A Regressor’s Tale of Cultivation Chapter 583: Sunlight Hunting (3)

Chapter 583: Sunlight Hunting (3) 

'It's hot.'

A boy thinks.

Nine lights floating in the sky.

The elders of his family, who have reached the Four-Axis stage and can travel between planets, have spoken.

They said that in this Crystal Glass Realm, there exist nine suns, and because of those nine suns, the world is gradually growing hotter.

Hwiiiiiii—

A sandstorm blows.

An endless desert stretches out before him.

Most of the land in Crystal Glass Realm is like this.

Though Integration stage Grand Cultivators have managed to create habitable living areas by merging their Integrated Dao Domains with formations, that is the extent of what they could do.

No one can lower the temperature of the entire world.

Back when there were only eight suns, the three Sacred Vessel stage beings known as the Three Divine Spirits—Yeo Hwi, Ham Jin, and Yu Hwi—each used their powers to cool the world as much as possible...

But now, even they are helpless against the heat of the nine suns.

The elders of his family have said that soon, a tenth sun will be born.

The Three Divine Spirits have also warned of this, so it must be true.

Hwiiiii—

Standing in the midst of the desert wind, the boy narrows his eyes.

"In Ye! Where are you, In Ye!?"

The elders of his family, the In Clan, call out to him from within the formation protecting the residential zone.

"This little rascal! Didn't we tell you not to leave the settlement?"

"More than that, this barrier should only be breakable by someone at least in the Heavenly Being stage. How in the world did you get through it?"

"In Ye, you brat! Didn't we say the air outside the settlement is thin, and the temperature is too high making it even dangerous for Qi Building stage cultivators! Why do you keep running off on your own!"

At the scolding from the elders, In Ye simply scratches his head.

'I just don't want to practice archery anymore.'

That is his true thought, but he knows that if he says it out loud, he'll only face harder scolding, so he makes up another excuse.

"...I just...wanted to see the desert with Mister."

He glances at the man in white standing beside him.

He can clearly feel his presence.

His breath, his scent, the white clothes he wears—all are vividly visible.

Yet the elders only respond with anger.

"This brat...are you seeing things again!?"

"If he were a ghost, we'd sense something. It seems like he's having hallucinations within his own mind."

"Damn it...the most talented child has a broken mind. What are we supposed to do with that!? Just come along! You haven't even finished today's training, and you're already trying to run away!"

The elders sigh in frustration, and as In Ye is dragged toward the training grounds by the hand, he mouths a question to the man in white.

"Mister, why can't anyone else see you?"

The man in white smiles faintly.

"Because I am both everywhere in this world and nowhere. It is simply that...your talent has surpassed a singularity, allowing you to perceive my existence which lingers in the Plane of Qi."

"Hmm..."

In Ye tilts his head at the cryptic words.

But somehow, he feels like he understands.

"I see. Mister...is a god. A god far greater than even the Three Divine Spirits."

Feeling the Qi that pervades this entire world, he asks,

"Then, are you the very Heaven and Earth spiritual energy that fills this world?"

"In a way, yes."

"I'm jealous. Mister can go anywhere you want. Meanwhile, if I take even a few steps outside the settlement, the elders always come chasing after me..."

"Can go anywhere...huh. Hahaha."

The man in white smiles as he speaks.

"I am not such a free god."

"What do you mean?"

"You will understand when the time comes."

In Ye finds it strange but lets it go.

After all, the man in white always speaks in vague riddles.

Time passes.

In Ye has already grown into a young man.

Having reached the Four-Axis stage at the age of twenty, In Ye fires an arrow into the sky.

Puhwak!

The arrow soaring into the sky suddenly vanishes into the void.

The Immortal Art he infused into the arrow surpassed the plane and reached the Plane of Fate.

But reaching it is all he can do—he cannot change anything.

"What do you think, God?"

Even now as a young man, In Ye turns to the man in white who still lingers by his side.

"I did what you told me. But the Plane of Fate...is too strong. It won't budge at all."

As time passed and In Ye gained more knowledge from his family, he learned to speak with greater clarity.

Eventually, he revealed the existence of the 'god' that only he can see.

The family was thrown into chaos.

A being taken form from the Heaven and Earth spiritual energy of this world?

And is attached to In Ye?

In Ye was immediately named the next head of the clan.

Everyone treats him with the utmost reverence, constantly reminding him of how fearsome and extraordinary the entity following him truly is, urging him to always show the highest respect.

But In Ye does not find the 'god' to be so awe-inspiring.

Or rather, he does feel a deep sense of awe.

Yet, it is the kind of awe one feels when witnessing the vast beauty of nature, not the reaction one has to an unfathomable mystery or monster.

To him, the god is simply the 'mister' he has known since childhood.

He may carry the title of God, but he is just a very familiar presence.

If anything...because he is always there, In Ye finds his constant gaze a little burdensome at times.

"A strong heart was not put into it."

"Didn't you say that the ultimate form of archery is No-Thought (無念)?"

"...Of course, No-Thought devoid of any heart is powerful. But to reach that state, you must first have a direction. And that direction is your heart."

"I see..."

"...In Ye."

The god asks him a question.

"You are not interested in the bow, are you?"

In Ye nods.

"Yes. I don't really have interest in it. I was born with great talent, but...I don't know if this is something I actually like. Well, the elders keep telling me I need to train my archery, but honestly, they don't explain why. 'Because you must'...is all they say."

He shrugs.

"The elders say I need to master archery to shoot down the sun. But...why should I? I...don't mind the desert landscape."

"...I see. You still do not know your fate."

"My fate?"

"Yes. The task you must fulfill."

"Are you also going to tell me the same-old bothersome words about how I need to shoot down the sun, God?"

"Wrong... Bringing down the sun is not your fate. It is not your purpose, nor is it something you truly want."

In Ye nods.

"God understands me well. Then...why must I practice archery? What is my fate, and what is my life?"

To In Ye's question seeking an answer about his fate and life, the man in white averts his gaze and once again speaks in ambiguous words.

"Huhu... You don't want to practice archery? Then what do you want to do?"

"Just...um..."

Paaatt!

In Ye soars into the air, looking around at the planet his clan has settled on, and speaks.

"I just want to zone out and stare at the desert."

"The desert, huh... That is good too. Then keep looking at the desert. You don't have to practice archery."

"...You are sure that's what you said, right, God?"

Without hesitation, In Ye lets go of his bow.

With the words, 'God permitted it', he immediately runs away from the family.

As a child, he had to be dragged back by the hands of the adults...

But he is no longer a child.

His family sends pursuers after him, but In Ye shakes them all off and finally arrives at a secluded spot in a desert.

"From here on, I'm just going to space out here. My lifespan will keep increasing as long as I breathe and get struck by lightning every now and then, so there's nothing to worry about."

"...Do as you wish."

"...Is that all you have to say?"

"It is your choice. What do I have to say?"

"...Forget it."

And so, from that day forward, he does nothing but gaze at the desert of his home planet.

Simply spacing out.

Yet, perhaps because of his overwhelming talent...

Even as he spaces out, In Ye slowly develops a demon beast method.

Through this technique, which absorbs the essence of the desert, he absentmindedly advances in cultivation even while only staring blankly.

Ten years, twenty years, thirty years pass. A hundred years go by.

The elders of his family find him once more.

They try to take him back by force, but it is now no longer possible.

In Ye has already reached the Four-Axis stage, and they would never be able to capture him with force.

The elders of the family fall into deep distress.

They cannot understand why the one once hailed as the hope of their clan refuses to practice archery.

Some become furious at him, some plead with him, and others even prostrate themselves and beg.

But In Ye remains unmoved, only watching the desert.

A thousand years pass.

The family gives up on In Ye and selects a new candidate for the next clan head, leading to a power struggle.

His younger cousin, In Hang, is chosen to become the next clan leader.

In Ye does not care.

And so, ten thousand years pass.

Kugugugugu!

Lightning tribulation rages across the sky.

At some point, In Ye has reached the Integration stage.

Without doing anything, simply breathing and gazing at the desert, he naturally built the Five Elements Axes and reached the Integration stage within ten thousand years.

"...It's hot."

With a blank expression, In Ye looks up at the sky.

At some point, besides the nine suns, a tenth, smaller light has begun to shimmer.

"The tenth sun will be complete in a few tens of thousands of years."

"According to legend, a sun is born once every million years... Why is the tenth sun forming already? From what I know, it hasn't even been five hundred thousand years since the ninth sun was created."

"They are resonating."

The man in white looks up at the sky and speaks.

"The nine suns that were created first and the final sun that is still forming are resonating, accelerating its completion."

"...What happens when the tenth sun appears?"

"What do you think will happen? The world...will just get hotter."

"...Hotter than this?"

In Ye clicks his tongue.

"Well, that's...sure going to be hot. I'm glad I reached the Integration stage early."

"Is that so?"

Had the elders of his family heard this, they would have been furious, but the man does not get angry.

He simply nods calmly.

"...Do you...not have something to say?"

"It is your choice. What do I have to say?"

"...Yes."

And so, In Ye continues to sit beside the man, simply breathing with his eyes open.

Forty thousand years pass.

In Ye turns fifty thousand years old.

"...Ah."

In Ye squints as he sees the sky growing hotter.

At some point, just by breathing, he has reached the Grand Perfection Integration stage.

Yet, he looks ahead with a slightly dissatisfied expression.

"The desert...is melting."

"I see. Until now, the minerals that Yu Hwi buried underground had absorbed the heat, at least preserving the desert's form, but..."

Hwarururuk!

The tenth sun is now nearly complete.

As its heat merges with that of the nine other suns, the planets of the Crystal Glass Realm begin to go beyond desertification. Now even the deserts themselves are melting.

"It seems even that is no longer enough to endure."

Watching this, In Ye clenches his teeth with empty eyes.

Wo-woong!

His Integrated Dao Domain unfolds.

It spreads over the melting desert, stopping it from dissolving any further.

"...Are you not going to say anything, God?"

"What do I have to say? Have I ever said burdensome words? It is your choice. What do I have to say?"

"...That's true."

With an inexplicable dissatisfied expression, he glares at the desert, now at least holding its form within his Integrated Dao Domain.

One year passes.

"...Damn it."

In Ye grinds his teeth.

"God, just why are you doing this!?

"...What have I done to you?

"Why do you keep lingering around me!?"

"I am not lingering around you. I exist throughout this entire world. Among them, I simply dwell a little more deeply within the bloodline of your family, and you alone perceive me."

"Then why don't you say anything to me!? Why won't you reprimand me at all!? The family records state that the Unruly One, Ham Jin, ruled our family so harshly it was practically oppression. Yet you, who seems far greater than him, say nothing at all and merely watch over me! Why!?"

"Do you have some kind of complaint?"

At the man in white's indifferent attitude, In Ye flares up in anger.

"I do! Of course I do! The scenery I wanted to see was an endlessly sprawling desert. But right now, what I'm looking at is the edge of my Integrated Dao Domain! And beyond that edge, there's nothing but melted, shapeless lumps. I'm saying I can't even see what I want to see!"

In Ye grits his teeth and shouts at the man in white who has remained by his side his entire life with that calm demeanor.

"You...if you, the only one who has ever resonated with me from the depth of my being, commanded me, I would not have let go of the bow. If you, the only one who has watched me closest and understood me best, had pushed me, I would have become the head of my family and worked to rid the world of such a sight. If you had scolded me, I...I wouldn't be here so disgracefully as a Grand Perfection Integration stage!”

"...It seems you are misunderstanding something."

"...What?"

"I am not something like your fate. I have never commanded you, nor did I ever force anything upon you. I did grant you talent with the bow, but that was all. I have always respected your freedom."

The man in white.

Seo Eun-hyun gazes at In Ye with calm, transparent eyes and continues speaking.

"The steps that led you here were your own, and the choices were yours alone. Do not seek answers from me—look within yourself. Repentantly enlighten upon yourself and find the answer. How can the answer thrown down by the heavens be your own? So...do not ask me, the God of this Crystal Glass Realm."

"..."

He does not scold him. He does not grow angry. He remains as calm as ever.

Yet, In Ye feels an indescribable sense of shame.

Perhaps it is because the being before him reflects him so transparently, like a mirror.

"...What am I supposed to do?"

"Try whatever."

"...Damn it."

From that day, In Ye stops sitting idly, staring blankly at the desert.

Instead, he wanders.

He roams across his entire planet, then moves on to other planets.

He travels throughout the entirety of the Crystal Glass Realm, where nine suns burn, observing countless beings and their ways of life.

A thousand years pass, and at last, In Ye finds his answer.

"...I still don't understand. Just where...where is the answer? I... I..."

He clutches his head in despair and falls to his knees in the middle of some desert, vomiting the words out.

"I have no idea why I was even born... The bow doesn't interest me. Neither does dual cultivation, nor cultivation methods, nor the pleasures of the world, nor its finest delicacies. I don't even know...what I must inevitably do. That's why I've just kept watching the desert. Because the desert, like me, is meaningless. But when the desert started to melt, I finally understood. I had been giving meaning to the desert all along. The desert...held the meaning I gave it. But...what about me?"

He cries out in anguish.

"What is my meaning? Was I born simply to possess unparalleled talent with the bow? I have no interest in archery. My parents are far more interested in it than I am. I grew up with the elders of my family seeing me as a 'child with talent for the bow,' and the position of head of the In Clan, which reveres the bow above all else, was predetermined for me. But...that is not the meaning I should have. Not anything in this Crystal Glass Realm as well!"

It is a resentment ordinary people cannot understand.

"This is not my fate!"

The anguish of a genius unable to find his own purpose.

The cry of a young man who cannot find meaning in anything.

"Just what meaning does my life even have? I...I don't know!"

"..."

"Please tell me, O God. Please...tell me...the meaning of my life."

"..."

Seo Eun-hyun says nothing.

He just transparently reflects In Ye's figure with his clear eyes.

Just as Kim Young-hoon had once watched him with the same clear eyes, waiting for him to reach Entering Heavens.

"...The meaning of my life... My life... What is it supposed to be?"

"Life..."

To In Ye, who desperately seeks the meaning of life, he offers only a few words.

"I don't know either."

"...I see. How profound. Truly..."

In Ye grinds his teeth and rises to his feet.

"You have never given me answers. As if to say my path is mine to find...I understand. I will seek it myself. I will find what interests me...on my own!"

Paaaatt!

He suddenly finds himself disliking Seo Eun-hyun's gaze that transparently reflects him.

With a desire to escape that gaze, In Ye takes to the skies.

Leaving his home planet behind, In Ye swiftly traverses the Crystal Glass Realm.

'Come to think of it, that's right. That god is the God of the Crystal Glass Realm. If I go outside, I won't have to see that sickening gaze anymore.'

He has begun to dislike everything. 

He just...wants to go somewhere else where no one exists.

And so, a new thought forms In Ye's mind.

'Let's leave the Crystal Glass Realm. I'll leave this place, and...go to a wider, different world.'

With that resolve, In Ye begins to fly towards the edge of the Crystal Glass Realm.

Decades pass, and upon reaching the outermost boundary of the Crystal Glass Realm, In Ye sees a veil of hazy mist.

This is the end of the Crystal Glass Realm.

"Hmph. A mere veil like this..."

Paaatt!

He confidently attempts to pierce through the mist, but for some reason, when he emerges again, he finds himself still in the Crystal Glass Realm.

"Hm...!"

Gritting his teeth, he dives back into the mist, only to return to the Crystal Glass