Chapter 57: Bamboo Garden Soul-Shattering Formation (1)

“From this moment on, we’ll charge with all our strength to seize control of the place where the Jaegal Clan and my companions are located.”

At Yong Hwarin’s words, Pang Giyok nodded.

Even now, he didn’t know why Yong Hwarin was acting this way.

He simply chose to trust him.

As Yong Hwarin stepped forward, the Pang Clan warriors spread out to the sides and took the lead.

Following behind were the warriors of the Jaegal Clan, the Shangguan Clan, and the Seomun Clan.

But even with everyone combined, they numbered barely over a hundred.

As they moved in formation toward where Jaegal Byeok was, the demonic warriors launched scattered attacks, but they didn’t put in much effort to block them.

‘The battle seems to be over.’

Pang Giyok couldn’t understand why the warriors were forming a formation again.

Yong Hwarin soon reached the area where Jaegal Byeok had set up a formation.

Even then, seeing the tension still evident on Yong Hwarin’s face, Pang Giyok tilted his head in confusion.

The Two Wook Sword Demons and Mo Biyoung rushed toward the Young Master who had come to rescue them.

“Young Master.”

They couldn’t say anything more. All they felt was guilt for having put him in danger.

“Brother!”

Jong Seok couldn’t even lift his head out of shame.

Jong Munhye, who had a fragile heart, even began to shed tears.

“Brother, I’m sorry.”

She had nothing to be sorry for, but the situation itself filled her with regret.

“No, it’s a relief that everyone is safe.”

Yong Hwarin consoled them with a pat on their backs, but when he saw Mo Biyoung and Jungwook, he scolded them instead.

“What were you doing to get yourselves injured like this? Were you planning to die?”

Looking at the pale faces of Mo Biyoung and Jungwook, he felt an uncontrollable surge of anger.

“We’re sorry, Young Master.”

Mo Biyoung lowered her head, which only made him more upset.

However, he quickly calmed himself. Yelling at the injured was foolish.

“From now on, Instructor Mo and Guard Nam, do not move from this spot. And you, Brother Jong and Guard Jung—no matter what happens, you must protect them. A major battle is about to erupt.”

The others, thinking the battle was over, looked puzzled by Yong Hwarin’s words.

Jong Seok tried to ask a question, but Jungwook shook his head to stop him. Jong Seok glanced back at Yong Hwarin, who was walking toward the Pang warriors, and asked Jungwook,

“Why is he saying this? The fight seems to be over—what bigger battle is he talking about?”

“So far, the Young Master hasn’t said a single useless word. If we wait a little, we’ll find out what he means.”

The warriors from the clans were showing signs of joy, thinking the fight had ended.

Only Yong Hwarin and his group remained tense.

“If we had grouped together and attacked from the start, we could’ve won this easily.”

Seomun Yuwon clicked his tongue, unimpressed as the enemies seemed to be retreating. Yong Hwarin, trying to alert them to the danger, spoke up.

“You must listen carefully from here on out. This concerns all our lives.”

Yong Hwarin gathered the clan heirs and elite martial artists and addressed them separately. His desperate tone caught their attention.

“Do not panic at what I say. In truth, we’ve fallen into a trap. Don’t look up the hill—just try to sense the presence there.”

The elite warriors of the clans were already above first-class level, with some being peak experts. They quickly expanded their senses and detected the pressure from the hilltop.

“Good heavens! We’ve been blind to this the whole time!”

One of Pang Clan’s elite cried out in shock.

“Mm!”

“That can’t be!”

“This is unbelievable!”

Their voices fell, and their expressions turned grim.

*

Watching from the hilltop, Geumpo-in sneered.

“So they’ve finally noticed.”

“Now’s the perfect time. If we strike while they’re grouped up, we can wipe them out all at once.”

Geumpo-in nodded.

“That may be true. But now I want to see what they’ll do. Where’s the fun in attacking now? Don’t you agree?”

The man beside him, who held the title of Strategist, bowed slightly.

“Yes, Chief Protector. Regardless of what they try, it’s certain none will survive.”

Among the three divisions of the Blood Demon Castle, the heads of each were called “Chiefs,” and this Geumpo-in was none other than Zhao Qiansheng, the Chief of the Protector Division.

As the person in charge of this operation, no one present could oppose Zhao Qiansheng’s words.

Still, a firm-looking man stepped forward.

“Chief Protector, even so, wouldn’t it be better to eliminate them now before they can make any further moves?”

“Blood Dragon Division Leader, must you ruin a rare excursion to the martial world? A bit of patience, no? If the elders of the clans were here, it might be different—but to tremble before these greenhorns would be disgraceful for the Protector Division.”

Song Deok, the Blood Dragon Division Leader, grumbled inwardly.

‘Excursion, my ass. While you enjoy your little show, it’s my men who keep dying.’

But he knew that making another request might bring him trouble, so he stepped back.

Satisfied, Zhao Qiansheng smiled with contentment as he looked at Song Deok.

As the leader of one of the Six Divisions, the Blood Dragon Division Leader showing such deference reminded Zhao Qiansheng of his own elevated status. That rarely happened within the castle, and it greatly pleased him.

Being holed up within the Protector Division rarely afforded him the chance to enjoy such submission.

*

Meanwhile, having bought a crucial moment of survival, Yong Hwarin urgently spoke to the gathered group.

“From now on, the Pang Clan warriors must construct a formation based on my instructions.”

One of the Jaegal Clan elites responded,

“If it’s a formation, don’t worry—we’ll handle it.”

“No. While I know the Jaegal Clan’s formations are the best in the world, it appears the enemy already has some understanding of them.”

“What are you saying?”

Just as the Jaegal elite tried to object, Jaegal Byeok interrupted.

“Elder Chil, Young Master Yong is correct. Now that I think about it, they could’ve broken through our formation earlier but chose not to. I now believe it was to lure the Three Great Clans in. That explains a lot.”

Hearing this, the Jaegal elite stepped back. Truly wise men knew when to step forward and when to withdraw.

“Please drive bamboo stakes exactly into the spots I indicate.”

The Pang warriors followed Yong Hwarin’s instructions without hesitation at Pang Giyok’s order.

Yong Hwarin intended to set up a formation within a radius of ten jang.

The formation he was about to erect was a modified and improved version of one passed down through his clan—the Bamboo Garden Soul-Shattering Formation.

This formation would later be taught and practiced by the guards and escorts of the Sky Ocean Merchant Union, becoming renowned as the ultimate escort formation.

After the Thousand Sea Escort Agency was armed with this formation, their cargo was never stolen again.

Thanks to this, Yong Hwarin, once on the brink of ruin, regained support and rose to become the Union Master of the Sky Ocean Merchant Union.

There were good reasons why the Bamboo Garden Soul-Shattering Formation was so powerful.

Typical formations until now caused illusions or hallucinations.

But Yong Hwarin had enhanced this formation with poison, making it impossible for even the highest experts to dismantle.

Having lived as a sickly member confined to his clan, Yong Hwarin had read countless texts hundreds of times. Among them, formations fascinated him the most.

In a sense, he gave up martial arts and achieved mastery in formations instead.

Through that knowledge, the Bamboo Garden Soul-Shattering Formation evolved into a terrifying poison-based formation. Later, it would be revealed that aside from the Tang Clan of Sichuan, no one had dared attempt a poison formation before.

The escorts of the Thousand Sea Escort Agency all carried poison, and even when bandits or raiders attacked, they repelled them all with this formation.

There was one instance where over a hundred infamous raiders in Zhejiang were wiped out, making the Thousand Sea Escort Agency and this formation widely known.

And so, Yong Hwarin’s name as the creator of the Bamboo Garden Soul-Shattering Formation became known throughout the Central Plains. The Pang warriors placed the bamboo stakes where he instructed and completed the formation.

Then, Yong Hwarin asked the Jaegal Clan elites to set up the Jaegal formation around the perimeter of the Bamboo Garden Soul-Shattering Formation.

The Jaegal elites immediately grasped his intent.

“You want to create a double formation to catch the enemy off guard. They’d never expect us to construct a dual formation in such a short time. Still, I’m not sure this will be enough. We’re facing the power of the Three Demonic Heavens. Even our main clan’s formations might not be enough.”

He implied that if even their renowned formation couldn’t handle the enemy, how could the Heavenly Central Sect’s formation hold them back?

Their concern was valid. But Yong Hwarin thought differently. So, he added just one more thing.

“The formation I’m setting up is a poison formation.”

“A poison formation?”

Another elite interjected.

“But if anything goes wrong, we could be…”

“We’ll be safe.”

As another Jaegal elite tried to object again, a different one stopped him.

“Yohye trusts him. He must have a plan.”

“But do we even have the poison? Without poison, the formation is useless.”

That Jaegal elite raised the most critical concern, wondering if Yong Hwarin was acting recklessly.

But Yong Hwarin smiled and replied,

“They have it.”

His gaze shifted toward the Seomun Clan warriors.

The Jaegal Clan members didn’t understand and tilted their heads.

“You’re saying the Seomun Clan has poison to activate a poison formation? That’s news to me.”

Their disbelief was clear.

Poison was dangerous and not something one casually carried, and martial artists generally disdained its use.

Even though it was powerful, the use of poison was frowned upon in the martial world.

So the idea that Seomun Clan warriors were carrying poison seemed absurd.

With no choice, Yong Hwarin approached Seomun Yuwon.

“Brother Seomun, I’m sorry, but I need the Seomun Clan’s poison. It’s for the formation.”

At those words, Seomun Yuwon looked utterly shocked.

‘Of course he’s surprised. The fact that you carry poison must be a closely guarded secret.’

The Seomun Clan, aside from the Tang Clan, was the only other clan in the martial world to use poison.

Though this fact hadn’t yet come to light, as the clan began losing ground to others, they had started using poison.

The Seomun Clan’s poison originated from the Hidden Saint Cult’s poison techniques.

Once their poison craft reached a certain level, Seomun warriors began to carry it regularly.

This was precisely that era.

The Bamboo Garden Soul-Shattering Formation came to Yong Hwarin because he knew two things—this place was a bamboo forest, and the Seomun Clan had poison.

Now, they had to use it to fend off the murderous assault headed their way.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep