Chapter 712

I took one step into the silver passage created by the Nine Heavens Maiden. Seomun Hye followed right behind me, and I realized that the surrounding scenery had transformed into a starry sky brimming with pitch-black darkness. I checked myself for any abnormalities, but everything seemed fine for the time being.

'Breathing is possible.'

I'd been bracing myself, assuming this was a vacuum like the moon's surface with its thin atmosphere, but that wasn't the case. I could breathe normally, and Seomun Hye showed no issues either. The Nine Heavens Maiden spoke.

[I'm maintaining Absolute Survival with the Four Seas Subduing Art. There won't be any problems with air.]

"... Ah..."

I tried to say something, but realized every sound from my mouth was completely silent. With no air, sound waves couldn't propagate. Verbal conversation seemed impossible here, so telepathy would be the way to go from now on.

......

Staring at the vast, barren grayish-white plain and the endlessly dark cosmic void, a profound sense of alienation washed over me. No human could survive in a place like this. And there was another problem.

Bounce.

As I took a step, my body lightly leaped upward. I hadn't used any movement technique or lightness skill, yet my body felt far too light. Drawing on my knowledge of the demonic path, I knew this was due to the moon's weak gravity, so I proceeded with caution.

'I'll have to anchor myself with the Thousand Catties Drop technique.'

It wasn't so bad that I couldn't use lightness skills. But I had to restrain myself from jumping too high recklessly. One misstep, and I could be flung off the moon, lost in the void of space.

Tap-tap.

Seomun Hye and I leaped along for about ten li, but there was no sign of anything resembling Je Gok's divine temple anywhere—just endless desolate white plains. Seeing my home star faintly in the distance filled me with a wistful melancholy.

Around then, the Nine Heavens Maiden spoke.

[Je Gok's influence feels faint on this surface.]

I replied with telepathy instead of words.

[Isn't the moon supposed to be Banwang Hall?]

[That's what I understood, but this is my first time coming here in person. And I sense hardly any divine power on this plain.]

Hardly any divine power.

Did that mean this wasn't Banwang Hall after all? As I'd seen with Mangwi Hall, the abodes of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors always brimmed with an overwhelming presence, their divine power flowing like an active volcano. But even without the Nine Heavens Maiden pointing it out, this lunar landscape didn't feel like one of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors' divine halls.

'What the hell is going on?'

Finding Cheon Ujin in this vast expanse would be no easy task. As I pondered our next move, Seomun Hye's telepathy came through.

[Baek Woong, something's moving way over there.]

Something moving?

At her words, Seomun Hye and I simultaneously concealed our presence and observed the motion. It was about five li away—something was wriggling in the basin below. Focusing my inner sight, I frowned at what I saw.

'Yi-jok...? No, doesn't seem quite right...'

It was more humanoid than yi-jok. The head, arms, and legs were distinctly human-shaped. But it couldn't be called human because it had wings on its body and what looked like multiple eyes.

In simple terms, a bee-human.

If it were yi-jok, fine, but something this humanoid would be classified as a yoju or heteromorphic race. I'd never encountered bee-humans in my knowledge, which is why I was confused. Still, engaging rashly wasn't wise, so Seomun Hye and I pressed ourselves flat to the ground and watched its actions.

Even in the airless moon, the bee-human flapped its wings and moved adeptly. It seemed to be digging something up from the basin floor. After a while, it clutched a bundle to its chest and flew off.

Once the bee-human was gone, I approached the basin to investigate. At the bottom of a depression over ten jang deep, plants clung like barnacles—nothing I'd ever seen on earth. I noticed the plants extending stems to bloom flowers that resembled clustered mist, and such flowers bloomed profusely everywhere.

'No water, no air—how can life grow here?'

As I marveled in disbelief, the Nine Heavens Maiden spoke.

[The bee-human took flowers from those plants.]

[What are these flowers?]

[I don't know either.]

If even the Nine Heavens Maiden didn't know, the moon's ecosystem must be utterly unique. For now, I plucked a few plants and flowers, storing them in my spatial pouch. Then I hid nearby, waiting to see if more bee-humans would return.

Whirrr.

Sure enough, after about an hour, bee-humans began flying in from somewhere—not just one like before, but hundreds. They swarmed the plants, frantically harvesting flowers in competition. Once they'd stripped them bare and flown off, I stealthily trailed behind.

How far did we go?

The further I followed their flight path, the more traces appeared, and ancient ruin-like structures dotted the landscape. I spotted swarms of bee-humans pouring into what looked like a massive temple.

Surveying the area, I thought.

'This is definitely a city...'

Unlike any architectural style from earth. It wasn't designed for humans but built from the start for heteromorphic beings. As I observed the indescribable city, I noticed something flying overhead.

Screech.

A massive bird emitting strange cries and glowing light soared about. Spotting something riding it, I concealed myself. I'd seen the rider before, and my eyes widened.

'That's the one from the summoning ritual...!!'

It had a human face, dog ears, and the body of some unknowable beast. Monstrous in appearance, yet it exuded divinity rather than evil, marking it as a divine being.

The ritual to summon the Earth God.

Back then, swayed by my persuasion, the Earth God had tried to bestow the Red Bow and White Arrow, but the Eight Trigrams manifested near him to block it. Simultaneously, from the heavens, Savi Shisin—the apostle of Eastern Sovereign Emperor Je Jun and emissary of Je Gok—interfered. Savi Shisin had warned the Earth God.

[Je Jun's will is thus: The Red Bow and White Arrow belong to the Heavenly Emperor. They are blessings too great for one doomed to perish.]

But the Earth God brushed off the warning in anger, allowing me to obtain the Red Bow and White Arrow in that life. The outcome wasn't great, but it was memorable enough to stick with me.

That's right.

Riding that divine bird was none other than Je Jun's apostle, Savi Shisin!

Just then, a faint light enveloped Seomun Hye and me. The Nine Heavens Maiden's warning rang out.

[Be careful. Human martial arts or stealth techniques can't fully hide you from Savi Shisin, so I've temporarily applied the Four Seas Art. It won't last long—hurry and get out of here.]

[Nine Heavens Maiden, could you defeat Savi Shisin?]

[In my current state, with my full power restored through your offerings, it's not impossible. But remember, Savi Shisin is a heavenly god-level being of immense might, an apostle of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors.]

[Understood.]

[Besides, we're infiltrating, and this place is likely under Je Gok's domain. Starting trouble would be foolish.]

I fully grasped the situation anew.

In the old summoning ritual, I hadn't understood much, but this Savi Shisin flying overhead was a proper apostle of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors. Like when I'd been appointed an apostle of Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors' emissary in the past, it wielded tremendous authority granted directly by them.

'And unlike me, a mere human, Savi Shisin—as an innate divine being—can wield that apostolic power freely...'

Worse, Je Gok himself might descend and capture us all. We absolutely could not be detected by Savi Shisin here.

Screech.

Fortunately, Savi Shisin didn't spot us and flew off somewhere on its bird. After it was gone, I addressed the Nine Heavens Maiden.

[The moon seems to be Banwang Hall after all... If it weren't, Savi Shisin wouldn't be patrolling personally.]

[......]

[Nine Heavens Maiden?]

After a moment's thought, she replied.

[Then the moon itself might be a massive dimensional gate.]

[Pardon?]

[Savi Shisin appears to be the gatekeeper.]

[... Hmph!]

I saw the logic in her hypothesis. That explained the faint divine power of Je Gok while Savi Shisin roamed freely.

The moon itself wasn't Banwang Hall.

The moon was the gate leading to the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors' Je Gok's Banwang Hall.

'Like how Yi guarded the Ogeo Heavenly Gate?'

The Ogeo Heavenly Gate, gateway to Mangwi Hall, was guarded by Yi, the divinity of Mangwi Hall. Guarding it so strictly from the inaccessible Bongrae Island meant even immortals weren't allowed entry. It underscored how vital they considered these dimensional gates.

At the same time, contemplating their defensive structure gave me a headache.

'Damn it... To topple the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, I have to take down the gatekeepers of their divine halls first...'

And those gatekeepers were all beyond Great Spirit Immortal level or direct apostles of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors!

This setup meant we could be wiped out before even approaching them.

I eyed the building the bee-humans had entered suspiciously, then signaled Seomun Hye. We slipped inside, using stealth techniques to approach, and soon confirmed the interior scene.

Rumble.

Thousands of bee-humans gathered in a vast plaza, where the flowers they'd harvested piled into small hills. In the center lay severed heads and limbs of beheaded bee-humans scattered about. It was shockingly gruesome, but what followed was even more horrifying.

Whoosh.

White flames erupted. The blaze consumed the flower mound in an instant, but the bee-human corpses burned alongside it. As the white flames reached their peak, birds suddenly appeared on the altar and began dancing. These were the same birds summoned with Savi Shisin before—likely divinities under Je Gok.

Screech.

Once the frenzied dance ended, the bee-humans dispersed as if relieved. Watching the ritual, I understood.

'Human sacrifice...'

The bee-humans now served the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors' Je Gok.

Out of fear and desire for prosperity, they offered the flowers Je Gok favored while sacrificing some of their own as tribute.

To sustain their civilization.

"......"

It felt strange.

Human sacrifice wasn't unique to humans?

Learning that yoju, yi-jok, and half-demons did the same to serve great beings left me conflicted. The gulf between mortals and gods felt staggeringly vast.

'Hmm... A harvest indeed.'

If I returned to the moon next time, I could gather those massive mist flowers.

As I mulled it over, a gruff voice came from behind. Its owner had the typical bee-human appearance.

" Hey. Follow me."

The bee-human stared right at us. Despite perfectly erasing our presence with the Four Seas Subduing Art and concealing our auras with martial arts, it had detected us.

But the real shock was something else.

It spoke in Central Plains tongue.

Seomun Hye and I exchanged glances with the voice's owner, then followed without a word. The voice was all too familiar. Soon, the bee-human led us into a large house and spoke.

" What can I even say. You survived Dark Heaven Village?"

The interior had air, allowing normal speech without spells, and we could breathe freely. The bee-human eyed me incredulously, and I grinned.

" Pretty impressive, huh?"

"... Hmph."

" Anyway, is that form a transformation spell?"

It replied to my question.

" That wouldn't fool Savi Shisin, Je Gok's kin. This isn't transformation—it's a spell that deceives the world itself."

" You say that, but I still don't get it."

I grumbled, but it ignored me and continued.

" Your master called you here, right? Is he safe?"

" Yeah."

" Good. You made it back in one piece too."

Huh?

This guy?

I looked at the bee-human with keen interest.

" You've changed a lot in five years."

The old him wouldn't have said such things.

Whoosh.

Slowly, the bee-human form reverted to human. And there stood the familiar face I knew.

" Got a problem?"

The gruff, scowling tone belonged to Cheon Ujin.