Chapter 356: Sprint (5)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 356: Sprint (5)
The village under the protection of Hahu Wi-jin, Commander of the Forest-Treading Unit, appeared peaceful on the surface.
The rhythmic clamor of bellows and hammers echoed endlessly beneath the blue sky. Rather than the Mysterious Place of the Flood Dragon, it felt more like a bustling town of artisan clans.
For the diminutive Tang Clan siblings, it was nothing short of a Peach Blossom Spring.
Dressed in green silk robes, the twin siblings wandered everywhere, their sleeves—comically long for their short stature—fluttering in the breeze. Their large eyes grew wider with every step.
"Mister, can I touch this? I've never seen this kind of ore before!"
"Look at this. It'd be so easy to mount. If we forge flying darts, iron lotuses, and life-scattering needles, layering them one by one... a single disc could unleash an incredibly magnificent Myriad Blossoms Rain..."
"Look at that, look! The fire is white!"
The dexterity of the Tang Clan, creators of the most bizarre and extraordinary hidden weapons, was renowned throughout the world. Yet, the village's artisans displayed none of the typical territorial exclusiveness of a blacksmith village toward the siblings.
Whenever the duo paused before a stall or shop, the artisans would simply smile, showing off various weapons and ores as if indulging a pleasant amusement.
It was a paradise all its own.
True Silver Ore, a material only spoken of in the oral traditions of the Tang Clan's ancestral patriarchs; casting methods that made light ripple across a blade's surface like water; furnaces of unprecedented designs; and the abundant Natural Qi suffusing the surroundings.
There was no time to be bored. They were blacksmiths as miraculous as the martial talent they possessed, and they had much to discuss about every new marvel they encountered.
The siblings were two, yet one.
"Let's go with a sword and a disc," the Poison Dragon said, standing on a quiet street.
Facing him, the Poison Phoenix nodded as if she had expected nothing less. "Alright."
"It's finally our chance to strike back at that bird-brained old monster. Didn't our benefactor say he lacked the years to master the Myriad Blossoms Rain?"
"Yeah. Even though time would be meaningless if there were three of us."
"Our benefactor isn't like us. He's grown so much; it's obvious at a glance that he's undergone Marrow Cleansing and Bone Rebirth. I don't know how he structured the process, but his body looked like a piece of Divine Weaponry..."
"I get the gist of it."
Their casual conversation naturally belittled the Lord of the Golden Wing Sect while exalting Jeong Yeon-shin.
The Hidden King Amidst Flowers, who had passed down the techniques of the Myriad Blossoms Rain to their family, dealt a massive blow to the neighboring Tenth Sect and Pure Demon Alliance, ultimately giving the Tang Clan much-needed breathing room.
Contrast that with the Lord of the Golden Wing Sect, who had driven their father, the Tang Clan Leader, to the brink of death.
Even as they explored the village, their conversation always circled back to Jeong Yeon-shin. Everything they did was merely a way to pass the time while waiting for him.
By the time the sun tilted toward the west, casting long shadows beneath the village houses...
The siblings were deeply disappointed to hear from the former village chief that Jeong Yeon-shin had already left.
"Is he avoiding us?"
"We did meet again in a pathetic state... Who would look at us, held prisoner by the Golden Wing Sect, and think we're the Dragon-Phoenix Twin Poisons?"
"He didn't seem to have that kind of attitude, though," said the former village chief, an elderly Ironfolk man who shared a long-standing bond with the Tang Clan, stroking his beard.
The Tang Clan siblings possessed pride as immense as their innate talents. Quickly recovering their composure, they began chattering about other matters.
"But the Ghost-Howling Hegemon is marrying the Lord of the Immortal Wood Spirit? The former head of the Peng Clan is a woman, isn't she? Out of the Twin Kings, isn't the male one the Supreme Elder of the Hwangbo Clan? Hwangbo Gon, the King of Divine Wisdom."
The Poison Phoenix asked. It was proof they had already grasped the current state of the local Martial World.
The old man laughed.
"Peng Yeo-ran's moniker is Hegemon. It implies there is nothing in this world she cannot do—whether it concerns male or female beauty. The Eight Great Families are essentially groups bound by bloodline rather than strict teachings, so in every generation, at least one incarnation of pleasure is bound to emerge from some family."
The Poison Dragon's brow furrowed. "If she still has that kind of vitality, her martial arts must be formidable too, right?"
"Monstrously strong."
"How strong?"
"Both of the Twin Kings are peerless masters who have achieved Return to Simplicity and Rejuvenation. They are called 'Kings' because they wield absolute power through their martial arts, despite being masters from the previous generation."
Hearing the old man's answer, the siblings exchanged a meaningful glance, recalling the sword hanging from Jeong Yeon-shin's waist.
The Poison Phoenix spoke first. "I can't put my mind at ease."
"You too?"
"Our benefactor has so many things to protect. From the looks of it, he came here for a similar reason this time as well."
They were born into a blacksmith clan with a mystical lineage, while simultaneously being direct descendants of the Tang Clan, the greatest local aristocrats of Sichuan. Naturally, they were highly proficient in both the anatomical study required for poison arts and the intricate metallurgy of hidden weapons.
The siblings did not merely scan a sword with their eyes. They analyzed it through its energy waves.
Just as their benefactor, Jeong Yeon-shin, had skillfully manipulated minute streams of qi to toy with the internal energy arts of the Golden Wing Sect's Right Protector, the Dragon-Phoenix Twin Poisons could weave that same harmony into pieces of iron.
"The one hanging from our benefactor's waist was a famous sword of Liaodong, right? We heard about it from the elders. They said the constellation of the Big Dipper is engraved on the hilt," Tang Yeo-hwa, the Poison Dragon, said as he approached a nearby anvil.
As the former village chief and the other Ironfolk artisans stepped aside, Tang Ryeo-ryeo, the Poison Phoenix, loosely tied her hair up with a thin cord and followed her brother.
A faint green mist seeped from her small frame.
It was the Tang Clan Secret Art: Original Three Yang Art. An all-purpose internal cultivation method widely utilized in metallurgy and blacksmithing.
"It was quite exquisite, so its nature reflected clearly. Even though some unknown person had completely worn down the guard," Tang Ryeo-ryeo noted.
Tang Yeo-hwa's lips curled into a smirk. "That wouldn't be our benefactor's doing. It must be the work of that ridiculous guy, the Hero of the Desolate Fortress or whatever he's called."
"It's the Meteor Sword of Liaodong, right?"
When his older sister asked for confirmation, her younger brother nodded calmly. "Without a doubt."
"Right? But how did the Moyong Clan Head's cherished sword end up with him...? I thought they said our benefactor decapitated the Jegal Clan Leader."
"He probably decapitated both."
"Does that even make sense?"
"I don't know either," Tang Yeo-hwa replied nonchalantly.
His demeanor shifted. Standing before the furnace and bellows, hammer in hand as he scanned his surroundings, he looked every bit the master artisan. The same went for his sister, Tang Ryeo-ryeo, standing beside him.
"If his opponent is the Ghost-Howling Hegemon, it wouldn't be surprising if that blade snapped in a single exchange. It looked like the Moyong Clan Head used it very roughly."
"Let's forge him a new one."
That was their true purpose in taking their places before the furnace.
The Northern Light sword the Tang Clan had gifted to Jeong Yeon-shin in the past was a weapon tailored specifically to who he was at that time. The hilt, tang, and blade were meticulously designed to receive his internal energy and perfectly accommodate the 'Blue-robed Warrior, Flash Art'.
Now that even the length of his limbs had changed, it was inevitable that he could no longer draw out its full utility.
"Now, he'll be able to handle it even if we push the sword's spirituality and sharp energy to their absolute limits."
"He originally used a fast sword. The Laogong Point on his palm must be incredibly resilient. We have to restructure the balance starting from there."
"His grip style was to relax his index finger, right? That's how it looked."
"I saw it that way too."
"His extensor muscles have become much more pronounced now, too."
"Right. I think he can handle it even if we shift the center of gravity slightly forward."
"Only by a hair's breadth."
"I know."
Leaving everything else behind, the siblings fell into a State of Selflessness, existing only in their shared world.
As they began to conceptualize the weapon, azure light flickered endlessly in their eyes. Drawing upon their acquired talents, they synthesized Jeong Yeon-shin's physical condition, grip style, sense of balance, and the True Qi they had felt from him to design a single, unparalleled Divine Sword.
The siblings who resembled Jeong Yeon-shin the most. Only the two of them.
They were the only ones in the world who could forge a sword perfectly fitting for the current Commander of the Demonlight Wing.
The chivalry of the Sichuan Tang Clan lay therein: Repay a favor twofold, and return a grudge tenfold.
Merely from reuniting with Jeong Yeon-shin, they held a hammer in one hand and sketched the form of the sword that came to mind onto the anvil with the other. They looked completely possessed, unlike any other time before.
As geniuses of the Upper Dantian's Baihui Point—a talent branched directly off from Jeong Yeon-shin—their skills only grew sharper as the years passed.
The siblings' talent was shining brighter than ever, like a brilliant flame just before it burns out.
"Use this."
To their fervor, the support of the villagers—who desperately wished to escape the oppression of the Twin Kings—was added.
Thud—
The former village chief dropped a large lump of silvery ore in front of the siblings.
True Silver Ore.
It was a bizarre material. It looked incredibly light for its size, and sunlight rippled across its surface like water waves. Every now and then, a brilliant white luster flashed from within.
"They say a true master of the sword can face a thousand men with a single reed." Seeing the azure light in the siblings' eyes, the old man stepped back, taking a bystander's stance. "But what would happen if someone who boasts such martial prowess with a single reed were to hold a Divine Sword tailored perfectly to his own body?"
The old man finished speaking, but the siblings did not answer.
In the open-air smithy, before they knew it, dozens of the village's artisans had surrounded them. Thick smoke billowed up from beneath the siblings' feet, accompanied by the rough, rhythmic roaring of the bellows.
* * *
Fully armed.
It was a phrase that suddenly came to Jeong Yeon-shin's mind.
The external energy waves brushing against his skin felt as sharp as arrowheads. He felt an instinctual urge to tightly wrap his entire body in Body Protection Qi and firmly grasp a reliable, cherished weapon, just like the supreme masters of the military.
Step.
By the time dusk faintly settled over the blades of grass brushing against his legs, the warm lantern light spreading from the distant manor made the sunset glow even deeper.
Finding the venue for the Ghost-Howling Hegemon's wedding was not difficult. Boisterous laughter and loud voices echoed from afar. A wide, clay-colored uphill path led directly toward the commotion.
It was exactly as Hahu Wi-jin had told him via telepathy while sitting in the village chief's seat to see him off. He only had to follow the broad mountain path.
Rustle—
The Hidden-Realm Peng Clan, said to have been established by the former Peng Clan Leader. Just how many Ironfolk had they exploited over the years? As he drew closer to the summit of the hill, the grand roofs of the pavilions stood out prominently, imposing as a fortress.
Intangible energy waves billowed out like storm clouds from the sprawling complex.
'They said it was a sect of old masters.'
The overlapping waves of internal power were incredibly dense. It was an environment teeming with elderly masters of the previous generation and denser Natural Qi than anywhere else. Regardless of their actual combat prowess, the accumulated qi of the sect's members was bound to be immense.
It was absolute proof that Jeong Yeon-shin had come to the right place.
He was finally close. He had found Hahu Wi-jin, one of the three seniors he needed to escort back, and Cheon So-so was right before his eyes.
Yet, Jeong Yeon-shin was not in a good mood. His heart had plunged into an endless abyss because he had seen something he never wanted to face, in the people he least expected.
'The Tang Clan's Supreme Elder...'
That old monster was now dead and gone. For the crime of colluding with the Blood Flame Cult Leader, he had met his end by consuming the Intestine-Severing Poison. Right inside his own family's walls.
The man, obsessed to the point of madness with the Myriad Blossoms Rain, had obtained something through his deal with the Blood Flame Cult Leader: the talent to replicate a Divine Art Secret Technique.
Having received the Human Body Diagram of the Desolate Fortress's Flash Art, the Supreme Elder had performed a forbidden great technique to manifest that diagram within the bodies of his own grandchildren.
Thanks to the function of his Upper Dantian, which flared alongside the Sight of the Lowly, Jeong Yeon-shin had glimpsed the memories of the Tang Clan siblings from that time.
A large stone chamber. The Tang Clan's Supreme Elder, draped in golden silk over his emaciated frame. The dagger held in the old man's trembling hand. And the sinister sorcery formation, unique to the Blood Flame Cult, spread out ominously around them...
Should he have told the Dragon-Phoenix Twin Poisons?
That they had less than fifteen days left to live?
It was the fatal price of injecting his talent into bodies that were not Jeong Yeon-shin's. What the Tang Clan's Supreme Elder had performed was not a great technique at all. It was a vile poison art that led to a slow, inevitable death.
The Young Sect Leader of the Ming Cult, the Poison Phoenix Tang Ryeo-ryeo, and the Poison Dragon Tang Yeo-hwa. Looking at them made Jeong Yeon-shin feel as though he were staring into a cracked mirror. It was as if a cruel heaven was showing him a preview of the tragic end that would one day befall him.
He could not help but feel deeply disturbed.
Suddenly, the moniker of his maternal uncle, Ma Jin, flashed through his mind. The Naraka Reaper.
"A face I've never seen before."
"Could he have achieved Rejuvenation?"
Two old men blocked Jeong Yeon-shin's path in front of the manor's main gate.
They were men to whom the word 'pure' was perfectly suited. Draped in light green robes, their appearance was clean and elegant. Even the intangible energy waves they wore around their bodies felt like a gentle, refreshing breeze.
They seemed to have trained their Taoist martial arts to a lofty realm, to the point where they could easily act as Venerables, Guardians, or Elders in any sect they visited. By any standard, they were not masters who should be acting as mere gatekeepers. They were living proof of the Ghost-Howling Hegemon's immense status.
"It seems you've put considerable effort into your breathing exercises. What is your name?"
"The bride."
"What?"
"Tell the bride to come out."
"Whichever of them it is," Jeong Yeon-shin muttered coldly.
Crack—!
At the same time, the ground beneath his feet began to split violently in a massive spiral. The trajectory of the Halo Qi rotating from his heart was carved directly into the earth, kicking up a thick cloud of dust. In an instant, the Brilliant River completed in his hands and let out a thunderous roar.