Chapter 229: Erased Records (3)
"Got nothing more to ask?"
"No, nothing at the mont."
"Then stop wasting ti and get going. We’ve learned all we can."
When Jang Woo-hyun no longer asked about the flow of ti or the world’s developnts, the Record Keeper returned to his usual deanor.
"I’ve learned sothing interesting, but I’m not sure if it’ll be of any use to you. If only more records had remained... Wait, what’s this?"
The Record Keeper trailed off as he focused on the stone tablet in his hands.
"Two hundred thousand years? A hundred and twenty thousand?"
Five hundred and twenty thousand, two million.
The section that had previously said ‘twenty thousand years ago’ kept shifting. Eventually, the contents of the stone tablet beca unreadable.
"Is sothing wrong?"
"...It’s nothing major. It must be a malfunction due to its age. Makes sense, it’s never been maintained. Once Hongho takes my place, I’ll have him co down and do so upkeep. Hm?"
The stone tablet in the Record Keeper’s hands let out a faint crack—crunch—before shattering. The powdered remains flowed through his fingers.
"Damn..."
He carefully gathered the powdered remains and placed them into a small box nearby. The box was a high-grade dharma treasure ant for restoring ancient recording dharma tools, but oddly, nothing happened.
"Seems it’s completely destroyed."
"It broke down suddenly—could so kind of force have intervened?"
Jang Woo-hyun asked with a hint of concern.
There were beings capable of distorting mories and erasing records left behind in the world. Perhaps they had wanted this particular record gone.
"I don’t think that’s it. This is all their fault."
"Their fault? Who do you an?"
"The Three Master Craftsn and Yul. If they had chosen a successor earlier, soone could’ve checked on this place and kept it in shape. We just neglected it too long, and the tool couldn’t hold out."
"Is that alright?"
"I rember the contents. I’ll just record it again."
Though the Record Keeper spoke casually as if it were no big deal, Jang Woo-hyun couldn’t shake the unease in his gut. It had malfunctioned suddenly and conveniently crumbled—anyone would find that suspicious.
"We’ll leave it for later. Let’s go back up now."
Setting aside the discomfort, Jang Woo-hyun followed the Record Keeper out of the archive.
While Jang Woo-hyun was away at the archive, the martial artists of the Annihilation Squad were able to find the weapons they sought.
So expressed dissatisfaction at not finding anything suitable, but with no more reason to stay in the Nation of chanical Marvels, the Annihilation Squad began to move again.
On the road back to the main temple of the Five Elents Cult.
Jang Woo-hyun ca face to face with the Great Sage of Wind and Thunder alone.
"Why did you call ?"
The Great Sage of Wind and Thunder, who had not gotten what he wanted in the Nation of chanical Marvels, showed up with a sulky expression.
"I wanted to ask you sothing. Ever heard of the True Martial God?"
"True Martial God? Who the hell is that?"
He looked completely clueless, so Jang Woo-hyun explained what he had found out—hoping this ancient great demon beast might know sothing.
"Never existed."
When Jang Woo-hyun finished explaining, the Great Sage of Wind and Thunder firmly replied.
"What do you an, never existed?"
"I an, no such martial artist ever existed."
"Are you sure? The record is still intact."
"You said he took down twenty-five Great Ascension Stage cultivators?"
The Great Sage of Wind and Thunder tapped his own chest with a finger.
"Then there’s no way I wouldn’t know about him."
"Don’t joke around. Answer seriously—"
Jang Woo-hyun was about to scold him for ssing around but fell silent when their eyes t. He realized the Great Sage was right. Soone like him should know of an existence like the True Martial God.
This battle-obsessed monkey demon in front of him would’ve gone charging in without hesitation against soone of that level, even if it ant being torn to pieces.
"......"
"There’s no way I wouldn’t know. That guy never existed. But are you sure? Did he really exist?"
"There are records. From twenty thousand years ago, there was a man called the True Martial God. Soone erased all his records from the Central Heavens Realm."
"Erased? By who?"
Jang Woo-hyun raised his hand and pointed upward.
"Those sitting at the very top. Though... it’s just a theory."
Though he phrased it delicately, the Great Sage of Wind and Thunder imdiately understood who he ant.
"Hmm, if it's them, it’s definitely possible. Still, it’s bizarre. If there was such a powerful martial artist, even the Demon Realm would’ve heard of him, but I’ve never co across the na. Twenty-five Great Ascension Stage cultivators? That’s absurd."
"Would that even be hard for you?"
"You kidding ? If I fought properly, I’d beat them all."
Puffing up his chest with pride, the Great Sage struck a smug pose. Jang Woo-hyun let out a quiet sigh. He had asked seriously, but here ca the boasting again.
"Isn’t it possible he fought them one-on-one in secret? Like assassinations?"
"That’s impossible. You’ve never gone up against soone like that, have you?"
"I’ve never faced a Great Ascension Stage cultivator. I have seen martial artists at the Immortal Realm, though."
“If you’ve seen those who have reached the Immortal Realm, you’d have a rough idea. They create entirely new worlds. What was it again?”
“Microcosm.”
“Right, microcosm. Just like that, Great Ascension Stage cultivators twist the world around. Destroying a floating continent is nothing to them. To ordinary humans, they wouldn’t seem like natural disasters—they’d be gods. Even True Immortals don’t take Great Ascension Stage cultivators lightly. Catching those guys one by one in secret? Absolutely impossible. You’d be exposed before you got more than a few. Then the shady cultivators would swarm like wild dogs to take down the threat. Assassinating a Great Ascension Stage cultivator? Even more ridiculous.”
He had summoned the Wind-Passing Great Sage to clear his doubts, but his mind only grew more tangled.
“Then what about the record that was left behind?”
“No idea. Maybe there was so kind of interference. Or soone tampered with it. If the ones sitting atop the Upper Realm were the ones ddling, it would be hard for those in the Middle Realm to notice. Compared to them, beings in the Middle Realm are terribly insignificant.”
As he listened, Jang Woo-hyun clenched the hilt of the Black Wilds Sword. He was steadily growing stronger, yet there was still a long road ahead.
“Rember what I told you back in the Lower Realm? I said I saw soone’s mory.”
“Whose mory? Ah, the one where beings of the Upper Realm fought. Why bring that up now?”
“I’m starting to think the being the Martial Gods of the Upper Realm were fighting… was the True Martial God.”
The Wind-Passing Great Sage widened his eyes and fell into thought. A mont later, he nodded.
“That's a fair point. If he had climbed upward by slaughtering Great Ascension cultivators, then he must have been terrifying, even in the Upper Realm. If that record about the so-called True Martial God is real, then it's more than possible.”
“Stories about trouble in the Upper Realm keep surfacing. I wonder if it’s all connected to the True Martial God. What do you think? I know the tilines are far apart…”
It seed strange that sothing from twenty thousand years ago would have an impact now, but he asked just in case.
“It’s entirely possible.”
The reply was unexpectedly positive. The Wind-Passing Great Sage pointed at himself with his finger.
“Don’t you see it? This isn’t my real body.”
“Ah.”
Jang Woo-hyun imdiately understood what he ant.
The Wind-Passing Great Sage, too, was walking around in a projection, not his true self. If one was a True Immortal or a Martial God, they could easily create such projections.
“Even if he really was destroyed, his will or projection might remain. That alone could influence lower dinsions. Since there’s no way to learn about the worlds above from here, it might be that we’re only now realizing these things.”
A True Immortal or Martial God could indeed exert that level of influence.
That was what beings who had ascended to the Upper Realm—those with god-like powers—were capable of.
“Would he be having problems too? The one targeting .”
When asked about the Heavenly Venerable of the Silver Radiance and Universal Transformation of the Three Pure Ones, the Wind-Passing Great Sage shook his head.
“No, that one should be perfectly fine. The scale of power he sends down is too great. You can’t do that from a destroyed state. Besides, you saw it yourself last ti.”
The Heavenly Venerable of the Silver Radiance and Universal Transformation had descended directly into Yeo Gongbaek’s body during his battle with Twin-Winged Lotus.
“If he’s fine, that’s a relief.”
Even hearing that the True Immortal targeting him was perfectly fine, Jang Woo-hyun didn’t waver. The Wind-Passing Great Sage couldn’t help but smirk. Truly, this human was amusing.
Jang Woo-hyun organized his thoughts while continuing a few more conversations with the Wind-Passing Great Sage.
“The difference between Ascension and Flight to the Heavens? Why are you asking that?”
“No developnt in the world? What’s that about?”
“Don’t ask about stuff like that.”
Perhaps so force was at play, but the monkey demon had little interest in anything outside battle or enemies to fight.
The only reason the topic of the True Martial God had gotten through to him was because that being was unbelievably strong.
‘Shouldn’t have asked in the first place.’
The difference between Ascension and Flight to the Heavens.
A world where ti seed to stop, with no developnt.
These two truths suggested that a power even greater than the ones sitting atop the Upper Realm was at play, leaving nothing for him to do. Not even talking to others was an option.
‘I’ll have to talk to Senior Kim when I et him.’
Even Zhang Sanfeng, who had reached the Six Great Heavens, never questioned the difference between Flight to the Heavens and Ascension. Others likely wouldn’t react either.
Only Kim Min-soo, who also ca from Earth, might understand that this world was strange.
‘Things have gotten more complicated than I thought.’
He had set out for the Nation of chanical Marvels to acquire a weapon made from Divine True Steel, yet now he had far more to think about on the way back.
He once again realized how strange this world was, and he had learned of a new being—the True Martial God.
On top of that, the True Martial God seed to be connected to the Dragon King's Scale and the Devouring Dragon of a Thousand Treasures, and appeared to be involved in events that transpired in the Upper Realm. Jang Woo-hyun had even witnessed the mory of a Martial God who had fought him.
He had simply practiced martial arts and ascended—yet without realizing it, he was caught in the middle of sothing vast and overwhelming.
“Lord Jang went to et the Solar Palace.”
At the report from her subordinate, Im Gwan-hwa’s brow furrowed slightly. Having recovered from her injuries, she was now moving for the sake of the Five Elents Cult.
“Woo-hyun did?”
“Yes, he left the main division yesterday for negotiations.”
“Negotiations, huh…”
The word “negotiations” deepened her frown. Jang Woo-hyun and the Annihilation Squad were far more suited to the word “threat” than “negotiation.”
‘Why would the Cult Leader make such a choice?’
It wasn’t like the Annihilation Squad would act on their own.
Surely the Cult Leader knew their tendencies, so sending them for negotiations made no sense.
“Lady Uhobop, by ‘Woo-hyun’ do you an the one from the Cheonrin Sword Alliance?”
At the voice calling her, Im Gwan-hwa paused and turned her head. In front of her sat a woman who looked as if she embodied the very word “beauty.”
“So the Young Palace Master knows him as well?”
“Yes. I t him once at a gathering held by the Tai Chi Sect.”
The woman before her was Seol Ha-rin, the Young Palace Master of the Northern Heavens Ice Palace, who had previously t Jang Woo-hyun at the Tai Chi Sect’s eting.
“You seem worried.”
“Isn’t the Solar Palace a bit hot-tempered? And the ones following Woo-hyun aren’t pushovers either. I’m worried there might be a clash.”
Understanding her concern, Seol Ha-rin nodded.
“If it’s the Solar Palace, that’s understandable. Still, the Sword Alliance didn’t have a bad relationship with Elder Cheok Hwa-hong. Perhaps it was that connection that led them there.”
“Cheok Hwa-hong? He’s connected to him?”
“Yes.”
Seol Ha-rin shared what Jang Woo-hyun had done at the gathering. Listening to the story, Im Gwan-hwa sincerely hoped the Annihilation Squad wouldn’t cause a ss.
* * *
“Captain, should I cut him?”
Seo Ryeom’s new sword, acquired from the Nation of chanical Marvels, was pressed against soone’s neck—and at the sa ti, the martial artists of the Annihilation Squad unleashed their presence.
A hair-trigger situation.
A fight could break out at any mont, and no one would be surprised.
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