Chapter 471: Chapter 471

Seol-Hwi spent a few days in solitary meditation.

It was to control his physical and mental state, but in truth, it was more to secure recovery time for Jin Mu and End Demon.

Goo Jong-myung, Jin Mu, and End Demon finally possessed the Third Ability, so their preparations were considered mostly complete.

Knowing well that their abilities couldn’t reach the Fourth Ability that Earth Demon had attained, he planned to start hunting Siming Star as soon as they recovered.

The time to finally meet the elusive Creator was just around the corner.

“I heard Jin Mu and End Demon were quite injured… What happened?”

As Seol-Hwi returned to his quarters, Earth Demon approached and asked.

It seemed the two had briefly disappeared under the pretense of recuperation after the fight.

Goo Jong-myung seemed to consider it a personal matter between the two and didn’t explain in detail to Earth Demon.

“But they’re all alive, so it seems it went well?”

“Fortunately, their levels were similar. Moreover, having transcended human limits, reason prevailed over emotion, and it ended at a reasonable level. Of course, it helped that they shared a common goal…”

“Indeed. No matter how deep-seated emotions are, when something more valuable is discovered, one doesn’t cling.”

Though he said this, Seol-Hwi understood what emotions Earth Demon harbored.

In truth, if it was about resentment towards the Murim Alliance, Earth Demon was no less affected.

However, since a life of Heavenly Killing Star is a continuous agony, he didn’t place much meaning on being forsaken.

“Are you planning to lure the Creator here?”

“Precisely, it’s an enticement.”

“Yeah, if I intended to fight him, I would have dealt with it sooner. What I really want is to make him feel powerless against reality. In the process, I’ll guide him to come up with the one ingenious solution.”

“Turning back to the past?”

Earth Demon sincerely agreed.

Even before an absolute being like the Creator, he offered his support.

He seemed to believe that somehow, a way to return would be found.

“Has that day come already?”

Seol-Hwi exchanged a brief farewell with Earth Demon and turned away.

The time had come, and now it was time to leave.

The chick peeked out from the top of the cabinet.

Seol-Hwi naturally held Songhwa in his arms and quickly turned to leave.

Entering the Demonic Cult, Seol-Hwi headed straight for Lingering Garden Palace.

A place known for its mission significance, as discovered with the help of the past system.

Seol-Hwi gazed at the calm lakeside.

A place he had seen several times in the past while coming and going.

Then, as now, it did not seem deep.

He wondered if there was space for mission significance within.

But since the system confirmed it, it undoubtedly existed. New ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄhapters are published on novel•fire.net

“I’m going to enter, so hold your breath for a moment.”

“Ah, inside? Surely not in this water… Ugh!”

Seol-Hwi grabbed Songhwa’s body with one hand and went straight in.

The water was much deeper than expected.

The depth was such that it couldn’t be considered a lake.

It was so deep that it seemed as if it might have been artificially created by someone.

Seol-Hwi heightened his hearing to confirm that there was nothing in the shallow waters and went deeper.

He kept going until it was so dark that no light was visible.

A cave deep in the darkness.

Seol-Hwi was convinced that this was the place he had been looking for and headed straight there without looking around.

Songhwa surfaced, gasping for breath.

Though it wasn’t a long time, the cave was quite deep, and holding his breath was quite challenging due to the water pressure.

Of course, Seol-Hwi surfaced without any such trouble and remained calm.

“Elder, I can’t see in front of me… Ah!”

As Songhwa shook his wet wings and shouted, the surroundings lit up.

A flame, created by Seol-Hwi’s touch, brightly illuminated the area.

And somehow, the flame did not extinguish.

The first thing that quickly entered Seol-Hwi’s sight was a gigantic bookshelf.

Not just one, but countless bookshelves.

Moreover, they were filled with books, piled so densely that it was impossible to gauge how many there were.

“The phrase written over there…”

Seol-Hwi looked at where Songhwa was pointing.

The very front top of the endless bookshelves.

Familiar phrases were written there.

“History, culture, weapons, elixirs…”

It was categorized as if it were a library.

Considering the countless bookshelves towards the back, it seemed all related to those subjects.

Out of curiosity, he looked the other way, and it was also filled with bookshelves.

Martial arts, qi cultivation, techniques, body constitutions, and many other categories were organized.

To his surprise, when he stretched his vision a little farther, it was even more spectacular.

‘Culture’ and ‘Lifestyle’, these things existed.

On another side, there was ‘Geography’, and beliefs related to things like ‘Religion and Philosophy’.

“As expected… it was like that.”

Upon seeing this scene, Seol-Hwi was convinced that this space was entirely created by a system.

The categorization like a and the immeasurable amount of knowledge also indicated that.

It felt as if all the knowledge of this world was gathered here, like it was for a system called the Heavenly Demon Cultivation Simulation.

Seol-Hwi walked over to the section labeled Sorcery and picked up a random book.

It was a book titled Three Talents Spell, and upon skimming through it, it seemed to be a spell for repelling evil spirits.

‘Has the system function completely disappeared?’

As Seol-Hwi skimmed through the content, he felt a sense of doubt.

Usually, just skimming a book would allow one to acquire the martial arts within, or at least it would remain in memory.

But now, such abilities were not being applied.

Certainly, after the error caused by using Cheon Wol-seong, the system had disappeared.

It felt as if the auxiliary functions of the system itself had vanished.

‘But it hasn’t disappeared. Even if the system has vanished from me, this place is still influenced by the system.’

The creation of this space is proof of that.

He is just not recognized as a player due to a specific event.

This place was a space already generated under the influence of the system.

“Elder, what you were looking for is here.”

Just as Seol-Hwi was lost in thought, Songhwa urgently spoke from beside him.

On the top of the bookshelf, there was an inscription that read Qi points, and below it, Songhwa was seen pulling out a book to read.

“Is this the Three Gates Technique?”

“It’s not exactly what I was looking for, but it’s similar. Take a look.”

Seol-Hwi picked up the book that Songhwa was nudging with his foot.

As soon as he opened it, he felt dizzy.

The arrangement of numbers. Formations, etc. Detailed information about Qi Men Dun Jia was written.

Seol-Hwi skimmed through the book and said,

“This seems more difficult than I thought. Do you understand any of this…?”

“Oh, so this is how it’s done…”

Songhwa, who had already taken out another book, seemed to have found what he wanted.

He flipped through the back of the book with his impossibly delicate foot and then nodded.

No matter how high his level was, Seol-Hwi couldn’t even make a name for himself in Songhwa’s field.

“Okay, let’s get started then… Hah.”

Some time passed like that.

From somewhere, he took out a brush with a chick’s beak and began writing something on the floor.

He soon chanted something, and at that moment, the flow around them changed as if by magic.

The qi had a sacred feeling that was rarely encountered, so just watching it was intriguing.

Some more time passed like that.

With his shout, the cave began to shake. At the same time, Songhwa’s body gradually changed…

As soon as Songhwa shouted, his appearance returned to its original form.

It seemed to be a perfect success, as the youthful face of the boy appeared exactly as before.

“Master, I’ve finally done it!”

“You’ve worked hard all this time.”

Watching the jubilant Songhwa jumping around, Seol-Hwi smiled.

He felt a bit sorry, sensing the hardships Songhwa had endured.

‘But then, the presence of the Siming Star…’

Then Seol-Hwi fell into thought again.

In fact, as soon as he entered here, he searched for the presence of the Siming Star.

However, he could not find any clues or mysterious qi around.

From the start, he could not feel any special qi.

‘Could it have disappeared suddenly? No, that can’t be it.’

Nonetheless, the assumption that the Siming Star was not here was impossible.

The system wouldn’t deliberately lie.

It was more convincing to see it as a problem with the system.

‘Then what’s the problem?’

Seol-Hwi briefly recalled his last memory with the system.

At that time, the system emitted an error stating that there were two Cheon Wol-seong.

And then it disappeared like a lie.

If there was a problem with the system, it would be due to those actions.

‘Is there no way……. Yes, that’s it!’

Then, a hypothesis briefly flashed through his mind.

The player in this world is not just Cheon Wol-seong.

If he returns to being the player Seol-Hwi like in the past, wouldn’t he be able to discover a clue about the Siming Star?

“Perform the spatial movement ritual.”

Before coming here, Seol-Hwi had instructed to prepare the spatial movement in advance.

The starting point is here, and the destination is where Earth Demon is.

Songhwa, as if waiting, quickly prepared the spell.

“And Songhwa. Even if there are changes to my body, do not approach or touch me unnecessarily.”

“Ah… Yes. I’m busy too, you know.”

At Songhwa’s response, Seol-Hwi focused his mind.

The first step was to escape from Cheon Wol-seong and return to an intangible state.

‘Huh? The system isn’t appearing?’

Concentrating his mind to reach a level beyond the demonic realm, the system did not respond.

It seemed the expectation that there was a problem with the system itself was correct.

‘If that’s the case…’

He steadied his qi once more.

At the same time, he lowered his level and injected the past sensations as they were.

Finally, the system responded.

And the phrase he had seen before appeared once again.

[73,320,033rd player, 'Squad Leader Seol-Hwi'.]

That was when it happened.

Things that were not visible before began to appear before his eyes.

A powerful wave generated at about the height of a person.

Something with a gray band was rotating, and inside it was as black as pitch.

It felt like an abyss.

“It seems I cannot see it.”

It was understandable that it wasn’t visible since he wasn’t a player.

That circular banded wave must be something that doesn’t exist in the present world.

“You should stay here and prepare for spatial movement.”

“I have a place to visit briefly.”

At that moment, Songhwa’s expression hardened.

Whether it was intuition or a usual guess, it wasn’t clear.

“You will come back alive, right?”

He asked as if to confirm again.

Seol-Hwi nodded with a smile.

He would definitely return alive.

No matter what kind of place it was, he had trained enough to never be defeated.

Seol-Hwi walked towards the place where the waves were emanating.

And the moment he touched that light, his vision brightened.

Just in case, he tried to slow the flow of time, but it was useless.

This time, it was not the flow of time, but entering an entirely different dimension.