear. It seems your current level isn't enough."
The Dragonkin hurriedly waved his hand, erasing the image of the universe.
Only after some time did Jang Woo-hyun finally regain his senses.
What he had just seen...
Was no mere True Immortal.
Before that existence...
True Immortals were no more than insects.
'No.'
'Not even insects.'
'More like dust.'
He had not even witnessed the real thing.
Nor had he sensed a fragment of its power.
It had merely been a projected image.
Yet simply recognizing what it was had nearly shattered his mind and killed him.
"...What was that?"
Taking a deep breath, Jang Woo-hyun asked cautiously.
His entire body trembled uncontrollably.
He clenched his fists tightly in an attempt to stop the shaking.
"The Heaven-Destroying Great Luo Emperor (滅天大羅帝)."
"Urgh."
Simply hearing the name caused Jang Woo-hyun to stagger.
He had already reached the point where merely speaking the names of True Immortals no longer affected him.
Yet the existence whose name he had just heard...
Was on an entirely different level.
Gathering his energy, Jang Woo-hyun barely managed to endure.
"The fastest-growing cultivator. The ruler of all things. The one who became Heaven itself. And the original body of the Three Thousand Radiant Silver Treasure Heavenly Venerable."
"..."
Jang Woo-hyun remained silent and listened.
"He stands at the pinnacle of all cultivators. After ascending to the Upper Realm, he became Heaven itself. By 'Heaven,' I mean the existence that sends down Heavenly Tribulations and stands above every law—the Heavenly Principles themselves."
"Lee Tae-seong told me the Three Thousand Radiant Silver Treasure Heavenly Venerable wasn't dead. Is that connected?"
The silver Dragonkin nodded.
"He was so exceptional that he knew he would eventually become part of Heaven itself. So he divided his consciousness and created an avatar. That avatar became the vanguard of the Myriad Immortal Palace—the Three Thousand Radiant Silver Treasure Heavenly Venerable known as Silver Radiant Thousand Hands."
"What do you mean by saying he orchestrated everything?"
"When there is light, there must also be darkness. That is the law of the world. Humans are no different. The World of Cultivation and the Martial World. If an unbelievably talented cultivator is born in one world, then a martial artist worthy of opposing him must inevitably be born in the Martial World."
Lee Tae-seong.
A martial artist with mediocre talent...
But blessed with the power of regression.
An existence destined to grow strong enough to oppose the Heaven-Destroying Great Luo Emperor.
"Tae-seong believed he was the pinnacle of martial artists. He believed he could stand against that bastard. But he was wrong. That monster had already predicted everything."
The Three Thousand Radiant Silver Treasure Heavenly Venerable had prepared everything.
"It was the Three Thousand Radiant Silver Treasure Heavenly Venerable who used Heaven's power to assist the Ascension of martial artists."
"What? Then are you saying-"
The silver Dragonkin raised a hand, cutting Jang Woo-hyun off.
"There is still more."
"That bastard predicted everything and arranged the entire game. He wanted martial artists to Ascend and fight cultivators. You've noticed it yourself, haven't you? The world never truly progresses, no matter how much time passes."
It was something Jang Woo-hyun himself had questioned.
"He caused that as well. A world where time has stopped can never become a closed world."
A gate could be closed...
Or opened.
When spiritual energy diminished and the Heavenly Gate closed, civilization declined.
Eventually spiritual energy recovered, reconnecting the world to the Middle Realm.
"That endless cycle was the natural order of the world. But once time itself is halted, that cycle becomes impossible. What he did was forcibly keep the Heavenly Gate permanently open."
"What happens if the Heavenly Gate never closes?"
"It continues drawing spiritual energy until the world itself is destroyed."
Seeing Jang Woo-hyun's confusion, the Sighing Heavenly Treasure Dragon continued explaining.
"Have you ever wondered why the Middle Realm contains far more spiritual energy than the Lower Realm?"
Jang Woo-hyun had simply assumed the worlds were created that way.
He had never questioned it.
"The abundant spiritual energy of the Middle Realm is simply the accumulation of energy brought from the Lower Realms. Those who achieved Heavenly Flight and those who achieved Heavenly Ascension became vessels through which countless Lower Realms supplied spiritual energy. When cultivators or martial artists who reached the Middle Realm die before ascending to the Upper Realm, where do you think their spiritual energy goes?"
That spiritual energy had been gathered through cultivation techniques and martial arts.
Naturally...
Once someone died, all of it dispersed.
"It returns to nature."
"Exactly. And the place where all of that accumulated energy gathers... is the Middle Realm."
Cultivators who achieved Heavenly Flight...
And martial artists who achieved Heavenly Ascension...
Were nothing more than vessels that transferred spiritual energy from the Lower Realms.
"So his objective..."
Jang Woo-hyun pieced together everything he had heard.
'The Three Thousand Radiant Silver Treasure Heavenly Venerable stopped the flow of time and forcibly kept the Heavenly Gate open.'
He did not care if the Lower Realms collapsed or were destroyed.
He only wanted to drain every last trace of spiritual energy.
'And his original body became part of Heaven itself—the Heaven that assists martial artists in their Ascension.'
Ascended martial artists served as Heaven's weapons against cultivators.
The more battles that occurred...
The more people died.
And the more spiritual energy accumulated in the Middle Realm.
Which made cultivation within the Middle Realm even easier.
'And he also knew Lee Tae-seong would make his move.'
He had fought Lee Tae-seong...
Yet survived.
If that was true...
Then perhaps the Three Thousand Radiant Silver Treasure Heavenly Venerable was now the only remaining True Immortal in the Upper Realm.
'If everyone else truly died...'
There was only one answer.
After putting everything together, Jang Woo-hyun spoke.
"Silver Radiant Thousand Hands... he's gathering power."
"Exactly. His original body became one with Heaven and can no longer directly use its own strength. It can only twist the established laws. That's why he arranged the entire game."
His avatar, the Three Thousand Radiant Silver Treasure Heavenly Venerable, lacked the power to eliminate every True Immortal and Martial God in the Upper Realm.
So he set the stage.
Even imprisoning Lee Tae-seong with that treasure had been done because he wanted him to grow stronger.
"He used Tae-seong to slaughter the True Immortals and gather all of their power."
"And his objective?"
"The resurrection of his original body—the one that became one with Heaven."
The Heaven-Destroying Great Luo Emperor.
Everything had been orchestrated for the sake of reviving the original body that had become part of the laws governing the world.
"Tae-seong and I prepared to oppose him."
During the final battle, Lee Tae-seong glimpsed the future and learned the truth.
That was why he and the Sighing Heavenly Treasure Dragon prepared what would come next.
"So those spheres of light sent to the reincarnators..."
The silver Dragonkin nodded.
"That's right."
"But the future Tae-seong saw... ended with our defeat."
The Three Thousand Radiant Silver Treasure Heavenly Venerable already knew every preparation Lee Tae-seong had made.
If that monster schemed against them...
Every plan would almost certainly fail.
"Then you appeared."
Even to Lee Tae-seong, who could see the future...
Jang Woo-hyun had appeared out of nowhere.
Unlike everyone else, whose futures were clearly visible...
He alone remained hidden.
"Ordinarily, only one person in each Lower Realm receives one of Tae-seong's fragments."
One fragment had been sent to every Lower Realm.
Yet Jang Woo-hyun and Kim Min-su both came from the same Lower Realm.
Moreover...
They had been born centuries apart.
"An existence beyond even Tae-seong's foresight. If that's the case, then the True Immortals won't know about you either. They'll simply think you're another reincarnator who inherited Tae-seong's power."
Lee Tae-seong immediately altered his plans.
He exhausted every last bit of strength to interfere with the past.
He rewrote his own memories.
He did everything he possibly could.
"He entrusted everything he had prepared... to you."
"What? I didn't receive anything."
"The memories you witnessed weren't ordinary, were they?"
They had been Lee Tae-seong's memories.
Yet they had not unfolded from his own perspective.
Instead...
He had explained every martial art as though leaving behind a record.
Only now did Jang Woo-hyun understand why.
Every martial art.
Every memory.
Had been left behind specifically for him.
"Because your talent shines brighter than anyone else's. Unlike the others, your ability wasn't something Tae-seong left behind."
He was different from the other reincarnators who had gained their talents through Lee Tae-seong's spheres of light.
Jang Woo-hyun's talent had always belonged to him.
The only thing Lee Tae-seong's sphere had given him...
Was the memory of his previous life.
"Then what am I?"
"We don't know either. If you're curious... climb even higher."
The silver hand pointed toward the sky.
"..."
Jang Woo-hyun had learned countless truths.
Yet he still had no answer regarding the origin of his own talent.
Overwhelmed by everything he had learned, he quietly fell into thought.
The Sighing Heavenly Treasure Dragon patiently waited until he had organized his thoughts before speaking again.
"Draw your sword."
The humanoid Sighing Heavenly Treasure Dragon extended his hand toward the Dragon King's Scale in its sword form.
His fingertips transformed into silver mist...
And were absorbed into the Dragon King's Scale.
"This..."
"...is the preparation I made."
It was not something he left behind as Lee Tae-seong's companion.
It was something...
The Sighing Heavenly Treasure Dragon had prepared solely for Jang Woo-hyun.