Chapter 763: Hey There, It's Been a While!

TL: FoodieMonster007

Geom Mugeuk stood in darkness. He activated the Divine Eye Technique and scanned his surroundings.

A staircase descended before him. The mystical formation had transported him here the moment he surrendered himself to the wind.

This is it!

He knew instantly. This was the entrance to the tomb of the past Chairmen.

Thank you, Dan Patriarch.

Dan Sojin had left a clue in his farewell. The clan's laws prevented him from taking the dangerous object himself, so he hoped someone else would. He wanted someone to remove that dangerous object from the tomb.

Still he probably never expected Geom Mugeuk would actually find this place. The location was brilliantly hidden. Anyone would assume a secret tomb's entrance lay hidden deep in rugged mountains. Who would imagine it existed in such an open place?

The formation was also impressive. A formation that could only be entered by completely surrendering one's body to the wind? Geom Mugeuk had never experienced such elegant work.

He didn't know who created it, but one thing was certain. The creator was a true master, likely a figure still respected by all who studied formations.

The thought made him tense. A formation created by such a person would be waiting below.

Geom Mugeuk descended the stairs carefully. He already felt the mystique radiating from the space itself. The aura far surpassed that of the fake Grave of Swords where he had fought the Twelve Zodiac Kings.

The surroundings brightened as he moved deeper. A long corridor waited at the bottom, and at its end stood another staircase leading further underground.

The first gate!

Geom Mugeuk examined the corridor walls. The floor, walls, and ceiling were riddled with countless holes. The moment he stepped inside, a mechanism would activate and shoot out hidden weapons or sword blades. Fortunately, it was a mechanical trap, not a formation.

He studied the mechanism carefully and made his decision.

I'll break through with sheer speed.

He had no intention of damaging the mechanism to show off. He was a quiet guest and planned to leave without anyone knowing he had been there.

Geom Mugeuk calmed his mind with a deep breath, then shot forward. He pushed his recently acquired speed to its absolute limit.

SHIIIIIIIIK!

The mechanism reacted all at once.

SHUKSHUKSHUKSHUKSHUKSHUKSHUK!

In a flash, Geom Mugeuk landed at the end of the corridor, his breathing undisturbed. He arrived before he could even take a single breath.

Hundreds of spear blades erupted from all directions in the corridor, weaving together like a spider's web before retracting. The blades chased after him like a wave or a flame, but they couldn't catch lightning.

SREUNG, SREUREUREUNG, SREUREUNG.

Geom Mugeuk's breakthrough surpassed the maximum speed the trap's creator had imagined for an intruder. No matter how skilled, no one could be faster than this, yet he was faster. His movement arts exceeded the creator's imagination.

He passed through without leaving a single scratch on the mechanism and descended the next set of stairs.

The second gate waited on the second basement level, and it was far more dangerous than the first.

At least, it would have been for anyone who wasn't Geom Mugeuk.

The moment he stepped off the last stair, he felt it. A wisp of poison entered with his breath.

It's imperceptible poison!

The trap made intruders focus on the passage ahead while releasing poison at the bottom of the stairs. It was a secret attack using expensive imperceptible fatal poison, hiding both location and method. Even a master who safely passed the first gate wouldn't survive here.

Geom Mugeuk easily broke through the first and second gates and descended the stairs again to the third basement level.

At the third gate, a formation activated.

SSSSST.

The space around Geom Mugeuk shifted. His surroundings transformed into a desolate field, and phantoms like black shadows materialized all around him. The phantoms wielded all sorts of weapons and rushed toward him.

…Hmm?

He tilted his head in confusion, noticing something strange.

SWAAAAAEK!

Geom Mugeuk swiftly cut down the phantoms rushing at him from all sides. An enormous number charged forward, but he wasn't the man he used to be. Sword qi from the Black Demon Sword swept through them. Even with the same inner arts, the number of enemies he could kill was now different.

The phantoms continued to charge over the bodies of their fallen. An ordinary master's inner qi could never handle such numbers, but the formation's creator had miscalculated. Surely no one could withstand this many enemies, right? Unfortunately, there was someone right here who could.

PWAAAAAK!

When Geom Mugeuk cut down the last phantom, the formation shattered.

SSSSSSSST.

His skill overwhelmed the gates. The three gates demanded speed, poison resistance, and inner arts that surpassed human limits.

Geom Mugeuk was like a natural enemy to these traps. It was probably unavoidable. They likely never imagined someone this strong would enter.

After he cleared the third gate, a massive stone door appeared before his eyes. He had finally reached the tomb.

Geom Mugeuk opened the stone door and stepped inside. The interior was magnificent. The impossibly high ceiling overwhelmed him, and stone statues lined all sides.

One statue depicted a martial artist wearing gauntlets, another holding a dao. One statue showed a figure thrusting a fist forward, while another sat on a grand chair.

From their dignified appearances, he could tell these were the past Chairmen of the Evil Alliance.

Murals covered every wall. They depicted what looked like a great war between the orthodox and unorthodox factions. Flames blazed across the scenes and corpses littered the ground. In the center stood a towering martial artist who must have been one of the past Chairmen.

A display case in the center of the room contained the legacies of the Evil Alliance Chairmen. Martial arts manuals and the divine weapons they had used lay within. These were the arts and weapons of the Chairmen of each era. He knew how precious they were without even looking.

And among them, there it was. Resting on pure white cloth was the last purple bead, the Purple Orb.

"There's our youngest!"

Geom Mugeuk strode toward it. He picked up the Purple Orb and gazed down at it silently. The sixth and final orb. The masterminds had gone to great lengths to obtain its energy.

"……" He stared at it with a deepened gaze, then suddenly threw the Purple Orb onto the floor. It shattered into pieces.

SSSSSSS…

Purple energy spread in all directions, but Geom Mugeuk just watched in silence.

A voice echoed, "Why did you do that?"

A secret door opened in the wall, and someone rushed out. Surprisingly, it was Dan Sojin, the head of the Hundred Graves Clan who managed this tomb. He seemed to have been hiding there, secretly watching.

"That orb, wasn't it what you were looking for?"

"It was. I fought those bastards for this."

"Then why did you break it?"

Geom Mugeuk looked down at the broken Purple Orb. "Because it's a fake."

Dan Sojin blinked in surprise. "It was a fake?"

Geom Mugeuk nodded silently.

"How did you know it was a fake?"

Geom Mugeuk stared at him quietly, then answered honestly, "I've obtained the other orbs before this. Those orbs were hidden in hard-to-find places. However, the orb here was displayed ostentatiously. It was in the most conspicuous spot."

"You broke it just for that reason? Couldn't it have been displayed for some other reason?"

"Of course, that wasn't the only reason."

When Geom Mugeuk had held the final orb, neither the Secret Box nor the energy in his body reacted at all. How could that be? It was the final energy, so a reaction was guaranteed.

"This tomb is also a fake," he added.

Dan Sojin tilted his head, baffled. "A fake? I'm right here, so what on earth are you talking about?"

Geom Mugeuk looked at Dan Sojin. "It's a fake because you are here."

"!" Dan Sojin's expression hardened. "What in the world are you saying?"

"The moment I saw you, I was certain this place is fake."

Dan Sojin scowled. "Is this how you repay the kindness I've shown you?"

Geom Mugeuk explained calmly,"The wind formation at the entrance was incredible. I've truly never experienced such an amazing formation before.

"……"

"However, the formations inside were too generic in comparison. The entrance was so incredible, yet the gates protecting the interior were just this? Launching spear blades, spewing poison, and phantoms attacking. They were common mechanisms and formations you could see anywhere."

"……"

Geom Mugeuk declared confidently, "I thought that the person who made the formation at the entrance would never have created such a generic formation."

That was why he had tilted his head while breaking the third gate's formation.

"So I thought a little more. If the creator were to put a formation here, what kind would it be? Anyone entering this place would undoubtedly be aiming for the legacies of the past Chairmen. Then, one legendary formation came to mind." A single formation name flowed from Geom Mugeuk's lips. "The Wish-Fulfilling Illusion Formation!"

The Wish-Fulfilling Illusion Formation was an ancient formation that allowed whoever was trapped within it to obtain what they most desired. It gave treasure to someone who wanted treasure, and a manual to someone who wanted a manual.

However, the moment they took it, they could never escape. While they rejoiced in their prize, the person in reality eventually died from qi exhaustion.

There was only one way to break it. You had to reject the object the moment you obtained it, just as Geom Mugeuk had shattered the Purple Orb. This method was the most difficult one for a human.

"I was inside the formation from the very first gate. It was so seamlessly connected with the entrance formation that I didn't realize it at all!"

The formation had activated the moment he first fell into the darkness. It was a skill befitting the person who created the wind formation. Geom Mugeuk didn't know who the creator was, but they were worthy of being called a god of formations.

"Well, what surprises me more is that the formation wasn't broken even after I rejected what I desired."

Dan Sojin's demeanor changed. "Young Cult Leader, you're truly amazing!" he exclaimed with great admiration, as if this had all been a test.

He took another box from his robes and gave it to Geom Mugeuk.

"Here's the real orb. I'm sorry for testing you, Young Cult Leader. I wanted to see if you could break the Wish-Fulfilling Illusion Formation."

Geom Mugeuk took the box and opened it. Inside was a purple orb that shone even more brilliantly than the last one. "Truly amazing," he admired.

Dan Sojin asked curiously, "Is that orb really so amazing? What is it for?"

"I wasn't talking about the orb."

Geom Mugeuk picked up the orb.

SHATTER!

This time, too, he shattered it without hesitation.

"……" Dan Sojin jaw dropped at he stared at Geom Mugeuk.

Geom Mugeuk explained, "The creator not only linked two formations seamlessly, but also made a formation that requires passing not one, but two trials."

"Two trials? What do you mean?"

Geom Mugeuk grinned. "It's you. You're a part of the formation, and the second trial."

"!"

"Moreover, it seems you don't even know you're playing such a role."

Dan Sojin shouted angrily, "What kind of crazy talk is that?"s

Geom Mugeuk shot back, "What kind of person are you?"

"What?"

"Try to remember what kind of person you are." After a brief pause, Geom Mugeuk asked again. "You're a loyal man. A man who would willingly give his life to protect this tomb. Those last words you gave me were your utmost consideration, something you must have done after much deliberation. However, you tested me here with something you kept in your robes? In this sacred tomb that you cherish more than your own life, after finding that hard-to-find orb? Are you that kind of person?"

Dan Sojin became confused. "I… I'm not that kind of person."

SSSSST!

The moment he admitted it, Dan Sojin's form began to disappear. He really was the second trial. If someone else had broken through, the method would have appeared as someone connected to them, not Dan Sojin.

Anyone who entered this place had to pass the three gates within the formation and also reject what they desperately desired. Even then, they had to reject the second temptation as well. In the end, it was a formation that could never be broken by an intruder who entered with any sort of greed.

THUD!

A book fell to the spot where Dan Sojin had disappeared. It was titled "Understanding the Ultimate Heavenly Formations".

Geom Mugeuk opened the book and read it.

I leave the enlightenment of my later years to the one who broke my consecutive formations.

- The Void Phantom Sage

Geom Mugeuk didn't know of the Void Phantom Sage. However, if this was the person who created these two formations, wouldn't the manual he left behind be the equivalent of the Nine Calamities Demonic Art for the world of formations?

He carefully placed the book in his robes. He considered such a miraculous encounter at a time like this to be the will of heaven.

"I'll use this to help the world."

Only then did the formation finally begin to disappear.

SREUREUK!

Geom Mugeuk's surroundings shifted. The tomb's interior vanished, and he was back in the darkness where he had first fallen. Before his eyes stood a massive stone door, the entrance to the real tomb.

As if to prove it, the face of a wolf was carved into the center of the stone door. It was the guardian statue that stood at the entrance to the Evil Alliance's Chairman's Hall. It had an incredibly valiant appearance, as if protecting the souls of the past Chairmen.

"Hey there, it's been a while!"

Geom Mugeuk pushed the door open with both hands.

CREEEEEAK!

The layered history of the unorthodox murim opened before him. Even the musty scent of time was different from before.