Chapter 747: Your Death Leads Us to a New Path
Chapter 747: Your Death Leads Us to a New Path
“It’s that smell from back then.”
The scent Ji Han referred to belonged to the man in the bamboo hat—the same individual who had instructed them to apply the Soul Chasing Incense.
“That man is here.”
However, Ji Han’s brow soon furrowed in frustration.
“There are too many other scents mixed in. I’ll have to get closer to be certain.”
Even detecting such a faint trace in a place crowded with so many people was an impressive feat. As Ji Han moved forward to get a better whiff, Geom Mu-geuk reached out and pulled him back, shaking his head.
Ji Han realized he had let his eagerness cloud his judgment. If he approached recklessly, he would tip their hand and reveal that they had recognized the man.
The man in the iron face took the lead, ascending toward the summit.
“Now, everyone follow me!”
The gathered martial artists trailed behind him, though their expressions remained clouded with doubt. Geom Mu-geuk’s party followed suit. The appearance of the man in the iron face had thrown the entire situation into a state of unexpected chaos.
Whether he had truly deciphered the code or was simply bluffing, the man in the iron face climbed steadily toward the western peak. There lay a vast pond—though its scale was grand enough to be called a lake.
“Beneath this pond lies an underwater cave that leads directly to the Sword Tomb.”
He knew the exact entrance.
“You must be able to hold your breath for a long duration to pass through. Those who cannot swim or are afraid of the depths should stay behind.”
One of the martial artists, eyeing the dark water warily, asked, “How long must we hold our breath?”
“You must hold it for a count of one hundred.”
Most figured they could manage a count of one hundred. However, Geom Mu-geuk turned to Tae-su and Ji Han, who both looked confident in their swimming abilities, and issued a stern warning.
“Don’t let your guard down just because of his words, or you’ll die. You have to swim, and more importantly, visibility will be near zero down there. There will be unexpected obstacles, and someone else might panic and grab onto you. Do not think of a count of one hundred underwater as the same as a count of one hundred on dry land.”
“Understood!”
Tae-su and Ji Han braced themselves.
Geom Mu-geuk wasn't worried about the Blood Heaven Blade Demon or the One Flower Sword Venerable. Masters of the Demon Lord level were more than capable of fighting underwater battles against even the most skilled divers.
“Stay close behind me.”
The man in the iron face dove into the water without hesitation. Fearing they might lose their only guide, the other martial artists dove in one after another, judging that staying on his heels was their safest bet.
Geom Mu-geuk, however, remained composed. He pulled a piece of cloth—the same material used for a Wind-Avoiding Cloak—from his leather pouch and wrapped it securely around the bag.
“You really do carry everything in there!” Ji Han remarked. Geom Mu-geuk’s leather pouch truly seemed to be a bottomless well of utility.
“Can you two swim well?”
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon snorted at Mu-geuk’s question. The One Flower Sword Venerable answered for him with a smirk.
“He’s practically a seal.”
Geom Mu-geuk handed the pouch wrapped in the cloak to the Blood Heaven Blade Demon.
“Then I’ll leave the luggage to the Great Seal.”
He entrusted the gear to him because he needed his hands free to look after the two younger ones. They would likely have to navigate narrow, treacherous passages.
“You’ve got some nerve, making an old man play porter,” the Blood Heaven Blade Demon grumbled.
“You don’t look that old anymore.”
The One Flower Sword Venerable reached out. “Give it to me. I’ll take it.”
As Mu-geuk moved to hand it to her, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon snatched the pouch away first.
Tae-su dove in first, followed by Ji Han, then Geom Mu-geuk and the two Demon Lords. Tae-su led the way at the front. True to his reputation, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon swam like a seal despite the heavy luggage and his great blade, while the One Flower Sword Venerable moved through the water with elegant, fluid motions.
The deeper they descended, the darker the world became. Fish appeared and vanished like ghosts in the gloom. Suddenly, a human corpse loomed out of the darkness. Someone had already drowned.
Startled, Tae-su momentarily lost his bearings. The sight of the body shook his composure, and the bottom was far darker than he had anticipated. As he began to flounder, a voice resonated in his mind.
It was Geom Mu-geuk’s Voice Transmission.
— To the right.
Sure enough, in the direction Mu-geuk indicated, a hole gaped between the rocks. It had originally been hidden by thick aquatic plants, but those who had gone in first had torn them away, revealing the entrance.
As Tae-su entered the hole, a sudden doubt crossed his mind. ‘Wait, can you even use Voice Transmission underwater?’ He had heard it was impossible. Had he just hallucinated?
The cave was wide enough for two or three adults to swim side-by-side, but it was so pitch-black he couldn't see an inch ahead. It was the kind of tunnel no sane person would ever enter without the absolute certainty that there was breathable air at the other end.
How long had they been swimming? Tae-su felt panic rising again. A drowned corpse was blocking the narrow passage. He tried to push it aside, but the bloated body bobbed and drifted stubbornly. In his haste, he couldn't clear it.
It was then.
Whoosh!
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon, following behind, thrust his hand forward. A burst of bubbles erupted, and the corpse was instantly blasted far ahead. The Blood Heaven Blade Demon now took the lead, clearing away the floating corpses as he went. There wasn't just one or two; many had perished along the way.
The passage was far longer than expected. Tae-su felt like he had already counted well past a hundred.
‘At this rate...’
Tae-su, whose internal cultivation was relatively weaker, began to run out of air. The terror of suffocation led to the primal fear of death. To die before even reaching the entrance of the Sword Tomb! No, there was something even more shameful than that.
The guide drowning to death? That would be an embarrassment even in the afterlife.
‘I can do this! I’ll make it!’
But contrary to his will, his consciousness began to flicker and fade.
Right then, Geom Mu-geuk’s Voice Transmission reached him again.
— Close your eyes!
Was it another hallucination? Even as he told himself not to, Tae-su’s eyes began to drift shut.
Splaaaaash!
His body suddenly sliced through the water, propelled forward at incredible speed. Ji Han, who had been swimming behind, was also pulled along by Geom Mu-geuk’s hand. They tore through the water in a blur.
“Open your eyes.”
When they obeyed, they were already bobbing on the water's surface. The corpses the Blood Heaven Blade Demon had pushed ahead were floating nearby. Geom Mu-geuk tossed the two of them onto the shore before climbing out himself.
Tae-su bowed his head in deep gratitude.
“Thank you so much for saving my life.”
Ji Han might have made it on his own, but Tae-su had truly been on the verge of death. He felt a wave of shame, remembering how he had once worried that Mu-geuk had only come to kill him.
Soon after, the One Flower Sword Venerable emerged from the water last. They were in a space large enough for about a dozen people to stand, which connected back into a subterranean cavern. Those who had arrived first had already moved deeper into the cave, leaving the area empty.
The One Flower Sword Venerable’s wet clothes clung tightly to her body. The Blood Heaven Blade Demon immediately turned away, using his great blade to subtly shield her from the younger men's view.
Fwoosh!
The One Flower Sword Venerable circulated her Heat Yang Energy, drying her clothes in an instant.
“I don't think I've ever swum through an underwater cave like that before. What about you, Brother?”
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon, also drying himself with Heat Yang Energy, replied gruffly, “Do you think I have?”
Geom Mu-geuk didn't bother drying his clothes. It was enough for the two Demon Lords to appear perfectly dry.
As they walked into the cave, they reached a wide chamber where the earlier arrivals were gathered. Though many had jumped into the water, only about twenty martial artists had survived to reach this place. Their gazes turned toward the five newcomers. In a place where everyone wanted the competition to decrease, the arrival of five more people drew cold, murderous stares.
Then, someone shouted.
“Hurry up and open the door!”
Behind where the man in the iron face stood, there was a massive stone gate. This was the true entrance to the Sword Tomb. Believing that something beyond this door would change their destinies, the martial artists' faces were twisted with greed and longing.
The man in the iron face slowly pushed the gate open.
As the door swung wide, the interior was revealed. What overwhelmed everyone’s sight were hundreds—no, thousands—of swords. Blades were embedded everywhere the eye could see. It was a sight truly worthy of the name "Sword Tomb."
Upon closer inspection, the area wasn't just a flat plain. It was a recreation of a grand hall. Swords were thrust into the pillars, the chairs, the stone statues lining the walls—every visible surface was bristling with steel. Countless swords, each seemingly carrying its own bloody history.
The martial artists began inspecting the swords nearest to them, their eyes burning with the hope that a legendary blade might be hidden among the rusted iron.
“Look, but do not pull them out!” the man in the iron face warned.
But in any group, there is always someone who ignores warnings. The moment a man pulled a sword from a decorative scabbard—!
Swish! Thwack!
A blade shot up from the floor, skewering him through the groin. It moved with the speed of light, making it impossible to dodge. No one mourned his death.
The man in the iron face looked toward the Grand Tutor’s Chair at the far end and spoke.
“We must reach the door behind that chair. The moment we stepped into this place, the mechanisms were activated.”
The distance from where he stood to the chair was awkward—a distance that someone confident in their lightness skills might be tempted to try in a single leap. Driven by greed to be the first through, one man threw himself forward.
When he was halfway across—
Whiz! Thud!
Unlike the first man, he was killed when a blade dropped from the ceiling, piercing straight through his skull. Simultaneously, another person was already cutting through the air.
‘The moment the trap is triggered is the opportunity!’
Before the previous man’s body even hit the floor, he was passing through that spot.
Clang!
He deflected a hidden weapon aimed at his head. ‘I made it!’
Just as he prepared to kick off the air once more to reach the door—!
Swoosh!
Another blade, flying with the speed of light, pierced through his heart. It was a diagonal strike from the ceiling; not only was the angle difficult to deflect, but the speed was far too great.
Clunk!
The floor opened, and as the corpse fell through, yet another master rushed forward. The moment the body is cleared is the chance!
Contrary to his hopes, the reality was this: clearing the body was the trap. The three corpses vanished into the ground in an instant.
A brief silence followed. Their greed was excessive, but these men weren't lacking in skill. The fact that they died so easily chilled the survivors to the bone.
Then, someone shouted angrily, “Let’s just smash everything and go in!”
The man in the iron face spoke firmly. “That is not an option. It was written on the treasure map: if you try to force your way through by destroying the mechanisms, this place will collapse and we will all be buried.”
The only thing more terrifying than death was the thought of not being able to claim the treasures here.
“Do you understand now why I brought you all along?”
Geom Mu-geuk looked at Tae-su. Previously, Tae-su had been confident that he knew the location of the Sword Tomb and that only he could disarm the mechanisms. But Tae-su whispered with a panicked expression, “This is completely different from the description of the mechanisms on the treasure map.”
Geom Mu-geuk wasn't surprised. There was no way the person who released multiple copies of the map would have revealed the true nature of the traps.
The man in the iron face asked the group, “Does anyone know how to pass through here?”
When no one answered, he pointed directly at Geom Mu-geuk.
“You there, the young hero carrying the luggage.”
All eyes turned toward him.
“Do you perhaps have a way?”
“Why are you asking me?”
“Because of that luggage. The fact that you swam all the way here with such a large burden means you must have the skill to back it up. And if you have such skill at your young age, you must be quite clever. A problem like this requires a young, sharp mind.”
Geom Mu-geuk could feel it. This man knew his identity. He was testing him.
‘Is it you?’
But the man had appeared too openly to be the true mastermind. Geom Mu-geuk walked forward slowly, scanning the survivors. As people died, only the true masters and the cautious remained. The mastermind could be among them.
“Haven't you noticed anything strange about this place?”
The people looked around. Soon, their gazes, having found no answer, returned to Geom Mu-geuk. The Blood Heaven Blade Demon and the One Flower Sword Venerable were no different.
What Geom Mu-geuk had found was something no one else had considered.
“To me, the swords here are the strangest thing.”
Everyone looked puzzled. The man in the iron face spoke for them all. “The swords are strange? In a Sword Tomb?”
They looked at Geom Mu-geuk as if he were the strange one. Swords were the most natural thing to find in a place called the Sword Tomb.
Geom Mu-geuk asked them, “Was this place always the Sword Tomb?”
Everyone flinched.
“Wasn't this place named the Sword Tomb because countless masters entered and died here decades ago? If the name was given after they died, isn't it strange that this gateway is decorated specifically to look like a sword tomb?”
“...!”
It meant this gateway had been constructed after the Sword Tomb came to be. The possibility that this was a curated trap grew even larger, but no one suggested turning back.
Geom Mu-geuk slowly circled the room. Eventually, his footsteps stopped in front of a stone statue with several swords thrust into it. It was a statue of a woman holding a pipa. She wore a truly sorrowful expression.
Geom Mu-geuk had been here in his life before his regression. Back then, this statue definitely hadn't been here. It was the kind of statue he would have remembered.
“Was this woman a musician? Or perhaps a master of Sound Arts?”
Geom Mu-geuk flicked a sword embedded in her abdomen with his finger.
Ting.
A clear metallic sound rang out. Next, he flicked a sword in her side.
Tiing.
Then the shoulder, then the thigh. Whether it was because the metal was different or the depth of the thrust varied, each sword embedded in the body produced a different note.
Tae-su spoke cautiously to Geom Mu-geuk. “That sound just now... it was exactly like the notes of a pipa.”
“The same as a pipa?”
“Yes.”
“You know how to play instruments?”
“I learned a bit of this and that when I was young,” Tae-su admitted. His father had taught him, insisting that to be a proper thief, one had to be well-versed in music as well.
Geom Mu-geuk looked at the statue again. “Perhaps...?”
Following Tae-su’s guidance, Geom Mu-geuk began pushing the swords deeper into the statue, starting from the one that produced the lowest note. The sword that produced the highest note was the last one, thrust into her heart.
The moment all the swords were fully embedded in the statue—
Rumble!
The ground began to shake.
Clatter!
The swords embedded in the floor seemed to shuffle around, and then—as if inviting them to walk across—sword hilts of the same color aligned in a straight line all the way to the door.
Seeing this, Tae-su shouted joyfully, “The mechanism has been disarmed!”
Everyone stared at Geom Mu-geuk in shock. Some were filled with admiration, others with deep suspicion. It was a simple solution once revealed, but without the answer, it was a puzzle that could have kept them trapped forever.
The man in the iron face looked at Geom Mu-geuk with eyes full of complex emotions. “Truly impressive!”
“I was lucky. It just so happened that the person I brought with me had studied music.”
Of course, only the Blood Heaven Blade Demon and the One Flower Sword Venerable knew it was possible only because it was Geom Mu-geuk. The two looked at each other, shaking their heads in disbelief while nodding in acknowledgement.
Before leaving, Geom Mu-geuk offered a final greeting to the statue.
“Your death has led us to a new path. Thank you.”
Everyone stepped across the sword hilts and passed through. Indeed, there were no attacks. Having passed the first gateway, they opened the second door.
There were swords here as well. However, there was a difference. While the previous room had thousands of swords, this room held only one.
In the center of the room sat a skeleton, and leaning against its body was a single, solitary sword.