Chapter 623: Inverted World (4)
'This place is...'
[I] open my eyes.
'I see.'
[I] am a being born chosen, entrusted with a mission.
My sole purpose and mission of existence is only to expel matter so that the great True Persons can create stars.
As an innately born Star Shattering stage Esteemed One, I must become a component that allows this universe to turn.
But...
For some reason, I notice that I have [another] mission besides that.'Why?'
It feels like I must carry out a different mission.
There is something [more important] than the mission given to me.
Eventually, I come to know what it is.
That's right.
[Being inverted].
That is the very thing I must prioritize over the mission I was born with.
However...
How does one become inverted?
I am confused.
I am round.
The bodies of Star Shattering stage Esteemed Ones are satellites, so there is no up or down.
Then how should I invert myself, how can I stand upside down?
However, such contemplations vanish in an instant.
'I see. Then let's defy and go against my fate.'
Let's defy the mission I was born with.
That is how one without up or down stands upside down.
From that day on, I abandon the mission of an innate Star Shattering Esteemed One which is the 'creation of Heaven and Earth spiritual energy and matter'.
Instead, I begin to [inhale] the spiritual energy and dust clouds that the innate Entering Nirvana True Persons use to create stars.
Kugugugugu!
I, who should be a help to the world, choose instead to become the misfortune of the world itself.
—Experiencing misfortune again and again, and becoming misfortune itself. Is this the pinnacle of the bridle...?
Suddenly, a voice that seems to sigh brushes past my mind, and before my eyes, the image of a white-robed figure sitting atop a glass sword mountain flashes by.
I cannot tell what this is.
What is certain is that I am doing something wrong.
I begin to repeatedly scatter incomprehensible bizarre words around me while simultaneously beginning to defy my mission.
And the more I do so, the deeper my self-loathing grows.
I feel like I have become a being unnecessary to this world.
It feels as if the very laws of the world are mocking me.
Then, at some point—
Kwagwagwang!
[Someone] pierces through me.
'Ah...is this the end? This painful life, spent defying my mission and forcing power into my body all my life...'
Even as I am being pierced and dying from something, I feel joy.
It is rather pleasant.
A life where I cannot properly follow my fate.
Isn't it better to not exist at all...?
And so I fall asleep.
"...I see."
I understand who it is that killed me.
The other True Immortals!
And among them, one who has had prior acquaintance with me.
"So it's you."
From my second reincarnation, they must have been keeping an eye on me.
I speak to the being before me, descended like an incarnation of darkness.
Jeon Myeong-hoon has spread Indra's Net to restrain them, while Oh Hyun-seok, Kang Min-hee, and Kim Yeon are blocking what appears to be their main body from beyond the Purple Lotus Realm.
And I calmly gaze at them.
That being, like an incarnation of darkness.
The Immortal Beast, Black Dragon (黑龍).
They are the one who popped and killed the innate Shattering stage me in order to stop me.
[When you first nested in the bloodline of my descendants, I didn't believe it. The cultivation of the Flawless Mantra is so harsh, painful, and terrifying that even a being who has acquired the formula can't hope to reach minor success... Proper cultivation should be impossible. But watching you cultivate the formula over 100, over 200 times...I finally became certain.]
Black Dragon looks down at me and speaks coldly.
[You will become the Devil Heavenly King. You will become the second coming of that monster...and once again try to devour Mount Sumeru.]
"..."
[This Immortal cannot allow it. Whatever the case, Mount Sumeru is our cradle...a place we must protect. Therefore...I absolutely cannot allow the birth of a second Swallowing Heaven (呑天).]
Kwachijijik!
Black Dragon takes a step forward, trying to touch my main body, but Jeon Myeong-hoon's Indra Net blocks them.
"That's far enough."
Led by Jeon Myeong-hoon, Oh Hyun-seok, Kang Min-hee, Kim Yeon, and Hong Fan appear around me.
"This is the path chosen by Seo Eun-hyun."
"No one can stop it."
"The world will not perish. So...vanish."
[...]
Black Dragon looks around at my comrades and gives a meaningful smile.
[...Of course, each of you is stronger than me. Fine, I admit that. I have no confidence in breaking through you all to kill Seo Eun-hyun...but what if it's 'us'?]
Kugugugugu!
Beyond the Purple Lotus Realm.
True Immortals of the Twin Holding Heavenly Domain begin to gather.
[This Immortal is weaker than you all, but who knows if it's 'us'...]
They cast a sinister gaze toward one corner of the Purple Lotus Realm.
[O Law Protecting Immortal of Radiance Hall. I know you were caught and forcibly brought here by these ones. At this point, the Radiance Eight Immortals have gone out to the Outer Sea, so you may not receive their help...but seek aid from the Envoys of the Final Age of Dharma. Contact the Thirty-Three Heavenly Resplendent Treasure Immortals. We will aid in your liberation.]
Kururung!
Along with those words, in one distant corner of the Purple Lotus Realm, the colossal body of a pale True Immortal rises.
It is Ho Woon, now only half a step away from becoming a Great Net Immortal.
[O sinister Immortal Beast. Do you think I do not see your deluded goal? Do not scheme against this Law Protecting Immortal of Radiance Hall, Ho Woon, and vanish.]
[Hahaha! A deluded goal, you say...?]
The incarnation of darkness before me, who was trying to threaten me, returns to Black Dragon's main body beyond the Purple Lotus Realm.
The main body of Black Dragon is a colossal dragon of darkness large enough to cover an entire galaxy.
Kugugugugu!
As Black Dragon reveals their presence, the Heaven Immortals and Earth Immortals of the Twin Holding Heavenly Domain, who seem to be threatened by the Flawless Mantra, begin to surround the Purple Lotus Realm.
[Is there any place more deluded than Radiance Hall? Do you know their true will? As far as this Immortal knows, you made a pact with that one to learn that true will. Immediately break the contract now and join this Immortal. This Immortal shall tell you the truth...]
Apparently, Black Dragon also knows the true will of Radiance Hall and tries to persuade Ho Woon.
However, Ho Woon brings out their tails in their true form.
Tails made of pale flame appear even larger than Ho Woon's true form, swaying gently.
[How foolish. What this Immortal agreed upon is not merely the exchange of information...]
[Hoh?]
[This Immortal vowed to aid him 'with utmost sincerity and wholeheartedness.' Therefore...even if I receive the information, I cannot betray him right now.]
In Ho Woon's hand, a star of prophecy begins to form.
[I am the Law Protecting Immortal of Radiance Hall! It is this Immortal's duty to uphold the justice of light. Do not attempt to deceive an envoy of Radiance Hall with such wicked words!]
[Haha... You cannot even be honest with yourself. Very well, then. Shall we engage in a match?]
Black Dragon's main body begins to retreat.
But at the same time, the countless Heaven Immortals and Earth Immortals who have followed Black Dragon all begin to chant prophecies and revisions with their mouths.
My comrades, too, begin to chant prophecies in return in order to protect me.
Ho Woon also steps forward with my comrades, voicing their prophecy.
Ho Woon looks back at me and speaks.
: : Watch closely. This is...the prophecy of an Immortal who walks the Immortal Dao of the Mountain. : :
As if unfolding the prophecy in order to ultimately impart teaching to me, they grant me enlightenment.
Seeing this sight, I realize that a true war between True Immortals has begun.
I continue to reincarnate without end.
Only, the scope of reincarnation has narrowed slightly.
Before, I reincarnated across the four great Middle Realms of the Twin Holding Heavenly Domain, but now, it is only within the world of purple nebula in a corner of the Twin Holding Heavenly Domain.
I reincarnate solely within the Purple Lotus Realm.
I become an innate Esteemed One and live a long, long life.
Yet the more I am born, the more I live, the stronger the misfortune scattered by the True Immortals becomes.
Even my comrades cannot easily protect me, and I die in all sorts of bizarre, unimaginable ways.
Like so, time flows once more.
300th cycle.
Before I know it, I am an innate Sacred Vessel.
I have become a being like Seo Hweol.
I have been born as an Immortal Art itself.
Kugugugugugu!
A Sacred Vessel must provide light to the world simply by existing.
But I am a being who must stand upside down.
Therefore, I begin to defy my own fate.
Kugugugu!
I do not offer light. Instead, I devour all light!
I become a monster that devours all nearby light.
However...
As I devour light, I feel something uncomfortable.
No...that's not it...
It's more than just discomfort.
This isn't right!
I can tell that something is deeply wrong.
I thrash, not wanting to devour any more light, but it's no use.
The repeated history itself has become fate and binds me.
'Ah... So that's how it is...'
Kwarururung!
As I am ultimately killed by Black Dragon, who breaks through the protective barrier of my comrades and enters the Purple Lotus Realm, I realize.
'Flawless Mantra...'
The Flawless Mantra is, in itself, alive.
And this mantra continuously whispers to me.
To devour the entire world.
To swallow all things in the world and rise to the pinnacle.
That alone, it says, is the true 'answer'...
Hearing this, I grit my teeth.
'Don't make me laugh.'
That is no answer.
'I am me.'
I do not accept the way of the Flawless Mantra.
Therefore...
There is no way I can remain as misfortune itself like this.
'The master of myself is me! Not you!'
I begin to resist the Flawless Mantra that has at some point began to make me into the bridle itself.
And even as I do so, time continues to flow.
400th cycle.
I am endlessly killed by True Immortals, again and again, and finally, I am born as an innate Entering Nirvana.
At the same time...
Kururururung!
The Immortal Dao of the Mountain finally reaches its peak.
At first, my Immortal Dao could only create small piles of sand.
Then, at some point, the sand piles grew larger and larger until they became hills.
The hills became mountains, the mountains became valleys, and eventually, I could create islands in the sea.
In time, the islands also became continents.
Thus, the Immortal Dao that raises continents grew stronger and stronger, and finally, it has reached its peak.
Urururung!
The Immortal Dao of the Mountain can now accumulate the dust of the universe to create stars.
'I see...'
I recall that when I first met Ho Woon, unlike the other True Immortals, they only opposed me by creating stars.
The foundation of a True Immortal, the star of prophecy.
To hone and polish that prophecy to the extreme... This is the way of the Immortal Dao of the Mountain.
Kurururung!
As one who gives birth to stars, I create stars as an Entering Nirvana, and devour the very stars I create.
And once again, I meet death.
"...I see. I now know what I must do to escape you."
I mutter as I gaze at the Flawless Mantra that binds me.
"You will not have it your way!"
From that day on, whenever I return to my main body after death, I create countless stars using the power of the Mountain Immortal Dao.
Then, when I reincarnate and am born again as an innate Entering Nirvana, I devour only the stars I made myself.
I create and consume by my own hand.
Repeating that process, when the time comes that only stars I did not create remain, I use the Phenomena Extinguishing Mantra.
Kururururung!
I compress myself into a single point.
If I withstand the compression into a single point, I grow. But if I cannot endure, I die.
And none of the 'me's who lose their memories and reincarnate under the Flawless Mantra can stop the Phenomena Extinguishing Mantra, so they all die.
The Flawless Mantra ultimately decides in a past life what I must do in the next, and I in the present live according to the law set in that past life.
That is why I begin to recite the Phenomena Extinguishing Mantra alongside the Flawless Mantra.
500th cycle.
At last.
I become an innate True Immortal.
I become a mantra in and of itself.
At this point, even if I reincarnate, I instantly regain my power and authority as an Immortal Beast and recover all my memories.
As a result, I have become able to cultivate Yang Pitch as well.
Each time I rise again as an Immortal Beast, it is the same as successfully cultivating Yang Pitch, so I end up continuously cultivating both Yang Pitch and Yin Pitch together.
And from that point onward, I begin to sense something strange.
'I have already reached the peak of both Heaven Upper Immortal and Earth Upper Immortal through the methods of Yang Pitch and Yin Pitch.'
Now, with just a little preparation for the Great Net Immortal advancement ritual, I could become one.
The Immortal Dao of the Mountain has also reached its peak, far stronger than it had ever been before.
'Then why...?'
I feel a sense of doubt.
'Why have I still not been granted the Immortal Crown?'
It is strange.
And the moment I feel that strangeness—
Flash!
'Ah...'
The movements of Brahma Nature, Narayana Nature, and Mahesvara Nature flicker across my eyes.
'This is...!'
I have cultivated Yang Pitch and Yin Pitch more than twelve times each.
Never harming any other race, I carved away only at myself in cultivation, and thanks to that, the cultivation of Triple Divinity also proceeded naturally.
Perhaps because of this, I begin to see things I have never seen before.
Paaaaatt!
I realize that all things of all phenomena are contained within Triple Divinity.
All beings of all phenomena carry Triple Divinity within them, and those beings who are intricately connected to Triple Divinity live with possessing what is called a 'heart'.
As I read the 'heart' that exists throughout this entire world, I open my eyes wide.
'Ah...!'
I realize why I have not received the Immortal Crown until now.
It is true that my understanding of the Immortal Dao of the Mountain had been lacking until now, but there is another reason as well.
'Gwak Am...'
The Great Mountain Supreme Deity Gwak Am is blocking the Immortal Crown that is meant to be bestowed upon me.