A Regressor'S Tale of Cultivation

Whirring!

Flash!

A third beam of light shot out from General Seo's eyes.

"Kughh!"

West Spirit Gate's Nascent Soul Elder, Wei Tak, frowned and blocked the beam.

'A brat who's barely even at the Qi Refining stage managed to summon a Nascent Soul puppet…!'

However, Wei Tak is just annoyed, not overly strained.

After all, it's merely an early stage Nascent Soul puppet, barely a step beyond Core Formation.

Even though his spiritual power has weakened, as a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, Wei Tak is not about to lose.

'I'm almost done with my spell. Now…'

Just as he was about to finish his spell and annihilate the puppet in front of him,

Pop!

The puppet, named General Seo, which had been gathering energy in its eyes suddenly exploded on its own.

Wei Tak was briefly stunned but soon realized the situation.

"Ah, I see."

It was overloaded.

It could launch Nascent Soul level attacks thrice, but that is its limit.

Trying to shoot beams more than three times would cause it to break down, a puppet with an almost laughably limited capability.

"Tsk, tsk, it's only fitting for a Core Formation puppet that can shoot Nascent Soul level attacks thrice."

A sneer appears on Wei Tak's lips.

"Well, it was an amusing resistance. Now, just surrender..."

And when Wei Tak looked down towards where Seo Eun-hyun was,

He had to widen his eyes in disbelief.

"...What?"

A total of seventeen 'General Seo' are gathering energy beside Seo Eun-hyun.

Seo Eun-hyun clicks his tongue and forms a hand seal.

Kuguguguk!

Crack!

Right beside him, an 18th puppet is being formed.

"One puppet can use a Nascent Soul stage attack three times before breaking. Indeed, with such inferior materials, even with Mad Lord's circuits, it can't hold up…"

"What, what…!?"

Click, click, click!

The 18 'General Seos' simultaneously opened their mouths.

Flash!

"General Seo Cannon, fire."

Beams shot out from the mouths of the 18 puppets, all aimed at Wi Tak.

He released his prepared spell, but it was dispersed by the 18 beams.

Engulfed in the torrent of light, Wei Tak yelled out a curse that was swept away by the explosion.

I watched as the West Spirit Gate's Elder, Wei Tak, scorched and fell.

"Kugh, keughu…!?"

Indeed, as expected of a Nascent Soul cultivator with incredible vitality.

He hasn't died even though his entire body is charred.

"He-heugh, harghh. Heuarghh!"

Of course, he attempted to escape, seeing me as if I were a terrible nightmare.

Clatter, clink…

Wei Tak's clothes tore apart, and several items fell from his bosom.

I slowly approached and picked up the items.

Several talismans.

And a scroll magic artifact that emits faint spatial vibrations.

"This is…"

I tried to open the scroll artifact, but it didn't budge, seemingly sealed.

'A seal…'

I chuckle softly, looking at the artifact.

Fzzt, fzzt…

Energy gathers at my fingertips.

Simultaneously, the Mad Lord's circuitry starts to overlay on the surface of the scroll artifact.

The grand circuits that operate the Wonderfully Mysterious Fortress.

The circuits capable of mimicking the soul of a living being, began to overtake the artifact, breaking through the seal.

Whirring!

Before long,

Mad Lord's circuits broke through the seal on the scroll.

Bang!

A faint light burst from the scroll artifact, and the sealing spell was broken.

Woo-woong!

As I infuse spiritual energy into the scroll, it floats into the air.

And then,

Swoosh!

The scroll unfurls in the air.

"This is…"

A scroll-shaped space artifact!

Inside the scroll are several paintings.

As I carefully reach towards one of the paintings, my hand naturally enters inside.

"Wow…"

I reach for one of the items inside the painting and pick it up.

Woo-woong!

It's a dharma treasure emitting a powerful light, appearing quite formidable.

"It's even more convenient than a storage bag…"

Typically, storage artifacts have the downside of not allowing the inside to be seen, sometimes making it hard to find what was put inside when trying to take it out again.

Of course, if one's consciousness is inserted into the storage artifact, they can quickly find what they are looking for.

However, the fact that one can see inside the storage artifact with their naked eye, seeing exactly where and what is placed inside, offers significant convenience.

I begin to rummage through the West Spirit Gate elder's scroll artifact, extracting his assets.

'A pair of twin flying dagger dharma treasures. Several unknown poisonous herbs. And books about spiritual beasts, spiritual trees, spiritual insects… and there are… four million spirit stones?

This is equivalent to several years' worth of budget for a lower realm cultivator clan.

'…And six unidentified talismans, each emitting extraordinary spiritual energy, and lastly, this is…'

I take out a white jade tablet from a corner of the scroll artifact.

'Oh, is this West Spirit Gate's secret method?'

The jade tablet is densely inscribed with the language of the Bright Cold Realm.

'…Hmm, looks like I need to learn the Bright Cold Realm language.'

I sighed softly and carefully put the jade tablet into my pockets for now.

Some time later.

Azure Tiger Saint won against the grand elder of West Spirit Gate, and the Azure Heaven Creation Sect achieved victory over West Spirit Gate.

"From now on, this place belongs to our grand Azure Heaven Creation Sect! Everyone, get out!"

Defeated by Azure Tiger Saint, the grand elder of West Spirit Gate gnashed his teeth and flew away, followed by the rest of West Spirit Gate disciples.

"Hahaha. Now, we have won! All disciples, prepare to move"

Kugugugu!

Azure Tiger Saint takes out a scroll from his embrace.

Like the one I had seen before, it's the scroll with the landscape painting drawn on it.

Suddenly, the painting begins to emit light.

Flash!

Simultaneously, the mountain painted on the scroll begins to emerge from within the scroll.

Kugugugu!

A small mountain range falls next to West Spirit Gate's peak, forming a small mountain next to it.

Koo-woong!

A tremendous boom echoed in all directions, raising a cloud of dust.

'…It's insane every time I see it.'

The idea of ascending with their entire sect in a spatial artifact, bringing them to the Bright Cold Realm, is almost unbelievable.

Koong!

As I stood dumbfoundedly watching this spectacle with Chief Oh, who is still in the flying chariot and struggling to grasp the situation, Azure Tiger Saint descended from the sky in front of us.

"Now that both of you are disciples of Azure Heaven Creation Sect, I will inform you of the place where you will reside from now on."

Thus, on that day in the Bright Cold Realm's Azure Cold Island,

My life in the Azure Heaven Creation Sect began.

After Azure Heaven Creation Sect sorted out the hierarchy with West Spirit Gate, they sent disciples to the surrounding factions to announce that as of that day, Azure Heaven Creation Sect had become the number 1 sect of Azure Cold Island.

Simultaneously, after officially registering the sect's territory with the help of Azure Cold Island's Administrator who manages the disputes in Azure Cold Island,

People of the Human Race Grand Alliance were invited to give extensive lectures on the Bright Cold Realm's language, geography, climate, culture, and astronomy.

Especially, the Bright Cold Realm's language and astronomy are essential elements for cultivation and had to be properly learned.

'So in the Bright Cold Realm, that is the Horn Star.'

In my previous life, surrounding races were conquered through the Wonderfully Mysterious Fortress, kidnapping and forcibly extracting information.

In this life, under Azure Heaven Creation Sect, I could systematically acquire information.

And, Chief Oh Hyun-seok, without understanding what was happening, also quickly learned the Bright Cold Realm's language.

It took about 6 months for Azure Heaven Creation Sect to completely settle and establish its position in Azure Cold Island.

"Hooooo…"

"You seem a bit better now."

"Yes. Thanks, Deputy Seo."

The last 6 months were incredibly busy.

Learning the Bright Cold Realm's language, reacquainting myself with the constellations of the Bright Cold Realm from scratch.

Not just that, settling in Azure Cold Island and completely reorganizing into Azure Heaven Creation Sect, being called here and there to become familiar with people.

'I was okay, but I wonder how Chief Oh felt.'

He must have been incredibly busy and confused, dropped into a strange place for the first time, learning a strange language, and becoming acquainted with strange people.

Over the past 6 months, we barely saw each other's faces, knowing only that the other was somewhere, as we had to constantly go here and there.

Recently, as the sect stabilized a bit and we had the chance to meet each other again, I was helping train Chief Oh's body.

"Moving the body helps clear the mind. Indeed, there's nothing like exercise to clear away idle thoughts. But Deputy Seo, I've only seen you groan at the office… You surprisingly look like a P.T (personal trainer) here, which is quite fascinating."

"Haha, thank you."

'What does P.T mean?'

Anyway, since it was clearly a compliment, I just smiled and accepted it.

"Chief Oh, you handle your body quite well."

I evaluated his movements while teaching basic recommended stances and techniques.

Certainly, he hasn't grasped the true essence of martial arts immediately with innate talent like Kim Young-hoon.

However, it's evident that he has considerable control over his body.

"Well, it's always been like this at the company. Even when going hiking with Director Kim Young-hoon, the female employees would faint halfway, and you and Section Chief Jeon would collapse exhausted. It was only Director Kim and I who always succeeded in reaching the summit. Hahaha!"

"It's probably because both of you have always been good at using your bodies."

As we talked, memories from the company began to sneak into my mind subtly.

There was a time when we went on a hiking workshop with Executive Director Jeon Myeong-cheol at the company.

Actually, Jeon Myeong-cheol only went up a little before veering off to a spring midway, and told the others to go to the summit and take proof. Kim Young-hoon and Chief Oh Hyun-seok were the only ones to climb to the top.

The female employees all fainted halfway and collapsed sitting on a bench, and only I and Section Chief Jeon somehow managed to continue. Unfortunately, we ended up just sitting down in front of the steep mountain path.

'Looking back at that time...'

While Kim Young-hoon climbed the mountain without wasting energy, sensibly managing his stamina, Chief Oh Hyun-seok showed a stamina that didn't run out no matter how much he used, all the way to the end.

'He always had a body like a monster...'

I reminisced about the distant past as I watched Chief Oh Hyun-seok, having finished his physical training.

Just then.

Wo-woong!

From afar, a blue light quickly flew and landed before us.

As the lump of blue brilliance subsided, a figure walked out from within.

A towering figure, about eight feet tall (2.4 meters).

Walking around shirtless, his abs are sharply defined as if carved by a knife.

It's Azure Tiger Saint.

"I've seen the master."

"I-I greet the master."

Still unfamiliar with the language and manners of this world, Oh Hyun-seok stuttered his respects.

However, Azure Tiger Saint, with a carefree laugh, indicated that such formalities were unnecessary.

"I have no need for such tiresome formalities. My coming here is because as Azure Heaven Creation Sect is well settled in Azure Cold Island and you both have become fluent in the Bright Cold Realm's language, it seems about time to start learning 

"I thank the master."

"Ah, yes… Th-thank you."

Chief Oh Hyun-seok still seemed to have a hard time grasping the concept of cultivation methods.

Confused, he followed my lead and expressed his thanks.

"Before I start teaching the methods, let's properly conduct a test to determine your aptitudes."

Azure Tiger Saint spoke, his muscles twitching noticeably.

Excluding the first day in the Bright Cold Realm when we first ascended,

Azure Tiger Saint almost always went around shirtless.

I think he said it's manly.

"Primarily, most of the methods of our Azure Heaven Creation Sect are specialized in combat. Though we've acquired some different cultivation methods after taking over West Spirit Gate, they aren't the mainstream.

Oh Hyun-seok, you possess the legendary physique known as the Unique Holy Body, and Seo Eun-hyun, you... I don't know what it is exactly, but you managed to ascend on your own. Both are worthy to be my direct disciples."

I feel an ominous premonition.

"In a nutshell, as my direct disciples, you won't need the methods obtained from West Spirit Gate, but will learn our own secret methods. But first, to understand what to focus on and how to instruct you, let's have a simple test today."

"…May I ask what this 'simple test' entails?"

Feeling a sense of foreboding, I cautiously asked him.

And Azure Tiger Saint, with a sly grin, raised his fist.

How can his one fist be as big as my head?

"With an all-day free sparring with me of course. Come, both of you. I'll try to adjust my strength to the Qi Refining stage."

"What does that-"

Before Chief Oh could fully comprehend,

Bang!

Azure Tiger Saint's fist, as big as a head, strikes Chief Oh's abdomen.

Chief Oh's eyes roll back as he's sent flying far away.

Whizz!

The next moment, a red line targets my abdomen.

I hastily evade Azure Tiger Saint's punch by reading his intent.

Azure Tiger Saint's fist punches a huge rock behind me where I had just been standing.

Crash!

The rock the size of a yard shatters into pieces from the impact.

I briefly fall silent, before asking Azure Tiger Saint.

"…Didn't you say you would adjust to the Qi Refining stage?"

"Hmm? When I was at Qi Refining, I used to fight like this."

"..."

That was clearly a Qi Building level strike.

I involuntarily have a new admiration for Azure Tiger Saint's monstrous strength before taking my stance.

'I guess martial arts are out of the question.'

Not knowing where the line is drawn for the Heart Tribe and how human cultivators identify members of the Heart Tribe, it's best to be cautious.

But.

'Still, just 'moving my body' should be fine…'

Without using Formless Sword or Gang Sphere, purely relying on my consciousness to read and dodge the opponent's attacks should be fine.

"Haha, nonetheless, to dodge my strike. Indeed, you seem promising. Now… shall we continue?"

Boom!

As Azure Tiger Saint stomped, blue light emerged from beneath his feet and flowed into Chief Oh Hyun-seok, who was lying unconscious and bleeding in the distance.

'Is he going to keep healing and training us even if our bodies are completely destroyed?'

What kind of insane training method is this?

'No, it's not even training yet. Just checking our aptitude...'

I swallow nervously.

Azure Tiger Saint's training method might be more cruel than I imagined.

"Alright then. Since I've got promising disciples, shall we have some fun?"

Boom!

Azure Tiger Saint laughs heartily and charges at me again.

Flash!

I dodge his punch by reading his intent.

At that moment.

Flash!

The trajectory of his intent shifts, becoming hard to discern.

Simultaneously.

Whoosh!

Azure Tiger Saint's fist narrowly misses me.

Had I made even a slight mistake, I would have been hit directly.

Seeing this, I gasp for air, and Azure Tiger Saint chuckles.

"Changing intent… This is, Three Flowers Gather at the Summit…!?"

"Oh? To 'see' and dodge that. Are you also at the Three Flowers Gather at the Summit?"

Thud! Boom!

Azure Tiger Saint clapped his fists together joyously, with blue energy rippling around him each time.

"…I didn't expect the master, the Founder of Azure Heaven Creation Sect, to have learned mortal techniques. Have you learned martial arts?"

"Hmm, I haven't exactly learned martial arts. It's just... my method itself is about training the body, so naturally, I end up fighting a lot with my body. After frequently fighting... at some point, I started seeing the opponent's intent visualized."

From Azure Tiger Saint's body, thousands of threads flow out.

Each is optimized for combat!

I sweat coldly, blocking those threads with my intent, dodging them all.

"And then, at some point while fighting, fighting, and fighting some more, I saw my intent and the opponent's intent mix together, turning purple. From that day, I could see the colors of other human emotions if I focused. Well, of course, I don't care about intents not related to combat, so I didn't delve deeper into the general emotions of intent..."

Boom, boom, boom!

Azure Tiger Saint's fists filled all four directions in front of me.

"I found the state that mortals call Three Flowers Gather at the Summit quite useful in combat! Ha ha, it seems you've also reached Three Flowers Gather at the Summit! Good, let's have some fun!"

Azure Tiger Saint, with an even more excited expression, pushes harder, infusing more strength into his fists towards me.

'After all, Three Flowers Gather at the Summit often blooms in the midst of extreme real combat...'

Hence Azure Tiger Saint, who frequently engages in physical combat, reaching Three Flowers Gather at the Summit isn't surprising.

'But now…'

I dodge his punches while feeling genuinely exhilarated for the first time in a while.

'How long has it been since I've fought and measured moves with someone through intent?'

Things I couldn't even attempt if it wasn't Kim Young-hoon.

Ordinary martial artists couldn't match me in pure force, so they weren't considered opponents.

However, here is an opponent with whom I could match moves somewhat and who is far beyond me in terms of pure strength.

'Shall we have fun for a change?'

I smirk, exchanging intents with Azure Tiger Saint.

Blue and red threads intertwine in the air, turning into purple.

Each other's movements and actions become predictable.

A line extending from Azure Tiger Saint targets my forehead.

A blow that can shatter my skull.

I slightly tilt my head to dodge his fist, then shoot my intent towards his legs.

Azure Tiger Saint, in turn, kicks towards me, but my intent was a feint.

I grab Azure Tiger Saint's arm, still not retracted from his punch, and smoothly redirect the force of his punch with fluid motion.

Bang!

"...Huh?"

I stimulated part of the force in his punch, changing its direction.

The redirected force inside Azure Tiger Saint's arm collided, causing him to be slightly shocked by his own force.

"Oho…"

Azure Tiger Saint's eyes sparkle with interest.

Chi...

A slight shock entered Azure Tiger Saint's arm, which was then covered in blue light.

"...Very good. Excellent... Shall we continue?"

Tadatt!

Azure Tiger Saint charges at me again.

The attack aimed at my knee is dodged by twisting half a step, and I counterattack at the ribs.

The movement trying to step on my foot is evaded by stepping back half a step, then I counterattack at the pelvis.

His punch aiming at my head is dodged by slightly turning my head, then I strike his upper arm three times in retaliation.

The attack with the elbow coming down is dodged by entering his embrace, then I strike down at the collarbone in retaliation.

The movement trying to enclose me by grabbing my arm is met with a strike at the solar plexus, then I escape downwards.

Immediately, seven red intents aim at me.

Each targeting my lower body, anticipating my dodges.

But instead, I charge forward, connecting 14 red lines aiming towards Azure Tiger Saint's vital points.

Boom, boom, boom!

Azure Tiger Saint doesn't bother protecting his vitals and attacks me.

However, I dodge all seven attacks with flowing steps, as planned, and strike all of Azure Tiger Saint's vital points.

Yet.

'Why am I the one hurt when I'm the one who attacked?'

I chuckle hollowly, looking at my bruised fists.

'He's shirtless but it's like hitting diamond instead of flesh…'

In the pure realm of martial arts, I overpower Azure Tiger Saint. However, in terms of pure strength, we are in entirely different weight divisions.

He's just hard!

So ridiculously solid!

And the feeling that one punch from that fist can disintegrate my limbs.

It's a fighting style that enforces a bizarre illogic: You can hit me as many times as you want, but I only need to hit you once.

That is Azure Tiger Saint's way of fighting.

'If I use the Formless Sword, I can at least make an impact…'

As I'm contemplating this, Azure Tiger Saint smiles even wider, infusing more power into his fist.

Kugugugu!

"Sorry for holding back in our fight, disciple…"

The air around him vibrates.

"Now that I know your strength…"

Wo-woong!

Visible energy to the naked eye from the atmosphere flows into Azure Tiger Saint's body.

"Now, I'll fight you at the Qi Building stage!"

Boom!

With the speed comparable to a Core Formation cultivator's Flying Escape Technique, Azure Tiger Saint charges at me.

"This…!"

I narrowly dodge his fist.

Crash!

A small hill behind me is sent flying away from Azure Tiger Saint's punch.

I laugh helplessly.

"…Is that Qi Building level?"

"I fought like this at the Qi Building stage. Jin Byuk-ho, Heo Gwak, those guys as well. They all played around like this, it's not that strange, right?"

"…"

"Alright, then. Try catching this!"

Flash!

Azure Tiger Saint appears before me in a flash, raising his fist.

I swallow my laughter, reposition myself in that brief moment, and gather energy at my fingertips.

And then.

We collided.

Shhhh…

Azure Tiger Saint brushed off his hands, looking at his disciple.

"Alright, I've figured out how to teach you. Excellent. To think you've also reached the stage of Three Flowers Gather at the Summit, my disciple. If we just train your body to be a bit tougher, you'll make a fine sparring partner."

"…"

Seo Eun-hyun doesn't respond.

His eyes are rolled up with his right arm and entire right shoulder blown off.

"…Perhaps I was too harsh."

Wo-woong!

Azure Tiger Saint emits a blue light, patting Seo Eun-hyun's shoulder, helping his right arm regenerate.

While infusing life force into Seo Eun-hyun's body and healing him, Azure Tiger Saint looks at his fist.

"…"

From start to finish, Seo Eun-hyun sparred with Azure Tiger Saint barehanded.

Even though Azure Tiger Saint restricted his strength for the assessment, Seo Eun-hyun is initially someone he can crush with just his little toe.

'Hmm, this guy…'

Azure Tiger Saint, looking at Seo Eun-hyun who is still unconscious standing up, grins.

Drip, drip…

Blood is seeping out from a crack-like wound on Azure Tiger Saint's fist.

"Interesting. We clashed fist against fist..."

He pondered, looking at the slash-like wound.

'But isn't this almost like a sword wound?'

Chi...

Although the slash-like sword wound healed immediately as Azure Tiger Saint exerted force, he looked at Seo Eun-hyun with curious eyes.

'I only thought that child with the Unique Holy Body was interesting, but this guy might also possess a very unique quality...'

Grin.

Azure Tiger Saint smiles looking at Seo Eun-hyun.

"I wonder how much of a monster you'll become once you've mastered body refining methods."

Azure Tiger Saint chuckles and turns around, approaching Oh Hyun-seok who is just waking up.

"Now, let's continue assessing your other qualities."

"Just a mome-"

Kwaang!

In a corner of Azure Heaven Creation Sect.

In front of the residence of Seo Eun-hyun and Oh Hyun-seok, blue light continues to flicker.

"...Huff!"

'Is this the fifteenth death?'

I shiver, looking around for Seo Hweol, but fortunately, he isn't there.

"...Not dead."

"Hahaha, people don't die that easily."

Startled!

I shudder for a moment looking at Azure Tiger Saint.

But I sigh in relief looking around.

Fortunately, the place emitting a medicinal scent is the Azure Heaven Creation Sect's medicine hall.

"I've shown an unsightly side. My apologies, master."

"No, it's alright. Anyway, I've roughly figured out yours and Oh Hyun-seok's qualities. I also know how to teach you going forward. So, let's start practicing the methods from today."

Wo-woong!

Next to Azure Tiger Saint, a scroll-like storage artifact floats up.

The scroll unfurls, revealing its contents, and Azure Tiger Saint reaches into the scroll, pulling out a large stele.

Kuong!

The steele is densely written in the language of Byeokra.

"Here, this is the method you'll be learning from today."

The name of the method is Starlight Protective Void Body.