Chapter 367
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 367
Chapter Title: How Much Time Has Passed?
"......"
Tang Ji-yeon stood there with her mouth agape, utterly speechless.
As if she never imagined it could be real.
Reading popular hero tales circulating in Chengdu's markets was her secret hobby.
When her research hit a wall, or her martial arts stagnated.
When her nemesis of a younger sibling turned her world upside down.
When she wanted to escape reality altogether.
That's where she fled—to the worlds within those novels.
And yet.
And yet.
A scene she thought existed only in fiction, in her imagination.
Was unfolding right before her eyes.
For something with such intricate mechanisms, the setup inside was surprisingly simple.
It was a fairly spacious chamber, but all it contained was a wide platform against the far wall.
And atop it, a mummified corpse sitting cross-legged.
"Hm......"
Tang Ja-cheong didn't step inside, instead scrutinizing the interior carefully.
Ha Mu-baek did the same.
Because of their caution, Tang Ji-yeon hesitated to move.
"Air's circulating."
Ha Mu-baek sensed the faint movement of the air.
Meaning this space hadn't been sealed away for ages.
There must be some crack or passage somewhere inside connecting to the outside cave, allowing air to flow.
Step.
Ha Mu-baek took the lead, advancing first.
Tang Ja-cheong and Tang Ji-yeon followed behind.
Ha Mu-baek stopped about three paces from the mummy.
"Right before death, he circulated his internal energy to preserve the body from decay postmortem."
That was how it had become a mummy.
"Hm. What on earth for......"
Tang Ja-cheong tilted his head in bewilderment.
Tang Ji-yeon scanned the surroundings.
In typical tales of such fateful encounters, the supreme master who met their end would leave records for their successor.
But there was nothing here.
"The air feels stagnant."
Though he assumed there was a connection to the outside.
It must be just a tiny hole, as the heaviness of the still air pressed down.
At least opening the door had let some flow in, livening it up a bit.
"Hoo."
Tang Ji-yeon let out a deep sigh.
A complex mix of expectation and disappointment laced within.
Perhaps because she sighed while facing the mummy.
A slight breeze stirred the air.
The hem of the mummy's robe fluttered faintly.
Crackle.
That section crumbled to dust and scattered.
"Eep."
Startled, Tang Ji-yeon clapped her hands over her mouth without thinking.
In her fluster, she missed it, but Ha Mu-baek spotted it.
Where the fabric had fallen away, letters were inscribed.
Tattoos.
"Looks like he tattooed messages onto his own body."
Ha Mu-baek said this as he lightly flicked his hand.
A breeze infused with internal energy arose.
A precise technique that scattered only the clothing without touching the corpse.
The body remained intact.
Now fully exposed in its nakedness.
Even bare, it was vivid crimson.
Dark crimson letters covered it entirely.
"Used his own blood as ink, it seems."
Tang Ja-cheong confirmed the sight and murmured lowly.
"Is that possible?"
"What else? There's nothing in this room that could serve as dye."
Ha Mu-baek nodded at Tang Ja-cheong's counterquestion after reading part of the tattoo.
Indeed.
The room was empty.
No pre-existing tattoos.
Nor had he tossed everything off the cliff after tattooing—he'd have needed ink for that anyway.
Neither was the case.
The tattoos detailed the corpse's identity and story.
If there had been ink, he'd have written it out normally.
No need for tattoos.
"O successor who has obtained Manhuang, greetings."
The writing began at the collarbone.
"Manhuang?"
Ha Mu-baek murmured.
A familiar term.
Wasn't it part of Myo Gu-ung's martial art?
Manhuang Escape Myriad Poisons Art.
"I am the Harmony Sword Immortal Ko Hu-rak."
An unknown name.
"To obtain Manhuang and find me... Worth leaving its traces in my world."
"How much time has passed?"
"A thousand years? Two thousand?"
Judging by his exploits in life.
"Th-three thousand years ago......!"
Tang Ji-yeon cried out in shock.
Impossible.
After that much time, even the pattern on the door floor should've vanished.
That mystery resolved itself.
He'd infused the pattern with his internal energy too.
And with it, one of Ha Mu-baek's doubts cleared.
Why bother tattooing himself when he could've carved the walls, even for a supreme master?
Even protected by energy, he feared erosion from moisture would damage the writing.
Asking about a thousand or two thousand years showed he knew it'd take ages to be found.
"Manhuang is the world itself, the heavens and earth."
Incredible tales continued.
Tang Ji-yeon even felt her pulp novels seemed more realistic by comparison.
"Manhuang's nemesis is Taego."
"The beginning of the world."
"I fell to one—no, two—of Taego's fragments and barely returned here, to my origin, to meet my end."
"How unjust."
"Had all Manhuang's flames ignited, I wouldn't have lost."
"I would've annihilated those vile Taego fragments."
"So unjust, so unjust."
"O successor."
"I've left you Manhuang's flame—claim it."
"And the Taego fragments."
"Obliterate those vile, ugly things entirely."
"That is the path."
"To save."
"The world."
"The heavens and earth."
There was much more, densely packed pleas.
But the core summed up like this.
If someone without Manhuang had forced the door, not just this passage—the entire cliffside cave would've collapsed. Terrifying stuff.
Tang Ji-yeon wavered, unsure whether to believe what she'd read.
Tang Ja-cheong's face was grave.
But Ha Mu-baek's was graver still.
He had no choice.
A name he'd encountered before was mentioned.
'Taego.'
The world's beginning.
But calling such Taego vile and ugly? That puzzled him.
Ha Mu-baek cultivated Infinite Harmony.
A fragment of Taego itself.
Plus the new radiance he'd gained.
For Ko Hu-rak to call his power vile and ugly bred resentment.
"No idea how much of this to believe."
Tang Ja-cheong shook his head.
Then looked to Ha Mu-baek.
"But you're the successor, no doubt."
No mention of Heavenly Poison Valley—or poison—in Ko Hu-rak's tattoos.
The door hadn't reacted to the Myriad Poisons Art.
But to whatever Manhuang might be contained within it.
This place wasn't Heavenly Poison Valley's legacy.
How Manhuang's trace ended up in Heavenly Poison Valley, becoming Manhuang Escape Myriad Poisons Art, remained unknown.
"Claim it."
Tang Ja-cheong said.
No one but Ha Mu-baek—or the fate-unknown Myo Gu-ung—could take Manhuang here.
So Ha Mu-baek should.
If only to eliminate any threat from the uncertain Myo Gu-ung.
Ha Mu-baek stared at the corpse with conflicted eyes.
Tap. Tap.
Tang Ja-cheong turned, patting Ha Mu-baek's shoulder.
"We'll head out. Ji-yeon."
He started walking.
"Y-yes? Got it, Grandfather."
Tang Ji-yeon followed.
Ha Mu-baek alone remained.
Face full of turmoil.
A figure from three thousand years past.
Should he claim what Ko Hu-rak left?
Believe his records?
One reason for hesitation.
Calling Taego treacherous and ugly.
At least, Infinite Harmony—the art Ha Mu-baek had devoted his life to—was no such thing.
Yet.
He couldn't deny his curiosity about Manhuang's power.
Born a warrior.
A new force unknown till now.
Moreover, Taego's counter, one that clashed with Taego.
Ha Mu-baek had already clashed once with a Taego fragment.
He knew its might, so Manhuang piqued his interest.
No, not mere interest.
More like competitive spirit.
He'd already subdued and absorbed various Taego fragments.
His sect's Infinite Harmony Heart Method and Eight Ultimate Sword Waves neared unrivaled supremacy.
Infinite Harmony's origin: Taego.
Manhuang was Taego's counter.
Thus, possibly Infinite Harmony's counter too.
He most wanted to test its prowess firsthand.
Step. Step.
Two steps forward, Ha Mu-baek stood directly opposite Ko Hu-rak.
And.
As instructed on the body.
Extended one hand to the corpse's dantian.
'Circulate Manhuang energy to awaken the dormant Manhuang in the dantian, then absorb via suction technique.'
Ha Mu-baek activated Infinite Bright Wheel Eye, scanning the corpse.
The dantian.
Nothing visible.
Of course.
A corpse.
No internal energy.
Yet this immense Manhuang slumbered within?
'Indeed.'
Would Manhuang energy truly awaken it?
Ha Mu-baek circulated his internal energy.
The energy Ko Hu-rak called Manhuang.
Moved Myo Gu-ung's poison qi slowly out his hand, pressing it bit by bit into Ko Hu-rak's dantian.
This as the primer to rouse the dormant Manhuang.
Yeo Hong-gi descended to the grand hall's basement.
Surveying it with a hollow expression.
"A mechanism here... for emergency escape... Ha......"
A defeated sigh escaped.
Neither his master nor he had known.
Felt like a harsh blow from grandmaster and granduncle.
How only the valley lord and deputy knew and kept it hidden?
And how granduncle, appearing after decades, found and used it to flee so swiftly?
Recalling it, Yeo Hong-gi paled.
Granduncle with Eternal Poison Crystal, fleeing in such desperate panic.
"Ha Mu-baek."
He murmured the name of the one who'd driven granduncle Myo Gu-ung to that.
Shattered Self-Light Mountain Poison Art.
Method unknown.
Granduncle had too.
Method also unknown.
No matter how he pondered, he couldn't fathom how.
But.
'Could he shatter Divine Annihilation too?'
Impossible, he thought.
Divine Annihilation dwarfed Self-Light Mountain Poison.
Even he, its creator, had no antidote idea yet.
It had birthed far stronger than intended.
Hence the name Divine Annihilation.
'Still, just in case. Must prepare upon return to the alliance.'
Seeing Ha Mu-baek break Self-Light Mountain Poison.
Even antidote-less.
For contingencies, carry Divine Annihilation always.
So he resolved.
"Master!"
A shout from Poison Path Expert above.
Yeo Hong-gi ascended slowly.
And was stunned.
Over a dozen stood behind Poison Path Expert.
Disciples he'd sent away from the valley.
"We... couldn't just leave like this......"
One spoke haltingly for the group.
"E-even in death, we'll stay with Valley Lord. Heavenly Poison Valley is our whole world—where else could we go......?"
Per his orders, they'd wandered near Hyunmun.
But nowhere to go.
No will to.
After days agonizing together, they'd returned: better die in Heavenly Poison Valley.
"Enough. Probably won't die. Rest inside."
Yeo Hong-gi commanded, ascending to the hall.
His eyes rimmed red.
'Granduncle, forgive me... Too much time passed to turn back. You meant to discard Heavenly Poison Valley anyway. I'll bear it, take responsibility.'
The Manhuang Escape Myriad Poisons Art's poison qi moved within Ha Mu-baek to his palm.
It seeped.
Smoothly into Ko Hu-rak's dantian.
Ha Mu-baek kept Infinite Bright Wheel Eye active.
The seeping poison qi.
Truly a primer.
Vast energy—far more than infused—stirred in Ko Hu-rak's dantian.
Unbelievable sight.
Pressing more poison qi in.
Immense, unfathomable energy surged from the dantian.
'Lost with power like this......'
Rivaling Ha Mu-baek's current self.
'This is Manhuang.'
How had such energy lain hidden tracelessly?
Gazing at Ko Hu-rak with that question.
Flash.
The corpse's eyes snapped open.
"Gasp."
Even Ha Mu-baek couldn't hide his shock this time.
Ignoring the reaction.
Ko Hu-rak's lips curved into a smile.