"Well, he couldn't have gotten far anyway."
No, I'll improve it before returning it."
Baek Suryong lost interest in the escaped enemy for now. He couldn't leave Wiji Yeol, who was still meditating, to chase after him. With glowing crimson eyes, he scanned the interior of the formation.
Behind him, Wiji Yeol sat cross-legged, absorbed in meditation. Since he had set up a qi barrier in advance, the area around Wiji Yeol remained as calm as a lake despite the quaking ground and bloodcurdling screams. Sweat drenched the old man's body as he assimilated the energy of spirit herbs to heal his internal injuries.
What I see isn't everything.
As he mastered the Heaven Defying Divine Art, his Blood Demon Eyes had grown more powerful. He could now see through even the most profound sorcery. For this reason, he did not fear the Samsara Hell, even without the aid of the Divine Azure Dragon Sword.
The formation's name, Samsara Hell, implies an endlessly repeating prison heated by flames—a fitting description for its intended purpose of trapping and slowly draining the life force of a peerless master.
This was his chance to integrate his four masters' martial arts into the Heaven Defying Divine Art. He wasn't merely going to use them together, he wanted to fuse all four techniques into one.
"This is..." Baek Suryong examined the intricate formulas and qi flow that conjured a sealed realm, isolated from the outside world. They resembled a cross-section of the universe he had once seen. "Damn it, Blood Demon! Did you create this, too?"
He gritted his teeth. He could faintly sense traces of the Heaven Defying Divine Art within the formation.
So the Blood Demon also created the sorcery that captured my masters!
"Just how many people's lives have you ruined for your so-called grand purpose?"
He couldn't tell if the Samsara Hell was created specifically for his masters or repurposed from another formation. Regardless, he instinctively realized that the Samsara Hell unfolding before him after decades was by no means unrelated to the Blood Demon's grand design.
"You must feel that I controlled your destiny from the moment you were born, no?"
Suddenly recalling an unpleasant memory, Baek Suryong swung Crimson Moon, as if to shake it off. A crimson blade aura shot forward, wiping out a group of monsters that were trying to ambush him.
"KYAAAAAA!"
"KIIIIYAAAAA!"
After the Bloody Monk died, monsters covered in lava had emerged from all directions. Aside from a vague humanoid resemblance, their forms lacked consistency. Their only instinct was to attack any living humans in sight.
Baek Suryong laughed without realizing it.
Seeing the monsters swarm in from all sides, Baek Suryong stomped his foot.
BOOOM!
A circular shockwave burst forth like a violent gust, and the monsters exploded one after another. Baek Suryong emotionlessly stomped again as he swung Crimson Moon, clearing away the oncoming enemies.
Though it looked heavily damaged from many intense battles, it was still much better than wearing nothing.
Baek Suryong glanced at him. The Elder is almost done. Now, I must focus on finding a way out of here.
The interior of Samsara Hell was exhausting, even for a peerless master, with its endless hordes of monsters and air so heavy that it was difficult to breathe. Thankfully, Baek Suryong was unaffected by the environment, having mastered the Heaven Defying Divine Art. The same was true for Wiji Yeol, a practitioner of the Flaming Soul Divine Art. Not only was the flesh-searing heat no problem for him, it also boosted his vitality.
I'll have to move as soon as the Elder wakes up.
Baek Suryong spread the energy of the Heaven Defying Divine Art in all directions. The swarming monsters flinched, their movements slowing noticeably. Soon, however, they shrieked and charged again.
Even when the terrain around them shook and shifted or the humanoid monsters suddenly changed into bestial forms, Baek Suryong remained unfazed. Although it was his first time experiencing the Samsara Hell, it was not at all unfamiliar.
"That wretched formation can't be broken from the inside. I beat up the guys who came to attack me and asked them about it, but they just told me to give up because there's no exit. So, I kept beating them until someone who knew something showed up."
"Listen carefully. Time flows differently inside than outside. If you're deceived by its flow, you'll exhaust yourself much faster."
"The terrain and the monsters' forms change frequently. When that happens, don't panic..."
"You should be more than capable of getting out."
His masters told their disciple everything they experienced in the Samsara Hell. At the time, he had wondered if he really needed to know all this, but thinking back, he wondered if they had anticipated that something like this might one day happen.
Wiji Yeol trusted Baek Suryong.
WHOOSH!
Baek Suryong shot up into the sky, leaping roughly thirty meters high. The monsters looked up at him, some of them bending their necks at impossible angles.
Spinning around in midair, he imbued Crimson Moon with the fierce blade qi of the Asura Blood Heaven Blade and the icy qi of the White Ice Divine Art before swinging it and scattering the energy over the widest possible radius.
CRACKLE...!
White frost raged across an expanse of several hundred meters. Instantly, the volcanic terrain transformed into a snowfield, and all the monsters froze solid.
Baek Suryong was ecstatic. This was the first time he had freely unleashed the Asura Blood Heaven Blade and the White Ice Divine Art together.
Recalling his two masters' advice, he swung his blade and released the cold energy simultaneously. His body, trained by the Eighteen Strikes of the Viridian Forest, made these movements possible. He subtly incorporated the principles of the Unlimited Sword as well.
"If you can somehow withstand the demonic qi inside... there's no better place in the world to test new martial arts."
Was that what Master Sword Saint said?