Chapter 219: A Fortuitous Encounter Indeed
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A space unfamiliar as a first visit and thick with fog.
All around was quiet.
There wasn’t even the presence of commonly encountered beasts.
Namgung Heon-rin, advancing while parting the dense fog together with Jeon Kwae, recalled past events and murmured.
‘Back then… I owed my life to Sect Leader Cheol for saving my life.’
-Read it on the way.
-AH, what is this?
-Useful information.
-Pardon?
-You’ll find out when you read it later.
A conversation he had exchanged with Cheol Ryu-heun.
Soon, he rummaged through his clothes and took out something.
It was paper, now thoroughly soaked.
HUDOODOOK, HUDOODOOK…
Paper scraps fell to the ground.
Thus, it crumbled and tore apart, making the writing and drawings on it no longer viewable.
Yet Namgung Heon-rin didn’t mind.
Because he had looked at it whenever there was a gap while coming here, and the entire contents had entered his head.
-If unexpected danger befalls you, go to the place drawn on the map. Below that cliff is a mysterious marshland. Originally, it’s famous as a dangerous place. The swamp is extremely hot, and just brushing against the heat haze melts your entire body. But don’t you two worry. I’ve arranged things in advance. Just get down there. By whatever method. Anyway, when you arrive, you’ll naturally come to understand.
Namgung Heon-rin recalled the contents of that writing and tilted his head.
‘HM. It’s clearly a mysterious marshland, but I can’t sense any hot energy…’
Right at that moment.
SHUSHUSHU… SHUSHUSHU…
Steam rose from beyond the fog behind.
Simultaneously, he felt heat.
‘EUT!’
The moment Namgung Heon-rin and Jeon Kwae flinched and turned their heads, a bubbling sound was heard.
The entire vast marshland was heating up fiercely.
Yet within a five-zhang radius centered on where the two stood, not a bit of heat penetrated.
A mysterious phenomenon.
Only then did Namgung Heon-rin realize.
The unfathomable energy of nature was protecting himself and his companion.
That’s right.
Otherwise, there was no explanation.
“Wow , Truly Amazing…”
When Jeon Kwae murmured with a blank face, Namgung Heon-rin wore a faint smile.
“Kwae. I guess Sect Leader Cheol did something to our bodies. So that we wouldn’t be harmed by the marshland’s power… Earlier when we fell, a deep pond appeared too, didn’t it? As if to protect our bodies. I think that might be the same context.”
“Yes, Makes Sense. AH! Could it be at the moment we consumed the hundred-year snow ginseng…?”
“Exactly. Most likely.”
Back then, the two had experienced excellent efficacy within a quarter of an hour.
Truly an impossible speed.
For ordinary martial artists, it would have taken a long time.
Cheol Ryu-heun, who had provided great help then, had said this.
-The opening method I just used is the true transmission of the Celestial Sword Sovereign. It looks simple, but it’s a technique not just anyone can perform. Because it includes several acupoints that could kill if touched wrong.
The opening method that had made the quick efficacy appear.
It seemed that through that, Cheol Ryu-heun had made some arrangement related to the marshland as well.
Jeon Kwae, having recalled the writing’s contents like Namgung Heon-rin, looked around while speaking.
“By the way, where should we go to find it?”
He was referring to the hidden location where a fortuitous encounter had been arranged long ago.
Sword Emperor Buk Ga-shin.
A Sword Emperor-origin Absolute being who had become the Divine Martial Sword’s owner eight hundred years ago and ascended as the martial world’s strongest.
According to Cheol Ryu-heun’s writing, some kind of space he had separately prepared was hidden inside this marshland.
In addition, it was written.
-Just keep walking, and a door will open on its own.
It was vague content.
Namgung Heon-rin soon stepped forward and sent a hand signal.
“Even if it means staying up all night, we have to find it. Only when we reach that place can we relax and rest. And we need to treat your wound too.”
“Understood. EUUK… My arm is getting hotter and hotter like it was burned. Let’s hurry.”
Thus, the two pushed through the thickly settled fog and advanced without rest.
Walking and walking, how long had they gone?
What was visible was still nothing but pure white fog.
It was endless.
At this rate, they might collapse from exhaustion and hunger before finding it.
If only they could drink even a sip of water.
At that moment.
The faces of the two, haggard from fatigue and hunger, changed dramatically.
JOLJOL… JOLJOL…
Because the sound of falling water came from somewhere.
“Heon-rin! Did you hear?”
“Yes! Seems to be from up ahead.”
The two perked up their ears and walked quickly despite their exhausted bodies.
JOLJOLJOL, JOLJOLJOL…
The sound gradually became clearer.
Finally, a large spring bearing a clear blue color entered Namgung Heon-rin and Jeon Kwae’s view.
Right behind the round spring, a fairly tall cliff stood like a folding screen.
Namgung Heon-rin and Jeon Kwae hurriedly approached the spring and then sat down, prostrating themselves to quench their thirst.
GULP GULP, GULP GULP.
Soon, the two raised their heads and smiled at each other.
“Now I feel like I’ll survive.”
“HAHA. What luck. Well, it’s not the place we wanted, but.”
But then, suddenly the spring surged up greatly, churning like waves.
FLINCH.
The two startled people stepped back.
“EUT!”
“WHAT IS IT?”
Immediately after, a phenomenon occurred.
The clear blue water emitted a mysterious light.
FLASH FLASH.
As that light gathered together, it soon moved as if pointing at something.
Toward the cliff behind.
Following that, something appeared before the two’s eyes.
It was precisely characters grandly formed on the cliff.
<Only those possessing pure Natural Energy may learn the ultimate true transmission of Great Righteousness.>
Seeing that, Namgung Heon-rin and Jeon Kwae trembled with thrill.
‘So it was here!’
The two identically shouted inwardly.
That’s right.
They had intuited immediately.
That this was the hidden location where Sword Emperor Buk Ga-shin had arranged a fortuitous encounter.
At that moment, a heavy sound rang out.
GEUREUREUK, GEUREUREUOREUK-
It was the sound of a stone door, cleverly hidden in the wall below the tall cliff – that is, behind the spring – opening left and right.
Namgung Heon-rin and Jeon Kwae stared at that with dazed expressions.
“GOOD HEAVENS… Characters appeared when light touched it, and a door opened…”
“R-Right… Anyway, we didn’t toil for nothing. Sect Leader Cheol’s words were all correct.”
They couldn’t know what principle and law caused the strange and wondrous phenomena they had witnessed to operate.
In any case, this kind of mystical power of nature is difficult to fully fathom with human knowledge and ability.
“Kwae, Let’s quickly go inside.”
Namgung Heon-rin and Jeon Kwae, as if by prior agreement, moved their legs toward the stone door.
Soon, going inside, a cave made of uneven rocks appeared, and far in the front, some kind of bright light twinkled.
It seemed like another space existed.
The two were drawn by the light and carefully moved their steps.
Before long.
What appeared before Namgung Heon-rin and Jeon Kwae was a natural space with a deep, small spring on one side.
Bright as if in broad daylight.
What generated the light was night-luminous pearls.
There wasn’t just one.
Countless night-luminous pearls were embedded all over the walls and ceiling, emitting twinkling light.
Namgung Heon-rin soon pointed to one side with his finger.
“There…”
Jeon Kwae, having turned his gaze that way, flinched his large body.
“YEOK! What Is that?”
A stone statue of bizarre appearance.
It was so gigantic that it exceeded a full ten feet.
The statue was in the form of a woman.
Yet.
It wasn’t human but half-human half-beast.
From head to waist was a naked form, and below that was the body of a serpent, larger than one’s embrace.
Namgung Heon-rin, looking at the large statue, said.
“Human upper body and serpent lower body… It’s the legendary Nuwa.”
The half-human half-serpent Nuwa was an ancient goddess said to have created humans by molding clay.
It was puzzling.
Why was such a thing here?
Did Sword Emperor Buk Ga-shin make it in the distant past?
“Quite an unusual place.”
When Jeon Kwae spoke quietly, Namgung Heon-rin pointed to another spot.
“OVER THERE, there’s an iron chest in the wall.”
The two HUDADAK moved in that direction.
The iron chest, bearing a dark luster, wasn’t very large.
KKIIIK-
When Namgung Heon-rin opened the lid, a refreshing fragrance seeped into his nostrils.
Inside were several faded booklets, along with a single sparkling iron sword, and various containers holding elixirs he had never encountered before.
The preservation state of everything was perfect.
Perhaps this iron chest itself was special.
Namgung Heon-rin quietly extended his hand and took out something.
SEUK.
It was a pure white mountain ginseng.
Shaped like a small child’s body.
Jeon Kwae’s eyes beside him went round.
“COULD IT BE…!”
At that, Namgung Heon-rin, having smiled slightly, nodded.
“HUT. It’s Human-Form Snow Ginseng . No doubt about it.”
Human-form snow ginseng was an elixir more precious than hundred-year snow ginseng.
If one were to assign a rank, its position would be second only to the thousand-year immortal ginseng called Ginseng Triple King.
Jeon Kwae lowered his head to look inside the iron chest and exclaimed in admiration, clicking his tongue.
“CRAZY. There are three roots. Isn’t this a top-tier fortuitous encounter?”
“That’s not all.”
Namgung Heon-rin set down the human-form snow ginseng and took out the booklets.
A title written large on the cover.
-Celestial Emperor Sword Technique
Seeing that, Jeon Kwae’s mouth stretched as if it would tear.
“HAHAHA-T! The Celestial Emperor Sword Technique! It’s Sword Emperor’s exclusive sword study!”
Following that, Namgung Heon-rin took out the remaining booklets and examined their titles.
-Upper Emperor Three Sword Forms, Great Emperor Three Sword Forms, Heavenly Emperor Three Sword Forms.
“SEE. These are the three types of sword arts needed to complete the Celestial Emperor Sword Path.”
“It’s like a dream. To really obtain the Sword Emperor’s true transmission, spanning eight hundred years… I’m curious anew, though. How did Sect Leader Cheol come to know about this place?”
“HM. Me too. Let’s ask when we visit him.”
Namgung Heon-rin, having said that, picked up the last booklet placed in one corner of the iron chest.
As he briefly read the contents, he was astonished.
“THIS CAN’T BE…”
“WHAT?”
When Jeon Kwae asked with a puzzled expression, Namgung Heon-rin’s gaze turned toward the statue.
“That, it wasn’t a statue symbolizing Nuwa.”
“Then what is it?”
“It’s the petrified corpse of a demon creature. Called Nuwa Yin Serpent…”
“WHAT! Demon creature?”
“Yes. A primordial demon creature that only resembles the legendary goddess Nuwa in appearance. Its nature was very violent, an existence that sucked the yang energy of males. The Sword Emperor, in the old days, set foot in this place for training and fought a bloody battle with that powerful Nuwa Yin Serpent. And he wrote that he subdued it after spending several days, achieving martial accomplishment.”
“S-SO… It hardened like stone and died back then?”
“HM. According to the writing.”
Namgung Heon-rin soon approached the corpse of the Nuwa Yin Serpent that had turned to stone.
“AH, Here it is. The mark where the Sword Emperor’s blade penetrated.”
Jeon Kwae, having moved along, looked at one spot on the corpse’s chest.
“Really? A penetrating wound…”
Then he glanced up at the towering face of the Nuwa Yin Serpent.
“UM… It’s not going to come back to life now, is it?”
“As if, That’s impossible. What we should worry about isn’t that.”
“What else are you talking about?”
The moment Jeon Kwae’s question ended.
KWAKWANG!
Simultaneously with a heavy roar, the entrance closed.
Due to an iron door that had suddenly burst out, destroying the wall.
“EOEOK!”
While Jeon Kwae’s expression stiffened, Namgung Heon-rin shrugged his shoulders and instructed.
“According to his writing, only one who has achieved mastery of the Celestial Emperor Sword Path can survive intact. In other words, you can only go outside after learning everything.”
“IF… We can’t?”
“Who knows. We’d die lonely, trapped in here I suppose.”
“…”
Jeon Kwae, having worn an absurd expression, forgot even his wound’s pain and yanked at his hair.
“KEUK! WHAT IS THIS! NO, WHY IS SECT LEADER CHEOL LIKE THAT! At least give advance notice that it’s a fortuitous encounter where our lives are at stake!”
Immediately after, Namgung Heon-rin opened the lid of another iron chest placed on another side, then brightened and sent a hand signal.
“AH, there’s loads of food in here. What a relief.”
KEUK… Relief my foot!
You punk, we could die like this, don’t you know!
Aren’t you worried? HUH!
HEOEOK! WAIT A MOMENT… I think the Nuwa Yin Serpent corpse just moved a little…? I’M SCARED, THIS PLACE!
* * *
The next day, around midmorning.
The approximately one hundred disciples of White Peak Sword Sect who had gone on reward vacation began returning to the sect one by one.