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I was taken aback by Jeon Wook’s words.

“So, you’re saying that the contract with the Seven Luminaries could be broken… does that mean the contract is completely void now?”

[Haven’t you seen the evidence with your own eyes?]

Jeon Wook continued, glancing at the ruins below.

[Since the Seven Luminaries can no longer maintain the treaty, it is merely a powerful relic now. Naturally, there is no need for guardians, and we aren’t required to be bound to the Seven Luminaries anymore. Isn’t it obvious that all powers would be halved as well?]

“How could that be…”

I asked in confusion.

“The contract of the Seven Luminaries was basically a truce agreement to prevent the hundreds of ‘Old Rulers’ from clashing with the Three Sovereigns on Earth! If the Emperor broke that contract, it means there’s no excuse for the war with the ‘Old Rulers’ to not start again.”

Indeed, the contract of the Seven Luminaries was meaningful precisely because it represented a truce promise between the Three Sovereigns and the ‘Old Rulers.’ I believed there was no way such a contract could be broken, but its collapse meant that the war with the gods was about to begin once more!

Then Jeon Wook spoke.

[As you said, all armistice agreements are now void, and the ‘Old Rulers’ are trying to stir. However, none of them are making a move; they are still quietly watching and biding their time.]

“They’re not making a move?”

[The Emperor Gong Sun Xuanwen must be scheming something. It is extremely rare for them to act directly; even when they do, it’s merely to give light commands to their subservient aliens. There is not a single ‘Old Ruler’ actively moving in preparation for the end.]

“……!!”

[Hehe… They might be fearful of the ‘Evil God’ that is about to ascend.]

“Then why did you respond to a call from the ruins of the Moon Sovereign, Jeon Wook?”

The answer that followed was rather disappointing.

[Everyone was somewhat dormant, so it wouldn’t matter who received a message. I just happened to come out because it was close to my jurisdiction.]

“……”

Well, Jeon Wook managed the Liaodong area, so he was indeed closer than the other Three Sovereigns. Also, since Nüwa, who originally managed the Moon Sovereign, had perished, it made sense that he came to check on the audacious human banging on the door for the weakened Seven Luminaries.

Having grasped the whole situation, I snapped back to reality and said.

“Tell me the reason why The First Character could terminate the contract! Did that original letter have such power?”

[…….]

After a moment, Jeon Wook opened his mouth.

[That’s correct. Just before the end, the Emperor unexpectedly used The First Character to break the contract with the Seven Luminaries… and that First Character was originally proof of ‘another promise.’]

“Another promise, you say?”

[We thought the ‘promise’ the Emperor was referring to obviously meant the Seven Luminaries’ armistice. In fact, it was explicitly stated in the incantation. But the cunning Emperor conspired with Chi You and made a double contract.]

“What kind of contract?”

Jeon Wook replied, his voice barely containing his rage.

[The contract of the ‘Deceiver.’ The Emperor Gong Sun Xuanwen has had this power since his birth…! He used the contract with ‘A Higher Being’ to break the lower contract!! The ‘First Character’ was that very medium.]

“……?”

[Chi You pretending to be weak back then was all an act… Heh heh. Whether the master or that slave, they were both conspiring to mock the Three Sovereigns and the priests.]

“What do you mean act?”

Jeon Wook lamented.

[How much were they laughing at us inside… We thought that the character would be a weakness for Chi You, believing that we could strike him down whenever we wanted… but ultimately, Chi You was just a decoy, and the real deceiving tool was the Emperor.]

What on earth does this even mean?

[That’s enough of the old tales.]

Whoosh!

Suddenly, a small bottle appeared in front of me. I grabbed the neck of the bottle, which was as red as lava, and examined it, noting no peculiar features on the outside. Bewildered, I asked.

“What is this bottle?”

[That is the treasure of Ten Thousand Ghosts Palace, the Red Gourd. If you speak its name, it has the ability to seal the soul of the target.]

At Jeon Wook’s follow-up words, I was startled.

[Gather the souls of one hundred immortals and bring them to the Red Gourd. That is your first mission.]

“……!!”

You want me to collect the souls of one hundred immortals?!

I was curious about the difficulty of the sudden command, let alone why such an order was being given.

“So you want me to bring back the souls of immortals? I lack the strength to directly invade the Celestial Realm and fight.”

[…What do you mean?]

“If the twelve great immortals or the top-tier beings of the Celestial Realm come after me, I won’t be able to hold out long against a joint attack…”

I pretended to be powerless to evade Jeon Wook’s order, but was caught off guard once again by what he said next.

[Haven’t you realized that the Celestial Realm has been in ruins for hundreds of years? You claim to be the disciple of Fuxi yet seem completely unaware of such news while being reclusive.]

“What do you mean, the Celestial Realm has perished?!”

[…….]

The dark light emanating from Jeon Wook’s avatar dimmed significantly. I could feel that expression conveying distrust toward Jeon Wook. Moments later, he spoke in a grave tone.

[If I had my subordinates like my arms and legs, I wouldn’t be sending a clueless person like you to do my bidding.]

“Um… I apologize. But I truly was unaware.”

[The Celestial Realm fell long ago, and survivors have settled into a different realm called Kunlun City. Your job is to go to Kunlun City and capture the souls of one hundred immortals.]

“…Why did the Celestial Realm fall?”

[It is said to have been destroyed by the descent of the Apostle of the Evil God.]

“……!!”

The Apostle of the Evil God!

I thought the reason behind the Celestial Realm’s downfall was shocking.

‘Isn’t the Evil God in a deep sleep until the stars return to their rightful places? Even if Nüwa has perished and there is no Queen Mother of the West, the Celestial Realm is still… How can such a powerful apostle descend to the extent of destroying the mighty Celestial Realm!’

I sensed there must be some other circumstances involved. I wanted to ask more, but Jeon Wook seemed quite irritated that I was so oblivious, so I decided to confine myself to only necessary questions.

“Understood. How can I get to Kunlun City?”

[There is an artifact called the Heavenly Altar left in the human world. If you offer it a sufficient cost, you can go there.]

“…May I ask why you need the souls of the immortals?”

[Impudent fool. You seem to have all sorts of curiosity for someone who knows nothing.]

I flinched at that harsh remark, but I tried to respond.

“I apologize. However, I had to distance myself from worldly affairs to comply with Fuxi’s prophecy….”

[Hehe… I dislike those who make up excuses.]

With a whoosh, dark light surged from Jeon Wook’s avatar, and a cruel voice rang out.

[Stop your nonsense and gather the souls of one hundred immortals in the Red Gourd!! I will inform you of what you wish to know after that!]

“…Understood.”

Boom!!

With that finished, Jeon Wook’s avatar vanished. I glanced at the empty sky for a moment before heading back down to the ruins of the Moon Sovereign, only to notice that there were still no guardians or giant spiders around.

“…….”

Regardless, I had acquired the Moon Sovereign, so my main objective was accomplished. I reflected deeply on what I needed to do next.

‘So now I just have to go to the Heavenly Altar, offer my tribute, and then go to Kunlun City to gather the souls of one hundred immortals for the Red Gourd….’

If I simply follow orders, it doesn’t seem like a particularly difficult task.

“I guess I should ask.”

However, something was bothering me, so after thinking for a while, I headed to the headquarters of the Northeast Asian Liberation Army where Zhuge Hyun was.

“Zhuge Hyun. In fact, I went to the ruins of the Moon Sovereign and encountered this situation.”

When I arrived at the headquarters and recounted how I obtained the Moon Sovereign and met Jeon Wook, Zhuge Hyun listened cautiously and then said.

“Baek Woong, that Red Gourd artifact is likely the treasure of the Golden Horned Brothers featured in ‘Journey to the West.'”

I was taken aback by his words.

“‘Journey to the West? Golden Horned Brothers?’ What on earth is that?”

Seeing my confusion, Zhuge Hyun sighed with a bitter smile.

“Oh… what a funny situation. You brought a printing press from the western continent to write ‘Journey to the West’ to ensnare Sun Wukong, yet ‘Journey to the West’ doesn’t even exist in your world. Is this the distortion of history caused by the Non-Birth Mother?”

“What do you mean? Is Sun Wukong referring to the Celestial Sage?”

“In our world, he’s more commonly referred to as Sun Wukong rather than Celestial Sage. Hmm. Honestly, it’s hard for me to believe that the Legendary Sun Wukong actually uses a smartphone in this world.”

Zhuge Hyun sighed again and continued.

“Anyway, that Red Gourd is likely a treasure of the formidable Great Demons that fought against the Celestial Sage. It seems it flowed into the Ten Thousand Ghosts Palace.”

“I’m not particularly interested in the origin of the Red Gourd. Why do you think Jeon Wook needs the souls of one hundred immortals?”

“That’s clearly because he currently can’t exert his powers. He probably intends to recover his strength and the law of cause and effect by consuming the souls of one hundred immortals.”

I raised my eyebrows at Zhuge Hyun’s words.

“Consuming souls?”

“If it’s Jeon Wook, that’s quite probable. He likely aims to create a chance to resist the Emperor by using the law of cause and effect from one hundred immortals.”

“Um… would it be good for me to undertake this mission?”

I expected Zhuge Hyun to say no. But his answer was the opposite.

“Absolutely do it. Go to the Heavenly Altar right now, offer your tribute, and go to Kunlun City to capture those one hundred immortals and put them in the Red Gourd.”

“…….”

“After all, you made a promise, so it’s necessary, and given Jeon Wook’s nature of clarifying credit and blame among his subordinates, he’s likely to reward you well for a job well done. That reward would be very beneficial for someone like you, a Reborn Person.”

“…….”

“Why do you look at me like that?”

“Well, I figured if I know Mangnyang, he’d probably tell me to stop with such cruel actions.”

Then Zhuge Hyun chuckled.

“I’m sorry, but I’m Zhuge Hyun, not Mangnyang. Besides, even if I were Mangnyang, I would have said something like this in a situation like now. This world is an alternate universe, so why should I care about the lives of immortals whom I have no ties to?”

“That’s one way to look at it.”

“Anyway, those immortals never helped when the world was in such dire straits. Instead, it’s fortunate that their useless souls can be of some help to a Reborn Person! You have no reason to feel guilty.”

Zhuge Hyun replied sharply, then glanced out the window.

“However, if you go now, you never know what might happen, so it would be better to gather at least half of the Seven Luminaries first.”

“You mean gather the Fire Spirit and Water Spirit?”

“Indeed. If it’s you, you shouldn’t encounter danger while dealing with those Seven Luminaries in Kunlun City.”

“Got it. Then, I’ll head out right away.”

Nodding, I spoke to Mephistopheles on my wristwatch.

“Mephistopheles, go to the location of Xuyou that I remember.”

[Successfully read the wave of memories. Executing the user’s command.]

Boom!!

As I strongly focused on my thoughts, I found myself at the seal of Xuyou a moment later. Before descending the spiral staircase at the seal of Xuyou, I decided to rummage through the snowy mountain one more time.

‘Let’s see here.’

I searched through the snowy landscape for a while but eventually realized that there were no Black and White Lotuses or Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng anywhere. I attributed this to the consequence of altered history and headed down, similarly finding no gold bars.

Swish

Then I discovered numerous human skulls scattered here and there, with snake monsters revealing themselves from the shadows.

‘Looks like treasure hunters discovered the ruins of Xuyou. And while most were wiped out, they likely took off in search of gold bars…’

Thunder Sword

With a flash, I swiftly obliterated dozens of weakened snake monsters and then went to the spot where Xuyou had been. Surprisingly, I found Xuyou still right where it was supposed to be.

Chiriling –

It reminded me of the first time I discovered Xuyou. There was a narrow bridge over a pit akin to an abyss, and at the end of it lay the glowing sword, Xuyou. I realized that no treasure hunter has yet claimed Xuyou and, without hesitation, I jumped in to snatch it.

‘The Guardian Giant Spider hasn’t shown up.’

It seemed that the treasure hunters were so weak that they couldn’t make it this far. With a somewhat deflated feeling, I scratched my head and went deeper down until I found Jeon Wook’s statue and tucked it into my wooden armor.

It seemed I had thoroughly explored the ruins of Xuyou.

“Mephistopheles. Let’s head to the ruins of the Fire Spirit.”

Boom!

I arrived at Uluru, where the ruins of the Fire Spirit were located. I confirmed that the barrier was still in place.

‘It seems the barrier of the Fire Spirit was originally one of significant power, separate from the guardians. So even after the contract of the Seven Luminaries was broken, it didn’t just disappear and has remained intact…’

After a brief moment, I moved to break the barrier.

‘Originally, other sorcerers helped me activate the Heavenly Sorcery using the power of the Eight Trigrams and the Spirit of Earth, allowing me to break the barrier of the Fire Spirit. But now, I might not need such assistance.’

There’s no need for caution now.

Suuu

I gathered my pure divine power and activated my ability according to the memories embedded in my mind without fuss. No – to begin with, this was an ability that didn’t require much help from Heuk Woong.

Words of divine speech flowed naturally from my mouth, the kind only Jeon Wook’s subordinates could use.

[As an apostle of Jeon Wook, I turn back time….]

I could feel the divine light bursting forth from my eyes, mixed with the whirlwind of divine power.

[Barrier of the Fire Spirit, return to the time before it was formed!]

Crash!!

In the next moment, the barrier of the Fire Spirit vibrated violently and then completely shattered. I breathed a sigh of relief as I saw the apostolic power of Jeon Wook I hadn’t used in a while activate successfully.

“Thank goodness.”

Considering that I had somewhat used abilities when Heuk Woong wasn’t around, the control over this power being taken over by Jeon Wook was as I had predicted. If I could now use the power of [Small Cycle] in Jeon Wook’s name without reserve, there would be very few things I couldn’t accomplish in this world.

Sss….

However, the power didn’t last forever, as the barrier started to slowly regenerate right before my eyes. I hurriedly dashed into the ruins of the Fire Spirit, seeking where the spirit was.

And I couldn’t help but be astonished by the unexpected situation.

“Gong Gong?! Why are you still here…”

[…….]

Indeed.

Gong Gong, the guardian of the Fire Spirit, stood firmly inside the ruins!

I couldn’t believe it and shouted.

“The contract of the Seven Luminaries has been broken; there’s no need for you to play guardian anymore! Why are you still here without breaking the barrier of the Fire Spirit?”

Gong Gong remained silent for a moment before replying.

[Questioning human. Why do you appear as the human form of Fuxi?]

“I asked the question first.”

[Answer me.]

“…I am Baek Woong, the old disciple of Fuxi. Approaching the end, I am moving to recover the Seven Luminaries. This form is transformed as a mark of respect for my old master.”

[I see… heh… to belatedly come forward and save this world that holds no hope…].

Gong Gong, muttering as if in lament, continued.

[Baek Woong… I have lost all hope… I am a living corpse, so you may do as you wish with me.]

“…….”

[I have decided simply to watch the end of the world now since there’s nothing left for me to do…].

“…I don’t understand. Nüwa has perished, so the barrier imprisoning the Yan Emperor Shennong should have vanished too, right? Why aren’t you going to your master, Shennong?”

Gong Gong replied wearily.

[Fuxi’s disciple. You must be unaware of what happened after that.]

“What happened after that?”

I couldn’t help but feel startled by Gong Gong’s subsequent words.

[Right after Nüwa perished, the Emperor Gong Sun Xuanwen led the troops of the Divine Temple and attacked our master, Yan Emperor Shennong, killing him and absorbing his powers….]

“……!!”

[With our master perished, the hope of the Giant Race has also vanished.]

Hearing that made me acutely feel how desperate the current situation was in this world.

‘This can’t be….’

This is a world where the Three Sovereigns have been annihilated.