Chapter 322
Chapter 322
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 322
>Chapter Title: Potala Palace (2)
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The Shaolin and Wudang sects, hailed as the pillars of the Central Plains martial world. Among them, Shaolin's Hundred Eight Arhats Formation was one of the finest formations across the entire Central Plains.
The Seventy-Two Vajra Lama Formation of Potala Palace was the essence of the palace, considered comparable to that Hundred Eight Arhats Formation.
“Urk….”
Just the aura emanating from the lamas forming the formation alone was enough to make the Demonic Cultists feel their internals churning bit by bit.
The only ones enduring the immense pressure of qi from the Seventy-Two Vajra Lama Formation without issue were Il-mok and Hyeok-ryeon Cheon-gang, who had reached the Profound Realm. Just the two of them.
Confirming the palace hall visible beyond the lamas forming the circular formation, Il-mok clicked his tongue lightly.
“Tch.”
According to the Tantric monk they had interrogated back at the cave, that hall was where the Left and Right Great Virtues resided.
With their objective right in front of them, a proper obstacle had emerged at the very end.
‘Guess it won’t end easily.’
Brushing off his mild disappointment, Il-mok circulated his demonic qi to push back the aura of the Vajra Lama Formation pressing down on him.
Flash!
At the same time, he launched himself toward the lamas in front, and with a noise like hundreds of birds taking flight, lightning formed along his Soaring Heaven Sword.
Reacting to Il-mok’s charge, one high monk stepped forward.
Boom!!
Surprisingly, he swung his vajra to block Il-mok’s strike.
Immense energy poured out, centered on the vajra in the high monk’s grip.
It was thanks to the majestic internal energy of the high monk, bolstered by the formation’s aura.
“Urk.”
While the high monk blocked the sword lightning with a faint groan. Another Tantric monk right behind him thrust out a steel staff.
That staff, too, brimmed with heavy energy.
Il-mok rotated his Soaring Heaven Sword, locked with the vajra, and stepped with footwork, barely dodging the steel staff.
Right after. Another high monk lunged at Il-mok and thrust his right palm, so Il-mok countered with his left palm to block.
Boom!!
While Il-mok clashed with the three high monks. Hyeok-ryeon Cheon-gang, who had charged toward the Seventy-Two Vajra Lama Formation just like Il-mok, was also exchanging blows with three high monks.
Clang!
After their initial surprise assault, Il-mok and Hyeok-ryeon Cheon-gang continued deploying lightness skills and footwork to disrupt the formation’s movements.
But the Seventy-Two Vajra Lama Formation moved organically, like a living creature.
When Il-mok pushed forward, the surrounding lamas retreated slightly to support the three high monks.
As they fell back, lamas from the rear advanced to maintain spacing. Even though Il-mok and Hyeok-ryeon Cheon-gang were disrupting from different directions.
“Exterminate!”
The high monk who had given the first order shouted again, and this time, several lamas from the opposite side charged toward the group.
The silver lining was that, compared to the high monks blocking Il-mok and Hyeok-ryeon Cheon-gang, these were relatively young middle-aged lamas.
The first to react to their assault was Jin Ha-yeon.
Her Bare Hand Demon Art had transcended the Extreme Demon stage and was advancing toward Transcending Demon, so she swung her palms brimming with yin demonic qi to block the lamas’ attacks.
Supporting her, Ju Seo-yeon and Hyeok-ryeon Seon-a wielded their short spear and claws to check the lamas.
Swoooosh!
Jeong-hyeon’s arrows occasionally shot out, targeting the lamas’ vital points.
But the flow of battle wasn’t favorable.
The aura from the Vajra Lama Formation restricted Il-mok and Hyeok-ryeon Cheon-gang, allowing their internal injuries to accumulate bit by bit.
Explosions rang out from all directions nonstop, and as the Tantric monks forming the formation chanted incomprehensible mantras.
Il-mok was gradually grasping the Seventy-Two Vajra Lama Formation, based on his innate qi sense and past combat experience.
‘The base is groups of three.’
It was so for the high monks fighting him, and for those facing Hyeok-ryeon Cheon-gang.
Even the ones ambushing the group moved in coordinated threes.
‘And six such groups form one larger unit.’
Eighteen divided into threes formed a small sub-formation.
And the six groups in each sub-formation performed different roles.
Some stepped forward to fight, others supplied them with energy, and some pressured those trapped in the formation with qi.
Thus, four groups of eighteen moved organically to form the formation, supporting each other fluidly—that was the Seventy-Two Vajra Lama Formation.
While forming sword lightning or mimicking the technique of the Tara Gai he had faced before, extending qi like a whip to pressure the high monks.
As Il-mok analyzed the formation, he noticed something odd.
‘There are young ones mixed in for lamas?’
The title of lama originally referred to high monks of great virtue and enlightenment.
But young ones unfit for the title were mixed into this Vajra Lama Formation.
And thanks to the information gathered on the way here, Il-mok realized why.
‘All who rebelled were killed, right?’
Surely Potala Palace had high monks with sound minds, like the Dalai Lama killed by the Left and Right Great Virtues.
In filling the vacancies after their deaths, they had no choice but to promote young ones.
And those young lamas were uniformly positioned in the rear, infusing energy into the formation.
Realizing this, Il-mok acted boldly.
Whiiiing.
Immense energy gathered into the Soaring Heaven Sword, forming a long blade aura, and Il-mok swung it fiercely at the three high monks blocking his path.
The three high monks thrust out their vajra, staff, and twin palms, deploying qi to block the whipping blade aura.
Il-mok halted the high monks, if only briefly, and moved his left hand in a surprise move.
He shoved his hand into his chest through his robes and, as soon as his fingers caught something, yanked it out and hurled it.
It was a dagger.
The one he had recovered after killing the Hao Clan Leader—a dagger boasting strength and sharpness worthy of being called a famed sword.
The high monks, stalled by blocking the blade aura, had no time to react to the dagger.
Thrown toward the unguarded direction, the dagger flew at tremendous speed toward the young lama.
The young lama hurriedly thrust his vajra forward.
Panic filled the lama’s eyes, but majestic energy dwelled in the vajra.
He was receiving the formation’s aid as well.
‘I’ll cut it down!’
The vajra brimming with majestic energy was severed all too easily.
Even with the great energy, the young lama’s realm was insufficient to withstand the qi on the dagger.
That qi was one fruit of Il-mok’s training while traveling between the Western Regions and Gansu.
Full sword control from a distance was still distant, but he could now coat and manipulate a sword briefly released from his hand.
The dagger sliced through the vajra and pierced the young lama’s heart.
Crunch!
Right after. The energy gathering toward the three high monks opposing Il-mok began to waver.
“Impressive.”
Hyeok-ryeon Cheon-gang, having caught the flow of the formation thanks to Il-mok, let out an admiring exclamation and swung his sword ferociously.
Clang!
Clang!!
Pushing back the three high monks with rapid consecutive strikes, Hyeok-ryeon Cheon-gang suddenly swung his sword in a direction unrelated to them.
The qi formed on his sword shot out at incredible speed, embodying swiftness, toward a young lama.
That lama reacted in startled panic like the previous one but lacked the skill to block or evade Hyeok-ryeon Cheon-gang’s technique.
Slash!!!
After two of the formation’s lamas perished in succession. Il-mok and Hyeok-ryeon Cheon-gang began rampaging far more freely.
The six high monks blocking them grew increasingly flustered, and whenever they retreated, a young lama lost his life.
The formation’s aura pressing the Demonic Cultists wavered repeatedly, and as the pressure eased, Jeong-hyeon nocked a short spear on her bow instead of an arrow.
Kriiiiing.
She was sharp enough to know who to target first.
Twang!
The moment she released the string. With a crisp sound, the short spear flew toward the young lama.
Was it because some of the formation’s power remained? The targeted lama swung his staff to barely block the spear.
Boom!!
But failing to fully withstand its force, he staggered back a step.
The already destabilized balance of the Vajra Lama Formation lurched greatly once more from that single irregular step.
Slash!
Il-mok and Hyeok-ryeon Cheon-gang were not ones to miss the gap.
With Jeong-hyeon joining their efforts, the dozen or so young lamas forming the formation soon all lost their lives.
Eleven deaths out of seventy-two. Less than a fifth, but as formations often are, the Vajra Lama Formation was completely shattered.
Right after. The wolves suppressed by the formation were unleashed.
Il-mok’s maidservants and Hyeok-ryeon Clan warriors, freed from the formation’s influence, began counter-pressuring the lamas.
Il-mok and Hyeok-ryeon Cheon-gang could now fully press the high monks.
All those high monks were masters who could be called peak experts by Central Plains standards, but without the formation’s aid, they were no match for the two.
“Gah….”
A high monk who clashed his vajra with Il-mok suffered internal injuries and spat blood with a groan.
Startled by the sight, several lamas hurriedly flew in to aid the high monks.
Unable to maintain the formation, they intended to help with their bodies.
But this was a blunder.
Il-mok used subtlety to redirect the intruding lama’s swinging staff.
“Out of the way!”
The high monk swinging his palm at Il-mok bellowed.
Thud!
But futilely, the high monk’s twin palms struck the intruding lama’s back.
“Guh….”
As the lama with crushed organs and shattered spine let out a choked groan. Il-mok swung his Soaring Heaven Sword, wrapped in sword lightning, at the injured high monk.
Crunch!!
Il-mok’s Soaring Heaven Sword pierced the high monk’s abdomen, and the blade devoured his blood like fangs.
Replenishing his spent internal energy with blood qi, Il-mok swung the Soaring Heaven Sword again to cleave through the lamas.
Slash!
From the side, similarly, the sounds of Hyeok-ryeon Cheon-gang slicing through lamas’ flesh and bone rang out repeatedly.
If the Demonic Cultists were wolves, Il-mok and Hyeok-ryeon Cheon-gang were tigers loosed amid a flock of sheep.
After dispatching the high monks one by one, Il-mok and Hyeok-ryeon Cheon-gang cut down the blocking lamas indiscriminately as they advanced.
Soon, they fully broke through the encirclement, and the group followed the path they had carved.
The moment they finally faced the Left and Right Great Virtues’ hall. Jin Ha-yeon’s indifferent voice came from behind.
“Young Master, Hyeok-ryeon Clan Head. We’ll hold the rear.”
Turning at her voice, he saw over a hundred Tantric monks chasing them.
Glancing between the Tantric monks and Jin Ha-yeon, Il-mok nodded and replied.
“Hold on just a bit. I’ll finish quickly and return.”
“We’ll finish quickly and join you.”
Hearing Jin Ha-yeon echo his own words, Il-mok smiled faintly and turned forward again to advance.