Chapter :15
The cavern trembled violently.
Stalactites fell from the ceiling.
Dust and smoke erupted from the walls and ground.
It was a battle that could shake heaven and earth.
Boom—!
Namgung Gu clutched the unconscious Lord Hwang in his arms and leapt toward the farthest corner of the cavern, dodging the falling stalactites.
“Lord Hwang! Please, wake up! Lord Hwang!”
He had finally found the clan head, but for some reason, the man was not in his right mind.
Only Lord Hwang held the key to ending this chaos, yet he showed no sign of regaining consciousness.
“Damn it.”
Namgung Gu looked toward the center of the cavern, where the fierce battle raged on.
The Ten Dragons’ leader was certainly a talented and versatile prodigy — a New Dragon. Among the younger generation of martial artists, there were few who could even be compared to him.
But Namgung Cheon was one of the Ten Sovereigns — the Sword Emperor himself, one of the most powerful figures in the entire martial world.
If they were to save the Ten Dragons’ leader, they had to find a way to bring Namgung Cheon back to his senses, and fast.
“Lord Hwang! Please wake up! Lord Hwang!”
Still, Hwang hung limply in his arms.
Namgung Gu’s mind raced.
The five elements followed the cycle of creation:
Wood generates Fire, Fire generates Earth, Earth generates Metal, Metal generates Water, Water generates Wood.
Everything in the cavern seemed to follow this natural cycle — except for one thing.
The final link: Water generates Wood.
At first, he had thought that the red water (Water) had transformed Namgung Cheon (Wood). But according to the five elements, humans are not “Wood.” They are living beings of Yin and Yang — balanced entities, not elements.
And yet, Namgung Cheon’s condition clearly showed that he had somehow become the second “Wood,” after the stake.
A human… turned into Wood.
How could that even be possible?
This inconsistency was too large to ignore.
Think. Think…!
As Namgung Gu strained his mind to its limits—
BOOM!
—Kang Yu, who had been fighting Namgung Cheon alone, was nearly out of his mind.
The red old man’s strength was far greater than he had expected.
“Sir! We’re on the same side!”
Boom—!
Namgung Cheon didn’t answer — only punched again, splitting the air itself.
Kang Yu barely dodged, but the shockwave alone sent his clothes fluttering wildly.
This is insane.
At first, when he had been caught off guard by a kick, Kang Yu had thought this old man was just as strong as his teacher, Bigwang.
But the more they fought, the stronger the old man’s blows became — until Kang Yu realized this was the same kind of strength as that of the old hiker he had met when he first left the village.
Back then, he hadn’t realized it. But thinking about it now — that grumpy old man had seemed normal until the fight began.
And then he had hit like a force of nature.
He was a hidden master.
A terrifying one.
And now, this clan head was giving off the same kind of energy.
Yes — the old man was a super master!
Which meant running was the smart move… except he was supposed to deliver something to this man.
And fighting him hurt way too much.
Thwack!
A sound like leather tearing — Kang Yu went flying through the air again.
Crashing walls, falling rocks, swirling dust.
“Ow! That really hurts!”
Even though he had blocked, his forearm was bruised black and blue. He rubbed it furiously in pain.
But there wasn’t much he could do.
At least there was one silver lining — this old man wasn’t quite as bad as the hiker had been.
It felt like the man’s body didn’t quite fit his own strength — his punches and kicks were strong but lacked control, and sometimes he mimed striking with an invisible weapon.
In other words — not completely in sync.
So maybe he could try that trick again.
The hiker hadn’t fallen for it, but maybe this red-eyed berserker would.
As Namgung Cheon’s red fist came straight for him—
Kang Yu exhaled.
“Phew.”
He raised his right hand upward, his left hand downward, palms facing each other.
Namgung Cheon’s fist shot right between them.
And in that instant, blinding white light burst from Kang Yu’s palms.
Namgung Cheon’s crimson pupils constricted.
“!”
Namgung Gu, who had been watching from the corner, saw it too.
The white light twisted into a spiral — then reversed direction and burst outward.
The cavern lit up like daylight.
The shadows vanished.
Namgung Gu stared in disbelief.
“Th-that can’t be…!”
The walls collapsed. Rocks tumbled.
The dust surged.
Namgung Cheon — who had been lunging at Kang Yu — was suddenly flung backward, as though yanked by some unseen force.
The light faded from Kang Yu’s hands.
Namgung Gu’s lips trembled.
He had never seen it before, but he had heard about it countless times since his early training.
A swirl of five-colored energy that explodes in reverse.
There was only one martial art like that.
“The Transference Flower, Receiving Jade Divine Art…?”
It couldn’t be mistaken.
It was the ultimate defensive art of the ancient, long-lost sect — the Yihwa Palace.
A technique said to return an opponent’s force back to them — the mysterious Ihwa Jeokok Divine Art.
“W-what the hell…?”
The Heavenly Demon Divine Art, said to be wielded only by the Demon himself…
And now, the lost divine art of the Yihwa Palace as well?
Just what was this guy?
As Namgung Gu was lost in thought, that same baffling man — Kang Yu — landed beside him.
“You okay?”
“Huh?”
“Your shoulder.”
“Oh…”
Namgung Gu quickly covered his nearly torn-off shoulder with his robe.
“I—it’s fine. I may not be able to hold a sword again, but at least I’m alive… B-but how did you learn the Ihwa Jeokok Divine Art?”
“The… what now?”
“…”
That blank face again.
The expression of someone who had no idea what was being said.
But this time, the matter was too serious to just shrug off.
“I mean the technique you just used! The one that deflected the clan head’s attack!”
“Oh, that? You mean Rice-Barley?”
“…What?”
Kang Yu held out his palms again, just like before.
“You don’t know Rice-Barley? You have to grab on ‘rice,’ but if you grab on ‘barley,’ you lose.”
“…Excuse me?”
He opened and closed his hands.
“Rice, barley. Rice, barley. You don’t know it?”
“…”
“Anyway, it’s simple. If I grab on ‘barley,’ I lose strength. But if I grab on ‘rice,’ the opponent goes flying.”
“…So if you grab on ‘rice,’ they fly?”
“Yeah. You just saw it.”
“…”
He didn’t get it.
Not at all.
Namgung Gu gave up trying to understand.
Just… let it be. Don’t think too hard about it.
“In any case, there’s something else I need to tell you.”
“What is it?”
Namgung Gu tore open Lord Hwang’s robe.
On his left chest, strange red letters were tattooed into the skin.
“I checked — this is the script that was burned in with the red ink, acting like a talisman.”
“A talisman?”
“Yes. Do you remember what that fortune teller kept saying earlier? About Human Pillars and Mandarin Ducks?”
“I remember.”
Namgung Gu pointed to the tattoo.
“I’m not certain yet, but I believe this talisman distorts the Five Elements, turning a human (Person) into a wooden (Wood) conduit. To prove it…”
He channeled energy into the red script.
“!”
Lord Hwang’s eyes shot open — glowing blood-red like Namgung Cheon’s.
“Whoa! That’s creepy!”
Namgung Gu removed his hand, and Lord Hwang immediately closed his eyes again.
“The fortune teller mentioned Human Pillars. Literally, using people as vessels. I believe that vessel is related to the red liquid we found in the coffin. For some reason, we interrupted the ritual before it was complete, leaving Lord Hwang’s transformation unstable.”
“What about the clan head?”
“Since he can move freely, it means the ritual progressed much further with him.”
Namgung Gu then placed his hand back on Hwang’s chest.
“In the past, there was a similar sorcery — the Corpse Control Art of the Blood Sect. The only difference is that the targets were living beings.”
He poured energy again. Lord Hwang’s eyes flared red.
Namgung Gu looked to Kang Yu.
“It’s the Corpse Puppet Technique.”
“Corpse… puppet?”
Before Kang Yu could ask further—
BOOM!
A massive stalactite crashed down, and from the rubble burst two red eyes.
The red light streaked toward them.
“Man, this old guy just doesn’t tire out.”
Kang Yu untied his bundle.
Thud.
Rocks scattered as the heavy bag hit the ground.
“There’s a small wooden box inside. My emergency medicine. Take that first.”
Before Namgung Gu could answer, Kang Yu vanished, reappearing in the center of the cavern with another explosion of sound.
Emergency medicine?
Namgung Gu rummaged through the bag.
Amidst all sorts of random things, he found a small wooden case.
Opening it, he saw the label:
『Great Rejuvenation Pill (大還丹)』
“…”
Meanwhile, back in the center—
“Riiice—! Ah!”
Kang Yu flinched.
He had thought it was “rice,” but it turned into “barley,” and suddenly a knee came flying at him instead.
This is crazy.
The old man had started using feints now — just like the hiker.
That meant the Rice-Barley trick was no longer safe to use freely.
If he guessed wrong, the backlash would hurt too much.
And again, he realized — fighting a super master head-on was hopeless.
Especially one who clearly wasn’t even sane.
Namgung Cheon’s next attack came fast — Kang Yu barely blocked with his arms.
“Ugh!”
The shock tore through him, sending his body flying again.
Just as he was about to slam into the wall—
“Ten Dragons’ Leader!”
Namgung Gu, now revitalized by the Great Rejuvenation Pill, rushed in and caught him.
They skidded several paces before stopping.
“I’ll never forget this debt.”
“?”
“I’ll thank you properly later — but I’ve found a way!”
“A way?”
Namgung Gu pointed toward the wall.
There, Lord Hwang was leaning against it — fully conscious, eyes no longer red.
“What? How did you do that?”
“Fire Qi. Since the spell turns humans into Wood, I reasoned that Fire — the element that restrains Wood — might break it. I used pure Yang Fire energy to burn the seal, and he woke instantly. The tattoo was indeed the cause.”
“Fire, huh?”
Namgung Gu looked toward Namgung Cheon barreling toward them again.
“But there’s a problem. Lord Hwang’s seal was weak enough to burn away — but the clan head’s defensive energy is far stronger. I doubt normal Fire Qi could pierce it…”
“Would a rat-fire game count?”
“…Rat-fire game?”
“Yeah.”
Kang Yu’s pupils changed color.
Th-the Heavenly Demon Divine Art?!
Namgung Cheon’s figure loomed close again.
“Guess I’ll trust you, since you’re a super master.”
Black flames erupted from Kang Yu’s fingertips.
