—————————————————————–
Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Wjin
—————————————————————–
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
If only disciples of the Hongseong Sect could enter this secret realm, then it must be related to the Hongseong Sect.
Otherwise, there’s no way they would feel so calm amidst the grand challenge of conquering this secret realm.
And it seemed like the others felt the same way.
“Senior Sister, this is…”
“Hmm…”
Even Hongryeon, who had challenged secret realms several times before, felt this way for the first time.
It was as if the secret realm was reacting to those who practiced the Hongseong Divine Art.
Naturally, the internal energy of the Hongseong Divine Art within her dantian was stirring. However, it wasn’t out of vigilance against danger but in anticipation of something that would help her grow.
“Let’s move forward.”
But even so, they couldn’t let their guard down. Secret realms were places of challenge, prepared by their ancestors. A testing ground for humans, who must always look up at the sky with their heads held high.
So, each step they took filled them with tension.
And,
Upon entering the first room, they couldn’t help but let out gasps of astonishment.
“This is…”
It was a spacious room. The bottom was filled with an endless black void, and the path forward was made up of platforms precariously floating in the air, like stars in the night sky.
The moment they saw the arrangement of those stars, all three of them realized.
This was a footwork technique.
And one they were familiar with.
The Hongseong Divine Art represented the Red Star, the Ominous Star that consumed itself.
The Ominous Star was fierce, powerful, and capable of destroying everything, but it also possessed unparalleled speed.
The footwork technique that embodied that speed was the Starflow Step, one of the footwork techniques of the Hongseong Divine Art.
It was a dance of stars, performed with strong legs trained through daily horse stance practice and mountain climbing at the Hongseong Sect.
The platforms were placed at locations that could only be reached by those who mastered this footwork.
In other words, only those who had learned the Starflow Step could pass through this room.
“Is this truly a secret realm for the Hongseong Sect?”
Ryuhyeon muttered in a trembling voice, as if she couldn’t believe it. Even though she knew it wasn’t a question seeking an answer, Hongryeon couldn’t help but nod.
What lay before her eyes was too obvious to deny.
“Can we reach the other side with just simple jumps?”
“It’s not impossible, but there are obstacles.”
Ryuhyeon took out a small hidden weapon from her sleeve and tossed it into the air.
Clang. With a sound of something colliding, the hidden weapon, which had been flying through the seemingly empty air, was swallowed by the darkness. At the same time, a metal plate of a strange color shimmered into view. It was only visible for a moment, but as the shimmer subsided, the metal plate cleverly concealed itself back into the darkness.
“If we use any other footwork or movement technique besides the Starflow Step… we’ll hit those metal plates.”
And in the worst-case scenario, fall into the abyss below.
Of course, if they used a rising movement technique or a protective technique, they could ignore those obstacles and pass through, but…
At Ryuhyeon’s words, Hongryeon glanced at Sayoon.
“Can you do it?”
“Yes.”
“Alright then. I’ll go first. Sayoon next, and Ryuhyeon last.”
“Yes, Senior Sister.”
Hongryeon quickly gave instructions and started to move.
The first step was Qian (乾). The Starflow Step was a footwork technique that mimicked the movement of stars across the sky. Naturally, the first step had to be based on the heavens.
With a fluid motion, she landed on Zhen (震). The Ominous Star was as swift as thunder, and its momentum was embodied in this step.
By the time she finished performing the Starflow Step, based on the Eight Trigrams, Hongryeon had reached the other side of the room without encountering any obstacles.
“Sayoon, come over.”
“Yes!”
Sayoon nodded vigorously and started to move. Like the experienced Hongryeon, her footwork was flawless. After she crossed over, and Ryuhyeon reached the other side, the tightly closed door began to open.
Hongryeon swallowed nervously as she stared at it.
“The next room might test our Hongseong Divine Art as well.”
“Um… Senior Sister, what about me?”
Was she going to be a burden because she hadn’t mastered the entire Hongseong Divine Art? Hongryeon smiled brightly at Sayoon, who was worried.
It was the reassuring smile of their senior sister that both Sayoon and Ryuhyeon knew well.
As Hongryeon expected, and as Sayoon and Ryuhyeon guessed, most of the secret realm was related to the Hongseong Divine Art. Footwork, palm techniques, fist techniques, and finally, sword techniques.
Fortunately, the secret realm only tested the fundamentals of the Hongseong Divine Art.
Perhaps that was why it felt more like a training ground than a place of challenge.
“I wish we had brought the other sisters.”
The sword marks on the wall matched the sword marks she had just made.
Hongryeon muttered softly as she looked at the door opening with a rumbling sound, having left the same marks with the Red Blossom Sword, a sword technique from the first half of the Hongseong Divine Art.
“Senior Sister, have you ever seen a secret realm like this before?”
“Well, I’ve seen similar ones.”
Of course, they weren’t secret realms that directly tested a single martial art, but she had encountered a few that seemed to assess the level and mastery of a martial art.
“And the final stage of such secret realms…”
-Screech…!!”
A horrifying scream came from beyond the open door. Sayoon stiffened slightly, and Ryuhyeon gripped her sword hilt tightly, but Hongryeon stepped forward calmly.
“Usually has an enemy.”
An enemy, a monstrous beast guarding the secret realm.
Conquering this guardian, the master of the secret realm, was the key to clearing it.
Ryuhyeon nodded and stepped forward. Hongryeon took the rear, and Sayoon, with her relatively weaker martial arts skills, was in the middle.
The three of them, maintaining their formation, cautiously entered the final room, and there, they saw it.
-Screech!!
Four arms.
A muscular body.
The most striking feature of its grotesquely distorted face was its razor-sharp teeth.
Its long tongue dripped with saliva that looked like blood.
Its long, slitted eyes blazed with malice, and its vertical pupils, like those of a reptile, fixed on the three who had entered the room, seeing them as prey.
-Hiss!!
With a grating shriek, “it” rose to its feet. Hongryeon knew exactly what it was.
A Lesser Asura.
A monstrous beast commonly found in secret realms, known for its ferocity.
The presence of such a horrifying, man-eating monster in this secret realm felt more realistic to Hongryeon than surreal.
After all, the trials they had faced so far were the ones that felt unreal.
“Let’s go.”
Clang, Ryuhyeon drew her sword, pointing it at the Lesser Asura, which was quickly scanning them with a predatory gaze. The internal energy of the Hongseong Divine Art, reacting to the enemy, surged through her veins, creating a crimson red sword aura around her blade.
However, Hongryeon remained motionless. She just watched, arms crossed, as if she was trying to gauge the line between reality and unreality.
“Senior Sister?”
“Ryuhyeon, step back.”
“What?!”
“Sayoon.”
“…Yes, Senior Sister.”
“Can you handle this alone?”
“Senior Sister?!”
Ryuhyeon was appalled. Even though Lesser Asuras were among the most common monsters found in secret realms, they were still monsters.
If those long, thick arms caught you, your bones would break. If those razor-sharp claws scratched you, your flesh would be torn to shreds.
They were dangerous enemies.
Why was she sending the young Sayoon alone to face it?
Even if this Lesser Asura seemed weakened with deep wounds all over its body.
But Hongryeon’s gaze was serious.
“If you can defeat it alone, you will grow stronger. And…”
“…I’ll try.”
Ryuhyeon was about to protest, but Sayoon stepped forward before she could. She was holding a wooden sword. Ryuhyeon quickly threw her real sword, wanting her to at least have a proper weapon, and Sayoon caught it with a determined smile.
“Thank you.”
“Ah… be careful! Retreat if you feel like you’re in danger!”
Knowing that there were people behind her who cared for her and would protect her, eased her tension.
A life-or-death struggle.
Fighting a monster was like stepping into the law of the jungle, where only the strong survived.
If she could relax even a little in such a situation, it would make her safer.
Ryuhyeon watched as Sayoon approached the Lesser Asura and then glared at Hongryeon.
“Why are you making Sayoon…”
“Let’s watch for now.”
Hongryeon, without her usual carefree demeanor, exuded an aura of authority that no one could defy.
-Roar!!
I can do this.
Dodging the sharp claws aimed at her head by dropping to the ground, Sayoon quickly thrust her sword. It wasn’t her first time holding a real sword, but it was her first time wielding it against a living being.
Or was that thing even alive? The monster, leaking black fluid like pus from its wounds but still relentlessly attacking her…
Could that enemy, its eyes filled with nothing but hostility and malice, truly be considered a living being?
Despite her racing thoughts, her feet moved naturally. She felt less tension.
Was it because of her senior sisters behind her?
No, that wasn’t it.
Perhaps it was because she had already experienced greater tension than this.
Or maybe it was because the burden of having someone to protect had lessened.
But what did it matter?
The task at hand hadn’t changed.
-Roar!!
Sayoon’s constant dodging, her swift stabs, her attempts to trip him or use her footwork to get behind him and unleash punches… it must have irritated the Lesser Asura.
Its head shot up, and its eyes blazed with murderous intent.
But she wasn’t afraid.
She wasn’t nervous.
Sayoon twisted her head. A few strands of her silver hair, like silk threads, flew into the air, but she was unharmed. In fact, she was able to use it to create an opening in the Lesser Asura’s defenses and thrust her sword into its armpit.
-Slash!!
The sword strike that followed naturally dealt a heavy blow to the Lesser Asura, but it didn’t stop its onslaught. One of its arms, almost severed by the flowing sword strike, fell off with a thud.
She kicked the severed arm towards the monster, creating another opening, and took a step closer.
Like a star traversing the night sky, Sayoon’s small body moved closer to the Lesser Asura.
A small being.
A small being that seemed like it would die from a single blow.
A small being that possessed such a sharp and threatening blade. It was an unbearable humiliation for the Lesser Asura.
But even so, it wasn’t going to back down. It swung its two remaining arms.
-Slice!!
-Screech!!
They were severed.
Blood Wind, one of the sword techniques of the Hongseong Divine Art.
Of course, at Sayoon’s current level, the Blood Wind couldn’t cut through the Lesser Asura’s thick hide and bones in a single strike.
But its arms were severed because she had been targeting them, weakening the flesh with each strike.
But what did that matter now?
Only one thing mattered.
The Lesser Asura’s arms were gone,
And it had a huge opening.
So, Sayoon quickly closed the distance.
The Lesser Asura, which had been looking down on her, dismissing her, seeing her as nothing but a plaything to be torn apart, took a step back at the aura she exuded.
It was completely overwhelmed by her presence.
-Grr…
There was no reason to hesitate any longer.
Sayoon spun the sword in her hand and thrust it forward. The sharp blade, like a ray of starlight, pierced the Lesser Asura’s heart.
“Gasp… gasp…”
Only after the Lesser Asura’s body crumpled to the ground did Sayoon take a deep breath.
She had defeated the monster using only the first half of the Hongseong Divine Art, techniques she had reaffirmed while clearing this secret realm.
She stared at the collapsed Lesser Asura for a moment before stepping back. She kept her sword raised, wary of a possible revival, but the monster didn’t move.
Then she turned around and saw them.
Ryuhyeon, clapping and beaming.
Hongryeon, who believed in her.
But she saw beyond them.
She felt the presence of someone who wasn’t physically present like Hongryeon and Ryuhyeon, but was all the more precious to her.
‘…Thank you, Mister.’
She silently thanked her benefactor, who seemed to have guided her to this place to help her grow.
I have to write a letter as soon as I get back, she thought.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
