novelraw Chapter 229 : I Will Watch
Chapter 229 : I Will Watch
Chapter 229: I Will Watch
Heaven had commanded me to accumulate Killing Karma, yet instead I accumulated Good Karma, weakening the Heaven-Slaying Star.
Then, I siphoned off that weakened stellar power through the Starfall Heart Cultivation Method and nurtured it into something that belonged solely to me.
That was the supreme martial art created by that mysterious being known as Ilwol, and personally passed down to me by Hwang Geolgae.
Its name was none other than the radiant Starfall Heart Cultivation Method.
“……You are not in your right mind. To defy Heaven head-on… twisting the heavenly order like this—how could my Heavenly Eye Insight possibly read you!”
The red-haired woman, who had been laughing leisurely no matter what happened, now revealed rare shock and bewilderment.
It seemed my very existence—walking the righteous path like a chivalrous hero instead of committing slaughter—was utterly alien and absurd to her.
“You… surely don’t mean… you intend to accumulate even more of that power and truly defy the fate of the Heaven-Slaying Star?”
Just moments ago, I had saved Seol Soyoung through a self-sacrificial act that burned my own body, accumulating immense Good Karma.
Perhaps she had caught on to the path I intended to walk, because she stared at me as if she couldn’t believe it.
Her crimson eyes blazed like flames, demanding the truth from me.
“So what, just because I’m the Heaven-Slaying Star, I have to go around massacring people? What kind of nonsense is that? I have free will too.”
A certain existentialist philosopher from my previous world once said that humans are condemned to be free.
And Kant had said it too—freedom is the expansion of one’s liberty without infringing upon the freedom of others.
“Therefore, I’ve decided to live however the hell I want. The Starfall Heart Cultivation Method is just a means to that end.”
As a troubleshooter who had suddenly been thrown into the Murim of the Central Plains, I would walk my own path.
At my declaration, the woman called Jeokil stood there with her mouth slightly open, unable to find words.
Even the monkey beside her glanced back and forth between us, sensing the strange tension.
“But how could the Heaven-Slaying Star be like this…….”
As expected of a being beyond Heaven who read the flow of fate, she couldn’t easily accept my direction.
So I revealed to her another existence whose fate had also been twisted, much like mine.
“For your reference, she’s the current Purple Tenuity Star.”
I pointed at Jo Harang, who lay collapsed on the ground with a great saber strapped to her back.
Her glossy black hair was sprawled messily around her.
“Ha… what a mess. Everything is completely tangled. And the two of you are truly comrades?”
“We’ve crossed the line of death together more times than I can count. You could say we understand each other without words.”
Two beings who, by Heaven’s will, should have treated each other as mortal enemies and tried to kill one another… sharing unspoken understanding?
When the absurdity exceeded all limits, Jeokil burst into loud laughter again.
“Kahahaha! You’re truly insane, completely insane!”
The matter had already happened, and her reaction seemed to have shifted into sheer amusement.
Pointing at Jo Harang, she asked again:
“Does that Purple Tenuity Star woman know your true identity?”
“……No.”
One day, out of nowhere, Jo Harang had confessed that she was the Purple Tenuity Star.
Perhaps after breaking through her realm thanks to my advice, she had become emotional and said such things.
“And when she learns the truth later… how do you plan to deal with that?”
“……W-well, I’ve taken out some insurance.”
If the day came when the whole world turned against me, and even she had to stab me in the gut—
I decided I would let it slide just once.
“You brat… don’t tell me that other woman lying there as well…?”
Startled once, frightened twice—she pointed at Ilhong, the girl with the tied ponytail, and kept asking.
“Ah, her? She’s just the daughter of the Hao Sect Leader.”
In the Murim of the Central Plains, she was a major figure with a massive bounty on her head, but in this bizarre cave, she could be considered relatively ordinary.
“Ha, how is that anywhere near ordinary?”
Jeokil let out a hollow laugh. Even as a being beyond Heaven, she clearly knew of the Hao Sect.
Unable to keep up with this conversation that defied common sense, she shook her head.
“So that’s how it is. That’s why you endured my blazing Yang Energy burning inside you, and why there was no major issue despite three energies that should never coexist gathering in one place.”
It seemed she had finally come to understand the current situation.
But three energies that should not coexist in one body? That wasn’t something I could just ignore.
She must have been referring to the coexistence of the energies of the star, the moon, and the sun within my Dantian.
“What normally happens if those three gather in one place?”
“Since it exceeds the limits of the human vessel, the body should gradually collapse.”
But in my case, perhaps because I possessed the body of the Heaven-Slaying Star that regenerated no matter how much it was torn apart—
Or perhaps because only the Star Spirit Energy was overflowing while the others were still weak—
There were no signs of collapse.
“……Ah, could you maybe take back that Yang Energy over there?”
“No. I do not take back what I have given.”
If she gave something, she wouldn’t take it back. In other words—no take-backs.
“Damn it.”
I ended up learning an unsettling piece of information.
I glanced uneasily at the Yang Energy and Moon Spirit Energy settled deep within my Dantian.
Beyond the limits of a human vessel… It would be great if they fused well, but they didn’t seem like energies that would ever mix.
“Even after living for hundreds of years, I’ve never had an experience as absurd and yet refreshing as this.”
Having lived that long, one’s emotions would normally dull—but my struggle to break free from fate seemed entirely new to her.
“Ilseong… I thought I only needed to watch out for that lunatic obsessed with the moon, but…….”
She referred to that being beyond Heaven who had tried to drive the Sect Leader of the Emei Sect into madness.
As she deliberately raised her aura, a scorching gust surged forth, and the Heavenly Ice Cave began melting rapidly.
“How unexpected, Ilwol. That seemingly refined old man turned out to be the most insidious of all…!”
She laughed brightly, declaring he was just as insane.
Her long red hair swayed along with her trembling shoulders.
“Surely… you didn’t plan all the way to reaching me as well? To eventually possess both the Moon Spirit Energy and the Yang Energy?”
Looking up at the ceiling, she muttered as if questioning Ilwol.
Come on, there’s no way he planned this far ahead. I can’t even predict what’s right in front of me.
“Hey, Heaven-Slaying Star.”
“My name is Dan Mujin.”
A meaningful name I chose upon being reborn in this world.
Though I had nearly ended up being called something ridiculous once.
“What is your wish?”
Seeing that the path I had walked was anything but ordinary, she asked about my intentions and my destination.
“My wish is… wealth and glory, living in luxury, and surviving long enough to receive a pension and live to old age.”
These were long-standing life goals carried over from my previous world.
You could say they were set back in my days at Sky Love Orphanage.
“Pen… what?”
That pension I had been forced to pay into like taxes every time I worked as a troubleshooter—
Thinking about it now, I never even got a single coin back before ending up in this Murim world. It made my blood boil.
“Ha… what are these extremely mundane goals? And this is supposed to be the Heaven-Slaying Star…?”
The being beyond Heaven—who had abandoned the Immortal Realm to descend into the lower world—spoke with a hollow expression.
Her face showed she was at a loss for words at how materialistic, realistic, and worldly my goals were.
‘This… is really… the Heaven-Slaying Star?’
Even Salseongi, who had quietly reappeared, reacted the same way.
Looks like everyone was underestimating my grand life goal.
They didn’t understand how hard it was to live surrounded by good people until old age.
“Heaven-Slaying Star.”
“I told you—it’s Dan Mujin.”
Don’t call me by a title forced onto me.
At my correction, she glared at me with slightly irritated crimson eyes.
“……Well, for now, you are still the Heaven-Slaying Star.”
In this world, fists were closer than law.
Sometimes, bending like a reed was the wiser choice.
As I lowered myself, she smirked, finding it amusing.
“Very well, Dan Mujin. Your path is quite interesting. I shall personally watch over your journey from now on.”
Following Ilwol, another being beyond Heaven had taken an interest in me.
Hopefully Ilseong, who spread the power of the moon, wasn’t also watching me from somewhere.
“You should feel honored that someone of my stature is taking interest in you.”
“……I’m honored, oh being beyond Heaven. But, um… could you take back that Yang Energy?”
“No. It is a gift I personally bestow. Keep it deep within your Dantian.”
She said it might prove useful someday. Of course, if mishandled, it could harm me—a true double-edged sword.
“You should say thank you.”
“Thank you……”
The gaze of the being beyond Heaven lingered on me with a playful smile, as if she had found new entertainment in her dull life within the ice cave.
The monkey spirit beast that had been growling at me earlier now gave me a look as if it somewhat understood my feelings.
“Ukkik.”
Only after being tormented for quite some time did I finally manage to leave that damned ice cave.
After shaking off the persistent red-haired woman,
I headed toward the North Sea Ice Palace, where everyone would be waiting.
As I entered, a grand banquet celebrating the complete recovery of the Nine Yin Severed Meridian was in full swing.
The hall was crowded with northern people who had distinctly Western features.
And as soon as I appeared, Seol Jindo sprang up from his seat to welcome me warmly.
In his hand was a blue wooden box that clearly looked valuable at a glance.
“This is the Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Crystal, a treasure of the North Sea Ice Palace. It is a spiritual elixir that has absorbed the energy of the north for ten thousand years and possesses extreme Yin Energy.”
Click.
As the box opened, a bone-chilling cold burst forth.
A Thousand-Year Ice Crystal would gradually melt outside the north, but a Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Crystal generated its own cold and would never melt.
This was the very treasure he had promised to hand over if we found it in the ice cave.
“Thanks to you, everyone returned alive from this expedition. Including my youngest daughter. You deserve this.”
In front of everyone, Seol Jindo handed me the North Sea’s most treasured item.
“……Alright, but could you let go now?”
Despite saying I deserved it, his hand gripping the crystal showed no sign of letting go.
Only after I said it outright did he slowly release it.
“Cough.”
He stroked his silver beard awkwardly.
“Ah…”
“The treasure of the north is leaving for the Central Plains……”
“But he does deserve it……”
The palace members let out regretful sighs.
“I’ll put this to good use.”
Afraid he might change his mind, I quickly tucked the priceless elixir into my chest.
An intense cold spread from within—
But it was soon neutralized by the Yang Energy, creating a strange balance.
“Dan Mujin, I have a request.”
“Yes, what is it?”
Having honored our agreement, Seol Jindo now spoke with a serious expression.
“As you know, the only place that can properly utilize the Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Crystal is our North Sea Ice Palace……”
“Yeah, that’s true.”
Why did that sound like the start of something awkward?
“Right now, we lack the funds to buy it back. But once we recover financially and stand tall again as the center of the north… could you refrain from selling it elsewhere and wait for us?”
So if I were to sell it, he wanted me to sell it back to them.
Come to think of it, he did say they had spent enormous resources to save his daughter.
“Alright, let’s do that.”
Seeing the earnest eyes of Seol Jindo and his family, I smirked and agreed.