Chapter 116
CHAPTER 116
Lightsword Tomb-2
The next morning, Do Munseung was finally released from his restraints and allowed to walk toward the entrance of the Radiant Sword Tomb.
Beside him, Sucheon Guild Leader Mok woo-jeon was swinging his sword lightly to loosen up his body.
Mok woo-jeon spoke to him.
“As you saw yesterday, inside lies Vice Guild Leader Ga Yuak, who has fallen into madness. For some reason, he never comes out of the cave beyond a certain distance. Instead, he only targets those who try to enter.”
Do Munseung frowned at those words.
Ga Yuak attacks anyone trying to enter the cave?
With a skeptical expression, he asked Mok woo-jeon.
“Vice Guild Leader Ga Yuak… isn’t he the master who has surpassed the wall of eighty years of internal energy, a pinnacle expert? If such a man is guarding the cave, there’s no way I could possibly enter.”
Mok woo-jeon let out a dry chuckle.
“Of course. Moreover, astonishingly, after he fell into madness, his martial prowess rose another step. I crossed blades with him briefly—he now matches me evenly.”
“What?!”
That was nothing short of shocking.
Ga Yuak’s martial prowess had increased after falling into madness?
That meant he now wielded strength equal to Mok woo-jeon himself, who had already surpassed the wall of ninety years of internal energy and was peering into the realm of super-pinnacle masters.
His madness had actually elevated his skill.
As a martial artist, it was impossible not to be intrigued by such a thing.
But for Do Munseung, something else was far more pressing.
Wasn’t Mok woo-jeon basically telling him to get past that monster and enter the cave?
The more he heard, the more impossible it sounded.
Seeing his expression, Mok woo-jeon patted his shoulder reassuringly.
“Don’t worry. I’ll handle him. I’ll go ahead and fight him at the entrance, pin him down. That’s when you seize the chance and rush into the cave.”
Do Munseung turned again toward the cave.
The entrance wasn’t that wide. He imagined the scene as Mok woo-jeon described it.
A hollow laugh escaped him.
Two experts with over ninety years of cultivation clashing at such a narrow entrance—and he was supposed to slip in unnoticed?
Did Mok woo-jeon actually believe that was possible?
And once inside, then what?
Wearing a helpless expression, Do Munseung asked,
“What if you fail to hold the Vice Guild Leader? No—aren’t you unable to enter the cave in the first place? If he just ignores you and chases me inside, what am I supposed to do?”
Mok woo-jeon sighed heavily, his face grave.
“I’ll do everything I can to restrain him. You don’t know it, but I too am quite desperate right now. So, trust me just this once.”
That was laughable.
Asking him to trust the very man plotting his death.
Do Munseung let out another hollow laugh but didn’t argue further.
In the end, these men couldn’t care less whether he lived or died.
In fact, if by some miracle he survived, they’d probably go out of their way to kill him themselves. Betting his life on this gamble was inevitable.
Staring for a moment at the crimson glow gleaming deep within the cave, Do Munseung finally sighed in resignation and nodded.
“Fine. I suppose you wouldn’t be doing this if you had any other option.”
Hearing that, Mok woo-jeon smiled faintly.
“Thank you for understanding.”
To him, Do Munseung seemed increasingly admirable.
Had they met under different circumstances, he might have even considered taking him as a true disciple.
But Mok woo-jeon did not know.
He had no idea what Do Munseung was truly thinking.
Nor whom he was secretly receiving a voice transmission from.
With that, Mok woo-jeon drew his sword and began walking toward the cave.
And to the Vice Guild Leader Ga Yuak, whose crimson eyes burned from within, he shouted:
“Yuak! It’s me! Do you recognize me?!”
But even as he spoke, he knew the answer.
The ominous blood-red light blazing in Yuak’s eyes, the killing aura so thick it prickled his skin—it was only getting stronger.
Mok woo-jeon raised his guard.
As before, once he closed within a certain distance, Ga Yuak would burst out to attack.
Pababak!
Just like now.
“Uwoooaaaahhh!”
Cha-cha-cha-chang!
Ga Yuak’s sword shot forward like a streak of light, colliding with Mok woo-jeon’s blade countless times in midair.
The exchange was so fast that neither Do Munseung nor the other warriors could follow it with their eyes.
Clashing with Ga Yuak, Mok woo-jeon thought to himself:
‘His martial power is the same as last time.’
Facing Ga Yuak’s near-equal swordplay, he felt some relief.
Since Yuak’s prowess had once surged upon falling into madness, he had worried it might continue to grow stronger with time.
But no—the rise in power had only happened once, at the moment of madness.
Relieved, Mok woo-jeon shouted over his shoulder mid-battle.
“Now’s the chance! While I’m holding him, get him inside quickly!”
At this level, he could hold Ga Yuak off long enough for Do Munseung to enter.
Even after he entered, Mok woo-jeon was confident he could keep Yuak restrained.
That confidence spurred him to signal.
But the moment he did, something utterly unexpected happened.
“Kihahahahaha!”
“Ohohohohoho!”
Suddenly, eerie laughter rang out.
To Mok woo-jeon, it was an all-too-familiar sound. The laughter he had been desperately searching for just yesterday.
The Twin Blades of Azure and Crimson—Cheonghong Ssanggeom—had appeared.
The very ones who had mocked him and then vanished.
“What?!”
Even as he fought Yuak, Mok woo-jeon turned his head in shock toward the sound.
From the forest, they emerged like ghosts, charging straight at the Sucheon Guild warriors stationed around the cave.
In an instant, blood geysers erupted.
Puhhhhak!
“Kuaaaghh!”
“Arghhh!”
The Sucheon warriors had been fully focused on the duel between Mok woo-jeon and Ga Yuak.
Thus, they were completely unprepared for the sudden assault of the Twin Blades.
Wherever the two killers passed, the warriors’ blood sprayed like rain.
None could slow their advance.
Among the fallen, one face caught Mok woo-jeon’s eye.
Do Munseung—who had been waiting for the chance to rush into the cave.
Struck by the palm of the male fiend, he spewed blood as he was sent flying.
Do Munseung—the very youth Mok woo-jeon had pinned his last hope on.
“Keuhaaak!”
Watching him soar through the air and crash to the ground limp and motionless, Mok woo-jeon cried out in anguish.
“No!”
But the young man lay sprawled, unmoving, his last hope extinguished.
“You bastards!”
Mok woo-jeon nearly lost his mind.
But locked in combat with Ga Yuak, he could do nothing.
The one who had intended to restrain Yuak had, instead, been restrained by him.
And the Twin Blades did not stop there.
Having massacred the Sucheon warriors, they swept past Mok woo-jeon and Ga Yuak without hesitation, heading straight into the cave.
Like a gust of unstoppable wind.
Toward the very place where Radiant Sword Yujin lay in slumber.
Mok woo-jeon could only cry out in horror.
“What in the—?!”
At that moment, a sudden thought flashed in Mok Woojeon’s mind.
“They already knew about the Radiant Sword Yujin! Their assault on the Guild, their mocking of me—it was all for the sake of seizing the Radiant Sword Yujin!”
He felt like he was going insane.
At this rate, they would steal the Radiant Sword Yujin right out from under him.
From the depths of his chest, the raging fire he had barely managed to keep under control erupted like a volcano.
Frenzied, Mok Woojeon roared:
“You bastards! Do you think I’ll let you take it from me?!”
The flames of his suppressed inner fire flared into a colossal inferno.
Now, he saw nothing else—only the cave entrance into which they had disappeared.
His sword surged forth with terrifying momentum, lashing at Ga Yuak.
“Out of my way!”
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwang!
It was an overwhelming strike.
Unable to withstand it, Ga Yuak—who until now had fought him evenly—was blasted backward.
“Grrrrrr!”
Mok Woojeon abandoned him without hesitation and charged into the cave.
“You bastardsssss!”
His eyes, too, were beginning to glow a deep crimson, much like Ga Yuak’s.
***
The previous night, Seonu Jin had secretly met with Do Munseung and heard the full story.
And at last, he understood everything.
“The Radiant Sword Yujin of the Mad Sword Maniac Jeong Myeonggang! So that’s what it was!”
Indeed, in his past life, Mok Woojeon had obtained it—rising to become one of the Thirty-Six Stars of the Martial World.
Seonu Jin’s mind raced.
It was no longer enough to simply rescue Do Munseung.
Mok Woojeon had to be prevented from obtaining the Radiant Sword Yujin at all costs.
If left unchecked, he would claim it somehow, and just like in his past life, he would become the Blood Demon’s Demon Sword, drenching the world in blood.
Perhaps his transformation from the Ascendant Sword Guest into the Heavenly Slayer Demon Sword was not unrelated to that cave that drove men mad.
‘What to do…’
As he pondered, Seonu Jin muttered to himself,
“The best way would be to kill him and claim the Radiant Sword Yujin ourselves…”
Beside him, Tang Yeo-eun spoke with a worried expression.
“But neither will be easy. Facing a master like Mok Woojeon, with over ninety years of cultivation, is already difficult. And once inside that cave—the one said to drive men mad—there’s no guarantee we’d come out unscathed.”
“Hmm, true enough.”
Just then, something resurfaced in Seonu Jin’s mind.
In fact, it had come to him the moment he first heard that only those of a clear mind could enter.
Daeyeon Jeongshim-gyeol.
Back when he had memorized all the books in the Seonu family’s library, he had read one by that title.
It was a strange text.
Neither an internal cultivation method nor a scripture, but rather a peculiar mnemonic formula.
He had considered dismissing it, but since it sat among Shaolin martial works like Iron Arhat Internal Method and Arhat Fist, he thought it might be worth something. He read it three times and memorized it.
After that, it had been tucked away in the recesses of his memory—until now, when the word clear mind reminded him of it.
Most of all, it was the words written on the first page that tugged at his heart.
—It shall free you from all corrupt delusions. But beware, for only the Heaven Demon’s Soul-breaking cannot be barred.
That was the opening line of the Daeyeon Jeongshim-gyeol.
From the phrase clear mind and its description, he inferred that it could protect against mental assaults from outside forces.
And if the “Heaven Demon” it mentioned was indeed the very Heavenly Demon of the Demonic Sect, then it meant it could block everything else except that.
Somehow, that claim felt more trustworthy than boasting it could block all things.
In the end, Seonu Jin resolved to learn it.
“Good. Let’s try it!”
After all, there was nothing to lose.
And it wasn’t as if he had any better options.
Learning the Daeyeon Jeongshim-gyeol wasn’t difficult.
Since it wasn’t an internal cultivation method but a formula composed entirely of chants, there was no sensation of building energy or advancing through stages.
But after practicing it for half an hour and then stealthily approaching the cave, Seonu Jin could clearly feel it: the strange force trying to pierce into his soul—and the barrier of the Daeyeon Jeongshim-gyeol holding it back.
It was a success.
A resounding success.
“Heh, unbelievable.”
Seonu Jin let out a hollow laugh.
To think he had memorized such a treasure and then ignored it all this time.
It was like carrying a jewel in his breast while treating it as a pebble.
Had he realized its effect sooner and taught it to his companions, perhaps even the Blood Sect’s Soul-seizing Technique could have been stopped.
For a moment, the face of Myung Sa-hyeon, who had died tragically, floated to mind.
But Seonu Jin quickly shook his head, discarding the thought.
Better to be grateful he had discovered it now.
That night, Seonu Jin practiced the Daeyeon Jeongshim-gyeol with Tang Yeo-eun until dawn.
He even secretly transmitted it to Do Munseung, just in case.
Though, lying outside pretending to be dead, Do Munseung would likely never set foot in here.
Now, as he stepped into the cave, Seonu Jin felt a profound calm despite the malevolent force clawing at his soul.
Smiling, he sent a voice transmission to Tang Yeo-eun.
—“Miss Tang, are you all right?”
—“Yes! Strangely, my mind feels at peace! And I can clearly sense the forces trying to invade me! This is amazing!”
He was relieved.
He had worried for her soft heart.
Originally, he had planned to go in alone.
But she had refused to let him take all the risk by himself, so she had insisted on coming. Thankfully, the Daeyeon Jeongshim-gyeol seemed to be working perfectly for her as well.
Just then—
Behind them came Mok Woojeon’s furious roar.
“You bastards!”
He had shoved Ga Yuak aside and was now storming into the cave after them.
Sensing it, Seonu Jin quickly said,
—“Let’s go, Miss!”
The two of them hurried deeper into the cave.
Soon, the straight, dark passage split into two paths.
Seonu Jin immediately transmitted:
—“Left!”
There was no way to tell the difference, but he picked one without hesitation and darted left.
The moment they disappeared down that path, Mok Woojeon arrived at the fork.
“Grrrrrrr!”
His eyes were already blazing with crimson light, and he growled like a beast.
Yet even so, he snarled words in between.
“It’s mine. Grrr! It’s mine, I tell you! I won’t let anyone take it! Grrrrr!”
His greed, at least, had not vanished.
Coming from the bright outside into the dark cave, he hadn’t seen which way they went.
And with the two of them moving as quietly as possible, he couldn’t even hear them.
After glaring left and right at the fork, Mok Woojeon finally hurled himself to the right.
“Grrrrrr!”
And right behind him, Ga Yuak—still chasing—followed him down the right path.