Chapter 138

I didn’t know much about Illusory Formation Arrays.
But with my entry into the No-Return Cave approaching, I had done some studying of my own.

Illusory Formation Arrays could broadly be divided into two types.
The first was a sorcery that created a near-infinite space out of nothing.
It required the sorcerer to possess an extremely deep understanding of Illusory Formation Arrays, as well as tremendous sorcerous power.
Because only the mind was drawn inside, there would be subtle changes in one’s senses upon entering.
The Illusory Hwang Family’s Illusory Formation Arrays worked this way.

The second method layered elements of an Illusory Formation Array over actual terrain.
It required a tremendous number of sorcerers, a great deal of labor, and formation implements, the objects that made up the Illusory Formation Array itself.
For example, to add something like lava, they would prepare a large number of fire-attributed implements and link them to the other formation implements.
That was why if the core implement was destroyed, every other part connected to it would collapse as well.
The No-Return Cave used this second method, and apparently, the phantom beast had been the core implement.

‘I can’t believe I didn’t think of that.’

I felt pathetic for missing it, but quickly dismissed the thought.
Everything else aside, that thing had been hell-bent on killing me. How was I supposed to leave it alive?

‘What do I do now?’

I had two choices.
One was to head straight for the exit.
The other was to stick to my original plan and retrieve the secret manual.
My thoughts became tangled.

Could I make it all the way back there in my current condition?
Could I cross the lava, retrieve the secret manual, and escape before the Illusory Formation Arrays collapsed completely?

‘One wrong move and I’ll be buried with it.’

What happened to someone inside an Illusory Formation Array when it collapsed?
That much, I didn’t know.
But there was no way they would come out unscathed.

‘Screw it. Back to the cavern.’

Even so, I chose the latter.
After going so far as to obtain the key, how could I return empty-handed?
The bigger the stakes, the bigger the payoff.
For the sake of the future, I could afford to take a risk.
More importantly, the collapse didn’t seem particularly fast yet.

I gritted my teeth.
I shoved all thoughts of my broken ribs from my mind and sprinted toward the lava cavern.

As I neared it,
I lowered my stance and slowed down.
There was something I had to be wary of.

Jin Si-myeong.
He had been blasted away by a lava projectile.
But I hadn’t seen a corpse or even a trail of blood on my way out, so chances were he was still alive.
He might return with his group. Jin Mu-myeong would surely be with them as well.
Whether I had been killed by the phantom beast or defeated it,
they would be aiming for two birds with one stone, my life and the fortuitous chance.

‘Though it isn’t very likely.’

The world around us was collapsing.
Someone as shrewd as Jin Si-myeong would probably turn back even if he had started coming this way.
Unless he had lost his mind like me, he wouldn’t risk his life for a fortuitous chance.
Sure enough, there was no one near the lava cavern.
Without hesitation, I went inside.

The interior of the lava cavern had changed drastically since I left.
The crimson, bubbling lava had hardened in patches, turning gray.
The thin streams of lava that had flowed along the cavern walls were the same, so I reached out and touched one.
It was hot, but nowhere near the temperature of lava.
Apparently, this place was more sensitive to changes in the Illusory Formation Arrays.

‘Let’s hurry.’

Clutching my ribs with one hand, I retraced my steps.
Eventually, I reached the place where the altar stood.
Things had changed here as well.

A path to the altar had opened.
The wall of lava was gone.
In its place, narrow slabs of rock stretched across the still-boiling river of lava like stepping stones.

‘Is this its way of telling me to claim my reward for killing the phantom beast?’

There was no time to ponder the creator’s intentions.
I quickly rummaged through my talisman pouch.
I had one Heat-Warding Talisman left.
If I crossed without it, the heat on either side would roast my limbs golden brown.

I carefully crossed the stone bridge.
Every landing knocked the breath out of me because of my broken ribs.

‘Ah.’

My legs wobbled.
I nearly lost my balance and breathed a sigh of relief.

The stone bridge continued around to the back of the altar.
Chunks of stone jutted out here and there. After standing still to map out a route, I used them as handholds and climbed upward.
I barely managed to reach the top of the altar.
Only once I was back on solid ground could I finally breathe easier.

‘Did they really have to put this little effort into making it?’

The top wasn’t even flat, nor had it been decorated in any way.
In truth, I only called it an altar for convenience. It looked more like an oddly shaped formation of rock.
But that wasn’t what mattered.

At the center of the altar.
There sat a chest visibly weathered by age.
A keyhole was set into the middle, and above it were three flames carved as though they were burning.

‘Three Sacred Flames?’

I paused.
The symbol of the Demon Cult was a single Sacred Flame.
It symbolized the one and only absolute, the Heavenly Demon.
So what was this?

‘It must have been used in the past.’

The fact that a chest bearing a symbol no longer used by the Demon Cult remained intact meant one thing.
Since the No-Return Cave was built, not a single entrant had ever made it onto this altar.

‘Either they never found it because of the Illusory Formation Arrays, or they found it and failed to kill the phantom beast.’

I knew because I had fought it myself.
That thing had been terrifying.
If I hadn’t thought of the cold trap, I’d probably be lying cold and dead by now too.

‘Well, whatever.’

My interest was in what lay inside the chest.
I inserted the key and turned it.
Click. A satisfying sound came from the lock as it disengaged.
I slowly lifted the lid.
Three booklets lay inside.
With my heart trembling, I picked up the first one.

[Heavenly Demon Footwork]

I had once heard that a footwork art passed down only among successive Cult Leaders had been lost, though I didn’t know when or why.
Yet the complete version of that martial art had been hidden inside the No-Return Cave.
But this wasn’t what I needed. In any case, no one who hadn’t learned the Heavenly Demon Divine Art could use it.
I could simply return this to the Demon Cult and collect a reward.

‘I should find the person who originally discovered it and give him a generous cut.’

Without even opening the Heavenly Demon Footwork manual, I slipped it into my robe.
Then I picked up the second manual, which was smaller.

[Thousand-Li Roaming Body]

‘Keh, this is the one.’

The corners of my mouth rose on their own.
This movement art was connected to a famous story known by everyone in the Demon Cult.

Long ago, the Divine Thief of that era was a man known as Shadowless Thousand-Hand.
He infiltrated the Shaolin Temple, the Murim Alliance, and even the Imperial Palace to steal treasures, yet he was never caught even once.
He was so elusive that he would rob Chang’an one day and Hangzhou the next, pulling off feats that seemed impossible.
He roamed the entire Central Plains as though it were his own backyard.
There were even absurd rumors that he possessed ten separate bodies.

One day, after a long string of successful thefts, Shadowless Thousand-Hand made a decision.
He had stolen enough from the Central Plains, so he decided to rob the Demon Cult.
He must have been confident that no one could catch him.
And so he rushed to the Demon Cult and scaled the walls of the main base. That was the day Shadowless Thousand-Hand’s luck ran out.
Of all people, he ran into the Heavenly Demon of that era.
Even the greatest Divine Thief in the Central Plains was nothing more than a quick-footed petty thief before the Heavenly Demon and his personal guards.
After being captured, Shadowless Thousand-Hand was subjected to brutal torture befitting the Demon Cult and forced to give up the mnemonics to every martial art he knew, along with the locations of all his stolen goods.

The most astonishing of them all was Thousand-Li Roaming Body.
It was an extraordinary movement art, enough to make people believe Shadowless Thousand-Hand had ten bodies.
And the manual for that very movement art had been lying here alongside Heavenly Demon Footwork.
I had no idea what the past Cult Leader had been thinking when he hid them here, but either way, I was the one benefiting from it.
How much could I accomplish if I could travel back and forth to the Central Plains within a few days?
The Demon Cult or the Central Plains, it wouldn’t matter.
Until now, handling business in one place meant being tied down there for a long time. With this, that would no longer be necessary.

‘But what is this?’

After slipping the Thousand-Li Roaming Body manual into my robe as well, I looked at the last booklet.
It was unusually thin and small, with nothing written on the cover.
I needed to escape quickly, but I couldn’t overcome my curiosity and opened it anyway. I would just skim the first page and leave.

⌜I do not care who you are.
By passing the trial I left behind, you have proven yourself worthy.
From the Western Regions to the Central Plains, I have safe houses in five Sacred Cities.
At each one, a servant bound by contract awaits the one deemed worthy.
If you wish to become the Heavenly Demon, go there.⌟

The following pages were densely covered in writing.
They listed the exact locations of the safe houses.

“……!”

My mouth fell open before I realized it.
I didn’t know which generation he belonged to, but this was a list of safe houses privately left behind by a past Cult Leader.
This was someone who had gone so far as to hide away Heavenly Demon Footwork and Thousand-Li Roaming Body.
Wouldn’t those safe houses contain divine arts, supreme techniques, elixirs, or other treasures of comparable value?
Otherwise, there would have been no reason to add that final line.

‘I have absolutely no desire to become the Heavenly Demon, though…….’

But I would be lying if I said this didn’t interest me.
If I relied only on what I learned from the Heavenly Demon, I might never be able to surpass him.
I needed something of my own that even the Heavenly Demon didn’t know. Something like Revolving Annihilation.
And if those safe houses contained something a past Cult Leader had enough faith in to leave behind, I’d have to make time to visit them even if I had none to spare.

Even the Demon Eye Pavilion probably didn’t have information like this.
Feeling pleased, I slipped this booklet into my robe as well.

‘Now all I have to find is the No-Return Blood.’

The elixir the Heavenly Demon had mentioned.
I had no idea where it might be.

Ggurureung-
A sound like the cavern roof collapsing snapped me back to my senses.
Apparently, I had become so absorbed in the manuals and booklet that I wasted too much time.
I hurried out of the cavern.

Outside, an astonishing sight unfolded, far beyond anything I had seen earlier.
Snow and lava were being sucked into the sky as though someone had turned the entire world upside down.
Where they had once been, only bare gray rock remained.

‘The collapse is accelerating.’

‘Which way do I go?’

I was in a hurry, but I forced myself to observe calmly.
The entrance I had come through was to the west.
The collapse was spreading from that direction toward the opposite side.

‘Is the exit to the east?’

I wasn’t certain.
But either way, I had to head that way to avoid the collapse.

I put strength into my legs and began running.
The sound of the ground splitting came from behind me, but I ignored it and kept my eyes forward.
There was no room to look back.

‘Ugh.’

My ribs screamed.
Every breath felt like my chest was being torn apart, but I couldn’t stop.
If I stopped, I died.

‘There it is!’

Joy surged through me.
A narrow path that could only be the exit came into view.
I looked back.
The collapse was speeding up, but I had put considerable distance between us.
At a rough estimate, I should be safe for about a quarter hour.
But then.

“……!”

I was forced to stop almost immediately.
The mercenary Jin Si-myeong had brought in from somewhere.
Jin Mu-myeong stood leaning against a bare wooden post beside the path.

‘……Why is he here?’

Just as I saw him, he sensed my presence.
He pushed away from the post and blocked my path.
That was all he did, yet dense killing intent emanated from his entire body.

Even seeing him again, he was clearly no ordinary opponent.
At minimum, he was at the very peak of the Peak Realm. At the highest estimate, he had just entered the Transcendent Realm.
That was more than I should have been able to handle.

I asked him.

“What do you want?”
“I have business with you.”
“You’re alone?”
“Si-myeong seems to dislike this place.”
“Then we agree on something. What about you?”

I pointed behind me as I spoke.
But he calmly shook his head.

“To me, it is an incomparably beautiful sight. Birth and destruction are always beautiful.”

‘This guy must be insane.’

“If the Illusory Formation Arrays collapse, you might be destroyed along with them. If we’re going to fight, let’s at least do it outside.”
“I refuse.”
“Why?”
“I will fight you one-on-one.”
“Why?”
“This seems to be my only chance to face you one-on-one. I have always wondered how strong a disciple of the Heavenly Demon would be.”
“Then you should’ve fought Yuk Ja-heung instead. He’s in here too.”
“He did not interest me.”
“Haa.”

A sigh escaped me.
Judging by his demeanor, I wasn’t getting past him to the exit until one of us died.

Sure enough, he reached behind his shoulder.
Something long rose behind his back, apparently a spear shaft strapped there like the members of the Radiant Moon Jin Family usually carried.

‘Don’t tell me this bastard uses a spear too.’

He removed the long strip of hemp cloth wrapped around the shaft.
Then he tossed it to me.
I frowned.

“What’s this?”
“Your left ribs are broken, aren’t they? Wrap that around them and secure them.”

I clicked my tongue.
He had seen how I moved, so it wasn’t surprising that he had guessed something was wrong with my ribs.
But that wasn’t why I clicked my tongue.
I was suspicious of why he had thrown me the cloth.

“You coated this with poison powder or something, didn’t you?”
“You know me well. In fact, I’ve already scattered a large amount of deadly poison within a ninety-meter radius around me. It’s colorless and odorless.”
“What kind of bullshit is that? My body would’ve noticed first.”
“Correct. It was a joke.”
“…….”

I tilted my head.

‘Maybe he’s crazy in an entirely different way.’

Amid the collapsing world around us, he and I stood facing each other.