Chapter 153
Chapter 153
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 153
Chapter Title: Tang Clan's Greatest Prodigy
-----------------------------------------------------------------
As I ascended to the Transcendent Realm, my three streams of qi merged into one.
Heavenly Demon Qi.
That was what I decided to call it.
But my Heavenly Demon Qi was different in nature from the qi wielded by my master or the previous cult leaders.
While the traditional Heavenly Demon Qi was ferocious, overwhelming and dominating everything in its path, I had buried that ferocity deep within as much as possible.
On the surface, it appeared soft and pure, like the inner arts of the orthodox sects. You could believe it was pure true qi.
Yet this Heavenly Demon Qi wore many masks.
It became Black Dragon Qi in my dantian, amplifying my spirit power. As it coursed through my meridians, it turned into Red Dragon Qi, strengthening my body.
At times, it revealed its original nature as Heavenly Demon Qi, unleashing an overwhelming aura to dominate my opponent.
The transformations of yin-yang dual qi, which were supposedly impossible to reconcile, flowed freely, deepening the profundity of my martial arts even further.
And I intended to delve even deeper into it.
To fully assimilate the newly acquired Ten Directional Divine Demon Flow into my body.
And... to decipher the Myriad Heavens Vault that had taken root in my mind like a dais.
Variations and illusions were the riddles I had been grappling with lately.
Flash! Flash!
The Gale Wind Blade, gripped like a sword, unleashed sword thunder.
Sword thunder deployed through the reverse divergence of the Ten Directional Divine Demon Flow.
Naturally, its speed and destructive power were tremendous, proportional to the strength infused into my muscles.
“Urk...!”
Yi Cheolsan, barely blocking the sword strike, staggered back a couple of steps and let out a hollow laugh.
“Young Master Tang, did you secretly consume some spirit medicine that boosts muscle power while we weren't looking? What kind of strength—”
“You shouldn't assume that's the end of it just yet.”
Screeech—
“Ik!”
As I unfurled the Gale Wind Blade to stir the winds, razor-sharp blade winds came howling like a storm.
Sword winds laced thick with sword qi.
Their slicing power, enough to cleave iron, battered his entire body.
“You're really going too far! Attacking me mid-sentence!!”
Yi Cheolsan bellowed as if scolding me, but a smile played on his lips.
A sign that he was enjoying this moment to death.
Clang! Clang-clang-clang!
We were in the midst of a spar.
“I heard Young Master Unhwi had reached the Transcendent Realm, but... this is beyond imagination?”
“His sword strikes are subtly shifting angles mid-path. Not easy to pull off at that speed.”
“That last sword strike would be hard to track with the naked eye. You?”
“Me neither. That's the realm of instinct. To defend properly, you'd want to widen the distance rather than clash head-on—”
Yoo Sumin and Sama Seon spoke among themselves while spectating our spar.
Discussing how they would counter if they joined, or what variations they would add if they executed those techniques themselves.
“Especially the way he's handling the sword winds now—it's changed a lot. Feels almost like covert arts.”
Sama Seon's eyes were the sharpest of all.
While others focused on my elevated swordsmanship or enhanced strength, she zeroed in on the sword winds enveloping me.
The faint breeze that began with Mad Wind Dance, evolved through Gale Wind Blade, and transformed into sword winds.
Previously mere auxiliaries to my movements or encompassing various martial arts, they now danced alongside me as another sword.
Empowering the sword thunder, or striking Yi Cheolsan's blind spots like invisible hidden weapons.
And that sword wind was what troubled Yi Cheolsan the most.
It wasn't that I had gained some grand enlightenment or new martial art.
I had simply introduced one tiny change to the sword winds.
Namely, variations.
The iron pages forming the Great Peng in Great Peng Soaring a Myriad Miles Across the Heavens appeared to follow major air currents from a broad perspective, but individually, they harbored erratic unpredictability, as if each had its own will.
That was the insight I had seized upon.
What if sword thunder, limited to straight thrusts due to speed, could veer off at angles, becoming unpredictably dangerous?
What if sword winds, whose uses varied with rotation, could be wielded like the hidden weapons of Myriad Heavens Vault?
Could I not create even more diverse and lethal trajectories?
Of course, that required perfect control over both sword thunder and hidden weapons.
It wouldn't be easy on a chaotic battlefield where you couldn't predict even a single inch ahead, but I had the Ten Directional Divine Demon Flow.
The Ten Directional Divine Demon Flow, which pursued total mastery over the body.
If I extended that domain outward and fused it with sword winds, I could forge covert arts of another realm.
—Wind Summoning Arts.
That was the name I gave it.
Like how I reinterpreted Poison Dragon Heart Formula into Black Dragon Heart Formula and Red Dragon Demon Body, this was my personal reinterpretation of Mad Wind Dance.
Still just a tiny seed, but someday, it might truly summon winds and call rains.
Rumble!!
Sword thunder mingled with sword winds, sharpening them to the extreme. It felt like a storm laced with thunderbolts.
Yi Cheolsan deflected the storm sideways with sword strikes blending red and blue glows.
In an instant, the sparring ground filled with thick mist.
“Hah!”
“Are those two really the later generation? This looks like a spar between old sect elders—”
“One's the Sichuan's top later generation talent, and the other's the Tang Clan's Greatest Prodigy, right? It's only natural!”
The Tang Clan's Greatest Prodigy was a new moniker bestowed upon me after my performance in the Nine Dragons Great Battle rivaled Yi Cheolsan's, drawing parallels to his Sichuan's top later generation title.
They couldn't just slap some mediocre nickname on me, the leader of the Eight Shining Talents of the Latter Generation, and a true scion of the Tang Clan, now could they?
A bit embarrassing, but not bad.
It meant my reputation had risen to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Yi Cheolsan's in the eyes of outsiders.
That was why Yi Cheolsan and I weren't sparring in secret.
We made sure every renowned expert and later generation talent in the procession could watch.
The experts exclaimed in admiration, and the later generation talents gazed in envy.
In particular, Hong Ryeo, Dragon Sword Nation, and Hyun Ijin—who had recently begun mingling with us—openly expressed their desire to join in.
Though we hailed from different sects and ages, having navigated treacherous battlefields together fostered a profound sense of camaraderie.
Perhaps this was part of what the Dark Lord intended.
Whoosh!
Yi Cheolsan and I pierced the mist, widening our distance.
Haa, haa—
Shortness of breath escaped both our lips, but smiles hung on our faces.
“Truly... I can't fathom the limits of Young Master Tang's potential. One slip, and I'd be caught in an instant.”
“That's only because Brother Yi held back. It was a delightful spar.”
“I'm not the only one who held back, it seems... Well, it was delightful for me too. Let's do it again sometime.”
“We still have time before reaching the capital. How about we make time like this every morning?”
“That works for me. I'd be grateful. Haha!”
Yi Cheolsan and I exchanged formal clasps of fists and bowed our heads.
Waaah!
As the spectators erupted in cheers at the prospect of more such spars,
My gaze fixed on one person beyond them.
He was glancing our way while conversing nonstop with someone.
It was Gong Son-beom of the Flying Heaven Fox Clan.
* * *
I received reports on Gong Son-beom every night from Onma and Ilno.
「We still haven't found any significant associates.」
“Suspicious vibes keep popping up here and there, but he doesn't seem to be executing anything concrete.”
“You're saying suspicious vibes keep appearing?”
Having finished reviewing my morning spar with Yi Cheolsan, I asked.
His fair and upright swordsmanship stimulated me from various angles, proving immensely helpful.
But unlike martial arts, matters concerning Gong Son-beom remained an intractable puzzle.
It had already been twenty days since leaving the Nine Dragons Precinct.
And yet we still hadn't caught his tail.
“Yes. He's already pulled in quite a few examinees into his faction or built rapport with them, and even among the experts who previously viewed him poorly, a fair number are changing their minds.”
Impressions of Gong Son-beom weren't particularly favorable.
A ronin opportunist.
A schemer who toyed with people through intrigue.
A petty soul more interested in scraps than personal prowess.
Most saw him negatively or with contempt.
Yet in the Nine Dragons Great Battle, Gong Son-beom proved his mastery not just in lightness skill but also in the hundred strikes technique, and he approached those who scorned him with grace, gradually winning them over—showing the demeanor of a magnanimous hero.
Rumor even had it that the man had completely changed.
With all Eight Shining Talents of the Latter Generation under the Dark Lord's attention, some speculated the Dark Lord's influence had reformed him.
I too might have viewed him positively if not for the church academy connection.
But it felt too nagging to overlook.
My instincts like this rarely missed the mark.
“Any signs of him hiring people or contacting the outside?”
「None, milord. The conversations he has are mostly trivial chatter.」
“And the part about checking for overlaps with church academy affiliates?”
“That one's ambiguous too. Their backgrounds are so disparate there's hardly any common ground.”
「Which makes it all the more suspicious, milord. Normally, digging like this would uncover something—」
“Too clean, and thus more suspicious?”
「Precisely.」
Onma and Ilno bowed their heads in shame.
Gong Son-beom was a lowly ronin, while church academy affiliates were akin to nobility in the jianghu—elders of the old sects.
They operated in entirely different spheres from the start.
I reassured them it was fine and pondered.
“Which means background checks have their limits.”
I had planned to investigate discreetly without raising flags, but that seemed impossible now.
“Got any good ideas?”
“Time to pay a visit to someone who might know something.”
* * *
“Young Master Tang, what brings you at this hour?”
Late at night.
The procession had finally rented out an entire annex at an inn to rest.
Carrying a single gourd of liquor, I barged into Yi Cheolsan's room.
He sat cross-legged in meditation, sword laid across his knees.
Seemed like he was reviewing our spar.
I clicked my tongue lightly at the sight.
This guy was a real training maniac.
The title of Sichuan's top later generation talent wasn't won on talent alone.
“We've only sparred sporadically, never shared a quiet moment like this alone. That alright?”
Yi Cheolsan was an incredible networker.
He had ties with virtually everyone in the procession.
“I'm a Daoist, you know. One in the midst of cultivation at that. Liquor that muddles the mind isn't good.”
“They say even a recluse Daoist must savor the aroma of coarse tea to understand the joys and sorrows of the mundane world.”
“Who the hell spouts such nonsense?”
Who else? Your junior sister.
Of course, I said nothing of the sort.
“So, you won't have any?”
“Ahem! Truth be told, it's tempting... but we depart early tomorrow. How about tea instead? I have some good stuff.”
“That works too.”
“The pleasures of liquor and tea are worlds apart. Allow me to teach you the joys of tea today, Young Master Tang.”
Yi Cheolsan unpacked a tea set and brewed with expert finesse.
“Fine aroma.”
“You bet. Not to brag, but back at Qingcheng, even incense vendors lined up for a taste of my brew. Amazing, right?”
Yi Cheolsan winked playfully.
The lines were probably to curry favor with the tea house leader.
Or perhaps women smitten by his handsome looks.
Still, the tea tasted superb.
As I set down my cup, Yi Cheolsan grinned mischievously and asked.
“Well then, out with it. You came here for something, didn't you?”
I couldn't help but chuckle.
This fox of a man.
I asked roundabout about Gong Son-beom's character, and Yi Cheolsan's face hardened as he countered.
“What on earth makes you curious about that guy?”