1037——————==

True Martial Home

When I handed the piece of string to the Rainbow Snake, its avatar, the girl spirit, suddenly slipped the string onto both her hands. I wondered what she was up to, but soon it became apparent as she started forming shapes with her hands.

“Is that… cat’s cradle?”

The string was thick, making cat’s cradle tricky, but her string was so thin and shabby that it seemed doable. The Rainbow Snake, playing around with it for a bit, chuckled.

[Isn’t it fun?]

“I’m not really good at cat’s cradle….”

[Like this.]

The Rainbow Snake flared her arms wide, and a square shape appeared between the string.

[Looks like a little eye, doesn’t it?]

“……”

Uhh, what do you want me to do with that?

I was baffled, but then I was utterly shocked by what happened next.

Swish!!

“……!!”

An eerie light erupted from the empty space of cat’s cradle, and as it shone down to the ground, something sprouted up at an astonishing speed, like beans growing. It didn’t stop growing, getting bigger until it reached human size.

Thud

Once it took on a fully formed human shape, chunks of dirt just peeled off its body like a shell, revealing a person.

“What the heck is this…?”

[That has only formed a shape. It won’t breathe.]

“And if it breathes?”

[Then it becomes the living being I desire.]

“…So that string has the ability to create a human!”

I exclaimed in surprise, prompting the Rainbow Snake to give a strange smile.

[Why must it be human? This string can create all forms of life. It was made for that purpose from the very start.]

All life!

The implication was absolutely colossal.

‘I’ve seen many treasures and divine artifacts, but there hasn’t been anything that can create life itself!’

Using the Crystal Stele or Philosopher’s Stone could achieve something similar, but it required a top-level sorcerer and advanced sorcery. Those had a significant failure rate too, plus creating anything other than humanoid life was a tall order. Yet, this string could effortlessly create all forms of life!

I asked the Rainbow Snake, “So, was that string originally owned by the Creation God Pangu? Can a human like me use it to create life?”

[Haven’t we already concluded our deal? I find it quite unpleasant that you’re daring to ask that question.]

“……”

[However, since my avatar has taken a liking to you, I’ll let you in on a special detail. Such generosity is rare….]

The Rainbow Snake wrapped the string around her hand and continued.

[It was not Pangu who made this. It was Nüwa.]

“…What?”

I was taken aback as Nüwa’s name unexpectedly popped up. The Rainbow Snake’s explanation continued.

[And you, a mortal, cannot use this to create life. Does that explain it?]

“Why can’t I create it?”

[How much do you understand about life? What can you truly say life is?]

“…I don’t know.”

[The gods of chaos can manipulate life like a toy and understand it fully, so they can use this to create new races freely. But you mortals only grasp the surface of metaphysics; you won’t be able to use it properly.]

Saying this, the Rainbow Snake added,

[You made a good trade. You’ve utilized the pearls from the pig neck well.]

“……”

I scratched my head. It was great to gain unexpected info, but what did it even mean?

‘Even if you give me small bits of information, I need to figure things out further.’

Thinking this, I decided to ask one more question.

“I offered the ‘egg’ from Golden Crow Island and received the Law of Cause and Effect of incense as well as that string in return. It seems Pangu gave that string as a high price for an offer, but… why does Pangu possess Nüwa’s string?”

[Egg?]

“Yeah. It was secretly kept by the Golden Crow Island leader….”

The Rainbow Snake stared intently at me for a while until she finally replied.

[Then, perhaps that may not be Nüwa’s after all.]

“What do you mean?”

[In the universe, there’s one other being besides Nüwa who might have the same thing. Pangu might have safeguarded what that being had.]

Muttering that, the Rainbow Snake said,

[Now get outta here. Your curiosity is becoming quite annoying.]

“Wait a minute….”

Boom!!

Suddenly, I snapped back to reality. I hurriedly looked for the Spirit of Death nearby, but it was already gone.

‘Damn! Did I get kicked out? Still, one more time….’

I racked my brain and chanted a charm while dancing around.

“Am lu-chuta heulta… ra mun-da ot-si-ra….”

The ritual and dance for calling the Spirit of Death!

I’m gonna beg to meet her again using this!

But despite performing the rite, the Spirit of Death did not appear. As I kept chanting and dancing, she finally showed up in front of me with a huff, crossing her arms.

[Take it easy…. I won’t meet you.]

Swish

As soon as she finished saying that, the Spirit of Death vanished.

“……”

I realized that continuing was pointless. I licked my lips and contemplated.

‘Hmm. It could belong to Nüwa but also not… If that’s the case, there’s plenty of possibilities to obtain the string from the next life.’

Anyway, I had also recovered the Heavenly Secret and gained something in my own way.

“Shall we head back?”

I cheerfully utilized the golden lamp to return via the orbital elevator. After returning, I waited in the command center for about five hours until all the martial arts tactical agents dispatched from everywhere came back, returning with the sorcerer squad. Professor Sima Ling was managing electronic equipment in the command center, computing something in her head, then shouted.

“Your Majesty! The tectonic control rate has reached 97.9 percent!”

“Is there no more concern about volcanic activity?”

“There will be some minor aftereffects, but we have completely prevented major natural disasters. Continuing to use the treasures would now be a waste.”

As I was listening to the report, Sagong Lin slowly opened her eyes from their earlier closure.

“Great. The operation concludes here.”

Boom!

As soon as Sagong Lin opened her eyes, the golden shield covering the entire planet vanished cleanly, and it felt like the time and space freeze had lifted. Sagong Lin stood up and said to me,

“Baek Woong, thank you. Thanks to you, we could drive the reptilians out of this world and maintain peace.”

“Seems you overworked yourself; are you okay?”

“I think I need to rest for a while.”

Sagong Lin’s following words caught me slightly off guard.

“Since it turned out this way, will you become Emperor of the Great Bear Empire for me again?”

“Huh…?!”

I was surprised by the unexpected statement, but I quickly shook my head.

“No way. I don’t want to deal with that hassle again.”

Seriously, being an emperor was only fun because I could eat whatever I wanted! Things aren’t much different these days either.

Sagong Lin softly smiled.

“Hehehe… You’re just like you were 500 years ago.”

“You’re just trying to pass your duties onto me because it’s a hassle for you.”

“Caught me.”

With a joyful smile adorning her face, Sagong Lin continued,

“Then let’s head down to Luoyang now….”

Together, we headed back to Luoyang. As for whether the operation worked, news that volcanoes erupted from various places around the world surfaced, but it concluded with reports of minimal damage.

In a secluded spot, I told Sagong Lin about retrieving the Heavenly Secret, and she listened quietly before speaking.

“Since Jin So-cheong took the Heavenly Secret and left behind two clues… he might have left another clue as well.”

“Another clue? What could that be?”

Sagong Lin’s expression turned contemplative. She looked almost like a painting, which made me suddenly realize again how stunning she was. However, I wasn’t as flustered as when I saw Miho.

“They said only Chi You could kill the emperor.”

“That’s what they said.”

“Thus, the premise is that the emperor must be killed. Why should the emperor be killed?”

“Hmm….”

I hadn’t considered that far. As I tilted my head, Sagong Lin calmly stated.

“Because he’s alive, he must be killed.”

“What?!”

“It’s speculated that the evil god’s last curse annihilated the Three Sovereigns, but the emperor still lives. If that’s not the case, Jin So-cheong wouldn’t have bothered to send that clue. There’s no need to kill the dead again.”

“Could it be, like that?”

“It’s likely. Moreover, that means…. You must kill the emperor for your rebirth journey to be shortened.”

That might very well be the case. I felt glad that I consulted with Sagong Lin when she said,

“Baek Woong. Please wait for a few months. Soon the Galactic Tribe Alliance will send some new technology, and I want to test something with it.”

“Got it. I’ll keep practicing the Immortal Sword Technique until then.”

“Ah, but before that, please visit Professor Sima Ling.”

Before returning to the training hall, I headed to where Professor Sima Ling awaited. She opened a secret space behind the director’s office and handed me a platinum box containing a pair of earrings.

“This is an artificial treasure specially crafted for you by the Great Bear Empire, Your Majesty.”

“Ooh.”

I must have mentioned it offhand previously, and this was prepared in the meantime. As I examined the earrings with interest, she went on,

“The name of this artificial treasure is the Yellow Dragon Demon God. It’s more powerful than any other artificial treasures we’ve made thus far. Just call its name, and it will automatically attach, so please make use of it wisely….”

“But, in battles beyond the Absolute Realm, this is actually considered otherworldly. Given that both sides have immense attack power, the equipment might not provide much help.”

“The Yellow Dragon Demon God does not only possess defensive ability. There’s also a manual included, so please look at that later.”

“Understood.”

Boom

I returned to the training hall. As I was swinging my sword, drawing circles just as Yeodong-bin had told me, I realized that a lot had happened in a short time, but I truly couldn’t move forward without properly mastering the Immortal Sword Technique.

‘I need to master the Immortal Sword Technique like Yeodong-bin to further empower myself…. Only then can I reach the Divine Realm and effectively utilize the power to eliminate the gods!’

Boom boom

Every day, I swung my sword while drawing circles. I thought and thought while going in circles.

‘Why is the aspect of being round related to the Law of Cause and Effect?’

What does being round symbolize in this world?

Yeodong-bin advised me not to seek opinions from others and to cultivate alone. Asking a clever person would easily provide an answer, but such superficial understanding would never get me closer to the essence of the Immortal Sword Technique. I decided to accept Yeodong-bin’s words and continue pondering on my own.

‘A circle is just a circle…. Hmm….’

But the more I thought about it, the more I felt like asking, “So what?” Drawing circles with my sword and contemplating the relation to the Law of Cause and Effect made no sense! I sometimes stopped drawing circles, sat cross-legged, and pondered endlessly, but I couldn’t break through.

During this time, I decided to define what the Law of Cause and Effect was.

‘If there’s a beginning, there’s an end… right? If there’s a reason, there’s a result….’

I swung my sword absently, finding no sharp thoughts.

Thinking maybe it wasn’t enough effort, I decided to draw at least 20,000 circles a day.

How much time passed?

Creak!!

While training in a trance, I reached a level in the Heavenly Thunder Divine Art that allowed a huge Thunder Light Sphere to dance around in my body. With this level, I felt that the amount of Thunder Soul had increased significantly, and I could reliably unfold the Nine Chambers of Thunder Technique’s scroll.

Lee Seol-pyo, witnessing my achievement, remarked with admiration,

“Wow… truly impressive…. Such incredible talent.”

“…Lee Seol-pyo. I have a question.”

“What is it?”

“If the sphere gets bigger, I might not be able to move it inside me. What then should I train?”

“I can’t say anything for sure since I haven’t reached that level, but… wouldn’t you need to create even more spheres to move them?”

“Create more?”

“If you want to establish a flow throughout your entire body, that’s the only way….”

That sounded like an immense undertaking. If the existing sphere was already large and I needed to create a new Thunder Energy Sphere to grow, wouldn’t it require several times the effort? I sighed, realizing I still had plenty of training ahead.

And as time flowed on, another two months passed.

I kept drawing circles for thousands of times each day when I suddenly had an epiphany.

‘Oh… come to think of it, does a circle have both a beginning and an end?’

Swish

I drew a single circle. As I meticulously traced it, I realized it starts and ends at the same point.

“……!!”

Oh, I get it!

‘If a circle is round, there’s no beginning or end!!’

If so, isn’t the “cause” and “effect” spoken of in the Law of Cause and Effect actually interconnected rather than separated?! I couldn’t express it well, but it felt like a profound revelation, and in a sudden burst of joy, I shouted,

“A circle is… round!!!!”

Tydaht

Upon hearing my Lion’s Roar, Zhu Xian rushed over looking flustered.

“Your Majesty!! What’s wrong?!”

Feeling the urge to share my realization, I grabbed Zhu Xian by the shoulders and shook him.

“A circle is round!! I’m telling you, round!”

“Yes, that’s true! A circle is round!”

“So, then it’s round… Hmm… A circle is round!!”

Zhu Xian looked at me, bewildered, his expression shocked.

“……?!”

Oh crap, how do I explain this?! I feel like I’ve understood something, but I can’t put it into words!

In a panic, I quickly drew a circle in the air with my sword.

“Look!! A circle starts where it ends!!”

“Uh… I see….”

“Isn’t that awesome?”

“…….”

Seeing Zhu Xian’s dazed face, I realized what I might’ve done wrong.

‘I thought I understood, but I’ve barely grasped anything….’

What on earth is this?

Why is the path of Martial Arts so long and torturous?!

I squatted down in astonishment and frustration, sighing.

“Ah….”

Damn it. Understanding something is great, but how do I sharpen my sword with this realization?

What should I do with this insight?

While I was sighing, Zhu Xian spoke up.

“Your Majesty, the color of your sword seems strange.”

“Hmm?”

I looked at my sword after Zhu Xian pointed it out.

My sword, which had been pitch black, had transformed into Half White Half Black.