1282——————==

Soul of the Evil God

As I released Kim Manje from the burdens of martial arts, I could sense the hidden joy radiating from Gum Cheon-jae, even if he tried to maintain a poker face. I mean, who could blame him? Not many parents would be okay with their own flesh and blood suffering just to become a martial arts master, and the unforgiving training of the Thunder God Lineage looked like pure torture from a distance.

‘Hmm… Is there something I might be neglecting?’

After postponing the war with the Tianzhu Martial World, some unease crept in. It felt like I might be overlooking something crucial. When I had my strategists around, they were always on point, mapping everything out. But now? I was in charge of the whole shebang, and things were drastically different without them.

If I missed something, it could spell disaster, or worse, upset the status quo. Just as I was deep in thought, it suddenly hit me.

‘Right… With the Imperial Palace being the hottest potato in the world of disasters, I’ve been foolishly ignoring it!’

Since ancient monsters stationed at the palace had been dealt with, it was clear that the palace’s forces were planning a shift in power. And if I didn’t understand their motives, I’d be completely lost when they started making sudden moves.

I needed intel about the Imperial Palace, even if it meant diving into chaos myself!

I mentioned these thoughts to Mangnyang, who pondered for a moment before chiming in.

“Hmm… Before we go making any divine commands, I need you to tell me a few things.”

“What is it?”

“You probably know what Zhuge Yulong has been scheming and seem to have a good grasp of our Zhuge clan’s situation as well… but if I don’t know that, I can’t provide any strategies.”

“…”

“How can I say anything if I know nothing?”

That was a fair point. Also, considering Mangnyang’s personal stake in the matter, it was only natural for him to be curious. I sighed, feeling the weight of the situation.

“I’ll share what I can…”

I revealed Zhuge Yulong’s plot without disclosing that I was a reborn person and gave insights about Zhuge Bu, the palace’s deities, the Eight Parts of the Divine, and so on. After listening intently for a while, Mangnyang rubbed his forehead in exasperation.

“I had no idea the descendants of Zhuge Mu-hu were involved in such an unjust affair.”

“Not to excuse him, but Zhuge Yulong has his reasons. He’s trying to ensure humanity’s survival by utilizing demonic power against the impending doom in 500 years.”

“……”

After a moment of strange eye contact, Mangnyang spoke.

“If your words are true, then the palace must have turned into some sort of demon lair. It wouldn’t be easy to check its inner workings with just basic abilities. Plus, you probably wouldn’t want to take the risk of exposing yourself to danger.”

“Exactly. If I mess up, it could escalate matters significantly.”

“I understand. Hmm…”

After a brief contemplation, Mangnyang seemed to come to a decision.

“Let’s pay a visit to an alchemist.”

“Huh?”

“The one you brought back from the Western Regions, Saint Germain.”

“Oh… Why him?”

“When you were away, I exchanged ideas and discussed theories with him. He is undoubtedly a grand scholar. Plus, he’s lived for an extremely long time, so his knowledge of alchemy goes beyond that of ordinary humans. It would be a waste to only have him work on demon artifacts.”

“In that case…”

“Let’s just go see him.”

With that, I made my way with Mangnyang to the outskirts of the village, where Saint Germain was conducting his research. I approached him casually.

“How’s the research on the wooden armor coming along?”

Saint Germain replied in his aged voice, as though he had just mastered the Central Plains language after several days.

“Hmm. I’m actually making quite a bit of progress.”

“Really? It means I won’t have to keep bugging you about my wooden armor?”

He was engrossed in examining a model, somewhat resembling a microscope, while providing a reply.

“I’ve copied the fundamental structure and the demon path ritual onto a phantom cloud on the first day. It’s going to take some time just to study that, so I’ll let you know if I need anything later.”

“Phantom cloud?”

“It’s an alchemist’s secret technique.”

He was initially sent from the West to study the wooden armor, but after just one day of scrutiny, he declared that he no longer needed the actual item and sent it back to me. Because of that, I had the freedom to carry the wooden armor with me, but I was curious about how he approached his research.

Saint Germain broke away from the microscope, noticing the air had shifted.

“…Do you have business today?”

At that moment, Mangnyang stepped forward.

“Saint Germain. Put the wooden armor research on hold for now and create a suitable remote reconnaissance tool.”

“Remote reconnaissance? Tools with the ability of ‘clairvoyance’ are quite common, so if you provide me with the materials, I could fashion one in no time.”

Saint Germain responded nonchalantly to Mangnyang’s request, but Mangnyang waved his hand.

“It’s not something ordinary. It needs to be capable of penetrating the opponent’s defensive barriers without being detected in return, with durability to boot—a remote reconnaissance artifact that can be created quickly.”

“……”

“With your abilities, I believe it’s likely possible.”

Saint Germain stroked his chin thoughtfully.

“So you want a superior magical item? It’s not impossible, but as I mentioned earlier, it requires substantial materials. If you can provide me with those, I could do it.”

“Superior? Not the ultimate grade?”

“Items as excellent as the wooden armor are exceedingly rare. No matter how skilled I am, creating something of that caliber would take decades of rigorous effort. However, if it’s a high-grade item, I could whip it up in a short time if the materials were sufficient.”

“Alright. What materials do you need?”

“I’ll jot it down for you.”

Saint Germain took a while to write the list of required materials on a large piece of parchment. As Mangnyang examined the list, he spoke.

“I can’t gather these materials all on my own. I’ll handle the rest, but Baek Woong, can you find me these three?”

“What do I need to fetch?”

“Scales of the Fire Dragon, Heart of the Desert Behemoth, and Drops of Crystal.”

“……?! Where on earth would I find those?”

“Well, for the rest, even though hard to find, I could order the Eight Demons to retrieve them. But those three? No clues whatsoever… Perhaps with your worldly adventures, you could manage to find them?”

“Hmm.”

I glanced at Saint Germain, but he merely stared blankly back at me. Maybe he thought someone like me should find something like that effortlessly? If it were really extremely rare, he would definitely share how to obtain it.

‘Ugh.’

Just hearing about the rarity of these materials made me feel overwhelmed! I realized that even Mangnyang was stumped by this.

‘Where do I even start with that…?’

After pondering over it for a while, I eventually sighed, returning home without any answers.

“Damn it… Asking a prophet for help seems risky… where the hell would there be a weirdo looking to sell such things?”

And then it struck me.

“Ahhh!”

I suddenly realized something and shouted.

“The Otherworldly Race’s Slave Market!!”

In my past life, I remembered how the Wind Spirit Sect teamed up with the Otherworldly Race to run that bizarre slave market, where all manner of peculiar items were sold! I figured they would have the materials demanded by Saint Germain.

‘Wait, how do I even get in? Right! Zhuge Sa told me how to attend sneaky-like.’

Since the Wind Spirit Sect lured in human guests and the Otherworldly Race conjured a void space for invitations, normal methods wouldn’t work. However, Zhuge Sa, familiar with the slave traders, knew how to sneak in and had previously shared this knowledge with me.

‘…I had no idea this would come in handy.’

I shook my head and hurried out of the village in search of a particular place. The area I arrived at was what used to be the capital of the Western Xia state, now ruins after being obliterated by the Yuan Dynasty but later rebuilt by the Han people. Despite the rebuilding, it felt like the outskirts of the Central Plains after centuries had passed.

I knew that most of the people here belonged to the Hui ethnicity, and I learned from Zhuge Sa that I had to reach out through them. So I captured a few locals nearby and offered them a hefty sum to inquire.

“I heard the Hui clan leader lives around here, and I’d like to meet him.”

“Why does an outsider wish to know?”

I quickly scribbled a few characters in a foreign script I learned from Zhuge Sa and handed it over. The Hui person looked puzzled, but the one beside him seemed to stiffen with recognition. That person stared at me suspiciously and said,

“You know it’s cheating to come here unannounced like this, right?”

“Just tell them I have a recommendation from Zhuge Sa.”

“Hmmm… Wait here; I’ll ask at the inn.”

I settled into a shabby inn as they pointed and waited for about half a moment. After a while, an elderly man dressed in traditional Western Xia garb entered the inn.

“So you’re the one looking to meet me…”

“Let’s get to the point. I want to participate in the auction market.”

“Even with a recommendation from Zhuge Sa, you have no proof.”

“Forget about Zhuge Sa from here on out. I can pay the auction fee adequately, so let’s settle it that way.”

“What auction fee?”

Swipe

I pulled a few stalks of black and white lotus, which I cultivated in the village, and offered them. The elderly man’s eyes widened in surprise as he examined the offering.

“Quite an exceptional spiritual pill… but won’t bidding more than this superior item be a bit disproportionate?”

“That’s not something for you to worry about, is it?”

“……”

The contemplative elderly man spoke.

“Wait… I have to worry… According to recent intel, there’s a monster causing chaos, disrupting our Wind Spirit Sect.”

Now that sounded like the Otherworldly Race was indeed involved.

“It’s different from what we’ve heard, but… It’s suspicious that you may very well be that monster…”

As soon as he finished speaking, every Hui person in the inn began to morph, revealing their true Otherworldly identities—mythical and alien features.

I recognized the figure resembling a clan leader.

It was unquestionably that slave trader I encountered while pretending to be Shangguan Zheng at the auction!

‘Sure enough…’

Just as Zhuge Sa said, many of the ancient races had temporarily gathered at the once capital of Western Xia. Rather than contacting the White Lotus Sect for a bidding spot, it would be quicker to come directly to them, as Zhuge Sa mentioned.

I didn’t feel stressed despite the tense situation. In fact, I briskly spoke to the clan leader.

“Not me, buddy! Got any proof that I’m the monster?”

[…….]

“Stop the nonsense and let’s negotiate. You can tell I’m not the type to engage in that kind of thing, right?”

While I spoke, I unleashed a bit of my divine power.

Kuwaaaah!

[……!!]

[Uaaah!]

The clan leader and the other Otherworldly folks were taken aback, staggering under my presence. The leader, trembling slightly, spoke.

“W-Who… What deity are you? How could someone like you be here…”

“Not your concern, right? Initially, I was going to be nice and have a civilized discussion. But I’m not against some action if I need to.”

I cracked my knuckles, and he quickly chimed in.

[W-We apologize. We were unaware of your greatness. Please forgive us.]

“Oh? So I don’t have to pay to join?”

[Um… How could we accept that? If you want, we could take you to our auction venue.]

“Isn’t the auction yet to begin?”

[Even without guests, the items have already arrived… you can take whatever you want, but please don’t harm our kind.]

“Alright, lead the way.”

Whoooosh!!

As I stepped through the dimensional gate, created through the Otherworldly Race’s magic, I thought.

‘This feels like I’m bending the rules!’

According to Zhuge Sa’s strategy, I should’ve entered a phase of negotiating further with the Hui, but I cut corners and bulldozed in with brute strength. Still, I realized power outweighed plans in this case.

Swish

Following their directions, I immediately noticed myriad goods arriving in the auction market—many items were caged or stacked around. After examining the items for a while, I asked the Otherworldly clan leader,

“Do you have the scales of the Fire Dragon, the heart of the Desert Behemoth, and drops of crystal?”

[All of them are here… Did you come specifically for them?]

“Oh? All of them? Were they easier to procure than I thought?”

[Not quite. We have a method to preserve items using magic, so if items don’t sell, we keep them for future auctions. Those items had little interest and are quite rare.]

“Ah… I see.”

It made sense. The ancient races collected unique items to auction, but the humans didn’t appreciate their value, making them unwanted by both humans and Otherworldly folk.

“I’ll pay for the items. Hurry and bring them to me.”

[Please wait just a moment…;]

Shortly after, the three items appeared before me, and I tossed a stalk of black and white lotus towards the clan leader.

“Here!”

[…….]

“Are you kidding? Wanna fight? You’re essentially selling humans.”

[No, no, please take it!]

“Awesome!”

I let out a cheer while pocketing the three items, giving the slave trader a light pat on the shoulder.

“Oh, and I’ll be coming back soon, so send news to Soeul Village before the next auction starts.”

[Understood.]

For now, I had other matters at hand, but later, I would return to round up these slave traders and rescue those captured!

Swish

After exiting the auction market and returning to reality, I handed the materials to Saint Germain. His eyes widened in disbelief.

“What?! How did you get high-grade magical materials in just a day?! I thought it would take at least a year!”

“Can we make the high-grade magical item now?”

“Just give me seven days, and I’ll have it ready.”

“Deal.”

I spent those seven days training martial arts and chatting with the villagers to pass the time. When the seventh day arrived, Saint Germain presented me with a long telescope.

“This masterpiece is the ‘Rehitoog’! I doubt I’ll make anything better in my lifetime.”

“Looks just like a telescope to me. What’s so special…?”

“Just visualize the place you want to examine in your mind and look through the lens.”

I pictured the Emperor’s throne in the Luoyang Imperial Palace, and as I gazed through the Rehitoog, I directly saw the Eight Parts of the Divine, Yacha, seated where Emperor Zhu Hu Chong usually would.

‘Huh!’

I can really see what I want through this telescope?!

‘But where did Zhu Hu Chong go? Did someone do him in?’

I was puzzled, but then a chilling presence enveloped me. The Yacha on the throne was staring right at the location of my gaze through the Rehitoog. My heart sank, but I managed to breathe easy as I overheard Yacha’s private thoughts.

[…This is strange… Is someone spying on me with magic? Am I being too anxious…?]

Yacha could sense a magical item like the Rehitoog, but it seemed locating the exact position required effort on his part.

Verifying the high-grade magical item’s level!

It surely fulfilled the condition of ‘not being easily detected.’

‘If I delve deeper, I might be in danger.’

I tore my gaze away from the Rehitoog, shutting the cover to the magical item. They told me keeping it open could raise the risk of being detected. I hurriedly warned Saint Germain.

“This is bad! He’s made five Portrait Immortals and is planning to raid a village!”

“Portrait Immortals? Are you talking about the homunculi?”

“Yes.”

“Well, now we have coordinates. Let me check it out as well.”

At Saint Germain’s request, I passed him the Rehitoog. After inspecting it, he grinned slyly.

“Hehehe… As I suspected, you wouldn’t be able to uncover this…”

He glanced away and continued speaking.

“Baek Woong, do you know how that fake, the homunculus, came to be?”

“I’m not sure about that… how did it happen?”

“The homunculus, known as Portrait Immortal here in the East, was a result of attempts to create artificial humans. The West went through so many tribulations under the ‘Old Ruler’ that human sacrifices became rampant, hoping to reduce casualties by presenting homunculi instead of real humans to the ancient deities.”

“Oh… really?”

The thought that homunculi were meant to reduce casualty rates was news to me, and I found it fascinating.

“But since I am a descendant of druids and Vivian’s apprentice, I was naturally drawn into creating homunculi. I once even created the ‘Perfecter Prototype’ but was indecisive at the last step and let that defective one loose in the wild…”

“Indecisive?”

“Humanity… whether to bestow humanity upon a homunculus or not became a conflict. I chose to give it humanity, believing it would complete the creation. However, during the infusion ceremony, I realized something.”

Saint Germain mumbled in a gloomy tone.

“As long as they are based on humans… no matter what kind of humanity you bestow upon homunculi, they ultimately descend into heinous tendencies. After all, humans are mere playthings for malevolent deities and spawn of chaos!”

“……!!”

“I had no means of overcoming that limitation back then, which led to my hesitance and the subsequent unleashing of such disasters into the world…”

I scratched my head, feeling overwhelmed.

“Umm… this sounds like significant information, but… What’s your point?”

“Hehe. I already calculated the possibility of creating such a vile being. Did you think I left the control mechanism out?”

“Huh?”

“Because of my own self-hatred and despair, I simply chose to disregard the issue… I’ll activate that control now.”

With those words, Saint Germain once again looked through the Rehitoog, muttering an incantation at the same time.

Whoooosh

Pow!!

“Gah?!”

“……?!”

In the blink of an eye, the Imperial Palace’s alchemist appeared right before me. He was completely flabbergasted when he saw us, but Saint Germain pointed a finger ominously at him.

“A failed creation. I am your creator, Saint Germain. I shall now give you your true name.”

“What… What did you just say?”

“Killing you would be too merciful. Become my stepping stone for research.”

“…Fr… Frankenstein….”

As if realizing something terrifying, the alchemist stumbled back, shrieking in horror.

“Don’t do it!!! P- please! Don’t let me become ‘that’ part…”

Ignoring his terrified scream, Saint Germain calmly continued.

“Perfecter Prototype, you are now the Heart of Frankenstein.”

Whoosh!!

In the next moment, the ‘shell’ of the alchemist began to peel away. Human skin stretched and tore away like rubber, revealing blood, veins, and muscle as an ear-splitting scream erupted from him.

“Arrgh – !!”

Whoosh!

Whoosh!

With a powerful, unseen force pulling relentlessly at the darkness in the air, the alchemist’s screams vanished, leaving no trace behind.

After the whole process, Saint Germain smiled faintly.

“…So, you won’t have to worry about the Portrait Immortals being completed for a while.”

“……”

“Feels good to have done my part.”

Seeing his expression, I understood.

‘…The [Name].’

Utilizing the [Name], I realized that I could accomplish far more than I had ever imagined.