Third-rate Martial Family Becomes the Best Under Heaven - Chapter 382

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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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Third-rate Martial Arts Family, Greatest Under Heaven – Episode 382
To be honest, Chu Dal had been feeling somewhat left out lately.
He was the only one in the group who hadn’t reached the pinnacle realm, which was understandable.
‘Finally, my moment to shine…!’
“Hehehehe, so even masters of the pinnacle realm need the help of this Chu Dal, who’s merely at the beginner stage of the peak? How humbling.”
Seeing that arrogant bastard made me laugh.
“Yeah, you’re the dead weight I’ve been dragging along for situations like this. If you can’t find it within half a day, I can give you a beating, right?”
Chu Dal’s gaze swept across the rocky mountain.
Just looking around seemed like it would take more than half a day.
“…My apologies, brother.”
“If you understand, get moving.”
“Yes, sir!”
Though he’d gotten a jab for his boasting, Chu Dal’s shoulders didn’t droop.
After all this time lurking about eavesdropping or running errands, finally being entrusted with a proper task felt like—well, how to put it.
Like he’d been given an opportunity for self-actualization.
“Chu Dal Dou. This place does seem to be where Gwigyoe Jungok-gun’s legacy is hidden, doesn’t it?”
Unlike Yang Hwi, who spoke with certainty, Neung-o seemed somewhat skeptical.
“I believe so. It feels too artificial to be a natural formation.”
Neung-o’s gaze turned toward the rocky mountain. It looked no different from the countless geographical features we’d seen on the way here.
“…Which part exactly?”
“Hehe, to a successor of the Divine Vein lineage, it’s obvious at a glance, Daoist.”
Rocky mountains typically vary in color depending on their height.
As soil and sand accumulated over long periods harden into rock, they inevitably differ slightly with time.
But this mountain before us was different.
“This mountain was deliberately constructed by someone. Please wait a moment.”
Chu Dal launched himself into the air.
Though he couldn’t yet perform aerial steps, he drew his life-bound weapon, the Heavenly Silkworm Silk, and hung from it while inspecting various parts of the rocky mountain.
“While he’s searching, shall we rest for a bit?”
“Good idea. Let’s have some tea.”
“I want rice cakes!”
“Got it, Adu.”
Yang Hwi used the break to practice breathing meditation.
Ever since accepting the demonic energy into my body, I’d frequently examined my internal state to prepare for any unforeseen dangers.
‘For something that’s absorbed demonic energy, there’s nothing particularly wrong.’
That’s because I hadn’t simply accepted the demonic energy—it had gathered around the Seon meridian as its center.
Thanks to this solid foundation, the Hwa-cheon Seon-gi and demonic energy were now in perfect balance around my dantian, so to speak.
‘Oh, that’s right. There was something I needed to check.’
“Seolha. Can you take a look at my spiritual landscape?”
I opened my mouth and asked her.
Normally, speaking during breathing meditation was essentially suicide, but for someone like Yang Hwi, it was nothing.
“A mental image? Why?”
“I wove together the thoughts clinging to the demonic qi and created a mental image from it.”
When I mentioned how I had fabricated the Human-Faced Winged Bird to conceal my identity, Seolha’s eyes sharpened as she studied me.
“There’s not much difference… ah.”
The Shattering Heaven Divine Bird shone with ten pairs of wings.
However, if it were nothing but light, there was one thing that should not exist.
A shadow.
A shadow that had not been visible before—a deep darkness now trailed beneath the Shattering Heaven Divine Bird.
“That’s right.”
The pinnacle of transcendence. Otherwise called the Realm of Mental Imagery.
At a level where one manipulates the mind itself, harboring another mental image like the Human-Faced Winged Bird without any change was itself strange.
‘I can handle this much. Still, I’ll need to be more careful going forward.’
“Be cautious, Baek Dou. Harboring demonic qi can never be a good thing.”
“Thanks, Neung-o.”
But there’s no helping it.
I’ve already found the path to greater heights within the demonic qi.
‘The greater the risk I take, the greater the reward I can obtain. For now, I’ll continue as is.’
Well, if problems truly arise, won’t the ancestors in heaven resolve them?
They won’t abandon what they’ve invested in so far.
‘Gain and loss, harmony through the sword path, crossing heaven. Perhaps… unity. There might be a path in unity.’
Spiritual Qi and Hun Qi. If I could only unify these two forces, similar yet opposing.
I could obtain tremendous power.
It was while contemplating such thoughts and observing my inner self.
“Brother! I found it!”
Not even half a day had passed, and already?
“Hehehehe, luck was on our side. I checked several places that looked like entrances, and the first one was a perfect match.”
“Let’s go at once!”
The entrance Chu Dal found was at the peak of a rocky mountain.
“Hey, isn’t the peak too obvious? Is this really it?”
“Ahem. Don’t you know the saying about the false within the true? Just wait and see.”
As Chu Dal moved about, fiddling with something, a grinding sound echoed from below.
“See? I told you it was right.”
“You did.”
Thud, crackle—rocks split and sand and gravel tumbled for a moment.
A massive iron gate appeared.
“The problem is opening this gate. Fair warning—if you try to force it open, the entire rocky mountain will collapse.”
“How do you know?”
“The mountain’s structure is designed that way. It’s built like bricks stacked together. Remove the single stone at the center of the top, and the whole thing comes crashing down.”
Chu Dal spoke with such swagger that I felt like giving him a piece of my mind for his smugness.
“So where’s the key?”
“…Pardon?”
“The key. If you’re a thief, you should pick the lock too. Finding it isn’t enough.”
“That’s…”
“Tsk, always one step short, I’m telling you.”
Chu Dal’s shoulders sagged dramatically.
Hmm, was my criticism too harsh?
“Still, you did well. We can search for the key together from here on out.”
Now then, let me analyze the patterns carved into this iron door first…
-Please enter.
My eyes widened.
“Just now—did you hear that?”
“Hear what, sir?”
“I heard nothing at all.”
-Please enter.
There it was again. A voice transmitted from below.
Or more precisely, a strand of spiritual intent.
“…It seems we have a visitor.”
I didn’t think I’d need to find the key after all.
The transmitted intent had already shown me how to open the door.
“Step back for a moment.”
Standing at the center of the iron door, I examined the patterns.
An intricately embroidered image.
Yet the image itself wasn’t what mattered.
The left side was recessed, the right side raised.
In other words—yin and yang.
‘As expected. It was connected to the arrangement.’
Without doubt, I was the only person in all the realm who could open this door.
The reason was simple.
One had to possess both Spiritual Qi and Demonic Qi to open it.
I drew Demonic Qi into my left hand and Spiritual Qi into my right.
The moment both hands touched the iron door.
Screeeech!
The iron door swung open and dropped downward.
Which meant I fell into a trap as the ground beneath my feet vanished.
But for a master who had mastered Void-Walking, this was nothing.
Floating effortlessly in the air, I turned back to my companions with a grin.
“Come on then. The master seems to be waiting for our arrival.”

* * *
Seolha glanced around before letting out a gasp of admiration.
“How remarkable. It’s just like the interior of a well-constructed pavilion.”
“Indeed, sister. They’ve put such care into constructing even the passageways.”
Typically, the interiors of such places are merely connected caverns.
Decorating such vast expanses would require countless workers.
Expend labor on something built in secret?
Unless one intended to slaughter everyone who discovered it, the passageways could only be decorated haphazardly.
Yet Gwigyoe Jungok-gun’s inner sanctum was different.
“Can one who has reached the pinnacle of martial arts under heaven truly construct such facilities given sufficient time?”
“The characteristic of wielding multiple dharmic treasures must have played a role too. They would be proficient in mechanical contraptions.”
However, no trap-based mechanisms had been installed.
Had they judged it meaningless for whoever might come here?
Or perhaps….
“Baek Dou.”
I turned my attention at Neung-o’s call.
Demonic energy seeping forth gradually. Whispers now creeping into my ears.
-Capture me.
-Ahaha, how beautiful!
-Blood. Give me blood. I shall grant you strength.
A vast chamber. Numerous vessels lined the walls.
Or rather, sealed would be the more accurate term.
Seolha furrowed her brow and plucked the strings of the Heavenly Sound Lute.
Instantly, the whispers vanished.
She had used heart-sound to cancel out the whispers so they could not be heard.
“They’re all terribly vicious demons.”
These were undoubtedly the demons that Gwigyoe Jungok-gun had collected and sealed while wandering the realm.
It seemed that even a single one escaping would be enough to drench the world in blood.
“Baek Dou. Did you seek out Gwigyoe Jungok-gun’s legacy to obtain these creatures?”
In Neung-o’s estimation, there was nothing to gain here.
Setting aside his distaste for relying on artifacts, what use could one who walks the Baek Dou path possibly have for demons?
The strength Neung-o pursued did not depend on such demons.
“That couldn’t be it, brother Neung.”
“Then why have you come to this place?”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”
“No.”
The Geom Seon Decree is not kind enough to explain everything.
It merely floats forth a single sentence, showing only the direction.
Yet there was one thing I could sense.
“Do not approach.”
“It’s fine.”
I swept my gaze across the demons sealed within the walls.
There was no doubt.
“These are all made of Seong Cheol.”
Seong Cheol—the mysterious metal that had once composed the Blood Sect’s divine artifact, the Hyeol-sin Blood Sword, which I had destroyed long ago.
Its characteristic was accepting and amplifying both mental images and spiritual energy.
“If I can just neutralize the demonic energy within, I can melt it all down and put it to use.”
Obtaining this quantity of Seong Cheol was a substantial gain.
Even the Myeong-jin Sect’s Red Cannon, which had displayed remarkable power during the great Yangtze River battle, derived its might from containing only a trace amount of Seong Cheol.
However, it seemed the true prize lay elsewhere.
-Come.
A strand of intention was calling to me.
“Let’s go. Deeper.”
On the opposite side of the cavern, there were stairs.
Spiraling stairs that curved in a circle with the center hollow, descending ever deeper.
“There’s no need to walk down, is there?”
A sudden playful impulse seized me, and I grabbed Chu Dal by the scruff of his neck.
“Brother?!”
“Chu Dal, go first.”
“Kyaaaaaaaa!”
A long scream echoed as he plummeted downward.
“Everyone, follow.”
I hurled myself downward, deployed the Thousand-Pound Weight technique, caught up to the falling Chu Dal, and grabbed his forearm.
“You coward.”
“How could I not be scared of this?!”
In any case, we reached the bottom in an instant.
There was only one path ahead.
-Come.
The whisper of intention sounded more distinct now.
At the end of the passage stood a single door.
“Brother, it’s a mechanism formation. And a high-level one at that—one capable of controlling intention itself.”
“Yes, I feel it too.”
Both my energy and intention were being warped.
Whatever was sealed behind that door would be far more vicious than the demons we had encountered before.
“Open it.”
Just as before, I released both Spiritual Qi and demonic energy simultaneously, and with a metallic click, the door swung open.
I tensed and rushed in, ready for anything.
Then I felt bewilderment.
“It’s empty?”
No, to be precise, it wasn’t completely empty.
At the far end of the space, there stood a single metal sculpture.
‘How peculiar it looks.’
Typically, sculptures are cast as a single piece by pouring molten metal into a mold.
Yet this sculpture before me appeared to be crafted by precisely fitting together metal fragments of various shapes.
“What kind of place is this?”
“That’s what I’d like to know.”
That was the moment.
-You’ve arrived.
Clank! Clank!
The sculpture began to move.
Metallic sounds flowed forth as it shifted smoothly.
From the center, metal fragments migrated and transformation commenced.
Clank! Clank!
It was truly a wondrous sight.
The kind of spectacle one wonders if they’ll ever witness again in their lifetime.
‘The sculpture itself was a mechanism. A Gwigyoe Jungok-gun. Only someone worthy of being called the greatest under heaven could have created such a device.’
The sculpture split in half with a metallic sound.
From within emerged the figure of an old man.
“How long has it been since I’ve seen another person like this.”
His voice was hoarse, as if he hadn’t taken a single sip of water in ages.
Now that I looked closer, the old man’s face was gaunt, skin clinging to bone.
“Who are you, sir?”
“How should I introduce myself? Yes, for now I wish to be called this.”
The withered, papery skin of his face moved.
It was something resembling a smile.
“The Dalai Lama. I am the Dalai Lama.”
The Dalai Lama, who had vanished after falling into depravity through demons, was here.
“Anbaeja, I have waited long for you.”

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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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