1272——————==

Soul of the Evil God

I brought the egg and started pondering what to do next.

‘Hmmm. This egg is still an unknown, huh….’

When I offered this egg to Pangu in the past, he gave me the Law of Cause and Effect while also handing me some kind of rope as a leftover payment. I had once offered that rope again to the Rainbow Snake, who was incredibly happy and claimed the rope was a relic of the Creator God. He even acted a bit greedy over it, which made it seem like a precious item for sure.

The problem is that. If receiving the Law of Cause and Effect still leaves leftovers, what on earth could be the worth of this egg? Of course, back then, I had poured a massive amount of Spirit Power into transforming it into a red egg, so it probably held much more value than in its bare form now. Still, if even a leftover from the Creator God makes a divine entity covet it, that must be something extraordinary.

However, no one could tell me the identity of this egg. Not even my human companions or the Heavenly Mysterious Woman of Nine Heavens, one of the celestial divine entities, seemed to have a clue. The only one who might know was the Prophet, but for some reason, I sensed he would never tell me what this egg was.

‘This must be my gut feeling….’

The Prophet likely knows what the egg is but won’t say a word. He’s probably wary that I might extract all useful information during my past life, especially since the egg must hold a top-secret essence. Naturally, he wouldn’t disclose its true value just to strike another business deal with me. He might not even tell me even if I were to offer all my treasures.

So, what should I do with this egg?

I realized I had two options.

‘I could hold onto it as a talisman to evade crises…. Or hatch it.’

The latter option would be more beneficial for me. However, considering how much Spirit Power I had expended to reach the Red Egg stage back then, I knew I couldn’t attempt that rashly now. Though I had managed to recover the amount of Spirit Power expended, it was likely that I would need several times that to go beyond the Red Egg stage, a level I couldn’t handle currently.

‘A peaceful life is the goal this time. I don’t want to overexert myself for something unmanageable!’

For now, it’s better to keep hold of it.

After temporarily concluding this, I prepared to head back to the village. Fortunately, recalling the mountain near the cave where the Heavenly Secret was, I thought I could reach the village in no time. However, just as I was about to move, I hesitated.

‘Hmmm…. Now that the Luoyang Heavenly Path has begun, everything under heaven will start moving, whether I like it or not. I might as well gather everything I can while I still can.’

From experience, one needs adequate power and resources to prepare for disasters. Additionally, since I still hadn’t collected all the treasures scattered across the world, I felt it would be better to search for a bit longer before returning.

Boom

I first dashed to the Taekyung Village of Jeongju-hyeon. It had a Phoenix Fragment, so I was planning to sneak it from the Hua Clan’s residence that I was familiar with. However, upon arriving at Taekyung Village, I was utterly shocked.

“Huh?!”

The entire village was in ruins from a fire?! I couldn’t help but be taken aback at the pitch-black ashes. I never thought something like this would happen so soon after my rebirth. Trying to calm my confusion, I started rummaging through the wreckage of Taekyung Village to see if anyone survived.

And then I noticed something.

‘All the buildings are burnt down, but there are no human corpses in sight. That means it was just arson and no slaughter happened here….’

The fact that they only burned the buildings suggests that someone intentionally set Taekyung Village ablaze and that the villagers had evacuated beforehand. I had memorized the location where Hua Jong-taek’s house had been, so I could still find it among the ashes, but after a thorough search, I was unable to locate the Phoenix Fragment.

‘Still no corpses. It seems that Hua Jong-taek and his family might not have died either. So, it’s highly likely that he took the Phoenix Fragment with him when fleeing the village.’

But since I didn’t know the exact circumstances, it was still conjecture. I decided to gather information about the situation in Taekyung Village by visiting a nearby town and made my way to a relatively large village downstream of the Gyeongha River called Jitang Village. I threw a gold bar at a notably authoritative family there, and after doing so, a plump man with a beard stroked his facial hair as he spoke.

“Hehe. Recently, people from the White Lotus Sect came to Taekyung Village, drove out the villagers, and set the place ablaze.”

“……?!”

“It’s a well-known story around here.”

Wait, what?! The White Lotus Sect?!

I couldn’t help but ask the supposed landlord of Jitang Village in disbelief.

“What do you mean? Why would the White Lotus Sect suddenly attack that village?”

“I heard that masters in white clothes who came from the White Lotus Sect surrounded the village for days demanding that they hand over a martial artist known as Master Hyuncheon. But after receiving no response, they drove the villagers out and burned the village to warn Master Hyuncheon.”

“…And the government office didn’t take action even after such nonsense?”

“I’m not sure, but I guess the White Lotus Sect wanted to avoid provoking the government by only burning the village and not killing anyone. That said, the government wouldn’t mind as long as the refugees from Taekyung Village just moved to another village to farm and pay taxes….”

“Hmmm….”

“By the way, you’re quite a beauty! Care to join me for a drink? Hehe….”

This jerk dared to throw me a pickup line? And a bold one at that?

A mere village chief has some nerve!

“What? Wanna get your head smashed?”

“Gyaah!”

I released a killing intent and knocked him and the others nearby out cold. I then took back the gold bar I had given him.

“You moron. Since you prattled on, there’s no info fee.”

As a bonus, I rummaged through the village chief’s house and grabbed anything that could be sold, stuffing it into my wooden armor. After that, feeling somewhat sour about it all, I debated whether to kill him or not, then decided to just ignore the matter and left Jitang Village, thinking.

‘…Is it my fault?’

Those masters in white from the White Lotus Sect must be Sacred Lotus People. They must have sent those with vast internal energy who had consumed the Sacred Lotus to challenge Master Hyuncheon, taking Taekyung Village as a hostage to draw him out. But since I had already moved Master Hyuncheon and the other Daoist Hall people to Soeul Village, it seemed the White Lotus Sect realized their efforts were futile and burned Taekyung Village out of frustration.

Because I had been parading Master Hyuncheon’s name, it seemed that Taekyung Village had taken the brunt of the damage, and my attempt to sneak away with the Phoenix Fragment ended up backfiring. I was now in quite a bind.

‘Ugh…. I have no idea where the Phoenix Fragment could be.’

I felt it might be in Hua Jong-taek’s possession, but I had no certainty. It was possible that Hua Jong-taek had lost it to the White Lotus Sect. Perhaps it could be buried somewhere among the ashes.

Furthermore, from experience, whenever treasures became elusive in this manner, it usually took a minimum of several years of time and a lot of blood, sweat, and effort to uncover them, which was incredibly troubling. The Central Plains were just too vast to find anything. I desperately wished for the National Seal, but let out a deep sigh.

“Tch. What can I do?”

Given the situation, it seemed best to give up on the Phoenix Fragment for now and focus my information-gathering efforts on finding Hua Jong-taek instead. I decided to move on and attend to the next matter.

Boom

Next, I headed to Mount Ye. Once I entered the premises of Mount Ye and scanned the situation, I found that there were absolutely no visible signs of Zhuge Yulong’s subordinates or the Golden Eagle Guards, who had previously been covertly mining Divine Blood. To be precise, there were signs they had been mining until recently, but it felt like they had all pulled out.

‘It seems something big is happening in Luoyang. They don’t even have the resources to mine Divine Blood to make a Portrait Immortal….’

Well, I suppose my sweep of the Golden Eagle Guards was one of the reasons they abandoned their excavation at Mount Ye. I thought it was a good thing and began to carefully excavate rocks using my martial arts techniques as I followed the tunnel deeper.

Crumble

Soon enough, as I tunneled through, I moved leftward and found myself entering the Tomb of Wei Yongzheng. Having used the techniques from the True Martial Seven Cuts Classic repeatedly to get this far, I felt a bit fatigued.

Upon entering the Tomb of Wei Yongzheng, I saw a human sticking right to a spherical structure in the upper floor. This person, whose body seemed fused with the sphere, could only reveal their arms and legs. I murmured.

“Lü Buwei.”

“…Did you… come for me….”

Now, devoid of any sympathy, I said flatly.

“Sorry, but the true Lu Shi Chun Qiu you believed was in the ancient capital of the confined place is now completely gone. The Demon Slayer Clan has found and taken the Grimoire Lu Shi Chun Qiu, and the location has been sealed.”

“……!!”

“The last I heard is that the descendants of Li Si robbed it from the hands of the Demon Slayer Clan.”

That was the very information you had investigated and reported to me.

Lü Buwei’s eyes widened in shock as he temporarily lost all sense of pain and stared at me. He trembled his lips and asked.

“Wh…how can that be… Who… are you….”

“Someone who can grant you peace. In every sense of the word.”

Swish

I drew my sword and pointed it at Lü Buwei’s forehead, continuing.

“If you’d like, I can grant you a peaceful death right now. However, if you choose, you can live again under my command. I will grant you the chance to choose due to your previous contributions.”

“…….”

“Choose.”

Lü Buwei, recognizing it was a genuine offer, hesitated as he felt immense conflict before finally slowly opening his mouth.

“Please… kill me… I’m too scared to live anymore….”

“As you wish.”

I understood. After enduring pain for 2000 years, such a choice could be made.

Thump

‘The Soul Exchange Technique doesn’t work, so if I want to send Lü Buwei off comfortably, this is the only way.’

Simply making him forget the physical pain for a while!

I infused strong internal energy into his meridians, momentarily causing paralysis. Then, pinpointing the pressure point to make him forget the pain, I darted upward and quickly smashed the jewel maintaining his immortality curse.

Crack!!

I saw Lü Buwei’s body engulfed in lightning magic. However, perhaps because I had already dulled his pain, his expression appeared relieved.

Before he perished, Lü Buwei moved his lips to express what seemed to be gratitude.

Thud…

As Lü Buwei disintegrated, I picked up the remnants of the jewel that had maintained his immortality curse and stuffed it into my wooden armor. Normally, I wouldn’t pick up something like this, but since I had the alchemist Saint Germain, I thought I could perhaps gain something from it. After that, I collected I needed of Divine Blood and exited the Tomb of Wei Yongzheng.

Next, I headed to Ganghwa Island to obtain the Moon Sovereign. To be honest, when Izanagi no Mikoto was revived, I thought it was going to be such a hassle that I decided not to do it this life. But after failing to obtain the Phoenix Fragment from Taekyung Village, the pressure of possibly losing the Moon Sovereign became too much for me to bear.

‘I might not be able to get the Phoenix Fragment. But if I let go of the Moon Sovereign, I’m in deep trouble….’

Even though the Emperor has been sealed, the Seven Luminaries still hold tremendous value. If I liberated it and tried to utilize it, I’d face pressure from other forces, but letting others use it is even more concerning for future troubles. It would be far better for me to carry it and manage it myself.

Whoosh

As I entered Ganghwa Island, where the Moon Sovereign resides, I headed straight for the hidden Moon Sovereign altar. After a considerable wait, I finally spotted the Guardian Giant Spider emerging and decided to speak.

“Spider of the Moon Sovereign’s seal!! Are you the one who was in the seal with Xuyou?!”

[Kiiii.]

At that, the Moon Sovereign altar’s spider flinched before speaking with glee.

[I… I don’t know. Did my kin live there?]

“Is that so?”

[By the way, Great Being!! You’re amazing! Allow me to serve you!!]

“…….”

Is this spider’s way of speaking almost undifferentiated from what others say?

I had a thought just in case.

“So, would you be willing to give me your name?”

[Of course!! Hahaha.]

“Alright. I accept your name.”

[Ahhh!! Blessings of the Great Cycle!!]

Kiiing

After a moment, the spider at the Moon Sovereign altar transformed into light and began merging with my arm. Moments later, its name was inscribed on my arm, and I felt a twinge of apprehension.

‘Will my arm get too cluttered with names…?’

However, contrary to my concerns, as the number of names increased, they automatically shrank in size. Looking at the names, I found they read as follows.

[Sly and Affable Ambusher Ancient Spider]

“…….”

How can someone be sly yet affable?

In any case, this Ancient Spider seemed to have a considerably different personality than the one in the Ruins of Xuyou. Regardless, after receiving the name, I suddenly realized something.

‘The name itself is the essence, and this essence is subservient to me… In other words….’

…….

Could this really be possible?

‘If it doesn’t work… I’ll have no choice but to take out the Moon Sovereign’s Guardian by force.’

I steeled myself. I had to obtain the Moon Sovereign without fail, which meant I had to take risks. Moments later, I made a cut on my wrist, spilling my blood while simultaneously offering my wish.

“Izanagi no Mikoto!! I, Baek Woong, shall offer you my [Name] in exchange for acquiring the Moon Sovereign, so cease your awakening!! Will you accept this contract!!”

Rumble…

Rumble rumble rumble!

Then, a massive tremor resonated through the Moon Sovereign altar. However, it felt completely different from the ominous rumbling that heralded Izanagi no Mikoto’s awakening thus far; it felt like a delicate and broad pulsation, almost as if it was gauging the atmosphere. Ultimately, at the end of that slow, heartbeat-like tremor, a voice seemed to echo directly in my head.

[It would be better to release the seal… just this once….]

With that voice, I bit my lips and resolved further. Just as I tightened my grip on the sword, the voice continued.

[But… this is an interesting proposal. And… I sense [qualification] from you….]

“If that’s the case?”

[Let’s discuss this thoroughly….]

And thus, my very first negotiations with a deity began.

[What shall you name me, O Izanagi no Mikoto?]