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“Guess I’ll just leave the finding to Cheongwol and Dokgo Seong, they will surely find it. It’s gotta be somewhere around there when we meet later!”

I figured now I’ve got a month to search for the remaining four mountains of the Five Great Mountains.

“First up, Mount Heng!”

So I thought about it and decided to go check out Mount Heng first. After all, you’ve got the Huashan Sect and Hengshan Sect in the other mountains, plus the Shaolin Temple. Since there’s no specific martial sect at Hengshan, it’s likely to be a good starting point.

Mount Heng is located in Shanxi Province and happens to be the northernmost peak of the Five Great Mountains. Typically, the Nine Great Sects set up shop at these famous peaks, but there wasn’t any kind of significant Taoist sect there, and I was curious about the reason behind that.

After half a day of climbing, I found myself at the base of the towering mountain. It was incredibly steep and rugged, almost merciless in its height. With all the gates scattered around, it seemed pretty unlikely any local martial sect would call this place home. Mount Heng, along with Mount Tai, is notorious for its elevation and treacherous terrain, historically valued for military strategy.

Of course, with Mount Heng being listed as a sacred site of Taoism, I expected to see at least a few temples around. However, given the area’s reputation, it was understandable that the atmosphere was a bit tense, and the local populace kept a low profile. While scouring around, I stumbled upon a temple named Hyun Gong Temple.

Inside, I met the abbot and made a donation. After finishing my prayers to the Buddha statue, I got some time for a chat, mostly about whether he had seen the Old Sage of Mount Tai around here.

The abbot seemed to find it unusual, given my tender age and how I hiked all the way up to this temple, but he answered my question anyway.

“Hehe… little hero, you must be a martial artist. The Old Sage does make frequent stops at the main temple or nearby Taoist halls.”

“Is he residing at Mount Heng now?”

“Well… he’s quite elusive, much like a divine dragon, so I can’t say for sure. But you don’t spot him around here often.”

“I see.”

Looks like I might need to do an exhaustive search of the entire Mount Heng after all.

As I continued, I noticed an oddly shaped statue of a giant near the Buddha, which seemed out of place for a Buddhist guardian. I had never seen anything quite like it and couldn’t help but ask.

“What’s that giant over there?”

“Hehe… that’s Pangu.”

“Pangu!!”

I was taken aback.

Pangu is a creation deity from the creation myth, who organized the world from the chaos of the abyss. However, given that this was already way back in history, he was more of a legendary figure than someone you’d typically see worshipped in Taoism or Buddhism. This was my first time encountering such a statue. The abbot beamed at me and explained.

“Pangu was said to be conceived in the cosmic egg, embodying the unity of heaven and earth. He broke the egg and sent the light and pure energy to the heavens, while the heavier and turbid energies formed the earth. To honor his contributions, we include his likeness here in our offerings.”

“Hmm…”

There didn’t seem to be anything problematic with this. While Pangu isn’t worshipped as a deity in Buddhism, he is indeed revered in folk beliefs as a significant figure, so it does make sense that Buddhism in a place like Mount Heng, which is one of the origins of Taoism, would be influenced by him.

I suddenly got curious and fired off another question at the abbot.

“Isn’t there a legend that Pangu died and then created the world, and another that Fuxi and Nüwa are the creators of humanity? Why do multiple creation myths coexist?”

“Hehe… little hero, you sure are interested in myths.”

“I’m just full of questions.”

“Alright then, since this is fate, let me share Mr. Bin’s thoughts with you.”

The abbot seemed pleased, breaking into a hearty laugh.

“To put it simply, it’s somewhat different.”

“In what way is it different?”

“Pangu created the world, while Fuxi and Nüwa created humanity… it only makes sense that the origin of the world predates humanity, right?”

“……”

“The saying of heaven and earth being black and yellow denotes a universe vast and wild; that’s the truth brought forth by Pangu, not the Three Sovereigns.”

Hearing the abbot’s analogy, I nodded.

“That’s a phrase from the Thousand Character Classic.”

“Since you seem to be quite the myth buff, do check out the Heavenly Altar if you have the time.”

“Heavenly Altar?”

“It’s said there used to be a ladder reaching to the heavens. Now it’s a place where Taoists perform ceremonies every three years. The scenery is quite charming too.”

“Thank you.”

“Amitabha…”

The Heavenly Ladder.

As I left the temple, I recalled a tale I had heard earlier from Master Hyuncheon.

[ Fuxi, the creator of the Eight Trigrams, was said to have delivered ‘Fire’ to humanity in primordial times. And fire was delivered via a heavenly ladder built from the Heavenly Tree, meaning it originally came from above.]

It seemed that the Heavenly Ladder had been a means of connecting heaven and earth since ancient times. There seemed to be a direct legacy regarding the Heavenly Ladder around Mount Heng as well. Piecing together the information I’ve gathered, I began to formulate a hypothesis.

‘Wait a minute, could it be that Jeon Wook cut off the communion between heaven and earth by removing the Heavenly Ladder?’

That’s the only conclusion I could come to. Determined to verify my theory, I headed to the Heavenly Altar of Mount Heng.

This place appeared to be frequented by Taoists who stayed in small huts and made use of various facilities. The altar itself was a fairly usual setup, about three times the size of a normal platform. I approached it and looked for anything unusual.

“Hmm, this is…”

Interestingly enough, there was still a statue of Pangu setup at the altar, much like the one I had seen at Hyun Gong Temple. It seemed like Pangu worship was quite widespread in the vicinity of Mount Heng, blending both Buddhism and Taoism. I pondered for a moment before stepping away from the Heavenly Altar.

After about two days of thorough searching through Mount Heng, there was no sign of the Old Sage of Mount Tai. I concluded my search and decided it was time to pick the next mountain of the Five Great Mountains.

“Hmm, if not Mount Heng, then I have to choose between Huashan, Hengshan, and Songshan… ”

Honestly, it was a tough decision. Each of those places had its stronghold established by the Nine Great Sects, making it a precarious place to look for the Old Sage like I did at Mount Heng. If I wasn’t careful, it could blow up into a conflict with the sects.

After much deliberation, I finally decided to tackle Hengshan first, since it seemed the least intimidating compared to the Huashan Sect in Shaanxi or the famous Shaolin Temple from the Nine Great Sects.

Mount Hengshan was located in Hunan Province, often referred to as the Southern Peak. It took me a whole day to reach there from the area, and as I entered with care, I kept an eye out for any onlookers.

‘Seems like the Hengshan Sect’s experts are not around.’

Even the Nine Great Sects don’t control the entire territory of the Five Great Mountains; even the expansive Shaolin Temple only covers about four or five peaks. However, the keen perception and roaming abilities of the high-ranking experts are still something to be wary of.

Mount Hengshan surprisingly had a lot of temples. Wandering around, I suddenly caught a glimpse of a powerful aura and instinctively concealed myself in a thicket.

Hiss!

‘There’s quite a formidable expert here.’

Even while hiding and trying to conceal my breath and qi, I could clearly sense the overwhelming energy! There was definitely a high-ranking expert within a hundred meters of me. Just as I was processing this, that presence seemed to have sensed me too, and then dispersed.

I settled into a half-lotus position in the bushes, realizing I was in a bit of a sticky situation.

That person was likely a Peak Expert after all. I contemplated what to do, ultimately deciding to observe the situation while remaining hidden.

Time passed, and about half a moment later, the other side seemed to grow impatient. A thunderous Lion’s Roar echoed through the air.

[I don’t know who you are, but reveal yourself! I, Jo Jin-ung, the leader of the Hengshan Sect, will face you!]

“……!!”

I was startled, realizing the figure who just leaped onto a rock was Jo Jin-ung, the leader of the Hengshan Sect!

The Eight-Armed Sword Immortal, Jo Jin-ung!

He was a renowned master of swordplay, leading the Hengshan Sect and well-known throughout the region as an invincible Peak Expert. With the name “Eight-Armed,” he was a master of the elusive Illusionary Sword arts, and there was no doubt he had achieved a top-tier mastery in martial arts.

‘What should I do?’

It was nearly impossible to sneak around without catching his attention. Dodging is one thing, but evading the perception of someone like Jo Jin-ung was a huge challenge. It appeared I had rather unlucky stumbled into this Peak Expert who seemed to have been practicing deep within Mount Heng.

I finally made up my mind to leave Mount Heng altogether. Although I wanted to know more about the Hengshan Sect’s swordplay, this wasn’t the time to stir the pot. Pulling out an escape technique from my robe, I made my exit.

Snap!

This time, I found myself headed towards Huashan. I had some prior business to deal with in the area during my last life, so getting there wasn’t hard. I swore to avoid any brushes with Huashan Sect experts this time as I quickly hid myself in the Soul Removal Technique.

‘Hmm? What’s going on?’

After rummaging around Huashan for a day, I began to notice something strange.

“What’s this?”

Despite carefully picking my way through the rugged terrain to avoid drawing attention, I was starting to realize there was an alarming absence of energy signatures around me. There were far fewer signs of human presence compared to when I was in Hengshan. Given how powerful and established Huashan’s sect is, I found it strange.

Curiosity piqued, I set out towards the main stronghold of the Huashan Sect. Before long, I came across what appeared to be a huge Taoist building belonging to the sect. However, something felt off.

“……❓”

No people.

There were no members of the Huashan Sect in sight.

Even though there were buildings, not a single martial artist was going about their business, nor was anyone training inside. It was hard to believe that all of the sect’s members could have possibly left at once. Regardless of the situation, there should have been at least ten people who remained behind to protect the sect. I wondered how I should proceed, feeling uneasy, and finally decided to take a risk and sneak into the main building of the Huashan Sect.

‘If it’s an anomaly, I have to figure out the cause.’

I needed useful intel for my next life move. I dove into the building with my Soul Removal Technique and soon found myself standing in a grand structure that clearly seemed significant—the Treasure Hall of the Huashan Sect.

However, even within the Treasure Hall, there were absolutely no signs of life to be found. In fact, I couldn’t sense any energy signature at all. A chill ran down my spine as I discovered an even stranger facet of this eerie silence.

“……!!”

There were no signs of animals or even insects; not a single tiny presence was detectable!

The place appeared normal at first glance, yet it had become a desolate wasteland of death. It felt as though all life had been completely eradicated in this domain. Even the typical rats or bugs that should have been circulating around were utterly absent.

What on earth had happened here?

‘There are no signs of battle.’

If a foreign force had attacked and wiped out the Huashan Sect, there should have been some evidence of that, like destruction or bloodshed. No expert could possibly clean up without leaving a trace. Absolutely nothing indicated a struggle had taken place, and the absence of even the slightest trace of plant and animal life was baffling.

As I roamed about the Huashan sect’s building, I discovered various facilities where disciples would normally sleep and dine. Even swords and weapons were neatly arranged. I decided to probe even further into the internal spaces that seemed likely to house influential figures like the leader or elders.

‘There’s something here.’

Deep inside the Treasure Hall. The wooden floor was suffused with incense, yet I could barely notice it due to the overwhelming and ominous energy that permeated the area. As I summoned Thunder Energy to create a glowing sphere for illumination, I pushed deeper inside.

And then, finally, I came across something bizarre.

“An egg?”

Gurgle…

Grrrrr…

Strange noises reverberated from this egg-like structure, but it didn’t resemble the regular hard shells you’d see with ordinary birds. It looked more akin to leather. The troubling part was that this egg was easily twice the size of an average adult man.

Whatever this egg is, it’s definitely linked to the massive disappearance of the Huashan Sect’s martial artists. As I leaned in closer to investigate, strange sounds erupted from the dark recess.

Skreeee!

Grrrraaargh!!

With the bizarre sounds, shadows of people began to lurch and stumble into view from the dark corners. Judging by their clothes, they were indeed members of the Huashan Sect, likely trapped here. As I tried to approach and speak with them, my eyes widened in shock.

“……!!”

They had tentacles writhing from their mouths, their scalps peeling back to reveal exposed brain matter, and their eyes rolling around wildly. No one would look at those beings and say they were still ‘human.’ Realizing they were the Plum Blossom Sword Masters the Huashan Sect prided themselves on, I was astounded.

‘The Plum Blossom Sword Masters have turned into this and couldn’t even escape?’

As I watched, the mad and crazed Plum Blossom Sword Masters began to slowly surround me, readying themselves in battle positions, hinting they still had knowledge of martial arts. The formation they were employing was certainly the renowned Plum Blossom Sword Formation used throughout Jianghu.

In that instant, I was sure of one thing.

The Huashan Sect had been annihilated by an Otherworldly Race!

 

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