Reincarnation Sword God

Dark Heaven Village

At my shout, my companions’ gazes converged. After a moment, Tang San raised his hand without hesitation and declared,
“I’m ready!”
“What? You’re still…”
“I’m ready not to go.”
“……”
Staring incredulously at Tang San, he calmly continued,
“I still have a lot of training left. If I work hard for about ten years, I could probably reach the Absolute Realm. There’s no reason for a bright future like mine to die. There’s no reason for me to throw my life away in a dangerous otherworld like Dark Heaven Village alongside you. I appreciate you saving me and teaching me martial arts, but that’s a different issue.”
“Hmm…”
“This isn’t just about me. Isn’t it a bit selfish to throw our lives away while also asking others to do the same?”
Tang San had a point.
And since it was something I’d been contemplating for a while, I calmly replied,
“That’s true. But if I go alone, I might really accomplish nothing and die. So, as shameless as it may be, I’m looking for some help.”
If Dark Heaven Village is truly a land where even a Great Immortal goes mad, the moment I step in, my chances of being utterly obliterated are high. But I lacked the strength to cope with so many potential dangers. Thus, at least minimal support was necessary, and I needed to gain the cooperation of my allies.
Tang San said,
“Mangnyang and Jin So-cheong would probably be willing to follow if you ask. But you know they don’t sincerely want to go, right?”
“… well…”
“I’ve realized while training here that the people gathered have tremendous potential. I don’t want to see such talents squandered.”
“……”
“Whatever Zhuge Clan told you, don’t rely on the goodwill of those who trust you.”
Tang San’s words struck a chord within me. My actions right now were indeed influenced by Zhuge Clan’s suggestion.
[Bae Woong. If you go to Dark Heaven Village alone, you are highly likely to die without accomplishing anything. Take at least two allies with you.]
[But that’s a death trap. I can’t ask others to go die with me…]
[We are merely your pawns to achieve your goal. If you are the king, utilizing us as consumables is necessary.]
Zhuge Clan was focusing on using the gathered talents under the name of “companions” as efficiently as possible to minimize the process of rebirth. Zhuge Clan’s suggestion was logically sound, which is why I shamefully made this proposal to my companions. If worse comes to worst, I thought I could save them by sacrificing myself.
‘Hoo…’
However, even though it was merely part of my rebirth, the act of risking one life for my companions weighed heavily on my heart. Hearing Tang San’s wise words made me unable to propose any further.
At that moment, Jin So-cheong stepped forward.
“Even so, Baek Woong, I will accompany you.”
I looked at him with a complicated expression and said,
“No. Tang San is right. I was being too selfish.”
“Even so, I owe you a debt of the heart.”
“Forget about Lee Kwang. Accidents like that can happen during rebirth anytime.”
I shook my head vigorously.
And I decided to bring just one companion without guilt.
“Let’s meet again in the next life.”
“Wait…”
At that moment, I conveyed my will to the Golden Lamp.
[Golden Lamp.]
Like a living demon creature, I felt the malignant spirit dwelling within the Golden Lamp respond to my intent. I sensed its eyes snap open and it proposed,
[Shall I go?]
[I will accept your call!]
It was the first time during more than twenty past lives that I responded to the malignant call of the Golden Lamp.
Whooooosh
It felt like a place where dreams and nightmares intertwined.
A vast continent stretched out, and in the middle of it loomed a massive terrain that resembled a gigantic lake or sea. The moon felt incredibly close. Wandering around were unusual beings of the otherworld I had seen before: giant insects, mountain goats, headless humans, and so on.
Kurugugugu
I had only gazed at such sights before, but as the scenery began to narrow down, I sensed everything around me transforming greatly. The reality was that my body and soul were getting closer and closer to that place.
‘Gah…!!’
The moment my body passed through a massive barrier, a dizzying sensation struck me. I wasn’t fully sure, but it seemed like I had just crossed the dimensional boundary.
Whoosh whoosh
As I flew through the Dark Night, I suddenly noticed glowing objects swirling all around me. The magnificent dreamlike vista I initially saw from the Golden Lamp had vanished, and I felt as if I were wandering the sea of darkness.
In that moment, I sensed an “attack” coming my way.
Swoosh!
“……!!”
Thanks to hastily casting my air-walking technique and twisting my body mid-flight, I managed to avoid the trajectory of the attack. But I couldn’t evade it completely, and I felt a slight wound on my side. It was such a rapid assault that it was difficult to dodge.
While in flight, I quickly detected the attacker’s form.
‘A rotating… ray?!’
At a glance, it was unmistakably the appearance of a stingray, one of the aquatic creatures. The only difference from an ordinary stingray was its enormous size, equipped with five eyes and terrible-looking tentacles hanging from its tail. That monstrous ray had just attacked me in a whirlwind as if it were performing a thousand spins!
And I felt a sharp pang in my wounded side.
“Gah!”
I felt something dark and viscous flow from my side. I wasn’t sure what it was, but it felt incredibly ominous. I wanted to land quickly, yet I couldn’t even tell if I was flying or where the ground or sky was in this chaos.
Though I had thought I had adventured through countless treacherous places, I had never encountered such pure, chaotic disarray.
I shouted urgently,
“Protect me!! And light up the surroundings!”
Whoosh
Upon issuing the command, Zhuge Bu, who came with me to Dark Heaven Village, activated his technique to erect a protective barrier. As he summoned glowing orbs, the surrounding scenery came into view.
“……!!”
A swarm of rays!!
In a place filled with crimson clouds, thousands of monstrous rays flew through the sky. We were being pulled by some unknown force, and not just that ray, but others were also emitting piercing killing intent. Instinctively sensing more attacks were imminent, I gritted my teeth.
“Damn it. Out of nowhere, it’s an aerial battle.”
I could use my kung fu to hover or try to float with Heavenly Sovereign or air walk, but it was never the case that humans could fly. Moreover, the pressing issue was that I had been aimlessly flying since earlier. Something was pulling me with an unknown force, and I couldn’t tell if it was the ground or sky!
Puff
Suddenly, the rays began attacking from all sides. Thanks to the protective barrier, I didn’t have to fight directly, but I could see pieces of flesh scattered around. Thinking I couldn’t let it go like this, I considered unleashing the power of the Fire Dragon Sword.
‘No… Save it.’
This wasn’t the moment to exhaust my energy.
I waited until the barrier held as long as possible. Unexpectedly, the rays’ attacks continued bouncing off, and as they themselves took damage, there were no more incoming attacks. Just as I took a breather, a sudden dark wall crashed into my field of vision.
Kwang!!
“Ugh.”
I quickly landed. Trying to check where I had fallen, I looked around.
The surroundings were still engulfed in ominous clouds reminiscent of blood. Not a trace of normal human presence could be found, only the chilling cries of chaos echoing ominously. However, I could see dark and jagged mountain ranges in the distance.
“Hm…”
I summoned the spirit of the National Seal and ordered,
[Draw a map of this Dark Heaven Village and tell me where it’s safe to go!]
[Searching…]
After a brief moment, the spirit replied,
[Map creation is impossible. The Floating Otherworld doesn’t have identifiable coordinates.]
[Floating otherworld? What’s that?]
[This place is not Dark Heaven Village.]
[What?]
[This is inside a living being.]
Before I had time to be amazed, another bizarre event unfolded.
Kuuuu…
“……!!”
The dark and jagged mountain range.
Clearly, those mountains were obscured by the emergence of a gigantic hand. Just imagining that such a colossal entity was behind that mountain range sent chills down my spine. A normal human would be overwhelmed with fear at that sight, but fortunately, since I had seen many monsters, I quickly hid my presence.
Churururuk
“Ugh! It hurts.”
I felt pain in my side. Looking down, my eyes widened in shock.
An egg!
The white eggs were sticking to the wound on my side caused by the stingray’s attack. One of the eggs cracked, and something began to hatch—it seemed to be a monstrous larva. I was stunned that I had been compromised by a parasitic organism from merely a scratch.
‘Damn it. Should I cauterize it with fire?’
The most intuitive method came to mind, but I quickly changed my mind. If these things are resistant to fire, I would only set myself ablaze. Instead, I decided to open one of the poison pouches that Tang San had given me and sprinkled it onto the wound.
Zsaaak
“Ugh…!!”
This was the legendary poison called Wumang San, which might be why the monster’s eggs and larvae soon writhed in agony before shriveling up and dying. The potency of the simple toxin was incredibly strong, and it worked effectively. It hurt like a branding iron on my flesh, but I could tell it had been treated. Since I was immune to all poisons, I could use any toxin medicinally.
Having somehow treated the wound, I asked the spirit of the National Seal,
[What was that? Is the monster in those mountains the Old Ruler?]
[Searching… No data found. Unknown identity. However, it is determined that it is not divine due to the chaotic amalgamation of non-divine essence.]
[How strong could that thing be?]
[Judgment impossible. It’s an unprecedented life form. As it is pure chaos, it is advised to avoid combat.]
[What do you mean by being inside a living being?]
[It has been determined that the entire Floating Otherworld is the stomach of a gigantic organism.]
[What… Damn it… Is that even possible?]
I felt incredulous. Just moments ago, after using the Golden Lamp to fall into the otherworld, I had flown for over a meal period, and considering that speed, the distance was unfathomable. Even now, this space looked like an entire world, and I couldn’t possibly think of it as a closed space. It seemed like it would surpass the area of an entire nation, yet it was merely a stomach?!
‘Then is that gigantic mountain creature merely a parasite?’
That size is ridiculous.
However, regaining my composure, I spoke,
[Alright. Then how do I escape from here?]
[You need to pierce the stomach wall.]
[Where is the stomach wall?]
[The shortest distance… If you go two thousand five hundred li to the southwest, there lies the chaotic sea of gastric acid. Its depth is estimated to be seven hundred zhang.]
[……]
I was engulfed in a gloomy mood. The chaotic sea of gastric acid would undoubtedly be a hell where anything preyed upon would melt, and with a depth of seven hundred zhang, it was impossible to breach without a means. Not to mention, I didn’t possess an absolute sword technique capable of splitting open seven hundred zhang deep water.
[Can’t we fly up and pierce through the area without gastric acid?]
[That’s possible. Assuming you deploy at a right angle, flying eight thousand li will reveal the stomach wall.]
[Damn it!! How am I supposed to fly eight thousand li!!]
I shouted out loud.
‘If I had the infinity internal power like the Master of the White Lotus Sect or the Dharma Guardian, maybe, but right now, that’s impossible!!’
I glanced at Zhuge Bu. With his technique, perhaps I could manage it, but no matter how I looked at it, eight thousand li was far too distant. I’d have to fly through a distance broad enough to cross the continent. Such a thought was utterly absurd. Plus, judging by that ray from just earlier, it was certain that countless monsters and otherworldly races were living in the skies as well.
Even now, I could see dark shadows moving everywhere near where I landed. They were most likely monsters.
What should I do?
I gritted my teeth and invoked the Golden Lamp again.
“Let’s go back to where we came from!”
If I could at least reach the point I first arrived, some option might open up.
Puff
“Eh?!”
That moment.
I stood dumbfounded, unable to move where I was.
“Golden Lamp… it’s broken.”
For the first time in my rebirth, I was experiencing something unimaginable.
I found it strange that it broke, but it seemed like it hadn’t been me exerting strength or using it excessively that caused it to break. It had naturally disassembled as if it “needed to break.”
That’s when I finally realized.
‘A trap.’
The illusion the Golden Lamp had shown me was a highly sophisticated trap.
It had deceived me into thinking I could reach Dark Heaven Village and, while I was confident in its performance due to frequent use, the moment the sorcerer responded to the call, it had led me into the hellish stomach of an enormous demon creature!
Is there a way to escape this living hell?
“……”
I clenched my eyes shut.
And biting my teeth, I muttered,
“I can escape!”
I wouldn’t easily become monster food in a place like this!
I’ll struggle for every little bit of progress and die trying!