Reincarnation Sword God

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774 ———————————————-

Dark Heaven Village

It felt as if the world was filled with enemies.

The moment Qin Shi Huang let out his roar, it was as if a tsunami of attackers surged towards me, with thousands of swords and spears aiming to take my life. I thought I wouldn’t be able to withstand it with just my martial arts, but at that moment, the Celestial Sage used the Clone Technique.

Whoosh!

In an instant, hundreds of clones of the Celestial Sage sprang forth, each one swinging fists and feet to engage Qin Shi Huang’s army. Needless to say, each of his clones was incredibly strong, so Qin Shi Huang’s forces were overwhelmed, and soon a bloodbath engulfed the battlefield.

The Celestial Sage muttered nonchalantly.

“Swarm tactics are my favorite method. Can’t you figure that out even after fighting me? Fool!”

Swish!

The Celestial Sage rushed in and punched Qin Shi Huang square in the face. It seemed like an easy victory, but in that moment, the Celestial Sage was taken aback.

Drip, drip.

Qin Shi Huang’s body melted into the air as if dissolving in water. To be precise, it seemed to abandon its form entirely, transforming into something made of lines and surfaces. Though the Celestial Sage jumped back, Qin Shi Huang’s figure reappeared once more.

‘What on earth is that?’

I understood it was some kind of invincibility and immortality, but I couldn’t grasp the principle. Both I and the Celestial Sage didn’t know what trick he was using, when a massive army materialized around us again.

Whoosh!

The situation was no different from before.

I started to feel anxious that I would waste time like this. Just then, Zhuge Bu, who was sharing my vision through the Soul Exchange Technique, spoke up.

[He’s melting himself into chaos.]

[What does that mean?]

[The Divine Portrait contains an immense amount of chaos. The amount of chaos he has is several times that of a high-level otherworldly race, yet he’s still able to maintain a human form due to safety measures like the Eight Trigrams and advanced demon path techniques.]

[We don’t have time, so just get to the point!]

[He’s currently deactivating all those ‘safety measures’ to open up the chaos and amplify his power. The reason attacks can’t land is that there’s too much chaos, distorting time, space, and the laws themselves.]

[So he’s getting stronger in this state?]

When I asked this, Zhuge Bu’s shocking reply followed.

[It’s not about getting stronger. He’s returning to chaos, which is a self-destructive action. Soon as the balance of the Eight Trigrams is completely disrupted, he’ll explode. The Divine Portrait is a highly intricate creation, and such behavior can only lead to destruction.]

[……!!]

[This is troublesome. The power of that explosion would annihilate everything in the area.]

I understood what Zhuge Bu meant.

Qin Shi Huang had realized he couldn’t win here and chose to self-destruct!

And according to Zhuge Bu, if we let that happen, we would all be caught in it and suffer great losses, making it impossible to pass the Seven Luminaries trial.

I spoke to the Celestial Sage.

“Sage! That guy’s going to explode by amplifying the chaos!”

“What?! Is there no way to escape?”

“Looking at the scale, I don’t think we can.”

“Damn it! I feel like I’ve experienced this at least fifteen times in my life.”

Grumbling, the Celestial Sage snapped.

“When this happens, the correct answer is to beat him down quickly before he self-destructs!”

Swish, swish, wham!

The Celestial Sage expanded his clones again, aiming to strike him all at once. However, at that moment, Qin’s darkened eyes snapped wide open.

Mara Chanya.

Zhuuu!

It felt like time stopped. But unlike before, I realized time didn’t stop now; rather, it was freezing at an extreme rate. Qin’s mouth slowly opened.

Time Annihilation Sphere.

Simultaneously, several black spheres emerged from the rifts in time and space around us, darting about and attacking the Celestial Sage’s clones. The spheres, called Time Annihilation, pierced through everything as if there was no resistance, and it wasn’t long before the Celestial Sage’s clones were wiped out.

“Cough!”

Even the Celestial Sage himself sustained a nasty injury to his arm and had to retreat. It was no surprise, given that the ability Qin just displayed, the Time Annihilation, was on a whole different level than those attacks he had shown so far. Zhuge Bu’s analysis echoed in my mind.

[Incredible! The guy who was once a fish swimming in water has now become the water itself. His abilities have surpassed mere manipulation of time and space and entered the realm of assimilation. Could it be….]

[Could it be what?]

[…the level of manipulating the Eight Trigrams? For a mere mortal to be able to alter the form of the Eight Trigrams, that’s… a level the designer didn’t even intend!]

Zhuge Bu seemed greatly flustered. Then he spoke to me.

[We can’t rashly engage when we don’t know how much his abilities have developed. As you just saw, the Time Annihilation cannot be blocked by your Protection Energy Technique.]

[But there’s no time! I haven’t broken either Dao King or Nahoo yet!]

[The more urgent, the calmer you must be. If you handle Qin, everything else will fall into place, so focus solely on the task at hand.]

[Got it.]

He was right. Although Qin’s resistance was fiercer than expected and things weren’t going according to plan, it meant that as long as I took him out, there was at least a chance of survival. Regaining my composure, Zhuge Bu issued a command.

[Baek Woong. This is the only answer. Unfold the Eight Trigrams Diagram.]

What?!

At that sudden command, I was left wondering what he meant. I had studied martial arts, but did he really think I could unfold the Eight Trigrams? However, the moment Zhuge Bu’s order was given, I found myself unconsciously chanting a spell and began displaying the technique in the air.

Whoosh!

Before long, the trigrams were summoned around me, slowly extending into the eight directions. I could feel myself standing at the center of the diagram, sensing its changes throughout my entire being.

‘I’m controlling my body with the Soul Exchange Technique to unfold the Eight Trigrams Diagram for me!’

As I was astonished, Zhuge Bu continued with his instructions.

[The fundamental weakness of him is the Divine Blood and the Right Spin of the Pre-Heaven Eight Trigrams. To be precise, when the alien element, the Divine Blood flowing within him, shifts, the Eight Trigrams will move along, and the arrangement will follow the law of the left hand. Do you understand that much?]

[Sure.]

[Okay. I’ll explain the flow of the right rotation of the Eight Trigrams. The River Map counts as the body of time, so the odd Celestial numbers spin clockwise while the even Terrestrial numbers spin counterclockwise. In other words, you need to closely observe the changes in the Terrestrial numbers. When the four trigrams belonging to the Yin aspect shift left, the wave patterns of the Tai Chi shapes of the Three Talents will combine in a circular structure. When you visualize the projected figures in your mind and revert the Four Symbols back to the Two Principles, flip over the central part of the upper and lower halves of the left shift’s parallel movement.]

[…….]

Zhuge Bu spoke with a voice full of confidence.

[If you do this, his powers will be effectively negated and the chaos will scatter. You will definitely be able to kill Qin Shi Huang.]

I had no idea what he was talking about.

I had learned the Eight Trigrams from Mangnyang for several years, yet why couldn’t I understand any of it…

I didn’t exactly not know the terms, but once it turned into advanced theory and application, my head began to spin. Trying to visualize projecting shapes and rearranging the Eight Trigrams in my mind felt like my brain was going to explode.

Then Zhuge Bu realized I wasn’t getting it and yelled.

[Hey! While I can unfold the Eight Trigrams for you, you have to directly observe the changes in the trigrams! It’s not that difficult, so just understand it!]

How is that not difficult!

Inserting the Eight Trigrams into my mind and making them flow dynamically is no easy feat at all!

I internally protested, but there was nothing I could do about the lack of ability right now.

[With, with that said, how can I understand all that without any practice or study?]

[Ugh… I thought you were Hyun.]

He muttered with a tone of disappointment.

[This won’t do. If we can’t confirm the exact weakness, we’ll have to settle for just weakening him… Just simply flip the lower end of the parallel movement when the Eight Trigrams are in motion. It won’t be perfect, but he will weaken as the harmony of the trigrams strengthens, thus we might prevent his self-destruction.]

[Got it.]

Whooooosh—

Standing at the center of the Eight Trigrams Diagram, I carefully observed Qin Shi Huang’s movements. He was glaring at us with his darkened eyes and suddenly seemed to roar, mouth wide open.

Kraaaah!!

It was the moment.

Swoosh!

As the Eight Trigrams activated, it felt like his movements slowed down significantly. More precisely, the effect of being the lord of the Eight Trigrams was allowing me to manipulate the internal space of Qin and act with automatic precision.

Unlike the Time Manipulation of the Divine Portrait, this didn’t allow me to unilaterally attack; it simply gave me unlimited time to rearrange and activate the Eight Trigrams at my leisure. That’s why the Eight Trigrams Diagram is strong against time-stopping ambushes!

The specialized technique for precisely controlling the Eight Trigrams!

I could see Qin Shi Huang’s every movement within the range of the Eight Trigrams transforming into the sigils of the trigrams. Specifically, I no longer saw physical forms beyond myself; everything but me appeared as the Eight Trigrams. As the trigrams’ movements encompassed the world, I could interpret everything through the trigrams, which is the fundamental concept of the Eight Trigrams Diagram.

I needed to read the flow of the trigrams.

Swoosh!

In an instant, the moment Qin made his next move, the entire world of Eight Trigrams started shaking and revolving. That rotation was mechanical and precise, controlled by orderly principles.

As I tried to read the flow of the sigils, I finally secured the position of the parallel movement in my mind.

‘I flip this….’

It was something that could be accomplished with just a flick of my finger. The moment I did that, heaven and earth reversed, and the flow was overturned. I could feel the Divine Blood within Qin’s body writhing violently.

Shwoosh!

As the Eight Trigrams’ effect waned, the world returned to its original state. I watched as Qin Shi Huang suddenly twisted his body and collapsed right there.

“Cough…”

He coughed up blood. However, it wasn’t from any injury I inflicted; it had simply been a pre-existing internal injury. I had merely temporarily sealed his special ability. If I had been able to manipulate the sigils accurately as Zhuge Bu said, I could have finished him in one blow, but it ended up being just weakening him. It seemed as if Qin sensed what I had unfolded with the Eight Trigrams.

“…You’ve prepared thoroughly, haven’t you, Divine Portrait’s creator… Huh… Did that guy make a device to keep me in check…”

“Just admit defeat! You want to die together here, huh?”

“…..”

Qin only smiled wryly. Then, he issued a command to the surrounding army.

[Fight them for all eternity…!!]

Not a command to defeat or kill, but simply to fight.

However, I realized how brutal that was. With some ability, he was maintaining his past army intact in the chaotic sea; if this continued, that army would wander forever, trying to kill us in this trial world.

Grumble…

Qin Shi Huang’s body began to completely melt away. Because the seal of the Eight Trigrams had taken effect, he didn’t explode; he was left with no choice but to choose a path of self-dissolution. Soon, Qin Shi Huang had transformed into a mass of chaos entirely and sunk into the chaos sea. I quickly changed the sigils of the Eight Trigrams to recover the Flame Elemental Sword before it sank.

“……”

What a pitiful end. To die like that without leaving any worthy words behind.

At the same time, I felt a twinge of awe at Qin Shi Huang’s immense obsession with not wanting to lose. A person of that caliber could indeed have dominated the Central China and had ambitions to become the king of the hidden world.

‘Sigh, does this mean I can’t retrieve the Philosopher’s Stone?…’

I sighed and spoke to the Celestial Sage.

“Sage. Use the Clone Technique to grant those guys some peace….”

Just as my magic power had also dwindled, the Eight Trigrams Diagram was released. It was impossible to take out that kind of massive army with just the Eight Trigrams.

“…I can’t.”

“What?”

The Celestial Sage pointed at his empty head.

“I used up a ton of my clones today. If I use them again, I….”

“……”

“I don’t think I can do it since my magic power is nearly spent.”

So, the Clone Technique had such side effects…!!

Whoa!

While I was in shock, the remaining forces of Qin Shi Huang came crashing from all directions. I cut down dozens of soldiers rushing nearby, but that was just a handful; in no time, hordes descended upon me and the Celestial Sage.

Clang! Clatter!

“Damn it! I have no time to waste here!”

Though I took out Qin, I still hadn’t achieved the goal of obtaining the Philosopher’s Stone, wasting precious time. I anxiously glanced at the Celestial Sky of the Celestial Sage, and sure enough, the light was slowly illuminating the Wood Element around it.

If the Golden Crow and Tydaht lit up too, the double stars would become the dragon’s eyes, and that would mean our annihilation.

‘This is such a nuisance!!’

How can I deal with these lowly soldiers and break Nahoo too?

Just then, at that moment of fervent yearning.

[Oh! Finally, the time has come when you need my blessing…. I’ve waited for a long time!]

A majestic voice echoed in my head as if resounding from the heavens.

[As the Military God, I shall bestow the radiant blessing upon you and your companions. The motivations of Tian Shu can stand against tens of thousands of enemies!!]

Zing!!

In that moment, as I cut down a couple of lowly soldiers, I felt time slow to a halt.

“……?!”

I tried again, this time striking down the nearby enemies in swift succession. Time froze once more. Even after I’d slain about five thousand of them, I realized I wasn’t moving at all while the Celestial Sage lamented beside me. Furthermore, every time I slashed an enemy, I felt my physical strength and energy restoring?!

I grasped what this blessing was and was utterly astonished.

‘Incredible!’

Blessing received from Guan Yu, the god of war with a title of the Three Realms Demon-Slaying Great Emperor!

It meant that with every kill of lesser enemies, I could move continuously without the flow of time affecting me!

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