Chapter 36
“Everyone, stop!”
Namgung Seon-hwa’s voice rang out, echoing throughout the cavity.
Those who had been in the heat of the fight began to turn their heads one by one, and the battle quickly entered a lull.
“Has someone secured the Mita Holy Water?”
I expected that such a fierce fight had broken out because the Mita Holy Water had fallen into someone’s hands, but the answer that came back was unexpected.
“That’s not it. They tried to steal our food.”
The people on the right side, who looked reasonably decent, pointed at the dishevelled people on the left.
“Food?”
“That is so.”
“If you are hungry, leave the cave. Is there a need to kill each other over mere food?”
“We would leave if we could!”
The answer came from the left side.
A man in shabby attire stepped forward, looking as if he would collapse at any moment.
“We have been eating only moss for a week already!”
“What do you mean? The river path opened only this morning.”
“What need was there to wait until the river path opened? Since more people would gather by then anyway.”
The story was that they had swum through the water and entered here before the Rogues’ Guild opened the river path.
“Then why aren’t you going back?”
“As I said just a moment ago, if we could leave, we would have. We can’t move an inch from here because of this damn formation.”
“In the end, has no one found the Mita Holy Water?”
“If you want to enter the formation on the opposite side, go ahead and try! I don’t know if you’ll come back alive, though.”
It was said that hundreds of people had already gone inside, but none had returned alive.
Namgung Seon-hwa recalled the story Yu Ji-ryang had told as soon as he entered.
“We need to investigate further to know what kind of formation it is.”
At Yu Ji-ryang’s words, Namgung Seon-hwa spoke to the group again.
“We will investigate starting now.”
“Investigate or whatever, we’re starving to death!”
“…….”
Namgung Seon-hwa looked at the people on the right. However, every single one of them was full of wariness and did not seem to have any intention of sharing their food.
“The Namgung Clan will share food. In return, I will not forgive anyone who causes a disturbance from now on.”
“Young Mistress!”
“You cannot! If we end up unable to leave this place…”
“Stop! If we cannot figure out the identity of the formation, we won’t be able to leave either.”
At Namgung Seon-hwa’s shout, the people of the clan did not argue any further.
Each of them took out beef jerky or grain pills from their packs and handed them over.
However, while there were thirty people from the Namgung Clan, there were close to two hundred people on the left side.
Eventually, the warriors of the Iron Sword Sect also took out beef jerky and grain pills and handed them over.
Even though the Namgung Clan and the Iron Sword Sect had made sacrifices, there were many who were dissatisfied with the significantly small amount of food, but they did not seem to have any intention of stepping forward anymore.
After all, if the formation itself could be lifted, that would be better than the food right in front of them.
Yu Ji-ryang gave a detailed explanation about the formation.
“To speak precisely, a part of the original formation collapsed naturally over time, and a portion of those remnants created a natural formation.”
Listening to the story, neither Namgung Seon-hwa nor I could understand.
A formation is a formula where the entire harmony is broken and returns to nothingness if even a single stone is misplaced.
It was impressive that the formation had held up for such a long time, but to think that the collapsed parts could become a natural formation again.
“……That shouldn’t be possible…, but we are confirming it now.”
Yu Ji-ryang looked at the spellcasters researching the formation on the opposite side under the protection of the Namgung Clan’s warriors.
The faces of those checking the formation all turned pale.
“I hoped it wasn’t…… but it is as expected.”
“What do you mean?”
At our conversation, the people on both the left and right sides pricked up their ears.
“Have you heard of the Boundless Indestructible Soul Destroying Formation?”
Gulp.
Instead of answering, people swallowed their saliva. Just hearing the name painted a pessimistic future in their minds.
“It is a terrifying formation that should not exist in the world, which disappeared three hundred years ago.”
“…….”
Namgung Seon-hwa’s complexion gradually turned bad. I stepped forward and asked instead.
“What makes it so terrifying?”
“Once you enter the formation, you cannot come out.”
“Is such a thing possible?”
Formations basically construct a new world based on the Gate of Life and the Gate of Death.
Just as no building can be built without a central framework, a formation cannot be constructed without a Gate of Life and a Gate of Death.
“Of course, this formation also has a Gate of Life and a Gate of Death, but they have been made in a way that cannot be found even if you know of them.”
Hiding the Gate of Life and Gate of Death within a formation could be seen as a basic of formations, yet Yu Ji-ryang’s story was entirely negative.
“It takes the Eight Trigrams as the basic framework, takes the paths of the Twelve Earthly Branches to create sixty sexagenary cycles of paths respectively. And influenced by the Daily Stem, it creates three hundred and sixty-five changes, so the changes feel close to boundless, hence the name Boundless Indestructible Soul Destroying Formation.”
“…….”
Not only us, but also the people who had entered earlier and those who entered later all turned pale.
“……Then, destruction! What if we destroy it? Most of the people who came here, including the Namgung Clan, are masters, so can’t we just destroy it and leave!”
Someone’s desperate question.
Yu Ji-ryang shook his head.
“That is the reason this formation eventually disappeared. A formation is ultimately a method used when you want to protect someone or capture an opponent alive. But this one, once installed, can neither be dismantled nor destroyed.”
“……T, That.”
“Perhaps small ones could be broken with very powerful destructive force, but the size of the Soul Destroying Formation unfolded here is estimated to be over 30 jang. Moreover, it seems a part of the formation was destroyed when the cave collapsed, yet it still maintains the form of the formation.”
“Hah…….”
People on the left side slumped to the ground one by one.
I pointed to one side of the cavity and spoke.
“Master Yu Ji-ryang, there was definitely someone who saw the Mita Holy Water and came out from here. How did that happen?”
“……I surmise that perhaps heavenly luck helped them leave.”
“Heavenly luck?”
“Yes. Although the probability is close to boundless, surely the Gate of Life and Gate of Death exist.”
“Then if we can calculate the formation, can’t we find the Gate of Life and leave?”
“But we cannot calculate the paths that change moment by moment. If you lose your way during calculation, you lose the central axis to calculate again from then on, so you will eventually be trapped in the formation.”
“Then conversely, what if we memorize all the paths?”
“Yes?”
“If we memorize all the paths created by the Eight Trigrams, Twelve Earthly Branches, Sixty Sexagenary Cycles, and the three hundred and sixty-five changes?”
“……Even with a rough calculation, it would be over two million.”
The characters in the documents I read at the Murim Alliance’s Universal Affairs Bureau would be five times that amount.
“It seems possible. Please calculate everything and let me know.”
“…Are you speaking seriously?”
“I do like jokes, but it doesn’t seem like the time for that now.”
Yu Ji-ryang, who thought for a moment, closed his mouth firmly and nodded.
“It will take time.”
The people who heard the conversation between Yu Ji-ryang and me had expressions of disbelief, while simultaneously starting to harbor small expectations.
“Namgung Clan!!”
At that moment, a group of men burst out from the formation on the exit side.
Warriors wearing red martial arts uniforms and Seo Hyeon-jae’s group of three.
The number of men in red uniforms had reduced by half, and the appearance of Seo Hyeon-jae, along with Ma Go-san and Sa Mu-in, was extremely haggard.
“Where is the Namgung Clan!”
Seo Hyeon-jae, looking around, made eye contact with me conversing with Yu Ji-ryang on the opposite wall and flew over using the Bow Body Shadow Projection technique.
“You bastard! How dare you scam me!”
The moment his sword aimed at me and Yu Ji-ryang, the warriors of the Namgung Clan stepped forward and blocked his sword.
“Argh! Namgung Clan! You guys are the same lot!”
It wasn’t just Seo Hyeon-jae. Ma Go-san and Sa Mu-in also revealed full hostility, perhaps due to whatever hardships they had suffered.
“Stop!”
At that moment, the warriors from the left and right sides, who had been fighting to kill each other, stepped forward.
“Right now, they are our only way to live!”
“Not my business! Get lost if you don’t want to die!”
“You idiots!”
Three or four warriors from the right side rushed at Seo Hyeon-jae simultaneously.
Then Ma Go-san and Sa Mu-in joined in, defeating them in an instant, and subsequently, warriors from the right side rushed at them all at once, starting a new fight.
Clang, clang, clang.
However, pushed back by being outnumbered, Seo Hyeon-jae’s group took wooden cases from their bosoms and threw pills into their mouths.
“Huff, huff, huff.”
“Haa, haa!”
Instantly, immense energy poured out from the bodies of Seo Hyeon-jae’s group.
The moment those pushing with numbers flinched.
They were scattered in all directions, spraying fountains of blood by the Ice Palm shot by Seo Hyeon-jae and the wolf-tooth mace wielded by Sa Mu-in.
“Who is it! Who will block our way!”
Bloodshot eyes, rough breathing, and internal energy that had suddenly doubled; the effects of the Exploding Blood Pill were clear.
The people from the left and right, totaling close to one thousand five hundred, flinched and retreated at the momentum of the three.
As no one moved anymore, the three began to stride towards us, and the group including Namgung Seon-hwa also began preparing to counter Seo Hyeon-jae.
At that moment, Namgung Seon-hwa looked behind and screamed.
“Master Yong So-ah!”
Seo Hyeon-jae’s group, who were approaching us without hesitation, stopped in their tracks and looked back.
There, Yong So-ah’s group was still walking out of the formation.
“How did this happen?”
Clearly, they had entered the formation first, so they were puzzled to see that we had come out of the formation first.
“This is the terror of the formation. If you take one wrong path in there, you might die in a place where you can gauge neither time nor space forever.”
As Yong So-ah’s group began to approach, Seo Hyeon-jae blocked the path in the middle.
“Our business comes first!”
“Move. I do not show mercy to the Black Way.”
“This dog-like……”
Seo Hyeon-jae’s words did not continue to the end. His hand, which was about to shoot an Ice Palm, and his head fell to the ground, spraying a fountain of blood by Yong So-ah’s sword that wasn’t even seen.
“Aaaargh!”
Ma Go-san and Sa Mu-in pushed Seo Hyeon-jae’s body away and screamed.
“You guys must be the same kind of bastards.”
“Don’t come closer! Don’t come closer! Unless you want to die together, don’t come closer!”
Ma Go-san took out a Thunder Crash Bomb from Seo Hyeon-jae’s luggage and threatened, and Yong So-ah’s movement also paused briefly.
“Do you think you will be alive by the time you detonate that?”
“Fuck! Just try moving a finger, we’re all dying here today.”
As Ma Go-san’s group surrounded and protected Ma Go-san as if he were their last bastion, Yong So-ah turned his head as if he was no longer interested.
“Explain what happened.”
When Yong So-ah spoke to Namgung Seon-hwa, she explained in detail about what had happened.
When the word Boundless Indestructible Soul Destroying Formation came up, even the renowned Yong So-ah showed a slight flinch.
“So there is a way to dissolve the formation?”
“It’s not dissolving. Master Yu Ji-ryang and Young Master Jin will calculate and guide us to the Gate of Life within the formation.”
“Even with a rough calculation, there are two million possibilities, and if part of the formation is broken, new paths could be created accordingly. You are wasting energy on something nonsensical.”
“Right now, there is no other way.”
“…….”
***
Two weeks later.
I was memorizing the paths calculated by Yu Ji-ryang and the spellcasters one by one, regardless of day or night.
In the meantime, two thousand more people entered the cavity; among them, two hundred died fighting, and three hundred entered the formation on the opposite side claiming they would find the path and did not return.
According to Yu Ji-ryang, the fact that we could enter was only because some parts of the formation were broken, allowing entry into the cavity. Once inside this formation spread over a massive thirty jang, if one didn’t know the path, they had no choice but to be trapped in the Soul Destroying Formation.
“Everyone has reached their limit.”
Seong Mo-ran and Namgung Seon-hwa were also withered like plants in a drought.
It was because they had shared half of their food at the beginning.
They had lasted until now by fasting and enduring as much as possible.
“How much longer do we have to stay?”
“……It will take five more days.”
“…….”
The warriors suffered greatly from hunger, but the condition of the spellcasters was not good either.
Due to poor nutrition, calculations were taking more and more time.
“……It is a meaningless task.”
At that moment, Yong So-ah, who was sitting on one side, stood up abruptly.
Currently, the strongest person inside this cavity was none other than Yong So-ah.
There were those among the Black Way who had reputations comparable to Yong So-ah, but because of the other Taoists of the Wudang Sect, they did not dare to antagonize him.
“Get up.”
Where Yong So-ah moved his steps was towards Ma Go-san’s group situated among the Black Way crowd.
“Hand over the Thunder Crash Bombs.”
“What!”
Realizing Yong So-ah’s purpose, Yu Ji-ryang stood up abruptly.
“You cannot! Master! This formation is not one that can be dissolved with Thunder Crash Bombs.”
“It cannot be dissolved. However, a path can be opened, can it not?”
“…….”
At Yong So-ah’s words, the Black Way crowd as well as the Orthodox Way crowd began to slowly rise from the ground.
A determination that they would do anything if they could just leave this place.
“But if you use the Thunder Crash Bombs, we won’t know how the paths will change. Please, trust us.”
Yong So-ah looked at Yu Ji-ryang and me with dry eyes.
“Do you believe the words that a human can memorize two million paths?”
At Yong So-ah’s words, I spoke.
“So you intend to leave alone?”
Now I could understand why close to five thousand people had died here.
And how Yong So-ah survived and entered in this chaos. And why the story of Yong So-ah being here was not passed down afterwards.
“I will go out and bring the spellcasters of the Murim Alliance.”
“Didn’t you hear? It’s not a formation that can be dissolved in the first place.”
“The potential of the Murim Alliance cannot be compared to a single sect.”
“At least the only possibility is memorizing the path and leaving from here. If the path gets twisted because of you, what do you intend to do with the lives of the people here? Do you not care?”
“Even now, people keep coming in from the outside. If left as is, the casualties will rise endlessly.”
Yong So-ah reached out his hand to Ma Go-san.
Then Ma Go-san and Sa Mu-in prostrated themselves flat.
“We will give them. In return, please take us with you.”
“……Agreed.”
“We, us too……”
“Please take us too.”
Clang, kwagagagak.
As people flocked from all directions, Yong So-ah drew his sword and drew a long line on the ground.
“I will cut down anyone who crosses this line without fail. I will go out and bring people. Wait here.”
“Fuck! How can we believe that!”
“When have you hypocrite bastards ever kept a promise!”
There were those who clung to Yong So-ah, but conversely, there were those who held hostility towards him.
Seventy percent of the people inside the cavity were figures of the Black Way.
They firmly held the thought that Yong So-ah, the representative prodigy of the Murim Alliance, might abandon them.
“Die!”
Eventually, starting with someone, swords were drawn and the inside of the cavity, which had been quiet for a while, began to fill with people’s screams and despair.
“Keuk!”
“Kaak!”
Dozens of people rushed at Yong So-ah, but none lasted past five moves.
Instantly, a wall built of corpses formed around Yong So-ah and the Wudang Taoists, and people gradually stopped their steps one by one at their overwhelming martial power that was formidable.
“Master Yong So-ah. Please stop.”
Eventually, it was Namgung Seon-hwa and the warriors who stepped forward.
“There are only a few days left now. Please wait a little longer.”
“I have wasted time until now because of you all. I cannot delay any longer.”
“Even so, we cannot gamble with three thousand lives as collateral.”
“Do you even have the power to stop me?”
“……Prepare the Blue Sky Sword Formation.”
“Activate!”
“Activate!”
The moment the Namgung Clan activated the Blue Sky Sword Formation, the Taoists of the Wudang Sect also began to unfold the Taiji Sword Formation.
Namgung Seon-hwa and Yong So-ah separated from the formations and fought their own battle, but even the renowned Namgung Seon-hwa looked merely like a child in front of Yong So-ah.
‘Is this for real…….’
I couldn’t help but sigh seeing the clumps of enhanced qi blooming at the tip of Yong So-ah’s sword.
He, who had not yet reached thirty, was unfolding Sword Flux.
Namgung Seon-hwa tried unfolding the Emperor Sword Technique, her decisive sword art, but she couldn’t match Yong So-ah.
Ultimately, the only one who could stop Yong So-ah inside this cavity was me, who knew the breaking stance of the Wudang Sword Technique.
“You can’t. Yong So-ah is a different person from my brother.”
As I tried to step forward, Seong Mo-ran stopped me.
“If I don’t step forward now, we will helplessly die here. And I have a method, so do not worry too much.”
I left Seong Mo-ran, shot the Flying Dragon Claw into the wall, and pulled the Heavenly Silkworm Thread.
Whoosh.
Something like a pulley rotated rapidly inside the Flying Dragon Claw and shot my body like an arrow.
“Young Mistress Namgung, duck!”
Namgung Seon-hwa lowered her head sharply at my words, and I swept the Black Dragon Sword above her.
Clang!
Yong So-ah, who retreated two steps at the surprise attack, quickly regained his posture.
I immediately unfolded the breaking stance of the Taiji Divine Sword, the root martial art of the Wudang Sect, and rushed at him.
Chwarararara.
For the first time since entering the cavity, a small surprise hovered over Yong So-ah’s face, which had shown no change in expression.
“What is this?”
Yong So-ah looked alternately at his sword and me.
I unfolded the breaking stance again so as not to give him time to think.
Bang! Bang! Kwakwakwang!
Yong So-ah, sensing something strange in the techniques, immediately drew up his internal energy.
Something shining with radiance about two ja long appeared on his sword.
‘Crazy!’
Although the length was short, it was definitely Sword Flux.
Bang! Bang!
Every time I clashed with the Sword Flux, I desperately diverted the enhanced qi, but a numbing sensation like hitting an anvil with a hammer was transmitted through my palm to my arm.
Fortunately, the Black Dragon Sword made of Indestructible Diamond Steel did not have its edge chipped or the blade bent like other swords.
“Did the Taeeul Sect have such sword techniques?”
“…See, wouldn’t it have been good if you had known beforehand the potential of the sects of the One Hundred Eight Peaks?”
Even while unfolding the breaking stance, I kept moving through space using the Flying Dragon Claw.
‘I can’t last long.’
Yong So-ah had the Zhuge Three Forms created by Je-gal Cheon-gi, but in the end, he didn’t use the breaking stance.
An absurd reason that it harms the spirit of Wudang.
Nevertheless, he had never been defeated. Since he wasn’t pushed back even when a Taoist of the same Wudang Sect used the breaking stance, it was clear he would be able to counterattack once his eyes got a little more used to this breaking stance.
“A sword technique that breaks the opponent’s martial arts……”
As expected, he had already begun to grasp the root of the sword technique.
Unlike Namgung San, who quickly switched to the Emperor Sword Technique when the Blue Sky Limitless Sword Technique didn’t work, this guy was persistently unfolding the Taiji Divine Sword almost as if on purpose.
The intention to grasp the identity of the sword technique I was wielding.
That intention hit the mark precisely, and the moments his sword technique paused began to decrease.
“You will have to leave with me.”
“As expected, you intend to kill everyone here.”
“…….”
The moment I thought there was no longer a way to resist.
I used the Flying Dragon Claw to fly up towards the ceiling.
At the same time, I pulled up all the internal energy in my Dantian.
“Eat this!”
A sense of elasticity pouring out as if emptying the Dantian in a single stroke.
The power of immense true energy radiating through the hand.
The Divine Light Palm shot out as if to annihilate Yong So-ah.
Kwakwakwakwang.
For the first time, the character for river was engraved on Yong So-ah’s brow, which was rarely seen.
‘Done.’
The moment I felt relieved.
Yong So-ah, who diverted the energy of the Divine Light Palm to the side with a desperate Thousand Pound Drop technique, jumped up from the floor and kicked me.
Thud!
The moment I tried to shoot the Flying Dragon Claw by drawing in even the nonexistent internal power.
Ping.
As if waiting, Yong So-ah shot a Finger Wind.
And the Flying Dragon Claw fell powerlessly to the floor.
“Young Master Jin!!”
From one side, Seong Mo-ran screamed as if she would faint.
Only then did I turn my head to see my body already flying into the Boundless Indestructible Soul Destroying Formation.
“No!”
An instant where I couldn’t even react.
My vision blurred, and I was dragged into an unknown space.
