The Severing of Heaven (1)
The vow was ancient.
Yet it remained vivid in my heart even now.
That day had been the moment my Mansang Inyeondo reached completion.
“From this day forth, do you swear to love one another?”
“Yes. From now on, I will become Yeon’s feet.”
“From now on, I will become Suin’s eyes.”
The two children who had entrusted me with officiating their wedding after I showed them a little kindness while they were dying were now dancing in Seo Hyoel’s grasp.
For their sake, I began to bloom flowers of sincere consolation.
Pasasasasasasa—
Baekran Chukseongmun began to blossom across the entire Ilwol Cheonyeok where the Mansang Inyeondo had been scattered.
“In your next life as well, may the love between you two continue.”
“Yes. Thank you.”
“Truly… truly…”
The two figures had looked at me and smiled brightly.
“We are grateful for your kindness.”
And then light burst forth from that scene.
The Mansang Inyeondo trembled, and the suffering the children and I had felt back then surged toward Seo Hyoel.
At the same time—
Flash!
The very reality in which I had once blessed the two of them was recreated in this world.
The reality manifested by Yeon-ui Yeon covered the sky, and my wheel turned, twisting history.
At the same moment, the two souls that had been seized by Seo Hyoel—one pulled into the Water Realm, the other into his grasp—had their misfortunes twisted.
Flash!
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwang!
A tremendous explosion erupted in the Myeong Realm.
History was rewritten.
At the same time, an enormous pain washed over me, yet I endured.
And then…
Seo Hyoel’s expression that followed was quite a sight to behold.
Never before had my name burst from Seo Hyoel’s mouth with such urgency.
Probably never.
And from the center of the explosion, I saw a single pinkish mass of light.
Wi-i-i-ing!
One soul that had been in the Water Realm was now flying toward Seo Hyoel’s grasp, the two of them spinning together due to the rewriting of history.
The very reality I had already “connected” was now imprinted upon the world.
At the same time…
I sensed an enormous power covering the universe.
Suin and Hongyeon’s souls became one.
As though they had always been one from the beginning.
Somewhere…
The scent of apricot blossoms began to drift.
In an instant, I found myself in a place resembling a peach blossom paradise filled with peach trees.
And from behind a large peach blossom tree, I heard someone laughing.
Sarak—
A finger emerged from behind the peach blossom tree.
Immediately after, I felt goosebumps rise all over my body.
‘This is… Gwanghan…!’
Naturally, the only being that would appear in such a situation was the Cold Lunar Heavenly King.
Yet what made me shudder was not the being itself, but the authority of an entirely different caliber it radiated.
“Someday… let us meet again…”
And then, a voice like that of children echoed in my ears.
It was a voice that seemed to be a fusion of Suin’s and Hongyeon’s.
Perhaps because their souls had always been one, or perhaps because I had blessed them this time.
For some reason, I felt that the next time I met them, I would encounter them as a single entity.
That was when it happened.
“For your kindness, I shall answer with kindness of my own.”
A voice that warmed the heart flowed swiftly into my chest.
And I felt an enormous power rising from the area around my lower dantian.
‘This is…!’
Gwanghan Cheonwon!
The Gwanghan Cheonwon I had obtained before was resonating madly.
The Gwanghan Cheonwon, which contained the realization that the four seasons and the four directions were alive, and that the entire world was therefore alive, wrapped around me in a brilliant ray of light.
‘This is…’
Cheonwon!
For a moment, I saw a sky filled with peach blossom petals before my eyes.
* * *
“Mm, mm-mm!”
I felt Kim Yeon urgently shaking my shoulder.
It seemed I had momentarily lost consciousness, unable to withstand Gwanghan’s blessing.
I understood the nature of Gwanghan’s blessing.
It was a simple effect.
Simply…
“For your kindness, I shall answer with kindness of my own.”
To the kindness I had shown this world, an equal measure of “dignity” was granted in return.
Kurung, kururururung!
Cheonjeop began to gather around me.
The cultivation of the Heavenly Tribe path, not the Earth Tribe path, began to resonate with the power of the Gwanghan Cheonwon.
At the same time, I felt the star of the Heavenly Tribe path, once a red giant, compressing.
The star of the Heavenly Tribe path, now a white dwarf in an instant, continued to rise in rank.
‘In return for kindness, one receives dignity…’
I smiled faintly.
‘So this is indeed the strongest Heavenly Lord.’
My plan was entering its latter stages.
Seo Hyoel’s brainwashing waves, deprived of Gwanghan’s gravitational support, visibly weakened and began to falter.
At this rate, it seemed absolutely impossible for him to awaken the Water Realm.
Yet complacency was forbidden.
‘Wait. After the final ritual… I will save you.’
A universe rose within the Mansang Inyeondo.
The true reason I had scattered the Mansang Inyeondo across the entire universe was not only to erode Seo Hyoel, but something else.
This universe.
All the living beings of the universe.
Those pitiful ones who could not even ascend to the Middle Realms…
To give them a chance.
Uuuuung!
The universe that had risen inside the Mansang Inyeondo began to gradually compress.
The end of the universe I had once witnessed began to unfold before my eyes.
Gwanghan’s gravity had vanished, yet Ilwol Cheonyeok was already saturated with it, on the verge of universal contraction.
If left alone, Ilwol Cheonyeok would now be completely destroyed.
And the countless living beings who had failed to ascend to the Middle Realms would meet the end of their lives just like that.
Yeon-ui Yeon recreated the spacetime of that time.
The spacetime manifested by Yeon-ui Yeon was visible only to my eyes.
If ordinary people were to see this… they would surely go mad.
The sight of the universe contracting into a single point and perishing!
And I used that entire scene as the misfortune of Myeonsingeobcheon, spinning my wheel with all my might.
Though the scene was invisible to anyone but me, perhaps its aura could still be felt.
The saints and venerables, led by Saintess Baek-woon, unleashed an unprecedentedly fierce assault upon Samokdo.
Kurururururung!
Heaven and earth trembled, and the entire Gwanghan Realm moved to strike Samokdo.
It was not only the Gwanghan Realm.
The Goryeok Realm, the Jinma-gye, the Purple Gold Realm.
All four Middle Realms themselves were moving, madly shaking Samokdo.
No matter how artificial a Middle Realm it was, if the true Middle Realms themselves continued to strike it, it would not last long before being destroyed.
Moreover, I spotted a presence that had already infiltrated Samokdo and bared my teeth in a white grin.
“It has been a while, Master.”
“Indeed.”
It was Jang Ik.
Jang Ik smiled, his eyes blazing as though they were on fire with assimilation.
“I am ready. Come at me.”
“My apologies, but right now…”
Without another word, Jang Ik launched an attack.
Kwaaaang!
Hamseonmyeolcheon struck me directly on the head.
Yet I smiled faintly and looked at Jang Ik.
For some reason, Jang Ik wore a slightly unnerved expression.
“…You blocked that with your teeth? You madman…”
Indeed.
Now, even Hamseonmyeolcheon, Jang Ik’s greatest technique, was at a level I could simply bite down and stop with my teeth.
“Fine, then.”
Jang Ik’s eyes grew serious as he floated four cleavers into the air.
“It seems grappling won’t work, so I’ll just show you directly.”
Kiiiiiing!
The four cleavers overlapped into one.
And in an instant—
Paaaat!
I understood why Jang Ik had never shown me this technique until now.
Everything before my eyes was filled with a green light.
Indeed.
Jang Ik had intended to test his fighting spirit against the end of this entire Ilwol Cheonyeok at the time of the apocalypse.
Paying respect to his madness-filled fighting spirit, I countered with the strongest technique I had been perfecting until now.
The next moment, a green flash engulfed the entirety of Samokdo.
* * *
The saints madly struck Samokdo with the Middle Realms, gritting their teeth.
“Jang Ik has entered. Since he has staked his life, an opening will appear!”
Baek-woon cried out, pounding on Samokdo like a madwoman, her face pale with panic.
But then—
Flash!
A green flash seemed to settle upon Samokdo, and then the inside fell silent.
Seeing this, Baek-woon’s face lit up with joy.
‘Did Jang Ik succeed!?’
“He did it!”
Immediately after—
Baek-woon and the saints’ faces twisted once more.
Uuuuung!
From inside Samokdo appeared Seo Eun-hyun, looking somewhat unwell.
Baek-woon gritted her teeth and began drawing upon the power of the Gwanghan Realm.
And Seo Eun-hyun smiled faintly, spreading both arms wide.
At the same time—
Paaaat!
A brilliant radiance burst forth from around Seo Eun-hyun’s body.
* * *
Jang Ik’s strike had been formidable.
Yet he could not surpass me.
It was not because of my pure realm of martial arts.
However…
This time, I did not feel ashamed of having reached this point through pure martial arts.
Upon these shoulders rested the fate of the entire Ilwol Cheonyeok.
‘Here I go, here I go!’
Kugugugugugu!
The wheel was spinning faster than ever before.
I drew upon every authority of Samokdo and cried out.
The moment the past scene of the universe contracting into a single point and perishing appeared in this Ilwol Cheonyeok—
I threw myself with all my strength against the fate of the end.
Deeeeng—
From somewhere, the sound of a temple bell rang out.
At the same time, a terrifying light exploded across the entirety of Ilwol Cheonyeok, where the end had been gradually approaching due to my Dharma-Destroying True Word.
It felt as though the entire world was being violently shaken.
I instinctively realized that I had twisted the very laws of the universe.
[Ha… hahaha…]
Seo Hyoel wore a stunned expression as he beheld the result of my work.
My companions wore bright expressions as they read the heavenly secrets.
The saints, shocked, sent frantic messages to me.
It was done.
The end of Ilwol Cheonyeok had been postponed.
The contracting gravitational force of the universe reversed its course and began to expand once more as the laws shifted.
Not a single living being in Ilwol Cheonyeok had been sacrificed to the end.
I had succeeded in saving everyone.
Now, only one remained.
Looking at Seo Hyoel, who was desperately drawing upon all his strength while clutching the Water Realm, I entered the final stage of my plan.
Uuuuung!
At the same time, Seo Hyoel’s figure rose within my Mansang Inyeondo.
It was the Seo Hyoel of a previous life, who had charged into the Water Realm, achieved his goal, and then become a blue earthworm.