Splash, splash.

The sound of footsteps echoed through the pitch-black path, the only noise breaking the eerie silence.

He flicked his fingers, igniting a small flame, but the light didn’t penetrate far.
Something peculiar seemed to be blocking the flame from properly illuminating the path ahead.

"What is this?"
"I can’t see anything either."

It seemed that Jaryong couldn’t see any better than I could.

How long had we been walking?
Was this really the path leading to the hidden manual?

Though I kept moving forward, the frustration bubbling up inside me was undeniable.

Why is it that every manual or seal I encounter ends up like this?

The manual at the Golden Celestial Hall had been the same.
All of them, every one of them, had been strange.

Because of the odd formation here at the Divine Dragon Hall, we managed to break through and make it this far,
But I couldn’t be entirely certain that this was indeed the way to the hidden manual.

"We haven’t talked about it yet, but what exactly are we looking for?"
Jaryong finally asked, far later than he should have.

"We? I’m the one looking for something."
"Now you’re drawing the line? That’s a bit harsh, isn’t it?"

Jaryong chuckled.

How he knew to come here, why he was walking with me, and what my goal was—
He didn’t ask about any of it. He’d always been like that.

Whenever something piqued his interest, he just did it without question.
Otherwise, he spent most of his time half-dead,
Either sleepy or lazy, just… in a state of apathy.

The problem is, not much ever piqued his interest.

Jaryong lived up to his nickname.
Though, to be fair, I was more familiar with seeing him like this than in his usual state.

Splash.

Hm.

With each step, it felt like the water beneath our feet was getting deeper.
What’s going on?

Is this really water?

I crouched down and touched the liquid.
It felt like water.
Colorless and odorless.

I wasn’t brave enough to taste it, so I just assumed it was water.
The only question that lingered was why there was water flowing here, and where it was coming from.

We continued walking for some time when suddenly—

"Hm."
"We’re almost there."

At the end of the long passage, I saw a faint light.
It seemed we were nearing the end.

Thank goodness. It didn’t seem like this place was too deep underground.
I quickened my pace, scanning the surroundings.

How far down had we come?
It was hard to gauge, but the path had felt longer than expected.

Spatial distortion, maybe?

It was likely due to the formation.
When I descended into the manual of the Golden Celestial Hall,
The path had felt similarly long, which had probably been due to the same phenomenon.

To think a formation could even do this…

It was still a mystery.
Who was capable of setting up such a formation, and why?

And what should I do about him?

I glanced back at Jaryong, who was following behind me.

If this really was the path to the hidden manual,
Could I afford to let him come along?

It seemed problematic.
Or maybe…
Could I give him something as a bribe to keep him quiet?

The thought made me shake my head.

Why would I give him anything?

If I found it, it was mine. Why share?

It’d be better to knock him out and leave him behind.

If he complained later, I could always place a seal on him.

Isn’t that what friends are for?

That’s not quite how that saying goes, but I was sure he’d get over it.

Come to think of it…

In my past life, he used to pull this same trick on me.

“You son of a—! I told you not to put a seal on me!”
“If you don’t like it, then break free.”

Whenever I tried to venture into a dangerous area,
He’d seal me in place, stopping me from moving.
I knew he meant well, but being forced into it had really pissed me off.

And, to make matters worse, the seal I used on him was something he had created.
Of course, it wasn’t until much later in the past that it came to be, but still.

If I place a seal on him, he’ll probably break it eventually.
Even if it’s a modified version, since it was his creation, he’d manage to free himself.
But at least it would keep him occupied for a while.

Maybe I should knock him out after all…

I was considering launching a surprise attack when—

Thud.

"Huh?"

Thud, thud!

Jaryong, standing behind me, was hitting the air in front of him with his fist.
It even made a sound.

"What are you doing?"

I asked, my voice tinged with confusion.

[Jeez, this is bad.]
Jaryong smiled wryly, muttering under his breath.
I blinked, realizing the situation.

Another layer of the formation?

Had another formation been laid within the first one?

Then how did I get through?

Perhaps there was something special about me, allowing only me to pass through.
Whatever it was, I hadn’t noticed it.

I really suck at formations.

In the end, I had no choice but to ask Jaryong.
[Can’t you break through? Like you did before?]

With sound blocked, we had to read each other’s lips.
Sound transmission wasn’t working, obviously.

Jaryong’s expression turned incredulous.
[Do you think it’s that easy?]
[It looked easy when you did it before.]
[Then why don’t you try it?]
[If I knew how, do you think I would’ve brought you along?]
[...]

Though I couldn’t hear it, I could tell Jaryong was letting out a helpless laugh.

I tapped the invisible wall with my fingers.
It didn’t feel thin.

Well…

[Step back a bit.]
[Huh?]

Without giving him time to react—

Fwoosh!

…!

I clenched my fist.
Jaryong, realizing what I was about to do, quickly retreated.

I used the momentum from my waist to throw a punch at the wall.

Boom!

The moment my fist hit the wall, a thunderous sound echoed, sending vibrations throughout the area.
Dust fell from the passage, signaling that I’d made an impact.

[It didn’t break.]

The wall remained intact.

It seemed brute force wasn’t going to work this time.

[Are you out of your mind? You actually hit it?]
Jaryong, rarely one to react so strongly, seemed genuinely astonished.
Why was he so surprised?

[I had to try, didn’t I?]
[If you knew anything about formations, you wouldn’t have tried something so reckless. Especially with one this complex, you should be more careful.]
[Like I said, if I knew anything about formations, I wouldn’t have brought you along.]

I knocked on the wall again, but it didn’t budge.

Well, that’s unfortunate.

I hadn’t expected it to break.
The reason I’d tried was simple: if the wall broke, Jaryong could have crossed easily.
If it didn’t, it meant he couldn’t get through either.

[You can’t do what you did before?]

I was referring to the way Jaryong had dismantled the formation earlier.
He’d found a gap and disassembled it piece by piece.

Jaryong shook his head.

[No, I can’t. I can’t hear anything. This is a different type of formation than before.]

I had to admit, it was strange that someone could dismantle formations by listening to sound,
But Jaryong really did work that way, so I couldn’t argue.

[So, you can’t solve it.]
Jaryong nodded.

In that case, I might as well leave him behind.

It seemed Jaryong realized this too, as he suddenly sat down on the wet ground.
Wasn’t the ground covered in water…?

[What are you doing?]
[Better to sit and wait than get knocked out. I’ll stay here.]

I had to admit, I was impressed.
He’d figured out I was planning to knock him out and go ahead without him.

Clever guy.

Honestly, it was a relief. If he was willing to wait, I wouldn’t have to knock him out.

[Why not wait outside?]
Since he’d rather sit here, I asked why he didn’t just wait at the entrance.

Jaryong glanced toward the direction we’d entered and then looked back at me.

[We can’t get out.]
[What?]
[It’s blocked now.]

I frowned.
The entrance was blocked? Confused, I gestured for him to explain.

[It’s one of those formations where you have to solve something inside to unlock the way out.]

Great. Just great.

How much time do I have left?

Cheon Hu was still keeping Cheon Haewol occupied.
Time was already tight, and now I had to deal with something inside the formation.

Things are really going downhill.

Then again, when has anything ever gone smoothly for me?

I sighed.
Whenever something went wrong, it usually turned into a disaster.
Still, I had no choice but to try something.

I couldn’t take Jaryong with me, so I’d have to go in alone.

The water splashed beneath my feet as I continued down the path toward the door.

The closer I got, the higher the water level seemed to rise.

It’s up to my thighs now.

What had started as ankle-deep water was now reaching my thighs.

I need to figure out what this liquid is.

There shouldn’t be any lakes or bodies of water around the Divine Dragon Hall,
So where was this water coming from?

I pondered this as I approached the entrance.

What’s on the other side…?

I couldn’t see clearly beyond the door, likely another effect of the formation.

I reached out with my hand.

Hum.

As my fingers touched the surface, I felt a ripple, as if my hand had passed through something.

There was no obstruction.
My hand slipped smoothly past the entrance.

There didn’t seem to be a second formation here like the one that had blocked Jaryong.

One strange thing, though—

It feels like I’m stepping into water.

Passing through the entrance felt like entering water.
It left a faintly unpleasant sensation.

Hummm.

Once I fully crossed the threshold, the strange feeling dissipated.

Whoosh.

I squinted as a sudden burst of light flooded my vision.

It only took a few seconds for my eyes to adjust to the brightness, but—

"…!"

The sight that greeted me left me breathless.

What is this…?

Roots.

The room was covered with tree roots.

Unlike the dark passage I’d just walked through, this room was brightly lit.
Oddly enough, despite the underground setting, everything was visible.

…There are no torches.

There was nothing here to light the room, so why was it so bright?

And then—

The water…?

The small amount of water on the floor hadn’t passed through the entrance.
Something felt off.

This isn’t right.

Feeling a sense of unease, I kicked at the water with my foot.

And then—

"…!"

The water droplets hung suspended in the air, motionless.

Could this be…

I’d experienced this before.

Not long ago, in a place much like this—
In Hanan, where I had encountered the legendary Iron Shadow (Cheol Yeong),
A similar phenomenon had occurred.

The sensation of time standing still.

The feeling I had back then was exactly the same as what I was feeling now.

If that was the case—

Does this mean this space is also connected to them?

I couldn’t be sure,
But the odds seemed high given how rare such experiences were.

The distortion likely only affected this room.
The water was shallow, just enough to wet my feet, and—

Between the roots that covered the room were various items, shrouded in cloth.

It seemed—

This really is the hidden manual.

What else could it be?
The Golden Celestial Hall’s manual had contained nothing but a giant snake.
Compared to that, this made much more sense.

And judging by the state of the cloth, it hadn’t been here long.
The formation seemed to have preserved everything.

Good.

That meant the items stored here were likely in excellent condition.

I swallowed dryly.
There was no way I could take everything, so I’d have to choose carefully.

What I need…

What I needed most would likely be elixirs and medicine.
But I’d have to look through everything to be sure.

If time is frozen here, maybe I have more time to search.

I considered the possibility,
But given the circumstances outside, I couldn’t afford to waste time.

Was it like this back then?

In my past life, when the Heavenly Demon had discovered this place,
I didn’t remember it feeling like this.

Something must have happened between now and the time I discovered this place and when the Heavenly Demon found it later.

But I had no way of knowing what that was.

I also need to find what Cheon Hu asked for.

What had she called it?
The Plum Blossom Stone, if I recalled correctly.

I didn’t know exactly what it looked like, but she’d mentioned it was a precious relic of Mount Hwasan.

I still wasn’t sure why Cheon Hu thought it would be here,
But it seemed her goal was to retrieve it.

I guess that makes sense, in a way.

But even so, something about this whole situation felt off.

Cheon Hu didn’t seem like the type to go to such lengths for a mere relic.

What’s so special about a relic?

Even if it was symbolic, it was still just an object.

Though, I suppose some relics, like the Thunder Child, do hold real power…

There were relics that provided practical benefits to martial artists,
But there were also many that were purely symbolic.

The relic I’d brought to Mount Hwasan and the relics held by various other clans usually fell into that latter category.

I probably shouldn’t be talking, since I’m here to steal some relics myself.

I couldn’t help feeling a bit guilty.
It felt like I was looting a grave.

Or maybe I wasn’t just feeling like a grave robber—I was one.

There’s no one here to stop me. I can do whatever I want.

That was the justification I settled on.

Better for me to take what I needed than to leave it here for the Heavenly Demon to snatch later.

First things first, let’s see what’s here.

I approached the nearest pile of covered items.

I couldn’t tell what anything was with the cloth in the way,
So I reached out to pull the covering off.

But just as I was about to grab the cloth—

Stop.

I froze.

A voice.
It came from directly behind me, low and deep.

I immediately gathered my internal energy, spinning around to face the source of the voice.

"…!"

Standing there, behind me, was a figure I hadn’t sensed at all.

No, that wasn’t quite right.

Is this even a person?

It looked human, but—

Something was off.
The figure seemed translucent, not fully solid.

What the hell is this? Is it a ghost?

A chill ran down my spine as I involuntarily trembled.

The translucent figure looked at me and spoke again.

“Who are you?”

The man looked to be in his early thirties, with blonde hair that reminded me of Wi Seol-ah.
His physique was solid, clearly that of a martial artist.

This meant one thing—
He wasn’t just an ordinary person.

The blonde man narrowed his eyes, examining me with curiosity.

Who am I?

"…That’s what I’d like to ask you."

I wanted to know who he was.

Was he an enemy?
Should I prepare for a fight?

Just as I considered readying myself, the man spoke again.

“You are not Shin Cheol.”

That name—
It was familiar.