The Lazy Young Master of the Jin Clan

"It's already the twentieth person."

At Moyong Susu's mumble, Peng Xiaofeng, who had been standing with his arms crossed, narrowed his eyes.

Next to them stood Zhuge Ming and Jin Sohyun.

Perhaps because he found the existence of the Dark Cave interesting, Zhuge Ming's pupils were constantly sparkling.

"It seems there is a formation."

"A formation?"

"Yes! People think of formations as a kind of magic that uses the five elements, but in fact, formations include not only the harmony of the five elements and all things in the universe, but also engineering..."

As Zhuge Ming's explanation grew longer, Jin Sohyun mechanically nodded his head and spaced out.

"...is what can be called a formation."

"Ah. I see."

While Jin Sohyun was nodding as if he had heard the explanation, the twenty-first victim was carried out of the Dark Cave on a stretcher.

At the sight of him, who was foaming at the mouth and convulsing, Zhuge Ming frowned.

"He's a martial artist from a minor sect called the Hwaseong Gate. Since the Hwaseong Gate is a prestigious sect that many people in Shaanxi know, the martial artist who came from there wouldn't have been an ordinary person... what on earth is in the Dark Cave that everyone is losing their minds?"

"I wonder."

Jin Sohyun quietly looked at the open Dark Cave.

Despite the outstanding eyesight of the martial artists, who could see light even in the deep darkness, nothing could be seen in the Dark Cave.

According to Zhuge Ming's explanation, the Dark Cave had completely erased the light using the power of a formation, and no matter how outstanding a martial artist was, they could not distinguish even an inch ahead in the Dark Cave.

The unlucky Siu had already entered the Dark Cave early on and had immediately fainted, being carried out on a stretcher.

"I'm nervous! What number is Young Hero Jin?"

"Thirty-one."

As Jin Sohyun said, checking his number, Zhuge Ming was startled.

"You're right before me! I'll have to hope that Young Hero Jin comes out safely. That way, I can go in knowing what's in the Dark Cave."

"I might be carried out on a stretcher."

"Then there's nothing I can do. There's no way I can endure the Dark Cave that even Young Hero Jin couldn't endure."

Zhuge Ming was surprisingly calm.

It seemed his curiosity about the existence of the Dark Cave itself was greater than his fear of the unknown.

Meanwhile, Jong Ryeo'ak stood in front of the entrance of the Dark Cave.

'Shit... I can't show a disgraceful sight anymore.'

He had already shown a disgraceful sight in front of his junior brothers several times.

If he were to be carried out on a stretcher here, his pride, which had been shattered as much as it could be, would no longer be able to recover.

"Number twenty-nine. Go in."

At the instructor's instruction, Jong Ryeo'ak stepped into the Dark Cave, where not a single speck of light could be seen.

The time of one koku passed faster than he thought.

The closed door of the Dark Cave creaked open, and from inside, a pale-faced Jong Ryeo'ak came out, gasping for breath.

"As expected of Jongnam!"

"Are the Nine Sects different?"

A person who had walked out on his own two feet for the first time from the Dark Cave, where no one had ever come out on their own two feet before, had appeared.

Jong Ryeo'ak barely handed the wooden plaque he was holding to the instructor and then staggered back to his spot.

"Senior Brother!"

The disciples of Jongnam greeted Jong Ryeo'ak warmly.

"You're amazing!"

"You're the first to pass through the Dark Cave!"

Unlike the pleased disciples of Jongnam, Jong Ryeo'ak did not say anything.

He just stared at the ground with an ashen face.

While Jong Ryeo'ak was barely standing, lost in a trance, the young female martial artist who had entered the Dark Cave after him was carried out on a stretcher.

She, like the others, was foaming at the mouth.

"Number thirty-one. Forward."

"I'll be back."

"Please come out safely and tell me the secret of the Dark Cave!"

"Have a safe trip!"

"Take care of yourself."

Jin Sohyun, who had walked to the Dark Cave with the encouragement of Zhuge Ming, Peng Xiaofeng, and Moyong Susu, pushed his body into the darkness where nothing could be seen.

Thud—!

"Wow... you really can't see anything."

What he could see was pitch-black darkness.

According to the explanation, if he walked in a straight line from the entrance, he would be able to find the wooden plaque.

Jin Sohyun took one step, one step slowly in the darkness.

Sassassassassa—!

After taking a few steps, a ghostly sound reached Jin Sohyun's ears.

The sound was not coming from one direction, but from several directions.

It was like...

"It's like the Eight-Directional Sound. Is it similar to that?"

A cold air brushed past Jin Sohyun, who was walking, ignoring the ghostly sound, and then a killing intent was felt from all directions.

As cold blades stretched out from all directions, aiming for his fatal points, Jin Sohyun stopped in his tracks.

'I don't think there's a real one among these.'

Jin Sohyun realized that there was no real blade among these.

An illusion created by a thick killing intent.

Jin Sohyun, who had realized this, moved his steps again.

But this time, his vision became bright.

Although his vision was still dark, a space of night with moonlight shining appeared, unlike the pitch-black space where nothing could be seen.

Soon, a human figure shot up from the darkness.

"Jin Sohyun."

The human figure called out Jin Sohyun's name. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

"You are..."

Jin Sohyun knew who the owner of the human figure was.

'It's that brat, isn't it?'

The assassin of the Heretic's Path Alliance whose identity was unknown, whom he had met at Jiao Lake.

He, who had gone missing, had now appeared in front of Jin Sohyun.

'Is it an illusion?'

Jin Sohyun realized that the surrounding scenery had changed in an instant.

This was Jiao Lake, and the fiend had appeared in front of him, scattering a thick killing intent and thrusting a blood-red blade at him.

"Jin Sohyun!!"

Jin Sohyun looked at the rushing fiend of Jiao Lake and said softly.

"Stop calling me."

Even seeing the blade that had come right in front of him, Jin Sohyun did not move a muscle.

In the end, the blade passed by Jin Sohyun and scattered like mist.

"This is amazing. So formations can do this too."

Jin Sohyun knew that all of this was an illusion created by a formation.

So there was nothing to be afraid of.

Because a fake can never become real.

Jin Sohyun, who had passed the illusion and walked forward, got the wooden plaque with his number written on it.

"I just have to take this..."

Jin Sohyun, who had obtained the wooden plaque, snapped his head around.

His two pupils shone with a blue light.

This was quite different from the eyes of Cheon Yerang, which had a blue light from the beginning.

Jin Sohyun, who was looking through the darkness with his burning blue eyes, distinguished the true form from all the illusions.

He was an old man with a small build.

"Oho? Can you see this old man?"

"Who are you?"

"Hehehe! What's a brat who's about to die going to do with that?"

Jin Sohyun sighed and was lost in thought for a moment.

Then the old man said.

"If you're going to shout, give up. The Illusory Void Formation swallows not only light, but also sound. No matter how much you shout, they won't hear your voice."

"How did you get in here?"

"A dead man has a lot of questions."

The old man took out a long curved sword from his back.

As the smell of blood reached his nose, Jin Sohyun frowned.

"Did the Heretic's Path Alliance send you?"

"Ask Yama."

"Tsk!"

Jin Sohyun split the wooden plaque he was holding with force and then threw one of them at the old man.

As the piece of the wooden plaque, which was imbued with the power of lightning flash, flew in like a thunderbolt, the old man quickly swung the curved sword he was holding.

Slice—!

The old man, who had cut the piece of the wooden plaque, grinned.

"A pretty excellent attack..."

He then gasped.

'He's gone?'

It was an incomprehensible thing.

It was surprising enough that he had seen through him in the Illusory Void Formation, but he had gone further and had hidden his appearance.

'A high-level concealment technique. He has hidden himself in the formation.'

Jin Sohyun had used the Illusory Void Formation to hide his body.

And soon, Jin Sohyun's voice was heard in the old man's ears.

—Are you the only one the Heretic's Path Alliance sent?

As the voice came from all directions, the old man laughed out loud without realizing it.

"Hehehe! The Eight-Directional Sound! I think I know why this Alliance told me to get rid of you!"

—As expected, the Heretic's Path Alliance sent you.

"Yes. Who else would try to kill you? So meekly offer your neck to this old man's blade. I'll kill you without pain!"

The old man spread his qi sense in all directions.

But it was not easy to find Jin Sohyun, who had hidden himself with determination.

'This brat's concealment technique is more outstanding than I thought. At this rate, I have no choice but to make him come out on his own!'

The old man, who had re-gripped his curved sword, raised his internal energy.

At the same time, the curved sword held in his hand created dozens of afterimages, and the sword wind contained in each afterimage surrounded the Dark Cave.

At that, Jin Sohyun, who had popped out of the darkness, twisted his whole body and avoided the sword wind.

"Ugh!"

"You were here! You rat-like brat!"

The old man rushed towards Jin Sohyun, who had revealed himself in the darkness.

The old man's curved sword, which had rushed at a fierce speed as if sliding on ice, aimed for the neck of Jin Sohyun, who had landed on the ground.

'Tsk! Of all times!'

If he had even one flying sword, he wouldn't have been so easily beaten by the assassin sent by the Heretic's Path Alliance.

Jin Sohyun, who was regretting the absence of his flying swords, glared at the old man's curved sword that had come right in front of him.

'Let's get out of the Dark Cave first. Then I'll ask for help.'

Jin Sohyun, who had avoided the old man's curved sword by tilting his head back, brought his fingertips to his chest.

'I can shake him off with the Shadowless Divine Steps.'

The fastest movement technique Jin Sohyun had.

He gathered his qi to display the Shadowless Divine Steps.

As Jin Sohyun's heart beat rapidly, the speed of his blood flow increased, and his pupils contracted, the old man, who had discovered this, approached like a ghost and stabbed Jin Sohyun's chest.

'He's fast...'

At the old man's unexpected speed, Jin Sohyun was helplessly stabbed in his acupoint.

Due to the backlash of the Shadowless Divine Steps, which he had not been able to fully display, Jin Sohyun collapsed.

The old man, who was looking down at this with an indifferent gaze, had two black-clad men appear behind him.

"One koku has passed."

"Take him."

At the old man's instruction, the black-clad men loaded Jin Sohyun onto a stretcher and left the Dark Cave.

The old man, who was left alone, showed his teeth in the darkness and laughed.

"This... besides the children of the Cheon family, there's another brat I have to worry about. Hehe... this is fun. Very fun!"

***

"Hah! Young Hero Jin!"

As Jin Sohyun was carried out on a stretcher, Zhuge Ming was overly surprised.

'To think that even Young Hero Jin, who single-handedly defeated the fiend of Jiao Lake, would collapse!?'

Unlike Zhuge Ming, who knew the truth, Peng Xiaofeng and Moyong Susu, who had only thought of Jin Sohyun as the lazy eldest son of the Jin Family, were not greatly surprised.

"As expected..."

And Jong Ryeo'ak, who was watching this, also smiled coldly.

"There's no way a brat like him could endure the formation that the Alliance had made with determination. He must have bribed them."

Jong Ryeo'ak trembled at the illusion created by the Illusory Void Formation.

But he had overcome it, and Jin Sohyun had not.

So Jin Sohyun was a braggart and a shameless brat who had bribed the Martial Arts Alliance.

At least, that's what Jong Ryeo'ak thought.

Also, the martial artists from the minor sects and martial families, or the martial artists from prestigious families, who had been looking at Jin Sohyun differently, also lost interest in Jin Sohyun.

"He wasn't that big of a deal, was he?"

"He's just like us."

"Then was he just lucky all this time?"

"His family must have used their power. They're rich, you know."

"Tsk... I worried for nothing."

The martial artists had now lost interest in Jin Sohyun, and Cheon Gaseong also decided to stop caring.

'The brat couldn't endure the Dark Cave that even Jong Ryeo'ak endured. As expected, he was just a riffraff.'

While the martial artists' interest in Jin Sohyun was fading, the test of the Dark Cave continued.

"Hoo! It wasn't an easy test! Don't you think so?"

"That's right..."

Peng Xiaofeng and Moyong Susu looked at Zhuge Ming, who was lying collapsed with Jin Sohyun, with pale faces, gasping for breath.

He had been worried from before he went in, saying, 'Since even Young Hero Jin couldn't pass, I'll never be able to pass,' and he really hadn't been able to pass.

"It might have been difficult for you two."

"Well! Even for this Peng Xiaofeng, the test of the Dark Cave was very difficult! It was a very great formation!"

Besides them, two disciples of the Huashan Sect, including Hyeok'ugun, had passed the Dark Cave, and from the Kongtong Sect, Go Durim was the only one who had passed.

"Kongtong does not fall!"

Although Go Durim had come out of the Dark Cave confidently, his forehead and back were drenched in sweat.

And finally, Cheon Yerang entered the Dark Cave, receiving everyone's attention.

She came out with the wooden plaque in less than half a koku, let alone one koku.

"As expected of the White Moon Palace!"

"She's much faster than the Nine Sects or the Five Great Families, isn't she?"

"Next is Young Master Cheon."

"He's so handsome."

Cheon Yerang, who had walked in front of Cheon Gaseong, bowed her head slightly.

Since passing through the Dark Cave was a natural thing, Cheon Gaseong did not bother to praise her.

When his turn came, Cheon Gaseong confidently entered the Dark Cave, and he came out of the Dark Cave as soon as the door was closed.

People thought that Cheon Gaseong had come out without even entering the Dark Cave.

That is, until they discovered the wooden plaque held in his hand.

"He's fast."

Cheon Gaseong handed over the wooden plaque and returned to his spot, and the martial artists of the Nine Sects and the Five Great Families looked at the two martial artists of the White Moon Palace with tense eyes.

'They're on a different level.'

They had all experienced the Dark Cave and had personally experienced the power of the Illusory Void Formation within it.

That's why they could also see how high the level of Cheon Gaseong and Cheon Yerang was.

'Damn it!'

While the martial artists of the Nine Sects and the Five Great Families were keeping the White Moon Palace in check, the test of the Dark Cave ended with Yu Useon, who had entered last, being carried out on a stretcher.

At the same time, Jin Sohyun, who had lost consciousness, opened his eyes.

"Huh?"

(End of Chapter)