Chương 681: Sword God Dance (1)

The very moment the [someone] is perceived.

Huarurururuk!

"...!"

I feel my eyes burning at the overwhelming terror, reverence, and terrifying presence, just like when I first perceived the Future King.

:: Kuaaaaaaaagh!!:: Back then, at least I was mentally prepared when I faced the Future King. But this time, I perceive this [existence] when I am completely unprepared, and I end up suffering in a completely defenceless state.

'Wh-What is this...?'

Normally, when I make a disturbance, the entire Head Realm should have perished. But perhaps due to that existence exerting some kind of power, I am swept into a void space existing within the Head Realm and cause no impact upon it.

"Kuheok! Heok! Heheok...!"

When I come to my senses, I see my past self dancing the final dance with Buk Hyang-hwa in Cheon-saek City.

Then, I come to realize that the Heavenly Venerable of the Underworld used Buk Hyang-hwa to distort the beginning, development, twist, and conclusion contained within my fate.

That's not all.

I finally come to grasp several truths that were hidden on that day.

"... I... see..."

Cheongmun Ryeong, who had died in Cheon-saek City, seems to look upon my past self, then at where the Heavenly Venerable of the Underworld stands.

At the end, Cheongmun Ryeong meets eyes with the present 'me,' who watches this scene from within the void space.

"...!"

Goosebumps rise all over my body.

Saving Buk Hyang-hwa and the residents of Cheon-saek City through 'Song Jin' was partially to twist the progression of my fate, but the true purpose was to save Cheongmun Ryeong's soul.

What's more, perhaps that essence has partially awakened, as Cheongmun Ryeong now meets eyes with the 'me of the present'.

'Was the revision of the Head Realm... deceived?'

It seems to be an application of techniques similar to the Record of Transcending Cultivation and Exhausting Martial Arts or Heavenly Escape.

However, it isn't unfolded through martial doctrine, but an ultimate technique unleashed through the extremity of spell arts!

Cheongmun Ryeong smiles.

As the Salt Sea Supreme Deity, it's as if he already knows all the memories.

While slowly flying into the embrace of the Underworld, he turns into light and fades away.

For some reason, the Underworld flinches and sharply glares at a certain direction, and Cheongmun Ryeong's soul disappears in the void.

—Remember. Everything...

"...!"

At the final moment, I realize that he has used some kind of Immortal Art.

'What is it?'

I cannot tell exactly what Immortal Art it is.

However, I can tell that it is not something cast solely for the current me.

'The level is too high... I can't comprehend it.'

Yet without even the time to ponder such things, I soon see the 10th cycle's Buk Hyang-hwa blessing me as she passes on.

Her soul twirls, drawing a spiral, and rises into the sky.

That figure appears as if dancing with someone else as she passes on, leaving behind the past me on the ground.

She seems to be attaining Buddhahood while recalling the joyful times in Seoak Village.

Watching her figure, for some reason, my eyes begin to ache.

'Damn it...'

Though it's all in the past, my eyes grow hot again.

I shed twilight true energy from my eyes as I take in the end of the 10th cycle.

And as I reflect on the enlightenment I received back then, I come to understand just how ignorant I am.

'I thought I understood the heart.'

Because forming connections between people is Martial Pinnacle, I believed that by understanding that, I could grasp the clue to Martial Pinnacle.

I've thought this again and again, but...

I am truly arrogant.

'There's no way... it could be understood so easily.'

Only by reflecting over and over again, countless times, can one begin to grasp even the slightest thread of it.

That is what the heart is.

That is what a blessing is.

As I recall the final moment with Buk Hyang-hwa, I recognize the truth that I 'did not know'.

Wo-woong!

The Impermanence Sword begins to resonate.

'This is...'

At the same time, the previously colorless Impermanence Sword is imbued with color for the first time.

Paaaatt!

It is the white from when I awakened the White Orchid Blessing Incantation.

'... Ah.'

I feel like I'm beginning to understand something.

The clue to Martial Pinnacle becomes even more tangible in my grasp.

'I... can never reach Martial Pinnacle.'

But at the same time, I gain a firm realization of the ultimate of Martial Arts, and I come to understand that it is possible to embody the power of that ultimate.

'The completion of the Severing Heaven Sword Form... stands before my eyes.'

The utmost limit of my Martial Arts.

The martial flow of the Severing Heaven Sword Form converges into one, and what could be called its final ultimate technique begins to flicker before me.

'Am I... a being who cannot know Martial Pinnacle...?'

I, as a human, cannot dare set foot upon the peak of Martial Arts.

That place is a sacred domain—one I, as a mere individual, cannot reach.

Therefore...

In order to reach Martial Pinnacle, it must not be 'me'.

'I must reach it not as 'I', but as 'we'.'

Not with the heart of an individual, but with the heart containing all of our hearts together—only then can the domain called Martial Pinnacle barely be attained.

Following the formula of the Impermanence Sword, I begin to traverse through the cycles in order to embrace all connections and truly become impermanence.

Paaaatt!

'All of you, who I have encountered in my life...'

I begin to compose a sword dance for every connection I've ever made.

While connected to Indra's Net and without affecting reality, I begin with the Severing Mountain Swordsmanship and unfold all my martial techniques atop Indra's Net.

I reassemble, connect, create, preserve, and destroy.

Within the endless flow, I ceaselessly move my sword to reach the single principle that converges all flows into one.

This is both my attempt to reach Martial Pinnacle and complete the Severing Heaven Sword Form, and at the same time, it is my retribution to my connections.

My retribution to all those who gave me blessings and miracles.

11th cycle.

The memory of being chased by the Mad Lord and [Her].

12th cycle.

The memory of tidying up affairs in the Head Realm alongside Song Jin and Seo Ran.

13th cycle.

The memory of living as General Seo with Kim Yeon and the Mad Lord, and accepting her heart.

14th cycle.

The memory of becoming enlightened to the teachings of the star that Azure Tiger Saint bestowed in the Azure Heaven Creation Sect.

15th cycle...

Through countless cycles, I begin to melt the hearts of my connections into a sword dance.

The hearts of Kim Young-hoon and the members of the Murim Alliance in the 1st cycle.

The hearts of Kim Young-hoon and the members of the Palace of Heavenly Demons in the 2nd cycle.

The hearts of Kim Young-hoon and those who sparred with me in the 3rd cycle.

The hearts of Kim Young-hoon, the royal guards of the Makli Imperial family, and the Makli Clan in the 4th cycle.

The hearts of my disciples in the 5th cycle.

The heart of Cheongmun Ryeong in the 6th cycle.

The hearts of everyone I recalled within the Heart Demon in the 7th cycle.

The heart of Seo Ran from the 8th cycle.

The hearts of Seo Ran, Song Jin, and Yuan Li in the 9th cycle. And Kim Young-hoon's joy.

The heart of Buk Hyang-hwa in the 10th cycle.

The heart of the Mad Lord in the 11th cycle.

The brief hearts in the 12th cycle...

Each time all their hearts melt into me, the Impermanence Sword gradually harmonizes with me, and before I realize it, I become the Impermanence Sword itself.

'Thank you.'

Tsuaaaatt!

The Seo Eun-hyun of the past continues to progress through the cycles, and I become a flow of impermanence circling around the Seo Eun-hyun, beginning to continuously perfect the sword dance.

'I want to convey boundless love and gratitude to every being who has become my connection.'

With that single intent, as I recall the past...

I thus become the [Spiraling Light] that encircles my past, with myself as the white Impermanence Sword.

There is no longer any need for me to dwell within the body called Seo Eun-hyun.

I shed all forms and become a truly free 'heart of gratitude' itself, and from within the teachings of Buk Hyang-hwa, I begin to bless all beings.

The hearts of Gyu Ryeon and Gyu Baek in the 15th cycle.

The ^%#*******#&&()~! in the 16th cycle.

The hearts of the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect and Hong Su-ryeong in the 17th cycle. And Jeon Myeong-hoon's rage.

The hearts of Seo Li and Kang Min-hee in the 18th cycle.

The hearts of the entire Wuji Religious Order in the 19th cycle.

The sorrow of Kang Min-hee in the 20th cycle.

The hearts from Penglai Island, the heart of Gwak Am in the 21st cycle. And Oh Hyun-seok's pleasure.

The joyful hearts shared with Blood Yin from the 22nd cycle to the 998th cycle...

All those countless hearts and lives, all become contained within this sword.

The hearts of the Heavenly Venerables in the 998th cycle.

The heart of Seo Hweol in the 999th cycle. And the love of Kim Yeon.

Finally, every moment of my ascensions becomes part of my sword dance.

And from the very first day of the 1000th cycle to this very moment— As all those moments pass, the moment the Salt Sea Returning Dew Jade and the [Spiraling White Snake] envelops the entirety of Mount Sumeru arrives.

'Aaaah...'

As I endlessly draw the sword dance, at last, the spiral of the Salt Sea Returning Dew Jade overlaps with the spiral I've been drawing, and I come to an enlightenment.

It's about the method of reaching the speed of undying using nothing but the power of Martial Arts.

Kiiiing, kiiiiiiing!

The moment I realize it, I understand that although it is impossible to accelerate with each step like Hyeon Mu, it is possible for my sword, for a single instant, to reach the infinite speed of Hyeon Mu's Void Speed.

'This is...'

The sword transcends spacetime.

Of course, it is no more than the sword tip.

Only the faint sword tip surpasses the limits of spacetime and reaches infinity.

The blade surface, let alone the sword edge, has not reached it yet.

And needless to say, neither have I.

But in that moment when even just the sword tip steps into the domain of infinity— I finally feel that all the years I have endured have not been in vain.

'Here I go.'

Kugugugugu!

After the long passage of time, at last, a familiar scene appears in the distance.

Chaos boils over, and beyond it, the authority of golden violence shines through.

:: Splitting Emperor Splitting Heaven.:: Kugugugung!

I see it.

It is a spear that pierces through all things, and at the same time, an axe that splits everything apart.

Simultaneously...

It is truly a lump of enlightenment born from Gwak Am's own repentant enlightenment about the 'heart'.

:: Annihilation Advancement Mu!:: In the 1005th cycle, I am struck by it and die.

The me of the 1006th cycle, the 1007th, the 1008th, and the 1009th—each and every one of us is annihilated.

And then...

I, the me of this cycle, after passing a time nearing a hundred million years, finally reach reality again, and at last, take form once more.

Splitting Emperor Splitting Heaven Annihilation Advancement Mu.

The absolutely unblockable portion of the Splitting Heaven Mantra.

But I raise a single sword—one that embodies my entire life—toward that mantra.

'I'm still... far from enough.'

I swallow a bitter smile.

It is clearly a sword drawn after reflecting on a hundred million years of life.

But no matter what I do, I still cannot reach that enlightenment.

'Well... it doesn't matter.'

It would be shameless to say that merely two hundred million years of life could clash evenly against the authority of a seasoned Supreme Deity who has lived over seven hundred billion years.

'All I can do right now... is prove that my sword is not wrong!'

Take this.

This is a sword dance containing a hundred million years of time.

:: Splitting Emperor Splitting Heaven.:: Severing Heaven Sword Form.

Derived Ultimate Technique.

:: Annihilation Advancement Mu!::

"Sword God Dance (劍神舞)."

It is a single horizontal slash.

Yet within its trajectory is the heart of all my past lives.

Kugugugugu!

My hand holding the sword melts away under the force of Annihilation Advancement Mu, and my entire body crumples apart.

I expect it, but still...

My single life is clearly inferior compared to the souls numbering nayuta within the Corpse Mountain Blood Sea of the Great Mountain Supreme Deity.

However...

I smile.

'It does not... break.'

Only my Impermanence Sword, which unfolds the Sword God Dance, does not shatter under Annihilation Advancement Mu for the first time.

Even as I die, the trajectory of my sword continues to resist Annihilation Advancement Mu to the end, enduring the wave of violence and pushing through the sea of chaos, finally reaching beyond and delivering a wound to the Great Mountain Supreme Deity.

Shwikang!

I feel it.

A toothpick-sized scar remains on the chest of the Great Mountain Supreme Deity.

An unbelievably small result.

But certainly, after a thousand lives— After surpassing two hundred million years— I have finally wounded the Great Mountain Supreme Deity for the first time.

'From now on... it begins.'

As I begin to return once again through the Radiance Mantra, I smile.

The moment I grasped a sense of Martial Pinnacle and earned the time to reflect through the Radiance Mantra— I have already obtained the path and the time I need to move forward.

Time truly stands on my side, and what remains now...

Is only to overwhelm Annihilation Advancement Mu through the dance of the Sword God.

'Wait for me, Great Mountain Supreme Deity.'

I return the words Gwak Am once gave me and close my eyes.

"... From beyond time... let us determine the true Mountain God."

This is my one-thousand-and-eleventh return.

And the first clash between the light of annihilation and the dance of the sword god.