1203——————==

Soul of the Evil God

When I heard that voice, I suddenly felt the golden hand gripping me loosening. I suppose you could say it was weakening? The iron grip that held me so tightly had relaxed by more than half, allowing me to wriggle and slip away a little.

[Oooo…]

The Emperor made another odd sound, trying to grab me again, but I twisted my body with all my might and rolled away. It didn’t make sense to twist a soul, but it seemed like my will was manifesting here. Just as I managed to wriggle free down to my pelvis, that voice rang in my ears again.

[A contradiction where an entity emerges from a dream into reality, yet isn’t one and the same. This is also Li. A phenomenon impossible to interpret through conventional cause and effect. How will this nonsensical contradiction be resolved by the law of cause and effect?]

Huh?

Suddenly hearing such a cryptic statement made my head spin. Even if I weren’t feeling dizzy, it would still be too complicated to understand. While I was lost in thought, that voice continued.

[The answer is… there’s no need to resolve it. Because dream and reality are indivisible, it’s merely a shift in location. That is the truth of the world. The law of cause and effect is nature itself, so there’s no need to forcibly revise or control it like a mortal’s thoughts…]

The voice, which had been muttering in a lonely tone, suddenly spoke to the Emperor.

[Gong Sun Xuanwen, you must have failed to consider such a nature of the law of cause and effect.]

Boom!!

With a strong rebound, the Emperor’s golden hands were flung back. Finally freed from the pressure, I felt a bit of sanity returning.

Cough. Ha. Hah…

Did that voice just help me beat the Emperor?

As I struggled to catch my breath after coughing, the voice spoke to me.

[We’re almost there. Let’s carry out the last step together.]

“Wait… who the heck are you…?”

[…….]

The entity didn’t reply. Instead, it started saying something even more nonsensical.

[Seems like it won’t be that easy… Truly the Emperor.]

Swoosh!

Kiiing!!

In the next moment, golden lines stretched out in all directions, intersecting in this dark space. The golden lines initially spread like a plane but soon draped over a three-dimensional range, plunging the entire world into a dazzling golden light.

And on the other side of this golden expanse, the massive upper body of the Emperor, wearing the imperial crown, revealed itself. The sight, filling the horizon, was inevitably terrifying, and the golden mask inscribed with the Emperor Gong Sun Xuanwen’s dragon glared down at me, giving me shivers.

The cold gaze of the Emperor momentarily fixed on me before turning toward the area behind me.

[You ignorant one. I didn’t fail to control you because of my ignorance of the nature of cause and effect. Are you truly unaware of the vast gap that exists between us? No matter how much you thrash around, the outcome of this life is already decided in my victory.]

It was as if he was speaking to someone behind me.

It seemed to be directed at the [voice].

[…….]

[Do you wish to curse me and kill me with the resentment of a dead king? That’s utterly ridiculous… I never expected someone as talented as you would make such a foolish choice.]

Then, to my surprise, the voice behind me retorted.

[‘Didn’t know’. So it’s ignorance, huh? With this, the most ambiguous hypothesis has been confirmed, so thank you.]

[What…?]

[From the moment this life began, the scariest thing for me accepting the obsidian was that ability. The ability to read cause and effect…]

The voice slowly continued.

[All our efforts were truly meaningless. No matter how extraordinary the wisdom of the Zhuge clan’s geniuses, or how hard the talents with the potential of a king work, the abilities facing that power are utterly insignificant. Essentially, using the ability to foresee the future, our millennium of hard work could be shattered in an instant.]

[…….]

[What’s scarier than your brutish power is precisely that foresight ability… You are, without a doubt, the strongest foe in history.]

Gooooh

Silence filled the golden space. The Emperor seemed to have resolved to hear out his opponent completely and exhibited no immediate intent for aggression. In that tranquil space, the voice uttered.

[But why, with such a power, could you not properly confront an evil god or Chi You? I pondered that question.]

[An unnecessary question.]

[In the case of Chi You, it could be assumed they possessed overwhelmingly ferocious power. But the evil god’s strength likely wasn’t on Chi You’s level. Although the evil god is certainly stronger than the usual Three Sovereigns, with proper leverage of the [ability to read cause and effect], you could overcome a tenfold difference in power. Yet you struggled to engage the evil god directly, let alone ruffle his feathers. This surely is strange.]

[…….]

[Moreover, had you personally intervened, there were countless chances to tilt things in your favor more than this. There were never times without chances leading up to Baek Woong’s twenty-eighth life. Yet you abstained from intervening. The only way to solve this mystery must be one assumption.]

The voice continued.

[You didn’t refrain from intervening; you couldn’t. Because the moment you step in, the [ability to read cause and effect] becomes constrained!]

What?!

I was startled by that.

What does that even mean?

While I was flustered, the Emperor calmly responded.

[Interesting. What if it isn’t the case?]

[It must be so. Because if you had the ability to read cause and effect, it means you’re practically predicting the future, thus there should be no room for even a single mistake or unpredictable situation. Yet since you became one with the heavenly demon, there have been times you couldn’t read our moves. Even right now, you cannot predict I’ll intervene and save Baek Woong.]

[Hmmm.]

[That certainly sounds like a constraint of the [ability to read cause and effect]! It only holds meaning when one is merely an observer!]

The voice proclaimed decisively.

[One can perfectly read the future from a third-party perspective, but as soon as they participate in cause and effect, that ability becomes utterly meaningless! In other words, you only have one chance to join the game and maximize your gains!]

[…….]

[To be honest, it was fuzzy until the end, but now that I see Zhuge Sa’s move working, I am convinced. If you know how to counter the foreign spell, there is a strong counterattack you can’t intentionally evade. Having been hit by it without predicting it, I must assert my hypothesis is correct.]

Listening to the voice, I was left dumbfounded.

‘So, is that it?’

The ability to read cause and effect.

In other words, foresight ability.

That perfect power had a single weakness: [the one who reads cause and effect cannot see the future when they are involved]!

It only has significance when one is an observer!

As I processed the unexpected information, the Emperor spoke.

[Always surprising me, those from Zhuge clan. The most intellectually gifted among humans. But even so, that wisdom only serves to deepen the limits of a mortal.]

Swoosh

The Emperor’s upper body, filling the horizon, leaned forward as if gazing down upon us. It felt as though his enormous golden eyes, radiating light, could instill paralyzing fear.

[What will you do now that you know? Did you mistakenly believe you could challenge me? There is no way to remedy the absolute gap in power between us.]

[…….]

[Yes… If you had utilized the infinite potential of a reborn person, perhaps there could have been a way. However, all of those methods were sealed the moment I moved the heavenly demon. Every possible request for salvation from the Three Sovereigns was monitored and the contract with the outside was also blocked. Since this point where I have empowered the heavenly demon, I have only displayed perfect odds for victory.]

Suuuh…

The Emperor’s golden finger pointed to the void beside me.

[Having come to this, what can you do when the last hope, Baek Woong, has failed in the four great spirit deities’ invocation? Do you want to comfort yourself by knowing just a single weakness of my ability…?]

On hearing the Emperor’s words, I felt a chilling sense of despair wash over me.

‘Yeah. Nothing has really changed….’

Finding an unexpected weakness in the Emperor’s power was a slight consolation, but the reality of having absolutely no way to win at this moment remained the same. I was still dangling in a state between life and death, not in a normal space. Trying to threaten the Emperor in such a precarious situation would only be seen as ridiculous.

After a brief silence, the voice spoke.

[My master always knew. As long as you are watching, we will never reach a proper conclusion.]

[Master Mangnyang….]

[If you wish to save humanity, Emperor Gong Sun Xuanwen, then you must pull yourself into the game. Though it was not from this life but long ago, those words held the true answer.]

Boom!!

[……!!]

Suddenly, the Emperor’s finger was flicked away. Startled, the Emperor seemed astonished as a formidable energy surged from behind me. That energy felt as though it resonated with the divine power within me, growing stronger, and I could feel my vitality returning little by little.

[From the moment Baek Woong went missing, I sensed. Even if you escape your demonic grasp this life, nothing will really change.]

[Oh…]

The voice yelled out almost in desperation.

[Because as you pass through life, you gradually learn more about us while we have no way to interfere with your divine temple sitting in the dimensions beyond! The noose from the [ability to read cause and effect] will tighten, and Baek Woong will unmistakably encounter a fatal blow within ten lives, suffering an even more disastrous defeat than now.]

The Emperor seemed to chuckle at those words.

[You know well. Hehe…]

The demeanor of an absolute being.

It was contemptible, but that made it even more frightening.

And the identity of the one responding was none other than…

“……”

As I listened to their exchange, something occurred to me.

Is that it?

So that’s what it was….

It felt like all the answers to the problems were unraveling before me. The answer to the riddle that had trailed me throughout this life was unfolding.

[Emperor, this will be the first and last match!]

Swoosh

From the darkness beside me, a new sword form began to emerge.

The person wore black clothes that looked nothing like robes of immortality. Moreover, he was not even the last image I had of him. His face appeared haggard and gaunt, yet his eyes were full of vitality, embodying absolute will.

[I, Mangnyang Zhuge Hyun, shall throw down a move of a millennium that shatters your prohibitions together with Baek Woong!]

Bam!

[What?]

The moment Mangnyang revealed himself, the figure of the Heavenly Mysterious Woman of the Nine Heavens was summoned into this space. Even she seemed awfully confused about what was happening, but at that moment, a command burst forth from Mangnyang’s lips.

[In the name of the true Wheel King! Earth’s divine spirit, Heavenly Mysterious Woman, meet your true death!!]

Crash!

[Aahhhh!!]

In the next moment.

With the Heavenly Mysterious Woman’s dying scream, the soul of the divine being disintegrated, breaking apart before any chance to act. I wasn’t sure if that was the true death of the Heavenly Mysterious Woman, but to think the power of the Wheel King could crush her in a single blow!!

Mangnyang muttered with a voice mixed with affection and resentment.

[You, who sold all of humanity’s souls for the sake of protecting the Earth. My master, who sought to kill the universe in order to save those pitiful beings. I have inscribed the mark of the true Wheel King to kill you, and this will be your end!!]

As if the soul of the blazing sun and pure white light floated in the void, Mangnyang’s body rose into the air.

[The offering is prepared. Baek Woong.]

He spoke with an utterly calm tone.

[Let’s begin the summoning of Pangu.]