Chapter 361: Ten Perfections (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 361: Ten Perfections (2)
The Ghost-Howling Hegemon, the Commander of the Demonlight Wing, and the Wind Lord.
Trapped between the Ghost-Howling Hegemon and the Wind Lord from the front and back, the Commander of the Demonlight Wing stood his ground as the rest of the Twin Kings and Three Lords looked down upon them.
"..."
Jeong Yeon-shin slowly ran a hand down the blade. He felt the endless, intersecting wave patterns, reminiscent of the Northern Light Sword that had shattered not long ago.
The patterns seemed to stem from the Tang Clan's unique forging method, a technique known as a secret art.
'The material is True Silver Ore.'
It was said to be an iron found only in this place.
It was an exotic weapon. Measuring about two and a half cheok in length, even its hilt was made of pure silver.
A faint, constant luster flowed across the blade's surface. He felt that no matter which martial art of the Flash Art Lineage he used, the sword would move like an extension of his own limbs.
It was a sword that required no taming.
"It's been a while since I've seen Sword Kinesis that fast. It might even rival the Lord of the Dark Night Hall's Ten-Mile One Kill."
"He hasn't accumulated many years. For heaven to bestow such a person upon the Desolate Fortress..."
"A Taoist is always a Taoist. You sure find a complicated way to say he's young."
The voices echoed from above.
It was a conversation between the former Hwangbo Clan Head, the King of Divine Wisdom, and the Dark Lord of the Kunlun Sect. He could also feel the insidious gaze of the Beggar Sect's Ghost Lord, who lay lounging on a large boulder near the mountain ridge.
Everything conspired to create an invisible, suffocating pressure.
Yet, Jeong Yeon-shin merely raised his eyelids slightly.
The person he was looking at was not any of the unfamiliar Twin Kings or Three Lords, but the enemy of his fortress who had proudly claimed to have killed the Commander of the Heaven-Aligned Wing.
The Ghost-Howling Hegemon, Peng Yeo-ran.
Pant... Pant...
The blood flowing from her pierced abdomen was gradually stopping.
Accompanied by invisible waves of internal power, white steam escaped from the corners of her lips, dissolving into the air.
It was bizarre to see her slowly straighten her waist, even though her abdominal artery, Spleen Shu point, and spine must have been torn apart along with all her internal organs.
She still held the hilt of her great saber, which looked too massive to lift with even one hand.
The steam rising from her entire body was already tinting the surroundings a hazy white, suggesting that a fatal saber stance could burst forth at any moment.
She was an absolute master.
'She has activated her martial arts. The Five Tigers Severing Door Saber.'
Jeong Yeon-shin saw right through her condition. She was someone who had achieved a lofty mastery of the Three Flowers Gathering at the Peak.
The moment she was struck by his Sword Kinesis, she had used colorless True Qi to reconstruct the shape of the bones within her back and the structure of the organs inside her abdomen.
This realm of giving form to True Qi granted her an extreme, near-miraculous vitality. Her accumulated Qi amount and internal energy mastery were staggering.
They said truly supreme masters do not die easily, and she certainly lived up to her reputation as the most dominant figure in this vast formation space.
However, she would not survive for long. Internal power could not replace human flesh and bone indefinitely.
"What in the...? Sister Peng? Sister Peng...!"
An anxious cry rang out.
It was the Wind Lord, Lee Si-myeong. While tending to the internal injuries he had suffered from the sword qi behind Jeong Yeon-shin's back, he had only just realized the severity of Peng Yeo-ran's fatal wound.
The former Peng Family Head, the Ghost-Howling Hegemon of the Immortal Realm, bested by a mere brat from the Desolate Fortress of the outer Jianghu...?
It made no sense.
It was so unbelievable that the onlookers, who had been fleeing down the mountain upon witnessing the arrival of the Twin Kings and Three Lords, stopped their light-footwork one by one and turned back with expressions of utter shock.
"If she is the former Peng Family Head, how old is she?" Jeong Yeon-shin suddenly asked.
"..."
The Wind Lord did not answer, only glaring at him.
He was measuring the distance and looking for an opening in the sword's reach. Refusing to blindly surrender to anger, he acted like the seasoned veteran of the Jianghu he was, known as the right-hand man of the Ghost-Howling Hegemon.
High above them, perched on a branch, the King of Divine Wisdom grinned. Through presence alone, Jeong Yeon-shin could tell that the curl of the man's lips resembled that of the Lazy Flame Dragon.
"She has lived long enough that counting her years is quite meaningless," the former Hwangbo Clan Head said.
He was a man whose true intentions were difficult to fathom. But Jeong Yeon-shin did not particularly care.
"The old woman's mouth was her undoing."
He spoke, locking eyes with Peng Yeo-ran. Her eyes were narrowed as she took a long, deep breath of internal energy.
She seemed to have already realized that Jeong Yeon-shin would find it difficult to make a move rashly now that the Twin Kings and Three Lords had gathered.
Jeong Yeon-shin slowly continued.
"You could have spent the rest of your meaningless life in comfort... yet you dared to mock the death of another unit commander right in front of the Commander of the Demonlight Wing."
"You bastard!"
Lee Si-myeong's rage exploded from behind him.
Whoosh!
Jeong Yeon-shin felt a kick rushing toward his back. The propulsion shockwave was incredibly fierce. In an instant, the air split violently, the pressure alone pinning down the hem of his robes.
It was the Wind Lord's Wind Flower Four-Wheel Kick.
This was exactly what Jeong Yeon-shin had wanted. Now that the Twin Kings and Three Lords had gathered, creating an unpredictable standoff, he had to eliminate the Ghost-Howling Hegemon and the Wind Lord first, no matter what.
'Die.'
Jeong Yeon-shin twisted his waist.
Killing intent surged into his left palm as it sliced through the air, following the rotation of his body.
He intended to beat him to death in an instant using Brilliant River. The boy in a young man's body had failed to maintain his composure in the face of his fellow unit commander's death.
Though he did not show it, his heart was raging wildly, like a fire consuming dry kindling.
Right then, the Ghost-Howling Hegemon Peng Yeo-ran's eyes snapped open.
She was a seasoned master who had watched the Jianghu for a very long time. She had seen countless instances of death arriving unannounced to claim a martial artist's life.
The intrusion of an unpredictable powerhouse, a stance that inexplicably failed to execute properly on that particular day, one's own internal power reacting a fraction of a second too late like a sudden cough right before the enemy's strike... She understood all too well how fragile the life of a Jianghu warrior was, always capable of vanishing like a mayfly.
Her end was today.
Peng Yeo-ran did not deny the death that had arrived without warning on this auspicious day. It was a warrior's companion.
She fully embraced the irresistible end that washed over her like a form of pleasure.
'But I cannot go out in vain.'
It was only right to drag him down with her. A young man as exceptionally handsome as this brat from the Desolate Fortress would make a perfect companion to cross the Sanzu River with.
If she grew bored while crossing the river of death, she might even entice him to be her concubine.
She aimed her great saber at the young man who was turning his back on her.
'How dare you.'
Through their brief exchange of blows earlier, Peng Yeo-ran had already recognized Jeong Yeon-shin as a worthy opponent.
The reason she had not turned her head even upon hearing the Commander of the Forest-Treading Unit's shout was not merely because of the Commander of the Demonlight Wing's bewitching face.
Wroooooom—
Five layers of internal power waves, taking the shape of translucent rings, wrapped around the tip of her saber.
This was the shockwave that manifested when unleashing all forty-five stances of the Five Tigers Severing Door Saber in a single strike. It was a supreme technique the Ghost-Howling Hegemon had spent decades refining to shatter the Lord of the Golden Wing Sect's Heaven-Overturning Dragon-Slaying Formula.
Unified Martial Transcendence: Dragon Appearance Roaring Heaven Cannon.
In her current physical state, using it just twice would kill her, but no other technique would suffice to drag this peerlessly beautiful youth of the Desolate Fortress to the grave with her.
The opponent Peng Yeo-ran had met at the end of her life was just that powerful.
'Let us go together.'
With a smile in her eyes, she slowly, very deliberately, thrust her saber forward. Lee Si-myeong was blocking his retreat. She could afford to focus entirely on the precision of her strike.
Though they had merely taken positions in front and behind him, the situation was already worthy of the phrase "surrounded on all sides."
"...!"
At that moment, the Wind Lord, Lee Si-myeong, who was mid-kick with Jeong Yeon-shin in his sights, raised his eyebrows.
The Commander of the Demonlight Wing, who must have felt Peng Yeo-ran's saber stance, was actually spinning his body even faster in that split second.
As he spun gracefully, he unleashed a terrifying, spiraling gale from his empty palm. For a moment, the Wind Lord, Lee Si-myeong, could not fathom who Jeong Yeon-shin was targeting.
'Where is his point of impact...?'
The trajectory of the palm technique was too wide. A form that swept past the top of Lee Si-myeong's foot at such an angle could never block the Wind Flower Four-Wheel Kick.
Unless, assuming Lee Si-myeong wasn't even there, he was using the rotational force to launch an offensive stance targeting Peng Yeo-ran behind him.
It was then.
"...!"
Because the Commander of the Demonlight Wing's presence was so overwhelming, he hadn't noticed.
By the time Lee Si-myeong snapped his head up, he was already swallowed by a massive shadow.
[You disgrace to our clan!]
A telepathic thought roared like a thunderous scolding. It was Mind Speak. His state of Three Flowers Gathering at the Peak and his massive accumulated Qi amount triggered the inner shout like a Lion's Roar.
The Commander of the Forest-Treading Unit, Hahu Wi-jin, plummeted toward the Wind Lord at a terrifying speed.
— I suggest you re-examine only the Foot Taiyang Bladder Meridian among the twelve meridians of your body. If you slightly open the Large Intestine Shu point below your waist and apply force to your rectus abdominis in the front, you will see a different way to circulate your True Qi. The fine vessels will generate a movement akin to Fa Jin on their own.
In that infinitesimally brief moment of extreme speed.
The advice of his junior flowed through the mind of Hahu Wi-jin, whose broad forehead was fully exposed. From the moment those words had left Jeong Yeon-shin's mouth, they had already functioned as a mnemonic.
Born with a massive build unusual for a member of the Brightfolk, Hahu Wi-jin's weakness had been his Body Protection Scripture.
He had followed his junior's mnemonic to the letter, training repeatedly, and had finally reached this point today.
'I can make it in time.'
His large eyes looked down.
He was within arm's reach.
Rumble—
A massive, translucent tremor shook the air around the tip of Peng Yeo-ran's thrusting saber. Just before the Wind Lord's toes could reach the nape of Jeong Yeon-shin's neck.
Hahu Wi-jin relaxed the gluteus maximus and pelvic muscles in his hips.
At the same time, he exploded the internal energy he had shifted to the Kidney Shu point on the right side of his waist, dispersing it through the meridians of his entire body.
Just as his junior had advised during his training.
— If you do that, the internal power that has descended to your plantar fascia will gain its own elasticity.
He had claimed a seat in the Flash Art Lineage.
Flash!
A heavy propulsion shockwave loaded into his toes.
In an instant, a hazy shockwave erupted from his massive frame, blasting the surrounding dust in all directions. Through the clearing air, Hahu Wi-jin's leather boot descended like a falling thunderbolt, crushing the Wind Lord's knee.
'When did he...?!'
Crack!
While Lee Si-myeong's eyes shook with horror.
Without pausing for even a fraction of a second, Jeong Yeon-shin completed his full rotation, channeling the entirety of that rotational force into his left hand.
'Silk-Reeling Power, Brilliant River.'
He had anticipated Hahu Wi-jin's assistance from the moment Peng Yeo-ran raised her saber.
This was his senior Black Rank expert from the main fortress. He had not doubted for a second that his senior would clear away the nuisance.
He thrust his palm toward the shockwave of Peng Yeo-ran's saber strike, which had already arrived before his eyes.
The five-layered, ring-shaped True Qi.
It harbored a violent, colorless current, as if a typhoon had been condensed and refined.
Without hesitation, Jeong Yeon-shin unleashed his Brilliant River.
Boom!
The air distorted instantly. Beyond the massive wave of earth that had been overturned and sent soaring by the aftermath of the clash, Peng Yeo-ran's face came into view.
Her lips parted slightly, carrying a faint smile. She was telling him to try and withstand her Dragon Appearance Roaring Heaven Cannon.
'There is more.'
Jeong Yeon-shin's eyes narrowed.
The five rings.
The moment they collided with Jeong Yeon-shin's palm force, they dissolved their forms and shattered into dozens of fragments.
And in this very instant, they were rushing forward, each unleashing a wild, air-rending roar as if they possessed the souls of tigers.
It was a sight strikingly similar to the Myriad Blossoms Rain, the secret technique of the divine art that the Lord of the Golden Wing Sect had so desperately coveted.
Yet, it was also different from Jeong Yeon-shin's own.
A distinct form existed within every single fragment. Each traced a different trajectory, targeting the vital points of his entire body at the speed of light.
It was incredibly complex, offering a glimpse into the decades the Ghost-Howling Hegemon had accumulated.
And indeed, it was so.
Peng Yeo-ran recalled her past as she swung her saber here and there, like an idler drunk on romance and poetry.
She had to. Unified Martial Transcendence was a secret art built upon accumulated years. Its core principles existed within the life she had lived.
'It was quite enjoyable.'
After spending the night with a man or woman she fancied and downing a cup of wine, she would close her eyes. Then, the sharp trajectories of the Five Tigers Severing Door Saber would roam gallantly through her empty mind, breaking through to the next realm.
The Ghost-Howling Hegemon had progressed step by step in this manner to reach where she was today, with her eyes set solely on the Lord of the Golden Wing Sect.
Rumble—!
As the air rippled with a colossal vibration.
'Forty-five.'
A cold, blue light flashed in Jeong Yeon-shin's eyes.
Information was transmitted instantly through the Sight of the Lowly. His pupils, shifting minutely up, down, left, and right, captured every single trajectory in his field of vision. Jeong Yeon-shin calculated the force and direction of all those fragments in his head.
It felt as though a vivid constellation was being engraved upon his mind. As he swung his sword upward, a thought crossed his mind unconsciously: Has my reaction speed always been this fast?
Slash!
His sword vanished, leaving behind a single streak of white light.
The vibration transmitted from the blade to his toes instantly cracked the ground, and the air in front of him split with a sharp screech, deflecting the white fragments of the Dragon Appearance Roaring Heaven Cannon in all directions.
The five or six fragments he failed to deflect properly pierced through Jeong Yeon-shin's skin, spraying blood.
They tore right through the faint gale of sword qi he had conjured with his single strike.
"The Five Tigers Severing Door Saber is divided into five sections of nine stances each, totaling forty-five saber stances. Facing that head-on is not something someone with ordinary courage can..."
High up on the branch, the King of Divine Wisdom, who had been drawling lazily like a gambler at a martial arts tournament, trailed off.
The mountain path had suddenly fallen silent.
The true exchange of blows had concluded.
Three paces in front of Jeong Yeon-shin, who held his sword lowered at an angle, Peng Yeo-ran stood frozen. Dozens of holes had been pierced through her entire body.
"I have witnessed it well," Jeong Yeon-shin spoke.
"Thanks to you, I have filled decades."
"..."
Around the two facing each other, white dandelion seeds drifted down gently. They were the ones that had been swept upward by the sword strike Jeong Yeon-shin had unleashed earlier.
The sunlight shattered into tiny fragments over the remnants of the Myriad Blossoms Rain.