Chapter 446
“Hmm… what’s going on here?”
Suddenly, the scene shifted.
“Huh?”
It morphed into the interior of the Imperial Palace.
“Haaahhh!!”
Crack!
BZZZZZZAP!!
Lightning struck down in hundreds of bolts, scattering the phantoms of Jin So-cheong like an illusion. Jin So-cheong landed, turning her back to the screams.
In front of her lay the massive corpse of a Tentacle Monster. The surroundings were devastated, as if a storm had ripped through, leaving a desolate area with a radius of one hundred fifty, resembling the impact of a meteor strike. Lava bubbled ominously in various places.
“Was there a fierce battle just now?”
As Jin So-cheong panted, it became clear she was seriously hurt; her body was covered in wounds, her arm was broken, and blood was flowing from the corner of her mouth. There was no denying the severity of her condition.
“Huff… huff… I took down the Bishop…”
Tears streamed down her face.
“Older brother… I’m so sorry…”
Indeed, next to the destruction lay the lifeless body of Gyeok-ho, who had fought beside her. He had died in battle against the Bishop.
CRACK!
From afar, in Luoyang, it seemed battles were still raging on, as storms and dark clouds clashed while the heat simmered. The figure of the Master of the White Lotus Sect flickered in and out. Jin So-cheong gritted her teeth, staggering painfully.
“While that Master of the White Lotus is still holding strong, I need to take down the Archbishop…”
While the Master of the White Lotus diverted attention elsewhere, Jin So-cheong appeared determined to take out the enemy’s leader, the Archbishop. Gathering her strength for a moment, she charged towards the Imperial Palace at a staggering speed, surpassing the Soul Removal Technique.
SQUEEEEAAAAL!
WHAM!
As she entered the palace, countless demon beasts and Tentacle Monsters, along with grotesque demons she had never seen before, rushed at her. However, despite her injuries, Jin So-cheong raised a spear of intent in the air and invoked the ultimate technique.
“You vile creatures!”
Thunder God Lineage.
Decisive Enlightenment.
Thunderclap!
Jin So-cheong’s thunderclap exceeded anything I had expected.
The entire space filled with thunder, and in an instant, eight clones of Jin So-cheong appeared, indistinguishable from the real her. As they disappeared, thousands of piercing strikes rained down, decimating the demon beasts in a single blow.
BOOM!
“How did she mix the Thunderclap with so many other techniques?!”
In that brief moment, I deduced Jin So-cheong’s technique. She had maximized her physical abilities using the thunderclap, seamlessly stringing in at least four to five martial arts techniques. But the changes and amplifications were so minor, they were nearly undetectable. It was clear that in the future, Jin So-cheong would reach a level of absolute power, matching or even surpassing the Master of the White Lotus Sect.
I had been mistaken.
Jin So-cheong could achieve that state independently, regardless of the Seven Great Techniques I had shared, and in my previous life, she had hidden most of her strength to become one of the Ten Great Masters of the World.
I felt a sense of defeat but also thought perhaps that made more sense. No matter how much Lee Kwang and the Azure Dragon Martial Arts School had suppressed her talents, they had reached an unprecedented level that even geniuses couldn’t comprehend.
Jin So-cheong cut through thousands of demon beasts, creating a path ahead. Suddenly, a talisman flew towards her.
WHOOSH!
Effortlessly, Jin So-cheong avoided the talisman, but upon seeing the enemies that emerged, her expression darkened.
“As expected, they’re all from the Nine Lotus Sect…”
It was disturbing. The Vermilion Bird Zhuge Yulong and Zhuge Bu had arrived, collectively appearing ghastly, with tentacles sprouting from their bodies and vacant expressions on their faces. It looked like their humanity had been stripped away, forcibly altered into something ‘other’ through tentacle grafting.
Even from all directions, members of the Golden Eagle Guard emerged, exploding into grotesque transformations.
ROOOOARRR!
As Jin So-cheong fought against these monsters, she became increasingly exhausted. Her blood loss grew severe, and her shock escalated. Still, she refused to surrender, honing her precision in battle.
“Haaahh!!”
Finally, Jin So-cheong slipped past the defenses of the Otherworldly Zhuge Yulong and decapitated him. Even though tentacles surged from the cut, at that moment, a storm of spears overwhelmed him, scattering his blood like mist. Zhuge Bu couldn’t escape the same fate, falling under Jin So-cheong’s final blow.
It was extraordinary. No matter how transformed and dominated by monsters they became, their combat ability remained unchanged!
Jin So-cheong moved on, pushing through to the Emperor’s throne room.
In the center, leaning with folded arms, stood a white-haired boy grinning at her as if amused.
“Impressive. Such combat prowess, it’s hard to imagine you’re human.”
“You! Stop the human sacrifices and leave this land!”
Jin So-cheong released a wave of killing intent and roared like a lion, but the white-haired boy showed no signs of concern. Instead, he looked at her with a condescending smile.
“So this is what the peak ability of a human’s special powers—Qi and Intent—looks like…”
I recognized him immediately; his face was familiar.
“That… That guy is the Portrait Immortal!”
Jin So-cheong seemed to sense that this Portrait Immortal would not heed her warning, gritting her teeth as she took a combat stance.
“Archbishop! I won’t forgive you!”
Is this guy really the Archbishop of the Nine Lotus Sect?
How did the future end up like this?
As I eagerly watched the confrontation, the white-haired boy spoke casually.
“Don’t get all heated, Jin So-cheong. I have a proposal for you.”
Jin So-cheong couldn’t just lunge at this white-haired boy; it was obvious he was far too strong for her.
The Archbishop grinned at her mockingly.
“My master has taken a liking to you. If you swear to dedicate body and soul to the Evil God right now and join the Nine Lotus Sect, you’ll be able to enjoy glory beyond the Wheel of Dharma, with power uncomparable to anything you have now.”
“Shut up!”
Jin So-cheong’s eyes blazed with rage.
“You monsters are nothing but filth! I will never give up!”
“Hahaha! That’s what makes it fun.”
The Archbishop laughed derisively.
“But even the Master of the Twelve Joules fell to us, so what do you think you can do with just a spear?”
“I can do everything!”
In that moment—
Jin So-cheong raised her spear, invoking ‘something’. The Archbishop seemed to counter with his own abilities.
“This is…!!”
I suddenly realized what was happening.
“So that’s how it is.”
The Archbishop’s powers had frozen time! An overwhelmingly powerful ability that no mortal should possess. Finally, I understood the mysterious phenomena I had experienced when facing the Portrait Immortal in the past.
The white-haired Archbishop had used this ability when I faced Xiang Yu in my last life. He used the time stop ability to ambush against the Sect Master! That’s why Xiang Yu and the Master had found it intriguing but felt threatened.
Strangely, Jin So-cheong’s absolute sensory perception seemed to have entered that moment of time freeze with her. Thus, even when the Archbishop attacked as time stood still, she was able to react. As the Archbishop’s blow came flying towards her, Jin So-cheong timed her counter perfectly, severing his arm almost simultaneously.
CRASH!
The Archbishop’s body exploded into countless pieces. Jin So-cheong had succeeded in executing her ultimate technique to erase him.
“Huff… huff…”
Once again, Jin So-cheong seemed unable to move, blood-soaked and struggling to breathe. Yet, fragments of the torn-apart Archbishop began to crawl back together, mocking her.
SSSSHHHH…
“……”
A glimmer of resignation passed over Jin So-cheong’s face.
As if it meant nothing, the Archbishop’s body rapidly regenerated.
In less than a moment, the Archbishop restored his original form.
Once back in human form, he laughed at Jin So-cheong.
“Hahaha! Impressive. I was actually a bit scared.”
“You…”
“As you can see, I’m an immortal who directly receives power from the Evil God through the constellation. If you wanted to take me down, you should have brought the strongest sorcerer from the human realm. You’d at least need the Seven Luminaries to make a case.”
The Archbishop chuckled.
“Hehe. Even a genius like Cheon Woo-jin cowers and hides in the Celestial Realm, so what can you do?”
Jin So-cheong ground her teeth.
“… You monster.”
“It’s an honor. Congratulations on recognizing me as your superior.”
“Why betray the master who raised you?”
At Jin So-cheong’s question, the white-haired boy—the Archbishop—laughed heartily.
“Hahaha! The power of the Evil God flows through my veins, so that being is my true father. Zhuge Yulong overlooked that fact. The reality that my comrades and I could become the Apostles of the Evil God was completely foreign to him.”
The Archbishop chuckled coldly.
“Humans are infinitely trivial compared to the Old Ruler. It was simply a punishment for the creator who did not know his place.”
“What are you going to do now…?”
He shrugged indifferently.
“Not much. I plan to dominate the world with the Nine Lotus Sect, raising and managing humans.”
“……”
“There’s no need to worry about destruction. I’ll keep enough to sacrifice. As long as you obey, you’ll live like pampered pigs, haha. But I might set a few rules, like prohibiting bipedal movement or child sacrifices.”
Of course, that was far from a good situation.
As the Archbishop’s eyes narrowed into crescent moons, he smiled.
“You humans brought this upon yourselves, so the Three Sovereigns can’t interfere with us. Isn’t that the wonderful Law of Cause and Effect? I’ll just guide the humans along the wheel of Dharma until we reach a magnificent future, so keep watching, Jin So-cheong.”
No answer came from her.
The Archbishop shrugged.
“Is she already dead?”
Outside Jin So-cheong’s line of sight, I heard a rattling sound. The Archbishop quickly spoke in a bored tone as he walked away.
“I really have to put an end to the Master of the White Lotus this time.”
Crack! Crack!
And just like that, Jin So-cheong’s body was tossed among the demons, the sound of her becoming fodder echoing in my ears.
FLASH
The view returned. I could hear the voice of Zhuge Sa beside me.
“Hey, what did you see?”
I couldn’t find the words.
After a moment, I stammered.
“I’ve come to the realization that what I’m doing is right.”
A future so despairing.
I also reawoke to the fact that martial arts alone wouldn’t suffice.
Zhuge Sa seemed to catch my meaning and chuckled.
“In the end, this guy and that guy probably became monster food, right? It’s pointless for humans to struggle.”
“……”
After some thought, I replied.
“Zhuge Yulong and Zhuge Bu said it was meaningless to use this to see the future. Yet the future I just witnessed provided new, valuable information for reality. Something’s off here.”
“It’s not strange. Because the moment you decided to change the future with that information, the future changed again.”
Zhuge Sa replied nonchalantly.
“And the information you’ve considered may be distorted due to the Law of Cause and Effect.”
“Distorted because of the Law of Cause and Effect?”
“Think about it. What you just saw was a virtual reality. The scenes you considered new information could actually be possibilities you could have inferred from previous information. Were all of those truly new insights?”
I recalled the future scene I had just viewed. After pondering, I responded.
“Not really.”
Upon deeper reflection, I recognized everything fell within the realm of information I had already acquired. The existence of the “Archbishop” was somewhat unexpected, but it was also something I could hypothesize about the Nine Lotus Sect.
“Exactly. Baek Woong’s future vision merely reconstructed a probable future based on your memories in maximum probability within the virtual realm. Clinging too tightly to it can lead to severe consequences. That’s why Zhuge Yulong and Zhuge Bu don’t depend on future visions.”
“Hmm…”
That could well be true. I organized my thoughts and spoke.
“Zhuge Sa. Starting now, I’ll use this method.”
The future was the future, but there were things to do from here on out.
Only by acting could I change that despairing future—realizing that meant the purpose of the future vision was already fulfilled!
I shared the strategy I had devised with Zhuge Sa. He listened calmly and then replied.
“Sounds good. There might be some tweaks needed, but it’s fine.”
“Is it alright?”
“I’ll help.”
Zhuge Sa grinned.
“Let’s give it a try.”
