CHAPTER 84

Tohamsan was a sacred mountain, just like Cheonwisan and Sungmusan.

Since the distant days of the Silla Dynasty, it had been revered as a guardian mountain, a spiritual stronghold of the nation.

Even during the Great War, when countless mystical lands were defiled and destroyed, Gyeongju suffered remarkably little damage.

It was to the point where the entire Gyeongsang Province regarded it as a refuge in times of crisis.

Although much of its spiritual energy had been depleted in modern times due to the meddling of sorcerers, the land still harbored powerful ley lines overflowing with energy.

Having finished my preparations to enter the mountain, I turned to Valerie and gave my farewell.

"You heading out?"

As always, Valerie had a cigarette hanging from her lips.

Adjusting the large backpack strapped to my shoulders, I nodded.

"This is what I came here for, after all. Thank you for everything, Valerie."

"Before you go... won't you tell me how you tricked me in that Three Questions game?"

"Didn't you say you'd figure it out on your own?"

"Tch." Valerie clicked her tongue in annoyance.

"Ugh, you're such a little punk..."

Muttering under her breath, Valerie hesitated for a moment before letting out a quiet sigh.

"Be careful. Tohamsan is dangerous in a lot of ways."

"I know. It may be a sacred mountain, but it's special — and not always in a good way."

Tohamsan was indeed a sacred mountain.

But just as Cheonwisan and Sungmusan each had their differences, not every sacred mountain was overflowing purely with spiritual energy.

Valerie nodded at my words.

"This land is complicated in a lot of ways. In fact, it's not the mountain itself, but the areas where people live that are most heavily saturated with energy. And to balance that out... well, naturally, there has to be a place where negative energy gathers."

Nature always seeks balance.

If a place brimming with human life was filled with yang energy, then somewhere nearby, there had to exist a land steeped in yin energy.

"Stay away from the ruins if you can help it. You might get entangled with spirits, and if you end up cursed, don't expect to break it easily."

True to Gyeongju's legacy as a city of history, Tohamsan was littered with abandoned relics and ancient sites.

They were all of great historical importance, but the dangers of the mountain and the mystical properties of those ruins had left them largely neglected.

"I thought Bulguksa Temple still performs regular purification rituals there?"

"There's a rumor going around lately... one of the disciples from Bulguksa went missing. Some say it's monsters. Whatever it is, things have been unsettling around here — so just stay sharp."

There were no gates or dungeons in Gyeongju.

Such anomalies — the products of imbalance — wouldn't appear in a place like this, where the flow of magical and spiritual energy was so carefully regulated.

Let alone in an area far removed from danger zones or unexplored territories.

It was likely that the mountain's peculiar nature had stirred fear among civilians, fueling wild rumors and ghost stories.

Even after that, Valerie's nagging didn't stop.

But more importantly...

"Valerie... are you worried about me?"

"W-What? W-Worried? Who's worried about a brat like you? Ha! I should just go out and enjoy the nice weather today. Hmph."

She turned away sharply and began whistling.

For someone who was a genius in countless fields, her sense of pitch and rhythm was utterly atrocious.

"Alright then. I'll be off."

"Huh? 'Off' as in you'll come back?"

Valerie tilted her head, confused.

I gave her a faint smile.

"I'll stop by after I'm done. It's not like I'd leave without saying goodbye when it's this close. I'll even bring you some fried chicken."

With a light chuckle, I stepped out of the workshop.

From behind, I could see Valerie waving her hands exaggeratedly.

***

I climbed the mountain, surrounded by the unmistakable scent of thick mana.

If Cheonwisan had been brimming with holy, vibrant energy, then Tohamsan was filled with a gloomy, ominous atmosphere.

It felt as though even sunlight struggled to reach this place.

Among all the sacred mountains I had encountered, this was the first to exude such a chilling aura. It felt more like a dungeon than a mountain.

"Whew..."

It had been about an hour since I entered Tohamsan.

And yet, I still hadn't found the entrance to the tomb. I wandered aimlessly through the mountain.

'Not here either, huh.'

Scanning the ground with my Mystic Eye, I stood up again.

'Just like Valerie said... the terrain has changed far more than I expected.'

When the stone tablet had been deciphered, Valerie warned me not to trust the map entirely.

When I asked why, she answered with her usual arrogance.

— "That map was made over a thousand years ago. No matter how powerful the ley lines are, with that much time, things are bound to change."

While the stone tablet had given me the general location of the former clan leader's tomb, there was nothing at the marked site.

So, I had no choice but to search the surrounding area, scanning the ground with my Mystic Eye.

— "At least you have the map to give you a rough idea. Use that Mystic Eye of yours."

By now, I had grown quite skilled in using it.

I alternated between the map and the visible flow of mana, carefully searching every nook and cranny.

'It may have been a brutish method of training...'

But I could feel how much my mastery over the Mystic Eye had improved.

If I'd tried to use it this extensively back at Cheonwisan, I would've been exhausted by now.

Thanks to my improved control, I didn't even feel the usual side effects — no headaches, not even the usual strain behind my eyes.

Another hour passed.

That's when I sensed it — a strange current in the flow of mana.

I followed it.

And soon arrived at a place that, at a glance, looked utterly ordinary.

Jagged rocks jutted out from the ground at odd angles, and the forest floor was thick with fallen leaves.

But with my Mystic Eye activated, the scene before me looked very different.

Shhhk.

The natural energy flowing through the mountain momentarily stalled here — just for an instant — before resuming its path.

It was a subtle current, so faint that even the heightened instincts of the Soongmuiga bloodline wouldn't have caught it.

Found it.

I shrugged off the heavy backpack weighing down my shoulders and began scanning the area.

That's when I saw them — strange, unfamiliar symbols carved into the surfaces of the protruding stones.

Slowly, I began to draw up my mana.

Aura Skill — Wave.

In an instant, a ripple of energy pulsed out from me in concentric circles, blasting away the leaves and branches that had been cluttering the area.

And there they were — the stones arranged like an ancient altar.

It was an unusual sight, sure — but nothing entirely impossible to find in the wilderness.

Yet through my Mystic Eye, I could clearly see the engraved patterns etched into their surfaces — markings no ordinary eye could decipher.

To an untrained observer, they would have looked like nothing more than random lines and dots. Meaningless.

But to me... it was clear.

"Found it."

I pulled out the stone tablet I'd been carrying and began comparing the markings.

When I traced the lines and dots carved into the stones, they connected — perfectly — to the constellations inscribed on the tablet.

This is it — the Sealed Gate.

Each of these twelve stones served as a cornerstone of the seal.

And now, the tablet would serve its true purpose — as a key.

The astral map etched into the tablet not only mapped out the dragon veins and ley lines of the nation — it also corresponded to the human mana circuit.

All I had to do now was circulate my mana into the stones, following the order of the constellations carved into them.

Starting with the one in the north... clockwise.

I placed my hand on the stone at the twelve o'clock position and began to channel my mana into it.

Wuuuumm...

The stone drank in my mana like a sponge.

This is...

Oppressive.

I was only infusing mana into a single stone, yet the drain was staggering.

It took me over ten minutes of steady output before I could finally lift my hand away.

Wuuuuuumm.

The stone, now saturated with mana, began to emit a soft, radiant glow.

Wiping the sweat from my brow, I cast my gaze across the other stones.

I lost count of how many times I had to pause and recover from near mana depletion.

By the time I finished injecting mana into the twelfth and final stone, the sun had long since dipped beyond the horizon.

"This is it... the last one."

I squeezed out every last drop of mana I had left.

BOOM.

That was when it happened.

A deep rumble echoed out from the twelve glowing stones.

KWAAAAAAAAHH!

And then — like a tidal wave — a storm of mana came crashing down.

What the hell—?!

I hastily reached for my backpack, slinging it over my shoulder as I crouched low, bracing against the torrent.

This wasn't wind — it was like being caught in a violent current, an overwhelming flood of raw energy far exceeding what I had poured into the stones.

How is this even possible...?

For a moment, I was stunned — but then realization dawned.

That strange flow of mana I'd sensed when I first arrived...

This seal had been storing the mountain's natural mana — for who knows how long.

All the mana I had injected was nothing more than a catalyst — the lubricant to set this ancient mechanism in motion.

WHOOSH.

And then — I was swallowed by the surge.

In an instant, everything went dark.

The boundary between myself and the world blurred. Sound and touch became distant, muffled.

And then—

THUD.

It felt like something yanked me down — and I was slammed against the ground.

"Khak—! Haaah... Haaah..."

I gasped for air, choking on the force of the impact.

It took a long while — heaving breath after breath — before I could finally steady myself and gather my senses.

"I thought I was dead…"

It wasn't until I staggered to my feet that I could finally take in my surroundings.

The world around me was silent — engulfed in deep, oppressive darkness.

The air was clean enough, but it didn't feel like I was breathing properly.

'I can't see a damn thing.'

I'd burned through nearly all of my mana — I couldn't even activate my Mystic Sight.

Worse yet, I couldn't sense any notable presence nearby either.

'I should've packed a portable lantern.'

I rummaged through my battered backpack, eventually pulling out a lantern and flicking it on.

The light spilled out — revealing a structure that looked as though it had been built from pristine white stone bricks.

That… was the entrance to the tomb.

Flanking either side of the entrance stood a pair of bronze guardian statues — Inwang figures — crafted so intricately they looked ready to spring to life at any moment.

'No way anyone would mistake this for an ancient tomb…'

If the academic world ever caught wind of this place, all hell would break loose.

Raising the lantern, I inspected the entrance more closely.

That's when I spotted an inscribed stone tablet.

It was a maejimun — a land-purchase inscription, declaring that this plot of earth had been ritually bought from the god of the land to be used as a burial site.

The characters were in archaic script, but the vocabulary was simple enough to decipher without much trouble.

'If a sorcerer saw this, they'd probably start foaming at the mouth.'

This tablet alone was a valuable artifact with immense ritual significance.

More than that — it wasn't just dealing with minor spirits or petty gods. This was direct communication with the deity of the land itself.

For any sorcerer specializing in earth-based magic or spirit communion, this tablet would be more valuable than any other ritual tool.

"I found the right place."

Right beside the maejimun, I found another inscribed stone.

It read:

Yi Hyangseon, Martial King of the Yi Clan.

Passed away at the age of 122, and rests here for eternity.

Followed by…

"Hm…"

The middle portion was far harder to interpret.

It was written in a style of classical Chinese predating the Northern and Southern Dynasties.

I'd studied ancient script for situations like this, but that didn't mean I was fluent in every dialect across all eras.

'Hm?'

As I continued reading, my brow furrowed.

What was written here… was not something that belonged on a gravestone honoring the dead.

All living and dead who seek to enter — turn back.

Beyond this point lies only darkness.

I even re-read it to make sure I hadn't misinterpreted it.

This wasn't a typical epitaph — it was more like a warning sign.

'If they went out of their way to leave a warning like this… why leave the stone at all?'

For that matter, I couldn't understand why they'd go through all this trouble to hide the tomb in the first place.

'Is there something inside…?'

Focusing the little mana I'd recovered, I forced open my Mystic Sight.

Crackle!

"Argh!"

A sharp pain stabbed through my eyes.

It wasn't because I saw too much.

It was because I couldn't see anything.

It felt like slamming into an enormous, invisible wall — pain radiated through me, but I couldn't sense a single trace of energy beyond it.

'…This is a first.'

I racked my brain for everything I knew about this tomb from my past life.

Back then, when this tomb was unearthed, I'd already been a virtual outsider to the clan — I didn't know all the details.

What I did know was that this tomb had been excavated, and records related to Heugya (the Dark Night) and the clan's progenitor had been discovered inside.

'Now that I think about it… even after the excavation, my eldest brother went to great lengths to keep this place hidden. Any records unrelated to Heugya were classified and sealed away.'

Was it out of guilt for disturbing our ancestor's eternal rest?

No. If that were the case, he wouldn't have revealed the tomb's discovery at all.

Then why go through the trouble of excavating it, only to keep everything under wraps?

This was the tomb of the second-generation clan leader — a key piece of history tied to the early days of the Sungmu Yi Clan.

It would've been a massive boon for him to publicize this during the clan leader succession dispute.

'But for someone like my eldest brother… this kind of half-baked information control…'

This was the sort of move he'd only make if he were setting a trap.

And if there was a trap…

'Then there's definitely something in here.'

My doubts were stacking on top of each other.

One way or another — I'd find out once I went inside.

Slowly, I began walking toward the entrance.

And then—

Screeeeeech…!

A sound like metal scraping against metal echoed through the tomb entrance — sharp enough to raise goosebumps across my skin.

Thud!

A heavy, echoing vibration followed.

I turned my head to the side of the entrance.

Something… was there.

[T/L: Read extra chapters on my ko-fi page "Pokemon1920" : https://ko-fi.com/pokemon1920 ]