The World Looks Different After You've Split It

The world looks different after you've split it. I realized all over again that simply raising your field of vision could change everything this much.

"Haa..." My body burned. Even the breath leaving my lips felt scorching, as if I were literally exhaling flames.

Waaah. It hurts too much.

Wasn’t the whole point of False Rebirth that all your wounds would heal? Yet every injury I’d taken remained exactly as it was. Maybe that was the price of a cheap knock-off version. Still…

It’s way more bearable than before.

No, “bearable” was an understatement. My body felt impossibly light. I took one cautious step forward. The air brushing my skin felt strangely unfamiliar. BOOM! What looked like a light, graceful footstep left a small crater in the ground as if I had stomped with full force. When I swung my hand through the air, a gale erupted like an absolute master unleashing a full-body strike.

This feeling… it’s weird.

It was clearly reality, yet it didn’t feel real. My hazy mind made it seem like I was wandering through a dream. An overwhelming sense of omnipotence surged through me, as if I could accomplish anything right now.

Before my eyes stood the heavily wounded Honcheon Noeje, staring at me with a troubled expression, unable to look away.

Did he fall for me?

That would be awkward. Noeje was undeniably handsome, but no matter how you looked at it, turning an enemy into a romance target… This wasn’t Romeo and Juliet. Wait, was that even the right reference?

I’d meant to cut him down in one clean strike, but my hand felt empty. I must have lost the Blue Dragon Sword from the recoil of that earlier blow. Turning my head, I spotted it embedded in a wall about fifteen meters away.

Walking over there primly to pull it out would ruin my whole aura. That won’t do.

Several ideas came to mind—techniques like Sword Flight or ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the Rain of Ten Thousand Flowers that let you control weapons without touching them. But I never learned any of those.

I had tried practicing them alone a few times in the past. Of course I’d failed. I had no clue what kind of principle or mental image was required. I’d even considered generating suction from the Laogong acupoint in my palm to mimic the adhesion principle before giving up. After that, I couldn’t figure out the next step, so I’d only used it as a support method to keep from dropping my sword when I activated the technique.

But now…

I didn’t know the proper Sword Flight method, but maybe I could at least call a distant sword to my hand. I slowly extended my right hand. The motion came out strangely elegant even though I hadn’t intended it. Then I generated the principle of suction through my Laogong acupoint.

CRACK!THUD!SWOOOOSH!

The Blue Dragon Sword, buried deep in the wall, wrenched itself free and shot toward me like a beam of light. At that exact moment, I sensed a murderous presence behind me. Noeje’s sword strike.

A cheap sneak attack?

If it had been me from before, I wouldn’t have even noticed the blow. But after activating False Rebirth, every sense in my body had been pushed to the absolute limit. Even though it wasn’t in my field of vision, I perceived it as clearly as if I were watching it with both eyes. It felt like seeing the world through the skin of my entire body.

RUMBLE!

Here comes the lightning sword energy.

I thrust out my left hand, which had been hanging limply, toward Noeje’s direction. At the same time I prepared to activate the new technique I had just ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠created—Heavenly Thunder Return to Origin Art.

CRACKLE! Pure white lightning twisted wildly against Noeje’s will, wrapping around my arm before melting into my skin and vanishing without a trace.

"What…!"

The moment Noeje’s shocked gasp reached me, the returning Blue Dragon Sword slammed into my grip with a heavy CLANG!

Vrrrrrm—

The sword hummed. Body and Sword as One. The realm where blade and body became a single entity. I took one large step forward. This time it was a proper stomp.

KWAAAAAANG!

The earth shook and the ground split apart. I raised the sword toward the bewildered Noeje and brought it down. What I recalled was the heavy strike Namgung Sim had shown me when I first reached 100% realization rate. What I infused into it was the mental image of Mount Tai crushing down from above.

"Pretty friend. Can you understand? The only one at home who looks like a proper person is that guy."

A voice rang out as if inside my head, and a dragon’s wing suddenly thrust in to block the strike.

CRUNCH!

"Oww! That hurts!"

The dragon’s scales shattered like tofu being sliced, and the flesh beneath was cut open too. But it didn’t stop there. The lightning power I had absorbed with the Return to Origin Art and stored in my dantian erupted with thunderous force, delivering an additional blow.

"Ow, that stings! I said it hurts!"

The black lightning sword energy kept advancing even after slicing through the Mad Dragon’s wing and reached Honcheon Noeje.

"Kugh!"

One of Noeje’s arms fell cleanly to the ground. Immediately afterward, a massive shadow loomed over me. A counterattack was coming right away—Seiar simply slamming down with his foreleg.

KWAAAAANG!

I leapt backward and barely avoided it. Sharp claws tore the front of my clothes with a loud RIP.

"Ahahaha!"

A shiver of pure thrill raced up my spine. It was so electrifying it made everything I’d felt before seem tame. Laughter spilled out of me whether I wanted it to or not. I readjusted my grip on the Blue Dragon Sword—whose edge was now full of gaps—and checked my physical condition.

Honestly, compared to the moment I had just completed False Rebirth inside the Fantasy World, my current state was so terrible it felt unfair to even compare them. It doesn’t matter.

I counted the time I had left. False Rebirth normally lasted only about fifteen minutes. In my current wrecked condition, it would be even shorter. That doesn’t matter either.

Because in the end—

"I’m going to win."

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

I raised the Blue Dragon Sword into an upper stance. A familiar posture.

“I will now teach you the true Emperor Sword Form.”

“…Though I must admit this lord has modified it slightly on his own, so it has strayed a bit from the orthodox version.”

“First, I shall recite the formula. Listen well.”

Embrace the heavens and earth in your chest and regulate your breath; with the will contained at the tip of your sword, bear the weight of the world alone.

With every step you take the world bows its head, and wherever your sword casts its shadow all people eventually bend at the waist.

This is the sword of the true emperor.

The formula perfectly revealed Namgung Sim’s real personality. It was extremely arrogant. And I loved it.

I’ll modify it a little myself too, Gungsim.

When I wove the principles of Heavenly Thunder World-Opening Art into the heart method I learned from him, a rather decent cultivation technique was born.

From today onward, your name is the Heavenly Thunder Emperor Heart Art.

RUMBLE—————!

From far away, as if he had seen through what I was about to do, Noeje shouted urgently at Seiar.

"Damn it, Seiar! You have to dodge that!"

"I never gave you permission to call my name, did I? If you’re bored, just open the gate. The Demon King will be here soon."

Instead of running away, Seiar faced me directly and opened his maw wide. A tremendous amount of mana began condensing inside with a high-pitched keeing— sound, then fired straight at me. If it hit, it would easily kill me instantly.

But for some reason—

"Ahahahaha!"

My laughter wouldn’t stop. Remember? I had always loved head-on power struggles. At eight years old I enjoyed clashing directly with golems. From age ten I started sparring with Namgung Sim, and as the years passed I summoned more and more characters for frontal battles. Even until recently I had mainly fought power struggles against Namgung Sim at 100% realization rate.

And now—

A dragon!

The chance to have a head-on power struggle against a dragon’s breath didn’t come often. I couldn’t dodge. Not because I was too slow, but because of pride. This was a frontal duel I could not avoid.

I stared at the breath rushing toward me. It now looked like a colossal wave about to swallow me whole. It clearly contained catastrophic power. Yet I didn’t retreat a single step. With a lofty gesture, I slowly swung my sword.

The wave of light pouring down on me…

"The sea… I split it."

sliced cleanly in two. And it didn’t stop there. The sword energy continued ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠onward and reached Seiar as well.

"……!"

Slice.Thud.

One of the dragon’s black horns was severed neatly and fell to the ground. He had twisted his head at the last second, which was the only reason it ended at that. Otherwise his face would have been split in half along with the breath.

Seiar widened his eyes and stared at his fallen horn for a moment before wailing,

"My horn!"

His expression was so honest that even though he was a dragon, I could clearly read his emotions.

"We really have to leave now. The Demon King…"

"My horn! My horn fell off!"

"It’ll grow back anyway! The Demon King is coming! If he arrives, we have no chance of winning!"

"Waaah! I just polished it yesterday!"

Noeje grabbed the crying Seiar by the tail and forcibly dragged him through the crack. It only worked because Seiar wasn’t resisting. The fissure the two had entered began to close slowly.

I thought they were really going to disappear beyond the rift, but—

"You think you can run…?"

I had no intention of letting them go. I gripped the Blue Dragon Sword in reverse and hurled it like a javelin.

SWOOOOOSH!

The sword shot forward with terrifying speed and was sucked into the crack. The moment it vanished inside, the entrance sealed completely. I didn’t see with my own eyes whether it hit anyone. But—

It hit.

I was certain. My intuition had reached the extreme. Though I had no idea who it actually struck!