Chapter 250
Chapter 250
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 250
Chapter Title: Cultivator's Mountain (24)
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There was a man as sturdy as a rock.
Even with his thick white beard, his entire body rippled with muscles that had grown to an unnaturally explosive degree.
Boom! Thud!
He was hammering away at a massive block of black iron with his fists.
Each time he swung his callus-covered hands, the ground trembled, producing deafening roars.
A master of external martial arts at its pinnacle, possessing a diamond indestructible body that no steel could pierce.
He was none other than Cheon Ji-ho, the Grand Elder who ruled the Hidden Valley.
"Hm?"
He'd been throwing punches for a good while when he suddenly stopped and tilted his head.
The moment he turned toward the presence he sensed behind him...
"Oh! Ari-sa! Is that you, Ari-sa?"
He flashed a broad grin at Ari-sa, who had come to see him.
Whoosh!
Then, with speed unfit for his massive frame, he charged toward her in a single bound.
He spread his arms wide for a tight hug, but...
"...!"
Ari-sa had already taken a step back.
Her face scrunched up in disgust.
Her eyes brimmed with wariness.
"You dodged well. Does that mean you've grown up now?"
"I'm not the little girl from back then, Grand Elder."
"Haha. How disappointing. Grand Elder? Call me Father like you used to. You did it all the time as a kid."
Ari-sa was Cheon Ji-ho's adopted daughter.
She had been taken in as a child and raised as his own.
Their bond was as close as any blood family's.
"Grand Elder."
Of course, that was only true when she was young.
Now fully grown, Ari-sa was rougher than any of the rugged men around.
Cheon Ji-ho pouted.
"Disappointing. So disappointing."
"I have one thing I'd like to ask."
"Oh? Ask away. Anything except my old romantic escapades. Though if you really want to know, I could tell you... but could a girl with no experience handle it?"
"Sigh..."
Ari-sa shook her head side to side to cool her pounding headache.
Cheon Ji-ho was always the same—full of mischief.
She'd never seen him serious.
Even in life-or-death battles, his mouth never stopped.
"Wait. Don't tell me... you finally got a man?"
"If you're asking if I have a boyfriend, no interest."
"Ah, what a shame. With a face like yours... just a little makeup, and you'd topple nations. But you dress like a man. Tsk."
He said it in jest, but he meant it.
In truth, whenever the Hidden Valley's fairest woman was named, she was always at the top of the list.
To let such a face go to waste was a tragedy in Cheon Ji-ho's eyes.
"...Grand Elder."
As Ari-sa asked with a stiff expression, Cheon Ji-ho dropped the act.
"Right. You had a question?"
"Do you know the name Cheonma?"
"...?"
In that instant, the playfulness vanished from Cheon Ji-ho's face.
Instead, he wore a gravely solemn expression, as if it had never been there.
"How do you know that name...?"
Ari-sa had uttered a name she had no business knowing.
No—not just her. It was a name nearly everyone on the mountain had forgotten.
Cheon Ji-ho quickly scanned the surroundings.
No presences nearby.
None approaching either.
He let out an inner sigh and erected a barrier of qi to block any sound from leaking out.
If someone had overheard that name just now, it would've spelled disaster.
"Ari-sa. Who told you?"
"No one told me. I saw it myself."
"Saw it?"
"Yes. It was inscribed beyond the gate to the Demon Realm's Avici Hell."
"...Hold on. The Demon Realm has opened?"
This was news to him.
A gate that hadn't opened once in five thousand years.
He hadn't been paying attention, and now Avici Hell had suddenly swung wide?
"Two people came out from inside."
"...Impossible."
Five thousand years, no less.
And those trapped inside were all men.
There was no way their bloodlines had survived.
They would've turned to dust or dirt long ago.
And yet... two had emerged?
"They opened the gate themselves."
"When?"
"Three days ago."
"I heard you snuck into the Hidden Valley, but you went to Avici Hell?"
All news from the Hidden Valley reached Cheon Ji-ho's ears.
No matter how hard one tried to hide, they couldn't.
Ari-sa nodded.
"Yes."
She omitted any mention of hiding Anton or details about him.
To prevent Cheon Ji-ho from getting involved.
"...Two people escaped Avici Hell. Who the hell are they?"
"One was Chi-woo, and the other was Park Chan-woo."
"The ones who stirred up trouble at the mountain's base recently?"
"Yes. But they seemed to have a hierarchy. They called Park Chan-woo 'successor.'"
He'd heard of them.
But that they'd come from 'Avici Hell' was new.
More than that...
Chi-woo... and a successor.
There was another suspicious coincidence.
Of all names, 'Chi-woo.'
"Anything else? Is that all?"
"He definitely used the 'Asura Sword.'"
"...Asura Sword! You mean Chi-woo? But are you sure it was really the Asura Sword?"
"Yes. From what I experienced firsthand, it was unmistakably..."
"What? You fought him? That damn bastard...!"
"That's not the point."
"...Too many coincidences for chance. The odds of all that overlapping are slim."
Escaped from Avici Hell, wielding the Asura Sword—Chi-woo.
There was only one existence where all those traits intersected.
Chi-woo of the Twelve Heavenly Kings!
Cheon Ji-ho knew of the Twelve Heavenly Kings too.
Which made it all the more baffling.
A figure from five thousand years ago had suddenly appeared.
Right when Tae-baek, lord of the Demon God Hall, was away.
Was it the same person?
Or merely a successor who inherited the name?
"Grand Elder. Tell me. What is the Heavenly Demon?"
"...Then promise me."
"Promise... what?"
"That you'll never utter that name again. Ever."
"Yes. I promise."
"Haaaa."
Cheon Ji-ho let out a deep sigh.
She already knew. No helping it.
"I don't know everything about him. But one thing is certain."
"What is it?"
"Heaven above heaven, unmatched sovereign."
"...!"
Ari-sa's eyes flickered.
The most noble being above and below the heavens.
The Heavenly Demon was such an existence.
But that wasn't all.
"The first Arhat who founded the Temple of Ten Thousand Gods, and a war god of unparalleled might."
"...I heard Tae-baek killed the war god. That he became a godslayer."
"That's the fabricated tale they shoved down our throats. The first thing Tae-baek did after taking the Temple of Ten Thousand Gods was erase the name 'Heavenly Demon.'"
Tae-baek was said to have emerged by slaying the mountain's guardian god and claiming the seat.
But that was far from the truth.
Cheon Ji-ho shared the truth he knew with Ari-sa.
"One day, the Heavenly Demon vanished without a trace. For a long time, the seat at the Temple of Ten Thousand Gods remained empty. No one dared challenge his authority. But as time passed, the clans began to grow greedy."
Could I sit there?
Could I become the mountain's lord, the god of the Temple of Ten Thousand Gods?
Greed took root.
Just like how the nine clans vied for power now that Tae-baek was away.
"That's when Tae-baek appeared. He slew the mountain's guardian god and seized the Temple of Ten Thousand Gods in an instant. He subjugated the other clans, sparing only those who knelt."
"The Twelve Heavenly Kings back then too...?"
"Yes. Known to the world as the Absolute Demon Lords, they were the true heroes who followed the Heavenly Demon. Had he been there... the story would've been vastly different."
"Stronger than Tae-baek?"
"...That's what I believe."
It wasn't blind faith—Cheon Ji-ho was convinced.
He'd never seen Tae-baek and the Heavenly Demon clash, but the Heavenly Demon was the strongest across history.
"Which makes it even stranger. This Chi-woo and his 'successor.'"
"Why?"
"The Twelve Heavenly Kings follow only the Heavenly Demon. But he vanished long ago. Who else could they call 'successor'...?"
"...Only the Heavenly Demon's successor?"
"But you said they came from 'Avici Hell'?"
"Yes."
"The Heavenly Demon's successor couldn't have been in Avici Hell. Only the Twelve Heavenly Kings were sealed there."
It didn't add up.
Then who the hell was Park Chan-woo?
What did 'successor' even mean?
For a fleeting moment, Ari-sa murmured.
"Maybe the successor who inherited all of the Twelve Heavenly Kings..."
"...Could be."
That alone would be monumental.
Inheriting the lost arts of the Twelve Heavenly Kings would make one worthy of the Temple of Ten Thousand Gods.
"Keep a close eye on them. But never speak the Heavenly Demon's name outside this place. Tae-baek won't let it slide."
"He's in secluded training for fifty years anyway, isn't he?"
"Tae-baek has his shadows. That's why the nine clans can't move freely."
The shadows' power was immense.
The nine clans couldn't face them without uniting fully.
But could greed-ridden clans ever unite?
That was when it happened.
Tap! Tap-tap-tap!
A presence approached from afar.
The two turned to see who it was.
"You...?"
"Ah, Lady Ari-sa! Urgent news!"
"Urgent news?"
As Ari-sa repeated, the approaching man shouted.
"Those two have cleared all seven sanctums!"
"...What?"
"Th-they're heading to the 'Sanctum of the Sword' right now. What should we do?"
Cleared all seven sanctums?
Meaning they'd passed every trial.
With only the final trial site, the 'Sanctum of the Sword,' left?
What the...?
Absurd.
Too fast. Way too fast.
It was suspicious that they'd even been allowed to take the sanctum trials.
Some sanctums never accepted Hidden Valley natives.
Cheon Ji-ho's face hardened as he spoke.
"...Let's go together."
"Are you sure? If you leave the Hidden Valley, they..."
The nine clans wouldn't sit idly if he stepped out.
But Cheon Ji-ho just smirked.
"Just spectating. They wouldn't kill me for that, right?"
Having passed every trial from the seven chalices, Park Chan-woo headed to the Sanctum of the Sword.
Passing the 'Sanctum of the Sword' trial would open the path to the upper reaches.
Thud!
But a man blocked his way.
"Kang Si-chan?"
"...You used me well."
Kang Si-chan stood before Park Chan-woo and Chi-woo, his face dark with fury.
He never dreamed they'd spread rumors like this to exploit him.
All this just to pass the sanctum trials.
While he'd been distracted with Anton, they'd moved swiftly.
If Park Chan-woo reached the upper reaches, it'd be harder to act.
The mid-mountain was a pass-through spot.
The upper Arhats paid little mind.
But the upper reaches changed everything.
Latecomers like Kang Si-chan, or the nine clans, might take great interest.
Shing!
Kang Si-chan drew his sword.
He couldn't let these bastards climb the mountain.
"Talk's over. You gave me cause by using me. That's grounds enough to punish you."
He'd handed him the pretext first.
Perfect, even.
"I'll handle it."
Chi-woo stepped forward.
Kang Si-chan sneered at him.
"So climbing to the 150th floor was pure luck after all. Hiding behind that guy like a little girl."
Park Chan-woo's strength had never been properly tested on the mountain.
Three consecutive special prizes at the base trials? Kang Si-chan could've done that too.
No verification if he was truly 150-floor material.
That was when it happened.
Right on cue, the messages appeared.
Park Chan-woo nodded and spoke.
"Spar? Or death match?"