Almighty God of War - Chapter 119

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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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119

 

After dismounting at the village entrance and tying the horse reins to a tree, the three entered Ghost Valley Village.

 

Just as Hanjo had said, not a single corpse was visible.

 

Pung Socheong opened the door of one house and muttered.

 

“They really disappeared cleanly.”

 

This mansion too had only dust accumulated inside.

 

Guyang Cheongang slowly looked around the village and asked Akasha.

 

‘Did you examine everything?’

 

[Yes.]

 

Akasha had released nanobots and combed through all of Ghost Valley Village like searching for lice.

 

‘Is there anything strange?’

 

[I couldn’t find any corpses. However, the village’s soil is not normal.]

 

‘What do you mean?’

 

[Due to prolonged exposure to high concentrations of death qi particles, all microorganisms in the soil have died and the molecular structure has been altered.]

 

‘Can you trace the death qi particles?’

 

[Yes. I’ve confirmed that traces of the altered soil continue in one direction.]

 

Guyang Cheongang’s eyes became sharp.

 

‘Which way?’

 

[Toward Soul Loss Valley. Precisely, it’s flowing toward the deepest part of the canyon.]

 

Hanjo approached and asked.

 

“Did you discover something?”

 

“Nothing certain yet. But I think the answer to what happened in this village lies in Soul Loss Valley.”

 

After circling the village once, Guyang Cheongang led the way toward Soul Loss Valley.

 

The sun had already completely disappeared beyond Western Mountain, and even the moonlight was hidden behind thick clouds.

 

The atmosphere of Soul Loss Valley shrouded in darkness was completely different from daytime.

 

The eerie yin energy rising from throughout the canyon surrounded them like a living creature.

 

Standing before the canyon, Pung Socheong spoke in a tone filled with wariness.

 

“We should stop here for today. Investigating at night seems dangerous.”

 

Hanjo also nodded.

 

“Young Master, it would be better to investigate again after sunrise tomorrow.”

 

But Guyang Cheongang didn’t stop.

 

He strode boldly into the canyon.

 

“Prince Hahou!”

 

Pung Socheong called out urgently, but Guyang Cheongang didn’t look back.

 

‘Akasha, where is the flow of death qi strongest?’

 

[About three hundred zhang into the canyon. The energy patterns are changing rapidly at that location.]

 

Guyang Cheongang followed Akasha’s guidance deep into the canyon.

 

Hanjo and Pung Socheong had no choice but to follow behind him.

 

Guyang Cheongang, who had been walking without hesitation, suddenly stopped in front of a sheer cliff.

 

The cliff that rose vertically for dozens of zhang showed not even the smallest crack.

 

“Is there something here?”

 

Pung Socheong asked while looking around the area.

 

Hanjo, who had been exploring the surroundings with sharp eyes, tilted his head and muttered.

 

“There definitely seems to be something… but I don’t see anything particularly strange.”

 

He was sensing a subtle energy, but couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was.

 

However, to Guyang Cheongang’s eyes, aided by Akasha, he could see space subtly distorting and the flow of qi unnaturally blocked.

 

Guyang Cheongang recalled the formation technique books he had read in the Imperial Treasury.

 

‘Akasha, do you know what this formation is?’

 

[Yes. This is the Phantom Death Ghost Gate Formation passed down among the Unorthodox Sects. It’s a deadly formation that causes people to lose their way through illusions and kills those who approach with poisoned mechanisms and traps. However…]

 

‘Why are you trailing off?’

 

[A significant portion of the formation’s core structure has been destroyed. That’s why Hanjo felt something strange.]

 

If the formation had been intact, Hanjo wouldn’t have been able to sense anything.

 

[It seems there were people who passed through here before us.]

 

Guyang Cheongang’s brow furrowed.

 

‘You mean there were others here first?’

 

[I’m certain of it.]

 

Guyang Cheongang looked at the cliff and spoke to Hanjo and Pung Socheong.

 

“There’s a formation installed here.”

 

“A formation?”

 

Hanjo and Pung Socheong both showed surprised expressions simultaneously.

 

Pung Socheong looked at Guyang Cheongang with wonder and asked.

 

“Young Master, are you also knowledgeable in Formation Techniques?”

 

Guyang Cheongang smiled slightly and answered.

 

“Though it’s at a modest level, I can recognize something like this.”

 

He observed the cliff for a moment, then nodded.

 

“It’s the Phantom Death Ghost Gate Formation. A formation from the Unorthodox Sects that was lost long ago. But I think I can break through it.”

 

Hanjo and Pung Socheong quietly closed their mouths and waited behind him.

 

Breaking through formations wasn’t something they could interfere with.

 

Guyang Cheongang walked toward the cliff.

 

The moment he reached a specific point and drew his hand through the air, something amazing happened.

 

As if a picture drawn in midair was being torn, a narrow gap appeared between what had seemed like a solid cliff.

 

“…!”

 

Hanjo and Pung Socheong’s eyes widened.

 

Even knowing there was a formation, they still couldn’t understand how to break through it.

 

Guyang Cheongang turned to look at Hanjo and Pung Socheong and said.

 

“Follow me by stepping exactly where I step. If you misplace even one foot, it will be dangerous.”

 

Hanjo and Pung Socheong nodded with tense expressions.

 

Guyang Cheongang carefully took the lead and entered through the gap.

 

His eyes could see things that the other two could not.

 

Mechanical devices that had been precisely installed throughout the floor and walls were smashed to pieces.

 

Some appeared to have been crushed by fists, while others had been cleanly severed by sharp blades.

 

[Doctor, analyzing the destruction patterns has yielded interesting results.]

 

‘What is it?’

 

[Three different attack patterns have been discovered. Precise cutting marks, powerful impact marks, and traces of attacks that accurately identified the core structure of this formation and struck only the most efficient points.]

 

Akasha paused briefly before continuing.

 

[It seems that among those who came before, there was someone with expert knowledge of formation techniques and mechanical architecture.]

 

Guyang Cheongang’s gaze deepened.

 

‘So three people passed through here before us?’

 

[That is the estimation.]

 

Guyang Cheongang carefully stepped around the destroyed mechanisms, lost in thought.

 

‘An expert in formation techniques and mechanical architecture found the weak points, and masters of fist technique and blade technique smashed the mechanism cores with fists and blades.’

 

Hanjo and Pung Socheong followed behind, stepping precisely in Guyang Cheongang’s footsteps.

 

To them, it simply felt like passing through a narrow passage.

 

But in reality, they were precariously passing between countless deadly traps.

 

Though most of them had already been destroyed, of course.

 

Guyang Cheongang turned back and said.

 

“We’re almost there now.”

 

After completely passing through the crevice, a massive cave that looked like the entrance to a bottomless pit appeared before them.

 

The cave was so enormous that its entrance alone could easily accommodate a city gate, and it stretched so deep inside that the end was not visible.

 

Guyang Cheongang took the lead and entered the cave.

 

The ceiling was easily over three zhang high, with stalactites hanging eerily, making it feel like entering the maw of a giant beast.

 

Guyang Cheongang frowned.

 

‘What terrible death qi.’

 

From the cave flowed cold yin qi that penetrated to the bone, rippling like waves.

 

Mixed within that energy was death qi filled with indescribable resentment and hatred, making one’s entire body shiver with just a single breath.

 

The cave led underground, with the path making sharp turns every twenty or so zhang.

 

It had a bizarre structure, as if descending through the intestines of a giant serpent.

 

Fortunately, dim light flowed from the walls and ceiling, making it possible to distinguish objects.

 

Thanks to this, there was no need to light a fire with fire tongs or kindle a torch.

 

The group walked cautiously.

 

When you don’t know what might be waiting ahead, being careful is the best approach.

 

It was when they had descended about a hundred zhang.

 

Bang!

 

“Hahahahahaha-!”

 

A thunderous explosion accompanied by hearty laughter echoed from deep within the cave.

 

Between that laughter, along with the dull sound of bones breaking, came the nauseating smell of rotting soil mixed with blood that stung their noses.

 

The three people looked at each other.

 

Hanjo’s hand unconsciously gripped the handle of the sword at his waist, and Pung Socheong’s eyes turned sharp.

 

Guyang Cheongang’s eyes lit up as he spoke.

 

“Let’s go.”

 

The three of them deployed their light body techniques and quickly headed toward the source of the sound.

 

After descending about a hundred zhang, an unimaginable scene unfolded before them.

 

A massive underground cavern.

 

In the vast underground space, three men were fighting while surrounded by over a hundred enemies.

 

But the appearance of their attackers was grotesquely bizarre beyond description.

 

Faces with rotting flesh hanging in patches, black fluid flowing from empty eye sockets, moving figures clawing at the air with bone-exposed fingers.

 

They were clearly lifeless corpses.

 

“Could it be… jiangshi?”

 

Pung Socheong muttered with a face that couldn’t hide her shock.

 

“That can’t be… all sects that used jiangshi disappeared after the Great War of Orthodox and Demonic…”

 

She even stammered her words.

 

Jiangshi Arts were considered the most forbidden of all forbidden evil demonic arts in Murim.

 

Decades ago during the Great War of Orthodox and Demonic, forces under the Demonic Cult had terrorized Murim with their jiangshi legions.

 

But they too were supposedly completely eradicated by the Righteous Alliance.

 

[Doctor, those corpses are biological weapons with abnormally enhanced muscle tissue. According to the records in the Imperial Treasury’s secret manuals, they are presumed to be jiangshi.]

 

Guyang Cheongang, recalling records about jiangshi, spoke in an indifferent tone.

 

“They are jiangshi, but low-grade ones.”

 

The jiangshi before their eyes were weaklings incomparable to those that had been active during the Great War of Orthodox and Demonic.

 

The sight of them being smashed by the men’s fists and blades proved this.

 

Proper jiangshi wouldn’t have suffered even a scratch from such attacks.

 

At the center of those jiangshi, three men were displaying tremendous martial prowess.

 

‘As expected, three of them.’

 

Guyang Cheongang’s gaze deepened.

 

The men were the intruders he had suspected based on the traces of passing through the formation.

 

They were fighting divided to the left and right, centered around the one holding a folding fan.

 

On the right was a man in his mid-thirties of medium height with a solid build and unusually large fists.

 

Each time he swung his fist, tremendous fist shadows and fist winds arose, smashing the jiangshi’s heads and crushing their chests.

 

Bang! Thud!

 

“Kuhaha! These bastards are so persistent even in death!”

 

On the left, an eight-foot giant was shouting in a rough voice while wielding a six-foot great sword.

 

Each time his great sword flashed, jiangshi necks were severed, waists were cut in half, and bodies were split from crown to crotch.

 

Slash! Clang!

 

The most eye-catching of the three was the young man in white scholar’s attire in the center.

 

A man in his early twenties holding a white folding fan, somewhat short in stature with a nimble build.

 

He was remarkably handsome, but his sharp features gave an impressive, sensitive appearance.

 

He wasn’t fighting directly.

 

Instead, he stood between the two men, gently waving his folding fan while giving instructions in a calm voice.

 

“Hwangbo Daehyeong, Xun Palace third position, that’s the core of the formation.”

 

As soon as his words following the Nine Palaces Theory fell, a massive fist mercilessly swept through that exact spot.

 

Bang!

 

“Paeng Ihyeong, Dui Palace, now!”

 

Swoosh!

 

The great sword swept through the indicated spot like a typhoon, and each time it did, the jiangshi were smashed to pieces.

 

Though they were outnumbered to a degree that made comparison meaningless, the three showed no signs of great tension.

 

Rather, they looked distinctly annoyed.

 

[Doctor, their skills are considerable. Especially the one with the folding fan has a very high understanding of formation techniques.]

 

‘I can see that too. He’s analyzing the formations the jiangshi create in real-time to find weaknesses.’

 

Guyang Cheongang glanced back at Hanjo and Pung Socheong.

 

Even these two, who usually showed little change in expression, were watching the battle with half-dazed looks on their faces.

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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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