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00455 Dark Heaven Village ————————————————————————

The information gleaned from the Zhuyong Tribe was surprisingly detailed. Instead of answering my questions, he immediately tossed me a chunk of dark metal.

“This is…”

“I will transmit the memories.”

Wiying!

The next moment, a black light erupted from the metal chunk, and knowledge flooded into my mind. In an instant, I realized what this metal was.

‘It’s made from a mineral only found in the outer realms!’

Since this world lacked that specific mineral, they were using obsidian instead, which was rather inefficient. It seemed the Zhuyong Tribe could transmit memories much more efficiently using a special mineral mined from their homeland.

Through this memory transmission, I immediately understood the abilities of the Dragon Flower Tree. It condensed an immense spirit energy, and it was a seed from an extremely rare tree species that was becoming increasingly scarce in this world. This spirit energy appeared to be used for breaking curses. However, it wasn’t recorded what abilities one would gain by consuming the Dragon Flower Tree.

Moreover, the appearance of the Dragon Flower Tree’s seed made me grimace.

It looked like a living, writhing, dark mass!

It felt as though some tiny creature was squirming within the dark shell. Its striking characteristics made it unforgettable after just one glance.

I questioned the Zhuyong Tribe.

“You didn’t give me a location. Is the seed buried next to the Fire Spirit?”

“We don’t know that either.”

“Why?”

“Because the only record we have is from the Celestial Realm, saying it’s buried next to the Seven Luminaries. The Celestial Realm didn’t provide any further information, so we don’t know. But it’s highly likely that the Dragon Flower Tree seed is buried in the ground.”

I had just understood what Phnacotus was through the chunk of metal. As I once wandered around the Arasa Empire, this “Great Race” had built libraries across the world to store their knowledge. One of these libraries was Phnacotus, a hidden city in a secret location on the southern continent where the Fire Spirit is.

‘Hmm. This isn’t much progress…’

I felt uneasy. Knowing the shape and ability of the Dragon Flower Tree was good, but without knowing where in the Tao Garden it was buried, there was no point. The only way to find it was to mindlessly dig through the Tao Garden with earth-moving techniques.

The Zhuyong Tribe continued.

“Well then, let me give you information about Gong Gong.”

As he handed me another chunk, I stared at it intently before taking it. When the Zhuyong looked at me with a puzzled expression, I asked.

“I’m curious, how much more efficient is this chunk at memory transmission compared to obsidian?”

“I don’t know why you ask, but… roughly 15,000 times.”

“……”

That was a huge difference. It meant that even with the same memory input, the size of the storage medium differed by 15,000 times. I looked at him with a kind of eager pleading.

“U-uh, could you sell me a few of these chunks?”

The Zhuyong Tribe responded firmly.

“Impossible. This is classified information, so absolutely not. Now hurry and take the chunk.”

“Hmph.”

I licked my lips as I transmitted the information about Gong Gong into my mind. The appearance and armaments of Gong Gong matched nearly perfectly with what I had seen firsthand, and a few weak points were recorded as well. Additionally, I could visualize Gong Gong’s appearance and battle scenes from the Mythological Age in my mind.

While reviewing the memories, I asked the Zhuyong Tribe about Gong Gong’s weak points.

“Most of it sounds vague; there’s nothing convincing as a weakness?”

“What do you mean it’s vague?”

“It says that you just need to pick one of the weapons your Zhuyong Tribe possesses and attack to defeat him; I mean weaknesses that are inherent to Gong Gong himself.”

“Hmm?”

“I don’t have any weapons from your tribe, so I’ll need to defeat him using martial arts and spells.”

This was my frustration. The language of the otherworldly race had an abundance of weapon names written down, but ultimately concluded with something like, ‘Snipe Gong Gong from a distance with this weapon, and you win.’ There were weapons like a light cannon or something that gathers sunlight into a single point. That’s not even a weakness; it’s merely bragging about their advanced weaponry. The Zhuyong looked at me with a strange expression and said.

“Are you seriously thinking of winning by fighting that divine being in close combat? That’s primitive…”

“……”

Primitive, huh!

Why should I be called primitive?! Just when I was about to snap back, the Zhuyong Tribe slowly replied.

“That divine being Gong Gong was once a formidable existence that could rival the Three Sovereigns. He was a blazing giant capable of manipulating spirit techniques at will, but now his strength and divine essence are sealed, and he can only use the innate power of fire. If there is a weakness, that might be it.”

So, finding a way to suppress the power of flames would work.

I wasn’t entirely satisfied, but I nodded, thinking this alone was a significant clue.

“Thank you.”

The Zhuyong turned away with, “In time, our king will make a formal request to you, the apostle. Until then, safe travels.”

Wheeing!

The next moment, I realized my body had suddenly returned to Jangryeong Valley. I had been forcibly teleported by someone else. Surprised, I looked around and realized they had used a spell to send me back to ‘the place I was just at.’

‘Sure enough, these guys shouldn’t be made enemies…’

It was clear they possessed immense knowledge and wisdom, transcending human understanding. With such tremendous power, it was no wonder they were revered as a great race. Though they appeared as grotesque monsters from a human perspective, their mental abilities made them a class above humans, seeing us more like beasts.

Having obtained the necessary information, I headed to the Zhuge Clan to share it. Zhuge Sa pondered over the information and said,

“It seems we must raid the Imperial Palace first to follow the proper order.”

“The Crystal Stele and Portrait Immortal are already hidden in the wooden armor…”

“There’s one remaining.”

Are you talking about the National Seal?

But to obtain it, I’d need the strength to break the barrier protecting the National Seal. As it stood, the only choice was to seek the help of Cheon Woo-jin. While Zhuge Sa was an excellent sorcerer, his barrier-breaking abilities were lacking.

When I stared at Zhuge Sa, he said,

“Using Cheon Woo-jin’s assistance will be the easiest and fastest route.”

“Hmm. Isn’t that giving away too many treasures to Cheon Woo-jin?”

I felt a bit uneasy. So far, I had already given him gold bars from the remains, obsidian, and the sacred lotus. Having already surrendered treasures worth more than most martial artists could hope to earn in a lifetime, I was naturally hesitant now that I was at my third client.

“Don’t you think forming a bond with a divine-level sorcerer to request help is one of the fortuitous encounters in itself? Compared to the gain of obtaining the Dragon Flower Tree and Fire Spirit, it’s not that significant. However, the Black and White Lotus must be saved for the final negotiation with the Master of the Sect, so we can’t touch the Silver Phoenix Fragment either.”

“Then what does Cheon Woo-jin get? All that’s left are things like the Fire Dragon Sword, Baek Woong, and the wooden armor. They seem too precious to part with right now.”

As I complained, Zhuge Sa chuckled.

“You could just rob some gullible fools!”

I finally began to move according to Zhuge Sa’s scheme.

Pa-at!

I headed straight for Sasaki Kojiro’s home in Dongyoung.

“Why are you crying so much… has it all gone empty… this cicada’s shell?”

“……”

“Who are you?”

Sasaki Kojiro seemed to be seated in a corner, reciting traditional haikus. Upon my abrupt appearance, he stared at me, and I spoke to him.

“Are you Sasaki Kojiro, pretending to be someone because of Miyamoto Musashi?”

“Who the hell are you?!”

“I’m a friend of Musashi.”

“…….”

I lied casually, but Sasaki Kojiro appeared intrigued. It made sense; he was also a Peak Expert and was surely aware of my prowess, and it was logical that he’d be curious about the circumstances. I continued.

“Musashi said it’s obvious you’ve hit the limits of the Book of Five Relationships, so practice your swordsmanship on the continent.”

“Did… did Musashi really say that?”

“Is it wrong? You must feel the limits of your own talent.”

Saying this made me bitter because I had no right to say such things to Kojiro.

“Ugh.”

Sasaki Kojiro displayed a shocked expression. Although Zhuge Sa’s hint was merely a guess, it seemed he had struck a chord. I took a step forward and extended my hand.

“Musashi advised you to return the unworthy Book of Five Relationships and show you a higher path of swordsmanship.”

Kojiro hesitated, changing his tone.

“… Might I know who you are? Such a valuable item isn’t something I could just give to a stranger!”

“I am Baek Woong of the Thunder God Lineage. I believe you know that Musashi is currently the special envoy of the Twelve Joules and has restored the Lunar Kill Technique.”

“……!!”

Kugugugu!

To increase my presence, I unleashed my internal energy with full force. The shock and pressure seemed to overwhelm Sasaki Kojiro. Although he attempted to resist with intent, the momentary gap in capability had been imprinted into him. I smirked.

“While I could take it by force, I’ll follow your request for now. Hand me the Book of Five Relationships, and I’ll arrange a place for you to hone your skills in the Central Plains Martial World.”

“The Central Plains Martial World? You mean to face the great experts of the Ming Dynasty?”

“Exactly. There are only two Peak Experts in this cramped Dongyoung: Kamizumi Nobutsuna and Tsukuhara Bokkudon. However, over twenty different Peak Experts openly exist in the Central Plains, and if you include the hermits and the White Lotus Sect’s experts, the number increases even further. It’s the perfect place for you to refine the sword wisdom from the Book of Five Relationships, which you lack practical experience in.”

“Hmmm…”

Sasaki Kojiro thought for a while before nodding his head and retrieving the Book of Five Relationships from his belongings to hand to me.

“Here you go.”

“Great. Now follow me.”

Pa-at!

I took Kojiro to meet the Sword Demon. After briefly explaining the situation, the Sword Demon immediately understood and chuckled.

“This is perfect! The position of the Dharma Protector was just vacated.”

Kojiro expressed his fears.

“Is it true that there are so many experts in the Ming Dynasty?”

As I translated Kojiro’s words, the Sword Demon burst into laughter.

“Ha ha ha… To think you’d debate the level of experts at such a level shows great arrogance! Just because you’re regarded highly in the island nation doesn’t mean you can recklessly flaunt yourself here; that’ll get you killed.”

“Ugh.”

After hearing the Sword Demon’s words, Kojiro looked genuinely shocked. I bowed my head to the Sword Demon.

“Then I’ll depend on you. Also, I’ll keep the secret techniques of the Black Horse for myself.”

“Ho ho… do as you wish. I have no need for any of that Black Horse nonsense.”

“Yes.”

“That was a clever two-for-one scheme you pulled off.”

It seemed the Sword Demon immediately recognized that Zhuge Sa planned to not only obtain the Book of Five Relationships but also recruit Kojiro into the Sword Demon’s Shadowless Sect.

Swish!

Next, I moved to the hidden location of the Eight Demons, the Black Night Gate. There were no gatekeepers near the small dark cave hidden in the mountains. This was because it was such a discreet place that it was only concealed with thickets and bushes so that only the Black Horse from the Eight Demons would know about it.

I entered the hidden place and put the hidden techniques of the Black Night Gate into the wooden armor. Additionally, I grabbed the treasure chest and gold bars that the Black Horse had sneakily stashed away. This alone had enough value to rival several battlefields.

‘Never thought I’d find use for this stuff I hadn’t even considered taking…’

With the Thunder God Lineage’s martial arts and the Seven Great Techniques, there was no need for me to learn techniques from the honor-bound sects. Satisfied with the valuables and gold bars I had obtained, I left that spot.

Then, I visited Cheon Woo-jin again and said to him, “Cheon Woo-jin! You must break a barrier that must be removed. Of course, I won’t do it empty-handed; I’ll provide a sufficient reward.”

“Are you really planning to take advantage of me for the third time?”

Cheon Woo-jin looked at me incredulously. However, I put on my most shameless expression and replied.

“Looking at my proposal, you might be quite tempted.”

I took out the Book of Five Relationships and the hidden techniques of the Black Night Gate along with the treasure chest, gold bars, and the remaining stock of the sacred lotus to lay them out all at once. After explaining each one of the treasures, Cheon Woo-jin sighed and rubbed his forehead.

“Hey… where do you keep finding all these treasures? Are you like a walking treasure trove?”

“Will you do it or not?”

“Damn… I don’t have a strong reason to do it, but out of courtesy, I’ll help you this time. I won’t do it again.”

As Cheon Woo-jin grumbled, he agreed to my request. I could tell from Cheon Woo-jin’s reaction.

‘Three times is his limit.’

It likely wasn’t just that he was astonished by me bringing so much, but once he reached a certain level of annoyance, he seemed to dismiss everything else. Thus, it had been the right choice to come prepared for this request.

Pa-at!

Finally, I stood in front of the barrier beneath the Imperial Palace with Cheon Woo-jin. Cheon Woo-jin furrowed his brows as he examined the barrier and said,

“Damn it. Why is this barrier so strong?”

Though he hadn’t mentioned it before, that probably reflected Cheon Woo-jin’s true feelings. While it appeared easy to break, it was certain he would have to exert all his force as an Illusory Deity to break it.

“Can’t you break it?”

“Who said I couldn’t? Anyway…”

Kwagwang!

“Grand Incantation of the Thunder World!”

Kwahkwang!

After some struggle, Cheon Woo-jin chanted a spell and destroyed the underground barrier. Although he looked weaker than during the time he had suffered from divine fever, being referred to as the strongest sorcerer of the Mortal Realm was no empty claim.

At last, I reached the seal on the National Seal and claimed it for myself.

Going through the process of becoming the owner of the National Seal, I finally realized I was now prepared.

‘Finally going…’

If I couldn’t assure the location of the Dragon Flower Tree by turning the Tao Garden upside down, there was only one method left.

Utilize the National Seal’s palace examination technique to seek out the Dragon Flower Tree!

—————————= Author’s Note —————————=

I wrote this hurriedly, which led to a mistake of having Namgung Myeong still alive. I will strive not to make such errors in the future. ㅠㅠ

 

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