Chapter 258
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What on earth does that mean
That I have reached the Heavenly Person realm
And even the Integration Completion stage of the Heavenly Person realm
I am not quite sure I follow…
Let us first consider the essence of cultivation at the Heavenly Person level. You have been steadily nurturing the seed of madness you planted while ascending through the prior realms, transforming your own nascent soul itself into that seed of madness. That is the core of the Heavenly Person training. You understand this much, do you not
Yes, I do.
The Heavenly Person realm is the stage where mental refinement holds the greatest importance among all those we have passed.
And once you reach Integration Completion, the madness you have pursued will overflow entirely within your nascent soul. Occasionally, however, it is said that cultivators have reached this state even before attaining the Heavenly Person realm—having gone so deeply insane at the nascent soul level that their nascent souls are already brimming with madness.
…
In terms of symbolism, the Heavenly Person realm corresponds to the supreme ultimate of the four symbols. Taiyin, Taiyang, Shaoyin, and Shaoyang—the supreme ultimate of the four symbols, yes
Correct.
Her explanation continued.
In other words, the process of ascending to the Heavenly Person realm is like placing a small yin at the center of the sun. Or, conversely, placing a small yang at the center of the taiyin.
Woong!
She raised both hands in the air, manifesting the supreme ultimate of the four symbols.
Within the shape of the supreme ultimate, each half held a faint aura of the color opposite to that of the symbol itself.
If the larger portion represents heaven and earth and the natural world, then the smaller portion is the seed of madness you gather upon reaching the Heavenly Person realm. You must connect the microcosm within your body to the natural world, absorb heaven-and-earth spirit qi into that microcosm, and thereby ascend. You must act as the vessel, the center of the vessel for the seed of madness, and fill it with the water of heaven-and-earth spirit qi. You stand in precisely that position now.
Woong!
She began to nurture the center of the sun and taiyin within the supreme ultimate—the regions of small yin and small yang.
The tiny circle at the center of the supreme ultimate swelled, eventually surpassing the size of the supreme ultimate itself.
The madness inside you is already so excessive that there is no room for heaven-and-earth power to enter.
…
Only in such cases is it said that the madness is so full that one cannot simply ascend to the Integration Completion stage of the nascent soul level and reach the Heavenly Person realm.
…Then what is meant by Integration Completion at the Heavenly Person realm…
After carefully balancing the ratio of heaven-and-earth spirit qi and madness to achieve integration.
Woong!
Yeon Wi once again manipulated the heaven-and-earth spirit qi in her palm, forming the supreme ultimate of the four symbols.
The supreme ultimate of the four symbols rotated and gradually grew larger.
As it rotated and expanded, the regions of small yin and small yang became even larger than the original supreme ultimate.
The size of the madness grown by balancing the ratio of heaven-and-earth spirit qi with yours is now equal to or greater than the madness you currently possess.
…
A mind possessing a spiritual force at the level of Integration Completion at the nascent soul stage, equal to or superior to the Integration Completion of the Heavenly Person realm… You truly have lived a turbulent life. Tsk tsk.
She clicked her tongue and looked at me with an expression of pity.
…Then how should I proceed
I ignored her gaze and asked how I could possibly ascend to the Heavenly Person realm.
It is simple. The Integration Completion stage of the Heavenly Person realm is attempting to raise its realm with the power of the early Heavenly Person level, which has caused the problem. Draw in far more heaven-and-earth spirit qi than you are currently thinking of.
…Hah.
So I must gather heaven-and-earth spirit qi in proportion to the amount of madness I already possess in order to ascend to the Heavenly Person realm
That is correct. It is such a peculiar case that I only heard about it in old tales; this is the first time I have ever seen it firsthand.
…
At her words, I could only click my tongue internally.
People are naturally poor at self-observation, yet I had at least a rough idea of just how insane I truly was.
‘I must gather power at the level matching my own madness for the Heavenly Person ascension
Up until now I had thought that madness would not be a problem when ascending to the Heavenly Person realm.
After all, I knew better than anyone how insane I was.
But now that very madness was shackling my ankles.
‘If I must gather heaven-and-earth spirit qi to match my madness…
How much heaven-and-earth spirit qi must I gather
* * *
Days passed.
In the end, the only way to gather the insane quantity of heaven-and-earth spirit qi I had anticipated was to kill two or three at least four or five Four Pillars sages who were performing the Four Pillars Integration Completion training. Only then could their training yield a measure of that madness-inducing heaven-and-earth spirit qi.
How could I possibly measure my own madness with such precision
It was simple.
My madness was my own life.
And the traces of my life were recorded endlessly through the Ten Thousand Phenomena Affinity Diagram.
In other words, the number of characters appearing in the Ten Thousand Phenomena Affinity Diagram was precisely the size of my madness.
It was impossible.
A Four Pillars sage was already a realm equivalent to a small heaven-and-earth natural world in and of itself.
If one could not swallow an entire heaven-and-earth natural world, one could not possibly ascend to the Heavenly Person realm. To gather that level of power required at least six hundred years even if one drew in heaven-and-earth spirit qi through arrays.
For now, therefore, it was impossible to ascend to the Heavenly Person realm, and I would have to change my plan.
‘I must find a Four Pillars sage and descend to the Water Realm.’
Where, then, could I find a friendly Four Pillars sage to help me
The answer was truly simple.
In the end, you will have to exert your own strength, senior.
Hmm. How
I looked at Yeon Wi and took a piece of flesh from my pocket, tossing it into the air.
Thud!
The flesh burst in mid-air and transformed into raw oil.
Yeon Wi narrowed her eyes at the sight of the raw oil.
You taught that puppet the Supreme Ultimate Thunder Divine Technique…
That is correct.
Hmph. That means you are asking me to enter here and take you down to the Water Realm.
I nodded.
But Yeon Wi shook her head.
That cannot be done in the short term. After all, why would I cling to the body of my descendant Yeon Jin instead of some other vessel
I have never tried possessing another body before, so I do not know.
The wavelengths do not match. When demonic cultivators perform body possession, they either use puppets made from their own flesh or their own descendants. Why descendants
Because their descendants share the closest wavelength to their own souls and are easiest to possess.
Her explanation continued.
That puppet was originally created based on someone else’s flesh, so the wavelengths do not match. Moreover, since it has already mastered demonic techniques, its wavelength is even less compatible with mine. Short-term entry might be tolerable, but to perform a Heavenly Person-level divine technique properly while inside the vessel, the wavelengths would have to match even more perfectly.
As I listened to her explanation, I suddenly noticed something.
Senior, you said it would be impossible in the short term. So does that mean that in the long term there is a way to match the wavelengths
Yes… If I enter there and steadily align my own soul and its wavelength, it will eventually be possible.
I asked with shining eyes.
Is there any way to shorten the process of alignment
There is. However, it requires an enormous quantity of vital energy. Forcing the wavelengths to match instantly with my nascent soul at the Four Pillars level would cause my vessel to lose vital energy and die in an instant.
That…
Incidentally, do not speak of the puppet’s life force being insufficient or that it has mastered demonic techniques. That puppet’s life force is already insufficient, and one of the reasons its wavelength does not match mine is precisely because it has mastered those demonic techniques. If I cultivate those techniques further to replenish its life force, the wavelength will only repel me more.
No, that is not it.
Hmm
Even without demonic techniques, there is a way to amplify the pure life force of this bloodline.
Oh
Are you trying to share your own life force with me
It is a far better method.
I told her the method I knew, and after listening she pondered for a moment, then nodded.
It is not bad. However, even if I adopt your method, aligning the wavelengths through direct effort will still take a considerable amount of time. Moreover, it is a conspicuous method that will very likely spread to the human race, and the pests trying to catch me will swarm you with it.
How long do you think it will take
Even in the best case, ten years. Ten years is necessary. Do you think you can last ten years
If I reveal all my power, it should be sufficient.
What confidence is that
Her skeptical gaze made me show her the hidden card I had been keeping.
Screee—
The moment I manifested the aura of the formless sword, Yeon Wi looked at me with a wary expression.
A demon race…! These damned humans. So that is why. I wondered how a nascent soul Integration Completion sage who had lived less than a hundred years could possess such madness… It really was a demon race. No, more importantly, if they discover that you are a demon race, the Four Pillars sages will definitely come in droves!
It is fine. I have absolute certainty that they will not discover it.
Swish!
I severed my consciousness and vanished from before Yeon Wi.
Even someone with the consciousness of a Four Pillars sage would find it difficult to track me, she had said. It was an irritating feeling.
…Well, good. Since the demon race is something I did not even exist to sense before, I will simply say it is not discovered. But can you really last ten years
I laughed bitterly.
It is more than possible.
How
I silently showed her General Seo.
After seeing the power of General Seo, Yeon Wi was silent for a moment, then nodded.
…Understood. I will do it.
With a resolute expression she rose from her seat.
To prevent a repeat of the incident from four thousand years ago, I will return the Heavenly Thunder Banner. Somehow…
And so the plan of Seo Eun-hyun and Yeon Wi began.
* * *
Kuguguung!
I used the Earth Digging Technique to tear through the ground and descended into the earth.
And finally I reached the mirror-like cave containing the clear lake.
Above the clean mirror cave.
There Yeon Wi and I arrived and floated in the air, gazing downward.
Is this the Gongryeong-ji of the Demon Realm
Yes. You may begin here.
Very well. Still, I am sorry to Geum So-hae.
Feeling the seriousness of the current state of the Heavenly Thunder Banner, she had agreed to help me properly, after which Yeon Wi would live in Yeon Jin’s body for a while.
If I had my way I would have stabbed her with the Five Elements Blood Curse Flag or the Strange Parasite, but since she had promised to help me until I resolved the Heavenly Thunder Banner inside my nascent soul, I decided to trust her one final time for the sake of our past friendship from the previous life.
Then I will begin.
I took the Guanghan Jade from my pocket—the one I had stolen from the human territory.
And I began to insert it into the location where the demonic veins of the Demon Realm were concentrated.
Kugugugugu!
The Guanghan Jade began to erode the Demon Realm’s earth, contaminating the Demon Realm’s qi-laden land with spirit qi.
In an instant the heaven-and-earth qi of the area was completely converted into heaven-and-earth spirit qi.
And Yeon Wi sat near the Gongryeong-ji, at the point where the dragon veins converged, and began to master the ‘Juryeong Jangseonggong’ I had taught her.
And I sat raw oil right in front of her and had her master the Juryeong Jangseonggong as well.
Gradually she began to control the nearby dragon veins according to the Juryeong Jangseonggong technique and transform them into formations she already knew.
She began to unfold layers of formations to hide her existence—the very ones she had used in the past to conceal her base in the Oum-gok swamp.
The entire area that had once been human territory in my past life began to be hidden by Yeon Wi’s formations.
Well then, tell me the structure of the formation you mentioned again.
Yes. I will explain the structure of the Jangsaengjin.
The Jangsaengjin.
Together with Cheongmun Ryeong, it was a formation I created to grow the Longevity Fruit. It drew in and accumulated the nearby dragon veins, converting them into life force.
I transformed part of the formation so that the portion applied to trees would now be applied to Yeon Wi and raw oil.
‘It is done.’
After ten years of accumulating heaven-and-earth spirit qi, when Yeon Wi entered raw oil’s body and forcibly matched the wavelengths, she would provide the life force needed for the vessel to endure.
Then, when she entered raw oil’s body and used Heavenly Person-level divine techniques to take me down to the Water Realm, I would seal the Heavenly Thunder Banner there.
‘If the human invasion army pulls its forces this far to the Gongryeong-ji, it would take three years at the current advance rate of the human army.’
But three years was too short.
I was sorry for the humans, but the time until they reached here should be longer.
‘I will do everything in my power to slow them down as much as possible.’
I put every ounce of strength into making sure they came even more slowly.
Uduk, ududeuk, uduk…
I created wooden dolls and began to remodel them into puppets right there, passing the time.
‘For at least the next three years.’
During that period I will create a puppet army of nascent soul Integration Completions.
If I made too many Yangsan-type General Seos using Goe-gun’s puppet circuits, the same effect as the circuits in the Wondrous Castle would occur, and their minds would be eroded by madness.
That was why I had not created many Yangsan-type General Seos before, but now there was no time for such limitations.
‘For the minimum three-year period, I must prepare for war.’
Along with the war, I sought ways to lengthen that three-year period.
I made that firm resolution and continued my preparations.
Thus half a year and five days passed.
* * *
Creak…
Inside the dark small room.
The door of the small room opened, and a woman wearing a golden long robe entered.
Jeon Myeong-hoon, I finally found you.
Geum So-hae, with a face bright with joy, called out toward the darkness as she searched for Jeon Myeong-hoon.
It has been difficult to find you because of the recent incident involving Goe-gun’s Wondrous Castle clashing with the Jinma Realm’s Jinzu Jinryeong Alliance, but I finally managed to catch the tail of Seo Eun-hyun!
The next instant.
Thud, thud…
A man wearing a golden long robe walked out from the darkness.
It is true, So-hae
Yes. Contrary to the prediction of the intelligence agency that the recent rampage by Goe-gun, who said he would hunt down all the dragons, was related to him, he was actually on the Jinma Realm side. The evidence is far more concrete than the ambiguous traces of Seo Eun-hyun that Goe-gun’s side had discovered during that time.
The Jinma Realm…!
Jeon Myeong-hoon, the man in the golden long robe, took the letters Geum So-hae handed him and examined them.
…I see. He clashed with the advancing human army
That is right.
…The time has come, So-hae.
Jeon Myeong-hoon’s eyes flashed.
It is time to capture the traitor.
Kwa-jee-jiik!
Jeon Myeong-hoon clenched his fist tightly.
Red lightning erupted from him.
Geum So-hae looked at Jeon Myeong-hoon with awe.
The past five years.
Jeon Myeong-hoon had succeeded in reaching the Integration Completion stage of the nascent soul realm.
