Discord: /translatingnovice
The night passed, and dawn broke. Then, I witnessed sothing extraordinary.
Whoosh-
The stone saber I had made for the imaginary Kim Young-hoon, which I had split in half, began to float in the air.
'Uh...?'
A faint figure started to reappear. The figure I had split in two. Each half of the figure, now holding the upper and lower parts of the saber, began to grow new bodies on their opposite sides.
Wriggle, wriggle-
New bodies fully ford, and the reality of the two Kim Young-hoons beca clear again. This ti as well, they were Kim Young-hoon.
The two Kim Young-hoons, each holding a saber, aid at . Their transparent eyes asked to stop my futile thoughts and engage in a duel.
"Heh, hehehe..."
I felt saliva dripping from my mouth. My eyes bloodshot, I chuckled and stood up shakily, holding the stone sword.
"Hahaha...!"
I rushed towards the two Kim Young-hoons.
Crazy or not, what did it matter? Yes, let's just play and think later.
It was another six months before I managed to defeat the two Kim Young-hoons. I road around, engaging in battles with them. Finally, I elevated my Severing Mountain Swordsmanship to the extre and succeeded in cutting down both Kim Young-hoons simultaneously.
There lay the bisected corpses of the two Kim Young-hoons, still smiling eerily.
"...Aren't you resentful that I've cut you down?"
Despite being bisected, the two Kim Young-hoons shook their heads. Seemingly, they were happy to see my martial arts improve. From the bisected bodies of the two Kim Young-hoons, new bodies began to sprout again.
Wriggle, wriggle...
Now, the two Kim Young-hoons have beco four. Each of them was ard and surrounded . The fight was about to get even tougher.
"Alright, let's do this!"
Months passed again. Whenever the ti was right, I held rituals towards the heavens, and each ti they failed, I, along with the now six Kim Young-hoons, would demolish the altar.
"Why! Why! Why!"
I scread towards the heavens, smashing the altar with the Kim Young-hoons.
"Why won't you grant permission... Heavens...!"
Why still, still...!
If this much sincerity isn't enough, then what more do you want from !
Boom!
The sixth Kim Young-hoon swung his saber, shattering the last piece of the altar. I thanked him and sat down, exhausted.
"...Kim Hyung."
I spoke to the Kim Young-hoons.
"I know. I've lost my mind right now. But in a way, I'm both insane and rational."
The repeated failures and the loneliness of not being able to converse had led to these illusions. I pondered over my feelings and ford a hypothesis about the Kim Young-hoons in front of .
"...You all are the Kim Young-hoons I rember from my past lives, aren't you?"
At my words, all six Kim Young-hoons nodded. Excluding the Kim Young-hoon from my first life without regression and this current cycle, they were the six Kim Young-hoons from the six cycles of regressions. The ones I rembered and longed for.
"...I'm sorry for dragging the departed into my delusions."
They smiled wryly, saying it's just my imagination, what does it matter. I chuckled and grasped my sword.
"...I'm always grateful for playing with ."
Blink
I closed and opened my eyes. Their figures vanished, leaving six floating stone sabers. Blinking again, they transford back into six Kim Young-hoons.
7 years passed.
"Heavens... grant strength."
Heavens, please accept ...
Whoosh-
Once again, I clenched my teeth at the sight of the obstructing dark clouds.
'Still...'
Still, I am not granted permission by the heavens.
It was different from when I transitioned from first-rate to the peak. Back then, though there was an indescribable huge wall blocking , I could feel the existence beyond that wall and devoted my life to breaking through.
But now, it's not a huge wall. It's like being thrown alone into an endless space. There's no wall, nothing at all. I can't even see the next realm.
When will the heavens permit ? There's no promise, just clinging to the cold and lofty rcy of the heavens, waiting for the next realm.
'...I must try.'
Crack...
My fingers, imbued with Gang Qi, gripped the stone altar made by the Earth Dwelling thod, leaving imprints.
'Yes, I must try.'
No matter how much the heavens ignore .
Even if I am just a struggling bug.
Until they accept ...
I must keep enduring.
Yes, if not today, then tomorrow, and if not tomorrow, then the day after.
Until they accept .
I will keep trying, over and over...!
"Heavens above... I am waiting...!"
Boom!
I stamped my foot.
The altar crumbled.
Beside , six Kim Young-hoons, each performing their own ritual dance, assisted as we furiously pounded the altar together.
"I will definitely reach you..!"
Swoosh!
At so point.
I was able to overco the six Kim Young-hoons.
The heavens would still not permit .
All I did was swing around pieces of stone.
Even that was just a fignt of my imagination.
Were the Kim Young-hoons before the real ones?
No, they weren't.
If they were the real Kim Young-hoons, they would have shot a single Gang Sphere and blown away.
What I was fighting were just Kim Young-hoons supported by my imagination.
But...
I have now overco all the Kim Young-hoons I have longed for.
Now, whom do I have to fight?
Who do I have to compete with to express this tornt?
That's when it happened.
Wriggle, wriggle...
The illusions of the six Kim Young-hoons I had overco.
Their corpses began to squirm.
And from those wriggling of corpses, sothing began to grow.
It was the leader of the Shadow Guards and its mbers.
"..Eh?"
The Shadow Guards grew from Kim Young-hoons' corpses, and the six Kim Young-hoons squird and grew again.
Now, along with the six Kim Young-hoons, the Shadow Guards have appeared.
"...Haha, not bad."
The combined attack of masters is better the more there are.
Drooling from my mouth, I shouted.
"Co at ! All of you, co at ! Fine, I will make the weapons for you!"
I ford a hand seal, made stone weapons for the Shadow Guards and Kim Young-hoons, infused them with Gang Qi, and threw them.
They took my weapons and all rushed at .
Every ti I fought, I felt a tingling pleasure in my head, blowing away the pain and despair of my ritual failures.
"Hahaha!"
It's so fun!
So very fun!
I am enjoying this!!!
My intent was sohow a dark blue hue.
But I didn't care and shouted.
"Great!!!"
Two years passed.
32 years since regression.
22 years since the start of the Seven Stars Ritual.
That day, I was drooling from my mouth, taking the combined attack of several mbers of the Shadow Guards and several peak masters I had t, and the combined attacks of the Kim Young-hoon group. We were fighting, crossing a mountain in the sky.
"Um...?"
Suddenly, while fending off the extre attack of the Shadow Guard leader, I noticed sothing different down below.
"That, that is...!"
I felt my eyes widen, gestured to the people playing with , and went down.
It was a stone building.
A trace of civilization!
I hurriedly ran to the stone building.
"This place is..."
Inside the stone building, there was no sign of life.
At most, so spiritual herbs or poisonous plants growing in various places and low-level spiritual beasts that ca together to bare their teeth at .
But such creatures, seeing the Shadow guards and peak masters of the great sects, and the group of Kim Young-hoons following , were surprised and fled with wide eyes.
'Hmm, strange. These are supposed to be visible only to because I've lost my mind... Why are those creatures running away?'
After thinking for a while, I realized that many weapons floating in the air following would be a terrifying sight.
'Well, good... Anyway, this building is...'
The building seed to be made in a style used thousands of years ago.
Inside, there wasn't much to see.
'It's not made for people to live in.'
It was too cramped for that.
This wasn't so much a building as...
'It feels like a shrine.'
I looked at the altar, or sothing similar, and beca certain of my thoughts.
At the top of the altar, there was a large square indentation, as if sothing had been placed there before.
'An ancestral tablet or so kind of stele...'
Wait, a stele?
I ca out of the building and looked at it hastily.
I hadn't noticed because I rushed in, but this building didn't just seem neglected due to age.
Around it were stones that seed like remnants of the stone building, and the bottom part of the building was ripped out.
And the terrain around the stone building.
It was as if.
'A very powerful person had plucked this stone building from its original place and thrown it here...?'
The terrain around the stone building was deeply gouged on one side.
As if thrown and leaving a mark on the land.
I looked in the direction the gouge pointed.
It was towards the Ascension Gate.
'The indentation on the altar inside the building. Its size is... exactly the sa as the stele that floated above the Ascension Gate...?'
Perhaps this stone building was originally erected where the Ascension Gate was.
And one of the Heavenly Being cultivators had plucked the building and thrown it here for so reason.
'Is there a hidden secret..?'
While searching near the stone building, I found sothing delightful.
"This is...!"
A fragnt of a stone with Oracle Bone Script written on it.
It was too ancient for to identify correctly.
But from what I know, it seed to an thunder ().
I searched around the fragnt with the character for thunder, but found nothing more.
'I'm curious now. Is there so hidden secret in this place?'
What does this Oracle Bone Script of thunder an?
Is it related to the thunderclouds near the Ascension Gate?
"Hmm... It's getting interesting."
As I ca up with various hypotheses and my mind cleared, the many figures around beca transparent.
Only nurous stone weapons floated in the air.
"Shall I look for more of these similar buildings..?"
With that intention, I wandered around the island, looking carefully.
The size of Ascension Path was imnse, as big as combining several cities.
It seem to be about the size of South Korea.
At the center of the island was the Ascension Gate, and this place was shaped like a circular land floating in the air around the Gate.
But despite my thorough search, I couldn't find any more buildings like the stone building.
'Hmm, it's hard to find out more without further clues...'
I sighed and went near the Ascension Gate for the first ti in a while.
The Gate was closed due to the ti passed, but the spatial rifts and thunderclouds around it remained.
But I saw sothing I hadn't noticed before.
Traces of the stone building near the Ascension Gate.
Stones that looked of the sa material as the stone building were scattered nearby.
It seed like the base of the stone building.
"Hmm..."
I examined the stones, then went back to where the stone building was located.
The direction the stone building flew from the Ascension Gate was north.
I suddenly realized that the size of the stone building and the part near the Ascension Gate, which seed to be its base, didn't match.
'The base part is almost ten tis bigger.'
This ant the original stone building was much larger.
But why was only this stone building left here?
I thought about whether the remnants of the stones had weathered and crumbled, but there weren't many such remnants nearby.
Then...
'There was a larger stone building when the cultivator blew up the building. When they ripped and threw the building, only this part fell here, and the rest...'
Further north.
Fell outside the area.
I ran to the northern edge, looking down at the desert below.
"...Tsk, all sand."
Maybe it was buried under the sand.
The stone, having touched it a few tis, was very sturdy and not easily damaged.
I might have to dig under the sand nearby later.
Or since I've mastered earth spells, I could dig underground.
'Anyway, I'll investigate later.'
I decided such and looked up at the sky.
Despite my sudden doubts and curiosity, I haven't paid much attention.
But now, I need to perform the ritual again.
"...How long must this continue."
Suddenly, the urge to give everything up overwheld .
"How long must I... keep doing this?"
Perhaps I was doing sothing foolish.
After all, maybe the heavens have no intention of permitting , no matter what I did or do.
Am I just working in vain?
Am I foolishly lingering in this place for nothing?
I...
"...Master."
I clenched my teeth.
Boom!
I stomped my foot, and the earth rose up, forming an altar.
"As you said, Master, sincerity can reach the heavens... I will give it my all."
Not yet.
I can't give up yet.
Even if I do give up, it will be after I've dedicated this entire life to trying.
Because there have been too many who have pushed forward in my many lives...
Many figures surrounded .
So held weapons, others didn't.
There were Kim Young-hoons, subordinates from my ti as the Wulin Alliance chief advisor, from the ti of the Palace of Heavenly Demons, the Shadow Guards...
And my disciples,
And my master.
Only then did I realize.
I haven't gone mad.
I wasn't crazy. I was just longing for them so much that I called them to .
The many people in my mory were rely projected before my eyes according to my will.
"...I will not give up."
I said, looking at everyone.
Looking at the Kim Young-hoons.
Looking at my disciples.
Looking at my master.
"For the sake of not forgetting your help...!"
I gathered the ritual utensils, adorned the altar, and prepared for this night's ritual.
Heavens above.
Heavens above.
Grant strength.
Allow .
I cried out, looking at the sky filled with dark clouds.
But the heavens remained silent.
Without any response, just silently looking down at .
It was a failure again.
But I did not give up.
"Heavens above... Grant strength..."
"Heavens above... Allow ..."
I earnestly prayed, performing and praying through the ritual over and over.
The heavens did not look at , but now I also stopped looking at the heavens.
Instead, each ti I perford the ritual, I looked at the nurous figures around .
Those who had pushed forward.
The many connections who had supported and sustained .
Even if I can't et them anymore, they are with in my heart.
"Heavens above..."
I will not give up.
Because I am not alone.
From a certain point, I stopped smashing the altar in anger after the ritual ended.
Instead, I focused on gathering stones to build the altar higher and stronger.
My altar grew taller.
Eventually, it would reach the sky.
As ti passed, the figures surrounding beca more and more distinct.
As the tower grew taller and stronger,
The six Kim Young-hoons who fought with , the Shadow Guards, several peak masters,
And my disciples.
Over 500 disciples, the Shadow Guards, Kim Young-hoons, elders and protectors of various great sects.
The loyalists I fought with in the Jin Clan.
They all ca out with weapons and sparred with .
At first, it was overwhelming, but after a few years, I was equally fighting against them all.
As my skills improved, the figures participating in my sparring increased.
Most were martial artists wielding weapons.
But also the petty bandits, water bandits, and unorthodox sect martial artists I had captured.
Even the first-rate masters I had sparred with, the number almost reached two thousand as the range expanded.
35 years into regression.
25 years since starting the Seven Stars Ritual.
How many thousands of tis have I failed the ritual?
'I can't even rember.'
But I sense that I will not be broken.
I am not alone.
'How can I be alone with so many accompanying ...!'
"Heavens above, look."
Humans cannot reach the heavens alone.
But no human is ever completely alone.
Within the many connections and relationships,
Inside 'us', humans are born and live.
"Heavens above, you may not look at ."
But I am not composed of just myself.
Therefore, the heavens cannot ignore 'us'.
I now ascend the giant altar, almost as tall as a four-story building.
Thousands of weapons float in the air below the altar.
When I blink, the weapons are all held by nurous figures.
Besides those figures holding weapons, thousands more without weapons look at .
So might call a madman who creates imaginary figures in his madness.
From that perspective, I am indeed a madman.
But from the perspective of longing for people, am I really mad?
Every human is born, grows, and dies within humanity.
People inevitably seek others.
Is it madness for people to crave others?
For people to crave life?
For people to yearn for higher places for that?
"Heavens above, I cannot give up now."
I murmured, looking at the countless figures.
I know.
They are all illusions created by my loneliness, longing, and yearning.
But if I can only break free from the cycle of regression and fate,
I can find them all again, retrieving my life as it was.
And for that.
I must ascend higher!
As I ascend the altar, I shout towards the heavens.
"Heavens above, look! I will not give up! I cannot give up!"
So, grant strength!
So, allow !
The ritual began.
Translator Notes: Our Eun-hyun needs a break.
Also, please don't post spoilers unless asked for, even if it is censored. Thank you.
***
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