Chapter 103
Chapter 103
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 103
Chapter Title: The Sword's Resonance
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Heavenly Harmony Qi, brimming with pure qi, seeped into the sword.
The sword, embodying the mysteries of the Heaven-Covering technique, trembled as it unleashed vibrations and musical tones.
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡ Heaven-Covering Sword Resonance Vibrations and tones repel poison creatures
Melody. The harmony and pitch of the sound.
Of those, the pitch was most crucial.
BUUUUUM!
BUUUUUM!
BUUUUUM!
Sometimes piercing so high it was barely audible.
Then, in an instant, slowing the vibration to a deep, heavy low.
It was miraculous.
Even as he raced forward, Yang-hui could see the poison creatures filling every direction vanishing into the cracks of the corridor's earthen walls with a rustle.
'Good thing they're fleeing.'
Sound could be pleasant melody, but more often it was grating noise that furrowed brows.
If even humans reacted that way, what of mere vermin?
Unless these poison creatures were dutifully guarding the corridor, he figured the torturous cacophony would drive them off.
THWACK!
With the poison creatures gone, the corridor was now just flat, runnable ground.
He crossed it in a flash and entered the next passage.
'Next is... hmm.'
A wide corridor similar to the previous one.
Too blatantly suspicious.
He pulled a lump of rations from his travel pack and tossed it at the wall.
WHOOSH!
'Mechanisms hidden behind the walls.'
The rations shattered into pieces from dozens of fired steel beads. After glancing at the debris, he heightened his ki sense to its limit.
'...I see it. I feel it.'
Since entering the Sword King's Tomb, his already keen ki sense had sharpened to a headache-inducing clarity and intensity.
Thanks to that, he could clearly sense the mechanisms embedded behind the walls.
PFFT!
Cautiously advancing, he stabbed the earthen wall with his sword tip.
A crackling sound accompanied the mechanism's destruction.
'Smashing them all would be a bad move if I want to get through.'
In the wide corridor, certain spots triggered mechanisms based on where and how high one stepped.
Yang-hui destroyed only the minimal necessary ones as he passed through.
"Whew. This makes the third gate, huh."
What kind of tomb sets up three gates like this?
And it seemed there were more ahead, so at least three.
Did the ancient Sword King have money to burn?
Well, he'd saved the Central Plains and become the world's greatest, so he must've been loaded.
'But... going this far?'
A persistent sense of unease lingered.
This Sword King's Tomb was absolutely not a place to select disciples and pass on his lineage.
Truth be told, Yang-hui was breezing through thanks to his innate talent plus the pure qi's guidance, but judging by the gates' difficulty, even peak masters wouldn't pass easily.
'No. On the contrary. For me, at least, it's not that hard. Unnaturally so.'
A centuries-old legacy, yet actively using one's abilities made it passable without much trouble.
Was this mere coincidence?
💓 PURE QI PULSE 💓 Feeling the pure qi's pulse, he kicked off the ground again.
The endless corridor stretched on. Just as he wondered when the next gate would appear.
SWOOOOOSH—
Suddenly, Yang-hui snapped to awareness.
'What was I doing?'
"P-Please, spare me! I beg you!"
Ah, right. Pung Ga Village was under bandit siege.
Fatigue must've built up; his mind felt foggy.
With that thought, he snatched the blade aimed at his back from the woman.
"See that, Chui-dal? This is why we need to exterminate every last one of those unorthodox scum."
"......"
"Chui-dal?"
Where'd he go now?
As he looked around to search for Chui-dal, Yang-hui suddenly felt a pressing urgency.
He didn't know what, but he needed to resolve this quickly and head somewhere.
Ah, yes. To the Sword King's Tomb. To find traces of the pure qi.
'Beat these bandits fast... No, that might make me late.'
He glanced at the sobbing middle-aged woman collapsed on the ground.
Helping them would make him late.
So for his goal... to maximize his gains...
He had to abandon them.
"Young hero! Please save my child! Please...!"
This was the same woman who'd just tried to kill him.
Did he really need to spare precious time to save her kid?
No way.
Pursuing righteousness didn't mean playing the fool.
His priorities were clear right now.
"Sorry, but..."
That was the moment.
"Hui-ya. This father's nickname is Peerless Righteous Helper. It's a mocking title for a low-skill guy who prattles about justice."
But.
"This father has never once been ashamed of that nickname."
He gritted his teeth. His mind cleared.
"I'll help."
"Young hero! Really? Thank you! Thank you, sob...!"
Time was short; impatience and urgency hammered at his heart even now.
But.
Lack of time?
No, lack of ability.
So, no excuses.
Just give his all.
If it wasn't enough, so be it.
He'd use this moment as a stepping stone, reflecting on it to advance further.
'It's not that helping them costs me gains. It's that my lack of ability prevents me from gaining them.'
The instant that thought crystallized.
A sense of openness washed over him, and his vision shifted.
"Ah."
The illusion vanished.
No, he only now realized it was an illusion.
"A formation. An absolute one, at that."
He'd encountered a similar illusion array in the Shadow Demon's Sound Pentad Gate before.
Back then, his sensitive ki sense let him realize he'd been ensnared and break it easily.
This time, he'd been caught without even noticing.
The installed formation was of extraordinarily high caliber—a formation of the ages.
The silver lining.
"It was testing human goodness, huh."
Righteous intent. Compassion. Benevolence.
Judging by the illusion's content, it seemed designed to filter for those with such hearts.
Yang-hui suddenly grinned.
"Heh. A formation even someone like me couldn't fail."
He shrugged his shoulders, executed Sky-Piercing Steps, and shot forward like an arrow.
The pure qi's pull grew ever stronger.
He could feel it. He'd nearly reached the end.
"Hm?"
Suddenly, the passage widened dramatically.
Less a corridor now, more a vast cavern.
Straight ahead loomed a massive iron gate etched with intricate patterns.
'How do I open this thing?'
For starters, he unleashed a sword strike at it.
TING!
Ting? Not clang or ping, but ting?
He immediately examined the gate's material.
A subtle black sheen, and despite being underground, an icily potent chill.
"No way... cold iron?"
Not millennium cold iron, the treasure of legends, but still iron steeped in at least a century of earthly qi.
They'd used this priceless stuff underground, as a freaking door?
'I could forge a hundred swords from just that panel.'
Bring it back home to Baek-cheol, and he'd be over the moon.
His skills had improved lately; time for a new blade?
...Assuming he could even carry it out.
Practically impossible.
In frustration, he slammed the gate.
TING!
"Damn it. How do you open this?"
He channeled pure qi into it with full power.
No reaction.
This time, he studied the intricate patterns, deciphered their meaning, and pressed various spots.
No reaction.
"No way... does it need a key?"
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ After the golden dawn light opened an escape route for the martial artists.
Blood Eyes Ra scowled, displeased with the unfolding situation.
From the initial plan of leisurely savoring the sacrifices unraveling to this sudden development.
"Vice Cult Leader."
"Cult Leader."
The Vice Cult Leader bowed his head in shame.
"Seems you overlooked something."
"Yes. I beg forgiveness for failing to prevent a single lapse amid thousands."
"Enough. They're all rats in a trap anyway."
In the end, he'd consume all the sacrifices' blood regardless.
The process was just more bothersome, and the hidden interferer irritating.
"Let's go."
The martial artists, hounded by Blood Cult followers and half-human zombies, squeezed through the narrow entrance in flight.
He followed at a leisurely stroll.
Each step, he vented claw qi from all ten nails, reveling in the feast of blood and flesh.
"Kaaargh!"
"What the hell are these things!"
"Iron poison butterflies! Butterflies!"
At the clamor ahead, the Vice Cult Leader eyed Blood Eyes Ra's expression.
"Great One. I'll scout ahead."
"No need. It's the world's greatest's tomb; of course it's rigged."
The martial artists passed the iron poison butterflies at great cost.
By the time the Blood Cult followers arrived, the area was littered with groaning, collapsed fighters.
"Grooo... "
"My body... ugh... save... "
"Savor your pain a bit longer, nurturing the poison. I'll finish you after."
Blood Eyes Ra smirked lightly and resumed walking.
"Bishop. Poison creatures ahead. Wait a moment; we'll clear them."
"No need. Can mere vermin obstruct the Great Will?"
Some lay poisoned and fallen, others circulated qi to expel toxins.
No matter their struggles, none would survive the day—yet they thrashed on.
Amusing. Exhilarating.
As he cleared the poison hall with such thoughts.
💓 DIVINE CALL 💓 Blood Eyes Ra's languid eyes widened in shock.
No, beyond that—his eyeballs bulged as if to pop, blood light surging and dyeing everything red.
"This is!"
"Bishop! What's wrong?!"
"Don't you feel it?"
"F-Feel what, sir?"
Aah, aaaah!
Those too distant to touch, too unworthy for grace, couldn't even sense the tremor!
"Haaa. I see. So that's how it was."
Blood Eyes Ra spread his arms wide, body expanding.
His long, sharp claws fanned out like a blood flower bristling with thorns.
"Hahahahaha! Hahahahaha!"
Mad cackles erupted from Blood Eyes Ra. His form shot forward faster than ever.
"Bishop! It's dangerous!"
Danger? Such triviality mattered not.
He felt it. The call.
The call of the sacred relic kept by His side!
'With such guidance, how could mortal peril touch me!'
Coming here was right!
The reason he'd mobilized without the Blood God's command—guidance!
Blood Eyes Ra reveled in finally understanding all.
'Blood Soul Demon Sword! This humble servant shall receive and serve you!'
Faster, faster!
He drew all blood qi from his dantian, shoving it into his legs.
Sinister energy surged through Yongcheon acupoint, propelling him across the ground as his form stretched long.
That instant.
CLICK!
💥 TRAP ACTIVATED! 💥 Hundreds of steel beads incoming
PEWPEWPEWPEW!
In that split second, Blood Eyes Ra beheld dozens, hundreds of steel beads shooting toward him from all sides.
Normally blockable with mere protective qi, but each bead carried a bizarre power.
'I see. Not letting me in easily, eh.'
Ancient villain, Sword King.
He knew not why the relic was here, but.
'You think your ignorant traps can block the Great Will!'
Blood Eyes Ra grinned.
And the hundreds of steel beads struck.
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