Chapter 56
Chapter 56
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 56
Chapter Title: The Impervious Black Iron
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A heavy silence settled over the workshop.
After a brief moment of quiet, Gun Do-sang let out a hollow chuckle.
"The Lord has quite the sense of humor."
Gun Do-sang dismissed Hyeok Mulin's words as a joke.
Why?
Because what he described was impossible from the start.
Even mastering just one—extreme heat or extreme cold—would make one an absolute master whose fame echoed across the world.
It was such an exalted realm that the odds of anyone possessing both bordered on zero.
And even if, by some miracle, such a person existed...
'...There's no way this half-baked Lord could do it.'
Not even the legendary past Heavenly Demons had achieved such a feat.
Yet this man, who hadn't earned the title through his own strength but was elevated by his clan's political maneuvering—could he truly possess such skill?
It was far more believable that the sun might rise at night.
"I merely stated a fact, not a joke."
Gun Do-sang furrowed his brow at the response.
"Are you truly saying, my Lord, that you can wield both extreme heat and extreme cold?"
"Indeed."
As Hyeok Mulin nodded, Gun Do-sang stared at him intently.
The successive affirmations rang clear and steady.
There was no tremor in his gaze or demeanor—it didn't seem like the words of a liar.
'Come to think of it, just moments ago, he gestured to dispel the heat inside, claiming it was too warm.'
The cold aura he released had instantly banished the workshop's sweltering air, leaving it downright chilly now.
And at the same time...
He glanced sideways.
Gun Do-sang eyed the extinguished furnace.
His workshop used jabak wood to maintain ultra-high temperatures in the furnace.
Yet that ultra-high heat had been snuffed out so effortlessly.
Of course, it wasn't true extreme heat, just ultra-high.
'The Lord didn't even use his full power.'
With a mere casual wave, he'd unleashed cold that quenched ultra-high heat.
So if the Lord went all out, could he truly summon the power of extreme cold?
Gun Do-sang stroked his chin, lost in deep thought.
He pondered sincerely whether such a thing was even possible in reality.
Hyeok Mulin watched him mull it over for a moment before stepping toward the furnace.
"......?"
Gun Do-sang's gaze followed.
Drawing near the furnace, Hyeok Mulin used the Threefold Flame Enlightenment to reignite embers there.
The fresh sparks swiftly swelled into white-hot flames.
Most people assumed red flames burned the hottest—a misconception.
Red flames were the most common and coolest in temperature.
Slightly hotter flames, hot enough to melt iron, glowed yellow—that was the norm in most forges, including those of the Namdo Iron Gate.
Finally, white flames emerged only when special woods forced the flames past their critical point into ultra-high heat.
Places producing white flames were exceedingly rare in the world.
It was safe to say they represented the highest temperature a human could witness.
'What is he doing?'
Gun Do-sang tilted his head at Hyeok Mulin's actions.
The white flames he produced weren't extreme heat.
They matched the ultra-high temperatures he'd always used—nothing more.
So what was he standing there for...?
"......!"
In that instant, as Gun Do-sang watched with puzzled eyes, his pupils shot forward as if to leap from their sockets.
From Hyeok Mulin's grasp—and the furnace—black flames surged, eclipsing even the white.
They flickered in a mesmerizing dance, as if devouring every mineral in existence.
Gun Do-sang's jaw dropped slack; trembling, he staggered forward on unsteady legs.
Approaching the furnace, he thrust one of the scattered swords into the blaze.
Sizzle!
It melted instantly, vaporizing in a flash.
The rigid solid turned liquid from the heat, then gas in the blink of an eye.
Despite it being an unprecedented sight, his lifetime at the forge let him instinctively know.
This was extreme heat.
Hyeok Mulin spoke to the man utterly captivated by the flames.
"What did I tell you? I said I could do both."
The aged blacksmith's eyes, filled with the black radiance, lit up with revelation.
Staring unwaveringly at the flames, never blinking, he finally spoke.
"Impervious Black Iron exists only in trace amounts. At best, you could forge a single sword."
Gun Do-sang couldn't fathom why he was saying this.
Yet his mouth kept moving.
"Moreover, ore touched by extreme heat can't be reused if refining fails. Pause even briefly, and the Impervious Black Iron loses its essence, becoming mere scrap. So, there's only one chance."
Pausing, Gun Do-sang turned to face Hyeok Mulin squarely.
"Yet with that single chance, are you prepared to grasp the Namdo Iron Gate's centuries-old aspiration?"
In truth, it was he who needed that resolve.
He was merely deflecting his own need for will onto Hyeok Mulin.
"You're right. There's only one chance."
But Hyeok Mulin answered the layered question with crystal clarity.
"And if not now, there will never be another opportunity to refine Impervious Black Iron in your lifetime—or the Namdo Iron Gate's. This moment is your one and only shot."
"......!"
Gun Do-sang's eyes widened in shock.
After Hyeok Mulin's meeting with Gun Do-sang, the Namdo Iron Gate buzzed with activity.
Rumors of varying scales spread among them, but the Gate Lord ventured alone to the underground vault's deepest level.
Each layer stored rare iron ores, with rarer specimens deeper down.
Yet his goal wasn't those; he descended the spiral stairs relentlessly.
The bottom layer and the one above were vastly separated, so it took another half hour before he reached the lowest floor.
A massive stone door filled his view, blocking the way.
"Covered in dust."
Gun Do-sang approached, noting the piled dust below.
Each step stirred clouds of it; no intruder's traces anywhere.
And rightly so—the Impervious Black Iron was the Namdo Iron Gate's sacred treasure. Initially, it was guarded by intricate mechanisms and heavy defenses.
But over time, they realized it was unnecessary.
Once the world knew refining it was impossible, interest waned.
What good was a delicacy from heaven if you couldn't eat it?
"Even setting that aside, as long as this remains, nothing could breach it. That's why they stripped the rest."
Thus, defenses were gradually reduced, but the final stone door and mechanism endured.
The deepest entrance's stone door was made of divine impervious stone, as unyielding as millennium cold iron. Even a Harmony Realm master couldn't scratch it.
Brute force was futile.
Gun Do-sang placed his hand on it and recited an incantation.
Blue lines traced the wall, converging at the center.
Drawing a prepared ritual hammer from his robe, he struck that point exactly ten times—not too hard, not too soft.
Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.
After the final strike, a deep rumble echoed as the stone door shifted.
This was the Namdo Iron Gate's unique mechanism, solvable only by a master blacksmith at the pinnacle.
With the barrier vanished, he pressed on.
The deepest chamber was sparse.
Only a single pedestal stood at the center, bearing the Impervious Black Iron.
"Who'd have thought I'd return here."
In his youth, brimming with ambition, he'd visited right after becoming Gate Lord to behold it.
And the instant he saw it, he knew.
He'd never refine it in his lifetime.
"......"
After a moment of reminiscence, he gazed at the Impervious Black Iron.
Pure black ore that devoured surrounding light.
Even at a glance, it screamed impossible to handle.
Could I really refine this?
Hesitating briefly, he lifted it with both hands.
Though it once felt crushing in his youth, now it was light as down.
'Yes. If not me, who in the world could?'
Even with the Lord's aid, he alone could work the Impervious Black Iron.
"Good. Just enough for one sword."
Steeling himself, he nodded and turned.
As he exited and climbed the stairs...
Boom!
The stone door collapsed behind him, as if bidding farewell to the departing treasure.
'...No returning here.'
Glancing back briefly, Gun Do-sang resumed walking.
Carrying it calmly outside, he found a crowd already gathered at the underground entrance.
"Oh! He's finally out!"
"Gate Lord, are you alright?"
"No injuries?"
The blacksmiths, hearing the news, had halted work to await him.
Worried by the underground rumble, they sighed in relief at his safe return—then stared, entranced, at his burden.
The moment they spotted the Impervious Black Iron, every blacksmith held their breath in unison.
The Namdo Iron Gate's legendary sacred treasure.
They'd heard tales aplenty, but seeing it was a first for all.
Dazed by its dazzling, radiant allure, they forgot to breathe, lost in awe.
"That's..."
"...the Impervious Black Iron?"
As the blacksmiths gaped, a few stepped forward.
Il-jang Wi-gang, I-jang Wi-hyeok, and Sa-jang Sim-hak—all Gun Do-sang's disciples.
"Master, we've heard. I'll assist in refining it—I've been with you longest, receiving your techniques."
"I've forged the Blood Scatter Sword of the Blood-Chasing Sword Demon. No one here can aid you better than I."
"No. I've crafted more swords than anyone in the Namdo Iron Gate. Let me support you, Master."
They were renowned blacksmiths, famed for legendary weapons.
The Gate's public faces, now vying to join the once-in-a-lifetime forging.
But Gun Do-sang shook his head.
"Refining Impervious Black Iron isn't for you. And even if you've made famed swords, are they superior to mine? More numerous than what I've forged?"
"That's..."
The disciples fell silent, speechless.
"But assistants are needed for support."
He turned his gaze.
"O-jang will assist."
The watching disciples and blacksmiths' eyes snapped to Sim Hyeo.
Blending into the crowd, even he looked stunned, pointing at himself in disbelief.
"M-Me?!"
"Yes."
"Master! O-jang's skills are still too green to assist you...!"
Gun Do-sang cut off Il-jang's protest sharply.
"Who set that 'green' standard?"
"O-jang has stood by my side for over a decade now. He understands my needs without a word— he's reached perfect support."
Sim Hyeo's face bloomed into a grin.
"Follow me, O-jang. As always, you'll assist in this refining."
"Yes!"
Sim Hyeo trailed him with buoyant steps.
"Deputy Gate Lord. Let no one enter my workshop until I emerge."
Tak Se-gon nodded firmly at the order.
"Understood."
Gun Do-sang and Sim Hyeo departed, leaving the blacksmiths behind.
Returning to the workshop, they spotted Hyeok Mulin waiting beyond the wide-open door.
As Gun Do-sang approached, Hyeok Mulin smiled.
"Welcome back. I've been waiting."
It was his own workshop, yet the words felt utterly novel.
A strange, fresh sensation tugged Gun Do-sang's lips into a faint smile.
"Let the refining begin."
Thud.
The door shut, sealing them off from the world.