Childhood Friend of the Zenith

It was a dark path, devoid of light.

The only noise breaking the silence was the splash of puddles beneath my feet as I stepped forward.

I attempted to illuminate the path with my flames, but ironically, they provided no light at all.

It seemed like some special power was blocking all light sources.

“What is this?”

“I can’t see anything, huh?”

It seemed like the Water Dragon also couldn’t see anything.

How long have we been walking?

Was this even the right path to the secret vault?

Why are secret vaults I visit so annoying like this?

I’d dealt with this before in the Golden Sky Yeon Clan’s vault, and now it was happening again.

I wasn’t even sure if this was a vault at all, since all we did was break through the Formation somewhere in the Heavenly Dragon Academy.

“I didn’t get to ask yet, but what are we looking for?”

The Water Dragon spoke up. Took him long enough.

“What do you mean by ‘we’, I’m the one looking for it.”

“Isn’t it a bit unfair for you to set a boundary now?”

The Water Dragon spoke with a chuckle.

He didn’t bother asking how I knew about this place, why I was going, or what my goal even was. The bastard had always been like this.

He’d jump straight into anything that caught his interest, never bothering to understand it first.

If nothing intrigued him, he’d look half-dead from sheer boredom.

He either looks sleepy or lazy.

The problem is that he barely gets interested in anything.

His nickname is the Sleepy Dragon for a reason.

To be honest, I was more familiar with his current look rather than his other demeanor.

Splat.

Hmm.

As I ventured further, it felt like the ground was becoming even wetter.

What is this?

Was it even water?

I lowered my body and touched it, it felt like water.

It was clear and odorless.

I didn’t have the balls to taste it, so I concluded that it was water for now.

I was just a little bit curious about why the water was flowing here, and where it came from.

After walking for what felt like an eternity,

“Hmm.”

“I see the end.”

A faint light appeared at the end of the long path.

It seemed like that was the end of it.

Thank goodness, it wasn’t that deep of a basement.

As I continued toward the light, I glanced around.

How far did we come down?

I couldn’t quite tell, but it certainly felt longer than I anticipated.

Is it because of the distortion of space?

It could be the Formation making it feel this way.

When I went through the Golden Sky Yeon Clan’s vault, the path had felt unnaturally long too.

This too must have been the same phenomenon.

…I can’t believe a Formation is capable of such a thing…

Setting that aside, I was curious.

I couldn’t help but wonder who could have set up such an advanced Formation.

Also, what do I do about this guy?

I was concerned about the Water Dragon trailing behind me.

If this path really led to the secret vault, then could I really bring the Water Dragon with me?

That might be a bit of a problem.

Maybe not?

Maybe I could offer him something in there to keep his mouth shut?

At that thought, I shook my head.

But why would I give it to him?

If I find it, it’s mine. Why should I share?

I think it’d just be best for me to knock him out for now and go by myself.

If he even thinks about telling anyone later, I could just put a Shackle on him.

We are friends, after all.

Friends weren’t necessarily meant for things like this, but I’m sure he’ll understand.

Now that I think about it…

That bastard was like this in the Frontlines back in my past life.

-You fucker…! I told you not to put a Shackle!

-If you don’t like it, then break out of it.

Whenever I tried to go into dangerous areas, he’d slap a Shackle on me and force me to stay behind.

I knew his intention, but I was rather infuriated since I was forced to stay behind.

Moreover, the Shackle I use was actually made by the Water Dragon.

Though he created it much later in the future.

He’ll break out of the Shackle even if I put it on him.

Even if it was my own version, he was the one who made it originally, so I’m sure he’ll break out of it.

Though of course, it’ll take him a long time.

So I guess I should first knock him out and-

Just as I was about to ambush him…

Thud.

“Hmm?”

Slam, slam!

The Water Dragon swung his fist through the air, yet it made a loud noise.

“What are you doing?”

I asked, noticing something was off.

[ Oh, we are fucked. ]

The Water Dragon responded with a hollow smile.

His response made my eyes widen.

I understood what was briefly happening.

A second Formation?

They put a Formation inside a Formation?’

If so,

Then how was I able to walk through it just now?

It seemed like either only one person could pass, or there was some other mechanism at play, but I had no way of knowing.

…I know nothing when it comes to Formations.

In the end, I had to ask the Water Dragon in front of me.

[ Can you not break through? Do what you did last time. ]

It seemed even the sound was blocked, so I had to mouth my words to him.

Talking to him telepathically didn’t work either.

The Water Dragon gave me a speechless look after reading my lips.

[ You think it’s that easy? ]

[ It seemed easy to me. ]

[ How about you try it then? ]

[ If I knew how to do such a thing, would I have brought you all the way here? ]

[ … ]

Ha.

I couldn’t hear it, but I knew the Water Dragon was laughing in disbelief.

Tap, tap.

I tried hitting the wall that prevented the Water Dragon from entering.

It didn’t seem that thin.

Then…

[ Back off a little. ]

[ Hmm? ]

After saying that…

Swoosh-!

[ …! ]

I clenched my fist tightly.

The Water Dragon stepped back in shock.

He noticed what I was about to do.

I then immediately twisted my hips and swung my fist towards the barrier,

Slaaam-!

As my fist made contact, a monstrous sound echoed, and the ground began to shake.

Pitter-patter.

Judging by how dust fell from the ceiling, it seemed like there was an impact for sure.

[ It didn’t break. ]

But the barrier remained.

Judging by this, it seemed impossible to break it by sheer strength.

[ You are crazy, you really thought hitting it was a good idea? ]

The Water Dragon’s shocked reaction was a rare sight.

What was wrong with it?

[ We should first see if it’s possible to break it. ]

[ …If you knew a little more about Formations, you wouldn’t have chosen such a crazy idea. Especially with a Formation at this level, we need to be more careful. ]

[ I told you earlier, didn’t I? I wouldn’t have brought you here if I knew anything about them. ]

Tap, tap.

I tapped the barrier again, but it didn’t even crack.

It didn’t work.

There was only one reason I wanted to test my strength against the wall.

It wasn’t because I wanted to bring the Water Dragon with me after breaking it.

If it doesn’t break with this much force, then that bastard won’t be able to break it.

I was just testing to see if the barrier was strong enough to stop the Water Dragon from entering.

If it broke with this much force, then the Water Dragon would’ve easily been able to enter as well.

[ Can you not do what you did last time? ]

Just like earlier when the Water Dragon used his trick to break through the Formation, I asked if he was able to do it again, but he shook his head in response.

[ I can’t. I don’t hear anything. This is a different formation than the last one. ]

I wondered what kind of a crazy person could hear anything from a Formation, but I couldn’t argue, he really could do it.

[ …So you can’t enter it, huh? ]

He nodded.

It seemed like I could just leave him here, then.

After realizing my thought, the Water Dragon suddenly sat down on the ground.

Isn’t the ground filled with water though…?

[ What are you doing? ]

[ This is better than you knocking me out, so I’ll just be waiting here. ]

I had to hide my shock after hearing him.

That bastard… He knew I planned to knock him out.

How sharp of him.

But it was better for me, since he was going to wait for me without me having to do anything.

[ Can’t you just wait outside though? ]

I asked, puzzled, but the Water Dragon glanced back the way we came before answering.

[ I can’t leave. ]

[ What? ]

[ It’s blocked, for now. ]

I tilted my head upon hearing his response.

The entrance is blocked? As I processed the shock, the Water Dragon continued.

[ It’ll open once again after you do something inside. That’s how this type of Formation works. ]

I heard his explanation, and it felt like the situation was becoming stranger as time went by.

How much time do I have?

The Sword Queen must be stalling the Qinghai Sword right now.

I was already on borrowed time, but now I had to complete something inside.

What a shitty situation this was.

…Fine, I never had good luck anyway.

It wasn’t just once or twice that things had gone wrong due to my bad luck.

I had to give it a shot, so I left the Water Dragon behind and ventured further in.

I was concerned about the Water Dragon who was left alone, but I couldn’t do anything about it since he wasn’t able to leave or follow me.

I had to first go further inside.

That was the only solution to this, after all.

Splat.

The sound of puddles continued to echo, growing louder as I approached the door.

It felt like the water level was getting deeper.

It’s all the way up to my thighs.

The water had only been at my ankles before, but now it was all the way up to my thighs.

I had to learn what this liquid was.

As far as I knew, there wasn’t any lake around the Heavenly Dragon Academy.

Was it some kind of groundwater?

With that thought, I made my way closer to the door.

Inside…

I couldn’t see what lay beyond.

Was this because of the Formation too?

I reached out with my hand.

Woong.

When my hand touched the entrance, it caused a ripple.

My hand passed through the entrance without touching anything solid.

It seemed like there wasn’t another Formation here.

One strange thing though,

It feels like I’m entering through water.

The sensation of entering through this door felt as if I was going through water, so it didn’t feel the best.

Woong.

I fully stepped through the entrance.

Thankfully, the uncomfortable sensation vanished as soon as I was through.

Shine.

Upon entering, I had to close my eyes for a moment against the sudden brightness.

It only took a few seconds for my eyes to adjust before I forced them open.

“…!”

The sight inside was so shocking it made me gasp.

What is this?

Root.

A massive tree root was covering the entire room.

It wasn’t dark like the path I came from.

Because of that, it felt strange that I was able to see everything.

…There isn’t even a torch.

There was nothing in the room to light it up, so why was it so bright?

Moreover,

The water…?

The water from the outside hadn’t seeped into this room.

Something was strange here.

This is.

Feeling uneasy, I splashed some water with my foot.

Then,

“…!’

It looked like water droplets were splashing for a second, but it stopped midair.

Is this perhaps?

It was the same sensation I’d felt before.

I recalled when it happened last—it was in Henan, just like this time.

Though that was further away, in Shaolin.

This was the same sensation I felt when I met the hero of the past, a friend of Elder Shin, the Light of Might, Cheolyoung.

That eerie sensation of time coming to a halt.

It felt just like back then.

Does that mean,

That this place also relates to them?

I wasn’t certain, but this was far too rare to be a coincidence, so it was a reasonable assumption.

It appeared that time was only frozen within this room.

How is the room like?

Unlike the path where water reached my thighs, this room had only shallow puddles that barely touched my feet, there were mysterious cloth covering objects.

Judging by this,

It seems like this is a secret vault after all.

How could it not be a secret vault, looking like this?

Besides, the Golden Sky Yeon Clan’s secret vault had nothing but a giant snake, and they still called it a vault.

Furthermore, the cloth coverings were clean, as if they hadn’t been here long.

Could it be because time is frozen here?

Nice.

This wasn’t bad at all.

It meant that the condition of treasures here were most likely in good condition.

After calming myself down, I moved closer to the covered objects.

I wasn’t able to bring all of them back with me, so I had to choose what was needed.

What was needed.

What I need, huh?

I likely needed rare herbs to strengthen myself, but without knowing what was here, I had to take a closer look.

…If time’s frozen here, does that mean I have time to spare?

It might be possible, but I couldn’t know what was happening outside, so I couldn’t afford to waste any time.

Was it like this back then too?

When the Heavenly Demon found this place in my past life, I don’t remember it feeling like this.

Just what happened here between the time I found this place, to when the Heavenly Demon found this place?

I didn’t know.

I also need to find what the Sword Queen asked for.

What was it again?

The Stone of Mount Hua?

I didn’t know what it looked like, but she said it was Mount Hua’s treasure.

I wasn’t sure why the Sword Queen believed it was here, but did that mean her goal was to retrieve Mount Hua’s treasure from this place?

If I thought about it that way, it totally seems valid.

Though it was still hard to be certain.

The Sword Queen didn’t seem like someone who’d go this far for a treasure.

What even is a treasure anyway.

It may have been a symbol of one, but it was still just an object in the end.

Though it’s not exactly like that if I thought about the Thunder Fang…

Some treasures directly aided martial artists, while others were more symbolic.

The treasure I delivered to Mount Hua, or the one back in my clan, were examples of that.

I shouldn’t be judging, considering I snuck in here searching for treasure myself.

I didn’t feel great about it; it was like I’d become a thief.

Wait, maybe I actually had.

But no one owns this place, so whatever.

I decided to think about it that way.

Better I take them than the Heavenly Dragon finding them later.

First, I need to check what’s even here.

I reached out to the nearest object.

I need to first take off the cloth to see what it is after all.

Right as I was about to grab the cloth,

-Stop.

Pause.

A voice sounded from behind me.

It was a heavy deep voice.

I immediately flowed my Qi and turned around towards the voice that came from behind.

“…!”

A figure stood there, one I hadn’t noticed until now.

Wait…

…Could I even call this a person?

More accurately, it was a human-shaped figure.

It was difficult to consider it human since the figure was half-transparent.

…What is this, a ghost?

As I was shaking my body in fear, the mysterious creature in front of me started to speak.

-What… are you?

They appeared to be just over thirty, with golden hair that reminded me of Wi Seol-Ah.

Judging by their hardened physique, it seemed like they were a close combat martial artist like me.

This meant that they weren’t ordinary person.

The man with golden hair had a strange expression as he stared at me.

Who am I?

“…I should be the one asking you that.”

I was more curious than him.

What was he?

Just as I debated whether to ready myself for a fight, the man spoke again.

-You are…

After observing me closely, he spoke with a cold gaze.

-Not Shincheol.

A familiar name came out of his mouth.

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