962——————==

Soul of the Evil God

I had hardly seen the true power of the Yacha. I knew it was strong, but I wasn’t sure about its specific techniques or strategies. Sure, Yeodong-bin fought the Yacha in my stead, but at that time, the Yacha wasn’t really putting in full effort. And when I read Yeodong-bin’s memories, those details seemed to get glossed over as unimportant.

Now, I knew for sure of only one thing.

‘I must repel it before it returns to its true form.’

No matter how much I had reached the Absolute Realm, my opponent was a Demon King. Ancient heroic beings had gained their divine bodies through contracts with Chi You and had been honing their magical powers for thousands of years; their true form’s strength was at an astonishing level. Although the Eight Parts of the Divine had some restrictions too, it wouldn’t be an easy task to return to their original state, and I fundamentally had no real chance of defeating the true form with my current status.

I had to finish quickly.

So what should I do?

‘… I need to exploit a gap and end this in one strike.’

I shouldn’t prolong things, hoping to gain something in the reincarnation process by watching Yacha’s attack patterns. If I tried to delay my moves in a situation where my skills didn’t match up, I could end up being toyed with or worse—taken hostage or torn apart. I realized that the only strategy I could choose was a short-term fight, and even that had its limits.

Could I manage it?

The opponent had been toying with the Daeheung Empire and manipulating Empress Wu Zetian back a thousand years…

“…”

Maybe it would be wiser to use the Golden Lamp technique and escape now. Facing such a formidable foe was just asking for unnecessary risks.

But I really didn’t want to escape so easily. If I ran away too quickly from the Yacha, I had a feeling that when an even more formidable enemy appeared, I’d choose to flee instinctively again.

I would fight!

Wooooooom

My Immortal Sword radiated a pitch-black light as I unleashed twelve lines of Sword Qi in the form of Tonggang to strike at the entirety of the Yacha’s being. It all happened in a split second, but the Yacha didn’t budge at all and faced the incoming attack head-on.

Boom!

“……!!”

What is this?!

I jolted in surprise as my sword energy was immediately absorbed and vanished due to an intangible barrier. It looked to be some kind of technique, but even that wasn’t certain. The Yacha, having effortlessly blocked my attack without taking any damage, slowly moved its scythe and made a slash through the air.

Kigigigi

Kuaaahhh!

As time and space were torn, horrifying evil beasts and otherworldly creatures began crawling out from the dimensional rift. I gritted my teeth as I watched the monsters slithering forth.

‘Is that summoning?!’

I think I caught a glimpse of that technique during Yeodong-bin’s fights. Obviously, if the summoning was successful and more monsters came through that rift, I’d be overwhelmed by sheer numbers, which would put me at a significant disadvantage.

Letting the sorcerer continue with that summoning would be a foolish mistake. I thought of using the sword technique I had employed shortly before in a battle with the Sect Master to repel the Yacha.

Absolute Sword Thunder!

Infinite Slash!

A lightning sword cleaved through the silence, slicing the Yacha’s body in half. The cut body soon became an illusionary shadow that fluttered away, and I took the chance to channel the will of my sword to direct the Sword Thunder towards the dimensional rift.

Splaat!

Kieeeek!

The lightning blade exploded like a bomb, and all the monsters creeping in were annihilated. Maybe because of the thunder’s power, I could see the rift closing rapidly. Just then, a whisper floated from behind me.

“Quite impressive…”

Shwoosh!

I measured the point from which the voice came with my mental eye and attacked once more. This time, the Yacha didn’t dodge my strike but instead raised its massive scythe straight up to block.

Kwaghwung!!

“……!!”

What is happening here?!

I realized that a bizarre, invisible barrier was surrounding the Yacha’s scythe. It didn’t seem to be formed from Qi like a typical barrier. This barrier seemed incredibly flexible and tough, resisting my Sword Thunder without breaking and just sinking in instead. The Yacha smirked and chanted a spell.

Ancient Curse.

Blood Explosion.

Kiiing!

‘Ugh… ughhh…’

The instant a suspicious light flickered at the tip of the scythe, I felt my entire blood surge and begin to boil violently. Just as I realized that my blood was about to explode, I gritted my teeth and calmed my will.

I then tried to create some distance from the Yacha, but even as I retreated, the signs of my blood wanting to explode didn’t subside. It seemed to be a curse that maintained its effect regardless of distance. I quickly figured out what was happening.

‘It’s a curse! A proper one…’

I usually lumped sorcery, curses, and magic together, but this almost felt like legitimate curse magic.

Zhuge Sa had once told me that there were specific sects dedicated to authentic curse magic when he imparted various demonic techniques to me. They were all a version of fortune-tellers, distinct from the magic used by otherworlds. Authentic curses were known to be extraordinarily difficult to activate, yet their effects were catastrophic.

‘Damn it…!! A curse? When did it even get on me?’

The conditions for activating a curse were very stringent and complex. In rapid battle exchanges like this, it shouldn’t be possible to invoke such a curse on the spot. Even after months or years of repeating malicious prayers and making offerings, that’d barely suffice, yet for it to be possible to cast a curse strong enough to make my blood explode instantly?

The Yacha’s eyes gleamed dangerously.

“Oh… I had anticipated this, but seeing you utilize your will to that extent means you possess the power of the Absolute Realm. Moreover, you have quite a considerable Divine Power, allowing you to resist my curse with ease.”

“……”

“Are you one of the Celestial Realm’s lackeys? Or perhaps from the Three Sovereigns?”

I could tell from the Yacha’s words that my opponent’s battle experience was beyond my imagination. Just looking at how it managed to assess my power from merely resisting its curse was telling enough. After all, it had been fighting countless great immortals and features since thousands of years ago.

Smirking, I replied to the Yacha.

“I was curious to see just how magnificent the Eight Parts of the Divine are, but it turns out you’re nothing but a mere sorcerer. It seems your martial skills have degraded to a pitiful level even after living for thousands of years.”

If I could provoke the opponent’s calmness even a little, it would be for the best. Even as I spoke provocatively, the Yacha responded nonchalantly.

“I’m not some sort of outlier like an Asura. And now that you’ve fallen under my curse, from here on, the advantage lies with me.”

Clack.

“……”

I instinctively suppressed the reflex to turn my head the instant the Yacha’s finger moved. The moment its finger moved, my neck was at risk of spinning at a mighty speed, nearly causing my head to turn five times over. This was also clearly a curse. It was an unexploitably quick attack that couldn’t be resisted by strength or Qi, and only my willpower managed to fend it off.

‘Damn it! This guy is beyond tricky.’

It seemed my body had already been infused with the curse through some method, and now, using that as a medium, it was launching additional curse attacks. Moreover, it appeared to be employing a combat style where any attacker was repelled by a formidable barrier. While it may seem simple, it was creating immense pressure and pain from my perspective.

I finally understood why Yeodong-bin struggled when he fought the Yacha. It was likely that when Yeodong-bin first encountered it, he was defeated because he knew little about the nuances of authentic curses and was caught completely off guard. However, from then on, he must have enhanced his power significantly to eventually shatter the Yacha’s barrier and come out victorious.

Now, the crucial factor was whether or not I could pierce through that barrier with a single strike. Without breaking through it, the fight was nonexistent.

Let’s try attacking again with Sword Thunder.

Boom!!

Thinking thus, I used the Soul Removal technique to compress my attack to get close to the Yacha. Yet, the moment my Sword Thunder came close to its neck, I realized something.

‘A fake!’

What the hell?!

I clearly confirmed its existence just a moment ago with the Fire Eye Golden Spirit!

The moment I swung my sword, I felt a flow of Qi and immediately pinned down the Yacha’s real position. I rushed again in that direction, but yet again, the Yacha vanished, leaving behind merely an illusion. After repeating this several times, I finally figured out something was off.

‘…I see…!! It’s not responding reflexively to my attacks! It’s a curse that auto-evades!’

It had simply set the conditions to teleport its real body the instant my attack was incoming. It was a deceptively simple method, but with it, I could spend a lifetime attacking without even grazing the Yacha. Now, I felt like I finally understood the Yacha’s nature.

An authentic sorcerer who never got injured and waited for the opponent to tire out and die!

It was a master of a battle technique that accumulated damage from curses, rendering the opponent helpless.

I had hardly faced an adversary of this type before, so I felt flustered. Certainly, Zhuge Bu and Zhuge Yulong also employed similar techniques, but the Yacha was on a different level altogether. There was no way I could pierce through its automatically enveloping barrier with just regular techniques, and its curse power was unmatched. The Yacha was definitely one of the top sorcerers in the entirety of heaven and earth.

In a direct confrontation, even the Eight Parts of the Divine wouldn’t stand a chance, but how in the world was I supposed to counter such a being?

‘Hmm. If only Heuk Woong were here…’

If I could use Heuk Woong to control Spirit Power and create a powerful spell barrier to negate the influence of the curse, I would definitely have the upper hand. However, right now, I could hardly control my Spirit Power, so the best I could do was use it to enhance my natural resistance. Feeling troubled, I ultimately decided to revert to the original plan.

I had no other choice.

Against something like the Eight Parts of the Divine, I had to gamble my life…

“If I use this technique, I will die.”

As I said this calmly, the Yacha laughed.

“Hehe, what are you planning to use?”

“But this time, you’ll be the one dying.”

I moved my hands and inked my own acupoint.

Great Destruction!

The doors of my being opened up as I felt an overwhelming surge of Qi flooding forth. Temporarily, it even surpassed the Infinite Slash and filled the space between Heaven and Earth with my Qi. The more the Qi opened up, the more the pressure from the curse that had been weighing me down faded.

Kugugugu!!

“No way…”

For the first time, the Yacha showed surprise. As my Qi swelled and its density increased, I could visibly see cracks forming in the intangible barrier protecting the Yacha. This phenomenon hadn’t occurred when facing Yeodong-bin, but my current strength momentarily surpassed even the Primordial Spirit.

Twisting.

The Yacha thrashed around, unable to keep hold of its own body as the barrier broke halfway due to the pressure of my Qi, and fear seeped into its voice.

“You… you’re a demon king? How can a human…?”

At that state, my Qi had soared to dozens of times its normal capacity, nearly bursting apart. However, I was shocked to realize I still hadn’t fully opened the Eight Gates, meaning I was still alive. Due to the continuous build-up of internal power, the potential I could draw from Great Destruction kept amplifying.

Crack!

As I reached the Sixth Gate opened, grinding my teeth until they bled, I briefly closed the core of Great Destruction.

‘At the Sixth Gate, I should manage to cope with it…’

If I opened the Eight Gates, I’d definitely die, so I decided to fight with this level!

Zzpppp!

As the blood glowed in my eyes, I took a step forward and suddenly felt the ground quake violently, splitting in two as a minor earthquake rumbled through the area.

“Yacha, die!!”

Thunder God Lineage!

Regular Punch!

Kwagwagwang!

My first strike was a simply powered-up punch from the Thunder God lineage. I had once obliterated Yeongbi-cheon with that single hit. But this time, it merely shattered the Yacha’s barrier, pushing it backward. I could feel some kind of barrier re-form as my attack’s strength dwindled.

Kurugugung.

Furthermore, the misdirected power of my punch transformed into a massive shockwave, reshaping the mountain behind the Imperial Palace. The force spread far beyond the horizon.

‘… Kugh…!’

Damn it!! Truly strong, just like the Eight Parts of the Divine!

I realized that I was facing someone several times more powerful than Yeodong-bin in this state—though I had executed my Thunder God Lineage while using Great Destruction, it hadn’t landed without any problems. The Yacha was vastly stronger than before.

But as I retracted my punch, I spun around for a follow-up attack.

Unified Techniques!

Soul Removal Step!

Pairing Technique!

Heaven’s Light Piercing Kick!

Boom!

The combination attack that Lee Cheong-un, the master of the Thunder God lineage, taught me! Combining the heart-reading techniques of Unified Techniques with the Soul Removal kick, I cast the unparalleled technique, Heaven’s Light Piercing Kick, which would deliver countless strikes all at once in a blinding flurry at the Yacha’s location.

Huwoom!

‘It moved…!!’

I realized that the Yacha couldn’t block or evade this particular attack, and I immediately sensed its position, gripping my sword tightly.

Soul Removal Step!

Extreme Completion!

Heavenly Destruction Step!

Swoooosh!

At light speed, I surged toward the Yacha, chasing it over ten li in a instant. It hadn’t been a moment since I had taken a breath.

“……!!”

The Yacha appeared clearly surprised, perhaps not expecting me to arrive so swiftly. Yet, I realized my Heavenly Destruction Step was massively disappointing.

‘Damn it! It should’ve been faster!’

For some strange reason, it wasn’t performing as it used to. Normally, I should have reached the Yacha before it fully realized, but now, this wasn’t enough to overwhelm an absolute master. I had arrived at the target, but as a martial technique, it felt like a failure.

Could it be… that the excessively enhanced physical capability was disrupting the balance of My Heart, Qi, and Body Harmony, thus weakening the effectiveness of the Heavenly Destruction Step?

Shwoosh!

Sword Thunder!

Infinite Slash!

As I contemplated this, I quickly attacked the Yacha with my sword. The sharp sound of the Sword Thunder cleaved through its body, and the moment I sliced through the Yacha, I dropped down from the air and landed on the ground.

I didn’t even need to look back.

This time, I had ‘really’ cut it.

“Gah… Gah!”

The Yacha was half-split, spewing blood as it hung in midair. It was desperately maintaining its form with magical energy, though it was clearly on the verge of falling apart. Trembling, it muttered in a voice heavy with despair.

“How dare you… a mere human…”

Swish!

No sooner had it finished speaking than it vanished. This time, without a hint of aura, it seemed as if it had decided to entirely abandon the fight and flee.

I had successfully repelled the Yacha!

I breathed a sigh of relief.

‘Phew… it didn’t transform into its true form after all.’

If it had turned into the Demon King form, that would have marked the start of the second round, and my chances would be slim.

It seemed the Yacha didn’t want to take on that burden of fighting me, even if it meant enduring the humiliation of losing to a human. With Chi You missing now, it would have been a huge crisis for the Yacha if it had sustained significant injuries while engaging me in its true form.

Predicting that Yacha would take flight, I could afford to use Great Destruction, even if it meant straining myself further. Since there was no other way to deliver a sharp blow in human form, this was my only chance.

Finally, a tremendous burden washed over me, and I began to cough up blood.

“Cough!! Cough…”

It felt like my insides were being torn apart. The pain was unbearable.

Normally, if I continued that level of the Great Destruction technique to the sixth stage, I would eventually end up dead, as the vessel itself would completely shatter.

But I had no intention of dying here. I opened my eyes hazily and began to bring forth the Spirit Power from within.

Kugugugu…

Unlike Qi, this foreign divine power began to swirl around inside me. I didn’t have the capability to finely control this vast divine force, but I resolved to operate it in a different way.

‘Spirit Power, seep into every part of my body…’

Swish.

Originally preserved in another space like the Upper Dantian, the Spirit Power descended to the realm of reality and became materialized. As the overwhelming Qi I had raised by Great Destruction swiftly vaporized and began to dry up from my Dantian and meridians, I felt Spirit Power flow in to replace it.

I could feel it.

At that moment, my bones, sinews, and blood vessels were melting away, but Spirit Power was rushing back in with equal speed, preventing my body from being destroyed.

Before long, I realized my body was stabilizing. Thanks to the Spirit Power, the necrosis was halted. This was practically the only method allowing me to survive after using Great Destruction alongside time reversal. I could smoothly move again, and I couldn’t help but smirk.

‘Damn it… I’ve just burned away thirty years of Spirit Power.’

Theoretically, I knew I could heal the deathly effects of Great Destruction using this method. However, the reason I had refrained from using it until now was clear: utilizing this method would result in the permanent loss of Spirit Power. That would mean erasing thirty years’ worth, a considerable loss for someone like me, a reincarnated person. In a way, it would be better to just die after using Great Destruction rather than going through this effort.

But since I was already prepared for death hundreds of times over, only focusing on accumulating power could actually slow down the journey of the reincarnated. I decided not to regret this depletion and slowly stood up from my place.

Turning to Zhuge Yulong, who had just come into view, I said.

“You could have ambushed me to kill me, yet you didn’t attack.”

“……”

Zhuge Yulong, who dropped the Stealth Technique, was silent for a moment before suddenly speaking.

“You are the strongest human I have ever seen. I never thought there would be a human capable of repelling the Yacha alone.”

There was a hint of admiration in his voice. Hearing this made me feel a bit bitter because I knew that if I hadn’t recklessly used Great Destruction, I probably would have had a hard time against the Yacha.

‘If I trained a bit more, I feel I could handle it without using such methods.’

It hadn’t been long since I entered the Absolute Realm, so I still wasn’t at the level to truly unravel the Yacha’s curses with my will. The Yacha was undoubtedly a formidable opponent, even in human form. It had been the Demon King, the ultimate antagonist, in Yeodong-bin’s era.

‘Well, at least I’ve gained Zhuge Yulong’s trust.’

I decided to view things positively.

“Will you accept the obsidian?”

At my question, Zhuge Yulong nodded slowly.

“Very well. But first, tell me your purpose.”

“My primary goal is the unification of the Martial Arts Realm, and my secondary objective is for you to see and verify with your own memories.”

“Understood.”

Wooooom.

I handed over the obsidian to Zhuge Yulong. After receiving my memories, his expression switched to one of astonishment, and after a moment, he suddenly spoke to me.

“Baek Woong… if all these memories are true…”

I felt utterly bewildered by what came next.

“You must become the Emperor in this life.”