Chapter 455: Pandemonium (8)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 455: Pandemonium (8)
A fishy scent drifted on the river breeze. Even the sunlight, blanketing the vast expanse of water like a tyrant, could do nothing to mask the raw smell of the Jianghu's waters.
Only pure white clouds looked down leisurely upon the river.
The Mount Hua Sect Leader bore the weight of that sky.
“…….”
Lady Yul-ha confronted the Dark Sky Emperor Cho-yeol in midair. She held her reddish-tinted sword pointed downward in an elegant posture.
Her white-stockinged feet trod the air some hundred jang above the middle of the Zhejiang River. It was, quite literally, the high heavens. A savage gale howled around her.
It was a peerless realm, lightly suspending her body with Void Treading and manifesting her Body Protection Scripture through Void Stepping.
Her figure remained absolutely motionless in midair. She had reached a state where she could regulate her internal energy even while exchanging blows.
Whoosh—
Her pitch-black hair and the hem of her light pink robe fluttered wildly, but Lady Yul-ha's breath remained as calm as a spring breeze.
A faint, reddish-purple current of air occasionally drifted in and out of her lips and nose. It was the Purple Mist Divine Art, the secret transmission of the Mount Hua Sect.
She suddenly glanced down.
Far below, at a point quite a distance from the pier where a child was splashing about...
Claaang!
Jeong Yeon-shin's stabbing sword technique, which she had seen during the Mount Hua Agreement, was being deflected downward by the sword strikes of the Lord of Heaven's Bane.
The moment Jeong Yeon-shin's sword tip faltered after briefly shattering his opponent's Body Protection Qi, the Lord of Heaven's Bane seized that split second to deliver a crushing downward strike.
He was different from the Sword Empress, for whom merely holding her ground had been her limit.
This was a man capable of wielding his sword even after taking a direct hit from an earth-shattering stabbing technique—a swordsman who, at this very moment, carved out yet another canyon of water.
Though the direction of the sword technique he unleashed with his left hand was strictly confined to his opponent, its impact rippled vastly across the Zhejiang River. It was, quite literally, the Outer Paths.
From then on, Jeong Yeon-shin was forced onto the defensive.
That was the scene unfolding before Lady Yul-ha's eyes. The young man in the purple robe was beginning to be pushed back across the river.
With his back to the waves surging explosively from the shockwaves of their sword strikes, their blades tangled, drawing hundreds of silver streaks. Just as those trails seemed about to fade, they flared to life again, bursting with clashing sounds like the tolling of temple bells.
And then, sprays of blood erupted.
Most of them were sword wounds inflicted on Jeong Yeon-shin. Even though he should have been able to control his entire body at will thanks to creating a peerless dynamic cultivation art, the bleeding would not stop once it started. His brilliantly shining purple robe was gradually turning into tatters.
In a way, it was only natural.
Among the Lords of the Thirteen Heavens, who were all hailed as absolute masters, there were only a select few rumored to be capable of taking on the Commander of the Divine Sword Corps alone.
This was especially true for those who walked the path of the sword. It had to be a swordsman who had become a legend through feats like slaying peerless masters of the previous generation or supernatural entities.
The Lord of Heaven's Bane was such a figure. He was always mentioned whenever gossips debated who was the greatest sword under heaven.
Because of this, Jeong Yeon-shin was all the more astonishing.
How many people in the world could exchange blows to this extent with the First Sword of the Outer Paths? Observing the two with her sense of Qi, Lady Yul-ha felt like rubbing her eyes in disbelief.
However, what bothers me is…….
Just as she tilted her white neck slightly to the side...
[You seem quite relaxed.]
Cho-yeol spoke with an indifferent expression.
“You as well, Elder.”
Lady Yul-ha straightened her back with a feigned smile.
At a glance, her demeanor seemed genuinely relaxed, but the reality was different. It was a subtle movement to disperse the shock that had accumulated deep within her back.
The Dark Sky Emperor's sorcery martial arts were closer to a natural disaster than mere technique.
Merely parrying them with a single sword was a miracle in itself. Even if the current Mount Hua Sect Leader's Purple Mist Sword had reached an earth-shattering realm, it was impossible for her to truly be at ease.
She feigned composure to buy time.
“What do you intend to do by summoning a flood dragon to this land? No matter how great you are, Elder, you cannot possibly control a dragon at your whim.”
[The Dragon Summoning Formula is enough.]
“What…?”
[I, too, am curious. Why does the Mount Hua Sect Leader, who wants for nothing thanks to countless lay sects, place such trust in the young Purple Rank of the Desolate Fortress? Have you spent more time with him than is publicly known?]
Cho-yeol maintained his composure even after witnessing his son, the Young Castle Lord, being cut in half and killed.
It was an unshakeable state of mind. At a glance, he seemed to feel no emotion whatsoever.
“Flash Art? We haven't known each other for very long.”
Lady Yul-ha dismissed his words lightly.
“I have my own doubts. I've never heard of any exchange between Taemo Mountain Fortress and Heaven's Bane……”
[That child.]
Cho-yeol indifferently spoke only what he wished to say.
[He is absurdly young compared to the martial arts he possesses. His color has not yet been decided.]
“Color?”
[Do you think the martial uniform of the Desolate Fortress suits him?]
“That hardly seems like something to say about the nation's sword.”
Lady Yul-ha subtly shook her sword-wielding arm. Her arm moved fluidly, as if she were about to perform a dance. With this, she had neutralized almost all of the shockwaves from the sorcery martial arts they had clashed with earlier.
The conversation, which held little meaning for her, was just about to end.
However, like a sorcerer who paid attention to all things under heaven, Cho-yeol seemed to find a certain interest in this situation.
[If that child had worn the Great Dark Dharma Robe of the Ming Cult, or if he had donned the Pure Blood Flame Robe hidden by the Blood Flame Cult Leader…….]
A faint smile suddenly appeared on Cho-yeol's lips.
[What would have become of this rotten country?]
“Is daydreaming a hobby of yours?”
[Can you feel his killing intent? It was already thick and dense even before he saw the Ancient Sword's severed head, but now, he is nothing short of an Asura. What is righteousness? What are the commoners? Yes, it is only natural for him to question the banner you hold. The agony of that child reaches the ears of this ancient Brightfolk.]
That was all.
Cho-yeol spoke no further.
He stared blankly at Lady Yul-ha for a moment, then slowly shook his head.
Then, he began to raise his momentum. The white robe symbolizing the world's greatest sorcerer fluttered violently.
Lady Yul-ha, who had been silent for a moment, curled her lips into a combative smile.
“How many spells do you have left?”
[It would be difficult for you to count them.]
“They are only tricks to preserve your own safety anyway. No matter how many you have prepared, they are meaningless.”
[Tricks to preserve my own safety?]
Derision gleamed in Cho-yeol's eyes, which had taken on a blue glow.
[Are you any different? The Ancient Sword was an exceptionally naive brat, even for the Nine Sects. Throughout history, there have been very few who truly placed righteousness above their own lives like that child.]
Having lived longer than even the founding patriarch of the Wudang Sect, Cho-yeol had seen it all. It was not righteousness they sought, but reputation.
That was the value the so-called prestigious orthodox sects truly pursued. All their righteous deeds were nothing more than self-satisfaction.
That was all. He had spoken too much.
[Extreme Light.]
The Brightfolk Grandmaster slightly raised his beautiful face. His jawline, sharper yet more dreamlike than the horizon behind him, stood out.
[Ice Pillar.]
Mantras flowed repeatedly from his mouth—incantations used by practitioners of sorcery martial arts when performing their arts.
Cho-yeol did not cast just a single spell. He chanted the mantras multiple times using Six Harmonies Sound Transmission, making his voice overlap and echo. The resonance rapidly completed his earth-shattering sorcery martial arts.
Rumbleeeee!
Colossal pillars of water erupted from below. Not just one, but several. Like dragons ascending to heaven, their long bodies shook the air, unleashing a roaring sound like a cascading waterfall.
The speed at which they swelled in size in an instant was terrifying. The surface of the water was completely dyed with dark shadows.
Lady Yul-ha was no less mystical.
As Cho-yeol chanted his mantras, she circulated the True Qi of her Purple Mist Divine Art through her body dozens of times.
It was the realm of the Full-Body Heavenly Cycle, far transcending the Great Heavenly Cycle. The moment Lady Yul-ha took a step in midair, her body left a faint twilight glow like an afterimage as she swung her sword directly in front of Cho-yeol.
The Body Protection Scripture of the Mount Hua Sect's Dark Fragrance Drift had manifested through Void Stepping, instantly crossing the distance.
Craaaash!
The pillar of water that blocked the path between them froze white in an instant and shattered into countless pieces.
Lady Yul-ha felt a shock as if she had struck dozens of layers of thousand-year cold iron.
It was incredibly heavy. The ice was imbued with a monstrous energy.
Soon after, the shards melted back into streams of water and began to swirl around Cho-yeol. Freezing and melting occurred at his whim.
Though sorcerers, who were but a handful compared to the vastness of the world, performed arts that defied heaven, the sorcery martial arts of the Dark Sky Emperor Cho-yeol clearly transcended common sense.
Beyond that.
A faint flicker of surprise crossed Cho-yeol's eyes.
[Your sword talent is also remarkable. It seems the Nine Sects still have worthy figures besides those of Northern Shaolin and Southern Wudang.]
With the Yangtze River as the boundary, Mount Song Shaolin stood to the north, and Wudang held its lofty position to the south. And then, there was Mount Hua.
Rooooooooar!
Lady Yul-ha did not even pretend to hear him. The pillars of water that began to pursue her with a deafening roar were already a significant threat.
Swelling in size while unleashing waterfall-like roars that sounded like beasts howling, they resembled Water Dragons. Every single pillar of water chased Lady Yul-ha like a beam of light as she changed directions along all sorts of trajectories, leaving afterimages with her Dark Fragrance Drift.
Each of them was only slightly inferior to, or perhaps even on par with, the Sword Astral of the Diancang Sect Leader. Given the terrifying accumulated Qi of the Brightfolk Grandmaster, it was highly likely.
He was, after all, a man who had lived through the Jianghu era of Perfected Zhang Sanfeng.
[Convergence and Annihilation.]
The Dark Sky Emperor Cho-yeol flashed a cold, blue light from his eyes amidst the dozen or so Water Dragons created by his sorcery. Standing with his hands behind his back, his figure exuded an aura of transcendence.
Clang-clang-clang!
The sword strikes unleashed by Lady Yul-ha drew dozens of trajectories.
Amidst the streaks of light flickering with deep red radiance, blocks of ice split apart with thunderous roars. Shards of pure white frost scattered uselessly toward the river.
She swung her sword in a state of selflessness.
Until the twilight rising from beyond the horizon gradually dyed the river in dark hues.
Her hair fluttered with purple fragments along her elegant sword path, and the teachings of the thousand-year-old orthodox lineage sank Lady Yul-ha's mind into an increasingly tranquil state.
A state that pierced through all the martial attainments of Taoist sects, including Mount Hua and Wudang, in a single thread.
It was Clear Mirror, Still Water.
She stood lofty and alone.
She did not cling to the victory or defeat of this battle. She merely forged her mind into a single sword.
Yet, Lady Yul-ha suddenly thought: No, I must win.
[You, too, are worthy of becoming a supernatural entity.]
The voice rang out abruptly.
When Lady Yul-ha snapped out of it, she realized she had not allowed a single blow to land for a long time.
She had continuously suppressed the dragon-like sorcery martial arts with nothing but her single sword. The fishy smell of the Zhejiang River had even been pushed away by the thick scent of plum blossoms. In terms of time, it had been an immense duration.
She had successfully held back the Dark Sky Emperor until the peerless swordsmen could settle their duel.
She had only been pushed further down the river.
All the way to the pier where the young boy had been splashing his feet.
Two scenes entered Lady Yul-ha's vision from either side.
On one side was a cold, blue sword tip that had suddenly drawn near, and on the other was the face of the child staring at her blankly. The Lord of Heaven's Bane and a commoner.
Rumble!
In the center, Jeong Yeon-shin was charging forward, bursting through the water.
He was a complete wreck.
His upper body was practically bare. Only the sleeve embroidered with the character 'Hwang' remained intact.
His hair, matted with dark red blood, covered one of his eyes, but his other eye was incredibly fierce. It would be accurate to say his killing intent was thick enough to cut.
This situation!
Lady Yul-ha grasped the situation in an instant.
The Lord of Heaven's Bane was targeting her. True to his heterodox nature, this was an opportunity to slay the Mount Hua Sect Leader with an easy sword strike.
For in the air, the Dark Sky Emperor's Water Dragons, now even clad in blue lightning, were plunging down toward them.
However, Jeong Yeon-shin's run, steeped in killing intent, stepped on the water and closed the distance.
Whirrrr!
It was the sound of the atmosphere distorting.
He was monstrously fast. Even to the eye technique of a peerless master, it was so. The act of threatening Lady Yul-ha's life in the middle of their one-on-one duel had provoked his fury.
The profound mystery had vanished from his lightness skill, which had already been linear. It was a subtle principle that completely evaporated the minute waste of movement that naturally exists in a human step.
The waves surging from his heels collapsed downward, and the space behind him distorted faintly. His trajectory was aimed straight at the Lord of Heaven's Bane.
Within the time she had split into slow-motion fractions of a second, Lady Yul-ha anticipated the outcome.
A fatal wound to the Lord of Heaven's Bane...!
And the strike of the First Sword of the Outer Paths would pierce her waist. For at this moment, Lady Yul-ha was busy shattering two of the Dark Sky Emperor's Water Dragons with her Purple Mist Sword.
The child on the pier beside them would be swept away by the shockwaves of the Lord of Heaven's Bane's sword strike, leaving not even a corpse behind.
At that moment.
Lady Yul-ha perceived it intuitively through her peerless eye technique.
Suddenly, as if by chance, the child reflected in Jeong Yeon-shin's eyes, and the purple sleeve reflected in the child's eyes…….
It was clearly an unconscious act. Jeong Yeon-shin's foot changed direction.
One step.
Stamping on the water in the shape of a massive concentric circle, Jeong Yeon-shin struck Lady Yul-ha's abdomen upward with his palm. His other arm lifted the child using a gentle technique of the Harmony Realm.
While unleashing such explosive force, he simultaneously wrapped both of them in the gentle True Qi of his dynamic cultivation art. One strand of that energy sealed Lady Yul-ha's acupoints. It was, quite literally, a lightning-fast delivery of internal energy.
“……!”
For the first time, a look of sheer dumbfoundedness appeared on Lady Yul-ha's face.
They were instantly flung upward by Jeong Yeon-shin's monstrous palm force.
Boom!
Lady Yul-ha vanished into the sky in an instant along with the child.
Although acupoint sealing held little meaning for a peerless master, it would at least make it difficult for her to move for a brief moment. However, it would be enough to save the child.
Immediately after, Jeong Yeon-shin stepped onto the water's surface where she had been, due to the unavoidable recoil of his lightness skill.
Thrust—
It was a split second. A sword pierced deep into his waist. In that instant, the shockwave that whipped like a typhoon from the hilt blasted the Divine Sword: Lingering Thunder, which was falling toward the water, far away like a Thunderbolt Bomb.
It was the strike of the Lord of Heaven's Bane.
It was a price he had to pay. The stabbing technique of the First Sword of the Outer Paths was as swift as the lightness skill Jeong Yeon-shin had just executed.
The sword of the Lord of Heaven's Bane, who had long been recognized as a legendary swordsman, still reigned supreme even though Jeong Yeon-shin had repeatedly grown during their life-and-death duel.
“…My luck must be terrible today.”
Frowning, the blind swordsman smoothly drew out his sword and retreated far back. Then, he pulled down the bamboo hat that had been hanging behind his neck, pressing it firmly onto his head.
Rooooooooar!
Behind him, the Water Dragons, having swelled even further in size, tangled completely and plunged downward. It looked like nothing less than a mountain of ice created in midair by the Jade Emperor.
“…….”
Now, Jeong Yeon-shin was unable to resist. It felt as though he were facing the joint attack of the Commander of the Divine Sword Corps, Yong Hee-myung, and the Jegal Clan Leader—who was definitely not a monkey by birth.
The twilight pouring over his head turned pitch-black, and the massive iceberg dyed the water's surface white, kicking up a mist like clouds.
Crash!
A monstrous impact struck him.
As he was crushed by the iceberg and plunged down into the river, deeper and deeper, a voice pierced his ears.
[I must widely spread the news of the new Purple Rank's death.]
It was the voice of the Master of Taemo Mountain Fortress.
* * *
…….
[Hey there, Brother Yeon-shin, do you know how many days have passed?]
A woman's gentle whisper tickled his mind. Jeong Yeon-shin, who was lying on a stone floor, was just regaining consciousness, but her ghost-like insight had activated even before he could lift his eyelids.
The Ming Cult Leader, the Heaven-Smiling Invincible.
She did not seem like the world's greatest genius. Her extremely sly nature was as annoying as ever.
[Watching you recover, your body is even more of a monster than the Lord of Heaven's Bane's swordsmanship. As I mentioned in passing last time, those acupoints, those muscles... and just what kind of intent did you use to design your Qi circulation path? Even the Bright Phoenix Body Technique, the finest dynamic cultivation art of our cult, cannot compare to it. If I had my way, I'd strip off your clothes and…….]
Jeong Yeon-shin shook his head. At the same time, a terrible pain surged from the splenius capitis muscle beneath the back of his neck.
It was the muscle responsible for rotating the neck, and it seemed to have ended up in this state from trying to track the sword tip of the Lord of Heaven's Bane.
The inside of his throat was also dry and scratchy. He could barely swallow his saliva.
And…….
His hands felt empty.
Ah.
His thoughts immediately went to the Divine Sword: Lingering Thunder, which had been blasted all the way toward Hangzhou.
With that trajectory and force, it would have easily reached the city center. More than likely, someone with no connection to the Tang siblings had already picked it up.
“…How much time has passed? Why didn't you take my head using Void Displacement?”
[Hmm?]
One corner of the Heaven-Smiling Invincible’s mouth curled into a smirk. She looked down at Jeong Yeon-shin, her hands clasped behind her back with the posture of a high-ranking official.
Her long black hair, which held a color as deep as the night sky due to her monstrous demonic energy, hung down her back, the swaying tips seeming to mock him.
[Unless you answer this Cult Leader's questions, I’m not inclined to give you a straight answer. We ought to respect each other, after all.]
“I hear you’ve lived a mere three years longer than me.”
[And?]
“You call yourself 'So-cheon' because you laugh at the heavens, but you've clearly wasted your years.”
[Who do you think you are?]
“You are not on my level. Do not speak to me again.”
[You little—]
Jeong Yeon-shin tuned out the rest of the Heaven-Smiling Invincible's words, his attention suddenly snagged by his surroundings.
The walls were made of dark, gloomy stone. He appeared to be in a cave that had been carved out from beneath a river.