Chapter 141: The Sound of Winter Fading (8)
Chapter 141: The Sound of Winter Fading (8)
Generally, martial arts of a lower level do not work against a master of the Super Peak Realm.
This is because those who challenge the Upper Dantian have already established their own microcosm within their bodies.
Such is the nature of a martial artist who can partially manifest the realm of Intent, the stage of the Upper Dantian.
Originally, the Harmony Realm requires one to be able to force their will upon the harmony of the world. Therefore, those who step toward that realm must at least begin by constructing a world within their own bodies.
And so, at this moment.
Jin Sodo, the Grand Elder of the Outer Hall of the Blood Flame Unending Blade, laughed as he crushed the Little Heavenly Demon’s astral energy.
It is only this much. It was surprising that she could handle demonic energy at such a level, but she was still only at the Peak Realm.
The gap in martial prowess only widened as one advanced to higher realms.
A third-rate could defeat a second-rate. A second-rate could triumph over a first-rate.
However, it was not easy for a first-rate to challenge the Peak Realm.
And it was nearly impossible for someone at the Peak Realm to exchange blows with a martial artist who had begun to master the Super Peak and the arts of Intent.
That was common sense.
Crr-crack—!!
The threads snapped. Like thin shards of sugar, the astral energy crumbled and melted into the air.
Jin Sodo rushed forward with his hands spread wide, blood-red astral energy streaming from him.
He only needed to kill Peng Hyeon-hwi, that insufferably arrogant young man. There was no need to worry about anything else; he had already accomplished everything he needed to in Pahyeon—
"Did I not tell you not to approach my lord?"
Threads wound around his arms again. He snorted and snapped them, only for them to return. And again.
Break one strand, and two appeared. Cut two, and they multiplied into dozens.
It was as if ghosts from the abyss were reaching out to seize him.
"What is... this?!"
Tap, tap. The clinging threads of astral energy gradually grew heavy. His arms slowed to a crawl. Before him, the young man charged.
"Do you know Se-jeong hyung? He went out just like you."
Riiip—!!
With a roar like thick cloth being torn, a saber fell. It hadn't even touched his body, yet a sudden chill ran down his spine. As if he had expected this, Peng Hyeon-hwi stepped back without much of a reaction.
It was as if he had merely been testing the state of the protection aura and the protective talismans.
"How dare these vermin!!"
Jin Sodo’s eyes flipped in rage at the attitude that suggested they were certain of victory.
A Grand Elder of the Outer Hall was a figure on par with the elders of the great sects.
He had endured and survived within the Blood Cult, where one had to live by ability alone, and he had survived within the Central Plains where the entire world was his enemy.
Such a veteran martial artist could not be looked down upon by such green youths.
Crackle—!!
With a flick of his fingers, several jiangshi burst into flames, their jaws clattering.
As the formation laid on the ground emitted an eerie light, blade-like energies surged from within.
Originally, a sorcerer capable of summoning wind and rain could easily hold off an entire army if they were within a grand formation they had prepared for a long time.
While traveling sorcerers were certainly treated as weaker and lowlier than martial artists, a sorcerer established on their own ground was considered equal to a martial artist of a higher level.
In that case, how should one estimate the power of a Great Sorcerer who ruled over all the sorcery of the Blood Cult’s Outer Hall and held all the souls of Pahyeon in his hands?
He could boldly declare right now: even a master of the Harmony Realm would not see things much differently.
Therefore.
Snap, snap—!!
With one swing, he tore away all the threads wrapped around his body.
Once again, those terrible astral lines swarmed toward him, but he was already gone.
He reached the retreating Peng Hyeon-hwi, spreading a hand dripping with astral energy.
"Even if the Six-Armed Rakshasa himself had come, he would have been no match for me. Even if you brought all three of those currently fighting the Ghost Gate Meridian Lord, you could not have stopped me...! You, how dare you. How dare just the two of you vermin face me?"
His hand clamped around Peng Hyeon-hwi’s neck. In the meantime, the Peng family saber and gauntlets struck him countless times, but he ignored them with stubborn resolve. Even the Little Heavenly Demon’s astral lines lashing his back could not pierce the protection aura forged from the souls themselves.
Believing that if he just applied a little more strength, this young man’s life would end right here—
"Who... cough! Who said there were only two...?"
Even while letting out a suffocating groan, Peng Hyeon-hwi smiled and gripped his gauntlet, slamming it down.
Thump, thump. Even though such fierce punches should have had no way of piercing the protection aura, he was still smiling.
"Cheong—!!"
A streak of light flew in.
In the ancient legends of the Central Plains, there is a heroic tale of Hou Yi, who shot down nine suns.
Tracing its origins leads back to the Solar Myth of the Liaodong region in ancient times, which spread widely among the nomadic peoples of that era to take the form of the legend known today.
In other words, the root of Hou Yi Shooting the Suns began in today's Liaodong. Thus, its martial arts shared the same lineage.
The Murong Family had carried the bloodline of the Xianbei people since the days of the former Murong Prince of Yan in the land of Liaoning.
Their descendant now stood in this place, holding a divine artifact of ancient times as her Sect Leader’s Token and drawing the string.
Creak...
With one eye closed, she extended her fingertips to gauge the wind.
It was a form of horse archery classified as the Scattering Bow Body.
She gripped the bow with her lower three fingers—middle, ring, and pinky—and extended her index finger to set the line of fire.
She held her breath to control her respiration and infused internal energy into the string drawn back to her earlobe. Finally, the bow was at full draw. Just as the string shrieked and her arm grew numb from the bow's tension.
"Cheong—!!"
Pshhh—!!
With the signal, the arrow left the bow. There was no reason to follow the string's direction with her eyes.
The Murong Family’s archery was counted as peerless under heaven, and she currently held the token of the former Prince of Yan.
Once shot, it hits. Whether it could break the opponent was a secondary matter. An arrow that has left the string will inevitably reach its target.
That was the archery of the Murong Family’s Three Secret Excellences: Black Arrow Pierces the Sun, Thousand-Li Tiger-Slaying Bow. Therefore.
Creak, creak—!!
She nocked the next arrow, and again, pshhh, the arrow flew, tearing through space.
Aiming at dots smaller than a fingernail in the distance, she rested one leg on the battlements of the inner wall and narrowed her eyes to focus.
From a distance of dozens of li, a rain of arrows poured down. From one person’s hand, from a single bow.
Pshhhhh—!!
With a roar that tore the air apart, Jin Sodo’s head snapped back.
The arrow, blocked by a protective talisman, trembled before rolling onto the ground. Taking advantage of that brief opening, Peng Hyeon-hwi’s leg kicked off Jin Sodo’s chest as he retreated.
Jin Sodo pursued. He had to end this now. It was only two Peak Realm masters and one archer of unknown level. There was no reason for this to be dragged out any longer.
In the first place, these arrows were merely annoying; they weren't accumulating any significant damage on him.
Just annoying arrows.
Pshhhhh—!!
They struck without any time lag. If he reached out his hand, they hit his hand; if he pulled back his body, they hit his body; if he held up a talisman, they hit the talisman—!
"These gnats!"
A spray of blood erupted as he blocked a flying arrow.
Clang! A droplet of blood shattered, and an arrow rolled on the ground.
The Murong Family’s black arrow was crushed underfoot.
Peng’s saber dug into that opening. It slid briefly over the protection aura with a crackle before pulling back.
When he reached out in response—
Creak—!!
The bundle of astral energy held by the Little Heavenly Demon seized his arm, delaying him. The accumulated moments of delay eventually piled up.
Attacks that were individually insignificant.
Exchanges that didn't even require attention.
The gap he had ignored while moving forward.
"Finally looking this way, are you?"
Looking into the playfully smiling eyes of Peng Hyeon-hwi, he realized it. They were now standing on the same level.
Peng Hyeon-hwi, who attacked with a power hard to believe for someone who had just stepped into the Peak Realm.
The Little Heavenly Demon, who had achieved the Extreme Demonic Body and pushed with brute force using her boundless astral energy.
And even the arrows that struck every time he looked for an opening, every time he reached out his arm.
Crack—!!
A crack appeared in the protection aura.
A heavy strike that would surely work once even against a protection aura maintained by Super Peak prowess—the lightning imbued in the ink-black Peng family saber was slowly shaving away Jin Sodo’s protection aura.
If he swung, they dodged.
If he looked for a gap, an arrow flew in.
If he tried to increase his speed, astral energy bound his feet.
In this sensation, as if he were stuck in a quagmire, or like a predator being hunted.
"How much can you struggle? How much time do you have left? The moment your internal energy is exhausted, the moment that vermin’s arrows run out, you will die. I will kill you without fail. I will raise your corpse and take that girl’s head!"
"What about you?"
Crack, crackle—!!
Slamming his saber into the protection aura once more, Peng Hyeon-hwi approached and asked.
"Do you have nothing that will be exhausted?"
"I have more than you could ever fathom at your level!!"
"Then the Heavenly Demon will be coming."
"...What?"
"How long do you think the Sword Demon you're reviving with your power will last? How many times has the Sword Demon died while you were tied up here? How many more times will he die?"
At those words, Jin Sodo’s gaze turned. He saw the figure of the Sword Demon burning in the sky over the outer city.
He saw the struggle of the Ghost Gate Meridian Lord, who was vomiting blood while continuing the sorcery to help him.
Once those two were dead, there would be no one left in Pahyeon to protect him.
"I don't know what the Heavenly Demon will do with your corpse. But I'll guarantee you this."
C-c-crackle—!!
The protection aura shattered violently. Finally, the accumulated damage widened the cracks and tore them open, and through the gap, a gauntlet lunged with brute force.
Even as he parried it, Peng Hyeon-hwi smiled as if he felt no pain.
"Your death will not be quick. It will be sufficiently painful. As a Grand Elder of the Blood Cult, your life force must be very, very long."
Pshhhhh—!!
In the meantime, arrows continued to fly. Those persistent arrows were now destroying the jiangshi and the formation around him instead of him.
He couldn't protect everything. The formation was gradually being chipped away, and the jiangshi maintaining the array were exploding one by one.
Meanwhile, the souls extracted from the commoners of Pahyeon were being consumed.
The number of souls required to continuously rewind the life of a Harmony Realm master was not small.
If one considered that both sides had time limits and consumption costs.
Clearly, Peng Hyeon-hwi smiled, confident that he was the one with the advantage.
Thump, thump, thump...
Every time his heart beat, lightning pierced his skin and crackled.
"If you're going to run, you'd better do it fast, right?"
Good. It’s a three-on-one exchange.
I confirmed this when I made Se-jeong "Jinju Eon Family," but Hwa-yeong and I have great synergy.
The Peng family martial arts, which give up sustainability and stopping power for pure offense, and Hwa-yeong’s Heavenly Demon Divine Art, which has an overwhelming total amount of astral energy, are perfectly complementary.
Adding the Middle Dantian overclocking allows me to meet the gaze of a Super Peak master, if only for a short moment.
At the very least, I can land a blow that allows for a conversation.
"I will remember your name! From now on, you shall worry about the eyes of our Cult wherever you go!"
The Grand Elder’s face crumpled. It was filled with humiliation and aimless rage.
I didn't have the luxury of talking for long. I felt like my excessively stimulated Middle Dantian was starting to burst with blood instead of internal energy. Right now, just not vomiting blood was the best I could do.
"The day the Venerable One sheds the cycle of reincarnation is not far off. You Han people shall wait for that day. As you said, your deaths will not be quick...!!"
He glared with eyes full of hatred and then leaped away. With a violent surge of energy that repelled my body as I tried to close in.
Blood bubbled and boiled in the formation on the ground. Through the gaps, palms surged upward. They grabbed my legs and climbed up, carving curses into my skin.
Honestly, I’ve never seen this kind of curse-type necromancer in any wuxia novel I know. I think it’s cheating.
"You must remember my name—!! I am—"
The Blood Cult Grand Elder, who had leaped into the air in an instant, shouted thunderously. He had already given up on the formation.
If he decided to flee alone, we had no way to stop him with our current lineup.
But for now, let’s consider it a partial success.
The Blood Cult’s sorcery that had enveloped Pahyeon was slowly beginning to dissipate.
Aaaaaaaargh—!!
In the distance, I heard the Sword Demon scream.
The dark clouds in the sky were already being torn to shreds, revealing the indigo dawn sky where the sun was rising.
It’s over now. Since the sorcery is broken, we can look after Grandfather’s condition. I can only hope it’s not too late.
So, let’s make the end count.
Crackle, crackle...
Ignoring the bloody hands that had reached my knees, I twisted my body into a bow shape.
From the very bottom of my Middle Dantian, I scraped out every bit of astral energy and slammed it into my acupoints.
Guanyuan, Qihae, Yingjiao, Zhongfu, Xiabai, Chize, Quchi.
I carved the shape of a staggering constellation, drawn along the meridians from the twisted Chong Channel, into my body.
Thunderbolt City-Destroying Cannon. I concentrated that force entirely into a single point and poured it into my arms.
K-booooom—!!
Carrying that power as it was, I threw the Peng family saber I held in both hands straight at his body.
"I'm not interested—!!"
Why would I care about your name? If you're going to come back to kill me anyway, you're the one who needs to remember me.
How dare you.
Lightning surged into the sky. An old man watching from a distance caught his breath and laughed heartily.
"Jang-ga."
"Yes, Alliance Leader."
"Give me the sword."
He gripped the sword he received, pulled his arm back to take a stance, and then—
"It seems I am not too late."
The sword, propelled by true qi, became a streak of light and flew—
"Guh... cough!?"
Jin Sodo looked down at the sword buried deep in his heart, its hilt firmly lodged.
His Middle Dantian had been shattered in a single blow. The impact was so violent that even the sorcery maintaining the Heavenly Merchant Guild’s array was disrupted and broken.
His body slowly fell. All the spells he had been maintaining crumbled, and the souls enveloping his body scattered.
The formation at the Pahyeon government office burned out and turned cold and black.
The jiangshi whose jaws had been clattering, and the curses of the souls surging from the center of the formation, all vanished as if washed away.
The blood mist dissipated. Every time he opened his mouth, a soul escaped.
The precious primordial true qi he had gathered by consuming countless commoners was scattering.
"N-no... this... this cannot be. It cannot end like this..."
Even as he reached out toward it, he only flailed in vain. In that moment when there was nothing to grasp.
Grab. Something wound around his head and seized it.
His empty eyes turned. The hateful vermin, even with a pale and panting face, was smirking as he gripped him.
"Peng... Hyeon-hwi...!"
"It's too beautiful a sight for someone like you to see at the end."
Peng Hyeon-hwi’s hand gripped his head and lifted it. His lightened body fluttered and swayed according to the hand's movement.
"Winter is fading."
Far away, beyond the collapsed walls of Pahyeon’s outer city, a group of martial artists was rushing toward them.
—The Martial Alliance of the Orthodox Faction (正道天下武林盟會).
Looking at that flagpole, Peng Hyeon-hwi gave a nod to the old man standing beneath it before continuing.
"The sun is out, so spring is coming (陽和入門 春來之境)."
There were words spoken by Taoist Danheo of the Zhongnan Sect at the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering.
He said it was a warning to those who target the last handful of seeds saved by the hungry in this season, this harsh winter.
He said it was the reason why the martial artists of the world's Hundred Great Sects reveal themselves.
That spring is coming.
That if one hears the sound of winter fading, one should naturally be wary.
That in this era, the sound of life sprouting will be neither weak nor insignificant.
Shring.
the Peng family saber was placed against his throat.
"Spare... me."
The blood ghost, who had dreamed of longevity and immortality while taking the souls of others his entire life, mumbled.
Hearing that, Peng Hyeon-hwi just smirked.
"No."