"Azure Cloud Heart Method..."
Wo-woong—
As she cultivates the basic Qi Building method that creates blue clouds around her with each breath, Wol Ryeong feels fascinated.
"Is this a basic Qi Building method...?"
itis fascinating.
She was born as an innate Core Formation.
From childhood, the formulas of the Qi Refining and Qi Building instinctively embedded into her spirit.
She thinks it is truly fascinating that this realm, which she could reach just by breathing, someone else has to gasp for breath from the very beginning to climb up toward.
“How curious..."
Pachijik...
The blue clouds of the Azure Cloud Heart Method form faint lightning.
“After the Azure Cloud Heart Method comes the Lightning Spirit Single Qi Formula.
It is a method that temporarily turns the whole body into a lightning spirit and provides an enormous affinity with thunder and lightning.
“The method itself...is specialized in summoning what is called the spirit of lightning."
In an instant, her talent sees through the essence of the method.
“A tool... This Thunder Resonance Valley itself is a vast tool and altar to summon the power of the God that is worshiped here."
The very thing called Thunder Resonance Valley is no different from a foothold for the power of the Upper Realm to descend into the Vast Cold Realm.
“Do these people know that?"
As she looks toward the other Qi Building and Core Formation disciples who have come to hear the dharma sermon of the Nascent Soul Elder, Divine Power Wondrous Salvation True Lord Heo of Thunder Resonance Valley, she gazes at Thunder Resonance Valley for a long time.
The doctrines of Thunder Resonance Valley, the customs of Thunder Resonance Valley, the very meaning of existence of Thunder Resonance Valley, are thoroughly analyzed by her and become assimilated into her.
Wol Ryeong rapidly absorbs the knowledge and wisdom of Thunder Resonance Valley. [Look at that, their name is Divine Power Wondrous Salvation True Lord Heo.
[What kind of Nascent Soul stage cultivator has the name True Lord, puhaha!]
Mu Geom and Bi Hwa laugh through voice transmission while wanting to scratch the belly of the Nascent Soul Elder giving the sermon up front, and Wol Ryeong, seeing the world through the completely new perspective of the Qi Building stage she is now experiencing, feels many things.
"Gyeong-ah, why do you think those people do what's called effort?"
"Hm? What are you talking about?"
"They must already know themselves... Even if they work that hard, their limit is the Core Formation stage...or perhaps the Nascent Soul stage. To reach beyond that, they would need a truly enormous fortuitous encounter. But why do they go that far, to the point of almost dying...even crawling before Elders who are at most at the Nascent Soul stage to do so?"
She asks about things she does not understand.
As one born as an innate Core Formation, instinctively feeling the power of fate and unconsciously realizing the structure of this world and her own future, she cannot understand beings at or below the Qi Building stage wriggling and struggling.
Wol Ryeong shivers in shock.
Tae Ryeok, who is merely at the Heavenly Being stage, is resisting the attraction force of the Perfection Integration stage Wol Ryeong and is slowly...
Standing up from their place.
"If the heavens have abandoned me...have the taenghwa I have drawn also abandoned me? Has the building called Grand Nirvana Temple where I have lived also abandoned me...1?"
Jjeoeong!
And at last, Tae Ryeok stands up from their place.
And an anomaly occurs.
Uduk, ududududeuk!
Heavenly Being stage cultivators.
Especially those who reached the Grand Perfection Heavenly Being stage begin to rise one by one, resisting Wol Ryeong's attraction force.
"There may be an absolute difference... We may absolutely not be able to defeat you... But! Even so, we will struggle.”
[...Even though you cannot win?]
"Even if we cannot win, we can still wear away a tiny bit of your energy."
[it will be nothing more than a speck of energy.]
“Is not a great mountain...born from just such specks gathering together?"
[..]
"Even if I fall here and die, the things I have done will not abandon me. The ones I hold precious...the Thunder Resonance Valley which I have cherished will care for the ones left behind and pray for me who has died. That alone...is enough."
Kwaaaang!
At those words, a strange rotational force felt around them completely pushes away Wol Ryeong's attraction force.
The Grand Perfection Heavenly Being cultivators, including Tae Ryeok, rise fully to their feet.
Wol Ryeong sees in their dantians a strange formula revolving in cycles.
itis a Heavenly Circle.
“What is that? Is that not...the formula of Acceptance at Fate's End... How in the world did they reach the Grand Perfection Heavenly Being stage with another formula...2 No, more than that, how are Grand Perfection Heavenly Being cultivators emitting this level of attraction force...?'
Wol Ryeong stares at them taken aback, and the Grand Perfection Heavenly Being cultivators, including Tae Ryeok, all simultaneously form a hand seal.
It happens at that moment.
Flash!
Heaven and Earth rumble, and Tae Ryeok and all of the Colorless Faction summon their swords and charge Wol Ryeong in unison.
Heavenly Being stage, Nascent Soul stage, Core Formation stage—it does not matter. Every Colorless Faction cultivator connects with Tae Ryeok, sharing his Heavenly Circle formula, and rushes Wol Ryeong together. At that sight...
Wol Ryeong opens her mouth.
“Beau...tiful."
Why is it so?
To Wol Ryeong, their sight is more beautiful than any rare jewel in this world, more beautiful than any fine elixir or dharma treasure.
And, Wol Ryeong stretches out her hand toward the disciples of the Colorless Faction radiating such beauty.
“With my own hands...I must kill it. This beauty..."
There is no joy in it.
Only deep regret fills her.
And so, at the very moment countless disciples of the Colorless Faction are about to be massacred by her hand—
"I offer it."
[17]
Kururururung!
A thunderous clap of lightning strikes her ears.
Wol Ryeong, along with Mu Geom and Bi Hwa, realizes what has happened and is aghast.
The Four Great Law Protectors of Thunder Resonance Valley, who died in their ambush and went to resurrect through the soul passage, have returned and offered a “sacrifice’. And that sacrifice is none other than...
[You insane cultist bastards...1!]
The lives of the vast majority of the hundreds of Thunder Resonance Valley disciples gathered here.
From the Four Directions, the barrier of the Four Great Law Protectors, tearing out their own hearts and offering them toward the sky, unfolds, and all the fanatics within the area, filled with sincere devotion toward the God of Heavenly Punishment, are simultaneously being [offered].
Kururururung!
Thunderclaps and heavenly lightning sweep the surroundings wildly.
Wol Ryeong widens her eyes.
“They...they are transforming into lightning..?'
Countless disciples of Thunder Resonance Valley all at once begin transforming into lightning and are being transmitted somewhere.
The disciples of Thunder Resonance Valley do not seem surprised by this sudden situation. They only kneel, clasping their hands together in prayer.
[Return to thee.]
[Return to thee.]
[Return to thee...]
All the fanatics, except for the forty-eight Nascent Soul Elders who seem lacking in faith, undergo lightning transformation and are transmitted somewhere.
Sensing an immense threat, Wol Ryeong looks up to the sky.
'Something...is coming..."
"Return to thee..."
"Return to thee..."
Countless beings raise their prayers toward the sky, and at last, when all the disciples of Thunder Resonance Valley are made to return (8) to some existence— Kurururururung!
Flash!
Geuk Gwang and Gyu Ryeon, who are pressing the lightning spirit while fighting against itin the sky, are suddenly flung away.
“Strengthening the lighting spirit? No, this ritual is..."
Wol Ryeong clenches her teeth as cold sweat flows.
“Its a ritual that summons the spirits of lightning all at once...!"
A method that, in exchange for human sacrifice, summons countless spirits at once to hasten the ritual.
"You vile cult bastards!"
"How could you do such a thing!?"
Mu Geom and Bi Hwa shout in rage and confusion at the wicked deeds of the fanatics. Wol Ryeong too does not know what to do, shaken by the ominous intuition pounding against her head.
"...Ryeong-ah, let's move."
"...Wh-What are you saying, Seo Gyeong..2"
Her body trembles.
"Can you not...feel it? Right now...it's not just three more lightning spirits that are about to be summoned. This is..."
Shiver!
She feels a [Gaze] looking at her from beyond the sky.
That [Gaze] is the same as when she, as a child, once received the gaze of the Divine Spirit of Sword Mountain.
“It is a God...the Evil God of Thunder Resonance Valley...is trying to interfere with us... If that being just breathes a little more power into the spirits of lightning that are being summoned...we're...finished...!"
“It's not the end, Ryeong."
"What are you saying, Seo Gyeong! You said it yourself! There is no free will. Everything in this world...is fate. It is already fixed."
Sensing the presence of the Owner of Heavenly Punishment distorting the fate of the heavens and beginning to interfere with the Vast Cold Realm, Wol Ryeong lets out tears as she feels her brain go numb.
"You said it yourself... So then...how can mortal beings resist existences beyond fate..." "..Ryeong-ah."
Then, Seo Gyeong takes her hand.
"..It's okay. Even if the God of Heavenly Punishment descends, the fact that I am by your side does not change. The fact that I am holding your hand does not change."
“om
“Itis said only what the heavens bestow is fate, but in truth, we also carry our own fate." Seo Gyeong brings a hand to his chest and speaks.
“If our being born is fate, and our end is fate...then our struggle is also fate."
"What...2"
"There is no free will. We cannot live as we wish. But...within absolute fate, we can still choose what shape we take...we can choose at least that much."
"..What do you mean by taking shape? Even if you change shape, you can't escape the situation. At best, it might not make even a speck of difference."
"But we can change at least a speck."
"What meaning does that even have!?"
"All change originally begins from such a speck. At the very least...we can announce the beginning of change."
Wol Ryeong looks at Seo Gyeong.
Is it because of his youthful form?
Or is it because of her genius talent?
Or is it because of their master's favoritism?
All this time, she has unconsciously thought of Seo Gyeong as younger than herself.
But in this moment, for some reason, Seo Gyeong looks like an existence older than anyone else.
"Even if nothing changes right away...the single trajectory I swing may become the cornerstone of change. Just as the beginning of Immortal Cultivation starts from the most basic act of creating the field of the heart (73/dantian) through the power of Yin- Yang and Five Elements."
"... was born at the Core Formation stage, so I do not know such things."
"This time you came to understand the perspectives of those of Qi Refining and Qi Building. As you live, you will come to understand such things too. So, Ryeong-ah. Let's ive."
Clench—
As Wol Ryeong unconsciously senses the transcendent divine presence and falls into despair, Seo Gyeong takes her hand and raises her up.
"Let's live, struggling. Then, maybe, we'll be able to know more."
"...What if, no matter what we do, there's no hope, and no matter what we do, there's no chance of living?"
"Then...at the very least, we should try so that we can die in the shape we want."
At those words, Wol Ryeong suddenly becomes curious.
"...Who did you learn such words from?"
At that, Seo Gyeong smiles faintly, summons a radiance sword, and flies toward the corpses of the Four Great Law Protectors who lift their hearts to the sky and form the formation.
And he lets out a single line.
"...From Ryeong."
Wol Ryeong is confused by those words.
Has she ever said such a thing?
She hasn't.
The Ryeong Seo Gyeong speaks of must be another Ryeong.
Suddenly, Wol Ryeong thinks.
She feels unbearably envious.
The existence of another 'Ryeong' who received Seo Gyeong's gaze makes her feel ridiculously jealous.
"..I can do it, too."
That jealousy, and that anger.
Within them, she finally rises to her feet.
She thinks she knows what Seo Gyeong intends to do.
“You're going to smash the foothold for the God's descent, aren't you? Fine. I'l do it" Tsuaaat!
She pushes her talent to the extreme.
She mobilizes all her senses, recalling that moment when she once received the call of the Divine Spirit of Sword Mountain when she severed the connection between her disciple and the God.
'I will sever the connection between the God of Heavenly Punishment and this altar."
She enters into the domain of Void.
The other side of the Plane of Soul.
The Darkness World where everything is empty.
There, she senses innumerable weaves of results.
“This is...the thread of the God of Heavenly Punishment.’
That thread is unimaginably violent, as though endlessly transforming.
It seems impossible that she could sever it.
But she stirs her anger.
Anger at the situation surrounding her.
Anger at Seo Gyeong who admonishes her.
Anger at that other 'Ryeong' who received Seo Gyeong's gaze.
And anger at herself.
Within that anger, she grasps the radiance halberd and draws a circle.
Shikagagagak!
The circle she draws expands toward the four directions, and thus cleaves the bodies of the Four Great Law Protectors positioned in the four directions.
Jieooooooong!
The bodies of the Four Great Law Protectors, who are the foothold for the descent of the existence called the Heavenly Lightning Banner.
The altar, spread out with their bodies as its axes, collapses.
The phenomenon of the whole world being covered in thunder and lightning subsides, and Wol Ryeong gasps for breath.
Mu Geom and Bi Hwa smile brightly.
"Is it defeated!?"
"It's a success!"
And Wol Ryeong too hears their cheers and smiles.
Somehow she feels as though she has taken one step further.
Kururung!
The body of the Lightning Sword High Person, who presses Geuk Gwang and Gyu Eyeon in the sky, falls miserably to the ground.
Though Geuk Gwang and Gyu Ryeon are flung away, she knows.
“We...succeeded...!?'
They have driven out the will of a God!
An achievement that seems impossible, she has accomplished with her own hands! “Junior Sister!!!"
"As expected of Junior Sister! I believed in you!"
Amid the cheers of Mu Geom and Bi Hwa, she controls her exhausted body and smiles. "Seo Gyeong, your words...were not wrong...
She thinks all is thus resolved.
Eujik!
Bi Hwa bursts apart and dies.
"...Huh?"
Kwaaang!
Without even time to regain her senses, Mu Geom is flung away by something and vanishes into some distant domain, and immediately after, Wol Ryeong barely dodges a kick from some being.
Kwaaang!
And that kick tums directly into a slash, grazing her and carving a massive scar into the cavern where the ritual began.
She looks up at the existence before her eyes.
That being wears a red mask and bears the body of a spirit shining with golden lightning. "Lightning Sword...High Person..2"
itis the state of the Lightning Sword High Person when accepting the spirit of lightning. Looking at that faceless strange existence, she realizes the being before her is not simply the Lightning Sword High Person.
"No...you are...who...2"
And then, that existence utters a “voice.
[My"%"*%name"%&%"...]
And Wol Ryeong's ears explode.
The true name of a transcendent...
[JeonmmamMyeongmmmmmn(&% *aHoon.]
..is a wisdom mortals cannot withstand.
At the following voice, she has no choice but to abandon all hope.
[1 am the God of Heavenly Punishment.]