Chapter 272: Before Riding the Storm (4)
“This heaven and earth is harmonious. It truly achieves perfect balance without a single flaw. Many foolish people deny the existence of gods, but they simply don’t understand how harmonious this world is. They spout nonsense about how such beautiful balance and harmony came about by chance.”
“This is about formations, right?”
“Of course.”
Why does this feel like I’m being preached to? Since this was genuinely a field I knew nothing about, I kept my mouth shut.
“I don’t know how many formations the Heavenly Demon has experienced, but formations come in various types. Some create storms, some create mazes, and some generate fog. The essence is creating a storm where there shouldn’t be one, creating a maze on flat ground, and spewing fog where fog doesn’t naturally occur.”
“But isn’t that just sensory disturbance? There isn’t actually a storm happening.”
“That’s low-grade formations. Low-level formations disturb humans, but high-level formations disturb heaven and earth.”
“So they actually create storms?”
“Exactly. Of course, heaven and earth are powerful, so it only happens on a very localized scale.”
Come to think of it, there was a legend that Zhuge Muhou once summoned the southeastern wind. That might have been a formation powerful enough to disturb heaven and earth.
“Then if you used a formation to summon lightning, even a supreme grandmaster could be killed in one hit.”
“With a sufficiently powerful formation, that’s entirely possible.”
So formations were more terrifying than I’d imagined. I could now understand why the Zhuge Clan, which was relatively weaker in martial force, had established itself as one of the Five Great Families.
“Then a formation that amplifies demonic qi wouldn’t be sensory disturbance—it would be disturbing heaven and earth. Because it doesn’t just affect perception, it actually affects power.”
The formation I’d experienced with Uncle Zhu Mun-hwan under the sea must have affected reality, so it could be said to have disturbed heaven and earth.
“That’s correct.”
“Then if you just build good formations, you’d become the greatest sect or clan under heaven. You could become infinitely strong.”
“That’s impossible.”
Gwan Seo-ye cut me off flatly. She continued.
“Heaven and earth have an obsession with balance and harmony. The world may momentarily become unbalanced and disharmonious, but heaven and earth will forcefully restore it to harmony. That is the nature of heaven and earth.”
“Can you explain it practically instead of conceptually?”
“Those who become strong through formations die quickly.”
That was about as concise as it could get. I let out a hollow laugh. So I would die quickly too?
“That’s practical, but you’ve cut out too much.”
“Humans are also harmonious beings that exist within nature. When you pursue extremes through unnatural means, you yourself become unnatural. Nature doesn’t leave unnatural things alone. There’s only one way to most quickly return something unnatural to its natural state.”
“That’s killing them?”
“Yes. Of course, that doesn’t mean lightning strikes from the sky. That would be an unnatural death. They die naturally from illness. Whether it’s delirium, madness, or internal problems—they die somehow. Usually, when the body becomes stronger, problems arise in the mind.”
“Then doesn’t the demonic qi amplification formation laid over Toroban have problems?”
“That’s why we used a slight workaround. It’s amplification in the truest sense—not gaining permanent strength. It amplifies temporarily, then subsides. Even that has side effects. Once you use the amplified power, the exhaustion is tremendous.”
Is that so? I clenched and unclenched my fist. Since I hadn’t actually used the amplified power, I didn’t feel any exhaustion.
More importantly, I was someone who had benefited from the time forcibly extended by the formation. I’d become quite strong in that place, yet nothing bad had happened to me so far. The conversation was making me uneasy.
“So if someone gained permanent strength through such a formation, the side effects would be enormous.”
“Yes.”
Gwan Seo-ye hadn’t mentioned death for nothing. Then did the Zhuge Clan know about this?
Thinking about it, they couldn’t not know. If they had used formations to gain strength, they would have definitely tracked the aftereffects.
“Then if I had gained permanent strength through such a formation, would I also face heaven’s punishment?”
I asked about the part that was bothering me. Gwan Seo-ye answered immediately.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because the Heavenly Demon, while in a human body, possesses the soul of a god. Gods are beings who stand outside the rules of nature. Even if they break the rules, there is no punishment.”
So that was it. A thought suddenly struck me. Zhu Mun-hwan died because he was human, and I survived because I had the Heavenly Demon’s qi.
In any case, summarizing Gwan Seo-ye’s words:
“That’s difficult. Then mass-producing strong martial artists through such formations would be practically impossible.”
“Conceptually it’s possible. In ancient formation texts, the highest level a formation can reach is called ‘Heavenly Evasion’—hiding oneself from heaven. That means distorting the world’s harmony without being detected.”
“If you’re not detected by heaven and earth, there are no side effects. But do such formations actually exist?”
“Conceptually they exist, but I’ve never seen one myself.”
The conversation was becoming frightening. The Zhuge Clan were known as formation demons. What if they had refined their formations to reach the realm of Heavenly Evasion? Would we still have a chance of winning?
“Are you perhaps wondering what to do if the enemy uses a Heavenly Evasion formation to become stronger?”
Gwan Seo-ye was sharp. When I clicked my tongue, she immediately caught on. I nodded.
“There are people who seem to have done exactly that.”
“Ah, you’re talking about the Zhuge Clan.”
“You knew?”
“Of course. When they use formations so openly, how could I not know?”
Gwan Seo-ye let out a laugh. That laugh revealed a strange confidence.
“Then why didn’t you tell me? You know I’m fighting them.”
“There was no need to mention it.”
“No need?”
“They will be destroyed. And soon.”
“What makes you say that?”
“They dared to use formations to offend heaven and earth. The Zhuge Clan has definitely reached halfway to the realm of Heavenly Evasion. Zhuge Muhou himself did it, after all.”
“Then aren’t they dangerous?”
“When you try to deceive heaven and earth and get caught, heaven and earth won’t stay quiet from then on. They’ll apply the crime of insult. That’s why Heavenly Evasion is such a difficult realm to reach. If you’re caught trying to achieve it, heaven sends down punishment.”
Gwan Seo-ye covered her mouth and laughed. Discussing heaven’s punishment while laughing—she looked like an evil enchantress.
“They’re drunk on their own cleverness. Humans can be so foolish. Zhuge Muhou died from the backlash of formations, yet his descendants are doing the exact same thing?”
“…Is that so?”
Did Zhuge Muhou die at Wuzhang Plains from the backlash of formations? I couldn’t tell if this was fact or the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult’s interpretation.
“Besides, the Heavenly Demon doesn’t need to worry about that.”
“Hmm?”
“Because the Heavenly Demon is a god who can appropriately interfere with heaven and earth. Of course, that doesn’t mean you can completely change the rules of heaven and earth.”
“Me?”
I pointed at myself and asked. Gwan Seo-ye nodded.
“Of course, you’re not the true body of the Heavenly Demon but have received the qi, but that alone should be sufficient.”
“I don’t know how.”
“Since I’m not a god either, I don’t know how. But I’m certain the Heavenly Demon will know.”
That suddenly reminded me of immortal qi. Immortal qi was truly the study of manipulating nature.
Those who studied immortal qi—like the former grand master or the Peng Clan’s former grand patriarch—had been amazed when they saw me handling immortal qi at such a young age.
Was it because I had the Heavenly Demon’s qi that I adapted to immortal qi so quickly?
“Rather than me explaining, it would be faster for you to try it yourself.”
Gwan Seo-ye went to a spacious room. It was impossible to estimate the original size of this building.
When I opened the door, an empty room with no furniture appeared. Pebbles, branches, and wooden figures were scattered around.
“This is where we research formations.”
“It looks like it.”
Such a spacious place. It was at least the size of a rice paddy.
“Wait a moment. I’ll make a small version of the amplification formation from earlier.”
Gwan Seo-ye bent down like she was gathering grain, picking up branches and stones, then began placing them back down. Judging by her careful placement, the order and method must have differed for each.
Soon, Gwan Seo-ye had created a small circular formation just big enough for one person to stand in.
“Would you like to try stepping inside?”
“I won’t be struck by lightning and die the moment I step in, right?”
“How could I harbor such disrespectful thoughts?”
Gwan Seo-ye said with a straight face. She couldn’t even take a joke. Feeling embarrassed, I stepped into the formation.
Soon, the lines within the formation glowed red. They were geometric patterns.
Not as intense as before, but I immediately felt the demonic qi inside me boiling.
“It’s a makeshift version, so the power will be much weaker than before.”
“Mm. I see.”
“Close your eyes and observe the flow.”
I closed my eyes and activated my immortal qi. But inside the formation, I couldn’t merge with nature.
Gwan Seo-ye was right. Inside the formation, the rules of nature were twisted. You couldn’t merge with twisted nature.
‘What a wondrous harmony.’
I wasn’t originally someone who believed in gods. Even the emperor’s ghost I saw under the sea—I’d thought of it more as a stray spirit than an immortal.
But seeing the irregular flow of nature, I once again realized what a miraculous phenomenon natural harmony truly was.
There really was a sense of divine will and obsession in nature’s harmony. But that didn’t mean I could fully understand that harmony. Like a blind person touching an elephant’s leg and trying to deduce its shape.
The flow of nature. Gwan Seo-ye said I could interfere with that flow. I activated my immortal qi and tried to correct the twisted rules of nature.
It felt like untangling a knotted rope. I felt like I was getting somewhere. But knowing the method and actually being able to do it were two different things.
It was like having an item on a shelf my hands couldn’t reach. I still wasn’t enough.
I opened my eyes. When I did, Gwan Seo-ye was standing guard with her back to me.
“Gwan Seo-ye.”
“Ah, yes. You’re awake.”
“Awake? How long was I out?”
“You had your eyes closed for about six shichen.”
I was certain I’d only had my eyes closed for a short while. But Gwan Seo-ye wouldn’t lie to me.
“I see.”
“It’s not unusual. When you merge with nature, your perception of time naturally dulls.”
“I suppose so.”
“Did you find a clue?”
Gwan Seo-ye asked. I hesitated for a moment, then answered.
“I think so.”
“That’s a relief.”
Knowing the method was clue enough. If I was lacking, I just had to fill the gap. And I was someone who had always rapidly filled my shortcomings to grow stronger.
‘Martial Talent Shop.’
As the rank increased, the metaphysical name of the talent changing wasn’t a coincidence after all.
As expected, my answer was inside the Martial Talent Shop.