Chapter 459: Change (3)

What was that thing?

That was the first thought that came into the Heavenly Venerable’s mind.

What was that?

Blaze-!

The whole figure was fully covered in flames.

There was something strange about the sight of a figure burning in blue flames.

What in the world was that thing?

Crack-!

“!”

The figure’s arm started to move.

The Heavenly Venerable grabbed the hilt of his sword in response.

Darn…

He frowned once he realized he was feeling very tense right now.

There was only one reason for that.

It was none other than he himself who felt tense against the figure in front of him.

He didn’t even know what that thing was, yet he felt nervous.

Squeeze-!

He held his sword tightly and charged his Qi.

His gaze moved towards where the bastard from earlier was lying dead.

He’s not there.

The Heavenly Venerable was certain that he had stabbed his heart as he felt the clear sensation from it.

It was a definite death for the young man. No human should have been able to survive the wound.

…What’s going on?

Whether it was the blood puddle or the trace of his body collapsing on the ground, none of it was left.

How was it so clean?

Blaze-!

The Heavenly Venerable turned his head towards the flame that rose high.

He became more confused as time passed by. How was that thing even alive?

Moreover,

Is it even the same child from before?

He wondered if the creature in front of him was the young man he had killed earlier.

Its presence felt different.

It no longer felt like the young man from before.

The Heavenly Venerable’s senses were able to catch many things due to his high level.

He was even able to feel his opponent’s Qi flow and hear their heartbeat.

Yet.

…What is this.

Not even the Heavenly Venerable was able to read what was in front of him.

No sound of heartbeat could be heard, and it was also scentless.

That meant that the young man had indeed died, but it was a mystery how he was standing there.

Is he…

Was he even human to begin with?

If he wasn’t human, then what was he?

Many thoughts filled the Heavenly Venerable’s mind, but one stuck out in particular.

Demon?

Yes, Demon.

In his eyes, the young man seemed closer to that of a Demon than a person. Cold sweat ran down his wrinkly cheek.

After feeling that sensation, he swung his sword.

Swish-!

Shing-!

His sharp blade cut the figure’s arm off.

It fell on the ground with a thud.

The figure didn’t do anything besides stare at its arm, which fell to the ground.

After staring for a moment, the figure slowly lifted its head up and gazed at the Heavenly Venerable again.

Huh? Was this it?

Fine for me if you aren’t going to fight back.

With that thought, the Heavenly Venerable tried swinging his sword at its neck.

Shiver…

“…?”

Then, he suddenly felt a strange sensation and looked at his hand holding the sword.

“…Huh?”

He was then able to see it.

His body was shaking a little, as was his sword.

Why? Why was it suddenly shaking?

The Heavenly Venerable tried calming himself using his Qi, but it was easier said than done.

Was something strange happening?

The Heavenly Venerable bit his lips after a moment of thinking.

He realized why his body was reacting this way.

It was fear.

His expression completely crumbled after the realization. He was feeling afraid?

What a joke.

Feeling afraid of something that wasn’t the Heavenly Demon, Sword Emperor, or at the very least, the Dishonored Venerable and the Celestial Sword?

Such a thing shouldn’t be possible.

He felt very humiliated.

Rumble-!

Qi poured out from the Heavenly Venerable’s body and shot towards the sky, forming a dark cloud.

He was no longer able to hold back. He didn’t have to hesitate as he was given the ‘approval’, so he swung his sword once more.

His arm continued to shake, but he had no problem overcoming it.

It was a powerful wave of Qi that was unleashed from a martial artist who transcended above all else.

An overwhelming amount of Sword Qi cut through the air and flew right towards the figure. It was aiming for its neck.

Even if its identity was unknown, it should die after being beheaded.

With that thought, the Heavenly Venerable unleashed his attack, and an unbelievably huge-sized Sword Qi charged forth, destroying the ground that stood in its way.

Craaaack-!

The forest vibrated with a monstrous sound.

It seemed like the figure was going to be completely erased after being swept by the attack.

Rip-

But a change started to occur in the figure’s body.

The figure’s mouth started to rip apart slowly.

Kyaaaaaa-!

It then let out an unbelievable roar.

Craash-!

That wasn’t it either.

Once it shouted out loud, an explosive wave started to destroy everything in sight. The Heavenly Venerable’s attack was swept away along with it, and even his dark clouds were blown away by it.

“…!”

The Heavenly Venerable tried to respond to the figure’s sudden reaction,

Swoosh-!

But the figure ran at the Heavenly Venerable, wrapped in blue flames.

It was extremely fast.

As if it ran using its sheer strength, the ground was shattered with each step the figure took.

The Heavenly Venerable grabbed his sword hilt.

The figure was fast, but he was able to react to its speed.

Right as the Heavenly Venerable was about to draw his sword, he opened his eyes wide with a horrified expression after seeing the figure.

The figure had its arm grow back.

Was it because of that?

The Heavenly Venerable couldn’t execute his attack properly, and the figure managed to strike his shoulder.

Then.

Booooom-!

Blue flames exploded everywhere with a monstrous sound.

Craaack-!

I heard the sound of something breaking.

What was breaking? I wanted to check, but I couldn’t.

After all, I couldn’t see anything.

Was it because I had my eyes closed? It didn’t feel like that was the case.

It felt like the area around me was fully covered in black.

It was so dark that it was impossible to see a thing, no matter how hard I tried.

I was only able to do one thing in this darkness.

Craack-!

And that was to sit still and continue to hear the sound of something breaking.

Huh.

Crack-! Crack!

It sounded like an object was cracking, or something was ripping it apart with force.

I didn’t know what it was, but I at least knew that it wasn’t very pleasant to hear.

Tap-!

I covered my ears with my hands.

Thankfully, I was able to move them. I did my best to block my hearing, but it didn’t work.

Crack.

Ah.

Instead, it sounded clearer than before.

I was able to know after that.

This sound wasn’t coming from the outside.

That wasn’t it. It was coming from inside me.

That would explain why the sound became clearer when I closed my eyes and blocked my ears.

Crack- Crack-!

I became annoyed as the sound continued to ring endlessly.

Just what was this noise? I haven’t heard anything like this before.

I didn’t want to, but I couldn’t help but frown.

…Shut up already.

I shouted on the inside, but the noise didn’t stop.

Instead, it became louder as if it had been triggered by my words.

Fucking hell.

I ultimately ended up cursing out loud.

Why was I hearing this noise?

Wait, why was I even in this situation in the first place?

I didn’t have an answer. I couldn’t remember a single thing.

To be honest, the noise was annoying, but I wanted to stay in this place, continuing to float.

I didn’t want to do anything. I didn’t want to think at all.

What was originally on my mind before?

I couldn’t remember, but judging by how my heart felt heavier as I tried to remember, it didn’t seem like it was anything good.

I would rather…

If it makes me feel that bad, perhaps it’s better for me to stay in this place and do nothing? It was kind of comfortable.

With that thought, I planned to go with the flow.

Crack-!

“Ugh!?”

But I curled my body after hearing a loud noise.

It wasn’t just the sound this time, but I also felt an intense pain in my body.

“Cgh… Huff…”

I couldn’t hold my groan, and the pain was enough for me to scream out loud.

Craaaack-!

The pain became worse as the noise got louder.

It wasn’t something I was able to endure.

I would’ve chosen to faint if I could have.

Why did it hurt this much? Why did I feel pain?

“Ugh… Hugh…”

My insides were dying.

I felt like I knew why this pain was continuing to echo inside my body after some time.

Ve…ssel…

This was the sensation of my vessel cracking. That was the first thought that came into my mind.

I started to remember.

The Immortal Healer told me that my vessel had reached its limit. He said that I wouldn’t last more than a few years if I didn’t have the medicine to treat it.

I wondered why I was suddenly reminded of this, but I believed that this pain was definitely related to my vessel.

However, it sparked another question.

Why?

Why was I suddenly experiencing this situation?

Why did my vessel start to crack?

Why was I in this place?

I tried my hardest to remember, but I couldn’t.

The only thing I felt was a strange fear and frustration, and a horrifying pain.

Slam-!

“Ugh.”

I curled my body once more after feeling an explosive vibration in my body.

At the same time,

Blaze-!

Flames illuminated the whole surrounding area at once and got rid of the nasty darkness.

It was so bright that my eyes stung.

However, I wasn’t able to avoid it.

“What’s… going on right now?”

An unbelievable sight was unfolding in front of me, so I couldn’t look away.

Woong-

In my brightened vision, I saw a giant sphere floating in the air.

It was about the size of a house.

Was it blue?

Purple?

Dark red?

I wasn’t sure.

Despite it being a distinctive color, I wasn’t able to point out exactly what it was.

How could I explain this? I didn’t know.

If I had to describe it as best as I could, the giant sphere looked like an egg that was cracking.

It looked like an egg that was cracking out of its shell.

What was that thing? I continued to stare at it with a spaced-out expression.

Crack-!

Then, a loud noise came from the egg.

It was the sound that I constantly heard in my ears.

That noise came from my body before, but now it was originating from the egg.

I continued to observe it.

“Ugh…!”

But when a big crack formed in the egg, I felt intense pain in my body again.

I thought to myself as I embraced the familiar pain.

Wait… perhaps.

I stared at the giant egg as I held my stomach in pain.

The egg was cracking, and I felt great pain as it happened.

Judging from that, I was able to know one thing.

“…That thing is my vessel?”

Was that how the vessel inside my body looked like? I wasn’t sure, but I felt like that was the case for some reason.

Patter-

Pieces of the shell continued to fall from the egg.

Strange liquid started to come out from the crack that formed in the bottom of the egg.

It looked like regular water, but it looked sticky, which made it seem strange.

Just looking at it alone made me feel uncomfortable.

I even felt nervous from the sight of it gradually breaking.

What do I do?

I put aside my pain and looked at the egg.

I was told that I’d die if that thing breaks, right?

That meant I had to prevent that from happening.

I couldn’t afford to let that thing break.

I still had a ton of things to-

“…Things to do?”

I paused as I thought to myself.

What were the things I had to do? Why was I here?

What was I even doing up until now?

My mind felt foggy.

I wasn’t able to think of anything, but my body moved automatically.

Was it my instinct or something I was unaware of that made me act this way?

It felt as if my body was doing its best to prevent the egg from breaking.

I reached my hand out.

It was to stop the crack from widening.

Was it even going to work?

It didn’t matter even if it wasn’t going to work.

No matter what the outcome was going to be, it felt like I had to do this.

As my fingertips were about to make contact,

“…Dumb little brat, you really are a lot of work. Tsk, tsk.”

I had to pause when I suddenly heard a voice from behind me.

My body froze like a rock.

Swoosh-!

Then, a ton of flower petals poured out along with a pleasant scent.

They started spinning around the egg and wrapped it fully.

There was something sacred about the pink petals.

It felt warm and pleasant.

I grabbed a petal and observed it.

Plum blossom.

It was a petal of a plum blossom.

It felt familiar. Where have I felt this-

Pow-!

“Agh!”

My head was pushed downwards due to the sudden strike from behind.

I held my head in pain and turned around with an annoyed expression.

In that spot, the person who struck me stood there.

It was an old man with white hair and an outfit, and he stared at me as he rubbed his hand.

He had very sharp eyes, and he looked like he had a nasty personality.

He seemed to be just below seven feet tall, and he was relatively thin.

Huh? When I stared at the angry old man, he let out a sigh and started to speak to me.

“Tsk, tsk… you rotten bastard. You really cause trouble wherever you go. In the end, you even make this old man make a move.”

The old man spoke as if he were complaining to me.

After hearing his tone, I called out to him without even realizing.

“…Elder Shin…?”

Elder Shin.

It was him.