The Martial Genius Who Remembers Everything Chapter 36

[ … words ]

***

“Everyone, stop!”

Nam-gung Seon-hwa’s voice rang out, echoing loudly through the entire cavern.

Those who were in the middle of a fierce fight started to turn their heads one by one, and the battle soon reached a lull.

“Is there anyone who has secured the Mi-ta-seong-su?”

I had expected that such a fierce fight had occurred because the Mi-ta-seong-su had eventually fallen into someone’s hands, but the returning answer was unexpected.

“That is not it. They tried to steal our food.”

The people on the right side, who looked quite fine, pointed to the dirty people on the left.

“Food?”

“That is correct.”

“If you are hungry, go out of the cave. Is there a need to kill each other over just food?”

“We would go out if we could go out!”

The answer returned from the left side.

A man in shabby attire stepped forward as if he would collapse at any moment.

“We are in a state of eating only moss for a week already!”

“What does that mean? The river path opened this morning.”

“Why would we need to wait until the river path opens? Anyway, when that time comes, more people will gather.”

The story was that they had waded through the water and entered here before the Hao-mun opened the river path.

“Then why are you not going back?”

“As I said a moment ago, we would have left if we could leave. We are stuck here because of this damn formation.”

“In the end, did no one discover the Mi-ta-seong-su?”

“If you want to enter the formation on the opposite side, go in! I don’t know if you will be able to return alive, though.”

They said that although several hundred people had already entered inside, there was no one who returned alive.

Nam-gung Seon-hwa thought of what Yu Ji-ryang had said as soon as he entered.

“I have to investigate more to know what kind of formation it is.”

At Yu Ji-ryang’s words, Nam-gung Seon-hwa looked at the sorcerers of the Mo-san Sect who were investigating the formation under the protection of the Nam-gung-se-ga warriors on the opposite side.

Their faces, who were checking the formation, all turned pale.

“I hoped it wouldn’t be…… but it was as expected.”

“What do you mean?”

At our story, the people on the left and right also pricked up their ears.

“Have you ever heard of the Immeasurable Indestructible Soul-Extinguishing Formation (Muryang-bul-goe-myeol-hon-jin)?”

Gulp.

People swallowed their saliva instead of answering. Just by hearing the name, a pessimistic future was being drawn in their heads.

“It is a terrifying formation that disappeared 300 years ago and should not exist in the world.”

“…….”

Nam-gung Seon-hwa’s complexion started to change for the worse. Instead, I stepped forward and asked.

“What point is terrifying?”

“Once you enter the formation, you cannot come out.”

“Is such a thing possible?”

A formation fundamentally builds a new world with the Life Gate and Death Gate as the basic framework.

Just as no building can be built without a central framework, a formation also cannot be constructed without the Life Gate and Death Gate.

“Of course, this formation also has a Life Gate and Death Gate, but they have made them in a way that you cannot find them even if you know them.”

Even though hiding the Life Gate and Death Gate in a formation can be seen as the basis of a formation, Yu Ji-ryang’s story was only negative.

“They take the Eight Trigrams as the basic framework, catch the path of the 12 Zodiacs, and create the path of the 60 Sexagenary Cycle for each. And because it receives the influence of the sun and creates 365 changes, it is called the Immeasurable Indestructible Soul-Extinguishing Formation because those changes feel close to immeasurable.”

“…….”

Not only us, but the people who entered first and the people who entered later all had their complexions pale.

“……Th, then destruction! What if we destroy it? Most of the people who came here, including the Nam-gung-se-ga, are masters, so shouldn’t we just destroy it and go out!”

Someone’s desperate question.

Yu Ji-ryang shook his head.

“That is the reason why this formation eventually disappeared. A formation is something you use when you want to protect someone or capture an opponent alive in the end. Because this cannot be dismantled or destroyed once installed.”

“……Su, such a.”

“Even if small ones might be destroyed if it is a very powerful destructive power, just by guessing the size of the Soul-Extinguishing Formation unfolded here, it is more than 30 jang. Moreover, it seems that a part of the formation was destroyed as the cave collapsed here, but it still maintains the form of the formation.”

“Heh…….”

The people on the left side sat down on the floor one by one.

I pointed to one side of the cavern and said.

“Yu Ji-ryang-nim, there was clearly a person who saw the Mi-ta-seong-su and came out from here. How did that happen?”

“……I guess I can predict that perhaps heaven’s luck helped them to go out.”

“Heaven’s luck?”

“Yes. Although it is a probability close to immeasurable, wouldn’t the Life Gate and Death Gate clearly exist?”

“If so, if you can calculate the formation, can’t you find the Life Gate and go out?”

“But you cannot calculate the path that changes every moment every time. If you lose your way during calculation, from then on, you will lose the central axis to calculate again, so you will eventually be trapped in the formation.”

“Then, on the contrary, what if you memorize all the paths?”

“Yes?”

“What if you memorize all the paths created by the Eight Trigrams, 12 Zodiacs, 60 Sexagenary Cycle, and 365 changes?”

“……Roughly calculating, it will exceed 200,000.”

The letters of the documents I read at the Murim Alliance’s Man-tong-bu would be five times that.

“It seems possible. Calculate everything and let me know.”

“…Are you saying that seriously?”

“I like jokes, but it doesn’t seem to be the time for that right now.”

Yu Ji-ryang, who was thinking for a moment, closed his mouth tightly and nodded.

“It will take time.”

People who heard the story of me and Yu Ji-ryang had expressions of not being able to believe it, while at the same time, they started to have small expectations.

“Nam-gung-se-ga!!”

At that time, a group of men popped out from the formation toward the exit.

Warriors in red martial arts clothes and the three Seo Hyeon-jae parties.

The number of men in red martial arts clothes had been reduced to half, and the appearances of Ma Go-san and Sa Mu-in, including Seo Hyeon-jae, looked nothing but haggard.

“Where is the Nam-gung-se-ga!”

Seo Hyeon-jae, who was scanning the surroundings, made eye contact with me, who was talking to Yu Ji-ryang on the opposite wall, and flew in with the method of Bow-and-Arrow Shadow.

“You bastard! How dare you trick me!”

The moment his sword aimed at me and Yu Ji-ryang, the Nam-gung-se-ga warriors stepped forward and blocked his sword.

“Kuaak! Nam-gung-se-ga! You guys are the same guys too!”

It was not just Seo Hyeon-jae. Ma Go-san and Sa Mu-in were also in a state of revealing their hostility, perhaps because of what kind of hardship they had suffered.

“Stop!”

The ones who stepped forward then were the warriors of the left and right sides who had been fighting each other to kill each other.

“They are currently our only path to live!”

“None of my business! Get lost if you don’t want to die!”

“You stupid!”

Several warriors on the right side rushed to Seo Hyeon-jae at the same time.

Then Ma Go-san and Sa Mu-in joined in and defeated them in an instant, and subsequently, the warriors on the right side all rushed to them, and a new fight was starting.

Clang, clang, clang.

However, the Seo Hyeon-jae party, pushed by the disparity in numbers, all took out wooden cases from their bosoms and stuffed single pills into their mouths.

“Hoo, hoo, hoo.”

“Haa, haa!”

In an instant, tremendous energy poured out from the bodies of the Seo Hyeon-jae party.

The moment those who were pushing with numbers flinched.

The ice palm shot out by Seo Hyeon-jae and the wolf-tooth club swung by Sa Mu-in scattered blood fountains and scattered in all directions.

“Who is it! Who is blocking our way!”

Bloodshot eyes, rough breathing, and even internal energy that suddenly doubled, the efficacy of the Blood-Exploding Pill was clear.

Personnel close to 1,500 in total on the left and right flinched and stepped back at the momentum of the three people.

As there were no more people moving, the three people started approaching us with big strides, and the party, including Nam-gung Seon-hwa, also started preparing to confront Seo Hyeon-jae.

At that time, Nam-gung Seon-hwa looked at the back and shouted.

“Great Hero Yong So-a!”

The Seo Hyeon-jae party, who were approaching us without anything to fear, stopped their steps abruptly and turned their heads.

There, the Yong So-a party was still walking out of the formation.

“What is going on?”

They clearly entered the formation first, but they were suspicious because they knew that we were the ones who came out first.

“This is the scariness of the formation. If you lose your way once inside there, you might die in a place where you cannot even estimate time or space for the rest of your life.”

As the Yong So-a party started approaching, Seo Hyeon-jae blocked the way in the middle.

“Our business is first!”

“Get lost, I do not show mercy to the Black Path.”

“This dog-like…….”

Seo Hyeon-jae’s words could not continue to the end. Because his hand, which was trying to shoot the ice palm, and his head fell to the floor by Yong So-a’s sword that had not even been seen, and sprayed blood fountains.

“Uaaaaak!”

Ma Go-san and Sa Mu-in pushed Seo Hyeon-jae’s body and screamed.

“You guys will be the same guys too.”

“Don’t come closer! Don’t come closer! If you don’t want to die together, don’t come closer!”

Ma Go-san’s party surrounded Ma Go-san in layers as if it were their last bastion to protect him, and Yong So-a turned his head as if he was not interested anymore.

“Explain what happened.”

When Yong So-a said to Nam-gung Seon-hwa, Nam-gung Seon-hwa told him in detail about the story that had happened so far.

When the word Immeasurable Indestructible Soul-Extinguishing Formation came out, even the Yong So-a of the world showed a figure flinching a little.

“So you are saying there is a way to dismantle it?”

“It is not dismantled. Great Hero Yu and Jin Gong-ja are calculating and guiding the Life Gate inside the formation.”

“Even if I calculate roughly, there are 200,000 possibilities, and if part of the formation is broken, a new path can also be created accordingly. Wasting strength on a ridiculous thing.”

“Even so, there is no way we can do other than that right now.”

“…….”

<><><>

Fifteen days later.

I was memorizing the routes for the formation that Yu Ji-ryang and the sorcerers were calculating one by one, regardless of day or night.

In the meantime, 1,000 more people had entered the cavern, 100 of them died while fighting, and 300 of them said they would find the route and entered the formation on the opposite side and did not return.

According to Yu Ji-ryang, the very fact that we were able to enter was because some of the formation was broken, so we could enter the cavern, and since we entered this formation unfolded over a whopping 30 jang, if we didn’t know the route, we had no choice but to be trapped in the Soul-Extinguishing Formation.

“Everyone has reached their limit.”

Seong Mo-ran and Nam-gung Seon-hwa were also dry like plants dried in a drought.

It was because they shared half of the food at first.

Even that, they endured by fasting as much as possible, so they had endured until now.

“How much longer?”

“……It will take five more days.”

“…….”

The damage was great due to starvation for the warriors, but the condition of the sorcerers was also not good.

Because the nutrition was not good, it was taking more time for calculation gradually.

“……It is meaningless.”

At that time, Yong So-a, who was sitting on one side, rose up abruptly.

The strongest person here in this cavern right now was none other than Yong So-a.

There were those among the Black Path who boasted fame not inferior to Yong So-a, but because of other Taoists of the Wudang Sect, they did not necessarily raise an angle.

“Get up.”

The place where Yong So-a moved his steps was the Ma Go-san party settled among the Black Path groups.

“Hand over the Thunderclap Bomb.”

“What!”

When they knew Yong So-a’s purpose, Yu Ji-ryang rose up abruptly.

“You cannot. Dae-hyeop! This formation is not a formation that can be dismantled with a Thunderclap Bomb.”

“The dismantling cannot be done. However, you can open a path, can’t you.”

“…….”

At Yong So-a’s words, not only the White Path group but also the Black Path group started to rise from the floor slowly.

The resolve to not spare any action if only they could get out of here.

“But if you use a Thunderclap Bomb, you cannot know how the route will change. Please believe in us.”

Yong So-a looked at Yu Ji-ryang and me with dry eyes.

“Do you believe that a human can memorize 200,000 routes?”

At Yong So-a’s words, I said,

“So, you are going to go out alone?”

Only then could I know how 500 people died here.

And how Yong So-a was able to survive and enter this chaotic situation. And that the story that Yong So-a was here after that was not passed down.

“I will go out and bring the sorcerers of the Murim Alliance.”

“Didn’t you hear? It is a formation that cannot be dismantled from the beginning.”

“The potential of the Murim Alliance cannot be compared to one sect.”

“At best, the possibility is memorizing the route here and going out. If the route is distorted because of your side, what do you intend to do with the lives of the people here? Is it none of your concern?”

“People are still entering from the outside. If you leave it like this, the damage will rise endlessly.”

Yong So-a reached out his hand to Ma Go-san.

Then Ma Go-san and Sa Mu-in prostrated themselves tightly.

“I will give it to you. Instead, please take us together.”

“……Good.”

“We, we also…….”

“Please take us together.”

Clang, Kwa-ga-ga-gak.

As people flocked from all directions, Yong So-a drew his sword and drew a long line on the floor.

“I will definitely cut down anyone who crosses this line. I will go out and bring people. Wait.”

“Damn it! How can I believe that!”

“When did you hypocrite bastards ever keep a promise!”

There were those who stuck to Yong So-a, but conversely, there were also those who had hostility toward him.

70% of the personnel inside the cavern were figures of the Black Path.

The Murim Alliance’s representative late-comer Yong So-a firmly had the thought that he might abandon them.

“Die!”

Eventually, starting with someone, a sword was drawn, and the inside of the cavern, which had been quiet for a while, started to be full of people’s screams and wails.

“Kueok!”

“Kaaak!”

Dozens of people rushed to Yong So-a, but there were no people who exceeded five forms.

In an instant, a fence piled with corpses was created around Yong So-a and the Wudang Taoists, and people gradually stopped their footsteps one by one at their overwhelming martial arts that could be said to be terrifying.

“Great Hero Yong So-a. Stop.”

In the end, it was the warriors of the left and right sides who had been fighting each other to kill each other who stepped forward.

“They are currently our only path to live!”

“None of my business! Get lost if you don’t want to die!”

“You stupid!”

Several warriors on the right side rushed to Seo Hyeon-jae at the same time.

Then Ma Go-san and Sa Mu-in joined in and defeated them in an instant, and subsequently, the warriors on the right side all rushed to them, and a new fight was starting.

Clang, clang, clang.

However, the Seo Hyeon-jae party, pushed by the disparity in numbers, all took out wooden cases from their bosoms and stuffed single pills into their mouths.

“Hoo, hoo, hoo.”

“Haa, haa!”

In an instant, tremendous energy poured out from the bodies of the Seo Hyeon-jae party.

The moment those who were pushing with numbers flinched.

The ice palm shot out by Seo Hyeon-jae and the wolf-tooth club swung by Sa Mu-in scattered blood fountains and scattered in all directions.

“Who is it! Who is blocking our way!”

Bloodshot eyes, rough breathing, and even internal energy that suddenly doubled, the efficacy of the Blood-Exploding Pill was clear.

Personnel close to 1,500 in total on the left and right flinched and stepped back at the momentum of the three people.

As there were no more people moving, the three people started approaching us with big strides, and the party, including Nam-gung Seon-hwa, also started preparing to confront Seo Hyeon-jae.

At that time, Nam-gung Seon-hwa looked at the back and shouted.

“Great Hero Yong So-a!”

The Seo Hyeon-jae party, who were approaching us without anything to fear, stopped their steps abruptly and turned their heads.

There, the Yong So-a party was still walking out of the formation.

“What is going on?”

They clearly entered the formation first, but they were suspicious because they knew that we were the ones who came out first.

“This is the scariness of the formation. If you lose your way once inside there, you might die in a place where you cannot even estimate time or space for the rest of your life.”

As the Yong So-a party started approaching, Seo Hyeon-jae blocked the way in the middle.

“Our business is first!”

“Get lost, I do not show mercy to the Black Path.”

“This dog-like…….”

Seo Hyeon-jae’s words could not continue to the end. Because his hand, which was trying to shoot the ice palm, and his head fell to the floor by Yong So-a’s sword that had not even been seen, and sprayed blood fountains.

“Uaaaaak!”

Ma Go-san and Sa Mu-in pushed Seo Hyeon-jae’s body and screamed.

“You guys will be the same guys too.”

“Don’t come closer! Don’t come closer! If you don’t want to die together, don’t come closer!”

Ma Go-san’s party surrounded Ma Go-san in layers as if it were their last bastion to protect him, and Yong So-a turned his head as if he was not interested anymore.

“Explain what happened.”

When Yong So-a said to [N O V E L I G H T] Nam-gung Seon-hwa, Nam-gung Seon-hwa told him in detail about the story that had happened so far.

When the word Immeasurable Indestructible Soul-Extinguishing Formation came out, even the Yong So-a of the world showed a figure flinching a little.

“So you are saying there is a way to dismantle it?”

“It is not dismantled. Great Hero Yu and Jin Gong-ja are calculating and guiding the Life Gate inside the formation.”

“Even if I calculate roughly, there are 200,000 possibilities, and if part of the formation is broken, a new path can also be created accordingly. Wasting strength on a ridiculous thing.”

“Even so, there is no way we can do other than that right now.”

“…….”