A Regressor’s Tale of Cultivation Chapter 699: 2011th Cycle's First Day

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Chapter 699: 2011th Cycle's First Day

Hwiooooo—

Ti rewinds.

I feel slightly dumbfounded at the absurdity of my death.

'That strike from the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable...was quite literally fate.'

The secret blow unleashed at by the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable hiding within the Origin Essence of Life with their Gandhara.

Because it was the power of the Annihilation Flower that forcibly imposes [Annihilation] upon its target, it was capable of reducing to ruin regardless of whether I have established a new Immortal Cultivation system or reached Martial Pinnacle.

'No...if it had been Hyeon Mu, maybe she wouldn't have died even from that.'

In truth, it may simply co down to a difference in Martial Pinnacle proficiency.

'And in the first place, my Martial Pinnacle activates only when soone else is with , so it's unstable on its own...'

Of course, I have succeeded in becoming the Immortal Beast King.

Jeon Myeong-hoon also awakened as a Heavenly King, so even if I regress now, there shouldn't be a problem.

Having acquired the Seat from the Heavenly Punishnt Supre Deity, even with regression, resurrection shouldn't be possible for the Heavenly Punishnt Supre Deity.

But...

'All of that is just an excuse.'

I grit my teeth.

These are unconscious excuses for dying such a futile death.

'I could have done so much more...'

The connections I ford with countless others, the ti I spent with them—all of it has faded away.

Of course, I now know those tilines haven't been erased...

But I still can't help feeling bitter.

Hiding that bitterness, I feel the presence of 'half of Oh Hye-seo's spirit' mixed with Gracious Soul Filling the Heavens inside my body.

'Right now, Oh Hye-seo is like the lingering spirit I asked Song Jin to attach to my body during the first regression point.'

Since regression through the Radiance Mantra is sothing that is only possible for alone, those below the Heavenly Venerable rank have their souls torn away if they co along with .

'But...for so reason, this ti feels a little different.'

Now, I have reached the ultimate of Martial Arts, and have even beco the Immortal Beast King.

'At least a single spirit...!'

Woo-wooong!

I rge Oh Hye-seo's soul with my Gracious Soul Filling the Heavens and conceal it.

'I can bring with ...!'

Kugugugugu!

Then, the power of the Radiance Mantra collides with the law of causality that forms this world—Indra's Net.

The Radiance Mantra accepts without issue and attempts to regress , while Indra's Net, perhaps sensing that I'm bringing Oh Hye-seo's spirit along, tries to forcibly tear her spirit away from .

Oh Hye-seo's spirit in my embrace is pulled between the two sides and suffers in pain, and seeing her like that, I use the power I've attained through Martial Pinnacle and as the Immortal Beast King.

Tssaaaaaah!

'I'll sever it.'

The Impermanence Sword appears to shine pure white.

In the next mont, I unfold the Sword God Dance and slash at the web of causality attempting to tear Oh Hye-seo away.

I cut off a part of Indra's Net.

Shukak!

Jjjjeeeong!

The world quakes, and the principle of Indra's Net that tries to pull away Oh Hye-seo's spirit gets rebounded.

'So this is how it's done. Restructuring the laws...'

I recall the ti when the Underworld partially restructured the law concerning Enders, and I gain so insight into how to alter the laws of the world.

Thus, Oh Hye-seo's spirit, writhing from the pain caused by Indra's Net, begins to regress with from within my embrace.

And just when I complete the verification of this regression with Oh Hye-seo's half spirit as a test subject,

'Hm?'

I see sothing wriggling toward from the very edge of the river of ti.

And soon, I realize what it is.

'...! Sal Tree...!'

It is the Gandhara of the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable, appearing like a massive wriggling worm made entirely of flowers.

At the very end of that worm-like Gandhara—

A human-shaped face of the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable blooms in the direction facing toward .

That appearance even seed to resemble the Candle Dragon Race that received my True Blood.

Seeing how they bothered to take that form, it seems to have been intentionally done to establish an attraction force between us.

'Still...the Candle Dragon Race wasn't this grotesque...'

As I watch the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable writhing and crawling up the river of ti with their entire body covered in flowers and only their head taking human form, I frown.

Is it because those of Heavenly Venerable rank have beco aware of regression?

Or is it because he has awakened so essence unknown even to himself?

The Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable, like the Heavenly Venerable of the Underworld in the past, now chases by directly going against the river of ti and opens his mouth.

: : Please co. This old one shall allow you to understand your fate, and carry out the beginning, developnt, twist, and conclusion of that fate...I shall let you, too, properly wield the power of fate...! : :

'At this rate, am I going to arrive at the regression point together with the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable?'

My regression point is the front courtyard of the Great Mountain Supre Deity, and around it are Kim Yeon and Oh Hye-seo of that ti point.

'Saying he will carry out my beginning, developnt, twist, and conclusion...is he saying he will harm the Kim Yeon and Oh Hye-seo of that ti? No, even if he doesn't harm them, just 'separating' them from would be enough to advance the progression.'

I quickly finish my calculations and look at the grotesquely transford Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable.

'While regressing, the pressure of reversing ti makes it hard to exert power properly. So...right after regression, I should blast the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable far away, grab Kim Yeon and Oh Hye-seo, and escape in one go to Mount Suru...all the way to the Underworld. That's probably the best move.'

In any case, like with Hyeon Mu, if soone like Hong Fan interferes with death, even if one has the power to slay a Heavenly Venerable, killing the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable would be impossible.

'If I can't kill, I'll avoid. There's no need to fight head-on.'

Having decided how to deal with the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable, I quickly wait for the regression.

And shortly after—

Paaaat!

At last, the regression to the 2,011th cycle is complete.

Flash!

As I look around, familiar chaos spreads before .

Imdiately after, I thrust the Impermanence Sword toward the massive 'flower-covered worm with an old man's face' that appears in the void.

'That thing is...'

All of a sudden, the colors of the flowers blooming on the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable's body change.

The flowers that were a multitude of vibrant colors just monts ago, have all simultaneously turned black.

'All the flowers in the flower field have turned into Annihilation Flowers...!'

Then, aiming for this greatest vulnerable mont right after regression, he unleashes a bombardnt of Annihilation Flowers.

'That was close.'

Had I not reached the ultimate of Martial Arts, I wouldn't have been able to block it. I would've been forced to infinitely regress again and again, like during the events with Great Mountain or Blood Yin.

But now is different.

Tssaaat!

'I am now the Immortal Beast King.'

The one who has the authority to access and borrow all ancient force.

And my Martial Pinnacle is a Martial Pinnacle that reaches the peak when borrowing another's heart.

'Here and now...I will borrow your ancient force.'

Woo-wooong—

I attempt to read the ancient force of the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable, who has suffered through near-eternity across over a thousand cycles.

Tssaaaaaah!

Then, a portion of the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable's history reveals itself to .

'This is...!'

As I witness the 'great feat' of the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable, my eyes open wide.

[I] delved into Immortal Arts and explored the world, and during that pursuit, I discovered a new domain of Immortal Arts.

That domain was one where forgotten dreams—the dreams of marginalized existences—were sublimated into Immortal Arts, breathing life even into those forsaken dreams.

[I] reached that domain, listened to the stories held within the countless dreams, communed with them, and resolved the regrets they bore.

Nurous Emperors and Venerables called [my] thod shamanism, and in the cultivation system that was originally divided into the Buddhist Family, the Immortal Family, and the Confucian Family, the Shamanic Family was established thanks to .

[I] referred to these powers as Immortal Arts of endless potential—dreams that are rely yet to bloom, simply forgotten and forsaken—and refined them into the form of [Transparent Seeds], naming their power as Zero (零).

The Imperial Venerables praised [] as the Nar of Zeros, the one who has reached the apex, and they called this realm of mine the Scenery of the Zero King.

It later beca the realm known as the Immortal Beast King.

[I],$&$EasternHeavenlyVenerableFlowerMonarchOwnerofSalTreeGwanMyeong—&*%, thus fulfill the feat required, and beca a Heavenly Venerable.

Flash!

From the Impermanence Sword, the history of the ancient force read from the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable settles within, and collides with the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable alongside the Sword God Dance.

'This is...'

I am taken aback by the ancient force I read from the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable.

Originally, I only intended to read the ancient force born from his encounter with and the resulting regressions, but I ended up reading his fundantal 'mory'.

And, I realize that this mory too is a form of ancient force.

'The Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable... These aren't his own mories. [Soone] tore out their own history, refined it into ancient force, and forcibly stuffed it into the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable... That is the current Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable...!'

It is the sa truth I previously confird.

And, I cannot help but be appalled upon realizing what the [great feat of the being] embedded into the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable is.

'The First Immortal Beast King...! Did the very being who created the concept of the Immortal Beast King insert their own great feat...?'

The one who excavated the realm known as Immortal Beast King, nad that realm, and created the new concept of the Shamanic Family.

Such a great feat alone is enough to rival the achievent of [Mount Suru Extermination] that was pasted on Hyeon Mu.

I cannot help but feel overwheld.

'There's a high chance...that the original owner of the achievents imposed on Hyeon Mu and the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable are one and the sa... And most likely, that one is...the Future King...'

The first Martial God and the first Immortal Beast King.

'No, back then, was it called the Zero King... In any case, even one of these great feats is overwhelming, yet this is a being who has stacked up [several] such feats...'

Kugugugugu!

Borrowing the power of the ancient force overlaid on the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable, I clash against him and grit my teeth.

'No, there's no need to despair.'

What's important is the present.

I decide to stop staring at the door to a future I can't yet comprehend, and as I confront the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable, I glance at a corner of the world of chaos.

'The Great Mountain Supre Deity...still hasn't reacted. Or perhaps, after seeing my Sword God Dance, he judged that there's no point in shooting Annihilation Advancent Mu.'

But I can't let my guard down.

Chwarararara!

At that mont, the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable begins to 'scatter', blooming Annihilation Flowers across his entire body.

Within the world of chaos, the Annihilation Flowers that form the body of the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable start scattering petal by petal, swirling violently.

I realize what the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable is aiming for.

'He's targeting Kim Yeon and Oh Hye-seo.'

Chwarararak!

I imdiately transform into spiraling light and collide with the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable.

'Not a chance.'

Sea of chaos.

Within it, a tornado of white light continuously strikes against the tide of dark petals, completely blocking all of the grasping hands of the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable.

Kugugugu!

The white whirlwind and the wave of petals entwine, pushing away the surrounding chaos.

In our clash, the surrounding chaos is forced into a spherical boundary, forming an imasurable space.

And as I strike away the power of the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable, I understand.

'Evenly matched...'

The level of the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable, who has awakened and descended with their Gandhara, and my own, are completely equal.

At this rate, this won't be a battle of a thousand days, but might beco a battle of a thousand years.

'No, I'm at a disadvantage.'

I have sothing to protect, and unlike , who still retains the concept of [death], the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable is a being to whom the very concept of [death] is not permitted.

'I need help. Just a little...'

It is at that mont.

Hwiooooooo!

Sothing suddenly appears at the center of my being, which has beco a white whirlwind.

That being bears a familiar face, and their entire body scatters gentle starlight.

: : Ti...? : :

I see that being.

As I look at the Owner of Ti, the Southern Heavenly Venerable, the True Ultimate Eternal Life Great Emperor, I shout out in confusion.

The Owner of Ti, Cheon Woon, has sent a projection to this place.

And soon, the Heavenly Venerable of Ti looks at the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable and speaks with a gloomy expression.

: : Activate the Northern Dipper Sealing Immortal Flag. I will link it with my Gandhara... : :

: : ...! : :

The mont Ti finishes speaking, I feel my Northern Dipper Sealing Immortal Flags resonate, and I sense a connection forming between and the Source River that spans Mount Suru.

The Source River.

The main body of the Heavenly Venerable of Ti. From the deep depths of his Gandhara...

I feel a powerful ancient force, as strong as that of the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable.

Cheon Woon looks bitterly at the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable and murmurs.

: : O pitiful friend. Please escape from fate... Even if our essence has been imposed upon us, what chose that essence is our personalities that have lived until now. : :

And the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable only smiles grotesquely at Cheon Woon.

: : O Southern Sal Tree. We are rely the Twin Sal Trees. Know that we are to linger only until the arrival of the Perfectly Enlightened One (正覺者). You and I are not friends, but originally the sa being. The East is mine, the South is yours, the North is Gang's (罡), and the West is the Zero King's. Have you forgotten that we are to take root in the four directions and bless that day? : :

: : My friend... : :

With each word from the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable, pain fills Cheon Woon's face.

: : I...am not a Sal Tree... None of us...want to live like this... : :

Tsuwaaaaaaah!

The power of ancient force surging from the Heavenly Venerable of Ti fills into my sword.

At the sa ti, the ancient force of the great feat imposed on the Heavenly Venerable of Ti begins tempering my mind, strengthening the Sword God Dance.

As I read the history of the great feat imposed upon Ti, I strongly grip my sword.

The first [world] was nothing but a pile of unstable trash scattered here and there.

Heavenly Domains...

The worlds called universes were all scattered throughout chaos, each becoming a different ti and dinsion, creating their own separate realities.

The Imperial Venerables who ruled each universe...

Or the cultivators called Chief Gods, each governed their own universe, yet they were rely lost children of chaos endlessly drifting.

None ever thought of connecting with one another, nor had the slightest interest in each other...

No...they didn't even care that the universes they ruled were being crushed and destroyed within the chaos.

That is why, [I] decided to link them. Because [I] hoped that even without the governance of the Chief Gods, the worlds they ruled would stabilize.

[I] journeyed and sailed across all of chaos.

And finding all the Heavenly Domains that existed in this world of chaos, I began connecting them with attraction force.

After [I] was born, during my mortal days, I split in half and killed the Chief God who ruled this place. Then, centering around the universe I nad the 'Bright (明) Universe', I linked the five Heavenly Domains governed by the Chief Gods of the Five Elents.

Thus, six nearby Heavenly Domains were gathered and linked, uniting six universes into one, stabilizing them.

The [Six Interconnected Universes] each shined like bright stars.

[I] then began adjusting the attraction force of the six Heavenly Domains to trace the curvature of a [cone].

I wanted to make a mountain.

Be^%#cause%$only@%@[promise]$&^^I$#must$#kept.

&#%%%%$^&&(^)(&*)

#@!$^...

...

...

...I decided to na the mountain Suru.

[I],through#$^$#greatfeatbeca%^^$OwnerofTiSouthernHeavenlyVenerableTrueUltimateEternalLifeGreatEmperorCheonWoon$*&%.

Bududuk...

Just a simple viewing of the history contained within the [great feat] causes my mind to shudder and my soul to overload.

For a mont, I nearly mistake myself for the narrator who exists within that ancient force.

The history is so overwhelming that had it not been , but soone of ordinary True Immortal level, they would have likely have been brainwashed the mont they accessed this history, completely convinced they are that narrator inside the ancient force.

Simply focusing my mind so I don't lose myself while reading the ancient force's history brings a level of exhaustion comparable to when I fought with all my strength against Hyeon Mu's Gandhara.

The hearts contained within the ancient forces of Sal Tree and Ti settle into the Dance of the Sword God.

Sword God Dance, Revised.

The enlightennt of Martial Pinnacle that borrows the hearts of connections and rebirths the sword anew.

The dance of the half-baked Martial Pinnacle that divine descends all of phenona unfolds in my hand.

Six Stars Zero King (六星零王).

Devil Sword.

For an instant, I beco a Devil God.

The mont I infuse the hearts of the great feats imposed upon the two Heavenly Venerables into the Impermanence Sword, it becos the apex of the ominous and the devilish—comparable to the Great Mountain Supre Deity.

It becos the extre of the Killing Star: one that slaughters all, cuts and rends, severs flesh and bone, and even tears a Supre Deity apart with just human flesh and blood—unleashing a heart of endless suffering with a single sword.

Naless Rending.

The Impermanence Sword becos a savage fang, a venomous tooth, and violently crashes toward the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable.

Jjeoeeok!

One strike.

That is all.

However, the instant that devilish sword is unleashed, the grotesque monstrous god resembling a wriggling worm that is the Flower Monarch fails to endure the furiously sweeping power of the devilish sword and becos trapped within the sword's montum.

At this rate, I will grind down the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable and gift him every pain before killing him.

'No...!'

But I barely manage to restrain the sword's killing nature, knocking the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable away with the flat of the blade.

Tukwang!

Jjeoooeeoook!

The sea of chaos splits wide open, and the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable is flung far beyond the distant chaos.

: : Wait for ... I shall return to see you once more... : :

With a grotesque appearance, the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable gives a slight smile and simply disappears.

Chiiiii—

And I, unable to even pay attention to the vanishing Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable, turn into my Transformation form and gasp for breath.

It isn't difficult to drive away the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable, but what's troubling is the devilish sword unleashed from my hands.

And...the original owner of the heart that allowed to wield that devilish sword.

The presence of the one who overlaid the great feats onto the Southern, Eastern, and Northern Heavenly Venerables fills my mind completely, and I must expel it by any ans.

"Keheok... Huk... Heok... Wueeegh..."

I descend into the Flower Soul Filling the Heavens of this ti point where Kim Yeon and Oh Hye-seo are in, and the Flower Soul Filling the Heavens rges with my Gracious Soul Filling the Heavens.

Oh Hye-seo, perhaps connecting with her spirit of another tiline, is unable to recall her mories but seems to have inherited the 'heart,' as the way she looks at suddenly changes, and Kim Yeon hastily rushes over and infuses with an Immortal Art to stabilise .

Kugugugugu!

I begin returning to Mount Suru through Gracious Soul Filling the Heavens, which transcends spaceti and pierces even the Origin Essence of Life, and strangely, the Great Mountain Supre Deity has not even once cast a single glance at all this while.

Then...

To , who is emptying the presence that has dwelled within , the projection of the Heavenly Venerable of Ti approaches and speaks bitterly.

[You saw it, didn't you.]

"...Yes."

Thinking of the monstrous being who pioneered the realm of the First Immortal Beast King, created Mountain Suru, and massacred all beings within it, I nod heavily.

"Is that being...the Heavens?"