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The sound echoed,

At first, Zhuge Bu’s spirit seemed to resist my command. But then, it started answering my questions with a defeated tone.

[ The base with the spare bodies is… near the Heavenly Altar of the Five Great Mountains… ]

“Nearby? Can you be more specific?”

[ … There are a total of 7 locations. ]

Seven? I was shocked for a moment, but it made sense. Given Vermilion Bird’s cautious nature, he wouldn’t just stash everything in one place. Keeping them around the Heavenly Altar was likely a strategy in case he needed to transfer there to subdue the altar.

Zhuge Bu spoke with a voice filled with resentment.

[ Ugh… you bastard… you kill me and then use me like this… what grudge do you have against me? ]

“Hmmm.”

I paused, almost responding that he must have a grudge. From his perspective, I basically ambushed him out of nowhere. He had no memory of any past grievances I had from my previous life. To him, I was just a complete attacker, so I felt some sympathy and scratched my head as I replied.

“I am Baek Woong, the Dharma Guardian of the Thunder God Lineage from the White Lotus Sect. And let’s just say, I had personal reasons for having to take you down. You sacrificed innocent people, didn’t you?”

There was no arguing that if anyone saw the horrors of the human sacrifices at the Heavenly Altar, they wouldn’t think I did anything harsh to Zhuge Bu. There were at least a hundred poorly treated humans left dead.

They must’ve sent soldiers from the stronghold at Mount Tai to capture commoners from nearby villages. Such a tragedy.

[ Don’t kid me! I don’t even know who you are, yet you did this… ]

“Well, good. You can start learning about me now.”

[ Ugh… ]

As Zhuge Bu was about to blow up, I responded quickly.

“You know, being reborn in a demonic body, your soul could very well be sucked into the hands of the [Old Ruler], right? With the Heavenly Secret Technique, you can create the conditions for a much better situation if I decide to help.”

[ …… ]

“Think about it with your smart head. You’ll die without a chance of revival.”

Zhuge Bu made a distressed face, finally admitting,

[ You really are a bastard. ]

“Hmm…”

I frowned, wondering why my considerate remarks didn’t make him feel better. Suddenly, I heard Zhuge Bu chuckling from within.

[ You’re really saying the right things. ]

Hearing his praise made me feel even worse.

Eventually, Zhuge Bu explained the locations of Zhuge Yulong’s hidden base near the Heavenly Altar, and I began my search accordingly.

Boom!

I unleashed destructive force against the base of Zhuge Yulong and grimaced.

‘ I’ve smashed 5 of them around the Heavenly Altar now.’

Seeing the ‘spare bodies’ lying in the underground chamber made me uneasy. They looked so identical to Zhuge Yulong that I could’ve believed they were twins. I could estimate there were over 20 bodies in just one base, suggesting Zhuge Yulong must’ve had over a hundred spare lives.

If a guy like Zhuge Yulong revived himself a hundred times, using his intelligence and martial arts to relentlessly harass others, there’s no way even the Master of the White Lotus Sect would remain unscathed. It’s no wonder he was obsessed and worried about the Vermilion Bird’s existence.

My companion, Cheon Woo-jin, who was also smashing bases next to me, said, “Baek Woong, there’s no sign of Zhuge Yulong here.”

“He must be at one of the other two places.”

I replied and then questioned Zhuge Bu. “Zhuge Bu, where are the other two places?”

[ …… ]

“It won’t do you any good to drag this out. You know better than anyone how much pain the souls owned by the [Old Ruler] suffer. I could release the Heavenly Secret Technique and cast you out anytime.”

When I growled this, Zhuge Bu begrudgingly responded,

[ One is in Xi’an. The other is in Luoyang. ]

“You really set up bases in two big cities.”

Realizing this, I finally understood why Zhuge Yulong was able to bounce back and forth between the Heavenly Altar and Luoyang right after his death. He had built important bases in the vicinity, allowing him to quickly suppress the Nine Great Sects if necessary.

Whoosh!

Before long, Cheon Woo-jin and I headed to Zhuge Yulong’s base in Xi’an. Upon entering the underground base, I gasped, “This place is enormous.”

Zhuge Yulong’s base in Xi’an was more than ten times larger than any I had seen before. It appeared that someone had completely excavated a hill to create a massive underground chamber with dozens of rooms.

Each room was stocked with ceremonial tools and numerous spare bodies of Zhuge Yulong. I was taken aback to find over 40 of them this time.

‘ He sure has made many spare lives.’

Crash!

After obliterating the Xi’an base, I headed straight for Luoyang. The last base of Zhuge Yulong in Luoyang was near the South Gate, right next to a cemetery. It looked just like a simple shrine for a gravekeeper from outside, but as I walked in, I found a hidden mechanism, and when I activated it, a massive underground chamber yawned open.

When the steel door to the chamber opened, I turned to Cheon Woo-jin and said, “He should be lurking around here. This is his final base he can’t afford to lose.”

“Sounds about right.”

Cheon Woo-jin replied, crossing his arms.

“I just don’t get it.”

“What do you mean?”

“If a sorcerer possesses such skills, he could easily claim to be the best among sorcerers at the moment. In terms of the Eight Trigrams, he might even surpass me as an expert. So why partner with the Otherworldly Race?”

“Why would he need to partner with them?”

“If he’s strong enough, he could become an Earth Immortal and climb the Gateway of Ascension, or even summon a renowned Great Immortal to gain ascension qualifications. The Celestial Realm would happily welcome powerful immortals. So why commit acts like this…?”

“……”

After a moment of thought, I replied, “Maybe he just didn’t want to go to the Celestial Realm that badly?”

“That’s absurd. Of all the sorcerers and martial artists of the Central Plains, only a handful can ascend to the Celestial Realm. That’s an unrealistic line of thought.”

“But you didn’t go either, even though you could.”

“Huh?”

Cheon Woo-jin looked at me like I was foolish. I was puzzled by his reaction when Zhuge Sa chimed in from within,

[ You don’t realize who Cheon Woo-jin really is? ]

[ What do you mean? ]

[ He’s a disciple of the Master of the Divine Spirits, the Great Protector of the Taoist Alliance. That means he’s a direct disciple of a god. So despite the apparent hierarchy, even Great Immortals dare not disrespect him.]

[ Oh. ]

[ Receiving teachings directly from a god, why would he want to go to the Celestial Realm? ]

Thinking along those lines made me shiver. A disciple of a god?!

That explained why no one dared challenge Cheon Woo-jin, despite his grand title of Illusory God. Moreover, witnessing him overcoming divine fever during the human sacrifice had amplified his powers several times over. Realizing I had spoken without thinking, I swallowed my words and said, “Well, I guess there’s a reason. Let’s catch him and see.”

“I will lift the seal first, so follow my lead.”

Cheon Woo-jin stated, vanishing in an instant. I followed his presence into the dark chamber, barely adjusting my sight when a massive flame burst forth in front of us.

Whoosh!

Cheon Woo-jin summoned a gigantic fire dragon that erupted and split into five streams, illuminating the chamber. He was clearing the way while also giving us visibility. With the path opened up, I could move ahead with ease.

Rumble!

I felt a tremor as the chamber shook. I emerged through a secondary exit and was surprised to discover another abyss in this underground space. Unlike the bases I had previously seen, I felt a sense of familiarity as I gazed upon the spiral staircase leading downwards.

‘Ruins of the Otherworldly Race!’

This architectural style was not made by humans but crafted by the Otherworldly Race! My extensive experience in adventures made me realize this immediately. Seeing a fire dragon soaring in the central abyss, I gathered that Cheon Woo-jin must’ve gotten tired of the stairs and decided to just fly through the air. Unable to use martial arts techniques myself, I summoned a Dharma Guardian to follow me down.

Splash!

Upon reaching the bottom, I spotted Cheon Woo-jin facing off against Zhuge Yulong. Zhuge Yulong had an exhausted expression, with his straw hat removed. His handsome visage shone weakly in the light.

Zhuge Yulong spoke in a resigned tone, “… You finally made it here. I hoped you wouldn’t.”

Cheon Woo-jin retorted, “Zhuge Yulong, you could have ascended to become an immortal, yet you commit such foolish acts… didn’t you realize the triviality of human power and politics?”

As if amused, Zhuge Yulong chuckled, “Haha… who better understands that than I? Do you think I sought power to become the Priestess of the Demon Subduing Hall?”

“Then for what reason did you commit such heinous acts?”

Cheon Woo-jin continued with a furious expression, “Not only human sacrifices, but you also seized the Heavenly Altar to spy on the secrets of the Celestial Realm. Such crimes are far beyond mere treason; even in the Celestial Realm, they have unanimously condemned your execution. No one has ever committed a crime so atrocious in history.”

“Hoo hoo.”

Zhuge Yulong merely laughed. It seemed he had no desire to respond to Cheon Woo-jin’s accusations. I stepped forward and spoke up, “Hey, answer me. Why did you do this?”

“……”

Zhuge Yulong turned his gaze to me. He looked at me with calm eyes and said, “I have completely lost. But it’s because I misjudged your essence.”

“What nonsense?”

“I thought the existence beyond the Soul Exchange Technique would undoubtedly be Zhuge Sa, my younger brother, guiding these betrayal-seeking paths. I prepared for his strategies by reading his moves. But you shattered all those expectations by directly attacking the Heavenly Altar, forcing me to crumble.”

Zhuge Yulong fixed a fierce gaze on me, asking, “Who the hell are you? How do you know all my secrets? And where did Zhuge Sa go?”

“Hmm…”

For the first time, I sensed real emotion from Zhuge Yulong. He was evidently flustered. After all, I had directly pricked the secrets he had hidden so carefully.

Zhuge Sa urged,

[ Hey, try using the Soul Exchange Technique on that spare body over there. ]

[ Think I can? ]

[ You may not capture the soul perfectly a this level, but you can certainly move it for a short time. You could probably hold it for about one incense stick’s worth of time. ]

[ Got it. ]

I approached Zhuge Yulong’s spare body and placed my hand on it, knowing how eagerly Zhuge Sa looked forward to this moment.

Moving the white to transfer the soul!

Woosh!

As I invoked the Soul Exchange Technique to move Zhuge Sa’s spirit to the spare body, the flesh trembled temporarily and began to stand up slowly. Zhuge Sa, taking on Zhuge Yulong’s visage, rubbed the back of his neck and smiled as he spoke to Zhuge Yulong, “Oh, brother! It’s good to see you.”

As Zhuge Yulong heard this, he seemed to grasp the situation and sighed, “So it was like this. Who did you get killed by?”

“The Master of the White Lotus Sect.”

“How absurd.”

“I think so too, brother.”

The two brothers shared a bittersweet smile. Despite sharing the same body, their expressions were markedly different, indicating that the souls inside were distinct. Zhuge Sa giggled and said, “Brother, do you understand why I became a hypocrite?”

“……”

“You cast me out and abandoned all the martial arts I had learned just because I received the teachings of the Heretical Sect of the Evil. You couldn’t bear your descendant of Zhuge Mu-hu mingling with evil races.”

“That’s true.”

“It took me three years of hell to restore the martial arts I lost during that drama. Yet look at you now!”

If things were normal, Zhuge Yulong should have had no retort. But after pausing to look at Zhuge Sa, he finally responded.

“For the same reasons you lost hope in this world.”

“What?”

“It’s simply that you realized a bit too late…”

What was he talking about? I was left bewildered, but Zhuge Sa’s expression had turned grave. The look on his face conveyed that he completely understood Zhuge Yulong’s answer. Though the response made no sense to me, it seemed to make sense to Zhuge Sa, who eventually sighed heavily.

“Sigh. You’ve always been like this. Stubbornly clinging to your pride, only to change your mind in an instant.”

“Don’t talk as if you know me so well. I had my reasons and motives, too.”

“At any rate, here we are.”

Zhuge Sa taunted him, “In the end, you were never fit to become the [Old Ruler].”

Zhuge Yulong growled. “So the guy you support is worthy of that title?”

“He’s not exactly reliable, but he’s far more practical than your methods.”

Hearing this, Zhuge Yulong’s expression shifted.

“Is that so? Just who is he?”

“That’s something you don’t need to know. You’ll be dying here.”

Zhuge Sa smirked as he spoke.

“After all, that body isn’t your last, right? The real body is hidden in a place Zhuge Bu doesn’t even know, waiting for a final strike, right? You came all this way knowing it all, brother.”

“So what if I know? You can’t figure out how to find it…”

“There’s no need to look for it~”

“What?”

Zhuge Sa grinned like a crescent moon.

“Baek Woong, kill that guy.”

“Don’t give me orders!”

I yelled, charging at Zhuge Yulong. Simultaneously, Cheon Woo-jin used sorcery to strike Zhuge Yulong.

“Ugh!”

Zhuge Yulong called upon the Earth Star Eight Trigrams Diagram to seal Cheon Woo-jin’s sorcery, but even amidst the rising Eight Trigrams, I swung my sword and aimed for his neck.

Clang!

Zhuge Yulong seemed to be more accustomed to fighting me this time, but this was still just a matter of enduring. The clear disparity in our abilities meant he couldn’t dream of countering my attack. Even if his martial arts reached the Absolute Realm, he could potentially retaliate and kill me in an instant, but Zhuge Yulong’s skills weren’t on such a level.

‘ Even among peak experts there are differences!’

Before long, my sword energy curved in midair, lopping off his head. The Absolute Slash of the Thunder God Sword Dance overwhelmed him, and human defense was no match for it.

Zhuge Yulong had some awareness of my attack pattern, but he was too weak to fend off even though he knew. I settled the score in just 270 seconds and stepped back, calming my breath.

Cheon Woo-jin, who had been watching, remarked, “Your swordplay is impressive. Truly the master of the Crescent Moon.”

“Thanks for the compliment, but that isn’t what matters right now.”

I sheathed my sword, concerned as I asked, “Zhuge Sa, how do we find this guy’s hidden body?”

Zhuge Sa, taking on Zhuge Yulong’s form, chuckled as he replied, “No need to find it. Killing him won’t matter since he’s bound by the curse of the gods anyway.”

“But leaving him alone could lead to future troubles…”

Zhuge Sa ignored my words and continued, “Baek Woong, I’ll teach you the true use of the Soul Exchange Technique.”

“Huh?”

“Cheon Woo-jin, please seal him right away.”

Suddenly, Zhuge Sa struck his own divine solution, and moments later, a bloodied body stood up, stained and wounded. He looked bewildered and exclaimed, “What?!”

What was happening?

It seemed Cheon Woo-jin was the first to catch on to the situation. He dashed forward, grasped Zhuge Yulong’s neck, and began what appeared to be a powerful sealing spell.

“Evil spirit, your soul shall be cared for in the Celestial Realm…”

Crackle!

“Aaaah! Nooo!!”

Zhuge Yulong screamed. It wasn’t from pain; it was pure disbelief in his predicament. He struggled, but the divine thunder enveloping his body showed no signs of stopping. Naturally, the sealing spell performed by Illusory God Cheon Woo-jin was powerful enough to seal even great demons in a single strike.

As Zhuge Sa’s soul returned to me, he remarked with a hint of satisfaction, [ If it’s a spare body created just for Zhuge Yulong, the synchronization rate of the soul will be off the charts. Reading that flow to draw the soul back with the Soul Exchange Technique is no challenge at all. ]

[ So you brought back Zhuge Yulong’s soul to the new body? ]

[ You could do it too if you reach the eighth level of the Soul Exchange Technique. ]

[ …… ]

[ Train harder. ]

As I was engaged in conversation, Cheon Woo-jin’s binding continued uninterrupted. He looked at Zhuge Yulong, who was despairing, and said, “If I kill you the curse of the [Old Ruler] activates. You will bear that karmic burden in the Celestial Realm, so there’s no need to worry about that curse coming for us. Furthermore, you’ll contemplate your sins for eternity in the Thunder Pearl of the Celestial Realm.”

“Krrh… Sin? Do you think what I did was so vile?”

“Human sacrifices, revealing secrets.”

“That was to save humans.”

Zhuge Yulong seemed to have lost hope and cackled in madness. “Hahaha… in hundreds of years, all of humanity will die in the future… To prevent that, I was willing to do anything. I refused to just stand idly by like you Celestial beings…”

“……”

“O Illusory God Cheon Woo-jin, do you know of the future where the rising moon awakens, and all [Old Rulers] stir, bringing about the extinction of life beneath the constellations? When that moment comes, not even death will be a salvation. I abandoned everything to save it!!”

As he shouted desperately, Zhuge Yulong continued in darkness, “The ancient humans made the same choices I did. It’s just a matter of success or failure…”

Cheon Woo-jin glanced at the spirit energy surrounding Zhuge Yulong. After a moment, he said, “At this weakness level, he wouldn’t be able to escape even if he were sealed in the Land and Earth Diagram.”

With a sound, a treasure called the Land and Earth Diagram appeared in Cheon Woo-jin’s left hand. It seemed he was planning to seal Zhuge Yulong within it. Given the strength of Zhuge Yulong, the potential for him to escape by force was high, so it appeared Cheon Woo-jin had taken precautions by weakening him with the sealing spell first.

“Farewell.”

Crack!

As Zhuge Yulong’s body dissipated, his soul rose with a white glow, floating into Cheon Woo-jin’s palm. Cheon Woo-jin sealed that light within the Land and Earth Diagram.

The scroll of the Land and Earth Diagram fluttered briefly before gleaming with a red light. The entire process progressed swiftly, and the dark chamber was shrouded in silence once more.

“Hmm.”

I checked myself just in case. The last time, my nerves had burned away, resulting in my body melting away, so I was worried whether the curse of the gods would reach me. But after waiting a while, there was no sign of the curse looming over me.

Cheon Woo-jin sighed, rolling up the Land and Earth Diagram and tucking it away.

“Baek Woong, don’t concern yourself with Zhuge Yulong’s claims. He’s just chasing a dream beyond his reach.”

“So he plans to save humanity is a stretch? That’s quite the assumption.”

“Probably so.”

He replied firmly, “Once again, don’t concern yourself.”

“……”

I couldn’t help but be concerned. Cheon Woo-jin’s insistence on not concerning myself hinted at an unavoidable despair lurking ahead.

 

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