Chapter 223
Chapter 223
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 223
Chapter Title: The Flawed Eighteen Arhats Formation
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“What did you say...?”
He was saying he would point out just how much of a mess the Eighteen Arhats Formation they had just deployed was?
Among those who knew him, he was infamous for his fiery temper unbecoming of a monk.
How could he hold back his anger upon hearing this man belittle the Eighteen Arhats Formation?
His face flushed red—not just from the surging rage boiling up from within, but even the top of his shaved head marked with the monastic brand.
He glared at Cheonhwi with bulging eyes.
This insolent fool!
In that instant, strength surged into his hands.
A twisted sneer curled at the corners of his mouth.
Even though he was looking up, those eyes seemed to look down on him.
Kwak!
Gripping his staff tightly, he tore his gaze from Cheonhwi and fixed it squarely on Woneum.
“Who is this man, Senior Brother?”
Wonho's lips twitched, and a voice thick with suppressed fury leaked out. Woneum's face twisted in embarrassment.
I should have stopped this before it escalated.
As he opened his mouth to speak, seeing Wonho on the verge of exploding—
“That's not the important thing right now.”
Cheonhwi spoke first.
And that wasn't the end of it.
Cheonhwi lifted the corners of his mouth even higher, flashing a provocative smile.
“Oh! Are you scared that the Eighteen Arhats Formation might be broken?”
“Benefactor!”
Woneum urgently tried to restrain him, but the words were already out, and Cheonhwi's smile only deepened.
“Well, if you're afraid of that, I understand...”
In that moment, Wonho raised his staff.
Thud!
He slammed it roughly into the ground, grinding his teeth and bellowing at the top of his lungs.
“Do you even know where you are, spouting such nonsense?!”
A thunderous lion's roar erupted.
The gazes of the martial monks training nearby all focused on them.
“Arhat Commander...?”
“What's going on?”
As they spotted Wonho spewing fiery rage and turned with surprised faces—
“I'm not so stupid that I don't know which sect I walked into.”
Cheonhwi said nonchalantly.
“It's Shaolin, right?”
Wonho's eyebrows twitched.
It was absurd, enough to make one's tongue cluck in disbelief.
To disparage the Eighteen Arhats Formation while knowing he was in Shaolin's grounds...!
The flesh of his cheeks trembled.
“And knowing that full well, you're pulling this stunt?”
His sharp, irritable voice shot out like a hidden weapon.
But—
“It's not something I can't do.”
Cheonhwi replied indifferently.
“Shouldn't you be grateful instead? I'm offering to point out your shortcomings.”
At his following words, the Arhat Monks standing behind Wonho bristled with anger as well.
“Who does he think he's talking to...!”
Gongso, whose temper rivaled Wonho's among the Arhat Monks, was about to charge forward when—
Thud.
Wonho raised his staff to block him.
“Commander, why stop me...?”
“Stay put.”
Wonho glared at Gongso.
Seeing Wonho's bloodshot eyes, Gongso realized this was no ordinary anger and retreated, sweating coldly.
Wonho swung the staff that had blocked him to point straight at Cheonhwi.
“Time to teach you some manners.”
Unlike before, his voice was calm as he gazed indifferently at Cheonhwi. His rage had burned so hot that his reason had turned ice-cold instead.
“If you're so confident, come up here.”
“Sure.”
As if he'd been waiting for those words, Cheonhwi kicked off the ground without hesitation.
Tap.
Wonho watched Cheonhwi leap lightly onto the training ground in a single bound, withdrew his extended staff, and muttered.
“Not all talk, I see.”
With those words, he spun around.
He moved to stand with the Arhat Monks behind him and raised his staff again.
A chilling atmosphere flowed at that moment.
“...This has gotten complicated.”
Woneum gave a wry smile.
“My apologies. I should have intervened sooner, but I was too late...”
As Woneum murmured to himself and turned to apologize to Cheoniga and Danmokin— he froze.
“What do you think?”
“I know the Eighteen Arhats Formation is impressive, but if it's Senior Brother...”
“Tch, great minds. I figured the same. The Eighteen Arhats is a formation of supreme skill, so it'd pin anyone down, but with that guy... I have a feeling he might pull it off.”
There wasn't a hint of worry from the two. Instead, they watched the sparring platform with keen interest.
Do they really think he can break the Eighteen Arhats Formation?
Wrinkles creased Woneum's brow.
Of course, he knew the young hero before them was strong.
Hadn't Myeongwol Do and Hwang Il-dan of the Day and Moon Sect collapsed from his single strike in Muyoung Singtu's secret chamber?
But—
Against the Eighteen Arhats Formation, he won't last even a moment.
With firm conviction, he turned back to the training ground.
Even if that young hero had reached the Heavenly Martial Realm instead of the Infinite Realm, it would be the same.
The Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, which had shouted of unifying the world, along with the demonic forces and a host of fiends had attacked Shaolin.
Yet none had pierced the Eighteen Arhats Formation, all forced to swallow their humiliation.
Even the Eight Divine Arms...
As he recalled the peerless experts of the now-hidden Beyond Heaven—
“Commander.”
Gongmun, newly appointed as one of the Eighteen Arhats, approached Wonho with Gongjin.
“What is it?”
“You mustn't underestimate that young hero.”
“He's the one you saw in Muyoung Singtu's secret chamber before.”
At Gongmun's words, Wonho and the rest of the Eighteen Arhats' expressions subtly hardened.
The incident in Muyoung Singtu's secret chamber was widely known within Shaolin.
Wonho's eyebrows furrowed.
“So he's the young expert who took down Myeongwol Do and Hwang Il-dan of the Day and Moon Sect.”
“Yes.”
“That's why you brought him here personally, Senior Brother...”
Though he hadn't voiced his dissatisfaction, Wonho had inwardly wondered why Woneum had brought such a rude brat into Shaolin's inner sanctum.
Now it made sense.
At that age, with such skill...
As he narrowed his eyes at Cheonhwi—
“Yawn. So when do we start?”
Cheonhwi yawned, sounding bored.
In an instant, Wonho's gaze sharpened.
...Definitely need to teach him manners.
What good was skill without any decorum?
“Prepare yourselves.”
At Wonho's command—
Tat tat tat!
The seventeen lined-up Arhat Monks deployed the Arhat Steps, taking their positions around the cardinal directions.
Wonho glanced at them and shouted.
“Form up!”
His lion's roar echoed everywhere.
At that moment, the Arhat Monks raised their long staves high and opened their mouths.
“Amitabha!”
“Amitabha!”
Solemn Buddhist chants shook Shaolin.
Before long, a faint golden light haloed behind them, enveloping the training ground.
Seeing the Arhat Monks unleash the Arhat Qi Art, Wonho slammed his staff down.
Thud!
With a heavy sound, the golden light swallowed the vision of all onlookers.
Cheonhwi up front was no exception.
“Oh, impressive momentum.”
Cheonhwi's eyes gleamed at the destructive and suppressive energy within the dazzling golden light.
Then—
Swipe—
Wonho slightly lifted his right foot, drawing a circle to the left.
He raised the staff he had slammed down and thrust it forward.
That was the beginning.
The Arhat Monks deploying the Eighteen Arhats Formation mimicked the motion.
Flash!
Robes fluttered, and wind blew in.
It started as a faint breeze.
But in the blink of an eye, it turned into a gale—
Whoooosh—
Soon forming a massive vortex.
Everything on the training ground—air, momentum—was pulled toward them.
Yet Cheonhwi stared ahead unshaken and muttered.
“This level of power right away. No wonder it's called the Arhat Formation. Ride the flow right, and even a Heavenly Martial Realm expert couldn't budge.”
It lived up to its reputation.
A properly executed Eighteen Arhats Formation would be on another level entirely.
“Alright, let's take a closer look.”
Cheonhwi's eyes sparkled brilliantly.
His penetrating gaze that read the world's energies emerged, dissecting the flow of the unfolding Eighteen Arhats Formation.
Flow continues there, five elements and nine palaces? The resting gate keeps shifting with the life gate, yes—and the moment those three guide it, the internal energy gets blocked midway.
As Cheonhwi traced the flow and smirked—
“Hah!”
With a shout, Wonho swung his staff. In an instant, it multiplied into several, fanning out like a spread hand.
The other Arhat Monks followed, spreading like a net and crashing toward Cheonhwi like waves.
Cheonhwi drew his sword.
As the pristine white Baekryeon Sword half-emerged, the dozens of staves swung by the Eighteen Arhats swept over him—
Flash!
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡ Eighteen Paths Demon Subduing Staff Art Dazzling golden light engulfs the world
“Amitabha...!”
The watching martial monks hurriedly chanted and circulated their internal energy.
Even from a distance, the intense backlash forced them to protect themselves.
Some couldn't even open their eyes, grimacing and chanting for a moment.
As the golden light filling their vision faded, the training ground reappeared.
“C-Commander...?”
The martial monks cried out in shock.
Atop the training ground, in the center amid Wonho and the Eighteen Arhats, Cheonhwi stood tall, unchanged from before.
Wonho's eyes trembled.
What just happened?
He couldn't comprehend it.
The Eighteen Paths Demon Subduing Staff Art, led by the Eighteen Arhats Formation, had struck the young man squarely on the head without flaw.
Yet in that instant—
A sudden crimson light appeared...
His brow furrowed.
It wasn't clear.
He could only sense that a faint crimson glow had sliced through the entire Eighteen Paths Demon Subduing Staff Art.
Gazing at Cheonhwi, he asked.
“What did you do?”
“Severed the flow midway.”
Cheonhwi's gaze swept over Gongmun, Gongjin, and Gongmuk in turn.
The three, stunned like Wonho, flinched at his look.
“Those three over there are still clumsy with their internal energy—or for some other reason—weakening the Eighteen Arhats Formation's flow. So I just cut it.”
With those words, Cheonhwi lightly swung his sword up and down.
Wonho narrowed his eyes at the motion.
“Sever the flow? What nonsense is...”
Seeing Wonho still in denial, Cheonhwi chuckled and raised his sword.
“Still don't get it? Come at me again. Who knows? You might suddenly understand in the middle of it.”
“...”
Wonho bit his lower lip and shouted.
“Unleash your full Arhat Qi Art!”
The Arhat Monks' eyes widened.
To unleash the full Arhat Qi Art meant deploying the true Eighteen Arhats Formation—how could they not be startled?
“You think we'll end it like this?”
At Wonho's follow-up, the Arhat Monks surged their Arhat Qi Art in unison.
They were the Eighteen Arhats too.
Even if this was more practice than real combat, failing to land a scratch was a massive stain on their honor.
“Amitabha.”
“Amitabha.”
Low chants slowly spread.
Before the sound fully echoed, Wonho unclenched his praying hands and thrust both palms forward powerfully.
A faint golden light gathered in his hands.
Flash!
Golden light exploded from his eyes.
No, not just him.
All Eighteen Arhats thrust their palms forward identically, scattering intense golden light from their pupils.
As the golden light began to engulf the surroundings—
Thump—
The Absolute Dominion Art reacted.
It would have been odd if it didn't respond to such intense suppressive energy.
But—
Not your time right now.
Cheonhwi suppressed the Absolute Dominion Art.
Instead, he slowly circulated the Plum Blossom Divine Art, channeling energy into his sword—
“All of you, form up!”
With Wonho's cry, they detonated the Arhat Qi Art in their palms.
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡ Eighteen Hands of the Arhat Supreme technique mastered by the Eighteen Arhats
Eighteen distinct stances unfolded from their hands simultaneously.
Each one carried force that could pulverize even Infinite Realm experts' bones, crashing toward Cheonhwi.
He can't block this.
A victorious smile crept onto Wonho's lips.
The internal energy of the Eighteen Arhats, channeled through the formation, followed a trajectory unlike ordinary techniques.
Ten layers of power? Twenty?
No, far more.
Even the wielders felt chills at the Eighteen Hands of the Arhat infused with such energy.
Should stop short of internal injuries...
As he pondered when to halt the assault—
This is...?
A thin red line suddenly slashed through the dazzling golden light.
Very fine.
Yet clear and vivid.
Enough to seize anyone's gaze.
The line drawn slowly from above reached the ground, and the golden-filled world split in two.
And from between them, Cheonhwi poked his head out.
“...!”
“What?!”
Wonho and the Eighteen Arhats gaped at Cheonhwi.
Cheonhwi bared his pearly whites.
“As expected, it's a complete mess.”