Chapter 29
To think that opening the Celestial Gate would change heaven and earth.
And that one would die vomiting blood...
It was a beginning that made no sense at all.
And precisely because it didn't make sense, it was chilling.
'... It doesn't matter. If I can become stronger, I can bear any risk.'
Jaseong steeled his resolve and turned to the next page.
Then, the true identity of the secret art, the Celestial Gate Opening Art, which no executor of Heaven's Mandate in history had mastered, was revealed.
[The breathing method of immortals awakens a channel for true ki distinct from the eight extraordinary meridians in the body.
There are twelve gates within the body.
These are called the Twelve Gates, or Celestial Gates.
There are twelve gates located from the crown of the head to various parts of the body,
The gist of the Celestial Gate Opening Art is to open these twelve gates and turn the whole body into a conduit for true ki.
The larger the channel for true ki, the more explosively one can unleash their power,
And one can gather and utilize even the last drop of latent energy within the body.
In other words, one enters a state where a single strike means certain death for the opponent...]
That was the essence of the Celestial Gate Opening Art.
Put simply, it was a kind of ultimate move that temporarily exploded one's original strength.
'This is truly an incredible secret art...'
Of course, as much as it was a trump card, the Celestial Gate Opening Art had major drawbacks.
[... Since it's a technique that releases all the true ki in the body at once, if you cannot properly control the Twelve Gates, all the energy channels inside will burst and you will die.
Also, if you keep the Twelve Gates open until all your internal energy is depleted, your innate true ki will be consumed, making recovery extremely difficult.]
"In short, precise control is crucial."
From then on, Jaseong repeatedly recited the manual's formula, thoroughly internalizing the basics of the Celestial Gate Opening Art.
He then rolled in several large stones to block the cave entrance.
"It's completely dark now... I won't leave this cave until I master the Celestial Gate Opening Art."
With firm resolve, Jaseong sat cross-legged.
Next, he activated his gift, the Samadhi Eyes that had made him a prodigy of martial arts.
Suuuu―
The realm of samadhi opened, and a golden aura floated in front of his eyes.
It was the true ki of the Heaven Evading Way flowing out from Jaseong's dantian.
Within the slowed stream of time, Jaseong moved that true ki little by little.
He perfectly followed the energy route for the Celestial Gate Opening Art written in the manual.
If any previous executor of Heaven's Mandate had seen it, their eyes would have twitched in disbelief.
To control true ki so delicately was hard even for the greatest experts.
It was a feat only Jaseong, who possessed the Samadhi Eyes, could pull off.
Thus three days and nights passed, then seven days and nights, then a month.
He trained alone in total darkness in the cave for two months.
Then, one day, words suddenly spilled from Jaseong's lips.
"... Damn it."
* * *
Jaseong's vulgar outburst had a simple reason.
It had been two months since he shut himself in the cave.
He had activated the Samadhi Eyes thousands of times, until his head spun.
He devoted himself exclusively to mastering the Celestial Gate Opening Art, forgetting even his hunger in the darkness.
Yet, there was no progress at all.
He couldn't grasp the key insight at all.
Even though he'd guided his ki through the Celestial Gate Opening Art's energy route thousands of times, he couldn't feel the Twelve Gates within his body at all.
As each day passed, resignation began to seep into Jaseong's heart.
Anyone would feel the same in such circumstances.
Didn't the Night Cat Celestial Spirit say it before?
If you don't sense that 'fleeting impression' or whatever within a month, you can't master this secret art.
Yet even after two months, he couldn't catch that fleeting impression....
"... So that's why it's a secret art of such brutal difficulty that no one ever mastered it."
... He had to admit.
This is a martial art no one in the world can master—a pie in the sky.
So it's not strange that he can't learn it either.
The month the sword immortal referred to has long since passed, and there's no more hope.
So he should give up and spend the remaining time training sword and footwork techniques.
That'd be a more efficient use of time.
Maybe when his strength increases in the future, he would understand the core of the Celestial Gate Opening Art.
The Night Cat Celestial Spirit did say there's a timing to mastering secret arts, but there are always exceptions....
"... What kind of pathetic thoughts am I having?"
As such ordinary, yet weak thoughts were about to take over his mind,
Jaseong suddenly slapped himself hard across the face.
Smack!
For someone too weak to throw even a single punch at his mortal enemies,
Smack!
How long has it been since Jaseong felt that bone-deep powerlessness,
Smack!
If he was to become stronger, he must be willing to do anything.
Give up? Am I out of my mind?
How much more must happen for me to get it together?
Smack!
Master it—no matter what!
Master the sword immortal's secret art and become stronger than you are now!
If you can't seize a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity like this, you'll never become the World's Greatest...!
With a fierce glint of resolve, Jaseong clenched his teeth.
He fought through the intense dizziness and headache and activated the Samadhi Eyes once again.
This time, he even forgot his thirst.
Ignoring the burning pain in his throat,
without a single drop of water,
he focused all his strength on understanding the core of the Celestial Gate Opening Art.
How many days and nights passed like that?
Suuuu―
After activating the Samadhi Eyes more than a hundred thousand times through repeated cultivation,
he saw a trajectory of golden energy forming in midair, leaking out from the manual.
'This is...?'
Jaseong stared blankly at the golden energy's trail.
The intention left by the sword immortal in the Heaven Evading Way manual.
It was teaching him the true ki diagram of the Celestial Gate Opening Art.
Surge!
The moment the golden trajectory spread out before his eyes, nausea surged again.
But Jaseong forced himself to swallow back the urge to vomit and focused intently on the path before him.
He never wanted to lose this wispy thread of enlightenment he'd seized for the first time.
'I'll follow it...!'
Jaseong moved his internal energy according to the golden trajectory.
At one point, his energy became like a thread, lightly tapping and passing through the Twelve Gates inside his body.
Gate of Opening, gate of Rest, gate of Life, gate of Wounds, gate of Green, gate of Desolation... Gate of Death
In this order, Jaseong became aware of the Twelve Gates latent within himself.
Now, if I urge my energy a bit more and open these gates one by one?
The Twelve Gates would become conduits for true ki and allow Jaseong to enter an ultimate one-strike-kill state.
Of course, the truly dangerous part started here.
He had to open the Twelve Gates just "enough".
If he opened too many, the energy in his body would pour out at once, and all his energy channels would instantly burst.
But if he opened too few, there would be no effect, and everything would be for nothing.
[When the Celestial Gates open, heaven and earth will be overturned. Or you will die, vomiting blood.]
Just as the first line in the manual warned, it was an extremely risky moment.
However,
'... Even if I die, I'll do it. If I miss this chance, who knows when I'll find another moment of enlightenment.'
A fierce determination filled Jaseong's eyes.
Feeling like the baihui point at the crown of his head was burning white-hot, he finally opened the Celestial Gates within his body.
'First Gate. Opening Gate open.'
Suuuu―
'Second Gate. Resting Gate open.'
Kuaaa―
'Third Gate. Life Gate open.'
Kwaaa―
Even though he opened them only slightly, power surged so wildly that he felt he might explode.
And finally,
'Twelfth Gate. Death Gate open.'
Jaseong's true ki opened the last of the Twelve Gates.
At that moment—
Ruuumble!! Kua-kua-kua-kua!!!!
The cave echoed violently as golden ki burst forth from Jaseong as if it was exploding.
'Is this the Celestial Gate Opening Art...?'
Its terrifying might left him stunned.
He was confident that if he swung his sword now, he could easily cut through even a palace hall.
But he couldn't afford to bask in the feeling for long.
The internal energy in Jaseong's dantian vanished in an instant.
After opening the twelfth gate, it lasted not even two breaths before it was depleted.
"......!"
Jaseong hastily closed the Twelve Gates in reverse order, following the manual's technique.
If he made a mistake, all his energy channels could burst or his dantian could be destroyed.
Once he had closed all the opened gates—
"Uweeeeck!!!"
Jaseong finally spewed out the vomit he'd been holding back.
Not just stomach acid and food, but even dark blood poured out.
It was a sight that made one frown at the sheer pain he was enduring.
But surprisingly, a deep, thick smile spread across Jaseong's lips.
"Haha... hahahaha... I did it... I really did it...!"
Indescribable joy, ecstasy, a sense of accomplishment.
Jaseong even started laughing madly.
Because now, he had fully understood the Three Ways' secret art—Celestial Gate Opening Art.
If he kept up his cultivation, he would surely acquire an incredible ultimate move—how could he not laugh?
If any previous executor of Heaven's Mandate had seen Jaseong now, they would have been utterly shocked.
Unlike other martial arts like sword techniques, with the Celestial Gate Opening Art, if you succeed even once, your energy will remember the path, making it far easier to open the gates in future attempts.
But not a single person had ever succeeded even once.
Only Jaseong, who had opened his upper dantian and awakened the Samadhi Eyes, could control his true ki with such finesse.
A true prodigy descended from heaven.
He possessed the qualities of founders of great sects—those who had comprehended the mysteries of the world and created martial arts themselves.
Jaseong did not realize it, but in this moment, the aura of a grandmaster emanated from him.
* * *
One month later.
Murmur— Murmur—
On the mountainside of Iron Mountain, south of Guizhou City, dozens of applicants were gathered.
Their ages were diverse—from boys and girls Jaseong's own age to mature adults.
Their backgrounds varied as well.
A boy from Killing Valley, Central Plains' largest assassin organization.
A young master of the Twin Dragon Clan, a leading faction among the Evil Faction's four great houses and seven sects.
A girl from North Sea Ice Palace, one of the five major external powers, and so on.
There were especially many descendants of annihilated Evil Faction sects.
The reason for this was that, following two Wars of Righteousness and Evil, the Righteous Faction had won, wiping out most of the Evil Faction.
Orphaned, these Evil Faction heirs now sought to reclaim their former fame through the Dark Path Duel Banquet.
If they won this tournament, held every three years, their names would resound throughout the Central Plains.
Furthermore, the Evil Path Association offered enormous rewards.
Gold, secret manuals, elixirs, and more.
Jaseong stood among them.
To complete the fourth Heaven's Mandate, 'Accumulate Prestige.'
'... Just as Hyang-I warned. There are even those with auras more fearsome than the Seven Freaks of Zhejiang....'
Wearing a human-skin mask, Jaseong scanned his competitors one by one.
In his possession were carrier pigeons containing messages exchanged with Hyang-I after his closed-door training.
Most of them were updates on the Ansun branch of Hao Clan that he managed.
But among them was information on the candidates participating in the Dark Path Duel Banquet.
How did Hyang-I get their information, you ask?
Thanks to the gold bars Jaseong gave her, she'd set up an intelligence network all over Guizhou City.
The rising stars of the Evil Faction who'd come to Guizhou City for the Dark Path Duel Banquet.
They stayed at inns and drank at pleasure houses,
And unwittingly revealed their identities to Hyang-I's planted informants.
Step— step—
At that moment, one of the supervisors stepped forward, signalling the official start of the admittance test.
"Welcome to the Dark Path Duel Banquet. I am Wolryong, known as the Cloud Demon Sword, and the chief inspector for this tournament."
He wore a black eyepatch over his left eye and exuded an intimidating aura.
His introduction caused the applicants to stir.
The Cloud Demon Sword had once wiped out an entire Murim Alliance assault squad singlehandedly—he was a renowned expert.
"For this Dark Path Duel Banquet, eight experts from the Evil Path Association are serving as supervisors. These experts will be stationed near applicants during the duels and will evaluate you. And,"
"......?"
"no matter what happens, they will not interfere. Even if applicants die."
"......!"
"So if you value your life, you should leave now."
A suitably ominous beginning for something named the Dark Path Duel Banquet.
But not a single person backed down.
Everyone already had the look of someone prepared to risk death.
The same was true for Jaseong.
"No one? In that case, I'll explain the tournament's rules and format."
At Wolryong's words, the contestants all focused their attention.
"The tournament will take place in this forest for ten days and nights. During this time, you must fight other contestants and seize their number tokens."
"......!"
"While protecting your own token, you must gather at least ten tokens from others."