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True Martial Home

The Law of Cause and Effect, huh?!

“What do you mean by saying the Law of Cause and Effect is a weapon?”

When I asked Zhuge Yulong, he leaned against a nearby tree stump without answering. He mumbled with a relaxed expression on his face.

“It’s been a few years… my mind has finally found some peace.”

“Explain it to me.”

“Just wait. I want a moment to rest.”

Thud.

With that, he abruptly closed his eyes and sat down to relax.

“Hey, hey.”

It was like he had completely let his guard down, as if he didn’t even worry about being ambushed. A martial artist should be able to maintain at least a minimal sense of alertness, ready to respond even while sleeping, especially those with advanced skills. But I could feel Zhuge Yulong had let that go entirely.

Really – completely defenseless. I couldn’t understand how he could be like that in front of us when we’re not even fully on his side.

“……”

Why is he acting like this all of a sudden?

I felt flustered by Zhuge Yulong’s sudden urge to take a break. As I stared at him in disbelief, Zhuge Sa motioned with his eyes to let it go, and I decided to sit down and relax too.

Chirp chirp.

Birdsong floated through the air. And as a peculiar silence wrapped around us while everyone sat and rested – I suddenly realized why Zhuge Yulong wanted to rest.

Zhuge Yulong considered the blessing of Pangu, the Law of Cause and Effect, to be an extraordinary power.

As he faced the despair of this world, which equated to a gamble so slim it was almost nonexistent, his mind, now worn out, had finally caught a glimpse of at least some minimal chance of victory – hence this urge to find a moment of mental and physical respite!

A little later, Zhuge Yulong opened his eyes as if he had finished resting and said,

“Baek Woong, before coming here from Jangryeong Valley today, what did you think we’d need to prepare to crush the Celestial Realm?”

There was a spark in his eyes that I had never seen before. I yawned and replied.

“… I hadn’t really thought about it. I just figured we’d need enough power to match an overwhelming force. I hoped that Pangu’s blessing could provide us with that kind of power.”

“Is that so?”

“What are you trying to say?”

“There’s no longer any need to separately study ways to counter techniques like the Celestial Realm’s Overlay Technique or the powerful techniques of the Great Immortal. The natural order of this world has begun to blow in our favor.”

“……?”

“Since we’ve acquired the Law of Cause and Effect, there’s no need to worry anymore…”

What kind of crazy talk is this?

If we aim to crush the Celestial Realm, naturally the forces of the Celestial Realm would mobilize to try to kill us, right? Has he gone mad? But surprisingly, Zhuge Sa, who was listening nearby, sharply nodded in agreement.

“I concur with that, brother. Now we just have to do some groundwork.”

“You guys prepare as you see fit. We’ll let you know once we’re ready to strike.”

“Alright, then let’s part ways for now.”

“Then I’ll contact you through the techniques of anger.”

Swish.

With that, Zhuge Yulong stood up and left. As I stared off in a daze at where he had vanished, Zhuge Sa also stood up and spoke.

“My lord, I will coordinate with Abe no Seimei regarding the plan to make Miho into a divine being. Bring the suspicious fishhook to Abe no Seimei.”

“Wait a second. Is this really the end? We don’t even know what Pangu’s blessing entails, and we’re really going to prepare an assault on the Celestial Realm while only having lost the Seven Luminaries?”

“Yeah. We just need to prepare.”

“I don’t get it. We have no means to counter the Overlay or the Great Immortal’s techniques at all, so how can we…!!”

As I murmured in confusion, Zhuge Sa said,

“My lord, there was a time when you received the blessing of Great Luck and everything you wanted was realized.”

“That did happen.”

That was surely in my twelfth life. Out of nowhere, with the blessing of Great Luck stacked upon me, I charged into the Imperial Palace, and afterward, an unbelievable streak of luck followed, allowing me to succeed in toppling the Imperial Palace Forces. But as soon as the blessing ended, I died. Of course, the stacking of great luck had proved useful, and I remembered utilizing it a few more times afterward.

Zhuge Sa continued.

“What we will face from now on might be of a different kind, but it will be somewhat similar to that blessing of Great Luck.”

“… What do you mean?”

“More specifically, it could be called the flow of time. A massive wind blowing through the fate of this world… if you will.”

“……?”

“The reason Zhuge Yulong seems so peaceful is that, being a master of the Eight Trigrams, the moment he received Pangu’s blessing, he would have predicted the reasoning of the post-heaven Eight Trigrams through the trigrams. When he grew confident that all the flows were aligning, it must’ve released all of his tension. Because such a thing wouldn’t happen unless it were truly Pangu’s power. This is only feasible because he obtained the positive law of cause and effect.”

“The flow of time is on our side… huh…”

Is the flow of time really that great?

I tried to wrap my head around Zhuge Sa’s words and finally asked,

“So, you’re saying that all of our companions will experience a surge of powerful fortune like that stacking of great luck?”

“You could view it like that, but it won’t be so simply applied. As you know, that stacking of great luck has its limits.”

“That’s true.”

“It will apply differently… but because it’s Pangu’s blessing, its limits probably cannot be measured. From now on, we should just enjoy it. Anyway, we’ll be able to break the Celestial Realm.”

“……”

I don’t get it.

Isn’t this a bit too optimistic?

I struggled to understand what Zhuge Sa was saying. So for the time being, I decided to take both of them back to my base at Jinrang Valley from Mount Heng. Based on Zhuge Sa’s words, I planned to wait and see what would happen next.

‘What’s the deal with this Law of Cause and Effect?’

A few days later, Abe no Seimei sent a Shikigami to urgently summon me. A Shikigami is a type of summonable being made through Yin-yang techniques, crafted from paper, which I had been carrying around for contact. I headed to Dongyoung as Seimei called me.

Swish.

When I arrived at Dongyoung, Seimei couldn’t contain her astonishment.

“Look at this!”

“……!!”

I was taken aback. Miho, who seemed to have been captured through the Tsuchimikado clan, was trapped in a sealing barrier, radiating a brilliant golden light from her entire body. That gold shimmer held divine power, indicating at a glance that Miho was evolving into a being from another dimension. Seimei continued.

“I didn’t do anything to Miho; I just kept her trapped in a barrier. But since yesterday, her spiritual power has been amplifying so much that even all the Yin-Yang Masters are starting to struggle to maintain this seal.”

“… What’s happening?”

“That’s what I want to ask. Have you perhaps received the blessing of Pangu since the last time?”

“Yeah. In fact…”

I explained the situation to Seimei. She pondered for a moment and replied.

“Ah, it seems that the Law of Cause and Effect has acted on Miho. It makes sense; this eliminates the discomfort surrounding the law of cause and effect. Still, we’ll need materials since we can’t just take on the Celestial Realm barehanded.”

“What do you mean?”

“The strategists probably didn’t explain it well out of fear you’d get overly proud, but since Miho’s situation is urgent, let me break it down. To put it simply, ever since you received Pangu’s blessing…”

Seimei pointed her index finger at me.

“This world has begun to revolve around you!”

“……?!”

What the hell does that mean?

As my mind swirled with confusion, Seimei clarified.

“The united intent of everyone gathered there was one – to conquer the Celestial Realm. And if Zhuge Yulong and Zhuge Sa were so confident about the odds, they must have easily guessed the effects of Pangu’s blessing. From the time you achieve [Celestial Realm Conquest], all laws of cause and effect in this realm will start flowing entirely in your favor.”

“Like stacking great luck?”

“It’s the same in that it’s beneficial for you, but it won’t be as extreme as just stacking great luck. Consider it the world’s fate continuously shifting to ultimately lead to your victory while keeping things as natural as possible.”

“Oh.”

At that moment, I thought of a stage play.

In a stage play, good and evil roles are predetermined – merely how one performs can differ greatly in each act. So does this imply that the flow of this world and its history would automatically adjust to assure our victory?

Swallow.

‘Incredible…’

If that’s the case, then it’s no exaggeration to say that the world revolves around us. The immense law of cause and effect flows smoothly towards guaranteeing our victory without any hiccups.

In a sense, an effect that surpasses even the stacking of great luck!

With a flicker of hope, I asked, “So that’s why Zhuge Sa and Zhuge Yulong mentioned preparation…”

“Of course, the greater the discomfort within the Law of Cause and Effect, the higher the chances of Pangu’s blessing fading away. Even if you offered the Seven Luminaries, that blessing must have its limits, right? If you can adjust the conditions for victory while keeping everything feeling natural, that blessing will be close to invincible.”

“…….!!”

“And Miho’s sudden boost in spiritual power can also be seen as an operation of cause and effect aimed at maintaining Pangu’s blessing for as long as possible.”

Seimei, looking satisfied, said,

“I was waiting for the cooperation of the Master of the Twelve Joules, but with this, that won’t be necessary. No need to offer treasures either. We can evolve Miho into a divine being just like this.”

“Wait!”

“What is it?”

“… If Miho evolves into a divine being, her current personality will be gone, right?”

“That would be the case.”

“……”

“There’s no other way. We can’t leave Miho alone to complicate things with the Queen Mother, and we can’t kill her either, so the only option is to evolve her into a divine being and use her full power.”

Even though it was my own suggestion, I felt a wave of guilt as it came to fruition. Knowing how much was at stake in this life, it felt like an unavoidable sacrifice. At the same time, I felt a heavy weight of guilt regarding Miho, who had her life trampled in this round. So I told Seimei,

“Seimei, please release the barrier for a moment. I want to give Miho some obsidian.”

“Are you out of your mind? If she goes wild due to the obsidian’s power after coming this far, what will we do?”

“With her current level of power, she should be able to handle it.”

“Hmm… Well, I suppose.”

Seimei reluctantly released the seal on Miho. As soon as she was freed, and I gave Miho the obsidian, she grimaced in pain for a moment, her eye color flickering much like Seimei before settling back to normal.

“Baek Woong, I have something I want to say.”

As soon as I freed Miho from the barrier, she looked at me with a complex expression and said,

“… Do you want me to fight the Queen Mother?”

“No. I’ll take her down myself.”

“Phew… How did it come to this?”

She pondered for a moment before saying,

“Baek Woong, if that’s the case, I shall become a divine being. But after I become a divine being, you must call my name.”

“What?”

“Then I can return to my current personality.”

“… Ah!”

I understood what Miho was implying.

The connection of ‘fate’!

But that was only possible under the extremely peculiar circumstance at the end of the trial of the Seven Luminaries, where I pulled the previous version of Miho across a grand cycle. Could that still be the case outside of the Seven Luminaries trial? As I worried, Miho smiled softly.

“I can do it. Because after all, isn’t Pangu’s blessing with us now?”

She was right. Shortly after Miho became a divine being and I called out her name, she quickly returned to her original personality. A divine being is meant to fill the completely empty [vessel of a god] shortly after being born, but somehow through the ritual of calling her name, I succeeded in restoring Miho to her former self.

With Miho, now a powerful divine being possessing incredible powers, I genuinely felt Pangu’s blessing was genuine.

‘If this is true, then anything is possible.’

Everything is unfolding just as I wish!

Would it be alright without the Seven Luminaries?!

And upon returning to Jangryeong Valley with Miho, Mangnyang awaited me and said,

“Baek Woong, congratulations on getting Miho back. This significantly raises the odds of conquering the Celestial Realm.”

“Mangnyang, how much more do we need to prepare to definitely wipe out the Celestial Realm with Pangu’s blessing?”

“I ran some calculations with my uncle and came to the conclusion that with Pangu’s blessing, we can just wing it. I believe my uncle is also thinking about wrapping up necessary preparations to join Zhuge Yulong.”

“……”

Is that really the case?

‘Great. That means once we break the Celestial Realm, we’ll go straight through the Life Sea…!!’

As I grinned with joy, Mangnyang gave me a sharp look and warned me.

“But Baek Woong, always remember. We have already made a deadly mistake. So if we don’t remain careful until the end… calamity will surely come.”

Be careful with my words?

‘Ah, you’re talking about not leaking details about my past life.’

Could just spilling that be enough to distort even Pangu’s blessing, resulting in total chaos? I had a feeling it wouldn’t be, but I took Mangnyang and Zhuge Sa seriously, so I answered gravely.

“I understand. I’ll be sure to keep my mouth shut.”