The First Day of the Seventeenth Loop
To free himself from the curse and grow stronger, Hongbeom had wandered the world for five hundred years, stacking up rigorous training.
In the end, he never fully escaped the curse. Before Hongbeom’s eyes, he delivered his final words and died.
That was my seventeenth regression.
* * *
Seventeenth life. I blinked, scanning my surroundings. There stood Seo Hyul’s familiar face and the others from the non-winner faction. …????
‘What is this?’ I thought, a deep sense of displacement washing over me. It was odd. This had to be the seventeenth regression. Yet a familiar feeling crept through my entire body, as if we had skipped straight from the fifteenth regression to this one. The memories from the fifteenth loop—receiving Kim Yeon’s heart, stabbing Seo Hyul, conveying Jang Ik’s words to Yu Hwa, and then dying—still felt vivid, as if they had happened only moments ago. More accurately, it was as if the entire sixteenth loop had simply vanished. ‘Something is wrong.’ I remembered the sixteenth loop had existed, but its memory was nowhere to be found. It felt as if we had jumped from the fifteenth to the seventeenth. ‘Why did this happen…?’ I clutched my head in confusion. And then, at that moment. **ZIING!** Nine Cycles. In my mind, the word ‘Gujo’ was burned in. ‘Gujo?’ What was this word? Was it connected to the lost sixteenth-loop memories? ‘Gujo, Gujo…’ I muttered the word to myself in confusion. Then, at some point. ‘Gujo…’ I felt a memory surface, revealing what ‘Gujo’ truly meant. ‘Gujo is [someone]!’ It was the name of [someone]! I repeated that name in my mind and was momentarily startled. It was the memory of the fifteenth loop, when I had rashly called out the name of the Heavenly Thunder Banner and suffered for it. Yet another hazy memory surfaced. ‘No, no…’ ‘Gujo’ was not the name of the owner of the Heavenly Thunder Banner or some terrifying being like it. Rather, it belonged to someone I knew very well, someone close and familiar. There was an unreasonable faith that even when I spoke the word ‘Gujo,’ it would never threaten me. ‘Who exactly is Gujo?’ Was it someone who had erased the entire sixteenth loop from my mind? ‘Had someone at least at the True Immortal or Void Refinement stage intervened?’ That was the only conclusion I could draw. “…Hey?” At that moment, Seo Hyul’s voice calling me familiarly jolted me. “You seem fine. You suddenly looked panicked and were completely confused.” “Ah…” I set aside my thoughts about Gujo and the lost sixteenth loop for now and looked at Seo Hyul. Because I had lost the sixteenth loop, I realized the emotions I had felt in the fifteenth loop were still vividly present toward Seo Hyul. I stared at him briefly, then glanced behind him at Gyuryeon, who was bringing the Yujok tribe into the Jinlong Alliance, while watching Seo Hyul try to recruit me. Gyuryeon watched Seo Hyul—who refused to move quickly—and me, whom he wanted to recruit, with dissatisfaction in her eyes. Seeing her filled me with a bitter feeling. The Gyuryeon I had known in the fifteenth loop had disappeared, and Kim Yeon—one of the connections I had lost—was now forever out of reach. Feeling that sentiment, I first gave Gyuryeon a small bow of etiquette through the Yujok language, though not openly. “Seo Eun-hyun of the In Clan pays respects to the elder of the Jijok tribe.” [Hmph. Don’t talk to me, you In Clan brat.] “…” I turned my gaze from Gyuryeon, whose face showed clear displeasure, and looked at Heogak, who led the Black Ghost Valley, and Geum Byeok-ho, who commanded the Geumsincheonroemun. Only these two sects remained as forces I had not yet claimed. **UUUWOONG!** I looked at them and naturally loosened my consciousness domain. **KUUGUGUGUGU!** The enormous consciousness filled the entire hall. And with my consciousness’ size, the eyes of everyone—including Seo Hyul—widened in astonishment. Original Spirit late stage consciousness! ‘In the sixteenth loop, during the middle of the Original Spirit stage, I had reached the point of forming the Two Gods. My consciousness had been larger than that of a peer-level swordsman since the Five Qi Consorting with the Origin, and after mastering the Strange Star-Mind Scroll, it was unquestionably larger than that of a peer-level swordsman. Although I don’t remember the sixteenth loop well, since I had reached the middle of the Original Spirit stage, its size was similar to that of a late-stage Original Spirit swordsman, the highest level.’ “Welcome to our Changcheon Gaebyeokmun! Your consciousness size indicates you are a talent who will perfectly master the Formation Arts!” “Haha, splendid. You… would you like to enter our sect?” “Hmm~ Hmph. Hmph hmph hmph~ Hmph.” Changhoza and Seo Hyul both reached out toward me, while Goe-gun—who had been watching my consciousness—suddenly shook his body and began singing a nasal tune. Goe-gun seemed ready to kidnap me if necessary. And both Geum Byeok-ho and Heogak charged toward me with eyes rolling back in their sockets. “What nonsense!!! You must come to our Black Ghost Valley! The Black Ghost Valley is the perfect place for you to display your talent! Filled with death and misery, your consciousness size means that even in your current state, you can summon dozens of Ghost Kings as long as you learn the basics of the Ghost Dao Arts!!!” “U, our Geumsincheonroemun as well…” “Shut up, Geum Byeok-ho! This guy is definitely the talent we Black Ghost Valley needs! He has the supreme talent for the Ghost Dao Arts, yet you think there’s room to squeeze your Thunder God Dao Arts in there…” At that exact moment. **ZIING!** “…!?” The Heavenly Thunder Banner I carried. When it drew near, I felt a sudden surge of heat throughout my body. At the same time. **PAJIK, PAJIJIJIK!** “…!?” I shouted, watching lightning bolts spark from all over my body. ‘This damned…!’ The memories from the sixteenth loop surfaced hazily once more. The fifteenth loop. The lightning punishment curse obtained by facing the owner of the True Immortal Heavenly Thunder Banner. It had followed me across regressions. To escape that curse, I had wandered the world with Hongbeom for five hundred years during the sixteenth loop. And fortunately, the lightning punishment curse gradually weakened, slowing dramatically by the time of my death. And now, in this seventeenth loop. ‘Damn it…’ I realized the lightning bolts flashing from my body were not coming from me and furrowed my brow. The blood in my body. Those blood droplets were slowly—but surely—transforming into lightning. The curse was progressing more slowly than in the previous loops. Yet my body was unmistakably turning into lightning. Even though I had died twice in the fifteenth and sixteenth loops, I was still afflicted by the True Immortal’s curse. The only saving grace was that in my past life I had at least lived for five hundred years before dissolving into lightning, so this time I had a generous amount of time left. ‘Still, I’ll have to break this lightning curse even in this life…’ Just then, Geum Byeok-ho’s eyes rolled back completely. “This is…! Lightning Saint Body…!!! Get lost, Heogak! This fellow’s physique is extremely similar to the Lightning Saint Body passed down as legend in our Geumsincheonroemun! When inspected in the lower realm, there was no reaction at all, but I don’t know how this is possible… but we must bring this guy back to our Geumsincheonroemun!” “Don’t talk nonsense! Why give a supreme talent of the Ghost Dao Arts to the Geumsincheonroemun?!” “Supreme talent of the Ghost Dao Arts? He’s definitely a genius born with the Lightning Saint Body and the Ghost Dao Arts, not some stray dog you’re talking about!” Heogak shouted while ignoring Geum Byeok-ho’s excited expression and looking at me. “The Ghost Dao Arts has plenty in our Black Ghost Valley, which has a fifty-thousand-year history! Starting from the Six Yin Thunder God, comparable to the Taiji Zhenlei God of our sect, the Original Thunder God Suppression Art, the Great Blood Thunder Wall Power Formation—any talent born with the talent for the Ghost Dao Arts can flourish even in the Black Ghost Valley! But because the Geumsincheonroemun has a short history and lacks the Ghost Dao Arts, if you go there your other talents will never blossom!” “Hmph! What’s so special about the Ghost Dao Arts? If you want it, just steal it from another sect! You can master it here too! And the Ghost Dao Arts of the Black Ghost Valley Heogak mentioned was only developed to counter our Geumsincheonroemun’s Ghost Dao Arts, which possesses the power of Pasahyeonjeong! As for the Six Yin Thunder God he cited as comparable to the Taiji Zhenlei God—realists who mastered both arts would get beaten to death and escape alive countless times! If you enter the Geumsincheonroemun, you can completely dominate the Black Ghost Valley’s demonic arts from the matchup alone! In actual sparring, the win rate between Black Ghost Valley and Geumsincheonroemun disciples is seven to three in favor of the Geumsincheonroemun!” “Nonsense! The examples he gave are just ‘friendly sparring.’ In real combat, the sect’s demonic arts would give them an overwhelming advantage with more than a few points!” Geum Byeok-ho and Heogak babbled at me with spittle flying, their eyes rolling. In this overheated atmosphere, Seo Hyul stepped forward to mediate the two of them. “Surely one of you should make concessions? It’s still early in the non-winner faction—don’t blush like this.” “Hmph, that’s true, but…” “If you insist, then please explain to this junior why you both must come to your own sect.” After a few words of soothing, Seo Hyul calmed the two of them. And thanks to Seo Hyul’s mediation, Geum Byeok-ho stepped forward first. “Any swordsman with a spiritual root already knows how to cultivate the Geumsincheonroemun’s Ghost Dao Arts. The sect’s spirit energy is even more tenacious than the Black Ghost Valley’s according to the Ghost Dao Arts cultivation method. If you master the Lightning Saint Wall Power, it will definitely help you overcome the Heavenly Tribulation later. What could be more important for a swordsman than overcoming the Heavenly Tribulation?” Next came Heogak. “No need for pleasantries. I’ll be direct. You were born with the Lightning Saint Body and possess the supreme talent for the Ghost Dao Arts, making you the perfect talent to cultivate the Six Yin Thunder God Art. Geum Byeok-ho said the Taiji Zhenlei God is comparable, but there is no one who has ever fully mastered the Six Yin Thunder God in the history of our sect. If you can master the Six Yin Thunder God, no matter the matchup, you will never lose to the Geumsincheonroemun’s Ghost Dao Arts! Remember that our sect, with its fifty-thousand-year history, has no demonic art it doesn’t know!” Geumsincheonroemun or Black Ghost Valley—which should I choose? Honestly, I wasn’t particularly interested in which art it had. At my current level, I only needed to recover my realm to fight a Four Pillars swordsman, so I had no desire for a demonic art. Instead, I decided to focus on the events that would unfold with these two sects in the near future. ‘The Geumsincheonroemun will be led by the Heavenly Thunder Banner, whose owner will descend, while the Black Ghost Valley will be almost destroyed when Kang Min-hee becomes the Ghost Dao Holy Mother.’ I thought about the two people in each sect. ‘Geumsincheonroemun has Jeon Myeong-hoon, Black Ghost Valley has Kang Min-hee…’ Jeon Myeong-hoon honestly didn’t appeal to me. Although all negative feelings had faded, I didn’t hold any particularly good feelings either. I recalled Kang Min-hee. “Uhm…” The first thought that came to mind when I recalled Kang Min-hee was “awkward.” In a literal sense, the feelings I had toward Kang Min-hee had been “awkward.” If Jeon Myeong-hoon and I were alone, he would have tormented me. But that was bearable—cute, even. But if Kang Min-hee and I were left alone in the Black Ghost Valley… “…Uuhm…” It would be “insanely awkward.” ‘I’ve lived two thousand five hundred years, so it doesn’t matter to me… but Kang Min-hee, who only appeared one and a half years ago, probably wouldn’t want to meet me alone.’ I had lived over two thousand five hundred years, but Kang Min-hee had only awakened as the Ghost Dao Holy Mother one and a half years ago. The problem was that to discover why Kang Min-hee became the Ghost Dao Holy Mother and how to solve it, I would have to interact with her. ‘Damn it…’ Thinking about my relationship with Kang Min-hee caused a headache. Kang Min-hee would absolutely not want to talk to me. At least in Deungsunhyang, surrounded by company people, she had acted like she was speaking to me, but alone she would surely treat me as if I didn’t exist. ‘This is troublesome…’ I decided. I looked at Geum Byeok-ho and paid my respects. “Since ancient times, I have heard much of the Geumsincheonroemun’s reputation.” “Hahaha! Excellent choice!” Geum Byeok-ho laughed heartily and patted my shoulder. Heogak, with his pale face contorted, stepped back. “Damn it… damn it…” At that moment, Seo Hyul approached Heogak and whispered something into his ear. Heogak listened and let out a groan of distress. “Huuuhm…” He seemed to be thinking deeply, gritted his teeth, and took out something from the Jeomuldo. “?” It was two skulls. Skulls with tiny arcane formation spell scripts etched upon them, similar to the Body Part Formation Scripts of the Yushok Arts. **CHIJIJIK!** When Heogak grabbed the skulls, eerie soul fragments flowed into them and covered the inscribed characters. He handed me the skulls and said, “Take this. A formation script book containing the Six Yin Thunder God.” “…!?” “I feel sorry and pained that you are going to the Geumsincheonroemun, but… if you ever come to the Black Ghost Valley and want to come to us, pour out your heart to the soul fragment sealed in this formation script book. The soul fragment will then reveal the spell script of the Six Yin Thunder God to you, and you can master it and come to the Black Ghost Valley.” “This, this is…” Heogak smiled wickedly. “There is talent that must master the Six Yin Thunder God, but we can’t just leave the formation script to rot in the archives. You are definitely the talent who must master the Six Yin Thunder God, so take it.” I paid my respects to Heogak for his generosity. Geum Byeok-ho looked somewhat displeased but seemed to accept it. And after I chose the Geumsincheonroemun. Gyuryeon and Seo Hyul headed back to the Jinlong Alliance territory, and Goe-gun immediately began his rampage again. Taking advantage of Goe-gun’s rampage, I stealthily implanted the Strange Parasite once more upon Kim Yeon without anyone noticing. Goe-gun kidnapped another disciple, and a wanted order was issued for him. After Goe-gun’s rampage ended, I once again followed Geum Byeok-ho back into the In Clan territory. * * * After naming myself in the Simundong, I closed my eyes and organized my thoughts. Choosing the Geumsincheonroemun in this life was not because I wanted to avoid Kang Min-hee. The first reason for choosing the Geumsincheonroemun was my aversion to demonic arts. ‘First of all, the Black Ghost Valley is a demonic sect that practices demonic arts.’ I hadn’t wanted to practice demonic arts originally, but after facing Won Rip, my aversion had reached its peak. I had used Won-yu because it felt like spoils from killing Won Rip, but in truth I found its face unpleasant and periodically used it as a practice target for the Curse Dao Arts. Besides the great aversion to demonic arts, the second reason was that while the Geumsincheonroemun had a clear solution, the Black Ghost Valley had almost no information. I didn’t know why Kang Min-hee had become the Ghost Dao Holy Mother or how to solve it. That was why the Geumsincheonroemun, with its clearer solution, had been the better choice. The third reason was guilt. ‘In my past life… or rather, in the life before that? Anyway, in the fifteenth loop I destroyed the Geumsincheonroemun.’ It had been unavoidable for me, and I had been ignorant of everything at the time. But no matter what, the fact that millions of In Clan people died because of me was clear. In the fifteenth loop, I had been unable to feel proper guilt because my body was about to die and I had only focused on ending Seo Hyul. But it was undeniably my enormous karma. I could not simply choose the Black Ghost Valley, ignoring the guilt toward people from past loops, and just stand by in silence. The fourth reason was the lightning punishment curse. ‘The Geumsincheonroemun, after all, is the descendant of Baekgeom, the Lightning Saint Yang Su-jin, so I might find records or solutions for the lightning punishment curse.’ Even if it wasn’t the Geumsincheonroemun, the island where they settled, Noeryeong-do, was famous as a Void-Refining sect, so by investigating every corner of Noeryeong-do I might find a place to unravel the clue of this curse. The fifth reason was the clue beyond the Akashic Records. The lightning and life were bound to have more than just momentary similarities, and by studying the Heavenly Tribulation and the Thunder while cultivating the Ghost Dao Arts in the Geumsincheonroemun, there was a possibility I could fully understand the beyond. ‘So in this life, the main goals are two.’ I organized my thoughts. First, find a way to break the lightning punishment curse. Second… ‘Steal the Heavenly Thunder Banner from inside the Geumsincheonroemun.’ And then return to the Water Realm. ‘I won’t plan anything like stabbing it through Seo Hyul’s mouth.’ I also realized I could return to the upper realm from the lower realm, so I would steal the Heavenly Thunder Banner from the Geumsincheonroemun and take it to the Water Realm. And I would seal the Heavenly Thunder Banner in the Water Realm. Breaking the lightning punishment curse and stealing the Heavenly Thunder Banner would be this life’s greatest goals. ‘Of course, I should also look for the memories I lost in the sixteenth loop.’ However, the reason I had not set finding the lost sixteenth-loop memories as this life’s goal was… Because an unconscious feeling had taken root that the sixteenth-loop memories would never be found, no matter what. It was not someone else’s injection, but my own instinct that recognized it that way. It felt as if the sense of emptiness, as if a part of history had been cut away, was a premonition that I would not be able to find it again before reaching the True Immortal. ‘The sixteenth-loop memories… for now, I’ll look for them slowly.’ The Mansang Inyeondo of the sixteenth loop was also hidden from my eyes like a hazy fog. I set the two goals in my mind and arrived at Noeryeong-do with Geum Byeok-ho. Around Geum Byeok-ho upon arriving at Noeryeong-do, the True Immortal experts of the Geumsincheonroemun appeared. **PAJIK, PAJIJIK!** When Geum Byeok-ho waved his hand, a familiar banner appeared in his grasp. The Heavenly Thunder Banner! I pretended not to notice the Heavenly Thunder Banner and greeted the elders. “Hehe, good fortune!” “With two disciples of this level of talent in our sect, the Founder Yang Su-jin will surely bless us.” The elders laughed heartily, calling the lightning punishment curse the “Lightning Saint Body.” Geum Byeok-ho told the elders chatting with me, “Then, the Taesang Sect Master will not stay here to punish the betrayers and treacherous Thunder Cloud Sect scoundrels. Leave a couple of elders behind and follow me. Tell the remaining two elders to prepare the disciples of the Geumsincheonroemun to follow them… and help the new disciples prepare to cultivate the Ghost Dao Arts.” “Understood.” The two eldest elders among the True Immortal experts stayed behind, while the rest all followed Geum Byeok-ho and flew off to one side of Noeryeong-do. “Then I must first prepare to cultivate the Ghost Dao Arts…” The elder stroked his beard with a teasing laugh and looked at me with a gentle expression. ‘The Ghost Dao Arts…’ This was the first time I was directly going to master the Ghost Dao Arts. I had learned about it indirectly many times, but had never directly cultivated it. ‘So how do they prepare? Do they bind it like in Changheon Gaebyeokmun and burn it with lightning? Or do they modify it like Goe-gun to easily absorb thunder energy?’ I was ready for any harsh training. Just as I had steeled my resolve. “The Thunder is born from the cycle of yin and yang—the core of all Ghost Dao Arts. That is why those who cultivate the Ghost Dao Arts must primarily practice the cycle of yin and yang, or the Taiji.” “Yes, I know.” It was information I had received long ago from Yeon Wi about the Taiji Zhenlei God, a technique that changed gender. “Therefore, the Geumsincheonroemun pairs up disciples with double-cultivation partners to ensure smooth exchange of yin and yang during training.” “…?” “From now on, I will find you a suitable double-cultivation partner.”