The Forgotten Tale of Seven Chapters
I nodded slowly. “Unrefined method, huh…! Even if you’ve never heard of it before, Senior, the thing is… this system originates from the Seven Kings. It’s never been popular, so it’s basically on the verge of going extinct right now.”
“….”
It seemed the Unrefined Method had not vanished after all.
‘Of course. Think about it—monasteries existed even in the lower realms.’
I stared at her for a long moment.
“…Enough. Stop.”
I exhaled and killed my killing intent.
If she were merely imitating Tae Yeol-jeon, it would be impossible to mimic her like this, down to the finest details.
Unlike Tae Yeol-jeon’s serene soul, hers was a broken, desolate one, as if it had been left to decay in the ruins of a temple.
“Tell me… what do you think about the Heart Tribe? For example… Venerable Jang Ik of the Heaven-Sinking Realm, or…”
“Ah, you mean those spy traitors?”
“….”
She could not possibly be Tae Yeol-jeon.
The moment I realized that, a headache surged and I sighed.
‘Ah… of course.’
I had managed to overlook the truth because the place was so neglected.
This room was the very one where I had once felt dizzy before Tae Yeol-jeon and stopped to rest.
Unlike last time, where countless murals had decorated the walls, not a single one remained this visit.
While scanning the room, my eyes landed on a familiar picture book I had seen before.
‘There it is… the picture book.’
This was the one Geongchi-gi had given me, centered on the story of Heaven.
All traces of Tae Yeol-jeon—her murals, her presence—had vanished, yet the Unrefined Method and this picture book still lingered.
Of course, the book itself looked ancient and neglected.
Pages were torn, and traces of insects gnawing through the covers were everywhere.
The table of contents was identical.
The fairy tale that had spread from the Water Realm.
Chapter 1: The boy who fished for loaches in winter to save his mother.
Chapter 2: The blind man prayed to the sky hundreds of times and regained his sight.
Chapter 3: The husband who lit a flame on his fingertip to cure his wife’s fatal illness.
Chapter 4: The poor old man who obtained a demon’s hat and became rich.
Chapter 5: The child banished from his hometown after the fox sister’s schemes met the Dragon King and learned how to reconcile with the fox sister.
Chapter 6: The old man who lived a full life and offered a thousand ceremonies to the sky to extend his longevity.
Chapter 7: The unlucky child who met the Jade Emperor and asked why he had no blessings.
These were fairy tales that had twisted and mutated slightly across the Water Realm, and even beyond it—throughout the Gwanghan Realm.
They were the same stories I had heard from the previous Hongin and Su-yeon: that every land where people lived carried this same tale, proving that the human world was universal.
Most of them carried the core lesson: “If you are Geongchi-gi, the sky will reward you.”
‘I remember when I heard this from my Master.’
It was the picture book I had found in the archive while seeking a way to overcome the Seven-Star Ceremony for Cheongmun Ryeong.
It carried an overwhelming weight of nostalgia…
‘…Wait.’
As I stared at the picture book and surveyed the empty temple where Tae Yeol-jeon had once stood, a memory surfaced.
‘There was something similar before.’
The back of my neck prickled with an inexplicable chill.
But the exact nature of that “something” remained frustratingly vague.
‘What was it?’
There had been something similar before.
Yet I could not recall what it was.
The moment I saw the picture book, it clicked.
“…Hey.”
“Yes, Senior!”
I turned to the woman in the temple.
“Do you know this fairy tale?”
“Ah… it’s just a common story. I once learned the Gwanghan Realm common language from my Master and read it for fun. It’s probably found in other sects’ deep archives, or even in ordinary households.”
“Hmm…”
My brow furrowed as fragments of memory tried to surface.
Something was about to come to me.
The picture book.
The vanished Tae Yeol-jeon.
This bizarre sense of wrongness.
“…This story. Is it the one that ends at Chapter 7? Shouldn’t it be Chapter 8?”
“Eh?”
I finally remembered the source of my unease while flipping through the Mansang Inyeondo.
I had definitely seen a picture book with eight chapters before, not seven.
The first story was not about catching loaches!
There was a missing chapter in this list!
And that missing chapter was important.
She scratched her head awkwardly. “Um… sorry, I don’t really know. Different regions probably have different versions suited to their own environments.”
“…Hm…”
Thinking about it, she was right.
The environments of the Gwanghan Realm and the Water Realm were entirely different. What had I been searching for?
Yet the bizarre feeling refused to fade.
Something was wrong.
I just didn’t know what.
‘That… memory! It’s gone!’
Thud. Thud. Thud.
My heart pounded violently.
I trembled.
What exactly had I forgotten?
Thud. Thud. Thud.
A dull ache spread through my chest.
‘…This is dangerous.’
A bone-deep chill crawled up my spine.
It felt far wiser not to think further.
Unlike when I had spoken of imperial titles to Seo Hyoel, the danger came from deep within my soul.
One wrong move and everything would be lost.
I would dig no deeper.
‘One day, when my realm rises, the memory will return.’
I decided to bury the missing recollection for now.
“…Understood. Then I’ll take my leave.”
I bowed to her and left the temple with a stiff expression.
“…I see.”
I finally understood Heon-won’s strange reaction when I told him I was joining the Tae-su Conference.
‘In this loop, Tae Yeol-jeon is gone.’
The precedent that allowed the Heart Tribe to join the Tae-su Conference had vanished along with her.
‘…Damn it.’
I understood why Heon-won had let me go so easily.
It was not simply because he lacked the courage to confront me.
‘…There was nothing special about the City of Trial, but once I enter Cheonin-do, the Heavenly Persons will certainly try to capture me.’
I did not know why, but history itself had twisted.
I could not fathom how such a thing was possible.
I was simply bewildered.
I calmed the trembling in my chest.
‘There is nothing I can do about it.’
Even if I recognized the bizarre twist in history right now, what could I possibly do?
‘First, I will do what I can.’
The goal of further refining the power of the Mansang Inyeondo became crystal clear.
When history twisted like this, how terrifying it would be if I forgot the truth.
My own history needed to be made unbreakable.
‘My plan remains unchanged.’
I would join the Tae-su Conference and be recognized as one.
Even though the existence of Tae Yeol-jeon had vanished and history had shifted, the power I currently possessed had not disappeared.
I left the temple and climbed to the ridge above the valley.
‘I will restore the Heart Tribe’s territory to the Four Pillars stage.’
After ascending to the Four Pillars realm, I would reconnect the severed Yin axis and reach the Integration realm.
Then, with the perfect Triple Taiji, I would enter the Tae-su Conference and become a Heavenly Person.
Who would dare block me?
The precedent was gone?
I would simply remake it.
I sat down and drew in qi with human effort.
Kwaaah—!
An enormous qi phenomenon howled, and the massive heavenly qi rushed in, causing an explosive boom. My previously stagnant realm began to rise toward the Integration stage.
Ku ruulung—
After enduring the tribulation of heavenly qi once more, I returned to the Heavenly Person realm, with only the core stage remaining.
The Heavenly Circular Seal became due.
The new seal was as follows:
Spring governs the birth of all things.
Summer governs the growth of all things.
Autumn governs the maturation of all things.
Winter governs the dormancy of all things.
There is nothing outside the merit of the four seasons.
Spring gives birth to all things.
Summer nurtures all things.
Autumn brings all things to maturity.
Winter returns all things to rest.
This is the work of the Four Seasons.
The cycle of spring, summer, autumn, and winter forms the Heavenly Circle.
Long, yet simple.
Yet I felt this seal fit the Heavenly Circle even better than the original High Name seal.
Weee—
The power of the Heavenly Person rotated within me.
The High Name seal itself felt harmonious with the Four Pillars realm, but this seal given as a gift from In-yeon felt complete within the Heavenly Person realm.
Though it may not harmonize perfectly with the Four Pillars, at the same level as the Heavenly Person realm, this seal was far stronger!
Wuuuung—
I felt the halo of the Heavenly Circle growing even clearer behind me.
‘This is…’
Zzzt!
While contemplating the halo, it struck me as if thunder had crashed down from the very top of my head across my entire body.
“This is…!”
Kkuguguk—
A sound like nails scraping echoed as the spinning circle of the Heavenly Circle seemed to separate from the world itself.
I recognized this feeling.
“The axis…?”
Weee!
Simultaneously, the qi flowing from my origin soul grew even stronger.
Yes.
This was yet another axis.
What was an axis?
It was a form of origin soul.
Unlike the origin souls created during the Origin Soul realm that imprinted the self, this was a specially imprinted origin soul that engraved a specific attribute.
In other words, the origin soul that maximized an attribute rather than a personality was the axis.
The method to obtain an axis from the External Law Origin Soul realm was to kill a sage of the same realm, shatter and compress their origin soul, and refine the axis from it.
The origin soul lay beyond the law power level, so separating it from the soul and compressing it carried no risk of the body being stolen.
One Four Pillars sage, one hundred Heavenly Person sages, and ten thousand Origin Soul sages were enough to produce an axis, but even a billion Core Formation sages could not create one.
The basic method to obtain the Five Elements Orthodox Origin Soul axis was to gather a massive amount of qi from the corresponding attribute, bestow offerings upon it at the law power level to create an origin soul, then connect it to one’s own.
Therefore, the axis had no fixed shape.
It was both a plane and a point, yet it was also three-dimensional.
If it were a human origin soul, it would take human form, but what shape should the origin soul of heaven and earth take?
The Five Elements, like the Five Treasures, had no predetermined shape, so the method of preserving axes differed among races, sects, and dispositions.
The Beast Tribe preserved it as the shape of the five viscera and six bowels, while the Heavenly Tribe preserved it as the shape of the law treasure.
Of course, like the name “axis,” most preserved it as a pillar shape, but that was not absolute.
The important thing was that the axis was a form of origin soul imprinted with an attribute rather than personality, allowing control of the axis with the principal origin soul created during the Origin Soul realm.
Yet I had become the axis itself.
It was an absurdly strange occurrence.
But my head ached with the paradox.
‘Why didn’t Seo Lip notice this?’
He had cultivated this seal for hundreds of years longer than I had.
He had received the enlightenment from Seo Lip, yet he never realized that the new Heavenly Circular Seal turned the origin soul into an axis.
In other words, Seo Lip had not realized that his origin soul had become the axis.
As I pondered the difference between me and Seo Lip, something brushed past my mind.
‘Heart.’
That was it.
Compared to me, Seo Lip’s ability to handle his soul was far weaker.
I did not know why, but I felt a strong connection between this new Heavenly Circular Seal and the heart.
‘Ah, I see.’
Weee—
The Great Desert Dead Sea Formation responded with perfect naturalness.
‘Seo Lip had unconsciously applied this seal to the Great Desert Dead Sea Formation without realizing it.’
The Great Desert Dead Sea Formation could not only draw in heaven and earth qi but also, in theory, steal the origin souls of others.
I would never use it that way, of course, but the method that turned an entire region into a desert by devouring heaven and earth qi so greedily was the Great Desert Dead Sea Formation.
If such a convenient evil art was possible, why had other races and sects not developed it long ago?
Seo Lip had unconsciously applied the seal to create the Great Desert Dead Sea Formation.
Because the seal turned the origin soul into an axis, it allowed the use of massive qi far beyond the same realm, and unconsciously absorbed heaven and earth qi through qi to inject it directly into the origin soul.
I stared at the origin soul within me that was releasing qi.
‘The reason the axis possesses qi is because it is itself a kind of “symbol” that forms part of nature.’
Of course, every object possesses qi, but the axis wields even more because it creates an origin soul from the symbol and maximizes qi within the symbol itself.
The problem lay here.
What exactly did this new axis obtained this time symbolize?
Kkuguguk—
I felt the qi gushing from my origin soul.
‘A seal that allows the use of Four Pillars power even at the Heavenly Person realm…’
Yet it did not harmonize with the other Four Pillars seals.
It was absurdly strange.
‘From now on, I must investigate this in greater detail as I stack more axes.’
Seven days and nights later.
I offered the Great Desert Dead Sea Formation and raised the Heart Tribe’s territory to the Four Pillars realm.
Kwaaah—
After enduring the tribulation, I revealed my brilliance with the immense qi surging through my body.
The qi obtained from the new Heavenly Circular Seal.
The qi obtained upon ascending to the Four Pillars realm.
The qi obtained from the Yin axis brought by the regression.
And the power gushing from the perfect Triple Taiji that had achieved full harmony.
It was clearly at the late Integration stage.
“Now… shall I go look for the Heavenly Person position?”
The precedent was unnecessary.
Permission was unnecessary.
If there was no Tae Yeol-jeon, I would simply become the first Heavenly Person from the Heart Tribe.
I prepared everything and ascended to Cheonin-do.
Thud.
Cheonin-do thrived as usual.
The voices of the bustling sages echoed across the city, and the market was packed.
I had reached the outskirts of the market.
Zzzt—
Killing intent pierced my entire body.
Step.
I took one step and naturally drew the Colorless Glass Sword.
My consciousness accelerated with unnatural speed.
The world slowed.
‘Three ahead, two behind, one on the left.’
My consciousness swept the surroundings rapidly.
The pedestrians passing me.
A law treasure vendor selling compass-shaped law treasures to customers.
An artist painting under a shade tent while receiving payment.
The Hyeon-gwi who had come to perform the mission of the Black Spirit Door, chatting with the people of the Black Spirit Door while carrying snacks in her mouth.
I was startled to see Hyeon-gwi, but it seemed coincidental, so I removed her from priority for now.
These were the ones within my two-zhang radius.
Outside the five-zhang radius: small children running everywhere, a group of sages examining the inspection law instruments, a Cha-ryeongsa promoting the Continuous Energy Method, and a group of low-rank spirit beasts resembling fluttering doves.
In the space of a single breath, an instant too short even for the word “instant,” I absorbed every movement within the five-zhang area into my mind.
But it was still insufficient.
The realm of the warrior grew even wider.
Ten zhang.
An old man carrying a flower basket scanning his surroundings.
A man testing a chariot-shaped law treasure, a acolyte reading a technique manual while holding an apple in one hand, lovers holding hands and smiling happily, and a Core Formation old woman with an expression as if her remaining lifespan had already been lost.
I calculated even the dust particles kicked up by their footsteps as trajectories in my sword path.
Twenty zhang.
Thirty zhang.
Forty zhang.
One hundred zhang!
Swaaaaah!
With the speed of light, I read every movement within the area and locked onto my target.
The world had slowed to a crawl.
The world had grown dark.
I shone my eyes dangerously within it.
And.
Flash!
The leader of the Human Alliance.
The Heavenly Person at the late Integration realm and head of the Tae-su Conference.
Jun-je charged toward me like a beam of light using his Buddha’s Light Technique in the frozen world.
[Well caught, Heart Tribe spy!]
I gave a bitter smile and moved my sword.
All six Heavenly Persons who had restricted Heon-won and myself charged at me.
The Heavenly Person battle had begun.