Childhood Friend of the Zenith
chapter-208

༺ If There Is No Path, Then I Must Create One ༻

Cccggck!

Blaaaze-!

The rising flames continued to ravage everything in their path, showing no signs of stopping.

They seemed to dance rhythmically following the man’s hand, storming relentlessly.

Amidst these flames, the man quietly moved forward.

The fog enveloping the mountain couldn’t stop him from entering and even started to dissipate, pushed back by the flames.

Just like that, the flames swept the area like a storm.

Slam!

But as if blocked by something, Gu Cheolun stopped in his tracks.

The First Army following him halted as well.

“A formation.”

Gu Cheolun declared, recognizing it with just a brief glance.

After all, he had summoned those flames to locate the formation in the first place.

“We will observe it.”

The one who proposed this was the Vice-Captain of the First Army.

He was fairly proficient with formations, thus was normally responsible for dealing with such aspects in the First Army.

“There is no need.”

But Gu Cheolun dismissed him this time.

There was no need for that, especially in a situation like this.

Ssss…

The Blazing Wheel of the Destructive Flame Arts grew as if enveloping Gu Cheolun.

Gradually, Gu Cheolun’s black hair turned red.

Swish!

The wind lingering around Gu Cheolun, was instantly drawn towards him.

A small sphere formed on top of his roughened hand.

The immense amount of Qi contained in the sphere seemed to distort the space around him.

-Clench!

Grasping the sphere in his hand, Gu Cheolun declared.

“All we need to do is break it.”

Following such words…

The entire mountain shook at a mere gesture.

**********

Slaaam-!

Along with an earth-shattering noise, the sky started to shake.

It wasn’t the sky that was shaking, but rather the formation barrier set up around the base.

‘But… isn’t he being a bit too reckless?’

I had almost passed out as I watched this unfold.

I had expected Father to arrive soon, but I had never imagined that he would do so by turning the whole sky red and destroying the whole formation barrier without even bothering to dismantle it.

I looked up at the crimson sky.

‘He’s still the same.’

A crimson sky was proof that one had nearly reached the Ultimate of the Gu Clan’s martial art.

I didn’t know if Father had actually mastered the art or not, but I knew that at the very least he was extremely powerful.

Some said that he was staying inside the clan because he wasn’t in his prime anymore, but having seen his power first-hand when the Demonic Cult appeared, I knew how wrong those rumors were.

Father’s prime years hadn’t come to an end.

Instead, Father was probably much stronger now compared to his younger self back when he was active.

As I stared at the sky, Namgung Bi-ah asked me.

“This is… Father-in-law…?”

“Yeah, it’s my… what?”

I paused for a moment upon hearing her question.

Wasn’t her way of addressing him a little strange?

“What did you just say?”

I asked in confusion, yet she kept staring at the sky, not giving any response.

Well, it wasn’t that important, so I just let it pass.

Slam!

Continuing from before, another loud sound echoed.

He really seemed to be thinking of breaking the formation.

[Oh, would you look at that! He’s using the same method as a certain someone.]

“…”

[The spitting image, truly.]

Elder Shin—who had remained quiet ever since our conversation about the Fog Dragon—spoke up as if he had been waiting for the right moment.

I found him quite annoying for this, but I really couldn’t argue with his words.

After all, Father’s method was way too similar to the one I used in my previous life.

-Move!

-To the east! The Flaming Demon has appeared!

The formation barrier shaking from the great impact seemed to have finally made the members of the Black Palace show themselves.

‘What about the Palace Lord?’

I didn’t really have to search hard to find him.

A black fog was spreading underneath the red sky.

‘Is he heading towards Father?’

I had obviously thought that he wouldn’t go straight to Father.

But for some reason, it seemed like the Palace Lord chose to confront him.

‘It’s actually better that way.’

The Palace Lord leaving was preferable, as Father wouldn’t lose against him if they were to fight.

I didn’t know how strong the Lord of The Black Palace—one of the Four Emperors and Five Kings—was, but if he couldn’t match up to the Three Venerables, then there was no way Father would lose.

After confirming my thoughts, I lifted my body up, hiding my Qi presence.

‘I don’t think the others have arrived yet.’

Before leaving, I didn’t only send a letter to Father, I sent one to the Hao Clan as well.

I sent the letter to Do Unchu, the owner of the Shanxi branch, but it seemed like they hadn’t arrived yet.

Were they still verifying the information in the letter?

‘I don’t know if the leader of the Hao Clan is really in the main palace, but I at least know for sure that this is the main palace.’

And even if they didn’t come, it was fine.

They weren’t that important of a force.

I also thought about getting help from the Murim Alliance using Namgung Jin’s name, but the Alliance was suspicious in many ways.

They might be called the Murim Alliance, but I doubted whether any of them truly cared for an alliance.

‘I can’t trust the Alliance itself.’

To think I would trust the Hao Clan more than the Alliance despite them coming from the Unorthodox Faction.

What a sweet irony this was.

-…What… will you do?

As I stood up, Namgung Bi-ah spoke to me telepathically.

She could speak telepathically even though she had just reached Peak Realm…

The more I observed Namgung Bi-ah’s talent, the more shocked I became.

Did someone teach her? There probably wasn’t anyone for that though.

Putting aside my doubts, I had to focus on something else right now.

-We’ll go inside.

-How…?

-Through the hole we made earlier.

The hole in the wall was right in front of us.

Furthermore, since there were fewer enemies guarding the place, now was the perfect time.

Of course, there were people that were guarding the wall even in this situation.

‘Four of them, three Second-Rate and the last one a First-Rate.’

But they weren’t that strong.

Shing.

Before I could even speak, Namgung Bi-ah pulled out her sword, having read my intention.

Lightning Qi slowly enveloped the sword.

I spoke to Namgung Bi-ah telepathically.

It was to send a signal.

-When I count one, two, three, we’ll… hey!

Namgung Bi-ah charged in as soon as I said three and I followed right after her, regretting my mistake.

“…!”

Just as one of the guards, noticing Namgung Bi-ah, was about to open his mouth…

Slash-!

Her sword struck first, slashing the enemy’s neck at the speed of light.

Following the first kill, she started her slaughter, severing countless necks akin to lightning.

Every time she swung her sword, an enemy fell to the ground, spilling blood.

Every strike, an instant death.

Despite her having only a few moments of a headstart, by the time I arrived, everything was already over.

Four martial artists had died at her hands, unable to even react.

She shook off the blood that was on her sword and I watched that, thinking it was preposterous.

Namgung Bi-ah noticing my gaze, displayed a confused expression.

“…Should I have not done that?”

“…”

I became dumbfounded at her words.

But having no time to waste, I put the matter aside, and entered the Palace with Namgung Bi-ah.

******************

The interior of the Palace was far larger than it appeared from the outside.

I couldn’t really get a clear picture as I had to hide my presence, but I knew that it was at least bigger than the Gu Clan, which was already incredibly vast.

‘How were they able to hide such a large building?’

A formation barrier’s power wasn’t unlimited.

It becomes exponentially harder to hide an area as large as this with a formation barrier, the larger the area, the harder the process.

And hiding the Palace like this, where it’s invisible from the outside, was nigh impossible.

‘I have to admit, the Great Oni is talented.’

I had never seen anyone better at creating mechanisms than that old man and I had to admit that he was extremely talented, but something like this was still hard for me to comprehend.

It was as if the building had been built in an entirely different dimension.

‘…I wonder where Gu Huibi is.’

Regardless of anything else, the most crucial thing right now was to locate Gu Huibi.

Since the Marble of Celestial Captivation had activated earlier, I couldn’t use it again until it regained its light.

And the orange light of the marble only showed me its target in a straight line, not the path I had to take, so I was on my own.

‘It seems like she’s in a jail somewhere.’

Judging by how the light was pointing downwards, Gu Huibi seemed to be in the basement right now.

Swish!

As I was lost in my thoughts, a sword slash skimmed past my face.

Simultaneously, someone in front of me fell to the floor, their blood splattering.

-Enemy. Focus.

-…Thanks.

Namgung Bi-ah seemed to have already dealt with the enemies approaching from the front.

‘But how did she do that?’

She may have improved a lot, but there was no way that my senses were inferior to Namgung Bi-ah’s.

Yet, Namgung Bi-ah was somehow sensing enemies coming towards us even before I could.

‘Is it just a difference in our senses?’

The fact that she found a weak spot in the formation earlier, and her sensing enemies before I could…

Was it all because of a difference in our senses?

But it felt strange to chalk it up to that.

“Intruder…!”

Crack.

“Urghh…!”

A man who shouted as he noticed me, fell to the floor, his neck twisted beyond repair.

Even while I was lost in my thoughts, my hand continued to move relentlessly.

Just because the outside attracted attention, it didn’t mean there were no enemies inside the Palace.

But it became clear that Namgung Bi-ah was doing a much better job than I had worried about.

‘She has no hesitation.’

This was definitely her first time killing someone, but she didn’t possess a shred of hesitation.

This wasn’t even close to normal.

‘Even me…’

Thinking back to the moment I killed someone for the first time in this life, I remembered my body shaking, the young body not used to taking one’s life.

In my past life…

‘I was sick for a while.’

I struggled with it for at least a few days.

But Namgung Bi-ah showed no such symptoms.

“Aghh…!”

Another enemy met their end being swept up by Namgung Bi-ah’s Lightning Qi.

‘She’s also skilled in utilizing her Lightning Qi.’

She skillfully used her Lightning Qi, surrounding herself and her sword.

She was so skilled that it almost seemed strange.

-…Above.

At her call, I fired out flames.

I had already noticed it this time.

Along with a blaze, my flames shot towards the ceiling.

“Aggghhh!”

And enemies fell to the floor, covered in flames.

They were trying to ambush us.

As l smoked the enemies out, Namgung Bi-ah did the cleanup.

‘What chemistry we have.’

Despite never having worked together before, Namgung Bi-ah and I had excellent chemistry.

‘To be fair, we complement each other well in situations like this.’

Reflecting on my experiences with that damned Demonic Sword Queen, we had great chemistry in combat, often it being unnecessary for us to even speak.

Back then, because our levels were higher than they are now, we were more focused on ourselves than each other, as we were both capable of handling ourselves.

But now, things were different, and our teamwork showed great promise.

As we continued to break through the inside of the Palace…

“…!”

A flash of light suddenly occurred in front of my eyes.

As I quickly tilted my head to dodge the sword, Namgung Bi-ah, who was behind me, simultaneously launched Sword Qi towards the enemy.

Her attack mixed with Lightning Qi was sharp…

Zap!

But her attack was shattered mid-air by the enemy.

As I charged my Qi and looked ahead, a voice rang out.

“I wondered who was sneaking around, and it turns out it’s you two.”

Chuckle.

A rough voice, as if the speaker had a dry throat.

My eyes narrowed at the sight of the enemy.

It was a man holding a sword, dressed in a black uniform.

‘Darn.’

I didn’t know who he was, but I could tell he wasn’t weak just by sensing his aura.

The fact that I couldn’t gauge his realm was proof of that.

‘Is he above the Fusion realm?’

I wasn’t sure, but I knew for certain that he was powerful.

“You two seem younger than I expected. You lots, what are…”

As soon as the old man spoke, Namgung Bi-ah struck.

The Lightning Qi enhanced sword traced a fierce arc in the air, forming a semicircle.

The man, realizing that the energy within her sword was not to be underestimated, raised his sword.

Claaaang!

The clash sounded far too violent to be just two swords colliding.

“…You…!”

Taken aback by her strength, the man was pushed back a step, his eyes wide.

It seemed like he had briefly gauged Namgung Bi-ah’s realm with that clash.

Staring at the enemy, aware that his realm wasn’t lower than hers, Namgung Bi-ah still moved without hesitation.

The sword trajectory drawn in the air seemed different to Namgung Bi-ah’s sword that I had seen before.

Not only did it become sharper and faster, but also…

‘Something changed.’

I couldn’t explain it clearly as I wasn’t a sword user, but I knew for sure that something had changed.

[…Wow.]

Elder Shin seemed impressed by Namgung Bi-ah’s movements.

[It seems that child truly is the miracle of the Namgung Clan.]

He spoke in a proud tone, praising her highly, but I really wished he would hold back on speaking in a situation like this.

Just as the man was about to move after parrying Namgung Bi-ah’s sword, I charged at him this time.

“…You!”

The man’s eyes focused on me as if he was determined not to make another mistake.

Blaze.

But my body, surrounded in blue flames after using Blood Qi, was faster than he had expected.

“…!”

His sword, which was about to launch an attack, quickly shifted into a defensive stance after seeing my movement.

And my fist that was aimed at his sword to begin with, clashed with the sword.

Claaang-!

My fist, infused with Qi clashed with the sword, thus making a great impact and pushing the man backwards.

After being thrown backwards, the man rolled on the floor a few times before quickly regaining his stance.

There probably wasn’t any damage, as the attack was intended to push him back in the first place.

“You bastards…!! How dare y…?”

The man began to bring forth his Combat Qi, but his expression changed at the sight of the flames in my hands.

“What are you trying to do…?!”

It seemed like he had noticed why I was condensing the flames in my hand.

I quickly pulled Namgung Bi-ah close and exploded the condensed flames in my hand.

The man tried to swing his sword to block my attack, but Namgung Bi-ah launched Sword Qi towards the man.

Thanks to that, I was able to explode my flames.

Slaam-!

Rustle-!

The flames swept through the ceiling and the floor, making the walls collapse.

The collapsed walls revealed a different wall.

“…Phew.”

After retrieving my Qi, I let out a sigh.

I felt the recoil from the Blood Qi affecting my body, but I endured it.

[Move quickly, you won’t be able to endure it for too long.]

‘I know.’

This was just us buying time.

From the clash just now, I knew that the enemy was a Fusion Realm martial artist.

I wasn’t confident in defeating him even if I teamed up with Namgung Bi-ah and it was obvious that other enemies would arrive in the meanwhile.

‘…They probably noticed from the sound already.’

Thus, we couldn’t afford to continue this fight and had to move.

I spoke to Namgung Bi-ah, who had a disappointed look on her face as she stared at the wall.

“We are going down.”

“Hmm?”

At my words, Namgung Bi-ah looked around, but found no staircase leading downwards.

Well, I was thinking of borrowing some experience from my previous life.

‘…I didn’t want to use such a reckless method, but…’

But with enemies arriving any moment now, I had no other options.

I charged my Qi and summoned flames in my hand.

The recoil from earlier hadn’t ended and as a result of using an excessive amount of Qi at once, my dantian cried out in pain.

But I wasn’t in a situation to worry about such a thing, so I ignored it.

‘If there is no path, then I must create one.’

After all, I was a professional when it came to breaking stuff.

I pointed my hand at the floor without hesitation and an explosion of flames followed.

The ground level had been lowered by one.

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