"Azure Cloud Heart Method..."
Wo-woong—
As she cultivates the basic Qi Building method that creates blue clouds around her with each breath, Wol Ryeong feels fascinated.
"Is this a basic Qi Building method...?"
itis fascinating.
She was born as an innate Core Formation.
From childhood, the formulas of the Qi Refining and Qi Building instinctively embedded into her spirit.
She thinks it is truly fascinating that this realm, which she could reach just by breathing, someone else has to gasp for breath from the very beginning to climb up toward.
"How curious..."
Pachijik...
The blue clouds of the Azure Cloud Heart Method form faint lightning.
"After the Azure Cloud Heart Method comes the Lightning Spirit Single Qi Formula.
It is a method that temporarily turns the whole body into a lightning spirit and provides an enormous affinity with thunder and lightning.
"The method itself...is specialized in summoning what is called the spirit of lightning."
In an instant, her talent sees through the essence of the method.
"A tool... This Thunder Resonance Valley itself is a vast tool and altar to summon the power of the God that is worshiped here."
The very thing called Thunder Resonance Valley is no different from a foothold for the power of the Upper Realm to descend into the Vast Cold Realm.
"Do these people know that?"
As she looks toward the other Qi Building and Core Formation disciples who have come to hear the dharma sermon of the Nascent Soul Elder, Divine Power Wondrous Salvation True Lord Heo of Thunder Resonance Valley, she gazes at Thunder Resonance Valley for a long time.
The doctrines of Thunder Resonance Valley, the customs of Thunder Resonance Valley, the very meaning of existence of Thunder Resonance Valley, are thoroughly analyzed by her and become assimilated into her.
Wol Ryeong rapidly absorbs the knowledge and wisdom of Thunder Resonance Valley. [Look at that, their name is Divine Power Wondrous Salvation True Lord Heo.
[What kind of Nascent Soul stage cultivator has the name True Lord, puhaha!]
Mu Geom and Bi Hwa laugh through voice transmission while wanting to scratch the belly of the Nascent Soul Elder giving the sermon up front, and Wol Ryeong, seeing the world through the completely new perspective of the Qi Building stage she is now experiencing, feels many things.
"Gyeong-ah, why do you think those people do what's called effort?"
"Hm? What are you talking about?"
"They must already know themselves... Even if they work that hard, their limit is the Core Formation stage...or perhaps the Nascent Soul stage. To reach beyond that, they would need a truly enormous fortuitous encounter. But why do they go that far, to the point of almost dying...even crawling before Elders who are at most at the Nascent Soul stage to do so?"
She asks about things she does not understand.
As one born as an innate Core Formation, instinctively feeling the power of fate and unconsciously realizing the structure of this world and her own future, she cannot understand beings at or below the Qi Building stage wriggling and struggling.
No...
To be honest, she cannot even understand Integration stage cultivators like Mu Geom and Bi Hwa, who are at a realm similar to hers.
"Why do people all strive to escape their own birth station?"
"...You're curious why they try to escape their birth station?"
"...Yes. People all have something called fate given to them. And if you look closely at the circumstances you are in and your own potential...even without learning Immortal Cultivation, you can guess your fate. But...why do people not examine their own fate and instead strive to reach beyond it?"
"Hm..."
Seo Gyeong's eyes shine as he hears the question.
"...Well. Perhaps...the very act of struggling is fate itself."
"The very act of struggling is fate?"
Wol Ryeong frowns at that slightly peculiar remark.
Seeing the beings at or below the Qi Building stage struggling, she does think they are foolish, but she has no intention of denying that free will.
She even thinks that, foolish though it may be, the very act of continuing to struggle is beautiful.
However, Seo Gyeong's words feel somehow unpleasant.
It feels as though he is saying free will does not exist.
Free will.
With the feeling that those words are tightly binding her chest, Wol Ryeong asks Seo Gyeong again.
"If even struggling under fate is fate, does that mean freedom does not exist?"
Seo Gyeong stares straight at Wol Ryeong.
"..It doesn't exist. That's what I think."
Wol Ryeong does not understand what Seo Gyeong means and bites her lips hard.
But it is difficult to deny.
For if the heavens hold something called fate, and under that fate all things of all phenomena are decided, then it is true that free will does not exist.
And for some reason, though she does not like Seo Gyeong's answer, she cannot form any logic to deny it.
Life in Thunder Resonance Valley while lowering her realm is an entirely new experience. As soon as Wol Ryeong, Mu Geom, and Bi Hwa entered the valley, they reached the Qi Building stage, and once they became Qi Building cultivators, they often suffered direct humiliation from countless Core Formation disciples.
"Ahaha, so you're that famous next Sword Spear candidate!"
"..2 What is that supposed to..."
"Uhuhu, shut up! As a newcomer, I'm saying you should lick your senior's feet." "W-Wait..."
"Uugkh...wonderful. One of the next Eight Immortals is...my feet...uhuhu...!"
Bi Hwa gets caught by a Grand Perfection Core Formation disciple called Golden Shaking Bird, and every day she is made to wash her soft feet. Mu Geom, with his fluffy tail fur being popular, is frequently seized by female Core Formation disciples.
At least no special harassment falls upon Wol Ryeong, but even she has to run errands on her own feet, so she constantly experiences new things.
"Wol Ryeong. Install a formation here in this part. You can draw these symbols properly, correct?"
"Yes, Elder Ten Thousand Laws."
She is often caught by the Elder Ten Thousand Law Spiritual Lord and ordered to do errands like installing formations.
Running around on errands here and there, she gradually senses instinctively that some transcendent existence is taking interest in Thunder Resonance Valley on a metaphysical level.
"Gradually...the God is approaching."
itis said Thunder Resonance Valley serves two gods.
One is the God of Thunder and Lightning, whom she does not know well but seems famous among the beings here.
The second is a being she knows well, the Devil God of Sword Mountain.
Yet the Devil God of Sword Mountain is not very well known, and only the group called the Colorless Faction seems to mainly worship that devil god.
'I don't know why...but that being, the Devil God of Sword Mountain. I feel like I will face that being again this time."
She ponders.
"For some reason...I feel like I am standing on top of the plans of transcendent divinities." The question she asked Seo Gyeong not long ago about free will is because of these vast wills pressing on her back recently.
'If transcendent beings are arranging my fate, and I only live according to that fate...then do I truly not have free will?"
—Free will doesn't exist. That's what I think.
For some reason, Seo Gyeong's words, spoken with such certainty, continue to bother her in a corner of her heart.
'If free will doesn't exist...then why must I keep struggling to raise my realm? Can't I just sit still in this place..?'
As time passes, her troubles only deepen.
And amid such doubts about her own free will and within her inner Heart Demon, the time arrives.
Kurururung!
Wol Ryeong, along with about one hundred excellent Qi Building and Core Formation disciples of Thunder Resonance Valley, about sixty excellent Nascent Soul stage Elders, around ten Heavenly Being stage Grand Elders, four Great Grand Elders of the Four-Axis stage, and the Sect Leader, the Lightning Sword High Person at the Integration stage, gather and begin the sacrificial ritual.
Though called excellent disciples, in truth they are those who have deeper faith in the gods worshiped by Thunder Resonance Valley than anyone else in the valley, willing to offer their very lives for the gods.
[Today! On this spot, that lord shall descend! All must greet them]
Wol Ryeong watches the Lightning Sword High Person from afar.
Wearing a red faceless mask, bare-chested with red lower garments, reaching his hands toward the sky, his appearance seems rather grotesque.
"Why is he doing such a thing?"
Why is she, knowing she stands upon the hands of transcendent beings, here to resist their influence?
"Does he do such things by his own free will? If so, am I also doing this by my own free will?"
The Lightning Sword High Person and the four Great Law Protectors of Thunder Resonance Valley activate the formation.
Kurururung!
The Heaven and Earth spiritual energy of the Earth Tribe territory heads toward Thunder Resonance Valley.
Jieoooooong!
The entirety of Thunder Resonance Valley seems to boil, and according to their formation, the Heaven and Earth spiritual energy gathered from the entire Earth Tribe territory rapidly amplifies.
itis the Amplifying Spirits ritual.
Sensing the scale of that enormous power, Wol Ryeong falls into thought.
"Fate...cannot be defeated by strength. Then with what does one prove oneself? To prove one's free will beneath fate...what must one do?"
Kurururung!
The Heaven and Earth spiritual energy amplified by the Amplifying Spirits ritual soon begins to be offered through the Lightning Sword High Person to some existence. Kwarururung!
Wol Ryeong, trembling under the will of the God of Thunder Resonance Valley, the [God of Heavenly Punishment], who sends part of their split soul to the ritual, thinks.
"Is the only way to become an even greater existence? Is becoming a greater existence, and with that great power, guaranteeing only the free will of those beneath oneself, truly the only way?"
Without even thinking that the self-questioning she asks herself is questioning the essence of Radiance Hall, she continually asks herself and undergo repentant enlightenment.
"Is this path I walk the right one?"
She, recalling the countless moments she has seen and experienced during the ten months she lived as a Qi Building disciple, sinks into agony.
More than the thirty years she lived as a proud disciple of Radiance Spirit Sect, the three hundred days she lived as a Qi Building cultivator are throwing her into confusion.
She is changing from the ten months she spent as a Qi Building disciple of Thunder Resonance Valley.
Kurururung—
Soon the will of the transcendent existence fades, and the third ritual begins.
Kwarurung!
The spirit of lightning begins to descend into the Lightning Sword High Person, who wears a red mask.
Urururung!
The Lightning Sword High Person's flesh begins to undergo lightning transformation. Wearing the red mask, he receives the spirit of lightning, dyeing his whole body golden. Red lightning turns golden, and a golden lightning spirit is being summoned to this place. This lightning spirit, after stabilising inside the Lightning Sword High Person, will again move its dwelling into the bodies of the Four Great Law Protectors of Thunder Resonance Valley.
When thus a total of four spirits are summoned, it is said that the divine artifact of the God of Heavenly Punishment, the Heavenly Lightning Banner, will be summoned. [Remember well. There is only one chance. Before that lightning spirit enters the bodies of the Four Great Law Protectors, you must ambush the Four Great Law Protectors and kill them in one strike. I will handle the Lightning Sword High Person. Can you do it?]
The ritual of Spirit Summoning that at last begins in earnest.
Within that ritual, the voice transmission of Geuk Gwang enters her ears, and Wol Ryeong nods.
Soon, the voice of the Slaughtering Heaven Esteemed One Geuk Gwang, who exchanges voice transmissions with Seo Gyeong, Mu Geom, and Bi Hwa, resounds. [When the signal of True Dragon Alliance Lord Gyu Ryeon comes, begin the ambush at once. Now then, all of you, prepare.]
Wol Ryeong closes her eyes and counts inwardly.
The feint operation with Gyu Ryeon, who will attack the main mountain of Thunder Resonance Valley from outside and shake Thunder Resonance Valley, is about to begin. She tries to calm herself by counting numbers, but even though she counts, is not at ease.
The topic of free will is incessantly reproduced in her head and is driving her into a Heart Demon.
"The answer about free will...what is it?"
Finally, she stomps her foot.
Kwagwagwagwang!
At that same moment, Gyu Ryeon's all-out attack begins to pound Thunder Resonance Valley's main mountain.
[000000000h!]
Kugugugung!
By the attack of the Quasi-Star Shattering stage Dragon King Gyu Ryeon, the entire region, including Thunder Resonance Valley, shakes, and the gazes of everyone in Thunder Resonance Valley scatters at the sudden ambush.
And Wol Ryeong, who stomped her foot in that gap, reaches one of the four Great Law Protectors.
Flash!
As she exudes the divine might of the Integration stage she has hidden all this time, she bursts and kills in one strike the Grand Perfection Four-Axis stage Great Law Protector assigned to her.
The Four-Axis stage Law Protector's body bursts apart, and their spirit immediately vanishes from the spot, seeking to use the function of the Four-Axis stage to resurrect. With no time to even be shocked at the instant death of one of the Four-Axis stage cultivators, the other Four-Axis cultivators are likewise ambushed by Seo Gyeong, Mu Geom, and Bi Hwa.
Under the all-out assault of the Integration stage cultivators who hid among the other disciples, they have no choice but to collapse.
The, Esteemed One Geuk Gwang charges at the Lightning Sword High Person.
Lightning Sword High Person is charged by Esteemed One Geukgwang.
"You all disrupt the formation, I will take him!"
Geuk Gwang summons a radiance halberd and rushes at the Lightning Sword High Person, and the Lightning Sword High Person and the Tall Tree Race's Star Shattering Esteemed One, Geuk Gwang, collide.
Jjeoeong, jieooooeoeong!
Light and lightning explode as the two beings clash.
Lightning Sword High Person may only be at the Integration stage, but within him is a direct apostle of the God of Heavenly Punishment.
A spirit of lightning.
Though not yet stabilized, the lightning spirit endlessly presses Geuk Gwang and blows them away toward the sky of the Vast Cold Realm, and Geuk Gwang grits their teeth and stands against the spirit of lightning.
[Condemn the heretic scum who harm the Valley Lord!!!]
[Kill them]
Kugugugugu!
Countless disciples of Thunder Resonance Valley rush at them.
The eyes of the Thunder Resonance Valley disciples are dyed with fanaticism, and seeing them, Mu Geom and Bi Hwa sneer.
Mu Geom and Bi Hwa, who had no choice but to be tormented by them due to the secret operation, have their eyes filled with killing intent. Especially Bi Hwa, who was caught by a disciple named Golden Shaking Bird and, for reasons she cannot understand, treated almost like a plaything, raises her Integrated Dao Domain as if to massacre them all even a moment faster.
itis then,
Kwarururung!
[Al of you, be still.]
The attraction force spreading from Wol Ryeong distorts the surrounding space and forces everyone to collapse to the ground.
Kwaaaang!
All existences at or below the Heavenly Being stage are seized by Wol Ryeong's immense power and are pressed to the ground, and Wol Ryeong's calm words sweep across the entirety of Thunder Resonance Valley.
[1 am the Integration stage Grand Cultivator of the Human Race, Wol Ryeong. Not only I, but also Mu Geom and Bi Hwa are all at the Grand Perfection Integration stage. Seo Gyeong has also just risen to the very beginning of the Integration stage. You have no chance of victory. Therefore...do not resist and stay still. If you do so, I shall not kill you.] "Haah, Junior Sister. You are too soft. These are heretics who serve evil gods. Can we not just kill them all?"
"That's right, Junior Sister. These bastards...have you forgotten what that bitch Golden Shaking Bird did to me for ten months!? Even if you stop me, I have to tear at least that one to death!"
Mu Geom and Bi Hwa, irritated, vent their complaints to Wol Ryeong.
But in that instant, meeting her gaze, Mu Geom and Bi Hwa freeze completely.
Shiver!
"...Do you truly need to do so?"
Wol Ryeong's gaze is now far different from before.
And only then do Mu Geom and Bi Hwa realize what has happened to Wol Ryeong. 'Insane...Q-Quasi Star Shattering stage...!?"
In ten months she reached the Quasi-Star Shattering stage..? Has she become a monster!?'
"...J-Junior Sister...we should do as you say. Haha, sorry. I tried to push through too much with my authority as a senior brother, right?"
"I'm sorry, Junior Sister. I'l just be scratching their bellies. Ahaha..."
Mu Geom and Bi Hwa, seeing Wol Ryeong's gaze, awkwardly lay down Ten Thousand Law Spiritual Lord and Eastern Brilliance Spiritual Lord, who are kneeling nearby, and begin scratching their bellies.
"...You, do you even know whose bellies you are scratching right now?"
Ten Thousand Law Spiritual Lord and Eastern Brilliance Spiritual Lord only look at the two with dumbfounded faces.
"Of course, you would be dumbfounded. But the truth is, we were not Qi Building disciples, but at the Integration stage, you see?"
"Hahaha, how cute. It's so sudden you still can't grasp the situation, huh. Do you know how funny it was every time we saw you acting lofty about being a Nascent Soul?"
Mu Geom and Bi Hwa, to avoid Wol Ryeong's gaze, treat the two Nascent Soul Elders who find the absurd situation as if they are cute and scratch their bellies, and Wol Ryeong turns her eyes and surveys the surroundings.
Wol Ryeong uses her Integration stage attraction force to make everyone in the area kneel, suppressing them so they cannot perform any spells, divine powers, or actions. However...
Among those gathered here, not a single one yields to her attraction force, and they keep trying to rise without stopping.
"...I believe I said it already. If you resist, I will kill you."
Kugugung!
She releases an even stronger attraction force.
All around, low-level disciples cough up blood.
Yet, even though she now emits an attraction force as if to soon kill them...
No one here stops resisting.
Wol Ryeong opens her mouth.
[...The difference in strength is immense.]
Her mental speech spreads throughout the area.
[With the Four-Axis stage cultivators dead, even if all of you at or below the Heavenly Being stage rush in...you cannot even defeat Seo Gyeong, who is the weakest among us.]
At Wol Ryeong's words, Seo Gyeong's expression briefly turns strange, but it soon vanishes.
[If you resist, you only die. I am seeking a way for you to live. Do not make a foolish choice. Do not force yourselves to rise while bleeding, just to chase some clumsy freedom.]
And then, she sees it.
The fanatics gathered for this ritual are all, in unison, straining with all their might to resist.
Kwarung, kwarururung!
In the sky, Gyu Ryeon and Geuk Gwang are pressing the spirit of lightning and the Lightning Sword High Person whom it possesses.
The spirit of lightning, a direct apostle of the God of Heavenly Punishment, is powerful, but now faced with a many-against-one situation, it seems to be overmatched as it begins to concede attacks.
[The lightning spirit you summoned cannot defeat the Star Shattering Esteemed One who have come with us. Even so, will you keep resisting? Will you die a meaningless dog's death?)
At Wol Ryeong's question, someone opens their mouth.
"..Itis not...meaningless."
[.What?]
itis the head of the Colorless Faction of Thunder Resonance Valley, a person named Tae Ryeok.
"..My ancestor...was a Buddhist nun. She reached only about the Heavenly Being stage at a hall called Grand Nirvana Temple and lived leisurely, met a suitable connection, and lived suitably."
Dudududu—
They try to rise, and Wol Ryeong presses them down even harder.
But she does not silence their mouth.
"She was abandoned by her parents. But as she studied Buddhism at the Grand Nirvana Temple, she said she had such thoughts. That if she is one abandoned by her parents, and if such is her fate, then where does the meaning of her existence lie? She said she agonized over such thoughts."
Seo Gyeong, as if recalling something, focuses on their story and wears an expression sunk in reminiscence,
And Wol Ryeong perceives that something is changing within Tae Ryeok.
"What is this?'
Something is strange.
From the person called Tae Ryeok, she feels an alienness that cannot even be put into words.
"And...as she passed away, though it is not some grand answer, she found an answer of her own. If fate has abandoned me, has the Buddhism I polished also abandoned me?" Uduk, udududuk!
oo
Wol Ryeong shivers in shock.
Tae Ryeok, who is merely at the Heavenly Being stage, is resisting the attraction force of the Perfection Integration stage Wol Ryeong and is slowly...
Standing up from their place.
"If the heavens have abandoned me...have the taenghwa I have drawn also abandoned me? Has the building called Grand Nirvana Temple where I have lived also abandoned me...1?"
Jjeoeong!
And at last, Tae Ryeok stands up from their place.
And an anomaly occurs.
Uduk, ududududeuk!
Heavenly Being stage cultivators.
Especially those who reached the Grand Perfection Heavenly Being stage begin to rise one by one, resisting Wol Ryeong's attraction force.
"There may be an absolute difference... We may absolutely not be able to defeat you... But! Even so, we will struggle."
[...Even though you cannot win?]
"Even if we cannot win, we can still wear away a tiny bit of your energy."
[it will be nothing more than a speck of energy.]
"Is not a great mountain...born from just such specks gathering together?"
[..]
"Even if I fall here and die, the things I have done will not abandon me. The ones I hold precious...the Thunder Resonance Valley which I have cherished will care for the ones left behind and pray for me who has died. That alone...is enough."
Kwaaaang!
At those words, a strange rotational force felt around them completely pushes away Wol Ryeong's attraction force.
The Grand Perfection Heavenly Being cultivators, including Tae Ryeok, rise fully to their feet.
Wol Ryeong sees in their dantians a strange formula revolving in cycles.
itis a Heavenly Circle.
"What is that? Is that not...the formula of Acceptance at Fate's End... How in the world did they reach the Grand Perfection Heavenly Being stage with another formula...2 No, more than that, how are Grand Perfection Heavenly Being cultivators emitting this level of attraction force...?'
Wol Ryeong stares at them taken aback, and the Grand Perfection Heavenly Being cultivators, including Tae Ryeok, all simultaneously form a hand seal.
It happens at that moment.
Flash!
Heaven and Earth rumble, and Tae Ryeok and all of the Colorless Faction summon their swords and charge Wol Ryeong in unison.
Heavenly Being stage, Nascent Soul stage, Core Formation stage—it does not matter. Every Colorless Faction cultivator connects with Tae Ryeok, sharing his Heavenly Circle formula, and rushes Wol Ryeong together. At that sight...
Wol Ryeong opens her mouth.
"Beau...tiful."
Why is it so?
To Wol Ryeong, their sight is more beautiful than any rare jewel in this world, more beautiful than any fine elixir or dharma treasure.
And, Wol Ryeong stretches out her hand toward the disciples of the Colorless Faction radiating such beauty.
"With my own hands...I must kill it. This beauty..."
There is no joy in it.
Only deep regret fills her.
And so, at the very moment countless disciples of the Colorless Faction are about to be massacred by her hand—
"I offer it."
[17]
Kururururung!
A thunderous clap of lightning strikes her ears.
Wol Ryeong, along with Mu Geom and Bi Hwa, realizes what has happened and is aghast.
The Four Great Law Protectors of Thunder Resonance Valley, who died in their ambush and went to resurrect through the soul passage, have returned and offered a "sacrifice'. And that sacrifice is none other than...
[You insane cultist bastards...1!]
The lives of the vast majority of the hundreds of Thunder Resonance Valley disciples gathered here.
From the Four Directions, the barrier of the Four Great Law Protectors, tearing out their own hearts and offering them toward the sky, unfolds, and all the fanatics within the area, filled with sincere devotion toward the God of Heavenly Punishment, are simultaneously being [offered].
Kururururung!
Thunderclaps and heavenly lightning sweep the surroundings wildly.
Wol Ryeong widens her eyes.
"They...they are transforming into lightning..?'
Countless disciples of Thunder Resonance Valley all at once begin transforming into lightning and are being transmitted somewhere.
The disciples of Thunder Resonance Valley do not seem surprised by this sudden situation. They only kneel, clasping their hands together in prayer.
[Return to thee.]
[Return to thee.]
[Return to thee...]
All the fanatics, except for the forty-eight Nascent Soul Elders who seem lacking in faith, undergo lightning transformation and are transmitted somewhere.
Sensing an immense threat, Wol Ryeong looks up to the sky.
'Something...is coming..."
"Return to thee..."
"Return to thee..."
Countless beings raise their prayers toward the sky, and at last, when all the disciples of Thunder Resonance Valley are made to return (8) to some existence— Kurururururung!
Flash!
Geuk Gwang and Gyu Ryeon, who are pressing the lightning spirit while fighting against itin the sky, are suddenly flung away.
"Strengthening the lighting spirit? No, this ritual is..."
Wol Ryeong clenches her teeth as cold sweat flows.
"Its a ritual that summons the spirits of lightning all at once...!"
A method that, in exchange for human sacrifice, summons countless spirits at once to hasten the ritual.
"You vile cult bastards!"
"How could you do such a thing!?"
Mu Geom and Bi Hwa shout in rage and confusion at the wicked deeds of the fanatics. Wol Ryeong too does not know what to do, shaken by the ominous intuition pounding against her head.
"...Ryeong-ah, let's move."
"...Wh-What are you saying, Seo Gyeong..2"
Her body trembles.
"Can you not...feel it? Right now...it's not just three more lightning spirits that are about to be summoned. This is..."
Shiver!
She feels a [Gaze] looking at her from beyond the sky.
That [Gaze] is the same as when she, as a child, once received the gaze of the Divine Spirit of Sword Mountain.
"It is a God...the Evil God of Thunder Resonance Valley...is trying to interfere with us... If that being just breathes a little more power into the spirits of lightning that are being summoned...we're...finished...!"
"It's not the end, Ryeong."
"What are you saying, Seo Gyeong! You said it yourself! There is no free will. Everything in this world...is fate. It is already fixed."
Sensing the presence of the Owner of Heavenly Punishment distorting the fate of the heavens and beginning to interfere with the Vast Cold Realm, Wol Ryeong lets out tears as she feels her brain go numb.
"You said it yourself... So then...how can mortal beings resist existences beyond fate..." "..Ryeong-ah."
Then, Seo Gyeong takes her hand.
"..It's okay. Even if the God of Heavenly Punishment descends, the fact that I am by your side does not change. The fact that I am holding your hand does not change."
"om
"Itis said only what the heavens bestow is fate, but in truth, we also carry our own fate." Seo Gyeong brings a hand to his chest and speaks.
"If our being born is fate, and our end is fate...then our struggle is also fate."
"What...2"
"There is no free will. We cannot live as we wish. But...within absolute fate, we can still choose what shape we take...we can choose at least that much."
"..What do you mean by taking shape? Even if you change shape, you can't escape the situation. At best, it might not make even a speck of difference."
"But we can change at least a speck."
"What meaning does that even have!?"
"All change originally begins from such a speck. At the very least...we can announce the beginning of change."
Wol Ryeong looks at Seo Gyeong.
Is it because of his youthful form?
Or is it because of her genius talent?
Or is it because of their master's favoritism?
All this time, she has unconsciously thought of Seo Gyeong as younger than herself.
But in this moment, for some reason, Seo Gyeong looks like an existence older than anyone else.
"Even if nothing changes right away...the single trajectory I swing may become the cornerstone of change. Just as the beginning of Immortal Cultivation starts from the most basic act of creating the field of the heart (73/dantian) through the power of Yin- Yang and Five Elements."
"... was born at the Core Formation stage, so I do not know such things."
"This time you came to understand the perspectives of those of Qi Refining and Qi Building. As you live, you will come to understand such things too. So, Ryeong-ah. Let's ive."
Clench—
As Wol Ryeong unconsciously senses the transcendent divine presence and falls into despair, Seo Gyeong takes her hand and raises her up.
"Let's live, struggling. Then, maybe, we'll be able to know more."
"...What if, no matter what we do, there's no hope, and no matter what we do, there's no chance of living?"
"Then...at the very least, we should try so that we can die in the shape we want."
At those words, Wol Ryeong suddenly becomes curious.
"...Who did you learn such words from?"
At that, Seo Gyeong smiles faintly, summons a radiance sword, and flies toward the corpses of the Four Great Law Protectors who lift their hearts to the sky and form the formation.
And he lets out a single line.
"...From Ryeong."
Wol Ryeong is confused by those words.
Has she ever said such a thing?
She hasn't.
The Ryeong Seo Gyeong speaks of must be another Ryeong.
Suddenly, Wol Ryeong thinks.
She feels unbearably envious.
The existence of another 'Ryeong' who received Seo Gyeong's gaze makes her feel ridiculously jealous.
"..I can do it, too."
That jealousy, and that anger.
Within them, she finally rises to her feet.
She thinks she knows what Seo Gyeong intends to do.
"You're going to smash the foothold for the God's descent, aren't you? Fine. I'l do it" Tsuaaat!
She pushes her talent to the extreme.
She mobilizes all her senses, recalling that moment when she once received the call of the Divine Spirit of Sword Mountain when she severed the connection between her disciple and the God.
'I will sever the connection between the God of Heavenly Punishment and this altar."
She enters into the domain of Void.
The other side of the Plane of Soul.
The Darkness World where everything is empty.
There, she senses innumerable weaves of results.
"This is...the thread of the God of Heavenly Punishment.'
That thread is unimaginably violent, as though endlessly transforming.
It seems impossible that she could sever it.
But she stirs her anger.
Anger at the situation surrounding her.
Anger at Seo Gyeong who admonishes her.
Anger at that other 'Ryeong' who received Seo Gyeong's gaze.
And anger at herself.
Within that anger, she grasps the radiance halberd and draws a circle.
Shikagagagak!
The circle she draws expands toward the four directions, and thus cleaves the bodies of the Four Great Law Protectors positioned in the four directions.
Jieooooooong!
The bodies of the Four Great Law Protectors, who are the foothold for the descent of the existence called the Heavenly Lightning Banner.
The altar, spread out with their bodies as its axes, collapses.
The phenomenon of the whole world being covered in thunder and lightning subsides, and Wol Ryeong gasps for breath.
Mu Geom and Bi Hwa smile brightly.
"Is it defeated!?"
"It's a success!"
And Wol Ryeong too hears their cheers and smiles.
Somehow she feels as though she has taken one step further.
Kururung!
The body of the Lightning Sword High Person, who presses Geuk Gwang and Gyu Eyeon in the sky, falls miserably to the ground.
Though Geuk Gwang and Gyu Ryeon are flung away, she knows.
"We...succeeded...!?'
They have driven out the will of a God!
An achievement that seems impossible, she has accomplished with her own hands! "Junior Sister!!!"
"As expected of Junior Sister! I believed in you!"
Amid the cheers of Mu Geom and Bi Hwa, she controls her exhausted body and smiles. "Seo Gyeong, your words...were not wrong...
She thinks all is thus resolved.
Eujik!
Bi Hwa bursts apart and dies.
"...Huh?"
Kwaaang!
Without even time to regain her senses, Mu Geom is flung away by something and vanishes into some distant domain, and immediately after, Wol Ryeong barely dodges a kick from some being.
Kwaaang!
And that kick tums directly into a slash, grazing her and carving a massive scar into the cavern where the ritual began.
She looks up at the existence before her eyes.
That being wears a red mask and bears the body of a spirit shining with golden lightning. "Lightning Sword...High Person..2"
itis the state of the Lightning Sword High Person when accepting the spirit of lightning. Looking at that faceless strange existence, she realizes the being before her is not simply the Lightning Sword High Person.
"No...you are...who...2"
And then, that existence utters a "voice.
[My"%"*%name"%&%"...]
And Wol Ryeong's ears explode.
The true name of a transcendent...
[JeonmmamMyeongmmmmmn(&% *aHoon.]
..is a wisdom mortals cannot withstand.
At the following voice, she has no choice but to abandon all hope.
[I am the God of Heavenly Punishment.]
-x-X-x-
itis over.
Wol Ryeong's first thought is that.
What stands before her eyes is the Owner of Heavenly Punishment.
The being who governs the Heavenly Tribulations that descend upon every cultivation realm in this world.
The God of Thunder Resonance Valley.
They are an existence a mortal being like her cannot withstand.
"From the very start...
She cannot understand.
"Why, in a ritual that summons the spirit of lightning, did the Owner of Heavenly Punishment...descend...?'
And the God of Heavenly Punishment answers.
[I thought maybe a transformation in fate is occurring, so I descended to take a look. Quite interesting, I must say...]
oi
I was read!?'
[The brain of a mortal being that moves by electrical signals...for Lightning Immortals, it is not difficult to read.]
"..What do you intend to do with us...?"
[Before I deal with you, I'll handle another urgent matter first.]
The God of Heavenly Punishment seems to smile, then rises from their seat and looks around at the forty-eight Nascent Soul Elders who are encircling their descent body. [You expected the Heavenly Lightning Banner to come and waited to snatch it, but since I personally descended, it seems I gave you quite the surprise.]
"...Release her. She is not one to be imprisoned in your embrace and be humiliated." [Seize her with your own hands. Have I not said it all along? Only that is a fate that has meaning... Until that fate comes to pass, she is mine.]
"It seems you got excited by the generational shift of the Eight Immortals and came as your main personality. As expected, you are hasty, young Red Pearl. If we suppress you here, your main body will become defenseless."
[How laughable. Are you saying you intend to block me right now with that cultivation?] "We are the ones who were taught the principle of Indra's Net by Them. We know the world far more deeply than you..."
The Ten Thousand Law Spiritual Lord begins to form hand seals, and the other Nascent Soul stage Elders around them also form hand seals.
"By no means does our full strength fall behind you, O Evil God!"
Kwarururung!
Starting from the Ten Thousand Law Spiritual Lord, ropes of lightning extend from them and link to the other Elders.
Then their ropes of lightning entangle and interweave, forming a great net that embraces the cavern.
Wo-wooong-
Wol Ryeong cannot even grasp the context of the conversation they exchange, nor does she know what they are unfolding.
However, her instincts realize that that net, on a metaphysical level, is suppressing that Lightning God's descent body with some transcendent power.
"0 Evil God who devoured the Lord, today this place becomes your grave. Regret for felling the Lord and not sweeping us away!"
It has no effect on Wol Ryeong, a mortal being, but clearly something on a transcendent plane is pressing down on that descent body.
However, the Lightning God does not seem fazed at all.
[Foolish. Do you not know this place is the Middle Realm overseen by my friend? If I merely contact my friend, she will crush you together with this entire Middle Realm.] "That is on the assumption you can get a message to your friend."
[Hoh, I see. So you have set it so that no connection reaches outside. Excellent.]
"That is right, now you..."
[But still foolish. Even after living together for several months, have you still failed to notice that [Hel is personally present?]
"What...2"
[Even if a crisis should come that I die to the likes of you, as long as [Hel is here, I will borrow [His] power and revive.]
"What...? You say that Devil God is personally present in Thunder Resonance Valley!?"
"It is a lie. Merely a ruse to agitate us. If truly that wicked Mountain Divine Spirit is personally present in this place, there is no way we would fail to sense it!"
[Ahaha, how arrogant. Do you think [He] would take a form that you could find with your power? And...]
Kwachik, kwachijijjik!
From the spirit of lightning, an immense thunderstorm erupts.
"Kughk, block it!"
"W-Wait, this power, what in the world...2"
[I am not a Supreme Deity, but a Heavenly Venerable.]
Kwaaaang!
Wol Ryeong's head explodes the moment she hears the Lightning God's words.
Her soul throws all its strength into compressing and sealing away the dreadful information that has entered her mind so that it does not affect her.
'S-Supreme Deity? Heavenly Venerable!?'
In her mind, the afterimage of a [Black Sky] is naturally reflected.
Upon that [Black Skyl—
[Ten] Seats are shining brightly.
[Not only do I occupy a position among the Heavenly Seats, but I have also seized the Divinity of Anger and united with the Seat...]
Kurung, Kurururung!
The Lightning God's descent body runs madly amok, beginning to push away the net of lightning of the Nascent Soul Elders.
[Though the depth of my enlightenment may not reach your former owner, in sheer power...I surpass even them...!]
Kwarururung!
"Kuuuuught"
"Th-This cannot bet"
"How can that wretch..that bug-like bastard draw out the power of Heavenly Punishment more strongly than the Lord!t2"
Even as the Nascent Soul Elders cry out with tears of blood, the Lightning God only chuckles and releases more power.
[You cannot defeat me. Acknowledge it now. I am your Lord.]
"I cannot acknowledge it... You are nothing but a phantom that flickers briefly like Yang Su-jin and then disappears. We do not serve a phantom as Lord!!t"
[Il am curious what you would think if you knew how your Lord thought of that phantom...]
Kururung!
The Lightning God stretches one hand to the sky, then makes a grasping motion.
At the same time, the net unfolded by the Nascent Soul Elders ripples even more.
[Can you even attack like this? If you had come in your main bodies and unfolded it, perhaps...but with mere clones, it is laughable.
Chijijjik—
Regenerating her burst head and barely digesting the immense knowledge, Wol Ryeong listens to those words and looks toward the forty-eight Nascent Soul Elders.
"Clones...2"
Then, the Ten Thousand Law Spiritual Lord sheers and shouts.
"..Even so, we succeeded in suppressing most of your descent body's power. If it comes to this...we must even borrow the hateful power of the Eight Immortals, must we not?"
[Hooh?]
"Wol Ryeong!! I have known you are a disciple of the Radiance Spirit Sect!"
At the Ten Thousand Law Spiritual Lord's words, Wol Ryeong flinches in surprise.
"We too are spies who hid our realms and infiltrated Thunder Resonance Valley to eradicate this Evil God. Let us combine our strength and exterminate that Lightning God together! We have deployed a formation that seals away most of the power of the Evil God's descent body, so now they can no longer exert their true might! They can only face you with mere brute combat!"
"...f you too are clones...does that mean you are high beings directly connected to that Evil God?"
"...Let us say itis so."
"Could it be...you are at least Quasi-Immortals of the Entering Nirvana stage?"
At those words, Seo Gyeong briefly looks up at the sky and mutters, "So this is what it feels like," and the Lightning God turns their back on Wol Ryeong and shudders.
And the Ten Thousand Law Spiritual Lord along with the forty-eight Nascent Soul Elders make the same absurd expression as when Mu Geom and Bi Hwa scratched their belies. "...Uh...well...let us say that is so."
But in the end, the Jade Pivot Forty-Eight Lightning Heavenly Great Immortals under the Heavenly Punishment Supreme Deity agree with that statement with strange expressions, fearing that if they speak of their true bodies, Wol Ryeong will die. "Supreme Deity... Heavenly Venerable...
Wol Ryeong recalls the Black Sky and the Ten Seats beneath that sky she just glimpsed through the Lightning God's wisdom.
"When one becomes a True Immortal from a Quasi-Immortal, does one become inscribed upon a Heavenly Seat and receive the title of Supreme Deity or Heavenly Venerable?'
Even in the Radiance Spirit Sect, information about True Immortals is considered to be poison and not passed down, so Wol Ryeong has never been taught anything about the realms or the society of True Immortals.
Thus, she only thinks that the Lightning God before her is a True Immortal, and that those Nascent Soul Elders are merely Entering Nirvanas disguised as Nascent Soul stage cultivators.
[I am going crazy... Well, since she is merely a mortal being who knows nothing about the True Immortality, she has no choice but to think so.]
The Lightning God, as if something is amusing, reads Wol Ryeong's thoughts and chuckles heartily, and Wol Ryeong glares at them at that sight.
"I would appreciate it if you stopped reading my thoughts."
Of course, she does not expect such a request to work.
Her opponent is a True Immortal.
Her proposal is nothing but the chirping of a chick.
"Stop thinking."
She stops all thought and moves only by the memories engraved in her body.
"Sword...
She tries to summon a radiance sword.
After all, her specialty has always been the sword.
But she cannot.
"Damn...
She still recalls the terrifying vision that that girl with a ponytail showed her.
The fear she engraved into Wol Ryeong binds her hands.
She, even now...
She still cannot grasp a sword.
In the end she summons something other than a radiance sword.
The light of the Radiance Spirit Sword Formula gathers in her hand and condenses a radiance halberd.
She thrusts the halberd toward the Lightning God before her and mutters.
"Disciple of the Radiance Spirit Sect, Wol Ryeong. I request a Life-and-Death Duel with the God of Heavenly Punishment."
[Haha, a Life-and-Death Duel. Life and death hold no meaning for us... But I understand what you mean, so I accept.]
Cheok—
With one hand behind their back, the Lightning God casually beckons Wol Ryeong with his other hand.
immediately, Wol Ryeong and the Lightning God clash.
Kwaaang!
Fast!'
Her opponent moves at lightning speed by default.
Their baseline is lightning speed, and at times they even show movements reaching light speed.
"Fast. But not to the extent I can't respond to."
The barrier unfolded by the forty-eight Elders seems to suppress their authority.
"I can match their speed. The only thing left is...
She gradually unites her mind with the halberd and unleashes a fierce offensive. "attack power!"
Cheukang, cheukang!
Because of light-speed movement, the Lightning God's kicks and movements become massive slashes each time they unfold.
She meets those strikes with her halberd, splitting them apart as she charges toward them.
Shiiing—
She swings the halberd and cleaves the Lightning God's body in two.
Kwajichik—
But of course,
They simply reattach their split body as though nothing has happened.
"The opponent is lightning itself."
They are no different from a spirit of lightning.
Therefore she must find an answer that tears apart the very phenomenon called lightning itself.
Wo-wooong—
Something begins to settle in her radiance halberd.
itis an Immortal Art.
Rain, Sunlight, Heat, Cold, Wind, Time.
itis the basic Immortal Art and formula of the Integration stage.
The power of the Immortal Art Various Omens gathers into her radiance halberd and begins to suppress the transcendent phenomenon.
[So you at least know the basics.]
Calling a divine skill that the overwhelming majority at the Integration stage cannot even attempt basic, the Lightning God releases the hand behind their back and unleashes a fierce assault at her with both hands.
Knife hand.
Palm strike.
Straight punch.
Cloth grabbing.
Outer leg tripping.
Countless fighting techniques unfold from their hands, and Wol Ryeong, parrying and diverting their innumerable techniques, can tell.
t's not perfect
This Lightning God before her is not used to bare-handed fighting.
They have simply lived overwhelmingly more years than she has, encountered martial flows of this and that, and more or less picked up martial techniques.
Compared to opponents she faced like Yu Jin and Jin Wol-ryeong..
In the realm of Marital Arts, the Lightning God appears to have far more openings.
But at the same time, as she senses their habits, their unconscious actions, the flow of movement she feels from them, she comes to realize one thing.
"Damn it...
They are not used to bare-handed martial arts.
But there is a weapon they are accustomed to wielding.
And the reason they do not draw that weapon now to fight her is...
Simply because she at present cannot inflict any real damage upon the Lightning God's decent body.
Though, by wrapping Immortal Arts around her radiance halberd, she is able to suppress the phenomenon of lightning, even with such clumsy martial techniques, they can easily evade or deflect her attacks.
Wol Ryeong has yet to draw out even a fraction of the opponent's strength.
"More, more...!"
She experiences a flashback.
Not a flashback born from the threat of death, but one she herself forcibly evokes.
Wol Ryeong recalls everything she has experienced throughout the entire span of her fe and begins to seek the breakthrough to escape this situation.
And in a single instant, she finally finds it.
lis this all? Can you not do any better?]
"...I shall make it...a little more entertaining."
Tsuaaaat!
She focuses all her consciousness into the radiance halberd.
Her soul is sucked into the weapon.
At the same time, powerful spatial waves ripple out around her.
"Integrated Dao Domain."
Since reaching the Integration stage, it is the domain she accumulated through endless contemplation and repentant enlightenment.
"Bright Sword Spear Star Rain World (¢838/S2mts)."
Her domain, where countless weapons in the form of starlight rain down endlessly from the black sky, cover the whole region in an instant.
[Filling the Heavens Sword Rain...?]
For a moment, the Lightning God flinches in surprise and shudders, but then they smirk. [So it is nothing but a degraded version. Laughable. With something like this...]
"With something like this, of course, I do not dare reach a god."
And then, the Lightning God's smile has no choice but to vanish.
Tsuaaaaat!
The rain of weapons that fills all of Heaven and Earth.
That world of light-rain begins to compress.
Kwajik, kwajijijijik!
She compresses the Integrated Dao Domain.
She recalls the duel between Hon Jin and Seo Gyeong, and she begins to refine Hon Jin's ultimate techniques that she saw then into her own.
Kwchigigik!
The compressed domain is honed into a blade.
At the same time, the blade of the honed Integrated Dao Domain is directly compressed and overlaid onto the blade of the radiance halberd Wol Ryeong holds.
L.Jin's technique, is it? To copy it after seeing it once...so this is the next Eight immortal.]
Before the Lightning God can even finish their muttering, Wol Ryeong swings the halberd with all her strength straight at their body.
cuttt
it is not as perfect as what Hon Jin displayed, but it is still an ultimate technique that slices through the dimension itself and can directly strike even the divine body of a transcendent being!
That single strike, manifested by Wol Ryeong's hand, thrusts toward the Lightning God. Heaven and Earth seem to darken for an instant.
All the light of Heaven and Earth is—for a moment—absorbed into Wol Ryeong's radiance halberd.
In that fleeting instant—
Chwaaaaak!
Wol Ryeong's radiance halberd cuts a massive scar into the Lightning God's chest. "Huu...hu..."
Chijijijik...
L...Astounding. To pierce through the defense of this one and wound this one's descent body.]
Despite having just imitated Hon Jin's technique and consumed an overwhelming amount of stamina and mental strength, she cannot help but sweat coldly.
"How in the world did that man, with such an aged body, use this technique...2 And even after using it...that being still...
it is because, aside from the appearance of the scar, the Lightning God remains unscathed.
[Do not despair too much. This one's strength has indeed been consumed, and so the time I can remain in the Saha World is greatly shortened... If you strike with a few more of such attacks, you may truly be able to end this one's descent body.]
Shiver!
Wol Ryeong trembles at the despair that surges up from the depths of her heart. Cheok—
The Lightning God takes a stance.
itis not the stance of bare-handed combat they have shown until now.
tis...
The stance of holding a weapon.
"Spear...2"
And at that moment when Wol Ryeong realizes the weapon their stance is grasping— Kwachijijikt
[Now that I have even created a weapon...the time I remain in the Saha World will be further shortened.]
The electric current drawn out from the Lightning God's body forms a spear of thunder and lightning.
And the instant she sees the being before her eyes grasp the spear, she feels an illusion as if space itself is sucked into that being.
The next moment.
Kwaaaang!
222"
Wol Ryeong, without even realizing what has struck her, is hurled straight into the corner of the cavern.
[Astonishing. Since you made me draw a spear, I thrust with the intent to kill..]
Only then does Wol Ryeong realize that she barely survived because she instinctively defended through her halberd.
"Dangerous.'
The Lightning God before taking up the spear and the Lightning God after taking up the spear are completely different beings.
"I must stop—'
Kwaaang!
Before her thought even ends, the end of the Lightning God's spear shaft smashes into Wol Ryeong's face.
Wol Ryeong's head crashes straight into the cavern and is shaken violently, and in that instant the spear is swung again, smashing Wol Ryeong's forehead, abdomen, and legs with the end of the spear shaft.
[Will you make this a little more entertaining for me?]
With only a few thrusts, the Lightning God drives Wol Ryeong to her limits, and now the spear tip points straight at her.
Hwoooong—
[.1]
Wol Ryeong's radiance halberd swings toward the Lightning God, and in the next instant, her body having regenerated, she throws her whole body at them.
[Good. Let us dance.]
Halberd and spear clash.
The two long weapons collide, seizing control of space, striking while subduing both time and space.
"It must not spread wide."
Wol Ryeong's mind and soul focus entirely on her weapon and the Lightning God's spear.
"Pour every authority and ability of the Integration stage into this single martial strike." Integrated Dao Domain, Various Omens, Five Elements Axis, Celestial Energy Guidance, perception of planes, the circulating power of all the blood vessels of her whole body! Along with the Sacred Light True Force she received as a reward from Baek Jin, all of her power condenses into a narrow range and surpasses the extreme.
Gradually, time slows, and she feels as though she is stepping with the Lightning God into a transcendent realm.
"This is...
Before her eyes, there is a flower.
itis a paper flower.
But in the next moment, she knows she herself cannot reach that flower.
"Ahhh...
Her fate.
The fate of light, the one that grants her heaven-bestowed talent, forbids her from reaching that domain.
"Ahhhhhht*
The fate that forbids the envoy of Heaven () from entering the domains of Earth (its) and Heart (1).
Within the darkened Darkness World where all of Heaven and Earth are black, she clenches her teeth, feeling herself shackled by that fate.
And at that very moment, the Lightning God takes the stance of [thrusting].
[Receive this.]
If the Lightning God before holding the spear and after holding it are different—
Then the Lightning God in a proper thrusting stance is different again from the Lightning God that came before.
A single thrust.
The endless persistence contained within that spear of lightning.
The strike of the piercing spear, tempered by refinement reaching Eighty Quadrillion. Entering Heavens Beyond the Path
Eighty Quadrillion Lightning-Tipped Spear.
AR"
Wol Ryeong realizes her lower body is gone.
She is pierced.
She does not even recall what happened.
The Lightning God took the thrusting stance, and that is the end.
Through her radiance halberd, her Integrated Dao Domain, all her attraction force and cultivation...
A single thrust pierced a hole through Wol Ryeong.
Chijijjik—
The regenerative power of the Integration stage restores her body, but Wol Ryeong only feels emptiness.
If she is healed like this, she will not die, but there is no way the Lightning God before her will allow that.
itis Wol Ryeong's defeat.
From all around, the silent exclamations of the forty-eight Nascent Souls Elders can be heard.
"Even against a being who is spending most of their strength on the Nascent Soul Elders...I cannot win. This is the gap between me and a True Immortal...'
Even with death before her eyes, she feels strangely calm.
If the opponent is at this level, dying is not something to regret.
"That being is a God. A being no different from the heavens itself.
She is dying by the hand of the heavens.
If itis to be Killed by the heavens, she can accept it.
She instinctively feels that she herself, her fate, comes from the heavens.
If I am one who came from the heavens...then itis fine to die by the heavens...
it's been a life she lived earnestly in her own way.
"Now...let's rest.
Wol Ryeong closes her eyes as she looks at the Lightning God walking toward her.
She decides to accept death.
Just then, a certain figure appears before her eyes and blocks the Lightning God. "Eh?"
Wol Ryeong's eyes open wide.
[Hoh?]
"..Gyeong...ah..2"
itis Seo Gyeong.
With a child's body, he has summoned the radiance sword and blocks the approach of the Lightning God, and with those small shoulders like a great mountain, he stands between the two.
"No... Move. Move, Seo Gyeong. You...will die."
itis fine for her to die.
But for some reason, the sight of Seo Gyeong standing before her..makes her speak with an unknown trembling and pain.
"Seo Gyeong...! Move..."
But Seo Gyeong pays no heed to her words and raises his sword.
"...Owner of Heavenly Punishment. I am sorry, but you cannot kill Ryeong. Step back."
At that arrogant declaration, Wol Ryeong for some reason feels tears welling.
"Don't do it... Don't do it, stupid! You will die! The opponent is the God of Heavenly Punishment! The heavens itselfti"
The Lightning God also seems to find the sight amusing and asks.
[Why go that far?]
At those words, Seo Gyeong only speaks calmly.
"You're not asking because you don't know, are you?"
(Hmm?]
Seo Gyeong smiles faintly toward the Lightning God before him and speaks.
"Because we're friends."
ow
Wol Ryeong trembles at that calm single remark.
Tears come out.
The Lightning God seems to chuckle at something and trade banter with Seo Gyeong, but she does not hear it.
Something wells up inside her chest, tears cloud her vision, and her consciousness domain is shaken by emotion.
Friends.
Can one stake one's life for such a small relationship?
Can one stand unflinchingly even with a transcendent before one's eyes?
"Seo Gyeong...you...
Even though he must know he cannot win against the being before him.
Even though he must know the opponent is no different from the heavens.
Seo Gyeong is trying to confront the opponent with all her strength.
Just...
For no other reason than that Wol Ryeong is his friend.
At Seo Gyeong's one remark, Wol Ryeong receives the feeling that the "foolishness" of others she could not understand becomes understandable.
The cry of the Colorless Faction cultivator Tae Ryeok.
And the struggles of countless low-level cultivators she has until now called foolish.
All of that...
She feels she can now understand, even if only a little.
itis not that they rise under the heavens thinking they can oppose fate.
itis that, for the sake of what is precious, they can do nothing but that.
She understands Seo Gyeong's words as well.
"You said free will does not exist...
Once one has something precious at one's back.
There is no other choice to be made.
Only to protect what is precious, even under the heavens, one must never stop struggling.
itis when she gains that realization.
Tsaaat—
Seo Gyeong, who is clashing with the Lightning God before her eyes, vanishes, and another being appears.
itis a familiar being.
Countless glass sword mountains appear before her eyes.
Once again a familiar voice rings through her mind.
:: Do you desire power? : :
And...
This time, she cannot refuse as she did before.
"..I desire it"
Then... :
However, she knows.
"But...I do not need your strength."
Every person has something precious to them.
Whatever fate one receives from the heavens, if it is to protect that precious thing, one must struggle in whatever way they can.
A person has no free will
The absolute that the heavens bestows, the absolute one is endowed with by being born from the Earth...
And the thing precious to oneself that becomes an absolute guide a person's life in only one direction.
However, within those absolutes...
If Heaven and Earth and what is precious ceaselessly struggle with one another and intertwine...
Then perhaps one can make at least a faint choice.
Perhaps that may barely be called "freedom'.
itis feeble and like a speck of dust...
But all change originally begins from such a speck.
"I will strive... I will practice repentant enlightenment... I will contemplate my own strength, and I will advance."
Before the Devil God before her eyes, she rises while crying out in repentant enlightenment.
"As long as I repentantly enlighten myself, I have no need of your help. Begone!t" Tsuaaaaaa—
With those words, the afterimage before her collapses and disappears like the foam of waves.
Stagger, stagger...
Resisting the temptation of the evil Devil God, Wol Ryeong fully regenerates her body and looks at Seo Gyeong, who is crossing exchanges with the Lightning God.
"You've risen."
Seo Gyeong and the Lightning God glance at Wol Ryeong and start to match exchanges again.
The moment she rises, the flow of battle instantly begins to tilt toward the Lightning God. But Wol Ryeong does not bother with such miscellaneous things.
Cheok—
"Can I reach it
Before her eyes is a paper flower.
To reach that paper flower, she knows she must twist her entire body and hurl herself forward with a determination that surpasses even her own fate.
Her focus is fixed only upon that paper flower.
I will reach it.
And she begins to run toward the paper flower.
Before her, there is the boy who stands before a transcendent, calling her a friend.
She did not know before, but now she understands. That boy has already become a being too precious to Wol Ryeong as well.
To protect what is precious, she decides to surpass her own limits.
I will reach itt
Tsuaaaaaaatt!
Grasping her halberd and rushing toward the Lightning God, she sees the illusion of the paper flower drawing near.
linteresting. Step aside.]
Tuuung—
The Lightning God kicks Seo Gyeong away with their foot and once again takes the stance of thrusting.
The time of bitter training reaching eight quadrillion seems faintly visible behind the Lightning God, and Wol Ryeong's eyes, nearly reaching the paper flower, gleam with ight.
A mortal being trying to surpass her limits, and a divinity who has already surpassed them.
The halberd and spear of the two beings collide.
All sound vanishes from Heaven and Earth.
[Excellent ]
Wol Ryeong looks straight ahead.
Her halberd is broken.
On the Lightning God's cheek is nothing more than a slight scratch, no wounds at all.
"..I did not reach it"
She knows she has failed to reach the paper flower.
[Truly a heaven-bestowed talent. A talent that even reminds me of myself in my mortal being days...)
The praise of a God.
Within it, she closes her eyes.
[But in this world, there are realms that cannot be reached with talent alone. The place you seek to step, the place I have stepped, is precisely that.]
[Even so, your battle was splendid. Though I am confined within the barrier of the Jade Pivot Lightning Immortals...since you have weakened my strength to this degree...this Owner of Heavenly Punishment...acknowledges you. Now, then...]
Surung—
The Lightning God raises their spear.
[This is the end.]
And then, from above the pierced hole of the cavern.
From the distant sky, a colossal trident made of red coral falls down.
Kugwaaaang!!
Only then does Wol Ryeong open her eyes.
"...Even if I only bought time, that is enough."
The reason she has been trying until now to erase her thoughts against the Owner of Heavenly Punishment, who continually reads them.
itis because, from the very beginning...
The Thunder Resonance Valley subjugation operation does not end with just this.
From the very start, Thunder Resonance Valley gathered all the Heaven and Earth spiritual energy of the entire Earth Tribe territory.
There is no way only the True Dragon Alliance Lord Gyu Ryeon would come.
And then...
Jjeoeoong!
At the spot where the trident pierces.
There, a red-skinned man of the Blood Shark Race descends from the sky.
"...Blood Shark Race Integration Demon King, Gyo Yeom."
Chwarararara—
Glaring at the Lightning God, whose power has fallen down to the level of the Qi Refining stage from fighting Wol Ryeong, the True Dragon Alliance Vice Lord Gyo Yeom lifts the trident.
"By the subjugation order of the Alliance Lord, I have come to subjugate the head of Thunder Resonance Valley, the Lightning Sword High Person."
-x-X-x-
Kururung—
Blood Shark Race Integration stage Grand Cultivator, Gyo Yeom.
At his appearance, the Lightning God chuckles.
[Well, look who it is. Don't you know me?]
Twitch-
At those words, Gyo Yeom flinches, but then he grips his red trident with a hard face.
"... know. You are the friend of the Devil King who, long ago, invaded the Human Race, drove the Human Race out of the Sky Island Archipelago and forced them to migrate into the Heart Tribe territory, and waged war across the entire Sun and Moon Heavenly Domain...that was you. Thinking about it now, you must have been the clones of True immortals."
[You may think so if you like...but is there not something more important than that.] Kaang—
The Lightning God's thunder spear and Gyo Yeom's red trident collide.
[That day, it was this one and this one's friend who gave you the Heavenly Lotus Fruit to save your wife. Do you not even remember the favor of that time?]
[Come to think of it, where is your wife?]
"...Her lifespan is running out and she is slowly dying. My lifespan is also almost at its end, so I will soon exhaust my fate together with my wife... My wife is of the Sea King Race, a distant blood descendant of the Ancient Force Realm Sacred Master Hae Lin. Because of the restriction placed upon the Sea King Race, if she leaves the Ancient Force Realm and uses power beyond a certain degree, she cannot live, and so my wife grew weak. But it was thanks to the Heavenly Lotus Fruit you gave that day that I could save my wife by breathing in the power of the Ancient Force dwelling in the Heavenly Lotus Fruit."
At the conversation of Gyo Yeom and the Lightning God, Wol Ryeong, who is recovering her strength, shudders.
"No way...betrayal?'
If that is so, she might really have to die without resistance.
However...
"But if it was only about my wife, it would not matter, yet I have children."
[Hooh...]
"Because of Thunder Resonance Valley who inhales the Heaven and Earth spiritual energy of the Earth Tribe territory, my children who bear the bloodline of the Sea King Race...have come to suffer the same illness as my wife. As they are mixed-blood with me, they do not bear the Sea King Race's restriction in full...but if the Heaven and Earth spiritual energy within their bodies falls below a certain point, they suffer an illness the same as my wife's."
[..]
"0 Lightning God. I know well that that day you saved us and bestowed grace upon me. However! How can you so inhale the Heaven and Earth spiritual energy like this and give such pain to my whole family....? Why! Do you drain the Heaven and Earth spiritual energy!?"
Kwaaaang!
The Lightning God, with only the strength of the Qi Refining stage left, flies backward along with Gyo Yeom's outcry.
[...Because an abundance of Heaven and Earth spiritual energy is not a blessing.] Pachijijik...
Lightning flickers in the Lightning God's eye.
ll have long held deep discussions with my friend, the one whom you call the Mountain Divine Spirit or Devil King. As a result, I arrived at one conclusion. Excessive Heaven and Earth spiritual energy sustains the Immortal Cultivation system, and because the power of the Immortal Cultivation system spreads to too many beings...many beings come to have excessive lifespans and undue power and come to wield tyranny upon those below.]
Chichijik—
The Lightning God rises with their spear and continues.
[Therefore...through sects that bear upon their backs my teaching, such as Thunder Resonance Valley, I wished to test it. If Heaven and Earth spiritual energy is reduced to the extreme so that even more beings cannot even enter the Immortal Cultivation system. If those without qualification cannot even come to possess power...whether the world will perhaps become a little better.]
"What insane nonsense is that!?"
[itis the heart. If one wishes to hold power, then let one polish one's own heart to come to repentant enlightenment regarding what is good and what is evil, and if only the good can hold power...will the world not become even more peaceful?]
"Nonsense!"
Kwaarururung!
Gyo Yeom's Integrated Dao Domain unfolds.
The surroundings fill with a sea of blood.
[Nonsense, you say...2 How do you treat other races? Has there been a time where you did not raise mortal races under the moniker "slave race' and abuse them? You are all endlessly cruel to the weak, yet you spout strange words.]
"What I mean is...that peace is nothing but by your standards!t"
Chwaaaa—
The Lightning God's spear techniques are formidable.
With only the strength of the Qi Refining stage, they match the Integration Grand Cultivator, Gyo Yeom.
No, at a glance, it even looks as though Gyo Yeom is hurling himself with full force, trying to bring down the Lightning God's spear of lightning with the sea of blood.
To Wol Ryeong, it still feels as if the Lightning God holds the upper hand in battle.
Is that...the enlightenment of a god...!?"
Quite literally, the opponent is the God of Lightning.
The one who wields Heavenly Punishment.
For that reason, even though only the strength of the Qi Refining stage remains, their lightning still overwhelms the Integration stage.
"Why in the world do you say lowering Heaven and Earth spiritual energy to make one polish the heart is for peace!? Do not spout hypocrisy!"
[You...]
"It is all only by your standards. Do not recklessly judge those below with the eyes of a higher being! O God, do you know? The overwhelming majority of the Earth Tribe—we Demon Race—from birth have no reason, and only upon reaching the peak of the Qi Refining stage do we gain reason! Then only upon reaching the Qi Building stage do we gain complete reason! You say one must polish the heart to grow strong? Ridiculous! Then we Demon Race, who only gain reason and intellect upon reaching the peak Qi Refining stage, how are we to polish the heart? You say polishing the heart is to make us realize clearly the discernment between good and evil—but what is good, what is evil? If a Qi Refining demon beast, hungry, eats an ordinary beast that has not yet reached Qi Refining, is that evil, or is it good? If a Qi Building demon beast skewers a Qi Refining bug demon on a branch to eat later, causing it pain, is that evil or is it good? Our world is of the wild. Only after gathering Heaven and Earth spiritual energy and reaching the Transformation stage can one shed wildness and speak peacefully of peace. Yet even such is narrowly understood with the eyes of the Heaven Tribe, and for what justice, by your own measure alone, do you bring suffering to my children!t??"
Kwaarurururung!tt
Chwaaaa!
A tidal wave rises from the sea of blood.
The tidal wave surges over the Lightning God's spear of thunder, and as the Lightning God listens to Gyo Yeom's words, they no longer resist.
Somehow, it feels as though the Lightning God has taken a blow.
Ll have been foolish. I am sorry.]
Chuaaaaaa—
The tidal wave sweeps away the Lightning God's descent body, and at last the descent body becomes a single streak of lightning and vanishes somewhere.
[But I am not wrong...only that I did not consider every circumstance... My method is what spreads the Vast Cold Heavenly Circle most quickly...]
Pajijik!
That is the end.
Kwarururung—
As though they exhaust all strength, the forty-eight Nascent Soul elders, whom Wol Ryeong suspects are the clones of Entering Nirvana stage beings, all crumble into ashes and scatter.
—Tsuaaaaa.
Gyo Yeom's Integrated Dao Domain is once again absorbed into Gyo Yeom's body, and seeing that, Wol Ryeong's eyes shine.
"Greetings, Demon King Gyo. I have heard much about you. I am Wol Ryeong of the Radiance Spirit Sect."
"Ah, 1 too have heard much. You come from another Heavenly Domain..."
"You truly are remarkable. Even before that terrifying divinity, you shouted and dismantled the God's logic..."
"It is nothing special. How could a mere commoner like me shout before the strong? It was only because I saw the possibility to win did I read the situation and spit out the words I did. It was only possible because Grand Cultivator Wol already shaved down their strength considerably."
"You are painting my face in gold. Even if I did not shave down their strength, if it's Demon King Gyo, you surely would have repelled that existence well enough. All the more so as a practitioner of Heaven and Earth Dual Cultivation."
She speaks, recalling that Gyo Yeom did not manifest the Integrated Dao Domain into his body but spread it outward around him.
But Gyo Yeom shakes his head awkwardly and speaks.
"Heaven and Earth Dual Cultivation... do not walk such a grueling path. The Integrated Dao Domain just now..it was my wife unfolding it for me. The Sea King Race, who enshrines the Xiezhi as their direct ancestor, once received a ritual method bestowed by the Xiezhi, so by classification they are of the Heaven Tribe."
"Pardon? Your wife unfolded the Integrated Dao Domain together with you...2"
"That is...u, ubb...keheok..."
As he tries to speak, Gyo Yeom starts gagging as is and then opens his mouth wide. From Gyo Yeom's shark jaws, an elegant woman with blue hair and a thin layer of blue scales around her body pops out.
"Hello, my apologies for the late greeting. I am Hae Jin of the Sea King Race, the mistress of my husband's household."
"Ah, he...llo.*
Hae Jin hooks both her hands and her own chin on Gyo Yeom's lower jaw, and looks at them comfortably as if Gyo Yeom's maw is a chair.
At that bizarre entrance, not only Wol Ryeong but even Seo Gyeong beside her wear strange expressions.
"...Hello, nice to meet you. I am Seo Gyeong, a disciple of the Radiance Spirit Sect." "Hello, young hero? You look cute."
"...But may I ask why you are inside Cultivator Gyo's mouth..."
"Ah, originally, among us marine creatures there are many who have unique cultures. Among carnivorous marine demon beasts such as the Blood Shark Race, especially cultivators at the Nascent Soul stage or higher, there are many where the head of the family carries family members inside the body. From the start, our interiors have things like the Four-Axis Canopy and the Integrated Dao Domain, so carrying them inside causes no problem."
"...Then perhaps the Sea Dragon Race as well...2"
"Pardon? Why suddenly...? I do not know well, but the probability is high."
"..No..it is just that there is a cultivator of the Sea Dragon Race among my acquaintances, and that fellow also said he carries his family inside his body, so I asked."
Seo Gyeong finishes speaking as if thinking of something, and Hae Jin, from inside Gyo Yeom's mouth, giggles and chats with Wol Ryeong and Seo Gyeong.
"Ah, look at me spacing out. I am sorry but I forgot I have laundry hung out and I have been here like this. Then I will head back in for now, so later please come into my husband's belly and have a cup of tea before you go."
"..Yes, then..."
Just like an anglerfish's light or an alligator snapping turtle's tongue luring fish, Hae Jin beckons to the two a few times from within Gyo Yeom's maw and then disappears back into Gyo Yeom's mouth.
Hearing the mention of laundry, Wol Ryeong cannot help but suffer a major cultural shock at the ecology of the Blood Shark Race, thinking they must have built a cave residence inside the belly.
Gaaap-
Once his wife's chat time ends, only then does Gyo Yeom close his mouth and laugh heartily.
"Isn't she a pretty wife? In the past she was once ill, so I roamed around diligently to heal her sickness."
At those words, Seo Gyeong wears a somewhat strange expression and asks,
"...Now that I think of it, when you fought the Lightning God, I heard that you wandered around to find the Heavenly Lotus Fruit... At that time too, did you carry your wife...in your belly..2"
"Oh dear, how could that be? When she was ill, how could I, wandering dangerous places, carry my wife in my belly? Instead, I took half of my wife's brain and always carried it in my belly. The area where I went to obtain the Heavenly Lotus Fruit to give to my wife is an area related to my wife's progenitor, the Immortal Beast Xiezhi, so at that time I received help from my wife's brain in real time to find the path."
At the strange ecology of the Blood Shark Race, Seo Gyeong is dumbfounded yet also fascinated.
"Hooh..."
"And at times when I explosively spit out venomous words, that too is greatly due to my wife's influence. When my wife flares with a thousand flames inside, she spews out venomous words, and I simply spew them out through my mouth the same way."
"Then when you cursed the Paired-Winged Race cultivator, calling the Paired-Winged Race Grand Cultivator a bedwetter, that too..."
"Pardon..2"
"No, it is nothing. It is just that your ecology is different from the Human Race, so I found it fascinating."
"Hahaha, I see."
Gyo Yeom laughs heartily, and Wol Ryeong and Seo Gyeong laugh together as well. Thus, the mission Wol Ryeong received from the Radiance Spirit Sect to subjugate Thunder Resonance Valley...
Is successfully completed.
Wol Ryeong and Seo Gyeong ride the teleportation formation prepared by the Earth Tribe and pass through several regions on their way back to the Human Race territory. As for Mu Geom and Bi Hwa, struck dead in a single blow by the Lightning God or left fatally wounded, since they are at the Integration stage, they will be able to revive at the cost of losing cultivation instead.
"We can soon return."
"Yes, let's go back. Let's return and proudly tell Master that we subjugated Thunder Resonance Valley with our own strength, Ryeong-ah. Then this time even Master will..." At Seo Gyeong's words, Wol Ryeong smiles faintly and hugs Seo Gyeong from behind. "... do not need it, Master's praise."
"Hm? What do you mean, Ryeong-ah?"
"...l think I no longer need Master's praise."
She, in this subjugation expedition, smiles gently as she confirms the sprout growing in her heart.
She has gained something precious.
Something so much more precious that it can't compare to anything she once believed to be precious.
Therefore, she no longer needs to strive for the recognition of others.
She smiles, feeling her heart lighter than ever before.
"..When we reach the Human Race territory, let's send the subjugation completion signal to the Radiance Spirit Sect, and set up a descent array so that Master can descend into the Vast Cold Realm. With about twenty years of effort, Master will be able to come. In the meantime...Iet's explore the Vast Cold Realm."
"...Alright, Ryeong-ah."
Seo Gyeong smiles softly as he looks at Wol Ryeong, who seems to have become unburdened.
Human Race Grand Alliance, Heavenly Human Island.
A hidden place there.
Bi Hwa revives.
Looking at her own naked reborn body, Bi Hwa clenches her teeth.
She has died.
She, a so-called genius, died in vain without being able to do anything.
..What are you, Wol Ryeong?"
And yet, Wol Ryeong defeated the opponent against whom Bi Hwa could do nothing, and subjugated Thunder Resonance Valley in the end.
A talent that reached the Quasi-Star Shattering stage in less than ten years.
A true genius, overwhelming herself who was once worshipped as a genius.
Looking at that, Bi Hwa clenches her teeth in inferiority.
"S-Senior Sister Bi Hwa."
As word spreads that Bi Hwa has revived, other disciples of the Radiance Spirit Sect who are waiting nearby rush to her side and quickly clothe her.
"Hurry, are you not going to move faster!?"
"Eek, s-sorry!"
Among the disciples who ride together on the Radiance Ship are those at the Heavenly Being stage and above who ascended to the Vast Cold Realm at the request of Mu Geom and Bi Hwa to accompany them.
Word has it that the sinister plot of the Gi Clan has been more or less thwarted by the Radiance Spirit Sect, and their master is delayed handling the aftermath.
"Damn it, damn it..."
In the midst of her inferiority, seeing Wol Ryeong's request to set up the descent formation for Esteemed One Baek Geom, she frowns sharply.
"Are you telling me to set up a descent array? Treating me like her subordinate...ha, enough."
From within her heart, inferiority rises.
She cannot control it.
Feeling inferiority toward Wol Ryeong, she steps into a dark corridor.
After all, she still must fulfill Wol Ryeong's request.
Just then,
Within the darkness,
Something begins to speak.
:: Do you...desire talent? : :
itis something made of a Sword Mountain.