Chapter 43
Chapter 43
『 Translator – Divinity 』
“What are you doing, son-in-law? Not getting up. There's a mountain of work to do. Taking the spiritual elixir is just one step on that long journey. Didn't you say it yourself, son-in-law? That you'd show your skills and make the leaders of the Demonic Clans submit. That you'd protect your limbs. To do that, don't you have to build up your skills first?”
Then he got up first and pulled Cheon Ha-seong by the arm.
There wasn't a single wrong word, but he couldn't tell if it was really okay to do this. It was because he felt that if they handled things so hastily, the responsibility the Cult Leader would have to bear later would be too heavy.
Thinking it wasn't something to just worry about and let pass, Cheon Ha-seong stated his thoughts. At that, Seo Hyo-eun nodded as if to say it was perfectly possible.
“Father, what happens if the Cult Leader uses the spiritual elixirs without authorization?”
“I've never heard of such a thing happening. Even so, if I am strong enough, can't I just crush them with force?”
“If you can't do that, do you get kicked out?”
“Do you not trust this father of yours?”
“It's better to be certain, isn't it?”
The Cult Leader looked as if his pride was hurt, but he did not deny that it could happen.
“Do not worry, Cult Leader. If I just achieve complete mastery of the Heaven-Shattering Will Art, no one will dare to persecute you. And there will be no one who can tell you to vacate the Cult Leader's Hall.”
At Cheon Ha-seong's words, the Cult Leader stared at him blankly. Until then, the Cult Leader had only been thinking that he had to handle this matter for Cheon Ha-seong's sake, staking his own position as Cult Leader.
Hearing what his daughter said, he had thought that such a thing might really happen, but upon hearing Cheon Ha-seong's words, he felt a surge of emotion for some reason.
Until now, he had been in the position of protecting others; he was not used to someone stepping forward, saying they would protect him.
There had been people who had said so while pledging their loyalty, but after being ambushed by assassins one after another, he had grown skeptical, thinking those words were all false oaths. But listening to Cheon Ha-seong's words and realizing his sincerity, he felt a lump in his throat for no reason.
The thought that they could go together, the thought that it was okay to lean on someone when things were tough, made the tip of his nose tingle for some reason.
“Father, I really did well, didn't I? If I hadn't gone to the Martial Arts Academy, where would you have gotten such an amazing son-in-law?”
“You are in no position to say that, Hyo-eun-ah. Wasn't it because it was this father of yours that I let you do so? The more amazing one is this father.”
Then, as if there were no time for this, the Cult Leader urged Cheon Ha-seong on.
“You must prepare your mind firmly from now on, son-in-law.”
Then he looked at his daughter and said.
“Hyo-eun-ah, take a good look at my son-in-law. You may not be able to see this side of him again. After taking the spiritual elixirs, won't a person change in many ways?”
“Yes, Father. I really should.”
Cheon Ha-seong, thinking the father and daughter were truly amusing, shook his head.
“I'm looking forward to it, Head Instructor Seo. I can't believe I can get any better than this, but I'll try to come back as an even cooler person.”
Cheon Ha-seong also said it to match the mood, but for some reason, the atmosphere was not good.
The Cult Leader lamented, "How did my son-in-law end up like this," and Cheon Ha-seong, feeling awkward, quickly slipped out of the place.
***
Cheon Ha-seong had also heard many stories about the Divine Cult's Secret Treasury. He had even told the candidates at the Martial Arts Academy about it himself. However, he had never imagined that he would come to the place in person.
The Divine Cult's Secret Treasury was guarded by sixteen masters from each of the Demonic Clans. It was said to be a long-standing tradition of the Divine Cult, passed down for a long time.
The reason was that by doing so, they would naturally keep each other in check and be able to guard the Secret Treasury well.
The warriors guarding the Secret Treasury did not follow anyone's orders. Not even the Cult Leader could command them to clear the way.
That was why the current situation had come to be.
“I have already sought their agreement. This is a matter where every second counts, which is why I have come first. And you know that I have the authority to use the spiritual elixirs from now on, do you not.”
Cheon Ha-seong found it amusing that the Cult Leader was trying to persuade the treasury guards instead of crushing them with force.
It seemed that if he were the Cult Leader, he could have easily defeated all the treasury guards with his own martial might and gone inside, but he must have been trying not to break the Divine Cult's rules himself.
“Cult Leader, you know well that you should not be doing this, so why do you put us in a difficult position?”
“You truly are a stubborn bunch. Just know that I have given you ample opportunity.”
The treasury guards thought that the Cult Leader would now try to break through the Secret Treasury by force. Although such a thing had never happened before, if the Cult Leader tried to take the spiritual elixirs without authorization, exceeding his authority, they were supposed to stop him.
However, the Cult Leader only warned them with frightening words and did not step forward to take action himself. Cheon Ha-seong was likewise unable to understand why he was doing that.
Then he received a telepathic message from the Cult Leader.
—What are you doing? Are we going to stay like this? I'm saying, shouldn't you get inside quickly.
—No, that's...
Cheon Ha-seong was flustered, wondering if that was his role. He was flustered because he thought it would have been better if he had given him a hint before they came here, if that was the case.
However, it was just that he hadn't known it was his job to do; if he was only told to do it, there was nothing he couldn't do.
Cheon Ha-seong looked at the warriors of the Secret Treasury.
“I apologize for this being our first meeting. I know that you are all devoting your loyalty to the Divine Cult in your respective positions. However, I hope you will understand that this is something absolutely necessary to increase the power of the Divine Cult.”
The warriors of the Secret Treasury did not change their minds even after seeing Cheon Ha-seong.
Wherever Cheon Ha-seong went, he met people who recognized him and people he knew. There was almost no martial artist in the Divine Cult who did not know of him, the so-called legend of the Martial Arts Academy. However, the warriors of the Secret Treasury were different.
They had been in this place for decades, so they had not had many opportunities to hear about Cheon Ha-seong.
They had guarded this place as if they were undergoing ascetic training and were ignorant of outside news. In any case, they had no thought of leaving this place to go elsewhere, so paying attention to such things would have only been more agonizing for them.
Cheon Ha-seong didn't know what would be best to say to them, but he thought that now was not the time for words anyway.
From then on, he launched his body forward fiercely and struck everyone's paralysis points.
The treasury guards, watching the expressions of the Cult Leader and Cheon Ha-seong, had prepared for them, wondering if they were perhaps planning to use hidden weapons or poison. However, they had not thought that the approaching Cheon Ha-seong would strike their paralysis points and retreat at a frightening speed.
They were dumbfounded and even flabbergasted. It was because they had thought such a thing would not work on them at all.
Those present had trained with their lives on the line until now.
Because the Secret Treasury was located in a safe place, not many people came this far. And knowing how grave a crime it was to rob the Secret Treasury, no one had even attempted it. As a result, there had been almost no instances where they had to fight a real battle.
The treasury guards trained during their spare time and had continued their intense training without missing a single day. They had never neglected their Mind Method training either, and had taken many of the spiritual elixirs specially given to the treasury guards.
That was not all.
It was easy to guess just how importantly the Divine Cult regarded the treasury guards.
That was why the Divine Cult had specially passed down a Mind Method to the treasury guards that allowed them to better absorb another's internal energy. And they would send martial artists who had committed crimes in the Divine Cult to the Secret Treasury and have them transfer all their internal energy to the treasury guards.
It was a system where their punishment would be reduced to some extent if they transferred all the internal energy they had accumulated.
The internal energy they had obtained in such a deformed way was all considerable. Although they were between fifty and sixty years old, their personal internal energy far exceeded sixty years' worth.
Because they were such men, it was difficult to guarantee that even the Cult Leader could pass through easily if the sixteen treasury guards were determined to block him.
No, it would be correct to say that one could guarantee he would not be able to pass.
But all those people had been taken down helplessly by Cheon Ha-seong's acupoint strike. Not long after the incident occurred, they too were not greatly surprised. They didn't know who the Cult Leader had brought, but he was a fresh-faced greenhorn who looked as if the blood hadn't even dried on his head yet.
They were confident they could protect the Secret Treasury even if the Cult Leader appeared with the previous Cult Leader. But an unexpected event had occurred.
They were flabbergasted by the fact that they had been taken down so helplessly, unable to do anything as Cheon Ha-seong appeared and struck their paralysis points. But that was not the only surprising thing.
Their number was sixteen in total. While Cheon Ha-seong was striking another person's paralysis points, it would have been right to get out of the way. But they could not.
Even though some time should have passed after he began the acupoint strikes, it felt as if the beginning and the end had happened almost simultaneously.
There was no way to explain the event other than to call it a marvel.
The men could now think of nothing other than releasing their own paralysis points. Of course, what had first happened was too absurd and baffling, but still, they thought they would be able to release the paralysis points quickly.
They thought it wouldn't be difficult at all, as the depth of their internal energy would be different, and there was no way Cheon Ha-seong's internal energy could surpass their own.
In an instant, a different emotion rose in their eyes, which had at first been glistening with anger and contempt.
‘Why? Why isn't it working? Why am I like this?’
One by one, the treasury guards grew flustered, then just darted their eyes about, looking at each other. This was something that could never happen.
They couldn't even lift a single finger; all they could do was dart their eyes. In the meantime, Cheon Ha-seong had already disappeared with the Cult Leader.
They just looked at each other with blank eyes. Their anxiety reached its peak. And yet, they held onto a single ray of hope.
The Secret Treasury was a fortress. On top of being built in a natural fortress that no one could penetrate, countless Cult Leaders until now had also competitively created Mechanism Formations.
In the middle section, before reaching the place where the spiritual elixirs were kept, all sorts of poisonous insects and extreme poisons brought from the Nanman region were also spread about.
Therefore, one should absolutely not enter without permission in such a manner.
The Cult Leader must know that fact, so they couldn't understand why on earth he was doing such a reckless thing. It was to the point where they even had the thought that, while on the surface he seemed to cherish the young man he had brought with him, perhaps he had actually brought him here because he wanted to kill him without a trace.