## Chapter 107 – 107. Introspection (3)
#107. Introspection (3)
The Mount Hua Sect, the Jongnam Sect, and the Shaolin Temple.
The great pillars supporting the Nine Great Sects moved with heavy steps for one reason: to find the legacy of the Diamond Divine Monk, who was called the greatest martial artist in the world hundreds of years ago.
If you were to ask a passerby what comes to mind first when they think of his legacy, nine out of ten would answer ‘The Unparalleled Diamond Scripture.’
A peerless divine art that the Diamond Divine Monk was known to have reinterpreted from Shaolin’s martial arts and newly created.
Of course, the ‘Prajna Divine Pill,’ which the Diamond Divine Monk supposedly carried with him wherever he went, could not be left out.
There might have been other things to gain, but the truth was that there wasn’t much that large sects coveted.
No matter how much the Diamond Divine Monk was the greatest martial artist in the world, his essence was that of a monk. One of the conditions for reaching Nirvana is to abandon greed, so it was unlikely that the Diamond Divine Monk, famous as a wise master, would have accumulated wealth as a legacy.
Furthermore, even ‘The Unparalleled Diamond Scripture’ was like a white elephant to Mount Hua and Jongnam. The martial arts of the Diamond Divine Monk, who was once the abbot of Shaolin, were essentially Shaolin’s martial arts, and fundamentally, the martial arts of a sect are strictly forbidden from being taken out by outsiders.
Like righteous sect folks who live for reputation and are obsessed with honor, they had agreed to return The Unparalleled Diamond Scripture to Shaolin as soon as it was found.
Of course, the two sects didn’t want to return it in their hearts, but unless they wanted to wage a full-scale war with Shaolin, which was called the Mount Tai and Big Dipper of the martial world, they had no choice but to return it.
The ‘try to take it if you can’ mentality was eternal, regardless of era or dimension.
Of course, Shaolin had also promised to provide appropriate compensation, so it was a shame for the other sects, but it wasn’t a loss.
‘There was no mention of the Prajna Divine Pill, so Shaolin must have conceded that.’
In fact, this investigation was practically a battle for the Prajna Divine Pill. As such, they didn’t seem to have any intention of including me, an outsider, in the treasure hunt.
“Waiting at the entrance…”
I’ve been waiting at the entrance of the ancient temple for 30 minutes already. Along with a few of the top three disciples left behind by each sect.
For reference, the Jongnam elders, including the middle-aged woman presumed to be Yoo So-wol’s teacher, and Shaolin’s Four Vajras had left this place a long time ago. Their role was only to guard the ancient temple until the investigation team arrived.
And I was left to take on the security role they had been doing. Those top three disciples over there? Can those guys, most of whom are second-rate, even properly do the security role?
‘Security my ass, they left them behind to monitor me.’
The main purpose of bringing me here was probably to keep me in sight and monitor me. The reason they didn’t send me back from the campsite was probably because they were anxious about where I might run off to.
‘If they were going to monitor me, they should have left at least two elders behind.’
Though it would have been tough for them.
[Phantom Shifter]
My body becomes transparent.
Even my presence fades as if no one had been there from the beginning. The 3rd-grade common magic ‘Phantom Shifter,’ a secret magic written in the magic book I received from the Seongbuk Choi family along with Gillennium last time.
I became the invisible man, a middle school boy’s fantasy.
It was my first time using it, but the result was quite satisfactory. In addition, I cast a new magic.
[Hallucination]
Another me appeared in the spot where I was sitting. Of course, this was just an illusion, not reality.
Of course, it wasn’t a cheap trick that would be easily detected. It would move appropriately based on the data accumulated over the past 30 minutes. Occasionally stretching, going to the bathroom.
This should minimize the suspicion of the top three disciples. This was also a 3rd-grade common magic, a common secret magic received from the Seongbuk Choi family along with ‘Phantom Shifter.’
-I’ll be back.
-Be careful.
For reference, Chun Yeo-hwa decided to stay here. To maintain the magic’s duration for a long time, I had no choice but to move alone.
Besides, someone had to stay here to deal with unexpected situations.
I passed the top three disciples who were casually standing guard and went up the stairs.
I took a breath and suppressed my presence.
It is said that a master who has reached a certain level can run on a snowfield without leaving a single footprint, but I have not yet reached that level, so I was careful not to leave even the slightest footprint as I headed inside the ancient temple.
Passing through the large gate and going inside, a more magnificent scenery unfolded than what I had seen over the wall.
Dozens of buildings and well-paved streets were like a beautifully manicured small village.
However, no management had been done at all, so the buildings were so old that they looked like they would collapse at any moment, and the streets were full of accumulated dust.
As if not a single breeze had blown for hundreds of years.
‘The investigation team… went to the largest building.’
It was understandable. Since the number of people was limited, it would take too much time to look around all the buildings.
But was the Diamond Divine Monk stupid enough to leave his martial arts manual and elixir, which were more important than his life, in such a place?
‘This place seems good.’
Kneeling on one knee, I placed my palm on the ground and closed my eyes. By blocking vision, I focused on the amount of information coming in through other senses.
[Detection]
The wave of magic power spreading from my palm swept through the underground. If magic detection tells you the location of creatures with magic power within range, detection tells you the shape and structure of terrain and objects.
Of course, its range isn’t that wide.
‘…Found it.’
After dozens of attempts, I found an artificial structure buried about 15M below the ground. It was a kind of dungeon made by modifying a natural cave.
I was almost certain that The Unparalleled Diamond Scripture and the Prajna Divine Pill were there.
‘Is the way down over there?’
There were passages to the underground throughout the ancient temple. I headed to the closest passage.
I arrived at a small building in a secluded place. The inside was completely empty. There was only a rusty Buddha statue and a large table supporting it.
‘The stairs to the underground are under the table.’
I tried to push the table, but it didn’t budge. It seemed to be equipped with some kind of device. But if I broke it, someone might notice the commotion.
I had no choice but to search the inside of the building thoroughly to find something like a switch or lever. But no matter how much I looked, I couldn’t see anything like a switch or lever.
My brow furrowed without me realizing it. In games, such cases often had devices hidden in other buildings. At this rate, I might not be able to find the way down until sunset.
‘…Should I just break it?’
Just as magic power was about to gather in my right hand, something strange caught my eye.
‘By the way, why is only a Buddha statue placed here?’
At first, I didn’t think much of it. Because this is a temple. But the more I thought about it, the more strange it seemed. Buddhism wouldn’t use Buddha statues as decorations, and if this was really a Dharma hall, it would have at least the minimum essentials.
But there’s really nothing here. Just a table and a Buddha statue. There’s no trace of furniture. As if it had never been there in the first place.
That means this place is used for a purpose other than a Dharma hall.
‘…There are traces that only the area around the Buddha statue has been swept.’
It was a trace that I would have missed if I hadn’t looked really closely. I grabbed the Buddha statue, which was covered in dust, and pushed it back. Then, I felt a vibration as if the entire building was shaking.
Drrr-
With the sound of something turning, the entire table was pushed back, and stairs leading to the underground appeared.
“…Mechanism Formation.”
It was clearly high technology in a martial arts novel.
“Ha… If I had known it would open so loudly, I would have broken it earlier.”
Someone might have felt the vibration just now. Feeling impatient, I hurriedly went down to the underground.
Drrrrr!
I hadn’t gone down far when the entrance was blocked with the sound I had heard a little while ago.
‘…Is it an automatic door?’
It’s absurd. I wouldn’t be surprised if automatic turrets came out later.
Shaking my head, I went down to the underground. The high humidity made me feel unpleasant.
***
The underground wasn’t that wide. It was incomparably narrower than the underground dungeon I had gone to last time. The ceiling height seemed to be about 2.5m, and the width was about 2m.
It wasn’t a big problem to walk, but it was an environment where it was difficult to use magic if a battle broke out. If I made a mistake, the ceiling could collapse and I could be buried alive.
[Detection]
As expected, this place was a maze. It was quite complicated too. I could see that I would have suffered a lot if I didn’t have detection magic.
‘Should I use magic detection?’
After hesitating for a moment, I shook my head. Unlike detection, magic detection risked being caught by the elders’ senses above.
It was a little frustrating that I couldn’t use magic detection, but since there was no chance of monsters popping out here anyway, I walked with peace of mind.
‘…A monster wouldn’t come out, would it?’
Hoping that this world wasn’t a mix of cultivation and martial arts, I walked silently. There were no dead ends. That’s because I only chose paths that were open ahead with detection.
I walked for a long time, but the end was not in sight.
10 minutes, 30 minutes, and after about an hour, it became increasingly difficult to maintain Phantom Shifter. The magic consumption was surprisingly large, and it was also because I wasn’t used to it. In addition, since I was activating Hallucination, the magic consumption was doubled.
The consumption rate was faster than the magic recovery rate.
If I meditated, I could recover magic faster while maintaining the magic, but I wanted to refrain from doing such a dangerous thing in a place where safety was not guaranteed.
After hesitating for a while, I finally decided to release Phantom Shifter.
Swish-
When I released the magic, my body appeared in the air. It felt like I had taken off the veil that was covering my body.
At the same time, I raised my vigilance even further.
It had been quite a while since I entered the maze. It wouldn’t be strange if there was someone else in the maze besides me.
‘…Let’s recover as much magic as possible while walking slowly for now.’
20 minutes from now will be enough. I was confident that I wouldn’t lose to anyone in terms of magic recovery speed.
‘Surely I won’t run into someone else in this wide place in just 20 minutes?’
I turned the corner without thinking much.
“Ah.”
“…Huh? O, Oppa?”
I made eye contact with Yoo So-wol, who was sitting on the floor.
‘…I’m screwed.’
