A Regressor’s Tale of Cultivation Chapter 475

Her (2)

Long, long ago.

A being named Heukyo fell to this land.

That being was one that could not understand human thought.

He could not understand any taste, he could not understand any pleasure.

If you eat when you feel sleepy, sleep when you feel sleepy, and mate when you are horny, you will only feel a little excited at that time.

Nothing else could move Heukyo’s heart.

At some point, Heukyo felt that his own soul was lacking.

That’s why he wanted to fill in that missing part.

And he realized that the only way to fill in the missing part was to elevate his spiritual status through cultivation.

He started repairing it.

The black maggots ate animals.

At first they ate livestock, but later they ate wild animals, birds, and fish.

And then it started eating people.

Next, he ate ghosts, and then spirits.

Black Demon became stronger by eating monsters, mountains, fields, and seas, and eventually became a monster that could eat the sun, moon, stars, and even light.

And at that point, Heukyo realized.

No matter how strong you become, the missing part in your heart is not filled.

Even though the repair had reached its peak, the depleted part could not be filled.

And Heukyo could immediately see why.

Before he could even mend the shortcomings of his soul, his existence had grown too great.

It’s like regenerating your body without healing the scars.

It was said that the power that had been consumed was too great for the mind to recover because the mind was overwhelmed by that power.

So Heukyo decided.

To give up all of his power and go back to the beginning.

In this way, Heukyo used for the first time the power he had gained when he came to this world.

The power of Heukyo is reincarnation.

The power to reincarnate at will, without even being subject to the restrictions of the afterlife, was the ability he brought with him when he came to this world.

And through reincarnation, Heukyo gave up all his powers and was reincarnated as an ordinary human baby.

And, Heukyo reincarnated with his own abilities and placed restrictions on them.

The future self who will be reincarnated was said to be ‘made to suffer’.

He arranged for his future self to attain the ultimate power by realizing the true mind through asceticism.

Heukyo swore.

‘For 777 lives, I will spend my entire life standing on my head and reciting the mantra that symbolizes innocence.’

He was reincarnated like that.

And in his next life, as soon as he was conceived in a woman’s body, he crippled both his legs.

So he was born unable to walk with his legs, and he walked on his head and recited the Pure Mantra all his life.

People called Oblivion a madman.

Some called him a poor fellow, others insulted him for his ominous mutterings, and some even tried to hang him to death.

In his first reincarnation, Heukyo was stoned to death by people.

In his second reincarnation, he again did a handstand with only his arms outstretched and recited the mantra.

In this way, 777 lives passed.

After reciting the Mantra of Innocent Mantra while standing on his head for 777 lifetimes, Heukyo gained immense powers that could be called the God of Gods.

There was no one in the universe who could stand against Obsidian, and apart from the two gods who created the wheel, there was none who did not tremble before him.

But, Heukyo thought.

That I still haven’t filled the void in my heart.

So Heukyo is the two gods who do not fear him.

He went to see the god of the wheel and the god of the axis and asked them.

How on earth can I find what I am lacking?

The god of wheels said.

To commit suicide in front of him, and to rest for a long time. To rest for a long time, almost an eternity, within his domain, and to soothe his weary soul.

The god of the axes said.

He said that if you find the most precious and valuable thing in the three thousand great thousand worlds and bring it to me, I will tell you how to do it.

He followed the words of the god of axes and searched for the most valuable thing in the world.

But even after searching for a long time, he could not figure out what was most valuable.

Finally, Heukyo thought.

‘My body and power have become the most terrifying and horrible weapon in this three thousand great thousand worlds, so let’s cut off my body and give it to him. Cut off my lower body and give it to the god of blessings, and I will do a handstand walk again.’

He reached a small world and started carving off the lower half of his body.

He took a sharp knife, cut off his lower body, washed it in river water to keep it clean, and then cut off his lower body again, repeating the process.

Before he knew it, Heukyo had finally stripped off most of his lower body.

And then, the moment when Heukyo was groaning in pain as he stripped off the last bit of flesh from his lower body.

Heukyo met a girl by the river.

The girl gave the suffering black dragon some medicine and handed him a bowl of milk porridge.

Heukyo, who had absentmindedly eaten the milk porridge the girl had handed him, was shocked like lightning.

He buried his head in the milk porridge and sobbed without realizing it, feeling the ‘taste’ for the first time in his 777 lives.

Heukyo, who was greedily licking the milk porridge, asked the girl.

Please give me one more plate of this milk porridge.

The girl readily gave him the plate, and Heukyo ate the milk porridge and felt satisfaction for the first time, and also felt ‘gratitude’.

With tears streaming down his face, he resolved to repay the favor by following the girl on his head and blessing her for the rest of her life.

However, everyone looked at the girl strangely when they saw the monster chasing the girl while doing a handstand with its lower body missing, and the girl felt embarrassed by it.

However, the kind-hearted girl did not chase away the black dragon, even though she felt ashamed. Instead, she brought a sling and carried the black dragon on her back.

From that day on, Heukyo started to accompany the girl.

For the first time in a long time, Obyo was able to walk close to the ground and look straight at the world without doing a handstand.

As he walked around with the girl, he rediscovered the countless beauties and precious things of the world.

And then one morning.

He wakes up with the girl, and is finally able to find what the God of Axes had said was ‘the most valuable thing in the world’.

The most valuable thing in the world did not exist.

Because [everything] in this world is so precious that it cannot be valued as long as you have a heart.

He realized why the milk porridge the girl had given him on the first day had been so delicious.

That milk porridge must have been the first ‘pure favor’ he had received since coming to this world.

He shed tears as he realized that fact.

At the same time, he realized that he had fallen in love with the girl, and after regrowing his amputated lower body, he slept with her.

And then he finally felt that what was missing in his soul was filled.

It was then that I came to understand the meaning of his birth into this world.

After happily embracing his wife, he briefly departed for a distant world to retrieve the skins he had shed over the 777 lifetimes in order to make her a god.

And the very next day.

When Heukyo returned with a gift for his wife, she was found dead from a snake bite.

* * *

“snake?”

I asked Yuo back.

“The Black Demon who had control over the heavens and earth caused his wife to die from a snake bite?”

“I don’t know exactly about that either. Maybe it’s a metaphor for something poisonous. Or… a metaphor for something that is dangerous to the Heavenly Kings. I wasn’t there, so I don’t know exactly. The Black Demon sealed off the entire dimension, preventing me from getting near. How could someone like me know the truth of what happened back then?”

“Hmm… Okay, I see.”

“If you are convinced, then let’s continue the story.”

* * *

Heukyo cried bitterly as he looked at his dead wife.

And at the same time, only then did he realize what was missing in his heart.

It was ‘longing’.

In his quest to fulfill his longing, he has devoured countless suns, moons, and stars, and has inflicted suffering on himself for 777 lifetimes.

But he finally realized the true meaning of longing.

He always,

Before reincarnation, and after reincarnation.

I never truly desired anything because I knew that I would never be completely destroyed.

But he began to yearn earnestly.

[Outside] of the three thousand great thousand worlds.

He longed for his hometown.

His hometown. If it were the world of the immortals, his wife wouldn’t have died.

Heukyo, who had never felt any anxiety or fear since he first fell into this world because his basic body itself was close to immortal, finally came to a painful understanding of the concept of ‘death’.

And he finally made up his mind.

I will burn everything I have, never once coming close to death, and leave this world.

no….

Going out wasn’t the end.

He decided to save this world.

He decided to save this world, take him to his homeland, the world of the immortals, and free all beings from the fear of death.

Heukyo activated a magic spell that swallowed up everything in the world.

At the same time, he looked for a bad spot while the spell was being activated, defeated the gatekeeper there, and headed beyond.

To take everything from this world with you.

To free everyone in this world from fear, anxiety, and the name of fate.

And so, he disappeared into the ominous world beyond.

* * *

“… That’s it, Heukyoka. This is the end of the story about the being called Heukyoka Macheonwang, one of the Seven Flower Kings of the Buddha.”

I was in a daze listening to the story about the Black Demon King.

That horrifying act aside… .

“…Don’t you know the story beyond that?”

“I don’t know either. His story ends here. And with that… .”

She laughed.

“The ending of the stories of all the heavenly kings is very similar to this. The same goes for the Gwanghancheon Army and the Golden God. They were all originally the most ominous places in the three thousand great thousand worlds. From the time before the eons, and even after experiencing the end of eons, they were still fine… They were destined to return to the head world.”

“… .”

“By the way, how are you?”

She said as she poured the tea.

“It’s a story about destiny. In Gi (起), ‘the black dragon who fell into a strange world was continuing his training’,

In Seung (承), ‘you meet someone you love and learn the heart’,

In the transformation, ‘I will lose my lover [unconditionally],’

“The story of Heukyo, who ‘realizes the enlightenment that runs through his entire life, that is, his destiny’… Did you find it a little interesting?”

“… Apart from being fun… it’s a little embarrassing to hear.”

I made a slightly sour expression.

I felt like there was a bitter taste in my mouth, so I gulped down black plum tea to try to get rid of the taste.

“The phrase ‘introduction, development, turn, and conclusion’ makes the life of Heukyo itself feel like a paragraph from a novel… somehow it feels a bit uncomfortable.”

“If you are uncomfortable with the expression ‘introduction, development, climax, and conclusion,’ there are other expressions. How about ‘cheonwon (天圓)’?”

“One thousand won?”

She smiled brightly.

“I’m talking about the thousand-won knot that is used when climbing the thousand-won machine. Do you know about the thousand-won machine knot?”

“Yes, well… I know as much as other people know.”

“The four seasons of the thousand-won poem are included in the four chapters of the poem: spring, summer, fall, and winter. Wouldn’t it be less unpleasant if you thought of it as spring, summer, fall, and winter instead of introduction, development, climax, and conclusion?”

“… .”

“All beings living have spring, summer, fall, and winter in their lives, and recognizing this is the end of the small world, Cheonwon-gi. Born (春), growing (夏), maturing (秋), lying down (冬), and finally, being grateful to fate and sleeping comfortably under the sky (考終命). This is the truth that everyone realizes in the small world. However, I personally like the expression introduction, development, turn, and conclusion better, so I just call it that.”

She continued speaking.

“So, what do you think? Venerable Seo, the Heavenly King-to-be.”

“…the prospective heavenly king…”

What she meant was that I, too, would inevitably suffer that fate.

‘No, I’ve already been through it.’

I laughed bitterly as I recalled the 10th time.

In fact, if I hadn’t met Bukhyanghwa at the end of the 10th round or if I hadn’t been able to properly defeat Wonrip, I don’t know what would have happened to me.

The fate of having someone you love and then [unconditionally] breaking up with that person.

Isn’t this such a cruel fate?

I opened my mouth with a bitter feeling.

“That is the fate of the Seven Heavenly Kings. In other words, it is the fate that all heavenly kings must experience. So, are all the people who have experienced that fate the ‘heavenly kings’ you mentioned?”

Yu-oh shook his head at my question.

“There are two conditions required to be called the Heavenly King.”

“Two conditions?”

“Yes. First, as I just said, by progressing through the four seasons of spring, summer, fall, and winter, the introduction, development, climax, and conclusion, you will come to know your own destiny. Second… you will reach the extremes of the limits and limitations of truth and goodness. A person who satisfies these two requirements will be called a Heavenly King, and a person who is given the title of Heavenly King is, in fact… .”

Yu-oh glanced at Seo-ran for a moment and then said.

“You can become one of the best among the good ones.”

[You will be treated as a heavenly being.]

Perhaps because she was worried that Seoran would melt like candle wax, she whispered the information about the fishing boat separately to me.

“Hmm…!”

I shed a sigh of relief.

‘After all, the Heavenly King is a kind of special immortal.’

Crackle!

At the same time, I recalled the beings I had seen in the Taeyeoljeon tank painting and understood the full story of what I had felt at that time.

‘I see. The reason I felt like the beings in the painting were ‘real beings’ was because the heavenly kings in the painting were beings that the Jongmyeongja had reached on the fishing boat.’

Creepy!

As I felt that fact, I suddenly felt a sense of crisis instinctively.

“Huh…!”

I jumped up from my spot and braced myself for the shock, but Yu-oh and Seo-ran just looked at me with strange eyes.

Nothing really happened.

“Um… You didn’t like the car very much, did you?”

“Ah, no… that’s not it… .”

I was at a loss as to what to explain.

‘It’s shocking when you recognize the fishing boats.’

Of course, if you recognize it several times, you will develop some tolerance, but if there is something completely new, you will be shocked without any tolerance.

But the presence of the fishing boat itself wasn’t shocking.

For example, [Light] and [Master of Taesan], which Yang Su-jin warned about, govern light and mountains respectively.

However, an ordinary person’s body does not melt like candle wax when he sees light or climbs a mountain.

The light and the mountains are the fishing boat’s territory, but humans usually do not perceive it that far.

Since we don’t even know what they are, there is no big problem in looking at light or mountains.

But what if those who know the true nature of [Light] or [Master of Mount Tai] see such things?

‘I’m shocked every time I see it.’

I would have gone mad long ago if I hadn’t gone crazy once in the evening and become less crazy, and if I hadn’t developed a tolerance for the fishing boats by recognizing them so many times.

But, being crazy and having developed tolerance doesn’t mean I’m not shocked by fishing boats.

Moreover, if he had heard about the fishing boats called [Chilhwawang] that had not built up any tolerance until now and had thought of them, he would have naturally experienced great shock and pain.

‘But… why are you okay?’

I thought about it for a moment and then asked.

“When you recognize the truth, you will be greatly shocked mentally. However, when I think of the Seven Flower Kings you mentioned… they seem fine.”

At my words, she looked into her black plum tea for a moment and said.

“The reason why we are shocked when we recognize the truth is because of [wisdom].”

“wisdom?”

“Yes. When a mediocre being faces such a great being, they will gain immense [wisdom]. Now… even the ordinary sages and decisive ones will soon be able to obtain the ‘wisdom of congealing stars’ if they face the true nature of the Venerable Seo. In the first place, most of the previous realms are obtained in this way.”

“… .”

I let out a sigh at those words.

I too have now become a being who can impart knowledge just by looking directly at the main body.

“And, beings that are too weak to even accept that wisdom tend to burst and die. For example… if a slave race that doesn’t even have a conscious realm were to embody ‘the sense of using the conscious realm to discern ranks and draw in the spirits of heaven and earth from hundreds of miles away,’ what would happen to that slave race?”

“… My head is going to explode. I guess it would be the same even if I were an actor, not a slave race.”

Beings of lower realms cannot understand the dimensions in which beings of higher realms reside.

For example, on paper.

What would happen if we tried to teach a two-dimensional black-and-white ‘picture’ about a three-dimensional ‘apple’ by pouring apple juice on the picture?

Of course, the picture will melt or become a mess.

In this way, the knowledge of higher-dimensional beings was so powerful that it could easily melt lower-dimensional beings.

“You understand well. That’s right. In the end, the reason why lower-dimensional beings are shocked by higher-dimensional beings is [wisdom]. When they face the truths and virtues, they gain [wisdom], and when they can’t handle that [wisdom], they melt away. And, while other truths and virtues are shocked when they face those beings, the Seven Flower King is safe even after learning the truth, that’s exactly why.”

“What is?”

And then, Yu-oh’s subsequent remarks made me shiver.

“The owner doesn’t permit it.”

“yes?”

“It is literal. The existence of the Seven Flower Kings. Their true nature. And… the vast [wisdom] that their existence contained. The [name] of the Seven Flower Kings itself is currently possessed by someone, and is tightly bound to them, so even if you call their name and learn their true nature, you will not receive [wisdom]… You will not be shocked at all.”

“…The ownership of the name of the Seven Flower King belongs to someone else?”

“That’s right.”

I stared quietly at my teacup.

‘If you think about it… Yang Su-jin is still Jin-seon even if he disappeared. Despite that, there are quite a few people who call him by his real name and title, and I too was fine even though I called out Yang Su-jin over and over again.’

It was safe even after calling the name of someone like Yang Su-jin.

That was because someone had a strong hold on the ownership of Yang Su-jin’s name, so calling her name had no effect.

And then I thought of a being that seemed to have been struck by lightning.

‘Yang Su-jin said… [something]… [is looking for us].’

The stories I had been hearing in my head merged into one story.

Ominous Land Watershed.

A being that is looking for us.

The story of the obsidian.

The story of Gwanghancheon-gun.

Yang Su-jin’s end.

A being that holds ownership of the names of the species… .

Mountain top.

Thirty-three thousand.

Audience Hall… .

“I heard from Master Baekun about the reason why the water world is called an ominous land. He said that the water world is dangerous because great beings, including the Gwanghancheon Army, reached out to the water world and died. However… According to Master Yuo, it seems that the water world was considered ominous even when the Black Demon lived there.”

“I guess so.”

“… Then, regardless of the ‘reason why the water world is ominous’ that Baekun Seongsa spoke of, the water world itself must have had ominous characteristics from the beginning. So…”

I swallowed as the ominous conjecture that had just occurred to me occurred to me.

“That’s… not the shape of the water system or what surrounds it. [Because there’s something ominous in the water system] it’s considered ominous…”

: : Shout : :

Jeeeeeeeing!

The Holy Spirit of Yu-oh accelerated his own realm of consciousness for a moment, raised his consciousness to the realm of the sages, and unleashed the Lion’s Wrath.

I vomited blood with a pounding head.

“Ugh… gasp… .”

[Shh.]

Yu-oh, who had arrived in front of me, put his finger to his lips.

[Don’t speak carelessly. Don’t. Don’t you know the saying, ‘It’s hard to pick up spilled water’?]

“… .”

I nodded slowly with my mouth covered.

‘I received help from Yu-oh.’

Just before.

I never thought to say anything about it.

But as soon as it occurred to me that [there was something] in the water system, I felt like my mouth was moving on its own without me knowing.

‘thank god.’

I thought with my mouth shut.

But at the same time, I could be sure.

‘The reason why the water world is called ominous is not only because of Gwanghancheon-gun and his friends. [There is something or someone ominous residing in the water world.]’

That too, there was a being so terrifying that my mouth moved on its own as soon as I inferred that ‘such a being exists’.

Yu-oh made eye contact with me for a moment and then said.

“As for the reason why the water system is ominous, you will probably know more clearly when you become a true being. There is no need to try to know it now. Anyway, no matter how much you think about it now, you won’t be able to guess it.”

“…Thank you for the advice.”

“What? By the way… .”

Yu-oh looked up at the ceiling and said.

“… It seems like your colleagues are doing their best to save the Venerable Seo. It seems like they are putting forth all their effort to bring the Venerable Seo back to consciousness in this world.”

“hmm!”

I looked up in surprise.

surely.

It seemed as if I could hear the voices of my colleagues from somewhere far away.

“Ahem… .”

Yu-oh seemed to look down at me for a moment, then took three steps back as if he felt regretful.

“I guess this is where it’s at. Originally, I had somewhere to take Venerable Seo, but an honored guest has come to my residence. I must greet the guest… I will leave you here for today. Please return to your colleagues.”

Taaak!

As Yuoh snapped his fingers, the surrounding scenery began to distort.

I noticed that Yuo was trying to get us out again.

Woof!

At the same time, the attraction is felt from [two places].

I felt the energy of the two forces and identified their locations.

One side is dark.

Deep and deep.

It was the afterlife.

And on the other side… I felt the energy of Hong Beom and Seop Myeong Ham.

‘That’s the way to this world.’

I got up from my seat and went to a place where I could feel the energy of the sublime with Seoran.

“Thank you for your hospitality today. I hope we can have tea together again sometime soon.”

I bowed to her politely and greeted her.

And then, at that moment, Yu-oh’s eyes sparkled.

“… I also look forward to the day we meet again.”

She showed a bright smile that she had never shown before.

Before I was discharged from Yuoh’s palace, I suddenly wondered about one thing and asked her a question.

“By the way… Do you know, Your Majesty, how to remove the dead energy accumulated in the soul?”

The fraud was so concentrated that it liquefied and flowed out, dragging me to the afterlife.

Since this problem also had to be addressed, I asked her a question.

When asked the question, she responded as if she was dumbfounded.

“… Are you asking me, the princess of the Blue Ghost Palace who guides the dead to the underworld, to teach you some kind of secret technique of going against the flow of heaven so that those who should die can avoid dying?”

“Haha, if you think of it as a way to become friends, please tell me a little bit.”

I remember Yu-oh telling me the story of Heukyo in an attempt to ‘become friends’ with me, so I tried to talk to him.

‘I don’t have high expectations, but… I won’t be able to get caught up in something like the Black Ghost Palace’s Moon Gyu…’

“Well then, I’ll give you a clue.”

“her?”

‘You’re really giving it to me?’

“Instead. Since I too have made a great decision to offer this, please answer the questions I asked you earlier. Who is your teacher, where did you practice Zen, etc.”

“Hmm… Since you’ve given me a lot of information, I’ll tell you who you’re talking to.”

“Okay. Then I will tell you right away. It is the law that eliminates evil. [When the Supreme Ultimate (太極) unites, the three extremes (三極) will circulate]. If you think carefully about this law, it will be of great help in softening evil.”

“Thank you. My teacher’s name is….”

I opened my mouth.

“Salty… .”

The next moment.

Paaaaat!

* * *

“…uh?”

Hong Beom was right in front of my eyes.

“Master! Are you alright? I managed to bring you back to consciousness!”

“Ah… this is it.”

I clicked my tongue.

“I couldn’t tell you my name. What should I do…?”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Um, no, Hong Beom. Anyway, thank you. For dragging me here.”

“Haha, it’s all Lord Seoran’s fault. I only assisted Lord Seoran and operated the Seopmyeongham a little bit, and that’s all I did.”

I laughed heartily at Hong Beom’s humility and cleared my mind.

I guess I’ll be busy clearing my head tonight.

* * *

Inside the palace that Seo Eun-hyeon left.

The sight of her there began to distort.

The entire space shook as the essence of the woman who had just been talking to Seo Eun-hyun was revealed in the space.

The force she possessed began to crumble everywhere.

She revealed her presence, once again going to the deepest part of the palace.

She went to where her throne was and sat down.

She rested her head on one hand and looked somewhere inside the crumbling palace.

And then.

From somewhere out there, someone popped out.

It was the figure of a person dressed in neat black clothes.

He walked across the crumbling palace and stood before her, speaking.

“Are you planning some kind of evil scheme in the world of Saba again?”

As she opened her eyes, the being in front of her took a step back, looking up at her with a slightly contemptuous expression.

“We’ll see how long you can stay so relaxed. I’m almost there now, so relax.”

After he finished speaking, he turned around and left in front of her.

She let out a small snicker as she watched the being that had just left the palace.

The being that just left.

It was said while looking at the being that Seo Eun-hyeon called Hyeon-gwi (玄龜).