Chapter 45
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 45
Chapter Title: The Sword Lord's True Legacy
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Dont you think the ground is too low?
Now that you mention it
Hyeon Wun and Jang Myeongs faces hardened.
Their final destination was a deep, hollowed-out cavity.
If a dispersed poison were to spread, our position at the bottom would leave us completely trapped.
That makes sense.
We were so focused on the Sword Lords relics that we almost walked into a disaster.
This was the reason for the great tragedy in his previous life.
Everyone had let their guard down, and they had even started fighting over the ownership of the relics.
In the midst of the chaos, a massive amount of poison was released, resulting in an enormous number of casualties.
Everyone must have heard what the young doctor said! A poison attack may be imminent, so be on guard! We will inspect the Sword Lords relics after weve secured the area!
To poison this many people would require an immense quantity of poison.
Moreover, it was a poison dispersed by a mechanism, not one spread by a master of poison arts.
If they were aware and vigilant, they could spot the mechanism the moment it activated and react immediately.
With this much contribution, I should be more than qualified for a recommendation letter.
He had foiled the Blood Cult's plot, treated the injured, and prevented massive casualties by detecting the poison attack in advance.
It was enough to demand a large share of the tomb, not just some measly recommendation letter.
This tomb is actually worthless. Theres nothing to gain even if I demand a share. The only ones who suffer are those who died in the Sword Lords scam.
And yet, Wi Ji-cheon tilted his head.
He had a persistent, unsettling feeling.
As if this wasn't the end.
At that moment.
Aaargh!
What are you doing?! Are you mad?!
Swish! Slice!
A sword fight had suddenly broken out!
The problem was that it wasnt happening in just one spot.
Fwoosh! Clang!
Whats wrong with these people?
Brother Kang! Are you insane?! What are you doing?!
As the scene instantly descended into pandemonium, a chill ran down Wi Ji-cheons spine.
- It was chaos. Blinded by the Sword Lords relics, they began to turn their blades on one another.
No. This is strange. No matter how blinded by greed they are, they wouldnt start fighting so suddenly.
Wi Ji-cheon realized a truth that had been unknown at the time.
Its sorcery! The Sword Lords trap wasnt just poison!
While they were killing each other under a sinister spell, the poison would be released. It was a vicious scheme.
The Sword Lords half-sword is clearly casting a sinister spell! Please, deal with the sword!
Hyeon Wun and Jang Myeong unleashed their sword energy.
Clang!
However, the rusted half-sword didn't even budge.
The rust flaked away, revealing a crimson blade, and the sinister energy began to spread in earnest.
Everyone, get a hold of yourselves!
The Sword Lords relic is mine.
This is bad.
Wi Ji-cheons expression turned troubled.
In truth, subduing those who had fallen under the spell wasn't difficult.
It was the ones with relatively lower cultivation and weaker minds who had succumbed.
The problem was the situation they were in.
Click!
Wi Ji-cheons ears caught the sound of a mechanism activating in a corner of the ceiling.
It was about to disperse the poison!
At this rate, well be annihilated!
He had to make a choice.
If he hesitated, he could be in danger too.
Unlike in his past, Wi Ji-cheons young body was not immune to all poisons.
Before it was too late, he had to gather those he could and escape the hollow.
But what about the rest?
Most of them will die.
Wi Ji-cheon thought with cold clarity.
It couldn't be helped.
Such senseless deaths were not uncommon in the martial world.
They must have been prepared to die when they entered a place like this, so there was no need to feel useless guilt for not being able to save them.
But.
Wi Ji-cheon bit his lip firmly.
Breaking this spell will take too much time. Dojang Cheong Song, Great Warrior Hong Gae, please gather the people and get them out of this hollow.
The young doctor is right.
Everyone, get out of the hollow!
Hyeon Wun, Jang Myeong, Hong Gae, and Cheong Song began to push through the chaotic crowd toward the exit.
However, Dan Yeo, who was frantically following, felt something was amiss and looked back.
Wi Ji-cheon was not beside her.
Senior Brother?
Wi Ji-cheon was still standing next to the half-sword.
Senior Brother, what are you doing?! Follow me, now! Hey, Wi Ji-cheon! Do you want to die?! Do you want me to beat you to a pulp?! Get over here before I break your ankles!
Wi Ji-cheon didn't listen.
There is one method worth trying.
Wi Ji-cheon was by no means a good person. He felt little emotion whether a few strangers lived or died.
However.
I decided to atone for the sins of my past life.
Therefore.
This wasn't an act of kindness, but merely an action to alleviate his own guilt.
- Come, you who walk the line between life and death. Conquer my tomb, and you shall have all that I have left behind.
The message the Sword Lord had left on the treasure map.
If these words were truly meant for the successor of the Life-Giving Ancestor, then the answer must lie in the Life-Giving Heart Method.
Wi Ji-cheon placed his hand on the half-sword.
An evil energy vibrated from it.
How laughable.
If he were the Fiend Demon of the past, he would have simply crushed it with force without a second thought.
Wi Ji-cheon recalled the teachings of the Life-Giving Heart Method.
The first stage, the Path of Saving People.
The first step on the path to saving lives.
In truth, he had yet to fully grasp the meaning of the Path of Saving People.
But for some reason
Faced with this situation, he felt he was beginning to understand.
The Path of Saving People is to remain unshakable. To silently fulfill ones destiny, regardless of pity, hatred, altruism, or ego.
- If saving people is my given destiny, I will simply walk that path.
A passage from the Life-Giving Heart Method.
He had never received such a grand destiny, but he felt he understood the meaning of silently fulfilling one's calling, unswayed by personal feelings.
And then.
Fwaaa!
A pure and bright energy from the Life-Giving Heart Method gathered in Wi Ji-cheons hand.
Such a pure and bright energy?!
Hyeon Wuns and Jang Myeongs eyes widened as if they would tear.
The others in the chamber failed to recognize the greatness of the energy Wi Ji-cheon had just summoned.
But Hyeon Wun and Jang Myeong, as masters of the Daoist path, knew differently.
It was an energy so pure it was rarely seen even in Huashan and Zhongnan, the greatest Daoist sects after Wudang.
Crack!
To their astonishment, the half-sword snapped like a weak twig, and the people came to their senses.
W-What was I doing?
What was I possessed by?
We have to stop the poison! Take care of the mechanisms in the ceiling!
Everyone snapped out of it and sprang into action.
Fortunately, they dealt with the mechanisms just in time and managed to get through it without major harm.
It was all thanks to Wi Ji-cheon.
We owe this boy a great debt.
It was a moment when everyone was looking at him with admiration and gratitude.
An unexpected event occurred.
Crack!
The ground around the Sword Lords coffin, where Wi Ji-cheon stood, began to crack and then collapsed with a roar!
Young Doctor Wi Ji!
Senior Brother!! Hey, Wi Ji-cheon!! No!!! No!!!
Everyone stared, stunned, at the hole that had swallowed Wi Ji-cheon.
Hmph. How high did I fall from? A fortuitous fall into a hidden place? Theres a limit to how cliché you can be.
Wi Ji-cheon looked up.
The ceiling was blocked by the collapsed rocks.
Lets see what he prepared that required all this fuss.
The moment the ground gave way, Wi Ji-cheon could have easily dodged, but he had deliberately stood still.
He had sensed that this was the true opportunity left by the Sword Lord.
The idea must have been that if you subdue the half-swords sorcery with the Life-Giving Heart Method, you fall into this place where the real relics are.
Wi Ji-cheons guess was correct.
In the inner chamber, lit by luminous pearls, lay a single book.
- Flowing Water Sword
The Sword Lords insights!
Wi Ji-cheon quickly flipped through the book.
The Sword Lord had been a master of the Profound Realm.
It was strange that the Sword Lord, a Profound Realm master, had lost to the Life-Giving Ancestor, who had not reached that level, but it was likely due to the power of the Life-Giving Heart Method.
In any case, the insights left by a master who had reached the Profound Realm were of immeasurable value.
This is exactly the kind of sword art I was looking for!
In truth, the sword arts mastered by the Fiend Demon Wi Ji-cheon were by no means inferior to the Sword Lords.
Although the Sword Lord was of the Profound Realm and the Fiend Demon was at the peak of the Transformation Realm, the difference was in their level of enlightenment, not a lack in the quality of their sword arts.
However, the Fiend Demons sword arts belonged to the demonic path.
He needed a sword art of the righteous path, one suitable for Martial Doctor Wi Ji-cheon of the Medical Immortal Medical House.
The Medical Immortal Sword Art has been lost here and there over time, reduced to a basic self-defense technique.
The Flowing Water Sword was not a specific set of techniques.
It was simply a compilation of the Sword Lords insights.
That was even better.
He could combine it with the Medical Immortal Sword Art.
Ill merge the Medical Immortal Sword Art and the Sword Lords insights into one through the Heavenly Immortal Divine Arts.
This was possible not just because of the power of the Heavenly Immortal Divine Arts.
It was because his former self, the Fiend Demon Wi Ji-cheon, was also a grandmaster of the sword, no less skilled than the Sword Lord.
The combination of the Sword Lords insights, the Heavenly Immortal Divine Arts, and the Fiend Demons own understanding of swordsmanship would surely give birth to a new, divine ultimate art.
This will take time, so Ill work on it slowly when I get back.
Wi Ji-cheon recalled the expressions on peoples faces as he fell.
I wonder if Junior Sister Dan Yeo is crying? Should I tease her if she did? No, I might get a slap on the back for it. Shes not the type to go easy on me just because Im her senior brother.
Wi Ji-cheon chuckled.
What was unexpected was Jang Sams expression.
Jang Sam had also looked extremely desperate.
He had rushed forward with all his might to save him. Though he was too late.
Jang Sams reaction was surprising. I thought he would have been gloating over my misfortune.
Or perhaps, was he rushing over not to save him, but to push him deeper into the pit?
Only Jang Sam would know the truth.
Lets go up.
There was a staircase to the side. It seemed to be a secret passage connected to the hollow from before.
If that was the case, couldn't he have just opened this secret staircase instead of making the ground collapse? The thought crossed his mind, but Wi Ji-cheon decided to respect the Sword Lords old-fashioned sensibilities.
After climbing for some time, Wi Ji-cheon paused.
A fork in the road. Is this a maze up ahead? Well, I can figure out the direction from the flow of air.
But it was then.
Keuk!!
Dojang Jang Myeong!
A lackey of the Blood Cult?!
I have to go save my senior brother! Get out of my way!!
Dammit, why did I follow them! You bastards, dont you dare underestimate me, Jang Sam, the Southern Hegemon of Nanyang!!
P-Please spare me.
Familiar voices were in a commotion.
He could hear not only Dan Yeo, Jang Sam, and A-seop, but also disciples from Huashan, Zhongnan, and the Beggars' Sect.
It seemed they had found the secret passage and come to rescue him.
The problem was
Kukuk. The Plum Blossom Swordsman, the Eighteen Hands of Zhongnan, and even the disciple of the Beggars Sect Leader. Its a shame that brat Wi Ji-cheon isnt here, but what a fine catch. Ill just have to take my revenge on that brat, Wi Ji-cheon, by killing his junior brothers and sisters.
Gooooo!
A powerful energy, palpable even from the lower level where Wi Ji-cheon stood.
It was Gok Seong, the Mad Blood Emissary, a master of the Blood Cult who had reached the peak of the Acme Realm and was half a step into the Transcendent Realm.