Chapter 695: PAID

The elderly woman, her white hair disheveled, stared at me as though she couldn’t believe her eyes.

Others, who were on the verge of dashing forward, froze in place, their faces similarly dumbfounded.

Yeoseon, who had been so calm and composed moments earlier, now looked visibly rattled.

“How… how did you…?”

I tilted my head as if genuinely confused.

“What do you mean ‘how’?”

“You said to cross the line and tap your shoulder. So, I did.”

I did exactly as instructed—nothing more, nothing less.

It was such a simple matter when you thought about it.

‘Of course, I did use a few tricks.’

I glanced around briefly, taking in the surroundings once more.

This entire place was a formation—I’d known that the moment I stepped through the entrance.

‘The air feels wrong.’

The difference in the flow of energy was immediately noticeable. The very act of breathing in and out felt strange, distorted somehow.

There was no need to activate my Heart’s Eye to understand.

‘This is a formation.’

The subtle irregularities, the twisted flow of energy—everything pointed to a carefully constructed array.

The moment I recognized it, the purpose was obvious.

‘This is a test.’

It wasn’t just a resting area. It was an elaborate trial, woven into the very ground we stood on.

And Yeoseon, the old hag standing before me, was its creator.

As I surveyed the surroundings earlier, I’d noticed the intricate nodes that made up the formation:

The wall, etched with faint markings.

The lone pine tree standing in the middle of the otherwise uniform forest.

The flower on the western edge, strangely conspicuous.

All of these were anchors—critical points that held the formation together.

And Yeoseon herself was the key, her Qi circulating through those nodes to sustain the formation.

‘Impressive.’

It was delicate and precise, exactly what you’d expect from the Murim Alliance’s most renowned formation master.

If this had been my past self, I’d probably have been as helpless as the others standing here.

‘But now, things are a little different.’

With my Heart’s Eye, I could see the formation.

With my heightened senses, I could feel its flow.

If I could see it and feel it…

‘Then breaking through is easy.’

Seeing the path laid out before me, I simply stepped through.

Yeoseon, still clearly shaken, stammered as she looked at me.

“How could you…? So quickly…?”

It had only taken a few seconds—far too little time for her to process what had happened.