A Regressor’s Tale of Cultivation Chapter 767: Chapter 763: Dreams and Growth (3)
Four pun.
Translated into Earth language, it is roughly 4 percent.
'If we fight ten billion times, the likelihood is that we can win four hundred million times.'
Seo Eun-hyun wears a somewhat relieved expression at that hopeful figure.
Of course, being able to win four hundred million times means that before that, you lose nine billion six hundred million times...
Even so, the figure of four pun makes the Future King, who until now felt like an unopposable existence, feel lowered to an existence that can be resisted.
[Do not be relieved. With that one, it is better to assume the worst than to hope...]
[I understand. Preparing for the worst is exactly what my arrangement is for.]
Seo Eun-hyun looks somewhere within the dream.
His gaze leaves the dream, beyond distant principles and dimensions, and reaches a woman who thrusts a spear against the split soul of the Sword Spear Heavenly Lord.
Paaaaaang!
The Sword Spear who possesses existence called the True Person Eun Geom.
The next Sword Spear that received the name Wol Ryeong.
The two existences, each bursting forth from their hands the apex of the ultimate marital arts they have seen until now, meet each other with thrust against thrust.
And, as is natural,
Pabang!
Just like that, Wol Ryeong's thrust is pierced through by the thrust of Sword Spear's split soul, and Wol Ryeong's spear is split in half.
She imitated Jeon Myeong-hoon's thrust, but the opponent is the goddess of war and iron. Of victory and weapons.
In skill with weapons, the Sword Spear Heavenly Lord, who has held weapons all her life, absolutely does not fall behind Jeon Myeong-hoon.
Moreover, no matter how outstanding Jeon Myeong-hoon's thrusting skill is, and even if Wol Ryeong has seen and copied that thrust, Ji Hwa has seen Jeon Myeong-hoon's main body perform the thrust upon the Lightning God on the battlefield hundreds of millions of times.
Her understanding of that thrust is far higher than Wol Ryeong's.
Wol Ryeong, defeated in her own specialty, kneels before the split soul of the Sword Spear with a blank face.
She who uses the name Eun Geom lifts up Seo Gyeong's body and speaks.
"I have won the wager, but I will still resolve the curse on this child. If all of you become my disciples anyway, it is not good to be clung by such things."
At those words, Wol Ryeong's body trembles with a voice full of gratitude.
"Th-Thank...you."
"However."
The True Person Eun Geom glares at her with a sharp gaze and speaks.
"From today, the three of you will wear what I give you on your bodies."
"Pardon?"
Eun Geom hands over bandages and white garments to Wol Ryeong, Seo Gyeong, and Pal Jin.
"From now on, you will cover your entire body with these bandages, and go about so that not even a single piece of skin besides your eyes are exposed. From now on, do not reveal your main body's Star Shattering stage main star either. If it is not me, your master, then even to your parents or to the senior elders of the Radiance Spirit Sect, you must not show bare skin."
"Among ourselves..."
"I will permit it among yourselves. But keep this in mind. You lost in my wager, and now I am your master. Disciples who do not absolutely obey their master's command, I have no need for them. So remember. From now on, never, to anyone. To anyone other than me and you. Do not show bare skin. If you break this pledge..."
Wo-woong-
The Sword Spear Heavenly Lord touches the fates of Wol Ryeong and Pal Jin, who are the next Sword Spear Heavenly Lord and Pearl Jade Heavenly Lord candidates.
"You will, from now on, no longer be able to dream brilliant dreams."
Wo-wooong-
A prophecy of fate that shifts the choice onto the other party is added to their fate.
If they break Sword Spear's words and show skin to another existence, they will be automatically eliminated from their candidacy for the next Eight Immortals, and the fate of the next Eight Immortals, which had helped them to climb thus far, will leave them, and only ordinary fate will settle upon them.
Now, if they break their pledge with their master, they will lose all their talent and fortune. Originally, they are beings who can even subconsciously sense such transcendental movements that touch fate in that way, but this time, they do not sense it.
In the first place, the very source of their fate is precisely the Sword Spear Heavenly Lord.
Some time later, after using spells to wrap bandages around their bodies, the three of them look at their own bodies with a strange feeling.
And from beyond distant time and space, Seo Eun-hyun, who gazes at them from within the dream, smiles warmly.
[...My arrangement will make it so that Radiance Hall can no longer recklessly harm the Enders of later generations. Perhaps, depending on the case, they may even cling to the later generations as their greatest allies. From now on, they will no longer be the eyes and ears of the Owner of Fate watching us, but our friends.]
[...]
Upon seeing this, Silver Basket seems to lose words for a moment, then opens their mouth.
[That too, if it only succeeds, will be able to resist to some extent the Divine Art of the Future King. A good choice.]
[Thank you for the praise.]
Divine Arts, in the end, are called by names such as Root or Original Flow.
Seo Eun-hyun looks at a fragment of the Divine Art he has obtained.
'Divine Art is Original Flow.'
It may seem similar to the Primordial Origin Immortal Cultivation system.
However, it is somewhat distinct from the Primordial Origin Immortal Cultivation system.
[...I have a question. May I ask?]
[If you pay the price.]
At those words, Seo Eun-hyun, without hesitation, cuts off one of his arms within the dream and delivers
it to Silver Basket through the sword face of the Impermanence Sword.
His arm falls straight into the ashen space where Silver Basket resides and changes into a lump of Salt
Crystal.
[Part of the authority of the Immortal Beast King?]
[Yes, besides the authority I can use when fighting others, I transferred a portion of the authority that comforts spirits. If you hold that authority, then from now on, you can invite the spirits of Mount Sumeru into your world and gain strength from their history.]
[...For me, who must hide within Mount Sumeru, this is the best authority of the present. I gratefully accept. Good. Ask your question.]
As if waiting for those words, Seo Eun-hyun again floats seven clusters of light above his hand.
[Please tell me whether my understanding of Divine Arts is correct.]
[Speak.]
[Are Divine Arts...to be regarded as a type of authority?]
[That is so.]
Seo Eun-hyun nods.
In the end, this power called Divine Arts is, in a sense, authority over this Sumeru Three Heavens Great Thousand World.
[But it does not seem to be mere authority. It is authority, but it also seems like enlightenment.]
[That is also correct. Therefore, one who attains that enlightenment can impose the principle of that enlightenment even in other worlds.]
[...The Primordial Origin Immortal Cultivation system...]
Seo Eun-hyun asks Silver Basket a few more questions and confirms his hypothesis.
And as a result, he comes to understand even more clearly what Divine Arts are.
The Primordial Origin Immortal Cultivation system is the fastest shortcut that connects to the authority
called Divine Arts.
And beneath it lies various other cultivation systems.
The Immortal Cultivation of Heaven and Earth Dao engraves one's own principle into the Primordial Origin cultivation system, making it harder to reach Divine Arts, yet makes it a little quicker to reach levels below
it.
Other systems are the same.
Heart Dao Blooming, Cycle of Reincarnation, Imperial Throne Circuit, Entering Heavens Beyond the Path Martial Arts, and so on.
All are in the end other unorthodox methods that reach Divine Arts based on the Primordial Origin Immortal Cultivation system.
And Seo Eun-hyun also comes to understand the reason why he reached the realm called Divine Arts.
There is a saying of a blind man feeling an elephant.
The blind man touches only a part of the elephant, unable to properly imagine what kind of creature it is.
If he touches the trunk, he thinks it a snake. If he touches the ear, he thinks it a ray. If he touches the tusk, he thinks it a dragon. If he touches the belly, he thinks it a cow.
The Primordial Origin Immortal Cultivation is the method that, though the road is difficult, reaches the elephant fastest and touches the trunk, the head, and the tusk.
Heaven and Earth Immortal Dao, though it goes around a long and comfortable way, is the method of
touching the sides of the elephant's body.
Heart Dao Blooming is the method of flying up into the sky and touching the back.
Cycle of Reincarnation is the method of digging down into the ground and touching the belly.
Entering Heavens Beyond the Path Martial Arts is the method of crawling on the ground and touching the elephant's feet one by one.
Imperial Throne Circuit can be said to be the way of going near the elephant and then heading for its rear.
Of course, even by such methods, one may still not fully perceive the whole creature.
But Seo Eun-hyun, overcoming countless realms, countless hardships and ordeals, reached the ultimate
peak by many routes.
He finally reached the ultimate of all paths, and by groping around with his hand, reached the white elephant called Divine Arts.
'Following every path, at last, I have reached this place.'
Seo Eun-hyun recalls, in his distant memory, the teaching of one being.
The Dao of Heaven, Earth, and Heart. The Dao of Qi, Soul, and Fate.
Everything flows out from 'One'.
He recalls the old man who reminds him of a salt mountain and smiles faintly.
'I think...I have reached it to some extent.'
[...Thank you for providing me your precious knowledge.]
Seo Eun-hyun gives thanks to Silver Basket.
[It is only a trade. More than that...]
Silver Basket asks Seo Eun-hyun a question.
[Do you truly intend to make an enemy of the Great Mountain Supreme Deity? Do you have no thought to
join hands with them and subjugate the God of the Heavens?]
[...]
[If you join hands with him, the possibility of winning will rise by two pun. It will become six pun. A win
rate nearing one hal (ten percent)... Will you truly not join hands?]
At those words, Seo Eun-hyun briefly closes his eyes and opens them, then asks.
[I am curious, is the figure of four pun a figure that comes out with my current state as the opponent?]
[...No. It is in the case that you kill the Great Mountain Supreme Deity, inherit the Origin Essence, become a Governing Immortal, have all your comrades awaken as Heavenly Kings, and when all the current Governing Immortals of Mount Sumeru together rebel against him, I lend strength.]
[...]
[Even if you alone rise as a true Governing Immortal, your win rate is only two pun. Know that you are
strong only because the connections you accumulated with your companions and friends support you.]
[...Strong. We are.]
Seo Eun-hyun smiles faintly at those words.
Seeing this, Silver Basket makes a noise of clicking their tongue as if in regret.
[...I see. You truly have no thought of joining hands with Gwak Am.]
[...]
Seo Eun-hyun smiles and speaks.
[The match with Gwak Am must be settled. This is an issue between me and my senior brother. And
between my master, therefore, as an outsider, please refrain from speaking.]
[...Do you intend to kill them?]
[That is so.]
He continues speaking with a relaxed smile.
[He must be of the same mind. We have no choice but to kill each other. Setting fate aside, the feelings
we each hold toward each other...can never be resolved by something like forming an alliance against a
third enemy.]
[...Even if upon that one concession hangs not only you but also your comrades, and the fate of all the countless masses of Mount Sumeru?]
[...Will this one step of concession guarantee victory against the Future King? If that is certain, I will
indeed devote my very body to that cause.]
[...]
[However, if even in the eyes of Elder Silver Basket it is not certain and is nothing but a hope that does not come near...I will not lean on that hope. In this very moment, I will follow where my heart goes.] [...Even though the probability of ruin is higher?]
[The probability of ruin, from the moment I came to this Mount Sumeru...no, perhaps from the moment I,
as an Ender, received this body, has it ever gone below nine hal? When a person receives a body, they
will someday die. I am but a person who merely lives a little longer because various fortunes overlap.] Seo Eun-hyun's words continue.
[It is difficult to obtain a human body, and it is difficult still to realize the dao. If this body cannot achieve transcendence in this life, when shall I wait again to transcend this existence?]
[...]
[This body and heart. That heart and the connections and ill fates entangled with the heart...I cannot transcend them now. Rather than a hope that may or may not come...there are things that must be done right here and now. Therefore...whether the chances of winning grow higher or lower, I must merely return to Gwak Am the heart he has given me.]
At those words, Silver Basket does not answer.
And after a while, Silver Basket speaks.
[You...if you were not an Ender, I would take you for the reincarnation of Ryeong. Forgive this king who
dares to try to test you-no...to test the distinguished one.]
[What is there to forgive?]
After finishing his words, Seo Eun-hyun asks them. [There must be a reason you tried to test me. Is there something you wish to ask of me?]
[...This is only what one would call hope, a mere 'what-if'. The distinguished one may win or lose against the Owner of the Future. But... if...if by any chance the distinguished one truly defeats the Owner of the Future, then I ask thee find this King's body, which the Owner of the Future took from this King and
absorbed into Mount Sumeru...]
[Your body...?]
[This King is a wanderer who emerged beyond this King's world and roamed among the dimensions. Though I went about temporarily creating domains between dimensions, the essence of this King is a traveler. Yet by the Future King, this King's domain and main body were torn away, leaving only the spirit,
becoming but a Hollow Deity.
[Even with only the spirit, this King can exert sufficiently powerful strength...but the coordinate by which I may someday return to my original world lies in this King's body...so I would be grateful if you recover that body. If you should be victorious and promise to find this King's body...then this King will bestow my
blessing upon the arrangement you intend to leave behind.]
[By blessing, you mean...]
[Your arrangement will gain the power of the absolute by this King's words. So long as this King exists,
your arrangement shall indeed be passed down forever. So long as this I set my gaze upon Mount
Sumeru, the shackle you seek to hang upon Radiance Hall shall be eternal.]
Hearing those words, Seo Eun-hyun ponders for a moment.
Then he half-opens his eyes and nods.
[...I promise. Therefore, by all means...help this arrangement to be repeated so long as you set your gaze
upon Mount Sumeru.]
[Very well.]
Thus, with Silver Basket before him, Seo Eun-hyun extends his hand.
'Originally, I planned to receive the Underworld's guarantee. If I also receive the guarantee of the Creator
God of another world...surely my arrangement shall carry on through endless years, and make Light into the friend of the Enders.'
He thinks of the arrangement plan he intends to leave behind.
He smiles as he recalls the arrangement to fasten the bridle of fate's beginning, development, twist, and
conclusion upon the next Radiance Eight Immortals.
'If it is fate that Enders must live only like slaves according to fate's beginning, development, twist, and
conclusion...then I shall also put that fate upon the Eight Immortals.'
Only, he is going to make history.
He will twist the fates of the Eight Immortals candidates and create the beginning, development, twist,
and conclusion.
Completing a single history, and forcing the bridle of history repetition where that history repeats onto Light as well.
That is...
Seo Eun-hyun's final arrangement, which shall someday make the Eight Immortals the friends of the
Enders.
'The guarantees of the absolute and eternity are complete. Now what remains is...'
Ending his communication with Silver Basket, Seo Eun-hyun again turns his gaze to the distant dimension,
beyond time and space, where Wol Ryeong resides.
'...merely to twist and toy with that child's fate...and record the history that shall be engraved upon the
world...'
Gazing upon the fate that shall be toyed with by his hand, he closes his eyes.
'I am sorry... Someday, I will reveal everything to you and beg for forgiveness.'
Folding that feeling within his heart, he begins to [digest] great wisdom in his dream. "The phenomenon of dreaming usually arises in order to [digest] wisdom of higher ranks." Nine thousand years have passed since Wol Ryeong reached the Star Shattering stage.
It is the year marking seven thousand five hundred years since she reached the Grand Perfection Star
Shattering stage.
By now, she is at the Sacred Vessel stage.
She, performing the duties of Sacred Master and carrying out Sacred Master cultivation within a Middle
Realm body of a Great Immortal called the Sword Spear Realm () that Eun Geom introduced, has
raised her realm up to the Grand Perfection Sacred Vessel stage.
And...
Wol Ryeong now i