Chapter 52
While the White-haired Blade Elder and the three leaders of Three Souls Hall were in the midst of a bloody battle...
Chang! Chang! Chang! Chang!
From afar, the sound of clashing blades faintly reached inside the cave where Jaseong and his group were located.
"It seems the White-haired Blade Elder has finally found the leaders of Three Souls Hall."
Lee Rin narrowed her large eyes as she spoke.
"He said he'd take care of the three leaders and come back to get us out... but can he really win?"
The one who answered was Gu Janghu.
"The White-haired Blade Elder is actually Shadowless Divine Thief, who once reigned as a legend in the martial world. He should be more than capable of defeating Three Souls Hall's leaders."
But Dark Needle Venom Empress, listening to Gu Janghu's words, sneered.
Her lips curled into a cold smirk.
"That old man can never defeat the three leaders of Three Souls Hall."
"Why are you so certain?"
"Because that old man's hand is too soft. He'll fumble at the crucial moment."
"But..."
"Most of all, the leader among the three, called First Soul, is a terrifying powerhouse. Three years ago, he dueled a Hainan Sect elder one-on-one and cut him down!"
"......!"
Jaseong and his companions all twitched their eyes at once.
An elder of the Nine Great Sects is a formidable expert.
Cutting down such a person in single combat...
It was hard to believe.
"... If the three leaders of Three Souls Hall are such high-level experts, then even the White-haired Blade Elder may not be able to handle them alone."
Gu Janghu muttered gravely.
If the White-haired Blade Elder was defeated, there would be no one to get them out of this cave.
At that moment, Jaseong spoke up out of nowhere.
"There is a way to get out of here."
"What...? A way out?"
Lee Rin asked with a puzzled look.
"... Leader, the cliff above this cave entrance is at least twenty jang high. On top of that, the rock wind is fierce.... How are we supposed to climb such a cliff?"
Gu Janghu also looked confused.
But Jaseong, showing he had a plan, approached Dark Needle Venom Empress.
With swift hand movements, he released the acupoints that bound her.
"Phew... finally, I can move again. Thanks."
Dark Needle Venom Empress stretched her body as she spoke.
"But why did you suddenly release my acupoints?"
"There's something I need you to do."
"Something for me?"
Jaseong led Gu Janghu and Dark Needle Venom Empress to the cave entrance.
Pointing up at the cliff above, he asked,
"Can you lodge hidden weapons into that cliff?"
Gu Janghu and Dark Needle Venom Empress looked up and pondered for a moment.
"It won't be easy. The cliff is so hard that any weapon will only penetrate shallowly. But why do you ask?"
"I plan to make steps in the cliff by lodging hidden weapons."
"What...?!"
Dark Needle Venom Empress and Gu Janghu would throw their hidden weapons, lodging them into the cliff at regular intervals to create a staircase.
Jaseong would use these as stepping stones to climb up the cliff.
This was the cliff escape method Jaseong had come up with.
Unsurprisingly, the people around him were left speechless at his plan.
It sounded simple in words, but in reality, it was an extremely dangerous move.
"... Leader, it's a clever idea, but frankly, it's not realistic. Watch this."
Gu Janghu took out a willow-leaf flying blade in his hand and charged it with ki.
Then—
Pak!
He struck the flying blade into the cliff beside the cave entrance.
Even after gathering all his internal power, the blade penetrated only shallowly.
"As I said, the cliff is as hard as ironstone. Even with ki, weapons can't embed deeply."
"......."
"If you try to step on a blade that's barely lodged like this, it'll just fall off the cliff, and you'll end up plummeting to your death."
Hearing this, Lee Rin nodded anxiously.
"He's right, great hero. It's too dangerous. We should look for another way."
But Jaseong was unruffled.
"Don't worry. I don't do things without a chance of success."
His tone was firm.
He looked as though he had already accounted for everything.
Knowing he couldn't be stopped when he looked like that, Lee Rin sighed.
Without a word, she took off her outer robe and—r-I-p—tore it into a long strip.
"Then at least tie this around your waist."
What Lee Rin offered was a belt made from her torn robe.
There was nothing in the cave to use as a rope, so her solution was ingenious.
Seeing this, Gu Janghu and Dark Needle Venom Empress also took off their outer garments.
They braided them together to create an even longer, sturdier rope.
"If you tie this around your waist, even if you slip, we'll be able to pull you up at least once."
Jaseong gave Lee Rin a faint smile, touched by her thoughtfulness.
"Thank you, Lee Rin."
At this point, Dark Needle Venom Empress and Gu Janghu had no choice but to take out their hidden weapons.
Following Jaseong's instructions, they hurled their weapons overhead with a shout.
"Twelve Celestial Needles—Heavenly Needle Meteor!"
Dark Needle Venom Empress's twelve hidden weapon needles shot through the moonlight like meteors.
"Shadowed Flying Art—Three Blood Shadows!"
Gu Janghu's willow-leaf flying blades drew crimson arcs toward the cliff.
Tuk! Tuk! Tuk!
A dozen or so hidden weapons embedded in the cliff.
Predictably, each one was shallowly lodged, threatening to fall at the slightest touch.
Watching this, Jaseong drew in a long breath.
Then, he activated his secret art—one practiced only by the executor of Heaven's Mandate, which no others had mastered—the Celestial Gate Opening Art.
'First Gate, opening Gate, open.'
Swoosh—
'Second Gate, resting Gate, open.'
Rumble—
'Third Gate, life Gate, open.'
...
'Seventh Gate, gate of Shock, open.'
Crash!!!
Back during the Dark Path Duel Banquet, he'd opened the Seventh Gate, gate of Shock, when facing Kang Ryong, the third young master of the Twin Dragon Clan.
At the time, Jaseong could only withstand the Seventh Gate for three breaths.
But now, with his internal power amplified by the Humanoid Ginseng, he could maintain it much longer.
'If I have the power that even sent Kang Ryong flying in three breaths... this is more than possible.'
Feeling his energy causing the cave to tremble, Jaseong finally leapt into the air.
Shuaaa!!
Soaring upward, Jaseong performed the secret movement art of Shadowless Divine Thief—the Shadowless Body Technique, which he'd only just learned.
Though it was only at the lowest stage, Light Spirit True Step, combined with the Celestial Gate Opening Art, it produced incredible speed.
He then stepped on the first hidden weapon embedded in the cliff.
Tong!
No sooner did his foot touch down than the hidden weapon fell free from the cliff.
To Lee Rin and Gu Janghu watching from below, it was a heart-stopping sight.
But in that moment, Jaseong pressed off the falling weapon and propelled himself even higher.
Next—
Tong! Tong! Tong! Tong! Tong!
Continuing to step on the embedded weapons, Jaseong bounced upward, as if leaping through the air.
"......!"
"......!!"
"......!!!"
Lee Rin, Gu Janghu, and Dark Needle Venom Empress below stared in awe.
Seeing Jaseong ascend the cliff like the wind, his skill perfectly embodied the essence of the Shadowless Body Technique—the world's lightest step.
'What incredible agility... Just yesterday, he didn't even know what lightness skill was, and now, he seems like a completely different person...!'
Of course, danger soon struck.
As Jaseong vaulted higher, the weapon above him loosened and fell away before he could step on it.
'Damn it...!'
It was one of the long needles thrown by Dark Needle Venom Empress.
Unfortunately, it had been embedded too shallowly.
With nowhere to plant his next step, Jaseong stopped momentarily in midair.
"Great hero!!"
Lee Rin shouted in worry.
Gu Janghu gripped the rope tied to Jaseong's waist, ready to pull if he fell.
But at that moment—
Boom!!!
Jaseong drew his short sword like lightning.
With all his strength, he plunged it into the cliff.
The blade drove in with a thunderous crack, leaving him dangling securely from the rock face.
"Whew..."
Jaseong exhaled deeply, as if he had just shaved off ten years of his life from the ordeal.
Luckily, with the Celestial Gate Opening Art active, his power could bore a hole in the cliff in an instant.
Tong!
Using the embedded short sword as a foothold, Jaseong propelled himself upward once more.
Finally—
Cheok!
He reached the top of the sheer cliff.
In a single leap, he'd ascended more than twenty jang.
"Wow... he really did it..."
Lee Rin mumbled, awestruck at the cave mouth.
"... I've seen all kinds of eccentrics in Killing Valley... but I've never seen anyone with guts like our leader..."
Gu Janghu swallowed in disbelief.
Meanwhile, Jaseong, now catching his breath, peered calmly down from the cliff—his face completely composed after that perilous feat.
Soon after, Jaseong found the long rope the White-haired Blade Elder had hidden in the nearby bushes.
He hoisted up his companions one by one, then declared,
"The three leaders of Three Souls Hall are in a bloody duel with the White-haired Blade Elder right now. If we attack now, we can catch them much more easily."
"Great idea. Let's go, before the White-haired Blade Elder and those three finish their fight."
With that, Jaseong and his group dashed off toward the clashing blades.
The Fifth Mandate of Heaven: 'Eradicate Middle Evil'
The time had finally come to fulfill it.
Yet the ending was heading in a direction that none could have expected.
* * *
On the rooftop of a house in the Wandering Warrior Village, murderous intent was raging like a storm.
Chae-chae-chae-chae-chae-chaeng!!!
Broken roof tiles scattered across the rooftop, and the sharp sound of clashing blades split the darkness.
[Over there!]
When Jaseong finally arrived at the origin of the sounds, an incredible sight greeted him.
The White-haired Blade Elder was locked in a fierce, bloody battle with Three Souls Hall's three leaders.
Seeing the Elder fight with his full strength, Jaseong's party found themselves unconsciously widening their eyes.
'I expected as much... but he's on a completely different level than any enemy I've ever faced.'
True to his title of Shadowless Divine Thief, each attack and defense by the old expert was leagues above any other expert Jaseong had met so far.
The gleaming blades from his Divine Claw Blade Art swept the rooftops of the Wandering Warrior Village like the Milky Way descending from the heavens.
'... At least peak level. He seems to be an even higher-level master than Fierce Sky Faction's Pacheon Gong or Lord of Black Blood Hall Do Unjang, both known as the greatest fiends of Sichuan...'
In any case, compared to Kang Ryong, the final foe he faced at the Dark Path Duel Banquet, this was like fighting a child in comparison.
So, in the next moment, Lee Rin and Gu Janghu both tensed up, eyes wide.
[He really is worthy of such a renowned name...]
[If that old man had decided to kill us back then, it wouldn't have been easy to survive...]
But the three leaders of Three Souls Hall were no pushovers.
The three of them executed flawless joint attacks, exchanging blows with the martial world legend for a long bout.
Sweat started to bead on the White-haired Blade Elder's forehead.
[The three leaders of Three Souls Hall are tremendous experts too... With such formidable martial skills, no wonder they have such infamy in the Central Plains. And yet—when they met us, they just ran away...]
[Because it was a fight with nothing to gain at the time. That's not true now.]
[In any case, it's perfect. If we ambush them now, it'll be a perfect windfall.]
Jaseong gripped the sword hilt and prepared to give the signal.
Climbing the cliff earlier had drained much of his internal power due to using the Celestial Gate Opening Art.
Nevertheless, he began preparing to open the Gates once again.
But just as Jaseong was about to rush in, Dark Needle Venom Empress grabbed his arm.
[Wait. Look over there.]
Dark Needle Venom Empress nodded toward a dark alley on the opposite side.
There, men in black clothes wearing black masks were lying in ambush.
[Who are those people?]
Lee Rin frowned.
Gu Janghu replied quietly,
[They're not from Three Souls Hall. Our leader took care of all of them earlier.]
[Then who are they?]
Sshh—
At that moment, the men in black drew their hidden weapons in unison.
Moonlight glinted off the weapons, which were thickly coated in poison.
In the next moment—
Shuak! Shuak! Shuak! Shuak! Shuak! Shuak!
From the darkness, the sharp projectiles shot toward the White-haired Blade Elder and the leaders of Three Souls Hall, locked in mortal combat.