Reincarnated Swordmaster

Chapter Title: Dark Heaven Village

I began gathering the treasures I could collect, just as Zhuge Sa had instructed. Having secured the basic Heavenly Dark Secret Book and the Bi-deng, rounding up the rest was only a matter of time. First, I headed straight to the underground of the Great Thunder Prison with Zhuge Sa. This time too, I battled the Moon Beast while training in the Three Treasures Absolute Art.

Kuuu...

The massive Moon Beast let out a final groan as it collapsed. I entered the cave, retrieved the Neck Armor, Nine Star Origin Scripture, and Twin Swords, then emerged. Zhuge Sa, who had followed me, spoke up.

“Let me take a look. That’s why I came along.”

Zhuge Sa examined the Moon Beast’s corpse for a long while. Then he said,

“This one’s usable.”

“Usable? In what way?”

“Among the Moon Beast species, this one’s the largest there is. Normal ones are at most eight chi tall, but this beast is at least five times that size. That means it harbors an immense amount of demonic power.”

“So that’s why it could unleash such powerful death waves?”

During the fight, it had fired off several death waves. Naturally, Zhuge Sa, watching from behind, had been hit too, but being accustomed to sorcery, he had defended against it without issue. When Zhuge Sa tried to slice into the beast’s sticky hide with a dagger, the slimy mucus made it impossible to cut.

“Hmm... This won’t do as is. It’ll be hard to work with. Can you use your martial arts to skin it for me?”

Looking at the beast’s enormous size, I felt daunted.

“Ugh... You’re telling me to skin this giant thing whole?”

“You can use its hide to craft sorcery tools or offer it in tribute to the [Old Dominator]. It’ll be excellent for making weapons or armor too. Burn the meat since it contains demonic essence.”

“Got it.”

With no choice, I steeled myself for the time it would take and began skinning the beast. When I unleashed sword aura, it parted like tofu, but the sheer size meant it took considerable effort. After two full shichen of nonstop work, I managed to peel off most of the hide.

Piling up the skinned hide in one spot made a mound the size of a small house. Zhuge Sa chuckled.

“Heh heh. Put it in the Neck Armor for now. We can use it later.”

“Alright, then let’s load up Hwang Yeon and the others into the Neck Armor right away...”

“Hold on. I need to check that too.”

“What?”

“Something’s bothering me.”

I went with Zhuge Sa up to the Thunder Prison where Hwang Yeon and the others were confined, rescuing them one by one. As he inspected those who had undergone racial mutation, turning into half-human, half-demon monstrosities, Zhuge Sa muttered,

“It’s the Baleful God’s Blessing, alright.”

Come to think of it, back when we first succeeded in the Great Thunder Prison rescue and brought back the victims, Mangyang the monk had called the curse afflicting them the [Baleful God’s Blessing]. Zhuge Sa must have read that memory of mine and came along to verify it. I recalled Mangyang’s explanation from back then.

[It’s a curse to humans, but that spell is undoubtedly the Baleful God’s Blessing. Unlike other [Old Existences], the Baleful God doesn’t carelessly increase its kin. It keeps their numbers low, but each one is inhumanly powerful. If they fully mutate into the Baleful God’s descendants, they gain immortality and exceptional spellcasting abilities. The would kill for such a blessing.]

A curse to humans, but a blessing to the.

Mulling over those words, I sensed something off and asked Zhuge Sa,

“Zhuge Sa. Doesn’t something feel wrong?”

“Like what?”

“My memory says that fully mutating into the Baleful God’s descendants via the Blessing grants immortality and great spell powers, but these guys just look cursed to death.”

It was true. The victims blessed and mutated couldn’t move on their own; they merely writhed like worms. Their grotesque forms emitted horrific noises, making it impossible to imagine any great powers emerging from them. Zhuge Sa stroked one blessed victim and said,

“Hey, look closely. Even among these, there are different types.”

“......?”

“Weak species like humans can’t withstand such a powerful god’s blessing. Nine out of ten just die or devolve into low-grade... But see these ones whose bodies have turned pitch black?”

It was true. Unlike the other victims, some had skin as black as ink. As I glanced at one, Zhuge Sa gripped its tentacle and grinned.

“These ones endured the blessing. They must have had robust bodies, strong minds, or exceptional talents to begin with. In a few years, they’ll undergo apotheosis and regenerate as the Baleful God’s kin.”

Realizing what he meant, my expression darkened.

“You mean they’ll become high-grade?”

“Yeah. Whoever imprisoned people in this Great Thunder Prison was running an experiment. They saw it as an incubation chamber to breed high-grade obedient to their commands.”

“......!!!”

After a moment’s thought, I replied,

“Zhoque Zhuge Yuryong!”

“What else? Brother’s got some twisted hobbies.”

“Hmm... But what does that matter now? Should we kill them before they hatch into the Baleful God’s kin?”

When I voiced my doubt, Zhuge Sa shook his head.

“Nah. They’ve gone to the trouble of running this sorcery experiment—might as well reap the benefits ourselves.”

“Hatch the Baleful God’s offspring?”

“Exactly. Create a legion of that obeys your commands...”

“......”

After pondering, I countered,

“You said high-grade—how strong are the Baleful God’s descendants exactly?”

“Very strong. The gap with humans is vast.”

“Hmm.”

“Well, to explain it simply to a guy like you with little sorcery knowledge, maybe use an analogy.”

Zhuge Sa chuckled and drew a triangular diagram on the ground with a stick. He drew a line along the large base at the bottom and said,

“If you look at the distribution of species across the entire world, the lowest rung of the food chain holds plants, animals, microbes—everything inferior to humans. Next come humans.”

Screech.

Zhuge Sa drew another line and wrote “인간” on it. My expression soured.

“Barely scraping above the bottom... Humans are that low?”

Zhuge Sa smirked.

“Humans were created by the [Old Existences] as food and pets—a inferior subspecies. Your technology is primitive; you can’t even leave the planet. Your bodies are frail. Your innate spiritual and demonic power is rock bottom... Humans are weak, dumb trash. Born losers, eternal punching bags.”

“......”

“There are countless stronger than humans. Even Night Gaunts or Ghouls outclass them. Around the middle-upper levels, you have things like the Moon Beasts you just slew or Serpentfolk.”

Screech.

Pointing to the line just below the apex, Zhuge Sa continued,

“From about here, we start calling them high-grade, including the [Great Race] and [Baleful God’s Descendants]. Among thousands or millions of, these are the elite. They possess science and magic that trivially surpass humans; they roam planets and even galaxies.”

“Who’s at the very top of the triangle?”

“You asking when you know? Obviously the [Old Dominators] or their avatars.”

“I see.”

Finishing his explanation, Zhuge Sa released the victim’s tentacle and said,

“Use these well, and you could build an elite guard of high-grade loyal only to you. What do you say?”

“Not interested.”

“High-grade have growth ceilings worlds apart from humans. A little training, and the apotheosized ones will wield insane superpowers and magic.”

Zhuge Sa seemed to be persuading me, but I shook my head firmly.

“They’re humans. I can’t use them as war machines! What I want isn’t how to turn them into monsters—it’s how to turn them back into humans.”

“Tch... Throwing away another chance. Knew you were that kind of guy, though.”

Sighing, Zhuge Sa dusted himself off and stood.

“Mangyang already gave the method for that. I don’t think there’s better.”

“As expected.”

“If there were a surefire way, just slay the source of the spell—the Baleful God itself. Heh heh.”

That’s impossible right now. But I won’t give up!

Someday, even the Baleful God will fall to me, I vowed inwardly, then asked Zhuge Sa,

“Zhuge Sa. What exactly is this Baleful God?”

“An [Old Dominator].”

“That’s not what I mean. It’s one that elevates R’lyeh to destroy humanity, so is it particularly powerful among the [Old Dominators]?”

“Hoh, you guessed it right on instinct. Spot on.”

Zhuge Sa sat on a nearby rock and said,

“That being... From what I know, it could freely traverse from one world to another through the heavens. Not like sorcerers hopping dimensions—it crossed the universe’s vast folds, navigating infinite spacetime.”

“......”

“It’s also Yog-Sothoth’s grandson and Nug’s descendant, direct chaos lineage. Among existing [Old Dominators], it’s seen as closest to the Outer Gods. Terrifyingly powerful, no doubt.”

Irritated, I snapped,

“Why bother rising from the ocean to wipe out humanity? It could just stay put.”

“If ants built an anthill next to you while you’re sleeping, would you need a reason to smash it? Wouldn’t you just because it’s annoying?”

“Kugh...”

“That’s how it is. To gods, humans are specks of dust.”

I shook my head.

“No more business here. Let’s move.”

“Do what you want.”

Paat!

Next, I went to the Blood Path Group stronghold and began slaughtering them all. Once I wiped out the Blood Path Group, Zhuge Sa said,

“From now on, maybe leave a few alive? For human sacrifices.”

“Better to kill them clean. Dealing with them is more hassle.”

I shot back as I looted their treasures and rescued the hostages. Right after finishing with the Blood Path Group, I moved to the Nangong Clan.

This time, I hesitated a bit. The timeline didn’t match my previous treasure hunt, so I wasn’t sure if Sword King Nangong Myeong was there. Last time’s bomb worked because they were conveniently gathered and it was a surprise attack. As I mulled it over, Zhuge Sa said,

“What’re you hesitating for? Just go. Nangong Myeong’s small fry compared to real threats—why waste time and energy on trash you don’t even need to kill?”

“Easy for you to say, but leaving Nangong Myeong and Nangong Hwan alive means more victims.”

“Not your problem, but you’ve got a real busybody streak...”

Grumbling, Zhuge Sa added,

“Just leave ’em be for now. Bigger priorities ahead—handle those first, kill them later. Or if it bugs you, just save the women.”

“Got it.”

Paat!

After rescuing the women from the Nangong Clan, I went to the Inner Yellow Pavilion Library and stored the Nameless Sacrificial Scripture in the Neck Armor. Then I took everything worthwhile from the Water Raven Ruins, plucked a few Sacred Lotuses from the White Lotus Cult’s cultivation grounds, obtained the Three Emperors Inner Gate from Coong Mountain, and finally secured the silver phoenix statue from Taekyung Village.

That about covers it. During all this, I deliberately skipped the Crystal Stone Tablet—I didn’t want to stir up the imperial palace unnecessarily. Instead, I eyed Zhuge Sa with fresh surprise.

“Thought you’d wipe out the Zhuge Division from the palace, but you didn’t suggest it.”

“Why blow up the Yin-Yang Heaven Flag? With it implanted, I can share his senses anytime I want. Can’t read memories or control him, of course.”

“What?!”

It has that function too?!

If so, the Yin-Yang Heaven Flag was a top-tier curse rivaling the soul pact, no different from the Great Separation Technique. Transmitting all sensory input short of control was incredible. Around the middle-upper level. I convinced Cheon Woo-jin to start the ritual, and soon Taheo Heavenly Lord was summoned.

Zhuge Sa said,

“Alright, let’s wrap up and perform the Hand-Offering Tribute Ritual. This time, we’ll definitely find a way.”

Before preparing the Hand-Offering Tribute, I gave Mangyang the Three Emperors Inner Gate and the Pure Language Tool. I convinced Cheon Woo-jin to start the ritual, and soon Taheo Heavenly Lord was summoned.

Gooooh...

I began passing the turn slowly, starting with Taheo Heavenly Lord. When it came to the third, Great Rasin Immortal, after passing West Queen Mother, I declared,

“I seek your blessing!”

The Great Rasin Immortal replied, sounding surprised.

[ Hm... Very well. I, Nanhua Lao Xian, shall grant you the Taiping Yaoshu Scripture. ]

The third one was Nanhua Lao Xian—the same one I’d fought as the White Lotus Cult Leader in my 19th life!

As Nanhua Lao Xian rummaged for the Taiping Yaoshu Scripture to hand over, I firmly waved it off.

“No, that’s not it. The blessing I seek from you is not that.”

[ Hm...? ]

I said softly,

“Not the Taiping Yaoshu Scripture—I want the Taiping Demonic Arts themselves. Grant me the spells of the Taiping Demonic Arts as payment for the Hand-Offering Tribute.”

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