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Chapter 270 : Friend
Chapter 270: Friend
‘Why did he appear?’
That was the question lingering in Chu Ok-young’s mind before her Projection vanished.
If it had been the Sword Heavenly Lord, guardian of the Central Heavens Martial World, it would have made sense.
But there was no reason for Yong Cheon-myeong to come here.
No one could have predicted his appearance.
The arrival of Dragon Emperor Heavenly Lord Yong Cheon-myeong made absolutely no sense.
But that was only because she did not know his ultimate objective.
Yong Cheon-myeong sought to unify the Central Heavens Martial World and seize the entirety of the Central Heavens Realm.
In such a situation, the bastards from the Corpse-Blood Realm creating a new gate into the Central Heavens Realm?
From Yong Cheon-myeong’s perspective, that was something absolutely intolerable.
His appearance here had been inevitable.
Others simply failed to understand it because they did not know his true purpose.
Unlike Chu Ok-young, Jang Woo-hyun had no time to think about anything else.
Nothing else mattered.
A monstrous calamity had suddenly appeared, and he had to protect his companions.
The moment he sensed some kind of energy wrapping around him, he slashed through it all and kicked off the empty air.
Chu Ok-young had teleported everyone away with her spell art, but not all of them would escape.
His instincts screamed at him.
Someone had to stop Yong Cheon-myeong.
And right now, the only one capable of doing that was Jang Woo-hyun.
No, to be precise, even Jang Woo-hyun could not truly do it.
But he alone possessed even the slightest possibility.
‘Straight to him.’
He had planned to spend time reflecting upon what he had learned in the Corpse-Blood Realm, but circumstances did not allow it.
Jang Woo-hyun dug through his unorganized memories and released his Will-Form into the world.
As he breathed, he felt the flow of the world and its will.
‘Faster!’
He wanted to move faster.
He wanted to cross vast distances in an instant.
He spread his thoughts into the world.
Staring at Yong Cheon-myeong far away, he desired to reach him faster.
As he took a step forward, he tried leaping across the space separating them.
No—
He pulled space itself toward him.
Because it felt possible.
Because he believed he could do it.
Whoosh!
Jang Woo-hyun’s will twisted the laws of the world.
Space was dragged inward.
It felt as though the scenery before him folded.
Without even using movement techniques, Jang Woo-hyun appeared directly before Yong Cheon-myeong.
This was why he had believed that even if Ian grew stronger in the Corpse-Blood Realm, he could still escape with his companions.
What Jang Woo-hyun had just used was the supernatural ability Jang Sam-bong once demonstrated.
Shrinking Earth.
Jang Sam-bong had said that once one reached the Infinite Realm, they would naturally come to understand it.
Just as he said, Jang Woo-hyun had used Shrinking Earth without anyone’s help.
It was not yet perfect, but he had folded space itself to traverse a great distance.
The instant he appeared before Yong Cheon-myeong, he immediately swung Dragon King Scale.
But—
Kagagak!
The blade stopped before translucent scales blocking his path.
The vertically slit pupils turned toward Jang Woo-hyun.
Yong Cheon-myeong’s eyebrows rose slightly.
“You…….”
Yong Cheon-myeong recognized him.
“To think you’ve grown this quickly.”
As he looked at Jang Woo-hyun, he smiled.
Aside from those vertical pupils, his face was so beautiful he could truly have been called the incarnation of beauty itself.
The moment Yong Cheon-myeong smiled, it felt as though the surroundings brightened.
“Why would a mere human possess such talent?”
As he voiced his question, the smile vanished from Yong Cheon-myeong’s face.
Instantly, the surroundings darkened.
It felt as though the world itself reacted to his emotions.
The temperature around them suddenly plummeted.
As ominous energy wrapped around his body, Jang Woo-hyun rapidly retreated.
He used Shrinking Earth once more.
As space folded like entering an entirely different world, Jang Woo-hyun arrived far away.
“……!”
He thought he had moved several hundred li in a single step.
But he had not.
The distance between him and Yong Cheon-myeong remained frighteningly close.
It seemed he had not even moved ten li.
Caught off guard by the unexpected situation, Jang Woo-hyun became alarmed.
At that moment, the world darkened.
As though the sky above had been covered over.
Ssssssss.
Along with the chilling sound of something crawling, the howl of an unfamiliar beast echoed out.
Looking around, he saw the entire world filled with the bodies of serpents and dragons.
The blue skies of the Central Heavens Realm had vanished.
Even when he looked upward, giant dragons and serpents twisted together overhead.
Looking downward showed the same.
No matter where he looked, all he could see were the tangled bodies of dragons and serpents.
It was a place he had seen before.
Dragons revealed themselves from every direction, while gigantic Imugi raised their heads.
Long ago, a martial artist descended from the Divine Dragon Clan that inherited dragon blood had wished to become a true dragon.
But because he had merely inherited dragon blood, he could never become one.
No matter how hard he tried, he could never become a dragon.
Thus, he wished for his world to be filled with dragons instead.
He desired every dragon to follow him.
Later, after reaching the Immortal Realm, his Microcosm became a world overflowing with dragons and serpents.
Ten Thousand Dragons, Thousand Serpent Cavern.
A world inhabited by thousands of Imugi and tens of thousands of dragons.
It was Yong Cheon-myeong’s Microcosm.
Jang Woo-hyun suddenly found it difficult to breathe, just as when he first fell into the Corpse-Blood Realm.
This was the world of dragons and serpents.
From every direction, dragons and giant Imugi emitted savage energy.
The word “impossible” surfaced in his mind.
He had been mistaken.
Yong Cheon-myeong could not be stopped.
Even stalling for time would be difficult.
Perhaps surviving here at all would prove impossible.
Back then, the difference between them had simply been too vast for him to properly grasp Yong Cheon-myeong’s power.
And at that time, they had been inside the territory of the Supreme Purity Taiji Sect.
Jang Sam-bong had been there.
But now, no one remained.
He had to face Yong Cheon-myeong alone.
---
“You snake bastard!”
Great Sage Tongpung extended his hand and crushed the head of a dragon charging toward him.
Chaos had erupted the moment Yong Cheon-myeong opened his Microcosm.
Hundreds of dragons and Imugi suddenly appeared from every direction.
Only Jang Woo-hyun had been pulled into the Microcosm itself, but even outside it, fragments of Yong Cheon-myeong’s power were influencing reality.
They were not true dragons.
Merely fragments of power escaping from the Microcosm.
Yet even that was enough to plunge the surroundings into complete chaos.
Every single dragon possessed immense strength.
And there were simply too many of them.
It was power beyond common sense.
Attacks beyond prediction.
Yong Cheon-myeong alone was overwhelming the entirety of the Demon-Slaying Corps and the Five Elements Cult.
Kwaaaaaang!
As Great Sage Tongpung tore apart the body of a giant winged serpent, an explosion echoed from far away.
The gigantic dragon that had first appeared and swallowed Chu Ok-young along with the red sphere was now attacking Great Thunder Fortress.
Seo Ryeom and Makya Wol were fighting against it, but even their strength was not enough to easily handle the creature.
Martial artists of the Five Elements Cult and the surviving spellcasters of the Radiant Light Sect were dying everywhere.
‘This is going to be difficult.’
Great Sage Tongpung’s gaze turned toward the distance.
One side of the Central Heavens Realm’s sky was covered by a gigantic crimson wall dividing the world itself.
That was not a physical barrier but a type of boundary.
Beyond that point, it was no longer the Central Heavens Realm.
It was a new world created by Yong Cheon-myeong.
And inside it would be Yong Cheon-myeong and Jang Woo-hyun, who had charged toward him.
‘Jang Woo-hyun might actually die.’
He had overcome countless hardships until now, but this time was different.
Yong Cheon-myeong’s strength was at a level where even Great Sage Tongpung would need his true body to fight properly.
Thinking that Jang Woo-hyun—who had once been his enemy and now fought alongside him—might die caused Great Sage Tongpung to feel an unfamiliar emotion.
It was the first time he had ever experienced such a feeling.
He could not understand it.
Nor could he explain it.
Calling it merely unpleasant felt completely wrong.
“Great Sage.”
While he pondered what to do, Seon Tae-gyeong approached alongside Yong Seo-hee, whose face had become pale after burning away a small dragon.
“What?”
“The Captain has been trapped inside.”
“I know that. So what?”
“Aren’t you going to save him?”
“Me? Why would I?”
He stared as though hearing utter nonsense.
Though he had joined the Demon-Slaying Corps and lived among them as companions, strictly speaking Jang Woo-hyun and Great Sage Tongpung had once been enemies.
And in this situation, rescuing him would not be easy.
He had no intention of helping Jang Woo-hyun at such a time.
Perhaps surprised by the unexpected answer, Seon Tae-gyeong widened his eyes and continued.
“You really aren’t going to help him?”
“It’ll be difficult to break through that with this body. And why exactly do you think I should help Jang Woo-hyun?”
“Because you’re friends.”
“……What?”
The answer came too slowly because the words were so unexpected.
Great Sage Tongpung furrowed his brow and stared at Seon Tae-gyeong.
What nonsense was this fool spouting?
He and Jang Woo-hyun got along well enough, but they were not friends.
To begin with, Jang Woo-hyun had been Great Sage Tongpung’s prey.
At first he thought it was some tasteless joke, but Seon Tae-gyeong’s expression was more serious than ever.
“You call only Leader Jang by his name, don’t you?”
“Me?”
“Yes. Leader Jang is the only one you call Jang Woo-hyun.”
Great Sage Tongpung constantly threatened to throw him out of Great Thunder Fortress or dismiss his summoning, but from Seon Tae-gyeong’s perspective, the relationship between him and Jang Woo-hyun was special.
For example, Great Sage Tongpung only ever called Jang Woo-hyun by name.
Seon Tae-gyeong was “spellcaster,” Seo Ryeom was “rat,” Makya Wol was “chains,” and Maeng Ye-ju was “muscles.”
Jin Ha-un was “kid,” and Cho Su was “Nation of Mechanical Marvels.”
Not a single one of them was called by name.
He did not even bother remembering their names.
But Jang Woo-hyun had always been Jang Woo-hyun.
“I know how the two of you first met.”
They met in the Lower Realm and fought one another.
Great Sage Tongpung had left his mark upon Jang Woo-hyun.
But despite all that, the two had become companions who transcended species.
They understood each other better than anyone else.
That was how Seon Tae-gyeong and the others viewed the relationship between Jang Woo-hyun and Great Sage Tongpung.
Boom!
After exploding an Imugi charging from behind, Great Sage Tongpung shook his head.
He still seemed unable to understand.
After furrowing his brow for a long while, he slowly opened his mouth.
“What exactly is a… friend?”
He knew the word.
But its meaning felt unfamiliar.
Because he had never possessed such a thing in his long life.
Great Sage Tongpung had brothers, but they were not true family.
They were merely Monsters grouped together under one name.
The concepts of friend and family did not truly exist for him.
“A friend is…… well, that means, taking care of each other, helping each other when things are difficult, and sharing joy together when something good happens.”
At the question, Seon Tae-gyeong became flustered.
Around the genius once called the prodigy of the spell arts world, there had only ever been people who envied him, admired him, or sought to use him.
Thus, even Seon Tae-gyeong could not properly explain friendship.
Because he himself had never truly had a friend.
“It’s a relationship where being together is enjoyable.”
Unable to bear listening any longer, Yong Seo-hee interrupted from the side.
“A relationship where being together is enjoyable?”
“Yes. A relationship where you joke around over trivial things, laugh and chat together. If being together makes you happy, then I think that’s what friendship is.”
“……Now that I think about it, I suppose that’s true.”
Before he realized his talent was special, back in his childhood, Seon Tae-gyeong thought things had been like that too.
Simply spending each day together with friends had been enjoyable.
Even when nothing special happened.
Looking back, they had done foolish and meaningless things, but simply having friends beside him had made him happy.
“A relationship where being together is enjoyable…….”
Great Sage Tongpung fell into thought.
What kind of relationship did he have with Jang Woo-hyun?
A martial artist he happened to meet in the Lower Realm.
Recognizing his talent, he branded him because he thought things would become entertaining.
At first, he had merely wanted another fight.
But before he realized it, being with Jang Woo-hyun had become enjoyable.
So enjoyable that he ignored other battles entirely.
He still did not fully understand friendship.
But one thing was certain.
Traveling together with Jang Woo-hyun had always been fun.
Even when they were not fighting, learning martial arts from the people Jang Woo-hyun introduced him to or simply talking with them had been enjoyable.
‘Come to think of it, this is the first time.’
For the first time in his life, he had found something enjoyable other than fighting.
Perhaps that uncomfortable feeling from earlier came because Jang Woo-hyun, whom he now considered not an enemy but a companion, had fallen into danger.
Great Sage Tongpung unconsciously let out a small laugh.
“Now that I think about it, we really are friends.”
His very first friend.
The concept of friendship—and the feeling brought by the word itself—felt strange to Great Sage Tongpung, yet at the same time he liked it.
It was an emotion he had never experienced before.
Even amidst the ongoing battle, Seon Tae-gyeong and Yong Seo-hee smiled at the sight Great Sage Tongpung displayed.
The great Monster of the Monster Realm had definitely changed.
“Will you save the Captain?”
“I should. We’ve got something like a friendship.”
The word “friend” still felt awkward, so he phrased it that way.
“I have one method.”
“What method?”
After Seon Tae-gyeong explained his plan, Great Sage Tongpung flinched in shock.
Even to him, the plan sounded absurd.
“Will that…… really work? He probably won’t respond to the summoning at all.”
“If Great Sage lends us your power and we use Lady Seo-hee’s blood, it should work. After all, she inherited dragon blood.”
Great Sage Tongpung looked at Yong Seo-hee.
Only now did he realize why her face was so pale.
“You already drew blood?”
“Yes. Because I want to save my brother.”
“Even if the summoning works, it’ll only be a Projection. How much help could that really be? It won’t be much different from me right now.”
At the question, Seon Tae-gyeong slowly shook his head.
“It will work because the target is Dragon Emperor Heavenly Lord, not Dream Heavenly Lord or Sword Heavenly Lord.”
If the summoned being was a dragon, then it would surely be able to unleash its full power.
At the very least, it should create enough time to rescue Jang Woo-hyun and escape.
After hearing everything, Great Sage Tongpung nodded.
“Fine. Then let’s begin. I’ll find a path leading to Jang Woo-hyun.”
Jang Woo-hyun still carried the mark Great Sage Tongpung had placed upon him.
If he forced it, perhaps he could locate him.
Having reached their conclusion, the three headed toward the world created by Dragon Emperor Heavenly Lord.