"Um, Master...? Why are you staring at me like that...?"
"...Mm, it's nothing."
I shake my head slowly.
'He does seem to resemble Song Jin...but also feels different.'
To begin with, he is a head taller than Song Jin.
And...
'Song Jin never had that imperial air about him.'
If Song Jin was merely an Elder of Black Ghost Valley, then Hong Fan is a king.
His solemn face has a bearing that anyone would call the demeanour of a king.
'Hmm...Why does he specifically resemble Song Jin?'
The most likely reason, I infer, is that Song Jin was present when Hong Fan was born.
'...If not that...'
I decide to ask Oh Hyun-seok, just in case.
"By the way, Hyun-seok Hyung-nim. Didn't you mention that your master, the Naming Supreme Deity Hyeon Rang, resembles Hong Fan? Would it be possible to show me Their noble appearance?"
"Mm? My master? Alright."
Wo-woong!
As Oh Hyun-seok flicks his hand, a simple illusion unfolds before us.
What appears before our eyes are a total of five figures.
One of them is someone in the form of a young boy.
He has short hair like vapor, and his face even appears rather pretty at a glance. Wearing a silver robe, he looks quite beautiful.
Next is a sturdy young man.
Still with short vapor-like hair, he is a large man clad in a purple robe, his skin extremely pale.
Next is a middle-aged man.
My eyes widen as I look at that figure.
His hair remains the same vapor-like white, but his clothes are black, and his face is almost identical to Hong Fan's.
Only the shape of his eyes and the overall impression seem slightly softer.
Yes.
"So...Song Jin...?"
What stands before my eyes is unmistakably 'Song Jin'.
I stare at the middle-aged figure, taken aback.
Beside the middle-aged man is an old man with vapor-like hair, dressed in what appears to be white burial garments.
Dividing the four seasons of life into four forms, at their center is the figure of a giant composed of vapor.
"The one in the center is my master's main body. And those around Them are my master's Transformation forms. I was told they represent the process of my master's growth. What do you think? Doesn't my master's 'middle-aged' stage look exactly like Hong Fan? At first, I thought my master had just dyed Their hair to tease me."
"...Certainly...it's true."
I look at the old man dressed in burial garments.
It is undeniable.
That old man's appearance is almost a mirror image of Hong Fan's childhood.
I can't say much about the boy and young man forms, but Hyeon Rang's middle-aged and elderly appearances seem like exact copies of Hong Fan.
'Setting aside that the eyes are less sharp than Hong Fan's and that the height is a bit shorter...I'd believe it if someone said they are the same person.'
It's while we are marveling at Hong Fan and Hyeon Rang's appearances.
Twitch—
One of Hyeon Rang's faces suddenly begins to move in place.
Oh Hyun-seok flinches in surprise and hurriedly erases the illusion.
"Yikes, Master almost noticed."
"Is it bad if Hyeon Rang notices?"
"Of course it is. If my master realizes where I am, They will probably...torment me again with some strange grand methods. Why would I let my master catch me when I've finally gained my freedom?"
"..."
It seems Oh Hyun-seok is quite satisfied having slipped away from the Naming Supreme Deity, and doesn't particularly want to be caught by Them.
"...By the way, I've been too busy in the past thousand years to get the chance to ask, but what is Hyung-nim's Immortal Title?"
"Me? Well...I don't know either."
"Pardon...?"
"Master never gave me one. Why that is, I don't know either..."
"Hoo..."
At those words, Hong Fan's eyes glint for some reason.
"How strange. Bestowing names is not only the authority of one who possesses the Origin Essence of Naming, but also a duty and responsibility..."
"Hm, is that so? But how do you know something like that?"
"Um, that is..."
Hong Fan is about to say something, and I immediately clap my hands.
"Ah, I see. You must have been a Reaper of the Underworld in your previous life who was close to the Naming Supreme Deity! That would explain everything. Since the Naming Supreme Deity Hyeon Rang also seems acquainted with the Heavenly Venerable of the Underworld, perhaps you were the one acting as a bridge between the two?"
"..."
At my words, Hong Fan looks at me silently, then gives a smile whose meaning I cannot discern.
"...An amusing speculation. Indeed...hearing Master say that, it feels like memories are returning. I think...I had good memories with the Underworld and Hyeon Rang."
"...Hmm?"
'What is this, I was just throwing it out there, but did I actually hit the mark?'
Since Hong Fan seems to affirm it calmly, I nod blankly.
"Well, that's good then. I hope you regain your memories as soon as possible."
"Yes, thank you."
I continue chatting warmly with Hong Fan.
But then Jeon Myeong-hoon suddenly cuts in.
"So. Is Hong Fan what's important right now?"
"...Well, Hong Fan's past life is important in its own right."
"The most important thing right now is your situation, Seo Eun-hyun. In the end, does this mean we have to kill you?"
"..."
I smile bitterly at those words.
"...Given the current situation, this seems like the most humane method...I suppose."
"...Damn it. How is killing a comrade...the most humane option!? Are you telling us to push you toward death with our own hands!?"
"..."
Watching Jeon Myeong-hoon get angry, I inwardly let out a small exclamation.
—Anyway, Deputy Seo who's already lost one arm won't last long in that body.
—So this time too, let's have Deputy Seo sacrifice himself...
"Kukuk..."
Somehow, the Jeon Myeong-hoon of the first cycle and the current Jeon Myeong-hoon overlap in my eyes, and I feel laughter welling up.
"You've really grown so much, Jeon Myeong-hoon!"
"What, you punk?"
"With what you just said, I'm sure of it. Indeed...if it's by your hands, I'd be fine dying."
"What!?"
"Kill me. And..."
I speak to my comrades.
"Become...my parents."
Oh Hyun-seok stands up, his voice trembling.
"I-I'll do it instead of that brat! Just kill me, and I'll reincarnate instead!"
"Forbidden (不可)."
Kang Min-hee suddenly cuts off Oh Hyun-seok's words with a hardened face.
"Seo Eun-hyun is able to do so because he possesses the Flawless Mantra. None of you will be able to remember your past lives."
"What? No, wait, Kang Min-hee, didn't you also learn something called the Flawless Mantra...?"
"Min-hee must not."
"...You, who are you."
Oh Hyun-seok glares at Kang Min-hee.
However, Kang Min-hee does not answer Oh Hyun-seok's question and simply continues speaking.
"This child is the workings of the Imperial Venerable. Therefore, she cannot be recklessly thrown into a gamble. The only one who can die is...Seo Eun-hyun, who created an absurd Immortal Art like the Canvas of Myriad Forms and Connections. If this child dies, she will only lose herself."
Having finished speaking, Kang Min-hee closes her eyes and opens them again.
Then, she blinks and looks around.
"...What is this, why is everyone so quiet? Ah, seeing how everyone seems to know except me...Seo Eun-hyun, did something happen to me?"
"...It seems one of the Reapers from the Underworld possessed you for a moment."
I clearly recall who that presence belonged to just now.
It was that of the current Chief Judge, the Yama True Lord Yan Luo.
I shrug my shoulders and speak.
"There's no helping it. Apparently, there's no better candidate than me."
The faces of my comrades darken, but I instead smile.
"Cheer up! This is my choice! If it really bothers you, have Ho Woon chew me up and you can all just shove me into the fox's maw. And, I will say this again... Don't think of it as simply killing me."
My voice that carries a hint of lightness at the start soon becomes more serious.
"Please take care of me...the me who will reincarnate and be born again. Please..."
I look around at them as I speak.
Jeon Myeong-hoon, Kang Min-hee, Oh Hyun-seok, Kim Yeon, Hong Fan...
"Become my parents. Become my parents, become my teachers, and protect me until I safely complete the cultivation of the Flawless Mantra. Didn't I say it at the start? That until we all finish our cultivation...let us save our strengths and watch over each other quietly here. Everyone can simply think of it as watching over me until I finish cultivating the Flawless Mantra."
"..."
"..."
"So...there's no need to worry. All my memories will return in the end, and as Hong Fan said, by cultivating the Flawless Mantra here in the Twin Holding Heavenly Domain, I will also gain the power of the God of Gods of the distant past."
I speak while looking at them, who somehow still wear troubled expressions.
"This is my will as well. So everyone...please respect it."
For a moment, the other comrades also fall into solemn silence.
However, in the end, the discussion regarding the Upper Immortal cultivation proceeds according to my suggestion.
Upper Immortal cultivation, Immortal Beast Candle Shadow.
It is decided to kill me.
"...So why exactly do I have to help with this?"
Ho Woon speaks with a face full of displeasure.
Right now, in front of us, stands a fox-shaped doll made from one of Ho Woon's clones.
When my comrades imbue energy into this doll, the secret art of Ho Woon recorded in the doll will activate, causing it to bite and devour me.
"Well, since I'm imprisoned by you, contributing to killing you is nice, but do I really have to watch you getting violently killed by your own comrades?"
"What's so violent about it? It's just a fox-shaped doll swallowing me, nothing more."
"What I mean is...eh, whatever. Do as you please! It's not like just providing a clone will qualify me for the Upper Immortal cultivation judgment anyway, so I'll just enjoy watching."
Ho Woon sighs, leaves their clone behind as if telling us to handle it ourselves, and disappears. Jeon Myeong-hoon thrusts a lightning spear into Ho Woon's clone.
Kwachijijik!
Ho Woon's clone surges with red lightning.
The first to act is Jeon Myeong-hoon.
Jeon Myeong-hoon speaks with a hardened face.
"Say your goodbyes. It'll be decades before we meet again, at least."
As soon as his words end, Kim Yeon runs to me and hugs me.
"...Hhic...hngh..."
Kim Yeon sheds tears as she holds me tightly for a long time.
After a while, she wipes her tears, and with her face flushed, she grabs my head.
I close my eyes as I see her light pink intent, and what follows is Kim Yeon's headbutt.
Kwang!
"...!"
"Mmm!"
Kim Yeon says something while glaring at me.
Though I cannot make out her words, I somehow understand their meaning.
—You must come back safely.
"...Yeah. I'll definitely come back. Over and over again..."
Next is Oh Hyun-seok.
"Hyung-nim..."
Kwang!
Oh Hyun-seok promptly bursts apart my head.
"Ah, wait..."
"Hmph, when it's my turn after Jeon Myeong-hoon, I'll kill you even more painfully. So make sure to come back!"
"...Yes!"
The farewell with Oh Hyun-seok is short.
Next is Kang Min-hee.
"Kang Min—"
Jjaak!
Kang Min-hee strongly slaps my face.
Her eyes redden.
"I told you...to stop sacrificing yourself every time. Last time, the time before, and now again!"
"...Sorry."
"Don't say sorry. It's your will, after all...so I'll respect it."
"..."
"As a disciple of the Imperial Venerable, there's no need for farewells. I've already grasped enough of the principles of life and death, and I know first-hand that death isn't the end. But...in the next life, you will have to suffer under me for a bit."
With that, Kang Min-hee turns her around and walks away.
And finally, Jeon Myeong-hoon approaches.
"...Do we really have to do it this way, Seo Eun-hyun?"
"Th—"
"If the words 'this time too' come out of your mouth, I'll rip it apart."
"..."
"Damn it...you bastard...! You really are...a fucking idiot. You were the same back on Earth. Everything about you, even your breathing, pissed me off! I wanted Kim Yeon for myself, but she only stuck to you. And damn it, even that vicious Kang Min-hee, when I tried to get with her she never gave me a chance, but when she was with you, there was always that strange atmosphere! Only Oh Hye-seo clung to me like a joke! All the staff, directors, chiefs, they all liked only you! Damn it, I hated you, Seo Eun-hyun!"
"..."
"It's the same even after coming here! You never explain things properly, always triggering my trauma and brushing everything off with crap like 'this time too'. Did you think I was a pushover just because I quietly followed along? You low-birth bastard. Honestly...I want to beat the shit out of you."
Jeon Myeong-hoon speaks with red lightning flowing all over his body.
"But killing and beating are different things. So...come back, Seo Eun-hyun. Come back so I can beat you properly. It's not like you've only made one or two mistakes deserving a beating from me; isn't that right?"
"...Yeah. Once this Upper Immortal cultivation is all over..."
"Shut up! I don't want to hear ominous crap like that. Shut your mouth and come back safely. Seo Eun-hyun!"
With those words, Jeon Myeong-hoon squeezes his eyes shut and shoves me into the fox's maw.
As I enter the fox's mouth, I accept all my cultivation and authorities being destroyed by Jeon Myeong-hoon's red lightning.
Beyond the fox's mouth, I see them all.
Jeon Myeong-hoon, Kang Min-hee, Oh Hyun-seok, Kim Yeon, Hong Fan, Ham Jin, Yu Hwi, Yeo Hwi, Golden Shaking Bird, Ho Woon, and the others...
The last thing I hear before losing consciousness is Hong Fan speaking with a smile.
"I will follow you every time."
Thus, reciting the Flawless Mantra, I leap toward the next life.
That, is my first reincarnation.
-x-X-x-
Huarurururuk!
Flames cover the surroundings.
It is a familiar sight.
'Blade Mountain True Lord...'
A familiar Great King is in front of me.
Ordinarily, I regress with death.
However, this time is different.
It is because I am cultivating the Flawless Mantra.
"This lowly sinner, Seo Eun-hyun, greets the Great King."
[...Raise your head.]
At the Blade Mountain Great King's words, I raise my head.
As expected, it is a familiar sight.
Countless Ghost Kings, Asuras, Yakshas, Rakshasas, and Reapers surround me, and before my eyes, a colossal-bodied Judge looks down upon me.
[...Strange. Ordinarily, the Imperial Venerable should have called you... Why is it that this time, the Imperial Venerable shows no reaction...?]
"..."
[Well, no matter. The Imperial Venerable must have a purpose. We merely follow that purpose... From now, the judgment of the sinner Seo Eun-hyun shall begin.]
The Blade Mountain True Lord contemplates for a moment as though trying to grasp the meaning of the Heavenly Venerable of the Underworld, but soon shakes their head and begins to judge me.
The first step of reincarnation has begun.
How much time has passed?
I undergo all ten trials carried out by the Underworld Ten Kings, and at last, I stand before a giant wheel.
It is not before the Heavenly Venerable of the Underworld.
It is before the front of the projection of the White Wheel.
Kugugugugugu!
I realize that the Wheel is spinning endlessly.
Beyond that rotation, I see countless souls.
'So that's how it is...'
The Wheel carried on the back of the Heavenly Venerable of the Underworld is, in itself, an authority governing the Cycle of Reincarnation (輪轉輪廻).
[The judgment you have received shall become proof of the life you will live henceforth. The karma you accumulated and the fortune and misfortune you consumed in your previous life shall guarantee your next life.]
I listen to the words of the last Great King of the Underworld Ten Kings.
The words of Great King Wudao Zhuanlun.
[Step forward. Then you shall obtain your next life...]
"...Yes."
Thus, I move forward, reciting the Flawless Mantra.
'Let's go, to the next life...'
I chant the Flawless Mantra, perceiving my soul and flesh.
'My main body...still remains in the present world.'
The cultivation method of the Flawless Mantra is as follows.
Leaving the main body behind, only the spirit departs to the Underworld to be judged, and reincarnates with a powerful spirit containing solely a single will.
And that one will is this:
It is precisely [reciting the Flawless Mantra while standing upside down].
No matter whose child I am born under, no matter what connections I encounter.
Cut them all off, and solely, unceasingly, continue reciting the Flawless Mantra.
That is the cultivation method of the Flawless Mantra.
And meanwhile, my main body remains in the present world, preventing me from disappearing completely.
Thus, the complete death recognized as 'regression' does not arrive.
'Of course...soon enough, it will.'
I step forward, taking a step toward my next life.
A familiar sensation overtakes me.
The world turns achromatic, and I begin to be slowly pushed out from this world.
I am about to regress.
'But that can't happen.'
Uuuuuuuung!
Just as I had preset, my [Wheel] emerges at this moment.
The [Wheel] fiercely resists the force of regression, and within that resistance, I start heading toward the next life.
And after some time...
Swaaaaaaa—
'This place... Is it a flower field...?'
I realize I have arrived at some kind of flower field.
Then, someone approaches me.
"Are you cultivating the Flawless Mantra?"
"..."
I cannot answer.
But as they come near, the authority of regression halts.
'I see. Merely by their existence...my next life has been secured, and thus regression is severed...'
"Will you truly be able to surpass Obsidian...? I shall watch. Now, go. Do not forget that the flower you will obtain here...that is, the fate and fortune that will determine your path ahead, all depends on the deeds of your past life."
With those words, I lose consciousness.
Waaah! Waaah!
Within the Twin Holding Heavenly Domain, aside from Great Net Immortals, there are a total of four Middle Realms.
They are commonly called the Four Great Middle Realms of the Twin Holding Heavenly Domain, and each bear a different name.
Krita (कृत) Realm.
Treta (त्रेता) Realm.
Dvapara (द्वापर) Realm.
Kali (कलि) Realm.
These peculiarly named Four Great Middle Realms are said to have been personally named by the God of Gods who created the Swallowing Heaven Supreme Deity in ancient times.
And, in one corner of the Stable Realm region within the Krita Realm—
In one area of the human zone where the Human Race lives, a baby is born.
"Heok...h-heok... Wh-What is this...!?"
However, the mother, upon seeing the baby, immediately gasps and throws it aside.
The newborn, thrown away by the mother right after birth, stands on its hands.
The baby stands upside down and begins chanting strange incantations.
The mother, a lower-class commoner, recoils in terror, stepping backward from the baby.
"N-No, no... Th-That thing isn't my child..."
Even though she has just gone through childbirth and her body is difficult to move, the mother stumbles and flees, desperate to get away from the bizarre infant.
But regardless of whether the mother does so or not, the baby endlessly chants the eerie mantra, standing upside down.
How much time passes like that?
Flash!
A five-colored light seems to swirl from the sky, and energy of five colors coils around the area.
Each light is red, blue, purple, light pink, and black.
That day, the humans of the Krita Realm witness in the sky a vision of a red Heavenly King, a blue Heavenly King, a purple Heavenly King, a light pink Heavenly King, and lastly, a massive snake.
Not long after these visions appear, someone appears before the upside-down, chanting child.
It is a girl clad in a light pink robe.
The girl gazes at the child for a while, then gently embraces the child in her arms.
Even while in her arms, the child continues chanting, but soon, perhaps out of exhaustion, falls asleep.
Holding the child, the girl looks up at the sky for a long while.
The girl advances down the street with the baby.
The girl seems mute, unable to speak, and the baby appears to have been born with a strange mind, standing on his hands every day while mumbling bizarre words.
The two go around begging.
Since the girl produces no milk, she goes begging for milk to feed the baby, and sustains herself by doing menial labor.
As time passes, the baby and the girl grow.
At first, they are merely a mute girl and a mentally deranged baby, but before long, they meet other beggars and form connections.
A young man with a large frame but a limping leg, a boy missing both arms with an odd obsession with human hands, and a blind girl unable to see—all join their ranks.
The group of five beggars wander from place to place, begging.
The mentally deranged child also grows over time.
The child becomes a boy, then grows into a young man.
But even as a young man, he continues to walk on his hands, chanting incantations.
Before long, tales of this beggar group spread widely among the Human Race, and countless people come to know about them.
However, no cultivator shows any interest in them. Only mortals lacking spiritual energy or lower-tier cultivators bother to visit and watch them.
"How pitiful."
"Tsk, tsk, must have committed some sin in a past life."
Everyone looks upon the beggar group with sympathy.
But among them, the one especially unable to do anything by himself—the mentally deranged man.
They look at the [Man Standing on His Hands] and curse him.
"No matter how deranged he is, he's old enough now. Shouldn't he at least be of some help to his family?"
"Truly shameless."
"Not even cultivators can cure him, so what's to be done? Tsk tsk tsk..."
Passersby continue to curse the man standing on his hands.
As if knowing he, being deranged, cannot understand anyway, some even loudly curse him outright.
But in truth, the one standing on his hands is unexpectedly intelligent.
He constantly ponders while standing on his hands.
Why does he walk on his hands? Why can't he speak like the others, and why must he endlessly recite strange incantations?
Isn't this too cruel a fate?
He, too, wishes to walk upright like other people, speak normally like other people, and live an ordinary life like other people.
However...
He cannot.
The instinct rising from deep within his soul refuses it.
No, the moment he tries to place his feet properly on the ground, his head spins, and his heart pounds as if his breath will stop.
And when he tries to stop chanting those strange incantations, he feels suffocated and the sky turns yellow.
Thus, he cannot stop this bizarre behavior.
He can only continue living this meaningless life, devouring whatever food his family gives him while standing on his hands.
Time continues to flow, and he grows old.
Even in old age, he stands on his hands and chants incantations.
By now, the family who spent their entire lives with him have all reached the end of their lifespans.
He, too, feels the life within his body dimming.
He earnestly wishes.
'Please, if there is a next life...'
In the cold winter wind, he sheds tears as he prays.
'Please...please let me live an ordinary life...'
That is the end of his life.
"..."
The man who lived his entire life standing on his hands opens his eyes.
He lived a miserable life.
Except for his 'family,' no one ever approached him, no one ever tried to form a connection with him.
To anyone who saw him, he was nothing but a madman.
However, it is not as if he wished for such a life.
The man, who lived a wretched and painful life, opens his eyes and looks around.
'This place is...'
What reflects around him is a world made of countless mountains of glass swords.
And the man realizes for the first time in his life that he is not standing on his hands, but 'sitting.'
"...Ah..."
The man who stands on his hands.
[I] shed tears.
"Ah... Aaaaaaagh... Uaaaaaah..."
At last, I recover all my memories and weep.
'It was...such a miserable life...'
A single lifetime.
Living not as 'me,' accustomed to pain, but as another pure being who had never endured pain, that life was unbearably long and agonizing.
It has given me a new kind of suffering that I have never experienced before.
Drip, drip...
How long do I struggle alone?
I suddenly realize there is a familiar presence before my eyes.
"...I see. It was you all..."
The 'family' who took care of me my entire past life...
Jeon Myeong-hoon, Kang Min-hee, Oh Hyun-seok, and Kim Yeon.
"...Thank you... Truly, thank you..."
And seeing me like this, Jeon Myeong-hoon speaks bitterly.
"...Will you continue?"
"..."
I cannot answer for a while.
Because that one life, with everything lost and living as a miserable madman, was too sorrowful and painful.
But...
"...I will keep going."
Even as tears fall, I open my mouth.
I cannot give up here.
I cannot give up halfway.
Because...
Even if I must endure this wretched and painful life...!
"I have...received a great grace from you all."
As I was granted life, I undeniably met my 'family.'
Even if it was something agreed upon beforehand, I have received grace from them.
Therefore, even if I must endure this endless suffering, I will not give up.
Because I am still so far from repaying the grace I received from them.
"Let's continue, Jeon Myeong-hoon!"
"..."
Jeon Myeong-hoon reaches out his hand to me with a sorrowful expression.
That, is my second reincarnation.
[Though the Flawless Mantra may have been leaked before, only the Obsidian Devil Heavenly King alone has ever properly cultivated it... I wonder if you will be able to endure its cultivation to the end.]
"..."
The process of the Flawless Mantra proceeds like this.
After dying once, I reincarnate and live my entire life standing on my hands, then die again.
Upon dying like that, I recover my memories and resurrect within the Immortal Body I previously left behind.
At that point, I have the choice whether to continue cultivating the Flawless Mantra or not.
And I have decided to continue cultivating it at least up to my second life.
I look up at the Blade Mountain True Lord, who gazes down at me curiously, and open my mouth.
"Please begin the judgment, O Great King."
[Very well...]
Judgment in the Underworld is carried out according to the domain each Great King oversees.
In particular, they focus on judging things like 'inflicting pain upon others,' 'taking others' lives,' 'acting with malice,' and 'exploiting others.'
And those standards are never those of mortals.
Even if one has not killed other humans or other intelligent races, one is punished.
Because one had eaten the meat of animals that have been killed.
Even if one avoids meat entirely and consumes only vegetables, one receives punishment.
It is because one had stepped on passing insects by accident, and killed and ate grasses.
Even if one ate nothing but mud, one receives punishment.
It is because one had stolen the lives of insignificant creatures living within the mud.
The Underworld considers it a sin if you influence the fate of even the smallest speck of dust in the world, and that speck of dust suffers.
In this world, even breathing becomes an act of committing sin.
I receive punishment for stepping on grass, breathing, and killing microorganisms.
And I receive punishment for making my parents, who gave birth to me, flee in terror, and for failing to support the 'family' with whom I lived my entire life.
Having paid the price for all my sins, I stand once again before the Wheel.
[Take a step forward, and it will be your next life.]
"...I know."
I step forward.
I once heard that the ability of the Obsidian Devil Heavenly King allowed them to completely skip all the complex judgments of the Underworld.
But I willingly accept every judgment.
Because even those seemingly unreasonable judgments are...
The proof of my life.
I reincarnate into the next life.
It is the familiar flower field.
"You have lived your previous life in suffering. How was it, that painful life..."
"..."
An old man holding a flower basket smiles at me.
"The world draws a Taiji. That is why, where there is no fortune, there is misfortune, and where there is no misfortune, fortune arises."
"..."
"In your past life, you kicked away all fortune, choosing only misfortune, and stood on your hands; was it not so?"
He smiles faintly and sprinkles something on me.
It is light.
"Having lived a lifetime in misfortune, in this life, live within fortune and virtue..."
I close my eyes as the light falls upon me.
I see the next life.
One of the Four Great Middle Realms of the Twin Holding Heavenly Domain.
The Dragon Race territory of the Treta Realm.
In one place within that Dragon Race territory, a dragon egg cracks open.
"Oooh, the crown prince is about to be born."
"Haw haw haw, surely since it is an egg birthed holding immense vitality, a bloodline that much powerful will be born..."
The Black Dragon Race's Dragon King and Dragon Queen smile at each other as they look at their soon-to-be-born child.
However, what emerges is, strangely enough, a baby dragon who immediately stands on his hands and spits out bizarre, incomprehensible sounds.
"Wh-What is this!?"
"Hear me! Call the royal physician! Contact the priest! It seems a ghost has possessed the crown prince!"
Taken aback, the Dragon King and Dragon Queen of the Black Dragon Race quickly gather their subordinates.
But on that day, not a single one among those assembled is able to cure the crown prince's strange condition.
In the end...
The Dragon King and Dragon Queen of the Black Dragon Race, holding back tears, lock their eldest son away in a solitary chamber.
Furthermore, they hide the entire matter from everyone, entrusting the mad child born to them to a mute Human Race mortal girl.
The mad crown prince born to the Dragon Race is thus, from the moment of his birth, left forever imprisoned in a solitude chamber, in the hands of a human race caretaker.
The inverted prince, who since childhood continuously stands upside down and mutters bizarre words, grows up under the care of the caretaker while harboring many questions.
Why must he do such things?
Why must he mutter such strange words?
Why is he unable to bring happiness to his parents...?
He tries to escape this bizarre fate, but for some reason, he cannot stop performing the act.
It is already an uncontrollable instinct.
Unlike others, he behaves differently, making himself feel like some sort of monster.
The crown prince is clearly born possessing noble fortune and virtue, yet he is unable to enjoy any of it.
Time passes.
The Human Race caretaker who cared for him eventually dies, and another caretaker arrives.
It is a caretaker without arms.
Unusually obsessed with hands, this caretaker spends a long time together with the prince.
Eventually, that caretaker also reaches their death, and around that time, the prince too senses his own lifespan nearing its end.
'Why...did I have to be born this way?'
The fact that he cannot behave normally or stop reciting bizarre words is not of his own will.
It is simply instinct, and he does not possess the strength to suppress that instinct.
As his lifespan nears its end, he contemplates why he had to be born like this, and while tormented, meets his death.
Thus, he dies.
"...Is this...the second time...?"
I shed tears.
It is only now the second time.
My chest aches.
It is not merely listening to or watching someone else's life.
He is [me]!
No different from another one of my personalities.
"Kugh... Kkuuuuuugh..."
I wail, recalling myself who lived a life of misery, unable to form any connections.
It was so painful.
Familiar figures arrive before my eyes.
"...Will you continue?"
"...I will continue, no matter how many times."
However painful it may be, this is something that must not end.
"Remember this, Jeon Myeong-hoon..."
I speak through falling tears.
"Right now...I am in so much pain. But..."
Even if life is filled with suffering, it is not composed solely of it.
The most precious teaching I was once taught.
"Life...is not only about seeking pain within it...!"
"..."
"That is why...though the past life may have been hard...it was also undeniably a blessing."
I look at Kim Yeon and Jeon Myeong-hoon.
"Thank you...for becoming my family in that past life."
"...You fool."
Kwachijijik!
Once again, a lightning spear pierces into me.
And once again, I lose consciousness.
That, is my third reincarnation.
Receiving judgment for sins in the Underworld no longer feels significant to me.
After all, all I did in my past life was stand upside down on my hands and recite the Flawless Mantra.
I never maliciously harmed anyone.
Therefore, the sentence I receive is always considerably lighter compared to other spirits.
Sure, they say I killed microorganisms, but since I never directly killed any intelligent races, the deaths of such microorganisms do not result in severe punishment.
I quickly serve all my sentences and head toward the next life.
A familiar flower field welcomes me.
And a familiar old man appears.
"In your past life, you kicked away all the fortune and virtue I granted you, choosing instead to draw misfortune upon yourself."
"..."
"Tsk tsk, I truly wonder how far you will cultivate. For as the Flawless Mantra accumulates cycles, it truly becomes a mantra worthy of being called a God of Gods...
"Here, the fortune and virtue you should have enjoyed in your past life. And the fortune and virtue you are to receive in this life."
Thus, I receive the fortune and virtue I should have enjoyed in the past life, along with the fortune and virtue added in this new life.
Continuously undergoing the Cycle of Reincarnation, taking in nothing but misfortune from the world, while endlessly accumulating the fortune and virtue one is meant to enjoy upon one's spirit.
As the cycles accumulate, the more the fortune one is to receive increases.
Kicking away all of the overwhelming fortune and virtue within life, and living only under misfortune through reciting the Flawless Mantra until death.
Thus evolving the innate fortune one is born with.
Rolling and rolling like a snowball the fortune one is meant to receive, evolving one's fate further and further, and transcending with the fate that has reached the pinnacle of the bridle—that is precisely the Flawless Mantra.
'I will definitely complete it.'
I steel my heart as I head toward the next life.
No matter what calamities the world throws at me, I will, without fail, complete the Flawless Mantra.
In doing so...
I will, no matter what, return the grace I have received from this world!
-x-X-x-
Kwarururururung!
The Twin Holding Heavenly Domain trembles.
The entire Heavenly Domain quakes as though an enormous sea of thunderclouds sweeps over it for a brief moment.
At the same time, a tremendous roar engulfs Heaven and Earth.
Countless True Immortals and minor gods gaze toward the source of the roar.
Kurururung!
Then, at the overwhelming momentum emanating from that source, all but a few flinch back.
Kwachijijik!
At that moment, a certain figure spreads across the entire Twin Holding Heavenly Domain.
It is the figure of a giant with three heads and eight arms.
That terrifying-faced giant brandishes its eight arms and lets out a roar.
Kururururung!
After roaring across the Twin Holding Heavenly Domain, the figure of the giant soon dissipates.
And all the True Immortals, as well as those at the Entering Nirvana and Sacred Vessel stages within the Twin Holding Heavenly Domain realize.
A new Middle Realm has been born within the Twin Holding Heavenly Domain.
In other words...
A new Great Net Immortal has been born.
Numerous True Immortals attempt to find and establish ties with the newly born Great Net Immortal.
However, strangely enough, the new Great Net Immortal cannot be found anywhere.
The True Immortals of the Twin Holding Heavenly Domain Merely assume the new Great Immortal is being cautious and, with that understanding, they return to their places.
Meanwhile, in one corner of the Twin Holding Heavenly Domain.
Purple Lotus Realm.
There, Jeon Myeong-hoon, who has finally reached the realm of Great Net Immortal, looks at the man before him with a hardened expression.
"...I have risen to Great Net Immortal."
"Congratulations, Jeon Myeong-hoon."
"...Are you going to continue?"
"Of course."
The man before him.
The Immortal Beast Candle Shadow, the Crystal Glass Being Seo Eun-hyun, smiles faintly, offering a congratulatory smile to the now Great Net Immortal Jeon Myeong-hoon.
Jeon Myeong-hoon turns away, smiling bitterly.
"...Now, it's Hyun-seok Hyung-nim's turn. And Kim Yeon as well, regardless of the circumstances, needs to cultivate the Seat itself, so she'll have to kill you. There are still...twelve more times left, Seo Eun-hyun."
"Is that so...?"
"..."
Finishing his words, Jeon Myeong-hoon turns around and walks away, and in front of Seo Eun-hyun, a burly man appears and stands.
"...Watching Myeong-hoon having to kill you in every lifetime, I always thought it must be painful."
"..."
"But...that, too, is your choice, isn't it? Seo Eun-hyun?"
"It is."
"In that case...I won't kill you with difficulty while looking at you."
Oh Hyun-seok smiles.
"I'll kill you while smiling. So...you shouldn't carry that burden in your heart either."
"Is that so...?"
Seo Eun-hyun gazes at Oh Hyun-seok with an ambiguous expression.
And immediately after, as if having made a decision, Seo Eun-hyun whispers something to Oh Hyun-seok.
A moment later, Oh Hyun-seok's face trembles slightly.
"...I see. Master...Azure Tiger Saint... Master has... Understood."
Oh Hyun-seok speaks with a hardened expression.
"I will use that one called Jun Jae as the key...and head to the Elephant Nose Heavenly Domain to ask. Ask what Master Heon Ryang...has done to Master Azure Tiger Saint."
Seo Eun-hyun nods as he looks at Oh Hyun-seok, and the two exchange words for a while.
A little while later,
Oh Hyun-seok raises his fist and kills Seo Eun-hyun.
That, is Seo Eun-hyun's 7th reincarnation.
'Which number is it now?'
How many times have I died and been born again?
How many times have I despaired in a painful life, returning again and again through the Twin Holding Heavenly Domain's Krita Realm, Treta Realm, Dvapara Realm, and Kali Realm?
How many times have I come back, circling through the four Middle Realms?
'...Is that so? The eighteenth time, huh.'
I faintly smile as I at least see Jeon Myeong-hoon, Oh Hyun-seok, and Kim Yeon, already reaching the realm of a Great Net Immortal, or levels equivalent to it.
Eighteen reincarnations.
Within each, I suffered endlessly and screamed.
Every time I retrieved my memories, the desire to give up surged over me like a great sea.
But...
Every time.
My comrades became my family.
Because the Flawless Mantra must be completed without 'assistance' granted by fate, my comrades always took the forms of mortal beings and took care of me.
They become my family, my parents.
'That's why, I cannot give up.'
Even if it's to achieve my comrades' goals together.
I can never give up.
Jeon Myeong-hoon's Immortal Dao is the Immortal Dao of Heavenly Punishment.
Kang Min-hee's Immortal Dao is the Immortal Dao of Vice.
Oh Hyun-seok's Immortal Dao is the Immortal Dao of Seven Stars.
Kim Yeon, though she does not follow the system of Immortal Cultivation, says her own Immortal Dao is the Immortal Dao of End of the Vast Cold Heavenly Lord.
Before I knew it, my comrades had one by one reached the realm of a Great Net Immortal.
Woo-woong—
And before I know it,
As I look at my comrades, I begin to see visions of something gradually forming clearly behind them.
'What is that...?'
Behind Jeon Myeong-hoon, a red dharma statue with three heads and eight arms, bearing a fierce expression, becomes visible.
Behind Kang Min-hee stands a dharma statue holding a medicine bottle, wearing a serene face.
Behind Oh Hyun-seok stands a being performing the Vajra Mudra and Lotus Mudra. The being has one head with two faces, with one face opening its mouth as if pronouncing 'Ah (哦)', and the other as if pronouncing 'Hum (吽)'.
Behind Kim Yeon is an elegant figure, holding a lotus in one hand and wearing a treasure vase (寶甁) atop the crown of its head. The being is surrounded by radiant light imbued with infinite power and envelops Kim Yeon.
Watching those figures, I feel somehow as if my comrades are becoming more distant than before.
'But that's not what's important right now.'
What's important now is...
'My own cultivation.'
From here on, it is the beginning of cultivation for myself.
Thus, I take my own life for the sake of my Upper Immortal cultivation.
"...I'm glad I can see you."
As soon as I enter the Underworld, I look up at Kang Min-hee who is visible.
Before I know it, Kang Min-hee has become one of the Judges of the Underworld.
She looks at me with a sorrowful expression, yet still carries out my punishment alongside the other Judges.
Because she is the Judge of Vice who judges vice itself, she cannot exert much influence when it comes to executing my punishment.
After all, what great vice can someone like me, who merely walks around upside down on their hands, possibly commit?
At most, the only vice she can judge me for is the act of killing microorganisms.
But even so, I still like seeing Kang Min-hee's face briefly in the Underworld.
"Always be there in that seat."
"...Quiet. The sinner...must not show personal emotions."
Kang Min-hee judges me with a bitter smile, and I quickly pass by the other Judges, reaching my next life.
19th cycle.
20th cycle.
21st cycle...
As the cycles of reincarnation gradually accumulate, I continue my Upper Immortal cultivation quickly.
22nd cycle.
23rd cycle.
And then...
24th cycle!
At last, I realize that I have completed the Yin Pitch cultivation.
'Now, it's the late stage of Upper Immortal...'
All I need to do is prepare for the advancement ritual for Great Net Immortal and reach that realm.
But why, I wonder.
'What is this...?'
I blink as I look at myself arriving in the next life.
I live my 25th life, standing on my hands in an incomprehensible state, reciting the Flawless Mantra.
Then just like that, I reach the end of my lifespan and die.
And I come to understand what the problem is.
'I see now...The Immortal Dao of the Mountain hasn't grown sufficiently. That's why, even though it's as if I've annihilated six civilizations, I end up repeating it again.'
Realizing this, I once again utter a prophecy through the Immortal Dao of the Mountain.
: : I prophesize... : :
This is a prophecy about my future, and at the same time, a revision.
: : In the place where this Immortal will reincarnate in the future, the mountain this Immortal has accumulated shall accompany... This Immortal shall end life near that mountain. : :
Through the power of the Immortal Dao, I prophesize that a mountain will arise in the place where I will be born in the future.
Thus, the cultivation of the Mountain Immortal Dao and the cultivation of the Flawless Mantra resume to proceed side by side.
26th cycle, 27th cycle, 28th cycle, 29th cycle...
It's now the 30th cycle.
Before I know it, the power of my Immortal Dao of the Mountain has grown considerably stronger.
Furthermore, the 'fortune and virtue' accumulated every time I repeat my life also continues to strengthen my fate, and I can feel that my innate talent as a True Immortal is growing stronger.
'Even if I stop cultivating at this point, that alone will bring significant improvement in strength...'
However, there is a problem.
'Even now...the Immortal Dao of the Mountain hasn't grown enough'
The talent may have grown, but my strength seems to be something separate.
'It can't be helped.'
I ask for understanding from my comrades.
They still seem emotionally burdened by following my painful lives...
Nevertheless, they continue to support me and become my family.
In this way, I continue reciting the Flawless Mantra.
Gradually, the power of my Immortal Dao of the Mountain grows.
I unendingly kick away my fortune and virtue, living life repeatedly like a madman, standing upside down on my hands and chanting the Flawless Mantra.
At the same time, through prophecy and revision, I create mountains in the places where I will be born.
As time passes, as the cycles repeat, those mountains gradually grow larger.
My Immortal Dao is steadily growing more powerful.
And, as I continue growing mountains, I come to realize that at some point I have gone beyond merely growing mountains and can even create an island.
50th cycle.
I gaze down at the Four Great Middle Realms of the Twin Holding Heavenly Domain.
By now, there are quite a few islands that I have created in the sea of the Four Great Middle Realms.
"Well now... They say one becomes incredibly powerful after learning the Flawless Mantra, but how is it that you, even after repeating 50 lives, are still only at that level?"
One day, Ho Woon came to find me.
"Anyway...now that you've reached the stage where you've moved from 'mountain' to 'island,' you should be starting to feel it. Does your Immortal Crown still show no response?"
"Well, I still...do not feel the Immortal Crown."
"Huu... This is quite...troubling. Still, if you keep at it steadily, there will be results."
"Yes. Thank you. By the way..."
I look at Ho Woon and ask.
"You will be reaching Great Net Immortal anytime now.
"Yeah. Though I can't betray you because every one of your comrades is too much of a monster...stay alert. The moment your comrades lose interest in you, I will betray you."
"Haha, you're honest. But I think...Senior will never be able to betray me."
"Hmph. Anyway, if you've succeeded in going from building mountains to creating islands, the next step is a 'continent'. Accumulate mountains upon mountains and make a continent."
Finishing their words, Ho Woon disappears before my eyes.
I engrave Ho Woon's teaching in my heart and head toward my next life.
The more lives I head towards, I gradually notice that because of the Flawless Mantra, the inherent value of the race I reincarnate into begins to change.
At first, I am nothing more than a lowly human commoner, but before long, as I continue to receive, and receive, and receive fortune and virtue, eventually, my very birth becomes that of an incredibly powerful being.
Kururururung!
At some point, I find myself born directly as a Nascent Soul stage cultivator from the start.
Of course, as soon as I am born as a Nascent Soul cultivator, I become targeted by other cultivators to be used as pill ingredients or as a body to seize.
However, my comrades continue to become my family and protect me.
I keep repeating the prophecy of creating islands, strengthening the power of my Immortal Dao, and ensuring I end up on the isolated islands I created, spending my life there.
Thus, I continue to go to the isolated islands I have made through the power of the Immortal Dao, and in each and every life, I endlessly chant the Flawless Mantra.
And finally, when I reach my 100th reincarnation.
'Ah...'
By now, my fortune and virtue overflows, reaching the point where I am born directly at the Grand Perfection Integration stage.
At this point, there are no longer any beings who trouble me.
Only some True Immortals show mild interest, and my comrades begin to protect me from those True Immortals.
Also, is it perhaps because the Integration stage is when one steps into the door of Immortal Arts?
I obtain a unique Immortal Art through the Flawless Mantra.
"Ah... Aaah..."
The moment I am born, I marvel at the sight before my eyes.
It is Mount Sumeru.
The entirety of Mount Sumeru fits within my eyes.
It is different from the Phenomena Extinguishing Mantra.
The 100th life.
From the moment I am born, I obtain an Immortal Art that allows me to observe all of Mount Sumeru within my view.
And I realize something.
'Ah...I see.'
At some point, I began thinking that I was merely repeating being born and dying through the Flawless Mantra.
But that was not it.
The Swallowing Heaven Supreme Deity!
At some point, I have come under the influence of the Swallowing Heaven Supreme Deity, endlessly repeating this history under the authority of [history repetition] like the Obsidian Devil Heavenly King.
150th cycle.
My Immortal Dao grows steadily stronger, now reaching the state where I can create a continent with a single prophecy.
At my single prophecy, the ground rises, a continent forms, and a natural ecosystem is born.
200th cycle.
Before I know it, I am born as an innate Star Shattering Esteemed One.
===
Author's Note: I'm sorry that I couldn't post more chapters on Hangeul Day! I'll try to make up for it soon! Agh!
By the way, the Heavenly Kings attached to the Enders are each:
Jeon Myeong-hoon – based on the Vajra That Removes Filth (穢跡金剛)
Kang Min-hee – based on the Medicine Buddha (藥師如來).
Oh Hyun-seok – based on the Benevolent Kings (仁王/金剛力士).
Kim Yeon – based on Mahasthamaprapta Bodhisattva (大勢至菩薩)!
-x-X-x-
'This place is...'
[I] open my eyes.
'I see.'
[I] am a being born chosen, entrusted with a mission.
My sole purpose and mission of existence is only to expel matter so that the great True Persons can create stars.
As an innately born Star Shattering stage Esteemed One, I must become a component that allows this universe to turn.
But...
For some reason, I notice that I have [another] mission besides that.
'Why?'
It feels like I must carry out a different mission.
There is something [more important] than the mission given to me.
Eventually, I come to know what it is.
That's right.
[Being inverted].
That is the very thing I must prioritize over the mission I was born with.
However...
How does one become inverted?
I am confused.
I am round.
The bodies of Star Shattering stage Esteemed Ones are satellites, so there is no up or down.
Then how should I invert myself, how can I stand upside down?
However, such contemplations vanish in an instant.
'I see. Then let's defy and go against my fate.'
Let's defy the mission I was born with.
That is how one without up or down stands upside down.
From that day on, I abandon the mission of an innate Star Shattering Esteemed One which is the 'creation of Heaven and Earth spiritual energy and matter'.
Instead, I begin to [inhale] the spiritual energy and dust clouds that the innate Entering Nirvana True Persons use to create stars.
Kugugugugu!
I, who should be a help to the world, choose instead to become the misfortune of the world itself.
—Experiencing misfortune again and again, and becoming misfortune itself. Is this the pinnacle of the bridle...?
Suddenly, a voice that seems to sigh brushes past my mind, and before my eyes, the image of a white-robed figure sitting atop a glass sword mountain flashes by.
I cannot tell what this is.
What is certain is that I am doing something wrong.
I begin to repeatedly scatter incomprehensible bizarre words around me while simultaneously beginning to defy my mission.
And the more I do so, the deeper my self-loathing grows.
I feel like I have become a being unnecessary to this world.
It feels as if the very laws of the world are mocking me.
Then, at some point—
Kwagwagwang!
[Someone] pierces through me.
'Ah...is this the end? This painful life, spent defying my mission and forcing power into my body all my life...'
Even as I am being pierced and dying from something, I feel joy.
It is rather pleasant.
A life where I cannot properly follow my fate.
Isn't it better to not exist at all...?
And so I fall asleep.
"...I see."
I understand who it is that killed me.
The other True Immortals!
And among them, one who has had prior acquaintance with me.
"So it's you."
From my second reincarnation, they must have been keeping an eye on me.
I speak to the being before me, descended like an incarnation of darkness.
Jeon Myeong-hoon has spread Indra's Net to restrain them, while Oh Hyun-seok, Kang Min-hee, and Kim Yeon are blocking what appears to be their main body from beyond the Purple Lotus Realm.
And I calmly gaze at them.
That being, like an incarnation of darkness.
The Immortal Beast, Black Dragon (黑龍).
They are the one who popped and killed the innate Shattering stage me in order to stop me.
[When you first nested in the bloodline of my descendants, I didn't believe it. The cultivation of the Flawless Mantra is so harsh, painful, and terrifying that even a being who has acquired the formula can't hope to reach minor success... Proper cultivation should be impossible. But watching you cultivate the formula over 100, over 200 times...I finally became certain.]
Black Dragon looks down at me and speaks coldly.
[You will become the Devil Heavenly King. You will become the second coming of that monster...and once again try to devour Mount Sumeru.]
"..."
[This Immortal cannot allow it. Whatever the case, Mount Sumeru is our cradle...a place we must protect. Therefore...I absolutely cannot allow the birth of a second Swallowing Heaven (呑天).]
Kwachijijik!
Black Dragon takes a step forward, trying to touch my main body, but Jeon Myeong-hoon's Indra Net blocks them.
"That's far enough."
Led by Jeon Myeong-hoon, Oh Hyun-seok, Kang Min-hee, Kim Yeon, and Hong Fan appear around me.
"This is the path chosen by Seo Eun-hyun."
"No one can stop it."
"The world will not perish. So...vanish."
[...]
Black Dragon looks around at my comrades and gives a meaningful smile.
[...Of course, each of you is stronger than me. Fine, I admit that. I have no confidence in breaking through you all to kill Seo Eun-hyun...but what if it's 'us'?]
Kugugugugu!
Beyond the Purple Lotus Realm.
True Immortals of the Twin Holding Heavenly Domain begin to gather.
[This Immortal is weaker than you all, but who knows if it's 'us'...]
They cast a sinister gaze toward one corner of the Purple Lotus Realm.
[O Law Protecting Immortal of Radiance Hall. I know you were caught and forcibly brought here by these ones. At this point, the Radiance Eight Immortals have gone out to the Outer Sea, so you may not receive their help...but seek aid from the Envoys of the Final Age of Dharma. Contact the Thirty-Three Heavenly Resplendent Treasure Immortals. We will aid in your liberation.]
Kururung!
Along with those words, in one distant corner of the Purple Lotus Realm, the colossal body of a pale True Immortal rises.
It is Ho Woon, now only half a step away from becoming a Great Net Immortal.
[O sinister Immortal Beast. Do you think I do not see your deluded goal? Do not scheme against this Law Protecting Immortal of Radiance Hall, Ho Woon, and vanish.]
[Hahaha! A deluded goal, you say...?]
The incarnation of darkness before me, who was trying to threaten me, returns to Black Dragon's main body beyond the Purple Lotus Realm.
The main body of Black Dragon is a colossal dragon of darkness large enough to cover an entire galaxy.
Kugugugugu!
As Black Dragon reveals their presence, the Heaven Immortals and Earth Immortals of the Twin Holding Heavenly Domain, who seem to be threatened by the Flawless Mantra, begin to surround the Purple Lotus Realm.
[Is there any place more deluded than Radiance Hall? Do you know their true will? As far as this Immortal knows, you made a pact with that one to learn that true will. Immediately break the contract now and join this Immortal. This Immortal shall tell you the truth...]
Apparently, Black Dragon also knows the true will of Radiance Hall and tries to persuade Ho Woon.
However, Ho Woon brings out their tails in their true form.
Tails made of pale flame appear even larger than Ho Woon's true form, swaying gently.
[How foolish. What this Immortal agreed upon is not merely the exchange of information...]
[Hoh?]
[This Immortal vowed to aid him 'with utmost sincerity and wholeheartedness.' Therefore...even if I receive the information, I cannot betray him right now.]
In Ho Woon's hand, a star of prophecy begins to form.
[I am the Law Protecting Immortal of Radiance Hall! It is this Immortal's duty to uphold the justice of light. Do not attempt to deceive an envoy of Radiance Hall with such wicked words!]
[Haha... You cannot even be honest with yourself. Very well, then. Shall we engage in a match?]
Black Dragon's main body begins to retreat.
But at the same time, the countless Heaven Immortals and Earth Immortals who have followed Black Dragon all begin to chant prophecies and revisions with their mouths.
My comrades, too, begin to chant prophecies in return in order to protect me.
Ho Woon also steps forward with my comrades, voicing their prophecy.
Ho Woon looks back at me and speaks.
: : Watch closely. This is...the prophecy of an Immortal who walks the Immortal Dao of the Mountain. : :
As if unfolding the prophecy in order to ultimately impart teaching to me, they grant me enlightenment.
Seeing this sight, I realize that a true war between True Immortals has begun.
I continue to reincarnate without end.
Only, the scope of reincarnation has narrowed slightly.
Before, I reincarnated across the four great Middle Realms of the Twin Holding Heavenly Domain, but now, it is only within the world of purple nebula in a corner of the Twin Holding Heavenly Domain.
I reincarnate solely within the Purple Lotus Realm.
I become an innate Esteemed One and live a long, long life.
Yet the more I am born, the more I live, the stronger the misfortune scattered by the True Immortals becomes.
Even my comrades cannot easily protect me, and I die in all sorts of bizarre, unimaginable ways.
Like so, time flows once more.
300th cycle.
Before I know it, I am an innate Sacred Vessel.
I have become a being like Seo Hweol.
I have been born as an Immortal Art itself.
Kugugugugugu!
A Sacred Vessel must provide light to the world simply by existing.
But I am a being who must stand upside down.
Therefore, I begin to defy my own fate.
Kugugugu!
I do not offer light. Instead, I devour all light!
I become a monster that devours all nearby light.
However...
As I devour light, I feel something uncomfortable.
No...that's not it...
It's more than just discomfort.
This isn't right!
I can tell that something is deeply wrong.
I thrash, not wanting to devour any more light, but it's no use.
The repeated history itself has become fate and binds me.
'Ah... So that's how it is...'
Kwarururung!
As I am ultimately killed by Black Dragon, who breaks through the protective barrier of my comrades and enters the Purple Lotus Realm, I realize.
'Flawless Mantra...'
The Flawless Mantra is, in itself, alive.
And this mantra continuously whispers to me.
To devour the entire world.
To swallow all things in the world and rise to the pinnacle.
That alone, it says, is the true 'answer'...
Hearing this, I grit my teeth.
'Don't make me laugh.'
That is no answer.
'I am me.'
I do not accept the way of the Flawless Mantra.
Therefore...
There is no way I can remain as misfortune itself like this.
'The master of myself is me! Not you!'
I begin to resist the Flawless Mantra that has at some point began to make me into the bridle itself.
And even as I do so, time continues to flow.
400th cycle.
I am endlessly killed by True Immortals, again and again, and finally, I am born as an innate Entering Nirvana.
At the same time...
Kururururung!
The Immortal Dao of the Mountain finally reaches its peak.
At first, my Immortal Dao could only create small piles of sand.
Then, at some point, the sand piles grew larger and larger until they became hills.
The hills became mountains, the mountains became valleys, and eventually, I could create islands in the sea.
In time, the islands also became continents.
Thus, the Immortal Dao that raises continents grew stronger and stronger, and finally, it has reached its peak.
Urururung!
The Immortal Dao of the Mountain can now accumulate the dust of the universe to create stars.
'I see...'
I recall that when I first met Ho Woon, unlike the other True Immortals, they only opposed me by creating stars.
The foundation of a True Immortal, the star of prophecy.
To hone and polish that prophecy to the extreme... This is the way of the Immortal Dao of the Mountain.
Kurururung!
As one who gives birth to stars, I create stars as an Entering Nirvana, and devour the very stars I create.
And once again, I meet death.
"...I see. I now know what I must do to escape you."
I mutter as I gaze at the Flawless Mantra that binds me.
"You will not have it your way!"
From that day on, whenever I return to my main body after death, I create countless stars using the power of the Mountain Immortal Dao.
Then, when I reincarnate and am born again as an innate Entering Nirvana, I devour only the stars I made myself.
I create and consume by my own hand.
Repeating that process, when the time comes that only stars I did not create remain, I use the Phenomena Extinguishing Mantra.
Kururururung!
I compress myself into a single point.
If I withstand the compression into a single point, I grow. But if I cannot endure, I die.
And none of the 'me's who lose their memories and reincarnate under the Flawless Mantra can stop the Phenomena Extinguishing Mantra, so they all die.
The Flawless Mantra ultimately decides in a past life what I must do in the next, and I in the present live according to the law set in that past life.
That is why I begin to recite the Phenomena Extinguishing Mantra alongside the Flawless Mantra.
500th cycle.
At last.
I become an innate True Immortal.
I become a mantra in and of itself.
At this point, even if I reincarnate, I instantly regain my power and authority as an Immortal Beast and recover all my memories.
As a result, I have become able to cultivate Yang Pitch as well.
Each time I rise again as an Immortal Beast, it is the same as successfully cultivating Yang Pitch, so I end up continuously cultivating both Yang Pitch and Yin Pitch together.
And from that point onward, I begin to sense something strange.
'I have already reached the peak of both Heaven Upper Immortal and Earth Upper Immortal through the methods of Yang Pitch and Yin Pitch.'
Now, with just a little preparation for the Great Net Immortal advancement ritual, I could become one.
The Immortal Dao of the Mountain has also reached its peak, far stronger than it had ever been before.
'Then why...?'
I feel a sense of doubt.
'Why have I still not been granted the Immortal Crown?'
It is strange.
And the moment I feel that strangeness—
Flash!
'Ah...'
The movements of Brahma Nature, Narayana Nature, and Mahesvara Nature flicker across my eyes.
'This is...!'
I have cultivated Yang Pitch and Yin Pitch more than twelve times each.
Never harming any other race, I carved away only at myself in cultivation, and thanks to that, the cultivation of Triple Divinity also proceeded naturally.
Perhaps because of this, I begin to see things I have never seen before.
Paaaaatt!
I realize that all things of all phenomena are contained within Triple Divinity.
All beings of all phenomena carry Triple Divinity within them, and those beings who are intricately connected to Triple Divinity live with possessing what is called a 'heart'.
As I read the 'heart' that exists throughout this entire world, I open my eyes wide.
'Ah...!'
I realize why I have not received the Immortal Crown until now.
It is true that my understanding of the Immortal Dao of the Mountain had been lacking until now, but there is another reason as well.
'Gwak Am...'
The Great Mountain Supreme Deity Gwak Am is blocking the Immortal Crown that is meant to be bestowed upon me.
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