Sururuk...
The Sumeru Sword Dance comes to an end.
Simultaneously, the will embedded in the sword dance by the Sword Spear Heavenly Lord fades away.
: : Someday, you will be mine. : :
"..."
I swallow as I listen to the words of the Sword Spear Heavenly Lord.
I've garnered the attention of True Immortals once or twice before.
The [Oldest One] had even pursued me during regression, and the Owner of Great Mountain had descended to kill me.
Furthermore, although I don't remember it well, there was a time I met a being known as an Immortal Beast, and in the darkness of the Serving Command Ark, I also encountered [someone].In addition, I also met with the Owner of Heavenly Punishment, the Heavenly Venerable of Time, Zhengli, and Yeong Seung.
'Hmm. It's not just once or twice.'
Anyway.
I have received their interest and anger before.
However, I had never encountered a being who 'coveted' me like the Sword Spear Heavenly Lord.
'To think a True Immortal...and one speculated to be from a faction of light, desires me...'
It is nothing short of a terrifyingly misfortune that sends chills down one's spine.
I look back.
Kugugugugu!
It seems as if a massive crack has formed in the universe.
It looks as if a huge stone had fallen on a glass window, punching a hole through it.
'This is crazy...'
Despite the universe's restorative power refilling the space, I shiver remembering the incredible power unleashed by the Sword Spear Heavenly Lord.
"...Wait, by the way..."
I recall something as I look at the hole pierced in the universe.
There is silence beyond the hole.
No reaction has come after the scream of the Blood Yin.
My eyes tremble as I look at the hole.
One second.
Two seconds.
Three seconds...
"...Ha."
I laugh.
Then, quietly smiling, I feel the utmost joy within the life and death that had nearly repeated a thousand cycles and spread my arms wide.
"I am...free."
At last, I have escaped.
"I am, free!!"
There is no sound in space.
The vast starry sky and the darkness stretch endlessly.
I start to laugh in that starry heaven.
"Ha, haha..."
As I laugh, Heaven and Earth spiritual energy bursts forth around me, beginning to surge.
[Ahahahaha! Hahahahaha!]
A roar of laughter bursts forth from my mental speech.
I have!
Finally!!
[Escaped!!!]
I feel the aura of Blood Yin subside completely, and I cry while laughing.
Kurung, kururung!
[Finally!!!]
Jjeooong!
My incarnation explodes, and my main body inside is revealed.
The compressed main body appears in the cosmic space.
The main bodies of Esteemed Ones, known as the Origin Star (本源星).
Origin Star.
Colorless Sword Mountain Treading Sea Great Star.
My Integrated Dao Domain has become a star in space, emitting starlight.
A star made entirely of crystal glass from the surface to the core.
The star filled with the Sword Mountain with inverted swords scattered everywhere has become both my world and myself.
Kugugugu!
At the same time, I feel an immense surge of spiritual energy rushing into the Origin Star through the star vein.
At first, it seems that Heaven and Earth spiritual energy is simply filling the various places within the Origin Star.
However, soon after the Heaven and Earth spiritual energy fills up, the star starts to move as spirit veins begin to enter inside my star.
The spirit veins fill various places in the Colorless Sword Mountain like blood vessels.
Simultaneously, Heaven and Earth spiritual energy begins to circulate within the star.
Heaven and Earth spiritual energy circulates throughout the planet, beginning to create celestial phenomena.
Inside the star, it even rains, and brilliant glows gather to form something akin to spirits.
At the same time, explosions of Heaven and Earth spiritual energy occur within, materials combine, and life-like entities begin to emerge.
They are just microbes for now, merely akin to bacteria, but...perhaps in a few hundred million years, fully sentient beings might be born.
Just then, I notice that the circulation of Heaven and Earth spiritual energies inside my star is reaching a critical point.
[Ah...]
Kugugugugu!
Simultaneously, Heaven and Earth spiritual energy starts to be 'produced' in accordance with the principles of nature.
A star that used to only suck in spiritual energy through other stars' star veins can now transmit Heaven and Earth spiritual energy towards other stars.
It is only now that I feel truly connected with the star vein.
"Ah...I see."
From Qi Refining to the Integration stage, one only consumes Heaven and Earth spiritual energy.
Most cultivators spend their lives sucking in the Heaven and Earth spiritual energy around them, confining it within their bodies, and use it for spells, endlessly 'consuming' resources.
Even reaching the Four-Axis and Integration stage, only the amount of Heaven and Earth spiritual energy one can consume and confine increases, merely extending the retention period.
The truth of 'consumption' does not disappear.
However, it changes after reaching the Star Shattering stage.
From this point on, true nature forms inside one's body, and according to the circulation within that nature, Heaven and Earth spiritual energy is 'produced.'
'The Entering Nirvana stage creates stars, the Sacred Vessel stage organizes constellations, and the Star Shattering stage produces the materials that can create stars.'
I recall the dawn of the universe and comprehend the Star Shattering stage.
The Star Shattering stage involves circulating Heaven and Earth spiritual energy within one's own star, being in the position of a producer who can create materials, or in other words, 'produce' Heaven and Earth spiritual energy.
The rank of a producer in the universe's hierarchy.
That is precisely the Star Shattering stage.
Wo-woong!
I produce Heaven and Earth spiritual energy and further precisely imprint my star's attraction force into the universe.
Wo-woong!
Communing with the vast spacetime that is the universe, I imprint the principles of my 'first star' through attraction force.
The formulas of the Star Shattering stage are, as obvious as it is, the formulas of the Examination of Doubts.
Rain, Clearing, Cloudiness, Want of Connection, Crossing.
And Inner Diagram, Outer Diagram.
Shwaaaaa...
On the newly created first star, rain begins to fall.
The rain turns into crystal as soon as it touches the ground, becoming the foundation of my star.
Thus, my first star becomes a star symbolizing the early Star Shattering stage.
Heavenly Rain Great Star.
'From now on, I should cultivate according to the practice of the Star Shattering stage.'
The practice of the Star Shattering stage is simple yet immense.
The cultivation of Esteemed Ones is as follows:
Above the star one has created, create an incarnation using the elements (chemical elements) of one's own star.
Then, have that incarnation mobilize the power of the star to again rise to the Grand Perfection Integration stage.
After that, explode the incarnation again to create a second star.
Thus, after creating a total of five stars and imprinting the principles of Rain, Clearing, Cloudiness, Want of Connection, and Crossing onto them,
Take the five satellites and drag them around to orbit a suitable planet.
Endlessly orbit the planet until one's satellites align in a row around the planet, then borrow the planet's power to complete the Inner Diagram.
Once the Inner Diagram is complete, rotate around the planet and draw in star veins and Heaven and Earth spiritual energy from the universe to complete the Outer Diagram.
Reaching the Grand Perfection Star Shattering stage through a total of seven Star Body rituals is precisely the cultivation method of the Star Shattering stage.
'From the Star Shattering stage onwards, one's lifespan increases by tens of millions of years.'
Of course, that doesn't mean the star created will explode or scatter after ten million years.
Instead, if one cannot advance one's realm even after ten million years, their soul will scatter throughout the universe and die, and only the satellites left by the Esteemed One will remain drifting in space.
Esteemed Ones often describe this phenomenon as being 'devoured by the Heavenly Domain.'
[Huu...]
I manifest as a human form incarnation within my body and look up at the sky.
The star is still without a proper atmosphere, and the entire world is composed of jagged seas of glass.
Microbes exist to some extent, but that's it. No traces of sentient beings are visible.
I breathe above the star and feel the Heaven and Earth spiritual energy.
Typical Esteemed Ones have stars the size of satellites and don't have many connected star veins.
Therefore, the stars of typical Esteemed Ones don't have much Heaven and Earth spiritual energy, and those Esteemed Ones usually continue cultivating in the Middle Realms with the help of Sacred Masters to grow their incarnations using the Heaven and Earth spiritual energy of the Middle Realm.
However, I realize that I don't need to do that.
'With so many star veins connected, and the planet itself being of a planetary scale, it is only slightly lacking in Heaven and Earth spiritual energy compared to the Middle Realms.'
At this level, I can quickly advance my realm without the help of a Sacred Master.
Moreover, having already trained in the Immortal Art Examination of Doubts, and with the effects of Understanding before Breakthrough in place, I can cultivate far faster than other Esteemed Ones.
Of course...
'Since the Sun and Moon Heavenly Domain will meet its End in ten thousand years...it's meaningless.'
I organize various thoughts while moving forward.
Suruk—
I suddenly disappear from above the star and arrive in front of a cave made of glass.
Since the star is my own body, I can immediately go with my incarnation to any place I can think of on the star.
"Is everyone safe?"
I face my comrades who I had hidden within my star.
In terms of time, it has been only a brief moment since we last saw each other, but it feels like it has been a very long time.
"Ah, Eun-hyun, what's going on? After regaining awareness in that strange world, we suddenly ended up in this bizarre place. And...the condition of these guys is a bit strange."
Kim Young-hoon looks at me worriedly, and I look at my comrades.
Hong Fan and Jeon Myeong-hoon are in an exhausted state, Kim Yeon is blinking at me, and Oh Hyun-seok is slightly teary-eyed, though he's smiling.
"Jeon Myeong-hoon and Hong Fan are fine other than being exhausted. As for Hyun-seok Hyung-nim..."
"I cried a bit having to part with my daughter for a while."
It seems he accepted the child from the dream world as his own daughter.
I give him a faint smile.
It appears that he, too, has finally accepted his own heart.
I then turn to Kim Yeon and speak.
"Yeon-ah, are you alright?"
She just blinks.
"...Yeon?"
She repeatedly opens and closes her mouth, then points at it.
Kim Young-hoon lets out a sigh then speaks.
"I don't know what happened, but...it seems she lost her voice."
"What!?"
I'm shocked and immediately send her a heart message.
—Kim Yeon, what on earth happened!
Then...
The heart message doesn't return.
"...Kim Yeon?"
I approach her, flustered, and Kim Yeon gestures awkwardly at [above].
"...Could it be...the beings [above] are involved?"
Nod nod.
Kim Yeon nods, and I let out a low groan and ask.
"Do you know how to use sign language by any chance?"
Kim Yeon shrugs.
It seems she doesn't know sign language.
Come to think of it, none of us had ever learned sign language in the first place.
"Hmm...does anyone have paper?"
"Here."
Oh Hyun-seok pulls out paper from his domain, and I place a brush in front of her to let her write.
Kim Yeon looks a little perplexed but then picks up the brush and writes something.
I look at it and frown.
'What's this?'
What she wrote aren't any letters we recognize but are strange scribbles.
It looks like the kind of messy scribble a three-year-old would make while haphazardly holding a brush.
However, Kim Yeon looks at me with a gaze asking, 'Can you understand it?'
It seems that, from her perspective, she's writing 'letters,' but what's being expressed is entirely different.
"Then, can you draw something like a picture?"
Kim Yeon draws a 'picture' on the paper.
Fortunately, the 'picture' turns out quite normal.
In the picture, Kim Yeon is talking to something that resembles a large bird, and in the next scene, the bird pulls out Kim Yeon's tongue.
"...I see. Understood."
It seems Kim Yeon has had her Word-Spirit sealed by some True Immortal.
'We're getting involved with True Immortals quite often.'
I sigh deeply and see Seo Ran clutching his head pass Kim Yeon.
Seo Ran is gripping his head and trembling, while Shi Ho stands beside him, supporting him with a concerned look.
"Seo Ran. What's going on with you?"
He speaks with a trembling voice.
"I...I don't know either. But for some reason, a woman keeps coming to mind. Some...some..."
"It's fine."
Woo-woong!
I synchronize Seo Ran's consciousness with the Heaven and Earth spiritual energy around him, stabilizing the energy itself and forcibly calming his mind for a moment.
The others seem startled as they realize what I've done.
I speak to my comrades.
"There's something I need to tell you all. I just recently...upon leaving that dream world, advanced to the Star Shattering stage."
"Hah! As expected..."
Azure Tiger Saint nods as if expecting this, and the other comrades flinch in surprise.
I explain the current situation and the place we're in to them.
"So...the star we suddenly fell onto...is your body?"
"That's right."
"Wow...that's quite something."
Kim Young-hoon sticks out his tongue, and Oh Hyun-seok and Seo Ran both have very astonished looks in their eyes.
I organize and clarify the current situation, and as I do, one thought crosses my mind.
"By the way...this situation. It feels strangely similar to the first day."
"Hm? You're right, it does."
I look at the sky outside the cave.
Since the atmosphere hasn't yet fully formed, the night sky of the universe is fully visible.
The us, sharing conversation inside a cave.
The mysterious world we've suddenly fallen into.
It's just like...
The scene of our first day falling into this world.
'Ah, that's right.'
A lot has happened, but when I think about it...
Today is the first day of the 998th cycle.
It hasn't even been a full day since the regression.
Snap!
To recreate the feeling of the first day we fell onto Ascension Path, I snap my fingers and start a fire.
A flame emitting seven colors arises inside the glass cave.
"Going forward, we will save Kang Min-hee."
"Hmm?"
I continue to speak.
"I am not sure if you know this but...the universe we live in, the Sun and Moon Heavenly Domain, will be destroyed in ten thousand years. For us cultivators, ten thousand years is not a very long time. Therefore, I plan to find Kang Min-hee and together with her...either escape to another Heavenly Domain or find a way to survive even within the End."
Explaining the plans from now, I look up at the starry sky.
I have escaped from Blood Yin for now.
I managed to escape the fate They imposed on me somehow thanks to the Sword Spear Heavenly Lord.
'Of course, I don't know what will happen if I regress again.'
Perhaps in the next life, I might not receive the help of the Sword Spear Heavenly Lord.
'No, it's better not to receive help if possible.'
Honestly, receiving help from that being this time was like escaping the fox only to meet the tiger.
In the next life, it would be better not to receive any help at all.
Of course, not receiving help would make it ever so hard to escape from the grasp of Blood Yin.
Therefore...
'The number one goal of this life is, not to die.'
I set a few goals for this life.
The first goal is simply 'survival'.
The second goal is...searching for and rescuing Kang Min-hee.
The third goal, since the End is imminent, is to head to the Lightning Sacred Sea and retrieve the treasures Yang Su-jin stole from the Middle Realms.
It's around when I set about three goals.
Sway—
"...Huh?"
I fall right there on the spot.
"Uh, Eun-hyun!"
"Mmm!"
"Se, senior?"
Kim Young-hoon, Kim Yeon, and Seo Ran rush to one after another.
Wondering if something has gone wrong with my incarnation, I try to shift my consciousness back to the star side, but I soon realize that there is a serious problem.
Splish, splash...
Something like black water begins flowing from my incarnation.
'This, this is...'
Realizing the nature of this fluid, I am extremely shocked.
'D-Death!?'
It is 'death energy (死氣)' that has not only concentrated but has completely liquefied.
'Ah...'
I have thought about this before.
If I die hundreds of times like this, might I not suddenly be dragged to the Underworld and be taxidermized for eternity?
But up until now, since there had been no response from the Underworld through the senses of Nether Perception, I thought 'it's still okay'.
I realize it was a misconception.
'I-I'm being dragged.'
I sense that my mind is being forcibly pulled towards an endless ashen world.
'Ah, no! How can this be!? I just escaped from the jaws of Blood Yin!!! Why!!??'
I want to scream, but the power of death covers my mind and begins to submerge it.
I can't even move my body, let alone twitch a finger.
'No, no, no!!! Please! Please!!!'
As my consciousness fades, I see in that vast darkness, deep and immense beings gesturing towards me.
'No...no...'
The next moment.
Hong Fan, who regained consciousness, yells something at Seo Ran, and Sea Ran pulling out the Nether Crossing Ship is the last...
I completely lose consciousness.
"...Where is this?"
It is ashen.
Yet, at the same time, it is not ashen.
"...?"
I suddenly become curious and look around.
'Is this...a palace?'
The surroundings are that of a palace.
Pillars that look like they are made of the same material as the Nether Crossing Ship support the black palace, and I am sitting atop something that looks like an ashen carpet.
"...Huh?"
Then, I am puzzled to see 'Seo Ran' behind me.
For some reason, Seo Ran is also sitting behind me, trembling like a quivering aspen tree and looking at something in total disbelief.
That's when it happens.
"That child used the Nether Crossing Ship to summon your consciousness here before it completely left the domain of light."
I suddenly turn my gaze towards a being sitting on a throne deep within the palace.
The being is a woman.
"Welcome, Esteemed One Seo. I thought we would meet, but I didn't expect it to be so soon. It's regrettable yet also fortunate."
I feel endless energy emanating from the being in front of me and start sweating coldly.
"Who...is the noble one, and where is this place?"
She smiles faintly at my question.
"This is the inner subspace of the Nether Ghost Realm's Sacred Master Hall. And I am the one who has taken the position of Sacred Master of the Nether Ghost Realm, Sacred Master Yu Oh."
Snap!
She snaps her fingers, and a small table, teacups, and a teapot appear in front of me and Seo Ran.
"Let's have some tea and share a conversation for a while, O Heavenly King designate."