Chapter 81: Beyond the Path to Heaven
In a flash, a golden radiance sweeps through too swiftly for anyone to react.
In a flash, something colorless whips around, sweeping the front with an unstoppable force.
Boom!
"Ahhhh!"
"This is insane, what is this!"
"They're not just Qi Building cultivators!"
A hill in front of me is violently torn away, and a peak behind is cleanly sliced diagonally.
Severing Mountain Swordsmanship, Flowing Ridge!
I thrust smoothly with the Formless Sword Gang, my hand clutching the void.
The ridgeline of the mountain in front is smoothly carved away, targeting the Qi Building cultivators who desperately dodge the Formless Sword Gang with all their might.
The Formless Sword isn't just about combining nine Gang Spheres.
The power unfolding from my hand is overwhelmingly greater than the sum of the nine spheres.
The Formless Sword Gang freely transforms, stretching far and wide according to my will, and morphing into the most fitting shape with each sword technique.
Moreover, due to its origin from Gang Spheres, just being in contact with the Formless Sword allowed me to accelerate thought as much as I wanted.
The Gang Spheres are gone, but the effect of tenfold acceleration remains.
"Seniors, we apologize for our rudeness. Please calm your wrath!"
The leading Qi Building cultivator, who had been aiming at us with his magic artifact, pleads for forgiveness with disheveled hair after dodging the Formless Sword Gang.
However, my goal isn't to annihilate these cultivators but to scare them away, so I swing the Formless Sword even more relentlessly.
"Arghh!"
"The Core Formation Senior is enraged!"
"Run!"
While swinging the Formless Sword, I make sure not to cause casualties.
If these cultivators return to their clans and bring back Core Formation seniors, it would become quite troublesome.
Without casualties, Core Formation cultivators will be less likely to personally come after us.
'Anyway from the sensation of swinging the Formless Sword... there might be no need to swing with my hand.'
The Formless Sword, the epitome of freedom, breaks all limits and conventions of sword techniques.
However, I continue to perform sword techniques, gripping the Formless Sword Gang.
Even if it’s unnecessary, the essence of this power is still that of the sword, which shows its greatest might in the hands of a swordsman.
Boom!
The ultimate move of Severing Mountain slices through the peak before me.
A Qi Building cultivator, who narrowly escapes, turns pale and flees far away on his flying artifact.
'This is the feeling.'
The realm of Beyond the Path to Heaven...
I retract the Formless Sword back into my consciousness and look towards Kim Young-hoon.
I can't see him. His version of Beyond the Path to Heaven is specialized in speed, seen only as a flash of golden light.
Even with accelerated perception from holding the Formless Sword, I can only catch fleeting afterimages.
Boom!
A golden ray of light shatters the last remaining Qi Building cultivator's defensive spell and Pure Spiritual Force, sending him flying with a mouthful of blood.
Thanks to Kim Young-hoon's control, the cultivator doesn’t pass out from the strike and manages to quickly flee on his flying artifact.
Flash!
In a blink, Kim Young-hoon is already by my side.
'It’s quite difficult to react properly.’'
I think to myself.
"How does it feel to wield this power in this realm?"
I remember the sensation of swinging the Formless Sword and answer his question.
"It's a realm that requires more attention to the fundamentals."
Wielding such immense power could lead to losing the essence of martial arts. Despite its boundless nature, I feel the need to impose restrictions and continue practicing swordsmanship deliberately.
This is a realization from my intuition as a martial artist who has practiced for 500 years.
Kim Young-hoon nods at my response.
"You understand well. Despite ascending to a new realm, the foundation is martial arts! Losing sight of martial fundamentals can lead to total collapse.
As you said, more than any previous stage, this realm demands focusing on grounding ourselves."
He clicks his tongue while speaking.
"Knowing so much about martial arts and yet belittling yourself for lack of talent. It was infuriating to see you suppress yourself with such talk."
"......"
"What about other insights? Did you notice anything else?"
I shake my head at his question.
"I was focused on grasping the essence of the Formless Sword, so I didn't have the chance to observe anything else."
"Of course, it would be difficult to pay attention to details in that chaos."
He looks at me.
"Upon reaching Three Flowers Gather at the Summit, one begins to see the colors of intent. And with Beyond the Path to Heaven, this ability deepens, allowing one to read the heart essence of others."
As per Kim Young-hoon's explanation, I focus on the flow of intent, and soon after, I can see his soul emanating the flow of intent from within his body. Focusing on the flow emanating from the soul itself, I am soon able to perceive the essence of Kim Young-hoon.
Golden light!
A vast river of golden radiance!
'No, it's not just a river.'
It’s part of something larger. Numerous rivers intertwine, forming a massive entity of golden brilliance. It’s a Peng Bird (鵬鳥).
A Peng Bird formed from golden rivers, flapping its wings. That is the foundation of Kim Young-hoon's martial arts and simultaneously, the essence of Kim Young-hoon as a person.
“As you get accustomed to seeing heart essence, you can approach and stimulate others' subconsciousness with your heart essence, or even cultivate them. You can send a much more fundamental heart language than through telepathy or consciousness. Like this.”
Kim Young-hoon's heart essence changes. The golden Peng Bird makes eye contact with me.
The next moment, I understand intuitively what Kim Young-hoon is thinking, feeling, and trying to convey to me, beyond words.
I learn a few more minor things about Beyond the Path to Heaven from Kim Young-hoon.
“You seem to have learned it all. And you might want to take a look at your own heart essence.”
“My heart essence isn't the Formless Sword, is it?”
'”Is my heart essence the Surpassing Radiant Saber? It’s a Peng Bird formed of golden rivers. Heart essence and your realm are certainly connected, but they're different.
It will be good for you to explore your heart essence to understand yourself.”
I nod at Kim Young-hoon's words, close my eyes, and contemplate my heart essence.
How long have I been observing my own intent and following my heart essence?
Suddenly, my heart essence appears before my eyes.
Deep within my subconscious.
I immediately feel as if my lower body is pierced by something sharp.
It isn't that my physical body is actually stabbed; it’s just my consciousness in the world of heart essence mistaking it for an injury.
'But the pain is vivid.'
Ignoring the pain in my lower body, I look at the world of my heart essence.
‘Is this my heart essence...'
As I walk through the world of my heart essence, I sustain wounds on my arms and legs.
Despite the pain, I continue to walk. The pain is familiar. As the pain has already seeped into every corner of my heart, I walk through my heart essence in peace.
My heart essence is a mountain.
A vast and immense Mount Tai.
And on this Mount Tai, there is no room to step because of densely packed swords planted upside down.
Ironically, these swords are all colorless, utterly transparent.
The surface of these swords are clear as glass, reflecting my image.
A mountain of swords!
A purgatory of a mountain of clear and pure swords!
That is the world of my heart essence.
Throughout countless lives, I have suffered pain and more pain.
Always striving upwards, I have constantly endured pain like walking through a field of blades for that goal.
Yet, I have tried to uphold human virtues.
This is the result.
Pristinely clear and pure to the core, but the one walking within suffers excruciating pain—a hellish mountain of swords.
'This is me.'
I continue to climb to the top of this mountain of swords, wounded but undeterred.
The peak of this transparent hell is always out of reach, no matter how far I walk.
'So, my heart essence reflects what I've always felt about this world...'
Pain piercing through my body from all directions.
The distant and unreachable goal, no matter how far I walk.
Yet, a clear pride for not having shamed myself.
'Ha ha haha...'
I laugh.
Then, I leave the world of heart essence.
Kim Young-hoon looks at me and asks.
‘'How was it?'’
‘'I think I understand a bit more about who I am.'’
The pristine hell I just saw is the foundation of my Formless Sword, the driving force of my desire to escape my fate.
This mountain is the very image of my life that I find torturous, and at the same time, a mountain I built with my own hands.
Pain and effort built this representation of my entire life.
Yes.
That mountain is my sword.
‘'Thank you. For all the teachings.'’
Kim Young-hoon nods at my words and then smiles slightly.
‘'If you're grateful, then do me a favor.'’
“Please tell me.”
He draws his saber.
"Let's have a match."
"......"
Somehow, it seems like the most fitting request from him.
"Do you know how frustrated I've been these past 10 years? Even when I sent you heart essence to stimulate your subconscious, you didn't take them in, all because of your absurd inferiority complex about talent.
And it's not like you really couldn't grasp the essence of Beyond the Path to Heaven; you had all the conditions to reach it but just kept doing stupid things...
Again, all you had to do is realize what you built up, and you'd have reached it, but you kept barely missing it."
He lifts the corner of his mouth and raises his saber towards me.
"Do you think I liked following a guy around for 10 years, straining my eyes? I kept doing it because it drove me crazy that you were about to reach it but didn’t."
Whooosh-
Golden light seems to flow from his eyes.
I feel like there’s madness mixed in that glow.
"I waited in frustration for 10 years, longing for you to reach the same realm. I can't tell you how much it ached waiting for that.
Now, Seo Eun-hyun. Let's have a match. Make it interesting for me...!"
Kim Young-hoon's martial madness bursts forth, and his momentum surges.
"Sigh..."
I sigh and materialize my consciousness again.
'No rest for the weary.'
Right after teaching me about Beyond the Path to Heaven, he wants to spar, leaving no time to breathe.
But I welcome it, too.
'I guess I'm a martial artist through and through.'
"Then first, I’ll equalize my internal energy and consciousness with Kim Hyung's..."
"What nonsense is that?"
He speaks sternly at my words.
"Didn't you use all your techniques and everything against me during Ultimate Pinnacle? This time it's the same. I've been in this realm 10 years longer than you, so I should show at least that much leniency."
"...Doesn't that make it an unfair martial arts duel? Considering the few spells you dabbled in during Qi Refining..."
"Haha, be quiet. Can't I overcome even that?"
I sigh and slowly materialize my consciousness.
Kim Young-hoon also starts materializing his consciousness at the same time.
"Before we start, I have a question..."
Rumble, rumble, rumble!
Kim Young-hoon hadn't learned any spells.
His consciousness also remains the same size as when he achieved Five Energies Converging to the Origin, almost a tenth of the size of my consciousness, which covers a radius of 3 Zhang.
"Assuming we are in the same realm, what do you have over me besides speed?"
Experience is limited by time.
Output is limited by the Pure Spiritual Force of Qi Building.
Consciousness is limited by size.
And in terms of precision and freedom, my Formless Sword is more specialized.
Even talent is becoming less influential in this realm.
It's one thing to pioneer a realm and another to be grateful for guidance, but reality is reality.
I look at him and let the Gang Qi rise throughout my body.
"If I go all out, Kim Hyung and I are no longer on the same level."
Receiving the momentum from the sheer weight of my consciousness, Kim Young-hoon looks excited and tense.
"...Isn't overcoming all that the true essence of martial arts?"
As I grasp the air, I smile brightly, from ear to ear.
'Yes...'
That's so Kim Young-hoon.
The next moment, a golden flash and a formless void collide.
Translator Notes: Extra chapter donated by Deflubs. Thanks for the support!
This and the are among my list of favorites. I just find the concept of heart essence really cool and the fact that Kim Young-hoon's heart essence is a fricken giant golden Peng made of shining gold rivers and Seo Eun-hyun’s heart essence is a mountain of clear pristine swords is just so cool!
