Chapter 42 – Day 42

Day 42

“So, you don’t know why I tried to destroy humanity on Earth?”

“Th-that’s right.”

Cheon Seoa’s question made the man tremble as he answered.

The man confirmed that Cheon Seoa’s minimum level was Cheoneon.
The monster of monsters right in front of him, Cheon Seoa, might have even entered the realm of Jinseon.

How could he possibly escape from an opponent who was immune even to the regression technique, an ancient method from the prehistoric era, which was his last hope?

In the end, the man had no choice but to put everything down and answer Cheon Seoa’s questions as sincerely as possible.

Meanwhile, the Sword Demon, who regained his lost life with Cheon Seoa’s help, came to his senses and immediately said.

“Let’s kill him.”

Flinch-!

The man shuddered at the Sword Demon’s voice, filled with killing intent.

Although the Sword Demon’s level had returned to Geumdan after the effects of the Beokhon Dan wore off, Cheon Seoa was standing right behind him.

What if Cheon Seoa accepted the Sword Demon’s proposal?
He would die as meaninglessly as an insect crawling on the street.

The one fortunate thing was.

“Criminal. Even if he’s an ability user, a Sunseonja’s life isn’t something to be taken so easily. Especially if he’s stepped one foot into the realm of Hwasin-gi like this child.”

“But he’s a bug who threatened you, miss.”

“Still, we can’t.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“Tch.”

At Cheon Seoa’s firm answer, the Sword Demon puffed his cheeks.
At that cute sight, Cheon Seoa unconsciously showed a gentle smile and was patting the Sword Demon’s head.

“Um… if you’re done with your business, can I… go now…?”

“Where to?”

“Huh? Well, that would be… home, right?”

To Cheon Seoa’s innocent expression as she asked back, the man replied with an awkward smile.

Home.
Home, he says.

At the man’s answer, the Sword Demon spoke with an expression of incomprehension.

“Didn’t you come from the future? So how can you say you’re going back home when there’s no home to go to?”

“Ah, no. While it’s true that I came from the future to the past, to be precise, I traveled back in time to the point when I returned to Earth. In other words, my home still exists intact in this current time period.”

…?
Returned to Earth?

At the man’s answer, the Sword Demon showed an even more perplexed expression.

However, since the Sword Demon didn’t know that the man’s treasure had the art of regression engraved on it, this reaction was only natural in a way.

Of course, that didn’t mean Cheon Seoa would simply let the man go, which was another matter entirely.

Furthermore, Cheon Seoa’s curiosity about the man hadn’t been completely satisfied yet.

“By the way.”

“Yes?”

As Cheon Seoa seemed about to ask him something, the man straightened his posture and answered loudly.

“How did you obtain the Sun God Sword? That’s clearly a treasure of the Sun Gate, an upper realm sect.”

“The Sun Gate… you say?”

“Yes. Don’t you know?”

“I apologize. It’s a sect name I’ve never heard before.”

“Then how on earth did you obtain the Sun God Sword?”

“My master passed it down to me. Honestly… I just learned now that the light sword I’ve been wielding is called the Sun God Sword.”

….

The man’s quick response caused Cheon Seoa’s expression to stiffen slightly.

To think that the Sun Sect’s treasure, the Sun God Sword, had fallen into the hands of another cultivator without even its name being known.
Could it be that the Sun Sect had been wiped out?

No, even that didn’t make sense.
According to the man’s words, he had fallen from the Lower Realm and ascended to the Middle Realm before returning to Earth.

Setting aside how a cultivator who hadn’t fully entered the realm of Avatar could ascend from the Lower Realm to the Middle Realm…

‘How could a treasure of the Upper Realm’s Sun Sect end up in the hands of a Middle Realm cultivator? That’s impossible.’

No, wait.
There was one way this could be possible.

That is…

“Let me ask you one more thing. Did you happen to receive anything else along with the Sun God Sword?”

“What do you mean by something else…?”

“Something like a cultivation method or technique.”

“Ah, if you mean that.”

At Cheon Seoa’s question, the man seemed to recall something and pulled out a small jade box from his storage ring.

“My master said he found this jade box along with the Sun God Sword. However, even my master, who had reached the realm of Earth Immortal, couldn’t break the seal on it, so we couldn’t confirm what’s inside…!”

Click-.

The man’s eyes widened as he continued speaking.

The jade box with a seal that even his master, who had reached the realm of enlightenment, couldn’t open, was so easily opened with just a gesture from Cheon Seoa.

Meanwhile, inside the opened jade box….

Whoosh-!

Along with a red jewel reminiscent of a small sun, condensed with extreme yang energy, there was a martial art technique engraved with the name ‘Nine Palaces Sun True Technique’.

“Ah, as expected. That’s what it was. I thought something was strange.”

Cheon Seoa nodded and muttered while looking at the Nine Palaces Sun True Technique that existed alongside the red jewel.

Unable to contain his rising curiosity, the Sword Demon asked Cheon Seoa.

“Miss. What exactly do you mean by that?”

“It’s simple. The Sun Sect, one of the major sects in the Upper Realm, was annihilated for some reason. But unable to accept the end of their lineage, they sealed their treasures and main techniques in a jade box and sent it to the Lower Realm. Well, from the Upper Realm’s perspective, it’s not strange at all if it ended up in the Middle Realm instead of the Lower Realm.”

“Aha! I see!”

The Sword Demon clapped his hands and nodded at Cheon Seoa’s kind explanation.

Looking at the Sword Demon, Cheon Seoa said.

“You didn’t understand, did you?”

“No? I understood? I understood perfectly!”

To Cheon Seoa’s repeated question, the Sword Demon answered with a brazen expression, puffing out his chest.

“Hmm. Well, whether you understood or not isn’t important. What’s important is….”

Woong-.

Cheon Seoa trailed off and looked at the small sun sitting in the jade box.
The small sun burst into tears once, then floated up and lodged itself in the man’s heart.

“Ugh-!”

As the small sun, condensed with extreme yang energy, burrowed into his heart, a pain-filled groan erupted from the man’s mouth.

The extreme yang energy bursting from his heart spread throughout his body through blood vessels and meridians.

However, even for a man who had mastered fire attribute techniques and was on the verge of reaching the Fire God Qi realm, this extreme yang energy was not something he could handle.

To even attempt to handle the energy condensed in the small sun lodged in the man’s heart, one would need to have at least reached the realm of Human Immortal.
To properly control and incorporate that energy as one’s own, one would need to ascend to the realm of Heavenly Immortal.

Such a small sun had lodged itself in the heart of a man who had barely stepped into the Fire God Qi realm, and in reality, had only reached the Original Spirit Qi realm.

Perhaps…

“At most, 3 minutes.”

“What do you mean by 3 minutes?”

“The time that child can endure. After 3 minutes, his entire body will burst into flames, and he’ll die without leaving even a handful of ashes.”

“Oh!”

The man will die.
At Cheon Seoa’s words, the Sword Demon’s expression brightened.

The Sword Demon had wanted to cut down that bastard who dared to try to kill the young lady.
But he couldn’t do it because of Cheon Seoa’s restraint, and now the man would die on his own. There couldn’t be better news for the Sword Demon.

Of course.

“I won’t let him die.”

“What? No, why not!”

“Well, it’s because I have some connection to the Sun Gate.”

“What does that have to do with that man…!”

“That man is the chosen successor of the Sun Gate. Of course, we must save him.”

With a slight smile, Cheon Seoa took a step forward and instantly appeared in front of the man writhing in pain.

“It might hurt a little, but please bear with it.”

Squelch-!

Without hesitation, Cheon Seoa’s outstretched hand gently penetrated the man’s chest.

Her hand, which had pierced through skin, muscle, and flesh, soon gently grasped the man’s heart where the small sun had burrowed.

Thump-! Thump-! Thump-!

The heart, beating frantically and spreading the extreme yang energy contained in the small sun throughout the body, was like an unstable bomb.

A bomb that seemed like it would explode with a bang if touched even slightly wrong.
This wasn’t just a simple metaphor.

Given the man’s current state and his body’s inability to handle the small sun.
Even the slightest shock could cause the small sun to explode, and that explosive power…

‘It could instantly erase a small planet like Earth.’

This wasn’t an exaggeration.
That small sun was the essence of the Sun Gate, a high-level sect.
Considering the amount and nature of the extreme yang energy contained in the small sun, perhaps the disappearance of just Earth was quite a hopeful prediction.

If unlucky, the entire solar system that Earth belonged to could be completely destroyed.

However.

“It’s just the sun after all, what’s the big deal?”

Cheon Seoa smiled softly as she drew up her magic energy.
From the fingertips of Cheon Seoa, who grasped the pulsating heart of the man, thick black magic energy rose and spread throughout his body, following his blood vessels and meridians.

This magic energy soon began to suppress and subdue the raging energy of extreme yang, like a mad dragon.

“Now, now, don’t struggle too much. If you keep thrashing about like that, I might just devour you whole.”

Flinch-!

Cheon Seoa murmured as if whispering.
Hearing Cheon Seoa’s murmur, the Sword Demon involuntarily shuddered.

Even though he was only looking at her back.
Even though he only heard her voice whispering.

Nevertheless, the Sword Demon felt as if his soul was being dragged into a deep abyss.

However, the Sword Demon wasn’t the only one who had this illusion.

The small sun that had burrowed into the man’s heart.
It too felt something similar to what the Sword Demon had felt.

The difference was that what the Sword Demon felt was merely an ‘illusion’.
What the small sun felt was…

“I know you have spirituality within you. And you’ve realized that what I said wasn’t just an empty threat, right? So…”

Whoosh-.

Before Cheon Seoa could finish speaking, the small sun that had been raging wildly suddenly became docile.
At the same time, the small sun withdrew the extreme yang energy that had been spreading throughout the man’s body from his heart through his blood vessels and meridians.

“Well done. You’re such a good child. Now I’m going to inscribe the sealing technique, and you shouldn’t resist this time either.”

Brrrr-.

As soon as Cheon Seoa finished speaking, the small sun shivered once as if in understanding.

Cheon Seoa nodded with another gentle smile at the small sun, which was as obedient as a well-behaved puppy.

“Don’t worry too much. You won’t be asleep for long. With this child’s constitution, spirit, and talent, they should be able to reach a level of the Nine Palaces Sun True Technique that will be sufficient for you to awaken safely.”

With those words, Cheon Seoa pulled her hand out of the man’s chest where she had plunged it.
The man from whom Cheon Seoa’s hand was withdrawn soon collapsed powerlessly with a thud!

One strange thing was that although Cheon Seoa’s hand had clearly dug into his chest and grasped his heart, not even a single tiny scratch had appeared on the man’s chest.