Chapter 85

Chapter 84

Lustful thoughts toward a beautiful woman, coveting the wealth of the rich, and resorting to any means to seize power.

Since the birth of history, humans have always danced in the shadow of desire, and I had always despised them with a burning hatred.

However, in the vast and desolate universe, the struggles of such humans were, in a way, as beautiful as fireworks.

Constellation.

The universe, despite its beautiful name, was not as splendid as one might think.

I was elated at the prospect of becoming a higher-dimensional being and meeting new worlds, but what awaited me was endless darkness and desolation.

It was then that I finally understood why the great constellations had to manipulate and toy with the wills of lower species.

Surprisingly, the ugly side of such humans was a result of the constellations' amusement.

They planted seeds of evil in human hearts and delighted in watching the souls fall into corruption.

In the endless desolation of the universe, the lower species, such as humans, were like pampered pets that brought them joy.

After realizing this, I no longer hated humans.

On the contrary, the so-called great constellations seemed even more despicable to me.

In the end, I broke the constellations' rules and declared my protection of the lower species, specifically humans, thus starting a long war.

In fact, there was a reason why the constellations were particularly interested in the human species.

While there were countless lower species in the universe, the human species frequently produced constellations.

In the long history of a lower species, it was considered a miracle for even one being to become a constellation.

However, the human civilization, which had only just begun, already had more than ten beings who had ascended to the rank of constellation, and the number of candidates continued to grow.

It was at this point that the constellations, who had previously regarded the human species as insignificant, began to take an interest.

They viewed the human species as a mutation in the universe and started to monitor and control them.

Until then, there had been no concept of 'power' among the constellations.

They all moved independently and respected each other's territories, so there was no room for conflict.

However, as constellations continued to emerge from the human species, a power structure gradually formed.

This event threatened the order that had been maintained since the beginning of time, causing all the constellations to become enraged. Eventually, the first Great Constellation War broke out when the leader of the human-originated constellations, 'The Denier of Existence,' declared the protection of the human species.

Due to the long Great Constellation War, the human-originated constellations, who were supposed to be immortal, degenerated to the level of lower species and had to flee to the corners of the universe.

However, The Denier of Existence was the only exception.

Unlike other constellations, who lost their existence power the more they used it, he grew even stronger through the war.

After carefully observing The Denier of Existence's almost mutant-like abilities, the constellations reached a conclusion.

He had become a constellation through 'martial arts,' one of the outstanding potentials of the human species.

They judged that this was the driving force behind his growing existence power during the Great Constellation War.

As the war continued for a long time, he became even more feared among the constellations, and this eventually led to the neutral constellations, who had been observing the war, joining the fray.

The alliance of all constellations except The Denier of Existence!

"I have lost, after all."

Johui gazed at the vast expanse of the universe with an infinitely empty look.

In the final great battle, he had exhausted all his existence power and was defeated.

The constellation alliance, fearing the emergence of another constellation like him from the human species, tore apart the spirits and bodies of all humans and burned the world.

The tragic conclusion was etched in his mind as vividly as if it had happened yesterday.

"Who helped me at the end?"

No matter how great the constellations were, transcending time and space was the domain of the creator gods.

Why would they secretly plant the alchemy of the human species and help him?

To them, he was a heretic in the universe.

So much so that the title they gave him was 'The Denier of Existence.'

"Their will is truly incomprehensible..."

In any case, using that power, he could exist as a reincarnated soul across countless timelines.

He learned ancient martial arts, magic, and sorcery, and studied the battlefields of medieval civilizations.

He mastered the ideologies and sciences of modern civilization and the brilliant hyper-sciences of future civilizations.

In countless lives, he continuously pursued wisdom, and he never wasted any life.

Of course, there were times when he failed to sense his fate and died in accidents, but those were rare.

Johui's early life was unremarkable, but his original plan was to learn modern administration and politics in middle age.

"Was I so afraid?"

He wanted to learn everything the human species had achieved because, if he lost the war against the constellations, it would mean the extinction of the human species.

He was the only one who could carry on the legacy of humans, having reached the realm of immortality.

Johui, shifting his gaze back to the distant sky, thought to himself.

'They still don't know.'

They still didn't know the great power that constellations would gain by consuming the spirits and bodies of humans.

The unique qualities contained in the souls of the human species were, in fact, treasures of the universe.

No one knew why such tremendous potential existed in humans, who were merely lower species.

In fact, the neutral constellations' participation in the war, which was initially to stop him, eventually turned into a brutal slaughter over the possession of human spirits and bodies.

Originally, the Great Constellation War should have ended when he fled to another timeline while hiding his existence power, but they continued to fight among themselves, leading to the Second Great Constellation War.

Johui shifted his gaze to the underground community by Poyang Lake.

In the past, all the people outside the underground community were sacrificed in the constellation war.

The number 648,600 had no special reason.

It was the minimum number needed to revive the human species to a level called 'civilization' within a thousand years, just a part of such calculations.

On this foundation of decline, he would share all the knowledge he had learned from the countless timelines of the human species.

The fact that this underground community, meant to save people, was only a last resort, made Johui feel even more tragic.

-My dear, I don't know what to call you yet. Not yet, not yet. One day, you will realize that all of this is for you. Please, fulfill your purpose so that our human time can continue. O protector of humanity.

The inscription by Jang Sam-bong in the underground community.

He felt so ashamed of the instructions he had given to himself that he wished he could die.

The starting point of everything was his meager pride in wanting to protect humans.

Ironically, his arrogant declaration had led to the greatest misfortune of the human species.

'But this time, it will be different.'

Johui carefully picked up the abandoned box on the ground.

The pinnacle of future hyper-science, something that could not be exchanged for anything.

The Dharma Sutra, or rather, the Neuralink chip, was the only hope for the human species.

The ultimate weapon of the human species, perfected through countless experiments.

In fact, the Neuralink chip he had developed over a long time was not a tool to assist the constellations' consumption but a catalyst to awaken humans to a new existence.

From now on, he had to produce and distribute the Neuralink chips as quickly as possible to as many people as he could.

Johui's figure then vanished in a flash.

* * *

"What, what is that?"

"Grasshoppers?"

Jang Il-dragon and Yeom Sang-rok were simultaneously shocked as they looked at something that had covered the sky in black.

A massive, black swarm, like a horde of locusts, filled the sky above the Great Assembly Hall.

The surroundings suddenly became as dark as night.

In the center of the swarm, Johui floated calmly.

The black swarm slowly descended toward the vast training ground of the Great Assembly Hall.

The swarm was controlled by Johui.

Swish, swish, swish—

The swarm poured down all at once.

The amount was so enormous that it filled the training ground like a mountain.

Jang Il-dragon and Yeom Sang-rok, who had been frozen in shock, soon used their techniques to reach Johui's side.

"What is all this?"

"Isn't this that bizarre Dharma Sutra?"

It was undoubtedly the Dharma Sutra, which, when attached to the body, granted powerful martial arts and magical abilities, and was being spread by the Martial Alliance.

The amount was so vast that it was impossible to count.

Where did he recover such an enormous amount of Dharma Sutras?

As this bizarre and unprecedented event unfolded, colleagues and officers began to gather around Johui.

Johui's indifferent gaze fell on Jeong Un, who was standing there with his mouth agape.

"Distribute this to all the people of Jiangxi as quickly as possible."

Jeong Un, whose mind was in a daze, stammered.

"W-What are you saying all of a sudden!"

They had suffered so much trying to stop the Martial Alliance from spreading the Dharma Sutra, and now he wanted to spread it to the people of Poyang Lake?

Without a word, Johui walked over to the mountain of Neuralink chips and picked up two.

"Take this."

Namgung Jang-ho and Jang Il-dragon stared blankly at the Neuralink chips Johui was holding out.

"What are you doing all of a sudden!"

Namgung Jang-ho, with a terrifying look, was ready to draw his sword.

Johui himself had said that this dangerous item was a malevolent treasure that assisted the consumption of the divine constellations.

A monster that weakened human souls.

Namgung Jang-ho couldn't understand why Johui was handing such a wicked item to him.

Even Jang Il-dragon, who always joked around, was unusually serious.

"Brother, don't you think you should explain? Why are you giving this to us?"

Johui, with a gloomy face, continued to hold out his hand.

"It would be better if you just took it without asking."

"Brother!"

Attaching this wicked item to the forehead would grant powerful abilities but also make one an easy target for the divine constellations. No one present was unaware of this fact.

However, it was too difficult for Johui to explain to his colleagues.

How could he easily explain to them?

To calm their confusion, he would have to reveal all his secrets.

Unable to speak, Johui hesitated, and Jeong Un's voice continued.

"Explain. You have to."

No matter how strongly the members of the Great Assembly Hall were united, a reason had to be something everyone genuinely accepted.

"It's me."

"What...?"

Jeong Un, puzzled by Johui's ambiguous attitude, tilted his head.

Soon, Johui, with a bitter smile, muttered.

"I am a divine constellation."

To his colleagues, Johui was an unpredictable and mysterious person.

They thought there was nothing left to surprise them, but now he was saying he was a divine constellation?

Who exactly was a divine constellation?

A dark current that had dominated the Central Plains civilization for thousands of years, a terrifying demon that dreamed of the destruction of the Central Plains.

A malevolent being that sought to consume the souls of the Central Plains people to become a cosmic demon.

"Ha, what are you saying? How did you become a divine constellation?"

Jeong Un, who had been laughing, saw Johui's serious face and became serious.

"Is there something we don't know again?"

How could someone be so full of shocking secrets?

"..."

Johui couldn't find the words to explain to his colleagues.

Jang Il-dragon, with a fierce gaze, sat on the ground.

"Brother, you're not the type to say something without any basis. I'm ready to listen."

Namgung Jang-ho kept stroking his sword, a habit he had when he felt uneasy.

"Can't you just believe and follow me?"

As the first to break through the ranks and become a constellation, a mythic existence, and as the arrogant constellation who declared the protection of the human species despite the opposition of countless cosmic constellations, and as the one who fled to countless timelines as a reincarnated soul after losing the great war, would anyone believe him?

He knew that no matter how he explained, his colleagues would find it hard to believe.

But for some reason, Johui wanted to reveal everything to Jeong Un and Namgung Jang-ho.

"What, what is this?"

Suddenly, Johui approached and, without a word, grabbed Jeong Un's head with his palm, leaving him flustered.

Then, a hot sensation rushed from his head, and an intense headache, which he had never experienced before, began to overwhelm him.

"Ugh!"

But the pain was only momentary. Soon, the pain subsided, and countless pieces of information began to flood his mind.

"What, what is this!"

He had never been so shocked in his life.

Jeong Un, in a panic, retreated backward.

"Such madness!"

The cosmic secrets that were flooding his mind.

All the experiences and secrets of Johui, the divine constellation, were imprinted in his memory like a seal.

Such high-dimensional existence's memories could drive an ordinary person mad, but Johui had carefully filtered and refined them before passing them to Jeong Un.

"Aah..."

Jeong Un was almost in tears.

How could a human life be so tragic and intense?

His life was infinite, but that long time was a period of tears and atonement, and an endless love for protecting humans.

How could a human's ideal of a utopia be so blind?

How could the heart and will be so great that he could live as hundreds of reincarnated souls, shattering his own self in the process?

The Denier of Existence.

He denied all the cosmic beings to protect a mere lower species, humans.

Despite having the greatest existence power among the constellations, which could have made him revered and complete, he stood with the lowest of the low, humans, and burned his soul to protect them.

Despite repeated failures and the continuous destruction of human civilizations, he never gave up.

He hid in other timelines, evading the constellations' eyes, and through countless lives, he gradually accumulated karma.

Now, this great being stood before him, embodying all the karma.

Jeong Un no longer saw his colleague Johui.

He saw a great divinity protecting the human species.

He was the father of humanity.

"..."

Jeong Un couldn't find the words to continue.

"I am still Johui."

Johui's simple answer.

It meant he wanted them to accept him as he was now.

"What has happened?"

With a serious look, Namgung Jang-ho also received a part of Johui's memories.

"..."

But surprisingly, Namgung Jang-ho remained calm, only stiffening with a solemn expression.

After a long moment, he bowed to Johui with a formality he had never shown before.

"Thank you."

...

No matter how many times Namgung Jang-ho bowed, this was not a common bow.

What was Namgung Jang-ho thanking him for?

But Johui, moved by those words, couldn't hold back his tears.

He had never received such sincere gratitude from a human before.

The infinite time he had spent in a bitter struggle, the loneliness he had endured, all washed away with those words.

Silently patting Namgung Jang-ho's shoulder, Johui then shared his memories with the rest of his colleagues.

Even the playful Jang Il-dragon and Yeom Sang-rok, and even Baek Hwarin, could only let out pitiful groans, unable to speak.

The only one who could still chatter was Jin Gahui.

"Wow, insane! So cool!"

Joh