Dark Shadow - 4
Excluding Cheon Yomyeong, Jang Cheon had faced two others in the Manifestation Realm. One was the head of the Namgung family, Sword King Namgung Hoyeol. He had joined forces with the head of the Hebei Paeng family to attack him. A man of few words. He had uttered just one phrase right before unleashing his final ultimate technique.
The Emperor King Sword Form had nearly torn off Jang Cheon's shoulder. That day, Jang Cheon had revealed the power of immortality to the martial world for the first time.
The other was Gong Yo, the vice leader of the Divine Continent Fifty Heroes Alliance led by Cheon Yomyeong. Shaolin's greatest force. Even eighteen Diamond Monks charging at him simultaneously couldn't match him.
He had attacked Jang Cheon alongside Cheon Yomyeong. Facing two in the Manifestation Realm was nearly impossible. Shattering Gong Yo's dantian had been Jang Cheon's final desperate act.
And now, Jang Cheon faced his first Manifestation Realm expert in the present era.
Hiss! Clang!
Jang Cheon closed in. His weapon was a half-sword; the shorter the engagement distance, the better. But would the wielder of a short sword avoid close-quarters combat?
Kakakakang!
From the opening clash, the two warriors dove into brutal fisticuffs. Roars echoed in an instant, repeated several times. Relentless exchanges of blows, sword strikes faster than sound probing for flesh in split-second intervals.
"Whoa! You're fast!"
Myeong-yeon's eyes curved slightly. Even at close range, his boasted Nine Heavens Chain Slash Sword couldn't assert dominance. His speed was superior, but the opponent excelled in power and technique.
In that case, change the environment.
His judgment was swift.
"Haat!"
He tossed the short sword skyward. The blade spun away, drawing eyes upward. Then Myeong-yeon narrowed the distance further, slipping inside the half-sword's reach. A range where swinging a sword was awkward. The optimal interval for fist techniques.
Papap!
Myeong-yeon's hands lashed out like lightning. The Flame Iron Divine Palms, regarded as one of the world's supreme arts.
Supreme palm technique of the world.
A white light flashed on his hands in that instant.
"Block this if you can!"
Myeong-yeon's hands battered Jang Cheon's body at terrifying speed. But it wasn't enough. Jang Cheon didn't defend because there was no need.
No impact. An outrageous protective aura.
"Where'd you chug a bottle of elixirs?"
Slash!
Unlike the incessantly chattering Myeong-yeon, Jang Cheon barely spoke. His half-sword spoke for him. Myeong-yeon's face changed at the menacing incoming strike. He arched his back in one motion, the half-sword grazing his hair by a hair's breadth.
"You mad bastard!"
It wasn't the strike he'd seen at the Sima family. That's why he could dodge. Balancing precariously on the edge of that scope.
Myeong-yeon grinned and shifted his stance. His specialty was the Phantom Sword. It didn't stagnate. It wasn't bound. Infinitely varying combat styles—that was the truth he had attained.
"Got any confidence in your leg techniques?"
An inverted handstand, an eerie posture.
Papapak!
Lightning-like kicks poured down. The ultimate of Opening Seal Single Strike: Snake Master Chain Ring Kick.
Ultimate of Opening Seal Single Strike.
"......"
Jang Cheon's brow furrowed. Had the guy always been this talkative? Come to think of it, that Yi Pil-do bastard was the same. Had the martial world's traditions added tongue duels now?
It irked him strangely. Things hadn't been like this before.
"Quiet."
With one word, he swung the sword vertically. A fierce wave tore through the air.
Ziiiiiing!
A technique shaking the air with strikes, inspired by Shaolin's Lion's Roar and self-invented.
The opponent's balance faltered for a moment, and Jang Cheon exploited the gap. A line of death impossible to block or dodge.
One of the Black Arrow Eight Methods.
"Gah!"
For the first time, the smile vanished from Myeong-yeon's face. He recognized the energy form instantly. The technique from the Sima family's secret chamber. Sword aura at the speed risking meridian rupture.
In that instant, white light flickered on Myeong-yeon's left arm.
".......Hm?"
Jang Cheon instinctively raised his right hand. The opponent's sword projection was incoming. Something was off. The position he'd just been in should have been outside the trajectory of the autonomous flying sword.
"Feeling dizzy? Say the word, and I'll go easy!"
Myeong-yeon's combo continued. Kicks, palms, then ground techniques. Plus the short sword floating in the air as an autonomous flying sword. A disorienting Phantom Sword that made the eyes spin.
Jang Cheon once more wedged into a gap and unleashed Black Shoot. However—
Ping!
"Damn!"
The Black Shoot missed its mark. Myeong-yeon had shifted position in an instant. Was it Body Replacement Technique? No. If he could dodge Black Shoot with that, Sima Jin-gyeong and Blood Flame Demon Lord would be greatly wronged.
Jang Cheon silently stared at Myeong-yeon. He hadn't moved. The opponent had.
"I understand."
Back to the position before the fifth exchange.
"You get it? Quick on the uptake. Must be the Manifestation Realm for you."
Myeong-yeon waved his hands theatrically. He was the White Light Seat Master. One who borrowed the power of the Star Interval White Worm. His ability: limited regression. Not time, but space rewound—a form of transposition. He converted only his position mid-battle. No margin for error, no precursors.
Myeong-yeon grew faster. The white light intensified. Yet Jang Cheon merely held his half-sword in silence.
Even if the enemy disrupted his vision, nothing changed. To him, martial arts were always the same. Fast and strong. And precise. Swinging the sword accurately at the perfect moment.
"Ha!"
No boisterous kiai, no headache from shifting combat styles, not even the short sword lurking beyond his sight. He erased them all now.
Jang Cheon closed his eyes. Relying on his senses, not sight. Darkness held no illusions for him. For Heuk-yo was the master of shadows.
Left, right, and again.
Ssseaaaaaaaak!
The black line of death shot out. An angle Myeong-yeon couldn't evade. Precisely, it encompassed all his prior positions. The horizontally elongated trajectory included everything.
Was this the end?
"Impressive! Well-deserved reputation!"
Myeong-yeon smiled once more, as if he'd awaited this moment.
And then, in an instant.
"......!"
Kaaaang!
It was a first for Jang Cheon. Blocking his own sword strike was a rare experience. Veins bulged on his forehead. The half-sword's edge cracked. Even deploying sword aura, his meridians ruptured again.
He barely repelled it, shoving back like being pushed, then tilted his head half an inch aside. The short sword's blade grazed his cheek there.
"Close one!"
"......Clever tricks."
The first compliment. He had no intention of blaming reliance on alien powers. It was merely another tactic. The enemy had hidden the fact that "Jang Cheon could move too" until a good opportunity.
As if seizing the advantage, Myeong-yeon spoke flippantly.
"For someone who devoured Flame Fire and Mixed Embryo, you're not using your power well?"
"Flame Fire?"
Jang Cheon's eyes flickered subtly. Flame Fire—just the name told him. That damned bird that left a pattern on Cheon Sohyang's nape. Claiming he'd eaten it meant—
"Didn't you kill and consume the sacrifice prepared by the Sima family?"
"I see."
He didn't know. Whatever the process, the Dark Shadows believed Cheon Sohyang was dead. The flames in the secret chamber might have swept away all evidence that day.
Priorities solidified swiftly in Jang Cheon's mind. Find the clue to resolve the nape pattern, and there was no reason to pursue Dark Shadows.
"Understood."
Erase all traces related to Cheon Sohyang's survival, and the child would be free. The Sima family's fate was sealed in that moment.
Jang Cheon immediately retreated far back. Myeong-yeon lowered his stance again, preparing to unleash Phantom Sword.
"That white light is annoying. Can you keep using it long?"
The pattern on his left arm. Different from Cheon Sohyang's, but the same vein. The White Light Seat Master seemed loose-lipped.
"Unlike some, I prepare thoroughly—!"
White light surged again. The fight resumed. Jang Cheon now seemed on the defensive. The flashy combos of Nine Heavens Chain Slash Sword assailed like a storm.
"You're wasted like this. Join Dark Shadows. I'll teach you how to use your power properly. Obviously, I can fix those ruptured meridians too."
"Even that's possible?"
"With Cha-saeng, I could revive the dead! We have more Seat Masters than the Namgung, you know?"
"......"
"Above all, innate Manifestation Realm is rare. You lost due to poor Divine Artifact utilization, not inferior martial arts to mine. If you'd fought with White Light sealed, I'd have lost?"
"What changes if I join?"
At the question, Myeong-yeon grinned.
"Everything."
He reflected on his brief eighty years. Ascended to Transformation Realm at sixty. Craved the pinnacle of swordsmanship, but time ran short. Then Dark Shadows came.
"I'll give you an ageless body. Not cheap crap like Mixed Embryo—we provide high-grade Divine Artifacts. Seat Masters share martial arts too, I think? Martial arts aren't our focus. You can peruse ascension arts freely. And, hmm."
He winked, curling his fingers lewdly.
"Pleasures beyond imagination. Cha-saeng specializes in that, actually."
Myeong-yeon shuddered recalling it. Ecstasy had limits. Had his will faltered by a hair, he'd have been Cha-saeng's slave forever.
He figured that was enough. But Jang Cheon aimed his half-sword again.
Myeong-yeon liked this guy even more.
"......."
"Want to play more? No mercy this time?"
Myeong-yeon smirked boldly, gripping his short sword. Their martial arts were in a favorable matchup anyway.
And.
"Kuh... ughhh!"
Riverside. The area was soaked in blood. Wet sand occasionally crumbled with white light. Vegetation touched by the ominous glow withered in grotesque forms, and fish sporadically floated belly-up outside the water.
At the center, a man groaned in agony. His state was wretched. Half his legs were severed. His left arm too. A long gash across his abdomen bled endlessly.
Before him, the black-robed man approached slowly.
"What, thought your freakish power would win?"
"Heh, figured a guy chowing two Divine Artifacts skipped proper training."
"One thing: you're the weakest Manifestation Realm I've seen."
"Bullshit. I'm mid-tier, sil... kuhk!"
Myeong-yeon groaned. Dantian-shattering pain was hard even for him.
Fierce battle. He'd given his all. Martial arts at Manifestation Realm, plus Divine Artifact. White Light even regenerated. An ordinary Manifestation Realm couldn't endure.
Simply, the man before him surpassed it all.
"You yaksha bitch...!"
"Bastard."
Jang Cheon scowled. He wanted to kill this loathsome wretch immediately, but questions remained.
"That pattern. If you don't use its power, nothing happens?"
"Right. But why not use that good stuff... the Divine Artifact's power?"
Myeong-yeon inhaled sharply. To die like this. But from his state, the bastard's end wasn't far either.
"And you've used plenty already."
Jang Cheon had seen it long ago. Ten years prior, the previous Sangcheon had overused beyond permitted. Then the Wheel Eye Scripture demanded his brain as offering. While alive.
Humans must offer something. Fail the quota, and the Outer God chooses. The most precious.
"Heh, someday... you'll lose it too. Your most precious..."
"Doesn't matter if I don't use it."
"......?"
Not the reaction he wanted. As Myeong-yeon looked puzzled, Jang Cheon severed his neck without hesitation.
The supreme swordsman who reached Manifestation Realm thus departed the world.
"Hoo."
The head rolled into the river. Jang Cheon suddenly felt something in his bosom thrash wildly. The bead called Void Soul Spirit gnashed its teeth, lunging at Myeong-yeon's corpse.
He clenched his fist, suppressing it.
"Restrain yourself, you beast."
This monstrosity would need dealing with eventually.
Night passed, dawn approached. Still dim early morning; Jang Cheon gauged the hour.
To keep his promise with the child, no sleep today. Unlike the Cheon family, he knew the weight of promises.
"......That child's life is mine. No one but me has the right to take her life."
Be it Dark Shadows or the Demonic Cult. Even the entire martial world.
That was a promise.
After brief rest, Jang Cheon vanished toward Seongdo.
That dawn, the Sima family manor burned, its head and three elders slain. The day the infamous Black-White Sword Demon terrorized the entire martial world.