832——————==

True Martial Home

What should I do now?!

Instead of dwelling on the fact that Jeon Wook had vanished, I decided to focus on what I needed to do.

“Hmm, should I try using Bead Godspeed…?”

I quickly pulled out my bead from my pocket and rubbed it. But strangely, it didn’t activate, and as I pondered the reason, I caught sight of the dark mass floating in the air and realized why.

“CCLF Level 2 Power Distortion Spore.”

Thanks to the knowledge imparted by Dr. Faust, I learned that this was one of the greatest technologies created by future humanity to combat the Otherworldly Race!

Its effect was to disperse the CCLF quantum nanomachines in the air, obliterating the unique magical energy of the Otherworldly beings and halting all magical artifacts activated through that energy. When fighting against the powerful magic-using Otherworldly beings, without the Power Distortion Spore, humanity stood no chance. It seemed that Dr. Faust and Mephistopheles had created a Power Distortion Field throughout the World Tree to resist the Old Ruler,

which meant my bead wouldn’t activate.

“Hmm… could it be that the Master of the Twelve Joules once used a technique to block my bead’s teleportation?”

I was momentarily lost in thought before snapping back to reality. I couldn’t afford to be reminiscing now, not when danger was still lingering. As I calmly assessed what I had on me, suddenly a thought struck me: perhaps I could use my summoning technique to escape this predicament. I quickly recited the incantation I learned from Zhuge Sa and summoned a demonic beast.

“A beast as swift as light! If I use this guy…!”

While it might not transport me through dimensions, I could traverse any physical space, no matter how vast! This guy could move at the speed of light! Plus, I knew that the Power Distortion Spore wouldn’t be able to obstruct summoning techniques!

Beeeeee!!

As a bee-like demonic beast appeared before me with a gust of wind, I leaped onto its back and commanded it—not in human language, but in the special language of martial arts.

[Let’s go to the moon!]

Whoosh

In that instant, my surroundings transformed into a ball of golden light, and I felt a pain as if my body was being torn apart.

“AAAHHHH!!”

Boom boom boom

It felt like my entire body was bursting apart.

In the blink of an eye, I was bleeding profusely and became a mess, eventually crashing onto the airless surface of the moon.

Thud

As I rolled onto the ground, it dawned on me why I’d been so hurt.

“Ugh… that’s right… I should have drunk the special potion first…”

I completely forgot that I needed to drink the specially crafted potion to withstand the journey on this summoned creature without falling apart. But even if I remembered, in this urgent moment, there was no way to brew one.

Fortunately, it wasn’t a life-threatening injury, so I rallied my strength and began to heal myself temporarily.

In that moment, I suddenly realized something strange.

‘…There’s air…?’

The moon is supposed to be devoid of air, and even if there was some, it should be extremely thin. I had prepared myself for that when I came here, yet oddly, I was able to breathe normally.

In other words, it meant there was enough air for a human to breathe, which was decidedly peculiar.

Boom boom boom….

Stumbling, I followed the vision of the World Tree, which was spewing flames from that distant star in interstellar space. Apparently, the World Tree was terraforming near Mars.

“Huuh, huuh….”

What should I do now?

After a brief moment of pondering, I resolved to either die or fight back.

‘Let’s head to the Jeogok’s Banwang Hall on the moon.’

At this point, I had no choice but to confront the Three Sovereigns, whether I wanted to or not. Even if they were plotting to use me and kill me, I still had some value to them, so they couldn’t just dispose of me without issue. The Three Sovereigns might even know how to traverse the multiverse again!

I recalled where the Banwang Hall used to be and quickly began my journey.

Tydaht

Upon arriving at the alien village that was nestled on the backside of the moon, I immediately noticed the place was completely in ruins, and all the aliens were nothing but cold corpses. Every single one of them had been crushed or exploded, leaving horrific remains.

At the far end of the pile of corpses, a dimensional door leading to the Jeogok’s Banwang Hall was wide open and pulsating.

Wooong – Wooong –

Taking a moment to steel myself, I leaped into the Banwang Hall.

As I was swept through the dimensional portal, I found myself in a massive royal court. The interior of the court looked very similar to Jeon Wook’s Ten Thousand Ghosts Palace but was distinctly brighter—a stronger hue of white.

As I walked through the royal court, I suddenly came across a shocking sight.

“…….”

Shabi God.

The Apostle of Eastern Sovereign Jeogok, even the celestial immortals would demean this supreme being, who appeared to be nothing more than a sunken corpse, as if all the moisture had been drained from it.

A human face with dog ears, and an unrecognizable beast body that seemed to have simply shriveled up. I approached tentatively, hoping to sense any sign of life, but as I detected no energy, it became clear that this being was dead.

‘Why has Shabi God ended up like this?’

It didn’t make sense. Though I had never fought directly, Shabi God was a powerful entity on par with the Eight Parts of the Divine, certainly not something to underestimate. How many beings could possibly overpower Shabi God in their lair? A sense of ominous foreboding crept over me as I ventured deeper into the Banwang Hall.

It was eerily silent.

There were no living entities.

No, there weren’t even any moving entities.

The chilling aura of death swallowed the Banwang Hall, leaving only me moving amidst it.

Upon confronting an indescribable darkness at the final door of the royal court, I instinctively felt the presence of the Three Sovereigns beyond this door. It was reminiscent of the structure I witnessed in the Ten Thousand Ghosts Palace.

Creeeak….

As I opened the massive door and stepped inside, a vacant throne immediately caught my eye. I approached it and touched it, but unsurprisingly, nothing happened. I could sense that this royal court had lost its ruler.

‘Is Jeogok gone as well…?’

The divine embodiments that always guarded the thrones of the Three Sovereigns at their respective divine temples were always steadfastly present. They only sent out avatars and apostles into the world; the kings themselves didn’t move easily from their main residencies.

Yet here in this Banwang Hall, there was not a single minister, and even the king had vanished.

Recalling that Jeon Wook’s power had momentarily failed here, a wave of fear washed over me as terrifying thoughts began to surface.

“Could it be that the Three Sovereigns have perished?”

If the Three Sovereigns had perished, then this absurd silence in the Banwang Hall would make sense.

But why?

Why would the eight deities, who once flaunted their might among the Old Rulers, vanish overnight? Dr. Faust had conveyed that even during the end times, they hadn’t taken a step back; they existed, if only to a degree.

Thus, the answer lay in the ‘Revelation.’

Something must have happened in the Revelation, leading to the disappearance of the Three Sovereigns.

“Hmmm….”

Still, there was something I couldn’t wrap my head around. Shabi God didn’t just die; he appeared to have been horrifically consumed and left in this state. Who could have done such a thing to the Apostle of the Three Sovereigns? I felt more questions piling up, yet right now, nothing could be resolved.

“Damn it. Then I need to use my bead to go somewhere else, but where to…? The Earth has been destroyed, so where can I go…?”

I managed to reach the Banwang Hall, but I couldn’t stay here long either. This dimension, having lost its master, could collapse at any moment.

Moreover, traveling to places like Mars or Venus was also impractical, as those planets were similarly uninhabitable. The best solution, it seemed, was to remain on the moon’s surface where there was some air, but even that didn’t seem like a solid option. What was I supposed to do all alone on the dead surface of the moon?

“Ugh…, damn it….”

Sighing, I settled onto Jeogok’s throne. I planned to rest a bit and recover my strength before making my next move. It was at that very moment.

Kwwaaaaaaah

“……?!”

It’s… so hot!!

I suddenly felt an overwhelming heat pouring into my body from the throne. It felt like my whole being was burning up. With each pulse of pain squeezing my veins, I couldn’t even scream, quivering helplessly as I endured. It was then that the Spirit Power within me instinctively reacted, beginning to fend off the heat threatening to incinerate me.

Sssssss…

Once all my Spirit Power was activated, I finally regained some composure. Suddenly, I noticed several fireballs emerging from the throne, which floated in the air.

Before long, the fireballs ceased to emerge, and I could dimly see that there were ten of them.

‘Ten… fireballs…?’

Kreeeek

At that moment, I heard a strange bird cry, and something swooped in from the opposite end of the throne, enveloping those fireballs. I glanced up at what was cradling the fireballs, and it seemed to be a gigantic bird, three times my size—it was the Five-Color Bird!

‘The symbol of the Eastern Sovereign and a legendary divine bird!’

Also considered the ancestor of all birds in this world!

I was quite taken aback when I saw the Five-Color Bird, but it turned to me with glowing eyes and spoke.

[Though the end has come, it seems there are still humans alive… And for you to have released the seal of the Ten Suns while seated upon the throne; you are no ordinary being.]

“I am Baek Woong. Are you the Five-Color Bird?”

[That is correct.]

“What happened in the Banwang Hall?”

[…….]

The Five-Color Bird gazed at me intently and said,

[The so-called end was a grand lie… Now that the Three Sovereigns have collapsed, this Banwang Hall will soon meet its end, too.]

“A lie? Where has the Eastern Sovereign Jeogok gone?”

[He became a sacrifice.]

“……?!”

[He was a precious offering for the universe’s end….]

With a voice that sounded like a mix of weeping and wailing, the Five-Color Bird continued.

[Now, wanderer, do not cling to existence. Everything will soon come to an end… This is the end… An absolute destruction from which even a deity cannot escape.]

“……”

[I will die here, along with my offspring. You may choose your own place for your final moments.]

“Final moments….”

For some reason, the Five-Color Bird seemed to resemble the parent of the Ten Suns. I couldn’t understand the relationship among the Five-Color Bird, Jeogok, and the Ten Suns, but one thing was clear: Jeogok had perished.

As I contemplated, I spoke.

“O Five-Color Bird, I can’t abandon life just yet. If this is truly a throne without a master, then I want its treasures and techniques.”

[…….]

“Please tell me where the treasure vault is.”

If I was to die, I wanted to at least take something with me!

[Such a futile quest….]

The Five-Color Bird fell silent for a moment before extending its massive wings to point to the right.

[Follow the yellow light where the blue light intersects three times. All the treasures that Jeogok collected will be there.]

“Thank you.”

[What foolishness to pursue material desires even in the face of the end….]

The Five-Color Bird said this and then bowed its head, cradling the ten fireballs, refusing to move. It truly seemed to have resigned to its fate, and I lost interest in the Five-Color Bird and headed toward the location of the treasure vault as it had indicated.

Tydaht

I arrived at the inner room of the palace where the treasure vault was located and swung the door open. Naturally, there were no seals or restrictions now that Jeogok had perished, so it opened smoothly.

As I opened the door, I was greeted with mountains of gold and silver treasures piled high, an overflowing abundance of items. The volume was immense, almost forming a horizon of its own.

‘Whoa, Palace Examination Technique!’

I activated the Palace Examination Technique to quickly discern any artifacts possessing strong magical and spiritual power among the treasures. I swiftly stuffed the relatively high-grade items into my wooden armor. I even took the time to scoop up as much gold and silver as I could.

Having organized my haul, I dashed back out. Leaving the Five-Color Bird behind, I exited through the dimensional door, only to feel the moon’s surface tremble violently.

Kugugugugu…!!

The ground began to crack and rumble.

I leaped high above the surface, realizing the magnitude of the fracture was alarming. After about ten leagues above the surface, I discovered the moon itself was fracturing into pieces.

‘The moon… is exploding…!!’

While I had witnessed planets shattering during the Trials of the Seven Luminaries, facing the stark reality of destruction at such close range carried an unparalleled weight.

I swallowed hard as I prepared to use my bead to escape.

“…….”

Where to go with the bead?

Earth, the moon, and the terraformed core were all on the brink of collapse; where was I supposed to go…?

The bead could only take me to places I had already been, so I was running out of valid options. I could, at a stretch, use the summoned beast to reach the Blood Realm or Phantom Realm, but as the end drew near, those worlds were unlikely safe either. Once the Mortal Realm collapsed, the neighboring dimensions would crumble too.

There was nowhere left for me to go in this universe.

If this continued, I would end up drifting aimlessly, lost in the cosmos.

Kugugugu

“Ah…”

Boom

As I hesitated to make a decision, the moon exploded right before my eyes, releasing an intense heat and flames.

In the wake of the shockwave, I clearly felt the sensation of ‘death.’

“AAAAAAHHHH!!”

I was thrown back at breakneck speed, feeling my body becoming wrecked beyond repair. I thought it was the end—I would have no chance to recover this time. No matter how much energy I used to heal my body, there was a limit, and without powers like Ha Eun-cheon’s wood element, I was certainly meeting my end.

…….

How long had I drifted in the void of space?

Though I had spread my energy membrane to shield myself from the dangers of outer space, I increasingly felt my body stiffening. Floating in the dark expanse, I was poised to meet an unnamed end in this boundless world.

All my strength and energy were spent.

As I gazed into the universe with dazed eyes, I saw it.

“…….”

Light was descending.

A hundred layers of luminous orbs glowed and swirled, orbiting in an oval shape, visible from a distance.

While I watched this sight, I noticed a cold human corpse drifting by me. I glanced at the corpse before redirecting my gaze skyward.

Upon further inspection, I realized there wasn’t just one corpse. No matter where they came from, human corpses slowly floated through the void, all bearing expressions of sheer despair and horror. I realized that this light was essentially a sort of outflow for human corpses.

Sssssss

Irrespective of age or race, the corpses endlessly swam through the cosmos. Eventually, the numbers grew from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands, and later skyrocketed to a count so vast it became incalculable.

Woooon

The layers of light thickened, and souls began to escape from the dead humans, becoming silent nomads of the universe like shooting stars. This scene resembled a world where the flow of reincarnation had broken, with humanity’s collective screams echoing. Tens of millions of souls adorned the dark expanse like a river of stars.

This was clear.

They were all deemed intruders, cast away from the thrones.

‘Revelation’

It was the final fate met by the billions of humans who had participated in the universe’s greatest event.