A Regressor’s Tale of Cultivation Chapter 808 Chapter 804: A Regressor's Tale of Cultivation

⟨Present⟩

A brilliant light erupts suddenly.

Utilizing the mysterious technique known as Heaven of Neither Perception nor Non-Perception, I momentarily hurl the Hopes into a distant realm.

They'll pursue us once more shortly, yet this remains the optimal way to gain precious time at this moment.

Kiriririk!

The Emptiness Sword hums sharply.

It emits a serpentine hiss while tearing through and repelling the surrounding turmoil.

Like tiny particles in the air, various elements hover and shimmer between Hong Fan and me.

Every single one of those innumerable particles represents a full Heavenly Domain.

Merely by confronting each other, the fundamental laws of existence collide, spawning and crumbling universes akin to grains in a raging gale.

Then, the Emptiness Sword reveals its deadly edge.

I wield the sword formed from stellar clusters, infused with chaotic forces and the Turning Wheel's might, to intercept the Emptiness Sword.

Paaatt!

What reverberates isn't merely a basic noise but rather an immense tremor or a sublime echo beyond ordinary senses.

The initial clash.

As our blades meet, myriad bursts of radiance explode outward, resembling a whirlwind of sand or a spectacular display of fireworks.

Each burst forms a fresh timeline or an alternate reality.

The greater the number of these worlds that emerge, the more the Creator God's form, embodied as Mount Sumeru, solidifies and gains might.

Gugugugu!

The immense divine entity grasping Mount Sumeru in its palm absorbs the myriad Heavenly Domains and parallel realms sprouting nearby, then hurls them into the ancient void.

Wiiiiing—

Within the Gestation World.

Mount Sumeru rotates swiftly.

Kugugugu!

This revolving Mount Sumeru plummets directly toward us, wavering as it descends.

And amid the chaos, Hong Fan swings the Emptiness Sword anew.

The Hopes launch in a relentless volley without mercy.

Initially, I managed to deflect the Hopes, but with every ounce of my ultimate strength now unleashed...

'Those forces adapt ceaselessly to match their foe.'

They've already adapted perfectly to me, and as they continue evolving while hurtling my way, blocking them has become utterly impossible.

'The core of Hope is...'

It was only upon ascending to half-step Creator God status...

That I finally grasp this profound truth and hidden mechanism.

More precisely, it 'surfaces in my thoughts'.

For even when he shared it with me before, the weight proved too much, leaving me unable to comprehend...

⟨16th Cycle⟩

Kiriririk—

Dark Gang Qi erupts from Hong Fan's form.

This marks Hong Fan's Entering Heavens Beyond the Path!

Similar to my Formless Sword, these shapeless, lawless energies surge toward me guided by his intent.

—Final Profundity.

Hong Fan's inherent style ensures that, given any opening, he unleashes his most potent, supreme ultimate move to slay the adversary outright.

True to this nature, he instantly deploys the deepest profundity of his Entering Heavens Beyond the Path.

—Hope.

'Uh...'

The dark Gang Qi transforms into dazzling brilliance.

For a brief instant, I stand stunned, gazing at the approaching Gang Qi mass, before reacting swiftly.

My reflexes take over.

It seems as though a voice murmurs softly near my ear.

—The Hope you're facing now has been greatly restrained and limited in power, just to spar with you fairly. Yet its fundamental nature remains unchanged.

How can this be?

Deep within Hong Fan...

A certain voice echoes.

'Could this be...Hong Fan's inner thoughts?'

I can't explain it.

Still, inexplicably, in this moment, I sense a direct link to Hong Fan's very being.

Previously, Treading Heavens' vision delved deeper into an opponent's core essence.

But with Hong Fan, it's unique.

'It's as if...'

—At its core, this is a narrative. A tale crafted to dismantle the foe I've designated as my enemy.

'I feel immersed within Hong Fan's essence.'

A fragment of my consciousness has slipped into Hong Fan's core, linking with his mind to reveal the solutions directly.

Is Hong Fan aware of this connection?

Somehow, I suspect he is.

Wiiiiing—

Tukwagagagang!

From the cavern housing the Heavenly Void Furnace at Ascension Path's heart, a colossal passage drills straight through, extending far beyond Ascension Path's bounds.

Hong Fan's arcane technique has pierced Ascension Path—spanning dozens of mountain chains—in one swift motion.

Walgak!

My withered, aged frame can't withstand such a direct assault, yet resolve surges within.

"Is this your Entering Heavens!?"

Though labeled Entering Heavens, its overwhelming might eclipses my Treading Heavens' Formless Sword by far.

This power feels more like...

As if a supreme being, having attained Martial Arts' pinnacle, is playfully claiming it's merely Entering Heavens Beyond the Path for our duel.

I question if this truly qualifies as Entering Heavens-level strength...

'Hong Fan declares it Entering Heavens.'

If that's his word, then it is.

I accept it without doubt.

When a comrade affirms it, that's truth enough—no need for explanations or deceptions!

Pachijijijik—

The deeper I channel my strength, the fiercer lightning crackles across my entire form.

Over centuries, the lightning curse lingered unresolved.

Yet...

It simultaneously amplified my peak capabilities.

Kururung!

In a flash, I shift into a lightning spirit's guise.

I embody a pure bolt of lightning.

This is genuine lightning velocity, beyond what a typical Nascent Soul cultivator could achieve.

I propel forward at velocities exceeding my cultivation stage, slamming into Hong Fan.

But Hong Fan stomps the ground.

—Stepping technique, Black Heaven.

—Movement technique, Future.

Shiririririk—

He closes the distance in a blink.

The black Gang Qi slicing through space resembles a sleek black serpent in flight.

'He exceeds...lightning pace...!'

Instantly surpassing lightning speed, he accelerates further until, at some threshold, even I—a Nascent Soul cultivator—lose track of his motion.

Kiiiiiing—

He reaches maximum velocity.

And, in that fleeting second!

Kwaaaang!

My form collapses as I'm hurled toward a section of Ascension Path.

"Keheok!"

Despite my lightning constitution, the very [concept] of [lightning] warps and shreds apart.

Through sheer instinct, I barely comprehend the event.

'In that moment...he exceeded light speed...!?'

A velocity that, by reaching back from future to past, ensures an unerring strike.

Far removed from mere lightning swiftness.

An answerless terror of Entering Heavens Beyond the Path.

Such is the dread power of Hong Fan's Entering Heavens.

Nevertheless, witnessing this glimpse of his boundless genius...

Seeing the insurmountable divide, I grin.

It evokes battles with Kim Young-hoon.

In the inaugural cycle, clashing with Kim Young-hoon brought endless despair.

Yet reflecting now...

I realize joy came from pursuing someone eternally out of reach.

"Huhahahaha!"

With unrestrained glee across my features, I regenerate my body and deploy the Severing Mountain Swordsmanship.

As Hong Fan, shrouded in swirling black Gang Qi, charges at me, curiously, he shares his Martial Arts enlightenments with me through our ongoing bond.

—To confront Hope, two or three tactics exist. They stem from Hope's foundational principle...

Kiiiii!

From his black Gang Qi, radiant clusters erupt, and his ultimate profundity surges toward me once more.

Why does it seem so?

This onslaught of devastating moves cornering me...

It almost appears as if he's merely intent on giving me a solid thrashing.

Has something about me irked him?

Maybe over our 500 shared years, I focused solely on training and skimped on treating him well.

'In the next lifetime...I ought to at least prepare some tasty potato meals for him.'

Potatoes dominate my thoughts currently.

The Hope clusters abruptly expand massively before charging to shred me apart.

Meanwhile, I struggle to assimilate the Martial Arts insights Hong Fan imparts, countering Hope with utmost effort.

⟨Present⟩

Kiriririk—

Gazing at the Hope that, despite my banishment via Heaven of Neither Perception nor Non-Perception, pursues us anew across timelines, I recollect Hope's core principle.

Only at this juncture does the sealed wisdom in my mind unlock.

Since the insights on Hope itself pertained to the Future King, he apparently maintained the seal until I attained a realm capable of withstanding it.

'Thank you, Gu Ju.'

In the 16th cycle, my ignorance shielded me from any impact, but...

Presently, I fully comprehend Hope's principle.

Had I learned this at Great Net Immortal level or lower, rather than as a Governing Immortal, the revelation would have shattered my view of Martial Arts, spawning a devastating Heart Demon.

I'd have attempted to mimic Hope beyond my means, fracturing my psyche into multitudes, descending into insanity, and perishing.

Hope's principle and core unfold thus.

Drawing on those now-revealed Martial Arts realizations from back then, I tighten my hold on the Impermanence Sword.

—Hope represents the pinnacle of sword control.

I recall my initial foray into sword control.

I infused action after action into sword control until it operated autonomously, ultimately replicating my essence to form Sword Gang.

—It equates to the apex of cloning.

When Gang Sphere reaches its zenith, it merges with one's core essence, projecting that essence into reality.

Yet this projected essence can later compress and 'launch' outward.

The Entering Hope prowess displayed by Yu Hwa or Jang Ik in Seated Detachment.

The domain of First Step Before the Throne.

There, one compresses core essence for a realm-transcending strike.

Via that strike, clones emerge, or it embeds in another's essence for their use.

Essentially, Hope is First Step Before the Throne, evolved into [a transcendent Single-Strike Clone of utmost extremity].

What he termed sword control was his accommodation for my inability to perform Single-Strike Clones.

—You replicate your personality and infuse it into the blade. The infusion encompasses absolutely everything: all talents and essence, possibilities, emotions, even soul fragments...

Concepts beyond my grasp in the 16th cycle, despite hearing them.

Comprehension dawns only now.

—Next...you alter the infused personality toward annihilating the foe. The result is a version of yourself wholly dedicated to slaying that one target...

This alternate self duplicates upon activation, solely for eliminating the designated foe, harnessing every infused talent, possibility, personality, and power toward that end.

You replicate and reshape a full self-duplicate, deploying it as a self-destructive explosive fixated on target elimination.

From deployment, this killer self agonizes over lethal strategies, crafting optimized methods and powers.

Even en route to the target, it relentlessly self-torments with fantasies and suffering...

At velocities rivaling or exceeding Araya Consciousness—perhaps eternally—for an 'near-infinite duration,' it contemplates the foe's ruin and demise, ensuring death.

With its objective defined, it possesses vitality: pursuing if dodged, returning if timeline-exiled.

The longer the evasion, the extended the murderous deliberation, transforming it from a waning force into an ever-evolving, strengthening anomaly.

A singular narrative existing to obliterate one entity, at the cost of self-destruction.

In essence, a 'Pseudo-Divine Art' surpassing techniques and authorities.

A merciless, tragic supreme art steeped in self-abuse and loathing, fulfilled only after exhaustive self-mutilation and witnessing mutual demise.

Such is Hope's essence and principle.

A serpentine hiss resonates.

—Thus, countermeasures against Hope number two or three. The first involves presenting Hope an alternative to killing, dissolving it pre-impact. Yet, if Hope dismisses that option and presses on, its evolution might hasten dangerously. Only transcendents wielding chaos as authority's conduit can employ this.

Unbeknownst to me then, it's a defense Creator Gods or otherworldly divinities might use briefly.

—The second relies on outpacing Hope's adaptation to your talents and potentials through faster personal evolution. Outgrowing Hope's infinite adaptations against you allows direct shattering.

Feasible solely by surpassing Hong Fan's genius and prospects in growth speed.

—Finally...Hope's vulnerability peaks at unfolding. Then, it can't invoke Absolute of Fate or Three Great Mantras, so minor advancement at that instant enables blocking. Against the Future King's Hope barrages, distance fighting seals shut; ultra-close combat demands endless blade clashes.

Puhwaaaak!

Under my command, Turning Wheel Mantra and Outer Sea chaos weave, dissolving myriad narratives.

And instantly,

Kiiiiik!

I evolve once again at otherworldly pace.

Outstripping Hong Fan's genius...!

[Triumph, Seo Eun-hyun...!]

Jeon Myeong-hoon dissolves his personality and potentials within me.

Concurrently, Red Lightning Heavenly Tribulation surges into my grasp.

Kwarururung!

Jeon Myeong-hoon inherits the Owner of Heavenly Punishment's full legacy.

Do Gon, the Owner of Heavenly Punishment, named the Law of Causality as Indra's Net.

Limited by rank and stature, Do Gon's interference with Indra's Net barely reached Heavenly Venerable ease.

But for a being with sufficient stature, rank, and insight receiving Naming authority...

Kururur!

I can claim and wield the Named power freely.

Jjeoeong!

Indra's Net weaves the fabric of principles.

The