“Crazy…”

Cho Min-ha raised the corner of his mouth and let out a hollow laugh from beyond the wall.

He never thought he would go so far. And to a family elder at that.

At the provocative scene that could not be seen even in the Wudang Sect, he felt a thrill without realizing it.

“Zhuge Cheonwu… interesting.”

It was interesting. Not just his formation operation skills or the unique sorcery he had shown at that time, but Zhuge Cheonwu himself.

So he became greedy. Rarely.

“It would be good to have him in our club.”

He cracked his clasped hands as if he found it amusing. His sharp two eyes were fixed on Zhuge Cheonwu.

***

Meanwhile, a breathtaking energy was circulating in the model garden, the stage of this second-class formation certification exam.

“Now a match… you want to fight? A mere brat like you, against me?”

“Isn’t that why I came out?”

I pointed at the place where the opponent was standing and pointed it out.

At that, Zhuge Jong-cheol’s face crumpled mercilessly.

“Do you even know who you’re challenging right now?”

“What’s new? Aren’t you the one who came running out with your sleeves rolled up when your disciples were getting beaten up so badly?”

“You really want to see blood, don’t you.”

Zhuge Jong-cheol finally gritted his teeth, pushing back his staggering disciples.

It’s just a formation, so you might think he’s being unnecessarily dramatic, but in fact, a formation battle was not safe, as it was a stage for projecting mental power.

Because there was a risk of losing consciousness or, in severe cases, even becoming an idiot.

“Hey! This is an exam right now.”

“You want me to endure after hearing such an insult? Even if it’s you, Protector Jangyeo, don’t even think about stopping me!”

Protector Jangyeo tried to stop him slightly, but Zhuge Jong-cheol, whose eyes had already gone wild, did not listen to him at all.

A touch-and-go situation.

In the midst of the heightened atmosphere, a single voice descended.

“Stop.”

Zhuge Hyeonguk, an elder of the family and the head of a formation sect, stepped forward, and the commotion in the area subsided.

“This place is strictly a place of examination. We have gathered for that.”

Zhuge Hyeonguk coldly reminded them of the original purpose.

But in the midst of it, Zhuge Jong-cheol, who had been panting, burst out with a complaint.

“But this situation is different! I have my face to save, don’t I?”

“Are you saying you’re going to ruin the event because of your own personal feelings right now?”

At the low-toned point, Zhuge Jong-cheol flinched for a moment.

“It’s not that, but rather, wouldn’t it be better if I were to give the second-class exam? Since he seems to want it too. Shouldn’t an adult personally teach him the responsibility for his arrogance?”

“No matter how much…!”

Just as Protector Jangyeo was about to cut in, Zhuge Hyeonguk first expressed a question.

“That’s strange.”

“Yes?”

“Didn’t he already fight with three second-class formation masters? You must have seen it too?”

“Yes, yes, that’s right.”

Although Zhuge Jong-cheol felt that something was wrong, he couldn’t say anything back to Zhuge Hyeonguk, who was far superior in both experience and authority.

Because it was a fact that Zhuge Cheonwu had won against three formation masters.

“Is there anyone among you who denies his skills?”

Zhuge Hyeonguk looked around and asked again. A deep silence followed. Anyone who had witnessed the formation battle just now had no choice but to be convinced.

As if to confirm this, Zhuge Hyeonguk gave his assessment.

“He has more than enough skill for the second class. In fact, it’s excessive.”

He asked the judges’ seats again.

“Any objections?”

““None!””

At that, the judges agreed in one voice. It was an unparalleled recognition.

Seeing the several gazes that were sparkling towards this side, it was clear that today’s events would be talked about for a while.

‘Is it finally time?’

Having been certified by the authorities of the family, I had become a second-class formation master, one of the mainstays of the family.

“Then what about the next exam?”

“There’s nothing more to see, so let’s abolish the existing exam.”

“Yes!”

The host answered and dismissed the workers. With that, the talismans and artifacts that were loaded on the cart were taken away. Just as the event was about to be dispersed, Zhuge Hyeonguk added a shocking remark.

“Instead, we’ll have to see the first class.”

“Yes?!”

“Elder? Are you serious?!”

At the unconventional declaration, the judges showed a startled reaction.

One of the absolute powers of a special-class formation master, that was the qualification to recommend and verify a single first-class formation master every year.

And he was going to use that on Zhuge Cheonwu now.

A power that was possible because he was a special-class formation master, a being who represented a lineage of formations and could even become a sect founder.

Of course, there was no choice but to murmur.

Especially if you knew that the most outstanding second-class formation masters in the Zhuge family competed in a bloody competition every year for that single spot to receive his recognition.

“E-elder? No matter how much, that’s…”

“Is there a problem?”

As Zhuge Hyeonguk’s gaze turned, Zhuge Jong-cheol shrank his neck like a turtle.

“No problem!”

Since the authority said so, there was nothing a mere first-class like him could say. Zhuge Hyeonguk stroked his beard, looking at Zhuge Jong-cheol, who had quickly changed his attitude.

“It’s better this way. Did you say you’d teach him as an adult earlier?”

“Yes?”

“You can be the first-round examiner and be his duel opponent.”

At Zhuge Hyeonguk’s suggestion, which was more of a command, Zhuge Jong-cheol was flustered for a moment, but he soon raised his cheeks and nodded his head.

“Of course!”

After all, the reason he had stepped forward like this was to teach that brat a lesson.

“How about it?”

At Zhuge Hyeonguk’s subtle follow-up question, Zhuge Cheonwu also expressed his agreement and nodded his head.

“Then, under the leadership of me, the special-class formation master Zhuge Hyeonguk, we will now hold the first-class formation master exam in this place.”

““Waaaaah!!!””

At the sudden occurrence of a huge event that might happen once a year, the spectators each burst out with cheers.

“Tsk, tsk, it’s over.”

“The third young master did pretty well, but to suddenly be pitted against an elder.”

While the other judges were making desperate predictions, only one man put forward an opposing opinion.

“My thoughts are different.”

At Protector Jangyeo’s words, the other judges made a reluctant expression.

“What can a brat who isn’t even of age do?”

“That’s right, no matter how he faced three, a second-class is just a second-class. His level is different from the first-class Zhuge Jong-cheol.”

“Still, I believe that child will show something.”

Protector Jangyeo looked at the stage with his arms crossed. At the end of it, Zhuge Cheonwu was standing with straight eyes.

Soon, the cleaning of the model garden by the workers was finished, and this time, Zhuge Hyeonguk stepped forward as the host and shouted.

“Zhuge Cheonwu and Zhuge Jong-cheol, prepare for the formation battle. This formation battle is a no-rules battle with no first or second move, and the one who subdues the other wins.”

And so, the two designated people went up onto the stage. When only the two of them were left on the model garden, the sneering Zhuge Jong-cheol shouted.

“You’re digging your own grave! To think you’d be so arrogant after winning against a few second-classes!”

“You still don’t get it.”

“What?”

“I was going easy on you, you know.”

At the nonchalant reply, as if yawning, a vein popped on Zhuge Jong-cheol’s forehead, who had a stiff expression.

“Where do you get the nerve to bluff!”

Zhuge Jong-cheol took the first move and threw a jade stone. The core of the formation, which was imbued with a heavy energy, sank into the middle of the model garden.

‘A small stage like this, anytime…!’

As a high-ranking formation master of the wood lineage, he could control this entire model garden at any time.

‘I’ll grow a hallucinatory formation insect and expose his shameful act of crying in front of everyone.’

He revealed his yellow teeth, imagining what would happen next.

But something was strange.

‘It should have sprouted by now?’

There was no reaction from within the formation.

“……?”

Zhuge Jong-cheol, who had been blinking for a moment, gathered his energy again and threw another jade stone with a greenish tint into the model garden.

And then he sensed an anomaly.

‘The energy is scattering?’

His face contorted. But that was also for a moment, and soon a shadow of bewilderment was cast over it.

“What?!”

When he tried to activate the formation based on the planted energy, the core of the formation was being offset by the energy of its counter, which was rushing in from somewhere as if by a ghost.

“What in the world is going on…!”

“You seem curious?”

Just then, an arrogant and cold voice came from the front. Zhuge Jong-cheol felt a strange chill and goosebumps, but he soon pushed away that feeling with anger.

The sight of him fiddling with the jade stone nonchalantly, as if this side wasn’t even in his sight, was further fueling his anger.

“This is!”

Zhuge Jong-cheol activated the necklace artifact and exploded his energy.

A thick energy of wood raged around him.

But this time too, something was strange.

The seeds that should have soared to become a huge jungle did not sprout at all. As if there wasn’t a single handful of space on this earth for them to take root.

“What is this?”

His voice trembled at the impossible event.

Perhaps because his mental strength had been shaken by the two previous failures in connecting the formation, the opponent in front of him looked even bigger. Like a giant.

Only then did his pupils tremble violently, as if he had encountered something incomprehensible.

“No way…”

But there was no answer. He threw a jade stone or two as if knocking on a door, but the model garden did not change at all, as if it were a stopped world.

As if to say, “you’re nothing.”

“Th-this can’t be!”

Zhuge Jong-cheol frantically searched his bosom like a patient looking for an emergency medicine, and then he scattered his energy, throwing a jade stone with a trembling hand.

To break this chilling silence even a little.

He struggled not to be crushed by the lawless little world that was denying everything he had built up throughout his life.

But all that effort was in vain, crumbling away like a pebble rolling on the ground.

“What are you doing? Not bringing out the formation.”

Because Zhuge Cheonwu, whose huge presence had grown like a giant within the formation, was staring down at him.

“How in the world…”

When the final formation was also cut off, he felt a dizzying sensation, and the world shook.

The opponent who had become so big. Perhaps it was because he had faced his own shabbiness.

Zhuge Jong-cheol collapsed on the spot.

***

I deliberately interfered with the guy’s formation and hindered its development. It was as if I had cut both his wrists before he could even draw his sword.

A clear difference in skill.

“What are you doing? Not bringing out the formation.”

Zhuge Jong-cheol, who was trembling with his chin while sitting down, despite the cold rebuke.

He didn’t even seem to have the leisure to listen to my words.

He, who was a top-ranking first-class formation master, had been swayed by someone he had treated as a green brat without being able to do anything, so he had no choice but to be dumbfounded.

At that incongruous sight, the surrounding voices, as if in doubt, continued.

“Why isn’t Elder Jong-cheol doing anything? He even fell down?”

“Hey, look properly. I don’t know why, but isn’t the energy of the formation constantly scattering?”

“No way, an elder would make such a basic mistake?”

The venue, which was becoming noisy with each person’s reasoning. In the midst of the confusion, Zhuge Hyeonguk’s voice spread calmly.

“It’s the opposite. He’s scattering the basic thing from its foundation. It’s Zhuge Cheonwu.”

“Yes? What in the world do you mean by that?”

“Something like that is only possible if the skill difference is several levels… huh!”

When Zhuge Hyeonguk raised his hand and revealed the path of the formation that had been materialized over the model garden, the judges and spectators, who were now looking at the venue with a stunned expression.

Between the cracks in the path, which was like shattered glass, the traces of roots that had not been able to spread and had dried up were seen everywhere.

It was a model garden that had seemed as if nothing had happened. But on the other side, traces that were no less than a battlefield were spread out.

“How in the world… is this possible?”

“To think a demolition like this was possible!”

Those who had belatedly witnessed the fierce fluctuation of the true qi and the immediate offset that had been happening on the other side of the quiet formation each let out a voice of astonishment.

To interfere with the fundamental structure and offset it before the formation was even formed.

A sophistication and speed that far surpassed common sense.

It was truly the realm of the gods.

“…It’s chilling.”

Jangyeo muttered, his chin trembling slightly. Wasn’t it like seeing the art of a super-master who demolishes the opponent’s form before it can even unfold and stops their movement?

From the point of view of having figured out the inside story, the feelings of all the formation masters gathered in this place would be the same.

Fear. They each looked at Zhuge Cheonwu with a pale expression, as if they had seen a monster.

But the person himself was looking down at the collapsed Zhuge Jong-cheol with an expressionless gaze, as if nothing had happened.

As if observing a target he had hunted with a bow.

Finally, the predator’s eyes met the trembling pupils of Zhuge Jong-cheol.

“Listen carefully.”

He spread a faint barrier around and whispered softly so that only he could hear.

“This place is now my territory.”

At the same time, he dropped the red-hot jade stone he was holding in his hand onto the ground.

“So there’s no place for you.”

Fwoosh!

At the same time, a clear energy that spread out in all directions, centering on him who had sat down.

And soon, the sea of fire that had engulfed the entire model garden soared into the sky, swallowing up all the roots in the area.

(End of Chapter)

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep