1141——————==

Soul of the Evil God

After hearing the Sword Demon’s words, I stood there for a while, suddenly coming to my senses.

‘I can’t just let him go like this.’

To me, Mangnyang was not someone I could just send away with a casual word. I quickly pulled out the Return Stone that my exploration team carried and activated it. This was a teleportation item made by the Great Immortals of the Celestial Realm, which granted spatial movement allowing for a temporary retreat during the trials in the Celestial Realm.

Pa-at!

After returning to the Eight Trigrams Pavilion, I rushed out into the corridor. I headed straight for Hyunheogung, but just as I was about to enter, two immortals suddenly appeared.

[Stop.]

I halted at their command, and the one on the left with purple wings spoke to me.

[The Lord Hyunheogung is currently absent, so please return later.]

“Mangnyang just left the Eight Trigrams Pavilion. How could you…?”

[He made a quick stop to entrust us with guarding Hyunheogung. No entry is allowed in his absence.]

“Is Mangnyang not inside?”

[Not at all.]

I glared at the two immortals, and they met my gaze coldly. My hand itched to grab the handle of the Ruyi Staff, but I ultimately gave up and relaxed my grip.

‘These immortal fools can be cut down… But if there really isn’t Mangnyang inside, it would be pointless.’

Moreover, even if Mangnyang was inside, the Sword Demon, the leader of my exploration team, had likely chased him off, making it all the more embarrassing for me. Considering how the rest of the exploration team was fully engaged in the assault, I shouldn’t have lost my composure like this. I sighed and said,

“I’ll come back later.”

Turning my back on Hyunheogung, I walked the streets of the Celestial Realm for a while. Many immortals were scattered about, some showing curiosity towards me, but most were indifferent. From this perspective, I thought that immortals were not much different from humans.

‘Damn it. I can’t get my thoughts straight…’

Why did Mangnyang do such a thing? Was everything the Sword Demon said correct, and was there really no need for me to have chased after him like this? I couldn’t understand why such uncharacteristic behavior came from the usually wise Mangnyang, and I found myself trapped in my thoughts.

At that moment…

“Hey! Baek Woong, is that you here?”

“……?!”

“What a coincidence!”

A familiar voice. I recognized the owner and shouted in surprise.

“Celestial Sage!!”

Indeed!

The Celestial Sage, with a Ruyi Staff laid over his shoulder, was staring at me! Of course, I had asked for his assistance during the God’s Punishment battle and was with him until almost the very end. So I thought it possible to run into him in the Celestial Realm, but I never expected to meet him here out of the blue. The Celestial Sage chuckled.

“You sure don’t age a bit, eh? Did you drink some of that General’s elixir or something?”

“Oh, about that…”

It seemed he didn’t know I had leaped into the future. As I hesitated, the Celestial Sage interjected.

“Anyway, are you busy right now?”

“Actually, have you seen Hyunheogung’s Mangnyang?”

“So you came looking for him, huh? Nope, I haven’t seen him.”

“Hmm…”

I made a distressed sound. As I stood there dazed, the Celestial Sage observed me, then said,

“You look like a lost puppy. Did you have a fight with Mangnyang?”

“……”

“Tell me about it. I can spare a moment to listen.”

Before I knew it, I started explaining to the Celestial Sage how I had split from Mangnyang while climbing the Trial Tower. After listening for a while, the Celestial Sage remarked,

“The Sword Demon is right. Why are you looking for someone who walked out on his own?”

“…That’s…”

“Based on your demeanor, I doubt even if you meet him, you’ll just end up babbling.”

“……”

That felt accurate. I flinched at the sharp observation, and the Celestial Sage chuckled.

“Come on, follow me. Let’s talk a bit.”

Vroom!

I hopped on the Celestial Sage’s Kundu and headed somewhere. After a while, we arrived at a rugged mountain, where the Celestial Sage descended into a valley, dipping his feet into the clear water and saying,

“I thought you died back then, but the humans believe you’ve been alive this whole time. I was half convinced, and here you are!”

“Things happened…”

“Whatever, it’s no big deal. A human who can chat with the God of the Sea and connect with Jeon Wook is nothing to be surprised about after five hundred years.”

With a splash, the Celestial Sage continued to soak his feet in the valley water.

“I have a rough idea about why you guys are breaking into the tower. Are you here to meet Fuxi?”

“Yes.”

“But you didn’t mention what you’d do after meeting him. What’s your aim?”

“I’m looking to find a way to delay the apocalypse.”

I thought it’d be okay to tell the Celestial Sage. He replied,

“The goddess Nüwa put up a fierce block against you guys.”

“…That’s right.”

Suddenly, curiosity struck me, and I asked the Celestial Sage.

“Didn’t the goddess appear on the 93rd floor as the Fighting Spirit of Xiang Yu, at the height of his power? I was worried you might also show up in the Trial Tower, but did Nüwa’s proposal not reach you?”

“No, it did come. But I turned it down.”

“Oh.”

The Celestial Sage slumped his upper body over a large rock and gazed at the sky.

“Why would I want help from that woman now? The Eight Trigrams Pavilion was set up by the Heavenly Mysterious Woman, after all.”

“The Heavenly Mysterious Woman?”

“This is the place. My old subordinates are around here somewhere too.”

“……!!”

The Eight Trigrams Pavilion!

It was said to be the birthplace of the Celestial Sage, a mystical mountain where monkeys used to live. I was astonished by the unexpected location, and he continued,

“Back in the day, I blew up the Eight Trigrams Pavilion during a fight with the Celestial Realm. I felt bad for my old subordinates during that time, but the Heavenly Mysterious Woman threw together the Eight Trigrams Pavilion nicely.”

When he spoke of fighting the Celestial Realm, it should have sounded like arrogance, but with the Celestial Sage, it didn’t feel that way. I informed him,

“I’m just glad everything turned out well.”

“What, that I didn’t participate in the trials?”

“Yes.”

The Celestial Sage smirked.

“Consider yourself lucky, kid.”

If he had participated in the trials, I would have had no chance of winning. That was the truth.

Then the Celestial Sage scratched his head.

“By the way, Xiang Yu will be coming out.”

……?

I blinked in disbelief, suddenly anxious. I stammered,

“What, what did you just say? What do you mean…?”

“When I was arm wrestling with Xiang Yu, Nüwa’s specter appeared. I turned her down, but Xiang Yu accepted the proposal.”

“Which floor does he appear on?”

“I wouldn’t know that. If you were Nüwa, would you tell me?”

“…….”

That was a fair point. The Celestial Sage splashed around in the valley water and continued,

“Now that we’ve reached this point, I thought of stopping by to check on you. So, while I was loitering nearby, I saw you.”

“Ehh…”

I felt the pressure building in my head.

Could it really be confirmed that Xiang Yu would appear in the trials!

Just facing Xiang Yu alone would be an incredibly tough trial; how was I supposed to handle that? As I wore a gloomy expression, the Celestial Sage said,

“Do you have any bad blood with Nüwa? Because from what I can see, the difficulty doesn’t seem to be meant to be broken.”

“…I have no idea. It just seems like she expects something from me.”

“So how do you plan to break it?”

“Pardon?”

“Xiang Yu aside, they say that when Yi comes back to his peak form, even if I risk my life to fight, there’s no guarantee I’d win.”

“Well, about that…”

“Tell me how you fought him.”

I awkwardly recounted what I knew about Yi’s Wuwei technique. After hearing this, the Celestial Sage decisively said,

“That guy got super strong~ You absolutely won’t win.”

“…….”

“With that level, even if your friends gang up on him, it wouldn’t work out, and in the end, you’ll need to use the Peerless Technique to have any hope.”

“True, but it’s not a skill I can learn in a short time…”

“Hehe.”

Suddenly, the Celestial Sage burst out laughing. Confused, I looked at him, and he wore a mischievous smile.

“Why do you try to play everything by Nüwa’s rules? Is that really how you fight?”

“What do you mean?”

“From the sounds of it, Mangnyang has a bit more brains than you.”

He pointed at the sky with his Ruyi Staff and said,

“You’ve got only a few years left until the apocalypse. If you keep trying to fight off the trials with formal training, you’re never gonna beat the monsters in that tower, which all seem incredibly vicious. Even if Jang Sam-bong trains you, it’ll only be pissing in the snow; the gap in power is clear. Ultimately, doesn’t Nüwa want to see how you plan to deal with divine-level enemies?”

“That’s true. Both Yi and Xiang Yu are definitely divine beings at this point…”

“Even when facing the impossible, are you really going to stick to orthodox methods, which is what Nüwa wants? Is creating miracles your only solution?”

“……?”

“Perhaps Mangnyang realized that, which is why he did something strange.”

The Celestial Sage murmured this before continuing.

“Hey, what’s fighting all about? Why do we fight?”

“To win, right?”

“Exactly! Winning is everything. You need to show that to Nüwa. Just give her something to anticipate.”

“……!!”

At that moment, I felt a spark of realization.

‘Wait… does that mean…’

Was I mistaken this whole time? As I became dizzy from confusion, the Celestial Sage rose from the rock.

“Looks like there are quite a few people plotting something behind your back. So don’t overthink it; just do what you do. That’s probably the best path for you.”

“Th-thank you.”

As I expressed my gratitude, the Celestial Sage replied,

“Buy me a drink later. Something good.”

“Yes.”

“Something really good.”

Vroom!

The Celestial Sage rode off on his Kundu, wandering somewhere. He clearly didn’t seem to care much about our business. I was curious about what he thought about the apocalypse, but once I listened to his words, I felt a sudden clarity wash over me.

‘Right. I haven’t been myself until now.’

Why was that? My troubled thoughts now swirled like mad. I always knew that living as my true self was the best approach, but maybe I had too many distractions besides my own affairs until now.

I immediately returned to the Sword Demon on the 92nd floor. I said,

“Sword Demon, I’ll stop searching for Mangnyang.”

“Of course you should.”

“I just need to make a brief trip to the surface before we tackle the 93rd floor.”

“Do as you please. But do you know how to get down?”

“I got the info directly from Mangnyang.”

“Be back soon.”

Pa-at!

I headed to the Great Palace, where the Heavenly Mysterious Woman was. This palace didn’t originally exist, but it had been newly constructed when the Heavenly Mysterious Woman took power in the Celestial Realm, essentially becoming the sovereign’s place. Standing in front of the Heavenly Mysterious Woman, I asked,

“Did Mangnyang stop by here?”

[He did.]

“So, he must have gone down to the surface.”

[That’s correct.]

As soon as Mangnyang was expelled, he had gone directly to the surface without visiting Hyunheogung.

This somehow gave me the impression that Mangnyang had foreseen this outcome. While a hypothesis formed in my mind, I had no confirmation, so I set it aside for now and addressed the Heavenly Mysterious Woman.

“Please send me down to the surface.”

[Understood.]

Pa-at!

I descended into the Heavenly Altar amidst a bright light. As I looked around at the surroundings of the Heavenly Altar, it certainly didn’t feel familiar.

‘I’ve come up to the Heavenly Altar of Songshan, but this isn’t it.’

At the Heavenly Altar of Songshan, there should always be a Zen Master present, yet there were no signs of life anywhere. As I exited the control room and stepped into a place overlooking the mountains, someone called out to me.

“I rushed out when I received a sudden transmission signal from the Celestial Realm… but who are you?”

A middle-aged man with a long sword on his back spoke in a commanding tone. I glanced at him and could tell he was quite a seasoned martial artist. However, he didn’t seem to be at the Absolute Realm level and appeared to be just a peak expert from the worldly perspective. I replied to him,

“Tell Sagong Lin that Baek Woong has come.”

“……?! Ah, understood. Could it be that you…?”

“I am Baek Woong.”

At that, the middle-aged man immediately bowed deeply and said,

“Please forgive my rudeness. It’s just a mistake on my part; please don’t hold the Huashan Sect accountable.”

“You’re from the Huashan Sect?”

“I am the current leader of the Huashan Sect, Cha Jo-heum.”

Ah, a leader of the Huashan Sect.

‘Have the leaders of the Nine Great Sects been informed of my identity? Well, it’s not like I can keep it a secret anymore…’

I figured there was no need to remember his name and casually replied,

“Don’t be petty about it. Just contact Sagong Lin quickly.”

“Your Honor!”

A moment later, I followed Cha Jo-heum to a holographic room. The holograms displayed Sagong Lin’s face, and she spoke to me.

[Baek Woong, are you looking for me?]

“Did Mangnyang come to you by any chance?”

[…No. What’s going on?]

“Mangnyang was expelled from the exploration team.”

[…….]

Sagong Lin appeared quite bewildered by this unexpected news. She spoke,

[This can’t be… So you’ve come to look for Mangnyang?]

“No, I didn’t come to look for him. He’s already set on leaving, so there’s no way I could find him.”

[Then, why have you descended?]

“To awaken the Moon Sovereign’s spirit.”

[…Understood. Please come to the Imperial Palace.]

After the communication cut off, I headed straight to the Imperial Palace where Sagong Lin was. Upon meeting her, I showed her the memory I had in obsidian, and Sagong Lin looked troubled as she watched the recollections unfold.

“Certainly, it isn’t like Mangnyang to act this way. What could have driven him to do such things…?”

“Anyway, please prepare the location to awaken the Moon Sovereign.”

“The Heavenly Altar of Songshan would be the best choice.”

“That was the place we used before.”

“It’s the location with the strongest spirit energy among the Five Great Mountains. I’ll come help as well.”

Whoooosh!

Inside the silent Heavenly Altar, I slowly took out the Moon Sovereign and placed it on the floor. Sagong Lin stood beside me.

‘The Moon Sovereign consists of a sword, a bell, and a mirror….’

It’s likely different from the cases with the Water Spirit and Fire Spirit. I pondered for a moment before channeling my spirit power into the sword first.

Chi-chi-chi!

As Spirit Power poured into it, the sword began to shimmer silver after a short time. I observed as the Moon Sovereign responded, and then proceeded to evenly infuse spirit power into the other items, the bell and the mirror. Shortly after, all three pieces of the Moon Sovereign began to resonate, making vibrations, and I supplied a large amount of spirit power in one go. I could also feel Sagong Lin beside me boosting the spirit energy.

Zzzzz!

A cracking sound similar to when the Water Spirit awakened echoed through the air. Moments later, under a bright light, the Moon Sovereign transformed into a silver glow and floated, revealing three figures standing in front of it.

[I am the Sword of the Moon Sovereign!]

[I am the Bell of the Moon Sovereign!]

[I am the Mirror of the Moon Sovereign!]

“……!!”

Three figures with silvery hair summoned a giant sword, a spell character, and a mirror! As I saw them, memories of the past flooded back, making my hair stand on end.

“You guys look just like back then…”

The trial of the Seven Luminaries!

I had thought I defeated the Moon Sovereign once, but here they were, right back in the form they split into! The sword-wielding Moon Spirit said,

[Our master, Baek Woong! You have awakened us!]

The other two spirits chimed in.

[Have we been left idle for too long?]

[While you awakened the Water and Fire Spirits, why have we been forgotten!]

I awkwardly scratched my head at their words and smiled sheepishly.

“Um, well…”

The truth is, while I’d been using the Water and Fire Spirits post-awakening, my human limits only allowed me to handle up to two at a time. Even that put a strain on me. In such a situation, if I attempted to also awaken the Moon Sovereign and wield it, I would someday be tempted to attempt a triple resonance during a crisis, which would drastically increase my chances of dying. Hence, I had neglected them until now, but things had changed, and I was here to awaken them.

I muttered hesitantly,

“Anyway, since I’ve awakened you guys, I have a favor to ask!”

[What is it that you wish to know?]

My eyes sparkled with anticipation.

“Do you happen to know the weaknesses of the Afterlife?”

Upon hearing my question, the three Moon Spirits exchanged glances, appearing to think. After a moment, they spoke simultaneously.

[There are two weaknesses!]

“Just as I hoped!”

I sprang into joyous celebration. It was as if things were going as I thought.

While listening to what the Celestial Sage said earlier, the words Sagong Lin had once said came to mind.

[Another reason is that there is a high expectation that the spirits of the Seven Luminaries would know secrets of the gods that we humans do not.]

[The spirits of the Seven Luminaries have essentially lived for ages, having not been created by humans, existing closest to the gods. If you manage to befriend them and overhear their secrets, your journey across your previous life could be greatly shortened.]

[Perhaps you could discover the weaknesses of the Three Sovereigns.]

That’s right.

By awakening the spirits of the Seven Luminaries, I could not only amplify their strength but also inquire whether they knew about the weaknesses of the formidable Afterlife! I had planned to ask the Water and Fire Spirits later as well, but it felt only logical to ask the Moon Sovereign while I was at it, and I got exactly the answer I was looking for.

“What are the weaknesses?”

The sword-wielding spirit of the Moon Sovereign responded,

[First. The Moon Palace Vessel.]

“Huh? What kind of weakness is that?”

[The Afterlife would do anything for the Moon Palace Vessel, so if you acquire it and hold it hostage, they’d agree to anything!]

“…….”

[Tell them to make it through a trial if they want to save it.]

This guy casually suggests some pretty underhanded tactics.

Just as I was left astounded, the mirror spirit spoke up.

[Second. The ancient artifact known as the Peach Rod is tied to a fate that forms their weakness!]

“…Peach Rod?”

This was my first time hearing of it. As I focused on what he was saying, the bell spirit continued,

[The Afterlife was killed by a Peach Rod wielded by their disciple in ancient times, leading to a fatal connection that binds their weakness even after ascending to the Celestial Realm.]

“Could that actually be true?”

[Normally, it wouldn’t work like this, but the Three Sovereigns had a hand in creating this weakness. Beyond that, I’m not sure.]

“Hmm… Good to know.”

I stood and nodded.

“Now I know what I need to do.”

Finding that Peach Rod and using it against the Afterlife!

‘A trial, huh?’

Cultivating the essence of martial arts and defeating the Afterlife would also feel impressive and great.

But when exactly would I achieve that boundless potential?

I had no way of knowing.

I didn’t even possess any talent. That is the stark reality. I had already come to realize that the chances of suddenly acquiring enlightenment were zero, especially from my battle with Jang Sam-bong through the Peerless Technique.

…Even if I ended up accepting the conclusion that trying and failing was unavoidable.

But now, I can’t just be satisfied with saying I’ve done my best. If I were to face the apocalypse without preparation, I’d end up leading my fellow companions to the same fate – their fates are intertwined with mine. I can’t merely choose the paths of least resistance.

Though I had thought negatively about Mangnyang’s exploration to the 99th floor, hadn’t that always been my approach? When there are trials in front of me, the right path is to move forward by any means possible. And that road, which I had unconsciously denied, wasn’t so fundamentally different from what Nüwa desired.

‘Don’t act all high and mighty, Nüwa! I’ll pave my own way using any means available!’

I clenched my fist tightly.

From this point onwards, I would act in my own way!