Chapter 365
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 365
Chapter Title: Isn't This It?
"Ta-hat!"
"Eup."
"Yi-yap!"
The cadets of the Fierce Dragon Corps threw themselves into training without respite.
It was only natural.
The instructor overseeing them was that man.
Instructor Ji Gun-wi.
The mercilessly strict instructor.
That's why the cadets gave it everything they had.
If they slacked even a little during training, he'd spot it like a ghost and join in personally.
Suddenly, Instructor Ji Gun-wi stared at the western sky.
Then he glanced at Instructor Han Seol-bing, who was assisting with the training from the side.
[I'll leave things to you for a moment, Instructor Han.]
[Understood.]
Instructor Ji Gun-wi's abrupt telepathic transmission.
Judging from his demeanor so far, it seemed important.
Han Seol-bing asked no questions.
Upon hearing her reply, Ji Gun-wi's figure vanished in an instant.
Han Seol-bing took his place.
The moment a few cadets' faces showed a hint of relief at the change...
"You there! You! Step forward!"
Han Seol-bing caught them just as sharply.
'Ha... even Instructor Han has changed...'
Dang Jin-san thought with a grimace.
She hadn't been like this when training with Instructor Ha.
But in the few days alongside Instructor Ji...
She had become just as ruthless.
"Hoo? What's this?"
Wi Ji-gun emerged from Mu-chang and climbed to the peak of a nearby mountain, gazing west.
Precisely toward Sichuan.
Wi Ji-gun's expression was rigidly set.
Even when the Blood Cult and Demonic Cult rampaged, throwing the world into chaos...
He had never worn such a grave face.
This was a first.
The first time Wi Ji-gun had looked toward Chengdu from the grand training grounds...
Was the exact moment Myo Gu-ung unleashed his Poisonous Gang Poison Palm at Ha Mu-baek.
At that time...
A single heart method he had never taught Ha Mu-baek reacted.
And it was reacting still.
This wasn't a heart method for cultivating internal energy, though called one.
It was for sensing something.
When Wi Ji-gun's master passed it to him...
The master had said it had never reacted once in his life.
Yet it was mandatory for inheriting the Infinite Sword Sect's lineage.
The reason he hadn't passed it to Ha Mu-baek was simple.
The scent of blood was too thick.
When Ha first left on his journey, the time wasn't right.
When he returned, the blood reeked too strongly.
He had been planning to visit the sect soon, now that the scent had somewhat faded, to teach it.
But now it reacted.
'The kid headed to the Sichuan Tang Clan... could it possibly be...'
He worried it might involve his disciple.
"The fire of Manhwang has been lit..."
Wi Ji-gun muttered in a heavy tone.
"The fire of Manhwang has been lit."
Tianshan Mountains.
Atop the highest, most treacherous peak there.
A small thatched hut stood in a place where blizzards raged year-round, scarcely fit for human habitation.
Inside that hut.
In the pitch darkness, eight candles burned.
Moments ago.
One of them had ignited on its own.
The words muttered by the old man sitting alone inside, gazing at the flame.
His eyes brimmed with ecstasy.
How long had he waited?
He had thought even in his generation, not one of the eight candles might light.
Yet it had lit.
The flickering candle flame.
"The power that shaped this world. Manhwang. You're finally awakening from your long slumber. Heh heh heh."
The old man chuckled.
"To complete Manhwang, seven more fires are needed... I wonder how many I'll see light in my lifetime..."
The old man stared at the unlit candles.
"Those Stone Clan bastards must have stirred up the world nicely."
The fire of Manhwang he had longed and yearned for.
Hundreds of years with no reaction.
Finally, one had ignited.
The old man straightened his hunched body and rose.
"Now it's time for us to emerge into the world. First, I'll send one of the young ones to scout the situation."
He opened the hut's door.
Fierce blizzards whipped endlessly.
Yet...
Around the hut, all was eerily still.
A truly bizarre sight.
The old man stepped lightly into the blizzard.
Where he walked, silence fell as if by magic.
As though the storm parted for him.
As he descended slightly from the peak...
Nine men appeared and prostrated before him.
The old man examined them closely.
"Good. You've been diligent."
He nodded in satisfaction.
"Tenth Demon, Yuan Clan."
"Yes, Supreme One."
The one called by name prostrated deeper.
"You'll go. See how the current martial world fares. And what became of those Eight Demon Stone Clan bastards."
"As you command!"
"And... the fire of Manhwang has been lit."
"Gasp!"
"Impossible!"
At the old man's following words, some exclaimed involuntarily.
As if understanding their shock, the old man rebuked none.
"On your way, find who lit the Manhwang fire if you can."
"As you command!"
The one called Yuan Clan.
Won Pyeong-sam.
Hearing his shout, the old man turned back toward the hut.
"Heh heh heh."
His pleased laughter echoed lowly through the blizzard.
"How much time has passed?"
Ha Mu-baek asked calmly.
"Two or three hours, I'd say."
Compared to the Bingcheon Palace incident, it was short.
Just a portion of the poison palm's toxin, after all.
"Are you alright?"
Tang Ja-cheong asked, inspecting Ha Mu-baek.
"Fortunately, it was handled well."
"Th-thank you."
Dang Ji-yeon flushed and bowed deeply in gratitude.
"I merely kept my promise to the clan head. Think nothing of it."
At his level response...
Dang Ji-yeon seemed faintly disappointed but quickly composed herself.
"How did it go?"
With Ha Mu-baek's wellbeing confirmed, curiosity turned to Myo Gu-ung.
Ha Mu-baek's expression hardened slightly.
"I couldn't confirm his death."
"What."
A low exclamation escaped.
Ha Mu-baek recounted the final battle with Myo Gu-ung.
"Both arms and one leg lost, then fell from the cliff..."
"At that point, wouldn't he be dead?"
Dang Ji-yeon couldn't imagine surviving a fall into the river below in that state.
"Let's go take a look there first."
For his desperate flight to end at a cliff...
Where exactly had Myo Gu-ung been heading?
Arriving at the battle site, Tang Ja-cheong and Dang Ji-yeon widened their eyes.
It was ruins like an earthquake had struck.
The result of man versus man.
Ruins rivaling natural disasters.
Just how far did this man's limits go?
Tang Ja-cheong thought.
At the same time...
He recalled once more how perfectly timed his request to Ha Mu-baek had been.
Without him...
What calamity might have befallen Chengdu?
Dang Ji-yeon peered over the cliff's edge.
A dizzying height that daunted just looking.
Rumble.
The roar of raging waters from below.
This wasn't...
Just any river.
Rapids among rapids.
Fallen there?
Even a healthy body would mean certain death.
Dang Ji-yeon shook her head.
That fearsome poison master...
Must be dead for sure.
"Hm?"
Scanning below, something caught Dang Ji-yeon's eye.
"G-grandfather. Instructor Ha. Come here!"
Dang Ji-yeon called them.
"What is it, Yeon-ah?"
Tang Ja-cheong approached and asked.
"Over there. Looks like something on that side?"
"Hm?"
Tang Ja-cheong focused his gaze.
Not a sheer, smooth cliff like chiseled jade.
Amid jagged rocks and resilient trees clinging here and there...
At her pointing finger.
Something was visible.
"Instructor Ha. What do you see?"
Tang Ja-cheong turned to Ha Mu-baek.
"Hm."
Ha Mu-baek concentrated his vision.
"Better to go down and check."
"Eh? Eeh?"
Before the startled Dang Ji-yeon could stop him...
Ha Mu-baek leaped down.
To the spot midway down the cliff that caught her eye.
With a serene face, he treaded air slowly downward.
As if stairs lay before him.
Casually performing Void Treading.
Ha Mu-baek reached the spot.
Mid-cliff.
A fairly spacious ledge protruding out.
Enough for three or four people to lie down.
That wasn't the point.
A cave lay before Ha Mu-baek's eyes.
One that felt touched by human hands.
Ha Mu-baek kicked off the cliff and soared up.
"What was it?"
"A cave."
"Ah."
Dang Ji-yeon let out a low gasp at Ha Mu-baek's answer.
She hadn't realized it was a cave.
"However."
Ha Mu-baek paused briefly.
"There are traces of human workmanship."
Tang Ja-cheong and Dang Ji-yeon looked shocked at his follow-up.
"Then Myo Gu-ung's destination was...?"
Tang Ja-cheong muttered suspiciously, but Ha Mu-baek shook his head.
"No. He was simply desperate to flee. No set destination. He probably didn't know of it either."
At Ha Mu-baek's words...
Dang Ji-yeon's eyes sparkled.
"Then... isn't this it? A serendipitous encounter?"
The staple of folk hero tales.
A hidden opportunity somewhere on a cliff.
Dang Ji-yeon's eyes gleamed with such expectations.
"Did you check it out?"
Tang Ja-cheong asked.
"Just glanced from the entrance. It's quite deep. Seems a natural cave with human modifications."
As if forgetting today's life-and-death ordeal...
Dang Ji-yeon's eyes filled with anticipation and curiosity.
"Shall we take a look?"
Tang Ja-cheong asked cautiously.
Poison Sovereign or not...
He was a doting grandfather.
"It's only been moments since escaping death. Are you sure?"
Ha Mu-baek's question was directed at Dang Ji-yeon.
"I've recovered some while you were circulating energy to expel the poison. No worries."
The best would be for him to scout alone first.
But Dang Ji-yeon wouldn't allow it.
Not that he needed her permission, of course.
"Sigh. Alright. We'll take a quick look. If it seems dangerous, we'll turn back."
At Ha Mu-baek's reluctant words, Tang Ja-cheong nodded.
"Yes. If danger shows, we'll do that."
His face full of trust that with Ha Mu-baek, nothing dangerous would occur.
Ha Mu-baek drew four daggers from his robes.
Ones he carried for eventualities.
"Do you have any daggers? Four might not be enough."
"Here."
"Here."
Two each emerged from Tang Ja-cheong and Dang Ji-yeon's robes.
"Let's go."
With that, Ha Mu-baek descended the cliff once more via Void Treading.
Tang Ja-cheong and Dang Ji-yeon watched with troubled faces.
An impossible technique for them.
"Just step down."
Then Ha Mu-baek's voice came from below.
Looking down, eight daggers were embedded in the cliff, forming stairs.
As the two carefully stepped down...
The rearmost dagger slid down on its own to the next spot.
Spirit Energy Sword Control.
Even while descending the cliff with Void Treading...
Ha Mu-baek controlled eight daggers simultaneously with telekinesis.
Tang Ja-cheong glanced at him with a grimace.
What realm must one reach for such a divine feat?
And Myo Gu-ung, who clashed fiercely with him even briefly—what manner of monster had he become?
Lost in such thoughts, they arrived.
At the spot Dang Ji-yeon found.
"Indeed..."
The cave entrance had a straight, sharp-cut edge.
Undeniably man-made.
Nature couldn't form it so.
But the interior differed.
The first few steps were clearly artificial.
Beyond, a natural cave.
Stalactites, stalagmites, and columns visible.
"Sliced in one sword stroke with sword gang."
Ha Mu-baek said, examining the traces.
"And infused with internal energy. To withstand erosion."
Tang Ja-cheong tilted his head at Ha Mu-baek's explanation.
"Is that possible?"
"It means a truly powerful hand shaped it."
At that response...
Dang Ji-yeon...
Swallowed hard.