Chapter 54
“Sand… gale… Ghost Valley… Mountain Manor…!”
So-ah murmured.
A resonance that was imprinted like a divine revelation.
The strange experience he had when he unfolded the <Map of the Ghost Valley Mountain Manor> rushed into his mind like a wave.
“Jin So-ah. What’s wrong all of a sudden?”
“So-yeong-ah.”
“Huh?”
“You didn’t hear that sound just now, did you?”
“What sound?”
“The trial of the first room…”
As So-ah muttered incomprehensible words, a look of concern appeared in Wang So-yeong’s eyes.
‘What’s wrong with him? Has he suddenly gone mad?’
But So-ah’s strange questions continued.
“That? You don’t see that either?”
“What!”
“Something like a white haze… it looks like a piece of cloth.”
“Hey! Aren’t you going to pull yourself together?”
Wang So-yeong snapped in annoyance.
It was because she was suddenly scared.
The day was getting dark, and why was the wind blowing so hard?
Moreover, it was natural to feel eerie while wandering aimlessly in the deserted Great Desert.
But the white gas and the unidentified voice that only So-ah could see and hear were amplified even more clearly.
[O chosen one. Answer. Do you truly wish to challenge the trial of the first room?]
So-ah focused his mind.
As he opened up all the ki senses in his body to the maximum, he felt each and every fine meridian popping.
Only then did So-ah sense that the voice was being transmitted from the white gas in front of him.
‘Brother Gu-yang said that the person who made the <Map of the Ghost Valley Mountain Manor> must be a possessor of divine magical power. This is definitely his arrangement!’
It was certainly a strange thing.
He had thought so since he first unfolded the <Map of the Ghost Valley Mountain Manor>, but now that he was actually facing it, So-ah couldn’t help but get goosebumps all over his body.
‘The dream I had back then… the sand gale and the sign that said <Ghost Valley Mountain Manor>… was it all hinting at today?’
As he was thinking that, the words his grandfather had said suddenly came to his mind.
—So-ah. As you live in the world, you will encounter the unknown countless times. At such times, foolish humans, instead of digging up the actual truth, define it with their own ideas. I was like that too. But now that I’m old, I regret it. You should not live such a life. If there is something you don’t know, you just have to face it and realize it.
‘That’s right. It probably won’t be a big deal once I face it!’
Courage welled up as he thought of his grandfather.
‘The more difficult it is, the simpler it should be.’
Although he knew it was ridiculous, So-ah shouted at the white gas that was wriggling like a haze.
“I will challenge the trial of the first room.”
At that, surprisingly,
[O chosen one. Follow…]
The white gas answered So-ah’s words like a living, breathing human.
Hwiiiing…!
A fierce sandstorm arose.
At the same time, the white gas began to fly away somewhere, scattering a blue halo of light like an afterimage.
“So-yeong-ah.”
“Hey… So-ah, I’m scared. Stop saying strange things.”
“I know, you’re bewildered, right? I am too, so why wouldn’t you be?”
“…”
“Do I look like a madman?”
“Yeah. Completely.”
“I’m not crazy, so don’t worry. I’ll explain everything later, so let’s go for now.”
“Where?!”
“To find the treasure.”
***
He ran for a long time.
No, he flew.
He was already tired, so he was planning to take a rest, but he was annoyed at having to perform the Swift Whale Steps without even knowing the destination.
After running at full speed for about half a shichen, a heterogeneous landscape unfolded.
“Is this really a desert?!”
“It looks completely like Yunnan.”
“So-yeong, you’ve been to Yunnan too? From the North Sea to Yunnan is at least a year’s journey by horse.”
“No, I’ve only heard about it. They say Yunnan is hot and humid, and it’s teeming with ferocious beasts and snakes as big as sea serpents.”
“I thought you’d been there.”
Although he reprimanded her, So-ah actually sympathized.
After crossing a huge canyon following the white gas, a place that was hard to believe was a desert had appeared.
The climate was one thing, but the palm trees stretching in all directions and the damp ground were a heterogeneous sight reminiscent of Yunnan.
In that moment.
The white gas suddenly stopped its flight, floated leisurely over a huge lake, and once again emitted a blue light.
[O chosen one. Enter here!]
“What? This is a lake. I’m not a fish…”
[O chosen one. Enter here!]
The white gas still just repeated the same words.
“Jin So-ah. What on earth are you talking about? You have to at least say something I can understand. You’re not really crazy, are you? Right?”
In addition, as Wang So-yeong scolded So-ah, who was talking to himself, So-ah was about to go crazy.
“So-yeong-ah. I’ll be right back.”
“Where?!”
“Later. I’ll explain everything later, so don’t move and wait.”
“No, where are you going… hey!”
—Splash!
So-ah threw himself into the lake.
***
‘This is…!’
They say that when you experience something too surprising, you become rather calm.
That’s exactly how So-ah was right now.
He was confident in his ki-gong, so he had jumped in after steeling himself to endure in the water to some extent.
The white gas wrapped around So-ah’s body and became a circular, transparent curtain, forming a protective barrier.
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh…!
The transparent curtain that wrapped around So-ah headed down, down for a long time.
Thanks to that, So-ah’s eyes could not help but widen even more.
It wasn’t a vast sea, but the depth of the lake was endless.
‘Hah… this is really ridiculous.’
He was also secretly worried.
Hadn’t Grandpa Wi-ji also said that?
The <Ghost Valley Mountain Manor> was a dragon’s den and a tiger’s lair of the world, so he should only go looking for it when his martial arts were at a level where they could shake the heavens and the earth.
‘I wonder if a monster will pop out…’
All sorts of thoughts came to his mind.
How much time had passed like that?
It was a deep abyss, and a pitch-black darkness.
‘What…’
When the darkness completely engulfed So-ah’s field of vision.
Chwaaaa…!
With the sound of a huge current splitting, another world unfolded before his eyes.
***
“Is this a cave…”
The place So-ah had reached was a huge stone cave.
It was a place where almost no light entered, so it was very dark, but fortunately, So-ah’s eyesight surpassed the imagination of an ordinary person, so he had no trouble identifying objects.
[O chosen one. The trial of the first room will now begin. Do you truly have no regrets?]
“I came this far because I had that much resolve. Even if I can’t eat, I’m going!”
So-ah shouted bravely.
Even as he shouted, a giggle leaked out.
‘What on earth am I doing? Haha.’
Before he knew it, rather than the fear of the unknown, he just wanted to face the trial or whatever it was quickly.
Just then.
Ssssssssss…!
A strange, eerie sound brushed past his ears, and the four sides of the stone cave began to shake.
“Uh… huh?!”
A scene as if time and space were being distorted.
[Please overcome the trial!]
At the same time, a five-colored smoke billowed up around So-ah.
‘Phew…’
So-ah had a hunch that the smoke was not ordinary.
Because as soon as he inhaled, his mind became confused.
‘This is dangerous smoke!’
That’s right.
This was a device installed by the first sorcerer who had created the Ghost Valley Mountain Manor, a terrifying drug-like gas that caused auditory hallucinations, visual hallucinations, and delusions.
As expected,
In an instant, a state of hallucination occurred, reaching beyond So-ah’s sight, hearing, touch, and smell, to his thoughts.
“Hohoho! Young master, please embrace this young lady!”
At first, a half-naked, beautiful woman exuded an unbearable sensuality and tickled his ears, and then,
“Keke. Are you still breathing? Today, this old man will definitely kill you!”
Before long, his nemesis, the Right Heavenly Demon Sword, No Yeong-myeong, who had almost driven So-ah to his death, appeared and held a sword to his neck.
‘Ah…’
So-ah’s figure staggered.
All the direct and indirect experiences, imaginations, fears, and terrors that he had felt in his life but had buried in the back of his memory began to materialize and unfold.
‘Ah… no. This… this is just a hallucination…’
But it was very difficult to get a grip on his mind.
It felt like he was having sleep paralysis.
Just then.
Fortunately, his grandfather’s teachings came to his mind again.
—The Great Whale Heart Law is not as yang-strong as the Nine Yang True Scripture, nor is it as strange as the Nine Yin True Scripture. And it’s not like you can get a great explosive power in a short period of time like that old man Wi-ji’s Heavenly Demon Divine Art. But So-ah. This old grandpa is proud. The Great Whale Heart Law is the strongest internal ki-gong method. Do you know why?
—What is it? Grandpa?
—It is because the Great Whale Heart Law is the most pure, profound, and clear without a speck of dust.
—Ah…
—The Great Whale Heart Law is not just for accumulating internal energy. It is the general supervision of mind and body cultivation that refines all of a human’s body, mind, and even soul.
—Grandpa…
—A human is a microcosm. You just don’t feel it, but in fact, a human is an omniscient being that embraces all things in the universe. The Great Whale Heart Law will awaken the universe that is dormant within you!
“Gasp!!”
The conversation he had with his grandfather in his memory scattered quickly like a short dream.
But that memory brought his mind back to its senses.
‘The Great Whale Heart Law! I have trained in the Great Whale Heart Law every single day for the past 12 years. Harder than anyone else! More tenaciously than anyone else!’
As soon as the thought came to him, So-ah sat in the lotus position and began to circulate his ki.
Gooooooo!
At that, the strange voices that had been confusing So-ah gradually subsided.
‘I am…’
The ki of the Great Whale (big whale) that started from his dantian spread to his middle and upper dantian, and then to his entire body.
As that neither hot nor cold, just right ki circulated through all the acupoints of his body, the moans, pain, and anguish disappeared.
‘Because I am my grandfather’s disciple. The disciple of the God of War.’
Sssss…!
Steam billowed from So-ah’s Baihui acupoint.
When he opened his eyes after the power of the Great Whale had reached every part of his body.
“As expected!”
The figures of the hallucinations that had been tormenting So-ah were nowhere to be seen, and,
Swish, swish!
Only a white paper in the shape of a person with a talisman attached to its back was shimmering with a loud movement!
‘What is this kind of strange sorcery?’
So-ah got up and approached the paper that was moving like a living creature, and,
Rip, rip!
He tore them apart in one go.
At that, a white gas imbued with a blue brilliance appeared again.
[You have overcome the trial of the first room.]
“Oops?!”
It was a dazzling light.
A white light that was difficult to identify even for So-ah, who had the heavenly eyesight to look at the sun!
The white light flickered several times and began to condense into a small square shape. Soon, as the light disappeared, a square wooden box appeared in front of So-ah.
“This is…!”
His heart pounded.
Although his memory of the <Map of the Ghost Valley Mountain Manor> was generally vague, a few things came to his mind clearly, and that was the reward list of the Ghost Valley Mountain Manor.
—Those who overcome the trial of the first room will be given the ‘Great Purity Ultimate Divine Pill’.
—Those who overcome the trial of the second room will be given the ‘Vajra Bronze Man Divine Pill’.
—Those who overcome the trial of the third room will be given the ‘Myriad Streams Returning to the Origin Divine Pill’.
“Then this is the Great Purity Ultimate Divine Pill!”
The Great Purity Ultimate Divine Pill!
So-ah didn’t know what it was.
But unless he was a fool,
“Just from the name, it must be a super jackpot spiritual medicine. Of course, of course. Hahaha!”
Need to hesitate?
No, there wasn’t even time for that.
So-ah immediately opened the wooden box.
At that, as expected, there was a round pill inside, and in an instant, a deep and profound medicinal scent pierced his nose.
Gulp!
So-ah swallowed the pill like a flash of lightning.
“Tastes good!”
It tasted good.
“Smells good too!”
It smelled good.
And…
“Uh… huh?!”
It was the first time he had ever had a spiritual dan that made him feel so ecstatic as soon as he ate it.
So-ah had taken the Small Restoration Pill through Grandpa Wi-ji when he was young, and had eaten the pills his grandfather had made several times, but he felt something completely different from them.
And then,
“Kwaaaack!”
An agonizing pain came.
So-ah used the Great Whale Heart Law to disperse the pain, but since it was a pain close to a burning sensation, it did not subside easily.
—Kwaddeuk.
At the same time, all the joints of his body began to twist.
Tutuk, tutuduk.
His gums became loose, and his teeth were also pulled out, and,
Tssstssstss…!
Wasn’t his hair also burning?
“What the hell is this, dammit!”
A curse automatically came out.
—Kwaddeuk, kwaddeuddeuk!
Tuduk, tududuk.
Tssstssstss…!
A repetition of pain.
Even So-ah, who was second to none in terms of endurance, was in this state, so anyone but a very tenacious person would have fainted a dozen times.
But,
‘My bones… feel like they’re growing anew.’
When he stroked his burnt head with both hands, wasn’t his head, which should have been bald, growing long black hair again?
Moreover,
“Ah!”
The teeth that had been pulled out had also settled in anew and filled his gums.
‘Could this be…?’
Could it be.
“Bone and Marrow Cleansing?!”
(End of Chapter)