Chapter 411
Chapter 411
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 411
Chapter Title: Heavenly Realm
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I decided to stay a bit longer in the imperial palace before following the Cult Leader. There was something nagging at me. In the empty bedroom of my inner palace, I muttered to myself.
"Why didn't I see Miyamoto Musashi?"
It didn't make sense.
Even after deploying all my detection abilities, I felt nothing in the place where Miyamoto Musashi was. Until the Cult Leader pressured him into revealing himself, that spot was as empty as thin air. Yet the Cult Leader had noticed Musashi was there.
The difference between the Cult Leader and me—it had to be his enlightenment in the Void Ultimate. I didn't know what that meant exactly, but I could guess it allowed the Cult Leader, who had reached a profound realm of martial arts, to detect Musashi.
But that surface-level explanation wasn't enough to satisfy me.
What principle allowed Miyamoto Musashi to hide so perfectly? Even the ninjas of the East, renowned for their supreme stealth, couldn't achieve that level. In fact, I could sense the presence of Hattori Hanzo, one of the top ninjas in the East, to some degree.
As I pondered, the Zhuge Scholar spoke up.
[Only the Cult Leader can answer that. You're incredibly lucky.]
"I know I need to ask him. But it's just too strange."
[What's so strange about it?]
"I obtained the All-Revealing Eye through the Universal Jade Seal. It's supposed to be the third eye that sees everything—why couldn't I see that guy!"
I vented my frustration. It left a bitter taste, like I'd been cheated. The spirit of the Universal Jade Seal had clearly told me it granted the third eye that sees all, yet oddly, I couldn't see Miyamoto Musashi. The Zhuge Scholar responded as if I were saying something stupid.
[Hey, take out the Universal Jade Seal.]
"I have it out."
As I placed the Universal Jade Seal on my palm, the Zhuge Scholar said indifferently.
[You're not doing anything with it.]
"What?"
[Can't you tell just by looking? The Universal Jade Seal is an activation-type treasure. Since you didn't recite the release incantation, it's just supplying spiritual energy as usual.]
"Ah!"
Hearing the Zhuge Scholar, I hurriedly searched my memory. I found and recited the incantation to activate the Universal Jade Seal.
Whiiing—
Dazzling golden light flared, and suddenly everything in front of me twisted like it was warping. In reality, the All-Revealing Eye had activated, allowing me to peer even into the microscopic world of objects, sensing everything nearby. Realizing this was what happened when the All-Revealing Eye was properly activated, I felt deflated.
'Damn... It's manual, not automatic.'
Even that didn't fully convince me, so I canceled the activation of the Universal Jade Seal and gritted my teeth.
"I've never heard of a martial art like that. Is the Full Moon Heaven-Slaying Method really that powerful?"
My current martial prowess was among the top tiers, excluding the White Lotus Cult and some transcendent arts of the Twelve Laws. Even Yi Cheong-un, the former Thunder God Style Guardian, had told me I qualified as an elder. And yet, I couldn't even detect Miyamoto Musashi's presence right in front of me!
[Judging purely objectively, he's reached a realm where internal energy is irrelevant.]
"That figures."
Having seen Miyamoto Musashi's skills firsthand, I knew it.
The Guardian's power wouldn't work on him at all. Before unleashing infinite internal energy in a barrage, Musashi could end it with a single killing strike. Theoretically, it was the perfect counter to Guardians, but in practice, almost no one could realize it. Only the Cult Leader could pierce a Guardian's protective aura and martial skill with a fatal blow in one strike—but now Miyamoto Musashi had joined that rank.
[You should also find out why the Cult Leader knew of the Full Moon Heaven-Slaying Method.]
"You're right."
[But if it were me, I'd go see Yi Cheong-un first.]
"What?"
His unexpected words made me pause. The Zhuge Scholar continued.
[Things will get more urgent from now on. Up to this point, just checking Yi Cheong-un's movements was enough, but you might not get many more chances to meet him. You need to get whatever you can from him before then.]
I caught on to what the Zhuge Scholar meant.
"You're saying Yi Cheong-un has also entered the Absolute Realm, so hearing it from him will give reliable information?"
[Exactly. And it'll give you more questions to ask when you face the Cult Leader.]
"I see..."
Paat!
I left the imperial palace and headed to the Azure Dragon Martial Hall where Yi Cheong-un was. He was quietly enjoying tea in the Crouching Dragon Hall when he spotted me and greeted me warmly.
"You've come at a good time."
I said to Yi Cheong-un,
"I have something to ask. Do you know of a martial art called the Full Moon Heaven-Slaying Method?"
"Hmm... Can't say I do."
Yi Cheong-un tilted his head. Knowing he wasn't the type to lie about something like this, I felt a pang of disappointment. But I still needed his advice, so I fetched the black obsidian and recorded what had happened recently—the clash with the Heavenly Realm and my confrontation with Miyamoto Musashi.
After taking the black obsidian and viewing the memories, Yi Cheong-un said,
"I see. So the Cult Leader has chosen that path..."
"What path?"
Yi Cheong-un tossed the black obsidian back to me and replied.
"The Cult Leader manifested a variant form of the Primordial Spirit. Do you know it's a step beyond the Intent Realm?"
"You know what it is?"
"The Cult Leader and I transcended the stage of handling intent long ago. So our views of the limits might be similar. Only the forms differ."
He pondered for a moment, then said,
"Probably no one's taught or shown you anything beyond that yet. Your current skill is already top-tier in the current martial world, excluding the White Lotus Cult. But if you truly intend to fight gods, it's best you know."
"Please tell me."
"Simply put, both the Cult Leader and that Miyamoto Musashi have reached the realm of shaking the heavens by moving the Pillar."
Shaking the Pillar?
Bewildered, I stared at him, and he continued.
"Intent is human will, and念 is imposing it upon the world. Immense mental power connects the human heart to heaven and earth. In that moment, you feel a pillar of light linking heaven and yourself. You know this, right?"
I nodded.
"Of course."
It was what the Sword Demon had drilled into me endlessly when teaching intent and helping me master sword aura. I'd internalized it through life-or-death trials. There was no way I didn't know the theory of intent. Yi Cheong-un crossed his arms.
"The next realm is shaking the world itself by moving the Heavenly Pillar of Intent."
"Shaking the world? What does that mean..."
"Didn't you feel something strange while using Intent Ultimate Techniques?"
Pyung!
Yi Cheong-un suddenly activated the Thunder God Spirit Soul, instantly vaporizing the water in his teacup. He'd probably decomposed its components one by one with terrifying speed thrusts. As I looked at him in awe, Yi Cheong-un continued.
"You could do something similar with Intent Ultimate Techniques. But even those have limits. They manifest godlike feats that seem impossible, at the cost of massive mental power, stamina, and internal energy. Guardians cover it with Heavenly Spirit Pills so it doesn't show, but the consumption is just as huge."
I nodded in agreement.
"You're right."
Intent Ultimate Techniques were incredibly powerful but couldn't be used freely or often. In fact, battles between peak experts usually ended after three or four uses in intense combat. Timing when to unleash ultimate moves decided the outcome. Yi Cheong-un spoke leisurely.
"Then why do Intent Ultimate Techniques consume so much?"
"Because they manifest feats impossible with human power."
"Correct. But what standard defines that?"
Standard?
As I looked at Yi Cheong-un, he snapped his fingers.
"It's the backlash from supreme martial arts defying the world's laws—that's the consumption of Intent Ultimate Techniques. Have you ever thought about what exactly sets that standard?"
"Hmm... We just go by feel. It's subjective."
As I stated my conviction as a peak expert, Yi Cheong-un grinned.
"Breaking that premise is the stage of moving the Pillar of Will to pierce through the laws to the heavens. Up to then, you're timidly defying laws while watching the world's reaction. Completely rewriting the standard is the prerequisite of the Absolute Realm."
"......!!"
I was stunned by Yi Cheong-un's words.
'Is that even possible?'
It sounded simple, but there's no proof that intangible 'laws' even exist. We just execute them arbitrarily with the aid of qi and intent—yet to recognize and rewrite them? The theory existed, but I had no clue what training or effort led there.
I thought long and hard, then shook my head, unconvinced.
"What are these laws? The natural phenomena and physics of this world?"
"It's hard to lump it together like that. But if you've handled intent, you've felt that in the micro-world, common sense shifts arbitrarily—not as some metaphysical concept."
Yi Cheong-un continued.
"Think about it. Countless Intent Ultimate Techniques that work for reasons we don't understand. Yet amid that chaos, there's lawfulness. That unwritten rule earns unspoken consensus among experts."
"...You're right."
Yi Cheong-un's words seemed profound yet pierced my heart. Written down, they'd sound absurd, but as someone who used peak martial arts, I understood the sensation. Yi Cheong-un said,
"I can't help much with exactly how you reach the Absolute Realm of Piercing the Heavens. But knowing this much lets you understand why the Cult Leader and Miyamoto Musashi are so strong."
"So the variant form the Cult Leader manifested is the result of changing the world's laws?"
"Probably. He summoned chaos to draw out his potential, becoming part of that chaos. It's one 'possibility' the White Lotus Cult Leader reached after decades or centuries of cultivation."
"What about Miyamoto Musashi's stealth?"
"Ask the Cult Leader. You've faced him directly—you'll know better."
With that reply, Yi Cheong-un said,
"That's enough explanation. More would lead you astray from the Great Dao."
"Mm... Understood."
"So what do you plan to do next? The Heavenly Realm will escalate."
"......"
I hesitated to answer. Either way, we held the advantage now, so I had no choice but to support the White Lotus Cult Leader to the end. Compromising with the Heavenly Realm offered slim survival odds for me. Seeing my expression, Yi Cheong-un gave a wry smile.
"That was a pointless question."
"And what about you, Yi Cheong-un?"
"I've prepared enough. Now I can act."
Yi Cheong-un's eyes gleamed.
"No harm will come to you, so rest easy."
Asking wouldn't get an answer on his plans.
He knew I was a reincarnator, so he kept me at arm's length while we mutually supported each other. At this point, Yi Cheong-un was my most objective ally.
After talking with Yi Cheong-un, I returned to the White Lotus Cult and went to see the Cult Leader.
He was meditating in midair, cultivating martial arts. Without turning, he said,
[You've come, Vice Cult Leader Baek Woong.]
I politely cupped my hands and said,
"I have one question."
The questions were much the same as those I'd asked Yi Cheong-un: What is the Absolute Realm? What is Miyamoto Musashi's martial art? The Cult Leader pondered my questions for a long time before speaking.
[Among the ancient texts collected by the White Lotus Cult was the Chronicles of Japan, containing parts omitted from the orally transmitted Kojiki in the East. In my youth, I studied those omissions, which mentioned the transition from myth to human history.]
"Hmm..."
[The yokai of the East were controlled by the Abe clan, making it livable for humans, but finally, a clan called the Heavenly Gods rampaged, killing and devouring humans. When human resentment peaked, a hundred martial geniuses created the ultimate supreme art infused with their hatred—the Full Moon Heaven-Slaying Method.]
"What?"
I sensed something off as I listened to the Cult Leader.
"What kind of martial art originates like that? Created out of hatred for gods?"
[......]
"And how could there be a hundred martial geniuses?"
It was nonsense. Martial arts originally developed from humans naturally harnessing innate qi, combined with weapon combat techniques through stages of struggle. Creating it to fight gods was pure fabrication.
True geniuses aren't called that lightly. Having met real martial prodigies, I knew better than anyone. To others, prodigies and geniuses might look the same, but geniuses are distinctly independent. There couldn't have been a hundred in ancient East, in one era. Even in the current Central Plains, it's doubtful.
The Cult Leader lightly addressed my doubts.
[True. I thought it just an old myth and moved on. But learning Aokigahara's disaster is real changed that.]
"......!!"
[That place is the seal of the [Ancient Ruler]. A cursed land unprotected by the Seven Bridges or Twelve Laws—that's the East. Yet human civilization persists because someone constantly reseals and slays the [Ancient Ruler]. If such a being exists in the East, there's only one—the wielder of the Full Moon Heaven-Slaying Method.]
So that's how it was.
That's why the Cult Leader recommended the Full Moon Heaven-Slaying Method when Sword Saint Kamiizumi Nobutsuna came. Having studied ancient secrets, the Cult Leader realized it was the East's final bulwark. And now, he'd faced its wielder, Miyamoto Musashi, head-on.
I asked again.
"Then how did Miyamoto Musashi hide himself?"
[He slashed the world.]
"What?"
[Precisely, he slashed the realm we perceive and buried his existence in space-time. An application of slashes that cut non-existence. I believe Miyamoto Musashi entered the Absolute Realm long ago.]
"......"
Even hearing the reason, I couldn't comprehend it. This was no ordinary matter.
'It wasn't exaggeration.'
Yi Cheong-un's explanation of changing the world's laws was spot-on, no hyperbole. Beyond handling intent, shaking the world by imposing one's will—heaven-shaking martial arts! At this level, phenomena more wondrous than spells and stranger than magic were inevitable.
The Cult Leader said,
[Vice Cult Leader Baek Woong, your contributions this time were immense.]
I waved my hands in panic.
"You did it all yourself, Cult Leader."
It was true. I'd just watched from the side as he killed the Great Thunder Immortal and negotiated with Musashi. It was embarrassing to claim any credit.
[If you hadn't revealed the South Hua Old Immortal's intentions, I would have let Luoyang fall. Then they would have used treasures to summon Battle Immortals.]
"That would have happened."
[Unlike Spell Immortals who accumulate sorcery, Battle Immortals seized the Great Thunder Immortal's seat through pure martial might. Do you know what that means?]
"......"
Realizing the Cult Leader's implication, I truly felt how close we'd come.
[Fighting Battle Immortals means battling demigods of the Infinite Realm who've refined the Absolute for hundreds or thousands of years. We nearly had a catastrophe.]