“They just keep coming.”

I let out a faint sigh at the continuous intrusion signals.

I had put on a brave face earlier, but in truth, the current situation was desperate.

Outside, the recovered formation masters were still attempting to infiltrate, and in the meantime, I had to deal with the enemies inside.

It was like playing Go and a defense game at the same time.

“This has become a headache.”

Usually, to maintain a formation, a core, which is compared to a pillar, was needed.

Moreover, in the case of a large-scale formation like this, there were usually several cores, making it tricky to protect.

Just as a larger building can accommodate more people, it also has more doors and pillars to protect.

However, since the Geummun Merchant Guild side would not want to destroy their expensive formation, in this case, I only needed to protect the center of the formation where I was.

‘Thanks to that, I can hold on by myself like this.’

If the opponent had ignored the formation from the beginning and tried to kill me, the tide of the battle would have been completely reversed.

Currently, there were three groups heading straight for this place.

Since they were skilled in formation battles, there was a limit to how much time I could buy by blocking them with the formation or deceiving their senses.

‘It’s about time to get out. I’ll repel these guys and then escape.’

I gathered my mana as I looked at them.

“Huh?”

At that moment, my head spun, and my vision wavered.

I barely endured my body slumping heavily by gritting my teeth and lifted my head.

My fingertips trembled like an alcoholic’s, and the core near my heart fluctuated dangerously.

It was a typical symptom of mana poisoning.

It was the result of using too much mana in a short period of time.

My body was fatigued from ingesting and melting down various medicinal properties at once.

‘Any more than this is dangerous.’

If I recklessly used mana, I might fall into qi deviation.

“It’s faster than I expected, but I should probably escape soon.”

I only had three elixirs left. If I dragged this out any longer, it would be the end. I began to change the flow of the formation little by little.

Woooong-

The formation began to tremble. I withdrew all the energy of the formation that was protecting the center.

The cliffs that were blocking the martial artists crumbled, the mist dissipated, and the dense trees shriveled.

‘Crazy.’

It was tougher than I had imagined. If it weren’t for [Absolute Magic], if I weren’t doped up on elixirs right now, I wouldn’t even have been able to control it.

The pillars of the large-scale formation wavered uneasily. Since I couldn’t handle it, I had reduced the burden on the formation master but had activated it by eating away at the formation’s lifespan.

As the defensive formation protecting the center disappeared, I felt the other martial artists flinch for a moment.

But that was only for a moment.

‘They’re coming.’

Soon, the martial artists who had regained their senses began to rush towards me at a crazy speed.

I had hoped they would come with a little more caution, but it was a murderousness worthy of experts.

“I knew this would happen.”

I activated the trap I had hidden within the formation. Pillars of fire shot up from under the intruders’ feet, blocking their advance, but that was all.

‘As expected, this isn’t enough.’

It would take forever to deal with all those guys like this.

I didn’t even know if I could defeat them in the first place. A formation is not all-powerful.

“There’s no time to rest.”

I gathered the mana in my circle, sensing the ones approaching at high speed within the formation.

An incredible speed. At this rate, my head would be flying off in a minute.

I swallowed dryly as I watched the dozens of martial artists who were crazily breaking through the formation traps and approaching.

“That’s the culprit!”

“It could be a trap, so only the vanguard will approach, and the rest will surround!”

The ones who were the leaders among them shouted.

The martial artists who were rushing in quickly. They were definitely seasoned hunters. No matter how skilled a formation master was, they couldn’t deal with them at this distance.

However, if there was one thing they had overlooked, it was that my formation sensitivity was not at an ordinary level.

Watching the martial artists approaching at an incredible speed, I put all the mana in my body into my feet and stomped on the ground.

Thump!

It was a light kick, but the vibration made the entire formation tremble.

At that moment, as the martial artists who were rushing in staggered from the sudden earthquake.

The person who was the leader of the group, who had belatedly noticed the rushing energy, shouted.

“Dodge!!”

“It’s already too late.”

I smiled wryly with a pale complexion.

In an instant, cracks spread from me as the center and gradually filled the area like a spiderweb.

The ground, the withered old trees, the broken fortress, and even the ceiling that covered the formation.

“This is the end for today. Let’s call it a draw.”

I muttered in a low voice, staring at the blade that had stopped right in front of my eyes and then moved away. At the same time, the cracks were reversed. The ground shot up, and the ceiling came down.

Formation Reversal.

I had linked the large-scale formation, the huge earth veins, and the interference power left by the formation masters into one giant bomb and detonated it.

Craaaack-!

With a roar as if the world were shattering, the people who had gathered in one place by the formation began to scatter dramatically, like dots on an inflating balloon.

“You bastard!!”

As the formation went berserk and scattered, the rushing martial artists also quickly moved away. I leisurely watched the martial artists who were gritting their teeth in frustration and rushing in, and finished detonating the formation.

‘Now I just have to escape.’

Around the large-scale formation, there would be martial artists laid out to prevent escape.

But it didn’t matter. I would make it so that they couldn’t find me at all by making the entire formation go berserk.

Just as I was about to smile a relieved smile inwardly.

Swish!

Something rushed towards me. An afterimage of incredible speed. Even though I reacted with the talent of [Limitless Martial Body], I couldn’t cut it in time.

“Keoheok!”

Even though I blocked it with my sword, my insides were shaken. With the veins on my neck bulging, I lifted my gaze and saw a figure holding a bow faintly in the distance.

“The mountain keeper…!”

I gritted my teeth and endured the urge to cough up blood.

I should have killed him earlier. Of course, it was that he had survived well.

Considering that I was able to block it like this thanks to having completely drained his energy, it was fair to call it a draw.

Of course, I felt like I was dying.

“What a shitty guide.”

Muttering curses inwardly, I was pushed out of the formation that was starting to go berserk.

* * *

“Damn it.”

I traversed the misty forest with my trembling legs. I felt like I was going to die at any moment, but if I stopped now, I would really die.

Mana poisoning, overdose of elixirs, and internal shaking. If it weren’t for [Will of the Extreme], it would have been impossible to even move.

‘It was a relief that the last move worked.’

The formation reversal I had done at the end was to mix the water and wood energy in the formation well and emit a mist in the area.

A hazy smoke that made it impossible to see even a meter ahead was covering the mountain range.

Since I had figured out the directions within the formation in advance, I was aware of the direction I had to escape.

I moved my feet into the white world where there was nothing rough.

A thick fog. And with my presence significantly reduced by using the talents of [Absolute Magic] and [Limitless Martial Body], it would be difficult for anyone to detect me.

I focused all my nerves and surveyed the area. I sent out wind magic finely to grasp the surrounding terrain and personnel.

‘I did it.’

Fortunately, there were no martial artists around.

It was as expected. To surround this wide mountain range like a net, there would have to be at least thousands of martial artists.

Naturally, even the Geummun Merchant Guild couldn’t deploy that many personnel in a short period of time.

And even then, the majority were second-rate to first-rate martial artists hired to somehow fill the numbers.

‘The ones who entered the formation must have been the elite.’

In a fog like this, it would be difficult for even a first-rate martial artist to notice me.

It was a gain that I had raised their vigilance by dealing with the formation masters of the Zhuge family.

All that was left now was to return leisurely.

‘I’m really going to die.’

I barely held onto the thread of my consciousness, which felt like it would snap at any moment, and leisurely escaped the mountain range.

It was a day when a single junior student had turned one of the six major merchant guilds of the Central Plains upside down.

* * *

“Where in the world is that intruder!!”

The angry voice of the elder of the Geummun Merchant Guild echoed throughout the area.

The martial artists in front of him bowed their heads as if they were ashamed. Their appearances were all shabby.

Some were soaked in water, some were covered in mud from rolling in the dirt, and some were bleeding from being cut by thorn bushes, and so on.

Not only had they lost elixirs to an unidentified opponent, but the martial artists of the Geummun Merchant Guild were also in this state.

That shabby appearance made the elder even more furious. He was about to let out a roar with a crumpled expression.

“Stop it.”

At that moment, the voice of a woman with a captivating appearance cut in. The old man bowed his head at her appearance.

“You’ve come, Family Head.”

“Tell me the details of the incident and the extent of the damage.”

The elder, feeling the pressure coming from the gentle voice, swallowed dryly and answered.

“Well… we’ve lost about ten roots of elixirs to an unidentified intruder. The martial artists were injured, but there are no fatalities, and although the formation was twisted, the protector from the Zhuge family side says it can be restored.”

“Is that what the person in charge should say?”

A sharp gaze was directed at the elder.

Not only were the elixirs stolen, but the martial artists were also injured, and even the formation had to be repaired.

The biggest problem was that the security measures here had been breached and that the Medicinal Divine Herb, which was being ambitiously developed, had been stolen.

“I’m sorry.”

“The enemy?”

“According to the mountain keeper, it was one person.”

“One? You mean the Geummun Merchant Guild was defeated by just one person?”

Geum Miran, the head of the Geummun Merchant Guild, frowned.

It was impossible. Not only had he made a fool of the direct martial artists of the Geummun Merchant Guild, but the identity of the monster who had taken control of the formation from the protector of the Zhuge family was just one person.

“How interesting.”

Geum Miran’s eyes shone. A loss is a loss, and a talent is a talent. Grudges had to be settled, but profit came first.

After pondering for a moment, a cold voice soon came out of her mouth.

“Put a bounty on that person. We must catch him. By any means necessary.”

* * *

I can’t hold on. Since leaving the mountain range, the trembling of my whole body hasn’t stopped.

‘The aftereffects are more severe than I thought.’

Cold sweat formed on the tip of my chin and dripped down.

According to my body’s reaction, my body should be hot, but my bones were chilled to the bone with a cold. And yet, the acupoints all over my body were burning hot.

It was proof that the yang and yin energy that I hadn’t been able to absorb were rampaging through my body.

A situation where it wouldn’t be strange to fall into qi deviation at any moment.

Normally, I would have had to run as far away from the scene as possible, but in this state, I couldn’t go to the academy. Because even taking a single step was incredibly difficult.

“I can’t die like this…”

I lifted my eyelids, which felt like they would close at any moment, and looked at the light in the distance.

‘Is that a private house?’

I roughly opened the gate that looked like an inn with difficulty. There was no time to be polite.

“…I’ll pay for a month all at once. If I don’t wake up by the next day, call a physician with that money.”

I immediately handed a promissory note to the innkeeper and said. If I went to sleep now, I didn’t know when I would wake up.

“Yes, yes!”

The innkeeper, who had unexpectedly seen a large sum of money, nodded his head, holding it. When I showed him my identification plaque proving that I was a student of the Martial Academy, he showed an even more brisk reaction.

‘With this, he won’t try any funny business.’

Normally, I wouldn’t have made such a suspicious request or revealed my identity, but I was in a hurry.

I felt like I would collapse at any moment.

‘Before that, I have to hide the elixirs and the promissory note.’

After barely entering the room I was guided to, I rolled a jade stone and created a stealth formation in one corner.

I hid the elixirs and money I had brought there and then went to the bed and collapsed as if falling over.

And my consciousness was cut off.

* * *

“…Ugh!”

How much time had passed?

I came to my senses from the excruciating pain. My head, which felt like a pit of fire, was throbbing as if it would break, and my whole body ached as if it had been butchered from the inside.

And most of all, my whole body wouldn’t move, as if my muscles had melted.

“Huh? You’re awake!”

Just then, a boy who looked like a waiter raised his voice. Only then did I realize that there was a cold towel on my forehead.

“Are you awake? You still need to rest.”

The old woman sitting next to the waiter muttered.

At that, I reflexively turned my gaze to the corner. Fortunately, the bundle of elixirs was still hidden.

‘Anyway, I’ve passed the crisis.’

It seemed my lifeline was tenacious compared to my frail body. Just as I was feeling relieved, the physician’s words came back.

“It took a lot more effort than I thought. I don’t know how many nights this old body stayed up, but the medical fees I’ve received so far are not nearly enough.”

At the old woman’s words, I tensed for a moment. Not just because of the amount, but because of the mention she had made earlier.

‘A few days?’

I gathered my chapped lips and barely asked.

“…How much time has passed?”

“It’s been three days since you collapsed.”

Then, shocking news came back. I froze on the spot.

The weekend of the Martial Academy had long passed. And by a long shot.

“I’m screwed…”

I closed my eyes with a pale complexion.

I had stayed out overnight on my first outing of the new semester.

(End of Chapter)

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep