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**Rebirth Sword God Vol. 91 Chapter 5**

I stared at the choice window before me and pondered.

‘No way… I have no idea how big the repercussions will be if I change the past!’

After countless adventures during my rebirths, I knew the truth. Even the slightest difference in choices could result in drastically different situations unfolding later! In fact, the more inevitable that choice seemed, the more massive the changes became, making it impossible for a mere human to measure all those potential outcomes.

In the trials of this Outer God, the choice to [change] often came with a high probability of failure. Even if the Outer God claimed it wouldn’t matter, I wasn’t naive enough to take that at face value.

But…

“…”

Unintentionally, I found my gaze drifting to Miho, who stood behind me. In that brief moment when our eyes met, I felt a surge of emotions stirring within me.

It really was Miho.

The Miho from those days.

The one I couldn’t protect, who I had to watch die…

‘Ah…’

My stomach churned. Logically, I told myself to move past this since it was merely the past, but I already knew what would happen next. Miho would sacrifice herself to block the Wind Bullet, and I remembered in vivid detail her pitiful last moments as she died from that Wind Bullet.

…Was it really something I shouldn’t change?

Shouldn’t I change the past?

Just then, the choice window before me began to flicker and fade.

*Fizz… fizz…*

The outline and text grew dim and started to emit strange sounds as they disappeared.

“Ah!!”

I instinctively reached out toward [not to change], but in that moment, the choice window vanished.

‘What?! Was there a time limit on the choices…?!’

Just as I was bewildered, it happened.

“Die!!”

*Whoosh…!!*

A massive Wind Bullet, the size of dozens of sheets, shot directly towards me, and at the same moment, I sensed Miho leap forward to intercept the Wind Bullet. In that split second, I instinctively dashed toward the incoming bullet.

*Soul Removal Technique!*

*Boom!!*

“Ahh…!!”

“Oh no!!”

From behind, shouts that sounded like Miho, Great Monk Seo San, and Yu Jeong echoed. It made sense; I had chosen not to avoid the Wind Bullet and had recklessly charged into it. A massive explosion rang out, shaking the hall with the sound and vibrations.

*Rumble…*

“Ouch, my hand stings.”

Yet I emerged from the smoke, completely unharmed. I hadn’t even sustained a scratch.

“…”

“…?”

The group behind me, along with the one who launched the Wind Bullet, Cheon Woo-jin, looked shocked, eyes wide open in disbelief. Seeing me, unscathed, Cheon Woo-jin trembled and shouted.

“What the?! How could someone like you withstand my full-powered attack…!!”

“…”

I didn’t respond to Cheon Woo-jin’s words.

‘I just used the Protection Energy Technique…’

Normally, blocking an attack from someone as strong as Cheon Woo-jin with only the Protection Energy Technique would be impossible. A select few Peak Experts could manage it, but that was usually meant to prevent critical injury from their opponent’s power, and it certainly couldn’t withstand an opponent’s ultimate technique head-on. The exceptions were primarily the Master of the White Lotus Sect and the Dharma Guardian, as they had vast reserves of internal power, allowing them to achieve immense defensive might by expending their energy.

Rationally, I should have either blocked Cheon Woo-jin’s strike with Thunder God Lineage’s ultimate technique or avoided it altogether.

But I had merely amplified my internal power a bit and casually unfolded the Protection Energy Technique. It was just that, and yet Cheon Woo-jin’s attack felt no more severe than a slight sting, as if a balloon popped in front of my hand. In truth, I had only drawn out a fraction of my energy; had I concentrated a bit more, I likely wouldn’t have felt that bit of sting at all.

‘But… could it be that I somehow chose to change history? Because I failed to make the choice to not change in time…?’

Did that mean I had just made a choice that would lead to a loss against the Outer God?!

Anxious thoughts plagued my mind.

“Damn it… this is bad…”

Noticing my troubled expression, Cheon Woo-jin suddenly became smug, drawing upon his energy.

“Ha ha ha!! So you had a trump card, but now you have no moves left! You surprised me, kid…!!”

“…”

“See it? I can recover my infinite internal power with just a short rest!”

*Rumble…*

Cheon Woo-jin’s arms brimmed with immense energy again. Clearly, that power contained the extraordinary might of the Wind Spirit Sect, which could destroy an average martial artist with just a grazing blow. Cheon Woo-jin’s eyes gleamed ominously.

“This time, I’ll finish you for sure!”

What was that called again…?

‘Eh, who cares.’

Though I’ve learned a lot about the techniques of the Wind Spirit Sect over the years, I’ve forgotten much too. What does it matter what techniques Cheon Woo-jin uses?

“Finish me, you say?”

I shook my head, clenched my fists, and shouted.

“Honestly… I still can’t tell which way this is going, but since we’re here, I’ll settle old debts.”

Just standing around flustered felt wrong.

Seeing Cheon Woo-jin’s face was infuriating, and it was better to vent my frustrations.

Cheon Woo-jin sneered disdainfully at me.

“Ha ha… you think you can settle debts? You’re just lucky you managed to block one of my attacks, and now you’re getting cocky!”

“Is this how it’s done?”

*Swish!*

In the next moment, I summoned my Qi to craft a sword form and slowly took my stance, pointing it at Cheon Woo-jin, who looked startled and confused upon seeing my posture.

“Dancing Butterfly Technique’s form? How the hell do you know that…?”

That’s right. The stance I held was the ultimate technique known as the Dancing Butterfly Technique, which was passed down only among direct disciples of the Wind Spirit Sect!

‘I’ve learned it from the masters of the Wind Spirit Sect and actually have it in the materials passed down by the Divine Sage… but honestly, why explain it?’

The important part wasn’t the Dancing Butterfly Technique itself; it was that the sword form I had created was the Four Divine Sword Form’s Wind God Sword Form, allowing me to easily counter whatever essential technique Cheon Woo-jin would deploy. I had taken the time to practice such techniques while in the Training World.

But I had no reason to explain this to Cheon Woo-jin.

Let’s just smash him.

*Three Treasure Technique!*

Without further ado, I charged forward to strike Cheon Woo-jin. In just one step, I appeared right in front of him, and in my second step, I initiated the Dancing Butterfly Technique. With its dazzling movement reminiscent of a butterfly in flight, it was a technique that left opponents unable to retaliate, and Cheon Woo-jin was utterly taken aback by the sight of it unfolding right before him.

*Boom!!*

In an instant, Cheon Woo-jin’s hand, which was meant to defend against my strike, collided with the path of the Dancing Butterfly Technique, resulting in a thunderous explosion. Cheon Woo-jin believed his infinite internal power would easily push aside my technique, but at that moment, I couldn’t help but grin, rotating my body as I executed the last part of the Three Treasure Technique, showing him a clear opening.

*Ultimate Technique!*

*Dancing Butterfly Sixteen Moves!*

*Slash!*

I disregarded all of Cheon Woo-jin’s defenses and swiftly marked every part of his body.

“Ahhh!”

In no time, sixteen deep gashes appeared all over Cheon Woo-jin’s body as he screamed in pain, stepping back with a look of utter despair. He thought I was going to cleave him into pieces for aiming at his vital points, but to his surprise, I had merely grazed him, leaving only a scratch.

*Clink!*

Retracting the sword form made with my Qi, I wore a grin.

“If I had used the Transparent Butterfly Blade, you would have been dead by now.”

“…!!”

Well, technically, that was a technique used by the Throne’s Guardian, so I couldn’t use it, but I just wanted to say it for the thrill!

To be honest, I could have ended it with the Dancing Butterfly Sixteen Moves, but I let it slide, so this should suffice for a performance…

As I said that, to the astonishment of Cheon Woo-jin, I spoke.

“Are you going to use your famed Clone Technique? You might as well use all the techniques you want; it’ll save you regrets before you die.”

“You… you insolent brat…!! Ahhh!”

Cheon Woo-jin, realizing how utterly outmatched he was, finally drew upon his internal power and mass-produced clones.

*Swish!*

He created twelve clones, eyes gleaming with fury.

“I don’t know how you can use our Wind Spirit techniques, but now that I’m serious, your life is forfeit!!”

“Hrmm!!”

“Die!”

*Wham!*

Watching the twelve clones rush toward me, I couldn’t help but chuckle.

‘This… looks so ridiculous…!!’

I ended up shouting from the depths of my heart.

“You really are an absolute joke!!”

“What…?!”

*Crash!*

Moments later, Cheon Woo-jin’s clones charged at me. The countless strikes and attacks landed, but I simply stood still, arms crossed, taking it all in.

There’s no need to dodge this!

*Boom!*

*Crash!*

Cheon Woo-jin and his clones relentlessly pounded me for over a minute, yet not a single hair on my body was harmed as I stood there with my arms crossed, leaving Cheon Woo-jin in utter shock as he slowly backed away.

“Ah… no?!”

“…”

“The legendary… Golden Hall’s invincible…”

Stuttering, Cheon Woo-jin panicked as I berated him.

“Wrong! You dumbass!! I just used the Protection Energy Technique!!”

“…?!”

It was obvious. Cheon Woo-jin, claiming to have [infinite] internal power, was indeed higher than me, but my internal power was also close to boundless. And since he was still human, he had a limit to the amount of energy he could draw out at once, whereas, through extensive training and experience, my output and explosive potential exceeded Cheon Woo-jin’s by at least several times. Additionally, since I could use intent, minimizing the opponent’s strength at the moment of impact was easy as pie.

In simpler terms, no matter how hard Cheon Woo-jin tried, it was impossbile for him to land even a clean hit against my Protection Energy Technique! As long as I didn’t deliberately let him hit me, I could take him down with a yawn.

Of course, if it were the Master of the White Lotus Sect hitting me that way, I’d probably have to block or dodge, but frankly, the difference in levels between Cheon Woo-jin and the Master of the White Lotus Sect was too vast to even compare.

‘What the hell is going on…?’

I was utterly shocked by how weak Cheon Woo-jin turned out to be. To be honest, I didn’t even use any of my true abilities, like the Trimurti, Heuk Woong, Divine Power, Kabbalah, techniques from the Celestial Realm, treasures, Four Great Spirit Deities, or martial arts from the Divine Realm; I just fought him using typical human martial arts, yet Cheon Woo-jin was absurdly weak.

‘Did I really get thoroughly beaten by this pathetic guy…?’

During my rebirths, I had fought against Cheon Woo-jin and experienced the gradual improvement of my abilities firsthand. But since I was always surrounded by powerful individuals, I never truly felt the change; now, facing Cheon Woo-jin head-on, I realized just how strong I had become.

I was far too strong.

In fact, I had become way too powerful.

“Taking this seriously feels foolish.”

Sighing, I absentmindedly pulled a handful of my hair and exhaled.

*Swish!*

In that instant, over thirty-six clones appeared. This Clone Technique taught to me by Subori was on a whole different level compared to Cheon Woo-jin’s inferior clones. I addressed my clones.

“Take him down. No need to kill.”

The clones stared at me as if I were speaking nonsense and replied.

“No way.”

“You handle it.”

“Why do we have to do it?”

Wow… these guys were even more annoying than Cheon Woo-jin!

I tried to coax them gently.

“Honestly, don’t you think it’d feel good to take him down?”

“Hrmm…”

“Well, that’s true.”

As the clones pondered, Cheon Woo-jin yelled angrily, charging at one of them.

“No matter how strong you are, clones are always weaker than the main body! You underestimated me!”

*Wham!*

That moment, as Cheon Woo-jin poured his full force into the attack, the ground trembled, and the loud noise echoed, but my clone momentarily glowed brightly and swiftly executed the Soul Removal Technique to sneak behind Cheon Woo-jin, launching a Thunder God Lineage kick.

*Boom!*

“Gah!!”

Cheon Woo-jin was struck properly from behind, spewing blood, and as he flew forward, my clone used Light Body Technique to follow him, raining down kicks using the Thunder God lineage kicking techniques.

*Swish!*

*Boom!*

Even though Cheon Woo-jin attempted to counter my attacks, my clones were clearly superior in technique, and he was getting battered in mid-air. For every ten hits Cheon Woo-jin landed, I saw my clone get hit only once. As it turned out, each of those hits was merely glancing blows. Watching that unfold, I thought.

‘Hmm… allowing a counter from Cheon Woo-jin? He must be weaker than I imagined.’

It was probably because he couldn’t use the techniques from the Divine Realm, right? If it were martial arts from the Divine Realm, he wouldn’t have allowed any counterattack.

“Sorry for being weaker than the main body! But I’m still stronger than you…”

Seeing the marks on Cheon Woo-jin’s face increase and his body starting to tremble, my clone landed a final strong slap to his cheek.

“Don’t mess with us!”

“Run!”

“You cocky bastard.”

*Boom!*

Moments later, Cheon Woo-jin was beaten to a pulp by thirty-six combined attacks; he couldn’t utter a word as he lay there, blood-soaked and unconscious. After subduing Cheon Woo-jin, I retracted my clones and mused.

‘Seriously? To think he’d be weaker than my clones…’

Of course, I had weakened him beforehand, but still, I never expected even a single clone wouldn’t be able to handle him. Subori’s Clone Technique was extraordinary, but Cheon Woo-jin was largely meaningless as an opponent.

I felt a rush of joy from playing around with Cheon Woo-jin this way.

Then, I clenched my fists tightly.

‘Yeah… I thought of taking revenge on Cheon Woo-jin in my next life, but it felt meaningless, so I hesitated… but maybe this moment is what truly matters.’

If I tried to take revenge on someone who knew nothing, a part of my heart would always feel empty.

Overcoming that emptiness and delivering a proper payback might have been my first time.

As I felt the thrill of true revenge, my hands trembled with excitement.

*Smack!*

I slapped Cheon Woo-jin’s face to wake him up and said.

“Cheon Woo-jin. Do you want to live?”

“Huh… Ugh… Yes… Please… spare me… I didn’t recognize you…”

Cheon Woo-jin, now somewhat aware of the situation, began to weep and plead to me. It seemed he finally acknowledged he could never win against me, even if he died. I smiled and replied.

“I’ll let you live. But I don’t know about Miho.”

“What…? Huh!”

*Thump!*

The moment I struck Cheon Woo-jin’s Dantian, he writhed in agony. While breaking his Dantian would only result in temporary incapacity, he became a powerless person unable to use his internal power for a while. As I presented the fallen Cheon Woo-jin to Miho, she quickly understood what was happening and sharpened her nails, preparing to dig into Cheon Woo-jin’s insides.

*Thud…!!*

“Graaah!”

Soon after, Cheon Woo-jin was ripped apart while still alive, his entrails exposed. Miho held one of his organs in her hand, laughing gleefully.

“Haha! How have you become so strong? You’re like a heavenly spirit now.”

“A heavenly spirit…”

That might not be entirely wrong.

Given my will, I could indeed wield power akin to that of a heavenly spirit in this world.

As I lingered on that thought, I turned to Miho and said.

“Miho, would you like to be with me?”

Miho seemed surprised by my words, blinking for a moment before responding.

“Of course! Why wouldn’t I?”

“Miho…”

I love Miho.

If history flows as it is… I will be with Miho, and we will rise as the victors of the world, leading a happy life.

Happiness seemed just in front of me, within reach.

“…”

I hesitated for a moment, then after a long silence, slowly opened my mouth.

“…But I won’t change anything.”

***

*Boom!*

In the next moment, I found myself sitting in front of a Go board.

In front of me sat the coldly expressionless Outer God Al Karda, and for the first time, his gaze shifted from the Go board to me.

After a brief moment, Al Karda spoke.

“Did you doubt the world flowing conveniently for you?”

“…”

Just as I thought…

I clenched my lips tightly, glaring at Al Karda.

“So you were trying to deceive me, making it seem like the choice had already failed… manipulating me into complying with the option to change the past.”

“But you didn’t fall for it.”

*Tap!*

As Al Karda replied, he resumed his move on the board, and I felt that strange sensation of history being replayed in my mind again. Thankfully, it seemed that nothing had changed, as I didn’t sense any adverse reactions.

I addressed Al Karda.

“Why are you deceiving me? That’s not a fair match!”

“Nothing in the world is truly fair. Haven’t you sensed that truth before?”

“But this is…!!”

Realizing the futility in raising my voice, I spat out my words.

“…Well, I’ve seen enough illusions, so getting fooled a few times is nothing new. To think the Outer God would resort to such pathetic tricks.”

“It’s not an illusion.”

“Are you saying it was real?”

“Correct. You truly wielded power in that past. It simply wasn’t reflected in history.”

“…”

Is that even possible?

So, I really just came back from beating Cheon Woo-jin?

As I pondered that, Al Karda continued.

“Didn’t it feel good?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Using overwhelming power to ravage a mere mortal like you cannot imagine… how does it genuinely feel?”

“…”

“Perhaps now you understand a little about those you refer to as the [Old Rulers].”

“What are you trying to imply?”

A prolonged silence fell between us.

“Make your next move.”

Al Karda turned his gaze back toward the Go board, his expression devoid of emotion.

“I just want to see what truly exists within you.”

As soon as Al Karda finished speaking, I made my move.

I no longer wanted to hesitate.

‘I want to end this ridiculous match… fast!’

If it drags on too long, my mental strength will deplete!

*Tap!*

The moment I placed my stone down, I felt the surrounding scenery shift.

***

[You have devised a cunning plan.]

The vision of the Heavenly Mysterious Woman of Nine Heavens appeared before me.

Standing beside her were Cheon Gong-pyo, Celestial Sage, and Zhuge Bu.

Seeing that spectacle, I instantly realized what time it was.

‘The Trial of the Seven Luminaries…’

The final trial, the one of the Sun (日曜).