Chapter 133: 12th Cycle's First Day

Zing!

I woke up with a slight headache.

Apparently, the shock of blowing up my head was great.

'And that too…'

I realize this is the first time I had directly committed suicide.

'Better to choose death than suffer a fate worse than death…'

Feelings of sadness, anger, regret, and guilt for having wasted a life wash over me.

In addition,

'I shouldn't approach the Mad Lord carelessly…'

The thought sends shivers down my spine.

Just what is that old monster….

I shake my head, dispelling these thoughts.

More importantly.

Jolt!

Once again, I begin to feel a tearing pain around my abdomen.

Pain like being gutted with a knife!

But I smile.

'Once again…'

It has been transmitted.

The effects of the White-Red Wine worked!

And if the connection to my soul has also been transmitted…!

It's when I focus my consciousness.

Zing!

The headache, which has been present earlier, intensifies as I concentrate.

'What's this?'

It hurts!

It's like my soul is being engorged with a knife!

'Is it not just the lingering pain of blowing up my head with the Formless Sword?'

The headache continues, boring into my mind as I focus on it.

Something is off.

'The size of my consciousness isn't the issue.'

The Five Elements Blood Curse Banner is still in place, sealing my consciousness.

It isn't the same headache I had before my head exploded.

This pain is like….

'Like when flesh is torn away… Yes.'

I finally realize what is wrong.

'My soul has been torn away!'

Not much, but torn nonetheless.

Like a slight peeling of skin on the body.

But definitely a sensation of being 'torn', and the area of the soul that was torn is clear.

'It's exactly where the ghost connected with my soul!'

Indeed.

The ghost was torn away along with the part of my soul it was connected to and disappeared.

Which means.

'Dharma treasures can return with me, but… if a sentient being tries to travel through time with me, it gets torn away?'

From the looks of the wound on my soul, rather than being deliberately ripped or cut by someone, it seems as if it had been caught on something rough and torn away while trying to pass through.

'Inanimate objects connected to me are somewhat allowed, but sentient beings are a problem.'

I smile bitterly.

If it had been revealed that the ghost had also returned, perhaps the souls of my companions, and even Hyang-hwa's soul, might be….

'No, it's fine.'

I erase my random thoughts.

'After all, each life is unique, so I should cherish it all the more.'

Yes, that's all I need to do.

Just when I'm organizing my thoughts,

Wo-woong!

"Hmm!"

I slightly tilt my head, dodging the hand aimed at my cheek.

"Y-you dodged it?"

Thinking about it, I forgot that I usually put my colleagues to sleep with a sleep spell, being preoccupied with verifying the experiment of the dharma treasure and the ghost.

"This bastard! Do you even realize what you just did!"

"Ah ha…."

Somehow, it's a very welcome voice.

This voice, hasn't it been quite a long time since I last heard it?

He seems to be fussily bouncing around and saying something to me, but I just smirk and pat him on the shoulder.

"Getting too angry isn't good for your mental health. Calm down."

"What, what?"

Listening to this guy, who's in his early thirties, swear after being chased by madmen over 900 years old like Yuan Li or over 1600 years old like the Mad Lord, somehow….

'It's quite cute.'

It feels like a three-year-old toddling in front of me.

Honestly, even if I had been slapped just now, I wouldn't have felt too bad.

What else does this guy know to do besides hitting me on the cheek and cursing cutely?

He's not going to catch and turn me into a puppet, nor suddenly massacre people around him to consume them.

"Seo Eun-hyun you ^%$&$%$^…."

"Alright, alright, take a deep breath."

I pat the guy's shoulder as he tries to punch me frantically and eventually collapses from exhaustion without landing a single blow.

Kim Young-hoon, Chief Oh, Deputy Kang Min-hee, Deputy Oh Hye-seo, and Team Leader Kim Yeon look at me with worried eyes.

Leaving behind the panting Jeon Myeong-hoon, I look at my colleagues for the first time in a while.

'It's been a really long time since I've seen them.'

They're still chattering about finding the SUV or figuring out where we are, unaware that this world is different.

Suddenly, I feel an unusual sensation looking at them.

Then, for the first time in a long time, I speak to them.

"...I'll go climb that tree and check if there's a road or our car nearby."

"Hmm? Deputy Seo, can you climb the tree?"

"Yes, just wait a moment."

Tadat!

With my hands behind my back, I climb the tree using only my legs, finely controlling my vital force (Qi) and muscle movements to the extreme without relying on internal energy.

Then, I quickly climb to the top of the tree, observe the landscape in the direction of the Ascension Gate, and come down to them.

"There's nothing around."

"...No, how did you just do that?"

Chief Oh look at me with a stunned expression.

After all, I had just casually climbed up and down a tree several meters high with my hands clasped behind my back.

I vaguely answer.

"Well, I don't know. Ever since I opened my eyes here, I've just felt somehow lighter."

"...Huh…."

Once again, my colleagues split into two groups.

Deputy Oh Hye-seo and Team Leader Kim Yeon go to the cave with me, while Deputy Kang Min-hee, Section Chief Jeon Myeong-hoon, Kim Young-hoon, and Chief Oh Hyun-seok go out to find the SUV.

"Oh, a cave."

"That's right."

They settle in the cave, observing inside.

I gather branches with them to make a windbreak and a bonfire.

This time, I don't need Kim Young-hoon's lighter.

Whoom!

Chiik!

When I rub a suitable branch against the surface of a slightly dry tree, fire ignites on the tree's surface.

It's a martial arts technique of momentarily tightening muscles to create extreme acceleration.

I transfer the fire to the kindling and then swing the branch again to extinguish the fire on the tree surface.

"...H-how did you do that?"

Deputy Oh Hye-seo asks me with wide eyes.

Again, I vaguely reply.

"It just worked."

Later, I gather fruits from nearby trees and roast them with the two, waiting for the other colleagues.

As evening comes, the other colleagues return, and I share the fruits with them.

Jeon Myeong-hoon initially refused to eat what I offered, but after I persistently persuaded him, he ate the fruit while cursing.

We chat late into the night.

'It's been… a very long time.'

It's been almost 400 years since I last had such a relaxed conversation with them.

In my past lives, I was entangled in hunting the fox and private meetings with the Mad Lord right from the start, so I couldn't properly converse with these people.

The lives before that were almost 400 to 500 years ago, so I felt a very new sensation now.

Of course….

"Deputy Seo, is your smartphone still not getting a signal? No data either, really… where are we?"

"…"

'Data... what was that again?'

I vaguely remember smartphones. They seemed to be something like a transmission device.

But details like data are a bit hazy in my memory.

It's something I used 900 years ago, and I haven't heard of it in a few hundred years, so it's a bit confusing.

'Hmm… I'll have to ask Kim Young-hoon about modern artifacts or memories from the company later.'

As my consciousness expands, my memory improves, but still, it's been 900 years.

It's been a long time since I met my modern colleagues, so some things have become faint.

"Deputy Seo? The GPS is dead too, and the air is suspiciously clean. Are we really in Korea?"

"…That's what I'm saying."

I find it hard to understand their conversation and difficult to join in.

But still, it feels good to chat with my colleagues after such a long time.

Whooosh

As all my colleagues fall asleep, I head outside to where a yellow bamboo root is.

I missed the time to eat the yellow bamboo root before because I didn't put my colleagues to sleep right away.

Crunch, crunch….

I ate the ginseng and underwent complete transformation.

As my consciousness domain properly settles, it completely fills the surroundings without needing to be sealed with the Five Elements Blood Curse Banner.

The consciousness domain of a Core Formation.

It's as vast as the fox demon's.

"Phew…."

I feel the internal energy flowing in my dantian and then get up from my spot.

I don't bother to form an Inner Core.

An Inner Core can be formed anytime, and more importantly….

Wo-woong Wo-woong Wo-woong!

I float a Gang Sphere into the air.

The Gang Sphere begins to split.

'With an Inner Core, creating and splitting a Gang Sphere becomes much easier, which is why I used to bother forming one….'

My body is already skilled in using Gang Spheres for over 500 years.

Now, even without an Inner Core, it's possible to create and split a Gang Sphere.

Wo-woong Wo-woong Wo-woong!

Nine Gang Spheres line up in the air.

Swooosh!

The nine Gang Spheres melt and combine with my domain of consciousness to form the Formless Sword.

I grab the Formless Sword and concentrate my mind.

'Even though I didn't become one with the Formless Sword after creating the Inner Core…'

The true value of Treading Heaven Beyond the Path is to fully draw out the 'real power' of Entering Heavens Beyond the Path.

In other words, if I had handled it before….

Wo-woong Wo-woong Wo-woong!

'It's possible to handle it now.'

Piiiiiiiitt!

The Formless Sword transforms.

More transparent and ethereal.

There's no visible difference, but…

Swoosh!

When I swing the Formless Sword, the surface of a nearby tree remains intact, but the inside is cut cleanly.

'Indeed, I can reproduce the realm of Treading Heaven Beyond the Path to some extent.'

Of course, implementing Treading Heaven Beyond the Path with just the Formless Sword without an Inner Core is much more mentally draining and troublesome.

But anyhow, it's feasible.

It's when I'm contemplating the realm of Treading Heaven Beyond the Path.

Boom!

A familiar creature appears.

It's the fox.

[How dare you... when the master of the forest is perfectly healthy….]

It seems to have woken up and come here after sensing my consciousness domain, which has reached Core Formation.

Without waiting for it to speak, I immediately swing the Formless Sword.

Swoosh!

[...!]

My Formless Sword permeates through the fox's skin and flesh and reaches where its Demon Core resides.

Then, it spreads in all directions, touching the major organs of the fox.

At this moment, if I want to, I can extract its Demon Core and organs, leaving only the skin intact.

'If I quietly extract the Demon Core, even the Mad Lord won't notice.'

The eyes of the fox are filled with fear.

Shiver…

I calmly watch it tremble for a while.

And then, shortly after.

Swooosh….

I withdraw the Formless Sword from its body.

[….]

The fox, realizing the overwhelming difference between us, shuts its mouth stares at me with trembling eyes.

"I'll spare your life."

[Th-thank you very m-]

"Hand over your Demon Core."

[...!]

I felt a sudden impulse to help this demon fox a little.

[Th-that…]

"Do you prefer handing over a split Demon Core, or prefer handing over a perfectly fine Demon Core"

[Uh, uhhh…]

As I pressure the fox with the Formless Sword, it groans and eventually spits out a pure white orb from its mouth.

Wo-woong Wo-woong

As I catch the white orb, the fox's body gradually shrinks.

Eventually, it turns back into a normal fox with only three tails.

"Ack, Ack Ackk…"

In a state of lost intelligence, the fox looks at me in a daze. Upon seeing its Demon Core in my hand, it shows a covetous look.

Wo-woong!

I catch the back of the fox's neck with my Formless Sword and drag it in front of me. The fox yelps and cries out in fear.

"Be quiet. Stay by my side for a few days."

After smacking the fox's head,

I bring it with me into the cave.

The next day.

My company colleagues, especially the female staff, are astonished to see the three-tailed fox that appeared in the cave.

"What, what is this?"

"A mutation?"

"More importantly… it's cute?"

Kim Young-hoon and Chief Oh Hyun-seok's eyes widen at the sight of the three-tailed fox, and even Jeon Myeong-hoon's eyes bulge.

"What is this! It's a monster!"

They gather and talk about the fox.

Then.

Ssssssss….

A two-headed red snake appears again.

'It's also been a while since I've seen this guy.'

[Hu..Man..sss…]

"Ugh, ah…!"

[A… peculiar scent… is coming off you…]

Slither…

[Your blood…]

Then, the snake looks into my eyes as it is speaking.

Sssssss―

As I reveal my domain of consciousness and emit killing intent, the snake shuts its mouth.

[…Well, um. If you go that way, there's a tree with delicious fruits. You will enjoy the view of the ridge.]

The snake glances at me and then quickly turns and flees. The company colleagues are shocked to see the talking two-headed snake.

They fearfully discuss that this place is not a normal world.

I watch them for a while, waiting for the Heavenly Beings to arrive in a few days.

A few days later.

Rumble, rumble!

Familiar faces arrive.

Grand Elder Heo Gwak of Black Ghost Valley, Sect Master Jin Byuk-ho of Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect, and founder of Azure Heaven Creation Sect Azure Tiger Saint Cheongmun Sunwoo.

The three Heavenly Beings descend from the sky and select their disciples.

This time, since I haven't formed an Inner Core and am suppressing my Core Formation level consciousness with the Five Elements Blood Curse Banner and Hidden Consciousness Technique, I am of no interest to them.

After Jin Byuk-ho roughly tests the qualities, everyone loses interest at the mention of Five Elements Spiritual Roots.

'Had they inspected more closely, they might have discovered the Five Elements Blood Curse Banner….'

Once they confirmed the presence of Five Elements Spiritual Roots, they seemed to lose interest altogether.

The one who showed some interest was Azure Tiger Saint.

[You have a Core Formation demon beast's Demon Core.]

"That's right."

[Hm, perhaps…]

Azure Tiger Saint speaks to me.

[Could you deliver that Demon Core to the Cheongmun Clan in Byeokra? It might be helpful to my descendants.]

"…."

Wo-woong!

Azure Tiger Saint stamps a recommendation for the Cheongmun Clan on the back of my hand.

[If you deliver it, use this recommendation to become an external member of the Cheongmun Clan. How about it?]

[Tsk, why are you trying to persuade him? He's just a mere Qi Refining kid. If it were me, I would have just snatched it.]

Jin Byuk-ho grunts as he looks at Azure Tiger Saint who is trying to persuade me, and then tosses Jeon Myeong-hoon into his own storage artifact.

Azure Tiger Saint clicks his tongue.

[Why snatch something from a young junior? Besides, for us, having that Demon Core is just a bonus.]

[Hmph. We're leaving first.]

Black Ghost Valley and Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect leaves before Azure Tiger Saint, who then pats my shoulder.

[Follow us. Other Heavenly Beings will come too, so if you want to leave Ascension Path, you can ask them. I can't tamper with space right now as I'm raising the power of the Blue Sky Armor.

Still, it's an auspicious time as it's the period for ascension. If you ask, the other Heavenly Being cultivators will surely listen.]

After saying this, he flies off, following Jin Byuk-ho and Heo Gwak.

"…."

I watch Azure Tiger Saint fly away.

The next day.

Kurung Kururung…

Seo Hweol appears.

Muttering whatever to himself, Seo Hweol again flies away, holding Deputy Oh in his arms.

This time, I chose not to speak to him or even look at him.

'I'm sorry, Deputy Oh Hye-seo.'

It's already determined.

There's an attraction of fate, and every time I try to defy it, it only hastens the outcome.

In this life, I have no intention of trying hard to pass my colleagues onto better Heavenly Beings.

'After all, with my current power, I can't change anything.'

Taking action unnecessarily might only bring more confusing results without changing anything.

'I'm sorry, everyone.'

I watch, pained, as Deputy Oh Hye-seo also leaves us, leaving Kim Yeon and Kim Young-hoon distraught.

Then, in the evening.

Kim Yeon awakens her consciousness, and the Mad Lord appears.

Shiver.

Seeing the familiar face of the Mad Lord sends a chill through my body, but I manage not to show it and carefully hide my intent and heart essence.

The Mad Lord declares he will take Kim Yeon as his disciple and then lifts me and Kim Young-hoon, throwing us into a spatial rift.

Using sword control, I also pull the yelping fox, grab it by the neck, and fall through the spatial rift into the void.

Beyond the spatial rift, as Kim Young-hoon and I are about to disappear, she desperately reaches out to us.

'Ah…'

Seeing the color of Kim Yeon's intent,

I finally understand what Kim Young-hoon was talking about in Cheon-saek City.

"…!"

Gasp, gasp!

I open my eyes beyond the void, suddenly feeling breathless.

This place, this place...!

Formless Sword!

Boom!

Kuaaang!

"Cough!"

I gasp for air.

"Mad Lord, this lunatic…!"

I gasp for air, looking at where I emerged.

I appeared 'underground.'

[Randomly teleporting... Does that include 'underground'...!?]

It's fortunate that I have the Formless Sword in this situation.

'…Wait.'

I hurriedly expand my consciousness domain to find Kim Young-hoon.

Kim Young-hoon and the fox are also trapped underground.

I dig through the ground with the Formless Sword, rescuing them both and looking around.

"Hmm…"

Familiar characters and language.

This place is….

"A person just popped out from the earth…"

"What's that?"

"He's wearing strange clothes…"

It's the bustling area of Yanguo.

I approach one of the people surrounding me and ask.

"Is this Yanguo's... Ah, nevermind."

I recall from my memory where this place is.

Yanguo's Lianshan City.

The city where I first landed in my very first life.

"It's also been a long time since I've been here."

Carrying the unconscious Kim Young-hoon and the fox, I quickly move away from people's sight using my movement technique.

Then, I swiftly clear nearby bandit groups and collect money.

In a flash, I arrange an identity badge and a residence for Kim Young-hoon.

While Kim Young-hoon is still asleep, I quickly proceed with the tasks.

I hire a caretaker and a scholar to teach him additional language, writing, and culture.

And then, I leave in Kim Young-hoon's mind all the essential martial art techniques.

In addition, the martial principles to reach Five Energies Converging to the Origin, Ultimate Pinnacle, Path Beyond the Heavens, and Treading Heaven Beyond the Path.

Then, I throw the Demon Core I have been keeping to the fox.

Gulp!

The fox swallows the Demon Core and again reveals its gigantic form inside the residence.

It looks at me, its eyes trembling.

"If you had stayed in Ascension Path during the opening of the Ascension Gate, your Demon Core would have been extracted."

[Th-thank you, senior.]

"I have a request."

[Yes, please give me your command….]

"Protect this human in exchange for sparing you."

I point at Kim Young-hoon.

The fox immediately lays flat and nods its head like mad.

[Yes, yes….]

"I'll return someday, so don't indulge in cannibalism."

[I understand. I will remember.]

"Good."

After a moment's glance at Kim Young-hoon,

I set off to complete the remaining tasks in this life.

I confirmed what I need to do.

Now reaching a realm comparable to Nascent Soul and having achieved Treading Heaven Beyond the Path.

What's left is...

'Finish my tasks and return to Ascension Path.'

Since the days I practiced martial arts and dreamed of becoming a cultivator.

A goal set a long time ago.

'Now that I possess at least the minimum force, it's time….'

I gaze up at the sky.

'I'm going to investigate the Ascension Gate.'

It's something that has to be done at some point.

I could get caught in a spatial storm and possibly die.

But even so.

It's a goal I have planned since a very long time ago.

Now it's time to investigate it at least once.

'I'm sorry, everyone.'

I couldn't protect any of my colleagues.

So, in this life, I will dedicate myself to finding a way back home.

I quickly soar through the void.