Chapter 147: Chapter 147
“You’re a bit late.”
As Cheon-hwi looked at the passageway.
Step… Step…
Zhuge Seong-hyeon trudged out from inside the dark passageway.
His appearance was no joke.
His complexion was so pale that even his disheveled hair and well-tanned copper skin could not hide it.
Cheon-hwi glanced at him and asked.
“Why do you look like that?”
At those incomparably callous words, Zhuge Seong-hyeon’s two fists trembled.
Why indeed!
It was because he had suffered in the Seven Plum Blossom Gates!
He wanted to yell out in anger.
But how could he do that.
Swallowing the words he wanted to say inwardly, Zhuge Seong-hyeon tried hard to speak calmly.
“It is because I suffered in the Seven Plum Blossom Gates.”
“Huh? Suffered? Does it work?”
Zhuge Seong-hyeon glared at such a Cheon-hwi, then sighed and shook his head.
“It works perfectly well.”
“Huh? That’s strange.”
Cheon-hwi tilted his head.
It made no sense.
“The exit just opened.”
“Yes…? The exit opened?”
Wrinkles formed on Zhuge Seong-hyeon’s forehead.
‘That shouldn’t be possible?’
How was it when he entered the Seven Plum Blossom Gates.
He was beaten to death by the martial arts his father unfolded.
Just like that day in the past when he declared he wouldn’t learn martial arts, he was beaten until the dust flew!
‘Father definitely appeared, and seeing that he used martial arts properly, it’s correct…’
His wrinkles deepened further.
How was his physical condition now.
There were no wounds on his body, but seeing that he was still exhausted, it meant the array had activated properly.
Since the Seven Gates tormented the mind instead of physical pain, fatigue was bound to accumulate.
However, for the Seven Plum Blossom Gates not to activate and the exit to open immediately meant…
‘Could it be…?’
He asked cautiously.
“Did nothing appear by any chance?”
“It did, but why?”
At his answer, Zhuge Seong-hyeon trembled.
The Seven Plum Blossom Gates had no problems when he entered, but it didn’t activate?
If so, there was only one problem.
“…Do you remember what kind of gate the Seven Plum Blossom Gates is by any chance?”
Cheon-hwi narrowed his brows looking at the cautiously asking Zhuge Seong-hyeon.
What kind of gate could it be.
“I remember it as a place where the array activates and the strongest person in the world appears.”
“It is slightly different from that.”
“Different? How is it different?”
Zhuge Seong-hyeon asked cautiously.
“Before that, Young Hero, may I ask you one thing?”
“What is it?”
“Who is the strongest person in the world that you think of, Young Hero?”
“Me.”
Hearing the answer, the wrinkles on Zhuge Seong-hyeon’s forehead increased and deepened.
He subsequently spat out the next question.
“Then is there any awkward opponent?”
“No.”
“A fearful opponent is…”
“There is none.”
“…”
Zhuge Seong-hyeon, who was listening to the answers to his questions, grabbed his forehead with an expression of liberation.
The Seven Plum Blossom Gates was not the problem.
“…Then the Seven Plum Blossom Gates will not activate.”
Zhuge Seong-hyeon explained calmly.
“The Seven Plum Blossom Gates was made to cause the appearance of the opponent the person who entered thought to be the strongest, or felt awkward towards, or feared greatly.”
Cheon-hwi tilted his head.
Why make it so complicated?
“Why? Just make the World’s Number One appear.”
“As you also know, Young Hero, there is no World’s Number One in the current Jianghu, isn’t there?”
“Huh? There is no World’s Number One?”
Cheon-hwi was surprised for the first time.
In Jianghu, there were only those anxious to know who was the strongest among them, so they had been fighting each other and ranking themselves.
‘Come to think of it, there wasn’t such a thing as the Ten Great Martial Artists of the World like before.’
He passed over it without paying attention at the time, but thinking about it, it was a strange point.
Meanwhile, Zhuge Seong-hyeon felt dizzy.
When Cheon-hwi previously said ‘the illusion of the strongest opponent in the world must appear’, he thought it was a metaphorical remark, but to think it was just literal.
“In the current Jianghu, there are only arguments about who the World’s Number One is, and we cannot specify exactly who it is.”
Zhuge Seong-hyeon explained calmly.
What kind of era was the Jianghu of today.
The era of the Nine Provinces Three Supreme Powers without war.
Since the masters had never actually fought each other directly, they could only gauge their skills, and they couldn’t know who was stronger.
‘Who is the current World’s Number One?’ was the biggest topic of interest in Jianghu, but only speculations were rampant.
Well, some would say it was the Murim Alliance Leader, others would say it was the Flying Heaven Society Leader, or the Evil Black Lotus Leader, or often mention the sect leader of another great sect that wasn’t the master of the Nine Provinces Three Supreme Powers.
And there was one more problem.
“Furthermore, Young Hero. Even if we know who the World’s Number One is, there is a big problem. How can we reproduce their martial arts when we haven’t seen them?”
Zhuge Seong-hyeon asked with emphasis.
After Cheon-hwi left, Zhuge Seong-hyeon, who faced this problem, had to agonize over it alone for several days.
What he should do about this.
But didn’t they say there is a hole to escape even if the sky falls.
Zhuge Seong-hyeon eventually found a method.
‘Wouldn’t it work if we made the person the entrant felt to be the strongest appear?’
He immediately put the thought into action.
“So the method I used is what I just mentioned. By combining the Ghost Seal Ten Thousand Array, the Transformation Illusion Array, and the Full Heaven Principle Transformation Great Array (理) you told me about, we recalled the memories of the person who entered.”
Cheon-hwi stroked his chin.
“In other words, you bring out the memories of the opponent they fear the most or the strongest opponent other than themselves?”
Seeing Cheon-hwi perfectly understand his explanation, Zhuge Seong-hyeon breathed a sigh of relief.
“That’s correct.”
Cheon-hwi narrowed his eyes.
‘Originally, the tenth gate of the Ten Heavenly Demon Gates, the Heavenly Demon Gate, had the previous generation’s Heavenly Demon appear, but is that impossible.’
Then and now were different.
The situation, the location, and the preparations.
In other words, what Zhuge Seong-hyeon did was currently the best.
“Then if a person like me enters, the Seven Plum Blossom Gates would be meaningless.”
Zhuge Seong-hyeon was rendered speechless.
He hadn’t thought at all that the Seven Plum Blossom Gates wouldn’t activate.
There was no person he thought was strong?
Preparing for that too, didn’t he make it so that it would manifest even if there was someone he feared even a little.
“There is probably no one else but you, Young Hero.”
“You never know. The first one appeared, so wouldn’t there be a second time?”
“That is true, but…”
Zhuge Seong-hyeon glanced at Cheon-hwi.
“Such people in the world can be counted on one hand.”
While Zhuge Seong-hyeon was trying to vaguely change the subject without being able to spit out the words ‘You are the strange one, Young Hero’.
“Cheon-hwi!”
Hyeon-ryeo came running.
Running while unfolding her footwork, she looked at Cheon-hwi with a worried expression and asked.
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
“I’m perfectly fine.”
“That’s a relief.”
Hyeon-ryeo, having swept her chest once, wore a pleased smile.
She subsequently embraced Cheon-hwi.
“You’ve returned.”
She was very proud of Cheon-hwi.
All the missions given to him so far had not been easy.
This mission was also like that.
However, not only did he accomplish it perfectly, he even brought about further benefits.
‘To the extent that the Lord of Qinghai Province would contact us separately saying he would send offerings…’
Recalling the letter she received separately by carrier pigeon a few days ago, her smile grew deeper.
‘She’s doing this again.’
Meanwhile, Cheon-hwi shook his head looking at the crown of Hyeon-ryeo’s head as she hugged his chest.
‘She hadn’t done this lately.’
He thought the frequency of her hugging him had decreased recently, but because they had been apart for a long time, she had returned to the past.
‘Well, she’ll detach on her own.’
And Zhuge Seong-hyeon’s eyes, who was watching the two of them, grew round.
‘For the Young Hero to stay so still.’
The Cheon-hwi he saw would strictly draw a line whenever he thought someone was approaching.
But how was he now.
When the Fairy tried to embrace him, he accepted it without any resistance.
‘The Young Hero is human too.’
A smile formed on Zhuge Seong-hyeon’s mouth.
During this time, Cheon-hwi only felt distant.
Not to mention his martial prowess, his array skills too.
He felt like an existence from Heaven Beyond Heaven, but seeing his current appearance, he felt close.
When he was looking at the two with a pleased expression.
“Senior Brother!”
“Junior Brother!”
The voices of two women were heard.
Danmok Rin and Cheon-hyang were running up the mountain path as if they were competing to see who would arrive first.
At the appearance of the two beautiful female Daoists, Zhuge Seong-hyeon’s smile was instantly erased.
‘…I knew it.’
His expression cooled sharply.
Hyeon-ryeo detached from Cheon-hwi’s embrace.
“Rin worried about you every day.”
“Is that so?”
Cheon-hwi spoke indifferently.
It was because he had no interest at all whether she worried or not.
Hyeon-ryeo wore a bitter smile at such an appearance of Cheon-hwi, then shook her head.
“Welcome them properly.”
“If I feel like it.”
As soon as those words ended, the two who came running breathlessly asked Cheon-hwi.
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
“You came? Then let’s spar!”
The two showed completely opposing appearances.
While Danmok Rin worried about him, Cheon-hyang only revealed her own purpose.
Danmok Rin twitched her eyebrows at Cheon-hyang’s words.
“Senior Sister. What are you saying to Senior Brother now. Weren’t you worried when Senior Brother went out to Jianghu?”
“Huh? Why would I worry about Junior Brother?”
Cheon-hyang was puzzled by her question.
“If it’s Junior Brother, he would survive well on his own no matter where he’s placed in the world.”
“It’s not just any place, it’s Jianghu.”
“Ay, Junior Sister. Even if you say it’s Jianghu, it’s not that much different.”
Cheon-hwi gazed at the two who suddenly bickered, then half-closed his eyes.
‘They are incomparably different from before?’
The internal energy of both had increased significantly.
Cheon-hyang’s internal energy had also increased a lot, as if she had trained hard.
Danmok Rin was completely changed.
If she was barely at the level of having just entered martial arts before he left, she had now reached the second-rate realm.
It was an astonishing level of growth.
‘Furthermore, it seems she hasn’t just learned the mental cultivation method, but is properly learning sword arts too.’
His gaze headed toward her hand.
Judging by how much she had swung the sword, her hand was swollen and full of calluses.
Furthermore, there were bruises at the tips of her fingers, as if she had recently lost a fingernail.
Swish…
At that moment, Danmok Rin swiftly pulled her hand away.
As if ashamed to show her ruined hands to Cheon-hwi, she blushed and hurriedly hid her hands behind her back.
Cheon-hwi met her eyes.
“You trained hard.”
For a moment, Danmok Rin’s face brightened.
“Yes! I really trained hard.”
“What sword art did you learn?”
“Master passed down the Lady Sword to me, so…”
Excited that Cheon-hwi initiated a conversation, Danmok Rin poured out words without resting.
“…Recently I’ve been newly learning the Jade Maiden Pure Heart Sword Art.”
“That’s also fine.”
Cheon-hwi nodded.
Something like the Jade Maiden Pure Heart Sword Art was a martial art that perfectly suited her right now.
‘She’s much better than the other kids.’
Cheon-hwi wore a satisfied expression.
Those who trained that hard within the Mount Hua Sect could be counted on one hand.
“Are you learning other martial arts too?”
She nodded greatly.
“Yes. Including footwork and kick arts, I’ve recently been slowly learning hand arts too.”
“Hmm, is that so?”
Cheon-hwi stared piercingly at her.
Usually, it was overwhelming to learn even one martial art, but if it was her, it was a bit different.
A body completed by overcoming the Constitution of Great Yin Qi Storage and outstanding comprehension.
She would probably be outstanding enough to absorb ten if taught one.
‘There would be no better talent than this to test the newly completed Seven Plum Blossom Gates.’
Around the time he gave a small nod.
“Junior Brother, how about a spar?”
Cheon-hyang, who had been waiting for their conversation to end, eventually couldn’t hold back and interrupted.
Cheon-hwi glanced at her and answered.
“It’s bothersome.”
Cheon-hyang immediately clung to Cheon-hwi.
“Don’t be like that, just one time…”
When Cheon-hwi avoided Cheon-hyang’s hand trying to snatch him by twisting his ankle.
“Junior Brother…”
Fire ignited in Cheon-hyang’s eyes.
Around the time she was about to unfold a hand art.
“I’ll give you something better than a spar.”
“Something better than a spar?”
Cheon-hyang’s eyes sparkled like stars.
“What is that?”
“There is. Such a thing.”
With his words, Cheon-hwi turned his head.
“Didn’t you say five people can enter the Seven Plum Blossom Gates at once?”
Zhuge Seong-hyeon nodded at Cheon-hwi’s question suddenly directed at him.
“Ah! Yes, yes. That’s right.”
“Then the number of people fits perfectly.”
“Yes?”
When Zhuge Seong-hyeon was puzzled by the out-of-the-blue remark, Cheon-hwi’s head turned.
Looking there, figures coming toward Geonwondong could be seen.
They were Jeok-geom and Seol Ran.
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