Chapter 116: Law-Transcending Halo Qi (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 116: Law-Transcending Halo Qi (4)
"Apostle, please... will you accept this offering?"
Someone suddenly called out to the Seventh Apostle. She had been staring blankly at the young Grand Master, but now she slowly turned her head.
Her crimson eyes lowered, settling into an indifferent gaze.
"An offering?" she asked curtly.
"Yes, yes. Noble Seventh Apostle."
The speaker was a man with black hair streaked with red—a Blood Master Sword of the Blood Flame Cult.
Crouching as low as possible, his mouth smeared with blood, he looked up at her.
Sprawled at his feet was a warrior wearing a black shoulder guard. Clear bite marks marred the nape of his neck.
"..."
The Seventh Apostle quietly looked down at the Blood Master Sword. He was young, his face flushed with feverish excitement.
It was a familiar expression. She had seen it since the day she was born.
Every cultist she had encountered growing up revered her with that exact same look.
"The demonic essence energy of this Pure Demon Alliance lackey is a delicacy. Please..." the Blood Master Sword groveled.
"You madman!"
Another Blood Master Sword cried out in horror, blurring forward with a movement technique.
He slammed the back of the kneeling man's head into the ground and hissed urgently.
"This novice has acted presumptuously! Beg forgiveness a hundred times over for this insult! How dare you suggest a crude method like Qi Absorption—fit only for commoners like us—to one who refines infinite Innate blood to forge pure Blood Art True Qi! You would muddy the Apostle's supreme martial realm!"
"What do you mean...? I heard the Third Apostle reached the realm of an Apostle through the Essence Absorption Great Law."
"The Seventh Apostle is of the direct lineage of the Holy Blood, no less noble than the Brightfolk! She possesses the pure blood that even the nobles of our cult call precious...! Do you remember the Solar Divine Pulse we saw in Jinan? They said his Fervent Yang Energy swells boundlessly. The blood qi the Seventh Apostle was born with is just like that!"
"Ah..."
"Qi Absorption is not a mnemonic of the Holy Blood. It is merely a grace bestowed by the Cult Leader out of pity for us lowly Han cultists. How dare you defile the noble mouth of the Seventh Apostle, born of holy blood, with human flesh and blood? It is enough for commoners like us to chew through the pain of mutual slaughter to reach our realms!"
The body of the Blood Master Sword who had tried to present the offering trembled. He immediately pressed his forehead against the earth.
"Please forgive my ignorant sin!"
He pleaded while prostrate. Awe, after all, was an emotion laced with fear.
That was how every Blood Flame Cultist in the world felt toward the Seventh Apostle.
Even the Blood Master Swords, each capable of dominating an entire county, were no exception.
"Quiet down, you trivial thing. That mnemonic exists in the Mara Blood-Roaring Art as well. It's just useless to me."
Replying nonchalantly, the Seventh Apostle turned her head back. It was then.
"Seventh Apostle."
The other Blood Master Sword—the one who had stopped the offering—bowed politely to her as she looked at him with annoyance.
"As the Cult Leader intended, reinforcements from the Desolate Fortress have arrived here in the City of Master Craftsmen."
"Yes. Now I don't have to use a large amount of internal power to project my voice anymore. It's much easier."
"Then, shall we prepare the letter to send to the Cult Leader? He will likely order their annihilation. Shall I tell our subordinates to keep their sword qi sharp?"
The Seventh Apostle gently shook her head.
"No. Don't do that. My Grand Master made a promise to me. To create a martial art unique to me. I realized something after what happened at our headquarters: even a grandmaster must walk the path of martial arts without distraction for a divine art to be born. My Grand Master must live out his natural lifespan in a good environment."
"...I do not understand your words."
The Blood Master Sword looked puzzled. At the same time, the corners of the Seventh Apostle's mouth curled up slightly.
"It's fine. You can understand it in our cult's afterlife."
Spurt!
A flower of razor-sharp, crimson true qi bloomed. A blood flower in full bloom, carving a chilling scent into the air.
It was materialized internal power. The very true qi of the Holy Blood he had just prattled on about.
The Blood Master Sword's vision tilted.
It felt as if the world had slowed down. Slowly, very slowly, he looked down at his chest.
It was drenched in blood. It looked like red paint carelessly splattered by a drunken artist.
He hadn't even seen the strike. It was a move unleashed from a truly lofty realm.
He collapsed with a thud. The other man, who had been prostrate earlier, had already lost his head.
Silencing us...?
His mouth twitched, but his eyes lost their light as life drained away.
"Perhaps because he took a beating from the Lord of the Desolate Fortress, but the Cult Leader has grown quite dull, hasn't he? He seems to believe whatever I say. He didn't even recognize the drawing I messed with. Not that his grand technique would have worked even if done properly... but he must have thought I took the Grand Master's uniqueness lightly."
The Seventh Apostle's murmurs tickled the ears of the dying Blood Master Sword.
"I suppose I should say the young Grand Master's martial prowess was higher than expected."
Her voice was laced with amusement.
* * *
There was no sound in the houses of the Spring Region in the City of Master Craftsmen. Only silence filled the air.
It was a dead village, frozen in stagnant air.
Was it always like this?
Surely not.
Jeong Yeon-shin arrived at the entrance of the village. He sensed waves of energy gathered in a distant plaza-like area. They belonged to martial artists.
None of the energies were pure; they radiated erratically, suggesting they belonged to martial artists of the Thirteen Heavens or those walking the line between the orthodox and unorthodox factions.
The entrance to the City of Master Craftsmen.
These were the bastards who had seized the Spring Region, the first village.
Their conduct was obvious just from the deserted streets.
He could clearly sense the people crouching inside the picturesque houses, breathing anxiously.
They were enslaving the craftsmen who forged the world's finest divine weapons.
The words of Jang Jong-myung, the blacksmith he had met at the entrance, came to mind. He had pleaded with the disciple of the Lord of the Desolate Fortress.
Saying they had no idea what the wicked sects of the Thirteen Heavens might do.
— There are so many commoners in our city! Please, please protect them!
He was right. As Yeon-shin walked down the path, he could hear faint sounds from afar: the roaring fire of furnaces and the metallic clanging of hammers on anvils.
Though the village was dead, weapons were being forged. It was coercion, plain and simple.
Whoosh!
A sudden breeze ruffled Jeong Yeon-shin's hair.
"Shall we clean them out?"
Before he knew it, the Lazy Flame Dragon had fallen into step beside the young unit commander. Perhaps due to the heat of his Solar Divine Pulse, dried blood coated both of his hands.
That wasn't all. Namgung Hwa-shin's noble blue robes fluttered in his peripheral vision.
The honest, sturdy energy of the Red-Day Sword also lingered behind him, and with the light sounds of movement techniques brushing the ground, the experts of the Radiant Wing Unit began to line up and follow.
They had slaughtered the martial artists of the Radiant Prosperity Sect in an instant.
The scent of blood wafted from their weapons. None of them had sheathed their swords yet.
They were all martial artists far more experienced than Jeong Yeon-shin. They, too, perceived what the boy had felt.
Even if their sense of qi couldn't reach that far, they could deduce it through experience.
The plunderers were playing master in the Spring Region of the City of Master Craftsmen. They knew the wicked sects were still here.
"Unit Commander, your orders," Namgung Hwa-shin spoke.
The boundless power of the Azure Sky bloomed from the White Qilin's entire body. A wave of pure, clear true qi.
Before it was the power of the Azure Sky Great Extension Divine Art, it was the spirit of a righteous hero.
Faced with the impending catastrophe of the commoners, he had cast his own frustrations aside.
"Unit Commander...? Did you just say Unit Commander?" Heonwon Chang stammered. It was a sight he had never even imagined.
Namgung Hwa-shin was treating Jeong Yeon-shin with the respect due to a unit commander and asking for his orders.
Was this even possible? The White Qilin was a rising star who had dominated the eastern Dragon-Phoenix Gathering south of the Yangtze River.
"I have taken charge as the temporary unit commander of the reinforcements," Jeong Yeon-shin explained briefly.
Leaving behind Heonwon Chang, whose eyes had widened to their limits, the boy spoke quietly once more.
"Clear them out."
It was a simple command. The result, however, was anything but.
It became a death knell for the enemies remaining in the Spring Region. The experts of the Radiant Wing Unit scattered in all directions.
Clang! Boom!
"The Desolate Fortress! The Demonlight Wing was still here?!"
"Stop! Stop! In the name of a sect leader, I request a truce—gasp!"
The clashing of swords and the reverberations of energy woke the underground village. The silence was instantly replaced by the din of sudden battle.
"What in the world..."
"The experts of the Desolate Fortress's Divine Sword Corps are..."
The experts of the Tang Clan and the Beggar Sect groaned. From the nameless cliff near the Sichuan Tang Clan all the way to the City of Master Craftsmen.
From the slaughter of the Radiant Prosperity Sect to the scene unfolding before them now, it had been a continuous sequence of bewilderment and shock.
This was entirely separate from the Flash Art Jeong Yeon-shin's martial talent.
The various sects of Sichuan were being slaughtered.
All because the official warriors of the Desolate Fortress moved at a single word from the boy. It was hard for anyone to believe.
Yet, they couldn't step forward to object. Every strike delivered by the Radiant Wing Unit was justified.
The act of drawing their swords and striking down the enemy was a logical vengeance.
Considering the craftsmen of the City of Master Craftsmen, it could even be called a righteous hero's punishment.
The Flash Art... there is no need to record any more about his position. It is better to observe his martial arts level and the martial arts he has mastered.
The Successor of the Beggar Sect thought. The Flash Art's caliber was clearly high. He had completely won over the hearts of the martial unit under the Divine Sword Corps.
No matter how much he pondered, he couldn't fathom how it was possible. This was highly noteworthy.
I must step forward and find out. He is not just a rising star with high martial arts.
In the Spring Region, now thrown into sudden chaos, the second most dignified beggar in the world shifted his gaze.
His eyes fell upon a single boy. Standing still in a deep blue robe, the boy exuded a strangely compelling aura.
It was the dignity of a sovereign. It was a feeling the Successor of the Beggar Sect, having met countless heroes and legends, knew all too well.
Perhaps it was because he had just witnessed him commanding the experts of the Divine Sword Corps with a few brief words.
Once the Martial World Alliance is formed, he must be placed on the watch list. He is a target of caution.
At that moment, his eyes met Jeong Yeon-shin's. The Successor of the Beggar Sect stealthily turned his head away.
* * *
An hour later.
They gathered at the entrance of the Summer Region, which lay just past the Spring Region. They stood before a stone gate shaped like a massive semicircle.
The experts of the Radiant Wing Unit gathered the residents of the City of Master Craftsmen. This was after everything had been cleared.
From the blacksmith shops of the Spring Region to the various houses and the plaza, the blood flowing from the corpses of the bandits drenched the stone floor.
"Thank you, thank you so much!"
"We thought we were going to become slaves... We are truly grateful."
The short commoners bowed repeatedly. The man at the front pressed his chest to the ground and did not move.
It was Jang Jong-myung, who had been holding his breath at the entrance of the Spring Region. He was said to be the village chief of the Spring Region in the City of Master Craftsmen.
Meanwhile, the Red-Day Sword asked for Jeong Yeon-shin's permission to interrogate the captured enemies.
The boy nodded quietly.
"I-I will speak!"
"Shut up! A spineless coward knows no shame!"
The head of the one who had told him to shut up flew off. Namgung Hwa-shin's sword strike had drawn a straight line, leaving not even a spray of blood.
"And here I am, the one who needs to earn some merit," the Lazy Flame Dragon grumbled, while the Red-Day Sword questioned the enemies about their objective.
Few martial artists in the Central Plains walked the line between orthodox and unorthodox with the conviction called righteousness.
A few warriors from neutral sects answered immediately.
"They said Bodhidharma's Manifestation is here in the City of Master Craftsmen. In the form of a treasure token."
"A manifestation?"
The Tang Clan siblings, who had been staring at Jeong Yeon-shin all this time, asked back. They had no choice.
It was a term referring to one of the three bodies of the Buddha.
In the martial world, it was understood as an inner core formed by condensed internal power.
Bodhidharma's Manifestation, therefore, meant a fragment of the true qi that Zen Master Bodhidharma had accumulated during his lifetime.
The Tang Clan experts, who dealt with poisons and medicines, could not help but perk up their ears.
Jang Jong-myung, who had bowed to Jeong Yeon-shin once more, dusted himself off and stood up.
"So that was indeed their target."
"It is an artifact from ancient times. How has it survived until now?" Tang Ryeo-ryeo asked.
Jang Jong-myung glanced at Jeong Yeon-shin, and only after the boy nodded did he speak.
"It seems there were people here even before the Ironfolk. It was forged from a crystallized form of materialized true qi. By a craftsman of a realm that has rarely existed throughout history."
"You mean they forged a fragment of true qi? How could such a thing...!"
"The Tang Clan Leader could likely do the same, but it seems he has kept his distance from his children. In any case, its density is not that high. However, if melted into a sword, it will become a divine sword imbued with spirituality, and if consumed by a person... I do not know what would happen, but it is a treasure anyone would covet. Enough to invite such disaster."
He wore a bitter expression as he finished speaking, seemingly unable to find any other words of comfort.
Jeong Yeon-shin turned his head. His palm was pressed against the groove of the stone gate that served as both the exit of the Spring Region and the entrance to the Summer Region.
"We are heading in immediately. Take care."
He was bidding farewell to Jang Jong-myung and the villagers of the Spring Region.
"I do not know who you are to lead the warriors of the Divine Sword Corps, but you are as foolish as your age suggests."
One of the captured enemies spoke. He was a man of dignified appearance.
Perhaps having been hit by the Lazy Flame Dragon's Fervent Yang Energy, the front of his solar plexus was scorched, the fabric melted and stuck to his flesh.
One could barely tell that it had once been high-quality silk.
"The keys to the Summer Region's treasure token have been divided between the Tenth Sect and the Pure Demon Alliance. You had better not act rashly. Otherwise, the stone walls will collapse."
His speech and demeanor were unusual. He did not seem to be of ordinary status.
The Desolate Fortress experts, including Heonwon Chang and the Lazy Flame Dragon, stared blankly at him.
"I possess the True Qi Diagram of the Summer Region's treasure token. It is about thirty percent complete. Do not think of extracting it through torture. I can easily endure it. If you simply grant me one condition..."
Rumble—!
A faint beam of light leaked through. The gate was opening at Jeong Yeon-shin's fingertips.