Chương 716: Spring Before The Flowers Fall (花落以前春)

Peong, peobeong, peobeobeobeobeong!

Fireworks burst above the sky of chaos.

The gunfire containing my Impermanence Sword, Kim Yeon's infinite, and the totality of everyone's hearts embroider the sky into a sea of flowers.

:: Not yet... not yet...:: However, Sal Tree does not give up, and begins to burn the last of his half-body.

Chwaaaaaaa— From Sal Tree's body, faint ancient forces begin to endlessly pour out.

Those ancient forces take the form of faint butterflies, transparent seeds, or Salt Crystals, and dye the surroundings without end.

At the same time, the ancient forces pouring from Sal Tree's body begin to target the Heavenly Venerable of Time Cheon Woon and my Immortal Treasures inside the Nether Treading Ship.

'Is it aiming for the Swallowing Heaven Supreme Deity?'

Cheon Woon (天運) and Hyeong Ryul (玄律) both meet the conditions to be eroded by Sal Tree's ancient force, so it seems to be trying to erode my Immortal Treasures.

:: I will block this side. Please concentrate.:: However, under Hong Fan's command, the Immortal Treasures move in perfect coordination, completely evading Sal Tree's ancient force, and even launch a counterattack.

Led by Hong Fan, Ham Jin, Yeo Hwi, and Yu Hwi form hand seals.

:: Sleep (睡).:::: Fame (名).:::: Wealth (財).:::: Lust (色).:: A hazy aura comes from Hong Fan, a bright aura from Ham Jin, a light-absorbing aura from Yu Hwi, and a sticky aura from Yeo Hwi.

The final Immortal Treasure.

All of those auras gather toward the Swallowing Heaven Supreme Deity.

The Swallowing Heaven Supreme Deity does not form a hand seal.

It merely opens its mouth.

And at that moment— Eat (食)!

Kwadududuk!

Something like massive teeth appears in the void and bites into Sal Tree's half-body.

Kudududuk!

Bitten by those teeth made of attraction force, Sal Tree's face contorts and he glares at my Immortal Treasures.

:: The power of Desire (慾)... the remnant of Devil Heaven, is it...? Heh, heh heh... I see...:: Kuguguguguk!

Sal Tree, who had been raging and throwing Annihilation Flowers without end, can no longer hurl them outward in retaliation.

The attraction force forming around Sal Tree is so strong it could swallow an entire Heavenly Domain by itself.

Now, he can only unleash the power of ancient force, infused with the power of the absolute.

The Heavenly Venerable of Time reveals the trajectory, intercepting the ancient forces, and the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable is bound on the spot, completely immobilized.

Now, all that remains is...

'To cut down the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable.'

By cutting him down, and pushing him into the crack in this boundary of Cakravāda to seal him away, the Heavenly Venerable Battle will end.

:: Lend me your strength.:: Jeon Myeong-hoon and Kang Min-hee, Oh Hyun-seok and Kim Yeon.

And the hearts of everyone gathered here settle into my sword.

Chwarararak!

The form of the Sword God Dance changes once more.

The name of the new ultimate technique is...

'I don't know.'

Even though the principles of the world can be transcended by a person's heart.

I've come to understand that my heart, too, can become someone else's fate.

If that is the case...

Then perhaps giving names and definitions recklessly may not be the right thing to do.

As I infuse into this sword the will of the child who suffocated under the fate I defined too carelessly...

I swing the sword down.

Nameless (無名).

Shukwak!

The hearts of those contained in the sword merge into one and become white, and my sword turns into a white line that slashes toward the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable.

Slice!

The Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable tries to evade, but in the end, his upper and lower body are severed apart.

If his body now simply reaches the sealing ground where the Heavenly Venerable of Time stands, he will be rendered powerless and sealed within the boundary of Cakravāda.

'...!'

But in the very next moment, with a single declaration from the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable, I realize that I have failed to incapacitate him.

:: I, designate!:: It is the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable's authority—Life Designation.

Kurururuk— With a grotesque sound, the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable's stomach swells.

The Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable has become pregnant.

At the grotesque and revolting sight, I grit my teeth and swing my sword again at Araya speed.

But the next moment, the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable's stomach bursts, spewing out black liquid and preventing me from slicing him cleanly apart.

"Kuaaaaagh!"

"Aaaaagh!"

What emerges from Sal Tree's stomach is a slightly smaller Sal Tree.

His head is half-split by the sword I unleashed, but each side of the bisected head regenerates into two separate heads.

One head is that of an old man, and the other transforms into a grotesque face covered in Annihilation Flowers. The two heads of the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable scream.

And at the following scream from the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable, we all flinch.

"Enough!! I want to stop!! How long—how long must I keep doing this!? Please, please release [the me of this generation]! Huaaa! Huaaagh! Huaaaaagh!"

The Sal Tree with the human face screams, while the Sal Tree with the flower face ignores him and endlessly emits black liquid from its body.

That black liquid begins to erode the surrounding space and devour everything.

The flower-faced Sal Tree reveals unwavering malice toward us, and the human-shaped Sal Tree, seemingly gone mad, screams incomprehensibly toward the side where my Immortal Treasures are.

"Aah, yes, you were there. You were there all along! Please forgive me! Please kill me! Please end me! Enough, enough, enough, enough, enough, I want to stop! Please choose [the next generation Sal Tree]! I know many good candidates BlackDragonAzurePengGlassPeacockGreatMountainSupremeDeityandmanymore! Please! Just end this!!!"

:: Sal Tree is showing an opening!:::: Surround him!:: Jeon Myeong-hoon and Oh Hyun-seok each strike with a spear and a fist from either side, encircling him.

:: Everyone, receive my strength!:: Through Full Blossom, Kim Yeon infinitely amplifies her [power] and presses down on the Sal Tree from above, and her power links with all of us, charging our strength to the limit.

Ziiing—:: My friend...:::: Die.:: From below, Oh Hye-seo joins forces with the Heavenly Venerable of Time to begin pulling the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable into the sealing ground.

Song Jin and the Immortal Treasures combine strength and block the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable's rear.

"Piece of trash... stay still. It'll be over soon."

Hong Fan glares at the human-faced Sal Tree, pushing him down with the authority of the Swallowing Heaven Supreme Deity.

'Where is Kang Min-hee? No, there's no time to think.'

I search briefly for the suddenly vanished Kang Min-hee, but realizing she is gone, I quickly dash toward the front of the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable and unfold my sword dance.

Chwarararak!

The Impermanence Sword, now turned white, sweeps through the void as if drawing a clean stroke, and cleaves through the body of the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable, who fails to find any path to escape.

Shukwagak!

However...

:: I, designate...:: Once again, from within the belly of the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable, the power of life begins to stir.

'Is this never-ending... this kind of resurrection...!?'

At this rate, in theory, it might even display a cockroach-like vitality that makes even Yuan Li not worth remembering.

And, just then.

Ziiiiiing— Kang Min-hee's voice rings in our ears.

[Listen carefully, you need to strike at Sal Tree's weakness.]:: Weakness...? What are you talking about?:: I haven't just been slashing around for no reason all this time.

I've been attacking the weakness that the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable himself revealed to me.

[If it were the normal Sal Tree, the weakness you know might have worked... but not now. That thing has changed.]:: What...?:: [Being able to create laws...] From within the darkness of the sea of chaos, Kang Min-hee reveals herself.

[Means one can also perceive them...] Within her black pupils, a brilliant blue light is burning.

And if one looks closely at her blue gaze, it resembles a flower blooming against a black backdrop.

That flower looks almost like... a firework.

[You have to target all three dantian at once. And for that... not even the slightest error can be allowed. The moment even the slightest deviation occurs, Sal Tree will continue to resurrect.] Shiver.

At her words, for some reason, an image of [someone with a hole in their three dantians] flashes in my mind.

But at the same time, I understand.

'Kang Min-hee's words... are the truth.'

:: Got it. Then I'll take the upper, middle, and lower dantian...:: —No.

But just then, a powerful heart message flies into me, shaking my consciousness, and I nod as I receive it.

:: Alright. In that case, I leave the middle dantian to you. But in that case...:: I must strike both the upper and lower dantians simultaneously...

Yet, as I read the hearts flowing through this battlefield, I suddenly realize.

Now, as Sal Tree once again tries to escape through Life Designation, there is no more time to waste.

Even without speaking, one must understand a comrade's intentions.

And in that brief moment, as I read the hearts of everyone gathered here, I come to realize.

'I see... I understand.'

I, who intended to cut the upper and lower dantians at once, instead target only the lower abdomen where a new life of the Sal Tree is being conceived.

'I leave the final strike to you!'

In the completely still world of extreme speed.

There, four figures charge toward Sal Tree.

Lapis Lazuli Flower Heavenly King (瑠璃花天王).

The moment she saw the Heavenly King's call, she knew.

'I see. Is it because I forcibly swallowed the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable's Western Heaven Flower Field?'

Kang Min-hee lets out a bitter smile.

She didn't rise to the position of Heavenly King through her own strength.

When she met Seo Ran, for some reason, she thought she didn't want to let go.

Even though she let go of Seo Eun-hyun, she thought she didn't want to let go of that child.

And...

At last, though she couldn't hold on to that child's life, when she managed to protect the child's dream— She awakened the power of the Lapis Lazuli Flower Heavenly King.

And then, she understood.

'So this was Sal Tree's intention all along.'

To progress Seo Eun-hyun's fate, and to complete the fates of the other Enders as much as possible.

That is... the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable who has awakened to the will of the Future King.

No, perhaps the being known as the Future King made their move through the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable.

That is why she became not the Lapis Lazuli Protecting Heavenly King like the previous generation, but the Lapis Lazuli Flower Heavenly King.

Because it was the Owner of the Flower Field, Sal Tree, who awakened her.

'It can't go on like this.'

She clenches her fist.

Tsuaaaaa— As she awakened as the Lapis Lazuli Flower Heavenly King, countless memories from parallel dimensions rushed in.

Moments where she was always only protected.

Moments where she never managed to protect.

Moments where she was helpless, powerless without strength!

'I can't... keep going like this.'

And...

The moments where she destroyed those she loved with her own hands.

As she becomes one with every version of herself from those moments, Kang Min-hee's eyes redden.

'Please watch over me...'

She must transcend.

She must not just carry the name of Heavenly King granted by Fate, but become a being beyond it.

Her head overheats, while her chest grows steadily colder.

And finally, her talent explodes.

Even without the authority of an Ender, she was the fastest to reach the Star Shattering stage in the Black Ghost Valley and comprehend the Underworld's principles to commune with the Underworld. That foremost talent among the Enders glows brightly and guides her into a new domain.

Stripping away the fate and authority of an Ender, she possesses talent equal to the Golden Divine Yang Su-jin. And with a will to squeeze out her very soul, she takes a step forward.

And at last, squeezing out all that talent, her fate, and her heart—she reaches it.

'To comply, but...'

She reaches the method to break free from the fate designated by the Future King, from the title of the Lapis Lazuli Flower Heavenly King!

'To take... one step further.'

Tsuaaaaaa—

"Every time, I've only ever lost... That's the kind of person I am..."

Seo Ran was—to Kang Min-hee, who had never been able to protect anything until now— The fruit of the people she loves that she was able to protect for the first time.

Even if that fruit was not her own, as long as she was able to bring them even a little happiness by being able to protect it, then she is satisfied with that.

'If protecting you meant they could be happy, then maybe I could be content with that. But... you gave me so much more than that. I'm sorry. I was able to protect your dream, but I couldn't protect your life...'

Something settles into Kang Min-hee's hand.

It is a sword.

From a long-past timeline, the heart of someone who once loved Kang Min-hee flows into her.

And following it, the hearts of countless connections from other timelines who once protected her flow into her as well.

Each one is like a flower petal.

Those petals gather and form, in her hand, the Flower Sword (花劍).

'But... from now on, I will protect.'

She has let far too many beings go without being able to protect them with her own hands.

That is why she is sorrowful.

Sorrow is like a wall.

A wall that traps a person somewhere, never letting them escape.

But in this moment, she comes to understand.

'Just as you abandoned life and moved forward, seeking to reach your dream with your own hands. I too... will not end with sorrow alone.'

A wall, when standing in your way, may appear endlessly high...

But once you manage to cross over it, that wall becomes your greatest support.

The same goes for sorrow.

Sorrow is something seemingly impossible to overcome, yet all the sorrow she has felt, endured, and passed through is now ultimately supporting her.

She cannot reach Entering Heavens Beyond the Path.

She is not a martial artist like Seo Eun-hyun or Kim Young-hoon, nor has she stubbornly trained with a spear like Jeon Myeong-hoon.

However...

Though she is no martial artist, she is a genius.

A genius arrives at a different answer through a genius's own method.

The mantra of the Western Heaven Flower Field, which Kang Min-hee has grasped, transforms in her hands.

Mantra (眞言).

"A flower that has fallen once does not bloom again (落花難上枝/Fallen Flowers Cannot Return to Branches)."

Seo Eun-hyun's eyes tremble for a brief moment upon seeing this, and relief surges in the eyes of the human-shaped Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable who comprehends the truth of it.

:: Now... it can end...::

"Only before the flowers fall does one remember the Spring (花落以前春/Spring Before the Flowers Fall)."

Anti-Governing Immortal Technique.

Falling Flower (花落).

A blue flower sword slices through the upper dantian of the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable, A straight fist of White-Winged Heavenly Pegasus pierces through the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable's chest, And a white Impermanence Sword cuts open the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable's stomach.

Seo Eun-hyun wears a complicated smile, White-Winged Heavenly Pegasus sheds tears, and Kang Min-hee closes her eyes.

'I... bring the sorrow to a close.'

Unlike herself as the Lapis Lazuli Flower Heavenly King, designated by the will of the Future King, who dealt with sorrow as a mere force, This answer, found through her own power, begins to embrace sorrow.

The sorrow of Seo Ran, the sorrow of parents, the sorrow of a friend's death, the sorrow of one who lost their teacher, the sorrows of all versions of herself that exist across the timelines.

The sorrow of the Underworld...

Embracing all that sorrow, she accepts the fate bestowed by the God of the Future, yet takes one step further.

Lapis Lazuli Falling Flower Heavenly King (瑠璃花落天王).

Not stopping with just completely devouring the Western Heaven Flower Field with her own talent, alongside her single strike, she evolves herself one step further as a Heavenly King.

The name of her newly risen Heavenly King self echoes nowhere in the world.

Only deep within Kang Min-hee's own heart...

Together with the sorrows she embraces, it evolves quietly.

And finally...

The Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable, at last, smiles and falls into the boundary of Cakravāda.

The remnants of the past manifested by Yeon's Play also smile as they gradually vanish, And the Heavenly Venerable of Time, waiting below, sheds tears as he sees the powerless body of Sal Tree.

:: Farewell, my friend.:: Tsuaaaaaa— The Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable smiles, and as a human, gradually begins to close his eyes.

"Is it finally... the end now? The moment I longed for so desperately..."

He speaks with a faint smile.

"Thank you, all of you... for... liberating... me..."

Pasasasasasa— As he melts into the domain of nothingness, he wears a warm, peaceful smile.

"I... want to... give... a... gift... Hear... this... When I... received the will... of fate... and was... [connected to the causality of the First Immortal Beast King]... I was already fated to become the [Last Zero King]... the [Western Zero King], and the [Final Immortal Beast King]... And as such a being, I drew close to enlightenment... Even if I had not reached the [Butterfly]... by that very declaration... I would have probably... realized the essence..."

"The last... Immortal Beast King...?"

All of us simultaneously gaze at the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable, and as he dissolves into the boundary of Cakravāda, he lets out one last statement.

"Naming Supreme Deity... Hyeon Rang... The Underworld and..."

His gaze passes between us and lingers briefly where the Immortal Treasures stand.

"...'s..."

Perhaps due to the power held by the boundary of Cakravāda, who he is referring to cannot be heard and is nullified into nothingness.

"... never born... miscarried..."

At those words, Oh Hyun-seok's face twitches.

"... child... they... dreamed of... in their imagination... That child... is..."

And having spoken all those words, Sal Tree fully crosses over into the world of complete nothingness.

"... your... enemy..."

With those last words, Sal Tree vanishes completely.

In the place where he once stood, only a single white flower of unknown identity remains.

The Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable is dead.

The Heavenly Venerable Battle has come to an end.