Reincarnated Swordmaster

Chapter Title: Dark Heaven Village

Peng Zu.

The longest-lived being in this world!

Excluding true divinities, no one on the Central Plains continent had outlived him. He was the great-grandson of Zhuanxu, one of the Five Emperors among the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, and legend had it he lived over eight hundred years from the Yao-Shun era to the early Zhou dynasty. The problem was, I had thought he was long dead, only to discover he was still alive.

It was so absurd that I still remembered it vividly. Back when I received the blessings of the Four Auspicious Beasts, the Immortal Nanhua was displeased and asked to exclude himself from the summoning, at which point Peng Zu appeared and said,

[ I am Peng Zu... I am still alive, so I cannot bestow my blessing upon you. I shall pass my turn. ]

[ What? You're still alive? Isn't Lord Peng Zu from the Yao-Shun era?! ]

[ I am still alive. What do you expect me to do about it... ]

[...... ]

As I recalled memories of Peng Zu, I asked the spirit of the Imperial Seal,

"Is this for real? Peng Zu knows about Changhi's whereabouts?"

[ The search results are confirmed. ]

"Good. So where can I find Peng Zu?"

[ Please wait a moment... ]

Flash.

Soon, the view screen shifted, revealing an exotic landscape. I widened my eyes in disbelief at the sight.

A steel beast belching eerie clanking noises and smoke raced along on wheels. Its iron head charging forward instilled a sense of dread. Colored-eyed foreigners rode atop it here and there, dumping what looked like black clumps into something somewhere. It took me a while to regain my senses and realize it wasn't a beast at all, but some kind of mechanical contraption.

That was just the beginning. Enormous structures, like giant bellows pumping round gusts of wind, floated in the sky with people aboard them. As the view panned to a bizarre city, my astonishment intensified. Bolts of lightning traveled along massive pillars, and people seemed to harness the power of thunder itself. Colored-eyed people armed with rifles stood guard everywhere, maintaining order in the city, but their guns looked utterly different from anything in the Central Plains.

Clunk clunk.

On the city's roads, iron hulks with four wheels rumbled over uneven terrain. Watching this alien city's scenery, I could guess where I was.

"This is... the Western Regions?"

[ Correct. Moving to the Governor's Mansion of the Great British Empire, where the target is located. ]

Whoosh.

The view sucked inward and vanished. It delved into the opulent interior of a grand building filled with richly dressed colored-eyed people, then wandered deep into subterranean darkness. When the view finally reemerged, it revealed vast ruins dotted with strangely clad figures in thick garments. Their attire clearly differed from the outside world's fashion, resembling ancient ritual robes.

The weirdos appeared to be chanting spells amid the ruins. Then one of them flinched in surprise and waved his hand dismissively. It was unmistakably ancient Central Plains tongue.

"Who dares use the Imperial Seal? Arrogant fool..."

Flash.

The view cut off there. The spirit of the Imperial Seal spoke to me as I returned to reality.

[ Apologies. A sub-administrator-level shutdown command has been issued, halting the search. ]

[...... ]

[ To retry the search, please readjust the authorization settings. ]

I realized it immediately.

'That weirdo just now was Peng Zu.'

For reasons unknown, Peng Zu had crossed into the Western Regions and was now in the underground of the Great British Empire's Governor's Mansion. Calling it underground was misleading—it looked like a pocket dimension conjured by sorcery. Regardless of why Peng Zu was there, pinpointing his location was a major breakthrough. I asked the spirit,

"How do I adjust the authorization?"

[ If you can verify authorization superior to that of the sub-administrator... ]

That was when it happened.

The spirit suddenly twisted, emitted light, and exploded.

Boom.

"......!!"

I dodged back in shock, but since it was just an illusion, no harm came. Moments later, the spirit reformed in midair and addressed me.

[ I have received orders from the sub-administrator for temporary suspension of remote viewing capabilities. I request your understanding. ]

"What?!"

Just to be sure, I tried activating remote viewing again. But the spirit remained silent, floating idly without cooperating. Zhuge Sa, who had been watching from the side, spoke up.

"Peng Zu must be a sub-administrator of the Imperial Seal. He struck first and sealed off its search functions. No one can track him now."

"How could he do that? The Imperial Seal was created in the Qin era when Little Jade Heaven was summoned. How did Peng Zu..."

"Have you forgotten Peng Zu's lineage? As the great-grandson of Zhuanxu of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, he was born with powers rivaling a Great Immortal. A direct descendant of a god, in other words. Convincing Little Jade Heaven to grant him Imperial Seal privileges would've been child's play."

[...... ]

I thought it over and said,

"Then that means both Changhil and Peng Zu were present when the First Emperor created the Imperial Seal."

"Exactly. Whether in true form, avatar, or disguise, they were deeply involved with it."

Zhuge Sa suddenly cackled.

"Well, this is a mess. Remote viewing had endless uses, and now it's blocked by Peng Zu of all people."

"Ugh."

I was irritated. As I'd feared, the difficulty of locating Changhil had skyrocketed.

"So I have to go all the way to the Great British Empire in the Western Regions, find Peng Zu, and pry Changhil's whereabouts out of him? For real?"

"Who knows. If I were Peng Zu, I'd have already gone into full hiding by now. It'll be several times harder."

"Damn it!!"

My instincts told me that at this rate, finding Changhil's trail within ten years was impossible! We'd located the sole lead in Peng Zu, but if he went underground, we'd be back to square one. As I reeled in dismay, Zhuge Sa said,

"Baek Woong. You any good at running? Either way, we need clues from the Great British Empire first."

From that question, I sensed the grueling ordeal ahead. With a sudden thought, I said,

"Don't tell me... you want me to run all the way to the Western Regions...?"

Zhuge Sa snickered.

"Kekeke. You've run to Namban, Goryeo, the Arasa Empire, and circled the Mongolian steppes. What's the Western Regions compared to that? Take it as a vacation and head there on foot."

[...... ]

He was serious! Dead serious about me running to the Western Regions. Long-distance running was second nature to me by now, so it wasn't a huge burden, but I sat stroking my chin in thought. Then I asked Zhuge Sa,

"Zhuge Sa. Sounds good, but how far is it to the Great British Empire, and where exactly is it? Any idea?"

"I know roughly."

Zhuge Sa went into the inner room and unrolled a weathered parchment.

"This is a world map crafted from demonic path knowledge. A rare artifact."

"Ooh..."

"The Central Plains are here, and the Great British Empire is over here."

I compared the positions of the Central Plains and Great British Empire that Zhuge Sa pointed to, and my mind went blank for a moment. The distance was staggeringly immense! Traversing the vast continent, crossing oceans to an island nation—it made my head spin. This was definitely farther than running the Mongolian steppes to Arasa. Plus, there were deserts along the way. My head throbbed.

"Damn... way too far..."

As I fell silent, Zhuge Sa smirked.

"It won't take as long as you think. You've already been to Moscow and Astana, remember? Start from there with good directions, and even at most, ten days should get you to the Great British Empire. Your movement arts are incredibly fast."

"Hmm... true..."

"I'll give you the portrait automaton, map, and compass—put them in your knapsack. I'll use the Soul Separation Technique to teach you island-hopping methods and compass use."

"Thanks."

Like ripping off a band-aid, I wanted to set out immediately. Ten years sounded long, but for tracking someone like Changhil, it was perilously short. I wanted to save every moment. I was about to depart when a thought struck me.

"Wait... couldn't I ask the Prophet to send me to the Great British Empire or a nearby library?"

Zhuge Sa replied curtly.

"You think the Prophet works for free? Every request costs something. We save what we can."

"Hmm, fair enough..."

"And running there yourself opens up teleportation routes for later. Just run."

Shortly after, I received the items from Zhuge Sa and used teleportation to head straight to Moscow. From Moscow to the Great British Empire was still a vast distance, but I steeled myself and first checked the compass. Confirming the southwest direction, I began to run.

Tadadak.

With overflowing internal energy, I didn't need to worry about tiring or slowing down. I dashed in a straight line, hair whipping in the wind, and soon realized I'd covered over two hundred li effortlessly.

'Roughly seven thousand li from Moscow to the Great British Empire... gonna have to run like mad.'

While running, I caught glimpses of Western Region cities and landscapes. Not all were as grand and bustling as the Great British Empire—plenty of rural villages and farmlands. Those places didn't seem technologically advanced compared to the Central Plains.

But how long had I run? After about ten shichen, signs of Western advancement appeared. There were some knights, but most soldiers wielded rifles, and steel vehicles roamed about. They also seemed highly skilled at deploying gunpowder deliberately.

The soldier numbers were fewer than in the Great Ming Empire—actually on the lean side—but seeing their rifles made me groan inwardly.

'Their range makes spearmen or swordsmen impossible to match... Cavalry would just get massacred. We'd need cannons to stand a chance.'

If they were matchlocks with long reload times, tactics might prevail. But the Western soldiers' rifles were far superior to matchlocks. No doubt their reload was less than half that of firelocks. Charging infantry would be annihilated by bullets before closing in.

Of course, those riflemen posed no real threat to peak experts of the martial world. With dazzling movement arts evading their aim, one could wipe them out. Especially masters at the White Lotus Cult's Divine Form level could block even cannon fire with protective aura.

The issue was their development pace. If they could produce such advanced rifles now, what cutting-edge weapons might emerge in decades? Could they even capture peak experts? Such thoughts left the Central Plains' future looking bleak.

After running a full day and night, I felt I'd covered good ground and camped in an uninhabited mountain. I pulled out the portrait automaton from my knapsack, and Zhuge Sa possessed it via Soul Separation. Zhuge Sa said,

"Feels like you've come pretty far, huh?"

"Not as distant as I thought. Three days ought to do it."

"Kekeke. With that much internal energy, anything's possible."

[...... ]

"You've got that 'ask me something' look."

I asked Zhuge Sa,

"Zhuge Sa. How did the Western Regions advance so much? Rifles, steel carriages, airships... Nothing like this in the Central Plains."

"It's less advancement and more infestation by the demonic path."

"Demonic path?"

Zhuge Sa casually stirred the embers with the girl automaton's body and replied,

"This Western Continent isn't protected by the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors' power. Naturally, the [Ancient Overlords'] influence is far stronger. Other races can interfere with humans more easily, demonic sorcerers appear frequently, and the otherworldly knowledge they receive is far denser than in the Central Plains."

I suddenly realized from Zhuge Sa's words.

"So this technology wasn't developed by humans themselves, but knowledge passed down by [Ancient Overlords] through demonic sorcerers?"

"Something like that. Built on human ingenuity, sure, but rooted in other race knowledge."

Zhuge Sa smiled coldly.

"Baek Woong. Here in the Western Regions, you'll encounter other races more than anywhere else."

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