Chapter 115: Law-Transcending Halo Qi (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 115: Law-Transcending Halo Qi (3)
Jeong Yeon-shin lowered his hands naturally as he landed, not even needing to take more than a few steps to steady himself.
The fluttering hem of his blue robe wrapped around his legs for a moment before settling.
'The Demon-Quelling Azure Steel Hand... It truly is the perfect counter to masters of the demonic path.'
He had just confirmed its efficacy, and it perfectly lived up to its name. It possessed an overwhelming elemental advantage against the internal energy of the unorthodox and demonic factions.
If he only fought opponents of that nature, he might even be able to contend with masters a full realm above him.
"Huuu..."
It was the sound of a dying breath, as if all the air was escaping from a punctured lung. The Pure Demon Alliance master, his head caved in, lost his balance.
His body tottered. His entire frame simply could not withstand the vortex of the shockwave.
The pauldrons covering his shoulders hung limply against his back.
Whoosh!
Fragments of lingering internal energy swirled in the light breeze. Slowly, the man's body toppled backward, his eyes still wide open.
Thud!
A heavy vibration shook the ground. Because they were on a fairly steep incline, his body slid down a short distance before coming to a halt.
It was instant death.
"...!"
The vanguard of the warriors rushing up behind the dead man ground to a sudden halt. There were about fifteen of them.
Their legs, which had been executing lightfoot techniques, tensed and bulged as they braked.
Their faces stiffened. In that brief moment, their eyes darted back and forth between the corpse and Jeong Yeon-shin, filled with sheer shock.
Screeech!
Those who had hastily stopped maintained a cautious distance of ten paces.
"Young Hero Jeong!"
Heonwon Chang's shout echoed from behind, filled with immense joy.
Jeong Yeon-shin turned around, exposing his back to the enemies.
The relaxed composure of a true master exuded from his demeanor. The golden embroidery of the Desolate Fortress flashed across the enemies' vision as he moved.
"What in the world..." one man muttered in utter bewilderment.
Meanwhile, Jeong Yeon-shin locked eyes with Heonwon Chang.
For a moment, Heonwon Chang's eyes widened as if he might burst into tears, but he quickly broke into a broad grin.
"It is you! It really is you! For a second there, I couldn't believe my eyes!"
He ran over, laughing heartily. Because the distance was short, they were face-to-face in no time.
Jeong Yeon-shin felt a quiet sense of relief as he looked at the man. At the very least, Heonwon Chang was alive.
"Young Hero Heonwon."
"I've never been so glad to see anyone! I didn't think I'd survive today!"
"I don't see any visible wounds. Do you have any internal injuries?"
Jeong Yeon-shin asked, trying to suppress his own gladness. Heonwon Chang's smile only widened.
"Of course not. Doesn't this body of mine know a thing or two about body protection qi? The internal energy shield of this Divine Hero of the Desolate Fortress isn't something that can be pierced by nameless small fry. At any rate, you managed to find this place! This is a truly well-hidden Mysterious Place. I was waiting anxiously, but you actually found it!"
"That is..."
"Anyway, it seems the main fortress sent reinforcements, which is fantastic! To think you would be among them! But what happened with the Namgung Clan? Did you defeat the Azure Qilin, Young Hero Jeong? You must have, since you're here, right? Truly incredible! You are surely a rising star who will one day contend for the title of the world's strongest."
He was clearly overjoyed, a bright smile covering his entire face.
The hero's headband he usually boasted on his forehead had been torn off somewhere, making his arched eyebrows beneath his bare forehead look rather comical.
Then, leaning slightly to the side, he peeked at the Pure Demon Alliance master sprawled on the ground behind Jeong Yeon-shin.
"That guy over there... No, that bastard is the Nether-Path Killing Palm, a demonic master of the Pure Demon Alliance. He's a master of palm techniques, said to easily kill three people with a single strike. Yet, he couldn't even withstand a single blow from your fist-and-palm technique!"
As he spoke, he took a step to the side.
Thud.
Heonwon Chang placed a hand on Jeong Yeon-shin's shoulder, right on the boy's trapezius muscle.
Without hiding his deep emotion, he massaged it as if giving him a rubdown, his lips curling up in sheer satisfaction.
"Nether-Path Killing Palm, my foot. He died with his crown split wide open."
"..."
"A truly satisfying end."
Jeong Yeon-shin said nothing. He was already well-accustomed to Heonwon Chang's blunt insensitivity.
He certainly wasn't making a clever pun about the Baihui Point.
The boy turned back around.
"More importantly, those people..."
he said, his gaze falling upon the pursuers.
They hadn't dared to move an inch while the two were conversing.
Now, they were whispering among themselves, seemingly trying to devise a plan against an opponent they couldn't possibly match.
Heonwon Chang chuckled. Borrowing the authority of Jeong Yeon-shin as his ally came to him incredibly naturally.
"They are the trash of Sichuan's Radiant Prosperity Sect. Their sect leader stabbed Senior Baek in the back."
"Do you mean Senior Baek Mi-ryeo?"
Jeong Yeon-shin's voice sank. The scenes he had witnessed through the mental image of his upper dantian flashed through his mind.
Many seniors had been slashed and stabbed in the back. He remembered Baek Mi-ryeo, whose skin was exceptionally pale.
Even Cheong-myeong's defined abdominal muscles had been torn open by sword wounds.
It hadn't been a premonition. It seemed he had been shown the current state of the City of Master Craftsmen.
"How could that happen? With Senior Baek's martial prowess, she could easily annihilate several small-to-medium sects on her own. Was it a betrayal after all?"
"Betrayal? Hardly."
Heonwon Chang snorted. The scoff wasn't directed at Jeong Yeon-shin, but was rather a sneer mocking the enemies frozen before them.
"Who would our fortress actually trust? Even you, Young Hero Jeong, were targeted by the Namgung Clan. Besides, when dealing with sects that straddle the line between orthodox and unorthodox, wouldn't it be stranger for us to trust them?"
"Then what happened?"
"We never trusted them from the start. It was obvious they were acting as servants for the Thirteen Heavens. The only problem was that we were ambushed from three sides. The Pure Demon Alliance and the Tenth Sect—two factions of the Thirteen Heavens based in Sichuan—attacked us from both flanks. How could we have the leeway to defend against the techniques of these other bastards? A few of our seniors had no choice but to expose their backs helplessly."
He wasn't truly insulting his seniors. His voice sank into a somber tone toward the end.
"Senior Cheong-myeong and Senior Baek... they received those sword wounds while saving me. All because of the only useless fool in the Demonlight First Team..."
It was inevitable self-reproach. Jeong Yeon-shin did not offer any clumsy words of comfort.
The image of the Desolate Fortress Hero shielding the commoners with his own body from the Blood Flame Cultists in Xuzhou was still vivid in his mind.
Heonwon Chang was a man of righteous chivalry. His inner self was stronger than anyone else's.
"Why were you being pursued alone? What about the other seniors?"
Jeong Yeon-shin asked quietly.
"I should first explain that the City of Master Craftsmen is divided into four regions,"
Heonwon Chang replied, the smile completely gone from his face.
"Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. They are separated in a straight line, and this is the Spring Region, which can be considered the entrance. The Demonlight Wing is currently heading toward the Winter Region."
"Did you stay behind alone?"
"Hasn't it been quite a while since we set out on this mission? Since the people outside would have realized the Demonlight Wing's whereabouts had become unknown, we needed someone to guide any reinforcements that might arrive. We weren't entirely sure they would come, but... we are the Desolate Fortress, after all."
The pride exuding from that single sentence was immense. It was fitting for a man who called himself the Divine Hero of the Desolate Fortress.
"In the end, it turned out for the best since I was waiting for you, wasn't it? I had been hiding near the entrance of the Spring Region, though I ended up running all over the place after being discovered by those bastards trying to exploit the blacksmiths here."
"Is there a reason the Demonlight Wing headed to the very end of the City of Master Craftsmen?"
"I heard that the street performers of Haedong use a certain slang."
"...?"
"They call it 'feeding them taffy.' It means to sabotage or screw someone over. Senior Cheong-myeong said that and suggested to our unit commander that since whatever those two factions of the Thirteen Heavens are after seems to be in the Winter Region of the City of Master Craftsmen, it is only right for the Desolate Fortress to seize it first."
The Blue-Eyed Demon Sword, Cheong-myeong. A swordsman who vied for the title of the strongest among the Blue Ranks.
Jeong Yeon-shin could easily picture him smiling gently while spitting venomous remarks despite his wounds.
"This is an incident where the Tenth Sect, the Pure Demon Alliance, and even the Sichuan sects straddling the orthodox-unorthodox line have conspired together. Their targets are this City of Master Craftsmen and the Tang Clan Leader. We merely got caught up in this ugly business while trying to question the Tang Clan Leader. From up there on the cliff all the way down to here,"
Heonwon Chang said, pointing a finger toward the high ceiling.
"And so, we reached a point where we couldn't turn back. The Demonlight Wing is no ordinary force, after all. With uncontrollable masters gathered at the enemies' target destination, there was no way those unorthodox bastards would let us leave peacefully."
"..."
"They also attacked out of a misunderstanding at first. But once blood was shed, things crossed the point of no return. It's not like we just took it lying down, either. After that, well, from their perspective, they had no choice but to throw caution to the wind and keep pushing..."
Heonwon Chang trailed off. It meant they were being pushed from the Spring Region to the Winter Region, both by choice and by force.
It was no different from describing a non-stop battle. In the midst of it, how many had been injured or killed?
His words sounded almost like a joke, but such was the brutal nature of the unorthodox factions and the Murim.
"How has the battle been going?"
"Whenever there's a lull for about an hour, they attack again. Even I barely managed to break away. It was during that time that the two seniors were injured."
Heonwon Chang's expression grew somber once more. Jeong Yeon-shin nodded slowly.
I understand.
He had grasped the situation. Now, he had to move forward.
It was then.
"E-Excuse me."
Jeong Yeon-shin raised his head. One of the men from the Radiant Prosperity Sect had called out to him, seemingly attempting to negotiate.
"Young master of the Desolate Fortress. There is no need for us to shed blood. We shall withdraw."
The man, dressed in a dusty silk martial uniform, continued.
"With that golden embroidery, you must be a person of noble status, are you not? We only offended you because we were coerced by the Pure Demon Alliance. Please, show us leniency."
It was a peculiar attitude. He kept his back straight, as if trying to preserve his pride even while begging for his life.
It reeked of the insular arrogance unique to the Sichuan Murim.
"..."
Jeong Yeon-shin's eyes swept over them.
Every single one of them turned their heads slightly, unable to meet his gaze. They were clearly people well-accustomed to the Murim's law of the jungle.
He said they straddle the line between orthodox and unorthodox.
There were many neutral sects in the world—those who moved solely for their own benefit, walking the boundary of the orthodox and unorthodox paths.
They were essentially unorthodox factions that just kept an eye on the government. Those had been Cheong-myeong's words.
Jeong Yeon-shin slowly parted his lips.
"This time, you chose the wrong side. You crossed the line."
"Shall I kill them?"
The Lazy Flame Dragon's voice rang out from right behind his neck.
He could feel the man's presence without even turning around.
The masters of the Radiant Wing Unit were lined up behind him. They had been standing there since the moment Jeong Yeon-shin began speaking with Heonwon Chang.
That was exactly why the hesitant warriors of the Radiant Prosperity Sect had ultimately stepped forward to beg first.
Heonwon Chang, who had been glancing behind while explaining the situation to Jeong Yeon-shin, gasped in shock upon recognizing the Lazy Flame Dragon.
"Young Master Hwangbo...?!"
"You know me. I don't know your name. I only remember your face. Vaguely."
"What... what is going on?"
The boy spoke calmly.
"Young Hero Heonwon."
"Young Hero Jeong, but who are these people..."
"How severe are the injuries of the Demonlight Wing seniors? Tell me about the one who is hurt the most."
"...Senior Oh lost her left arm."
In an instant, Jeong Yeon-shin felt a sharp pain in his lower lip. He had bitten down on it unconsciously.
Senior Oh Wol-hyang, a Blue Rank, immediately came to mind. She was a middle-aged woman who had treated him like her own son.
"Radiant Wing Unit,"
the boy murmured.
Sssss―
For a moment, Heonwon Chang saw an illusion of the Flash Art's blue robe staining crimson.
It was an apparition, as if the boy were wearing the Pure Blood Robe of the Blood Flame Cult's Grand Preceptor.
His internal energy realm is advancing to the next stage...!
he thought, utterly astonished.
The energy waves of the Mara Blood-Roaring Art rippled irregularly from Jeong Yeon-shin's body.
It was a colorless haze that flared up eerily from moment to moment.
He had unleashed it intentionally to evoke a tyrannical disposition.
He had to move forward, but the City of Master Craftsmen was a closed city.
Leaving enemies behind his back? Anyone would call that a foolish decision, regardless of their numbers.
It was the moment he had to make a decision as a unit commander of the Desolate Fortress.
Slowly, Jeong Yeon-shin parted his now-reddened lips.
"Kill them. All of them."
Step.
Having handed down the order, the boy began to walk down the path alone.
He headed toward the village where the houses of the Spring Region of the City of Master Craftsmen were clustered in the distance.
As he walked in a straight line under the dim illumination of the underground city, no one dared to block his path.
Slash! Spurt!
"Kehh!"
"You... you bastards...!"
The air heated up intensely. Leaping forward instantly, the Lazy Flame Dragon crushed the enemies' heads with his bare fists.
A violently distorted wind exploded outward. Within it, the colorless sword qi of the White Qilin, Namgung Hwa-shin, soared in all directions.
It was the Azure Sky Boundless Sword Art executed at the absolute peak of mastery.
As the sharp sword winds of the Radiant Wing Unit's masters swept through, cutting down the enemies, the Tang Clan warriors—including Tang Ryeo-ryeo and Tang Yeo-hwa—along with the Beggar Sect masters, stared blankly at Jeong Yeon-shin's back.
The path was being cleared wide open. Only the boy's footsteps, walking right through the center of the carnage, echoed clearly.
"The Radiant Wing Unit, Flash Art,"
the Beggar Sect Successor muttered slowly.
Meanwhile, from afar.
"Ah."
The voice was clear and resonant. It was an exclamation close to a groan.
High up on a towering stone wall, the Seventh Apostle of the Blood Flame Cult swept her long, flowing black hair over her shoulder.
She was completely concealing her terrifying aura.
Reclining sideways on a protruding rock in the distance, she gazed at her young cult leader, her face filled with ecstasy.
"You have changed once more. My Grand Preceptor."
Her ruby-like lips parted slightly.
She did not move for a long time. With her crimson eyes, she watched her very own young Grand Preceptor until the end.
Savoring his flawlessly refined body, his truly noble blood art energy waves, and the way he calmly walked away after ordering a massacre.