Invitation to the Chatroom of the Gods - Chapter 99



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Episode 99 – The Great Prince of Martial Arts

Grand Prince of Martial Arts.

One of the ten warriors who rule the world, one of the ten absolutes of the world.

If my prediction was correct, the presence chasing me at such a fierce speed was definitely the Grand General of the Martial Arts Academy.

I wanted to think that it was a mistake… I wanted to think that it was just my imagination. But that absurd presence could only be explained with the word ‘Martial Arts Grand Prince.’

Thus, the absolute unmanned entity was closing in on me, encircling me with the net of the heavens and earth.

Even at this very moment, that enormous presence was rapidly approaching.

No, but does this make sense? The Grand Prince of Murim is moving? And just to catch me?

Before becoming a master of the ten martial arts under heaven, the Grand Prince of Murim was the emperor’s uncle and an elder in the imperial family.

No matter how much Ju Gwan-cheon was of royal blood, he could not move the Grand Prince of Murim.

In terms of rank, status, or anything else, he was someone that Ju Gwan-cheon could not dare to do anything about. It was even more so if the reason was to capture me.

So, in my opinion, there were only two people in the world who could move the Great Army of Martial Arts for that reason.

Princess Hwayul (花?大長公主), wife of the Grand Prince of Murim and aunt of the current emperor.

And the current emperor.

Only these two people could move the martial arts army.

However, since Princess Hwaryeol would never have seen me and ordered me to be arrested, I could only assume that the current emperor had stepped in.

And perhaps······ although I don’t know, it was very likely that Ju Gwan-cheon had tipped off the emperor.

This means that the Murim Grand Prince was the last guild and the last move arranged by Ju Gwan-cheon.

······I knew it was Jukwancheon.

The disaster that quick action would bring. That is, I cannot bring along the ‘Emperor’, the only restraining force that cannot make me escape.

In that sense, it was Ju Gwan-cheon who prepared all kinds of things, such as drinks, guards, and responses.

This was the reason why Ju Gwan-cheon spread the ‘Cheon-ra-ji-mang’ (Heavenly Net Killing), but usually, this was all that could be seen.

That would be the case, who could have imagined that?

This means that the tracking technique of Cheonrajiwangsal (天羅地網殺) will be useless. In the first place, I didn’t know that Jukwancheon would use the tracking technique of Cheonrajiwangsal.

Of course, no one would have thought that I would be able to escape the trap that even the ten best masters in the world could not escape.

······But even that was what Ju Gwan-cheon had been foreseeing.

I even considered the ‘possibility’ of breaking through the tracking technique of the Thousand-Numbered Swordsman.

So, in order to block any possibility, he brought along the Grand Prince of Murim as a last resort.

“······.”

I really had nothing to say.

To this extent, I had blocked out all the possible scenarios for my survival, and I could only explain it as a truly insane, crazy Jukwancheon.

······There was no enemy as strong as this one. To this extent, it could be called a ‘great enemy’.

Of course, it wasn’t true that Jugwancheon had any hostility toward me. However, to me, Jugwancheon was a more powerful and gigantic enemy than the Blood Heavenly Goddess.

And so, a bad feeling began to bloom in my chest.

The ominous feeling that I might die here was growing stronger and was getting closer to ‘certainty’.

I tried to shake off the ominous feeling that was creeping up on me. Now was not the time to think about such things. Even at this moment, the presence of the Great King of Murim was rapidly approaching.

‘What the hell!’

I squeezed out the internal energy of my danjeon and unleashed the body technique I had learned from Lee Cheol-goe.

* * *

The sound of Cheongun suddenly disappearing.

“······!”

The eyes of the martial arts master who had been chasing after Cheongun opened wide.

It was clearly Cheongun that I could clearly recognize with my senses just a moment ago. But now, for some reason, it wasn’t like that.

However, I concentrated my energy and tried to cast it, and I could vaguely sense the presence of Cheongun. However, it was as if there was a thick fog, so I couldn’t feel it properly and couldn’t pinpoint its location.

‘How······?’

The Grand Prince of Murim couldn’t believe the current situation.

Not only did he suddenly disappear, but it was as if he had noticed the presence of the Great King of Murim and run away.

That is, Cheongwoon seemed to have noticed that the Grand Prince of Murim was chasing him, but Cheongwoon had to be unable to recognize the Grand Prince of Murim’s presence.

The Grand Prince of Murim was one of the ten best in the world, and when he reached the highest level, he actually looked like an ordinary person, a state where he reached the state of Banbokgwijin (反璞歸眞).

So, Cheongwoon must never be able to perceive the presence or movement of the Grand Prince of Murim.

Of course, the difference in perspective was not a matter of realm, but rather a kind of ‘mistake’ resulting from a difference in perspective.

In other words, it was just a misunderstanding caused by the difference in rank, and the object’s distant rank was not recognized, so it just felt ‘ordinary’······ But it was the same.

The gap between the Grand Prince of Murim and Cheongwoon was clear.

Of course, since the Grand Prince of Murim also had ears, he was not unaware of the rumors related to Cheongwoon.

I knew of his activities in the Yongbong branch, and I also knew that Cheongun was called the Fire Dragon Great Swordsman.

But still, it was like that.

The Prince of Murim heard that Cheongwoon was twenty-two years old this year. That must have been the case.

Although it is acknowledged that Cheongun’s talent and martial arts skills are outstanding, no matter how much of a ‘genius’ he is, he cannot overcome the depth of time.

Even if Cheongun was an extraordinary being, 22 years was too short to be compared to the ten greatest events in the world.

After the Moorim Grand Prince won the Yongbongjihoe, it took a full ’30 years’ for him to proudly be listed among the ten best martial artists in the world.

This was despite the overwhelming advantage of the imperial wealth and treasures.

However, Cheongwoon recognized the presence of the Murim Grand Prince and ran away.

And on the contrary, the Great Prince of Murim has lost the presence of Cheongun.

That means that Cheongwoon has reached a level at least equal to that of the Grand Prince of Murim, or perhaps even higher······.

‘what······?’

Does that make any sense at all?

It was something I couldn’t believe at all. But I couldn’t help but believe it because I couldn’t find any signs of Cheongun right away.

‘The rumors weren’t exaggerated?’

The Grand Prince of Murim was truly absurd.

In fact······ Even when the Emperor spoke, the Grand Prince of Murim did not believe it. That was understandable, because the Emperor spoke.

– Cheongun cannot be caught by the heavenly net spread by the Golden Guards, so I would like to ask for your help, Gosuk.

To be honest, the Grand Prince of Murim wondered what the Emperor was talking about. It may be a disrespectful thought, but as an adult of the royal family, if I had to say one thing, I wondered what the Emperor had eaten wrong.

That would be the case. As the commander-in-chief of the Royal Guard, Prince Murim was the one who personally trained and taught the Royal Guard. In other words, he knew the level of the Royal Guard the best, and so he knew better than anyone else how absurd that statement was.

Even the Grand General of Murim would have a hard time breaking through the net of heaven and earth that the Golden Guards were spreading. They would somehow be able to break through it, but it would not be an easy task.

Even the greatest martial artist in the world, the Grand Prince of Martial Arts, can do that, so how can a 22-year-old Cheongwoon overcome it?

The Prince of Murim naturally thought that there would be some degree of ‘exaggeration’ mixed in. However, since it was the Emperor’s own words and request, he could not help but step forward.

But now.

‘Ugh······.’

The Grand Prince of Murim could immediately understand why the Emperor had personally requested this.

Even the martial arts master could not sense Cheongun’s presence. He could only vaguely sense the presence, and even that was slowly dissipating.

The speed was so fast that even the ‘Opening’ method, which is considered the best in the world, was not like that.

From the beginning, the Grand Prince of Murim had direct experience dealing with the Ark of Openness. That was why he was able to confirm this.

The Divine Law of Openness cannot even keep up with the Divine Law of Cheongun.

It was a truly absurd thought, but it made me think that perhaps the Divine Law of Openness was created by following the Divine Law of Cheongun.

In any case, even at this moment, Cheongun’s presence was rapidly fading away. It was obvious that if we continued like this, we would lose Cheongun······.

“I will follow you with all my might. You should not follow me, but disperse, form a wider encirclement, and wait.”

After giving orders to the warriors of the Royal Guard, the Grand Prince of Murim displayed his lightness to the limit.

* * *

The surrounding scenery passes by in a flash.

The scenery passed by quickly, as if heading towards the realm of ‘moment’.

However, Lee Cheol-goe’s new method was not focused solely on ‘speed.’

It was not for nothing that Lee Cheol-Gwae’s divine method was so powerful that even his presence was hidden.

And the pioneer of openness, Lee Cheol-goe.

I think I now understand why the new law of openness is considered the best in the world today.

‘Ugh!’

······That’s why it tasted like death.

That would be the case, as the amount of internal energy consumed by Lee Cheol-goe’s new technique was enormous.

However, my internal energy that was sucked out by the Heavenly Flame Dragon Strike had not yet fully recovered, so it was truly a feeling of death.

Fortunately, my physical condition was fine, so I was able to endure it somehow, but the problem was the huge presence that was approaching me at an incredibly fast speed.

Grand Prince of Martial Arts.

He was chasing me, even though my movements were blurry. He was chasing me, and I wondered if he was one of the ten best masters in the world. His lightness was so fast that I couldn’t believe it.

Of course, it was because my internal energy had not recovered, but it didn’t make sense that he was catching up to me.

‘If it continues like this······.’

It was so much so that I had to catch up. I clenched my teeth and squeezed out the energy in my danjeon. And it was at that moment that I was desperately trying to unleash the new technique of the Iron Man.

“Why on earth are you running away like that?”

Suddenly, I heard a deep voice right next to me.

Without realizing it, I was startled and stopped using the new technique I was using. A cool sensation passed through the back of my neck.

Clearly······ it was a voice coming from right next to me. But I couldn’t feel anything until I heard the voice.

What if it wasn’t a ‘voice’ just now, but a ‘slaughter’······?

I swallowed hard and turned my gaze in the direction where the sound came from.

‘huh?’

······But there was no one?

It wasn’t an illusion… I could clearly hear the voice right next to me. But I couldn’t see anything. When I expanded my senses, the presence of the Murim Grand Prince was still far away from me.

“I’m not trying to harm you.”

And yet, this voice seems to be coming from right next to me.

I could quickly figure out what this strange phenomenon was.

‘The Six Combat Wars······?’

The sound of the six combined battles.

Simply put, it is called ‘Jeonseong (傳聲)’, which means ‘Jeon-eum Ip-mil (傳音入密)’. In other words, it is a technique that is the exact opposite of ‘Jeon-eum (傳音)’.

If transmission of sound was a technique to secretly transmit one’s voice to another, transmission of sound was a technique and sound achievement that allowed one’s voice to be heard equally by all beings within a certain area.

And contrary to its appearance, it was by no means an easy skill.

The entire process was a technique that even the average untrained person could not even dream of, but the final stage boasted a level of difficulty that was several times more difficult.

First of all, there was a huge difference in the amount of internal energy required.

To use Jeon-eum, it usually took 30 years of internal energy. However, Jeon-seong became eligible to use it after 300 years, which is ten times that amount.

Unlike telepathy, which transmits sound to only one person, telepathy transmits sound to an entire area, and the amount of internal energy required varies greatly depending on the size of the area to be transmitted.

So, the news of the great martial arts commander’s rise to power is being heard now.

It reverberated across the entire mountain and throughout the region. No wonder, because the Grand Prince of Murim didn’t know exactly where I was······.

‘How much internal energy do you have?’

······Honestly, I wasn’t confident about that either.

Even though I had internal energy equivalent to thirty years of experience, I still didn’t have the confidence to do that.

What this meant was that the martial arts master’s internal energy was greater than mine.

It meant that the internal energy possessed by the Grand Prince of Murim exceeded thirty years.

But to be honest······ I thought there would be more. I thought that even the Grand Prince of Murim would not be able to match me.

But can we not ignore the depth of time?

For the past 30 years, the martial arts army, armed with the wealth and treasures of the imperial family, has truly been free of ‘monsters’.

“You were here.”

And so, once again, the sound of the Six Combat Battles of the Great Army of Murim was heard. No, this time it was the Six Combat Battles, but not the Six Combat Battles.

Because I felt a huge presence approaching me.

It looks like they’ve pressed down on this entire area with a six-pronged attack and then found someone who responds to it.

‘Was that possible?’

······I’ve never heard of someone being able to use the Six Combat Battle Star in that way. In the first place, there weren’t many people in the world who could use the Six Combat Battle Star.

As I slowly turned my gaze, I saw a man walking slowly through the forest landscape.

It is said that people usually come to understand the will of heaven when they reach the age of fifty.

Looking at his rough face, deeply engraved with the traces of time, the phrase ‘knowing one’s destiny’ came to mind.

His gray hair, which was scattered here and there, proved that he was entering the ranks of the elderly, but his trained body proved that he was still a young man.

His footsteps on the fallen leaves made no sound. His steps, which were not like stepping on fallen leaves but as if flying, naturally reminded me of a flying fox.

With every step he took, the hem of his martial arts uniform embroidered with a yellow dragon fluttered in the wind.

A person who is both a martial artist and a member of the royal family, he looks down on the martial arts world, the Grand Prince of the Martial Arts.

“······The junior of the martial arts world meets the great senior.”

I politely accepted the ticket and showed my respect to the great senior of the martial arts world. To be honest, I didn’t really want to face him, but now that I was here, I couldn’t help it.

There was no particular response from the Murim Grand Prince. When I slowly raised my head, the Murim Grand Prince was looking at me with a look that I couldn’t understand at all.

“I said it before, but why are you running away like that?”

The Grand Prince of Murim didn’t seem to understand why I ran away so desperately. It seemed that the Emperor and Ju Gwan-cheon didn’t give me a detailed explanation.

“His Majesty does not wish to punish you. He wishes to reward you appropriately for your achievements.”

“······I know.”

I nodded.

No, who would think that they don’t know that and are doing this? Isn’t it because of that ‘reward’ that they are running away like this?

“You know? But why are you running away?”

“Because I shouldn’t receive a reward.”

“······???”

Then, the Great Prince of Murim ascended to heaven. I understand why he did that, but it really drove me crazy.

‘How can I explain that I will die if I receive the reward?’

If you say something like that out of the blue, do you think people will believe you? If that were possible in the first place, you would have convinced Ju Gwan-cheon long ago.

Of course, it’s not like I haven’t tried it because I said I wouldn’t know until I tried it.

And of course, no one believed him.

That would be the case. I had to start by explaining my talent, the Heavenly Limbs, which was something that the Heavens were trying to kill me with, but from here on out, it was a talent that did not exist in the world.

It was a fact that only the gods of Damsobang could know, so I had to explain everything one by one, starting from the book of Jokjaseo and going all the way to the gods of Damsobang.

But would you really believe that?

The fact that the Gaepajosa of the Gupailbang are my teachers, and that I am currently learning the Cheon-dun sword technique from Yeo Dong-bin, who is called the Sword Immortal?

Are you also receiving teachings from Taesang Laojun and Jongli Quan?

I was lucky that they didn’t give me more rewards or anything, telling me to take care of my health, saying that I must be out of my mind.

Above all, the folding screen is something that only I can use and see. The only person who can explain and understand this fact is Eungseon.

It was impossible to explain or convince anyone else.

“So, senior, I know it may be presumptuous of you to do so, but could you just pretend not to see me and let me go?”

I begged the Grand Prince of Murim with an earnest expression, but he didn’t listen.

“I am sorry, but I cannot do that, since the Emperor himself asked me to do it.”

It was so firm that it was almost like a knife, but it seemed as if the Emperor had stepped forward. There must have been whispers from Ju Gwan-cheon behind it, but the Emperor also agreed to it.

Anyway, the Grand Prince of Murim didn’t seem to have any intention of letting me go.

In other words, I was destined to receive the reward without fail, but no matter how much I racked my brain, I couldn’t find a way to receive the reward and survive.

That’s understandable, because my current ‘consumption’ of merit was through the roof due to someone whose identity I couldn’t identify.

That is, the amount of merit consumed by receiving the reward was unmanageable.

Of course, he had accumulated enormous merits to the point where he would die by saving millions of lives.

But it was clear that the reward would not be easy.

It seemed like it would converge to ‘0’ to the point where it could be said to be certain, but the problem was that the ‘amount of merit’ acquired was also hitting rock bottom.

To put it simply, I couldn’t prolong my life by deceiving heaven with the same confusion of automatic merit as last time.

These days, the number of bandits in the Yangtze River has dried up, so the merits of the Yangtze River Swordsmen have not been accumulating much.

And as if that weren’t enough, the Yangtze River Swordsman Corps was currently in Guizhou Province with only the minimum number of personnel required to maintain security along the Yangtze River.

That is, the amount of automatic merit that is accumulating is not even half of half of half of half.

Of course, as of now, not only the Jangganghyeopgaekdan’s automatic merits were accumulating, but also the Hyemindang’s automatic merits were accumulating.

However, the problem was that the ‘Dangso-hyang’, the main axis and core of Hye-min-dang’s automatic merit, was also located here in Guizhou Province.

And since the plague in Guizhou Province has been completely eradicated, there is virtually no automatic merit that Tang So-hyang can accumulate at this point.

Grandfather Park Jin-hyeon, who remained at Hye-min-dang, was treating the patients, but his treatment speed was not as fast as that of Dang So-hyang.

In other words, it was impossible for Grandfather Park Jin-Hyeon to accumulate merits on his own.

······I will die. I will definitely die.

In a battle with Jukwancheon, he was completely······ defeated.

There was no way for me to survive. Jukwancheon had really blocked all the cases and possibilities for my survival.

So all circumstances and possibilities were pointing to my ‘death’.

They say that even if the sky falls, there is a hole to escape through, but that wasn’t the case for me. That fallen sky was trying to kill me.

······There is no way.

There was no way to overcome this situation······.

No, there was ‘just one way’ that came to mind right now.

And maybe······.

Even Ju Gwan-cheon could not have foreseen this method. No wonder, because even I could not have imagined that I would go this far.

I closed my eyes calmly.

I took a deep breath and calmed my mind. Then, when I slowly opened my eyes again, the eyes of the Great King of Murim were looking at me with a sense of, “Isn’t this possible?”

“You right now······.”

“I’m sorry, senior. Please forgive my junior’s rudeness that made it so difficult for me to do this.”

Anyway, what else can I do but die or get stabbed?

If it’s the same whether I die this way or that way······.

“No, why on earth is it like this···!!”

The Grand Prince of Murim looked greatly embarrassed, but I, I don’t know, rushed towards him.

And then suddenly I came to my senses.

Taeeulseon martial arts sword.

My second invitation.

A sword of the heavenly weight.

Before we knew it, Yong-a and I were rushing towards the martial arts master.