903——————==

True Martial Home

After finishing my chat with Mangnyang, I returned to my companions and took out the Primordial Void. Zhuge Yulong looked at the Primordial Void and spoke.

“Baek Woong. Do you think I’ve achieved my goal now?”

“… Is that not the case?”

I shot him a bewildered look and responded.

“I’ve done everything you wanted! You said you wanted to smash the Celestial Realm, and here we are, the Celestial Realm is in shattered pieces! Not to mention, the Jade Emperor has vanished, and the seals of the ancients are broken! You’re not seriously thinking of asking what’s left, are you?!”

Somehow, I ended up doing my absolute best to get Zhuge Yulong on my side in this life. In the end, I had endured countless trials and tribulations to fulfill his wishes. I felt nervous wondering if Zhuge Yulong would change his tune, but he spoke softly.

“Thank you, Baek Woong.”

“……”

“Traveling with you all in this journey has made me realize that even the most basic steps are things I could never achieve alone.”

“Ah, well, as long as you’re thankful… Anyway, what do you want to say?”

I stumbled over my words as Zhuge Yulong suddenly expressed his gratitude. He then cast a glance at Zhuge Bu, Mangnyang, and Zhuge Sa before saying.

“The day will come when our clan is all gathered together.”

After a brief pause, he opened his mouth.

“Baek Woong. There is just one step left for my ultimate purpose. You could say it’s the final step of our original plan.”

“And what’s that? What is your purpose?”

“Reviving the God.”

“……”

I was momentarily dumbfounded at Zhuge Yulong’s words. I furrowed my brows.

“What are you saying? Are you… saying that you’ve caused all this chaos just to summon the [Old Ruler] of the Imperial Palace as the Priestess of the Demon Subduing Hall?!”

Zhuge Yulong was the one behind the Imperial Palace forces and the Priestess of the Demon Subduing Hall, someone who directly communicated with the gods. It was possible for him to summon the [Old Ruler] into the world directly, and he had done so several times before. During this assault on the Celestial Realm, he had even attempted a summon to defeat Tai Gong-mang. If that was his purpose, then Zhuge Yulong could truly be called a treacherous person.

However, Mangnyang, who was next to me, spoke softly.

“That’s a rather paltry goal, Baek Woong. It can’t be that, can it?”

“Mangnyang. Paltry, you say?”

“If that were his goal, your father would have done it long ago. If he had consistently gathered offerings and souls through human sacrifices to reach a million units, summoning the [Old Ruler] would be no challenge! For someone who holds all the power of the Great Ming Empire, that’d be a pitiful and trivial goal…”

“Ah.”

“Furthermore, your father’s ultimate goal has already been revealed. It’s ‘saving the world.’”

“But how on earth does reviving a god save the world…”

“Exactly, Baek Woong. While the [Old Ruler] of the Imperial Palace is relatively prestigious, he’s certainly not strong enough to turn the tide against the renowned Three Sovereigns. He’s at most on par with one of the Sovereigns. Thus, your expectations are misguided.”

“Hmm.”

Hearing Mangnyang’s logical explanation jolted me back to reality. True, even if the [Old Ruler] of the Imperial Palace was strong, he couldn’t be counted as a trump card to overturn the Three Sovereigns. I had seen with my own eyes countless stronger divine beings.

I questioned Zhuge Yulong with intrigue.

“Which god are you trying to resurrect anyway?”

Zhuge Yulong blinked a few times before he spoke.

“The end of the world… When I was younger, I had no other plan regarding the world’s end. I was too busy trying to grasp the truth of the world. After sending my wife and Jin Cheon-hwi away, I turned to the demon path, wandering the world to acquire all kinds of ancient knowledge. During that time, I realized there was just one legend that could save me.”

“What legend are you talking about?”

He sighed.

“Baek Woong, I want you to think from my perspective. How could a mere human, who only possesses the Eight Trigrams martial techniques, eliminate all three sovereigns and prevent the end of the world? I didn’t have infinite time or talent, so it was too late for me to become an apostle or a demon king. Ultimately, the only option left was to borrow the power of a god and determine which god to resurrect to overcome the apocalypse.”

“… That god would be stronger than the Three Sovereigns.”

“Only one such god has existed in the ten-thousand-year history of China.”

“……?”

There’s a guy like that?

Seeing my confusion, Zhuge Yulong continued.

“Who is the leader among the Three Sovereigns?”

“Well, that’d be Emperor Gong Sun Xuanwen.”

“He is also the strongest among the Three Sovereigns. None of the three could surpass the Emperor, at best they claimed equality. In reality, the Emperor had exhausted significant power creating the other sovereigns, so in the beginning, the Emperor was likely stronger than the Three Sovereigns.”

“Hmm.”

“However, there exists one divine being who defeated that powerful emperor and put all three Sovereigns in peril. The Emperor constantly lost to that being until he managed to barely recruit the Heavenly Mysterious Woman of Nine Heavens and Shenglong to secure his final victory. Only that being has the potential to defeat the Emperor.”

“……”

Upon hearing that, I finally understood who it was.

In shock, I exclaimed.

“Chi You!!”

“Yes, that’s who I’m talking about.”

“……!!”

Chi You!

He was known as the god of the Miao people and appeared in discussions of ancient times in all histories of the Central Plains. The term “Copper-Headed Iron-Forehead” originated from him, suggesting a being invincible and unmatched in legend.

Chi You mysteriously materialized to engage in the greatest war of the mythological age, the Battle of Takrok, against Emperor Gong Sun Xuanwen, and there were legends of him repeatedly defeating the Emperor. In the end, he lost to the Emperor, but he was undeniably a being that had beaten the Emperor once and was a true divine being.

But wasn’t he just a legend?

“I can’t wrap my head around this…”

Having faced the Three Sovereigns directly and witnessed their overwhelming powers, it was hard to believe that there existed an ancient god who could defeat such formidable beings. I had always known about Chi You’s myths, but somehow dismissed the possibility of such a being truly existing. My ignorance about Chi You only added to that disbelief.

Zhuge Yulong, with a calm mind, spoke clearly.

“My ultimate purpose, as well as the method to save humanity, is to resurrect the War God Chi You and reignite the Battle of Takrok.”

“What…!! That’s a divine war! It’s the conflict between the Three Sovereigns and Chi You!”

I shouted in surprise.

“If a war of gods breaks out, humanity will perish like bugs! How could that possibly be a method to save humans!”

Just look at the Celestial Realm from this recent venture. The Three Sovereigns had only clashed for a brief moment, and the Celestial Realm was already half-destroyed. If a divine war were to drag on, no mortal or living being would survive.

“When the Battle of Takrok occurs, the Three Sovereigns will have to band together to stave off the apocalypse once more, effectively granting humanity at least several thousand more years of survival.”

“……!!”

“The forces of the foreign [Old Ruler] would also have to accept that case. Chi You’s power would be a tremendous threat to them. In my opinion, this is the only solution.”

“Hmm…”

“I wanted to delay the apocalypse even if it meant starting human civilization from scratch.”

Hearing Zhuge Yulong’s true intentions, I couldn’t help but let out a low groan.

Could it be that they intended to postpone the apocalypse by resurrecting the absolute destructive god, Chi You?

I cautiously asked Zhuge Yulong.

“Is there evidence that Chi You truly exists? To be strong enough to defeat the Three Sovereigns alone, it seems unreal to believe that he exists…”

“Of course, I’ve verified it. I traveled the world collecting legends and ancient texts, especially visiting the Miao people to meticulously investigate their ruins. I gained firm conviction that Chi You existed in the past.”

“Hmm.”

Zhuge Yulong said with profound certainty in his gaze.

“He cannot not exist. Chi You surely exists.”

Hearing this, Mangnyang remained silent before speaking.

“That’s a good plan. I feel it has more realistic chances than the plans of the Master of the White Lotus Sect…”

“Really…? I thought I had no difference from him. Before we discuss practicality, we were merely humans, entirely powerless… We would’ve vanished while dreaming of our ideals, had it not been for you, Baek Woong.”

Zhuge Yulong, muttering bitterly, continued.

“However, while traveling as the Old Sage of Mount Tai and formulating a plan to revive Chi You, I realized there was a significant issue.”

“An issue?”

Zhuge Yulong slowly raised his hand, revealing three fingers. He then slowly bent one finger and spoke.

“One. Chi You isn’t sealed away; he is [dead] by the hands of Emperor Gong Sun Xuanwen. Just as Amaterasu permeates your body… As you know, gods don’t die, but when they meet [death], they undergo a very lengthy resurrection process.”

“That’s true.”

“Unlike sealing, resurrecting a god is incredibly challenging. Moreover, in proportion to the might of the god’s inherent divinity, the difficulty and duration of resurrection rise significantly.”

“……”

“Secondly. Moreover, to ensure that Chi You could still have a shot at resurrection, the gods meticulously dismantled his corpse and cast a heavy seal upon it.”

“They dismantled his corpse?”

That was a first for me. I stared at him, utterly perplexed, prompting Zhuge Yulong to explain.

“Chi You’s limbs, head, and torso were all torn apart by the hands of the Three Sovereigns. Additionally, his heart was gouged out, and his head was severed. Those fragments disappeared somewhere, but likely they’re sealed where the hands of the Three Sovereigns have touched, and until that seal is broken, Chi You is in a state where even natural resurrection as a god is impossible.”

“……”

“The Three Sovereigns feared him that much.”

“… Hold on a second.”

While my expression twisted in disbelief, disregarding my reaction, Zhuge Yulong counted his last finger.

“Three. Even so, since there’s a chance for Chi You to resurrect, the gods gathered all the bloodlines of Chi You and the giant race spreading through the world, along with the Power of the Constellation, to seal them in the Celestial Realm.”

“The seal of the Primordial Void.”

“That’s right. That seal was presided over by the Jade Emperor and executed by the Celestial Sovereigns known as the Three Pure Ones. In case Chi You might awaken through the resonance of bloodlines using the law of cause and effect, this is the final nail in the coffin.”

My lips trembled.

“… Hey…”

“What is it?”

“Does that even make sense? How on earth do you plan to resurrect Chi You, who has been blocked from resurrection to that extent?!”

I felt utterly dumbfounded. At this point, I would have thought Zhuge Yulong would have given up. In some way, it seemed that the Master of the White Lotus Sect appeared more realistic.

To think they killed a god and then set up a second and third seal on top of that!

Why did the Three Sovereigns have to go that far?

And could resurrecting such a sealed being even be possible?

As I shouted, Zhuge Yulong replied.

“… At first, I thought it would be difficult too. That’s why I spared no effort and learned the demon path, successfully becoming the Priestess of the Demon Subduing Hall, seeking those who could stand with me during the demon path journey.”

“That was your reason for pursuing the demon path.”

“The limitations of being a normal righteous being were at best on par with the Eight Immortals of China, and ancient beings heavily disliked directly intervening in this world… Hence, I aimed to borrow the powers of Chi You, the Eight Parts of the Divine, along with the might of the [Old Ruler] of the Imperial Palace. That kind of power was necessary to eventually destroy the Celestial Realm.”

“Hmm.”

That was a bittersweet tale.

“But with your help, we managed to overcome the third condition. The Jade Emperor disappeared for some reason, breaking the seal of the Primordial Void, freeing the ancients, and also shattering the Celestial Realm!”

Zhuge Yulong spoke with a somewhat emotional voice.

“I thought it would take five hundred or even five thousand years to achieve this… I can’t believe we’ve made it this far!”

“Is that so…”

I could understand the situation now.

Zhuge Yulong’s ultimate goal was humanity’s salvation, yet I had been curious as to why he became a priest of the gods and devoted himself to the demon path, committing the heinous acts of human sacrifice. It turned out it was all just a part of the intermediate steps; ultimately, he was planning to revive Chi You by breaking the seals of the Celestial Realm.

At that moment, Zhuge Sa chimed in.

“Brother. However, it seems like it may be difficult to proceed with that plan any further.”

Zhuge Yulong glanced at Zhuge Sa. He rested his chin on the table and said.

“Everything’s fine, but we have no idea when that monstrous warrior will strike. We might not have time to search for Chi You’s remains. We need to regroup immediately and prepare to face the life sea.”

“Don’t worry. Just do one thing for me.”

“……”

“With your brain, you should be able to guess what I’m about to say.”

Zhuge Sa tightened his expression and replied.

“You’re asking me to lift the seal on the [Grave of the God] located in Liaodong.”