Chương 498: Bugs

'Who was this again...?'

I stare blankly at the old man holding a flower basket, who has appeared beside me at some point, unable to comprehend who he is.

The whole world is covered in darkness.

Seo Ran, who stands before me, is crumbling away into the shadows.

It's not just Seo Ran.

The ominous flower blooming from my chest is deconstructing even myself.

The ominous flower is devouring me.

I am being consumed by this ominous flower, known as the [Annihilation Flower].

And then...

As I become one with the Annihilation Flower, I finally understand.

The beings who have transcended the limits and boundaries of True Immortals.

Regarding the plans of the Governing Immortals!

I can feel the world being annihilated.

However, this annihilation is not the same as the [End] that just occurred moments ago.

If the typical [End] is when the universe's attraction force reaches its peaks, causing everything to contract and compress into light and heat...

Then the annihilation brought about by this [Annihilation Flower] is truly nothing but pure, black darkness!

It's not a proper End, but rather an act of simply 'overlaying' the concept of [Death] on the world!

'Ah... everything... has ended...'

I understand.

Now, as everything in my body is absorbed by the Annihilation Flower and its roots, I become annihilation (滅亡) itself and come to understand.

The plan laid out by the being before my eyes.

And... the plan laid out by [those who are with Him].

Kiiiiiiing!

Everything in the Head Realm disappears.

The Great Sea, the Heaven-Treading Desert, the West, the East, the North—everything.

All that remains is pitch-black darkness and...

The Sun and Moon hanging far off in the sky!

'Is that... the true form of the Head Realm's... Sun and Moon?'

It is exactly as described in the diary of the Sea Dragon Race astronomer, Jeon Hyang.

The Sun and Moon of the Head Realm are fixed in place.

It was merely that, when the Head Realm's world was intact, the flow of Yin and Yang in the Heaven and Earth spiritual energy created an optical illusion, making it seem as if day and night alternated.

The Sun and Moon of the Head Realm... merely exist in a position that seems to overlook the entire Head Realm from a slightly southern direction.

'Ah... I see.'

I recall how Seo Hweol's brainwashing waves pierced through the sky at the [southern end] of the Head Realm and 'escaped.'

The place Seo Hweol escaped to...

Is the [Forehead (眉間)].

The flower basket old man beside me lets out a small exclamation.

"How astonishing. I thought it was merely the desperate struggle of a bug... and yet, it worked? Ha, hahahahaha!"

The desperate struggle of a bug.

Seo Hweol escaping through the forehead.

And...

That feeling of 'the mind clearing' at the last moment.

The spell cast over the Sea Dragon Palace that 'clears the mind'...

'Ah... I see now.'

Finally, I understand what Seo Hweol's true purpose is.

It's not about brainwashing the Head Realm.

The Head Realm is not a [being] that someone like Seo Hweol can brainwash.

As I gaze at the Sun and Moon before me, I become even more certain.

When Seo Hweol seized control of the entire Sun and Moon Heavenly Domain, there was only one thing he sought to obtain while manipulating the entire world.

To awaken the Head Realm.

I recall the phenomenon from just a moment ago when the world turned white.

I thought it was simply the aftermath of the End.

But... it isn't.

The power of annihilation granted to me by the Annihilation Flower whispers the truth.

That phenomenon just now isn't something as simple as the 'End.'

It is merely...

The process of the Head Realm 'awakening.'

If the Head Realm is a 'living' being, then this living entity currently exerts no influence and is merely in the state of existing.

Such a state is often referred to as 'dreaming' by many beings.

Seo Hweol temporarily cleared the Head Realm's mind in an attempt to 'awaken' the being that the main bodies of the five Middle Realms desperately sought to reach.

And...

When a dreaming existence wakes up, the beings within the dream ultimately disappear.

The scenery of the world turning white just moments ago.

The fact that I was able to fully 'absorb' the Candle Dragon Race as I advanced to the Sacred Vessel stage.

And finally... the claims Seo Hweol made in the diary of Jeon Hyang.

His claims that only through ascension can we have dignity.

Yes, perhaps...

Because beings within a dream can only attain dignity when stepping outside the dream, Seo Hweol may have chosen to lead everyone into collective ascension.

It's when I am lost in thought, contemplating such notions.

The flower basket old man opens his eyes wide.

Staring beyond the darkness.

He appears astonished as he looks at the forehead of the Sun and Moon.

"The bug... has come [face-to-face]...!"

'Seo Hweol... is doing something... with the awakened Head Realm...'

Is he now facing something absolute?

If so, then...

What is it that he is seeing?

Afterward, I see a resplendent radiance at the southern end of the world.

Thunk— That is the end.

'... Huh?'

I feel something strange.

It's bright.

The sky is blue, and the earth is green.

From far away, the scent of the sea drifts toward me.

'... This is... nice...'

Though my body has been obliterated by the Annihilation Flower, I can still feel senses.

For some reason, a drowsy feeling washes over me, making me want to fall asleep.

'... But, something is strange...'

Why am I suddenly in a place like this?

'I dove into the Lightning Sacred Sea to save Jeon Myeong-hoon... ended up in the Head Realm and... Seo Ran and Seo Hweol...'

Suddenly, I realize something strange.

'... Who was Seo Hweol again?'

Tingle— For some reason, the Canvas of Myriad Forms and Connections shakes violently.

I ponder for a while about the name 'Seo Hweol,' which just came to mind, and finally, I understand.

'Seo Hweol... is just a type of blue earthworm. Why did I come looking for something like that?'

It's strange.

The Canvas of Myriad Forms and Connections is shaking violently like mad.

But I can't understand.

For some reason, the thought of 'blue earthworm' refuses to leave my mind.

Blue earthworm.

A medicinal ingredient collectively referred to as 'Seo Hweol.'

A meager, insignificant worm ground and added when cultivators in the Qi Refining stage concoct pills, occasionally referred to as 'Seo Hweol.'

No, no, that's not right...

This is my misunderstanding.

'Seo Hweol' is simply a nickname I gave to one of those 'blue earthworms.'

'... Why did I give a nickname to a worm?'

I can't remember.

From the very beginning, I can't even recall the origin of the name 'Seo Hweol.'

I have no idea what logic led me to even give such a name.

What is certain is that 'Seo Hweol' is a [nonexistent] term.

'Right now... instead of wasting time on something so unimportant, I need to focus on the suddenly thrashing Canvas of Myriad Forms and Connections... this flower basket old man, and... myself, who has become an Annihilation Flower.'

Then, I notice the old man with the flower basket trembling violently beside me.

He is staring at the sky as if overcome with chills.

'...? What...?'

Just then.

He suddenly yells out in a roar.

[Remember!] Ziiiiing!

His roar stays stuck in my mind.

Along with it, together with a shock as if struck in the back of the head, I feel [something] terrifying rising in my head.

The Canvas of Myriad Forms and Connections stabilizes.

And...

With his single word, I recall everything I had [forgotten] up until now!

The name of the True Immortal whom I met on the lowest floor of the Serving Command Ark in the past, Bong Myeong!

The Black Dragon I encountered through the Black Dragon True Blood, the name Yu Hao Te revealed by the Black Dragon, and the moment of that encounter!

And...

In my 19th cycle, [the flower basket old man who had ridden on my shoulder the entire time throughout]!

Everything about the [Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable] comes flooding back!

And...

Ziiiiiiiing!

Kwarururung!

I come to know who 'Seo Hweol' is.

'Ah... ahhh...'

A brutal, wrenching pain feels as though it is tearing through my brain.

I tremble in horror at the sensation of having learned something I [should not know]!

Just now!

At that very moment!

The existence of [Seo Hweol] had vanished from the world!

It was carved out of history entirely, rewritten (改變) into nothing more than a nickname for 'blue earthworms!'

A dreadful truth that I would have remained oblivious had the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable not revealed it to me!

Seo Hweol...

Has been excised because he came to know something he [should not have known].

Without anyone being able to perceive it, in just a single moment!

The Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable opens his mouth.

"Despite detonating all the power accumulated in the Annihilation Flower over a hundred million years... the door still remains closed. Making their way into this Audience Chamber with nothing but their innate authority. Salt Sea, Vast Cold... Those two, just what..."

A tone that seems to be lamenting about something.

But I, suffering from the agony of retaining memories of an [erased existence], find it difficult to interpret the meaning of his words.

Kugugugugu!

Then, while I fail to regain my senses...

The Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable lifts me, who has become the Annihilation Flower.

"I have come to understand that my strength alone cannot suffice. And... as you said, I know that light is insidious."

Still gazing towards the southern end, he turns his head to the right and speaks to someone.

I think I know who that someone is.

"That being is meticulous beyond imagination. Perhaps even all of our actions are part of their prophecy. However... this time will be different. This time, we are not attempting to defy the heavens (逆天)."

The Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable is transcending spacetime with the entity possessing Jeon Myeong-hoon to converse.

"The prophecy of Great Mountain has already brought you to this place. Cooperate. As the chaos has already begun."

Kurung, kurururung!

With every word he speaks, the ominous energy (凶氣) flowing from my Annihilation Flower-turned body dyes the surroundings.

As if it will annihilate the world all over again.

"The Radiance Eight Immortals cannot come here. Never mind the Lightning Sacred Sea... because the role of the Annihilation Flower does not end with simply knocking on the doors of the Audience Chamber!"

Heavenly King Heavenly Domain.

Or rather...

In the place that 'used to be' the Heavenly King Heavenly Domain, eight giants of light with despondent demeanours stand trembling in humiliation as they look upon the collapsed domain.

:: O H E A V E N L Y V E N E R A B L E S!:::: W A S T H A T A L L O F Y O U!!??::.

The eight giants collectively glare beyond the ruins of the Heavenly King Heavenly Domain at the Sun and Moon Heavenly Domain, now being recreated after the End.

There, the single move unleashed by the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable blankets the Head Realm in annihilation, using that annihilation as a coordinate to open a direct 'path' towards the [existence connected to the Annihilation Flower].

The Radiance Eight Immortals, who had been preparing to stop the Great Mountain Supreme Deity in the Heavenly King Heavenly Domain, collectively grit their teeth in anger and tremble in fury.

[Seo Eun-hyun, who has become the Annihilation Flower].

And the existence connected to him.

The Owner of Mountain, who had been watching the closing act of the Supreme Deity Hunt, begins to properly exert Their strength.

Eastern End of the Head Realm.

In a place where a small hole has formed in the dimensional barrier from the activation of the Annihilation Flower, someone enters.

"Kugh..."

It is Hong Fan, who has lowered his cultivation to the Integration stage and entered.

Stepping onto the easternmost land, Hong Fan, perhaps unaccustomed to his senses being constrained to the Integration stage, Perhaps unaccustomed after traversing such a vast boundary, He clutches his head and staggers in place for a moment.

During this time, Hong Fan accidentally steps on and crushes a blue earthworm that had just crawled out from underground.

"Hmm...!"

Regaining his composure, Hong Fan lifts the foot that had squashed the blue earthworm.

The blue worm lies crushed and dead.

Seeing this, Hong Fan kneels down for a moment, as if feeling regret.

"Ah...! I am sorry, little bug. It was not my intention... But alas... you could have just stayed buried in your burrow and lived. Why did you stick your head out of it? Pitiful child..."

As if sympathetic, Hong Fan buries the crushed blue earthworm back into the earth and builds a small mound over it.

"If there is a next life, then please, do not stick your head out of the burrow. You might get stepped on and die. Even if you do come out... quickly retreat back inside. So that no one steps on you..."

After briefly praying for the blue earthworm's rebirth in paradise (極樂), Hong Fan regains his balance and looks towards a distant place.

The place from which an overwhelming power of annihilation emanates.

Step— Hong Fan, with a hardened expression, uses the ground-shrinking technique towards the power of annihilation.

"The path has already been laid."

Kugugugugu!

Once again, the Head Realm faces annihilation.

Simultaneously, I sense a significant change in the attraction force emanating from the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable.

The Heavenly Venerable's attraction force shifts the axis of spacetime.

Throughout the world, I can feel the fabric of time and space being wildly distorted.

At the same time, I catch a faint glimpse of Yeong Seung (令升) flickering beyond the sky.

Yeong Seung, empowered by the authority of the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable, activates something.

"Please come! Western Heaven (西天), Great Mountain (太山), Liberation (解放)!"

At that exact moment, beyond the distorted flow of time, the 'path' connected to the Annihilation Flower is revealed.

Beyond the annihilating Head Realm, [someone]s begin to emerge.

'Ah... so that's what it is...'

The figure of the flower basket old man begins to gradually distort and twist.

From my perspective, only a few seconds have passed, but perhaps due to the time-space distortion caused by the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable and Yeong Seung...

The entities emerging from the rift seem to have already spent thousands, tens of thousands of years.

Countless Reapers appear, and from the dark and deep recesses, the [Oldest One] descends.

The monster that has accumulated power and authority through countless mountains of corpses and seas of blood—[the one connected to me], the Great Mountain Supreme Deity emerges.

And behind them, though the figure is not clearly visible, [a somewhat familiar being] makes their entrance.

From the old man who has been holding me until now, flowers of various shapes and colors bloom from his eyes, nose, mouth, and ears.

He begins transforming into a colossal bizarre god (怪神), composed entirely of a flower field.

:: The Snake is coming.:: The voice of the old one echoes.

I feel my entire soul being crushed under the weight of their presence.

The very existence and mass of these entities distorts reality itself.

The Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable releases me on the spot.

As if summoning these great entities to this place is the end of my role.

The great beings summoned here no longer pay attention to me.

Among them, the Owner of the Great Mountain seems to briefly glance at me, but as if deciding it is not important right now, They divert their gaze.

However, I am struck by a powerful shockwave just from that gaze, and I am sent flying far into the distance.

In an instant, I am flung beyond the Head Realm and into the newly created Astral Realm as I watch their backs.

At the forefront, the bizarre god of the flower field speaks.

:: At last, the moment has arrived to break open the door. In order to save Time...:: With those words, the great beings begin to exert their power.

Under their authority, the entirety of the newly created Sun and Moon Heavenly Domain, no, even beyond the Sun and Moon Heavenly Domain, trembles under their overwhelming authority.

Wiiiiing— For some reason, the [Oldest One] seems to slightly glance back at me.

From within a darkness so deep that even perceiving is difficult, the [Oldest One] does 'something' to me.

I immediately understand what they have done.

They have forbidden (禁) my death!

'... I see.'

While I am uncertain about the others, I can tell that at least this being is clearly aware of my regression.

And so, under their authority, the world twists, and a blinding light illuminates everything.

That's the end.

Hwiiiiiiii— I, now reduced to a single flower petal drained of all power, drift endlessly through the universe, unable to die.

The first year is bearable.

But... two years pass, then three, then ten.

In this state as a flower petal, I am utterly incapable of doing anything.

Complete powerlessness (無力)!

However, I can feel my authority gradually returning.

At the outskirts of the Underworld, my authority as a Sacred Vessel Sacred Master begins to return.

In this form as a single flower petal, if I can just connect to the outskirts of the Netherworld after recovering all my authority, I can regain my strength.

But...

I have no way to do so.

A hundred years have passed.

I decide to carry out the Sacred Vessel advancement ritual for the Earth Tribe by splitting my consciousness right now.

After all, Immortal Arts are activated by the heart alone.

Reciting the Flawless Mantra, I think of being 'upside-down' in my state as a flower petal as I fragment my mind.

A thousand years have passed.

In subjective time, it felt like ten million years.

Is it because I had already undergone the Heaven Tribe Sacred Vessel advancement ritual?

The Earth Tribe Sacred Vessel advancement ritual is 99 percent complete.

Though confined to the tiny interior of this flower petal, I created a race, formed a world, and developed civilizations through my thoughts (念想).

The civilizations that emerged within my thoughts ultimately unified into one and returned to me, becoming 'me' once again.

By reclaiming my body and conducting a simplified version of the Earth Tribe Sacred Vessel advancement ritual, I can now advance to the Heaven and Earth Dual Cultivation Sacred Vessel stage.

While my ability to wield Immortal Arts has improved, I am still far from finding a way to restore my body and authority.

Because the Underworld has forbidden (禁) my death, I cannot enter the Underworld, let alone its outskirts.

To overcome this, I must either obtain power strong enough to shatter the prohibition of the Heavenly Venerable of the Underworld or find something capable of ignoring the prohibition altogether.

Ten thousand years pass.

I drift across various corners of the universe, occasionally being devoured by innate Star Shattering Esteemed Ones and excreted as waste while wandering through the world.

Since I cannot die anyway, I am not particularly worried.

I attempt anything to find a way to connect to the Netherworld.

I try to achieve this through Immortal Arts, but every Immortal Art I can employ is swallowed by the Heavenly Venerable's prohibition.

With Immortal Arts alone, I can never regain my strength.

Realizing this, I search for other methods.

I cling to innate Star Shattering Esteemed Ones, parasitizing them with my Immortal Arts, taking control over them, and testing my methods.

I even try creating puppets or mechanical devices through parasitism.

I activate every ritual and spell I know.

As a last resort, I even offer a ritual to the Sword Spear Heavenly Lord.

However, the Sword Spear Heavenly Lord does not respond at all.

I also try to search for my comrades, but ever since the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable and Yeong Seung distorted time and space, I can no longer access the Middle Realms from the Astral Realm.

I attempt to distort spacetime using Immortal Arts to ascend, but... in a state devoid of spiritual power, Qi, or attraction force, going to the Middle Realm feels impossibly distant.

Even doing so by guiding innate Star Shattering stage Esteemed Ones results in the same.

Perhaps it's due to a problem with spacetime itself, as even with the power of Esteemed Ones, ascension is far too difficult.

After realizing how difficult it is to meet my comrades, I fall into extreme suicidal urges.

However, there is no way for me to die.

Since I am not entirely free to use Immortal Arts, I spend most of my time in a powerless state as a mere flower petal, contemplating how to escape this condition.

Another hundred thousand years pass.

Now, I am three hundred thousand years old.

It is only around this time that I find a way.

It is none other than my death energy (死氣).

Though my death is forbidden, the power of death accumulated in my soul remains intact.

To reclaim my power in this world where everything else has disappeared, I search for a way to harness this death energy.

Using the Phenomena Extinguishing Mantra to push attraction force to its peak and then causing it to explode can temporarily dissolve the death energy. That much is the truth.

Thus, I begin searching for a way to handle death energy through the Phenomena Extinguishing Mantra.

Time flows endlessly once more.

Then, when I reach exactly 320, 000 years of age...

The result of relentless imagining, contemplating, doubting, and reconstructing the method of handling death energy is…

I realize that I am going insane.

Someday, a circle (圓) appears before my eyes.

It is the circle that Hyeon Gwi once drew.

Previously, this circle had terrified me. The sight of Hyeon Gwi mercilessly smashing the circle and the void that extended beyond it were horrifying to the point that I couldn't dare grip my sword.

But...

I suddenly sense something strange.

Back then, Hyeon Gwi's dance was so dreadful and horrifying to me.

Yet for some reason, the dance no longer feels as terrifying.

Why was I so afraid of something like that? Such a question crosses my mind.

Henceforth, I begin to ponder the reason.

I turn 330, 000 years old.

My sense of time seems to have started slipping at some point.

It's been off for a while, but now it truly feels like I have transcended the era when I wore a human mask.

Time no longer feels like a vague, endless flow.

To be precise, time no longer scares me.

No...

I have become unafraid of something else.

Is it because of the tens of thousands of years of forced secluded cultivation?

I feel as if I have opened my eyes to 'something.'

What that 'something' is, I cannot clearly discern.

However... when Void Perception starts to resonate, I wonder whether it's perhaps related to what Hyeon Gwi had shown me.

I endlessly reflect and reflect again on Hyeon Gwi's dance.

How much time has passed...?

Ah, yes.

Soon, I will turn 400, 000 years old.

Nearly two hundred thousand years have passed.

Blink— I blink my 'eyes.'

When I come to my senses, I find myself suddenly inside a 'body.'

And... before my eyes stands a familiar being.

I understand that this being has temporarily granted me a body.

"... You've come to find me, Hyeon Gwi."

It is the girl in black martial attire, Hyeon Gwi.

She stands upside down in the cosmic space, her face expressionless and hollow as she meets my gaze.

"For what reason did you come to seek me out?"

"... Since it seems you've completed something interesting, I've come to give you a chance to demonstrate it."

"I'm still too ashamed to reveal it."

"Show it now. It is already nearly complete, and all that remains is refinement. Even if you name it and use it right now, it won't bring shame. I want to clash with it myself."

"Kukuk..."

I can't help but laugh for some reason.

"Even you at the zenith of Martial Arts... were a Heart Tribe all along."

"I merely sought you out because you seem most suitable for a rehearsal before facing Underworld."

"The [Oldest One]... has gone to the Head Realm. Do you think They will return?"

As I became the Annihilation Flower of the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable, I came to understand all of the plans of the Heavenly Venerables and Governing Immortals.

Even the insane acts committed by the Great Mountain Supreme Deity...

I understood what kind of war they waged and what they were truly planning.

Thus, if Underworld does not exist in the end, her so-called 'rehearsal' holds no meaning.

However, at my words, Hyeon Gwi merely sneers at me.

"Do not worry. Underworld always returns."

"Pardon?"

"You don't need to know. When the time comes, ask Underworld directly."

Sururuk...

Darkness gathers in her hand, coalescing into a sword.

I watch her for a moment before silently summoning the Colorless Glass Sword.

The body I inhabit now is not my main body, but an incarnation created by Hyeon Gwi.

Moreover, communication with my main body, which resides on the outskirts of the Netherworld, remains severed.

However, it seems Hyeon Gwi has used her power to allow me to at least summon my sword.

For a brief moment, I stare at the sword. Then, as she said, I prepare the singular sword technique I have studied for hundreds of thousands of years.

"Can you hold the sword now?"

"I can."

Woo-woong!

She casually draws a circle in the void with her sword.

Unlike the last time when her dance drew a circle, this is merely a casual act of roughly tracing a circle in the void.

Yet, I feel as though I will be overwhelmed by her martial will emanating from that simple act.

But...

That is all.

I merely smile faintly and lift my sword.

Hyeon Gwi smirks, letting her sword hang loosely.

"... You've become decent. Now, show me. After studying for hundreds of thousands of years, what is the answer you have attained?"

Cheok!

I take my stance.

This is a single sword technique.

Yet, it transcends everything I have accumulated thus far.

It is the simplest movement, known among countless swordsmen as a 'thrust.'

The Colorless Glass Sword and the All-Heavens Sword merge.

The two swords, united as one, become a line.

The tip of that sword becomes a point.

With this single point, I will execute a 'thrust'.

Hyeon Gwi smiles gloomily.

Her expression is impossible to interpret.

A gaze imbued with emotions like 'welcoming' 'pity,' 'sympathy,' 'joy,' 'pleasure,' 'depression,' and 'pain.'

"Through tens of thousands of years of solitude and powerlessness, you have come to perceive that place."

Sururuk...

The sword of darkness begins to become one with her arm.

That sword is no simple sword.

Merely a form that resembles a sword, it is the assemblance of Martial Arts!

For some reason, she looks at me with a gaze that seems to be filled with genuine pity.

"Congratulations on glimpsing the domain of true despair. Now, come at me."

The next moment, my sword, too, becomes dyed in darkness.

No, everything about me is instantly dyed in darkness.

I become death.

A thought once crossed my mind.

If I can compress death energy with the Phenomena Extinguishing Mantra and then detonate it, can I not make use of it?

As I pondered this, my thoughts suddenly shifted to Hyeon Gwi's martial art.

While considering her circle and the use of death energy, I felt my consciousness touch upon a certain realm.

It was... death.

Beyond what the Heavenly Venerable of the Underworld sealed away under the name of the cycle of rebirth.

The domain of absolute annihilation.

I witnessed the true death that resides there.

Even the Interdimensional Void of the Heavenly Venerable of the Void is merely a mimicry of this true death, a path to make it easier for living beings to approach true death.

It is not true emptiness (空).

What is true emptiness (空)?

What is true death?

Death is purity.

The primordial state of absolute nothingness.

The absolute truth that applies equally to all things!

Death is rest, and at the same time, peace, and great purity.

And yet... it was only after two hundred thousand years of seclusion that I barely glimpsed that truth.

I could not reach that place.

However... I understand now.

Only by reaching that 'purity' can I shatter the Heavenly Venerable's prohibition and reclaim death.

Then, what must I do to reach that place?

To reach that domain of purity, I compress everything.

All of my life (生).

All of my death (死).

All of my heart (心).

All of my history and all of my future—everything!

Into a single thrust.

I pour everything to aim for the domain of purity.

To reach 'true death,' Through the domain of the Underworld, domain of the Source River, domain of the Eastern Heaven Flower Field, and domain of the Interdimensional Void, I pierce a 'hole' through all of them!

I surround my body with death energy, condensed to the point it feels liquefied.

What is the identity of this death energy?

I have pondered this for a long time, and I finally understood.

This death energy is precisely the traces of resistance against fate throughout my countless histories.

The traces left behind by my resistance against the fate of death and my endless struggles against the pull of attraction force have crystallized into this death energy.

The countless moments when I lost to attraction force.

Those traces have accumulated to become my shackles.

The marks of defeat have become my death energy, trying to once again bind me to the fate of death and forcefully pull me to defeat.

But...

This time, I do not resist that attraction force of death.

Instead, I accept it.

I can feel the death energy dragging me towards death.

Of course, thanks to the Heavenly Venerable's prohibition, I do not die. But a pain akin to death engulfs me.

A thousand moments of death flash before my eyes like a revolving lantern.

[TL: Revolving lantern is a metaphor for a rapid flood of memories.] All that torment crashes down upon me at once!

"Take this."

Hyeon Gwi's sword lowers towards me.

I do not resist the power of death.

Instead, I comply with it, adding my own will to that power.

All of my attraction force and heart, with the formula of the Phenomena Extinguishing Mantra, converge into a single point and become added to the power of death.

Paaaatt!

In that state, I thrust!

For a fleeting moment, my body transcends life.

Through my eyes, I see the dimensions of the Source River, the Eastern Heaven Flower Field, the Interdimensional Void, and the Netherworld.

And then...

Beyond them.

Towards true death.

Towards the domain of 'purity,' I thrust my sword.

I no longer perceive Hyeon Gwi before my eyes.

I simply...

Thrust towards the Ultimate of Martial Arts.

Severing Mountain Swordsmanship.

Thirty-Fourth Move.

Complying with the entirety of my attraction force of death, compressing the entirety of my strength and adding on to it — all for a single thrust!

Kunlun (崑崙)!

I witness absolute purity.

Though it is only through a hole smaller than a mere point, I behold that purity.

Pasasak!

The next moment, my sword shatters, and my body is deeply slashed.

My single technique is broken by Hyeon Gwi's single strike.

Smirk.

However, Hyeon Gwi smiles.

In her right hand, a small hole has been pierced.

"Sloppy."

She offers her critique.

I simply smile silently in return.

For the first time in hundreds of thousands of years, I am able to hold the sword again.

That alone is enough.

"But it was worth seeing."

Concluding her brief evaluation, she bursts her own heart on the spot and dies.

'... I see...'

I understand her method of taking her own life so easily.

It isn't suicide.

It is merely...

Abandoning the flesh and moving beyond.

A method of drawing infinitely close to the domain of purity and transferring to another place.

To her, death is not something to fear—it is merely a part of her Martial Arts.

When I consider that the best I can manage is to create a pinpoint hole capable of glimpsing the domain of purity with all my strength, the gap between her and myself is despairingly vast.

But I smile.

Pasasak...

The Heavenly Venerable's prohibition cannot stop me who has momentarily transcended the domain of death.

I regain all of my authority.

At the same time... with every ounce of my willpower exhausted, I can feel my body and soul falling into that deep domain of the Underworld.

'Ah... have They returned?'

I can feel it.

Deep within the Underworld, for some reason, I sense the presence of the [Oldest One].

However, having exhausted everything in the recent clash with Hyeon Gwi, I have no strength to resist.

For reasons unknown, the [Oldest One] does not seem particularly eager to pull me in.

I am simply falling, sinking deeper into the domain of the Underworld.

I don't think Hyeon Gwi will particularly help me.

'... Is this how I... become taxidermized?'

It's been a long and eventful journey.

I close my eyes and fall deeper into the deep and deeper place.

Beyond the domain of the Underworld.

In the place where the Sun and Moon Heavenly Domain lies, for some reason, there now exist [three] additional Middle Realms that appear to have been torn apart and crushed like bugs.

Beyond them...

The Head Realm, perhaps it's just my imagination, seems to have grown slightly larger in size.

Resigned to being taxidermized for all of eternity, I fall powerlessly like a bug to the deepest depths.

That is my nine hundred ninety-ninth return.