[Chapter 10]
I slowly walked along the passage of the stone cave.
The interior had good ventilation, and thanks to the light coming in from the top of the cave here and there, it was not dark inside. Judging by the elaborate design and craftsmanship, it was evident that this place had been created by a very skilled artisan.
As I walked slowly through the cave, I felt a subtle undulation in the surroundings at a certain point.
Ssssss.
In that instant, I realized it. Only a master with keen senses could detect that a high-level formation had been activated.
On reflection, it was only natural. Why hadn't those who died here been able to escape? If the gateway was difficult, they could have given up and left. It was because they couldn't escape this formation that they perished. Though it was easy to walk in, if one failed to pass through the gateway, it transformed into a hellish formation from which there was no escape.
How long did I walk like that?
A fairly large plaza appeared.
At the entrance to the plaza stood a stone stele explaining the first gateway.
1. Slay all enemies without using sword energy or sword force.
2. If you do not succeed within the time limit, you will be given another chance in ten days.
3. Those prepared should stand in the red circle.
'Ten days? What about food until then?'
Looking around, I saw a jar full of bikwokdan on the wall.
'Eating this tasteless stuff for ten days would drive me mad.'
Without hesitation, I stood in the red circle drawn in the middle of the plaza.
After a while, with the sound of clanking, dozens of wooden human-shaped dolls rose from the ground on all sides. The parts to be cut were painted red. Some dolls had red-painted necks, some had arms, and others had legs.
My body reacted instinctively.
The moment they rose, I moved, and my instincts decided which technique to use and what to cut first.
Swish. Swish. Swish.
The wooden dolls were cut down.
The dolls were not fixed in one place. The plates on the floor began to move, changing their positions.
In that chaotic situation, some dolls began to descend back down.
'No!'
I realized that if I missed those descending dolls, they would never rise again, and the challenge would be considered a failure.
So I started by cutting the descending dolls.
Indeed, the other dolls moved quickly to obstruct my path as I tried to cut them.
I leapt over and swung my sword.
Slash!
A doll I almost missed was cut down.
The movements of the dolls became faster and faster. At first, I thought this gateway was meant to test my footwork, but it wasn't. This gateway tested my judgment.
What to cut first?
Quick and accurate judgment came first, footwork came next.
The gateway was complex and difficult, but not sophisticated enough to surpass my instincts and skills.
Thus, I cut down all the dolls and safely passed the first gateway.
One thing was certain. If it had been before my regression, I would never have passed this first gateway. Even if I had run, rolled, and flown around like crazy, I would have failed.
I understood why the test resumed ten days later.
Many challengers must have failed this first challenge, and it would have taken at least ten days of careful study and practice to succeed.
Only those who accurately remembered how the dolls moved and which dolls went down when could come up with a strategy. Slow-witted challengers would have had to repeat the challenge several times.
Seeing the first gateway, I understood why the average breakthrough time for Socheondong was three years.
Drrrrr.
As soon as I passed the first gateway, the stone door leading to the second gateway opened.
I slowly walked towards the second gateway. Before I left the first gateway, I discovered writing engraved on the wall. It was left by those who had come before me on the exit wall.
—Succeeded on the ninth try. Hahaha.
—I did it on the sixteenth try.
—This is madness!
—Succeeded on the thirty-seventh try. Tears obscure my vision from the long ordeal.
—Will I die here? I can't solve this. I resent my father.
—Damn it! I tried to turn back, but there was no way back.
—Succeeded on the sixth try, I dare to call myself the best.
Among them, I saw a familiar handwriting at the very bottom.
—Idiots.
It was my father who had passed this gateway before me.
"Hahaha."
I couldn't hold back my laughter. It seemed my father had passed on the first try.
Even if it was a bit much, strictly speaking, they were ancestors, but he boldly cursed at them.
"Father, I also passed on the first try! Hahaha!"
With that, I moved on and arrived at the space with the second gateway.
As expected, there was a stone stele in the second plaza.
1. Using the sword hanging on the wall, cut the stone in half within 2 hours. You may use sword energy or sword force.
2. If you do not succeed within the time limit, you will be given another chance in twenty days.
3. Those prepared should stand in the red circle.
This time, the retry period was twenty days.
It was easy to calculate that this stage was twice as difficult as the first.
"Endure for twenty days with bikwokdan? I'd rather die."
Resolving to succeed, I stood in the red circle in the middle of the plaza.
Clank.
A stone table rose from the floor. On the stone table was an iron ball the size of an adult's head.
"I need to cut this iron ball."
The allotted time was 2 hours.
2 hours was too long to cut a single iron ball. There must be a reason for it, so I slowly inspected the iron ball.
The smooth surface indicated it wasn't an ordinary iron but an artificially made stone.
Obviously, it was made of a material stronger than iron. It was so heavy that I couldn't lift it without using my internal energy.
There were hundreds of swords hanging on the wall to use for the test. They came in various types. There were long swords and short swords. There were heavy swords and light swords. There were even flexible swords that could be worn on the waist. All kinds of swords were available.
It was a difficult challenge, so the intention was to choose well and attempt it multiple times.
I walked slowly and took a sword from the wall. It was a well-made, ordinary steel sword.
I stood before the sphere, calmed my mind, and struck forcefully with the sword.
Clang, with a pleasant sound, the sword broke and flew away. On the other hand, the sphere didn't have a scratch. It was indeed a very strong metal.
I inspected the sphere again. It was just an iron ball with nothing special to the naked eye.
I brought another sword and swung it vertically this time.
Once again, only the sword broke while the sphere remained intact.
"As expected, it won't work just like this."
I brought a new sword and infused it with my internal energy.
Woooong.
Immediately, a blue light shimmered on the sword. It was the manifestation of sword energy.
Before regression, at this age, I could use sword qi but couldn't manifest sword energy. I had only mastered the intricacies of sword energy in my thirties.
"This is my first sword energy since regression."
Every warrior had a different color of sword energy, even if they practiced the same technique. I always found it fascinating that the color varied slightly depending on the person.
I liked the color of my sword energy. Sometimes it looked like the sea, and other times it resembled the sky—this pleasant blue hue.
As I was about to slowly cut the sphere with sword energy,
A sudden sense of incongruity struck me, and I quickly withdrew my internal energy. The sword energy disappeared from the blade.
"This is too easy, isn't it?"
At first glance, I thought this test was to see if challengers could use sword energy, as an ordinary steel sword couldn't cut through it. Sword qi wouldn't be enough. It was a test from which one couldn't escape until they mastered sword energy.
However, if a late-stage expert who could use sword energy attempted it, they'd cut through it easily and pass.
Could it really be such a simple challenge?
On the other hand, it was extremely difficult for someone who couldn't manifest sword energy to reach that level.
For one side, it was too easy, and for the other, it was too hard. Something felt off-balance.
With this in mind, I went to look at the writings left on the wall by my predecessors.
―Cut it in one stroke with sword energy.
―I tried to cut it eighty-nine times without using sword energy and failed every time. In the end, I used sword energy.
―I cut it without using sword energy.
―How? I can't believe it.
―Damn it! I can't cut it with my sword qi. I can't manifest sword energy, what should I do?
―It's been two hundred days since I started studying sword energy. The smell of bikwokdan makes me nauseous.
―The statement above about cutting it without sword energy is a lie.
―I vote for it being a lie.
What I wanted to see were the words left by my father.
Indeed, there were my father's words left at the end.
―Damn it.
Hahaha. To think he cursed like this. It must have been tough for him to maintain a dignified appearance.
But this time, he had added one more line next to it.
―If you get angry, you lose.
"Get angry and you lose? Why did he add something like this? If it were my father, he would have just cursed and left it at that, like in the first trial."
Get angry? Get angry? Could it be?
I quickly went back to the first stone tablet.
One, cut the stone in half within 2 hours. You may use sword qi or sword energy.
The phrase that caught my eye.
You "may" use sword qi or sword energy?
Not "use it," but "may use it." In other words, it meant to try cutting without using it first, and only use it if absolutely necessary.
Come to think of it, the time given was too long. 2 hours was more than enough time to cut through hundreds of such stones. Lastly, the number of swords hanging on the wall was excessively high.
"Oh! This challenge must be about cutting it without using sword qi or sword energy."
My father's warning about getting angry seemed to be a caution not to use sword energy. When sword energy is manifested, the sword emits intense heat.
There was a fact that supported this speculation.
The fact that the retry period was twenty days meant it was more demanding than the first gate.
I just had to cut it.
"Thank you, Father."
Regardless, since I had to avoid using sword energy, there was no time to waste.
I went back to the sphere.
Thinking that I must cut it without using sword energy made the sphere look different.
"How exactly should I cut this? Vertically? Horizontally? Transversely? Diagonally? Or with a swift sword? A heavy sword?"
I tried various approaches with the prepared swords. But only the unfortunate swords broke, while the sphere remained uncut.
After failing about thirty times, I sat against the wall, half giving up.
"There must be a way."
The merciless time kept ticking away, leaving less than one segment of time.
"Do I have to try again in twenty days?"
I was half in despair.
"Should I just cut it with sword energy and pass?"
But since my father had left a message, I couldn't choose the easy way out.
"It's difficult, really difficult."
Sitting there in despair, I inadvertently released my energy. It was a practice of energy release that I had learned from my father in the mountains.
A strand of energy extended from my body and touched the sphere.
"If you were a wild boar, you'd be cut in one strike."
The energy slowly enveloped the sphere, feeling its surface.
I suddenly opened my eyes wide.
"What?"
There was a fine line on the surface of the sphere. It was a line that couldn't be felt by sight or touch.
Focusing all my attention, I felt it. My energy began to envelop it like a bird nurturing an egg, striving to become one with the sphere.
The line extended around the sphere and met again at the starting point.
I stood up and approached it slowly. My energy still connected me to the sphere.
With my eyes closed, I felt the sphere with my energy and precisely struck along the line with my sword.
Swish.
I didn't strike forcefully. I focused on striking the exact line on the sphere without a hair's breadth of error.
In the next moment, an astonishing thing happened.
Crack.
The sphere split in half. That line was a kind of weak point that could accurately divide the sphere.
An even more amazing thing awaited me.
Roll.
From the hollow inside the split sphere, a single pellet rolled out.