Chapter 121

Had a good rest.

When I woke up in the morning, Choseol’s body was moving super smoothly. Maybe pushed it a bit too hard yesterday.

After getting ready to leave the room, I immediately grabbed my backpack and headed out of the inn.

Even though I didn’t leave a tip, the innkeeper treated me with such respect until I left—it was pretty satisfying. If there were ratings, this place gets five stars.

Also, he prepared some preserved food for me—like toasted millet flour or something. With this, I can travel for quite a while.

Holding the Western-style gas lamp that somehow feels brighter than when I first picked it up, I head north.

If I keep going straight north and then veer northwest, I’ll hit Kunlun Mountain. But even though it’s called “Kunlun,” it’s not like Seoul Station or anything—it’s way deep inside.

There are three distinct areas: where humans live, where monks dwell, and where immortals reside.

The further you go into these deeper regions, the more drastically the levels of civilization and technology diverge. Especially in the immortal realm, their tech is on par with—or even surpasses—the worlds from my faded memories, which have existed for eons.

So, entering properly is definitely the easiest option.

I’d just barge in if I could meet them directly, but…

Looking through the memories of monks and immortals, there doesn’t seem to be any secret backdoor, so I’ll have to go head-on.

While planning what to do next, I stroll down the midday streets. Weirdly, people keep staring at me.

At first, I thought maybe it was because I’m tall, but following their gazes, they’re actually looking at the lamp I’m carrying.

Yeah, walking around during the day with a lit lamp does look kinda strange. Not only does it waste fuel, but it also heats up.

But this light stays cool no matter how long it shines.

And as the sun set, those weird stares disappeared.

It’s less about fewer weird looks and more about almost nobody being out on the streets at night.

Occasionally, a drunkard passes by or someone working late trudges home with a deadpan face.

Since the main road takes a detour, I cut through a smaller alley to quickly escape the city. But not far into it, a group blocks my path from both sides.

“Hey, lady. How come you’ve been walking nonstop all day?”

“We heard you’re loaded with gold. So, sorry, but…”

“Master? What do you mean? Hey! What are you trying to…”

Seven men total. Three of them look like teenagers.

Their numbers are too small for me to make another golden creation like last time. Last time, I could act purely on impulse since everyone was a stranger, but here, most know each other, and there’s some semblance of order.

Not the right situation to cause chaos again.

Just as I’m thinking how to deal with them, suddenly, their words trail off and their expressions grow vacant.

As the lamp glows an eerie pale blue, they’re drawn toward it like moths, reaching out to touch it.

Then, they shrink like they’re being compressed, dissolving into the liquid inside the lamp.

Plop.

Suddenly, someone falls from the roof.

“Uh, uh…”

Wait. There weren’t seven of them.

Counting everyone… thirteen.

Some fell from rooftops, others slowly approached from distant places.

One by one, they reach out to touch the lamp, getting sucked in and becoming fuel.

Finally, even the kid who seemed to be keeping watch gets pulled in.

Nice. Quick cleanup.

This thing really is great. No need for me to do anything, and it automatically tidies up.

Simple and effective.

Hmm?

Correction.

Fourteen total.

From a corner, a faint light catches my eye. When I approach, a child cowers under their clothes, trembling.

Like an ostrich from my faded memories. Does hiding your face make danger go away?

No real desire to clean up enthusiastically, so I let them be.

More importantly, this new toy works wonderfully.

By absorbing people, I gain warmth and memories. Though not as complete as killing someone outright, even this little bit is valuable.

Definitely useful.

Time to craft items.

Never thought of this before.

My guess is that creating something human-shaped might be impossible.

Monsters like this one exist because of urban legends first, and then the monster itself comes into being.

This one was designed to lure people with its light at night and eat them.

When you crush such a monster and turn it into an object, you get something that lures people with light and consumes them.

So, monsters born from legends can potentially become awesome tools like this.

Plus, it tricks people into thinking it’s just a regular item.

Next time, I should go hunting for these kinds of creatures.

But not now.

Destination: Kunlun Mountain.

Goal: Primordial Heavenly Sovereign.

If Tongcheon Daegon is an outsider from another world, then the Primordial Heavenly Sovereign and immortals are likely native lifeforms from this world.

Though there’s still a chance they came from another world too.

Anyway, if they possess the ability to defeat someone who crossed over from another world like Daegon, they might also have the capability to move between worlds themselves.

That’s why I’m traveling this long distance to meet them.

Gradually, the moment of meeting draws closer.

Carrying the pale glowing lamp, I cross alleys and head toward the city gate.

Glad to pass through this city quickly.

***

Breaking through nature, crossing cities several times.

During this journey, I observed those who sealed me.

The first to arrive at Huashan Sect was Wonho-gong. However, instead of listening to him, Huashan immediately detained him.

Apparently, Huashan Sect is in bad shape. This is because, from their perspective, O Myeong-seong—who harbored Reverse Heaven Demon Energy and fell to corruption—was originally part of Huashan Sect.

Huashan Sect is very unstable.

First, Yoo Jo-young, the leader of Huashan Sect, passed away shortly after the Five Great Peaks Sects competition ended.

He had just won the tournament and became the leader of the Five Great Peaks Sects, but mere days later, he was assassinated.

The murderer turned out to be O Myeong-seong, who had succumbed to Reverse Heaven Demon Energy.

In reality, Yoo Jo-young attacked O Myeong-seong after hearing rumors that his daughter had been killed by him.

On the day of the attack, Yoo Jo-young screamed, asking why O Myeong-seong killed his daughter.

But O Myeong-seong didn’t kill her.

Someone fabricated the rumor, and Yoo Jo-young fell for it.

Since it’s confirmed that his daughter died at that time, losing his child likely drove him to lose control and lash out in anger.

Thus, Yoo Jo-young started a meaningless fight based on deception.

Overpowered by O Myeong-seong’s martial arts, Yoo Jo-young took Gumi-mil as a hostage and nearly finished off O Myeong-seong.

However, at the critical moment, O Myeong-seong activated the Harvesting System.

Regenerating all wounds, he defeated Yoo Jo-young.

Later, when O Myeong-seong went to the temple to tell the truth, no one believed him.

Instead, the story remained that O Myeong-seong had fallen to the dark side and killed the sect leader.

So when another corrupted person appeared, Huashan Sect dismissed Wonho-gong entirely.

Yeah.

They killed Wonho-gong. Even as he died, he kept pleading for justice for his disciple, whom he believed was killed by Jeongchiljin.

With no further signs of attention, it’s unclear how Huashan Sect will act. But judging by the faces Wonho-gong saw through his vision…

The ending won’t be good.

They clearly looked annoyed, unwilling to get involved in messy affairs.

Wonho-gong’s final wish is highly likely to be ignored and forgotten.

Meanwhile, Cheonbaek of Taeshan Sect acted completely differently.

Returning to Taeshan Sect, despite his changed appearance, he insisted there was something important he needed to share with the elders. He recounted his experiences.

The elders embraced him, helping him conceal his altered form.

His bluish skin was impossible to hide entirely.

Taeshan Sect fully trusted Cheonbaek and planned to seek vengeance against Songsan Sect under their banner.

Incidentally, the leader of Taeshan Sect had led disciples on a mission to exterminate the evil cult and hasn’t returned yet. Once he does, this momentum might be halted, but according to reactions around him, this elder is known to be extremely upright and unyielding.

Ideally, some cracks within the Five Great Peaks Sects and even the Murim Alliance would be beneficial.

Those cracks would divert attention away from Kunlun.

Lastly, Songsan Sect.

The leader of the Five Great Peaks Sects alliance belongs to Songsan Sect, and Vice-Leader Jeongchiljin is also from Songsan Sect.

During the Five Great Peaks leadership tournament, Jeongchiljin lost mid-battle and even went blind. However, due to Yoo Jo-young’s sudden death, Jeongchiljin became the leader by default.

He joined the Murim Alliance and climbed to a high position within it. Still, being blind, most duties were handled by Vice-Leader Jeongchiljin.

Who holds the real power is obvious.

Moreover, Jeongchiljin returned to Songsan Sect wielding the Makya Sword.

Claiming that I used the Makya Sword to slaughter everyone there, fought him to a draw, and fled.

Samabak grew enraged.

Yet, the members of Songsan Sect chose to believe Jeongchiljin over Samabak.

Now, Samabak has blue skin.

Perfect for spreading slander.

The Evil Cult uses necromancy to reanimate corpses, attempting to split Songsan Sect.

Between the Songsan Sect authority figure making this claim and the blue-skinned man denying it…

It’s obvious whose story is more convincing.

Songsan Sect rushed to attack Samabak. However, unlike Wonho-gong, Samabak managed to escape safely.

And that day…

A man seeking revenge against Jeongchiljin was born.

By the way, I’m currently sending him the Celestial Horse Art. Given Samabak’s strong sense of self, I’m unsure if he’ll fully absorb the memory, but if he does, he’ll gain the power to exact revenge.

Huashan Sect remains silent, Taeshan Sect rises against injustice, and Songsan Sect lets falsehoods become truth.

Even within the Murim Alliance, the Five Great Peaks Sects are fractured.

And I remember an old report from the Celestial Horse Sect.

It mentioned someone suspected to be from the government monitoring the Celestial Horse Religion.

Now the Celestial Horse Religion is gone, leaving only the massive force of the Murim Alliance. There’s no other major power left in the Jianghu.

According to faded memories, ancient China often saw warlords easily establish new nations.

Dangerous elements, right?

Some flickering memories suggest that if they had common sense, they’d try to divide and weaken us.

But I don’t care how the Jianghu turns out. Whether the government intervenes sensibly or stays silent, it makes no difference to me.

There’s no need to orchestrate things like in the past.

All I need is to reach Kunlun.

So please…

I hope no one blocks my path.

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