A Regressor’s Tale of Cultivation Chapter 850 Chapter 847: Side Story - Path of Immortal Cultivation (2)

Kirik, kiririririk!

The darkness gets drawn inward.

The whole cosmos trembles as though shrieking in pain.

At the center of Ban Ta, a blade of boundless killing stirs to life amid the void.

Ban Ta conquers his dread, scarcely clutches that sword, and precisely then,

The blade starts to spin.

Shiririririk!

A hissing like a serpent's spreads as quakes across the full dimension, and right at that instant.

Paaaatt!

Shadows illuminate everything and shred through space-time.

■■ (True Martial Arts)

■■■ (Emptiness Sword)

Third Move.

The title of a supreme technique—even Great Net Immortals, to say nothing of mortals, cannot fully grasp—resounds through the emptiness.

Glass Peacock, who turns away to escape it; Ban Ta, who unleashes it from his grasp; and even Ju Soo Ryeon, who recalls it anew to bestow it—none can calm the surging feelings in their chests.

And at last,

From the whirl, shadows erupt into radiance.

Radiance.

: : I must dodge it, yet...I'm getting...pulled in...! : :

Glass Peacock shuns confrontation and attempts flight, yet inevitably gets dragged into the maelstrom stirred by that gleaming light's spin.

Kwadududududuk!

An Immortal Beast's vitality surpasses even a Heaven Immortal's.

As embodiments of life itself, their forms possess unmatched hardness, resilience, and flexibility, refusing to fade easily.

They stand nearest to genuine immortality.

Perhaps the creator of the Immortal Cultivation path designed it to prevent death during the journey to Earth Immortal status.

Yet now,

On this Immortal Cultivation road, the mighty spirit who pursued the Immortal Beast path with the Immortal Beast King in view has their body utterly torn apart in that radiance, vanishing into emptiness.

Immortal Beast Glass Peacock.

The prime candidate for Immortal Beast King bears an empty grin, and as death claims their mangled, broken form, they murmur one final phrase.

: : Connection apparently offers opportunity still. Very well. I'll slumber a bit longer for the moment... : :

In that radiance, their core essence fractures...yet the foe is Glass Peacock.

Nearest to Immortal Beast King status, with Governing Immortal within reach.

Practically akin to the Underworld's Chief Judge or Deputy Judge, death holds scant grip on them.

: : Though this demise won't last long. Revived once before facing bodily end again, I'll awaken in mere years at shortest, or hundreds of millions at longest. When I do...I hope you've evolved. : :

Ultimately, Glass Peacock yields to the light flooding the cosmos, their frame twisting and shattering ever more fiercely unto death.

Only once Glass Peacock fully vanishes from the universe does Ban Ta tsk his tongue and dispel the horrifying Emptiness surge from his form.

"...Apologies, but by that point, unchanged or not, my dormancy ends...so without ascending to Immortal Beast King, I can readily guard even the Purple Gold Realm."

Employing the Purple Gold Realm domain renders Ban Ta supreme in defense.

That's when it occurs.

"Uuugh..."

Splurt!

Ban Ta spews a gush of dark blood and reels.

"Keheok...uuggh..."

Ju Soo Ryeon's flame mark fades from Ban Ta, yet he shudders throughout, recollecting the dire art he just manifested himself.

"Without fully summoning the prime force...merely a mimicry of its shape...and the murderous aura eroded my soul to this degree...?

The art he unleashed is truly the pinnacle of slaughter. Even mere imitation lets its dense killing essence gnaw at his sanity.

Moreover, Ban Ta's physique poses issues.

"The rebound hits hard as well. I'll need to recover in Ban Ta Castle for some time. Even to expel Glass Peacock...had Ju Soo Ryeon boosted the projection slightly more, my body would've exploded, killing me..."

Gazing at the hand that wielded such a dread art, Ban Ta contemplates its might.

Chiiiiik...

Assailed by killing intent's corrosion and rebound's toll, the sword-wielding hand rots away.

Killing aura taints his soul and inner spirit veins everywhere, while backlash warps bone, muscle, and vitality flows.

That fused grasp already necrotizes.

Despite Ban Ta's robust life force, healing demands no brief span.

"Suppressing the killing intent requires roughly a millennium of rest, expelling it fully another hundred thousand years. Bodily repair follows... Rebellions will flare across Purple Gold Realm anew for a stretch. More tiresome governance awaits."

Shivering in revulsion, Ban Ta turns back toward Purple Gold Realm, pondering his decaying hand.

"Merely borrowing a projection briefly wrecked me thus...how did that figure manage it?"

Some forty billion years past.

The Mythic Age.

When Owners of Light, true lords of the Immeasurable Life Buddha Religious Order, yet held sway.

A figure who, defying light's hosts, revived two further supreme arts tied to the dread technique Ban Ta employed, wielded them in battle, and clashed against the Owners of Light.

Gazing at his hand, Ban Ta inevitably recalls that Mythic Age entity.

"...To match that one's stature, I'm still distant. Even in dormancy...that Seatless one's casual supreme art inflicts this backlash on me, a Seat holder."

Sensing the chasm with that Mythic Age being, Ban Ta heads to Ban Ta Castle.

***

Splurt!

"Heok, a-are you okay...?"

Makli Hyun-ah inquires upon witnessing Ju Soo Ryeon—who claimed to channel power to her master via his body as conduit—suddenly hacking up dark blood.

Ju Soo Ryeon collapses on the spot, her complexion somewhat ashen.

"...Huh?"

Makli Hyun-ah senses Ju Soo Ryeon's presence has diminished somehow.

Moments ago, she emanated an indescribable aura, yet now...she resembles a Grand Perfection Star Shattering cultivator.

'Ironically, Grand Perfection Star Shattering feels more potent than True Immortality... Perhaps at True Immortal, we can't fathom her?'

"Your cultivation...appears to have fallen."

That's not the extent.

Her demeanor oddly shifts too; Ju Soo Ryeon's formerly casual speech turns polite and deferential.

"Yes. Lending that to Teacher Ban Ta...demands immense power for mere projection. They say mastering its essence and intent allows Upper Immortal use, but...I'm just projecting."

Ju Soo Ryeon rises unsteadily and addresses Makli Hyun-ah and Ahn Geum.

"If feasible, might I remain on the Nether Crossing Ship to recover awhile? Around a hundred thousand years should restore my vitality and original realm."

"Of course that's fine, but...this Nether Crossing Ship heads via Nether Ghost Realm coordinates. Could Lord Immortal have affairs in this chaotic sea? Joining us to Nether Ghost Realm—is that suitable...?"

"Hoho...worry not."

Ju Soo Ryeon offers a faint smile in explanation, as Makli Hyun-ah fleetingly wonders, 'Why does she hoho too?'

"Tens of billions of years ago, I halted realm advancement and entered this Outer Sea to flee the dread of that past projection lent to Teacher Ban Ta...the horror of that dread art, and the heart scar from then."

"I lack details, but...did you linger billions of years in chaos to conquer that terror?"

Ju Soo Ryeon's face sours at Makli Hyun-ah's query.

"Likely...since the supreme art lent to Teacher Ban Ta slew me in my prior life. Failing to shed its fear risks madness from psyche fracture, realm growth or not. Thus, I let my form drift in this absolute-still chaos sea, pursuing repentant insight to banish that dread over tens of billions of years... And today, lending it to Mister Ban Ta, I see I've partially overcome it."

Aboard the Nether Crossing Ship, Ju Soo Ryeon gazes into the boundless chaos.

A realm of ceaselessly swirling ash-gray haze.

The Outer Sea.

Makli Hyun-ah can't fathom the terror demanding seclusion in this bleak, loathsome expanse.

'What dread art requires tens of billions of years to exorcise?'

Whether divining the thought or simply perceptive,

She tells Makli Hyun-ah.

"The art terrifies, yes...but fear of its wielder looms larger. Without beholding that one firsthand, comprehension eludes."

"Pardon? The wielder...you mean the one who killed this Elder True Immortal in your past life...?"

"Hoho...precisely. But henceforth, curb curiosity. True Immortals barely endure such lore; only Great Net Immortals grasp it with effort."

"Heok, u-understood."

Makli Hyun-ah nods swiftly to the True Immortal.

"Hoho, such an obedient one. Anyway...for harboring me on the Nether Crossing Ship, I'll rest in the Ghost Den Room. Seek me for needs or queries; lodging fee includes basics."

"Ah, then, O True Immortal..."

Ahn Geum beseeches Ju Soo Ryeon.

"When do we reach Nether Ghost Realm...?"

"Ah yes, mortals can't exit Outer Sea freely, right? No concern."

Woo-woong!

Ju Soo Ryeon snaps fingers; potent pull grips the Nether Crossing Ship, hurtling it swiftly onward.

"I hold ties to Nether Ghost Realm too. Linking its pull to the ship ensures arrival in five to ten years."

"Ah...!"

Ahn Geum's tension eases; she bows to Ju Soo Ryeon.

"Thank you, True Immortal! For your hundred thousand years' recovery, I'll serve diligently."

"No need for formality. I'll slumber near fully those hundred thousand years, so ignore me as absent. Farewell, all. Energy spent; I'll rest suitably now."

Paaaatt!

Words done, Ju Soo Ryeon yawns wearily, melting into the Nether Crossing Ship's shadow and vanishing.

"...Incidentally, Ahn Geum. What's the Ghost Guest Room (鬼窟室)? First I've heard...not even VIP Room (貴賓室)..."

"A Ghost Path space within Nether Crossing Ship for mighty Ghost Kings or grand beings. Tied to the power core; sans Ghost Path Method, entry's impossible...so deem it inaccessible."

"I see...you seem cheerful."

"Well, like sighting land from ocean vastness... Anyway, Makli Hyun-ah."

Ahn Geum flicks Makli Hyun-ah's brow and says.

"Refine the Acceptance at Fate's End Axis promptly. Much awaits: convert Nether Crossing Ship to mech warship; in Nether Ghost Realm, claim ghost souls as subjects. Ghosts adore puppet bodies. Steady puppets yield hordes of folk. Your Immortal Cultivation path widens henceforth...start cultivating."

"Hehe, understood. Off I go!"

Makli Hyun-ah darts to his Nether Crossing Ship cabin, readying to refine Acceptance at Fate's End Axis.

Simultaneously, peering from the ship's viewport, Makli Hyun-ah grins.

"Confucian Family Method flaw erased, Naming Family Method essence gained. Canvas of Myriad Forms and Star Genesis need a known True Immortal—fulfilled! Perfect, conditions align."

Thus proceeding,

Truly so,

He'll save sister Lee Seo-ah, probe One Qi of the Primordial Chaos Religious Order's enigmas, evade malevolent divinity's clutch.

"Excellent, my Immortal Cultivation begins!"

With hopeful cry, Makli Hyun-ah thrusts fist skyward.

***

Vast Cold Realm.

Human Race lands.

Kururung!

Kwajijijijik!

Space fractures; one plummets into Human Race's rebuilding zone.

Kururung!

Lee Seo-ah it is.

Enveloped in Glass True Fire, she scans about.

"Ahn Geum...Hyun-ah...where are you?"

Kiiiiing—

Lee Seo-ah's gaze parses celestial energies; teeth clenched.

"Not here...? Fled Vast Cold Realm to elsewhere already? Sans Acceptance at Fate's End Axis in so short a span, what occurred? Ahn Geum, that wench..."

Bududuk...

Veins bulging, Lee Seo-ah surveys.

Then,

In a Human Race restoration site, Lee Seo-ah spots several statues.

"This is..."

Ignoring novel Ha-eun and Jo Yeon...other names strike too familiar.

Saintess Ahn Geum.

And...

Darkness Queen Makli Hyun-ah.

Statue bases note: honoring four saviors of Vast Cold Realm. Lee Seo-ah touches Makli Hyun-ah's statue, eyes half-lidded.

Kiriririck!

Taiji spins in her eyes; via the statue, revelation dawns.

"I see. Ahn Geum, Hyun-ah—you fortuitously encountered fortune here. Your path leads to...Nether Ghost Realm."

She yanks Makli Hyun-ah's statue free.

Budududuk...