The World’s Greatest Martial Arts Instructor - Chapter 323

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 323. What a Mess

 

 

Bang! Boom!

Fire bombs exploded and vibrations spread.

The rooftop of the hall’s lower floor shattered and scattered.

The Bipung Corps was also desperate.

The Tak Family would dominate Ice Heaven Palace and advance into the Central Plains.

How long had they endured bone-grinding cultivation for this ambition?

With that goal right before their eyes.

They couldn’t be stopped by a formation technique.

They had to hold out somehow until the six who would assault next arrived.

They swung swords, scattered hidden weapons, and detonated fire bombs.

They truly fought fiercely as if struggling desperately.

Though it was the Tak Family surrounding the Palace Lord’s Hall.

It was the Bipung Corps that was surrounded in this Palace Lord’s Hall.

They gritted their teeth and swung their swords.

Swoosh! Swish! Swish! Swoosh!

Just as the encirclement seemed to widen slightly, arrows came flying.

The six Bipung Corps members gritted their teeth and swung their swords to deflect the arrows, but.

They gradually sustained injuries.

“Arrows. It’s arrows! Shoot more!”

Seeing this, the Ice Family martial artists continuously drew their bowstrings.

“Tch.”

Whoosh!

The Bipung Corps Leader threw the last remaining fire bomb from his chest.

Kaboom!!!

The fire bomb exploded near those shooting arrows and thick smoke settled.

Thanks to this, the rain of arrows stopped momentarily.

“Throw them all! Don’t save them, throw!”

The Bipung Corps Leader gave orders at this sight.

Then eight fire bombs flew simultaneously.

Bang! Pop-pop-bang! Kabooom!

“Urgh.”

“Argh.”

“Those damn bastards…”

The Ice Family martial artists poured out another rain of arrows as if retaliating.

The Han Family martial artists also continuously thrust their long spears.

They too were pouring out desperate attacks.

At that moment.

“Damn. Again…”

Just like before, six shadows falling from the sky with their robe hems fluttering like sacks.

“Catch those bastards first! Aim at those guys and shoot arrows!”

Some of the arrows flew toward the sky.

Meanwhile.

The Iron Wind Corps martial artists who entered the three vulnerable points of the formation.

Fought fiercely against the illusions that engulfed them.

Some attacked their comrades, some ran away, but.

Still.

They seemed to be advancing little by little.

However.

In reality, they weren’t advancing.

They were just spinning in circles in the same place, dragged by the formation’s maze.

Han Seol-bing was concentrating her senses and directly intervening in the formation’s movements at the three vulnerable points.

The Ten Thousand Shatter Formation arranged by the First Palace Lord made even this possible.

Thanks to this, the Iron Wind Corps was facing greater hardships than Tak Pung-geon had expected.

“Hmm.”

Tak Yo-beom was watching the current situation with his arms crossed.

He could feel the formation’s vibrations too, but.

There was no change in those vibrations.

Were those who entered inside unable to advance further?

His gaze naturally turned toward Tak Pung-geon.

Tak Pung-geon was already armed.

Unusually, he held a shield.

“I’ll go in and take a look too.”

Tak Yo-beom nodded.

Tak Pung-geon moved toward the formation technique, leading fifty martial artists who followed him.

Shield Wind Corps.

A military unit that unusually used shields.

And Tak Pung-geon was precisely the leader of this Shield Wind Corps.

Their main role was blocking and hindering enemy charges, but.

Tak Pung-geon thought shields were essential to break through this formation technique.

He gave orders just before entering the formation.

“Hide behind your shields, bow your heads, and only look at the ground. Your own feet. Don’t look at anything else. Advance according to my commands. Shield Wind Corps, enter!”

Tak Pung-geon immediately entered the formation.

He surveyed his surroundings.

Indeed, the formation wasn’t properly deployed.

Faint life paths were gradually visible to his eyes.

It was said to be a formation technique where life paths couldn’t be found originally, but.

However.

The formation’s movements were intense.

Movements that didn’t match the current state.

Because of this, the Iron Wind Corps couldn’t advance properly and was in confusion.

Had the Iron Wind Corps entered and moved barely ten steps?

Tak Pung-geon stepped on the life paths while instructing his subordinates where to move.

And soon he was able to encounter the Iron Wind Corps.

Tak Pung-geon forcefully thrust his sword into the ground.

It was one of the places constituting a death gate.

When his sword was thrust in, the death gate’s power weakened.

The faintly visible life paths became slightly clearer.

Only then could the Iron Wind Corps martial artists escape from the illusions.

“S-Shield Wind Corps Leader…”

“You follow my instructions too.”

“Yes!”

Han Seol-bing frowned her delicate eyebrows.

Tak Pung-geon had entered directly and was quite successfully breaking through the formation.

To be precise, it was exploiting the parts that had been weathered and damaged by time.

Han Seol-bing concentrated all her senses on the place where Tak Pung-geon had entered.

What she could do now was move the formation’s qi energy to make their path even more treacherous.

But if Tak Pung-geon moved like that, severing one of the sect’s meridians and using the weathered life path that appeared.

Han Seol-bing shook her head vigorously.

No.

This is the ultimate Ice Heaven Ten Thousand Forms Ten Thousand Shatter Formation.

It can be stopped.

And soon.

‘Today. Probably today Dan-ju will arrive.’

The time for Ha Mu-baek to reach the North Sea was approaching.

 

***

 

“Argh….”

One martial artist from the Bipung Corps screamed as he fell below the hall.

Finally, they had caught one.

However.

The number of those gathered on the rooftop of the hall’s top floor was eleven.

While catching one, six had successfully landed.

They appeared wounded here and there.

Fire bombs flew again.

“Damn bastards.”

A martial artist from the Han Family cursed.

“The signal flares?”

“Here they are.”

At the Bipung Corps Leader’s words, a subordinate who had just landed handed over the signal flares.

The Bipung Corps Leader immediately arranged the sequence of signal flares and shot them outside.

Bang! Pop-pop-bang! Pop-bang! Bang!

A signal to bring as many fire bombs as possible.

In the current situation of being outnumbered, there was no weapon better than fire bombs.

Fierce combat erupted centered around the hall.

Martial artists from the Ice Family and Han Family trying to annihilate the enemy.

The Bipung Corps trying to defend the position they had secured.

And the Iron Wind Corps and Swift Wind Corps trying to break through the formation.

The servants and common people who knew no martial arts were frantically moving to safe places following the martial artists’ instructions.

Im Dae-chi’s youngest brother Im Jang-mu was also moving here, holding the hand of his sister Im Seo-wol whom he had met after entering this place.

“Huh?”

Then his footsteps stopped.

 

***

 

‘Damn bastard Tak Pung-geon.’

Han Seol-bing gritted her teeth.

She had tried to use everything she could to stop Tak Pung-geon’s advance.

But he was truly moving cunningly, finding the damaged parts of the formation.

Just one place.

If she could take temporary measures on just one place, a bastard like that wouldn’t even dare attempt to break the Ice Heaven Ten Thousand Forms Ten Thousand Shatter Formation.

But she couldn’t.

Because Han Seol-bing couldn’t move from this place.

 

“Kragh.”

One martial artist from the Iron Wind Corps screamed and died on the spot.

In the end, he couldn’t endure the illusion.

The life path was narrow.

Not everyone could step on the life path and move.

They had to take turns crossing.

In that process, casualties occurred.

It couldn’t be helped.

Breaking through the formation came first.

‘What kind of sorcery is this?’

Tak Pung-geon bit his lip.

He was clearly exploiting parts that had become vulnerable through damage over long years.

Yet the formation seemed alive, with more qi energy focusing toward them.

Determined to drive them out somehow.

Not letting them enter that place.

As if it had such will.

However.

The qi energy was just fierce.

The more he severed the sect’s meridians, the thicker the life path became.

Then that fierce qi energy was useless.

Of course, casualties increased a bit more like the Iron Wind Corps martial artist who had just fallen.

‘Now I’m halfway there. Just a little more and it’s done.’

Halfway.

It was a meaningful figure.

The remaining half ahead would be easier than the half so far.

As the broken parts increased, the power would rapidly weaken.

A formation operating at ninety percent versus one operating at fifty percent.

Which was easier was crystal clear.

‘Han Seol-bing. Let’s see each other shortly.’

Thus Tak Pung-geon was gradually entering deep into the formation.

And from the sky, the Bipung Corps was falling down.

Their number had become thirteen.

The martial artists from the Han Family and Ice Family were defeating them, but their numbers kept increasing.

As newcomers brought more fire bombs, dealing with them became gradually more difficult.

From above and the sides.

The Tak Family was gradually tightening their grip.

 

***

 

Ha Mu-baek spread his ki sense wide and far.

Soon Ice Heaven Palace was felt within his ki sense.

In this frozen land, that would be the only place where this many martial artists had gathered.

“What a mess.”

A sigh naturally flowed from Ha Mu-baek’s mouth.

He had also faintly detected Han Seol-bing’s qi energy.

Ha Mu-baek increased his speed even more in that direction.

The place he arrived at after running like that.

The scene visible before his eyes.

Ice mist dominating all directions and hanging thickly.

He knew it the moment he saw it.

This was a formation deployed by Han Seol-bing.

However.

This was the first time Ha Mu-baek had seen a formation of this scale.

During the Murim War, he had seen countless formations by Han Seol-bing while engaging in fierce battles with the Blood Cult and Demon Cult.

‘This isn’t just the Ice Soul Gate Lock Formation level….’

Ha Mu-baek recalled a story he had once heard from Han Seol-bing.

‘She said there was a great formation that could only be deployed in the North Sea environment. What was it called… Ice Heaven Ten Thousand Forms Ten Thousand Shatter Formation, I think.’

She said it could only be deployed in the North Sea because it absolutely required the Ice Energy of the North Sea.

Or at least with thousand-year ice crystals.

Han Seol-bing had said that due to the spatial constraints, its power was truly earth-shaking.

Of course, she said it wasn’t something just anyone could do.

‘Only after a formation genius like me achieves ultimate mastery of the Ice Heaven Ten Thousand Forms Ten Thousand Shatter Formation, and all elements support it, would it be possible. If deployed like that, even Dan-ju would absolutely never be able to break through, right?’

Han Seol-bing had boasted like that.

Ha Mu-baek quietly observed that formation.

None of the Ice Heaven Palace people noticed Ha Mu-baek’s appearance.

Their attention was completely captivated by the formation.

They were frantically focused on attacking the formation that had started at dawn.

Before they knew it, it was the end of morning.

Yet there was no change in the formation surrounding the Palace Lord’s Hall.

Only the Martial Artists of the Flying Wind Unit were riding kites, flying through the sky and falling down below.

“It’s worthy of such boasting.”

Ha Mu-baek muttered lowly after watching the formation for a while.

He had wondered why Han Seol-bing’s energy was only faintly detected by his Ki Sense.

That formation was the cause.

Because the formation perfectly separated and blocked the internal and external energies, even Ha Mu-baek couldn’t easily sense the energy inside the formation.

However, those guys riding kites and flying around.

Through the holes where those guys fell down, some internal energy leaked out.

“Seol-bing. There was a reason Ice Heaven Palace urgently sought that girl.”

Looking at the Ice Heaven Ten Thousand Forms Ten Thousand Shatter Formation naturally brought such thoughts.

No matter how carefully he examined it, he couldn’t see a way to break through the formation.

If he attempted to enter without knowing the path of life, there was no telling what kind of trouble he’d face.

Now.

The formation spread before his eyes.

Was the one Han Seol-bing had once said that even Ha Mu-baek could never break through.

The energy of the sky, Heaven.

The land of the North Sea filled with Ice Energy, Earth.

The caster Han Seol-bing who had mastered the formation to ultimate achievement, Human.

It was the ultimate form where all three elements of Heaven, Earth, and Human perfectly aligned.

When Han Seol-bing had brought up that formation to Ha Mu-baek, it was during the height of the war with the Demon Cult after bringing down the Blood Cult.

Words she had said while setting up the Ice Soul Gate Lock Formation during operations in the north of the Central Plains, close to the North Sea.

Ha Mu-baek’s current level was incomparable to that time.

He had become much stronger and reached a higher realm.

Yet even now, he couldn’t see a path of life to break through as she had boasted.

If the Ha Mu-baek of that time was the standard, then Han Seol-bing’s boast was correct.

No matter what methods he used, the Ha Mu-baek of that time couldn’t have broken through the Ice Heaven Ten Thousand Forms Ten Thousand Shatter Formation.

‘Now it’s different.’

It wasn’t that there was no method.

Finding the path of life and breaking through was impossible.

But that wasn’t the only way to neutralize a formation.

Crushing it with overwhelming force was also one method.

With Ha Mu-baek’s current abilities, it was possible.

The power possessed by the Ice Heaven Ten Thousand Forms Ten Thousand Shatter Formation was also tremendous.

It had to be.

Since it was a formation deployed borrowing the energy of the North Sea land, the energy it contained couldn’t be small.

Moreover, though Ha Mu-baek didn’t know it, it was even utilizing the energy of ten-thousand-year ice crystals.

Only because it was Ha Mu-baek could he think of crushing it with force, and only he could make it possible.

But it was a method he couldn’t use.

Just looking at the countless Martial Artists surrounding the formation.

And the guys flying down into the formation.

Those guys must be the reason Han Seol-bing returned to Ice Heaven Palace.

The crisis Han Seol-bing mentioned was those guys.

If Ha Mu-baek destroyed the formation to enter and meet Han Seol-bing, he would only be doing those guys a favor.

The very guys who made Ha Mu-baek struggle to come all the way to the North Sea.

“It’s ultimate… but incomplete. Why is that?”

Ha Mu-baek tilted his head and muttered.

The Han Seol-bing he knew wouldn’t deploy it incompletely.

The midair where those fly-like guys were falling down.

There was probably a hole there.

Ha Mu-baek could sense with his Ki Sense that the formation’s energy was cut off at that spot.

If it was an entrance, then it was an entrance.

What on earth was going on?

“I’ll know if I go in.”

What was the point of worrying?

He could just meet her directly and ask.

He could sweep away those guys right now.

But he still needed to know the full circumstances.

First, he had to meet Han Seol-bing.

In other words, he had to enter the Ice Heaven Ten Thousand Forms Ten Thousand Shatter Formation.

Honestly.

‘I’m not confident.’

What kind of trouble he might face inside after entering.

Mazes and illusions, plus annihilation on top of that.

He couldn’t know what state he’d be in after dealing with those things.

‘But I want to try.’

A strange competitive spirit arose.

It wasn’t just because of Han Seol-bing’s old boast.

There was simply a powerful existence before his eyes.

One so powerful that even Ha Mu-baek felt unconfident.

How long had it been since something like this?

So the desire to challenge it blazed fiercely in his chest.

However.

He couldn’t do that now.

The most urgent thing was helping Han Seol-bing.

Wasn’t that why he had come all the way to the North Sea?

Ha Mu-baek looked up at the midair.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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