The Red Salt Stele
Fifteen days before Ilyang entered the Bi-gyeong.
A massive shift occurred within the sacred land of the Heavenly Demon Cult.
This change, the first of its kind in decades, began at the very place where the symbol of the cult—the legendary Heavenly Demon, Dam Cheon-hu—was known to have stayed right before his ascension to the Upper Realm.
It was a place where the traces of the ascended Heavenly Demon remained so vivid that they manifested as an eternal, unquenchable blue flame.
A noble sanctuary that remained the holiest ground of the Heavenly Demon Cult to this day.
The altar where the blue flame, the Sacred Flame Spirit, blazed eternally.
And right in front of this Sun and Moon Altar stood the very object through which the Heavenly Demon Dam Cheon-hu had left his final teachings before his ascension, so that his descendants might follow in his footsteps to the Upper Realm.
Upon this pale pink salt stele, dark blood-red characters slowly began to carve themselves.
Scritch... scratch...
Gouging into the corners of the stone, the characters etched themselves in real-time.
Watching this unfold while prostrated beneath the monument were eight elderly men known as the Eight Great Guardians of the Heavenly Demon Cult.
Currently, these guardians were transcribing the characters appearing on the Red Salt Stele with the utmost reverence, letting out quiet gasps of admiration.
"Haha... I do not know how many decades it has been since a Bi-gyeong last appeared, seniors."
"Indeed."
"This is information painstakingly sent down by our great ancestors in the Upper Realm. We must not treat it lightly."
"Haha, of course. In fact, the Cult Leader has already hastily issued the Cult Leader's Decree. The cult's elite experts have finished their preparations and are on standby to deploy."
Thud.
Yeo Yong-sang, the leader of the Eight Great Guardians and separately revered as the One Yang God, folded the book he was transcribing into and slipped it into his sleeve.
Stroking his snow-white beard, he spoke.
"There is no doubt that pests will swarm this Bi-gyeong just like before. The children of our cult must prepare themselves thoroughly before entering."
"Naturally. As always, our cult will reap the greatest harvest. I plan to instruct them to seek out and clash with those heretics inside if possible."
"A good direction."
The Heavenly Demon Dam Cheon-hu, revered as the first Demonic Immortal.
The high-level information he sent down to his descendants in the Lower Realm after establishing a new power in the Upper Realm served as immense nourishment for them.
In fact, after the Heavenly Demon's death, the Heavenly Demon Cult had produced the highest number of ascended individuals.
The descendants of the Heavenly Demon Cult had always received this premium information from their ancestors and offered corresponding sacrifices in return.
It was no different this time.
"What of the one hundred young boys and girls? Are they prepared?"
"They will all be ready by tomorrow, seniors."
"Phew, I hope the esteemed ancestors in the Upper Realm are satisfied."
It was 'merely' one hundred young boys and girls.
The great ancestors of the Heavenly Demon Cult were generous, so they bestowed excellent information without stinting, even for such a small offering.
There was only one thing the ancestors in the Upper Realm truly desired: for more cultists to ascend to the Upper Realm.
"Will those pests from the Mansi Sect, the Cheonhyeol Sect, and the Cheonsa Sect also move this time?"
In the Jianghu, the only groups capable of keeping the Heavenly Demon Cult in check were, at best, the Mansi Sect, the Cheonhyeol Sect, and the Cheonsa Sect.
They too possessed legacies left by their ancestors that allowed secret communication with the Upper Realm, making them the ones to watch out for the most.
In contrast, the Mosan Sect of the Orthodox faction, which lacked any ancestral legacy, was nothing more than mere dregs.
There was a limit to growing one's power without high-level information from the Upper Realm.
"The Mansi Sect, Cheonhyeol Sect, and Cheonsa Sect must also have legacies left by their ancestors, so they will surely interfere in this Bi-gyeong."
"Tsk, tsk. Truly troublesome fellows. We must deal with them properly at some point. I wonder what the Cult Leader's intentions are."
"In truth, if those Orthodox hypocrites hadn't interfered, they would have been dealt with long ago. Then we wouldn't have troubled you, seniors... Your lacking junior is always apologetic."
"Well, it is fine. There was little that could be done, realistically. They hid and operated so craftily within the Orthodox territory, so there must have been many constraints."
"Thank you for your understanding, senior."
The leader of the Eight Great Guardians, One Yang God Yeo Yong-sang, and the wrinkle-faced old man bowing and reporting before him.
This heavily wrinkled old man was the youngest of the Eight Great Guardians, Gal Wi-ryang, known as the Eight Bright Marquises.
A blue-bearded old man who had been quietly listening to Gal Wi-ryang's report from the side spoke up.
He was the second-in-command of the Eight Great Guardians, Jo Cheon-hwa, known as the Moon Shadow God.
"What of the Thunderbolt Sect? How are those bastards faring?"
"Ah! Actually, there has been some movement from them recently."
"Oh? Are those cowards finally moving? But didn't you say they were practically ruined last time?"
"Since we seized their ancestral legacy, they are indeed as good as ruined. However, unfortunately, the sect leader and his bloodline managed to escape at the very end, did they not? Because they were terrified of us, they kept hiding like moles, making them difficult to find. But recently, we received a report that traces of their activity have been discovered."
"Hmm. Those impudent fools dare to specialize in thunder qi. If we can capture them and absorb their secret techniques, it would be a great boon to our cult..."
"The children of our cult are already working on it, so I believe we will hear good news soon."
"Tsk, I hope so. I would like this Bi-gyeong to be concluded as quietly and swiftly as possible."
But contrary to the wishes of the Heavenly Demon Cult's guardians...
For some reason, information about this newly appeared Bi-gyeong spread like wildfire among cultivators.
Because of this, from the dangerous cults located on the fringes of the Central Plains to the other cultivators deep within...
Everyone who practiced immortal cultivation methods across the land was already moving rapidly toward the Bi-gyeong that had appeared for the first time in decades.
Ilyang tilted his head slightly as a hot wind brushed past his face.
"What is this?"
The air was hot.
Not as a joke or a metaphor, but literally hot.
Feeling strange, he stepped forward, passing through the long stone passage in front of him.
An astonishing sight swallowed Ilyang's vision.
"A desert? Why?"
The scene before his eyes was utterly unrealistic.
Wasn't this supposed to be a dungeon?
If it was a dungeon, it made no sense for the internal environment to change so drastically.
"Could they have used weather magic?"
In a dungeon?
To overlay weather alteration magic on top of a place where space distortion magic was already active?
Then just what circle of archmage created this dungeon?
While Ilyang kept tilting his head in confusion...
With quiet groans, four people came shuffling out from behind the stone passage.
And a low exclamation of awe escaped the mouth of Cheol Mu-geuk, who stood at the very front.
"Oh? This must be the Bi-gyeong. It is indeed an unusual place, just as the rumors said!"
Along with Cheol Mu-geuk's admiration, Ilyang heard Geum-ok, who was wrapped around his neck, whimper.
[It's... too hot here.]
Indeed.
Even for a scorching desert, the air was suspiciously hot.
A dry, scorching air with almost zero humidity.
Furthermore...
"No matter how I look at it, this is strange, Senior."
"Hmm? What do you mean?"
"I thought it was a dungeon, but the weather conditions are far too different from my predictions. The scale is also much larger than expected."
At this point, it was merely a simple guess, but...
Perhaps a Bi-gyeong...
Did not refer to a simple dungeon.
'I might have mistranslated the word.'
It was a clear mistake.
When he first heard about the place called a Bi-gyeong, he was told that it contained various magical beasts and traps, along with immense rewards inside.
So he had easily assumed it was just a word meaning "dungeon."
'But this is too different for that to be the case.'
A desert so vast that the end was nowhere in sight was the primary setting.
Even when he activated his mana detection, the surrounding landscape was so massive and wide that it couldn't fit within his senses.
'Moreover, the flow of mana is bizarre.'
For a human to construct a dungeon of this scale would require an astronomical amount of resources.
It was on the level of completely tearing down the existing environment and rebuilding it from scratch.
Furthermore, this was a result that required not just cost, but an immense amount of time and effort.
They had completely excluded the canyon, which was the original environment, and inserted an entirely different space.
To construct a dungeon this way was, no matter how he thought about it, utterly impossible within a human's finite lifespan.
If someone were to force themselves to make such a dungeon, perhaps only a dragon could manage it?
'Perhaps this is a mystery unique to this world.'
At first, he wondered if it was a place similar to the Demon Realms that existed sparsely across the seven continents.
To clear his doubts, Ilyang retraced his steps back into the stone passage they had first emerged from to check.
Thud.
Touching the rock at the end of the tightly sealed passage with his hand, Ilyang realized their complete isolation from the outside world and nodded.
'Ha... This is neither a dungeon nor a Demon Realm.'
A Bi-gyeong.
This was a completely new form of mystery that existed only in this world.
He had finally discovered another unique rule that existed solely in this world.
The corners of Ilyang's mouth twitched slightly.
"Still, this is troublesome. How are we to find treasures in a place this vast..."
Walking back out to the cave entrance, Ilyang nodded as he heard Cheol Mu-geuk's dismayed voice.
"The scale of the Bi-gyeong is larger than expected. We might have to wander around here for days."
"Hmm. We brought plenty of dried rations and jerky, but I am worried about drinking water."
"On the contrary, we have more than enough water."
Whoosh!
As Ilyang waved his hand in the air, creating a thick stream of water, a scattering rainbow formed in the empty space.
Behind him, Yang Cheon-jo and his martial brothers, who had been looking around with fascinated faces, gasped in surprise and gave him a standing ovation.
"As expected! Incredible!"
"As expected of our little brother! I knew we could count on you!"
"Spells are truly fascinating things."
Leaving their admiration and praise behind, Ilyang pointed toward a far-off area to the left and spoke.
"Let us head that way first, Senior."
"Hmm? Do you sense something?"
"There seems to be a building."
When he had run his mana detection earlier, there was something massive to the left.
It felt like some kind of artificial structure.
Rather than wasting time idling here, it seemed right to move toward such a peculiar place.
'First, let's move and familiarize ourselves with the geography and environment of this place.'
And so, Ilyang and his companions began to cross the scorching desert under the blazing sun.