Reincarnated Swordmaster

Chapter Title: Heavenly Realm

I returned to the Central Plains and went to find Shangguan Hyuk. Before meeting the Sect Leader, I wanted to settle things with him first. The fact that confronting the Sect Leader was a life-risking gamble also played a part in this decision.

"Baek Woong, I sense an enormous amount of spiritual power from you."

Grand Sorcerer Shangguan Hyuk was in the Shangguan Family's grand hall on the third floor. The moment he saw me, he let out an exclamation, and I looked at him with impassive eyes. Then I took out the fragment of the Ten Precepts Stele from my bosom and showed it to him.

"This should be enough, right?"

"Ooh...!!"

Shangguan Hyuk reached out his hand, but I quickly pulled mine back without giving it to him. And I said coldly,

"Let's confirm the terms of the exchange."

"Indeed. If you hand that over to me, I'll tell you everything about liberating the Chil-yo for certain."

I glared at him and said,

"I went through tremendous hardship and effort to obtain this fragment. So if I'm handing over a treasure of pae grade to you, I deserve to know what you plan to do with it."

Shangguan Hyuk's face clouded over.

"Do you really need to know that?"

"Ah, no need. In that case, this deal is off."

I pushed hard on purpose. The truth was, I already knew about the Chil-yo liberation, so I didn't really need to make a deal with Shangguan Hyuk—that was my ace in the hole. Seeing no hint of wavering in my expression, he let out a groan.

"Give me a moment to think."

"Sure."

Shangguan Hyuk stood there pondering for a long while before seeming to make up his mind and speaking,

"Very well. I'll tell you. The reason I need the pae is to strengthen the seal."

"Seal?"

"Yes. It's karma my family has borne since ancient times..."

He let out a short sigh and turned his back.

"Follow me, Baek Woong, Dharma Protector Lion of the Thunder God Style."

I followed him down to the lower levels of the Shangguan Family's grand hall. On the first floor, he entered a secret room and pressed a button on some mechanism. Soon, with mechanical sounds, the entire room rumbled and moved. Then came the sound of one room descending wholly underground.

After a short while, we arrived underground, and the door of the mechanism opened. It seemed to be a unique device for moving underground. The basement was a brightly lit cavern, and it was incredibly vast.

'No signs of life.'

Unidentifiable, sinister shamanistic patterns were engraved everywhere. The demonic power emanating from all around made it clear this was the base of a demonic sorcerer. Moments later, following Shangguan Hyuk, I spotted a massive spiral mechanism swirling around.

Chikiking

Ching

With eerie sounds, a darkness about three zhang in size pulsed like a heart, floating in midair. The darkness emitted a faint glow, and around it, dozens or hundreds of mechanical devices moved in spirals without cease. It was as if the machines were dancing around the darkness, powered by some infinite energy source.

Light formed barriers like disks in the air, and rainbow-hued flashes occasionally created swirling vortices.

I looked at the mechanism and said,

"What is this? Can human technology create something like that?"

Shangguan Hyuk gave a wry smile and replied,

"It was made a thousand years ago, during the era of the Ten Thousand Halls. Of course, as you guessed, it's not human technology..."

"I don't get it. A seal...? What exactly is sealed here?"

"......"

He hesitated a bit before opening his mouth.

"What is sealed inside is a scar from the past. As the head of the Shangguan Family, I have the duty to maintain this seal on that torn wound. But this seal has its limits, so it requires additional reinforcement."

Shangguan Hyuk seemed to be skirting around a direct explanation. Even if I pressed him right then, he probably wouldn't say, so I thought it over and said,

"If I don't give you the pae, will this seal break soon?"

When I probed, Shangguan Hyuk responded,

"Not quite. But with the pae, I could maintain the seal stably for at least another two hundred years."

"Hmm. If you don't clearly explain what it's sealing, I won't give you the pae."

"Urgh... Do you really have to know?"

"Of course. The pae alone would greatly enhance my sorcery—handing such a precious treasure over for some dubious seal? I can't do that without knowing at least what it's for."

Shangguan Hyuk gritted his teeth and said,

"...You must promise never to speak of what you learn here to the outside."

"Naturally."

"This seal is a rift in space-time born from the aftermath of the ritual a thousand years ago. A massive deity was newly created, tearing the dimension apart, and demonic power spread across the world, giving birth to powerful yokai."

He let out a deep sigh.

"If this seal breaks, disaster strikes. No one wants that rift to open. That's why I'm borrowing the pae's power to reinforce it."

"Hmm."

A rift?

As I tilted my head, Zhuge-sa spoke from within.

[He's telling the truth. Just hand over the fragment.]

[Zhuge-sa, do you know something?]

[I have my suspicions, but it's not worth dwelling on now. Give it quickly.]

[Got it.]

I handed the Ten Precepts Stele fragment to Shangguan Hyuk. He took it, a smile spreading across his face. And he said,

"Thank you. This is definitely a pae with great power."

"No need for thanks. It's a deal, right? Now tell me about the Chil-yo liberation."

"Understood. But first..."

As soon as he finished speaking, Shangguan Hyuk took the fragment and chanted a spell. After fully reciting it, he tossed the Ten Precepts Stele fragment straight into the seal.

Kugugugu!!

Then the writhing darkness in the spiral mechanism suddenly shrank dramatically. It had been three zhang in size, but now it was down to one. It seemed the seal's strengthening had weakened the darkness's power as well. Shangguan Hyuk sighed and said,

"With this, I've fulfilled my duty for this generation!"

"Now tell me about the Chil-yo liberation."

"Let's go back up first."

Kugung...

I rode the mechanism back to the surface with Shangguan Hyuk. We sat in the upper levels of the grand hall, gazing at Luoyang's cityscape. Shangguan Hyuk brought tea, placed it on the table, and opened his mouth.

"Baek Woong. Do you know there are two ways to liberate the Chil-yo?"

"Not in detail."

I actually knew, but I wanted to hear it properly from him. Shangguan Hyuk nodded, took a sip of tea, and said,

"One is accumulating power in the Chil-yo through slaughter until the seal breaks. But that weakens the [Ancient Ruler] contracted with the Chil-yo too, so the human soul gets devoured entirely. It's a trap."

"And the other?"

"First obtain permission from the Heavenly Realm to gain authority over the ritual, then summon the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors and get recognized as the Chil-yo's master by them for liberation. This way, the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors suppress the [Ancient Ruler], allowing safe mastery of the Chil-yo."

"......"

"The ritual is a ceremony invoking divine beings like the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors from the altars of the Five Sacred Peaks."

It didn't differ much from what I knew.

'Was this all for nothing?'

As I felt inwardly disappointed, Shangguan Hyuk continued.

"You're wondering why the ritual is necessary for obtaining the Chil-yo. It's said Emperor Qin Shi Huang was the first to perform it."

"Yes. Why was the ritual even created?"

"There's an ancient secret to it."

Shangguan Hyuk said.

"Think about it—from the gods' perspective, the ritual isn't really necessary. It's a chance to receive offerings from humans, but they could take it or leave it. They don't need worship from humans. Yet they enter contracts with humans to grant their wishes—there's a reason."

"Huh...?"

"It's because Emperor Huang, Gongsun Yuan, likes humans."

This was a perspective even Mangyang-heung hadn't mentioned. I recalled the information Mangyang-heung had given me about the ritual in the past.

[Think about it. Why did the ancients from thousands of years ago map the Nine Provinces—embracing even the Four Barbarians beyond Zhonghua—to the constellations?]

[The domains defined in the Nine Provinces were the terrestrial domains and territories assigned to the primordial [Ancient Rulers]. Within them, they truly acted as gods, ruling the earliest humans through a dark mythology. This is another secret the Heavenly Realm hides from earthly humans. They had no choice but to know of the [Ancient Rulers] they so desperately conceal.]

[Obtaining dominion over the Nine Provinces and heavenly fortune through the ritual means becoming the master of the world and the high priest bridging gods and humans.]

[Sacrificing humans en masse to the [Ancient Rulers] as fodder in exchange for world peace, while gaining immortality and power... No wonder Qin Shi Huang and later emperors were desperate for it.]

Mangyang-heung was right. He'd explained most of the background for offering to gods via the ritual to gain power, so I hadn't thought beyond that. From my position hostile to the [Ancient Rulers], it ended with me cursing them inwardly as bastards.

But why mention Emperor Huang? This seemed to discuss why the gods 'accepted' the ritual, differing from Mangyang-heung's view.

I felt bewildered.

Grand Sorcerer Shangguan Hyuk—one of the Five Great Sorcerers, a demonic sorcerer, and head of the Shangguan Family!

What on earth was this man thinking?

I looked at him suspiciously.

"I can't believe it. First, how do you know so much about the Chil-yo in such detail?"

"......"

When I pressed him, Shangguan Hyuk replied calmly.

"Because I'm the head of the Shangguan Family."

"What do you mean?"

"A thousand years ago, it was our founder, Lady Shangguan Wana, who assisted Empress Wu Zetian in performing the ritual. My family presided over the ceremony to make humans into gods and has passed down its secrets for a millennium, so we know more about the ritual and Chil-yo than anyone."

Then Shangguan Hyuk continued.

"The human world persists because the Emperor wills it, and the Heavenly Realm grudgingly accepts the contradictory ritual. Changhil, the Emperor's confidant, devised that system."

"System?"

"So if you, as the Chil-yo's master, want to fundamentally change the ritual..."

Shangguan Hyuk's eyes gleamed.

"You must investigate and approach the Emperor and Changhil."

I replied curtly.

"Why do you think I want to change the ritual?"

"Ah... I would."

Shangguan Hyuk smiled bitterly.

"From my youth, inheriting the family's knowledge and pondering for decades... Finding each Chil-yo one by one and getting Heavenly Realm permission to liberate them—how inefficient and difficult. The Heavenly Realm finds it a hassle too, yet everyone leaves it be as an 'ancient rite.'"

"Hmm."

I hadn't thought of it that way. Then Shangguan Hyuk said.

"In my view, to liberate the Chil-yo simply, you must find Changhil first. He's the one who proposed and established the ritual."

"Isn't Changhil a deity right below the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors? Where and how am I supposed to find him?"

My retort was perfectly reasonable. Shangguan Hyuk said.

"Baek Woong. Have you heard the ancient tale of when Changhil invented writing?"

"What's that got to do with anything?"

"The moment writing was invented, all humans wailed in grief, ghosts shuddered in fear, and heavenly calamities struck. Creating writing was no auspicious event—it was an ominous calamity. And Changhil succeeded in becoming the Emperor's top confidant through that 'merit.'"

"Hmm."

"It's proof he was the incarnation of insatiable ambition for power."

Shangguan Hyuk continued calmly.

"He bears the epithet Historiarch and is a singular being who rose from human to deity. Thus, our founder Lady Shangguan Wana was convinced Changhil still sends his avatars to the human world to spy continuously. For him, the current Zhonghua world is no different from his artistic masterpiece."

I replied in absurdity.

"What god acts like that? When they should be aloofly overlooking from the Heavenly Realm..."

"I don't know either. Anyway, the Shangguan Family's conclusion for simplifying the ritual is to contact Changhil's avatar and adjust the process. The current stifling system makes it impossible."

I listened a bit more from Shangguan Hyuk about the Chil-yo and ritual, then left. My mind was a mess, so I climbed a nearby wild mountain to feel the quiet, and Zhuge-sa spoke to me.

[It's not without gains.]

It was a deserted mountain, so I muttered.

"Finding Changhil's avatar? Sounds too outlandish."

[I don't know either.]

"You not knowing something—now that's rare."

Zhuge-sa said firmly.

[Ancient secrets and correlations among Daoist deities aren't my specialty. It involves incredibly complex inferences requiring vast reading and research skills. You'll have to find someone else who can figure it out.]

In that moment, one person came to mind. I said aloud.

"Mangyang-heung."

[Yeah, only that guy. No one else could decipher super-ancient oracle bone script just from book knowledge.]

I suddenly missed Mangyang-heung. It hadn't been long since we parted, but his absence was starting to feel real. If I could get advice from him alongside Zhuge-sa, would it be much better? But Mangyang-heung was in secluded training to build his power, so I couldn't see him now.

I dusted myself off and stood.

"Alright. I've sorted my thoughts."

[Man, it took you forever just to get your head straight. That scared of dying?]

"Well, even if I die, no regrets."

[Kekeke...]

Zhuge-sa mocked me, but I ignored it. And I looked up at the sky.

"Now I need to test if my words will get through to the Sect Leader."

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