Chapter 249: Hyeonwol

Lim Gwan-hwa remained in the rear, surveying the battlefield, as her injuries from the fight with the Lord of Lightning hadn’t fully healed.

“This is absurd…”

She denied what had just occurred. She had seen it with her own eyes, yet couldn’t believe it.

The Floating Stronghold that had flown through the sky suddenly split into five, and the Five-Wheel Guardian God disappeared. With the help of Jang Woo-hyun, the unified guardian had transformed into five spirit forms and was pulled into the floating strongholds.

“Uh…”

“……”

The martial artists of the Five Elements Cult were left dazed by the sight.

Though it had been an artificially created god, the guardian had protected the cult for countless years. And yet, it vanished in an instant.

But that wasn’t the end.

The moment the guardian vanished, their power began to weaken. The Five Elements Qi gathered in their middle dantians scattered and diminished.

Some panicked, while others staggered under the sudden wave of helplessness.

It was no surprise—they had lost their god, and the power they’d spent a lifetime cultivating was vanishing.

Before the battle had even truly begun, the Five Elements Cult was already losing.

Even though they were elite forces, they were still human—they couldn’t help but waver.

‘We took this too lightly.’

The betrayal of the Lord of Lightning had already weakened the Five Elements Cult. But with the guardian still present and the cult leader having recovered from his injuries, they believed victory was possible.

That belief had been mistaken.

The Radiant Light Sect weren’t fools. They wouldn’t have chosen to fight a losing battle. Yet Lim Gwan-hwa had looked at the situation too optimistically.

In the end, as she watched the battlefield from the rear, Lim Gwan-hwa climbed aboard a flying apparatus and headed into battle. She had to regain control of the situation somehow.

“Fall back! Reorganize the formation!”

Though she shouted, the martial artists of the Five Elements Cult struggled to regain their composure. The shock had been too great.

Naturally, the enemy did not wait.

The spellcasters of the Radiant Light Sect made their move.

They didn’t attack from a distance—they came forward and directly engaged the Five Elements Cult.

“Reform the line! Everyone, fall back! Now!”

Lim Gwan-hwa took the lead in blocking the Radiant Light Sect spellcasters. Those charging in had already shed their human forms.

Demonization.

A technique usable by spellcasters who had mastered the Demon Beast Contract Technique to a certain level.

Demonized spellcasters clashed with the Five Elements Cult.

Boom!

“Argh!”

“Gah!”

Only when attacked did the martial artists finally react.

They had superior numbers, but the Five Elements Cult was losing ground due to broken morale and weakened strength.

The spellcasters, transformed into monsters, charged into the formation like wolves among sheep.

To save her subordinates, Lim Gwan-hwa darted about, tearing apart spellcasters and smashing down monsters that attacked from every direction.

“Warding Technique!”

Woo Il-do, who had been fending off spellcasters elsewhere, approached Lim Gwan-hwa. The flames floating around him were noticeably smaller—his power had weakened too.

“We need to pull the troops back. This is too one-sided. They were well-prepared.”

“It won’t be easy. They’ve set the stage from the beginning. There’s not a single spellcaster here using the Yin-Yang Five Elements Technique.”

The most commonly used spell system among spellcasters was the Yin-Yang Five Elements Technique. Naturally, most of the Radiant Light Sect spellcasters should’ve been trained in it—but not here.

The ones rampaging across the battlefield now were all using other systems, including the Demon Beast Contract Technique.

They had planned from the start to prevent the use of Five Elements Qi.

Boom!

While the two of them handled the incoming spellcasters, a massive explosion erupted up ahead.

Cult Leader Seo Gyeong-mu and Hyeonwol had clashed.

Seo Gyeong-mu, who could wield all Five Elements Qi, was managing to hold his own despite his weakened state.

Flames engulfed the sky, and with each swing of his arm, white slashes of energy flew. Around Hyeonwol, blue smoke spread, blocking the flames and slashes.

‘The Cult Leader’s side can still hold.’

Seo Gyeong-mu was one of the Seventeen Lords and the head of the Five Elements Cult.

He wouldn’t fall so easily. So she had to think about other options.

“Protect your comrades! We have the numbers—group up and fight them together!”

Woo Il-do rallied the subordinates. A few experts ran across the battlefield, directing the formation, and the martial artists of the Five Elements Cult began to push back.

Even those who had been half out of their minds were now regaining clarity.

Weakened or not, these were the elite of the Five Elements Cult. They would grit their teeth and fight on.

“We’re pulling everyone together and retreating. No matter how thoroughly Hyeonwol planned this, he can’t control the energy across the entire Central Heavens. We need to get outside the domain he created. You’ll lead the retreat, Vice Hall Leader Woo.”

“What about you, Warding Technique?”

In response, Lim Gwan-hwa pointed toward the five floating strongholds.

“I’m going to destroy those.”

If she could destroy the floating strongholds sealing the Five-Wheel Guardian God, the tide of battle might turn.

“Then I’ll press them as hard as I can before falling back.”

Understanding her intent, Woo Il-do began to gather the troops.

He would draw enemy attention so Lim Gwan-hwa could move unhindered.

Issuing her orders, Lim Gwan-hwa flew toward the nearest floating stronghold. Even split into five, each one was massive.

As Lim Gwan-hwa flew to the center of the Floating Stronghold, a massive spell formation drawn on the ground came into view.

‘So this is the reason.’

The Radiant Light Sect had brought such a colossal Floating Stronghold in order to utilize this powerful formation.

Surveying the formation, Lim Gwan-hwa drew up her strength.

Tiny whirlwinds formed in her hands. With a wave, they burst forth, and hundreds of wind-forged blades shot toward the formation.

Following that, a giant made of wind formed and slammed a massive fist down.

Kuooooong!

With a thunderous sound, the Floating Stronghold shook—but the formation remained intact.

“……”

Lim Gwan-hwa furrowed her brows.

Even if she couldn’t destroy it in one blow, she thought she’d at least inflict some damage—but an invisible barrier blocked her attack.

And the repelled energy flowed into the formation, as if it were being absorbed.

She tried attacking again with concentrated power, but the result was the same.

Descending onto the Floating Stronghold, Lim Gwan-hwa examined the formation closely.

‘There’s an invisible barrier. When attacked, it siphons off power.’

She raised a hand into the air and used her energy.

At once, her power was drawn in. Her face stiffened.

‘This isn’t to seal the guardian.’

It was channeling power somewhere else.

‘It’s stealing the Five-Wheel Guardian God’s strength.’

If it could absorb her energy to this extent, then this formation had been designed from the beginning to extract the guardian’s power.

‘No way…’

A chill ran down her spine, and Lim Gwan-hwa shuddered.

— “Guardian of the Five Elements Cult, I’ve longed to meet you.”

That was what Hyeonwol had said upon seeing the guardian.

He never intended to merely seal it. He meant to use it.

‘What is he planning to do?’

The Five-Wheel Guardian God possessed power equal to that of one of the Ten Thrones. To keep it sealed and use its strength like this… there was no telling what could happen.

‘How is this even possible?’

At first, she thought it was a temporary seal. If Hyeonwol had prepared for years, that might have been achievable.

But extracting the power like this? Even if he was a brilliant spellcaster, the difference between him and the guardian should have made it impossible.

‘I need to destroy the formation first.’

She didn’t know how he did it, but the situation was far too dangerous. She had no way of predicting what might happen next.

Lim Gwan-hwa carefully analyzed the formation. If she couldn’t break it with force, she would find its weak points.

There was a barrier protecting the formation, but entering it wasn’t difficult.

‘People can pass through.’

Once inside, the formation began to drain her energy. To slow the loss, she tightly controlled her Qi and advanced toward the center.

‘This one mostly absorbs Earth Qi.’

While the formation generally absorbed energy, each of the five Floating Strongholds seemed to focus on a specific element. This one was absorbing Earth.

The more she examined it from the inside, the more familiar it felt. Even though she had never encountered a formation that absorbed energy like this.

A little time passed.

Then, Lim Gwan-hwa realized why it felt so familiar.

‘The Five-Wheel Illusion Diagram.’

A sacred artifact of the Five Elements Cult that had been stolen by the Lord of Lightning.

It was a Dharma Treasure that could manipulate the Five Elements Qi to create new domains. It had even been used to construct the cult’s training grounds.

Within the formation, she sensed traces of that very artifact.

‘But this is the opposite.’

Rather than creating a new domain, it was absorbing the Five Elements Qi—erasing it rather than generating it.

‘It can be used like this?’

This wasn’t the method of use she knew. She hadn’t even known this was possible.

‘I won’t be able to destroy it easily.’

She wasn’t at full strength, and the formation wasn’t something built overnight.

Hyeonwol had been preparing for a long time. Perhaps even aiding the Lord of Lightning had been part of obtaining the Five-Wheel Illusion Diagram.

‘If I can’t destroy it, I must get as far away as possible.’

That was the conclusion she reached after considering all the possibilities.

‘I have to escape—fast.’

Losing the guardian was painful, but staying here without knowing what Hyeonwol was preparing was far too dangerous.

She intended to leave and contact Jang Woo-hyun. The Demonic Extermination Squad shouldn’t come here either—whatever was going to happen, it was too risky.

Just as she was about to leave the formation—

Someone appeared on the opposite side.

A plump, middle-aged woman.

She was riding a strange bear made of vines and branches.

“Oh my, looks like you’ve noticed something. That’s the face of someone trying to run away.”

It was a face Lim Gwan-hwa recognized.

“Yeonghwa…”

One of the Ten Thrones of the Radiant Light Sect, the one holding the seat of the Immortal Herb.

“It’s been a while, Warding Technique.”

Yeonghwa smiled brightly as she greeted her.

“But what now? It’s already too late. The Five Elements Cult’s guardian no longer exists.”

“What exactly are you trying to do?”

“Now now, who goes around telling their enemy their plans, Warding Technique? Such a smart woman asking such a foolish question.”

While watching Yeonghwa closely, Lim Gwan-hwa slowly moved outside the formation. She couldn’t use her full strength while inside.

“This formation… was it made using the Five-Wheel Illusion Diagram?”

“Oh my? Not just sharp instincts, but sharp eyes too. You recognized it immediately.”

“How did you make something like this? The Five-Wheel Illusion Diagram shouldn’t have had this kind of function.”

“Tsk tsk, we’ve got some tools of our own, you know.”

At that, Lim Gwan-hwa didn’t realize what she meant.

“I heard you were injured while fighting the Lord of Lightning. Did you hit your head too? The Life-Death Reversal Token. You’ve heard of it, haven’t you, Warding Technique?”

A sacred artifact said to be able to bring the dead back to life—though unverified. The Life-Death Reversal Token.

It was a Dharma Treasure possessed by the Radiant Light Sect.

“The power of the Life-Death Reversal Token is reversal. It raises the dead and brings the living to death. By using it together with the Five-Wheel Illusion Diagram, we reversed the function of the Diagram. That’s the formation you’re looking at right now.”

Still smiling, Yeonghwa kindly explained.

“Judging by your face, you’re wondering why I’m being so friendly this time.”

The smile vanished from her face.

“This is your parting gift, you wretched bitch!”

Suddenly hurling a curse, Yeonghwa thrust out her hand—and from the ground, a massive tree erupted.

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