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◈ Xianxia Cultivation with a Dragon Heart ◈

Chapter 65: Six Paths of Reincarnation and Emotion

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Han Yujin had certainly not expected to end up living at a temple for an indefinite period. Still, the residence provided by the Samsara Buddhahood Temple was entirely comfortable, and he rather liked it.

Ancient temples seemed to possess a distinct atmosphere of their own. Even Muyong liked this place quite a bit despite the low concentration of spiritual energy.

As their stay grew longer, Dok Junseong and Seogwang Gahu began traveling back and forth to the estate in Okhan City. It was not far away, so they could do so whenever they wished.

Meanwhile, Eun Miryeong attended to Han Yujin as she had since their time at Gyeongbin Pavilion in the Righteous Alliance. He suddenly realized how accustomed he had become to her thoughtful care.

‘When I return to reality, I’ll definitely feel its absence.’

Thinking of his eventual return gave him much to consider, but he welcomed the complicated emotions it stirred within him.

The first method he had devised to deal with the Heartless Tribulation was to continually stimulate his mind as it grew numb and restore it. He had heard that many cultivators experienced worldly life for similar reasons, so it would surely have some effect.

In that regard, this quiet temple life was not particularly helpful, but at least he had his companions.

Naturally, Muyong was included among them. In fact, it was thanks to her that he had noticed the coming Heartless Tribulation so quickly.

Even when she acted cute as usual, his hand had somehow reached out more slowly to pet her.

‘This is serious. Hmm...’

He gently stroked Muyong's head as she dozed limply in his arms. The thought that he might no longer experience the great benefits of animal therapy made his hair stand on end and cold sweat break out.

Putting aside that fleeting stray thought, he examined another scripture.

He was currently in the Sutra Repository, where books on the doctrines of the Samsara Buddhahood Sect were stored.

It was a building of considerable size, the sort of place where an ordinary person would be exhausted after spending days simply searching for books in the desired field.

Perhaps concerned about that, the Samsara Buddhahood Temple had offered to assign him a young monk. Han Yujin politely declined and asked to look through the books alone.

With intelligence enhanced by transcendent comprehension and Divine Sense on top of that, he had no need for help. In less than a day, he had reviewed the titles of every book in the Sutra Repository and classified them in his mind.

Then he began rapidly reading the scriptures related to the Six Paths of Reincarnation.

Calling it reading was not quite accurate. It was closer to scanning books with his Divine Sense while standing before the shelves.

Reading a single book had never been particularly difficult for him, and now his mental strength had been enhanced through refining the Dragon Heart. Reviewing an entire book felt no different from looking over a table of contents back when he was ordinary.

After giving a sip of Jade Dew Wine to Muyong when she woke up, taking a sip himself to enjoy its flavor and aroma, and continuing his work for about half a day, he finally made a full circuit of the vast Sutra Repository.

He went outside and took a short walk nearby.

There was nothing better than a walk for organizing his thoughts.

‘The Six Paths of Reincarnation...’

Naturally, the Samsara Buddhahood Sect's Six Paths of Reincarnation resembled Earth's at first glance, yet differed greatly. Most notably, it explained the Six Paths through their connection to humanity's basic emotions.

The world of happiness, the Heavenly Bliss Realm.

The world of expectation, the Human Desire Realm.

The world of sorrow, the Departed Souls Realm.

The world of anger, the Beast Realm.

The world of disgust, the Strange Insect Realm.

The world of despair, the Abyss Realm.

Thanks to his enhanced intelligence, he recalled material from a psychology elective he had taken once at university.

‘Was it Paul Ekman? I think that person also defined six basic human emotions.’

He could not remember precisely, but they were probably joy, sadness, anger, fear, surprise, and disgust.

He seemed to recall that Ekman had become recognized by mainstream modern psychology by presenting facial expressions common across all cultures as empirical evidence, and that his work was even used in emotion-analysis models for artificial intelligence.

‘There’s quite a bit of overlap.’

Of course, surprise had been replaced by expectation in this world's Six Paths of Reincarnation, but that was understandable enough. The two were connected, and expectation was an emotion that lasted longer than surprise.

He could roughly understand fear being replaced by despair, and joy being replaced by happiness as well.

‘Happiness would naturally include joy, pleasure, affection, and so on... Expectation seems to include hope, greed, faith, and so on...’

Likewise, sorrow would include loss and loneliness. Anger would include hatred and resentment. Disgust would include unpleasantness and contempt. Despair would include fear and a sense of defeat.

Those emotions also possessed a flow that could be viewed as a kind of reincarnation. Whether it proceeded forward or backward, it felt somewhat logical either way.

Suddenly, Han Yujin stopped beneath a large tree and thought it was quite a coincidence.

At the very time he was facing the Heartless Tribulation, he had encountered a Divine Sense secret art inseparably tied to emotions. It could hardly be more coincidental.

‘Could the Door to this world have opened with even this taken into account? Surely not?’

In addition to an environment where he could safely refine the Dragon Heart, Awakening Grass that would be perfect for distributing on Earth to accumulate Karma, and knowledge of martial arts, there was even a Divine Sense secret art that might be useful for more than its mere value. It might even help with the Heartless Tribulation.

Feeling both pleased and vaguely concerned because things were going too well, he looked up at clouds drifting lazily across the blue sky.

As he did, various stray thoughts came to mind.

‘Come to think of it, I could live while pursuing my own happiness as much as I wanted.’

If his awakening ability could open a Door to a world that suited his desires so well, then it would surely be able to open a Door to an “extremely happy” world as well.

A Door to a world like the Heavenly Bliss Realm of the Six Paths of Reincarnation he had just learned about.

What would it matter if Earth was destroyed ten or so years from now? Even if he lived for years in another world, only about a single night would pass in reality. Time was not a concern at all.

Yet Han Yujin unknowingly wore something like a self-mocking smile as he thought that.

‘Even if I could deceive the entire world, heaven and earth included, what would any of it mean if I could not deceive myself in the end?’

No matter how elaborate and fantastical a dream might be, if the dreamer knew it was a dream, it was easy to predict how it would end.

‘The reason I do not ruthlessly plunder this world for profit is ultimately so I can remain blameless before myself.’

There was no need to think of a Dao Heart as something difficult. All one had to do was hold fast to one's own line, the one every person naturally possessed.

If something felt wrong, then do not do it.

If something seemed all right, then it was fine to do it.

Of course, he would make many mistakes and have things to regret along the way...

‘As long as I don’t commit them while knowing full well, it’ll be fine.’

After spending some time lost in fairly philosophical stray thoughts, he came to his senses when a bored Muyong yawned and squirmed.

Having refreshed his mood, he headed back to the Sutra Repository.

* * *

Gwiseol, the Ruthless Killer King.

They were the leader and highest-ranking assassin of Evernight, a highly famous assassin organization of the unorthodox faction. Having reached the Transformation Realm, they had honed their martial arts solely toward hiding, ambushing enemies, killing them, and fleeing. They were a terrifying individual.

At the same time, due to the influence of the Ruthless Killer Sword they cultivated, they were a vicious individual devoid of all human emotion, capable of doing anything for the sake of murder.

Over twenty years ago, they had even cut off the leg of a Profound Realm expert, one of the Ten Venerables of the Martial World, forcing that expert into retirement.

Though merely an assassin deserving of disgust, they had earned an epithet containing the character for King and established themself as someone who could never be ignored.

And today, the Ruthless Killer King had set out on an assassination mission after receiving sufficient payment.

The assassination would take place at the mighty Samsara Buddhahood Temple, and the renowned Life and Death Realm master, the Golden Lotus Martial Venerable, was likely nearby.

Yet with their usual inhuman composure, they judged the possibilities and crossed the wall of the Samsara Buddhahood Temple.

If the target they had to kill was a greenhorn who had not even reached the Peak Realm, there was no way they could fail.

As though to prove that judgment was not excessive in the least, their figure as they moved beyond the wall was more covert than a ghost.

They did not merely seek out dark places and move quietly.

Even while passing through bright moonlight, their body became so transparent that even capable masters would struggle to notice them. Not even the tiniest weed beneath their feet stirred, and they seemed to carry less weight than air itself.

It was the pinnacle of trace-free movement across snow, easily surpassing the feat of running atop grass. Their movements as they rose onto rooftops through the art of riding Qi into the sky were likewise unrealistically stealthy.

Thus, the Ruthless Killer King arrived at their destination as though crossing their own courtyard.

They slipped like a shadow through a gap in the quiet, unlit building, their gray-white eyes like glass beads rolling as they searched for the target's quarters.

As they advanced, they suddenly paused and blinked several times.

Their expression remained completely blank as they surveyed the area, wholly merged with the darkness.

Their inanimate gaze, colder than a doll's, was alert. Even the sound of a heartbeat, something any human should possess, could not be heard from them.

There was only one reason they had suddenly stopped to remain on guard.

A sensation like extremely faint dizziness had passed through their mind, which had remained in a perfectly identical state.

However, despite remaining alert for quite some time, they detected no other abnormality. The strange sensation resembling dizziness had only passed through them for an instant.

Continuing to remain here was more dangerous.

They had to either abandon the mission and retreat, or continue it.

With mechanical coldness, they chose to continue.

Considering all factors, that unknown dizziness was merely human imperfection and difficult to regard as a danger.

After swiftly searching the building's interior, they quickly found their target.

‘Eun Miryeong, the Clear Stream White Phoenix of the Hyeonbaek Sect.’

Looking at the beautiful sleeping woman, the Ruthless Killer King merely confirmed that she was indeed the target before drawing the weapon at their waist.

Naturally, it made no sound. Even after being drawn, the sword seemed formless, as though only its hilt existed.

It was the Ruthless Glass Sword, a weapon ranked among the finest of the Hundred Great Swords. It was also the sacred relic and symbol of Evernight, the assassin organization.

With no wasted motion, the sword silently pierced Eun Miryeong's brow as she slept.

The hazy, heat-shimmer-like energy that briefly emerged in the process penetrated her skull and churned her brain without producing the slightest sound. Naturally, not even a trace of its aftereffects escaped.

There was no killing intent either. The Ruthless Killer King was someone in whom such emotion did not exist.

After waiting only as long as necessary, they withdrew their sword. Blood and brain matter silently flowed from the hole in Eun Miryeong's brow.

Her breath had stopped completely.

In martial-world terms, she was in a state where “even a Great Luo Immortal could not save her.”

They left the building, once again more stealthily than a ghost. Then, more swiftly and easily than when they had entered, they departed the Samsara Buddhahood Temple.

Once again, they had completed their mission without issue.

It was a perfect assassination, exactly as predicted.

After creating a considerable distance with the stealthy and swift Evernight Shadowless Step, they passed through countless secret passages and changed disguises several times, despite believing there would be no pursuit.

For four days, they hid, circled about, and repeatedly blended into crowds. It was cleanup that added perfection upon perfection.

At last, they entered the hidden headquarters of Evernight, the assassin organization. Following procedure, they reviewed their assassination mission and checked the ledger, payment, and other details of the person who had commissioned it.

The client was Do Muwon, the Martial World Mediator, an Imperial House official of the junior second rank.

The Ruthless Killer King had a few guesses about the hidden circumstances behind this request. However, they could not say they were certain, nor did they intend to investigate further.

“So you are of no use now.”

At that very moment, someone spoke from behind them, and the Ruthless Killer King responded immediately.

A heat-shimmer-like energy erupted from their entire body as they drew and swung the Ruthless Glass Sword with lightning-fast movements.

The unleashed sword Qi tore through every direction around them as they prepared for an enemy attack. At the same time, the Ruthless Killer King's body turned transparent like an illusion and vanished somewhere.

However.

Though they had taken the best possible response, a carefree voice sounded right beside them, where they had somehow clung to the ceiling and rolled their glass-bead eyes in every direction.

“How pitiful. You deliberately turned yourself into something like one afflicted by the Heartless Tribulation, leaving yourself with nothing but the purpose of living by killing others for no meaning at all.”

Once again, the Ruthless Killer King's sword stabbed and slashed more than several times at once toward the direction of the voice. In less than the time it took to blink, the blade passed only through fatal points. It was swordsmanship meant solely to kill the opponent as quickly and efficiently as possible.

As they concealed themself again and changed position, the voice continued. This time, it came from beside them on the opposite side.

“You don’t even feel fear in a situation like this. This is... You’re so bizarre that I don’t even feel like making fun of you.”

Then.

Before they could react again.

Their entire field of vision wildly distorted and shattered, only for a familiar scene to soon emerge.

It was the interior of the Samsara Buddhahood Temple building they had visited for the assassination. They stood frozen like a stone statue a short distance from where they had infiltrated.

A few steps ahead stood the Life and Death Realm master whom they should never have encountered, the Golden Lotus Martial Venerable.

“That part was still kind of funny, though. Even a Great Luo Immortal couldn’t save her? People here have no idea how terrifying it would be if such a being really existed.”

He laughed with an easygoing manner unbefitting his reputation.

Yet the Ruthless Killer King continued to roll their doll-like, expressionless eyes, seeking only an opportunity.

“Honestly, dying would be a blessing for you. Goodbye.”

Golden light flashed.

Until their final moment, the Ruthless Killer King considered whether they might survive.

Then, as they watched everything sink into darkness, they finally gave up and closed their eyes.

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