Invitation to the Chatroom of the Gods - Chapter 117



Only Krnovel

Episode 117 – Return (2)

News that Qingyun is passing through Hubei Province.

It wasn’t news that Yang Jong-cheon had bothered to investigate and find out.

That was understandable, because the world was already in an uproar over the Yongbongjihoe incident.

There, the world was once again in an uproar as news of the Guizhou Province epidemic spread.

Above all, now that it has been revealed that the King of the Yangtze River is Cheongun, the entire world has been turned upside down by Cheongun.

The whole world was focused on Cheongun’s every action.

When Cheongun moved, the whole world was in an uproar, and even without researching Cheongun, one could come across related news.

So, the whole of Hubei Province was in an uproar at the news of Qingyun’s arrival······.

“I received a reward from the Heavenly Kingdom.”

It is said that Cheongun is returning from the palace after receiving great rewards.

Rumor has it that he could build a small country with only the rewards he received, and there were outrageous rumors going around about this.

“The emperor makes that Cheongun guy his vassal?”

To be exact, it was a rumor that he would acknowledge the ‘hegemony of the Yangtze River’ and give up the territory in that area. He had been talking about being the lord of Jiangsu Province, but he went even further than that.

That is because a feudal lord meant a person with power who had a certain territory and ruled over the people within that territory.

The lord who governed a province was merely a high-ranking ‘official’ and was completely different from a feudal lord.

Hubei Province is also reached by the Yangtze River.

If that rumor is true, then the shaman also could not be free from the control of Cheongun.

That’s why I couldn’t believe it.

Because never in history has a martial artist been made a lord.

There was a case of the Grand Prince of Murim, but that was possible because he entered the royal family as a son-in-law, and in fact, this was only a formality.

The government and the military were strictly separated, so there was never a single case where a martial artist was granted territory and delegated the responsibility of ‘rule’.

So, as is often the case, rumors have spread on their own.

But there must be a reason why they say that when there is no smoke, there is smoke in the chimney.

Crunch!

Yang Jong-cheon’s two fists were roughly clenched.

“Cheongun···!”

Because all of that should have originally been Yang Jong-cheon’s.

Whether the rumor was exaggerated or not, it was a rumor that should have been directed at Yang Jong-cheon.

So, it was originally a reward that Yang Jong-cheon should have received, and it was originally an honor that Yang Jong-cheon should have enjoyed.

“Cheongun······.”

Yang Jong-cheon chewed on Cheong-un’s name.

And every time I thought about the name, my anger towards Cheongun grew stronger.

So, there is news that Cheongun will soon pass through Hubei Province, the realm of shamans.

Yang Jong-cheon slowly got up from his seat.

And it was at that very moment that I was about to leave the temple at Mt. Wudang.

“It happened a while ago.”

A clear voice suddenly came and stopped Yang Jong-cheon in his tracks.

I slowly turned my head and looked at the place. There, a woman with a pale face was standing.

The woman possessed a graceful beauty that could make many men’s hearts flutter, but her face, which was bloodless but resembling a corpse, gave off an inexplicable sense of ominousness.

When I looked at the woman, it was as if I was encountering a being that seemed to be disrupting providence.

But that wasn’t what surprised Yang Jong-cheon.

The place where Yang Jong-cheon is now was the Taoist temple of Mt. Mudang. It was a place where shamans and Taoists practiced, and only shamans and Taoists were allowed to enter.

That is why the woman in front of me could never be in the temple. She should not have been there.

And yet, the woman is right in front of Yang Jong-cheon.

Yang Jong-cheon was not unaware of what this meant.

“······!”

Yang Jong-cheon’s eyes opened wide for a moment. However, the woman paid no attention to him and calmly walked away.

“As I was walking down the street, a grasshopper suddenly jumped out, raised its front paw, and blocked my path.”

The woman’s elegant voice echoed through the hall and reached Yang Jong-cheon’s ears.

“And then······.”

The footsteps of a woman stop with a thud.

The woman had crossed the center of the temple and was now blocking Yang Jong-cheon’s path.

“You never thought of getting out of my way.”

Yang Jong-cheon’s eyebrows twitched for a moment. He squinted his eyes to show his displeasure toward the woman. However, the woman paid no attention this time either.

“They say that grasshoppers are like that. They raise their sharp front legs and pounce on anything that stands in front of them.”

She had a pale expression that made it seem as if she had no blood. She didn’t seem alive at all.

Soon, the woman’s indifferent eyes turned to Yang Jong-cheon.

When Yang Jong-cheon met the woman’s eyes, he was finally able to understand what she was trying to say.

“You are a foolish ‘small creature’ who doesn’t know your place and rushes at a powerful opponent.”

A snail chariot and a snail chariot.

Yang Jong-cheon’s current attack on Cheong-un is no different from Dangrang Geo-cheol’s mantis.

That is, it means that you know your subject and don’t install it.

Crunch!

Yang Jong-cheon’s two fists clenched roughly again. The emotion that had been simple discomfort turned into anger and burned.

But the woman didn’t even blink an eye.

The eyes of the woman, who was like a corpse unable to feel any emotions, seemed to be telling Yang Jong-cheon that he was a beast of a man.

“How dare you···!!”

Yang Jong-cheon’s anger exploded and his spirits turned red.

And right then.

“But he quite liked that kind of locust.”

The woman’s elegant voice echoed throughout the hall.

The woman took another step and approached Yang Jong-cheon.

“He is just a small creature who doesn’t know the subject and sets out to do it, but on the other hand, he has the spirit to rush in without fear even when faced with an opponent who overwhelms him, so I said I would give him one chance.”

Then the woman took out a book from her bosom and handed it to Yang Jong-cheon.

“······What is this?”

“It is both a test and a reward from Him.”

“test?”

“Swallow the shaman.”

Yang Jong-cheon’s eyes suddenly fluttered. He couldn’t help but laugh at the absurd story.

It was clear that Yang Jong-cheon was a talented person who was designated as the next leader as he was a shaman’s later index.

But it was only a ‘next’.

At least 10 years.

Furthermore, considering that the current shaman’s officers are among the five best in the world, it would have taken at least 20 years to accomplish this.

There was no way to know how things would change during that time.

And even if he had become a long-suffering man, he would not have swallowed up the shaman.

There are many elders and seniors who firmly hold the shamanic clan together, so even if you become the eldest, you cannot control the shamanic clan.

So, let me say this bluntly: it is impossible to swallow a shaman.

And the woman is not unaware of this fact either.

“That’s why I told you.”

The woman’s indifferent eyes turned towards once again.

“This is a test and a ‘reward’ from Him.”

And then the woman’s words continued.

Yang Jong-cheon could tell instinctively.

That contains the power to swallow a shaman.

So if you get this.

You will cross a river from which you can never return.

Yang Jong-cheon looked up again and looked at the woman.

A woman with a pale expression that stands in stark contrast to her elegant beauty.

As Yang Jong-cheon took in the sight of the woman, the story she had just told him lingered in his mind.

A grasshopper blocking a carriage, Dangranggeocheol (蟷螂車轍).

“You’re going to be a locust who installs things without even knowing the topic.

Or will you be a grasshopper that has the courage to attack an opponent who overpowers you?

“It is up to you to decide what kind of locust you will become.”

* * *

After deciding to leave the palace, I went straight to see the Emperor.

I thought I would be able to leave right away, but contrary to expectations, I had to stay in the palace for a few more days.

This was because the Emperor had a request, not a request, to meet none other than his younger sister, Princess Sehwajang.

I suddenly wondered what was going on with Princess Sehwa, but I couldn’t ignore her.

I couldn’t ignore the Emperor’s request, and I had promised to meet him once in the past at the Murim Alliance.

So I tried to meet Princess Sehwa, but for some reason, five days passed without any news.

I thought something was strange, so I looked into it······.

“That··· Her Highness the Princess is currently away from the palace···.”

Princess Sehwajang is said to be absent.

Moreover, we do not know when Princess Sehwajang will return.

I couldn’t just wait around, so I went to see the emperor next time······.

“His Majesty has a busy schedule today, so he tells me to come back later.”

All I got was a reply that he was too busy taking care of state affairs to meet me. It was completely different from when he gave out awards.

Anyone who saw it could tell that it was an excuse to waste time.

It was an obvious excuse. But I had to say I was leaving anyway, so I kept requesting an audience.

But the emperor just kept putting off the audience day after day.

So what, what can we do?

“Is it okay for me to just leave like this without saying anything···?”

Inside a rattling carriage.

As I slowly raised my gaze from the folding chair, I saw Dang So-hyang sitting across from me, looking at me with an anxious expression.

Her small, delicate body was shaking violently as if something was wrong, but it wasn’t something to be overly concerned about.

“His Majesty will definitely be upset······.”

It’s been like that ever since I ran away from the palace.

Dang So-hyang spoke carefully, rolling her eyes from side to side.

His restless expression suggested that he wanted to return to the palace at any moment, but unfortunately, he could not do so.

[Conversion Merit] – 27 days

‘I’m going to die if I wait. What should I do?’

My conversion merit… That means, my life is almost over.

Originally, now that he had reached the true state of the Cheon-dun Sword Technique, he should not have to worry about his life being shortened based on his automatic merit alone.

However, the problem is that the automatic merit is not accumulating properly.

First of all, Dang So-hyang can be said to be the core of Hye-min-dang’s automatic merit.

“Uuuuu···!”

She was trembling with anxiety in front of me. And the Jang Ganghyeopdan also followed me with only a minimal number of people.

There was an unidentified person there who kept pressuring me, and Grandfather Park Jin-Hyeon and the remaining members of the Jang Gang Hyeop Gang were not able to handle the amount of wear and tear.

It wasn’t that I ran away because I wanted to run away.

I had no choice but to run away, as I was about to die while waiting for an audience with the Emperor.

“Uuuuuuuu···!”

But since Dang So-hyang was so anxious, it seemed necessary to comfort her.

“You don’t have to worry so much, ma’am.”

“Oh, how can you not be worried? His Majesty threatened to kill you if you ran away without even seeing his face.”

······That was true.

But really, I couldn’t help it.

“I will take full responsibility later. If Your Majesty ever questions the young lady, you can kidnap her and tell her that there is nothing you can do. Then I will take full responsibility.”

“That’s not the issue right now!”

Dang So-hyang shouted in a pretended angry tone.

His face was also puffy, but it seemed like he was worried about me and not himself.

But if that’s the case······ I had nothing to say.

I couldn’t explain it by saying that the life of Hwansan Gongdeok would run out if I waited.

I shrugged my shoulders once and turned my gaze back to the folding screen.

└[Taishang Laojun (Great Elder Lord) Laozi]

: The martial arts pursued by Cheon-dun-geom-beop are extreme. And when they reach the extreme, everyone ends up looking in the same direction.

And the words of Taesang Laojun came to mind.

It was none other than Taesang Laojun’s training to advance to the true form of Cheon-dun Sword Technique.

Although I was unable to receive in-person tutoring due to my lack of virtue, I was able to receive plenty of teachings through scriptures.

And originally, he was supposed to learn from Yeo Dong-bin, but Yeo Dong-bin hasn’t woken up yet after attacking Taesang No-jun.

In many ways, I was learning from Taesang No-gun······.

└[Taishang Laojun (Great Elder Lord) Laozi]

: The teachings of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism are all different, but just as the root of everything is the Way, so is the martial arts pursued by Cheon-dun Geombeop.

The essential concept of Cheon-dun-geom-beop, Man-ryu-gui-jong (萬流歸宗).

And I knew that what Manryuguijong meant was that all things in the universe are connected to one, so if you can master one thing, you can do anything well.

└[Taishang Laojun (Great Elder Lord) Laozi]

: However, just because the ending is the same does not mean that the essence is the same.

However, the Supreme Lord said that it is not the case that all disciples should return to their original state.

└[Taishang Laojun (Great Elder Lord) Laozi]

: The teachings of the Confucianists seek human sensibility and uprightness. In this way, they seek a way to bring peace to the world and stabilize heaven.

In this way, wisdom, virtue, and body come together to form philosophy, and truth, goodness, and beauty come together to form sainthood. The end of Confucianism is that one who has reached the absolute truth and the utmost goodness and beauty becomes a ‘sage.’

└[Taishang Laojun (Great Elder Lord) Laozi]

: On the other hand, our Taoist religion aims to become an ‘immortal’ who has achieved both physical and mental health by becoming one with the principles of the universe.

└[Taishang Laojun (Great Elder Lord) Laozi]

: And the Buddhists do not try to become something better, like adults or gods. In fact, they even say that I, who am trying, am an illusion.

All of these are merely the products of karma and the law of dependent origination, so by realizing that there is no self-nature, one puts down one’s attachments, seeks to be free from afflictions, and becomes a ‘Buddha.’

└[Taishang Laojun (Great Elder Lord) Laozi]

: Adults, freshmen, Buddha. The end of each path leads to the Tao, but what Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism pursue is different.

‘hmm.’

······So I wonder what I should do.

That is why the words were so difficult to understand. The teachings of other immortals were similar, but the teachings of Taesang Laojun were the most difficult and difficult.

Still, from what I roughly understand······.

‘Does the phrase ‘all-or-nothing’ mean that only the results are the same?’

To put it simply, the fire energy of Yeo Dong-bin and the cold energy of Gu Cheon-hyeon-nyeo.

The power of the two immortals who reached the extremes was an extremely strong power that could kill the opponent.

However, fire kills by burning, and cold kills by freezing.

No matter how extreme it is, you can’t freeze your opponent to death with flames.

Likewise, you can’t kill an opponent by burning them with cold air.

The result derived from the two opposing attributes reaching the extremes is the same, ‘death’, but the ‘phenomena’ caused by the two attributes are completely different.

Therefore, in the case of martial arts, although the end result is the same at the end of the path that branches out in many directions, what each can do is different in terms of the Way.

That’s why His Majesty the Grand Prince strongly opposed me learning the Cheon-dun Sword Technique only from ‘Yeo Dong-bin’.

That was the reason why I learned from the swordsmen again even though I had mastered the six basic techniques of swordsmanship.

Just as Yeo Dong-bin’s fire energy and Goo Cheon-hyeon-nyeo’s cold energy are different, Yeo Dong-bin’s hegemony and Goo Cheon-hyeon-nyeo’s hegemony are different, even though their results are the same.

The basic secrets of the sword that other swordsmen had honed to the extreme were also the same.

If you look at the entire martial arts, Yeo Dong-bin is by far the most dominant.

But hegemony and hegemony.

Happiness and happiness.

What if we compare each and every one of their features?

Yeo Dong-bin is somewhat behind the other investigators.

In other words, it is the teaching and arrangement of Taesang Laojun to secure diversity even while pursuing the same pole.

······Well, I think that’s what it meant.

‘I actually don’t know what the difference is.’

Honestly, I couldn’t understand it at all just by learning it through text.

If I just brought out Yeo Dong-bin, Gu Cheon-hyeon-nyeo, and each of the Gae-pa-jo-sa-sa and compared them, it would have been more impactful, but······.

[Conversion Merit] – 27 days

It was impossible to even come close to the conversion merit of less than a month.

I have to worry about my immediate life, so what the hell is this Hyeonshin tutoring?

‘ha······.’

A situation that really leaves me with nothing but a sigh.

It was just then.

-Your Majesty! We have arrived at Infinity!

Suddenly, the voices of the knights were heard outside the carriage.

└[Cheongun]

: Then I’ll be back for a bit.

I left a note on the wall and put the scroll in my arms.

* * *

Wuhan, Hubei Province.

Wuhan is a key point for land and water transportation connecting the Yangtze River, and has been called a major road leading to nine provinces since ancient times.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that all the traffic that stretches across the world is gathered here, and that is precisely why I stopped at infinity.

A mountain of valuables and treasures piled up like a mountain.

These were rewards received from none other than the Emperor, but it took too long to transport them by land.

So, from here, we decided to travel along the Yangtze River and stopped at Wuhan in Hubei Province.

Thus, under the command of the commander-in-chief of the Jang River Swordsmen, the former commander-in-chief, the swordsmen of the swordsmen were loading rewards onto as many as ten sailing ships.

All ten sailing ships were owned by the band of knights.

But even just one sailing ship boasted an enormous price.

Even the largest merchant fleet did not have more than ten sailing ships.

However, the reason why I was able to maintain ten sailing ships was because the Jang Gang Hyeopgaekdan received many rewards through my ‘reward splitting’.

Of course, most of the awards went to Tang Xiaoxiang, the Heavenly Flower Goddess who solved the plague in Guizhou Province.

However, since the rewards were so great, the rewards for the Jang Gang Hyeopgaekdan that were split up were also enormous.

The ten sailing ships were purchased in advance by the former governor who had come to Wuhan to receive the prize.

Now, it has gone beyond the level of pretending.

General Koo, who prepares on his own without being told.

“The local products are the sailing ships over there! Don’t forget to manage rice and cloth separately- Hey! The envoy to Jinhyangsa (進香使) should be excluded as local products!”

He was truly the most dependable general in the world.

Under the command of the former commander, the knights of the knight corps were carrying the rewards in a chaotic manner.

Since I was just sitting there, I moved my body to help.

And at that very moment.

“Your Majesty!”

“How can Your Majesty do such a chore!”

“Please leave these chores to us and get down.”

The warriors of the band, including the former general, shouted in fear.

But I said it with a frown instead.

“A chore? Someone has to do it, so how can you call it a chore?”

Just because water is common doesn’t mean it is cheap.

Each person is just playing their own role, and there is no high or low or noble or baseness in those roles.

I spoke to the band of swordsmen with a serious face.

But what the heck?

“Then we will be doing noble work.”

“Your Majesty, please rest in peace.”

······These guys have been acting a little strange lately.

To be exact, it was after I got hit by Geumuiwi, ​​but I guess I should say I got hit a little bit.

I heard that while I was in the palace, there was a lot of interaction between the Royal Guard and the knights.

I heard that you learned things like loyalty from the Royal Guard······.

“Your Majesty, I have heard that there is a lake called Dongho in Muhan that is said to be of great beauty.”

The former general approached me stealthily and spoke.

“They say it’s a famous place that rivals Hangzhou’s West Lake, and you can also reminisce about the wedding ceremony at Poyang Lake. Leave this to us and go visit with your godmother.”

Then, General Koo winked at me.

It was at that time that I was dumbfounded and stood there blankly.

“excuse me.”

Suddenly an unfamiliar voice was heard.

As I felt someone approaching, I naturally turned my head towards where the sound came from.

When I looked at the place, there was a man with a scholar-like appearance standing there.

Behind him stood dozens of people, each with a different impression.

“Are you perhaps the Hwa-ryong Daehyeop?”

“Yes, but···.”

I looked closely at the man who looked like a scholar while answering. However, I didn’t remember his face. I asked the man.

“Could you please tell me the name of the person speaking?”

Then, a man who looked like a scholar took the lottery ticket as if he was sorry.

“It’s a late introduction, Daehyeop. We are the disciples of a shaman. My name is Jang Seokjin.”

A shaman’s disciple?

That was when I was tilting my head.

Suddenly, Jang Seok-jin fell to his knees before me. Following him, the other shaman’s disciples also knelt before me······.

“Great Hero! Please help our shaman!”

“Please help our shaman!”

“Please help our shaman!”

“Please help our shaman!”

······I suddenly wondered what kind of situation this was.