Chapter 338: The Sword Tempered by the Human Race
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Translated by Frog in the Well
Read it only at Nineheavens.org
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Jin So-myeong traced his blurred past.
Decided to walk the immortal path at the age of twelve.
Entered the Qi Condensation stage at the age of fifteen.
Achieved Foundation Establishment at the age of twenty-one,
and formed his Golden Core at the age of forty-three.
Ascended to the Nascent Soul stage at the age of seventy-nine,
and became a Soul Formation stage cultivator at the age of one hundred and thirty-one.
Attained the Void Refinement stage at the age of two hundred and thirty-eight.
And today.
At the age of three hundred and twenty-two, he reached the great circle of the Void Refinement stage.
To put it a little differently…
He had qualified to challenge the Unity stage.
Based on the day he was called the Heavenly Monarch of the Void Refinement Stage, it was an achievement accomplished in exactly eighty-four years.
Literally a phenomenal, unprecedented achievement.
【Jin So-myeong】
【Lifespan】: 322 / 1425
【Realm】: Void Refinement Stage, 9th Layer (Great Circle)
【Supreme Great Ability】: 1.374 trillion / 2.5 trillion
【Magic Power Amplification】: +301%
【Divine Abilities】: <Secret Realm of the Mind>, <Myriad Flows Restoration>
Looking at the status window that completely contained his growth up to now, his feelings were strange.
At the same time as the relief of going well, he felt anxious at the target that was still distant.
“Phew.”
In times like this, the solution was simple.
He just had to focus on the present, on today.
If he walked step by step, he would eventually reach it. It was enough to simply press forward tirelessly.
‘Good.’
Now he had to prepare to challenge the Unity stage in earnest, but first, he had to firmly decide on the location.
‘This Dark Heaven Academy is perfectly fine, but the Sacred Scale Alliance is the problem.’
For reference, Baek Myo-hwa had already left.
Along with a warning to be careful as it was about time for the Sacred Scale Alliance to come looking.
‘Assuming they dispatched an Unity stage Dao Sovereign as soon as I killed Wi-ryeon… they will arrive in about a year or two.’
Could he ascend to the Unity stage within a year or two?
The timing was a bit ambiguous. It seemed like it could happen, but it also seemed like it might not.
Because he had to govern his mind and body through meditation before challenging the Unity stage, he needed at least a year of preparation time.
‘Should I leave or not?’
After careful consideration, he decided not to leave.
There were two reasons.
Finding a place as suitable for breaking through the realm as the Dark Heaven Academy was extremely difficult,
and it was because he had to collect more black clouds in the Dark Heaven Academy. More black clouds were needed to restore the stone monument in the center of the city.
‘Ah, come to think of it, the formation surrounding the city was also quite sturdy.’
Even if the Sacred Scale Alliance came looking a year later, they would have to pierce the formation first.
Considering various factors, he concluded that it was indeed correct to break through the realm here.
‘Let us start right away.’
He employed his clones to install additional formations.
While fortifying the vicinity, his main body sat in contemplation with the Dao Integration Pill and the Ink Lotus Flower placed side by side.
‘Which of the two should I consume…’
If he chose the Dao Integration Pill, breaking through the great boundary would become much easier, but there could be side effects.
After contemplating for a moment, he unleashed his Supreme Great Ability.
He checked if there was any problem with the Dao Integration Pill, but he could not get a clear sense of it.
Although there were parts that needed improvement, it was difficult to distinguish whether there was simply room for improvement or if there was a real side effect that needed to be resolved.
‘As expected, using the Supreme Great Ability in this way has poor efficiency.’
Postponing his decision for a moment, he sought a quiet place and sat cross-legged.
Forgetting all miscellaneous thoughts, he governed his mind and body.
Reflecting on the days he had lived until now, he fell into deep meditation…
***
One day, a year later.
A vessel carrying the Dao Sovereigns of the Sacred Scale Alliance crossed the Ancient Wilderness.
“Hmm?”
Cheong Eung, who was standing on the deck with his hands behind his back, paused.
About thirty Void Refinement stage cultivators were flying in this direction, presumably the pioneering team recruited by Baek Myo-hwa.
“Everyone, please come out for a moment. It seems we will be able to obtain useful information.”
At his low, resonant voice, the Dao Sovereigns gathered on the deck, stared beyond the horizon, and nodded.
“Is it the pioneering team?”
“Looking at their direction, they seem to be returning to the Dark Heaven Xuan after being in the ruins.”
“That is perfect timing.”
The moment one of the Dao Sovereigns, a member of the Crocodile Flood Dragon Race, stretched out his hand.
The Void Refinement stage cultivators flying in without knowing anything widened their eyes.
“Th-this.”
Whether they recognized the problem too late, they were startled and tried to flee, but it was useless.
Before a single breath passed, they were all suppressed, forcibly dragged up like fish caught in a net, and thrown onto the deck.
Groaning in pain, the Void Refinement stage cultivators quickly got up and bowed.
“We greet the seniors.”
“Save the greetings. Where are you coming from?”
“Pardon? That is…”
The moment they hesitated without answering, the face of the Crocodile Flood Dragon Race Dao Sovereign turned cold.
He immediately reached out and placed his hand on the crown of a Void Refinement stage cultivator’s head.
“It will be better for your well-being not to resist.”
The Void Refinement stage cultivator’s face turned pale.
Realizing that he was trying to forcibly read his memories, the cultivator hurriedly cried out.
“Senior! There is no need for this! I will answer whatever you ask, so please… Urgh!”
Focus disappeared from his pupils, and blood trickled down from his mouth and nose.
“What a ridiculous fellow. Why should I waste time on a story whose truth or falsehood I do not even know? It is certain if I search his memories like this.”
The cultivator whose memories were read collapsed and could not get up, and the fingertips of the Void Refinement stage cultivators watching in bated breath trembled finely.
They feared, breaking out in cold sweat, but none of the Unity stage Dao Sovereigns cared about them.
“Certainly, Jin So-myeong has something extraordinary about him. Baek Myo-hwa respected him as if treating a cultivator of the same rank. And…”
The Dao Sovereign who read the memories marvelled.
“He swept away a swarm of tens of millions of Bone-Winged Birds in a single move. He freely manipulates cold Qi equivalent to the Unity stage.”
“Hooh.”
“He also seems to have mastered a body tempering cultivation method to a high level… but it seems better to see this directly.”
At the Crocodile Flood Dragon Race Dao Sovereign’s words, the remaining Dao Sovereigns also moved.
“Aaargh!”
Each grabbed a Void Refinement stage cultivator and forcibly extracted their memories.
“A human… quite impressive.”
“He is certainly not an ordinary Void Refinement stage cultivator.”
“If by some rare chance he ascends to the Unity stage, it will be quite a headache.”
“We must nip him in the bud, but what if he has fled to the Ancient Wilderness?”
“Hmm… it seems better to track him down and handle him definitively.”
The silent Dao Sovereigns nodded as if in agreement.
“At any rate, it would be best to hurry.”
A moment later.
Having disposed of all members of the pioneering team, the Dao Sovereigns set the vessel in motion.
How much time had passed?
Around the time they almost arrived at the ruins, the expressions of the Sacred Scale Alliance Dao Sovereigns changed completely.
As if they had planned it, everyone’s gaze gathered in one place.
“A weather anomaly?”
All the heaven and earth Qi within millions of li violently surged, and thick dark clouds gathered from all directions.
They could not help but be astonished by the clear anomaly.
“He is challenging the Unity stage?”
“Cheong Eung. What is the meaning of this! Did you not say Jin So-myeong was definitely at the 8th layer of the Void Refinement stage!”
“No, there is no way that should be the case…?”
More than anyone else, Cheong Eung was the most flustered.
For Jin So-myeong, who was clearly at the 8th layer of the Void Refinement stage, to suddenly challenge the Unity stage made no sense no matter how much he thought about it.
“Everyone, calm down. There were a few at the great circle of the Void Refinement stage in the pioneering team. It could be one of them breaking through the great boundary.”
“Ah.”
“And even if it is Jin So-myeong challenging the Unity stage by some rare chance, it does not matter. Because it will take at least five years to break through the great boundary.”
“Hmm. Rather, this is fortunate. I do not know what kind of Heavenly Tribulation a human will undergo, but if we interfere midway, we will be able to handle him easily.”
Looking at one another, the Dao Sovereigns nodded and hurriedly flew toward the ruins.
***
Meanwhile, at the Dark Heaven Academy.
Simultaneously with Jin So-myeong, who finished his preparations, challenging the Unity stage.
Rumble…!
The heaven and earth Qi within the neighboring millions of li began to flow in the same direction all at once.
It gathered, drawing a massive circle around Jin So-myeong,
and the sky, which had been clean enough to offer a clear view, was soon submerged in thick dark clouds.
Crackle!
The moment thick bundles of lightning spread across the dark clouds covering the sky.
The continuously gathered heaven and earth Qi crossed the threshold.
Screeech!
At the air pressure that soared like crazy, a sound like crumpled iron resounded, and the void distorted at will.
The center of that bizarre phenomenon.
The eyelids of Jin So-myeong, who sat cross-legged with closed eyes, trembled finely.
The pressure that soared without knowing its end weighed down his mind and body, but he did not care.
He concentrated solely on absorbing the heaven and earth Qi.
However, was it too excessive?
Craaacck…
Ominous rupture sounds resounded from his meridians, dantian, and various parts of his body.
He felt as though he was running toward death, but he did not stop.
Until he broke through the critical point and took one more step forward, he absorbed and absorbed the heaven and earth Qi.
How much time had passed?
From a certain moment, the atmosphere, which had been blowing like a typhoon, came to a sudden halt.
The disturbance caused by the heaven and earth Qi vanished as if washed away.
Why suddenly?
Simultaneously with his doubt, he realized.
Even if he opened his eyes, he could not see, and the wind that brushed his skin fell silent.
It was not that the atmosphere had become quiet, but that his senses had disappeared.
Without him realizing, not to mention his five senses, even his Divine Sense had lost its power.
The moment he realized that.
Crack, crack!
The transformed spirit nestled within his dantian.
The source of the power he had accumulated as a cultivator, the vessel containing his essence, was about to break.
Although it was an extremely ominous warning, he welcomed it instead.
‘Now.’
This place was precisely my limit. Therefore, I only needed to take one more step.
Like adding a drop of water to a full teacup, he took in a single breath of heaven and earth Qi.
Boom!
An impact as if his soul was shattering to pieces followed.
Everything he had accumulated up to now scattered to pieces and disappeared.
Ah.
The pain was but a moment.
Was this what they called shedding the shell? Having shed the husk, an endless ascent followed.
Upward,
higher still.
How long did the ascent that made his mind grow distant continue…
He reached it. Into the unknown territory beyond the wall.
Even though all his senses had vanished, he could clearly see it.
A sea made of starlight. A majestic galaxy rotating in a spiral.
That was it.
The fundamental that composed all things under heaven, the ideal that all living souls drawing breath must pursue.
He had finally reached the Great Dao existing in the high heavens.
Looking blankly at the dazzling brilliance that seemed to blind his eyes, the breathtakingly beautiful sight.
A thirst as if his throat was burning arose.
Having barely arrived after a long period of cultivation, was there any reason to hesitate?
Without realizing it, he took a step forward, and the starlight that had been distant was now close enough to touch if he simply reached out his hand.
Looking at the mass of light filling the surroundings, he realized.
‘It is the Law.’
In each starlight forming the sea, the principles of all things under heaven were contained.
Raindrops falling from the sky flow and flow to form the sea, and the sea evaporated by the heat of the sun becomes clouds again.
Since the beginning and the end were connected as one, it became a cycle walking eternity.
Providence.
Staring blankly at that massive flow, he took another step forward.
Following the yearning that bloomed from deep within his soul, he drifted along with Providence.
For what felt like a very long time, he wandered, becoming one with the grand flow.
Distant yet peaceful. As it flowed according to the principles, there was neither pain nor conflict.
Around the time everything grew faint.
He felt hot heat in his chest. It was hot enough to cause burns, making him frown.
A foreign sensation felt after a long time. Pain.
As he touched his chest with a frown, a pitch-black lotus was burning fiercely.
‘What is this?’
The moment he saw the black lotus, his head grew blank with a sense of déjà vu.
‘Where did I see this…’
Just as he stopped in his tracks and stared at the lotus.
The cluster of stars right next to him drifted far away.
‘Huh?’
Without realizing it, he reached out his hand, but it was useless.
During the very brief moment he stood still, they had drifted so far away that he could not possibly catch up.
Was it because he strayed from the massive flow?
The senses he had forgotten revived.
At the sense of loss as if a part of his soul was torn away, his expression crumpled without his realizing.
Who would welcome pain?
Just as he was about to join the flow again as his instincts dictated, he hesitated.
To do so, the black lotus burning in his grasp caught his attention.
He looked back and forth between the drifting peacefulness and the pain that seared his skin.
Without even knowing what was happening right now, just as he was hesitating about what to choose.
The flame flickering on the lotus suddenly flared, and one of the petals turned to ash.
Of the three petals, one disappeared, and he faintly realized.
If the remaining two petals vanished completely, it would never be good.
‘Let us calm down.’
Stopping his pursuit of the flow according to instinct, he continued his thoughts.
The majestic mass of light flowing in a spiral.
Was this truly Providence?
No, that was not very important.
What was truly important… was whether the end he could reach was here.
Was this place truly my limit?
The moment doubt arose.
Something else was seen in the starlight filling the surroundings.
Was he about fifteen years old?
A young boy who had just entered the Qi Condensation stage was seen rejoicing.
Although he wore worn and tattered clothes, his eyes alone were brilliant.
For some reason, at the scene that was so familiar, he forgot the pain and concentrated, and the scene passed by quickly.
Around the time the boy grew into a young man.
A young swordsman who entered the Red Cloud Secret Realm cleaved a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
Even while being covered in blood from a curse and poison that rotted his flesh, it was a result obtained by finally standing up again.
His joy was short-lived.
The trials did not end.
The Rank 3 Demon King encountered during his Foundation Establishment days.
The Spell and Body Dual Cultivator Wi Mun-seok met in the Seven-Colored Treasure Pagoda.
The Nascent Soul stage Yin Moon Old Devil who manipulated ghosts.
The Supreme Elder of the Dragon Elephant Demonic Palace who came seeking revenge for Wi Mun-seok.
The wooden doll won after one thousand and eight hundred defeats. No, the remnant soul of the Star-Shattering True Monarch.
The Soul Formation stage Insect-Armor Race who took over a human body.
The Star-Shattering True Monarch who searched for the sword of humanity for two hundred thousand years.
The Asura Ra Heuk who tried to kill him with all his might the moment they met.
Eum Cheon-ho, who was an elder of the Nether Soul Demonic Sect, one of the three great sects of the human race.
From the descent of an Unity stage Dao Sovereign’s clone, to the main body, the Avici Dao Sovereign.
Countless formidable enemies blocked his path, and he won after life-and-death struggles crossing the line of death.
And,
“Inheritor, behold.”
“This is precisely the extreme of the Light-Moon Silent-Life Dao. Discarded Dao, Two Moons.”
He saw the strike left behind by the elderly man standing at the end of his life,
and finally realized who he was.
“I am Jin So-myeong.”
Having arrived here after countless trials, I am the sword tempered by the human race.