Chapter 96
Chapter 96
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 96
Chapter Title: The Earth-Touching Mudra of Subduing Demons
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"Chwi-yeong."
"What?"
"I drew 'Chwi-yeong'. What about you, Jong Ri?"
Han Ibi felt the world go dark before his eyes.
"I... I'm Hwa-pi."
"I see. What a shame."
Of course, her face showed no hint of regret whatsoever.
In any case, there was still one more person from the Morning Sun Sect left.
That's when Gil Son-rok continued in an innocently cheerful tone.
"Isn't it amazing? I ended up teamed with our sect's 'Service God Senior Brother'. Oh, right. We didn't actually have to be on the same team even after coming this far..."
The rest of his words didn't even register.
A deep shadow fell over Han Ibi's face.
'Ah... ha ha ha.'
He could only let out a hollow laugh in his mind.
Far from getting any help, the strongest rival team had just been formed.
Now, the only one left to hope for was Zhuge Yeon from the Zhuge Clan.
The martial clans had apparently been outmaneuvered by the Nine Great Sects in terms of influence, sending just one candidate each for the most part.
Han Ibi hurried around, searching for Zhuge Yeon.
But then...
He spotted Jong Ri-hyeok standing together with the monk Hye-on—and the very Zhuge Yeon he'd been desperately looking for.
Han Ibi masked his tension and called out to Jong Ri-hyeok.
"Brother! What character did you draw?"
Jong Ri-hyeok silently held up his paper without a word.
- Gyeon-ji (Perseverance)
Ba-dum!
'It's over. Done for. Damn it. Even the "Zhuge chance" went down the drain.'
Damn it, Zhuge.
It even rhymed nicely.
Was he the most unlucky person in his own novel?
That's when a giggling voice tickled Han Ibi's ears.
"Cheong-rin. This works out perfectly. We're on the same team now."
The Emei Sect's Baek Mi-hu smiled brightly as she spoke to Wang Cheong-rin.
"Y-yeah, I guess."
Wang Cheong-rin's half-hearted reply somehow felt perfunctory. She suddenly approached Mun Won-wol, the younger sibling of the Beggars' Sect twins.
Mun Won-wol had a more straightforward demeanor than Mun Won-bi, with a latent air of heroic intensity.
"Young Hero Mun."
Mun Won-wol turned with a look of mild surprise.
"Yes? What is it?"
"What... character did you draw, Young Hero Mun?"
"Ah, looking for your teammate? I drew Gyeon-ji. What about you, Lady Wang...?"
"I... drew Hwa-pi."
"Hmm. Then we're not on the same team, unfortunately. Well, then..."
Mun Won-wol brushed past her like she was some celebrity he had no time for.
A deep look of regret crossed Wang Cheong-rin's face.
That's when she felt a hand tap her shoulder.
Wang Cheong-rin whipped around.
It was Han Ibi.
He unfurled the paper with the character on it and grumbled curtly.
"I'm Hwa-pi, but..."
Wang Cheong-rin's face hardened in an instant.
Seeing that, Han Ibi thought to himself.
'Whoa. Why are you the only one grimacing? I'm pretty pissed off too.'
Feeling mischievous, Han Ibi said in a roguish tone.
"Well, neither of us wanted this, but let's make the best of it anyway."
"Um, excuse me..."
A small voice came from behind.
Han Ibi and Wang Cheong-rin's gazes snapped around.
"...I'm Hwa-pi too."
Wang Cheong-rin's pupils dilated in shock.
The voice belonged to none other than Mun Won-bi, the Beggars' Sect's flower boy.
His expression and tone were a complete one-eighty from how he'd treated Han Ibi up to now.
"That's perfect. Welcome aboard, Young Hero Mun."
Mun Won-bi blushed slightly as he replied.
"Th-thank you."
That's when the hitherto silent Baek Mi-hu approached.
"So, is our 'Hwa-pi' team all here now?"
Han Ibi scratched his ear as he answered.
"Yeah, looks like it."
Wang Cheong-rin frowned again, clearly displeased by his attitude.
He was pretending to be nonchalant, but in truth, Han Ibi felt like he was burning up inside.
One girl who seemed immature and childish.
One girl who seemed mature but oddly fragile.
And one introverted beggar who didn't look the part at all.
Not a single one inspired confidence in how they'd navigate what lay ahead.
That's when Wang Cheong-rin spoke up.
"Does anyone know anything about mechanisms?"
Silence.
"What about Qimen formations?"
More silence.
"Ugh. Why is our team like this?"
Han Ibi said.
"That's exactly what I want to know."
Frustrated, Wang Cheong-rin thumped her chest a few times with a 'thud thud' before muttering while eyeing the 'Chwi-yeong' team with the two Morning Sun Sect senior brothers.
"Man, I should've been on that team. What a mess."
Han Ibi said.
"Tell me about it."
Wang Cheong-rin shot him a glare like a vengeful ghost maiden, but he just averted his eyes and pretended not to notice.
The atmosphere had suggested they'd head straight into the temple, but...
Na Shin-su and Heo Son-dam were spending time reviewing the mechanisms and Qimen formations they'd learned that morning.
The Mount Hua Sect's Bang Gwang-sil stretched with a yawn.
"Man, why haven't they started yet?"
That obnoxious guy had shockingly ended up on the same team as the two Morning Sun Sect brothers.
It was enough to draw a bitter smile from Han Ibi.
That's when Gil Son-rok spoke in a low voice.
"Seems like they're waiting until the Qimen formation activates."
Exactly.
Na Shin-su was choosing a time when the 'formation's power' would be at its peak to conduct the practical.
That's when it happened.
"Alright, shall we all head through the main gate now?"
Na Shin-su clapped his hands to draw the trainees' attention.
The young trainees dusted off their rears and stood one by one.
Na Shin-su led the way toward the crumbling main gate.
The youths, gathered by teams, followed him through the gate in turn.
Finally, the rundown walls and the temple courtyard came into view.
The trainees' eyes widened as they took in the interior of the main gate.
It had clearly been neglected for ages, utterly decrepit.
That much was true.
The wooden structures were rotting in places, no doubt about it.
But the scale...
Its overwhelming size was something no one could deny.
At the same time, the sun was already dipping low.
As the natural light faded, the old buildings cast long shadows in sync.
The mood grew eerier with the encroaching darkness.
It felt like sinister ghosts could leap out at any moment.
The Mount Hua Sect's Ju Geum-ryeong muttered.
"What is this... They said it was mechanism training, but it's really 'guts training'?"
Overhearing, Na Shin-su chuckled.
"Back in its day, the Anti-Demon Temple was renowned across the Central Plains. No one could've imagined it was run by the Demonic Cult—quite the joke, really. Anyway, at its peak, it housed hundreds of monks, laborers, and servants."
Han Ibi said.
"I wonder how all those people managed to eat and survive."
Yeo Nan-ju replied.
"The Demonic Cult's headquarters must've supported them."
As they chatted idly,
they passed the Four Heavenly Kings statues—some headless, others missing limbs or sprawled on the ground—and various buildings like the Fire-Washing Gate, eventually reaching the grand hall.
Nothing remained intact...
"Tsk tsk tsk. How time flies."
Han Ibi murmured.
That's when it happened.
Na Shin-su finally halted.
The Elites' Society youths stopped as well, following his lead.
The grand hall was in no better shape than the rest.
Doors hung off hinges, gaping emptily—ghastly just to look at.
That's when So Tae-suk, a young Quanzhen Taoist, peered inside and said.
"The main Buddha statue is still preserved."
Indeed.
Atop the Sumeru altar sat a massive bronze Buddha statue, at least three zhang tall.
Or perhaps it hadn't been bronze back then.
Either way, given the Anti-Demon Temple's grandeur, it must've been meticulously gold-leafed.
Now, the plating was gone, oxidized patches making it look like a burn victim...
"Amitabha. Magnificent."
A sudden voice drew all eyes to Shaolin's Hye-jeong.
His teammate from Kunlun, Go Hyo-kyeong, asked.
"Monk, what do you mean by magnificent?"
Realizing his gaffe toward a Demonic Cult relic, Hye-jeong flushed.
"My apologies. The craftsmanship of the principal Buddha is so exquisite, I spoke without thinking... Though it differs somewhat from orthodox Central Plains styles."
Na Shin-su grinned.
"Ah, is that so? I'm no expert on statues. But what I'm about to do might offend the monks."
Hye-jeong and the other Shaolin monks looked baffled.
Na Shin-su added.
"Demonic Cult or not, a Buddha is a Buddha."
With that, he strode toward the Sumeru altar.
Now even the trainees looked perplexed, not just the monks.
The principal Buddha struck the Earth-Touching Mudra of Subduing Demons.
To their shock, Na Shin-su reached for Shakyamuni's hand.
What on earth was he doing?
But the next move was even more astonishing.
Na Shin-su twisted the giant bronze wrist.
Hye-jeong let out a startled 'urk'.
Now Shakyamuni's right hand faced palm-up.
A moment of silence.
Then Hye-on's low voice broke it.
"The Earth-Touching Mudra of Subduing Demons has instantly become the Wish-Granting Mudra."
Wang Cheong-rin asked Hye-jeong.
"What's the Wish-Granting Mudra?"
Hye-jeong replied.
"Amitabha. It signifies the Buddha granting any wish of the sentient beings."
That's when it happened.
No sooner had Hye-jeong finished than a loud 'grrr rumble' echoed from behind the statue.
Han Ibi and many trainees circled behind to investigate.
And were stunned.
A human-sized hole gaped in the Buddha's back.
Hye-jeong jumped in alarm, muttering.
"Amitabha. Amitabha. This is irreverent. Utterly irreverent."
This was the secret passage—the mechanism path for defending against invaders.
Han Ibi chuckled amusedly.
"Ah, Buddha tried chasing us away as demons, but now he's changed his mind and will grant our wishes. Our Buddha sure is fickle."
Na Shin-su said.
"Alright, all preparations for the practical are complete. Now, let's decide the order for descending."
Yeo Nan-ju looked shocked.
"Aren't we all going together?"
Na Shin-su replied.
"How would you learn anything that way? Teams will enter in sequence. After one team goes, the next follows after one gak."
Jong Ri-hyeok asked.
"Won't the teams ahead and behind overlap and tangle?"
Na Shin-su smiled again.
"Good question. The rule for today's practical is this: fail to escape the mechanisms, or get caught by the team behind you, and you're disqualified."
Wang Cheong-rin said.
"Instructor, isn't that too harsh?"
Na Shin-su replied.
"Not at all. We've toned it down—if this were the real Demonic Cult's setup, one gak would be more than enough to claim your lives."
(To be continued in the next chapter)