Chapter 65
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 65
Chapter Title: The Human Gate
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"Tsk tsk, they wouldn't listen and kept showing off, and now they're all dead."
The Blood Path Guest glanced at the other fiends as he spoke. Just as he said, the surroundings were littered with gruesomely mangled corpses. The fiends brought from Heavenly Demon Castle didn't even number forty in total.
There had originally been twenty subordinates under the Sword Demon and twenty under the Blood Path Guest, but five had gone down the mountain to deal with the Henan Escort Bureau, leaving only thirty-five behind.
Yet now, even counting all the remaining fiends, they barely reached seventy. Subtract thirty-five, and only thirty were left. All slain by Dan Hyeong-u. Like moths hurling themselves into flames.
"By the way... I didn't expect you to show up here."
At the Blood Path Guest's words, the Sword Demon stepped forward.
"He knows how to open the doors."
The Blood Path Guest shot a surprised look at Dan Hyeong-u.
"Is that true?"
The Blood Path Guest had clearly asked Dan Hyeong-u, but knowing there'd be no answer, the Sword Demon replied hastily.
"He just opened one and came back."
The Blood Path Guest's eyes gleamed at that.
"Really? What was inside?"
"Blood Shadow Sword."
"Kuhahaha! Now that's worth celebrating? You already got the Blood Shadow Sword?"
The Sword Demon frowned at the Blood Path Guest's booming laughter.
"Didn't bring it."
The laughter cut off abruptly.
"Didn't bring it? What the hell does that mean? You were dying for it. You didn't actually give it up like you said earlier, did you?"
The Sword Demon had no desire to continue the conversation. He still couldn't shake his lingering attachment to the Blood Shadow Sword.
Things were like this now, but later he would surely claim it. For the moment, he needed to confirm other things besides the Blood Shadow Sword. Especially the Golden Demon Art.
But first, he had to keep this secret chamber from collapsing.
"Hmph. Idiot."
The Blood Path Guest muttered under his breath. Veins bulged on the Sword Demon's forehead, but he held back. This wasn't the time for a fight. He needed to check the Golden Demon Art quickly.
Only then could he seize the Blood Shadow Sword.
The Sword Demon silently stared at Dan Hyeong-u. All the fiends' gazes followed suit. Dan Hyeong-u slowly walked up to the iron door.
"This time, it's Human."
The Human Gate pulsed with the same energy as the Heaven Gate. Only the flow's direction was subtly different.
"Footwork."
The Human Gate demanded the display of footwork. Dan Hyeong-u frowned briefly and took a few steps back.
The Three Talents Step taught by the Heavenly Qi Master had mostly merged into the Human Step that Dan Hyeong-u now wielded. This would require a bit of practice as well.
Dan Hyeong-u's figure began to move in bizarre patterns. He was unfolding the Three Talents Step. Everyone watched his movements without so much as a breath.
Dan Hyeong-u's movements were not just impressive—they were beautiful.
Gulp.
A swallowing sound echoed. With that as the signal, Dan Hyeong-u's movements ceased. Regret rippled through the onlookers, but they kept their mouths shut, eyes fixed on him.
Dan Hyeong-u returned to the iron door and unleashed the Three Talents Step once more. Everyone's jaws dropped in astonishment. It was as if Dan Hyeong-u had half-burrowed into the iron door itself, weaving through it.
In the end, he seemed to merge completely with the door.
And then he stopped.
Grrrrrind!
With a deafening rumble, the iron door began to rise.
This room held an altar as well, neatly arrayed atop it with something. Pills the size of bird eggs.
Dan Hyeong-u approached and examined them closely. The energy flow emanating from each pill was extraordinary. The power embedded within was steadily growing even now.
Pure, compressed qi filled the interior to bursting, yet more energy continued to gather into the pills.
Dan Hyeong-u nodded. These pills were produced by the secret chamber itself. There were exactly one hundred of them. Another gift left by the Heavenly Qi Master. The confusion in Dan Hyeong-u's mind eased somewhat.
"What are these?"
Jo Seol-yeon had approached unnoticed and asked. The answer came from Umun Hye, who had come with her.
"What else? Spirit elixirs. Made by the Heavenly Qi Master, no doubt. Eating just one might boost your internal energy by a full jia."
Umun Hye's eager speculation was confirmed satisfactorily by Tang Mun-yeong, who had drawn near.
"Probably. The Heavenly Qi Master was deeply versed in medicine and poisons. Though it could be poison."
She said that, but there was no poison. These were ancient spirit elixirs, surpassing even the Great Return Pills said to be passed down in Shaolin Temple. And there were a hundred of them.
Greed flickered in everyone's eyes. Martial artists would stake their lives for superior techniques or elixirs, whether righteous sect or fiends.
Dan Hyeong-u quietly observed the pills. He reached a conclusion: they held no effect for anyone who hadn't mastered the Three Talents Miraculous Art. Even for him now, it was the same.
He had cultivated the Three Talents Miraculous Art, but his version had diverged significantly from the original.
Dan Hyeong-u turned and took Jo Seol-yeon and Umun Hye by the hand, leading them to the center of the room.
Jo Seol-yeon and Umun Hye were startled by the sudden action. But what followed shocked them even more. Everyone in the room rushed toward the elixirs.
"Stop!"
"Put that down right now!"
Boom! Clang! Clang!
Crash!
The sounds of combat erupted everywhere. Umun Hye might have been fine, but had Jo Seol-yeon been there, she likely wouldn't have escaped unscathed.
Only then did Jo Seol-yeon realize Dan Hyeong-u's intent, her cheeks flushing faintly. She was endlessly grateful for how he always protected and aided her.
"I really wanted just one..."
Umun Hye wore a regretful expression. It was nice that Dan Hyeong-u had pulled her away like this, but wouldn't it be even better to swallow one and grow stronger?
"Useless."
Jo Seol-yeon and Umun Hye stared at him with wide eyes, then faces of disbelief. They understood what Dan Hyeong-u meant.
"No way. The Heavenly Qi Master? Uncle, are you sure you aren't mistaken?"
Dan Hyeong-u offered no reply to Umun Hye. By then, the chamber had settled.
There were a hundred elixirs, but far more people. The fight was inevitable. In the end, many perished.
Most of the dead were fiends. The Tang Family and Umun Family allied against them, while the fiends couldn't coordinate, suffering heavy losses.
In the end, all perished except those from Heavenly Demon Castle.
The Sword Demon and Blood Path Guest had no intention of joining from the start. They didn't stop their subordinates from charging but didn't move for the elixirs themselves. Both had focused solely on Dan Hyeong-u.
Dan Hyeong-u was the key to the secret chamber.
He stood in the room's center, gazing at the ceiling. A sword hilt protruded there as well. Its energy differed greatly from the one in the Heaven room.
"Dao."
The Blood Path Guest's eyes widened at Dan Hyeong-u's murmur.
"Heaven Flash!"
It was the very blade the Blood Path Guest coveted. He launched himself upward. The ceiling wasn't low, but to him, it was nothing.
Leaping from his spot, the Blood Path Guest gripped the Heaven Flash's hilt tightly.
"No!"
The Sword Demon shouted. He hadn't expected the Blood Path Guest to move so swiftly; there was no time to stop him.
"Kuhahaha! The Heaven Flash is mine!"
Crunch!
The Heaven Flash was pulled from the ceiling. Its radiant blade gleamed as it emerged, filling the surroundings with razor-sharp energy.
The Sword Demon's face twisted savagely.
He glanced at Dan Hyeong-u. Dan Hyeong-u stood motionless, still holding Umun Hye and Jo Seol-yeon's hands.
Rumble rumble rumble!
The entire area began to shake.
Dan Hyeong-u looked toward Tang Ho-gwan. Tang Ho-gwan was flustered. He knew pulling the ceiling blade would cause collapse but hadn't believed it would actually happen.
"Go. Before it falls."
Tang Ho-gwan leaped into motion. Dan Hyeong-u began to walk, his pace leisurely yet swift as an arrow. Tang Ho-gwan and the others followed desperately, pouring every ounce of strength into their lightness skills.
Rumble rumble rumble!
"Wh-what in the world is happening?!"
Dugun Un cried out in shock to Jegal Jung-cheon. The once-stable cave had begun shaking as if it would collapse any moment. The Jegal clansmen investigating the iron doors were equally panicked.
"It seems someone triggered a mechanism, and the secret chamber itself is collapsing. We need to hurry!"
Jegal Lin shouted. Jegal Jung-cheon glanced at Dugun Un, who immediately commanded without hesitation.
"Move out, now!"
Jegal Lin leaped first. She had memorized the entire path so far and could guide them by the quickest route. She had to take the lead.
As Jegal Lin flew ahead, the Martial Alliance members hurriedly followed.
Crunch! Rumble rumble!
Rocks began tumbling down. The entire secret chamber shook like an earthquake. One of the three pillars supporting it had collapsed, throwing everything off balance.
Booom!
Finally, with a massive explosion, the Heavenly Qi Master's secret chamber was completely buried within Cheonjung Mountain.
Cheonjung Mountain was shrouded in thick dust from the sudden quake. Its mid-slope vanished into a hazy fog.
Chapter 6
Re-leap
"Urk, damn it."
Shadowless clutched his wounded shoulder and slumped to the ground.
"No time for that. Get up."
Shadowless looked up at the blood-robed man, his tone lethally cold. It was Blood Shadow.
"Nngh..."
Shadowless forced himself to his feet. The chamber's collapse had wiped out all his subordinates.
They had ventured too deep inside. He had survived only thanks to the chance encounter with Blood Shadow.
Blood Shadow shot forward without a glance back. Shadowless gritted his teeth and followed.
Blood Shadow seethed inwardly. The collapse meant he hadn't even glimpsed the Blood Shadow Sword. No amount of digging through the ruins would yield it now.
With the chamber's fall, the Heavenly Qi Master's formation had activated across Cheonjung Mountain.
'Truly terrifying. Setting it to trigger the moment the chamber collapses.'
Blood Shadow inwardly marveled at the Heavenly Qi Master's prowess. A man worthy of rivaling the Blood Demon.
Still, he deeply regretted missing the Blood Shadow Sword. With it, he could have truly reborn as Blood Shadow in far less time. Without it, the path ahead would take much longer.
"No face left to see the Hierarch."
Blood Shadow muttered lowly. He glanced sidelong at Shadowless.
Shadowless pressed on with a grimace, struggling through his lightness skill. His internal energy wouldn't flow properly, so it must be excruciating. But Blood Shadow had no intention of helping.
If he couldn't endure this much, he had no right to become a shadow of the world.
Blood Shadow accelerated further. The lines of agony etched on Shadowless's face deepened.
At the mid-slope of Cheonjung Mountain, before the now-vanished secret chamber entrance, crowds had gathered. Survivors who had barely escaped the sudden collapse, bearing heavy wounds.
"Y-you bastards! I knew it!"
Jegal Jung-cheon, covered in injuries, pointed and bellowed. His finger aimed straight at the Sword Demon.
"What a coincidence."
The Sword Demon muttered, scanning the surroundings. Thanks to following Dan Hyeong-u out first, he was mostly unscathed, though not all his subordinates were so lucky.
The Blood Path Guest, who had pulled the Heaven Flash, moved last but escaped with minimal damage due to his superior martial arts. Holding the Heaven Flash now, he had gained the most this time.
And then there were the Martial Alliance folk.
Most had suffered greatly, yet not a single one had died—everyone survived. A stark contrast to the fiends.
"Hmph, what is this? A bunch of dead weight?"
The Blood Path Guest sneered, the Heaven Flash slung boldly over his shoulder. His demeanor oozed arrogance.
The Martial Alliance Leader was present, but wounded. Saving all the Alliance warriors had come at his effort and sacrifice. Yet Dugun Un was a cultivator of the Golden Demon Art.
"Grk, seems like someone like me isn't even on your radar."
As Dugun Un stepped forward, the Blood Path Guest flinched and retreated. Wounded or not, he was still the Martial Alliance Leader.
To claim no fear would be a lie. Moreover, the Blood Path Guest had once clashed directly with Dugun Un.
All that remained in memory was terror. Utter powerlessness, unable to muster any strength. That recollection stayed his hand, even with the Heaven Flash in grasp.