Chương 529: Filling the Heavens (滿天) (3)

Somewhere in the distant Astral Realm.

Fleeing from Seo Eun-hyun's relentless pursuit, Seo Hweol smooths his previously twisted expression that was distorted like an evil spirit back into an expressionless face and firmly grips Hon Won and Yeon Wei on both sides.

Within them, he begins to seize the souls of In and Yeon.

'Even if it's agonizing, there's nothing that can be done right now.'

Seo Hweol begins to open the [Eye] he has regained.

Bulge, bulge, bulge, bulge...

[Eyeballs] begin to sprout all over his body.

A dark-red aura engulfs him, and eyes emerge not only on Seo Hweol's arms, legs, and body but also across his face and even on his clothes, covering him entirely.

Chuk, chuk, chuk, chuk, chuk!

'What must be done now... is to use the authority of the Vast Cold Heavenly Lord, which I seized in this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and push my original plan forward in one decisive sweep.'

Wiiiiiing!

The attraction force between Hon Won and Yeon Wei begins to grow stronger.

But they cannot reach each other.

Seo Hweol's [Eye] distorts their attraction force, transmitting it across the Seo Hweols scattered throughout the universe and twisting its direction.

As a result, while the attraction force grows stronger, the misaligned direction prevents them from meeting, causing the force to grow endlessly without resolution.

The Seo Hweols scattered throughout the Sun and Moon Heavenly Domain relay the attraction force of In and Yeon, gradually guiding its direction astray.

Gradually, the attraction force grows stronger.

This attraction force originates from the Vast Cold Heavenly Lord, once known as the strongest Heavenly Lord!

When the attraction force of the universe reaches its peak, the universe meets the End.

Woo-wooong!

The End of the universe, which has been advancing little by little under the Phenomena Extinguishing Mantra, begins to accelerate rapidly.

Immortal Cultivation is progress...

The will of someone reverberates across the entire universe, and the Sun and Moon Heavenly Domain begins to 'progress' rapidly towards the End.

Empowered by the attraction force of the End, the countless Seo Hweols scattered across the Sun and Moon Heavenly Domain begin to laugh in unison.

"Hoho..."

"Hohohoho..."

"Hohoho."

Chuk, chuk, chuk, chuk, chuk!

The Seo Hweols simultaneously place their hands behind their backs, look up at the sky, and laugh.

'It's a shame I couldn't obtain Blood Yin... but there's no choice. I'll have to gamble.'

Bulge, bulge, bulge, bulge!

And then...

Countless [Eyeballs] burst forth from the bodies of Seo Hweols.

It's a chilling, dark-red gleam.

[Tainted Soul Filling the Heavens.] Wiiiiiing!

Immediately after.

The Sun and Moon Heavenly Domain begins to be dyed a dark red.

[Complete Release (完全開放).] Seo Hweol recalls one of the truths about the Head Realm he learned through Jeon Hyang.

When the Sun and Moon Heavenly Domain meets the End.

At the moment of the End, the place where everything compresses is the Head Realm.

Although the place of 'restart' lies somewhere far away in the Interdimensional Void...

Still, at the conclusion of the universe, everything is inevitably drawn toward the Head Realm.

Therefore, the occurrence of the End ultimately means: Everything can be absorbed into the Head Realm.

The In and Yeon of Vast Cold exchanges an increasingly intense and strong attraction force and accelerates the End.

Seo Hweol recalls the legend of the Vast Cold Heavenly Lord.

The Vast Cold Heavenly Lord, who is said to have altered the conditions for the End of an entire Heavenly Domain.

The most respected and beloved friend in the memory of Blood Yin's split soul, yet also the most terrifying existence...

Perhaps it is because such a being's power resides within the spirit bodies.

When it comes to the End, it seems to react even faster than Seo Eun-hyun's Phenomena Extinguishing Mantra.

'Such an ominous thing must be why Blood Yin hurriedly sealed it away in the True Devil Realm.'

Regardless, precisely because it is the Head Realm!

If Seo Hweol accelerates the End of the world with attraction force, it will be solely Seo Hweol's feat!

Through that achievement, Seo Hweol plans to dye the entire Sun and Moon Heavenly Domain with Tainted Soul Filling the Heavens, even if only for a fleeting moment.

And the Head Realm, having absorbed the world stained with Tainted Soul Filling the Heavens, will ultimately... consume all of Seo Hweol's Tainted Soul Filling the Heavens and will complete Seo Hweol's plan.

Seo Hweol will finally...

Meet the [truth] he desires.

Just when the attraction force of In and Yeon, held tightly in Seo Hweol's grasp, reaches its peak, Seo Hweol suddenly hears something echoing in his ears.

Kidukidukiduk...

It's Agate.

The existence that, after being swallowed by his Tainted Soul Filling the Heavens, remains in the deepest depths within it, serving only as his computational mechanism.

That Agate now laughs hysterically as if driven mad.

—I've been deceived too. This is... the strength of your adversary. Seo Hweol. That is what has been... contaminating you all this time...

And then, Seo Hweol, Sees it.

The sight of something beginning to fill the entire universe.

No...

A faint, hazy mist that has 'already been filling the entire universe.'

And Seo Hweol sees it.

The [gazes] visible within that mist.

Countless silhouettes seem to flicker within the mist.

And those silhouettes, like starlight, pierce through the mist and meet Seo Hweol's [gaze].

The [eyeballs] of Seo Hweol's Tainted Soul Filling the Heavens and the [gazes] beyond the mist collide.

Seo Hweol shudders unconsciously.

Only now does he understand.

Only after witnessing it with his own eyes can he 'understand.'

[... I, from the very beginning...] The countless eyeballs of Seo Hweols scattered across the entire Sun and Moon Heavenly Domain lose their dark-red light before the hundreds of billions of gazes shining through the pale mist.

From those gazes, Seo Hweol feels a strangely familiar sensation.

'That's definitely...'

—The truth that I was loved—that alone—will never disappear!

—So! My heart, too!!!

—Will never disappear!!

Yes.

Those gazes...

Somehow resemble the gaze of ■■ at that final moment.

It will not disappear.

Even if it vanishes right before the eyes, somewhere deep within the heart, it will definitely remain.

Seo Hweol somehow feels as if such a will is being conveyed from those [gazes].

At the same time, the pale white light begins to overwhelm the dark-red light.

[... Was bound by a leash...] Whether Seo Hweol seizes Seo Ran or not, From the very beginning, unless he escapes the Sun and Moon Heavenly Domain, he cannot escape from him.

Finally, a voice as solemn as that of a god reverberates throughout the entirety of the Sun and Moon Heavenly Domain.

[Filling the Heavens Governing View (滿天御覽).] Kugugugugu!

Seo Hweol understands.

At some point, he entrusted himself to a gamble, acted arrogantly, and naturally threw himself into hollow hope.

Agate calculated while observing such a Seo Hweol and informed him that he is 'mad.'

Seo Hweol ignored Agate's words.

Because he had no reason to go mad.

Because he had no reason to be contaminated.

Madness or contamination only occurs due to related causality.

Nothing happens without a reason.

And within the knowledge and logic Seo Hweol possessed, there existed no causality by which he could go mad or be contaminated.

Thus, he one-sidedly dismissed Agate's words.

However...

Facing the origin of his contamination, Seo Hweol must now admit it.

He has become contaminated.

He has become mad.

From the very beginning...

Yes, precisely from the moment he first laid eyes on Seo Eun-hyun's Canvas of Myriad Forms and Connections.

[Complete Release (完全開放).] The final form of Seo Eun-hyun's Crystal Glass to Treading Sea Nine Categories Form, which has been subtly contaminating Seo Hweol since long before, spreads across the Sun and Moon Heavenly Domain and finally begins to reveal its full power.

"Just when... did you start to mistake Tainted Soul Filling the Heavens as being above the Canvas of Myriad Forms and Connections?"

A life of failure upon failure upon failure upon failure upon failure upon failure. My life is one where I have repeatedly experienced failure.

My soul is a mountain built upon failure.

And my failures are not just tools for repentant enlightenment.

Can't the Canvas of Myriad Forms and Connections be used to attack an opponent?

The result of such research, repentant enlightenment, and training is this secret art that has only been completed today.

Filling the Heavens Governing View!

However, even before its completion, it has already been scattering across the entire universe... slowly.

So slowly that even Seo Hweol himself didn't realize it and it has been eating away at him.

If Seo Hweol's Tainted Soul Filling the Heavens is an Immortal Art that brainwashes the entire world into becoming himself, taking over every role, and turning himself into the favorable protagonist, mine is the opposite.

I fill the heavens by exposing my failures, causing others to be unconsciously influenced by my experiences of failure.

By watching my life filled only with failures, they unknowingly learn from it.

And naturally, the first thing someone influenced by this Immortal Art learns is...

My own failure.

Seo Hweol unknowingly learned and used the failures deeply stacked within my history.

I did not create a path for myself to become the protagonist.

What I created is a secret art that turns everyone in the world into failures.

A secret art that makes everyone a failure, and amidst failure and despair, enables them to understand the world anew.

That... is Filling the Heavens Governing View, now finally completed today.

After fully blooming Filling the Heavens Governing View, I rise from my seat as I watch Seo Hweol fleeing with Oh Hye-seo, Hon Won, and Yeon Wei.

Wo-woong!

In the next moment, I split apart.

The me sitting down, and the me rising from my seat.

The me who rises looks back at me and speaks.

"I'll protect them and come back."

I smile and reply,

"Go and show them."

Nod— The me who nods puts strength into the legs and briefly closes the eyes.

Kuguguguk!

As a martial artist, the power of Heaven and Earth begins to concentrate on 'my' legs.

The Heaven and Earth spiritual energy from all of Cedarwood Painting gathers and surges into my legs.

Paaatt!

For an instant, my lower body seems to turn translucent, and countless muscles in my lower body become visible to the naked eye.

Each muscle burns fiercely, filled entirely with Heaven and Earth spiritual energy.

And at the moment when the spiritual energy concentrated in my legs reaches its peak— I unfold the body movement technique that has accompanied me for hundreds of thousands of years.

Record of Transcending Cultivation and Exhausting Martial Arts, Severing Mountain Swordsmanship, Dragon Vein Qi Method, and other martial arts have evolved across the ages, integrating with Earth Tribe Methods, merging within the Three Great Ultimates, and have repeatedly transformed, transcending upon transcending.

But this one fact has never changed.

Remaining unchanged, this martial art of mine refined with utmost dedication and passion to master the foundation.

The foundation of a martial artist is the lower body.

The foundation I have forged over hundreds of thousands of years now roars with might as it unleashes the fruits of all those efforts.

Not the ground-shrinking technique that uses attraction force, nor teleportation arts, nor dimensional leaps—this is purely a body movement technique achieved through Martial Arts.

Mountain Lord's Transcending Peaks Flight!

Kururururu!

As a Martial Artist, I begin to leap thousands of light-years in a single step.

As a Heaven Tribe, I stop myself from reaching out my [arm] to grab Seo Hweol.

Seo Hweol begins to flee even faster, but I do not lose him.

Seo Hweol uses every possible secret art to distance himself from me, yet the more he struggles, the narrower the gap between us becomes.

Kurururururu!!

As my body rapidly displaces the Heaven and Earth spiritual energy of the universe, it generates waves of spiritual energy that sounds like the roar of a tiger.

The Mountain Lord (山君) surpasses great peaks (越岳) and begins to soar (飛).

Let its momentum fill the heavens (滿天下).

A colossal tiger crosses the horizon of countless starlights, relentlessly pursuing Seo Hweol.

Finally, I leap across the long years and arrive behind Seo Hweol.

Seo Hweol turns around, startled.

He must be surprised.

He must be wondering how I could catch up to him so quickly when even the power of a Heaven Tribe Sacred Master could not.

I kindly forego explanations, keeping my mouth shut, and instead prepare my ultimate technique to strike Seo Hweol.

The Mountain Lord merely reigns silently, spreading its will.

Those who fear the master of the mountain do not even attempt to flee. They simply freeze in place as the distance closes on its own.

For the past five thousand years...

No... ever since the 15th cycle when Seo Hweol began to properly toy with me.

To punish a being like Seo Hweol whose heart has rotted away, I have studied and researched tirelessly for this single move.

Inside Cedarwood Painting, to the Cedarwood Mountain etched inside the mandala.

To Cedar Wood Grove, where I have stood alongside countless others of the Heart Tribe.

To the innumerable cedars that have supported me for millennia...

I stretch my arm with a mighty roar.

Severing Mountain Swordsmanship (斷岳劍法), Thirty-Fifth Move (第三十五招), Cedarwood (杉木).

Bo-oong!

Though it is swordsmanship, what is unleashed is a single fist.

No, since the sword has long become one with my soul, it doesn't matter whether it is a fist or a sword.

It is merely that its visible form takes the shape of a fist.

And my fist slams directly into Seo Hweol's face.

Paaaaaak!

The sound of flesh colliding with flesh.

That simple yet lively sound reverberates and spreads across the airless cosmic space as a heart essence.

Immediately after, Across the entire universe, every face of Seo Hweol infected by Tainted Soul Filling the Heavens is thrown back as if they were struck in the same way by me.

"KKUUAAAHGK!"

And...

For the first time, Seo Hweol's genuine scream bursts forth before me.