NOVEL NEXT Chapter 622
Chapter 622 – Dark Heaven Village
“I examined Merlin’s spirit closely. Upon further inspection, it appeared to be a high-level technique projecting one’s appearance into another dimension, unlike a typical clone technique, indicating that Merlin might be prepared in case I ambushed him. I stared at Merlin and replied, ‘How did you know my name? I never told you.'”
Then Merlin spoke,
[ Did you not visit a monk named Matteo Ricci recently? ]
‘Don’t tell me he was your subordinate?’
[ He is the eyes and spearhead of the Western Guild operating in the East. Naturally, I had to ask him if he had ever encountered someone like you. ]
‘……’
[ Fortunately for you, you did visit him. ]
According to him, the only things Merlin knew were my name, Baek Woong, and that I traded a Phoenix Fragment. I took a moment to collect my thoughts and replied to Merlin,
“There’s an ancient seal leading to Dark Heaven Village in Luoyang, currently temporarily sealed. I seek a sacred relic or a powerful treasure to break it.”
[ Is that so… Dark Heaven Village… You are also delving into ancient secrets. ]
“I also know about the Old Ruler.”
At my response, Merlin stated,
[ Why did you disturb that seal? And what is your purpose, Baek Woong? ]
“Do I really need to tell you that?”
I replied curtly,
“I have no obligation to share every detail with you. You and I are in an equal transactional relationship, and you must fulfill your promise to provide me with the treasure.”
Merlin’s spirit opened its eyes wide.
[ … You do not trust me. ]
“Isn’t it the same for you?”
At that, Merlin’s spirit smirked.
[ It’s quite curious. There are hardly any human forces that would resist an overwhelming presence like the Old Ruler, yet here we are, at odds with each other… You seem utterly unfazed by their power. ]
What kind of reaction is this from Merlin?
I sensed that he found something ridiculous in the situation. Before I could say anything, Merlin opened his mouth.
[ I can offer you this cursed sword, Hrunting, to close that seal. ]
With a whoosh, a dark longsword appeared in Merlin’s left hand as he handed it over to me. I glanced at the sword called Hrunting and said,
“What if this doesn’t work?”
[ That’s none of my concern, is it? As you said, all I need to do is give you the treasure. Whether it works or not is of no significance to me. ]
“……”
What a stubborn guy. As I pondered, Merlin added,
[ I hope you handle this well. ]
It seemed like Merlin also had a clear sense of give and take; upon my displayed distrust, he ceased to engage further and issued a summoning spell. Suddenly, I remembered something and called out to Merlin.
“Wait a moment!”
[ What is it? ]
“Do you know about the Seven Luminaries? Specifically, the being known as the Golden Eagle?”
Merlin chuckled.
[ Heh. I have no reason to tell you all about myself, do I? ]
“……”
[ A transactional relationship, how nice. Show me the treasure worth offering that information, and then I might consider it. ]
Hearing this, I realized he must have taken offense at my previous remarks. I understood that I had misjudged how to converse with Merlin.
‘This guy won’t give anything to someone he distrusts!’
Even if it was a pure transaction, I had previously held a slightly advantageous position, allowing me some opportunities to extract information. However, Merlin before me was no longer in that position. For some reason, I could sense a wild streak that hinted at him potentially overturning everything if things went south.
‘Damn it. That dragon was right; Merlin is cunning…’
I licked my lips and spoke to Merlin.
“Understood. Then I shall take my leave…”
As I prepared to activate the clone technique to escape, it suddenly failed.
“What?”
Panicking, I checked the technique when Merlin said,
[ You’ve brought demon sorcerers with you. They followed you here and have sealed this location with a barrier. ]
“Damn.”
So from the moment I entered the British Empire, I revealed my presence to them? It seemed they had been waiting for me to come to Camran before trapping me like a mouse. Merlin stared at me with a keen gaze.
[ Odd. You seem to know an awful lot of mysteries, yet you’re thrown into a panic by just one sealed demon artifact? ]
“Can you help me?”
[ Hmmm… You should be careful about your manner of speaking in the future. Even a hideous fellow should at least have a good heart. ]
“Excuse me?”
What did he just say?
I was thrown off by the unexpected insult when Merlin waved his hand.
Whoosh!
In an instant, I found myself in an unknown rural area. Looking around, I realized by the architectural style and the surrounding atmosphere that I was in the Central Plains. Noticing that the nearby farmers spoke in dialects, I deduced it was near Guangdong.
It was an incredible power to teleport me from the British Empire to the countryside of Guangdong in an instant! But aside from Merlin’s abilities, I felt uneasy because of what he had said last.
‘What’s with him? A great sorcerer, yet he’s so foul-tempered?’
If mere words could provoke such a reaction, making an enemy of Merlin could lead to major trouble. Remembering that the higher sorcerers I had met so far had terrible personalities only deepened my gloom.
Despite internally complaining, I headed straight for Cheon Woo-jin. I pleaded,
“Help me!”
After explaining the situation, Cheon Woo-jin’s expression shifted from extreme irritation to a calm one as he said,
“Show me that sword you call a cursed sword.”
“Here it is.”
After receiving the cursed sword Hrunting, Cheon Woo-jin sensed its aura and said,
“It’s indeed a powerful divine sword. It should be sufficient to seal the one in Luoyang.”
Whoosh!
I activated the clone technique and headed underground in Luoyang with Cheon Woo-jin.
Yet this time, something felt off.
‘Huh?’
Instead of Sangwan Hyuk, a woman I had never seen stood at the bottom. She possessed breathtaking beauty, but I felt like I had seen her somewhere before. As soon as I faced her, trying to remember who she was, she spoke.
“So, you must be the one Hyuk spoke of. What purpose do you have for tampering with this passage?”
Hyuk?
I didn’t quite understand what she meant, but she certainly appeared agitated.
‘Oh!’
In an instant, I grasped her identity and calmly replied,
“We haven’t come to fight you. We’ve come to offer this cursed sword as a sacrifice to seal it properly.”
To my surprise, the woman responded incredulously,
“Oh? Then where is the Fire Dragon Sword?”
“……”
Her immediate inquiry about the whereabouts of the Fire Dragon Sword indicated that she certainly knew the context behind the passage and the seal of Dark Heaven Village.
I recognized that face.
Though I had encountered it only once, I knew exactly who she was.
[ Just as Hyuk told me. A person capable of pursuing the Tyrant’s path. ]
[ Yasha. ]
[ Don’t be alarmed. We aren’t here to fight. ]
[ But the existence meant to be a servant of the Evil Spirit awakened too soon, and you receiving a name twisted the entire plan. The Evil Spirit has completely altered the law of cause and effect, and is now poised for war against the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors. This is a significant issue for us, prompting me to seek you out. ]
I remembered the words of the Balhae Emperor about how they perished as a result of the divine treasure Earth Star’s Eight Trigrams Diagram running rampant.
[ The Khitan were strong, but they could never have brought our downfall. ]
[ Someone stole the Eight Trigrams Diagram. ]
[ That person introduced herself as Sang Gwanwna… That witch stole the Eight Trigrams Diagram and provoked the Dragon Veins, causing the volcano to erupt, leaving us with no choice but to abandon the capital. Thus we fell to the subsequent invasion of the Khitan… ]
[ It’s as unjust as it is regrettable… If that witch had been absent… That cursed Sang Gwanwna… ]
The Eight Parts of the Divine Yasha!
Simultaneously, she was the witch Sang Gwanwna, who had operated under Empress Wu Zetian during the Tang Dynasty and led Balhae to its demise!
Does that mean that when she referred to Hyuk, she was talking about Sangwan Hyuk, the current Five Great Physicians and a demon sorcerer? Calling him by a childhood name suggests she might have some ancestral connection to him.
This was turning into a huge deal out of nowhere.
At this moment, to clash with someone of the caliber of the Eight Parts of the Divine, each possessing the strength of a demon king, was unfathomable!
‘Can I possibly win…?’
I truly had no idea. Even standing before Sang Gwanwna, I felt no aura of spiritual divinity that typically accompanied beings transcending humanity, nor did I sense the slightest trace of demon ki. In fact, she hosted an ordinary energy that wouldn’t normally elicit defensive measures from me.
I recalled what Yorgahn, the head monk of the Briar Temple, once said:
[ Changqie rarely reveals its avatar, much like the Sea God you defeated… They traverse from the darkest to the brightest corners of this world like it’s their home… They understand humans better than anyone, and can manipulate everything… ]
[ Changqie does not seek to confront power with power… They are the most cunning existence… Unbeknownst to you, you too may be ensnared and controlled by Changqie’s machinations… ]
[ According to our Briar Temple texts, the Eight Parts of the Divine all possess transformation abilities and divine powers. ]
[ As previously mentioned, the Eight Parts of the Divine can transform into countless appearances, rent amongst the human realm, infiltrating as ordinary travelers, temptresses, officials, monks, or martial artists… They have secretly operated within human society for thousands of years, feeding Changqie information. ]
Just as Yorgahn had said, a member of the Eight Parts of the Divine appeared right in front of me, utilizing a skill so masterful that I wouldn’t have recognized her without the help of past life experiences. Fortunately, Cheon Woo-jin had accepted my obsidian, making it easy for him to recognize her face.
‘No, thinking back, it was the same with Geol-seon.’
Even though Geol-seon was among the Three Great Masters of the Orthodox Sect, nobody suspected him as a member of the Eight Parts of the Divine until he revealed his identity.
They seemed to have much more advanced disguise techniques than the ordinary transformations seen in otherworldly races or monsters.
I glanced at Cheon Woo-jin. If he and I teamed up now, we might at least be able to withstand an attack from the Master of the White Lotus Sect. But the Eight Parts of the Divine are likely stronger than the Master of the White Lotus Sect, which made anything regarding victory utterly dim.
When we remained silent, Sang Gwanwna spoke with a tone of boredom,
“You possess the Fire Dragon Sword. Now that I understand your sincere intentions to keep the seal, shall we reach an agreement if you hand over the Fire Dragon Sword?”
Under normal circumstances, I would have scoffed. But knowing the presence before me was a member of the Eight Parts of the Divine forced the gravity of those words onto me.
What should I do?
Simply running away would be the best move, but since I was unsure of what abilities Yasha held, trying to escape would be a risky endeavor that might lead to an error. When I attempt to break away with my back turned, it is the weakest moment, making escape decisions challenging.
If I carelessly activated the clone technique or the teleportation skill and got caught, that would truly be the end of my tale. The opponent was from the Eight Parts of the Divine, after all, and they might easily match my speed with their own methods.
‘Damn it… I can’t give up something as precious as the Fire Dragon Sword.’
Grinding my teeth, I resolved to make the best choice available to me.
Hooosh!
Unbelievable power and spirit enveloped me. Soon, the being descending upon me pointed their sword at Sang Gwanwna and declared,
[ You, while being of non-human origin, do not appear wicked. Depart from this place! ]
To that, Sang Gwanwna looked taken aback.
“Yeodong-bin? It’s been a while.”
[ What did you just say? ]
Sang Gwanwna chuckled.
Whoosh…
A massive scythe materialized in one hand, which she grasped. Sang Gwanwna—the Yasha from the Eight Parts of the Divine—began to address Yeodong-bin as if meeting an old friend.
“It seems the orphan who rolled through the battlefield, risking his life in Wolf Tiger Valley, has now become a Sword Master.”
[ …… ]
Yeodong-bin’s complicated emotions flowed into me as I remained possessed. It seemed that with those words, Yeodong-bin recognized his opponent’s true identity. Yet, rather than immediately retorting, he chose to maintain silence as if to gather himself. But the Yasha from the Eight Parts of the Divine spoke,
“Have you sufficiently mastered the Overlord’s sword technique? A thousand years have passed since then, so can you finally match me?”
Swish…
At this moment, Sword Master Yeodong-bin was fusing his sword arts with an urgency like none before. The emotions he now radiated felt less like anger and more like focus, a fierce determination to win against a worthy opponent.
[ The Heavenly Escape Sword Technique is no longer the Overlord’s! ]
“Then what is it?”
Yeodong-bin yelled, signaling the commencement of battle.
[ I shall now show you, the witch Sang Gwanwna! ]