Chapter 303: Lotus Nezha (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 303: Lotus Nezha (2)
The late winter wind was bone-dry.
Ssshh—
It swept invisibly across his face. Was it because a peerless master at the absolute peak of his power stood before him as an enemy, smiling?
Low-hanging dust brushed coldly against his ankles like a bundle of blades—the aftermath of the battle between the Black Rank seniors and the Jegal Clan Leader.
The two seniors remained silent.
Had they accepted Jeong Yeon-shin's choice as an equal?
As the flower of Ultimate Lightning enveloping him grew denser, Jin Myeong-jo's eyes hardened with worry for his junior. Beside him, Ak Su-rim clenched and unclenched her fists. Together, they took a step back.
The cold waves of energy sweeping the surroundings made it clear they were keeping the local aristocrats from interfering.
I can't let them intervene.
The seniors likely had some strength left, but nowhere near enough to hold their own against a peerless master.
The moment Jeong Yeon-shin showed signs of being pushed back, they would jump in, prepared to drag the enemy down to death with them. And that would be the exact moment they lost their lives.
He couldn't let that happen.
Never.
Jeong Yeon-shin fought down his rising impatience and anxiety.
—Today is the day.
His Upper Dantian seemed to whisper directly into his mind.
He had to seize it right now, in the very midst of battle—the supreme martial concept that connected his own senses, Eon Hwa-ryeon, the Dharma Treasure, and the Jegal Clan Leader together like a constellation.
He felt it instinctively. This was a rare, once-in-a-lifetime moment of enlightenment.
His mind tingled.
It felt similar to when he had created other martial arts, yet fundamentally different. Beyond the corpses of Jegal Hyeon and Eon Hwa-ryeon etched into his memory, a massive wave of realization was surging.
He felt an overwhelming inspiration, though its exact form remained difficult to grasp.
This is the turning point.
This moment would decide everything. Either he would become someone capable of judging the sins of great sect leaders and peerless masters, or he would fail to overcome the innate imbalance of his essence, qi, and spirit, dying as nothing more than a brief, brilliant flash as the youngest Unit Commander.
A brilliant light cast itself over everything, from his past experiences to the Jeong Family Dynamic Art of his childhood. It was the radiant flow of memory surging through his mind.
In this life-and-death struggle, he had to forge a martial art unlike any before it. A divine art capable of serving as a killing strike even against transcendent, peerless masters.
Is it possible?
Just then.
Slowly, twenty paces away, the Jegal Clan Leader's fingertips traced an elegant curve through the air.
Threads resembling a celestial maiden's ceremonial robes fluttered and surrounded him. Each strand was a Male-Female Divine Whip, pulsing with power far greater than Brilliant River.
[Show me everything you have. Let our fellow martial artists of the Jianghu gathered here remember how formidable you were. Through you, I shall raise the banner of Wolseong. I will show the world that even the Desolate Fortress can be destroyed like any other sect.]
“Let's begin.”
The Jegal Clan Leader talked too much. It felt as if his very karma was spilling from his mouth.
Jeong Yeon-shin immediately took a step forward, intensifying the massive lotus of Ultimate Lightning enveloping his body.
The rapidly surging power coursed through him with a low hum. The moment he took a single step, the ground exploded.
Boom!
A faint trail of light followed his feet like a comet—the aftermath of the Ten-Mile Light Grace. Closing the distance in an instant, Jeong Yeon-shin stomped his foot right in front of the Jegal Clan Leader.
With another heavy thud, the ground caved in. Debris shot up into the air in a blur.
Qilin's Judgment.
A gale erupted from the Fa Jin channeling through his entire body.
As airborne stone fragments scattered in all directions, the pure white trajectory of Northern Light slashed upward in tandem with his stomp, sweeping away and tearing off the Jegal Clan Leader's Black Bamboo Hat.
This happened the very instant he clashed with five strands of the Male-Female Divine Whip that rained down like beams of light.
Clash—!
A monstrous shockwave rippled out in all directions.
Jeong Yeon-shin swallowed a groan. The recoil surging through his grip was immense; it felt as if lightning were slicing through his forearms.
Through narrowed eyes, he saw the face of the man who had desecrated the Azure Qilin's corpse.
He bore a striking resemblance to the Fan Dragon, Jegal Hyeon. His features were drawn with the same delicate yet sharp lines.
It's irritating.
That man had no right to wield a fan. It was a weapon suited only for someone as elegant as Jegal Hyeon. At least, that was how it seemed to Jeong Yeon-shin, despite his short life in the Jianghu.
The man who had killed his own son smiled.
[You are worthy of being the harbinger of the Desolate Fortress's destruction. You have the qualifications.]
His voice buzzed like a swarm of bees. A mantra was woven directly into his divine Six Harmonies Sound Transmission.
Ten strands of the Male-Female Divine Whip overlapped vertically all at once. The air warped in a blur as his blade met the net of world-shaking power.
Clang-clang-clang!
He escaped by deflecting the whips in all directions with Northern Light. He even had to employ the Wind God Movement Technique, spinning rapidly and wrapping the surrounding wind around his body.
As he evaded the ceaseless torrent of astral qi threads, the sharp, biting wind scraped harshly against his skin.
If he got trapped, it would be the end.
Those Male-Female Divine Whips were forged from the harmony of sorcery martial arts that had reached their absolute peak.
The internal power and variations imbued within the ten strands were akin to Sword Kinesis. It was as if the man had created his own divine weapons.
[That technique must place a significant burden on your body. How much longer can you maintain it, wrapped in power that far exceeds your station?]
The Jegal Clan Leader smiled and waved his hand again.
The Male-Female Divine Whips shot forward, tracing all manner of erratic trajectories.
He no longer bothered mixing feints into his strikes. This was because Jeong Yeon-shin, having activated Ultimate Lightning, could not fully concentrate his Dharma Power into his sword blade.
Northern Light no longer glowed with a blue hue.
He had essentially sealed the elemental advantage of the Demon-Quelling Azure Steel Sword himself, but to match the Jegal Clan Leader's speed of execution, he had no choice but to keep Ultimate Lightning active.
Only by emitting the translucent lotus from his entire body was a one-on-one battle even remotely possible.
The power of Brilliant River overflowing from him was forcibly keeping pace with the extreme speed generated by the Unity of Essence, Qi, and Spirit.
[You do not know the harm the Desolate Fortress inflicts upon the world. How absurd it is that a fortress destined for utter destruction openly disrupts order in the Jianghu, all while pretending to act for the common people.]
Ultimate Lightning will unravel soon. This won't do. I'm going to die.
With every breath he took, a corner of his mind was dyed in despair. He watched as a single colorless whip grazed his earlobe and fell.
As the ground exploded with a boom, a burning pain seared his ear. He had almost died. He was walking a tightrope, repeatedly dodging by a hair's breadth.
It felt as if he were trapped within a sorcery formation.
The Jegal Clan Leader's combination of stances was just that oppressive.
With his lips curved into a picturesque arc, the Clan Leader elegantly plucked at the air as if playing a zither.
Clash! Boom!
But the trajectories of the tightening Male-Female Divine Whips were anything but elegant. They struck, lashed, and stabbed from every conceivable angle.
They pierced through all the lightning-like trajectories of the Lightning-Flash Sword Ridge Style, completely sealing even the movements of his left hand's Infinite Flower of Time Hand.
The shockwaves erupting between them did nothing more than ruffle the Jegal Clan Leader's long, loose hair.
This was the very man who had derived the countermeasure to the Flash Art martial arts directly from the Azure Qilin's corpse.
The junior's martial arts were completely seen through. With every exchange, his wounds multiplied. The robe he had inherited from his maternal uncle was gradually being torn to shreds.
Dark, damp spots bloomed across the fabric, evidencing his bleeding. Blood, scattered by the fierce wind of the Body Protection Scripture, dotted the ground below.
The lotus surrounding his body was fading.
The efficacy of Ultimate Lightning was running out.
[Roaring Thunder.]
Suddenly, a faint beam of light flashed in his peripheral vision. The sight came first, and excruciating pain followed like a shadow.
Only after feeling his flesh gouged out did he realize his shoulder had been pierced.
I saw it coming, yet...!
Spurt! Along with intense pain, blood sprayed from various parts of his body. While the pillar of sorcery martial arts struck down, the Male-Female Divine Whips had also deeply gashed the flesh of his abdomen.
Never since becoming a martial artist had he been backed into such a desperate corner.
Even as agonizing pain rushed to his head, he felt a surge of bitter resentment. His internal energy output simply could not keep up with his senses.
If only he could move just a fraction faster, he could have dodged it all.
Fwooooosh—!
Before he knew it, his entire field of vision blurred. He was completely surrounded by the Male-Female Divine Whips.
The trajectories drawn by the Jegal Clan Leader were tightening into a form as precise as a sorcery formation.
The shockwaves met by his sword—which he now swung almost entirely in defense—grew exponentially stronger. The sheer, overwhelming supremacy of the enemy's skill was enough to make him think of death.
There was no telling when the Black Rank seniors, dragging their exhausted bodies, might throw themselves into the fray.
Jeong Yeon-shin's mind grew frantic. His overheated blood and internal energy surged all the way to the crown of his head.
He did not want to die alone in a foreign land. Nor did he want to seek warmth solely in books and martial arts anymore.
Losing his mother had been enough.
Hum.
Suddenly, a wave of heat washed over him, and a sensation shaped like a flower bloomed within his Upper Dantian.
Beneath his feet, faint concentric ripples spread out, as if a flower bud had been placed upon a still pond. In an instant, his intent overflowed.
Why is it that only you people get to bloom the lotus of Three Flowers Gathering at the Peak?
Was it because heaven hadn't struck them down with the curse of a short lifespan?
Wasn't that too unfair? All this damn heaven had given him was a limit born of imbalance and a short life.
If that was indeed the case...
Then I will make things a little more equal. Even if I have to step on your lotuses to climb to the top.
Whoosh—!
The intangible wave that had been spreading like ripples suddenly surged forward. This happened just as the ten strands of the Male-Female Divine Whip thrust toward him like beams of light.
The energy of his Upper Dantian, which had begun to glow white-hot in his mind, swept violently outward.
It extended like a gale pushing across the sea, driving an invisible current straight into the Jegal Clan Leader's head.
Clang!
It was a sound only Jeong Yeon-shin could hear.
He replicated the resonance phenomenon he had felt from Eon Hwa-ryeon's Dharma Treasure. He shaped the function of his Upper Dantian into a massive pathway, forcibly linking his mind to the Jegal Clan Leader's.
It was a conduit that drew in the very inner structure of that sensation—the supreme state generated by the Unity of Essence, Qi, and Spirit.
He was temporarily sharing the Jegal Clan Leader's state of Three Flowers Gathering at the Peak.
A technique that completely transcended the laws of heaven. For some reason, even though it clearly defied all common sense, his entire body rapidly grew lighter.
His body, tempered by the Jeong Family Dynamic Art, and his senses, honed like a divine sword, began to seize upon the resonance. It was as if his entire being had become a Dharma Treasure.
It was then.
Perhaps it took a moment too long to instantaneously establish a martial art that had never existed before.
His vision was filled with beams of light. It was the Male-Female Divine Whips. But along with them, he saw the back of a girl who had leaped into the fray, her short hair fluttering in the wind.
“Flash Art! Go!”
Ak Su-rim had broken through the Jegal Clan Leader's formation. Having already suffered severe internal injuries, she was spitting up dark blood from the corner of her mouth.
She parted her lips, stained black with blood. To Jeong Yeon-shin, the scene played out in extreme slow motion. She seemed to be mouthing that she was sorry.
[Welcome, Divine Spear of the Desolate Fortress.]
Suddenly, the surrounding scenery became clear. The Male-Female Divine Whips had been sucked entirely back into the Jegal Clan Leader's grasp.
The completely ruined manor of the Gongya Clan, the crowd watching them from a distance, Jin Myeong-jo stumbling toward them...
And the White Crane Fan, which had once again taken its true shape in the Jegal Clan Leader's hand.
He was gathering power to unleash an unstoppable strike. The title of Divine Spear of the Desolate Fortress carried exactly that much weight.
Closing the distance in a single, sudden step, the Jegal Clan Leader slashed the ribs of his fan upward toward Ak Su-rim's neck. The air trembled along the long trajectory, as if an earthquake had erupted in the sky.
Just then.
Thud—!
A pair of leather shoes stomped down hard atop the White Crane Fan.
[What?]
He had dropped from above. A faint, constellation-like haze of light scattered in the air—the aftermath of his light-footwork.
Jeong Yeon-shin, having plunged down using the Ten-Mile Light Grace, had planted both feet squarely on the fan in midair.
At this moment, the suction force of Myriad Blossoms Rain was flowing around him like a circulating typhoon.
[What in the world...]
“Flash Art...?”
Jeong Yeon-shin, Commander of the Demonlight Wing, looked down quietly at the Jegal Clan Leader. Ak Su-rim was safely behind him.
His feet, standing atop the fan, were executing the Thousand-Pound Weight technique.
Even though a disastrous shockwave surged from the White Crane Fan, he did not fall. He maintained a bizarre standoff, his sense of balance flowing as perfectly as a flash of light.
Flutter—
The long black robe fluttering atop the peerless master's fan exuded an aura of supreme mystery.
Torn into thin strips here and there, the fabric billowed like the hem of a celestial maiden's dress.
“……”
The fan was held out unwaveringly by the Jegal Clan Leader, whose eyes now glowed with a sinister green light.
And standing loftily upon it, with his feet aligned front to back, was the Commander of the Demonlight Wing.
Tension tightened the air. It felt as if a single strike would decide life and death. Not a single word escaped the crowd surrounding the battlefield from afar.
The Jegal Clan Leader merely rolled his eyes upward to glare at the youth.
[…You are someone who must not be allowed to live long. You will be a major obstacle to our march on the Desolate Fortress.]
As one of the heads of the Eight Great Families, he felt a chilling disposition radiating from the boy. Would the Hegemon Hero, Ma Yeon-jeok, have looked like this had he grown up as a refined divine sword?
“A march?”
Jeong Yeon-shin lowered his eyelids slightly as he channeled power into his feet.
In this moment, even the casual gesture of clasping his hands behind his back became part of his starting stance. The Flash Art, Commander of the Demonlight Wing, parted his lips and spoke his thoughts aloud:
“You speak nonsense.”
Under equal conditions...
“This is the Desolate Fortress.”
How well can a monkey keep up with my senses?
[Arrogant bastard!]
The Jegal Clan Leader, a man rarely enraged, bared his teeth.
Whirrrr—!
The split ribs of the White Crane Fan once again wrapped themselves in colorless astral qi, unleashing a monstrous wave of energy—
Upper Dantian resonance... Three Flowers Gathering at the Peak.
Jeong Yeon-shin, stepping on the very tip of a single fan rib, closed his eyes. It was a moment of reflection that lasted barely an instant.
He took the familiar sensation from his opponent's Upper Dantian and completely assimilated it into his own body.
It was the sensation of the Unity of Essence, Qi, and Spirit he had once felt from the Duke of Eminent Fists, Eon Hwa-ryeon—the soaring exhilaration of a divine dragon holding a fan, flying endlessly beyond the lotus.
Divine Art Secret Technique.
Fan Dragon Lotus Art.
Hummmmm!
It began from the tips of Jeong Yeon-shin's feet, his hands still casually clasped behind his back.
The speed at which his wave of internal power spread instantly caught up with the manifestation of the Male-Female Divine Whips.
Suddenly, a massive, colorless lotus erupted like lightning atop the ribs of the White Crane Fan.
It was akin to hundreds of sword-strike shockwaves exploding at once. His control over his internal energy had truly reached the realm of divine skill.
[……!]
Before the Jegal Clan Leader's long fingers could even coordinate the strands of astral qi—
The Fa Jin power erupted from the Yongquan Point on the soles of Jeong Yeon-shin's feet with a thunderous roar. It completely swallowed and incinerated all ten strands of the Male-Female Divine Whip in the shape of rapidly expanding lotus petals.
Ensuring they would never form a fan again.