Arrangement.
Not simply a matter of us fighting the Great Mountain Supreme Deity and dying, but preparations for when my regression is completely severed, and I fall into ruin to the point that no revival is possible.
Thump, thump...
I sense the ripples from outside Mount Sumeru.
Outside Mount Sumeru, the lingering reverberations of the Great Mountain Supreme Deity's Splitting Heaven Mantra that makes the Outer Sea stir seem to grow clearer with passing moment.
I feel it...
The Splitting Heaven Mantra is not a power that is less than the Wheel at all.
And that means...
"The Radiance Mantra, which is on par with the Wheel. In other words, my regression as well...
It means that if I take a direct hit from the Splitting Heaven Mantra, there is a possibility I will be torn apart.
"No, not a possibility.
Recalling Gwak Am's Annihilation Advancement Mu, I remind myself that the worst-case scenario is in fact not far at all.
t's dangerous.'
Only a strike that reaches the Ultimate of Martial Arts can barely offset the simplified Splitting Heaven Mantra Annihilation Advancement Mu.
"The complete Splitting Heaven Mantra is...at least ten times that..."
And while in numbers it is tenfold, in reality, by the time he swallows the entirety of Mount Sumeru and condenses it into a single point, he will transcend all laws of this world.
If that happens, even if it's only for a single moment, he will truly stand equal to the Absolute existence itself.
Thinking of that terrifying possibility, I steel myself for the fact that this time, my regression may truly be shattered.
And feeling my resolve, my comrades also harden their own as well.
"...Everyone...thank you."
I give a faint smile to the comrades who, here and now, match my resolve and are ready to stake their lives alongside me.
After Seo Eun-hyun finishes speaking to the comrades about the arrangement, they all disperse and begin leaving behind their own arrangements.
Kururung!
Jeon Myeong-hoon ponders what arrangement he should leave behind.
"Golden Shaking Bird. If, by chance, I die..."
"Master!! Why in the world are you trying to go again!? You're saying you'll go and leave Golden Shaking Bird behind again!?"
In the form of a hummingbird, Golden Shaking Bird flutters, trembling all over atop Jeon Myeong-hoon's shoulder.
"Master, please, don't disappear again leaving Golden Shaking Bird behind! If you disappear again and leave me...I..."
Jeon Myeong-hoon gazes silently at the tearful Golden Shaking Bird for a moment. Then, he gives a bitter smile.
"...You must have been lonely."
"...Master..."
Jeon Myeong-hoon gazes at Golden Shaking Bird for a long while.
"...What...do you think of Yang Su-jin?"
The Thunder Beast Golden Shaking Bird was created by pouring an entire sect called the Lightning Bird Golden Shaking Sect into its making.
Jeon Myeong-hoon still does not quite understand Golden Shaking Bird.
He cannot grasp what thoughts make Golden Shaking Bird follow him in the first place. "Yang Su-jin... mean, do you not resent me?"
At those words, Golden Shaking Bird flutters up, somersaults in the air, and transforms into her Transformation form.
"Hmm... First, to begin with, I should say that our Lightning Bird Golden Shaking Sect is, quite literally...a gathering of people saved by this one named Yang Su-jin."
Jeon Myeong-hoon listens in silence to Golden Shaking Bird's story.
The tale of how a sect called the Black Bird Star True Sect, which had served the Entering Nirvana Quasi-Immortal Yeo Hwi, withered under her tyranny until Yang Su-jin saved them.
The tale of how Yang Su-jin lived with them and comforted each one of them.
The tale of how Yang Su-jin shared with them the ideology of the world he came from, and through that ideology, bound the Lightning Bird Golden Shaking Sect together as one.
And the tale of how, one day, when the united Lightning Bird Golden Shaking Sect fell into the crisis of annihilation after being caught by one of the True Immortals of the Radiance Hall, Yang Su-jin, who happened to be too far away to help them directly, remotely cast the Lightning Beast Refining Technique to melt and fuse the sect into the "Thunder Beast Golden Shaking Bird".
".We hold no grudge at all against the one called Yang Su-jin. On the contrary...compared to the useless days as the Lightning Bird Golden Shaking Sect, we are satisfied that, by becoming the existence known as Golden Shaking Bird, we can be of even greater help to him."
"In the first place, the creation of a Thunder Beast...is not something with a high success rate. If even one member of the sect making the Thunder Beast does not love and respect the Thunder Beast's creator, the creation fails, and the spirits used in the process go straight to the Underworld."
Golden Shaking Bird kneels demurely before Jeon Myeong-hoon and smiles.
"Please do not trouble your heart, Master. As I say once again...we have all loved you, and none of us have ever disliked or hated you. So...there is no need for you to blame or reproach yourself too much. If there was ever a time we hated Master, there was only one."
At Golden Shaking Bird's words, Jeon Myeong-hoon smiles bitterly.
"It was when you did not die with us, but died alone and perished. So please...do not even speak of suddenly going off somewhere on your own again."
After locking eyes with Golden Shaking Bird for a while, Jeon Myeong-hoon smiles. "...Alright. I understand. I promise."
Jeon Myeong-hoon, who has been debating whether to reveal to this cycle's Golden Shaking Bird that he is not Yang Su-jin, simply nods with a bitter smile.
Through his conversation with Golden Shaking Bird, he realizes what he must leave behind.
"...Do not leave behind anything with feelings or a heart."
Jeon Myeong-hoon decides not to leave behind Thunder Beasts like Golden Shaking Bird, as Yang Su-jin did.
He will leave only "teachings' that have no heart and no pain.
"...With one hundred and ten thousand years, it should be enough time to found a sect and raise disciples."
Just as Yang Su-jin once left behind the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect, Jeon Myeong-hoon decides to leave behind a new sect as well as the Red Pearl Cycling Heavenly King.
it seems Jeon Myeong-hoon is going to create his own sect.
Forming one's own sect also seems like a good idea.
"Something like the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect...an Immortal Dao sect that can help us in the early stages would be good to have.'
I decide to join in as well.
Wo-woong—
I send one of my Gang Sphere clones over to Jeon Myeong-hoon to try creating a sect together with him.
"What kind of sect are you going to make?"
"Hmm..."
Jeon Myeong-hoon seems to ponder over the sect's name, then after a while, comes up with something decent.
"I'm debating between naming it Thunder Resonance Valley (EZ &) or Lightning Resonance Valley (E85).."
"Thunder Resonance Valley? Lightning Resonance Valley? Those aren't great...how about Lightning Roar Valley (184)? Since you're Jeon Myeong-hoon."
[TL/N: Lightning Roar Valley uses the same Hangul as Jeon Myeong-hoon's name.]
It seems Jeon Myeong-hoon does not like that name, as he ignores my words entirely, sits in lotus position on a suitable spot of a suitable planet inside the Heavenly Escape Realm where we are hiding, and closes his eyes.
Huuuuu—
Jeon Myeong-hoon closes his eyes and blows out his breath, and from his breath, powerful [wisdom] bursts forth. That [wisdom] is contained in his winged garment and, following his will, flies out to somewhere beyond the Heavenly Escape Domain.
I also sit beside him, and in the same way, I place my wisdom into my winged garment and send it together with his winged garment beyond the Heavenly Escape Realm.
11, as the Owner of the Seat of Heavenly Punishment, command... : :
Kururung!
Lightning gathers before Jeon Myeong-hoon, forming into a small bundle wrapped in thunder and lightning that floats in front of him.
He then lifts the lightning bundle into the void and begins his prophecy.
: + In the Sumeru Three Heavens Great Thousand World...there shall surely be, within a thousand li above the ground, one who follows my will :
Kugugugung!
The prophetic star imbued with Jeon Myeong-hoon's prophecy rises into the sky, gradually beginning to become a true star. Watching him, I too begin my prophecy. ::1...Seo Eun-hyun, command... :
Earth Axis Heavenly Domain.
A planet called Pancheon Star.
One day, an unusual phenomenon appears there.
Kurururung!
Two massive balls of light fall from the sky, striking one place on Pancheon Star, creating two celestial phenomena.
The first celestial phenomenon is Lightning Sea (5).
From the place where the ball of light falls, an immense energy of lightning flows out, forming a small sea of lightning.
The second celestial phenomenon is Sword Mountain (LL).
All throughout the Lightning Sea, mountains of glass, crystal, and jade rise up like swords, and from those mountains, sharp sword energy flows like the wind.
All the Immortal Dao sects of Pancheon Star are astonished, rushing to the site of the Lightning Sea and Sword Mountain in search of fortune.
indeed, in the place where the celestial phenomena of Lightning Sea and Sword Mountain unfold, immense Heaven and Earth spiritual energy and new energies surge forth, bringing enormous help to cultivation.
Before long, a hundred years have passed since the Lightning Sea and Sword Mountain appeared on Pancheon Star.
One day, a young martial artist living near the Lightning Sea Sword Mountain, pursued endlessly by a sect due to a grudge of resentment, loses his master and enters the Lightning Sea Sword Mountain. Inside, he hears a [voice] and accepts the fortune it offers, becoming within ten years a cultivator of the Core Formation stage with immense strength.
Following the guidance of the [voice] felt inside the Lightning Sea Sword Mountain, he resolves his grudge and gradually accepts the fortune of the Lightning Sea Sword Mountain. One day, he finally seizes the center of the Lightning Sea Sword Mountain— the very source of its power—and gains strength surpassing more than two realms. Many praise him as the one who has mastered both the power of Lightning and the power of the Sword Mountain, calling him the Lightning Sword High Person (gE A).
In time, the Lightning Sword High Person refines his power and gathers those who praise him to establish his own Immortal Dao sect.
The Lightning Sword High Person names his sect [Thunder Resonance Valley], and after passing down his Lightning Path Method to most of its members, he teaches a few with exceptional talent or an obsession bordering on madness the Sword Path Method related to the sword.
Those in Thunder Resonance Valley who receive the Lightning Path Method become known as the Thunder Lightning Faction, making up nine-tenths of the sect. Those who receive the Sword Path Method become known as the Colorless Faction, making up the remaining tenth, and they cultivate their strength in the Sword Dao within Thunder Resonance Valley.
Not only on Pancheon Star, but across every Astral Realm and every Middle Realm in all Heavenly Domains, similar Immortal Dao sects arise and begin to walk similar paths.
I can feel it.
Across the universe, our prophecy scatters, and Thunder Resonance Valleys spring up lie bamboo shoots after rain.
'So this...is the power of a Great Net Immortal and beyond."
More than killing, destroying, and wreaking havoc with the power of a Great Net immortal, the way a single prophecy affects all of Mount Sumeru makes me feel the power of a Great Net Immortal even more strongly.
"When I think about it, it makes sense."
From the beginning, True Immortality was never simply a realm for fighting.
We are gods.
Beings who wish to change the world according to their own will.
With a single word from us, the fates of entire worlds arise and are influenced.
I can feel it...
From within Jeon Myeong-hoon's Thunder Resonance Valley, every being that reads the Sword Dao Method—a part of the wisdom that flows from—feels as if they are within my grasp.
On that distant Pancheon Star, a sword cultivator of the Colorless Faction is calling to me while performing a method that depicts my true body.
—0 Immortal Beast King! Grant me your strength!
Just as in the Black Ghost Valley there were methods like the Yama Hidden Inheritance Will that calls upon Yan Luo to borrow strength, there are also methods that depict my true body, call my name, and borrow my power.
I watch as my power flows to those who call upon it, feeling as though I am orchestrating countless lives and fates.
Thus, I sit quietly with Jeon Myeong-hoon and, as a Gang Sphere clone, begin shaping the world together with him.
-x-X-x-
Arrangement..
Kang Min-hee thinks for a long time about Seo Eun-hyun's words.
"What can I even leave behind?'
in any case, there is not much arrangements she herself can leave behind.
From the very beginning...
"Rather than me leaving behind some half-hearted arrangement, it's far more effective if Master just lends a bit of power...
That is the truth.
instead of her leaving behind some clumsy bit of strength, it is incomparably more efficient for the Heavenly Venerable of the Underworld to grant a favor a few times to the later-generation Enders.
The Underworld once told Kang Min-hee this.
That they are sorry for treating her like an emotional trash can.
But Kang Min-hee does not think that way.
Even if she is called an emotional trash can, to her, sorrow is power.
And, since the sorrow the Underworld has accumulated over eternal, unending ages is inexhaustible if one can handle it, Kang Min-hee has never felt lacking in power ever since awakening as a Heavenly King and gaining the ability to draw forth the Underworld's sorrow.
"Even if it's not the same for other Enders, Master takes special care of me and future Lapis Lazuli Heavenly Kings."
Even if, as the Underworld says, the reason is to serve the role of an emotional trash can, that alone makes it so that Enders of Sorrow have no need for arrangements at all. "On top of that, it was said that even if an arrangement is made, the Radiance Eight immortals and the like will just sweep it away.'
Ordinary arrangements are unnecessary.
In that case, what I leave behind cannot be a simple arrangement."
Kang Min-hee understands her own position, and decides to leave behind a completely different kind of arrangement from all the previous generations.
"Things like mere lingering thoughts, sects, teachings, or methods will only vanish even if I leave them behind.'
Woo-wooong!
Kang Min-hee rises into the space above the Heavenly Escape Realm and begins weaving a principle through her own authority.
Something appears in her hands.
Patstststs—
However, not long after, that something in her hands shatters.
"As expected...it's not easy.'
She slightly furrows her brows and continues trying to make something.
itis then.
"Should I help?"
Startled by the sudden presence of someone who has come right beside her, Kang Min- hee accidentally breaks the arrangement she was making.
Crash!
"...You came out like that on purpose to startle me, didn't you?"
"...Ahaha..."
Kang Min-hee glares at the Gang Sphere clone of Seo Eun-hyun that has appeared beside her.
Although it is a Gang Sphere clone, perhaps because it contains the will of a Great Net immortal, the clone resembles Seo Eun-hyun himself quite a lot.
"I had a hunch what you were making, so I thought I should help instead."
"Ha, funny. You've already sent a Gang Sphere clone to all the others too."
At Kang Min-hee's remark, Seo Eun-hyun gives an awkward laugh again.
Seeing him like that, Kang Min-hee smirks and speaks.
"Well, fine. Ill allow you to help."
"That's quite generous of you."
Tstststs.
Seo Eun-hyun's clone stretches out both hands in front of Kang Min-hee, and Kang Min- hee stretches both hands toward Seo Eun-hyun.
Before long, the power of colourless and blue light clashes between them, sketching out something.
"Do you know exactly what I'm trying to make?"
"Not exactly. I can only faintly read the hearts of those of Heavenly Venerable rank."
"...A space where arrangements can be hidden."
That is what she is trying to create.
How many arrangements of Enders have been swept away, seized, and buried in the Head Realm by Radiance Hall until now?
Now, she will make it so such a thing never happens again.
"Our later-generation Enders...will be able to hide their arrangements much more easily." Tsuaaatt!
The energies colliding between Kang Min-hee's and Seo Eun-hyun's hands soon begin to take the form of a dark blue palace.
Along the palace's outer walls, Seo Eun-hyun's Impermanence Sword settles in, activating Heavenly Escape, and Kang Min-hee's law binds the Impermanence Sword in place, altering the power of Heavenly Escape to persist forever.
"Our next generation of Enders will be able to discover this arrangement space once they've grown their strength to a certain level, and through it, they'll be able to pass down even more to their successors. Even if we fail in our generation, it doesn't matter. In some distant future...they will continue to inherit all the traces and arrangements of the previous generations, and someday...they will succeed."
"Kang Min-hee."
Seo Eun-hyun's Filling the Heavens Governing View dwells in the palace, and Kang Min- hee weaves it into the palace, laying a law so that any being who is not an Ender will fail in every attempt to find it.
"What?"
"Then...if we succeed, this palace won't be needed, right?"
"..What are you talking about? You're the one who said to resolve for death and leave behind an arrangement."
"What I mean is, if we do succeed, what will we do with this palace?"
"Hmm...Well. Then we'll leave it floating outside Mount Sumeru, and someday, let's all ive there together."
"Huh..2"
"We'll leave our main bodies in that palace, give fortuitous encounters only to those who need them, and from inside the palace, we'll explore many worlds and travel. How about "A house where we can all live together..."
Hearing Kang Min-hee's words, Seo Eun-hyun smiles warmly, as if imagining such a future.
"That's nice. Really nice..."
"Right? But you'll have to pay rent."
"...Monthly or a lump-sum?"
"What, I thought you forgot all the concepts from Earth, but you remember that?"
"Well, I'm not an idiot."
"Puhahal"
Sharing banter back and forth, Kang Min-hee laughs with Seo Eun-hyun as they look at the arrangement house, where they and their comrades might one day live.
The two hide the arrangement space they have created within the principles of the world.
Seo Eun-hyun's Heavenly Escape hides it deep within the domain of purity.
In a depth even Hyeon Mu cannot find, they hide the palace of Kang Min-hee's arrangement.
Neither light nor fate will be able to discover it.
Ever since the day he heard the suggestion to leave behind an arrangement, Oh Hyeon- seok has been continuously punching the void.
Paaang—
The void shatters, containing Oh Hyeon-seok's fist.
Paaang—
He endlessly repeats the stance of Azure Wing Heavenly Shatter, continuously thrusting with straight punches.
Then one day.
Oh Hyun-seok suddenly realizes that Seo Eun-hyun's Gang Sphere clone has been at his side for some time, repeating straight punches alongside him.
"..What are you doing?"
"I think I understand what Hyung-nim wants to leave behind. I want to do it too."
"Well, fine by me."
No words are needed.
Oh Hyun-seok wants to leave behind his One Fist as an arrangement.
More precisely, he wants to leave behind the sensation and enlightenment of squeezing his body to its limits and burning up his very flesh.
He wants to leave behind an ultimate technique and enlightenment so that later- generation Enders, when they need power, can achieve their goals even if it means burning their lives away.
"Azure Wing Heavenly Shatter, my Zero Wing alone isn't enough.'
He remembers the admiration of Silver Basket.
The words saying that a [sprout] has taken root in his fist.
If those words are true, then that sensation of wringing out everything is not wrong."
He wants to pass down his One Fist, acknowledged even by the Creator God, to later generations.
For that, Oh Hyun-seok keeps repeating his straight punch, remembering the sensation from back then.
And at some moment.
Hwoong—
Oh Hyun-seok realizes that the sight of Seo Eun-hyun throwing a punch beside him overlaps with himself.
This is...
Hwoong!
And from that moment on, Oh Hyun-seok becomes aware that his fist is becoming even fiercer, exuding a more vicious might.
He immediately understands why.
"This guy...is tempering my mind together with met"
The existence called Seo Eun-hyun, who reached Martial Pinnacle.
He is a being who can only reach Martial Pinnacle by borrowing another's heart, and at the same time, the one who can lend Martial Pinnacle to others.
Paaang!
Through Seo Eun-hyun's help, Oh Hyun-seok begins to feel that his One Fist is growing strong enough to surpass the principles of the world and even destroy the world itself. And at a certain point.
Oh Hyun-seok begins to see a certain vision.
This is...
itis the vision of a silver giant.
That giant, leaving behind the [being wearing a black mianguan], extends a single first toward the world of nothingness.
itis a straight punch much like Oh Hyeon-seok's own.
And the moment that straight punch touches the world of nothingness—
"Ahhh...'
Hwoooong!
Kwaaaaaaaang!
Along with a powerful awakening of the mind, Oh Hyun-seok realizes that his fist, which holds no energy, no strength, no Immortal Art, has shattered space.
The purest part within a human's mind.
The most primal Primordial Chaos.
He feels like he understands the moment of putting that power of Primordial Chaos into his fist.
"Yes...this is it.
Oh Hyun-seok can now make even clearer what he should leave behind.
I will become a stairway.'
With his single first, he decides to become the stairway for the Enders of later generations.
Hwoong—
While throwing a straight punch at the level of a first-rate martial artist of the human martial world, Oh Hyun-seok engraves that moment into the world.
Hwoong—
While throwing a straight punch strong enough to kill a Qi Refining cultivator, Oh Hyun- seok engraves that moment into the world.
Hwoong!
Oh Hyun-seok throws a straight punch at the level that can kill a Qi Building cultivator.
In this way, step by step, he engraves straight punches appropriate for each stage into the world, deciding to become a beacon for the Enders of later generations.
Starting from ordinary martial artists,
to Minor Boundary cultivators, Middle Boundary cultivators, and even Great Boundary True Immortals, he engraves the power of his single fist into the world so that Enders of later generations can borrow and use his single fist whenever they need it.
And, at the end...
"Silver Basket. Let's make it so they can manifest Silver Baskets single fist."
Kwaaang!
With Seo Eun-hyun's help, Oh Hyun-seok temporarily shares the sight and enlightenment of Martial Pinnacle, engraving his single first into the principles of the world.
Oh Hyun-seok's power will periodically aid the Enders of later generations whenever they desire.
And if later-generation Enders who reach the rank of Heavenly King arrive at the end of Oh Hyun-seok's arrangement, they will be able to use Oh Hyun-seok as a stairway to Silver Basket's single fist.
They will be able to arrive at the single strike of the Creator God.
That is..."
Oh Hyun-seok recalls the otherworldly Creator God, Silver Basket's strike.
The power of a being that pierced a hole through the world of Mount Sumer.
"The true power of Nirvana (E28).
If even one later-generation Ender, using Oh Hyun-seok's arrangement as a stepping stone, manifests that power of Nirvana...
Then they will be able to pierce through the world of Mount Sumeru and plant the hope that one could escape beyond it.
Kwaaaaaang!
Thus, with Seo Eun-hyun's help, Oh Hyun-seok engraves his One Fist into the principles of the world, and he sets it so that only the righteous ones among the later-generation Enders can borrow the traces of himself engraved into those principles.
Kim Yeon has little hesitation about what arrangement to leave behind.
Tsuaaaaatt!
This is because, right now, she holds one important power that must be widely spread. itis Vast Cold's Primordial Origin Immortal Cultivation system.
Woo-woooong!
Kim Yeon places her hand against Seo Eun-hyun's Gang Sphere clone, and through prophecy, they transform Mount Sumer.
:+ In our name, we prophesize...: :
Kurururung!
Kim Yeon, who inherited the Immortal Dao of Acceptance at Fate's End, and Seo Eun- hyun, who inherited the Immortal Dao of Repentant Enlightenment.
The powers of the one who carries the will of Vast Cold—who said Immortal Cultivation is progress—and the one who carries the will of Salt Sea—who said Immortal Cultivation is repentant enlightenment—intertwine, adding a fundamental rewrite to the Immortal Cultivation system itself.
No words are needed between them.
Feeling each other's affection and hearts, Kim Yeon and Seo Eun-hyun begin to spread the Vast Cold Heavenly Circle together.
According to the will of the two beings, various strange phenomena occur throughout Mount Sumeru.
The most representative is dream appearances (RE).
From a certain day onward, the majority of mortal beings living in Mount Sumeru begin to dream of an Immortal Couple appearing before them, changing their understanding of the Grand Perfection Heavenly Being formula.
The Immortal Couple appear in the dreams of countless mortal beings and cultivators, breathing new Immortal Cultivation formulas into them, and many give thanks for the couple's grace and begin to believe in a folk faith toward the Immortal Couple who opened a new path in the Immortal Cultivation system.
Through Seo Eun-hyun and Kim Yeon's prophecy, all of Mount Sumeru changes, and dreams containing their enlightenment begin to be engraved into the entirety of Mount Sumeru.
And...
While scattering the formula of the Vast Cold Heavenly Circle with Seo Eun-hyun, Kim Yeon ponders.
Is this really the best I can do?"
All she is doing is spreading the formula given by Vast Cold into the world.
Vast Cold's arrangement is admirable on its own, but at this rate, it is as if she herself is doing nothing.
*..0 Mount Sumeru."
Thus, Kim Yeon breathes just a trace of her own will into Mount Sumer.
"Grant me this one request.'
The Primordial Origin Immortal Cultivation system she has learned.
An Immortal Cultivation system that transforms the world through a person's will begins to transform the world with Kim Yeon's will.
By adding a little of her own will to the dream appearances of the Vast Cold Heavenly Circle, she leaves behind one small arrangement of her own.
"Someday...even if an Ender passes through the painful beginning, development, twist, and conclusion, let them believe that there is something that does not vanish even within that progression...'
Her willis faint.
itis unlikely to have much influence on the Enders of later generations.
But Kim Yeon is certain.
The will she leaves behind will be continuously added to and added again by later- generation Enders, gaining flesh bit by bit.
And as a secret power unknown to anyone, it will be added to the world and, little by iitle, exert at least a faint influence on the beginning, development, twist, and conclusion of the Enders.
As time passes, and the progression of the Enders repeat again and again...
Kim Yeon's will shall grow, and someday...
it will create an error in the Enders' beginning, development, twist, and conclusion.
With a vow that her small wish will be fulfilled, Kim Yeon breathes her will into Mount Sumeru.
I leave an arrangement in Mount Sumeru together with all my other comrades.
In Oh Hye-seo's case, she says she will simply leave the formula of Tainted Soul Filling the Heavens and has nothing else she wants to leave behind, so I leave her be.
Oh Hye-seo seems to prefer being alone rather than leaving behind an arrangement, so I respect her opinion.
Sending countless Gang Sphere clones to my comrades, I transform Mount Sumeru together with them while I prepare to leave behind my own arrangement.
"My arrangement is..."
Watching the arrangements my comrades leave, I have already decided what kind of arrangement I will leave for later generations.
Jeon Myeong-hoon leaves behind a sect and teachings. Kang Min-hee leaves behind a hidden space to conceal arrangements. Oh Hyun-seok leaves behind a law to manifest his strike. Kim Yeon leaves behind the Vast Cold Heavenly Circle. Oh Hye-seo leaves behind Tainted Soul Filling the Heavens...
And though he is not here, Kim Young-hoon has also left something regarding Martial Arts in the Head Realm, so he too can be said to have left an arrangement.
And by looking at their arrangements, I realize something.
I think I understand why the arrangements of Enders are so few and precious.'
Radiance Hall.
As long as Radiance Hall, which upholds the will of fate, exists, no matter how many arrangements we leave behind, they wil all be eradicated and swept away.
"Even just looking at the arrangements my comrades are leaving behind so boldly...to be honest..."
Except for Kang Min-hee's, which is specifically a space to hide arrangements, every single one is something Radiance Hall will uproot.
"So long as Radiance Hall exists, it's impossible to leave behind an arrangement normally.'
Coming to that conclusion, I clearly realize what kind of arrangement I must make.
"Thus, I will leave an arrangement inside Radiance Hall.
Tstststststs!
While my Gang Sphere clones go to my comrades, I create a very special avatar with my main body, and send it far outside the Heavenly Escape Realm.
Across distant space and time, to a stellar realm in the Heavenly King Heavenly Domain. Above a planet near the Palace of Radiance in the Heavenly King Heavenly Domain. There, opening my eyes in the identity of a suitable orphan boy, I rise from my place. And as I stand up, I feel a hand patting my head.
itis a woman wearing a silver mask with her whole body wrapped in bandages. "Welcome. Seo."
She does not clearly say my name, but she speaks in a warm voice.
"You are...my successor Sword Spear Heavenly Lord."
Her identity is the Sword Spear Heavenly Lord.
That's right.
My arrangement is to become the candidate for the later generation Sword Spear Heavenly Lord myself, leaving an arrangement deep within Radiance Hall.
-x-X-x-
"First of all, you must not use your original name. Right now, countless beings in the Heavenly King Heavenly Domain forbid your very name across the entirety of Mount Sumeru, and their eyes are red trying to track down any place where that name is spoken."
Ji Hwa warns me and continues speaking.
"In that sense...while you are staying here for now, use a new name. The best choice would be to use the name Gyeong (2) like me. That will probably make it easier to stay close to me."
"Alright, then while I'm here, call me 'Seo Gyeong'"
I decide to live under the identity of "Seo Gyeong' for the time being and ask Ji Hwa a question.
"That aside...there's something I want to ask."
"What is it?"
"Do you know about the Northern Dipper Sealing Immortal Flags of the Northern Dipper Seven Heavenly Lords?"
"I do. In the first place, that Seven Stars Harnessing God Banner is an Immortal Art that took considerable influence from our God-Killing Spear."
At her words, I nod.
"As you know...right now, I have the Northern Dipper Sealing Immortal Flags embedded in me, and I have removed a total of five of them."
After reaching the realm of Immortal Beast King and Martial Pinnacle, I tried to pull out the remaining Sealing Immortal Flags through force, but as expected of seals created to target the Vast Cold Heavenly Lord, they were made so they can never be removed by "strength' alone.
In particular, the fewer Northern Dipper Sealing Immortal Flags remain and the higher the realm of the one they are embedded in, the stronger their absoluteness becomes. Because of that, even now I cannot forcefully remove the last two Northern Dipper Sealing Immortal Flags.
"The fact that I managed to pull out the first Northern Dipper Sealing Immortal Flag by strength alone is an immense feat.
"The conditions for the Sealing Immortal Flags that cannot be removed are as follows. One is to "defeat three Supreme Deities while at the realm of Great Net Immortal or lower." The second is to 'take the attacks of the Radiance Eight Immortals in sequence" Perhaps because the Northern Dipper Seven Heavenly Lords created this Immortal Art to target the Vast Cold Heavenly Lord, the release conditions are absurdly strict.
As it stands, I have defeated the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable and the Heavenly Venerable of Void, and I have also participated in defeating the Heavenly Punishment Supreme Deity and the Naming Supreme Deity, summing to four Governing Immortals. Even though I have personally brought down four Governing Immortals, the Northern Dipper Sealing Immortal Flag judged that I have not purely defeated three [Supreme Deities], so the seal did not release.
"Well, this doesn't really matter.
Someday, as long as I defeat Bong Myeong, the condition of "three Supreme Deities' will be fulfilled, so this is nothing to worry about regarding that anymore.
The problem lies with the attacks of the Radiance Eight Immortals.
"If you know a bit about this Northern Dipper Sealing Immortal Flag, then why is it that even though I've taken the attacks of the Radiance Eight Immortals with my whole body several times, the seal still hasn't been released... Do you have any idea?"
To my question, Ji Hwa nods as if it is simple.
"I know what the problem is. I already got permission from the Northern Dipper Seven Heavenly Lords to view all the release conditions of the Northern Dipper Sealing immortal Flag. The release condition you're concerned about is..to take them [in sequence]."
Just as expected.
itis exactly the kind of troublesome condition it sounds like.
"Starting from the Great Forest Heavenly Lord, all the way to the Rain Dew Heavenly Lord. You have to take the attacks of the [Eight Radiance Supreme Deities] in the order of the Ten Heavenly Stems. That's the release condition."
However, I find myself puzzled hearing that condition.
"...I'm certain that last time, during the activation of the Salt Sea Returning Dew Jade, I took them in order..."
"No, back then the quartermaster of the Radiance Eight Immortals, the Pearl Jade Heavenly Lord, did not take part in the attack."
Thinking back to that time, I realize she is right.
I see. Indeed, after Filling the Heavens Sword Rain, the Great Sea Heavenly Lord's immortal Art came next. There was no Pearl Jade Heavenly Lord's attack.
But then, I notice something else strange.
"Wait, even setting that aside... just during the last God-Killing Spear battle...I took all of your attacks in order."
Starting from the God-Killing Spear thrown by the Great Forest Heavenly Lord, all the way to the God-Killing Spear thrown by the Rain Dew Heavenly Lord, I had taken them in sequence'.
So why is it?
At my question, Ji Hwa gives a bitter smile and speaks.
"You fought back."
"..What?"
"The final release condition of the Northern Dipper Sealing Immortal Flag... Since our Radiance Eight Immortals directly oversee its release, we heard it straight from the Northern Dipper Seven Heavenly Lords. The truth of the final Northern Dipper Sealing immortal Flag's release condition is...
"Not only taking the attacks of the Eight Owners of Light 'in sequence"...but also [without resisting]."
"...50 even if it's an attack like the God-Killing Spear..."
"Yes. In the end, calmly taking the attacks in sequence with your whole body, without resistance...that's the release condition for the Northern Dipper Sealing Immortal Flag."
I am dumbfounded, but I realize that this level of requirement is necessary to restrain an existence on the level of the Vast Cold Heavenly Lord.
"So that means...because I fought back against the God-Killing Spear in order to not die, the Northern Dipper Sealing Immortal Flag wasn't released."
"That's about right."
After a long silence, I ask Ji Hwa.
"Can't you stir things up a bit so that someday, when I stand before the Radiance Eight immortals, they all bombard me at once?"
"Do you think that would work? We've all heard that you're sealed by the Northern Dipper Sealing Immortal Flag."
In the end, even if they have me right in front of them, they might not attack in sequence at all, or even if they do attack in sequence, some of them might purposely not attack in the middle, making it all for nothing.
"Troublesome.'
I contemplate the Northern Dipper Sealing Immortal Flag's release condition of [taking the attacks of the Eight Radiance Supreme Deities in the order of the Ten Heavenly Stems without resisting] and sigh inwardly.
"Pearl Jade Heavenly Lord is the problem. Even if I manage to incite them to somehow attack you, the Pearl Jade Heavenly Lord is the quartermaster. Aside from supplementing our strength and providing the power of prophecy or blessings, they don't come to the front lines during wartime."
"That's why though cases like last time's God-Killing Spear are rare...if you had been hit by the God-Killing Spear, even you would have been sealed without a doubt... If the Northern Dipper Sealing Immortal Flag was released only for you to be sealed by us instead, that would have been even more troublesome, so there was no helping it."
I realize I am getting a headache and let out a sigh.
"...Alright. Whether I have to ask Yeong Seung or the Heavenly Venerable of Time, I'll ask them to remove it. If that doesn't work, I could always ask the Liberation Supreme Deity or the Underworld."
"Hmm... But at your level, the Northern Dipper Sealing Immortal Flag doesn't really matter anymore, does it? The power you've accumulated is far too different from the specific Vast Cold's strength that the Northern Dipper Seven Heavenly Lords intended to seal, so there shouldn't be a problem."
"That is true."
Powers like that of the Immortal Beast King and Martial Pinnacle.
Since the powers I've accumulated are of a nature far too different from the Vast Cold Heavenly Lord's, the Northern Dipper Sealing Immortal Flag hardly affects them. However, while it cannot affect the powers themselves, it has a considerable impact on the synergy between my powers.
"The powers don't blend well
Even now, my main body is trying to heal the Wheel while my clone is here, but when I try to heal it, the various fragmented powers do not mix easily, making the healing process difficult.
"To heal the Wheel, I have to completely unify my powers, and to do that, I must remove all the Northern Dipper Sealing Immortal Flags.
The Northern Dipper Sealing Immortal Flag blocks the fusion between my powers.
From the Three Great Ultimates of the Heaven Dao, Earth Dao, and Immortal Dao, to the immortal Beast King, the Ultimate of Martial Arts, and the powers of various mantras.
All of those should intertwine and naturally rotate and spin the Wheel to heal it, but the powers that do not blend instead only interfere with the Wheel's rotation.
If what is needed to turn the Wheel is pure liquid, then my current powers are not pure liquid, but a stew with various chunks floating in it.
"The unblended powers keep turning the Wheel, so it seems the overload is much greater."
If someone other than me had obtained the Wheel, I think that at least the overload would not happen this often.
As I am inwardly pondering these problems, I suddenly notice Ji Hwa holding my hand and briskly walking somewhere.
"...By the way, where are we going?"
"From now on, speak formally. I am going to place you in a Daoist temple that serves Radiance Hall. It is a place jointly operated by my clone and my followers, so live there together, and I will give you appropriate orders to follow. Follow those orders and learn the basic methods that the mortal beings under Radiance Hall practice, and walk the path of Immortal Cultivation.
"Preferably...reach the Core Formation stage around the age of twenty. Then the True immortals of Radiance Hall will naturally take interest in you and begin supporting you, and when you ascend later, you will be marked as a candidate as my Sword Spear successor."
I nod and, led by Ji Hwa's hand, am entrusted to a Daoist temple called 'Radiance Daoist Hall'
The Daoist of the Radiance Daoist Hall, the Black Spirit True Person, is a devotee of the Radiance Hall's teachings, taking in children and homeless orphans as disciples in the temple in service to those teachings.
From that day, I begin cultivating together with Ji Hwa under the Black Spirit True Person.
"...That Black Spirit True Person, are they your subordinate?"
I ask Ji Hwa, who is pinching my cheeks in the backyard of Radiance Daoist Hall, and she nods.
"In a previous life, they were a Quasi-Immortal messenger bird I raised. They were at the Entering Nirvana stage at the brink of advancing to True Immortal, so last time, when the Great Mountain Supreme Deity said he was going to the Sun and Moon Heavenly Domain, I had them charge in with the will of the Radiance Eight Immortals."
"...50 you killed them?"
"I simply gave them a push to advance to True Immortality. Do not misunderstand." Judging from the use of the words "previous life', it seems Black Spirit True Person faced True Immortal advancement" from the Great Mountain Supreme Deity and failed. I heard Radiance Hall has an Immortal Art that helps with True Immortal advancement..."
"It exists, but.those who complete their advancement that way usually do not understand how precious the True Immortal position they've gained is. They often do vulgar things, like abusing mortal beings, or spreading the fate of war and suffering across an innocent Astral Realm. That's why the True Immortals whom Radiance Hall truly watches are usually allowed to advance only by their own will and skill."
"I see... But why are you touching my cheeks?"
"I am assessing the qualities of your clone. I am thinking about what method you will need to infiltrate Radiance Hall without suspicion."
"I see...thank you."
I, without much suspicion, let Ji Hwa examine my cheeks, and she helps me with my cultivation in the Radiance Daoist Hall, clothing me, feeding me, bathing me, and being together with me.
Thus, we join hands in order to infiltrate Radiance Hall, spending time in the Radiance Daoist Hall.
Five years pass in the Radiance Daoist Hall.
Kurururung!
"My goodness! A, a genius...! Without a doubt, this must be an Immortal talent bestowed by the Owner of Light!"
The fifth year.
With the support of Black Spirit True Person, who in this life could only reach the Qi Building stage, and Ji Hwa, I quickly reach the Qi Building stage.
From the start, the Qi Building stage is a realm I had madly striven to reach during my younger days, shouting to the heavens, so in truth I could have reached it in seven days and seven nights...
But under Ji Hwa's advice that it would be too fast, I deliberately spent five years to reach it.
"Wh-What do you think, Daoist Sword-White? At this level, wouldn't it be enough for our Seo Gyeong to be given a letter of recommendation to the Radiant Spirit Sect?"
The Radiance Spirit Sect is said to be one of the great sects, even when counting together this stellar system and the ten surrounding stellar systems combined.
There, even a Qi Building cultivator is considered a low-ranking disciple, and since one of the Vestige Liberation Immortals of Radiance Hall is from the Radiant Spirit Sect, joining it would mean I have a definite faction in Radiance Hall even after later becoming a True Immortal.
Currently, Ji Hwa, who in the Radiance Daoist Hall is using the Daoist title 'Sword-White,' shakes her head as if displeased.
"Hmph, a recommendation letter to the Radiance Spirit Sect for a mere thirteen-year-old brat? That is too much, Daoist Black Spirit."
Since the Black Spirit True Person does not remember their past life, Ji Hwa is recognized by them as a Daoist from a mortal background, and in particular is playing the role of a Daoist in the Radiance Daoist Hall who "dislikes' me.
She says that If, in the future, Radiance Hall examines history and finds out about our connection, it would be suspicious if they saw that we had gotten along.
"Even now, my head aches from recent rumors about some Thunder Resonance Valley, some Lightning Sword High Person, and the Vast Cold Heavenly Circle, and you want to let such a troublemaker enter the Radiance Spirit Sect? Impossible!"
Saying so, Ji Hwa strikes my backside hard with the flywhisk she holds, and with this young body, the sting from the flywhisk is intense, so my body instinctively lets out a groan.
"Hmph! A brat who cannot endure such basic hardship—what Immortal Cultivation, what immortal Dao does he think he will walk?"
For some reason, seeing me like this, Ji Hwa starts panting and lifts the flywhisk high as f to hit me again, and the Black Spirit True Person, seeing this, is startled and hastily stops her.
"Enough! We will discuss the details later. Seo Gyeong-ah, for now, go inside, stabilize your Qi Building stage, and bathe. I will calm Sword-White down in the meantime."
And so, watching Ji Hwa's amusing act, I bathe and enter the Daoist Hall's hot spring to stabilize my realm.
For a while, Ji Hwa and the Black Spirit True Person exchange heated words outside the Radiance Daoist Hall, and soon, the 'Sword-White True Person' enters the hot spring while panting, saying she will assess my qualities again.
-x-X-x-
Black Spirit True Person lets out a sigh.
Sword-White True Person's feelings are understandable.
Sword-White True Person has always been someone full of worry.
"Full of worries, and full of lingering affection too.'
It must be that she worries about how difficult it will be when Seo Gyeong leaves for the Radiance Spirit Sect.
Seo Gyeong is someone Sword-White True Person has raised like her own younger sibling since childhood.
"Of course she would worry. That worry must be what shows through in those rough actions.'
From the spiritual water hot spring meant for those who have reached a certain realm of cultivation, the sounds of splashing and bickering echo loudly.
Sword-White True Person must be lecturing Seo Gyeong.
"Well, "scolding' might be the word, but it is probably her own way of preparing for their parting."
The slapping sounds seem to grow louder, but Black Spirit True Person knows well of Sword-White True Person's purity, nobility, and deep affection, so he does not worry too much.
Rather, from Black Spirit True Person's point of view, Sword-White True Person gets along quite well with Seo Gyeong.
Even while pretending not to care, it's always Sword-White who takes care of young Seo Gyeong—dressing him, bathing him, watching over him.
"I am sorry, Sword-White. I am sorry, Seo Gyeong.'
Even for Black Spirit, splitting up the two, who are so close, pains them.
But...
"Still, a fledgling phoenix cannot live forever in a tiny nest. One day, it must flap its massive wings and soar high into the sky."
Splash, splash, splash!
Black Spirit True Person shifts their attention away from the hot spring, deciding that for Seo Gyeong, who possesses such overflowing talent, it's worth being a little cruel if it means forcing him to leave the Radiance Dao Hall.
'Sword-White is just in pain, needing a bit of time to prepare herself for the separation. In the end, she will agree to send the boy to Radiance Spirit Sect. Unlike someone like me, Seo Gyeong is truly a child born with great talent and grand spirit"
Perhaps, with Seo Gyeong's talent, he might even surpass being a mere mortal being and become a True Immortal.
If he becomes a True Immortal and stands beneath the Owner of Light, he will surely be able to achieve far more. So please, Seo Gyeong. Forgive this unworthy Black Spirit." Worried that Seo Gyeong might stubbornly refuse to go to Radiance Spirit Sect, Black Spirit True Person enters the alchemy room to prepare a sleeping pill.
No matter what it takes, Seo Gyeong must enter Radiance Spirit Sect and become a great figure.
In the end, through some means or another, Seo Gyeong decides to go to Radiance Spirit Sect.
He pats his waist, remembering the scolding from Sword-White True Person the night before, then turns to look back at the members of the Radiance Dao Hall.
"How nice.'
Those who, unlike Seo Gyeong, do not have such great talent and must continue their cultivation in the Radiance Dao Hall instead of Radiance Spirit Sect.
Or those who, while not able to enter Radiance Spirit Sect, might stil join some other smaller sects or cultivation clans of lesser rank.
And...
Black Spirit, who will remain to guard the Radiance Dao Hall to the end, and Sword- White, the clone of Sword Spear.
Seo Eun-hyun, who bears the identity of Seo Gyeong, recalls the days spent with them and smiles gently, waving his hand.
Sword-White True Person, playing her role to the end, turns her head away, while Black Spirit True Person cannot hold back their tears as they see him off.
Bidding farewell to them, Seo Eun-hyun, now under the identity of Seo Gyeong, boards a flying artifact, carrying the recommendation letter from Radiance Dao Hall, and heads toward the Radiance Spirit Sect.
Heavenly King Heavenly Domain.
Ushering Brightness Star (58852).
Among the planets within the Heavenly King Heavenly Domain that have names containing the character for "bright,' this one, in particular, is under the close watch and special management of Heaven Immortals.
That is because countless fates writhe there, and the mortal beings who may one day become the strength of Radiance Hall are walking the path of Immortal Cultivation.
And within such an Ushering Brightness Star, filled with the attention of Radiance Hall, atop one of the teleportation arrays—
A thirteen-year-old boy is transmitted there.
itis Seo Gyeong.
"Hm..."
He looks around here and there, giving off a naive, countryside air.
At a glance, his actions seem clumsy and naive, but given that his consciousness domain is currently restricted, it's actually proof that he still retains the sharp senses he once honed during his days as a martial artist, always committing his surroundings to memory.
After showing such a countryside" air for a while, Seo Eun-hyun soon moves toward the Brightness Mountain (BLL) of the Ushering Brightness Continent in Ushering Brightness Star, where the Radiance Spirit Sect is located.
Since it isn't far from the teleportation array, it's a distance easily traveled by flying artifact.
"The date for the Radiance Spirit Sect entrance trial...isn't far off."
Seo Eun-hyun reads the information given to him by Black Spirit True Person and lets out a hollow laugh.
Though his main body is a Great Immortal capable of waging war against the entire Heavenly King Heavenly Domain and surviving, he finds it amusing that due to the current circumstances requiring to leave an arrangement, he now has to enter this small and cute cultivation sect.
"Didn't they say the current sect leader of this sect is at the Sacred Vessel stage..? A greenhorn cute enough to scratch the belly of.
Having gone through countless regressions and faced every kind of battle, from mountains and rivers to the stars and cosmos, Seo Eun-hyun scoffs as he makes his way toward the entrance exam site over the course of several days.
Frankly speaking, he doesn't even bother to expect anything from the entrance exam of a small and childish sect like Radiance Spirit Sect.
And finally, Seo Eun-hyun arrives at a valley called Shining Valley (3%) within Brightness Mountain, which is the main base of Radiance Spirit Sect, and where the entrance exam is held.
Step!
Seo Eun-hyun steps off the cloud-shaped flying artifact, retrieves it, and surveys the area.
Backed by the True Immortals of Radiance Hall, the Radiance Spirit Sect is indeed a famous cultivation sect in the Heavenly King Heavenly Domain. Most who come to take the entrance exam are already at the Core Formation stage, and there are few Qi Building stage cultivators like him.
Looking at the Core Formation cultivators glaring at or looking down on him with hostile eyes, he can't help but smile at the sight, as if it's like watching tiny baby squirrels grow! at him.
"Adorable little things. Will they get mad if I scratch their necks?"
Just as he is thinking that—
Kurururung!
Fog and thunderclouds surge into Shining Valley, and in an instant, the consciousness domains of Seo Eun-hyun and the other Core Formation cultivators become restricted. "Hmm, is it starting already?"
it seems Radiance Spirit Sect conducts its entrance exams in this fashion.
Sure enough, a solemn voice echoes out from within the fog.
[Those taking the entry exam, it seems you have all gathered. Let us now begin the basic assessment.)
"Wait, what do you mean by that? I have come with a letter of recommendation! A letter from the Brain-Kidney Flow!"
[TL: It's a pun of the Lightning God Flow Sect from Reincarnated Swordmaster. The Hangul is the same, just with different Hanja.]
"I have a letter of recommendation from Senior Brother Sect Leader of the Volcanic Sect!"
"I too possess a recommendation from the Heavenly Horse Divine Cult!"
[TL: Pun of Mount Hua Sect and Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.]
Just like Seo Eun-hyun, those who brought letters of recommendation from sects they belong to begin voicing their dissatisfaction, and as if mocking them, the voice within the mist laughs.
[Whether you brought a recommendation or even a decree from a Great Net Divine immortal, I do not care.]
"Really?'
Seo Eun-hyun chuckles at the cliché, and the voice continues.
[Whether you are someone who brought a recommendation letter or came to prove your ability...all of you must first reach the proper exam start. Whether you get accepted through a recommendation or begin the exam properly comes after that. Anyone too incompetent to even do that does not deserve to hand over a recommendation, nor do they deserve to begin the entrance exam! It's best to get started quickly. Our sect favors the fast.]
Patstststs—
The moment the voice ends, the fog covering the area thickens even more and begins to emit an ominous energy.
And then,
Paaaatt!
Beams of light burst out from all directions, and something is placed into the hands of the cultivators within the fog.
itis a talisman.
"This fog... It's a formation created by a Heavenly Being stage cultivator. If one isn't careful, they could be trapped inside forever, so they've given us a single lifeline out.' Seo Eun-hyun looks at the talisman in his hand. Taking a deep breath, he lets out a chuckle and steps fully into the fog.
Paatt!
As he begins to move properly within the fog, the talisman in his left hand bursts into yellow light. The light, which spreads in all four directions, soon shoots off in one direction.
"Let's see...does that mean I should go this way? Seems like the light changes direction depending on the user's level of focus..."
Step.
He takes a step forward.
Kkuuuuup!
At the same time, screams ring out from all directions.
I see. In exchange for being able to use the talisman through focus, it involves Heart Demons and induces illusory pain.'
Seo Eun-hyun smiles faintly at the subtle illusory pain spreading through his whole body. "How cute.
Both the cultivator who set up this formation and the formation's power—are cute.
Heart Demons arise in his mind as well, but instead of bothering him, they instead feel happy with the soothing scent of this formation, far more peaceful than Seo Eun-hyun's inner world, and start taking naps.
Seo Eun-hyun pays no attention to the formation and continues walking.
With every step he takes, a different kind of intense pain visits him, granting the Heart Demons their moments of rest.
"Well, it's only because it's me that I can endure this. Ordinary mortal beings might have a hard time."
Though it's not the full-body pain he felt on his first step, a headache too overwhelming for a mortal being hits him.
Sometimes he experiences an itch so maddening it would drive a mortal being insane, or a terror so overwhelming it would freeze a mortal being's heart, but every time, Seo Eun-hyun just chuckles and walks through the fog.
And when he has taken around fifty steps—
"Hoh..2"
Seo Eun-hyun suddenly feels as if his vision is splitting into two.
immediately afterward, a pain like his head is being split open seizes him.
And then, he realizes something.
"This...is a little troublesome."
And he deliberately begins to scream with all his might.
"Kuaaaaaaaaght"
Sururuk...
From Seo Eun-hyun's screaming mouth, a white mass slides out.
Looking at the softly glowing mass, Seo Eun-hyun feigns a pale expression.
"Wh-When a person dies, their spirit comes out from their eyes, nose, and mouth... Then this formation is, could it be...?"
Pretending to try and grasp his own spirit, he makes a frightened expression.
"How bothersome. A planet drawing the attention of Heaven Immortals..."
The reason is that not long after the entrance exam began, several True Immortals started watching the exam site.
He frowns slightly as he reads the emotions of the transcendents within those gazes. "What a bothersome kid. Just watching because they are bored, huh.'
Even if it is for amusement, drawing the attention of a True Immortal is troublesome.
Seo Eun-hyun acts "ordinary so as not to draw suspicion from the True Immortals. "U-Uaahh..."
The white masses that exited Seo Eun-hyun's eyes, nose, and mouth begin to take shape. They take on the form of Seo Eun-hyun.
His vision splits in two. One is the perspective of Seo Eun-hyun looking at the spirit, and the other is from the spirit looking back at him.
"What...is this...2"
Before Seo Eun-hyun can speak, his spirit begins to scatter.
"N-No..."
As the spirit before his eyes dissipates, another white mass gushes out again from Seo Eun-hyun's eyes, nose, and mouth.
"How annoying."
Of course, from Seo Eun-hyun's perspective, who knows the truth, it's nothing more than a petty illusion formation.
Of course...
Even though it's just a simple illusion formation, because a True Immortal is observing the place, its effects are multiplied many times over, and it is affecting reality as well. Feigning agony, Seo Eun-hyun at last he figures out why the True Immortal is focusing their gaze on this place.
Instead of his lacking consciousness domain, it is the habit of picking up information that he has honed as a martial artist.
I see. The place where the True Immortal's gaze is focused is...a mortal woman about fifty steps away from me. Judging by how quickly she's responding compared to the others on the exam site...
Soon, Seo Eun-hyun becomes aware of the presence beyond fifty steps and grows curious.
"Incredible talent. Not a dullard pretending to be a genius like me, but a true Heaven- chosen Immortal Talent...huh?"
Step.
Even as the unprecedented phenomenon of her soul scattering occurs, the girl fifty steps away continues to take one step after another.
"That will and determination I feel from her...and that attraction force. That child is born with it. She truly carries the fate to become a True Immortal. As long as she can endure that fate, she will become one."
The True Immortal currently observing this place seems to have taken interest in that child and is testing her.
And in the process, all others except her are dying off.
Judging from the reaction, they must be hoping that the child will pass the test as the top candidate. As for me...it'd be best to pretend to stagger around and aim for second or third place or so."
Understanding his hidden position in the Heavenly King Heavenly Domain, Seo Eun- hyun holds his breath and conceals his presence.
However, not long after—
Tsaaaaaaat!
The fog in the testing site scatters, and beings with overwhelming presence descend urgently into the site.
Seo Eun-hyun looks up at the one with the most overwhelming presence among them. Puhwak!
The body of Seo Gyeong, Seo Eun-hyun's clone, fails to withstand the rank of the being, and blood flows from his eyes, yet he smiles.
"Sacred Vessel Sacred Master... The Sect Leader of the Radiance Spirit Sect, huh? Makes me want to give their belly a little scratch.'
As he imagines scratching the belly of the Sacred Vessel Sect Leader of the Radiance Spirit Sect, he kneels on the spot, and the Sacred Master urgently shouts.
[A True Immortal has intervened in the exam! Register the one called 'Wol Ah, who entered the exam site while enduring the gaze of the True Immortal, as the top entry candidate. And the rest... Heok, what is this one?]
Then, at the Sacred Leader's gasp, Seo Eun-hyun realizes he has made a mistake. "Uh...maybe I should've just fainted instead of holding on."
[How in the world did he not even faint and just kneel down after receiving the will of an Upper Immortal?]
And with the Sect Leader's words, the gaze of the True Immortal begins turning toward Seo Eun-hyun as well.
The Heaven Immortal who had no interest in anyone besides the child "Wol Ah' now shows a slight curiosity because of the Sacred Leader's fuss.
And through that faint interest, Seo Eun-hyun sighs within this clone of his with pitiful senses.
"Damn it...
The Heaven Immortal of Radiance Hall is now paying attention to him too.
-x-X-x-
The first thought I have is extermination or return to thee.
If 1 just temporarily send them all to the Underworld through dimensional transfer or return to thee into my body and make them reincarnate, there's no way I'll be caught.' Either way, since even if I kill them, it is within my authority to bring them back from the Underworld and resurrect them, so they won't suffer any real loss.
"But I must not do that"
I gained the realization that my own heart can become the fate of another, and I decide to refrain from recklessly wielding my heart under the excuse of it being just mine.
"What is fine by my standard may not be fine for someone else."
Therefore, I do not kill or make them return to thee.
"Since it has already come to this... can only use the situation to further prove my identity.
immortal Beast King authority, open.
Ancient Force Manifestation.
My consciousness processing speed, incomparably higher than other True Immortals, reaches the speed of Araya, and I summon scenes from a timeline forgotten and turned into ancient force.
Radiance Hall Envoy of the Final Age of Dharma candidate, Maek Jin.
Attraction Force Connection.
History Revision.
The connection between Maek Jin and I, who do not meet in the current timeline.
But through the authority of Immortal Beast King, I summon the connection between him and me from another timeline, and revise that history to fit this current timeline. Chwararararak!
As if the Taiji is rotating the world, by my will, history twists, and into the twisted history is inserted the interpretation of a new history.
The "fragments of power" that Maek Jin scattered in Heavenly King Heavenly Domain at the time of the Vast Cold Great War, so that he may revive upon death.
Into the history of those fragments of power, the history of 'me' is inserted and embedded.
The Heaven Immortals of Radiance Hall are sensitive toward the history revisions of their nemesis, the Earth Immortals, but...
Chwararararak!
When the authority of my [Wheel] combines with the authority of Immortal Beast King, my history revision becomes vast enough to rival the history revision of the Head Realm, covering all of Mount Sumeru.
Thanks to that, other than the Underworld, Great Mountain, and the Heavenly Kings of the Earth Immortal pathway, none are able to perceive my history revision.
If Torch Candle Heavenly Lord were at their peak, they might have noticed...
But after the Naming Supreme Deity Battle, the Torch Candle Heavenly Lord is too busy shoving the Heavenly Void Furnace back into Head Realm to notice my history revision. Furthermore, the Torch Candle Heavenly Lord is a Heaven Immortal who only touches history by borrowing the power of the Heavenly Void Furnace and the Head Realm, therefore they fall short of being a true Heavenly Venerable rank of the Earth Immortal pathway.
After completing that history revision through my clone Seo Gyeong, blood spurts all over my body and my head explodes.
Pukwagwang!
As my head explodes, perhaps due to the main authority of the Heaven Immortal that watches us, the composition of my clone transforms into resplendent moonlight.
From within the exploding clone, traces of Maek Jin spill out.
:: Maek Jin..2 : =
From the sense of doubt that I feel from them, it seems they do indeed know Maek Jin. For a while, that Heaven Immortal stares at me intently, as though connecting with somewhere in Radiance Hall to peruse the records of the Heavenly King Heavenly Domain. Then, as if convinced, they begin reconstructing my exploded clone. ::lhavecausedyoutrouble.::
Chwarararak!
The Heaven Immortal adjusts their rank and revives all of us who died in this trial, including me, before vanishing from that place.
Tststststs!
I act dazed with a blank face after being revived by them.
"Tsk, what a bothersome fellow."
When I decode the [wisdom] remaining in the mind of the clone, I see that the name of that Heaven Immortal just now is Wol Woon (F%/Moon Cloud), a being who treads the immortal Dao of Moonlight (B3).
Since their Immortal Dao is a direct branch diverged from the Immortal Dao of Radiance, they are indeed a promising Heaven Immortal, and...
'So that mortal being called "Wol Ah' is their direct descendant.'
it seems they are also someone holding the position of Law Protecting Immortal of Radiance Hall, like Ho Woon.
"Ah, that's right.'
And I remember that the being called Wol Woon is one whose main body I once burst apart and killed when I invaded the Heavenly King Heavenly Domain.
"The power of their Immortal Dao was usable enough...but their fundamentals were weak, so they were weaker than Ho Woon. Why then does the [wisdom] say that they have a promising future? Ah, I see. It is not an objective evaluation but simply what they themselves think, which has come to me."
I click my tongue inwardly and continue looking around with a dumb expression, and then the Sacred Vessel Sacred Master of the Radiance Spirit Sect approaches me as I look dumbfounded and speaks.
"Have you come to your senses? It seems you also have had the arrangement of a Heaven Immortal of Radiance Hall. Thanks to that, you have survived, and this too is a fortuitous encounter. You too seem to be born with a strong fate, so you also pass this trial."
"Is, is that true...2"
At my question, the Sacred Master, who seems to be from the Earth Tribe, rubs his head and nods.
And so...
Though I suffered trouble because of the Heaven Immortal called Wol Woon,
Without having to undergo the troublesome trial, I became a disciple of the Radiance Spirit Sect.
"Disciples who pass the entrance trial of the Radiance Spirit Sect are basically treated as common disciples. But among them, those who achieve the first, second, and third place in the entrance trial are specially taken in as direct disciples by the seniors of the Radiance Spirit Sect."
Guided by Baek Yeong, the sect leader of the Radiance Spirit Sect and a demon beast Sacred Master from the Heavenly Dog Race, 'Wol Ah' walks toward the inner valley of the Radiance Spirit Sect with those called second and third place.
"To think I am a descendant of a Heaven Immortal...
Wol Ah was born at the Core Formation stage.
From birth, she carried a Golden Core within her, and even a part of her Nascent Soul has already manifested.
Now, at thirteen years old, she has already reached the half-step Nascent Soul stage, and in fact, she has already embodied the enlightenment of the Heavenly Being stage. As a genius who shakes Heaven and Earth, she came to the Radiance Spirit Sect carrying all the expectations of the cultivation clan she was born into, and she has come to know the source of her talent.
Of course, her talent originates not merely from being the descendant of a Heaven immortal, but literally from the fate bestowed by Radiance Hall. Stil, realizing she is the direct descendant of a Heaven Immortal makes her hold her head high.
"In this Radiance Spirit Sect, am I the greatest prodigy?'
Passing the trial of enduring the gaze of a Heaven Immortal and receiving their wisdom, she can already foresee her future.
The Radiance Spirit Sect is merely a stepping stone, for in a very short span she will surpass even this Sacred Vessel Sacred Master before her and become a True Immortal. Since that is certain, she thinks it only natural that the Sacred Vessel Sacred Master personally guides them to their teachers.
But there is something unpleasant.
I can understand the Sacred Vessel Sacred Master Baek Yeong not personally taking me as their disciple.'
She had already heard in advance that the rules of the Radiance Spirit Sect are like that. The rules of the Radiance Sect were established by a True Immortal from the Radiance Spirit Sect itself, so she can accept them.
"But why do I have to go to be assigned a master together with the second and third place, who are far inferior to me?"
She looks at those called second and third place, "Seo Gyeong' and Pal Jin.'
Seo Gyeong is a dumb-looking Qi Building stage, and Pal Jin, though at Core Formation stage, does not seem to have any special talent, even less than Seo Gyeong.
"Truly annoying. Why must I, together with such things...
And it is then, when she arrives with Baek Yeong at the inner valley of the Radiance Spirit Sect, where the Esteemed Ones of the Star Shattering stage dwell.
"Baek Geom (White Sword), come forth."
Kurururung!
As though thunder rumbles, a woman descends before Baek Yeong and them, her face covered by a silver mask, her whole body wrapped in bandages, and wearing a silver robe.
"Hm..."
Baek Geom looks at Wol Ah and Pal Jin and speaks curtly.
"This one is my direct successor candidate, and this one is the candidate of Pearl Jade?"
on
Wol Ah looks up at Baek Yeong in puzzlement at what is being said, but Baek Yeong only sweats coldly and smiles awkwardly, as if they heard nothing at all.
"They are Junior Sister's disciple. Wol Ah, as you can see, is born with a powerful fate. Seo Gyeong and Pal Jin are..."
"Ah, I know, I know. I'l take all three as my disciples. Go take care of your business." "Yes, Junior Sister."
As if it is uncomfortable to face Baek Geom, Baek Yeong gives a full respectful bow to Baek Geom and then leaves in a hurry as though fleeing. Seeing this, Wol Ah grows confused.
"Since they are both of the Baek surname, it seems they are of the same line... Moreover, the Sect Leader has a higher realm, so why do they speak so respectfully to that one?" But before she has the chance to dwell on that thought, Baek Geom roughly gropes Seo Gyeong's body and speaks.
"For now, you two train on your own. This one shows no sign of talent, so I must do a talent inspection.
"Sw-Sword-White True..."
"Hehehe, who is that supposed to be? I am the Esteemed One 'Baek Geom' (White sword), so I know no such person. And I am your master, so obediently follow my words."
Finishing her words, Baek Geom hoists Seo Gyeong over her shoulder. As she turns at once to leave, Wol Ah calls out hurriedly.
"M, Master...? Please wait... If you could watch over our cultivation just a little..."
"Hm, you two are born with fate, so you have no need for such help. Even if you only breathe, your realm will rise on its own, so do not disturb me."
At the irresponsible words of Esteemed One Baek Geom, Wol Ah's mouth falls open in disbelief, and Pal Jin, sweating, also speaks.
"M, Master...2 In truth, there is something I must reveal..."
"I know what you mean. In truth, you have no talent, and the reason you have come this far is thanks to the secret of that mysterious jewel you possess, is it not?"
ow
"That mysterious jewel is not separate from you, but a tool derived from your fate. That too is part of your talent, so use it well. In fact, many Pearl Jade candidates grow just lie you, relying on external tools. Using it well to reach a higher realm is your own task. To give some advice, both of you are born with the fate of metal...so if you eat things ike iron powder as though it were your daily food, your essence will resonate and your cultivation will progress more quickly."
Having said this, Baek Geom takes Seo Gyeong and disappears into her own cave residence.
This all happens in but a moment after Baek Geom becomes their master.
Two years pass after Seo Eun-hyun, Wol Ah, Pal Jin, and the others join the Radiance Spirit Sect.
The three reach the edge of the Minor Boundary in no time.
All in the Radiance Spirit Sect praise their talent, and by all rights they should be brimming with confidence and pride in their own talent and fate, filed with a sense of superiority.
However, Wol Ah cannot.
"Seo Gyeong!t"
In her own cave residence, Wol Ah grits her teeth and screams toward Seo Gyeong.
No matter how much she is born with talent of a thousand ages, the realm of a Heavenly Being is not easy.
Even if she already embodied enlightenment up to the Heavenly Being stage, it is not something she could reach just breathing.
Thus, she believed that upon reaching the Heavenly Being stage, she would be able to draw her master's attention.
But...
—You only now reached the Heavenly Being stage? At this rate, can you even become a successor...tsk.
Only Baek Geom's cold sneer greeted her.
She still cannot tell if this one is truly her master.
"Surely I surpass them in talent. My fate is stronger as well.
And yet...
For some reason, Baek Geom only pays attention to Seo Gyeong.
Even though Seo Gyeong is still only in the late Nascent Soul stage.
"Why in the world...2 Why..2 Even though within a hundred years I could catch up to Master's realm...why...2"
She cannot understand why she feels so resentful.
It feels as if the existence called Baek Geom is powerfully connected to her, and if Baek Geom denies her, her very existence itself is denied.
"Hey, Wol Ah."
Then, startled by Seo Gyeong's voice suddenly calling her from outside her cave residence, Wol Ah flinches and steps outside.
"Why, what is it, Seo Gyeong?"
Despite the strong inferiority she feels toward Seo Gyeong, Wol Ah greets him with a bright smile in front of him.
In any case, as a natural-born genius, she must maintain outward dignity. "Congratulations on reaching the Heavenly Being stage. Master may not say it, but she cherishes you. It's just that Master's gaze is a little hard to understand, so it feels cold." "Ahaha, thanks for the congratulations."
After exchanging kind words with Seo Gyeong, Wol Ah goes back inside her cave residence.
But even with Seo Gyeong's "comfort,' she only suffers deeper under her Heart Demon. "What...? Hard to understand? Then you mean, you understand Master? Someone like you?'
Budududuk...
Anger rises.
Seo Gyeong's kind appearance, Esteemed One Baek Geom who for some reason only pays attention to Seo Gyeong.
And most of all, herself!
"I must...become overwhelmingly stronger than Seo Gyeong.
She believes there is only one way to resolve the inexplicable inferiority she feels toward Seo Gyeong.
Overwhelming advancement in cultivation!
Only that can dissolve her sense of inferiority toward Seo Gyeong.
'I must devote myself more to cultivation. Even more..."
And then, just as Wol Ah is about to begin cultivation at the Heavenly Being stage while engulfed by her Heart Demon—
From her shadow, a [voice] speaks.
:: Do you desire power? : :
"..What?"
At the sound of that single utterance, she suddenly beholds an illusion.
itis the divine spirit of a Sword Mountain, with glass swords sprouting all over. "Power.?"
Hearing the call of the Mountain Divine Spirit from within her Heart Demon, the pupils of Wol Ah, the next Sword Spear Heavenly Lord candidate, begin to tremble madly.