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“This is unexpected.”

Turns out, I thought the Divine Consolidation Plan was just a fight where the good Celestial Sages kicked the evil King Da Zhou and his demonic pals out. But nope! It was actually a process of slaughtering humans and picking favorites?! I was all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed with excitement when the Heavenly Mysterious Woman suddenly chimed in.

[Yeah, that was the plan. But you do know the Three Pure Ones have another scheme up their sleeves, right? And you, as the Sect Master, didn’t play your part in that plan.]

[Hmph! How clumsy.]

Cheon Gong-pyo scoffed.

[So they want to combine the powers of the Celestial Sect and the Severing Sect to plead for mercy from the Three Sovereigns? Nah, I’d rather crush the Celestial Sect with the Severing Sect’s power and declare myself the Overlord of Humanity; seems way more realistic.]

[Whatever the case, you’re the one who wrecked the plan halfway. The Three Pure Ones tried to smooth things over to lessen the fallout of the Divine Consolidation Plan, but your reckless antics messed it all up.]

The Heavenly Mysterious Woman gave her a more intense glare.

[You thought you were on a noble quest for humanity, but in the end, your efforts just made the Celestial Realm treat humans even harsher. You must have felt during the Divine War that the Three Sovereigns even sent their own Apostle down because you resisted so strongly?]

[No, that was…]

[You turned what should have been a small Divine problem into a headache that even the Three Pure Ones struggled with. It was you, Cheon Gong-pyo, who forced the Three Sovereigns to intervene personally to squash the Severing Sect.]

Cheon Gong-pyo wavered. It was obvious the Heavenly Mysterious Woman’s words struck a nerve. She hesitated, then snapped her head away.

[…I don’t know. So what now? If I repent, what difference does it make?]

[How shameless to hear that coming from the guilty party. We don’t need your confession; just keep your promises.]

The Heavenly Mysterious Woman glared at her.

[Can’t even keep the words of the Sect Master of the Severing Sect?]

[Ugh… fine.]

Resigned, Cheon Gong-pyo came over to me. She then commanded,

[Reach out your hand.]

When the Heavenly Mysterious Woman extended her hand, Cheon Gong-pyo muttered a spell.

Manseon Hwi-hwang!

Jiji-jing!

[Whoa…!!]

In that moment, I felt a golden thread piercing my head as knowledge about the Severing Sect’s sorcery flowed into my mind. It felt like sand slowly trickling through a needle’s eye, but soon the transmission sped up, giving me a euphoric rush that nearly burst my brain. I learned not just the Severing Sect’s techniques, but also each spell of the Ten Heavenly Generals, their mastery, and even the weaknesses those spells had.

But was it a limitation of my capabilities? Just like when I accepted Ji-seon Mang-nyang’s memories, it was all glitchy, and there was plenty I didn’t grasp. I could see it but struggled to interpret it all. In the midst of frantically absorbing information, the Heavenly Mysterious Woman spoke up.

[You’re capable enough to cast a top-tier memory transfer spell in one go, yet why didn’t you train a successor? When you were sealed, the Severing Sect didn’t have anyone skilled enough to take your place and ended up losing badly.]

Cheon Gong-pyo chuckled.

[Hmph… I never thought I’d lose.]

[…]

She sounded rather cool but somehow came across as foolish. The Heavenly Mysterious Woman looked at her incredulously.

[Well, guess it’s time to get back to reality.]

[Isn’t it enough just to have the demand?]

[Like that makes sense… crossing dimensional barriers requires at least that. We need to combine our strength to escape safely. Use your abilities, the Ruyi Staff, and the Sabre Sword together.]

[Tch…]

Cheon Gong-pyo seemed reluctant to cooperate and was clearly trying to conserve her own power while leaving the heavy lifting to the Heavenly Mysterious Woman. A moment later, they faced each other, reciting their ancient incantations.

Wooooooom!

As ancient spells they were chanting turned into floating characters around them, I felt strangely fascinated. It was surely archaic, not modern speech, yet every word’s meaning came through loud and clear.

[I guess I got some knowledge of the Severing Sect’s sorcery from Cheon Gong-pyo…]

Maybe it would help me learn ancient spells in the future? I was deeply focused when I suddenly noticed something odd.

[Huh? Wait a minute, those aren’t Chinese characters…]

Indeed, whether it was the Heavenly Mysterious Woman’s incantations or Cheon Gong-pyo’s spells, all the white spells floating in the air weren’t Chinese characters. They looked more like unique, original, spell-specific language, not ancient pictographs or oracle bone script. I thought, why would they choose to use a different language instead of Chinese characters? But I didn’t have time to ponder that right now.

Fwoosh!

A blue light broke free, and a circle the size of three Zhang appeared in the air. The Heavenly Mysterious Woman tossed the demand into the circle and shouted,

[O Spirit, open the way back!]

With a ‘keening’ sound, as the demand broke through the center of the circle, a blue sky began to reflect inside the dark circle. It seemed that sky was proof it connected back to the real world. The Heavenly Mysterious Woman, looking confident the door was open, prepared to leap right in.

BOOM!

[Oh no, that guy…]

As the Heavenly Mysterious Woman shouted a warning and stepped back, the Celestial Sage Tripitaka came strolling over in humanoid form. He was definitely the one who had just attacked the Heavenly Mysterious Woman with a spell. With a smirk, the Tripitaka said,

“Where do you think you’re going?”

[It’s tough even with your true form, and you come in human form instead? You must want to die!]

“Well, even I had to push it a bit to get here, and almost bit the dust in the process. But hey, aren’t you forgetting something?”

The Tripitaka subtly pointed behind him.

“The esteemed folks you made angry are rushing in.”

Rumble, rumble, rumble…

True to his words, from across the plains, chaotic tentacles, eerie demonic spirits, and winged rock giants were barreling toward us. Each one had to be an [Old Ruler]. The Heavenly Mysterious Woman seemed to sense the crisis, her expression hardening, and Cheon Gong-pyo was no different.

Cheon Gong-pyo, bewildered, exclaimed,

[If those [Old Rulers] make it this far, you won’t be safe either. What kind of guts do you have to bring them here? No matter how skilled you think you are, you can’t run from them using space-shifting spells.]

“Heh heh heh… My master Chi You’s base is in this Dark Heaven Village. And the residents of the moon are protected by the great chaos, so they hold noble status here. On top of that, Chi You is uniquely special…”

The Tripitaka burst into laughter.

“Haha! Here in the Dark Heaven Village, no ordinary [Old Ruler] can touch us, because we are Chi You’s avatars!”

[……!! What?]

Cheon Gong-pyo looked dumbfounded. And who could blame her; [Old Rulers] were supposed to be beings who stood above all laws of cause and effect, untethered by any normal constraints. But here he was saying they could be safe just because they were Chi You’s subordinates!

The Heavenly Mysterious Woman calmly replied,

[Riding on your master’s power to bark orders, huh? Then perish.]

BOOM!

As the Heavenly Mysterious Woman unleashed one command using the Corpse Dissolution Technique, the Tripitaka’s body exploded. Despite sustaining a mortal blow, he staggered for a while before finally collapsing. But, knowing him, it was probably just a clone; she hadn’t truly defeated the Tripitaka yet.

In that moment, I realized my choice had been the right one.

[If that’s the case, then even if I offered the demand to the [Old Rulers], there was a chance the Asura of the Eight Parts of the Divine could snatch it away!]

If Chi You holds dominion here in Dark Heaven Village like a noble, then the Asura of the Eight Parts of the Divine could use Chi You’s authority to steal the Seven Luminaries away. Sure, the [Old Rulers] might refuse, but losing it would be the worst-case scenario for me!

The Heavenly Mysterious Woman shot a sideways glance at Cheon Gong-pyo.

[We can’t afford to hesitate any longer. It’s not the time to calculate who gets in first and seals the door, betraying the other.]

[I wasn’t even thinking that way!]

Cheon Gong-pyo replied nervously, but it was clear that wasn’t her true intent. The Heavenly Mysterious Woman said,

[Let’s go in together.]

[Understood.]

In sync, both of them leaped through the dimensional door created by the demand.

Whaaaaa!

When they jumped in, suddenly from behind, the power of the [Old Rulers] surged, flowing toward them like liquid. This was clearly a curse attempting to capture them with magical force.

The Heavenly Mysterious Woman exclaimed, sounding distressed,

[Oh no…!! Such a powerful curse…]

Even the Heavenly Mysterious Woman, having regained her true power, seemed unable to hold off multiple [Old Rulers] unleashing curses all at once. The same went for Cheon Gong-pyo; she looked pallid, signifying all hope was lost.

Just then, a voice rang out.

[You have the seal, so you can pass.]

What a strange sound.

[The rest must die.]

With a sinister tone, a massive lump of curse energy that was rushing toward us suddenly halted.

[What is going on?]

I wanted to look back, but the Heavenly Mysterious Woman, already in a trance, firmly resisted my will.

[Don’t turn back.]

[What is happening right now?]

[The ruler blocking the entrance. That being is closely related to the Outer Gods, so do not provoke his wrath.]

Whaaa!

EEEEEEEEEK!!!

A colossal web erupted in all directions, and a shrill scream echoed from behind us. The screams were utterly brutal but gradually began to fade away. I could only guess the identity of those cries, but the feeling was surreal.

No way…

Could it be that the [Old Rulers] pursuing us from behind are being slaughtered?

Such an absurd scenario had never crossed my mind, yet it was the only possible explanation. I had experienced firsthand the vast gap that existed amongst the [Old Rulers].

[Ugh… damn it…]

I felt a chill run down my spine.

If the Guardian blocking the entrance is strong enough to massacre the same [Old Rulers], then charging through Dark Heaven Village was out of the question! So, the only choice left was to either unleash the Golden Lamp again or break through to the Dream World.

As I was wrapped up in all sorts of thoughts, the Heavenly Mysterious Woman’s voice reached me.

[Baek Woong. We’ll reach the real world soon. What will you do?]

[What do you mean?]

[Cheon Gong-pyo will act on her own. The world will be destroyed and thrown into chaos by her will, and no semi-divine mortals will stand a chance against her. Even a decent Great Immortal or Dragon King would be obliterated by a single swipe of her Sabre Sword. She was the pinnacle leader of the Severing Sect, equal to the Three Pure Ones.]

[Ugh… I suppose that’s true.]

As I considered Cheon Gong-pyo’s immense power, I couldn’t help but be awestruck. The Asura of the Eight Parts of the Divine had revealed their true form only to be killed by her; how could a human-born like her become that strong?

[But regardless of how strong I’ve become, I can’t see myself overpowering her so easily. If she chooses to flee without fighting, then I’m out of options.]

[……]

[Do you have a way to control her?]

It was clear the Heavenly Mysterious Woman was seeking my advice. It seemed my venture into Dark Heaven Village combined with the relics of the Taishang Laojun had earned me recognition as an ally. I had to wrack my brain over this unexpected dilemma.

How could I control Cheon Gong-pyo?

Suddenly, an idea struck me, and I said,

[How about we make her show off her strength a little more?]

I didn’t know if that would work, but it was better than head-on confrontation.

 

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