Chapter 87: Deathbed (5)
It begins.
Thump!
Kim Young-hoon grits his teeth, his eyes wide open.
Shortly after.
Thump, thump!
Gang Qi surges from Kim Young-hoon's Inner Core, stimulating his heart.
The direct stimulation to the heart is so intense that Kim Young-hoon clenches his teeth to endure the pain.
"Ha, haha.. It's thrilling."
After stimulating his heart for a while, Kim Young-hoon forces a laugh and says,
"Eun-hyun, you're really amazing. How did you endure this? Hahaha..!"
I can't speak and just watch him silently.
However, while continuously stimulating his heart, Kim Young-hoon did not just surrender to the pain.
I look into his eyes.
His eyes are connected to some kind of ecstasy.
'Those eyes...'
And that flow of intent.
I recognize that expression.
He would fall into that state of ecstasy whenever we spar.
He is creating a new martial art.
Thump, thump, thump...
Changes begin to occur in Kim Young-hoon's Inner Core and internal energy.
From the Inner Core in his lower dantian to the heart in his middle dantian, the internal energy forms a connection.
Thump, thump, thump!
As stimulated by the Gang Qi, his unstable heartbeat begins to stabilize.
I smile wryly at this sight.
'A talent that can even overcome his own lifespan...?'
The flow of internal energy from the Inner Core fully connects to the heart.
The heart pumps blood, and the Inner Core sends Gang Qi to stimulate it.
Thump, thump!
Kim Young-hoon's life and martial arts seem to become one.
Two hearts appear within him.
The heart that circulates blood.
The Inner Core that circulates Gang Qi.
Thump, thump, thump...
After a while, Kim Young-hoon's heartbeat completely stabilizes.
'Incredible...'
Kim Young-hoon opens his eyes and smiles laboriously.
"Since I kept my heart beating even unconsciously, I don't have to worry about heart attacks now. But it still hurts."
After all, it's about forcing the heart to beat every moment with Gang Qi.
It has to be painful.
Whooosh!
Kim Young-hoon starts focusing again with a pain-filled face.
A new martial art is being created once more.
Whooosh...
He inhales and exhales deeply.
Breathing deeply, he spreads the pain flowing in his consciousness throughout his body, then disperses it from his entire body back to his consciousness.
He is regulating the pain with his breathing.
"If I stop breathing, the pain will start again, but as long as I keep breathing like this, the pain will be significantly alleviated. Haha, how about that!"
After easily tearing through his limits with a new martial art, he grins at me.
But I can't easily smile.
'He's drenched in sweat.'
Kim Young-hoon's entire body is soaked as if it had rained.
At the same time, his face rapidly becomes drained with exhaustion.
This brief moment seemed short from the outside, but during that time, Kim Young-hoon had squeezed out all his willpower in extreme pain.
To survive!
Despite the immense mental pressure, Kim Young-hoon is grinning and joking like that.
"Kim Hyung.."
"What are you staring at?"
Kim Young-hoon steadies his breathing and gets up.
"You always have that look in your eyes. Direct that gaze at yourself. I will definitely..."
Kim Young-hoon closes his eyes and places his hand on the scabbard.
He concentrates his consciousness.
"I will create time to push myself beyond my own fate..!"
Woooom!
Kim Young-hoon laughs, and his consciousness begins to glow golden.
Rumble rumble rumble!
Kim Young-hoon's entire body seems to burn in a golden blaze.
Golden rays gather towards his blade.
Just like before, Kim Young-hoon's internal energy forms blood vessels and meridians, linking with his life force.
The Surpassing Radiant Saber begins to transform into another Inner Core.
Kim Young-hoon's internal Inner Core is connected to his heart.
Kim Young-hoon's external Inner Core is connected to his Surpassing Radiant Saber.
At this moment, martial arts physically become his life.
With the concentration of a lifetime, Kim Young-hoon grips the saber as if to crush it.
Overcoming heart attacks and pain with his talent.
Now, what remains is the heavenly punishment from above.
Heavenly Lightning.
Rumble rumble rumble...
As Kim Young-hoon's lifespan comes to an end, and time passes, dark clouds begin to form in the sky.
If my lifespan originally ended at night, and the dark clouds gathered at dawn,
Then Kim Young-hoon's lifespan originally ends during the day, and now dark clouds begin to form as the night sky envelopes the earth.
Rumble, rumble...
Inside the dark clouds, blue lightning flickers.
Here it comes.
Kim Young-hoon's heart resonates.
Simultaneously, a blue flash of lightning struck down from the sky towards Kim Young-hoon.
Boom!
At the same moment,
Kim Young-hoon, with all his focus, swings the saber he was holding.
It isn't a special ultimate move or a secret technique.
Just an upward slash with the Surpassing Radiant Saber.
A simple upward slash that Kim Young-hoon has always practiced.
'Truly, the 'Radiant' is brilliant...'
But, its speed.
The speed he has prepared up until now.
It's so terrifyingly fast that even I almost miss it in the instant.
When I cut the Heavenly Lightning, I used the Lightning Predicting Eye to foresee the position of the lightning and swung my Formless Sword accordingly.
But Kim Young-hoon, he simply swings his saber with sheer speed, aligning his blade with the lightning.
Golden light engulfs the blue lightning, rising to the sky, tearing apart the dark clouds!
"Ah..."
Kim Young-hoon laughs cheerfully.
Between the parted dark clouds, countless stars shine down.
Kim Young-hoon, bathed in the light of the starry sky, sheds tears.
Though his Surpassing Radiant Saber has melted away in the incredible clash, losing even its form,
He keeps holding onto the hilt, still smiling.
"Look, I surpassed it!"
At that moment!
I feel something warm surging in my chest.
I, too, smile at him.
"As expected, you are indeed Hyung-nim."
If a friend lives tomorrow together,
300 years won't feel lonely.
The next day arrived.
I look at Kim Young-hoon.
His hair has turned white. Wrinkles has formed all over his face.
"...Kim... Hyung...?"
"Umm..."
Kim Young-hoon looks at himself reflected on the water droplets of a water spell I have set up.
"This, this is..."
"..."
After reaching the Five Energies Converging to the Origin and undergoing a complete transformation, aging almost stops.
The body is always full of vitality and life force.
That's why I forgot.
The inevitable fate of life.
Aging (老化).
Our time hasn't stopped.
We just live as vibrant as possible within the time the heavens allow us.
Now that the heavens no longer permit,
Life itself seems to be rapidly draining away.
I look at Kim Young-hoon with a stunned expression, and he looks at his own face for a while.
After observing himself calmly, Kim Young-hoon chuckles.
"It's okay. Honestly, I never had much expectation for this aspect..."
He smiles faintly with his wrinkled face.
"Rather, I'm happy now. Cutting the heavenly lightning, it feels like I've grasped a new realm. A new possibility in martial arts has opened up, how can I only despair!"
Kim Young-hoon holds his saber and speaks.
"Even if I age and die tomorrow. Even if I fade away from this world without ever seeing my family again. I'll do what I can in the present. I'll leave a mark in the history of martial arts before I go!"
After saying this, Kim Young-hoon continues his training.
Wrapped in a golden aura, he creates new martial arts every day, establishes existing ones, achieves enlightenment, and summarizes his insights.
About seven weeks pass.
Kim Young-hoon's face grows more and more aged each day.
His hair turns completely white, and more wrinkles appear on his face.
Although his body, always filled with muscles from martial arts training, does not shrink, it's evident that his vitality is weakening.
But Kim Young-hoon never lets go of his saber.
He continues practicing martial arts, rushing towards death.
And then, one day of the seventh week.
He says to me.
"Eun-hyun. The place where we first fell into this world."
"Yes. It's called Ascension Path."
"Ascension Path ... Can we go there?"
"Ascension Path ...Do you mean...?"
Kim Young-hoon nods.
"I know there's a thing called the Ascension Gate there. Maybe our fall into this world was somehow related to it.
After all, if I can't return to my family and have to rush towards my death, I'd like to see the Ascension Gate before I die."
"Kim Hyung..."
I can't continue my words.
But eventually, I have to spill the bitter truth.
"The Ascension Gate opens only once every 1000 years. The one we likely came through... closed about 70 years ago, the day after we fell into Yanguo."
"I see..."
Kim Young-hoon ponders for a moment, then nods.
"Then that's okay. If we can't go back to where we first arrived, being near as I meet my end is not bad either. Can we go to Ascension Path ?"
"From what I know."
I explain what I know about Ascension Path to him.
"Ascension Path is easy to exit for those within, but for outsiders to enter, they either need to be a Nascent Soul cultivator capable of breaking its barrier, or they must be caught in a spatial rift and accidentally fall into Ascension Path."
"Hmm, where is this barrier around Ascension Path?"
I explain that it's in the center of the Heaven-Treading Desert, hidden above the sky, and the barrier surrounding Ascension Path is located there.
"Hmm..."
After pondering for a moment, Kim Young-hoon smiles and says,
"Then that's fine. Even if we can't enter, it's not bad to meet my end near it."
"Understood."
Is this how one by one, everyone departs?
I board the Nether Crossing Ship to fulfill Kim Young-hoon's wish.
The Nether Crossing Ship, unused for the past 17 years, rises again.
Sailing with the sound of the wind, the massive black ship ascends into the sky.
"Let's go."
Kim Young-hoon uses his lightness technique to leap onto the Nether Crossing Ship, and I take the helm, setting off on Kim Young-hoon's final journey.
"Setting sail!"
Rumble!
The black ship shoots towards the Heaven-Treading Desert faster than any flying device.
We arrive at the Heaven-Treading Desert in less than half a day.
I maneuver the Nether Crossing Ship to precisely the location beneath Ascension Path.
Rumble!
The Nether Crossing Ship settles in the middle of the sandy desert.
"Hmm, is Ascension Path up there?"
"Yes."
Nothing can be seen from immediately below.
Only the bright and clear sky of the desert is visible.
But I know there's a huge illusionary barrier above.
"Shall we go up and check?"
Kim Young-hoon uses his lightness technique to ascend into the sky, and I follow suit.
After stepping through the air for a while, I feel the presence of an invisible massive wall above.
"This must be it. Let's try..."
Whoosh!
Kim Young-hoon swings his Surpassing Radiant Saber.
Flash!
Golden light blazes, striking the void.
Boom!
However, the invisible barrier resists the Surpassing Radiant Saber.
I also swing my Formless Sword, but the barrier remains intact.
"Ha, I see. Understood."
After confirming the barrier, Kim Young-hoon returns to the Nether Crossing Ship.
"So that's Ascension Path above... the place we first fell into."
He looks up at the sky, smiles faintly, and then laughs clearly.
"We probably came through there. Thank you, Eun-hyun. At least I can die close to my homeland."
His hair has turned completely white, and his face is full of wrinkles, but his smile still shows the Kim Young-hoon I know.
From that day, Kim Young-hoon resumed his devotion to martial arts.
He remained unchanged.
As days passed, Kim Young-hoon visibly aged rapidly.
The light in his eyes dimmed, and his hair started falling out.
But Kim Young-hoon's pursuit of martial arts did not change at all.
Even though he had aged, what he had achieved in his lifetime remained unbothered..
In fact, his martial arts seemed to reach higher realms even as he neared death.
Kim Young-hoon's martial arts, facing imminent death, started to incorporate increasingly elusive flows.
'What is this?'
Has he surpassed Entering Heavens Beyond the Path and now, after 27 years, reached yet another new realm?
'No, that can't be.'
How many centuries had he spent trying to reach beyond the Ultimate Pinnacle?
To break through to a new realm again?
Even for Kim Young-hoon, that seems too difficult.
I stay by Kim Young-hoon's side, preparing for his end while observing his martial arts.
And on the 48th day after he cut the heavenly lightning
I surmise that Kim Young-hoon will die tomorrow.
Shiver, shiver...
He has completely become an old man.
His saber-holding hand trembles.
The trembling stops when he performs martial arts, but otherwise, he is just an ordinary old man.
'He won't be able to last 49 days...and will leave me.'
The shadow of death over Kim Young-hoon's body has grown so large it's evident even without seeing.
'Hyung-nim.'
You will pass away by tomorrow.
You will not be able to live longer.
However, why then…
Are you smiling?
He is smiling.
Kim Young-hoon, holding his saber and practicing martial arts, is smiling.
Swoosh, swoosh!
When he swings his saber, which normally would produce a whooshing sound, it's now silent.
Every time Kim Young-hoon naturally swings his saber, the blade perfectly splits the air, making no sound at all.
Kim Young-hoon's martial arts are reaching an unprecedented peak.
"Will you leave tomorrow…"
I ask, looking at him, whose appearance of death has reached the extreme.
Kim Young-hoon, seemingly deaf now, just holds his saber, consolidating all the martial arts he has learned.
"I will engrave your passing in my heart."
I prepare myself for Kim Young-hoon's 49th day, his last day.
The final night is unusually starlit.
I stand on the deck all night, watching Kim Young-hoon muttering insights of countless martial arts with his eyes closed.
"I'll prepare rice porridge for you to eat tomorrow morning."
I go down to get the rice I had brought on to the Nether Crossing Ship when we came to the Heaven-Treading Desert.
After reaching the Qi Building stage, I only need to eat a little every few months, but Kim Young-hoon, even with an Inner Core, has to eat at least every few days.
Now that all his teeth have fallen out and he can't chew, he can only eat porridge or gruel.
On his last day, he should at least have a good meal.
As I scoop the rice and come up on deck,
"By the way, Hyung-nim. You won't sleep tonight either..."
Kim Young-hoon, who was just on the deck, disappeared.
"...What?"
I put down the bowl of rice and look around.
But no matter where I look in the Heaven-Treading Desert, there's no sign of Kim Young-hoon.
'If he moved quickly, there should have been the sound of breaking air...'
He had literally disappeared without a trace.
'Did he use the Record of Transcending Cultivation and Exhausting Martial Arts?'
I'm puzzled and compress my consciousness with the Hidden Consciousness Technique to search the surroundings, but still, I can't detect Kim Young-hoon.
"What the..."
I find his trace when I activate the demon senses and read the flow of Yin and Yang remaining in the area.
"Ah..."
The flow of Yin and Yang in the vicinity is split in half.
As if it had been cut sharply.
And that cut's trace lead straight up to the sky.
To Ascension Path.
"Ah..."
I quickly perform a lightness technique and jump up towards Ascension Path.
And when I reach the location of its barrier,
I can't help but burst into laughter.
"This is crazy..."
The barrier of Ascension Path is split open as if cut by something sharp, revealing a gap.
Whoosh!
Spiritual energy flows from that gap, slowly healing the barrier.
It seems the barrier will be completely restored in a day or two.
"Ha, haha..."
My mood, which had been depressed by Kim Young-hoon being on the verge of death and his impending passing, is completely overtaken by shock, confusion, and excitement.
"What on earth did he do..."
I laugh and enter Ascension Path.
Inside, I activate the demon senses again, and I can still see the flow of Yin and Yang sharply split apart.
It leads to the center of Ascension Path.
"Utterly crazy, insane..."
Too unbelievable and awe-inspiring, I can't speak properly and just laugh.
Whoosh!
I accelerate my thoughts tenfold and rush madly towards the center of Ascension Path.
And about half a day later.
As the night passes and dawn approaches.
I finally reach the center of Ascension Path, following the trail of the Yin and Yang.
"Ha, huh..."
Catching my breath, the place where I arrive is still riddled with spatial rifts.
Thunder rumbles in the sky.
Under the thunder, a stele absorbing lightning floats.
And...
There remains Kim Young-hoon's 'trace.'
Despite the danger of spatial rifts, I carefully avoid them and approach the trace left by Kim Young-hoon.
"This is..."
Footprints.
They are footprints.
Footprints left by Kim Young-hoon.
I look at the footprints and the surrounding flow of spiritual energy and understand what they are.
"Starting Form?"
I follow the footprints, taking up the stance.
It's the Starting Form of the Severing Vein Saber Method.
I unfold the saber method, following the Starting Form left by Kim Young-hoon.
'No, it's not just the Severing Vein...'
It isn't just the Severing Vein Saber Method alone.
All the martial arts he has created.
All the martial arts he has established.
The numerous martial arts he has modified and evolved are unfolding around the Severing Vein Saber Method.
Since it's impossible to directly follow all of them without seeing them, I follow the flow of the Severing Vein Saber Method and step on the footprints.
During this process.
I notice something strange.
'The depth of the footprints are getting deeper?'
In and of itself, that is not strange.
The flow of the Severing Vein Saber Method and the deepening of the footprints correspond to the final move of the Severing Mountain Swordsmanship and Severing Vein Saber Method.
Foolish Old Man Moves Mountains.
What I find odd is the 'way' Foolish Old Man Moves Mountains is deployed.
'Foolish Old Man Moves Mountains is a technique that requires an opponent.'
Without an opponent, at the very least, there needs to be a wall.
However, Kim Young-hoon had deployed Foolish Old Man Moves Mountains in the void, without any wall or anything.
'What is this...'
Foolish Old Man Moves Mountains is a self-destructive technique.
One can practice it without infusing internal energy, but once internal energy is infused, it becomes a certain death technique.
Although Endless Mountains Beyond Mountains can exhaust the body and potentially lead to death if severely used, one can still survive.
The technique of Foolish Old Man Moves Mountains, however, has over a 90% chance of death upon use.
It's a final move created to sacrifice one's life to either die with an opponent or inflict fatal wounds, as it relies on utilizing the opponent's strength, necessitating an opponent for the technique.
'But how did he use a technique that utilizes an opponent's strength without any opponent?'
I follow Kim Young-hoon's footsteps, puzzled, deploying the technique of Foolish Old Man Moves Mountains.
As expected, without an opponent, the energy just brushes through the void.
'This would just be Endless Mountains Beyond Mountains.'
Foolish Old Man Moves Mountains, based on Endless Mountains Beyond Mountains, has to be used while performing the latter, and without an opponent, only the tirelessness is experienced, not deepening footprints.
But Kim Young-hoon had clearly deployed Foolish Old Man Moves Mountains.
His footprints and traces prove it.
'This is incomprehensible...'
I continuously follow Kim Young-hoon's footprints, using the technique.
His phantom seems to perform martial arts beside me.
The phantom moves at a speed like light, executing martial arts.
At some point,
I can no longer comprehend the principles of the martial arts he is unleashing.
The display of his phantom I can't understand cuts off abruptly, and I stumble.
I hurriedly correct my stance, following the footprints, but I can't keep up with the phantom.
And when I'm about to completely fall over.
Thud.
"Ah..."
I realize that Kim Young-hoon's footprints end there.
His last footprint is deeper than any other, and the surrounding area is upheaved as if a bomb had exploded.
I step on the footprint, imagining holding the Surpassing Radiant Saber, and swinging diagonally upwards.
And then.
"..."
Where Kim Young-hoon's Surpassing Radiant Saber had passed, a cleanly sliced spatial rift lay.
This area is where the Ascension Gate opened.
"...Kim... Hyung...?"
I ask with a trembling voice, looking at the spatial rift.
It's definitely not the Ascension Gate.
Compared to when I witnessed the Ascension Gate in a previous life,
That sacred yet strange feeling is not present.
Rather, it's closer to the feeling of the spatial rift opened by Mad Lord and Seo Hweol when they transported us far away.
However, Kim Young-hoon had undoubtedly created a spatial rift and crossed over to the other side.
Was he transported somewhere?
Or did he perish, unable to withstand the pressure of space?
Or did he, with the speed of light, cut through even the pressure of space and...
Arrive 'somewhere' beyond this rift?
"Ha. Haha. Hahaha..."
I laugh.
Kim Young-hoon has been on the brink of death.
I have been waiting to witness his final moments.
But now, I can no longer do so.
Kim Young-hoon has crossed over.
He defied my expectations of a quiet passing before my eyes.
A new realm of martial arts.
A new space beyond this world.
He has transcended it.
Most likely, he has died.
But perhaps he has not.
What lay ahead is completely unknown.
I laugh.
And I cry.
The reason why Kim Young-hoon left me suddenly, entering Ascension Path to speculate on a new realm and entering the spatial rift without leaving his body behind became clear.
He is telling me.
-You won't know whether I am dead or alive, nor what realm I might have reached.
-If you're curious about what's beyond.
-Don't worry about having lost me for 300 years, persevere and pursue martial arts in the remaining time.
He has left me with the hope to endure 300 years and has thus departed.
"Hahahaha...!"
I laugh and cry, stepping again on the footprints Kim Young-hoon had left, striving to understand the realm he had reached.
I tried to witness his passing.
But instead, my despair, loneliness, and hopelessness towards his passing are the only things that truly faced death.
Yes.
What died is only my pain, loneliness, and despair.
Kim Young-hoon does not need to be guarded in his final moments.
Because he is alive.
Beyond there.
And within my heart.
Alive here.
I laugh and cry, following Kim Young-hoon's footprints.
I face the passing of my own emotions.
Before I know it, dusk has arrived.
How long have I followed Kim Young-hoon's footsteps?
How much of my heart have I vented?
As my mind calms down, I finally see something next to the spatial rift left by Kim Young-hoon.
It's a message carved onto the ground with saber marks.
I approach the message he has left.
The first words of the message are a clue to the next realm.
"Is that what you saw beyond...?"