Chapter 171- Deadly Formations… A Lot of Them
"Youngest Brother, how did you lose your arm and eye?"
Byeong-Ho held the stump of his left hand and replied.
"After I received the Sword Immortal's Inheritance. I chose to enter the Inner Court two weeks ago."
Byeong-Ho suddenly glanced at Sol strangely after he said that.
Seeing this Sol recalled the time he saw Byeong-Ho.
"Two weeks ago?!"
Heon-Tae exclaimed as he looked at Byeong-Ho in shock. But Byeong-Ho said reassuringly.
"Third Brother, it isn't as bad as you think. I was already planning on opening the acupoints in my torso. But even if I wasn't going to, I'm not foolish enough to allow my arm to be bitten off by a Spirit Beast without having a way to heal it."
"Fool! It's not whether it can be healed or not, I'm sure there are ways to get your hand back. However, it's impossible for your meridians and acupoints to be reconstructed. Even an Immortal might not be able to do something like that!"
Byeong-Ho shook his head before flipping over his hand, and a translucent white pill appear in his palm.
"That's… Huh? What is that pill?"
Yoon-Jae looked at the pill in Byeong-Ho's hand with a frown on his face.
"It's a pill I got from the Sword Immortal's Inheritance. As long as I don't die instantly, this pill is like a second life. It even has the ability to heal missing limbs, meridians and acupoints."
Everyone showed shocked expressions at that.
Byeong-Ho placed back the pill into his storage ring before saying.
"I went into the Inner Court and ignored the safe routes to the Main Palace despite knowing the dangers. I wanted to push myself by tethering between life and death so I could have a breakthrough."
Everyone looked at Byeong-Ho like he was mad. Who would think of doing something like that?
"Did you encounter Spiritual Realm Beasts, Youngest Brother?"
Cheong-Su asked, and Byeong-Ho shook his head.
"I only encountered Quasi-Spiritual Realm Beasts. I happened upon a battle between two wolf-type Spirit beasts fighting over territory. I managed to kill one and injure the other, but that's how I lost my arm."
"You killed a Quasi-Spiritual Realm beast?"
Sol asked even more shocked at this point. It wasn't that he thought Byeong-Ho was weak but compared to a Quasi-Spiritual Realm beast and a human cultivator of the same level, a Quasi-Spiritual Realm Beast was naturally stronger. But Byeong-Ho fought two at the same time and managed to kill one and injure the other.
Byeong-Ho smiled bitterly and explained.
"I wasn't in the right state of mind back then. I fought with the thought 'I could heal any injury I suffer. I just have to survive,' but if I were to do it again, I don't think I would be willing to jump between two Quasi-Spiritual Realm beasts. I would have been too scared."
"At least you've accomplished your goal. Brat, be proud you were able to experience this and survive. Just this experience alone will carry you further than anyone else in the cultivator world."
Byeong-Ho glanced at Little Abdu on top of Sol's head with a weird expression on his face, but he still bowed and said politely.
"Thank you, Senior."
"Just call me Little Abdu."
"I-Ah, okay. But I regret my actions. Because of me Fifth Brother and fourth brother were placed in danger."
"It's fine, Youngest Brother. Everything turned out great in the end."
Cheong-San said using his Divine Sense.
Heon-Tae snorted but suddenly rubbed Byeong-Ho's head as he said.
"It's fine, as long as you're fine. But who would think that arrogant brat I was talking to turns out to be that arrogant brat they called the number one genius in Jianghu? The Six Holy Sects and Five Great Clans would have a heart attack if they were to find this out!"
Ji-Hoon's expression suddenly turned serious upon hearing that and he said.
"I hope it will stay that way."
"Everyone here is already compromised to reveal anything discussed by us."
Cheong-Su said.
Mar-Dule, who was silent up until now turned to Byeong-Ho and asked.
"So, you're actually a descendant of the Demonic-I mean, the Forgotten Sect?"
"Actually, I only know about the Forgotten Sect because of my Master."
"W-Wait, is the Third Grand Elder related to the Forgotten Sect?"
Mar-Dule was shocked, but Yoon-Jae suddenly frowned and cut in.
"Now is not the time to be casually chatting about these matters. Aren't we on a deadline? At this point, we only have just over a month to complete this mission."
Mar-Dule was quite disappointed to end this conversation. It felt like he was the only one out of the loop here.
Sol was disappointed as well; he had so many questions.
If the Third Grand Elder was related to the Forgotten Sect, it was no wonder he showed interest in him to go as far as teaching him his Movement Skill, Heavenly Stride.
Also, now that he thought about it, when he told his Master about it, he sounded as if he was familiar with the Third Grand Elder.
Sol thought he had used the Third Grand Elder as a cover, but his Master had probably added him to his contingency plans already.
Now Sol didn't know whether to feel happy his Master did so much to protect him before leaving or upset he didn't mention anything to him.
As Sol was in his thoughts, Ji-Hoon replied to Yoon-Jae.
"Brother Yoon-Jae is right. We have come this far, just a bit more and we'll be able to get Immortal Shen's Inheritance. We'll be able to rebuild the Forgotten Sect when we do."
Ji-Hoon was seen clenching his fists as he said this.
Meanwhile, Heon-Tae showed a slight frown on his face.
Mar-Dule was feeling a bit of doubt in his heart at this point. He didn't know how helping Ji-Hoon and the others to get this Inheritance would affect his Barbarian Race. Maybe he had made a hasty decision in coming along.
The group soon made their way towards the Main Palace.
During this time while Mar-Dule was still in his thoughts, he discreetly turned to glance at Yoon-Jae.
'Why isn't he bothered by this situation when he belongs to one of the Six Holy Sects?'
Perhaps only a select few in the upper hierarchy in the Academy knew of Yoon-Jae's background. Mar-Dule had only discovered this fact because he used his family's influence to dig up information on all the Rising Stars from the Six Holy Sects and the Five Great Clans before, he enrolled in the Academy, and Yoon-Jae's name came up as the third child and the second son of the…
Mar-Dule's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by Yoon-Jae who glanced at him.
"What are you thinking about while looking at me so intently?"
"Ah, it's nothing. I was just in my thoughts."
"I can see the Main Palace!"
Cheong-San's soul transmission echoed out in everyone's mind.
Their eyes followed where he was pointing at to see the outline of a large Palace in the distance. But in reality, even without Cheong-San's alert, they would have spotted it by how big it was. This was despite the fact that they were still a few hundred meters away from it.
According to the map Byeong-Ho obtained, Immortal Shen's territory was split into three areas.
The Outer Courtyard, Inner Courtyard, and the Main Courtyard. However, as these eight youths carefully walked from the Outer Courtyard to the Inner Courtyard, they couldn't help but think to themselves.
"This is a courtyard?"
The so-called "Courtyards" were too big. They had beautiful gardens, large fountains, and several opened pavilions where one could relax and admire this other worldly scenery. However, perhaps it was better they were classified together as a small city.
As the eight boys made their way from the Inner Courtyard to the Main Courtyard, they didn't rush.
There was no barrier around this Palace so there could be Spirit Beasts in this area.
Little Abdu and Cheong-San had their Divine Sense out and scanned the area ahead, as well as around them.
Sol and Mar-Dule happened to be at the head of the group leading everyone, while everyone else followed along.
"We're finally here."
Yoon-Jae said as he bent his neck all the way back to look up at the Main Palace.
Despite its massive size, someone took the time to carve intricate designs on its entire surface. But this person's efforts were not a waste as they made this golden structure captivating.
The sunlight from the evening sun reflected on the Palace and created a golden halo around the Palace.
It was extremely beautiful. Yoon-Jae could see this being an attraction where people from all over the Continent came just to see it. It was that grand of an existence.
The group was about three hundred meters away from this Palace, when Sol glanced ahead and saw two large double doors at the entrance of the Palace. They were wide open for some reason, revealing the two dragons carved on the inside of the doors.
Perhaps whoever last came out was in a hurry and they didn't bother closing it.
After pausing and admiring the building, Sol and the others stepped forward to enter the three-hundred-meter mark. However, Sol and Mar-Dule suddenly sensed something, and both cried out at the same time.
"Stop!"
"Fuck!"
Everyone instantly froze and turned to look at the two.
Sol and Mar-Dule didn't explain immediately but instead examined the ground in front them with ashen solemn.
With just a few steps they would step onto the slick black floor tile surrounding a three hundred meters radius of the Palace.
The design was good to look at, however, Sol and Mar-Dule's expressions slowly went from solemnity to one of pure horror.
"Brother Sol, what is it?"
Cheong-San seeing their expression was the first to asked from the side with his Divine Sense. He had sent it out ahead but hadn't sense anything abnormal.
"There are Formation Arrays on those black tile. Ones so deadly a single one can probably kill us in an instant…"
Sol responded, before Mar-Dule added.
"…Yeah, but what's worst is that there are so many of them there isn't an inch of space on the ground that isn't covered in them."