Chapter 200: The Purpose of the Sacred City’s Existence

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Translated by Frog in the Well

Read more at Nineheavens.org
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***

Half a month later.

Jin So-myeong, who was exploring the True Realm of Illusory Dreams, stroked his chin.

For now, it seemed certain that the probability of seeing a desired memory increased if he consumed the Supreme Great Ability.

During the past half a month, he had inspected a total of five more starlights.

Three of them were chosen at random due to insufficient Supreme Great Ability, and as expected, useless memories came out.

On the other hand, the two starlights he inspected after consuming the Supreme Great Ability were quite interesting.

“How dare you cultivate a forbidden art!”

One was a scene where a cultivator from the Sacred City slaughtered a madman running wild after losing his reason, and,

“Hah! Truly fascinating. No matter how I look, it is an Earth-grade Spiritual Root, yet cultivation is faster than a Heavenly Spiritual Root.”

“Is it bad?”

“Mmm… there does not seem to be any major issue. It seems you, Seol, possess an exceptional talent for mastering sword manuals.”

Through the other starlight, he saw Hong Seol adapting to the Sacred City to become a proper sword cultivator.

‘A natural-born sword cultivator.’

The kid who knew nothing about cultivation entered the Qi Condensation stage within a month of arriving at the Sacred City, and before long, even manifested Sword Qi.

Everything else was average or below, but she displayed an overwhelming talent when it came to swords.

Even the geniuses who were said to fly and crawl could not lift their heads before her sword.

He could only admire the sight of her growing at a tremendous speed.

By the time she reached a point where no one within the same cultivation realm could defeat her as time passed, a smile never left the mouth of the old man who brought Hong Seol, that is, Hong Seol’s master, Cloud Lake Sword.

He attached the words ‘our Seol’ to every sentence, treasuring the treasure he obtained in his later years.

“Haha! Our Seol will eventually become a Division Leader and a pillar supporting the Sacred City.”

“Are you by any chance aiming for the next Lord of the Divine Wood as well?”

“Ahem. With our Seol, nothing is impossible.”

“…It will likely be difficult? I admit that Junior Hong Seol’s talent is outstanding, but she was not born in the Sacred City, after all.”

“What does origin matter! The Lord of the Divine Wood is to be the strongest person in the Sacred City!”

“Why are you angry? I merely spoke of a well-known fact.”

“Damn bastard…! Do not talk nonsense and get lost!”

“At any rate, your eyes roll whenever your disciple is mentioned. Do not grow too attached. Who can know a person’s inner thoughts? If you get betrayed like that…”

“Hmph! I heard your son lost while sparring with Seol not long ago? You are doing this because of that, right. How petty!”

“No, I merely offered some advice, why are you bringing that up now!”

Was it due to jealousy of her overwhelming talent?

Negative stories about Hong Seol occasionally arose, but Cloud Lake Sword was unshakable.

He taught the disciple obtained in his later years with all his heart, and even poured in the rich resources of the Sacred City.

Was it thanks to that? Hong Seol grew truly fast.

By the time Jin So-myeong saw about ten more memories, she had already reached the Nascent Soul stage.

And also.

As he frequently came into contact with memories of the Sacred City, he naturally realized what kind of organization they were.

‘They are incredibly obsessed with erasing traces of the Upper Realm.’

This cultivation world, which the Sacred City called the Lower Realm or the Human Realm, did not have a fixed size.

It expanded endlessly like space.

This was because things from the outside occasionally drifted in through spatial cracks existing all over the world.

Most were useless items, but treasures with special effects, and even fragmented worlds in their entirety drifted in.

‘Usually, those are called secret realms.’

Then, very rarely, items or cultivation methods from the Upper Realm, or living and breathing creatures would drift in, and the main task of the Sacred City cultivators was to deal with these foreign objects.

The method was… to incinerate them so that not a single trace remained.

It was a task they had been doing for a very long time ever since the organization called the Sacred City existed, but not everyone was convinced.

One day.

Hong Seol, who returned from erasing traces of the Upper Realm according to her mission, asked her master.

“Master. Why does the Sacred City guard against the connection with the Upper Realm to this extent?”

“Hmm?”

“If we actively utilize the treasures of the Upper Realm, it would be of great help to our cultivation, though.”

“…”

“If one desires a realm at the Soul Formation stage or above, do they not eventually have to ascend and cross over to the Upper Realm someday?”

The purpose for which Hong Seol began cultivating was identical from start to finish.

To reach the realm of omnipotence beyond the heavens and revive her family. Thus, she could not halt in the Human Realm.

The silent Cloud Lake Sword let out a sigh.

“Seol, since you are no longer a child, I will speak honestly. Even if you ascend to the Upper Realm, the probability of you becoming a True Immortal is slim. Nay, it is not an exaggeration to say it is impossible.”

“…”

“Here in the Lower Realm, no, the Human Realm, our human race holds hegemony so it is difficult to imagine, but in the Upper Realm, the human race is clearly a weak race.”

Frowning, Hong Seol asked back.

“Do you mean that even if I ascend to the Upper Realm, it will be difficult to overcome the persecution of other foreign races?”

“Yes. If you are satisfied with a moderate level, it might be different, but if you wish to advance toward the True Immortal stage, you will face truly countless resistances.”

As Hong Seol fell into contemplation, Cloud Lake Sword, who was checking if her mood was hurt, continued speaking.

“The foreign races occasionally discovered in the Human Realm now can mostly be called drifters. They merely fell into the Human Realm by chance after being caught in spatial cracks. Yet are they not that strong?”

“…Still, it does not make sense. What meaning is there in staying cooped up in the Human Realm to endure? In the end, to win, one must go up to the Upper Realm and raise their cultivation, right.”

Cloud Lake Sword sighed as if he understood all of it.

“The most important thing is separate. The moment even a single person who has ascended to the Upper Realm appears, we will absolutely not be able to sever the connection with the Upper Realm.”

“Not even a single person?”

“We are already in a state of having grown extremely close to the Upper Realm.”

An explanation followed that they were in a state of having reached the limit due to various accidents that had occurred in the past.

Hong Seol’s complexion darkened. Because she could clearly see what kind of future would unfold.

“If the Upper Realm finds out the exact location of the Human Realm, this place will become a battlefield. Billions of lives will die due to the continuously surging foreign races.”

The hesitating Hong Seol spoke.

“I heard that the Upper Realm has far more abundant cultivation resources compared to here. But would they bother to descend all the way to this place?”

“No matter how it is the Upper Realm, not every place will be abundant. The losers pushed out of competition will covet this place, and even that is overwhelming for us.”

“…But we could overcome it well, right? We could also develop faster by accepting the cultivation methods and treasures of the Upper Realm.”

“Compete formally with the foreign races of the Upper Realm? That is difficult.”

“Why do you assert so? The human race I know is not that weak.”

Cloud Lake Sword, closing his eyes tightly, sighed.

“I also know the potential of the human race well. However, the starting point is different. Our human race has too short a history of cultivation. It is barely three hundred thousand years.”

“Pardon?”

“Does three hundred thousand years look long?”

“…Is it not?”

“In the Upper Realm, high and mighty races with histories of millions or even ten million years are scattered everywhere. Unfortunately, the difference in strength is absolute.”

It was not simply about natural strength or weakness.

It was about accumulated time.

A civilization that had just budded, and a civilization that had developed since long ago. It was obvious who would win.

Hong Seol, who fell silent at the bleak story, voiced the doubt that flashed through her mind.

“Where did the source of that information originate from? In the first place, we have never even been to the Upper Realm.”

What if they actually ascended and found the human race living perfectly fine?

When she asked with such doubt, a confident answer returned.

“It is a synthesis of the records kept by the Sacred City and the words spoken by the Heavenly Venerable.”

“If he has lied to us…”

“Uh-huh! How insolent. The Heavenly Venerable is a person who cares for the human race more than anyone else. He is one who keeps away from all pleasures and only focuses his mind on caring for the human race.”

“…Understood.”

Since that day, Hong Seol silently concentrated on her missions.

Until she reached the late Nascent Soul stage and rose to the position of Division Leader, which was treated as important even in the Sacred City.

A bustling celebration banquet was held.

Most of the Nascent Soul cultivators existing in the Sacred City flocked over to offer gifts.

“Daoist Hong. Congratulations on rising to the position of Demon-Slaying Division Leader. You are the youngest Division Leader.”

“Thank you.”

“Honestly, with your strength, it would not have been strange if you became a Division Leader long ago. I am glad it is now, at least.”

Hong Seol also forgot her worries after a long time and exchanged greetings with colleagues she was normally close with.

Just as everyone was laughing merrily at the long-awaited happy event.

“…!”

“Greetings, Heavenly Venerable!”

Everyone was startled by a certain person who appeared suddenly as if teleporting.

Everyone bowed to the Heavenly Venerable, who still looked like a young man despite easily exceeding two thousand years of age.

“Everyone stand up. I merely stopped by briefly because I heard a new Division Leader was chosen for the first time in two hundred years.”

The Heavenly Venerable’s gaze carrying a gentle smile directed toward Hong Seol.

“Since you have become a Division Leader, I will bestow a suitable cultivation method upon you… Mhm?”

The Heavenly Venerable, who stared intently at Hong Seol standing in a stiff posture as if nervous, narrowed his eyes.

“You are… not a pure human.”

“Pardon?”

“Are you an Artifact Spirit Race hybrid? The blood is thin, but certain. I had expectations because they said you possessed outstanding talent, what a pity.”

The Artifact Spirit Race could be said to be Magic Treasures that came to possess emotions like humans, a race mostly born from high-level Magic Treasures that possessed ego and could move independently.

Amidst everyone’s shock, Hong Seol’s bewilderment was greater than anyone else’s. This was because she had learned for the first time at this very moment that she was an Artifact Spirit Race hybrid.

“The Artifact Spirit Race is on relatively good terms with our human race, but still, a foreign race is a foreign race.”

Before the shocked Hong Seol could say anything in response, the Heavenly Venerable, whose laughter had completely vanished, spoke in an emotionless tone.

“The Sacred City is a place solely for the human race. We cannot accept a hybrid, so leave.”

*

Hong Seol, completely out of her mind, stood blankly and stared only at empty space.

“That I am an Artifact Spirit Race hybrid…?”

At a single word from the Heavenly Venerable, she was expelled from the Sacred City where she had stayed her entire life.

She knew not where to go. She felt as if she had lost something important.

Just as she stood endlessly in the wasteland outside the formation guarding the Sacred City.

“Hong Seol. No hard feelings.”

Before she knew it, Nascent Soul Great Circle powerhouses who appeared surrounded her.

“Leave behind what you received from the Sacred City.”

At the voice filled with cold killing intent, focus was captured in Hong Seol’s empty pupils.

What she received from the Sacred City?

How could she hand that over…

There was no time to ask back.

Swish!

The moment she barely avoided the fire bird rushing like lightning, dozens of spells followed.

She swung her sword reflexively to deflect them, but it was impossible.

In addition to being a fierce onslaught that followed before she could recover from the mental shock, the opponents were also not easy in the first place.

When the powerhouses at the Nascent Soul Great Circle, who could be called the absolute elite of the Sacred City, launched a joint attack, she could not endure at all.

In the moment she became covered in blood in an instant,

“Stop!”

Cloud Lake Sword, the master who had raised her since she was five years old, appeared and overturned the earth.

Thud!

He caused a tsunami of earth, burying those except Hong Seol deep underground.

“Master…?”

Cloud Lake Sword, whose lips trembled at the sight of Hong Seol covered in blood, glared and shouted loudly.

“What are you doing standing there blankly! Stop talking nonsense and get lost!”

“…”

“I told you to go quickly!”

At the same time as Hong Seol, who bit her lip, transformed into a silver escape light and vanished beyond the horizon, the Nascent Soul cultivators buried in the earth burst out and directed cold gazes.

“Cloud Lake Sword. What are you doing? Shielding a foreign race.”

“Damn it! The Heavenly Venerable told her to just leave, who are you bastards to step forward and punish her!”

“…If he disliked our actions, he would have stopped us long ago. The fact that he did not means he condoned them.”

“Nonsense! One just needs to accept the words of the Heavenly Venerable as they are, yet you bastards always interpret them as you please!”

Both sides glaring at each other clashed, and soon someone covered in blood fell.

“You grew weak after clinging to affection.”

“Let us pursue quickly. Since her Nascent Soul is injured, she cannot have gone far.”

It was exactly as predicted.

Before long, Hong Seol, who was caught up by the pursuit team, was cornered to the brink of death before they could even exchange a few bouts.

“I repeat, no hard feelings. We simply cannot let you go as it is obvious you will become a source of trouble.”

Just as the cultivator who stepped forward with an expressionless face was about to end her life.

“What happened to Master?”

“…We did not kill him.”

Hong Seol, who had grown pale from losing too much blood, nodded as if in relief, and then cleaved the empty air with a single slash.

“…”

Within the shocked gazes, Hong Seol’s figure vanished beyond space.

“A spatial divine ability?”

“The Artifact Spirit Race! It is the power of a foreign race!”

It was clear that she had awakened the blood of the Artifact Spirit Race under successive shocks and the extreme situation where her life was threatened.

“Pursue!”

Ending with the sight of the stiff-faced Sacred City cultivators issuing a wanted order, the entire world blurred.

***

Inside the mist of the True Realm of Illusory Dreams.

Jin So-myeong, who stood wordlessly, closed his eyes tightly.

Letting various emotions flow away with a single breath, he contacted the starlight again, and could finally face Hong Seol directly.

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