Mount Jagnyang (1)

He really is destined for great things.

Gwak Gyeong-in looked at Cheon Woo-jin and inwardly marveled.

He was a completely different sight from Jang Ryang and Won Pil-so, who were fidgeting nervously at the mere thought of Sama Mun appearing from the Mandokyuksamun.

Cheon Woo-jin understood that whether Sama Mun appeared or not, worrying and growing anxious at this point was meaningless. If Sama Mun himself did show up, Cheon Woo-jin would not tremble in fear — he would calmly assess what needed to be done in that moment and act accordingly.

That composure may well be Cheon Do-u's greatest weapon.

How wonderful it would be if Cheon Woo-jin would join the Geumsijong as a disciple. Recalling the wish he had thought of countless times, Gwak Gyeong-in spoke again.

"At any rate, all we can do right now is go up to the 5th layer ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and strike them down. Better to spend our thoughts on something more meaningful than sitting around fretting over unpredictable acts of heaven, wouldn't you say?"

"Hmm, well, that's……"

"I believe he's right."

As Jang Ryang and Won Pil-so nodded, Gwak Gyeong-in reached out into the empty air.

"Back to the matter of this operation."

As his hand moved through the air, a three-dimensional map ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of the 5th layer materialized.

"The mountain where they intend to hold their ritual is this place — Mount Jagnyang."

"Hmm……"

Jang Ryang groaned, arms crossed.

"Of all the places in the fire-saturated 5th layer, that's the hottest of them all."

If the 4th layer was parched and dry, the 5th layer was scorching hot. The Yin Soul Ghost Bone Palace had filled the entire 5th layer with the Fire邪 — the most lethal of the six evils of wind, cold, summer heat, and dampness. And among them all, Mount Jagnyang was an active volcano with lava — not stream water — flowing through its valleys.

"The main force of the Geumsijong, myself included, will advance first. So I'd like your group to hold position in the rear."

"Hold position? You mean just stand there and do nothing?"

"Believe me, if it were up to my heart, I'd borrow your strength from the very start…… but this time, the Mandokyuksamun will have made thorough preparations of their own. Our Geumsijong masters forming up and striking them head-on is the best course."

The reason Cheon Woo-jin, Jang Ryang, and Won Pil-so had achieved such great results so far was that they had ambushed cultivation fields garrisoned by only small numbers of men. The same tactic could not be used against Mount Jagnyang, where the main force of the Mandokyuksamun would be waiting with every preparation complete.

"Watch the situation, and move when you feel the moment is right. Even without separate orders from our side, I want the three of you to judge for yourselves and drive a blade into the enemy's vitals."

"You want us operating independently?"

"That's right."

Nodding, Gwak Gyeong-in turned his gaze toward Cheon Woo-jin.

"That is partly because I'm counting on your ability, Cheon Do-u."

"……"

"You've shown time and again that you can find and strike an opponent's weak point sharper than anyone. I'm hoping to see that same side of you this time as well."

Gwak Gyeong-in placed deep trust in Cheon Woo-jin. Though their positions differed, that trust was not so very different from the trust Jang Ryang and Won Pil-so placed in him.

"Take on the role of the awl that pierces their vitals. If it's you, I believe you can."

"……"

An awl that would stab into the Mandokyuksamun's weakest point. That was the role assigned to Cheon Woo-jin.

There was no time to prepare at leisure. Cheon Woo-jin, Jang Ryang, and Won Pil-so ascended to the 5th layer immediately alongside Gwak Gyeong-in.

The Geumsijong's principal masters had already assembled on the 5th layer.

"Sect Master, I've brought Cheon Woo-jin."

"Hmm……"

Gwak Gyeong-in introduced Cheon Woo-jin to a Taoist who wore a handsomely trimmed beard. The Taoist looked at Cheon Woo-jin with serene eyes and smiled.

"So you're Cheon Woo-jin. I've heard a great deal about you."

Lee Seon-gyeong, Sect Master of the Geumsijong. He was a master of the Core Formation Great Circle realm, and like Gi Shin-ryeo of the Mandokyuksamun, he had inherited the seat of Sect Master after his predecessor retired.

As evidenced by the fact that he had been locked in a losing struggle against the Mandokyuksamun all this time, he was not particularly shrewd as the head of a sect. But word was that his noble character had earned him deep respect from his disciples.

"Thanks to you, our Geumsijong has finally been able to breathe again. See this battle through to the end, and I'll see to it that you're richly rewarded. Lend us your strength."

Having offered those words of encouragement, Lee Seon-gyeong turned his back on Cheon Woo-jin and went to his other disciples. Watching him offer a word to each of them in turn, Cheon Woo-jin had to admit his character was genuinely admirable.

But the cultivation world was a place where good character could just as easily be a liability. If Lee Seon-gyeong had possessed the same ruthless venom as Gi Shin-ryeo, the war between the Geumsijong and the Mandokyuksamun would have unfolded in a very different shape.

"Wait over there and act on your own judgment. Then — good fortune to you all."

Gwak Gyeong-in guided Cheon Woo-jin's party to the rear of the entire formation and then moved to his own position. As one of the Geumsijong's foremost masters, he had to stand at the very front.

"Huh. The Geumsijong has more people than I expected. Their headquarters always felt so empty."

"It seems they've called in as many of the disciples scattered across the land as they could."

Jang Ryang and Won Pil-so muttered as they looked around. For a sect of reasonably considerable size, it seemed they could muster this much force if they gathered every disciple they had.

"The Mandokyuksamun seems to have gathered their full strength as well…… This really is going to be an all-out battle."

"But the Mandokyuksamun will definitely have laid a trap. Will it be all right? I'm worried this will turn into a situation like sticking our heads into a tiger's den."

"Don't worry too much. The Geumsijong has made ample preparations of its own."

Before long, the Geumsijong began to advance, holding their formation. As they walked across the crimson wasteland and approached Mount Jagnyang, a heat pressed down on them that made it hard to draw a proper breath.

They said the volcano's heat was being used to concentrate and refine poison — so it was true.

"Ngh……!"

As they began to climb Mount Jagnyang, a mist began to gather around them. Fog rolling in on a volcano this hot was an unnatural thing.

"Poison mist!"

"Don't breathe it in!"

The Geumsijong masters surged into commotion. The poisonous fog spread with explosive momentum until it threatened to swallow Mount Jagnyang whole.

"Didn't I tell you! I knew they'd have laid a trap……"

Just as Won Pil-so was grumbling with a hand clapped over his mouth, someone soared high into the air from up ahead.

It was Lee Seon-gyeong, the Sect Master of the Geumsijong.

"Sect Master!"

"It's dangerous to move alone!"

Rising into the sky alone left one open to concentrated attacks from the enemies on the ground. But Lee Seon-gyeong did not seem worried in the slightest.

"Hm."

Gazing down at the lower slopes shrouded in poison mist, Lee Seon-gyeong stroked his beard. Then he drew a small box from his robe, flicked it open with a fingertip, and called out.

"Gather!"

In the next instant, the poison mist blanketing all of Mount Jagnyang surged upward into the sky. It began to be sucked into the box Lee Seon-gyeong had produced.

"Whoa……!"

Shuuuuunk!

The poison mist was drawn entirely into the box. Moments ago the fog had been so thick one could not see a hand's breadth ahead; now the view was wide open. Able to breathe freely again, everyone's complexions brightened.

Jang Ryang too drew a deep breath and offered an explanation to Won Pil-so beside him.

"Sects of any real size have the power to smash straight through an enemy's prepared traps. And with a decisive battle against the Mandokyuksamun expected, they'll have come with every contingency covered. Stop worrying so much."

"Hmm……"

The Geumsijong had known this might well be a trap laid by the Mandokyuksamun. Even so, they had plunged into it — because they were confident that even if they were caught in it, they could break through on their own strength.

"Sect Master Gi!"

From high above, Lee Seon-gyeong raised his voice.

"It seems you came today rather underprepared! Did you truly believe something like this could stop our Geumsijong?"

Shortly after, an old man in a scarlet Taoist robe shot up from the ground below.

It was Gi Shin-ryeo, the Sect Master of the Mandokyuksamun. He opened his mouth with a smile splitting his wrinkle-covered face.

"What is the meaning of this, Sect Master Lee, barging in uninvited like this? I was in the middle of an important ritual, and now it's about to be ruined because of you."

"Oh? And what exactly is this ritual for? Praying to the heavens for forgiveness for the sins you've committed, perhaps?"

"With the Geumsijong soon to kneel before us, I was praying to let as little blood be spilled as possible. Since the ritual was disturbed, it seems a great deal more blood will flow."

"If your side would stop plotting your schemes and repent of your sins, no more blood need flow at all."

venomous barbs flew back and forth between the two leaders.

"Is it true you've brought the One Poison Treasure Pearl, the sacred relic of the Mandokyuksamun? I heard you intend to use the volcano's heat to refine a particularly vile poison."

"If you're curious, come and see for yourself. Stick your head into the lava and you'll find out exactly what we're doing."

"Heh, is there any need for that? Once I've caught the lot of you and wrung you dry, I'll hear all the details of what you were up to."

Lee Seon-gyeong stored the box away and drew out a sword-shaped Dharma Treasure. Then he addressed the disciples below.

"I will handle Sect Master Gi myself. You are to subdue the underlings."

"Yes, Sect Master!"

Boooom!

With a thunderous roar, Lee Seon-gyeong hurled himself at Gi Shin-ryeo. Gi Shin-ryeo met his charge head-on, red poison qi erupting from his entire body.

Meanwhile, on the ground, the Geumsijong disciples launched their full assault. Core Formation masters, Gwak Gyeong-in at their head, led the charge.

"Tch — these bastards have laid poison everywhere!"

"The jars set up all around us are spewing poison qi! We have to smash the jars!"

Poison-spewing jars had been installed all across the volcano, and Mandokyuksamun masters who had taken antidotes in advance stood guard over them.

While Lee Seon-gyeong and Gi Shin-ryeo waged a transcendent duel of Dharma arts in the sky, below the battle raged around the poison jars.

"Well, this is fierce right from the start."

Watching the battle between the two sects, Jang Ryang clicked his tongue.

"Cheon Do-u, it's best if we hold back for a while. Once both sides have exhausted themselves fighting that bitterly, that's when we should step in — surely that's the wisest play."

"I agree with my senior brother. Jumping in now would just mean suffering from the poison, so let's wait until the Geumsijong destroys the poison jars, then move."

Listening to Jang Ryang and Won Pil-so, Cheon Woo-jin stared straight ahead at the front lines.

Certainly, waiting patiently here was one option. But right now, Cheon Woo-jin was recalling what Gwak Gyeong-in had asked of him.

"He asked me to take on the role of piercing their vitals."

"Hm? You mean what Elder Gwak said?"

Cheon Woo-jin walked forward. He approached behind the Geumsijong masters locked in bloody combat, then shot up into the air.

"What the—?!"

Jang Ryang and Won Pil-so, and even the masters of the Geumsijong and the Mandokyuksamun alike, were caught completely off guard. He had flown up into the sky alone, just as Lee Seon-gyeong and Gi Shin-ryeo had done moments before.

It was a situation where he could easily have drawn concentrated fire — but everyone had been caught so off their guard that they could only stare up at him. Cheon Woo-jin aimed for exactly that gap.

KRA-KRA-BOOM!

The bolt of lightning did not fall on the poison jars, nor on the place where the Mandokyuksamun masters had gathered. It struck an ordinary boulder that had been lying about without any apparent significance.

"……!"

A breath of stunned silence passed. Then the boulder where the lightning had landed split apart with a great crack, and an enormous burst of spiritual power erupted.

"Wh-what is this!"

The Mandokyuksamun masters recoiled in shock. Almost simultaneously, the momentum of the poison qi spewing from the jars began to fade rapidly.

"Ch-Cheon Do-u, what on earth was that just now……!"

"I saw their weak point."

At a glance, the poison jars had seemed to be everything. But when Cheon Woo-jin extended his spiritual sense in a fine, searching sweep, he discovered otherwise. Each and every jar was connected by spiritual meridians.

Tracing those meridians upward, he found a central hub that supplied spiritual power to the jars and regulated the poison qi. It likely even had the function of adjusting the nature of the poison each jar released, maximizing its toxicity through their interaction with one another.

Cheon Woo-jin drove the Black Lightning Descending Shock straight into the hub, which had been disguised as an ordinary boulder. As a result, the hub was destroyed along with the rock, severing ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the spiritual meridians that connected to the jars.

The jars had been releasing their poison qi with terrifying force only moments before; now they were reduced to nothing more than containers of inert poison.

"Piercing the weak point — that's my role, isn't it?"

"……!"

Understanding Cheon Woo-jin's intent at last, Jang Ryang and Won Pil-so swallowed hard.

"But there are still plenty ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠left."

What Cheon Woo-jin had destroyed was only one part of the poison formation spread across all of Mount Jagnyang. Elsewhere, poison jars were still spewing their venom with furious force. Every last one of them had to be neutralized.

And as he did so, the opportunity to strike at the Mandokyuksamun's true vital point would come.

"I'll need your support — Jang Do-u, Won Do-u."

"……!"

An awl, sharp and piercing, aimed at the enemy's vitals. Watching Cheon Woo-jin charge fearlessly into the enemy lines, Jang Ryang and Won Pil-so hurriedly raced after him.