Chapter 237
Chapter 237
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 237
Chapter Title: The Martial Emperor's Treasury
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The characters were carved thinly and sharply, as if etched with a sword, the calligraphy like a dragon soaring through the sky and a phoenix in dance.
What was more astonishing was that the two characters, which seemed impossible to write in one go, had been carved in a single stroke.
“The Martial Emperor… are they talking about the Eight Emperors and Three Stars from four hundred years ago?”
The Eight Emperors and Three Stars.
Four hundred years ago, the martial world was dominated by eleven supreme masters.
Among the Eight Emperors, the one known as the Martial Emperor, Seop Mu-heun, had a unique history.
He was originally a staunch member of the Righteous Faction who could not tolerate evil, but near the end of his life, it was revealed that he had been a double agent, straddling the line between the Righteous and Unorthodox factions.
The Martial Emperor, who had been called the next leader of the Righteous Faction, was a spy who had deftly passed information between both sides?
Shocked by this revelation, the martial world’s intelligence organizations of the time investigated him with all their might.
They discovered that he had skillfully used information from both sides to instigate power struggles between the Righteous and Unorthodox sects.
Ultimately, he was pursued by sects from both factions and was said to have vanished without a trace.
“Does that mean this is the Martial Emperor’s Treasury?”
—The current state of the martial world is irreversible. I have left my insights in this treasury… The fated one will surely find them.
In his final years, hunted by the forces of both factions, the Martial Emperor had left behind a message claiming he was wronged, announcing that he had hidden his life’s learnings in a secret place.
Then, he had thrown himself from Manjang Cliff, ascending into legend.
And to think that treasury was hidden in such a nameless, remote valley?
*Step, step.*
As if mesmerized, Bu Eun-seol approached the iron gate.
Then, as if it had been waiting, the gate opened on its own.
*Kwoong.*
As the gate opened, a long, black darkness stretched out before him. Bu Eun-seol stared into the space for a moment before stepping inside without hesitation.
*Clank.*
A faint metallic sound echoed from somewhere, and the interior, once steeped in darkness, slowly began to brighten.
Seven-colored night pearls had been embedded densely in the ceiling, casting a gentle light.
‘There are mechanisms installed.’
Bu Eun-seol advanced cautiously, one step at a time.
It was a corridor where not only the floor but also the walls and ceiling were made of solid iron plates. And the friction sounds of mechanisms secretly installed everywhere…
If the entrance was already like this, the actual scale of the Martial Emperor’s Treasury was bound to be unimaginably vast.
*Step, step.*
He walked for a long time, but no particularly threatening mechanisms or traps appeared.
‘Strange. Why aren’t the mechanisms activating?’
Every part of the corridor he had walked through so far had emitted the sound of metal grinding.
There were even places where Silver Shadow Stones seemed to be embedded in the floor plates, as if a formation had been set up.
But despite walking for more than a quarter of an hour, not a single mechanism or formation had been triggered.
‘Or perhaps they have a different purpose.’
Putting his deep questions aside, he continued forward.
After walking for about a quarter of an hour, he finally saw a door that seemed to lead somewhere.
*Jjeo-eong!*
As he approached the door, a bizarre sound, like it was gouging out his eardrums, echoed faintly from behind him.
*Jjeo-eong! Jjeo-eong! Krr-rumble!*
Listening closely, it was a metallic sound, as if a powerful force was striking a thick slab of iron with all its might.
The bizarre noises grew faster, and finally, with a low vibration, a sound like a huge chunk of iron collapsing was heard.
‘The Tan-wang. He’s here.’
The Tan-wang, Bukgung Ryeong, must have been tracking his trail and was now trying to forcibly break down the closed iron gate of the Martial Emperor's Treasury.
*Kwoong!*
Finally, a deafening crash, as if the gate had been broken, echoed all around.
—Where are you hiding!
With Bukgung Ryeong’s shout, the sound of something cutting through the air followed.
*Woong. Woong.*
But something was strange.
As soon as Bukgung Ryeong broke through the iron gate and entered, a series of low vibrations began to emanate from the previously calm corridor.
*Jii-ing. Clank.*
At the same time, an unpleasant mechanical whirring began to sound out openly.
‘Mechanisms.’
Bu Eun-seol instinctively knew that the mechanisms in the Martial Emperor’s Treasury had been activated.
‘Could it be… it judged him as an intruder?’
Usually, only a chosen one can enter such a treasury.
Bu Eun-seol didn't know if he was chosen, but the gate had opened on its own, and he had entered the treasury without any trouble.
But when the Tan-wang forcibly destroyed the gate and intruded, the mechanisms installed here had activated.
*Clank, clank, clank, clank.*
With the sound of grinding metal, shiny stones suddenly began to protrude from the spaces between the seven-colored night pearls on the ceiling.
*Flash!*
And as those stones simultaneously poured out light, an immense pressure slammed down, causing his back to arch like a bow on its own.
‘Cheokjang Stones?’
Lifting his head with difficulty, Bu Eun-seol couldn't hide his bewilderment.
The transparent stones protruding from the ceiling were Cheokjang Stones, the same kind installed at the entrance of the Muhasuyujeong.
*Paaang!*
With the explosive sound of erupting true qi, a fierce wind burst from Bu Eun-seol’s entire body.
He was raising his internal energy to resist the crushing pressure.
‘Kuh.’
But the power of the Cheokjang Stones pouring from the ceiling was incomparably stronger than the Heavenly King Water of the Muryang Cheonsugwan.
‘Is it the difference in number?’
The Cheokjang Stones were powerful enough to easily confine the Heavenly King Water—where a single ladle of water was said to be heavier than a house-sized block of iron—within a single space.
But with so many of them embedded densely in the ceiling, the pressure was enough to instantly crush even a Vajra Bronze Golem.
*Woong.*
As the light pouring from the Cheokjang Stones in the ceiling intensified, Bu Eun-seol felt as if the heavens and earth were tearing apart and spinning.
Even for Bu Eun-seol, whose internal energy far exceeded sixty years of cultivation, it was impossible to easily resist the pressure from the densely packed Cheokjang Stones.
“So you were here!”
*Kwarreung!*
Just then, a white shadow appeared at the end of the corridor with a thunderous explosion.
It was Bukgung Ryeong, who had broken through the iron gate and entered the Martial Emperor's treasury.
“Is this the best you could do to run away?”
The Tan-wang, who had been rushing toward Bu Eun-seol with lightning speed,
*Thud.*
Finally, as he got close to Bu Eun-seol, he was forced to halt his movement technique by the immense pressure of the Cheokjang Stones, his back bending over.
“Ugh.”
Greatly surprised, Bukgung Ryeong let out a cry.
But he immediately exerted his internal energy and began to straighten his back.
*Creak.*
Bukgung Ryeong’s power seemed to surpass Bu Eun-seol’s, as he straightened his body in a single breath.
But that was all.
Under the immense pressure of the Cheokjang Stones, he couldn't take a single proper step, standing frozen like a stone statue.
*Woooong.*
As Bukgung Ryeong entered the corridor, the Cheokjang Stones, as if they had been waiting, began to pour out even more powerful pressure.
“Cheokjang Stones?”
Bukgung Ryeong also recognized the Cheokjang Stones on the ceiling and gritted his teeth.
“To think they embedded so many Cheokjang Stones, each worth over ten million gold.”
At a glance, there seemed to be over a hundred of them.
Unless he could break those stones or stop the mechanism, he would be trapped here, unable to move forward or backward.
“Fine.”
*Crack.*
As Bukgung Ryeong forcibly raised his right hand above his head, materialized true qi surged from his body.
He had drawn out his immense internal energy to its fullest extent.
“Hup!”
With a powerful shout, he unleashed his Naegatangi with all his might.
*Kwa-ung!*
The intense burst of internal energy he unleashed pierced through the pressure of the Cheokjang Stones like an awl, finally reaching the ceiling.
*Ting!*
But all he managed to shatter was a single Cheokjang Stone.
“Only… one?”
Seeing the fragments of the Cheokjang Stone fall to the floor, Bukgung Ryeong unleashed his Naegatangi once more.
*Ting! Ting-ting!*
But each time, he only managed to break a single stone, and the crushing pressure hardly changed.
“Ugh.”
A groan escaped his lips after he unleashed his fourth Naegatangi.
Unleashing Naegatangi through the immense pressure of the Cheokjang Stones was a method that consumed an enormous amount of true energy.
To use such a technique repeatedly was a reckless move, even considering Bukgung Ryeong’s martial prowess.
“Hmph!”
But Bukgung Ryeong did not despair and unleashed his Naegatangi once again.
However, he still only managed to break one or two stones.
‘Cheokjang Stones are mysterious stones that only exert their power when they face each other. In that case…’
“Heup!”
Having thought it through, Bukgung Ryeong this time used the Naegajungsu Technique to pour his internal energy into the floor beneath him.
*Woong!*
But only a deep vibration echoed.
‘There’s nothing.’
Bukgung Ryeong’s expression changed drastically.
From the feeling in his hand, there was nothing beneath the floor.
How could the Cheokjang Stones, which needed to face each other to exert their power, be pouring down pressure from the ceiling alone?
‘Kuh.’
In that time, his back began to ache.
Having expended a great deal of true energy, the crushing pressure felt even greater.
“To think that I, the great Tan-wang, would be brought to my knees by a mere mechanism…”
Even he, who had roamed the world and was called the Tan-wang, was helpless against such a bizarre and terrifying trap.
But something was strange.
That insolent brat, a good distance away, was leisurely crouched on the floor, curled up.
‘Has that fellow already given up?’
As Bukgung Ryeong’s brow furrowed while looking at Bu Eun-seol,
*Thump!*
A massive vibration shook the iron-plated floor.
Bu Eun-seol, with both hands on the floor, had vibrated it with his powerful internal energy.
“What a ridiculous act.”
Bukgung Ryeong wore a look of disbelief.
“Beneath the iron plate is just a solid floor. Can’t you feel it with the soles of your feet?”
What if there had been a space in between? Even if it were filled with a ten-foot-thick slab of iron, it would have bent under the pressure of the Cheokjang Stones.
“Or are you hitting the floor because you don’t have the power to strike above?”
Regardless of his ridicule, Bu Eun-seol focused his mind and vibrated the floor again.
*Thump!*
Then, a strange thing happened.
*Ting!*
One of the Cheokjang Stones embedded in the ceiling suddenly fell to the floor.
*Thump! Ting!*
When Bu Eun-seol vibrated the floor once more, another Cheokjang Stone hanging from the ceiling fell again.
‘I see!’
Watching this, Bukgung Ryeong finally understood Bu Eun-seol’s intention.
This entire corridor—floor, walls, and ceiling—was made of steel.
And since the ceiling was originally flat… it must have been designed to protrude via a mechanism.
‘It doesn’t matter whether there are Cheokjang Stones below or not.’
Since he couldn’t strike the ceiling directly, he was applying an indirect shock to the floor to damage the mechanism in the ceiling.
“A method worth trying.”
Bukgung Ryeong also placed his hands on the floor and began to exert his powerful internal energy.
*Thump!*
A vibration incomparably stronger than Bu Eun-seol’s traveled up the walls and shook the ceiling.
As befitting his title of Tan-wang, he was exceptionally skilled in techniques that used true energy to vibrate or repel things.
*Ting-ting! Clank.*
Then, a few more Cheokjang Stones fell to the floor, or retracted back into the holes they had emerged from.
“It’s working.”
Confirming that a few stones had retracted inside, Bukgung Ryeong vibrated the floor powerfully once again.
*Thump! Thuuump!*
As they struck the floor in succession, finally,
*Clank!*
With a loud mechanical noise, most of the Cheokjang Stones disappeared as if sucked back into the holes.
“Huff, huff.”
When all the pressure finally vanished, Bukgung Ryeong gasped for breath.
He had overcome numerous crises in his life, but never before had he poured out so much power that his dantian felt like it would tear.
“Where in the world is this place?”
Bu Eun-seol found Bukgung Ryeong’s shout absurd.
“You broke down the iron gate and came in without even knowing where you were?”
“Hmph, I only saw the traces of you entering.”
The Tan-wang, contrary to his immortal-like appearance, seemed to be not very cautious and had quite an impatient personality.
“How rare.”
“Rare?”
“For someone of an age where his beard has turned white to still be so impatient and incautious.”
“Do you dare to insult me?”
As Bukgung Ryeong revealed his killing intent, Bu Eun-seol spoke coldly.
“Is that not why you fired your Naegatangi at me without even properly identifying the one who had violated the woman?”
“That was my mistake.”
“And if I had died? Would you have stood over my corpse and said it was a mistake?”
No matter how impatient he was, Bukgung Ryeong was a master of the Righteous Faction. At a loss for words, he cleared his throat loudly.
“Ahem.”
Then he quickly changed the subject.
“I must recover my internal energy quickly.”
With such a trap right at the entrance, there was no telling what other terrifying traps might lie beyond this corridor.
He intended to quickly gather his internal energy to prepare for any other potential traps.
“Hoo.”
Just then, Bu Eun-seol, who had taken a deep breath and stood up, staggered forward.
“Hmph, are you trying to run away quickly because you’re scared of me?”
Watching him, Bukgung Ryeong’s lips curled up.
“It’s useless. No matter how fast you run, I’ll catch you in no time.”
*Pfft.*
Turning his head, he looked at Bukgung Ryeong with a smirk.
“Not only are your eyes and ears failing you, but your head is also slow.”
“What did you say?”
Flames erupted in Bukgung Ryeong’s eyes.
For decades, he had roamed the martial world, and from the youth, he had only ever received looks of awe and respect.
When had he ever met a young man who insulted him to his face like this?
“You’ve got a lot of nerve.”
Getting up again, Bukgung Ryeong spoke ominously to Bu Eun-seol.
“Using my mistake as an excuse, you think you can keep spouting such nonsense…”
But his words were cut short.
Bu Eun-seol had turned his body without looking back and exited the corridor.
“You brat!”
Bukgung Ryeong’s personality was sincere and generous, but he showed no mercy to villains.
Besides, wasn’t that brat the demonic spawn who had struck down the Geol-wang, an elder of the Righteous Faction?
“Stop right there!”
As he was about to chase after Bu Eun-seol,
*Clank!*
Suddenly, from behind him, a metallic sound was heard, and the light of the Cheokjang Stones began to pour out again.
‘That brat…’
Only then did Bukgung Ryeong realize something, his eyes widening.
Just before, they had only forcibly reversed the ceiling mechanism using vibrations.
But there was no telling when it might reverse again. It was more important to escape this place as soon as possible than to recover his energy.
Bu Eun-seol smirked at Bukgung Ryeong, who had scrambled out of the corridor.
His expression seemed to say, ‘No need to thank me.’
“Hmph, don’t make me laugh. I was planning to come out soon anyway.”
In the end, he had once again missed his chance to attack, seething with killing intent.
Snorting, Bukgung Ryeong closed in on Bu Eun-seol and said.
“In any case, you’re prepared, I assume.”
“Quiet.”
Bu Eun-seol suddenly stopped walking, listening with a serious expression.
After thinking deeply about something for a moment, he stared intently at the ceiling, then put his ear to the floor again, cautiously surveying his surroundings.
His movements and gaze were so serious that Bukgung Ryeong had no choice but to stand there and wait.
“Is there something else?”
Bukgung Ryeong immediately regretted asking the question.
Didn’t such an action make it seem as if he was inferior to this young brat?
‘It’s because that fellow is too calm…’
The trap with the Cheokjang Stones just now was so perilous that even he, a master of the Supreme Heaven Realm, was helpless against it.
But Bu Eun-seol had been very calm and had easily overcome it.
Seeing that, a sense of reliance had unwittingly sprung up within him.
“The sound of something rolling, and a shape that splits left and right.”
Bu Eun-seol’s eyes narrowed as he carefully examined the iron-plated floor.
“It means the path splits.”
*Rumble-rumble.*
As if on cue, the iron-plated floor began to shake, and in the distance, the corridor’s path split into two.