Reincarnated Sword Ghost-Chapter 43 : Footwork

Footwork
They passed the debris of the collapsed mechanical trap formation and corpses.
Occasionally, some remaining formations would shoot poison-tipped arrows or the like, but Jeong-un knocked them down with a single sweep of my blade.
There was no true ki imbued in them, so they weren't hard to block, though they sometimes flew at unexpected moments from the pitch-black darkness.
It was so intricately designed, you could feel the care in its construction.
If it hadn't been so thoroughly destroyed, Jeong-un might have had a much harder time.
'Should I call myself lucky, then?'
Jeong-un thought as he deflected a throwing knife that flew at him from above like lightning.
Sure enough, it was coated in an unknown poison. That was why he had to focus when blocking them.
'If I get grazed even a little...'
Jeong-un recalled a martial artist who died after being grazed by the secret weapon that Tang Yerin had thrown.
He'd only had his cheek slightly scratched, yet died instantly.
That's just how terrifying a potent poison could be.
'They say that once you reach the realm of a peak expert, you can expel most poisons just by circulating your true ki.'
There's no need to mention the legendary state of being immune to all poisons.
Martial artists could expel rough toxins from the body with just basic cultivation methods.
No matter how low their martial arts skill, they were far healthier than ordinary civilians.
A peak expert could probably expel poison from the body with simple true ki manipulation.
'Even if I'm not quite at that level...'
Jeong-un was constantly circulating true ki through his meridians using One Illumination Movement Technique.
It had been a long time since every inhale and exhale had blended into cultivation methods.
The accumulated energy traveled ceaselessly along the body's ki veins.
He didn't know it himself, but if written as a secret manual and shown to someone, his martial arts cultivation method would be considered a legendary secret art.
Right now, he was especially focused on accumulating internal energy.
He never knew when or how another fight would break out.
He had never faced such a series of battles before.
So far, most of his fights had ended in quick, decisive encounters.
'I was the strange one.'
Now that he faced such an ordeal, it was inevitable that he felt regret about his meager reserve of true ki.
Now, even using Traceless Flash, practically a secret technique, was difficult.
It was fortunate he had at least learned the basic true ki manipulation of the fist-and-palm art—even clumsily.
Using it right away in real combat, he found it very practical.
'Let's not get impatient about accumulating internal energy.'
He repeated it to himself. Just because you had more internal energy did not automatically make you a high-level master.
Above all, he knew the true ki he possessed was somewhat unusual.
Those who had learned the same arts were startled just by crossing blades with him.
Instinctively, he felt that if he wanted to keep such abilities, he must not get obsessed with the quantity of his reserves.
Finally, they finished crossing the debris of the mechanical trap formation and reached the end of the passage.
A wide chamber unfolded before his eyes again, but the scene this time was also bitter.
"... This time, it's certain they actually crossed swords."
Jeong-un silently nodded at Seonwoo Hak's words.
The scattered corpses had wounds in various places, but it was clear they had died by the sword.
The strange thing, however, was that all the corpses lay facing the same way.
Turning his gaze, he saw a gray stone platform.
It was about waist-high. That spot alone was unusually bright, as light from luminous pearls above shone on it.
And there, a wooden box sat open.
"Th-that's, could it be—?"
Seonwoo Hak stiffened as he saw it.
At a glance, it looked like a box that would contain a cultivation pill.
"It doesn't seem to be the Immortal Spirit Pill."
Jeong-un shook his head calmly.
He could tell even from a distance—the box had never contained such a noble cultivation pill.
"Still, we should check it out."
He approached slowly.
Behind him, Seonwoo Hak followed nervously, flanked by his guard.
He still looked skeptical, half-believing, half-doubting Jeong-un's words.
'... It's weak.'
Close examination only confirmed his conviction.
Faint traces of energy lingered around the box, but there was no trace that it had ever held a peerless cultivation pill imbued with overwhelming internal energy.
"It seems there was something similar to an elixir here."
"Huh?"
"However, I think it was only a rather ordinary elixir. Yet they deliberately arranged this platform to show it off."
At Jeong-un's words, Seonwoo Hak furrowed his brow in confusion.
It was clear at a glance that this wasn't the end.
Another passage was clearly visible behind the platform.
Yet there was no real reason to put such a thing here.
Especially not in such a conspicuous fashion.
"We never really knew the purpose of this place, but why go to such lengths...?"
Seonwoo Hak murmured, clearly unable to understand.
Jeong-un glanced back at the passage they had just walked through.
"Didn't we have to break through the complicated mechanical formations, racing against each other? People must've depleted a great deal of internal energy."
"Then are you saying they provided an opportunity to recover internal energy?"
"That's right."
Jeong-un nodded and added,
"But only for one person."
"...?"
At that, Seonwoo Hak looked at Jeong-un, puzzled.
He wondered why he was emphasizing the 'one person' part.
"...!"
Then, as if realizing something, he looked around.
The countless corpses scattered around the platform—a grim clue as to what had happened here.
"They must have been desperate for an elixir, having exhausted their true ki while breaking through the mechanical trap formation, racing against each other, knowing there was still a long way to go. And then this appeared before them."
"That's...!"
Seonwoo Hak's eyes widened in shock, his face turning ashen as he realized the malice in the design.
Meanwhile, Jeong-un stared down at the box.
'They deliberately provoked chaos.'
From the start, this place would only open when a thousand martial artists gathered.
Naturally, they would have expected a huge number to arrive at this chamber.
'Even if left alone, there would have been a massacre.'
But apparently, that wasn't enough—they created a reason for even fiercer fighting to break out right in front of people.
As a result, an enormous number of martial artists died here.
What's more, there wasn't just one passage like this.
The same thing must have happened elsewhere too.
Out of the hundreds who had entered at the start, he couldn't even guess how many were left alive now.
"They said that person's nickname was the Divine Physician."
Jeong-un spoke calmly.
Seonwoo Hak gave a slight nod.
"Yes, he earned that title by saving numerous lives."
"Seems the truth beneath the surface was a bit different."
"... Yes, it seems so."
Seonwoo Hak answered grimly, clearly disappointed by the reality he'd encountered.
Anyone who truly valued life could not have created such a place.
'They say those who reach the realm of a peak expert tend to become eccentric.'
There were even stories of some becoming mad after overindulging in martial arts mastery.
Tales of demonic humans—mad demons and blood demons—often appeared like that in old books.
'Even so...'
This place was exquisitely designed from the entrance on.
Even supposing it was to test someone's qualification to obtain an elixir, it had long since passed the point of moderation.
Even the legendary Heavenly Demon Tomb, he thought, could not have been this cruel.
"Let's go."
Leaving behind the empty wooden box left by some victor, they strode toward the next passage.
They had to keep moving forward. There was no path back now.
Not that they had ever planned to turn back.
'I don't even want to know what the real intention here was anymore.'
He had little interest in the Immortal Spirit Pill. By now, he no longer expected such a rare pill to exist here.
It would've been stranger to expect the person who created such a place to leave a precious cultivation pill at the end.
He also found himself thinking about the nature of martial virtue and justice.
Until now, he'd vaguely considered it righteous to punish the savage acts of the Evil Faction, but after witnessing such a scene, his thoughts inevitably changed.
'I must become stronger.'
Only then could he define those standards.
No matter how eloquently one talked about justice, if their martial power was lacking, none of it mattered.
In the end, justice in the martial world was a blade in one's hand.
That's the nature of the world.
"Be prepared."
Before long, they reached the end of another passage.
Behind him, Jeong-un could sense Seonwoo Hak tensing up.
Even the ever-loyal Mook Cheol, who had silently stood guard at Seonwoo Hak's side, had started releasing a faint pulse of vital ki moments earlier.
He, too, sensed something was amiss.
Then, they reached another chamber where his view opened wide.
He walked into the mist.
"......"
Jeong-un was alone. Seonwoo Hak and his guard, who'd been right behind him, had vanished.
The mist had thickened—it would be more accurate to call it gray smoke.
How absurd, Jeong-un muttered without even a hint of surprise.
He hadn't even realized when he'd stepped into the heart of a formation.
The moment he stepped out of the passageway, he was already immersed in fog.
Worse, a humming sound came from all directions.
It didn't seem close by, more like it echoed from somewhere far off, but it was impossible to pinpoint the source.
The sophistication of this formation could be felt through his skin.
'This isn't the first time I've experienced such a thing...'
The last test of the entrance exam had played out within an array.
Was it called the Heart-Demon Phantom Array?
It had transformed the summit pavilion in the heart of the capital into a mountainside—thinking back, it wasn't actually that high-level a formation.
As he was now, he might be able to instantly locate the core of the formation and cut it down.
'There must be a core somewhere.'
Just as he thought that—
Whoosh—
A flash of the sword shot by in front of his eyes.
Clang!
His response was almost unconscious.
The thick mist limited his view to less than a foot ahead.
And the droning, echoing sound all but dulled his hearing.
Most importantly, the attack he'd just blocked had definitely been a sword wielded by a human.
The instant he blocked it, the presence vanished without a chance for a counter.
No room for a retort.
'There are several martial artists here.'
Jeong-un scanned his surroundings.
But with his five senses, he couldn't distinguish anything in the area.
He tried using sensitivity, but as expected, sensed nothing.
It felt like being in utter darkness.
'In that case...'
Jeong-un summoned his true ki through One Illumination Movement Technique.
He'd mostly recovered his strength by now, thanks to his intentional breathing and focus.
Thus, by introspecting, he solidified the circulating true ki.
Right now, Jeong-un recalled his duel with Peng Mu-gyeol.
More precisely, the Primordial Steps he had displayed.
With each step, Peng Clan's rising technique had flooded the surroundings with his own energy.
If he twisted it a bit—
Jeong-un guided the circulating true ki to his Yongcheon point—a pressure spot on the sole of the foot.
Then, as if wielding a sword, he took a forcible stride.
Thoom—
A transparent wave of vital ki spread from beneath his feet.
In an instant, the area nearby became vividly clear.
Within the sophisticated formation, he had established his own domain.
'I can do more.'
Once again, he gathered his true ki.
His entire veins felt ignited—heat rising through his whole body.
Then, one more stride.
Tok.
A small leaf falling quietly on a still lake.
The resulting ripple was tiny.
But with enough persistence, it could reach the very edge of the lake.
Fwoosh—!
In an instant, a huge wave of true ki swept away the mist, pushing it all the way to the walls.
The space, bathed in gray, changed again to a cavern illuminated by luminous pearls.
The surroundings brightened immediately.
"Y-Young hero Yu!"
Nearby, Seonwoo Hak and his guard could be seen.
Seonwoo Hak was fairly intact, but the guard's martial robe was riddled with holes.
It looked as if he'd blocked the whirlwind of swords with his entire body.
Both stared at Jeong-un in shock.
He hadn't dismantled the formation; he'd blown it away with the power of his own true ki.
It was a technique they could scarcely believe.
But Jeong-un was looking elsewhere.
Beyond Seonwoo Hak, he saw figures with red, beastlike eyes.
He immediately realized they were not in their right minds.
Their swords were stained with blood.
Jeong-un called to them quietly.
"Come this way."