831——————==

True Martial Home

I said to Dr. Faust,

“Dr. Faust, believe it or not, but I come from the past.”

[It seems that way.]

“Here’s the detailed info with this obsidian…”

I pulled out the obsidian from my pocket and handed it to Dr. Faust. He took the obsidian and said,

[Looks like you’re planning to transmit memories with obsidian.]

“How did you know that?”

[I know it’s a power often used by the Great Race. They used obsidian to transmit knowledge to humans just before the ‘revelation’ on Earth. However, they have never taught that technique to humanity…]

Dr. Faust muttered bitterly and then added politely,

[Are you perhaps a Great Race in human disguise? If so, behave accordingly.]

“…No, it’s just…”

I got stuck. Could it be that the memory transmission technique I acquired has that much value? Even though the Prophet Race used it to help humans, they had never passed it onto humanity itself.

Boom!

I transmitted my memories to Dr. Faust. A moment later, he absorbed all the memories and said,

[It seems you’ve come from 500 years ago in our world.]

“I think so too.”

[…Hmm, incredible… a Reborn Person.]

Dr. Faust sighed and said,

[If you truly are what they call a Reborn Person, then you represent a being unimaginable and incomprehensible to our human knowledge and experience. I now understand why Ha Eun-cheon had no choice but to make such a drastic decision…]

“Dr. Faust, may I ask you a few questions?”

[Of course. Ask as you like.]

His tone and atmosphere changed. For him, being a ‘Reborn Person’ seems to carry great significance.

“Has humanity… really perished? You’ve turned into an information being, but I see you can reconstruct a human body if desired.”

Dr. Faust can physically interact with me. He has handed me mechanical devices and properly received the obsidian. His body likely doesn’t exist separately but synthesizes organic matter from this nearby forest to create a temporary body.

So, it makes sense he could also clone and resurrect a human body, right? And if he still possesses this form while maintaining consciousness, humanity can’t really be said to have ‘perished,’ can it?

As if reading my thoughts, Dr. Faust smirked.

[As you may already know, Earth has long been taken to the Absolute God’s throne and has been destroyed. Attempts to terraform other planets in different solar systems have all failed. Even I will cease to exist if Mephistopheles’s computational power is cut off. Furthermore, Mephistopheles currently deems regenerating humanity pointless.]

“Mephistopheles? What’s that?”

[Strong AI and the last legacy left by humanity… my greatest masterpiece.]

“What do you mean by strong AI?”

[…Being from medieval times, I’d expect it’s impossible for you to comprehend this notion, but with knowledge of martial arts and science, you might get the gist with a few examples.]

After thinking for a moment, Dr. Faust continued,

[Think of AI as trying to put feet onto a car after removing its wheels. It’s a machine that artificially implements some, or all, of human intellectual capabilities. As science progressed, it required higher computational and creative capabilities, which the human brain couldn’t support, leading to its invention.]

“You’re saying it’s a scientific tool that thinks and computes instead of humans?”

[Originally, yes. However, as AI developed, the potential for it to vastly surpass human intelligence and ultimately lead to humanity’s destruction made it no longer merely a tool.]

I was shocked by that statement.

“Are you saying machines could surpass humans to cause their destruction?”

[That’s correct. Nonetheless, I still developed Mephistopheles and completed it over several hundred years. For me, it was a more profound desire than the Philosopher’s Stone. It’s likely by your time, a prototype of Mephistopheles with a processing capacity of 5 yottabytes had already been produced.]

There were so many unfamiliar terms that I couldn’t fully grasp it, but it seemed like Mephistopheles was truly something spectacular.

“Why would you create something so dangerous?”

[If I hadn’t, I wouldn’t even be able to talk to you like this…]

Dr. Faust waved his hand and pointed at the surrounding scenery.

[Look at this forest. This is not Earth. After Earth perished, Mephistopheles created a core in space with its supercomputational abilities, attempting artificial terraforming, and planted the World Tree based on that core, bringing prosperity to the solar system. Using the forbidden fruit of good and evil as well as the Reincarnation Cannon, Ha Eun-cheon transcended the multiverse… and you arrived here in less than ten seconds.]

“……”

[Without Mephistopheles’s capabilities, that last chance would never have been seized.]

I realized this was more than I could handle. Although I pretended to understand, I couldn’t grasp what he truly wanted to say due to a lack of knowledge. Feeling a headache coming on, I told Dr. Faust,

“I’m sorry, but what you’re saying is too complex and filled with high-level knowledge that I can’t understand.”

[That makes sense. I’ll transmit our foundational knowledge to you using nanomachines via synapse optogenetics. Mephisto.]

Wiiing!

As Dr. Faust called Mephisto, a strange sound echoed from the air, and suddenly, I felt a jolt of electricity coursing through my body. I panicked, thinking it was an attack, but the current sensation kept vibrating through me regardless of my Qi focus. Moments later, my Eight Extraordinary Vessels and blood seemed to boil, and my mind felt like it was expanding enormously.

Whaaaah!!

“……!!”

In that instant, I felt vast knowledge flooding into my mind as if it were being absorbed. It wasn’t tangible knowledge, but I distinctly felt it settling in like cramming clothes into a cramped space. Astonished, I exclaimed to Dr. Faust,

“Could it be the memory transmission ability?”

[It just induced vibrations in the brain synapses using light genetics to create a similar learning effect through patterns. Compared to the transmission ability of the obsidian you possess, this is incredibly rudimentary memory transmission. It’s quite volatile and not a very good learning method. Compared to the Great Race’s technology, it’s akin to an infant’s level… However, understanding the situation shouldn’t be too challenging.]

Dr. Faust continued explaining nonchalantly.

[Getting back to the main point, the reason you crossed the multiverse is probably due to the Heavenly Secret, but honestly, Mephisto and I can’t pinpoint the exact cause. Thus, the chance of telling you how to return leans towards zero.]

“……”

[Stay calm. First, try to summarize your current situation.]

“Got it.”

After thinking for a moment, I said,

“Is there no way to cross the multiverse again?”

Returning to my original state is the top priority. However, the answer was disappointing.

[No. The fruit of the World Tree blooms only once, and that was used up when sending Ha Eun-cheon. Unless a new World Tree sprouts, it cannot be obtained. Furthermore, the Reincarnation Cannon was taken by him, so there’s no way left to artificially generate the Primordial Void.]

“Isn’t Mephistopheles supposed to know how to recreate the Reincarnation Cannon?”

[Of course, the schematics are inputted. But that form is merely a launchpad, and the Reincarnation Cannon could operate due to a certain amount of Primordial Void already extracted and stored.]

“What do you mean by that?”

[During the making of the Reincarnation Cannon, all Master Class individuals sacrificed their lives to extract the Primordial Void, and since 10 billion humans have perished, there are no Master Class martial artists left to create the Primordial Void.]

“A Master Class means…”

[To put it in your terms, it means experts of the Absolute Realm.]

“……”

[Including Ha Eun-cheon, there were only three. Two of them sacrificed their lives to create the resonance reaction of the Primordial Void, which barely allowed one Reincarnation Cannon to be produced.]

In that moment, old memories resurfaced.

[Baek Woong. I have a plan. Quickly resurrect the Sword Demon.]

[And summon Yong Junil, Extreme Tiger, and Sagong Lin.]

[Now that the people are gathered, what’s the next step? Jin So-cheong.]

[The three martial artists will resonate with the Seven Luminaries.]

[Just changing the target for amplification.]

It was during the 24th lifetime, when attempting the trial of the Moon Sovereign during the Seven Luminaries Trial. We couldn’t find a way to defeat Moon Sovereign, who had attained an undying state, as he gained the inherent properties of the World Tree. However, Jin So-cheong requested the three martial artists to resurrect with the king’s power and used that combined with the Seven Luminaries resonance to enhance the Primordial Void.

And at the moment when the martial artists reached the domain of ‘something’ and sublimated, Moon Sovereign vanished. What Jin So-cheong and the martial artists had attempted back then was precisely the amplification of the Primordial Void—I could understand Dr. Faust’s words.

‘Future people also knew that experts of the Absolute Realm could amplify the Primordial Void.’

An idea suddenly struck me, and I asked Dr. Faust,

“Did you perhaps use the power of the Seven Luminaries to amplify the Primordial Void?”

[Yes. It’s similar to what your companions did. Without the help of the Seven Luminaries, it wouldn’t have been possible.]

“How many Seven Luminaries did future people gather against the ‘revelation’ and ‘end’?”

[Humanity collected a total of three Seven Luminaries: Moon, Wood, and Gold.]

I suppose I understand why they could gather Moon and Wood. They were originally scattered across the earth, so relatively easy to collect. Gold had various circumstances, but it didn’t end up in another world, so it could have been gathered as well. Earth Fire was in Dark Heaven Village, thus unattainable with humanity’s science, and Sun needed every trial of the Seven Luminaries to be passed to obtain it.

“Why couldn’t they get Fire and Water?”

[Because we never managed to uncover their locations fully. You somehow managed to acquire Fire and Water, but there was simply no way… Of course, even if we had known, there were barriers around Fire, which would have made obtaining it impossible…]

Dr. Faust lamented.

[Also, the White Lotus Sect kept getting in our way.]

“The White Lotus Sect?”

[They tried to steal the Seven Luminaries that the Human Alliance had obtained at the very end and used it as an offering to gain the Law of Non-Birth Mother. Though the Human Alliance annihilated them after they became an underground organization, the price was steep…]

“Could it be that Master of the White Lotus Sect Dokgo Uncheon was still alive then?”

When I asked, Dr. Faust shook his head.

[The figures you saw in your memories, such as the Master of the White Lotus Sect and the Dharma Guardian, never existed in our or Mephisto’s database until just now. They may exist in historical records from the Ming Dynasty, but even then they were not significant figures at all. Naturally, we wouldn’t see them in the future.]

“……”

It’s a bit bitter to think they fought amongst themselves even as the end approached.

I needed to establish the crucial facts, so I asked Faust,

“The Master of the Twelve Joules operated the Seven Luminaries in an extraordinary way, tapping into immense power. How exactly did he do that? And how can the Phoenix be used? What about the Heavenly Unrestrained Technique?”

[Let me explain each one. That would be Mephisto’s…]

But just then.

Crackling!!

[Oh ^%^^….]

Dr. Faust’s figure suddenly started to be sucked away and compressed into a dot, disappearing entirely. It happened so suddenly that I had no way to react. As I hesitated, keeping my guard up, a massive explosion resonated shortly after.

Boom, boom!

The ground trembled, and the forest began to crumble. The sky and earth were flipping in a transformation, and I hurriedly fled the scene, avoiding the impending waves rising from the ground. But even climbing onto a tree didn’t help as I was unable to escape that wave, so I had no choice but to run up the shifting earth and leap into the air.

Swish!

As I drifted about a hundred meters off the ground, I suddenly felt a drastic reduction in gravity surrounding me, along with a growing darkness. Simultaneously, I witnessed the astounding spectacle of gargantuan tree branches filling the void of space.

Boom!

‘Oh, a meteor!’

It seemed that a meteor cutting through space had crashed here. Was it still exploding? The sky and earth were dyeing crimson as it burst. Mephistopheles was probably summoning Dr. Faust’s consciousness to respond to the current situation.

I decided to rush further outside. As I jumped onto a branch and moved, I caught a glimpse of something shimmering in the distant void.

‘What is that?’

Even from a great distance, I could clearly see the form, and when I realized it was the tentacle of a strange form radiating an unprecedented ominous energy, my expression turned grim. Surrounding that colossal tentacle were countless alien-like tendrils floating about.

Grrrroooowww

That is the [Old Ruler].

I couldn’t name it, but there was no one else that fit that description other than the [Old Ruler].

‘Could it be… is this situation…’

Did the [Old Ruler] come to attack humanity’s seed, waiting for this moment?

No, that’s not it.

The target is the World Tree.

‘If they’ve successfully grown the World Tree by maintaining a core in the solar system’s space, it must be enticing for the [Old Ruler]. The World Tree is like the Egg of Chaos, hence they’ll want to devour it.’

That means it’s understandable why Mephistopheles deemed regenerating humanity pointless. With Earth in ruins and the [Old Ruler] eyeing this stronghold for annihilation, what good would it do to reconstruct human bodies? We’ve already reached an inevitable state of destruction.

I pondered how I could survive in this situation, but no matter how hard I thought, I found no answer. There was no way I could confront the [Old Ruler] alone, and the Seven Luminaries I possessed had been split.

But I couldn’t resort to suicide either, as the outcome is unknown when crossing the multiverse like this. What if rebirth was impossible? Or… what if I keep reincarnating from the moment I just met Dr. Faust?

No matter how much effort I put in, it’s impossible to gain the strength to defeat the [Old Ruler] from this bare ground. It would just be a pointless repetition of millions of deaths.

Yet, is there truly no way to survive in this situation? With Earth in ruins and the [Old Ruler] ready to invade the terraforming site?

There’s nowhere to run.

I can’t win a fight.

It’s a complete dilemma!

‘Damn it… can’t I escape death?’

Suddenly, I thought of a shift in mindset.

‘Right! Since it’s come to this…’

Jeon Wook’s power!

As an Apostle, let’s manipulate the [Small Cycle] to turn back time!

By that, I could return to the past just before my conversation with Dr. Faust, gather more information, and perhaps even discover a way to survive! I could at least find some way to avoid death while trying to achieve maximum results.

Even if it’s not far removed from mere death, at least I should make some effort in avoiding it.

As I concentrated to use Jeon Wook’s power and stretched my hand forward, it suddenly happened.

“……?”

Nothing clicked.

It didn’t feel like Jeon Wook was refusing my signal. I sensed absolutely nothing from the target I was trying to request, and it seemed I could not use the Apostle’s power at all.

“What’s going on?”

Even when Jeon Wook got angry and rushed over, the power had never failed to activate. I swung my hand in panic, but still, it didn’t work.

It hit me suddenly.

Jeon Wook of the Three Sovereigns doesn’t exist in this era.