Chapter 615
I stuffed the unconscious Zhuge Bu into the wooden armor and started gathering the remaining treasures. First, Han Jin-seong, who had once taught me about the Longmen Grottoes, directed me to the southeast of the empty gorge and I smashed through the back wall. I filled the armor with platinum and snagged the Azure Dragon Halberd and the secret techniques of the Baek Banshin.
‘This place doesn’t seem that important, so I guess I can come back later.’
Well, if it were important, Han Jin-seong would’ve used it ages ago. While I was nodding along to my own thoughts—
Whoo-whooo!
“……?!”
I suddenly felt a strong light emanating from the halberd in my left hand. At the same time, powerful spirit energy surged from it, and I was unexpectedly filled with fighting spirit.
‘What the…?’ Is the spirit trapped within the halberd granting me strength? I had felt something similar before, but this time it was even more intense. A tall, red-faced warrior with long whiskers appeared before me like a vision, and unlike last time, he spoke to me directly.
[Warrior with the Great Martial Art, I have a favor to ask of you.]
“Uh… Me?”
The warrior’s spirit nodded and continued.
[I remained on earth to bestow blessings on my descendants, but I couldn’t reach them due to the strong spiritual sealing of this grotto. They say the one who created this grotto was a mad hermit.]
As I stared at him blankly, the warrior said,
[Could you deliver this halberd to my descendants?]
“……”
I pondered for a moment and then replied,
“I can deliver it, but I want to know why you specifically appeared before me. I’m not the only one who can access this place, and other people can touch the halberd too, right?”
The warrior’s spirit chuckled.
[Haha! It’s been ages since someone wielded this halberd properly to get here, and even amongst them, no one had the divine energy and bravery to speak with me. You must be an extraordinary owner of the Great Martial Art. I haven’t seen a warrior as strong as you for hundreds of years.]
“……?”
I was confused, but I inferred one thing from his words. ‘Divine energy… Is it because I absorbed the Spirit Power again?’ The last time I held the halberd, the warrior’s spirit didn’t talk to me directly. The difference between last time and this one seemed to be how much Spirit Power I had. It looked like my affinity with spiritual beings had greatly increased, allowing me to communicate directly with the spirit of the halberd.
I asked again,
“Is your goal to pass the halberd to your descendants to help your bloodline prosper? I could do that, but first, I need to know who you are.”
[Speaking of which, I haven’t introduced myself.]
He thought for a moment and said,
[I currently hold the title of Grand Emperor of the Three Realms, Guansheng Emperor, in the Celestial Realm. In my life, my name was Guan Yu, and my alias was Yun Chang. My descendants carry the Guan surname.]
“Hmm…” Guan Yu? That name sounds familiar… what was it again?
‘What was it… I’ve definitely heard of it…’
I struggled to remember but couldn’t quite pin it down, probably because it had been ages since I read anything on the subject. So, I just nodded.
“Alright. If I find your descendants, I’ll hand over this halberd, right?”
[I would greatly appreciate it. I came to earth for that purpose, and I can’t return to the Celestial Realm until it’s done.]
He seemed to gauge my reaction before saying,
[If you fulfill my request, I will bestow a great blessing upon you.]
Was he kind of offering a trade? I nodded in agreement.
“Let’s do that.”
Swoosh!
In an instant, his spirit seemed to be absorbed into the halberd. I sensed something unexpected was happening, but I figured it could wait for another life, so I didn’t dwell on it.
‘I just have to look for the descendants of the Guan clan…’
After wrapping up the treasures in the Longmen Grotto, I headed towards the Heart of the Forest in Aokigahara Life Sea. There, I found the half-dead Cheongwol and decided to rescue her. Though it wasn’t strictly necessary, I felt like finishing everything neatly while I was at it.
Just then, I was about to return to the Zhuge Clan’s location when a thought struck me and I paused. I pulled out the Yodo Muramasa from the armor.
“Could this also…?”
The Azure Dragon Halberd had a strong connection to divine energy and the immortal lineage, so when I took hold of it, the spirit was summoned. I wondered if something similar might happen with this cursed sword.
Concentrating quietly while gripping the Yodo Muramasa, I amplified my internal power.
Oooooo!
I focused my mind like when I fought Zhuge Bu, drawing out my inner Spirit Power. Since the way Spirit Power works is similar to that of a demon’s power, having trained with Miho before, I could apply Spirit Power in various ways. During my fight with Zhuge Bu, just increasing my Spirit Power made me highly resistant to techniques, allowing me to win easily.
Kugugugu!
‘Ugh… So it’s the real deal.’
It was sucking in my Spirit Power and internal power at an alarming rate! I hadn’t used this properly before, so I didn’t realize, but this was definitely a special weapon.
And just how much Spirit Power and internal power did the sword devour?
Suddenly, my head started ringing loudly.
[Kya hahahahaha!! Hahaha!! Khehehehehe!!]
With a lack of restraint, the sword burst into maddened laughter in my mind.
[Fuhahaha! Uahahaha! UAAAAHAHAAAAHAHAAAAAA!!]
“……?”
[Kyarararahaha!!!]
Is it laughing or crying?!
The ridiculousness of the Yodo Muramasa’s laughter took me by surprise. It definitely had a personality, but something about it felt much less like having a normal conversation compared to the Azure Dragon Halberd.
“Hey… wait a second…”
[Hah hah!! Hah!! Hah!! Kyaahh!!]
“…….”
I felt like I was losing my mind.
It was as if a crazed individual was rolling around screaming in my head. How long did it take for the sword to go wild? After a while, the Yodo Muramasa finally threw a clear cry infused with its will into my mind.
[Kill!! Kill!! Give me blood!! Let’s kill!!]
“Ugh.”
[Hehehehehee! Uahahahaha!!]
Whoo-whooo!
Suddenly, my right arm, holding the Yodo Muramasa, began to move of its own accord, as if the sword was attempting to control me and kill something. I could feel its grip on my body was surprisingly strong, and I frowned.
‘Crap… Even a decent expert would be devoured immediately.’
If even I found it this annoying, how about everyone else? I wasn’t about to give control of my body to the Muramasa, so I pumped Spirit Power into my right arm. At the surge of my Spirit Power, the sword flinched and suddenly released its grip, seemingly startled for the first time.
[Kyaahh?!]
“Stop it!”
[Hee hee hee! Kyaahahaha!! I want to kill! I want to kill!!]
Before it could even recover from the fright, it went wild again. I had no choice but to yell at it.
“If you keep acting up, I’ll smash you into pieces!”
As I warned it loudly and pumped my Spirit Power in once more, the Yodo Muramasa seemed to panic.
[Eeeek! Gahh!! KYAaaack.]
It reacted as if it had been burnt. Once my Spirit Power became strong in the Muramasa, its mind seemed to take a hit. After a brief moment, the sword, now sounding subdued, whined.
[Mister… please don’t…]
“Huh?”
[What did I do wrong… come on, be reasonable… it hurts, it hurts…]
“…….”
The scabbard of the Muramasa rattled.
[I’m dying!! That’s not fair!]
Its speech was incredibly bizarre. I could tell my expression soured as I realized the sword’s personality was profoundly chaotic and twisted. Not wanting to continue this bizarre conversation, I decided to stash it back in the armor.
‘I can’t use this…’
The last time I wielded the Yodo Muramasa, it had been normal because I never pumped this much Spirit Power and internal power into it. Maybe the reason its personality was awakened was because I infused it with my power?
I concluded my tasks and headed back to Jangryeong Valley. While I still had to deal with obtaining the National Seal and the Fire Dragon Sword, that was quite a big matter, so I felt I should prepare myself before proceeding steadily. Most importantly, I needed to consider what price to offer Cheon Woo-jin, as I couldn’t obtain the National Seal without his help.
I showed Zhuge Sa the whole situation with the obsidian. Zhuge Sa sighed while peering into the memory.
“You just used the Nameless Ritual Book to get just Zhuge Bu? If you wielded the Nameless Ritual Book well, becoming the king of a nation would be a piece of cake.”
“Hmm…”
“Well, I guess that could happen… so where’s Zhuge Bu? Let’s take a look.” Zhuge Sa seemed slightly disappointed in my choice but moved on without making a big deal out of it. I scratched my head, feeling embarrassed and pulled Zhuge Bu out of the wooden armor. Zhuge Sa quickly examined the unconscious Zhuge Bu.
“Baek Woong. You said you want to extract the efficiency of the Nameless Ritual Book with this guy?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, there’s a way to do that.”
“Oh?! Really?!”
I was taken aback. Honestly, I felt uneasy about offering the Nameless Ritual Book for a duel, so it was unexpected to hear that Zhuge Sa had a solution! Zhuge Sa then grinned wickedly.
“Hehehe… It’s true. There’s definitely a way. But if you want to use this method, don’t you dare challenge or talk back to me.”
“……”
I felt a sense of foreboding. I cautiously asked,
“Think about it. This Zhuge Bu is a peak expert and top-tier martial artist; however, as he is now, he’s of no use. There’s a strong chance he’ll stab you in the back, and more importantly, he lacks growth compared to Jin So-cheong or Cheon Woo-jin. His innate arrogance is blocking his growth.”
Zhuge Sa stared coldly at the unconscious Zhuge Bu.
“I’ve known from the beginning that this guy will never amount to much and that he’ll do anything for his own gain. He’s the type I dislike the most, which is why I wanted to use the Yin-Yang Heaven Bug to take him down.”
“… You’re not one to talk.”
“Hehe. Regardless of his shortcomings, personal relationships are subjective. But this guy was just plain annoying.” Zhuge Sa continued, laughing maniacally.
“So the conclusion is simple. If he possesses a personality and humanity, then he’s worthless. So, let’s change that prerequisite.”
“……?”
“This guy is your slave, right?”
Zhuge Sa grinned while holding Zhuge Bu’s head tightly with one hand.
“Let’s strip that incompetent brain of his and replace it with a new one. The best method to use a secondhand item as if it’s brand new!”
