Chapter 126: Samadhi True Fire (6)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 126: Samadhi True Fire (6)
The Blade-Fist Demon wasn't the only one who had just been insulted. Many of the Thirteen Heavens' martial artists either let out hollow laughs or maintained indifferent masks.
Jeong Yeon-shin’s words were nothing short of audacious. In the vast land of Sichuan, no one would dare spit such venom at the Blade-Fist Demon. Even if one searched through all the countless local martial artists, it would be hard to find a single soul who would dare.
Threats about turning someone into a corpse were usually reserved for the martial artists of the Pure Demon Alliance themselves.
The murmurs spread like gathering clouds, thick with tension. Most of the onlookers were local martial artists or merchants well-versed in the affairs of the Jianghu.
"His bearing is extraordinary, but... his words are too arrogant."
"Isn't he from the Desolate Fortress? No wonder he thinks so little of the Sichuan sky."
Sarcastic remarks rippled through the crowd. This was a hallmark of an isolated regional Jianghu like Sichuan. Regardless of whether they belonged to the Orthodox, Unorthodox, or Demonic factions, they were fiercely exclusive. They harbored a deep-seated rivalry toward the Central Plains Jianghu beyond the Shu Road.
The boy merely thought: So what?
It was then.
"Arrogant, my foot! Do you have any idea how much havoc those Thirteen Heavens bastards have wreaked?!"
"Did you lose your parents to the Emotion Absorption Demonic Art? No, because if you had, you wouldn't be spouting such pathetic nonsense. You fools can't even tell heaven from earth!"
The voices belonged to a boy and a girl. It was the Tang Siblings, hanging over the wall of the Desolate Fortress's Giju Branch. They had only poked their faces out, eager to watch Jeong Yeon-shin fight, but they couldn't stomach the sight of Sichuan's commoners defending the Thirteen Heavens.
These siblings had recently gained fame as peerless geniuses. Anyone who lived in close contact with the Sichuan Jianghu made sure to memorize the faces of the Tang Clan's direct descendants—just as one would familiarize themselves with terrain prone to landslides or earthquakes.
Naturally, there were those who recognized them.
"The Dragon-Phoenix Twin Poisons...?"
"That's them. I've seen them before."
"Why are those precious young masters at the Desolate Fortress?"
Whispers broke out. Terrifying as the Tang Clan was, they were still one of the Eight Great Families, highly renowned as an Orthodox faction. Their word alone possessed the power to shift public opinion.
The shift in the atmosphere after the Tang Siblings shouted was palpable. The crowd's hostility bled away, replaced by keen observation and a sudden surge of curiosity. Their thoughts were transparent.
What could that boy achieve? How far would the young swordsman's spirit take him?
Jeong Yeon-shin did not bother to look back. Though the siblings' faint sighs seemed to brush the back of his head, the boy had been measuring the distance between himself and the enemy experts long before he ever mentioned turning them into corpses.
Two leaders.
He counted the bastards he had to kill. The Ominous Sword of the Tenth Sect and the Blade-Fist Demon of the Pure Demon Alliance.
These were men as lofty as their realms of supreme mastery. They were not the type to suddenly launch a joint attack in front of such a large crowd. For experts of their caliber, a martial artist's honor sometimes took precedence over practical benefits. In this world, a title was a reputation.
Now that a single boy had stepped forward to challenge them, they could not pass through the gate without breaking him first.
It was a perfect opportunity.
The Martial World Alliance, the Eight Families, the famine, the Thirteen Heavens...
Jeong Yeon-shin recalled the myriad forces constantly eyeing the Desolate Fortress. If he cut down the vanguards of the Tenth Sect and the Pure Demon Alliance right here, it would deal them an irrecoverable blow.
His martial prowess had reached a level where he could confidently calculate such outcomes. Before he even realized it, he had attained such heights.
"The young swordsman has recreated the Changban Slope. He is Zhang Yide himself."
The voice was laced with amusement. It came from the left. The Halberd-Surpassing Sword wore an entertained smile. He was the young man assisting the Ominous Sword of the Tenth Sect.
The crescent blade on his back and the scabbard at his waist gleamed ostentatiously, but much like the Ominous Sword, his aura was tranquil. It was heavily whispered that such people were actually the most terrifying.
Glancing at him, Jeong Yeon-shin simply turned his head away. He treated the man like an insignificant buzzing fly.
At the end of his focused gaze stood the Blade-Fist Demon of the Pure Demon Alliance, both arms resting at his sides. The boy stared at him intently.
The Blade-Fist Demon. By the Desolate Fortress's standards, he is definitely a Black Rank. I heard he is one of the top experts in the Pure Demon Alliance.
The man's expression was strange. Had he noticed the presence of the Law-Transcending Halo?
Jeong Yeon-shin didn't care. He took a step forward. Even without Bodhidharma's spirituality, the halo spun steadily. The light emanating from his heart felt warm.
Step.
His foot tread firmly on the earth, making a soft crunch. Grains of sand scattered beneath his boots as he raised his energy. The true qi beginning to spread from his Yongquan Point pulsed outward in rhythmic waves—the waves of the Law-Transcending Halo Qi.
He had already observed everything. He had clearly imprinted the muscle tone, posture, and energy waves of both the Blade-Fist Demon and the Ominous Sword into his mind. The precise mechanics of how they moved were already mapped out in his head.
His Upper Dantian, which hovered so close to death, harmonized with the Law-Transcending Halo Qi to produce a peerless efficacy.
Whoosh!
"Stand back," the Blade-Fist Demon ordered his subordinates in that brief moment.
Whoosh!
The distance between them closed at blinding speed.
Jeong Yeon-shin's movement technique, tempered by his rage at the City of Master Craftsmen, was now as sharp and sudden as a fast sword drawn directly from its sheath. A wild, almost visible gust of wind distorted the air.
"...!"
Hum.
Amidst the crowd's shock, the ringing of a blade echoed. The Desolate Fortress Sword slipped from its scabbard. It was a draw accompanied by a flash of brilliant light, the upward slash flickering in a deadly diagonal line.
Clang!
The Blade-Fist Demon's elbow slammed down on the flat of the blade. Deflected, the sword brushed past his abdomen, leaving a thin trail of blood in its wake.
Jeong Yeon-shin's eyes narrowed. The response was impressive.
He's strong.
He had heard the rumors. The man was called the Blade Demon because he was a fiend with a blade, and the Fist Demon because his unarmed combat was equally monstrous. Thus, the title Blade-Fist Demon was born. As a core enforcer of the Thirteen Heavens' Pure Demon Alliance, his infamy stretched across the world.
Jeong Yeon-shin didn't care. He had stepped into the Jianghu wearing the black robe. This was not a place where he would suffer defeat.
Tap.
He pushed off his back foot. A fierce wind still howled in his ears. Unafraid of close-quarters combat, he dug into the earth, his step naturally transforming into a heavy stomp.
The stomp was completely grounded. It felt as if the earth qi rising from the dirt was piercing straight through his ankles. Following a right-handed strike came a left-handed fist technique.
Chanting the mnemonic of the Infinite Flower of Time Hand, the wheel in his heart emitted a blinding burst of light.
Advancing Thunder.
He thrust his fist upward from below his line of sight. The shockwave of the straight, explosive punch rippled outward, violently shaking the front of Jeong Yeon-shin's own robe.
Crack!
He felt something cave beneath his knuckles. The auspicious true qi of the Law-Transcending Halo unraveled the bastard's internal energy armor and penetrated deep inside his body.
The sensation was vivid. The punch shattered ribs and tore into his flank. At the same time, Jeong Yeon-shin heard it—a physical shock that violently disrupted the demon's breathing.
Because of his absolute advantage against demonic arts, any demonic practitioner who could gain the upper hand over Jeong Yeon-shin in close combat would have to be worthy of discussing martial arts with the Pure Demon Alliance Leader himself.
I'll end it here.
Perhaps because he was born with a borrowed, shortened lifespan, Jeong Yeon-shin preferred quick, decisive battles. Or perhaps it was simply due to his monstrous talent for analyzing and predicting his opponent's forms.
Swoosh.
"Ugh...!"
It was unclear whether the sound was a groan of pain or a furious battle cry.
As the Blade-Fist Demon struck down with his left fist, the fingertips of the boy's right hand were already sliding down the hilt of the Desolate Fortress Sword. He shifted his stance as naturally as flowing water. It took only a fraction of a second.
Releasing the Desolate Fortress Sword into midair, he snatched the hilt in a complete reverse grip. With the tip of the blade still pointing forward, he seamlessly executed the reverse-grip sword technique and slashed upward.
Thanks to his heavy stomp, they were so close they were practically embracing. The Blade-Fist Demon's arm caught on the rising edge. In that split second, carrying the momentum of the sword strike, Jeong Yeon-shin thrust straight up.
Splurt! Clang!
A severed left arm fell amidst an explosive spray of blood, just as a heavy fist struck out, aiming to crush the boy's shoulder.
Whoosh!
The shockwave of the punch was immense. Jeong Yeon-shin's overgrown hair whipped backward. It felt as if a razor-sharp wind was slicing at his eyes.
Yet, there was no major impact. Against the faint true qi shield of the Law-Transcending Halo Qi, the demonic shockwave completely withered away—even though Jeong Yeon-shin's body protection cultivation was still at an elementary level.
The Blade-Fist Demon's eyes bulged so wide they looked ready to tear.
It would be his final expression.
Crushing Evil and Revealing the Truth. The divine energy that shattered the heterodox sects and revealed the righteous law surged backward, tracing the exact path of the bastard's punch.
The Blade-Fist Demon's body went completely rigid. He was paralyzed.
By then, Jeong Yeon-shin had already tossed the hilt slightly, catching it to restore his proper forward grip.
The Blade-Fist Demon's pupils shifted wildly to the side. He seemed to have accurately sensed the change in grip, but it was far too late.
Slash!
A clean horizontal line was carved into his neck. A pure white trajectory flared like lightning. Blood droplets scattered from the tip of the Desolate Fortress Sword as it dashed through the instant.
The Blade-Fist Demon...
...could not overcome the utterly incompatible divine art.
Jeong Yeon-shin turned around as he heard a wet thud hit the ground. As the headless corpse threatened to collapse onto his back, he lightly shoved it away with the back of his hand. A second, heavier thud vibrated up through his boots.
"..."
The street fell dead silent. The eyes of the Halberd-Surpassing Sword, who had just been joking about the Changban Slope, shook violently.
The Blade-Fist Demon hadn't even managed to draw his blade once. His body, supposedly tempered by the ultimate external martial arts, couldn't withstand even three sword strikes. It was a display of dominance that commanded absolute silence.
To the boy, however, this outcome was only natural.
Fortunately, I was able to eliminate one of the leaders right at the start, Jeong Yeon-shin thought, lightly flicking his sword to shake off the blood.
He had fully intended to break the vanguard of the Pure Demon Alliance first. Since he was the only one who knew the true efficacy of the Law-Transcending Halo Qi, he figured he could win the first life-and-death duel for free. And he had succeeded.
In a single moment, he had cut down the enemy's total strength by nearly thirty percent.
Annihilation is best.
This was a gathering of heterodox sects. Considering the future of the Desolate Fortress and its myriad enemies, it was only right to sever the limbs of this great demonic sect here and now.
The most elite experts of these two great sects had already perished at the City of Master Craftsmen—the forces led by the Pure Demon God Hand and the Sword Scorpion Demon. The enemies present here were merely replacement forces.
If even these replacements disappeared, the Thirteen Heavens would no longer be thirteen.
So this is it.
Jeong Yeon-shin suddenly realized the true symbolism and role of the Desolate Fortress's Black Rank. A decisive expert who could face the leader of a great sect's elite group alone, and when the tide favored them, deliver a fatal blow. It meant possessing the power to directly check the massive factions acting as local aristocrats all over the land.
"What in the..."
"It's the Strange, Violent, Chaotic, and Supernatural."
"He killed the Blade-Fist Demon in a single exchange...!"
It was said that the exchange of blows between supreme experts appeared as a single, blurred motion to the eyes of ordinary people. It was a compressed space where hundreds of inhalations and exhalations occurred in the span of a single breath.
The gazes directed at Jeong Yeon-shin had completely transformed. Fear and awe mingled in their eyes. The very temperature of the street had dropped.
On one side, the surviving experts of the Pure Demon Alliance began to exude an aura like a bottomless abyss. The amusement had vanished from their faces. Yet, they did not retreat.
Slowly.
They approached Jeong Yeon-shin step by step. Their oppressive energy flowed together as one, as if they had seamlessly linked into a formation. They were demons in the literal sense. It felt as if the air itself had solidified into a crushing wall.
"He is indeed destined to become the Divine Sword of the Desolate Fortress. As you have just witnessed, do not treat him as a mere boy. The rumors were right. That is the Strange, Violent, Chaotic, and Supernatural," the Ominous Sword of the Tenth Sect muttered. The Halberd-Surpassing Sword kept his mouth firmly shut.
Jeong Yeon-shin's eyes flicked between the Tenth Sect and the Pure Demon Alliance.
He could handle at least one of the two groups here. Even if the Ominous Sword remained, if he resolved himself to fight to the death, he could manage somehow. After all, he was now wearing Ma Jin's robe.
But he could not handle both at once. The boy's realm was still in the stage of solidifying his hold on the Black Rank. He lacked the raw strength to survive a joint attack from both factions.
The Tenth Sect.
From their side, an energy wave sprouted like a sharpened blade. Preparing to pounce the moment the Pure Demon Alliance made their move, they clearly viewed Jeong Yeon-shin as a lethal threat. They had judged that this was no longer a situation where they could afford to worry about saving face.
If this continued, the Demonlight Wing seniors lying on their sickbeds inside might unfold their Body Protection Scriptures and rush out to help him.
That cannot happen.
The Demonlight Wing was already on the brink of collapse. Their strength had been cut in half. The qi healing of the remaining seniors was of paramount importance.
Therefore, he had to devise another method.
Thud! Hum!
Sounds echoed from all directions. The vibrations of heavy stomps and ringing blades tickled the hem of his robe. Jeong Yeon-shin quickly turned and scanned his surroundings.
As he turned his head, the boy's eyes flickered with white beams of light. A line, drawn purely from his mind, engraved itself into his vision. It was the exact sword path he needed to take.
All dignity had vanished from the rushing demons as they brandished their myriad weapons. They had just watched the Blade-Fist Demon—a supreme expert who was likely their martial uncle or master—die right before their eyes. The remnants of the Pure Demon Alliance had become vengeful ghosts.
One strike.
He gripped the hilt firmly. In that moment, he infused his consciousness into the blade. His mind traveled along the steel, moving in tandem with his true qi. The Desolate Fortress Sword was calling to him, resonating with the sword force that had bloomed alongside the Law-Transcending Halo Qi.
Planting his foot firmly on the ground, he spun half a turn and swung his sword in a wide horizontal arc. The trajectory of the pure white stream of light drew a massive curve. Though he had extended the energy himself, the sword force felt incredibly solid.
Claaaaang!
The strike completely shattered the weapons held by the demons. The blades, swords, spears, and knives thrust out by the experts of the Pure Demon Alliance violently crumbled into pieces.
The half-moon sword strike distorted into a blinding white light. He could clearly hear the gasps of the shocked bastards. Turning his body along with the momentum of the Desolate Fortress Sword, Jeong Yeon-shin extended his free hand.
It wasn't over yet. The enemies were still numerous, but the boy had a method to break this deadlock.
Whoosh!
The sound echoed from deep within him. The halo in his heart spun sharply. He applied different mnemonics to the Shaofu Point and the Laogong Point in the center of his left palm.
Absorption and emission.
Manipulating his true qi to simultaneously suck in and blow out, the vortex of the halo erupted through the acupoints of his left hand. His arm stung momentarily from the sheer, immense wave of internal power.
It's done.
The shattered fragments of the demons' weapons were swept up by his subtle gesture. The iron shards soared into the clear sky, moving as if painting the Milky Way across the distant azure expanse.
Cold, metallic petals bloomed fully, engraved strand by strand against the blue sky. They scattered the sunlight in the firmament, beams of light piercing through the gaps in the deadly net of improvised hidden weapons.
Myriad Blossoms Rain.
Without ever seeing a manual, he was manifesting at his fingertips a divine art he had only heard of through word of mouth. The absolute peak of complex and diverse martial arts had been transformed into pure art.
At this moment, the gossiping crowd snapped their mouths shut. It was a silence filled with utter wonder. In that completely frozen quiet, the iron shards swept around, swirling as if guarding the boy.
Then, the rain fell.
Groans began to echo from all directions as the iron shards rained down, crushing the crowns, shoulders, noses, and arms of the demons standing closest to Jeong Yeon-shin. Streams of blood splattered alongside the shower of light.
Standing in the center of it all, the boy thought.
The Sichuan Tang Clan.
They were a sly bunch. Even after arriving in Giju, they had been hiding with their Stealth Technique, simply watching. Did they only half-believe the letter from the Tang Siblings? If that was the case, he simply needed to show them the truth right before their eyes.
So, he showed them.
The results were immediate. Strong energy waves flared from various pavilions along the main roads opening to the north, east, and west. Those who had been faintly concealing themselves were now reacting.
"Tang Clan. I know you are here," Jeong Yeon-shin said quietly.
He now fully understood the value of the Desolate Fortress's Black Rank. He was at a stage where immense weight carried behind his public words and actions.
"As a sect of the Righteous Path, it would be best for you to keep the scum of the Tenth Sect in check."
The boy spoke slowly from the center of the swirling rain of steel flowers. As the pitch-black hem of his robe fluttered in the wind, Jeong Yeon-shin delivered his final demand.
"Let the Pure Demon Alliance come to me."
His calm voice echoed clearly across the silent street.