Monochrome Sovereign [EN]: Chapter 603

Dark Tomb Ghost Gate.

This was the shadow of the Tang family, a symbol of immorality that should never be known to the outside world.

In the past, the Tang clan had committed many acts worthy of moral condemnation to enhance the effects of poison and hidden weapons.

A prime example would be human experimentation. They constantly researched and studied how certain poisons acted on the human body, how long it took for poisoning to occur, and what differed from person to person based on their constitution.

Hundreds of years ago, the Tang family was so obsessed with power. To make their family flourish, they gave up being human.

However, that history ended with the eighteenth family head.

Power was important, but they believed that building a reputation through such immoral acts was not good. Beyond that, they ended the experiments because they were not something a human should do in the first place.

However, even the family head could not stop such a thing on his own. He had to be mindful of his predecessors.

Ultimately, the compromise was to give those who had committed crimes a choice between punishment and experimentation.

More than half of them volunteered to be on the experiment table. After all, rotting in the Tang family’s prison was not living, and the families of those who went to the experiment table were guaranteed a comfortable life.

Of course, those who committed serious crimes did not have such a choice. They were unconditionally used as test subjects.

It was also a time when the Tang family’s laws became even stricter.

The stricter, sharper, and more severe the laws, the easier it was to punish even minor mistakes. It meant that criminals could be easily sent to the experiment table.

The Dark Tomb Ghost Gate was created in that way.

The Dark Tomb Ghost Gate was a place where those who survived the experiment table and had outstanding abilities or talents were gathered.

However, such methods were bound to have side effects.

Tang Hyeong’s predecessors loosened the family laws and did not put anyone into the experiment pit unless they truly deserved to die.

The current Dark Tomb Ghost Gate was a place teeming with survivors among the test subjects who had committed capital crimes.

Survivors were guaranteed a future just by successfully enduring certain experiments. The Tang family was changing in that way.

However.

Tang Hyeong’s predecessors did not know their psychology.

How much murderous intent and anger those who lived like livestock, having lost their future in a hell they could never escape, endured each day.

They tried to escape the Ghost Gate, and to do so, they created all sorts of poison techniques and hidden weapon techniques, as well as formations and mechanical arrays.

Creating them was their freedom, but it was only a matter of time before such results were reported to the Tang family’s leadership. The sum of those techniques was once again returned to the Tang family.

The accumulating evil deeds, the techniques that bloomed in the mud of malice, and the terrifying family that extracted those techniques and guaranteed a slightly better life.

The Ghost Gate was the shadow of the Tang family.

‘Could it be that they even awakened the Ghost Gate?!’

The ghosts in the shadows began to roam the earth.

Tang Hyeong could tell. His senses, which were becoming more sensitive as time passed, could feel the deathly energy emanating from the Ghost Gate’s bizarre formation flickering near the family head’s residence.

Crack!

Tang Hyeong’s fist clenched.

‘Ho-ah.’

Tang Hyeong recalled. His conversation with the master of the Ghost Gate.

A conversation he had when he was young and fearless, with his uncle who had become the master of the Ghost Gate.

‘Forget the past. If you all intend to be imprisoned in the dungeon, I will seal the Ghost Gate in my generation.’

‘Heh heh heh, this little brat has become the family head and now speaks quite plausibly.’

‘You are all serious criminals. But I don’t want any more shadows in this family. However, I cannot just let you go freely, so if you live in the dungeon for the rest of your lives, reflecting on your sins…’

‘You’ve come to make a ridiculous deal. We are free enough. Why would we go to the dungeon when we can vent our hatred and anger as much as we want here?’

‘……’

‘Maybe. If you guarantee complete freedom, I will give you the hidden techniques.’

‘Do you want to die?’

‘You crazy bastard! Do you think there are people here who are afraid of death?’

‘……’

‘Everyone here is a dead man who has already experienced death several times. Threats to kill us won’t work.’

‘……’

‘Well, that’s enough. I’m not afraid, but I still have a lot to do. But remember this one thing. If it’s not me, the next one, or the one after that, might overturn the Tang family.’

‘I’m sorry, but that won’t happen.’

‘Don’t be so confident, young one. Even when the sun sets, the shadows don’t disappear. The moment the darkness reaches its peak and even the moonlight disappears, the Tang family will be devoured by the Ghost Gate.’

‘……’

‘Get lost. You’re just like your father’s son, just looking at your face makes me want to throw up.’

‘Your souls will wander here even after death and then disappear.’

‘That’s what I wish for. How can I go to the afterlife with such resentment?’

‘We will never see each other again.’

‘Hahahaha!’

The detailed conversation was not remembered.

However, the last laughter, the laughter of his uncle, who was the master of the Ghost Gate at the time of the rebellion, still echoed vividly in his ears.

‘No way.’

Tang Hyeong felt his legs twitch.

‘The Ghost Gate must not be opened, no matter what.’

No one was unaware of the horror of the Ghost Gate.

People who were normal in everyday life, once they committed a crime and entered the Ghost Gate, created mysterious techniques as if they had been waiting for it. In fact, many of the poison and hidden weapon techniques of the time were based on the techniques of the Ghost Gate.

But the most terrifying of them were the formations and mechanical arrays they created.

The formations they created were the worst things that made it impossible to distinguish between reality and illusion. There were more than five formations that even Tang Hyeong, who was on the verge of reaching the Limitless Realm [a high level of martial arts mastery] at the time, said he was not confident he could escape.

A terrible anguish was etched on Tang Hyeong’s face.

‘Ghost Gate.’

Tang Ho’s face came to mind.

The face of his second son, who had come to celebrate his birthday with a hesitant expression.

The back of his son, who was sad but somehow relieved, and who was relieved that he thought he had completely fooled his father, came to mind.

‘This family…’

The time when he was exchanging harsh words with Tang Gwan also came to mind.

The day they glared at each other under the moonlight, shouting as if they would kill each other.

The immature prince seen in the eyes of the monarch who created the past and the present, and the stubborn former king seen in the eyes of the passionate monarch who knew his current shortcomings and was trying to move forward into the future.

A clumsy father and son who were so similar to each other that they could not do anything about it.

‘……’

Tang Hyeong closed his eyes.

‘It’s my fault.’

Was it because his son could not properly take over the family business that this mess happened?

No.

He, as a parent, as the former family head, should have given strength to the new family head. He should have trusted his reign and his talent.

If he had, the father-son relationship would not have been broken like this.

If he had, more people would have trusted and followed the new family head, his son.

‘It’s all my fault.’

Everything was twisted by one fight.

That one fight was repeatedly layered and became the immoral history of the Tang family.

And this ghost-ridden history was now trying to receive the blood debt of resentment, not from himself, but from his children.

Suddenly, Tang Hyeong recalled the words of a bold young man who was the leader of the Murim Alliance’s Yu Gun unit [a special forces unit within the martial arts alliance].

‘Don’t use the hollow words of family tradition and laws as an excuse to ignore reality!’

Flash!

Once again, finally, once again.

And now.

Tang Hyeong’s eyes opened.

Srrrrrr.

As if a sandcastle that had been built up was collapsing.

The old hut where he had lived for a long time was crumbling little by little from the roof.

Whoosh!

The stones that had been shattered by the hot wind turned into dust and scattered.

Woo-oong!

From the dantian [an energy center in the body] that had been sealed for a long time, the demon that had become a giant stone statue slowly raised its head.

Kugugugung!

It was as if a mountain was collapsing.

The Emperor’s Poison Scripture, which he had completed himself. The Emperor’s Poison Art (帝王毒功), which was created by combining the poison arts scattered throughout the world and the groups that argued for the best in the world, was stretching.

Crack! Crack!

Under Tang Hyeong’s feet.

Cracks began to spread across the solid ground.

Piiing! Piiing!

The golden ropes that had been protecting this large area could not withstand the heavy Emperor’s aura and were breaking wildly.

Woo-oong!! Woo-oong!!

The true energy that rose from the lower dantian passed through the middle dantian and vertically broke through to the upper dantian.

Flash!

Tang Hyeong’s pupils burst with golden light.

It was the manifestation of the Golden Heavenly Divine Eye (禁天神眼), which only those who had mastered the Emperor’s Poison Art could obtain.

Whoosh!

Tang Hyeong, who had thrown off all the restrictions he had placed on himself.

From his body, which had been like an old man, an overwhelming majesty that seemed to shake the world was emitted in an instant.

The burning golden true energy. The golden true energy that emitted a faint greenish smoke was like a cheer celebrating the Emperor’s decision.

Thud!

When he lifted his foot and placed it back on the ground, the earth was surprised and held its breath.

The complete opening of the Emperor’s Poison Art, the reappearance of the Dark King Tang Hyeong.

Tang Hyeong waved his hand.

Kwa kwa kwang!

As if a fire bomb had been planted under the ground.

With a terrifying explosion, the cave, whose entrance had been wide open, began to collapse entirely.

The power, deployment, and flow of power were completely different from Yeon Ho-Jeong’s martial arts, which had only created a path for himself to escape.

Srrrr.

A black robe flew behind Tang Hyeong as he walked over the rubble of the collapsed cave.

The robe, which did not seem special, was the robe that Tang Hyeong had personally chosen from a fabric store in the marketplace, which he had intended to give as a gift at Tang Gwan’s enthronement ceremony.

It was a step taken by a father who had not been able to give the robe that should have been worn by his son for a long time.

Srrrr.

It seemed like he had not walked many steps, but Tang Hyeong had already passed through his residence and entered the inner courtyard.

It was a movement that defied logic and common sense. He was naturally showing the realm of the legendary Shrinking Earth Technique (縮地成寸) [a technique that allows one to cover great distances in a single step] as if he were breathing.

“……”

Tang Hyeong stopped walking.

When he turned his head to the side, he saw many warriors staring at him with their mouths wide open.

Tang Hyeong’s eyes deepened.

“Black Wind, and Green Robe.”

The Black Wind Commander stammered.

“Y-you are…?!”

“You?”

Boom!

The Black Wind Commander’s body exploded on the spot.

No one knew how or what made it possible. Tang Hyeong had only glared, and with that, the Black Wind Commander had exploded.

It was a martial art that had reached the realm of the gods. The combination of the ultimate poison technique and the qi technique that had transcended its limits was literally showing a god-like appearance.

Tang Hyeong said calmly.

“You, who should be following the family head’s orders, are acting up without knowing who your master is?”

Shudder.

The entire Black Wind and Green Robe units trembled in fear.

Tang Hyeong, who had thrown off the restrictions he had placed on himself, seemed to have become a completely different person from the one Yeon Ho-Jeong had seen before.

Tang Hyeong turned his body.

“Follow me. See with your own eyes who this Dark King has handed over the family head position to.”