Translator: TranslatingNovice

Editors: Z0Rel, BlueMangoAde

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Chapter 684: Sword God Dance (4)

The someone possessing Seo Eun-hyun's body and Sword Spear Heavenly Lord who has taken over Hong Su-ryeong's body clash in their first strike.

"You want to reproduce with Seo Eun-hyun, don't you?"

And with just that one line from the being residing in Seo Eun-hyun, the Sword Spear Heavenly Lord is immediately blown away.

Kugwaaang!

Wearing Hong Su-ryeong's body, she crashes into one of the main peaks of the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect and vomits blood.

"Keheok!"

Booong!

Then, charging forward toward her, comes the someone wearing Seo Eun-hyun's appearance.

Shukang!

As a peak is sliced cleanly in half horizontally, the Sword Spear Heavenly Lord is driven back.

"Kuhugh!"

Gritting her teeth, the Sword Spear Heavenly Lord begins gradually drawing forth her divine authority through Hong Su-ryeong's body.

"Sword Heaven Annihilation Advancement."

Kiriririk!

Countless swords of radiance swirl around her, then burst outward as if detonating, pulverizing everything in the vicinity.

With a single move from her, Thunder Spirit Island evaporates, and Do Gon, who had been peering in with their winged garment, reveals their rage as crimson lightning lashes out in torrents around Zhengli.

: : R A D I A N C E E I G H T I M M O R T A L S !! : :

Kurururung!

Zhengli directly draws upon the true authority of the Heavenly Punishment Supreme Deity Do Gon, unleashing a storm of thunder and lightning across the entire Bright Cold Realm.

But the one possessing Seo Eun-hyun's body and the Sword Spear Heavenly Lord focus only on clashing with each other, dodging all the lightning.

"What are you!? Why do you delude me with such sly words?"

Kaaang!

The being using Seo Eun-hyun's body deflects Zhengli's lightning and laughs.

That being gradually approaches the Sword Spear Heavenly Lord, performing a sword dance.

"I'll say it again. If you defeat me, I'll tell you."

"You!"

Kaaaang!

Zhengli hurls a spear of lightning across the entire Bright Cold Realm.

Only when the Bright Cold Realm collapses and the Sun and Moon Heavenly Domain teeters on the verge of ruin under the Supreme Deity's authority does the battle between the two finally come to a halt.

Shukak!

The Sword Spear Heavenly Lord severs Seo Eun-hyun's neck.

"Huhu... Hut..."

The being possessing Seo Eun-hyun's body smiles faintly.

The Sword Spear Heavenly Lord clenches her teeth.

Why is it?

The being before her is not the real Seo Eun-hyun.

Just someone wearing the body of the past Seo Eun-hyun.

And yet...

Why?

The Sword Spear Heavenly Lord feels her chest ache unbearably.

"...I...won. Now answer me."

The Sword Spear Heavenly Lord says so and points her sword at the being possessing Seo Eun-hyun.

And that being smiles.

"Wrong. You lost to me..."

"What...?"

"Think carefully. The way to defeat me is really quite simple..."

"..."

"Well then, I'll be going..."

Tststststs—

With those words, the being departs from Seo Eun-hyun's body and vanishes somewhere, and only then does the Sword Spear Heavenly Lord notice something strange as she sees the entire world engulfed in a strange Taiji.

Paaaaatt!

The world is swallowed by the Taiji, and everything returns to its original state.

And within that past, now proceeding normally again, she falls into confusion.

'This...wasn't just a memory...? How did I just interfere with the 'past'...?'

A memory is merely an illusion.

No matter who she is, she shouldn't be able to intervene in an illusion.

For this is supposed to be only the trace of time that has passed.

And yet, the impossible has come true.

'What in the world is this...?'

Woo-woong—

Then, the Sword Spear Heavenly Lord suddenly feels the three paper flowers weeping as they draw the Triad Powers Formation within her chest, and she flinches in surprise.

'This is...'

The paper flowers have temporarily granted her the authority to transcend spacetime.

Seeing this, she feels she understands roughly what kind of power this new cultivation system seeks and what kind of strength it bestows.

'Freedom...? Is it freedom...!? A power that lets people cultivate the principle of freedom and thereby attain freedom...?'

Though it might elude mortals, as someone who has risen to the position of a Heavenly Lord, the Sword Spear Heavenly Lord immediately recognizes the mechanism of this power with her experience.

Freedom starting from spacetime.

It grants her freedom from spacetime, allowing her to briefly interfere in the past.

Of course, since it is a past that has already occurred, she cannot revise it unless she is an Immortal Beast, but she can still act within the past, if only for a moment.

'Judging by the cultivation system, it's a format that grows stronger the more paper flowers are gathered. And yet with just three flowers, it already shows a feat like this...? What in the world...?'

If so, what would happen if this power is cultivated to its extreme and the paper flowers are gathered to their limit?

Suddenly, she finds herself curious.

'Freedom...'

Freedom is the highest value pursued by Radiance Hall.

She suddenly wonders, what is the ultimate of freedom?

Because this is a power connected even to her fate, she simply cannot reject it.

Eventually, after gazing at the paper flowers for a long while, she ends up fully accepting them into herself without even realizing it.

'I have no choice. I'll accept it.'

Until now, she thought of it merely as something to research.

But now that she understands what value the power seeks, she realizes it is a power she absolutely cannot refuse.

'Our fate, born to seek freedom from the very beginning...can never reject this...'

Wooooooong!

Thus, the Sword Spear Heavenly Lord fully accepts the cultivation of the paper flowers as part of herself and continues the cultivation of the paper flowers.

For someday, she may encounter the 'someone' who dwelled in Seo Eun-hyun's body again, and to grasp victory over that being, the more power she has, the better.

Seo Eun-hyun of the 17th cycle dies, and the 18th cycle begins.

And once again, the Sword Spear Heavenly Lord meets 'that being' in the 18th cycle.

"Shall we go another round?"

"..."

That being possesses Seo Eun-hyun once more, and this time, she possesses Seo Li.

The two, possessing the bodies of Seo Li and Seo Eun-hyun, collide again.

In the next moment, the two finally reach another conclusion.

Pukwak!

Again, it is the Sword Spear Heavenly Lord's victory.

Seo Eun-hyun's head falls.

However, for some reason, she feels that this suspicious being's strength has grown slightly stronger than when they fought in the last cycle.

At the same time, the pain she feels in her chest deepens.

"...I've won. Tell me your identity."

"...Hahaha... Wrong again. This time, it's my victory again."

The being possessing Seo Eun-hyun's body doesn't admit defeat to the end and exits from Seo Eun-hyun.

The Sword Spear Heavenly Lord cannot acknowledge them.

'Just what in the world are you...!?'

Rage clouds her mind.

Until now, whenever one of the Radiance Eight Immortals became overly emotional, the Great Sea Heavenly Lord, as advisor, or the Rain Dew Heavenly Lord, as executor, would suppress the emotion.

But now that the Rain Dew Heavenly Lord is not by her side, she can no longer suppress herself.

"What are you...!? I said, what are you...!?"

Kurururung!

At her fury, the entire Sun and Moon Heavenly Domain trembles.

"Why must I kill Seo Eun-hyun with my own hands again and again!?"

Kugugugugu!

The world shakes, and as the Sword Spear Heavenly Lord soon feels the world being normalized again by the Taiji, she grits her teeth.

"I will...I will absolutely defeat you. Without fail...!"

Time flows once more.

19th cycle.

Once again, the someone dwelling within Seo Eun-hyun's body appears before the Sword Spear Heavenly Lord's eyes.

Once more, Sword Spear and that being clash.

Kaaang!

Pukwak!

"..."

The Sword Spear Heavenly Lord kills that being again, but this time, the result is slightly different.

'My arm...'

Just before they died, the force with which that being deflected her sword was quite fierce.

'That one.'

The Sword Spear Heavenly Lord understands.

Right now, this being is growing by following the Sword Spear Heavenly Lord.

'What are you...!? You...!'

Paaaat!

While the Sword Spear Heavenly Lord is deep in thought, time continues to pass.

20th cycle.

21st cycle.

22nd cycle...

And before long, the moment arrives when Seo Eun-hyun meets Blood Yin.

Kwaaaaang!

Watching Seo Eun-hyun die endlessly to Blood Yin, the Sword Spear Heavenly Lord feels as if she might lose her mind.

But what bothers her heart even more is that the being within Seo Eun-hyun's body is gradually growing stronger.

Every time she kills them, the pain in her chest deepens, and as that being grows ever stronger, she grows increasingly anxious.

At this rate of growth, that being will surpass her in strength before long.

But why is it?

The expression on that being's face, even as they die by her hand again and again, grows warmer with each passing day.

"You!! I said who are you!!??"

"If you beat me, I'll tell you."

Kwaaaaaaang!

The Sword Spear Heavenly Lord tears Blood Yin apart and kills the being again.

Yet each time she kills them, her heart continues to ache more.

And at last, the 998th cycle.

It is when Seo Eun-hyun reaches the Star Shattering stage.

Woo-wooong!

The Sword Spear Heavenly Lord comes face-to-face with herself from Seo Eun-hyun's past.

"...Damn it."

A crude curse slips from her mouth.

Watching herself voraciously rush toward Seo Eun-hyun, biting his shoulder and tormenting him, she feels so ashamed she could die on the spot.

In the end, the Sword Spear Heavenly Lord appears before the version of herself that exists in Seo Eun-hyun's past.

Wo-wooong!

Before she knows it, thousands of paper flowers have bloomed within her, and interfering with the past is no longer such a difficult task.

[What...!? Who are you!?]

The Sword Spear Heavenly Lord of the past flinches in surprise upon seeing her of the present.

[Hoh, how curious. You resemble me to such a curious degree. Just how did you impersonate this Lord...?]

"Shut up."

The Sword Spear Heavenly Lord raises her sword.

"I can't live from the shame, so I'll have to kill you at least once. My past self."

[Hmm... A madman, is it? Well, fine. Come at me.]

And so, in the timeline of the past, the two Sword Spear Heavenly Lords collide.

And as Yang Ji-hwang faces off against the Sword Spear Heavenly Lord of the past, she begins to feel something.

'What is this...?'

Why is it?

It's easy.

Maybe because it's herself, but her past self's sword doesn't frighten her at all.

'Was I...really such a pathetic being...?'

None of the sword paths of the past Sword Spear Heavenly Lord land a single strike on Yang Ji-hwang, while every sword path Yang Ji-hwang unleashes lands true.

But she soon understands.

'It's not that I was weak. It's that the me of right now...has become stronger now.'

No, more precisely, the new cultivation system she has obtained is revealing a new path to her.

'It's truly...not scary at all!'

Kukwagwagwang!

Yang Ji-hwang charges straight at the Sword Spear Heavenly Lord of the past and explodes the Immortal Body of her past self.

Peong!

The Immortal Body of the Sword Spear Heavenly Lord is slashed into thousands of pieces in an instant and burst apart.

Instinctively, she understands.

'I see. I'm now...'

Without a doubt, she is now a Heavenly Lord at the level of a Supreme Deity.

Just like the last Field Garden Heavenly Lord, the Great Mountain Supreme Deity, had been able to face the Governing Immortal one-on-one during their Field Garden Heavenly Lord days and win—

The Sword Spear Heavenly Lord, too, has attained strength equal to that former Field Garden Heavenly Lord.

Just as that thought occurs.

"Wrong."

Shwikak!

Before she realizes it, something sharp grazes across her neck.

She turns to look behind her and sees, once again, the something possessing the 998th cycle's Seo Eun-hyun grinning at her.

"You haven't gotten stronger at all. Hwi."

"...I am Yang Ji-hwang. Call me properly."

"How foolish."

"Want me to show you who the real fool is?"

Paaatt!

Once again, she and that being collide.

And then—

Tukwaaang!

"...!"

With just one kick from the being residing within Seo Eun-hyun's body, Yang Ji-hwang is sent flying all the way to a distant star where she is embedded.

'Too strong...! H-How...? I've already become a Heavenly Lord on the level of a Supreme Deity! I'm practically at the Supreme Deity level, so what in the world is that being whose identity is even unknown!?'

She reaches out her hand again toward the being flying at her.

Flinch!

But in that moment, as she sees Seo Eun-hyun's face, her body reflexively flinches.

"Eek!"

That fleeting flinch.

That alone decides the match once more.

Jjeoeok!

The being with Seo Eun-hyun's face grabs her by the hair, swings her around, smashes their knee into her face, swings her by the hair again, and slams her body into the star.

Jjeojeojeong!

The star splits in two.

Bleeding from her entire body, she tightens her grip on her sword.

"Don't make me laugh!"

Across Heaven and Earth, countless swords of radiance are summoned.

Filling the Heavens Sword Rain.

Her ultimate decisive technique unfolds.

"I am the god of sword and iron, of war and victory! Enough! I said enough!"

The Sword-Guided Star Rains summoned as if to flood the universe all surge toward Seo Eun-hyun's body.

But not a single one hits Seo Eun-hyun.

It's strange.

Just moments ago, when she fought the Sword Spear Heavenly Lord of the past, she struck with perfect accuracy, and dodged with complete precision.

Yet now, Seo Eun-hyun avoids every single Sword-Guided Star Rain and reaches right in front of her.

In the end, she swings her sword and slices Seo Eun-hyun in two.

The being possessing Seo Eun-hyun's body smiles as they leave him.

"At last...it's a draw."

Seeing that, the Sword Spear Heavenly Lord bursts into tears.

"...Yeah. I know. I haven't become stronger at all..."

She hasn't become stronger.

She has become weaker.

She, once the god of iron, has now become unbelievably weak and timid toward Seo Eun-hyun.

As if she became nothing more than a husk, she has become so weak that even attacking has become impossible.

To the iron sword that once had no weakness...

A weakness has now formed.

"So what in the world do you want me to do!?"

The Taiji once again spreads across the world.

And the one possessing Seo Eun-hyun's body laughs.

"It's not about what you're supposed to do."

As the world once again undergoes revision along with the Taiji, they laugh and speak.

"It's about facing it properly."

"...Damn it."

The world returns to normal once more, and Yang Ji-hwang reflects.

She followed Seo Eun-hyun and pondered. She observed Seo Eun-hyun and suffered. She watched Seo Eun-hyun and was distressed.

And after seeing the countless stories of the 998th cycle, as she steps into the 999th—

At last, she realizes.

"...Damn it."

She cannot control it.

She realizes she absolutely can't control her own heart.

And before her, the someone possessing Seo Eun-hyun appears and points a sword at her.

"Are you going to fight me again?"

"..."

Surung—

The Sword Spear Heavenly Lord Yang Ji-hwang silently draws her sword and points it at them.

Then, immediately after, she lets the sword fall from her hands and collapses where she stands.

"...I can't fight."

"Hooh?"

"...As long as you're inside him...I can't cut you anymore. I...I..."

She finally rips off the mask from her face with her own hands and cries out.

"I like...Seo Eun-hyun...!!!"

She observed his story and pondered.

She followed his story and suffered.

She walked alongside his story and was distressed.

After cutting down countless Seo Eun-hyuns, after living countless lives together, at last, the emotions she can no longer control burst forth.

Not something she merely 'realizes' in her head, but something that 'erupts' from within her chest.

Heart.

She finally realizes that she can never control her own heart, and kneels before the being possessing Seo Eun-hyun.

"I want to keep watching Seo Eun-hyun's story. I want to keep chasing after Seo Eun-hyun. I want to see Seo Eun-hyun more. I wish the time in this past doesn't end. Now, whether it's the truth of the world, or freedom, or the value of Radiance Hall, it doesn't matter anymore. I just...like Seo Eun-hyun! A heart. Since I've now gained a heart, I want to just abandon my position as one of the Radiance Eight Immortals. I don't...want to harm him anymore!"

"...You want to keep watching him? No matter how long?"

"No matter how long!!"

"..."

Grin—

At last, the being that dwelled inside Seo Eun-hyun smiles brightly.

The surroundings turn pure white.

Tsuaaaaaaaa—

It's because the countless paper flowers blooming inside Yang Ji-hwang's heart now flood the area.

The shining paper flowers dye the surroundings into a space of white, and in that space, only she and the being that dwelled within Seo Eun-hyun remain.

At last, she sees the true face of that being.

"...You've won. I'll tell you who I am."

The being...is the Yang Ji-hwang of her childhood.

"I am your deepest desire, the one you've kept hidden. Only now...do you finally see me."

"...You're..."

Tuk—

The child version of herself presses her forehead against her current self.

At that moment, she finally understands.

Why it was that she kept appearing only within Seo Eun-hyun's body.

"I am your other side. At the same time...the new 'power' you've been nurturing all this time. And the form you most desired..."

"..."

"You liked Seo Eun-hyun, didn't you? You wanted to reproduce with him, didn't you? You wanted to chase after him, watch his story, be with him?"

"...Yeah..."

"That is why I possessed Seo Eun-hyun all this time and faced you. How was it?"

"...It was painful."

"Good. Remember that well. That is your weakness."

"Weakness...?"

"Your weakened self. That is me."

"Then...have I become weaker...?"

"No. You haven't become weaker."

"What...?"

At words she cannot understand, Yang Ji-hwang opens her eyes wide.

Then, the girl laughs.

"Telling you to face your weakness doesn't mean to erase it. It means to accept it. From now on...the 'me' who can't cut someone she likes will live on as your weakness and be with you. But...in contrast, everything other than that weakness..."

Tsuaaaaat!

The white space around her begins to tremble.

It is the thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of millions of paper flowers she has nurtured that are trembling.

"...will become even stronger from now on."

Kururururung!

Thousands of paper flowers rush toward her and begin to be absorbed.

She understands what this phenomenon is.

'This is...'

It feels the same as when she advanced to True Immortality.

She instinctively knows.

The power of the cultivation system she cultivated has crossed a critical threshold and reached a realm equivalent to True Immortality of the current Immortal Cultivation system.

"Give me a name. Hwi-ah. Not the name 'Gyeong-i', or Sword Spear Heavenly Lord that was bestowed by fate, not the name 'Yang Ji-hwang', and...also not the name 'Hwi' passed down from the lips of our parents, but a new name..."

Tsuaaaaat!

The girl before her begins to be absorbed into her body.

She is startled.

She understands.

'Give a name...?'

To the Radiance Eight Immortals, naming is sacrilege.

For a name carries fate, and fate is sacred...

"Forget all of that and just give me a name that you like!"

The one who has become her weakness now tells her to break all those vows and laws and attach a new name to 'herself'.

'Just as True Immortals transcend life and death, the realm equivalent to True Immortality in this new cultivation system...is a realm attained by redefining oneself...'

To determine one's own name.

That means to determine one's own fate.

She is afraid.

Somehow, she feels that if she crosses this line, she will never be able to return to who she was before.

But she looks down at the mask of the Sword Spear Heavenly Lord, which she removed with her own hands.

'...I see. I already...can't go back.'

From the moment she came to know her own heart, she could never return to the way things were.

Then only one thing remains.

"My name is..."

Crossing over all the 'lines' that had once bound her, she starts to run.

She doesn't think of a suitable name or meaning.

But one thing arises immediately from her heart—that boundless gratitude toward the one who created this 'paper flower cultivation system'.

The paper flower had allowed her to truly look back on her heart.

So, she decides to be thankful.

With that gratitude, she finally decides her own name.

"Ji Hwa (紙花; Paper Flower)."

The moment she speaks that name, one sounding similar to 'Ji-hwang' but holding a completely different meaning, she finally understands what true freedom is.

'Ah...I see.'

And she also realizes who created this cultivation system.

Ji Hwa, who has reached the True Immortal realm of the paper flower system, crosses all spacetime in an instant, and like how a being who has reached True Immortality faces tribulation in the form of a Supreme Deity's gaze...

She arrives before the one who created this cultivation system.

"...It was you."

The being sits in a lotus position.

The surroundings are filled entirely with transparent glass sword mountains, and he sits atop them with a warm smile.

"Seo Eun-hyun."

Around him lie precisely 'two thousand and nine' identical corpses of himself, and every one of them wears a peaceful smile.

As if they are dreaming a happy dream.

And Ji Hwa, who has crossed all spacetime to reach Seo Eun-hyun, at last understands how this cultivation system came to be and what she must do.

The 'wisdom' flowing from Seo Eun-hyun, the founder of this system, naturally guides her.

Huggg—

After a thousand lifetimes, she finally reaches Seo Eun-hyun and does the one thing she has most wanted to do.

Hugging him.

It is at that moment.

"...Thank you. Gyeong-ah."

He, seated in a lotus position, hugs Ji Hwa.

Within that warmth, Ji Hwa feels tears welling up for some reason and speaks.

Tstststststststs!

With the power of the paper flower system that has reached its peak, her mind transcends spacetime, and begins to merge with the minds of the countless Sword Spear Heavenly Lords who have existed across all previous cycles.

From Seo Eun-hyun's 0th cycle to the 1000th cycle, all the versions of herself merge with her.

And then, from the 1001st to the 1005th cycle...all those versions of herself also merge with her.

And through the attitudes of all the Sword Spear Heavenly Lords from the 1001st to the 1005th cycles, she understands why she has come to feel this way toward Seo Eun-hyun.

—I beg...to the Heavenly Venerable of the Underworld...

The vow from the cycle where she showed Seo Eun-hyun her bare face.

And the [Wheel] that the Heavenly Venerable of the Underworld set in motion.

It was all a scheme of the Underworld.

But now, she no longer cares whose scheme it was.

"At last, we meet, Seo Eun-hyun."

Having regained the memories of all the cycles, she embraces Seo Eun-hyun and begins to withdraw from his memory in tears.

No, it is not Seo Eun-hyun's memory.

This is the 'inside of an unknown mantra'.

For some reason, her Celestial Lord Incense Burning connected her to the inside of this 'snake-like mantra'.

From somewhere, hissing sounds glare at her menacingly, as if trying to expel her from this world.

Feeling herself gradually being expelled from Seo Eun-hyun's world, she smiles.

Only today does she finally come to understand the nature of this suspicious feeling in her heart.

And...

For some reason, she connected with the existence of Seo Eun-hyun, who has created a new cultivation system and melted his mind into it.

She finally feels her heart filling to the brim within her chest.

Only today does she truly feel complete as herself!

Within that feeling, Ji Hwa looks at Seo Eun-hyun and speaks.

"And...let's meet again, Seo Eun-hyun."

Tap—

Just as the face of 'Yang Hwi of her childhood' had brought her forehead to hers not long ago,

She brings her forehead to Seo Eun-hyun's, conveying her heart.

Where there is a meeting, there is also a parting.

And where there is a parting, there is also a meeting again.

Having already delivered her heart, she no longer needs to show intense obsession toward Seo Eun-hyun.

All that remains now is to wait.

Thus, being expelled from within the mantra in the shape of a [Black Snake Biting Its Tail], and abandoning all the names of the Sword Spear Heavenly Lord Yang Ji-hwang, she is reborn as Ji Hwa and returns to Mount Sumeru, smiling.

Someday...

They will surely meet again.

Now that the heart of freedom has been passed down, no matter what fate oppresses her, she will overcome all fate, and they will definitely meet again.

Such belief sprouts within her, gathering within her to form a single star.

Tsuaaaaaaat!

I open my eyes.

'How much time has passed?'

I'm not quite sure.

What's clear is that a time as long as eternity has gone by.

And at the end of that eternal time, Gyeong-i—

No, the one who has redefined herself as 'Ji Hwa'—allowed me to awaken to my existence once more.

'Which life was this again?'

I remember.

This is...

The 2010th cycle.

Just as Hyeon Mu said, only after surpassing that endless time have I barely arrived.

Kugugugugugu—

Before my eyes, a massive authority of violence surges forth.

: : Splitting Emperor Splitting Heaven. : :

With a familiar shout, a familiar flash engulfs me.

But now, I no longer feel as though I'll be overwhelmed by it.

I very naturally swing the Impermanence Sword, dyed pure white.

Within it, someone's heart is contained.

It is the heart of the one who just gave her heart to me.

—Swing.

Ji Hwa's heart fills the Sword of Impermanence.

And as I swing that sword, I face something called hope for the first time at the end of this eternal time.

—I will be with you.

: : Annihilation Advancement Mu! : :

"Sword God Dance."

The Dance of the Sword God, imbued with a person's heart, tears through the light of annihilation that has lost the heart of a person, cleaving the sea of chaos in half and unleashing a massive horizontal slash toward the Great Mountain God beyond.

That, is the first day of my 2010th cycle.