1180——————==

Soul of the Evil God (The Four Divine Souls)

The Arm of Chi You.

I thought it would look like something monstrous, but it was a bit different from what I expected.

‘Looks like an ordinary human arm…?’

An arm of a human floating in the void of the altar.

No doubt about it.

It was strange; Chi You’s heart was enormous, yet this arm was the size of an average large human’s. It hardly seemed to belong to a giant race. Just as I was pondering the size difference between the heart and the arm, Cheon Woo-jin spoke up.

“From its form, it appears to be the right arm. And there’s a divine seal on it.”

“What kind of seal?”

“Just a moment….”

Bang!

Cheon Woo-jin extended his index and middle fingers toward the sealing altar. With his eyes closed, seemingly concentrating, he released his aura and said.

“I can feel the power of Jeogok. His power permeates the entire altar.”

“……!!”

I had a hunch, and it turned out Jeogok was the one who sealed both of Chi You’s arms!

Having had a bit of a twisted fate with Jeogok, I frowned in displeasure, prompting Sagong Lin to say.

“If we use Heavenly Demon Power, we can release it, but….”

“Is something bothering you?”

“I can’t gauge the situation on the Asura side.”

“What do you mean?”

“This place is a Twin Temple where entering one side makes the other side disappear. Plus, the trial we just faced with the [Mirror] is no simple trial. If we hastily retrieve this right arm, we might completely lose the chance to grab the left arm on the other side.”

“…I see.”

Sagong Lin made a valid point.

‘Maybe because it’s a Twin Temple, we need to acquire both the left and right arms simultaneously.’

After a bit of contemplation, I finally spoke up.

“Even so, in a situation where I can’t communicate with the Agent, it’s unavoidable. Let’s just retrieve the right arm. If all I can get is the right arm, I’ll live with it.”

“That seems wise.”

While I had to consider the dangers Sagong Lin mentioned, there was no way to contact the other expedition team, so the decision was clear. Besides, I couldn’t just turn back after coming this far; as the leader of the party, I had to make a call. Knowing this, Sagong Lin must have handed the decision over to me, and for expedience, I had no choice but to take the risk myself.

Whoosh!

A golden beam of light extended from Sagong Lin’s arm, engulfing the altar. The light, which had been surrounding the altar for a while, crackled and sparked continuously. Moments later, a translucent veil vanished from Chi You’s right arm.

That’s when it happened.

Zing!

A bizarre sound accompanied by mysterious symbols popped up in the void. The symbols combined and shone, forming a circle, and Cheon Woo-jin, seeing that, spoke with a stiffened face.

“A summoning formation! Could it be… an Apostle Summoning?”

“What?! I’ll destroy it!”

Kuwah!

I focused divine power in my palm, creating a giant orb of divine energy between my hands. With concentration, I launched it forward.

‘I’m not entirely sure, but if that’s divine power, this should work somehow!’

Boom!!

The orb of divine energy struck the summoning formation of the mysterious symbols. The formation, which had been rapidly nearing completion, suddenly extinguished, plunging into darkness before the symbols began to shine again, forming a circle.

“……?!”

Surprised, I gathered divine energy again, but Cheon Woo-jin stopped me.

“Stop! That will regenerate endlessly if you try to smash it. It’s just a waste of energy.”

“But it’s a summoning formation?! Just leaving it be isn’t a good idea!”

“There’s a more efficient method.”

Cheon Woo-jin waved his hand in the void and cast an illusion technique.

“I negate the ebb!”

Zap…

The moment Cheon Woo-jin’s shout echoed, the ongoing summoning formation abruptly halted. I turned to Cheon Woo-jin.

“How did you do that?”

“I deceived the flow of infinite regeneration with an illusion technique. Think of it as jamming a stick into the gears.”

“Impressive….”

I admired Cheon Woo-jin’s exceptional skill, but his face had turned pale.

“This is bad….”

“What’s wrong?”

“There’s no guarantee that the Asura side can stop such a powerful summoning formation. Zhuge Liang’s techniques are impressive, but there might not be enough time for him to use them… The mirror trial and the god-level trials they’re facing could result in their annihilation.”

“…….”

Cheon Woo-jin’s worries made sense. As he and Sagong Lin were among the top-tier beings in our group, they had managed to navigate the trials in Chi You’s tomb without much difficulty, yet each trial was genuinely tricky.

‘Although Asura had Zhuge Liang, Hang-a, Jeong Do-ryeong, tactical forces agents, and ancient beings from the Peach Garden following them….’

Numerically, they vastly outnumbered us, but could they truly pass these trials?

“Worry about that later. First, let’s recover what’s important….”

At that moment, Sagong Lin moved forward, trying to grab Chi You’s arm. As her golden giant hand reached for the arm, something unexpected happened.

Boom!!

“……!!”

An immense backlash erupted unexpectedly!

Sagong Lin was propelled at an astonishing speed, crashing against the wall. I shouted in shock.

“Sagong Lin!!”

No response came. I watched through the smoke as Chi You’s arm—its tendons stretched out—seemed to punch forward.

‘Could it be alive?!’

It looked as if Chi You’s arm was moving on its own to punch Sagong Lin!

But how is it possible for an arm to move on its own?

While I fumbled with the shocking situation, I heard Sagong Lin’s voice in my ear.

[Bai Woong… it was my mistake. I shouldn’t have touched Chi You’s legacy.]

I didn’t fully understand, but I was concerned about Sagong Lin.

[Are you okay?]

[If we keep provoking it, our team might be wiped out. I’ll withdraw for now. You’re the only one who can recover that arm.]

And just like that, Sagong Lin’s voice faded. Furthermore, I sensed her aura dissipating from behind the ruins where the wall had crumbled. Sagong Lin must have decided to vanish from this space altogether.

‘Why is this happening?’

I was struggling to comprehend the sudden turn of events, but one thing was certain—Sagong Lin said I was the only one capable of retrieving Chi You’s arm. I steadied my resolve as I approached the motionless Chi You’s arm, glaring at it determinedly.

“…….”

Jazzing forward step by step, I got close enough to grab Chi You’s arm without any resistance. I had effectively neutralized all defensive measures and seals, so why was I still so tense?

Gotcha!

“Phew.”

I sighed in relief when nothing happened after grabbing Chi You’s forearm and quickly tried to stash the arm away in my wooden armor.

Then, yet another incident unfolded.

Kuwakawakang!

Boom!!!!!

“Ahhh?!”

What, what, what, my wooden armor…

It exploded?!

I’m not just saying it figuratively; my wooden armor literally blew apart!

Thud-thud-thud!!

As the wooden armor shattered, all the countless items I had stored inside spilled out chaotically into the space.

Never thought I’d see the day my wooden armor would blow up!

It seemed I’d stuffed an insane amount of things in there, as the space quickly turned into a bizarre jumble of junk with around ten different items scattered about. Fortunately, the unconscious Professor Sima Ling wasn’t harmed.

“Ugh…. My wooden armor exploded…”

I sat down in shock, and Cheon Woo-jin looked on in disbelief.

“Wooden armor and magical artifacts aren’t supposed to explode like that…. Could it be?”

“Do you have a clue?”

“The energy sealed within Chi You’s arm was so immense that it shattered the dimension of the wooden armor; that’s the only explanation I have….”

I stared wide-eyed, flabbergasted.

“The dimension can break that easily?!”

“I don’t know. By all conventional wisdom, it shouldn’t happen.”

Cheon Woo-jin quickly regained his composure and said.

“Given the situation, I’ll create an illusionary pouch to temporarily store the treasures originally in your wooden armor. You focus on only retrieving Chi You’s arm.”

“R-right.”

“Since even treasures like the Seven Luminaries can’t be stored for long, we’ll need to find a new storage method once we return to the realm.”

A short while later, Cheon Woo-jin conjured a palm-sized silk pouch with his magic, gathering up all the scattered treasures around us. Once the tidying up was done, Cheon Woo-jin and I exited the shrine.

Gurgle….

Emerging back into the Abyss, we confirmed the sight of the Twin Temple. Yet the other side of the originally existing Twin Temple was nowhere to be seen. My unease began to brew, and I snapped.

“Damn it! I wonder if the Asura crew is alright?”

“…We’ll have to wait. If they overcome the trials and retrieve Chi You’s arms, they may show themselves.”

“What about Sagong Lin?”

“If you’re right, she’s probably not here. Her existence and Chi You’s arms cannot coexist.”

“Hmm….”

I began to wait, utilizing Cheon Woo-jin’s air barrier while keeping an eye on the Abyss. While waiting, something large flew over us, looking like a massive Eight-Scaled Fish monster.

“Damn, what the hell is that?!”

Bang!

It was a colossal octopus-like Eight-Scaled Fish monster, with its hundreds of tentacles showering us with shots while also attacking us with party beams and spores. My irritation peaked, and I narrowed my eyes.

“Light Beam!!”

Boom!!

The light beam I fired from my eyes obliterated the Eight-Scaled Fish monster in one hit, reducing it to fried Eight-Scaled Fish!

“Hu?!”

Was the power of the light beam this strong?

I never thought I’d slay a monster with a single shot, and as I stared in astonishment, Cheon Woo-jin muttered.

“Did the power of the Jade Emperor surge following your gain of its strength?”

“Ow, my eyes…”

“I guess this otherworldly area is crawling with monsters like that deep sea creature. We can’t afford to fight them all, so I’ll summon an invisibility barrier.”

I waited for quite some time within the invisibility barrier created by Cheon Woo-jin. After sitting still for about two time moments without any news, I became anxious.

How long had I been waiting, restless?

Wow!

“The Temple!!”

Suddenly, an empty spot erupted into the revealing Twin Temple, and from its entrance, Asura and the crew began to emerge. Cheon Woo-jin dispelled the invisibility and moved toward them with his wind bubble, while I shouted to Asura.

“Asura!! Are you alright?”

“We had some casualties. The ancient beings and tactical forces agents are dead.”

Asura continued, looking slightly worn out.

“But we managed to get Chi You’s arm…”

In Asura’s hand was Chi You’s left arm. I told Asura,

“Good job. Now let’s head back.”

Boom!

With the crew, I left the otherworldly realm and returned to reality. Upon emerging outside, a special agent of the Great Bear Empire, who had been informed by Sagong Lin, relayed a message.

“Your Majesty has returned to the main palace. Since we are unable to reveal ourselves in the location of Chi You’s arm, he requested that we seal the arm beforehand.”

“Eh?”

I tilted my head in confusion, and Asura remarked as if he had expected it.

“The Heavenly Demon is nothing less than the Emperor’s most outstanding subordinate. Chi You’s flesh likely rejects the Emperor’s aura.”

“…….”

“Bai Woong. Please summarize the situation.”

With those words, Asura reported on the damages incurred during the expedition.

Asura seemed to be quite fatigued, but appeared unhurt, and Hang-a was also unharmed.

However, Zhuge Liang had died, as well as Jeong Do-ryeong. Moreover, only Mu Cheon-ryong and Zhu Xian among the nine tactical forces agents had survived, and most of the ancient beings from the Peach Garden had also perished.

Wu Song, Lin Chong, Li Kui, and Shi Jin had all died, while Song Gang suffered severe injuries with both arms cut off and Gong Sun Sheng had endured serious injuries and was in critical condition. It seemed they had taken massive damage from the mirror trial.

“…….”

Wh-what kind of catastrophe is this?

Zhuge Liang being killed! Even though the soul summoned using Heavenly Secret Technique could create a body to move, it was still shocking how easily that body perished.

While I was astonished, Asura said.

“Bai Woong. You should take both of Chi You’s arms to the Underworld right away.”

“What?”

“There might be a place in the Underworld where you can seal Chi You’s arms. And….”

Asura’s following words led me to realize what I needed to do.

“If you go, you can undo the current damages. Mangnyang must have anticipated this.”

Boom!

A while later, using the powers of the Wheel King, I could make my way toward the Wheel King’s throne. Although most of the throne’s powers were dissipated, the ability to move to the throne still remained, allowing me to travel there with minimal effort.

As soon as I arrived at the throne, I shouted.

“Is the Judge here?”

[You’ve called for me.]

A high-level existence of the Underworld, the Judge, manifested, and I commanded him.

“Summon the King of Hell!”

[Your Command!]

Whoosh….

Soon after, the Judge disappeared to call the King of Hell, and not long after, the King of Hell appeared at the front of the throne through the door, kneeling before me. The massive figure of the King of Hell, dressed in official robes, said to me.

[I have come as you called, Wheel King.]

“King of Hell. This isn’t about anything else; I need you to bring the souls I’m about to name here.”

I started calling out the names of the deceased from when we attacked Chi You’s shrine, and the King of Hell listened attentively, waving his hand once as he spoke.

[That is a very simple task.]

Bam!

Then, in spirit form, the souls of Zhuge Liang, Jeong Do-ryeong, and all the other deceased appeared in front of the throne.

“Don’t worry.”

I smiled and shouted at the King of Hell.

“King of Hell! I will erase their names from the Book of Life and Death. So, bring them all back to life!”

This is the privilege of the Wheel King.

As a god dealing with death, I should be able to resurrect the fallen!

However, the King of Hell fell silent for a moment after my command before replying.

[Wheel King, I cannot obey that order.]

“…What?! Is that mutiny?!”

[It’s not that. It’s because the functions of the Underworld aren’t fully operational yet.]

“What?”

I jolted in surprise at his unexpected words, and the King of Hell continued.

[You must first negotiate with the Old Ruler, who used to devour the souls in the Underworld, before you can use that power.]