The First Day of the 18th Loop
I opened my eyes and sorted through my thoughts.
“Seo Eun-hyun.”
‘Again… dead?’
“Seo Eun-hyun.”
It had been a good life.
“Seo Eun-hyun!”
It had been painful…
“Hey, Seo Eun-hyun!!!”
And.
I.
sensed something.
‘…Huh?’
“…Jeon Myeong-hoon?”
Looking at Jeon Myeong-hoon staring at me from the side.
Hong Beom.
Yeon-jin.
“…Where is this?”
My pupils shook.
This place was an eerie night sky above a strange sea dotted with constellations I had never seen in my life.
At the center of that night sea floated a tiny island, and the sky was gradually filling with endless years, about to collapse.
“…Huh??”
I blinked in confusion, eyes wide.
“What?????”
“Eh? What are you talking about, Seo Eun-hyun?”
“Master, are you unwell? Please tell me.”
Jeon Myeong-hoon and Hong Beom gave me worried looks.
I clutched my head in distress.
‘The regression point… fixed again…?’
It was too baffling.
Moving between dimensions.
Climbing from the lower realm to the upper realm.
I had done both before.
But never had a regression point become fixed.
Yet this time it had.
‘Why???’
My head felt about to split from confusion.
And this place was…
‘The inside of that weird parasite’s belly?’
Of all places, why fixed here?
‘No, actually, this is good.’
I quickly calmed my mind.
I wanted to observe my emotions without the rush.
But danger loomed right in front of me—Heon-won.
Ku gu gu gu gu!
The world was collapsing at an alarming rate.
We boarded the flow of people rushing toward the Gwanghan Realm.
If we went this way, we would meet Heon-won again.
Why had the regression point not fixed somewhere closer to Heon-won?
I pondered while nearing Gwanghan Realm entry.
‘There are three forces guiding me. The Ascension Platform’s flow. The Seopmyeong Ship’s flow. The Seonju Jin-eum’s flow.’
Heon-won was holding on at the Ascension Platform.
But the Seopmyeong Ship and Seonju Jin-eum… knew nothing.
‘First, Seonju Jin-eum… isn’t the way.’
Because I didn’t know what would happen if we linked with an immortal beast, I had to be cautious.
Black Dragon Jin-eum and the memory of being burned by Oh Hye-seo’s glass dragon light made me extra wary.
I stared at the flow led by the Seopmyeong Ship.
‘Is this related to the Myeonggwi Realm? Or Black Ghost Valley?’
Either way, I had to be careful.
After a moment’s thought, I chose the Ascension Platform’s flow.
‘It’s fine. I know almost nothing about the other two. According to the Sect Master, once we leave Geongon City’s central region, Heon-won won’t pursue us. So I’ll head to the more promising side first.’
I took a clump of flesh from my pocket and hurled it toward the Seopmyeong Ship’s flow.
Woo woong!
It was original.
I embedded a Gigoego inside the original’s body and would later track its location if it entered another dimension through that flow.
‘With that, I’ve prepared everything I can do right now.’
I looked at Jeon Myeong-hoon, Hong Beom, and Yeon-jin.
“Once we enter the Gwanghan Realm, use full power to leave the central region of Geongon City. Got it?”
“Huh? Why?”
“Just do as I say. The odds are high that Heon-won’s eyes will roll back and he’ll chase us.”
“Hmm, because of my wanted list?”
“Not my wanted list… because of the madness in his mind. Anyway, if the Sect Master’s words are true, he won’t come out beyond the central region, so we need to flee quickly.”
“Hmm, actually, since we’ll enter your Yuan-tong Dao, it might be better for you to flee alone.”
I had already unfolded a Yuan-tong Dao that could hold energy or people—Jeomuldo—and prepared for the dimensional veil’s shock.
Kwa aa aa ang!
We broke through the dimensional veil.
As soon as Jeon Myeong-hoon touched the Ascension Platform after my signal, I grabbed Hong Beom and Yeon-jin and jumped into the Yuan-tong Dao I had unfolded.
After folding the Yuan-tong Dao, before the Sachuk stage inspectors could notice us.
I quickly raised the Triple Taiji and entered the stationary world.
In that state, I immediately spun my feet.
Pa aa aa ang!
I rushed out of Geongon City like a madman.
Using the sky path I had learned from Gyubaek long ago, I successfully broke through the city’s blockade.
‘If I fly another fifty thousand li, I can leave the central region.’
I instantly covered ten thousand li, then twenty, then thirty thousand.
And finally, after crossing forty thousand, only ten thousand remained.
Ku gu gu gu gu gu!
‘Oh no, Heon-won’s coming!’
I broke out in cold sweat at the eerie killing intent from behind and pushed my speed even harder.
At that moment.
Woo wo wo wo wo woong!
“!?”
The distance in front of me—between the end of the central region and myself—suddenly began to stretch.
At the same time, I saw Heon-won chasing me from behind.
Chuk, chuk, chuk!
Heon-won wasn’t using spatial folding.
Each step he took simply caused space to fold.
He was chasing me with the technique of pinning down gravity.
‘That’s an Integration stage….’
I only had combat power at the Integration level.
I didn’t possess the ‘skill’ that Integration stage experts had.
They said that from the Integration stage onward, one could freely bend space.
It seemed he was trying to trap me this way.
Boo woong!
I lifted my Colorless Glass Sword toward the space in front of me.
And slashed it down in that state!
Boo woong, kwa aa aa ang!
The distorted space was torn apart, revealing empty space.
I entered the empty space and ran like a madman toward the end of the central region.
Ku gu gu gu gu!
A massive palm-shaped qi wave containing yin-yang energy shot toward me from behind.
I didn’t fight back—I simply used all my strength to dodge his strike and nearly reached the edge of the central region!
‘Now!!’
At that moment.
Boo woong!
An ominous feeling brushed my back.
I couldn’t ignore it and turned around.
And I flinched.
Woo wo wo wo woong!
Surrounding Heon-won, an oval-shaped dimensional veil formed and spread, chasing me.
‘Damn it!’
Heon-won had expanded his own domain.
I instinctively understood that if I was swallowed by that domain, it wouldn’t matter whether I left the central region or not.
I intensified my acceleration.
My head felt like it would shatter!
My upper burner was about to explode!
But I didn’t stop—instead, I released my entire body’s qi and increased my speed even more.
Ku gu gu gu gu!
Yet his domain, which resembled the dimensional veil endlessly, was already closing in on my feet.
‘Faster!’
And at some point!
Pa aa aa aa!
I finally felt that I had left the central region of Geongon City.
‘The qi of the dragon vein has changed!’
Heretic cultivators divide territory into domains.
But saint cultivators divide their own domains according to the qi of the dragon vein and split regions.
And I finally left the dragon vein zone flowing with the unique qi of the central region of Geongon City!
‘Now I’m free from Heon-won’s reach!’
I smiled triumphantly and looked back.
As the Sect Master had said, Heon-won’s domain was still writhing inside the central region without crossing outside.
‘Now that I’ve escaped Heon-won….’
Just as I thought that.
Woo wo woong!
I saw Heon-won’s domain shrinking.
“!”
It grew smaller and smaller, shrinking to the size of Heon-won’s body.
And the shrunk domain fit his body shape perfectly, as if he had put on clothes.
I continued at full speed without stopping, unease in my heart.
And Heon-won, who had “worn” his own domain on his body, emerged outside the central region with a grim expression!
‘Sect Master, you useless human!’
Weren’t you saying he wouldn’t come out?!
He actually did come out!!!
Pa aa aa aa!
Heon-won began chasing me with spatial folding.
Because he was an Integration stage expert, his speed alone chased me quickly.
Even spatial folding was originally for long-distance movement, so the distance with me, who was running straight, kept narrowing.
‘Just a little more, just a little!’
I squeezed every ounce of power from my body and fled from him.
Over countless mountains and rivers, through eerie swamps, and over snow mountains and lava zones.
Heon-won chased me madly for half a day, and soon the distance between us shrank to within ten li.
‘Damn it, damn it, damn it!!!’
And that was the moment I felt death approaching.
Pa aa aa aa!
Up!
Heon-won, who had been chasing me relentlessly, suddenly stopped in place.
‘Isn’t he going to chase anymore!?’
But I saw black-and-white lines of qi enveloping his two hands and clenched my teeth.
‘He’s about to attack!’
Ku gu gu gu gu!
Qi of yin-yang from heaven and earth swirled.
And the five elements qi blocked the five directions.
[Taesan!]
“Hwaaa aaa aaa aaa!!!”
I raised my Colorless Glass Sword toward the jade of yin-yang and five elements with all my might and swung it.
[Yeolje!]
Ku kwa kwa kwa kwa kwaang!
Heaven and earth shone white.
And with only a hair’s breadth difference, I pierced a hole in the jade of yin-yang and five elements and barely escaped outside the attack range of the Taesan Yeolje.
Because the attack range was much smaller outside the central region, and the durability of the yin-yang five elements jade was quite weak, this was possible.
Pa aa aa aa!
I continued fleeing like a madman, and after he fired his attack, I realized he no longer chased me.
‘Good… it’s good.’
Probably the attack he had just fired wasn’t meant to catch me anymore—it had been a warning shot.
***
Cough, cough, cough!
Drip, drip drip…
Integration stage expert, Heon-won looked at the blood flowing from his mouth and furrowed his brows.
“Sect Master… if it weren’t for that monster….”
Chiiiii-
Inside the blood he had spilled, yin-yang qi twisted and writhed uncontrollably.
“I must return to the central region of Geongon City. My qi and blood have started twisting again. And….”
Heon-won’s eyes looked toward the place Seo Eun-hyun had fled.
“That guy needs a new wanted list.”
Crunch!
Heon-won grabbed at empty space and began pulling it.
At the same time, the coordinates he had planted in Geongon City began to twist as he connected to them.
Ku gu gu gu gu guk!
Pereng!
Space crumpled, and a spatial gate opened between Heon-won’s location and Geongon City, linked to the coordinates.
Heon-won returned to Geongon City and began absorbing the qi of the central region, shouting.
His voice shook the qi of heaven and earth, echoing across the entire city of Geongon.
“Sachi stage inspectors of Geongon City, listen up. All of you stop your current tasks for a moment and enter the spatial gate I created. Register as new citizens in Geongon City, then go capture and bring back the fugitive who fled by refusing to register. He is extremely vicious—if he resists, you may kill him!”
Following his order, fifteen out of the thirty-six Sachi stage inspectors in Geongon City began moving to capture Seo Eun-hyun.
Heon-won thought.
‘No matter how hard he fled from me, an Integration stage expert, the aura he felt was at the Cheonin level. After drawing out that much qi, even if he’s at the Cheonin stage, he won’t be able to defeat these Sachuk stage experts. For someone like me, who has limited movement distance, fleeing by burning his life might be possible, but if he’s not a same-level expert, that level of power definitely won’t be able to stop him….’
Even fleeing would be no easy task.
He had already lost a lot of strength while running from me.
Heon-won sat in lotus position, waiting for Seo Eun-hyun to be brought before him, and began circulating qi and absorbing yang.
***
Pa aa aa!
How far had I fled?
I was now so far that I couldn’t even see Heon-won’s traces.
I exhaled a sigh of relief and finally stopped in place.
‘Huu… finally….’
After that, I stood still and gasped for breath.
‘I succeeded in escaping.’
But the moment I escaped danger, the confusion I had buried until now exploded like wildfire in my chest.
‘Why… why did the regression point fix?’
I racked my brains and recalled the common point between the regression fixing in the previous loop and this one.
‘Su-gye.’
Yes.
The fixing of the regression point occurred right after breaking through Su-gye.
If this happened twice, I could only think there was some connection between Su-gye and the regression fixing.
And thinking about the regression fixing, I felt all kinds of emotions boiling in my chest again.
‘…Ah, I see.’
Sururuk…
Jin-hwi, Hong Su-ryeong, and other precious people.
Geum Byeok-ho, Geum Jin-chan, Geum So-hae, and other people I could have saved.
Now I would never meet them again.
No matter if they were different people from my previous life.
No matter if I had thought of them as different people.
Somehow, I had unconsciously identified with them.
I cried at the thought that I would never see them again.
‘Thank you.’
Still, there was no regret.
I had clearly done everything I could.
And because the time had fixed, it meant all the actions I had taken until now were not simply vanishing into the void of time.
In my heart, I had already offered mourning, sorrow, and apology to those who had died, and deep gratitude to those I had saved.
Just as I closed my eyes and observed my heart.
Ku gu gu gu gu gu!
With a sound like tearing air, thirteen saints flew around me and surrounded me.
“You brat. In the world you lived in, even if you acted like a Cheonin expert, everyone would give you an inch. But you came to the Gwanghan Realm and are causing such a ruckus!”
“Surrender quietly and come with us. If you resist, we will subdue you by force!”
“It seems the Taesu managed to squeeze out all his power to flee, but the Lord of Geongon City intentionally didn’t chase you because he knew you would suffer severe internal injuries if you left the central region.”
I looked at the noisy ones and chuckled.
“…Target set.”
“Hm?”
“What did you say?”
I crossed my arms and sorted through my emotions, planning my goal.
‘This life’s goal is… to obtain the Taesan Yeolje Art. And… since I stabilized Jeon Myeong-hoon, now I must protect Changhoja to save Oh Hyun-seok.’
Changhoza would die at the hands of the Hyeol-eumgye Jonja.
So what should I do to prevent that?
Prevent Changhoza from meeting the Hyeol-eumgye Jonja.
‘The war between the Demon Realm and the human races will end soon.’
The Demon Realm Taesu will start a counterattack, and the human races will be pushed hard.
Oh Hyun-seok was currently in the Demon Realm, so I could call him back to the Gwanghan Realm.
‘And in this life, I will survive for a long time. I must observe Kang Min-hee’s state, Kim Yeon’s mental management, and Seo Hyoel’s schemes as long as possible.’
Taesan Yeolje Art.
Preventing Oh Hyun-seok’s mental collapse due to Changhoza’s death.
And long-term survival as this life’s goal.
I looked up at the fifteen Sachuk stage experts pressing me down with a sinister smile.
“And… to call back Oh Hyun-seok, the power of the Human Race Total Alliance will be needed. But to exert that power on the Human Race Total Alliance… first….”
I pulled out the Colorless Glass Sword from my mouth and chuckled.
“My reputation needs a little more, right?”
Now that all the Integration stage Taesu of the Heavenly Races were bedridden because of the Heavenly Tribulation Lord’s aftereffect.
If I showed Taesu-level power right now, the Total Alliance would want to recruit me, whether Heon-won liked it or not.
“You cheeky brat. The Taesu said if you resist, he can kill you….”
Kwa aa ang!
A light bullet fired from the fingertip of one Sachuk stage expert shot toward me.
It looked weak, but it was a strike carrying enough power to kill a normal Cheonin expert instantly!
And I swung my Colorless Glass Sword at him.
Kwa aa aa ang!
Space split, and the Sachuk stage expert who had fired the light bullet with the light bullet.
He didn’t even have time to react and was halved in two.