Chapter 369: Peerless Master (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 369: Peerless Master (4)
Ultimate techniques that manipulate armor are rare.
It is no exaggeration to say there are only three such martial lineages widely known under heaven: the northern demonfolk, the military forces opposing them, and the Tenth Sect of Sichuan Province.
While the people of the Jianghu shamelessly carry blades without any special qualifications while enjoying the order established by the state, privately donning armor is an act bordering on treason—incomparable to merely wearing a sword.
That is precisely why the Tenth Sect came to be called one of the Thirteen Heavens of the Wicked Way.
With a retired grand general who had once held a pillar of the northern front as their Lord, they cleverly trampled upon the laws of the land using his connections, resourcefulness, and the geographical advantage of isolated Sichuan.
Thus, the armor martial arts personally compiled by the peerless master, the Lord of the Tenth Sect, were brought into the world. It served as the foundation that allowed the Tenth Sect to threaten Sichuan's two great orthodox sects and the Tang Clan, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the Pure Demon Alliance.
“…….”
Silence ensued.
The Tang Clan, the Tenth Sect, the Qingcheng Sect, the Emei Sect, and the Pure Demon Alliance.
It was a gathering of masters hailed as the most brilliant stars in the harsh Sichuan martial world. Not a single person present lacked mastery in eye techniques.
The exact same sight was reflected in the eyes of everyone gathered: the Tenth Sect's Heart-Piercing Heaven-Stitching Art—renowned for encompassing over a dozen martial arts in addition to the eighteen techniques of the eighteen weapons—crashing against the black-robed youth and utterly destroying itself.
Thud, thud—
Blood, flesh, and iron fragments blasted high into the sky by the violent explosion rained down, pattering against the ground.
The dismal remains of the Bright Pearl Star, Jeong Chu-gon. True to his title, the vanguard of the Tenth Sect was the first to return to the heavens.
In the midst of it all, the handsome youth clad in a black robe did not spare even a glance at the remnants of the corpse. He merely stared indifferently at the Lord of the Tenth Sect.
His entire body was enveloped in a faint, bluish radiance.
It was an unbelievable sight. Not only for Red Cloud Dragon, who had previously shouted the Bright Pearl Star's identity from the main gate of the Tang Clan, but also for the Lord of the Tenth Sect, who had been staring intently at Jeong Yeon-shin to see what would become of his vanguard commander.
“Chu-gon,” the Lord of the Tenth Sect muttered, standing opposite Jeong Yeon-shin. Sunlight shimmered faintly over the eyes of the peerless master who had survived countless battlefields.
In the Sichuan Tenth Sect, masters of the same generation as the Lord were usually both his subordinates and his disciples.
This meant that most of those representing the sect were old comrades-in-arms. The Bright Pearl Star, Jeong Chu-gon, had also followed the Lord of the Tenth Sect all the way from the north.
“…You have forged an impressive internal energy armor,” the Lord of the Tenth Sect said slowly.
The waves of internal power that had been violently clawing at the ground beneath his feet suddenly vanished.
At the same time, the luster faded from his silver armor, and an eerily heavy silence began to fill the surroundings.
He had completely drawn that powerful wave of energy back into his body.
Jeong Yeon-shin lowered his eyelids slightly.
He didn't withdraw his true qi.
The Upper Dantian in his mind detected an incredibly heavy weight.
It felt as though the man had merely withdrawn the starting stance of a wide-area martial art suited for a chaotic battlefield, shifting instead into a true qi flow meant for a one-on-one life-and-death duel.
It offered a glimpse into why he still reigned as an unrivaled, absolute master even after having his essence absorbed by the Blood Flame Cult Leader.
The Lord of the Tenth Sect spoke with an expressionless face.
“Is there anyone else under heaven besides the Yeoryeong Lord who deceives others with such martial prowess? At most, it would be that gray pointy-ears of the Dark Night Hall, or perhaps the vulgar Fighting God of the North.”
“That is quite a few.”
“Commander of the Demonlight Wing, Jeong Yeon-shin. You were not speaking falsehoods.”
“You talk too much.”
“Initially, I did not believe your words. I once saw your face when you still had baby fat on your cheeks...”
“…….”
“But seeing you again now, it seems you have undergone bone rebirth and shed your mortal coil.”
Otherwise, who else your age could reduce Chu-gon to this? The Lord of the Tenth Sect continued, as if muttering to himself.
“Gwang and Ju-ha also met their ends at your hands.”
The Sword Scorpion Demon Dokgo Gwang and the Moon-Gazing Radiant Halberd Yeo Ju-ha.
They were top-tier experts of the Tenth Sect. Jeong Yeon-shin remembered them. They were the enemies who had slain several warriors of the Demonlight Wing right before he created the Law-Transcending Halo Qi.
I sent them off too easily.
It was a moment when Jeong Yeon-shin once again felt the drawback of ending battles too quickly.
“Come to think of it, a mere brat from the Desolate Fortress has severed quite a few of my limbs. How ridiculous.”
The moment he finished speaking, the Lord of the Tenth Sect's hand moved from top to bottom in segmented motions, blurring like the fluttering of a moth's wings.
Before anyone knew it, a precious sword was held in his grip, drawn as if by magic. Not even a whisper of steel leaving its scabbard had been heard.
That is a martial art.
Placing his hand on the hilt of his nameless divine sword, Jeong Yeon-shin stared into the calmly settled eyes of the Lord of the Tenth Sect.
Jeung Cheon-mu of the Tenth Sect.
He had heard of him. It was said that his style was similar to the Demonlight Formula of the Demonlight Wing. He had turned the method of body manipulation into a single martial arts mnemonic.
“Come,” the Lord of the Tenth Sect said, slightly tilting the flat of his blade.
His manner was like that of a Jianghu senior addressing a junior, a posture that refused to acknowledge a Black Rank of the Desolate Fortress as an equal to a Lord of the Thirteen Heavens.
Whatever his true feelings, it could not be helped. To uphold the prestige of a great sect, he had to act this way.
The crowd stirred.
“The Hidden King Amidst Flowers underwent shedding of the mortal coil...?”
“The Lord said so. It must be true.”
“Then there is no way he came alone. He must have brought others with him...”
“We must check our rear immediately.”
“Two Lords of the Thirteen Heavens are here! No matter how strong a Black Rank of the Desolate Fortress is, he is nothing but a decoy!”
These voices came from the Tenth Sect and the Pure Demon Alliance. The eyes of those glaring at Jeong Yeon-shin gleamed with tyrannical internal power.
“Look at that sword!”
“Isn't that the mark of the Moon-Forging Method? The one passed down only to direct descendants.”
“That strange luster... is it True Silver Ore? You can barely obtain that even from a flood dragon's formation...”
“Hidden King Amidst Flowers! It is indeed our benefactor!”
“It seems the Young Master and Young Lady have lent a hand.”
“Block them! We cannot let them strike from behind!”
While the short masters of the Tang Clan, looking greatly shocked, adjusted their grips on daggers, long needles, and throwing stars, shouts erupted from both sides to not let a single person escape.
Whoosh!
The air in the courtyard rippled translucently.
This was a place where the experts of the Thirteen Heavens, the Eight Families, and the Nine Sects confronted one another.
The atmosphere wavered under the waves of internal power from warriors who had cultivated entirely different inner cultivation methods. Just as the battlefield's killing intent was about to explode once more, a deep, elderly laugh echoed heavily. A hearty chuckle. The monstrous internal power carried in the voice utterly suppressed all the energy waves in the courtyard.
It was demonic energy.
[The little brat's antics are quite amusing. Why don't you play along for a bit?]
Whoosh—!
Dust that had begun to rise was suddenly pressed flat against the ground.
While the walls surrounding the manor shook precariously, the pebbles rolling on the ground dug themselves into the earth.
Those who had been shouting snapped their heads up, their complexions changing instantly. Some even muttered in low, groaning voices.
“The Leader of the Pure Demon Alliance...!”
It was another peerless master. An old man with a long, flowing white beard, looking almost like a Taoist immortal.
Furthermore, he was an absolute master of the demonic path, descended from the Ming Cult's martial lineage. There was no telling when he might go back on his word and strike from behind.
If the Lord of the Tenth Sect and the Leader of the Pure Demon Alliance joined forces, even Jeong Yeon-shin would have no choice but to prepare for death.
He sensed the old man floating in the air in the distance without even turning his head.
In truth, he had been paying more attention to that side than to the Lord of the Tenth Sect. This was because of the youth clinging like a spider to the cliff at the edge of the manor, currently being toyed with by the Leader of the Pure Demon Alliance.
A White-Ranked Warrior of the main fortress.
He remembered catching a fleeting glimpse of him at the Giju Branch in Sichuan back when he was delivering the manual of the Jeong Family Dynamic Art to his maternal grandfather. He could not leave him like that.
“You are keeping a wide combat interval. I heard your martial lineage is famous for keeping exchanges short.”
It was then that the Lord of the Tenth Sect, locking eyes with him, muttered with a hint of disappointment.
Jeong Yeon-shin spun the wheel of light residing in his heart once. Along with it, the image of a sword formed in his mind.
It was sharper than ever before, a result of achieving bone rebirth, shedding his mortal coil, and the Three Flowers Gathering at the Peak.
One exchange is enough.
With an indifferent face, he aimed the sword in his mind at the Lord of the Tenth Sect.
“Hmm?”
Instantly, a pure white sword strike surged like a wave from the Lord of the Tenth Sect's grip.
It was an extreme reaction speed. The moment his instincts judged that an offensive move had been launched, his body moved on its own.
A sound like a bundle of paper being violently torn apart erupted from the sword move that shredded the air in place.
This was exactly what Jeong Yeon-shin had intended. He had mastered the Demonlight Formula—which was similar to the man's Jeung Cheon-mu style—to its absolute peak.
Fan Dragon.
In a split second, he erased the sword in his mind, conjured a fan, and overlaid it onto the sword at his waist.
At the same time, with a monstrous vroooom—! from the scabbard, a beam of light pierced through the air in a straight line.
Fan Dragon Lotus Art, Sword Control.
Claaaaang—!
A circular shockwave erupted in midair, drawing a massive, single ripple.
The haze arising from the energy waves of the experts in the courtyard was swept away in all directions, while a tidal wave of vibrations rolled in, rumbling across the ground.
In that gap, the Leader of the Pure Demon Alliance's figure descended rapidly. It was a speed close to falling; his Void Treading could not withstand the recoil.
The playful expression of the demonic absolute master, who usually treated everything as a game, was gone. His wrinkled face, as he stared at Jeong Yeon-shin, betrayed a shock he could not hide in time.
Tap.
“They said you were of the Hegemon Hero's bloodline.”
The old man, landing on the ground, narrowed his eyes.
Just like that, a scene was created that made the crowd of over a hundred and twenty people in the courtyard hold their breath.
The Lord of the Tenth Sect, the Leader of the Pure Demon Alliance, and the Hidden King Amidst Flowers of Sichuan.
A confrontation where, if you asked a hundred people of the Jianghu, ninety-nine would predict the miserable defeat of the Hidden King Amidst Flowers.
It was a burden for Jeong Yeon-shin as well. If he began exchanging blows with them, he would inevitably fail to protect the carriage of the Tang Clan siblings.
That was why he had revealed his level of martial arts.
Since each of them would cherish their own lives above all else, he wanted them to realize that they had nothing to gain by fighting him in this situation.
Even if they were Lords of the Thirteen Heavens, they were ultimately warriors of the heterodox sects. If they did not pursue personal prosperity, they would never have become Lords of the Thirteen Heavens in the first place.
The Leader of the Pure Demon Alliance bared his yellow teeth.
“The Desolate Fortress has raised a monster. This is a brat my disciple should have killed long ago.”
“No, he grew up on his own. I heard it from the Yeoryeong Lord,” the Lord of the Tenth Sect replied.
The Leader of the Pure Demon Alliance shook his head dismissively, as if it didn't matter.
“To think a brat of that age is facing this old man. This has become highly troublesome.”
The Tang Clan, which they had invaded.
It was a family with an incredibly long history.
Renowned great sects always possessed mysteries accumulated over vast stretches of time.
Such was the case with the Nine Poisons Formation, the Silent Dragon Nine-Nine Formation, the Ghost King Spirit, and the Heavenly Thunderstorm Formation—all composed of various poisons, dharma treasures, and hidden weapons stretching from the entrance of the Tang Clan to the inner courtyard.
It was the final defensive formation of the Sichuan Tang Clan, one that even peerless masters would find difficult to deal with.
The mechanism formations of a noble family renowned as the world's greatest in poison arts, medicine, and blacksmithing were unrivaled.
This was the reason why the Lord of the Tenth Sect and the Leader of the Pure Demon Alliance, who were currently staring at Jeong Yeon-shin, could not easily make a move.
They were not in perfect condition.
There was no need to consider such things when dealing with an inferior opponent.
But now, it was different.
The two peerless masters had discarded their arrogant attitude of treating all things under heaven as mere insects.
“What do you intend to do?” the Lord of the Tenth Sect asked, sheathing the sword he had swung prematurely.
It was as if he had never been angered by the death of his subordinate. The conduct of a peerless master of the heterodox sects was astonishingly adaptable, utterly unhindered by such attachments.
Glancing at his behavior, the Leader of the Pure Demon Alliance let out a hollow laugh and gestured with his chin toward Jeong Yeon-shin.
“Brat, no matter how strong you are, you cannot handle both of us, can you? Surely you do not think we will take turns exchanging blows with you.”
“How pathetic,” Jeong Yeon-shin replied calmly, spreading his hands slightly downward.
Before anyone realized it, the divine swords of the Tang Clan siblings were floating behind his back, shining with a razor-sharp sword light.
Even though he did not emit any particular wave of energy, an overwhelming presence flowed from his entire body—a transcendence unique to peerless masters.
He slowly parted his lips.
“You may attack together.”
“…….”
The crowd was left speechless.