Chapter 508: Seo Ran's Family (3)
'...He’s screaming so much it makes me feel sorry.'
However, there's nothing I can do.
The End is approaching and there's no way I, who is only at the early Sacred Vessel stage, can make proper measures.
For the sake of the living beings of the Purple Gold Realm, at least until the End, it would be better for Ban Ta to take charge.
[Hmhhmm... It's unfortunate.]
[I'll have to wait for the next opportunity.]
Baek Woon and Hae Lin just smack their lips and turn away, while Yu Oh and Ja Eum looks at me for a moment with a sense of regret.
And...Ban Ta suddenly rolls his eyes and bares his teeth.
[...Yes... Congratulations, Daoist Seo. But do you happen to know? Among us Sacred Masters, it is customary to give an initiation ceremony when a junior succeeds in becoming a Sacred Master.]
[...This is the first I'm hearing of it.]
[Of course it's the first time! This is a tradition passed down only within the Purple Gold Realm.]
'I remember Ban Ta being the first Sacred Master of the Purple Gold Realm...'
[...I am not a Sacred Master of the Purple Gold Realm, so I don't believe there's a reason for me to undergo that initiation...]
[In celebration of junior's advancement to Sacred Master, I, Ban Ta! Will give the best initiation ceremony ever!]
Kugugugugu!
Above Ban Ta's head, a purple thundercloud appears.
Inside the purple cloud, pure white lightning rumbles.
The thundercloud gradually grows in size, until it envelops the entirety of Cedarwood Painting.
'He's really angry...'
I silently click my tongue and decide to accept his strike for now.
And in the next moment—
Kwarurururung!
The purple thundercloud strikes directly towards me, pounding the entire Cedarwood Painting.
'This insane Sacred Master...does he intend to annihilate me...!?'
From within the storm of the purple thundercloud, I summon the Three Great Ultimates behind me.
But the Three Great Ultimates waver like candle flames in the face of the purple storm.
'He's drawing upon the power of the Purple Gold Realm to attack me...!'
At this rate, the entire Cedarwood Painting will collapse.
Of course, there is another option.
'If I sever my synchronization with Cedarwood Painting, this thundercloud targeting me will only push me into distant space, leaving Cedarwood Painting untouched.'
The choice between perishing with Cedarwood Painting or abandoning my Sacred Master position here is laid out in front of me!
Though it may seem like a petty move, this attack feels like the regret of Ban Ta, who has held the position of Sacred Master for 500,000 years and still hasn't found a successor.
'Can I...endure...?'
As I struggle with all my might—
Wo-woong!
Something is added around the power of the Three Great Ultimates.
'This is...!'
The power of Cedarwood Painting itself!
That power is supporting me.
'Is it because I have taken the role of Sacred Master that I can draw upon the world's power? But...the power of the Decaying Corpse Realm alone is not enough. Greater power...I need greater power!'
Greater power!
Even more formidable power!
It's at the moment that thought crosses my mind.
Kiiiiing!
Gradually, Ban Ta's thundercloud seems to slow down, and the world momentarily darkens.
'Is this...stopping time temporarily through attraction force? No, it accelerated my consciousness!'
I realize the identity of the force accelerating my consciousness.
'The will that has waited for a long time for Oh Hye-seo or those like her, the Heavenly Rejected...this is definitely an inheritance from an Ender!'
Paaaatt!
At the same time, an illusion appears before my eyes.
It's an illusion of a monster.
That monster is a sword cultivator.
Every time the golden monster moves, thousands and hundreds of millions of golden swords sway from its body, piercing throughout the universe.
Within that vision, I notice the monster is fighting someone.
'That's...!'
It's Hyeon Gwi.
The girl with a ponytail and donned in black martial attire is dancing.
The monster roars.
The entire universe trembles at the monster's utterance, and the sharp energy the monster emits cuts the universe.
However, the essence of the sword, which seems to split Heaven and Earth, cannot penetrate inside the dance of the girl.
Within her dance,
Within the circle inside, nothing can intrude, and everything seems to scatter into nothingness.
Trying to resist the terrifying force of that circle, I unknowingly find myself clenching my fist.
The Colorless Glass Sword is held in my hand.
Then...a familiar movement begins from her.
The girl who peacefully draws a circle.
Everything around that girl vanishes, leaving just a single circle between Heaven and Earth once again.
In the next moment...
Pasasak!
The circle shatters.
And the darkness of Heaven and Earth is lifted.
The golden monster, battling within the cosmic space, is shattered to pieces.
"You have reached One Wheel (一輪). However, you have not fully obtained Mandala (曼陀羅). Would you then, perhaps, be able to make the flower bloom?"
The girl, who shattered the golden monster, simply moves her hand.
With that movement, all parts of the monster's body are instantly moved into the Interdimensional Void and annihilated.
However, one single part resembling a thigh does not move according to the girl's will.
Seeing that, the girl gives a small exclamation.
"You've bloomed the flower. You've set foot somewhat into Piranirvana (入滅). But...what does that even matter?"
With that, I emerge from the illusion,
Yet, I do not escape a certain ecstasy that has captivated me.
And, without a word, I let my sword hang and aim it at Ban Ta's thundercloud.
Bo-oong!
Following Hyeon Gwi, I try drawing a circle.
Within the sword movement that carries neither sword energy nor intent, Ban Ta's thundercloud is cleanly sliced in half.
[What!!??]
Ban Ta shows a shocked expression and retracts the thundercloud momentarily from me.
However, I ponder the meaning of the sword swing I just performed, paying no mind to the external situation.
'This is...One Wheel (一輪).'
A single circle appears before my eyes.
Now I understand.
This circle is nothing special.
Perhaps...it has been inside me from the very beginning.
Another name for this circle is Seated Detachment, Entering Hope (坐脫立望).
In the realm of Tribulating Heavens, I condensed all of myself to create the All-Heavens Sword.
'The Owner of the Void' likely compressed all of the previous realms and discovered the Wheel (輪).
'I see. This is...Hyeon Gwi, or rather, the main body of the one who uses the name Hyeon Gwi. The realm name of the Owner of the Void!'
As I confirm what is called 'One Wheel,' I once again compress my martial realm.
Wo-woong!
I raise my All-Heavens Sword.
Compressing the Formless Sword once created the All-Heavens Sword.
Compressing the Formless Sword while wishing that all the colors of my life would be imbued within it, I named it All-Heavens Sword.
A single strike tempered from everything in my life.
That is the All-Heavens Sword. That is Seated Detachment, Entering Hope.
'I've been...drawing a circle.'
I can see a certain circle within the All-Heavens Sword.
In truth, every scene and moment of my life has been drawing this circle.
Beyond the scene I thought was flat, there is another scene.
Like both sides of a coin.
And just as continuously spinning the coin eventually turns it into a sphere, my life has, in fact, always been overlapped with death.
As life and death have always been rotating within me, drawing a circle, the perfect circle has always been within me.
Gazing into the enlightenment of the Owner of Void, I swing the sword again as if entranced.
And, I look towards the next moment.
Beyond One Wheel.
To the realm I have named Void Shattering.
Beyond the movements of the Owner of the Void, I naturally hear the realm name she coined.
Mandala (曼陀羅).
Beyond the All-Heavens Sword, the Wheel (輪) seems to rotate, and countless images are drawn around it.
It is the life of the entity known as Seo Eun-hyun.
My life is drawn into a Mandala and seems to scatter throughout the entire world.
Then finally, the very last moment!
Pasasa!
The Mandala shatters to pieces.
Just as the circle shattered.
My life returns to nothingness (無).
'Is this...the end?'
For some reason, my throat tightens.
But in the next moment,
I feel 'something' beyond that nothingness.
It is...a fragrance.
Though I can't identify which flower's scent it is, the instant I inhale that incredibly fragrant aroma—
I feel as though I could let go of everything.
Beyond that void (空虛), where nothing exists except the overflowing unknown fragrance.
It's as if I can hear the realm name of Void that Jang Ik called the Third Step Before the Throne.
Udumbara (優曇婆羅).
Yes.
One Wheel (一輪).
Mandala (曼陀羅).
Udumbara (優曇婆羅).
These are the great steps pioneered by the Owner of the Void.
Kwarurung!
As soon as I realize these realms, I feel as if thunder is crashing in my mind again.
Red Lotus (紅蓮).
Prajna (般若).
Dragon Flower (龍華).
This is another realm found in the memories of the golden monster.
It somehow does not seem to be the original realm of the monster, but I can clearly sense that the entity trained its power in accordance with this realm to oppose the power of the Owner of the Void.
And simultaneously, I can sense a commonality between these two realms.
It is that they each describe the ultimate of their realm as something 'alive.'
Udumbara and Dragon Flower.
They are all names of legendary flowers and trees.
They are things with life.
As if treating martial arts (武) as something truly alive.
Feeling this, I suddenly realize something.
'Three Flowers Wuji (三花無極). At some point...like Jang Ik's Three Steps Before the Throne, I started collectively referring to my Seated Detachment, Entering Hope, my Void Shattering...and the next third realm as 'Three Flowers Wuji'.'
Thinking about it, there was no 'trigger' for that.
Just 'at some point,' I thought to call the Martial Art realms of the Middle Boundary 'Three Flowers Wuji' and did so.
It has nothing to do with flowers, so [why] did I name [this] Three Flowers Wuji?
Chills!
I realize a terrifying fact.
"It was [today]!"
Three Flowers Wuji.
I realize that it's only [today] that I got the [trigger] to call the Martial Art realms 'Three Flowers Wuji.'
'Insane...'
The moment I identified the term Three Flowers Wuji [on this timeline], on [this very day]!
The realm 'Three Flowers Wuji' was [imprinted] across [all my timelines].
In other words, beyond the timelines of the regressor, me, it engraved the realm into the [me who had yet to witness] the legacy of the ancient Ender in the Peaceful Cloud Realm.
I understand that fact and 'how' it was made possible.
'An ancient...Ender's power. It's the power of an ancient Ender!'
A terrifying authority that engraves all realms even into my past self just from meeting at this moment!
It's a bone-chilling ability that is in no way inferior to regression.
'Come to think of it, Kim Yeon from a previous cycle said so.'
That our authorities aren't just a broad consciousness domain, Heavenly Golden Thunder Body, Ghostly Yin Transformation Immortal Root, and such.
Such things are just the trivial 'fragments' that emerged when the true power on the Plane of Fate was manifested onto the Plane of Qi.
This is the true authority of an Ender who has fully harnessed the power within the Plane of Fate.
It isn't a joke; it's an authority on par with regression.
Depending on its use, it's an authority that could even render regression as something 'trivial.'
"Heok...heok..."
Having confirmed the new realm name and the authority of a previous Ender, I look around.
'This place is...!'
I realize where I am.
My physical body had briefly danced a sword dance in ecstasy on the Peaceful Cloud Continent of the Peaceful Cloud Realm.
But now, my soul is on the 'underside' of the Peaceful Cloud Continent.
In other words, I have come to the 'backside' of the flat Decaying Corpse Realm.
'This is...'
There, I see a Mandala (曼陀羅). It is a Mandala of a mountain (山) of cedarwood (杉木) drawn on it.
A giant Cedarwood Mountain (杉木山)!
And, a Mandala inscribing the saga of a hero who entered the Cedarwood Mountain, defeated a monster, stole seven halos, and offered them as a sacrifice to the heavens.
'...I see. What Jang Ik wanted me to see...was this.'
Only now do I fully understand why Jang Ik named the Heart Tribe territory Cedar Wood Grove (杉木叢).
And while I'm staring at Cedarwood Mountain.
The Mandala depicting the Cedarwood Mountain quietly disappears.
Paaatt!
Simultaneously, as the Sacred Master of Cedarwood Painting, I am pushed out by an unknown force, returning once more to the summit of Glass Cedarwood Mountain.
At the same time, a whisper echoes in my ear.
—If you want to see it properly, prove it.
What must I prove?
Somehow, I feel like I know.
'It must be...to prove my own Martial Arts.'
Clench...
Clenching my hand tightly, I vow to one day return to the Mandala of Cedarwood Mountain.
For that is an opportunity to experience the inheritance of one of the few Heart Tribe entities beyond Void Shattering in this world.
As I rise back to the top of Cedarwood Painting, I half-open my eyes and meet Ban Ta's gaze.
Ban Ta stares at me in silence before speaking.
[...Yes. I have lost. Do as you wish. The Sacred Master of the Purple Gold Realm...the opportunity will come someday.]
The extraordinary skill I just displayed seems to have greatly surprised Ban Ta.
Kooong—
He reaches into the void and seems to pull out something before throwing it to me.
[Take it. For a genius like you, reaching Entering Nirvana will be immediate. It's a specialty from the Purple Gold Realm that helps with advancing to Entering Nirvana. It's a Dusk Talisman (黃昏符). I'm sorry for testing you recklessly. Take it as a token of apology.]
Wo-woong!
I catch the golden talisman he throws.
'This is...'
I can sense an overwhelming level of degenerate energy.
It feels as if an entire black hole of the universe was refined and crammed into the talisman.
In a way, it's a talisman-shaped singularity engine.
'Even for a Sacred Master, it's an item of considerable difficulty to refine. To give me a such thing...'
It seems he is truly sincere.
[I accept the apology. It is I who should be sorry for not being able to attend the invitation.]
[Haha. If you're sorry, then later on, help me catch a fresh Sacred Vessel with me.]
Thus, I completely resolve all animosity with Ban Ta, and I am formally recognized as a Sacred Master by all the Sacred Masters of the Middle Realms.
In that way, I prepare for the impending End with Seo Ran by my side.
Simultaneously, as I press Seo Hweol to uncover his plans and intentions...I begin my Sacred Vessel stage cultivation.