Chapter 204: Demonlight Wing (5)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 204: Demonlight Wing (5)
Hoo—
A sigh slipped past Hahu Wi-jin's lips, sounding almost like a lament.
His massive frame leaned back.
The Commander of the Forest-Treading Unit paid no attention to the book Jeong Yeon-shin had produced. Remaining on one knee, he kept his gaze fixed solely on the Lord of the Desolate Fortress.
It was as if the faint smile curving her lips was a rare, magnificent sight unmatched under heaven.
“……?”
Beside him, Ak Su-rim slightly raised an eyebrow. Her pitch-black eyes darted from the Lord down to the side.
She looked back and forth between the Lord of the Desolate Fortress and the Compendium of Crushing the Righteous. With her sharp, perceptive gaze, she seemed to be gauging the Lord's mood and deciphering the meaning behind the title.
The two Black Rank experts could not hide their mutual astonishment.
Holding the book in silence, Jeong Yeon-shin felt puzzled. Just how rare was a smile from the Lord of the Desolate Fortress?
'She's smiled quite often for me ever since we first met.'
The newly appointed Commander of the Demonlight Wing quickly brushed the thought aside, assuming there must be some other reason.
Turning his attention away from his Black Rank seniors, he simply raised the Compendium of Crushing the Righteous slightly higher.
At that moment, the book floated up on its own.
It was a mystical sight. This was Void Grab—the realm of manipulating objects without physical touch.
Having mastered the Law-Transcending Halo Qi, Jeong Yeon-shin could now sense a distinct wave of energy.
Internal energy, flowing from the Lord of the Desolate Fortress like a spring breeze, enveloped the book.
It felt incredibly transparent. Its texture was entirely different from the technique of the Myriad Blossoms Rain. Far more natural than that, her true qi moved exactly as if it were an extension of her own limbs.
It was as if something akin to Jeong Yeon-shin's full-body fa jin was manifesting within the realm of internal energy. It was a level of control over true qi on an entirely different plane.
Though he had witnessed this feat several times before, a fresh shiver ran down his spine. It was as if she possessed no distinction between her acupuncture points.
Had she forged her entire body into a single dantian? Her skill in coordinating the true qi she projected outward was nothing short of miraculous.
It was as mystical as a spiritual tree moving its own branches.
Perhaps she could perform feats like the Myriad Blossoms Rain or Sword Kinesis without even needing a specific mnemonic.
'The further I progress, the higher and more clearly I can see.'
Jeong Yeon-shin thought as he gazed at the face of the Lord of the Desolate Fortress, who was merely scanning the title written on the book.
Back when he was a White Rank, she had appeared as an august, absolute sovereign; now, she looked like a peerless master deserving of absolute reverence.
This shift was likely because his own perspective had elevated to match his new status as the Commander of the Demonlight Wing.
Conscious of his immense growth, he waited for her to speak. Jeong Yeon-shin felt the halo pulsing in tandem with his heartbeat.
Anticipation and anxiety mingled within him. Sensing his state of mind, the corners of the Lord's lips curled up just a fraction more.
“The Compendium of Crushing the Righteous.”
She parted her lips.
“Simple, yet audacious.”
Jeong Yeon-shin silently lowered his eyes.
For the first time, he regretted choosing such a hastily made name. His thoughts scattered like dandelion seeds swept away by a gentle breeze.
Was it because his thoughts grew more complex as his body matured? No, that wasn't the only reason. It was because the person before him was the Lord of the Desolate Fortress.
His lifeline. His salvation.
The one person in the world he needed to impress the most.
He had never expected to hear her thoughts on his naming sense. He had named it Pabaek (Crushing the Righteous) because it was a method to dismantle the orthodox martial arts of the White Path.
Which part of it was audacious? It was meant quite literally.
'Is the word "Compendium" strange?'
Jeong Yeon-shin thought. It didn't seem strange to him.
He pondered for a brief moment. It was Pabaek because it dismantled the martial arts of the White Path, and it was a Chongram (Compendium) because it compiled insights into the martial arts of various sects.
Even if he had named it carelessly, surely it wasn't so grand as to be called audacious.
Just as his thoughts were about to sink deeper, she spoke.
“I recognize your achievement. I can surmise its value without reading it thoroughly. And your statement that you will not choose a reward...”
The Lord of the Desolate Fortress gently moved her lips.
“...is only logical.”
She spoke while keeping the Compendium of Crushing the Righteous suspended above Jeong Yeon-shin's head. The book floating in midair lent a dreamlike atmosphere to the room.
The Lord of the Desolate Fortress did not ask what it was.
Nor did she flip through its pages.
She likely possessed the deepest insight in the world into the new Commander of the Demonlight Wing's talent.
She merely smiled faintly, as if she had deduced his recent deeds and the contents of the book from its title alone.
She did not express a single doubt regarding the quality of the document.
“I shall inform the Grand Steward. You deserve to possess many things.”
“What about... that?”
Jeong Yeon-shin asked cautiously. He was referring to the fruit of the World Tree.
He had been unable to consume the fragment the Lord of the Desolate Fortress had given him previously. She had told him it was because his attainment was too low.
What about now? Would things be different now that he had formed the Law-Transcending Halo Qi?
Suppressing his anticipation as best as he could, he met her gaze.
Her beauty, which bore testament to her peerless martial prowess, did not register in his mind. He simply stared into her eyes, which looked like jewels crafted from leaves.
He needed no other reward. His maternal grandfather now had the Great Restoration Pill. His uncle would also be equipped with a prosthetic arm.
If it was a reward solely for himself, the fruit she guarded was naturally the first thing that came to mind.
'Even just a single fragment.'
He tried to compose himself, but it was difficult. His heart beat violently despite harboring the halo.
The Lord of the Desolate Fortress surely perceived everything. Her faint smile gradually faded.
“Since you breathe through a divine art, you must understand by now.”
The Lord's tone was gentle and quiet.
“You must cultivate your essence, qi, and spirit in equal measure. I realized this through what we experienced together before.”
She was speaking of the realm of Three Flowers Gathering at the Peak.
It meant that only after achieving the Unity of Essence, Qi, and Spirit could one begin to consume the fruit.
This was a realm Jeong Yeon-shin had only begun to grasp upon reaching the Black Rank. At this moment, her words brought him an intuitive understanding.
The divine fruit of the World Tree exerted a holistic influence on the body, true qi, and soul.
This meant that a practitioner whose balance was uneven could not absorb its efficacy.
Jeong Yeon-shin understood.
He was not deeply disappointed. His habit of stifling his expectations to avoid being hurt had, in martial terms, reached a state of great completion.
He had been this way ever since his days at the Jeong Family Manor. The Commander of the Demonlight Wing murmured inwardly, completely unfazed. 'I see.'
'I just need to overcome it through training.'
He accepted it as part of the process. It was merely a crossing on the path leading to the fruit. The Unity of Essence, Qi, and Spirit was exactly that.
It was a state he had to achieve if he wished to continue accumulating achievements in the future. It was an inevitable milestone on his way to donning the purple robe.
“Do not be discouraged. You will reach it in due time.”
The Lord of the Desolate Fortress spoke slowly.
Her voice carried a strange, transcendent quality. Her hem brushed against the trunk of the tree rooted at the apex of the world.
She drifted down, a soft, light-green figure.
Rustle.
“I am late in commending you.”
Stepping down slowly with her bare, snow-white feet, the Lord of the Desolate Fortress leaned forward. She bent down toward the Commander of the Demonlight Wing, who was kneeling on his left knee.
Sunlight shattered around her translucent face.
A grassy hue lingered in her cascading hair, and the exhale of her breath, drawn from a fathomless divine art, dispersed against Jeong Yeon-shin's forehead.
“You did well.”
Her brief words resonated with brilliant clarity.
At the same time,
Brush.
A warm sensation touched Jeong Yeon-shin's forehead. It was a hand slowly brushing back his hair, strand by strand.
Even the downward stroke of her hand was gentle and meticulous. It was incredibly strange. Though it lasted only a brief moment, the rising and falling motion felt like an eternity.
The Lord of the Desolate Fortress was stroking the head of the new Commander of the Demonlight Wing.
While Ak Su-rim and Hahu Wi-jin raised their eyebrows in surprise, Jeong Yeon-shin reflexively closed his eyes. A dreamlike sensation washed down from the crown of his head.
This was unprecedented. By the time the warmth originating from his head reached his heart, it had transformed into profound tranquility.
It felt as though the fatigue he hadn't even realized he was carrying was melting away. In an instant, he was enveloped in peace.
The human heart was a curious thing. Sometimes, it harbored a power far more mysterious than any martial art.
“If you devote yourself, you will naturally reach that realm. There is no need to be disheartened.”
“……Yes, My Lord.”
* * *
The Compendium of Crushing the Righteous passed into the hands of the Lord of the Desolate Fortress. It was to be stored in the highest chamber of the Gold-Piercing Martial Library of the Desolate Fortress.
Along with this, she declared that reading privileges would be granted first to those of the Purple and Black Ranks.
— An internal announcement will be made.
Those were the words of the Lord of the Desolate Fortress.
The Vice Commander of the Divine Sword Corps, the Commander of the Forest-Treading Unit, and the Commander of the Demonlight Wing silently exited the main gate. Ak Su-rim and Hahu Wi-jin did not ask about the Compendium of Crushing the Righteous.
Such was the dignity of the Unit Commanders. Since the Lord of the Desolate Fortress had spoken personally, they knew the announcement would be made swifter than anything else.
They could well expect it as early as tomorrow.
This was fortunate for Jeong Yeon-shin. It allowed him to savor the warmth lingering in his mind a little longer.
'Though my reward will be delivered through the Chief Steward's Office... I feel as if I've already received everything.'
The corners of the Commander of the Demonlight Wing's mouth twitched slightly.
“Congratulations on your safe return.”
“Respects to the Unit Commanders.”
The guard warriors offered arching hand salutes to the Unit Commanders. Jeong Yeon-shin was the only one who returned the gesture in kind.
Ak Su-rim and Hahu Wi-jin merely nodded. They seemed lost in thought.
Before they knew it, the sunset was casting its glow over a corner of the Inner Castle.
The castle walls and the silhouettes of people were draped in the orange light of the setting sun.
The figures of warriors moving with disciplined precision amidst the quiet silence—it was a familiar, long-standing sight. Dusk at the Desolate Fortress was always like this.
“Someone came from the Chief Steward's Office. They said I should follow the Commander of the Demonlight Wing...”
A girl in a blue martial uniform greeted them. She was the eye technique expert who had been admitted into the Demonlight Wing solely on a single word from the Lord of the Desolate Fortress.
Miss Ye was nowhere to be seen, but Jegal Cheong-a explained with an indifferent face.
She said Miss Ye had headed straight to the Chief Steward's Office as an envoy of the Alliance, guided by the scholars of the main fortress.
“Should I call you Commander?”
“Yes.”
Nodding casually, Jeong Yeon-shin recalled the rumors he had heard.
'Fast.'
It was about how the highest echelon of the Desolate Fortress handled matters. It was said that the Lord of the Desolate Fortress could issue commands to the Grand Steward right from where she lay.
Meaning her sound transmission could reach the Chief Steward's Office from the very peak of the Inner Castle.
Grand Steward Im Jin-myeong's martial arts were also impressive. It was said he never missed a single word from the Lord of the Desolate Fortress.
This was a realm impossible to reach unless one had mastered the Path of Senses to a considerable depth.
Rumors abounded that his martial prowess rivaled that of the Black Rank. Like the other Unit Commanders, he must have cultivated his essence, qi, and spirit in equal measure.
'I still have a long way to go.'
Jeong Yeon-shin thought.
There was much to be done, even aside from having his maternal grandfather consume the Great Restoration Pill.
Once he returned to the pavilion of the Demonlight Wing, he had to focus on two tasks.
Taking the existing seniors of the Demonlight Wing as his disciples to improve their skills, and recruiting more Blue Rank experts to fill their depleted ranks.
While reorganizing internally, he would inevitably have to engage in martial duels. He wondered how effective his Law-Transcending Halo Qi and Lightning-Flash Sword Ridge Style would be against Black Rank experts.
He set a silent goal. Defeating about two of them would suffice. For now, he had to be content with that.
'How many Unit Commanders are left?'
The Black Ranks of the Desolate Fortress were those who always fought on the front lines.
There was no way these experts, who served as strategic weapons in the Great Sect Wars, would waste their strength idling in the main fortress.
The Chief Steward's Office deployed the Black Ranks outside as much as possible, and even more so recently. This was because a turbulent age was approaching, brought on by famine.
Jeong Yeon-shin suddenly recalled Miss Ye's words.
'She said she realized just how shorthanded the main fortress is.'
Doubts arose alongside the memory.
The cryptic exchange between her and the Lord, Miss Ye's unconventional behavior, her familiar poise, and her habit of practicing the Body Protection Scripture even in daily life.
'Is it truly possible for an Apostle of the Blood Flame Cult to pose as a strategist for the Martial World Alliance? Even the Sword Saint said nothing.'
In any case, the Lord of the Desolate Fortress had admitted her into the main fortress. He had to set aside hasty suspicions.
It was enough to resolve to wait and see. They were bound to cross paths again in the future, one way or another.
It was then.
Suddenly, the Commander of the Forest-Treading Unit, Hahu Wi-jin, looked down at the rookie Unit Commander. This happened as the four of them were walking.
“The rumors were true. You are favored by the Lord.”
“I am unworthy of such words,” Jeong Yeon-shin replied calmly, thinking the comment was rather pointless.
He had remained silent until they descended the steps of the Lord's Inner Castle, but it seemed he had been pondering what had transpired above.
The Divine Spear of the Desolate Fortress, Ak Su-rim, was the same.
“No. The big guy phrased it poorly, but the Lord's reaction was indeed unusual. It's a level of favor she has never shown even to her imperial disciples, let alone the Unit Commanders. When I underwent Rejuvenation, she merely smiled once and that was it.”
She spoke in a chattering tone.
“She only said I was worthy of becoming the next Commander of the Corps... but I don't know if she was sincere. She spoke in such a flat tone.”
Hahu Wi-jin's mouth turned down.
“The Vice Commander of the Divine Sword Corps cannot distinguish between formal praise and sincere words.”
He continued.
“There is no way those insignificant clans will ascend to the rank of Commander of the Divine Sword Corps three times.”
His voice was characteristically deep and heavy. Due to his massive build, his words felt as if they were striking down from above. A faint trace of anger could also be detected.
It was a reminder that competition existed even among the Unit Commanders. Jeong Yeon-shin felt this truth anew.
“The same goes for the Commander of the Demonlight Wing. You would do well not to act presumptuously just because the Lord holds you in high regard. The display you showed at the Alliance was quite exhilarating, but it is far from enough for us to hand over our subordinates to you.”
The Commander of the Forest-Treading Unit continued with a low growl.
“Fight and win. If you lack that level of skill, you will have to win us over in some other way. Even that won't be easy. It would be faster to force your will upon us through martial prowess.”
He spoke forcefully, in an archaic tone.
His words were true. The Black Ranks of the Desolate Fortress were supreme masters who traveled the world. This meant they possessed incredibly vast experience.
It would be difficult to open their hearts through ordinary means. It had to be settled through martial duels. Jeong Yeon-shin agreed with this sentiment.
Suddenly, the Commander of the Demonlight Wing stared intently at the legs of the Commander of the Forest-Treading Unit.
“Your footwork resembles that of the Brightfolk.”
“Hmm?”
“If you walk slightly differently, I believe you will feel much lighter,” Jeong Yeon-shin said.