Chapter 243: Awakening (7)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 243: Awakening (7)
It was a desolate mountain range.
A breeze swept through the thickets. He stood atop a gentle slope, surrounded by the towering canyon peaks that rose around him.
Lush blades of grass swayed haphazardly, defying the biting breath of winter to retain their vibrant green hue.
"..."
He had posted so many public notices that no one could possibly remain ignorant.
—The group that subjugated the Seven Great Sects of Xi'an has challenged the Hegemon Sword Sect.
It was no ordinary poster. It targeted the Elder Council Head of the Hegemon Sword Sect with pinpoint accuracy.
The writing, which brought up the target's parents in a manner both exquisitely polite and utterly ruthless, left the masses agape. Some even turned away in a hurry, terrified by the sheer audacity.
Whispers and rumors rippled through every corner of the city.
The general consensus was that the challengers had lost their minds—or their fear of death.
The Heaven Beyond Heaven.
That was what the absolute peak of the Jianghu, which included the Hegemon Sword Sect, was called. A heaven beyond the heavens.
No one even dared to lay a finger on the paper.
The great city of Xi'an was entirely abuzz.
And now, that immense wave of attention stretched all the way to this desolate peak.
"The one who swept away the seven sect leaders in a single blow..."
"The Ghost Soul Divine Sword is barely human. How does he plan to handle her?"
There were many onlookers.
Every peak was thick with hidden presences, reminiscent of military ambushes. All sorts of people concealed themselves among the dense, rust-colored pine needles.
It was vastly different from when the Seven Great Sects of Xi'an were destroyed. Martial artists from all over had flooded into the area.
They came holding onto the hope that merely witnessing this clash might lead to a fated encounter, driven by the expectation of seeing Yeo So-hyang in person—a woman once renowned as a sword immortal alongside the Sword Immortal of Zhongnan.
After all, the strike of a transcendent martial artist was a spectacle one could scarcely hope to witness even once in a lifetime.
"There! Over there!"
"Whoa!"
The moment a tiny black speck appeared in the sky, a wave of cheers erupted. These were the people who had not yet suffered at the hands of the heterodox sects.
Finally, the tyrannical immortal was descending. Every eye turned toward the sky.
Whooooosh!
The sound of tearing air, like the wailing of ghosts, grew louder. It was as if a divine general from the heavenly realm was making her descent.
The sheer resonance plunging down from those dizzying heights was overwhelming.
How noisy.
Standing alone on the hill, Jeong Yeon-shin rotated the halo in his heart.
As energy surged from his wrists, his pitch-black sleeves fluttered violently.
Swish!
Silver threads shot out from both of his hands. Accompanied by a slender sensation brushing against his wrists, they wrapped around the pine trees within a ten-zhang radius.
These were the strands of the Thread Swords he had claimed as spoils of war, numbering in the dozens. They twisted around each other, pulling taut.
It was as if he had fashioned a guqin using nature itself as his instrument.
The Commander of the Demonlight Wing leaped elegantly, landing atop the golden strings. Simultaneously, a strange resonance rippled beneath his feet.
Tring—
It was the harmony of internal energy. His fully charged Law-Transcending Halo Qi resonated strand by strand within the Thread Swords. A deep, clear ring spread throughout the forest.
The gazes that had been fixed upward drifted down one by one, focusing on Jeong Yeon-shin. Unbothered by the glaring sunlight, he raised his head.
He had no awareness that he was creating a rare, mystical spectacle of his own.
He simply took the descending figure into his vision.
He could see her.
A figure descending through the air, treading upon a precious sword.
It was an old woman whose ear tips were pointed like the tips of a blade. Her very aura was unbelievably sharp.
She was enveloped in a destructive, colorless sword qi, and the air itself seemed to groan under the pressure of the energy radiating from her.
A constant, hissing sound like a snake's breath echoed around her. It was easy to see why she was called the "Ghost Soul."
Though her left sleeve fluttered emptily in the wind, her posture and aura remained steadfast. There was none of the distorted balance typical of a one-armed swordsman.
Her martial power must have decreased after the entire Hand Yangming Large Intestine Meridian in her left arm was severed by the Sword Immortal of Zhongnan.
Yet, she was worthy of her status in the Hegemon Sword Sect. Her entire body seemed to have transformed into a divine sword.
"Child, those words."
Treading upon her flying sword, the old woman moved her wrinkled lips.
"Did you write them?"
She did not descend completely, halting about three zhang above the ground. Standing atop the suspended sword, she looked as though she were seated on a throne.
With her hands clasped behind her back, she looked down at Jeong Yeon-shin, exuding the oppressive weight of her advanced years. Along with it came the sheer arrogance accumulated over those long decades.
Jeong Yeon-shin felt it instinctively.
She is someone who once stepped into the Purple Rank.
Otherwise, this made no sense. Even with her supposedly declined martial arts, she exuded an overwhelming presence.
The sword qi rising from Yeo So-hyang's body naturally reached even Jeong Yeon-shin's breath.
It wavered with extreme sharpness, constantly irritating the body protection qi around his face from the moment she descended.
"Those words were indeed written exactly as I dictated. Is there a single lie in them?"
Jeong Yeon-shin gave a casual reply, though he didn't expect much. The eye techniques of the Brightfolk martial artists were highly adept at discerning the truth.
Cheong-myeong had been that way, and the Elder Council Head of the Hegemon Sword Sect would be no different. He was merely a bit bothered that Heonwon Chang had written his alias on the poster exactly as he had dictated.
Anger flared in the eyes of Yeo So-hyang, the Ghost Soul Divine Sword.
"A lie. However..."
Suddenly, the sword she was treading upon shot up like a flash of light and flew into her hand. It was Sword Control.
There was no way someone capable of sword flight could not perform Sword Kinesis.
Even holding the blade in one hand, she floated in the air as steadily as if her center of gravity had shifted to the hilt. Clinging elegantly to the sword, Yeo So-hyang's lips trembled.
"You, too, bear responsibility."
In an instant, the force concentrated around the blade formed yet another sword.
It took the shape of a sheath of energy enveloping her blade.
Vroooom!
The precious sword held in her wrinkled hand vibrated violently. Along with the intangible greatsword that had manifested in an instant, she slashed sideways. It was aimed toward an adjacent peak, where the onlookers were gathered.
Jeong Yeon-shin felt it instinctively. One of the three great secret techniques he had heard so much about from Jegal Hyeon was manifesting.
Loyal Stage Desolation-Breaking Sword Art—Shattering Thunder.
The atmosphere in front of her distorted.
Kwooooosh!
Yeo So-hyang's force, compressed into the shape of a sword, exploded outward. It was a straight-line slash. The trajectory cutting through the air shimmered colorlessly as it struck the middle of the adjacent peak.
The rocks on the surface were gouged out with a harsh grinding sound. Simultaneously, a massive, intangible shockwave erupted.
In that instant,
the peak, which held several hundred people, was sliced clean off. A thick cloud of dust rose, carrying a surreal texture.
The colossally large severed section began to slide downward and sideways. Boulders tumbled down along with a cascade of stone debris.
Rumble!
Screams erupted everywhere. Voices filled with shock and terror wailed in unison—screams squeezed from the very depths of their throats.
It was utter helplessness.
It was akin to a natural disaster.
People fell off the cliff one after another, clawing desperately at the brush. Those who clung to tree trunks plummeted along with the severed peak.
It was pure pandemonium. A dull thud echoed from the distant ground below. With a single strike of her sword, the fates of countless lives were twisted.
The strike had occurred in the blink of an eye. It was truly like a flash of light.
"You gathered here so eagerly after seeing a scrap of paper insulting our Lord. You are nothing but insects, worse than jackals."
said Yeo So-hyang, the Ghost Soul Divine Sword. Her aged voice was calmly subdued.
Just before she had unleashed the slash, the strands of the Thread Swords Jeong Yeon-shin had extended brushed past her feet. It was a sublime evasion. She had already ascended higher while remaining airborne.
The precious sword in Yeo So-hyang's grasp returned to her feet once more. It was an extremely mystical sight.
"Executing this rabble comes first. Child, administering your execution..."
She stood upon the flat of her blade with a lofty posture. Her gaze looking down at Jeong Yeon-shin was freezing cold.
It was the gaze of an old master who had lived at the absolute pinnacle for a very long time. Even the slow parting of her lips carried immense weight.
"...will be done slowly. Very slowly."
"Shut your mouth, you old wretch."
Jeong Yeon-shin quickly scanned his surroundings with his sense of qi.
His Demonlight Wing comrades, who had spread out as scouts, were tasked with identifying any strong foes.
This was out of concern that the elites of the Hegemon Sword Sect might flood in. Only the Demonlight First Team, Wiji Myo-hwa, Jegal Hyeon, and the Lazy Flame Dragon lay in wait nearby in disguise.
Fortunately, they had not been caught in the sword strike just now. They had ambushed other peaks.
No.
Fortunately? Not at all.
Jeong Yeon-shin had just witnessed a massacre.
Commoners and martial artists alike had been swept away. And it was no small number. Yeo So-hyang had killed at least a hundred people.
Using the utility of her sword flight, she kept herself far out of reach of the Commander of the Demonlight Wing's strikes.
Whooooosh!
Even now, she was doing it.
Riding her sword, Yeo So-hyang moved far away. She seemed to be heading toward the opposite peak.
She had already been out of range of all his techniques, but now she was practically moving to an entirely different space.
This was completely different from the behavioral patterns he had heard about from Jegal Hyeon.
She was close to a madwoman. The Elder Council Head of the Hegemon Sword Sect was completely insane.
With a fast sword that even Jeong Yeon-shin could not properly track, she had unleashed a slash rarely seen under heaven upon the common people. The surrounding area was already in utter chaos.
A frantic crowd of evacuees poured down from all directions. Amidst the clusters of commoners covering their heads with both hands, he could see his Demonlight Wing comrades looking bewildered.
I have to stop her.
Jeong Yeon-shin's eyes sharpened.
A burning rage was rising in his chest. It sliced hotly through his heart, where the halo resided.
Deadly strikes should never be wielded so lightly. The lives of commoners ought to remain outside the affairs of the Jianghu.
Jeong Yeon-shin had wielded his sword to obtain the fruit of the World Tree. It was all to extend his own single, fragile thread of life.
Yet, how many threads of life were being snuffed out on the opposite cliff right now? Each and every one of them surely carried the same weight as his own.
Rumble!
Another peak was sliced diagonally and collapsed. It was a place he could not reach from here.
Can I handle this?
Jeong Yeon-shin's gaze darkened.
He had meticulously estimated Yeo So-hyang's full strength alongside Jegal Hyeon.
With her left arm severed during the Great Sect War of the Zhongnan Sect, her hegemon art weakening by the day, and her skills declining further from her prime due to advanced age... He had thought she wouldn't be as formidable as her reputation suggested.
But facing her in person was different. The reality of it was far harsher.
He hadn't even been able to properly see her strike. It was indeed the Hegemon Sword, the sword that sought the absolute pinnacle among the heterodox sects. Her control of internal power and the release of her sword strikes were astonishingly fast.
Her sword force was also monstrously strong. It was enough to bring to mind the Thousand-Fist Dragon-Strength Retainer, Hahu Wi-jin.
To begin with, her reputation spanned the vast world. She was a transcendent swordsman capable of shearing mountain peaks.
She was a powerhouse known to everyone across the many provinces of the vast Central Plains.
Even if his Law-Transcending Halo Qi possessed a favorable compatibility, it was useless if he couldn't read her strikes. In his current state, he could not win.
Soon, all his thoughts converged into a single line.
—I must complete it here.
Swiftly, right now.
He decided to utilize the time that the arrogant Elder Council Head of the Hegemon Sword Sect had unwittingly granted him.
An eye technique...
Jeong Yeon-shin's talent reacted. It was a genius that grew by consuming his lifespan. Whenever a moment of true necessity arrived, it answered with ferocious intensity.
He felt he could do it now; the wind brushing against his skin felt different than before. A crisp sense of omnipotence. It was a familiar yet peculiar sensation.
Just before he closed his eyes,
a sky-blue light flashed across Jeong Yeon-shin's pupils.
Inhale—
With a deep breath, his consciousness sank inward.
He dove deep. He recalled everything he had seen up to this point.
He had broadened his horizons with the Compendium of Crushing the Righteous at the Alliance, and he had experienced the body forged by the Yeongcheon Sword Ghost, Baek Seo-gun.
Upon returning to the main fortress, he had associated with the senior unit commanders. The world of martial arts was truly vast.
He had realized just how diverse the methods of utilizing the body could be, and the assistance of Senior Jin, the Commander of the Bloodkeeper Unit, had been particularly immense.
He had also observed the body of his maternal grandfather, Ma Yeon-jeok, while helping him undergo Rejuvenation.
He compared all of this to the body of the current Commander of the Divine Sword Corps, which he had examined back when he was still a Blue Rank. He traced the flow of qi and blood generated by peerless masters who were nearly impossible to approach.
Everything was an insight.
Now, Jeong Yeon-shin's knowledge was sufficiently broad and deep.
Let us establish the mental image that will serve as the axis of this martial art.
Absorbing all of those things into his vision like a bolt of lightning.
The intent that he must be able to read everything completely in an instant.
Thump—
In this extreme situation, Yeo So-hyang's sword strikes and his current emotions intertwined into inspiration.
A razor-sharp stimulus pounded against the crown of his head. In his heart, the wheel of light spun.
I must stop that old woman. Unless I thoroughly shatter every single one of her sword strikes, winning will be no different from losing. I don't need all-around vision. I want an eye technique that absolutely governs only what is directly in front of me. One whose dismantling capability can reach even masters who are a level above me.
The eyes of the Commander of the Demonlight Wing, who protects the common people of the world.
His Law-Transcending Halo Qi began to rise toward his head. A warm internal power filled the surrounding fine meridians.
From his face to his eyes, the acupoints of Sibai, Zanzhu, and Yintang were heated by his internal energy.
An extremely dense wave of energy radiated from his face. It was a flow that was restructuring his nervous system.
Vroooom!
Streams of blue energy began to seep out from the gaps of Jeong Yeon-shin's eyelids.
He had long since woven the structure of his true qi using mnemonics. It was enough to simply grasp the clear outline of the martial art.
He melted the insights floating in his mental space into the mnemonics. His innate talent transformed into light within his mind, racing through his entire body.
The current Commander of the Demonlight Wing was a grandmaster. In an instant, he manipulated the fused mnemonics and intent at will, bringing to bloom an eye technique unprecedented under heaven.
With the mental image of trampling down any eyesores in advance.
I shall name this the Sight of the Lowly...
His entire eyeballs grew hot. Every flow was connecting to the Baihui Point at the crown of his head.
And make it the eyes through which I view the world.
The waves of his Halo Qi surged toward his head.
It was a complete convergence.
Flash!
The Upper Dantian of his brain burned blue.
The crown of his head boiled as if pierced by lightning. Within the blue flash, a flow of Adaptability without Obstruction was woven.
With a fixed structure of internal power, it constantly traversed the fine meridians between his optic nerves and the Baihui Point. At this moment, without any warning, a peerless eye technique was born.
Jeong Yeon-shin immediately opened his eyes.
And parted his lips.
"—The Lord of the Hegemon Sword Sect ruthlessly cut down my father. It must be because he did not receive a proper upbringing from his parents. Or perhaps his wet nurse's teachings were simply terrible."
Infused fully with his Halo Qi, his voice resonated in all directions.
He had borrowed Heonwon Chang's method, and its efficacy was absolute.
Whoooosh!
A sudden gale violently disheveled Jeong Yeon-shin's long hair. Yeo So-hyang, the Ghost Soul Divine Sword, had returned in an instant, treading upon her sword. The speed of her sword flight was truly terrifying.
Amidst the light brown pine needles fluttering all around,
the old woman, hands clasped behind her back, looked down at Jeong Yeon-shin.
"You insist on hastening your death. Did you wish to go by a single stroke of the blade so badly?"
Jeong Yeon-shin calmly met her gaze, placing his hand on the silver hilt of the Northern Light Sword.
"Worry about your own karma. Aren't you just an old monster of the unorthodox factions who will soon plunge into hell?"
"..."
Yeo So-hyang's lips twisted.
"Child, you possess eyes as bizarre as your tongue. What is it you are looking at right now?"
"Everything about you."
The eyes of the Commander of the Demonlight Wing flashed with a deep blue light.