Chapter 999: The Divine Tree and the Master.

The Old Man might disappear.

Furthermore, it’s my fault that he is disappearing.

Hearing those words, the past days came flooding back.

‘So, the Old Man continuously losing consciousness was also…’

…not just blocking the vessel that was about to break as I turned into a dragon.

‘As my realm and soul grew stronger, does it mean his strength was weakening?’

It meant that as much as I grew stronger, the Old Man was conversely weakening and disappearing.

“…….”

Words wouldn’t come out.

I raise my hand and mess up my hair.

In my mouth, I gnawed on my own tongue.

I must have bitten hard, because a little blood flowed, tasting metallic.

What should I do? Then what should I do?

Because I grew stronger, the Old Man couldn’t return, and perhaps due to reaching transcendence, the problem with his soul progressed even faster.

They said we couldn’t be close, and leaving him as he is is dangerous, so I have to distance myself.

‘…If I had known it would be like this.’

Should I have deliberately forced myself to become stronger?

Because I had no choice but to become stronger. It was something I had to do.

Now that I knew this fact, I felt like my insides were churning.

It was laughable to have been filled with emotion upon reaching transcendence, if it meant the Old Man ended up like this because of it.

‘I-‘

What am I to do?

What should I do?

While I stood there with a dazed expression, just touching the barrier.

“If you understand, then keep your distance.”

“……!”

At the turtle’s words, I immediately took my hand off.

“If the Sacred Tree is nearby and you maintain an appropriate distance, you can minimize the disruption. The barrier you just touched represents that distance.”

It was still a long way to the Sacred Tree. Does this distance need to be maintained?

Then, if I keep my distance, will it be okay?

“Even if you keep your distance, it’s only a temporary measure. Since you appeared in the first place, it will only buy you time; you won’t be able to stop it.”

‘Damn it.’

As if the turtle could read my mind, it kept reminding me of the damned reality.

“So what am I supposed to do? Are you telling me to just watch?”

“Yes.”

“What…?”

The turtle affirmed the words I spat out in anger.

“What could you possibly do? You are far too weak to defy the natural order.”

“…….”

“It’s merely following the predetermined course.”

“…So? You’re saying I should just sit quietly and wait because it’s the predetermined course?”

The Old Man dying like this.

Am I supposed to just watch him disappear because of me?

Bang-!

I hit the barrier.

Crackle-!

Perhaps because I put considerable force into it, I heard the sound of the barrier breaking.

“Reacting emotionally won’t change anything.”

The turtle remained unfazed by my attitude.

Rather, when I was flustered earlier, not knowing the reason, it felt much rougher.

“Tsk.”

The turtle clicked its tongue briefly.

“I’ll ask you this: while you were becoming like that, do you really think the Sect Leader wouldn’t have known?”

“……What?”

“The Sect Leader knew your situation better than anyone. Yet, it was this friend who wanted you to progress.”

“…….”

“He said casually, ‘Someone would come eventually, but it’s taking him so long to arrive.'”

Hearing that, I clenched my fist. My clenched fist tried to ignite flames on its own.

But.

“If that’s true about you, knowing you’d end up like this, it would be right to have waited for you.”

As the turtle’s words continued, the fist I was holding gradually loosened.

“I doubt it’s truly what the Sect Leader wanted, you being in that state.”

“…….”

He must have known he would end up like that if I appeared.

Despite that, the Old Man waited for me?

Why?

‘Didn’t he want to live?’

As if proving what he said every day, being already a ghost of the past.

Did he have no lingering attachment to life?

‘…You damned old fool.’

If that were the case, he could have at least said something.

Isn’t it pathetic that I was just excited, only thinking about getting stronger?

Excited about meeting my mother.

Frustrated by the fact that she didn’t remember me.

And immersed in the joy of finding a way to move forward.

I didn’t know you were standing before the final threshold.

That was why.

Therefore, I was so angry and furious.

However, I had to suppress that emotion, and suppress it again. Didn’t the turtle say it wasn’t the time to act emotionally?

“…What should I do?”

I asked.

“…….”

At my question, the turtle let out a hollow laugh.

“Why are you asking me that? I’ve explained the situation.”

There is no way. My appearance, along with the increase in my realm, accelerated the disappearance of the Old Man’s time.

All that’s left now is to wait for him to perish, they said.

Is that really it?

“The way. You know it, don’t you?”

“…….”

I asked with certainty.

I thought the turtle must know something to break this situation.

“…Why do you think that?”

“The Elder did not wish for me to give up.”

The turtle’s words were not self-reproach directed at me.

Nor were they words urging me to give up.

That was.

“‘Analyze the situation. And try to calm down first.’ That intention was clear, and also.”

Swish.

I took a step back.

“Judging by the Elder’s demeanor, I can tell you know something.”

I sensed something from the turtle’s reaction.

“My reaction?”

“Instead of firmly saying no, you reacted as if surprised.”

“……!”

He didn’t deny it. The turtle’s reaction wasn’t denial, but surprise at why I thought that.

“…This brat?”

At my explanation, the turtle said in an incredulous voice.

“You were raging like you were having a seizure, and yet, you observed this even amidst that?”

Of course I should.

“Some old man told me.”

Back in those days when I only got angry.

A foul-mouthed Taoist ghost had told me something.

“‘When you show anger emotionally, the opponent will be most flustered. So, aim for that moment.'”

Don’t let your guard down.

Don’t explode with emotion.

If you must explode, use even that.

Believe in yourself.

You can do it.

You’re that kind of guy.

‘…Geez.’

I recall one by one what the Old Man told me. That old man really said a lot of things like that.

To me, who had nothing but regression, he had taught me many things.

It’s the same this time.

“What is the method?”

“…….”

“Please tell me. I can even kneel if you tell me to.”

“What need do I have for your knees that I would tell you to kneel?”

“Yes. I said that knowing you wouldn’t.”

“…Are you crazy?”

I chuckled.

“You’re laughing?”

The turtle asked at my laughter.

Right?

Like an idiot, I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Good grief…….”

Tsk tsk tsk.

The turtle, expressing discomfort and repeatedly clicking its tongue, spoke to me after a brief silence.

“You two are so alike. You always manage to piss me off.”

“That’s an insult, right?”

“Would it be praise, then?”

“No.”

As if.

“Hooo.”

The turtle, letting out a deep sigh, added words along with its breath.

“…If the problem is a twisted soul.”

I listened intently.

“It means a problem arose with the soul as a result. That means all you have to do is return it to its original state.”

“Then will it get better?”

“I don’t know.”

“What?”

“I don’t know much about souls. This is just an assumption. So, even if you solve this, I can’t guarantee everything will be resolved. However.”

Lest I interrupt him, I firmly closed my mouth.

“Right now, there simply isn’t a better way.”

“…….”

If a problem arose with the soul, you just need to return it to its original state.

I nodded at the turtle’s words, saying nothing else came to mind.

That’s right.

Even looking at it myself, there didn’t seem to be any other significant way.

The problem is…

“So, how do I do that?”

It’s about how to do it.

How can I fix the Old Man’s soul?

To my question like that, the turtle said.

“You already know the way, don’t you?”

“…What?”

He answered that I knew the way. Hearing that, I frowned. I know?

What am I supposed to know?

“If I knew that, why would I be asking the Elder this?”

“No, you know it. It happened just recently, and you were the one involved.”

“What the….”

Trying to answer the turtle’s words, I suddenly…

“Oh.”

My eyes widened at the words that I had experienced myself. One thing came to mind.

Soul (魂).

The way to return a twisted soul.

Returning it to its original state.

If I had truly experienced such a thing…?

“…The Divine Fruit.”

“That’s right.”

The turtle affirmed my entranced answer.

The Divine Fruit that the Sacred Tree creates.

It could return the soul’s state to normal if one eats it, they said.

Because of that, fate that should have been a disaster began to move as my soul returned, they said.

That means.

“…If the Old Man eats the Divine Fruit, can his current soul be fixed?”

“As I said earlier, this is just an assumption.”

“But it’s the most likely, and it’s the only method, right?”

“…….”

The turtle didn’t answer. I didn’t need to hear it anyway.

Should I call it fortunate?

Anyway, to see my mother and to protect what the Old Man had said, I had to visit each Sacred Tree.

And in the end, I had to meet what was called the Master’s Sacred Tree.

‘If the situation isn’t wrong.’

The Sacred Tree and Divine Fruit I met and obtained back then must be the Master’s Sacred Tree I just recalled.

To fix the Old Man’s current condition, ultimately.

‘I have to go.’

It meant I had to find that Sacred Tree again.

“…….”

Crackle-!

I straightened my stiffened fingers.

Suppressing the boiling heat, I coiled it within my heart.

I followed the path I had to take.

I think of the Old Man sleeping beyond the barrier that blocked the way.

‘You saved me so many times.’

So I couldn’t let him go either. That old man, who was my hero and my beacon.

I had to save him by any means necessary.