Almighty God of War - Chapter 177

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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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177

The moment he stepped into the return path, Guyang Cheongang’s vision was filled with pure white radiance.

His senses were temporarily paralyzed as his body seemed to decompose into particles and be forcefully drawn somewhere—a strange sensation.

But that alien experience passed more briefly than the blink of an eye.

The next moment, Guyang Cheongang was standing on solid ground.

“…?”

He stopped in place.

Something was strange.

The sensation transmitted through his soles wasn’t the cold stone floor he had expected, but the soft, cushiony texture of soil.

The air too wasn’t the dense spiritual energy unique to Pungnimgok, but the refreshing, earthy scent of a forest that one might smell in ordinary mountains.

Slowly raising his head to look around, Guyang Cheongang’s eyes filled with shock.

‘This place is….’

In his field of vision appeared the very spot where Pungnimgok’s Gimun Daejin had begun.

Irregularly jutting strange rocks and mist wandering between them like ghosts.

And beyond that, he could see several tents and dozens of martial artists staring at him with their mouths agape as if they had seen a ghost.

It was definitely outside Pungnimgok.

The moment he faced them, a strange sense of unease tickled a corner of his heart, but the shock from the return process had been so great that this sensation was quickly pushed aside.

‘What on earth happened?’

Guyang Cheongang hurriedly turned around.

But there was nothing there.

Neither the stone gate he had pushed through, nor the dark passage, nor the magnificent structure existed.

Only empty midair was rippling.

Unbelievably, he had walked out from a space of ‘nothingness.’

As if entranced, Guyang Cheongang reached out to feel around the position his body had just emerged from.

‘I can’t feel… anything.’

Only transparent air brushed between his fingers.

No trace of a door, no residual energy of formations could be detected.

He had clearly pushed open a stone gate and taken just one step, yet as if space had folded and unfolded, he had leaped to a location several li away.

[This is… spatial teleportation. Even in quantum teleportation theory, information transfer is possible, but for a macroscopic mass like a human to be transmitted so perfectly is impossible even with modern science….]

Even Akasha’s usually composed voice carried a note of bewilderment.

‘But it actually happened right before our eyes.’

[That’s correct. As we felt inside as well, the abilities of Pungnimgok’s designer have already surpassed the limits we can imagine.]

Guyang Cheongang’s brow furrowed deeply.

Pungnimgok’s mystique was shattering his common sense even until the final moment of exit.

A transcendent phenomenon that could be explained neither by martial arts nor science.

At that moment, a hot and persistent flame began to burn in the depths of Guyang Cheongang’s eyes.

It was both a pure impulse to explore unknown territories and a scholar’s obsession to uncover the source of seemingly impossible laws.

Right now, he resembled not a martial artist of Gangho, but the genius scientist ‘Lee Jin-woo’ who had spent nights in Earth’s laboratories.

Having witnessed phenomena that mocked physical laws one after another, his suppressed researcher’s instincts had awakened.

Hongnyeom-ro’s white flames, Absolute Ice Valley’s extremes, Simyeongwan’s ego collapse, and now this spatial teleportation.

All of these were magnificent research subjects worthy of analysis.

‘I definitely want to find out what kind of technology this is.’

A smile tinged with the excitement of an explorer facing new discoveries played around Guyang Cheongang’s lips.

Akasha’s voice also became lively.

[The data collected inside Pungnimgok is already vast. I’ve recorded all the energy patterns of the Seven Great Gates, spacetime distortion values, and cases of physical law violations.]

‘Good. Akasha, start the research immediately.’

[Completely elucidating the rules will take considerable time. It’s technology that mocks the limits of modern physics. Even if we pour all of Doctor’s and my abilities into it, we might still fail.]

‘There’s no need to hesitate by prejudging success or failure. What’s important is not stopping.’

[…Understood, Doctor.]

Without even imagining what vast world this current resolve would lead him to, Guyang Cheongang pressed his lips firmly together and stepped forward.

* * *

Four months had passed since Pungnimgok’s Gimun Daejin had opened.

The hundreds of tents that had densely filled the entrance now numbered only about ten, and the bustling martial artists had dwindled to dozens.

Three months ago, after several masters including Mok Jin had returned, Pungnimgok had maintained only silence.

People left one by one, convinced that all who had entered had turned into corpses.

Then came that day.

Whoooosh-!

At the entrance of the Gimun Daejin, brilliant silver-white radiance exploded from the empty midair.

As an intense pillar of light shot up as if to pierce the sky, martial artists rushed out of their tents in shock.

“Someone’s coming out! A survivor!”

With excited shouts, everyone’s gaze focused on the source of the light.

Among the crowd were Jongnoeu and Baek Muok.

Jongnoeu stared at the light in a daze, while Baek Muok bit her lips, clenching her small fists so tightly that blood couldn’t circulate.

‘Please… let it be Master….’

Pungnimgok was truly a tomb for the living.

From that place where countless masters had buried their bones, who could possibly walk out?

Soon the light gradually cleared, revealing a tall man wearing a deeply pulled bamboo hat and fluttering robes.

Baek Muok’s heart began beating so hard it felt like it might burst.

“Master!”

She didn’t care about the surrounding gazes or appearances.

The child shouted intensely and ran at full speed.

The only thing important to Baek Muok now was the single fact that her longed-for master had returned alive.

Jongnoeu also followed, running with a bright smile across her face.

“Guyang Daehaep!”

Her voice carried indescribable relief and overwhelming emotion.

But Guyang Cheongang’s eyes wavered subtly as he faced the two running toward him.

The condition of the two people in his vision was utterly wretched.

Their clothes were dirty as if they hadn’t washed for a long time, and their cheeks were sunken and noticeably gaunt, apparently from not eating properly.

A corner of Guyang Cheongang’s heart stung.

‘To wait for me… in this harsh place to this extent….’

The fierce battles inside Pungnimgok seemed insignificant compared to the sincerity of those who had waited for him outside.

Guyang Cheongang let out a quiet sigh and first bowed his head to the approaching Jongnoeu.

“Chong Sohyeop, I sincerely thank you for caring for Muok with such devotion.”

“Not at all. I only did what was natural. When Daehaep personally asked me, how could I be negligent?”

Guyang Cheongang then gently patted Baek Muok’s head.

“I’m sorry, Muok. I made you wait too long.”

Baek Muok shook her head vigorously.

“No, Master. You’ve returned safely to my side. That alone is enough for this disciple.”

A faint bitter smile appeared on Guyang Cheongang’s lips.

Indeed, expecting childlike complaints or whining from Baek Muok was unrealistic.

Meanwhile, Jongnoeu continued with a still trembling voice.

“Even three months after I escaped from that place, there was no news of Daehaep, so I was truly worried.”

“The circumstances inside were not so favorable. But exactly how much time has passed since I entered?”

“Four months.”

“Hmm… four months….”

Guyang Cheongang nodded and slowly looked around.

Dozens of martial artists stared at Guyang Cheongang with eyes where surprise and awe, envy and jealousy, and sharp wariness were complexly intertwined.

Their number reached approximately seventy to eighty people, and Guyang Cheongang instantly grasped that they were divided into three distinct groups.

The first was the group from the Six Great Families and the Changcheon Martial Alliance, centered around Namgung Gyeol and Ju Jaryeom.

Though their number didn’t even reach ten, the aura they emanated was formidable.

The second was the alliance of the Gunma Alliance and Cheonsa Bu, numbering around twenty, all of whom glowed with viper-like eyes.

These were all those who couldn’t endure the trials of Pungnimgok and had returned midway.

The last third group was the general Murim people, the largest in number.

Including Mok Jin, some of those who had returned alive from the Second Gate seemed to have already left their positions and were nowhere to be seen, but the gazes of those remaining were fixed on Guyang Cheongang’s every move.

The sole survivor who had endured four months in Pungnimgok, called the land of no return, and returned alive.

The interest directed toward him was beyond natural—it was close to manic obsession.

Ju Jaryeom slowly approached and broke the silence with a cupped fist salute.

“Congratulations on your return, Daehaep Guyang.”

“Thank you, Daehaep Ju.”

Ju Jaryeom’s sharp gaze swept over Guyang Cheongang’s entire body.

It was a look that seemed to try to read some kind of change.

After a moment, he asked in a low voice.

“Though it may be presumptuous, could you tell us how many gates you managed to pass through?”

Instantly, the hall became as quiet as death, and the martial artists’ gazes turned toward Guyang Cheongang’s lips.

Originally, according to Murim’s code of conduct, asking about one’s achievements in Pungnimgok was tantamount to taboo.

What one saw and gained there was essentially that martial artist’s secret technique.

Yet Ju Jaryeom’s blatant question was proof that the value of the information and rewards Guyang Cheongang might have brought exceeded Gangho’s common sense.

A brief silence flowed.

Guyang Cheongang’s eyes, gazing at Ju Jaryeom, sank as deep as an abyss.

‘I can’t say I passed through all seven gates.’

Revealing the truth in this place would be nothing but reckless bravado, like throwing raw meat before a pack of starving beasts.

‘But silence alone isn’t the answer either. There’s no need to unnecessarily increase enemies, so I should present a line they can accept.’

Guyang Cheongang had spent a full four months inside Pungnimgok.

That was three months longer than those who had returned from Jeolbinggok.

So if he claimed to have returned from the third gate, no one would believe it anyway.

Guyang Cheongang slowly opened his mouth.

“The fourth gate.”

Ju Jaryeom’s pupils flashed intensely for an instant.

“Congratulations. You must have gained truly many things.”

Guyang Cheongang remained consistently silent, neither affirming nor denying.

But it was clear that this was an obvious expression of refusal.

So Ju Jaryeom couldn’t press further either.

Then, Namgung Gyeol, who had been nearby, approached with a heavy expression and asked.

“Daehaep Guyang, do you perhaps know news of Daehaep Jegal Ryong? Could you tell us what became of him?”

The clearing became quiet again as if cold water had been poured over it.

Guyang Cheongang glanced at the group from the Gunma Alliance and Cheonsa Bu.

Their eyes also instantly sharpened.

Because O Gwangnyeo and Yu Garyang had not returned either.

Guyang Cheongang slowly nodded and answered in a grave tone.

“Jegal Daehaep, Elder Master O Gwangnyeo of the Gunma Alliance, and Elder Master Yu Garyang of Cheonsa Bu met their end at Pungdogwan, the third gate.”

“Ahhh…!”

Suppressed groans and sighs burst out from various places in the hall.

It had been a tragedy already foreseen from the moment Guyang Cheongang alone walked out from the light.

But when their deaths were officially confirmed, the atmosphere of the clearing instantly became heavy as lead.

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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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