Chapter 630: Mastering The Mantra
'Huh...'
As I watch this scene, I feel an emotion I can't quite grasp.
Purple Soul Filling the Heavens, which had undergone countless twists and turns, became Flower Soul Filling the Heavens, and now it has evolved once more.
The remnants of the Colorless Glass Sword and the Canvas of Myriad Forms and Connections, which I thought were no longer necessary due to their evolution into the Immortal Crown, have now merged with Flower Soul Filling the Heavens to take on a new form.
'In this world...there's not a single thing that is unnecessary.'
Even a single speck exists because it is needed in this world.
From now on, this deer-shaped Flower Soul Filling the Heavens could be refined back into the Canvas of Myriad Forms and Connections, or used for another purpose.
I gently stroke the deer for a moment, then absorb it into the norigae and fasten the norigae back to my waist."It's been a while, Black Dragon. And..."
[I am called White-Winged Heavenly Pegasus. The Flower Overseer under the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable. I've been enjoying watching you cultivate the Flawless Mantra from the flower field.]
"Yes, it's a pleasure to meet you, Elder Flower Overseer."
I glance slightly toward Supreme Tiger,
'I see. Oh Hye-seo must have poured a lot of Tainted Soul Filling the Heavens into the mindless Supreme Tiger, inputting commands to control them. It looks like she is barely managing to control them by refining a single Corpse Mountain Blood Sea into Tainted Soul Filling the Heavens...'
Because Supreme Tiger's power is so great, it looks like even a light push could unravel Tainted Soul Filling the Heavens. That precariousness is quite amusing to watch.
"Anyway...are all these many True Immortals gathered here just to strike me down?"
Black Dragon looks down on me with arrogance and says,
[Indeed. You, having reached great completion in the Flawless Mantra and seeking to devour Mount Sumeru, are a candidate of the Devil Heaven King... At the same time, it has been confirmed that you are the return of the Vast Cold Heavenly Lord, wanted by Radiance Hall. On top of that, it has been confirmed that you possess the Phenomena Extinguishing Mantra...so you must also be connected to the Great Mountain Supreme Deity, who is currently reciting something called the Splitting Heaven Mantra. Obsidian Devil Heavenly King, Vast Cold Heavenly Lord, Great Mountain Supreme Deity... Learning the arts of even one of them is dangerous, but you are a being who has learned them all. Knowing of your existence, how could we possibly leave you be?]
I let out a hollow laugh and point at Oh Hye-seo.
"That one is a direct disciple of the Great Mountain Supreme Deity, yet why are you letting her sit above your head and running... No, never mind."
I sigh.
Looking closely, I realize that all the True Immortals gathered here, excluding White-Winged Heavenly Pegasus, are naturally infected with Tainted Soul Filling the Heavens.
Though turning the infected into complete slaves like Seo Hweol is impossible, it seems possible to input a simple command, like making them ignore Oh Hye-seo.
'Moreover, when Black Dragon fought me before, they were heavily infected by Oh Hye-seo's Tainted Soul Filling the Heavens and were implanted with many commands, so they seem half-enslaved to Oh Hye-seo now... As for White-Winged Heavenly Pegasus, they don't seem even remotely interested in Oh Hye-seo, with or without Tainted Soul Filling the Heavens...'
Realizing that no one will care even if I point out Oh Hye-seo, I look at Black Dragon and speak.
"...You talk about not being able to let me be and all that...but in the end, you've come to punish me simply because I didn't take your hand, is that not so?"
[So what if that's true? Is punishing you something to be ashamed of? There is no reason to hide it.]
"I just...wanted to make it clear."
I look up at Black Dragon and signal to my Immortal Treasures with my eyes.
The Immortal Treasures enter my body in an instant, and White-Winged Heavenly Pegasus, seemingly sensing something, begins to overlap their body with the Eastern Heaven Flower Field.
They look ready to flee into the Eastern Heaven Flower Field if necessary.
"Listen well, Black Dragon. You once asked me—what is a king? By what standard could a king dare be judged?"
With a solemn expression, I speak about the meaning of King (王) I have come to understand.
"A true king is not someone who only sacrifices others. Nor are they merely a being who bends others through overwhelming violence."
Black Dragon's eyes twitch at my words.
"Of course, your words stand true as well. Indeed, even if one does not stake themselves and sacrifices others to climb to the peak through effort, that too could be called a king. However! A true king does not end there."
At best, this is an enlightenment I gained in the past life as a deer during my mortal days.
Yet I shout with confidence that the enlightenment I gained as a lowly animal can still be properly conveyed even on a battlefield of True Immortals.
"A king is one who cherishes others. One who gives and receives, and one who takes care of others."
[...]
"You believed that the sacrifices of the living beings of Mount Sumeru didn't matter in order to become a Heavenly Venerable, Black Dragon. But if you truly are a king, then shouldn't you treasure them instead?"
I speak the heart I awakened as the Deer King.
"A king is not one who stands at the peak! Ruling simply because they are strong and high above does not make one a king! A king is one who cherishes those beneath them, who has something to give and receive with them, who possesses the will to care of them.
"Every single speck of dust in this Mount Sumeru...has a reason for its existence. There is not a single living being who is without value. Therefore, you, who cannot cherish even a speck, are unworthy to be this mountain's king, Black Dragon!"
[...]
Black Dragon glares down at me with displeasure and mutters.
[...Let me ask again. Can you say those words...before the Great Mountain Supreme Deity?]
"...Of course."
Cheok!
I raise both hands high.
White-Winged Heavenly Pegasus chuckles and immediately flees into the Eastern Heaven Flower Field.
[Apologies, but as my master told me to conserve power, this Immortal shall withdraw.]
It seems White-Winged Heavenly Pegasus, being of the realm of Severing Heaven, senses the ominousness.
"I can say it."
Kiiiiiiing!
Within both of my palms, the jade of Yin-Yang and Five Elements begins to gather.
Seeing this, the True Immortals all begin to stir at once.
[Do not be shaken. Even if he uses the Phenomena Extinguishing Mantra, he is still just an Upper Immortal. He can never produce the majesty of the Great Mountain Supreme Deity.]
Black Dragon hardens their expression as they try to calm the True Immortals, and the face of Oh Hye-seo, sitting on Black Dragon's head, grows rigid and stiff.
"Because...a king who knows how to cherish all...can definitely become stronger than the Great Mountain Supreme Deity!"
Kiiiiiiing!
A brilliant white light begins to radiate from my palms.
At the same time, my body begins to expand.
Kurururung!
Wearing a white round collar robe from which countless glass swords protrude forth, with bare flesh composed of Glass True Fire, tails of mist extending from the robe's edges, and a Pure White Three Great Ultimates circling behind my head—my true form descends upon this place.
Dudududududu!
The jade of Yin-Yang and Five Elements gathered within my hands begin to emit a resplendently brilliant light.
The True Immortals start to panic.
Because attraction force is intensifying.
: : Phenomena... : :
Spacetime begins to contract around me.
: : Extinguishing... : :
Then, I begin to see countless threads of attraction force extending from me connecting to the many True Immortals.
: : Man— : :
[Wait!]
[What's going on, Black Dragon!? We're being pulled in!]
[In what world does that look like an Upper Immortal!?]
[Come up with a plan!]
However, no one can escape.
: : —Tra!!! : :
Heaven, Earth, and Heavens above.
My voice fills the entire world as I begin concentrating attraction force around the light within my palms.
Compressing the Heavenly Domain itself is still somewhat difficult.
But...
What if it's just True Immortals?
Especially the True Immortals who have been incessantly pounding at my Immortal Treasures over the past tens of millions of years?
Wiiiiiing!
: : —!! : :
: : !!! : :
: : ॐ मणि पद्मे हूँ! : :
[Editor: Read as 'om mani padme hum,' often translated to 'praise to the jewel in the lotus'. It's typically recited to purify negative karma and cultivate compassion.]
The retribution of the Impermanence Sword is enforced.
The True Immortals who have been pounding on us over the past tens of millions of years begin to be drawn in all at once by the attraction force of the Phenomena Extinguishing Mantra.
'I still can't compress a Heavenly Domain into a single point.'
However...
'If retribution is enforced against those who bore malice toward us, then it's more than possible!'
Yes.
If it's at this level, it's possible.
Because...
'I have succeeded in completely mastering the Phenomena Extinguishing Mantra!!'
Both Phenomena Extinguishing and Flawlessness—today, I have made them all mine.
Kiiiiiiiing!
No one can escape.
For I will not permit it!!
: : Be annihilated in full, you who tried to harm my family! : :
Countless divine spirits try to flee from the Phenomena Extinguishing Mantra, but it's futile.
No one escapes, all are sucked and absorbed by the Phenomena Extinguishing Mantra.
The Phenomena Extinguishing Mantra does not stop there.
Distant spacetime.
Star clusters.
Galaxies begin to be drawn in.
'I don't need those.'
Pointlessly causing the living beings inside them to die is not preferable.
: : Krita (कृत)! : :
I speak the four wisdoms I obtained from the Obsidian Devil Heavenly King.
That is, I recite the four Immortal Arts.
At the same time, the innocent living beings of the galaxy clusters, who are about to be absorbed by the Phenomena Extinguishing Mantra, ascend all at once to Krita, one of the four Great Middle Realms of the Twin Holding Heavenly Domain.
Kudududududuk!
Star clusters, nebulae, sea of stars, galaxies, and galaxy groups are ground and compressed into a single point by the Phenomena Extinguishing Mantra.
Even the many True Immortals who had managed to escape far away are drawn in all at once and compressed into a single point.
Kugugugugugu!
The light exploding from between my two hands is overwhelming.
Well, it's the compression and annihilation of thousands of True Immortals at once. How could there not be such a massive release of light and heat?
But within that light and heat, inside the overwhelming attraction force, I look upon the two beings who endure without fleeing.
They are the Immortal Beast Supreme Tiger, and the Immortal Beast Black Dragon.
Supreme Tiger slowly enters the Phenomena Extinguishing Mantra, as if they don't particularly intend to resist, but Black Dragon clenches their teeth and endures.
They mutter and attempt to unleash the Great Yin Mantra, but even the Great Yin Mantra, which draws upon the Origin Essence of Great Yin, is utterly devoured by the Phenomena Extinguishing Mantra and rendered useless.
Yet, perhaps because even Black Dragon cannot hold on forever,
In the end, they begin to be dragged into the Phenomena Extinguishing Mantra.
And finally,
Kururururung!
Black Dragon's massive body begins to be sucked into the Phenomena Extinguishing Mantra.
: : It is over. : :
: : ... : :
Even as they are sucked into the Phenomena Extinguishing Mantra, Black Dragon looks at me.
In their final moment, Black Dragon only sighs.
: : Am I...not allowed to become King...? : :
With those final words, Black Dragon's massive body is completely sucked into the single point of the Phenomena Extinguishing Mantra and is annihilated.
Kugugugugugu!
I breathe heavily, letting out a low groan at the overwhelming hegemonic force between my hands.
: : It was only the method that was wrong. : :
After acquiring the Phenomena Extinguishing Mantra, I have finally succeeded in fully mastering it.
Of course, I haven't completely shattered the prophecies and revisions of the True Immortals, so in time, they will likely resurrect somewhere.
But it will take a significant amount of time before that happens.
Kurururung!
Gazing at the power surging between my hands, I speak.
: : You seem to have something to say, Senior Ho Woon. : :
That's right.
Ho Woon, who has at some point reached Great Net Immortal, stands behind me, arms crossed.
Revealing their true form, they mutter briefly.
: : Truly terrifying...the Phenomena Extinguishing Mantra... : :
: : Indeed, it is. : :
: : Are you going to eat it? : :
Ho Woon asks while looking at the light compressed into a single point in my hands.
: : Are you insane? That will never happen. : :
: : In that case...now would be the best time. : :
Hearing Ho Woon's next words, I flinch in surprise.
Not because of the content of their words, but because of the ice-cold intent contained in Ho Woon's voice.
: : If you won't consume it, then use it. Through it...begin your advancement to Great Net Immortal. : :
: : ...! : :
: : Because this...will be the final teaching this Immortal imparts to you while alive. : :
And so, my Great Net Immortal advancement begins.