Chapter 42
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 42
Chapter Title: Trap (2)
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Mount Putuo.
In the past, it was a sacred ground of Buddhism, rivaling even Shaolin and Emei.
However, with the annihilation of the Putuo Sect, it slowly fell into ruin, until it became nothing more than an ordinary mountain.
As if to announce the changing times, visitors to Mount Putuo were now extremely rare, save for the occasional ginseng digger.
“Tsk. They say ten years is enough to change the face of the land, but for the great Mount Putuo to become so desolate… How cruel time is.”
Someone was ascending Mount Putuo.
He was an old man in gray martial robes, but the subtle aura emanating from him made the surrounding air heavy.
“They've certainly laid it on thick.”
The old man's brow furrowed.
It wasn't just because the dense demonic energy in the area was suppressing the pure energy of Mount Putuo.
It was because he found the shallow tricks prepared as a trap distasteful.
Moreover, the very situation of having to reluctantly help them grated on his nerves.
“……”
The old man's steps came to a halt.
There, he saw someone radiating such intense demonic energy that it was hard to believe he could be called an elder of a prestigious orthodox sect.
It was the man known as the Third Elder of the Cheon Family.
“Kheheheheheh.”
An eerie presence could be felt.
Seeing this, the old man clicked his tongue.
The Third Elder with his once-clear eyes was nowhere to be seen.
*So, you too failed to resist temptation in the end.*
The Third Elder was a man who craved the sword.
But even after mastering all the sword arts of the Cheon Family, his thirst was not quenched.
No matter how much he practiced, he could not break through the wall to the Transcendent State.
And so, the Third Elder despaired.
After despair came resentment.
*The sword of the Cheon Family is incomplete! There must be another sword passed down only to the direct line!*
Watching Cheon Wigang, who had started learning the sword later than him, reach the Transcendent State, the Third Elder denied the sword of the Cheon Family even more vehemently.
*I shall quench that thirst for you.*
The Demonic Cult approached him and gave him the countless sword techniques he desired.
He devoted himself to training once more, but in the end, the Third Elder still could not reach the Transcendent State.
*Can I never enter the Transcendent State?*
But even in the face of this uncomfortable truth, the Third Elder turned away until the very end.
*No. This is all because I learned the sword of the Cheon Family. If it weren't for the Cheon Family, I would have reached the Transcendent State!*
He denied it, and denied it again.
He wanted to destroy the Cheon Family.
And so, the Third Elder dabbled in demonic arts, ultimately losing his purity and becoming a demonic being.
“Tsk. What a pity.”
The old man was genuinely saddened.
To dabble in demonic arts meant that the infinite potential the Third Elder once possessed had been sealed away.
“Did you not realize… that there is no paradise at the end of your escape?”
What could be done?
Everything was his own choice.
The old man walked slowly toward the Third Elder, who was intoxicated by false power.
“Ah, Venerable Lord.”
“……”
“You have arrived.”
The Third Elder addressed the old man as 'Venerable Lord'.
Contrary to his respectful tone.
The Third Elder was extremely aggressive.
He seemed unable to control his overflowing power.
“Thanks to your failure, Venerable Lord, things have come to this. You should be the one to clean up this mess, but…”
“……”
“This one time, I shall resolve it myself.”
“Child, do not step forward trusting in such a paltry power.”
“Kheheheheh. I don't know why I've ignored such an easy path until now.”
“……”
The Venerable Lord did not answer.
As if he were a mere bystander.
He simply walked deeper into Mount Putuo, showing no further interest.
“Hmph.”
The Third Elder gnashed his teeth as he watched the Venerable Lord's retreating back.
“We'll see how long you can ignore me.”
*Ssssk.*
There was still not enough blood.
Before Cheon Muryang arrived, the great ritual would be complete.
“If you can't climb over the wall… you just have to smash through it. I see that now.”
If he completed the demonic art.
He would be able to reach the Transcendent State he so desperately craved.
“Blood, give me blood.”
For this, he could sacrifice anything.
As long as he could grow stronger, the deaths of those whose lives didn't matter were of no concern to him.
“Kheheheheheh!”
Having lost even his humanity, the Third Elder, as if insane, reveled in the surging demonic energy.
***
Night fell.
It was so dark, and a thick sea fog had settled around Mount Putuo, making it impossible to see even an inch ahead.
*Ptoo!*
The Wandering King spat harshly.
A subtle anger could be felt from him.
“This reminds me of that day.”
Their methods were vicious.
Even the Wandering King had been horrified by their tactic of willingly throwing their lives away.
“I'm telling you now, this is Cheon Family business, so you can back out if you want.”
“Don't be ridiculous. You think I'd back out now, after coming all this way?”
The Wandering King's body seemed to be heating up.
It looked as though he had already entered a combat stance.
“How could I pass up on the fun?”
As an absolute master who had reached the Transcendent State, he could feel that this darkness was by no means natural.
He wanted to confront whatever was lurking deep within that mountain.
“Well, suit yourself.”
“Such foul demonic energy.”
Cheon Seonhak, too.
Could not let his guard down.
The demonic energy was potent enough to make two masters of the Transcendent State tense, yet Cheon Muryang himself was composed.
“In the end, it is a flawed power.”
What was demonic energy, after all?
The demonic was, in essence, a power that defied the principles of this world.
But how could something that exists in this world defy its principles?
There could be no more laughable paradox.
“Demonic energy, too, is but a single dot when viewed from the heavens.”
The heavens would embrace even demonic energy.
Even if the demonic energy itself refused.
*Fwoosh!*
Was it because of his different perspective on demonic energy?
For some reason, it felt as if the demonic energy could not approach Cheon Muryang.
“Why don't you try finding the path with that strange sword of yours? It's too dark to see a thing.”
“……”
The Wandering King grumbled.
But, as he said, the thick sea fog on Mount Putuo made it feel as if they had fallen into the middle of a formation.
*Pfft.*
Cheon Muryang chuckled.
No matter how thick the sea fog was, how could the Wandering King, who had reached the Transcendent State, not be able to find the path?
“If you want to see my sword, just say so.”
*Flinch!*
Even in the sea fog, the Wandering King's shoulders could be seen flinching clearly.
He even cleared his throat.
“Ahem!”
Since they had to clear a path anyway.
Cheon Muryang held the Heavenly Light Sword aloft.
Just from that simple action, the surrounding demonic energy began to stir violently.
It was a movement that seemed to unequivocally reject Cheon Muryang's existence.
“Open the way.”
But the Heavenly Light Sword cut through it mercilessly.
*Fwoooosh!*
The vivid blue sword energy that blossomed forth blew away the sea fog filling the area.
*Swhoooosh!*
The path leading to the summit was revealed.
“Let's go.”
Cheon Muryang took the lead.
Although the sea fog had been driven away, the densely grown trees of Mount Putuo were lush.
“This is clearly a trap.”
This was a killing ground.
The ominous beings they had encountered on Mount Makgan were likely here.
“So it's them. Those bastards, we just need to cut them down.”
Realizing that the beings from Mount Makgan were here, the Wandering King stepped forward in a rage.
“I'm the type who can't stand being in debt!”
As if he hadn't forgotten the humiliation of that day.
The Wandering King didn't charge them recklessly but maintained a strict distance, unleashing a barrage of sword strikes.
The Wandering King's fierce strikes swept through like a storm.
*Kwwaaaaang!*
Their shredded bodies began to seethe, just like before, and then started to explode.
“It won't work a second time!”
The Wandering King shouted triumphantly, mocking their futile deaths.
It seemed the Wandering King could not forgive the fact that they had inflicted internal injuries on him.
“Hmm…”
But Cheon Muryang had his doubts.
It was too easy.
*They can't be unaware that the Wandering King has joined us...?*
Only Cheon Muryang remained vigilant.
And so, he could feel it.
*The ground is shaking?*
*Rumble, rumble, rumble!*
The ground trembled.
One might think it was simply due to the Wandering King's rampage, but Cheon Muryang thought differently.
“Uncle!”
Cheon Muryang urgently shouted to Cheon Seonhak, who was nearby.
“Right.”
Cheon Seonhak, also sensing the tremor, immediately shot up into the sky.
“Huh?”
Only the Wandering King, who had been smiling while unleashing a torrent of strikes to annihilate them, was late to realize that something was wrong.
“Son of a bitch!”
The Wandering King looked at the two who had soared into the sky.
He cursed at Cheon Muryang and Cheon Seonhak and hastily wrapped himself in his protective aura.
*Kwagagagagang!*
The ground where the Wandering King stood collapsed.
A deep pit, like a bottomless abyss, formed.
From within, wraiths with such ghastly appearances that one could hardly call them living began to crawl out.
“These bastards!”
Although the Wandering King was shrouded in his protective aura, it couldn't block the entire explosion.
*Drip!*
Just like last time, the Wandering King suffered another deep internal injury.
But, his anger taking precedence, the Wandering King paid it no mind and instead laughed as he charged toward them.
“Let's see what else you've got!”
This was not good.
An injured tiger is indeed more fearsome, but in other words, it meant that someone of the Wandering King's caliber was already being cornered.
“Step back.”
And so, Cheon Muryang stepped forward.
It wasn't that the Wandering King was weak, but for someone like him who favored close-quarters combat and brawling, the matchup against these foes was the absolute worst.
“It's just getting fun. Why should I back down?”
The Wandering King was not Cheon Muryang's subordinate, so he naturally refused.
This was his battlefield.
“As I said last time, matchups matter.”
“…!”
“So don't get in my way.”
Cheon Muryang stood right beside the Wandering King.
He looked ready to fight the Wandering King himself if necessary.
“This damn bastard…”
“You know as well as I do that we must conserve our strength when we can.”
“……”
There was one reason why Cheon Muryang was so insistent on stopping the Wandering King.
It was because of the immense presence he had been sensing from somewhere on Mount Putuo.
The moment he sensed it, the Third Elder and his ilk became trivial.
*Just why is someone with such a powerful aura here...? Is this the trap I sensed on Mount Makgan?*
The Cheon Family was, without even realizing it, in a precarious situation, like a candle in the wind.
If that overwhelmingly powerful being were to harbor ill will toward the Cheon Family, it was clear that no one could stop him.
The fact that the martial prowess of a single person could rival the power of one of the Ten Great Families of the world, even if it was the lowest-ranking one, was a huge shock to Cheon Muryang.
That was why they could not afford to waste their strength.
“Do you truly not understand that a trap like this is nothing?”
The Wandering King knew it too.
Cheon Seonhak also knew.
That soon, they would face something far greater, something incomparable to this mere trap.
“Hmph. Do as you please.”
The Wandering King was a man who considered a duel with the strong a virtue.
Therefore, he decided it was better to conserve his strength as Cheon Muryang said, rather than play around with these small fries.
“But do you have a clever solution? You're not thinking that strange sword of yours will work like last time, are you?”
“Just watch.”
Cheon Muryang smiled.
The Wandering King would probably never understand, not even in his wildest dreams.
*Because I can see the grain.*
Cheon Muryang could see the grain.
It wasn't just the grain of the sky that he could see.
*They are beings with explosives inside their bodies. Death itself must be the detonator.*
In other words.
As long as they didn't die, they wouldn't explode on their own.
*Because no one in their right mind would live with explosives inside them.*
It was unlikely that these brainwashed individuals were given the judgment to kill themselves.
That was why Cheon Muryang did not hesitate to swing the Heavenly Light Sword along the grain.
*Whish!*
A wind blew from somewhere.
Riding that wind, the Heavenly Light Sword gently wrapped around them and passed through.
*Thud!*
The beings collapsed limply.
But no explosion followed.
The Wandering King shook his head and uttered his honest impression of Cheon Muryang's divine sword.
“Crazy bastard.”
There could be no more accurate description.