Chapter 368: Peerless Master (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 368: Peerless Master (3)
Jeong Yeon-shin walked at a leisurely pace, pulling the squeaking, rusty handle of his cart.
Following him from a distance, the Orthodox martial artists felt a dizzying sense of dread.
It stemmed from the immense pressure bleeding out from beyond the smoothly polished bronze gates and white walls—a presence spreading like a natural disaster.
Whoosh—!
The dust rising around the manor was swept away in every direction, the hazy powder shimmering like smoke.
It was an aura wave rarely encountered anywhere in the world. Absolute masters, on par with the leaders of the great sects, were making their presence known.
"Is it really alright to let him just walk in like that?"
"Even if he truly is the Commander of the Demonlight Wing, won't he just disrupt the battlefield in there...?"
"Still, he'll be far more helpful than us."
A few of the rising stars among the dozen or so martial artists exchanged worried whispers. The faces of the Qingcheng and Emei experts, however, grew even more solemn.
It wasn't just the Golden Staff Divine Maiden and the Red Cloud Dragon, who possessed exceptionally sensitive senses of Qi even among the rising stars. Taoist Cheong-eun and the Divine Nun of Purple Tenuity—the elders of their respective sects—had long since lost their usual serene, detached expressions.
Taoist Cheong-eun spoke slowly, his eyes fixed on the back of the black-robed young man who had already crossed the threshold.
"Divine Nun."
"Indeed."
"There are two Lords of the Thirteen Heavens."
"I can feel them."
The middle-aged Buddhist nun nodded.
Her eyes were heavy, contrasting with her calm demeanor. The place the young man claiming to be the Commander of the Demonlight Wing had just entered was already akin to the underworld. It was a veritable pandemonium.
A tyrannical internal energy that belonged on a battlefield.
A demonic energy that sent shivers down one's spine.
The distinct internal power waves of the Tenth Sect and the Pure Demon Alliance surged thick in the air.
It appeared the absolute masters of each giant faction had personally arrived, leading their respective experts.
Qingcheng and Emei were ancient sects. They knew all too well how powerful and ruthless the two nearby Unorthodox factions were, and they recognized that the power currently descending upon the Tang Clan was akin to an unstoppable landslide.
"Unless the Sect Leaders of our main mountains descend..."
Taoist Cheong-eun trailed off. The relentless, shimmering wind of aura pressed his beard flat against his neck.
His hope was practically impossible to realize.
After the Red Haze Sword Venerable, the former Sect Leader of the Qingcheng Sect, was defeated and killed by the Lord of the Hegemon Sword Sect, his junior brother had taken up the mantle of Sect Leader.
The new leader was currently busy restoring order to the chaotic sect and protecting its lay branches, all while focusing on nurturing a talent who could unite the Blue Cloud Sword Art and the Red Cloud Sword Technique.
He prioritized the future of the sect over revenge. If an unfortunate mishap occurred in a clash with the Lords of the Thirteen Heavens, the sect would lose two Sect Leaders in a single generation.
Considering the prestige of the Qingcheng Sect, such a disaster had to be avoided at all costs.
It would directly disrupt the balance of power between the Orthodox, Unorthodox, and Demonic factions of the martial world, likely triggering a chaotic era far worse than if they had simply remained still.
—The Buddhist Exalt is still in Yongan Prefecture, correct?
When Taoist Cheong-eun inquired about the Emei Sect Leader's whereabouts via sound transmission, the Divine Nun of Purple Tenuity silently nodded once more.
The Emei Sect Leader, who held the title of Thunderous Buddhist Exalt, had left the main mountain a fortnight ago.
She had been summoned by the Provincial Military Commander, the chief of military affairs in Sichuan Province.
Though it was a confidential invitation, the reason was easy to surmise. Sichuan was a rugged, isolated basin.
Since it was difficult to receive timely news from the outside and impossible to simply wait for the Desolate Fortress's aid in times of chaos, the military likely intended to have the Emei Sect, with its numerous lay branches, act as a substitute for the Desolate Fortress's Divine Sword Corps.
But that was of no help to the Sichuan Tang Clan right now.
Clang! Crash—!
The relentless shockwaves of colliding energy and the metallic shrieks of shattering weapons were deafening, echoing like thunder through the empty, breathless city.
It was no wonder the local commoners had fled. The battle unfolding within the Tang Clan's estate was a historic clash that would be spoken of throughout the Jianghu for generations to come.
As a seasoned expert of the Nine Sects, Taoist Cheong-eun held that very thought.
"Martial Uncle, I can feel the aura of our sect brothers."
The tall young Taoist spoke with urgency.
It was the Red Cloud Dragon of the Qingcheng Sect. He was Taoist Cheong-eun's nephew-disciple and the personal disciple of the late former Sect Leader.
He was a swordsman destined to become the future pillar of the sect.
"Wait. If you rush in blindly, you might get caught in the Tang Clan's mechanism formations. I will go first," Taoist Cheong-eun said. He had just finished scanning the interior of the manor with his sense of Qi during his brief exchange with the Divine Nun of Purple Tenuity.
Inside the Tang Clan's estate, where poison formations and mechanisms littered the ground, caution was paramount to avoid harming their allies.
If anything, the black-robed young man who had rashly crossed the threshold first was the real concern. No matter how high his martial arts prowess, he shouldn't have been so reckless.
'If he was ambushed by a Lord of the Thirteen Heavens amidst a hail of flying needles, it wouldn't be surprising if he had already become a wandering ghost...'
He prayed the youth was unharmed.
Gripping the hilt of the sword at his waist, he stepped toward the main gate where Jeong Yeon-shin had vanished. The Red Cloud Dragon immediately fell in line beside him.
"We cannot just stand idly by. We must do something."
"Now, hold on."
"To me, the young man who just entered did not look like a madman. His martial arts prowess seemed extraordinary."
"What are you trying to say?"
"He will undoubtedly create an opening in the battle. I intend to secure the safety of our sect brothers and our fellow Jianghu companions. With the Golden Staff Divine Maiden, we can do it."
The Red Cloud Dragon spoke, glancing at the Emei Sect's Divine Nun of Purple Tenuity and the Golden Staff Divine Maiden, who were already walking alongside them.
Unlike the bickering Qingcheng uncle and nephew, the two Buddhist nuns were heading toward the Tang Clan's main gate as a matter of course, without a single word of hesitation.
The hems of their worn yet pristine Buddhist robes fluttered in the wind.
Such was the dignity of the Nine Sects.
The bond between Qingcheng and Emei was deep and long-standing.
As peers of the same generation, the Red Cloud Dragon and the Golden Staff Divine Maiden knew each other's martial arts inside and out.
When these two brilliant geniuses combined their techniques, their joint attacks often made even their supervising elders break a sweat.
They had once believed themselves to be the strongest of the rising stars—until they met and were defeated by the Blade Marquis of the Peng Family, the undisputed strongest among the young martial artists of Hebei.
"I will avoid direct combat as much as possible. Martial Uncle, please coordinate with the young man who went in first," the Red Cloud Dragon spoke in a low voice.
For a brief moment, only the deafening din of the battlefield filled the silence. Taoist Cheong-eun didn't try to dissuade his nephew-disciple any further.
He merely bowed his head inwardly to his late senior brother, the former Sect Leader. Senior brother, hasn't he grown into a fine man?
'The Blue Cloud and Red Sunset. A noble heart like his is far harder to find than the martial arts needed to exact revenge on the Lord of the Hegemon Sword Sect.'
Crunch.
They fully grasped the situation inside the Tang Clan's estate. Amidst the chaotic battlefield, scattered people, and shattered mechanism formations, the Pure Demon Alliance Leader and a Lord of the Thirteen Heavens stood shrouded in an absolute, overwhelming presence.
They walked in, fully aware of their abysmally low chances of survival.
It was actually a relief that the rising stars of the Sichuan martial families were hesitating behind them. Had they followed blindly, they would have only been a hindrance.
"Refrain from using the Red Sunset Sword."
"I know. The Blue Cloud Sword is better suited for a chaotic melee."
"Let us first rescue the collateral members of the Tang Clan who do not know martial arts. Our sect disciples will be next."
"Understood."
Taoist Cheong-eun, the Red Cloud Dragon, the Divine Nun of Purple Tenuity, and the Golden Staff Divine Maiden.
The two pairs of elders and disciples stepped through the swirling dust, finally crossing the threshold of the Tang Clan's estate.
There, they witnessed the horrific scene unfolding before them.
"..."
Corpses lay piled high across the vast front courtyard.
It was clear they had died at different times.
An old man whose lower body had been dissolved by Bone-Melting Powder infused with internal energy; a man staring with wide, lifeless eyes, his abdomen completely blackened; and a boy convulsing violently as he lay face down.
"The Homeland-Lost Demon Elder...?"
Seeing the boy, Taoist Cheong-eun gasped in shock.
He was a demon of the Pure Demon Alliance who had mastered the ultimate stage of the Virgin Boy Art, allowing him to commit heinous atrocities while maintaining the appearance of a young boy. Now, his internal acupoints were completely shattered.
A path of freshly slain corpses stretched forward, and the Homeland-Lost Demon Elder was merely the first among them.
The eyes of the Nine Sects group followed the bloody trail.
At the end of the path of bodies sat the old cart, parked at an angle. Beyond it, the black-robed young man stood face-to-face with a middle-aged man clad in white light armor.
The situation looked incredibly precarious.
Not a single shred of aura emanated from the black-robed youth.
He might have reached the state of perfect Return to Simplicity, deeply concealing his internal energy, but his opponent was an absolute master capable of looking down even on such martial prowess.
The armored man was currently scanning Jeong Yeon-shin with an intrigued gaze.
He possessed a massive build. One of his ears had been cleanly severed, as if by a sword, but it didn't look unsightly. Rather, it lent him the imposing aura of an undefeated general of a hundred battles.
Fwoosh—!
A terrifying aura enveloped his entire body, carving dozens of concentric circles into the ground. It was as if he wore an invisible storm as armor.
Yet, his eyes looked surprisingly gentle at first glance, save for his pitch-black pupils, which resembled those of a bull.
The corpses of the Tang Clan experts strewn in a wide circle around him bore testament to his world-shaking, ruthless methods.
He was the Lord of the Tenth Sect.
A peerless master rumored to have returned home after taking the heads of over ten thousand Northern Demonfolk.
A grandmaster who wielded all of the Eighteen Weapons like his own limbs. Even the veteran masters of Orthodox martial arts were said to avoid a prolonged battle with him.
Rumors even whispered that the Sect Leaders of the Qingcheng and Emei sects would do the same.
"You claim to be the Commander of the Demonlight Wing, yet you brought the flat-nosed Taoists and bald monks of the Nine Sects with you," the Lord of the Tenth Sect spoke. His tone was polite, matching the gentle impression of his eyes.
But he was far from letting his guard down. His abyss-like eyes carefully scrutinized Jeong Yeon-shin's entire body.
'They said he was once a general in the military. That is an eye technique forged on the battlefield.'
Jeong Yeon-shin exhaled a long, silent breath. The Lord of the Tenth Sect's gaze felt like a sharp arrowhead, scraping like cold iron against his skin.
He had slain fifteen people while pulling his cart from the entrance of the Tang Clan's estate to this very spot.
He had walked straight toward the Lord of the Tenth Sect, casually unleashing the Infinite Flower of Time Hand and the Internal Heavy Hand Technique with a single hand.
Bones and flesh had shattered, and blood had sprayed along his path.
No matter how grandly they styled themselves as Unorthodox factions, they were ultimately nothing more than bandits busy exploiting the commoners. It was only right to deal with their leader first.
The battlefield was crowded with renowned experts.
It had not taken long for the gazes of the surrounding experts—who initially looked at him as if he were a madman—to shift.
The black-robed youth standing before the Lord of the Tenth Sect with his shabby cart was like a bizarre figure stepped straight out of a Jianghu legend. Before anyone realized it, a hush had fallen over the battlefield.
Jeong Yeon-shin slowly spoke, his eyes locked with the Lord of the Tenth Sect's.
"Leave."
"Hmm?"
"The Tang Clan will be holding a funeral for the next ten days."
"An interesting fellow. Coming all this way just to die."
The corners of the Lord of the Tenth Sect's mouth curled upward. The slight dimpling beneath his cheekbones possessed an elegant grace, making him look like a general well-versed in both the literary and martial arts.
"The Lord of the Golden Wing Sect was furious at your betrayal. It would be far more merciful for you to lose your life to me here."
"Interesting?" Jeong Yeon-shin ignored his threat and questioned him instead.
The Lord of the Tenth Sect tilted his chin down slightly, a faint smile playing on his lips.
"Indeed. Is your behavior not amusing?"
"Weren't you once a military man? To speak of amusement in the face of a funeral... How did you ever memorize Confucius, Mencius, and the Four Books and Three Classics?"
"..."
It was not a mere taunt. It was a genuine question from the Divine Hero of the Desolate Fortress, an educated man.
"I doubt your late parents raised you to behave this way," Jeong Yeon-shin added out of genuine curiosity.
He had created the Jeong Family Dynamic Art to honor the mother he had never met and to ensure her blood was not spilled in vain. Why, then, did these people of the Jianghu so readily bring disgrace upon their own parents?
A heavy silence fell over the courtyard.
Just as the Lord of the Tenth Sect fell silent—
"How dare a mere imposter of the Hidden King Amidst Flowers speak with such insolence!"
A furious shout erupted alongside the clanking of metal.
It came from Jeong Yeon-shin's flank. A middle-aged martial artist clad in heavy iron armor charged forward, tearing up the earth beneath his feet.
"That man is the Bright Pearl Star!"
From the distant main gate, the Red Cloud Dragon of the Qingcheng Sect shouted a warning. He was identifying the attacker, urging Jeong Yeon-shin to dodge the opening strike at all costs.
The Bright Pearl Star, Jeong Chu-gon. Although the Tenth Sect had lost several top-tier experts to the Hidden King Amidst Flowers, Seomye, Jeong Chu-gon was a powerhouse who had newly taken charge of the vanguard under the direct tutelage of the Lord of the Tenth Sect.
He had already slaughtered numerous disciples of the Tang Clan and the Nine Sects, leaving nothing but pulverized remains in his wake.
Thud!
The ground split open at an incredible speed. His lightness skill carried an immense, crushing weight—a characteristic of the Tenth Sect's martial lineage, which had tyrannically synthesized the military's divine arts.
The internal energy shimmering in white light from his silver armor caught the sunlight, making him look like a literal comet.
The Heart-Piercing Heaven-Stitching Art.
It was a technique designed to reduce an opponent to minced meat upon impact, boasting terrifying efficacy in large-scale battles.
When charging in a straight line, the sheer momentum was comparable to a devastating explosive. No sect dared to receive it head-on.
'Bright Star?'
Repeating the end of the man's title in his mind, Jeong Yeon-shin glanced at the Lord of the Tenth Sect.
The airflow around the Lord's forearms twitched minutely, indicating he would strike the instant Jeong Yeon-shin made a move. He was clearly prioritizing the preservation of his sect's strength over any notions of Jianghu honor.
Jeong Yeon-shin remained perfectly still.
He did not budge. He waited as the thunderous cracking of the earth drew rapidly closer, right up until the man known as the Bright Pearl Star slammed into him, his face contorted like a furious demon.
Splat—!
It was the sound of flesh and bone obliterating.
A massive deluge of blood erupted from shattered iron armor and ruptured muscles.
The impact caved the ground in a perfect circle. Amidst the pulverized remains of the Bright Pearl Star, Jeong Yeon-shin stood quietly, shrouded in a faint, shimmering starlight.
He had shielded the cart behind him.
The spraying droplets of blood slid harmlessly off his pitch-black robe, unable to stain it.