The Genius Youngest Disciple of the Wudang Sect

Chapter 97

"Then shall we go?"

"Yes. Let's go."

I stood at the head of my senior brothers and began to move forward slowly.

'If you think about it differently, this is a good opportunity to objectively know my and my senior brothers' skills.'

As traps usually are, the beginning of the hill leading up to the Zhuge family will start with weak formations and mechanisms, and as you go up, stronger ones will be installed.

How far we can break through will be our current skill level.

As I took a step towards the entrance, I suddenly felt my body getting heavier.

My steps and breathing became difficult, but it wasn't so difficult that I couldn't keep walking.

"Heup!"

"Heo-eop!"

Perhaps because my senior brothers were a little hit, their breathing began to quicken in an instant, but they followed me well, even though their faces were bright red.

My senior brothers have developed to the point where, even if they don't know anything else, their patience can be said to be outstanding even when compared to the entire martial world.

This much suffering cannot tie down my senior brothers' feet.

'Let's see...'

I smiled inwardly and looked around.

Although I don't know the formations inside and out, I understand the essence of the formations themselves.

'In order for a formation to be activated, there must be an element that constitutes the core of that formation.'

And that element is mostly things that can specify a certain direction, such as rocks or trees.

'Good. The core element of this formation is that tree.'

I looked at a tree that was awkwardly sticking out in the middle, and then slowly drew my sword and approached the tree.

And I lightly swung my sword at the tree.

Although I said I swung it lightly, the energy contained in the sword was not light.

My internal energy level has now grown to the point where even a first-rate master would have to give way.

So cutting down a tree that is only as thick as a person's thigh is something I can do even if I hold the sword with just two fingers.

At the same time as the tree fell to the ground, the formless energy that was pressing down on us disappeared as if it were a lie.

Not only me, but also my senior brothers took several deep breaths in the fresh air that instantly filled their lungs.

"Seu-eup— ha-ah. Good. I didn't know it would be so comfortable just to be able to breathe properly."

"That's right. Hwi-ya. You're amazing. How did you know?"

"It's hard to explain. If you see a lot of formations, you get a feeling for it."

"Oh-ho... I see."

Seeing my senior brothers nodding their heads without any doubt at my words, I couldn't help but burst out laughing.

If I, the youngest junior brother, say this, it's natural to ask when I've seen so many formations, but my senior brothers don't have any such doubts and think that it's possible if it's me.

The result of the brainwashing I have painstakingly done usually comes back like this.

"And probably around here, if you step on the ground..."

I went up a little further and stomped my foot, and the ground where I stomped my foot sank down, and as it spun around, a sharp skewer grazed my calf.

"I knew it. There are a lot of mechanisms like this, so everyone be careful."

"Yes, I understand."

I stomped on the ground hard one more time and broke the mechanism that had just been activated, and then went up again.

And so, when we met a formation, we broke it, and when we met a mechanism, we destroyed it, and we began to go up slowly, slowly.

***

The left gate at the entrance of Mount Longzhong, which you must pass through to go to the Zhuge family.

Zhuge Jeong-hak, the martial artist guarding the place, looked up at the top where the loud noises were constantly coming from and said in a dumbfounded tone, "Captain! Is it okay to leave them like that? If the formations and mechanisms installed by the family are all destroyed...!"

The person called 'captain' by Zhuge Jeong-hak. His name is Zhuge Hong-gyu.

He is a martial artist from a branch of the Zhuge family, and thanks to his outstanding talent among the branch martial artists, he received an education almost similar to that of the direct line and is a person who plays an important role in the Wolongdae, the strike force of the Zhuge family.

"There's nothing we can do. They chose the right gate, and we have no right to stop them."

"Or I'll go up to the family quickly. I'm afraid I'll regret it greatly if I don't deliver this news."

"Keu-eung..."

Zhuge Hong-gyu frowned and then finally nodded his head.

"Yes. In fact, they are already guests of the Zhuge family even if they don't do that. It would be better to inform them quickly."

"Yes. I'll be right back."

Zhuge Jeong-hak bowed his head to Zhuge Hong-gyu and then unfolded his light footwork and went up to the Zhuge family.

It's not the path that the Wudang Sect disciples are struggling to climb one by one, but a shortcut that only they know, where no formations or mechanisms are installed.

Even while he was going up the shortcut, the loud noises continued to be heard.

"How can they break through the formation in such a foolish way...!"

Zhuge Jeong-hak squeezed out his voice in bewilderment and frustration and continued to jump up.

But at that moment. He had to stop his climbing legs and look up.

"Ah...! Family Head!"

"I came out because of the loud noise. What on earth is going on? Is it an enemy invasion?!"

The person who stopped his steps was the head of the Zhuge family, the Flying Eagle Fan, Zhuge Myeong-hyeon.

The courtyard of the Zhuge family is located on the middle of Mount Longzhong.

It's a place at least three hundred feet from here. So it's unlikely that it would be heard, but he must have excellent hearing to have heard the sound and run here in one go.

"Family Head, that is..."

For a moment, Zhuge Jeong-hak was at a loss for words.

Because when he tried to explain the current situation, he himself thought it was absurd.

Because the words that it was not an enemy, but Taoists from Wudang, and that they were young-looking Taoists who had suddenly entered through the right gate and were disarming the formations and mechanisms and climbing up to the family, were hard for even him, who had seen it with his own eyes, to believe.

"Can't you speak properly!"

"Y-Young Taoists have come from Wudang. They have entered through the right gate and are disarming the formations one by one and climbing up to the family."

"What? The head of the guard, what did Hong-gyu do?"

"It is a rule not to catch the martial artists who enter through the right gate, so he just let them go."

"I told him to treat the Taoist masters from the Wudang Sect as guests as soon as they arrived!"

At the words of the head of the Zhuge family, Zhuge Jeong-hak was surprised and said, "You mean those young Taoist masters are those Taoist masters?"

"What did you say?"

"I also heard that story, but since you said to treat them as honored guests, I naturally thought that noble Taoist masters would come..."

"You foolish thing! Are young Taoists not Taoists of Wudang?"

"Ah...!"

The head of the Zhuge family clicked his tongue and then unfolded his footwork and passed Zhuge Jeong-hak.

It is the footwork of the head of the Zhuge family, who is in charge of one of the five great families.

He had already disappeared from Zhuge Jeong-hak's sight with just a light kick of his foot.

"Oh dear... I'm doomed."

He realized what mistake he and Zhuge Hong-gyu had made.

So he couldn't go up to the family, nor could he go back down to where Zhuge Hong-gyu was, and he just stood there for a while with a dazed expression.

***

"Senior Brother Uncheol! Hit the rock on the left hard and flip it over!"

"How am I supposed to flip a rock? By getting close and using my strength?"

"No! If you do that, the mechanism right next to it will be activated and you'll become a skewer. Unfold the Nine Palaces Sword Art with the scabbard. Think of scooping up the bottom of the rock, not the top or the side."

Senior Brother Uncheol, with a face as if he now understood, swung his sword at the rock.

The moment the rock and the sword collided, a loud 'tteong!' sound echoed, and the rock rolled over half a turn, and thanks to that, the formation was released, and the overturned ground and sky returned to their original places.

"Good job. Next, Senior Brother Unjeong, Senior Brother Unsik! Don't move your feet, just stab your swords down under your feet!"

Senior Brother Unjeong and Senior Brother Unsik reacted immediately to my words, and the mechanism they were stepping on was broken once again like this.

And the moment I took a step forward.

"It's dangerous!"

An arrow was shot from a knothole in a tree near me, and Senior Brother Unmi, who was waiting next to me, split the arrow in half with a clean sword draw.

"Phew. Thank you, Senior Brother Unmi."

"What's the big deal about this."

At my compliment, Senior Brother Unmi smiled with an awkward expression and scratched the back of his head.

That's right. We are all smiling as we climb up to the Zhuge family.

The reason is simple. Because it's fun.

The taste of attacking the formations and mechanisms is quite good.

And it's not just me making a mess alone, but I'm matching my breathing with my senior brothers and going up step by step, so the fun seems to be doubled.

It's already been almost two years since I've been with my senior brothers.

During that time, not only have our skills improved, but our teamwork has also become so good.

I'm getting more and more confident in making a strong Wudang.

"Now, let's go up again. To meet the next formation."

"Yes!"

The moment we were all about to go up again bravely.

"Stop!"

Suddenly, a voice filled with profound internal energy echoed from above our heads.

We all stopped walking and looked up.

Then, a human figure appeared from a place higher than the treetops, and then, it approached us as if it were flying and landed next to us with a 'chak—'.

'No, already?'

I recognized who this person was at a glance.

Graying hair, large eyes. And the protruding cheekbones seem to show a usually sensitive personality.

But still, a middle-aged man with dignity in every movement and a profound internal energy that can be felt even roughly.

'Head of the Zhuge family!'

He was the head of the Zhuge family and Zhuge Ling's father, the Flying Eagle Fan, Zhuge Myeong-hyeon.

"That's enough. You are my guests from now on. There's no need to prove yourselves anymore."

He was so urgent that he didn't even introduce himself and said to us, and I, for the sake of my flustered senior brothers, politely bowed and said, "I greet the head of the Zhuge family. I am Unhwi of the Wudang Sect."

"......! I greet the head of the Zhuge family. I am Uncheol."

My senior brothers, who had learned that the opponent was the head of the Zhuge family, each said their Taoist names and bowed.

The head of the Zhuge family, realizing his mistake for a moment, also received our greetings with a bow and said, "I am the head of the Zhuge family, Zhuge Myeong-hyeon. I was the one who called you, but I was negligent in treating my guests. I apologize."

He even bowed his head slightly to us.

I looked at him with an interested look.

In my past life, I had almost no connection with the people of the Zhuge family, so I didn't know, but it seems that the head of the Zhuge family is a person with a fairly good character.

To think that he, a person from one of the five great families, would bow his head first like this.

"No. We have lived only in the mountains, so we did not know the etiquette of the Zhuge family and caused such a disturbance. We are sorry."

Senior Brother Uncheol immediately bowed his head and answered.

Originally, Senior Brother Uncheol was very clueless, but now he seems to be quite good at social life.

"The head of the Wudang Sect said that you are outstanding among the third-generation disciples, and I think I know the reason."

He said in a dazed voice as he looked around the devastated area.

"I don't know what to do with myself when the Sect Leader praises me so much."

"Yes. So follow me now. I'll guide you on an easy path."

The head of the Zhuge family said with a slight sigh of relief.

It seems he is relieved that it wasn't destroyed as much as he thought.

In fact, I was a little disappointed. It was quite fun, but I didn't expect the head of the Zhuge family to appear so quickly.

'It would be nice to go up a little more.'

But since the head of the Zhuge family has said so much, it's really a clueless thing to say that I want to break more mechanisms here.

So I gave up and was about to follow him... but I heard the unexpected voice of Senior Brother Uncheol.

"Family Head, I have a request."

"Huh...?"

"As I was climbing this path, I realized a lot."

"So?"

"May I go up experiencing the formations as much as I can? I want to experience more of the formations and mechanisms of the Zhuge family, which are said to be the best in the martial world."

I was surprised and looked at the back of Senior Brother Uncheol's head, and then at the head of the Zhuge family.

"Um... uh...?"

The head of the Zhuge family was so flustered by my senior brother's question that he couldn't even answer properly.

If he says no here, he will be a narrow-minded person for refusing a request that was made while praising the formations of the Zhuge family, and if he says yes, he has no idea how much the formations and mechanisms will be destroyed.

Although it was only a short time to take a few breaths, it seemed that he had agonized over it a lot in that time.

Finally, his mouth opened.

"So... do as you wish."

"Thank you, Family Head!"

Senior Brother Uncheol bowed his head deeply and expressed his gratitude in an excited voice.

I wanted to clap, but I barely held it in and just shouted inwardly.

Today, I will benefit greatly from Senior Brother Uncheol's cluelessness.

I'll have to praise him later.