967——————==

Soul of the Evil God

I couldn’t help but feel a surge of curiosity at Seong Jin’s words.

“I want to hear more details about this matter.”

So, how did the Coming Chaos get involved when trying to achieve the True Martial Home in the past? It was crucial information, and I couldn’t resist asking. Then Seong Jin said,

“Of course, I’ll tell you. But I’d prefer we move to another location.”

“Where to?”

“Somewhere safer…”

It seemed Seong Jin was uncomfortable discussing critical matters in a place where the barrier had been broken. He appeared to be extremely cautious, so I mindlessly agreed to his suggestion.

“Alright.”

Whoosh!

A moment later, Seong Jin summoned a cloud-like thing that enveloped both of us as we shot off at tremendous speed. It seemed to be a type of space-folding technique I had never seen before. When we arrived somewhere, we found a secluded house standing in a valley filled with mystical fog.

Additionally, in front of the house waited three stunningly beautiful women, like they had been anticipating our arrival. They were all breathtaking beauties who would easily capture anyone’s attention. I asked Seong Jin,

“Who are they?”

“They are my followers. They aren’t from the Ghostly Spirit Sect, but they’ve been helping me for a long time.”

Seong Jin replied, addressing the woman in a silk dress with white hair among them.

“Baek Neoong-pa, strengthen the barrier further.”

“Understood.”

“And Jeong Gyeong-bei, Shim Yo-yeon, prepare food for our guest.”

“Got it!”

They all went off to do their tasks after a moment. I stared at their retreating figures until they vanished, then I remarked,

“Baek Neoong-pa doesn’t seem human.”

“Thanks to the Fire Eye Golden Spirit, right? You picked up on it immediately.”

“A dragon?”

I mumbled to myself. Looking at the beautiful Baek Neoong-pa through the Fire Eye Golden Spirit, she resembled the White Dragon standing proudly. The Fire Eye Golden Spirit allows perceiving one’s essence, so Baek Neoong-pa must not be human but a dragon.

Seong Jin confirmed, “Exactly. She is the daughter of the Dragon King.”

“The Dragon King? You mean the Sea Dragon King?”

“No. Formally known as the Dragon King, but living in Dongjeong Lake is an ancient dragon over two thousand years old, ranking lower than the Sea Dragon King. I got permission from him to bring Baek Neoong-pa here…”

“……”

What kind of life has Seong Jin led?

This guy undoubtedly lived an extraordinary life beyond what ordinary people could imagine. Anyway, I realized there was no point in being more curious about Baek Neoong-pa and entered the house, sitting face to face with Seong Jin. I then said,

“So, showing me your base means you trust me completely?”

“What a foolish question.”

“What?”

After sipping his tea, Seong Jin responded.

“If I discover through the obsidian that you’re a Reborn Person, which wise individual would dare defy you? Don’t you realize your own position? Only fools without thought would dare challenge you.”

“……”

“At this point, my will is irrelevant; discussing trust is pointless. As long as my companions and I have our Master, we aren’t even afraid of gods.”

Come to think of it, this guy used to have Dharma as his master. In other words, he could be deemed an old companion of a Reborn Person… So it’s only natural that his perspective on Reborn Persons would be much more solid and composed than that of his other companions.

‘He seems to accept it as natural…’

After a while, Seong Jin continued,

“What I’m about to say will be quite different from what you’ve experienced in the outer universe. Are you mentally prepared?”

“Of course! Tell me.”

“… Hoo, to be together with a Reborn Person for a second time… I look forward to it.”

With a bittersweet smile, Seong Jin began to open his mouth.

And the entirety of the True Martial Home in this world began to flow slowly from his lips.

——————————————————————————————=

Clink

Creak!

The sound of a hard object rattling continued inside the tent.

‘So annoying.’

Unable to hold it in any longer, Seong Jin, arms crossed, remarked.

“Brother Huang Wu. Now isn’t the time to be fiddling with gold or anything, is it?”

The priest, at Seong Jin’s words, flinched.

He had been rattling the gold necklace and jade he held tightly, enjoying his riches to anyone who could see. Huang Wu closed his treasure chest and cleared his throat.

“Ahem… Ahem!! Master has said that material desire is part of the world, so it’s not a bad thing! I am cultivating enlightenment by contemplating my own desires.”

“That’s true. But…”

Seong Jin let out a heavy sigh.

“It’s strange for you, Brother, to fiddle with a gold necklace when we’re about to bring ruin to the world with the True Martial Home.”

“……”

At that moment, a stunning beauty, who had been playing with a strange fiery bird, chuckled and replied to Seong Jin.

“Brother Seong Jin, before you die, you want to do whatever you like.”

“Ayu-ta. We’re not dying. We’re returning the world to a peaceful void.”

“Is that so? Is the void the ultimate peace?”

“At least, that’s what I believe.”

“Right. So that’s why we’re here.”

Her name is Princess Ayuta – the youngest among Dharma’s five disciples. She had renounced her royal status due to her admiration for Dharma’s enlightenment, just like Seong Jin.

Seong Jin gazed into Ayuta’s eyes, which, unlike her words, revealed a profound calmness. She too had inherited Dharma’s spirit through deep cultivation.

At that moment, a bright flash erupted outside, and the next second, a figure entered the hall. The three disciples immediately stood up.

“Brother!”

“Hoo-wol!”

“Did your tasks go well?”

The second disciple among the five, Hoo-wol, said while taking off his rain-soaked coat, droplets cascading down his thick arms.

“The offerings are now all prepared.”

“Oh…!!”

“Well done!”

Seong Jin looked almost ready to cry tears of joy at the news.

‘As expected from Brother Hoo-wol, amazing!’

Unable to contain his excitement, he exclaimed.

“One thousand Demon Sorcerers, five hundred Great Demons, one hundred Imugi, and three hundred from the High-level Otherworldly Race… I thought it would be impossible, yet you pulled it off. All thanks to you, Brother Hoo-wol.”

“‘From’?”

“It doesn’t matter, does it?”

To Seong Jin, Demon Sorcerers weren’t counted as humans, so he didn’t bother tallying them as lives.

That’s right.

To proceed with the True Martial Home, which required offerings in the hundreds of millions, they had decided to take a different approach. Slaughtering billions of lives was not only reckless, given the scrutiny of the Three Sovereigns, but also an act impossible for a humane moving heart. Thus, they decided to spread the offerings through the principle of the Four Corners Construction.

Demon Sorcery Pillar!

It was a method of stacking offerings by placing strong magic and evil beings in each direction. Though the difficulty increased with the need to capture different powerful magic beings, the quality of the offerings actually improved. This method, created through countless trials by the Reborn Person Dharma, had incredible efficiency to substitute for the hundreds of millions of human offerings.

However, most Demon Sorcerers would hesitate or avoid this method even if they knew about the Demon Sorcery Pillar. Because beings like Demon Sorcerers, Great Demons, Imugi, and High-level Otherworldly Races were vastly stronger than ordinary humans, the effort and risks involved in capturing them by the hundreds would be considerable.

Moreover, around seventy percent of the offerings for the Demon Sorcery Pillar were collected solely by Hoo-wol. It was only natural since he was the strongest and unrivaled among Dharma’s disciples. Hoo-wol could even take down dragons or Great Immortals with his bare fists.

Hoo-wol said,

“It took us over twenty years to finish this task. But if Master had taken charge, you would have gathered everything within a month… I feel embarrassed to have held him back.”

“If it were Master, certainly. However, we took charge because we must avoid drawing the attention of the Three Sovereigns and the Old Ruler.”

“… In any case, now that everything is gathered, we will kick off the True Martial Home today.”

“Yes.”

Seong Jin glanced at the altar of the White Lotus Sect beyond the horizon and spoke,

“Do you want to rest? Or should we go now…”

“Go immediately; we must report to Master.”

“Okay. Then I’ll use my technique.”

Seong Jin thought Hoo-wol could manage alone, but figured he might be weary after finishing his mission. So, he decided to ease the journey with sorcery.

“Oh, by the way, where’s Hye-ga?”

“She had something to attend to.”

Seong Jin responded while forming hand signs.

Cloud Dragon Technique

Cloud Dragon Shortening!

Crack!

As Seong Jin cast the spell, the surroundings filled with mist, and moments later, their bodies were enveloped by the clouds and whisked away at incredible speed. Once the Cloud Dragon Shortening Technique concluded, Hoo-wol and Seong Jin found themselves at the altar where the great Dharma Master was.

Hoo-wol performed a martial salute and announced to Dharma, who had his back turned,

“Master, we have gathered all offerings for the Demon Sorcery Pillar starting today.”

[Well done… Now, I will close the portal to Dark Heaven Village.]

Swoosh

Dharma waved his hand. Instantly, a dark dimensional portal opened in the void and swiftly closed again. Seong Jin marveled at the scene.

‘As expected, Master is incredible…’

Collecting High-level Otherworldly Race offerings in the current world was remarkably difficult. Potential offerings from High-level Otherworldly Races rarely showed their faces in reality. Thus, Dharma had deliberately opened a hole in the portal to Dark Heaven Village, creating a favorable passage. Through this, his disciples went back and forth to hunt the High-level Otherworldly Races.

Originally, using such tricks in Dark Heaven Village was impossible due to the presence of the Gatekeeper, but since Dharma was a Reborn Person, he could bribe that Gatekeeper in some way. What method that was, he hadn’t shared even with his disciples; it seemed to be something only a Reborn Person could do.

Dharma turned his back and spoke.

[… As you already know, the Eight Parts of the Divine, the dogs of Chi You, have caught wind of our plans.]

“I know. I’ve encountered them a few times during the mission.”

[Ancient heroes who’ve obtained bodies… It’s no wonder they’re powerful… Yet, ultimately, they will be discarded like a rabbit after hunting a dog…]

Dharma murmured sadly before continuing.

[The Eight Parts of the Divine will likely come to thwart our final plan. Once they use tricks to breach the barrier, you’re unlikely to stop them with your strength.]

All Dharma’s disciples had received great fortuitous encounters through Dharma’s help and gained immense power in a short time. Nonetheless, they still couldn’t match the strength of the Demon King of the Ancient Era, the Eight Parts of the Divine.

Unless someone was born with the talent to transcend gods from the beginning, a human could never defeat a Demon King. That is the unalterable limit of mortals.

“Why… don’t they have any compassion for these suffering mortals?”

[Chi You is nothing but a Demon God driven by selfish desires. He has no true plans for saving the world. He only wishes to suppress the Three Sovereigns and become another supreme ‘Ruler’…]

“……”

[So I’ve been pondering whether to repeat this again or push forward with our plan as is… and today, I’ve finally made up my mind.]

Having spoken in that way, Dharma finally turned his head. The masked Dharma looked Hoo-wol directly in the eye and said,

[Hoo-wol! I appoint you as my Apostle and Dharma Protector.]

“……!!”

[Originally, you were a general of a nation, strengthening pure human power up to the level of slaying dragons. While my assistance played a role, your talent shines remarkably… I trust you, and I will stake everything on this True Martial Home.]

Hoo-wol, evidently stunned, replied,

“Master! Hye-ga’s understanding surpasses mine. Please reconsider.”

[True… Hye-ga’s enlightenment is profound… but in terms of martial prowess, she cannot compare to you.]

“……”

Hoo-wol reluctantly nodded.

“I will do my utmost.”

[Good… Let’s begin. Seong Jin, summon the other disciples.]

“Yes!”

Seong Jin moved swiftly at Dharma’s command. After bringing Ayuta and Huang Wu from the tent, he headed to Songshan, where Hye-ga was. Though the distance from the White Lotus Sect’s base to Songshan was a thousand li, it wasn’t far at all for Seong Jin, who could use the Cloud Dragon Shortening Technique.

When Seong Jin arrived at Songshan and reached Hye-ga, he could hardly believe his eyes.

“A temple…?”

A grand and rather massive structure was built as a temple. And since Hye-ga was its owner, Seong Jin encountered him at the Great Hero Hall. Unable to comprehend it, Seong Jin questioned Hye-ga.

“S-Senior. We’re about to proceed with the True Martial Home. Why on earth this temple when the world is facing ruin…?”

This was even harder to understand than Huang Wu fiddling with his gold necklace. At Seong Jin’s inquiry, Hye-ga raised one hand in salute and replied.

“Priest. No.”

“What do you mean by ‘no’?”

After Hye-ga continued, Seong Jin felt his brain go stiff.

“The True Martial Home will fail. And I will refer to this temple as the Shaolin Temple, establishing it as a foundation to spread Master’s enlightenment, so convey that to him.”