Chapter 354: Sprint (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 354: Sprint (3)
Gasp—
The village gatekeeper belatedly gasped for air.
Reflected in the eyes of the gatekeeper, who had just been on the very brink of death, was the figure of an incomparably handsome young man shrouded in faint, wispy smoke.
It was a sight beyond the imagination of any martial artist.
Body Protection Qi was an internal energy technique unified with a martial artist's very body—by no means a mere piece of clothing.
It was a technique difficult enough for a practitioner to drape over another person, let alone steal. The very concept of stealing it was absurd.
Unless, of course, one was born with senses sharp enough to trace every single flow of internal power and possessed an indescribable dominance over internal energy.
"You... who are you?"
Wanyang was a man of exceptionally high status, even within the massive Golden Wing Sect.
Thus, the reaction of the Molten Spirit Divine Fist was naturally one of sheer astonishment. Having his first move thwarted, he froze in place when he should have immediately executed his second form.
Jeong Yeon-shin did not answer. He merely narrowed his eyes slightly.
He focused on the garment of internal energy draped around his body like faint smoke. Using his own energy, he stitched together the structure of the Body Protection Qi—which was constantly trying to disperse—as if sewing fabric.
This was an incredibly important task.
Through this, he analyzed the inherent flaws of a low-grade Body Protection Qi.
Its true qi structure was focused on maximizing the impact of offensive forms rather than absorbing blows. While the outer surface was condensed solidly enough, the energy filling the interior circulated restlessly.
It wriggles quite clumsily.
Wanyang's internal power was bizarre. Having reportedly mastered the Dragon Slaying Art, his true qi possessed an inherently expansive, radiating quality.
Its drive to endlessly expand by using the natural qi dwelling in this mysterious place as fuel was entirely different in temperament from the internal energy of the Tang Clan siblings. It was as if this internal cultivation method was originally conceived for this very environment.
Regardless, it will be difficult to use this trick again.
Jeong Yeon-shin thought.
Stripping off and wearing an opponent's Body Protection Qi wasn't something he could rely on.
If attempted in a life-and-death duel between peerless experts where Unified Martial Transcendence ran wild, he would likely be struck by a counter-form and killed instantly. Unless his opponent was a brainless monkey, he couldn't pull it off twice.
"You bizarre bastard... how could you...!"
Facing him at point-blank range, Wanyang's eyes trembled slightly.
They were well within striking distance.
Had Jeong Yeon-shin followed up immediately, Wanyang would have suffered a fatal wound without a chance to resist. Humiliation seeped from the older man's twitching eyes.
At the same time, Wanyang seemed to reach a sudden realization.
"Are you truly Tang Man-yeon? I have never heard of such irregular teachings being passed down through the Tang Clan's martial lineage."
Regardless of what Jeong Yeon-shin might think, those who reached the ranks of peak experts were, without exception, geniuses of the martial world.
Though pride, temperament, or circumstances might occasionally cloud their insight, they possessed an inherently sharp eye.
Wanyang was no different.
"Come to think of it, what the Sect Leader said about your Myriad Blossoms Rain..."
He muttered to himself.
The Guardian of the Golden Wing Sect had pierced through to the core of the Flash Art lineage.
Rather than trusting in one's own martial arts to overcome any crisis, it was a talent and temperament that unconsciously adapted one's martial arts to the situation. To any orthodox martial artist, this felt profoundly alien.
Jeong Yeon-shin felt a pang of bitterness. The Lord of the Golden Wing Sect had already pointed out the true depth of his Myriad Blossoms Rain.
But he did not let it show. Just as he had always done during his childhood at the Jeong Family Manor.
Wanyang, however, wore a furious expression. His rage was just as immense as his shock at Jeong Yeon-shin's internal energy manipulation.
He was someone who so deeply admired the Lord of the Golden Wing Sect that he had even acted as his attendant. Rather than calculating the deeper situation, he remained faithful to his immediate, burning emotions.
"You dared to deceive the Sect Leader. Come to think of it, after the great ritual... the fact that only you three were present with me was no ordinary circumstance. This was your doing, wasn't it?"
His muttering turned into an interrogation. Wanyang fixed his posture and glared into Jeong Yeon-shin's eyes.
"Who are you? Why did you masquerade as a blood relative of the Tang Clan? Judging by your bizarre talent, the Myriad Blossoms Rain you showed back then was likely not the orthodox mnemonic of the Tang Clan, but a mere parlor trick born of your own cleverness."
"Does it matter?"
Jeong Yeon-shin quietly replied. Standing right before the Molten Spirit Divine Fist—a man who struck immense terror into the clans of this mysterious place—his indifferent expression and demeanor bordered on outright provocation.
It was enough to make the gatekeeper warriors on the stone wall hold their breath.
"Arrogant bastard! Just because you gained an advantage in a single exchange, do you think you are the Tang Clan Leader of yesteryear...?"
"It is your Golden Wing Sect that is mistaken."
Jeong Yeon-shin, who had been listening silently, parted his lips.
"Did you think you would walk away unscathed after using a martial artist of the Desolate Fortress as a human sacrifice?"
"What?"
The moment doubt flickered in Wanyang's eyes, Jeong Yeon-shin leaned in and whispered into his ear:
"I am the Commander of the Demonlight Wing."
"...!"
The Molten Spirit Divine Fist was a peak expert of the Three Flowers Gathering at the Peak.
His reaction was swift.
Just as Wanyang's eyes widened and he attempted to wrap his entire body in Body Protection Qi once more—
Swoosh.
Jeong Yeon-shin immediately seized the back of the man's hair with his left hand and forced his head down. He would yield the initiative no longer.
The instant the faint, whitish glow unique to the Ten-Mile Light Grace flashed beneath the Yongquan point on his sole, he used it as a propulsion shockwave. He drove his knee upward, smashing it directly into Wanyang's face.
Boom!
A thunderous roar echoed immediately after the strike. The sound had actually lagged behind the execution of the move.
In an instant, the shockwave of the knee strike spread outward in a translucent ring, knocking down the nearby gatekeeper warriors.
They couldn't stand back up, as shockwaves continued to ripple out from between Wanyang and Jeong Yeon-shin.
Boom! Boom! Crash!
Wanyang could not withstand the grappling of Jeong Yeon-shin, who had undergone Marrow Cleansing and Bone Rebirth.
Once, twice, thrice—every time Wanyang's face bounced upward from the recoil, it was forced back down and crushed against the knee again.
Crash!
Wanyang attempted to counterattack by repeatedly generating powerful shockwaves in his limbs. However, the form of the Dragon Slaying Art, which required outward release, was shattered at every turn before it could even be completed.
Dozens of invisible threads stretched out from Jeong Yeon-shin's body, continuously unraveling Wanyang's radiating true qi. It was the subtle mystery of the Heart Sword.
Ten more knee strikes followed in this manner.
Though Jeong Yeon-shin did not bother to name it, even this was a martial art in its own right.
A martial art of patience that endured and endured before finally exploding upon reaching its destination. It contained the inspiration he had gained from Eon Hwa-ryeon, the Eon Family's Number One Fist, whom he had slain in the past.
I'm only accumulating useless techniques.
Jeong Yeon-shin thought as he let go of the back of Wanyang's head. What I need to achieve is Unified Martial Transcendence.
Blood pooled around Wanyang's face as he collapsed with a heavy thud.
His Body Protection Qi had shattered, unable to withstand the accumulated shockwaves. In the end, it was a poorly constructed internal energy barrier.
"I am leaving you alive because I will need you when I return. Do not act rashly."
Jeong Yeon-shin said, glancing down at Wanyang.
There was no answer. Only the sound of extremely faint, ragged breathing could be heard.
"Who might you be, Great Hero...?"
The leader of the gatekeeper warriors, wearing an expression of utter disbelief, asked in an extremely cautious tone.
Suspicion was palpable in his gaze as it darted between the helpless Wanyang and the calmly standing Jeong Yeon-shin.
Having reined in a temper quite unlike his usual self, Jeong Yeon-shin was lost in thought for a moment.
He wasn't thinking about their gazes, but about his own martial prowess. It had grown immensely powerful after his Marrow Cleansing and Bone Rebirth.
He wondered: Have I also become able to catch a glimpse of the Purple Rank?
It was then.
"Tang Man-yeon... no, Commander of the Demonlight Wing..."
The voice came from below. It was Wanyang. An immense tenacity seeped from his irregular, ragged breathing, suggesting his internal energy circulation had been completely disrupted.
It was easy to see why the Golden Wing Sect was counted among the Thirteen Heavens.
"Cooperate with our sect. You will suffice. If you join us fully, we can easily take the Flood Dragon..."
"Damn it all!"
Suddenly, the gatekeeper, driven to desperation, spat out a curse.
"There is no Flood Dragon! That transcendent spirit beast is no longer here! It disappeared a long time ago!"
"What?"
"Such strange, violent, chaotic, and supernatural entities never stay in one place! It is called a dragon precisely because it is an illusory existence beyond human reach. Did you think it has a habitat like some common beast? Did you truly believe such an ethereal being could be captured by martial artists consumed by obsession like you? It is an utterly absurd miscalculation!"
"What... nonsense... are you spouting? How dare you..."
"This place has long since become a hell. Powerful masters from all over the world, driven by the same purpose as yours, keep each other in check and shed blood just to claim the inner core of a spirit beast that is already gone."
Glancing at Jeong Yeon-shin, the gatekeeper spoke deliberately, suppressing his emotions.
"There are only us humans here. Those so-called masters of the previous generation, unable to accept that truth, have divided this cramped land among themselves, calling themselves the Twin Kings or the Three Lords. Even the old Taoist of the Kunlun Sect, rumored to have been wiped out in the outside world, and the former heads of the Hebei Peng Clan and the Hwangbo Clan who entered before us... everyone has gone mad just like you, painting this shrinking land with blood as if it is on the verge of vanishing now that the Flood Dragon has departed."
"..."
A brief silence fell.
Wanyang's voice fell completely silent.
Jeong Yeon-shin did not care. His goal had been singular from the very beginning.
"I am Jeong Yeon-shin. I come from a sect called the Desolate Fortress."
He introduced himself as if speaking to a simple villager.
Those who had lived for so long in this mysterious place constructed of formations might not know of the world's greatest sect.
"The Desolate Fortress?"
"Then that martial prowess makes sense..."
"Doesn't he look young? And he's not even of the long-eared clan."
"Jeong Yeon-shin! His name is Jeong Yeon-shin! He came from the Desolate Fortress!"
There was a certain mystical quality to Jeong Yeon-shin's features, unknown even to himself, as the sunlight gathered upon him in soft layers.
The moment he stepped forward, the heavy atmosphere cleared.
Whispers began to spread, growing louder—from the gatekeeper warriors standing on the stone wall to the dozens of villagers gathered below.
"Jeong Yeon-shin?"
"Our benefactor?"
Step.
The Tang Clan siblings, who had been watching the lightning-fast clash of the masters, stepped onto the stone fortress wall.
A sky-blue light originating from the upper dantian flickered in the eyes of the Poison Phoenix and the Poison Dragon. Utterly shocked, the siblings couldn't bring themselves to question Jeong Yeon-shin about his identity again.
—Is he truly a junior?
It was a voice laden with immense internal power. It rang loudly in their ears.
Whoosh—!
From the center of the village to this outer edge.
A massive figure crossed a distance of nearly five hundred yards with a single stomp. It took only an instant for him to land on the stone fortress with a heavy thud, sending a cloud of dust billowing up.
Was there no recoil from his landing?
A giant of a man clad in a black robe looked down at Jeong Yeon-shin.
"I heard reports of outsiders appearing in various places. I was unsure because the energy felt familiar... but that is not the Flash Art I know."
His voice was as thick as his build. It sounded as if there were a cavern inside his body.
His presence was truly immense. This was evident from his pointed ears and physique—which rivaled those of any pure-blood clan—as well as his wild, swept-back hair that revealed a broad forehead.
Commander of the Forest-Treading Unit.
Hahu Wi-jin, the Thousand-Fist Dragon-Strength Retainer.
A faint smile played on Jeong Yeon-shin's lips.
* * *
Jeong Yeon-shin revealed his Halo Qi.
He also briefly demonstrated the movement technique he had presumptuously created in the past. He recalled the embarrassing memory of being fooled by Hahu Wi-jin's joke that he simply 'didn't know how to do it.'
—The meridians of our body are truly mysterious. Simply by coordinating the true qi and muscles from a distance, the internal power that has descended to the plantar fascia gains elasticity on its own. The twelve meridians are connected in such a way. I do not know why you did not do it like this. If there is a specific reason in the system of the martial arts you have mastered...
—Because I didn't know.
I truly believed him just because he was a senior.
He had only realized upon meeting the Commander of the Bloodkeeper Unit that his various seniors had merely been preserving their junior's dignity. Looking back now, it was a fond memory.
Jeong Yeon-shin entered the village along with the Tang Clan siblings and the half-dead Wanyang.
The villagers, who belonged to the Ironfolk, welcomed him warmly. Some held up brilliant, silvery lumps of metal that weren't even Black Iron.
"You must visit my shop! The sword you are carrying looks like it will break soon! I can tell just by looking at the hilt that it has endured terrifying impacts in rapid succession!"
"Grandfather, they say that man is the Commander of the Demonlight Wing!"
"Ma Yeon-jeok finally got himself a grandson? With his personality, he was bound to die young..."
"He must be an incredibly powerful master too, right?"
"Is no one worried about anything else? This matter must not reach the ears of the Twin Kings and the Three Lords..."
The village itself was blistering hot, as blacksmith shops were everywhere.
It was a settlement where smoke and the loud wheezing of bellows billowed into the sky. The sight of razor-sharp divine weapons casually arranged on various racks was almost mystical.
Jeong Yeon-shin walked along the long dirt path and entered the village chief's pavilion, following Hahu Wi-jin, who had barely spoken to him.
"So."
The room was spacious enough to easily accommodate the massive build of the Commander of the Forest-Treading Unit.
The village chief's seat was a Grandmaster's Chair made of solid gold. Seated in such a luxurious chair, Hahu Wi-jin stared at Jeong Yeon-shin for a long time before slowly opening his mouth.
"Is the former Commander doing well? A very long time must have passed."
"My maternal grandfather is doing well."
"Is he, perhaps, free from any age-related ailments...?"
There was a strange trace of hope in his seemingly casual question.
"Pardon?"
Jeong Yeon-shin, sitting opposite him, asked in return.