Chapter 197

Chapter 197: The Prodigy of the Formation Tower (4)

The quarry was moving with incredible swiftness.

Far too rapidly.

Completely unimpeded.

He shattered every array in a single heartbeat, granting no opportunity to analyze the underlying tenets of the Eight Directions Avici Prison’s Formation Dao.

It appeared as though.

‘How…?’

As though the array had no effect on him whatsoever.

Had it been an ordinary mortal possessing a beating heart, their trepidation and dread ought to have multiplied until their psyche completely fractured.

Does he possess no terror?

No apprehension either?

In truth, not even the slightest tremor of sentiment could be discerned.

It resembled a scenario where one attempts to pour water into a hollow container, only to find the container itself is nonexistent.

“Ah…?”

Suddenly, his gaze locked directly with the man’s eyes.

Had the array been functioning correctly, such an occurrence should have been utterly impossible.

Irises, dark and profound like a bottomless chasm, peered right toward this spot.

A chuckle slipped past his teeth.

“Ah, so that is the explanation.”

That accounted for his immunity from the first up to the fourth array.

Devoid of terror, he did not shrink from the freezing cold.

Devoid of fury, he was not consumed by the blistering heat.

Devoid of haste, he could serenely evade the descending lightning bolts.

Devoid of dread, he could composedly shatter the boulders.

A man entirely hollow of feelings.

Against such an individual, even the Bewilderment Illusion Formation was utterly futile.

“Fascinating. Truly fascinating!”

Dongmun Mutoe twitched his fingers.

“In that case, how will you handle this?”

The sixth array, the Star-Absorbing and Meridian-Severing Formation.

The Cardinal West.

The Dui Trigram.

The Lake.

A malevolent array designed to violently drain the quarry’s Internal Energy and rupture their Meridians.

Much like water naturally descends to lower ground, Qi invariably flows toward regions of diminished pressure.

The Star-Absorbing and Meridian-Severing Formation artificially lowers the pressure enveloping the target, forcing his Internal Energy to bleed outward against his volition.

Concurrently, into the vacuum vacated by the depleted Internal Energy, Turbid Qi infiltrates.

Consequently, the Meridians become obstructed, and his martial prowess gradually erodes.

The Third Principle, Meridian-Severing and Qi-Locking.

An array designed for a lingering demise, akin to moisture evaporating until dry.

This process is entirely disconnected from emotional currents, meaning… wait, what!?

The quarry sank low into his knees.

Rather, the very instant he was perceived to bend them, they snapped straight, and he propelled forward with explosive velocity.

“…What nonsense is this?”

Dongmun Mutoe’s gaze constricted sharply.

Within his exceptionally sharp sight, an anomaly was detected.

A subtle, mist-like vapor was emanating around the quarry.

True Qi.

The drawing force radiated by the Star-Absorbing and Meridian-Severing Formation.

The exact instant it contacted the target.

It was being drawn backward in reverse.

Whish-!

The quarry’s strides accelerated continuously.

As though the drawn power was revitalizing him instead.

‘…He is consuming it.’

The array’s essence.

My personal array.

Peculiarly.

It was not vexation but exhilaration that surged through his veins.

“Splendid, splendid! Exactly! This is precisely how a proper trial ought to unfold! Kehehe.”

Shattering the sixth array in a flash, the quarry advanced into the seventh array.

The seventh array, the Space-Time Turbulence Formation.

The Southwest.

The Kun Trigram.

The Earth.

A maze-like array that warps the perception of space, rendering it impossible to locate the path out.

The nucleus of the Eight Directions Avici Prison.

The Fourth Principle, Spatial Inversion.

Advance forward, and you remain stationary.

Retreat backward, and you remain stationary.

It creases this dimension, constructed of Yin-Yang and the Five Elements, utilizing the methodology of the Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams.

A path out exists.

Yet it remains unreachable.

Indefinitely.

And.

Predictably, the violently sprinting quarry ground to a halt.

Incapable of advancing a single stride.

One.

Two.

Three.

“He is ensnared. He is ensnared. Hehe.”

At this juncture, brute strength cannot pierce this array.

It matters not if he is devoid of feelings.

It matters not if he absorbs the internal energy woven into the array.

For space itself has been creased.

Should he attempt to advance forward, he will move backward.

Should he attempt to retreat backward, he will drift sideways.

Evading is logically impossible.

This represents the nucleus of the Eight Directions Avici Prison.

If he fails to shatter the seventh array, he can never attain the eighth.

He will roam indefinitely within the boundaries of the seventh array until he perishes from exhaustion.

To be more exact, it is irrelevant whether he attains the eighth, the ninth, or the hundredth array.

“This truly marks the conclusion.”

Dongmun Mutoe loosened his posture.

In all candor, it was rather a pity.

It was extraordinary that he had advanced to this point.

He wished the man could have offered a bit more amusement… a bit more assistance with the trial.

— Is this the extent of it? Is this all you possess?

Dongmun Mutoe’s words resonated throughout the entire array.

— It is unfortunate, but I shall enlighten you. Even should you pierce the seventh array and attain the eighth, you are destined to return to the first array. The reason? Because the eighth array is identical to the first array. And the first is identical to the eighth. Simply put, the methodology and tenets of the seventh array have creased space to link the path out and the path in of the first array. It is a perpetual loop. To break free, you must pulverize the Formation Eye… but that is unachievable. Because… wait?

The quarry offered no verbal reply.

He merely extended a single digit.

In the direction of Dongmun Mutoe, or to be more exact, toward the summit of Crimson Emperor Peak, where Dongmun Mutoe loomed.

“…!”

Space was creased.

The perception of orientation was warped.

Logically, it was impossible to view this vantage point from that position.

Nevertheless.

His gaze intersected with the quarry’s once more.

“How in the world… does he perceive me every single time?”

In that fleeting instant.

The quarry’s pointing finger twitched.

Thwip.

An object surged toward him.

An imperceptible force.

Disregarding the spatial warping, it advanced along an unyielding straight trajectory.

Dongmun Mutoe instinctively jerked his head aside.

Slice.

A thin line of crimson trickled down his cheek.

“……”

Dongmun Mutoe wiped his cheek with his finger.

The crimson moisture transferred onto his fingertip.

His personal blood.

How much time had transpired?

Since he had last witnessed his own blood.

“Heh.”

A chuckle slipped past his teeth.

“Hehahaha.”

The mirth intensified.

An strike that traveled along an unyielding straight line despite space being creased.

It was an unfeasible exploit.

“Was the array flawed?”

No, that was out of the question.

It was impossible….

In that exact breath.

He sensed an entity directly behind his back.

Dongmun Mutoe’s eyelids snapped wide.

It felt as though his heart had ceased to beat.

A perception he had never once encountered in his entire existence.

‘Is this… what panic feels like?’

So I am capable of experiencing such an emotion as well.

He deliberately turned around.

The quarry was positioned right there.

“No.”

A completely flat tone.

The quarry, rather, Dong Bongsu, who had now entirely reassumed his role as the predator, uttered.

“It was not flawed.”

“…Then where lay the error?”

“You simply lacked knowledge.”

“…?”

“Regarding an individual like myself… that a human being could exist like me.”

“What are you implying?”

“That I was never ensnared from the very beginning.”

“…?”

“Conviction does not crease. Because of that, the trajectory my conviction targets remained unwarped.”

“Conviction? Belief?”

“It is a tenet that a common mortal like yourself cannot comprehend.”

“…Mortal?”

“……”

“Me?”

Dong Bongsu uttered nothing further and surveyed his environment.

Amidst the terrified dispatch team practitioners, some attempted to flee, while others were frantically assembling arrays.

Swoosh.

First.

An imperceptible force surged and struck the spines of the Formation Masters who were attempting to escape.

They dropped simultaneously without uttering even a gasp.

Swoosh.

Second.

The wrists of those who were frantically attempting to construct arrays were severed in mid-air.

Prior to their wrists even contacting the soil, all their craniums were sent spinning through the air.

There was no purpose in accounting for the remainder.

For not a single soul survived.

With two careless sweeps of his arm, all adversarial resistance terminated.

As is frequently the conclusion for those who stand against a ‘Hero’.

Annihilation, or a fate far more grim.

Subsequently.

Dong Bongsu’s frozen gaze shifted back to Dongmun Mutoe.

“Are you named Dongmun Mutoe?”

“…You are aware of my identity?”

“Your speech lacks proper deference.”

“Even our Ranking Committee was incapable of identifying…”

As the talkative man’s words threatened to lengthen, Dong Bongsu instantly severed his utterance in two.

“You uttered a pledge moments ago, did you not?”

“…What? Ah.”

— Hahaha. Moderately striking. Yet the Eight Directions Avici Prison is merely commencing. It is an abyss devoid of escape, where eight strata of arrays constrict from eight pathways. Even an immortal entity cannot break free from it. Should you succeed in piercing this, I shall even function as your servant for eternity… what!?

[The quest target has intentionally proclaimed an ‘Oath’.]

[An Oath dedicated to a Hero possesses binding authority under the benediction of the Goddess Lumina.]

An unyielding pledge that Dongmun Mutoe himself could never perceive, one that only Dong Bongsu was cognizant of.

Thump-.

Dongmun Mutoe’s spine curved.

For the initial time in his existence, his knees contacted the soil.

‘…What sort of power is this?’

It was bizarre.

He was certain he had not dropped to his knees by his own volition.

His anatomy operated independently.

As though he were being manipulated by an external force.

No.

‘…The pledge.’

Should you pierce this, I shall even function as your servant.

It was a jest.

It could not have been earnest.

For the Eight Directions Avici Prison was logically unfeasible to pierce.

It was a Formation Dao that was meant to be impenetrable.

Yet.

The reality that he was incapable of executing any movement at this moment was far more significant than what had transpired.

‘This… is mandatory compliance? When did he execute it? By what means did he achieve it? A novel Formation Dao? Or a hex! It cannot possibly be martial arts?!’

He was unable to discern what it constituted.

It was merely fascinating.

He experienced no fury.

On the contrary.

‘This is highly amusing.’

Dongmun Mutoe snickered, remaining on his knees.

Smack-.

Naturally, Dongmun Mutoe’s sentiments held zero significance for Dong Bongsu.

Dong Bongsu’s boot came to rest carelessly upon the man’s countenance.

Irrespective of how he perceived the gesture.

Clang-.

【Guild】First Request【Linked】:

Amidst an undertaking, unpredicted novel adversaries can surface at any moment, so please consistently exercise caution.

I trust you will not neglect the fact that treacherous individuals are consistently targeting your spine.

․ Disband the Bandit Alliance.

├─ Status: 100%

└─ Benefit: Chronicle +1, Affiliation with Bae Dal-pae marginally enhanced

․ Overcome all practitioners of the Heavenly Formation Dao Alliance dispatch team commissioned by the Bandit Alliance.

├─ Status: 100%

├─ Extra Requirement: Entirely pierce the Eight Directions Avici Prison

└─ Benefit: Chronicle +1, A bond with the Heavenly Formation Dao Alliance has materialized: An Oath bond has been enacted with one of the Eight Trigram Masters, Dongmun Mutoe

[Your legendary exploits have significantly advanced your Hero Chronicle. A benefit is bestowed.]

[+2]

[The realm has turned out to be a fair bit more splendid.]

[A bond with the Heavenly Formation Dao Alliance has materialized.]

[In accordance with the Oath, Dongmun Mutoe has been designated as your ‘Follower’.]

[An Oath dedicated to a Hero possesses binding authority under the benediction of the Goddess Lumina.]

[The individual who uttered the pledge is incapable of refusal.]

[Nonetheless, if the follower’s determination is potent, minor defiance is achievable.]

[On occasion, even a mandatory bond can evolve into a favorable one.]

[Conviction invariably yields an equivalent benefit. ♡]

Dong Bongsu swiftly cleared the disagreeable glowing spiritual message.

He then hoisted the dropping Dongmun Mutoe over his shoulder blade.

A Formation Master.

And judging by what he had just witnessed, an exceptionally potent one at that.

“He will prove beneficial.”

For a Star Candy, he represents a rather premium asset.

His overactive mouth is an issue that can be rectified with the passage of time.

Dash-.

Presently, his silhouette elongated swiftly toward the direction of the River Capital and dissolved from view.