Chapter 1070: The Divine Tree and the Master.

I grabbed the fallen Heavenly Demon and looked at Ya-rang.

Then, I turned my gaze and looked to one side. The torn dimension, and within it, sparse golden energy faintly shining.

Something is different.

It’s true I came here riding that, but it’s a sense of unfamiliarity I didn’t feel back then.

I clutched my chest with my hand. Energy flowed within. And I could feel my condition.

The energies that should have been in my body were still scattered throughout my flesh, but at the same time, there was a difference.

‘There is no vessel.’

The vessel that should have contained the energy had disappeared.

It’s just a form that seems to be floating aimlessly in the air.

I wondered how this could be, but I had already experienced too much to dwell on such questions.

‘As I said again.’

The Ancestor told me.

‘This can only be maintained for a fleeting moment at best. Before then, you will have to make a choice.’

The time I could endure with my vessel collapsed was less than half an hour at best.

This was because I had asked for more time to think by postponing the choice, and upon hearing that, the Ancestor, in exchange for granting my condition, commanded me to utter the name Ye-hwa.

Ssssuuuu.

I could feel the energy that had risen from my body moving on its own.

It felt alien. It felt like something was about to burst but wasn’t, and like it was about to scatter any second yet was held together.

An uncomfortable feeling, as if it would simply dissipate if touched.

I tried my best to ignore it and spoke to Ya-rang.

“……What are you? Where have you been?”

I asked, frowning.

We definitely seemed to have come together, but you disappeared the whole time and only show up now?

“What were you doing?”

I swallowed the emotions churning inside me. I was annoyed, but this wasn’t Ya-rang’s fault.

He didn’t join the fight? That wasn’t the issue.

In the first place, this fight wasn’t even something Ya-rang should have been involved in. And the irritation I felt now was merely me taking it out on him.

The fact that I couldn’t ask the Heavenly Demon the questions I had, and that Shin No-ya, who was with me inside, had run into trouble.

All those things exploding here in this Myriad Realms, whatever this place is, combined into a feeling of displeasure.

Knowing that shouting about it would be no different from just venting, I tried to hold back somehow, but…

“……What are you? Are you even the Divine Sword?”

“…….”

Ya-rang didn’t answer my question. He hadn’t from the beginning.

Didn’t Mother even say it? That while it was made from her soul and energy, it was just a being shrouded in Oblivion anyway.

She said it was something that remembered nothing, not about me, and certainly not about itself.

“……Damn it. That damned Oblivion is the worst.”

Whether it was the Heavenly Demon, the Ancestor, or even Mother.

I couldn’t understand what Oblivion was that made them act like this.

“……Haaa.”

I let out a deep sigh and looked at Ya-rang. He was still wearing the white mask, just staring back at me.

“I guess asking him is pointless.”

It was an action born out of frustration, but I knew it was completely unproductive.

“…….”

I looked at the Heavenly Demon I was holding. She lay there as if dead, but seeing her chest rise and fall slightly, she didn’t seem to be dead.

I roughly adjusted my hold on her and stood up.

As I surveyed the surroundings in that state,

“Cough!”

“…!”

A sound came from one side. I turned my head to see Turtle leaning against the collapsed debris.

“Elder…!”

I approached him.

“Nnngh.”

As I got closer, Turtle let out a groan. Looking at his condition, his mangled body was in terrible shape.

The bleeding seemed to have been stopped, as thankfully the wounds weren’t gaping, but it was clear he was badly injured.

‘It’s Dogi.’

The energy surrounding Turtle’s body was Dogi. And I realized it was Shin No-ya’s.

I approached him and reached out my hand.

Woowoong–!!

I infused a bit more power into the weakened energy.

“Heeuugh…”

As the energy entered him, Turtle let out a breath he’d been holding.

“Are you alright?”

“…Do I… look alright?”

He certainly didn’t look alright.

“Nngh… I’m gonna die… I really shouldn’t have meddled in useless things.”

“Please rest a bit…”

As I tried to gently touch him with my hand, Turtle grabbed my wrist with his fingerless hand.

“That wretched fellow… What happened to the Sect Leader?”

“….”

When he asked about Shin No-ya, my body stiffened.

Seeing my reaction, Turtle chuckled.

“Seems he’s gone.”

He said it calmly and cleanly. He didn’t show any surprise even though Shin No-ya had disappeared.

“He always went around saying he could disappear anytime. That’s just like him.”

Although he hadn’t ‘completely’ disappeared yet, at this point, it wasn’t much different from being gone.

Gguk.

I clenched my fist, removed Turtle’s hand, and placed my palm on his chest.

“Excuse me for a moment.”

Ssssuuuuuuu.

I mixed heat into the energy. Fortunately, the Gu-yeom-hwa-ryun-gong had started working again.

I infused heat into my body to reduce pain and increase regeneration.

In the meantime, Turtle looked back.

The ruined spaces came into view.

“…It’ll take a long time to clean this up.”

“….”

Hearing him, I looked at Turtle.

“Elder.”

“What is it?”

“…Do you intend to stay here?”

“What do you mean?”

“Shin No-ya isn’t here anymore.”

“Ha.”

Hearing me, Turtle looked at me with an incredulous expression and said,

“Whether that guy is here or not, what does it have to do with me being here?”

I chuckled awkwardly at his words. Well, that’s true.

Whether No-ya was here or not, Turtle remaining affiliated with the Hwasan Sect might not be related.

‘Is that so?’

I didn’t think so.

Although Turtle was only an Elder in name and wasn’t really doing anything, I thought perhaps it was because of Shin No-ya.

I wondered if Turtle intended to stay with the Hwasan Sect even after No-ya disappeared.

“Besides, if he’s gone, shouldn’t someone else be here?”

Turtle grunted as he pushed himself up and said,

“Especially since you need to return, right?”

“….”

His words struck me like thorns piercing my skin.

“Don’t worry about it. He would have wanted that too.”

“…I don’t know.”

No-ya, who disappeared for my sake.

Turtle’s nonchalant words about taking his place.

And me, who had to leave.

‘What a mess, really.’

The situation was incredibly overwhelming.

Not only my situation, but what about the Hwasan Sect in the Myriad Realms?

“Hoo.”

This is damnably complicated.

What should I do in this situation? It felt like this wasn’t the time to be lost in my own worries.

What should I do? Just as I was rolling my eyes,

Gguk.

Ya-rang suddenly grabbed my wrist and pulled me.

“What the?”

Did he have something to say? As I looked at him with questioning eyes,

“Move aside first… This isn’t the time to talk about this.”

Turtle, dragging his exhausted body, reached out his hand. Then, a staff rolling on the floor flew into his hand.

“If we delay even a little, we won’t be able to fix this.”

“Fix this? What do you mean?”

“It’s one thing for it to act up once or twice, but this is dangerous.”

Turtle muttered something incomprehensible, then waved his hand, and light burst from the staff.

Is it a spell? It seemed like Turtle was trying to use magic.

Not long after that.

“Hoooo!”

Tsssussussuss–!!

Along with Turtle’s breath, threads of magic spread out in all directions.

Seeing that, I understood. He seemed to be trying to erect a barrier.

At that moment.

Kuurururung–!! Kuururururung–!!

“…!”

Suddenly, the night sky trembled.

With a roar like thunder, I turned my gaze to the sky,

“Oh no…!”

Turtle showed a flustered expression, realizing his mistake.

His reaction clearly showed he was in trouble.

“What’s wrong?”

As I asked, Turtle distorted his face and said,

“…This is bad. Tae-cheon ran wild too much.”

“What?”

“It seems they’ve noticed.”

“What…”

I tried to ask again, unable to understand, but then, something stretched out from the direction of the Hwasan’s Sacred Tree.

Kuaaaaaaaa–!!

It was a black tendril. The Sacred Tree, vast in size. The tendril stretched higher than that, and instead of the space Turtle was trying to seal, it overlaid a barrier.

What is this…?

‘Mujo-gaeng?’

It was the energy of Mujo-gaeng. The unfathomable feeling I felt when I saw him emanated from that barrier.

Then, in an instant, a black space enveloped everything around.

Darkness that seemed like not even a speck of light could penetrate.

Yet, strangely, it was a space where we could see each other perfectly well.

What is this? As I looked around, Turtle said with a sigh,

“Mujo-gaeng, it’s already too late.”

Even in that situation, Turtle was only looking beyond the barrier.

“It seems they’ve noticed.”

“…Elder. What exactly are you talking about?”

“If even the Master of another world appeared and caused this much chaos, even if they were sleeping deeply, they couldn’t help but wake up, could they?”

“…So, what is waking up…”

“What’s waking up?”

Turtle said, gripping his staff tightly with a tense expression.

“…Obviously. It’s the master of this world who was sleeping on this land.”

“…!”

The moment his words made my eyes widen.

Kuaaaaaaaa—-!!!!

Kugugugugung–!!

The black barrier vibrated madly.

As if it had been struck by someone.

Kugagagag–!!

It wasn’t just once.

Impacts kept pouring in. They repeated, pouring again and again,

Tzereok. Tzereok.

Cracks formed in the barrier that had been erected, and fragments fell.

Kung-!!

Black fragments fell to the ground, crumbling.

Beyond the space where the fragments had been embedded, a glimpse was visible.

“Ah.”

Seeing that, I let out a small cry.

There.

A woman with white hair, crimson eyes, and multiple white-furred tails.

“…Mother?”

The master of the Myriad Realms had appeared.