Chapter 69: Heaven-Harmonizing Clan (1)

“Keuheok! How could this be?!”

Bang Manhu slammed his fist on the ground, his face filled with anguish.

More than the pain from being knocked back, it seemed he was more distressed by the fact that his internal energy didn’t match the requirement.

“This is serious.”

Cheon Yura’s expression turned grave.

The reason she had allowed Bang Manhu to try was because she had acknowledged to some extent the demonic energy of the Nine Moons Blade Hall.

But for it to have no effect?

“Let me give it a try.”

Sa Biyeon stepped forward, showing slight interest.

If it was a technique just before the level of the Six Great Demonic Clans, there were elements in it that could even surpass the Heavenly Demonic Divine Art in certain aspects.

However—

“Keugh!”

Even Sa Biyeon, the one they could trust the most, withdrew while massaging her tingling palm.

After that, a few more people tried, but it was all in vain.

“Are we really going to be blocked after coming this far?”

The purest demonic energy.

It was rather humiliating to see the orb reject even the aura of the Heavenly Demonic Divine Art, but now that they were here, curiosity took over.

“We could break down the Iron Gate if we really wanted to, but that’s not the right move.”

As solid as the Iron Gate was, they had a “secret weapon” on their side.

But they hadn’t even encountered any enemies yet—it wasn’t the time to expend that weapon.

Cheon Yura asked Bang Manhu,

“Is there any way to open it using sorcery?”

“I’m sorry. Not with my skills…”

Even Bang Manhu, who had reached first-rate as a sorcerer, concluded that there was no way to cheat the gate open.

Some gathered their heads together in thought, but no answer came.

“Haa, are we going to have to retreat and target another location? What do you think, Jin Yeo—”

It was then.

Drrrrrk!

With a thunderous sound that shook the entire cave, the Iron Gate began to slowly open.

“……?!?!”

Everyone turned to the gate in shock.

And there, in their line of sight, was Jin Yeomyung withdrawing his hand from the right-hand Absorption Orb and stepping back.

***

‘As expected, I was right. It’s the same thing I saw back then.’

The difference being that it absorbed far less internal energy this time.

The size of the Iron Gate was also relatively smaller compared to that place, and the fact that Cheon Yura’s Heavenly Demonic Divine Art supported half the burden from the other side must’ve helped.

“Jin Yeomyung, you…”

Everyone—including Cheon Yura, except for Baek Sang-ah—looked at me with disbelief.

To her, this situation probably felt utterly unreal.

“It seems the internal energy of the Demonic Heaven’s Jin Clan is compatible with this place.”

I lied with a straight face.

“Nonsense!”

But I couldn’t fool Cheon Yura, the Young Cult Leader herself.

“No matter how highly regarded the Demonic Asura Divine Art is among our cult’s top ten arts, it can’t surpass the Heavenly Demonic Divine Art in terms of purity of energy!”

“But the result turned out well, didn’t it?”

“…….”

When lies don’t work? Just keep insisting.

After all, the results were right in front of everyone.

“Master Jin, how did you manage to open the door?”

“Lady Sa, you’re asking the same thing. All I did was infuse my internal energy.”

Sa Biyeon gave me a stunned look and slightly opened her mouth in disbelief.

“Could it be… some special internal energy neither I nor the Young Cult Leader knows of…?”

“Now, now, let’s hurry inside. We’re short on time.”

Ignoring everyone’s stares demanding an explanation, I strode confidently through the gate.

Sa Biyeon turned to Cheon Yura.

“Young Cult Leader.”

Cheon Yura, who had been glaring at me with her arms crossed, let out a small sigh and relaxed her eyes.

“Right. We don’t have time now.”

What kind of internal energy technique did he learn to pass the condition of ‘the purest demonic energy’?

She was dying of curiosity, but that wasn’t the priority right now.

“Let’s go, Biyeon. Our first task is to punish the traitors of our cult.”

“…Understood.”

“But later… even if I have to torture you, I will get the truth out of you.”

Shiver!

A cold sweat trickled down my back at Cheon Yura’s intense vow.

***

It was vast.

That was the impression my companions and I had when we reached the innermost part behind the Iron Gate—what seemed to be the final location.

“A-Aah!”

Bang Manhu trembled as if he were about to faint.

“What is it?”

“A-A tremendous spatial distortion technique. T-This place couldn’t have been made by anyone less than a god!”

Cheon Yura tilted her head.

“I can tell there’s an expansive energy spread all around, but is that really worth using the word ‘god’?”

Bang Manhu made quite the blasphemous expression at her words.

The Guardian Warriors nearly drew their blades at him.

“Amazing.”

If I hadn’t spoken up next, they really might’ve done it.

“Jin Yeomyung, do you sense something too?”

“Look at the height.”

Following my finger, everyone’s gaze turned upward.

“We did descend quite a bit, but not to this extent.”

“Hmph!”

“Indeed!”

The ceiling was shrouded in darkness—completely out of sight.

Estimated height: at least several hundred jang.

“I’m certain we didn’t descend more than fifty jang.”

I swung my sword and lightly fired a Sword Qi.

It flew upward without any obstruction, disappearing into the darkness.

“It doesn’t seem to be an illusion.”

“What is this place exactly?”

“Huh? There’s another altar over there!”

While scanning the surroundings, Baek Sang-ah pointed toward the far end.

There, beyond them, stood another altar that seemed to be a copy of the current one—surrounded by an overwhelming amount of treasures enough to make one’s eyes widen.

“…It’s like we’ve fallen into an illusion.”

“It seems this place is the deepest part of these ruins.”

“I see. So, should we recover those treasures and wait here for the enemies?”

“I’ll retrieve them, Young Cult Leader.”

At Cheon Yura’s signal, the Guardian Warriors stepped forward to collect the offerings.

But—

Thud!

“Urgh!”

Those who dashed forward using light footwork were bounced back as if they’d hit an invisible wall.

“What?!”

“Is it another sorcery trap? Or some kind of mechanical formation?”

One expert from the Guardian Corps, who had slammed his head against the wall, frowned and tapped several times into thin air.

Thunk, thunk, thunk!

With each strike, a sound like tapping on glass echoed in their ears.

“This place truly leaves no room for carelessness.”

Cheon Yura drew her sword with a furrowed brow.

In an instant, immense internal energy gathered in the blade, and black demonic energy rippled along it.

Just as she was about to strike the invisible wall—

—That place… is a false space, meant to turn away intruders.

From atop the massive altar, an eerie voice filled with malevolent energy echoed out.

“……!”

—I never expected that someone marked by the karma of preparation, not by trap, would actually arrive.

“Who are you?”

Cheon Yura unleashed a terrifying killing intent toward the top of the altar.

But the presence above paid no heed and simply continued to speak.

—Then, have you fulfilled this condition as well? Only those under the age of thirty may step onto the altar. Those beyond that will be rejected.

“What? Discriminating by age now?”

Bang Manhu pouted and grumbled.

Cheon Yura asked,

“Why under thirty?”

—Anyone who has lived beyond that span cannot inherit the ‘preparation’ we left behind.

‘We?’

Just as I was mulling over that term, lost in thought—

“I can’t decide.”

Cheon Yura turned to me.

“Jin Yeomyung, I’ll follow your judgment.”

I pulled myself out of my thoughts and refocused on the situation.

“Under thirty, huh.”

Among our group, only four fit that condition.

Myself, Cheon Yura, Sa Biyeon, and Baek Sang-ah.

If there’s a deadly trap up there, the four of us wouldn’t be enough to handle it.

But—

‘It doesn’t feel like a trap.’

I didn’t have clear evidence, but my instincts were screaming it.

“Let’s go up.”

“Very well. The rest of you stay here and wait.”

True to her word, Cheon Yura stepped forward without hesitation.

As soon as she moved, Sa Biyeon followed, and Baek Sang-ah clenched her teeth and refused to fall behind, climbing up the altar.

And so, the four of us ascended the staircase and reached the massive, square altar situated dozens of jang above.

The moment I stepped onto the altar, I realized something.

‘The density of demonic energy is staggering!’

It seemed the others felt it too, as their eyes widened and they looked around.

Training here would guarantee several times the usual cultivation gains.

“It’s… hard to breathe.”

“Lady Baek.”

Not being a demon practitioner, Baek Sang-ah’s face turned pale as she struggled to control her breathing.

“Heh. If it’s too much to bear, you can come down. No one will stop you.”

“Don’t… mock me!”

Provocation more than advice—her stubborn response made her dig in even deeper.

I’d noticed before: she had a soft spot for challenges like this.

Shff!

While Baek Sang-ah and Cheon Yura were engaged in a silent stare-down, a woman in a white robe suddenly appeared before us.

“……!”

She was beautiful!

So beautiful that her appearance alone made me think that.

Her eyes drooped slightly in contrast to Cheon Yura’s sharp gaze, and beneath one eye was a small tear-shaped beauty mark.

“Jin Yeomyung.”

Cheon Yura immediately sensed my dazed reaction and directed killing intent toward me.

“S-sorry!”

“If you don’t come to your senses, I’ll gouge out your eyes.”

Her threat, whether sincere or not, was chilling enough to snap me back to reality.

The woman who had appeared before us began to speak.

“Four of you. Even if you passed the Gate of Resonance, I thought for sure you’d be older. I never imagined ones like you would stand before me.”

“Why were you so sure we’d be older?”

“Because… if you opened the gate, you must be ‘a married couple,’ right?”

“…?!”

Cheon Yura and I instinctively looked at each other.

And the moment our eyes met, as if on cue, we both jerked our heads in opposite directions like lightning.

Seeing our reaction, the woman was more taken aback.

“Oh—so, you’re not?”

“W-what part of that made you assume we were a married couple?”

Baek Sang-ah asked in a trembling voice.

For some reason, her tightly clenched fists were visibly shaking.

“Well, naturally… because I was married to Brother Cheon. Since you inherited our martial art, I assumed the two who opened the gate must also be husband and wife.”

“Brother Cheon?”

At that unusual surname, our expressions stiffened.

“Seems like you really don’t know. And yet, you opened the gate… Fate truly is unpredictable.”

Her expression turned slightly forlorn.

“You’re not… the Nine Heavens Mystic Maiden, Rangrang, are you?”

At Sa Biyeon’s question, the woman calmly nodded.

“Yes. I was known by the nickname Nine Heavens Mystic Maiden, and Rangrang was my alias.”

“Alias?!”

“But my true name isn’t Rangrang.”

Shff!

“My name is Yoo So (有巢). I was the last survivor of the Heaven-Defying Reversal Clan.”

At that, Cheon Yura shouted in a voice close to a shriek.

“The Heaven-Defying Reversal Clan? Don’t tell me—you?!”

“Yes.”

Yoo So murmured bitterly.

“I am the descendant of Yoo Jeon, the great disciple who betrayed the First Heavenly Demon.”

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