Chapter 63
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 63
Chapter Title: Chapter 5: Heaven, Earth, Man
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Dan Hyeong-u stared silently at the iron gate. He could probably step forward and slice it apart. But something felt strangely off, so he simply stood there, watching. The energy flowing from the gate seemed familiar, yet profoundly alien.
And he couldn't understand it. Why didn't anyone notice the qi emanating from the gate?
It was only natural that the Sword Demon or Tang Ho-gwan couldn't break it down. Their qi was being devoured by the immense energy surging through the gate. If he cleaved through the gaps in that flow, the gate could be cut clean through.
"Why on earth did the Heavenly Qi Master make a door like that? One that no one can open. Did he really not want to leave his treasures to anyone?"
Jo Seol-yeon spoke, and Umun Hye, standing beside her, replied.
"I doubt it. There has to be some method. It's probably just a safeguard to keep random people from taking his stuff."
Umun Hye had a point. Jo Seol-yeon nodded and continued.
"Then who exactly did he want to let inside? Who was he trying to filter out?"
"Who knows. Only the Heavenly Qi Master himself."
Jo Seol-yeon gave a faint smile at Umun Hye's straightforward answer. She racked her brain a bit more. There was definitely something here. And she felt like she could figure it out.
Why had the Heavenly Qi Master set up such a trial? And to whom did he want to pass these treasures? If she could uncover that, the path inside might open.
"By the way, brother, could you really cut through that iron gate unscathed?"
Jo Seol-yeon asked as if the thought had just struck her. Dan Hyeong-u shook his head at once.
"I can cut it."
There was utter certainty in Dan Hyeong-u's voice. Umun Hye reacted to his words.
"Then why are you just standing there watching? Everyone's struggling. Help us out a little."
Even at Umun Hye's urging, Dan Hyeong-u didn't budge. Jo Seol-yeon and Umun Hye both figured there had to be a reason for him staying put like this.
They knew Dan Hyeong-u might seem simple at first glance, but he was anything but. He was deeper and sharper than he let on.
"Hmm, looks like he doesn't want to move. But why?"
Umun Hye started pondering. The two women put their heads together, running through possibilities and sorting them out one by one.
"The person the Heavenly Qi Master wanted..."
"Maybe someone like the Martial Alliance Leader?"
Umun Hye responded to Jo Seol-yeon's murmur but soon shook her head. Why would the Heavenly Qi Master leave everything to the Alliance Leader?
"Isn't there someone closer to him? Like a son or a disciple?"
Jo Seol-yeon's mind lit up at Umun Hye's words.
"That's it. He must have had a disciple. And he hoped that disciple would find this gate and open it."
Jo Seol-yeon glanced at Dan Hyeong-u as she said this. His relationship with the Heavenly Qi Master hadn't been good, but among those who could be called his disciples, only Dan Hyeong-u and his ninety-nine comrades fit the bill.
Umun Hye tilted her head at Jo Seol-yeon's words.
"But how? Are the Heavenly Qi Master's disciples strong enough to lift that gate?"
"Probably. Or maybe there's some secret only his disciple would know."
Jo Seol-yeon looked at Dan Hyeong-u as she spoke, almost as if addressing him directly.
Umun Hye still tilted her head. But not Dan Hyeong-u.
"I see. A disciple."
Umun Hye's gaze turned to him. And then Dan Hyeong-u moved.
Dan Hyeong-u walked slowly toward the iron gate. He examined the energy flowing through it. The massive character for "Heaven" engraved on the gate surely held some meaning.
"What's this? You planning to cut it after all?"
The Sword Demon's eyebrow twitched at Tang Ho-gwan's question.
"This time, it'll be tough."
The Sword Demon was confident. With the qi itself being absorbed, how could anyone slice through that massive iron gate made of darksteel?
Ignoring the Sword Demon, Dan Hyeong-u stood before the gate and nodded.
"I see. It was the Heavenly Qi Master."
Up close, it was clear. Why the flow felt familiar, and why it seemed eerie. This pattern represented what he'd learned from the Heavenly Qi Master long ago.
"So Heaven is the sword."
The Heavenly Qi Master had an unusual fondness for Heaven, Earth, and Man. He emphasized it to an extreme degree. This gate suited him perfectly.
Dan Hyeong-u drew his sword. All eyes focused on him, brimming with anticipation.
But Dan Hyeong-u didn't slash at the gate. He turned sideways and swung at the air. Several times. It looked like practice strikes.
His practice went on for a while. Not just downward chops—he swung in various ways. No qi infused the blade, but the movements were profoundly intricate.
The Sword Demon glimpsed a flash of insight watching Dan Hyeong-u's swordplay. It was that subtle.
What Dan Hyeong-u was doing now was the Heavenly Qi Master's martial art, on the verge of fading from memory.
The technique the Heavenly Qi Master had poured his soul into creating, which the hundred comrades had learned together.
Normally, he could recreate it from the gate's flow alone, but the Heavenly Qi Master's art wasn't that simple.
After nearly two hours of swinging his sword, Dan Hyeong-u finally turned. He raised his blade toward the gate.
Ssssh.
The qi on the sword was faint. The motion wasn't particularly forceful or swift. It was just repeating what he'd practiced moments ago.
But the result was astonishing.
"Th-the gate is definitely..."
A cry of shock burst from Tang Mun-yeong's lips. She had observed the gate more closely than anyone. That's why she knew what Dan Hyeong-u was doing was impossible.
His sword seemed to move within the gate itself. No—it slipped into the existing gaps, following pre-carved paths.
The sight of the blade, half-buried in the gate, twisting at his command was nothing short of miraculous to her.
Tang Mun-yeong wasn't the only one stunned. Everyone gaped in varying degrees of shock.
No one could close their mouth. The Sword Demon's astonishment was the greatest.
Dan Hyeong-u sheathed his sword again.
He had completed the Circular Three Talents Sword Art. The original was a bit more complex than what he'd used, taking longer to perform fully.
Grrrrrind!
The iron gate began to rise slowly. Everyone's hearts pounded at the sight of that heavy, massive barrier lifting.
At last, they could see the treasures left by the Heavenly Qi Master.
Dan Hyeong-u was the first to enter. He scanned the interior at once.
It was a vast open space. At the far end stood a platform, neatly arrayed items upon it.
Without hesitation, Dan Hyeong-u approached. On the platform lay swords. Over a hundred of them.
"These are incredible swords."
The followers entered behind him, eyes gleaming at the blades. They'd found them, so they were theirs now. Of course, pending Dan Hyeong-u's approval.
Jo Seol-yeon examined each sword closely. They were all identical in shape and size. As if prepared for a group of a hundred. In that moment, a thought flashed through her mind.
"No way..."
She looked at Dan Hyeong-u. He stood motionless, staring at the swords with an unreadable expression.
Dan Hyeong-u and his ninety-nine comrades. They'd learned martial arts from the Heavenly Qi Master. The sword art he'd used on the gate was probably it. And these swords were left for them.
"Why on earth..."
An incomprehensible murmur escaped Dan Hyeong-u's lips. Jo Seol-yeon could understand his feelings.
He must be confused.
The swords were truly magnificent. Worthy of the Heavenly Qi Master's name.
"Remarkable blades. Tempting, even."
The Sword Demon muttered as he scanned the area. These were fine, but not what he sought. With swords here, the Blood Shadow Sword had to be inside too.
The Sword Demon wandered the space, checking for hidden compartments. But he found nothing.
Soon, the group was rummaging everywhere. It couldn't be that the Heavenly Qi Master left only a hundred swords.
While others bustled about, Dan Hyeong-u remained still. Jo Seol-yeon watched him with pitying eyes.
"Brother..."
Dan Hyeong-u couldn't comprehend it. What did these swords mean? After shoving them into that hell, driving them into a pit of death, why prepare this?
He stepped closer to the platform and inspected the swords one by one. Astonishingly, names were engraved on the scabbards and hilts.
He checked each. The names were all different. They belonged to his ninety-nine comrades. And his own was there too.
"Looks like they were made for you, brother."
Dan Hyeong-u nodded at Jo Seol-yeon's words. The undeniable truth. These swords were made for him and his ninety-nine comrades.
"What was he thinking? The Heavenly Qi Master."
Dan Hyeong-u shook his head at her question. He didn't know either.
"Maybe he was certain we'd all return alive?"
Again, Dan Hyeong-u shook his head. No way. Surviving that hell was a miracle in itself.
From the moment they fell into it, comrades began dying. They prolonged their lives at the cost of those lives.
No one could avoid death.
In the end, only Dan Hyeong-u survived. A miracle in itself. He carried all their deaths in his heart. Alone, he wandered that hell for an unknowable time.
But what were these hundred swords? As if he was sure all hundred would return alive.
In the end, no answer came.
"I don't know."
Dan Hyeong-u murmured. He gazed at the lined-up swords.
"What will you do with these swords?"
Dan Hyeong-u pondered Jo Seol-yeon's question. They were just objects. But his friends' names were on them.
"Bury them."
Dan Hyeong-u flicked his hand.
Thung!
A dull thud echoed from the darksteel floor encasing the space. The entire area was made of it.
It was surprising enough, but Jo Seol-yeon wasn't shocked anymore. Traveling with Dan Hyeong-u, she'd seen far more astonishing things. The world's most astonishing person stood right before her.
Kwaduduk!
With a gesture, the platform crumbled. The floor caved in. The swords tumbled into the pit, covered by the debris.
Dan Hyeong-u flicked his hand again.
Kaduduk!
The darksteel floor writhed with a clamor. It buried the collapsed platform. In an instant, a tomb of earth, stone, and darksteel formed.
The group, scattered searching, gaped at the scene. Everything they'd gained was buried.
"H-how..."
Tang Mun-yeong trailed off in shock. She'd put in real effort. Seeing her reward vanish left her hollow.
That hollowness turned to anger. She knew Dan Hyeong-u was extraordinary. Without him, they wouldn't have entered. But still, this was too much.
"How could you do this?"
Tang Mun-yeong's shout echoed through the space.
Tang Ho-gwan hurriedly restrained her.
"Mun-yeong, stop. Without him, we wouldn't even be here. It's his call what to do with them."
He said that, but Tang Ho-gwan wasn't pleased either. Dan Hyeong-u acted too arbitrarily. Still, they couldn't clash with him. He was the benefactor who'd found the Heavenly Thunder for the Tang family.
The Sword Demon frowned too. They were supreme swords. Burying them was an insult to blades.
Jo Seol-yeon smiled bitterly at the reactions. The misunderstanding would clear up eventually. Once they understood what these swords meant to Dan Hyeong-u, they'd get it.
Dan Hyeong-u turned from the unmarked grave. He walked to the center of the space. To find what had tugged at his senses since entering.
Standing in the middle, it was clear. The qi flow here was highly unusual. Undoubtedly a formation set by the Heavenly Qi Master.
And there was the origin of it all.