The decree didn't just scar the sky.
It scarred the hearts of every cultivator who saw it fall… and shatter.
> The heavens had declared war on a man.
And the man didn't kneel — he struck back.
---
In the following days, Cloudmist Sect was sealed to outsiders.
Kang Woo summoned all elders and the sect leader for a closed-door meeting that lasted three days.
When the doors opened, half the elders were pale.
One had wept.
And the Sect Leader? He knelt before Kang Woo… and asked to be a disciple again.
---
Rumors spread like wildfire across the continent.
"The heavens sent a decree to Kang Woo."
"He defied it."
"They will return."
Some sects wanted to distance themselves.
Others wanted to ally.
A few sent spies.
None returned.
But amidst the storm, Kang Woo remained calm.
---
He stood one evening before his students — both new and old — on the same cracked platform from twenty years ago.
His voice hadn't changed.
> "We have time. Not much. But enough."
"The Immortal World cannot interfere directly. They'll send a clone."
"In a hundred years."
"So we prepare."
> "Not to survive."
"To win."
---
The Start of Preparation
Year 1 to 5
Kang Woo established a special training branch within Cloudmist called the "Heaven-Piercing Pavilion", open only to disciples who had no backing but had shown raw potential.
He selected outcasts. Misfits. Orphans. Rogue bloodlines.
He gave them one rule:
> "Become strong enough to threaten heaven — or die trying."
He trained them personally for one hour a day.
The rest of the time, he focused on his own cultivation.
His strength was stable at Soul Formation. But that wasn't enough.
---
Year 6 to 10
He began visiting forgotten ruins, ancestral lands, and spirit tombs — not to seek treasures, but to learn.
He didn't rely on luck.
He studied laws. He hunted extinct beasts for marrow refinement.
He meditated under gravity formations and cursed waterfalls.
He didn't rush to ascend.
He built a foundation that couldn't be shaken.
And slowly, the world changed with him.
---
Immortal World — Watching From Afar
The clone formation circle was still in progress.
Crafting an avatar capable of defeating a man like Kang Woo required soul blood of ancient beasts, heavenly marrow, and divine law binding.
Time passed differently up there.
But not even the Immortal Emperor expected this:
> Kang Woo wasn't ascending.
He was digging deeper into the mortal realm.
Forming roots too strong to pull out.
---
Back in the Mortal World
Kang Woo visited the graves of his students once every month.
He didn't speak.
But the nearby flowers bloomed for days after.
> "It's not revenge anymore," he once told Hajin in passing.
"It's balance."
By the end of the 10th year, Kang Woo had:
Formed a powerful inner circle of misfit cultivators.
Perfected his 8th stage Great Core, on the verge of breaking through.
Created ties with other sects silently preparing for heaven's wrath.
Refused every offer of ascension.
And on his 10th year of preparation, he looked up at the stars and whispered:
> "I'm still mortal. But I know you're watching."
"Watch closely."
In the cold silence of the Immortal World, the clone-creation formation pulsed in ritual rhythm.
It spun with laws older than stars.
Each cycle forged a sliver of soul into a blade.
Each breath pulled divine essence into mortal-shaped armor.
But it wasn't complete.
> It wouldn't be for another ninety years.
Still, the Immortal Emperor was not patient.
---
"Send a Scout."
The order echoed across divine space.
> "A flicker only. No direct presence. Just a touch of perception. Enough to see what the beast is building."
And so… the first step was made.
A wisp of divine intent, thinner than air, rode the threads of karma.
It drifted downward like a dying star, invisible to all...
Except one.
---
Unbound Peak — Midnight
Kang Woo sat under the withered flame tree, eyes closed, his pulse syncing with the mountain's rhythm.
Then… he opened them.
> "You blinked."
He stared at empty air. Silent winds. Calm clouds.
But he felt it.
Something not of this world — watching.
He extended a finger.
And wrote a single character in the air with spiritual qi.
> 走
> "Leave."
The sky groaned.
The divine wisp shivered, like a worm flinching under a giant's gaze.
And then — it vanished.
---
In the Immortal Realm
A small shrine crumbled.
The scouting wisp shattered.
A divine monk collapsed, clutching his burned soul.
> "H-he… saw me…"
The hall fell silent again.
Then a whisper:
> "He forced divine will to retreat… without ascending?"
The Immortal Emperor narrowed his eyes.
> "Then we stop watching."
> "Next time, we touch."
---
Meanwhile, Back on Earth
The next morning, Kang Woo walked through the training grounds.
He looked at the young disciples sparring with practice blades, spirit beasts growling lazily in the fields, and elders teaching new formations in chalk and qi.
> "A heaven too proud to kneel… and mortals too dumb to run."
He smirked.
Then whispered under his breath:
> "This will be fun."