Editors: Ytho, LaidBackGuy
Although he had decided to head South, he couldn’t go there right away. He hadn’t finished all of his business in the North yet, and he wasn’t certain that it was Crazy Heavenly Demon that he was fated to meet in the North either.
Neither was winter over yet. He had to stay in the North for the rest of this year. Once this year was over, the period of time that the Divine Spirit had predicted would also have passed, so there wouldn’t be any problems even if he left the North.
Just because the next year arrived didn’t mean he would go south either. The 10-year promise he made with Wijihoyeon would be fulfilled next year at the central square in the large city of Rubes on the 14th of March. Lee Sungmin had promised to meet with Wijihoyeon then.
‘What will happen when I meet her?’
He didn’t know. He met Wijihoyeon in the Dungeon a few months ago, but they didn’t get to catch up at that time. But he remembered what Wijihoyeon had said at that time. She had offered to travel together with him. Once he reunited with Wijihoyeon, would they be able to travel South together after that?
He buried the thought into his heart for now.
Lee Sungmin headed back to Travia with Crazy Heavenly Demon. During what remained of this year, he planned on using Travia as his base to take care of some personal business in Travia. After Aine’s raid, he discovered that Freskan had fled to Travia. Lee Sungmin didn’t have much time, and he didn’t want to miss this opportunity. He had to meet Wijihoyeon at the plaza of Rubes and then go south to find out how to use Heoju’s treasures and magic. That alone would take nearly a year, so if he missed this opportunity now, he had no idea when he would get to meet Freskan again.
It wasn’t like his plans were without any danger either. The most uncertain variable was the vampire queen, Geniella. Lee Sungmin was not aware of the relationship between Freskan and Geniella, but a fight between the two in Travia, where she ruled, seemed inevitable.
“Domaksaramura… Domaksaramura… ”
Crazy Heavenly Demon, who was following behind, muttered the mantra given by Lee Sungmin to him under his breath. Looking at him sincerely recite such meaningless spells, Crazy Heavenly Demon seemed surprisingly naive and unsuited to his nickname and rumors. Lee Sungmin suddenly had a thought.
“Sir. According to you, how many people are there who are stronger than you in this world?”
“Huh?”
Crazy Heavenly Demon, who was reciting the mantra diligently, turned his head to look at Lee Sungmin. Crazy Heavenly Demon’s aura, skill, and techniques were so strong that his abilities could never even be compared to that of Wijihoyeon’s doppelganger. If Lee Sungmin had fought against Crazy Heavenly Demon in the dungeon, he would have been killed within an instant.
“You’re right.”
Lee Sungmin was expecting an arrogant answer in a haughty tone, but Crazy Heavenly Demon only laughed as he said.
“The world is wide.”
There was a sense of bitter self-deprecation in the words muttered by Crazy Heavenly Demon. Since he was expecting an arrogant answer, Crazy Heavenly Demon’s real answer made Lee Sungmin feel a little embarrassed. Crazy Heavenly Demon laughed as he looked at Lee Sungmin’s face.
“A martial artist at your level would of course be curious. Who is the best in the world, and where can I find them? How old are you?”
“… Twenty three.”
“Haha! A twenty-three-year-old that has passed beyond the Peak already and watching Transcendence from a distance… I wonder how many people would believe that you’d reached that stage at your age already? Right. Your position is enough to discuss the best in the world.”
Crazy Heavenly Demon said as he laughed heartily.
“It’s enough to realize how absurd the best can be.”
“What do you mean?”
“Everyone has their own mountain, and you won’t know how high you’ve reached until you stand at its peak. ‘I’ve come pretty high’. Those kinds of vague thoughts are only until you reach there. Then you realise something when you stand at the top of the mountain. The mountain you climbed wasn’t actually that high. It was merely a small hill amidst hundreds of loftier peaks.”
Crazy Heavenly Demon said in a bitter voice. The words were not only for Lee Sungmin but also partly meant for himself.
“The world is wide. Maybe you already know. This world… In a world where monstrous non-humans exist, humans are not so great. Those who live for thousands of years. I practiced martial arts for 60 years to reach this level. How many humans can spend 60 years this way? But what if those non-human creatures who live for thousands of years start practicing martial arts? What happens then? What if they also possess genius talent?”
At that statement, Lee Sungmin recalled the ones at the apex of non-human races he had met in the north. The vampire queen, Geniella, had lived 600 years. Juwon, who was called Mad Wolf, must have lived for hundreds of years.
“They are the organisation known as Beyond the Heavens (天外天). These are people who have lived as humans for hundreds of years, and then non-humans who have existed since the beginning.”
Crazy Heavenly Demon said as he took off his coat. A wound from a long sword was deeply engraved on his bare body.
“This is the wound I suffered at the hands of one of the Six Divinities, Zun Zhe (尊者), 10 years ago. Even with my current abilities, I’m still not confident that I can last 100 seconds against him. Perhaps you might meet them in the near future. They often seek out newly famous strong people to test.”
(T/N: 六尊者 6 divinities are uhh jus imagine 6 monks ripped monks standing side by side)
Beyond the Heavens and the Six Divinities. Lee Sungmin couldn’t help but sympathize with the words of Crazy Heavenly Demon. When he was a third-class mercenary, he knew nothing. At the time, the pinnacle of the world to which Lee Sungmin belonged was Xeon, the leader of the Corona Mercenaries. But Xeon had died in vain at Freskan’s hands.
Come to think of it, Lee Sungmin’s world had expanded dramatically since he had gone to Behenger. Compared to his previous life, he met a lot of great people that he hadn’t even heard of before, and through these encounters, Lee Sungmin realized how small his world was and how insignificant his existence was. As Crazy Heavenly Demon said: Even if it was just a peak, only when you climb to the top do you see how high the other mountains are.
‘How high can I go?’
* * *
Wijihoyeon.
She sat cross-legged and looked at the person sitting opposite to her. He was wearing a large bamboo hat and a traditional style cloak. Wijihoyeon, who was wearing the Black Robes she got from the dungeon and the Black Dragon perched on her shoulder, was still overwhelming the space despite her young age. In addition to that, she exuded aura fiercely to intimidate the man.
However, he was calm even when facing Wijihoyeon’s monstrous aura. The two had been sitting in silence in the middle of an old guesthouse with no guests for a long time. It was the man who moved first. He slowly raised his hand and grabbed the cup on the table.
“The tea is cold.”
The man muttered. Misty vapor rose from the tea as he stroked the cup, applying a technique. The man stared at Wijihoyeon’s face from under the bamboo hat while taking a sip of warm tea.
“Can you handle Chang Kao (長考)?”
The man asked. Wijihoyeon sat with her arms folded and did not answer. She burst into a laugh.
“So suddenly?”
“Most meetings are like that.”
The man said with a low laugh as he put the cup down. He took off his hat and placed it aside. The silver hair that was rolled up in the hat tumbled and poured out in waves. Wijihoyeon looked at the man’s elongated ears. Beautiful looks and long, pointed ears that looked rather feminine. The man was an elf.
“Beyond the Heavens is an organization I’ve never heard of.”
“I suppose so. However, it’s true that we exist.”
“Why do you want me to join?”
“You have potential.”
The man looked at her and laughed. It was a sudden meeting. At the guesthouse. Wijihoyeon came in by accident. She felt hungry and thirsty while walking around on the street, so she came into the guesthouse without thinking. The man was already inside at that time. Then he approached Wijihoyeon and started talking to her.
He said he was from Beyond the Heavens.
Wijihoyeon opened her mouth and spoke.
“I’m not here because of Chang Kao. I was just bored is all. It’s unpleasant too, you know… You already knew. You were sitting here waiting for me.”
“Right.”
“But I don’t know you. I don’t even know what Beyond the Heavens is. So it’s unpleasant and off-putting.”
“I apologize for the delay in introducing myself if it offended you.”
The man shrugged.
“I am Qian Zun, one of the prominent leaders among the Six Divinities of Beyond the Heavens.”
(T/N: he uses 末席 Moxi to describe his position, and if I take a guess at it, he might be second-in-command. His name 拳尊 Qian zun translates to Fist Master if u take it literally)
Beyond the Heavens, Six Divinities, Qian Zun. Wijihoyeon muttered the names silently. Although she seemed composed on the surface, Wijihoyeon was experiencing some confusion. This was the first time she heard the name of a group called Beyond the Heavens. It was also the first she had heard of Qian Zun and the Six Divinities.
‘It’s surprising.’
It had been almost ten years since she came to Eria. Wijihoyeon had never experienced difficulties or danger in this world. All the people whom Wijihoyeon met were weaker than her. The boss monster of the dungeon was rather strong, but it was still weaker than Wijihoyeon.
But what about the man in front of her? She had never seen any Elves before, but that didn’t mean Wijihoyeon did not know anything about them. Elf. A race that lives for 1,000 years, dwelling in forests. Wijihoyeon asked, tilting her head to the side.
“I wasn’t offended because I don’t know who you are. Six Divinities, Qian Zun… That’s not what I’m curious about. But just what is this Beyond the Heavens?”
“We don’t pursue anything. It’s just… lonely, isn’t it? When you stand at the top for a while, you will inevitably feel lonely. That solitude often brings madness.”
Qian Zun said with a smile.
“I’ve lived four hundred years already. Most of those four hundred years were devoted to training martial arts… Hu-hu! I have no choice but to go crazy. The elven race lives too long. I have lived for four hundred years, and I still have more lifespan left in the future than I have already lived.”
“Get lost.”
Wijihoyeon nodded at Qian Zun’s words and replied. Qian Zun’s smile disappeared.
“Did I hear wrong?”
“No. You heard me. Get lost.”
Wijihoyeon said so and grabbed the cup in front of her. She gulped down the cold tea in one go and stood up.
“I don’t want to join some group that doesn’t even get together for fun. And by the way, people who avoid giving answers directly are always upsetting.”
“There’s no way I tell you everything from the beginning right now.”
Qian Zun said while straightening out his distorted expression. Wijihoyeon burst into laughter at that remark.
“See. There’s a reason you can’t tell me everything openly. You smell bad, and not just a little. It’s a very bad smell.”
“Looks like I took the wrong approach.”
Qian Zun muttered as he stood up. The cloak that he was wearing began to shake wildly. His aura, which was calm just a moment ago, flared up violently like a storm with Qian Zun at the center.
“I’ve been talking to you calmly, thinking you were someone with potential, but you have no manners. It would be good to teach you some etiquette before talking.”
“You’re a strange one, huh.”
Wijihoyeon said with a smile.
“I said no and insulted you, and yet you’re not thinking of killing me but still want me to join Beyond the Heavens. Why would you be going this far?”
Qian Zun did not answer. Wijihoyeon chuckled as she watched him emitting his aura. She raised her hand and grabbed her nose.
“I told you. It stinks.”
It also smelled of blood. The smell coming from the guesthouse kitchen was full of it. When Wijihoyeon entered the guesthouse, there was nobody inside except for Qian Zun. Only two teacups were laid out. It’s not that she was angry because he killed the innocent owner and server. But, it was annoying to be cornered by him this way.
“As for speech,”
Wijihoyeon raised her hand, and Black Dragon wrapped itself around her arm.
“It is yours that is disrespectful.”
Following the sound of loud laughter, the building behind collapsed.
*****
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