Chapter 146
Chapter 146
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 146
Chapter Title: The Plum Blossom Seven Gates
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Cheonhwi faced the Plum Blossom Three Gates.
Upon entering, he sensed the energy flowing around him and spotted the path of life with his eyes.
Without hesitation, Cheonhwi took three or four steps in each direction—east, west, south, and north—to find the path of life within the formation guarding this gate.
But Cheonhwi deliberately veered toward a dead end instead.
The moment he did...
Crack...
A vicious pressure crushed down on his body.
At the same time, his meridians and internal energy went berserk, making his entire body scream in agony.
"Yes, this is exactly what I wanted."
Cheonhwi's mouth twisted into a grin.
This was precisely what he had hoped for.
What good was a safe challenge?
Only with this level of danger would one truly grasp the significance of the gate!
Groooan!
The pressure intensified.
Yet Cheonhwi remained utterly calm.
After savoring the dead end's torment for a moment, he circulated the Plum Blossom Divine Art and crushed the entire formation beneath its power.
Grind...
A bizarre noise echoed as cracks spiderwebbed through the space.
Shatter!
The formation broke.
"This place is perfect."
Cheonhwi nodded in approval.
The Demon-Slaying Gate and the Ghost Demon Gate!
This was where the third and fourth gates of the Heavenly Demon Ten Gates merged with the Plum Blossom Gates.
The Demon-Slaying Gate was infamous: one had to survive for a fortnight on rations meant for a single day, fending entirely for oneself.
What did that imply?
To survive, one had to kill and be killed by the others.
And the Ghost Demon Gate?
It was a collaboration with the Demon Sect, one of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult's Eight Sects, designed to toy with the human mind.
Physical torment for the body, mental torment for the spirit.
p>This was the Orthodox version, flawlessly integrated into the righteous path.
A perfect formation for experiencing suffering of both body and soul.
"Fail to find the path of life, and you'd starve in hallucinations. Stumble into a dead end, and you'd writhe in this agony."
Cheonhwi gazed at the Plum Blossom Three Gates with a satisfied expression as the door opened.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Fwoosh—
The third lamp ignited.
Zhuge Seonghyeon paled in shock.
One hour? No, forget one hour!
Before he could even brew tea, Cheonhwi had cleared the first three of the Plum Blossom Seven Gates.
"...Th-this is impossible, even for Big Brother. No, not just him..."
He swallowed the rest of his words.
A thought surfaced in his mind, but it was too taboo to voice.
"N-no. Still, the Plum Blossom Four Gates are completely different from the ones before."
His hands trembled faintly.
He watched the next lamp, the one that would light if the Plum Blossom Four Gates were cleared.
"No matter what, this one takes time."
The Plum Blossom Four Gates were another matter.
The previous gates tested basic prowess, but from the four onward, true martial skill was required...
Then.
Fwoosh—
The fourth lamp ignited.
"......"
Zhuge Seonghyeon was speechless.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Walking toward the door to the Plum Blossom Five Gates, Cheonhwi glanced back.
"No need to touch this one either."
Having set it up himself, the Plum Blossom Four Gates needed no adjustments.
Footwork, swordsmanship, palm techniques, staff methods...
He had installed mechanisms to force mastery of Mount Hua Sect's martial arts.
For footwork, one had to leave exact footprints. For sword or palm techniques, replicate the traces perfectly...
The intent was simple.
Just learn the damn martial arts properly.
"If they can't pass this after the others, they'll be too embarrassed not to grind away at the arts."
Failing a Mount Hua martial arts gate after the rest? Absurd.
"Now for the Plum Blossom Five Gates..."
Cheonhwi's eyes sharpened as he muttered.
From the five onward, the nature changed entirely.
Up to now, it had been physical conditioning and martial foundations. No longer.
At that moment.
"This scent...?"
A familiar plum blossom fragrance tickled his nose.
Whoosh—
Countless illusory plum blossoms swirled before his eyes, transforming the surroundings.
His pupils vanished.
Clouds and peaks filled the void.
Cheonhwi stood atop a peak as plum petals invaded his vision, blanketing even the clouds and forging a beautiful path.
"Is this the Return to Benevolence Myriad Formations or something? Perfect."
Cheonhwi smirked at the sight.
This landscape, this path of plums—it matched exactly what he had described to Zhuge Seonghyeon.
"No way you miss this."
Cheonhwi drew his sword.
The petals swirling in the sky began to rotate languidly.
The first form of the Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Sword Art.
Plum Blossom Roadside bloomed.
Swish—
The petals vanished.
In their place, an old Daoist in robes appeared, dancing atop the clouds.
His movements fluttered like butterflies.
Cheonhwi watched the elder, who seemed ready to drift away on the slightest breeze, then lowered his sword.
The dance's meaning was clear.
Yield.
To the flow, the momentum, your sword.
Cheonhwi swung his sword.
No—his hand yielded to the sword.
The boundary between hand and sword dissolved.
The manifestation of Sword and Man as One.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Fwoosh—
Zhuge Seonghyeon stared blankly at the lamp.
"...Haha."
Not even a hollow laugh escaped him now.
The Plum Blossom Five Gates in mere moments?
This felt different from before.
Having experienced all seven himself, he knew how grueling each gate was.
Passing one didn't make the next easier.
The second could be harder; the fourth, easier.
But one truth: from the five onward, difficulty doubled.
Yet he cleared the fifth.
At an impossible speed!
"...Beyond expectations."
Zhuge Seonghyeon shook his head.
His common sense couldn't judge this man.
No—the world couldn't.
Cheonhwi sheathed his sword after demonstrating every form along the illusions embodying the Plum Blossom Sword Art's intent.
"You did exactly as I said."
A satisfied smile curved his lips.
Mimicking a manual's forms was one thing; comprehending and unleashing their essence was another level.
Anyone could ape the shapes, but infusing intent was unimaginably harder.
Yet the Plum Blossom Five Gates enabled it—by manifesting the forms' meanings in illusions.
'This makes them ponder the forms, question why they exist...'
Cheonhwi nodded.
Reflection was the foundation of martial study, the spark to the next realm.
"Better than I imagined."
Probably unintentional.
The Zhuge family didn't know the Plum Blossom Sword Art deeply.
A happy accident of coincidences.
"No need to linger here."
He entered the next open door.
Thud!
It sealed shut.
Night pearls illuminated the chamber.
"Same as the Soul Demon Gate."
Cheonhwi surveyed the room.
Dried rations lined the left wall; water jars the right.
Clearly not for a day or two.
"About to start now?"
A thick spiritual energy seeped out.
So dense it weighed like drowning, heavy as lead.
"Mount Hua's spiritual energy has built up more than expected?"
A newcomer might rejoice, but that was folly.
Excess was as harmful as lack.
Even spiritual energy overwhelmed the unworthy.
"If this formation ran in the original Soul Demon Gate, most would die."
The true Soul Demon Gate fed demonic spirit pills to induce transcendence.
Absorb them? Reach transcendence.
Fail? Qi deviation and madness.
Cheonhwi twisted it: gathering Mount Hua's spiritual energy via formation instead.
Hence the insane density.
Not as mind-corrupting as demonic qi, but deadly.
Most Mount Hua Daoists would faint on entry, save a few.
"But if you endure..."
Cheonhwi's eyes curved slyly.
Power wasn't free.
Equivalent exchange.
Gain demanded loss.
Moments passed.
Hiss—
The dense energy slowly dispersed.
"Hm, this the max?"
He recalled Zhuge Seonghyeon's plan for the Plum Blossom Six Gates.
Mount Hua was a spiritual mountain, but endless gathering was impossible.
p>Peak times: dawn and dusk, twice daily max.
One hour per session.
Not even daily, lest the balance collapse.
'Four times a year.'
Cheonhwi stroked his chin.
The Plum Blossom Seven Gates couldn't run constantly anyway—supplies and consumables galore.
'Once per season...'
Click—
A floor panel opened; a wooden pedestal rose.
"All sorts of mechanisms."
Cheonhwi eyed the wooden box atop it, then opened it.
Clack—
A martial arts manual inside.
The Seven Ultimate Plum Blossom Sword manual, crafted for this gate.
The Five and Six Gates linked seamlessly.
Spot gaps in Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Sword Art? Study Seven Ultimate next?
Predictable.
"They'll dive straight into the Seven Ultimate."
Cheonhwi replaced the manual and closed the box.
Thud—
It sank away.
The hole sealed flawlessly.
"No wonder the Zhuge are famed for mechanisms."
Amazed, he peered down.
Groan—
The next wall opened.
"Now, the Plum Blossom Seven Gates..."
Excitement lit Cheonhwi's face as he stepped toward the open door to the Plum Blossom Seven Gates.
Step... Step...
Into the dark space.
How long until he emerged?
Anticipating the seventh...
Groan—
The wall parted, light spilling out.
"What?"
Cheonhwi frowned, puzzled, as he approached.
"Outside?"
Surveying Mount Hua's scenic peaks, his brow furrowed deeper.
"This the end? The Seventh Gate?"
As Cheonhwi gaped in disbelief...
"Already to the seventh..."
Zhuge Seonghyeon sat stunned.
The Plum Blossom Seven Gates were double the effort of the rest.
An illusion transformation formation using countless Zhuge arrays.
'The seventh pits you against your mind's strongest foe. And he just...?'
As he stared blankly...
"The final gate's broken?"
A voice came from behind.
"H-how did you get here?"
Zhuge Seonghyeon jumped, then sighed in relief at Cheonhwi.
"How? I sensed your presence."
"...My presence?"
Zhuge Seonghyeon blinked dumbly.
Sensed him from there?
Absurd...
'But with the young hero, possible.'
He accepted it.
Clearing the seventh that fast? Sensing presence was trivial.
"More importantly, did you set up the seventh properly? The formation didn't trigger."
"Pardon? It didn't activate?"
"Nothing happened."
"That can't be..."
Zhuge Seonghyeon tilted his head.
How much blood and sweat into the seventh.
Yet it made sense somehow.
Clearing it that fast? Impossible anyway.
"I'll check."
Cheonhwi cocked his head.
"When do we go in?"
"Right now."
Zhuge Seonghyeon turned the rightmost lamp counterclockwise.
Groan—
The wall split, revealing a passage.
"So that's the passage."
"Y-you knew?"
Zhuge Seonghyeon paled.
Noticed the hidden path?
He thought shock-proof now, but no.
Cheonhwi, nonchalant, asked:
"Why wouldn't I?"
"Well... that..."
Half-protesting, Zhuge Seonghyeon laughed helplessly and shook his head.
"...I'll check quickly."
"Go."
Cheonhwi replied indifferently.
Step... Step...
Zhuge Seonghyeon entered the darkness.
'Didn't activate?'
Puzzled as he walked.
The seventh was his masterpiece.
Sleepless nights perfecting it.
At the passage's end, he gripped the lever left of the blocking wall and pulled down slowly.
Groooan—
The wall opened, light flooding in.
And that instant.
"What do you mean it didn't activate...!"
He bellowed in fury.
There, right before him, stood the man he feared most in the world.
The head of the Zhuge family—his father.
Zhuge Shin.
"Damn it all!"