Chapter 127: What You Trampled On / The Path You Have Tread (15)

Chapter 127: What You Trampled On / The Path You Have Tread (15)/translatingnovice Yuan Li's attack meets Seo Eun-hyun's head-on. A colorless brilliance and a crimson light collides. Ting! A crisp, resounding note echoes throughout the battlefield. Its clear. And weak. A smirk fills Yuan Li's face. "Putting on such a show of might, but is this all you've got?" Weak. Not even the level of cultivator. Just a mortal swinging a sword with all his might. Somehow, he managed to block Yuan Li's strike, but its a close call. That is it. Yuan Li wakes up in realization. 'It's not just me who's weakened.' The small fry opposing him is also significantly drained of strength. 'If I just take care of these bastards, I'll truly be the victor!' He grins broadly. "Keep hammering away with that stupid glass sword all you want. I'll shatter it to pieces!" Blood light streams out as he forms a seal. Kugugugu! Blood clouds swirl around him. Among the blood clouds, blood trees grow, creating a forest of blood. Not only Seo Eun-hyun but also the Core Formation cultivators trying to help him frown and flee from the bloody forest. 'I won't let them escape.' One by one, he'll catch them all and grind them to dust. Yuan Li thinks this as he flies towards the most annoying bug, Seo Eun-hyun. Trapped in the bloody forest, swinging his sword foolishly, Seo Eun-hyun's figure is clear in Yuan Li's eyes. "Farewell. You left a deep impression, though." Kugugugu! Blood vines sprout from his hands, stabbing towards Seo Eun-hyun. And Seo Eun-hyun, holding his glass sword, begins to deflect them. Yuan Li laughs, his mouth splitting wide. 'So weak. He'll fall soon.' "Didn't you say you'd show me something? I don't want to see you flounder pathetically, just d-" And then. Thump! Seo Eun-hyun's sword strikes the blood vines. "Huh?" Something is off. Normally, humans weaken as they expend energy. But Yuan Li frowns at the recoil he just felt. 'Stronger than before?' It wasn't significantly stronger. But definitely. Definitely stronger than before. 'Is it just my imagination?' No, that can't be. Yuan Li bites his lip hard. Kwaang! Seo Eun-hyun's sword again strikes his vines and pushes back his bloody forest. It wasn't an illusion. His sword is indeed stronger than before. 'But it's negligible. No need to worry.' "Just die as you are!" Kiiing! Blood Demon Suppressing Sea Light! Above Yuan Li's hands, an apparition of a Blood Sea forms, plunging down towards Seo Eun-hyun. Seo Eun-hyun doesnt look at the blood descending upon him. He just closes his eyes and raises his sword. Severing Mountain Swordsmanship. Secluded Valley! He dives into the blood pool, twisting his body up through a gap, and slices through it. Chuararak! Yuan Li's spell splits in an instant. Yuan Li's face hardens. Koong! Seo Eun-hyun lands back on the ground. And on the spot he lands, his footprints are deeply imprinted. Kwaang Kwaang Kwaang! With every move he makes. With every posture he adopts. The depth of his footprints increase. 'The amplification rate of his attacks is increasing?' Like rolling a snowball. Each time he slashes through Yuan Li's spell with his sword, his sword grows increasingly fierce. Yuan Li stops chasing the other cultivators. 'I need to catch this guy first!' Its dangerous. His intuition, heightened by reaching Nascent Soul, forewarns of ominous fate. 'I've obtained the Serving Command Seal! I can't lose!' "Water, Flow!" Chuaruruk! Blood water surges, transforming into a river of blood, engulfing Seo Eun-hyun. And then. Severing Mountain Swordsmanship, Bouldered Cliff. Seo Eun-hyun begins to spin. Its a sword dance. His sword dance, as if not allowing even a single gap, wildly swirls around, deflecting every drop of blood, every ripple of the river. An unbelievable display of martial arts! And Seo Eun-hyun's sword. With every slash of Yuan Li's spell, continues to grow stronger. Slowly but steadily. The Final Move of Severing Mountain Swordsmanship. Foolish Old Man Moves Mountain is a technique as follows: First, using Endless Mountains Beyond Mountains, it prevents any trace of one's energy from leaking out. Second, while maintaining that state, it uses the twenty-first move, Heavenly Lake, to absorb all residual flow and power generated from clashes with the opponent. Third, applying Echoing Valley, it integrates the opponent's power into one's own and unleashes it back. Fourth, concentrating all those intricate forces into a single point with Mountain Tiger, it forcibly suppresses the backlash. Fifth, it distributes the burden applied to the body as much as possible using Layered Mountains and Mountain and Valley Transformation, dissipating it into the ground. It sounds complicated, but in a nutshell, it's a technique that strengthens one's own attacks by drawing in the opponent's power with each clash. And the price for forcibly drawing in the opponent's power is the user's death. Therefore, a martial artist using Foolish Old Man Moves Mountain keeps getting stronger as they fight, but eventually explodes and dies due to the inability to suppress the power they've gathered. Kwaang! Absorbing Yuan Li's attack with my technique and then countering with that power. Using the principle of Endless Mountains Beyond Mountains, I don't waste any energy in my counterattack but return it back to my opponent. Gradually, my attacks grow stronger. Before long, instead of being overwhelmed by Yuan Li's spells, I am blocking it head-on. With Foolish Old Man Moves Mountains, each clash with the opponent at the very least strengthens me by a bit. And I have had thousands of clashes with Yuan Li. Pukwak Pukwak! Unable to bear the enormous power surging through my body, my body starts to burst open in various places. But the beauty of being a cultivator is... Sururuk The regeneration ability is beyond human. The duration I can maintain Foolish Old Man Moves Mountains differs from when Kim Young-hoon uses it. Kwaang Kwaang Kwaang! My footprints deepen further. And then... I take a step forward. Riip! My cleave tears through Yuan Li's forest, paving a path. His forest tries to regenerate, but I take another step and swing my sword again. I am no longer just defensively blocking his techniques in one spot. I am clearly advancing towards him. This, what is this... Yuan Li clenches his teeth and draws his dagger dharma treasure. Kiiyaaaak! He brings out his blood-colored spear and the ghost king made of blood mist is summoned Chuarak! Cutting his own finger to feed the ghost king, it blazes red and grows fiercer. It charges at me, spear in hand, through the forest I have torn apart. I close my eyes. Blood is flowing from my entire body, making it almost impossible to see. Lets return to the basics of when I first learned martial arts. I close my eyes and enter the world of intent. Severing Mountain Swordsmanship and Severing Vein Saber Method. Formless Sword and Surpassing Radiant Saber. Unknowingly, I follow Kim Young-hoon's martial arts, mirroring his movements. He too is using Foolish Old Man Moves Mountains. Kung Kung Kung! As my footprints deepen, so do his. Our movements overlap. Isn't that what living is all about? Even if there are those better than you, and others even better than them. What else can you do? In this moment, with the task you received, with what you can do, just do to the best of your abilities. What is this conversation? It isnt the hallucination speaking. Its a real conversation. Something I remember hearing at the company. Do you know the reason why martial arts and life are not different? The hallucination smiles at me and speaks. Since you are born into this body, don't think about limits... Beyond the hallucination, I see the image of Kim Young-hoon and myself before crossing into this world. In this moment, with the task you received, with what you can do Short memories of Kim Young-hoon, Overlap with the voice of the hallucination. Just, go forward without distractions. Just, do your best. A gentle, yet calloused hand pushes me from behind. Kim Young-hoon, who leads ahead, pulls me forward. Yes, let go of distractions. Even if there are limits called fate from birth. What can be done about it? Right here, right now. Do what can be done to the best of my abilities. Now that I know life isn't meaningless, I won't think about the limits imposed by fate anymore. Just wield the sword. I look at the Colorless Glass Sword in my hand and the Formless Sword overlapping it. They are my life. Then... I look again at the figure unfolding Foolish Old Man Moves Mountains beside me. It isn't Kim Young-hoon. Its my face. The hallucination approaches and overlaps with me. Ah, I see. All this time... I have been following Kim Young-hoons footsteps. Everything I see before me. I have been endlessly chasing the footsteps Kim Young-hoon left in the last moments of his life. But... What I thought was Kim Young-hoon dancing beside me was myself all along. And Kim Young-hoon's voice is now coming from behind. Look ahead, Seo Eun-hyun! A frail hand, along with a steadfast one, simultaneously pushes my back. Believe in the path you have tread! Only now... Only now do I realize why I failed to see the 'next' realm in my past life. It wasn't about the pain Yuan Li caused. I was just following Kim Young-hoon. From Beyond the Path to Heavens, our paths have diverged, unbeknownst to me. It's okay not to be as fast. My sword doesn't have to be golden. It doesn't need to split space. So... I realize I stand at the very end of the path tread by Kim Young-hoon. Let's go, to the next. Stepping beyond this point, I will be diverging from the path he has walked. Young-hoon Hyung-nim, I will step upon the path you have walked. But still, let's go forward. I, moving further from the path tread by Kim Young-hoon, shout from within this realm I step onto. Beyond the Path ()! Sorry, Hyung-nim. I will name this realm myself. In honor of the path you tread. And to mark this place where I took my first step Treading Heaven ()! On behalf of Kim Young-hoon's will, I roar vigorously. I wield the Colorless Glass Sword. Whoom! The Blood Sea that has enveloped the sky splits in half. Surung Sururung! Casting aside all stray thoughts about fate, my heart becomes a void. In this moment, I realize that void isn't just emptiness. The Formless Sword. The embodiment of my heart. Begins to merge with the void. Gang Sphere is in fact one. Martial arts and I are one entity. Words left by Kim Young-hoon in the past life. Now I understand. Splitting the Gang Sphere according to the logic of Heaven, Earth, and Man, realizing they are all me, I merged the Gang Sphere into the Formless Sword. But. Isn't there one Gang Sphere left unmerged? Inner Core. I thought I was handling nine Gang Spheres. But in reality, there is a tenth Gang Sphere left. The moment I realize the meaning of the Emptiness, my Inner Core that is nestled in the center of my Golden Core melts, becoming an intangible energy, and merges with the Formles Sword in my hand. Kim Young-hoon's technique of an external Inner Core is one of the paths to this realm. The Formless Sword, fully connected with the Inner Core within my body, begins from the dantian and pervades my entire being Yes, throughout the entire body. In every single muscle fiber. In every blood vessel, the Formless Sword settles. I become the Formless Sword itself. The same must have been true for Kim Young-hoon. He too, with the Surpassing Radiant Saber rooted throughout his body, must have stepped into the new realm. The moment I melt the tenth Gang Sphere. The true ability of the Formless Sword comes into my hands. A small miracle created by the will to walk a different path from Kim Young-hoon. Before I know it, I appear right in front of Yuan Li. Now, with the Formless Sword ingrained in every single blood vessel, My body no longer explodes due to the effects of Foolish Old Man Moves Mountain. The durability of my physical body has soared to its very limits. In this state, I swing my sword at Yuan Li. Transcending Peaks! A simple horizontal slash. Yuan Li deploys a defensive spell. Had it been Kim Young-hoon's Surpassing Radiant Saber in this realm, it would have sliced through the space itself and cut Yuan Li. But, I am slightly different. Shwoong! The Formless Sword, having reached a new realm, permeates through Yuan Li's shield, only cutting his body behind the shield. Huh? Yuan Li, with a dazed expression, looks at his body. Pukwak! Clearly, his defensive spell should have blocked it, but he looks on with a lack of understanding of why he was cut without any sign of the shield breaking. Chururuk! His body begins to regenerate again. However. Whoom! I slice his body again. Whoom Whoom Whoom! Its useless to deploy a shield. Again and again, as many times as needed. Without any resistance, permeating all his defenses and attacks. My Formless Sword incessantly slices his body. Not just freedom in trajectory but also in the material and immaterial. When he looks at me with an expression of incomprehension, I deliver the final blow. Treading Heaven Beyond the Path (), Formless Sword (). The Formless Sword permeates all defenses and attacks, aiming directly at his Golden Core, at the Nascent Soul within. Translator Notes: LETS GOOOOOOOO!!!! *** Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried Link to donations in the discord!