A Regressor’s Tale of Cultivation

Chapter 807

With a dazed expression, he walks through the city.

Shhhhhhhh...

The sound of rain somehow feels pleasant.

And at the end of the road he walks, letting the rain fall on him,

The person he sees even in his dreams is standing there.

No, perhaps it's more accurate to say she is floating.

"Hyang...hwa..."

With a thoroughly dried-up voice, he calls out to her.

Countless thoughts whirl through his head.

"How...?"

Suddenly, he feels some gaze and looks to the side.

There is no one there.

It seems it is just his imagination.

She smiles gently.

[How? I became a wandering spirit, waiting for Orabeoni.]

"Surely...back then..."

Seo Eun-hyun still remembers the moment when her spirit ascended to the heavens.

Suddenly, she glances where Seo Eun-hyun had just looked, then looks back at him with a smile.

[More than that, isn't there something more important?]

"..."

Right.

One died, and one survived.

But their hearts are still connected.

Seo Eun-hyun immediately understands what she means.

[In Yeon-do City, I wanted to dance with Orabeoni, but it seems we end up dancing here.]

"...Please wait just a moment. I will prepare immediately."

He draws the Colorless Glass Sword from his waist and squeezes all his strength into it, infusing it with spiritual power.

Wo-woong!

The Colorless Glass Swords were originally made as gravestones for the people living in Cheon-saek City.

Following Seo Eun-hyun's will, three thousand glass swords return to their respective graves.

After that, Seo Eun-hyun looks at her and holds out his hand.

The two smile at each other without words.

Since neither of them has a fan, they each pretend to hold one and take their stances.

There is no music, but the two dance slowly to the symphony of the rain, matching each other's steps.

They slowly begin to move in harmony.

In the pouring rain.

I watch that beautiful scene and smile.

The lovers who dance their steps within the sound of the rain...

No matter how many times I see them again, no matter how many times I watch...

They are heartbreakingly beautiful.

The many spirits who are watching them, slowly.

One by one, become light and fly up to the sky.

I look at the familiar existence among them and smile.

Cheongmun Ryeong.

My master.

Tsuaaaaaaatt!

He is the one who had seized the Absolute of Miracle, collapsed, and perished completely.

There is no way to bring him back unless I become an omnipotent one.

As a being who transcends countless spacetime, I give an order to the entire world.

Hwiooooooo!

In an instant, Cheongmun Ryeong directly takes in the power of omnipotence and comes to possess the possibility of resurrection.

He smiles.

And then he looks somewhere and opens his mouth.

—Remember. Everything...

I look toward the place he is casting his gaze and suddenly recall an old memory.

Only now do I understand what those words mean.

Back then, he had bestowed a blessing on my past self so that I could remember the memories I had obtained during the 16th cycle.

'Thank you, Master.'

Immediately after, Cheongmun Ryeong takes in my power and begins to leap toward the future.

From the current point in time, it is the future.

And from my point of view, it is reality.

He will fly to that final battlefield where the Future King died and, by the Underworld, will obtain a complete chance at reincarnation.

: : Please go safely. Master. : :

If I were to expend more of the power of Omnipotence, I could have him revive right here and now, once more possessing the authority and true body of his prime.

However...

Now, even the power of Omnipotence is almost gone.

So giving him a chance not at complete annihilation but at reincarnation is the best that I, as I am now, can do.

He becomes a halo of light and, toward me, lets out one last sentence.

—If it is possible, I ask you to take care of those children as well.

Tsuaaaat!

Those children?

Who could he be talking about...

But soon, I understand right away.

Woong—

The one who cannot escape from the Head Realm.

It is the prospective Hyeon Rang, Song Jin.

I realize that the past Song Jin, in particular, is not able to leave this world.

'I see.'

Hong Fan is the Western Zero King.

For the sake of fabricating the Creator God's humaneness, he had made it so that all later Hyeon Rang were preserved in the Audience Chamber and made to wait for the time when they would become offerings.

Following my master's intention, I wave my hand toward the Hyeon Rang who, at the present point, would be preserved in the Audience Chamber.

More precisely, I emit attraction force toward the countless Hyeon Rangs who, having died without attaining Supreme Deity, were taxidermized and fixed.

Kugugugugugu!

Near Cheon-saek City.

The gate of the Underworld forcibly opens, and all the Hyeon Rangs among those in the Audience Chamber who are taxidermized, having not managed to become Supreme Deities, flow into the Underworld all at once.

And,

Among them...

There is also an existence familiar to me.

Song Jin.

Not the original Song Jin of the Nether Crossing Ship, but the Song Jin I know, the archive keeper of the Black Ghost Valley in the Head Realm.

He too is one who, after flowing into the Underworld, could not reincarnate and was seized by the Audience Chamber.

When I look at Song Jin, perhaps roughly realizing what kind of existence I am, Song Jin expresses deep thanks to me.

Immediately after,

He looks toward the east of the Heaven-Treading Desert.

That is, somewhere near the Black Castle, and with his body frozen, he trembles.

Song Jin looks at me and makes a request.

—O great being. I beg of you. There is someone I must say farewell to. So please...grant me just a little more time...

Strictly speaking, I am the one who took out the Hyeon Rangs who were in the Audience Chamber.

I am also the one who dragged the Gate of the Underworld down into the depths of the Head Realm so they can reach the embrace of the Underworld.

As I am now, I am consuming power in real time and intervening in the past to do this, so, strictly speaking, I have no reason to grant this request.

There is no gain for me either.

However, I smile faintly and use more power, lengthening the time that the gate of the Underworld stays open.

Song Jin, offering deep thanks, bows to me, and in the meantime.

At last, the present Seo Eun-hyun and Hyang-hwa, at the end of their dance steps, kiss.

[I love you. Not being able to say these words directly was my lingering regret lodged in my chest.]

Seo Eun-hyun embraces her, releasing the words that have knotted in his heart.

"I love you, too."

In that way, Seo Eun-hyun realizes the hidden aspect of the Yin Soul Ghost Incantation.

The black curse spells that have been attached all over his body begin to reverse.

Even if a person's life is filled with pain and curses.

If the hearts of people connect with one another.

Maybe that...can be an endless blessing.

The black curse spells reverse all at once, revealing what was hidden.

*

"Hmm?"

In the ruins of the Black Castle, where Yuan Li had died.

The Core Formation cultivators still scavenge through the remains for the treasures Yuan Li had hidden.

"Even when we keep searching and searching inside that Nascent Soul old monster's house, things just keep coming out."

"We almost died, but it was worth it... But where did Cultivator Seo Ran go?"

One of the cultivators looked for Seo Ran.

"Hmm, not sure. He just flew off somewhere in a hurry. Maybe he found something... I really wonder what kind of treasure he found for that guy, who always has that empty look on his face, to fly off madly like that."

"That is curious... Well, it doesn't matter. We've gathered enough for ourselves anyway."

As the chat and rummage through Yuan Li's residence, one of them senses something unusual.

"Hmm? Wait, that's..."

The Black Ghost Curse Banner used by Seo Eun-hyun to immobilize Yuan Li's body.

From the Black Ghost Curse Banner, a brilliant white light begins to emanate.

*

The sticks with black lumps hanging on it that Seo Eun-hyun planted into the ground and left behind all across the desert.

The tips of the lumps hanging from those sticks start to shine pure white.

And then,

Paaat!

The lumps burst open and bloom like flower buds.

The blooming flowers are covered in pure white, each with six petals.

Paat, paat, paat!

Following the path Seo Eun-hyun had walked, hundreds of white magnolias began to sprout in the desert.

And...

Following that path of white magnolias, Seo Ran flies toward the person who is waiting for him at the end of that path.

"Aaah... M-Master. Master. Master...!"

Seo Ran's Master, who protected Seo Ran and laid down his life in the battle with Yuan Li.

Song Jin, in a neat appearance almost no different from his appearance in life, waits for Seo Ran.

And, outside Cheon-saek City...

He pulls his disciple into his arms with all his strength.

"Master...!"

—Don't make such a fuss. You brat. Are you saying I died or something? You brat...!

Seo Ran, who lost all his family in the battle with Yuan Li...

Hugging his Master Song Jin, whom he has come to meet again like this, sobs loudly.

"I don't know how I am supposed to go on living. It hurts so much. I don't know at all...what is left in my life, Master...! In my life...there is no one left. If even you disappear, Master, then just where am I supposed to look as I move forward!?"

Seo Ran and Song Jin.

The reunion of Master and disciple takes place.

Song Jin looks at his disciple.

Feeling the warmth of his disciple, Song Jin looks up at the sky for a moment, then looks at me for a moment, and then looks back at Seo Ran.

—Ran-ah. Look at me for a moment.

"Master...!"

—Ran-ah. I am someone who must soon depart.

"Master, what in the world do you mean!? Have you not come back like this!?"

—I have not completely returned. If the dead just freely come back to life into the world, what kind of chaos do you think would arise? Black Ghost Valley is a place that prolongs death as much as possible, not a place that performs Heaven-Defying acts of reviving those who are completely dead.

"Then..."

—It is only...that some exalted transcendent being has taken pity on me and given me a chance, Ran-ah. From now on, you must live in this world without me.

"How can this disciple be without Master...?"

—Enough! Do not be bound by the past. Look ahead and move forward. Certainly, I have loved you and treasured you. You in turn have respected and followed me. However, there are times when those who must part simply must part. So accept it. But...even so, you will not be able to accept it, will you? How can a heart so easily change like a reed? So, Ran-ah. Through the truth I have come to know after death...I have found the one you are to look to and move toward. This is your Master's will, so you must obey it without fail!

Song Jin sternly scolds Seo Ran.

Seo Ran, trembling, accepts it.

"...Disciple Seo Ran...will uphold Master's will..."

And, at the words of Song Jin that follow, I also flinch in surprise.

—After I died, I went to a place called the Audience Chamber. It is a terrifying place you do not need to know about. But though that place is a terrifying domain, it is also a place filled with countless wisdoms. There, I found...a certain existence...that could be called the origin of your mother...

"...Pardon?"

—Go farther to the west. In a certain country farther west than Byeokra. There is an existence that has given birth to your mother...

Song Jin points toward somewhere far in the west.

At the same time, a certain fragrance blooms from his touch.

It is the fragrance of [Names].

Through the power of names he obtained by awakening his essence in the Audience Chamber, he tells Seo Ran the place where the one Seo Ran must seek is.

The name of that fragrance.

It is called Goodwill (善意).

—Seek out that existence and travel together with that existence. If you do so, someday you will surely...be able to obtain even more precious things. Things even more precious than me...

With those words, Song Jin begins to rise up into the sky.

The other spirits are the same.

Hyang-hwa, who has been dancing together with Seo Eun-hyun in Cheon-saek City, now also gradually begins to rise into the air, answering the call of the Underworld.

Paaaatt!

[Look at that, since you are alive, you even created a new method.]

"It's just the Yin Soul Ghost Incantation, expressed with the feelings I share with you."

[Come on, it is a completely different method.]

They chat and laugh together.

It is his first time laughing in two hundred years, but strangely, it doesn't feel awkward at all.

[If I may suggest, as a fellow co-creator of this one method, may this girl name this method?]

"Do as you wish."

She reaches out towards the floating blessings, which seem to be sublimating into the shape of white magnolias.

[White Orchid Blessing Incantation. Would that be all right?]

Seo Eun-hyun of the present rests his hand beneath hers and speaks.

"I will remember it."

The two, who watch the blessings float into the sky for a while, meet each other's eyes.

Her soul is becoming increasingly transparent, rising into the air.

[I won't forget either.]

"...Yes."

Seo Eun-hyun cannot hold back his trembling voice and looks at her.

His chest hurts just like when Seo Ran looked at Song Jin.

However, unlike before, his eyes are not sunk in emptiness as he looks up at her and sheds tears.

"...They say that when the immortals of the Upper Realm form a bond of husband and wife, they do this."

A bottle of White Red Wine is in Seo Eun-hyun's hand.

"Will it be alright?"

As she gradually floats higher, she nods.

Seo Eun-hyun rummages through his storage artifact.

There are no cups.

Substituting by pouring half of the White-Red Wine before her grave, Seo Eun-hyun of the present drinks the remaining half of the White-Red Wine in front of her.

Wo-woong!

As the White-Red Wine enters the nearly shattered Golden Core, its effects activate, reconnecting the link with his dharma treasures.

Wo-woong!

The three thousand Colorless Glass Swords planted in all directions around begin vibrating.

And then,

With that as the last, her spirit body becomes a small cluster of light and completely loses its form.

Seo Eun-hyun endlessly looks up at that figure.

I leave behind the me of days past and fly up toward her as she soars into the air, reaching out my hand.

Seo Eun-hyun of the present does not perceive me.

I also feel the gaze of another past me who peeks at me through the Radiance Mantra, but the present me, though I am not the Fate Supreme Deity, is in any case the Owner of the Crystal Throne.

I am the Crystal King Star Genesis Supreme Deity.

I feel that the me who is peeking into this point in the past suffers as he watches me.

Thinking about it now, they all are meaningful pasts.

Leaving all of those pasts behind, I finally...

Across a long and long time, I speak to Hyang-hwa once more.

"Now, would you keep me company one more time."

Hyang-hwa, who has been perceiving me since earlier by my permission, smiles brightly.

"All right. Orabeoni."

Woooong—

There are fans in her hand and mine.

They are manifested through the projection of the Immortal Beast King.

We begin once more to continue the Twin Immortals Dance, done even more properly than the one we weren't able to do below.

I take three steps to the left and spin once.

She likewise moves just like me and turns once around, with the tips of our fans brushing past each other.

We, like so,

Continue our dance, drawing a spiral as we rise toward the Underworld.

*

A certain existence stands before the end of the tenth cycle.

It is the Seo Eun-hyun of this era looking up at the sky.

The cluster of light rises toward the sky and spins round and round in the air.

As if she is dancing the Twin Immortals Dance once more with someone...

'Perhaps she is recalling the memories of those days when she was alive...and the memories of those happy moments...'

He cannot know the answer.

He only gazes endlessly at the sky, then slowly sits down.

Now, all of his strength is leaving.

He takes her norigae from his waist.

Then, squeezing out his last strength, he heats the norigae with Dan Fire and turns the norigae into a dharma treasure.

Seo Eun-hyun closes his eyes and brings the norigae deeply to his chest.

Whether it's the lingering effects of the White-Red Wine or the norigae itself, he feels the norigae forming a strong connection with himself.

His strength begins to ebb away.

Yuan Li's last desperate cry echoes in his mind.

'What is the difference between a blessing and a curse?'

Maybe the difference between blessings and curses isn't life and death.

Perhaps, if the hearts of people connect, that is a blessing.

And if the hearts are severed, that is a curse.

This life had been hell.

But at the end of this hell, he shared his heart.

Maybe hell and heaven.

Curses and blessings.

Are determined by the connection between people's hearts.

With this greatest enlightenment, he escapes from the last cry of Yuan Li.

"I loved you... Thank you. For...passing that heart on to me."

With a faint smile, all energy drains completely from his body.

The meridians and Golden Core, which should have collapsed long ago, begin to lose their strength.

Thus, at the edge of hell, he peacefully closes his eyes.

Right after...

Countless Colorless Glass Swords fly toward Seo Eun-hyun, pierce into him, and begin to return into his whole body.

*

Just as I did back then at Cheon-saek City, I bring my hand to her face.

Since there is no muslin cloth, the tips of my fingers lightly brush her face.

There is no thin veil, so my fingertips lightly brush her face.

Once again, the tips of our fingers brush.

And at last,

Watching my last moments in this cycle...

I sit with Hyang-hwa on the clouds at the edge of the Head Realm's sky and smile.

"I have missed you."

"What has happened?"

Hyang-hwa looks at me and asks as if puzzled.

Looking at her like that...

I don't know where to begin explaining, so for a moment I only open and close my mouth without speaking.

And then...

I begin to explain.

The 10th cycle.

How the me who realized gratitude for the heart down below turns out afterward.

The paths I tread transcend countless timelines and become trajectories of green light.

As I show her my trajectories that transcend countless timelines,

I tell her, one by one, stories about myself.

As the story goes on, Hyang-hwa is very surprised, sometimes sad, sometimes pinches my side, and sometimes laughs as if it is very fun.

And finally...

At the end of all the stories, I finish telling everything about how I have come back to her.

"This is the journey up to now."

"...You have truly, truly suffered a lot."

Hyang-hwa looks at me and gently strokes my cheek.

"Hyang-hwa."

I ask her.

"Will you go with me?"

The power of Omnipotence still remains.

To save just her and take her along is no problem.

However...

Hyang-hwa smiles and shakes her head.

"No. When I finished the dance with you down below, I wanted to come back alive if I could. But...after hearing your whole story, I have come to know that is not right."

She looks at me and speaks with a face mixed with many emotions.

"Do not let yourself be trapped in the past. Please do not, like the person called Hong Fan, accomplish everything with your own hands and treat this world like a toy. Please accept your own imperfections as well. That is...the request I give to you."

More than the wish to come back to life and be with me again, she has the wish that I do not fall into corruption like the archenemy of the story.

At that gentle and deep heart, I smile deeply together with Hyang-hwa.

It is sad.

The fact that we cannot be together again makes my chest feel tight.

However...

Even so, I will accept it.

Because accepting pain means that I am still imperfect.

And...

Because life is, from the beginning, something imperfect.

I have already made up my mind to live within that.

Amid countless agonies and worries, reigning over innumerable impulses and overcoming desire,

I take Hyang-hwa's hand and finally answer.

A small tear gathers at the corner of my eye.

"...Yes. I will do so."

Squeeze...

Hyang-hwa grips my hand.

I ask her.

"Now...it is time for me to go as well."

If I stay too long in a single time period, Requiem Filling the Heavens will stop running.

"For the last time, is there anywhere you want to go?"

"...To all of you. Please just let me convey a single sentence to you."

At those words, I take her hand and transcend spacetime with Requiem Filling the Heavens.

She looks at the me in the nearest time period, the one who suffers the most intensely.

20th cycle.

It is me at the point when I am being tortured by Yeong Seung.

She strokes the deer of Requiem Filling the Heavens and, reaching toward the me of that time, makes contact with him.

"Was what I just gave you also a curse?"

By breathing blessing into the human called Seo Eun-hyun, she becomes the pillar that lets me endure the adversity imposed by Yeong Seung and countless other beings.

"I will always be cheering for all of you."

Hyang-hwa speaks toward the me beyond all timelines.

"So...please, keep looking ahead and move forward. I...love all of you."

With those words as the end,

She finally flies toward the Underworld.

The end of the final decisive battle with Hong Fan.

The time when I used Splitting Emperor Splitting Heaven Separate Heaven Martial Arts.

Buk Hyang-hwa alone did not appear within my connections to help me.

Hong Fan likewise was anticipating Buk Hyang-hwa, and it was because Gu Ju suddenly jumped out and sent out the Void Sword that he showed an opening.

Only now do I know the reason.

'It is not that she didn't help me at that time.'

She has already become my life itself.

She already came to symbolize the very blessing of life that I feel.

Therefore...

Precisely because she became so natural she was unseen.

The will of blessing and love that the present Hyang-hwa sends to all the 'me's of all the timelines perhaps settled in me unconsciously at the time I use the Separate Heaven Martial Arts.

"Farewell. Seo Gaga."

"Farewell."

Looking at her, who is the true savior of my life...

I truly exchange my final farewell.

Someday we will meet again.

Because Mount Sumeru is that kind of place.

But now she will reincarnate and live her life as a different existence, no longer as Buk Hyang-hwa.

"My miracle..."

But I must let her go.

Just as Hong Fan in the end, by my hand, let go of Omnipotence.

I too let go of the salvation called Hyang-hwa and acknowledge it.

If meeting is also a connection and a miracle,

Then parting is surely also a miracle and a connection.

Someday we will meet again in another form.

So now, I only let her go.

Thus, I,

Graduate from the salvation called Hyang-hwa.

*

Buk Hyang-hwa's mother.

The grave of Yeon, wife of Buk Joong-ho.

In front of the magnolia tree that stands there, two trees have grown large.

Over 200 years of time, the two trees that, somehow, did not die and kept growing, coincidently bloom on the same day.

A quince tree and a white magnolia.

From the two flowering trees, a single blossom each falls down.

The flowers of the two trees land upon the wedding altar that someone prepared 200 years ago.

But at some moment,

Whooooosh!

A gust of wind from inside the tomb carries the quince flower away from the altar, to somewhere into the desert.

The white magnolia remains there, holding its place, and only the quince blossom flies off to some place unknown.

I become the wind, taking the scent of this moment into my heart...

And continue on as I smell the fragrance of the flowers.

Once more,

At the end of a long connection, I meet again an ill-connection that has now become something cute.

The last day of the 9th cycle.

Chwaaaaak!

The me of the 9th cycle explodes.

Bloodwood Practitioner Yuan Li's divine power, Bloodwood, hits me directly, and I explode and take root as a single bloodwood tree.

In the place where I am, a bright-red tree stands and brings forth a single living flower that contains my spiritual power and life force.

"...What a monstrous bastard."

Yuan Li mutters as he sweeps off his mask.

I look at him like that and laugh.

In the past, I thought of him as a devil beyond saving.

However...

Before me, who has seen far more terrifying existences such as Blood Yin, the Great Mountain Supreme Deity, or even Hong Fan Gu Ju, this guy now is an existence no different from a wildflower by the roadside.

'I should also settle the ill-connection with you.'

I have sent Hyang-hwa away.

Yuan Li is an ill-connection, but I now decide not to be bound by that grudge anymore.

To him as well...

I make up my mind to grant salvation.

"Good thing I eradicated him before he could grow stronger and survive longer. No need to worry about him anymore. Now, to the Longevity Fruit..."

When he turns his head toward the Longevity Tree.

I step into the reality of the 9th cycle, pluck the living flower of the blood tree that has come from my body, and smell its scent.

"...What...?"

That guy, seeing the Longevity tree that has rotted away due to the last curse the me of the 9th cycle had cast, boils with rage and tries to turn back to me.

His thoughts come through to me.

—I tried to kindly send his spirit to the Yellow Springs...and he dared to pull something like this...!

I look at the living flower and decide Yuan Li's judgement.

'I've decided.'

I will give Yuan Li a chance to atone as well.

If he goes to the Underworld, he is someone who will burn in the Karmic Fire of pain for eternity amid terrible torment.

Therefore, through the power of Flawless Mantra, I decide to immediately reincarnate Yuan Li.

The guy turns back.

And his complexion changes.

"Uh...?"

He cannot understand how I am still standing here alive even though he clearly killed me.

"What, what's this...? I obviously. N-No. "

For a moment he is flustered, but then, quickly working his sly mind and reading the mood, he grasps that I am not the Seo Eun-hyun of the 9th cycle whom he had just killed, and he bows and fawns toward me.

"Who are you?

Pukwak!

I do not listen any further, and immediately reincarnate Yuan Li.

He blooms as a single living flower and puts down roots in the ground.

"Become a flower."

From now on, until you can reflect on the price of your sins, repeat being born and dying as a flower...

During every lifetime in which you live a life as a flower, reflect and attain repentant enlightenment.

That is the chance and the mercy I grant to Yuan Li.

If he comes to realize all his sins, only then will he be able to go to the Underworld.

And...

In the Underworld, he will accept the price of his sins with far less resentment and look ahead to his next life.

That guy too will come to know the preciousness of life.

"I will look forward to the day when your fragrance also becomes beautiful."

It is not only the Yuan Li of this life.

All the Yuan Lis up to now meet the same result.

As I fix the predetermined ending for the Yuan Lis,

I move over to the next timeline and make the grave of Seo Eun-hyun of the current cycle.

On the last day of the 8th cycle,

I burn within heavenly lightning and die.

The grave of Seo Eun-hyun, where only bone powder remains.

I once again make his grave and take the next step.

On the last day of the 7th cycle,

This time as well, I burn within heavenly lightning.

I make the grave just as before.

And...

Within that enlightenment, I smile as I see that the soul of Kim Young-hoon has returned from the future to around this time.

On the last day of the 6th cycle,

'Ah...'

I see my master with my corpse laid before him.

While the light of dawn dyes the sky.

The master, who has received his disciple's bow, sheds tears and speaks to the disciple who is now growing cold.

"You were the giant tree of my heart."

I hear my master's heart.

At first, it was clearly a small sprout that annoyingly pestered him.

But ten years passed.

Twenty years passed.

The sprout grew and became a tree.

It grew and grew.

And now, it has become a giant tree that cannot be ignored.

That giant tree is the pillar that supports Cheongmun Ryeong's heart.

However, now that giant tree is gone.

"Rest in peace."

A disciple who has strived all his life.

Cheongmun Ryeong prays that the disciple may at least be at ease after death, and properly lays down the body that died while prostrating.

Cheongmun Ryeong takes out a single seed from his storage pouch and places it on the disciple's chest.

As he infuses wood element spiritual energy into it, the seed begins to react.

Paaaat!

Kugugugu!

The seed sprouts and rapidly grows.

Soon the roots that come out from the seed cover the disciple's body and grow into a giant tree.

Before long, when the tree grows so huge that it cannot be compared to any other trees in the nearby forest, only then does Cheongmun Ryeong take his hands off.

The tree is a quince tree.

Cheongmun Ryeong strokes the tree that so closely resembles his disciple and speaks.

“I will never forget you.”

I look at Cheongmun Ryeong.

'I too will never forget you. No...'

I will not be able to forget.

I see that the soul of Cheongmun Ryeong, whose lifespan is nearing its end, is being led toward the future.

The soul of the Salt Sea Supreme Deity is pulling in its own shattered essences.

'I will see you again.'

At that time, I will say all the words I have not been able to say until now.

Whooosh!

I become a single gust of wind, sweep around Cheongmun Ryeong, and once more head onward.

*

As if the soul of Seo Eun-hyun is ascending, a strong wind blows from the base of the quince tree up into the heavens.

Cheongmun Ryeong looks up at the sky that shines through between the quince branches.

In the far future and in tomorrow,

For some reason, he naturally comes to know that he will be able to meet the disciple he has sent off once again.

"In the future, let us meet again."

Is it due to the death?

Or is it merely a conventional phrase toward a hope that will never arrive?

But what is certain is this.

After the oppressor of hope disappeared,

The being that despised tomorrow also came to accept the principle of tomorrow and hope.

*

The last day of the 5th cycle comes into view.

Kwaching!

The barrier of Makli Wangshin, who killed me, shatters.

Beyond the barrier, the eyes of my disciples, who inherit the will of the current Seo Eun-hyun, glare at Makli Wangshin with the exact same light as the dead Seo Eun-hyun.

Beyond the great mountain called Seo Eun-hyun, mountains continue unceasingly.

"I, I want to live."

Man-ho's great sword decapitates Makli Wangshin.

Pukwak!

In that moment, the life of Makli Wangshin who stubbornly survived by forcefully taking over his descendant, the current emperor Makli Jung, comes to an end.

"Huu... Huu..."

The founding emperor Makli Wangshin.

And the current emperor Makli Jung.

Man Ho, who has cut off his neck, holds Makli Jung's head and looks at the still-standing dead body of Seo Eun-hyun.

The corpse of Seo Eun-hyun has its eyes closed.

On his lips, there is a faint smile as if he is satisfied.

"...You watched till the end."

Manho, with tears falling, offers Makri Wangshin's head before him.

And he kneels.

Kae-hwa, Cheong-ya, Yeok-san, Yeol-ya, Gwak-gisu, Seo-hun...

All three hundred or so disciples, one after another, kneel.

"Please go peacefully!"

The disciples of the present Seo Eun-hyun bow together, bidding their master a final farewell.

I look back at them and raise my hand.

Fragrance also spreads from them.

"Thank you."

Whoooosh—

I bestow blessings upon their fate.

From now on, whatever may happen, they will not become excessively miserable.

Only joys enough to repay all the hardship and pain until now will await you.

"Farewell, my disciples."

I once again become wind, cool down the heat of the disciples who are burning hot, and head beyond.

The corpse of the me of this time will be taken care of by the disciples.

The last day of the 4th cycle comes into view.

I remember cutting off the neck of that brat, the crown prince of Yanguo, but whether he is Makli Jeong-in, Makli Hyun, or Makli Hyun-ah, I hardly even remember.

"You worked hard."

I attach the neck of the me of this time, and carry my corpse to a sunny spot nearby.

Afterward, I use a martial technique to make a grave, and gently pat the grave.

Looking at the will of my own self who, after endlessly tempering himself, at last reached Three Flowers Gather at the Summit, I reminisce memories of long ago.

'This too...is now a memory.'

I once again become the wind.

Whoooosh—

The last day of the 3rd cycle.

The old me is facing a jiangshi made from the body of my master, Kim Young-hoon.

Kim Young-hoon of the present stands by my side, looking at the scene from the past together with a bitter smile.

With the final move of Severing Mountain,

I, whose every bit of strength and life force is exhausted, close my eyes.

That is the end of the me of the 3rd cycle.

A cultivator of Makli Clan becomes enraged and tries to refine me into a jiangshi, and I quietly step forward and turn that cultivator as well into a peaceful flower.

Peobeong!

The connections of the jiangshi that are being controlled by him are broken all at once.

Together with Kim Young-hoon, I intervene in this cycle.

And for the dead body of me, the shattered body of Kim Young-hoon,

And for all the bodies of the jiangshi that have been controlled by the Makli Clan cultivator, I make graves for every one of them.

"You worked hard."

I say a word to the me of the 3rd cycle, and once again become the wind.

Whoooosh—

The last day of the 2nd cycle,

I see the me of this cycle.

The me, who endlessly swings his sword and trains himself in order to resist fate.

The me who swings my word, embodying the heart of being content with death in the evening if I hear the Dao in the morning...

Advancing toward an even slightly higher realm...

Thus dies, swinging my sword.

Thud—

His sword path is cut off, and the me of the 2nd cycle dies standing.

"...You worked hard."

The one who never rested even once in his entire life is the me of the 2nd cycle.

And the me of the 2nd cycle, as he passes on into the 3rd cycle, again cannot rest.

However, I will at least let his body rest.

I will let it be buried in the soil.

I bury the body of the me of the 2nd cycle in a sunny spot at his house.

This time, I do not dig up the ground with Gang Qi through martial arts and quickly cover it with soil.

Putting in a bit more sincerity, I take a shovel out from the storage and bury him myself with my own hands.

After the sunlight comes down well, letting myself rest in the soil...

I once again become the wind.

Whoosh—

The last day of the 1st cycle approaches.

An old man who is still dying from a cold.

That is me.

I am regretting my life up until now.

If only I had worked harder.

If only I had tried more!

More, more, more, more!

If only I had done something more!

Then I would have been able to confirm what lies beyond the sky!

While dying with such regrets...

The me of the 1st cycle, who has lived a stubborn life doing everything he can,

Thus dies like that.

"...You worked...hard."

I wipe away the faint tears that hang in the eyes of the me of the 1st cycle.

"Do not regret it. You surely...lived a meaningful life."

I look at the corpse of my 1st-cycle self and smile.

Just what meaning this smile has...

Even I myself cannot know.

Right.

Let us just say I am simply smiling.

Although I received a new chance, the me of this time is still bound by the past.

I look at my old corpse, and once again bring a shovel and bury him in a sunny place in my estate.

I tell the servants of the estate to appropriately handle the inheritance and also hold the funeral.

Although it is laughable to hold the funeral after the burial, I have no desire to be bound by worldly customs and such.

I look at the me of the 1st cycle, who at last has closed his eyes, then take my eyes off him.

And for the last time,

Heading toward the beginning of my everyone, I become the final wind and fly.

The power of Requiem Filling the Heavens is running out.

The power of Omnipotence now also crumbles.

The Creator Gods of the otherworlds, whom I have restored by reversing time, have also recovered considerably.

At the same time, as I head toward the first life of us all.

And as I move my steps toward the time period when not that much time has yet passed since we left Earth...

We all fall silent.

And...

I at last reach the place I call the 0th cycle.

I reach the first life.

Whoooosh—

The wind blows.

From an old thatched house, a girl walks out.

A good scent drifts out.

The girl looks at me, then flinches in surprise.

"Wh-Who...are you...? That over there is Grandpa Seo's house..."

Tuk—

I pat the girl's head.

"Thank you for the boiled potatoes."

"Pardon...?"

"I am...something like a distant blood relative of Grandpa Seo's family. It must be cold, go on inside."

She is the daughter of the Ju family next door.

The child looks at me with a puzzled expression, then, pushing through the blizzard, goes into the house.

I walk toward the thatched house.

Inside,

The me of the 0th cycle is still coughing without his breath having yet stopped.

So that the me of the 0th cycle does not get startled, I do not go straight into the house, but instead lean against the outer wall from outside, listening to his breathing as I look up at the sky where the blizzard rages.

The thoughts of the first me are heard.

—Why...? I...

—Why...even though I work so hard...only had things taken away from me...?

The thought that I did my utmost in this world.

However, the thought that this world completely denied all of my best.

—What do you...want from me...!?

The old me of the 0th cycle sheds tears of injustice and quietly sobs on the bed.

—If only...I had even a little more chance...just a little...

He, filled with such thoughts.

In the cold winter.

Lying on the bed with a cold, he ends the stubborn life he has continued for fifty years.

Step, step...

A black something passes me, who is leaning outside, and goes into the thatched house.

It is Hong Fan.

Because it is not a complete body, it does not perceive me, who is using the power of Omnipotence, and is merely a record of history that moves as predetermined and performs the predetermined actions.

Hong Fan reaches out his hand toward me, but in the end, he has his mind taken away due to Ego-Preservation and ends up spitting out the Radiance Mantra.

And thus, the consciousness of the me of the 0th cycle passes over to another timeline.

At the moment when the Absolute Fragment and the consciousness of the me of the 0th cycle pass over beyond,

Only then do I...

Slowly go into the thatched house.

Perhaps because Hong Fan's body was something that was made temporarily, it simply turns into black energy and scatters, and all that is left in that spot is just me alone.

I,

Take the hand of my dead 0th-cycle self...

And pull up his blanket to cover his face.

"...You...worked...really hard."

Tears fall.

I don't know why.

Just because.

It just feels that way.

Perhaps...

It might be because of the promise with Yu Hao Te.

That promise that I will only cry with an easy heart when everything is over.

Keuk...kkeuheuheuuk...

In front of the body of my first life, who died miserably,

I endlessly shed tears whose reason I cannot clearly explain.

It is over.

Now...

Everything is really over.

My body shakes.

Without even knowing why I am crying...

I, shedding tears like that,

Put into my mouth the boiled potatoes the daughter of the Ju family has given and left behind.

My throat blocks up.

I start to feel a bit sorry for stuffing Hong Fan with potatoes without even water.

I eat the potato.

My throat gets blocked.

But even as I gag and choke, taking the now-cold potatoes the Ju family daughter has given and left behind...

I cram them into my mouth, squeezing out all my tears.

"Thank you. Thank you, Seo Eun-hyun...thank you..."

Inside this bastard called life,

Just for having held out...

I am so grateful.

I feel a presence behind my back.

It is my comrades and the Ju family.

Because my comrades are at a higher plane, the Ju family cannot notice them.

However, they all stand together in one place, looking at me with worried eyes.

And,

They come up and pat my shoulder.

My comrades, all with expressions that are a little stung without saying anything...

And the Ju family also with equally complicated faces...

"Are you the son? You look exactly the same as that old soap-maker when he was young."

Mr. Ju speaks as he wipes away his tears.

"...Well..."

Not knowing what I should say, I open and close my mouth...

And I answer.

"Something...like that."

Because the me of now, in the end, began from the me of this time.

Mr. Ju, perhaps thinking I have complicated family relations, clears his throat and speaks.

"Well...with it being this cold a winter, it'll be hard to bury him... What should we...?"

Swaaaaaa—

By my will, the sky changes.

The winter weather loosens all at once, and clear weather and sunlight instantly shine down on this Lianshan City.

"Uh..."

Mr. Ju, with a slightly dazed face, looks up at the sky together with his wife and daughter.

I speak to them.

"I will offer compensation...so I hope you can help a little with this person's funeral."

"Ah, ahhh...what a wonder. The sky suddenly cleared. Does snow usually melt this fast...? Heh heh, it is the marvel of heaven. It seems old man Seo is a man with some blessing after all..."

Mr. Ju, amazed by the wondrous phenomenon, sticks out his tongue and nods.

"Compensation is not necessary."

"I will make you plenty of soap."

"Ah...that is something I do need a bit. If you give it, I will gratefully accept. But even without that, I was already planning to bury old man Seo once the weather warms. After all...we were neighbors living next door who truly shared thick and thin together."

I look at Mr. Ju and smile.

"Thank you."

Without using spells or martial arts, I, together with Mr. Ju, build the coffin with my own hands.

A few days pass.

For a few days, I slightly twist the celestial energy and wait for the ground to thaw.

And then, I place my corpse inside that coffin.

"In life...he liked going up that back mountain to gather medicinal herbs. He often made and drank herb liquor too... On the path where he went to pick herbs, there is a rock where the old man often sat to rest."

"Yes."

I know where that is.

"Let us bury him there. The old man will probably be satisfied."

"Yes...he will surely be satisfied. Truly."

Like that, I, together with Mr. Ju's family, carry the coffin and go up the back mountain.

After some time,

Midway up the path on the back mountain where I went to gather herbs,

Behind the rock where I often sat and rested in my first life,

There is a sunny spot.

I, together with Mr. Ju's family, make a grave site there.

I do not use martial arts.

I do not use qi, either.

I make the grave site purely by shoveling, and after placing the coffin into the grave, I heap up the mound.

"Old man, you worked hard. Rest now."

Mr. Ju, together with his family, bows toward my grave.

As I watch them bow to me...

I feel a fragrance.

'Ah...'

And,

I recall the fragrance that Song Jin spoke of.

The fragrance of names.

The scent of goodwill...

After they finish all the funeral rites, the Ju family turns to look at me.

"Your household is..."

"...I am only in a relationship somewhat like kin to the deceased person. In any case, I hold the rights regarding that person's property."

I mention the several patches of land I bought in my first life, the seed soy sauce that was in my house, the herbal liquor, and various other sauces and foods.

After mentioning the few coins as well, I speak to Mr. Ju.

"Please take it all. It is the funeral cost."

"No, we already got plenty of soap while making the coffin..."

"Please accept it. Your daughter will have to prepare her dowry someday, and it will help at least a little."

"Hrrm, this is really..."

Because the Ju family is also a struggling household just the same, in the end Mr. Ju does not refuse my offer and takes the rights to my house and everything inside it.

I breathe fate into my house.

And, as I pat Mr. Ju's little daughter's head, I ask.

"What was your name?"

"I am Ju Soo Ryeon."

"...I see."

Soo Ryeon answers me with bright, clear eyes.

I can tell at once who she is.

And I can also know what the identity of this fragrance is.

The fragrance of infinite goodwill that she holds in her heart...

She is the Seat Holder of Good.

One of the Five Blessing Immortals in her previous life whom Vast Cold brought with them to give happiness to the Heavens.

Remembering the pure goodwill that child showed me in the past life, I smile.

"Be happy."

"Yes!"

In the 0th cycle, I pour out fortune and virtue upon Ju Soo Ryeon.

It is a fortune and virtue such that, perhaps, she will pick up some herb by the roadside and eat it and gain spiritual roots, or by playfully making a neighborhood friend eat dirt, gain an indescribable heavenly body and even ascend.

I do not know what choices this child will make or how she will use the fortune and virtue.

But what is certain is that she will use them for good.

"And..."

I shout once more to the Ju Family as they go down the mountain.

"The boiled potatoes, thank you very much!"

They wave their hands at me.

I look at them and smile.

After they disappear, I sit in front of my grave.

I gave all the property of the house to them, but I brought one jar of herbal liquor.

I pour the herbal liquor into a cup.

The countless things of the past...

The many connections and the events that came from those connections come to mind.

Before I realize it, my comrades materialize behind me and sit down.

I slowly pour the herbal liquor rippling in the cup onto my grave.

"A lot happened..."

Hong Fan wanted to rest.

Perhaps...

Maybe I am the same.

Only, so many things that happened within the great miracle called life made me move, so I simply have not been able to rest.

However,

At any time, I was able to choose according to my own will.

I chose not to rest, and I have come all the way here.

Yet...

It is always true that too much is as bad as too little.

Hong Fan, to the very end, chose not to rest.

He chose not to become happy.

He might have thought he had no qualification.

But if so, who grants that qualification?

The heavens?

The earth?

The connection of people?

A person's life is a miracle.

Everything is so worthy of gratitude and so precious.

Because everything is equally something to be grateful for...

There is no correct answer in this world.

Because everything is the right answer.

So...

We cannot know who gave qualifications to this thing called life, and what choices they have continued to make.

In life there is no right answer, no truth, and nothing complete.

Only, while the incomplete ones ponder about such things...

They rejoice, grow angry, feel sorrow, feel pleasure, love, hate, and yearn for one another.

Therefore, no one has the qualification or the responsibility to decide such things for anyone else.

Perhaps there are those who think that even my wishing for happiness is something I have no qualification for.

But...

Even if I have no qualification, from now on I will choose happiness.

I am going to experience this thing called rest.

Since I have been running without resting, I am going to live while resting, even if it is inconsistent.

That will be a life filled with imperfection.

...

In truth, I don't even need all these various reasons.

It's simply that now, I just want to rest.

Just because.

That is the most straightforward way to explain this thing called the heart.

An answer that seems more insincere than anything else.

But...if a person's heart truly reaches the root of the Dao, then following that heart is the true Dao.

Immortal Cultivation is a journey to seek the Dao.

"You've worked hard, Seo Eun-hyun."

So...

This 'just because' is perhaps the answer that lies at the end of Immortal Cultivation.

"Now, let's rest deeply."

Tok—

As I pour the very last drop of herbal liquor onto the grave, I stand up.

All of us.

Together with the deer that has been waiting for us, we begin to move toward our home star, toward the era in which we have been living.

We are immortals who grew up on Mount Sumeru.

But now, we are people who go down into the mundane world to once again seek the roots of our hearts...

We are people of civilization.

I am Seo Eun-hyun.

I am Seo Eun-hyun, who is going to return to a civilized society.

⟨A Regressor's Tale of Cultivation (回歸修仙傳), End (完)⟩