Chapter 312
Chapter 312
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 312
Chapter Title: The Myth of Honam
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Shin Hwa County.
To ordinary folk and merchants crossing Honam, it was just one more county along the way.
But in the jianghu, its meaning was entirely different.
It was home to the Evil-Black Alliance, one of the Nine Provinces Three Tyrants dividing the current martial world into three factions.
And in the heart of Shin Hwa County stood a fortress.
Chaos had erupted within the Black Heaven Castle, stronghold of the Evil-Black Alliance.
"The Immortal Heaven Cult's headquarters has fallen?"
"And that's not all. They say even that mighty Immortal Heaven Cult Leader has met his end."
The warriors in Black Heaven Castle swallowed hard at the world-shaking rumor.
This was different from the fall of White Ghost Castle.
In a way, it was only natural.
Though one of the Six Evil Gates back then, White Ghost Castle was a newly founded sect.
Its power was negligible compared to others, placing it dead last among the Six Evil Gates—a fact anyone with basic knowledge of the martial world acknowledged.
But what of the Immortal Heaven Cult?
It had already made its name across the land long before the era of the Nine Provinces Three Tyrants dawned.
And what of the Immortal Heaven Cult Leader?
A veteran said to have lived over a century.
His seniority matched that of the predecessors' predecessors, and his martial prowess was among the elite even within the Evil-Black Alliance.
Yet he had perished.
How could the unorthodox warriors under the Evil-Black Alliance not be thrown into turmoil?
"Some guy called the Plum Blossom Divine Hero, I hear."
The Evil-Black Alliance warriors gulped at the identity of the one who slew the Immortal Heaven Cult Leader.
They couldn't help but be rattled.
A Mount Hua Sect Daoist in his early twenties.
He was the one who killed the Immortal Heaven Cult Leader.
Though confirmed as fact, the rumor was hard to believe.
"...Son of a bitch! That really him?"
"Has to be. Word is he routed the Bandit King last time. A madman's appeared."
They spat curses as they spoke.
Admiration and envy laced their words.
"But isn't this getting dangerous?"
"Dangerous?"
"Think about it. Starting with White Ghost Castle, the bandits and their Bandit King routed, and now the Immortal Heaven Cult loses its leader and headquarters crumbles."
Brows furrowed deeper with each word.
Victories echoed from elsewhere, but these three events were enough to bury them all.
"At this rate, forget winning the war against the Murim Alliance—we might even lose..."
The speaking warrior froze mid-sentence.
He'd noticed something.
Cold sweat beaded on his forehead.
His pupils dilated, sweat pouring like a waterfall, soaking his uniform completely.
"What's wrong?"
The moment a listening warrior asked in confusion at the sudden change,
"Continue."
A low voice rang out.
The startled warrior turned, then froze as well.
There stood an old man with hands behind his back, his appearance striking.
Long white hair like a wolf's mane, beard left to grow wild, transparent eyes fixed on them.
The warrior felt his breath catch.
He knew the old man's identity.
"L-Lord Returning Heaven Deathbringer...!"
His voice trembled violently.
One of the Immortal Heaven Cult's One-Death Ones.
With the Immortal Heaven Cult Leader gone, this man represented the cult—and their words were too much for them to bear.
'Damn it!'
'What was I thinking!'
Chills ran down their spines.
Not that it mattered—the Immortal Heaven Cult disciples inside Black Heaven Castle were already in an uproar after their headquarters fell.
And among them, the one fuming most was this Returning Heaven Deathbringer before them.
As if to prove it, demonic energy erupted from his back, forming a wrathful specter.
The Returning Heaven Death Knot Art.
Spines tingling, the two rushed forward and prostrated themselves.
"F-Forgive us."
"Mindless prattle..."
They apologized frantically, but
"Did you not hear my words?"
The old man, Returning Heaven Deathbringer, spoke lowly, ignoring their apologies entirely.
His voice spread calmly.
And in that moment,
"...!"
The warriors' heads snapped up.
Not of their own will.
By force.
Returning Heaven Deathbringer loomed over them, waist bent, heads raised against their will.
"Continue speaking."
He thrust his face forward.
Hands still clasped behind, only his face protruding—grotesque.
He filled their vision.
Eerie.
Yet they couldn't look away.
Returning Heaven Deathbringer compelled them.
Soon, face inches away, he stared and mouthed,
"Finish what you didn't say."
His voice bored into their ears, crushing their minds.
Indescribable pressure.
Blood vessels bulged in their eyes.
Drip—
Bloody tears fell.
No, not just tears.
Blood gushed from all seven orifices, staining their uniforms.
They were dead.
Thud—
Their bodies collapsed.
Blood splattered everywhere.
As onlookers who had held their breath at Returning Heaven Deathbringer's appearance trembled,
"Temper's flared, huh? Wasting that much qi on Returning Heaven Sound Art on mere trash like them."
A mocking voice rang out.
Returning Heaven Deathbringer turned sharply.
A middle-aged man approached, liquor bottle in mouth.
His look was unsettling.
Gaudy earring dangling from his left ear, heavy red makeup on his eyes.
Such adornments on a manly face evoked revulsion.
Returning Heaven Deathbringer spoke upon seeing him, infusing sharp qi.
"They dared belittle my cult."
"They're also warriors of my alliance."
The middle-aged man replied nonchalantly to the eerie sound art.
"Instead of venting on alliance warriors, why not go kill that brat Plum Blossom Divine Hero? Better than this tantrum."
"......"
"Or lack the guts?"
The mocking man sauntered over and flung his bottle.
Straight at Returning Heaven Deathbringer's face.
"......"
Returning Heaven Deathbringer casually snatched it mid-air and hurled it aside.
Crash!
It shattered below.
Meanwhile, his eyes narrowed.
'Infused with qi!'
Residual force lingered in his deflecting hand.
Perfectly penetrating energy.
Gritting his teeth, Returning Heaven Deathbringer circulated inner qi to dispel it from his palm, glaring.
"What was that?"
"Same as you."
Fury rose in Returning Heaven Deathbringer's eyes at the man's utter lack of decorum.
But he swallowed it.
The man before him was a monster.
Soul-Stealing Emperor Baekun.
Creator of the Seven Desires Line, called the unorthodox supreme before the Evil-Black Alliance Leader—a monster.
"Why are you here?"
Returning Heaven Deathbringer ground his teeth.
Normally, he'd ignore such matters and drink quietly at some Black Heaven Castle tavern.
Yet he'd come personally.
This was no trifle.
"Got a message for you. Or rather, delivering one."
"A message?"
As Returning Heaven Deathbringer frowned,
Smirk—
Baekun's smile deepened.
Mingling with his makeup, it looked even more grotesque.
His lips parted slowly.
With an eerie tone.
"The Alliance Leader summons you."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Not for nothing was it called the Secret Heaven Repository; countless martial manuals filled the vast library.
Too many to count.
Thus, Cheonhwi hurried.
Flip— Flip—
He grabbed whatever came to hand, scanned it, and memorized the contents.
'Oh? This too?'
At one point, Cheonhwi's eyes widened with interest. More manuals here matched what he knew than expected.
The Secret Heaven Repository held arts from extinct famed sects or exceptional ones from gray-area origins.
Made sense.
No careless placement of just any manual.
'Surging Wave Vast Sea Art? This looks useful. And Su Su Divine Art—pair it with dark arts later. Windless Line Breathing is...'
Cheonhwi linked them to arts in his mind as he read.
'No, don't need this. Better alternatives...'
Dozens, hundreds of martial insights flashed and vanished in his head with each blink while scanning.
'...Actually reading them?'
Yuk Mugwang, watching from afar like a sentinel, narrowed his eyes.
His gaze captured Cheonhwi.
Two breaths to pull a manual, flip through, and replace.
Repeating endlessly.
Too fast to believe he was reading.
Yet not skimming either—odd behavior.
'...No idea.'
He shook his head.
Couldn't tell just by watching.
Sitting in his chair off to the side, Yuk Mugwang refixed his gaze on Cheonhwi.
'Plum Blossom Divine Hero Cheonhwi, was it.'
Long underground, but his eyes and ears were wide open.
Especially intrigued by recent rumors of this Plum Blossom Divine Hero.
'Called the greatest prodigy ancient or modern...'
His eyes deepened on Cheonhwi.
'Remarkable. Such talent from Mount Hua, not Wudang or Kunlun.'
He chuckled softly.
'Truly unpredictable.'
The Eight Divine Arms appeared, and now Mount Hua—an unrelated sect—produced a prodigy threatening them.
The jianghu was beyond prediction.
Meanwhile, Cheonhwi grabbed the next manual.
'Skip this?'
An ancient tome.
So old the title was faded, brittle enough to crumble under force—unsettling.
Cheonhwi considered shelving it unread, shrugged, and opened it.
'Well, glance once before...'
The moment he did,
'Hm?'
Cheonhwi's eyes bulged.
The opening line seized his gaze.
—Seeking to manifest sun and moon with twin swords, follow its extremity.
'Wait, this is...'
His mind raced, eyes darting frantically.
He'd seen this phrase before.
In the Jianghu Martial Arts Ranking Record—a certain art.
'Here of all places?'
His lips twitched.
'Even the Ranking Record said this manual was lost.'
Cheonhwi's eyes gleamed.
Unexpected windfall.
And not just any art—one of the Orthodox Eight Great Sword Arts, the Quanzhen Sect's swordsmanship that once dominated the jianghu before the Nine Great Sects.
Twin Extremes Sword Formula.
'Never thought I'd see this.'
Cheonhwi's mouth curved.
In his past life, even he had only read of it in texts.
Now facing it directly.
How could he not be thrilled?
Cheonhwi dove into the text.
'Twin Extremes, right?'
After reading down the presumed manual a while, Cheonhwi tilted his head quizzically.
It was full of vague, cloud-like phrases.
Less a martial formula, more Dao cultivation aid.
But as he read on, differing from that thought,
'Well now?'
Suddenly, Cheonhwi realized.
Not mere Dao cultivation—this held the essence of supreme martial arts.
Or precisely...
The insights of its author.
That filled these pages.
Cheonhwi's crown point opened wide.
His vast martial knowledge unfurled to interpret the insights before him.
Soon, his eyes shone mysteriously.
Mystic light practically flowed from them.
Such was his focus.
On each phrase.
'What? Contain sun and moon as one?'
Absurd.
Sun and moon opposed.
Sun rises, moon hides; moon rises, sun hides—nature's law.
Yet this Twin Extremes sought to raise both.
Defying heaven.
But that wasn't all.
—At times, sun and moon overlap. What is that day? Why do sun eclipse moon, moon eclipse sun? If light exists because of dark, and dark because of light, what of neither?
Complex words.
Light and dark primordial. Without them?
But Cheonhwi grasped the intent behind the absurdity and questions.
What he sought was one thing.
'Return to Oneness.'
His eyes gleamed at the concept.
The author unraveled the extremity of all rivers returning to the sea through sword.
Finally, the last line.
—Illuminate sun and moon upon the world.
One phrase.
In that instant, Cheonhwi's mind cleared, twin sword trails etching within.
Horizontal and vertical strokes.
'Ah.'
In his mindscape, Cheonhwi's hands moved.
Horizontal, then vertical, like the traces.
And then.
Clasp.
His hands crossed.
Becoming one.
Flash!
A sharp blue gleam flickered.
Mystic qi naturally overflowed from his eyes amid profound realization.
"Hard for others to grasp."
Cheonhwi muttered, lips twisting.
As he said, Twin Extremes Sword Formula was exceedingly difficult to master.
To comprehend it required at least the Heavenly Martial Realm.
How easy could that be?
'Got one anyway.'
Despite such a feat, Cheonhwi's face remained serene.
As if acquiring Twin Extremes was no big deal.
He promptly shelved the manual and pulled the next.