Seo Hyoel's True Self (2)
The Muddy Soul Filling the Heavens had begun to erode the world.
It was a subtle erosion that even the saints who were the masters of their own worlds could not perceive the changes within their domains.
Over four thousand years of relentless, full-scale invasion by the Muddy Soul Filling the Heavens!
Everything in the world had begun to laugh in the face of that invasion.
Mortal beings bound to their fleeting lives.
Ascetics walking the path of salvation.
Supervisors managing the sites.
And the monstrous entities dwelling in the wild regions.
All of them stared toward one place, their lips curling into faint, knowing smiles.
That place was where the stone structures they had labored for four thousand years to build stood.
Everyone smiled toward those structures.
Fwaaah!
At the center of the circular formation.
There, something was projected.
Woo-woong-
It was the form of Samokdo.
The miniature form of Samokdo was projected beneath the sky of the Gwanghan Realm, growing smaller and more distant with each passing moment.
Yet the form was slowly being absorbed by the culture, the rituals, the very life and history of its inhabitants, and its boundary began to grow faint.
Then came the moment Seo Hyoel began to laugh.
Woo-woong!
The fading form of Samokdo suddenly grew sharp, expanding in size once more.
Not only the Gwanghan Realm.
The Goryeok Realm, the Purple Gold Realm, and the Jinma Realm, all currently being eroded by Samokdo, responded in the same way.
In those realms as well, monsters gathered in the wild regions and built structures. At the center of each, the form of Samokdo was projected, and they were now in the process of absorbing Samokdo into the Gwanghan Realm.
But at that exact instant!
Drrrrrr!
Following Seo Hyoel's will, the form of Samokdo swelled to an unimaginable degree, and Samokdo truly rose into the sky above the wild regions.
Weeeeing-
The outer borders of Gwanghan, Jinma, Goryeok, and Purple Gold.
The wild regions were completely enveloped by Samokdo's authority, and under the influence of Seo Hyoel's Muddy Soul Filling the Heavens, each middle realm began to split away from the others.
When Gwanghan invaded the Jinma Realm back then, they had eroded the Jinma's demonic energy into the heavenly energy of the Gwanghan World using the Gwanghan Palace, transforming the Jinma into something Gwanghan-like.
In the same manner, the aura of Samokdo eroded the earth of the Gwanghan Realm and the other middle realms.
Chiiiing-
It was a glass-colored flame.
The glass flame rolled over the beings of the wild regions who had been captured for forced labor, covering them like a wave. Soon they were breathing in the heavenly energy of Samokdo and the glass evolution of the wild regions.
By the time the saints of the middle realms realized what was happening, it was already too late.
Kugugugug!
The vibration of Samokdo, tearing away the wild regions of each middle realm as a mighty beast devours tender meat.
Choraraarak!
Thousands of tentacle dragons erupted from Samokdo.
They wove glass evolution around them and drove the Samokjinok Spiritual Jade into every location.
Just like the Gwanghan Palace, the Samokjinok overturned the heavenly energy and spiritual veins from the roots, beginning the erosion.
And in that single instant.
Kuddddddd!
Earthquakes struck the wild regions of every middle realm.
Baek-woon, furious, forged a spear of clouds and hurled it toward Samokdo.
Haerin crushed the dragon king's armrests and stirred the deep sea.
Ban-ta, radiant, spat rays of light from his mouth.
Jasen thought intently, his brow furrowed.
But none of them could stop Samokdo's erosion of the middle realms.
Without the knowledge of even a rat or a bird, once they realized it, the erosion had already claimed its prize.
That was the nature of the Muddy Soul Filling the Heavens.
Chiji-ji-ji-
Portions of the middle realms were torn away by Samokdo, and under the saints' shared fury, Seo Eun-hyun of Samokdo laughed.
[At last... it is complete.]
Kugugugug!
Some regions of the middle realms.
And nearly two thousand eight hundred worlds within the Bottom Sea Realm.
After almost five thousand years, a portion of Seo Eun-hyun's plan had finally been completed.
The Artificial Middle Realm Project.
A human-made middle realm crafted through the authority and abilities of Haebangbaeja, Kim Yeon.
Although it lacked the absolute power and grandeur of a true middle realm, it was far more crude and humble, its scale was now unmatched.
Woo-woooong!
At the same time, from the center of Samokdo, Seo Eun-hyun finally took a step toward the next phase by utilizing the reinforced scale of Samokdo.
Flash!
The star of the deceased Seo Eun-hyun gradually dimmed its light, its volume beginning to expand.
Seo Eun-hyun half-closed his eyes at the center of the star.
[Jeong.]
With that single short word he uttered, the "light" of Samokdo itself changed.
The light that had only ever shone honestly now shone with even greater intensity.
Seo Eun-hyun recalled the years.
The four thousand years after he had reached the peak of the Star Plate Realm, the period he had acquired the Eight Dao authorities and desperately blocked the erosion of the four middle realms through them.
Those years had passed.
And along with the years, he had refined his abilities and now held within his grasp the entire set of principles from the peak of the Star Plate Realm, including the principle of Honesty.
If the principles of the early Star Plate Realm, the Three, Moon, Sun, God, and Inverse, distributed the world's light equally,
then the principle of Honesty from the middle of the Star Plate Realm was to shine the world's light honestly.
[The authority of Star Plate saints all originates from light.]
The Eight Dao authorities they wielded.
In other words, the ability to freely manipulate the eight concepts that made up an entire world was all derived from the power of light.
Therefore, to grow as a saint was to grow the power to wield light.
[It is almost over.]
Light was an indispensable element in life.
Light was everything to living beings.
It was a blessing and grace, the guide that allowed countless beings to survive in the world.
For that reason, saints gained the authority to manipulate the lives of beings by providing them light instead.
Seo Eun-hyun realized that because he had been supplying light honestly, he could now manipulate the fate of Samokdo honestly.
[Now we are in the late Star Plate stage. The time for Gang-keul.]
The principle of Gang-keul was to supply light strongly.
To supply powerful light, grace, and blessings to the living beings of Samokdo, and to gain the authority to forcibly control their lives even more powerfully in return.
That was the training of the late Star Plate stage.
To influence someone's fate and history, one must first grant that person grace.
[From the late Star Plate stage onward, one can enforce one's own world with even greater power, making control over the world far more precise.]
Seo Eun-hyun opened his eyes, showering Samokdo with even more light, blessings, and fortune.
The vast middle realm that had become Samokdo through Seo Hyoel now lay completely within his grasp.
[We are one step away from even the Integration Grand Completion... but it is still possible right now.]
Seo Eun-hyun's eyes sparkled.
Generally, to advance from one realm to the next, one must first reach the Integration Grand Completion.
Yet that was only the standard path.
[Advancing directly from the late stage to the next realm is also possible.]
In the late Foundation Establishment Realm, one could construct twenty-one constellations, complete more than three-quarters of the heavenly pattern, and challenge the Golden Core Realm immediately.
In the late Core Formation Realm, one had already mastered the energy of the physical body and completely refined the entire body into an altar, allowing one to challenge the Nascent Soul Realm.
In the late Nascent Soul Realm, having completed the Yin-Yang Gods and the Five Phases, one could challenge the Heavenly Person Realm directly.
Even the Heavenly Person Realm, despite lacking the principles of the Three Sovereigns or the Gwanghan Heavenly Venerable, could advance to the next realm because it had already completed the Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter.
The Four Pillars Realm likewise had no problem challenging the Integration Realm because the Heavenly Shield was completed in the late stage.
In truth, all realms could advance to the next realm in the late stage even without reaching the Integration Grand Completion! The success rate simply dropped.
[If combined with the power of Samokdo... it would be possible to reach the Fissure Opening Realm immediately. And with that...]
Seo Eun-hyun smiled faintly.
He had broken through the impossible difficulty and reached this realm with the Twin Sun of the Heavens Star Plate.
Therefore, even if one reached the Fissure Opening Realm as a Celestial Race or Earth Race, the remaining realm would still be within the Star Plate.
Thus, he was the only being in the Ilwol Cheonyeok who could perform the duties of a saint even though he had reached the Fissure Opening Realm!
[Once we reach the Fissure Opening Realm... combined with Samokdo's authority, we could even touch the names of the heavens.]
Just as other true beings had done by uniting their strength, Seo Eun-hyun would also be able to "prophesy."
[Then my plan will definitely succeed.]
[It is not impossible. But...]
Seo Eun-hyun looked toward Seo Hyoel, who had helped him complete the artificial middle realm with the Muddy Soul Filling the Heavens.
Seo Hyoel still did not seem to sense Seo Eun-hyun's gaze.
No, perhaps he sensed it but was pretending not to.
[I cannot read his true intentions.]
Although Seo Eun-hyun could read the thoughts of all beings within the realm, he could not read Seo Hyoel's true inner thoughts.
Those thoughts existed only in the deepest core of the Muddy Soul Filling the Heavens, the very heart of Seo Hyoel.
Apart from that, the only thoughts Seo Eun-hyun could read were Seo Hyoel's internal thoughts filled with thoughts of sea cucumbers and the eels prepared by Oh Hye-seo.
[...What a food-obsessed fool. How could his head contain nothing but such things?]
Seo Eun-hyun whispered a joke toward Seo Hyoel, though Seo Hyoel would not have heard it.
He assumed Seo Hyoel still could not sense it.
[The fool is not trustworthy.]
A gap was inevitably created during the Fissure Opening Realm advancement.
The question was whether Seo Hyoel would remain silent during Seo Eun-hyun's advancement or attempt something.
The greatest problem was that Seo Eun-hyun could not know which.
After a moment of thought, Seo Eun-hyun finally made his decision.
[...Good. For now, I will challenge the Fissure Opening advancement ritual.]
But...
He would keep that secret from Seo Hyoel and his followers.
He would complete the Fissure Opening advancement without anyone knowing, secretly.
[The path to advancement... the Earth Race path would be best.]
Advancement along the Celestial Race path would be complicated and require many procedures.
If it were only an explosive Earth Race advancement ritual, it would be far simpler.
[With my current state, of course... the time required to reach the Fissure Opening Realm would be roughly between one thousand eight hundred and two thousand years.]
Seo Eun-hyun calculated the timeline and smirked.
[Probably the day I reach the deepest core of Seo Hyoel's Muddy Soul Filling the Heavens.]
Would Seo Eun-hyun succeed in advancing without anyone noticing, reach the deepest core of the Muddy Soul Filling the Heavens, claim everything of Seo Hyoel, and reach the end of all his plans?
Or would he be discovered midway by Seo Hyoel and meet one of the moves the latter was preparing?
That was the decisive strike.
[I know what you are preparing, Seo Hyoel.]
Seo Eun-hyun's eyes gleamed.
Since some point, Seo Hyoel had been pretending to cooperate with him while searching for the split soul of Oh Hye-seo, Oh Hye-seo, who had left Seo Eun-hyun's grasp.
[The location of Seo Hye was almost within Seo Hyoel's information network.]
It seemed he was trying to connect with Seo Ran through Seo Hye, but Seo Eun-hyun smiled faintly.
[Too late, Seo Hyoel. Seo Hye has already almost completed the Muddy Soul Filling the Heavens for Seo Ran.]
No matter what he thought, Seo Hyoel would not obtain what he desired.
Seo Eun-hyun thought so and divided himself into two.
The existence of Seo Eun-hyun had split into three streams.
The Celestial Race, the Earth Race, and the mortal Seo Eun-hyun.
And among them, the mortal Seo Eun-hyun used the Transcending the Path to Hide in Heaven toward the Earth Race Seo Eun-hyun.
The Earth Race Seo Eun-hyun's existence reached the pure realm, becoming nearly erased from the world.
Thus, the Earth Race Seo Eun-hyun who had hidden from everyone's eyes began.
He began the Fissure Opening advancement.