1098——————==

Soul of the Evil God

A suggestion to take Seimei’s divine power.

As soon as I heard the proposal, it struck me as a tremendous benefit. Since Amaterasu’s divine power had been rapidly converted into spirit power, if I were to acquire Amaterasu’s semi-divine essence once more, that would give me even more strength!

“I already possess spirit power equivalent to hundreds of years. If I accept that, I could potentially reach thousands!”

Previously, I was snubbed for not being able to quantify spirit power like internal strength measured in years. However, as someone who channels spirit power, I could vaguely gauge the amount. And after liberating the egg of Golden Crow Island once, I experienced an immense release and consumption of spirit power, sharpening my ability to gauge it accurately in hundreds of years. According to that sense, if I were to accept Amaterasu’s semi-divine essence again, I could definitely amass a divine power equating to a millennium.

But first, I handed the obsidian to Seimei.

“First, you should see what I’ve experienced until now. You need to know what’s going on with Amaterasu.”

This was a kindness I could extend to a comrade on the brink of death. If I were Seimei, I would undoubtedly be curious.

“Indeed.”

Seimei

After absorbing my memories, Seimei lay on the bed for a moment, staring at the ceiling. He seemed to think deeply, murmuring to himself.

“Just as I thought.”

Suddenly, he spoke up.

“Baek Woong, do you think your appearance here 17 years prior to the apocalypse was a coincidence?”

“I’m not sure if it was coincidence or not. Honestly, the Four Great Spirit Deities sent me into the future on a whim.”

“I don’t believe in coincidence. You showed up right before I was supposed to die.”

“Huh?”

“If I had died as planned, the barrier would have become more reinforced, but I wouldn’t have been able to pass Amaterasu’s power to you. Yet here you are, appearing just a little over a year before I was meant to die…”

“…”

“It’s not just that. It’s a crucial time for Miho as well, and you appeared just in time… If you had shown up five years later, nothing could have been done.”

“Miho? What’s going on with her?”

I flinched at the mention of Miho. Seimei explained.

“While you may have heard from Sagong Lin, Miho has been continually absorbing the power of the moon since the battle with the Eight Divine Beasts. Over hundreds of years, she has absorbed enough of the moon’s power to become divine and fused with the essence of the moon.”

“Fused with the essence?”

“Back during the Demon War, Miho had already transcended to a level that brushed against divine status, and now she has become an entity on par with the Old Ruler. No, even exceeding. She is three times stronger than she was during the Demon War.”

I was taken aback.

“Is she really that strong?”

It was Miho’s power that had overwhelmed and eliminated the Old Ruler Bi-ryu during the Demon War. Despite various factors weakening Bi-ryu, even at that time, Miho was high-level enough to potentially eliminate the Old Ruler given the right conditions. Now, to hear she was three times as strong was astounding!

“It’s possible due to her absorbing the moon’s power, but…”

Seimei’s voice trailed off for a moment.

“However… Miho’s identity has largely eroded. It has become very dangerous.”

“What? What do you mean?”

“Baek Woong, have you ever experienced a sense of omnipotence? A feeling that transcends human cognition and perception, transforming you into a being of a different dimension?”

“Sometimes…”

I might have felt it when my martial arts exceeded my limits. Seimei continued.

“While Miho was once a great demon, she was still a mortal with a spirit and body. She lived without much knowledge of divine senses, but she has undergone elevation repeatedly in a short period, becoming too immersed in that sense of omnipotence. As a result, from about 50 years ago, her mind has been tainted with madness and back again.”

“…”

I was aghast but carefully asked.

“She’s… gone mad?”

“It’s a bit different. Baek Woong. Let me explain it in simpler terms. You may have understood omnipotence differently, but there was a time when the Three Sovereigns, Jeon Wook, descended upon you and you felt the capacity to perceive the earth and sky.”

It seemed our definitions of omnipotence differed due to our thought processes.

“Yeah.”

“Closing your eyes allows you to perceive everything within tens of thousands of kilometers. Stretch your hand, and you can distort the laws as you please. Recognizing the primal laws of life, you could create new beings with a single breath. That’s the world in which a god operates. If one feels this for hundreds of years, a mortal soul cannot bear it.”

“Because they can’t bear it, madness will arise, is that it?”

“Miho as a mortal contradicts with her immortal potency. This conflict breeds powerful violence and leads to chaos. Thus, Miho is now turning to another realm, wreaking havoc and consuming life.”

“What?”

“Quite literally. She originally resided in Golden Crow Island but after completing the absorption of the moon, she has started traversing dimensions, creating destruction and massacres. If she hadn’t done so, the Heavenly Generals would have been wiped out by Miho.”

I fell silent, then exclaimed.

“Miho would never do that!”

It was true that Miho was never one to shy away from evil. She was indifferent to slaughter or wicked deeds. However, she had always drawn a clear line between herself and the other races or the Old Ruler, having a strong aversion to extreme wickedness. The notion of her not restraining her violence and destroying other realms was unfathomable!

Seimei sighed.

“Do you remember why my arm is so thin?”

“…Was it because of Miho?”

“Miho would create her unique dimension and be fine, but at random, she’d get struck by madness and burst through to other dimensions. Each time, I would borrow Amaterasu’s power to redirect her towards another realm. This hand is the result of continuously messing with her fate.”

“……!!”

“Fortunately, the current dimension she’s obliterating is a home to evil entities. There’s no need for guilt.”

“How many does she kill to destroy a dimension?”

“I don’t know. Since I sent her to a dimension as far away as possible, I lacked the power to observe that. I only know the coordinates of that dimension.”

After hearing all this, I felt a mix of disbelief and despair wash over me. ‘Miho… is she really consumed by madness?’

Slowly regaining my composure, I asked Seimei.

“Did you deliberately hide Miho’s whereabouts from Sagong Lin and the others since the Demon War?”

Seimei nodded slowly.

“After the Demon War, she was in a secret location, merging with the moon. To protect that secret, I didn’t disclose anything. But later, I refrained from revealing her madness, fearing that it could create a rift among our comrades.”

“A rift? What do you mean?”

“Currently, Sagong Lin possesses the power of the Heavenly Demon. If I told her Miho had become a mad god, how do you think she would react?”

“……!!”

Sagong Lin!

“She has been akin to a guardian deity for centuries, protecting the empire just to pass it to you. She wouldn’t have sat idly by knowing that a dangerous entity like Miho might return and destroy the world after my death. I had to deceive them about that risk.”

“That’s absurd. No matter how Sagong Lin is, I don’t see her trying to eliminate Miho…”

“Baek Woong, I don’t understand why you’re so confident in your comrades’ bonds. Even if they share memories through the obsidian, they were originally strangers with no mutual experiences in history. Even if their missions differ, excluding each other for their beliefs is an easy choice.”

Seimei spoke slowly, with a weight to his words.

“If there is a justification of ‘it’s for Baek Woong’… then everything left is left to the comrades’ discretion. Would we be able to come to a compromise on our own principles?”

“…”

“Nothing is predetermined. That leaves everything open for anything to happen.”

I felt like a deer caught in headlights upon hearing Seimei’s words. If Sagong Lin were to act under the justification of ‘for Baek Woong,’ it wouldn’t be surprising if she decided to eliminate all the comrades. But I finally regained my wits and responded.

“Sagong Lin isn’t that reckless! It wouldn’t be right to assume the worst!”

“…If Sagong Lin’s goal was the empire’s protection, mine was to leave the powerful force of Miho behind for you, the reincarnated Baek Woong. I merely lied to achieve my own goal.”

Seimei directed his gaze out the window.

“Fortunately, it’s not too late. Her madness can still be reverted back to the original state. That’s why I called you here before I die upon hearing that you’re in the Great Bear Empire.”

I perked up at Seimei’s words.

“She can be reverted? How?”

“Once I’m dead, 24 hours afterwards, Miho will sense the change and return to reality. The location she will arrive at is predetermined to be this Aokigahara Life Sea. And when Miho returns, crush her with the power of Amaterasu.”

“Crush? Why must I do that?”

“Amaterasu is known as ‘The One Who Controls the Evil of Rulers.’ That is her ancient title. The power inscribed in that name is precisely for situations like this, to suppress the evil seedings in Miho and return her to her original self.”

“Ah!!”

At that moment, I recalled Amaterasu’s true title. If it’s the power of an ancient deity born to control the evil of rulers, it would absolutely be useful right now! The power contained in the name would influence her essence.

“If what I pass on is sufficient, it should suffice. Moreover, Amaterasu’s power cannot inflict fatal damage on beings imbued with goodness, so there’s no need to worry about Miho’s life.”

That seemed like the perfect solution, but suddenly, I began to feel something strange and asked.

“Seimei, since you possess Amaterasu’s semi-divine essence, couldn’t you have done it yourself? Why wait until death—”

Seimei laughed weakly.

“Ha, Baek Woong. It’s not that I didn’t want to, but that I couldn’t. The current Miho is akin to the Old Ruler. Do you think I could land a hit on her with my current strength?”

“…….”

“I had no chance to land a hit, so the only method left was to continuously set bait to direct her elsewhere. But now that you’ve returned, we’ve found a tiny chance.”

“Is it really like that?”

Seimei was no simple character. He’s been managing the sea of life almost single-handedly for over two thousand years, a grand sorcerer and a power far surpassing many. To think he couldn’t even manage a single hit against Miho is sobering.

“Currently, Miho is steeped in madness. However, right after her return, her consciousness will momentarily awaken. The powerful energies of Amaterasu I’ve continuously infused in her will trigger strongly, bringing her to her senses. It would be wise to resolve matters through dialogue then.”

“If a dialogue doesn’t work?”

“Then you will need to revert her, even through battle.”

In the end, if luck holds out, it could be resolved smoothly, but it also meant I needed to brace myself for combat.

Seimei slowly extended one of his arms. Not the thin, withered one, but the sturdy arm he extended toward me.

“Baek Woong… do you know what I sensed during the 500 years you were gone?”

“What was it?”

“With you gone, nothing got done. We mortals were too busy preventing the calamities that befell us.”

“…….”

“We could do nothing but resist the strength of the foreign forces. If you had been here, we might have maneuvered through negotiations or threats rather than being forced into conflict. The truth is, these powerful entities from other realms don’t even regard us as conversation partners.”

Seimei muttered with a sense of futility.

“It’s a humorous situation. I thought I wouldn’t be missing anything with you as a key player, but instead, we find ourselves leaning entirely on you, the reincarnation.”

Cough!

Seimei coughed up blood. With earnestness, he said,

“Take my hand.”

“No, wait. Hold on.”

I panicked and waved my hands.

“Why not?”

I looked at Seimei with a grim expression.

“If I take your hand, you’ll pass your power to me, and then you’ll die right then and there.”

“What does dying today matter?”

“…Seeing a comrade die before my eyes is always something I dislike.”

I knew in my mind that accepting Seimei’s power was the right thing. However, the moment he passed his strength to me, he would pass away, and I would have to witness it firsthand. Honestly, it felt far too painful and sad, and even if I didn’t cry outwardly, I felt overwhelmingly gloomy. As I hesitated, Seimei chuckled.

“Ha, does that mean the reincarnator carries my death? What an honor that would be.”

I cried out in disbelief.

“No! Seimei! How far are you going with this burden?”

“But Baek Woong, was this not a path you chose and prepared for? This was something you had to endure from the beginning.”

Seimei looked at the ceiling.

“Not all tragedies in this world are dramatic or passionate. Sometimes there are those that unfold quietly in everyday life. I hope you can accept my death calmly.”

“Give me a break! That’s insane!”

“Everything that begins must eventually end. Living means dying someday… The nature of life and death is the law of this world. It is destined to return to nothingness. However, there is only one exception to this natural order.”

“…….”

Seimei’s words, laced with a sense of the supernatural, continued.

“It is the gods. Only the Old Ruler can defy nature and steep conscious beings in despair.”

“Is that so…?”

“So I don’t outright hate the concept of an end… Isn’t it a fair event to give an ending to those who are endlessly existing? And I think you will be the most crucial being in that end.”

Seimei spoke with increased vigor.

“Baek Woong. Please take my hand.”

I slowly reached out and grabbed Seimei’s hand. If he was risking his life for this, I couldn’t avoid it anymore.

“Baek Woong, I will not ask you to save the world. But at the very least… I hope you choose the end with your own will.”

I questioned in surprise.

“Choose the end?”

At this moment, a previous incident flashed in my mind involving Master Mangnyang’s two choices.

Seimei murmured in a tone of pessimism.

“O Reincarnator. Saving the world isn’t the only form of salvation… Since even the gods end in equality, that’s something to accept… An eternal hell brings only suffering.”

“…….”

“I’m sure I’m not the only one who thinks this way. That’s why all kinds of humanity, transcending good and evil, submit to you.”

I felt Seimei’s earnest gaze upon me.

“However, as the King of Humanity, if you hold the authority to decide this world’s end…”

I could see the light gradually fading from Seimei’s eyes.

“Never let yourself be swayed by others’ will.”

Woosh!!

In the next moment, a white aura surged from Seimei’s hand and enveloped me. The divine power specific to Amaterasu flooded into my upper Dantian with tremendous intensity, momentarily illuminating Seimei’s dwelling in a brilliant flash of white lightning. For a brief moment, I staggered, but thanks to the reinforcement of my control, I managed to maintain my stance.

Poof…

A moment later, Seimei’s body turned to sand and began to scatter. Watching the disintegration of Seimei, I briefly felt melancholic but then broke into a grin.

“Hehe.”

Zhuge Sa had mentioned there would be times for a laugh like this…

I shouldn’t be helplessly smiling. I should just brush it off as if it’s nothing.

“Hahaha….”

Damn it. Stupid tears.

I bit my lip and wiped my tears with my sleeve.

Then I felt a smidge of confusion. I wanted to laugh, but suddenly tears were flowing instead. I wished my feelings would act as they should; why do they refuse to comply? I barely knew Seimei, so I couldn’t understand why I felt this way.

“Hahaha!!”

In the end, I couldn’t hold back and burst out into laughter. Giggling hysterically, I declared, “Alright! Living means dying at some point! Hahaha!! I’ll do it your way, Seimei!”

Dying is nothing, right? Just a bit of an early exit!

I’ll be joining the fun shortly!

Just like always!

So there’s no need to be sad about it!

And besides, dwelling on it only burdens my comrades!

I worked quickly to shake off my emotions. As I stepped out of Seimei’s dwelling, I found numerous yin-yang masters kneeling in my direction. When I gazed at them dully, the foremost yin-yang master spoke to me.

“By the order of Seimei, from this moment on, both the Abe clan and all sorcerers and yin-yang masters from Dongyoung will obey Lord Baek Woong. The current Dongyoung government and all political sectors will also submitted to Lord Baek Woong.”

“……”

“Please give your command.”

I felt my mood sink immediately. After swallowing hard to soothe my heated throat, I calmly issued my command.

“Miho will return. Assist me.”

“Your command!”

I clenched my fist tight.

“……”

When Miho returns, I want to resolve things through dialogue. However, based on Seimei’s words, Miho’s madness had reached a serious level, possibly making dialogue impossible. In that case, I would have no choice but to fight against her, who was functionally akin to the Old Ruler.

‘The most reasonable course of action from this situation is to get help from Sagong Lin from the Heavenly Demon’s side. If Seimei believed I could control the situation, he must have thought it best to enlist Sagong Lin’s help.’

Yet I couldn’t shake the heavy thoughts from the conversation with Seimei.

If there’s any justification, my comrades could rampage without restraint.

That means—Sagong Lin could potentially try to kill Miho while suppressing her. Rather than risk having her potentially harm an unstable ally, it was just as likely she would choose to eliminate that risk. Of course, I believed Sagong Lin to be rational enough not to do such a thing, but there’s always that slim chance.

I realized I was faced with yet another choice.

Would I place my trust in Sagong Lin and fully deploy the forces of the Great Bear Empire to the suppression operation against Miho?

Or would I attempt to oppose Miho on my own?

‘…There’s no need for further consideration.’

I addressed the nearest yin-yang master. “Support will be arriving from the continent due to this incident. Provide full assistance to them.”

“Your command!”

Whether I trust them or not was secondary.

I understood what Seimei was anxious about, but being a reincarnator, I could not afford the luxury of doubting each one of my comrades because of my fears regarding this life. I felt an instinct that even the tiniest doubt among us could ultimately lead to our undoing. Thus, I had to place my utmost trust in my comrades. Even if they stabbed me in the back, I was prepared to face it all while moving forward!

Believing in others in this world was the hardest thing to do.

No matter how extraordinary a genius may be, I could never say that’s an easy task.

But I chose not to overthink it.

They aren’t strangers; they’re comrades.

Trusting strangers is difficult, but it’s easy to trust comrades.

If I could restore Miho to her original self, it would be right not to stubbornly cling to pride and to leverage the strength of other comrades instead.

Fwoosh

I determined my resolve and made my way to Sagong Lin in Luoyang. I shared what I had learned from Seimei, and Sagong Lin calmly responded.

“I see. In that case, I will assist.”

“Sagong Lin, just to clarify, you must never kill Miho. Just create an opportunity for me to imbue Amaterasu’s power into her.”

“Understood. As long as you’re there, there won’t be a need to kill Miho. I will focus on suppressing her.”

“……”

If she said that, I had no need to worry.

I stepped away from Sagong Lin and headed toward Cheon Woo-jin.

“Locate the National Seal. Find Cheon Woo-jin.”

Whoosh!!

After a moment, I targeted the coordinates of the National Seal and headed toward where Cheon Woo-jin was. Cheon Woo-jin was napping under a tree while idly fishing at a pristine pond. He had even managed to cultivate a small vegetable patch by now.

Looks like this guy’s version of a vacation involves relaxing in the countryside.

Cheon Woo-jin, who was taking a nap, lifted his eye patch slightly and groaned.

“…What the hell? Why did you show up during my vacation? You’re not going to make me work, are you?”

I shrugged.

“Well, it’s not like I came specifically to make you work, but I did have a few questions.”

“Isn’t that so?”

Cheon Woo-jin put his eye patch back on and turned his back to me.

“Sorry, but when I’m on vacation, I’m an invisible man. Go bother someone else.”

“Miho is…”

Suddenly, Cheon Woo-jin burst out in a panic.

“What!! Is Miho coming back to destroy the world or something? Unless that’s the case, I’m not hearing a word from you! What kind of insane guy shows up during vacation to make me work!!!”

I quickly nodded.

“Exactly! That’s precisely why you have to listen!”

“…….”

“You said you would keep your word!”

Cheon Woo-jin’s expression looked as if he had been struck by lightning. He stammered.

“No, no way.”

“It’s not a lie.”

“Damn it… that’s insane!! Is it reasonable to show up during my vacation and make me work? You’re the one who granted me this vacation!”

“Uh, well… It’s not reasonable…”

I found myself fumbling for words, then added.

“But if I don’t work, the world will end. Haha.”

“…….”

I grinned.

“Cheon Woo-jin, do you think you could still go on vacation if the world ended?”

“Don’t make me laugh… you jerk…”

Cheon Woo-jin frowned, seeming to tremble with agitation. Then, in a tone of resignation, he said,

“Fine. Just this once. But you owe me an extra task in return for this!”

“Sure.”

“That’s a promise.”

I decided to share my memories with him and consult him. After viewing the memories, Cheon Woo-jin opened his mouth after a brief silence.

“After receiving Amaterasu’s semi-divine essence, how’s your control over divine power?”

“I don’t feel as if it will overflow like before. At first, I felt a bit queasy, but now it’s just as if rain has soaked into the ground.”

“Looks like Saitan’s command is stronger than expected. I hadn’t anticipated you’d have such good control… Was the caliber of the essence artificially lowered to begin with?”

Cheon Woo-jin murmured, intrigued.

“If you have 24 hours, just staying awake overnight won’t be sufficient. Even if it’s not the emergence of Baek Woong, you’ll need my help to get your divine power to a usable level in battle. Otherwise, even if Sagong Lin assists, one misstep against the Old Ruler will lead to death for you.”

“Why didn’t you help until now?”

“Because it was too underhanded.”

After uttering that, Cheon Woo-jin took a scroll from inside his robe. Upon seeing the scroll, I felt a wave of familiarity and soon realized, exclaiming,

“Land and Earth Diagram!!”

That was the treasure he received as a gift from Master Mangnyang!

Having seen it multiple times during my reincarnation, I felt a wave of pleasant anticipation. I quickly voiced a thought that came to mind.

“By entering that treasure, I’d turn into a painting, right? So I can train infinitely as time stretches within?”

“You’re thinking way too conveniently. That’s not how this treasure works. If it could, I would have trained here for about two hundred years and pumped up my powers, you fool. Why do you think I didn’t?”

“…….”

“You do get stronger as a sorcerer with training time, but that’s if you have the talent to back it. Who thinks they can get infinitely strong with infinite training? If that were the case, there wouldn’t be a reason for the Dragon King, who’s been alive for five thousand years, to be weaker than me.”

“Ugh….”

Realizing I had miscalculated, I scratched my head while Cheon Woo-jin calmly continued.

“Even if it was theoretically possible to extend training time using the Land and Earth Diagram, your talent for sorcery is drastically lacking. Training infinitely offers nothing but endless futility for the untalented.”

“Hey, still, I’ve been practicing martial arts, and I’ve attained an Absolute Realm.”

“Your sorcery talent is even less than that. Under normal circumstances, training for a thousand years wouldn’t even get you to the level of an immortal.”

…Did this guy come to fight when he was supposed to be on vacation? He was really relentless!

“Alright, just tell me what I should do with the Land and Earth Diagram already!”

As I shouted at Cheon Woo-jin, he nodded and replied.

“The true power of this treasure is that anything you attempt inside becomes an illusion. And you’re not merely in a space with separate time; you’re trapped in a void of nothingness. Hence, it’s not a place you can train in.”

“…A treasure purely for sealing opponents.”

“However, there’s a secret within the sealing of the Land and Earth Diagram.”

Cheon Woo-jin paused for a moment, then looked at me.

“Surely you know that the original creator of this treasure is Nüwa, right?”

“That much, yes…”

“The Land and Earth Diagram is an ultra-ancient artifact crafted shortly after Nüwa arrived in this world. The landscapes within the Land and Earth Diagram reflect the impressions from its creation. But, since Nüwa, being an entity from another realm, couldn’t freely envision this world, the scenery is actually one she’s ‘seen somewhere before.’ Furthermore, Nüwa mentioned to her master that this place left an impression on her when she confronted the Thunder God.”

“……?”

“I heard that at some ancient point, Nüwa and Fuxi fought that entity. Therefore, the landscape within the Land and Earth Diagram is precisely where the Thunder God showed up.”

What? Thunder God?

Hearing such a familiar term, I looked at Cheon Woo-jin with a hint of suspicion, and he continued.

“When I viewed your memories, I was hoping for this. The timing of the Thunder God’s appearance in your memories doesn’t match at all.”

“Impossible. It doesn’t make sense for the Thunder God created by the Master of the White Lotus Sect to show up in the ultra-ancient times and battle the Three Sovereigns!”

“Exactly. It’s contradictory. Yet, tales of Nüwa and the Thunder God spread widely in the Central Plains even before the Master of the White Lotus Sect created that Thunder God, making it less suspicious. It seems that Master of the White Lotus Sect came much later…”

“Hmmm….”

“Anyways, the Land and Earth Diagram could be considered as a place retaining Nüwa’s combat memories. And for that reason…”

Swish

Suddenly, Cheon Woo-jin slipped his hand into the scroll, and the ripple felt as light as dipping a hand into a pond. When he withdrew it again, the scenery of the Land and Earth Diagram began to transform gradually.

“……!!”

The tranquil, serene landscape that had just been drawn vanished, replaced by an illustration of Nüwa and Fuxi charging at the winged Thunder God reclining in the sky!

“The owner can, if desired, change the Land and Earth Diagram to depict ‘the memories of battle against the Thunder God.’ I had heard from my master but was never quite clear what this function could signify…”

“Y—You don’t mean…”

When I looked at Cheon Woo-jin with hope, he, much like I had earlier, smiled widely.

“Would you like to enter? You could witness the battlefield of the gods, so it would be perfect for training.”

“Are you out of your mind?! You want me to die in the memories of the Three Sovereigns??”

“Ha ha…”

When I jumped back, Cheon Woo-jin chuckled heartily. I felt something was off, narrowing my eyes at him.

“You little brat! You were playing me, weren’t you?”

“Guilty as charged. I was just kidding. While the scroll can be changed, you can’t enter it. It seems my master personally sealed it off so others can’t go into this memory.”

“…….”

“Why would you show up during vacation? You really do bring trouble.”

Realizing Cheon Woo-jin was genuinely annoyed, I sighed.

“Damn it… Sorry! Just stop with the jokes and tell me the real deal. We don’t have time!”

“Sure. I think I’m almost ready to forgive you for the teasing.”

As the tension faded from his face, Cheon Woo-jin continued.

“The method I recommend is to enter the Land and Earth Diagram and use your own ‘strength’ to break through the illusion.”

“Break through with strength?”

“Exactly. Remember when Zhuge Sa gained the power of the Grimoire and became too powerful to trap in the memories of his past?”

Cheon Woo-jin unfurled the Land and Earth Diagram before me.

“It’s a method of extreme training by entering this realm. If you can activate your divine power to break through the walls of dimensions and escape from the Land and Earth Diagram, just that feat alone would not only enhance your divine power but vastly improve your control over it as well. Breaking through the layers of this treasure is a significant trial in itself.”

“……!!”

“Because the Land and Earth Diagram folds dimensions, it cannot hold a prisoner if the sealer possesses overwhelming strength. Thus, it’s a loophole for experiencing unusual training.”

I comprehended what Cheon Woo-jin was saying. But unease crept in, so I cautiously queried.

“If dimensions are folded, then time would be abolished as well. What if I fail?”

“If you fail, I’ll just pull you out. Since I’m the owner.”

“Ah.”

“I’ll observe for one period of time during Miho’s eradication. If you haven’t emerged by then, we’ll consider it a failure. Will you take on this challenge?”

“…….”

“If you succeed, the achievement would dwarf anything from a simple 24-hour overnight training, while failure means you’ll lose even that training time. The choice is yours.”

I reflected deeply.

Is this training worth the risk?

But after a moment, I shouted without hesitation.

“I’m in!”

If there’s any chance to save Miho, I’m ready to face a little adventure!

And shortly after, the escape training from the Land and Earth Diagram began.