Thunderous Revelation
The interior of the ancestral hall was pitch black.
At the same time, the influence of formations that blurred perceptions spread throughout the surroundings, making it impossible to tell where one was and where another was.
Without the clues Geum Byeok-ho had given me, I would not have been able to locate the ancestral hall of Geumsincheonroemun in just a few months.
I extended my consciousness and inner perception outward, carefully deciphering the structure of the hall while avoiding the formations' interference.
After some time, I entered the hall and headed toward the bookshelf area.
“…Nothing remains here.”
I clicked my tongue.
It was exactly as I had thought.
Because the Geumsinheonroe Sect had completely taken over Shanghe and carried away every important item from the sect's treasury.
Even the ancestral hall had barely a few volumes left on the shelves.
“Let me check. Records regarding Yang Su-jin, the Geumsinja…”
Still, what I sought was there, and without hesitation I seized a book and began to read.
The founder of Geumsincheonroemun, Yang Su-jin.
The information I found here was not vastly different from what I had read in the imperial library of the Seongje Kingdom.
The finer details differed slightly, but the overall picture matched what I already knew.
Of course, there were also shocking facts recorded with absolute precision.
“…He ascended to Shanghe, tore through the void, and returned to this world after all.”
How many years had it taken Yang Su-jin to ascend, how many more to tear through the void and descend into this realm? Such details were meticulously documented.
According to this record, it had taken roughly three thousand years for him to ascend once more and return.
‘Three thousand years…’
It seemed short compared to the twelve thousand years since the start of history, yet even the Gregorian calendar on Earth only spanned two thousand years.
What kind of time concept was three thousand years, exactly?
‘Still, I can confirm that Yang Su-jin created the Ascension Gate.’
The records also clearly stated that the Ascension Gate was something the founding ancestor had made.
Of course, the spatial instability that originally allowed rifts to form was present, but the fact that a clear passage to Shanghe had been opened for the first time was noted.
‘I wanted to read more about the Ascension Gate… After this section, I suppose I’ll just open it and find out how he built Geumsincheonroemun and how he governed it.’
I turned the pages with a slight sense of regret.
Then, at the very end of the book, my brows furrowed.
‘Yang Su-jin… disappeared in his later years?’
I had never imagined that a record in the hall would state so boldly that the sect’s founding ancestor had vanished.
‘Well, it’s cleaner than those rumor compilations filled with nothing but speculation…’
Disappeared.
A master who had reached the Heavenly Person realm and ascended.
He had torn through the void and descended into this world at an even higher level… and simply vanished?
I flipped through the pages once more, but all that the sect’s exhaustive search across the entire continent and oceans had turned up was the same phrase: no trace of the progenitor could be found.
I closed the book and pulled out another one.
This one documented the succession of past sect masters and their family branches.
I hoped there might be something useful and skimmed through it, but there was nothing of value, so I set it aside and opened the next.
It was the same—another compilation of “last words” left by the sect’s successive leaders.
‘They took every document that could be useful or that held the sect’s secrets… and only left behind what ordinary people could read.’
I felt a growing irritation, yet I kept turning the pages, hoping something useful might still appear.
‘A compilation of the last words of every former sect master of Geumsincheonroemun? I’m reading this…’
Suddenly, while flipping, my hand paused.
Since the founder had vanished, there were no final words, but the very last sentence he had spoken before his disappearance was recorded.
—Nowhere is better than home. Does any disciple of the sect have a home in their heart?
‘Home…’
It was part of a speech given just before his disappearance.
For some reason, my eyes were drawn to the opening line of that speech: “Nowhere is better than home.”
Then I shifted my gaze to the closing sentence.
—Every person has their own home in the heart. We must strive to reach that home.
“So… strive to reach home…”
And according to the record, Yang Su-jin had vanished just days later.
‘He went looking for his home?’
I stared at the lines for a while longer before closing the book.
My mind grew complicated with the thoughts it had stirred.
With a heavy heart I reached for the next volume.
It too resembled the last words of the sect masters.
This time it was not words of farewell but a collection of maxims and warnings left for future generations.
I read the warning left by the first sect master, Yang Su-jin, for the descendants.
—For your future generations, before challenging the Void Gate and ascending to Shanghe, read the stone tablet that the current sect master erected in front of the Void Gate and must absolutely guard it. This rule must be observed by all future ascenders of Geumsincheonroemun. Remember it, must remember it.
The “Void Gate” here clearly referred to the Ascension Gate.
‘A stone tablet in front of the Ascension Gate…’
—…Leave something for the future generations, release your heart, and ascend. Those who fail to do so shall suffer calamity.
This was the stone tablet suspended in the air that absorbed the thunder of the Heavenly Tribulation.
‘Yet the upper part is damaged, so I have no idea what exactly he wanted them to leave behind…’
I clicked my tongue softly. Regardless of what it was, I could only guess that the warning had not been properly observed.
‘Perhaps it was something prepared for the future generations… but this time the entire sect ascended to Shanghe, so maybe it doesn’t matter.’
After all, it had been twelve thousand years ago; it was doubtful anything could have been protected for so long.
I did not know the original content of the stone tablet, but it had at least been dealt with successfully.
I read the book and turned my gaze toward the next one.
“Hm? This is the final volume.”
It seemed the Geumsincheonroemun had taken everything needed with them when they left.
The hall truly held no books.
I seized the last volume and began to read.
It was unexpectedly a manual on the secret arts of Geumsincheonroemun!
The secret arts of the sect were the Yuliae Eye.
It relied on a cultivator’s sense of the Dao of Heaven and Earth to predict tomorrow’s weather, how thunder would strike, and where.
“…What am I supposed to do with this?”
I could practically feel the frustration of the Geumsincheonroemun cultivators who had decided it was trash and left it behind.
Knowing the weather was something even ordinary masters and demon masters could manage, and using a demon master’s senses one could locate the position of thunderbolts even without such arts.
No, if the cultivator’s inner vision was even a little sensitive, they could calculate the exact spot of a falling thunderbolt just by observing the flow of spiritual energy.
‘Wait, no.’
It looked as though the manual had been created specifically for masters whose inner vision was somewhat dull, to calculate the position of falling thunderbolts by analyzing the flow of spiritual energy.
It was an ambiguous art, clearly intended for weaker cultivators.
“…”
I briefly glanced at the book, skimmed it quickly, and stored the contents in my mind.
‘Who knows if I’ll ever need it.’
After all, how often did one actually get struck by lightning in cultivation?
Even if one did, any cultivator skilled enough to use the art to predict the location and avoid it would simply defend with their own power.
If one lacked the skill to use the art, one could neither block nor dodge lightning.
I closed the last book and searched the hall once more.
As expected, nothing remained.
“…I had expected to spend a few years here in a grand manner, yet I finished everything in a single day.”
Not a single day’s worth of books, but all of them—fewer than ten volumes in total.
There was nothing useful to gain.
I obtained nothing about the Ascension Gate, only a vague and eerie guess about Yang Su-jin.
I left the hall and continued exploring the scattered areas of Shattered Heaven Peak.
I sensed the presence of the vast sect and traces of countless lives.
Yet the entire peak was empty; even the spots where grand buildings had once stood left only foundations, no walls, no foundations visible at all.
It seemed the sect had compressed itself and ascended together, dragging entire structures away like roots.
There was nothing worth seeing.
“Hah…”
I collapsed onto the edge of the peak where a building had once stood.
‘If this is the case, perhaps it would be better to head straight to Seo Ran.’
Originally I had come to the Great Mountain Range to investigate Geumsincheonroemun in detail over the remaining two years plus.
I had not expected such a disappointing harvest in such a short time.
While I was sorting my thoughts, I suddenly realized the spiritual energy at the very summit of Shattered Heaven Peak was extraordinarily dense.
‘Thinking about it, this was once the site of an enormous sect hall; how could the spiritual energy here be anything but rich?’
It was several times denser than the main residence of the Cheongmun Clan.
‘If this is such a good training ground, and I have to think about it, maybe I don’t need to return to Seo Ran right away…’
After all, Seo Ran’s preparation would take another three years; I had only come here because Geumsincheonroemun existed in this location.
If I went to Seo Ran now, I would have nothing to do except cultivate.
Then why not cultivate here, where the spiritual energy is even denser than at Seo Ran’s residence?
‘Yes, challenging the Foundation Establishment would be far easier in a place like this.’
I circulated the restored Pure Force from the fourteenth layer of Qi Condensation while thinking.
A spiritual cloud swirled inside my dantian.
The decision was swift.
I entered the nearby cave that Geumsincheonroemun disciples had used, sat down, and assumed the lotus posture.
‘In the past year I spent my time cultivating the Wind-Calling Responding Dragon Transformation. For the remaining time, I must test whether I can truly reach the Foundation Establishment realm.’
Spiritual clouds moved within the dantian.
Raising the dantian to the Foundation Establishment realm meant condensing the spiritual clouds into a single spiritual star.
It was only when the Pure Force was condensed into the shape of a star that one could ascend.
The spiritual clouds gradually rotated, then began to condense into a single point at my will.
Kugugugu—
Spiritual clouds converged on the center of the dantian.
As concentration increased, they were compressed to form a single star!
Kukuk!
Under the force of will, the spiritual clouds were compressed, and the temperature at their center rose.
At the same time, the dense spiritual clouds began to merge with one another.
Once the fusion of the spiritual clouds inside the dantian was complete and the star had stabilized, one could ascend to the Foundation Establishment realm.
But.
Crack, crack…
Cracks appeared in the star.
“!”
Flash!
For an instant the spiritual clouds inside the dantian blazed like fire, then the newly formed star exploded.
Kwaaak!
“Guaagh!”
I forced myself to suppress the explosion, barely preventing it from tearing my dantian apart.
Thanks to that, the Pure Force within my internal dan returned to its pure state, but my face was twisted in pain.
‘Failure again.’
I had to capture that faint change at the exact moment the star was born and stabilize it.
Yet because I possessed the Five Spiritual Roots, the spiritual energy inside my body was chaotic, and the number of “faint changes” was overwhelming.
With so many variations, it was impossible to catch them all.
“Huu…”
I sighed and examined the state of my dantian.
All the spiritual clouds had been exhausted, and my level had dropped back to the twelfth layer of Qi Condensation.
‘Annoying.’
With the help of the Foundation Establishment Pill the difficulty of ascending would drop dramatically.
The Pure Life Force inside the Foundation Establishment Pill would infuse the spiritual star, greatly stabilizing it.
But I knew exactly what the “Life Force” inside the pill was, and the idea of consuming it felt repulsive.
‘No, it’s not just repulsive.’
That was something a normal person would never swallow.
And once I reconsidered, a laugh escaped me.
A madman attempting to challenge the Foundation Establishment without the pill, despite having only one Spiritual Root.
Unless one was a Heavenly Spiritual Root cultivator, who among the masters had ever ascended to the Foundation Establishment realm without the pill?
Even cultivators with two Spiritual Roots would struggle; the number of faint changes produced by the spiritual star would be too many and shake it apart.
Heavenly Spiritual Root cultivators would still use the pill.
Every time the number of Spiritual Roots increased, the number of accompanying changes multiplied by the square of that number.
As the wielder of five Spiritual Roots, I faced variations equivalent to four times that of an Earthly Spiritual Root cultivator.
‘Damn it.’
I gritted my teeth and clenched my fists.
That was why I had deliberately cultivated demonic arts such as the Wind-Calling Responding Dragon Transformation to open a path.
Yet now that I had mastered the demonic arts, the truth I had learned was:
The demonic arts performed inside the internal dan and the Foundation Establishment performed outside the dantian were completely unrelated.
‘They do not influence each other at all.’
Like oil and water, they flowed separately.
Just as a cow sees a chicken, the two energies had no connection whatsoever.
In the future, if I gained further insights, there might be some relationship, but for now it appeared there was none.
‘Well, the only consolation is that every time I attempt the Foundation Establishment, the explosion purifies the Pure Force within my internal dan.’
I sighed and began condensing the point of Unity and Response once more from the twelfth layer of Qi Condensation.
Several months passed.
I tried again and again to ascend to the Foundation Establishment.
Time and again my dantian exploded, and I groaned in agony.
The great advantage of training in a dense spiritual energy region was simple:
As long as one understood the principle, one could recover to the thirteenth or fourteenth layer of Qi Condensation at any time and challenge the Foundation Establishment repeatedly.
Uuuung!
The number of faint changes from the spiritual star was already in the tens of thousands.
After stabilizing all tens of thousands of variations and maintaining the fusion of the spiritual clouds, a spiritual star would be born.
That was the Foundation Establishment realm.
Yet I could barely perceive those terrifying changes, let alone avoid missing any.
After catching and stabilizing tens of thousands of faint changes smaller than grains of sand.
Only then could I stabilize the fusion of the spiritual clouds and allow the spiritual star to form.
‘Damn it, the difficulty is too high.’
A cultivator with one Spiritual Root would probably be fine if they suppressed just one or two changes from a single attribute and stabilized them.
But as the wielder of five Spiritual Roots, I was the end boss.
Even with triple or quadruple acceleration using Ganghwans, I could barely keep up with observing the changes.
‘Well, the only hope is to increase the number of Ganghwans and accelerate the thoughts further.’
My consciousness had grown to the extreme of the fourteenth layer of Qi Condensation and was already slightly too large for the Foundation Establishment realm.
Accelerating thoughts in addition to the size of my consciousness made the acceleration far greater.
Even greater than that of Kim Young-hoon, who had not yet mastered the sword art!
‘Perhaps if I could control nine Ganghwans like Hyung, I might have a sliver of hope.’
Kwaaak!
The fusion of the spiritual clouds failed, the explosion occurred, and my dantian burned with pain.
Cough!
I spat a mouthful of blood and stabilized my injury with circulating energy.
Failure once more.
The more I failed, the more my thoughts turned toward raising my martial arts realm to accelerate my thoughts.
I also began to think about demonic arts alongside martial arts.
‘Martial arts are clearly similar to the demonic arts of the yokai.’
Of course, only similar.
The attributes were strictly different.
Just as the wings of insects and the wings of birds were completely different, they had undergone convergent evolution into two entirely distinct things.
Yet the results were the same.
‘Therefore, reference is possible.’
The demonic arts and the sword arts were completely unrelated.
But a cultivator lacking talent who tried to advance to the next realm would need mutual aid from martial arts.
And martial arts were similar to demonic arts.
Uuuung!
A Ganghwan appeared from my heart.
I activated the sense of earth that the yokai felt.
Now that the yokai’s senses had become familiar, it no longer pained my head.
It was not painful.
It was almost the same as the first time I had perceived the principle of heaven and earth.
The spiritual energy of heaven and earth.
The cycle of yin and yang and the Grand Ultimate entered my vision.
The Grand Ultimate was seen circulating everywhere between heaven and earth.
No, it was felt.
All heavenly spiritual energy circulated continuously, with yin and yang rotating.
I had succeeded in controlling three Ganghwans by interpreting the changes from yin and yang as humans.
Uuuung!
Just as the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, the Ganghwans split into Qian and Kun, and life force was born between them, becoming the Ganghwan symbolizing humanity.
‘With nine Ganghwans, what principle must one comprehend to reach it?’
I recalled the extreme limit of Deungbongjogeuk that Kim Young-hoon had reached in his previous life.
At first I had simply admired his talent.
I had no time to think about the principle.
But when I reached the stage of wielding Ganghwans, I had no idea how he had done it.
‘Even…’
Kim Young-hoon had not been enlightened by the advice of the yokai nor awakened the yokai’s senses.
‘He simply possessed talent and compressed the principles of the Three Calamities into the Ganghwans, wielding nine of them?’
It looked insane now.
But I gathered my thoughts again.
Talent was merely the speed at which one understood.
If I could only understand what he had understood, then I could follow him!
“…I have decided.”
I inhaled deeply, condensed the Pure Force of Unity and Response, and rose from my seat while still in the thirteenth layer of Qi Condensation.
“I cannot waste time here. I must go see Hyung.”
I would teach him the sense of the yokai formally, explain the Wind-Calling Responding Dragon Transformation, and allow him to gain inspiration.
Tadat!
I left the cave on Shattered Heaven Peak, kicked off the sky, and ran toward the direction of Yeon Kingdom.
When I arrived in Yeon Kingdom, I once again used the subordinates’ water of the Jin Clan Estate to contact Kim Young-hoon.
The moment I sent a message through the water, he arrived at my location in a single day.
“Haha, how long has it been!”
“It has been a long time. You have risen quite high in this world.”
In the meantime Kim Young-hoon had teamed up with the Jin Clan Estate exactly as before and completely shattered the Makri Emperor.
“Yeah, thanks to you I succeeded in reaching Deungbongjogeuk. Thanks to you I also rose… but what do you mean by ‘again’?”
He greeted me cheerfully, then suddenly sensed something off in my words and asked.
I was startled for a moment but quickly composed myself and answered.
“Ah, well… Hyung, you were originally a deputy manager, so in this world you rose again, you know? Haha…”
“Hahaha! You’re a mid-level corporate deputy manager and you’re talking like that.”
“Haha…”
I controlled my thoughts and secretly broke out in cold sweat.
‘I unconsciously mixed up my past life again.’
Memories were accumulating, and occasionally I would confuse things like this.
“By the way…”
I refined my thoughts and asked.
“Have your skills improved a bit?”
I asked with a playful expression.
‘Never in my life did I think I would ask such a question…’
Kim Young-hoon did not answer casually; instead he suddenly extended his heart toward me.
I smiled and extended my heart in return.
Flash!
A light exploded.
The surrounding sounds vanished.
In the soundless space the two of us collided instantaneously.
‘Shall we begin?’
Double acceleration.
Flash!
I dove into Kim Young-hoon’s arms and stabbed a sword into him.
But Kim Young-hoon reacted immediately and flicked my sword away, counterattacking.
‘Have you awakened the acceleration? Then…’
I would see how far he had grown.
Flash!
We matched each other and gradually increased speed.
If I valued skill, Kim Young-hoon valued speed.
That was why my Danak Sword Art focused on precise, high-difficulty forms, while my Danmaek Sword Art emphasized swift, light forms.
Triple acceleration.
I entered the acceleration using two Ganghwans.
Kim Young-hoon matched me without difficulty.
The clash lasted tens of seconds.
The surrounding area became a battlefield of nothing but shockwaves and Gangqi.
I gradually increased my speed.
But that was it.
From then on Kim Young-hoon used his innate instinct to only face my attacks.
His speed no longer increased.
When the one who had made speed his specialty lost that advantage, I spotted his openings.
During the clash of dozens of exchanges.
Kwaaang!
I finally pierced his abdomen and drove my sword into his chest.
“Gua… gwah…”
Kim Young-hoon spun once in midair from the force and fell.
“Truly, the growth speed is astonishing.”
It was true that I had sensed he might reach Deungbongjogeuk in the short time since we last met.
But wielding two Ganghwans already?
Uuuung!
Kim Young-hoon laughed and spat a Ganghwan from his heart.
The Ganghwans gradually spun, then split into two and began to rotate.
“Haha, in a few years you’ll surpass me too. Brace yourself!”
“Of course I will. By the way… how did you split the Ganghwans, Hyung?”
“Hm?”
Kim Young-hoon showed a puzzled expression at my words.
“You’re splitting them too.”
“Somehow I don’t feel like the enlightenment I gained is the same as yours.”
“What do you mean by that? Even if the way of gaining enlightenment differs at the individual level, does the enlightenment itself differ?”
I also floated Ganghwans above my heart, split them into only two like him, and rotated them in perfect synchronization with the cycle of yin and yang in the spiritual energy of heaven and earth while activating the sense of the yokai.
If he had gained the same enlightenment as me, the rotation could not have been anything but unmistakable.
Yet Kim Young-hoon still looked puzzled as he gazed at me.
As though wondering what the spinning Ganghwans had to do with anything.
Looking at that expression, I grew even more curious.
‘Exactly how do you split the Ganghwans?’
“Hyung, tell me. What enlightenment did you gain?”
I exhaled deeply and stood up from my seat, still in the thirteenth layer of Qi Condensation.
“I cannot waste time here. I must go see Hyung.”
I would teach him the sense of the yokai formally, explain the Wind-Calling Responding Dragon Transformation, and allow him to gain inspiration.
Tadat!
I left the cave on Shattered Heaven Peak, kicked off the sky, and ran toward the direction of Yeon Kingdom.