Chapter 509 - Just Let Me Hold It Once.
Drip….
A hollow, dark space—a place where one could tell from a single breath that the surroundings were damp.
Drip… drip….
So quiet was it that in this space, even the tiny sound of falling water droplets rang out loud.
The floor was covered with so many bloodstains that one could only guess how much had flowed.
When wind blew, chains hanging on the walls moved and let out grating noises.
Moreover, thick, unidentifable smoke hung heavy in the air.
Anyone who entered this place would naturally realize, before long, that this smoke was all poisonous miasma.
How deep.
And a space so ancient that one could not begin to fathom when it was made.
In such an unknown place, an old man was facing someone.
A bluish-green silk robe with the character for Namgung distinctly written on the back.
A back stiff as though it would never bend, and broad, squared shoulders.
His hair tied tightly without the slightest hint of disarray, and the sword hanging at his waist—these complemented each other so that the old man's spirit radiated effortlessly.
The old man's title was Cheonjon, the Heavenly Venerable.
A martial artist representing the Namgung Family.
And one of the Cheonoecheon, known as the Three Venerables of the Central Plains.
"Hmm."
Cheonjon tilted his head and looked ahead.
There was the source of the grating chain sound from earlier.
Something was bound here and there with iron and nails.
What was bound was, surprisingly, a person.
No, by now it was questionable to even call him a person, but he was clearly human.
Just as Cheonjon was observing him with his characteristically cold gaze.
"Keuh… keuh…."
Suddenly, the chains shook and a laugh emerged.
The one thought to have died long ago was, surprisingly, alive.
He was gasping as though he could die at any moment, yet breath still clung to him.
Perhaps because his laughter was grating,
Cheonjon's brow furrowed slightly.
"What is so amusing?"
Cheonjon asked, a hint of irritation in his voice.
"…How… could it not be amusing…."
His head lifted.
His hair was sticky, soaked in blood, and his eyes could not open properly, his gaze hazy.
Cheonjon could see it in his eyes.
Nothingness.
There was nothing within. Distant and hollow, like this space.
At that chilling sensation, Cheonjon could not help but click his tongue.
"…One who thrashed so desperately to become the heavens… has now fallen to become a mere house-guarding dog… how could it not be amusing…."
Drip.
Perhaps because speaking itself was a struggle, blood flowed from his mouth.
"Keuh… keuh keuh…."
Blood pooled on the floor.
Cheonjon walked as though he did not care.
Then, he slowly bent his waist to meet the other's gaze.
Cheonjon's blue eyes turned toward him, and Cheonjon grabbed his face and spoke.
"Heukryonggeom… that is certainly what you were called, was it not?"
"…Tsk…! To think the great Cheonjon remembers me… what an honor…."
"No, you are not Heukryonggeom."
Hearing him, Cheonjon immediately denied it.
He had no choice.
"The corpse at that time had clearly been disposed of—burned away, even."
Back when the Sword Venerable known as Jilpunggeom annihilated the Heukryongdae.
When the matter ended, the Murim Alliance handled the aftermath. And the one who personally confirmed Heukryonggeom's corpse was none other than Cheonjon.
"Yet there is no way you could be alive and well like this."
With such memories, someone suddenly appears claiming to be Heukryonggeom?
Cheonjon could not believe it.
"Keuh… keuh…."
Even at Cheonjon's words, Heukryonggeom only let out laughter.
"…With such a petty gaze, that is all you can see… truly pathetic…."
"What is your true identity?"
"I am… Heukryonggeom…. And also…."
Kueolok.
Black blood flowed from Heukryonggeom's mouth.
"…Kgeueuh…."
Perhaps the pain was considerable; every time he spoke, he let out groans.
"…My flesh, burned by that child… does not heal… I wonder why…."
"Child?"
"Tsk tsk tsk…."
Burned?
Cheonjon recalled something.
He remembered that the one who subdued Heukryonggeom was surprisingly said to be a late-stage expert.
'He was said to be a child of the Gu family.'
A martial artist who had recently been causing quite a stir.
The provisional young family head born of the Gu family.
There was a figure said to far surpass the level of a late-stage expert, now fully treated as a martial artist in his own right.
'Soyeomra… was that it?'
It was impossible not to know.
Because it had been one of the methods chosen by the Beggar Sect to turn the angry public sentiment when it entered the Alliance.
'As it happened, they said he was here.'
Sichuan, and at that, the Dang Family.
He had heard the news that the Poison King had personally brought him to the Dang Family.
He had intended to let it pass, seeing no need to deliberately meet him.
'It should be fine to go see him once.'
As the youth was also engaged to the Namgung Family, there seemed to be sufficient pretext to visit.
Moreover.
'For I must see that child as well.'
It was time he saw the child who was his great-granddaughter.
Because the Sword King had sent a personal letter.
Cheonjon slowly rose.
Further conversation was meaningless anyway.
Previously, not only the Poison King but also the people of the Dang Family had tortured him for a long time.
Heukryonggeom had not uttered a single word.
How he had lived, for what purpose he had attacked the Sinryonggwan.
What he had been doing all this time.
Even though the Dang Family had tried brutal torture, Heukryonggeom's lips remained heavy.
As if someone were blocking him from speaking.
There was no more meaning to be found.
Having judged so, Cheonjon shifted his gaze away from the dying Heukryonggeom.
A wall that appeared completely bare.
Cheonjon reached his hand toward a gap in it.
Clang-!
With the sound of something moving.
Rumble-!
Suddenly, a space opened up.
Inside, there were stairs leading down somewhere.
Cheonjon gazed at them briefly, then moved toward them.
To get there, he had to pass Heukryonggeom, yet Cheonjon did not spare him another glance.
As if he had held no interest from the start, he passed by with a cold, frigid demeanor and descended.
Immediately after Cheonjon disappeared through the door.
Grind-!
The door closed again as if it had been waiting, returning to its original appearance as a wall.
The space grew quiet once more.
Within it, Heukryonggeom raised his head with a creak and looked forward.
In the pitch-black darkness, devoid of a single light.
"O Taecheon… I beseech you… please…."
Heukryonggeom offered a quiet prayer.
******************
Step.
He walked down the long stairs for some time.
Cheonjon was passing through an extremely narrow passage.
Oooong.
The poisonous miasma grew thicker as he descended. Cheonjon raised his internal energy to block it.
It was thicker than expected.
Poison potent enough that even Cheonjon had to take heed—it was far beyond a merely irritating level.
Splosh.
Moisture could be felt on the stairs.
Did that mean he was almost there?
Feeling an indescribable disgust, Cheonjon hastened his steps, and before long, he was able to reach his destination.
Emerging from the passage, unlike the dark upper floor, the area was illuminated by lamps mounted on the walls.
Moreover.
'Tch.'
The smell of blood pierced his nose.
The moisture he had felt earlier was indeed blood.
Was it human blood?
Cheonjon looked down at his feet.
The blood giving off the foul stench was blue.
Meaning it was not human blood, but demonic beast blood.
Even so, with this much of it.
No matter that it was not human blood, Cheonjon waved his hand at the rising nausea just from looking.
Then.
Hwoooosh-!
Wind whipped up and swept away the blood pooled on the floor.
A relatively clean floor.
Cheonjon stood there and looked somewhere.
Wondering where the blood that had soaked the floor came from—it was right there.
Something stacked in layers. Blood was flowing from among entangled beings whose forms could no longer be distinguished.
Cheonjon immediately knew they were corpses of demonic beasts.
A rotting stench hung in the air.
A sight that soured one's mood just by looking.
Seeing such a disgusting scene, Cheonjon spoke bluntly.
"Was I called merely to be shown this?"
As Cheonjon's words echoed through the space,
only then did the one in the back reveal himself.
"How could that be… how would I dare call your precious self for merely that?"
The one who appeared with a smile was the First Elder of the Dang Family.
"Originally, I wished to meet in a far better place. Unfortunately, I could not, and I ask your forgiveness, Cheonjon."
"…I shall decline bothersome questions and answers. My mood has been soured considerably from above."
At Cheonjon's frigid words, the First Elder smiled awkwardly and moved his steps.
Passing through the area filled with demonic beast corpses, a small table came into view.
It was a place where an unusually large amount of blood had pooled.
As the First Elder headed there, Cheonjon examined the spot carefully with a questioning expression.
There was something on the table.
What was it?
Cheonjon also moved his steps there.
The moment he approached the table and examined the object.
"…!"
Cheonjon involuntarily took a step back.
The object was a small jewel.
A round jewel emitting a brilliant light-green glow.
Though one could not help but think it beautiful upon seeing its radiant light,
the reason Cheonjon retreated was not that—it was because the poison and energy emanating from the jewel were too intense.
The First Elder spoke, seeming pleased by Cheonjon's reaction.
"What do you think?"
"…Is this the finished product?"
"Exactly. That which I… no, that which Dokgun wished to create—the crystallization of the Dang Family's conviction."
Dokgun—the nickname of the current Dang Family Head's grandfather. By now, he was a dead man.
He wanted to touch the jewel, but Cheonjon did not attempt to do so.
Though he was blocking it with internal energy, it was not something someone lacking poison resistance could touch.
Just how much energy had to be mixed for it to emit such an aura?
Moreover.
"To think they ultimately created such an object."
How had these people created this?
Just by looking at the finished product, Cheonjon could not even begin to imagine how fierce and cruel the creation process must have been.
The demonic beast corpses piled in the back?
Those were at best a fraction. Such energy could not be gathered from merely that much.
While Cheonjon looked at the jewel with calm eyes, the First Elder continued speaking.
"According to the agreement with the Alliance… I shall separately write and send you the manufacturing method and ingredients."
"The method of use as well?"
"There is no particular method of use."
The First Elder reached out and grasped the jewel.
"Simply swallow it, and that is the end. If you do…"
"One can become a Cheonmujiche…?"
"That is the expectation. But it is not yet certain."
"The reason?"
At Cheonjon's question, the First Elder smiled.
"We have not yet confirmed whether it properly takes effect after consumption."
"Then it cannot be called a finished product."
If it had not been properly tested, it was not a finished product.
It was different from the agreement.
As Cheonjon narrowed his eyes and said this, the First Elder hurriedly continued.
"The ratios have been properly matched. If the conditions are met, it is something that will certainly succeed."
"Conditions?"
Conditions for using this.
Meaning there were separate requirements.
At Cheonjon's questioning tone, the First Elder moistened his dry lips and spoke.
"…The first is, it must be a woman who has not passed the age of twenty."
"The reason?"
"All other test subjects died from side effects and explosive death."
Meaning, just how many experiments had been conducted.
That sinister undertone grated on him, but he did not bother nitpicking.
"If there is a first, there must be a second?"
"Correct. The second is… one must possess a vessel capable of withstanding the energy that transforms the body."
"Ambiguous words indeed."
One had to be able to withstand the energy this jewel possessed.
Did it mean one needed the talent and physical body to do so?
A somewhat unclear answer.
"I speak with a degree of certainty. As it happens, we have a proper subject for the experiment. However, the situation has become a bit troublesome."
Having listened to the First Elder, Cheonjon alternated his gaze between the jewel and the First Elder.
Then he nodded slightly and spoke.
"Then let us honor the agreement when proper results have come out."
It was an item whose results had not yet properly materialized.
Since certainty was impossible based solely on the First Elder's words, they would speak again when the matter was properly concluded.
Such was Cheonjon's reply, yet the First Elder cautiously broached another matter.
"…So. Might I ask something of you?"
"Of me?"
Cheonjon frowned at the First Elder's words.
"It is nothing else. At this point where only the final task remains, a needless disturbance has arisen."
"What do you mean?"
His foul mood momentarily forgotten, Cheonjon showed interest at the mention of a disturbance.
Seeing that, the First Elder inwardly breathed a sigh of relief and opened his mouth again.
"Somehow they found out. That Gu family trash is interfering with—"
"…Wait."
Cheonjon suddenly cut the First Elder off.
At that action, the First Elder paused.
"Why do you…? Is there something displeasing…?"
"Quiet."
"…"
Cheonjon silenced the First Elder and quietly observed somewhere. Having concentrated for a while, Cheonjon spoke with a deeply furrowed expression.
"…Something is coming."
"What…?"
The First Elder's eyes widened momentarily at Cheonjon's words.
But soon he let out a hollow laugh.
"That can't be. There are countless formations and mechanisms laid here… I have prepared means to notice should anyone approach."
If someone tried to enter through the entrance, monitoring creatures had been placed so that the First Elder would know.
Not to mention layers upon layers of formations to prevent discovery.
In such a situation, finding this place's entrance was impossible.
The First Elder judged that Cheonjon was mistaken and spoke with a smile, but.
"It is not the entrance."
Cheonjon was firm.
"Not the entrance?"
The First Elder asked back at Cheonjon's words, but after that, Cheonjon did not utter another word.
He merely looked at a spot.
The First Elder looked at Cheonjon strangely but soon followed his gaze.
The ceiling.
What Cheonjon was looking at was the sturdily built ceiling.
The moment the First Elder's gaze reached there as well.
Kuwoong-! Kung!
"…!"
As if it had been waiting, a thunderous roar reached the First Elder's ears.
From above. From an unfathomably distant place came sounds of something exploding and shattering.
"Wh… what?"
Even as the First Elder exclaimed in confusion, the thunderous roars were gradually drawing closer.
The speed was absurdly fast.
Kuwoooong-! Kung kung-!
Was he imagining it?
As the sounds drew closer, he could feel the surroundings growing hotter.
Just what was happening?
In the short time he could not properly grasp the situation,
the thunderous roar was already upon him.
And before long.
Kwaaaang-!
The ceiling burst open and collapsed.
At the sudden explosion, the First Elder leaped aside to avoid it.
Rumble….
As the ceiling collapsed, stone fragments scattered.
And amid it, something was flowing down.
The First Elder frowned as he saw it.
"That is…?"
Through the hole in the ceiling, he saw something slowly flowing down.
The First Elder realized belatedly.
That it was traces of the ceiling melting away.
Huuuuk…!
The surrounding air grew hot.
A heat stifling enough to choke one's breath.
Then.
Tremble.
'…What is this…'
The First Elder realized his hands were trembling of their own accord.
Not just his hands—his entire body shook.
Wondering why his body trembled so, while the First Elder was tense with the unexpected situation—
Thud.
Footsteps were heard amid the swirling dust. The First Elder sent his gaze there.
He saw.
He clearly saw.
Eyes looking this way from within the thick, swirling dust.
Red eyes that looked as though they would incinerate everything.
His body, which had been trembling until moments ago, stiffened rigidly the moment it met that gaze.
'Why is this happening…!'
In the very moment he poured all his strength into forcing his unresponsive body to move—
Fwaaaash-!
An instantaneous gale blew, sweeping away all the smoke in the surroundings.
With everything that obscured the view now gone, only then could the First Elder properly identify the owner of those eyes.
Red hair dyed crimson, matching the red eyes that had been staring this way.
A man clad in a martial robe adorned with golden patterns.
Though he appeared expressionless at a glance, the First Elder could sense the immense rage radiating from him.
Who was this person who had appeared so suddenly?
While the First Elder's mind raced—
The man looked at the frozen First Elder and spoke.
"Found you."
At the same time as those words.
Crunch.
The First Elder's leg was torn off.