1317 - Childhood Friend of the Zenith

A world bleached white. In this seemingly frozen moment, I gaze upon the Ancestor. It's been a long time since the scenery changed. Surrounded by familiar yet unsettling sensations, I look around. Little Tolly, who had been clinging to me, is nowhere to be seen. Neither is the World Tree where Muah was. The fields, the valleys—all that was visible has vanished. By now, such changes no longer surprise me. Silently, I continue to look at the Ancestor. "When I was desperately searching, you didn't appear. But now, here you are, finally showing your face." At my words, the Ancestor approaches. His face, still repugnant to me, is even more so because it resembles mine closely. "What is it this time?" -...So, you have finally come this far. "As if it’s any accomplishment." I let out a chuckle. "The way you say that suggests you didn’t want me to meet Tolly." -... There’s no response. His lack of reaction causes me to frown. "Is that what you hoped for?" -Yes. "Unbelievable." I had my suspicions, thought maybe, but it seems they were right. "Why?" -Because then, ultimately, you would arrive at your destined path. I simply didn’t wish for that. "Now, of all times?" What changes by connecting with Tolly? When I inquire about it, the Ancestor sinks down, practically collapsing onto the empty, white ground. -Much would change. The cogs that child had painstakingly halted would begin to turn. "Child?" -Descendant. The Ancestor asks me. -Do you know how you have managed your life up to this point? "How I managed?" I rolled through it, enduring a life filled with doing what I didn’t want to do and seeing what I didn’t want to see. That’s all I have to say about how I managed. -Wrong. "What?" -Everything was a series of feats impossible by your strength alone. What made it possible was his involvement. "So who is that child?" -You should already know. "...." I hesitate at the Ancestor's words, which resonate strangely. A name and face come to mind. I make an effort to ignore it. "So what do you expect me to do?" Anger flares from my foul temper. "What do you expect? Am I not supposed to touch it or what? Do you want me to do it or not? What do you want?" -... "Stop winding me up. The one suppressing my urge to snap the leash is me. I’m the one gritting my teeth and doing this, so stop talking in riddles and say something clear for a change." I’m nearing my limit. No, I’ve already reached it. "Be clear. What am I supposed to do here?" -Descendant. "That ‘descendant’ again. Do you even deserve to be called my Ancestor?" -... The Ancestor falls silent, but the quiet doesn't last long. -The most significant thing you needed to acquire in this world was information. "Information?" -To do so without disturbing the world or drawing the eyes of the universe; an opportunity to overcome the laws known as prohibitions and to explain them to you. "…What does that have to do with this?" -No matter how fabricated the space, learning something on your own is different from being told by someone else. "Hah." So ultimately. "I had to know enough to hear the information, so you created such a world?" -It was a necessary means. In your mother's view, that is. "Damn it, seriously." I run a hand through my hair, boiling with anger. "Fine, everything's good." Still, I continue. There’s a lot I need to hear. "Everything’s alright. So what information can I hear?" -The Blood Demon’s intent. "…Hah." At the mention of the Blood Demon's intent, I frown. "The one about finding the five senses?" -Yes. The Blood Demon's five senses, said to exist within other martial artists. I ask the Ancestor standing before me. "…You said the Blood Demon’s five senses were with the Poison Phoenix. How did that happen?" -This occurred due to previous allies who were sent to the Heavenly Sea. Sealing the Blood Demon and the Dragon Emperor completely was too much due to their overwhelming powers. "…Then why does this matter emerge among people now?" -It hasn’t just emerged now. Originally, it was intended to be released sequentially through the ages, reborn within souls over and over. "Sequentially?" -Each human would be born with part of the Blood Demon’s senses, live unknowingly, and dissolve upon death. It was a plan to prevent the Blood Demon from regaining his senses. "…So it was a ploy?" I don’t bother questioning its plausibility. Cheol Yeong’s words still linger in my mind. TLN: This is the guy from Shaolin and one of the 5 Heros. -Yes, and thanks to that, the Dragon Emperor couldn't be revived. Even if one sense was found, it wouldn’t matter without all the pieces. Moreover, during this time, the Dragon Emperor hasn’t found a single sense. "Why?" -The Blood Demon cannot sense his own senses. "…What?" -That’s the curse of the seal. Originally, it should have been that way. The Ancestor’s expression hardens with intensity. -But when your mother came to the Central Plains, an issue arose. "…An issue?" -When the world allowed your mother to pass, something else came along. "Something else?" -Taecheon. "……!" Tension freezes my body at the mention of that name here and now. -His intent slipped through the gap, and a problem arose. Due to Taecheon’s intent, your mother lost her memories, becoming a blank slate, unable to carry out her purpose. Furthermore, it was Taecheon who restored the Blood Demon’s senses, allowing him to find his own senses. "…Why go through all that…?" -His intent likely aligned with the need for the Dragon Emperor’s revival. "…." -As he hasn't fully regained his senses, it enabled the Blood Demon to start desperately searching for his senses and powers in the current age. "…And the one possessing those senses is the Poison Phoenix?" -Yes. "Did it really need to be brought down to this demon realm just to obtain it?" Why not just take it directly, I was about to say. "Originally, that would have been the case. This world is a deviation from what should have happened." "...Does that mean?" The Ancestor pointed at me. "Descendant. The upheaval the Dragon Emperor caused happened because your appearance changed the course of events. Originally, even if the Tang family's daughter possessed one of the senses, the Blood Demon wouldn't have been able to claim it. She would have died before he could." "..." His words seemed to ring true. In my memory, the Poison Phoenix wasn't someone known to the present age, despite my significant ties with the Tang family. 'If her death was kept secret or if she died in the distant past.' In the original history, it seems the Poison Phoenix died, causing the senses to scatter once more. "Had things played out as intended, they wouldn't have resorted to such reckless measures. What they were preparing wouldn't have culminated for years yet. However, this wasn't the only anomaly." "The other anomaly being...?" "The divine tree you saw at Shanseo." "...!" "The egg that existed where that divine tree stood. You awakening it was the trigger." I remember the Heavenly Demon emerging from the egg, imbuing me with energy before disappearing. "...Are you saying that egg was an issue?" "That egg was also something the Blood Demon had prepared." "What?" "In due time, it would have hatched. From it would emerge a manifestation of the vast energy the Blood Demon once held, which he intended to absorb someday." "…I see." The Heavenly Demon as the embodiment of the Blood Demon’s energy. I had heard something to that effect, but now it was clear. 'Moreover.' The Blood Demon's fragment I encountered there. Upon realizing this world was false, he ended himself. "But that energy vanished. The Blood Demon felt it and acted." "Even resorting to extreme measures to acquire the senses?" "Yes. Now history is twisted." "I don't understand something." A question arises from the Ancestor's words. "You said that no matter what, the result won't change, and that I'd end up going where I want. So, doesn't it not matter if this world is twisted or different?" "You're right. It doesn't matter. No matter what happens, the outcome remains the same." "…Then." "But what you become aware of is a different issue." "..." "Of course, this world itself doesn't exist only to provide you with records and information. Ultimately, what you must gain last must come from your own discovery." "...Another infuriatingly complicated statement." "What's important now is just one thing. That the Dragon Emperor seeks to obtain the senses. The choices of this era's Dragon Emperor aren't what matter. What matters is how the Dragon Emperor of your world is emerging." "But, as you said, even if the Dragon Emperor seeks all the senses, if they were to be born sequentially..." "That law has been broken at this very moment." "...What?" "Descendant, the senses of the Dragon Emperor in your world have all been born already. A rupture has caused them to be born into their souls at once." "…!" "The strangely talented prodigies, the eerie ones. Those with the senses were generally like that. You... you might know who those souls are." The law is shattered. The senses exist among those already born. As I listened, someone's face emerged in my mind.