Chapter 456: Pandemonium (9)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 456: Pandemonium (9)
Jeong Yeon-shin slowly pushed himself up. A sharp, vivid cold seeped into his palms from the floor beneath him.
“…….”
He had many questions.
Why was he still alive?
The Dark Sky Emperor’s attack was no ordinary strike. Trapped and unable to evade, a direct hit of that sheer magnitude should have been instantly fatal—even if he had been in peak condition.
The Dark Sky Emperor, the ruler of Hangzhou, was the absolute master of sorcery martial arts.
If so...
Did a miraculous coincidence suck him into this cave just as the iceberg crushed him? Or had the Heaven-Smiling Invincible used Void Displacement—or some similar art—to hide him?
‘Would she have any reason to do that?’
Yeon-shin narrowed his eyes.
And how had his body recovered this much? The Lord of Heaven's Bane's sword strike had shattered even his Jeong Family Dynamic Art.
Lastly...
Why did the Lord of Heaven's Bane leave the finishing blow to the Dark Sky Emperor?
Even with a sorcery martial arts iceberg hurtling down from above, the First Sword of the Outer Paths' fast sword was still clearly superior to Yeon-shin's. Even factoring in the severe internal injuries he had sustained from defeating the Perfected Ancient Sword and Yeon-shin back-to-back, the fact remained: taking Yeon-shin's head in a split second would not have been impossible for him.
Or was he truly unconfident in piercing Yeon-shin's Body Protection Qi before the iceberg fell, hindered by his worsening internal injuries?
— My luck must be foul today.
The blunt muttering of the First Sword of the Outer Paths still rang clearly in his ears.
He was an unpredictable man. Why would he say that? It couldn't just be because their life-and-death duel hadn't ended the way he wanted. He was, after all, a member of the Heterodox Sects.
Just as his mind grew cluttered with these thoughts, a voice echoed.
[Yeon-shin, my brother, do you happen to know what the demonic path is?]
It was the nonsense of the ageless one.
[Rebellion. Rebellion against the Heavenly Mandate.]
The Heaven-Smiling Invincible.
Before he knew it, she was holding a wine cup in one hand, gently stroking its rim with her index finger. She exuded a sense of leisure completely detached from Yeon-shin's dire situation, looking as though she were lost in thought. Even with her translucent body, that aura was palpable.
She was now dressed in white undergarments.
Had she changed her clothes using sorcery?
Past her rounded shoulders, the long, defined muscles of her forearms were faintly visible beneath the elbow. Veins pulsed with every twitch of her index finger. It was a body built to excel in close-quarters combat—an already perfected physique, honed in both martial arts and sorcery.
‘Hangzhou, wine, a bed, a space shielded from nonsense, a dwelling where one can savor wine in peace, a time that seems to be night...’
There were many clues.
Jeong Yeon-shin engraved her appearance into his mind.
[I want to do this and that, but that damn heaven has made it so I can't do anything. That is what the demonic path is.]
Her voice was sly.
Without a word, Yeon-shin corrected his posture and sat cross-legged. Soon after, the Heaven-Smiling Invincible lowered her whisper, tickling his mind.
[For example...]
Her tone suddenly turned mischievous.
[Don't you want to live to be an old man?]
“…….”
[From the perspective of those so-called prestigious orthodox sects, even that is defying heaven and walking the demonic path. Why? Because the means are the problem.]
In that instant, the fruit of the World Tree flashed through Yeon-shin's mind, along with the fact that it could only be fully consumed after gaining the recognition of all the Brightfolk in the world.
It was a virtually impossible feat; even considering it was absurd.
Only a very few people—including the Sword Immortal of Zhongnan, who had already crossed the Sanzu River—had taken the boy's childish longing seriously.
He was grateful for that.
He slowly spoke.
"It seems defying heaven was your goal. I heard that among heterodox sorcery martial arts, there are methods to set foot on this earth as a dead soul."
[Just a rumor. And none of your business.]
"I also heard there is something called the Soul Transfer Technique."
Sitting there, Yeon-shin stared up at the Heaven-Smiling Invincible.
"It wouldn't be strange if there were a technique to settle a soul into someone else's body."
The First Heavenly Demon, the founder of the Ming Cult, was a being infinitely close to a god. It was said that he was proficient in all kinds of heterodox sorcery and demonic arts, making nothing impossible for him.
After the arrival of the Brightfolk and the Ironfolk, that martial attainment mixed with their martial arts, sometimes called the law that twists providence through demonic means.
That was how sorcery martial arts had developed. Many Brightfolk had thrown themselves into the Ming Cult during the founding era of the empire.
[You know of the Soul Transfer Technique?]
Interest flickered in the Heaven-Smiling Invincible's twisted smile.
Back when Yeon-shin was in Beijing, he had been able to broaden his extremely narrow knowledge of the Jianghu, if only a little. This was thanks to the several days he spent with the Commander of the Divine Sword Corps, Yong Hee-myung. As evidenced by the scholar-style purple robes that served as the symbol of the current Commander, he enjoyed all kinds of stories, poetry, and songs.
It was a form of refined taste. Yong Hee-myung's knowledge was so vast that he could pour out endless stories for Yeon-shin.
— I suspect that the brat of the Ming Cult was born with a Heavenly Mandate similar to yours. No matter how great a genius under heaven they are, unifying the originally disorganized demonic path of Xinjiang in such a short time is a matter on a completely different scale. It's only possible if one possesses an incredibly special talent—like bringing about the submission of all demons as a grandmaster of the demonic path.
Yong Hee-myung had seen through Yeon-shin's constitution back when he was a Blue Rank, during the time he was fighting a life-and-death duel against the Namgung Clan. Because of that, Yong Hee-myung had given Yeon-shin a great deal of advice in Beijing. Among those pieces of advice were stories about the Ming Cult and the Heaven-Smiling Invincible.
[…….]
She did not answer. The finger tracing the wine cup never stopped. The Ming Cult Leader expressed her leisure through silence.
Yeon-shin's flat voice continued.
"What do you plan to do to Senior Baek?"
[Well, I'm thinking it might be fun to tell her of your death and enjoy her reaction. Then, even if only for revenge, she will learn my martial arts. The more she does, the closer Baek Mi-ryeo's body will get to the Heavenly Demon Body.]
"Do not try anything reckless."
[Brat, you don't know what you're talking about. The one in front of you right now is the Ming Cult Leader. I am the pinnacle of the Heterodox Sects, who wishes for the world to end when I die.]
Laughter laced the Heaven-Smiling Invincible's clear, resonant voice. She was deeply twisted in some way.
Yeon-shin did not care.
"I might just lead the full force of the main fortress..."
A low growl leaked through his teeth.
"...and lay waste to the demonic path of Xinjiang."
[Crazy bastard...]
It was a standoff between a Purple Rank of the Desolate Fortress and the Ming Cult Leader.
Staring down at him, the Heaven-Smiling Invincible shook her head.
[Do you know? Even the Hegemon Hero of the past couldn't do that. Well, if you're prepared to be dismissed from your post, you might be able to pull it off once.]
Yeon-shin did not speak further. He simply sat upright, placed both hands on his knees, closed his eyes, and examined his body.
And then he realized.
The circulation of his True Qi had stopped.
‘What...?’
His Sense of Qi had become so extremely dull that his realization had been delayed.
The halo that used to spin endlessly like a waterwheel in his heart was completely still. Naturally, the Law-Transcending Halo Qi that should have extended from it showed not even a tremor.
The acupoints across his entire body, including the twelve meridians and the eight extraordinary meridians—often referred to as a microcosm—were completely empty.
It was an internal injury unlike any he had ever experienced.
Was the sword strike of the Lord of Heaven's Bane the cause? At this rate, he couldn't break out of this cave. He didn't even know how long it would take to recover.
“…….”
Furrowing his brow, Yeon-shin suddenly looked around. Even after a careful search, no exit was visible. It was truly bizarre.
"...Did you do something to bring me here?"
[Who knows?]
The Heaven-Smiling Invincible curled one corner of her mouth into a sly smile.
[It wouldn't be strange if there were a Dharma Treasure somewhere that can expand and fold space on its own. The world is very wide, and even I have only experienced a fraction of it. Of course, you must have felt that this time as well...]
Naturally, Yeon-shin had realized anew—thanks to the Lord of Heaven's Bane—that the world was vast beyond measure. But the Heaven-Smiling Invincible's words were a completely different matter. He couldn't fathom her angle.
Had her intentions overlapped with coincidence?
‘I should stop.’
The current Ming Cult Leader was chaos incarnate. The more he spoke with her, the more his doubts multiplied.
Step.
Yeon-shin slowly rose from his spot and began to walk.
If he had even a tiny amount of True Qi to move, it would be different, but with his acupoints completely empty, it was better to stimulate his body through dynamic cultivation. After all, his Jeong Family Dynamic Art was a martial art that generated energy and invigorated the body through constant movement.
[By the way, what a strange place. How can the walls be this smooth?]
With her hands clasped behind her back, the Heaven-Smiling Invincible floated up and examined the cave. Her attitude made it seem as though she truly had never been here before.
Yeon-shin ignored her and walked in silence. The texture of the ground touching his leather shoes was indeed smooth. The damp cave didn't even have intersecting paths. Only the thick darkness swallowed his footsteps.
Step, step.
The cavern felt like the condensed night sky. Yet, even without activating an eye technique, he could see the path.
This was because spirituality resided in his eyes, having undergone marrow cleansing and bone rebirth. He could perceive the outlines of objects not just through light, but through their raw presence. His body was already a Divine Sword.
[I can see why the Master of Taemo Mountain Fortress used Hangzhou as the base for his Dragon Summoning Formula. Come to think of it, the Dark Sky Emperor harbored an unresolvable inferiority complex toward Perfected Zhang Sanfeng. This is... truly a massive discovery. If my guess is correct, this is no ordinary fated encounter.]
‘A fated encounter?’
While enduring his helpless anger, anxiety, and drowsiness, Yeon-shin inwardly repeated the Heaven-Smiling Invincible's words. If he had spoken them aloud, they would have carried a sneer.
To him, a fated encounter meant precious bonds forged with people. It was far removed from the kind of events one only heard or read about in legends or storybooks. The miraculous fated encounters that the martial artists of the Jianghu yearned for did not exist in reality. Naturally, he had never expected one.
About two hours after he started walking...
Clack.
Suddenly, a pebble fell from the tip of his foot. Ice-cold air swept over his skin.
There was no more ground. Only a sheer drop met his eyes.
The path he had traversed was a passage leading to a cavern as vast as an underground plaza. The space unfolding before him was incredibly wide open.
Slowly, Yeon-shin's eyes widened.
An incredibly long and massive skeleton was coiled in a circle. Its length was close to a hundred jang, and if flesh and scales were attached to its bones, it would surely look like an imugi. Just seeing how its elongated snout rested on the ground made that clear.
“…….”
Its mere existence possessed a presence that crushed a person's soul, even though it was clearly dead. The silence carried a heavy weight.
Filling the vast space was the corpse of a Strange, Violent, Chaotic, and Supernatural.
This was his second encounter with such a being, following the human-faced spider he had met in Beijing. This time, it was a dragon. It was literally overwhelming. Yet, its shape was peculiar.
He could see a Taiji.
Its body lay curving across the center. It was literally coiled in the shape of a Taiji, as if the Strange, Violent, Chaotic, and Supernatural—which resembled a flood dragon—had been forced into that position by some immense power.
‘And...’
A single rusted iron sword pierced through the imugi's skull.
The pine pattern engraved on the sword's hilt caught his eye. It was the Songmun Ancient Sword of the Wudang Sect. However, its shape was slightly different from the ones Yeon-shin had seen before.
The blade's width was much narrower, and the hilt was shorter. It was a length that could barely be swung leisurely with one hand. It did not fit the modern trend where sword force was emphasized.
No such Songmun Ancient Sword existed in the current Wudang Sect. It did not belong to the Perfected Ancient Sword either. At least, that was how it seemed based on the knowledge of the newly appointed Purple Rank.
Thud!
Yeon-shin took a step without realizing it and dropped into the underground area. A sharp pain surged through his entire body in an instant, but he immediately stood upright and began taking slow steps forward.
Forged like a Divine Sword, his body was able to withstand the heavy impact despite his internal injuries.
[I really must see your bare skin. Could you take off your clothes?]
The Heaven-Smiling Invincible's low exclamation of admiration was pushed to the back of his mind. The sense of kinship he had instinctively felt with her—whether he realized it or not—also flowed toward the sight unfolding before his eyes.
Even if she pretended otherwise, the Heaven-Smiling Invincible was likely feeling the same. It was just that because no inner core or spirit medicine remained on the corpse, she kept her attention focused solely on Yeon-shin.
Crack—
A flash of lightning struck his mind. The focus vanished from Yeon-shin's eyes.
*
The sun and moon rose and set several times.
It happened while the Sword God of the Mount Hua Sect, her long hair fluttering strand by strand, was slashing and slashing again at the deep underwater riverbed with bloodshot eyes.
A single rumor spread far and wide.
At first, it spread so rapidly it seemed as if a massive force were intentionally fanning the flames, but even without that, it didn't take long for the story to grow wings.
It was all because of the status of the person at the center of the rumor.
— The Purple Rank of the Desolate Fortress has passed away!
That short sentence began to turn the massive empire upside down.
Words passed from mouth to mouth were, in some cases, faster than a swift steed. This was especially true for news so monumental that it directly affected the people's livelihoods and influenced the entire world.
In a world where spirit beasts—faster than any messenger pigeon—flew across the sky carrying all kinds of rumors, the news was bound to spread rapidly regardless of distance.
Many timelines intertwined.
Several spirit swallows, symbolizing the unit commanders of the Divine Sword Corps, flew like arrows from all directions toward the main fortress of the Desolate Fortress.
A red, one-eyed woman walking along the official road, her crimson robe fluttering and covered in blood, came to a sudden halt.
The sound of hammers echoing from the grand walls of the Sichuan Tang Clan ceased.
The three Blue-Rank experts of the Demonlight Wing, who had been transporting a coffin along a rugged mountain path with the group from the Martial World Alliance, abandoned the coffin and began to sprint.
Meanwhile, the palace-like residence of the Sun Lotus Sword Enchantress, Baek Mi-ryeo, who had been nominated as the successor to the Ming Cult, was engulfed in pitch-black sword light.
“…….”
On a land littered with the shattered remains of Strange, Violent, Chaotic, and Supernaturals as large as hills—including a humanoid whose single arm reached thirty feet and an imugi covered in brilliant diamond-like scales.
A hawk with blue feathers crossed the distorted space, slowly flapped its wings, and landed on the elbow of the world's strongest.
The mysterious hawk opened and closed its sharp beak once, as if delivering a message.
Swoosh—
Soon after, a faint gust of wind fluttered with long, green hair.
That was all.
She did not move, standing as still as a tree. In a place where space in all directions was tilted and warped, she merely stood there, completely motionless.