Returning Immortal

Chapter 16 : Post-Heaven Eight Trigrams

Passing through the stone statues that were frozen while standing, giant stone statues with their lower bodies buried in the ground appeared before their eyes.

Originally, they were the stone statues that would have awakened when they passed through this place.

But now, there was not even a slight movement.

Looking at them from here, the giant stone statues buried here looked much larger and more dangerous than the stone statues they had fought.

Some of them had heads that were two zhang in size.

In any case, thanks to Gwi Seongjin and the Raging Fire Divine Lord, the group, which had escaped the danger, safely passed the point where the giant stone statues were buried.

They were very tense, not knowing when they might suddenly turn, but fortunately, such a thing did not happen.

After passing the point where the giant stone statues were buried, this time a sand dune appeared.

For some reason, from here on, the pressure on their bodies became several times higher.

Not only Gwi Seongjin, whose internal energy was weak, but even the Ghost Medicine Hall Master had a pained expression as he walked.

Swoosh.

As he pulled his leg out of the sand, his foot felt as heavy as a thousand catties.

"Shall we rest for a bit?"

Ne Jinja, who was in the lead, turned around and asked.

His gaze was fixed on Gwi Seongjin.

"I can still endure it."

Gwi Seongjin answered in a cracked voice.

"Tough bastard!"

The Ghost Medicine Hall Master, who was following behind Gwi Seongjin, clicked his tongue.

His stamina should have been completely exhausted by now, but he was tougher than a scorpion.

"Tell me if it's too hard."

Ne Jinja, who had instructed Gwi Seongjin, started walking again.

The sand dune was longer than he had thought.

Somehow, it felt longer than before. The slope also seemed much steeper...

"Gasp! Gasp!"

Gwi Seongjin, who was climbing the hill by operating about twenty percent of his spirit energy, was still using his spiritual sense.

As he had felt before, the primordial qi contained in the primordial qi of heaven and earth had various types and colors.

The internal energy of the monsters he had seen while passing through the Phantom Beast Forest was mostly of different colors, and even within the same species, there were slight differences.

However, since his cultivation level was low now, he could not clearly perceive the difference.

He had confirmed it once again while fighting the stone statues, but the maximum distance he could sense with his spiritual sense was twenty zhang.

Of course, not all twenty zhang had the same brightness.

Although the difference was not large, there was a tendency for it to become fainter as it got farther from Gwi Seongjin's body.

Then, when it exceeded the limit, he could see nothing.

Beyond that distance, he had no choice but to observe the appearance of things with his naked eye.

Phew!

Perhaps because his body was tired, even operating his spiritual sense was not easy.

In response, Gwi Seongjin stopped his spiritual sense and focused his mind on climbing the sand dune again.

Puff. Puff.

Was it because Gwi Seongjin's steps had slowed down due to using his spiritual sense?

The Ghost Medicine Hall Master, who was behind him, had overtaken him before he knew it.

Now, the only people behind Gwi Seongjin were the Grand Prince and Ilgeom.

The two were not behind him because their strength was exhausted.

It was to protect Gwi Seongjin himself.

Still, if he went just a little further, he would be at the top of the hill.

Although he was so tired he could collapse, this was the reason Gwi Seongjin had gathered all the remaining strength below his navel.

Thud.

The Ghost Medicine Hall Master, who had climbed to the top of the hill after the Raging Fire Divine Lord and Ne Jinja, looked at Ne Jinja with a dumbfounded expression.

It was because there was not just one stone platform beyond the hill.

A whopping hundred or so.

Moreover, they were all large and high.

Flop.

The Ghost Medicine Hall Master sat down on the ground.

And he asked in a tired voice.

"Vice Director! What on earth is going on? There's not just one stone platform, is there?"

"In the past, there was definitely only one. As that child said, it seems this too has evolved on its own."

Answering in a weak voice, Ne Jinja pointed at Gwi Seongjin with his chin.

Gwi Seongjin was still climbing the hill.

"Gekekeke. The formation evolved on its own? Does that even make sense?"

"Then how would you explain the rocks walking around like people and swinging clubs? You, Hall Master, should also know that within a formation, the heavenly principles can be twisted and crossed, and even truth and falsehood can be reversed."

"Whether the stone platform evolved or gave birth, that's none of my business. But what's the solution? Don't tell me we have to break all of them?"

When the Ghost Medicine Hall Master asked with a worried expression, Ne Jinja shook his head.

"The central pivot will be hidden among them. If we just break that stone platform, we can break the formation."

"Don't you even have a guess as to which stone platform it is?"

"If it could be found so easily, why would the formation have evolved so arduously? Don't rush me like that and wait patiently. It seems it will take quite a lot of time to find the central pivot."

While the two were talking, Gwi Seongjin also finally climbed to the top of the hill.

He was completely exhausted.

But he managed not to collapse, and Gwi Seongjin first looked at the situation below.

"You brat Gwi! I heard what you're confident in are formations and barriers. Which of those do you think is the central pivot?"

Although the Ghost Medicine Hall Master urged him, Gwi Seongjin just looked at the stone platforms without a word.

The stone platforms were scattered in a disorderly manner.

Since they were jumbled up without any particular rule or shape, it was not easy to specify the central pivot just by looking at the formation.

Of course, if he looked at it for a long time, he could figure out the principles and rules, but he couldn't grasp it immediately as the Ghost Medicine Hall Master wanted.

If he used his spiritual sense, he could shorten the time a little, but there was a problem here too.

From the top of the hill where Gwi Seongjin was now, there were only two stone platforms he could see with his spiritual sense.

The rest were all located outside the limit.

Thinking it was fortunate that there were at least some stone platforms he could see, he deployed his spiritual sense, and Gwi Seongjin soon discovered two phenomena that were not visible to the naked eye.

One was the fact that a red energy was flowing out like a thread from the flag on top of the stone platform.

And the other was that a yellow-brown energy, derived from somewhere, was undulating under the ground and spreading in all directions.

Unfortunately, he could not infer the central pivot with just these two phenomena.

Still, it was not without any gains.

"I'll go down there and take a closer look."

"Why? Do you think you'll see the central pivot if you go down?"

"That's not it, but... there's something I want to check."

"Gekekeke. Do as you please. I need to lie down for a bit."

The Ghost Medicine Hall Master, who was talking with Gwi Seongjin, lay down flat on his back on the ground.

Perhaps because he was old, his physical limitations seemed to be great.

Although his body was so tired he could die, Gwi Seongjin moved his steps again towards the bottom of the hill where the stone platforms were gathered.

Not much.

A distance where he could check about five or six stone platforms with his spiritual sense.

He stopped at that height and used his spiritual sense again, and as he watched for a long time, a smile gradually deepened on Gwi Seongjin's lips.

His thoughts were correct.

As he had confirmed from the top of the hill, the red energy flowing from the flag on the stone platform clearly had a direction.

It was just that he couldn't be sure from above because there were only two streams.

But looking at it from here, he could clearly tell.

The energies flowing from the five visible flags were converging at one point.

There was another reason why he thought that point was the central pivot.

The yellow-brown energy that was undulating and spreading under the ground also had its center roughly at a similar location to that point.

Once the central pivot was confirmed, the principle that constituted the formation also came into view at a glance.

It was a scattered Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams Formation.

However, since the gates were twisted with the five elements and the positions were even changed with the four phenomena, no matter how outstanding a formation master was, they would not be able to easily grasp the principle.

If it weren't for his spiritual sense, Gwi Seongjin himself would have had difficulty breaking it.

Puff! Puff!

Gasp! Gasp!

Gwi Seongjin, who had confirmed the central pivot, climbed the hill again.

Although he almost crawled up because he had no strength in his body, since the distance he had come down was not much, he was finally able to go up.

Although he had figured out the principle of the formation and the central pivot, Gwi Seongjin's mouth did not open easily.

It was because he had heard Ne Jinja's voice a little while ago, saying it would take quite a while to break it.

The place that needed Gwi Seongjin's ability the most within the Luminous Cult was the Dark Spirit Council, and Ne Jinja was the Vice Director of that Dark Spirit Council.

There was no reason to step forward and undermine Ne Jinja's authority.

Flop.

First, Gwi Seongjin sat down on the ground.

In fact, he didn't even have the strength to stand anymore.

"You brat! Here, there, it's all the same... Do you think you'll see anything special by looking from there? So, did you find anything?"

The Ghost Medicine Hall Master asked Gwi Seongjin.

It seemed his expectations were high at the news that he was a genius of the ages brought from the Ghost Valley Sect.

"I'm not sure yet. In a way, it seems like a variation of the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams Formation..."

"Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams Formation?"

Ne Jinja, who had been scribbling formulas on the ground with complex horizontal and vertical lines, raised his head and looked at Gwi Seongjin.

It was because what he was thinking about at the moment was also the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams Formation.

"I'm not sure. To see it that way, the trigram lines are too messy and the position of the Life Gate is also different..."

"That's why I was also contemplating. But what do you mean the trigram lines are messy?"

"It's just as I said. It seems they applied the Post-Heaven Eight Trigrams, not the Pre-Heaven Eight Trigrams."

"Post-Heaven Eight Trigrams? Wait a minute..."

Ne Jinja, who had cut off Gwi Seongjin's words, bent over the pattern he had drawn on the ground a little while ago and did a handstand.

And after moving left and right a few times, he let out a loud laugh and stood up straight.

"Hahahaha! You said it seemed like a variation of the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams Formation, and you were right. With the reverse eight trigrams, the five elements setting up the turns, and the four phenomena covering the eyes, it can't help but display such harmony..."

"Vice Director! Have you found the stone platform we need to destroy?"

When Ne Jinja was overjoyed, the Ghost Medicine Hall Master jumped up and asked.

"It's as good as found. Please wait a moment."

Now that he knew the fundamental formation and the principle of change, it would be more strange if Ne Jinja's skills couldn't find a solution.

Before even a quarter of an hour had passed, he raised his head and gave Gwi Seongjin a meaningful smile.

Then he strode towards the Raging Fire Divine Lord.

"Did you find it?"

When the Raging Fire Divine Lord asked, Ne Jinja just nodded his head.

"The stone platform in the third position from the left end to the right is the central pivot. You don't have to destroy the stone platform, just pulling out the flag should be enough."

Ne Jinja said, pointing to a small, shabbily crushed stone platform in one corner.

To think such a shabby stone platform was the central pivot...

Although surprised, the Raging Fire Divine Lord flew down the hill without a word.

In this operation, the Raging Fire Divine Lord's mission was to remove dangerous elements and protect the safety of the group.

In a good way, he was a bodyguard.

In reality, it was a tiring mission where he was in charge of dangerous and unpleasant tasks.

It was not an easy choice for his status as an elder, but the Raging Fire Divine Lord silently handled the given mission without a single complaint.

It was because he had a purpose.

Slide.

The Raging Fire Divine Lord, who had descended about forty zhang from the hill, slipped several times while climbing the target stone platform.

It was because the stone platform was unexpectedly slippery.

But the Raging Fire Divine Lord was not one to give up.

Woooooong.

The Raging Fire Divine Lord drew the Sky-Piercing Halberd he was carrying on his back, swung it in the air, and then threw it towards the flag.

The Sky-Piercing Halberd was a heavy weapon.

Moreover, his internal energy was restricted and it was a situation where it was even difficult to move his body due to the excessive pressure, but he had no hesitation at all.

It was because he had confidence in his martial arts.

Spin, spin.

The Sky-Piercing Halberd, which had spun a few times in the air, flew towards the flag and cut off the flagpole.

At that moment, the dark sky gradually brightened, and internal energy began to fill his empty dantian.

The formation had been broken.

As the pressure that had been pressing down on his body with the force of a thousand catties disappeared, his body felt as light as if it would fly away.

Boom!

The Ghost Medicine Hall Master, who ran down the hill in one step, swung his dragon-headed staff and destroyed a large stone platform.

It wasn't even the central pivot, but it was a pointless venting of anger.

(End of Chapter)