INV 68

Here, there is one piece of information that only Kwon Yihyeon failed to grasp.

‘Gwak Deukcheon is protecting Kwon Yihyeon’s person.’

The reason Gwak Deukcheon was fighting the immortal like a mad dog was to protect Kwon Yihyeon.

If so, what exactly did the immortal demand?

How did the immortal intend to use Kwon Yihyeon for the decision to protect him to be established?

“Married men are sold-out items, so they are unavailable for purchase…”

Setting that aside, just what kind of guy is he to be able to spout such nonsense with a sober mind?

“…”

“…”

At that moment, when everyone had forgotten the point of contention and was swept up in Kwon Yihyeon’s pace.

Fortunately, someone broke the agonizing silence.

“Scram!”

It was the immortal who had been diligently getting angry at Gwak Deukcheon since earlier. It seemed he intended to ignore whatever nonsense Kwon Yihyeon spouted and continue being angry.

Kwon Yihyeon looked at the immortal with misty eyes out of gratitude, and the immortal, as if his stomach were turning for some reason, massaged the back of his neck before shouting at Gwak Deukcheon.

“You wretch! Though no one can go to the Dara-cheon where the Primordial Heaven Lord resides, you surely know that the Samcheong-gyeong immediately below it is the highest state of Enlightenment a living being can reach! Among the twenty-seven ranks of the Samcheong-gyeong, the immortal of the Okcheong-gyeong, called one of the Nine Immortals, is precisely who I am…!”

“And?”

“…What?”

However, the returning reaction was bizarre.

“So, what do you want me to do about it?”

‘I tried to crush him with the solemn laws of the celestial realm, but instead of being crushed, he scoffs as if it’s ridiculous?’

This could not be. No matter how much the underworld had modernized, it was impossible for a human who made shamanism his trade to run wild without knowing to fear an immortal. To be precise, it had to be that way. This was because the ancestral spirits spoken of in the world were all gods who cultivated in the celestial realm and descended to the human world to look after the blessings and virtues of their descendants.

If you trace back up a few lines, they eventually become ancestors too ancient to be called such and are sometimes called natural gods, but because of that, if you trace the roots, the immortals of the celestial realm could be said to be closest to humans. Being close means it is that much easier to exert influence. If they wished, an immortal could pick out a single shaman and block their future path entirely.

In any case, gods all learn and wield original power through a method of holding and passing down a lineage. If a Taoist were to emerge from the Kim family, that person would begin their training by grasping the Taoist lineage passed down by their ancestor who became a Taoist in the celestial realm. One must be connected by some sort of string to be able to give help. At the very least, it was the law of the celestial realm that one had to live near a shrine.

It might feel cold, but it was reasonable logic. As the saying goes, they aren’t even acquaintances and have never even exchanged a nod, so why would they trust someone enough to give them everything? Furthermore, being an ancestor does not mean giving infinite help to every descendant, and being a descendant does not mean honoring every ancestor… this also became a catalyst for the prestige of the celestial realm to gradually decline. Since the 21st century does not honor or serve its ancestors, it is difficult to exert original power, and the world was becoming one where gods are increasingly forgotten.

Nevertheless, shamans were different. A person sensitive to spirits who can clearly feel the existence of a god receives a divine calling and becomes a divine disciple, which is how they become a shaman; if they are in their right mind, there is no way they wouldn’t know the world and logic of the gods.

However, the man before him crumpled his crooked face even further and asked back instead.

“There are the Nine Immortals in the world of Taecheong, the Nine Perfected Ones in the world of Sangcheong, and the Nine Saints in the world of Okcheong, and all together they are called the twenty-seven ranks. Among them, the Immortals are divided into nine ranks: Superior Immortal, High Immortal, Great Immortal, Mysterious Immortal, Heavenly Immortal, True Immortal, Divine Immortal, Spiritual Immortal, and Supreme Transformation. Which of these ranks do you, the illustrious one, hold?”

“…!”

Even more, this guy knows the details perfectly! This means he isn’t picking a fight out of ignorance!

The immortal massaged the back of his neck in disbelief. Meanwhile, Gwak Deukcheon delivered the final blow.

“Ah, is your rank perhaps a bit on the low side? Is that why it’s hard for you to say…?”

Just as the immortal, with his eyes rolling back and foaming at the mouth, was about to clutch his throat and pass out.

Suddenly, the surroundings became quiet, and only someone’s voice seized his mind.

“It is noisy…”

The appearance of someone began just like that.

The whirlwind that had been mercilessly violating the clouds came to a sudden halt, and simultaneously, all sound in the surroundings was erased.

And in a world without sound, a single low, listless voice flowed quietly.

It was an indescribably strange phenomenon.

In the first place, the surroundings were so noisy; did it make sense for all that noise to return to nothingness?

‘…Unbelievable. I’ve never felt such overwhelming authority, even from the Team Leader…’

Before the lingering resonance of the whisper could even fade, Kwon Yihyeon felt the fine hairs on the back of his neck stand on end and instinctively brought the back of his hand to his waist, where his equipment was hanging.

The someone who had made the only sound above the void of noise had not yet revealed himself. However, Kwon Yihyeon thought something was nearby. It might have been an error of the senses, like a phantom touch. But Kwon Yihyeon was already not normal. From the moment superstitions became real and the occult became reality, Kwon Yihyeon was already abnormal.

He was already crazy, so what was so strange about feeling a strange sensation?

Kwon Yihyeon stayed on guard and on guard again. He whetted his nerves like a drawn bowstring so that no matter what popped out from where to grab his arm, he could shake it off immediately. Then, the thought occurred that he could feel the breathing of every living thing in the world, and in the next moment, perhaps because of the senses he had desperately sharpened, a heat like lava surged up his spine. The energy, sensing a threat to his person, had begun to act ahead of its master who didn’t know how to handle it, but Kwon Yihyeon did not perceive it in such detail. Only, from a certain moment, the back of his neck became scorching hot and his head shook dizzily.

If his body weren’t so restricted, he would have vomited. The pain that crashed into his body was that fierce. It felt like a gas stove burner had been lit near his Adam’s apple. He even had the illusion that his brain fluid was sizzling and boiling. An intense burning sensation was surging up from the back of his neck and seizing his entire head to the point where it was difficult to maintain rational thought.

‘It feels like the enemy general’s flag has been planted in the crown of my head…’

Just as his knees were about to buckle after that final, nonsensical thought.

Whoosh…!

Suddenly, the sound of wind was heard. A pulse of wind that he never would have heard if he hadn’t raised his senses so life-and-death, or if his energy channels hadn’t been forcibly opened. When he barely managed to hold onto his fading consciousness with willpower and aimed a guarded gaze toward that place, Kwon Yihyeon realized that out of the massive crowd, there were only two people capable of looking in the same direction.

Gwak Deukcheon, and Geom Biyeon.

Only those two were directly facing the someone who was the only one producing sound in the silent world.

“…”

“…”

The existence of “someone” who, merely by appearing, could overturn the confrontation that had broken out over Kwon Yihyeon’s person.

If “he” wished, Kwon Yihyeon would be handled according to the will of the celestial realm or protected according to the will of Gwak Deukcheon.

Both Gwak Deukcheon and Geom Biyeon noticed that Kwon Yihyeon had unexpectedly managed to share the same field of vision. However, knowing that now was not the time to touch Kwon Yihyeon, they kept their mouths shut and watched the “someone” quietly.

As the pillars of the underworld and the celestial realm respectively gazed in one direction, others also reflexively turned their heads to try and see the same place. Those who caught sight of the someone covered their mouths or let out a single scream. Then, those startled by the sound turned their eyes again and shouted out. A chain reaction occurred like falling dominoes.

A clear, ringing sound like a bell hanging from the edge of the eaves was echoing from the blue curved jade ornament he wore.

A man of such magnificent dignity that it was astounding how they had been unaware of this presence until now.

His name, which everyone except Kwon Yihyeon knew, was — .

The god of wind who followed the Heavenly Grandson Hwanung down beneath the Divine Altar Tree and established the ideal of Devotion to Welfare of Humanity,

The eldest brother (Baek) god of the Master of Rain and the Master of Clouds.

“— O Pungbaek…!”

It was the Descent of the wind god who had served Hwanung and subsequently Hwanung’s son Dangun, cultivating an era of peace.