Chapter 88: True Intent (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 88: True Intent (3)
Jagyeongjeong glared at me, his face twisted in a hideous scowl.
He clearly hadn't expected me to appear so suddenly.
Sigh.
I looked down at the flute in my hand.
A second later, and it would have been a disaster.
I didn't know how he had managed to infiltrate the heart of Dohwaseon to pull a stunt like this, but I’d heard enough of his babbling to understand his motive.
Crazy bastard.
The man was completely out of his mind.
He claimed to be doing this for some "greater good," but he was a truly dangerous individual.
Who would have thought his real goal was to destroy Dohwaseon and force the eight masters—who had sworn an oath upon their Primordial Spirits—out into the world?
If the masters could leave, stopping the Golden Emperor and the Imperial Army would be trivial.
However, due to their oath, the masters could neither leave this place nor interfere in the affairs of the secular world.
Jagyeongjeong had craftily created a situation where they would be forced to do exactly that.
Just as Lesser Conversation Sword said, the hair of all eight masters had turned snow-white.
The Sword Immortal was no exception; he now looked almost identical to the Spirit Fragment I had seen in my mindscape.
It seemed they had exhausted a massive amount of their original vitality to prevent that sphere from exploding.
"You must stop him!"
Master Han, the owner of the flute and the one who looked slightly relieved at my appearance, shouted.
As Master Han said, neutralizing him was the top priority.
Jagyeongjeong glared at me and spat, "To think a wretch like you would interfere with me again."
"Interfere? You sure talk a lot of bullshit with a straight face."
"What?"
"You betrayed your masters and pulled a stunt this stupid. What gives you the right to act so high and mighty?"
At my mocking words, his pale face flushed with rage.
It seemed Jagyeongjeong hated me just as much as I detested him.
He spoke as if he found me utterly absurd. "A stupid stunt? Is that how the greater good for all the people looks to your eyes? How foolish."
"The greater good for the people?"
"How could a lowly crow like you ever understand the will of a noble heron?"
Did he just call himself a heron?
It was enough to make my head spin.
From what I could see, the man didn't even consider the possibility that he was doing something wrong. He truly believed he was doing the right thing.
He screamed at me, "Do not get in my way! If you’ve seen the secular world, you should know. If left as it is, an even greater catastrophe will unfold!"
"If you want to stop it so badly, why don't you do it yourself?"
"If I could change things with my power alone, I would have done so long ago! If the masters and the Taoists of Dohwaseon join forces now, we can change the world. We can create a pure utopia where no one harbors selfish desires!"
"And because you couldn't convince them, you decided to destroy Dohwaseon?"
From my perspective, he was delusional.
If Dohwaseon were destroyed, I wouldn't be able to return to where I came from.
This was because the very foundation of the 36 Celestial Scripture at the heart of this place was Taoist Master Jeongyang’s Spirit Treasure Brush Method.
I had only learned this later.
A medium was needed to sustain Dohwaseon within the flow of time and space, and they had utilized the Spirit Treasure Brush Method, known as the ultimate Dharma tool.
But if that sphere, smoldering like a sun, were to explode here, Dohwaseon would never be able to manifest again.
"I am breaking the chains that bind the masters here. I don't expect a creature like you to understand a noble cause."
I couldn't help but snort at that.
"Ha! Now I get it."
"What?"
"They say there's nothing more dangerous than a madman with a conviction. That fits you perfectly."
At my sarcastic remark, Master Ha—the veiled female Taoist with a lotus behind her ear—let out a sudden burst of laughter even while straining to contain the sphere.
It was because I had hit the nail right on the head.
"You dare..."
Jagyeongjeong’s pale face turned a deep, angry crimson.
He looked ready to pounce on me at any moment, but then his expression cramped before his lips curled into a sickening smirk.
"I almost fell for your trick."
"Trick?"
"Do you think I don't know you're just trying to buy time so the masters can stop the explosion?"
With those words, Jagyeongjeong turned around and reached out toward the sphere.
Suddenly, the Yin-Yang Plate tucked under Master Jo’s arm was yanked away.
"Oh no!"
Master Jo tried to grab it but failed.
In the brief moment he tried to pull his hand away, the sphere began to expand even faster.
In the end, it meant that if even one person let go, disaster would strike.
Wooooong!
However, Master Jo let out a sigh of relief when he saw the Yin-Yang Plate stop precariously in mid-air.
On the other hand, Jagyeongjeong scowled and moved his hand.
Using Void Object Retrieval, he was trying his best to shove the Dharma tool into that sun-like sphere.
But did he think I would just watch?
Tremble!
I had already engaged in a contest of internal power with him through the flute.
I had won the first time; did he think I would lose the second?
Jagyeongjeong bit his lip hard.
No matter how much he raised his internal power, the Yin-Yang Plate wouldn't budge, and his fury reached a boiling point.
He shouted at me, "You fool! If you went outside, you must have seen it! The tyrant Golden Emperor is heading this way with a massive Imperial Army!"
"..."
"The entrance to Dohwaseon is open. If the masters remain bound here, the Dragon-Tiger Golden Pill—the elixir of longevity—will fall into the tyrant's hands. Is that what you want?"
He was using the same threat he had used on the masters.
It was a classic tactic: narrowing the options to force a specific choice.
More than half of the eight masters looked troubled, their faces darkening as they weighed the options.
" I'll give you the same choice. Will you let the tyrant achieve his dream of immortality while you try to save Dohwaseon? Or will you give up on Dohwaseon and let the masters here stop the tyrant and his army?"
He wore a triumphant expression.
He seemed certain that I, like the masters, would have no choice but to agonize over the decision.
However, there was one fact he didn't know.
"Ah. By any chance, do you really think the Golden Emperor is coming here?"
"He will definitely come."
Since he had personally leaked everything from the location to all sorts of information to the Emperor, he was certain.
If nothing had gone wrong, the Emperor would indeed be arriving about now.
The problem was that something had gone wrong.
I smiled broadly and said to him, "What a shame."
"What?"
"I don't think he can make it."
At my words, he snorted and pressed me.
"Nonsense. The Emperor's army cannot be stopped by your power alone—"
"The story changes if the leader is captured."
"The leader?"
One of his eyebrows shot up.
He clearly found it hard to believe.
"Surely you aren't suggesting you did something to the Emperor? Even if your martial arts are decent, if you had encountered that man, you would never have returned."
He spoke with absolute conviction.
In response, I pulled something from my robes and held it up for him to see.
"!!!"
His eyes widened.
It was one of the Dharma tools he had stolen: the Token of the Immortal Wall True Prison.
He was so shocked that his internal power wavered, and the Yin-Yang Plate, which had been hovering precariously before the burning sphere, flew toward me.
Clack!
As I caught it, he glared at me, realizing his blunder.
"How do you have that?"
"I went and retrieved what you offered to the Emperor to get on his good side. Is something wrong?"
"!?"
At those words, the eight Taoists holding back the sphere turned to look at him with terrifyingly grim faces.
It seemed they hadn't known he had gone as far as offering up the Dharma tools to lure the Emperor.
The Sword Immortal, who had still felt a lingering pity for his former disciple, now looked utterly disgusted, any shred of affection finally gone.
"Foolish. So foolish. You truly thought the world danced in the palm of your hand. Gyeongjeong... Gyeongjeong. I should never have brought you here."
For the first time, a sigh of regret escaped the Sword Immortal's lips.
To add to that, Master Ha, with the lotus behind her ear, said mockingly, "It seems there is no longer a need to choose."
At their words, Jagyeongjeong’s face went beyond flushed; it turned a bursting shade of purple.
He couldn't handle the rage of seeing his meticulously crafted plan crumble because of a single person. The killing intent radiating from his gaze was overwhelming.
Grit!
Grinding his teeth, Jagyeongjeong turned his head.
He spoke to the eight Taoists containing the sun-like sphere.
"I hoped you would walk the same path as I for the sake of the greater good."
"What?"
"In the end, you force my hand to draw blood."
"Surely you don't mean..."
"If I leave you alive, you will just lock me up and hide away in this Dohwaseon until the day you ascend. Do you think I'll let that happen?"
Flash!
As soon as he finished speaking, he lunged toward the eight immortals.
He was completely insane.
To achieve his goals, he was now trying to kill his own masters.
But there was one more thing he had overlooked.
Wooooong!
At that moment, an undulating gray barrier—an Immortal Wall—manifested around him.
"This is...?"
Trapped within the barrier, Jagyeongjeong turned around and glared at me.
This was the power of the Dharma tool, the Token of the Immortal Wall True Prison.
He must have been truly desperate to overlook the fact that I was holding it.
He knew that the moment the masters neutralized the explosion, he would have no way to deal with them.
I approached him as he stood trapped.
"Stay there quietly. Once I've helped the masters, I'll take your head with my own hands."
Whatever else happened, I was going to kill this man.
He was someone who could not be left alive.
But first, I had to help the masters.
If they consumed any more of their vitality, they wouldn't be ascending; they’d be dying of old age.
It was then.
"As I thought, you are the root of all this. If not for you, none of this would have happened."
Shring!
At the sound of a sword being drawn, I turned around.
His hands had been empty.
Yet, he was pulling a long sword from within his robes.
"!?"
But the moment I saw it, I couldn't help but frown.
The sword he had drawn was none other than—
"Cheondun?"
It was the Sword Immortal's Dharma tool, Cheondun.
Jagyeongjeong curled his lip into a cruel smile.
"The Token of the Immortal Wall True Prison is useful, but among the eight Dharma tools, the greatest weapon is undoubtedly Cheondun."
He raised Cheondun high.
Crackle!
Lightning energy surged from Cheondun, and the blade glowed with a brilliant blue light.
Jagyeongjeong then swung the sword down against the barrier.
Rumble!
The moment Cheondun’s blade touched it, a deafening roar erupted, and the undulating Immortal Wall instantly shattered.
He stepped out from the rising dust.
With a voice full of battle lust, he said to me, "It seems you've trained your internal energy diligently, but it has become utterly useless."
Whoosh!
The moment he finished speaking, he appeared right in front of me.
He swung his sword down with the intent to cleave me in two.
I quickly raised the Namcheon Iron Sword to block.
Clang!
As blade met blade, a metallic ring echoed along with a powerful shockwave.
Creeeak!
The heavy energy flowing through the sword felt like a mountain pressing down on me, forcing my feet into the ground.
I was buried nearly up to my ankles.
So it was true.
I had heard that the Dharma tool Cheondun not only controlled thunder and lightning but also maximized the owner's internal power.
It was only a single strike, but I felt it clearly.
His internal power had surged more than threefold.
Jagyeongjeong sneered at me. "Before you can take my head, it looks like you'll die first—"
Rumble!
At that moment, the Namcheon Iron Sword, which had been pushed down by Cheondun, began to slowly rise.
Jagyeongjeong, who had intended to overwhelm me instantly with his surged power, saw his eyes tremble.
"Your... internal power?"
The moment I achieved Essence-Energy Unity, my internal power had exploded.
To begin with, he was far inferior to me in both Lower Dantian internal energy and Middle Dantian Innate True Qi.
The only reason he had briefly overwhelmed me back then was because of the Essence-Energy Unity he had learned from the masters.
But even that had been incomplete.
True Essence-Energy Unity is only possible after one has truly broken through the Wall.
"Ugh!"
Tremble!
The sword that had been rising bit by bit was now level with his.
Flustered, he threw a sudden kick at me.
I blocked his kick with a swaying leg technique that moved like a willow branch.
"!?"
Jagyeongjeong muttered through narrowed eyes.
"This is..."
"Chaehwa Wind Kick."
At my answer, his eyes widened.
Understandably so, as this leg technique was the signature martial art of Nam Chaehwa, the female Taoist who always wore only one shoe.
I followed up by launching a palm strike at his chest.
Bam-bam-bam-bam-bam!
A series of nine palm strikes, flowing like clouds drifting across the sky, forced him back nearly five paces.
Slide!
The pain was one thing, but he muttered as if he found it utterly absurd.
"Is this... the Lesser Sword Immortal's Nine Clouds Myriad Flower Palm?"
"Do you think that's all?"
Whoosh!
Instantly closing the distance with Shape Transformation, I formed a finger sign with my left hand and a fist with my right.
My left finger radiated a bone-chilling cold, while my right fist emitted a scorching heat.
Clang-clang-clang!
He hurriedly unleashed a sword technique to block the attacks.
Jagyeongjeong went beyond disbelief into pure shock as he shouted at the eight Taoists.
"Snow Drinking Finger and Flower Sun Immortal Fist! Have you... have you made this man your Joint Successor?"
In response to his question, the Taoists containing the glowing sphere simply curled their lips into silent smiles.
"!!!"
Seeing that they didn't deny it, Jagyeongjeong’s pupils shook violently.
This must have been a first for him as well.
Never before had these eight Taoists, who sustained Dohwaseon, joined together to pass their skills onto a single person as a Joint Successor.
That unprecedented event had occurred.
I smirked at him and said, "You brought this on yourself."
Did you think you were the only one who could use his head?
To catch you, the one who stole the Dharma tools, the eight masters united their wills.
And I am the result of that decision.
Grit!
Jagyeongjeong ground his teeth and leaped back to create distance.
Then he screamed, "See for yourself who brought disaster upon whom!"
Flash!
He thrust Cheondun toward the sky.
At that moment, thunder roared from the sky visible through the opening of the cavern.
KABOOM!
He was trying to release the true power of Cheondun.
I lunged toward him.
"This is the true power of Cheondun!"
Jagyeongjeong aimed precisely at me and swung the Dharma tool.
In that instant, a bolt of blue lightning struck down through the cavern opening, engulfing me.
CRASH!
Not satisfied with that, he swung Cheondun at me repeatedly.
He exhaled a satisfied breath as he watched me get struck by the lightning, but his expression soon froze.
Crackle!
Thud. Thud.
Despite being struck by bolt after bolt of lightning, I was walking toward him with complete composure.
I smiled at the horrified man and said, "I've gotten quite used to this, you see."