---

“What are you talking about?”

Hwan Ji-gwang beside me looked utterly baffled. “Seriously, is that even something you can say?”

[Seems like it might make sense…]

“Are you kidding me? That the legendary Zhongli Quan, one of the Eight Immortals, would disguise himself as Kwon Ri-jong? No way would the Eight Immortals pull such a childish stunt!”

[…]

As Hwan Ji-gwang exclaimed, I noticed Kwon Ri-jong making a face like he wanted to crawl into a mouse hole. With my arms crossed, I couldn’t help but smirk.

[But come on, it can’t really be Zhongli Quan, can it?]

“Well, it could be, or maybe not… umm.” [I wonder if Elder Jang Gwa-ro knows about this]

“Ugh,” Kwon Ri-jong was turning red with embarrassment, but when I mentioned Elder Jang Gwa-ro, he suddenly shouted.

“Yes!! I am the Zhongli Quan of the Eight Immortals!!”

Whoosh!!

Just like that, Kwon Ri-jong’s disguise peeled away, revealing the true spirit of Zhongli Quan, wrapped in a potent energy that radiated a solemn immortal aura, calming everything around him.

An aghast Hwan Ji-gwang looked like he might faint.

“Yikes… the real… Immortal…”

Of course. As I expected, Kwon Ri-jong was indeed Zhongli Quan, the Great Immortal I had faced dozens of times in my past lives!

“You little brat! How did you figure out I’m Zhongli Quan?” he scowled.

I replied, utterly incredulous, [You really expect me not to know when you’re using a name that’s just your name backwards?]

“…”

[And even though you hid your energy beneath that human guise, I could feel your power. Putting that all together, I figured you must be Zhongli Quan.]

“Hmm… so you can sense my power? Even after I transformed perfectly into a human…” He seemed downright bewildered.

Maybe it was due to Sets, but I kept it a secret.

[Yes, but I have one question for you.]

“What is it?”

[The Eight Immortals are the top-tier figures in the Celestial Realm, far above the White Lotus Sect. So what’s with you being under the White Lotus Master, acting like one of the Four Heavenly Kings?]

It truly was a peculiar situation. I knew from my past lives that the power of the Eight Immortals was something the average human couldn’t even fathom. Aside from Yeodong-bin, the strongest, even the other Seven Immortals could easily take down the White Lotus Master. It was absurd for one of the Great Immortals to be playing second fiddle.

Kwon Ri-jong scratched his chin and said, “Well, originally Yeodong-bin was sent to help humans on the edict of the Heavenly Mysterious Woman, but he had an important mission, so I’m here temporarily!”

[Yeodong-bin?]

“Uh… I can’t say any more than that! You need to stop right here!”

Whoosh!!

In the next moment, the Eight Trigrams Formation intensified, and I could feel time and space becoming tightly sealed. The invisible tension caused Hwan Ji-gwang to lose consciousness.

Thud.

With Hwan Ji-gwang out cold, Kwon Ri-jong formed a hand sign and said, “Right now, Master Luoyang wishes for no interruptions from above. No matter how urgent your business is, I cannot allow you entry, so if you have something to say, say it to me.”

[What’s happening above?]

“Can’t say.”

[…]

Kwon Ri-jong had that look that clearly said he wasn’t spilling the beans, but I could guess well enough.

‘Zhuge Clan…’

The Zhuge Clan had moved ahead of me to meet the White Lotus Master. And considering what he said before meeting, I could easily piece together what had gone down.

I clenched my teeth.

‘This is dangerous. I need to hurry and find the Zhuge Clan and the White Lotus Master before it escalates.’

Thinking that, I glared at Kwon Ri-jong and said, [Step aside, Kwon Ri-jong. My business is meeting the White Lotus Master anyway, so no need to block me.]

“Ha! You think I’ll just move aside because you asked nicely? You really must have a low opinion of the Eight Immortal Zhongli Quan!”

Bang!

Kwon Ri-jong seemed to take my refusal as a challenge, grinning as he quickly formed another hand sign, and I felt the space around me twisting, gradually pulling away from him.

As the distance grew, his voice echoed back, [Go ahead and try. Show me if you can break through the powers of the Celestial Realm!]

Rumble…

As space closed in around me, everything turned dark. The power of the Eight Trigrams was bearing down on me, confusing all my senses. I felt like I was floating in that darkness, and then I muttered quietly.

[Sorry, but I don’t have time to play with you, Kwon Ri-jong!]

It truly wasn’t the moment to be wasting time with Kwon Ri-jong.

Watching my companions kill each other was absolutely not an option.

Crunch.

I focused the energy I had received from Even Sinha into the arm of Oreycalcos, gripping it tightly. I didn’t know how powerful it really was, but for now, I had no choice but to rely on the potential of this Oreycalcos arm. With my fist clenched, I concentrated all my power into it and slammed it down towards the ground.

Boom!

For a brief moment, did I feel like the massive force I had absorbed through Sets was packed into my fist? As my fist hit the ground, blackness that filled the area began to scatter like fog.

Crash!

Bang!!

With an ear-splitting destruction noise, debris burst into the air. The corridor shattered like a spider web, and a large shockwave swept through the hall, sending Kwon Ri-jong flying back. He looked absolutely flabbergasted as he flew away.

“No way… did I just get hit with that much power?!”

Zoom!

Kwon Ri-jong crashed against the wall, right before he turned into a bloody smear, he seemed to teleport away. Seems like even the strong Eight Immortals aren’t done in by just shockwaves. And as I activated the magic of Sets, I glanced back at the now unconscious Hwan Ji-gwang behind me.

‘He’s holding on with Light Body Technique, but the guy is on such a lower level. Next impact will definitely kill him.’

If I truly fought Kwon Ri-jong, it was clear Hwan Ji-gwang would end up as collateral damage. Thinking this, I reached out with the arm of Oreycalcos, fully gathering the power of Sets.

Ugh.

‘Sets is like the internal power that draws the essence of Sephiroth. And since the power of Sephiroth divides into three branches, those being Infinite, Sublimation, and Enhancement…’

Then it wasn’t just about swinging this power around with brute force; I could probably manifest it according to the attributes as well.

With that thought, I suddenly recalled the triangular shape floating in my mental world as being important.

‘Right. This might be like Brahma’s Trimurti.’

Though they were different in nature, they could still be linked to the concept of three, a fundamental principle of the world. Deciding to trust my instincts, I cautiously focused my mind on the three extremes of Sephiroth as I worked with Trimurti’s principles.

Swish.

As I neared Sephiroth, I could feel Sets resonating through my entire being, drawing in the World Tree’s magical power even stronger. At that moment, I began to understand what those sorcerers who wielded Sephiroth meant by ‘approaching Sephiroth.’

Crackle.

As the triangle began to elongate by my will, I realized I was ready to transform the power of Sephiroth, and I reached out towards Hwan Ji-gwang.

As I closed the distance to infinity, I reinforced Hwan Ji-gwang’s body.

Swoosh!

As my wish came true, I saw Hwan Ji-gwang’s body suddenly disappearing. I realized he flew far away towards the horizon, successfully enveloped within a protective barrier. He would be fine.

[Alright.]

That was the first time I’d properly used the powers of Sephiroth.

‘I saw how the girl made the distance to Oje infinite, and tried applying that. This might actually have some practical applications!’

Unlike the girl, I couldn’t make the distance infinite, but I could amplify power depending on the amount of magic. Right at that moment, something unexpected happened.

Wham!

Suddenly, a multitude of amulets floated around me. And once more, Kwon Ri-jong appeared by teleportation, this time holding a massive fan-like treasure, glaring sharply at me.

“You’re not someone to take lightly! What demon king did you crawl out from?”

[I’m not a demon king.]

“With that enormous magic power, you expect me to believe you’re not a demon king? What nonsense….”

Kwon Ri-jong swung the fan grandly.

“You evil being, accept my ultimate technique that vanquished the grotesque monsters during the era of disaster!!”

Eight Immortals Technique,

Original Spirit Sealing Formation!

Whump!

[…!!]

In the blink of an eye, I felt hundreds of elongated amulets silently piercing through my body. I couldn’t even recognize what was happening, making evasion or defense impossible.

‘Did he manipulate time and space like the gods?’

No, that wasn’t it. This was something completely different.

Engrossed in thought after being pierced by the hundreds of amulets, Kwon Ri-jong formed a hand sign and declared, “What binds you is my Original Spirit! Surrender now, and I’ll pass on my technique!”

[Original Spirit?]

“Once activated, this technique cannot be stopped, not even by me. You only have this moment.”

[Ugh…!!]

With Kwon Ri-jong’s words, I began to unravel the nature of this technique.

‘These amulets that pierced me may look like talismans, but they are actually his very soul! It’s the pure power he has cultivated for over a thousand years turned into a physical form!’

Since it wasn’t worked through an artificial technique but pure original energy, that meant no kind of dispelling would affect it. Additionally, being pure spirit energy gave it traits that could pierce most magical defenses.

However, such a destructively powerful original technique couldn’t be properly controlled by its caster, meaning Kwon Ri-jong would only use this against a deathly opponent. Once it left his fingertips, it was like uncontrollable devastating magic.

This meant Kwon Ri-jong was genuinely trying to kill me with the Original Spirit Sealing Formation!

‘Truly, the Eight Immortals who weathered the chaos of the era… even though they seem careless usually, they’re seasoned veterans in battle.’

A celestial technique far beyond what any mortal sorcerer could imagine!

This was the power of the Eight Immortals, praised for their strength!

I looked at Kwon Ri-jong and said, [Stop it. I don’t want to kill you.]

His eyebrows twitched at my words.

“What? You talk as if you could easily kill me!”

I tightened my fist.

[I just want to prevent the fight between Zhuge Clan and the Master! If you block my path, I’ll have no choice but to kill you, even knowing the consequences!]

Regardless, I didn’t want to kill one of the Eight Immortals, who were on the side of humanity and had good morals, but if it came to my companions’ safety, I wouldn’t shy away from murder. The situation was too critical to take into account the troubles of the Eight Immortals.

And seeing some sincerity in my words, I sensed Kwon Ri-jong hesitating.

“So you’re convinced that the Master and Zhuge Clan will fight?”

[And you don’t believe that?]

“I’m just here to fulfill a request to keep intruders from the Master’s residence. I can’t imagine they would fight since they’re humanity’s last hope.”

[Get out of the way. I came here accompanying the Zhuge Clan. I’m just borrowing this mechanical body for some reason.]

“…”

That was the moment.

“Kwon Ri-jong, what are you hesitating about?”

A clear shout echoed from behind me, accompanied by a colossal energy charging towards me.

Thwap!

[Ugh!!]

I could see the blue spearhead piercing through my chest. The thrown spear had ambushed me from behind. Turning around, there stood a figure that made me doubt my own eyes.

The suddenly appearing figure grinned and said, “I, Cho Mu-rin of the Four Heavenly Kings, will turn that guy into junk!”

[…]

I couldn’t help but exclaim in disbelief, [What the heck…]

That had to be Cho Mu-rin from the Celestial Realm who I met at the 28th chapter!!

To think the legendary Thunder God, the first of the Thunder God Lineage, would show up here was something I had never even imagined.

 

---