"The three of them must have met by now, right?"
A laugh escaped his lips.
Walking along the secluded mountain path leading to the Formation Tower, Dongmun Mutoe chuckled to himself.
In the River Capital, the one they were to meet was not him, but Kim Rae-won—the most interesting and dangerous existence in the Jianghu, as far as he currently knew.
'If my junior sister and Trigram Master Myo meet Sect Leader Kim…'
The corners of Dongmun Mutoe's mouth deepened.
What would happen when a flame met a flame?
A larger fire was bound to erupt.
"Kekeke."
Ah, I wish I could see it myself.
Just then.
Thump.
A pull tugged at one side of his chest.
He knew without needing to think or measure.
It was in the direction of the Hero's Sect.
'Is this also an effect of the Oath?'
This strange shackle always left a sensation of something pulling him in the direction of Kim Rae-won.
Of course, he didn't know the principle behind it, not yet.
However, this pull wasn't unpleasant.
On the contrary.
'This is interesting.'
For a scholar, the unknown was not a source of fear in most cases, but of excitement.
"Hah. When will I get there? Ah?"
It was around the time he had been walking for almost exactly three days.
"Finally. Phew. I can finally get some rest."
Dense bundles of Formation Qi, unique to the Heavenly Formation Dao Alliance, pricked at his skin.
After passing the Liaison Office on the outskirts of the Formation Tower and entering the Headquarters, an entryway surrounded by layers of barriers from the Layered Formations appeared.
A normal person would be caught in a Bewilderment Formation the moment they set foot in this area and would just walk in circles, but to a Trigram Master, this was no different from a front door.
It was merely a familiar path in a familiar air.
A home of sorts.
'Well, should I call it my former home now?'
As soon as he entered the Formation Tower's Headquarters, he noticed something different from usual.
The Low-rank Formation Masters were moving about with particular urgency, and the faces of those passing in the corridors were tense.
Dongmun Mutoe happened to grab hold of a passing Formation Master.
"What's going on?"
"Who are you?"
His reclusive nature, which meant most people didn't recognize him, was usually an advantage, but at times like this, it was inconvenient.
"A Trigram Master."
"What? The Trigram Masters are all in the Eight Trigrams Hall right now..."
"The Eight Trigrams Hall?"
The Eight Trigrams Hall.
A meeting room located on the top floor of the Formation Tower.
It was a place where an octagonal room contained a round table engraved with the Eight Trigrams symbol in the center, surrounded by eight Trigram Master seats.
For all the Trigram Masters to be gathered there meant...
"Ah, it seems they're still in a heated debate. Am I right?"
"Yes... But who are you?"
"I said I'm a Trigram Master, you punk."
Dongmun Mutoe paid no mind to the tilting head of the Low-rank Formation Master and stepped onto the stairs.
As he was climbing the spiral staircase.
[You've arrived.]
Suddenly, a voice echoed in his mind.
No, to be precise, it wasn't a voice.
It was more like a will, or perhaps a thought.
But he knew with absolute clarity whose it was.
"Looks like you really are a god, seeing as you can do something like this."
A Mind-Connecting Art transmitted across hundreds of li... Moreover, it had accurately perceived that he had arrived at the Formation Tower.
Was this truly someone beyond human?
Adding another question to his list, Dongmun Mutoe began walking again with a smile on his lips.
Towards the Eight Trigrams Hall, where the Trigram Masters were likely still fighting and squabbling over the matter of the Vast Heaven Infinite Sword Sect and the Dark Rakshasa Way.
● ● ●
Inside the Eight Trigrams Hall.
Three of the eight Trigram Master seats were empty.
The Fire Formation Division (Li).
The Mountain Formation Division (Gen).
The Thunder Formation Division (Zhen).
Dongmun Mutoe, Yan Bilyeong, Myo Jinheo.
With all three absent, the meeting had continued into its second day, and the remaining five Trigram Masters and the Yin-Yang Guard sat surrounding the octagonal table.
The loudest voice among them belonged to Baek Jang-gyeong, the Trigram Master of the Heaven Formation Division of the Qian Trigram.
"I'll say it again."
A large man in his late fifties with neatly tied white hair slammed his hand on the table.
With a cracking sound, the teacups on the table all trembled.
"What the Formation Tower has maintained for three hundred years is not neutrality, but dignity. If we lose our dignity, we lose our neutrality as well."
The gazes of the other Trigram Masters gathered on Baek Jang-gyeong.
"The Vast Heaven Infinite Sword Sect is a giant of the Orthodox Faction. Among the Ten Great Sects, they are called the Number One Sword. Joining hands with such a place means establishing the dignity of the Formation Tower."
His voice was as thick as thunder.
An intimidating pressure, befitting the eldest of the Trigram Masters, weighed down on the entire Eight Trigrams Hall.
"Conversely, joining hands with the Dark Rakshasa Way? With madmen who shout 'Slaughter is Liberation'? That would be the same as declaring to the world that the Formation Tower is a puppet of the Unorthodox and Demonic Paths."
He was resolute.
"The moment we join hands with the Unorthodox and Demonic Paths, the entire Orthodox Faction will let go of the hand they have tacitly held with the Formation Tower. When that happens, what use is all the money?"
After Baek Jang-gyeong finished speaking, a brief silence fell.
The one who broke the silence was a woman sitting on the opposite side.
Ga Myo-ryeon, the Trigram Master of the Lake Formation Division of the Dui Trigram.
A woman in her early thirties.
Slender in build, she was always fiddling with an abacus.
Her eyes were so narrow that her pupils were only visible when she smiled, giving her an inscrutable impression.
Click, click, click.
After flicking the beads of her abacus three times, Ga Myo-ryeon opened her mouth.
"Dignity, you say?"
She smiled lightly.
"Can you buy Formation Stones with dignity?"
"What did you say?"
"I'm asking if you can cover research expenses with dignity. Can you pay the contract fees of the Low-rank Formation Masters with dignity?"
Click, click.
"The advance payment from the Dark Rakshasa Way is more than the total amount offered by Vast Heaven. Exactly three times more. Furthermore, Dark Rakshasa offered an advance payment, while Vast Heaven is insisting on post-payment."
Ga Myo-ryeon's abacus did not stop.
"If you're going to ignore the numbers, then you might as well redo the budget for the Research Pavilion. If Trigram Master Baek can procure Formation Stones with dignity, I would gladly agree."
"Is this! The Eight Trigrams Hall, a place to complain about money!"
Baek Jang-gyeong's fist struck the table once more.
"Do you remember the Creed of the Formation Tower, Trigram Master Baek?"
Ga Myo-ryeon's voice remained calm.
"'Money is Orthodoxy, and no money is Unorthodoxy.' Wasn't it the Founding Ancestor himself who decreed that if there is money, it is righteous, and if there is no money, it is wicked?"
"That Creed does not mean that!"
"Then what does it mean?"
"It means that the Formation Tower can accept any request without prejudice, not that we should join hands in madness!"
"Madness, you say."
Ga Myo-ryeon tilted her head slightly.
Her narrow eyes opened halfway.
"Is there a side in this war that is not mad?"
"..."
"The Vast Heaven Infinite Sword Sect's refusal to leave their main mountain even after one of their branches was annihilated—is that pride? Or is it arrogance? If a giant of the Orthodox Faction cannot even avenge a subordinate branch, then where is this so-called dignity?"
Click.
The abacus sounded once.
"The dignity that Trigram Master Baek speaks of, I believe it is a dignity that Vast Heaven has already shattered themselves."
"...!"
Baek Jang-gyeong's eyes widened.
Just then, the Trigram Master of the Water Formation Division of the Kan Trigram interjected.
A man in his late thirties with a gentle impression.
"Both sides have a point, don't they? Why don't we just divide our personnel into small groups and dispatch them to both sides..."
"A half-hearted suggestion."
Baek Jang-gyeong cut him off immediately.
"It's not half-hearted, but."
Ga Myo-ryeon also cut in right away, her eyes still maintaining a smile.
"Playing both sides is the surest way to make enemies of them both."
Faced with a fierce confrontation that was like a life-or-death duel fought with two swords made of tongues, the Trigram Master of the Water Formation Division fell silent.
The Trigram Master of the Wind Formation Division of the Xun Trigram crossed his arms and said.
"That's precisely why this meeting has lasted two days. What's the point of reaching a conclusion when three Trigram Masters are missing? Why don't we wait until Trigram Master Dongmun, Trigram Master Yan, and Trigram Master Myo return..."
"Continue."
A single short phrase silenced the entire Eight Trigrams Hall.
At the main seat of the octagonal table.
A small old man sitting in the most modest seat, a level higher than the eight Trigram Master seats.
In his sixties.
A thin, small frame.
His build was less than half of Baek Jang-gyeong's, and he was even smaller than Ga Myo-ryeon.
The weakest-looking person among the Trigram Masters.
However, the robe this old man wore was not the eight-colored robes of the Trigram Masters.
It was a pure white Yin-Yang Robe, embroidered with the Eight Trigrams symbol that the first Yin-Yang Guard was said to have stitched himself three hundred years ago.
It was the only such robe under the heavens.
And.
The energy flowing from beneath that robe was too tranquil to be called Formation Qi.
It was as if the Eight Trigrams Hall itself was the old man's Formation.
No, that was indeed the case.
The entire flow of Formation Qi in the Eight Trigrams Hall was circulating around that small old man as its axis.
A man who was already deploying a Formation just by sitting in this room.
The one who was known to be able to deploy five kinds of Formations with every step and produce seven variations with every breath.
Five Formations with Every Step, Seven Variations with Every Breath.
This was the current Yin-Yang Guard, Jin Mugeuk.
The brilliant eyes embedded in his wrinkled face were deeper than any light on the table and sharper than any blade.
After taking a sip of tea, his eyes leisurely swept across the table.
That was enough.
The Trigram Master of the Wind Formation Division fell silent, and both Baek Jang-gyeong and Ga Myo-ryeon swallowed their next words.
The meeting continued.
But it was a stalemate.
Vast Heaven or Dark Rakshasa.
Justification or practicality.
Dignity or money.
Between these two axes, the remaining Trigram Masters could only weigh the options, unable to make a decisive blow.
The Trigram Master of the Earth Formation Division of the Kun Trigram was a taciturn man in his forties who expressed his opinion throughout the meeting only by nodding or shaking his head.
He hadn't uttered a single word.
Baek Jang-gyeong's argument for dignity, Ga Myo-ryeon's argument for practicality, the Water Formation Division's compromise, and the Wind Formation Division's argument for procedure.
And the Yin-Yang Guard's silence.
With a stalemate like this on the second day, both sides had already said all they had to say.
A vicious cycle that would never end without a new variable.
"My position hasn't changed. The dignity..."
Just as Baek Jang-gyeong and Ga Myo-ryeon's endless argument was about to start again.
Creeak—.
The tightly closed doors of the Eight Trigrams Hall opened.
And.
"Ah, how could you discuss such an interesting topic without me?"
A languid voice followed immediately.
A pale face devoid of color, a slender frame, an impression of one who might break in the wind.
But his lips were curved into a mischievous smile.
Dongmun Mutoe stepped into the Eight Trigrams Hall.
As soon as he entered, he dusted off his robe.
Three days' worth of dust fell away.
"Dongmun Mutoe? Where in the world have you been to only show up now?!"
Baek Jang-gyeong turned his large body and shouted.
Half scolding, half pleased.
Ga Myo-ryeon's abacus also stopped.
Her narrow eyes scanned Dongmun Mutoe once.
"...You've come."
The Trigram Master of the Earth Formation Division gave a slight nod, his face expressionless.
The Trigram Master of the Water Formation Division let out a sigh of relief.
And.
The Yin-Yang Guard.
He put the teacup to his lips and took a sip of hot tea.
"You've come."
The overall reaction was strongly one of welcome.
After all, this was Dongmun Mutoe, the greatest prodigy of the Formation Tower.
His appearance was sure to cause a massive shift in the stagnant meeting.
Swoosh.
After glancing over all of them, Dongmun Mutoe smiled brightly and walked over to the empty seat of the Fire Formation Division's Trigram Master, sitting down naturally.
As if he had been in that seat since two days ago.
"I heard a few things on my way here. I've grasped the general situation, so please continue."
"More importantly."
The Trigram Master of the Wind Formation Division looked around and asked.
"What about Trigram Master Yan and Trigram Master Myo? Didn't you come together?"
"Those two had some urgent business."
Dongmun Mutoe answered lightly.
"They will be back soon."
Dongmun Mutoe raised the corners of his mouth and naturally changed the subject.
"Vast Heaven or Dark Rakshasa. You must be quite tired of this topic after two days. May I bring up something a little different?"
Baek Jang-gyeong narrowed his eyes.
"A different story?"
"Yes. The premise of this debate is a bit flawed."
Ga Myo-ryeon's abacus began to move again.
Dongmun Mutoe placed his elbow on the table and rested his chin on his hand.
Just then.
Thump.
It came again.
That will, transcending distance, echoing in his mind.
Dongmun Mutoe's smile deepened even further at that moment.
"By any chance, have you all heard of a new sect called the Hero's Sect?"