Chapter 176 : Passage
Passage
When people described a place so dark that you couldn't see an inch ahead, they often said it was as pitch-black as ink.
It was no exaggeration. Jeong-un had barely taken a few steps into the cave, but in front of his nose, it was not just dark—it was utterly jet black.
Instinctively, Jeong-un lowered his head to look at his feet.
"......"
As expected, he couldn't see the floor, not even his knees.
The air obscured his sight, as if it was filled not with transparent shafts of light, but with black paint.
'There's something here.'
Jeong-un was certain.
This was a cave that even Zhao Gang, who had traveled these mountains for years, did not know about, and the inside was unnaturally dark.
There was no way it was an ordinary place.
He subtly turned his head back. Even though he had only taken a few steps, the entrance seemed to have receded far into the distance.
He felt as if he had lost his sense of how far he'd come. The queer sensation was almost dizzying.
Staring steadily for a moment, Jeong-un spoke in a low voice.
"It would be best to explore our surroundings with ki sense."
"I understand."
Zhao Gang's voice sounded distant.
At some point, they had grown apart.
Zhao Gang, who had replied, seemed startled as well.
Almost immediately, Jeong-un felt his companion drawing closer.
"It seems this is no ordinary cave."
Baek Il-gang said from the side.
He, too, had been a little further away, but came closer after hearing Jeong-un and Zhao Gang's voices.
Even martial artists as sensitive as they were had lost their sense of space in an instant.
Jeong-un nodded and replied.
"It seems we've stepped into a gate formation set by the enemy."
"A formation?"
Zhao Gang exclaimed in surprise.
He was right beside him, yet could only make out the outline of his figure, without seeing his facial features at all.
It was an absurd darkness.
He continued.
"In that case, shouldn't one of us go outside and report this?"
"It's too late."
Jeong-un shook his head.
"We've already entered their domain. It won't be easy to get out now."
"That can't be. The entrance is right over there..."
Zhao Gang trailed off, his voice full of disbelief.
He was turning towards where the entrance had been a moment ago. Now, it had vanished completely from sight.
"What in the world...?"
Zhao Gang muttered, bewildered. The entrance had disappeared just by turning his head for a moment?
Even after experiencing it, the sight was hard to believe.
These were people who had spent decades as martial artists.
Their five senses were sharpened to an extreme degree, far sharper than common folk.
Yet those sensitive senses collapsed in an instant. It was enough to make their skin crawl.
'This can't go on.'
Jeong-un muttered inwardly.
Martial artists were meant to see through pitch-black darkness as if it were broad daylight.
Yet now, even Jeong-un's field of view was entirely void, no matter how hard he strained his eyes.
It wasn't simply a matter of blocking out light—there was an odd, unsettling sense, as if the very air were painted black.
Taking another step forward in this state would be little different from suicide.
'How did those formations work again?'
He recalled what he had picked up about formations from rumors and hearsay.
He certainly hadn't studied them in depth, but at least understood the principles: manipulating the vast flows of natural energy in the air, weaving them through the logic of the five elements to create uncanny effects.
Not only could formations deceive the senses, but, if performed with expert skill, even the smallest flow of ki could bring about substantial changes to the environment.
There was no way to dismantle such a formation in this state.
To escape a formation at this level, he would have to find the Gate of Life or destroy the formation's core.
But that wasn't what Jeong-un planned to do.
'I need to establish my own domain.'
He'd done it before—as when he had scattered the thick mist created by the gate formation in the Divine Physician's tomb using Powerless Steps.
Of course, this time the formation was of a far higher level.
But not only had the environment changed—he himself had reached a whole new realm since then.
As he came to that realization, he stepped forward.
Simultaneously, he sent true ki through his Yongcheon acupoint beneath his foot.
Ta-ak.
Unlike before, he didn't stomp forcefully into the ground as if taking a forcible stride.
Instead, he set his foot down lightly, as if taking a leisurely stroll.
Even the others walking beside him failed to notice anything unusual.
Ta-ak.
When the sole of his foot touched the ground, a wave of ki gently radiated out in a circular pattern.
"......!"
He could sense the others beside him flinch in surprise.
As if ink was being washed away in running water, the darkness thinned, and their faces appeared.
Baek Il-gang and Zhao Gang stared at Jeong-un, their faces startled.
Though the area of illumination wasn't wide, the surroundings were now visible.
Baek Il-gang asked,
"...... What did you just do this time?"
"There was a strange formation inside, blocking any light from entering from outside. I've pushed back the flow of that ki. It won't be perfectly bright, but we'll have some visibility."
"......"
To establish one's own domain inside a formation of this level?
If heard from outside, one would dismiss it as nonsensical.
But, having seen it with his own eyes, Baek Il-gang could only nod helplessly.
With his newly cleared vision, Jeong-un looked over the area.
Baek Il-gang and Zhao Gang also scanned their surroundings.
"The walls aren't rough, they're smooth. This is definitely an artificial cave. It makes sense that Young Hero Jo wouldn't have known about it."
"When could they have built this...?"
At Baek Il-gang's words, Zhao Gang looked around in a daze.
He had wandered these slopes countless times since childhood.
The ancestral shrine was only a short distance from this very cliff.
Yet he'd never known this cave existed.
He'd never even heard of it, so surely no one else in the house would know, either.
Jeong-un spoke.
"They probably created the cave by first setting up a formation to deceive the eye. For them, that much would not have been difficult."
"They built this purposely just to kidnap people?"
Baek Il-gang muttered at his side. His face was unusually tense for once.
"...... Let's go."
Zhao Gang replied quietly, trying not to look impatient. But he couldn't hide his anxiousness.
In his heart, he undoubtedly wanted to dash forward using lightness skill.
So they advanced slowly, carefully scanning their surroundings.
Step, step.
Every time Jeong-un moved forward, a small wave brightened the path ahead.
Baek Il-gang and Zhao Gang glanced at him. Even to a casual eye, it was an extraordinary feat.
'We must save her no matter what.'
Inside, Jeong-un himself was feeling pressed for time.
After all, it was someone taken because of him.
He didn't even want to imagine what might happen if anything befell Zhao Yeong-ryeong.
That was why each step felt heavy.
As they pressed onward, slowly—
"There's something up ahead."
Baek Il-gang suddenly halted and spoke.
He wasn't the only one who saw it.
Zhao Gang, and Jeong-un—who was already probing ahead with his ki wave—also saw what was coming into view.
There was another reason for their silence.
The narrow passage had begun to widen into a round chamber, but then dead-ended against a wall.
Finally, Zhao Gang spoke slowly.
"...... It's blocked?"
"This is it?"
Baek Il-gang and Zhao Gang looked around in bewilderment, searching for another connected passage.
Meanwhile, Jeong-un fixed a steady gaze on the wall.
Since entering, the pure energy left by Zhao Yeong-ryeong had led them deeper, but here—at this wall—it disappeared without a trace.
'It ends here?'
Jeong-un slowly approached the wall and examined its surface.
It appeared to be that of an ordinary stone wall, with no signs of artificial markings.
Raising his hand, he lightly brushed the wall, sending a flow of true ki along its tiny cracks.
Saaak—
As Baek Il-gang watched from beside him, he asked,
"If another passage goes on behind this, shouldn't we just break through? We don't have any more time."
But Jeong-un, still scrutinizing the wall, shook his head.
"There's no need for that."
"......?"
Baek Il-gang furrowed his brow.
The answer sounded strange.
Not, 'It's a bad idea,' but, 'There's no need'? It sounded as if he had found the answer.
"Do you know something...?"
Baek Il-gang started to ask again, but—
Jeong-un, having stepped a few paces back, reached for his waist.
Srrrrng—
With a clear, ringing sound, dragon Sky revealed its pure white sword blade.
At the sound, Zhao Gang, who had been searching another wall for traps like a mechanical trap formation, turned his head sharply.
Seeing Jeong-un pull out his sword made him gasp.
"Young Hero Yu! You can't just break through recklessly! If you trigger a trap, the whole cave could collapse!"
"...... Wait."
Baek Il-gang raised a hand to restrain Zhao Gang, keeping his eyes on Jeong-un.
"......?"
"Let's watch for now."
His companion with whom he had entered the tomb had already stepped into a peerless expert's domain, different from his own.
A person of that level would not draw their sword without having something in mind.
Just then, Jeong-un recalled the motions he had practiced so many times.
Focusing on the wall before him, he calmly observed, as if fixing it in his sights.
'What a petty trick.'
There were two faint lines etched into the wall, revealed only by carefully probing with true ki.
Specifically, there were three sword marks. Including a small hole the size of a fingertip in the center.
Unless examined carefully with true ki, they would never have been found.
Jeong-un spoke.
"The enemy is mocking me. He knows exactly how I practice my sword."
"Mocking...?"
Zhao Gang echoed, puzzled.
Jeong-un stepped forward and, simultaneously, swept his sword horizontally.
It was a movement he had executed tens of thousands of times since the day he first picked up a wooden sword.
Saaaak—!
The lightning-fast slash traced the scar along the wall.
Following that, a downward strike from above—cleaving the air—landed precisely.
Saaak!
Finally, from his elbow, true ki erupted explosively along his central channel, pouring into the sword tip as he thrust, piercing the center of the cross.
Kwaaaang!
Horizontal slash.
Vertical slash.
Thrust.
The three moves connected fluidly, as if they were a single movement, the flow of true ki unbroken.
This was why he no longer bothered naming his sword moves.
Then—
Kugugugung!
The wall split apart in the shape of a cross, then crumbled away smoothly as if collapsing inward.
It didn't break by brute force.
The cut surfaces of the four pieces of stone were perfectly smooth, as if they'd always been separate.
Beyond the fallen stones, another passage was revealed.
From behind, Zhao Gang stared, eyes wide and mouth agape.
"...... What just happened?"
"I told you to wait, didn't I?"
Baek Il-gang replied with a hollow laugh.
He hadn't expected it to play out this way either. He had simply trusted his companion would pull something off.
Jeong-un spoke in a composed voice.
"There were subtle sword marks left on the wall—clearly by someone familiar with my three sword moves."
"Someone knows your sword moves, young hero Yu?"
At this, Baek Il-gang's expression darkened. The passage opening ahead was a relief, but the implications were troubling.