Chapter 32
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 32
Chapter Title: Illusion
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Originally, it was a basic type of illusionary formation that involved embedding axes and artifacts into the positions of the Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams to disrupt one's sense of distance.
However, as time passed and countless modifications were added, it evolved far beyond merely showing simple hallucinations.
Principles for expanding, distorting, and isolating space were endlessly incorporated—
And in the end, the Zhuge clan's formation masters astonishingly reached the level of creating an entirely separate realm.
This was undoubtedly the paradoxical domain of manifesting the real from the illusory and making the impossible possible.
In other words, they had achieved with mere human power the authority equivalent to that of a Transformation Realm Venerable.
------
“Hooh.”
Her field of vision changed completely.
Every shape that entered her eyes lost its color.
The yellowish-brown ground was now ashen gray, and the wooden structures had faded to stark white.
Even the sky overhead was filled with a hazy, washed-out hue, and the drifting clouds were pitch black.
It was as if she had fallen to the underside of the world.
“Not just a simple hallucination...”
It wasn't false vision injected from the outside, either.
It was as if she were in another world altogether, where the very concept of color had been erased. Even So-hyang's senses couldn't detect anything amiss.
Above all, it was a fact she felt with her skin.
The space she existed in was utterly heterogeneous, completely different from moments ago.
It felt similar to stepping into the Alliance Leader's Celestial Domain.
“...Can formations really do this much?”
She had a rough understanding of how formations worked, but this was truly an unfathomable realm.
It was quite an intriguing sight for So-hyang, stirring a desire to leisurely take it all in—
“But do I have time for that?”
This otherworld was not friendly to intruders.
The ground trembled. No, the space itself trembled.
With a heavy vibrational hum, the world's layout twisted, and the ground rippled and expanded outward.
“Oh, ooh...?”
Before she could even react, a vast plain had unfurled around So-hyang.
The buildings had sunk into the undulating ground below, leaving nothing in sight but ashen earth and a bone-white sky.
Beyond those two elements, no objects or shapes were visible.
No matter which direction—forward, backward, left, or right—she looked, the horizon curved in a perfect circle, stretching into an endlessly vast expanse.
In her previous life's most powerful nation, there were cornfields larger than entire countries.
“It's like I've dropped into the Corn Belt.”
A massive farmland where shipwrecked souls lost even their sense of direction amid the repeating scenery, wandering until death claimed them without a trace.
Or it evoked a desert, or the windless expanse of a boundless ocean.
A dreamlike space, as if the Creator had laid the foundation but forgotten to apply the outer skin.
“Now this is a sight to behold.”
She let out an exclamation laced with absurdity.
It was a surreal scene that mocked the limits of human imagination.
So-hyang walked around for quite some time to survey her surroundings, but the space truly seemed endless.
No matter how far she went, there was no exit, not even any objects in sight.
She couldn't even be sure if she was truly walking.
It was dizzyingly vast, hopelessly desolate, and profoundly distant.
The fear of the infinite.
The terror of something immense beyond description.
The sense of powerlessness that astronomers often felt wrapped around So-hyang.
Could she escape this place? Had the outside world even existed? Intense stress pounded in her temples.
And then, the corner of So-hyang's mouth quietly curved upward.
“Ah, trying to cleverly deceive me, are we?”
The space wasn't infinitely vast, nor had she walked for long.
It was merely an illusion overlaid on a small sealed chamber where So-hyang stood.
Effects distorting spatial perception and direction had induced the misconception.
She thought she moved in a straight line, but in reality, she was merely circling the room.
Time perception was confounded as well.
A mere few steps felt like hours of walking, injecting corresponding fatigue.
The result: the delusion of eternally drifting in an infinite otherworld.
“A perfect blend of illusion and reality—the textbook operation of a formation.”
But if one failed to realize it was an illusion, it was no different from reality.
The quality of the hallucination was simply too high.
Even a highly skilled martial artist would struggle to shake it off, let alone recognize reality.
It was akin to being heavily intoxicated.
Even if one realized they were drunk, the world still reeled and the stomach churned unchanged.
Mental strength was ultimately subordinate to the body, so mere awareness couldn't overturn such an advanced formation—
“Now, where's the door?”
But for one whose transcendent mental strength subjugated her body instead, it was irrelevant. So-hyang simply walked out of the sealed chamber as if it were nothing.
-----
It had used illusions, but the colorless world itself was real enough.
“Hm, this can't be all there is, right?”
Compared to the oppressive pressure she'd felt upon first entering, it was somewhat disappointing.
For something boasting perfection akin to a Transformation Realm mental image, the response felt too inadequate.
With such thoughts, the scene outside the small room did not betray her expectations.
“As expected, something was still waiting!”
Emerging revealed a long corridor lined ahead, still devoid of color.
As suspected, even after escaping the sealed chamber, the scenery remained painted in black and white.
She had merely passed a minor checkpoint; she hadn't fully escaped the formation yet.
“Hm, it could have been dangerous...”
In truth, upon reflection, So-hyang had unknowingly traversed distance-defying space to the chamber's depths.
Much like how the Alliance Leader had previously manipulated distance within his domain to relocate her.
The ability was impressive, but the response itself wasn't particularly striking...
“Are they underestimating me?”
Correct.
The effortless subjugation of the gatekeeper had been remarkable, but once she had willingly entered the Heavenly Origin Void Array, she posed no real threat.
After all, the formations manifested within the array's space were absolute.
Even a peak pre-Transcendence master couldn't easily dispel them, so there was no need to expend excessive resources on suppression.
Even if a few were breached, isolating the space would prevent escape, leading to inevitable collapse.
—Or so the clan warriors thought.
“Hmmm...”
And So-hyang read those very thoughts.
It was circumstantial inference, but the decisive proof was the gazes prickling her skin.
From the moment she entered this formation-created otherworld, an indeterminate multitude had been constantly observing her.
That was also why she hadn't used her usual speech patterns despite no one being visibly around.
So-hyang perceived them through spiritual intuition and instincts keener than any beast's.
“...I was expecting a full-force assault, but you're just planning to toy with me moderately?”
She had played along to see how they would respond, but this changed things.
A feral smile crept onto So-hyang's lips.
“Ah, you haven't grasped the situation yet.”
So-hyang lightly clenched her fist and, infusing it with intent she rarely used, slammed it toward the floor.
A space rivaling a Transformation Realm mental image.
Without resolve to die, she couldn't destroy the entire otherworld—
“W-What!? She broke the spatial partition...!?”
But the boundary separating spaces—a mere divider—was easily shattered.
“I've had my fill of touring the formation... Now I want to move my body a bit...?”
The low voice emanating from the woman who had shattered the void was utterly unconventional.
-----
The scholarly men of the Zhuge Clan, with their characteristically refined features, stared in shock at So-hyang, who had burst through the void.
“Ah, so you were all here!”
The space was filled with wooden base plates, talismans, and documents inscribed with incantations.
A massive paper on the wall projected the space So-hyang had just occupied, like a screen.
If her previous space had been the staged performance, this was the backstage rigging the lights and special effects.
A control room for fine-tuning the formation's flows and illusions.
The shock they felt was like seeing a figure painted on a picture tear through the paper into reality.
The partitions dividing spaces within the Heavenly Origin Void Array were literal spatial boundaries.
Did it even make sense to break space itself?
“So, you were toying with me using this?”
The perpetrator of this nonsensical act wandered the control room with an innocent expression, waving talismans and tapping artifacts.
The man who couldn't hold back and shouted was forced to swallow and stop midway.
Setting aside the incomprehensible feat of shattering space, the opponent was at least a late Pinnacle Realm master.
These formation specialists, focused on orthodox arrays rather than martial arts, had no way to respond.
“Ehey, no need to be so scared. I have no intention of harming you all.”
So-hyang patted a scholar's shoulder with a bright smile, as if she could read their minds without her saying so.
“Instead, why don't you call for reinforcements—”
“Reinforcements, arrived.”
Before she finished, the control room's air split open, and over a dozen warriors burst forth. Simultaneously, a sword thrust toward So-hyang's throat.
A sword dense with sword qi coiled into threads—a mark of late Pinnacle Realm, deemed a cut above among that stage.
Faced with the ominous momentum, So-hyang didn't raise a finger as before but opened her palm to block.
With a massive explosion, So-hyang's form was pushed back, slamming into the wall.
“Care to explain the situation? I was told the intruder was confined in an isolated space.”
“...S-She broke the spatial partition and escaped!”
“...What?”
The warrior who attacked So-hyang—a stern-faced man who seemed to be the martial squad's leader—frowned and questioned again.
As if to say, does that even make sense?
The scholar vented his frustration, as if he himself were the aggrieved party. Who didn't know it was absurd? But it had happened!
“Ouch, that stung...”
The warriors about to demand more information turned at the beautiful voice piercing their ears.
Young woman. Stunning beauty. Voluptuous figure. Gentle voice. Immaculate attire.
And an overwhelming master who blocked a sword wrapped in sword threads with her bare palm.
“...What the hell is this one's identity?”
So-hyang grinned broadly as she inspected her blocking palm.
Her skin, previously shrouded in spirit energy, was unscathed by the sword qi-clad blade. But now, it bore a wound.
Just a slight prick with a few beads of blood, but for So-hyang, it was no pleasant matter.
“Do warriors need words between them?”
Having come this far, So-hyang had no intention of lengthy explanations. Even if they apologized, she planned to enjoy herself first.
She merely beckoned him with her palm, as if inviting him in.
“...Tch. Subdue first, think later.”
At the leader's command, the warriors surrounded So-hyang in perfect unison and charged as one.
Their movements were exquisitely precise. They seemed seasoned in cooperative martial displays.
Sword trajectories meshed like interlocking gears, flawless in encirclement. At the superb technique, So-hyang's face lit up with delight.
"Ah, so this is the fabled Joint Attack Formation I've only heard about!"