LIGHTNOVELSTORY Chapter 735
Chapter 735: The Dark Heaven Village
“I was able to immediately find the Prophet with the help of Cheon Woo-jin.”
Using Transmission Technique and the Earth Walking Method, Cheon Woo-jin had moved me a great distance, and after dropping me off, he promptly said, “I’ve already visited the Zhuge Clan, and I’m not on good terms with the Prophet. If I step into that building again, I’ll be dead.”
“You say that even though you’re the strongest Sorcerer right now?”
“That’s only according to the standards of the human world. My level of sorcery won’t work against the Demon King. Even if I go in with you, the Prophet will kill me.”
Cheon Woo-jin glanced at me with a hint of self-deprecation. “I’ll be back in half a day.”
After Cheon Woo-jin vanished, I slammed open the door to the building.
“Prophet, it’s a deal!”
[So, you have come as expected.]
The Prophet emerged from the shadows of the building, as if waiting for me. I observed him warily and said, “What do you mean by that?”
[You’ve sought me out before, and your fellow Sorcerer has also visited. You’ve rummaged through the world, so surely you’ve obtained many treasures. Wouldn’t you like to purchase some information from me…?]
“That’s right. I came to buy information.”
I fixed him with a sharp gaze and continued, “You’re not going to say it’s not possible, are you?”
[Not unless we’re speaking of impossibility… I’m always ready to sell anything…].
“……”
[So… let’s get to the point… customer…]
The Prophet seemed unusually friendly as he welcomed me. From his demeanor, I couldn’t sense the ferocious and intimidating aura of the Demon Beast I had seen in my previous encounters with the Zhuge Clan. It dawned on me that the Otherworldly Races and the Old Rulers were treating me with considerable favor.
“But first, there’s something to clarify.”
I pointed my index finger at him and said, “You’re bound by a secret protection pact with Changhil, right? If you want to deal with me, you’ll have to break that pact. I can’t tolerate any protection for Changhil’s secrets.”
This was the priority. If I didn’t resolve this first, any transaction with the Prophet, no matter how valuable, would be meaningless. This was because Changhil held all the cards right now, and all secrets and information were obviously tied to him. The Prophet seemed awed and spoke.
[Oh… Are you a Reborn Person?]
“You figured it out since our duel with Zhuge Bu?”
[Let me think… wait.]
The Prophet fell silent, and then spoke again.
[It’s based on the price. If you provide a sufficient price, I’ll be willing to talk about Changhil too.]
It was exactly as I suspected. After realizing that the Prophet had a secret protection pact with Changhil, I understood that he could betray Changhil for a big enough price. However, simply breaking that pact would undoubtedly demand a significant price, and I hadn’t had the means to afford it until now. I couldn’t devote all my treasures to get information on Changhil with so many other things going on.
I bit my lip and pulled the Nine Stars Main Capital from my pouch.
“How about this?”
Having ditched the Nameless Ritual Book, this could be considered my best Demon Book. I had struggled to find a good opportunity to use it and was now offering it to dig up information on Changhil. The Prophet took the Nine Stars Main Capital, looked it over, and then said,
[Outstanding compensation… but still insufficient.]
“What?!”
Astonishment and anger flooded through me.
“The Nine Stars Main Capital is a top-tier Demon Book! It’s the real deal! To say it’s not enough is unbelievable!”
When learning the Demon Path from the Zhuge Clan, I was certainly taught that a top-tier Demon Book was valuable enough to buy the entire country.
[Hmm… Do you know what it means to break a secret protection pact with Changhil…? It means that Changhil and the Eight Parts of the Divine would become hostile to me from that moment on… It would give them the perfect excuse to attack our tribe here in the material world…]
The Prophet’s tentacle quivered.
[… The sealing of the Divine beings would be endangered. That’s directly related to our survival.]
“……”
[Under normal circumstances… opposing Changhil and the Eight Parts of the Divine like this, especially now that they have Luoyang, is too dangerous… It might escalate into a full-on war with no benefits; the risk of that requires a greater price to bear. I can’t gamble the fate of my tribe on just one Demon Book…]
“Damn it.”
Still, isn’t this just an excuse to demand more treasures? I wanted to complain, but given the Prophet’s position, I had no choice. I reluctantly began to sift through what I had in my pouch to see if there were any decent items.
‘Let’s see…’
I presented the Secret Techniques of the White Transmutation.
“Here.”
[More…]
I offered the Treasure, the White Feather Fan.
“Here!”
[……]
Only then did the Prophet stop shaking his head and appear to contemplate carefully. This meant that I needed to combine the Nine Stars Main Capital, the Twin Swords, the Secret Techniques of the White Transmutation, and the Treasure of the White Feather Fan just to break the secret protection pact with Changhil. The Prophet seemed deep in thought, flapping his tentacles in agitation, then rolling his eyes at me.
[What a pity… I was really tempted, but this is not enough. Is there anything more?]
“Dammit!! You bandit! That’s all I have!”
I shouted in desperation, and the Prophet waved his tentacles away.
[Not good. Take it back.]
“Ugh…”
This was not good.
I needed to find a breakthrough to extract Changhil’s secrets somehow and then ask the Prophet to check the curse laid on me. But having exhausted all my treasures from the first deal was a major setback.
‘It’s too early to give up.’
I felt anxious for a moment but suddenly remembered something, rummaging through my pouch.
“What… about this egg?”
[Hmm…?]
I took out the bizarre egg I had obtained from Golden Crow Island. The egg was large, like a watermelon, but its surface was a mix of yellow, red, and blue colors. It was incredibly tough, impervious to scratches from mere blunt force. Yet, it showed no signs of hatching, and nobody in my group knew its identity, so I had merely kept it.
‘Could it work…?’
Nervously, I awaited the Prophet’s reaction. If this didn’t work, I’d have to abandon my attempts to uncover Changhil’s secrets and cut straight to the main point.
Surprisingly, the reaction was unexpected.
[This… where did you get this? No matter how much a Reborn Person you are, how did you acquire this…?]
The Prophet was trembling with excitement. I told him, “I got it from Golden Crow Island. Why?”
He responded in a notably excited tone, [It can’t simply be Golden Crow Island. I used reconnaissance magic to investigate there. Don’t lie.]
“… It was in Tongtian Road, the fortress of the Shicheng Army, hidden in the Secret Space.”
[Heh… Heh heh. I couldn’t have searched there. How absurd… it just rolled in like that.]
“Do you know what it is?”
[……]
Suddenly, the Prophet appeared to be deep in thought. Although his expression was hidden, I sensed changes in his emotional state from our previous encounters. After considerable deliberation, he said,
[If you hand the egg to me right now, I’ll break the protection pact with Changhil and tell you everything you wish to know. I’ll also take the risk of battling Changhil as a bonus and help you with various things…].
Oh?!
The Prophet’s demeanor had flipped dramatically, willing to divulge everything I wanted. The egg seemed to be a very valuable bargaining chip.
‘Well… but it’s a bit concerning.’
What on earth is that egg? I wanted to leverage this situation to pry more information from him, yet I knew that the odds were against me, so attempting to push my luck was precarious.
“Fine! You can have that!”
[Okay. Don’t say anything else. This deal is final.]
Swish!
The Prophet snatched the egg and immediately shoved it into the Void Space with urgency, as if afraid someone would steal it from him. Seeing his frantic behavior, I felt an odd sensation and asked him.
“Hey. What is that egg really?”
[I don’t know! I have no idea what you’re talking about!]
“……”
[Just don’t ask once you’ve given it to me… I won’t reveal anything.]
What the hell?!
I was shocked not only by his refusal to answer but also by his intense reaction. The Prophet acted as if he valued that egg more than anything in the world. Any further mention of it would likely result in an aggressive reaction.
‘What is that egg?’
I felt a bit uneasy but shrugged it off and said, “Alright, let’s ask about Changhil’s secrets.”
I wasn’t sure if there was something manipulating or controlling me right now. Moreover, if I had gained a significant benefit from that egg, there was no rush to probe about it now. Right now, my mind was set on maximizing my gains.
[What is it you want to know…?]
I pondered deeply. The most crucial thing was whether someone was controlling me, but the Prophet’s gain from the egg didn’t seem trivial. So, I wanted to extract as much information as possible about Changhil, my current enemy, and then determine if I was being manipulated. If it came to that, I could offer additional compensation later.
“I want to know why Changhil has occupied Luoyang, the reason he’s developed civilization, and what schemes he is plotting going forward.”
[So that’s it…]
The Prophet began pacing before answering.
[The reason Changhil occupied Luoyang is simply that he accelerated the timeline of plans he intended to carry out during the apocalypse.]
“What?”
[The First Character is Changhil’s weakness, but… it is also a powerful curse against humanity… The advances in civilization are of the same vein… He artificially created the level of civilization that was supposed to arrive four hundred years later… to weaken faith and ease the spread of the Demon Path… and do it without contravening the Law of Cause and Effect…].
At that moment, the Prophet’s eyes sparkled.
[He aims to break Master Mangnyang’s battle grounds…].
“……!!”
[That alone is a great feat that even the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors and Changhil cannot accomplish by their own power… He intends to use humans, who are considered mere insects… Changhil has been considering this for an incredibly long time… to take down the defenses of those who protect… Master Mangnyang…].
“What…? Using humans to break through the battle grounds? How?!”
I was taken aback.
Could it really be that Master Mangnyang’s battle grounds were being mentioned here?
Flinch!
Then the Prophet trembled and continued, [I’m sorry, but… if I say any more… Changhil will send a manifestation to start a war… he just warned me… It seems he’s sensed the threads of causality… I can no longer speak…].
I protested against the Prophet. “What the hell? I just paid you! We had an agreement to break the pact, right? What kind of joke is this?”
[………]
The Prophet shook his head.
[I’m just as surprised… I thought he would only intimidate us, but… all his minions are already outside this building.]
“What?!”
[It seems he’s serious… he’s come in person…].
I turned to glance behind the building. Indeed, I felt an unusual chill creeping in. As I focused my intent more clearly, I sensed the aura of the Eight Parts of the Divine, each exuding immense magical power.
Thankfully, it seemed the barrier was preventing them from entering just yet, but it was astonishing. To think that mere conversation could provoke Changhil into warning us of impending war!
[Changhil has never reacted so violently… he seems prepared to go to war with our race…].
“……”
[This is not just about the importance of secrets… it means… your very existence, Baek Woong… is a massive threat to Changhil… We can’t let an arch-enemy have a sword in our hands…].
The Prophet seemed intensely curious and stretched his tentacles toward me, rolling his eyes.
[How fascinating… given that you don’t seem incredibly powerful… it appears you haven’t reincarnated too many times… yet your karma is already pressing a dagger to Changhil’s throat…?].
“Do you know anything about the ability to reincarnate?”
[I’m sorry, but… I can’t talk about that. Subject to Changhil’s secrets…].
The Prophet said, [Wait a moment… I’ll send those outside away and come back…].
“I want to go too. I need to know what they’re thinking in coming here!”
[… So be it…].
Shhhh!
A moment later, I was transported outside the building by the Prophet’s magic. I found the main bodies of the Eight Parts of the Divine surrounding me intimidatingly.
Kugugugu!
I swallowed hard. Although there were only six of them because the Dragon and Asura had died, they were all either Demon Kings or beings of even greater stature. With neither Celestial Sage nor Xiang Yu present, I had no way of dealing with them.
The Celestial Sage Tripitaka addressed the Prophet. [Great Prophet of Astana, the great Mage King of the stars. How dare you break the secret pact made with our lord? He is greatly enraged.]
[……]
[Do you intend to wage war against us?]
[Why is it that I don’t understand…].
Suddenly, the Prophet’s eyes lit up.
[You think… a mere being of the Human Race… an Old Ruler at that… could threaten our tribe, which has traversed the cosmos since primordial times…?].
Whoosh!
A gigantic Five Stars appeared in the air. Stunningly bright colors formed a bridge in the air like a rainbow, and the Eight Parts of the Divine flinched back, each taking a step away from the brilliant spectacle. The moment I saw the Five Stars, I understood what it was.
‘The Mark of the Ancient God!’
A large-scale sorcery capable of resisting the Old Ruler was being unleashed! The immense power, far beyond what humans could wield, flooded the area, and even the Eight Parts of the Divine were struggling to maintain their footing, their strength seemingly draining from their bodies.
The Celestial Sage uttered in a low voice. [… You’ve allied with the Ancient Gods? How long has this history been…?]
The Prophet collected the Ancient God’s sorcery and replied, [This is a warning… do not recklessly threaten us. Even the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors cannot attack us… if you do such things, this land will become a battlefield of endless war…].
[Understood. But…]
The Celestial Sage’s gaze shifted to me, narrowing in suspicion.
[Do not make any more deals with that one. I forbid you from providing even a handful of information to him. If you refuse this, we will have no choice.]
The Prophet scoffed at that remark. [You fear such an insignificant human? Then again, it may be valid… Changhil has been sharp in suspicion for a while now… Heh heh.]
[What will it be?]
[So be it… except for anything related to Changhil. Beyond that, you have no authority to compel me.]
[What? Really…].
Crackle!
In that moment, the Prophet seemed to reveal his true magical prowess. The confrontation intensified, and the eight members of the Divine exchanged weary glances before finally stepping back from one another. The Celestial Sage resignedly said,
[Mage King. Keep your promise.]
[I understand…].
[Then we shall take our leave…].
At that moment, I shouted at the Celestial Sage.
“Wait!!”
The moment the Celestial Sage and the Eight Parts of the Divine turned to me, I seized the opportunity to ask what I had been most curious about.
“Do you really think Changhil will save humanity?”