The Miraculous Divorce Technique

Chapter 39

Formation.

It is a study that artificially twists the flow of qi flowing in nature to change a specific space into an environment desired by the caster.

The reason it is considered a difficult field to learn, along with sorcery, is that one must calculate all variables and create laws with only the brain.

But if those laws are perfect, a single formation can easily face ten thousand, no, even a hundred thousand people.

That's why there's a saying that a great formation master is sent from the heavens.

BOOM, BOOM, BOOM. BOOM, BOOM.

The inside of the Wind and Sand Soul-Returning Formation, which had a perfect transformation law, was shaken mercilessly by a single person.

It was because he was instantly calculating the constantly changing variables like the wind and destroying the formation's core.

"Phew. Perhaps because there are many variables, there are also a lot of formation cores. I think I've already broken about ten."

Cheok Sagyeol said, dusting off his hands and looking left and right.

The inside of the formation was an artificially realized environment.

Therefore, the correct answer was to respond by utilizing the five senses and intuition.

Right now, Cheok Sagyeol's physical senses were maximized by the Indian Yoga Divine Art.

He was showing a much more tremendous breaking speed than usual.

WHOOSH. BAM.

A single punch extended to the right shattered a rock that was lying there.

He had broken the last formation core. Soon, the space distorted, and a black hole was created.

Cheok Sagyeol walked into it without hesitation.

SWOOSH.

In the place where Cheok Sagyeol had disappeared, an old man appeared.

His face was pale and frightened.

"What kind of monster is that... to break through the first gate of the Wind and Sand Soul-Returning Formation in less than half a moment."

'On the outside, he's an old monk.'

'Judging by his attire, he's a monk from Shaolin Temple.'

'But for some reason, he tried to break through the Wind Forest head-on. And towards our residence.'

Inside the Wind Forest, there was a space hidden by the Wind and Sand Soul-Returning Formation, a thatched cottage where the recluses stayed.

Cheok Sagyeol was moving in a straight line towards that place.

"I don't know why on earth a Shaolin monk is attacking our main family's Wind Forest... Moreover, what is the identity of that old monk?"

There are largely two ways to break a formation from the inside.

To shatter the formation itself with immense martial arts, or to break the formation's core from the inside and find the gate of life.

If the former is foolish, the latter is clever.

As far as he knew, the only one in Shaolin who could do the former was Grand Master Drunken Buddha, Muheo, and the only one who could do the latter was Grand Master Stone Buddha, Gongseon.

But Grand Master Stone Buddha, Gongseon was not a martial artist.

Grand Master Gongseon could not show the martial prowess of shattering a rock with a single punch like now.

"I should inform the other old men for now. This is not something I can handle alone."

The old man's figure disappeared in the same way it had appeared, with a swoosh.

ROAR.

Sword winds flew in from the eight directions.

If the first gate was a simple illusion formation that deluded intruders, the second gate was at the stage of slaughter, materializing the illusions.

'It'll be quite tricky since I can't perform footwork.'

If he could use his internal energy freely, he was confident he could dodge the sword winds coming from not just eight directions, but a hundred and eight directions.

But the number of times he could use the vomit-inducing internal energy was at most twice.

It was a situation where he could not continuously use footwork.

'Since it has come to this, let's just endure it.'

It was a conclusion he had reached to create an opportunity to destroy the formation's core.

In other words, to endure it with his body.

CREAK. CREAK.

His skin changed to look like the bark of a dry, old tree.

At a glance, it looked like a wooden puppet.

'I didn't want to use it because of the ugly appearance.'

It was hardening, an achievement he had reached upon reaching the seventh stage of the Indian Yoga Divine Art.

Its characteristic was that the skin hardened like rigor mortis, and moisture was drained, giving it a steel-like hardness.

It was a function that increased physical defense as if one had become a Vajra-indestructible body.

CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG. CLANG. CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG.

Countless sword winds, too many to count, slashed at Cheok Sagyeol.

But he walked leisurely, destroying the formation's cores as if he were facing a spring breeze.

When he had thus destroyed all the formation's cores.

The sword winds scattered, the existing space was torn apart, and a new environment unfolded.

But that environment was surprising.

'The level of the Baili family is quite impressive. To think they have a formation of this level.'

The place where Cheok Sagyeol was standing, no, floating, was empty space.

He was floating in the air without anything to step on.

It was a situation where there was no resistance even if he waved his hands as if in water.

To break the formation's core, he had to move around the space and find it, but his movement was restricted.

For an ordinary person, it was a perfect situation to starve to death.

'Should I just use my internal energy...'

It would be solved with the Void-Stepping Footwork.

Because it was an advanced lightness skill that widened one's range of movement by kicking off the empty air.

But it was a situation where he didn't know how many more gates there were.

Cheok Sagyeol, who was contemplating, began to gasp for breath.

"Hoo. Hoo. I don't know if it will work as I thought. Hoo. Hoo."

Breathing deeper and longer, Cheok Sagyeol's gaze swept over all directions.

He was calculating the flow of the formation to find the formation's core.

'Found it.'

The direction was thirty zhang to the northeast. The target was a brown falcon.

"Hooooooooooooooop."

He continued to inhale.

In a state where he had relaxed all his muscles to the point of being limp.

Cheok Sagyeol's lungs swelled as if they would burst, and the size of his upper body grew to nearly ten times its size.

POP, POP.

Cheok Sagyeol, who had held his breath and turned his head to the opposite side of the target, exhaled in an instant.

"PWAAAAAAAK."

As he shot an air cannon from his mouth, Cheok Sagyeol's figure flew to the opposite side due to the reaction.

SWOOSH.

When he had approached nearly three zhang, this time he extended his right arm.

SWOOSH.

His right arm stretched out and instantly snatched the brown falcon's neck.

Then the falcon turned into ashes and crumbled.

"Good. I've got the hang of it."

In the same way, Cheok Sagyeol caught three more birds, including a crow and an eagle, and then moved on to the next space.

* * *

"He has passed the third gate."

At the fat old man's words, the other three old men let out a sigh.

It was because the formation was being broken by a single person, not a unit that had attacked.

And that, in less than an hour.

"Now only the last gate remains, but can you all guess his identity?"

The skinny old man said.

But he, as well as everyone else, shook their heads.

It was because they could not guess his identity at all.

"His body changes to look like a wooden puppet, and it becomes hard and stretches... my, oh my..."

The old man with a full beard said, clicking his tongue.

It was only natural, as if he had used martial arts, a rough grasp would have been possible.

Even if he was a Shaolin monk, unless he had mastered all seventy-two ultimate techniques, his individual ultimate techniques were limited.

But the old strange monk was breaking the formation with a strange method without using any martial arts that could be called martial arts.

"There's no way a person who uses such a strange sorcery is a Shaolin monk, he must be in disguise. A Shaolin monk, if you just shave your head and wear a kasaya, you look plausible enough."

It was the one-armed old man's opinion.

As he said, throughout the martial world, the easiest to guess the origin of just by their appearance was a monk.

In other words, it was easy to disguise.

"Disguise? For what reason would he disguise himself?"

The fat old man asked.

"The reason for disguising is to commit unjust acts and hide one's identity, what else could there be?"

"Unjust acts... then he came to secretly attack the Wind Forest?"

"Judging by the speed of his breaking and the fact that he's heading towards us, not the White Wind Pavilion, we have to see it that way."

"If he found out about the Wind Forest, the hidden power of our main family, and came to eliminate us, we have to assume that he's targeting the Baili family itself."

"It's not certain, but for now, assuming that and acting is the way to protect the main family."

At the one-armed old man's words, everyone nodded their heads.

It was them, the Hidden Wind Squad, to always prepare for the worst-case scenario.

"But the pavilion master summoned us just now, what should we do?"

The old man with the full beard said about Baili Lin's call.

A certain enemy was approaching them.

Since they could not leave their post and run to the White Wind Pavilion right away, he had asked for their opinion.

"It seems the pavilion master has also noticed the intruder's existence. You go and explain the situation. We will guard this place in preparation for him breaking the last gate."

* * *

"Did you really press it twice? What happens if you press it twice? Have you read the user manual?"

Lee Cheon-eok hurriedly urged Baili Lin.

"Huh? No, I haven't read it. It's a mechanism that was made more than a hundred years ago, so would there be a user manual? I also learned it from Gam-no when I was assigned as the pavilion master here."

"Gam-no? Where is that person, Gam-no?"

"I contacted him with the mechanism, so he should be on his way here."

Unlike the calm Baili Lin, a fire was burning in Lee Cheon-eok's heart.

If the self-destruct device had been activated, at least the entire White Wind Pavilion would explode.

Because its purpose was to self-destruct with the intruder.

'Can I trust this muddle-headed person... damn it!'

Lee Cheon-eok went near the table and looked around.

'It's an old version made a long time ago, so the operating method is different from the new version. In this case, I can't know what mechanism will operate how... should I leave for now...'

Lee Cheon-eok swallowed a groan and moved away from the table.

The sound of the explosion had subsided, but a faint vibration was still ringing from the floor.

"Uncle. I just remembered I had something urgent to do. I have to go now."

"You're leaving already? I went to the trouble of calling people?"

"I'm sorry. It's a very urgent matter..."

Lee Cheon-eok, sweating, said to Danmok Ryeon.

"Miss Danmok, let's go quickly. I'll show you around again later."

"No. I'll meet the people here and then go, so you go first, Young Master Baili. My uncle gathered people for us, so how would he feel if no one was there?"

"No... that..."

Just as Lee Cheon-eok was about to speak, the vibration felt from the floor stopped for a moment.

'Damn it. If it's a self-destruct device, this should be the last signal...'

'There's no time to persuade her at length.'

'If it explodes, even by a slim chance, the second life I've worked so hard to get will be blown away.'

"I understand. Then I will send someone later. I'm sorry, but I have a really urgent matter, so I'll go first. I'll visit you again next time, Uncle."

BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM.

The ultimate Wind God Footwork was unleashed.

Lee Cheon-eok's figure shot out of the White Wind Pavilion like the wind.

"The boy, seeing him sweating profusely, he must have been in a hurry to go to the latrine. It seems he didn't want to show his bride-to-be the sight of him going to the latrine, so understand. Hahahahaha."

'What's the point of saying that?'

Just as Danmok Ryeon was laughing awkwardly.

A gust of wind blew, and in the blink of an eye, an old man with a full beard was in the room.

"Oh my, who is this?"

The old man, as soon as he appeared, looked at Danmok Ryeon with surprised eyes.

It was because he had used the formation's gate leading to the White Wind Pavilion in his urgency and had not thought that someone other than Baili Lin would be there.

"Gam-no, why did you come that way so carelessly?"

Baili Lin, with a scowl, chided the old man.

It was because his appearance just now was no different from showing that there was a formation here.

"Pavilion Master. Didn't you call me knowing everything?"

"Knowing everything? What do you mean?"

"No... that is..."

Gam-no trailed off and glanced at Danmok Ryeon.

Baili Lin sighed and said to Danmok Ryeon.

"Something urgent has come up, so we'll have to part for today. Since you seem to know about the Wind Forest to some extent, let's meet next time with our masks off."

"!"

At Baili Lin's words, Danmok Ryeon felt as if she had been stripped naked.

From beginning to end, he had seen through her intentions.

"Yes... Uncle. I will visit you again next time."

Danmok Ryeon bowed her head in courtesy and left the room.

When they were left alone, Baili Lin pressed his temples and looked back at Gam-no.

"Oh my, my head. What on earth is going on that you're making such a fuss without looking back and forth?"

Gam-no, perhaps embarrassed, said with a reddened face.

"I'm sorry, Pavilion Master. The matter was so urgent..."

"It's already passed, so it's fine! Just tell me what that matter is."

"An intruder has entered the Wind Forest."

"An intruder? Then the vibration from before was not from the Hidden Wind Squad's sparring, but from the formation being broken?"

Baili Lin said with the eyes of a startled rabbit.

The Hidden Wind Squad was made up of four reclusive masters and lived in a hidden space within the Wind Forest.

Therefore, the pastime they did was to research martial arts and spar to compete their skills.

He had thought it was the same this time, but he had misjudged.

"Pavilion Master, an incredible master has invaded. And judging by the fact that the vibration stopped just now, it seems he has passed even the last gate."

At those words, Baili Lin's eyes grew impossibly wide.