Chapter 158

Chapter 158: When the Rain of Chaos Falls, the Sleeping Dragon Stirs (2)

Eum Yu-gyeong drew a ragged breath.

Her once immaculate attire was disheveled, and her face was flushed crimson. The mask she had worn had long since been discarded. Branches and fallen leaves clung to her hair and shoulders from her passage through the undergrowth.

The moment she had escaped from the Scripture Library, Shaolin's pursuit had begun. The warrior monks had pursued her with relentless tenacity.

She had used her wits to shake them off several times, but before she had descended even halfway down Mount Song, she was forced into a confrontation with the warrior monks.

Shaolin's warrior monks were terrifyingly strong. Their individual skill could not compare to Eum Yu-gyeong's, but their combined assault was more than enough to put her in dire straits.

If she had possessed the sword she had left at the mountain gate, she might have escaped more easily. Fighting empty-handed prolonged the battle.

In the meantime, a dragnet had been deployed across all of Mount Song. Eum Yu-gyeong had missed the optimal window for escape.

"I cannot afford to delay any longer."

Just as she was about to move again.

"Amitabha!"

A thunderous Buddhist cry rang out as a group of monks blocked her path.

An elderly monk bearing nine seal marks on his head led over a hundred young monks. Among them was So-cheon.

The elderly monk stepped forward.

"Amitabha! From where do you come, and who are you? Shaolin is not a common marketplace where one can enter and leave freely."

The elderly monk was Gwang-mun, Abbot of the Arhat Hall. The warriors behind him were the elite monks of the Arhat Hall.

The longer the delay, the greater Eum Yu-gyeong's disadvantage.

'I have no choice. I will fight with everything I have and break through.'

Having steeled her resolve, Eum Yu-gyeong rose into the air.

A frost-like killing intent emanated from her entire body.

Gwang-mun's expression hardened.

"Demonic energy? Are you from the Demonic Cult?"

He was a high monk of deep cultivation. It was only natural that he was sensitive to demonic energy.

"The Demonic Cult?"

"Amitabha! That a member of the Demonic Cult has infiltrated Shaolin itself."

Anger surfaced on the monks' faces.

At that moment, Gwang-mun cried out.

"Deploy the One Hundred and Eight Arhat Formation and subdue the demoness!"

The monks moved without delay, unfolding the One Hundred and Eight Arhat Formation around Eum Yu-gyeong. The One Hundred and Eight Arhat Formation was an ancient battle formation of peerless power, renowned as the greatest anti-one-person formation in history.

Once the One Hundred and Eight Arhat Formation was deployed, escape was impossible for Eum Yu-gyeong even if the sky split in two.

Whirrr!

The instant the One Hundred and Eight Arhat Formation was activated, Eum Yu-gyeong spread both arms wide. A powerful energy burst forth toward the One Hundred and Eight Arhat.

It was the Demonic Cult's supreme technique, the Dark Heaven Blazing Hand.

"Gah!"

"Huh!"

The attack, launched at a perfect moment, disrupted the rhythm of the One Hundred and Eight Arhat Formation, strand by strand.

Eum Yu-gyeong seized the opening and plunged through.

Her white hand struck out with devastating force. She was deploying the Falling Moon Divine Sword with her bare hands.

Swish-swish!

Energy coalesced upon her white hand, taking on the form of a blade.

"Gahuk!"

"Argh!"

The monks fell in an instant.

"How dare you!"

Gwang-mun, in towering fury, deployed the Great Strength Diamond Palm.

Rumble!

A tremendous wave of energy surged toward Eum Yu-gyeong.

Eum Yu-gyeong bit her lip. Gwang-mun's martial skill was far higher than she had anticipated.

'In a direct confrontation, I am at a disadvantage.'

In the end, she abandoned the notion of facing him head-on and retreated.

In that instant, Gwang-mun's movement changed.

Swish-swish-swish!

His body seemed to multiply into nine in the blink of an eye, then coalesced in a stack before Eum Yu-gyeong.

It was the Lotus Throne Nine Ranks, one of Shaolin's greatest movement techniques.

Having closed the distance in an instant, he spread his palm wide.

Whoosh!

The Bodhi Jade Dragon Seal, a supreme art proudly ranked among Shaolin's Seventy-Two Supreme Arts, was deployed.

As the leader of the One Hundred and Eight Arhat, Gwang-mun's martial skill was formidable.

Because it was launched at such a perfect moment, Eum Yu-gyeong could not mount a complete defense.

Crash!

"Ugh!"

A thunderous impact shook her body.

A trickle of blood appeared at the corner of her mouth. She had sustained internal injuries. Her movements slowed.

The One Hundred and Eight Arhat seized the opportunity and surrounded her.

Whirrr!

The One Hundred and Eight Arhat Formation activated.

One hundred and eight Zen staffs struck at Eum Yu-gyeong.

Wham-wham-wham!

Eum Yu-gyeong deployed the Dark Heaven Blazing Hand to resist. But fighting the One Hundred and Eight Arhat Formation barehanded, without a sword, was impossible from the start.

Whoosh!

A powerful vortex of energy formed around the One Hundred and Eight Arhat Formation. An immense pressure was concentrated upon Eum Yu-gyeong alone.

"Hah!"

Eum Yu-gyeong's complexion turned ashen.

'If only I had my sword…'

If she could deploy the Falling Moon Divine Sword, she might not have been able to break the One Hundred and Eight Arhat Formation, but she could have bought time.

The power of the Falling Moon Divine Sword deployed barehanded was limited, and it was insufficient to shatter this ancient formation that had endured for a thousand years. On top of that, So-cheon and Gwang-mun had blocked her retreat.

Eum Yu-gyeong was being cornered ever further.

Wounds accumulated one by one across her body, and her meridians seethed, preventing her from properly circulating her internal energy.

Gwang-mun watched the scene and spoke.

"The moment we capture the demoness, we will deploy the Ten-Direction Suppression Technique."

"Is that really necessary?"

So-cheon countered.

The Ten-Direction Suppression Technique was a method created to seal the internal energy of a demon. The problem was that the one who received the Ten-Direction Suppression Technique would not only have their internal energy sealed but would also suffer such thorough damage to their mind and body that they would become a cripple, never to recover.

"We show no mercy to demons."

"I understand."

At Gwang-mun's resolute voice, So-cheon replied with a look of resignation. He still found the deployment of the Ten-Direction Suppression Technique distasteful.

Though he was a member of the Nine Heavenly Dragons, the greatest prodigies of the Murim, in truth, he had almost no experience fighting other warriors directly.

In an ideal world, rather than watching the One Hundred and Eight Arhat Formation fight, he would have preferred to fight himself. But Gwang-mun did not permit it.

Shaolin was investing such great effort in nurturing So-cheon. Not merely as a member of the Nine Heavenly Dragons, but for something greater.

So-cheon was the one who would lead the Murim into the future.

Not a single defeat, not a single blemish, was permitted.

That was why Gwang-mun had allowed So-cheon to observe the battle, but could not permit him to fight directly.

'Once the One Hundred and Eight Arhat Formation is deployed, even if the sky falls, there is no path for the demoness to escape.'

Within the One Hundred and Eight Arhat Formation, a thousand years of Shaolin's essence was distilled. In all of Shaolin's history, no individual had ever shattered the One Hundred and Eight Arhat Formation.

Whirrr!

As time passed, the power of the One Hundred and Eight Arhat Formation grew exponentially. This was another of its formidable attributes.

Attacks followed one another with the precision of interlocking gears, growing ever more powerful as time wore on, driving the opponent into a corner.

In truth, Eum Yu-gyeong was now being pushed to her absolute limit.

'The spiritual energy permeating the One Hundred and Eight Arhat Formation is severing my internal energy, strand by strand.'

For that reason, Eum Yu-gyeong was finding it extremely difficult to circulate her internal energy.

Unable to properly channel her power, her techniques could not display their full strength. Moreover, without a sword in hand, she could not even发挥 thirty percent of her true ability.

Wham!

In that instant, a staff struck her shoulder.

The Zen staffs, forged from tempered iron, were more terrifying than any divine weapon. The moment the blow landed, she twisted her body to deflect the impact as much as possible, but her shoulder swelled immediately.

Cold sweat trickled down Eum Yu-gyeong's spine.

'Should I use my final technique?'

What she was displaying now was not her full strength. Beyond the Falling Moon Divine Sword, she possessed a trump card.

The problem was that using her trump card came with severe aftereffects. She would be unable to move for several months.

In times like these, a gap of several months could prove fatal.

'There is no choice, then…'

She bit her lip and gathered what remained of her energy.

Whirrr!

The air around Eum Yu-gyeong churned wildly.

Sensing the unusual shift in atmosphere, Gwang-mun shouted.

"The demoness's movements are suspicious. Change the One Hundred and Eight Arhat Formation to the Creation Shaking the Heavens!"

The Creation Shaking the Heavens was the most powerful offensive technique within the One Hundred and Eight Arhat Formation. No demon had ever survived its power.

Whirr-whirr-whirr!

A vortex formed around the One Hundred and Eight Arhat Formation. An enormous pressure was generated, and all of it was concentrated upon Eum Yu-gyeong alone.

Grrrk!

Overwhelmed by a pressure beyond imagination, Eum Yu-gyeong dropped to one knee. Every blood vessel on her body bulged outward, and the tiny vessels in both eyes burst, turning them entirely red.

"Cough!"

Eum Yu-gyeong's face turned pale, and she vomited blood. Yet she endured, preparing to use her trump card.

It was at that moment.

–Relax your strength and yield to the pressure.

Suddenly, a telepathic transmission echoed in her ear.

In that instant, Eum Yu-gyeong felt tears welling in her eyes.

'He's come.'

She released the energy she had painstakingly gathered and relaxed her entire body.

"The demoness has gone mad with the desire to die."

A gleam of triumph appeared on Gwang-mun's face.

Swoosh!

Suddenly, a long rope snaked through the air like a serpent and coiled around Eum Yu-gyeong's waist, lifting her upward.

"There is an accomplice!"

"She is trying to rescue the demoness! Stop her!"

The monks who had been deploying the One Hundred and Eight Arhat Formation cried out in alarm and intensified their assault on Eum Yu-gyeong.

Crack-crack-crack!

In that instant, the rope coiled around Eum Yu-gyeong whipped violently from side to side. The monks near her were struck by the rope and sent flying left and right. But they used their Zen staffs as anchors and barely managed to maintain the formation.

In the meantime, the rope lifted Eum Yu-gyeong skyward.

"Not so fast!"

Unable to stand by any longer, Gwang-mun launched himself forward. The One Hundred and Eight Arhat followed behind him.

Eum Yu-gyeong's form was on the verge of being seized.

"Blood Slaughter Rain."

Suddenly, a voice of thunderous authority rang out, and rain began to fall. Rain made of energy.

Wham-wham-wham-wham-wham!

"Gahuk!"

"Impossible!"

Horror appeared on the faces of Gwang-mun and the One Hundred and Eight Arhat.

A warrior who could generate even a single strand of energy was regarded as an absolute master in the Murim. Even in Shaolin, the foremost of the Nine Great Sects, there were not many who could generate energy.

And now, a rain of energy?

A sight beyond all imagination had appeared before them, and their faces drained of color.

Kraa-boom!

The One Hundred and Eight Arhat Formation and the rain of energy collided.

The earth shook as though an earthquake had struck, and the atmosphere churned wildly. As though caught in a massive storm, ancient trees were uprooted from the ground, and enormous boulders rolled across the earth.

After the violent storm had swept through, the scene that emerged was truly catastrophic.

As though a volcano had erupted, the area had been reduced to a wasteland, and monks lay scattered everywhere.

By a stroke of fortune, no one had died, but the expressions on the One Hundred and Eight Arhat's faces were utterly desolate.

The One Hundred and Eight Arhat Formation, which they had believed to be invincible, had been broken.

The legend of invincibility had crumbled.

"How can this be!"

Gwang-mun's white beard quivered.

The one who had rescued Eum Yu-gyeong was clearly a single individual. By one person alone, their legend of invincibility had been shattered.

"Who in the world is that man?"

For the first time in his life, an intense sense of crisis descended upon him. The appearance of an absolute master he had never even dreamed of. The thought of what aftershocks his arrival would bring to the Murim was terrifying even to contemplate.

Gwang-mun looked around.

The One Hundred and Eight Arhat were there. But So-cheon was nowhere to be seen.

'Could it be that So-cheon…'