NOVEL NEXT Chapter 615
615——————==
Dark Heaven Village
After putting the fainted Zhuge Bu into the wooden armor, I started to gather the remaining fortuitous encounters. First, I went to the empty southeastern part of Longmen Grottoes that Han Jin-seong from the Fire Spirit Techniques taught me in the past, broke through the rear wall, and filled the armor with platinum before acquiring the Azure Dragon Halberd and the Secret Techniques of the White Transformation.
‘This doesn’t seem particularly important, so I can come back later.’
Even so, if it were a fortuitous encounter of significance, Han Jin-seong would have already made use of it long ago. Just as I was nodding my head in that thought,
Woo-Oo-Woo
“……?!”
I suddenly felt a strong light emanating from the Azure Dragon Halberd in my left hand. At the same time, powerful spirit energy surged from the halberd, and I unexpectedly felt a surge of fighting spirit within me.
‘What is this…?’
Is the spirit residing in the halberd infusing me with strength?
I had experienced this phenomenon once before, but this time it felt more intense. After a moment, a tall warrior with a long beard and a face as red as a date appeared before me like a mirage. Unlike before, he spoke to me.
[Warrior of the Broad World, possessing the Absolute Martial! I have a request for you.]
“Uh… me?”
The warrior spirit nodded and continued.
[I remained on Earth to pass blessings to my descendants, but I couldn’t fulfill that due to this grotto’s strong spiritual sealing preventing my ability to seek connections. I heard the creator of this grotto was a mad hermit.]
As I stared at him blankly, the warrior said,
[Would you please deliver this halberd to my descendants?]
“……”
I pondered it deeply and then replied,
“I can deliver it, but… I want to know the reason you’ve manifested before me. I’m not the only one who can enter here; others can also handle the halberd, right?”
The warrior spirit chuckled.
[Hehe. It’s rare for someone to wield the halberd properly to reach this grotto, and no one with the divine aura and bravery to interact with me has appeared. You must indeed be an extraordinary master of martial arts. I haven’t seen a warrior as strong as you in centuries.]
“……?”
I was confused, but I could infer one thing from his words.
‘Divine aura… is it because I absorbed the Yin-Yang Heaven Bug once again?’
In the past, I had held the Azure Dragon Halberd, yet the warrior spirit hadn’t spoken to me directly. The difference between that time and this seemed to be the amount of Yin-Yang Heaven Bug I possessed. It appeared that by absorbing it additionally, my affinity with spiritual beings greatly increased, allowing me to communicate directly with the spirit of the halberd.
I asked again,
“Is your aim to pass the halberd to your descendants to prosper your bloodline? I can assist with that, but I need to know who you are first.”
[Now that you mention it, I haven’t introduced myself.]
He pondered for a moment before saying,
[I currently hold the position in the Celestial Realm as the Great Emperor of the Three Realms, the Divine Position of the Guardian of the Hexagram, Lord Guan Sheng. In life, my name was Guan Yu, and my style was Yun Chang; my descendants are the Guan Clan.]
“Hmm…”
Guan Yu, Yun Chang? That name sounds familiar… what was it again?
‘What was it… I’ve definitely heard it before…’
I felt a bit hazy about the memory but couldn’t recall it precisely. It must have been a long time since I read the relevant texts. So, I simply nodded my head.
[I would appreciate it. I came to Earth for that matter, and without resolving it, I cannot return to the Celestial Realm.]
He watched me for a moment and then added,
[If you fulfill my request, I will grant you a great blessing.]
Was that his way of offering a reward? I nodded at his words.
“Let’s do that then.”
Swoosh Swoosh Swoosh
A moment later, his spirit seemed to be pulled into the halberd, vanishing. I instinctively sensed that something new had unfolded, but it seemed like it was something I could take care of leisurely, whether in this life or the next.
‘So I need to find the Guan Clan’s descendants…’
After tidying up the fortuitous encounters in Longmen Grottoes, I headed towards Aokigahara Life Sea’s Heart. There, I discovered Cheongwol, who was half-dead, and decided to save her. Though it wasn’t a necessity, I wanted to wrap things up neatly while I was at it.
Afterward, when I tried to return to the location of the Zhuge Temple, I suddenly remembered something and paused. I then pulled out the cursed Muramasa from the wooden armor.
“Is this also…?”
The Azure Dragon Halberd entangled with strong divine aura and a connection to the immortals, which summoned the spirit. Would something similar happen with this cursed blade?
Holding the cursed Muramasa, I quietly concentrated my power and amplified my internal energy.
Wooooo
With my mental strength focused, I brought forth my inner Yin-Yang Heaven Bug, just like when I fought Zhuge Bu. Since the Yin-Yang Heaven Bug and the way I handled demon power were similar, having trained with Miho previously allowed me to apply the Yin-Yang Heaven Bug diversely. During my fight with Zhuge Bu, simply amplifying the Yin-Yang Heaven Bug granted me great resistance to his techniques, making it easy for me to win.
Kugugugu
‘Ugh… this is the real deal.’
It voraciously absorbed my Yin-Yang Heaven Bug and internal energy!
Having never used this before, I was unaware, but it definitely seemed like a special weapon.
And how much had the cursed blade absorbed from my internal energy and Yin-Yang Heaven Bug?
My head suddenly rang loudly.
[Kyahahahahaha!! Hahaha!! Khehehehehe!!]
Along with the uncouth, vulgar laughter, the cursed blade erupted loudly in my mind.
[Puhehehehehe! Uhhahaha! Uwaaaahhh!!]
“……”
[Gaririririrh! Hahahahaha!! I’m not crying!!]
Is this thing laughing or crying?!
I felt a sense of absurdity at the bizarre laughter of the cursed Muramasa. This one certainly had the personality of a demonic weapon, but it felt like proper conversation wouldn’t be possible unlike with the Azure Dragon Halberd.
“Hey… wait a minute…”
[Hahh!! Hahh!! Hahh!! Kyaaaaaaahh!!]
“……”
I feel like it’s gone insane.
It seemed as though a madman was rolling around in my head, making wild sounds. How long had this thing been having a fit? After a while, the cursed Muramasa finally screamed clearly with its own will.
[Kill!! Kill!! Give me blood!! Let’s kill!! Let’s kill together!!]
“Guh.”
[Heheheheh!!!]
And then suddenly, my right arm that was holding the cursed Muramasa came under its control, stretching forward. It felt like it was trying to force my arm to kill something. I sensed that the strength it was exerting to control my body was far stronger than I had expected, and I frowned.
‘Damn… even a seasoned expert would likely have their mind consumed instantly.’
If it could annoy me this much, how would it be for others? I had no intention of giving up control of my body to Muramasa, so I forcefully pushed my Yin-Yang Heaven Bug into my right arm. At that, the cursed Muramasa flinched and relinquished its control over me, seemingly startled for the first time.
[Kyah?!]
“Stop it!”
[Heheheh!! Hhhehh!! Kiitt!!!]
It cowered for a moment, then it went wild again. With no choice, I raised my voice and shouted sternly.
“If you keep this up, I’ll break the blade.”
As I issued a stern warning and this time openly amplified my Yin-Yang Heaven Bug, the cursed Muramasa was startled.
[Hieeee! Eeeek! Krak!]
It reacted as if it had been burned. Once the Yin-Yang Heaven Bug supposedly grew too strong within it, its mind seemed to suffer damage. Moments later, the Muramasa let out a whiny voice.
[Anjoussi… please don’t do that…]
“Eh?”
[What did I do to deserve this… oh, come on… Muramasa hurts…]
“……”
The blade’s sheath rattled.
[Muramasa is dying!! Muramasa is in pain!]
It had a speech pattern that was beyond bizarre. I instinctively felt my expression twist, realizing that this thing’s personality was utterly destructive and chaotic. Wanting to avoid further conversation with Muramasa, I decided to put it back in the wooden armor.
‘This can’t be useful…’
The last time I wielded the cursed Muramasa, it had been fine because I hadn’t infused my internal energy or the Yin-Yang Heaven Bug to such extremes. Perhaps, by fueling it, I awakened the cursed Muramasa’s consciousness?
Thinking that my tasks seemed to have concluded, I returned to Jangryeong Valley. Though there were still issues of acquiring the National Seal and the Fire Dragon Sword ahead of me, they were significant matters, so I felt the need to take a moment to regroup before proceeding calmly. Above all, since I couldn’t obtain the National Seal without Cheon Woo-jin’s help, I needed to consider what price to offer him.
I showed Zhuge Sa everything that had transpired until now using the obsidian. Zhuge Sa, after peering into my memories, sighed and said,
“You used the Nameless Ritual Book just to get one Zhuge Bu? If you use the Nameless Ritual Book well, it’s easy enough to become a king of a nation.”
“Um…”
“I guess that makes sense… so where’s Zhuge Bu? Let’s take a look at him.”
Zhuge Sa looked a little condescending towards my choice, but he didn’t seem to press the issue too much. I scratched my head in embarrassment and pulled Zhuge Bu out from the wooden armor. Zhuge Sa soon glanced over the unconscious Zhuge Bu and spoke.
“Baek Woong. You said you wanted to extract the efficiency of the Nameless Ritual Book from this guy?”
“Yeah.”
“If that’s the case, it’s not impossible.”
“Oh?! Really?!”
I was taken aback. In fact, it was somewhat unsettling for me to offer the Nameless Ritual Book for a duel, so hearing that Zhuge Sa had a way to redeem it surprised me! Zhuge Sa then wore a sinister smile.
“Hehehe… it’s true. There is definitely a way. But you better not complain or babble nonsense if you want to use this method.”
“……”
That felt ominous. I cautiously asked,
“What method are we talking about?”
“Think carefully. This Zhuge Bu fella is a Peak Master and a top-tier sorcerer, but as he is, he’s got no utility. He’s also at strong risk of betrayal, and more importantly, compared to Jin So-cheong or Cheon Woo-jin, his potential is significantly lacking. His innate arrogance blocks his growth.”
Zhuge Sa looked coldly at the fainted Zhuge Bu.
“I’ve known from the beginning that this guy wouldn’t achieve greatness, and he’s the kind that would do anything for his own gain. He’s the type I despise most, which is why I intended to take him down with the Yin-Yang Heaven Bug.”
“… But aren’t you also guilty of that?”
“Khakha. Whatever your personal disposition, interpersonal relationships are a matter of personal taste. This fellow was undeniably annoying.”
Zhuge Sa, who had spilled some loud laughter, continued,
“So the conclusion is simple. He’s useless with his personality and morals intact. Therefore, we need to change that premise.”
“……?”
“After all, he’s your slave, isn’t he?”
Zhuge Sa gripped Zhuge Bu’s head with one hand and smiled brightly.
“Let’s wipe out all the personality in this fool’s head and replace it with a new one. It’s the best method to use a secondhand good as if it were brand new!”