Heaven-Defying Hero - Chapter 76

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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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#076

“Puah!”

Ja-gang-cheon emerged from the tidal flat again and immediately sought out Cheon-gu and Pansuk.

“It was down there.”

At the news that he had discovered Yongmyeong Tomb, Cheon-gu clenched his fist tightly, and Pansuk cheered with joy.

Moved that the three days of rolling around in the tidal flat hadn’t been in vain, Pansuk asked in an excited voice.

“So now Hyeongnim will eat the Gongcheong Stone Oil and become the best under heaven?”

“Hyeong, aren’t you getting ahead of yourself?”

“Ah, I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s fine. I’ll work hard to make it happen like you said, hyeong.”

“Then let’s hurry and go get it.”

As Pansuk tried to move directly, Ja-gang-cheon stopped him.

“I’ll go alone. That seems more convenient.”

Cheon-gu found those words a bit strange. There was no reason to go alone at this point.

“Is it dangerous by any chance?”

“I don’t know yet. But it wasn’t a natural cave. There’s a stone gate made by people.”

“You mean there might be mechanisms?”

“Don’t worry. I’m confident. We can’t give up here anyway.”

They couldn’t turn back when there might be Gongcheong Stone Oil.

Cheon-gu wanted to go together, but he couldn’t bring himself to say it.

‘I don’t know anything about mechanisms either.’

There hadn’t been time to study that as well.

“If it seems too dangerous, come out anytime. No matter how precious Gongcheong Stone Oil is, it’s not as precious as you.”

Unusually for Cheon-gu, his words grew long.

“Hyeongnim, you absolutely must not get hurt. I’ll wait until you return safely.”

“Don’t worry. Even someone who fell into madness went there. How dangerous could it be when I’m going there perfectly fine?”

Those were somewhat reassuring words.

“Then I’ll be back.”

Ja-gang-cheon jumped into the entrance pool that was gradually filling with water before their eyes.

Splash!

“So that’s why we couldn’t see it.”

Cheon-gu looked curiously at the spot where Ja-gang-cheon had jumped, then sighed.

“Subordinate hyeong, is it really okay?”

“It won’t be easy.”

“What? Do you know something?”

“I don’t know what’s inside. But in the story Uncle Geumgang-gae first told, there was something like this.”

“What was it?”

“He said he told his non-existent disciple this: Come to Yongmyeong Tomb when you’re qualified.”

“Ah…”

Saying to come when qualified definitely meant there was some kind of test.

“It’s okay. Whatever test it is, Gangcheon will handle it.”

“That’s right. Hyeongnim, even if Jangju hyeong can’t use his head well, he’s good at physical things.”

“What?”

Cheon-gu thought to himself, ‘If Gangcheon had heard that, he might have fallen into demonic possession.’

***

Ja-gang-cheon stood before the stone gate.

“So this is where the dragon sleeps?”

The stone gate bore the traces of time as they were. The edges were corroded and dust had accumulated white on the parts where inscriptions were carved.

Nevertheless, the stone gate of massive weight perfectly blocked the way ahead without even a small gap.

“What could be behind this?”

Perhaps the Gongcheong Stone Oil might be visible right behind the stone gate. Conversely, there might be an unbearable test.

“It’s okay. Whatever it is, I can overcome it.”

Ja-gang-cheon placed his palm on the stone gate of Yongmyeong Tomb. Then he slowly pushed inward.

But the stone gate didn’t budge as if refusing.

When he applied internal energy and pushed, surprisingly the stone gate absorbed the energy.

Just like the Mukryeomdo that Ja-gang-cheon possessed, the stone gate’s internal material seemed to be made of something special.

‘Should I try again?’

He injected internal energy once more and read its flow.

‘Interesting.’

At first glance it seemed to flow randomly, but if compared to the human body, it was flowing precisely along the path of Soju-cheon starting from the dantian.

However, it was in an inverted form, flowing from top to bottom like pouring water.

Ja-gang-cheon moved his hand and pressed the very bottom of the inverted Soju-cheon.

Then the stone gate began to slide backward.

Rumble.

The stone gate of massive weight slowly slid backward, then slid sideways with a thunderous sound.

Finally, Yongmyeong Tomb revealed its interior. But the expected Gongcheong Stone Oil or Song Jin-baek’s true teachings were nowhere to be seen.

Instead, a long, narrow corridor was visible.

The corridor, dimly lit by sparsely embedded luminous pearls, was made of gray bricks.

It had a lifeless, dry feeling. Ja-gang-cheon stepped into that stuffy and cold space.

‘The ceiling isn’t high.’

It was a height where the end would be reached if he raised his hand, and a width where he could touch both walls simultaneously if he spread his arms.

“Hmm.”

Having stepped into the corridor, Ja-gang-cheon felt some kind of strange déjà vu.

Should he call it emotionless killing intent?

Ja-gang-cheon stopped his step forward. Instead, he extended his fist in the air and struck the floor he was about to step on with energy waves.

Clang!

Instantly, sharp spear blades shot out from the ceiling.

If he had taken one step forward, his crown would have been pierced.

“Seems like a nasty person made this.”

It seemed wrong to expect a smooth passage.

Thump.

The moment his heartbeat grew louder from the thrilling tension, Ja-gang-cheon unconsciously stuck out his tongue and licked his lips.

A thrill accompanied by excitement rose along with the sense of crisis.

This situation was fun.

It felt like discovering a new toy on Gwigok Island.

“Let’s give it a try.”

Ja-gang-cheon first looked at the ceiling where the spear blade had shot out.

‘So that’s why they used dim luminous pearls.’

Having gauged the length of the spear, Ja-gang-cheon lowered his head and stepped on the floor again.

Clang!

The spear blade that had gone into the ceiling shot out again.

Confirming this, Ja-gang-cheon stepped back and stepped to the side.

“This is it.”

The floor was divided into two panels.

“One that triggers mechanisms and one that doesn’t.”

He advanced step by step without hurrying.

But when he reached about halfway, checking ahead with energy waves stopped working. It had changed to a method that required a certain amount of weight to be continuously pressed to activate.

But Ja-gang-cheon boldly moved forward instead.

“I can hear the sound.”

Before the mechanism activated, he could hear the faint sound of a scale tipping over.

At that moment, all he had to do was pull his foot back.

Though it was a split second, Ja-gang-cheon had confidence he could react first, so he moved forward without fear of failure.

“Done.”

He couldn’t tell how much time had passed. He only realized his body was drenched in sweat once his concentration broke.

“I can do this.”

Having safely passed the first gate, he gained confidence and boldly moved forward.

More gates continued after that.

There was one where he had to pass through an underground area filled with poisonous fog, but thanks to his training with Dokgok Seongdan, he could get through by holding his breath.

Then the third one had the floor disappear, dropping him into a swirling sea.

‘It’s not as bad as Gwigokdo.’

Ja-gang-cheon escaped from there using purely water techniques.

‘Is this the end now?’

After passing the third gate, the floor changed.

The stone slabs disappeared and a rough natural cave appeared.

He walked through the gradually widening cave without letting his guard down. Then the surrounding space suddenly expanded greatly, revealing a huge cavity.

“What is this now?”

The first thing he saw was a smooth surface directly in front.

It wasn’t a stone wall, but looked like the wall of a natural cave had been cut with a sword.

Written there was a phrase that penetrated this entire situation.

Unryong Jeongcheon Sword.

It was the sword technique that Song Ilbaek had used.

Besides the characters deeply carved in the center, short phrases were written haphazardly all over the wall surface.

Their positions were all different, as if fragmentary thoughts that suddenly came to mind had been carelessly transcribed.

“Did a giant live here or something?”

If a human large enough to match the size of this cavity had used the wall instead of paper, it would leave traces like this.

Ja-gang-cheon first sat cross-legged in the middle of the cavity without being mesmerized by the wall.

‘If this isn’t the end, there should be a path to pass through.’

When he concentrated to the extreme, he began to feel the flow of air around him. But it was strange.

His sensitive senses detected not only the flow of air but also the twisted energy around him.

‘What is this?’

The tangled sensations gradually became clearer, turning into an ambiguous energy that he could almost but not quite understand. Then when his concentration scattered, it disappeared like a lie.

Thud.

Ja-gang-cheon suddenly felt a sense of crisis approaching and quickly stopped circulating his energy and opened his eyes.

The surroundings were quiet.

Only then did the fact that he was alone in this wide cavity feel like unpleasant solitude.

‘Solitude?’

It was strange.

‘I never learned such emotions.’

It was unfamiliar.

The moment he realized that, surprisingly, it was familiar.

‘What is this?’

It felt like forgotten childhood fears were awakening.

He got goosebumps and cold sweat flowed.

‘This feeling is…’

It was an energy he had completely forgotten while crossing that hellish sea.

“Formation techniques.”

If you asked Ja-gang-cheon what he hated most, he would answer ‘formation techniques’ without hesitation.

He hated the formation techniques spread across Gwigokdo, and what he hated more was the sight of his parents studying formation techniques.

The sight of them suppressing their anger and obsessing over unattainable goals was the lowest he had ever seen his parents.

Thump!

This pounding wasn’t from anticipation.

Literally, forgotten fear had come alive.

But why?

“I don’t want to lose.”

A rebellious spirit against his greatest enemy arose together with it.

“I won’t lose to something like formation techniques.”

He didn’t want to run away from the name that occupied a corner of his misfortune.

So Ja-gang-cheon sat cross-legged again.

***

“Won’t Hyeongnim come today either?”

Five days had passed.

For Cheon-gu and Pansuk waiting at the Merchant Guild, each day felt long.

“Is he eating well? I should have packed some jerky he likes when he left.”

“He’ll be fine.”

Though Cheon-gu said that, his expression wasn’t good.

“Let’s wait for now.”

His resolve began to waver as another five days passed.

It was the tenth day since Ja-gang-cheon had entered Yongmyeong Tomb.

Cheon-gu couldn’t wait any longer. So he climbed over the wall after midnight.

“I’ll go and come back.”

“Subordinate Hyeongnim. Is it okay to do this?”

“He might be in a situation where he needs help.”

“Then I’ll go too.”

“I’ll go in first, and if I’m not strong enough alone, we’ll go together.”

Eventually Cheon-gu threw himself into the pond where Ja-gang-cheon had entered first.

Having grown up by the seaside, swimming wasn’t difficult for him either.

Like Ja-gang-cheon, he moved forward while gauging the height of the ceiling and soon reached the front of the stone chamber.

But he couldn’t push open the tightly closed stone wall.

He hadn’t reached the level where he could feel the flow of internal energy like Ja-gang-cheon.

Without knowing this, he couldn’t develop the idea that he needed to push a predetermined spot.

“Is there a separate way to open it?”

He came up with this thought, but no matter how much he looked around, he couldn’t find any device to open the stone gate.

He tried pushing the stone gate with force and examined the gaps where it met the wall, but couldn’t find a way to open it.

Eventually, judging it was difficult alone, he called Pansuk too, but the result was the same.

Then Pansuk got angry and roughly struck the stone gate.

Only then did they realize the stone gate was unusual.

“Hyeongnim. It feels like it’s absorbing all the force.”

Hearing that, Cheon-gu also drew up all his internal energy and struck the stone gate.

As Pansuk said, he felt his internal energy completely disappear into the stone gate.

Though the stone gate shook slightly, when it showed no signs of opening, Cheon-gu reached a different conclusion.

“I think we need to bring someone else.”

“Someone else means…”

“Let’s bring Geumgang-gae Daehobeobnin.”

“Are you going to reveal this place?”

“It seems the time for just waiting has passed.”

Their patience had reached its limit.

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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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