novelraw Chapter 142 : Boundless Realm
Chapter 142 : Boundless Realm
Chapter 142: Boundless Realm
An old man who had run from afar shouted as soon as he saw Jang Woo-hyun.
“A spy from the Murim Realm! Kill him!”
“No, wa, wait, listen to what I have to sa—”
“Ha! Those vermin planted a spy!”
“Eh? No, what spy are you talking about…”
Before he could even finish his sentence, the old man lunged forward and stretched out his hand. A tremendous force surged toward Jang Woo-hyun.
Kwaaaang!
He raised his sword to block it, but the power was formidable enough to push him back dozens of jang. His whole body went numb.
“Wait! Just wait a momen— You bastards!”
Blades of wind, fire orbs, ice-forged spears, and spell formations rained down from the sky.
Left with no choice, Jang Woo-hyun revealed his momentum and faced the attacks head-on.
Each strike carried immense power. Among them, the old man in blue stood out—the force he emanated surpassed even that of Jang Woo-hyun.
The other cultivators fell short of Yeong-gok’s level, whom he had fought within the gourd, but the old man was on an entirely different scale. He seemed to be several levels above Yeong-gok.
“Just wait a bit! Let me explain…”
With no intention of listening, the attacks continued to pour in from all directions.
Jang Woo-hyun retreated while drawing a circle with his sword.
He deflected the incoming sorceries and spell formations with clenched teeth.
—I’ll find out soon enough. The path to Central Heavens won’t be easy. And maybe something fun is waiting there.
‘That damn monkey.’
This was the place he had arrived at, guided by the tail wrapped by Windstorm Great Saint.
That bastard had always known this was the domain of the cultivators. He had probably foreseen what would happen next, too.
If not for the situation, Jang Woo-hyun would have summoned Windstorm Great Saint and sliced off his head with Annihilation Slash. But now was not the time. The power of these attacking cultivators wasn’t something even he could ignore.
“Huuuu.”
Gripping Mukya firmly in his hand, he began to breathe.
He had used up a considerable amount of internal energy to ascend to Central Heavens. If he wanted to resist, he had to gather energy again.
He inhaled and, unlike before, moved the internal energy within his body all at once.
The internal energy rose from his dantian and spread throughout his body. As the qi in his dantian began to rotate, the energy that had spread outward began to spin as well.
A method he had developed after observing the breathing techniques of giants.
A vortex of qi formed around Jang Woo-hyun.
Huuuuuung—
Unlike the Lower Realm, Central Heavens was filled with the Qi of Heaven and Earth.
The energy of the entire world responded. All surrounding energies rotated around Jang Woo-hyun, spiraling toward him.
Kwoong!
In that moment, the five energies within Jang Woo-hyun’s middle dantian stirred.
The Five Elements Qi that began in his chest extended in all directions. Heaven and Earth resonated with the fundamental energies of the world.
“Stop him! He’s doing something!”
The old man in blue, sensing danger from Jang Woo-hyun’s energy convergence, shouted.
From his perspective, Jang Woo-hyun’s state was not normal.
Huuuuung!
He was no longer just absorbing the ambient energy. The space around Jang Woo-hyun distorted. That distortion drew toward him, as if compressing space itself to consume it.
“Kill him!”
“Kill!”
At the old man’s cry, all the surrounding cultivators poured out their power and brandished their spell formations.
In the midst of the attacks rushing toward him, Jang Woo-hyun did not move.
He simply continued breathing. He felt he couldn’t afford to stop here.
Hwaaaak!
As energy accumulated in his lower dantian, the energy of his middle dantian resonated with Heaven and Earth.
For a brief moment, Jang Woo-hyun became one with the world, and his body began to transform.
As he breathed, fire(火) formed, his blood became water(水), his blood vessels and muscles became wood(木), his bones turned to metal(金), and his flesh became earth(土).
Then fire became breath, water returned to blood, wood became blood vessels and muscles again, metal returned to bone, and earth turned back into flesh.
Qi Spirit.
The words spoken by Windstorm Great Saint upon seeing Jang Woo-hyun’s chest upon their reunion. Kim Min-soo had explained that Qi Spirit was similar to an Element Spirit.
Now he understood why those words were said. The Five Elements Qi within Jang Woo-hyun’s middle dantian had been preparing to transform him.
Five Elements True Body.
A realm passed down like legend in the Dawn Continent.
Lee Ga-hang had once said that Five Elements True Body meant reconstructing one’s physical body using Five Elements Qi.
She was right.
Right now, Jang Woo-hyun had gained a new body forged from the Five Elements.
And now he also understood why Lee Ga-hang had said that without a “vessel,” everything would scatter even if one attained Five Elements True Body.
The five resonant energies that connected with the world sought to return to it through Jang Woo-hyun’s body.
Although the energy of the world had responded to Jang Woo-hyun, it now tried to reclaim it.
Without a vessel, he would not be able to maintain the Five Elements True Body. But Jang Woo-hyun had one.
Sacred River Flowing Armor.
The Armor of Qi that drastically elevated Jang Woo-hyun’s power. And his other body.
Within Sacred River Flowing Armor, the Five Elements Qi became one.
Kugugugugu—
Absorbing even the power of the Flight to the Heavens Gate nearby, Jang Woo-hyun was rising to the next stage.
“Youuuuuu bastard!”
Sensing the danger, the old man in blue let out a thunderous roar.
Realizing he couldn’t let this go on, he drew upon the power of the Flight to the Heavens Gate to summon a massive lightning strike.
Kwaaaaarrrung!
A thunderbolt large enough to shatter a small Floating Stronghold plummeted from the sky like a waterfall.
“……!”
But even that lightning was absorbed by Jang Woo-hyun.
While the cultivators stood in shock, Jang Woo-hyun stepped forward.
He had already set foot in the next stage before falling to the Lower Realm.
The gate had opened. Having ascended to Central Heavens, Jang Woo-hyun pushed the gate wide open and stepped inside.
Jang Woo-hyun’s consciousness crossed the Blue Sky and the vast universe, arriving in a space composed entirely of white.
He looked around briefly. Then he realized where he was.
‘Microcosm.’
The inner Microcosm. A place also called the world of imagery or depth realm.
This white space was another world inside himself.
He stepped down onto it and took a step forward.
Jeobeok.
The surroundings were bathed in a metallic light.
With another step forward—
Chareureureuk.
Countless blades surged up from all directions.
Swords became flowers, sabers became trees, arrowheads became grass, and spearheads became rocks.
Soon, mountains made entirely of blades rose all around him. Wherever he looked, there was nothing but blades.
The Sword Forest of Dosan (刀山劍林).
Jang Woo-hyun’s inner world, his Microcosm.
“……”
Jang Woo-hyun silently surveyed the area. Everywhere his eyes reached, there were countless blades.
He walked again, slowly, lost in thought.
Why had he suddenly come to such a place?
It must have been due to his sudden breakthrough, pulling him into his inner world.
Would others experience this too?
He guessed that not every martial artist who reached the Boundless Realm would go through this.
‘It must be just me.’
It had always been like this.
When he entered the Absolute Realm, he had glimpsed the Realm of Transcendence, and through the Transcendental Sword, he had experienced the Boundless Realm while still in the Absolute Realm.
This time was no different.
As he entered the Boundless Realm, Jang Woo-hyun briefly touched upon the unfamiliar Realm of Wish.
When he waved his hand, the sword grass (劍草) and saber flowers (刀花) bowed their heads.
Walking atop them, he headed toward the distant mountain of blades.
Kkudeuk.
While walking, he pulled out a blade protruding from a tree.
He gripped it with one hand—it was composed solely of a blade without a hilt.
‘Realm of Wish.’
He didn’t really understand.
No, he didn’t quite grasp the four realms described in Central Heavens to begin with.
It was called the Realm of Transcendence because it surpassed human limits, and Boundless Realm because it allowed one’s Will-Form to expand infinitely.
It was said to be called Realm of Wish because one could manifest anything at will, twist the Law of Nature, and engrave their own Law into the world.
And finally—
It was called Immortal Realm because one reached the domain of gods near perfection, shedding mortality.
‘This is difficult.’
Twisting the Law, engraving one’s Law into the world—he didn’t understand any of it.
He didn’t even understand what enlightenment truly was, so those vague ideas meant nothing to him.
To Jang Woo-hyun, martial arts meant accumulating internal energy, training the body, dodging the enemy’s attacks, and striking with weapons.
He slowly climbed the mountain of blades, lost in thought for a long time.
About the new realm, and about martial arts.
Though the peak neared, Jang Woo-hyun still thought he knew very little.
Severance or Space Slash, techniques one could supposedly use in the Boundless Realm—
The idea of cutting the principles of the world and slashing the unseen was not easy to comprehend.
‘I don’t get it.’
That was why he chose to do what he could.
To Jang Woo-hyun, martial arts meant physically moving the body.
He intended to grow stronger by accumulating internal energy and swinging his sword, as he always had.
It was something to take step by step.
People were amazed by Jang Woo-hyun’s genius. But he never relied solely on talent.
He tried to learn from everyone, mastered whatever he could, and absorbed everything he saw.
All he had accumulated was what had built the current Jang Woo-hyun.
There was no one he called Master.
But everyone Jang Woo-hyun had met was a teacher.
He learned perseverance from Yang Hyo-myung.
He learned to observe his surroundings from Ma Choong-won.
From Pyo Deuk-won, he learned diversity.
In the Dawn Continent, he learned Five Elements Qi.
From Windstorm Great Saint and Beast King Sect, he learned techniques that weren’t ordinary martial arts.
He tried to learn something from every person and every situation he encountered.
That was the path Jang Woo-hyun had walked, and would continue to walk.
Nothing had changed. As before, he would circulate qi and swing his sword, moving forward.
Jang Woo-hyun stood at the peak of the blade mountain and swung his sword.
Nothing had changed.
Boundless Realm or Realm of Wish—
Jang Woo-hyun was Jang Woo-hyun. All he had to do was move forward in his own way.
He didn’t understand Laws or the Law of Nature.
There was only one thing Jang Woo-hyun wished for—to swing his sword.
‘If you’re cut by a sword, you get wounded.’
If cut by a sword, you die. And he would cut with his sword.
A simple, unremarkable idea—closer to a singular truth.
With the sword swung within his Microcosm, with the Will-Form fixed in his mental world, the Law that Jang Woo-hyun desired was set.
If anyone is cut—they die.
It wounds their source and soul. That was what Jang Woo-hyun wished for, and that was his martial art.
Endless sword dance, and infinitely spreading Will-Form.
In the midst of that, a single Law was enacted.
When he exited the mental space—
Jang Woo-hyun was already in the act of swinging his sword.
Seogeok.
There was a slicing sound.
Everything within Jang Woo-hyun’s sight was cut.
Not only the surrounding cultivators, but their spell formations and sorceries. The clouds floating in the sky and the distant Floating Stronghold.
Even the ground he stood on, and the Flight to the Heavens Gate.
Everything was split in half.
Not even a single moment had passed since he returned to Central Heavens—
And Jang Woo-hyun had ascended to the Boundless Realm.
Somewhere in the Central Heavens Martial Realm—
“Isn’t this too much?”
Maeng Ye-ju asked as she stepped into a building ruined in multiple places.
“I’m fine.”
Standing before her was Jin Ha-un, holding two different swords.
It had been one year and six months since Jang Woo-hyun had fallen to the Lower Realm after being struck by True Immortals.
In the first year after parting ways with Jang Woo-hyun, Jin Ha-un rampaged wildly. He tracked down everyone related to Ascension Cult, and if a sect had even a shred of connection to them, he stormed in and fought.
At the time, Jin Ha-un lacked both foundation and skill. If not for Maeng Ye-ju of Beast King Sect or Cho-su backing him, he might have already died. That was how dangerously he acted.
After a year of rampaging, he got scolded by Maeng Ye-ju several times and lectured by Cho-su, which helped him come to his senses.
—I’m sorry. I lost my mind for a while.
Since then, Jin Ha-un had restrained himself somewhat, though he did not stop his journey. While he no longer fought like a madman, he still continued his battles.
He pushed himself, saying he had to become stronger to help Jang Woo-hyun. In many fights, he showed rapid growth, and now he was called by the name Blue-Red Sword Demon.
To Maeng Ye-ju’s eyes, it still seemed too much.
“This isn’t overdoing it, so don’t worry. It was worse when I traveled with hyung-nim in Central Plains.”
Jin Ha-un smiled at her worried gaze.
“How was it in the Lower Realm?”
“In the Lower Realm… hmm. Right about now, he’d be fighting one of the Ten Sects and Three Clans.”
“What?”
Maeng Ye-ju frowned slightly at the absurd words.
“I mean it. If it’s hyung-nim, he would.”
“You mean he’d get involved in a war between sects?”
“No.”
“Then?”
“He’d just attack them alone.”
“……”
She couldn’t tell if he expected her to believe that.
Maeng Ye-ju opened her mouth slightly and looked at Jin Ha-un with a stunned face.
“I’m serious…”
If it were Jang Woo-hyun, he would absolutely do something like that.
As he debated whether or not to explain further, Jin Ha-un walked outside the building.
“I’m serious. So what happened was…”
Jin Ha-un began explaining the incident with Asura Sword Sect to Maeng Ye-ju, and the more she listened, the more her expression twisted.
“Hey, that’s worse than our dumbasses. That’s just reckless.”
“Dumbasses? Who?”
To Jin Ha-un’s question, Maeng Ye-ju pointed at Kang Yung, who was flying toward them on a Flying Apparatus.
“There he comes. The proud idiot of our sect.”
Kang Yung suddenly leaped off the Flying Apparatus and ran like a dog.
He showed no intention of slowing down and charged wildly past Maeng Ye-ju and Jin Ha-un, smashing into a wall.
“See? See that? That guy’s in the Realm of Transcendence and can’t even control his own body properly. Kang Yung! Pull yourself together!”
Amidst the rubble of the collapsed building, Kang Yung sprang up.
“How am I supposed to pull myself together right now?!”
“What? Hey, all of a sudden—”
“It’s chaos! Noona! Sword Heaven Lord! The Sword Heaven Lord is dead!”
“……”
“The entire Murim is in an uproar! Sub-Sect Leader has ordered everyone to return to their sects—”
“Hey! What are you talking about? Who died all of a sudden? Sword Heaven Lord? You mean the Lord of the Heavenly Sword Family?”
“What do you mean, Sword Heaven Lord! I said Sword Sky Lord! Sword Sky Lord is dead!”
Kang Yung babbled so frantically that he didn’t even notice his own mistake.
But what he said was shocking enough to drain the color from Maeng Ye-ju’s face.
“…Do you realize what you’re saying? Sword Sky Lord? You’re saying Sword Sky Lord has passed away?”
“Yes! Why won’t you understand me! One of the Six Heavens, Sword Sky Lord, has died!”
While Jang Woo-hyun was away from Central Heavens Murim—
A great upheaval had begun in Central Heavens Murim.