[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-childhood-friend-of-the-zenith":3,"chapter-childhood-friend-of-the-zenith-childhood-friend-of-the-zenith-chapter-333":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Childhood Friend of the Zenith",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1240309,1667,"Chapter 333: The Apostle (4)","childhood-friend-of-the-zenith-chapter-333",333,"\u003Cp>The tree still remembered the cry of a young man from that time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The sight of him was very dreadful.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He vomited blood and gouged his own eyes, causing them to bleed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[ How… How can this be… ]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The young boy, his golden hair stained with blood, continued to sob in frustration.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[ What did we do to deserve this… just what! ]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He cradled the bodies of his fallen friends, watching the blood seep from his family’s lifeless bodies.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[ Ruler… ]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[ What are we supposed to do from now on…? ]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The world was consumed by flames, and the once-blue ocean had turned red with blood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Life on land perished, one after another.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was the Blood Disaster.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A catastrophe brought on by one person, leading the world to ruin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[ Our ruler… ]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Where did it all go wrong?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Was it because no action was taken in the hopes of its children being happy?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The tree didn’t know.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All the tree could do was extend its branches, gently wiping away the tears of the child before it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[ Child. ]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The young man with golden hair lifted his head, but his eyes were hollow, devoid of emotion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The world had been destroyed, and so had the child standing before the tree.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[ …Tell us. What did we do to deserve this? ]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[ You did nothing wrong. ]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[ Then, how could the world end up like this…! ]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was the Blood Demon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The monster began seizing territories the moment it emerged from the crack in the sky.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The tree was able to know.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Every life on this land was its child, and the tree was aware of each and every one.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, the tree wasn’t aware of the Blood Demon’s existence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This meant that the Blood Demon wasn’t from this world, and the tree had a fleeting understanding of why it appeared.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was because of what happened around twenty to thirty years ago.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It could even be before that.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A change had come to the world, despite the tree believing it would remain unchanged.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A crack had torn open in the sky, and creatures from other worlds began to spill through.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The tree believed that was what caused it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The connection to other worlds violated the principles, and because it happened under the tree’s watch, it bore the responsibility.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The ruler had caused the change, and it was a grave sin for the world to be linked to other realms.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It didn’t matter who caused it or what problems arose from it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This land committed a sin, so the tree had to be punished for it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[ …Everyone… died. ]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was one thing that the tree couldn’t endure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[ The children’s limbs were decapitated. ]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[ Their parents met their deaths by having their necks cut off. ]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To the tree, every being on this land was its child.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Death was part of the flow of time, and though the tree had lived for ages, it felt as if all life on the land had perished in an instant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whether through old age or battle, that was the natural flow of the world.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The tree had endured the pain, blessing the world with new life, never believing it could interfere with the flow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, a new ruler was needed to replace it due to the crack in the world, and even the tree could understand that much.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[ …How pitiful. ]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The tree, however, felt a strange emotion as it watched the child cry in sorrow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Soon, the Blood Demon would arrive at this very spot.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The tree wasn’t sure if its children had named the Blood Demon or if the creature had chosen the name itself, but it knew the monster was approaching from afar.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Craaack.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The tree’s roots extended, gently wrapping around the young man’s body.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It wasn’t for protection.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was more for consolation, but the tree didn’t know if it was able to reach the young man’s heart.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even now, the tree could feel the endless deaths of its children.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[ How could it be this violent… ]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was very violent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All these lives had to be erased for a new beginning, and the tree was powerless to stop it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To watch its own children, die slowly in this land.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Is this what the principles of the world demanded?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wasn’t that too violent? Too brutal?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The saddest part, to the tree, was its helplessness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From afar, the tree saw the red sky drawing nearer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was coming.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was coming to erase the tree and restore the world to its original state.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The tree thought to itself while watching the ominous darkness approach.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Were these principles really just?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It probably was.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The world’s principles were absolute, and so was the role the tree had been given.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A ruler existed because of the world existing, and lives were able to be born in it because of the ruler’s existence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The tree only existed thanks to this world.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With that thought, the tree spoke into the distance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[ I admit it. ]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The world had faced a problem with its roots, and because of that, change had come.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The tree admitted that it was all its own fault.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[ But the children did nothing wrong. ]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Who was the tree speaking to?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The tree knew that no response would come, and that it was only talking to itself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If anyone was at fault, it was surely the old tree, once the ruler of this world.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[ …Child. ]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The tree whispered softly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A presence stirred between the tree branches wrapped around the young man.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[ Child. ]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[ …Yes… ]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The child’s hopeless, broken expression was clear to see.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The tree spoke, gazing at his face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[ I will give you a choice. ]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[ Choice… you say. ]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The tree’s roots began to tremble, and its branches writhed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[ It is up to you if you want to perish away like this, or seek another chance after hearing a story. ]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The young man’s eyes trembled as he listened to the tree.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It seemed like the word ‘chance’ reached his heart.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From his reaction, the tree knew no verbal answer was needed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The tree’s branches extended gently, brushing the young man’s hair.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This wasn’t necessarily the right decision to make.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was a defiance of the world’s principles, an act of ignoring its own role and place.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The young man decided that he would take the chance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He would do anything for the chance to escape this calamity, no matter what.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[ …Child, it seems like this is the only thing I could do for you all. ]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Something wiggly started to ride down the tree’s body, then it started to wrap around the young man’s body.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It had the appearance of a snake.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As leaves drifted slowly from its branches, the tree itself began to change.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Its once-vibrant roots began to wither, and the tree itself started to decay.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The world became aware of what the tree was about to do.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The tree spoke during this.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[ I will bear the responsibility for this as well… ]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>he act of changing a person’s fate brought an extreme amount of burden as well.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even altering the fate of a mere human was a grave sin, and the tree feared the punishment it would face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[ …Child. ]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[ Ruler… this is. ]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[ I hope you find even the smallest bit of blessings, in your journey that will be full of hardships… ]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The young man looked up, puzzled by the tree’s words, as white leaves scattered on the ground began to swirl around him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It formed a white whirlpool.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Crackle… crunch.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the young man stood in the center of the whirlpool, the tree endured the transformation overtaking it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The tree was punished for breaking the rules, and it was no mere death.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the transformation unfolded, the tree’s breath gradually faded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that moment,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Swooosh!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The whirlpool shot up in the sky, and soon after, the man found himself in the body of a boy in Sichuan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The boy looked around, confused, but the giant tree that had stood before him was nowhere to be seen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The world, too, seemed oblivious to the tree’s existence, as if it had never existed at all, as though its very being had been erased.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>******************I gasped at the story I had just heard.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was quite shocking.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So you used to be the ruler of my world?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The World Tree in front of me was supposed to be the ruler of the world I lived in.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[ Yes, I was the ruler of that world. ]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Why do you speak in past tense?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[ …I lost my qualification after all. ]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The tree lost its qualification.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It said it was punishedfor altering someone’sfate, right?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I immediately thought of Yeon Il-Cheon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Other heroes I had met said the same, and even Yeon Il-Cheon’s memory had mentioned his experience with regression.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Could it be that the tree was the one responsible for changing Yeon Il-Cheon’s fate, and that it was now here as punishment?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I called this a false world.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I said that nothing in this world was real.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Demons that poured from everywhere seemed like illusions, but the pain they inflicted was real, and those killed by them did not simply vanish.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But I called this the false world because of what I already mentioned before.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The World Tree had also referred to it as a false world, and when I returned to the real world, everything and everyone seemed to be exactly as they were before, as if nothing had happened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That’s why I believed this world was an illusion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Otherwise, how could such a thing be possible?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But perhaps,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Maybe this is more of an incarcerated space?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Is this the space that was created for the tree’s punishment?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I knew there were various kinds of Abysses in the world.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Murim Alliance’s records already listed four types of Abysses, and they even managed a gate that led to one.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, this space wasn’t any of them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I was aware of a few Abysses that remained unknown to the world.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…Then, is it your presence that allows new life to be born into my world?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I didn’t know if the tree’s story was true or not, but I found myself speaking more formally to it without realizing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My mouth still ran even while knowing that the tree was a ruler, but I felt a strong emotion from the tree which bothered me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was something maternal about the tree’s aura, making it difficult for me to be rude.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It’s been so many years ever since I’ve felt that.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Am I now feeling maternal love?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It felt ironic, given my age.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Setting that aside, the World Tree spoke.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[ Not exactly. ]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I had asked if life in my world was being sustained because the tree still existed elsewhere, but the World Tree denied it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[ I lost my qualification, and my worth as a ruler along with it. ]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[ Then… I don’t understand. ]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>How was my world still being maintained?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Was the Gate of Demons really the issue?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And the Blood Demon… was it sent as a delegate to erase all life?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then what about the marble I saw at the Frontlines?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In a territory of the Gu Clan, there had been a marble the beast inside me referred to as a seed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A tree and a seed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I hated how the two seemed connected.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hey.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I tried calling the beast after being reminded of it, but it had been silent ever since Elder Shin woke up that day.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was the same for Elder Shin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I raised my hand and brushed my hair aside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I had a headache.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I wanted to uncover the truth, but I hadn’t expected such a tangled and unpleasant story.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Finding the root of the problem was essential if I was ever to solve anything.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only by doing so could I untangle this mess.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So then, doesn’t that mean that my ancestors were the culprit to all problems in the end?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If the crack of the world was the problem, then it was the bastards who opened it that was at fault.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Long ago, the ancestors of the Gu Clan had opened the Gate of Demons.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That act had torn a crack in the world’s principles, and the Blood Demon was summoned to fix it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the time, the World Tree ruled the world, and for reasons unknown, it returned Yeon Il-Cheon to his younger self.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…Why was it Yeon Il-Cheon of all people?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Iron Fist was the Zenith of his time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was also the Head of the greatest clan at the time, and I knew how powerful he was just by hearing from Elder Shin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Despite that fact, I still couldn’t help but wonder why it was Yeon Il-Cheon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was one reason that puzzled me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All of the heroes of the past I met, whether it was Yeon Il-Cheon, the Light of Might, and even Namgung Myung, they all looked for Elder Shin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It seemed that, in the end, Elder Shin was their last hope.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I wasn’t sure why, but if Elder Shin was their hope, wouldn’t it have made more sense to return him to the past?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After hearing my question, the World Tree moved its branches and pointed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It seemed like it was telling me to sit down again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[ Apostle. I understandyour curiosity, but sadly, I do not know much myself. ]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’m just curious as to why you returned Yeon Il-Cheon’s life into the past.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[ Yeon Il-Cheon… ah, yes. That was his name. ]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The World Tree’s response confirmed it for me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was only thanks to this World Tree that Yeon Il-Cheon was able to regress.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But as a result, the tree was trapped here as punishment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[ Reason… reason. ]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Was there a special reason for it?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[ It’s difficult. ]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Difficult you say?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[ Yes, how could it not be? To find a reason for it. ]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I tilted my head, confused by the World Tree’s words.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What did it mean by that?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It’s difficult to find a reason?\u003C\u002Fp>",2394,"2026-06-05T15:09:39.031Z",1,"novelbin.me","c647d75750cb715fe31a0c1cae9f324f7e15809c9ee1ec5ab92be87017d7ffa9","childhood-friend-of-the-zenith-chapter-334","childhood-friend-of-the-zenith-chapter-332",974,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fchildhood-friend-of-the-zenith-cover.jpg"]