The Return of the Sword God Chapter 146 : We’re Going Too. -02

Chapter 146: We’re Going Too. -02

“Uh… huh?”

As soon as Jeong Hyeon stepped into the formation after visiting Ban Hojin’s residence as usual today, he put on a troubled expression.

That was because a formation completely different from before had unfolded.

He had been told that starting today, an Illusory Formation would be deployed instead of the Bewildering Formation or the Maze Formation, but he had never heard it would be like this, so Jeong Hyeon hesitantly stepped backward.

—Ohoho. There’s no need to be shy. Co this way.

“Eek!”

When a woman wearing a thin robe that practically revealed everything beckoned to him while letting out a coquettish laugh, Jeong Hyeon panicked.

Calling it a robe was generous—it was no different from wearing nothing at all.

At the sight of a woman’s cleavage and prominently exposed curves he had never seen in his life, Jeong Hyeon’s face turned red as if it were about to burst.

—Oh my? Where are you looking?

“P-please spare !”

When Jeong Hyeon’s gaze landed on her nipples, the woman—who looked to be in her early twenties—slowly covered her chest with both hands.

Her face was filled with an expression of embarrassnt.

However, contrary to her expression, the look in her eyes as she stared at Jeong Hyeon was alluring.

Brrr!

At the woman’s gaze as she slightly lowered her eyes and looked at him intently, Jeong Hyeon tightly shut his eyes with a flushed face.

Even so, the image of the woman before him appeared vividly in his mind.

It felt as though he was seeing her despite his eyes being closed.

And so, Jeong Hyeon trembled without realizing it.

“Why is Jeong Hyeon acting like that?”

Inside the formation, the outside could not be seen, but from the outside, the inside was visible.

More precisely, Jeong Hyeon’s actions were.

When Sama Uiseong deployed the Illusory Formation, Jeong Hyeon imdiately stepped back with a horrified expression, then tightly shut his eyes and began trembling, prompting Seo Jo-un to tilt his head in confusion.

It was because he looked far too different from usual.

“Judging by his expression, it doesn’t seem like he’s scared in the usual sense. It’s not the face of soone feeling fear.”

“In a way, it is sothing frightening. Especially for Jeong Hyeon. You could call it fear born of ignorance.”

“Fear born of ignorance?”

Jeong Iryong tilted his head.

At the sa ti, Seo Jo-un also wore a puzzled expression.

On the other hand, Sama Uiseong—the culprit behind all this—laughed awkwardly.

He had thought it was about ti to train the Illusory Formation and deployed it, but it was still embarrassing.

“Yeah. There’s a saying in the martial world: beware of the elderly, won, and children.”

“Oh!”

“Won, huh!”

At Ban Hojin’s words, Jeong Iryong and Seo Jo-un clapped their hands at the sa ti.

The mont they heard it, they could guess who had appeared in the Illusory Formation.

They both nodded in agreent.

If a naked woman had appeared, it was only natural that Jeong Hyeon would be flustered.

“That’s right. But I didn’t expect him to be unable to do anything despite knowing it’s an Illusory Formation.”

“Isn’t it because it’s his first ti? The first ti is always the hardest, no matter what.”

“Still, if he’s a disciple of Shaolin, he should overco it. In a few years, the third-generation disciples will enter.”

Sama Uiseong tried to take Jeong Hyeon’s side, but Ban Hojin was cold.

Even if they were fellow disciples, wrong was wrong.

A martial artist had to overco hardship and adversity, no matter what.

“I also agree with Elder Brother. If we’re doing this anyway, we should raise him tough.”

“You’re not the one raising him, though.”

“I’m just saying. Hehe!”

Seo Jo-un laughed good-naturedly, but his face stiffened slightly.

Unlike Jeong Hyeon, but similar nonetheless, he also lacked resistance to won.

“Waaah! I surrender! I surrender!”

“Huh.”

At that mont, a scream was heard from inside.

When Jeong Hyeon, crouched down without having done anything, shouted his surrender, Ban Hojin shook his head.

He had expected Jeong Hyeon to struggle due to his lack of immunity, but he hadn’t thought it would be to this extent.

“What should we do?”

Sama Uiseong asked cautiously.

Since it was an Illusory Formation, there was no physical damage, so continuing wouldn’t be a problem.

Of course, ntal shock could sotis be greater than physical injury, but the current level wasn’t that severe, so Sama Uiseong still asked.

“Release it.”

“Yes.”

“Haah! Hah! I-I survived!”

As the surrounding scenery scattered like mist, Jeong Hyeon, who had been crouched on the ground, let out a sigh of relief.

But soon, a groan filled with pain burst from his mouth.

Thwack!

“Ack!”

With a crisp sound, Jeong Hyeon clutched his head and toppled forward.

The pain was so intense that stars seed to appear before his eyes even in broad daylight, and his whole body trembled.

“Stop exaggerating.”

“It really hurts!”

“My heart hurts even more. What kind of prayers did I offer for your Buddhist resolve to be this weak? You knew it was an illusion even if it looked real, and yet?”

“It l-looked real! I’ve never even seen one before, but it was so vivid!”

“The chest? Or the groin?”

Whoosh!

Not only Jeong Hyeon’s face but even the top of his head turned red like an apple.

At the sight of him looking like he’d burst if poked, Ban Hojin chuckled.

It felt like he had finally gotten a good opportunity after a long while.

“S-Senior Uncle!”

“How was it? The feeling of seeing a woman’s naked body for the first ti in your life.”

“I-It wasn’t naked! She was wearing clothes! I-it was just a little see-through!”

Unlike Ban Hojin, who waggled his eyebrows mischievously, Jeong Hyeon shouted in panic.

But Seo Jo-un and Jeong Iryong’s reactions were no ordinary matter either.

At the exchange between Ban Hojin and Jeong Hyeon, both of their faces had also flushed red.

“Oh? Really? But doesn’t that an you saw everything anyway?”

“No! I closed both eyes!”

“Then why are you standing like that? Why are you so awkwardly posed?”

“Th-this is…!”

Jeong Hyeon wore an expression filled with embarrassnt.

It was a perfectly natural phenonon for an ordinary man, but Jeong Hyeon was a monk studying Buddhist law.

A martial monk was still a monk, so Jeong Hyeon didn’t know what to do. He covered his central region with both hands and pulled his hips back.

The posture was a bit embarrassing, but it was better than being exposed.

“Indeed, you’re a man after all. Yes. That’s only natural.”

“No! It’s absolutely not like that!”

“If it’s not, then it’s not. Why are you shouting like that? Got sothing that pricks your conscience?”

“It’s not like that!”

“Heh heh heh.”

Ban Hojin smiled aningfully.

As if he knew exactly what state he was in.

Under that gaze, Jeong Hyeon shrank further and further.

At the sa ti, Seo Jo-un and Jeong Iryong also grew tense.

“Uiseong.”

“Yes.”

“You can still deploy more, right?”

“Yes! It’s fine.”

Compared to the Maze Formation or the Bewildering Formation, the Illusory Formation took longer to prepare and consud a considerable amount of ntal and internal energy.

However, this too was practical experience for Sama Uiseong.

Opportunities to deploy an Illusory Formation against a late-stage Nine Dragons-level rising expert were never common, so Sama Uiseong answered boldly.

“Good. Then next is….”

Swoosh.

After hearing Sama Uiseong’s reply, Ban Hojin finally glanced at Jeong Hyeon and turned his head.

He alternated his gaze between Jeong Iryong and Seo Jo-un.

Strangely enough, both of them subtly avoided Ban Hojin’s eyes.

Unlike usual, neither stepped forward first, so Ban Hojin looked at Sama Uiseong.

“I choose?”

“Yes. In a way, you’ll be the one facing him.”

“Then I choose Jo-un.”

“Ah, why!”

At Sama Uiseong’s imdiate choice without even a mont’s hesitation, Seo Jo-un shouted angrily.

But even at Seo Jo-un’s near-wailing protest, Sama Uiseong did not blink once.

Instead, he wore an infuriating smile.

“I’m curious. How you’ll turn out.”

“I’m different from Jeong Hyeon.”

“Really? From what I see, you’re about the sa.”

“Not at all.”

“Then break it with your skill. You broke out of the Bewildering Formation, didn’t you?”

Sama Uiseong grinned as he provoked him.

But unlike usual, Seo Jo-un hesitated.

Having witnessed with his own eyes how miserably Jeong Hyeon had suffered, he lacked confidence.

He too was weak against won.

“Go on, get in.”

“Yeees.”

As if unwilling to wait any longer, Ban Hojin urged him on, and Seo Jo-un walked into the formation like an ox being led to the slaughterhouse.

Jeong Iryong watched him with a tightly tense expression.

He was next, so he observed Seo Jo-un closely.

“Then I’ll begin.”

“…Go easy on , Uiseong.”

“This is training. I have to give it my all. I don’t know how to half-ass it.”

“Ugh!”

At Sama Uiseong’s serious reply, as if asking what nonsense he was spouting, Seo Jo-un groaned.

But it wasn’t wrong, so he pulled himself together.

Like the saying that one could survive even in a tiger’s den if one kept one’s wits, Seo Jo-un resolved not to be deceived no matter how formidable the Illusory Formation was.

“Ready?”

“Can you give a little more ti?”

“No.”

“Tch! Cold-hearted bastard.”

“Training is like real combat.”

Quoting Ban Hojin’s habitual saying, Sama Uiseong grinned.

Though he talked weakly like that, once a match began, he knew Seo Jo-un would focus and try harder than anyone.

And to Sama Uiseong as well, Seo Jo-un was an excellent—no, more than worthy—opponent.

‘The real thing starts now.’

With Jeong Hyeon, he had admittedly gone sowhat easy.

Though stubble was beginning to grow on his chin, he was still a child.

But Seo Jo-un was different.

Among the Nine Dragons, it was the Blazing Dragon whose na resounded far and wide—Seo Jo-un.

Srrrk.

Knowing Seo Jo-un’s abilities well, Sama Uiseong displayed a completely different level of concentration from when he faced Jeong Hyeon as he deployed the Illusory Formation.

Soon, Sama Uiseong’s slender fingers—like jade—moved lightly and rhythmically as if playing the strings of a zither, planting short rods around Seo Jo-un.

“Mmm!”

At the sa ti, a strange nasal sound escaped from Seo Jo-un’s mouth.

The mont he entered the center of a circle less than two zhang in diater, white smoke billowed up, and a half-naked woman appeared.

She barely covered the essential parts, and her appearance did not fall far behind Sambong or Nan Huiju.

Moreover, with her perfect figure—curves where they should be and fullness where it should be—she was a peerless beauty. Seo Jo-un’s pupils trembled faintly.

“Oppa.”

“…It feels real.”

At the woman’s gentle voice as she gazed at him deeply and called out to him, Seo Jo-un nearly succumbed for a mont despite knowing this was an Illusory Formation cast by Sama Uiseong.

Her looks and body were outstanding, but her voice was also clear, like jade beads rolling across a silver tray.

It was a tone that n could not help but love.

“Why did you co so late?”

Step by step.

Unlike with Jeong Hyeon, who had rely stood in place, the woman who appeared now slowly approached Seo Jo-un with an innocent expression.

Her dazzlingly white shoulders were exposed.

Not only that, but with every step she took, the thin robe clinging to the tips of her breasts swayed as if it would slip off at any mont.

At the sa ti, her ample chest swayed softly in rhythm with her steps, and Seo Jo-un swallowed dryly.

Gulp!

Contrary to his will, his heart pounded violently like a drum.

The saying that sothing half-revealed was more lethal than complete nudity suddenly ca to his mind.

At the sa ti, blood rushed to his face.

Just like Jeong Hyeon earlier.

‘Namu Amitabha, Avalokitesvara.’

Though he could not hear it, he could vividly imagine Jeong Hyeon bursting into laughter.

Just as he himself had laughed at Jeong Hyeon monts ago.

But enduring it was difficult—the woman’s temptation was excessively powerful.

Tap.

“Why are you closing your eyes?”

“Eek!”

Long, pale fingers that seed never to have done a day’s hard work touched his chest, then slowly slid down to his abdon.

And then lower still.

Making it unmistakably clear what the destination was.

“What could you be thinking about?”

Her expression was pure, yet her gaze was seductive.

With a figure that seed ready to burst at a touch, standing right before him, Seo Jo-un’s mind grew hazy.

And the faintly translucent robe—now that the distance had closed—revealed everything inside.

“N-Namu Amitabha, A-Avalokitesvara.”