“That can’t be.”
Mu Gyeol shook his head.
“The Elder keeps that book stored in a specific separate location.”
Mu Gyeol had served the Martial Venerable for a long time.
If the Martial Venerable carried a book on his person at all times, there was no way Mu Gyeol would fail to notice.
“Could it perhaps be inside the Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Jade Coffin?”
“Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Jade Coffin? What are you talking about?”
Bu Eunseol felt something strange.
No matter what had happened in the past, Mu Gyeol was currently the Martial Venerable’s disciple and faithfully carried out his orders.
For him not to know about the Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Jade Coffin?
“Haven’t you been to the secret passage beneath Solitary Enlightenment Hall?”
“The secret passage connected to the supply warehouse?”
“Yes.”
“That’s merely a covert route allowing discreet travel between Solitary Enlightenment Hall and the Heaven and Earth Pavilion.”
Bu Eunseol swallowed his astonishment.
The Martial Venerable had never shown Mu Gyeol the Heavenly Emperor’s corpse.
“You’ve never seen the Heavenly Emperor’s remains up to now?”
But the unexpected reply came.
“I have seen them.”
“Where?”
Mu Gyeol looked at Bu Eunseol with suspicious eyes.
“You’re not asking that just to figure out where my master’s remains are being kept, are you?”
The off-topic response left Bu Eunseol momentarily confused.
‘Could it be that the Martial Venerable showed me a fake corpse of the Heavenly Emperor?’
He stared straight into Mu Gyeol’s eyes.
‘Or perhaps the Martial Venerable suspected Mu Gyeol and deliberately showed him a false corpse of the Heavenly Emperor?’
After a brief hesitation, Bu Eunseol decided to be honest.
If Mu Gyeol truly was the Heavenly Emperor’s disciple, he deserved to know the truth.
“In truth, I saw the Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Jade Coffin in the secret passage beneath Solitary Enlightenment Hall. And the Heavenly Emperor’s corpse was stored inside it.”
“That’s impossible.” Mu Gyeol shook his head in disbelief. “The Martial Alliance is nothing short of a den of demons. There’s no way the Elder would keep my master’s corpse in a place like this.”
“Then you saw it somewhere else.”
“Of course.”
“When was that? A long time ago?”
“I can’t give you the exact date… but yes, it was quite some time ago.”
Bu Eunseol swallowed a groan.
According to his own conjecture, the Martial Alliance was the main headquarters of the Three Realms.
As Mu Gyeol said, there was no real need for the Martial Venerable to store the Heavenly Emperor’s corpse here.
‘He doesn’t seem to be lying.’
In that case, the situation could be deduced in three ways.
The Heavenly Emperor’s remains had originally been kept elsewhere, and the Martial Venerable had relatively recently moved them to the Martial Alliance.
Or the Martial Venerable had deliberately placed a fake corpse in the Martial Alliance—and that was what Bu Eunseol had seen.
Or…
A flash exploded in Bu Eunseol’s eyes.
‘The corpse is entirely fake… and the Heavenly Emperor is still alive.’
Having organized his thoughts, Bu Eunseol asked again.
“Then you’re absolutely certain the corpse you saw was the real Heavenly Emperor?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean—was it really your master?”
Mu Gyeol answered with a sorrowful face.
“How could a disciple fail to recognize whether his master’s remains are real or fake?”
Bu Eunseol felt even greater confusion.
If Mu Gyeol was telling the truth, then this matter held far more complicated layers.
But there was no need to press Mu Gyeol further right now—after all, the truth could not be uncovered in this moment.
“Fine. Tell me exactly what you want me to do.”
Mu Gyeol handed him a single map.
“This is the place where the Elder secretly stays when he ventures into the martial world. Since he must soon attend the Council of Elders, he will be forced to remain in the Martial Alliance for the next three days.”
“He attends meetings while in seclusion?”
“The Council of Elders is even more important than the Grand Council.”
Bu Eunseol’s eyes narrowed.
A gathering hosted by the Elder Hall held greater authority than the Grand Council, in which every high-ranking member of the Martial Alliance participated?
Mu Gyeol continued.
“During the meeting period, go to this location and search it thoroughly. See if the Spring and Autumn Annals my master left behind is there.”
Bu Eunseol unfolded the map.
It showed the map and intricacies for the formation leading inside.
‘Could this be the place she mentioned?’
Suddenly, Bu Eunseol recalled what Gongsun Dankyung had once told him.
—Commander Baekri once made me a secret proposal. If I revealed the location where the Heavenly Emperor was in seclusion, we would form a truly cooperative relationship.
But Baekri Mujo had failed to keep his promise to Gongsun Dankyung to capture Yangseol Rin alive.
In the end, the proposal had come to nothing.
Could this be the very place Baekri Mujo had so desperately sought?
‘If so, then unimaginable danger must lurk there.’
Looking back, the mechanisms beneath Solitary Enlightenment Hall had reacted to “Harmony.” If this place was where the Martial Venerable stored his martial purification techniques and important documents, then it was only obvious that terrifying traps unseen until now would be laid within.
“Are you certain the Heavenly Emperor’s last will is kept here?”
“I cannot be sure. But an opportunity like this will never come again… so we have no choice but to try.”
“If you have the formation diagram, wouldn’t it be better for you to go in yourself?”
“I cannot go.”
“Why not?”
Mu Gyeol wore a bitter expression.
“The formation created by the Elder can only be entered with a certain level of martial attainment and internal energy. Moreover, every one of my movements is clearly reported to the Elder—I can never enter.”
Bu Eunseol stroked his chin.
“What if I go there and find nothing?”
The Martial Venerable was an exceedingly meticulous man.
He would never leave anything in his hideout that could one day harm him.
“There’s nothing to be done. We can only call it fate.”
“And if I find the Heavenly Emperor’s last will left there and keep it for myself? Have you considered that possibility?”
Mu Gyeol simply smiled in response.
“Then I would have misjudged the person.”
Bu Eunseol gave a wry smile.
At his core, he was ultimately of the demonic path and a disciple of the Nangyang Pavilion.
Yet here was Mu Gyeol, disciple of the foremost orthodox master, placing unlimited trust in him… the situation felt almost absurdly comical.
“It seems this debt is going to cost me quite dearly.”
With a sigh, Bu Eunseol nodded.
“Fine. I’ll do it.”
In the end, he resolved to go to the secret vault Mu Gyeol had described.
“I won’t thank you. This is just a transaction, after all.”
“Of course.”
Bu Eunseol picked up the map.
Just as he turned to leave, something occurred to him and he asked, “By any chance, did the Heavenly Emperor leave you any particular martial art?”
“Martial art?”
“I mean—was there any martial art he specifically instructed you to inherit or practice?”
“Why are you… Ah, I see.”
Furrowing his brow at first, Mu Gyeol soon understood Bu Eunseol’s intent and stroked his chin.
After thinking for a long while, something seemed to occur to him and he spoke.
“Now that you mention it, he did order me to master the eleven highest among the Seventy-Two Supreme Skills of Shaolin.”
“The Seventy-Two Supreme Skills of Shaolin.”
As though realizing something, Bu Eunseol nodded.
“Then I’ll be going.”
***
The Martial Venerable’s secret base was said to be a cave located in Chae-un Valley, a deep ravine in the Great Separation Mountains.
But there was no place called Chae-un Valley in the Great Separation Mountains.
Because Chae-un Valley was a fictional ravine that existed nowhere in the Central Plains—it was completely cut off from the world.
According to the formation diagram Mu Gyeol had given him, entering this place required performing a series of seemingly meaningless actions.
Only by doing so would the gate to Chae-un Valley appear.
‘As expected, the Martial Venerable is well-versed in sorcery as well.’
Why was he called the Martial Venerable?
From childhood, he had roamed the martial world, mastering every martial art scattered across the martial world. Even the Pavilion Lord of Nangyang Pavilion, Ak Muryeong—who was said to be mad for combat—was considered somewhat lacking compared to the Martial Venerable when it came to sheer breadth of martial knowledge.
Obsessed with the martial path, he had constantly sought duels to reach the ultimate state he envisioned, never forming ties with any sect or martial artist.
For his entire life he wandered the martial world, fighting, creating new martial techniques, and traveling not only across the Central Plains but even to distant foreign lands.
In the end, the martial artist who had mastered every technique earned the title Martial Venerable.
For such a man to know how to wield formations and mysterious great arts was perhaps only natural.
Ziiing.
Having climbed the Great Separation Mountains, Bu Eunseol arrived at the location Mu Gyeol had indicated.
He repeated the seemingly meaningless actions in the exact order written in the formation method.
Finally, about ten zhang ahead, a transparent space formed.
It was the entrance to Chae-un Valley.
‘With a method like this, no matter how great a master, they could never enter.’
This space could not be opened by force or martial arts.
One had to act at the precise time and according to the fixed rules.
Without knowing the exact method to create the gate, even a master of the Limitless Realm could not open such a space.
Thud, thud.
Stepping inside, Bu Eunseol saw a large door before him.
Just as he was about to enter, something occurred to him; he turned around, unleashed his qinggong, and returned outside the Great Separation Mountains.
From his robes he took out a wooden box.
Inside were a matched pair of Connected Sound Alert Pearls—mysterious orbs that allowed the user to sense shocks from dozens of li away.
‘With my qinggong, half a quarter-hour’s distance should suffice.’
The Martial Venerable was an opponent far beyond his current level—his movement techniques would surely be extraordinary.
In case the Martial Venerable returned unexpectedly, Bu Eunseol buried one of the Connected Sound Alert Pearls near the mountain path leading to the entrance.
Swish, swish.
After burying the pearl, Bu Eunseol performed qinggong around the area. A faint vibration was transmitted to the pearl in his robes.
‘It works.’
Confirming the Connected Sound Alert Pearl functioned, he once again used qinggong and entered the gate to Chae-un Valley.
A long passage stretched ahead, and far in the distance was an ordinary door.
Ziiing.
But the moment he stepped into the passage—
A burst of light erupted, and suddenly strange power surged from all directions, beginning to bind Bu Eunseol’s body.
‘Kgh.’
It was viscous yet incredibly solid—formless power that neither internal energy nor any external force could break.
‘The formation method wasn’t everything.’
Mu Gyeol would never deliberately sabotage him.
That meant there was likely another trap here—one Mu Gyeol did not know about, or one secretly installed by the Martial Venerable.
Crack, crack.
The sound of bones rang from Bu Eunseol’s body.
Not only was bizarre pressure crushing him, but razor-sharp force was piercing straight into his vital acupoints.
Thud, thud.
Enduring the pain, Bu Eunseol quickly walked through the light and reached the door.
Yet no matter how he pushed or pulled, there was no response.
‘Should I break it?’
He began gathering internal energy, but soon lowered his hand.
‘No.’
For someone who had created such a mysterious mechanism to install an ordinary door… In the worst case, even if an intruder entered, he had deliberately used a plain wooden door so that signs of forced entry would remain.
‘Hmm.’
Even amid the pain, Bu Eunseol tried to find a way to open the door.
But it was made of ordinary wood—any slight application of internal energy would surely shatter it.
‘Something’s strange.’
Bu Eunseol suddenly felt a sense of eeriness.
‘Is it possible for an ordinary wooden door to exist inside a mechanism capable of isolating the world from the outside?’
The Martial Venerable was a master of the Limitless Realm and knew various sorceries.
If this was not an illusion but some kind of force making it appear as a wooden door…
‘If this isn’t actually a door?’
Amid the pain, Bu Eunseol closed his eyes and ran his hand over the door.
He felt a flow resembling the blood circulation of a living human body.
‘No way.’
With realization dawning, Bu Eunseol placed his hand on the door and immediately raised the Heavenly Mirror Heart Sutra.
He synchronized the flow he sensed beyond the door with his own body.
Ziiing.
The tightly shut door rippled as though it were a living creature and slowly began to open.
“Phew.”
Finally stepping outside, Bu Eunseol widened his eyes.
He had thought that since it was called Chae-un Valley, it would be a serene, beautiful landscape—a paradise-like place.
Yet the scenery was strikingly similar to the desolate forest surrounding the public warehouse where goods from the Henan Myriad Goods Store were stored.
‘Could they be connected?’
Bu Eunseol shook his head.
No matter how profound the Martial Venerable’s sorcery, he was no immortal—he could not possibly perform a technique that transported someone hundreds of li in an instant through a single door.
‘That means he deliberately created a space resembling this.’
After pondering for a moment, Bu Eunseol shook his head again.
“Thoughts can wait.”
He had no idea when the Martial Venerable might return.
There was no time to study the mechanisms here.
Bu Eunseol quickly surveyed the ravine with swift steps. Deep within, he spotted a large cave.
‘That must be it.’
Inside the cave was an expansive stone chamber—so vast it felt boundless.
Countless bookshelves lined the walls, filled with an uncountable number of books.
Deeper inside were spaces resembling an office and a cultivation chamber.
But there was no sign of any place where the Heavenly Emperor’s corpse might be stored.
‘Then it’s still being kept in the Martial Alliance.’
If this was the space the Martial Venerable considered the safest, he would surely have stored the Heavenly Emperor’s corpse here.
Yet nowhere could the Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Jade Coffin containing the Heavenly Emperor’s remains be seen.
“I see.”
Then, catching sight of a large copper coin on one side of the office, Bu Eunseol’s eyes flashed.
“This place was the Martial Venerable’s base for switching to the identity of the Divine Mountain Sage.”
The copper coin was plain, without any pattern.
But its size was exactly the same as the Boeun Coins distributed by the Divine Mountain Sage.
He had likely processed this copper coin in a way only he could recognize, using it to create the Boeun Coins.
In the end, this place served a purpose similar to the hidden house in Majeon’s safe house that Bu Eunseol frequently used to switch identities with Seo Jinha.
“The Spring and Autumn Annals, was it.”
Bu Eunseol’s eyes gleamed.
Two days had already passed since the meeting began—only one day remained.
He hurried as though pursued, his heart racing.
The Martial Venerable was not the kind of person to waste three full days on meetings.
He had to find the Spring and Autumn Annals left by the Heavenly Emperor before time ran out.
Swish.
Bu Eunseol began rapidly scanning through the thousands of books on the shelves.
But there was no book titled Spring and Autumn Annals.
‘Idiot.’
Only then did one fact occur to Bu Eunseol.
‘Even if it contained some important content, there’s no way someone like the Martial Venerable would leave it exactly as is.’
Ziiing.
White light flowed from Bu Eunseol’s pupils.
Activating the Void Heart Command—one of his super-senses capable of detecting traces even decades old—he began searching for something the Martial Venerable had secretly hidden.
‘There it is.’
Among the thousands of books, one had clearly been touched far more often than the rest.
Yet no matter how he examined it, it was merely an ordinary medical classic with nothing special.
But when he ran his hand over the spot where the medical classic was placed, a lightning-like realization struck.
‘So that’s how it is.’
Every title on the outer covers of the books necessarily included numbers:
One, Two… Three Hundred Sixty, Eighty-Four Thousand, and so on.
‘Order.’
Only now did Bu Eunseol understand why thousands of books were stored in this stone chamber.
This place was not for storing books—it was a mechanism for hiding something.
“It’s not just about arranging them in numerical order… it also requires synchronization with the Heavenly Mirror Heart Sutra.”
A flash passed through Bu Eunseol’s eyes as he touched the books.
When he raised the Void Heart Command, the books his fingertips brushed felt almost like living creatures.
He would likely need to arrange the books according to their numbers, then—using the same method he had at the entrance—apply the Heavenly Mirror Heart Sutra.
‘In the end, every mechanism’s formation method leads back to the Heavenly Mirror Heart Sutra.’
Strangely, the Martial Venerable had applied the Heavenly Emperor’s Heavenly Mirror Heart Sutra to every mechanism in his hideout.
He probably believed it was an exclusive martial art known only to the Heavenly Emperor himself.
But in reality, that was not the case.
Grandfather had mastered the Heavenly Mirror Heart Sutra.
Bu Eunseol himself had mastered it.
Even Mu Gyeol had mastered it, hadn’t he?
So why did the Martial Venerable believe that only he had learned the Heavenly Emperor’s Heavenly Mirror Heart Sutra?
‘There’s no time to unravel the question now.’
Whirr.
With movements so fast they were nearly invisible, Bu Eunseol began rearranging thousands of books.
Finally, using the numbers on the secret manuals to perfectly reorder the shelves—
Rumble, rumble.
The bookshelves shifted left and right, revealing a new wall.
‘As expected.’
Bu Eunseol raised the Heavenly Mirror Heart Sutra once more and placed his hand on the wall.
With a faint tremor, two large doors appeared side by side.
Though their outward appearance was identical, the sensation leaking from within was completely different.
The left door seemed to emanate an auspicious energy, while the right gave off no particular feeling.
Click.
When he pushed the left door—
Ziiing.
Bright light poured through the crack and enveloped Bu Eunseol’s body.
It felt as though the light beams had turned into living creatures, thoroughly scanning every inch of him.
Clunk.
As Bu Eunseol stepped inside, the door closed on its own.
Only an empty stone chamber remained visible.
The darkness filling the chamber was thick and peculiar, as though created by a special great art.
Even for Bu Eunseol, who could pierce darkness, it was difficult to discern the interior.
“Just an empty space?”
As Bu Eunseol tried to look around—
Flash.
Suddenly, hundreds of brilliant points of light rose from the darkness.
The lights embroidered the entire chamber so brightly it was like gazing at a beautiful cosmos.
‘Constellations?’
The points of light were not static—they moved slowly according to a fixed pattern.
Twinkle.
Then a large star that had been invisible until now suddenly began to shine.
Though small, it was as radiant as if it had gathered the light of every star in the chamber.
‘What is this now?’
At the opposite point, a dark star also began to twinkle.
When Bu Eunseol saw that light, it felt as though light was flowing from his own body as well.
‘Is this some kind of star divination? How mysterious.’
Looking down at the light emanating from himself, Bu Eunseol clicked his tongue in wonder.
Though the martial world held many mysterious treasures with strange powers, he had never heard of an object that emitted hundreds of lights in the darkness like this.
He gazed at the beautiful stars for a long while, almost losing track of time.
A strange sense of uplift filled him, and it felt as though an odd power was entering his body.
Only then did Bu Eunseol snap back to alertness.
External power entering the body was not necessarily a good sign.
Click.
When he stepped back outside, Bu Eunseol’s eyes narrowed sharply.
Suddenly his mouth felt dry and his stomach clenched.
‘No way.’
Stepping out again, Bu Eunseol widened his eyes.
When he had first entered this cave, the sun had been high in the sky—yet now the distant horizon was already tinged with sunset?
‘An entire day passed in that time?’
This stone chamber was not a simple space.
It was similar to the mental-image world once created by Yohee, the founder of the Divine Maiden Palace.
‘This is bad.’
Now only half a day remained.
Comments