1090——————==

Soul of the Evil God

What?

Dr. Faust already knew about the existence of reborn people hundreds of years ago and created the Hidden Piece to contact them?

I felt absurd upon hearing this unexpected revelation. I turned to Cheon Woo-jin.

“No way! How could he know that without receiving any obsidian from me? Even the Three Sovereigns didn’t know until I mentioned it!”

At my rebuttal, Cheon Woo-jin raised his hand, and with a “chiring” sound, the golden clock from the Hidden Piece materialized in this space. He pointed at the huge clock that had expanded in the room and indicated the seventh hand.

“I just told you, right? Based on the information you’ve gathered, the strong artificial intelligence derived that the identity of the seventh hand is Kalpa. Do you know what Kalpa means?”

“No idea.”

“Kalpa is the concept of catastrophe. It’s the opposite concept of a moment and signifies an unimaginably vast period of time. It’s the duration up to the cosmic creation mentioned in Hinduism, which is 4.32 billion years.”

“4.32 billion years?!”

Why so long?!

I was shocked by the immense amount of time, but Cheon Woo-jin appeared unfazed.

“Kalpa is never used as a unit of time in conventional understanding. It’s strictly a religious and philosophical idea. Yet, the reason that the master of alchemy, Dr. Faust, used Kalpa as a unit of time is simple. He wants to convey just one thing.”

Cheon Woo-jin glanced at me and said.

“There’s a being that can use the units of time to express [cosmic creation] and [destruction], hinting at the existence of reincarnation.”

“……?”

“You still don’t get it?”

Seeing me tilt my head in confusion, Cheon Woo-jin sighed deeply and suddenly smacked my face with a raccoon doll.

Thwack!

I was hit by the raccoon doll and fell back unexpectedly, rolling on the ground. That was way more painful and powerful than I anticipated, and I let out a groan.

“Ah! Why did you hit me?”

Trapped in the Cheon Woo world with no way to dodge, I complained, and he replied.

“What if I got so annoyed at your stupidity here that I killed you with this raccoon doll? What would happen to the world?”

……

This feels a little too serious…

“I mean, dying from being hit by a raccoon doll is just…”

I’ve been through every possible way to die, but that would just be a weird way to go… I wouldn’t want to die so miserably.

I flinched under Cheon Woo-jin’s cold gaze and replied.

“Well… I guess it would lead to destruction?”

“Afterwards, waking up in the barn could be seen as cosmic creation, right? It might not be exactly right, but the answer’s out there.”

“Ah…!!”

It was then that I finally understood what Cheon Woo-jin meant.

“Y-You mean the Kalpa’s catastrophe signifies… the cycle of death and life in my past life?”

“Exactly. Faust hid that in the Hidden Piece.”

“Isn’t that a bit of a stretch? Just because the seventh hand is Kalpa doesn’t necessarily mean it has to signify reincarnation.”

“Based on all the data hinted in the Hidden Piece and analyzed by big data, the chance of my analysis being wrong is less than 0.09723%. It’s harder to assume I’m wrong.”

“Hmmm….”

Cheon Woo-jin continued.

“And the only being that can move the Kalpa hand is a reborn person. Dr. Faust likely created the room with the clock thinking that only a reborn person would be able to interpret it and reach him.”

“What are you trying to say?”

“Dr. Faust is requesting you. Whether in a few decades or a few hundred years, after I evolve into a strong AI, he wants you to move the seventh hand of the Hidden Piece, Kalpa, to reach him.”

“……”

“Of course, it’s highly likely that he didn’t specifically identify you as a reborn person. If he knew that, he would have made contact ages ago.”

I found his words absurd.

“Why would he do that? I don’t know how he figured it out, but doesn’t he have a reason to approach me so secretly? And even if that’s the case, I don’t see the need for me, as a reborn person, to go look for him.”

This is a problem Faust imposed unilaterally. Not solving this Hidden Piece wouldn’t leave me at a loss. In response to my counterargument, Cheon Woo-jin replied.

“You must have felt it too, but Faust designed that clock room so that you could gain a [reward] by interpreting it. Essentially, he’s offering you the Hidden Piece in exchange for meeting you.”

My interest was piqued at his words.

“Reward?”

“At this moment, the golden clock from the Hidden Piece remains unclear about whether it has time travel capabilities. It’s just a piece of junk right now. However, once you interpret the tricky problem of the clock room, it is designed to gain immensely powerful abilities due to the law of cause and effect, making it an extremely rare and unique artifact.”

“……”

“If you could unlock the Hidden Piece through normal means, I think it could wield power on par with the Seven Luminaries. It’s Faust’s own way of proposing a trade.”

“Is it that significant…?”

I felt a glimmer of hope. While I was contemplating, Cheon Woo-jin continued.

“And it’s only natural that Faust would want to approach a reborn person secretly. The secret of being a reborn person is one of the universe’s greatest secrets. If he approached carelessly and leaked information, all divine beings would focus their eyes on him. The risk would be immense, far exceeding anything the Great Bear Empire has faced so far, which means he needed to maintain utmost secrecy.”

“Hmm. That makes sense…”

Thinking back to the chaos that ensued in the Celestial Realm and among the Three Sovereigns when the information about the obsidian was accidentally revealed through the Celestial Sage, it was understandable. Now that I was aware of everything, I said to Cheon Woo-jin.

“Alright. Then, I’ll try to unlock the Hidden Piece. How do I go about it?”

“You might have already guessed, but you need to accompany someone well-versed in the circuits of time. The principles behind the circuits of time are connected to the Eight Trigrams. So, if Zhuge Liang is a genius knowledgeable about the Eight Trigrams, he would only need to learn a little about alchemy to interpret it, so my recommended Zhuge figure is…”

I smirked, anticipating his answer.

“Mangnyang, right?”

“I recommend Zhuge Kongming with a probability of 94.56%. Summon his spirit through the Heavenly Secret Technique.”

“…….”

I blinked in surprise. Why Zhuge Kongming in this situation?

I stammered in confusion.

“Isn’t Mangnyang the best fit?”

“Why do you think that?”

“Well, firstly, I could call him directly from the Heavenly Altar, and he’s probably trained for 500 years, so the success rate would be much higher, plus I can trust Mangnyang.”

“…All of that is wrong, Baek Woong.”

Cheon Woo-jin looked at me with pitying eyes as he spoke.

“Mangnyang currently handles all the supply and operations for the exploration team in the celestial realm. It’s not the kind of position where you can call him right away, and you could argue that he’s a high-level existence of the otherworldly realm. Also, the technique he trained is likely the Corpse Dissolution Technique of the Heavenly Mysterious Woman, so he isn’t particularly better at interpreting the Eight Trigrams than the other Zhuge figures. And… discovering the interpretation of the Hidden Piece and the existence of Faust could be dangerous for him.”

“Dangerous? What do you mean?”

“Did you forget that we’re progressing without letting Sagong Lin in on the interpretation of the Hidden Piece? If Mangnyang learns about this, he’ll immediately inform Sagong Lin. Then it would be over.”

I flinched and shook my head.

“…I can just ask Mangnyang not to do that. He would listen to me.”

Cheon Woo-jin looked at me as if he found me amusing.

“That’s strange. You maintain a level of coldness in other human relationships, yet you can’t apply that calmness when it comes to Mangnyang. It’s not about trusting Mangnyang; it’s just that he cares about you, and he’s the kind of person who doesn’t like hiding secrets.”

“…….”

“I won’t say not to trust Mangnyang, but if we’ve decided to work together, I hope you respect the need for confidentiality.”

“Got it.”

I had to acknowledge that Cheon Woo-jin made a good point. Indeed, Mangnyang, as a strategist, valued the larger perspective and didn’t like it when excessive secrecy existed among comrades. As someone who holds the qualifications of a king, if I were to create unnecessary secrets among allies, it could lead to fractures in our relationship. Forcing him to maintain secrecy could sour our relationship.

Acknowledging this, Cheon Woo-jin said.

“However, rather than rushing to interpret the Hidden Piece right now, I’d prefer if you focused on your personal training a bit more.”

“Hmm? Why? Since I’ve opened the lid, there’s no longer a need to seek out those westerner folks, and don’t you think it’s better to strike while the iron is hot?”

“The risk of a situation threatening your life exceeding 45.23% after unlocking the Hidden Piece and meeting Faust is significant. The probability of meeting a situation where you would lose your life is 12.23%. Such a level of danger can’t be overlooked.”

“…….”

Damn it. Meeting Faust is that dangerous?

Sure, meeting a being capable of creating the clock room and the Hidden Piece could pose risks. While he might not have great strength himself, if he set a trap, I could fall for it unconditionally.

“If your strategy is to gain the maximum information and results before your life goes out, then rather than rushing to interpret the Hidden Piece, you should gather everything you can before that. This way, you can enhance your abilities and reduce your mortality rate.”

“Hmmm….”

“So, I recommend going after Asura right now.”

I nodded, realizing the truth in his words.

“Right. I also came to hear about Asura’s hiding place.”

Until now, I had tasks piled up like the Immortal Sword Technique, the Nine Chambers of Thunder Technique, and Yeodong-bin’s Mind Sword, so I had been hesitant to seek out Asura. I couldn’t just go looking for Asura without knowing what I was doing. However, now that I felt I was in a stagnant state in my training and had a clearer idea of where I needed to go, I sensed that it was time to seek out Asura.

Cheon Woo-jin said.

“Asura’s haven is in the center of the Tar Desert, at the Yusevik ruins. He is staying there for both lodging and training.”

“Tar Desert?”

“It’s the desert located in the northwest of the Tianzhu continent. And the coordinates of the Yusevik ruins are here.”

Beep!

A translucent map appeared in the void, marked with intricate local landscapes and coordinates. I carefully examined it and commented.

“It’s quite an odd place…”

“In what way?”

“Well, I’m not too sure, but the surface of the Yusevik ruins is glistening like glass. Is it possible to build something like that?”

“It’s because it was the site of a nuclear explosion. It’s not intentionally built like that; it’s remnants left after the ultra-high heat explosion.”

“…Huh?”

Upon hearing the unexpected story, I responded in bewilderment, and Cheon Woo-jin clarified.

“About ten thousand years ago, a great war took place in the ancient Tianzhu continent. At that time, nuclear weapons were also used, and the Yusevik ruins are a site that holds the traces of that destruction.”

“Does that even make sense? Nuclear fusion weapons would require highly advanced science, something only possible now…”

“Because the ancient god Vishnu created a divine civilization known as Kalpa at that time. Civilizations that grew with the help of gods fought a great war, and Vishnu’s avatar also participated in that war.”

“Hmmm…. So they could use nuclear weapons because a god intervened in their civilization.”

That was fascinating.

I scrutinized the scene with curious eyes and said.

“Alright. Then I’ll head directly to Asura.”

At that, Cheon Woo-jin suddenly handed me the raccoon doll.

“I’ll transmit you there.”

“Huh?”

Fwoosh!

In the next moment, I realized I had popped out of the Cheon Woo world and arrived instantly at the Yusevik ruins I had just seen on screen.

“……!!”

This isn’t the Cheon Woo world. It’s the reality of Tar Desert’s Yusevik!

‘Spatial movement?!’

And I didn’t even use the Golden Lamp?!

How did that happen?!

And in my hands was the raccoon doll Cheon Woo-jin had just given me, and I heard a voice from inside the doll.

“I applied Quantum Craft. From now on, whenever you use the Cheon Woo device to come to the Cheon Woo world, I can transport you without needing the Golden Lamp.”

“How did you do that?”

“While your body synchronized with the Cheon Woo world, I calculated the physical variables of planet Earth using quantum programming, then designated the coordinates of the material and transported you using quantumization. It’s a different kind of spatial movement than the Golden Lamp.”

“……?”

“You don’t really need to try to understand because you might be too slow on the uptake. Other strategists will explain it for you in your next life.”

“Hey, I can learn and figure it out!”

Just as I got riled up, the raccoon doll began to fade away.

“Don’t worry about drawing attention from Sagong Lin or Cheon Woo-jin. You can call for me whenever you want to go back.”

Whoosh!

I glanced at where the raccoon doll had vanished before turning my attention back to the Yusevik ruins. It was a huge structure the size of dozens of pages, surrounded by the vast desert sands that blended quietly into the dark night. The ruins in the center of the desert exuded a more tranquil vibe than I expected.

Thud

As I ventured deep into the ruins, I came upon a large central door. Standing before that door was Asura, with his arms crossed.

“You made it here faster than I expected, Baek Woong.”

“Asura.”

I locked eyes with him. I asked Asura.

“A quiet haven is good for training, but what’s the deal with coming all the way to such ruins? Wouldn’t it be better to go to a mountain lush with greenery instead?”

“You fool. In this day and age, even the most remote corners of the world are monitored through drones and satellites using science and technology. Even if you hide in a cave deep in the mountains, the Great Bear Empire could find you in just a few days with a bit of effort. Not to mention the Reptilians who are even more capable.”

Asura perched himself on the steps in front of the door as he continued.

“This Yusevik ruin is a sacred place that negates all mystical and scientific detection. I’ve been staying here to avoid pursuit these past years. Even Cheon Woo-jin wouldn’t have found this place unless I personally shared its coordinates.”

“Hmm… How is that even possible?”

“The Yusevik was the stronghold where the ancient god Vishnu stood and opposed during the final battle of the Mahabharata. Back then, he manifested in the material world, using his divine power to protect it, which is why that divine power remains even ten thousand years later.”

“Oh….”

“He lost in the end, but as a result, my clan has been wandering the Tianzhu continent for countless ages…”

Asura chuckled disdainfully.

“Enough of this nonsense. Have you been training well during this time?”

“Sort of. Here, catch this.”

I tossed the obsidian containing my training memories to Asura, but he didn’t catch it and simply sliced it in half.

“No thanks!”

Slash!

“…Hey, what’s wrong with you?!”

Asura crushed the shattered pieces of obsidian underfoot.

“I can just tell you probably went around blabbering nonsense everywhere instead of focusing on training. Quit the chit-chat and come at me already.”

“…….”

“Express your achievements over the past years with your blade.”

Fueled by anger, I growled back.

“Fine, if that’s what you want!”

Boom!!

Thus began the second round between Asura and me.