Heavenly Sky, Grant Me Strength
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I wonder if I have truly gone mad.
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The countless gazes directed upward from below, filled with expectations and faith, felt incredibly vivid to me.
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The storm clouds above remained stubbornly thick, yet even after the ceremony concluded, I felt no pain or disappointment.
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My master climbed onto the altar and patted my shoulder firmly.
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“Let’s try again next time.”
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You have believed in me time and time again.
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I nodded and smiled back at him.
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Though my mind may have been that of a madman, the countless eyes gazing up at me from below felt like the stars of heaven itself.
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The stars of heaven had never met me.
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But with my own strength, I had succeeded in gazing upon the stars of this world.
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“I will try once more.”
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My master continued calculating the heavens and stars beside me.
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And I once again calculated the stars and performed the ceremony again.
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Heaven had blocked me countless times, but I had challenged it countless times as well.
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And at some point.
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Kim Young-hoon and the others rose into the sky with a sword gang.
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They were saying they would open the heavens for me!
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However, the sky still shrouded in clouds remained high above.
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After flying a certain distance, the qi condensed in the sword would inevitably deplete, causing them to fall back to the ground.
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Of course, I could not fly directly to the heavens during the ceremony.
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If the officiant left the altar, the ceremony would immediately end.
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On rare occasions, I had asked countless human forms for assistance, and thousands of swords had been sent flying toward the sky.
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However, even this time, before reaching the clouds, the qi had depleted, and the swords had fallen.
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After trying several more times, I even sent thousands of sword gangs condensed into a single blade soaring into the sky.
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Although this allowed me to reach the heavens, once I arrived at the cloud-covered area, the qi had been completely exhausted, leaving me with only the power of a single ordinary sword gang.
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And with that level of power, I could do nothing more than slightly shake a massive storm cloud.
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Even the shaken areas saw the storm clouds thicken further, and failure followed once more.
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‘Failure, failure, failure…’
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Yet I smiled.
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The repetition of endless failure.
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But I had continuously advanced one step forward, based on that failure.
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My altar grew taller with each passing day, and the number of human forms that had materialized increased accordingly.
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Heavenly sky.
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I do not give up.
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“Heavenly sky, grant me strength.”
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Permit me.
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Now standing atop the altar that had become nine zhang tall, I looked up at the storm clouds and stared at the heavens.
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* * *
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In the 36th year of my regression.
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My technique for sending swords farther and farther had gradually improved.
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Thanks to this, when I condensed a massive sword gang and sent it toward the sky, the resulting shake appeared even more pronounced than before.
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Still, it was insufficient to disperse those distant clouds.
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Yet I smiled.
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Step by step like this.
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I would gradually approach the heavens.
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* * *
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In the 37th year of my regression.
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I suddenly realized that something had changed in my Dragon Vein Qi Gong.
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I had successfully materialized five thousand human forms and was filling them all with sword gang.
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I recalled that in ordinary martial arts inner energy cultivation methods, it was impossible to handle such immense inner energy.
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‘What is this? Why…?’
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I had refrained from using my Dragon Vein Qi Gong for a while, during which time I noticed a faint pressure and suction force emerging from the center of my dantian.
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This suction and pressure caused the inner energy to compress even further, increasing the total amount of inner energy.
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Suddenly, I realized that this phenomenon was faintly similar to what the Woldowolmurok described.
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It was so.
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I had now reached the very edge of the Five Qi Consorting with the Origin realm.
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‘After two lifetimes of effort, I finally reached this…’
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Kim Young-hoon had probably already reached the peak of Entering Heaven with a Saber in the Woldowolmurok by now.
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Perhaps he had even found a clue beyond Entering Heaven with a Saber.
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But I thought, “What does it matter?”
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‘Why…’
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For some reason, Kim Young-hoon no longer appeared so high.
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The same was true for the heavens.
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“…Perhaps.”
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I suddenly looked at the altar I had built.
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The altar was now fifteen zhang tall.
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Approximately forty-five meters.
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An immense size.
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I slowly ascended the altar and performed today’s ceremony.
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Kuuuuwuuu!
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Once again, the storm clouds advanced.
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I shot a massive amount of compressed inner energy toward the sky.
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This time, the heavens shook more noticeably.
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Of course, they still showed no gaps at all.
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I smiled, revealing this.
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“Heavenly sky… Can you see?”
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This lowly insect.
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Gradually shaking the heavens.
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Will you truly not grant me permission?
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Heavenly sky.
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Look, someday you must grant me permission.
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Watching the heavens’ shake, I smiled at my beloved master.
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* * *
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Time flowed once more.
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I refrained from using the swords.
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And with a gradually clearing mind, I observed the human forms gathered around me.
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‘How can I make them send sword gangs even farther?’
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I had once enjoyed them materializing, but upon sober reflection, it was not that they had materialized, but rather that my sword-sending skill had increased through endless practice, allowing me to control more swords.
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However, even if the number increased, even if the technique improved.
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There existed a limit to how far I could send swords.
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Recently, with pressure centered in the dantian and inner energy increasing, the limit had expanded slightly.
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But it was only a slight expansion.
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The fundamental problem remained that beyond a certain distance, qi control became difficult, and inner energy consumption increased dramatically.
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I asked the human forms around me.
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“How can I make you stay far from me?”
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I asked Kim Young-hoon.
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“Hyung Kim, you must know. How can I make the swords go even farther? What exactly is the principle behind sending the sword gang far?”
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Kim Young-hoon simply smiled and gave no answer.
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I knew it myself. Since Kim Young-hoon was merely an illusion of my own, I could not provide an answer I did not know.
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So I pondered alone, endlessly.
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How should I do it.
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How could I send my power all the way to the heavens.
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I calculated the stars while simultaneously pondering how to send the swords even farther.
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Time passed, the technique improved, yet the fundamental problem remained unsolved.
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But the human forms gradually materialized more and more clearly.
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* * *
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Suddenly, I thought of something.
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Why had the human forms in my heart materialized.
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‘Because I missed them, right?’
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Then, were the ones currently materializing fake?
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‘They are my illusions.’
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If everything was an illusion, were these human forms meaningless?
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‘They are not meaningless. Through the power of illusion and madness, I have reached the peak of Five Qi Consorting with the Origin.’
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Why did the illusion affect reality?
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“…The illusion did not affect reality.”
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I answered myself.
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“These human forms are all the connections I have had together with me. My precious people. Therefore, it is my connection that has influenced them.”
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Since my connections had already crossed to another time stream, were they not the same as nonexistent?
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“…They are different. Even if the connections disappeared… I remember everything they left behind. All… are connected within me.”
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Why were they connected within me?
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“That is….”
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I raised my head.
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The one I had been conversing with met my eyes.
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“Because they are parts that compose me, myself.”
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I had previously thought this.
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Humans cannot exist alone.
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Humans are born, grow, and die within the framework of “us.”
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Therefore, ‘I’ is not composed of me alone.
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Yes.
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The countless illusions I had seen until now were actually me.
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Whoosh!
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Countless human forms were absorbed by the being before me.
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The being before me became clearer, as if visible to the naked eye.
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It was me.
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I smiled at myself.
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“If everything I thought was divided was part of me, would your martial arts not be the same?”
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“…Correct.”
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Until now, I had been immersed in madness and illusion, recalling countless past figures.
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But they were all merely aspects that composed me.
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And if those aspects that compose me move and wield the sword.
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Can I not wield the sword as a complete me?
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“Have you gained enlightenment?”
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“Yes.”
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“Is it not schizophrenia?”
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“Haha, that does not seem to be the case.”
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“Then, let’s try.”
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I looked at the ‘me’ standing before me, smiled, and reached out my hand.
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Sword gang spurted from my hand.
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The other me before me extended both hands.
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The sword gang spurted from my hand began to change within his hands.
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At the same time, I could see the face of the me standing before me.
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Countless faces passed before the me in front of me.
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Among them were those I had killed, those I had hated, those I had missed, and those I had cherished deeply.
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There were enemies, subordinates, comrades, and disciples.
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And my master as well.
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Suddenly, I recalled that night when the countless gazes looking at me had felt like starlight.
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Those countless starlights had been inside me.
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The starlights inside me gathered into my palms.
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Countless sword gangs converged and merged into a single point.
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Within my hand, the most beautiful star in the world was born.
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I handed that star to the other me in front of me.
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Finally, I understood Kim Young-hoon’s words that there was “life” within me.
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Beyond inputting actions into the sword, finally “filling oneself.”
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That was….
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“Entering Heaven with a Saber!”
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Reaching the end of all peaks and finally looking at the sky!
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After my entire past life and this life.
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After two lifetimes of complete effort.
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In the 40th year of my regression!
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After approximately one hundred years!
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I stood up.
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Time was approaching once more.
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The sun set and stars rose.
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I looked at the altar I had built.
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The altar reached sixty zhang.
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An altar built over tens of years.
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Hadn’t it finally become time to touch the heavens?
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I held the star in my hand and slowly ascended the altar.
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A complete night had arrived.
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I began the ceremony again.
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“I, Seo Eun-hyun of the human path walking the path of cultivation,
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After climbing the star altar in a hemp cloth and wild clothes, inspecting the terrain and paying respects to the Seven Stars, I call upon the southeast wind to blow the incense!
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I offer incense to the Twenty-Eight Constellations and Six Ding Six Jia between heaven and earth, each opening a direction!
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The Azure Emperor God of the East, Eastern Jia Yi, responds to the Horn, Neck, Dipper, Room, Heart, Tail, and Net, blooming the form of the Azure Venerable and piercing it!
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The Red Emperor God of the South, Southern Bing Ding, responds to the Well, Ghost, Willow, Star, Bow, Wing, and Chariot, blooming the form of the Yang Venerable and piercing it!
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The White Emperor God of the West, Western Geng Xin, responds to the Dipper, Lou, Stomach, Hair, Tail, and Horn, blooming the form of the White Venerable and piercing it!
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The Black Emperor God of the North, Northern Ren Gui, responds to the Dipper, Ox, Girl, Void, and Wall, blooming the form of the Yin Venerable and piercing it!!
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The Central Yellow Spirit God, Central Wu Ji, blooms the Yellow Spirit Flag in order of the Five Directions.
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After Seo Eun-hyun has cut his nails and scattered his hair, let this incense burn!”
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Holding a wooden shell with an incense seal in my right hand,
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Holding an incense burner made by carving a stone in my left hand,
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I recited the ceremony toward the star constellations of the sky.
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Among the Twenty-Eight Constellations, I chose the one matching me and offered incense to the Seven Stars.
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“I, Seo Eun-hyun of the human path wishing to walk the path of cultivation!
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I beseech the Seven Azure Venerable Stars, the Horn, Neck, Dipper, Room, Heart, Tail, and Net….”
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I danced the ceremony dance while staring at the Seven Stars.
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And I handed the small star in my hand to the me watching from the side.
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I myself, smiling, received the star.
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And the me who had received the star was sucked into the star.
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I pulled the spiritual energy of the altar.
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“Grant this small star the opportunity! Let this incense burn!
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Heavenly sky, grant me the spiritual nature of heaven and earth!
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Heavenly sky, grant me strength….”
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Kurlung, kururung….
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And, as expected, the heavens were once again covered by storm clouds.
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I extended both arms toward the sky.
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The starlight created by humans, into which I had inserted myself, began to rise toward the sky.
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The qi of the starlight was not consumed in such a huge amount.
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Because I had already inserted another me within it.
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Myself, controlling the qi perfectly and reducing consumption to zero.
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The star slowly rose toward the sky and finally reached the clouds.
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Heavenly sky,
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Heavenly sky,
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Heavenly sky,
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“Heavenly sky….”
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I had shouted it countless times.
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“Heavenly sky!!!!!”
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Toward that massive darkness.
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“Grant me! Power!!”
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I shouted thus.
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And light burst forth.
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The starlight exploded, piercing a hole in the sky.
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The clouds tore in a circular shape, and the starlight of that sky began to fall below.
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If intelligence is heaven-sent, is the sky moved?
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The sky was not moved.
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It simply existed as is.
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Then, crawling like an insect, I had no choice but to reach it!
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The star pills I had created exploded, and a torrent of light rushed in.
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And the me I had inserted within them.
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The countless connections I had inside looked down on me from the sky.
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The Kim Young-hoons of my past life, my disciples, my master….
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They smiled at me from the sky.
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With both arms extended toward the sky, I accepted the spiritual nature of heaven and earth falling upon me.
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This moment I had practiced and imagined countless times.
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I would not miss it.
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Moving my meridians and absorbing the spiritual nature of heaven and earth, I looked up at the sky with my two eyes.
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“Heavenly sky!”
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I had won.
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I completed the Seven-Star Ceremony and successfully reached the 8th layer of Qi Condensation by surpassing the 7th layer of Qi Condensation.