A Regressor’s Tale of Cultivation Chapter 848 Chapter 845: Side Story - Perfect Harmony (3)

Chapter 848: Side Story - Perfect Harmony (3)

"...I must stop this."

"Do not spout such illogical nonsense."

Makli Hyun-ah possessed a grim expression, insisting he would halt the explosion, which prompted a serious-faced Ahn Geum to seize him by the shoulders.

"You are merely an Ascending Metamorphosis First Tribulation cultivator. You barely rank in the early Four-Axis stage; what do you expect to stop this with? Your collection of dozens of Star Shattering stage puppets? Those are entirely insufficient. Such a feat requires action from at least a Sacred Vessel Sacred Master. Even overlooking your ability to resurrect, I already expended a precious True Immortal summoning right to ensure your survival. Dying needlessly here would mean you merely caused me to squander a resource as valuable as blood."

Ahn Geum spoke with a rigid countenance, her grip firm upon Makli Hyun-ah's shoulder.

"Abandon these foolish thoughts and evacuate. Board the Nether Crossing Ship and depart the Vast Cold Realm immediately. That catastrophe is hardly our concern!"

"The Vast Cold Realm is on the verge of becoming a wasteland."

"What is the fate of another world to us?"

"Even so, if we have the power to save it, we must try. Above all..."

Makli Hyun-ah reflected on the seamless Taiji he had witnessed at the very end.

Recalling that exquisite harmony—a phenomenon definable only as love—he stood his ground with a resolute face.

"I cannot allow their sacrifice to be rendered in vain."

"That is madness! The situation is not even your responsibility; what exactly are you attempting to achieve?"

"You mentioned an alternate space hidden within my body, didn't you?"

"You..."

"Your alternate space alone is not enough to suppress this detonation, but if we pull mine out into the physical world, we might—just barely—succeed in containing the blast between our two domains."

"You do not even possess an Integrated Dao Domain, yet you believe someone of your level is capable of such a feat?"

"Master stated my alternate space constitutes a single world. I checked it subconsciously... there is a genuine world within. It is entirely possible."

"...! You..."

Ahn Geum grit her teeth as if suddenly comprehending the truth.

"Sacred Master Ban Ta... did he read this far ahead? Did he dispatch you here specifically so you could wield your own alternate space? He instructs his disciple with truly punishing rigor."

She finally understood that Ban Ta had sent Makli Hyun-ah into this exact scenario with full foresight.

"...Fine. I will cooperate. But mark my words: the moment it appears you cannot control the explosion, I will seize you and drag us both out of here!"

"Understood. That is fine; just assist me!"

"Damn it!"

Ahn Geum flared with irritation, hoisted Makli Hyun-ah into the air, and surged toward the epicenter of the spherical explosion.

In the center, the Taiji continued to rotate, regulating the blast. Ahn Geum opened her own alternate space, obscuring one side of the explosion.

"Now, hurry! Manifest that alternate space of yours!"

"Understood."

With a solemn expression, Makli Hyun-ah closed his eyes.

He surged into the immense space within himself—a realm so vast it could be considered a cosmos of its own.

'Open.'

Previously, he viewed this universe solely as a vessel to allow divine descent by anchoring the energy of powerful beings. Yet, he now realized this small universe could be projected into reality, drawing in manifestations of the material world itself.

'It is a pity I focused on the Confucian Family Method and neglected the Naming Family Method...'

Even if the method was traditionally limited to the Core Formation stage, its true potential transcended such boundaries. Depending on one's cultivation progress within the realm, it could grant strength proportional to one's level or even allow one to leap beyond their current limits.

'So that was why Master forbade me from courting social standing, urging me to solidify my base instead. My foundation really is pathetically flimsy.'

With a self-deprecating smirk, Makli Hyun-ah carved a [name] into the empty void.

They say that when a personality accepts connection and causality, it emerges as an independent existence. Effectively, connection and causality are the very components of a soul. And, as per the insights Hyeon Rang provided, personality is a [name]. According to what Ahn Geum demonstrated just moments ago...

'An Immortal Art is personality. It is the act of spreading one's name throughout the world.'

His mind raced, and the realization was digested instantly. Inside him, he felt two entities—light and chains—smiling upon him. Perhaps they were the ones who had bestowed this hidden talent upon him.

'Mister Jegal Mikhail, you said we are beings without a soul, containing only personality, correct?'

Makli Hyun-ah's eyes gleamed.

'I disagree. I do not believe I am merely a copy.'

Since ascending to the Ascending Metamorphosis stage, he could recall every detail of his life vividly. From his birth to the moment he died by that truck because of Ji Hwa, it remained perfectly clear. He remembered his death with absolute clarity.

'I accepted death too easily.'

From the beginning, he was a soul his family did not require. Aside from being Lee Seo-ah's shadow, he possessed zero significance. If not for his desire to see Ji Hwa's face after falling for her, he would have faded away long ago. Makli Hyun-ah was a man whose will to survive had always been faint.

He had accepted death as a natural conclusion. Or so he had thought.

Yet, witnessing the deaths of Jo Yeon and Ha-eun revealed that something was fundamentally wrong.

'Was my life meaningful enough to warrant such an easy acceptance of death?'

Before surrendering to death, should he not have lived with a desperate desire to survive?

'Is death not something one should only face after living fully, as those two did?'

Makli Hyun-ah revisited his memories on Earth. Even as an illegitimate child, had he pursued something with conviction, he might have helped Lee Seo-ah from the shadows rather than acting as a burden.

'If I had done my best within my given fate, could I have changed something?'

Everything done half-heartedly. Everything treated with carelessness. Life felt stagnant because he was perpetually annoyed; that had been his existence. Change would never come without a significant catalyst. Through the death of Jegal Mikhail, he steeled his will to survive, and through the deaths of Jo Yeon and Ha-eun, he finally understood the weight of a proper life. Now that he grasped what life actually meant, he could no longer remain this way.

'Let us change!'

The [name] Makli Hyun-ah carved into the void began to glow. That name was [Extreme Ghost Path].

"Open. Ghost Path."

As the [name] manifested in the physical world, his soul resonated with the flow of the universe.

Tsuaaaat!

Deep within his soul, a vast entrance of emptiness tore open, mirroring the size of the one Ahn Geum had manifested.

Tududududu!

Unlike Ahn Geum's, this entrance poured the explosive kinetic force directly into the core of Makli Hyun-ah's soul, causing him to flinch from the sudden, scorching pain.

"Uugh..."

It was excruciatingly hot.

"Uuuuuugh..."

The portal struggled to open fully. He needed to envelop the entire sphere of the explosion, but his gate was still not even half the size of Ahn Geum's.

'More, just a little more!'

Makli Hyun-ah channeled more of the power locked within the [name], reinforcing his spirit through that name.

'A name is personality. To control my name is to govern my spirit. There is an alternate world within my spirit; therefore, by utilizing this name, I can widen the entrance!'

Though the pain threatened to tear his soul apart, he drew upon every ounce of strength to pull more power from the name.

It was in that climactic moment that he heard Hyeon Rang's voice.

[A name is personality. If personality accepts causality, that becomes existence. Therefore, when a soul-bearing being invokes a name, that name acts as a tool—it becomes an Immortal Art.]

Softly, Makli Hyun-ah felt a warm touch, as if Hyeon Rang were stroking his hair.

[Immortal Arts are wielded by beings with souls, and their souls... they can feel that warmth. If you possess warmth within you... if you breathe that warmth into your chosen name, that will become a true Immortal Art.]

'What is... warmth?'

Even as he pondered, he felt he already held the answer. Below, the Yin and Yang—charged with warmth—were manifesting as a Taiji, rotating in perfect equilibrium. Love, benevolence, passion, and resolve. He could not find the words, yet it was a perfect, symmetrical harmony.

[Warmth is... acceptance. Accepting connection, causality, fate, death... and life itself. Though these words differ, they are identical in nature. Only a being who truly learns to accept can reach maturity.]

'Ah.'

Accept. Embrace. Acknowledge.

Makli Hyun-ah acknowledged his entire existence. His vanity, fears, laziness, frustrations, desires, and foolishness... As he accepted it all, his missing piece fell into place.

Kiiiing—

Is it not said that a personality accepting causality forms existence itself? Makli Hyun-ah accepted everything about his being and offered his gratitude.

At that instant, he knew more clearly than anyone that he truly 'had a soul.'

'Hey, Mister Jegal. Stop talking nonsense and prepare to emerge from within me later.'

Paaaatt!

Gratitude. The moment that warmth settled into the name he had carved, his spirit ceased to be torn by external force, and he naturally opened the vast alternate space within his Extreme Ghost Path talent.

Chwaaaaaak!

The alternate spaces of Ahn Geum and Makli Hyun-ah converged from both sides, sealing the explosion within.

However, Makli Hyun-ah gasped.

"Ah...!"

Though they had covered nearly the entire explosion, a small gap remained open!

"This can't be!"

Through that hairline fracture, a massive surge of explosive energy began to bleed out, threatening to annihilate the continent. The Taiji rotating inside needed to rotate faster to draw in the remaining energy, but it was losing momentum.

'At this rate...!'

Just then, Paaaatt! Makli Badger leaped out from the beast scroll.

"Uaaagh! Badger! What are you doing!? Get back in immediately! It’s dangerous!"

"...Is this not an urgent moment?"

"It is urgent because it is dangerous!"

"In this situation, thank you for your concern. I have been grateful for all our time together."

With trembling hands, Badger gently stroked Makli Hyun-ah’s head. He was stunned, but in the next moment, Badger leaped passed him and dove directly toward the gap they could not seal.

"Makli Badgerrrrr!!!"

Makli Hyun-ah shrieked. Badger offered a thumbs-up and then began to unleash all her hidden potential. As a Grand Perfection Core Formation stage beast, she forced an elevation in her realm, and a heavenly lightning tribulation materialized, striking her directly.

Kwarururung!

Badger rode the heavenly lightning, using its immense pressure to pierce through the explosive force and reach the center—the very heart where the Yin-Yang Taiji cycled, where Jo Yeon and Ha-eun remained.

Makli Hyun-ah watched as Badger endured the tribulation, transforming into the form of a beautiful woman. She looked at him with gentleness, then extended her hands toward Jo Yeon and Ha-eun.

Immediately, the Taiji rotated with renewed ferocity, the explosive force momentarily receded, and the barrier formed by their alternate spaces clicked shut. A wave of immense Taiji energy burst forth, and as it struck Makli Hyun-ah, his latent potential surged. Concurrently, the presence of Hyeon Rang became crystalline clear. He looked up, staring blankly as Hyeon Rang smiled softly, tapped his head, and spoke.

[Please, call my name.]

For some reason, he could not refuse.

"...Hyeon Rang?"

In that moment, Hyeon Rang’s body shattered into light, scattering in all directions and firing directly into the souls liberated from the Overseer Factory—the souls once modified and sealed as puppets.

Chwawawak!

Spanning 20,000 years of history, every soul slaughtered and modified by the Mad Lord's puppets instantly manifested in a [human] body and revived.

Hyeon Rang's voice resonated in his ear once more.

[Someday, call my name again. Through you, someday... I believe I shall be able to open my eyes again.]

The voice faded into the wind.

'Who are you...'

Makli Hyun-ah realized he had already forgotten the name of the man who had just saved him. 'He is the Senior Brother of a man called Tae Yeol-jeon in the Grand Nirvana Temple of my inner world... yet I cannot recall his [name].'

Shiririririk!

It was strange, but he had no time for complex thoughts. With the explosive force fully contained within the alternate spaces, he succumbed to exhaustion and plummeted into unconsciousness. Ahn Geum caught him in her arms, feeling the warm energy of the newly revived humans gathering around him.

"Is this... the Acceptance at the Fate's End Axis?"

The collective hearts of the Vast Cold Realm's people, having received grace, generated the vital energy necessary for a practitioner of the Hundred Schools. Ahn Geum gathered the energy, hoisted Makli Hyun-ah, and sought a safe path. However, the aftermath of the explosion had punctured the dimensional veil, and the resulting suction force grabbed her, dragging them toward the rift.

"Kuugh... Since Sacred Master Ban Ta is not intervening, I suppose we are meant to be pulled into this void."

She made a split-second decision, boarded the Nether Crossing Ship, and navigated into the tear in the dimensional veil.

'Regardless, celestial energy is flooding the Vast Cold Realm—Lee Seo-ah will surely arrive soon. It is safer to seek refuge elsewhere.'

With that, they departed the Vast Cold Realm, vanishing into the unknown, while the dimensional rift finally sealed itself shut.