Reincarnation Sword God

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00387  Celestial Realm ————————————————————————=

Zhuge Yulong covered most of his face with a straw hat, making his features unclear. However, I clearly remembered his jawline, which let me know it was him. Above all, the unique aura that could be felt even from beyond my line of sight indicated that he was none other than the dark figure of the Imperial Palace and the High Priest of the Demon Subduing Hall, Zhuge Yulong.

Zhuge Yulong stared blankly at Zhuge Bu and said, “You seem to have something to say.”

“Please take a look at this letter.”

Swish.

Zhuge Yulong accepted the red letter from Zhuge Bu. He slowly began to read, and after about a minute, he spoke.

“You’ve been had.”

“……”

I had no idea what expression Zhuge Bu was making. But he was probably trying hard not to show any discomfort. Regardless of how he managed his expressions, Zhuge Yulong spoke without a care.

“At least one Gold Seal… No, maybe two. You’ve been forced into complying with someone’s technique. Yet, the fact that you came to me means you thought I would notice…”

“……”

“No need to answer. If it’s a kind of Gold Seal that reveals the signs of betrayal immediately, it’s an inevitable situation.”

Zhuge Yulong said that and then asked Zhuge Bu flatly, “Child, as a father, I have to ask.”

“Yes.”

“Do you have the intention of being reborn with the power of the Demon after you die?”

“……!!”

“Right now, that’s the only way.”

Creak.

I could hear Zhuge Bu gritting his teeth. After a moment of hesitation, he spoke.

“What are the chances of succeeding in rebirth?”

“As you know, if you borrow the power of the Crystal Stele, it’s a perfect ten. However, whether your personality will remain after rebirth is unknown, and you’ll likely be continuously exposed to the Demon, transforming into something other than human. That’s what rebirth without sufficient preparation leads to.”

“Pfft… You’re really something, Father. Yet you still ask me if I want to reborn.”

“I want to hear your resolve.”

Zhuge Bu hesitated for a while. Then he sighed.

“… I will trust you, Father.”

Thud!

Zhuge Bu’s vision shook violently, producing a strange impact sound. His sight gradually darkened as he collapsed, looking downward. It was almost certain that Zhuge Bu had struck himself with his Heavenly Spirit to bring about his own death.

‘He committed suicide?’

This was unexpected. Zhuge Bu must have sought out the Zhuge to save his life, but to think he would choose the method of suicide! Just as I was left in shock, Zhuge Sa gritted his teeth and said,

“Damn. I expected this outcome? If the Soul Exchange Technique had only reached the level of the Great Achievement, I would have killed that brat here…”

Filled with killing intent, Zhuge Sa continued.

“Baek Woong, chant the curse as I instructed.”

“Got it.”

“Capture the moment well.”

Soon, I felt Zhuge Yulong moving as if to tidy up Zhuge Bu’s corpse. At that moment, I shouted.

“Move, Curse!”

Boom!

Something darkish-red erupted from Zhuge Bu’s upper body and lunged at Zhuge Yulong. Surprisingly, the Yin-Yang Heaven Bug that Zhuge Sa had implanted in Zhuge Bu could attack others if given the command! If the Yin-Yang Heaven Bug were to embed into Zhuge Yulong like this, the future would definitely become much easier.

But something felt off. There was no sound of Zhuge Yulong’s scream or moans—only silence. After a while, a cold voice was heard.

“As expected… it’s the Yin-Yang Heaven Bug. If it were to attack me at the perfect moment as if it were watching the situation here, chances are it was under surveillance by clairvoyance. However, since there’s no aura of clairvoyance… it must have manipulated this child’s vision.”

Thud!

A chill ran down my spine. I saw the pest (worm) that had fallen to the ground wriggling, and it wasn’t long before Zhuge Yulong crushed the Yin-Yang Heaven Bug underfoot. At that moment, I felt a massive pain surge in my heart.

“Gah!!”

It felt as if my heart were being pierced dozens of times by a long needle, squeezing my veins! I could only grind my teeth while soaking in cold sweat, enduring the pain. I groaned and spoke to Zhuge Sa,

“Wha… What the hell… is this…?”

“The Yin-Yang Heaven Bug is connected to the caster, so if the Yin-Yang Heaven Bug dies, you will have to feel the hellish pain as well.”

“Damn… Dog…”

“Don’t worry; you won’t die. For an ordinary person, the pain would be enough for them to die unexpectedly, but your pain tolerance is high, so you’re fine.”

I wanted to kill Zhuge Sa for responding as if it were no big deal. But he was already dead and had become a spirit, so I couldn’t do anything. While I rolled on the ground from the pain, I heard Zhuge Yulong’s words.

“The owner of the Yin-Yang Heaven Bug is none other than the master of heretical sects. Zhuge Sa, did you strike first? If so, that would be a truly foolish choice.”

Upon hearing those words, Zhuge Sa chuckled inwardly.

“Heh heh. You’ll find out who the real fool is soon enough, Yulong.”

“Having killed the Yin-Yang Heaven Bug, you won’t be able to move for a while. I will soon send you a gift.”

And then my vision completely went dark.

“Cough, cough…”

I couldn’t regain my senses as I rolled in the darkness, wracked with pain. Eventually, once the sharp pain pierced my torso hard enough that I spat out a dry cough, my sweat began soaking the ground, and Zhuge Sa spoke.

“Deactivate the sensory sharing of the Soul Exchange Technique. That should reduce the pain by half.”

“Guh. Hurry up…”

I gritted my teeth and quickly deactivated the sensory sharing. The pain undoubtedly lessened. Yet, I still felt like I had a cold and a headache layered on top of each other, making it impossible to clear my mind. I irritably asked,

“For how long do I have to endure this pain?”

“About half a day?”

“What the hell…”

“If a cursed medium falls, and that’s all the backlash you get, consider it good fortune. If it comes down to it, use a pain-mitigation technique and quickly regain your senses. I have something to discuss.”

“Tch…”

I muttered while implementing the medical technique to able to withstand the pain. Using Huatuo’s Five Animals Play’s technique, I calmed my breathing for a moment, and as my consciousness faded, when I woke up, the pain was completely gone.

Zhuge Sa spoke the moment I regained my consciousness.

“The Yin-Yang Heaven Bug is impossible to trace back. He knew that, so he crushed it without saving it. Hence, you can assume that your location and identity have not been discovered by him.”

“So what exactly have I gained? It’s fortunate that Zhuge Bu died, but…”

“Indeed, he is dead. However, Zhuge Bu will soon be resurrected.”

“What?”

“Zhuge Yulong mentioned rebirth techniques. He’ll probably plant the seed of Demon into the body of the Divine Portrait to enhance vitality and resurrect Zhuge Bu. From the tone of his voice, it seems likely he’s confident of success.”

“……!!”

I was taken aback.

If what he said is true, then Zhuge Yulong can bring the dead back to life! Even if he borrowed the power of the Crystal Stele, that’s indeed a terrifying ability. I pondered cautiously and replied,

“If the one who was killed is transferred to the Divine Portrait for resurrection, both the Soul Exchange Technique and the Yin-Yang Heaven Bug’s Gold Seal will lift.”

“Well, that seems likely.”

“Why are you so calm about this? Your brilliant move has become useless.”

“That’s your idea of a brilliant move? That’s impossible. This is merely a simple check.”

Zhuge Sa replied as if it were trivial.

“However, given how things have turned out, there’s no reason to waste time at the Imperial Palace anymore. Shall we implement the plan you once thought of?”

“Is it okay to do so?”

“It’s a plan that aligns with my taste, so I have no objections.”

“Alright.”

I grinned. Shaking off my body, I mounted the Four Great Spirits and set off.

Boom!

The place where I revealed myself was right in front of the altar. I felt a sense of familiarity looking at the altar after such a long time and examined the inscription on the stele in front of it. The words carved into the stele spoke of a mystery.

Zhuge Sa remarked,

“It’s hard to read. It seems to be a lesser-known language of secrets…”

“Hmm…?”

I tilted my head. Strangely, I could read the stele’s script more easily than before. It was as if I could read it rather well, like a language from my hometown I hadn’t seen in a long time.

“Before this stands the Altar of Guardians. It presides over the trials of those who obtain the Seven Luminaries… Sprinkle blood on the altar… to offer it in the chamber of offerings. The Guardian… came from the moon… bound by ancient seals. By touching the filth of the Underworld… and washing with water… fifteen hundred will be born. In the song of the sun and storm, the moon was born. Because of that, a great… vow of fate is bound. I swear with a great blood covenant.”

“What?!”

Zhuge Sa was startled. His surprise was evident when I began reading the inscription. Feeling amused at having surprised Zhuge Sa, I grinned.

“I can’t read every detail, but I managed about eighty percent.”

“……”

Zhuge Sa fell silent for a moment, then said,

“To have birthed fifteen hundred means… the Guardian of these ruins is surely Izanagi no Mikoto.”

“Do you know something?”

“The Dongyoung Chronicles is similar to the Investiture of the Gods. It’s an allegory that explains the horrific ancient dark mythology. It’s worth a read, although it’s surprising to see a lower-tier ‘old master’ sealed here as a mere guardian.”

Muttering something, Zhuge Sa spoke.

“Baek Woong. Will you be able to see the Heavenly Secret again?”

“Hmm? Sure.”

Flick!

I took out the Heavenly Secret and began to unfold it. After a while, as I shared my gaze with Zhuge Sa while reading the Heavenly Secret, he spoke with frustration.

“Damn… I can’t make sense of this at all… What is this… Is… Shabala… Kambain… There’s nothing even similar to the languages of Otherworldly Races I know. It doesn’t seem like the language of constellations. Even if it’s obscure, does such a language exist?”

“Are you saying you can’t read? Hehe.”

As I mocked him, Zhuge Sa replied gruffly.

“Can you even read the Heavenly Secret?”

“… Uh, not exactly.”

That’s right. While I had taken out the Heavenly Secret, I couldn’t interpret it. Oddly enough, I could read the letters on the stele of the altar, but the script in the Heavenly Secret remained unreadable. I thought carefully and then said,

“Should I ask a prophet after all?”

“Have you lost your mind? The prophet might know of a technique to escape time and space. If that one escapes like a sorcerer, what will you do?”

“Uh… Then who would be knowledgeable enough?”

“The easiest way would be to bring it to the master of the jungle, the ‘Old Master’ of reversal. But I don’t recommend that.”

“Why?”

“If it’s an obscure language that even the ‘Old Master’ cannot interpret, you might invoke their wrath and end up dead. They might think their authority as a god has been undermined because of lack of knowledge. Moreover, if the ‘Old Master’ can interpret it and realize its value, that will create an even bigger problem.”

Zhuge Sa muttered with a sinister madness.

“What if that person steals your rebirth ability?”

“……”

“Anyway, the Heavenly Secret truly is a strange demon book… or can we even call it a demon book?”

After hearing Zhuge Sa’s words, I questioned.

“Zhuge Sa, you said that the demon book was likely written by the ‘Old Master,’ right?”

“Yeah.”

“Then what kind of being was the ‘Old Master’ who wrote the Heavenly Secret?”

“……”

Zhuge Sa fell silent for a while. Finally, as I grew bored and stretched, he spoke.

“You will know when you have lost everything and reached destruction.”

“What? What kind of nonsense is that?”

“That’s not nonsense. The purpose of the ‘Old Master’ writing a demon book is nothing other than to alleviate their ennui throughout eternity by enjoying the pain and destruction of mortals. To do so, they bestow upon them the knowledge and power they possess. When the mortals fall into despair, the ‘Old Masters’ rejoice.”

“… Ha…”

“Somewhere, someone who created the Heavenly Secret might be waiting for your downfall.”

A chill ran down my spine. But I instead grinned and said, “Don’t scare me.”

Step.

I walked towards the altar and cut my forearm with a blade. As my blood dripped onto the altar, the entire underground ruins began to tremble and shake violently.

Oooooh—

Boom! Boom! Boom!!

Darkness poured up from the underground. The seemingly endless darkness surged suddenly, releasing hundreds and thousands of spirits. I could feel those spirits flying around with immense aggression.

“Now’s the time! Use the essence of the Soul Exchange Technique to absorb those spirits into the bracelet!”

“Got it.”

Hiss! Hiss! Hiss!

After a moment, as I resonated with my band according to the essence of the Soul Exchange Technique, the spirits lost their will to attack me, rapidly being drawn into the bracelet like a whirlwind. The bracelet, designed to enhance Demon Techniques, also possessed the ability to store souls, quickly beginning to fill with the essence of the spirits. The darkness combined with those souls were the vengeful spirits of humans who had been wrongfully killed during the altar’s creation, so they possessed insufficient power, making them easy prey for the Soul Exchange Technique.

Kiiing!

In an instant, the gems in the bracelet began shining brightly. Zhuge Sa chuckled.

“At least I’ve filled it with five thousand. What a sweet spot.”

“Guh… But I can’t stay here much longer…”

I scowled.

Boom! Boom! Boom!!

The darkness gathered and twisted like clouds, beginning to form a massive shape. I didn’t look to see the whole thing, and rushed inside to activate the Divine Technique.

Pa-at!

“Get lost!”

As the Guardian Giant Spider crawled out slowly, I sent it crashing into the wall with a single kick infused with Internal Power. After grabbing my target, I didn’t look back and called for the Four Great Spirits. Then I shouted to the Four Great Spirits.

“Let’s go to the White Lotus Sect!”

The Four Great Spirits spoke with an annoyed tone.

“You idiot… The Celestial Realm won’t let it slide.”

“So you’re not going? If you just stay here, you’ll end up getting eaten by that Guardian.”

“… I have no choice.”

Boom!

At that moment, I felt myself transported back to the Thunder God Lineage’s building in the White Lotus Sect. Wiping the sweat from my forehead, I sighed in relief.

“I did it.”

In my hand shone an ancient sword emanating brilliant light, while the other held a mirror and jade. This secret treasure possessed an unmatched value.

I had successfully escaped with the seal of the Moon Sovereign among the Seven Luminaries!