Chapter 450: Pandemonium (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 450: Pandemonium (3)
The long, sprawling wall reflected the bright sunlight. It stood beneath the grand plaque of the Great Thoroughfare Sect.
Even when a voice that grated on his ears reached him, Jeong Yeon-shin did not stop. The Outer Hall Master of the Great Thoroughfare Sect could be interrogated at any time; what mattered now was his Sword Secret Finger, heavily condensed with Law-Transcending Halo Qi.
“Is Senior Baek Mi-ryeo safe?”
[I told you before, she is being treated with the utmost hospitality. Delicacies so lavish they're unimaginable in the Desolate Fortress, handsome men and beautiful women attending to her… I've placed her in a palace where she can enjoy every pleasure under heaven. She probably hasn't even thought of you.]
‘Demon-Slaying Light Trace.’
Using his two fingers as a sword, Jeong Yeon-shin slashed upward at the Heaven-Smiling Invincible’s body, tracing a line from her lower dantian to her solar plexus.
Sshk!
A faint trail of white light followed his attack, and her figure distorted like smoke before snapping back to its original form.
“Ugh!”
It was the sensation of tearing through empty air. He felt as if he had merely sliced through a cloud of dust.
While the Outer Hall Master of the Great Thoroughfare Sect recoiled in shock, the corners of the Heaven-Smiling Invincible’s mouth twitched. Clasping her hands behind her back, she floated into the air, as light as a feather.
[It's useless. This is an illusion created with the power of a Dharma Treasure. In other words, a ghost with no physical substance. More importantly…]
Looking down from above, the Heaven-Smiling Invincible tilted her head slightly.
[Isn't your form ridiculously crude? I don't understand your striking points, your trajectory, or the force loaded into your shockwaves.]
She quietly observed the silent Jeong Yeon-shin, then curled one corner of her lip, the look of someone who had just deduced something.
[Don't tell me you've kept your upper dantian martial arts active this entire time? All the way from the Desolate Fortress to here?]
“…”
[I did wonder how our busy new Purple Rank arrived so quickly. I can only imagine how many times you had to perform the Great Heavenly Cycle on your way. In the first place, isn't your Sword Control a technique meant for short, decisive battles? Much like my Samadhi True Fire.]
Her behavior was a far cry from the public’s perception of her as cynical and arrogant. The sheer length of her speech proved it; anyone could see she possessed an immense interest in Jeong Yeon-shin’s martial arts.
He did not answer. He merely took a long, deep breath, drawing in his internal energy.
I will kill her.
Ever since the Heaven-Smiling Invincible had taken Baek Mi-ryeo, Jeong Yeon-shin’s time had been frozen. His heightened sense of Qi had been calculating everything since that day.
It had been six days since Baek Mi-ryeo was taken. He had spent three of them reorganizing the Divine Sword Corps in the Desolate Fortress, engaging in a war of nerves with the King of Fathomless Light, and rescuing the Sword Saint and Jegal Cheong-a from the rabble at Taemo Mountain Fortress.
The rest of his time was spent with the Seon-ryong. While crossing half of Huguang Province, traversing the southern part of Southern Zhili, and flying in a straight line across half of Zhejiang Province, the mental image of a fan-wielding dragon had remained coiled around his sword, Lingering Thunder.
As the Heaven-Smiling Invincible had said, Jeong Yeon-shin was not in peak condition. Repeated cycles of exhaustion, Qi accumulation, and casting Divine Arts would wear down even the greatest master under heaven.
But he was satisfied. He had arrived a moment sooner, and his sister's whereabouts were at stake.
And now…
I must refine my Heart Sword further. I will kill her within three days.
A blue light flashed in Jeong Yeon-shin’s eyes.
The Heaven-Smiling Invincible’s did as well. She leaned her hazy, ghost-like waist slightly forward, locking eyes with him. It was a confrontation between two geniuses, each hailed as the greatest from their respective regions.
The probing continued.
In a brief instant, they analyzed each other’s posture, gauged their current states, and observed the minute twitches of the nose to discern the rhythm of their breathing and internal energy. Then, she spoke.
[I hear there are two arts that symbolize the current Lotus Nezha.]
The Heaven-Smiling Invincible spoke slowly.
[Brilliant River and Sword Control… To me, it looks like a complete yet unstable martial art. Highly contradictory.]
Her insight was correct. The Fan Dragon Lotus Art was a martial art with clear limitations. Overlapping the mental image of the fan-wielding dragon onto a sword enabled Sword Control, and piercing another’s Baihui Point could grant them Three Flowers Gathering at the Peak. However, it could not be used alongside Ultimate Lightning, which was Full Body Brilliant River. Just activating it placed an immense burden on his acupoints.
It was a technique that overworked his Essence, Qi, and Spirit entirely—just like it had for the Seon-ryong, Jegal Hyeon, who had died a miserable death at his father's hands. Yet, thanks to that art, it was possible to directly usurp another's state of Three Flowers Gathering at the Peak and acquire Sword Control without any separate enlightenment.
Even after he underwent Marrow Cleansing and Bone Rebirth, the Azure Qilin and the Seon-ryong did not easily merge. The burden placed on his body when executing each art had merely decreased significantly.
Thus, Jeong Yeon-shin's Unified Martial Transcendence was still a distant goal. It was a problem he would have to resolve one day. When his winding journey through the Jianghu finally converged, he would possess a Unified Martial Transcendence uniquely his own.
Has the Ming Cult Leader completed her Unified Martial Transcendence?
This was the most critical question, especially if her true body was indeed somewhere in Hangzhou.
At that moment, she suddenly drew close.
Swoosh.
She extended a long, translucent index finger, slowly tracing it down Jeong Yeon-shin's forehead as if trying to feel the upper dantian and Baihui Point within his skull.
Jeong Yeon-shin did not dodge. They could exert no physical influence on each other.
Yet, as if she had felt something, the Heaven-Smiling Invincible lowered her eyelashes. She cleared her snow-white throat, like a performer in some ridiculous opera.
[Your Sword Control is different from that of other swordsmen. It starts with its instantaneous explosive power. In exchange for choosing raw power, you are racing against time from the moment you deploy it.]
“…”
[That is simply the nature I sense from you. Am I wrong? When my true body arrives… I suspect it will be extremely difficult for you to withstand me in your current state.]
"The nature I sense."
It meant she had analyzed his martial arts solely through her sense of Qi. Her words carried a mocking, condescending tone.
Jeong Yeon-shin felt a strange sensation, like looking at his reflection in a broken mirror.
"Are you so sure I cannot cut down your sorcery?"
[I really don't know where you get such audacity. Is it because you don't have much time left, so you have no lingering attachment to life?]
They spoke past each other, each absorbed in their own world. This was the behavior of those who had never encountered an equal talent in their entire lives.
Jeong Yeon-shin silently swept his sense of Qi over his surroundings, feeling the weight and warmth of the wooden box inside his robes. It was an item left behind by his maternal grandfather, Ma Yeon-jeok.
A fragment of an Imugi's inner core.
He had kept it in his breast pocket, unsure of what would happen if he swallowed it. He feared that if he lost consciousness for a few days while digesting even a portion of the Imugi's spirituality, Baek Mi-ryeo would drift that much further away.
However, with a peerless, hostile master before him, he could no longer afford to worry about the aftermath. The moment things went south, he would have to consume it.
“…”
A brief silence fell as the two stared intently at each other. A wind carrying the scorching heat of late summer swept past them. White, transparent sunlight poured down, and Jeong Yeon-shin felt the humid air brush against his skin after passing through the Heaven-Smiling Invincible’s illusion.
It was heavy, laden with many things.
Jeong Yeon-shin slowly parted his lips.
"...Even if you dissect all of my martial arts."
He had realized something. Right now, he had no way to harm the Heaven-Smiling Invincible.
However.
"You will not be able to die as you wish."
[Ha.]
The Heaven-Smiling Invincible’s eyes widened for an instant, then curved into thin crescents.
[Do you realize you just discussed the life and death of the Ming Cult Leader? News that our cult has absorbed the Pure Demon Alliance and that I have formally ascended to the position of Cult Leader must have reached the Desolate Fortress by now.]
"The Ming Cult Leader?"
The corners of Jeong Yeon-shin’s mouth twitched slightly.
"The death of one more member of the Heterodox Sects will change nothing."
[Oh?]
"But if I die, the world moves."
Said the Purple Rank of the Desolate Fortress.
[…]
For the first time, the Heaven-Smiling Invincible did not offer a quick retort. She merely scanned Jeong Yeon-shin strangely with her brilliant, dark-blue eyes. Only after several breaths had passed did she chuckle.
[It seems this won't be a boring companionship. You truly are different from me in many ways.]
"What?"
[Turbulent and full of vigor, with every martial art you create being strangely warped… It will be fun to observe you.]
"Are you insane?"
To one side, the Outer Hall Master of the Great Thoroughfare Sect mouthed the exact same words, but neither of them paid him any mind.
* * *
The situation had grown bizarre. It was time to sort things out.
Jeong Yeon-shin ignored the Heaven-Smiling Invincible, who hovered around him like a malicious spirit. She seemed to have no intention of showing up in her true body.
‘I need to find a connection.’
Jeong Yeon-shin struck the acupoints of the Great Thoroughfare Sect's Outer Hall Master and dragged him toward a deserted mountain path. He was doing this because he'd heard the man proudly babbling about Taemo Mountain Fortress earlier.
"My lord, please forgive me! My lord!"
Jeong Yeon-shin had once learned the Muscle-Splitting and Bone-Dislocating Technique from the Blue-Eyed Demon Sword Cheong-myeong. It was a torture method that finely crushed the joints while protecting the victim’s blood vessels with True Qi.
He had never performed it before. Whenever he needed to secure information, his companions had always been the ones to dirty their hands.
He found it wasn't difficult to do it himself. With an expressionless face, Jeong Yeon-shin shattered the bones connecting the Outer Hall Master's shoulder to his upper arm.
A scream rang out, only to be cut short by an energy barrier Jeong Yeon-shin had deployed.
He interrogated the Outer Hall Master in the grass. All the while, the Heaven-Smiling Invincible floated nearby, lying down with her arms pillowed behind her head.
[It's a waste of effort. I have no connection whatsoever with the dregs that split off from the Maoshan Sect.]
"That's a lie."
[My, my… I forgot that your Baihui Point is similar to mine from two years, two hundred and thirty-nine days, and half a shichen ago. Any woman who marries you won't even be able to lie about going to the outhouse. Your marriage prospects are ruined.]
"Shut up."
[Ah, you could just marry an internal cultivation master who has achieved the Great Heavenly Cycle and doesn't need the outhouse. Though in the end, the real problem would be your lifespan, wouldn't it?]
Whenever the Heaven-Smiling Invincible mocked her opponent, she spoke in polite terms. Jeong Yeon-shin didn't bother to respond. He merely extracted information from the Outer Hall Master, whose face was a mask of terror and panic.
"I'll tell you everything! Please… please, ask me anything!"
Hangzhou. It was a city where all kinds of vested interests were entangled. Until this spring, the Great Thoroughfare Sect had ruled over it, thanks to the achievements of their Sect Leader. He had attained great completion in the Empty-Full Self-Existent Divine Art, which swelled one's momentum like clouds. The sword-carrying poets and calligraphers of Hangzhou had voluntarily picked up brushes instead of swords to praise his martial prowess.
Hangzhou had found peace without a single drop of blood being shed.
Recently, however, everything changed when a single sheet of Sophora Paper fell from the sky.
Ironfolk artisans. Performers who sold their crafts. Numerous martial sects of the Jianghu, including single-successor martial lineages. Scholars and merchants who discussed the world while admiring magnificent views, and a small number of Brightfolk.
Every hero and champion in Hangzhou had knelt before the silent arrival of Taemo Mountain Fortress.
Even government officials were no exception. The Hangzhou Branch Head, the naval admiral governing the waterways, and even the Provincial Surveillance Commission in charge of Zhejiang Province’s punishments all brought offerings of food to the Master of Taemo Mountain Fortress. They claimed it was to pray for the nation's blessings, offering them to him as if he were the Jade Emperor himself.
Dark Sky Emperor Cho-yeol.
It was the name of a man who possessed an alias that was difficult to even utter. He did not show himself, as if hidden deep within an abyss. He merely cast a suffocating presence, leaving all matters to his son and Young Castle Lord, the Great Black Divine Beast Cho Pae-gwang.
The dry Sword Qi of the swordsmen from Heaven's Bane also weighed down on Hangzhou. The Five Sword Masters of the Heavens, said to be as formidable as the Apostles of the Blood Flame Cult, roamed the vast marketplace. It was even rumored that the Lord of Heaven's Bane himself patrolled the outskirts of the city.
Hangzhou held its breath. Only those crazed with alcohol and gambling, unable to tell heaven from earth, lived as they always had.
"They said they were summoning a Divine Dragon to appease the famine…!" cried the Outer Hall Master as he rolled on the ground. The pain must have exceeded his limits, because his tone turned deeply aggrieved, his formal speech forgotten. "We were only asked to request a large quantity of Sophora Paper, brushes, and ink, and to keep people's mouths shut! With what audacity could our sect refuse the orders of Taemo Mountain Fortress? Even the sword-carrying scholars of Hangzhou, who used to spout the principles of martial arts, romance, and reason, have shut their mouths!"
The Outer Hall Master was speaking of supplies used for sorcery. Jeong Yeon-shin locked eyes with him, his gaze clear. The man, who had been shouting while trembling in excruciating pain, fell silent.
The new Purple Rank was a true martial artist.
"Divine Dragon," Jeong Yeon-shin said, parting his lips. He recalled the voices of the children slaughtered at the Jeong Family Manor long ago.
—Recite Chapter 1, Section 4 of the Compendium of the Great Ming.
—Our long-eared, short-statured compatriots returned from the gates of heaven, destroyed the wicked Yuan, and established the Great Ming alongside Taizu.
—Chapter 1, Section 8.
—A giant demon pursued our compatriots, but they were able to close the gate in time and annihilate it.
Flood Dragon. Imugi. Names that had been entangled with him in one way or another.
Previously, the Long Staff of Wudang had said that the leaders of the Nine Sects would make their way to Hangzhou. Now, the Master of Taemo Mountain Fortress, the Dark Sky Emperor, and the Lord of Heaven's Bane, the First Sword of the Outer Paths, were plotting something. Judging by the Outer Hall Master's words, they planned to cast a spell to drag a Flood Dragon down from the heavens.
And the Ming Cult Leader, the Heaven-Smiling Invincible, was caught in the middle of it, whatever her goal might be.
The immortals of the Nine Great Sects.
The absolute masters of the demonic martial world.
An unprecedentedly massive and chaotic battlefield was about to form—one that might be recorded not just in the history of the Jianghu, but in the history of the nation itself.
And yet.
The King of Fathomless Light had told him to leave all of this to the leaders of the Nine Sects. Jeong Yeon-shin had set foot on this land for one reason only: to retrieve Baek Mi-ryeo.
At this moment, he was certain of one thing. The Heaven-Smiling Invincible was interacting with Taemo Mountain Fortress. Whatever her intentions, there had to be a connection between these practitioners of sorcery. If so, he had to obtain the clues held by Taemo Mountain Fortress. Ultimately, everything was connected.
"...I understand that you are the Wilderness Sunfall. But when not only high-ranking officials but even the Commander of the Thread-Annihilation Unit of the Desolate Fortress has been spending days negotiating with the Great Black Divine Beast Cho Pae-gwang at the Yeomcheon Pavilion, our sect had no choice but to cooperate with Taemo Mountain Fortress..."
Jeong Yeon-shin froze. The Outer Hall Master's stream of excuses came to an abrupt halt.
"The Commander of the Thread-Annihilation Unit?"
"Dammit..."
Had he revealed a secret? The Outer Hall Master spat a curse, revealing that all his previous excuses were nothing but hypocrisy.
It was true. Among the Black Ranks of the Wish-for-Peace One Sword Hall scattered across the world, Shin Hwang was the only one who had headed toward Zhejiang. Jeong Yeon-shin could clearly picture him departing alone after the gathering of the Divine Sword Corps commanders, without even bringing his subordinates.
He had said it was better to be alone if one needed to escape with the Body Protection Scripture in an emergency.
Taemo Mountain Fortress. Heaven's Bane. The absolute peak of the Heterodox Sects, referred to as the Heaven Beyond Heaven.
‘Again. And again.’
The back of Jeong Yeon-shin's neck flushed red. White steam leaked from the gaps in his purple sleeves as his True Qi boiled, hot as the internal energy of the Lazy Flame Dragon.
He was sick and tired of this.
Once more.
Once more, a warrior of the Desolate Fortress had stepped into perilous territory. He had willingly walked into a land of death, a domain overflowing with suffocating malice, forged by the very parasites who preyed upon the lifeblood of the nation. The weight of this realization settled heavily upon Jeong Yeon-shin's shoulders, fueling the inferno already raging within his veins.
"Where is it?" Jeong Yeon-shin’s voice was perilously calm, a chilling contrast to the blazing True Qi radiating from his form.
The captive trembled, his eyes wide with stark terror. "P-pardon...?"
"Yeomcheon Pavilion. Where is it?" he repeated, each syllable dropping like a heavy stone to the ground.
The Outer Hall Master of the Great Thoroughfare Sect stammered, his uninjured hand shaking violently as he pointed into the distance. "That... over there, that place... but you mustn't! You can't go there! All the immortals of Taemo Mountain Fortress are gathered within...! If a commotion breaks out, if you provoke them, there's absolutely no telling what kind of apocalyptic havoc the Five Sword Masters of the Heavens will wreak upon this city again...!"
Jeong Yeon-shin’s cold gaze followed the trajectory of the Outer Hall Master’s trembling finger. There, rising majestically from the very center of the vast, sprawling expanse of Hangzhou, towered an incredibly tall pavilion.
It pierced the heavens, so impossibly high that it resembled a colossal spire rather than a traditional building, easily soaring to a height of nearly twenty stories. The miraculous, peerless craftsmanship of the Ironfolk artisans had undoubtedly been poured into its construction without a single reservation, their architectural mastery evident in every sweeping eave and imposing pillar.
It was a pavilion of such overwhelming presence that it single-handedly transformed the sprawling, mundane city of Hangzhou into something out of another world. Eerie, crackling arcs of blue lightning flickered ceaselessly between the dark roof tiles, illuminating the night sky with sinister flashes of azure light.
Looking upon it, one had to wonder: was this truly the dwelling of immortals descended from the heavens? The entire structure appeared to be heavily warded, protected by countless, intricate formations and the dark, esoteric power of sorcery martial arts. The sheer density of the spiritual pressure radiating from it was enough to suffocate an ordinary martial artist.
Jeong Yeon-shin did not know what grand signal would eventually trigger the mythical, earth-shattering battle between the absolute masters of the Orthodox and Heterodox paths. It was not something he could possibly guess, nor did he harbor even a fraction of an ounce of interest in such grand political schemes right now.
The only thing that mattered—the only thing that existed in his world at this very second—was the pure, unadulterated rage welling up from the deepest recesses of his chest. It was a fury so profound it threatened to consume his very soul.
Swoosh.
Without even sparing a single, fleeting glance at the Heaven-Smiling Invincible, who had silently drawn close to his side at some point during the interrogation, Jeong Yeon-shin reached into his robes. His fingers brushed against the fabric of his breast pocket, swiftly pulling out a small, unassuming wooden box. With a flick of his thumb, he snapped it open.
The contents resting upon a small, pristine cotton ball were finally revealed to the world. At first glance, it appeared entirely unremarkable—an ugly, shriveled thing that looked exactly like a piece of half-burnt tree bark. Yet, the aura it possessed was anything but ordinary.
[Could you perhaps show a little restraint? The Master of Taemo Mountain Fortress is a far more troublesome and ancient old monster than you might think. You shouldn't forget that the Lord of Heaven's Bane is lurking nearby either... Wait, huh?]
Ignoring the telepathic advice completely, Jeong Yeon-shin picked up the bark-like object and swallowed it whole without uttering a single word.
The reaction was instantaneous.
In that exact, fleeting moment, the very fabric of reality seemed to warp around him. With a deafening, heavy thud that resonated through the bedrock of the city, the ground beneath his feet violently collapsed, instantly forming a massive, hemispherical crater. The sheer, explosive magnitude of the resulting shockwave erupted outward with apocalyptic force. Caught squarely in the center of this devastating blast, the battered body of the Great Thoroughfare Sect's Outer Hall Master was mercilessly crushed by the pressure, instantly compressed into absolute nothingness before he could even register a scream.