Chapter 417

“Crazy……. How is that possible? Pant, pant!”

Gwak No-saeng muttered as he ran through the secret passage.

He had mobilized over a hundred living corpses.

He had deployed the full force of his life’s research. Yet, they couldn’t break through Pyo Wol and were all annihilated.

He thought it made no sense.

It was something incomprehensible by his common sense. But it had already happened.

No matter how much he denied it, what had happened would not disappear.

It took him a considerable amount of time to accept that fact.

“They call him the Reaper. So that’s why they were so wary of him from above.”

His martial prowess was befitting of the alias Reaper.

In particular, the way he drew out his qi into thin strands like thread to create a trap like a spider’s web was not just novel, but terrifying.

For those like himself who preferred the shadows, Pyo Wol’s Spider Silver Net was their natural enemy. There was no telling when their bodies might get caught in the net of Silver Thread he had laid, leading to their deaths.

Gwak No-saeng was also confident in his martial arts.

At the very least, his martial arts were superior to Jang Sachun’s. Nevertheless, the reason he was fleeing like a dog with its tail on fire was that he had no confidence in facing Pyo Wol.

The only fortunate thing was that he knew this underground area well.

As befitting a place where the Divine Demon Association once existed, the underground passages here were connected like a spider’s web.

The underground passages were so complex that even Gwak No-saeng hadn’t grasped them all.

What he knew was only a tiny fraction of the underground passages. However, he clearly remembered what was inside them. Gwak No-saeng was running toward that place.

Suddenly, a chill ran down his spine.

It was because of the footsteps he heard from behind.

Although two people were clearly chasing him, the footsteps he heard were those of a single person.

‘That wench’s footsteps, is the man not coming?’

He soon shook his head.

That couldn’t be possible.

It wasn’t that he wasn’t pursuing, but simply that his footsteps couldn’t be heard.

His opponent was a martial artist called the Reaper at a young age.

Hiding his presence in the dark would be as easy as breathing for him.

Though his footsteps were inaudible, he was surely in close pursuit.

Blood was pouring from the shoulder where his arm had been severed, but he didn’t even have the leisure for hemostasis.

He felt that if he stopped for even a moment, Pyo Wol’s pale white hand would snatch his neck.

His expression contorted wretchedly.

It was because he couldn’t believe the reality that he had to escape so desperately.

He wasn’t even given the leisure to pathetically bemoan his fate.

Even at this moment, the footsteps were getting closer.

It meant that Yong Seol Lan had come that much closer.

If Yong Seol Lan’s footsteps sounded this loud, Pyo Wol must have come even closer.

Perhaps he was right behind him, following him closely.

Just imagining it made his hair stand on end.

Gwak No-saeng squeezed out every last bit of his strength and increased his speed.

If there was one advantage he had over Pyo Wol and Yong Seol Lan, it was that he was already familiar with the underground terrain.

He knew where the stone protrusions were and where it had collapsed, so he could move along the shortest path.

He saw a wall at the end of the corridor.

A dead end had appeared. But Gwak No-saeng, instead of slowing down, ran even faster.

Arriving at the wall like the wind, he pressed a certain spot. The wall then pushed back, revealing another secret space.

He threw himself into the dark space without a moment’s hesitation.

Right after that, Pyo Wol and Yong Seol Lan arrived.

Yong Seol Lan said.

“It seems he has an ace up his sleeve in here. You’re going in, right?”

Pyo Wol nodded silently.

He had several chances to catch Gwak No-saeng on the way here. The reason Pyo Wol had followed without making a move was that he was curious about what Gwak No-saeng was relying on.

The Ghost King was said to have opened his eyes here.

Gwak No-saeng had also created the living corpses here.

Something like a living corpse was not something that could be created with just a few decades of research.

It was something that was only possible with research passed down through generations.

The Ghost King and the living corpses had that in common.

Pyo Wol thought the answer to that problem would be here.

Just as one must enter a tiger’s den to catch a tiger, one had to approach the source of the problem to solve it.

Pyo Wol and Yong Seol Lan entered the dark space.

It was the moment they set foot on the floor.

Ping!

Suddenly, a sharp, piercing sound echoed.

‘A mechanism!’

Pyo Wol wrapped his arm around Yong Seol Lan’s slender waist and unleashed his Serpentine Steps.

Th-th-th-thunk!

Immediately after, arrows embedded themselves in the spot where they had been.

They were arrows the length of a child’s palm.

The arrows, also called pyeonjeon, had been fired by a mechanism.

If not for Pyo Wol’s swift reaction, Yong Seol Lan would have been hit by the pyeonjeon and seriously injured.

No one could have imagined that a mechanism would activate the moment they set foot inside.

“Hold on tight.”

Pyo Wol lifted Yong Seol Lan onto his back.

Yong Seol Lan’s senses were currently very dull.

Her senses were too blunted to detect a mechanism activating in this darkness. Because of that, she couldn’t react properly.

Knowing this, Yong Seol Lan obediently let herself be carried on Pyo Wol’s back.

Without a word, Yong Seol Lan wrapped her arms tightly around Pyo Wol’s neck.

Sh-sh-sh-shik!

Pyeonjeon flew at them continuously.

The pyeonjeon, fired by the power of a mechanism, possessed a much greater force than those shot by a person.

Moreover, the pitch-black darkness concealed their form, making it difficult to even detect their physical presence. But Pyo Wol dodged such pyeonjeon attacks all too easily.

As if he could clearly see them coming, he advanced while dodging all the pyeonjeon with minimal movements.

The pyeonjeon were just the beginning.

Suddenly, the floor would give way, or a trap where the entire ceiling came crashing down would be triggered.

The entire ceiling was made of steel.

If they had been crushed by the steel ceiling weighing over tens of thousands of geun, it would have been instant death by crushing.

It was a terrifying trap that made one’s teeth chatter.

Pyo Wol evaded all those traps and mechanisms by a hair’s breadth.

Even while on Pyo Wol’s back, Yong Seol Lan felt no sense of crisis at all.

On the contrary, she was startled to find Pyo Wol’s back comfortable.

‘Do I still have feelings for this man?’

Yong Seol Lan quickly shook her head.

Pyo Wol was the enemy of her Master and the Emei Sect.

Although she had left on her own two feet, she had never forgotten the Emei Sect for a single day. Though she was criticized by the world for what her Master, Elder Nun Guhwa, had done, she was still her one and only Master.

She could not harbor feelings for Pyo Wol, who had killed her Master.

‘What happened that day was just a simple mistake. It will never happen again.’

Yong Seol Lan bit her lip gently.

She wouldn’t regret what had already happened. But it would be troublesome if such a thing happened again.

The mechanisms and traps continued to threaten them.

They were so terrifying that if Yong Seol Lan had entered alone, she would have already been done for. But Pyo Wol dodged all the traps and mechanisms by a hair’s breadth.

It was truly an incredible ability.

‘They call him the world’s best assassin. He truly lives up to his reputation.’

She once again marveled at Pyo Wol’s abilities.

Suddenly, Pyo Wol felt lovely to her.

Yong Seol Lan buried her face deep into the nape of Pyo Wol’s neck.

Unlike his pretty face, she could feel a strong, masculine scent.

‘Hmph!’

Yong Seol Lan took a deep breath of Pyo Wol’s body scent.

“Hah!”

A ragged breath escaped her lips on its own.

Though it wasn’t visible due to the darkness, her face was flushed red.

Her white hand dug into Pyo Wol’s chest.

A desire to embrace Pyo Wol and tumble to the ground with him dominated her.

It was then.

“Get a grip. It’s a formation.”

Pyo Wol’s cold voice awakened her dazed mind.

Her mind cleared as if she had been doused with ice water.

“A formation?”

“It’s a formation that stimulates a person’s underlying psychology. If you let your guard down, you’ll be dominated by illusions. Circulate your internal energy.”

“Yes!”

Yong Seol Lan replied and began her qi circulation. Her mind became much clearer.

In that moment, her face flushed bright red.

She was ashamed of having lost her mind to a mere formation and showing such an unseemly side of herself.

‘I really am not qualified to be a martial artist.’

She had never once regretted her seclusion until now, but she did feel a sense of regret for having let go of her martial arts.

Pyo Wol was moving freely even with her on his back.

Yong Seol Lan knew well how incredible that was.

‘The gap between us has now become so wide that I can’t possibly catch up.’

The gap was so vast that she didn’t even feel a sense of jealousy.

She hugged Pyo Wol’s neck tightly and focused on her qi circulation.

Pyo Wol raced through the darkness without a sound.

He detected and evaded mechanisms before they could even activate, and the illusionary formations had no effect on his mind.

His mental strength was harder than rock, leaving no room for something like an illusionary formation to penetrate.

The darkness was no different from a sanctuary for Pyo Wol.

In the deep darkness, Pyo Wol’s abilities were doubled.

His senses expanded to a degree that an ordinary person could not even imagine, and he did not miss even the slightest change.

His expanded senses accurately guided him in the direction he needed to go, even in the darkness.

Pyo Wol never once hesitated or faltered, accurately pinpointing the direction and moving forward.

BOOM!

Finally, the last mechanism and a huge stone door blocking the way were shattered, and Pyo Wol burst out.

Despite having dashed through the darkness like a flash of lightning, Pyo Wol’s breathing was the same as usual.

Pyo Wol looked around the newly revealed space.

It was a wide stone chamber.

A rectangular stone chamber, with each side seeming to be well over ten zhang long.

In its center was Gwak No-saeng.

Gwak No-saeng was horrified to see Pyo Wol suddenly burst in.

“Keuk! How?”

He had expected it would take at least two shichen to break through the mechanism formation. In fact, he and his subordinates had spent more time than that when they first encountered the mechanism formation.

The mechanisms and formations were exquisitely intertwined, making them difficult to overcome. Yet Pyo Wol had broken through them in an instant without a single scratch.

In Gwak No-saeng’s common sense, it was an impossible feat.

Regardless of his shock, Pyo Wol looked around the stone chamber.

The walls of the stone chamber were densely covered with all sorts of strange patterns and incomprehensible letters and pictures.

They had not been recently made.

There was moss on every letter and picture, suggesting they were made at least several years, perhaps even decades, ago.

This place was clearly the research site of someone from the Divine Demon Association.

They had left a record of their research in the form of these murals.

Gwak No-saeng had clearly gained some insights here and applied them to the living corpses.

Pyo Wol set Yong Seol Lan down from his back and said.

“Is this the place? The source of your knowledge…”

“Keuk!”

“You created the living corpses with the knowledge you learned here.”

Gwak No-saeng couldn’t offer a single word of excuse. Because what Pyo Wol said was the truth.

Pyo Wol’s gaze suddenly turned to the wall directly in front of him.

There was a painting that was much larger and more vivid than the pictures on the other walls.

A man lying on a stone bed, a man in ornate clothing who seemed to be injecting something into his head. And in the next picture, the man who had been lying on the stone bed stood up.

A ghastly light was emanating from the resurrected man’s eyes.

The painting was so vivid that the ghostly aura in the man’s eyes could be felt as if it were real.

Pyo Wol looked at the painting for a moment before shifting his gaze to the text written next to it.

While all the other texts were related to mystic arts, the text next to the painting Pyo Wol was looking at was simply a record of personal thoughts.

[Several years have passed since I entered this place.

I was finally beginning to see a clue, but due to the Association’s circumstances, we are to relocate.

It is deeply regrettable that I must relocate without completing my research on immortality.

Personally, I would like to remain here, but since it is the will of the Association’s Lord, I have no choice. However, my research will continue even after we move to the Heavenly Martial Fortress. Thus, someday, my descendants who carry on my, Gyeong Chu-wol’s, will shall surpass the mystic arts of the Gi Clan.]

“Gyeong Chu-wol?”

It was a name he had never heard before. But seeing that name reminded him of another.

“Is he related to Gyeong Musaeng?”

The Life-Death Guest Gyeong Musaeng also had the surname ‘Gyeong’. It was a very plausible story.

However, what Pyo Wol focused on was the phrase ‘Heavenly Martial Fortress’.

“The Divine Demon Association moved to the Heavenly Martial Fortress? Does that mean the Heavenly Martial Fortress is the successor to the Divine Demon Association?”