A Regressor’s Tale of Cultivation Chapter 783 Chapter 779: Thank You For Everything Until Now
A deep, dark valley of the Corpse Mountain Blood Sea.
There, Wol Ryeong was half-forced to undergo repentant enlightenment and saw and gained countless things.
And she pondered.
If the divine providence of the world is pain, is the only way to escape pain death?
In the end, whatever emotions one has, if all returning to pain as returning to one () is the divine providence of the world, then are all the emotions one has in this world meaningless?
And, to such a Wol Ryeong, someone came.
It was a being that presides over what is called sorrow.
The divinity called the Lapis Lazuli Flower Heavenly King, who governs sorrow, exchanged meaning with her.
And...as a result, the Lapis Lazuli Flower Heavenly King and Wol Ryeong came to a certain conclusion.
Chuaaaaat!
A sword cleaves across the mountain.
Kuedek...
Along the sword's trajectory, a terrifying attraction force arises, and space wildly distorts.
Gigigigik!
The battlefield of Wol Ryeong and Seo Eun-hyun repeatedly widens and narrows, and between those shifts, their fight unfolds.
Kwaaaang!
Seo Eun-hyun is flung away.
From the beginning, he only has power at the Heavenly Being stage, but because he is already mobilizing everything to suppress the Underworld Ten Great Kings within his main body, the full strength he can produce is at best the Qi Refining stage.
Compared to Wol Ryeong, who has reached True Immortality, his level is in effect no different from a mortal's.
However...
Why is it?
Even with such a difference in weight class.
Even though Wol Ryeong is practically no diverse from a small world unto herself.
Seo Eun-hyun stands against Wol Ryeong without being pushed back at all.
A white strike of radiance that splits Heaven and Earth thrusts down from the sky.
The light of Filling the Heavens Sword Rain falls down aimed at only one being.
Jjjeoong!
Each of the colossal greatswords that would, in a single strike, rip a sun apart falls from the firmament.
But Seo Eun-hyun skillfully unfolds void-stepping, evades the greatswords, and then, in a very gentle posture, lifts his sword and swings upward.
Seo Eun-hyun's small sword and Wol Ryeong's greatswords collide, and a grand brahma bell sound rings out.
Jjjeoeoong!
What collapses is Wol Ryeong's sword.
Regulating his breath, Seo Eun-hyun dug into the grain of 'breath' within a True Immortal's strike and broke through the single strike of True Immortality.
That is only the beginning.
Seo Eun-hyun steps on the void and charges toward Wol Ryeong through the spaces between the greatswords.
The swords begin to collapse.
Kugugung!
The fragments of Filling the Heavens Sword Rain that Wol Ryeong unleashes shatter and scatter.
And through the downpour of those sword fragments, Seo Eun-hyun and Wol Ryeong crash into each other.
Haa...!
Wol Ryeong exhales and lets out a kiai.
At the same time, thousands of glass mountains behind Seo Eun-hyun are smashed to pieces and vanish.
He completely let Wol Ryeong's power flow through and transferred it to the glass mountains behind.
Seeing that divine skill by which he can face a True Immortal with a mortal's body, Wol Ryeong takes one step back and begins to perform a sword dance.
Wol Ryeong's sword energy dyes white and bends flexibly.
That sight looks as if dozens of white snakes are aiming at Seo Eun-hyun's neck.
Shiririk-
But something astonishing happens.
Seo Eun-hyun also begins to perform a sword dance.
And what appears is a sword dance perfectly identical to Wol Ryeong's.
In an instant, he reads Wol Ryeong's movement, acquires the martial art, and reaches exactly the same level as Wol Ryeong.
The two face each other like a mirror and unfold exactly the same sword.
And at some moment,
Flash!
At the end of the white sword dance, Wol Ryeong and Seo Eun-hyun face each other, meeting each other's swords from opposite directions in exactly the same way.
Wol Ryeong thinks.
'So he can see through all lower-grade martial arts and learn them in an instant?'
The opponent is a being who reached the apex of the domain called Martial Combat in the Sumeru Three Thousand Great Thousand World.
She is at True Immortality, yet he lets all of her attacks flow past and perfectly copies and follows that offensive.
And...
Seo Eun-hyun's foot movement.
Wol Ryeong instinctively senses that movement of the foot and raises her sword, but the footwork and the sword's direction come in from completely different places.
A sword art that deceives the opponent with footwork.
With that off-beat attack, Wol Ryeong's left arm is cut off.
Jjeong!
A flash of light flickers.
Even if Wol Ryeong took on a human-shaped Transformation form, her essence is a world itself.
And he, with that mortal's body, cut that body of hers.
'I see...he is cutting away only the necessary parts.'
She can tell instinctively.
He compresses to the utmost the puny power that is only at the Qi Refining stage, and through instantaneous acceleration reaching the domain of Indra's Net, he strikes the principle itself.
If he can thereby affect the principles, then even with the body of a mortal being, he can harm the body of an Immortal!
She looks at the opponent before her and understands.
The one before her is the pinnacle of Martial Arts.
The Immortal Beast King of this era.
The myth who toppled the Great Mountain Supreme Deity Gwak Am head-on!
'Are weight classes meaningless?'
Wo-woong!
With that feeble power at merely the Qi Refining stage, he forms Gang Qi, and compresses that Gang Qi again and again to reach a domain like a string smaller than every particle in this world.
Against sword strikes where each and every strike cuts the principle, it means nothing at all that the authority, the life, and the weight class are greater.
But precisely because of that, Wol Ryeong pours her full strength in even more.
All of her weight class, accumulated to True Immortality, burns.
The enlightenments she gained within the Corpse Mountain Blood Sea burst forth from her hands.
'With a half-baked Martial Art, I cannot seize the initiative.'
What she must do is only maximize her own advantageous points.
Spacetime bends under attraction force, and Wol Ryeong's time accelerates even more.
'Stronger. Faster! Sharper!!'
Tsuaaaaat!!
Burning her realm of True Immortality, Wol Ryeong strengthens her own physical capabilities.
It is a combat method like Gwak Am's, yet she is different.
Tsuaaaaaat!
She strengthens the body with the authority and weight class of a True Immortal.
Beyond that strengthening, she strengthens the instinct embedded deep within the body.
Beyond that instinct, she strengthens the talent that leads her from further within!
Something catches in Wol Ryeong's senses.
It is something that seems close to emptiness ().
At the same time, it is a consciousness that sees the myriad flows.
It is...
What some call Void Perception.
Having obtained Void Perception, Wol Ryeong, through talent, unfolds her sword to reach Seo Eun-hyun.
White sword strikes scatter madly over the top of Salt Mountain.
Wol Ryeong becomes a disaster.
She becomes the fire demon that burns the forest, the tidal wave that covers the earth, and the earthquake that makes Heaven and Earth roar.
At the same time, she is the storm that rips everything up and flings it away, and the waterspout that hurls what is on the ground up into the firmament.
However, Seo Eun-hyun meets and breaks through all those attacks in a form identical to hers, like a mirror.
Wol Ryeong can tell.
'This is still not enough.'
Tsaaaaaat!
Squeezing out all her authority, Wol Ryeong begins to strengthen Void Perception once again.
'More...!'
Wol Ryeong's sword strikes collapse the peak of Salt Mountain and bring down the glass mountains beyond.
But Seo Eun-hyun completely lets that power flow through and takes no damage at all.
'More...!!'
Feigning a kick to pry Seo Eun-hyun off, Wol Ryeong plays with her footwork, then with her right foot, steps on Seo Eun-hyun's left foot to pin him and send a sword strike.
Seo Eun-hyun dodges Wol Ryeong's sword strike by the difference of a few strands of hair, and then, with utter naturalness, slips free by taking off his shoes and socks on the spot.
'More...!!!'
Wol Ryeong's sword curves like a snake and targets Seo Eun-hyun's left ribs.
Seo Eun-hyun's sword seems to draw a circle, then in an instant, spins like a wheel once and flicks that sword
away.
'Please, land...!'
Wol Ryeong pours everything of herself in and does her utmost to hit Seo Eun-hyun.
And at some moment, Wol Ryeong, through Void Perception, touches what lies 'beyond'.
'Ah...'
The source of Wol Ryeong's talent.
Her fate!
The mandate of the being called Wol Ryeong, appointed as the next Sword Spear Heavenly Lord, wholly infuses
into her sword.
'If it's this...!'
She is a being fated as a victor and a god of war.
Wol Ryeong must be the victor.
The fate of victory dwells in her sword.
As what is called fate dwells in the sword, only then does Wol Ryeong barely, just barely manage to enter Seo Eun- hyun's domain.
Kaang!
She twists her waist from lower left to upper right and cuts the opponent diagonally.
Seo Eun-hyun also tries to let her sword slide off in the exact same posture, but Wol Ryeong's sword accelerates for a moment and, off-beat, enters Seo Eun-hyun's distance.
Huuuu...
Seo Eun-hyun regulates his breathing and takes the defensive, and Wol Ryeong presses the offensive even harder.
Kaang, kaang, kaang!!!
With one attack, one hand-span of distance.
Wol Ryeong's sword is gradually drawing that one hand-span closer to Seo Eun-hyun.
Kaaang!!!
Once again the gazes of Wol Ryeong and Seo Eun-hyun collide in midair.
They look into each other's eyes, but cannot read what the other is thinking.
Wol Ryeong simply lacks the realm, and Seo Eun-hyun intentionally does not read her thoughts for the sake of her
dignity.
However...
If it is a duel between martial artists, in the end even without reading thoughts through laws, one has no choice but to infer the other's thinking through the breath, the movement of the muscles, and the tremor of the sword tip.
Though they cannot read each other's thoughts, they can read the faint meanings each holds.
And, upon reading those meanings, the exchange between Wol Ryeong and Seo Gyeong becomes even more
intense.
'You...no.'
Wol Ryeong looks at Seo Eun-hyun.
'I...like you.'
Seo Eun-hyun looks at Wol Ryeong.
Those eyes are full of a wavering that does not know what to do.
But the tip of his sword does not waver.
Sword Heaven Annihilation Advancement.
Chwarararak!
From around Wol Ryeong, white sword energy seems to surge then, having drawn a circle to gain rotational force,
it explodes in all directions.
'But...'
Within that explosion, Seo Eun-hyun's shadow is visible.
Wol Ryeong rushes toward that shadow like a bolt and thrusts her sword.
'Is this feeling real? Did you not intervene in my fate and simply infect me...!?'
Wol Ryeong's sword changes.
It is the sword she had back then, before she earned the name Wol Ryeong, when she was Wol Ah.
The sword holds her moment as a child, when she was innocent.
That sword is clean.
Again, the sword changes.
The sword grows.
A sword that contains herself from when she entered the Radiance Spirit Sect.
That sword contains countless possibilities.
The sword changes.
A sword that contains the time when she met Seo Gyeong.
The sword is engulfed in passion.
The sword changes again.
A sword that contains the time when she went with Seo Gyeong to another Heavenly Domain.
The sword...becomes chaotically distorted.
The sword changes again.
'If this heart is nothing but fake...then in this world, would the only thing that has meaning not be fate...!?!
The sword that contains the time when she came to love Seo Gyeong.
That confused sword is restrained based on that heart and returns to a gentle trajectory.
And, the last of all those trajectories.
Again, the sword changes.
'If in this world there is nothing that has meaning besides fate...'
This is...
This is the sword from when, knowing all truth, she was dragged to the Great Mountain Supreme Deity.
Tsuaaaaat!!!
Wol Ryeong's white sword light becomes dyed black.
The black sword strike that contains pain itself swallows Seo Eun-hyun.
'Isn't something like the cycle of pain...impossible to sever...!?'
To her, fate is a [circle].
Since she was young, she dreamed.
She dreamed of a [Black Snake Biting Its Tail] drawing a circle and covering her life.
And as she entered the path of Immortal Cultivation and accumulated cultivation, she could understand.
The snake that appeared in her dreams is her fate.
No, not only her fate, but all fates in this world are set to draw a circle.
The closer she got to fate, the more she felt it keenly.
And at last, when she was eaten by Corpse Mountain Blood Sea and came to know the truth of the world—
When she came to know that this world is filled with pain...
Wol Ryeong understood.
'Fate is pain...'
Therefore, if life is only fate, pain cannot be severed.
The ring of hatred, resentment, and pain cannot be severed either.
Because, that life is only fate means that pain, hatred, resentment, and even oneself all belong to fate.
Unless one cuts oneself, the ring of fate cannot be severed.
Yes.
Everything in this world is fake.
To become real, there is nothing but for fate to end.
'Therefore...'
Wol Ryeong raises her sword and unleashes an extreme-speed thrust toward Seo Eun-hyun.
Flash!
A flash flickers, and Wol Ryeong's right leg is cut off.
Because principle is cut, even she who has an Immortal Body cannot regenerate.
But even one-legged, she directly thrusts her sword toward Seo Eun-hyun.
'If I want to know whether the heart between you and me was real...'
Kwaching!
Seo Eun-hyun lifts his sword from below and smashes it against the flat of Wol Ryeong's, blade face meeting blade
face.
From that single strike, both Seo Eun-hyun's and Wol Ryeong's swords shatter at the same time.
But she, paying no heed, approaches Seo Eun-hyun and strikes his face with her right arm.
Seo Eun-hyun lets all that force flow away, then he too clenches his fist and drives a punch into Wol Ryeong's face.
Thwak!
Her skull caves in, and an eyeball pops out.
Because he strikes the principle, an enormous pain surges in, yet Wol Ryeong recalls the pain suffered in the
Corpse Mountain Blood Sea, endures the pain, and lashes a kick at Seo Eun-hyun.
Kwaaaang!
Seo Eun-hyun lets the kick flow past, and the mountains behind collapse.
However, this time he appears not to have diverted it completely, as his ribs seem to crack.
'You're tired.'
Wol Ryeong judges Seo Eun-hyun's condition and rushes at him.
A bare-handed fight begins.
Kwaang, kwaang, kwaaaang!!!
At Wol Ryeong's fists, Heaven and Earth hum. Seo Eun-hyun's fists are quiet, yet every time they dig into her body,
Wol Ryeong's body breaks without fail.
To Wol Ryeong, Seo Eun-hyun feels as if he is not a human but like a single sword.
Chwaak!
Wol Ryeong's ribs are cut away by Seo Eun-hyun's knife-hand.
Holes open all over her body.
Since becoming a True Immortal, her authority that seemed infinite starts to dry up.
Seo Eun-hyun is a mortal, and Wol Ryeong becomes a mortal being.
Yet even though their ranks have dropped that far, their exchange of blows does not stop.
However, the match at last reaches its end.
Jjeoeeong!!!
Wol Ryeong flips Seo Eun-hyun over, grabs his neck, and slams him toward the palace gate behind.
Kwaaaang!!!
Completely restrained, Seo Eun-hyun can no longer let anything flow past and coughs blood.
Kugugugu...
"...Now...it is the end."
Wol Ryeong, at last seeing Seo Eun-hyun within her grasp, smiles.
Tsuaaaaat!
Wol Ryeong's face recovers.
She does not recover her legs or arms, but she squeezes out her energy and recovers only her caved-in head.
The reason she bothers to restore her face is extremely simple.
The last departing appearance.
At the very leash, she does not want to go hideously before him.
"Kill me."
Wol Ryeong presses down on Seo Eun-hyun's body.
At the same time, her will turns into a sword and begins to pierce into Seo Eun-hyun's chest.
If it goes on like this, Seo Eun-hyun will die.
Therefore...
Having become like this, even Seo Eun-hyun has no choice but to use it.
"You have never once used a killing move, have you?"
When fighting Wol Ryeong.
No, even when fighting the Great Mountain Supreme Deity, Wol Ryeong knows that Seo Eun-hyun was hiding his
strength.
She knows that, in the end, the Great Mountain Supreme Deity was truly beaten.
Because Seo Eun-hyun truly did not use 'that' technique to the very end.
"That strongest killing art that you used through your hair clone."
Devil Sword.
Zero.
A power created to kill the opponent.
Seo Eun-hyun, to the very end, did not use that power.
Even though he has the skill to copy any martial technique, just as he copied Wol Ryeong's martial arts!
Therefore, she smiles brightly.
"Kill me, Seo Eun-hyun."
Seo Eun-hyun only looks at her and gives a bitter smile.
"Otherwise, you will die."
The Future King's technique has been, by my hand, restored to about the third form.
Even if I face the Future King, the minimum preparation to block about three moves is complete.
And, as Wol Ryeong says, these three forms, in terms of offensive power, are the strongest killing methods that
surpasses mine and Kim Young-hoon's.
If I had used the killing method whe