Chapter 603: Now That I've Reached You

TL: FoodieMonster007

Geom Mugeuk was already there.

He had jumped from the cliff and reached the camp first, finding that the Heavenly Fate Palace Lord was fortunately not in the barracks. This allowed him to infiltrate the camp secretly and overhear the entire conversation between the three men.

Geom Mugeuk was already familiar with the matters concerning the prophecy, so that part held no surprises. What truly astonished him, however, was the gift the Darkness Palace Lord had presented.

He watched in genuine astonishment as the Darkness Palace Lord removed the Ice Dragon Divine Armor and the Heavenly Yin Pill from a leather pouch.

Weren't those two items from the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult?

It made no sense. The Heavenly Demon Divine Cult had allied with the Darkness Palace Lord. They would never provide protective armor and miracle herbs for the Heavenly Fate Palace Lord's benefit.

Did they poison the miracle herbs?

That was his initial suspicion. He assumed they must have tampered with the Heavenly Yin Pill. Yet, after the Heavenly Fate Palace Lord consumed the pill, Geom Mugeuk confirmed that there was nothing wrong with it.

Does the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult want the Heavenly Fate Palace Lord to win?

No matter how he considered it, that conclusion seemed impossible.

Then, the Heavenly Fate Palace Lord donned the Ice Dragon Divine Armor. As Geom Mugeuk watched, his suspicion returned. It was a suspicion that the Protection Palace Lord had failed to consider after the first instance.

Did they tamper with the Ice Dragon Divine Armor?

What if the Heavenly Yin Pill was merely bait? Perhaps they were waiting for the moment he lowered his guard, right after confirming the miracle herbs were safe.

Just as he predicted, the Heavenly Fate Palace Lord put on the Ice Dragon Divine Armor without a hint of suspicion.

What if something had been applied inside the divine armor, something that even the Heavenly Fate Palace Lord could not detect?

But the Heavenly Fate Palace Lord appeared to feel nothing out of the ordinary.

Geom Mugeuk quickly shook his head.

No. That could be discovered.

The Heavenly Fate Palace Lord might have investigated the armor's interior, or he could have chosen not to wear it, claiming he would put it on later. The plan was not foolproof, which made it seem improbable that the Darkness Palace Lord, a man driven by such cold ambition, would have orchestrated things in this manner.

Then what in the world is his intention?

He kept thinking, operating under the assumption that a trap was definitely hidden somewhere.

Could it be?

Extreme yin combined with extreme yin. The Heavenly Yin Pill and the Ice Dragon Divine Armor together had pushed the Heavenly Fate Palace Lord's body into a state of indescribable, ultimate yin.

Right now, he was only preparing himself for the extreme yang attack that the Divine Sword Martial Emperor was expected to unleash.

What would happen if, in that condition, he was struck by a surprise attack infused with extreme yin inner arts?

In that instant, both the Heavenly Yin Pill and the Ice Dragon Divine Armor would transform into a deadly poison.

Regardless, the conclusion was already determined.

The Heavenly Fate Palace Lord was going to die in tomorrow's duel.

This intervention by the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult was the reason tomorrow's battle was not documented in detail within the Murim Alliance's history. The only thing that remained was the record stating that the Divine Sword Martial Emperor had killed the Heavenly Fate Palace Lord.

After the Protection Palace Lord was sent away, the Heavenly Fate Palace Lord and the Darkness Palace Lord began a surprising conversation.

"Did you bring the Secret Box?"

"Yes, I brought it."

He brought the large Secret Box all the way here? The moment Geom Mugeuk heard this, he was reminded of the prophecy.

Darkness will lead you to the heavenly will.

Geom Mugeuk had an intuitive feeling that the prophecy was connected to the large Secret Box. After all, the Darkness Palace Lord was now leading him to its location.

"Where is it now?"

In response to the Heavenly Fate Palace Lord's question, the Darkness Palace Lord offered an inscrutable answer.

"The Secret Box is under the lamp."

SWOOOOOSH.

A fierce downpour made it nearly impossible to see. The rain fell like blades, shattering into countless fragments as it struck the ground.

FLASH! RUMBLE!

A strike of lightning briefly illuminated the surroundings. For a moment, the figures of the Heavenly Fate Palace Lord and the Darkness Palace Lord, clad in bamboo hats and straw raincoats, were visible climbing the mountain before vanishing back into the dark.

They appeared in a different location with each flash of lightning.

After walking through the storm, the two men arrived at a surprising location. It was the mountainside that housed White Sun Peak, the very site of tomorrow's duel.

While pushing through an untrodden path, the Darkness Palace Lord spoke. "The palace's maze formation starts here. From now on, please step exactly where I do."

The Heavenly Fate Palace Lord followed, stepping in the exact same places as the Darkness Palace Lord.

After navigating the formations and pushing deeper through the undergrowth, they found a temporary wooden building standing in a small clearing.

"I couldn't build it properly since I had to move it in such a hurry."

Despite his words, it was a rather well-built structure.

Before entering, the Heavenly Fate Palace Lord asked, "Why here of all places?"

He was questioning why it could not have been stored somewhere in the rear.

But the Darkness Palace Lord had a reason for his choice.

"It is for you, Saintess."

"For me?"

"I thought the Secret Box might exert some of its sacred power if it was close to the duel site."

Even now, the Darkness Palace Lord knew just what to say to please him.

The Heavenly Fate Palace Lord was well aware of the Darkness Palace Lord's ambition, but he had to admit one thing.

Only the Darkness Palace Lord could have conceived of hiding the Secret Box in such an unexpected place to evade their enemies and then actually execute the plan.

"Please, go inside. I'll wait out here."

The Heavenly Fate Palace Lord gave a single nod and went into the building.

The Secret Box was inside.

It was the very same Secret Box that had started everything.

The Heavenly Fate Palace Lord stood in front of the Secret Box.

His heart must have been truly desperate for him to have the sacred object of the Heavenly Fate Palace transported all the way here.

He never imagined a moment like this would arrive when the large Secret Box first produced the smaller one. Back then, he had been overjoyed, believing heaven's will had finally reached him.

A flicker of past regret crossed his eyes as he gazed at the Secret Box. His connection to the heavenly will had started when he was very young.

"Do you know? I've grown up watching you since I was a boy," he said, speaking as if the Secret Box were a person.

"From a young age, I was told that protecting you was our palace's mission. I didn't even dare to look at you, because you were a sacred treasure that held the will of the heavens. My entire life has been dedicated to the mission of protecting you."

He did not, however, confess one truth at this moment. His reason for trusting and protecting the Secret Box so fiercely was not to honor his family's will, nor was it due to the object's sanctity.

The unification of the world.

His true dream was to achieve that goal. He was convinced that if the Secret Box awakened, he could make that dream a reality.

"Even as I got older, I tried not to let that feeling change. You aren't some dusty Buddha statue. I believed you were more than just an old symbol passed down through the palace."

The Heavenly Fate Palace Lord's voice, which had been soft as he gazed at the Secret Box, suddenly grew louder.

"And then you awakened. You, the one I watched over and believed in for my entire life."

The Heavenly Fate Palace Lord pulled the small Secret Box from his bosom and held it high.

"So give me strength! Grant me your heavenly will!"

But neither the large Secret Box nor the small one showed any reaction.

The Heavenly Fate Palace Lord's expression hardened.

He had held a sliver of faith, believing that if he showed his sincerity, the Secret Box would respond in kind.

This time, he moved the small Secret Box closer to the large one. He felt a pang of nervousness, worried it might be absorbed again, but just as before, nothing happened.

He refused to give up.

He circled the Secret Box and even attempted to inject his inner arts into it.

In the past, the very act of touching this sacred Secret Box would have been unimaginable.

"If you're not going to give me strength, then why did you even wake up!"

The Heavenly Fate Palace Lord's shout echoed loudly through the small building.

But the event he so desperately hoped for did not happen. Suddenly, the Saintess's prophecy flashed through his mind.

[The will of the heavens does not lie with you, Saintess.]

Even so, the Heavenly Fate Palace Lord did not abandon hope.

"I believe in you."

He believed that power would be transmitted from the Secret Box during the fierce battle, in the crucial moment between life and death.

The birth of a great hero destined to unify the world would not be such an easy feat.

After speaking those final words, the Heavenly Fate Palace Lord stepped back outside.

The Darkness Palace Lord was waiting for him outside, getting soaked by the rain. He had overheard the words from inside and knew the Heavenly Fate Palace Lord had failed to gain any power.

"Let's go."

The Heavenly Fate Palace Lord walked back out into the rain.

The Darkness Palace Lord followed behind him. A look of pity crossed his face, but his internal thoughts were entirely different.

The prophecy has already abandoned you. How could the Secret Box possibly respond?

It was obvious that the Darkness Palace Lord believed in the Saintess's prophecy.

He interpreted the recent awakening of the Secret Box in his own way.

The Secret Box didn't awaken to grant you a heavenly will. In the end, it was to make me the new Heavenly Fate Palace Lord.

Seeing that the Secret Box had not granted the man any power only served to convince him that his thoughts were correct.

And with that, the two men, each with their own different dreams, disappeared together into the rain.

After they were gone, a single person finally revealed himself.

It was, of course, Geom Mugeuk. He had been tailing the two men from a distance with his Divine Eye Technique. The pouring rain had made his success possible.

This rain truly felt like a gift sent from the heavens just for him.

Geom Mugeuk had followed them from a distance, using the Divine Eye Technique to memorize where the two men stepped to enter the formation.

So, once the two had departed, he entered the area. Geom Mugeuk stepped inside the building where the Secret Box was kept.

There it was. The Secret Box that would change the destiny of everyone involved.

Each of the three people who came here today felt their own version of a heavenly will.

Geom Mugeuk was no different.

"The you from three hundred years in the future is the one who brought me here."

Geom Mugeuk slowly approached the Secret Box, speaking in a friendly tone. He had treated the small Secret Box in his bosom like a friend, so this larger version also felt easy to approach.

"There must be a reason the future you brought me to the present you, right?"

Geom Mugeuk placed his hand on the Secret Box. While it appeared identical to the one he had seen with the Sword King in the Yellow Dragon Academy's basement, the aura it gave off felt different. It was more vigorous now, and full of life.

"You've changed a lot since then. Well, it's only natural to change after suffering for three hundred years."

Geom Mugeuk made a mental note to comfort the future Secret Box for its hardships when he returned. Perhaps that feeling was conveyed, because the Secret Box vibrated faintly.

The Secret Box can sense me.

If that was the case, then he knew what he had to say to the Secret Box right now.

He believed he was summoned to this world not just to witness the past, but to deliver these exact words.

Geom Mugeuk placed his hand on the Secret Box and calmly said, "Darkness will lead you to the heavenly will."

Now that I've reached you, show me my heavenly will.

The instant Geom Mugeuk spoke the prophecy, the small Secret Box in his bosom began to vibrate.

The next moment!

BABABABAK.

A strange, loud noise burst from the large Secret Box. It was finally showing the reaction that the Heavenly Fate Palace Lord had so desperately wanted.

Startled, Geom Mugeuk leaped back.

In the next instant, an astonishing sight unfolded before him.

CHIIIIING.

With a sound he had never heard before, something began to engrave itself onto the wall of the Secret Box.

It was a series of circles. A black circle appeared, followed by a white, a blue, a red, a yellow, and finally a purple circle.

As soon as he saw the circles engraved on the Secret Box, all the energies he had previously absorbed awakened at once and began to stir within him.

The next moment!

Light poured from all six circles at once, forming letters in the air.

[This cultivation method is only complete when all six energies are moved as one. When you move your inner qi, you must be as free as the wind, yet as heavy as the earth. You must rage as hot as fire, yet be able to stop like ice. You must be as deep as darkness and as powerful as lightning. If you can successfully unite these six energies as one, you will possess the power of the Greatest of All Time.]

Geom Mugeuk's heart pounded the moment he finished reading those words.

This passage was without a doubt the cultivation method incantation that would let him use the energies he had acquired from the Secret Box.

At that very moment!

JIIIIIIK.

The empty space directly in front of Geom Mugeuk tore open. The void, which held absolutely nothing, split as if pulled apart from both sides. A deep darkness unfolded within the tear.

White smoke rose from the darkness and began to form letters.

It's the cultivation method incantation!

He could not understand what it said, however. It was mixed with unfamiliar words that seemed to be from the old murim.

That was only the beginning.

RUMBLE!

The ground beneath him flipped over, and the earth's crust pushed upward from below. Incantations were written in the dirt of that crust. This text also contained words he could recognize and words he could not.

At the same time, something began to push down from the ceiling.

KWAKWAKWANG.

Giant icicles descended from the air. The incantations shone white on the icicles, as if they had been carved with an awl.

HWARURURUK.

Flames erupted from all sides.

The incantations shimmered inside the intensely hot flames.

The spectacle continued to unfold, eliciting admiration just from witnessing it.

HWIIIIIIING.

The wind began to swirl above his head. Amazingly, letters were floating even within the currents of wind.

KWAJIJIK!

Lightning struck down. A trace of the incantation was left behind on the spot scorched by the strike.

The incantations revealed themselves in ways he had never witnessed before. Geom Mugeuk could feel just how special this cultivation method truly was.

But no matter how intelligent Geom Mugeuk was, he could not possibly memorize all of this, especially since it was filled with words he did not recognize.

A brief moment of silence passed.

The small Secret Box in Geom Mugeuk's chest began to vibrate.

WOOOONG.

In the next moment, the letters of the incantations on all sides started to glow in their respective colors.

SWAAAAAAAAANG!

Six streams of light, each one containing its own incantation, began to pour directly into Geom Mugeuk's body.