A Regressor's Tale of Cultivation
C803 Chapter 799: Future King (4)
Chapter 803 Chapter 799: Future King (4)
It may have truly been a pure worry about good.
He may have worried that a being who devours Origin Essence and becomes an Emperor who creates a Heavenly Domain may create hell inside it.
Therefore, even if he cuts what he must cut, there was also the feeling that he wanted to associate with the good.
But...
The moment he collided with, ripped apart, and killed an existence who, by anyone's eyes, clearly chose evil to satisfy their own cruelty, plunging living beings into eternal mystery and abusing them...
He realized such things were nothing but excuses.
'Ah, I see.'
What Hong Fan came to face...
Was not a soft divinity like the Chief God Fuxi who gained divinity at birth and gained the universe.
It was another legend who, like Hong Fan, rose from the position of a mortal, overcame all manners of adversity, and at last ascended to the Imperial Seat.
That was the first 'worthy rival' Hong Fan ever experienced.
Chief Gods are mighty and terrifying, but lacking a mortal's gaze, they have no venomous will.
Mortal beings who have venomous will lack rank and authority.
To Hong Fan, who, bearing a mortal being's venomous will, faced undying beings and climbed to his seat...
There was not a single proper worthy opponent until now.
But as he sees the newly enthroned Imperial Venerables, he finally realizes.
'I see. I...'
Until now, not a single person.
There was not a single being who stood at a height equal to him.
'Did I want to collide...?'
Though less evil than the first evil Supreme Deity he killed, he kills a Supreme Deity who ruled the world by their own selfishness while ignoring the misery and suffering of mortals.
Afterward, he gradually goes on to kill Supreme Deities who are less and less evil.
Each time he kills one Supreme Deity, he feels an indescribable, inexpressible, boiling emotion.
However, it never quenches.
Feeling thus, he also comes to know why he holds up something like good as his justification.
'Good is the most powerful...'
Like the goodwill that Hwe-ah gave him.
Surely, if he protects gods who keep goodwill, one day there will be a powerful being who can withstand everything he pours out.
He put forth hope and good as his justification in order to guard that being.
'If they possess goodwill, they may...stop me, who has risen by killing.'
From birth, how to kill a person was plain to his eyes.
It was the same after he lost his eyes.
He had no ability to make his starving, weakened mother recover,
To heal his sick wife,
To give trust to his friend who betrayed him.
But...
In killing, none could match him.
Killing someone.
Perhaps that...
May be his true fate, hidden behind the god of regression that parasitizes him.
From birth, all those around him could die easily at a mere touch.
Only then does Hong Fan...
Come to know what he truly wants.
'I...'
The apex of the killing art he has mastered changes and evolves into countless forms and gradually begins to carry symbolism.
A killing technique that killed the undying Chief God.
If, in the future, those called the Golden Speed Heavenly King and Star Genesis Supreme Deity saw it, they would considered it to have reached Martial Pinnacle long before, yet because it has not yet been defined, it is a vicious technique that still has not reached the Ultimate of Martial Arts.
'I want...a being that does not die even if I approach.'
He, who is darkness, wants a light so bright that he cannot swallow.
He has been seeking...a light so vivid that even he, a blind man, can clearly feel it.
Apex of Killing Techniques.
Heuk Sa.
Apex of Internal Energy Methods.
Darkness World.
Apex of Movement Techniques.
Black Heaven.
The ultimate meaning of killing that combines all of them.
"This, indeed...is legitimate Martial Arts...!"
If there is meaning in Martial Arts, it is only for eliminating others who cannot become light to me.
It is for killing the other.
The moment he realizes that, and the moment he defines it as so.
He realizes a way for his killing art to reach a realm that one can also call the ultimate of Martial Arts.
Perhaps he wanted ordinary love.
Perhaps he wanted ordinary interaction.
However, this world is full of fragile things that die the moment he touches them.
A world that tears at the lightest touch, like a world of paper-that is the world Hong Fan perceives.
Even those called gods are nothing but slightly larger sandcastles that he can tear and topple with a little effort.
Though they stake their lives, in the end this world has only existences that always seem easy to kill.
In a ragged world where everything collapses at a touch...
To the child who plunges every precious connection into pain and, pretending to be bold, tries to chase hope.
That, for the first time, a proper opponent he can 'truly face' has arisen,
Is an indescribable hope.
But...
In the end, the only way the child communicates with the world is through killing.
As a nation risen by the sword perishes by the sword.
A connection begun by killing in the end ends by killing.
A bridle of karma once begun is only tied up with the same karma.
To the child who was born having lost all chances to be loved and kept reaching out to kill everything he dislikes,
what he needs may have been an opponent who stands at a position equal or higher.
Yes, perhaps what he needed is a parent who should have scolded him and paid attention to him.
And in this world, there are none but those who cannot surpass even a single child.
Lights that flicker out when he tries to reach them...
They have no meaning to him.
Since hope originally begins from what one cannot reach, he only clings to hope and continues to reach out to other beings.
Present.
Darkness swallows the world and turns everything that exists into nothingness.
The former Obsidian Devil Heavenly King breathes power into the Swallowing Heaven Mantra and devours everything, growing into a twisted tiger-like form and baring their teeth.
Seeing this, Hyeon Mu, who has a hand on the Heavenly Void Furnace, once again shoves one of the Seven Heavenly Lords into the Heavenly Void Furnace and lights the incense flame.
But in the next instant,
I, who take the role of breaking the Future King's attack, step forward and thrust out the Turning Wheel Mantra.
The mantra in the form of a vast galaxy shines as it receives the power of the myriad stars and begins to whisper to me the Supreme Deity's power.
In the Immortal Cultivation system, the formula for Supreme Deity is called Primordial Chaos, and the formula for Heavenly Venerable is called Three Flowers.
But this is only what the Immortal Cultivation system defines.
From the level of Supreme Deity and above, one half-steps out of the Immortal Cultivation system, so realm formulas have little meaning beyond explaining the essence.
Three Flowers merely expresses the Three Absolutes as flowers and is nothing more than a metaphor for a Heavenly Venerable who calls forth a handful of their fragrance.
And likewise, Primordial Chaos only symbolizes the essence of the realm called Supreme Deity, and it is ambiguous to say it belongs to the Immortal Cultivation system.
Huuuuup-
Therefore, the formula of Primordial Chaos does not require long cultivation like the ones before, and the moment
one becomes a Supreme Deity, one naturally masters it.
As if breathing.
Reflecting on the experiences of the 16th cycle within the Heavenly Void Furnace, I perform the Supreme Deity realm formula.
The entirety of Mount Sumeru rumbles according to my breathing.
The entire gestation world that Hong Fan cleaved in half stitches back together and recovers, and the chaos that overflows within moves to the pulsation of my breath.
A Creator God creates the world through chaos, the medium of creation.
And Supreme Deities likewise, upon reaching the realm, have their consciousness transform into a Heavenly Domain and create a universe.
Then what is the difference between a Creator God who creates a world and a Supreme Deity?
Are they not both creators?
The difference between a Supreme Deity and a Creator God is chaos.
A Supreme Deity inhales chaos, the medium of creation, to breathe fate, life, and soul into the countless living
spirits and existences within the Heavenly Domain, drawing out countless stories from within.
A Creator God, by their very existence, generates and employs chaos, the material of omnipotence.
When Supreme Deities are enthroned, their names are engraved among the Heavenly Seats.
And the Heavenly Seats are located none other than the bottom of Mount Sumeru.
At the Outer Sea beyond Mount Sumeru, the Supreme Deity's jade throne is born and comes into being.
Yes.
For a Supreme Deity to breathe Chaos, they need to transcend Mount Sumeru. Therefore, the presence of a Supreme Deity transcends Mount Sumeru and is engraved as a jade throne at the very bottom of Mount Sumeru.
There are many ways to explain this and that, but the law needed right now is but one.
A Supreme Deity can inhale chaos!
Kugugugugu!
The Heavenly Void Furnace slips from Hyeon Mu's hand and starts clattering as it flies toward me.
Hyeon Mu's eyes twitch and she once again exerts attraction force.
The attraction force of fate itself ties down the Heavenly Void Furnace.
But in this world...
There is something as strong as fate.
"Master, your disciple Star Genesis comes to offer bowing rites at your spirit altar."
I shout loudly as I inhale with my whole body the Primordial Chaos world inside the Heavenly Void Furnace.
Woo-wooong-
The Heavenly Void Furnace resonates with my voice.
"Master, your disciple Star Genesis comes to offer bowing rites at your spirit altar."
I shout again in a loud voice, lest my master Ryeong perhaps does not hear.
Guuuwoooooong-
The Heavenly Void Furnace rumbles again and begins to draw closer to me.
Hyeon Mu's eyes twitch and she grabs the black leg of the furnace, holding the Heavenly Void Furnace back from coming to me.
"Master."
I call him once again.
The spirit altar that the Great Mountain Supreme Deity spoke of.
The world of Penglai Island has the same structure as the Head Realm.
And the place of the Salt Sea Supreme Deity's shrine that Senior Brother built inside it is located at the exact center of the Heaven-Treading Desert, at the very middle of Ascension Forest.
That's right.
Master's flesh was eaten and torn apart by the entire Head Realm.
His soul was ripped to shreds and fell into decline, becoming Cheongmun Ryeong, a frail existence who finds it hard to ever escape the Qi Building stage for his entire life.
If so...
Where is the fate of that high divinity who half-seized the Absolute of Miracle?
'I saw it in the 16th cycle.'
What spoke to me then in the domain of purity was surely his fate.
The fate of the Salt Sea Supreme Deity Ryeong is asleep inside the Heavenly Void Furnace!
"Your disciple Star Genesis comes to offer bowing rites at your spirit altar!"
That is to say...
'As long as Master sleeps inside that Primordial Chaos, if his disciple calls him while breathing in Primordial Chaos in the way of a Supreme Deity...he will respond from inside that Primordial Chaos!'
Hyeon Mu sneers and tightens the hand holding the Heavenly Void Furnace.
Kurururung-
Countless Gandhara swirl, coil around Hyeon Mu's hand, and add their strength.
"Do you truly think he will answer? He is dead. What remains is only a shell. Do you dare try to call the dead under
the authority of the Owner of Fate?"
Hyeon Mu snorts.
But in the next moment, the smile disappears cleanly from the corner of Hyeon Mu's mouth.
Ggigigigik-
Hand!
It is a snow-white hand.
Clench-
It is a hand made of Salt Mountain.
The snow-white hand of Salt Mountain slips out of the Heavenly Void Furnace and grabs Hyeon Mu's wrist.
Seeing that, I smile clearly.
"Fragment of the Future King. Do you dare...treat the authority of one who once touched the position of Owner of Miracles as merely dead?"
Enders grow closer to fate as they draw nearer to death, and thus become stronger.
The reason is that what is called a miracle touches the principle of death.
Master passed away.
And, precisely because he passed, he still has not disappeared.
If they imprisoned him alive and let him weather away, he might have vanished, but since the Future King killed him, he will never disappear.
Until a new Owner of Miracles is born!
Cheok!
I offer one bow toward the seal of the Salt Sea Supreme Deity that is dissolved inside the Heavenly Void Furnace.
Pasasasak-
The Gandhara that fortify Hyeon Mu's wrist become salt pillars.
I offer a second bow.
Peoseoseok-
Hyeon Mu glares at that hand and draws the power of fate, but conversely the other side carries out debt enforcement toward Hyeon Mu.
The authorities of Enders that Hyeon Mu sucked and stole up to now.
Under the name of the Owner of Miracles, the price is absorbed by the other side, and life flows in the arm made of salt.
I offer a third bow.
In the end, Hyeon Mu's wrist itself becomes a salt pillar, and at last the Heavenly Void Furnace separates from under Hyeon Mu's hand.
Peoseoseok-
Turning Hyeon Mu's arm into salt powder, the Heavenly Void Furnace flies toward me.
Seizing that opening, the Obsidian Devil Heavenly King joins their palms together and lets out a shout.
Uuuuuuuu-
A wailing is heard from within the darkness.
An unknown otherworldly language fills the surroundings like a funeral dirge conducting a funeral.
It is a whisper that resounds within the Swallowing Heaven Mantra.
Clang-
At the same time, the Heavenly Void Furnace flies to me, and I notice that ownership of the Heavenly Void Furnace temporarily transfers to me.
Using the power of the dirge, the Obsidian Devil Heavenly King seems to grant me, who came to offer bowing rites at the spirit altar of the dead, temporary full authority while that dirge's song resounds.
'While the dirge resounds, [this moment] is eternal...!'
No one can interfere with the flow inside this funeral dirge.
In that moment, all the Enders who have been in the rear step forward in unison and, with their own spells and arts, pin the Supreme Deities to their places.
At the same time, Underworld, who has been attempting the fusion between her Gandhara and the Absolute of Life until now, splits focus for a moment and raises a hand.
'Only now do you finally do some work!'
As if reading my thought, the Underworld gives me a slight side-eye as if absurd and then starts to lower the raised hand.
Seeing this, the same reactions shown to Vast Cold erupt from the Supreme Deities one after another.
:: The [Oldest One] is using their strength! ::
:: O Netherworld Queen Mother, this one is not of the Five Cruels! ::
:: Where is this!? Why am I facing against the [Oldest One]!? : :
:: They cannot dare be opposed! ::
:: O Wheel Imperial Venerable of great compassion, mercy! ::
These ones whose intelligence is clearly deleted, when faced against the power of the Underworld, have their minds revive again and scream.
"...As expected, leaving a feeble will alive for autonomous adjustment became a poison. Leaving them fully alive,
they might have rebelled, but at least they would have shown backbone. Because they were temporarily revived with neither this nor that, only the survival instincts remain and it became a poison. Useless things."
Kiiiiiiing!
Clicking her tongue at the Supreme Deities, Hyeon Mu draws the power of fate directly from the Absolute of Fate.
A monstrous attraction force occurs.
Huuung-
The Underworld brings down her hand made composed of her Gandhara.
At that pawlike stroke of a fierce beast, the same thing as with Vast Cold happens again.
It cannot be perceived.
Kwaaaaaaaang!!!
But in an instant, a massive shock shakes the entire Audience Chamber, and the entire Audience Chamber shatters once more.
And...
Over a hundred Supreme Deities, all at once, are outside the Audience Chamber.
They are flung back out to where the otherworlds lie.
Originally, they should have been [deleted] as with Vast Cold, but because Hyeon Mu twisted the Underworld's point of impact with the attraction force she drew directly from the Absolute of Fate, it only ends with them being flung away.
"Radiance Mantra, Time Restoration."
Looking at the Underworld with eyes that seem somehow longing, Hyeon Mu activates the Radiance Mantra.
Ggigigigik-
However, the Radiance Mantra does not activate.
The Obsidian Devil Heavenly King's Swallowing Heaven Mantra.
It holds spacetime in place through attraction force.
'I see.'
Until the dirge ends.
No one present here can leap beyond spacetime.
The Underworld begins to focus again on the advancement to Life Supreme Deity, and seizing that gap, the Enders who have been pinning down the Supreme Deities until now begin to launch an all-out offensive toward all of
Hyeon Mu's Gandhara.
While the former Enders keep them pinned, Kim Young-hoon raises his saber.
"I can cut the Gandhara. Help me!"
The number of Gandhara Hyeon Mu summoned at once total about 50.
Beyond that, as one who is nothing more than a shard of the Future King, she either perhaps cannot control more, or simply does not summon them.
Kim Young-hoon is saying he can reduce the very number of Gandhara that Hyeon Mu controls and summons.
Jeon Myeong-hoon and Kim Yeon, understanding his words, stand behind Kim Young-hoon.
Whether there is a spell that activates in linkage with Vast Cold, Kim Yeon does not release the hand seal drawing a circle with both palms, and begins to lend strength to Kim Young-hoon.
Jeon Myeong-hoon manipulates Indra's Net and ties between Kim Yeon and Kim Young-hoon a thread of connection.
Kang Min-hee quickly makes Kim Young-hoon's fleshly body into a spirit body, and manipulates the laws to temporarily grant Kim Young-hoon the ability of possession.
Oh Hyun-seok offers his body.
Tsuaaaaat!
Kim Young-hoon, having become a spirit body, descends into Oh Hyun-seok's body through the ability of possession, and starts to manipulate Oh Hyun-seok's body.
Tsuaaaaat-
The realm of Nameless One Fist that Oh Hyun-seok reached is manipulated by Kim Young-hoon to burst forth not through the fist but through the foot.
Receiving power from Kim Yeon, Kim Young-hoon moves with Oh Hyun-seok's body, flies toward Hyeon Mu's
Gandhara, and in an instant turns into golden light itself and explodes.
Flash-
Golden light erupts in a flare and brightly illuminates the entire Audience Chamber.
-Golden Great Thousand World!
Chuaaaaaaaat!
Hyeon Mu, whose heart is shaken and lost Void Speed, even if she uses the technique of Future, cannot defeat
Kim Young-hoon backed by everyone's strength, and yields one Gandhara.
Chukwaaaang!
Golden light flashes, and a summoned Gandhara directly collapses.
It is one out of fifty Gandhara, but unlike before, Hyeon Mu does not ostentatiously take out another Gandhara. She only looks at Kim Young-hoon.
"...Beautiful."
Seeing that golden god, Hyeon Mu lets out an exclamation.
"If there had been just one or two more like you in my childhood when the First Light collapsed and the Supreme Deities were born...could I have avoided becoming like this?"
Kim Young-hoon does not answer.
He only draws on Kim Yeon's power, wears Oh Hyun-seok's body as armor, and cuts.
Chuwaaang!
Again, one more Gandhara falls away.
It looks like golden fireworks bursting.
"Could I have found a value other than killing in Martial Arts?"
With gloomy eyes, Hyeon Mu stretches out her hand.
Fu