The moment Zhuge Seong-hyeon and his party stepped out of the lodgings they had been guided to last night.
"Amitabha."
A Daoist call was heard.
Standing there was a female Daoist with a cold impression and a stiff expression.
"I am Seol Ran, the Eldest Disciple of the Huashan Sect, who will be guiding you today."
At her greeting, Zhuge Seong-hyeon also cupped his hands in salute.
"I am Zhuge Seong-hyeon of the Zhuge Clan."
The female Daoist, Seol Ran, swept her eyes over Zhuge Seong-hyeon and his party one by one, then parted her lips.
"Martial Uncle Cheon-hui is waiting for you. Follow me."
With those words, Seol Ran turned around and walked off as if urging them onward.
"Young Master."
"Let's follow."
The party was flustered by the abrupt situation, but matched their steps with Zhuge Seong-hyeon, who was following behind her.
Zhuge Seong-hyeon asked her.
"Young Lady, may I ask where we are heading?"
"Dorimpyeong."
"Dorimpyeong...?"
Zhuge Seong-hyeon, who had no idea what kind of place Dorimpyeong was, tilted his head.
"What kind of place is that?"
Instantly, Seol Ran turned her head.
Staring at Zhuge Seong-hyeon with a stiff expression, her lips parted slightly before she let out a cold voice.
"It is the training ground for the Eldest Disciples."
"Is that so?"
The conversation abruptly stopped.
Thinking that was answer enough, Seol Ran turned her head back and resumed her momentarily paused steps.
Crunch, crunch.
Looking at the back of Seol Ran, who walked leaving footprints in the snow, Zhuge Seong-hyeon muttered.
"She doesn't seem like a Daoist at all."
At Zhuge Seong-hyeon's very quiet words, the party nodded in agreement.
Along with her stiff expression, her voice, which struck their ears, was as cold as ice, almost chilling.
Walking the snow-covered path in a subtle silence for a while, Zhuge Seong-hyeon felt a slight sense of dissonance.
'I haven't run into a single person.'
The distance from the lodgings to here was quite long, yet they hadn't encountered a single other person.
He frowned and scratched his head.
He knew well that the Huashan Sect had nearly fallen to ruin, but wasn't this a bit much?
'There are footprints, though.'
There were many footprints imprinted in the snow.
But there were no people.
Scratching his head, he surveyed his surroundings.
Even if it was just after sunrise and time for morning training, it was excessively quiet.
'Has something happened?'
Step—
Right on time, Seol Ran stopped walking.
Then, she pointed somewhere.
"That is Dorimpyeong."
Following her outstretched, pure white index finger, their gazes slowly moved.
"What a beautiful place."
"It's a magnificent view."
The party let out exclamations of admiration.
Under the freshly risen sunlight, the white snow mountains sparkled, and below them lay a vast training ground.
Just as they were staring blankly at the magnificent view like a painting—
"Then please follow me."
Seol Ran took a step forward again.
How long had the party been following her, as they got closer to Dorimpyeong—
Halt—
Zhuge Seong-hyeon stopped walking.
"Young Master?"
"What is it?"
The party walking alongside him asked, looking at Zhuge Seong-hyeon who had suddenly stopped.
"Shh."
Zhuge Seong-hyeon put his index finger to his lips with a serious expression.
Then, he frowned.
"Can you hear that sound?"
"Pardon?"
"I hear a strange sound from over there."
Flustered, the party pricked up their ears.
And when they focused their minds—
"Ugh, ugh..."
A bizarre sound came from afar.
As if suffering.
Yes, it sounded like a groan.
"What in the world..."
Just when the entire party was panicking—
"Aaaargh!"
A scream washed over them.
"......!"
"Huh?!"
"W-What's going on?"
Zhuge Seong-hyeon and his party panicked and moved quickly toward the scream, only to freeze at the scene that unfolded before them.
"Young Master!"
The Zhuge Clan's party widened their eyes and protectively surrounded Zhuge Seong-hyeon.
"How could this be!"
Zhuge Seong-hyeon's pupils shook.
The training ground was a scene of pandemonium.
Most of the young Daoists were lying on the ground, twitching, and a few were twisting their bodies in agony.
Beside them, a middle-aged Daoist and an old man who looked like physicians were moving about, checking their pulses.
'Who on earth did this to the Huashan Sect...!'
Cold sweat broke out in an instant.
Just yesterday, the Huashan Sect was peaceful.
Yet, in just a single night, most of the disciples were rendered incapable of fighting.
And there were very few forces in the Murim capable of pulling off such a thing.
'The Bicheonhoe? No, in the current situation, the Bicheonhoe wouldn't move. Then is it the Saheukryeon...?'
A stream of sweat rolled down his forehead.
They had come to make a request, but now they were caught up in a massive incident.
'Of all times, for this to happen when we came to make a request.'
Zhuge Seong-hyeon gulped.
Having already infiltrated this deeply, it was a situation where escaping was no longer easy.
'We must join forces.'
He quickly scanned the disciples of the Huashan Sect.
Most were incapacitated.
There were a few Daoists circulating their Qi. However, they too looked quite haggard and seemed to lack any strength.
It wasn't just their appearance.
A foul stench seemingly emanating from them lingered in the air, assaulting their noses.
"Ugh, what's that stench..."
The party guarding him also seemed to smell the foul odor and scrunched their faces up intensely.
'T-Th-this smell!'
Zhuge Seong-hyeon's face turned pale blue.
"Everyone, cover your noses!"
"Pardon?"
"It's poison!"
At Zhuge Seong-hyeon's desperate shout, the party widened their eyes and held their breath.
'Of all things, this poisonous herb...!'
His expression grew increasingly serious.
The scent drifting in the air was a foul stench he knew well.
Sanbisang!
It was a lethal poison frequently used by that guy from the Sichuan Tang Clan who was close to him.
'They're crazy! Using such a lethal poison means they intend to start a war!'
Zhuge Seong-hyeon's hands trembled.
If they were going to use poison against the Huashan Sect, they were at least aiming for the sect's annihilation.
"What are you doing?"
Startled by the voice suddenly interjecting from beside him, Zhuge Seong-hyeon turned his head.
Cheon-hui was standing there.
Cheon-hui looked at the party, who were covering their mouths with both hands, with a face that said he couldn't believe what he was seeing.
'What kind of nonsense is this?'
Zhuge Seong-hyeon quickly moved his hands.
"Pardon?"
Despite the question, Zhuge Seong-hyeon covered his mouth with both hands and gestured urgently.
"Mmph! Mmph!"
Seeing his hands moving urgently this way and that, Cheon-hui furrowed his brows.
"Just speak, will you?"
Seeing Cheon-hui completely unable to understand, Zhuge Seong-hyeon quickly moved his lips.
"Poison!"
"What? Poison? And here I thought it was something serious. Making a fuss over something so trivial."
With those words, he immediately waved his hand.
At that moment, a soft breeze arose and chased away the poisonous fumes in an instant.
"There, it's gone, right?"
As the poisonous scent that had stung their noses disappeared, Zhuge Seong-hyeon let out the breath he had been holding.
"Then let's go make the gate now."
"W-What do you mean? They were just attacked..."
"Attacked? Attacked by what?"
At Cheon-hui's excessively calm demeanor, Zhuge Seong-hyeon and his party were bewildered.
"Then why are they collapsed..."
Seeing him pointing his finger at the Eldest Disciples, Cheon-hui spoke nonchalantly.
"They're training."
"Excuse me...?"
While Zhuge Seong-hyeon stood there blankly, unable to understand at all, Hyeon-cheong approached.
"Amitabha. So you are the guests from the Zhuge Clan who visited our mountain yesterday."
Startled by Hyeon-cheong's sudden appearance, Zhuge Seong-hyeon jumped in surprise and cupped his hands in salute.
"I am Zhuge Seong-hyeon of the Zhuge Clan."
"Haha, I am Hyeon-cheong."
"Nice to meet... N-No. More importantly, what is going on here?"
Zhuge Seong-hyeon, who had been exchanging greetings with Hyeon-cheong, came to his senses belatedly and reacted.
"Y-You're saying that sight over there isn't an attack, but training...?"
"Haha, it is indeed training."
Hyeon-cheong smiled awkwardly.
Not only Zhuge Seong-hyeon, but even he himself thought that if he had seen this situation without knowing anything, he would have assumed it was an attack.
With not only Cheon-hui but even Hyeon-cheong calling it training, Zhuge Seong-hyeon was bewildered.
"T-Then why are they poisoned?"
"That is a secret."
"Does the Zhuge Clan pry into the training methods of other sects?"
Hyeon-cheong spoke, and Cheon-hui added.
At the words of the two, which stabbed at him as sharply as thorns, Zhuge Seong-hyeon flinched.
After that, he accepted it without asking further.
"......I understand."
Cheon-hui spoke to Zhuge Seong-hyeon, who seemed about to fall into thought with a complex expression.
"More importantly, let's go now."
"Go where?"
"To the place where we'll make the gate."
* * *
A short while later, Cheon-hui, Zhuge Seong-hyeon, and his party arrived at a cave in Huashan.
"I never thought I'd get to come to this place."
Zhuge Seong-hyeon let out a sigh of admiration.
The place he was standing right now was precisely the Huashan Sect's Dongcheon, Geonwon Cave.
It was one of the Four Great Dongcheon of Huashan where the greatest spiritual energy in Huashan gathered, and it was a place rarely visited compared to the other three Dongchens used for closed-door cultivation.
'I didn't think I'd even be able to come to the Huashan Sect in this lifetime.'
The Four Great Dongcheon were hard to enter even if one visited the Huashan Sect, so being able to enter one of them was deeply moving.
"Ooh!"
Zhuge Seong-hyeon, touching the considerably sized entrance with an excited expression, opened his mouth.
"But is it really okay to use this place as the gate?"
Zhuge Seong-hyeon was being cautious.
At a glance, the cave exuded a divine aura and felt as though it held a long, deep history.
However, if they used this place as a gate, they might damage that history.
"Yes."
Cheon-hui answered softly.
'It was hard persuading them.'
From the moment he planned to create the Plum Blossom Seven Gates, the location had already been decided.
The Four Great Dongcheon of Huashan.
Because there was no other place.
'In order to properly activate the formation, a divine aura is necessary.'
Were the Ten Heavenly Demonic Gates just any ordinary gates?
They were the crystallization of all Demonic Arts created in the mythological era and the gates that founded the current Heavenly Demonic Divine Cult.
Therefore, the mechanisms and formations within each gate were so immensely powerful that a divine aura was required to activate them.
'It wasn't built in the most divine cave in the Tianshan Mountain Range for nothing.'
He recalled the entrance to the Ten Heavenly Demonic Gates.
A place that felt chilling, like the entrance to hell, and exuded an aura of death.
Cheon-hui's gaze turned toward Geonwon Cave.
The spiritual energy he felt was distinctly weaker than that of the Ten Heavenly Demonic Gates, but he didn't mind.
'The energy I felt back then was Demonic Qi that had accumulated over time. The Plum Blossom Seven Gates will probably change as time passes, too.'
Cheon-hui moved his head.
"This place, with my own hands..."
Zhuge Seong-hyeon murmured, touching the wall of the cave with an ecstatic expression. Cheon-hui spoke to him.
"Then let's begin."