The Wizard Who Endured the World of Murim - Chapter 45

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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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Surviving in the Martial Realm as a Mage: Episode 45
“The food has arrived. Please, help yourselves.”
After the meal, I sipped tea with my companions while waiting for the subordinates who had procured the carts to finish eating.
Once we completed the basic maintenance, we set off immediately.
“Junior Guard, you have far more momentum than I expected.”
I paused.
Now that I thought about it, resting on the ship was all we’d done.
After that, it had been nothing but relentless forced marches without a moment’s respite.
I understood why Chul Mu-geuk had laughed so heartily.
“It seems the Junior Guard failed to consider others. You were simply too absorbed in acquiring new knowledge.”
I readily admitted my mistake.
There was so much to think about regarding the Dungeons of this world.
I had been overlooking the smaller details.
“Well, that’s a good thing. I’m fine myself, but your subordinates look like they’re struggling.”
Now that he mentioned it, the Water Bandits’ faces were ashen.
Even riding in carts pulled by oxen, exhaustion was written all over their expressions.
I glanced around with a start and spoke.
“Then, since the sun is about to set, shall we rest here?”
“Very well.”
“Since I made a mistake, I’d like to make amends with a small display of skill.”
“A small display?”
I flicked my hand, and a gentle wind rose across the Clearing beside the Official Road.
Whiiiiing—!
Leaves and small stone fragments scattered across the Clearing were instantly swept up by the wind.
Chul Mu-geuk’s eyebrows twitched momentarily.
“Ooh!”
“Is this what they call a technique?”
Just as Chul Mu-geuk’s disciples gasped in admiration at the celestial harmony unfolding before their eyes—
Crunch, crunch, crunch—
The uneven earthen ground flattened itself, and immediately after, a scorching flame swept across it.
In an instant, all the debris vanished, revealing a perfectly level and orderly Clearing.
The space that had been overgrown with weeds just moments before was now immaculate.
“Waah….”
“This is… truly remarkable.”
Yong Seol-ak, Chul Mu-geuk’s first disciple, and Ju Mok-dan, his second disciple, who had been subtly looking down on me until now, opened their mouths wide.
Watching their reaction, Yang Cheon-jo puffed out his chest proudly and spoke.
“Ha ha ha! Did you see that, Senior Brothers? This is the divine technique of our Ilhyang!”
“Why are you the one bragging about it?”
“Ah, Senior Brother! This fellow and I are no ordinary acquaintances! We once shared a bond as close as father and son!”
“I’ve heard you weren’t very good at playing the son’s role.”
“Ah, let’s just forget about that quickly….”
Ilhyang watched with a faint smile as Yang Cheon-jo and his sworn brothers bantered back and forth in friendly conversation, when a vague memory suddenly surfaced—something similar to this moment from his past—and he tilted his head in confusion.
‘What is it?’
Again, he felt a gap in his memory.
In truth, this wasn’t an experience he was particularly accustomed to.
A Grand Mage’s memory operated on an entirely different plane than that of ordinary people.
Experiencing something he couldn’t recall or sensing these blanks felt profoundly unfamiliar.
Yet just as something seemed about to surface.
Yang Cheon-jo’s second sworn brother.
Ju Mok-dan posed a question.
“So we pitch a Tent here and spend the night before departing tomorrow, Young Master Il?”
“…Yes, that would be best.”
Ilhyang answered while swallowing down the regret that had risen in his mind, and beside him, Chul Mu-geuk, who had been quietly lost in thought, suddenly sprang to his feet.
He walked quickly to a spot where warmth still radiated from the Ground, stood motionless, and closed his eyes.
‘Is it possible to command external energy so naturally like this? Was it simply sorcery, operating differently from martial arts?’
The Disciples just now had merely marveled at the surface appearance of the sorcery, but Chul Mu-geuk was different.
He had perceived that the sorcery just now drew upon external power rather than internal force.
‘Like sound resonating….’
With a small amount of energy within his body, he had stirred the external energy and transformed it into a greater force.
Like moving a lever, he had moved great power with minimal effort.
This was a very high-level realization in martial arts.
Similar to the principle of four ounces deflecting a thousand pounds, Chul Mu-geuk’s contemplation only deepened.
Meanwhile, Ilhyang showed no sign of strain as he directed his subordinates to prepare the evening meal.
Bubbling softly—
Along with a simple broth containing dried provisions and jerky, they each nibbled on dried fruit they had brought, focusing on their modest evening meal.
“But learning that sorcery must be quite difficult, right?”
Yang Cheon-jo asked casually while eating, and Ilhyang looked up. He realized that curious gazes were fixed upon him.
Even Chul Mu-geuk, who had been absorbed in other thoughts, was clearly listening in while pretending not to notice.
Ilhyang brought the wooden teacup he held to his lips and answered quite indifferently.
“The sorcery you’re talking about and what I use are different kinds.”
“How are they different?”
“You must have misheard my explanation from back on the Ship. I didn’t expect much anyway, but hearing the same question from the same person again is quite disappointing.”
“Huh? Was that it? Why can’t I remember?”
Of course he couldn’t.
I had never said such a thing, so naturally he wouldn’t remember it.
Ilhyang left the bewildered Yang Cheon-jo behind and quietly tilted his teacup as he spoke.
“What I use is a discipline called magic. It’s treated differently from sorcery. Of course, there are similarities, but fundamentally they diverge greatly. Sorcery requires something called spiritual roots, but magic doesn’t have that. However, one must be quite intelligent to learn it.”
“Oh? So I could too?”
“You misheard me again. I said you must be intelligent. Which means you can’t.”
“Ugh! You really do look down on me. Let me tell you how smart I am….”
Yang Cheon-jo, overwhelmed with emotion, spent the entire meal before the campfire asserting his own brilliance, but Ilhyang let it go in one ear and out the other.
And as he watched Chul Mu-geuk, who remained lost in thought even then, he spoke.
“Then I shall see you in the morning, Senior.”
“Mm….”
Ilhyang entered the tent alone, unfolded the collapsible cot he’d brought on the cart, and lay down upon it.
Even then, Chul Mu-geuk wore an expression of grave seriousness, unable to hide his anguish.
‘That’s a trial he must overcome alone.’
From his expression alone, I could sense what troubled Chul Mu-geuk’s mind.
By now, he was likely thinking that if he witnessed the magic once more, he might grasp something further.
‘But the odds of that are actually far slimmer.’
Showing him the magic a hundred times, a thousand times more in this state would only breed confusion.
Now he needed to crystallize the questions surfacing in his mind and perfect his understanding of them as his own.
So from my perspective, there was no reason to demonstrate the magic further.
In fact, suddenly showing more magic here could hinder his enlightenment.
I hadn’t used magic even while cooking earlier.
Thus Chul Mu-geuk spent the entire night alone, agonizing over the movements of the magic he’d witnessed.
Even until the next morning.
“You’re awake?”
“Mm….”
By the time dawn broke and we prepared to depart again, Chul Mu-geuk’s face was ashen.
The marks of a sleepless night spent in contemplation were unmistakable.
In truth, masters of the highest caliber rarely deteriorated to such a degree.
Yet such a state was clear evidence of tremendous spiritual exhaustion.
He’d even skipped breakfast.
In that condition, Chul Mu-geuk simply remained lost in thought, his gaze slightly unfocused.
‘He’s certainly sensing the wall before him.’
Whether he could transcend it, no one could say.
Most died without ever perceiving the wall’s existence at all.
“You all wait here.”
After finishing breakfast, I ordered my subordinates to remain in the clearing where we’d slept.
Then I led only Chul Mu-geuk and the Disciples quietly along the mountain path.
Then, at some point.
“Hah….”
Suddenly, Chul Mu-geuk’s state shifted ever so slightly.
I, who had been observing the entire process with keen interest, clicked my tongue inwardly.
‘He broke through.’
Something that had been within grasp, yet beyond it, had finally slipped completely from his fingers.
Sensing the regret and emptiness flooding through Chul Mu-geuk’s entire being, I nodded.
Still, this experience would prove helpful in moments to come.
The moment of enlightenment was drawing near—I could see it clearly.
‘But that sort of thing is difficult to guarantee.’
Every form of enlightenment takes a different path, after all.
Ilhyang set aside his regret and observed Chul Mu-geuk with keen interest as he slowly examined his physical condition.
After walking the Mountain Path for roughly half a day more.
The surroundings suddenly darkened so completely that the sky vanished from view.
Chul Mu-geuk had come to a halt.
He opened his mouth, gazing toward something ahead.
“There it is.”
“Hmm….”
“Oh!”
“So that’s the….”
Whiiiiing―
From the rear, Ilhyang felt an eerie wind sweep across his brow, and he narrowed his eyes.
Indeed, a colossal gorge loomed before him.
A chasm of such overwhelming scale that it couldn’t be taken in at a single glance.
It possessed the menacing presence and magnitude of a giant wielding an enormous axe in a devastating downward strike.
It was almost awe-inspiring to behold.
Strangely, despite the sun hanging high in the sky above The Gorge’s interior.
It remained obscured, as though shrouded in mist.
“About half a year ago, a massive gorge like this appeared along with the sound of thunder. I’ve heard that among those who ventured inside out of curiosity, not a single person has emerged alive.”
“How peculiar. How did you manage to suppress word of such a place?”
A perfectly ordinary mountain suddenly bore this bizarre chasm, and people had vanished into it.
Yet no one had swarmed to investigate?
Given the gorge’s immense scale—too vast to encompass in a single view—this was no small matter that a handful of individuals could control through rumor management.
As Ilhyang expressed his bewilderment, Chul Mu-geuk nodded.
“This mountain range belongs to my family from the start. We control half the mines in the Jinan Mountain Range.”
“Ah….”
That made sense then.
Now satisfied, Ilhyang regarded Heaven’s Way Three Absolutes Chul Mu-geuk with fresh eyes.
It was hardly surprising, given that the garments Chul Mu-geuk typically wore seemed so rustic.
He wore only rough gray martial robes or long coats, so Ilhyang had never detected his wealthy background.
‘Quite the wealthy young master, it seems.’
While Ilhyang entertained such idle thoughts.
Suddenly, from the entrance of The Gorge.
Two figures who had been concealed among the rocks on either side approached and bowed respectfully to Chul Mu-geuk.
“We greet you, Uncle.”
“We greet you, Grand Master.”
“Good. You’ve done well keeping watch. You may return now.”
“That is… the Family Head instructed us never to abandon our post at the entrance of Bulhoe Valley.”
“Hmm? What do you mean by that?”
“Uncle said that even if he breaks through the Secret Realm and emerges, he might need assistance, so he ordered me to wait here.”
“Jeong Myeong told you that?”
“Yes.”
“Understood. Then wait at the entrance—it’s dangerous inside.”
“Yes, Grand Master.”
Ilhyang listened with keen interest as Chul Mu-geuk and the members of the Cheol Clan spoke among themselves.
It seemed they had given this place a name among themselves: Bulhoe Valley.
‘A gorge from which none return, they call it.’
Just as Ilhyang was thinking it was quite a romantic name.
Chul Mu-geuk, standing at the entrance of the Secret Realm, opened his mouth.
“Well? Is it truly a Secret Realm?”
Could he have called it that without even being certain?
Ilhyang’s expression became slightly incredulous, but upon reflection, he realized there was no real need for confirmation.
“Yes. It is indeed a Secret Realm.”
From within the gorge, a certain dangerous aura that only masters of the Ascendant realm could perceive was seeping out slowly.
If one felt this and still didn’t recognize it as a Secret Realm, that would be absurd.
‘But this exceeds my expectations.’
The Dungeon’s scale was far greater than anticipated.
As a result, a bright smile had been playing across Ilhyang’s face all this while.
The thought that there might be something extraordinary inside was utterly fascinating.
The larger and more dangerous a Dungeon’s scale, the higher the grade of treasures contained within.
At first, I had expected little—merely hoping to gain ‘knowledge’ about how Dungeons functioned in this world.
‘This should yield quite a harvest.’
Ilhyang stood beside Chul Mu-geuk and extended his right hand forward.
“Then I shall enter.”
“I’m counting on you.”
The boundary line of the Secret Realm brushing against my fingertips.
Sensing the distinction between inside and outside.
As I examined the Secret Realm’s construction, my eyes gleamed.
‘This is interesting.’
This place possessed ‘rules.’
If someone were to forcefully push in from the outside without restraint.
They would have wandered endlessly through the labyrinth within and perished.
That was merely the trap visible on the surface of the Secret Realm.
Its true form was something else entirely.
‘They’ve layered spaces.’
Spatial distortion.
This was impossible without extremely advanced magical knowledge.
Standing outside the boundary, I laughed while estimating the Secret Realm’s form.
‘Both the scale and the method of construction are quite refined.’
By completion grade standards, this is A-rank magic.
And that fact was teaching me one crucial truth.
‘So there really was a properly trained mage in this world.’
What method had they used to cast magic?
Unfortunately, from my current level of perception, the form and aesthetic appeared extremely blurred from the Outside.
So I had no choice but to enter and verify it myself.
Crackle, crackle—
I grasped at some point in empty space, then slowly twisted my hand to the left as if turning a handle.
Then.
Whoooosh—
A circular opening tore through the mist before my eyes.
“Let’s go inside.”
I had no idea what dangers or traps might await within.
As I stepped forward to lead the way, my face burned with the fervent heat of a young boy rushing to meet his first love.

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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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