I Will Become a Phoenix More Noble Than the Emperor - Chapter 83

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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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83.

Seon-o was fully reflected in Cheong-eum’s anxiously trembling pupils.

“…What will you do if you can’t escape within the expected time?”

About 80 days from now, Flower Cloud Island would open. The Divine Oracle didn’t reveal when Flower Cloud Island would close. If Seon-o got trapped here and couldn’t enter Flower Cloud Island, she would be eliminated.

“That’s my business.”

Seon-o drew a clean line once again.

However, Cheong-eum knew that there was also faint tension lurking in Seon-o’s eyes. So Seon-o had wagered even her own fate. On the task of finding Moonlight Grass and obtaining the Divine Oracle.

“…”

Realizing this, he could no longer complain.

Cheong-eum gazed at the bow of the boat for a moment. The Ferry Boat was moving forward, gently cutting through the current. The calm river water was so tranquil that it was hard to believe it harbored a dangerous labyrinth at its end.

Soon, having steeled his resolve, he looked back at Seon-o.

“Is that all? Isn’t there anything else I should know?”

Then Seon-o nodded.

“It looks simple but won’t be easy. Still, we can do it.”

In the original work, Cheong-eum had overcome all the hallucinations. Seon-o would do the same.

“We’ll come out safely with the Moonlight Grass.”

Meeting Seon-o’s steadfast eyes, Cheong-eum slowly nodded.

The boat, now settled with tension deeper than before, soon reached its destination. Thud, as the boat arrived on the other side and stopped after hitting something, Seon-o and Cheong-eum looked up at the scene before them.

In the center of the fog-covered island stood a ruin-like palace towering high. Though the surroundings were still shrouded in thick fog, only the front of the massive labyrinth was spotlessly clear, allowing them to see even the broken parts of the building with the naked eye.

When Seon-o gestured, Cheong-eum stepped onto the ground. Seon-o also followed him onto land and looked back. The Ferry Boat that had carried them remained anchored without moving, as if waiting for them.

After confirming this, Seon-o began walking.

“Let’s go.”

Cheong-eum also followed Seon-o without raising any more objections.

As they approached the labyrinth, they felt a chilling coldness. Seon-o looked up at the labyrinth again. The five-story building that seemed to have been the villa of a very wealthy person hundreds of years ago looked like nothing more than an ordinary ruined palace from the outside.

‘Of course, the inside won’t be ordinary at all.’

As Seon-o raised her hand, bright blue Water Power gathered above her palm.

Seeing this, Cheong-eum’s eyes froze in surprise. Seon-o, who couldn’t even control Water Element just a few months ago, was now summoning Water Energy from the void.

Soon that Water Energy shot out fiercely and smashed the massive door of the labyrinth. Even after opening the entrance with Physical Force, Seon-o stood still for a while, watching the place as if to pierce through it.

Before long, something burst out from the cave-like pitch-black hole, and Seon-o’s eyes narrowed.

“Kiiiiiek!”

What burst out from inside the labyrinth and spread its wings was a large bat.

Seon-o and Cheong-eum’s breathless gazes followed the bat as it flew high as if escaping. At that moment, the bat’s entire body rapidly shriveled, and soon its body turned into white powder and scattered in all directions.

Having been trapped inside the labyrinth for a long time, aging occurred instantly as soon as it came outside.

Having confirmed the true nature of the labyrinth, Seon-o quickly looked back at Cheong-eum.

“If something happens inside, escape alone. I’ll do the same.”

At those cold words, Cheong-eum couldn’t answer easily and moved his lips. As if she hadn’t intended to hear an answer, Seon-o finished speaking and walked forward, entering the labyrinth first.

Swallowing a sigh, Cheong-eum followed behind her again.

As they entered the pitch-black entrance, the coldness became much thicker. The structure of the labyrinth was completely different from what they had inferred from outside. Inside was not a building but a large, long cave.

As soon as Seon-o and Cheong-eum entered, the light from the entrance was blocked, but the inside of the cave wasn’t very dark. This was thanks to the Precious Stones and Yin Stones embedded throughout the cave emitting brilliant light.

Naturally, they must not touch those things. The moment they did, condensed time would pierce into their bodies and they’d end up like that bat.

Seon-o and Cheong-eum passed by the jewels and entered deeper into the cave. The cave had a structure where the ceiling became higher and the width became broader as they went deeper inside.

When they had gone to a depth unimaginable from the outside, they could see the end.

The steps of Seon-o and Cheong-eum, who had been walking without rest, finally stopped.

Seon-o saw the lake pooled and rippling at her feet and what was floating in its center. Water that had accumulated at the end of the cave for hundreds of years had formed a large lake, and on the small island in its center, a single softly glowing plant was blooming.

“It’s Moonlight Grass.”

Cheong-eum also held his breath and looked at that plant. There was no need for verification. The silver grass leaves holding brilliant moonlight were definitely Moonlight Grass. The kind he had only seen in Sacred Texts.

Seon-o strode across the Stone Bridge and crouched down in front of the Moonlight Grass.

Moonlight Grass was a plant that could only be plucked by a woman compared to the moon. Cheong-eum also knew this fact.

“Once I pluck this, it will begin. Are you ready?”

When she turned around and asked, Cheong-eum’s fingertips quietly curled inward. As he calmly nodded his head, Seon-o immediately reached out her hand. The enchantingly brilliant moonlight was grasped in her palm and pulled out by the roots.

Having obtained the Moonlight Grass, Seon-o immediately stood up and tried to return to Cheong-eum. However, at that moment, the Stone Bridge suddenly sank down below the lake and disappeared.

Thanks to that, Seon-o, who nearly fell into the lake, quickly regained her balance and stepped back. It seemed to have already begun.

“Don’t move.”

When Seon-o quietly warned him, Cheong-eum also stopped in place and didn’t move. Inside the cave, there was an eerie energy circulating that they hadn’t felt before.

After a moment of silence, when something slowly poked its head out from the lake, Seon-o and Cheong-eum’s bodies stiffened.

It was a demon whose entire body was made of damp mud. The demon, which looked like mud carelessly clumped together, swam toward where Seon-o was and then crawled up onto the ground.

“….”

The creature that had finally approached Seon-o straightened its hunched body and thrust its face toward her. At the fishy smell that wafted over, Seon-o unconsciously held her breath.

She could vividly feel the creature that had come right up to her nose sniffing and smelling her.

‘To think it’s a hallucination of this level.’

It was a hallucination so realistic that anyone would have no choice but to react. If Seon-o hadn’t read the original work, she would have reacted immediately and fallen into the Yin Cult’s trap.

‘How did On Gang avoid the trap…?’

Seon-o tried not to make eye contact with the bizarre black pupils that were now staring directly at her, while searching through the original work.

‘Someone whispered in his ear not to move, I think. But there’s no way the Yin Cult’s Auditory Hallucination would have helped On Gang.’

At that moment, the creature grabbed Seon-o’s neck and lifted her up. Even the creepy sensation touching her neck was too realistic. When Seon-o was physically lifted up, Cheong-eum’s eyes, who was watching her, widened.

However, Seon-o, whose neck was being grabbed, maintained her composure.

All of this was a hallucination. No matter what it did, she must not give in.

When Seon-o didn’t waver, Cheong-eum also barely managed to steel himself and swallowed his dry saliva. However, the next moment, the demon’s hand stretched out long and moved Seon-o over the lake, and Cheong-eum’s heart finally sank with a thud.

If she wasn’t careful, Seon-o would fall below the lake. And underneath there, at some point…

“….”

Another demon had appeared with its mouth gaping wide open.

A mouth large enough to swallow Seon-o in one bite was waiting for her to fall.

Seeing the inside of the mouth bristling with hundreds of Fangs, Seon-o repeated self-hypnosis to avoid being shaken.

‘That’s a hallucination. It’s all a hallucination. It’s Kang Ji-woon changing his words. It’s Kang Yoon-han getting first place in school. Yeah, that’s impossible. It’s all a scam.’

However, contrary to that persistent rationalization, the Mud Demon gripping Seon-o’s neck began to release its fingers one by one as if to drop her.

As Seon-o’s body swayed as if it would fall immediately, Cheong-eum’s pupils also shook greatly.

Whatever that lake water was, a premonition that she must not fall into it strongly swept across the back of his neck. That lake was also a trap of the Yin Cult.

…No, that lake itself was the Yin Cult’s trap!

Unable to endure it any longer, Cheong-eum flinched and was about to move when Seon-o’s warning swept past his ear.

“Until all those hallucinations end, you absolutely must not move. Even if one of us dies, absolutely not.”

As Seon-o’s body finally swayed as if it would fall, Cheong-eum tried to squeeze his eyes shut instead.

However, at that moment, a sharp wind swept past his side.

But at that moment, a sharp wind swept past him.

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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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