There was no way she could win. Even before obtaining Jizan, Jiseon was a martial artist of a high realm. Having obtained the Demon God, she possessed the power to shake the world, and killed Kraios, who was counted among the strong even among Masters. Shei, who couldn't even grasp her senses, was too big of a figure to face.
However.
Shei endured.
There were more than seven life-threatening crises. But Jiseon was also too heavily injured and exhausted. Jiseon made four mistakes, she overcame two crises with Cheonaeng, and Geomhu saved her life once.
It was only possible because coincidences, fateful encounters, and heavenly luck followed her. A single misstep by chance saved Shei's life, dust by chance covered Jiseon's eyes, and by chance drawing out Cheonaeng's power saved her life.
And when Jiseon held Shei with the earth and threw her body to deliver an absolutely unavoidable strike—
Geomhu blocked Jiseon's path.
Jiseon looked at the intruding Geomhu and shouted.
"Ecliptic Twelve Palaces...?! The Empire promised not to interfere!"
Geomhu silently observed Jiseon.
Apathetic eyes. There seemed to be no disturbance or interest in them. It was as if she had embodied a clear mirror and still water in her pupils.
But Shei knows. That Geomhu sees everything and feels everything.
That a quiet and calm water surface is actually where countless tremors merge into one.
Geomhu spoke, keeping Jiseon in her heart.
"Jiseon. You came here to die. By someone else's hand."
What does that mean? What did her master see through? Shei does not know. She was neither that politically astute nor did she have enough knowledge.
But she did know that her master knew something.
"...However, forcing someone who doesn't want to kill to commit murder. Goes against my precepts. That is more miserable than death."
Jiseon, enraged, charged at her.
"It is something I must do!"
Wielding Jizan, Jiseon was so valiant and powerful that it seemed she would crush Geomhu's body in an instant. Moreover, the earth-shaking tremors felt every time she swung Jizan indirectly showed just how massive a power she wielded.
Jiseon herself was an outstanding Earth Technique Master and Qi Master, and Jizan was a sword bearing the weight of the earth. The combination of the two was truly heaven-reaching. Having faced Jiseon directly, Shei etched that strength deep into her bones.
"Master, be careful!"
Jiseon, who had played with Shei like a toy.
Could not reach Cheonbangyeong, however.
Slow. Compared to Geomhu, both Jiseon and Jizan were painfully slow. The moment Jizan flickered, Geomhu's shoulder was already moving. Its trajectory brushed past without touching Geomhu's arms, legs, shoulders, or even the lapels of her clothes.
It was as if she was singing a song to a different rhythm alone. Even if a lifetime passed like this, Jiseon and Jizan would never be able to reach Geomhu.
It was a fresh realization, but Shei thought her master was truly befitting of the Maiden Palace Master. Because no matter how desperately Jiseon swung her arms, she couldn't reach Geomhu.
As Shei was watching, she suddenly locked eyes with Geomhu. Her master gave a slight glance as if telling her to watch. Only then did Shei realize.
'Ah, she is teaching me.'
While it would be the same for any other Qi Art, Cheonbangyeong especially required training to be the most important. It was a Qi Art that engraved and outputted responses to all attacks and movements into the body, making it even more so.
Shei was still only fighting roughly based on her past experiences, not actually wielding Cheonbangyeong. For the sake of such a Shei, Geomhu was directly facing Jiseon to show her.
Shei had been fighting Jiseon until just a moment ago. Jiseon's movements and attack methods were familiar to her eyes. The wounds and scratches on her body, as well as the sense of crisis over death, had heightened Shei's senses.
In such a situation, her master was personally bestowing a lesson.
A peerless fateful encounter and opportunity were converging upon Shei. At that moment, Shei was the luckiest, the one chosen by 'Destiny'. Shei felt instinctively that now was the chance.
That if it were now, she might comprehend Cheonbangyeong.
Then, Jiseon, who had stopped her offensive, gripped Jizan as if she had made up her mind. Shei felt the hair all over her body stand on end.
That stance was exactly the same as when she had killed Kraios just a while ago.
"Mother Earth Goddess, please forgive this lowly one's impiety!"
Jiseon offered a prayer of apology to the Earth Mother Goddess and struck down with Jizan. The Earth Mother Goddess responded to that blasphemous call by cutting off her own flesh.
The ground disappears. Soil and sand, grass roots and bugs, firmly packed rocks and water. All of it vanishes into nothingness, leaving only an abyssal darkness. As the Earth Mother Goddess turned away, the world plummeted.
Bottomless Pit.
A bottomless abyss. Jiseon could use the historical tragedy that once dried up an entire continent to kill a single human.
No human can survive without keeping their feet on the earth. The grace of the Earth Mother Goddess is an essential element of life. The Bottomless Pit is a fatal strike that deprives one of that.
Even Geomhu wouldn't be able to withstand the Demon God's ultimate move.
Before she could even realize that, Shei had already flung her body forward.
She accelerates by spewing out the space of Cheonaeng behind her. She was so fast that her vision was crushed, and the world looked like a momentary flash. However, even in that flashing instant, Shei stared clearly at Jiseon.
Jiseon also noticed the approaching anomaly. Jiseon stamped her foot heavily, using her Earth Technique to float dozens of boulders in the air. That alone was enough. If it was a speed she couldn't even handle herself, she would die a bloody mess just by crashing into the boulders.
The world turns into a flash. The boulders were no different. A brown flash approaching from beyond her vision. There was no time to grasp their shapes. There was no point in measuring the distance. A death shorter than an instant approached.
At the crossroads of death and life, Shei's instinct chose life.
Before she could understand and think with her head, her body moved. To avoid the brown flash flying towards her, Shei turned herself into a flash.
As a living being, avoiding death is the Heavenly Form. Shei engraved the Heavenly Form into her body. The world was dyed with light in an instant.
Thirteen boulders brushed past in an instant. Even that was far too few within the flash. Leaving all things behind, Shei arrived in front of Jiseon. She was so fast that even after arriving, she tumbled forward from her own momentum.
Putting all that momentum into Cheonaeng, Shei vomited all her strength towards Jiseon.
Jiseon didn't block it. She couldn't block it. In the split-second gap while offering a prayer and preparing the Bottomless Pit. Shei squeezed through that gap like a ray of light, and the relic called Cheonaeng contained all that excessive power and speed, piercing through Jiseon.
Sparks of blood and fire splattered. Shei felt a pain as if her body was being battered and gasped for breath. Her nerves burned as if on fire, but at the same time, it felt as refreshing as catching a breeze.
An endlessly slow lament reached her ears.
"How... tragic."
Jiseon, who had already experienced hundreds of battles and reached her limit fighting Kraios.
By fighting her, Shei transcended Gamgigong and engraved Cheonbangyeong into her body—a peerless Qi Art that brought her one step closer to Principle as a physical being.
"I should have... stained the Saintess's hands... with blood..."
And so, Shei became a hero.
The world does not flow simply.
She had killed Jiseon just the same, but the course of events flowed quite differently from the previous iterations. It was not the Saintess and the Celestial God, but a hero who descended from the sky like a miracle who defeated Jiseon and saved the Holy Land.
Geomhu's disciple and the hero chosen by the Saintess. Shei, chosen by Destiny, became a celebrity receiving cheers. People lined up to spar with her and to gain her friendship.
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After comprehending Cheonbangyeong, Shei's Qi Art advanced by leaps and bounds. Although not the strongest in the world, she was recognized as one of the rising stars. She sparred with disciples of other martial palaces and wandering Qi Masters, and each time she engraved new traces into Cheonbangyeong, gradually growing stronger.
[Shei. I will leave this to you as well. If the Celestial God holds the treasure of the Earth Mother Goddess, those who aim for the Celestial God will flock in.]
Especially after the Saintess of the Sky officially entrusted 'Jizan' to Shei. Her power reached a level that no one could ignore.
Although she couldn't draw out the ultimate of Earth Techniques like Jiseon, for some reason, Jizan responded to Shei's call. Even if it didn't permit the use of all its power, it allowed itself to be used like a weapon.
And with just that much, Shei was treated similarly to a Master.
"A treasure of the Celestial God in one hand, and a relic of the Earth Mother Goddess in the other!"
"Isn't that the same as wielding two Principles! It's the reincarnation of the Dual-Principle Sword!"
"Maybe she will become the next Gemini!"
"Hey now. What do you take the Ecliptic Twelve Palaces for! The Dual-Principle Sword has her own Principle. Compared to that, she doesn't even have a single Principle!"
Of course, there were also those who looked down on Shei. However, their voices were buried and lost amidst the countless cheers.
"There's Cheonbangyeong, you see. Look at the Maiden Palace Master."
"She has mastered Gamgigong to the pinnacle, and is the Pure White Deity who has never suffered a single wound while performing righteous deeds! She rose to the seat of Palace Master with just Cheonbangyeong alone, so that should rightfully be counted as a Principle too!"
"Then, is she a Triple-Principle Sword?"
The world cheered at the hero's appearance. Shei, who had obtained 'Destiny', had nothing to fear.
For the first time, Shei felt a shiver. The thrill of succeeding with her own power, which she hadn't experienced when she was the Saintess. The sensation of growing stronger. And the adoration of the people around her, including Geomhu.
It was like a drug, driving Shei even further. Shei worked harder, and with that momentum, she broke through blocked walls and became even stronger. She was even lucky; many times when she was stuck on something, she would gain enlightenment by sparring with visitors who came around that time.
[Shei.]
Armed with Jizan and Cheonaeng, Shei was powerful, and gained the strength to solve trivial problems on her own. She no longer needed to leave things to someone else. The tragedies she had witnessed in previous iterations, Shei could now solve them herself.
As she did so, she grew stronger, more famous, wealthier, and built relationships with more people.
['The end of Destiny is approaching. My dream ends here. It's pitch black and dark ahead, I've lost my way too.']
In the midst of endless success and achievement, for the first time, Shei.
Became 'arrogant'.
[...So even with this, you failed. However. This too will become a foundation for the future.]
Then one day.
A star tore through the sky and fell.