Chapter 404: Bow Down In Prostration (1)

I don't.

Quite.

Understand.

Something.

"Ah..."

When I turn around, the entire Twilight Fortress has vanished.

To be precise, the entire front part of the Twilight Domain Fortress.

Kim Young-hoon, Jeon Myeong-hoon, Oh Hyun-seok, Kim Yeon, Buk Hyang-hwa, Seo Ran, Hong Fan, Shi Ho, Yeon Jin. And the 13 Guardian Ghost Kings along with Yuk Yo who has been by Baek Rin's side.

Excluding those 23, everything has evaporated.

And then, right after,

Kugugugugugu!

Should it be called a cosmic force?

A colossal power sweeps between us.

It seems to be the aftermath of the Wuji Religious Order's annihilation just moments ago.

Even in the midst of such bewilderment, I somehow manage to pull my comrades in with an attraction force.

"E-Everyone, grab each other's hands!"

We all hold hands to avoid being scattered by the massive storm.

On my left is Jeon Myeong-hoon, and on my right is Hong Fan.

The next moment.

Pukwak!

Jeon Myeong-hoon explodes.

"...Uh?"

I had no time to react.

Like a child crushing an insect.

Jeon Myeong-hoon couldn't resist at all and was crushed to death along with his domain.

Kwajik!

Next is Yeon Jin.

Yeon Jin is turned into minced meat.

Kwaduduk!

Then it's Yuk Yo and Baek Rin.

The two lovers are crushed and mixed together, their remains intertwined.

Waduk, Kwadudeuk!

Ududuuk!

Badudududuk!

For a while, my comrades burst and die like bugs.

Shortly after.

The ones left are Kim Young-hoon, Oh Hyun-seok, Buk Hyang-hwa, Hong Fan, and Seo Ran.

"...."

Kim Yeon.

Yeon.

Only her head.

Remains.

This fact.

Someone.

Please tell me.

That this is not reality.

The storm subsides.

With trembling hands, I reach out to the chunks of flesh before me.

I caress Yeon's face.

And then.

I once again look up at the [Great Mountain] that has appeared ahead.

"...What is this?"

My voice, it doesn't come out properly.

It isn't out of fear of an existence beyond comprehension.

I'm just, so, very, very...

Overwhelmed with emotion.

That my voice doesn't come out.

Right now, [That] before my eyes doesn't exude any kind of dignity.

I can tell.

It's a kind of projection that Integration stage Grand Cultivators send.

That too, a special kind of projection designed specifically to avoid revealing their rank.

It's like a shadow.

Hence, it's natural that nothing can be felt.

But because it's a shadow, I can gaze at the [Existence] at the peak of the Great Mountain.

They're so distant that I can't see them.

But I can definitely tell.

That [Existence] is the one that just crushed and killed my comrades.

"Ah, ah...aaaaaah...!"

I can feel it.

That existence. It's looking directly down at me.

: : You Called For Me. : :

Too distant for my consciousness to perceive, too far for my eyes to reach.

But I know.

Right now, that thing is 'smiling'!

After taking everything, everything from me!

"AAAAAAAAAAH!!! UGHK! UUUGHK! EEOGK!!"

It hurts!

It hurts!

My chest feels suffocated.

I pound my chest, and something bursts out.

It's a flower.

It's a Black Blood Tears Flower.

Normally, requiring the preparation of materials through the Yin Soul Ghost Incantation and needing to be refined through a special spell formula is the Black Blood Tears Flowers, but now, it just pours out as soon as I open my mouth.

Flowers of monstrosities pour out of my mouth in torrents.

From my eyes, nose, ears—no, it feels like flowers are gushing out from every orifice in my body.

"UUUGH! KEO, EOGHK! EEEOK"

: : Did You Use <<Phenomena Extinguishing Mantra>>? : :

"UHUOOK! UEOOK! EEOK!"

: : I Shall Teach You Properly. : :

"AAAAAAAAHK! UAAAAAAGH! AAAAAH!K"

My eyes roll back. I savagely tear open a hole in my stomach and pull out the Colorless Glass Sword

The idea of taking it out from my mouth doesn't even occur to me.

Completely deranged, I charge towards the black mountain in front of me.

Wadudududuk—

"...."

My vocal cords shatter.

As if silencing me.

At the same time, the Colorless Glass Sword I hold.

Shatters into pieces.

Shatters into pieces and scatters into the void.

As if mocking me.

Wooo-woong—

The barrier of Yin-Yang and Five Elements rises, trapping me.

At the same time, space begins to warp.

"Ah, aaaah...Ye, Yeon, Yeonnn..."

Crunch Splatter!

I see Buk Hyang-hwa, who is still alive, get caught in the spatial storm and have her entire body crushed.

"HAAAAAAH!!!"

Kim Young-hoon tries to resist but is torn limb from limb and dies as his head is plucked off.

"This bitch! This bitch, you dog shit, you dog..."

Oh Hyun-seok tries to do something but is compressed into a meatball and dies.

Seo Ran, peculiarly, has his Nascent Soul extracted and absorbed into the black Great Mountain.

And, Hong Fan is caught in the spatial tempest and has his entire body torn apart.

Even as his body is being ripped to shreds, he speaks with his trembling pupils, as if saying everything is fine.

"It has been an honor to serve you up close. As long as Master remembers me, I will always be watching over..."

Kwajik—

Those are Hong Fan's last words.

He looked like an old man, but in reality, he was even younger than Buk Hyang-hwa.

The little centipede that had stuck close to my foot on Ascension Path.

Who sacrificed himself and died for me when I was modified by the Mad Lord.

Who, even though I didn't take care of him when we went to Seo Hweol, showed his talent and grew up to be a splendid genius centipede.

Who eventually reached the Transformation Stage and took on human form, becoming Hong Fan.

Who had always silently served by my side until now, my subordinate...

No.

My friend.

Has died.

"——————!"

I wail with my shattered vocal cords.

My voice, resounding across Heaven and Earth, spreads throughout the world.

: : Phenomena (滅) Extinguishing (法) Mantra (眞言) : :

I see it.

In front of Great Mountain.

Something begins to gather.

I think of it as just the spiritual energy of Yin-Yang and Five Elements at first.

Because it exactly matches the flow of the reversed Great Mountain Splitting Emperor Technique that I have memorized.

However, I gradually realize something.

Something is gradually gathering more and more.

No, beyond that.

The attraction force of the world is growing stronger.

Jang Ik's words flash through my mind.

When the attraction force of the Heavenly Domain reaches its peak,

The End will come.

Kugugugugugu!

The attraction force of the entire world outside the barrier of Yin-Yang and Five Elements, is gradually becoming stronger.

Centered around the materialized sphere formed by the energy of Yin-Yang and Five Elements gathered in front of Great Mountain, the entire attraction force of the Heavenly Domain begins to converge.

The universe starts to contract.

Are those...stars? Decaying Corpse Realms?

Ah. They are galaxies.

Amidst this surreal scene, I watch in a daze, forgetting even to wail, as countless stars, Decaying Corpse Realms, and galaxies converge into a single point.

The Heavenly Domain begins to narrow.

Gradually, the world becomes hotter, filling with light and heat.

I gape as I see countless Decaying Corpse Realms being pulled toward Great Mountain.

Thighs, Yang Su-jin's ring finger, someone's backhand, flesh, bones, livers, eyeballs, other organs, skin, tails, and so on.

Countless Decaying Corpse Realms are being sucked in, and galaxies are colliding with galaxies.

And then,

"...!"

My eyes widen, wondering if what I am seeing is real.

Nether Ghost (冥鬼), Purple Gold (紫金), Ancient Force (古力), True Devil (眞魔), Bright Cold (光寒).

The Five Middle Realms...are being sucked into that sphere.

As someone who has built the symbolic axis of each realm. I can distinguish the Middle Realms.

And something dark red in the distance seems to be trying to escape, but is inevitably pulled in as well.

But that isn't all.

[——————!]

[——————————————————!]

[——!——!——!——!——!——!]

[——————!!!!!!!!!!!]

True Persons.

The True Persons who have suffered fatal wounds from me are of course, as well as those disguised as planets and quietly sleeping, all awaken and try to flee in the opposite direction of the attraction force. Yet not a single True Person succeeds in escaping and are instead all sucked in.

The situation is so surreal it feels like a dream.

Soon, the world itself, now filled with light and heat, compresses in front of Great Mountain.

In other words, all the galaxies, Middle Realms, Decaying Corpse Realms, and True Persons have been sucked in and contracted to the same size as the sphere.

No, the contraction doesn't end there.

The Heavenly Domain continues to contract even in that state until it finally becomes a single point of white light.

The being atop Great Mountain seems to contemplate something upon seeing this point before tossing it somewhere.

I see the point formed by the contraction of the entire Heavenly Domain being pulled somewhere.

As there is no longer light or anything else, I can't verify where it goes.

All I can do,

Is despair.

: : This Is The True Form Of What You Used. : :

The reversed Great Mountain Splitting Emperor Technique.

No.

The Phenomena Extinguishing Mantra (滅法眞言).

The true purpose of this mantra is not simply to gather the energies of Yin-Yang and Five Elements and display an inverted cone.

It's an Immortal Art meant to gather everything, including Yin-Yang and Five Elements and all of Heaven and Earth, to bring about the End (終末).

That is the Phenomena Extinguishing Mantra.

: : Now Die. : :

Pukwak!

And then, just like my comrades, I instantly explode into a mass of minced meat.

Both the Nascent Soul and the Heavenly Circle and Earthly Bearings.

Everything is shattered without a chance to resist.

As I die, I realize.

The being atop Great Mountain kept me alive until the very end solely to mock me in the most miserable way possible.

Until the very end of all ends, that thing mocked me.

Feeling the mockery of the existence atop Great Mountain, I lose consciousness.

That is my twentieth return.

Inside the Yin-Yang and Five Elements barrier, where Seo Eun-hyun has been reduced to chunks of meat,

Lies the miniaturized Salt Mountain and Salt Crystal Palace.

As the being atop Great Mountain gestures, they rise toward the towering peak of Great Mountain.

At the summit, built on layers of suffering, fear, and oppression.

The being seated there extends their hand towards the miniaturized Salt Mountain, and the mountain floats into their grasp.

For a while, the being caresses the Salt Mountain with care as if it's something precious.

However, as if recalling something, they gaze at the Salt Mountain with eyes filled with contempt.

While doing so, the being looks somewhere else.

It's the spot where the point of the contracted Heavenly Domain was tossed.

Flash!

From that spot, a burst of light erupts, and eight colossal shadows begin to walk forth.

The being atop Great Mountain watches them with a sneer before dissolving into the void, disappearing.

In its place, only the barrier of Yin-Yang and Five Elements, containing Seo Eun-hyun's minced meat and the shards of the Colorless Glass Sword, remain.

The eight shadows simultaneously let out a thunderous roar.

: : Ra Cheon!!!!! : :

In response to their reactions, light explodes fiercely, and the Heavenly Domain that was contracted into a single point begins to expand once more.

The Astral Realm (星界).

That is, the Universe (宇宙) begins to unfold once more.

After the Yin-Yang and Five Elements barrier enters the universe,

When the universe starts to fully form again, it unravels.

Throughout the universe, newly born Quasi-Immortals at the Entering Nirvana stage squirm and swim in all directions, instinctively beginning to create stars.

The shards of the Colorless Glass Sword scatter throughout the entire universe, and a fragment of Seo Eun-hyun falls on one of the stars created by the Quasi-Immortals.

Then, the old man carrying a flower basket covers Seo Eun-hyun's fragment with soil and pats it down.

Tap, tap—

"It was enjoyable."

The flower basket-carrying old man.

Known by some as the Owner of Western Heaven Flower Field, or what others refer to as the Eastern Heaven Flower Field, the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable, after completing this task, smiles faintly as if satisfied and turns around to leave.

Not long after, he vanishes from that Heavenly Domain.

And shortly after the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable disappears,

Sssssss—

From the place where Seo Eun-hyun's fragment is buried, a flower begins to bloom.

The flower seems to shine brightly, emitting a pure white light.

And within that light, a familiar presence begins to be resurrected.

Tstststststststsss—

It's Seo Eun-hyun.

Seo Eun-hyun, revived without a single wound, looks around in a daze for a moment.

"...Ah...aah..."

And then.

"Aah...aaaah...AAHHHHHHHH!!!"

Kugugugugu!

"HUAAAAAAH!!!"

Around him, a field of cursed flowers blooms.