Chapter 196

Chapter 196: The Prodigy of the Formation Tower (3)

“You will pay the price…”

Dongmun Mutoe remained standing erect at the highest point of Crimson Emperor Peak.

His voice trailed off, matching his sudden stillness.

The reason was clear: his intended victim had shattered the secondary barrier in the blink of an eye.

His dark vestments billowed wildly in the gale.

The symbol of the Formation Tower stitched onto his shoulders caught the overhead rays, radiating a dense, muted, pale-ash shimmer.

At this point, it was undeniably recognizable as platinum.

Naturally, Dongmun Mutoe remained indifferent to whether others regarded him as a Trigram Master or merely a standard practitioner of the array arts.

Provided it alleviated his listlessness and granted him a canvas to test novel arrays, the nature of the commission mattered little to him.

Furthermore.

Quite unexpectedly, this specific Bronze Formation Contract assignment was already proving to be highly entertaining.

Observe the spectacle.

The quarry had already navigated the Cold Yin Ice Wind Formation and had now overcome the Scorching Heat Rakshasa Formation.

Naturally, even after breaching the Scorching Heat Rakshasa Formation, the intruder remained enclosed within the overarching boundary, meaning it was more precise to describe him as still cornered.

Nevertheless, the quarry was already delivering a magnificent performance.

Granted, because the adversary had not uttered a single syllable—strongly suggesting he was incapable of speech—his fascination had dwindled a fraction, though it was hardly a significant issue.

Had the man abstained from entering, the circumstances would differ entirely.

The very instant his feet crossed into the boundary, the prey’s demise was sealed.

He was merely intrigued to see how many individual barriers his source of amusement could dismantle before the end.

The Eight Directions Avici Prison.

A crowning achievement he had forged by synthesizing every concept he had developed since his initiation into the Formation Dao.

Hahaha.

Truly impressive.

Yet the Eight Directions Avici Prison has barely commenced its true function.

It represents a purgatory devoid of liberation, where eight distinct strata of barriers constrict systematically from eight separate orientations.

Even an Immortal would find escape impossible.

Should you successfully shatter this layout, I shall submit to being your lifelong servant…

What?!

Dung-.

[Quest target has voluntarily made a ‘Pledge’…]

[A Pledge to a Hero gains binding power under the blessing of the Goddess Lumina…]

An automated declaration resonated, audible to only a single individual.

Independent of that phenomenon, Dongmun Mutoe’s previously clouded gaze sharpened with absolute clarity.

The tertiary barrier, the Ten Thousand Thunders Heaven Collapsing Formation.

A tempest array designed to unleash an infinite barrage of lightning from the heavens.

It originally fell under the jurisdiction of the Thunder Formation Division, yet he had refashioned it into an incredibly potent variation according to his personal methodology…

…or so he had believed.

The firmament within the boundary unquestionably ruptured.

Myriads of lightning bolts cascaded aggressively toward the prey.

Every single strike connected, persisted in striking, and would thoroughly go on striking.

Nonetheless, the man remained entirely unscathed…

No, merely being uninjured did not capture the reality.

A peculiar, translucent shield enveloped the individual, completely absorbing every bolt of lightning that descended upon him.

“… How can such a phenomenon occur?”

As if directly mocking Dongmun Mutoe’s muttered disbelief, the quarry’s blade described a circular path downward, cleanly severing the heart of the Ten Thousand Thunders Heaven Collapsing Formation.

“…Utter madness.”

The quaternary barrier, the Thousand Rocks Crushing Formation.

A pulverizing array that harnesses terrestrial currents to mobilize stones from every trajectory.

The entire peak shuddered violently.

The core of the land groaned, and irregular boulders and distorted monoliths began shifting as though granted life.

Scores of massive stones closed the distance from every angle toward the prey.

The peril extended beyond mere fatality upon impact.

The sheer reverberations generated by the stones effectively neutralized one’s equilibrium.

It strips a person of the ability to stand upright, subsequently grinding them to dust while completely unprotected.

Kung! Kung! Kukung!

The stones slammed together.

Debris surged into the air.

Yet the prey continued his forward progression…

No, that description fell short.

Having already annihilated the core of the fourth array, he was actively stepping into the perimeter of the fifth layout, the Bewilderment Illusion Formation.

The edges of his lips, which had twitched slightly in astonishment, quickly twisted into an amused grin.

‘It matters not. This marks the conclusion.’

In truth, the initial four layouts served as mere preludes.

Freezing cold, intense heat, lightning, and stone.

Ultimately, these factors reside purely within the domain of physical power.

With sufficient strength, one can withstand them; with superior might, one can shatter them.

However, the fifth layout operated on an entirely different level.

The unmatched Formation Dao engineered by the inaugural Yin-Yang Guard, the Bewilderment Illusion Formation.

A layout integrated as one of the containment chambers of the Eight Directions Avici Prison by utilizing the concepts of phantom, void, tangibility, and disorientation.

It functions as a psychological assault barrier that manipulates the sensory inputs to induce false visions and auditory distortions, permeating like a breeze to fracture the psyche.

Regardless of an individual’s might, they remain incapable of concealing their inner self.

Terror, wrath, sorrow, longing, shame.

The inherent internal shadows that every mortal bound by nature possesses.

It extracts those vulnerabilities and magnifies them by an order of magnitude.

Even the most celebrated figures within the Jianghu had been brought to their knees by this specific array.

In days past, a martial artist revered as the Sword Emperor became so afflicted by his personal phantoms that he ended his own life by cutting his throat.

A senior figure of the Blood Evil Heaven-Shattering Cult once lost his sanity entirely, utterly broken by the hidden shame he had carried throughout his existence.

‘A mortal is incapable of overcoming their own self.’

This was the absolute reality Dongmun Mutoe comprehended during his mastery of this layout.

‘Regardless of your prowess.’

His gaze flared.

‘The shadow residing inside you will prove far more potent.’

That quarry had claimed the lives of uncounted individuals.

Furthermore, he undoubtedly intended to extinguish many more existences moving forward.

Every single one of those demises.

Every ounce of that indignation.

Every drop of that spite.

From this moment onward, it will consume him entirely.

‘This promises to be highly diverting.’

Dongmun Mutoe folded his arms, adopting the demeanor of an onlooker.

On this occasion, he would be permitted to savor the entertainment leisurely.

No matter how rapid and powerful a hunter might be, he is destined to fall victim to the internal entity called ‘himself’ lurking within his subconscious.

‘Provided he is a mortal…’

This specific barrier can never be overcome.

Not by any living soul.

“…”

Dong Bongsu halted abruptly and scanned his environment.

He could perceive the ‘essential character’ of the unfamiliar array he had entered drawing near.

Hwiryuryuryu-.

He instantly deployed his Super True Qi Sense across the entire vicinity.

The frantic movements of insects deep within the earth diligently safeguarding their monarch, the scent of remains continuing to cremate in the blaze, the residual energy of the prior barriers that felt like an intersection of winter and summer, the organic impression this peak broadcasted…

All varieties of inputs filtered into his heightened perception.

Nevertheless, no specific hazard presented itself.

Promptly, he chose to completely suppress his Super True Qi Sense instead.

Mankind possesses an inherent faculty known as premonition.

The physical senses undeniably constitute ninety-nine percent of total awareness.

Yet the remaining single percent.

On occasion, that fragment of premonition and the extra-sensory faculty eclipses all analytical insight and the primary senses.

Beyond sight, beyond hearing, beyond scent, beyond touch.

On occasion, even eclipsing the vision of the spirit, such as the Spiritual Eye.

In this exact instance, his survival mechanism was alerting him.

That ‘something’ was approaching.

It occurred precisely as he reached a spot he identified as the origin of the barrier.

Kekekekekeke-.

Hehehehehehe-.

Kikyakya-hyahyakya-ha-.

The screams of phantoms, devouring all things, echoed forth.

It was not merely auditory perceptions that assaulted him.

Simultaneously, uncounted pale, indistinct forms materialized in the proximity of Dong Bongsu and began circling him.

“…”

Concurrently.

Udeuk-.

The chord of strain tightened to its limit, and his jaw locked rigidly.

At the same moment, blood vessels stood out sharply across his entire frame.

Within his right vision, ocular vessels engorged as though on the verge of rupturing, shifting his deep red eye to an even more inflamed state.

It appeared as if the vessels might tear through his flesh and spray blood like a torrent at any second.

His eye resembled something that would dissolve into a crimson pool.

“…”

A suffering so intense he wished he could lose focus and pass out gripped his entire form.

It was a sensation Dong Bongsu had never anticipated, as though hundreds of wedges were being driven straight into his core and struck by thousands of mallets.

[Why did you take my life?]

A voice that felt forcefully hammered into his inner being.

A phantom lamentation that appeared to have climbed up from the abyss.

Yet the very instant that utterance reached him.

The shaking of his facial muscles actually ceased.

The dark coloration gradually returned to his bloodshot eye, where the vessels had ruthlessly distended.

[Why did you take my life?]

[Why did you take my life?]

[Why did you take my life?]

…

..

.

The ‘manifestations’ his premonition had detected rotated around Dong Bongsu in a state of chaos.

The indistinct apparition of the unremembered Mr. Noh’s countenance drew near to him.

[Why did you take my life?]

Dong Bongsu stepped directly through the vapor.

Because your demise was necessary.

The warped vapor rapidly reconstituted into an alternate countenance and obstructed his trajectory.

The visages of those he extinguished when he instigated the Suicide Plague.

[Why did you take my life?]

[Why did you take my life?]

He stepped through once more.

Because their demises were necessary.

The northern adversaries he slaughtered during his time as the Ear Ghost.

[Why did you take my life?]

[Why did you take my life?]

[Why did you take my life?]

The phantoms persisted without end.

He advanced through them without intermission.

Because taking lives, repeatedly, was necessary.

The fragmented mirages reconfigured one by one into hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of individuals.

Youths, adults, the aged, males, and females of every category…

They all featured distinct countenances, yet the malice radiating from their eyes was uniform.

Indignation.

The entities he had moved past, causing them to warp, now hemmed him in once more.

Now completely tangible, they extended their limbs toward him, clutched at him, and intoned.

[Why did you take my life?]

[Why did you take my life?]

[Why did you take my life?]

[Why did you take my life?]

Why, why, why, why…

Tides of indignation surged forward to encircle him.

The apparitions yanked at his limbs, his feet, his countenance, his entire frame, weeping aloud.

[You must perish as well.]

[You must perish as well.]

[You must perish as well.]

[You must perish as well.]

The highest point of Crimson Emperor Peak.

Dongmun Mutoe’s facial features were rigid.

‘…What is the meaning of this?’

It was highly unusual.

The Bewilderment Illusion Formation had unmistakably engaged.

Myriads of indignant apparitions swarmed the quarry.

However.

‘Why is he not collapsing?’

Typically, the second the apparitions manifest, the struggle concludes.

Regardless of an individual’s power, they falter when confronted with the countenances of those they have slain.

Whether it manifests as shame, terror, or revulsion.

They experience an internal reaction.

And that specific reaction is magnified, shattering their psychological resolve.

Yet that individual.

He was advancing directly through them.

Right through the apparitions.

As though it possessed no consequence whatsoever.

No.

He appears to be gaining potency.

I am unacquainted with what his psyche is forged from… the greater the number of his casualties he bypassed, the more powerful he became.

‘Unthin…kable.’

Dongmun Mutoe’s digits quivered.

‘That is completely impossible.’

Should an individual be mortal.

It remains impossible for a mortal.

‘…Utter madness.’

Dongmun Mutoe’s gaze wavered.

For the primary time.

An internal response he could not classify as either reverence or exhilaration surged within his chest.

‘That entity is far from mortal.’

“No.”

Every variety of severe torment was experienced, yet he remained devoid of feeling.

In reality, the more it manifested, the more detached he became.

Desensitized.

Because.

He was required to be.

He needed to survive.

He had to endure.

He purposed to endure.

You have perished, and I shall persist in living and gathering greater strength.

Because that is precisely what a ‘Hero’ is mandated to perform.

“If your objective is my demise, you ought to have achieved resurrection rather than fashioning this variety of mirage.”

Sssseuuu-.

Dong Bongsu’s blade suddenly gleamed.

In a split second, a fierce gale of energy erupted from the blade and obliterated every illusion.

Concurrently with the core of the Bewilderment Illusion Formation.

Hwioooohh…

The indistinct, ash-colored apparitions completely dissolved, and the boundlessly expanding firmament was once more registered by his visual nerves.

And.

In the distance, he could identify it.

The origin of this entire situation.

“Located you. Star candy.”