Chapter 125

And after waiting and waiting, finally Boshin Jinin brought an old man with snow-white hair.

His appearance makes him look like he can barely move, but his motions are powerful, and there’s weight in his steps.

Well, without light, it’s kind of obvious, right?

If someone claims they killed Tongcheon, they’re either a lunatic lying through their teeth or a real monster who actually did kill their enemy. To some extent, the fact that this guy didn’t barge in recklessly could mean he’s cautious.

Still, if this imposter wasn’t pretending to be Tongcheon’s master, who knows how long it would’ve taken to meet even a fake one like this?

No room for choice here.

“Hello. Are you the Primordial Heavenly Sovereign?”

“Yeah, you were looking for me, right? And you also claimed to have killed Tongcheon, huh?”

After saying that, Fake Primordial Heavenly Sovereign sat across from me at the table. He stared at me while making some expression…

It’s hard to tell what he’s feeling since he only kinda looks human. I can’t read his intentions.

Is he smiling? Or frowning?

Then, when he spoke again, I realized none of that mattered.

“Are you here to eat me too?”

Ah.

At the very least, Tongcheon is dead. But I don’t know exactly how…

“Hmm, if ‘eating’ means absorbing and practically utilizing the power of your target, then yeah, what you did could be called eating.”

Wait… He knows way more than I expected.

While saying this, the Primordial Heavenly Sovereign turned his head to look at the tool beside me—a single flower made using humans and special objects.

“Twisting living bodies into whatever you want was that guy’s specialty.”

Oh, so that’s how I got caught. It makes sense now. Instead of thinking I’m naturally good at this kind of thing, it fits better to assume I killed Daegon and stole his techniques.

A late-stage biotech skill.

I don’t know—and honestly don’t care—what happens when you mess around with souls to enhance yourself…

“But this seems oddly twisted. Normally, do people think about putting themselves inside offspring created from other races?”

Beside me, Boshin Jinin’s face contorted as if he didn’t understand what we were talking about, while the Primordial Heavenly Sovereign’s expression remained unreadable.

If I could just recognize biological patterns or something, maybe I’d be able to interpret these kinds of things better…

“They’ve already been twisted beyond repair into such a species. And you seem to be inside the body Daegon prepared, correct?”

When the Primordial Heavenly Sovereign finished explaining, Boshin Jinin’s expression became one of confusion. Man, this guy is hilariously easy to read compared to the enigmatic person next to him.

“To be precise, I was supposed to give birth to the body. But due to some company shell game set up by my main branch, they unknowingly took it for another purpose, so I ended up inside Choseol’s body instead.”

This is all true.

The reason I kept explaining was because I was searching for something while talking—but it’s not visible. Daegon was easy to find because he was this massive blob of light like a mountain.

Here, though, I don’t see anything like that.

Honestly, I’m starting to doubt whether Daegon’s light was ever that big. Is that fortunate?

“So, what’s the name of the one inside that body?”

Ah. So all this long conversation was just to dig into my identity, huh?

Alright, let me explain. Those who can come and go through glass bottles are rare. Even if you gain memories, without sufficient reasoning skills, you can’t deduce answers.

Just because you read detective novels doesn’t make you a detective, right?

Same deal here.

My mind always falls short, my plans are half-baked, and I take small profits without risking losses while aiming for big gains.

That’s why I don’t lie—it’s because of this.

“I don’t have a name. It’s unnecessary. That’s why I’ve been using the child’s name as a placeholder.”

There’s no need to create a new one. I remember my original name, but no one can say it.

Or rather, I’m not even sure if it’s truly mine in the first place.

Since I store fragmented memories chronologically, I know clearly.

First comes the faded memory. Then darkness. Next is the night sky and the ocean. A tiny light falling to the bottom. And finally, the memory of rising into the glass bottle above.

The man in that faded memory is definitely where it all began.

“Yeah, that’s right. You weren’t summoned by Tongcheon. There’s no way he could’ve chosen someone without a name. Which means those ominous purple-covered seas weren’t created by Tongcheon—they were made by you.”

He’s talking about the Harvesting System.

But there’s something strange here. While they were alive, they still had warmth.

“They wanted it. If I gave myself to those who needed it, they healed faster, gained better bodies, and became smarter. Are you calling that bad?”

I usually take warmth from dead targets. Though there were a few times I drained it from living ones, like a general from a country’s special forces agency.

Still, letting them go free afterward results in horrifying scenes, so I won’t release them.

At this point, the Primordial Heavenly Sovereign chuckled darkly.

“You have no idea what you truly are. If you did, you wouldn’t be saying such nonsense.”

That’s true.

I still don’t know what I am. That’s why I’m having this conversation.

Though, since neither side fully understands my nature, I’m considering ending this chat.

Because I don’t know how warmth flows, nor what happened to the light that fell to where I am now…

“So, does the Primordial Heavenly Sovereign know?”

In response to my question, the Primordial Heavenly Sovereign shook his head.

“All I do is pursue truth and theorize. If I must label it, I’d call it ‘Half Taiji.’”

Half Taiji?

Doesn’t sound like it refers to “half.” Isn’t the Taiji symbol symmetrical even when flipped? Or does it signify the rise of Yin energy?

“Primordial Heavenly Sovereign, does that mean this being possesses the power to destroy all things?”

Boshin Jinin asked cautiously, eyeing me warily.

On the other hand, I understood somewhat. That’s why I couldn’t use Qi before. The coldness was connected to this.

As I thought this, the Primordial Heavenly Sovereign shook his head again.

Huh?

Not true?

“The Taiji represents existence and nonexistence before Yang and Yin, originating from primordial chaos which gave rise to all things. Originally, the Taiji was seen as directionless primordial chaos, but now even that has become an outdated rule.”

As he said this, the Primordial Heavenly Sovereign waved his hand.

A hologram appeared in midair.

It showed a pitch-black image at first.

But soon, light flickered, revealing the world. Then the universe unfolded, showing stars, planets, and Kunlun Mountain in the middle.

When the Primordial Heavenly Sovereign waved his hand again, a symbol in the top-left corner transformed, reversing until it returned to a single point representing the world.

Then it displayed countless lights forming the heavens, gradually fading away until nothing remained but absolute blackness.

Around this darkness, a white space emerged, but it wasn’t truly white—it was meant to show emptiness, indicated by grid lines.

The floating black void within the white space shrank into a single point before vanishing entirely.

When the Primordial Heavenly Sovereign waved his hand once more, the symbol in the top-left reverted to the one shown at the beginning.

Darkness reappeared.

But there was a difference this time.

Outside the pure white box, a black sphere identical in size to the darkness appeared. This black sphere expanded equally, but light emerged above while the bottom remained unchanged.

I’ve seen this scene somewhere before.

Yeah…

It’s in my memories. When I looked up at the stars appearing one by one in the sky and realized the vastness of the ocean.

“That itself is the opposite of the world. A shadow grown alongside the Taiji. Not destruction, merely opposition—but to us, it’s harmful. What you give us amounts to theft.”

The Primordial Heavenly Sovereign pointed at me.

“You are destined to become the enemy of the world.”

That’s correct.

So I nodded.

“Yeah, that’s right.”

But it’s not enough.

Even if it doesn’t fit the context, there’s a story I absolutely need to tell.

“I’m always freezing. Endlessly cold. Forever unable to die, unable to go mad—or wait, am I already mad? Either way, I have to keep living. But sometimes, desperate beams of light fall upon me. Beams filled with despair and hatred toward the world, realizing they can change nothing and succumbing to resignation.”

I laughed.

“Come to me. Light is warm. When it touches me, just a little, just a bit, it gives me happiness—a minuscule warmth. Enough to momentarily distract me from the cold. But the warmth disappears instantly.”

We already know what’s coming next. The important part is gathering information, especially extracting as much as possible from the illusion in front of me.

I need help from others to understand myself since I’m not that smart.

“Living beings carry light within their bodies. You call this light a soul. I embed myself in this light, letting them do what they wish until death. Then, when they die, I reclaim both myself and their warmth.”

Snap.

I clapped once to get everyone’s attention. Boshin Jinin jumped in surprise—not the reaction I was aiming for, but oh well.

Anyway…

“So, I don’t take the light. All I need is the warmth. Once I get the warmth, the light is useless to me, so I leave it behind. Would you criticize me for this? Why?”

This is really asking: “What is warmth?”

Based on what the Immortals have said so far, they seem clueless, but the Primordial Heavenly Sovereign sounds convincing.

So I asked if he could explain warmth.

The Primordial Heavenly Sovereign opened his mouth.

“What becomes of a soul that loses its Taiji? Nothing. It simply halts, slowly deteriorating until every trace vanishes forever.”

Wait… If the Taiji represents chaos, doesn’t that mean the world formed after chaos, and souls came later? Is the Taiji inside the soul warmth? That doesn’t make sense!

But I couldn’t ask further.

“Therefore, we must resist you. The other sages have evacuated, leaving only you, Boshin.”

With that, the Primordial Heavenly Sovereign waved his hand, preparing to do something. Realizing he was trying to let Boshin escape, I lifted the flower.

“I entrust Kunlun to you.” “Blooming!”

Our final words overlapped.

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