Almighty God of War - Chapter 112

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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112

The next day at the hour of the horse.

Guyang Cheongang arrived at the Imperial Palace at the appointed time.

A military officer in his thirties who had been waiting at the main gate greeted him respectfully.

“Prince Hahou, I am Choi Hwan, a thousand-man commander of the Imperial Guard in charge of managing the Imperial Treasury. I have been waiting under His Majesty’s orders. I will guide you.”

Guyang Cheongang followed behind Choi Hwan toward the depths of the Imperial Palace.

It was a completely different direction from Myeonghwa Palace or Jaseon Hall where he usually visited.

Choi Hwan was moving toward the very center of the Imperial Palace, the most forbidden of forbidden zones that no one could approach carelessly.

Walking along the path, Guyang Cheongang looked around at the magnificent buildings surrounding him.

Seeing the massive eaves that seemed to press down on him and the stone buildings boasting hundreds of years of history, he realized anew how much of an alien existence he was.

‘Akasha.’

[Yes, Doctor.]

‘My feelings right now are… complicated…’

[In what way?]

Guyang Cheongang paused for a moment and looked up at the sky.

White clouds were drifting leisurely across the blue sky.

‘I’m originally someone who lived in the 21st Century. I had no particular attachment to this Hwan Empire. I couldn’t have had much interest in the life or death of the imperial family either.’

[I understand. But you did your best in this matter.]

‘That was… purely because of the people I formed connections with, including the Guyang Family Estate. If the imperial family wavered and the empire fell into chaos, not only the lives but also the very survival of the people I know would be endangered.’

Akasha remained silent for a moment before answering in a gentle voice.

[Doctor’s behavioral motivation is extremely rational altruism that prioritizes securing the stability of the social network connected to yourself. I judge that to be an excellent motivation.]

‘Is that so?’

Guyang Cheongang clicked his tongue and continued speaking.

‘But to be honest, my interest in the undercurrent was also limited. I knew they were dangerous, but initially I had no intention of getting involved unless they directly threatened me and those around me.’

[But you ended up getting involved anyway.]

‘I had no choice. They reached out first.’

Guyang Cheongang resumed walking and continued speaking.

‘If possible, I didn’t want to reveal my knowledge and your power. I wanted to focus only on treating the Nine Yin Severed Meridians.’

[I understand why you felt that way. Doctor’s knowledge and my abilities are the pinnacle of over-technology for this era.]

‘Right. Having that known wouldn’t necessarily benefit the people of this era. Moreover, once you share it, it becomes impossible to live ignoring the resulting influence. You have to take responsibility.’

[Hmm… That would directly conflict with Doctor’s plan to live like a carefree wanderer after treating the Nine Yin Severed Meridians.]

Guyang Cheongang smiled bitterly.

‘Right. But what happened? In the end, I dug into the core secrets of the imperial family and even gained the Emperor’s trust to the point of entering the Imperial Treasury.’

[Doctor saved many people in that process. Princess Myeonghwa, the Crown Prince, and countless innocent people.]

‘That’s true, but…’

Guyang Cheongang was continuing to speak when he stopped.

Choi Hwan was slowing his pace and looking back.

“Young Master, we will arrive at the Imperial Treasury soon.”

A massive stone building came into Guyang Cheongang’s view.

It had an imposing presence on a completely different level from other buildings, truly befitting the empire’s treasure vault.

What guarded its front were the elite Imperial Guards.

Guyang Cheongang stood before the enormous bronze door that appeared to be over ten zhang tall.

The door itself emanated an intimidating presence that seemed to reject everything from the outside.

‘Akasha, anyway, what’s done is done. There’s no point regretting it now.’

[That’s right, Doctor.]

‘And thinking about it, this doesn’t seem so bad either. Initially I wanted to live quietly, but in the end I helped the people I could help.’

[That’s correct. Thanks to Doctor’s choices, many people were saved.]

Guyang Cheongang looked at the Imperial Treasury and spoke in a strong tone.

‘It will be the same going forward. If the people around me or innocent people are in danger, I won’t hesitate. Whether the Nine Yin Severed Meridians is completely cured or not, whether my plan to live like a carefree wanderer gets ruined or not, it doesn’t matter.’

[Doctor…]

‘Since I’m already living with my feet planted in this world, I’ve become part of this place too. I have no intention of running away.’

[I will always support whatever choice Doctor makes.]

‘Thank you, Akasha.’

[Not at all. We’re partners, aren’t we?]

Guyang Cheongang stood before the large iron gate of the Imperial Treasury guarded by soldiers and took a deep breath.

Imperial Guard thousand-man commander Choi Hwan spoke.

“You must take out only one thing, whatever it may be. It’s unlikely to happen, but if you’re caught secretly hiding something while leaving, you won’t be able to preserve your life. The time given is one hour.”

Guyang Cheongang nodded.

“That won’t happen.”

As the soldiers opened the heavy iron gate, Guyang Cheongang stepped boldly into the Imperial Treasury.

The dry, cold air holding hundreds of years of history brushed against his cheeks.

The air was mixed with the acrid smell of old paper, the aura of cold metal, and a mysterious fragrance of unknown origin.

In the absolute silence where even time seemed to have stopped, only the sound of his pounding heart could be heard.

In the enormous space that seemed to reach up to a ceiling dozens of zhang high, three doors were arranged in a triangular formation.

Above each door hung plaques reading Armory, Scripture Repository, and Treasure Vault respectively.

[The scale exceeds imagination.]

Guyang Cheongang headed toward the Scripture Repository without hesitation.

There was no doubt that what he needed most was knowledge of this world.

Of course, he had not the slightest intention of taking any books.

Since Akasha could perfectly remember all contents just by scanning them.

When he opened the door to the Scripture Repository, a spectacular sight unfolded before his eyes.

For a moment, Guyang Cheongang was overwhelmed.

The empire’s knowledge accumulated over hundreds of years was spread out before him.

From turtle shells carved with oracle bone script to bamboo slips, parchment, and countless books that were difficult to count, all neatly preserved.

It was an environment with perfectly controlled temperature and humidity.

[Doctor, I’ll quickly scan the interior.]

After a moment, Akasha’s report followed.

[There are approximately three hundred thousand books classified by field. They’re divided into history, medicine, martial arts, miscellaneous studies, and so on.]

‘Good. Let’s start with what I need most.’

What Guyang Cheongang sought first were the historical texts of this world.

He rapidly turned pages with the delicate and precise hand movements trained through martial arts.

Just by his hand brushing over them, Akasha immediately scanned all contents.

[The founding history of the Hwan Empire, records of successive emperors, histories of neighboring nations… there’s a lot of interesting content.]

The time it took Guyang Cheongang to read a book two inches thick was merely 5 seconds.

He suspended understanding the content for now and focused only on turning pages.

After reading hundreds of books, his temples began to throb.

It wasn’t simple visual information, but the oppressive feeling of an entire era’s history being crammed into his mind.

Having completed scanning over four hundred history books in 30 minutes, Guyang Cheongang moved to the medical texts section.

‘I did obtain the Life and Death Scripture and the Secret Book of Heavenly Acupoints, but I don’t think that’s all there is to this world’s medicine. I hope I can fill in the gaps here…’

[Doctor, among these medical texts, many unique treatment methods that would be difficult to explain even with modern medicine are recorded.]

Guyang Cheongang spent 30 minutes scanning the same number of medical texts as history books and moved toward where the martial arts manuals were located.

His eyes caught sight of the bookshelf where miscellaneous studies were compiled.

What he discovered there were books on Mysterious Gates Escaping Techniques, mechanical architecture, and formation techniques.

‘These seem like they’ll be necessary when traveling through Gangho.’

After scanning one hundred fifty miscellaneous study books in 10 minutes, he headed toward the martial arts manual bookshelf.

Guyang Cheongang’s eyes widened.

Far more books than he had imagined were packed tightly together.

[Doctor, the number of martial arts manuals here is… an incredible five thousand volumes. It seems to encompass orthodox sects, unorthodox sects, and demonic paths.]

‘Five thousand books? That’s an incredible number.’

Guyang Cheongang briefly looked around the bookshelves, lost in thought.

‘I don’t expect there to be any peerless martial arts secret manuals here. The sects wouldn’t have presented their true secret traditions to the Imperial Palace.’

[What do you desire?]

‘I just want to encounter various martial arts. My goal is to understand the characteristics of different schools and find elements that could be useful for improving my own martial arts.’

Realizing he didn’t have much time, Guyang Cheongang moved quickly between the shelves and began the selection process.

‘Since I don’t have time to select carefully, let’s scan the old and thick ones first. The old ones will be closer to the original sources, and the thick ones will have rich content.’

[That’s a reasonable judgment, Doctor.]

With the quick hand movements trained through martial arts, he prioritized scanning ancient books and voluminous secret manuals.

While scanning about five hundred martial arts secret manuals selected over 40 minutes, Guyang Cheongang was amazed by the diversity and depth of this world’s martial arts.

He couldn’t properly understand them since he was focused on turning pages.

But it was possible to glimpse the essence of various martial arts, even if only superficially.

Each sect had its own unique philosophy and training methods for martial arts, and together they formed one massive martial arts system.

[Scan completed. You have 10 minutes remaining.]

Guyang Cheongang finally headed to the armory.

Among the Five Ultimate Techniques of the Nine Dragons Ten Thousand Mountains Diagram was the Star Array Great Sword Style.

He wanted to have a sword suitable for deploying it.

He didn’t even glance at the treasure vault.

He believed no treasure greater than Akasha existed in the universe.

What caught his eye in the armory were legendary famous swords like Ganjiang and Moye. However, Guyang Cheongang wasn’t drawn to them.

As he continued walking and examining the divine weapons, he suddenly stopped.

Wooong… Wooong… Wooong…

He felt a subtle resonance that couldn’t be heard but couldn’t be denied, pulling at his soul.

[Doctor, I’m detecting strange energy waves.]

‘I feel it too.’

Guyang Cheongang walked toward the direction of that resonance.

Behind the brilliant divine weapons, in a corner, a four-foot-long sword covered in rust was stuck together with dozens of other swords and blades.

It was a sword with rust covering the handle and scabbard, looking like a lump of scrap metal at first glance.

But seeing it, Guyang Cheongang felt a subtle vibration as if the sword was calling to him.

It was as if his soul was resonating.

When Guyang Cheongang picked up the sword, he felt its heavy weight.

An ordinary sword weighs about 1.5kg including the scabbard. But this sword was ten times heavier.

The moment he picked up the sword, that mysterious resonance disappeared.

[Doctor, I sense an extraordinary aura from this sword.]

‘I feel it too.’

Guyang Cheongang came out of the Imperial Treasury carrying that rusted sword.

Seeing the sword in his hands, Brocade Guard Commander Choi Hwan’s face showed an expression of bewilderment.

“…Is that what you’ve chosen?”

“Yes.”

“No matter how I look at it, it seems like you’ve made a mistake. How about choosing something else? I’ll explain the situation to His Majesty separately.”

“No. I like this one.”

“Young Master, please reconsider. That’s an abandoned sword that’s been stuck in a corner for decades. If you waste such a precious opportunity given by His Majesty like this…”

“It doesn’t matter.”

Choi Hwan looked at the rusted sword suspiciously and asked.

“That thing… can it even be drawn?”

Guyang Cheongang answered with a smile.

“I don’t know. I haven’t tried drawing it either.”

He left the Imperial Palace still smiling.

Carrying in his hands the mysterious sword that had come to him like destiny.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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