The Changcheon Sword Formation
The slash tore through the air, staining the void crimson.
The makeshift bundle of sword aura carved through the reinforced qi born of the Blood Heaven Asura Art and left a long, gaping wound across Zhang Wufei’s torso.
“Kuhk!”
The man let out a single scream before he was hurled away.
Zhang Wufei fell like a withered leaf.
“Big brother!”
“A-Aaaah!!”
The Guryong-bang players screamed as though a mountain had collapsed.
It was a grievous wound that laid bone bare; their shock was understandable.
Yet—
“Still not enough.”
I kicked off the ground and launched myself toward the spot where Zhang Wufei was falling.
His stubborn insistence on facing me head-on had created the perfect opening.
If I killed him here, we would seize overwhelming dominance over the entire Guryong-bang force.
Once they regained their senses, the chance would vanish.
I had to finish this quickly.
Cloud Flow Steps has been activated.
Wind Path has been activated.
I released the Dark Body for an instant, stepped on the wind, and closed the distance to Zhang Wufei before swinging the Dark Shadow Soul-Chasing Sword once more.
The blade carried enough power to cleave even mithril.
The forcibly combined qi threatened to unravel with every swing, yet I forced it to obey.
Shluuurk!
Blood sprayed into the air and clung to the dark blade.
Sticky, crimson blood.
Another application of the Blood Heaven Asura Art.
Though the qi had been forcibly merged, the power sheathing the blade was still reinforced qi. Without needing extra strength in my wrist, the net of blood was sliced apart.
“You’re resorting to petty tricks.”
Zhang Wufei bought himself only a single breath. The moment I moved to carve through his exposed ribs—
Blood Body
Blood Explosion
Zhang Wufei’s body, transformed into a mass of blood, detonated.
That scoundrel has exploded!
“He’s not dead.”
Blood Body was a forbidden art that reconstructed the flesh with blood-infused inner energy while simultaneously shifting position.
It was no pure martial art; it was a demonic technique that mixed the Blood Cult’s sorcery with qi.
The instant he used Blood Body, Zhang Wufei’s form reappeared dozens of meters away, right in the middle of the Guryong-bang ranks.
He must have prepared the spell in advance with some kind of talisman.
Bringing a hundred men and still resorting to such tricks.
“It’s a demonic art!”
Yes.
I had always wanted to say that line at least once.
I never understood when I was only hearing it, but now that I was on the receiving end, it felt oddly satisfying.
I was still close to the epicenter.
I had wrapped myself in the power of Polar Night, yet the crimson energy tore through the darkness and drew nearer.
Damn it.
If I could wield Polar Night at Nyx’s level, it would never have been breached.
The demonic qi of the Blood Heaven Asura Art was tenacious.
Especially that Blood Explosion—it carried the force of several layers of reinforced qi stacked together.
Even if I cut it with the Dark Shadow Soul-Chasing Sword, I could not disperse the energy released by the exploding blood.
’Tis dangerous!
What, from something like this?
In that case—
The moment I released the Dark Body, the Polar Night, now reduced to one-fifth its strength, was torn apart as the exploding blood qi rushed toward my face.
Thunder Escape Art – Thunder Net has been activated.
I scattered the lightning I had secretly gathered in a wide net.
The wildly expanding crimson energy caught in the lightning web and shuddered for an instant.
Shrink has been activated.
The qi of the Blood Heaven Asura Art has bound you.
The effect of Shrink has ignored the binding.
The wondrous art that folded space.
I escaped the area by rapidly folding distance with Shrink.
A crimson afterimage lingered behind me.
The blood explosion had engulfed a radius of dozens of meters.
“Kuh, uuuugh!!”
Zhang Wufei, his face deathly pale, pointed at me with a trembling hand.
Exactly.
The place I had relocated to with Shrink was right beside Zhang Wufei, who had just escaped with Blood Body—right in the heart of the Guryong-bang formation.
“You may enter as you please, but leaving is another matter.”
One solid kick and I could sever his windpipe.
Yet a flash of instinct stopped me from swinging my foot; I retreated half a step instead.
“You dare target our big brother!”
“Perfect. You’ve walked into the center of our formation. You’ll leave your life here!”
I had tried to exploit their moment of confusion, but it wasn’t going to be that easy.
There was no point in bringing so many.
“Even like this, they can’t so much as lift a finger.”
Blood Body and Blood Explosion both consumed enormous amounts of inner energy and the user’s own blood.
Look at how pale he was.
Without a blood transfusion, he might actually die.
Neutralizing China’s top ranker, Zhang Wufei, was a bargain at this price.
Clang-clang-clang!
Part of the Guryong-bang group raised their swords.
You have become the target of the Changcheon Sword Formation.
When non-formation members attack, final power is reduced by 20%.
When using swords, power is further reduced by 20%.
The sword formation famous from the Nangong clan.
A blue border covered a fifty-meter radius.
The Changcheon Sword Formation consisted of thirty members.
Their qi is extraordinary.
“Individually they’re lacking, but the formation compensates.”
Even commoners possess some useful tricks.
“Well, that’s true.”
Everything had gone according to plan up to this point.
The rest I could leave to the guild’s two rankers.
* * *
Shin Junseok let out a short, impressed breath.
“Junior, you weren’t going all out during our last spar, were you?”
“Junseok, was that thing the Guild Master used… reinforced qi?”
“Not exactly. Though you could say it’s similar.”
Shin Junseok’s forehead glistened with sweat.
‘What would have happened if that sword had come at me?’
Only one answer came to mind.
Death.
“Following Junior really was the right choice.”
“Heh, you’re telling me.”
Both rankers wore similar smiles as they turned to Kim Youngsoo.
“In that case—”
“We’re counting on you, Commander Kim Youngsoo.”
Kim Youngsoo shook his head, his face ashen.
“No, even so…”
“The one Junior entrusted with command is you.”
“We’ve already decided to follow the Guild Master’s will.”
Before assaulting the gate that opened in the Dunhuang Desert, Jinho had shared contingency plans with every guild member.
One raised finger meant standby.
Two fingers meant a large-scale engagement; they were to hold the line centered on Kim Youngsoo.
Three fingers meant an ambush nearby; once Jinho entered the gate, they were to search the vicinity and eliminate the attackers.
The second scenario was the most dangerous.
“We’ll lead our teams as usual. You’re the only one who can see the entire battlefield, Youngsoo.”
“The Guild Master told us beforehand, but if your ability had been lacking, we wouldn’t have accepted it.”
Before departing for China, Jinho had shared Kim Youngsoo’s command ability, broad vision, and judgment with the rest of the guild.
Command talent wasn’t heavily influenced by rank.
While the potency of buffs might differ, Kim Youngsoo’s ability to read the battlefield remained undiminished.
“Uncle, we all believe in you.”
“The Guild Master’s eye for people has never been wrong. You’re someone worth following.”
Lee Jiyoung, Ping Lei, and Karla, who had been on the same team for a long time, voiced their support as well.
“Huu, understood. Then please follow my orders until the battle ends.”
Kim Youngsoo cast aside his hesitation.
Legion Command has been activated.
The morale of affiliated unit members has risen.
Pain resistance has been granted to affiliated unit members.
The Centurion is in command. Morale has greatly increased.
Various buffs were applied to the guild members.
Kim Youngsoo’s unique ability, Legion Command, and the effect of Centurion.
Though one tier below supporter-class buffs, they stacked and consumed no mana to maintain, making them highly practical.
“Then, as discussed beforehand, Mugeuk will take the right flank and Yellow Storm the left.”
The two ranker teams assigned to the wings.
The center was entrusted to Yeokcheon Guild’s founding members.
Though “center” sounded grand, in reality they were reserve forces meant to support both flanks while Jinho struck the Guryong-bang main force.
Kim Youngsoo fidgeted anxiously with his hands.
‘This battle will be decided by how quickly the Guild Master can bring down the Guryong-bang leadership.’
Hammer and anvil.
A classic tactic used since ancient wars, yet still effective in the present age.
Jinho was the hammer striking the enemy.
The remaining guild members served as the anvil enduring the assault.
The Guryong-bang group, which had moved a beat late.
Kim Youngsoo commanded the battle while viewing the field from multiple angles through the Centurion ability.
* * *
The battle began the moment Zhang Wufei suffered a serious wound.
I glanced behind me.
The Yeokcheon Guild members, wings spread, were clashing with the Guryong-bang forces.
Though more and more people were accumulating injuries of varying severity, they were not being pushed back despite the numerical disadvantage.
“At this rate, I can move with confidence.”
But can you move at all?
Nyx muttered in a voice tinged with exasperation.
The Changcheon Sword Formation had thirty members.
The inner energy of the players forming the array pressed down on me.
Zhang Wufei stood at the center.
His condition was so poor that a single punch would end his life, yet there was no way to approach him.
Every attempt to break through the formation ended in failure.
Each time I neared the array, a rain of blades poured down, making it impossible to target Zhang Wufei.
“No choice, then. I’ll have to break through head-on.”
I shook my head left and right.
“Hmph. You think you can break through this formation steeped in the spirit of the Chinese people?”
“You haven’t even been able to lift a finger until now, yet you still talk big.”
The players forming the formation jeered loudly.
The Changcheon Sword Formation.
An apex-level array that could only be deployed when every member had mastered the Changcheon Sword Art.
It fused a portion of each member’s inner energy into the formation itself, creating a unified offense-and-defense array where any clash became a collision against the collective qi.
One mistake and my entire body would be carved apart by razor-sharp sword qi.
If it is you, could you not endure even that assault?
“I’d probably have to give up an arm and a leg.”
Enduring a head-on clash with the Changcheon Sword Formation wasn’t the real problem.
Even if I scattered the formation’s momentum, unless I defeated the players composing it, they could simply reform the array.
“The Changcheon Sword Formation requires at least fifteen people as minimum.”
Half, then. This will not be easy.
“If I have enough time, I can dismantle it.”
Yes.
What I had said earlier was only if I met it head-on.
They would come to regret deploying the Changcheon Sword Formation.
Sprint has been activated.
Blaze has been activated.
I activated the skills and ran with all my strength.
However, my direction was not toward the formation.
As I circled the players forming the array, flames that erupted from my feet began to envelop the formation.
Let’s see how long they can stand there doing nothing.