Тэнгэр Сорих (1)

Her golden flying sword and my colorless glass sword are pointed at each other.

My head overheats.

We are anticipating each other's moves, engaging in a battle of minds through dozens of exchanges.

And the result of these exchanges is, without exception, my victory every time.

Despite her reaching the extreme speed of the Ultimate Pinnacle, I no longer hold back in our exchanges.

Pushing her to the limit, even resorting to Treading Heavens, the anticipated outcome of our confrontation in the realm of intent is always her defeat, no matter how many times we fight.

Swoosh,

But she steps forward without any regard.Bo-oong!

Hong Su-ryeong slashes diagonally from the bottom left to the upper right with her flying sword.

In an instant, the lightning that bursts from the flying sword sweeps over my upper body as if cutting through it.

Fweeeing!

The air is torn apart.

The next moment, I use Severing Mountain Swordsmanship's first, second, and third moves simultaneously, performing an upper cut, a lower cut, and a rising slash to rip apart her lightning blade.

Then, without giving her a chance to react, I advance further.

Not relying on the Flying Escape Technique or the physical abilities of demon beast methods.

With only the acceleration of pure consciousness, my body moves forward, creating shockwaves as the air is pushed away.

Surpassing sound, I rush towards Hong Su-ryeong in an instant, attempting a gentle thrust towards her chest.

However, in a split-second exchange of looks, Hong Su-ryeong counters my acceleration with the Flying Escape Technique, the Lightning Path Method, and nine Gang Spheres, deflecting my thrust.

She steps back, throws her flying sword at me, and then changes her hands into lightning, forming a seal with her lightning-transformed hands.

Crack!

Subsequently, 16 flying swords sequentially fly towards me.

Now, the battle expanded to not just martial arts but the realm of flying sword techniques.

What she desires to contest is not martial prowess but the artistry of the sword.

To her, as a swordsman, it doesn't matter whether she fights with martial arts or flying sword techniques, as long as she can cross swords before she dies.

Wo-woong!

I accelerate my consciousness even further and face the 16 flying swords attacking me from all directions with my Colorless Glass Sword.

The 16 flying swords circle around me, forming a sword formation and pressing me with 64 transformations.

Previously, Hong Su-ryeong's sword formation would have been merely a 'technique' combined with the harmony of the Lightning Path Method, a 'cultivation technique.'

But at this moment, after receiving enlightenment about the sword from me and learning to handle the sword from the perspective of martial arts.

What she uses is no longer just a simple technique.

Whiz, whiz, whiz, whiz!

Hong Su-ryeong's sword formation, as if alive, begins to press me aggressively.

It feels as if 16 Hong Su-ryeongs are wielding swords and attacking me from all sides.

For the first time in a long while, I truly feel like I am engaging in a martial arts duel, exchanging thousands of moves in an instant.

Wo-woong!

Trapped in the sword formation, I thrust my Colorless Glass Sword towards a weak point in the formation to break through.

Boom!

It seems as if part of the formation collapses, but the 16 flying swords do not stop encircling me and continue to follow.

After piercing through one of the peaks, I straighten my posture and swiftly slash at the incoming sword energies.

―――!

In an instant, even sound is cut off.

All the nearby high peaks are sliced off, and Hong Su-ryeong's sword formation momentarily scatters.

But as soon as her sword formation scatters, what appears is Hong Su-ryeong, accelerating from outside the formation and rushing towards me.

Clack!

Catching one of the flying swords from the dispersed formation, Hong Su-ryeong begins to perform a sword dance.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Using the Flying Escape Technique, the Lightning Path Method, and the acceleration of Ultimate Pinnacle simultaneously, she is barely able to keep up with my movements bolstered by pure martial acceleration, exchanging moves with me.

However, her flying swords begin to stabilize the formation again in the meantime.

We foresee millions of futures, blocking each other's possible moves.

After experiencing that process in our minds and transferring it to reality, we engage in a battle of tactics.

I prepare to attack, pushing her overwhelmingly.

I aim to suppress Hong Su-ryeong before the sword formation can be activated again.

But the next moment, eight of her flying swords unexpectedly spread out in a formation from angles I hadn't anticipated.

I'm surprised for a moment but quickly shake my sword vigorously at Hong Su-ryeong, throwing her off and breaking through the eight flying sword formation.

However, upon regaining my senses, the remaining eight flying swords gathered where the other eight had flown, forming a perfect angle for a complete sword formation.

Paaaat!

The 16 flying swords unfold a formation again and enclose me.

For the first time in our battle of tactics, I am pushed back.

I move my body.

And at the same time, reading her intent, blocking her moves and continuing with mine.

Gradually, we begin to have an inner dialogue..

―You have grown incomparably since before.

I swing my sword, disturbing the sword formation, and look for its weak point.

―But for you, your sword's tip is trembling.

Hong Su-ryeong comes out of the sword formation and forms a hand seal.

Qi condenses in her hands, creating a Lightning Blade.

―Merely with the difference in pure skill, I cannot reach you. That we can exchange blows like this...is probably because you're harboring too much hesitation at the tip of your sword.

Without hesitation, she dives into the sword formation, attacking me like a storm with her sword.

―That's what makes it a duel. If I start using my sword properly, the duel will no longer be possible.

Boom!

We collide.

We face each other with our swords, our eyes meeting.

Hong Su-ryeong speaks out loud.

"...It doesn't matter. I know you're holding back your strength. Show me your true sword."

"You want to see my true sword?"

I smirk cynically.

"It's meaningless. Doing so won't accomplish anything. Isn't spending the last moments of your life in the greatest due...-"

"Seo Eun-hyun!"

She shouts as if she is truly angry.

"Draw your true sword."

"..."

"It's not that I want to spend my last moments in the greatest duel. Don't you still understand? I know you have a vision beyond intent, beyond everything else. And yet, do you not know?"

"...All of that..."

I, with a gloomy expression, relax my grip on the sword and let it hang loosely.

"What's the point?"

Yang Su-jin's Non-Human Theory.

The result of failing to save the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect despite dedicating this life to it.

The bitter conclusion that fate cannot be resisted.

I say with a hollow look.

"After all...we're all going to die anyway. If I were to use the Extinguishing Divine Tribulating Heavens Technique, it might be possible to prevent this. But if I use the Extinguishing Divine Tribulating Heavens, the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect will disappear."

I scream as if in agony.

"No matter what I do, what I try to protect is doomed to destruction! What meaning is there in doing anything more here...!"

"...Seo Eun-hyun."

Hong Su-ryeong points her flying sword at me.

"I,"

Enduring the massive 'gaze' from the sky, her body battered and bloodied from countless self-inflicted wounds.

Even in her blood-soaked robe, Hong Su-ryeong meets my gaze with bright eyes.

"I came to cross swords with you."

"..."

"Not with the heavens, but with you."

"..."

"Do you understand what that means?"

I clench my teeth.

I see her intent.

I see her resolve and will.

I understand what Hong Su-ryeong wants.

"You want me, with my own hands, to end you in a duel."

"..."

"I want to die by your sword, not by the heavens. That's why I've come to duel with you now."

"...You're cruel."

My jaw trembles.

I clench my teeth so hard my gums hurt.

Otherwise, I feel like I would cry.

"So what? Both you and I are already mad, and one day we'll turn to dust. At this moment, while we're still alive. If everything is already destined to destruction, why can't we do what we want?"

"..."

"If we cannot overcome fate, can't we at least make choices within fate's confines?"

"..."

I look up at her.

'What is this.'

Contrary to the sullen mood just moments ago, I felt her words 'reach' my heart.

"...What did you just say?"

"If death and destruction are already fated, why can't I seek my own path within that fate?"

"...Huh?"

In that moment, touched by her words spoken in the face of true impending death.

My pupils shake.

Kururung!

Somewhere, thunder rumbles.

The heavens roar.

The Owner of Heavenly Punishment seems ready to exert power.

But more than that, I focus more on Hong Su-ryeong in front of me.

"Our lives are fleeting. The essence of lightning is also fleeting. If our lives bloom and wither in an instant, isn't even this short moment before imminent destruction part of my life? As a cultivator who has studied the Lightning Path Method for hundreds of years, as a sword cultivator, I!"

Wo-woong, wo-woong, wo-woong!

16 flying swords begin to rotate around her.

Whizz, whizz, whizz, whizz!

The rotation speed increases, and Heaven and Earth spiritual energy gradually begins to be drawn towards her.

"Even if it's just the form of death, I want to entrust it to you, not the heavens!"

Flash!

Golden lightning, integrated with sword energy and containing thousands of variations, shoots towards me.

A clear strike of the Grand Perfection Heavenly Being level.

And I, moved by her heart, unwittingly swing my sword.

Swoosh!

The Colorless Glass Sword is swung, and in that instant, Hong Su-ryeong's upper body is diagonally sliced before she can even react.

Splat!

"Yes, that's it!"

Hong Su-ryeong quickly regenerates her upper body and moves her flying sword.

Watching her, for the first time, I feel my hollow heart begin to lighten.

"...I understand."

I decided to face her not as the young genius Seo Eun-hyun, not yet a hundred years old, but as my original self, over two thousand five hundred years old.

"I will grant your wish, Hong Su-ryeong."

Shoosh,

I become the sword.

The feet that tread the ground, the legs that support the body, the waist that maneuvers the limbs, the arms that swing the sword.

The head that makes all the decisions.

The lungs that breathe, the spiritual meridians that circulate energy, the blood vessels that carry blood, the nerves that transmit signals.

The Colorless Glass Sword is connected to my fingertips, and even the slightest bit of energy emanating from me.

Even my intent becomes entirely one with the sword within me.

For the first time in our duel, I unsheathe the Formless Sword.

Sssssr,

Simultaneously, I draw out all 2,999 Colorless Glass Swords stored within my Golden Core.

The Colorless Glass Swords fill the air, boasting a faint transparency that seems visible yet invisible.

"From now on, I will kill you."

In this state of being the sword itself, I properly meet Hong Su-ryeong's eyes.

"Burn your life away."

"That was the plan."

Flash!

An immense energy explosively bursts forth from Hong Su-ryeong's body.

The Hong Soo-ryeong of the Grand Perfection Heavenly Being stage ignites her entire cultivation in an instant.

Burning bright in the moment before annihilation, fleeting like lightning, she burns her entire lifespan in this very moment!

Kugugugu!

Along with a tingling sensation, I realize her energy has surged to the level of the Four-Axis stage.

We look at each other.

Once again, words are not needed.

Time seems to stop.

For the first time facing Hong Su-ryeong, I earnestly unfold my martial arts.

Since every strike from her, who is burning her life, is fatal even if grazed. I have to avoid them by pushing the Record of Transcending Cultivation and Exhausting Martial Arts to its limit and wielding the 3,000 glass swords with all my might.

Following the myriad transformations of the Formless Sword, the Colorless Glass Swords swap positions with each other, leveraging the advantages of the Formless Sword.

She, who burns her life, becomes lightning itself.

To the her who moves at the speed of lightning, using all forms of acceleration like the Flying Escape Technique and Ultimate Pinnacle, I counter with the extreme acceleration of consciousness through the Formless Sword.

Perhaps because time has stopped, not even sound can be heard.

In this muted world, I flatten a peak with my sword dance, and several nearby peaks are sliced into pieces following the sword dance of the Formless Sword.

After dodging my sword, Hong Su-ryeong maneuvers her flying swords around herself.

She becomes the sword formation itself.

Becoming the axis of the formation, she wields the sword while operating the formation.

Flash!

The sword moves, pouring out light.

'I can't block this.'

What should I do then?

I too begin to form hand seals.

The foundational techniques I learned from Cheongmun Ryeong, pushed to the extreme, starts to mix with the Colorless Glass Swords.

Cheongmun Ryeong's foundational techniques.

Kim Young-hoon's martial arts.

Because of them, I could aim for the peak in each field.

And the days I spent with Hong Su-ryeong.

Through those days, I had come to fully integrate both fields.

Just as a sword formation revolves around Hong Su-ryeong.

The 3,000 Colorless Glass Swords around me begin rotating in uniform order.

Yet, influenced by the Formless Sword, they begin to spin freely and unpredictably.

A complete unity of martial arts and cultivation techniques.

Fweeeing!

Severing Mountain Swordsmanship.

The Twenty-eighth Move.

Feeling this new sense of unity, I blossom a new chapter of the Severing Mountain Swordsmanship.

3,000 Colorless Glass Swords, and the Formless Sword carried within them,

Form a circle around me.

The circle (圓) is the core principle of the Heavenly Being stage.

Perhaps it is also the principle of the heavens.

Using a faint understanding of the Heavenly Being stage, my knowledge of martial arts, and what I learned from Hong Su-ryeong about sword formations, I unfold my own sword formation .

The name of the sword formation is Vajra (金剛).

The new technique of the Severing Mountain Swordsmanship and the name of the transformation within the Vajra is Twelve Thousand Peaks.

Shrriiiik!

3,000 Colorless Glass Swords rotate, each producing three sword shadows.

The Colorless Glass Swords, including the sword body and sword shadows, each divide into four.

Each sword and shadow symbolize the four seasons.

The seasons rotate, forming a circle.

Four changes added to 3,000 Colorless Glass Swords create 12,000 instances of attack.

My Twelve Thousand Peaks collide with Hong Su-ryeong's sword formation.

Each burst of sword energy from my Colorless Glass Swords split mountains, create valleys, and carve out hills.

Each streak of lightning from Hong Su-ryeong's flying swords melt mountains into glass, and burn forests to ash.

In the frozen time, we unfold the extremes we had attained from each other, enveloped in a halo of light.

Hwarurururu,

I look at Hong Su-ryeong, lying on the burning mountainside.

She is smiling.

Aside from being blood-soaked, there are no noticeable external injuries.

"It...was good..."

But Hong Soo-ryeong, who had burned her entire lifespan, is dying.

Her nearly 900-year-old hair has turned white, and her once supple skin is shriveling.

"Seo...Eun-hyun..."

Hong Su-ryeong looks at me and says.

"Was my...sword...worth watching...?"

Even as her life drains away and she loses her light.

Hong Su-ryeong asks me while looking at me.

I kneel on one knee.

And holding her hand, I reply.

"It was the best."

"Ha, haha..."

She laughs, closing her eyes, not wanting to look at the sky.

"To be able to die by your hands, not by the heavens..."

Even as her vitality fully drains away.

Even as she looks momentarily old and somewhat unsightly.

"It was, wonderful ..."

(TL Note: Can be taken as double meaning as saying she loved MC in Korean)

"...Yes."

To my eyes, her appearance now is as beautiful as Hyang-hwa's or Yeon's.

Was it because of a woman's intuition?

Or was it respect for a swordsman superior to oneself?

In the end, she spoke to me formally and thus fell asleep.

"I too..."

Will forever.

"Love you..."

It's already much too late, but I kiss her fallen lips.

I had thought not to grow attached.

But affection isn't something that moves according to plan.

Unbeknownst to us both, it accumulated little by little, and before we knew it, it had become as immense as Mount Tai.

Isn't that what human affection is?

I ask the people of the world, what is affection that it dictates life and death (問世間 情爲何物 直敎生死相許 ― from the Wild Goose Mound Verses by Yuan Haowen).

Affection, in the end, is time.

It is the time that has piled up layer by layer, growing and rising until it cannot be ignored.

I had such affection for Hong Su-ryeong, for the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect, for Yu Hwa, for Gyu-baek, for Gyu-ryeon, for Azure Tiger Saint, for Oh Hyun-seok, for the Azure Heaven Creation Sect, for Kim Yeon, for Buk Hyang-hwa...

To all those who had accumulated time with me thus far, I had given affection and received it.

And to Hong Su-ryeong who had given me her affection and passed, I lay her body in its place.

The surroundings are ablaze with the aftermath of our battle.

In the sky, the God (神) of Heavenly Punishment is descending.

Staring directly at God, the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect is going mad.

In this mad world, I take a step forward.

Sararak...

White orchids begin to bloom.

The pure white orchids cover Hong Su-ryeong.

And the white flowers spreading in all directions quench the inferno, illuminating various places on the ground.

―If we cannot overcome fate, can't we at least make choices within fate's confines?

Hong Su-ryeong's words echo in my mind.

Chewing over those words, I begin to utilize the Extinguishing Divine Tribulating Heavens.

'Yang Su-jin, you called the entire world non-human.'

They say enlightenment comes to those who hear the stone striking the wood and seek it out.

To me, a Dao Companion burned her life and collided her will against mine.

Thanks to her, I was finally able to realize.

Yang Su-jin's Non-Human Theory fundamentally contains a contradiction.

'If every being in the myriad of creation is a slave to fate and the Heart Tribe too only arises due to the Enders, then sure. If even changing fate requires the Ender to have the fate to change their fate, then everything in the world is a slave and non-human. But...'

Step, step, step...

I head towards Thunder Cloud Peak.

Far away, beyond Thunder Cloud Peak, Jeon Myeong-hoon is visible.

Leaving the countless elders and grand elders below him behind, he is flying up to the sky, doing something to the Heavenly Lightning Banner.

Originally, Heavenly Tribulation should have struck down immediately, frying everyone. But Jeon Myeong-hoon, who has grown to the Heavenly Being stage, is doing something.

'If fate is absolute, what are [the weak who cannot fulfill their fate]?'

If fate is perfect and omnipotent.

The fate assigned to every being is an inevitability that 'must occur.'

However, some who are weak do not live out their fate and die before it is fulfilled.

Even I, before seriously beginning cultivation, died on the same day each cycle because my lifespan was predetermined. However, there were many times I died without fulfilling that lifespan.

This is not unique to me.

From what I had learned about fate from the Mad Lord, and from the countless others I had observed,

There were innumerable beings who failed to fulfill their fate.

Of course, these individuals were too weak to even bear their destined fate.

But it was precisely because they were weak that they could make a choice.

Though they couldn't overcome fate,

Like Hong Su-ryeong, who chose to meet death by me before fate caught up to her, achieving what she most desired before dying.

It was possible to choose what they desired within fate.

Fate might be insurmountable.

We might forever be slaves to fate.

But even so, to make choices within it, to 'desire,' is the undeniable 'freedom' of being.

"Not non-human!"

If we go by Yang Su-jin's logic.

Then, wouldn't the Ender be the most dreadful non-human of all?

Are we not constantly being torn apart according to the fate we possess?

That's why even Yang Su-jin, who wanted to deny fate, still sought to change it into something happier.

Everything is predetermined by fate without any freedom, so some say the slaves of fate are non-human.

However, even if there are things determined by fate and it's impossible to change them, to desire something beyond fate, to choose it and dream of it is the freedom granted to beings.

The very existence of [the weak who cannot fulfill their fate] proves it.

Therefore, there are no non-humans in this world!

Hong Su-ryeong ultimately did not reach Entering Heavens Beyond the Path.

However judging from the spirit I saw in her, perhaps if she had gathered a bit more enlightenment and not had not come to meet me, things might have been different.

But out of her own will, she chose to meet with me and duel rather than polishing her realm.

She chose to move from where she was within, rather than advancing forward.

Step,

"So, I too will make a choice."

I look up at the sky.

Behind me, the entire area where Hong Su-ryeong and I battled is enveloped by the White Orchid Blessing Incantation.

"Extinguishing Divine (滅神)."

Looking up at the sky, I stretch out my hands.

'I will save my family!'

"Tribulating Heavens (劫天)."

Beyond the area filled with the White Orchid Blessing Incantation, the surroundings begin to spread with the dark Yin Soul Ghost Incantation.

The Yin Soul Ghost Incantation forms a sea of curses, beginning to cover the entire territory of the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect.

In an instant, the area I covered with the White Orchid Blessing Incantation looks like a dot compared to the vast area now covered.

It appears as if Lesser Yang is contained within Taiyin.

Chalalalak!

The black curse spells cover various places of the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect, turning the standings flags black as if they're Black Ghost Curse Banners.

I seize control of the area with my curses.

[Huaaaaah!]

From afar, Jeon Myeong-hoon is finally unable to hold on and falls from the Heavenly Lightning Banner.

At the same time, the Owner of Heavenly Punishment, who had not fully descended, begins to manifest its existence in this world completely.

Kugugugu!

Now, this place is my altar, a sanctuary of curses.

From now on.

"The ritual begins."