Chapter 269
**CHAPTER TITLE: The Great Tribulation and the Unexpected Resurgence**
The heavens, the earth, and the heart were three distinct cultivation methods. When combined, they granted a transcendent strength that allowed one to surpass an entire level within the same realm.
Take the Mountain-Cleaving Emperor Art of Bongrae Palace Master Heon-won, for instance. In its early Integration stage, he could already display power that rivaled the later stages of Integration.
But when one mastered all three—the heavens, the earth, and the heart—one could transcend an entire level.
Even I, who had only reached the Nascent Soul stage, could instantly shatter a Heavenly Person with a single strike.
Yet here was the strangest part of all.
I had practiced the heavens, the earth, and the heart… and still I had surpassed two entire levels.
How was that possible?
The answer was shockingly simple.
It was not three methods. It was four.
Heavenly Clan, Earthly Clan, Heart Clan.
And the monster—Goe-gun.
By inscribing his puppet circuits into my body, I had turned my flesh itself into a living puppet. In an instant, power exploded outward.
I gathered strength from the heavens and the earth, multiplied it with the heart, and then multiplied it again using Goe-gun’s method.
That amplified power was what pushed me two levels higher.
**Kwaaarrgh!**
With every swing of my sword, the Great Tribulation was severed cleanly in two.
If Kim Young-hoon had been slicing through the moment like a knife—splitting time itself so fast that even I could barely perceive the movement, cutting the Great Tribulation into countless pieces—
Then with every cut I made, I was producing far more of it than he could ever hope to match.
And still, the severed Great Tribulation kept flowing downward, cascading toward Jeon Myeong-hoon and Yeon Wi.
**Krrroooom!**
Jeon Myeong-hoon swallowed the Great Tribulation whole and immediately converted it into divine power, dividing it out to me.
Yeon Wi accepted the torrent, used her formations to conduct the Consoling Lightning Festival for her disciples, and carefully distributed enough thunderbolts for them to withstand.
**Kwaaak! Kwaak!**
The lightning hammered down without mercy, yet every strike was blocked by Kim Young-hoon and me, by Jeon Myeong-hoon and Yeon Wi, by the entire Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect.
Perhaps—just perhaps—we could actually hold the line.
Maybe…
If we kept this up, we would definitely succeed.
I told myself that.
Two days passed in that desperate state.
The Great Tribulation did not weaken. If anything, its pillars grew thicker and more massive.
***
Jeon Myeong-hoon’s face was as pale as death.
Yet he showed nothing.
His dantian was brimming with power, his cultivation already at the late Integration stage, and even if the pressure of the Water Realm’s dimension had not weakened his Four Pillars, he had more than enough qi to become a Heavenly Person right now.
But qi kept pouring in.
Not even his complete Four Pillars could form because of the Water Realm’s pressure, but even so, he needed at least one more pillar to accumulate the power he needed.
The vessel was full. Water could not enter.
Jeon Myeong-hoon used the Fiery Thunder Great Tribulation Technique until his qi ran dry, then passed what remained to Yeon Wi so she could pass it on to me.
But the speed at which qi was being forced in was far faster than the speed at which it was being used up.
And on the second day.
Seo Eun-hyun and Kim Young-hoon were holding on with Mountain Beyond Mountain is Endless and Infinite Stamina. Yeon Wi was bleeding from all seven orifices.
“Damn it… the body’s wavelength…”
No matter how forcibly she pushed her wavelength, all she had managed was to rush it through sheer willpower at the last second.
If she had simply fought at full power without forcing the wavelength, the issue might never have arisen at all.
But she had no choice. Even a single fraction of power withdrawn would let the Great Tribulation burn the entire continent to ash.
***
I’m going to die.
But I cannot stop.
I swung my sword again and again.
The moment I stop… it’s over.
Jeon Myeong-hoon’s body would burst the instant his qi was strained to its limit. If he collapsed, Yeon Wi would die to the Great Tribulation.
And if she died, I would die. So would everyone else.
Right now, I was the strongest.
The Great Tribulation, tuned to match the Heavenly Person realm, was filling in the gaps in the other three powers and amplifying itself even further.
But that was my limit.
Gradually… it is sinking.
I had used Mountain Beyond Mountain is Endless too many times.
If I kept going, nothing would remain but destruction.
I was going to die soon.
Then what must I leave behind?
I must burn my life force and sweep away every last drop of the Great Tribulation that falls from the sky beyond.
That was what I had to do.
I began preparing the One Destruction Leading to This Shore.
I gathered every ounce of power within my Nascent Soul.
Then I poured it all into my sword and unleashed it in a final, explosive strike—the technique of the living.
With this…
Could I reach the heavens?
I asked the Invisible Sword.
It answered.
I will cut.
…Good. That is enough.
As long as it could cut…
I thought that.
And then—
**Whoosh!**
To my surprise, Yeon Wi was the first to fall.
She coughed up blood from her mouth.
“Kuuk!”
At the same moment she could no longer stand in the Human position and collapsed. Her soul shot out of her body like a streak of lightning and flew toward Yeon-jin, who was still holding the line far away.
I dropped from the air, kicked away the rolling Nascent Soul body, and took my place in the Earth position.
Return!
I used the Heart method to send a message to Kim Young-hoon, who was still wielding the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder in the sky above.
Kim Young-hoon came to my side and adjusted his stance.
We three stood together and fought with everything we had.
Jeon Myeong-hoon swallowed the Great Tribulation and returned the power.
I gathered every last bit of the Great Tribulation, the Demon Clan, the Heavenly Clan, and Goe-gun’s method to prepare the final strike even faster.
Kim Young-hoon manipulated his Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder at an even greater speed.
The speed at which we were reaching the critical point now felt almost like we had already touched it.
But our limit was still this.
The Human position was empty.
With Yeon Wi gone from the Consoling Lightning Festival, the lightning grew even fiercer.
Without her to scatter the remaining bolts, the thunderbolts began to fall in thick, heavy sheets.
Is this the end?
I laughed bitterly and glanced at Kim Young-hoon and Jeon Myeong-hoon.
Kim Young-hoon was also preparing something big, but judging by his momentum, it wasn’t nearly strong enough.
And that was when we all decided that we had lost.
A familiar voice sounded in my ear.
Master, I will help you.
“…!? Hong Beom!?”
I was startled to see Hong Beom speaking inside the sealed Jade Bead around my neck.
How can you help? And how can you speak from inside a seal?
I recalled that Hong Beom had always saved me in desperate moments.
Tell me! What do you mean?
I am tearing away the seal from the inside. I can leave in a few days, but in this state I cannot. So I will give you advice!
Hong Beom had saved me countless times in critical moments.
What is it? Speak!
First, make sure the Consoling Lightning Festival is not interrupted. Only someone who can precisely control qi, not just any master, should handle it.
I looked at Kim Young-hoon.
Young-hoon-hyung, stand here.
I called him over and placed him in the Human position.
Jeon Myeong-hoon in the Heavenly position.
Seo Eun-hyun in the Earthly position.
Kim Young-hoon in the Human position.
The three of us stood upon the Three Realms.
Kim Young-hoon was not in charge of the entire Consoling Lightning Festival, but he was simply adjusting a little qi.
And then—
Something changed.
Hong Beom, something is changing in the Three Realms.
Hong Beom?
Surprisingly, Hong Beom sounded just as bewildered.
What? What do you mean?
Huh?
The moment the two of us were both confused—
**Pachichichi-chik!**
All of a sudden, through the Human position, Jeon Myeong-hoon’s qi began flooding in in massive quantities.
What!?
What is this!
Jeon Myeong-hoon and I were both shocked.
**Kwaaak! Kwaaarrgh!**
The Fiery Thunder Great Tribulation Technique he was vomiting out began to glow.
At the same time, four characters appeared above his body.
**Red Thunder Great Tribulation**
And right after—
**Paaaaat!**
Four characters appeared above my body.
**Extinction God Great Tribulation**
This is…
Not because of Hong Beom’s advice.
I could feel it clearly.
I glanced at Shattered Heaven Peak.
It was true.
The very peak itself.
The existence that had left a legacy here twelve thousand years ago.
His existence was guiding us.
The qi flowing from Jeon Myeong-hoon to me flowed straight into Kim Young-hoon.
Why?
I was wondering.
Suddenly, brilliant light burst from Kim Young-hoon.
What!?
What…!
Kim Young-hoon and I were both startled by the sudden change.
But the next moment—
I doubted my own eyes.
**Paaaat!**
Four characters appeared above Kim Young-hoon’s body.
**Golden God Heavenly Thunder**
Yang Su-jin’s words flashed through my mind.
Red Thunder Great Tribulation symbolized the original destiny of Yang Su-jin.
Extinction God Great Tribulation symbolized his own will to twist fate.
Golden God Heavenly Thunder symbolized the future in which he had succeeded in changing fate.
And Yang Su-jin had said he wanted to exchange his own name with that of another Jongmyeongja.
I recalled Yang Su-jin’s words that names were immutable.
Perhaps…
**Kugugu!**
The entire Shattered Heaven Peak began to shake violently.
At the same time, the power stream that had begun from the Red Thunder Great Tribulation started flowing toward me, then to Kim Young-hoon, and was being absorbed into the four characters that had appeared above his body.
**Uwoong!**
Gradually, the Golden God Heavenly Thunder above Kim Young-hoon’s body rose into the air and began to grow.
**Kugugu!**
The characters floated into the four directions of space, then stuck to the four sides of the sky and covered the entire domain of the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect.
I understood as I watched him.
The wish of Yang Su-jin that could not be fulfilled back then had been realized in a completely different way from what he had ever wanted.
I did not know what Kim Young-hoon’s name was.
Even now, there were too many things I did not understand about the Jongmyeongja, and I did not know why he wanted to exchange names with others.
Even just the Kim Young-hoon I had seen had lived far too many tragic lives.
But Yang Su-jin had wanted to exchange his own name with someone else’s.
He had sacrificed others to do so.
But the result was this.
The cultivation methods Yang Su-jin had created solely for himself were now being used by his descendants who lived only for others—and in a completely different form from what he had ever imagined!
**Kwaarrgh!**
When the Golden God Heavenly Thunder covered the heavens, earth, and four directions, the power of the disciples conducting the Consoling Lightning Festival surged at once.
The lightning festival they were performing became unimaginably powerful and was shot straight toward the peak of Shattered Heaven Peak.
**Paaaaat!**
The power of the Consoling Lightning Festival that had risen into the air weakened the Great Tribulation’s force far more noticeably.
But that was not the end.
**Kugugu!**
The qi Jeon Myeong-hoon was sending me increased.
Not just the amount.
It was being poured in endlessly, as if he was supplying power through the Golden God Heavenly Thunder character.
I blocked that massive flow of qi.
It was not just qi.
It was the endless, never-ending power that Jeon Myeong-hoon had accumulated while enduring the insane Great Tribulation.
I smiled as I felt that staggering amount of qi.
It can be done.
With this, I could reach the Heavenly Person realm.
**Kugugu!**
I pulled in every last bit of power.
And in my Nascent Soul’s complete Integration state, I began to wrap that madness-inducing power around my Nascent Soul.
And finally—
Thanks to the infinite power that Jeon Myeong-hoon had been pouring out, I finally reached the critical point.
“…Finally.”
Today.
I reached it.
I reached the realm of the Heavenly Person!
**Kugugu!**
A massive vibration erupted from deep inside my body.
And so I began the ascent to the Heavenly Person realm.