Chapter 203. The One Who’ll Be Struck by Lightning and Die (3)

Startled by the unexpected situation, I hesitated for a moment, and the old man showed an interested expression.

“Hoh. For a fellow who has not yet ascended to the Heavenly Realm to have already opened his eyes. What a curious child you are.”

This too was similar to what the old master Sun Moon Divine Sword had said to me.

“Do you know about this eye?”

The old man chuckled.

“Are you telling me you’ve been living without even knowing what your own eyeball is?”

“……”

“Well, it is likely that almost no one in the Lower Realm knows about it.”

The old man smiled mischievously.

An expression like a child plotting some mischief.

It might not have suited his wrinkled face, but it was quite natural.

He seemed to be an old man with a very whimsical personality.

“What do you think ‘opened’ means? It means you have become able to communicate with the world.”

“Is there no specific name for it?”

“In the Buddhist school, it is sometimes called by names like Heavenly Eye or Buddha’s Eye.”

“I have never followed the teachings of the Buddhist school.”

“You are an impatient child. When did I ever say that only the children of the Buddhist school can open their eyes?”

The old man stroked his beard and added.

“It is rare for an eyeball to open, and there are slight differences among those who have opened it, so they are called whatever one fancies according to their characteristics. Some are called the Thousand-li Eye. Some are the Mind’s Eye. And the eyeballs of a certain crazy stone monkey are called the Fiery Eyes Golden Gaze.”

Saying that, the old man brought his face close to mine and sniffed.

“Now that I look at you, you are a truly curious fellow. Your eye is open, but it is not completely open. Well, if your eyes were completely open, there would be no way you would still be lingering in the Lower Realm.”

Then the old man tilted his head.

“Hmm?”

The old man came even closer and sniffed very roughly, like an animal smelling its prey.

“Sniff. Sniff sniff. I can smell the faint scent of that fellow, Sun Moon, on you.”

Then the old man’s eyes widened, and he burst into a crazed laugh by himself.

“Hahahaha! So it was you! It was you!”

“What was me?”

“Aren’t you the one that fellow, Sun Moon, chose?”

I began to wonder if that old man’s nose was open, just as my eye was.

“Do you know the old master Sun Moon Divine Sword?”

“Heheheh. You could call us bad friends.”

Having sniffed his fill, the old man now pulled back and stroked his beard again with a playful expression.

“Heheheh. He kept it a secret from me until the end. To think he would use that precious item on a brat like this.”

Sensing that he knew something, I asked the old man.

“Used what? What is that?”

“You don’t need to know. If I explain it in detail, we won’t be able to talk anymore.”

From the way the old man spoke, it seemed there was some kind of restriction.

So I asked something else.

“Then, by any chance, did the old master Sun Moon Divine Sword also open this eye for me?”

“Hmph. What kind of crazy talk is that? If an eye was something that could be opened and closed at will, then all the fellows in the Heavenly Realm would have their eyes open too.”

Then it seemed this eye had opened independently of the old master Sun Moon Divine Sword.

“Heheheh. Usually, when fellows are about to ascend to the Heavenly Realm, one or two places are bound to open. Where that will be differs from person to person. Well, there are cases where it opens for a very brief moment, like a life flashing before one’s eyes or a final radiance, right before they croak.”

Thanks to the old man’s subsequent words, one possibility came to mind.

The final battle with the Number One Sword of Yunnan, the Jade Cloud Master.

My eye had opened on the threshold of life and death.

Perhaps, I was originally fated to die then.

If the old master Sun Moon Divine Sword hadn’t appeared right before my death.

Could it be that the old master Sun Moon Divine Sword sent me back to the past to make use of my eye that had briefly opened just before death?

Then what was the old master Sun Moon Divine Sword’s real purpose?

To solve that mystery, I asked the old man.

“Then, by any chance, do you know? What was the task the old master Sun Moon Divine Sword was trying to entrust to me?”

“Hmm? From your scent, it seems you are already entangled, but you don’t even know what you’re supposed to do?”

The old man wore an expression as if wondering what kind of person I was.

“The old master Sun Moon Divine Sword said he had no time and… just left. Along with the words that I should live as I have lived.”

I omitted the part about being sent back to the past. Just in case.

It didn’t seem to be of much use.

The old man let out a chuckle as if he knew everything.

“To live as you have lived. Heheheh. You’re quite the blockhead yourself.”

“……”

Coming from an old man who seemed crazy no matter how I looked at him, those words were quite unpleasant.

The old man, who seemed to be pondering something, spoke again with a mischievous smile.

“It is a shame that the last tie with the Lower Realm has disappeared, but this is for the better. This will be a good opportunity to put that fellow, Sun Moon, in my debt. It will be a profitable business.”

After muttering some incomprehensible words, the old man looked at me and opened his mouth.

“I cannot speak for long, so open your ears and listen carefully. The Heavenly Realm and the Lower Realm are severed worlds. However, those who have ascended from the Lower Realm to the Heavenly Realm can leave behind a single tie.”

As soon as I heard that, the manual of the old master Sun Moon Divine Sword came to mind.

And the blade I had just held as well.

It seemed the manual was the old master’s last tie, and this blade was also this old man’s last tie.

“In the past, during the time when I or that fellow Sun Moon were active, there were quite a few who ascended to the Heavenly Realm. But for the last few hundred years, there has been almost no one who has ascended to the Heavenly Realm. What do you think is the reason for that?”

An unexpected question. Since it seemed there wasn’t much time, I answered as it came to mind.

“Is it because outstanding individuals kept ascending to the Heavenly Realm, breaking the lineage?”

Perhaps because of the restriction, the old man gave a nonsensical answer to my question.

“A Ten-Thousand Year Snow Ginseng. A Ten-Thousand Year Hwali. Do you know why they are called that? It is because they have actually contained energy for a very long time. This world is a place so old that it is difficult for humans to comprehend. And those who have learned things like martial arts or immortal arts have begun to covet that energy.”

“Are you saying that because of the energy people have consumed over the years, there haven’t been any individuals worthy of ascending to the Heavenly Realm?”

As expected, the old man did not answer my question.

“Do you know this? Just as in the Lower Realm, the immortal beings of the Heavenly Realm also have complicated relationships. Then, one day, one of them used their last tie to transmit some knowledge to the Lower Realm. Another way to become strong quickly, to make up for the now-depleted energy of the Lower Realm.”

After saying that, the old man grinned and added one more thing.

“Of course, due to the restriction, it was not a complete method.”

An expression as if to say, do you understand now?

Suddenly, the words the old man had said a moment ago came to mind.

– Hmm? From your scent, it seems you are already entangled, but you don’t even know what you’re supposed to do?

Those who were already entangled with me.

Knowledge that allowed one to become strong quickly through a shortcut.

“Don’t tell me you’re talking about that demonic art and strange technique that the Demonic Cult members are spreading?”

As expected, the old man did not answer my question.

He was merely wearing a mischievous smile.

Was the time already up? Or was it because of the clues the old man had given like a Zen riddle?

The old man’s figure was becoming blurry.

Realizing the end was approaching, I quickly shouted.

“Where is their base!!”

At my question, the old man shook his head from side to side.

“Give it up. If you go looking for that place with your current skills, it will only result in a dog’s death.”

After saying that, the old man added one last thing with another mischievous smile.

“Still, if you master the martial arts of that fellow, Sun Moon, you should be able to deal with that bastard.”

With a ‘CRACK’ sound as if something was breaking, the old man’s figure completely disappeared.

“Elder!!!”

I shouted urgently, but the old man did not reappear.

Instead, a groan was heard from beside me.

“Keuk.”

When I turned my head, I saw Paeng Daecheol clutching his forehead.

Had he regained some of his senses?

Paeng Daecheol immediately sat in a cross-legged position and began circulating energy to heal his injuries.

“Senior Brother! Are you alright?”

“Hahaha. Brother Jin saved that crazy bastard who was dying to get struck by lightning!”

I spoke to my companions who were rushing over.

“I am fine. If we make a commotion, this person might be in danger, so let’s quietly step back for now.”

Since he was in the middle of treating his internal injuries, he could die if we carelessly disturbed him.

I looked down at him with my mouth shut.

Actually, there was another reason why I told my companions to be quiet.

It was to organize the conversation I had with that old man in my head.

To summarize the information I heard from the old man, there were two main things.

One was my eye.

According to the old man, it wasn’t completely open yet.

The sight I saw in the battle with Wi Mugyeol last time came to mind.

And adding my experiences so far, I came to one conclusion.

I began to think that as I raised my realm through training, I might become able to freely read the thoughts of others.

And the second piece of information was about the Demonic Cult.

It was because of one of the damned immortal beings of the Heavenly Realm that the Demonic Cult members had begun to spread their demonic arts.

I didn’t hear the purpose of that damned immortal being, but I could roughly infer it.

He probably wanted people to ascend to the Heavenly Realm through the demonic arts.

Since there seemed to be power struggles within the Heavenly Realm, it seemed like a scheme to increase his own allies.

A hollow laugh suddenly escaped my lips.

It was because the last words of the old master Sun Moon Divine Sword came to mind.

He told me to live as I wanted to live.

The reason the old master Sun Moon Divine Sword chose me wasn’t just because of this eye I gained right before death.

The old master Sun Moon Divine Sword said so because he recognized my temperament.

Because with my personality, there was no way I would have just left the Demonic Cult members alone.

In the end, it was because of this temperament that the old master Sun Moon Divine Sword gave me a chance.

According to the old man, even using some item that was very precious in the Heavenly Realm.

To repay that favor, I had to deal with the Demonic Cult members somehow.

It was for the better. I had no intention of letting those trashy bastards be anyway.

Naturally, the old man’s last words came to mind.

With my current skills, I cannot kill ‘that guy’.

I began to think he was probably talking about the Cult Leader.

It seemed I had to somehow improve my skills until I could find their base.

Until I mastered the Sun Moon Infinite Sword.

It felt both far and near.

There were only two forms of the Sun Moon Infinite Sword left.

But I didn’t know how long it would take to learn them.

Because in any field, the higher the realm, the more difficult it becomes to climb.

But it wasn’t something I could give up on. I had to learn those two forms somehow.

Around that time I had roughly organized my thoughts.

Paeng Daecheol, who had been sitting cross-legged, snapped his eyes open.

Perhaps because of the martial art he had learned, a flash of Thunder Qi really swirled in his eyes before disappearing.

The gaze of the man who had regained his senses immediately turned to me.

“The, the Thunder Dragon Blade!! Give me back the Thunder Dragon Blade!!”

The man who had hastily gotten up rushed at me.

Since I had no intention of taking it, I gladly handed it over.

For a moment, the man who had received the Thunder Dragon Blade inspected it.

Suddenly, he began to shed tears.

“No… No!! The Thunder Essence, the Thunder Essence!!”

That Dang Clan guy muttered with a grim expression.

“Ah, has he still not recovered from qi deviation?”

At first, I thought so too.

But the man was wailing like a beast that had lost its child, stroking a part of the Thunder Dragon Blade.

Below the hilt of the Thunder Dragon Blade. A yellow gem embedded in the blade.

Upon closer inspection, the gem was cracked and full of fissures.

Only then did I realize.

The identity of the ‘CRACK’ sound that had echoed as the old man disappeared.

I had thought it was just the world connected to the old man breaking.

But it turned out that the medium, that gem, had broken.

That Dang Clan guy also noticed the gem late and asked cautiously.

“Ahem. Is, is that gem called the Thunder Essence such an important item?”

Paeng Daecheol had a fit.

“Are you even saying that as a question right now!! Without this, I can’t learn the Thunder Heart Art anymore!!”

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