Tempest in the Dungeon (4)
My suggestion seemed to catch Cheonma off guard, as he remained silent for a moment.
“Surely, there must be a way?”
“Is there really such a martial art?”
“Well, if not, that’s fine. I was thinking more for your sake. You seem frustrated being trapped with me.”
“Hmm…”
Cheonma pondered in silence for a while. Then, as if struck by an idea, he spoke.
“There is one method we could try.”
“What is it?”
“There’s a martial art from our sect called Cheonki Simhwan Gong.”
Cheonki Simhwan Gong. It was a technique I had never heard of before.
“It’s a method where you create an imaginary space in your mind and train within it.”
“Really?”
At this point, I realized that Cheonma had thought of a demonic art that could almost perfectly replicate a space.
“When you use Cheonki Simhwan Gong, you need a reference point. You can’t just conjure up any place in your mind.”
“A reference point?”
“Yes, you need an object to serve as a basis. For example, in this room, that iron door could be it. If you use the iron door as a reference while performing Cheonki Simhwan Gong, the newly created space in your mind will also have that iron door.”
“So, it won’t create some bizarre place.”
“Exactly. That’s why I chose this technique over others. I can use the same reference point to perform Cheonki Simhwan Gong.”
I understood what Cheonma was attempting.
Under normal circumstances, it would be impossible. Using the same reference point to simultaneously perform Cheonki Simhwan Gong would create two separate spaces.
But we coexisted in one body.
It was a unique situation, worth trying at least once.
What if we could become one through Cheonki Simhwan Gong?
“Is it possible?”
“I have no idea.”
“Let’s give it a shot.”
“I’ll teach you Cheonki Simhwan Gong first. Damn it.”
“Leave out the cursing. I’m genuinely grateful, you know.”
“Shut up!”
Grumbling, Cheonma began to teach me Cheonki Simhwan Gong.
From the first phrase, I could tell how profound this martial art was.
Thus, I was once again initiated into the essence of Cheonma’s demonic arts, following the Reversal Heaven Technique.
“It seems like you can’t have everything in life.”
Baekpyo, who was rowing the boat, looked up at Gwangdu’s words. The two were crossing a lake.
Having heard that Byeokridan in the dungeon was safe, Baekpyo was on his way back to assist Gwangdu with their ongoing task.
Gwangdu was tasked with creating a new martial organization to protect the Taeseong Trading Group under Byeokridan’s orders. Baekpyo, who had already nurtured the excellent Heukpyo Unit, stepped in to help Gwangdu.
Baekpyo had already assisted in organizing the group several times. They had gathered about twenty skilled individuals under the Taeseong Trading Group’s name, and with Baekpyo’s introductions, they recruited ten more. They now had a team of thirty.
Throughout this process, Baekpyo repeatedly emphasized that skill was more important than numbers. Today, they were on their way to meet a few martial artists together.
“What do you mean by that?”
“In the past, I was close with the young master. Back then, I was just sweeping the yard and doing odd jobs. Now, I’ve learned martial arts that are too good for me, and I even have subordinates…”
Baekpyo listened calmly to Gwangdu. He knew how much Gwangdu respected and admired Byeokridan. In some ways, Gwangdu had a deeper affection than even himself or Galsaryang.
“But these days, it’s hard to even see the young master’s face.”
“Do you feel disappointed?”
“Yes!”
Gwangdu answered energetically. He saw no need to hide his true feelings at times like this.
Baekpyo smiled. In moments like these, Gwangdu always felt familiar and joyful. It made him want to offer sincere advice.
“Sometimes, you only see things clearly when you take a step back in relationships. There are things you can’t see when you’re too close. Perhaps this longing you feel is because you’ve taken a step back from your lord.”
“Ah, I see.”
“I’ve had a similar experience.”
“What kind of experience?”
“It was only after the Heavenly Lord passed away that I realized how precious he was to me. Of course, in this case, it wasn’t just a step back.”
“I can’t even imagine.”
Gwangdu couldn’t bring himself to add, “What if I lost the young master?”
Baekpyo looked at Gwangdu and said, “Life often brings unimaginable events.”
“Yes, like having a serious conversation with you, Baekdanju.”
“Haha.”
Baekpyo laughed. Gwangdu felt good seeing someone who rarely laughed, smile.
“We strive to make those unimaginable events bearable, don’t we?”
“Oh!”
Gwangdu had never thought of it that way.
“Sometimes, it feels like a dream. I wonder if I truly belong here, or if I’ll wake up to find it was all just a midsummer night’s dream.”
“You belong here.”
“Do you really think so?”
“The lord said he learned a lot from you.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“Oh! I miss the young master! I should boast about this like a storm!”
“Hahaha.”
Baekpyo laughed again. Being with Gwangdu made him laugh often.
“That’s a great strength of yours, beyond being a martial artist, as a person.”
But he didn’t say it out loud. If Gwangdu became conscious of it, his naturalness might disappear.
Most people in similar situations wouldn’t know.
“You already have it all.”
In the darkness, men gathered.
They wore various masks, from zombies to demons and goblins, all kinds of ghostly masks. They were so eerily and frighteningly made, some even stained with blood, that it was terrifying to look at them.
Their movements were swift, agile, and diverse.
Some ghosts flew through the air, others emerged from the ground, and yet others appeared suddenly in mid-air.
They gathered on a hill overlooking the distant Murim Alliance. It was a place with a graveyard nearby, where no one ventured, and the ghosts gathered there.
Centered around a blank-faced ghost, the number of men gathered was eighteen.
Though nearly twenty ghosts had gathered, it seemed like only about five were standing.
This was because they blended seamlessly with the darkness and with each other, a testament to their extraordinary skills.
The blank-faced man in the center looked at the distant Murim Alliance headquarters and asked quietly, “Can we enter quietly?”
A demon-masked figure standing beside him replied softly, “It’s not easy. The place where he’s held is on the fourth underground floor. With our skills, subduing the guards isn’t difficult, but the problem is the mechanisms. We have to pass through six mechanisms to get there.”
The mechanisms in the Murim Alliance’s underground dungeon couldn’t be overcome by skill alone.
“Any help from the inside?”
“They promised to stop them all at the agreed time. But the pause will be very brief. We must reach the fourth underground floor in that time.”
“And the escape route?”
“The same. They said they would stop the mechanisms again exactly one hour after we pass. If we don’t get out by then, we’ll be trapped there too.”
“We might become real ghosts.”
Yet none of the ghosts standing beside him showed any sign of unease. They were confident in their abilities.
If it weren’t the Murim Alliance’s underground dungeon, they wouldn’t even be having this discussion.
The blank-faced man looked at the Murim Alliance building.
“We strike tonight.”
I had mastered the Cheonki Simhwan Gong that Cheonma taught me. Like the Reversal Heaven Technique I learned before, it wasn’t too difficult to grasp.
“What are you?”
“A righteous sect’s old-timer, right?”
“How can someone from a righteous sect learn demonic arts so easily? How is this possible!”
“Because I’m a martial arts genius.”
“Damn it! If you can’t say anything nice!”
The ease with which I learned was primarily due to my high martial arts level, and the rest was because, like the Reversal Heaven Technique, Cheonki Simhwan Gong was of a high caliber. Being a demonic art mastered by Cheonma, it was naturally top-tier.
Of course, there were no side effects from learning a demonic art. As with any martial art, the more challenging it was to understand, the easier it became once you overcame that hurdle.
“Alright, let’s give it a try.”
“What will you use as the reference point?”
“Why do you ask?”
“Why do you think? I need to know to enter with you.”
“You’re planning to join on the first try?”
“Why not?”
Indeed, there was no reason not to. It meant he trusted his abilities and, at the same time, trusted me.
I looked around the dungeon, but there wasn’t much to use as a reference point. The iron door Cheonma mentioned earlier caught my eye.
“I’ll use that iron door as the reference.”
“Alright.”
Using the iron door as the reference point, I began to recite the incantation for Cheonki Simhwan Gong. Simultaneously, Cheonma also started reciting the incantation.
When we finished the incantation together, the surroundings suddenly went dark.
It was as if all the light in the world had vanished.
In the next moment, the surroundings brightened again.
I found myself standing somewhere. I was in the form of Byeokridan, without the mask of Inpimyeon.
It was a room. The size was similar to the dungeon I had been in, but the interior was different. It was a well-decorated, tidy guest room meant for receiving visitors.
A small table was placed in the center.
I walked over slowly and touched the flowers in the vase on the table.
They were real flowers. The vase, the table, everything felt and seemed real.
It felt as if I had stepped into a vivid illusion. Yet, I knew this was a virtual space crafted by the Celestial Mind Technique. The proof was right there: the door in the room was the very iron door I had used as a reference point.
It was completely out of place in this room—a thick, heavy iron door with holes in it.
I walked over and tried to open it, but it was firmly locked. Even when I channeled my inner energy to push it, it wouldn’t budge.
Ah!
I realized that the iron door of the prison was being perfectly mirrored here. It became clear how crucial it was to set the right reference point. This was truly a sophisticated martial art.
As I turned back towards the table, I heard a noise behind me.
Someone was knocking on the iron door.
Thud, thud.
I approached the door and peered through a small hole.
My God!
Standing there was the Celestial Demon, the same old figure I had fought long ago.
He looked at me through the tiny opening, seemingly as surprised to see me as I was to see him. We stared at each other for a moment.
Then, the Celestial Demon spoke gruffly.
“Open the door.”
“It won’t open from the inside.”
“It won’t open from the outside either.”
Without a key, the door remained unyielding. The prison door was a perfect replica of reality.
“Step aside.”
I moved out of the way, and the Celestial Demon began pounding on the door with force.
Bang! Boom!
If this were a real iron door, it would have flown off its hinges, but here, it remained shut.
It wasn’t a lack of strength. The nature of the reference point was precisely defined. This door was the prison door, and without a guard with a key, it was impossible to open.
“Stop it. It won’t open.”
“Shut up! I can break this damn door!”
Bang! Boom!
The Celestial Demon kept pounding. He must have known what I realized. Perhaps he wanted to show me something different, something beyond the limits of the martial arts he had taught me.
After all, it was me—his killer.
Hey, Cheon Gwang, isn’t stubbornness just being an old fool?
But I didn’t say that to him. I understood a bit of what he was feeling.
After a while, he peered through the hole, panting, and said, “It’s as stubborn as those orthodox sect fools.”
“That’s a strange comparison.”
“Damn it! Recreate it! Don’t even look at this cursed door!”
“Hahaha.”
Yeah, at our age, we shouldn’t sweat the small stuff.
As I dispelled the Celestial Mind Technique, the surroundings darkened and then brightened again.