Chapter 340

Chapter 340

The path climbing to the summit.

“Do you know what the core of Sinseonggok is?”

At the Sado Alliance Leader’s casual question after bringing up the topic, I shook my head and answered.

“I don’t know well.”

“Seems like you didn’t read the records about Sinseonggok carefully?”

“I read them. The records I read just didn’t mention what the core of the Monster Realm was.”

“Well, that information is classified. It was high-level information for a subordinate to know.”

Watching the Sado Alliance Leader, who smiled bitterly while nodding, I crossed my arms. The Ki wave bursting forth abundantly from far away.

“There’s no time for idle chat. Explain about Sinseonggok’s core.”

“Impatient, aren’t you? I was going to explain it anyway. Sinseonggok’s core is a fox bead.”

“Fox bead?”

“Yes. A fox bead.”

Originally, nine-tailed foxes have something called a fox bead.

It’s like a dragon’s wish-fulfilling jewel, and usually they hide it in their mouth and accumulate spiritual essence there to ascend to heaven.

Of course, it’s only a legend at most, and it’s even ambiguous to view Heukya as an ordinary nine-tailed fox, so it’s not a story that can be applied to Heukya. Heukya is merely a monster in the form of a nine-tailed fox after all.

But such a Heukya has a fox bead?

“You know the fox bead legend, right?”

“I know it.”

“According to legend, they say the fox bead is inside the mouth. But actually, it’s different. Heukya’s fox bead is between her tails. She keeps it tightly hidden in a place that can’t be seen.”

“……Reliable information?”

“Reliable. Because it’s recorded in the Sinseonggok subjugation journal.”

For Heukya, her tails are both the source of power and power itself.

Wherever on Heukya’s body it might be placed, nowhere is as safe as between her tails. So isn’t it natural to place the fox bead between the tails, which would be safest?

“What’s important is that we’re in the position of having to break through that strict guard and destroy the fox bead.”

“Is it possible?”

“Beyond whether it’s possible or not, it must be done. And that’s why you’re here.”

“……Me?”

“Yes.”

We’ve arrived.

The Sado Alliance Leader, who chuckled, raised his finger and pointed at those fighting far away. The forms of people dimly visible at the edge of vision.

“Since you read the records, you must know. Do you know what Sinseonggok’s characteristic is?”

“……Granting omnipotence to everyone.”

“That’s right. If everything you think comes true, ultimately those who think well are at an advantage. And to think well, it’s important to ‘understand well’ those actions. But you see.”

“…….”

“Among the thousands upon thousands of warriors gathered here, who do you think has the most outstanding understanding of martial learning? Geomseon? Taeag? Or Ilryun?”

“……Probably not.”

“Right.”

Geomseon’s understanding of the sword allows no rival, but conversely speaking, only his understanding of ‘the sword’ is outstanding.

The same goes for Taeag’s case. Taeag, who has extreme strength and extreme power as his forte, is needless to say a strong ‘fist master.’ And that wouldn’t be different for Ilryun either.

“Most warriors here have grown their martial arts skills by having their own strengths. Simply put, they dig one well.”

“…….”

“If you dig one well, you’ll naturally dig deeper than digging multiple wells. But the understanding of how to dig wells will inevitably be inferior compared to someone who dug multiple wells.”

“Is that important?”

“It’s important. Because all we can do is ‘one strike.'”

Contain everything in one strike and use it to destroy the fox bead Heukya possesses.

Heukya’s fox bead must contain most of Heukya’s power, so if that’s possible, the axis of power will inevitably tilt greatly to this side. What’s important is the problem of what to make that ‘everything’ contained in that one strike.

“Uicheon Sect Leader Baek Riyun has a natural talent in grasping and replicating martial arts he sees for the first time. He has an absurd talent in grasping the ‘essence’ of that martial art. So let’s entrust the final strike to Uicheon Sect Leader.”

“…….”

“It was an opinion confirmed unanimously at the leadership meeting as soon as they saw Uicheon Sect Leader’s Heavenly Demon Divine Technique. Because it was martial arts beyond the norm.”

If you can escape the established framework of martial arts, it should also be possible to combine all martial arts within the framework into one.

“Therefore, we resolved to entrust everything to Uicheon Sect Leader Baek Riyun.”

“……It’s a gamble.”

“Well, at this point.”

At my words, the Sado Alliance Leader, who burst into laughter, shrugged his shoulders.

“Uicheon Sect Leader. It’s not like we made this decision because we like entrusting the fate of the entire Central Plains to just one warrior. We’re entrusting it because we think that’s the only method we can attempt among the slim possibilities.”

“…….”

“Would it help anything if we joined in there? At best, all that would remain would be defeat after buying more time. But Uicheon Sect Leader is different.”

“What’s different?”

“Aren’t you someone skilled in defeating the strong from the weak’s position?”

“…….”

“It was always like that. In numerous places, you were always the weak one. It means you were the only one who cried ‘it’s possible’ when everyone said it was impossible.”

Even if the probability of winning by fighting is less than one percent, if you don’t fight, the probability of being able to win doesn’t exist at all.

“No one but someone who truly thinks of defeating the opponent even in the most desperate situations can take on this role. Only races like me and you who are, so to speak, utterly reckless.”

“……Wouldn’t it be fine if the Alliance Leader did it? Your understanding of martial learning itself wouldn’t be lacking compared to me.”

“If it’s understanding of weapons in general, that might be so, but unfortunately I’m the type who’s good at ‘my own thing.'”

Seeing others’ martial arts, replicating their true intent, and cramming it into your own strike.

The Sado Alliance Leader isn’t the type who can do such work. Even though he can fight while changing weapons dozens of times in an instant, what the Sado Alliance Leader deploys is his own martial arts to the end.

“This is the only path leading to the summit.”

“…….”

“Numerous masters will pass through here from now on. And as agreed beforehand, they’ll show the profound meaning of their martial arts before you.”

“……My task is clear.”

“Yes.”

Watching.

Watching, condensing that profound meaning, and containing it in the strike that will be extended.

“Uicheon Sect Leader. Embrace dozens of martial principles and embrace hundreds of martial arts.”

“…….”

“Even imagination is fine. Make Geomseon’s martial learning, Taeag’s martial learning, Ilryun’s martial learning your own and extend it.”

We’ll buy time for that.

After finishing speaking, the Sado Alliance Leader, who chuckled, exhaled deeply while gripping the formless weapon in the shape of a sword in his palm.

“First, shall I start by imprinting my martial arts?”

“…….”

“Watch well. There’s no time to show it twice.”

“I’ll do so.”

“Good.”

This is precisely the essence of Muryangmumyeonggong.

The Sado Alliance Leader, who called out in a low voice, closed his eyes and slowly deployed his martial arts. Not an attack to strike down an opponent, but martial arts deployed slowly literally to show the true intent of martial arts.

‘I can see it.’

The Sado Alliance Leader’s intention, the foundation forming this martial art.

Like when a master teaches martial arts to a disciple, like summarizing one’s entire martial learning before death—watching the Sado Alliance Leader performing sword dance gracefully, I exhaled deeply and quietly raised my eye power to dissect Muryangmumyeonggong. A moment flowing like an eternity.

A short time passed.

“Did you see?”

“……I saw.”

“Well, it doesn’t feel great since my martial arts seem to have been completely stripped…… but fortunately. I didn’t think I could do it twice.”

Watching the Sado Alliance Leader, whose tired appearance was evident, flowing an empty laugh, I nodded. How many people could do such a thing twice?

“Now I’ll go fight.”

“…….”

“There’s no need to specifically explain to those climbing up from behind. The message has already been completely delivered anyway. Just promise one thing.”

“What is it?”

“Definitely accomplish it.”

Destroy the fox bead and inflict serious damage on Heukya.

“If you don’t succeed, it’s the end.”

“…….”

“You understand, right?”

Watching the Sado Alliance Leader heading toward the battlefield where the Talgatja were fighting while waving his hand without listening for an answer, I exhaled a deep sigh.

“How could I not know?”

If you’re a warrior, everyone would be sensing it intuitively. That this will be the final battlefield.

“I have no intention of failing.”

Absolutely.

I exhaled deeply and slowly turned my head to look downward.

Below the mountain ridge.

The martial learnings of the entire Central Plains were walking up.

***

We won.

“How is it?”

“……I lost.”

Beijing. Hwangryongjang.

Looking blankly at the quality of the fabric created by Gawol and Seohwa’s collaboration, the Hwangryongjangju, who felt the fabric’s quality with his fingertips, flowed a hollow laugh. Despite clearly being ordinary fabric, the strange ghostly energy flowing through it made it look obviously made with extraordinary technique.

“You’ve reached the realm of containing will in fabric. Clearly when I last saw it, you were far below this level.”

“…….”

“What kind of experience did you have in the meantime?”

“That’s…….”

I ate a spiritual medicine and received inspiration.

Gawol, who forcibly pushed down the truth that had risen to her throat for a moment, exhaled a sigh and shook her head as if she wouldn’t answer, and Hwangryongjangju looked at Gawol with strangely displeased eyes. But a sigh immediately followed.

“I’ll give it to you. Cheonjamsa.”

“Really……!”

“But I can’t give you much. Giving you enough to make about half a bolt is the limit.”

“What? That’s different from what was said!”

Half a bolt is enough fabric to make about one ordinary garment.

Even if she saves it without wasting any parts, considering the basic loss rate, it’s tight for making ceremonial robes that require a lot of fabric.

“Give me a bit more.”

“Heu.”

At the appearance of the disciple now confidently making demands while looking at her, Hwangryongjangju, who flowed a pleased smile, shook her head. Even if she wanted to give more, it wasn’t possible.

“Actually, Hwangryongjang doesn’t have that much Cheonjamsa.”

“……What?”

“It means that’s the limit I can give. Even if I scrape together all the Cheonjamsa in this Hwangryongjang, half a bolt—that’s the limit. It’s also the reason I haven’t given out Cheonjamsa until now.”

“What does that……”

Did the supply suddenly get cut off?

“Did something happen?”

At Hwangryongjangju’s incomprehensible words, Seohwa, who tilted her head and asked a question, Hwangryongjangju wore a bitter smile and asked.

“Do you know where Cheonjamsa comes from?”

“No.”

“Sinseonggok. The Monster Realm that the great monster Heukya was maintaining.”

“……!”

What is Cheonjamsa?

Cheonjamsa is collected thread spun by insect monsters living underground in the Monster Realm Sinseonggok. Because it was spun in the realm of omnipotence, it possesses special power and is fabric that can contain will more than anything—that’s precisely Cheonjamsa.

“I’ve been lying about the origin place until now for fear you’d feel ominousness about it being made with monster power, but anyway, Cheonjamsa is fabric that can’t be made without that Monster Realm. But what happened to Sinseonggok now?”

“……It collapsed, right?”

“Right. So the supply was completely cut off too.”

“…….”

“It means the Cheonjamsa you’ll receive now is the last Cheonjamsa existing in this world.”

There’s no additional supply. That means failure isn’t tolerated.

If she moves her foot wrong even once while weaving the fabric, there immediately won’t be enough fabric to make ceremonial robes. Even while making clothes and cutting, mistakes are hardly tolerated. Literally work of terrible difficulty.

However,

“It’s okay. Give it to me.”

“Sister!”

“There’s no other way. I have to try somehow.”

Just because the difficulty is terrible doesn’t mean she can back down like this, right?

“Give it to me.”

“Alright. I’ll have it brought out, so wait a little.”

Confirming Hwangryongjangju, who nodded and went out after directly facing her firm momentum, Gawol exhaled deeply and leaned her body against the table. Seohwa, looking at Gawol with a worried expression, voices out.

“Will it be okay?”

“……I don’t know.”

“Even now, should we look for more people who have Cheonjamsa……”

“Mistakes aren’t the problem.”

“What? Then…….”

“Whether the will to contain in the fabric will go wrong or not. That’s the problem.”

One or two mistakes?

She can manage somehow. She could change the form of the ceremonial robes, and if that doesn’t work, there’s the method of unraveling the fabric and re-cutting from the beginning.

With concentration reaching the extreme due to the spiritual medicine now, most mistakes could be somehow covered up. Since she intends not to make mistakes in the first place, that’s not a problem. But what truly becomes a problem is one thing.

Does she clearly understand its purpose?

“They say ceremonial robes, but what exactly is the ceremony for?”

“…….”

“Not knowing the purpose makes it vague. Because it’s vague, it’s hard to be confident I can make it.”

What is Baek Riseon’s purpose? What happens when the ceremony is held? Is that ceremony truly a ceremony to catch Heukya?

Everything is lost in a labyrinth. In this situation where the purpose is so ambiguous, even if told to make ceremonial robes, the success rate wouldn’t be high at all.

“It would be good to ask him directly but…….”

“He won’t tell us, right?”

“Seems that way.”

If he was going to tell us, wouldn’t he have told us long ago?

“Hooaaah.”

This won’t do.

Gawol, who had been complaining of fatigue while rubbing her face on the table for a moment, sprang up from her seat and shouted.

“I can’t do this after all. I need to ask even if I have to grab him by the collar. I can’t work like this.”

“Whose collar are you planning to grab?”

“That would be that pale scholar. That guy who doesn’t know what scheme he’s hiding.”

“Haha. I hear such things often. But don’t grab my collar.”

“No, I have to grab it. It’s not a situation where failure is tolerated, and Seohwa, you know how suspicious that bastard is……ah……?”

Strangely, Seohwa’s voice is thick.

The moment she realized that the person answering her words was someone else, Gawol stiffened and turned her neck. Sure enough, the appearance of the white-robed scholar already stepping on the threshold and making an awkward smile.

“Wh, when did you……”

“I’ve been watching continuously. Since the competition began.”

“…….”

Doesn’t that mean he watched from the beginning?

At the appearance of Gawol making a silent scream while recalling what she just said, Baek Riseon, who gave a bitter smile, shook his head and took one step inside. Then Gawol immediately apologized.

“S, sorry. You’re really suspicious……! No, you are suspicious, but, uh.”

“It’s fine. Because I was suspicious because I needed to be suspicious.”

“……What?”

“More than that, I came because I heard something I can’t overlook. That to make ceremonial robes, you need to know the purpose clearly. Is that true?”

“……Yes.”

After contemplating for a moment, when Gawol told him the conversation she had with Hwangryongjangju, Baek Riseon reflexively stroked his chin while looking up at the sky outside the window. Though it’s not clearly visible because it’s daytime, the appearance of the celestial signs clearly returning to chaos.

“……Is it about time it’s okay to reveal it?”

“What?”

“It means since the heavenly energy has fallen into chaos, conspiring briefly should be okay.”

“What does that……”

“The purpose of the ceremonial robes.”

Baek Riseon, who paused briefly, smiled faintly.

“Defying heaven.”

“……What on earth does that.”

“The Ceremony of Defying Heaven. That’s the ceremonial robes I’m preparing. And the purpose is one.”

Defying providence.

“To revive the dead.”

That’s the purpose.

Looking at Baek Riseon smiling faintly, Gawol thought for a moment then closed her eyes.

“What, nonsense…….”

It seemed she had gotten thoroughly tangled up with a madman.