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“`html

I was momentarily stunned, wondering if I had misheard.

“The reason is, as I mentioned earlier, because the Demon King of the Heretical Sect has gone on a rampage. If that guy operates in the Central Plains Martial World without being affected by the Law of Cause and Effect, it’s only a matter of time before the plains fall into heresy. After all, he’s supposedly a Demon King and an apostle-level being. His power surpasses that of the Great Immortal.”

“That makes sense…”

“Demon King Byeokji will definitely interfere with the Battle Ground in Luoyang. The Celestial Realm has interpreted this situation and has immediately approved the descent of the Heavenly Sovereign.”

The Heavenly Sovereign!

That referred to the process of the Celestial Realm directly sending the Heavenly Altar down through the Five Great Mountains, deploying all their forces to sweep away the malevolent forces. If someone tried to break the Altar to stop this, they could end up causing the Celestial Realm to overlay this world, resulting in an even greater catastrophe, and that was something we couldn’t prevent. Moreover, getting ‘cleansed’ by the Heavenly Sovereign wouldn’t just affect the villains; entire civilizations could be cleansed, potentially resulting in massacres on the scale of millions.

I shouted fervently, “What on earth! Why is that guy causing chaos right now!!!”

I couldn’t make sense of it at all. Why was the Demon King of the Heretical Sect, who had been sitting back while the world crumbled, suddenly acting now? Even giving Zhuge Sa a grace period for his contract and then changing his behavior seemed too strange!

Then, calmly, Mangnyang said, “So, the three of us have been discussing just that. And we’ve concluded that the Demon King’s rampage is definitely not a coincidence.”

“Not a coincidence?”

“Something must have acted on the outside. And that external force likely stems from the actions we’ve undertaken so far, leading to this cause and effect. There must be a reason he’s acting out.”

“Cause and effect…”

“Think about it carefully. What have the actions we’ve taken so far had in common with your past lives?”

……

I fell silent, lost in thought. Zhuge Sa, suppressing his pain, spoke in a strained voice, “I can’t ask him about this. If I go to Blood Echo Valley now, he’ll try to fully dominate my soul. He’ll strengthen his control and attempt to turn me into a puppet. If that happens, I’ll be your enemy.”

“Ugh.”

It seemed Zhuge Sa couldn’t keep refusing the Demon King’s summons. He was currently resisting with the heightened magic from the Nameless Ritual Book, but at this rate, he would be forcefully called.

“This is the only chance to think.”

“Damn it… even if you say that…”

I had nothing concrete to grasp onto. Every lifetime had seen different actions, making it impossible to pinpoint what was different from past lives. I was desperately racking my brain when a thought suddenly occurred to me.

“In this lifetime, I defeated the Sea God. Maybe the other [Old Rulers] are enticing Demon King Byeokji to invade the Central Plains because of that?”

“We’ve thought about that too. But that doesn’t explain how a Demon King can act directly without disregarding the Law of Cause and Effect. Amongst the [Old Rulers], there are many beings stronger than the Demon King, so if that were the case, they wouldn’t leave it to others—they’d strike the Central Plains themselves.”

“Then what is it?”

The room was engulfed in silence. Everyone was anxious without a sharp answer to explain the sudden emergence of the Demon King.

At that moment, Cheon Woo-jin spoke, “There’s another possibility we can think about.”

“What is it?”

“It concerns your investigation of the Blood Echo Temple.”

I looked at Cheon Woo-jin as he continued, “You gathered information regarding Chi You and his avatar during your investigation. That action must definitely be perceived as a threat by Chi You. Therefore, Chi You is likely maneuvering his avatar in the shadows to challenge you.”

I replied, dully, “Challenge me? Are you saying Chi You is moving the Demon King of the Heretical Sect?”

“There’s that possibility. We’ve been discussing this possibility since earlier, though information is still lacking.”

“Hmm…”

That could definitely be the case. But to think along those lines, I still knew too little about Chi You and his forces. All I knew was that he had eight avatars, which didn’t provide enough data to avoid making assumptive conclusions. As I was mulling over this, Cheon Woo-jin said, “I’ll use my techniques to assist in preventing Zhuge Sa from being summoned. And Baek Woong, you should look for ways to prevent the descent of the Heavenly Sovereign with Mangnyang.”

“That’s basically like trying to find a way to persuade the Celestial Realm.”

“As you might recall from memories of your past life, even my master could only interject but had little influence over the leadership’s decisions in the Celestial Realm. You have no choice but to act directly.”

“Hmm…”

Finding a way to persuade the Celestial Realm to stop the Heavenly Sovereign was akin to trying to convince them there was no reason to descend. Hence, there was only one way.

“It’s best to defeat Demon King Byeokji before the 49 days of the descent.”

“Indeed. Except that the probability of success is extremely low…”

Zhuge Sa, who had been listening, spoke with a pessimistic tone.

“The existence of a Demon King is not to be taken lightly. He may not be as formidable as the Sea God you faced, but he undoubtedly surpasses the Great Immortal.”

“There are such beings among humans. If we can get the Master of the White Lotus Sect or the Master of the Twelve Joules to help, we can make it work.”

“Really? That could be possible. But is there any chance their powers could grow enough to behead the Demon King within 49 days? Remember that the Master of the White Lotus Sect has only grown significantly stronger thanks to your help.”

“Hmm…”

“Moreover, the lord of the Heretical Sect has been using massive human sacrifices to boost his magical power for thousands of years, giving him fearsome techniques that humans cannot hope to win against. Unless we prepare measures to counter these techniques, no matter how outstanding the martial arts of the Master of the White Lotus Sect or the Master of the Twelve Joules, they won’t stand a chance against the Demon King.”

“Damn it. What’s being negative gonna solve? We need to give it a shot!”

I yelled in frustration, and Zhuge Sa chuckled.

“Yes, that’s the spirit. A fool like you needs to remain blindly optimistic without a plan. We just have to find a way to challenge that Sea God…”

Suddenly, an idea struck me.

“What if we use the power of reversal to eliminate Byeokji? That’d solve things in one go!”

Cheon Woo-jin scoffed, “With three brainy individuals here, you think that idea was missed?”

……

Feeling embarrassed, I scratched my head as Zhuge Sa added, “That thought is there, but… did you not listen to the second possibility?”

“The possibility that Chi You moved the Demon King?”

With my response, Mangnyang nodded.

“That’s right, Baek Woong. That’s what makes us cautious about using the power of reversal.”

“What’s the problem with that?”

“Using the power of reversal, or even just informing the ancient ruler of the Demon King’s location, would solve the problem immediately. But if we do that, we won’t know ‘why’ the Demon King moved.”

“Ah…!!”

“Right now, we lack the knowledge of why the Demon King has acted. Even if we manage to fix our current predicament, if the same danger arises in the next life, it will be meaningless. We need to understand the reason in order to counter it.”

“That’s true.”

“To find the optimal method and gain insights from past experiences, we must avoid that approach.”

That made sense. The power of reversal was a godlike power that could eliminate opponents by pleading with a deity, but if I did that, I would never learn why the Demon King began to act. Not learning anything would be a significant loss.

Continuing, Zhuge Sa added, “Also, even if we use the power of reversal to deal with the Demon King, Chi You, who orchestrated it like a puppet, would still be left standing. Either way, we’ll have to face Chi You, so what’ll you do then?”

“Ugh… that’s true…”

“Recall what the abbot of the Blood Echo Temple said. Chi You isn’t one to clash with strength; he enjoys cunning and techniques. Thus, using your trump card against him while handing him information is a poor strategy. Chi You is definitely the type to embed his roots everywhere in the human world with his avatars.”

“Hmm.”

“Even if the Demon King falls for such a ruse, Chi You will not confront you head-on. He’ll mess with you using cunning and tricks. It’s quite possible you won’t even meet any of Chi You’s avatars until you meet a sudden end.”

“……”

That was indeed an extreme assumption, but Zhuge Sa had a point. After all, the biggest opponent I would face in this life was likely to be Chi You. It would be a waste to expend the power of reversal that could be useful against him without knowing for sure.

Once I finished contemplating, I asked Zhuge Sa, “Wait a second. Then, if we leave the Demon King alone and just use the power of reversal on Chi You…”

“Why only consider one option and ignore the other?”

Zhuge Sa said, sounding disappointed. “It could be a good approach, but it’s highly likely to fail.”

“Why?”

“As you know, the power of reversal does not work on [Old Rulers]. Because to the gods, there is neither life nor death.”

“… No way.”

“If Chi You were to reach the state of immortality, where there is neither life nor death, then your power of reversal could end up being wasted. Last time, I let it slide lightly, but this time, who knows…”

It was only after hearing Zhuge Sa that I realized how much I had relied on the power of reversal and how dreadfully powerful the beings I was about to face were—beings who were mythe-level gods and demons.

“So for now, don’t act rashly to strike the enemy leader and focus on gathering information…”

Cough!

Suddenly, Zhuge Sa coughed up blood. Surprised, Mangnyang supported him as Zhuge Sa waved his hand dismissively and said, “The backlash against the contract with him is intensifying. I won’t be able to hold out much longer.”

“You…”

Zhuge Sa’s complexion had turned pale.

“But I can’t escape by dying. I’m bound to him soulfully, so the time spent being used will only increase…”

With Zhuge Sa’s ensuing words, I tensed up.

“Baek Woong, sacrifice me to the [Old Ruler] as a human offering. That would serve a dual purpose.”

“What?”

Is this guy joking?

But there was no trace of jest on his face, leaving me no choice but to listen in silence.

“Right now, I’m imbued with 40% of the power of the Nameless Ritual Book. If you kill me and offer me to the deity, you will undoubtedly receive great blessings or treasures. That would greatly aid you in future battles.”

What he said wasn’t entirely wrong.

But I lost it and shouted, “You insane fool! Just shut up before I toss you into the Land and Earth Diagram!”

If the problem was the Demon King’s summoning, I could just lock him away with Cheon Woo-jin’s treasure. Then Zhuge Sa continued as if it was nothing.

“That won’t do. Is the Fire Dragon Incarnate healed? Even with Fire Spirit’s power boosting recovery, he hasn’t come to yet because of the Sea God’s magic, has he? Plus, the power of the Fire Spirit and the National Seal must’ve been largely consumed in the fight against the Sea God, right?”

“……”

“If we fight Demon King Byeokji in this state, we can absolutely not win. If we want to secure one chance of winning, we have to resort to human sacrifice.”

“We can win without sacrificing your life. There’s still time, so cool your head and stay quiet.”

“Hey, Baek Woong. I mentioned last time that our lives are resources to be consumed.”

Zhuge Sa looked at me with an impassive expression.

“If I just whimper like this, I’ll either be dragged to the Demon King or stuck in the Land and Earth Diagram. I would be useless in my current state. So it’s better for me to die now and be of maximum help to you.”

“Why?”

I asked in frustration and incredulity.

“Zhuge Sa, why are you so desperate to die? It’s called human sacrifice, but it’s just going to mean you get your heart ripped out while alive and fed to some god; is that enjoyable? You’re really out of your mind!”

“Have you realized?”

As Zhuge Sa was chuckling, Cheon Woo-jin sighed.

“Stop it.”

Whoosh!

Cheon Woo-jin suddenly unfolded the Land and Earth Diagram, trapping Zhuge Sa inside it. After the black lightning surged up from his arm, Cheon Woo-jin frowned.

“Damn it. The power of the Nameless Ritual Book is impressive. I won’t be able to hold him for long…”

“Did you trap Zhuge Sa?”

Cheon Woo-jin spoke in an endlessly calm tone.

“From what I see, both of you seem overheated and look like fools. Cool your heads and think calmly. While 49 days is not a long time, it’s not short either.”

“That’s right.”

I suddenly realized I made the right choice in accepting Cheon Woo-jin as a companion. If I hadn’t, I would’ve been forced into a crazed decision.

“Baek Woong. We need to see the Prophet.”

Mangnyang said firmly.

“The information he possesses will help unravel this situation.”

“`

 

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