Chapter 25: 5th Cycle's First Day

As I opened my eyes, a familiar scent filled the air.

It was the forest Ascension Path.

'I've returned again.'

First, I swiftly pressed the sleep acupoint on Jeon Myeong-hoon, who was trying to say something to me, making him fall deeply asleep at an invisible speed.

'I'm not sure if I succeeded in cutting down the Crown Prince.'

It seemed like my body had moved, but I wasn't certain.

'Did I manage to be of any help...'

I hadn't known cultivators had such things.

Naturally, thinking I had reached a new realm, I was too complacent.

Just as martial artists often hide 30% of their true power and keep life-saving herbs a secret, it would make sense for cultivators to have something similar.

'Given he didn’t use it until the very end, it seemed more like an external object rather than his own power. Probably a type of magical device.'

Next time, when confronting a cultivator, I'll need to check for such life-saving devices first.

I gathered my thoughts, feeling the vitality coursing through my young body.

The regression was evident.

'In my last life... I reached Three Flowers Gather at the Summit.'

It was an achievement I had always dreamed of.

It was also the goal I desperately wanted to achieve in my previous life.

But...

'I died too soon.'

In all my past lives, I had died according to my natural lifespan.

Living for about 50 years each time, steadily achieving and advancing.

However, in the 4th cycle, I died before my time for the first time.

'It's a pity.'

Had I lived a few decades more and further refined my enlightenment, I might have even reached Five Energies Converging to the Origin

'...It's over. No use dwelling on it.'

I sighed softly, shaking my head.

It was all in the past now.

Being granted another life was a miracle, and I silently expressed gratitude for this new life.

"Uh, look at this Deputy Manager Seo. Section Chief Jeon doesn’t wake up no matter how hard we shake him. And where are we now..."

Kim Young-hoon and Chief Oh Hyun-seok were holding the pale Jeon Myeong-hoon, and worried.

"Um, I've studied oriental medicine before, so let me take his pulse."

"Really? I'll trust you then!"

Pretending to take Jeon Myeong-hoon's pulse, I pressed his acupoint again to wake him up.

"Uh...? Where is this..."

Before he could fully regain consciousness, I pressed his sleep acupoint, putting him back to sleep.

"Um, seeing that he just woke up, it seems he was just sleeping. He must have been accumulating fatigue."

"That's a relief then."

"But shouldn’t we wake him up? He doesn’t even know what's going on..."

Ignoring the discussion between Kim Young-hoon and Oh Hyun-seok about whether to wake Jeon Myeong-hoon, I pointed to a large tree nearby.

"I'll climb up that tree to see if there's anything around."

"Huh?"

Without waiting for their response, I approached the tree and executed the martial arts I had realized in my last life.

Mountain Lord Martial Art and Transcending Peaks Step’s True Form.

Mountain Lord’s Soaring Flight.

Whoosh!

Just like a tiger leaping over a great mountain, I swiftly climbed up the tree branches and came back down.

"Wow... Deputy Manager Seo. That's amazing."

"When did you learn that?"

"Ha ha..."

I casually explained that there was nothing around and persuaded everyone to go to the cave.

Then, after making a windbreak and preparing a campfire in the cave, I continued to consolidate the realization of Three Flowers Gather at the Summit.

'Constantly connecting with the opponent.'

When I first entered Three Flowers, it was only a connection with the opponent I was fighting. However, the more I became accustomed to it, it seemed possible to connect not only with enemies but also with nearby allies and structures.

'If this ability is maximized...'

Eventually, I could read the myriad intents flowing through the world, connecting not only with living beings but also with the world itself.

'That would probably be the realm of Five Energies Converging to the Origin.'

I smiled lightly as I made an educated guess about the realm of Five Energies.

I burst into laughter.

"Ha ha, ha ha ha!"

Oh Hyun-seok, who was gathering branches for the campfire, looked at me curiously.

"Why are you laughing?"

"Oh, nothing. Just remembered something funny."

I had always thought that reaching the peak of Three Flowers was the ultimate end.

But Three Flowers was not the end.

Rather, it was just the beginning of the journey towards Five Energies.

I guess it's the same with Five Energies Converging to the Origin.

The end is just the start to a new beginning.

I am still so weak.

However.

'Someday, I will definitely reach there.'

The beginning to reach the end.

Naturally, my goal in this life is Five Energies!

Now, only one step is left to become a cultivator.

Soon it was night.

All my colleagues at the company had fallen asleep,

Jeon Myeong-hoon, who had been sleeping all day, tried to wake up, but I knocked him out again by hitting the back of his neck.

Leaving my colleagues behind, I went outside the cave, dug up yellow bamboo roots, and channeled internal power.

Then I chose a suitable branch and carved it into a wooden sword.

Woo-woong-

When I infused energy and intent into it, a white Sword Gang formed on the wooden sword.

It certainly wasn't the sturdy body I had trained for a lifetime in my past life.

However, no longer did my grip ache even when holding a sword.

'Good, a new life.'

Right after death, which always strikes at the last moment, the life that follows feels so grateful.

I closed my eyes for a moment and contemplated my body.

After looking at the Sword Gang, I sniffed the scent carried by the wind.

'It's over there.'

Tadat!

Using Mountain Lord’s Soaring Flight, I climbed onto a tree and ran towards the direction of the scent, jumping across trees.

Shu-shush!

Every time I stepped, it seemed like trees passed by me in an instant.

This unforgettable scent.

In a giant rural area far away.

There.

There was a fox.

Zzzt, Zzzt!

As soon as I visually confirmed the fox's territory, tension swirled throughout my body.

The fox's domain was over 30 zhang (100m) in radius, centered around the fox.

'Core Formation...!'

Now, I could roughly gauge the level of the opponent by the size of their domain.

In my last life, I once glimpsed at the Core Formation cultivator of the Jin Clan, and his domain was about that size.

Woo-woong-

Maintaining the vision of a peak master, I observed the fox's territory, shimmering in purple.

Then, as if the fox sensed something strange, it opened its eyes.

Shuk!

I quickly refined my intent to cut off the fox's perception, erasing my presence.

The fox looked around for a while but, not finding anything unusual, closed its eyes and fell asleep again.

'It's a good thing I was far outside its domain.'

If I had been inside the fox's domain, it would have been impossible.

Unlike the consciousness of a lower level practitioner at Qi Refining, the consciousness of a Core Formation being was much denser and richer.

It was doubtful whether I could even find an intent in that gap to secretly cut.

'...As expected, I can't face the fox with my current level.'

The difference in level was absurd.

'Not mentioning killing the fox, but even to escape, I need to reach Five Energies.'

Before that, it would be presumptuous to even try to penetrate those dense layers of consciousness.

'...First, I need to practice the state of Three Flowers a bit.'

As I focused on the giant purple area before me, the purple area began to turn red, distinguishing my consciousness from the fox's.

In the state of Three Flowers, intent could simply appear purple, but like this, I could also perceive the other’s consciousness by dividing into red and blue.

After integrating and separating the purple, blue, and red intents for a while, I slowly descended to the ground.

And took a step towards where the fox was.

Shuk!

With each step, I simultaneously cut through the fox's consciousness again.

Another step.

One more.

Gradually approaching the fox's domain, I continuously sharpened my intent.

'I can't enter inside of the domain. But... it's possible to get as close as I can!'

How close can I get to the fox?

Consciousness seemed to dominate space based on some sort of boundary, but in fact, that boundary was not clear.

Even though it looked like there were boundaries when viewed with the vision of a peak master, in reality, a faint consciousness was constantly flowing beyond that.

I was approaching the fox by cutting through that faint consciousness.

'How capable am I?'

How far can I reach?

Where am I now!

This was an opportunity to test myself and at the same time, to understand and train in the Record of Transcending Cultivation and Exhausting Martial Arts.

Boo-woong! Boo-woong!

My wooden sword split the air, barely cutting through the faint consciousness of the fox.

With each step, sweat dripped from my entire body.

With each division of countless consciousnesses, my heart pounded with tension.

'No, I can do more.'

I took another step.

Only thirty steps left to the fox's domain.

When I took another step, cutting through the consciousness,

Woo-woong-

The fox's consciousness intensified.

It had sensed something was off.

I quickly cut through the consciousness and stepped into the fox's blindspot.

'It's far...'

If I were Kim Young-hoon from my past life, I could have easily passed this distance and entered the fox's domain.

But this was my limit.

Twenty-nine steps to the proper inner area of the consciousness domain. That was my current level.

'No, it's not.'

I gritted my teeth.

'I can go further.'

With all my concentration, I saw even more consciousnesses.

Sweating, I swung my sword again.

Whoosh!

The consciousness was cut again by the intent on my sword.

'Is this my limit?'

Then what am I supposed to do?

My original limit was much lower.

Far from getting close to the fox, I was always waiting in the cave to be torn apart.

I've constantly overcome my limits to reach this point.

This time, too, I will overcome my limit.

'Squeeze out your brain!'

Until the brain busts into flames!

It's comfortable now that I'm used to the peak state, but when I first reached the peak state, I had to constantly endure my brain burning!

It felt like my brain was on fire.

More details of the consciousness became visible.

I took another step.

The distance till the inner area of the fox's domain was gradually closing.

Twenty-seven steps.

Twenty-five steps.

Twenty-two steps.

Twenty steps.

Fifteen steps.

And...

'Ten steps!'

Maybe because I overloaded my brain too much, my brain was screaming.

The tension exceeding the limit had my muscles and body tightly contracted.

'One more step, and I'll really be caught.'

The next step was where the color of the fox's consciousness faintly leaked out.

If I go one step further, I might be caught by the fox.

'...Well, what does it matter?'

Though sweat poured down my entire body, I smirked.

'If I can take one more step, I don't mind dying.'

My body screamed madly.

It felt like smoke would come out of my brain.

'If you want to live, squeeze out more!'

I'm a dunce.

So, when the opportunity comes, if I don't squeeze out all my ability, I can't move forward.

I can't move forward without dying!

Blood rushed to my brain.

At the same time, I was able to move half a step further.

Half a step.

Originally, I tried to take one more step, but my body instinctively prevented me from going any further.

But...

'I've crossed the limit.'

I wasn't caught.

The fox was still asleep, and my body had gone far beyond what I thought was my limit.

I smirked and quietly killed my presence, cutting through consciousness and stepping back.

'This was the end for this life.'

In the next life, I might be able to go a little deeper.

Having completely escaped the influence of the fox's consciousness, I thought as I ran back to the cave.

'Next time, even more...'

I'll go deeper!

Drip...

As I arrived at the cave, blood flowed from my nose.

It seemed to be due to overloading my brain.

But even with the feeling of collapsing from exhaustion, I smiled, showing my teeth.

"Ha ha, hahahaha!"

This life.

The first day I woke up!

I had succeeded in overcoming another limit.

I will continue to surpass my limits and surely reach the next realm!

The fifth regression.

Five Energies Converging to the Origin seemed to be in sight.