Chương 674: Holy Father, Mountain God

[Please! Pleaaaase!] Oh Hye-seo's scream shakes the illusory space, and as the world cracks open, the dreary essence of the Outer Sea reveals itself.

However, to the end.

To the very end.

Tainted Soul Filling the Heavens does not return from the skeletal form of the Sea Dragon.

And finally...

When the essence of the Outer Sea reveals itself, and at last, her Truth Manipulation crumbles, Oh Hye-seo throws aside the bones of Seo Hweol held in her arms and sobs.

"Seo Hweol! Seo Hweol!!"

The bones of Sea Dragon King Seo Hweol drift somewhere beyond the chaos of the Outer Sea and disintegrate, and Oh Hye-seo, turning her back on that sight, finally collapses into Oh Hyun-seok's arms.

Tststss— As her illusionary space disappears, Oh Hyun-seok takes on the form of Purple Soul Filling the Heavens and tightly embraces her.

Purple Soul Filling the Heavens, now transformed into violet vapor, whispers while holding her close.

"It's okay. It's okay... Hye-seo-ah. Everything's okay now... And... I'm sorry. For not caring about you..."

Tststststss— Oh Hyun-seok's Purple Soul Filling the Heavens begins to seep directly into Oh Hye-seo.

What is Oh Hyun-seok's now passes on to her, and it begins to merge with her Tainted Soul Filling the Heavens.

"Still... please remember just this one thing. Even here... there is someone who truly love you..."

Oh Hyun-seok's warm love flows deep into her heart, and Oh Hye-seo weeps.

"I hate it... I hate it all... I hate all of you. Seo Hweol, I hate you. Why did you leave me? Why did you leave me with nothing but this? I hate you too, Oh Hyun-seok. Why did you leave me alone all this time...? Kim Yeon, I hate you. Why did you become so radiant that I can't even look at you anymore? And... Seo Eun-hyun. I hate you the most..."

"..."

"Why... won't you... just leave me alone...? Why...?"

Tstststststststss— As Oh Hyun-seok's Purple Soul Filling the Heavens merges with Oh Hye-seo's Tainted Soul Filling the Heavens, their form transforms.

Oh Hye-seo's shadow shifts in form.

What was once a shadow shaped like Seo Hweol, now transforms into her own shadow bearing the horns of a Sea Dragon.

"I hate everyone... I really hate everyone... But..."

Clutching the chest where Purple Soul Filling the Heavens has seeped into, Oh Hye-seo grits her teeth.

"Because this pain... because this hatred exists... that must be why life is something we can't escape..."

Her enlightenment is conveyed thread by thread through Indra's Net.

—Pain is hatred.

—Hatred is a yoke.

If there is a difference between anger and hatred, anger can be repaid through retribution...

But hatred becomes a lifelong scar and yoke in a person's heart.

—Hatred is a collar and truth you can never escape from.

—But...

—To carry that yoke on one's back and still continue on—that is life.

I gaze into Oh Hye-seo's heart essence.

Rain begins to fall in what had always been a desolate desert.

That rain overflows and overflows, soon becoming a sea.

—Even if I accept the pain, I must live on. Right, Seo Hweol...?

Now bearing in her heart essence a sea of storms vast enough to house a Sea Dragon, she rises to her feet.

—If truth is something you cannot escape no matter how much you manipulate it... then it must mean even if you accept it, you must still live...

I know then that a great change has occurred within her.

Whether on Earth, or here in Mount Sumeru.

She, who once would have embraced death at the slightest opportunity if Seo Hweol was gone—no, even if he was still present, has at last changed.

Seo Hweol's shout.

Oh Hyun-seok's shout.

The cry of all of us together, has led her to finally treasure life, to choose living over suicide.

Now, even if left alone, she will not choose death.

Kiiiiiiiiiing!

At the same moment, a massive taenghwa rises behind her.

Until now, the taenghwa of her comrades resembled the compassionate visages of Bodhisattvas, but hers is different.

Hers is simply, unmistakably, a monster.

Kugugugu!

Six arms, three heads.

Oh Hye-seo's taenghwa, in the form of an Asura with three heads and six arms, begins to overturn something in reality with all six hands.

"I don't need your help anymore. I don't need your empty promise that Seo Hweol can be brought back. I've come to know that it can't be done. But... even if I can't save him, I'll live on carrying the life he passed on to me. So... I no longer need your embrace."

Clang!

At that moment, the Asura's six arms strike fiercely at Oh Hye-seo's back.

Jjeooeong!

Simultaneously, something like a dark-red chain seems to emerge behind her, only to shatter under the Asura's blow.

Kugugugugugu!

"...!"

From somewhere far away, a familiar wave sweeps across the entirety of the Outer Sea.

It is the power of the Great Mountain Supreme Deity.

'I see...'

Oh Hye-seo, as of this day, has chosen to sever her status as the Great Mountain Supreme Deity's disciple.

And she senses that the Great Mountain Supreme Deity has, in turn, expelled her.

She is no longer my martial niece.

"I'll live with pride. Even if life is nothing but pain... I'll endure... After all..."

Oh Hye-seo moves her arm.

At the same moment, my jade seal of Yin-Yang and Five Elements embedded in her shatters completely, and she relinquishes her Immortal Dao itself.

She chooses no longer to walk the Dao of Repentant Enlightenment.

But as her realm in the Immortal Dao had not been high to begin with, she is merely a Vestige Liberation Immortal.

Now freed from me, from the Great Mountain Supreme Deity, and from Seo Hweol, she utters a single phrase with a lightened heart and weeps.

"Life is... nothing but hatred."

Life is hatred.

It is the moment she speaks those words.

Shiver!

"...!"

An unbearable, revolting filth creeps over me.

'Th-This is...'

And then, I feel the [gaze] of some presence that I could not perceive in my previous realm.

I turn my head to perceive what that [gaze] is, and soon after...

I am able to behold it directly.

Kugugugugu!

Tracing that gaze back to its origin, at the very end lies Mount Sumeru.

A massive world in the form of an inverted cone.

At its edge, Mount Sumeru.

Thirty-Third Heaven.

The threshold of the Audience Chamber.

The Head Realm that lies in that place (首界)...

There, I...

Iseeititseesmeoureyesmeetit'sagiganticjade...

It is a gigantic jade...

Gigantic jade...

Gigan...

:: Kuaaaaaaaagh!!!:: I scream desperately.

At my cry, the entire Outer Sea seems to tremble, and behind my back, the [Pure-White Three Great Ultimates] and the [Wheel] begin to fully support me.

Revealing my true body in the Outer Sea, I pour every bit of my mind into 'facing directly' what lies at the edge of that [gaze]!!

And then, across over a thousand lifetimes, across endless time, I finally succeed in 'perceiving' it.

It is...

It is...!

It is a gigantic...

Jade throne upon which the Holy Father sits.

HewatchesoverusfrombehindtheEmptinessSupremeDeityMyeongWoonwhorollsitseyesbackandstaresatusandMyeongWoonissomehowinasemi-transparentstateallowingmetodaredirectlybeholdthejadefaceofthatexaltedbeing.

HissacredvisageissomethingalowlybeinglikemecannotdaretodescribebutifImustventuretodepictitinwordsitisasfollowshewearsadragonrobeofsuchranknoSurepemDeitydarestoapproachandatophisheadrestsamianguanthatmakeseventheHeavenlyVenerableoftheUnderworldseemsmallthatmianguanitselflookslikethe [Black Sky] andsoheappearsasthoughheisholdinguptheskyitself.

Onhisjadebodyforsomereasonthereare [Three Holes] piercedthroughhimthefirstholeisattheupperdantianwherehisfaceismakinghisjadefaceappearlikearingandsacredthesecondholeispiercedatthemiddledantianwherehischestisandperhapsbecauseofthisheappearsheartbreakinglyhollowthefinalholeispiercedathislowerdantianwherehislowerabdomenisandIcan'thelpbutfeelthatwhateveroncefilledthosethreeholeswere [Faces] I'vesomehowencounteredbeforeandyeteventhoughI'vemethisfacesbeforewhyisitthatIhaveneveroncerecognizedthatexaltedoneIcanonlyfeelbitterlyresentfulandbitterlyresentfulthisisblasphemnybeyonddescriptionsoIdecidetostranglemyownneckandburnmyselftoseekforgivenessforthatsinasasaburntoffering...

"Don't go! Seo Eun-hyun!!"

Kiiiiiiiiiing!

"Keok! Keheok" At someone's cry, I finally come to my senses and open my eyes on the spot.

"Heok! Heoheok!"

As I come to my senses, I find my entire body bound in light pink threads, with Kim Yeon holding me tightly from behind.

'Th-This is...'

I clearly understand what just happened.

'Crazy... I was about to return to thee.'

Kim Yeon's heart tightly embraces me, and around us quince blossoms bloom in full, revitalizing my mind.

"Heok... Heoook..."

I think of what I just saw.

'Behind... the Head Realm... Did I see the [Audience Chamber]...!?'

Gag!

For some reason, a repulsion and disgust rising from deep in my chest make me clamp my mouth shut.

I try to recall the form of [that being] I saw in the Audience Chamber, but an overwhelming headache surges up, and so I barely manage to calm my heart, fracturing the memory and shattering the knowledge into fragments.

Only then do I become able to recall that being without serious strain.

'I see now... Just now, I perceived... the [Future King].'

There is no other explanation for what I felt.

That being is the one whom even the Supreme Deities and Heavenly Venerables fear.

It is the Future King, the Fate Supreme Deity.

As I recall the times I felt 'revulsion' when I ascended from the Head Realm or encountered pivotal moments, I tremble.

'I see. The moments I felt 'revulsion' were all... the very moments when my comrades fully awakened to their fates.'

I glance at Oh Hye-seo.

She sits in a lotus position, glaring at me.

Having obtained Indra's Net, I can clearly tell.

'Oh Hye-seo has fully awakened to her fate.'

And every time an Ender fully awakened to their fate, the [Future King] had been observing us from the [Audience Chamber].

Clang!

At that moment, I perceive a change in the Radiance Mantra.

'... I see. So the change in the regression point... was because of this.'

I come to understand the principle behind the change in regression point.

'It is when the Future King observes us.'

When our fate is completely observed by the Future King, and my actions are observed together with it by the Future King, then the alteration of the past through the Radiance Mantra or an Ender's fate becomes completely 'impossible'.

If that happens, even if one returns to the past, the Radiance Mantra judges that 'changing the future is absolutely impossible' and thus fixes the regression point.

'If I hadn't directly faced the Future King this time, I never would've known.'

It is truly fortunate that I manage to directly look at the Future King.

'If I hadn't awakened Indra's Net, known the conditions for Martial Pinnacle, and reached the peak of Great Net Immortal, I would never have been able to endure that gaze and trace it back to directly face the Future King...'

And had I not directly faced the Future King, I never would've fully grasped the various knowledge and conditions related to regression.

Regardless, this challenge has brought me considerable gain.

'Damn it... Future King...'

But among the knowledge I gained from the Future King— I tremble, startled by the fact that I have encountered [three] of the Future King's faces.

'Just what in the world... is that being?'

Seo Hweol is dead, but I recall the time I suffered at his hands.

That suffocating fear when I couldn't tell whether someone around me was Seo Hweol or not.

The terror that every connection I've ever formed might have contained a 'face' of the Future King fills my chest.

'... Let's not get too caught up in it right now.'

Still, I shake my head and open my eyes wide.

"... Thank you, Kim Yeon."

I express my gratitude to Kim Yeon, who helped bring me back to my senses, and rise to my feet.

A welcome guest has arrived.

"Long time no see."

I look behind me.

The presence who appeared like a phantom next to Oh Hye-seo.

I gaze at the Northern Heavenly Venerable, the True Martial Great Emperor Hyeon Mu.

"What brings you so suddenly to the Outer Sea?"

Hyeon Mu stands atop Glass Peacock's clone, who now lies beneath her, showing an expression of 'fear' and 'revulsion' that I have never seen before.

"... Hyeon Mu... You..."

Crunch!

Just as Glass Peacock tries to open their mouth, Hyeon Mu moves her hand and crushes their head like a bug.

Though it's only a clone, they should be able to regenerate.

But perhaps because Hyeon Mu made a move, Glass Peacock's regeneration seems significantly delayed.

"..."

Hyeon Mu's eyes are as empty as before, but they are now also soaked in endless despair and pain.

'As expected...'

Hyeon Mu has perceived and followed along my regression in the state of having recovered her memories from seeing Hong Fan last time.

I look at Hyeon Mu and ask again.

"May I ask what brings you to this desolate Outer Sea?"

"... Isn't it obvious?"

Hyeon Mu rises from her seat, surrendering her body to the chaos of the Outer Sea.

"Upon realizing someone has grasped a clue to Martial Pinnacle, I rushed over immediately."

"Haha, it's an honor. But it's unfortunate. Even if I've grasped a clue to Martial Pinnacle..."

"I know. Even if you miraculously reach Martial Pinnacle, and Kim Young-hoon comes back to life, you won't be able to kill me. I've just gotten used to showing up whenever I sense people like you that I came reflexively."

Hyeon Mu speaks with a hollow expression.

"Now... until my memories are erased again... I have no expectations toward you all, so do not worry. For even if there are a hundred, a thousand Supreme Deities or beings who've reached Martial Pinnacle... I already know I 'cannot' die..."

"... Can you not tell me?"

I ask Hyeon Mu a question.

"Why you try to die yet cannot, what it is you remembered after meeting Hong Fan, and what you meant by 'even if the Seven Brilliance is completed, it is only [half]'. If you could tell me about your relationship with the Heavenly Venerable of the Underworld as well, I'd be even more grateful."

At those words, Hyeon Mu coldly glares down at me and speaks.

"It is not something a thing like you needs to know. Do not delude yourself."

"..."

Speaking the exact same words as Hong Fan, Hyeon Mu continues,

"It is unbearably sorrowful and crushingly painful... yet still... the story must be completed. As long as I am aware of that, I can never show you any sympathy."

"... Then... why do you keep ridiculing us here? You could have just looked at us once and disappeared."

"Hmm... that's for another reason. Regardless, it benefits me for you all to grow. I came to encourage you not to lose your will and become annihilated here."

"Pardon...?"

"Do not pretend you don't know. You feel it too."

Hyeon Mu grins cruelly.

I give a bitter smile at those words.

The massive presence being felt together with Hyeon Mu.

It belongs to a familiar being.

"Do you not sense it? That the Great Mountain Supreme Deity who expelled their disciple is now pushing the interpretation that they have 'lost' that disciple?"

I feel it.

Kugugugugugu!

Beyond that sea of chaos.

A crushing pressure surges toward us.

"Although fully completing the Splitting Heaven Mantra is impossible... it should now be possible to disperse the power and fire it in a simplified form. And if the Splitting Heaven Mantra is completed in a simplified version, completing the Splitting Heaven Mantra itself should also become faster. At minimum, ten million years. At most, maybe one hundred million years will be cut from the completion time. And... naturally."

Hyeon Mu melts into the chaos and speaks,

"The simplified Splitting Heaven Mantra won't reach Mount Sumeru, so the only ones to test it on right now are you."

Kururururung!

Kim Yeon and Oh Hye-seo flinch in surprise and look toward somewhere.

An authority of overwhelming violence boils from beyond that chaos.

"Reach it. The ultimate of Martial Arts. If you can manifest even a part of that power... even if through unorthodox methods... then the simplified Splitting Heaven Mantra can be blocked."

With those final words, Hyeon Mu completely dissolves into the chaos, and I suck in a hollow breath.

The sea of chaos boils over.

At the same time, an immeasurably vast authority is felt from afar.

And a familiar will is conveyed to me.

—You've come up. Welcome. Whatever the case, you're come to settle things with me, haven't you?

"..."

—Take it. The simplified Splitting Heaven. At the same time... the stepping stone toward the Splitting Heaven Mantra. This is...

Kururururung!

I place Kim Yeon and Oh Hye-seo on my Flower Soul Filling the Heavens and send them far away as I slowly draw the Impermanence Sword in that spot.

—My power... that even surpasses Master.

Heaven, Earth, and Heavens Above.

Across the world, the will of the Great Mountain Supreme Deity Gwak Am resounds.

—Prove it.

:: Splitting:: —That you are more suitable for the Dao of the Mountain than I, who have surpassed Master.

:: Emperor:: —Today. Right here.

:: Splitting:: —Let us determine the true Mountain God.

:: Heaven:: Splitting Emperor Splitting Heaven (裂帝裂天).

:: Annihilation (滅) Advancement (進) Wu (戊).:: [Editor: Wu (戊) is the fifth of the Ten Heavenly Stems.] A golden wave that destroys the entire world surges toward me, infused with the golden light of Wu (戊) of the Ten Heavens, becoming annihilation.

The light of Annihilation Advancement that's meant to tear through the Emperor (帝) and kill the Heavens (天), becomes an authority even more terrifying than the single strike of the Underworld.

And I, refining the enlightenment of Martial Pinnacle with the sensation I felt when I once blocked the single strike of the Underworld, extend the Impermanence Sword.

'Cut.'

The will of the Impermanence Sword and my own will become one, and thus I take my first step toward Martial Pinnacle to block the strike of the Great Mountain Supreme Deity.

Jjeoooooong!

A significant portion of the Outer Sea's chaos seems to condense into a single point, then immediately fires toward one place along with a massive golden light.

Where that golden light strikes, there stands a human in white.

He, wielding the sword of impermanence that exists nowhere and everywhere, directly confronts the golden annihilation.

But immediately after— Jjeooooooong!

Where the golden light sweeps through, nothing remains.

The person in white.

Seo Eun-hyun fails to mount any resistance against that will of destruction.

However, the very being who sent forth that will of destruction sits within a world called Penglai Island with a face distorted like an evil spirit.

Is it because Seo Eun-hyun perished too easily?

Or is it because, in that final moment, even as he faded away, he smiled?

No one knows.

But one thing is certain: Seo Eun-hyun is dead.

Seo Eun-hyun is dead, and so the time of the Outer Sea continues to flow on.

That is Seo Eun-hyun's one-thousand-and-sixth return.

Seo Eun-hyun's 10th cycle.

There, Yang Ji-hwang clutches her chest and collapses on the spot.

"... Aaaagh... Aaaaaaaagh..."

Drip... drip...

Yang Ji-hwang, who had at first appeared as a giant god of light, is becoming closer to that of a human woman as time passes.

She perceives her tears to be utterly alien, yet the sensation rising from her chest is something she can no longer endure.

It hasn't been long since she shouted that she would never learn the heart.

Yet, now, she feels shame at her own actions.

She recalls herself frustrated and wondering when Yuan Li would die.

She remembers how she sympathized with Seo Eun-hyun's pain as he reached Treading Heavens Beyond the Path and as the Yin Soul Ghost Incantation turned into the Black Ghost Curse Banner...

And now, reflecting on herself as she sobs at Seo Eun-hyun bidding farewell to Buk Hyang-hwa's final moments— In the depths of self-loathing and sorrow, Yang Ji-hwang cannot stop her tears.

'Just what is... what is this thing called the heart...? Why does it hurt so much...!?'

At the same time, she realizes that her name itself is melting away.

The fate and name of Ji-hwang, given to her solely to hunt the Mountain Gods, is dissolving.

She does not know why.

But one thing is clear.

The being once known as the Sword Spear Heavenly Lord, once known as Yang Ji-hwang, is now melting within Seo Eun-hyun's memories.

Within the records of those hearts, Will she be reborn as a new existence, or merely be absorbed by Seo Eun-hyun and become a part of him?

Even she does not know.

But now she understands.

'I was ignorant... Even though I am one of the divine ranks governing Martial Arts... I never knew what true Martial Arts were...'

"The true pinnacle of the sword lies in the heart... What in the world... have I been doing until now...?"

She, who reached the pinnacle of sword techniques but never tried to understand the heart, now finally begins to grasp the power of the heart.

And only now does she understand.

'The true ultimate of Martial Arts is...'

"Giving and receiving the heart... to form connections... So that is... the most terrifying thing in this world..."

Unable to take her eyes off the final moment between Seo Eun-hyun and Buk Hyang-hwa, Feeling an ache in her chest she's never known before, she continues reading Seo Eun-hyun's memories.

Even though she may forget her name entirely, and her existence might vanish if she keeps reading...

She does not stop. She continues to learn about Seo Eun-hyun.

Because she knows—this is the only way to reach the ultimate of Martial Arts she had half given up on until now.

Reviving herself as a martial artist, she thus walks forward.