I manipulated the mist to make a path.

And then, I broke through in a wedge formation towards the cave passage I had scouted earlier.

The reaction of the giant insects when their consciousness returned, that was the clue.

Because when they regained their command system, the direction in which the bugs’ heads slightly turned was all pointing to one place.

The insect master’s control is also, in the end, a type of communication or soul art.

In the end, it had no choice but to react to the receiving end.

And so, as a result of intermittently cutting off and reattaching the consciousness of the three bugs in all directions. I was able to grasp the general direction we had to go.

‘There.’

With Peng Geun-u at the head, we formed a formation and began to advance, cutting down the giant insects.

The giant bugs that were cut down by the saber qi that was scattered at the forefront. As expected, even though he was injured, it was a power befitting a peak-level master.

Clang!

Just then, Peng Geun-u’s saber was blocked. A beetle-type giant insect with a shell that was blacker and harder than the other guys was in front of him.

A foreign object, a mutant among the abnormally grown giant insects.

A being that could even become a spiritual creature if it lived for a long time and formed an intelligence by consuming an elixir.

“I don’t think I can go with you!”

“I’ll leave it to you.”

I immediately left Peng Geun-u behind and broke through the encirclement. There was no answer if we were surrounded by the giant insects anyway.

We, who had formed a three-person formation, reached the front of the cave where the giant insects’ reactions had been.

A beetle giant insect that was standing as if to block the way. I pierced the guy’s body with the flame magic I had prepared in advance.

And soon, I thought as I passed through the flames.

‘To control this many, even if he’s the King of Insects, he won’t be very far.’

We, who had entered quickly, went into the cave.

And so, after running for a while, what appeared was a fork in the road. He had deliberately set up a position like this so that we couldn’t find where the insect master was.

‘He’s prepared this much, I see.’

I clicked my tongue, looking at the giant insects pouring out from both forks in the road. And then I lifted my hand, which contained mana.

Crackle!

An electric shock covered the giant insects. The giant insects that were staggering and falling for a moment.

“Kiik?!”

I cut off the head of the giant insect that had come to its senses first among them and ran in that direction.

To say that there was a fork in the road meant that one side was blocked by a stone wall with the insect master.

In that case, I could deduce that the side that regained consciousness faster from the shock of the electric shock was where the insect master was.

Although the opponent, who had noticed this, could have used this fact in reverse, I was sure that he wouldn’t.

‘Because the King of Insects is not just dealing with us right now.’

To fully grasp this side’s movements, he had to read my gaze and intentions as if he were facing me on the spot, and to do that, he had to use a high-level domination art such as vision sharing.

But the group he had to handle right now was not just us, but other first-rate students such as Baek Hasin.

To have to set up a stage while simultaneously handling hundreds of giant insects and a foreign object with a strong ego, and on top of that, to read this side’s intentions in real time by using a high-level domination art?

That was impossible.

‘If he had surpassed the realm of a one-man army, he would have received the title of a god, not a king.’

I traversed the passage without hesitation. I could still hear the sound of the giant insects approaching with a rustling sound from behind.

‘Am I late?’

Because I had been delayed by dealing with the giant insects that were occupying the passage, the pursuit had caught up right behind me.

“We’ll buy time!”

“What are you doing, you’re so…! Damn it, do it.”

Just then, a spider web flew from behind, and Gu Dong and Lee Huimun, who had cut it down, stopped in the middle and shouted. What those words meant was simple. Sacrifice. I narrowed my brow.

‘Originally, I should have just gone.’

Because that was rational. But this time, I was about to stop my feet without realizing it.

Just then, the shouts of Gu Dong and Lee Huimun were heard additionally.

“Don’t you have a plan? We believe you’ll succeed, so please go.”

“We’ll all die if we’re surrounded anyway! Hurry up and go!”

Since time was pressing, I gave them a short nod and moved quickly.

I didn’t worry that there would be more forks in the road ahead or that I wouldn’t be able to find the insect master.

Because to operate that many, the insect master had to be as close as possible. So the calculation was that the enemy would not be very far.

The guess was correct. After passing through the cave, in the middle of the cave that appeared, there was a man surrounded by giant insects.

“Don’t tell me, you found me… Is it a fluke?”

The middle-aged man with a face full of scars was surrounded by large bees, centipedes, a giant scorpion, a spider, and ants and giant insects.

‘The King of Insects, Go Dugyeong.’

Although he was classified as a heretical path, his power was not inferior to that of an ordinary super master. A monster who might have taken up a corner of the Central Plains if it weren’t for his reclusive nature.

Because he had the ability to lightly annihilate a small to medium-sized sect by himself, he was also called a one-man army by some enthusiasts.

Such an incredible master was right in front of my eyes now.

“Of course not. You can’t face the King of Insects with just luck.”

“You even know my identity. I thought I had been handed a troublesome task, but it seems there’s a corner to enjoy.”

Go Dugyeong, whose eyes were curved in the midst of the buried bugs, as if he found something amusing.

As if to agree, the giant bees that were floating on the ceiling buzzed and scattered and gathered at a speed that was hard to follow with the eyes.

On the other hand, the centipedes that were stuck to the wall, densely and blackly, and the ants that were placed on the floor showed no agitation, which was rather chilling.

A silent pressure was felt, as if it were an army waiting for an order.

‘At least 200.’

The number of giant insects in this space. I opened my mouth, facing a power that I couldn’t even resist as an individual.

“Do you know why I, no, we came all the way here?”

“You were chased by the giant insects, I suppose. Or to survive the flood.”

“If that were really the case, we would have tried to get away from the moment we knew of the existence of the King of Insects. We wouldn’t have deliberately come all the way here.”

I could have broken through the cave in the direction where there was no insect master and escaped. If so, I wouldn’t have had to face a foreign object and leave Peng Geun-u behind.

“Hoo. Is there another reason?”

“We haven’t given up on the exam yet.”

“Heh.”

Go Dugyeong let out a dry laugh.

A situation where they were all about to die, and on top of that, they were surrounded by giant insects, but they were still discussing the exam.

In the midst of their lives being in danger.

They haven’t given up on the exam. What that meant was.

“You’re trying to get out of here.”

Go Dugyeong’s eyes became fierce.

“Yes, even if the King of Insects has set a trap and is trying to make us fail.”

Earlier, Go Dugyeong had shown his intention to lure us and finish us off in one blow. By setting a trap that even an ordinary peak master couldn’t handle.

It’s not difficult to figure out the reason. Why would the King of Insects, who was in charge of the role of a kind of exam supervisor, deliberately try to subdue us?

“Is it because it’s a crisis situation right now?”

The crisis situation here would not just be a flood. Go Dugyeong opened his mouth.

“An intruder has appeared.”

At the King of Insects’ declaration, the atmosphere became heavy.

‘As expected, this place is…’

There was a sense of déjà vu that I had felt from the time I entered the final exam.

A huge canyon, and on top of that, a mysterious barrier that surrounded this wide area. A huge mountain that was hidden, which could not be seen from a distance but revealed itself only when you moved closer through a special route.

I knew its identity.

The Holy Mountain. One of the mysteries that the Martial Academy was known for, and one of the reasons why the academy was founded in the first place.

“Then what happens to us?”

“Of course, you will wait here according to my instructions.”

“What about the exam?”

“Of course, everyone will fail, and there will be a re-exam.”

No. This exam was advantageous for me to perform well and would be helpful for skipping a grade, but apart from that, I know the ending of this episode.

‘The intruder will not be caught.’

No, even if they are caught, the executives will escape. After stealing the treasure that the academy had hidden.

If that happens, there will be no re-exam. The final exam will be postponed under the pretext of protection, and in the end, the vacation will begin.

Of course, it will be difficult to skip a grade, and in the future, only troublesome results will unfold from the academy’s perspective.

‘I have to participate in catching the intruder somehow.’

I know what the intruder is after.

But in a situation where an intruder has appeared due to a spy, if I were to say that fact as it is, I would only be suspected of being a pawn.

It’s completely different from the previous disciplinary issue. A highly sensitive matter where you can be expelled just on suspicion.

I must not make a slip of the tongue. But at the same time, I must not be a bystander.

‘It’s tricky. In the end, is the solution to the problem with Go Dugyeong?’

The inside of this canyon is a very complex maze-like terrain. Among them, there was definitely a passage connected to the outside. And right now, the only one who knows this is Go Dugyeong.

In the end, I had to get a clue about the escape from him. By any means necessary.

“We have to go up.”

“Did you not hear me?”

Go Dugyeong’s voice, mixed with his qi wave, sank in the cave.

At this, the swarm of bees buzzed roughly, and the group of centipedes fiercely revealed their poisonous fangs.

It was a pressure that would have crushed an ordinary master with its momentum, but I was able to endure it with [Extreme Will].

“What was given to us was an exam, and it is the role of a student to carry it out. Not to just follow something that may or may not be true.”

Although it might be said to be inflexible, it was not a wrong statement.

The current situation is similar to Plato’s allegory of the cave.

A person in a cave does not know the outside of the cave. The only way to solve this is to overcome the fear and the shackles and step out.

The statement that there is an intruder itself means that there is room to doubt even Go Dugyeong. I couldn’t just blindly believe the words of an exam supervisor, who was not even an instructor, without any information or evidence.

Even if it was the King of Insects. To believe what one has seen, what one has pursued, that was the attitude of a martial artist who stood alone in the Central Plains.

“You’re a stubborn one. What if I say no?”

“We will just do what we have to do.”

Go Dugyeong’s sharp eyes turned towards me. In an instant, it felt as if his shining eyes had turned red.

“Even if you could die as a result of that decision?”

“The martial world has been passed down like that. It’s just my turn.”

I said, receiving the tremendous killing intent emitted by hundreds of giant insects and a super master head-on.

In an instant, Go Dugyeong’s expression contorted, and then.

“Puhahaha!”

He burst out laughing.

“This is a completely crazy bastard.”

Go Dugyeong revealed his fangs and then hardened the corner of his mouth.

“I was curious what a guy who had sacrificed his comrades to come this far would say, but to think he would come out like this.”

With that, he lifted his head as if he had made a decision.

“Yes, let’s test it once. Whether you are as qualified as your spirit.”

Go Dugyeong gestured slightly, and the giant insects that were centered on me retreated all at once.

A sight as if only the space around me had become empty. That concentric circle looked like a stage, and on the contrary, it also looked like the center of a bombardment.

“The giant insects whose connection was cut all fell in great pain. It was probably fire. Then try to get rid of these guys too. If you can, I will follow your stubbornness.”

At Go Dugyeong’s gesture, scorpions the size of a person’s chest began to surround me.

“It’s a desert scorpion. It’s strong against fire, to the extent that it can even live in a lava zone. You won’t be able to use your specialty, the fire art. What will you do now?”

Go Dugyeong looked at me with a leisurely yet expectant gaze.

“Are you going to give up?”

Before I knew it, the giant scorpions had completely surrounded me. To the extent that I couldn’t even escape.

A hard-looking exoskeleton and a strong resistance to fire. And on top of that, they even had a poisonous stinger, so it seemed difficult to deal with unless you had a protective qi.

But whether that was the case or not, I just closed my two eyes and observed the circle inside me. The sound of the world was erased.

However, in the midst of it, only the vibration was clearly felt.

Two circles that resonated. This flow of mana went beyond my body and gradually spread to the surrounding area.

There is a reason why Go Dugyeong had used the centipedes and spiders first in the canyon.

This is underground. A place where the energy of the five elements has settled, and a place full of yin qi. Since it had even rained, the humidity was needless to say.

So something like this was also possible.

A blue light formed on my wrist. The Cheongeumcheon had been activated.

Soon, all the mana was amplified around the bracelet, and then magic was created as if it were exploding in the area.

Second-circle magic, Ice Thorn.

Craaack!

Ice soared from under my feet, and the desert scorpions that were approaching froze as they were.

In the cave where only a white breath was being emitted in the cold air.

Among the scorpions buried in the ice.

I, with a pale expression, having used up all my mana, lifted my head.

“I have proven it. Now it’s your turn.”

(End of Chapter)

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep