Reincarnation Sword God

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After striking out in my search for the Fire Dragon Sword, I had no choice but to set off in search of other opportunities. I went straight to the Water Element Ruins and gathered as much Black and White Lotus as I could, stuffing it into my pouch, while also collecting Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng. Then, I entered the ruins, obtained a wooden box containing gold bars, defeated the Guardian Giant Spider, and acquired the Water Element Divine Sword along with a statue of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors.

After placing the Soul-Removing Orb on the spider’s body to eliminate its poison, I added the spider’s spirit to my pouch as well. Up to this point, I had only possessed Black and White Lotus and Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng, but now I had the spider’s spirit added to the mix. Once I finished my business at the Water Element Ruins, I headed to the Hua Clan’s study in Taekyung Village to obtain a silver Phoenix statue.

‘Almost done.’

If I had to mention the remaining tasks, I would need to go to the Sacred Lotus cultivation grounds to pick some Sacred Lotus or head to the Inner Imperial Pavilion of the Imperial Palace to retrieve the Nameless Ritual Book or the Crystal Stele. However, those tasks carried the risk of provoking the Imperial Palace Forces and were not urgently necessary. So, I decided it would be best to listen to Mangnyang’s opinion and determine when to retrieve them later, and then I aimed to go to Jinrang Valley.

Halt

“Oh right!”

I remembered and moved to Dongyoung. As I approached the Heavenly Emperor’s Palace in Dongyoung, the Front Demon and Back Demon appeared as if they had been waiting for me, and I waved at them as if greeting old friends.

“Hey there!”

Bang bang bang

The Front Demon and Back Demon attacked me as if conversation was pointless. However, I casually evaded their strikes with my Talisman of Marital Disintegration and shouted,

“Miho! I’ve got something to say, so stop attacking for a sec!”

As soon as my words finished, the demons halted their onslaught, and from the darkness emerged a beautiful lady dressed in noble clothing, holding a fan.

“Who are you?”

I recognized her the moment I saw her. It was Miho in her transformed state as Dongyoung’s Heavenly Emperor’s wife. I couldn’t help but grin at the sight of her.

“Good to see you, Miho!!”

Whoosh

“What?!”

I ran over and embraced Miho. She was taken aback by my sudden move and quickly transformed to escape, but I accelerated my Talisman of Marital Disintegration and embraced her once more. As I held her again, her face morphed into that of a fox, and she growled.

[ What’s wrong, human? How rude! ]

Miho looked like she might unleash fox flames at any moment. It was only natural for someone seeing a stranger embracing her to be suspicious. I grinned and said,

“It’s just… I’m so happy.”

How long had it been since I last saw Miho?

[ ……]

Miho looked at me with a dumbfounded expression.

I knew my actions were nonsensical and absurd. They could throw a wrench into my entire plan. This behavior might even lead to my death someday.

But – I couldn’t hold back any longer.

I liked Miho.

I wanted to see her, hug her, and feel her. In my previous life, I had forced myself to endure in the name of caring for her, but longing surged dramatically, bringing me right to Miho.

Until now, I hadn’t been able to bear it.

Suddenly, Miho and I locked eyes. Miho, who had been forced into my embrace, gazed intently into my eyes for a long moment. Then she reverted her fox face back to a human form and gently touched my face with her delicate hands.

“Strange human.”

Smash

With a sudden surge of strength, Miho flung me away. As I flipped in mid-air, regaining my balance, Miho looked at me with a cold expression and said,

“I don’t know who you are, but daring to casually hug the princess makes you no different from a pervert. A scoundrel like you deserves to die!”

“Miho. My name is Baek Ung.”

After catching my breath, I continued,

“I can’t right now, but I’ll come back soon. When I do, I’ll be able to grant you what you desire most. I promise.”

At that, Miho’s expression turned to one of horror. It was a look as if she had genuinely felt fear.

“You… You, get away! What are you saying?”

Puzzled, I replied,

“What do you mean…?”

“Get away!!”

Miho was clearly shaken and trembling. Being a fox spirit of hundreds of years, she could usually cleverly handle any situation and could manipulate her facial expressions freely, but hearing my words made her face contort as if she were facing a truly horrific pervert. This meant she genuinely feared me.

Why was she like this?

I intended to help her realize her wish of ascending!

Whoooosh

However, I quickly realized it as Miho began to summon flames, ready to kill me while controlling the Front Demon and Back Demon.

‘Ah…!!’

The Miho before me was not the Miho I knew.

She wasn’t the Miho who took the punishment instead of me.

She wasn’t the Miho with whom I had shared mutual feelings that could be considered love.

She wasn’t the Miho who had smiled at me when I had asked her to die with me in the worst crisis.

What stood before me was… a complete stranger.

Why hadn’t I realized this earlier? Why was I acting so foolishly? Had the intense longing I felt clouded my judgment? Confusion crashed through my mind like a tidal wave, leaving me momentarily blank.

Bang bang bang

“Miho, I’m sorry!”

Whoosh

I left the thunderous clash behind and used the boiling technique to return to the Central Plains.

Sitting by a peaceful stream somewhere unknown, I gazed at the flowing water and thought,

‘Another foolish thing done.’

Doing something foolish means I wanted to emotionally resolve the shock from my sudden death in my previous life, right? Just now, I had viewed Miho as an escape route and tried to playfully interact with her, seeking to alleviate my anxiety. But the outcome, as was evident, only led to Miho’s fear.

The shock of dying from the curse was immense. Moreover, I bore the heavy burden of knowing I couldn’t defeat Zhuque through any cunning means; I had to face it head-on. It was fair to say the pressure I felt from the White Lotus Sect Leader’s backing only amplified my stress.

I’m so lonely and tired.

Can I really take down Zhuque?

It felt like walking an endless, dark path, relying on faint echoes. Until now, I had emotionally leaned on Mangnyang and the Demon King, but I was gradually growing weaker. My melancholic feelings were exploding, dragging my heart into despair.

I buried my head between my knees, holding my legs tightly, and remained silent for a long while. In such a position, everything before me became dark, and I couldn’t think of anything. Whenever I felt troubled in my first life, I often fell into such silence.

“……”

Hmph!

After a while, I snorted and stood up, shaking off the dust from my rear.

It was just that.

It was simply a fleeting moment.

I collected my thoughts and headed toward Jinrang Valley. There, I handed the Obsidian over to Mangnyang for memory transmission and briefly explained everything that had happened so far. Mangnyang, perhaps seeing my recent visit to Miho, spoke with concern,

“Are you okay?”

“It was just my mistake.”

“If it’s difficult, say so. I’ll try to find a solution.”

I smiled bitterly at Mangnyang’s concern.

“Everyone gets weak at times.”

“Hmm… Well, then I won’t say much.”

“And what should we do from here?”

After pondering my question, Mangnyang responded,

“If Zhuque has placed a retribution curse upon itself by asking the [Ancient Ruler], things have gotten complicated. It’s not just that the person who kills Zhuque will face retaliation; even if it’s not connected to the powers of the Seven Demon Town, anyone who kills Zhuque will suffer the same curse.”

In other words, whoever eliminates Zhuque will definitely die!

This added complicated conditions to taking down Zhuque. It was not a decision to trade one’s life for Zhuque’s, regardless of who it was.

“But, Ikhwang or the White Lotus Sect Leader killed Zhuque without any repercussions, right?”

“Well, that’s because their souls are intact; they didn’t ‘kill’ it. However, if a chance arises to completely eliminate Zhuque by destroying all surplus bodies… then someone would need to commit double suicide along with Zhuque.”

“……”

“Truly complicated…”

I said to Mangnyang, my voice trembling,

“After acting recklessly and ending up dead… you’re not angry?”

Mangnyang casually shrugged.

“As you said, that sometimes happens.”

“……”

“Put another way, one might say you’ve profited by testing with your own life. If you have everything in place and even win the final battle, but someone dies due to Zhuque’s curse, that could be a bigger loss, right? If you win everything, you won’t throw your life away. Hehe.”

Mangnyang chuckled as he spoke.

“Then let’s keep it simple.”

“How?”

“By doing nothing.”

Mangnyang smiled slyly as he confidently declared.

“After all, you’ve died and reincarnated, so let’s not try to gain anything significant this time. It seems to me that what you need to gain this time is not opportunities but time.”

“Time?”

“That’s right. Time.”

Eventually, I went with Mangnyang to the Three Sovereigns Inner Gate. Mangnyang sealed the Three Sovereigns Inner Gate and rapidly gained immense spiritual power, then headed to the village where Mangnyang the Master was located. After passing through Cheon Woo-jin’s territory and proceeding with the ritual of Spirit Offering, Mangnyang spoke,

“Great Heavenly One! I wish to receive the blessings of the Western Mother.”

[ Ah, wait a moment… I haven’t said anything yet.]

I yelled at the Heavenly One beside me,

“Quickly!”

[ I got it…]

Following the Heavenly One, the Western Mother appeared. As she revealed herself, Mangnyang shot me a glance, and I opened my mouth as previously discussed.

“Western Mother, please lift Miho’s seal.”

From there, it became like before where the Western Mother lifted Miho’s seal while entrusting me with a ten-year guardianship task. As the Western Mother did not bless me due to her lingering energy, she moved on to the next segment, which happened to be the Southern Route.

“Next!”

The Southern Route looked taken aback.

[ No?! No matter how much I’m disciple Mangnyang, how dare you disregard my presence…]

“Wasn’t it ‘next’? Are you deaf?”

[ Ugh…!!]

Mangnyang easily skipped the Southern Route’s turn and reached the turn of Yeodong-bin. However, since I had already established a link with Yeodong-bin, there was nothing more to gain from him. Just in case, I asked Yeodong-bin,

“Yeodong-bin, is there perhaps a blessing to enhance martial arts talent?”

In response to my inquiry, Yeodong-bin firmly replied,

[ Don’t try to take advantage of me, disciple.]

“……”

I awkwardly passed over to Yeodong-bin’s next turn. Then, after a long time, I was able to witness the ritual of summoning by the Heavenly Master of the Wudang Sect, Zhang Sanfeng, receiving spiritual summoning from Cheon Woo-jin. As we progressed through the summoning ceremony, I felt tense inside.

‘ This is my second time reaching this stage after passing on the summoning ritual.’

In other words, I had never passed after Zhang Sanfeng. Upon spotting me, Zhang Sanfeng said,

[ I wish to bless you, but my energy is still with me… I would suggest passing it on to the next turn, but… however…]

“However?”

[ This Cheon Woo-jin, the wizard, is gradually nearing his limits…]

“……”

Cheon Woo-jin was trembling and bleeding from his nose. It was no surprise since he had accepted the energies of more than five Great Immortals. No matter how exceptional a spirit medium was, at this level, losing one’s mind or life was typical. I glanced at Mangnyang, but Mangnyang said nonchalantly,

“Passing is still better.”

“Um… please pass it on.”

[ I will do so…]

Zhang Sanfeng passed his turn. The next one was the Heavenly One who might pose a significant obstacle later on, so without hesitation, I passed.

Bam!

This time, Mangnyang and I felt the tension as we witnessed the Great Immortal’s energy descending. From here on, it was a turn I had never seen before. What kind of Great Immortal would descend after Zhang Sanfeng? Finally, Cheon Woo-jin’s gaze turned sacred and he spoke,

[ I am Jiang Shang.]

At that moment, Mangnyang uttered a sound of astonishment.

“Tai Gong Wang (太公望)…!!”

Fixed the missing turn of the Heavenly One.