Chapter 118
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 118
Chapter Title: It Seems I Went a Bit Overboard
In the field of mechanical traps and formations, the Ten Thousand Things Alliance prided itself as the best in the Central Plains.
For such an alliance's Hidden Vault to have sorcery woven into its mechanisms?
That was utterly impossible.
This had to be Gong Mu-hyuk's doing.
His wife's family was Seon Yu Valley, unrivaled in the world when it came to medicine and sorcery.
He must have secretly pulled some strings with their help without anyone knowing.
It needed confirmation.
Gong Do-hyuk stormed out of the Hidden Vault.
He headed straight for the alliance leader's office.
Though he was only the deputy leader, it was the space he currently used.
One wall deep inside was packed floor-to-ceiling with bookshelves stuffed with scrolls.
After manipulating several hidden switches in a specific order...
Dr-r-r-uk.
One bookshelf slid aside, revealing a secret chamber.
A hidden room specially built within the alliance leader's office.
A space only the leader and Gong Do-hyuk could enter.
It was filled with neatly organized documents.
Gong Do-hyuk stepped inside and operated the mechanism, causing the bookshelf to slide back perfectly, concealing the space once more.
He carefully examined the documents within.
Since Gong Mu-hyuk and Gong Do-hyuk had organized everything meticulously by catalog, he quickly found his target.
The blueprints for the Ten Thousand Things Hidden Vault.
As expected, there was no mention of any sorcery.
Gong Mu-hyuk had clearly added it secretly later on.
"Gong Mu-hyuk. You goddamn bastard."
Gong Do-hyuk no longer even considered Gong Mu-hyuk his brother.
Aside from the sorcery, every detail of the vault's mechanisms was densely recorded on the blueprints.
"I have to find it. If I can't open it, I'll just have to break through. I need to figure out where to punch the hole."
The vault was designed to collapse completely if anyone tried to smash the door.
But drilling a hole big enough for a person to pass through might be different.
Gong Do-hyuk began searching for a way to breach the vault door while avoiding the self-destruct mechanisms.
His eyes turned bloodshot as he pored over the blueprints, performing complex calculations.
He was truly desperate.
The remaining Myriad Heavenly Golden Chain Thunderclap stored in the vault.
That alone was his lifeline.
There had been no movement from Wu Chang yet.
To save his own skin, he could just flee right now.
But Gong Do-hyuk simply couldn't let go of his attachment to the position of Ten Thousand Things Alliance Leader.
The taste of power was that intoxicating.
The aftermath of the two surges of energy clashing was tremendous.
Shockwaves erupted from their swords, engulfing both men.
A colossal force battered their entire bodies.
Yet the two pressed forward even harder.
Sword auras thrust ahead with the intent to shatter the opponent's blade.
They channeled their protective energy to its maximum to deflect the shockwaves.
Their clothes, swollen taut, didn't just flap—they tore in places.
Even so, master and disciple poured everything into advancing toward each other.
The moment the clear azure sword aura seemed to slowly push back the inky black one...
Pa-hat!!!!
A burst of white energy exploded from Ha Mu-baek's entire body.
Overlaying his formless protective energy with white true qi.
At the same time, the shockwaves radiating outward from the clash of sword auras focused entirely on Wi Ji-gun.
"Tch."
The moment blood trickled from his gritted lips...
Kwaaaaang!
Another deafening roar echoed, and Wi Ji-gun was sent skidding backward.
Then all the energies vanished.
As if the storm had never raged, silence descended in an instant.
"Cough."
Breaking the sudden quiet came the sound of Wi Ji-gun vomiting blood.
"Master!"
Ha Mu-baek hurriedly rushed to his master's side.
"It's nothing. No need to be surprised."
Wi Ji-gun brushed it off casually.
But how could he not be surprised?
His master had coughed up blood during their spar.
"Compared to what you went through, this is truly nothing. My dantian is fine; just my meridians got a bit rattled. One Rejuvenation Pill and some meditation, and I'll be good."
With that, he rummaged in his robes, popped a Rejuvenation Pill into his mouth, and immediately sat cross-legged to begin meditative recovery.
In truth, Ha Mu-baek hadn't even had the luxury to use something like a Rejuvenation Pill amid the crisis.
Ha Mu-baek stood guard by his master's side.
No one was around, but just in case.
Ha Mu-baek's energy sense spread out in all directions.
Kwaaaaang!
The tremors seemed to subside, only for another explosion to rock the air!
The dormitory building shook violently.
"Eek!"
Han Seol-bing nearly screamed in fright.
Then silence returned.
The faint vibrations and quakes from moments ago vanished as if washed away.
"Ugh, is it over?"
Han Seol-bing muttered, looking around.
"Seems like it."
Ha Seol-ran's reply.
"Hoo. We survived. Man, earthquakes scare the hell out of me."
"Hehe. You were so unexpected, it startled me."
Ha Seol-ran's laugh made Han Seol-bing frown.
"That's because you've never actually been through a real one, Ran. Nature has no mercy. I nearly died as a kid... Come to think of it, this is my first earthquake since coming to the Central Plains."
Han Seol-bing shook her head.
"Um, well. It might not even be an earthquake."
"What? This? Not an earthquake?"
Han Seol-bing asked incredulously.
"It just feels that way. Want to go check it out?"
At Ha Seol-ran's words, Han Seol-bing made a horrified face.
"Go to where the earthquake hit?"
"Yeah. It doesn't feel like one. It's familiar somehow. But it's pretty far, so with my current skill, going might be tough."
Han Seol-bing pondered Ha Seol-ran's words.
It was just a 'feeling,' but Ha Seol-ran seemed convinced it wasn't an earthquake.
That thought sparked her curiosity.
If it wasn't an earthquake, then what could it be?
Wasn't it that same curiosity that had driven her to leave the North Sea's Ice Heaven Palace and venture into the Central Plains, only to get her nose pierced and dragged into two wars?
As one of the New Eight Gates, Ice Heaven Palace had lent aid to the Blood Cult and Demonic Cult's war efforts, but she hadn't needed to step up personally.
That damn curiosity was the problem.
"...Shall we go? Do you know where?"
Han Seol-bing asked slyly. Ha Seol-ran nodded.
And so, deep into the night, the two slipped out of the Dragon Training Pavilion and raced north.
Ice Heaven Moon Shadow Flight.
With Ha Seol-ran on her back, Han Seol-bing unleashed Ice Heaven Palace's unique divine technique to its utmost, kicking off the ground and soaring like the wind.
The scenery whipped past.
A fierce gale slapped Ha Seol-ran's face.
"This way?"
"Yes!"
Ha Seol-ran guided the direction at Han Seol-bing's question.
Straight toward the source of the sensation.
After flying for quite some time, they arrived at some nameless wild mountain.
Ha Mu-baek's eyebrow twitched.
Two presences approaching from Wu Chang City toward them.
And they felt all too familiar.
'What are they doing here?'
The question arose, but waiting would reveal all.
The direction was aimed unmistakably at him.
Would his master's meditative breakthrough end first, or would they arrive first?
An hour passed.
His master was still deep in meditative trance.
He'd said it was nothing, but apparently not.
If it truly was nothing, the meditation should have ended by now.
In that time, the two presences drew right up to them.
"Wh-what is all this, Corps Leader?!"
Han Seol-bing's voice filled with shock.
"It really was Big Brother after all."
And Ha Seol-ran's voice, confirming her guess was right.
"Huh? What do you mean 'after all'?"
Ha Mu-baek asked Ha Seol-ran.
"It just felt that way somehow."
Ha Mu-baek eyed her deeply at her answer. She'd sensed it when even Han Seol-bing hadn't.
Was something changing in her?
"Corps Leader! What the hell is this?!"
Han Seol-bing demanded again.
She looked around with dismayed eyes.
It was her first time seeing such a sight, yet oddly familiar.
Hadn't she seen similar ruins just recently?
"You called it the Myriad Heavenly Golden Chain Thunderclap... There was more of it?"
Han Seol-bing asked in a trembling voice.
Ha Mu-baek shook his head.
"Then what is this... How do you even make something like this?"
Han Seol-bing glanced between Wi Ji-gun in meditation and Ha Mu-baek beside him.
"It just sort of happened."
Ha Mu-baek replied nonchalantly.
"Big Brother. Why is Master like that? Is he okay?"
Ha Seol-ran asked cautiously.
"He'll be fine. He pushed a bit too hard during our spar."
At Ha Mu-baek's answer, Han Seol-bing looked utterly defeated.
She could guess the reason for these ruins from that response.
"So, these ruins are from your spar? That explosion? That earthquake?"
Her eyes held shock, disbelief, and fear as she stared at Ha Mu-baek.
"Earthquake? Did it shake Wu Chang that much?"
Ha Mu-baek asked, as if hearing this for the first time.
"Not quite an earthquake, but there were some tremors."
Ha Seol-ran's answer.
"It seems I went a bit overboard."
Han Seol-bing gazed at Ha Mu-baek with a weary face, too exhausted to be surprised anymore.
At that moment.
A change occurred around Wi Ji-gun.
A faint halo of light enveloped him.
"Big Brother! Th-that's..."
Hadn't they seen something similar just recently?
"Shh."
At Ha Mu-baek's hush, Ha Seol-ran clamped her mouth shut. Han Seol-bing also quietly watched.
'His meditation's taking longer than I thought.'
His master was gazing beyond the wall that had blocked him for so many years.
He'd spent a full day holed up in the secret chamber.
The analysis and calculations were mostly done.
He might have even found a spot to drill through.
Still, it was time to head out.
Someone he needed to meet.
He had to learn Wu Chang's movements.
Gong Do-hyuk operated the mechanism and exited the chamber.
His eyes were bloodshot.
Exhaustion etched his face.
But he had to go.
With a suitable mask over his face for disguise, he left the Ten Thousand Things Alliance.
A short way down, at the foot of Cheonjung Mountain, a fairly large village appeared.
A village formed solely because of the Ten Thousand Things Alliance.
Merchants and sect members visiting for trade had naturally created it.
Gong Do-hyuk entered one of the inns there.
He sat anywhere and ordered a bottle of bamboo leaf liquor.
He was incredibly thirsty for alcohol.
As he tipped back a cup alongside some grilled chicken...
An old man plopped down across from him.
"Drinking in the daytime is a quick way to ruin your health. Especially alone... even worse."
Gong Do-hyuk glanced at the sudden intruder.
A blue silk thread wrapped around the old man's left wrist.
The same as the one on his own right wrist.
Their contact.
"Rude for a first meeting."
Gong Do-hyuk said as he refilled his cup.
"This isn't the time for leisurely drinks, is it?"
Gong Do-hyuk scanned the surroundings with his energy sense at the old man's words.
"What's the situation with Wu Chang?"
"Rising Dragon to the Heavens or something? Odd name they slapped on it. But we can't peer into Wu Chang in detail either."
Gong Do-hyuk scowled at the old man's words. If even they couldn't see inside, who could?
The money he'd poured into this commission was no small sum.
If that last messenger bird hadn't flown off, he wouldn't have needed to commission them at all.
But now he had no one planted in Wu Chang, so he had no choice but to use them.
"What do you mean by that?"
"Someone who doesn't take kindly to us, that's why. Got tangled up badly a couple times, so we're being cautious."
"And?"
"The job you requested happens to be tied to that guy."
Gong Do-hyuk's face twisted viciously.
"Well, thanks to it, we learned anew just how monstrous he is, so here I am. Gong Mu-hyuk is safe, and he seems especially close to that monster Ha Mu-baek. If you want to live, run as far away as you can."
"Hey. You think I shelled out all that money to hear this crap?"
Thud.
The old man placed a money pouch on the table.
"As promised. Not a single coin missing. Take this and run far away. That's your only path to survival. We know well how tenacious Ha Mu-baek is when it comes to grudges. We suspect he's suffered a major setback. He won't stay quiet."
Gong Do-hyuk ground his teeth at the old man's words.
This wasn't why he'd commissioned them.
"No movement yet, so this is your only chance. We can't even approach near Ha Mu-baek, so we don't know details. I wish you safety."
The old man rose and left those words behind.
Gong Do-hyuk sat alone.
"Those Hao Gate bastards..."
He muttered under his breath, voice thick with rage.