Chapter 621: Inverted World (2)
Huarurururuk!
Flames cover the surroundings.
It is a familiar sight.
'Blade Mountain True Lord...'
A familiar Great King is in front of me.
Ordinarily, I regress with death.
However, this time is different.
It is because I am cultivating the Flawless Mantra."This lowly sinner, Seo Eun-hyun, greets the Great King."
[...Raise your head.]
At the Blade Mountain Great King's words, I raise my head.
As expected, it is a familiar sight.
Countless Ghost Kings, Asuras, Yakshas, Rakshasas, and Reapers surround me, and before my eyes, a colossal-bodied Judge looks down upon me.
[...Strange. Ordinarily, the Imperial Venerable should have called you... Why is it that this time, the Imperial Venerable shows no reaction...?]
"..."
[Well, no matter. The Imperial Venerable must have a purpose. We merely follow that purpose... From now, the judgment of the sinner Seo Eun-hyun shall begin.]
The Blade Mountain True Lord contemplates for a moment as though trying to grasp the meaning of the Heavenly Venerable of the Underworld, but soon shakes their head and begins to judge me.
The first step of reincarnation has begun.
How much time has passed?
I undergo all ten trials carried out by the Underworld Ten Kings, and at last, I stand before a giant wheel.
It is not before the Heavenly Venerable of the Underworld.
It is before the front of the projection of the White Wheel.
Kugugugugugu!
I realize that the Wheel is spinning endlessly.
Beyond that rotation, I see countless souls.
'So that's how it is...'
The Wheel carried on the back of the Heavenly Venerable of the Underworld is, in itself, an authority governing the Cycle of Reincarnation (輪轉輪廻).
[The judgment you have received shall become proof of the life you will live henceforth. The karma you accumulated and the fortune and misfortune you consumed in your previous life shall guarantee your next life.]
I listen to the words of the last Great King of the Underworld Ten Kings.
The words of Great King Wudao Zhuanlun.
[Step forward. Then you shall obtain your next life...]
"...Yes."
Thus, I move forward, reciting the Flawless Mantra.
'Let's go, to the next life...'
I chant the Flawless Mantra, perceiving my soul and flesh.
'My main body...still remains in the present world.'
The cultivation method of the Flawless Mantra is as follows.
Leaving the main body behind, only the spirit departs to the Underworld to be judged, and reincarnates with a powerful spirit containing solely a single will.
And that one will is this:
It is precisely [reciting the Flawless Mantra while standing upside down].
No matter whose child I am born under, no matter what connections I encounter.
Cut them all off, and solely, unceasingly, continue reciting the Flawless Mantra.
That is the cultivation method of the Flawless Mantra.
And meanwhile, my main body remains in the present world, preventing me from disappearing completely.
Thus, the complete death recognized as 'regression' does not arrive.
'Of course...soon enough, it will.'
I step forward, taking a step toward my next life.
A familiar sensation overtakes me.
The world turns achromatic, and I begin to be slowly pushed out from this world.
I am about to regress.
'But that can't happen.'
Uuuuuuuung!
Just as I had preset, my [Wheel] emerges at this moment.
The [Wheel] fiercely resists the force of regression, and within that resistance, I start heading toward the next life.
And after some time...
Swaaaaaaa—
'This place... Is it a flower field...?'
I realize I have arrived at some kind of flower field.
Then, someone approaches me.
"Are you cultivating the Flawless Mantra?"
"..."
I cannot answer.
But as they come near, the authority of regression halts.
'I see. Merely by their existence...my next life has been secured, and thus regression is severed...'
"Will you truly be able to surpass Obsidian...? I shall watch. Now, go. Do not forget that the flower you will obtain here...that is, the fate and fortune that will determine your path ahead, all depends on the deeds of your past life."
With those words, I lose consciousness.
Waaah! Waaah!
Within the Twin Holding Heavenly Domain, aside from Great Net Immortals, there are a total of four Middle Realms.
They are commonly called the Four Great Middle Realms of the Twin Holding Heavenly Domain, and each bear a different name.
Krita (कृत) Realm.
Treta (त्रेता) Realm.
Dvapara (द्वापर) Realm.
Kali (कलि) Realm.
These peculiarly named Four Great Middle Realms are said to have been personally named by the God of Gods who created the Swallowing Heaven Supreme Deity in ancient times.
And, in one corner of the Stable Realm region within the Krita Realm—
In one area of the human zone where the Human Race lives, a baby is born.
"Heok...h-heok... Wh-What is this...!?"
However, the mother, upon seeing the baby, immediately gasps and throws it aside.
The newborn, thrown away by the mother right after birth, stands on its hands.
The baby stands upside down and begins chanting strange incantations.
The mother, a lower-class commoner, recoils in terror, stepping backward from the baby.
"N-No, no... Th-That thing isn't my child..."
Even though she has just gone through childbirth and her body is difficult to move, the mother stumbles and flees, desperate to get away from the bizarre infant.
But regardless of whether the mother does so or not, the baby endlessly chants the eerie mantra, standing upside down.
How much time passes like that?
Flash!
A five-colored light seems to swirl from the sky, and energy of five colors coils around the area.
Each light is red, blue, purple, light pink, and black.
That day, the humans of the Krita Realm witness in the sky a vision of a red Heavenly King, a blue Heavenly King, a purple Heavenly King, a light pink Heavenly King, and lastly, a massive snake.
Not long after these visions appear, someone appears before the upside-down, chanting child.
It is a girl clad in a light pink robe.
The girl gazes at the child for a while, then gently embraces the child in her arms.
Even while in her arms, the child continues chanting, but soon, perhaps out of exhaustion, falls asleep.
Holding the child, the girl looks up at the sky for a long while.
The girl advances down the street with the baby.
The girl seems mute, unable to speak, and the baby appears to have been born with a strange mind, standing on his hands every day while mumbling bizarre words.
The two go around begging.
Since the girl produces no milk, she goes begging for milk to feed the baby, and sustains herself by doing menial labor.
As time passes, the baby and the girl grow.
At first, they are merely a mute girl and a mentally deranged baby, but before long, they meet other beggars and form connections.
A young man with a large frame but a limping leg, a boy missing both arms with an odd obsession with human hands, and a blind girl unable to see—all join their ranks.
The group of five beggars wander from place to place, begging.
The mentally deranged child also grows over time.
The child becomes a boy, then grows into a young man.
But even as a young man, he continues to walk on his hands, chanting incantations.
Before long, tales of this beggar group spread widely among the Human Race, and countless people come to know about them.
However, no cultivator shows any interest in them. Only mortals lacking spiritual energy or lower-tier cultivators bother to visit and watch them.
"How pitiful."
"Tsk, tsk, must have committed some sin in a past life."
Everyone looks upon the beggar group with sympathy.
But among them, the one especially unable to do anything by himself—the mentally deranged man.
They look at the [Man Standing on His Hands] and curse him.
"No matter how deranged he is, he's old enough now. Shouldn't he at least be of some help to his family?"
"Truly shameless."
"Not even cultivators can cure him, so what's to be done? Tsk tsk tsk..."
Passersby continue to curse the man standing on his hands.
As if knowing he, being deranged, cannot understand anyway, some even loudly curse him outright.
But in truth, the one standing on his hands is unexpectedly intelligent.
He constantly ponders while standing on his hands.
Why does he walk on his hands? Why can't he speak like the others, and why must he endlessly recite strange incantations?
Isn't this too cruel a fate?
He, too, wishes to walk upright like other people, speak normally like other people, and live an ordinary life like other people.
However...
He cannot.
The instinct rising from deep within his soul refuses it.
No, the moment he tries to place his feet properly on the ground, his head spins, and his heart pounds as if his breath will stop.
And when he tries to stop chanting those strange incantations, he feels suffocated and the sky turns yellow.
Thus, he cannot stop this bizarre behavior.
He can only continue living this meaningless life, devouring whatever food his family gives him while standing on his hands.
Time continues to flow, and he grows old.
Even in old age, he stands on his hands and chants incantations.
By now, the family who spent their entire lives with him have all reached the end of their lifespans.
He, too, feels the life within his body dimming.
He earnestly wishes.
'Please, if there is a next life...'
In the cold winter wind, he sheds tears as he prays.
'Please...please let me live an ordinary life...'
That is the end of his life.
"..."
The man who lived his entire life standing on his hands opens his eyes.
He lived a miserable life.
Except for his 'family,' no one ever approached him, no one ever tried to form a connection with him.
To anyone who saw him, he was nothing but a madman.
However, it is not as if he wished for such a life.
The man, who lived a wretched and painful life, opens his eyes and looks around.
'This place is...'
What reflects around him is a world made of countless mountains of glass swords.
And the man realizes for the first time in his life that he is not standing on his hands, but 'sitting.'
"...Ah..."
The man who stands on his hands.
[I] shed tears.
"Ah... Aaaaaaagh... Uaaaaaah..."
At last, I recover all my memories and weep.
'It was...such a miserable life...'
A single lifetime.
Living not as 'me,' accustomed to pain, but as another pure being who had never endured pain, that life was unbearably long and agonizing.
It has given me a new kind of suffering that I have never experienced before.
Drip, drip...
How long do I struggle alone?
I suddenly realize there is a familiar presence before my eyes.
"...I see. It was you all..."
The 'family' who took care of me my entire past life...
Jeon Myeong-hoon, Kang Min-hee, Oh Hyun-seok, and Kim Yeon.
"...Thank you... Truly, thank you..."
And seeing me like this, Jeon Myeong-hoon speaks bitterly.
"...Will you continue?"
"..."
I cannot answer for a while.
Because that one life, with everything lost and living as a miserable madman, was too sorrowful and painful.
But...
"...I will keep going."
Even as tears fall, I open my mouth.
I cannot give up here.
I cannot give up halfway.
Because...
Even if I must endure this wretched and painful life...!
"I have...received a great grace from you all."
As I was granted life, I undeniably met my 'family.'
Even if it was something agreed upon beforehand, I have received grace from them.
Therefore, even if I must endure this endless suffering, I will not give up.
Because I am still so far from repaying the grace I received from them.
"Let's continue, Jeon Myeong-hoon!"
"..."
Jeon Myeong-hoon reaches out his hand to me with a sorrowful expression.
That, is my second reincarnation.
[Though the Flawless Mantra may have been leaked before, only the Obsidian Devil Heavenly King alone has ever properly cultivated it... I wonder if you will be able to endure its cultivation to the end.]
"..."
The process of the Flawless Mantra proceeds like this.
After dying once, I reincarnate and live my entire life standing on my hands, then die again.
Upon dying like that, I recover my memories and resurrect within the Immortal Body I previously left behind.
At that point, I have the choice whether to continue cultivating the Flawless Mantra or not.
And I have decided to continue cultivating it at least up to my second life.
I look up at the Blade Mountain True Lord, who gazes down at me curiously, and open my mouth.
"Please begin the judgment, O Great King."
[Very well...]
Judgment in the Underworld is carried out according to the domain each Great King oversees.
In particular, they focus on judging things like 'inflicting pain upon others,' 'taking others' lives,' 'acting with malice,' and 'exploiting others.'
And those standards are never those of mortals.
Even if one has not killed other humans or other intelligent races, one is punished.
Because one had eaten the meat of animals that have been killed.
Even if one avoids meat entirely and consumes only vegetables, one receives punishment.
It is because one had stepped on passing insects by accident, and killed and ate grasses.
Even if one ate nothing but mud, one receives punishment.
It is because one had stolen the lives of insignificant creatures living within the mud.
The Underworld considers it a sin if you influence the fate of even the smallest speck of dust in the world, and that speck of dust suffers.
In this world, even breathing becomes an act of committing sin.
I receive punishment for stepping on grass, breathing, and killing microorganisms.
And I receive punishment for making my parents, who gave birth to me, flee in terror, and for failing to support the 'family' with whom I lived my entire life.
Having paid the price for all my sins, I stand once again before the Wheel.
[Take a step forward, and it will be your next life.]
"...I know."
I step forward.
I once heard that the ability of the Obsidian Devil Heavenly King allowed them to completely skip all the complex judgments of the Underworld.
But I willingly accept every judgment.
Because even those seemingly unreasonable judgments are...
The proof of my life.
I reincarnate into the next life.
It is the familiar flower field.
"You have lived your previous life in suffering. How was it, that painful life..."
"..."
An old man holding a flower basket smiles at me.
"The world draws a Taiji. That is why, where there is no fortune, there is misfortune, and where there is no misfortune, fortune arises."
"..."
"In your past life, you kicked away all fortune, choosing only misfortune, and stood on your hands; was it not so?"
He smiles faintly and sprinkles something on me.
It is light.
"Having lived a lifetime in misfortune, in this life, live within fortune and virtue..."
I close my eyes as the light falls upon me.
I see the next life.
One of the Four Great Middle Realms of the Twin Holding Heavenly Domain.
The Dragon Race territory of the Treta Realm.
In one place within that Dragon Race territory, a dragon egg cracks open.
"Oooh, the crown prince is about to be born."
"Haw haw haw, surely since it is an egg birthed holding immense vitality, a bloodline that much powerful will be born..."
The Black Dragon Race's Dragon King and Dragon Queen smile at each other as they look at their soon-to-be-born child.
However, what emerges is, strangely enough, a baby dragon who immediately stands on his hands and spits out bizarre, incomprehensible sounds.
"Wh-What is this!?"
"Hear me! Call the royal physician! Contact the priest! It seems a ghost has possessed the crown prince!"
Taken aback, the Dragon King and Dragon Queen of the Black Dragon Race quickly gather their subordinates.
But on that day, not a single one among those assembled is able to cure the crown prince's strange condition.
In the end...
The Dragon King and Dragon Queen of the Black Dragon Race, holding back tears, lock their eldest son away in a solitary chamber.
Furthermore, they hide the entire matter from everyone, entrusting the mad child born to them to a mute Human Race mortal girl.
The mad crown prince born to the Dragon Race is thus, from the moment of his birth, left forever imprisoned in a solitude chamber, in the hands of a human race caretaker.
The inverted prince, who since childhood continuously stands upside down and mutters bizarre words, grows up under the care of the caretaker while harboring many questions.
Why must he do such things?
Why must he mutter such strange words?
Why is he unable to bring happiness to his parents...?
He tries to escape this bizarre fate, but for some reason, he cannot stop performing the act.
It is already an uncontrollable instinct.
Unlike others, he behaves differently, making himself feel like some sort of monster.
The crown prince is clearly born possessing noble fortune and virtue, yet he is unable to enjoy any of it.
Time passes.
The Human Race caretaker who cared for him eventually dies, and another caretaker arrives.
It is a caretaker without arms.
Unusually obsessed with hands, this caretaker spends a long time together with the prince.
Eventually, that caretaker also reaches their death, and around that time, the prince too senses his own lifespan nearing its end.
'Why...did I have to be born this way?'
The fact that he cannot behave normally or stop reciting bizarre words is not of his own will.
It is simply instinct, and he does not possess the strength to suppress that instinct.
As his lifespan nears its end, he contemplates why he had to be born like this, and while tormented, meets his death.
Thus, he dies.
"...Is this...the second time...?"
I shed tears.
It is only now the second time.
My chest aches.
It is not merely listening to or watching someone else's life.
He is [me]!
No different from another one of my personalities.
"Kugh... Kkuuuuuugh..."
I wail, recalling myself who lived a life of misery, unable to form any connections.
It was so painful.
Familiar figures arrive before my eyes.
"...Will you continue?"
"...I will continue, no matter how many times."
However painful it may be, this is something that must not end.
"Remember this, Jeon Myeong-hoon..."
I speak through falling tears.
"Right now...I am in so much pain. But..."
Even if life is filled with suffering, it is not composed solely of it.
The most precious teaching I was once taught.
"Life...is not only about seeking pain within it...!"
"..."
"That is why...though the past life may have been hard...it was also undeniably a blessing."
I look at Kim Yeon and Jeon Myeong-hoon.
"Thank you...for becoming my family in that past life."
"...You fool."
Kwachijijik!
Once again, a lightning spear pierces into me.
And once again, I lose consciousness.
That, is my third reincarnation.
Receiving judgment for sins in the Underworld no longer feels significant to me.
After all, all I did in my past life was stand upside down on my hands and recite the Flawless Mantra.
I never maliciously harmed anyone.
Therefore, the sentence I receive is always considerably lighter compared to other spirits.
Sure, they say I killed microorganisms, but since I never directly killed any intelligent races, the deaths of such microorganisms do not result in severe punishment.
I quickly serve all my sentences and head toward the next life.
A familiar flower field welcomes me.
And a familiar old man appears.
"In your past life, you kicked away all the fortune and virtue I granted you, choosing instead to draw misfortune upon yourself."
"..."
"Tsk tsk, I truly wonder how far you will cultivate. For as the Flawless Mantra accumulates cycles, it truly becomes a mantra worthy of being called a God of Gods...
"Here, the fortune and virtue you should have enjoyed in your past life. And the fortune and virtue you are to receive in this life."
Thus, I receive the fortune and virtue I should have enjoyed in the past life, along with the fortune and virtue added in this new life.
Continuously undergoing the Cycle of Reincarnation, taking in nothing but misfortune from the world, while endlessly accumulating the fortune and virtue one is meant to enjoy upon one's spirit.
As the cycles accumulate, the more the fortune one is to receive increases.
Kicking away all of the overwhelming fortune and virtue within life, and living only under misfortune through reciting the Flawless Mantra until death.
Thus evolving the innate fortune one is born with.
Rolling and rolling like a snowball the fortune one is meant to receive, evolving one's fate further and further, and transcending with the fate that has reached the pinnacle of the bridle—that is precisely the Flawless Mantra.
'I will definitely complete it.'
I steel my heart as I head toward the next life.
No matter what calamities the world throws at me, I will, without fail, complete the Flawless Mantra.
In doing so...
I will, no matter what, return the grace I have received from this world!