1333——————==

Soul of the Evil God (사신지혼)

Everyone looked puzzled at my words. It’s understandable, since the quickest and most straightforward way to find Goldcrow was to summon Shao Hao Jin Tian, yet here I was insisting on summoning Yu Shun instead.

Maybe that’s why Daji had a fierce expression.

“What’s the reason? If it’s nonsense, I’ll tear your limbs off.”

“No need to tear my limbs.”

I calmly continued in response to Daji’s words.

“The probability is that Yu Shun knows more about Goldcrow’s whereabouts.”

“Really? How can Yu Shun know better than the creator, Shao Hao Jin Tian?”

“I’d say it’s a piece of the [future] I witnessed….”

“…What do you mean?”

In answer to Daji’s question, Dae Jo Young, who was beside me, spoke up.

“Daji, Baek Woong is someone who can see the future. Based on the future shown by Fuxi, he was able to predict the position of the Seven Luminaries and gather so much information.”

Dae Jo Young’s words left Daji taken aback.

“The future! Are you saying you saw the [Great Cycle] instead of the [Small Cycle]?”

Gong Gong responded to that.

[It’s likely so. The [Small Cycle] is chaos that you cannot read into because it involves countless transcendents’ foresight… However, if you have predicted something as significant as a relic of the Seven Luminaries and its future, then you must trust Baek Woong.]

“……”

[If you doubt him, you’re also doubting Fuxi, who entrusted the future to him.]

Daji seemed to be lost in deep thought as Dae Jo Young and Gong Gong defended me. Finally, he spoke.

“It seems you really are a disciple of Fuxi. Fine, I’ll take your word for it this time.”

“Phew!”

I chuckled casually, but internally, I was sweating a bit.

‘Wow…. Seems like I can get away with a bit of trickery!’

Though I wondered if it was worth such perilous deception, I had been thinking this way since earlier. It was more important for me to take crucial actions than to waste a summoning opportunity on a half-baked Goldcrow.

I spoke to Gong Gong, who was beside me.

“Gong Gong. I will infuse divine power into the altar, so please read the flow of the altar and preside over the ceremony.”

[I can do that, but the divine language of the Giant Race might feel a bit awkward due to the different factions. Wouldn’t it be more certain to do it with the divine arts you learned from Fuxi?]

I hesitated but replied calmly.

“There’s a limit to how many times I can use divine arts. Since we don’t know how the summoned Three Sovereigns might behave, we should conserve them for our own protection.”

[That is true. Leave it to me.]

Woah—

A moment later, Gong Gong spread his arms and began to chant an incantation, controlling the magical power flowing through the Heavenly Altar. Indeed, as an ancient elder of the Giant Race, Gong Gong was a sorcerer far superior to a mere human sorcerer. Anyone who wielded powers in the realm of transcendents could manage the control of the Heavenly Altar without difficulty.

Crackle crackle

Eerie spirit energy began to swirl around the Heavenly Altar, and divine energy started spiraling like a whirlwind. I pushed more pure divine power into the altar, and after a short while, Gong Gong spoke to me.

[All is ready. But do you have any relics related to Yu Shun?]

“A relic, you say?”

[Recently, aliens altered the dimensional fluctuations to summon the [Old Ruler], preventing full control over the Heavenly Altar. I cannot guarantee whether we can summon Yu Shun from the other dimension. If you had a relic connected to him, we could reliably summon him with the Law of Cause and Effect.]

“Hmm….”

A relic related to Yu Shun?

‘What do I have…?’

I mentally scanned the relics I had obtained so far. I considered each item that might relate to Yu Shun while recalling any relevant information about him.

‘Yu Shun is an evil god with the ability to parasitize others. He pretended to be uninterested in the world all along, but secretly transformed into the Jade Emperor of the Celestial Realm to manipulate the heavenly realm from the shadows, and at one point, he even tried to steal the body of the talented Cheon Gong-pyo. Did I have any relic associated with such a Yu Shun?’

Then, something popped into my head.

‘Suspicious Fishhook.’

Of course! I could use the communication relic, the Suspicious Fishhook. The most reliable treasure associated with Yu Shun! This talisman made from a fishing hook had been secretly passed down in the Namgung Clan, and I also made a habit of exterminating the Namgung Clan with every rebirth to keep it.

However, I felt a bit in a bind.

‘Dang. The Suspicious Fishhook is… with Mangnyang and Miyamoto Musashi.’

I was currently using Musashi as a double agent to spy on the Master of the Twelve Joules, so one set of the Suspicious Fishhook was currently split between Mangnyang and Musashi, serving as a makeshift communication tool for the future. I hadn’t anticipated events would turn out this way, so I hadn’t brought it with me to the foreign tier.

But then another relic crossed my mind.

‘…The Jade Emperor’s Attire!’

I obtained the Jade Emperor’s Attire when I cleared the tower’s trial during my 28th life, receiving the Jade Emperor’s powers from Fuxi! It was an ultimate attire with immense defense and teleportation abilities. Since the Jade Emperor is the avatar of Yu Shun, the Jade Emperor’s Attire should undoubtedly be a relic that could summon Yu Shun!

However, the issue was that the Jade Emperor’s Attire I had gained during my 28th death had also vanished. I hadn’t obtained the Jade Emperor’s Attire in this life either, so I didn’t have it at all.

‘Ugh. No Jade Emperor’s Attire… So what should I use instead?’

If I summon Jeon Wook, I can utilize Jeon Wook’s statue, and if I summon Shao Hao, I could use the National Seal. However, since I had never intended to summon Yu Shun specifically, I felt it was quite a hassle.

As I was getting distraught, Dae Jo Young, who was watching quietly, spoke up.

“Baek Woong. You seem troubled. Don’t you have any relics related to Yu Shun?”

“It seems so… Do you happen to have any?”

“I don’t either. I’ve roamed the world, but relics of the Three Sovereigns are not easily acquired. But…”

Dae Jo Young stroked his chin thoughtfully.

“I can’t shake the feeling that you might have it with you. It feels that way.”

“……?”

I was dumbfounded by his words and hesitated before replying.

“Y-Your intuition? Do you depend on such things as a person like you?”

“What are you talking about? Didn’t you know that intuition is a trait of emperors? It’s one of my abilities.”

“No, that’s….”

I thought Dae Jo Young was joking and found it ridiculous, but when I looked into his eyes, he seemed very serious. He genuinely believed intuition was important.

Dae Jo Young stated, “It’s not bragging, but the ability I acquired along with the blessings of Hwanin is this emperor’s intuition. This intuition can’t visualize the future, but… it occasionally shows me whether the path I choose is right or wrong on a transcendent level. I utilized this intuition to overcome all tribulations when founding the Balhae Empire.”

“……!! You’re telling me the intuition itself is a supernatural ability?”

“Precisely. And throughout history, powerful emperors, especially those chosen by the gods, have often possessed similar abilities. You could say it’s a special power that spans the realms of luck and fate. This kind of supernatural ability is something neither sorcerers nor shamans can obtain by any means. Only emperors can possess it.”

“…….”

“There’s also bad luck. But bad luck is rarely usable compared to emperor intuition.”

Dae Jo Young’s words sounded surreal, like a fantasy, but I couldn’t bring myself to refute it.

‘It’s just like me.’

Because I too had been making many choices based on what I named “the intuition of the reborn.” And that intuition had a very high success rate, similar to what Dae Jo Young described as “emperor’s intuition.” It felt like I was perceiving the future on a scale far beyond mere human luck.

Could it be that emperor’s intuition and the intuition of the reborn were similar?

While I was in shock, Dae Jo Young extended his hand.

“As a disciple of Fuxi, you must have a considerable number of relics stored in some subspace or talisman. Why not take them all out and take a closer look for any related to the Three Sovereigns?”

“Hmm…. Alright.”

I promptly took out every treasure I had that was purportedly linked to the Three Sovereigns.

Crash!

At the sight of the treasures I revealed, Dae Jo Young and Gong Gong gasped in awe.

“Oooh!!”

[So many treasures…!!]

Then, Daji, who had been watching from behind, suddenly seemed intrigued and with a hint of greed in his gaze, spoke up in a hesitant tone.

“…C-could I see them too?”

“If it’s just for a look.”

“Hmm….”

Daji came closer and stuck right next to me. He began peeking over at my face, and his gaze felt oddly burdensome.

After a moment of them poking around curiously, Dae Jo Young spoke up with surprise.

“Hmm? This is an incredible famous sword. Is this also a relic of the Three Sovereigns?”

When I saw the sword Dae Jo Young was pointing at, I instantly recognized it and nodded.

“Oh, that’s the Divine Sword (의천검). I obtained it from the Wudang Sect.”

I remembered how, after I had chased away Shiva from the Divine Temple that had been intimidating the Wudang Sect since this life started, the Bright Dragon willingly handed it over to me.

“Hmm… This is also a relic of the Three Sovereigns. So whose is it?”

I licked my lips and scratched my head.

“Well, I’m not sure. Jang Sam-bong said it was the sword of the false divine king, and while it’s definitely a relic of the Three Sovereigns, its true identity is uncertain. However, it’s definitely not from Jeon Wook, the Northern God.”

I recalled that when I forcibly drew the Divine Sword, its spirit power and wave did not match at all. So of course, it couldn’t be Jeon Wook’s relic.

“……”

As Dae Jo Young mulled over this, he finally spoke.

“Baek Woong. How about using the Divine Sword as an offering?”

“Huh?! Why all of a sudden….?”

“Looking at it, you don’t seem to have any candidates for Yu Shun’s items. Then, it makes sense to use something ambiguous like this, right?”

“Well, that’s true, but… if a wrong one gets summoned, we’re done for.”

“Regardless, with the aliens messing around, the fluctuations from the Heavenly Altar are all over the place, so the probability is already spiraling into chaos. If there’s even a chance to summon the [Old Ruler], isn’t it better to at least narrow it down to the Three Sovereigns?”

“Ah ha.”

Dae Jo Young’s reasoning made a lot of sense. I nodded at his words and picked up the Divine Sword.

“Then I’ll give it a shot.”

After all, I had other Seven Luminaries in my hand, so I wouldn’t be in despair if I didn’t use a weapon. Rather, it might be more beneficial for me to uncover the true identity of the Divine Sword this time.

Kiiing—

Once the Divine Sword was placed on the Heavenly Altar, it radiated a cerulean glow, signaling the offering was ready, and Gong Gong spread his arms, shouting.

[Oh, Heavenly Altar! I summon a great being using the Divine Sword as an offering!!]

Kugugu—

The sky began to darken. To perform the offering ceremony on the Heavenly Altar, the proper sequence of steps, rights, qualifications, and timing was required, but given that the Celestial Realm had perished, most of those had become meaningless. With the Celestial Realm’s disappearance, there was no need to seek their permission anymore, and the Heavenly Altar was now solely a summoning altar connected to the Three Sovereigns, leaving just the sorcerous procedures required to operate it and the infused divine power.

Flash—

A massive bolt of lightning struck down. After that, I could feel an enormous presence as [something] was beginning to appear. Although it wasn’t yet visible to mortal eyes, [something] that just crossed dimensional boundaries definitely existed.

Woo woo—

The presence gathered power for a moment before slowly taking shape, beginning to manifest itself here. Something that resembled a translucent liquid, shapeless but substantial, unveiled itself, reverberating with divine words.

[I am the Emperor’s heir, Sovereign Yu Shun…. Who has called for me….]

“……!!”

It’s really Yu Shun!

That shapeless avatar, I was very familiar with, having seen it before when absorbing the body of Cheon Gong-pyo. And the moment I laid eyes on it, I knew for sure the true identity of the Divine Sword.

[The Sword of the False Divine King].

The Divine Sword (의천검) was, in fact, a relic of the Three Sovereigns Yu Shun!

‘Wait, if that’s the case, did Jang Sam-bong really know about it? Then why did he say not to use the Divine Sword?’

As I was furrowing my brow over that unresolved question…

[You have summoned me….]

As Yu Shun’s avatar responded to the summoning, a sound echoed like the pages of a book turning. With that sound, suddenly, time in the entire world came to a halt.

Jeeonger!

“……?!”

Woo-woo—

Everything genuinely stopped. Daji, who had been looking at my Divine Sword with a hint of greed, Dae Jo Young, who was on alert seeing Yu Shun’s form, and Gong Gong, a former foe, all stood frozen in shock.

The only three things that didn’t stop in this space were me, the Heavenly Secret hovering independently in my arms, and the avatar of Yu Shun.

Seeing the heavenly secret shine darkly, the avatar of Yu Shun gasped in surprise.

[Ah… no! What is that? What is that book? How is the Law of Cause and Effect affecting me like this….]

Zziiiing

As the pages of the Heavenly Secret turned, it suddenly stopped on a particular chapter. Stronger dark spirit energy began to emanate from the open Heavenly Secret toward Yu Shun’s avatar, causing it to tremble.

[Ugh…. Ahhh…. To think I had already been consumed by the boundary of nightmare without my realization!! Great one! This cannot be!!]

Crack! Crack!

[AAAH!!]

Moments later, it seemed as though Yu Shun was being drawn into the pages of the Heavenly Secret, as the book rumbled and shook, and finally fell flat on the ground.

“……”

I walked over and picked up the Heavenly Secret. I noticed that the pages were glowing a rich azure, with familiar illustrations depicted within.

“This is….”

No doubt about it.

This was the illustration that emerged with the help of the Primordial Heaven Master when I awakened my chaotic abilities in the dream of the Land and Earth Diagram! I distinctly remembered being puzzled by the eerie two beasts depicted back then.

Wiggle

And just then, I saw one of those two beasts squirming as if alive inside the pages. It looked as though the illustration had come to life. At that moment, I realized one critical fact.

“Ah… I see….”

That beast was indeed the Three Sovereigns Yu Shun (堯舜).

The Heavenly Secret had the ability to convert the consumed [Old Ruler] into illustrations and store them within this book!

Since Yu Shun had already been consumed once by the Heavenly Secret, every time he encountered me and the Heavenly Secret again, he would undoubtedly be devoured without question!

‘Then what about the other beast?!!’

I quickly looked at the other beast’s illustration across the page. But something felt off; this beast’s illustration was entirely dark and empty compared to the squirming Yu Shun. It even appeared to be engraved with nothingness.

Just as I was taken aback by this unexpected reality, I suddenly heard a familiar voice.

[There isn’t much karmic debt yet, so the path to the Primordial Void is still open.]

A voice like that of a little girl echoed in my mind.

[Don’t let the power of the ‘book’ corrupt you.]

Snapping back into focus, I suddenly realized I was no longer trapped in a time stop.

The other three looked bewildered as Yu Shun’s avatar disappeared before them.

“What the heck?”

“Why did the summoned Yu Shun vanish?”

[……?]

They wore confused expressions, but I knew very well what had just transpired. I felt a surge of excitement as I recognized that my recent ‘experiment’ had played out as anticipated.

‘The Heavenly Secret… has kept the consumed [Old Ruler] secured within it all along.’

And once someone gets consumed, should I face them again after traversing the dimensional boundaries, they would simply become food for the Heavenly Secret once more.

I ingrained that revelation into my mind, sighed, and brandished the Divine Sword.

“Phew. It seems like summoning Yu Shun has failed. Now I can’t further summon another Three Sovereign here, so I should head to summon Shao Hao Jin Tian….”

Just then.

Zzzzp!!

Suddenly, a tremendous amount of magical energy erupted from the Divine Sword I was holding. The magical energy burst forth in a column, splitting the heavens, followed promptly by raindrops of chaos pouring down to the earth.

Swoosh

“Whoa?!”

Dae Jo Young, caught beneath the chaotic raindrops, blurted out in surprise.

“Each raindrop is a clump of pure magical energy!! What on earth did you do!”

“Uh, uh….”

Gulp gulp

I struggled to respond. Because right now, as I held the Divine Sword, I felt magic overwhelming me like I had overeaten! Despite trying to consume mana as efficiently as possible while fasting, suddenly feeling bloated like a stuffed pig was overwhelming!

Woo woo

I could feel the heat around my eyes and sensed they were surely turning black due to the overflow. This had happened during the beginning of my 29th life! The mana was absurdly overflowing!

“Ugh, ahhh….”

I need to summon the Four Great Spirit Deities to drain all this mana.

That thought crossed my mind as I tried to summon the Four Great Spirit Deities, but just then…

“Quite appealing, my dear Fuxi’s disciple.”

Out of nowhere, Daji suddenly grabbed my wrists tightly, pinning me down.

Boom!

My body was knocked back by Daji, who grinned evilly right before my eyes. I tried to move, but the surge of mana felt relentless, and just maintaining consciousness was overwhelming. Plus, with Daji exuding powerful mana herself, I couldn’t shake her off.

“What—what do you think you’re doing…?”

“What do you think I’m doing?”

“…….”

Her gaze seemed predatory, and I momentarily held my breath.

“You belong to me.”

And in the next moment, with a playful smile, Daji kissed me.