Murim Login - Chapter 367

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 367
There had already been warning signs.
The reasons were sufficient.
Crrrrrack!
The ground split open and the ceiling trembled. The Underground Prison, which had symbolized the darkness of the Sichuan Poison Sect for centuries, was collapsing under the aftermath of successive battles.
Along with the vengeful spirits of countless prisoners who had died in the prison over the years, and three people who were still very much alive.
“…What kind of damned situation is this?”
Jeok Cheon-gang looked around with an expression of disbelief.
Clearly, before closing my eyes, it had been a forest, but when I opened them, it was some kind of cave or prison.
And that wasn’t all. I had to drag this worn-out body that hadn’t even fully recovered and fight to the death with some unknown bastard.
Yes, I can understand things up to this point. Jin Tae-kyung losing consciousness right after the battle? That’s certainly possible. But…
“No, this is too much. Damn it.”
Curses spilled out unbidden.
Where was this place? Who was this old man? Why was the ground splitting apart and boulders the size of people raining down on my head?
For a moment, Jeok Cheon-gang was seized by profound regret and nearly ascended to immortality in despair.
“Cursed fate.”
I had no idea what was happening, but first I needed to get my body to safety.
Once my thoughts cleared, my movements became swift as lightning.
‘First, I need to look after that brat Tae-kyung… but who the hell is this old man?’
Ah, forget it.
Jeok Cheon-gang hoisted the unconscious Jin Tae-kyung and the Divine Physician onto his shoulders and burst forward with urgent speed.
Screeeech! Boom!
A massive boulder that had fallen from the ceiling barely grazed past Jeok Cheon-gang and shattered the ground. But that was only the beginning.
Boom! Boom! Crrrack!
With each step forward, a torrent of jagged rocks rained down like a downpour, and Jeok Cheon-gang felt his blood run cold.
‘If I’m not careful, I could very well be buried here.’
At a glance, this was no small cave.
If a cliff weighing tens of millions of pounds came crashing down on their heads… even Jeok Cheon-gang couldn’t guarantee his survival.
Especially not in this condition, still bearing the aftereffects of his injuries.
“Ugh.”
My forward momentum wavered as I stepped on the cracked ground. I swallowed the blood rising in my throat and laughed bitterly.
‘I must look pathetic.’
My limbs were stiff as stone from not moving for so long. I felt extreme hunger and a terrible weakness.
Having clashed with some kind of monster in this condition, my body was naturally deteriorating further. If I hadn’t possessed inner strength, I would have collapsed long ago.
Crrrack!
At that moment, with an even louder and more violent tremor, Jeok Cheon-gang clenched his teeth.
‘Fine, I hear you. Don’t rush me. I’ll find a way out no matter what.’
I had someone I needed to save. Back when I wandered through cold and dark memories, there was one disciple who became my light and warmth.
‘Yes, my one and only disciple. My disciple, that’s right.’
My grip tightened on the two people I was carrying. From somewhere deep within my body, an inexplicable force seemed to surge forth.
Flame Path Technique.
Jeok Cheon-gang’s body, which had momentarily faltered, transformed into a streak of fire and shot forward.
Whoooosh!
The earlier collision between Jin Tae-kyung and the Western Heavenly Demon Lord had caused the Underground Prison to collapse, but paradoxically, this worked to Jeok Cheon-gang’s advantage.
The interior lay devastated by the shockwave. The labyrinthine walls that had blocked every passage crumbled away, transforming the Underground Prison into a single vast cavern.
‘That way!’
Jeok Cheon-gang’s eyes blazed with light as he unleashed his divine technique and surged forward.
Every enclosed space must have an exit somewhere.
Sensing a faint breeze drifting from somewhere, Jeok Cheon-gang’s gaze fixed upon a narrow opening—barely wide enough for a single person to squeeze through—that marked the entrance to the Underground Prison.
‘Hurry, hurry…!’
Jeok Cheon-gang unleashed his body technique with every ounce of strength.
He trampled across the buckling ground and dodged the falling boulders that rained down upon his head.
He rushed past the corpse of the Old Master, who lay dead with a serene smile as though merely sleeping—past Cheon Ryeok-ma’s lifeless form—and shot forward with ever-greater speed.
In that brief yet eternal moment, just as Jeok Cheon-gang was about to take his final step toward the entrance—
“Done for…!”
Crash! Boom! Rumble!
A tremor and roar that surpassed all the deafening sounds that had come before. And in that same instant, the ceiling caved in.
Massive stone accumulated over hundreds and thousands of years crushed down upon the entrance to the Underground Prison.
And in the next moment—
“Get out of my way!”
Accompanied by the Azure Dragon’s Roar that shook the entire Underground Prison, Jeok Cheon-gang’s fist, wreathed in cyan-white flames, drove straight into the center of the stone.
Kaboom!
The ultra-high temperature infused within the Annihilation Flame Divine Fist shattered and melted the stone.
Following a sound as though the heavens themselves were splitting, a scorching wind suddenly swept through the Underground Prison.
* * *
“What in the world—”
A middle-aged Black Robed Organization member who had rushed over upon hearing the explosion swallowed hard at the sight unfolding before his eyes.
Crash!
The collapse of nature itself. The cliff face, hundreds of feet tall, that had encircled the rear of the Sichuan Poison Sect was slowly caving in.
The sight was horrifying enough to witness from a hundred feet away, but the real problem lay elsewhere.
“B-Bu Dan-ju. That place is where the Demon Lord is stationed…!”
The Underground Prison!
Bu Dan-ju, the middle-aged Black Robed Organization member of Dark Heaven, felt his spine turn to ice at his subordinate’s words.
The Western Heavenly Demon Lord. If anything happened to him…
‘It would all be finished.’
Cold sweat rolled down his forehead. He had never felt this level of dread, not even when the Sichuan Poison Sect had deployed the Heavenly Thunder Mine.
He issued urgent orders.
“Immediately gather all the scattered brothers! Summon them all at once!”
“A-All of them, sir? But the Tang Sect members are still—”
“Those fools are not the concern. Move!”
“Sound the alarm! Emergency signal!”
The subordinate, frozen stiff, pulled a flare from his pouch. With a sharp bang, a crimson streak erupted across the sky.
At the distress signal, members of the Black Robed Organization scattered throughout the Sichuan Poison Sect began converging from all directions.
More than a hundred fighters assembled in mere moments.
“Bu Dan-ju. Please issue your command.”
Bu Dan-ju wanted to crush the skull of the man who had just spoken. Even the leader himself, Il-gwe, showed no sign of appearing despite the emergency signal.
‘Damn it all.’
Bu Dan-ju’s throat convulsed visibly as he stared at the cliff still collapsing before him.
The order he was about to give was tantamount to suicide—to walk down into the crumbling precipice and search for the Western Heavenly Demon Lord.
But there was no other choice. He had to give the command.
“The Lord resides within. I shall lead the way myself, so not a single soul shall be left behind….”
Just as Bu Dan-ju struggled to continue his words.
A deafening roar erupted!
With an explosion of unknown origin, the rocks forming a small mound burst outward in a violent detonation.
And in that same instant, Bu Dan-ju and all the others witnessed it—a massive silhouette bursting through the stone.
“The Lord! The Lord emerges…!”
Someone’s cry scattered before it could be completed.
A sickening crunch! Rapid impacts in succession!
Like a cannonball launched from the cliff, the figure bounced across the muddy earth before finally coming to rest.
An old man with two people—each larger than himself—gripped firmly at either side. Jeok Cheon-gang gazed up at the overcast sky and drew in a deep breath he had been holding.
“Ahhhh!”
Fresh air and rainwater seeped through my nose and mouth.
A refreshing sensation as though my very soul were being cleansed. My martial power was already depleted and my body screamed in agony, yet I laughed with the relief of having saved Jin Tae-kyung.
And in the next moment, as I struggled to rise on my elbows, I froze.
“…!”
Barely twenty paces away stood a mass of figures, watching me intently.
More than a hundred Black Robed Organization members, blood-stained weapons clutched in their hands.
Jeok Cheon-gang muttered like a groan.
“…Hell. No matter how I look at it, they don’t seem like good people.”
A response came that transformed his suspicion into certainty.
“Dark Heaven, they call themselves.”
At the voice that suddenly came from behind, Jeok Cheon-gang did not flinch.
Having endured countless trials and tribulations, and having just escaped the brink of annihilation, I already knew from the altered breathing that the nameless old man I had rescued had awakened.
“Ah. Dark Heaven—those damned bastards, just as I suspected.”
Jeok Cheon-gang muttered the curse and continued without turning around.
“Do you know where we are?”
“The Sichuan Poison Sect. Unfortunately, it appears the battle is already decided.”
“…This is maddening.”
Jeok Cheon-gang concluded his thoughts with a brief utterance.
There was not enough time to contemplate how such a situation had come to pass.
“What is your name?”
“Dong Bong. My name is Dong Bong.”
“Do you have a courtesy name?”
“I am no martial artist, so how could I possess one?”
“Your dantian was damaged. You claim not to be a martial artist?”
“It was merely a modest practice I undertook at my master’s insistence. My true calling has always been the healing arts.”
Jeok Cheon-gang’s eyebrows twitched slightly.
Despite his grievous wounds, his composed demeanor and measured speech carried an air of wisdom that stirred something in memory—why did he suddenly think of that physician whose medical mastery had transcended into the divine realm?
“The Divine Physician?”
“Merely an unremarkable old healer, nothing more.”
At the Divine Physician’s answer, Jeok Cheon-gang let out a soft laugh. Now he understood what had transpired.
“I am grateful. You awakened an old man who was dying.”
“You rose of your own will. It was the strength of your resolve that proved decisive.”
“I had no choice. Some thundering fool of a boy woke me from my slumber.”
“That very thundering fool crossed the entire Central Plains to find me, begging that he would do anything if only I could save you.”
Jeok Cheon-gang turned his head to the side. The image of Jin Tae-kyung, sprawled motionless and caked in blood and mud, filled his vision.
“…What a foolish child.”
If only I could awaken him now, I would.
Perhaps we might share one final conversation.
But Jin Tae-kyung, having exhausted every ounce of his strength, would not rise. Even without the Divine Physician’s words, Jeok Cheon-gang knew this truth.
‘Perhaps… this may be for the best after all.’
Jeok Cheon-gang slowly pushed himself upright. Ignoring the searing pain that pierced his entire body, he opened his mouth toward the Divine Physician behind him.
“Do you still have strength?”
“In my younger days, yes. I worked as a carpenter before meeting my master.”
“An unusual past for the Divine Physician. And now?”
“I am seventy years old.”
“Your dantian is damaged, so it will be difficult, but squeeze out every last drop of strength you have. Flee as far as you can.”
“Together with Young Master Jin, you mean?”
“I’m glad you understand.”
After a brief silence, the Divine Physician spoke.
“You intend to sacrifice your life, don’t you?”
“Sacrifice?”
A faint smile played at the corners of Jeok Cheon-gang’s mouth. His gaze turned toward the Black Robed Organization members approaching relentlessly.
“Do you know why a flame dims?”
Jeok Cheon-gang did not wait for the Divine Physician’s answer.
Splash—mud sprayed upward with each step forward. The endless rain that had seemed eternal had finally ceased.
A voice, clear and unburdened, followed.
“Because there is nothing left to burn. So it slowly fades away upon the ashes.”
Jeok Cheon-gang had finished preparing to ignite his final flame.
There was neither fear nor anger toward the death that drew near.
It was only regret. For I could no longer stand beside my disciple.
“Tae-kyung, I entrust this child to you.”
It was the very moment Jeok Cheon-gang stepped forward with that heartfelt plea.
“Throughout all these years, witnessing countless cycles of birth, aging, sickness, and death, I have harbored a question. Does the underworld truly exist? If it does, who is this Yama they speak of? And when I go there, might I encounter the patients I failed to save?”
“…?”
“Each time, my master would tell me: The underworld will be overflowing with those you have already sent ahead. You must ascend to the celestial realm instead and dwell among the immortals.”
The Divine Physician gazed upon Jeok Cheon-gang, his voice soft and measured.
“Great Hero Jeok, the underworld is full. Wait just a little longer.”
“…!”
In that instant, Jeok Cheon-gang felt every hair on his body stand on end, and he lifted his gaze skyward.
There, beyond the dark clouds that had begun to part, bathed in sunlight breaking through the heavens, stood a youth of unmistakable presence.
‘No, no. That one is…!’
Eyes as clear and luminous as a boy’s, yet devoid of all emotion—the gaze of one ancient and weathered.
Eyes he had glimpsed only once, in a time long forgotten. A sensation burned into memory precisely because of that singular encounter.
Recognizing someone in the figure of that youth, Jeok Cheon-gang’s voice trembled with shock.
“Sal-sung…!”

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