Chapter 155: Falling Into Crisis (1)

Slice!

Surprisingly, the sound of something being cut came from the lock.

It happened because the strength of Qi emitted by Yong Hwarin had already surpassed the durability of the lock.

“Huh, impressive.”

Even though Pang Giyok had restrained his own cultivation, he knew he couldn’t have sliced through the lock without even igniting sparks like that.

Yong Hwarin opened the door.

“Young Master Yong!”

Suddenly, Ho Maeyok and Sa Ilhyang rushed toward Yong Hwarin.

They were overjoyed that it was none other than Yong Hwarin who had come to rescue them. In fact, no matter who had come, they probably would have reacted the same way.

“Did you come to save us?”

When Poong Imso asked, Yong Hwarin silently nodded.

That silent response somehow inspired trust.

Since he didn’t boast with words, it didn’t burden their hearts.

“Let’s go. We’ve saved everyone, so we need to get out of here quickly. Can you perform light footwork?”

“We have taken Gunjasan and cannot use our cultivation.”

“Then there’s no other choice but to run fast.”

As soon as Yong Hwarin’s group stepped out of the hall, they frowned.

Wherever they had come from, warriors dressed in white martial robes surrounded the annex, radiating killing intent.

“Dammit! Who are these people?”

When Namgung Soomyung asked, Ho Cheongun replied.

“They call themselves the Ihwa White Sword Unit.”

“The Ihwa White Sword Unit… that’s one of the three great martial forces of Ihwa Palace.”

Although Ihwa Palace was a secretive sect, the three great martial forces that had fiercely resisted when they were attacked by orthodox forces long ago were widely known.

In fact, it was because these three forces had defended to the end that Ihwa Palace had been spared from annihilation.

Pang Giyok frowned and spoke.

“If we fight them with our current numbers, we won’t avoid complete annihilation.”

Pang Giyok had once fought against the warriors of Blood Demon Castle in the Bamboo Forest.

If someone like him showed hesitation, it meant that the Ihwa White Sword Unit was truly formidable.

However, Yong Hwarin believed they wouldn’t dare attack recklessly since they held a hostage, and he shouted.

“Step aside! Otherwise, your Young Palace Mistress will not come out of this unharmed!”

Danmok Gyeol drew his sword and placed it against Ihwa Seonja’s neck.

But the Ihwa White Sword Unit didn’t budge.

“Hohoho, you seem to be under a big misunderstanding. From the moment I was taken hostage, I ceased to be their Young Palace Mistress. Ever since the disgrace two hundred years ago, our palace swore never to negotiate for a hostage, no matter who it is. Even if that person is the Palace Mistress herself. That law has been passed down to this day, so what choice do I have?”

It now made sense why Ihwa Palace had remained one of the three great secret sects in the martial world.

Even when their Young Palace Mistress had been taken hostage, they showed no intention of rescuing her.

Yong Hwarin frowned as his plan fell apart.

He had kept Ihwa Seonja with them all this time exactly for moments like this, intending to use her as a hostage.

But since she had no value as a hostage, she was nothing but a burden now.

Yong Hwarin struck her acupoints, making her collapse.

Then, he handed her over to Shangguan Joyoung.

“I only have a sliver of true energy left, and you give this wicked woman to me? There are plenty of others you could have chosen.”

“We have to fight. And with your light footwork, you should have no problem carrying two people and running.”

At those words, Shangguan Joyoung flinched in surprise.

Yong Hwarin had always had a knack for surprising people, but to mention the Shangguan Clan’s light footwork—something he had never once revealed—startled Shangguan Joyoung to the core.

Yong Hwarin had merely spoken thoughtlessly.

In his past life, the Shangguan Clan had possessed the Light Dragon Flash technique brought from the imperial palace, and no other martial family in the world could match their light footwork.

However, until now, the Shangguan Clan had only passed it down within their direct line, never displaying it openly.

‘He must have just said it randomly.’

As Shangguan Joyoung thought that, he suddenly realized that he had already reached out and accepted Ihwa Seonja into his arms.

“We’ll break through their formation. Follow us.”

Yong Hwarin intended to escape this place.

Yong Hwarin, Pang Giyok, and Namgung Soomyung took the lead, followed by Jegal Cheongyeong and the women of the clans wielding their swords.

“But do we even have a way to break through their formation?”

Pang Giyok was worried since Ihwa Palace’s formation was famous for not being broken for two hundred years.

When Yong Hwarin didn’t answer, Jegal Cheongyeong spoke up.

“Hwarin Brother, let’s use the secret passage we used to enter.”

“That passage is too narrow. If we try to exit with all these people, we’ll just end up getting isolated.”

“Still, we can’t move without a plan.”

“There is one last method. You’ve studied formations, so you should know. What’s the greatest weakness of a formation?”

“That’s…”

She paused for a moment in thought, then realized what Yong Hwarin was getting at and gasped.

“Brother, are you planning to set this place on fire?”

Yong Hwarin nodded.

“Fire consumes everything, which can collapse the formation itself.”

Jegal Cheongyeong nodded as she recalled the method.

“But if you set a fire, the entire Myoseon Mountain might burn down.”

Yong Hwarin shook his head at her concern.

“Before entering this place, I checked the terrain. There are gorges on both sides and a stream flowing behind us. The fire won’t spread beyond this area.”

It might have seemed like nothing, but the fact that Yong Hwarin had already calculated all of that was truly impressive.

It was because he knew that such a small detail could save lives.

“Understood. Let’s begin, then.”

Pang Giyok had been listening silently since matters of formations weren’t his specialty, but when Yong Hwarin drew his sword, he raised his blade as well.

“Time to loosen up. Let’s see how these bastards compare to the ones from Blood Demon Castle.”

Pang Giyok’s burning fighting spirit even in this situation was remarkable. Maybe that’s why he matched well with Shangguan Mijong.

“There may be casualties here, so everyone, stay on guard.”

After reminding them, Yong Hwarin moved forward.

The Ihwa White Sword Unit, in turn, began tightening their encirclement and launched their attack.

From that moment, Yong Hwarin started firing needle strikes with the Dragon Scale Finger Technique, breaking through the front of the Ihwa White Sword Unit in an instant with a relentless barrage.

Few could block the sudden volley of Dragon Scale Finger strikes, but that didn’t last long.

Because he was using single-shot needles instead of triple-shot ones for speed, their power was weaker, and gradually more enemies began managing to defend against them.

However, by that time, Yong Hwarin’s group had already broken through the front line and was running toward the foot of the mountain.

The Ihwa White Sword Unit spread out to the sides and pursued while continuing their attack.

Yong Hwarin fired needle strikes with the Dragon Scale Finger Technique at the right moments to drive off the pursuers.

“Keuak!”

When a member of the Ihwa White Sword Unit screamed as a needle lodged in his forehead and collapsed, the other members of the unit cursed loudly.

“Kill them all!”

In some ways, they were even more vicious than the demonic warriors of Blood Demon Castle. But Yong Hwarin remained calm and continued to unleash his needle attacks.

When he switched to using triple-shot needles, the unit members could no longer block them and began to fall one after another.

Already, more than twenty members had collapsed, struck by the hidden weapons.

They were too afraid to approach since anyone who got close would be immediately struck down by the incoming needles.

As Yong Hwarin’s hidden weapon technique showed overwhelming power, his companions felt their spirits surge even higher.

However, Jegal Cheongyeong couldn’t help but worry as she watched blood stream from Yong Hwarin’s three fingers from where he had been firing the Dragon Scale Finger Technique.

Fwiing! Ping!

Two more needles flew out, and two more members of the Ihwa White Sword Unit dropped to the ground.

“I think we’re almost there.”

At the front, Pang Giyok had suffered countless blows while blocking the enemy’s attacks, leaving not a single uninjured spot on his body. A forest stretched out ahead, but for some reason, they couldn’t enter it any further.

He could sense some invisible force blocking their path.

When Namgung Soomyung slashed at a tree within the formation, the force of his own attack bounced back at him. He felt the backlash of his own cultivation.

“This isn’t just any formation.”

Namgung Soomyung frowned as he spoke.

The leader of the Ihwa White Sword Unit stepped forward and said,

“Is this as far as you go? If you quietly hand over the Young Palace Mistress, we’ll grant you a peaceful death. But if you refuse, we’ll make sure you suffer the most agonizing torture until your dying breath.”

Even though their laws forbade them from negotiating over a hostage, they still couldn’t recklessly attack with the Young Palace Mistress in their hands.

Yong Hwarin, noticing the blood pouring from his fingers, pressed his wrist to seal his meridian and temporarily stopped the bleeding.

“Giyok, set the fire up front. I’ll hold them off.”

Pang Giyok pulled out a fire starter and lit some dry leaves.

The fire quickly flared up on the dry leaves.

He tossed them toward the formation.

Although people couldn’t pass through, objects could, so the burning leaves passed through and instantly began to spread the flames to the surroundings.

Seeing this, the members of the Ihwa White Sword Unit showed signs of agitation.

“What foolish tricks do you think you’re trying to pull?”

With a voice filled with killing intent, the leader shouted an order to the unit.

“From now on, follow the laws of the palace. Kill all who stand against us! If the Young Palace Mistress gets in the way, cut her down as well!”

“We obey the order!”

The remaining sixty members of the Ihwa White Sword Unit advanced with a completely different intensity than before.

“Put out the fire before it burns through the entire formation! Take them down quickly!”

As dozens of experts attacked at once, the pressure was immense.

“Good! Now this is a fight worth having!”

Pang Giyok, instead of showing fear, burned with fighting spirit.

Seeing Pang Giyok’s attitude, Namgung Soomyung spoke with a determined expression.

“Come at us as much as you like! I’ll show you the greatness of the Namgung Clan!”

Namgung Soomyung shamelessly shouted and raised his sword. The women of the clans also readied their weapons and took defensive stances.

“Just hold on for a moment! Once the formation burns, an opening will appear. Master Poong!”

When Yong Hwarin called out loudly, Poong Imso responded.

“Mount Hua Sect will hold the right flank and deal with the incoming enemies!”

“Don’t worry. We will definitely defend this position.”

Despite having no internal energy, the Taoists of Mount Hua had held their ground so far. This alone showed how diligent their training had been.

This was what made Mount Hua Sect so renowned.

Both Pang Giyok and Namgung Soomyung could now witness the true potential of Mount Hua.

Even without internal energy, groups of three formed the Three Talents Sword Formation, and groups of five formed the Five Elements Sword Formation to hold off the experts.

It was impossible to imagine how much training it had taken to execute these formations perfectly in response to the situation.

This was their chance to prove that they deserved to be ranked among the top three of the Nine Great Sects.

“Yeongmae, lead the young ladies and take the left flank!”

“Yes, Brother.”

“Master Sa!”

When Yong Hwarin called for Sa Jeokwoo, he turned his head to look at Yong Hwarin.

Yong Hwarin was the one he trusted the most in this place. As he answered, he wondered what task awaited him.

“The fire isn’t spreading well. Do you know Mount Hua’s secret palm technique, Thousand Furrow Palm?”

Thousand Furrow Palm was a high-level palm technique taught only to first-class disciples of Mount Hua.

Although Mount Hua was famous for its sword techniques, they also passed down palm techniques that worked effectively in combination with swordsmanship, and Thousand Furrow Palm was one such technique.

Thousand Furrow Palm had the property of spreading its energy outward.

In truth, Yong Hwarin had learned this from the Demonic Master.

Yong Hwarin hadn’t even known that Mount Hua had a palm technique called Thousand Furrow Palm.

The Demonic Master, desperate to save his daughter, had done everything he could to help Yong Hwarin.

Sa Jeokwoo was astonished by Yong Hwarin’s knowledge of even Mount Hua’s secret technique.

“I know it. But I can’t use it now since I have no internal energy.”

“I’ll lend you some of mine.”

Yong Hwarin channeled half a breath’s worth of internal energy into Sa Jeokwoo’s dantian through his vital acupoint.

That energy would vanish as soon as it was used since Sa Jeokwoo’s dantian had been sealed by Gunjasan.

As the warm energy flowed into his dantian, Sa Jeokwoo quickly gathered and stored it.

“I’ll try to spread the flames.”

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Sa Jeokwoo released palm energy, reviving the embers on the burning leaves and spreading them further.

‘We just need to hold out for a moment longer. An opening in the formation will appear once the fire takes hold.’

As the fire began catching onto the trees, Yong Hwarin felt a glimmer of hope.

While fighting against the attacking Ihwa White Sword Unit, Yong Hwarin continued to take them down one by one, but enemies swarmed from all directions, making it impossible to keep up perfectly.

Groans started escaping from the lips of his comrades who had been holding their defensive formation.

They were wounded—on their thighs, sides, and arms—and cried out in pain.

“Argh! These bastards!”

Even Pang Giyok, with a wound on his shoulder, cursed loudly instead of screaming in pain. Namgung Soomyung, who had taken a deep slash to his side, clenched his teeth without uttering a sound.

Seeing this, Shangguan Mijong rushed to stay by his side.

However, the attacks from the Ihwa White Sword Unit showed no signs of letting up.

‘At this rate, we’ll all be wiped out.’

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep