Chapter 168
Chapter 168
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 168
Chapter Title: Shattering the Blood Eternal Bewilderment Array
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"What the hell is this...!"
Cheon Yi-gae burst out in bewilderment.
Not only was everything around him blood-red, but the stench of blood was utterly overpowering.
To the point his head spun.
'Could this be...?'
A blood-scented crimson landscape pulsing with energy.
Suddenly, a memory surfaced in his mind—a single cult that had once plunged the world into chaos, and the deadly formation they used to gather and slaughter the central plains' masters all at once.
'No, it can't be. The Blood Cult was wiped out long ago, their lineage severed ages ago! No way they could've revived it...'
Cheon Yi-gae hurriedly tried to circulate his internal energy.
"Damn it all!"
No internal energy emerged. Instead, curses poured from his mouth.
His expression darkened in an instant.
If his internal energy wouldn't respond, it confirmed the formation he suspected was correct.
'...For the Blood Cult's Blood Eternal Bewilderment Array to reappear in the world!'
Rage boiled up to the top of his head.
"We've been completely toyed with!"
Staring at the all-encompassing red surroundings, Cheon Yi-gae ground his teeth and stomped his foot.
He'd thought he'd finally caught their tail.
To avoid any leaks, he'd deliberately kept Taiji Gentleman and Zhongnan Sword Sage in the dark, acting alone.
On top of that, he'd asked the Mount Hua Sect Leader to draw Cheonhwi in on purpose.
Not to nab their tail, but to make it look like they were targeting the Blood Dragon Sect threatening Shaanxi.
With Cheonhwi's skills, endorsed by the Sword Sage himself, he figured any mishaps could be handled...
But the enemy had known everything from the start.
'There's a mole among us!'
A mole? Their demonic clutches extended to places he never imagined.
It made sense, since Shinpil Yusa was part of their organization.
Thinking it over again, his fury surged.
He'd valued Shinpil Yusa's sense of justice highly, acknowledged him as a great hero, and often exchanged views with him.
On the future of the righteous faction, and how to safeguard the current murim.
But it had all been a lie.
That alone was enough to enrage him, but trapping him here to die with the Blood Eternal Bewilderment Array? How could he not explode with anger!
"You filthy dog! May you drown in shit and die! May your nose shatter on a plate and choke you dead!"
Cheon Yi-gae hurled every curse under the sun at Shinpil Yusa.
But his rage didn't subside.
The fire in his chest boiled fiercer, his head burning as if it might burst.
That's when Cheonhwi, scanning their surroundings, spoke up.
"Who are those guys?"
"...What?"
Cheon Yi-gae furrowed his brow at Cheonhwi's unflappable demeanor even now.
"You asking that in this situation?"
Assuming Cheonhwi hadn't grasped their plight, Cheon Yi-gae thumped his chest.
"This foul blood stench and the oppressive aura closing in from all sides... it's the Blood Cult's Blood Eternal Bewilderment Array that claimed the lives of the era's Shaolin Abbot and Wudang Sect Leader..."
"It's the Blood Eternal Bewilderment Array."
Cheon Yi-gae's mouth fell open slowly.
"...You know it?"
"That's why I'm asking."
Cheonhwi's eyes settled into a calm depth.
The Blood Cult was more insular than any place in the world.
Their martial arts might be comprehensible to some degree, but the Blood Eternal Bewilderment Array was a secret among secrets.
No way they'd deploy it openly in the central plains.
No, even before that...
"I'm curious who these clowns are, deploying an absolute formation like this without being Blood Cult."
Cheon Yi-gae's expression grew grave.
"...Why do you think that? They could be Blood Cult."
"You can't hide the Blood Cult's unique blood qi. It'd give them away instantly."
"You knew all that and stayed so calm."
"Well, wanna rampage together? Won't change a thing."
Cheon Yi-gae let out a hollow laugh.
Watching Cheonhwi speak so steadily made his own frenzy feel foolish.
"You're right. No point thrashing around out of fear of pointless death."
Cheon Yi-gae plopped down onto the ground.
What good would kicking up a fuss do?
Might as well relax like him.
"Just like you said, not Blood Cult."
Cheon Yi-gae muttered softly, as if already resigned to death.
"If the Blood Cult surfaced, the Great Thunderclap Monk would step in. Never heard a peep about it."
Cheonhwi eyed him with faint surprise.
'Oh, he is from the Beggars' Sect after all.'
A Supreme Elder, sure, but he'd never held him in high regard.
No prowess on display, nothing to impress.
Now, though, he finally seemed the part. That the Great Thunderclap Monk would move if Blood Cult did was info only known in the western regions, yet he dropped it casually like common knowledge.
'No doubts about their info network.'
Cheonhwi sat down too as he replied.
"Then who are they?"
Cheon Yi-gae shook his head.
"No clue. A sect? Individuals? An alliance? All I know is they exist."
Cheon Yi-gae gave a bitter smile.
"The only thing I know about them is their goal."
"Which is?"
"Conquering murim."
Cheon Yi-gae's eyes gleamed sharply.
"They aim to topple the Nine Provinces Triple Hegemony and crush all of murim underfoot."
'Now that's an ambitious goal.'
Cheonhwi found himself liking it.
Better than mediocrity—raw ambition like that was far preferable.
"Hm, so that's what the Devouring Heart Technique was for."
"...What does the Devouring Heart Technique have to do with anything?"
"It's a technique that erodes innate true qi and converts it into internal energy. Throw in sound-based control, and nothing's better for puppeteering from the shadows."
"You pieced that together in this short time?"
Cheon Yi-gae let out a disbelieving chuckle.
How many years had he toiled to uncover the Devouring Heart Technique's secrets?
'Even Taiji Gentleman and Zhongnan Sword Sage needed time to fully dissect it...'
A wry smile tugged at his lips unbidden.
'Let immediate greed blind me to the bigger picture. This kid's no cannon fodder to die here.'
Now he understood Shinpil Yusa's laughter.
He'd ended up aiding them in pruning a sprout that could grow into their greatest foe.
A bone-deep blunder.
As he squeezed his eyes shut tight.
Plip.
Blood dropped between them.
'Time already, huh.'
Cheonhwi looked up.
The blood-red ceiling suddenly stretched long, beads of blood forming drop by drop.
Cheon Yi-gae stared at Cheonhwi, who sat calmly as if beyond death.
"Not scared?"
"Of what?"
"That blood's about to swallow us whole and kill us... You really aren't afraid of dying?"
With those words, Cheon Yi-gae looked up.
The massive blood pool loomed, ready to engulf him and Cheonhwi.
"Hilarious."
Cheonhwi rose to his feet.
"If you're that terrified, let's just get out."
Cheon Yi-gae's eyes bulged.
"G-get out? How...?"
"How? By smashing our way out, obviously."
Cheonhwi smirked.
"..."
Cheon Yi-gae was speechless.
Smash the Blood Eternal Bewilderment Array?
Was that even possible?
Yet somehow, he believed it.
'This guy just might...'
Clutching at hope, Cheon Yi-gae shot to his feet.
"You sure it's doable?"
"Why would I lie?"
Cheonhwi smirked again, scanned the area briefly, then his eyes flashed.
"Ah! There it is."
The corner of Cheonhwi's mouth curved up.
A tiny fissure came into view.
'Piece of cake.'
Why he'd stayed so composed inside the Blood Eternal Bewilderment Array was simple.
He knew it better than anyone in the world.
He'd endured it once under the Blood Cult and dissected it thoroughly while deploying the Eternal Life Immortal Dominion Great Law.
'And it's incomplete to boot.'
The Blood Eternal Bewilderment Array required blood qi for completion—not mere blood!
That tiny flaw led to massive consequences.
Like this crack revealing itself so easily.
Swish—
Cheonhwi raised his sword overhead.
Even as the descending blood pool squelched wetly toward their crowns.
"Ugh! Knew it!"
The chill touch on his crown startled Cheon Yi-gae, who whipped his gaze to Cheonhwi.
He'd bought into that confident air, harboring a thread of hope.
But for it to shatter so soon? Despair crashed over him harder.
"Shouldn't have gotten my hopes up!"
As his sharp voice spat the words.
Flash!
A razor-sharp sword gleam blazed.
At the same instant, the red world split asunder, revealing a new vista in the gap.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Having shattered the Blood Eternal Bewilderment Array and emerged, Cheonhwi rolled his shoulders lightly and spoke.
"Way too sloppy, no?"
A fissure in the array's flow.
Cheonhwi had precisely thrust and cleaved right through it, dismantling the formation.
Easy to describe, but devilishly tricky in practice.
Required intimate knowledge to read the flow, plus flawless sword control without a hint of deviation.
"..."
Meanwhile, Cheon Yi-gae stood beside him, mouth agape, staring blankly.
'What was that sword just now...? Felt like it split... and the world cleaved open.'
A sight defying all his common sense.
That's when.
"Gahk!"
"Urk!"
Sounds of blood-vomiting echoed.
He looked up to see those on the walls who'd deployed the Blood Eternal Bewilderment Array convulsing and tumbling down one by one.
They'd taken the full backlash from the array's destruction.
"Ha!"
Only then did Cheon Yi-gae snap out of it.
"Y-you really broke the Blood Eternal Bewilderment Array..."
As he gazed at Cheonhwi with complex eyes, Shinpil Yusa made his appearance.
"Unbelievable."
His face twisted for the first time.
"To dismantle the Blood Eternal Bewilderment Array. Did the Beggars' Sect know the countermeasure?"
He paid Cheonhwi no glance, fixing a wary stare on Cheon Yi-gae.
Precious few knew of the Blood Eternal Bewilderment Array, even in the western regions.
Without the Beggars' Sect's intel prowess, even awareness was impossible.
Thus, he suspected Cheon Yi-gae.
"Your eyesight's way off."
Cheon Yi-gae sneered.
Just moments ago, he'd been played by Shinpil Yusa—but not anymore.
The array was broken, and at his side stood the one who'd smashed it...!
Cheonhwi, whom even Zhongnan Sword Sage couldn't assure victory against.
His confidence swelled naturally.
"Wasn't me—it was this kid who..."
The moment he declared it proudly.
Shinpil Yusa's sleeve billowed wide as something sharp shot forth.
Swoosh!
"Dodge!"
Cheon Yi-gae shouted at Cheonhwi.
Whoosh—
Cheonhwi tilted his head slightly to evade, snatching it midair with two fingers.
It was a tiny flying dagger.
"Rude, aiming for the back of my head."
Cheonhwi flicked his fingers casually, shaking off the dagger pinched between them.
In that instant.
Swoosh!
The dagger rocketed back at Shinpil Yusa, far faster than before.
"Hup!"
Shinpil Yusa urgently twisted aside.
But the dagger grazed his cheek, carving a line of blood.
"Th-this razor-sharp dagger art..."
As he swallowed his shock.
"Lemme see. Any more trash to clean up...?"
Cheonhwi slung his sword over his shoulder.
He glanced around, but the array's collapse aftermath left only bloodied corpses in view.
"Guess it's just you."