Chapter 1012: The Divine Tree and the Master.

The space where the Sacred Tree had vanished was, surprisingly, quickly filled with darkness.

The sunlight, whose source I couldn’t pinpoint, vanished in an instant.

The meadow and the lake were the same. By the time I noticed, all those things had disappeared as if they had never existed.

Light vanished, and darkness arrived.

I surveyed the situation within the darkened space.

‘What is this…?’

When did it change?

The space that had been so brilliant just moments ago had changed like this at some point.

Even while feeling that it was strange, an awareness was embedded within me, as if it were natural.

Where did this awareness come from? It wasn’t information from my common sense.

If there’s no Sacred Tree, it should naturally be like this.

Such unknown information was lodged in my head.

This seemed like a change caused by the Sacred Tree’s energy seeping in.

‘If the Sacred Tree disappears, it naturally becomes like this.’

Why? For what reason? There were no such details. The ingrained awareness was simply that it naturally becomes so.

Thump. I took a step. I walked towards the entrance I came through. There was no need to open the door. I was sure I had closed it after entering, yet it was already open.

What I saw ahead was stairs. Stairs that probably would have taken a long time to descend. While climbing them, I discovered the hole I had come down through.

Putting strength into my toes, I leaped up.

I shot up at high speed and returned to where I had entered.

Returning to my position, light was streaming in through the window. It seemed night had passed and it had become day.

Sensing the passage of time, I heightened my senses to grasp any presence.

At that moment.

Saaaaaaa—-!!!

“……!”

I narrowed my eyes at the overwhelming amount of information pouring in. I could feel all sorts of sounds and smells. It was so intense I even felt a headache coming on.

I hurriedly narrowed the range of my senses. Doing so made it somewhat bearable.

“Hooooo….”

Sighing, I rolled my eyes. How did this happen all of a sudden?

The range of my senses had been maximized.

While reaching transcendence might have expanded the range of my senses, this went far beyond that level.

Just by widening it slightly, I could sense the presence and sounds throughout the entire Yae-wol region.

This is…

‘Could it be, the effect of absorbing the Sacred Tree?’

I wondered if it was because I had absorbed the Sacred Tree embedded in Yae-wol, that I could now feel the energy and presence of the Yae-wol region.

Like.

‘Like Yu-sa did.’

Just as Yu-sa said he could know most of what happened in Yae-wol.

Perhaps what he could do has come to me.

I was speculating thus.

‘…It’s quite noisy.’

If even slightly raising my senses led to this state, I could somewhat understand Yu-sa’s strange personality.

Given this situation, I felt like I would go crazy too.

I painstakingly controlled my senses and quickened my pace. Sparks flew as I landed on the roof of the conference room.

“……”

I took a breath while looking at the crimson sky.

What just happened felt like I had dreamt it.

Seeing the reincarnation my mother left behind. The things I heard there. It all felt like a dream from a single night.

Or perhaps not.

‘It might even be something I wish were a dream.’

This is likely a thought born from wishing it wasn’t reality.

It was natural. Because I had heard the story confirming the secret of my birth, and the things I suspected and hoped weren’t true.

It would be more normal to hope it was a misunderstanding or a dream.

“…Am I a calamity?”

I am the calamity of the Central Plains.

Or rather, I am destined to become the calamity of the Central Plains.

The reason my mother, the Master of the Ten Thousand Realms, gave birth to me was also because she intended to create a calamity in the Central Plains.

I was born because of that.

Though I don’t know how I will become a calamity.

That was the meaning of my existence.

“Haha.”

I burst out laughing mid-thought.

I realized recently, if a person is just moderately shitty, maybe not, but when the whole world is shitty, I tend to laugh rather than curse.

“Hahaha. Oh, damn it.”

Of course, curses came out too.

“…This sucks, really.”

Life.

No, I guess I can’t call this life anymore.

Not a dragon, not a beast. What on earth. What should I call myself?

As I wondered about this, the answer sheet surfaced in my mind.

‘Monster.’

I am a monster.

It was exactly like that, to the point where I couldn’t even deny it anymore.

If you were to describe me, that word would be correct.

“……”

Remembering that, I looked at my palm. Since it was daytime, I had returned to my original form from the Wol-ya tribe’s shape.

Looking only at my palm, it was indistinguishable from a human’s.

‘It’s just the appearance.’

Because there’s more than one or two things contained within.

I realized I was now far removed from being human.

At first, I brushed it off, thinking it was for my sake. Or perhaps unavoidable choices.

Looking back now, I wonder if this too wasn’t part of fate.

‘Even though I was born human.’

Becoming something other than human as I lived.

Wasn’t this perhaps predetermined fate?

Looking back now, I think that might be it.

“……”

Complicated feelings surfaced on the shallow water.

I suppressed them somehow.

Slap-! I slapped my cheeks hard with both hands.

It was to regain my composure.

It’s true the situation sucks, and it’s true the feelings I’m harboring now aren’t good.

‘I need to get a grip right now.’

I had to maintain it somehow.

‘It’s not like there’s no way.’

Mother said she would do something about it. So, I should endure. While those words offered a sort of comfort, albeit not true comfort.

‘Even if that weren’t the case.’

Even if Mother hadn’t said that, I couldn’t just collapse here.

‘Setting aside the fact that it’s true I will become a calamity.’

Right now, I was looking at something else before myself.

‘Noya.’

I must save Noya.

That’s also why I came seeking the Sacred Tree of Yae-wol.

I had to save Noya.

‘But then, did I gain anything from the Sacred Tree?’

What did I obtain from the Sacred Tree of Yae-wol?

I acted to obtain the Divine Fruit, and for my mother’s arrangements, but…

In the end, what I gained wasn’t that significant.

‘That I need to go to Ma-ryeong Mountain for the next Sacred Tree.’

That there’s something left by my mother at each Sacred Tree.

If I complete these tasks one by one, following this order.

‘Will I be able to obtain the Divine Fruit?’

Can I meet the Master’s Sacred Tree and obtain the Divine Fruit I ate there again?

I considered this part more important than the brief conversation I had with my mother.

Whether my mother came to give birth to a calamity.

Or that I would become a calamity.

More than the fact that my mother was trying some method to prevent it.

The means to save Noya. That’s what I was focused on.

‘…Whatever it may be.’

Ultimately, the conclusion is one.

‘I must find another Sacred Tree.’

Whether it’s to know something my mother might be preparing.

Or to save Noya.

What I need to do now is ultimately find the next Sacred Tree.

And for that.

‘I have to go to Ma-ryeong Mountain.’

I had to head towards Ma-ryeong Mountain, where the next Sacred Tree was located.

Judging this, I took a step forward.

Hwa-reuk-! Sparks flew in broad daylight.

---

I returned to the Hwasan Sect. Although I was curious how Yae-wol would change after Yu-sa’s death.

I didn’t have time to watch that unfold.

I wanted to head to the place called Ma-ryeong Mountain right away.

If it were up to me, I really wanted to leave immediately, but I couldn’t.

It was because of my mother’s words.

‘Find Mujeo-gaeng.’

Mujeo-gaeng, one of the two Masters of the Ten Thousand Realms, and someone who received my mother’s request.

In the past, it was also something that lingered within my body from the Central Plains.

Seeing the Blood Demon’s reaction. I thought it was no ordinary fellow.

I never imagined it was a being on the same level as Master as my mother.

‘I was even more surprised when I actually saw it.’

When I first arrived in the Ten Thousand Realms, it was that very being I encountered. It wasn’t even its main body; according to Noya, it had only sent a mere clone.

‘Yet, it possessed that kind of presence.’

It was truly an absurd presence. Just looking at it, I felt an overwhelming wall.

Could you say there was something absolutely insurmountable?

Moreover.

‘…It was called the source of monsters, wasn’t it?’

The source of the beings emerging from the Demonic Gate.

The Master of Mujeo-gaeng, who contained and disposed of fading souls.

It was said that monsters were what emerged from the cracks when souls couldn’t be contained there.

Mujeo-gaeng was said to be the source of such monsters.

Then.

‘Is Muji’s source also Mujeo-gaeng?’

The Muji harbored by monsters.

Or the power of Muji that Cheon-ma used.

Since it was the same energy monsters possessed, should Cheon-ma’s power also be considered Mujeo-gaeng’s power?

‘Though it seems a bit strange for that to be the case.’

If we were to argue it, it should be that way. Then.

‘How?’

How does Cheon-ma use Muji?

It didn’t seem entirely different energy upon closer inspection.

There’s some connection.

I don’t know how, but it definitely exists.

I thought so.

Thump. I stepped forward and stood at the end of the path.

The Hwasan Sect’s Sacred Tree was visible in the distance.

Even while looking at it, I couldn’t move any further forward.

“Tsk…”

This is problematic. To see Mujeo-gaeng, I need to go to where that Sacred Tree is.

‘I can’t go.’

I couldn’t approach the Sacred Tree. Didn’t Geobuk warn me? Noya is supposed to be near the Sacred Tree, and I was told not to go near it.

‘What should I do about this?’

Unlike how my mother told me to find Mujeo-gaeng and ask questions.

If it becomes like this, even meeting it becomes a problem.

To ask, I have to get closer.

But I can’t get closer?

It was a fact I had forgotten.

“Hmm…”

What should I do? How can I go see it? As I was thinking about methods.

-Kkeureureung. “……!” I heard a familiar cry.

It was behind me.

I immediately turned my head. There.

-Kkeureureung. The creature Kkeureungi, shaped like a wolf, was standing on all fours, looking at me.

Up to that point was fine. The problem was.

“……What are you doing?”

On top of that Kkeureungi.

“Hello.”

Cheon-ma was riding it, waving his hand at my face.

And with a very confident expression, no less.