Chapter 74: Eve (7)
It's difficult to open my eyes.
No, it isn't simply that I can't open my eyes.
Just as staring directly at the sun hurts the eyes, facing the excessively abundant flow of intent causes a throbbing pain in my upper dantian.
It's painful not just for my eyes, but also for my vision of intent and demon senses.
'What kind of enlightenment is this..!'
Yet, I endure the pain and manage to gaze directly at Kim Young-hoon.
He is dancing amidst golden waves.
The martial essence of the Severing Vein Saber Method unfurls from the tip of Kim Young-hoon's blade.
From the first to the seventeenth moves of the Severing Vein Saber Method.
A martial art born from Kim Young-hoon's longing to cross mountains and return home.
However, the sixteenth and seventeenth moves of the Severing Vein Saber Method shares the same enlightenment with the twenty-third and twenty-fourth moves of the Severing Mountain Swordsmanship.
The twenty-third move of Severing Mountain Swordsmanship, the sixteenth move of Severing Vein Saber Method, 'Endless Mountains Beyond Mountains.'.
And the twenty-fourth move of Severing Mountain Swordsmanship, the seventeenth move of Severing Vein Saber Method.
'Foolish Old Man Moves Mountains (愚公移山).'
Just as there are endless mountains beyond mountains.
No matter how many hardships and adversities life may bring.
If one is as persistent as the Foolish Old Man, believing in their martial path.
They will surely be able to push aside all mountains in their way.
This is the ultimate secret technique of both the Severing Mountain Swordsmanship and Severing Vein Saber Method, following Endless Mountains Beyond Mountains.
It encapsulates the will of the previous cycles' Kim Young-hoon's life.
However, Kim Young-hoon has never been the Foolish Old Man.
The term 'Foolish Old Man' refers to a foolish and slow-witted person.
An ill-fitting term for a martial genius like him.
Yet, perhaps the previous Kim Young-hoon, having tasted despair in front of cultivators, wanted to say this.
Even a genius cannot advance further without becoming the Foolish Old Man.
And so...
Kim Young-hoon became the Foolish Old Man.
No matter how unreachable the path seems.
Even if Mount Tai stands in his way.
After inheriting and passing down, he finally succeeds in breaking through the mountain.
Whooosh!
Fwoosh!
From Kim Young-hoon's upper dantian, Gang Qi rises, beginning to burn his dantian.
'That is...'
With my eyes, trained in both cultivation and martial arts, I see its flow.
'The secret technique of the Jin Clan!'
The technique previously used on my disciples, inserting the resentful souls of their relatives into their upper dantians to forcibly awaken their talents.
Kim Young-hoon had reinterpreted the Jin Clan's secret technique in terms of martial arts, creating something new.
Instead of using the souls of others, he burns his upper dantian with his own Gang Qi, elevating his martial talent beyond its limits.
"Aaaaah!"
Starting from his upper dantian, Kim Young-hoon's upper body begins to burn with Gang Qi.
Despite the pain, he does not stop this martial technique.
Akin to the last light before sunset, burning the brightest, he is burning himself.
It's painful to even watch.
But I can't miss this scene.
Changes begin to occur in Kim Young-hoon's martial arts.
Woooom-
In the world of intent.
Around the burning Kim Young-hoon stands nine versions of himself.
Nine Gang Spheres start to change, emitting brilliance.
The Gang Spheres begin to dissolve, not into the air, but into Kim Young-hoon's domain of consciousness.
One by one, the nine Gang Spheres merge, and the golden luminosity emanating from Kim Young-hoon grows intense.
Then, suddenly.
Fzzt, fzzt-
Merely watching, the sharpness of the energy starts to slice through my body.
Simultaneously, Kim Young-hoon's domain of consciousness begins to materialize, merging with the Gang Spheres.
Kim Young-hoon's consciousness domain turns into pure golden brilliance.
"I... Have... Reached... It...!!"
Krrrrrrr!
The materialized domain of consciousness momentarily thins out like a line.
"I... Will..."
The golden line merges into Kim Young-hoon's saber.
"Beyond... The Heavens...!!!!!"
Burning with Gang Qi, Kim Young-hoon swings his golden-lit saber towards the sky.
In an instant, his saber surpasses even the rays of light and reaches the heavens.
Flash!
Brilliant light streaks across the sky, splitting the clouds in half as it passes!
'Ah...'
I felt something flowing down my cheek, coming from my eyes.
When I wipe it with my hand, it's red.
Tears of blood, perhaps, shed in the face of such beautiful yet incomprehensible enlightenment.
Fwoosh...
There, Kim Young-hoon, having swung his saber towards the heavens, died standing in that very pose.
Even as he burned with Gang Qi, it was as if he had finally reached his destination, as if he had at last arrived where he wished.
He is smiling.
Plunk, thud...
Whoosh...
Gang Qi escapes from Kim Young-hoon's body, and he disintegrates, swept away by his own energy.
He becomes a cluster of light, flying off to the heavens, to the place he so longed to reach.
"...I will not forget you."
I bow in the direction where Kim Young-hoon had been.
This is a tribute to a grandmaster who had once again transcended the limits of martial arts.
Maybe because I had just witnessed an enlightenment beyond the Ultimate Pinnacle,
Around me, six Gang Spheres emerge and split into seven as they rotate.
Only two more left..
With just two more, I will meet the qualifications to challenge the realm beyond the Ultimate Pinnacle, proven by Kim Young-hoon.
I examine the book of the Entering Heavens Beyond the Path Martial Arts, left behind by Kim Young-hoon.
It seems graspable, yet elusive.
Perhaps when I reach the extremes of the Ultimate Pinnacle, I can grasp it through this book.
'To that place.'
I will surely reach it.
Maybe because of Kim Young-hoon's saber light that had torn the sky, I see people from various cultivator clans approaching from afar.
I use the Earth Surpassing Path to escape underground.
Mulling over Kim Young-hoon's final moments.
My time of death approaches.
And with a smile, I exhale my last breath.
Huuuu...
Yellow, black, red, and white clouds appear and circle around me.
The Earth Surpassing Path, Water Surpassing Path, Fire Surpassing Path, and Metal Surpassing Path.
Before dying, I successfully mastered these four paths.
'But, it seems I will die without mastering the Wood Surpassing Path...'
The method of the wood element.
I had deliberately left the wood element method for last because it reminds me of my master.
I'm not sure if I am good enough 'soil' for a tree to deeply root.
My life is nearing its end.
All seven Gang Spheres had been stabilized after encapsulating the enlightenment.
In my next life, with just 10 years of dedicated practice, I can reach the extremes of the Ultimate Pinnacle.
Seven Gang Spheres.
And the four elemental methods.
All nearly complete, save for one or two of each.
'Have I become good enough soil for a tree to grow now?'
What will the next life hold?
"I know nothing."
I laugh at myself, absorbing the clouds swirling around me.
The sacrifice of Seo Ran.
The disintegration of Kim Young-hoon.
And my own cultivation, all to lay the groundwork for the next journey.
This entire life was nourishment for the next.
'So tranquil...'
I contemplate the swirling clouds of four colors in my dantian.
Like the calm before the storm.
'Yes, this life was just like the calm before the storm...!'
In the next life, I will become the storm that sweeps away everything.
Because...
'I cannot dishonor those who have nourished me in this life!'
Thump, thump...
My life is fading.
Krrrrrrr!
I once again challenge the Qi Building stage.
The four clouds whirl and compress.
Simultaneously, a Spiritual Energy Star, shining in four colors, begins to form at the center.
'How many times have I attempted Qi Building..?'
I lost count.
There had been too many attempts.
Krrrrrrboom!
The Spiritual Energy Star, on the verge of collapsing, is continuously sustained by the four clouds.
But the changes are too much.
Four attributes are not enough.
Uggghhh
Again and again, I knock on the threshold of Qi Building.
But...
Thump!
My heart begins to falter.
'It has begun.'
I send Gang Qi to my heart, forcefully pumping to resist the end of my life.
Thump, thump, thump...
It's painful.
But since it has come to this...
'I'll see it through to the end.'
Knowing he couldn't transcend his limits in the time he had left, Kim Young-hoon burned himself up.
Even a genius set himself ablaze; how could a dullard like me hesitate at the brink of death?
Krrrrrrr!
Energy escapes from my Inner Core.
It then transforms into Gang Qi within my body, starting to burn.
Fwoosh!
Fwoosh!
"Aaaargh!"
Without the Spiritual Energy Star to control the Gang Qi and still in Qi Refining rather than Qi Building,
My body can't withstand the Gang Qi and is entirely consumed by flames.
But simultaneously, the Gang Qi incessantly stimulates my heart, surging up from the Inner Core in my lower dantian, reaching and igniting the upper dantian.
Kim Young-hoon's martial technique.
Being at the Ultimate Pinnacle and the extreme of Qi Refining myself, I am able to observe and replicate that technique.
I burn my upper dantian with Gang Qi, elevating my limited talents to their utmost, and even beyond!
Koong! Koong! Koong!
I knock on the wall of Qi Building time and time again.
Simultaneously, I conjure Gang Spheres around me, focusing my consciousness to grasp the sensation of the eighth Gang Sphere.
A life spent sending others away.
Disciples, masters, friends.
I will not lose them again, using this failure as nourishment.
Kurung! Kururung!
Dark clouds begin to gather in the sky.
I laugh mockingly as I burn within the Gang Qi.
"Has it... arrived..?"
Ironically, I am now finding the ominous dark clouds somewhat familiar.
As if mocking a lowly creature for daring to escape the lifespan dictated by the heavens, the clouds laden with lightning completely cover the sky.
I activated the vision of intent and demon senses, along with the Lightning Predicting Eye I discovered at the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect.
A technique to concentrate on celestial energy and predict the location of lightning strikes.
'Well, it's not much of a technique, just a knack.'
It just focuses the sense of celestial energy gained from the Seven Stars Ritual slightly on the lightning.
Yet, observing the lightning-laden clouds, I still think this technique is pointless.
If someone is skilled enough to predict lightning, they can just block or withstand it.
Conversely, if a weakling can predict but not stop lightning, they won't be able to escape it either.
How can one dodge something that strikes at the speed of light?
Engulfed in Gang Qi, I look up at the sky calmly.
Boom!
Boom!
The Spiritual Energy Star lasts longer than ever before, a result of mastering the four surpassing paths.
This strengthens my hope that mastering all five elements will lead to Qi Building.
And then.
Boom!
The Spiritual Energy Star explodes, failing to endure.
Simultaneously, blue lightning crashes from the sky.
Lightning from the Heavens strikes a Man born of the Earth.
Engulfed in Gang Qi, I am struck by the lightning.
And in that moment of being struck.
With seven rotating Gang Spheres around me.
At the moment of death, when the energy of the Heavens descend to the Earth, I seem to understand the principle of Gang Spheres.
'One divides into Heaven (天), Earth (地), and Man (人). Just as a person isn't formed alone... perhaps the heavens, earth, and humans aren't formed alone either.'
Heaven, Earth, and Man.
Each is influenced by the others' aspects.
Then, perhaps the Heavens are influenced by the Earth, Man, and themselves, containing another cycle of Heaven, Earth, and Man. Similarly, the Earth is influenced by the Heavens, Man, and itself, containing another cycle within.
Humans, too, might have a cycle of Heaven, Earth, and Man within them.
'Ah, Kim Young-hoon attained the enlightenment of Gang Spheres through the principle of endless circulation.'
Humans are influenced by those who gave birth to them, those they live with, and those they give birth to, endlessly circulating within.
Perhaps the principles of the world also circulate, influencing each other.
Burning within the blue lightning, I attain enlightenment in that fleeting moment.
'The heavens punishing humans who surpass their lifespan is, in the end, to minimize the influence that man has on the heavens...'
Just as Kim Young-hoon influences me.
Just as Seo Ran influences me.
Just as I influenced them.
We all influence each other.
A cycle within Heaven, Earth, and Man.
The Three Talents divide again into another set of Three Talents.
The number of Gang Spheres increases.
Seven, eight... and then nine!
In that enlightenment.
Even as I turn to ash within the blue lightning, I see the seven Gang Spheres increase to nine and close my eyes.
That was my ninth return.