NOVEL NEXT Chapter 699
Chapter 699: Dark Heaven Village
The moment they charged at Zhuyong, the Celestial Sage Tripitaka was engulfed in worry instead of excitement.
Is this really the right move?
However, the bonds forged among the Eight Parts of the Divine wouldn’t easily allow them to turn their backs and flee. Even if the odds were low, there was a vague hope that Zhuyong wouldn’t appear with a proper Law of Cause and Effect.
“Let’s hold out for the long game.”
In any case, if they scattered and fled, the risk of total annihilation was high. Instead, they decided to gather their strength and drag things out, inducing Zhuyong to deplete his Cause and Effect.
Garuda, who had witnessed the Thief Gang being mercilessly devoured, roared:
[How dare you!! Eat this instead!!]
Kuuoooh!
As Garuda took a deep breath, his chest swelled doubly, and in the next moment, a beam of light shot forth from his mouth.
Divine Flame!
[Ooooo…!! Not bad.]
Realizing he couldn’t disregard Garuda’s Divine Flame, Zhuyong raised his hand and summoned a blue barrier. When the blue barrier collided with the Divine Flame’s pillar, a tremendous explosion erupted, spreading blinding light infinitely. The radius of thirty miles was engulfed in scorching heat, carving deep pits into the ground.
Kukwaaaang!
A mushroom cloud billowed above Divine City, heralding a tragedy on the surface. As everything flew away from the shock of the explosion, Garuda caught sight of a blue flame soaring through the dust clouds.
“That’s nothing!”
Kwaaang!!
Garuda unleashed another Divine Flame, clashing it with the blue flame. However, unlike before, they didn’t cancel each other out; the flames writhed like serpents, beginning to coil around Garuda’s body.
Shishishish!
[Argh!]
Garuda screamed as the Divine Flame erupted from his body, but by then, the blue flames had already sliced through him like a thorny whip. As blood gushed from every part of his body, Zhuyong’s laughter echoed through the hall.
[Alright, I’ve decided. I’ll keep you alive as my pet, Garuda.]
[Argh!! Don’t get cocky.]
Ding ding!
Garuda attempted to charge in, but Mahuraga’s tune calmed him down. As Garuda flinched and halted, Mahuraga quietly spoke to him.
[Garuda, only your Divine Flame can consume Zhuyong. We must support you for even a minimum chance of victory.]
[Ugh.]
[If you fall, there’s no way to win. We’ll end up eaten like the Thief Gang. Stay calm.]
[I got it.]
Finally, the three of the Eight Parts of the Divine formed a line and took careful breaths, causing Zhuyong to frown. Despite being weaker than him, it wouldn’t be easy to deal with them in such a defensive formation.
The Celestial Sage Tripitaka spoke.
[Zhuyong, what do you seek to summon to the surface?]
[You have a strong desire to see your master’s face, don’t you?]
Zhuyong narrowed his eyes as he continued.
[If I kill them one by one, you’ll show up…?]
A chilling killing intent hung in the air.
The Celestial replied calmly.
[How long do you think a summoning using a single human sorcerer will last? You should worry about your own future.]
[Heh. You’re worry-prone, aren’t you?]
Zhuyong chuckled and suddenly stretched his hands towards the sky.
[Jeon Wook! Lend me your strength!]
Paaaah!!
A beam of light burst through a black X opening in the void, shining down on Zhuyong. Simultaneously, the Eight Parts of the Divine noticed that the Cause and Effect bestowed upon Zhuyong had significantly increased. They could detect such changes due to their innate abilities.
[…!!]
[The limit of Cause and Effect!]
The Eight Parts of the Divine were aghast. Zhuyong said,
[The Sovereign Jeon Wook has a keen interest in this matter. Especially after that guy mentioned the Seven Luminaries, he consented to bear the loss and handle the Cause and Effect.]
[Ugh… This is insane.]
[Now, go ahead and speak.]
Zhuyong said this grandly, as though he was granting a favor.
“If you have the Seven Luminaries, bring them out. If not, tell me their whereabouts.”
[What if I can’t say?]
[Heh…]
Zhuyong merely smiled coldly. It was ominous enough to suggest that a horrific outcome awaited.
Thinking of the Thief Gang that had just been devoured, the Eight Parts of the Divine felt heavy-hearted but didn’t give up.
The Celestial shouted,
[Don’t underestimate us!!]
It seemed he intended to fight, no matter the outcome. The odds were slim, and they would probably suffer at Zhuyong’s hands, but they didn’t mind.
Kukwaaaang!
Moments later, the clash between the Eight Parts of the Divine and Zhuyong ignited Divine City. The Celestial recited incantations while Mahuraga assisted with melody, and Garuda attacked Zhuyong. Throughout, Zhuyong casually deflected the attacks from the Eight Parts, but as the intensity of their assaults increased, he appeared more pressured.
[Ugh…]
Had he underestimated them?
Zhuyong realized Garuda’s striking power exceeded his expectations. Perhaps the surge of emotions was affecting his strength, as the flames he sent out were far more ferocious than before. While he was a flame giant, he wouldn’t suffer significant damage from the Divine Flame directly, yet his pride seemed injured.
Zhuyong’s eyes glimmered.
[Don’t you dare try me. I know all your weaknesses.]
Zuooh!
Slowly, an ancient curse slipped from his lips. It was a sound that human vocal cords could never produce. At the same time, immense magical power erupted violently from Zhuyong.
[No!]
[Stop it!]
The Eight Parts of the Divine gasped in shock and intensified their joint assault, but it was already too late. As the curse rang out, bizarre characters numbering in the millions floated into the air, surrounding them, causing the Eight Parts to stagger.
[Ugh…]
[Uuuh.]
Mahuraga appeared to be mentally shaken, dropping his instrument, while Garuda lowered his head in agony. The Celestial also froze, halting the incantations he had been building. With the Eight Parts disbanded instantly, Zhuyong roared with laughter.
[Hahaha!! Praise Emperor Gong Sun Xuanwen.]
[This is ridiculous… no matter the First Character… if we were united…]
The Celestial muttered angrily, but the situation was beyond redemption.
With their power halved by just one curse, the Eight Parts no longer had the strength to defeat Zhuyong. The one who knew this best was Zhuyong himself, so he didn’t rush and simply flashed a cunning smile.
[The Ten Thousand Ghosts Palace was dreadfully boring; it’s nice to have some fun again.]
Zhuyong swung a whip enwrapped in blue flame.
[Let’s enjoy this.]
Zhuge Sha observed the battle between the Eight Parts of the Divine and Zhuyong through his sorcery.
‘The First Character.’
The first character of the world created by Changhil.
A character crafted by Emperor Gong Sun Xuanwen to serve as evidence of “Promise.”
Zhuge Sha already knew that this was the weakness of the Eight Parts of the Divine from Baek Woong’s past life experience. However, since it was a character dedicated directly to Emperor Gong Sun Xuanwen upon its creation, even the Great Race could not collect it. Thus, they had no choice but to clash against Zhuyong with sheer force.
But Zhuyong knew how to utilize that First Character.
That’s why, despite the disparity in power between him and the incarnate Demon King, Zhuyong could overwhelmingly suppress the Eight Parts of the Divine.
‘Just as I expected.’
Zhuge Sha had somewhat anticipated this situation from the moment Zhuyong was recommended as the exterminator of the Eight Parts during the Ten Thousand Ghosts Palace. No matter how strong any of the Eight Parts were, they were far too relaxed against an existence of the Demon King level.
Taking into account the balance of power, regardless of how strong Zhuyong might be, he should have been tense under the limitations of Cause and Effect.
Therefore, Zhuge Sha had made one assumption.
Zhuyong knows the First Character, the greatest weakness of the Eight Parts of the Divine.
This is precisely why Jeon Wook faced no hesitation in sending Zhuyong alone, and why Zhuyong believed he could effortlessly wipe out the Eight Parts.
There was no concrete evidence, but the circumstances were sufficient for such a judgment.
However, Zhuge Sha, while borrowing the summoning sorcery from Zhuyong, had no intention of using it to obliterate the Eight Parts of the Divine in one go. After all, defeating the Eight Parts of the Divine wouldn’t yield any practical advantage for Baek Woong and his companions.
And from the moment he confirmed that there was no trust whatsoever with the Master of the White Lotus Sect and the Master of the Twelve Joules during their meeting, everything fell into place for mutual destruction.
The operation for mutual destruction was based on the assumption that Zhuyong could independently crush the Eight Parts of the Divine. After all, Baek Woong’s group was equally under scrutiny by Changhil, and even if they disrupted the White Lotus Sect and the Twelve Joules, the Eight Parts would hardly look kindly upon them. They were enemies that had to be defeated in any case.
If at any point during the Ten Thousand Ghosts Palace Jeon Wook had failed to provide a definitive answer, Zhuge Sha might have exerted all his efforts to join forces with the Twelve Joules and the White Lotus Sect. However, given the ample power Jeon Wook had given him, he had no hesitation in betraying them to secure his own benefit first.
But in this case, one more question remained.
Why does Zhuyong know the First Character?
That was a tribute directly given to the emperor by Changhil!
The only ones who should know this are the emperor and the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors. Furthermore, although Zhuyong was a substitute, he didn’t fit into that lineage. So did someone among the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors reveal the First Character to Zhuyong?
Zhuge Sha held a strong suspicion it might be Jeon Wook, but he couldn’t ascertain that either. This was due to the hidden secrets of the Divine Age, deeply intertwined with the ancient history of the Chiyou Giant Race, and he had no idea what had transpired.
“…”
It wasn’t a state in which he could ask himself right now. While Zhuge Sha was deeply engrossed in calculations, he noticed a scruffy-haired young man standing and sighed in relief.
“Great skills, indeed. Did you come out of that chaos unscathed?”
Jin So-cheong, who had followed Zhuge Sha to provide protection, stood unharmed. It seemed he had successfully defended himself amidst the turmoil of immense beings clashing. Zhuge Sha wondered if Jin So-cheong had become even stronger. After all, no matter how extraordinary the Absolute Realm might be, it was strange that he remained unharmed under dozens of explosive magical bursts.
‘That kid’s talent isn’t human-like at all.’
Zhuge Sha was a genius recognized by all and had seen many prodigies and masters throughout his life, yet Jin So-cheong stood as a paragon among them. Most notably, he had never met anyone else who possessed the nonsensical talent of gaining enlightenment through battle other than Jin So-cheong.
At that moment, a thought struck Zhuge Sha.
He strongly felt a spark of determination in Jin So-cheong’s eyes.
Could it be that Jin So-cheong…
His true aim is—
“Couldn’t be.”
However, Zhuge Sha’s intuition turned out to be right, as moments later, he felt the invisible tension arising and could not help but spring up from his seat. He yelled at Jin So-cheong, even though he didn’t hear him.
“Jin So-cheong!! Where are you going?!”
No response.
In the eyes of the summoned beasts, only the back of the scruffy-haired young man, now wielding a spear, was visible as he approached the towering beings.
“Stop this instant! Come back!! You blasted fool!”
Zhuge Sha faced a level of confusion rare in his life upon encountering this unpredicted variable after executing the plan. Although outwardly he usually feigned surprise while remaining rational, this time was different. Something truly outside the bounds of common sense was unfolding, causing him to lose his composure.
Finally, after walking steadily, Jin So-cheong seemed to find the summoned beast and stood before it.
“I found a clue. And right now is the opportunity… I must grow stronger.”
He couldn’t convey his intentions through the summoned beast.
Perhaps if Zhuge Sha’s magical energy were full, it might have been possible, but now, in a state of severe depletion with hardly any chances left for reinforcement, it was impossible. Zhuge Sha could only remain dumbfounded, sitting in the hideout as he listened to Jin So-cheong’s words.
“If I survive, I’ll see you again.”
With a rush of wind, Jin So-cheong activated the Thunder Spirit Technique and flew off to an unknown destination. The beam of light headed towards the battlefield where the Demon God Zhuyong was locked in conflict with the Eight Parts of the Divine.
Thud.
In that moment, Zhuge Sha felt the focus of his mind slip away as the vision of the summoned beast was severed.
Until now, despite the immense illusions almost causing his mind to shatter, he had maintained concentration to keep his vision, but after receiving such a significant psychological shock, he couldn’t hold on any longer. Zhuge Sha gasped in the darkness where nothing was visible, muttering to himself.
“What… the hell… does he think that he can do? Does he really think he can?”
Zhuge Sha gritted his teeth.
“Crazy bastard!! Come back this instant.”
That’s right.
Jin So-cheong’s real purpose in following Zhuge Sha was not to guard against his summoning ritual.
Enlightenment amidst life-and-death battles!
He had chosen the path of a fighting spirit, improving his understanding of the Absolute Realm in a perilous, gruesome battlefield where he could truly risk his life.