Book 10 Chapter 17

The Collapse of Huanmadong

"Haa, haa, haa!"

Yong Cheonmyeong, who had just emerged from an illusion, was ashen-faced, devoid of any color.

He felt incredibly uneasy. Without realizing it, a sword was in his hand.

Seeing the numerous sword marks on the surrounding rock walls, it seemed he had swung his sword wildly unconsciously. It looked as if he had unleashed all sorts of martial arts techniques at once, in a haphazard manner.

'You must exert all your skills to the extreme to safely pass this trial.'

Suddenly, Ma Jinga's speech echoed in his mind.

Ma Jinga had called it a trial, not a test. That alone gave him an idea of how difficult this test was. However, he never expected it to be this bad.

Upon entering, he felt a gloomy and unsettling sensation, the kind that made him think, "I've truly never felt like this before." And there was genuine fear here. The terror he had just experienced had not yet subsided. Even when he had risked his life challenging the Seventy-Two Shaolin Gates for honor and conviction, he had never felt such a threat and deep-seated fear. Yes, this precarious feeling that was blooming in Yong Cheonmyeong's chest, as if standing before a giant cliff, was undeniably 'fear.' There was no other suitable word to describe his current feeling besides 'fear.' An invisible hand was targeting his life. Yong Cheonmyeong's intuition felt it with certainty.

"Damn it. I've never been this scared even when breaking through the descent gate of Chulsorim… Damn it all!"

For the first time in a long while, a curse escaped his lips. It was words he rarely used. The situation was that bad. But the problem was that no matter how bad the situation, he absolutely could not stop moving forward. Just imagining people calling him a 'coward' was unbearable.

"Are those the shadows of the Thousand Calamity Bell within my heart… To feel such fear from mere illusions I created myself, and to be paralyzed like a frog before a snake…"

Suddenly, he felt pathetic.

"I prided myself on having no rivals in my age group… I still have much to learn! So much more!"

He stroked his beloved sword, the treasure of his sect, the Jade Jade Tathagata Divine Sword, once more. The Jade Jade Tathagata Divine Sword was proof of his honor, the responsibility he would bear, and his very existence. Then, he felt courage and fighting spirit slowly rise within him.

Yong Cheonmyeong, re-energized, took a step forward. Of course, he remained keenly aware of the unseen enemies surrounding him…

Just then, the dense darkness was dispelled as a dazzling sunlight rose within the cave. That light instantly engulfed Yong Cheonmyeong's body.

It happened so quickly. A blinding white flash filled his vision! And a deafening explosion! And a hail of colossal stones, weighing at least a thousand jun, collapsing with a roar!

Rumble! Boom!

The fierce explosion swept through the entire Huanmadong, instantly obliterating all illusions. This was due to the sudden transformation of the formation that had spread throughout the cave in the massive explosion.

"Aaaargh!"

Yoon Junho, his face contorted, sank to the floor, covering his ears. The sound, reflecting in the narrow cave, was ferocious and violent, as if tearing people apart.

"Is it… an earthquake?"

Namgung Sang was equally bewildered.

"Sang!"

Jin Ling, standing beside him, instinctively clung to his arm in distress. Feeling the danger, he tightly embraced Jin Ling. If the cave were to collapse here, it would be no exaggeration to say that no one would survive. Everyone lay prostrate on the violently shaking ground, waiting for the vibrations of the explosion to subside.

Drip, drip, drip! Rumble!

A ceaseless rain of rocks fell from the ceiling surrounded by black stone. Interspersed were hailstones of thick gravel.

Feeling the crisis that they might be buried if they remained still, people began to run forward without thinking.

"Kyaaaah!"

"Miss Yi!"

Hyo Ryong urgently called out to Yi Jinseol. Yi Jinseol was following a short distance behind him. The entire cave was shaking as if struck by an earthquake.

Thud!

Hyo Ryong's eyes widened. A large crack, as if drawn with a divine brush in a single stroke on rice paper, appeared across the ceiling above Yi Jinseol's head. The cave ceiling showed signs of collapse. Rocks were about to fall at any moment. There was no time to dodge.

"Danger…!"

Sensing the danger, Hyo Ryong didn't hesitate and lunged at Yi Jinseol.

Crash!

A large rock fell from above them.

"Aargh!"

"Ugh!"

The two lost consciousness from the impact of the falling rocks.

Rumble!

The cave continued to shake wildly.

At the moment the white flash illuminating the darkness erupted, Jang Hong could hear someone screaming.

"No! My Lady!"

It was a cry as if spitting blood.

"This voice…?"

It was a man's voice he had definitely heard somewhere before, but he couldn't recall his face. Jang Hong couldn't continue his thoughts. The situation didn't allow it.

Boom!

"Hoo!"

Because after the explosion, the fierce shockwave and storm that followed ravaged his entire body relentlessly. He had to resist the violent storm with all his might.

"Kuaaargh!"

"Uooargh, save me!"

"Kuhuhuhuk, no!"

"Hoohoohooh!"

From all directions, people's maddened cries, exclamations, sighs, and screams poured out. The cave had truly turned into a hell of wailing and screaming.

"This… How can this be? Something so absurd…"

Wei Zhichian, who had barely escaped the blast radius, was dumbfounded. His appearance was torn and tattered, beyond recognition.

"This… This is impossible! This is a dream!"

He could never have imagined that Na Yerim would throw the thrown thunder bomb and then rush to save Bi Liuyan. Despite the threat of the thunder bomb exploding at any moment, she had rushed to save Bi Liuyan. Her actions were the worst possible outcome that Wei Zhichian had never anticipated.

Due to his own mistake, Na Yerim, his idol and everything, was engulfed in the flash of the massive explosion, and her life or death was now uncertain. He fell into a state of madness.

"Aaaaaargh!"

He slumped to the ground and stared blankly at his hands as if in a trance. These were the hands that had manipulated the so-called 'Hellfire Thunder,' the most powerful and wicked fire bomb in the current martial arts world, without hesitation moments before. His hands trembled violently, like those of a person with palsy.

Suddenly, red blood began to flow from the hands he was staring at blankly. The blood flowed incessantly, filling the floor and eventually rising to his head. Of course, the flood of blood was a hallucination visible only to him, revealing his desperate state of mind.

"What… What have I done?"

But there was no one left to answer.

Ding, ding, ding!

An emergency was declared throughout the academy due to the sudden accident in Huanmadong. For the academy, it was an unexpected calamity, a bolt from the blue. No one had predicted such a large-scale accident. Above all, the fact that Huanmadong had a structure that made searching incredibly difficult was a concern.

"Why is there such a commotion?"

As Ma Jinga asked, his adjutant, the scholar Zhegal, who had gone to hear the news, rushed in panting.

"An accident occurred."

"An accident?"

"Yes, an accident."

Ma Jinga's face darkened slightly.

"Is there loss of life? I had already prepared for that, so why such a fuss?"

Of course, hearing that one or two disciples had died was heartbreaking, but he had already braced himself for it. His hands trembled, but he suppressed it inwardly, not wanting to show his weakness. He earnestly desired to be seen as a stern leader by others.

He was not a ruler, but a leader. As someone standing above others, he had obligations and responsibilities for the events that unfolded. However, this accident was far greater than he had anticipated.

"The accident is much larger than you think, Leader."

Scholar Zhegal had to say it, even though he didn't want to. His face was severely grim.

"What happened that you're making such a fuss? You're not your usual calm and collected self."

Naturally.

"Huanmadong has collapsed."

Crack!

With that one sentence, the rosewood desk in front of Ma Jinga—an incredibly expensive one—became unusable, its purpose fulfilled for the last time.

"What! Is that true?"

Ma Jinga let out a roar and leaped from his seat. His face was filled with disbelief and shock. However, while good news was sometimes misdelivered, bad news was almost never misdelivered. It seemed the god of fate was a miser.

"It is true. An accident has occurred in Huanmadong, the testing ground for the Hua San Grand Assembly examination."

His adjutant, Scholar Zhegal, reported to the end, gasping for breath.

The shock swept through Ma Jinga's entire body, and the world seemed to lose its balance. He staggered, barely regaining his posture. He didn't want to show such a pathetic state in front of his subordinates.

"What kind of accident occurred in that quiet place for 18 years?"

"They say it was an explosion."

"What? An explosion? That's impossible?"

It was unthinkable. Scholar Zhegal's eyes gleamed as sharply as his reason.

"It seems to be human manipulation. Otherwise, a thunder bomb wouldn't have detonated inside Huanmadong. Thunder bombs are a supreme secret, not cheap toys that anyone can obtain anywhere."

"I entirely agree with you. Then who? Who dared to commit such an outrageous act at the Chunmu Academy? Who dared?"

For a moment, a sinister shadow flashed through Ma Jinga's mind. With a shiver, he looked at Scholar Zhegal. Seeing his face, it seemed he had already arrived at the same thought.

"Could it be… those demons have awakened again from the deep abyss?"

His tone was extremely somber.

"It's a possibility that cannot be denied."

Scholar Zhegal nodded.

"Convene an emergency meeting! And immediately commence rescue operations for the children trapped in Huanmadong, and report on the casualties!"

Under Ma Jinga's orders, the Chunmu Academy began to move rapidly.

An emergency meeting was convened. Their faces were all grim, having heard the news of the Huanmadong collapse. Various opinions were already being exchanged, but everyone had one thing on their minds.

"Then, do you also believe that the Leader of the Martial Alliance considers this the work of the Thousand Calamity Cloud?"

Lu Gihan, an elder, stood up and asked.

"How many items in this world possess such explosive power?"

Ma Jinga retorted. Without waiting for an answer, he continued, his tone agitated.

"It is only the Seven Great Dragon's Lava Weapons of the Sichuan Tang Family, the 'Wall-Splitting Sky-Shaking Thunder,' and the 'Hellfire Thunder' used by those accursed feathered fellows! And the Sichuan Tang Family wouldn't have carelessly leaked their Seven Great Dragon's Lava Weapons, would they?"

"I will immediately contact the main branch to confirm the inventory."

Mu Fu Tang Zhiming, a warrior from the Sichuan Tang Family, stood up and said. The Seven Great Dragon's Lava Weapons could only be released with the approval of the family head and the elder council. Unauthorized leakage was impossible.

Confirming and managing the quantities of the Seven Great Dragon's Lava Weapons and the Seven Great Poisonous Elixirs was one of the family head's most important duties. He had to do it himself, entrusting it to no one. However, the possibility of the Sichuan Tang Family's weapons being leaked was extremely slim. Then, there was only one possibility!

"It can't be…"

The honest feeling of everyone present was to exclude that possibility. They had all started to forget that name, having hidden their identities for too long. Then, an incident occurred, as if to showcase their continued existence.

"However, there is one problem."

Scholar Zhegal cautiously began. However, Scholar Zhegal only swallowed dryly and hesitated, unable to easily get to the main point. It seemed he was about to discuss a significant challenge.

"What on earth is the problem?"

Ma Jinga prompted Scholar Zhegal to speak, seeing how anxious he looked. He felt pity for Scholar Zhegal, whose face showed extreme unease. He had clearly come here with a difficult problem to convey to Ma Jinga. Despite being a strategist and tactician, Scholar Zhegal was poor at hiding his emotions.

"Is there still a problem that will torment me further?"

Ma Jinga said with a self-deprecating smile.

"That is correct."

Scholar Zhegal did not smile.

"With Huanmadong collapsed and casualties occurring, what worse thing could there be? Don't drag it out. Tell me. I don't think I'll be surprised by anything I hear or anything that happens now."

However, the moment Scholar Zhegal opened his mouth, Ma Jinga had to break his previous vow.

"Wh-what? Is that true?"

Scholar Zhegal nodded silently. Ma Jinga felt as if the sky was collapsing.

"D-did that child really go missing in there?"

Scholar Zhegal specifically chose the word 'missing,' but in this situation, the probability of death was too high.

"If this fact becomes known to the Martial Alliance…"

Scholar Zhegal seemed worried about that.

"That's a matter of time. Then…"

"It will likely be difficult to end quietly."

The Martial Alliance Leader Na Baichuan's deep love for his unmarried daughter was well-known. Even the oldest of friends would not remain silent if something happened to his daughter. Ma Jinga knew well that although Na Baichuan was usually dignified and full of authority, he became like a different person when it came to Na Yerim. Imagining Na Baichuan's transformed appearance, his temper flaring up upon hearing about his daughter's disappearance, sent a chill down Ma Jinga's spine, making him tremble.

"There is another problem."

Scholar Zhegal seemed to have more to say. Ma Jinga was afraid of what words would come out of his mouth this time.

"What problem?"

"It is… who will report this incident to the Martial Alliance Leader."

Suddenly, Ma Jinga had an epiphany. Then, he frowned.

'Damn, I forgot. That important matter!'

Ma Jinga suddenly felt pathetic. How could he forget such an important thing?

"I believe it would be better to inform him urgently through personal channels, after learning of the accident from a personal informant. It's not something that can be solved by hiding it anyway, is it?"

This was a serious matter to consider. Scholar Zhegal continued.

"And we must also consider who will pacify his anger. The Leader's love for his daughter is already famous in the martial world. If he learns that his precious jewel has been sacrificed by the plot of the feathered ones, he will not stand idly by."

"That is true. It cannot be solved by hiding it. The problem is only who will go and appease his anger."

"Indeed. Knowing his temper, he will likely draw his sword without hesitation."

Ma Jinga nodded.

"It is not yet time."

Scholar Zhegal did not make the mistake of losing his composure due to being swept up in the situation. Ma Jinga accepted his opinion. However, he did not think he could quell the Martial Alliance Leader's anger with his own heart alone.

"Such a large-scale accident is the first in nearly 30 years. Issue an order to strengthen defenses in all branches and do your best to gather information."

"Understood!"

The elders gathered in the Chunmu Hall agreed with Ma Jinga's swift and appropriate measures for dealing with the accident. However, Ma Jinga could not easily decide on the matter of sending a personal envoy to Na Baichuan.

Besides that, there were countless other issues he needed to attend to.

"And compile the number of casualties and missing persons in writing as soon as possible!"

This was one of the most pressing tasks to be addressed.