Chapter 271

While Zhuge Son-gi attacked and retreated, the warriors that Dan Ryeong-gyeong had missed wounded one of the Evil Sect members behind her and moved again.

New ones filled their positions, slaughtered the wounded Evil Sect member, and again switched places with other warriors.

Frantic attacks continued.

Once Dan Ryeong-gyeong got caught up in one attack, there was no opportunity to extricate herself. With spears and swords flying from all directions, even for a master like her, it wasn’t easy to keep dodging them all day long.

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Whistle sounds kept ringing. Dan Ryeong-gyeong felt herself gradually getting separated from the group of Evil Sect members. To separate Dan Ryeong-gyeong from the group, attacks from one side were particularly fierce. The Evil Sect members were also gradually being split from Dan Ryeong-gyeong. As Dan Ryeong-gyeong tried to return to the group, something slipped between her legs.

Hook Sickle Spear!

A spear with a sickle attached next to the spear blade, designed so that when thrust and pulled with the sickle, limbs would be severed.

Looking at it, those carrying unusual formation weapons were the Zhuge family warriors. The Sichuan sect warriors carried swords and regular spears, while Zhuge family warriors played the role of striking at weak points with special weapons.

Dan Ryeong-gyeong hopped around avoiding the hook sickle spears coming from below.

Slash, slice!

The grass on the ground was sharply cut. Hook sickle spears also flew from above. Suddenly hook sickle spears flew from three directions and hooked Dan Ryeong-gyeong’s neck. Dan Ryeong-gyeong quickly lowered her body with Thousand Catty Drop. The three hook sickle spears cut through where Dan Ryeong-gyeong’s neck had been, scraping against each other and sparking.

Clang!

Dan Ryeong-gyeong spun her legs while her back was on the ground and got up in reverse. The hook sickle spear wielders retreated and iron rings flew again. Two iron rings wrapped around Dan Ryeong-gyeong’s left arm.

“Haaah!”

Dan Ryeong-gyeong put weight on her legs and pulled her arm with force.

“Wahhh!”

The two Zhuge family warriors holding the iron rings were lifted into the air and dragged along. But as they passed by, two sect leader-level opponents jumped from the side, crossed over, grabbed the iron rings together and landed.

Thud!

The two sect leaders who landed heavily added their strength, so a total of four people grabbed the iron rings wrapped around Dan Ryeong-gyeong’s left arm and entered a contest of strength.

Dan Ryeong-gyeong raised her Taod Art to maximum to create five dikes, then wrapped the iron rings around her arm two more times.

Screech.

Four sturdy men including sect leaders were dragged along, leaving marks in the dirt.

“Hah!”

Dan Ryeong-gyeong wrapped the iron rings around her arm once more and took another step forward.

Swoosh.

Each time the iron rings wrapped around, the four men continued to be dragged toward Dan Ryeong-gyeong. Even with two Zhuge family warriors and two sect leaders combined, gritting their teeth and resisting, they kept being dragged.

Since Dan Ryeong-gyeong was standing her ground against the formation’s movement without moving from her position, the formation’s operation seemed to stop briefly.

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However, despite Dan Ryeong-gyeong’s resistance, sword wielders squeezed through in two rows between Dan Ryeong-gyeong and the Evil Sect, blocking them. Dan Ryeong-gyeong and the Evil Sect members were completely separated. The formation began operating again.

“You bastards!”

Dan Ryeong-gyeong was furious but her hands were insufficient. Zhuge Son-gi jumped from behind the four people holding the iron rings and attacked Dan Ryeong-gyeong with his sword. Dan Ryeong-gyeong planted her legs on the ground and moved only her upper body to dodge the sword. Zhuge Son-gi wasn’t a third-rate opponent who could be dealt with while having her hands and feet bound. Scratched wounds appeared all over Dan Ryeong-gyeong’s upper body.

Gam Chung and the Evil Sect members tried hard to push through the sword wielders blocking Dan Ryeong-gyeong and get to her, but couldn’t easily break through. They too were receiving attacks from all sides in turns. They had killed several warriors to use as shields, but casualties were mounting as countless attacks kept pouring in.

“Damn it, Fairy Maiden! Are you alright!”

Dan Ryeong-gyeong was in a situation where she couldn’t even answer while dodging Zhuge Son-gi’s sword strikes.

The Evil Sect members shouted.

“Poison Dragon! Do something about this!”

Jin Ja-gang had difficulty coming to the front because he was protecting Soso and the wounded Evil Sect members. Moreover, this Nine Palace Eight Trigrams Formation was at a different level from what Jin Ja-gang had experienced before.

Rather than attacks being determined by gates, attacks constantly changed even within a single gate. The arrow rain of Wound Gate and the vigilance of Alert Gate, and attacks from sect leader-level masters corresponding to the palaces in between were continuously mixed.

The Evil Sect members urged Jin Ja-gang.

“What are you waiting for!”

Jin Ja-gang looked toward the east. Eastern clouds were still there. The sun had risen but was hidden by young clouds in the east. Those eastern clouds needed to clear and the sun needed to break through.

Jin Ja-gang was waiting for that. Finally, a red spreading appeared above the eastern clouds.

Dawn.

The sun had risen.

Now!

Jin Ja-gang had Soso go inside the Evil Sect members, then ran forward. Bian Bu threw iron needle projectiles downward at the right timing to help with one hand. The front row sword wielders raised shields to block the projectiles.

Jin Ja-gang stepped on the shields and leaped up with all his might.

The sword wielders blocking between Dan Ryeong-gyeong and the Evil Sect members looked up at Jin Ja-gang jumping up.

Behind Jin Ja-gang, who jumped up with his back to the sun, the crimson sun poured out dazzling sunlight.

At that moment, the pupils of the sword wielders looking at Jin Ja-gang flickered.

When light quantity suddenly increases, pupils should contract, but their pupils dilated more as if paralyzed. Sunlight suddenly squeezed between the retina and eyelids, seeming to shake their brains.

“Ugh!”

All kinds of indescribable fragments of light invaded the sword wielders’ vision in an instant.

The sword wielders lost sight of Jin Ja-gang.

Jin Ja-gang leaped over them and spread both arms with all his might. Dark lines embroidered the air.

Five heads of sword wielders separated from their bodies and fell away. A hole instantly appeared in the wall.

The remaining warriors also hesitated, unable to hide their bewildered expressions.

The Evil Sect members cheered. Jin Ja-gang’s poison had taken effect.

“It’s starting!”

The warriors kept blinking their eyes. Many warriors couldn’t open their eyes properly and tears trickled down.

“My, my eyes are strange!”

It was somewhat better in the shade of trees, but when they looked at sunlight, their eyes hurt unbearably from the glare. Among them, the severe cases even felt burning pain in their eyes and exposed arms and necks.

Jin Ja-gang broke through the flustered sword wielders and threw projectiles at Zhuge Son-gi who was attacking Dan Ryeong-gyeong. Zhuge Son-gi also felt something was wrong and immediately withdrew. He retreated while squinting and forcing his eyes open.

When Jin Ja-gang threatened with projectiles, one of the sect leaders holding the iron rings tied to Dan Ryeong-gyeong let go. The balance of power collapsed at once.

Dan Ryeong-gyeong gathered strength in her arm and pulled the iron rings. One sect leader and two warriors simultaneously flew through the air toward her.

Dan Ryeong-gyeong waved her left arm to wildly wrap the iron rings around her hand, then when the three men flew right up close, she explosively released her internal energy. The wrapped iron rings unwound and flew out, piercing the chests of the three men. The three fell to the ground spitting blood with holes punched through their chests.

Dan Ryeong-gyeong looked at Jin Ja-gang and nodded.

No long words were needed. Dan Ryeong-gyeong joined Jin Ja-gang in breaking through the blocking sword wielders and rejoined the Evil Sect members.

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Whistle sounds rang continuously but the formation’s flow couldn’t turn smoothly.

Though not continuous, the warriors forming the formation couldn’t respond agilely because of momentary glare. It was difficult to properly carry out even sixty percent of orders.

That alone opened breathing room for the Evil Sect members. Gam Chung killed two warriors while venting his anger but got careless and took a sword cut to his waist. This was because the formation itself hadn’t been completely neutralized.

“Tsk! My reputation is in shambles.”

Gam Chung, who had stopped the bleeding and tied his cut waist with cloth, laughed heartily while feeling embarrassed.

* * *

Zhuge Ming felt the formation’s movement suddenly become sluggish. The formation flags that should have been moving busily in the mountains had suddenly stopped in disarray.

The surrounding warriors also suddenly frowned, saying their eyes were dazzled.

“Ow, what’s this?”

“My eyes are suddenly glaring.”

Zhuge Ming raised his internal energy to enhance his eyesight. The warriors in the mountains did the same.

There was no reason for many warriors to complain of eye fatigue for no reason.

Only the Zhuge family warriors were fine. They had been biting poison-prevention pills from the start with the intention of facing Poison Dragon. They had also only eaten rations brought from the main family for meals.

Poison Dragon had undoubtedly tampered with the provisions or drinking water supplied to this side.

When on earth…

Zhuge Ming frowned deeply.

The Evil Sect members were just running westward recklessly.

‘They have the sun behind their backs?’

Because of this, the warriors forming the formation had no choice but to look at the sun in some way.

Since the warriors couldn’t fight properly due to glare, the formation’s operation became somewhat sloppy. They couldn’t apply the necessary pressure. The Evil Sect members had high individual skills, so they weren’t threatened by an imprecise formation. The Evil Sect members broke through walls of warriors haphazardly and continued descending westward.

Screams were bursting out in clusters from the warriors forming the Nine Palace Eight Trigrams Formation.

“Front! I can’t see the front clearly!”

“What’s happening?”

“Ahhh!”

However, Zhuge Ming grasped the Evil Sect members’ intentions and changed the formation’s composition.

The situation in the mountains wasn’t that bad.

Zhuge Ming immediately raised his flags.

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Zhuge Ming first commanded the formation’s axis to turn diagonally. They couldn’t avoid looking at the sun completely, but they positioned themselves to fight while looking at it as little as possible.

The formation’s movement was very sluggish. Fortunately, trained Zhuge family warriors were positioned throughout to lead the formation, so the axis somehow moved to the desired position.

There were considerable casualties in the process, but they were finally able to slow down the Evil Sect members’ escape speed.

“You want to go west, is that it?”

Zhuge Ming had the Wood Element warriors open Du Gate to the west. Du Gate is a formation useful for hiding and concealing. Though it feels like a life gate, it draws enemies deep into the formation to create more dangerous situations.

Zhuge Ming kept opening Du Gate alternately to the southwest and northwest. The Evil Sect members would think they were breaking through the formation westward, but in reality, they were continuously entering the deepest part of the Nine Palace Eight Trigrams Formation through Du Gate.

Zhuge Ming smiled with satisfaction.

The Evil Sect members had already passed through eight Du Gates. He occasionally guided them through Wound Gate to wound several Evil Sect members without them realizing they were falling into a trap.

Soon the Evil Sect members would enter the maximum depth of the Nine Palace Eight Trigrams Formation.

In the depths were Rest Gate and Scene Gate.

Rest Gate is very quiet but gives the feeling that something is hidden, opposite to Du Gate. It’s very uncomfortable to enter because it feels ominous and makes one feel vigilant.

Scene Gate is a noisy gate. When Scene Gate is operated mainly with Metal Element, it looks very dangerous but actually has no substance.

However, if they enter Scene Gate instead of Rest Gate there, Death Gate is right inside.

From then on, all gates within the formation become Death Gates. They become unable to escape Death Gate no matter where they go!

The terrifying aspect of Death Gate was that from then on, all gates encountered become Death Gates, and the masters of Kun Palace, which forms the core of that Death Gate, get to rampage freely.

Zhuge Ming had even drawn in Mount Emei, who had been trying to avoid involvement as much as possible, and placed them at the center of Kun Palace.

The Evil Sect members facing Mount Emei within Death Gate would probably have a hellish experience.

The flags representing the formation were gathering toward the center like a whirlpool. Though the Evil Sect members didn’t know, all the warriors scattered throughout the mountains were continuously concentrating.

Zhuge Ming gripped his flag tightly.

“Almost caught them!”