The Golden Castle in one of the volcanoes of the Muhae Valley
The Golden Castle was a fabled castle in the Middle Kingdom that held millions upon millions of gold, precious jewels, gold sculptures, and a legendary sword.[1] Two conditions must be met to find the Golden Castle; ownership of the Golden Medallion, and knowledge of the approximate location.
History[]
Origins[]
It is unknown how the Golden Castle came to be but there are several theories regarding its origin:
- Some say it's a summer palace of sorts built by the king of hell, to come and stay once a year to take a break from ruling the netherworld.
- Others argue that it must be a castle built by the heavens to rule over the human realm.
- Then there's the theory that it was constructed by Martial Marquis Zhuge Liang, the prime minister of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms Period. This theory conjectures that prior to his last battle against the kingdom of Wei, he sensed his death was near and was worried about the fate of his country after he died, so he had the palace built as a safeguard.
In any case, rumours tell of riches beyond measure inside the castle, as well as the Lightning God's Blue Dragon Sword, a sword of the heaven realm.[2]
First Discovery[]
The story of the Golden Castle and the Golden Medallion was just one of those old tales around the fire, until the castle was actually discovered by Yul Mog-In twenty years before the story of Yongbi the Invincible.[2] On one of his merchant trips, Yul Mog-In's caravan was slaughtered by brigands and he jumped down into a gorge to escape them. The Golden Medallion on him activated and led him to the Golden Castle. Soon after, he fled the castle, bringing only the medallion back with him. He didn't speak of it to anyone and kept a tight lip on it but somehow, despite there not being a single witness, the rumor spread through out the murim, becoming more embellished and exaggerated every time it was retold. This forced Yul Mog-In to go to the Murim Alliance to explain what happened and that for the peace of the murim, the existence of the Golden Castle was better kept hidden. The Murim Alliance readily agreed as the Geumcheonbo was a great benefactor to the organisation. Even then, many martial artists still lusted after the secret of the Golden Castle.[2]
Second Discovery[]
After being knocked unconscious in his fight with Jincheon, Sanggwan Chaek was saved by Go Hyeop who brought him to one of the rooms in the rock column. After Sanggwan Chaek woke up, the Golden Medallion led him to the entrance of castle. Inside, he was finally able to obtain the Lightning God's Blue Dragon Sword.[3]
Destruction[]
When the volcano the Golden Castle was located in erupted, the tremors caused the column of rock it was perched on to collapse and everything fell into the magma below.[4]
Location[]
The places marked with a (+) are swamps
The Golden Castle is located in the westernmost region of the land of Chu, the Muhae Valley.[5] The Muhae Valley is a perilous place infested by every kind of nightmares and vengeful spirits, it is another pandemonium on earth. People who are haunted by a deep lust or burdened by guilt of the past will experience hallucinations and nightmares causing them to lose their minds.[6] The valley is immersed in eerie air, thick fogs, and has powerful Yin energy that resonates throughout, left alone to accumulate unpertrurbed hidden from sunlight. The conditions are such that it is not so strange for natural protective wards to form there.[7] Protective wards causes people to lose their direction and supposedly makes them walk in a circular path, it is like a defensive wall built against intrusions from the outside. The Golden Castle itself is protected by the powerful Five Elements Ward which prohibits the approach of anything that breathes but its effect can be nullified by the Golden Medallion, this is one of the reasons why the medallion is so crucial to finding the Golden Castle.[2]
The metaphorical description Yul Mog-In used to describe the terrain around the Golden Castle was "A silvery sea guarded by a three-headed fire-breathing dragon".[8] This expression was also used by the natives who live around the Muhae Valley when they describe that area.[5] Referring to the map, each swampy region covers a vast area of around 200,000-300,000 pyeong. These numerous swamps create fogs so thick that one can barely see beyond his nose even during the day, and it gets much worse at night. When night falls, every mountain in the region save for the highest peaks would get completely submerged in these fogs. However, there are three mountains there that are at least twice as tall as the rest of those in the area. They are called the Sky Horse Mountain, the Nine Dragons Mountain, and the Dance Cloud Mountain, and all of them are activate volcanoes. Thus, a silvery lake is the night fog glowing in soft moonlight and that the fog is so thick that it could be compared to a 'sea', the Golden Castle which is deep in a mountain, must be in a place where there is a huge fog that can blanket every mountain in the area. In the mountains, a dragon that breathes fire with an earth-shattering roar can only refer to the three active volcanoes.[9]
The exact location of the Golden Castle is that it is inside a large fissure in the middle of one of the three volcanoes. The castle is perched on the top of a colossal rock column and light shines down on it from the hole above.[10]
Description[]
Overview[]
The Golden Castle by itself is nothing special, it looks just like any other castle but on top of a massive column of rock in the middle of a volcano. Inside the column of rock are a multitude of tunnels and rooms on multiple levels, at least one of these tunnels lead to the entrance of the Golden Castle. There are many wooden suspension bridges that leads to various points of the rock column. During the search for the Golden Castle, the outside of the column was heavily scarred by the powerful techniques used in the fights between Sanggwan Chaek and Hyeon Jae-Yang, Cruel Moon Archdemon and Goo Hwi, and the sword spectre's clash with Yongbi.
Interior[]
- Entrance: The entrance to the Golden Castle is located inside of the rock column. It was a stone wall with a dragon carved into it. A ring-shaped slot lies between the dragon's mouth, and in order to enter, the Golden Medallion must be inserted into the slot. When inserted, the medallion will start to glow and the walls will part open, allowing the person in.[3]
- Treasure Room: As the stories foretold, the treasure room contained countless piles of gold and treasure. Gold bars and chests covered the walls endlessly. The highly coveted Lightning God's Blue Dragon Sword also sat on a pedestal in the middle surrounded by piles of gold.[3]
- Armory: There is an armory inside the rock column covered from floor to ceiling with all kinds of weapons such as chains, swords, pole arms, and many more.[11]
Notes & Trivia[]
- Go Hyeop, Yul Mog-In, and Yul Mugi were the only people in world who knew the location of the Golden Castle.