908——————==

True Martial Home

We’ve returned to our base. And Zhuge Yulong said,

“The Eight Immortals of China have reported they’re heading to support the Celestial Sage. For now, it looks like we can stabilize the situation.”

“Stabilize? What kind of situation are we dealing with?”

“It seems the Celestial Sage is holding up somehow. It looks like Zhongli Quan and Han Sang-ja have just started to back him up. I can finally breathe easy.”

“…”

I raised an eyebrow in suspicion. Zhuge Yulong must’ve guessed something from my expression.

“You’re wondering why he’s holding up when the Nine Lotus Bishop, the absolute powerhouse beyond the Apostle, should be crushing the Celestial Sage, right?”

“Oh, no, it’s not that way specifically.”

“It’s the difference between ‘talent’ and ‘medium.’”

“What?”

“Considering the circumstances, the current Nine Lotus Bishop is strong, but not so much that he can’t handle it.”

There was half a certainty in Zhuge Yulong’s words.

“Does he know something?”

But it seemed the other strategists of the Zhuge Clan weren’t particularly surprised by Zhuge Yulong’s ‘certainty.’ Zhuge Sa stepped forward and added,

“Brother, I see you have a plan to deal with the Ancients. Is it going to take a long time?”

“I’m not sure. It depends on how many of the Ancients have strong talents.”

“So you want to buy time.”

After nodding, Zhuge Sa continued,

“Then I’ll use my trump card first. Leave the time-buying to me.”

“Zhuge Sa! A trump card?”

Zhuge Sa glanced at me and said,

“Do you know what our biggest headache is when dealing with the Evil God’s forces?”

“Umm… I’m not sure.”

“It’s the sheer numbers. They’ve already taken the southern Central Plains and are summoning all sorts of demon beasts and otherworldly sorcerers through human sacrifices. We have the power to handle their elite troops and leaders, but we’re too outnumbered to fend off their offensive.”

“Are you saying you’ll pull some tricks to deal with the numbers?”

“Yeah. But if I use this trick… I won’t be able to follow you anymore.”

“Huh?”

“……”

Zhuge Sa didn’t say anything else. I read resignation in his eyes and realized it meant he had accepted death! His strategy this time would cost him his life! I was stunned, but then Zhuge Sa grinned and said,

“Heh, I can’t help but say it. Is this sad? Aren’t you getting sick of it?”

“What?”

“Every time a comrade stakes their life, you’re shocked and troubled… How long do you think you can endure that, Baek Woong? Hundreds? Thousands? Isn’t it about time you felt that everyone but you is like a doll? Your own existence is the closest thing to the Devil’s Path in this world. In that sense, there’s no one more kingly than you.”

“……”

“It’s impossible to assign meaning to every sacrifice. In the end, death is lighter than a cruel joke.”

I murmured with a trembling voice,

“Don’t say stuff like that.”

“If not me, who else is going to tell you this? Who else in this world recognizes how worthless life is besides me?”

“Ugh, I know! I know, but still…”

“You’re pretending to be angry and distressed for the sake of your trivial humanity, right? That’s obvious now.”

Zhuge Sa sneered at me.

“That’s enough of that. It’s getting annoying. Do you realize that even seeing you is draining? This isn’t some theater production.”

“……”

“Don’t force out emotions. It’s unpleasant to see.”

Theater.

I felt a strange sting in my heart at those words. It was true that I felt sorrow and pain constantly, but Zhuge Sa’s words hit a nerve. I knew I was forcing myself to feel emotions, to drive myself into despair over my comrades’ deaths. When I fell silent, Zhuge Sa continued,

“As long as you and I walk the same path, I’ll keep telling you. Rather than feigning tears, just laugh. For us, that’s better.”

“Laugh…?”

“Better to just let out a laugh as if nothing matters.”

Zhuge Sa grinned.

“… And if you can still laugh in your final moments, you’ll be the winner. That’s how the world works.”

“I understand.”

I could see the meaning behind Zhuge Sa’s words.

Logically, I should be sad, but trying to feel sadness only chips away at my humanity, causing contradiction.

The boundary between loyalty and reality.

Zhuge Sa was simply advising me not to waste emotions and energy and to just laugh.

“From now on, let’s not be sad about every little thing.”

Not just for myself. After all, feeling sorrow does not help my comrades at all.

……

I gradually felt like I was growing.

Is this a good thing?

Zhuge Sa said,

“If we leverage the powers of me and Zhuge Yulong, we could hold the forces of the Evil God back for about five days. Baek Woong, during that time, you should map out a route to gather as much causal power and strength as possible to break through the Life Sea. That would be the basic strategy.”

“How do I map out a route?”

“That’s something Hyun will tell you.”

Mangnyang began explaining the plan.

“Our primary goal is to break through the Life Sea, and our secondary goal is to secure the causal power to offer to Jeon Wook and the other Three Sovereigns. However, we won’t act on our primary goal until Shennong personally moves to capture the Life Sea’s ruler. Even if we entered the outer dimension, we won’t have enough strength and stamina to defeat the Four Great Spirit Deities without preparation. Therefore, we should focus on the secondary goal of securing causal power first, and that’s why Father and Uncle will buy us five days.”

“Hmm.”

“Securing causal power means gathering treasures to offer to the gods. The reason I call it mapping a route is to efficiently gather treasures and hoard as much as possible. I’ll explain the route from now on, so listen closely.”

“Got it.”

I listened carefully to Mangnyang’s plan. But after hearing the whole route, I felt a bit skeptical and said,

“Is that really possible? Sure, if everything goes according to the plan, we’ll gain immense power, but we might end up exhausting ourselves and suffer an unexpected defeat after a fierce battle.”

“Don’t worry. This plan has differences from the past. It’ll definitely succeed.”

“Differences?”

“It’s not just the Evil Gods who are gathering numbers.”

Boom!!

We started moving quickly. Before we followed the route, we headed to Guangdong, where the Celestial Sage was battling.

“I need to understand the power of the Nine Lotus Sect and their strength.”

Once we arrived at the massive castle in Guangdong, the Celestial Sage waved at us as if he’d been waiting.

“Hey! You made it!”

“Great Sage!! Your left arm…”

The Celestial Sage forced a smile.

“It got chopped off. That bastard is pretty good! He really is the brightest Apostle of the Evil God.”

I couldn’t help but gasp. The Celestial Sage was missing his left arm! Although he didn’t seem weak, the fact that he’d lost such a powerful limb indicated the strength of the Nine Lotus Bishop.

“Maybe it’s the Evil God’s magic preventing recovery…”

The Celestial Sage continued,

“Still, it’s not like I can’t win. If the Eight Immortals help me, I’m confident I can take him down.”

“Hmm… I’d like to know more about the guy’s appearance and his fighting style, too.”

“Fighting style, huh.”

After pondering for a moment, the Celestial Sage replied,

“He has the body of an ordinary male human. The human general said he’s the leader of the Haenam Sect. And his fighting style involves enhancing his body with magic, attacking with brute strength and speed.”

“… So he’s a martial artist.”

“Yeah. Why? Is there something strange about that?”

“No…”

I trailed off but already had a question forming in my mind.

“Why hasn’t the Evil God summoned the Portrait Immortal to manifest the Nine Lotus Bishop?”

Up until now, the Evil God would have utilized the half-causal powers granted to the Portrait Immortal to awaken it or slowly infused it with magic to bend it to his will. Zhuge Yulong also didn’t recognize that before he got blindsided. Moreover, the Evil God had taken unexpected actions this time, meaning Zhuge Yulong didn’t have the chance to seal the Portrait Immortal.

Yet, the Evil God had resorted to using an ordinary human instead of the powerful Portrait Immortal to create the Apostle, the Nine Lotus Bishop. This was undoubtedly strange. No matter how skilled a martial artist might be, he could never compare to the power of the Nine Lotus Bishop summoned through the Portrait Immortal.

Mangnyang spoke to the Celestial Sage.

“I heard that the Nine Lotus Bishop has currently withdrawn to the sect and hasn’t shown his face. Did you give him a strong hit?”

“Of course. Thanks to the Eight Immortals’ help, I managed to pierce his chest three times. He might be immortal, but he’s definitely lost some power.”

“I see. Then can you hold out as long as possible with this castle in Guangdong? We must not let them advance north any further.”

The Celestial Sage’s face crumpled at Mangnyang’s words.

“… Are you kidding me? Protecting the several thousand human refugees gathered here while fighting is already too much. You want me to fight against that guy too?”

Mangnyang hung his head.

“Reinforcements will arrive soon. Please hold out. If we let the Nine Lotus Sect land inland anymore, human sacrifices will keep happening, and the Nine Lotus Bishop and the Bishops will gain infinite regenerative powers. Eventually, the Nine Lotus Bishop will gain powers equivalent to the Three Sovereigns.”

“Ugh. This situation is just terrible. Honestly, I was planning on abandoning this castle and evacuating the humans.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Then I’ll have no choice but to call all the remaining Celestial Deities here. Is that okay? The remaining nine bishops of the Nine Lotus Sect might all take part, which means we’ll need serious support.”

“That’s fine.”

“Hey, if we do that, other fronts won’t be able to hold. The Celestial Deities fighting elsewhere just might manage to hold off the Nine Lotus hordes, but if we bring them here, what about the other places?”

“As I said, reinforcements will come. Gather the Celestial Deities and do your best to hold off the Nine Lotus Bishop and the Bishops here. That’s all that matters.”

“… Alright, I’ll trust you for now.”

After arranging the series of operations, we left the castle where the Celestial Sage was. Mangnyang turned to me and said,

“Honestly, the Nine Lotus Bishop seems weaker than I expected, which is a relief. Let’s move according to plan.”

“I don’t understand. Why didn’t the Nine Lotus Bishop use the Portrait Immortal as a medium?”

“……”

Mangnyang fell silent before answering.

“The Evil God might be planning for a greater catastrophe. As the stakes get higher, more power will surely be needed, and I can intuit that’s the case. But right now, we have no way to counter it…”

“Greater catastrophe?”

“First, Zhuge Yulong will try to mobilize the Eight Trigrams to seal the Portrait Immortal’s residual powers, so let’s not dwell on that. It’s pointless to ponder what you can’t stop.”

Boom!

Next, we headed to the Wudang Sect. Inside the secret room in the Wudang Sect, we managed to find a sword.

“Use Spirit Power to pull it out.”

“Got it.”

Kugugugu!

I channeled Spirit Power into my hand, gripping the sword’s handle with all my might. As the force surged in, a thunderous roar echoed around the sword, and I felt a sharp force tingle through my wrist.

Crackle! Crackle!

“Ugh!!”

What… what is this power?

‘Divine Power?!’

But it wasn’t Spirit Power. It felt different, almost like a trace of a ‘mask’—which meant this sword was clearly a relic of the Three Sovereigns. I strained to push against its power and spent all my energy calming it down, and after a moment, as I exerted pressure on my arm, the sword slipped free.

Chiriririing!!

With a clear sound, the sword was drawn into my hand. But I had nearly exhausted all my Spirit Power in the process, and I felt out of breath. I couldn’t believe I had to go through all this trouble just to draw this sword.

“Ugh… ugh… how is there such an artifact in this world?”

I was breathless. If my Spirit Power hadn’t reached the Sage level, and if I hadn’t gained the power from Jeon Wook’s manifestation, I might’ve died attempting to pull it out.

“Given how hard it was, it’s no wonder Master Jang Sam-bong warned us.”

Mangnyang smirked and said,

“Baek Woong, congratulations. You’ve now acquired the Divine Sword!”

The Divine Sword!!

It was sealed since the time of Jang Sam-bong in the Wudang Sect, and Master Jang Sam-bong had warned that it was a ‘false god’s sword’ and could bring calamity, so we must never attempt to draw it! And yet, here I was, forcing it out using Spirit Power.

The reason for obtaining the Divine Sword was not only that it would serve as a good offering for causal power but that it also occupied a favorable position for upcoming moves and could serve as a good weapon too. Naturally, for the strategists, it was the first thing they had to secure.

“Guh… guh… just a little… let’s take a break… I’m finished for now…”

“There’s no time for that. We must finish everything today. Five days is not a long time.”

Even as I begged for a break while my nose bled, Mangnyang’s response was resolute.

“Right now, let’s go kill Peng Zuo. Uncle is ready to strike with Dr. Faust now.”