---

“`html

I started gathering the treasures I could, as suggested by Zhuge Sect. Having obtained the basic Heavenly Secret and Golden Lamp, collecting the rest was just a matter of time. First, I headed straight to Great Thunder Valley’s underground with Zhuge Sect, engaging in combat with the moon beast while also practicing the Three Treasure Technique.

Graaah…

The giant moon beast collapsed with a ferocious roar. After entering the cave, grabbing the Wooden Armor, Nine Stars Main Capital, and Twin Swords, Zhuge Sect, who followed me, said, “Let me see! That’s exactly why we’re here.”

Zhuge Sect examined the moon beast’s corpse for a good while before declaring, “This might be useful!”

“Useful? How so?” I asked.

“There’s no other beast of this size among the moon beasts. Most are just about eight feet tall, but this one is at least five times bigger. That means it’s brimming with magical power.”

As expected from a Demon Sorcerer, Zhuge Sect knew a lot about Otherworldly Races. I looked at the moon beast with new eyes. “So that’s why it could unleash such powerful summoning abilities?” During the fight, it had fired summoning waves multiple times. Naturally, Zhuge Sect, who was watching, was hit but didn’t seem bothered, likely because it knew how to defend beforehand. As Zhuge Sect tried to slice through the beast’s slimy hide with a dagger, it was too slippery to cut.

“Hmm… at this rate, it won’t be much help. Can you use your martial arts to skin it?”

I was taken aback at the thought of skinning such a massive creature. “Ugh… you want me to skin this gigantic beast whole?”

“We can use its hide for crafting demon artifacts or as an offering to the Old Ruler. It would be excellent for making weapons or armor. The flesh carries magic, so just burn it.”

“Got it.”

I steeled myself for the considerable time it would take and began to remove the beast’s hide. As I cast Sword Strength, it sliced through like tofu, but with such a massive beast, it took a long time. After two half-moments of constant skimming, I had finally stripped most of the moon beast’s hide.

The pile of skin I amassed was almost as big as an average house. Zhuge Sect chuckled, “Hehe. Just store it in the Wooden Armor for now. We can use it later.”

“Alright, then let’s store Hwang Yeon and his group in the Wooden Armor too…”

“Wait a sec. I need to check that too.”

“What?”

“I’ve got something on my mind.”

I followed Zhuge Sect up to the Thunder Pearl where Hwang Yeon’s group was trapped, rescuing them one by one. As Zhuge Sect observed those transformed into half-demon monsters, he remarked, “It’s the blessing of the Evil God.”

Thinking back, when we succeeded in the Great Thunder Valley rescue mission before, Master Mangnyang had described the curse they were under as the ‘Blessing of the Evil God.’ Zhuge Sect likely remembered that to retrace the situation. I recalled what Master Mangnyang had explained.

“It’s a curse for humans, but undoubtedly a blessing for Others. The Evil God doesn’t expand their followers recklessly like other Old Beings. They’re fewer in number, but each is more powerful than an average mortal. If completely mutated into an Evil God’s progeny, they’d achieve immortality alongside formidable sorcery abilities, so the Others would be itching to receive such a blessing.”

A curse for humans but a blessing for Others. I pondered over this until I felt something odd and asked Zhuge Sect, “Doesn’t something seem off?”

“What do you mean?”

“From my memory, those fully transformed by the Evil God’s blessing acquire immortality and incredible sorcery abilities, but it looks like they all just died under this curse.”

Which was true. The victims who had transformed under the blessing of the Evil God could barely move on their own, wriggling like worms. Their grotesque appearances and dreadful sounds made it hard to imagine them possessing any powerful abilities. Zhuge Sect stroked one of the blessed beings.

“Hey, look closely. Even among them, there are different types.”

“……?”

“Weaker races like humans can’t endure such a powerful divine blessing. So nine out of ten either die or degenerate into lowly Others; however… see those whose bodies turned completely black?”

Indeed, among the victims, there were some whose bodies had darkened. When I glanced over, Zhuge Sect gripped one of their tentacles tightly, grinning.

“These ones have withstood the blessing. They likely possessed strong physiques, exceptional talent, or unique abilities. I wouldn’t be surprised if a few years down the line, they evolve into pure-blooded Evil Gods.”

Realizing the implication of his words, I frowned. “Are you saying they’ll become high-level Others?”

“Exactly. The ones who imprisoned these prisoners in Great Thunder Valley seemed to have been conducting some sort of experiment. They were likely aiming to spawn high-level Others who follow their commands.”

“…….!!”

After thinking for a moment, I retorted, “Vermilion Bird Zhuge Yulong!”

“Naturally. You really have a penchant for the grotesque, huh?”

“Hmm… but what does that mean for us now? Just because they’ll hatch into Evil God’s progeny, do we need to kill them?”

When I questioned this, Zhuge Sect shook his head.

“Not at all. Having gone through so much with this magical experiment, they’ll want to take the results for themselves.”

“You mean you want to spawn Evil God’s offspring?”

“Exactly. We can create a battalion of Others that follow your commands…”

“………”

I pondered deeply before asking back, “You mentioned high-level Others. How strong are they as descendants of the Evil God?”

“Unbelievably strong. The gap between them and humans is enormous.”

“Hmmm.”

“Well, since you have little knowledge of the demon arts, I’ll simplify it for you with an analogy.” Zhuge Sect smirked and drew a triangular shape in the dirt with a twig. Then he marked a line at the bottom side and said, “In terms of the world’s entire racial distribution, the lowest tier of the food chain includes all lower-tier creatures—plants, animals, and microorganisms. Next up is humans.”

Squeak.

Zhuge Sect drew another line and wrote ‘人間,’ meaning humanity. My expression soured.

“So humans barely scrape by at the bottom level? Is that how low our standing is?!”

Zhuge Sect laughed mockingly. “From the start, humans were lower races created by the Old Beings as food and pets. They barely have any technological advancement, can’t even leave their planet, their bodies are weak, and their innate spirit power and magical power hit rock bottom… humans are a weak, foolish race. We might as well call them the eternal punching bag, born losers.”

“……”

“Countless races are stronger than humans. Even Knight Ghouls or Ghouls are stronger than humans. Then there are those at the mid-tier level, like the moon beasts or serpent-men you just defeated.”

Squeak.

Zhuge Sect pointed to the side of the triangle just below the top tier. “Only from here on do we start referring to them as high-level Others, which includes the Great Race and the descendants of the Evil God. They are among the most powerful beings among thousands and thousands of Others, fundamentally surpassing humans in science and magic, capable of traversing not just planets but entire galaxies.”

“Who’s at the top of this triangle?”

“You’re asking as if you don’t know? Obviously the Old Ruler or their manifestations.”

“I see.” After summarizing, Zhuge Sect released the tentacle of the victim and said, “If you use these fellows wisely, you could have your own personal high-level Other’s guard. What do you think?”

“Not really enticing.”

“High-level Others have drastically different limits on growth, so any that undergo evolution will acquire immense supernatural abilities and magic just from a little training.” Zhuge Sect tried to persuade me, but I firmly shook my head.

“They’re still human. I can’t use them as combat troops! What I want to know is not how to turn them into monsters but how to revert them back into humans.”

“Tch… missing another opportunity like this. I already knew you were this kind of guy.” Zhuge Sect sighed and dusted himself off, standing up.

“If there were a good way, Master Mangnyang would have already suggested it. I believe there’s no other solution.”

“Is that so?”

“The best solution would be to defeat the source of the techniques: the Evil God.” He chuckled.

As if that was possible anytime soon. But I wouldn’t give up! I vowed that regardless of the Evil God, I’d take it down someday. I asked Zhuge Sect, “What exactly is this Evil God?”

“The Old Ruler.”

“That’s not what I meant. This being elevates others like Lruie to destroy humans, so doesn’t that mean it’s a particularly powerful entity even among the Old Rulers?”

“Oh, that seems like a solid guess, but yes, that’s the right answer.” Zhuge Sect sat nearby, continuing, “This existence could traverse between worlds freely through the heavens. It’s not just about sorcerers crossing dimensions; it was able to pass through the vast curves of the universe and traverse an infinite expanse of time and space.”

“……”

“Moreover, it’s a descendant of the Outer God Yog-Sothoth and Nug, meaning it’s a direct line of chaos, and it’s regarded as the closest being to the Outer God among the existing Old Beings. It must be incredibly powerful.”

I grew frustrated. “Why can’t that thing just stay buried in the ocean instead of rising to wipe out humanity?”

“If you were asleep and ants started building an anthill nearby, wouldn’t you find it annoying and smash it?”

“Ugh…”

“It’s just like that. To the gods, humans are as insignificant as dust.”

I shook my head. “If there’s nothing more to do, let’s get moving.”

“If that’s what you want to do.”

PAH!

Next, I headed towards the Blood Blade Group, starting with the annihilation of them. After wiping out the Blood Blade Group, Zhuge Sect remarked, “How about leaving a few alive next time? You could use them for human sacrifices.”

“Just killing them is easier. Dealing with live ones would be a hassle.”

I replied as I gathered the treasures of the Blood Blade Group and began to rescue the hostages. Once that business was settled, I moved near the Namgung Clan.

This time, I hesitated a bit. Since the last time, the timing had changed when searching for treasures, so I was unsure whether Sword King Namgung Myeong would be there or not. The last bomb had worked out well because they had gathered by chance and we managed to catch them off guard. As I pondered, Zhuge Sect suggested, “What are you waiting for? Just go. Namgung Myeong is just a minor pest compared to the enemies you really need to deal with. Why waste time and energy on no-bodies?”

“It’s easier said than done. Leaving Namgung Myeong and Namgung Hwan alive will only lead to more casualties.”

“You’re meddling in something that isn’t even your job…” Zhuge Sect grumbled.

“Just let it go for now. There are more important matters to attend to. Handle those and deal with them later. If it’s truly bothersome, save the women instead.”

“Fine.”

PAH!

After rescuing the women from the Namgung Clan, I went to the Inner Imperial Pavilion of the Imperial Palace’s library to store the Nameless Ritual Book in the Wooden Armor. After taking everything I could from the ruins of Xuyou and collecting a few Sacred Lotus plants from the White Lotus Sect, I secured the Three Sovereigns’ Inner Gate from the Joint Mountain. Lastly, I obtained the Silver Phoenix Fragment from Taekyung Village.

It seemed I had progressed quite a bit. As I completed these tasks, I intentionally skipped bringing the Crystal Stele. I really didn’t want to tangle with the Imperial Palace unnecessarily. Instead, I looked at Zhuge Sect anew.

“I figured you’d want to get rid of Zhuge Bu from the Imperial Palace, but you didn’t push for it.”

“Why blow up the Yin-Yang Heaven Bug? With it planted there, I can share his senses anytime I want. Of course, I can’t read memories or control him, though.”

“What!”

It has that kind of function too?! If it works that way, then the Yin-Yang Heaven Bug is undoubtedly comparable to the soul treasures, and if it’s anything like the Soul Exchange Technique, then I was undeniably in a tricky position! The fact that such a deadly secret was embedded in his nephew showed just how deranged Zhuge Sect was.

Zhuge Sect continued, “Alright, let’s tidy up and proceed with the Seven Luminary’s Ritual. This time, we’ll surely find a solution.”

I first prepared the ritual, giving Mangnyang the Three Sovereigns’ Inner Gate and the Suspicious Fishhook. Then, I convinced Cheon Woo-jin to start the ceremony, and eventually, the Primordial Void Ruler was summoned.

Hoooom…

I began with the Primordial Void Ruler and slowly progressed through the turns. This time, skipping to the second was the Queen Mother of the West and then arriving at the third, Great Immortal, he declared.

“I wish to receive your blessing!”

The Great Immortal responded, surprised, “[Hmm… then I, Southern Flower Immortal, shall grant you the Book of Great Peace.”]

The third turn was my battle against the Master of the White Lotus Sect in my 19th life! When the Southern Flower Immortal pulled out the Book of Great Peace to hand it over, I firmly waved my hand.

“No, what I wish for isn’t that.”

“Hmm…?”

I whispered, “Not the Book of Great Peace, but the Great Peace Sorcery itself. Please give me the techniques of Great Peace Sorcery as payment for the ritual.”

“`

 

---