Chapter 375
Seong Jihan furrowed his brow as he read Dongbang Sak's message.
'It didn't take him long to find out.'
Barely any time had passed since the destruction of part of the Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams Formation when Dongbang Sak was already calling him.
'The more I know, the more it seems he is truly the most powerful.'
Seong Jihan was familiar with nearly all the martial arts techniques initiated by Dongbang Sak, He could already perform basic moves like the Triad of Martial Mastery and even the Annihilation God's Secrets.
Of course, while the force output of the Martial God's techniques differed from his own, Seong Jihan had learned how they worked through Martial Soul.
Yet, Dongbang Sak was unique not only in his singular martial art skills but also because the mystery of the Taiji Swordsmanship still puzzled him, making it seem like Dongbang Sak might even be stronger than he appeared to be compared to the Martial God.
'Of course, I haven't seen the full extent of the Martial God's power, so there may still be other techniques he possesses...'
Seong Jihan thought of the Abyss's owner, 'Taiji's Lost Soul.'
This place held the spirits of Red's clan, the Great Golems, and fragments of Seong Jihan himself accrued as he died at the hands of Dongbang Sak.
Was he now to become one of them?
'I can't afford to die just yet.'
Although humanity had secured a foothold against the lowest-tier races, victory against mid-tier or upper-tier races was still uncertain.
Especially the Five World Tree Elves within the league who would crush humanity mercilessly without his interference.
Humanity's survival in BattleNet needed to be secured before they could attempt escape.
Nevertheless, this invitation from Dongbang Sak couldn't be ignored.
'If I don't go now, him coming to me would be even more troublesome.'
It was better to meet Dongbang Sak at the ocean floor than in the bustling center of Gangnam.
Given his current status as a Constellation Candidate, it was unlikely Dongbang Sak would kill him outright.
'I'll go now.'
After replying to Dongbang Sak's message, Seong Jihan headed towards the location of the Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams Formation.
Upon arriving at the bottom of the West Sea,
"You are here."
The ethereal form of Dongbang Sak, habitually stroking his beard, looked at Seong Jihan.
"It seems you've broken part of the Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams Formation."
"You noticed quite quickly."
"Who else on Earth could break the formation if not you?"
Considering credible suspects, Seong Jihan nodded and then inquired,
"So, did you summon me here to tell me not to break any more of the formation?"
"..."
Dongbang Sak gazed intently at Seong Jihan.
In his field of vision, the words shown to him by the third disciple floated up like an apparition.
'Rescue the World, Aid the People.'
A phrase meant to signify salvation for people, something entirely unaligned with Dongbang Sak's interests.
He had never had much concern for worldly matters, focusing exclusively on perfecting his martial arts.
[If the subject is released, kill Seong Jihan immediately. Draw the Taiji Sword and completely annihilate him.]
-I will obey. However, if I draw the Taiji Sword on Earth, the planet may suffer greatly...
[It does not matter. Even if half of humanity perishes.]
When instructed by the Martial God to unsheathe the Taiji Sword just as Seong Jihan became a Constellation, Dongbang Sak felt no compassion for the humans who would be sacrificed.
Yet, the thought of being involved in 'Rescue the World, Aid the People' was outrageous.
Had he seen this somewhere else and even if the handwriting was his, he would have dismissed it as false.
'...I must believe the third disciple's words.'
A strange trust was welling up deep inside him.
What kind of connection had he formed with him in the forgotten past to trust someone to this extent?
Dongbang Sak continued to ponder the third disciple's words without fully understanding himself.
-If he cannot handle this, then as the Martial God wishes, this world too will end.
-I implore you, allow him to dismantle it. If you decide, you could destroy this formation in a day, couldn't you?
The implication that allowing Seong Jihan to continue might prevent the world from ending as the Martial God desired was profound.
With a complex expression, Dongbang Sak looked at Seong Jihan.
Logically, he couldn't just dispose of him since he was under his surveillance.
He had to strengthen the seal here and prevent any further meddling.
However,
Why was a part of him feeling an urge to counteract the Martial God's desires?
"..."
Dongbang Sak slowly opened his mouth.
"What did you see inside there?"
"You."
"Me?"
"Precisely, 'Kang Sang.' You were guarding the World Tree."
"I guarded the World Tree?"
"Yes, you said you were preventing the spirit of the giant from being released into the world."
"...Me?"
Dongbang Sak pointed at himself repeatedly.
"Are you sure you aren't mistaken?"
"I also saw your beard. Though I did cut it in half."
"You..."
Mention of his beard being cut brought a furrow to Dongbang Sak's brow.
'Not long ago, I thought it was strange when I inadvertently touched the middle part of my beard...'
This incident coinciding peculiarly with the time the external part of the formation was released.
Were Seong Jihan's words not entirely false then?
Sssh.
Dongbang Sak turned his gaze back to the Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams Formation.
The external formation was broken, but the seal was still robust.
Inside, lay his forgotten memories and the World Tree, no doubt.
He could open it at any time as a spirit, but...
'If I open it myself, everything will be destroyed, or so I was told.'
Remembering the warning from the third disciple, Dongbang Sak looked at Seong Jihan and spoke.
"I will give you a chance."
"A chance... you say?"
"Yes. A chance for you to dismantle the formation yourself."
"Oh..."
"However."
Thud! Thud!
Dongbang Sak's fingers suddenly struck Seong Jihan's body, flowing like water through his domain, touching down across his entire body.
He tried to resist, but even in his ethereal state, Dongbang Sak exhibited overwhelming force.
After 72 touches,
'The power of Martial Soul is bound...'
Seong Jihan felt a significant constraint in his Martial Soul's domain, along with a heaviness settling over him.
It seemed as though Dongbang Sak's art had cut his efficiency by more than half.
Noticing Seong Jihan floundering with this change, Dongbang Sak stroked his beard.
"Before you enter, you'll have to unbind this yourself."
"This is..."
"The Heaven's Chaotic Flow, my unique form of acupoint sealing, adapted to deal with beings who control space, mostly used when capturing Constellation."
While acupoint sealing typically involved blocking the flow of Qi through meridians, the Heaven's Chaotic Flow seemed to blockade the very energy of the world around Seong Jihan.
'To call this mere acupoint sealing, how absurd...'
Seong Jihan meticulously examined his current condition.
Dongbang Sak's Heaven's Chaotic Flow.
It was challenging to break with just Martial Soul in his current state,
'Using Void or Eternity might erase it.'
While Martial Soul was heavily sealed,
His other stats weren't locked down as much and were still usable.
With all these at his disposal, he could potentially unbind Dongbang Sak's sealing technique.
But.
"You could unbind this Heaven's Chaotic Flow right now if you tried. Even just exploding the Void would make my sealing vulnerable."
"..."
"If you resort to such tactics to unbind the seal, you won't survive inside the Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams Formation. Try using the proper method."
"Using Martial Soul, you mean?"
"Yes."
Dongbang Sak's warning suggested that if Seong Jihan couldn't manage to undo the Heaven's Chaotic Flow using conventional methods, he wouldn't stand a chance in the more advanced stages of the formation.
Seong Jihan could tell he was genuinely advising him, especially since Dongbang Sak even hinted at the trick to undoing the seal.
"Hmm. Then I suppose I should return and abide by the seal."
"...What?"
"Like this."
Whooosh!
A violet flame surged around Seong Jihan's body, and the oppressive force of the Heaven's Chaotic Flow dissipated instantly.
The combined powers of Void and Eternity had unbound Dongbang Sak's acupoint seal.
"Tch. I told you not to undo it that way..."
As Dongbang Sak clicked his tongue in disappointment and looked disapprovingly at Seong Jihan.
"Isn't this how it should be done?"
Thud. Thud.
Seong Jihan applied acupoint sealing to his own body, just as Dongbang Sak had done, accurately targeting 72 pressure points.
Swoosh...
The power of Martial Soul was secured once again.
"..."
"Unlike the Taiji Swordsmanship, this one I could comprehend immediately using Martial Soul."
"...Now that I recall, you also took the Crimson Divinity which is something I very much dislike."
Dongbang Sak seemed dismayed as his skill was so easily countered and replicated by Seong Jihan.
"From now on, do as you wish."
"Thank you. I've learned well."
"...Humph!"
With a final sigh, Dongbang Sak's ethereal form faded from view.
Seong Jihan watched quietly, thinking to himself.
'He's quite anxious if he can't teach everything.'
Heaven's Chaotic Flow, an acupoint sealing technique that employed the Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams Formation to impose restrictions through pressure points.
Though different from ordinary human martial arts techniques, Seong Jihan had grasped it instantly through Martial Soul.
'But actually undoing it is a bit different from applying it.'
Normally, knowing how to apply acupoint sealing also lends knowledge on how to undo it.
However, with Dongbang Sak's Heaven's Chaotic Flow, while understanding its application was clear, figuring out how to undo it was not straightforward.
'Of course, using other powers, the restriction can be undone, but just using Martial Soul alone isn't easy.'
Seong Jihan looked down at the etchings of the Nine Palaces and Eight Trigram on the ocean floor.
Before entering, it was clear that he should unlock the Heaven's Chaotic Flow using Martial Soul.
'The training room is also under repair, so this gives me something to work on in the meantime.'
Seong Jihan's eyes flickered with determination.
* * *
A few days later.
-Another regular game match, huh? It's going to be a dull end.
-The opposing side is pitiable.
-Shouldn't he be matched against other Constellations?
-Exactly. Even with three attributes sealed, he still sweeps enemies with one strike... I've seen many players disrupt balance, but this is exceptional.
-This game isn't fair, even by loose standards. There should be at least some balance, no? How can someone like that even exist?
With the appearance of the World Tree Yggdrasil and the Arena Owner raising its profile, Seong Jihan's channel now had significantly more extraterrestrial viewers.
Presuming that today's broadcast would end swiftly seeing Seong Jihan matched in a regular game, they opted to discuss BattleNet's balance rather than watch the match.
A survival map in a regular game, it'd be over in a few minutes anyway.
Both extraterrestrial and human viewers thought similarly about the game duration, but...
-But... Seong Jihan's movements don't seem quite right today?
-?? It's not over yet?
Strangely, this game wasn't ending with a single strike as it typically would.
Chshhh!
"Kr, krrgh..."
After a fierce struggle with a player, Seong Jihan barely sliced his opponent's throat.
Clutching his unresponsive body, he grimaced.
'I didn't expect the Heaven's Chaotic Flow state to persist in the game.'
Having researched Heaven's Chaotic Flow for the past few days and logged into the game in that condition for the first time in a while, Seong Jihan found himself unexpectedly engaged in close combat.
'Can't even release the seal with my stats locked as they are.'
In the Grand Master League, fighting with just Martial Soul would have been sufficient.
But with that sealed, each opponent now posed a significant challenge.
'If the Star Buff hadn't activated, I'd be dead by now.'
Fortunately, with the Star Buff's performance enhanced by 60%, he managed to elevate his sealed Martial Soul sufficiently to keep fighting.
Chiiik...!
"This, this guy... to push me this far with just that much strength!"
Thud!
After a grueling fight, his second opponent's head fell.
"Phew..."
Seong Jihan caught his breath, cursing the difficulties caused by Heaven's Chaotic Flow.
Next time, he'd make sure to unseal it properly.
As he resolved this to himself.
[Your level has increased by 1.]
'Hmm...'
His level, which hadn't increased easily even after ending games, had suddenly risen.