Chapter 350 ·The Real Plan
Chapter 350: The Real Plan
Hearing the Black Sphere's words, Jang Woo-hyun quickly turned his head to one side.
He sensed an enormous power in the distance. It was not just one or two.
Even by rough estimation, there were thousands of them. Although they were unimaginably far away, Jang Woo-hyun somehow instinctively knew exactly where those powers had appeared.
'Those are the places I passed through.'
The world where the Beastkin cats had lived. The planet where the Wood Spirit Clan had slept before it was destroyed.
Every location where he sensed those immense waves of power was somewhere Jang Woo-hyun had previously visited while collecting the fragments and remnants of the True Immortals.
'He deliberately left power behind.'
He had always wondered why the Three Thousand Radiant Silver Treasure Heavenly Venerable had left behind the fragments and remnants of the beings from the Upper Realm instead of collecting them.
Only now did he understand.
'It's connected to what's happening now.'
Jang Woo-hyun did not know every location, but every place where those immense waves of power originated was most likely a destroyed world.
Or a place where fragments or remnants of a True Immortal still remained.
Even the Immortal Emperors and the Seven Great Sages stopped fighting as they sensed the power.
【Has the gate been opened?】
Regardless of friend or foe, everyone nodded at the Sword Cultivation Immortal Emperor's words.
The fluctuations of power had changed.
At the same time, they all sensed it.
Far away, gates connecting to other worlds had opened.
The number of gates was 2,713.
Exactly the same number of times Lee Tae-seong had regressed.
An overwhelming amount of power flowed toward a single location.
The vanished Three Thousand Radiant Silver Treasure Heavenly Venerable reappeared as he absorbed that power.
Before anyone could even grasp the situation, a gigantic silver figure suddenly appeared in the middle of the universe.
And it continued growing larger.
Rumble—
Simply turning his head distorted space itself.
The gaze of the Three Thousand Radiant Silver Treasure Heavenly Venerable settled upon Son Goku.
【Buddhas, did you truly think I would not know?】
He spoke to the Buddhas of the Buddha Realm, who were sending their power through Son Goku.
【I was already aware of the Buddha Realm's plan.】
Since he knew the Eight-Leaf Gods had noticed his existence, he had instead decided to make use of their power.
The Three Thousand Radiant Silver Treasure Heavenly Venerable had arranged an entirely new game.
He resurrected the Immortal Emperors and waited for Jang Woo-hyun to use the Golden Lotus.
Just as planned, the Great Monsters receiving power from the Buddha Realm clashed with the Immortal Emperors.
As a result of that battle, an enormous crack naturally formed within the Upper Realm.
Through that crack, the Three Thousand Radiant Silver Treasure Heavenly Venerable was finally able to make contact with another timeline he had prepared long ago.
【I am the one who sees all things, and the one who knows all things.】
He had predicted and calculated everything.
Everything Lee Tae-seong had prepared.
Even the assistance of the Buddha Realm.
Every single event had unfolded within the plan devised by the Three Thousand Radiant Silver Treasure Heavenly Venerable.
【Fools. Such utter fools. How dare you oppose a god? I shall punish you all.】
Rumble!!
Merely speaking unleashed a galactic storm.
Stars lost their light and exploded.
The power he displayed now had already surpassed that of those known as the Immortal Emperors.
【What is the meaning of this... Silver Radiant Thousand Hands. Vanguard of the Palace of Myriad Immortals, just what is happeni—】
【Your role is over. Disappear.】
Boom!!
An overwhelming invisible pressure shook everyone's vision.
It felt as though their entire bodies were being crushed.
A tremendous force pulled everyone—including the Immortal Emperors—toward him.
The first to react amidst the confusion was the Wind-Passing Great Sage.
"Big Brother! Sixth Brother! Youngest Brother!"
Calling out to his brothers, he activated his power.
A powerful wind spread outward from him.
The Roc Demon King immediately spread his wings after realizing his intentions.
The Macaque Demon King used his movement technique.
Son Goku performed a Daoist art and created five-colored clouds.
The Wind-Passing Great Sage moved while carrying everyone except the Immortal Emperors.
His speed was so overwhelming that it felt as though not merely space, but every world itself had stopped.
Rumble—
Yet they could not escape the enemy's attack.
Their speed steadily decreased.
A gravitational force powerful enough to twist and swallow space itself dragged the Wind-Passing Great Sage backward.
"Faster!"
He urged his brothers onward, but nothing changed.
Instead of advancing, they were being dragged backward.
At the same time, an overwhelming pressure descended from every direction, crushing everything.
It felt as though they had been trapped within the palm of an invisible giant.
The moment he realized escape was impossible...
Just as he prepared to counterattack, the constellation ahead began to stir.
'It's coming.'
Looking closer, it was not a constellation.
It was a dragon.
It looked as though an entire section of the star-filled night sky had been torn away and shaped into the form of a dragon.
The Sighing Heavenly Treasure Dragon.
After sending Jang Woo-hyun to the Palace of Myriad Immortals, the Dragon King's Scale that had destroyed the Grand Heavenly Net Ship had devoured the Divine True Iron and regained its former appearance.
Using the enemy's gravitational force against it, the Sighing Heavenly Treasure Dragon shot forward, swallowed everyone whole, then joined forces with the Great Monsters and fled toward an unimaginably distant location.
Everything happened within a single instant.
Only after passing hundreds of millions of stars did they finally understand what had happened.
━━━━━━━━!!
An enormous silver hand grasped an entire section of the galaxy.
The universe itself was crushed.
Dozens of planetary systems, along with countless stars, vanished.
A single strike.
Five Immortal Emperors, beings who stood at the pinnacle of the Upper Realm, were annihilated.
BOOOOOOM!!
The spreading shockwave distorted the very laws of the universe.
Brilliant stars lost their light.
The rotational axes of planets spun wildly out of control.
Asteroids fused together and even transformed into unknown lifeforms.
"..."
Not a single person spoke.
None of them had ever witnessed power on such a scale.
They simply stared at that distant silver hand capable of crushing dozens of planetary systems in a single grasp.
The Three Thousand Radiant Silver Treasure Heavenly Venerable and the five Immortal Emperors were inside it.
【Tae-seong's prediction was wrong.】
Amid everyone's shock and bewilderment, the Sighing Heavenly Treasure Dragon finally spoke.
The voice they heard now was no longer Noh Woon-ryeo's.
It was his original voice.
【Noh Woon-ryeo sensed the power of the fragments. The destroyed worlds that remained were deliberately left behind by him. Power from other worlds is gathering here.】
Having inherited Noh Woon-ryeo's memories and regained his former strength, the Sighing Heavenly Treasure Dragon immediately understood what had happened.
"What are you talking about? Explain it slowly so we can understand."
The Seven Great Sages, Muk Geom-yeong, and Zhang Sanfeng simply listened without interrupting, unable to grasp the situation.
【The destroyed worlds we passed through were intentionally left behind by him.】
"For what purpose?"
【To divide the power of the True Immortals and send it to other worlds. Those surviving worlds became coordinates.】
"Coordinates? What do you mean by that?"
【Can't you feel that gates have just opened?】
Instead of answering, Jang Woo-hyun nodded.
2,713.
Exactly the same number as Lee Tae-seong's regressions.
Dimensional Gates had opened, and unimaginable power was flowing through them.
【2,713. Those gates are connected to other worlds. More precisely, they are worlds where time continued after Tae-seong died.】
Lee Tae-seong had lived 2,714 lives.
Even after he died, those worlds remained intact.
Time continued flowing.
Since the present timeline was his final life, there were 2,713 different timelines still existing.
【The battle that took place in the Upper Realm a thousand years ago created cracks capable of crossing dimensions. Silver Radiant Thousand Hands divided the power of the dead True Immortals and sent it into those other worlds.】
And now, using the remaining traces of the True Immortals in this timeline as coordinates, he was summoning all of that power back.
【He predicted everything and used our own strength against us.】
He had even anticipated the Seven Great Sages receiving power from the Buddha Realm.
He wanted another massive battle to occur.
That was why he resurrected the Immortal Emperors.
【The battle from earlier created another crack in the Upper Realm. It became possible to interfere with other timelines once again.】
That was the true reason he had resurrected the Immortal Emperors and even helped Jang Woo-hyun so that the Golden Lotus could bring the Seven Great Sages, Muk Geom-yeong, and Zhang Sanfeng into the Upper Realm.
"Then why is he gathering the power of every world? Can his True Body be resurrected with that power?"
The Sighing Heavenly Treasure Dragon hesitated briefly, as if even he was shaken by what he had learned.
【Tae-seong's prediction was wrong. He isn't trying to resurrect the True Body.】
"What? Then what does he want?"
【The Three Thousand Radiant Silver Treasure Heavenly Venerable intends to become the new Great Luo Emperor Who Destroys Heaven.】
Just as Noh Woon-ryeo's remnant had dreamed of resurrection...
The Avatar intended to abandon its True Body altogether and become an entirely new existence.
"What..."
Jang Woo-hyun was left speechless.
He had never imagined such a possibility.
The Three Thousand Radiant Silver Treasure Heavenly Venerable had never sought resurrection.
He sought the birth of an entirely new god.
Jang Woo-hyun remained silent for a long while after hearing the shocking truth.
Watching him quietly, the Wind-Passing Great Sage finally spoke.
"What in the world are you talking about? Explain it so we can understand too. And..."
He looked at Jang Woo-hyun and grinned.
The corners of his mouth stretched all the way to his ears.
"Jang Woo-hyun."
For some reason, his smile only grew wider.
"Just what kind of monster have you been fighting all this time?"
There was neither fear nor confusion in his question.
'He's unbelievably consistent.'
Even after witnessing a being capable of crushing part of a galaxy in a single move, he was excited.
To the Wind-Passing Great Sage, both the Three Thousand Radiant Silver Treasure Heavenly Venerable and the Great Luo Emperor Who Destroys Heaven were merely new opponents.
Seeing that reaction, Jang Woo-hyun let out a hollow laugh.
Looking at the grinning monkey Great Monster made him feel foolish for having been so tense and worried.
Eventually, he regained his composure and looked at those standing atop the Sighing Heavenly Treasure Dragon.
Six of the Seven Great Sages.
Muk Geom-yeong.
Zhang Sanfeng.
Every one of them was an extraordinary existence.
Meeting each of their gazes in turn, he slowly spoke.
"Our enemy is a True Immortal who is the Avatar of the Great Luo Emperor Who Destroys Heaven."
As Jang Woo-hyun was about to explain the situation, the Sighing Heavenly Treasure Dragon interrupted him.
【I'll explain it.】
At the same moment, a glowing sphere floated up beneath everyone's feet.
The sphere stored memories and could rapidly transmit information.
It could not reveal everything about Lee Tae-seong or all the secrets of the world.
However, what it contained was more than enough to help them understand the current situation.
【Hold the sphere, and you'll understand everything I just said.】
Without the slightest hesitation, everyone reached out and grasped the glowing sphere.
As the light seeped into them and vanished, information poured directly into their minds.
Who their current enemy was.
How powerful he was.
What he intended to accomplish.
Though brief, the information contained only the most crucial truths.
The transfer ended almost instantly.
The moment they fully understood the situation...
Even the Great Monsters and the absolute masters of the Middle Heaven Martial World turned grim.
"The Great Luo Emperor Who Destroys Heaven."
Merely speaking the name caused space itself to tremble.
Their bodies shuddered.
This enemy existed on a level completely incomparable to ordinary True Immortals.
"Do we even have a chance? His power is still growing."
The Macaque Demon King pointed toward the enormous silver hand in the distance.
【Right now, he's absorbing the power of the Immortal Emperors. He resurrected them from the very beginning solely to create those dimensional cracks.】
He had intended to absorb everything once it was all over.
【Once the absorption is complete, he'll begin moving. Then he'll continue growing stronger through the power flowing in from the other worlds. Right now is the weakest he will ever be.】
"Then we have no choice but to fight."
Everyone nearby agreed with the Wind-Passing Great Sage.
There was no time to prepare or wait for another opportunity.
The Three Thousand Radiant Silver Treasure Heavenly Venerable would only continue growing stronger as time passed, this moment offered them the greatest chance they would ever have to defeat him.