The Genius Grandson of the Namgung Family Chapter 77

Chapter 77

A full day had passed since Ha Hyeon had been trapped in the Formation Array.

He was sitting on a boulder shaped like a crouching bear, eating emergency rations while searching for a way to escape from this place.

“Somehow, I thought it was strange that Master gave me these emergency rations so easily.”

This was from Chwiwol Geolgae, who normally emphasized self-sufficiency so strongly.

He should have noticed something when such a person handed him food.

Ha Hyeon shook his head and decided to forget about it.

After all, those thoughts wouldn’t help him escape from this place now.

He had spent the entire day exploring all directions, and even tried advancing while drawing straight lines on the ground with a tree branch.

But the result was always the same.

“So let’s think about this…”

Ha Hyeon closed his eyes and fell into thought.

During his training at Blue Dragon Pavilion, Namgung Gyu-hyeon had certainly explained about Formation Arrays.

‘Formation Arrays are largely divided into two types.’

Those two types are Human Formation Arrays and Strange Gate Formations.

‘Human Formation Arrays directly involve people, while Strange Gate Formations are created using natural objects or artificially installed devices.’

Once one memory surfaced, others came flooding in like a broken dam.

This time, he recalled what his grandfather had mentioned in passing during their training.

‘People distinguish between Human Formations and Strange Gate Formations differently. But essentially, they are the same thing. If people comprise the formation, it’s a Human Formation. If objects comprise it, it’s a Strange Gate Formation.’

Ha Hyeon’s mind was spinning rapidly.

“What’s needed to construct a Formation Array?”

Ha Hyeon posed this question to himself and began searching for the answer.

In fact, Formation Arrays are extremely difficult to activate.

This is because three conditions must never be broken.

“First is direction. Second is distance. Third is the object that constitutes the Formation Array.”

In the end, a Formation Array is about placing the constituent objects in the appropriate directions and distances.

“If even one of these is misaligned, the Formation Array cannot be maintained. So the method to break through a formation is simple. Move or destroy the objects that make up the formation.”

Ha Hyeon’s eyes suddenly opened wide as he was thinking.

Then he scanned his surroundings thoroughly with a sharp gaze.

He was looking for what objects might be constituting the formation.

However, this wasn’t easy.

“Everything looks the same no matter where I look. There must be something characteristic…”

Ha Hyeon spent a long time walking around, searching for anything unusual.

But he hadn’t noticed anything strange during his full day of exploration, so it was unlikely he would see it now.

Ha Hyeon plopped back down on the bear-shaped boulder.

“This is strange no matter how I look at it. There’s nothing particularly visible, and even after walking around continuously, in the end there’s only this boulder…”

Ha Hyeon stopped mid-sentence and lowered his head to look down at the boulder he was sitting on.

“Could it be?!”

He jumped off the boulder and examined underneath it, which he hadn’t carefully observed until now.

After digging through the thin layer of soil, the base of the boulder quickly became visible.

And Ha Hyeon could recognize that this boulder was not embedded in the ground.

“If it’s not embedded, that means this boulder might not have originally been in this spot!”

Ha Hyeon thoroughly examined around the boulder.

After investigating the surrounding soil, he discovered traces suggesting the boulder had been dragged.

“Found it!”

The fact that this boulder had been moved meant it was part of the Formation Array.

Ha Hyeon placed both hands and his shoulder against the boulder and slowly began to apply force.

“Hrrgh!”

The veins in Ha Hyeon’s neck and arms bulged, and internal energy surged from his core throughout his body, but moving a boulder larger than a person was no easy task.

“Haaaaaap!”

Only after shouting with all his might and using every ounce of strength…

Swoosh-

The boulder slowly began to move.

Ha Hyeon put even more strength into his legs and pushed the boulder.

He exerted so much force that sweat poured from his forehead like rain, but the boulder moved slowly, proportional to the amount of sweat he shed.

Rumble-

“Raaaargh!”

As Ha Hyeon let out a strange cry and squeezed out his last bit of strength to push the boulder, it moved more than ten feet with a grinding noise.

Only after confirming the boulder had moved far enough did Ha Hyeon finally detach himself from it.

All the energy seemed to have drained from his body, and he must have used up much of his internal energy, as for a moment the sky seemed to spin.

But he quickly raised his head to look at the sky.

“I can see it!” Then the peak, which had been hidden by invisible clouds, came into view.

He had succeeded in breaking through the formation.

“Haha…!”

Ha Hyeon sat down cross-legged with a pleased laugh.

Although he was happy, the most urgent task now was to refill his depleted dantian through breath control.

* * *

Having finished his breath cultivation, Ha Hyeon stood up and dusted off the dirt on his pants.

As he glanced at the rock he had pushed away, two emotions arose.

‘Wow, did I really push this? I’ve really developed a lot.’

The first was admiration for himself.

He thought he had developed a lot, but it wasn’t clearly visible how much stronger he had become, but now that he had pushed such a large rock with his strength, it seemed real.

‘This thing called a formation. It’s truly amazing, but if you can find a way to break it, it’s manageable. Even a formation that seemed impossible to escape was broken just by pushing this rock one zhang.’

The second was an understanding of formations.

Ha Hyeon felt like he understood why Drunken Moon Elite had sent him here.

‘Even the Eighteen Arhats Formation can be dealt with if you find the method to break it.’

Ha Hyeon’s eyes shone as he climbed back up toward the peak.

Suddenly, Ha Hyeon thought of Drunken Moon Elite.

Although Drunken Moon Elite said he was having a hard time because this was his first time teaching a disciple, Ha Hyeon suddenly thought that Drunken Moon Elite was an excellent master.

He could have just taught verbally that formations need to be broken through by finding their weakness, but instead he set up an actual formation and made Ha Hyeon realize it through physical experience.

It’s a fact known to everyone without saying that experiencing something physically is better learning than hearing it verbally.

Whoosh!

With no formation blocking him and his depleted internal energy replenished, Ha Hyeon climbed the mountain more vigorously than yesterday.

After running up for a while, looking only at the mountain peak, Ha Hyeon suddenly realized.

“Huh? Why can’t I see the mountain peak again?”

With a sinking feeling, he looked around and had the same feeling as before.

The feeling of being trapped in a formation.

Ha Hyeon quickly left a mark on a tree right next to where he was standing and ran straight up…

Only to return to the place with his mark.

He looked around to see if there were any distinctive structures like the rock from earlier, but couldn’t easily find any.

“No, could it be.”

In that moment, Ha Hyeon felt a chill.

What if the formation prepared by Drunken Moon Elite wasn’t just one?

“That means I can’t guarantee how many there are until the peak…”

Somehow, he felt like he could hear Drunken Moon Elite’s giggling laughter in his ears.

He already knew how to proceed.

He just needed to find the object forming the formation.

But the biggest worry was that Drunken Moon Elite was a person who didn’t know moderation.

“I take back that he’s a good master.”

Ha Hyeon muttered with a somewhat blank expression and proceeded carefully examining his surroundings.

It was clear that today would be another long day.

* * *

Exactly six days had passed since Ha Hyeon had started climbing toward the mountain peak.

Today was the day Ha Hyeon was supposed to arrive at Shaolin Temple.

Unlike the carefree Drunken Moon Elite, a slight worry appeared on Namgung Min’s face.

“Elder. Is today the day Ha Hyeon was supposed to return?”

“That’s right.”

“Then why is there still no news of him?”

“If he’s been wandering in the formations I set up for a long time, it might take longer.”

Namgung Min shook his head and asked.

“Just how many formations did you set up?”

“I don’t know either. About ten?”

“Elder?!”

Drunken Moon Elite giggled as if amused.

“Do you know how hard it was for me to set those up? It took me a full two days to create them. It wouldn’t be fun if they were too easy to break.”

He looked at Namgung Min and said.

“Besides, why are you worried about Ha Hyeon? You haven’t managed to hit me even once in six days.”

Now that he looked, Namgung Min was wearing clothes that were little more than rags.

He had always worn neat and tidy clothes, but now, judging by his clothes alone, he wouldn’t be out of place if a beggar asked to be friends.

“But I’m getting closer little by little.”

“Well, you do seem to be able to touch my sleeve now… Don’t you feel wronged?”

Drunken Moon Elite said to Namgung Min with a bright smile. Namgung Min’s clothes were made like that by Chwiwol Geolgae.

While engaging in more than ten training sessions per day, Chwiwol Geolgae beat Namgung Min countless times.

Even for Namgung Min, it was the first time in his life that he had been hit so enthusiastically by someone.

“Your problem is that you’re too serious! You can’t do it because you’re trying to predict my movements. You have much better instincts than I do. Just trust your instincts and attack what you see.”

“You’ve told me this countless times, so I understand it intellectually, but I’m still too dull to internalize it.”

“Good grief! If you’re dull, then there’s not a single properly functioning brain in this world! Being too humble is also irritating to look at!”

Chwiwol Geolgae shrieked and then, seeming to calm down a bit, continued speaking.

“The problem is that you’re too smart. Because you’re too smart, you keep trying to think things through one more time instead of trusting what you see with your eyes.”

“Ah…!”

Namgung Min let out an exclamation and fell into thought again.

Chwiwol Geolgae quietly moved away to give him time to think.

‘Next time, will he really catch me?’

Still, Chwiwol Geolgae felt somewhat anxious.

Whenever Namgung Min had such realizations, his attacks became increasingly fierce.

Chwiwol Geolgae quietly left the guest quarters provided by Shaolin.

Then he glanced up at the peak of Jungeuk Mountain.

Though he denied it verbally, he was more worried about Ha Hyeon than anyone else.

‘Should I go up the mountain even now?’

He pondered as he slowly walked toward the entrance of Shaolin Temple.

As if he might leave Shaolin and rush toward Jungeuk Mountain.

By the time Chwiwol Geolgae reached the entrance,

A rather noisy sound could be heard from the main gate of Shaolin Temple.

“Ah, no. So, you brought this down? From Jungeuk Mountain over there? Amitabha…!”

It seemed to be the voice of the warrior monk guarding the entrance of Shaolin.

Upon hearing that voice, Chwiwol Geolgae’s expression immediately brightened.

Whoosh-!

He deployed his movement technique and rushed to the entrance in one breath.

And flung open the door.

When he opened the door, two people came into his view.

One was a young warrior monk who was flustered while looking at something, and the other was Ha Hyeon, whose hair was matted with sweat and clothes were dirty.

“Ha Hyeon!”

“Master!”

Chwiwol Geolgae unconsciously rushed toward Ha Hyeon.

Although they had been separated for only six days, it felt as if a very long time had passed.

He spread his arms to welcome Ha Hyeon.

Sometime ago, he had imagined such a scene.

The imagination of a child running toward him and embracing him.

Just as this imagination was about to become reality… he felt strange.

“Huh?”

Ha Hyeon’s speed didn’t decrease.

No, he actually increased his speed by using footwork techniques.

Tadada-!

Chwiwol Geolgae was surprised, his eyes widening as if they might pop out.

Ha Hyeon did embrace him as he had hoped.

However, he didn’t slow down his running speed and just leaped straight into Chwiwol Geolgae’s arms.

Thud!

In the end, Chwiwol Geolgae had no choice but to catch that not-so-small body with his own.

“Oh my, that hurts! What are you doing?”

“Master! No matter what, eleven is too many. Eleven!”

“You need at least that many to fully understand the formation!”

“And what’s this that you told me to bring?!”

Where Ha Hyeon pointed, there was a stone Buddha statue that reached up to the waist.

The statue was placed on an A-frame carrier, which Chwiwol Geolgae had kindly brought to the summit himself.

“Coming down would be too boring if it were too easy!”

“I really thought I was going to die bringing it down.”

“But you didn’t die, right? Experiences that feel like death help people grow.”

Chwiwol Geolgae said with a deliberately serious face, but Ha Hyeon didn’t find it impressive at all.

“Thank you so much for finding the lost Buddha statue. Amitabha.”

At that moment, the warrior monk guarding the entrance bowed to Ha Hyeon with his palms pressed together.

When Ha Hyeon looked confused about what was happening, Chwiwol Geolgae awkwardly scratched his head and said,

“I brought it up there ten years ago to mess with Juwon, and they still hadn’t found it. So I told you to bring it down.”

Ha Hyeon looked at the chuckling Chwiwol Geolgae with bewildered eyes.

“But at least I brought the A-frame carrier up there for you. Hahaha.”

At this moment, he very briefly wondered whether he could trust Chwiwol Geolgae as his master.