1196——————==

Soul of the Evil God

The moment I heard Cheon Woo-jin’s words, I looked up at the sky on the other side. But nothing felt off, and even the three people who seemed to have achieved Divine Skill showed no signs of feeling anything.

How did Cheon Woo-jin catch on?

As I was bewildered, Cheon Woo-jin, sweat beading on his forehead, said,

“… Against all odds, I borrowed the power of my Master to examine the Law of Cause and Effect! The Emperor wants to come without a hint, but I noticed!”

“Gasp, the Law of Cause and Effect?!”

“There’s barely an angle left, so hurry!”

“Got it!”

It seemed like Cheon Woo-jin had pulled off something huge with Apostle’s Power. There was no doubt that the Emperor was coming!

‘I’m going to commit suicide!’

Hu Woong

In that moment, I plunged a dagger into my neck without hesitation, feeling a swirl of emotions.

A lot has happened in this life…

I didn’t achieve everything I wanted to, and there was so much regret left. I especially felt sorry for my companions during my reckless journeys through time and space. There were still things to see, but wanting more might just be greedy now.

CRACK

As I felt the blade dig into my neck, I immediately infused all my internal energy and intent into the blade, transforming it into the best sword in the world. The blade radiated like never before, shining golden light!

‘Dying from bleeding is too slow! I need to cut my throat quickly!’

And as the blade pierced the back of my neck, a sharp pain jolted me, prompting me to operate my internal energy to block the body pain and still hold onto the sword, smoothly cutting across my neck. This was the clean suicide I’d often imagined.

SQUELCH!

My vision split drastically. Was it due to the recoil of cutting my own neck? For a moment, it felt like my head was flying into the sky.

‘Got it….’

Since my neck was cut, at least in ten breaths, my life would cease! I closed my eyes contentedly as my head soared, thinking this was the end of my 28th life.

‘Next time, I’ll do better.’

Better to die than be used by the Emperor.

We’ll see next time…!!

“……”

Huh…?

Why…. is my consciousness still intact?

After a brief silence, Cheon Woo-jin said, baffled,

“Are you not dead?”

“Y-Yeah.”

It had already been twenty breaths since I’d taken my last breath. Yet, my consciousness was clear, and I was still speaking while my head rolled around. There seemed to be no sign of dying, making me realize something was off.

I quickly checked if I could move my body, and instantly recognized I had control over my torso as well.

“Wha?!”

My head and torso were separated, right?! How can I still move my body?!

“This is….”

While I awkwardly maneuvered my body, Cheon Woo-jin’s gaze sharpened. I quickly adjusted my body to lend my blade its power.

SLASH!!

“Wait! I’ll stab my heart with maximum output of energy and blow myself up!”

BLAMMO!

“Ughhh!”

I immediately felt my body explode into my own blade’s energy, turning into minced meat.

WHOOSH!

But then, my body returned to its original state! It was like the earlier decapitation was nullified, leaving me intact. I was taken aback and shouted again.

“I’ll blow myself up with explosive ants! Throw me far away!”

“Got it.”

Hu Woong

With Cheon Woo-jin’s technique, I was swiftly flying into what appeared to be the stratosphere. With a summon technique I learned from Zhuge Sa, my body detonated.

BLAMMO!

WHOOSH!

“……?!”

My body returned to normal again?!

I need to test every way of committing suicide, but will there be enough time?!

As I floated in the cosmic space, Cheon Woo-jin appeared next to me as if he teleported.

“The power of the Wheel King still lingers. Perfect immortality.”

“What?!”

“The Book of Life and Death was obliterated by the Law of Cause and Effect, but the absolute immortality conferred by the position of Wheel King is not taken away. Truly a useless ability…”

Cheon Woo-jin mumbled something more.

“To die, you need to completely give up the power of the Wheel King.”

“How can I do that?”

“Just a moment. I’ll check the world’s records.”

Check the records, huh?

FWOOM!

Apostle Cheon Woo-jin closed his eyes, adopting a look as if receiving something. Then he spoke.

“There’s no choice but to revive the Underworld.”

“What?”

“As seen in the ‘Knot,’ reviving the Underworld temporarily obliterates all powers of the Wheel King. It would be best to kill you while its power is weakest.”

Oh right!

There was such a method! Cheon Woo-jin is smart!

I was impressed and then realized something, rebutting.

“…But we can’t guarantee what happened in the ‘Knot’ will be the same in reality.”

In order to unlock the seal on the Wheel King’s throne, countless trials must be passed. If I make a single mistake in that convoluted process, I can’t afford to fail. But considering the ‘Knot’ was a dream, could the solutions to that trial be applied in reality?

“We can only hope so. What will you do? If not this method, we could search the universe for my Older Brother to kill each other, but that seems too unrealistic.”

“Damn it…. Let’s go to the Underworld!!”

I yelled. At this point, I have no time to waste!

WHOOSH!

I entered the Wheel King’s chamber with Cheon Woo-jin. Taking a deep breath, I began reciting the攻略法 in my head as if chanting an incantation.

“Only when the golden statue symbolizing the Wheel King appears can we succeed…. Moving five steps southeast after stepping on blue, red, green, purple, purple, blue, blue, green—then stepping on purple, purple, purple, green, green, red, red, and blue to the northeast, and once each in all four directions, taking ten steps to the west will cause the orange platform to rise, after stepping on six platforms diagonally, the floor platforms will suddenly transform into a dragon’s image…”

I hadn’t memorized even half of the攻略法 when Cheon Woo-jin, glancing at me, exclaimed.

“There’s no time. I’ll handle it.”

“Huh?”

“Apostle Cheon Woo-jin commands it.”

Holding out his hand, Cheon Woo-jin shouted,

“Let the waves collapse!! May you reach your desired possibility!”

THUMM!

The next moment – for some reason, I found all the攻略法 to have already been completed, and the residual consciousness of the Wheel King floated before my eyes.

[Oh…. New Wheel King who follows in my footsteps…. You, who solved the trial once but left without any choice…. Are you ready to choose now?]

“……?!”

What’s this?!

For some reason, no time had passed, yet the fact that I had just successfully done the攻略法 remained in my mind. Having a memory I’d never actually experienced was odd, but regardless, it seemed like the process had been skipped. As I wore a dumbfounded look, Cheon Woo-jin said,

“We leaped through the overlapping reality. This is the power of Master Mangnyang!”

“Is it, time travel?”

“No. It’s different from the ‘Small Cycle.’ It’s too complex to explain, just know it exists. After all, no one else can use this power besides me.”

As Cheon Woo-jin gave me a serious look, I snapped back to attention and declared,

“I will revive the Underworld! I will give up my eternal life!”

[New Wheel King…. Your will shall be fulfilled!]

KU GU GU…

The golden statue on the ground slowly rose, resembling the feeling of a Buddha rising into the void, and I realized this was the process of piercing through the essence of the Wheel King as it had been before.

And at the moment the Three-Eyed Buddha sealed the sign – Cheon Woo-jin had suddenly appeared right in front of that Buddha, sealing the sign in return. In that fleeting moment, Cheon Woo-jin seemed to speak to the Buddha.

[Wheel King. Do not obstruct the true resurrection of the King; slumber eternally within the ages.]

It seemed Cheon Woo-jin might have intervened out of fear that this awakening might grant me a new form of immortality. And it seemed Cheon Woo-jin’s status was not inferior to that of the Wheel King; I felt a significant clash of power momentarily occur between them.

WHOOSH!

Eventually, the Three-Eyed Buddha slowly relaxed the sign of his hand and began to disintegrate to dust. As the Buddha vanished, his hands cupped upwards, assuming the most basic posture of meditation, and I felt the Buddha’s words resonate in my ears.

[…A vagabond of reincarnation….]

SWISH!

Moments later, the entire room collapsed as I sensed the revival of the Underworld. At the same time, I could feel the power of the Wheel King washing away from my body, and I hurriedly shouted to Cheon Woo-jin.

“Cheon Woo-jin! It worked, right?!”

“I shall bestow the power of Wuwei upon your blade.”

WHOOSH!

I felt a mysterious energy imbue my sword. Now, I was ready to die.

I sighed in relief and spoke to Cheon Woo-jin.

“Thank you for everything till now.”

“…….”

Cheon Woo-jin didn’t respond to my words, his expression pale. It was as if he’d just seen something nightmarish.

“It’s impossible…. Did it already come?”

He looked as if he had seen a ghost. I was bewildered at Cheon Woo-jin’s sudden change but didn’t hesitate further.

‘Damn! No time left! Let’s go!’

PLOP!

Without listening to Cheon Woo-jin, I stabbed the sword into my neck. Now that my immortality had disappeared, I thought I could finally end it.

CRUNCH…

But my sword was being held by someone in mid-air.

A familiar white hand caught my sword’s blade, leaving only a tiny gap from my neck.

“……?!”

I pushed the sword but it didn’t budge at all.

Slowly, the owner of that hand revealed herself, and Cheon Woo-jin’s face turned grave as he muttered.

“… Have you already surpassed the Old Ruler…? I can’t believe it’s to this extent…”

I clearly witnessed the being holding onto my sword with bare hands. Still in disbelief, I mumbled,

“Sagong Lin.”

The Heavenly Demon Sagong Lin was stopping my suicide with her bare hands. The moment I looked into her eyes, I gasped in shock.

Golden eyes.

A symbol that I was perfectly under the control of Emperor Gong Sun Xuanwen – froze me in place. Then [Sagong Lin] smiled and said,

“It’s been a long time, Reborn Person. I still vividly remember when you stormed into my Divine Temple with Fuxi.”

“……”

“You don’t need to be too tense.”

This is not Sagong Lin.

What’s speaking now is a [different] being.

And… the worst adversary of this life.

‘No…!!’

Too late.

I tried my best to commit suicide before that thing arrived, but in the end, I couldn’t time it right.

“Will you not make a deal with me?”

As soon as I heard that, I shouted at the top of my lungs to Cheon Woo-jin.

“Cheon Woo-jin!! Make a path for me to commit suicide!!”

The last request of my lifetime!

With my blood-curdling scream, Cheon Woo-jin gritted his teeth and entered Combat Posture.

“If it’s the king’s order!!”

ZIRP!

In the next moment, three people were summoned around Cheon Woo-jin: Yeodong-bin, Divine Thief, and the warrior with a blue face. They were suddenly summoned to the Underworld, bewildered, but as soon as the blue-faced warrior caught sight of the Heavenly Demon Sagong Lin, he exclaimed in horror.

[No!! That person is the [Old Ruler]!]

An alien language?

That doesn’t sound like any human language. There’s no doubt it’s an alien tongue!

More importantly, the blue-faced warrior seemed to recognize the [Old Ruler] at first glance.

JACKPOT!!

At that shout, Yeodong-bin and Divine Thief immediately took up Combat Posture, and the blue-faced warrior seemed to ready himself by placing a hand on his great sword. Yeodong-bin darted a glance back at Cheon Woo-jin, seeking clarification, but Cheon Woo-jin ignored his silent stare and summoned two more figures.

WHOOSH!

The ones that appeared next were Jang Sam-bong, the Sage, and Asura. They looked just as bewildered as the other three, but soon, upon witnessing the Heavenly Demon Sagong Lin gripping my sword, their faces hardened, and they assumed Combat Posture.

Cheon Woo-jin spoke to the five absolute experts standing in the venue.

“O great warriors! The one before you is the foremost of the Three Sovereigns and the harbinger of destruction!”

“……!!”

“Only by killing Baek Woong can he commence a new rebirth! The Emperor is preventing his death, so please assist in defeating the Emperor.”

At those words, everyone seemed to realize the situation.

Swoosh….

In an instant, the five absolute experts formed an encirclement around Sagong Lin. Yet the Heavenly Demon Sagong Lin didn’t pay them any heed, not even casting a glance as she spoke to me.

“You know that this is all a meaningless struggle due to experience. Don’t you think?”

“Don’t kid around…”

Though I retorted, I felt disbelief.

How did it come to this?

With four masters from the Baekjo clan who mastered Divine Skill and an Asura reaching comparable heights, plus Apostle Cheon Woo-jin right here. It should be normal to feel confident with all these powerful beings gathered.

But… for some reason, I felt no confidence at all.

Because I knew what sort of monster stood before me.

The word despair began to sink deep into my heart.

“I’ll say it again.”

The Heavenly Demon smiled.

“Reborn Person, will you not make a deal with me?”

Emperor Gong Sun Xuanwen was smiling.