“Where is this place?”
Faced with mechanisms that defied common sense, Bukgung Ryeong couldn’t help but ask again.
“What kind of place has such mechanisms?”
“The Martial Emperor’s Hidden Vault,” Bu Eunseol replied.
“What?” Bukgung Ryeong exclaimed.
“It was written on the iron door we entered,” Bu Eunseol explained.
“The Martial Emperor… You mean that Martial Emperor from four hundred years ago?” Bukgung Ryeong’s heart pounded.
Though his later years ended in disgrace, the Martial Emperor was one of the greatest righteous masters of his time. To think that this place, riddled with bizarre traps, was the vault hiding his supreme insights?
“Which way will you go?” Bu Eunseol asked, looking at Bukgung Ryeong, who stood dumbfounded. “If you won’t choose, I’ll decide first.”
“Do as you please,” Bukgung Ryeong replied.
“Fine,” Bu Eunseol said, stepping toward the left passage without hesitation.
After a moment’s hesitation, Bukgung Ryeong followed.
“Why are you following me?” Bu Eunseol asked, frowning.
Bukgung Ryeong responded with a confident expression. “With unknown traps ahead, two are better than one.”
“I refuse,” Bu Eunseol said.
“Refuse?” Bukgung Ryeong echoed.
“Would you travel with someone constantly seeking to end your life?” Bu Eunseol asked.
“You dare?” Bukgung Ryeong’s eyes sparked with fury.
To an ordinary martial artist, his aura would have been suffocating, but unfortunately, his opponent was Bu Eunseol.
“The mechanisms only activated because you forcibly broke the door,” Bu Eunseol pointed out.
“Nonsense. Are you saying they didn’t activate when you entered alone?” Bukgung Ryeong retorted.
“Exactly,” Bu Eunseol confirmed.
Speechless, Bukgung Ryeong raised a finger, his eyes blazing with killing intent. “I could cut your throat right now.”
“Afraid?” Bu Eunseol asked.
“What?” Bukgung Ryeong snapped.
“Are you scared to go alone?” Bu Eunseol clarified.
“Hmph, you think I fear these traps?” Bukgung Ryeong scoffed.
“Then you’re not,” Bu Eunseol said.
“Of course not,” Bukgung Ryeong affirmed.
Bu Eunseol looked at him coldly. “Then break through alone. Stop following me.” Without another word, he passed Bukgung Ryeong and entered the right passage. “I’m going this way. Don’t follow.”
He stepped into the passage without hesitation.
“Fine. I’ll break through every trap in this place!” Bukgung Ryeong shouted, his pride wounded, as he called after Bu Eunseol’s back. “And then I’ll kill you!”
Bu Eunseol didn’t respond, slowly disappearing into the passage.
“Hmph,” Bukgung Ryeong snorted, turning toward the left passage.
Despite his bold strides, his expression was tense.
This was the vault built by the Martial Emperor, who had reached the pinnacle of the righteous path four hundred years ago. The traps were anything but ordinary, and a single misstep could turn him into a skeleton guarding this place.
‘Ridiculous. To think I, Bukgung Ryeong, must be wary of mere mechanisms.’ His internal bullet energy could shatter iron doors, rendering most traps and mechanisms useless.
But the traps in the Martial Emperor’s Hidden Vault were unprecedented in martial history. Even the Bullet King couldn’t guarantee safe passage.
‘I’ll just destroy the mechanisms first, like before.’
Taking a deep breath, he stepped into the left passage without hesitation.
***
“Huff, huff.”
Bukgung Ryeong struggled to calm his ragged breathing.
He had roamed the martial world alone, overcoming countless dangers and defeating formidable foes without ever panting like this. But now, to evade the myriad traps in the vault, he was expending energy until his tongue hung out.
“It’s beyond comprehension,” he muttered.
The seemingly endless passage was filled with every kind of array and mechanism known to the martial world.
These weren’t traps one could escape with martial prowess alone. They required wisdom, composure, broad vision, insight, and the ability to analyze situations.
“And… they can’t be overcome alone,” Bukgung Ryeong said, biting his lip.
Even with all those qualities, the traps in this passage were insurmountable alone. They were designed for two or more people to face together.
“I don’t understand. Why…” A sudden thought struck him.
—The mechanisms only activated because you forcibly broke the door.
According to Bu Eunseol, no mechanisms had triggered when he entered alone. Did that mean the mechanisms would stop if one of them died?
“No, that can’t be,” Bukgung Ryeong shook his head.
The Martial Emperor, despite everything, was a righteous hero. He wouldn’t create such cruel and vicious traps.
“Perhaps it’s to prevent two people from fighting over the treasure…”
Maybe the Martial Emperor designed the mechanisms to force cooperation rather than conflict between two entrants.
“I don’t know. Did his tragic end change his nature?” Bukgung Ryeong mused.
Whatever the Martial Emperor’s intentions, one thing was clear: these traps couldn’t be overcome without two people working together.
Crunch.
Bukgung Ryeong gritted his teeth. He had no choice but to join forces with that ice-cold young man.
Step, step.
After hesitating, he reluctantly retraced his steps.
Reaching the fork, his eyes widened.
Bu Eunseol, who had taken the right passage, had also returned, drenched in sweat and covered in dust, clearly having endured great hardship.
“…” As if by agreement, they locked eyes, silently exchanging a message.
—Let’s cooperate and escape this place before fighting.
Narrowing their eyes, they nodded in unison.
Boom! Bang!
Bukgung Ryeong’s internal bullet energy was unmatched in the martial world. Unlike typical projectile techniques, its power didn’t diminish with distance.
Slash!
Bu Eunseol’s heavy sword appeared dull but was a rare divine blade.
Without infusing inner energy, it could effortlessly unleash sword energy, and its edge remained unblemished even after hundreds of strikes. Bukgung Ryeong destroyed distant mechanisms, while Bu Eunseol cut through nearby traps and arrays.
Together, they advanced step by step.
Finally, having overcome all the traps, they reached the end of the passage, where Bukgung Ryeong sighed. “I caused this mess.”
Mechanisms typically activate in a specific order.
But the ones in this passage triggered almost simultaneously, with arrays in chaotic disarray. The vault’s mechanisms and arrays were in complete disarray, activating all at once—likely because Bukgung Ryeong had broken the iron door, damaging the internal mechanisms.
“This place was meant for one person to enter,” he admitted.
“No need to blame yourself,” Bu Eunseol said, walking past him toward a sturdy iron door. “It’s a mechanism built four hundred years ago. It’s unlikely to still function perfectly.”
“Hmph, are you comforting me?” Bukgung Ryeong asked.
“Not comfort, just the truth,” Bu Eunseol replied.
Bukgung Ryeong gave a wry smile.
In truth, Bu Eunseol had overcome most of the mechanisms.
Using his Empty Heart Listening Technique, he detected subtle traces of mechanisms that even Bukgung Ryeong couldn’t find. Moreover, he predicted the mechanisms’ operations, preparing for the onslaught of traps.
Without Bu Eunseol’s help, even if Bukgung Ryeong’s bullet energy were ten times stronger, he couldn’t have passed through.
“There are no traces of mechanisms on this door,” Bu Eunseol said, inspecting the iron door at the passage’s end and nodding.
“Now the Martial Emperor’s Hidden Vault begins in earnest,” Bukgung Ryeong said, reaching out and forcefully opening the door.
Creak.
Beyond the wide-open door lay a vast hall.
Beneath a ceiling over thirty paces high, towering statues and structures stood scattered. The hall’s immense size and oversized constructions resembled a world of giants from ancient times.
“Strange,” Bukgung Ryeong said, frowning as he surveyed the surroundings. “To build such a vast hall after all those traps?”
Bu Eunseol silently scanned the area.
Despite the hall’s scale, the number of night pearls embedded in the walls and ceiling was surprisingly few, providing just enough light to discern objects.
“The exit is likely at the far end,” Bu Eunseol said, pointing to the distant, barely visible opposite side. “And this is probably the final trap.”
“Trap?” Bukgung Ryeong asked.
“Yes,” Bu Eunseol confirmed, gesturing to the statues and structures filling the hall. “Everything here is constructed. That means they can be collapsed at any moment.”
“Collapsed?” Bukgung Ryeong echoed.
“Likely, including the ceiling,” Bu Eunseol added.
“A simple trap. Not a big deal, is it?” Bukgung Ryeong remarked.
Bu Eunseol pointed to the floor. “Some martial arrays can create strange suction forces or bind your feet.”
As if to prove his point, the floor was embedded with shadow stones, used in array formations.
Bukgung Ryeong let out a low groan.
The traps they had faced so far were bizarre and terrifying, worthy of martial history. But now, the entire massive hall itself was a collapsing trap?
Rumble.
As if signaling the start, a low vibration began to emanate from the floor. This vast hall was the final gate of the Martial Emperor’s Hidden Vault—and a deadly trap.
“Are you ready?” Bu Eunseol asked.
Bukgung Ryeong snorted. “Youngster, who do you think you’re talking to?” A fierce whirlwind swirled around him. “I am the Bullet King.”
His words carried boundless pride.
The Bullet King, the only one among the Seven Kings of Death to roam the martial world alone, upholding its justice without forming a faction.
“If I succumbed to traps like these, my name would have vanished from the martial world long ago.”
Boom!
At that moment, a statue’s head in the distance began to fall. Simultaneously, the massive ceiling started crumbling like a biscuit.
“Run!” Bu Eunseol shouted.
Bukgung Ryeong, conjuring a whirlwind, shot forward like an arrow.
Zing!
The shadow stones on the floor glowed, instantly slowing his movement technique.
Boom! Boom!
Yet, like a bullet, Bukgung Ryeong sliced through the air, dodging falling debris or using it as a foothold to advance.
“Ugh,” he grunted.
His speed gradually slowed, and his face contorted. Despite pouring every ounce of strength into his qinggong, the immense suction force gripped his ankles.
Hiss!
In contrast, Bu Eunseol ran with a calm expression, shifting directions with his Swift Beyond Shadow technique.
He didn’t rush.
The hall was vast, and the collapsing structures had limits. He conserved his energy, calmly dodging rocks and debris.
Hiss!
But his method hit a limit.
A bluish poisonous mist began to rise from the shadow stones.
“Poison too?!” Bukgung Ryeong roared in fury.
He was already channeling his full inner energy to maintain his movement technique, and now poison mist?
“Ugh!” Even though ordinary poisons didn’t affect him, the mist was so potent that it made him nauseous despite holding his breath.
Burning the mist with inner energy wasn’t feasible in this situation.
“Fine!” Bukgung Ryeong pulled iron pellets from his pouch and slipped them onto his fingers. “Hup!” With a shout, he unleashed the pellets, which spun in the air, creating a massive whirlwind.
It was one of his three supreme techniques, the Five Fingers Radiant Thread.
Whoosh!
The whirlwind dispersed the poison mist and cleared a path.
As he sped forward, he realized Bu Eunseol was nowhere to be seen, trapped in the mist.
‘No choice, then.’ Even if Bu Eunseol survived, they couldn’t coexist.
Clicking his tongue inwardly, Bukgung Ryeong pressed forward when—
Flash!
A beam of light shot through the mist.
Boom!
A massive sphere of layered sword energy formed, annihilating the poison mist.
The seventh form of the Supreme Heavenly Flow.
A sword technique infused with intense radiant energy, the Ashes of Body and Mind, burned away the mist.
Swish!
Bu Eunseol projected the sphere of radiant energy forward, not around himself.
Crackle.
The sphere, extinguishing the mist, stretched forward, revealing a small door fifty paces ahead.
Martial Emperor.
The same calligraphy as at the entrance was carved on the door.
