Chapter 36 - The Second-Rate Warrior Facing a Legend
"Everyone, stop!"
Namgung Seonhwa's voice echoed resoundingly throughout the entire cavern.
Those who were engaged in fierce fighting began to turn their heads one by one, and the battle soon entered a lull.
"Has someone secured the Amitabha Holy Water?"
She expected that this fierce fight had broken out because the Amitabha Holy Water had eventually fallen into someone's hands, but the answer she received was unexpected.
"That is not it. They tried to steal our rations."
The relatively fine-looking people on the right pointed at the disheveled people on the left.
"Rations?"
"That is right."
"If you are hungry, leave the cave. Is there a need to kill each other over mere rations?"
"We would leave if we could!"
The answer came from the left side.
A man in shabby clothing stepped forward, looking as if he would collapse at any moment.
"We have been eating nothing but moss for a week already!"
"What are you talking about? The river path opened this morning."
"What need was there to wait until the river path opened? More people would have gathered by then anyway."
The story was that they had pushed through the waterway and entered this place before Haomun opened the river path.
"Then why are you not going back?"
"As I said a moment ago, we would have left if we could. We are stuck here unable to budge because of this damn array."
"So no one has found the Amitabha Holy Water in the end?"
"Go ahead and enter that array on the other side if you want! Though I do not know if you will be able to come back alive."
They said that several hundred people had already gone inside, but no one had returned alive.
Namgung Seonhwa recalled the story Yu Jiryang had told her as soon as they entered.
"We will need to investigate further to know what kind of array it is."
At Yu Jiryang's words, Namgung Seonhwa spoke to the group again.
"We will begin investigating now."
"To hell with investigating, we are starving to death!"
"..."
Namgung Seonhwa looked at the people on the right. However, every single one of them was full of vigilance, looking as if they had no intention of sharing their food.
"The Namgung Clan will distribute food. In exchange, I will not forgive anyone who causes a disturbance from now on."
"My Lady!"
"You cannot! What if we end up unable to leave this place?"
"Enough! If we cannot figure out the array's identity, we will eventually be unable to leave either."
At Namgung Seonhwa's sharp shout, the people of the noble clan no longer voiced any objections.
Each of them took out jerky or fasting pills from their pouches and handed them over.
However, while there were thirty people from the Namgung Clan, the people on the left numbered close to two hundred.
Eventually, the warriors of the Iron Sword Sect also took out jerky and fasting pills to hand over.
Even though the Namgung Clan and the Iron Sword Sect had made sacrifices, there were many who were dissatisfied with the significantly small portions of food, but they seemed to have no intention of stepping out of line anymore.
After all, being able to dismantle the array itself would be better than the food right in front of them.
Yu Jiryang gave a detailed explanation about the array.
"To be precise, a part of the original array naturally collapsed with the passage of time, and a part of those remnants created a natural array."
Neither Namgung Seonhwa nor I, who were listening to the story, could understand it.
An array was a formation where even placing a single stone incorrectly would shatter the entire harmony and render it useless.
It was impressive enough that the array had endured for a long time, but could a collapsed portion really turn into a natural array again?
"... That should not happen, but... we are verifying it now."
Yu Jiryang looked at the array masters on the other side who were studying the array under the protection of the Namgung Clan's warriors.
The faces of those verifying the array all turned deathly pale.
"I hoped it was not the case... but it was as I thought."
"What do you mean?"
At our conversation, the people on the left and the right all pricked up their ears.
"Have you ever heard of the Boundless Indestructible Soul-Extinguishing Array?"
GULP.
Instead of answering, the people swallowed their saliva. Just hearing the name painted a pessimistic future in their minds.
"It is a terrifying array that disappeared three hundred years ago and should not exist in this world."
"..."
Namgung Seonhwa's complexion gradually worsened. I stepped up and asked instead.
"What makes it so terrifying?"
"First of all, once you enter the array, you cannot come out."
"Is such a thing possible?"
An array fundamentally constructed a new world with the Gate of Life and the Gate of Death as its basic framework.
Just as no building could be built without a central framework, an array could not be constructed without a Gate of Life and a Gate of Death.
"Of course, this array also has a Gate of Life and a Gate of Death, but they are made in a way that makes them absolutely impossible to find even if you know they are there."
Even though hiding the Gate of Life and the Gate of Death within an array could be considered the basics of arrays, Yu Jiryang's story remained entirely negative.
"It takes the Eight Trigrams as its basic framework and maps out the paths of the Twelve Earthly Branches to create sixty sexagenary routes each. Then, influenced by the daily cycle, it produces three hundred and sixty-five variations, making the changes feel close to boundless, which is why it was named the Boundless Indestructible Soul-Extinguishing Array."
"..."
Not only us, but both the people who had entered earlier and those who entered later all grew sullen in the face.
"... T-Then what about destroying it! What if we destroy it? Most of the people who came here, including the Namgung Clan, are experts, so cannot we just destroy it and leave!"
Someone's desperate question.
Yu Jiryang shook his head.
"That is the reason this array eventually disappeared. An array is ultimately used when you want to protect someone or capture an opponent alive. But once this one is installed, it can neither be dismantled nor destroyed."
"... T-That's..."
"Even if smaller ones could perhaps be broken with extremely powerful destructive force, the size of the Soul-Extinguishing Array spread out here is roughly over thirty zhang just by estimation. Moreover, it seems a part of the array was destroyed when the cave collapsed, yet it is still maintaining its formation as an array."
"Haa..."
The people on the left collapsed onto the floor one by one.
I pointed to one side of the cavern and said.
"Mr. Yu Jiryang, was there not someone who definitely saw the Amitabha Holy Water here and came out? What happened with that?"
"... I can only assume that heavenly luck helped them get out."
"Heavenly luck?"
"Yes. Even though it is a probability close to boundless, the Gate of Life and the Gate of Death surely exist, do they not?"
"Then, if we can calculate the array, wouldn't we be able to find the Gate of Life and leave?"
"But we cannot calculate a path that changes from moment to moment every single time. If we lose our way during the calculation, we will lose the central axis to recalculate from that point on, so we would eventually be trapped inside the array."
"Then what if we memorize all the paths instead?"
"Pardon?"
"What if we memorize all the paths created by the Eight Trigrams, Twelve Earthly Branches, sixty sexagenary cycles, and the three hundred and sixty-five variations?"
"... Even a rough calculation would put it at over two hundred thousand."
The number of characters in the documents I had read at the Murim Alliance's Mantong Bureau must have been five times that.
"It sounds possible. Calculate all of them and let me know."
"... Are you being serious?"
"I do like jokes, but now doesn't seem to be the time for that."
Yu Jiryang, who thought for a moment, closed his mouth tightly and nodded.
"It will take time."
The people who heard the conversation between me and Yu Jiryang wore expressions of disbelief, yet they also began to harbor a small sense of anticipation.
"Namgung Clan!!"
Right then, a group of men burst out from the array near the exit.
Warriors wearing red martial robes and Seo Hyunjae's party of three.
The number of men in red martial robes had been reduced by half, and the appearances of Seo Hyunjae, along with Ma Gosan and Sa Muin, were incredibly haggard.
"Where is the Namgung Clan!"
Seo Hyunjae, who was looking around, met eyes with me as I was talking with Yu Jiryang by the opposite wall, and then flew toward us using the Bowstring-Fired Shadow technique.
"You bastard! How dare you scam me!"
The moment his sword aimed at me and Yu Jiryang, the warriors of the Namgung Clan stepped in and blocked his sword.
"Keuk! Namgung Clan! You bastards are exactly the same!"
It was not just Seo Hyunjae. Ma Gosan and Sa Muin also fully revealed their hostility, clearly having suffered some sort of hardship.
"Stop!"
At that time, the ones who stepped forward were the warriors from the left and right who had been fighting to kill each other.
"Right now, they are our only way to survive!"
"That is none of my business! Get lost if you do not want to die!"
"You fools!"
Three or four warriors from the right rushed at Seo Hyunjae at the same time.
Then, Ma Gosan and Sa Muin joined forces to instantly repel them, and subsequently, the warriors on the right charged at them in unison, sparking a new battle.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
However, pushed back by the sheer difference in numbers, Seo Hyunjae's group simultaneously took out wooden boxes from their clothes and tossed pills into their mouths.
"Hoo, hoo, hoo."
"Haa, haa!"
In an instant, an immense amount of energy surged out from the bodies of Seo Hyunjae's group.
The moment those who were pushing them back with numbers flinched.
They were scattered in all directions, spraying fountains of blood from the ice palm shot by Seo Hyunjae and the wolf-fang mace swung by Sa Muin.
"Who is it! Who dares to block our path!"
Bloodshot eyes, rough breathing, and internal energy that had suddenly doubled—it was clearly the effects of the Blood Explosion Pill.
The nearly one thousand five hundred people combined from the left and right flinched and retreated at the momentum of the three.
When no one moved anymore, the three began to stride toward us, and the group including Namgung Seonhwa also began preparing to face Seo Hyunjae.
Just then, Namgung Seonhwa looked toward the rear and let out a sharp shout.
"Great Warrior Yong So-ah!"
Seo Hyunjae's group, who had been approaching us with nothing to fear, abruptly stopped in their tracks and looked behind them.
There, Yong So-ah's group was still walking out of the array.
"What is going on here?"
They were confused, realizing that even though they had definitely entered the array first, we were the ones who had come out of the array before them.
"This is the terror of the array. If you take a wrong turn in there, you might die in a place where you can gauge neither time nor space for the rest of your life."
As Yong So-ah's group began to approach, Seo Hyunjae blocked their path in the middle.
"Our business comes first!"
"Step aside. I do not show mercy to the Underworld."
"You dog-like..."
Seo Hyunjae's words did not continue to the end. That was because his hand, which was about to unleash an ice palm, and his head were severed by Yong So-ah's unseen sword and fell to the floor, spraying fountains of blood.
"Uaaagh!"
Ma Gosan and Sa Muin screamed as they pushed Seo Hyunjae's body away.
"You bastards must be exactly the same."
"Do not come closer! Do not come closer! Do not come closer unless you want us all to die together!"
Ma Gosan pulled a Thunderbolt Bomb out of Seo Hyunjae's belongings and threatened him, causing Yong So-ah's movements to pause for a moment.
"Do you think you will be alive until you detonate that?"
"Fuck! Move a single finger, and we are all just dying right here today."
When Ma Gosan's group surrounded and protected Ma Gosan in layers as if he were their last bastion, Yong So-ah turned his head as if he were no longer interested.
"Explain what has happened."
When Yong So-ah spoke to Namgung Seonhwa, Namgung Seonhwa explained in detail the events that had occurred so far.
When the term Boundless Indestructible Soul-Extinguishing Array was mentioned, even the renowned Yong So-ah showed a slight flinch.
"So you are saying there is a way to dismantle the array?"
"It is not dismantling the array. Great Warrior Yu Jiryang and Young Master Jin are calculating it to guide us to the Gate of Life within the array."
"Even a rough calculation gives two hundred thousand possibilities, and if a part of the array is broken, new paths could be formed accordingly. You are wasting your energy on nonsense."
"There is no other way we can do this right now."
"..."
* * *
Half a month later.
I was memorizing the paths calculated by Yu Jiryang and the array masters one by one, day and night.
Meanwhile, another thousand people had entered the cavern; of them, a hundred died from fighting, and three hundred went into the array on the opposite side saying they would find a path, never to return.
According to Yu Jiryang, the very fact that we were able to enter was because a part of the array was broken, allowing us to reach the cavern, and once inside this array that stretched for thirty zhang, we would have no choice but to remain trapped in the Soul-Extinguishing Array if we did not know the path.
"Everyone has reached their limit."
Seong Moran and Namgung Seonhwa were also dried out like plants withered in a drought.
It was because they had given away half of their food at the beginning.
Even then, they had only lasted this long because they fasted as much as possible and endured.
"How much longer will it take?"
"... It will take another five days."
"..."
The warriors suffered greatly from starvation, but the array masters were not in good condition either.
Due to poor nutrition, calculations were gradually taking more time.
"... This is a meaningless endeavor."
At that time, Yong So-ah, who had been sitting on one side, suddenly stood up.
Right now, the strongest person in this cavern was none other than Yong So-ah.
Among the Underworld, there were those who boasted reputations no less than Yong So-ah's, but they did not go out of their way to antagonize him, if only because of the other Daoists of the Wudang Sect.
"Get up."
The place Yong So-ah walked over to was Ma Gosan's group, situated among the Underworld crowd.
"Hand over the Thunderbolt Bomb."
"What!"
Upon realizing Yong So-ah's objective, Yu Jiryang sprang to his feet.
"You cannot. Great Warrior! This array is not an array that can be dismantled with a Thunderbolt Bomb."
"It cannot be dismantled, sure. But it can open a path, can it not."
"..."
At Yong So-ah's words, not only the Orthodox faction crowd but also the Underworld crowd began to slowly rise from the floor.
It was a resolve that they would not hesitate to do anything if it meant they could leave this place.
"But if you use a Thunderbolt Bomb, there is no knowing how the paths will change. Please trust us."
Yong So-ah looked at Yu Jiryang and me with dry eyes.
"Do you believe that a human can memorize two hundred thousand paths?"
At Yong So-ah's words, I spoke.
"So you are going to leave by yourself?"
Only now could I understand why close to five hundred people had died here.
And how Yong So-ah had managed to return alive amidst this chaos. And why there had never been any tales of Yong So-ah being here afterward.
"I will go out and bring the array masters of the Murim Alliance."
"Did you not hear? It is not an array that can be dismantled in the first place."
"The potential of the Murim Alliance cannot be compared to a single sect."
"The only possibility we have is to memorize the paths to get out of here. If the paths are twisted because of you, what do you plan to do about the lives of the people here? Do they not matter?"
"Even now, people continue to enter from the outside. If we leave things as they are, the casualties will rise endlessly."
Yong So-ah held his hand out to Ma Gosan.
At that, Ma Gosan and Sa Muin prostrated themselves flat.
"I will give it to you. In exchange, please take us with you."
"... Fine."
"U-Us too..."
"Please take us with you as well."
CLANG, CRACKLE!
As people swarmed in from all sides, Yong So-ah drew his sword and drew a long line on the floor.
"I will undoubtedly cut down anyone who crosses this line. I will go out and bring people back. Wait here."
"Fuck! How can we believe that!"
"When have you hypocritical bastards ever kept a promise!"
There were those who clung to Yong So-ah, but conversely, there were also those who held hostility toward him.
Seventy percent of the people inside the cavern were figures of the Underworld.
They firmly held the thought that Yong So-ah, the representative rising star of the Murim Alliance, might abandon them.
"Die!"
Eventually, starting with someone drawing a sword, the interior of the cavern, which had been quiet for a while, began to fill with the screams and cries of people.
"Keuok!"
"Kaak!"
Dozens of people rushed at Yong So-ah, but none lasted past five martial moves.
In an instant, a wall built of corpses formed around Yong So-ah and the Wudang Sect Daoists, and faced with their terrifying, overwhelming martial prowess, the people gradually began to stop in their tracks one by one.
"Great Warrior Yong So-ah. Stop this."
In the end, the ones who stepped forward were Namgung Seonhwa and her warriors.
"There are only a few days left now. Please wait just a little longer."
"I have wasted time until now because of you people. I cannot delay time any longer."
"Even so, we cannot gamble with the lives of three thousand people as collateral."
"Do you have the strength to stop me?"
"... Prepare the Cangqiong Sword Array."
"Deploy!"
"Deploy!"
The moment the Namgung Clan activated the Cangqiong Sword Array, the Wudang Sect Daoists also began to unfold the Taiji Sword Array.
Namgung Seonhwa and Yong So-ah separated from their sword arrays to engage in individual combat, but even the renowned Namgung Seonhwa merely looked like a child in front of Yong So-ah.
'Is this for real...'
I could not help but let out a sigh at the sight of the mass of Aura blooming at the tip of Yong So-ah's sword.
He, who had not even reached his thirties yet, was astonishingly unleashing Sword Force.
Namgung Seonhwa tried unleashing the Sovereign Sword Technique, her confident swordsmanship, but she was no match for Yong So-ah.
Ultimately, the only one in this cavern who could stop Yong So-ah was me, who knew the Destruction Form against Wudang's swordsmanship.
"You cannot. Yong So-ah is a different person from my brother."
As I tried to step forward, Seong Moran stopped me.
"If I do not step forward now, we will helplessly die here. And I have a method, so do not worry too much."
Leaving Seong Moran behind, I fired the Flying Dragon Claw to embed it into the wall and pulled the Heavenly Silkworm Thread.
SWISH.
Something like a pulley spun rapidly inside the Flying Dragon Claw, shooting my body forward like an arrow.
"Lady Namgung, duck!"
Namgung Seonhwa quickly lowered her head along with my words, and I swept the Black Dragon Sword over her.
CLANG!
Taking two steps back from the surprise attack, Yong So-ah quickly steadied his posture.
I immediately rushed at him, unleashing the Destruction Form against the Taiji Divine Sword, the foundational martial art of the Wudang Sect.
CLATTER.
A small hint of surprise drifted across Yong So-ah's face, which had not changed expressions even once since entering the cavern.
"What is this?"
Yong So-ah looked back and forth between his sword and me.
I unleashed the Destruction Form once again so as not to give him time to think.
CRASH! CRASH! BOOM!
Feeling something strange about the martial move, Yong So-ah immediately drew up his internal energy.
Something shining with brilliance about two feet long formed over his sword.
'Crazy!'
Although its length was short, it was definitely Aura.
CRASH! CRASH!
Every time I clashed with his Sword Force, I desperately deflected his Aura, but a numbing sensation like a hammer striking an anvil was transmitted through my palms to my arms.
Fortunately, the Black Dragon Sword, made of Indestructible Vajra Iron, did not have its edge chipped or fragments flying off like other swords.
"Did the Taiyi Sect have such a sword technique?"
"... See, wouldn't it have been good if you had known the potential of the sects in the 108 Peaks in advance?"
Even while unleashing the Destruction Form, I continued to shift through space using the Flying Dragon Claw.
'I cannot hold out for long.'
Although Jegal's Three Forms were created by Zhuge Cheongi for him, Yong So-ah ultimately did not use the Destruction Form.
For the absurd reason that it harmed the spirit of Wudang.
Even so, he had never been defeated once. Since he did not fall back even when a fellow Wudang Sect Daoist unleashed the Destruction Form, it was certain that he would be able to counterattack if he grew just a little more accustomed to this Destruction Form.
"A sword technique that dismantles the opponent's martial arts..."
Sure enough, he had already begun grasping the origin of my swordsmanship.
Unlike Namgung San, who had quickly switched to the Sovereign Sword Technique when his Cangqiong Great Evolution Sword Technique did not work, this guy was tenaciously unfolding the Taiji Divine Sword to the point where it could be called deliberate.
His intention was to figure out the identity of the swordsmanship I was wielding.
His intention was exactly right, and the moments when his swordsmanship paused began to decrease.
"It seems you must leave with me."
"As I thought, you intend to kill everyone here."
"..."
The moment I thought there was no longer any way to resist.
I soared toward the ceiling using the Flying Dragon Claw.
At the same time, I drew up all the internal energy in my Dantian.
"Eat this!"
A sense of elasticity pouring out as if my Dantian had been emptied in a single stroke.
The power of massive true qi radiating through my hands.
The Radiant Heaven Divine Palm shot out as if to obliterate Yong So-ah.
BOOM, BOOM, CRASH!
For the first time, a character for 'river' (川) was carved into the brow of Yong So-ah, who rarely showed such an expression.
'Got him.'
The moment I felt such relief.
Yong So-ah, who had diverted the energy of the Radiant Heaven Divine Palm to the side with a desperate 'Four Ounces Deflecting a Thousand Pounds' technique, leaped from the floor and kicked me away.
THUD!
The moment I drew upon my nonexistent internal energy to fire the Flying Dragon Claw.
PING.
As if he had been waiting, Yong So-ah shot out finger wind.
The Flying Dragon Claw fell limply to the floor.
"Young Master Jin!!"
From one side, Seong Moran let out a scream as if she would faint.
Only then did I turn my head, and my body was already flying into the Boundless Indestructible Soul-Extinguishing Array.
"No!"
An instant in which I could not even react.
My vision blurred as I was dragged into an unknown space.
