774 ———————————————-

Dark Heaven Village

It felt like the entire world was packed with enemies.

The moment Qin Shi Huang roared, it was as if a tidal wave crashed over me, with thousands of weapons aiming for my life. I thought there was no way I could withstand such an overwhelming force with just my martial arts, but at that moment, the Celestial Sage used his Clone Technique.

Whoosh!

In a flash, hundreds of clones of the Celestial Sage shot out, each swinging their fists and feet to confront Qin Shi Huang’s armies. Naturally, each of his clones was incredibly strong, enough to turn the tides. In an instant, the battlefield was drenched in blood.

The Celestial Sage muttered as if it was trivial.

“Ambush tactics are my favorite! Didn’t you realize that after fighting me, you fool!”

Thud!

The Celestial Sage lunged forward and punched Qin Shi Huang in the face mid-air. It seemed like an easy win, but suddenly the Celestial Sage was taken aback.

Drip!

Qin Shi Huang’s body seemed to melt away like it was dissolving in water. To be precise, he shed his physical form and transformed into something made of lines and surfaces. The Celestial Sage evaded, but then Qin Shi Huang reappeared again.

‘What the heck is that?’

I knew it was some kind of invulnerability trick and that he was immortal, but I had no clue how it worked. Neither I nor the Celestial Sage had any idea what kind of trick he was pulling, when more massive forces appeared around us.

Whoooosh.

It was the same situation as before.

I started getting anxious that we were wasting time like this. At that moment, Zhuge Bu, who shared my vision through the Soul Exchange Technique, spoke up.

[He’s merging himself with chaos.]

[What does that mean?]

[The Portrait Immortal contains tremendous chaos. The amount of chaos he possesses is dozens of times that of any High-level Otherworldly Race. Yet, he can still maintain a human form thanks to safety mechanisms like the Eight Trigrams and advanced Demon Path techniques.]

[There’s no time, just get to the point!]

[He’s currently disabling all those ‘safety mechanisms’ and unleashing chaos to amplify his power. The attacks aren’t working because the amount of chaos is distorting time and space and breaking the laws.]

[So he’s getting stronger in this state?]

When I countered, there came a shocking reply from Zhuge Bu.

[It’s not that he’s getting stronger. He’s returning to chaos, which is a self-destructive act. Once the harmony of the Eight Trigrams is lifted, he will explode. The Portrait Immortal is an extremely intricate creation, so this kind of action will lead to his annihilation.]

[……!!]

[This is troublesome. The force of that explosion would wipe out this area.]

I understood the meaning behind Zhuge Bu’s words.

Qin Shi Huang realized he couldn’t win here and chose self-destruction!

And according to Zhuge Bu, if we let him self-destruct, we’d all be swept away and face devastating consequences, making it impossible to pass the Seven Luminaries’ trial.

I told the Celestial Sage.

“Sage! That guy is amplifying chaos to self-destruct.”

“What?! Can we evade it?”

“Based on its range, I don’t think we can.”

“Damn it! I’ve had about fifteen experiences like this in my life!”

The grumbling Celestial Sage declared.

“In situations like this, the answer is to beat him up quickly before he self-destructs!”

Hissss!

The Celestial Sage extended his clones again to strike him instantly. But just as the clones concentrated, Qin’s darkened eyes opened wide.

Mara Chanya!

Zzzzzzz!

It felt like time had stopped. But unlike before, I realized it wasn’t so much time stopping as it was time freezing to an extreme. Qin’s mouth slowly opened.

Time Annihilation Sphere!

Simultaneously, dark spheres erupted from the cracks in space-time that appeared here and there, darting in all directions and attacking the Celestial Sage’s clones. The spheres, known as the Time Annihilation Sphere, pierced through everything as if it was nothing, soon leading to the total annihilation of the Celestial Sage’s clones.

“Cough!”

The Celestial Sage himself received a shallow injury to his arm and retreated. It made sense since the ability Qin just showcased was on a completely different level from the attacks he had shown earlier. Zhuge Bu’s analysis rang in my head.

[Impressive! The guy, who used to swim in water, is becoming the water itself. His ability has transcended mere manipulation of space-time to the level of assimilation. No way….]

[What do you mean by no way?]

[…Could it be, the level of Eight Trigrams manipulation? Can a mere Mortal change the patterns of the Eight Trigrams? That’s a state that even the designer did not intend.]

Zhuge Bu seemed quite flustered. Then he told me.

[Do not recklessly rush in while his abilities are still unknown. As you just saw, you can’t block the Time Annihilation Sphere with your Protection Energy Technique.]

[But there’s no time! I haven’t broken either the Dao King or Nahoo yet.]

[The more urgent the situation, the calmer you must be. If we solve Qin’s situation, everything will be resolved, so focus solely on the mission at hand.]

[Understood.]

Zhuge Bu was right. Even though Qin’s resistance was fiercer than expected and things weren’t going as planned, on the other hand, if we could take him down, we might at least secure a minimal chance of survival. As I regained my composure, Zhuge Bu issued his command.

[Baek Woong. This is the only solution. Unfold the Eight Trigrams Formation.]

What?!

At that sudden order, I had a look of confusion. Did he not know I couldn’t deploy the Eight Trigrams Formation, even though I had practiced martial arts? But the moment Zhuge Bu’s command came down, I found myself chanting incantations unknowingly and began to manifest the formation in mid-air.

Whooosh!

Soon, the patterns of the Eight Trigrams were summoned around me, slowly extending in eight directions. I realized I was standing at the center of the Eight Trigrams Formation, feeling its transformation throughout my body.

‘He’s controlling my body with the Soul Exchange Technique to deploy the Eight Trigrams!’

As I was astonished, Zhuge Bu’s command followed.

[His fundamental weakness is Divine Blood and the Right Rotation of the Primal Eight Trigrams. To be precise, when the alien metal known as Divine Blood that flows within him fluctuates, the Eight Trigrams will also move, and the patterns will arrange according to the laws of the left hand; you know that much, right?]

[I know that much.]

[Good. I’ll tell you how the flow of the Right Rotating Eight Trigrams should go. The He Tu numbers represent the body of time, so the odd Tian numbers rotate clockwise, while the even Di numbers rotate counter-clockwise. You need to watch the changes in the Di numbers; when the four patterns belonging to Yin align, the constants of the Three Talents in the Taiji form will display the properties of a circular structure. When you visualize the projected shape in your mind, flip the upper and lower parts of the translational movements of the patterns.]

[…….]

Zhuge Bu spoke confidently.

[This should sufficiently nullify his abilities and scatter the chaos. We must kill Qin Shi Huang.]

What is he even talking about?

I had trained under Mangnyang for years, yet why couldn’t I understand?

It wasn’t that I didn’t know the terms; it was just that when advanced theories and applications were involved, my mind was swirling up like a mess. Trying to visualize the shape and rearranging the patterns in my head was making my brain feel like it was going to explode.

Then Zhuge Bu realized I didn’t understand and shouted.

[Hey! While I can deploy the Eight Trigrams for you, you have to see the shifts in the patterns yourself! It’s not that hard, so get a grip on it!]

How is it not hard?!

Stuffing the Eight Trigrams into my head and trying to move fluidly is no simple task!

I retorted internally, but right now I had no choice but to deal with my lack of ability.

[W-Well, considering that I’ve done no practice or study, how on earth am I supposed to understand all this?]

[Ugh…, I thought you were Hyun.]

He lamented softly.

[This isn’t going to work. I must settle for weakening him without hitting his precise weakness. Just simply flipping the lower part of the translational movements when the Eight Trigrams move should suffice. It may not be perfect, but he will weaken. The interdependence of the patterns will grow stronger, so we could prevent the self-destruction.]

[Got it.]

Whoooosh—

I stood at the center of the Eight Trigrams Formation, carefully observing Qin Shi Huang’s movements. He was glaring at us with darkened eyes, suddenly opening his mouth wide as if to roar.

Raaaaah!!

That moment.

Swoosh!

As the Eight Trigrams activated, it felt like his movements slowed significantly. To be precise, as the master of the Eight Trigrams, the effect of automatically manipulating the internal space-time of Qin activated.

This was different from the time control of the Portrait Immortal; instead of being able to attack the opponent unilaterally, it granted me an endless amount of time to rearrange and activate the Eight Trigrams leisurely. This was why the Eight Trigrams Formation was notably resilient against time stop ambushes.

An Eight Trigrams specialized formation that manipulates space-time with precision!

I could see every single movement from Qin Shi Huang within the range of the Eight Trigrams, each one altering its pattern. No longer did I see any form of physical objects aside from myself; everything except me transformed into the patterns of the Eight Trigrams. As the patterns flowed, everything was interpretable through their lens, which was fundamental to the Eight Trigrams Formation.

I had to read the flow of the patterns.

Swoooosh!

In a mere instant, as his movements continued, the entirety of the world’s Eight Trigrams trembled and began to spin. That rotation was mechanical and precise, revealing itself to be under orderly control.

I worked to decipher the flow of those patterns and managed to confirm the position of the translational movements in my mind.

‘I need to flip this….’

It was something that could be done easily with just a flick of my finger. At that moment, with the patterns and the surrounding world flipped, the flow changed entirely. I could feel the Divine Blood inside Qin Shi Huang stirring dramatically.

Swish!

Once the Eight Trigrams activation concluded, the world reverted back to its original state. I witnessed Qin Shi Huang suddenly wobbling and collapsing onto the ground.

“Ugh….”

Qin Shi Huang spat out blood. But that was merely due to his previous internal injury; it wasn’t because I had delivered a blow. It was just that I had temporarily sealed his special ability. If I could have manipulated the patterns precisely as Zhuge Bu said, I could have ended him in one hit, but as it stood, I had only managed to weaken him. He seemed to notice the Eight Trigrams I had deployed.

“…You’ve prepared thoroughly, haven’t you? The Portrait Immortal’s creator… Hah… Did that guy create a countermeasure against me….”

“Admit your defeat already! Are you suggesting we die together here?”

“……”

Qin Shi Huang simply smiled faintly. He then commanded his armies surrounding him.

[Battle them for eternity…!!]

Not a command to defeat or kill, but just to fight.

But I realized how cruel this was. By some means, he was maintaining his former armies beautifully intact in this Sea of Chaos, meaning they would endlessly stay here trying to kill us within this trial world.

Boom!

Qin Shi Huang’s body began to dissolve completely. Whether due to the seal of the Eight Trigrams taking effect or not, he could not explode and had to choose the path of self-melting. Soon, Qin Shi Huang completely transformed into a mass of chaos, sinking into the Sea of Chaos. I quickly changed the configuration of the Eight Trigrams to retrieve the Fire Spirit before he sank.

“……”

What a miserable end. He couldn’t even leave a decent last word before dying like that.

At the same time, I felt a touch of reverence for Qin Shi Huang’s overwhelming obsession not wanting to lose. It only made sense for someone of that caliber to have once dominated the world of China and harbored ambitions to become a king in the hidden realm.

‘Huh, does this mean I can’t recover the Philosopher’s Stone…’

With a deep sigh, I spoke to the Celestial Sage.

“Sage. Use the Clone Technique to grant those foes rest…”

Unfortunately, my energy had plummeted, and the Eight Trigrams had been canceled. It was impossible to take down that level of army with just the Eight Trigrams.

“…I can’t.”

“What?”

The Celestial Sage pointed at his own empty head.

“I’ve already used the Clone Technique way too much today. If I use it again, I might…”

“……”

“I think I’m out of energy.”

Was that a side effect of the Clone Technique…?!

Roar!!

Just as I was in shock, the remaining armies of Qin Shi Huang rushed in from all sides again. I rushed at a group of dozens of soldiers and struck them down in a single sweep, but that was barely a drop in the bucket, and they quickly surged in to attack me and the Celestial Sage.

Clang clang!

Damn it! I can’t afford to waste time like this!

Having taken down Qin, I still hadn’t achieved the goal of obtaining the Philosopher’s Stone, and time was slipping away. I anxiously gazed at the Castle of the Celestial Realm, and just as I thought, lights were slowly flickering in the Wood Element.

If the Golden Crow and Earth Spirit lit up as well, the twin stars would become the eyes of the Dragon, and that would mean our doom.

‘This is so troublesome!!’

How can I get rid of these nuisances and break the Nahoo?

It was at that moment I desperately yearned for help.

[You there. At last, the moment has come when my blessing is needed…. I have waited long!]

A voice that sounded as if it was ringing from heaven echoed in my mind.

[As the Military God, I shall grant you and your companions the light of blessing. The righteousness of autumn will become the enemy of ten thousand men!!]

Swish!!

It was in that moment.

As I cut down a few foot soldiers, I felt time freeze.

“……?!”

Just to test it, I struck down another nearby foe in a single strike. Time froze again. I had cut down about five thousand enemies this way, but I realized that the Celestial Sage was frozen in place as he was groaning. Not only that, but with each enemy I cut down, my stamina and energy were continuously replenished?!

I understood what this blessing was and was astonished.

‘Incredible!’

The blessing I had obtained this lifetime from the Great Deity of the Three Realms, Guanyu!

It was the ability that, while annihilating low-level foes in one strike, allowed time to stand still and let me move freely as long as it was just me!