Chapter 257

“……”

“……It broke?”

The Inquisitors’ expressions hardened.

The [Immortal Sphere] was supposed to show the degree of one’s Honor through changes in color.

But never before had an [Immortal Sphere] shattered.

It was not made of a material that could be broken by force, and if he had infused energy into it, there was no way they would have failed to notice.

Park Chan-woo brushed the shattered fragments of the [Immortal Sphere] from his hand and spoke.

“Isn’t it defective?”

“Th-that can’t be……”

The Senior Inquisitor pressed his lips together.

The [Immortal Sphere] was a treasure.

Objects created by an Immortal by infusing them with their own spiritual energy were called treasures, and every one of them possessed peerless power.

Not only did they have nearly indestructible durability, enough to resist scratches from ordinary weapons or mundane energy, but their uses varied greatly depending on their purpose, from controlling phenomena to summoning wonders that could only be called miracles.

The [Immortal Sphere] was no different.

Normally, Honor could not be properly verified through a status window.

Nor was it possible to see another person’s Honor.

And yet the [Immortal Sphere] made all of those impossible things possible with a single touch.

Crrrrrrrrrrrr!

“……!”

“……!!!”

That was the moment.

All the Inquisitors stared at the shattered [Immortal Sphere] with wide eyes.

A brilliant light surged from the broken fragments and soon formed a massive rainbow that covered the sky.

……That’s right.

A rainbow had appeared in the sky.

A vivid, captivating rainbow containing every color.

No one had ever seen or even heard of such a thing.

The Senior Inquisitor quietly watched Park Chan-woo.

‘Could it mean it’s immeasurable?’

The closer Honor was to zero, the brighter the crimson became.

But no matter how low someone’s Honor was, the [Immortal Sphere] was never supposed to shatter.

If it had broken because Park Chan-woo’s Honor was utterly immeasurable, then conversely, it was more reasonable to assume his Honor was so extraordinarily high that the [Immortal Sphere] itself had overheated and burst apart.

“I-I’ve heard of this. They say the [Immortal Sphere] was made from the largest rainbow ever to appear over the Mountain of Practitioners in ancient times……”

One of the Inquisitors spoke.

So the rainbow they were seeing now had been the material of the [Immortal Sphere]?

Even if Immortals wielded unfathomable power, the story was hard to believe.

Still, treasures often drew their power from natural phenomena.

If it had truly been created by capturing a natural phenomenon itself, then it was at least somewhat understandable.

Shooooooo!

The strange events did not end there.

The rainbow unfurled overhead, then began to move, circling Park Chan-woo before disappearing.

The Senior Inquisitor swallowed.

‘What should I do?’

……To anyone watching, it clearly looked as though the rainbow of the [Immortal Sphere] itself had reacted to Park Chan-woo.

But there was no rule covering this.

And because Inquisitors had to carry out all matters according to established procedures, they could not justify a result that was not explicitly accounted for.

After all, it had not appeared as a color on the [Immortal Sphere], had it?

“Failu—”

“Pass.”

In an instant, someone cut off the Senior Inquisitor’s words and revealed himself.

At the sight of the man who appeared through a [Warp], the Inquisitors hastily bowed their heads.

“Ah……!”

“T-the Taoist!”

“We greet the Taoist!”

Respect and fear were mixed together.

The Inquisitors, said to wield absolute authority on the mountain, trembled uncontrollably, unsure of what to do.

Taoists.

Practitioners who followed the Immortals were called Taoists.

They moved within the Immortal Realm connected to the Hall of all Gods, and they possessed immense power far beyond the understanding of ordinary Arahan.

The man called the Taoist did not spare the Inquisitors even a glance.

His eyes were fixed solely on Park Chan-woo.

Soon, the Taoist moved, floating slightly above the ground, and stopped in front of Park Chan-woo.

“Void Stepping……”

Seeing that, Chiwoo muttered under his breath.

It was not done through energy.

He had pushed Qinggong to its utmost extreme, stepping on the void itself, on wind and air.

And he had not rushed over at high speed, but moved slowly.

‘He’s strong.’

Chiwoo tensed inwardly.

He could not be certain of victory in a direct clash.

If the Taoist tried anything to harm Park Chan-woo, Chiwoo had already focused all his nerves, ready to intervene at once.

“Your Honor and qualifications have been proven. Will you not follow me and become a Taoist?”

“A Taoist?”

“If you become a Taoist, you can live for ten thousand years. You can do anything you desire. For example……”

The Taoist raised a finger.

Then—

Pfft!

“Ghk……!”

The Senior Inquisitor clutched his chest and rolled on the ground.

The condensed energy gathered at the Taoist’s fingertip had pierced straight through the Senior Inquisitor’s heart.

Soon, the Senior Inquisitor, who had been gasping for breath, went limp.

Then he turned to dust and vanished.

“Even if I dispose of trash like that, trash that failed to recognize proper proof, no one can blame a Taoist. Life is futile to begin with.”

A strange sense of dissonance arose.

The Taoists and Immortals Park Chan-woo knew were usually enlightened beings.

Were they not those who pursued the Dao and displayed a nature close to goodness?

But……

‘It’s the opposite.’

They were far from enlightened.

They stood beyond reason.

If anything, they were closer to monsters.

“The Immortals wish to see you. The destruction of the [Immortal Sphere] means your Karma has reached the divine realm. And the rainbow pointing toward you signifies that you have properly realized the ‘Five Qi Converging to the Origin,’ which means you have the potential to dominate the Three Thousand Worlds.”

“…Three Thousand Worlds?”

“In the Immortal Realm, the Abyss is called the Three Thousand Worlds. In any case, come with me.”

“You mean to the Immortal Realm, not the upper echelons?”

“We will skip the upper echelons entirely. Neither the Nine Families nor even Taebaek may interfere in the affairs of the Immortal Realm.”

Park Chan-woo stroked his chin.

His goal had been to head to the Mir Sect and expose everything related to demons.

Beyond that, he had intended to ascend to the Hall of all Gods and prove himself.

But the higher he climbed the mountain, the more disillusioned he became.

The Mountain of Practitioners was not the place he had imagined.

It was not a place where only pure practitioners gathered.

To make matters worse, this Taoist fellow had appeared and casually killed an Inquisitor.

It seemed the meanings of ‘Taoist’ and ‘Immortal’ here were different from the ones he knew.

“What if I refuse?”

“That would not be a wise choice.”

Park Chan-woo glanced at Chiwoo.

Chiwoo was shaking his head with a grave expression.

It seemed he judged the opponent to be difficult to handle head-on.

– “Making an enemy of an Immortal ends very badly. They are beings who pretend to be noble while being far from it.”

Chronos, who had been observing, finally spoke.

However, Chronos had not said a single word ever since they entered the Mountain of Practitioners.

He had merely remained hidden quietly in Park Chan-woo’s shadow.

Yet the moment he faced the Taoist, he issued his first warning.

‘Are they dangerous enough that even you couldn’t win if you stepped in?’

– “If I used my full strength, it’s not that I couldn’t oppose them. The real problem is the one behind them. That is also why I’ve kept silent until now.”

There was someone behind the Immortals?

The Taoist alone was already enough to raise alarms.

And he could not even begin to guess how strong an Immortal might be.

– “Probably the one called Taebaek…… the master of the Hall of all Gods. Judging by how even evil spirits instinctively fear him, he must be a truly terrifying monster. Perhaps.”

He had heard that Taebaek had entered secluded training fifty years ago.

If his place of seclusion was the Immortal Realm, then it was possible.

– “It may be Taebaek who summoned you.”

‘Has Taebaek noticed me?’

– “Ever since the [Immortal Sphere] shattered, the gaze of a powerful being has remained fixed on you. The eyes of a monster beyond comparison to any mere Immortal. He has not noticed me yet…… but it will not be long.”

Chronos’s words and actions were unusually cautious.

Even Chronos, who had never once been detected before, seemed to believe he could be discovered under Taebaek’s gaze.

– “Run. Their intentions do not seem good.”

‘…How am I supposed to run from here?’

The [Warp] leading outside did not open from this place.

Naturally, he could not head to Valhalla or return to Earth either.

– “Pretend to accept and board the [Warp]. Once you are inside, I will try to twist it onto another path somehow.”

Chronos was serious.

He wanted Park Chan-woo to escape from the Mountain of Practitioners.

But if he turned back now, when would he ever climb the mountain again?

– “I’ve memorized the path that leads here, so you can return whenever you wish.”

‘You’re telling me to give up on ascending to the Hall of all Gods?’

– “You must live if you want to climb the mountain again. If Taebaek secures you, he will never let you live. This is not the time.”

‘Even if I come back later, wouldn’t it still be impossible to climb the mountain while avoiding Taebaek?’

– “…Until just a moment ago, he was clearly asleep. The spiritual energy of the [Immortal Sphere] briefly roused the sleeping Taebaek. If you escape now, he will surely fall asleep again. The reason I said nothing until now was also because I feared awakening him.”

He was not in secluded training, but asleep?

And Chronos sounded completely certain.

He clearly knew something about Taebaek.

A moment later, the Taoist, who had been waiting for an answer, asked,

“Still hesitating?”

“…I’ll take the [Warp] to the Immortal Realm.”

“An excellent choice.”

The Taoist took the lead.

Keeping his face as expressionless as possible, Park Chan-woo followed behind him.

Soon, they stood before the [Warp].

The Taoist held out his hand.

“Take my hand.”

“I’ll go on my own.”

“Then stay close behind me and do not lose sight of me. Otherwise, you will become a lost soul of the boundary.”

“Understood.”

Zing! Ziiiiing!

The [Warp] began to emit light.

The Taoist entered first.

Park Chan-woo carefully followed after him.

But he had no intention of obediently trailing behind the Taoist.

– “Shine the [Radiant Sage’s Stone]. It will reveal another path!”

At Chronos’s urgent words, he took out the [Radiant Sage’s Stone].

At once, light surged within the [Warp], revealing a different path.

“I will hold fast to your shadow, so head straight down that path. Once you escape this place, a way off the mountain will surely appear.”

He walked toward the light.

The surrounding space twisted chaotically.

…This was a first.

Taking a different path from within a [Warp].

It was common knowledge that if you did not follow the designated route, you would become a ‘lost soul of the boundary.’

Shooo!

Then, as he arrived somewhere, the scenery around him changed.

Not the Immortal Realm, but another place.

A cold riverside.

A cliff with a waterfall pouring down.

“……”

“……”

Someone was there beneath it.

A naked woman with bear ears.

She was standing beneath the waterfall with her hands pressed together in prayer.

And in that very state, her eyes met Park Chan-woo’s.

“……”

“……”

For a moment, neither knew what to say.

Ziiiiing!

At that moment, the light flowing from the [Radiant Sage’s Stone] pointed directly at the woman beneath the waterfall.

Thanks to that, the surrounding scenery became even clearer.