Chapter 190: Ties of Fate (5)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 190: Ties of Fate (5)
The final duel of the Sect Founding Ceremony.
This was different from his battle against Perfected Heavenly Pillar. The noble clans had only brought out the Duke of Eminent Fists, Eon Hwa-ryeon, after the new Commander of the Demonlight Wing had already defeated forty-five opponents.
In the center of the alliance's camp, the banner of the Divine Hero of the Desolate Fortress fluttered proudly in the wind. Even their leadership must have felt they had no other choice.
With his body thoroughly warmed up, Jeong Yeon-shin faced the alliance's final card.
He had already unleashed the techniques of the Infinite Flower of Time Hand, one after another.
He had been circulating his Halo Qi even before stepping onto the duel stage. Starting with the first form, Spiral, it took him less than two breaths to transition into the third form, Fist Flower.
The internal energy barrier of the Eon Family's Number One Fist was incredibly solid.
Her protective astral Qi was immense; Eon Hwa-ryeon had trained her entire body in the art of materializing true Qi.
As a martial artist who fought with her bare fists, she was more than capable of suppressing the renown of countless swordsmen.
Her loose, drunken demeanor had completely vanished.
Standing on the duel stage, she exuded the presence of a divine being. An invisible current of power flowed violently across her entire body.
It was as if she had elevated her fist techniques and protective astral Qi to the realm of divine arts.
The moment the duel began, she closed the distance without hesitation, instantly erasing the space Jeong Yeon-shin needed to draw his sword.
The youth did not mind. He had intended to engage in close-quarters combat from the very beginning.
Deflecting her hand with the first form, Spiral, he delivered a strike to her abdomen using the Advancing Thunder fist technique. However, a bizarre rebounding force pushed back against him, as if he had just punched a shifting swamp.
For a moment, his wrist almost snapped. The practical true Qi structure unique to her noble clan was weaving an immense layer of protective astral Qi.
Jeong Yeon-shin immediately wrapped his Halo Qi around the Neiguan point (Inner Pass) in his wrist.
He had to protect the bones, joints, muscles, and ligaments in multiple layers.
This was his first time facing a fist fighter of the Black Rank. There were simply too many variables to consider.
He was also wary of Eon Hwa-ryeon's eyes, which peered sharply through her fluttering hair.
She was observing the youth while retreating with narrow, measured strides.
For some reason, the secret eye technique of the Jegal Clan—the same one Jegal Cheong-a had previously shown him—seemed to be reflected in her gaze.
A faint blue light shimmered in her eyes as they locked onto Jeong Yeon-shin.
That gaze remained steady even when the youth channeled the internal energy technique of Brilliant River into his arm. It almost felt as if she were intentionally leaving an opening.
Kwakwakwakwa—!
The force raging from his palm was fierce. The Blood Art and Dharma power sprouting within his Halo Qi were bound by the profound principles of a sorcery formation.
The shockwaves, spiraling out like branches from the wheel of his heart, ground down the surface of the duel stage as they surged forward.
They grew progressively more violent, culminating in the exact moment he delivered a palm strike toward Eon Hwa-ryeon.
The form that symbolized invincibility was complete. However, he could not draw out its full power. It was a compromise he had made himself.
Using the unobstructed adaptability of his Halo Qi, he shaved down the exceptionally long casting time of Brilliant River—a characteristic weakness of the technique at high realms.
This came at the cost of its destructive power. Even so, the force of the shockwave was strong enough to vibrate the very air.
It was then.
Slip.
A soft hand slid beneath his forearm. It felt cool to the touch.
It happened in an instant. His vision was suddenly filled with jet-black hair.
Taking a sudden step forward, Eon Hwa-ryeon ducked, bypassed the Brilliant River entirely, and grabbed his forearm, pulling it sharply upward.
The protective astral Qi guarding her face was incredibly solid. She fearlessly revealed her sharp gaze even as she faced the gale-force winds emanating from the Brilliant River.
Her languid, heavy-lidded eyes approached with the lethal intent of a treasured sword. The moment her pitch-black pupils flashed—
Kwaaaaang—!
The Brilliant River exploded harmlessly in the air above. A monstrous shockwave traveled down his arm, surging all the way to his feet.
It felt as if the ground beneath his heels had been crushed. His vision shook for a moment, and the entire duel stage violently trembled.
Brilliant River—a form that compensated for its flaws with sheer, overwhelming power.
The palm strike, which he had always managed to land somehow, had missed. It was a complete first.
It felt as if the heavy reputation of the Eon Family's Number One Fist was rushing in alongside the residual force of the shockwave.
She had struck the blind spot of his explosive martial arts dead-on. Armed with her robust protective astral Qi, she had fearlessly dug her way inside his guard and altered the trajectory of his palm strike.
The handiwork of an experienced Black Rank fist fighter was truly terrifying to behold.
Eon Hwa-ryeon's hand, which had gripped the youth's forearm, slid straight down toward his shoulder joint.
Jeong Yeon-shin's eyes flashed. In that split second, countless techniques she could unleash raced through his mind. Acupoint sealing, inch power, internal heavy hand techniques—he was vulnerable to all of them.
Whoosh!
He activated the Wind God movement technique. He twisted his feet first. The Halo Qi force, spiraling out from the Yongquan point (Gushing Spring) on his soles, resonated with the minute muscles across his entire body.
His small movement generated a protective scripture of violent rotation. The young Commander of the Demonlight Wing's body transformed into a whirlwind.
His black robes spun in a spiral along with his body. The full-body Fa Jin was stronger than Eon Hwa-ryeon's grip. He slipped right through her grasp and rapidly widened the distance.
Kwaaaak!
As Jeong Yeon-shin stopped spinning, the wind unraveled from his body. A violent gust surged outward once, followed by a sudden, heavy silence.
A battle between supreme masters always stole the breath of the onlookers. At a glance, they seemed perfectly evenly matched.
“……”
The Commander of the Demonlight Wing and the Duke of Eminent Fists stood in a tense standoff.
They were two paces apart. It was a distance where, the exact moment Jeong Yeon-shin attempted to draw his sword, the ultimate technique of the Eon Family's Number One Fist would explode toward him.
To respond in time, he had no choice but to remain empty-handed.
Eon Hwa-ryeon was strictly keeping the promise she had made at the Blue Crane Pavilion. She had told him she would have no qualms about getting up close and personal.
The youth quietly stared at his opponent.
He could not tell how deep Eon Hwa-ryeon's body protection art ran. Even after being exposed to such a violent gale of shockwaves, her hair had settled back into place perfectly.
This meant she had been shrouded in true Qi from the very beginning.
She had wrapped her entire body in a flexible yet solid internal energy barrier. It was as if a master of the Eon Clan had simultaneously mastered the eye technique of the Jegal Clan.
Her martial arts seemed specifically woven for close-quarters combat, exerting an immense, suffocating pressure.
‘She seems a step below Perfected Heavenly Pillar or the Yeongcheon Sword Ghost at their peak, but...’
But such a comparison was meaningless. All three were masters who had trained far longer than Jeong Yeon-shin. Furthermore, Eon Hwa-ryeon possessed her own distinct strengths.
The caliber of her body protection art was on a completely different level, and she possessed an energy structure perfectly suited for enveloping her entire body.
What was her weakness?
It was at that moment, just as the youth fell deep into thought, that she spoke.
“Your protective astral Qi doesn't match your level of internal energy, does it?”
Eon Hwa-ryeon asked with a smile. Unlike when they had met at the Blue Crane Pavilion, her speech was no longer slurred.
Her clear tone flashed with sharp intellect, highlighting her status as a supreme master whom the noble clan alliance took immense pride in.
“The layer over your skin felt thin. It was almost as if I could feel your bare flesh directly.”
She gently wiggled her scarred fingers. Her demeanor showed an utter disregard for the gazes of the crowd packed tightly around the duel stage.
Having fully displayed her formidable presence as a supreme master, Eon Hwa-ryeon's provocation actually drew cheers from some of the martial artists in the crowd.
“Your true Qi circulation was also strangely slow. Only your razor-sharp senses, which seemed to read a move ahead, were terrifying. Now that I look closely, you have quite a few flaws for a supreme master. Furthermore, that palm technique of yours...”
The corners of her mouth curled up even further.
“I find it hard to agree with what that child of the Namgung Clan said. That you will one day contend for the title of the world's greatest? I wonder about that.”
“……”
“Your palm technique is too far ahead of its time. As long as the martial arts of the prestigious orthodox sects maintain their unbroken lineage, it will be hard for your technique to truly shine. This is especially true the higher you climb into the realm of masters. It is heavily influenced by the flow of battle, unlike the ancient, refined techniques of the prestigious clans. Your martial arts composition is still shallow.”
It was said that the martial arts of the noble clans occupied a middle ground between the Nine Sects and the Unorthodox Factions. No matter when they were unleashed, they blended seamlessly into actual combat.
They pursued absolute victory, no matter how long the fight dragged on. It was for this very reason that Eon Hwa-ryeon had observed Jeong Yeon-shin so closely earlier.
She had confirmed that, unless he used his sword forms or Brilliant River, he had no means of directly striking her through her protective astral Qi.
“Aside from the Young Sect Leader of the Ming Cult far away, there is no one among your peers who can rival you. But I do not know how you will fare on the grand stage of the world. Your gaze is fixed not on your peers, but on the entire Jianghu, is it not? As you roam the Central Plains as the Commander of the Demonlight Wing in the future, none of the opponents you face will be easy.”
“Those of noble bloodlines sure talk a lot,” Jeong Yeon-shin said, finally parting his lips. “The only thing worth learning from them is the rare chance to broaden my horizons.”
“Show me whatever you have. That is my stance,” Eon Hwa-ryeon said, her smiling face exuding absolute leisure. “You have insolently planted the banner of the Desolate Fortress and built your reputation. If I am to break both your renowned name and that flagpole, I must show the world an extraordinary spectacle.”
She had completely countered the Commander of the Demonlight Wing's Infinite Flower of Time Hand. Her confident smile was well-founded.
Her arms, extending from her sleeveless martial uniform, rose to her chest as she assumed her starting fist stance.
In the tendons of her forearms, which tapered down to her wrists, her absolute mastery of energy—granting her immunity to heat and cold—was clearly evident.
Despite being exposed to the hot autumn sun, her smooth skin was striking. It pulsed faintly, proving the sheer depth of her internal energy breathing.
She whispered,
“Come at me again, child. There are five exchanges left.”
“...I heard your eyes are exceptionally good at spying,” Jeong Yeon-shin said slowly. “Then this Commander shall also change the way he sees.”
Suddenly, a brilliant white light shimmered in the youth's eyes.
*
Nanyang Prefecture, Henan Province.
A quiet pavilion stood open on all four sides. Two people sat facing each other, a table of drinks and snacks resting between them.
They were a young woman and a Brightfolk man.
The woman's appearance was striking and unusual. Her lustrous gray hair barely covered the nape of her neck.
As the wind brushed the tips of her hair against her pale neck, her noble yet free-spirited demeanor suited her perfectly.
A strong, dignified grace emanated from her beauty, making her look barely thirty years of age.
“It seems the Alliance Leader didn't cause trouble, even though half of the martial arts army you led has vanished.”
The man, wearing a green robe slightly parted at his chest, spoke up. His posture was loose and careless, entirely unbefitting of a noble clan.
His long, flowing hair was exceptionally black, giving him a decadent air.
A flush of red colored his ears, which poked through his hair like the tips of swords. He looked as though he had been drinking in the middle of the day.
He was the Hao Sect Leader.
“Hmph.”
Baek Seo-gun, the Yeongcheon Sword Ghost and Sword Venerable of Henan, snorted softly.
“There is no master in the Deep Martial Alliance who can replace this Sword Venerable. Trouble? Out of the question.”
“Do you know that in an actual military, losing that many troops would be considered total annihilation?”
“He was an opponent worthy of it.”
“Ah, the new Commander of the Demonlight Wing. I hear he is currently taking Hanzhong by storm. My sect is also keeping an eye on him. The emergence of a rising powerhouse is always something that draws attention,” the Hao Sect Leader said.
The expression on Baek Seo-gun's face, which had been as cold as frost, shifted. A thin smile played on her red lips.
“I never imagined Pan-ak's son would come to command the Jianghu. I knew he would be raised well, but this is beyond my wildest imagination. He has grown splendidly as a martial artist. Shameless as it may be, my heart swells with pride. I've been reflecting on it the entire way here, and I never grow tired of it.”
It was truly so.
She looked back on the subtleties of baduk that Jeong Pan-ak had taught her back when she was just a maid.
Jeong Pan-ak's son embodied the concept of sacrificing a stone for initiative with his entire being. It was a fiercely aggressive attitude toward life.
His father's appearance and teachings had been passed down perfectly. To Baek Seo-gun, it felt like witnessing an incredibly noble sword form.
She had abandoned the Jeong Family Manor to cast off her lowly life, but she realized that the time she had spent in that humble status was not in vain, even now.
Thanks to the Flash Art, the life of Henan's Sword Venerable was completely fulfilled. It was a precious memory.
“He was raised truly well, and he has grown wonderfully,” she murmured in a soft tone. The words had slipped out unconsciously.
The Hao Sect Leader's expression turned peculiar.
“Hmm, raised well? I wonder about that.”
Baek Seo-gun's fair brow furrowed. A sharp chill emanated from her shadowed eyes beneath her thick eyelashes.
“Your questioning tone is unpleasant. If this seat says so, you need only accept it as fact.”
“No, it is just that there are so many rumors circulating about the new Commander of the Demonlight Wing...”
He trailed off. The corners of Baek Seo-gun's mouth twitched downward.
“Do not hide your thoughts from this seat. Speak plainly.”
“After the Flash Art made a name for himself, my sect also activated our secret lines. He is a blood descendant of the Desolate Ma Clan, after all. Since he showed such prominence, we assumed he would become a giant of the Jianghu in the future and dug deep. We even questioned the commoners of Xinye County, where the Jeong Family Manor is located. It was something the haughty members of the Hegemon Sword Sect did not bother to do.”
“And?”
“It seems he was not raised so gently...”