Childhood Friend of the Zenith – 313 (Part 2)



313 (Part 2)

I tilted my head at Jang-ryong’s words.

The entrance is blocked? I was taken aback. Jang-ryong added an explanation.

[Something needs to be resolved from the inside for it to open. These kinds of formations usually work that way.]

I listened to Jang-ryong’s explanation but it felt like something was going wrong with the situation.

‘How much time is left?’

The situation was that the Sword Master was currently holding onto the Cheongha Ilgeom.

It was already urgent and now I had to do something inside as well.

The situation was turning into a complete mess.

‘…Right when have I ever been lucky?’

Everything I did seemed to get tangled and ruined and it wasn’t just once or twice.

I had to try something so I decided to leave Jang-ryong behind and head toward the exit.

I was worried about Jang-ryong being left alone.

But since he said he couldn’t go either way there was nothing I could do.

I had to go in and think.

He said that was the only way.

Splash.

The sound of water was still there.

As I got closer to the door it grew louder.

Should I say the water level was rising?

‘It feels like it’s up to my thighs now.’ The water that had initially been at my ankles was now up to my thighs.

I needed to know what this liquid was.

As far as I knew there shouldn’t be a lake around Sinryonggwan.

Could it be some kind of underground water?

With that thought in mind I approached the entrance.

‘Inside…’ The environment beyond the entrance was hard to see.

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Could this also be the influence of the formations?

I reached out my hand.

Woosh.

As my fingertips touched waves spread out like ripples.

Without any sensation of something obstructing me.

My hand naturally crossed over the entrance.

It seemed there were no other formations like when I stopped Jang-ryong behind me.

If there was something strange about it.

‘It feels like I’m entering water.’

The sensation of crossing over the entrance felt similar to entering water which made it a bit uncomfortable.

Whoosh.

I pushed through the entrance with my body.

Fortunately I was able to escape that uncomfortable feeling from just now.

Swish.

As I entered through the entrance I had to squint my eyes at the sudden burst of light.

In terms of time it was only a few seconds.

I forced my eyes to adapt to the light making an effort to open them.

“…!”

The environment inside the formations that I saw upon opening my eyes was enough to make me involuntarily gasp.

‘What is this?’

Roots.

Parts that could be called tree roots covered the room.

Unlike the dark passage I had come through it was not dark here.

Because of that everything was visible making it feel alien.

‘…There are no torches.’

There was nothing to illuminate the room.

What could be the reason for it being so bright in this underground?

Moreover.

‘Water…?’

The small amount of water that had pooled on the floor could not pass through the entrance I had come in.

Something.

Something felt strange.

‘This.’

Feeling an unknown sense of alienation I used my foot to splash the water on the floor into the air.

Then.

For a moment it seemed like droplets were splashing but they froze in mid-air.

‘Could it be…?’

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It was a sensation I had felt before.

Somewhere in a place like this Henan.

A bit far from the same place in Shaolin.

When I met Huang Abuleng a companion of the divine warrior and a hero of the past.

It was the same feeling of alienation as if time had stopped.

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

If that’s the case.

‘Does this space also relate to their affairs?’

I couldn’t be sure.

But such experiences were not common so I could make a prediction.

The range of this distortion.

It was probably limited to this room I had entered beyond the entrance.

‘What’s the state of the room?’

Unlike the water that had reached my thighs in the passage.

The water was only enough to slightly wet my feet.

Between the roots that covered the room.

An unknown cloth was covering some objects.

This must be.

‘It seems to be a treasure.’

If it looks like this and isn’t a treasure then what could it be?

Moreover in the Golden Thousand Years Song there was nothing but a huge snake.

Even that was called a treasure.

Furthermore judging by the state of the cloth.

It looked clean and it didn’t feel like much time had passed.

Could it be thanks to the formations that made it feel like time had stopped?

‘Good.’

It wasn’t bad.

This meant that the condition of the stored items could be quite good.

I swallowed my saliva briefly.

I approached the piled-up items.

I couldn’t take everything so I had to gather what was necessary.

‘What’s necessary.’

What I needed.

It would likely be something related to elixirs.

But since I didn’t know what there was I had to search carefully.

‘…If the flow has stopped do I have some time to spare?’

I could think that way.

But since I didn’t know the situation outside it wasn’t the time to hesitate.

‘Was it like this back then?’

When the Heavenly Demon discovered this place in his past life.

It didn’t seem like it felt this way.

After I found this place.

And between the time the Heavenly Demon discovered it later.

What had happened?

That was something I didn’t know either.

‘I also need to find what the Sword Master asked for.’

What did he say?

Was it the Plum Blossom Stone?

I wasn’t sure since I hadn’t heard the details about its appearance.

He said it was a volcanic treasure.

I didn’t know why the Sword Master thought such a thing would be here.

Then the Sword Master’s purpose was.

To retrieve the volcanic treasure that might be buried here?

‘Thinking that way it does have some validity.’

But it was still quite a puzzling matter to say that.

It didn’t seem like the Sword Master would go this far for it.

‘What is a treasure?’

Though it could be seen as a symbol.

In the end it was just an object.

‘Thinking of something like a brain it’s not entirely that simple….’

While there are treasures that are practically helpful to martial artists.

There are also objects that are generally not.

Those are usually referred to as symbolic treasures.

The treasures I brought to the volcano.

The treasures stored in the Seoga were usually like that.

‘It’s not something I should say since I came here to rummage through treasures.’

I felt a bit uneasy as if I were a grave robber.

Or rather it wasn’t just a feeling; it was true.

‘There’s no owner so it’s my will right?’

I decided to think that way.

It would be much better for me to take it than for the Heavenly Demon to discover it later and snatch it away.

‘For now I need to check what’s here.’

I reached out to search the nearest part.

I would be able to learn something by uncovering the cloth.

Just then as I was about to grab the cloth covering the objects.

– Stop.

Thud.

A voice came from behind me.

It was a deep yet low voice.

I immediately turned around wrapping my energy around me.

The voice had come from behind me.

There stood a person I didn’t know had appeared.

No.

‘…Should I call this a person?’

To be precise it would be correct to say it was a human form.

The figure in front of me was somewhat translucent making it hard to call it entirely human.

‘…What is this? Could it be a ghost?’

Unintentionally I trembled slightly in fear.

The unknown being in front of me opened its mouth as it looked at me.

– Who are you…?

It seemed to be a little over the age of adolescence.

The hair was a golden blonde that reminded me of the sun.

Seeing the solidly built physique it looked like a martial artist like me.

This meant at least.

It was not an ordinary person.

That golden-haired man also wore a puzzled expression as he looked at me.

Who are you?

“…That’s what I want to ask.”

It was the question I wanted to ask the most.

What is your identity?

Wondering if it was an enemy I thought I should take a fighting stance.

The man looked me up and down for a moment.

With somewhat cold eyes he spoke to me.

– You’re not Shincheol.

It was a name I was familiar with.