Paaat!
With a bright light, we are released into the void under the spatial pressure.
Simultaneously, the Return to Bright Cold Realm Formation shines, syncing with the coordinates of the Bright Cold Realm I had entered into the formation.
We are forcefully launched towards the Bright Cold Realm, with Yu Hwa protecting us from the tremendous spatial pressure.
Kugugugu!
Among the Heavenly Being stage cultivators, those more skilled take on the spatial pressure for others, bringing them along in their ascension.
Such Heavenly Being stage cultivators face even greater pressure than what they are supposed to bear, often causing their faces to distort due to the effort.
This is also true for Yu Hwa, who is ascending with me, a Nascent Soul stage cultivator, and Gyu-baek, who is practically no different from a mortal.
While I support her with life force from behind to prevent her from collapsing during our ascension, Yu Hwa's face is still terribly contorted from the pain and spatial pressure.
Kururung!
Each time her melody, now akin to a Heavenly Tribulation, resonates, a crimson river surges upwards and shakes off the spatial pressure.
[Whenever your energy wanes, let me know. I will take over.]
[I'm still fine.]
Being a Nascent Soul stage cultivator of both the Heaven and Earth Tribes and having achieved Treading Heavens, I am robust enough to withstand more than the average Heavenly Being cultivator, allowing us to take turns.
Clinging to her back, I observe the surrounding scenery.
The beautiful stars of the Astral Realm scatter beneath us, passing by below.
Swallowing my saliva, I wonder, 'If we ascend this time, perhaps the point of regression might become fixed again.'
The criteria for fixing the regression point is inscrutable, no matter how much I think about it.
Crossing dimensions, for instance, did not change the return point when I went to the True Devil Realm.
Then, would ascending fix the point?
'...Let's just go and see.'
Whether the point is fixed or not,
I have done my best in everything I could.
'In my life so far, there's nothing I'm ashamed of....'
Even if it becomes fixed, let's just be grateful and move forward!
After a while, Yu Hwa asks to switch, and we take turns enduring the spatial pressure head-on.
Three days might have passed when, suddenly,
Paaat!
Far away, I feel a familiar flow of spiritual energy.
I breathe vitality into Yu Hwa.
[It's just the beginning. Be alert.]
[Yes.]
Paaat!
Squinting at the rays of light visible from afar, I brace myself for the impact of the dimensional barrier soon to envelop us.
'Formless Sword!'
I raise my Formless Sword upright and plunge into the dimensional barrier. Shortly after,
Flash!
We finally succeed in our ascension, returning to the Bright Cold Realm.
Paaat!
Sssht!
Familiar spiritual energy.
The scarce spiritual energy of the lower realms felt so sparse in comparison to the ocean-like heaven and earth spiritual energy that now envelops my body.
As I look around, a Four-Axis stage cultivator dressed in familiar clothes approaches.
"Welcome, this place is the Flying Immortal Platform of the Heaven-Earth Palace in the Bright Cold Realm. You are... Hm?"
Then, after scanning my cultivation, he looks over Gyu-baek and Yu Hwa behind me.
"...No, one Nascent Soul and one... Qi Building stage... And that one... a slave race?"
His casual mention of Gyu-baek as a slave race momentarily sparks rage in Gyu-baek's eyes.
"What are you? How did you ascend? Are you monsters that live in the void?"
The next moment.
Yu Hwa smiles softly and begins to play her instrument.
Tuwoong―
Her performance, though profoundly beautiful to those who listen properly, sounds merely like thunder to those who only sense the phenomenon.
The nearby Four-Axis stage cultivators' faces twist in horror at the sight of the crimson river and the sound of thunder around her.
[A Heart Tribe spy!!!]
[Just kill her first!]
[It's the 3rd stage Manifestation Heart Path Method! Everyone, avoid it!]
The next moment, crimson lightning scatters in all directions.
Screams can be heard not only from the Heavenly Being cultivators but also from the Four-Axis cultivators.
While the attack of Illusory Player Under the Rosy Afterglow is equivalent to a Heavenly Being's power, it doesn't threaten Four-Axis cultivators. However, for those who have to face Heavenly Tribulation with each advancement, facing Yu Hwa now means giving up on their future cultivation unless they are exceedingly confident.
A commanding voice rallies the Four-Axis stage cultivators.
[Everyone, regain your senses! All of you, form a wheel battle formation around that Heart Tribe spy and approach! It doesn't matter if you get hit a few times. Heaven-Earth Palace will provide talismans and elixirs that aid in surviving Heavenly Tribulation!]
Hearing this, the Four-Axis cultivators who have been clumsily avoiding Yu Hwa's attacks regroup and begin preparing their spells.
Not even a Heart Tribe member at the third stage of Manifestation can safely face multiple Four-Axis cultivators.
However.
"Now then."
I grab Yu Hwa's shoulder from behind and swing my arm towards the void.
The Formless Sword, unified with Treading Heavens, severs consciousness in the air.
Not just consciousness but energy, and not just energy but our very life force is momentarily cut in an instant, making us disappear from the Four-Axis stage cultivators' sight as we swiftly ascend to the sky.
"Be careful. The entire Heaven-Earth Palace is surrounded by barriers. That over there is the exit from the Heaven-Earth Palace to the skyway."
Gyu-baek points to a spot where clouds are split into the shape of a pair of wings.
It's the path previously taken by Gyu-ryeon when she carried the newly ascended demon race on her body.
Hearing her words, Yu Hwa and I change direction and safely escape from the barrier of the Heaven-Earth Palace.
With that, we successfully ascended and escaped the Flying Immortal Platform.
"Now, where will you go?"
Yu Hwa transforms into the familiar shape of a crimson river, landing on a nearby mountain range and asks us.
"I will return to the True Dragon Alliance first to check on the movements of Seo Hweol and the situation of my disciple, Baek Nyeong."
"Then, I'll follow and help check on Seo Hweol's movements as well."
Upon hearing Yu Hwa's words, Gyu-baek decides to follow her. I respond.
"As for me, I have some business in the Human Territory side, so I'll be there for a while."
"Go ahead, then."
"Let's meet again later."
After saying goodbye to Gyu-baek and Yu Hwa, I quickly part ways with them.
This is just the beginning.'
Before the True Immortal who intends to take the Heavenly Lightning Banner descends,
I will head to the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect to steal the immortal treasure and head to the Earth Tribe Territory.
Of course, if the True Immortal has a grudge against Yang Su-jin and still decides to curse the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect, there's not much I can do. Nonetheless, I decide to do what I can for now.
'It can't be too early or too late.'
If I steal the immortal treasure too early before the True Immortal arrives, it would be inefficient as I'd have to run away with the treasure for too long. If I steal it just before the True Immortal arrives, I might be the only one struck by lightning before I can insert the treasure into the jaws of Seo Hweol or Hyeon Eum.
'I'll steal the treasure just in time to place it in the Earth Tribe Territory, or in the territory of Seo Hweol or the Black Dragon King.'
The reason I didn't immediately steal the Heavenly Lightning Banner while under Seo Hweol was not only because my spirit was becoming exhausted under his scrutiny, but also because of the timing.
Stealing the immortal treasure decades earlier would have meant being chased by the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect for those same decades.
I plan as I fly towards the Human Territory.
'First, I need to go to Thunder Spirit Island to find out everything about the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect.'
The location, characteristics, and appearance of the Heavenly Lightning Banner.
Who is guarding it and so on.
'If I know where it is, what it looks like, and how to transport it, the Heavenly Lightning Banner will be fall to my hands.'
It's funny, but my abilities are somewhat focused on thievery.
The Formless Sword can unlock locks without anyone noticing, and the Record of Transcending Cultivation and Exhausting Martial Arts allows me to stroll distances unnoticed.
Additionally, by creating a cursed doll with the Yin Soul Ghost Incantation, I can manipulate the cursed doll to confuse those investigating, and the power of Taiyin possessed by the Black Dragon's True Blood makes my presence significantly fainter at night.
'Moreover, the majority of the methods I've mastered are of the Earth attribute.'
Since it's an attribute that's in stark opposition to lightning, there probably won't be anyone from the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect who can stop me.
'Alright, let's go steal the Heavenly Lightning Banner.'
I steel my heart and head towards the Human Territory, to Thunder Spirit Island.
Kurung, Kururung...
Near Thunder Spirit Island, dark clouds constantly flash, and thunder roars from all around.
I use the Record of Transcending Cultivation and Exhausting Martial Arts to hide my presence and approach the vicinity of Thunder Spirit Island.
Wo-woong!
Thunder Spirit Island, like other Human Sky Islands, is surrounded by a large barrier to prevent outsiders from entering.
If a human not registered at Temporal Fate Island carelessly crosses the barrier, they will face trouble.
But I, without worry, touch the barrier.
Wo-woong!
It seems as though the barrier wants to resist, but I begin laying down the circuits of the Mad Lord on the barrier.
A very small part of the barrier transforms into one of the Mad Lord's puppets.
"Open."
Click!
I easily open the barrier's door and enter, surveying my surroundings.
'This is Thunder Spirit Island…'
Woong, Woong…
It isn't a dark feeling.
However, clouds float everywhere with blue or yellow lightning flashing within.
'Let's gather some information first.'
I infiltrate the market on Thunder Spirit Island to gather information about the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect and the Heavenly Lightning Banner.
A few days later.
My investigation of the Heavenly Lightning Banner and Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect proves quite fruitful.
The Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect established its position by pushing out the previously dominant Supreme Thunder Spirit Sect.
Rumors were widespread throughout Thunder Spirit Island that Jin Byuk-ho of the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect killed an elder of the Supreme Thunder Spirit Sect who was at the Four-Axis stage in one strike.
'That elder was probably Yeon Wei. And Yuan Wei, inhabiting the body of her descendant Yeon Jin, should be in the True Devil Realm.'
The Heavenly Lightning Banner, the sacred artifact of the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect, is kept in a shrine on the highest peak of Thunder Cloud Peak where the sect was established. Normally, only the sect leader can retrieve it.
Of course, the Council of Elders can also retrieve the Heavenly Lightning Banner, but in principle, the Heavenly Lightning Banner is managed by the sect leader.
'The Heavenly Lightning Banner is mainly taken out during sect rituals. Normally, the security around the Heavenly Lightning Banner is tight, but it actually becomes a bit lax after the rituals.''
The shrine where the Heavenly Lightning Banner is sealed is guarded by the highest-ranking disciples of the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect, taking turns on watch. Their cultivation realms are filled with Nascent Soul stage cultivators, much like the disciples of the Azure Heaven Creation Sect.
'The security won't be a problem.'
If necessary, I can push through and take it by force.
The problem is that the place where the Heavenly Lightning Banner is sealed, Thunder Cloud Peak, is the central peak of the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect.
'If I take the Heavenly Lightning Banner, the Heavenly Being stage elders practicing nearby will be furious and charge at me.'
In fact, that doesn't matter.
After all, I plan to steal it while revealing my horns and scales by activating the Black Dragon's True Blood.
'It's a dragon's doing, after all. If I get caught stealing, the Dragon Race will take the blame, not me.'
My biggest concern right now is Jin Byuk-ho, the current Sect Leader of the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect and the only Four-Axis stage cultivator.
'Was killing Grand Perfection Four-Axis stage Yeon Wei due to Jin Byuk-ho's individual capability, or was it a stroke of luck because of the Heavenly Lightning Banner?'
If it's the latter, then I can just beat Jin Byuk-ho up and steal it.
However, if it's the former, it complicates matters significantly.
'The best method is to disguise myself as a disciple of the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect, get close to the shrine, steal the Heavenly Lightning Banner, and then disappear quickly with the Record of Transcending Cultivation and Exhausting Martial Arts.'
That is the cleanest way.
So, what will be the most efficient way to disguise myself as a disciple?
I begin to investigate the disciples of the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect as well.
Roaming the territories near the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect, I observe the disciples, learning about their behavior, characteristics, and backgrounds.
While I'm digging into the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect for several weeks.
"Hmm…!"
During that time, I stiffen upon seeing a familiar face of a man walking affectionately with a woman.
'It's been a while, Jeon Myeong-hoon.'
Since the day we fell to this world and he was kidnapped by the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect,
I see Jeon Myeong-hoon looking the happiest I have ever seen him.
He is walking down the street chatting amicably with a woman, seemingly his lover.
'...So he was like this before meeting the True Immortal.'
The discrepancy is too great.
He looks far too different from himself after the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect fell, with disheveled hair, wearing bright red clothes, and the clear bloodstains on his face.
'...If I can't handle the Heavenly Lightning Banner properly, Jeon Myeong-hoon will eventually become like that.'
Although I don't particularly like Jeon Myeong-hoon myself,
The number of people who will suffer from the descent of the True Immortal isn't small.
That's why I resolved to save not only Jeon Myeong-hoon but the entirety of Thunder Spirit Island.
Let's bring the abomination that is the Heavenly Lightning Banner to someone who can use it better, creating a story where everyone is happy.
And to do that, I begin to observe Jeon Myeong-hoon.
'You seem to be the most suitable.'
I plan to kidnap Jeon Myeong-hoon within the next few days.
'I'll borrow your identity for just a few days, Jeon Myeong-hoon.'
