"He finished." The looming shadow that seemed to embody the meaning of titanic spoke out. Its voice wasn't particularly loud, but it reached into the depths of the soul and made one forced to listen to every syllable.
The two winged figures were awed, their bodies trembling with every passing moment as they looked onwards towards Wei Wuyin. The cleansing mist that engulfed his body, entangled him like serpents of the jungle, and primed to wash over him like a tsunami from all sides, had slinked away quietly and vanished.
Wei Wuyin was no longer under the lethal threat of the cleansing mist. In fact, the entire cleansing mist had vanished, retracted to their respective containers and sealed in accordance to an unfathomable law.
"Send him back." As if automated, the giant spoke the same words as it had done before during Wei Wuyin's First Calamity. It seemed to be entirely unsurprised and uncaring by Wei Wuyin's feats within the Calamity of Endless Regret, far unlike the two winged figures.
Its enormous body shimmered continuously like a far-off mirage and eventually vanished.. This left the two figures to stand side-by-side, their thoughts consumed by what they had just witnessed. They glanced at each other and saw the emotions reflected in their mental fluctuations and quivering wings.
"I…" The silver-winged figure wanted to speak out his inner thoughts but found the words elusive and difficult.
"I can't believe he found out this flaw within the level of Hell. To acquire awareness within the Regretful Heart Dimension and sever its connection with it." The crimson-winged figure was still in awe at the act. The Calamity of Endless Regret lasted one hundred and eight thousand years. This time period can only normally be circumvented by failure, being thoroughly cleansed and sent off to the River of Souls.
Yet Wei Wuyin had severed his connection with the Regretful Heart Dimension and overcame the Calamity!
They had no idea how he even achieved such a feat or what level of thought process was required to reach such a brazen and risky conclusion. The factors needed were beyond their comprehensive ability despite their statuses.
If Wei Wuyin heard this, however, he would be sent into a baffled shock. To clarify, he was wrong! He believed that by not experiencing the moment of regret in the Calamity meant breaking the cycle, that the system might be broken as a result of this after no longer being able to subject him to experience regret, no matter how long.
In simpler words, Wei Wuyin believed that his awareness in that peculiar world and exit from it was the same as telling the calamity that it could no longer bind him in regret. While that was true, it was also not the objective that was achieved. Instead, it was severing his connection with the Regretful Heart Dimension, so the cleansing mist could no longer affect him.
In some ways, this was very similar to what he wanted yet the profoundness and difficulty within it wasn't nearly the same.
"…I thought…I thought that when sent his entire self into the Regretful Heart Dimension, he was destined for death. Even if he survived, it'll only be because he left willingly at the last moment before being immersed in the aura of the Regretful Heart Dimension. Yet he severed the connection. I just can't understand this guy." The crimson-winged figure's mind had been utterly blown, and the things he'd seen were far greater than any mortal could imagine.
This was only because Wei Wuyin had subverted expectations and achieved a feat that shouldn't be possible with a Mortal Soul. While there have been Sinners, even those of the Bloodline of Sin, who've used this method to overcome the Calamity of Endless Regret, they were all beings with True Souls tempered by thousands, if not tens of thousands, of years.
Yet a Mortal Soul at younger than fifty years of age contained enough mental fortitude, willpower, and ingenuity to devise this method and go through with it. Furthermore, he had completed it in the fastest possible time since Hell's creation.
"Let's do this," the silver-winged figure finally found the words but he just said these three words. There was nothing else, and even his voice was filled with an apathetic tone. It seemed this existence no longer felt a need to comment further.
"…" The crimson-winged figure understood his companions' thoughts perfectly. With an amused tone, "You're curious how he deals with the Calamity of Blade and Fire, aren't you? I can see the rush in your eyes."
"…" The silver-winged figure didn't speak but those wings of his tensed slightly. With his thoughts exposed, he didn't do anything else but hold his hand out for the other.
With a chuckle, the crimson-winged figure reached out and their hands touched. They both emitted jet-black and bright-white light that effused out in harmony.
Wei Wuyin's consciousness was still a little blurry after he escaped the restrictions of the Regretful Heart Dimension. The loud and emotional exchange of words happening between his Astral Souls didn't help this either. But when he felt that familiar light engulf the world, immersing him in its radiance, he discovered that his soul's outer shell was recovering at remarkable speeds. In less than a moment, he had regained his full awareness without a hint of lacking.
Before he could inspect the radiant world, the light that was warm and peaceful yet also cold and chaotic seemed to shift his body an unimaginable distance, perhaps through worlds, dimensions, or even planes of existence. It just felt impossibly far.
He was welcomed by the seismic activity of the continent, the glaring light emitted from three Solar Stars, and an area filled with browning grey sand. He had returned to the Desolate Lands of the Four Extreme Continent. He didn't know if he had vanished or not, but he knew how much time had passed.
Unless centuries had passed, the alignment of the stars beyond the Sky Layer of the planet meant no time had gone by. At least, it was so insignificant, likely a few mediocre seconds, that he couldn't determine the exact passing.
However, when his Eye of Truth gleaned into the inevitable ruin of the starfield, the descent of the Star-Devourer, he was met with eleven days. "No time passed," he faintly whispered to himself.
"I did it." A moment passed before he spoke those three words.
"I did it," he repeated.
"WE DID IT! HAHAHAHAHA!" An overwhelming emotion overtook his heart and mind, filling him with an unimaginable amount of happiness. Since he regained himself over a decade ago, he was aware of this ticking clock that loomed over his life. It was the realization that he, a mere Mortal, had to survive the Calamity of Hell! An act that even those at the Realm of Sages, a level of cultivation or existence that he still couldn't even glimpse at, would often fail!
When he overcame the first Calamity, he felt as if he knew with certainty that the next one would be the end of him. This was because the First Calamity was so difficult that if he experienced it himself, he was absolutely certain of his failure. If the First Calamity was this impossible, what about the second? The third? The eighteenth?
Wei Wuyin had felt such despair that he suppressed the thoughts and tried to live his life as if every day was chasing closer to an inevitable end. If it wasn't for him witnessing that Evil Cultivator's unrelenting struggle before the Mortal Star Formation Tribulation using any and all means available to him, who knows if he would've regained hope for a future.
While on the surface Wei Wuyin had decided to fight with every last bit of time he had, to face this inevitable end with a confident mindset, but at the deepest corner of his heart, he knew that the chances of his survival were so ungodly low that there was essentially no hope. However, he strove forward regardless.
With his Astral Souls accompanying him and a firm Heart of Cultivation, he faced the upcoming Calamity as if he was facing an Astral Tribulation, like he was facing a challenging puzzle meant to be solved with his full means.
And he won.
He won.
HE WON!!!
Thud!
He dropped to his knees. All the built up emotions, all the fear that he kept hidden away, all of the anger and despair he felt with each passing moment, was brought to the surface as his silver eyes glistened with wetness. After so long, he cried. The liquid tears streaked across his face as he brightly smiled, laughing at the sky with clenched fists.
"AHHHHH!" With a vigorous and explosive shout, he roared to the world above! The relief of pushing out all of those emotions was so amazing that he felt a thousand times lighter. There was no longer a blade at his neck, no longer a mountain on his shoulder, or fear in his heart!
"We didn't just survive, we claimed victory!" Eden said these profound words, reaffirming Wei Wuyin's thoughts. This was reality, and he didn't just streak through by luck. He didn't just overcome this via a loophole. He didn't resist until the last moment with bitterness and struggle, but he discovered a way to overcome the Second Calamity and opened up an entirely new view of the world before him!
The Calamities might be terrifying to mortals, but they weren't impossible! He could do it! As a warrior, if you can make a person bleed, then they can be killed. And if the Calamities of Hell can be defeated through his thoughts, actions, and will, then it can always be defeated.
With no fear in his heart, he was welcomed by a renewed view of his future. Yes, his future! Because unlike before, Wei Wuyin now earnestly believed that he would see the next day. Just like a true warrior entering the battlefield, they never expect themselves to die, and they fight knowing they can survive! That they can claim victory! With an enemy that can be defeated by his hands before him, how can he fear it? What obstacle? What calamity?
And if this can be overcome, he no longer believed there was anything impossible!
Wei Wuyin kept heartily laughing for an entire hour. Only after all his emotions ran it course, that his happiness had settled down as he relaxed. With a calmer smile, he glanced at his right arm and slowly lifted up the sleeves. With every success of the Calamities, a bountiful infusion of Karmic Luck will be added to him.
He wondered how much he would achieve for the Second Calamity. After all, the first Calamity had given him 490.1 Karmic Luck Value. Until he met Yuan Longshi, his Karmic Luck Value hadn't experienced such a massive increase before.
First Calamity: Survived – 7/7.
Second Calamity: Claimed – 1/1.
Third Calamity: Suppressed – 49 Years.
His eyes were attracted to the second line first, seeing that he once more had 49 Years and that the Second Calamity hadn't said 'Survived' but 'Claimed'. He didn't understand what that meant, but the letterings had faint glints of gold within it. As for the 7/7 and 1/1, it might be the level of the Calamity that he overcame, either through survival or this claim.
After a brief moment of interest, he moved his focus to the other part of the Bloodline of Sin tattoo, the bit that stated his Karmic Luck Value. When he saw that row of numbers, Kratos forgot to beat!
Karmic Luck Value: 16,667.0.
