Chapter 366: Outstanding Talent
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A wicked Six Directional Secret Sound Transmission whose direction couldn’t be pinpointed.
The complexions of Son Ja-ryong, Zhuge Bi and the party hardened.
It wasn’t simply that the direction was difficult to estimate, but also a considerably heavy sense of pressure…
Through that Six Directional Secret Sound Transmission, they realized.
The fact that the caster was certainly a high master who dominated a region…
It was probably on par with Hunan’s Five Martial Paragons, Hubei’s Six Polar Stars, Three Upper Seats of Guizhou and such famous warriors of various regions.
He was probably not far away.
Since he had sent a Secret Sound Transmission as if having eavesdropped on the party’s words.
Son Ja-ryong immediately maximized his energy sense by operating powerful Internal energy.
The feeling of instinct added to his energy sense thus heightened.
‘His concealment is excellent! Is he a blade wielder?’
All the senses of his entire body rose up sharply.
Son Ja-ryong’s intuition born thereof was extraordinary.
The derivation of thoughts, judgments and such unconsciously dwelling in the brain through embodied information was exceptional.
That was something achieved through rich experience and outstanding martial prowess that transcended age.
If he didn’t possess that, he wouldn’t have obtained the current splendid and glorious epithet of Young Sword King and the brilliant martial fame as one of Jiangnan’s foremost Orthodox faction warriors.
That extraordinary intuition was speaking.
That the opponent who cast the Six Directional Secret Sound Transmission was nine times out of ten an Unorthodox assassin whose specialty and main weapon was concealment.
Therefore, to find the place where he was hiding, he had to follow a certain feeling that transcended the five senses of seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and touching to know.
The so-called sixth sense, the ultimate element within energy sense, was that.
Son Ja-ryong’s intuitive sensory ability, manifested through the upper dantian by combining various signals felt by the body, rapidly expanded its radius.
As if an invisible dense net was spreading wide.
But it couldn’t be readily detected.
The opponent’s covert Aura.
‘Strange!’
By now, there should be something detected.
Somehow, it felt as if something was interfering while his energy sense radius was expanding.
‘I see!’
Son Ja-ryong, having flashed his two eyes, suddenly realized something.
The quick-witted Zhuge Bi opened his mouth in his stead.
“The mystical application of the sinister sorcery arranged here is interfering with energy sense.”
Immediately after that, Son Ja-ryong gripped his prized weapon while maintaining his energy sense.
SREUREUNG-
A sword ring that chilled the heart and liver.
Thus, the sharp naked form of one of the Ten Great Heavenly Weapons, the Dragon Throne Sword, was revealed.
The sword body, resonating with its owner’s Internal energy, emitted a silent vibration.
It was precisely the operation of the Dragon Throne Sword’s unique divine power.
A power similar to last night.
The same as when he had eavesdropped on the Secret Sound Transmission of Full Moon Sword Master Mo-dong, master of the Bright Moon Sword Sect, who had died by his hand.
The strange and unpredictable divine power’s mystical application amplified his energy sense and penetrated the intangible barrier.
In other words, it broke through the strange energy of the sorcery that had been interfering with his energy sense.
‘There it is!’
Having shouted inwardly, Son Ja-ryong’s gaze shot toward the cliff.
It was a place situated behind the grassy area strewn with about a hundred corpses where the stream flowed.
The hiding breath was finally sensed writhing.
Very faint, but his intuition, maximized through the sixth sense, accurately captured the direction of the source.
Then, the Six Directional Secret Sound Transmission echoed like an echo once more.
-Ho-oh, now are you even trying to find my Aura?
Not to be outdone, Son Ja-ryong burst out a mighty Secret Sound Transmission.
-Are you going to hide like a rat? If you call yourself a famous assassin, speak with your blade!
At that, the owner of the Six Directional Secret Sound Transmission let out a snicker.
-Kekeut… You even saw through that? Indeed, a remarkable insight unbefitting your young age.
Suddenly.
Zhuge Bi, who had turned his head following Son Ja-ryong’s gaze, quickly whispered as if delivering words.
“If we break through that blocked place, it’ll be fine.”
Son Ja-ryong, having nodded, quietly replied.
“Yes, that means that’s not the real cliff wall.”
“Right. It’s an illusory formation. But if you try to break through by force, you’ll get trapped instead. Then it’ll take even more time to solve. Can you open a small path for me? At least enough for just me to break through.”
“Of course.”
Zhuge Bi, having answered briefly, quietly gazed at the corpses of Passionate Blood Sword Master Don Dae-deok and Feather-Soaring Sword Elder Hwang Ji-hwan.
‘Hmm, the core of the formation is those corpses…’
Actions preceding thoughts.
Zhuge Bi moved those two corpses to a different spot and laid them down.
At first glance, it looked like he just placed them haphazardly, but that wasn’t the case.
It was a confident action utilizing the essence of a provisional Shatter Formation Method, having anticipated the sorcery’s nature and the wisdom constituting the core.
He then quickly dipped his hand in the stream, picked up pebbles and threw them here and there.
One, two, three…
A total of eight pebbles scattered in eight directions.
Immediately after.
SEUSEUSEUSEU, SEUSEUSEUSEU…
Fog swirled at the bottom of the cliff and suddenly a hole was generated.
A Life Gate temporarily opened.
Beyond the hole, a dense forest could be seen.
At that moment, Son Ja-ryong swiftly thrust out the Dragon Throne Sword.
SYUKAAAK!
A vivid and weighty sword qi shot across the distance in an instant.
It advanced, smashing ancient trees in a row, and the energy exploded.
KWAKWAKWANG…!
But the sword qi missed him.
He could feel the bastard withdrawing his body and fleeing.
‘I won’t let you escape!’
Son Ja-ryong, having flashed his two eyes, corrected his posture and spoke as if shouting.
“Bi, I’m leaving this place to you!”
“Leave it to me! Hurry and go! It’ll close soon!”
“Got it!”
“Be careful! Don’t follow too far! It might be a trick to scatter us!”
“Of course!”
By the time Son Ja-ryong’s answer was heard, his frame was rapidly receding forward.
“Family Lord! We too…!”
At the moment Son Jung-chaek, master of the Hegemon Heaven Sword Assembly, the family lord’s personal guard martial group, was about to charge while commanding his subordinate personnel.
“Stop! You’ll get trapped before everyone can escape!”
Zhuge Bi hurriedly restrained them.
Sure enough, the cliff’s Life Gate closed its mouth in an instant.
Along with that, the rear view of Son Ja-ryong receding into the distance also disappeared from sight.
“Damn it…!”
When Son Jung-chaek showed a troubled expression, Zhuge Bi reassured him with a calm attitude.
“Everyone, don’t worry too much. Fortunately, there was only one Aura, so I trust he’ll capably handle it. Isn’t he the Young Sword King of the world? Let me breach the formation as quickly as possible.”
“Please do.”
The moment Son Jung-chaek courteously responded, the surrounding scenery changed.
The streamside and cliff vanished without a trace.
The terrain itself had completely changed.
Into a forest where not a single path was visible.
A scenery where trees were densely packed in all directions.
Zhuge Bi, who saw that, muttered low while operating powerful Internal energy.
‘As expected, a terrain-shifting technique that changes endlessly.’
The same went for the corpses on the ground.
Except for those two, they had completely vanished.
Moreover, even their appearances had completely changed.
Into the forms of other martial artists, not Don Dae-deok and Hwang Ji-hwan.
The Zhejiang Son Family martial artists were horrified.
“No way…!”
“What is this…!”
“Is this alright?”
But Zhuge Bi, who had perceived it early on, did not lose his composure.
“This appears to be certainly the work of the Heretic Cult.”
At that, Son Jung-chaek, whose complexion had changed, asked carefully.
“Then are you saying they artificially altered the original formation?”
“Yes. To explain more precisely, they’ve grafted the essence of an extremely powerful sorcery onto the original formation. It’s practically impossible to completely overturn the natural formation itself. Even the Heretic Cult would find it difficult to reach that level. But…”
Zhuge Bi trailed off while drawing up his Internal energy to the fullest.
Thus, when he operated his internal energy to the extreme.
DEUDEUDEU, DEUDEUDEUDEUDEU…
The ground created a faint vibration.
Zhuge Bi’s meaningful voice followed.
“…I can.”
Son Jung-chaek also knew well what that meant.
The legendary Heart-Stealing Spirit-Commanding Body.
A body where the body itself was a formation of extreme power.
It was said that depending on one’s ability, one could even alter a naturally formed formation…
In other words, Zhuge Bi intended to use the Heart-Stealing Spirit-Commanding Body, which he had completed to about eighty to ninety percent, to alter the formation’s nature and completely disassemble it.
Right at that moment.
FLASH-!
Zhuge Bi’s body radiated strange light.
Simultaneously, a surprising change occurred.
The surrounding scenery distorted transparently and rotated rapidly around his body.
SYUSYUSYUSYU, SYUSYUSYUSYU…
Zhuge Bi, having closed his two eyes, quietly spoke inwardly.
‘I’ll summon nature’s spiritual energy to this body and weave it, then neutralize the formation!’
The transparent wave that had distorted the surrounding scenery soon moved as if being absorbed toward Zhuge Bi.
Meanwhile,
At a spot far removed from there, one figure draped in a Ceremonial Robe quietly appeared.
Truly ghost-like covert movement.
It was Water Direction Master, one of the Heretic Cult’s leadership Five Elements Direction Masters.
He shot a look of surprise toward Zhuge Bi visible in the distance.
‘How can this be…!’
He couldn’t readily believe it.
For the formation itself’s nature to change.
Yet what was visible now was clearly a phenomenon that proved it.
Then, he was seized by a peculiar thrill.
‘A big catch!’
He didn’t know who Zhuge Bi was, but he had certainly realized one thing.
Legendary talent.
That’s right.
The tremendous ability to manipulate formations through the exquisite essence of unifying nature’s spiritual energy with one’s own energy.
‘If we use that bastard’s mysterious body, we’ll be able to shorten the timing to open the otherworldly gate!’
He withdrew his body just like when he had appeared, ghostly, while wearing a thin smile.
‘That one bastard can replace hundreds of souls. It feels like things are getting easier. But it’ll be hard for me to capture him. I should hurry and report to the superiors… and mobilize the Darkness-Craving Blood Clan leadership.’
* * *
A luxurious palace chamber.
One man was reclining his body on a high-class settee that looked large enough to seat three grown men side by side and still have room.
The person called Great Chief Bung, precisely Bung-hyeon, a core executive of the Heaven Emperor Society.
He was sitting on the settee reading a report.
After a while.
Along with the sound of the door, one man carrying a sword appeared.
“Grand Elder, a message from the Central Heaven Division.”
Bung-hyeon, having lifted his eyes from the report, asked in a low voice.
“Did they join up in the Shiwan Mountains?”
“Yes. The full forces of the Detached Three Army Corps and the Eastern Heaven Division have assembled. They say the plan is to add even the Darkness-Craving Blood Clan to the forces.”
“Hoot, I see. That was already expected. The consumption battle for achieving our society’s great ambition shall begin. They’ll bleed each other without knowing anything.”
“Ah, and also…”
“What is it?”
“The Nine Great Sects side is strangely quiet. The same goes for the Orthodox and Unorthodox organizations that have ties with Cheol Ryu-heun.”
“Hmm, they’re not coveting it even after hearing the rumors about the Divine Martial Sword?”
“Yes. Honestly, it should be normal to show even a small interest, but…”
“Have you ascertained the recent trends?”
“According to the Central Heaven Division, the Nine Great Sects only sent their junior talents…”
“Could it be… they’ve seen through the fact that the Divine Martial Sword isn’t there.”
When Bung-hyeon muttered while supporting his chin, the man in front shook his head.
“Grand Elder, that’s absolutely impossible, isn’t it?”
“Enough. Don’t mind whatever they do. They’re just ants that’ll be trampled to death under our feet anyway.”
“Yes, understood.”
“Was there any other news besides that?”
“Here… Please receive this. It’s a letter attached by the Central Heaven Division Great General.”
When the man held it out, Bung-hyeon snatched it as if seizing it.
Jet-black pupils quickly read down the text on the page.
Having soon confirmed the contents, Bung-hyeon let out a snicker.
“Hohoot… It says the egg is expected to hatch in a few days? This is faster than initially expected. Is it because of that bastard’s malice-filled obsession? If so, we should be able to execute the great method.”
“About whom are you speaking…”
“Eul Sa-jeok.”
“Pardon? If Eul Sa-jeok is…”
“Yes, the fellow who was White Peak Sword Sect’s direct disciple.”
“You recruited him?”
“That’s right. We gave him a new Gu poison to consume. To use him as our society’s hands and feet going forward.”
“Ah…”
“First, let’s remove the existing White Peak Sword Sect members and install Eul Sa-jeok as the new sect master.”
“That statement means…”
“We should give them a small calamity by targeting the gap while Cheol Ryu-heun is absent. So that even if he returns alive, he’ll have nowhere to set foot. It’s a kind of Distant Alliance Near Attack strategy.”
“I see. Where should we assign that mission?”
At the man’s question, Bung-hyeon thought for a moment before letting out his voice.
“Southern Heaven Division. Deliver orders to assemble full forces in the Hunan region within a few days. The ultimate goal is the complete extermination of White Peak Sword Sect.”
“Yes! Great Elder Bung.”