Chapter 309
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 309
Chapter Title: Should I Break It?
The place where Ha Mu-baek had clashed with Hyun-hwang.
It was still a scene of utter devastation.
Dried, twisted corpses of trees littered the ground, while shattered earth and boulders stretched out across a wide expanse.
"Sucking the life out of everything... Tsk."
Ha Mu-baek clicked his tongue.
He had faced it calmly enough.
But it truly deserved to be called a demon's martial art—no, a demon's power.
The Abyss.
And the primordial fragment.
No, primordial essence.
What in the world was it?
Harboring the question in his heart, Ha Mu-baek moved on.
Activating the Infinite Bright Wheel Eye, he traced back the direction from which Hyun-hwang had first appeared.
He arrived at the cliff where he had first encountered Hyun-hwang.
There, he discovered a hidden cave.
It looked just like a cavern someone had carved out for cultivation.
Probably the work of some eminent Shaolin monk.
Mount Song, home to Shaolin, and Wudang Mountain, seat of the Wudang Sect, were dotted with such caves and hermitages everywhere.
Reaching the end of the cave, he found a single scripture.
Just as Hyun-gil had described.
The title Thousand Hands and Eyes Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Sutra caught his eye first.
He picked it up and checked its contents.
It was indeed a Buddhist sutra.
Some Shaolin martial arts bore names like sutras, so that wasn't surprising.
There was no reason for Hyun-gil to lie to him, so he trusted it.
But he read it to confirm where this Abyss bastard had emerged from.
One read-through revealed nothing unusual—just a sutra.
He read it again.
Through the Infinite Bright Wheel Eye, he could clearly see the same energy he had sensed in the Sutra Pavilion.
Much denser here.
So this had to be it.
What is this?
The Void Expansive Heart Technique had no energy in the manual itself.
Only after Dan Mok Un-roe cultivated it, and only after Ha Mu-baek had read it through and comprehended it fully, did he sense the energy.
But this scripture brimmed with energy from the manual itself.
As if someone had left it there to be found and absorbed.
The nature of that energy was unmistakably in the same vein as the Void Expansive Heart Technique and the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.
The more information he gained, the more questions piled up.
Two full readings.
In them, he sensed a faint energy.
It wasn't hidden in the content.
It lurked in the characters themselves.
The more he read, the more palpable it became.
Especially easy to sense if one already possessed a similar energy.
Just as Ha Mu-baek had first detected its traces.
Hyun-hwang had likely noticed the sutra's energy the same way.
Reading it once more after sensing the energy, the residual power that Hyun-hwang hadn't fully absorbed began to seep into Ha Mu-baek's body.
Ha Mu-baek accepted it for now.
The energy that entered his body slithered stealthily toward his dantian.
Ha Mu-baek observed it quietly.
Recalling the energy that had taken root in Gong Ya-hwi's body, he examined this intruder closely.
Expecting it to behave similarly.
The energy clinging to Ha Mu-baek's dantian initially tried to act like the one that had invaded Gong Ya-hwi's body.
But then...
Hum.
His dantian quivered briefly.
And absorbed it.
The demonic energy, so effortlessly assimilated into Ha Mu-baek's internal power.
It was anticlimactic.
To absorb it so easily.
He had hoped for some different reaction that might yield a clue.
Still, wondering if it had caused any changes to his internal power, Ha Mu-baek sat cross-legged and entered meditation.
There were no major changes.
But it wasn't entirely unchanged.
It was subtle, but real.
Ha Mu-baek's internal power now carried a hint of void-like quality.
Upon absorbing it, he understood.
It shared the nature of the Void Expansive Heart Technique.
Its defining trait was exactly as the first two characters of its name suggested.
Void.
That was it.
Then the Demonic Cult's Heavenly Demon Divine Art also possesses this void trait... or rather, it is void itself.
When he first sensed it, he thought it merely resembled demonic traces.
He was wrong.
In the end, it shared the same root as void energy.
That explained why the Demonic Cult so desperately sought the Dan Mok clan's manual.
The Heavenly Demon Divine Art must have lacked this element, which the Void Expansive Heart Technique provided.
And Hyun-hwang's martial arts had culminated with this void as its final trait.
"This wasn't the only one."
Ha Mu-baek's gaze turned outside the cave.
Toward Shaolin Temple.
The Sutra Pavilion.
The energy Hyun-hwang first possessed was clearly different from this.
He must have obtained that from the Sutra Pavilion too.
Ha Mu-baek rose to his feet.
Now it was time to inspect the Sutra Pavilion.
He leaped from the cave and headed toward Mount Song's lesser peak.
Arriving at Shaolin's mountain gate, there was no obstruction this time, unlike before.
It seemed orders had come down from above in advance.
Ha Mu-baek reached the Sutra Pavilion without interference.
"You've arrived, Layman Ha. Amitabha."
Hyun-gil was waiting.
Beside him stood the impassive Hyun-chuk.
His expression betrayed suppressed dissatisfaction.
He had no choice but to permit it, yet as Pavilion Master of the Sutra Pavilion, he clearly disliked the situation.
Such discontent.
"I'm going in."
A curt word.
Ha Mu-baek strode unhesitatingly into the Sutra Pavilion.
The thirty-six Arhat Guardians defending it flinched.
Instinctively moving to block him, they recalled Hyun-chuk's words permitting Ha Mu-baek entry.
Glancing at the Guardians, Ha Mu-baek vanished inside.
His steps bore no hesitation.
Activating the Infinite Bright Wheel Eye, he scanned each bookshelf one by one.
The Sutra Pavilion's scale exceeded his expectations.
The time allotted to him was one hourglass.
This might be tight.
He had confidently said it would be plenty.
He needed to hurry.
Ha Mu-baek quickened his pace.
His senses focused entirely on the pavilion, the Infinite Bright Wheel Eye operating at full power as he swiftly swept his gaze over the shelves.
That one's a hit.
He passed it by for now.
That too.
Passed again.
The first floor was done.
He ascended to the next level.
Hm. This one too.
Passed again.
Up he went, continually.
Another one here.
Passed yet another.
Now only one floor remained.
The stairs to the topmost level were sealed by a massive padlock.
"Hm? What's this?"
Ha Mu-baek asked Hyun-chuk, who trailed him.
"Forbidden ground."
Hyun-chuk replied with evident displeasure.
Hyun-gil might use polite speech with this wretched man.
But Hyun-chuk had no intention of doing so.
From his perspective, Ha Mu-baek was an intruder—a conqueror, even—daring to target Shaolin of all places.
Ha Mu-baek spoke again, unconcerned by Hyun-chuk's tone.
"I clearly said the entire Sutra Pavilion. That isn't part of it?"
"It is. But even in Shaolin, it's off-limits to all but a few. Senior Brother Hyun-hwang never entered either. Scholar-monks can't go there."
"That's breaking our agreement. You said I'd get to inspect everything."
"There's not a single manual up there you can look at. Didn't you promise not to peruse any martial arts manuals?"
Hyun-chuk shot back without yielding.
"Is it only martial arts manuals up there? Not a single sutra?"
Ha Mu-baek pressed.
Hyun-chuk's face twisted in a scowl.
Of course it wasn't just martial manuals.
Shaolin was a temple.
A temple devoted to the Buddha.
Among the sutras, priceless scriptures like the Infinite Wisdom Sutra were stored on the top floor.
Many were woodblock prints.
Ha Mu-baek smirked at Hyun-chuk's deeply furrowed expression.
"There are, aren't there?"
"......"
Hyun-chuk couldn't respond.
"Open it."
Ha Mu-baek said curtly.
But Hyun-chuk still hesitated.
"Should I break it?"
Only at Ha Mu-baek's follow-up did he reluctantly move.
He drew a key from his robe and inserted it into the padlock, turning it.
It wasn't just any key turn.
He had to channel internal energy into the key and lock during the process.
Otherwise, it wouldn't open—a specially crafted mechanism.
Destroying it wouldn't be easy either.
But something told Hyun-chuk Ha Mu-baek could do it effortlessly.
So he opened the door.
Ha Mu-baek ascended to the top floor.
His gaze never once turned to the shelves holding precious martial manuals.
He stared fixedly at the bookshelf with woodblock sutras.
The Prajnaparamita Sutra Grand Canon.
A sutra, yet its value rivaled the martial manuals stored here.
Ha Mu-baek approached it.
"S-stop. That's......"
Hyun-chuk's face drained of color.
"I'm not taking it or damaging it. Relax. It's not a martial manual—it's a sutra."
Ha Mu-baek was right.
The Prajnaparamita Sutra Grand Canon, yes.
But its content concerned perfect wisdom.
Beyond being a Shaolin treasure, there was no justification to bar Ha Mu-baek from it.
Yet Ha Mu-baek preempted him.
He wouldn't take it or damage it.
Cutting off any pretext for obstruction.
Ha Mu-baek pulled out one of the many woodblock plates and gazed at it quietly.
To Hyun-chuk, it looked like he was just looking at the plate.
But Ha Mu-baek was reading its content.
Not the words themselves, but awakening the energy embedded in the characters.
The energy thus roused.
This is it... the power from the Marrow-Cleansing Rejuvenation Sutra.
The Abyss that Hyun-gil had encountered while cultivating the Marrow-Cleansing Rejuvenation Sutra.
The energy obtained there.
It was radiance.
Hyun-gil had said the Abyss called it radiance.
The same energy dwelling in the Namgung clan's Sovereign Sword Form.
Ha Mu-baek absorbed it calmly.
"Let's go."
He slotted the plate back and turned away.
Hyun-chuk, who had watched anxiously, let out a sigh of relief and hurriedly led Ha Mu-baek down.
The padlock clicked shut firmly once more.
Unlike his fears, nothing had happened. A relief.
Opening it willingly had been the right call.
"Is that it now?"
Ha Mu-baek shook his head at Hyun-chuk's question.
"Still one left."
"You said one hourglass would suffice. I didn't think you'd use every last grain."
Hyun-chuk muttered in clear annoyance.
As if making sure Ha Mu-baek heard.
But Ha Mu-baek ignored the grumbling.
He proceeded methodically to the spots he had marked earlier.
One held radiance energy again.
Different from what Hyun-hwang had cultivated, so he must have overlooked it.
The next.
A sutra again.
But only faint traces remained.
Neither void nor radiance.
Ha Mu-baek absorbed the faint traces and examined them closely.
A familiar energy from somewhere.
Its identity.
Blood Cult!
Ha Mu-baek's eyes widened.
Killing intent exploded from him in an instant.
"Eek!"
Hyun-chuk jumped in shock.
One moment calmly reading a sutra, the next... what was this?
Caught off guard, he let out an undignified yelp and collapsed to the floor.
Ha Mu-baek's killing intent soon subsided, and Hyun-chuk rose, face flushed red.
Ha Mu-baek paid him no mind, focused solely on the sutra.
"Ahem."
Hyun-chuk cleared his throat awkwardly.
Ha Mu-baek didn't stir.
This is the Blood Cult bastards' energy... So the Blood Cult is connected to this primordial fragment, this Abyss power?
Demonic Cult: void.
Blood Cult: a different power.
Examining its nature carefully.
Darkness?
Darkness came to mind.
A substantial amount lingered.
Compared to the Thousand Hands and Eyes Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Sutra in the cave, it was nearly five times more.
Such strong remnants meant the original energy had been far greater.
Even roughly calculating, it had held at least five times more than the cave sutra.
Ha Mu-baek moved on.
First floor.
Two spots here.
One.
Traces again.
This was probably the first power Hyun-hwang discovered.
The force that turned a promising young scholar-monk into a martial world's scourge, a villain, a demonic head.
Ha Mu-baek absorbed the traces and scrutinized them.
Different from both void and darkness.
Chaos? Dizzying turmoil?
Something like that surfaced.
The sutra showed heavy wear in places, as if read obsessively.
Hyun-hwang must have pored over it thus.
That's how he awakened the dormant Abyss within.
Estimating from the lingering scent, about six times the void amount here.
In the end, Hyun-hwang's greatest power was this chaotic force.
Followed closely by darkness.
And finally, a touch of void layered on top.
What if the void power had been as strong as the darkness?
The idle thought crossed his mind.
Even then, he would have won.
Ha Mu-baek headed to the last remaining spot.
"Half an hourglass left."
Hyun-chuk said from behind.
Urging him to hurry and leave.
Ha Mu-baek slightly quickened his steps.
He had to honor the one-hour agreement.
Promises must be kept.
That was Ha Mu-baek's creed.
Reaching the final sutra.
The moment he opened the book and read once.
Th-this... this is...
Ha Mu-baek shuddered violently in shock.
His thoughts ground to a halt, mind blank.
How much time passed?
"Time's up. Let's go."
At Hyun-chuk's words, Ha Mu-baek walked blankly out of the Sutra Pavilion.
He couldn't even remember how he exited.
He simply followed Hyun-gil's guidance to a guest quarters room.
Hyun-gil, leading him, kept tilting his head curiously.
But Ha Mu-baek had no mind to notice.
H-how...?