Chapter 767: Three Souls (5)

—Siiiiiing.

After flying for quite some time, a cold wind began blowing.

It was sharp and freezing enough to feel as though it could slice flesh apart.

Icicles even formed along the hems of our clothes.

At my actual cultivation level, I did not feel cold in the slightest, but since I currently could not use either my original body or cultivation, it seemed this artificial body itself simply did not suffer from cold.

The problem was that I was currently dressed in celestial maiden clothing, meaning I was practically half naked.

I was not cold, but the wind slipped through my robes and swept mercilessly across my body.

“Whoa, what is with this wind?”

Since I was wearing a skirt, my lower half already felt strangely exposed, and now the wind kept flowing down through my collar and across my chest.

It almost felt like I was not wearing clothes at all.

Like someone was running their hands over my body.

'This feels weird...'

Right around the time I began thinking prolonged exposure to this kind of lifestyle might genuinely damage my sense of identity, the North Star we had been flying toward suddenly appeared directly before us.

“What is this place?”

I had definitely learned this before.

Stars were planets.

Massive celestial bodies reflecting light, or emitting light that eventually reached Earth, making them appear to shine.

But apparently all of that had been complete nonsense.

The North Star was not a planet.

It was a gigantic palace emitting light.

The star-like radiance simply poured from the palace roof.

'Wow... if that’s true, then maybe the people who believed the Earth was flat back in my previous previous life weren’t complete idiots after all?'

Back in my earlier life, the fact that Earth was spherical had been treated as absolute common knowledge.

But after discovering the North Star was actually a shining palace, suddenly it felt possible that everything else could have been lies too.

Before I could say anything further, Gungbong pointed at the palace and asked,

“Where is this place?”

“This is the Ziwei Palace. It is where the Ziwei North Pole Emperor of the Middle Heavens resides. The one responsible for overseeing the flow of the stars is precisely the Ziwei North Pole Emperor.”

“Ohooo.”

Back in my previous previous life, stars had merely been glowing planets or fragments of planets.

But in this world, my master had taught me that stars were signs governing fortune and misfortune, omens and destiny.

Which meant the person living here was likely someone deeply connected to fate itself.

We slowly flew toward the enormous central palace.

The shape of a phoenix perched atop the central imperial roof caught my eye.

For a moment I flinched, reminded of my father-in-law, but thankfully that one was not alive.

'Whew...'

Feeling relieved, I arrived before the central hall.

The place before us was a magnificent imperial palace constructed from violet jade.

“That over there is the Supreme Subtlety Hall, and that one is the Heavenly Market Enclosure. Those are places where various star deities reside. Every constellation you know is actually a heavenly office.”

Apparently every constellation humans knew was actually an official celestial position.

“Ahhh.”

As I admired the scenery, I heard someone clicking their tongue nearby.

“Tsk tsk. Just how overworked are they that there isn’t a single star deity or divine general standing guard?”

I nodded in agreement.

Normally a fortress of this scale should have generals stationed everywhere keeping watch, but apparently the workload truly was as overwhelming as they claimed.

Not a single guard could be seen.

'Good grief. Apparently they’ve never heard the saying that while a commander may be forgiven for losing a battle, failing in vigilance is unforgivable.'

No matter how busy things became, security should never be neglected.

Silently reciting the famous words of General MacArthur from my previous previous life, I followed the Chaenyeo to the gate.

—Creeeak!

The moment the Chaenyeo placed a hand against the doors, they swung wide open to both sides.

Until now everything had been quiet, probably thanks to excellent soundproofing, but the instant the doors opened, a massive uproar burst outward.

“The flow of the stars has shifted left!”

“Apply more force to the right!”

“No, the southern stars are dimming!”

“Increase the light!”

Despite our arrival, nobody paid us the slightest attention.

Apparently they really were that busy.

As we carefully advanced forward while avoiding the countless immortals rushing around, a loud metallic sound suddenly rang out.

—Clank.

The sound came from the gigantic metallic celestial sphere positioned at the center of the hall.

A great bell immediately rang afterward.

—Deng!

At the same instant, people began collapsing in every direction.

The immortals who had been running frantically around suddenly dropped like pigeons struck by arrows.

“Huaaah... now I can finally rest a little.”

“N-no kidding...”

Then a woman’s voice rang out from beyond the enormous metal sphere ahead of us.

“Chaenyeo Unni, you’ve arrived!”

“She’s over there. Follow me.”

It was a familiar voice.

Sonyeo’s voice.

At that call, the Chaenyeo stepped forward, carefully moving over the collapsed immortals.

I followed as well, stepping through the exposed spaces between bodies like crossing stepping stones.

Then, as we rounded the massive celestial sphere and the opposite side finally came into view, I spotted two figures seated in the center.

A massive man and a slender woman.

The man wore violet robes and an imperial crown, while the woman wore clothing similar to the Chaenyeo’s.

They were the Ziwei North Pole Emperor of the Middle Heavens and the Sonyeo from the projection earlier.

“Unni!”

The Sonyeo rushed over from beside the Ziwei North Pole Emperor and threw herself into the Chaenyeo’s arms.

Clinging tightly to the Chaenyeo, she cried out,

“I-I survived. If this had continued even a few more days, I think I might’ve actually lost my mind.”

I immediately dropped into a deep bow before the two of them.

Was not the foundation of all relationships proper courtesy?

The Sonyeo was someone who had continuously watched over me through Ji-ryeon, while the Ziwei North Pole Emperor was someone who would protect me going forward.

Naturally, I needed to make a good impression.

“This humble one, So-ryong, greets the Ziwei North Pole Emperor of the Middle Heavens and the Sonyeo.”

'So-ryong-nim, women don’t bow like that.'

'Ah, crap.'

I had instinctively performed the formal bow used by men, making the situation rather awkward.

Since I currently possessed a female body, I should have used a woman’s bow instead.

But it was too awkward to redo the greeting now.

Fortunately, neither of them cared about something so trivial.

The important matter at the moment was whether this impossible workload could somehow be solved.

“Enough with the greetings. What matters is whether we can escape this situation, so examine that first.”

“That’s right, So-ryong. Greetings aren’t important right now. Please save this Sonyeo already.”

Her voice sounded truly desperate.

I quietly asked Soto through our mental connection.

'So what do we do now?'

'Once the work begins again, I’ll observe how the immortals move.'

'Alright. Understood.'

I lowered my head respectfully and spoke.

“Ahem. My wife says she needs to observe how everyone works once operations resume. Only then can she think of a solution.”

“Oh? Is that so? Very well. Work will resume shortly.”

Two beings reacted especially positively to my words.

No, rather, one immortal and one spirit-creature.

Soto was happy because I had referred to her as my wife, while the Ziwei North Pole Emperor seemed reassured by the oddly specific detail.

About half a geng later, the metallic celestial sphere in the center emitted another heavy clank.

—Clank!

—Deng deng.

Two bell chimes echoed afterward.

The immortals sprawled across the floor like zombies instantly sprang upright.

Apparently they had become like Pavlov’s dogs, reacting automatically to the bell.

Everyone immediately rushed back to work.

“The stars of the southern heavens must rise! We need signs heralding the birth of a great hero!”

“The one carrying the energy of Greedy Wolf will soon die! Prepare ominous signs!”

One group hurried around the massive celestial sphere constructing constellations, while other groups handled different tasks throughout the hall.

That continued for six shichen straight.

Twelve hours.

The entire workforce labored endlessly, receiving only two breaks per day dividing morning and evening.

'Wow... this is absolutely insane.'

'Seriously. Ordinary people would’ve collapsed long ago.'

'No kidding.'

Soto, Gungbong, and I moved throughout the chaotic hall, observing the immortals’ routes and the various tasks they handled.

Then, after another six shichen—

—Deng.

The bell rang again, and people collapsed in droves.

Once we moved back toward the seat where the Ziwei North Pole Emperor sat, he pressed a hand against his forehead and looked at us expectantly.

“So? What did you discover?”

In other words, now that we had observed everything, was improvement possible or not?

At his question, Soto respectfully lowered her head and answered.

“For now, I think we should begin by reorganizing everyone’s movement routes. Simply adjusting traffic flow alone should create at least some breathing room.”

“Ooh! So there is a method!”

“Yes. I’ll move among the immortals and redirect where everyone travels. Could you perhaps inform them beforehand to follow my instructions?”

Apparently Soto truly had found something.

The Ziwei North Pole Emperor immediately shouted toward the resting immortals.

“Once work resumes, follow this child’s instructions!”

I had assumed everyone completely lost consciousness whenever they collapsed, but the immortals immediately answered sharply the moment the Ziwei North Pole Emperor’s voice echoed through the hall.

“Yes! Understood!”

Shortly afterward, the bells rang and work resumed once more.

—Deng deng.

“Elder, move this way. Count to two before moving. If you move immediately, you’ll collide with the person approaching from that direction and delay the timing. Elder, you need to circle around from the opposite side.”

Soto busily moved among the immortals, reorganizing their movement patterns.

At first things became slightly chaotic, but once the system settled into place, the flow of movement became astonishingly smooth.

It felt like a traffic jam during rush hour suddenly clearing after proper traffic control.

Then another six shichen passed.

This time, when the immortals sat down to rest, their expressions looked noticeably more relaxed.

Instead of collapsing like logs, everyone simply leaned back where they sat.

The cleaner movement routes had created small moments of breathing room during work.

Still, it was not a dramatic enough change to reduce manpower.

The Ziwei North Pole Emperor spoke in a disappointed tone.

“Is this all?”

“Mm...”

After thinking for a moment, Soto answered.

“After observing the work, I was able to identify several problems. Some immortals appear to be performing tasks completely unsuited to them, like wearing clothes that do not fit properly. However, in order to solve that issue, I would first need to understand exactly what everyone’s jobs are. And currently, there’s no way for me to know that in sufficient detail...”

It sounded like Soto meant she would need to understand everyone’s duties down to the smallest details in order to determine who belonged where and reorganize them properly.

The Ziwei North Pole Emperor nodded at Soto’s words and answered.

“Mm... That is likely because we lacked manpower and began dragging people into positions at random one by one. Ideally, every task should be assigned to someone suited for it, but we had no such luxury. We were too busy restoring all the duties suddenly abandoned from above...”

Listening to the explanation, it seemed they had been forced to rapidly stabilize the responsibilities discarded by the Jade Emperor, leaving them no time to properly assign people according to their talents.

So everyone had simply been shoved randomly into vacant positions.

Soto made another proposal.

“If you explain the details to me, I’ll try thinking of another solution.”

“But matters such as moving the stars and other heavenly functions cannot be explained to you. Even if I did explain them, your cultivation level is too low to comprehend them.”

At those words, Soto’s expression filled with disappointment, as though there truly was no solution.

Then suddenly the Sonyeo shouted out.

“T-then at least save me first!”

Apparently endlessly working here like a cog in a giant clockwork machine had driven her nearly insane, because the Sonyeo suddenly rushed over and grabbed us desperately.

“Please, just create enough breathing room to remove even one worker from the rotation. You can do that much, can’t you?”

Just then, while the Sonyeo was shaking our hands desperately—

—Clink.

A hairpin slipped loose from her hair and rolled across the floor.

Naturally I could not allow the Sonyeo herself to pick it up, so I hurriedly bent down and reached toward it.

But the Sonyeo suddenly shouted in alarm.

“N-no, don’t!”

I immediately pulled my hand back, and the Sonyeo hurriedly explained.

“That is my divine treasure, the White Lotus Finger Needle. If used on the body, it reverses pleasure and pain, so you must be careful.”

“I-I see.”

It definitely sounded like some kind of dangerous divine treasure.

And then it happened.

Gungbong, who had remained quiet the entire time, suddenly piped up.

“Then wouldn’t sticking that into those immortals make them work harder?”

“Hm?”

“No, I mean... they’re suffering because of work, right? But if you stab them with it, that suffering becomes pleasure... so wouldn’t they end up working even harder?”

The eyes of both the Ziwei North Pole Emperor and the Sonyeo widened into circles, while the expressions of the divine generals and surrounding immortals transformed into pure horror.