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I headed straight to Astana after hearing the secret of the Offering Ceremony from Mangnyang. The building where the Prophet dwells in Astana was still buried in the extreme cold of the Seolwon just like before. Before stepping inside, I recalled what Mangnyang had said.

“Right now, it’s not necessary to provoke Zhuge Bu. You can obtain the Nameless Ritual Book anytime, so focus on negotiating with the Nine Stars Main Capital first.”

Clearly, there was no benefit in drawing Zhuge Bu’s attention while my influence was not yet solidified. I took a deep breath and walked inside.

Creak!

As the door opened, the figure of the Prophet appeared on the altar of the Great Temple. The Prophet stared at me, his gaze lingering as he spoke.

“A human who can freely use Alhazard’s lamp… quite a unique presence.”

“Prophet, I have come to make a trade with you.”

“A trade…? What do you wish to trade?”

“The Grimoire and knowledge!”

I said briefly and then pulled out the Nine Stars Main Capital from my shoulder armor. The Prophet’s curiosity piqued as he stated.

“There seems to be value in this trade… What knowledge do you seek from me?”

“I wish to confirm the truth and obtain the Sorcery Techniques of the Otherworldly Race.”

“Two requests… I need to weigh their importance.”

“Will you accept?”

“Of course…”

As the Prophet accepted the trade, I questioned without hesitation.

“As you know, this is the Water Element Divine Sword, one of the Seven Luminaries. You are aware of this, right?”

“Of course… you didn’t come just to ask about that, did you?”

“No, I came to correct your misunderstanding.”

“What do you mean…?”

Thinking of how I had died absurdly in my sixteenth life, I ground my teeth. But I forced my anger down and continued.

“You must know that to grow the liberated Water Element Divine Sword, one must kill living beings. And even if that growth is achieved, it doesn’t mean [Old Ruler] Itaka will descend, right?”

“Correct… so what’s wrong with that?”

I said firmly.

“You’re mistaken. The second liberated Water Element Divine Sword will lead to the soul of Itaka descending, consuming the descender’s spirit and going on a rampage.”

“You must be crazy… The contract of the Three Sovereigns with [Old Ruler] isn’t like that… The Avatar is present; there’s no way to break the contract, what nonsense are you spouting?”

The Prophet’s anger was a rare sight. He seemed utterly convinced that his knowledge was infallible. I thought that maybe he wasn’t deliberately trying to deceive me.

I looked him straight in the eyes and said, “How about a wager? If I’m right, you must grant me one additional request.”

“Alright… let’s wager… If you’re wrong, your soul and body will be mine… will you accept?”

“Sure!”

I swallowed hard. With a powerful sorcerer like the Prophet mentioning a soul wager, failure in this gamble felt like a death sentence. I tried to relax my tension and pulled out an obsidian from my pocket.

“Obsidian…? Do you mean to say you can use the technique of memory storage?”

“Of course.”

The Prophet muttered in disbelief.

“Strange… that’s a technique only a handful of sages or sorcerers in our race can use… how do you know of it?”

“You don’t need to be curious about that. What matters is that I can use the obsidian technique.”

“Fine… what memory are you planning to show me?”

“My past life!”

Swish!

I presented the obsidian containing the memories of my sixteenth life to the Prophet. He hesitated for a moment before extending his tentacles to accept the obsidian. As the Prophet fully took it, I activated the obsidian’s technique.

Whooooosh!!

After a brief moment, the Prophet’s body shook violently before stopping. His tentacles drooped, looking almost lifeless. A peculiar silence filled the Great Temple before the Prophet began to stir again, rolling his eyes as he said.

“I can’t believe this… I can’t trust it… you must have manipulated something…”

“You must know this technique is a secret of your race, and cannot be manipulated in any way.”

“It’s entirely possible to show only the necessary parts by the will of the caster…”

I smirked at the Prophet’s objection.

“Oh really? Then tell me exactly where I edited or distorted it?”

“……”

The Prophet seemed to struggle to regain his memory. About a quarter of an hour passed, and he eventually sighed in defeat.

“I… lost.”

I grinned widely.

“Haha! I won the wager!”

“What do you want?”

“Before that, I genuinely want to know… where exactly did things go wrong? I believed your words wholeheartedly, and ended up hurt.”

The Prophet fell silent for a while before speaking.

“You’re oddly a time-crossing reincarnation being… very peculiar and rare, but not entirely without precedent in the universe… so assuming you have another life…”

“Go on.”

The Prophet calmly stated, “The information I got about the Three Sovereigns’ Seven Luminaries came from the Primordial Void Ruler of the Celestial Realm.”

“Primordial Void Ruler?”

That familiar name popped up.

“Yes… I had been on the ground since before the Celestial Realm came into being… ages ago… and as time passed… after the establishment of the Celestial Realm, I tried to speak with their highest leader. It was necessary to know about the Seven Luminaries.”

I pondered briefly, then interrupted the Prophet.

“The Primordial Void Ruler is a high being, but not the supreme leader. Are you sure you’re not making a mistaken assumption?”

“That’s true… the ruler of the Celestial Realm is the Primordial Heaven Master, and that’s their advisor, Taishang Laojun… the Primordial Void Ruler is situated about two ranks below that… just a lesser incarnation of the Spirit Treasure Heaven Master… falls short of representing the Celestial Realm.”

“But why did you speak with the Primordial Void Ruler?”

The Prophet replied bluntly.

“No higher beings were visible. Even when I used Summoning Techniques, there was no response.”

“What?”

“I was left with no choice but to hear about the contract between the Three Sovereigns and [Old Ruler] through the Primordial Void Ruler… the method and awakening of the liberated Water Element Divine Sword that I shared with you… was information I acquired at that time. How could I doubt it?”

“……”

The Prophet’s words suggested one crushing fact.

‘What? Did the Primordial Void Ruler lie to the Prophet about the Seven Luminaries?’

Despite the Primordial Void Ruler being somewhat beneath the Three Pure Ones, they were still a high divine being overseeing fortune! It’s hard to believe such a being would lie to an Otherworldly Race! I pressed the Prophet further.

“Aren’t you an Otherworldly Race, a potential adversary to the Celestial Realm? So surely it’s possible the Primordial Void Ruler lied to you?”

This made the Prophet a bit annoyed.

“Hmph… you clearly don’t understand our relationship with the Celestial Realm… we are absolutely bound to coexist.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“You assume all Otherworldly Races serving the [Old Ruler] are merely those following him… but that’s not the case. The [Old Ruler] is an incredibly arrogant, cruel divine being; thus, many races find ways to exist while appeasing him… we are one of those.”

“Hmm!”

“Human flesh isn’t that tasty either.”

As the Prophet spoke, his tentacle’s eye rolled around.

“Do you really think the Celestial Realm maintained the earthly world solely through the power of immortals…? That could never be the case… we, the more moderate factions, have been controlling the extremists… sometimes closing the gates of Dark Heaven Village… helping humans has led to the present world formation.”

“……!!”

“It’s like the lips being gone means the teeth are cold. The Primordial Void Ruler could never lie to the leader of our race.”

I recognized that the Prophet had been quite rudely deceived as well. Since the Celestial Realm and moderate factions of the Otherworldly Race worked together to maintain peace on earth, I hadn’t guessed that a being like the Primordial Void Ruler could lie.

I asked the Prophet.

“So why did the Primordial Void Ruler lie?”

“I don’t know… there must be some godly secret hidden within that. From today onwards, I will begin searching for it.”

“Hmm. Best of luck with that.”

At the same time, I glared at him and added.

“But before that, I would like you to be sure in your calculations.”

[…Speak, what spell do you wish?]

“Firstly, I want a spell that can seriously harm the Apostle of the [Old Ruler]. That will be the price for giving you the Grimoire.”

Right now, this was my number one request. Given the overwhelming power of Daji, the Demon King and Apostle of the [Old Ruler], I had been searching for ways to counter Daji ever since barely surviving thanks to Xiang Yu’s blessing back then. Upon hearing my words, the Prophet slowly responded.

“You must have encountered the Apostle before, haven’t you? Share with me your experience from that encounter.”

I elaborated on my encounter with Demon King Daji. The Prophet nodded and said.

“If you’re going to face Daji… you’ll first need to eradicate the Absolute Teachings that protect his body… and seal away that enormous magical power. Only then will he drop to a level humans can manage in battle.”

“Do you have a good spell for that?”

The Prophet thought for a moment before replying.

“Then I will teach you a chant to borrow the power of an Evil God…”

“Does that actually work?”

“No idea… it should, I guess.”

“……”

I shot him a disbelieving look at his vague answer, and he defended himself.

“The magical power of the [Old Ruler] can only be canceled out by that of [Old Ruler]. There’s no spell that allows you to easily face an Apostle of God.”

“Got it.”

I immediately acquired the chant to summon the Evil God’s power from the Prophet. I then found myself capable of using the secret chant that borrows the Evil God’s power. It seemed that even without the ability to chant, humans could still utilize it.

Yet, knowing that my payment wasn’t complete, I voiced again.

“I need my wager’s price now. You must grant me one additional request, whatever I state.”

“Ugh… what is it?”

“Among all the techniques you know, present me with the rarest and most powerful spell!”

“……”

The Prophet shrank significantly. The way his tentacles twisted haphazardly seemed to express his despair and regret. It was the first time I had seen an Otherworldly being display such emotional turmoil, and it was fascinating. After a while, the Prophet said.

“How about Immortality?”

“There’s various types of immortality. And since I can reincarnate, I don’t need that ability all that much.”

“Damn it… how about Telekinesis?”

“I can do something similar with intent, so why would I need that?”

“……”

I felt like I was learning how to really tease the Prophet. So I looked at him amusingly and slyly said.

“Think carefully. Something only your race can do… or a technique even gods covet. After all, since you promised with a command, you have to fulfill this wager’s price.”

“Hmmm… Fine. Then take this.”

Swish!

Crackle!

Moments later, the Prophet extended his tentacle and touched my forearm. With a painful sting, an indistinguishable curse was stamped onto my forearm.

“What is this?”

“I’ve inscribed the right to use the Tower of Muwang into your soul. This is how I paid for our wager.”

“What do you mean, what’s the Tower of Muwang?”

The Prophet seemed rushed as he spoke quickly without elaborating.

“If you can access the Tower of Muwang in the Southern Barbarian lands, you will be able to traverse freely to other continents. Additionally, you will be able to use the weapons exclusive to our race equipped there, and you can also unseal the giant race’s powers. You could easily get rid of the monster you call Bi Gang-jang. This is a right granted to only a few in our clan.”

“……?”

Seeing my bemusement, the Prophet snapped, “Now, scram. Just so you know, I’ve embedded information in that curse, so if you try to wager again in your next life, it won’t work. You deceiver…”

Pah!

A moment later, I was forcibly flung back and found myself back in Jinrang Valley. It seemed I had been involuntarily transferred just like the last time the Prophet chased Zhuge Bu away. The Prophet, having lived for thousands of years as an Otherworldly Race, seemed capable of doing immense magic.

“You could at least explain what the Tower of Muwang is.” I grumbled but was already getting a rough idea in my mind.

It was the relic guarded by the Otherworldly beings I encountered when Dongbang Mu-gyeol, the Heavenly Doctor, went to Southern Barbarian lands at the request of the Master of the White Lotus Sect! It was the Tower of Muwang made of basalt!

‘I definitely gained something significant, but I can’t tell if it’s good or bad.’ I felt a bit regretful yet tried to calm my mind, using the technique to head to Dongyoung again.

‘It hasn’t even been a day since the ceremony. Miho must still be here.’

The place I arrived in with the technique was the Heavenly Emperor’s Palace in Dongyoung. As I scanned the surroundings for auras, just like before, the Front Demon and Back Demon emerged to guard against intruders. Knowing these were Miho’s Spirit Puppets, I grinned and said.

“Miho! You must have received the command to return from the Celestial Realm.”

Whoooosh!

A moment later, Miho appeared before me, having dealt with the Spirit Puppets. Miho wore an expression of wariness I had never seen before. Transforming into the breathtakingly beautiful figure with her ample curves, Miho spoke with a thorny tone.

“Who are you?”

“Surely, the Queen Mother of the West must have forgiven you. Why still hesitate to return to the Celestial Realm?”

I asked lightly, but Miho’s expression hardened.

“Are you the human the Queen Mother was speaking of?”

“I don’t know what the Queen Mother said, but it’s true that the ban on you has been lifted.”

“……”

After a moment, Miho caught me off guard with her follow-up.

“Get lost at once.”

“What?!

Miho’s former friendly demeanor had vanished, replaced by the intense glare of a fox confronting an invader.

“The Queen Mother ordered me to retrieve the Moon Sovereign from the Celestial Realm. I have no time to play around with a human like you!”

 

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