Chapter 277: Back to the Beginning
The first person Jang Woo-hyun t after returning to the Thousand-Year Seeking Dao Institute was the Heavenly Blade Lord, Seonwoo Baek-rin.
The mont he looked into her eyes, Jang Woo-hyun felt a strange sense of familiarity.
“Oh! You’re stronger than I expected?”
After bringing Jang Woo-hyun’s group to the Thousand-Year Seeking Dao Institute, Seonwoo Baek-rin had imdiately left to handle sothing and only now returned.
Since Jang Woo-hyun had been unconscious when she brought him here, this was effectively their first real eting.
While admiring the power of Seonwoo Baek-rin, one of the Six Heavenly Lords, Jang Woo-hyun realized the source of the familiarity he had just felt.
Sparkling eyes full of curiosity and mischief.
A carefree tone and free-spirited atmosphere completely unsuited for soone in the position of one of the Six Heavenly Lords.
‘The monkey.’
Seonwoo Baek-rin reminded him of the Wind-Passing Great Sage.
And resembling that troublemaking monkey monster ant one thing—
It would not be strange at all if problems imdiately followed.
“Want to try a round?”
Just as expected.
Seonwoo Baek-rin reacted imdiately.
The instant the words left her mouth, Jang Woo-hyun sensed danger and retreated backward.
But he did not rely step back.
He folded the space behind him and moved dozens of li in an instant.
Yet he could not shake Seonwoo Baek-rin off.
“That was a bit clumsy.”
A voice sounded right beside him.
Seonwoo Baek-rin had followed the exact sa distance Jang Woo-hyun fled.
He had not gained even a fraction of a mont.
“Your speed’s pretty good, but the distance is too short. Can’t you go farther?”
Before her sentence even ended, Jang Woo-hyun spread his Will-Form throughout the world.
Twisting the stable laws of reality, he folded space and dragged a distant location closer.
The mont he stepped forward, he crossed hundreds of li at once.
An unfamiliar mountain range spread beneath his feet.
“That one was good.”
But once again, he failed to escape her.
Seonwoo Baek-rin stood beside him, drawing her blade.
“Now let’s test your durability.”
The mont Seonwoo Baek-rin smiled—
The world changed.
“Wh…….”
Jang Woo-hyun forgot how to speak after seeing the sight before him.
A gigantic giant had suddenly appeared.
But he could not properly describe it.
It was certainly a giant.
Yet even while staring at it directly, he could not comprehend its size.
It felt as though his spatial perception had broken apart.
At first, he thought it was rely the size of a mountain peak.
But now it appeared larger than a Floating Continent.
And to estimate its size, one should have been able to stand on one side and compare it—
Yet strangely enough, the giant appeared from every direction at once.
‘What is this…….’
A mixture of awe, shock, and confusion surged through him.
The situation itself was incomprehensible.
The scale was beyond understanding.
This was not a normal world.
It was completely different from the place they had stood monts ago.
A place detached from reality.
And there was only one explanation for sothing like this.
‘A Microcosm!’
That imasurable giant itself was Seonwoo Baek-rin’s Microcosm.
Jang Woo-hyun had already entered inside it.
The giant, which had beco not only large enough to fill the world but the world itself, possessed eight arms.
Each arm held a sword.
Even after staring for a long ti, he still could not estimate the giant’s size.
Everywhere his eyes landed, the giant existed.
It did not surround the world.
Nor did it stand on one side.
There was clearly only one giant visible—
Yet it seed to fill all existence.
【I’m coming.】
Before he could regain his senses, Seonwoo Baek-rin’s voice filled all of space.
Then a gigantic sword descended from the heavens.
Kugugugugung—
“Insane…….”
Space itself was being crushed.
The entire world looked as though it were shattering apart.
The giant sword reminded him of the True Immortal’s hand descending from the heavens like the sky itself.
Though tense, Jang Woo-hyun still focused his Will-Form to confront the falling sword.
At first, he spread his aura to examine the surroundings and used Dragon King Scale.
When he reached the Infinite Realm, he spread his Will-Form around him and dominated the space itself.
Now, after reaching the Realm of Wish and learning Shrinking Earth, things were different.
He released his thoughts and will into the world itself.
Drawing Dragon King Scale, he focused on one thought alone.
‘Cut.’
He would cut everything.
Whether it was the gigantic sword descending before him or the world itself.
Realm of Wish.
The stage where one twists the principles of reality and rewrites the laws of the world.
It was not yet perfect, but right now Jang Woo-hyun changed the laws of this world.
His will suppressed the world’s laws and intent.
Out of habit, he stomped his foot.
Tuuung!
Though he stepped on empty air, a massive sound erupted.
The mont Jang Woo-hyun decided he was stomping on solid ground, the air itself beca no different from earth.
The stomp shook the surroundings, and Jang Woo-hyun swung Dragon King Scale.
From left to right.
A simple horizontal slash.
─────!!
The trajectory cutting through space collided with the gigantic sword, twisting the world itself.
The resulting shockwave alone created cracks throughout the void.
Uuuuuung!
Beyond those cracks, an enormous hole opened.
Part of the Microcosm isolated from the Central Heavens Realm was annihilated.
【Oh?】
Seonwoo Baek-rin’s eyebrows rose at the unexpected result.
She had only intended to suppress him slightly, yet he imdiately struck back.
This entire world existed under Seonwoo Baek-rin’s influence, yet the area surrounding Jang Woo-hyun had fallen under his own control.
Her surprise lasted only briefly.
Soon Seonwoo Baek-rin’s face blood into a smile.
Her eyes sparkled far brighter than before.
【You’re more entertaining than I expected!】
The giant’s second arm imdiately moved.
This sword possessed a blade ford entirely from wind.
‘Defend—’
Kwaaaaaaaaaang!
Before he could even finish the thought of defending, the attack slamd into Jang Woo-hyun’s body.
He blocked it using Dragon King Scale, but the impact still hurled him more than ten li away.
The blade-scales scattered everywhere, and Jang Woo-hyun flailed in midair trying to stabilize himself.
‘What kind of power is this…….’
It was absurd.
For a mont, he thought his entire body had turned to dust from a single strike.
‘That one was different.’
Even while reeling, Jang Woo-hyun analyzed Seonwoo Baek-rin’s attack.
The second strike differed completely from the first sword that crushed down upon the world.
‘Swift Blade.’
This strike emphasized speed.
Only now did he realize what the eight swords held by the giant represented.
Each sword radiated a completely different energy.
Fire, Earth, tal, Water, Wood, Lightning, Light, and Darkness.
The Five Elents, lightning, and the light and darkness representing yin and yang.
Each of the eight swords embodied the profound mysteries of blade techniques through those energies.
If the first strike represented heaviness (重), then the second represented swiftness (快).
Seonwoo Baek-rin’s Microcosm was a blade that contained everything.
It was the essence of blade arts itself.
The gigantic giant rely manifested that power into form.
【Now, next.】
This ti, the heavens burst into flas.
And slashes surged from every direction.
There were so many that he could not distinguish which were real and which were false.
Jang Woo-hyun manipulated Dragon King Scale’s blade-scales to confront the attacks.
---
‘Look at this brat.’
Though she was not attacking with her full power, Jang Woo-hyun endured Seonwoo Baek-rin’s attacks.
And more importantly—
He was constantly searching for sothing within those attacks.
‘No, more accurately… is he evolving?’
Rather than rely searching for openings, he was comprehending sothing through her attacks and improving himself.
‘Has there ever been soone like this?’
Even after living in the Central Heavens Martial Realm for so long, she had never encountered soone with such ability and guts.
Perhaps this was why that sinister serpent wanted him dead so badly.
Just as Seonwoo Baek-rin prepared another attack with delight, she suddenly narrowed her eyes slightly.
Turning her head to one side, she let out a small sigh.
【That’s enough.】
The instant her words fell, a gigantic hand seized Jang Woo-hyun.
He could not even think about using Shrinking Earth or dodging.
This ti, Seonwoo Baek-rin was serious.
The battered Jang Woo-hyun was captured imdiately.
He was dragged before Seonwoo Baek-rin, and the two stood once more atop the mountain range.
“Stay still for a mont.”
“Pardon?”
Ignoring whether he was startled or not, Seonwoo Baek-rin approached and grabbed the back of his neck.
“This goes beyond rely sinister.”
Seonwoo Baek-rin tore away sothing invisible.
“Ugh!”
Kkiieeeek—
A sharp pain erupted from the back of Jang Woo-hyun’s neck as though sothing had been ripped out.
At the sa ti, a horrifying screech rang out.
“One of the Six Heavenly Lords, and yet he resorts to sothing this petty. If I hadn’t inspected you carefully, even I might have missed it.”
In Seonwoo Baek-rin’s hand wriggled a translucent green serpent.
Covered in sharp fangs, the serpent thrashed wildly while trying to bite her sohow.
“This is…….”
“It’s probably so sort of curse planted in you by the serpent from the Divine Dragon Clan. At this point, it’s difficult to even call it simple poison.”
The green serpent looked exactly like the one that bit Jang Woo-hyun’s side during his battle against Yong Cheon-myeong.
He thought he had purged all the poison from his body, but he had failed to remove it completely.
Puheok!
The mont Seonwoo Baek-rin clenched her hand, the green serpent exploded apart.
“He intended to tornt you however he could. You fought surprisingly well while carrying sothing like this.”
“That…… anyway, thank you. I’ve received your help twice now. This debt of gratitude—”
“That’s enough. Forget gratitude. We’ll continue what we were doing another ti. I need to head sowhere.”
The conversation changed so suddenly that Jang Woo-hyun could not understand what she was talking about.
“Looks like you t Old Man Sama, so go train or sothing. Beginning and End is a decent training ground.”
After finishing her words, Seonwoo Baek-rin turned her head.
【Hye, guide this fellow.】
After speaking to soone far away, Seonwoo Baek-rin raised her blade.
“Where are you going?”
“There’s work I need to handle in place of a frail old man. But this is strange. Have they really invaded this often?”
Tilting her head slightly, Seonwoo Baek-rin sliced through the empty air with her blade.
Then she stepped into a black void resembling outer space.
“When you return, there’ll probably be a noisy girl waiting. I already told her, so she’ll help you. I’ll go handle so business. No matter how I look at it, sothing about this feels wrong.”
Sothing had appeared again along the borders of the Central Heavens Martial Realm.
Even after Jang Sam-bong publicly announced his ascension as the Sword Heavenly Lord, these things still continued appearing.
Sothing about that felt deeply suspicious.
‘Feels like soone’s pulling strings behind the scenes.’
Otherwise, there was no reason things should be this busy.
“See you later.”
As Seonwoo Baek-rin completely vanished, the crack in space disappeared as well.
Caught off guard by the sudden turn of events, Jang Woo-hyun stood there blankly for a while.
---
When he returned once more to the Thousand-Year Seeking Dao Institute—
The ones who ca to greet him were Jin Ha-un, Yong Seo-hee, and a woman he had never seen before.
“I’m Gun Yu-hye.”
The tall Gun Yu-hye gave off a feeling similar to Seonwoo Baek-rin.
Her hair was tied back into one bundle, and even through her clothes, her sturdy physique was obvious.
She was not strikingly beautiful, but the large scar stretching from her left cheek to her right cheek gave her a powerful impression.
For so reason, Gun Yu-hye looked at Jang Woo-hyun with dissatisfaction in her eyes.
“Hah, all this over soone like this. Follow .”
“What did you just say? Soone like this? Did you just call Big Brother ‘this’?”
“What? Why? Am I not allowed to?”
“Hah. Listen here.”
“Ha-un, enough. Stop it.”
“Big Brother, soone this rude—”
“She ca to help us, so let’s just overlook it. Nice to et you. I’m Jang Woo-hyun.”
“I know. You’re famous. I don’t feel like talking any longer, so just follow .”
Though Jin Ha-un and Yong Seo-hee glared at Gun Yu-hye with fierce eyes, she paid them no attention and simply walked ahead.
Gun Yu-hye guided Jang Woo-hyun toward a canyon located behind the Thousand-Year Seeking Dao Institute.
As they entered deeper inside the canyon, they eventually found a small cave at the end.
Above the cave entrance were the four characters:
Beginning and End Return Again (始終再來).
The entrance itself was filled with silver mist, making it impossible to see inside.
‘Beginning and End Return Again? The beginning and the end… and then returning again? Does it an the beginning and end co back once more?’
“This is a training ground called Beginning Cave and Return Again Cave.”
Gun Yu-hye turned around and pointed toward the cave.
“If you enter inside, you’ll be able to revisit the martial arts you’ve learned.”
“What do you an by revisit martial arts?”
Gun Yu-hye snorted as though he were dense before continuing.
“Exactly what it sounds like. Once you enter here, you relive the martial arts you first learned all over again. It doesn’t make you recall aningless past mories. It specifically makes you relive your martial arts. Just think of it as reviewing everything you’ve learned. Usually, the people who co here are those whose growth has stagnated or who’ve hit a wall. They retrace the path they walked and search for sothing.”
Pausing briefly, Gun Yu-hye’s gaze moved toward Jang Woo-hyun’s hand.
“I don’t know how you earned the qualification, but if Master told to guide you here, then he probably ant for you to enter.”
“Qualification?”
“That thing in your hand. That’s your qualification to enter this place.”
Jang Woo-hyun looked down at his hand.
Nothing appeared special, but he could feel the energy Sama Jeong had passed to him.
The unique training ground Sama Jeong ntioned was this cave before him.
“By Master… are you the disciple of the Heavenly Blade Lord?”
At Jang Woo-hyun’s question, a smile appeared on Gun Yu-hye’s face for the first ti since they t.
“That’s right. I am Gun Yu-hye, disciple of the Heavenly Blade Lord of the Eight Extres Divine Blade, Seonwoo Baek-rin.”
As she puffed out her chest and proudly declared it, Jin Ha-un quietly stepped closer and whispered.
“She’s not actually a disciple. They just have a connection because she learned a few things from her.”
“What did you say, you brat?!”
Though he whispered, they were close enough for her to hear perfectly, causing Gun Yu-hye to roar furiously.
“Did I say anything wrong?”
Having stayed at the Thousand-Year Seeking Dao Institute for so ti, Jin Ha-un had picked up enough information to roughly know about Gun Yu-hye.
“What do you know, flapping your mouth like that? Hah, I can’t even beat up a scrawny guy like you.”
“Beat up? You think that’s possible?”
“Hah, so you can use a sword? Then what’s your na?”
“Jin Ha-un.”
“Jin Ha-un? Uh…… the Blue-Red Sword Ghost of the Beast King Sect, Jin Ha-un?”
“I’m not part of the Beast King Sect anymore, but yes, I’m that Blue-Red Sword Ghost.”
“…….”
After hearing his na, Gun Yu-hye took a step backward and muttered,
“The Sword Ghost looks this scrawny?”
While the two bickered—
Jang Woo-hyun approached the cave and stood at its entrance.
As his hand began glowing, the mist flowed toward him and wrapped around his body.
A mont later—
When the mist disappeared, Jang Woo-hyun had vanished as well.
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