Chapter 129 Heavenly Dune (1)

Chapter 129 Heavenly Dune (1)

As Wulingyuan gradually receded and the damp air was slowly pushed away by the cold wind of the grasslands.

Gu Yangjie paused briefly and looked at Mantongzi.

Mantongzi, who had been busy looking around until then, calmly composed his expression.

Unable to bear the tension of who would speak first, Daewoong let out a cry.

“Waaah!”

Was it Daewoong’s thoughtful warning not to fight?

Gu Yangjeok stroked Daewoong’s head once.

That wasn’t the case.

By now, he had received far too much from Mantongja to feel betrayed.

Even if more than half of it came from the Man Tong-ja of his past life, the debt of gratitude remained unchanged.

Gu Yang-jeok smiled faintly.

“Why so tense? Did I kill you or something?”

“If you think about what you’ve done in the past…”

“Well, that’s not exactly wrong.”

Gu Yangji let out a light sigh.

“Look, Mantongzi. Just like with Muming, there must have been a reason you didn’t tell me. Isn’t that right?”

“……”

“So I was just waiting. Of course, I never intended to force you. So relax.”

“…I wanted to see it for myself first.”

Unlike his usual habit of glancing around and cracking jokes, Mantongja’s expression turned intensely serious.

“How much Cheonmubong has matured to face Palma together, how much sense of justice the current successor possesses… Above all, how much potential you have.”

“So?”

“It was my own greed.”

Mantongja continued in a self-deprecating tone.

“You are undoubtedly strong. Among warriors your age, you could easily be called the best. But if I ask whether you can face a monster like Palma, the answer is no. Above all, do you even have a reason to?”

“…….”

” Whether it’s Nana or Mumei, they’ve suffered because of that yoke, whether they liked it or not. That’s part of why they grew strong. But you can’t force anyone.”

At those words, Gu Yangjie searched for a response.

What Mantongzi said was painfully true.

He hadn’t achieved the martial prowess to fight Palma, nor did he have any reason to fight them.

Even Gu Yangji was momentarily speechless at the sharpness of those words.

Man Tongzi’s gaze seemed to say this:

-I’m not telling you to run. I can’t let you fight the Eight Palms at such a young age and lose your life. You can help them later when you’ve grown stronger.

Did Man Tongzi realize how deeply this action scratched at a martial artist’s pride?

‘Or perhaps he knows and is saying it anyway.’

Gu Yangji curled one lip.

Man Tongzi’s words were all correct, but he still had something to say.

“The Heavenly Dull Sword Technique must have had its own arrangements too, right?”

“…What?”

At those words, Man Tongzi’s face stiffened.

Seeing this, Gu Yangji felt his prediction had hit the mark.

In history, the one who mastered the Heavenly Dull Sword Technique was Ling Hezhe, a Taoist of the Zhongnan Sect.

He was famed for completing the Heavenly Dull Sword Technique through immense effort, drawing from the bloodline left by Ye Dongbin.

But how had things changed upon arriving in this life?

Ling Hezhe, who originally possessed the ‘fate’ to master the Heavenly Dull Sword Technique, instead became gravely injured and lay bedridden for ten days.

And instead, Gu Yangji, who should have had no connection whatsoever, learned the Heavenly Sword Technique and vaguely grasped its true essence during his battle with the Black Dragon.

Gu Yangji’s lips parted slightly.

“I am the master of the Heavenly Sword Technique.”

At those words, Mantongzi was more deeply shaken than ever before.

‘Did I just hear something absurd?’

According to the fate read by the Heavenly Qi, the Heavenly Dull Sword Technique was destined to reappear on Mount Zhongnan.

Exactly five years later.

A cultivator whose name contained the character ‘Ying’ would emerge into the martial world. That was the fate foretold by the Heavenly Qi.

‘But the master of the Heavenly Dull Sword Technique is me?’

Wan Tongzi’s face stiffened.

“I don’t understand what you mean. “

Seeing Mantongzi’s negative reaction, Guyang Jie inwardly knew he was right.

”Would it be easier if I showed you directly?”

Drawing his sword, Guyang Jie began to wield not the unity with the Plum Blossom Sword he had displayed in battle against the Black Dragon, but purely the Heavenly Dull Sword Technique.

Swish, whoosh!

The sword scattered a chilling aura.

Simultaneously, sharp sword energy filled the surrounding area.

“Kwoong!”

Daewoong, rising to his feet, immediately wrapped his arms around Mantongja.

Animal instinct sensed danger.

Sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

It was as if a circular sword aura, with Gu Yangjeok at its center, swept across the entire grassland.

Man Tongja’s shoulders trembled violently.

‘When did Gu Yangjeok reach such a realm?’

And what of the speed at which he deployed his sword technique?

Even Daeung, whose fur stood on end, couldn’t react, desperately focused on protecting Man Tongja.

Thus, Gu Yangji’s sword technique had already approached the level of a deeply accomplished master.

His encounter with the nameless warrior had served as a great stepping stone for Gu Yangji.

“……”

Yet, not a trace of surprise flashed across Mantongzi’s face; only solemnity filled it.

As someone not a martial artist, he had to stare wide-eyed to observe.

Was the sword technique Gu Yangji displayed truly the Heavenly Sword Technique? Did it contain the divine subtlety that the Sword Immortal, Yeo Dongbin, had boasted about?

Thus, Man Tongja watched the sword dance unfolding at Gu Yangji’s blade tip, marveling repeatedly.

At times, he sighed.

‘If only I had ten more years… no, five more years!’

Had he had the luxury to accumulate experience sufficient for a true swordsman, even Palma himself would not have dared to act rashly.

But the stirrings had already begun.

Therefore, there was no time to gain experience.

So, however inadequate, he intended to take Gu Yangji along and feed him opportunities.

‘I never expected Gu Yangji to be the master of the Heavenly Sword Technique.’

Mantongzi stared intently at Gu Yangjie, who had stopped his sword dance.

“It truly is the Heavenly Dull Sword Technique.”

Before Gu Yangjie could even respond, Mantongzi’s expression twisted into utter chaos.

‘Could I have made a mistake?’

The moment Gu Yangjie’s face stiffened rigidly.

Mantongzi smiled brightly, as if turning back hundreds of years.

* * *

Heaven’s will never errs.

Human will may temporarily alter its course, but the outcome remains the same.

It was a maxim known to every cultivator who had trained at Mount Mo.

This signified one thing.

It meant: Do not lose your life trying to block what cannot be blocked.

Therefore, after Yeo Dong-bin ascended and a full day and night passed, all the cultivators who had trained at Mount Mo despaired.

One cannot stop the fate of Palma.

No matter how much one struggles, the destiny is to die by Palma’s hand.

The truth that saddened the Taoists even more was that the demonic creature later released from Mount Mo was none other than Hyeonryong (玄龍).

Who was Hyeonryong?

Wasn’t he the divine child born here, cherished and raised by the Taoist masters, who later departed for Mount Wuntai to cultivate?

The fact that such a child had been corrupted by the demonic and become a Black Dragon was enough to tear the cultivators’ hearts apart.

As time passed, melancholy and sorrow gnawed away at the cultivators.

“This world is already over… What’s the point of living any longer?”

“Eight fiends that even the Sword Immortal couldn’t stop. How could we possibly prevail?”

Most Taoists fled Mount Moshan and went into hiding. Those who remained were merely ruffians who had come to learn sorcery.

Yet, among them was one peculiar Taoist.

It was Mantongzi, said to have realized the Heavenly Way before reaching adulthood.

“Everyone is only thinking of death! Who will tell future generations of the calamity that is the Eight Demons?”

“……”

“Though I am young, the way my seniors act is cowardly. If all you do is flee because you cannot stop them, what use is the knowledge you’ve learned?”

An old man responded to those words in a gloomy voice.

“The demon that has already run rampant and cannot be stopped is precisely the Palma. Even if the Sword Sect somehow holds it back now, will their strength truly wane hundreds of years from now?”

Before Mantongja could answer, the old man shook his head slightly.

“Demons, having gained experience, will disrupt the heavenly energy with even greater malice. By that time, the demons might already have burrowed deep into the world. Do you truly believe a few Daoists stepping forward then could make any difference?”

Before answering, Mantongzi first studied the old man’s expression.

He was checking to see if he had lost his reason, perhaps driven mad by observing the heavenly energies.

But he soon had to step back.

Mantongzi’s lips trembled.

“Even someone like you trembles in despair?”

Shin Anja (神眼子).

Famous for the legend that he held the heavens within his eyes, and above all, as the head of the Mosan Taoist lineage, he was a figure sought out by countless extraordinary individuals.

Rumors abounded that even high-ranking officials, bearing gold offerings, had been severely punished.

Was even such a Taoist holding back?

All because of eight mere monsters?

Mantongzi flared up and shouted.

“You are the true successor, versed in all the Daoist traditions of Moshan! How can the one hailed as the greatest in Zhonghua tremble before a mere upstart like me?”

“……”

Shin’an-ja remained silent.

Above all, he seemed curious if Mantongzi was speaking sincerely.

“Then hand it over to me instead! The reputation of Shin Anja, the knowledge you possess—it’s a waste!”

Man Tongja’s fist trembled violently.

It wasn’t fear.

As Shin Anja had said, there would be no way to stop the Eight Palms in the future either.

‘But even so! I refuse to face death drenched in fear!’

Above all, with Yeo Dong-bin now gone, unless one was a Taoist of Mount Mosan, there was no one who could live for hundreds of years.

That meant there would be no one to inform future generations of Palma’s existence and warn them.

‘Then must future people die knowing nothing? Must they become puppets manipulated by Palma, this overwhelming entity?’

Snap.

Mantongja bit his lip with his fangs. The metallic taste of blood seemed to gradually quell his fear.

“If you, a renowned virtuous person, cannot find the answer! Then I, Mantongja! Will stop it, even if it means using unjust methods!”

As he spoke, Mantongja’s eyes narrowed.

In a way, his words were tantamount to a declaration of war against the leader of the Mosan sect.

Among the unjust methods was human sacrifice; the usual Shin Anja would have immediately excommunicated and killed Mantongja.

But Shin Anja merely shook his head slightly, saying nothing harsh.

He was even friendly.

“You speak words that aren’t in your heart.”

“……?!”

“I know, and Heaven knows, that deep within your heart lies goodness. Then why do you speak of overcoming Palma through unrighteous means?”

Shin Anja forced a smile.

“I succumbed to Palma because I possess eyes that see too clearly. The fear that if we were mistakenly implicated, greater suffering would engulf the world—that fear choked me.“

Are you certain you won’t do the same?

Shin Anja’s gaze seemed to ask just that.

The dizziness contained within it made Mantongja’s head spin involuntarily.

Mantongja’s lips parted slightly.

”I will not submit.“

”That is insufficient. “

”I will prove that a human’s struggle can transcend the heavens! I will personally leave that arrangement behind and shatter Palma!“

At those words, Shin Anja smiled faintly.

”Do you truly believe that is possible within your lifespan?“

”At the very least, I have no intention of trembling in fear until my dying breath.”

Man Tongja declared Palma’s eradication with a resolute expression.