Hoooooo-!
A long and flexible whip spun around like a whirlwind.
It wasn’t enhanced by any special whip technique, but merely a basic rotation aimed to strike and punish a person.
Zzaak-!
The extended whip struck the man’s back.
A vivid red streak spread across his white back.
At the end of the streak lay white hair.
Zzaak-! Zzaak-! Zzaak-! Zzaak-!
The whip darted about excitedly like a predator who had found its prey, and with every strike, numerous streams of blood were carved into the man’s white back.
Even as his back twitched, his breaths came in ragged gasps, and even as his cries of pain echoed, the whip never ceased.
Mercy did not exist for the divine general of hell.
The face of the one wielding the whip bore a ghastly expression, resembling a fierce demon.
The person receiving the whip had a large scar on their right cheek and a small cross-shaped wound under the jaw.
A little higher up, even amidst the pain, distinct facial features and two turquoise eyes could still be seen.
This was a pitiable soul who, while alive, had carried names such as Divine Sword, Sword Sage, Namgung Cheolbin, and Byul Rak, but after death, had become a prisoner of hell.
Zzaak-! Zzaak-! Zzaak-! Zzaak-!
Namgung Cheolbin, carrying a massive rock in front while enduring the relentless strikes of a fiery whip on his back, continued moving forward with great difficulty.
Groans, faintly resembling the stench of blood, escaped his lips, and he sweated profusely, drenched as if in a downpour.
With trembling legs, he forced himself to take another step, appearing unmistakably like a laborer.
Far away, a young girl watched him.
She had striking similarities to Namgung Cheolbin with her features and piercing blue eyes.
“Ah… Dad…!”
Namgung Cheolbin’s daughter, Su-a Namgung, stood watching.
“Stop… Stop it…!”
“This isn’t right… This isn’t what hell should be…”
“Hm… Ugh… Hm… Dad…”
This place was inside Su-a Namgung’s dream.
For the umpteenth time, Namgong Su-a knelt on the scorched floor of the Ninth Layer of Hell and wept.
But, unable to muster the courage to approach her father—
fortunately, this tormenting dream did not last long and quickly came to an end.
Whoosh-!
The scenery shifted. Reality crashed down upon Namgung Su-a, vivid and alive.
“Ahh…”
Why had she suddenly awakened from her dream? Namgung Su-a pondered for a moment, but the answer was not far in coming.
Rustle-
“Hmm… Su… Superior…”
Her chest felt tight. Something foreign grazed against it.
Namgung Su-a’s eyes slowly glanced down. She saw the crown of Soeun Yu, her mother, nestled against her chest as if in unconscious reverie.
Just as Namgung Su-a would often do, Soeun Yu, conversely, had unknowingly buried her face against her daughter’s chest in her sleep.
It was a gesture she would never intentionally make while conscious, likely done as a result of sleep-talking.
“Superior… Hehe…”
A foolish smile appeared on Soeun Yu’s lips, one Namgung Su-a rarely saw. The smile was a result of sleep-talking, and Soeun Yu was oblivious to the fact that her daughter was watching her.
“Superior’s chest feels nice and firm…”
Soeun Yu gently rubbed her face against Namgung Su-a’s chest.
Namgung Su-a’s heart ached seeing this.
This fragile mother of hers should have been someone delicate, someone who longed to lean on someone else. And yet, for someone so in need of support, how could she even be leaning on her daughter?
Even though Soeun Yu seemed to believe that she was leaning on her husband, Namgung Cheolbin’s chest.
“Hmph…”
Namgung Su-a sighed in despair.
“Mom and I… what suffering we endure all because of Dad…”
With a sigh of resignation over her situation, she slowly rose from her place, intending to train since sleep was no longer possible.
Soeun Yu fidgeted slightly, even though she was still lost in slumber.
“Superior… Euhh, where are you going… Stay here…”
The smile that had graced her lips just moments ago was replaced with a scrunched-up face, teary-eyed, as if ready to burst into tears at any moment.
Namgung Su-a’s heart wrenched at the sight of her mother.
“Please… don’t go. Stay with me… Su… Superior!”
Carefully detaching her mother’s hand that had subconsciously grabbed her wrist, she stepped out of bed, placing the pillow she used to rest her head on into Soeun Yu’s arms.
“Hehe… Superior… I’m so glad you’ve returned…”
Listening to the peaceful mumbling behind her, Namgung Su-a left the room.
Worried that her footsteps might wake her mother, this was of no concern to Namgung Su-a, whose martial arts were refined enough to move without a sound.
Creak- click.
Finally, she closed the door. She was thorough when it came to ensuring the door was properly secured.
*
Byul Rak had been to the Mucheon Ravine before.
Though not in this chapter of history, but rather in previous ones. Back then, it wasn’t for the purpose of finding Iseonhwan.
Whooooooosh-!
Byul Rak and Jade Flower stood at the edge of a cliff, looking down.
Before them extended a majestic ravine that seemed to stretch endlessly.
Lifting their heads to look at the sky, there were swirling dark clouds that completely blocked out any sunlight.
Mucheon Ravine was a bizarre place. The sky was dark, and the land was equally so. The position where Byul Rak and Jade Flower stood, the only place with a glimmer of light, was but faint twilight.
“Let’s go in, Byul Rak.”
“There’s no more shaking, is it?”
“Why hesitate when we have to jump into Mucheon Ravine anyway?”
“I must say this one last time: you have no obligation to join me into Mucheon Ravine.”
“But haven’t I already said, I can’t let you go alone?”
“…”
Byul Rak did not argue. He thought that Jade Flower’s help, though welcome, would not be a hindrance.
Even though he was familiar with Mucheon Ravine, he had never ventured to its depths. Therefore, overconfidence was not his nature.
“Do you know where the Iseonhwan is?”
“No.”
“What? What do you mean what?”
“So starting now, we need to search. Room by room. Please give a hand.”
“Are you serious? In this massive ravine, do you even know where the Iseonhwan is?”
“Chu Seon wouldn’t joke around with important information.”
“Madness! Foolish and mad!”
“The artifact of Iseonhwan allows its presence to be felt as you approach. Don’t worry.”
Saying that, Byul Rak glanced down at the abyss of the ravine.
A thick black mist obscured its interior, even as he focused his energy on his eyes to activate the “Chienliyan.”
“Then, let’s enter.”
“Be cautious.”
Byul Rak leaped from the cliff.
Jade Flower took a deep breath and hastily followed.
Descending slowly would mean they’d never reach the bottom, so Byul Rak plunged downward at full speed.
The complete sensation of weightlessness gripped them.
About two hours later, voices could be heard above Mucheon Ravine.
“Wow, they call this one of the three forbidden zones of the Central Plains, and it’s truly something else!”
“I’ve never seen a gorge of this scale.”
“What was it we were supposed to retrieve here? Was that the Dae Hwan Pill of Shaolin?”
“It’s said this artifact, the Iseonhwan, is located at the depths of this ravine.”
A man and three women stood above Mucheon Ravine.
All seemed peers, as they casually joked among themselves.
However, an exception was one man who stood slightly apart. He seemed content, his eyes closed, trembling lightly in pleasure.
“General Paruch’eon, what are you doing right now?”
“Let him be. He’s enjoying himself.”
“Enjoying? How can he find enjoyment following unnecessary orders from the Patriarch of the Blood Cult without proper reason?”
“That guy… His sorcery finds favor in this, where the evil energy of Mucheon Ravine is like paradise filled with beautiful women.”
“I don’t understand. Even if we, the cultivators of Blood Arts, enjoy such energy, why does he revel so in this sinister mist?”
“Hmph, if he finds it pleasing, why do you care?”
“That may be so… but still, it’s simply unpleasant to behold.”
The Four Great Demon Generals of Blood Cult.
Each of them a transcendent martial artist. Unlike the Twelve Elders of Blood, these four were among the strongest survivors from the Blood War.
Yoyo Ling Ak, the Blood-Sucking Demon General.
Gun Sa Pyeong, the Heaven-Sundering Demon General.
Hong Ee Bee, the Rakshasa Demon General.
Hyuk Chae Yeon, the Great Strength Demon General.
These were the identities of the quartet who had arrived at Mucheon Ravine.
“Whoa!!! So invigorating! Can’t hold back anymore! I shall take the lead!”
Gun Sa Pyeong, the Heaven-Sundering Demon General, exclaimed with excitement.
“Idiot.”
“Hey you, this is no light-hearted decision. Let’s at least get an estimate of the end point, even if roughly…”
The other three demon generals immediately criticized and resisted.
“Go!!!”
Plopp-!
Completely captivated by Mucheon Ravine’s exquisite evil energy, Gun Sa Pyeong couldn’t hear their voices.
“Wha- That lunatic!”
“Hurry, follow! It’s not good to split up here!”
“Gah! That bastard shall be torn apart!”
Seeing Gun Sa Pyeong dive into Mucheon Ravine with arms spread wide, Yoyo Ling Ak, Hong Ee Bee, and Hyuk Chae Yeon followed him into the descent, without a second of hesitation.
It wasn’t about camaraderie. Rather, it was prudent, considering the unpredictable dangers of Mucheon Ravine. Splitting apart here would offer no benefits.
In this manner, the four Demon Generals disappeared into the fog of Mucheon Ravine.
About two more hours passed, when the soft steps of a young woman reached the cliff edge where previous visitors had gone.
She had distinct emerald eyes.
“Ugh…”
She was Tang Sobaek, the Forbidden Jade Leaf of Sa Cheon Tang Clan.
“To look at it is already filthy…”
The small lips of Tang Sobaek emitted words of disdain.
“Do we really have to enter that? No way, it’s too much. Need to fetch a broom first, at least sweep a bit…!”
Rubbing the goosebumps on her forearms, Tang Sobaek hesitated.
Though she rarely panicked under normal circumstances, she was peculiarly sensitive about cleanliness.
However, despite all that…
“Damn… There’s no way a mere broom can clear up this much mist, right…”
To Tang Sobaek, there was a reason she had to venture into the Mucheon Ravine.
It was because her father, Poison King, was trapped there.
“Shit… There’s no other option.”
Even if the tiny silk scarf would be enough to flutter around after jumping off the cliff, she carefully wrapped her face with a small piece of cloth.
“It’s fine… I’ve already investigated, haven’t I? And I learned about the secrets hidden within Mucheon Ravine, so there’s nothing to worry about…”
Though usually calm even in the face of death, she felt slightly troubled when it came to Mucheon Ravine.
The Mucheon Ravine, a gorge connected to the ghost caves of Hell. If one slipped mentally here, one might live perpetually as a puppet of the ghosts.
Actually, being a puppet wasn’t so much a problem, but the real issue was the double layer of mist and clouds blocking the sky.
She couldn’t see the sky. In other words, her interest in Heaven Records (天記) would be impossible to pursue forever.
“Let’s go.”
Tang Sobaek raised her head to look at what might be the last piece of sky she would see.
The sky was completely shrouded in dark clouds.
“Even if I die, my daughter not returning will likely snap my Dad back to his senses.”
Cruelly enough, she thought.
“Or… will I make things worse for him? Ah well, who knows… But here I am anyway.”
Mourning her own situation.
BOOM-!
Tang Sobaek pushed off the ground and leaped high.
Her small figure cut through the air vertically and fell into the thick mist below.
