Chapter 460: Heaven's Tremor (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 460: Heaven's Tremor (4)
Two figures sat on a coarse mat woven from dried straw.
One was a tall young boy, the other a short, middle-aged man. The harsh wind whipped at the corners of the dirt-colored mat, sending it slapping futilely against the ground.
“...Why won’t it come out?” Yu-hyeon, the Hidden Dragon of Mount Hua, muttered as he pulled one knee to his chest.
A precious sword engraved with plum blossoms hung at his waist, lending him an uncanny aura. Despite his youth, the boy radiated a sharp, sheer-cliff edge—the very spirit of Mount Hua, the thousand-year sword sect.
Yet even the Hidden Dragon of Mount Hua could not pull out Lingering Thunder.
He had already digested most of the Purple Grace Pill, which had noticeably lengthened his limbs, and had made great strides in Mount Hua's secret internal cultivation. Yet, it wasn't enough.
The blade was completely immovable. A shadow of shame clouded Yu-hyeon's face. Lingering Thunder felt like the very incarnation of its master's lifelong stubbornness.
“When a divine sword meets its true master, it often becomes a dharma treasure. From time to time, it performs miraculous feats,” the man with the neatly trimmed beard replied. He wore a smooth green robe that suited him perfectly.
Poison Lord Tang Un-hwang.
The moment he appeared, he became the center of gossip in the nearby marketplace.
The distance from Sichuan to Hangzhou was a journey that ordinary citizens, and even martial artists, could rarely make once in a lifetime. Furthermore, this was the arrival of the Tang Clan Leader, the man who had symbolized the Sichuan martial world for generations.
Naturally, many people took a profound interest in the two of them, including Yu-hyeon.
The fighting had ceased long ago.
The crowd surrounding them grew larger by the minute. Most were martial artists carrying weapons, while a few were busybodies whose facial muscles twitched as if their mouths were itching to gossip. There were also poets and scholars who loved to describe the scenery of the ferry dock and the beautiful sword paths. There were particularly many dressed in scholarly attire.
Such was Hangzhou.
“As the rumors say, the Tang Clan Leader was indeed born of the noble Ironfolk.”
“I mean, that hammer actually moves on its own! To think I would see the Myriad Blossoms Rain, which I've only heard of in rumors, with my own eyes.”
“Flowers bloom with a single gesture, and rain falls from a hammer... Truly marvelous. I heard that the late Purple Rank of the Desolate Fortress passed down that secret divine art technique to the Tang Clan. They must have shared a very deep bond.”
“Speaking of the Purple Rank, are those people who live above the clouds really sitting there because they can't pull out that single sword?”
“Watch your mouth! They'll hear you...!”
The crowd whispered.
Yu-hyeon did not care. Compared to being revered as a divine child or a young immortal back in Shaanxi, where his sect was located, this was nothing. What mattered was the task at hand.
“Should we dig up the ground and move it along with the dirt?” he asked, staring at Lingering Thunder with a complicated gaze.
Sitting cross-legged nearby, Tang Un-hwang shook his head. “How deep do you think we would have to dig? The divine sword's spirituality is bound to the earth veins.”
“If we keep digging, we'll manage somehow. Though it might look a bit unsightly...” Yu-hyeon's reply was nonchalant, as always.
At that moment, Tang Un-hwang's thick beard twitched slightly as his expression hardened. “That sword now represents the dignity of our benefactor. Know that if you rashly do something so unsightly, you will face severe consequences.”
“If it were Yeon-shin, he would have chosen practicality over dignity. Uh... or not?”
“It seems your friendship with him was only superficial. What do you know of our benefactor?”
As the master of the Sichuan Tang Clan, Tang Un-hwang held a status that made it unseemly to bicker with a mere rising star. Yet, the exchange between him and Yu-hyeon was sharp. Even Yu-hyeon was far from polite.
—The Purple Rank of the Desolate Fortress has passed away while saving the common people.
This rumor was violently sweeping across the world.
For Tang Un-hwang and Yu-hyeon, it was impossible to blindly believe something they had not witnessed with their own eyes.
However, if Jeong Yeon-shin's opponent had been the Lord of Heaven's Bane, and if even the Dark Sky Emperor had intervened in that battle, the story changed. Unless one was the Lord of the Desolate Fortress or the Northern God of War, there was no expert who could withstand their joint attack.
Furthermore, even Lingering Thunder was stuck in a mere marketplace, under the control of the sorcerers of Taemo Mountain Fortress. Right now, it was nothing more than a spectacle for onlookers.
Quite some time had already passed. The probability that he had truly lost his life was high.
Compared to the swordsmanship that the Lord of Heaven's Bane, already a legendary swordsman, had built up over decades, the martial prowess of the newly appointed Purple Rank was closer to a sapling with earth-shaking potential.
The First Sword of the Outer Paths had lost his eyes in his youth, opened his Mind's Eye, and gone around breaking the swords of the peerless masters of the previous generation. Among them were those who, at the time, were Lords of the Thirteen Heavens or Sect Leaders of the Nine Sects.
Yu-hyeon's eyes narrowed. “Clan Leader.”
“If you are going to speak nonsense, do not open your mouth.”
“You think Yeon-shin is dead, don't you?”
“...”
Tang Un-hwang's mouth shut tight. His eyes sank heavily, and his hand gripped his hammer with force. It was a silence that meant affirmation.
If so, the Tang Clan Leader had crossed the entire country just to avenge Jeong Yeon-shin.
'They say the Tang Clan is known for their poisonous hearts, but...'
Yu-hyeon decided not to be rude anymore. He could not blame the man for having a different opinion.
Thus, the two fell silent. Apart from the murmuring of the onlookers, a mist-like silence settled over them. The silence of the Tang Clan Leader and the Hidden Dragon of Mount Hua was heavy.
Because neither of them had ever truly imagined Jeong Yeon-shin's death. Right now, the only thing they could do was protect Lingering Thunder.
After a moment, Yu-hyeon raised his head.
The crowd surrounding them was parting. Gasps echoed from all around. Some onlookers, despite carrying swords at their waists, hurriedly left the area.
Through the gap, a group of people approached.
They were all swordsmen, and the thirty-odd of them exuded a monstrous pressure as if they were a single body. Just by walking closer, they pushed the air aside and kicked up a thick cloud of dust.
Staring at Tang Un-hwang, Yu-hyeon, and Lingering Thunder, they marched forward before coming to a sudden halt, their yellow robes fluttering. Among them, two individuals dressed differently took a couple of steps forward.
One was a middle-aged man clad in tight black clothes like an assassin, and the other was a woman showing off her smooth, toned arm muscles.
There was a commonality between the two: they had obsessively removed any sleeves that might interfere even slightly with their swordsmanship. Aside from that, as if the woman held the highest rank, the words Heaven's Bane were embroidered in black silk thread near the collarbone of her white, sleeveless martial uniform.
“...”
An aura as refined as the blade of a precious sword.
The woman stared at Tang Un-hwang and Yu-hyeon with her hand resting on the hilt of the sword at her waist. It was Yu-hyeon who spoke first.
“Thieves are so bold these days.”
“Thieves?” the woman asked back curtly.
Yu-hyeon nodded and continued. “Didn't you come to reclaim this land? To see if you can do something about Lingering Thunder, which you can't even pull out.”
“It seems you haven't been able to pull the sword out either.”
“...We have a connection with the master of this Lingering Thunder. We are different from the wicked heretics whose eyes turn with greed at the sight of a treasure.”
“Greed.” The woman repeated Yu-hyeon's words.
She was of a taciturn nature. There was not even a hint of a smile on her lips, indicating her disagreement with Yu-hyeon's words.
Yu-hyeon suddenly recalled the rumors about the chief disciple of the Lord of Heaven's Bane.
'They say she is a master of the fast sword. I shouldn't let her close the distance any further.'
She was the Thunder Sword.
A genius said to take the head of a renowned expert every time she traveled the Jianghu. In the vicinity of Zhejiang Province, she was called one of the Five Bright Vessels, replacing the Blade Marquis of the Peng Family. Among those five, the only ones whose names remained fixed no matter where they went in the world were the Lotus Nezha and the Heaven-Smiling Invincible.
And the Lotus Nezha was now dead and gone.
The vast land of Hangzhou was surging with the connections and legacy he had left behind.
“One who does not covet the beloved sword of a peerless swordsman...” The Thunder Sword spoke quietly as she drew her sword. “...cannot be called a swordsman.”
“This is why I say thieves are so bold. It truly is the end of days.”
Yu-hyeon stood up. Before anyone knew it, a humming sound leaked from the sword held in his grip, accompanied by the faint scent of plum blossoms.
Beside the Thunder Sword, a strange light flickered in the colorless eyes of the black-clad man, the Blade-Net Venerable.
“The Realm of Sword Scent... So the rumors of a sword talent in Mount Hua who succeeds Lady Yul-ha were true.”
“I will handle the fallen Tang Clan Leader,” the Thunder Sword declared.
Right after her declaration, a young man's sly voice suddenly rang out from one side. It was right next to the divine sword, Lingering Thunder.
“Then I shall take charge of this.”
A young man with a blue cloth wrapped around his head landed on the ground as suddenly as a ghost. It was clearly an assassin's Body Protection Scripture. Nevertheless, he was a cheerful, handsome man who looked exceptionally well-suited in the Hero's Headband tied around his forehead.
The moment he carefully wrapped his hand around the hilt of Lingering Thunder, one of the swordsmen of Heaven's Bane, who was about to draw his sword and leap forward, had his head explode on the spot.
Splat!
“Oh dear, his forehead cracked before he could even fall. He must have been born under an unlucky star,” the young man with the Hero's Headband said, lightly tossing a dagger into the air and catching it. It was a different blade from the one he had just thrown.
His drawing and sheathing of weapons were as fast as a flash of light, and his seemingly casual move overflowed with killing intent. A chilly aura emanated from his entire body.
“Hero of the Desolate Fortress...?”
“Taoist Yu-hyeon, you've grown taller since I last saw you.”
Heonwon Chang did not even look at Yu-hyeon. He did not even make eye contact with Tang Un-hwang, with whom he had formed a bond during the Sichuan mission; he merely stroked the hilt of Lingering Thunder slowly.
“...”
It was then that his fingers, which had grown exceptionally long from practicing assassin arts since childhood, trembled slightly.
“Your internal energy has become remarkably powerful,” Tang Clan Leader Tang Un-hwang said, retrieving the hammer that had just crushed the head of the Heaven's Bane swordsman.
Heonwon Chang greeted him with a sidelong glance. “...It is because I temporarily released my restriction.”
“There were indeed no ordinary people around our benefactor. I noticed killing intent in your moves, but today it is exceptionally thick. It seems you were born and raised in the Killing Gate.”
“Well...” Mumbling a vague response, Heonwon Chang swept his gaze arrogantly over the crowd.
“This belongs to none of you,” he said slowly. “I will take it... and surely return it to its master one day.”
Strength surged into the hand gripping Lingering Thunder. The veins bulging on the back of his hand bore witness to his immense physical strength. A faint white glow even shimmered in his palm.
The Vast Art Formula.
Thud—
In that instant, Lingering Thunder rose slightly. The crowd held its breath.
But that was all. Nothing more happened. Lingering Thunder, which had twitched for a moment, could not be pulled up any further, and Heonwon Chang grimaced, twisting his waist.
“Why... won't this...”
A loud roar erupted from one side. The moment Lingering Thunder moved even slightly, the Thunder Sword and Tang Un-hwang clashed. Sparks flew from the milky-white sword and the dark hammer, and Yu-hyeon had to face the blade of the Blade-Net Venerable, who had already reached his immediate vicinity.
Clang!
Yu-hyeon's body was flung backward. He had barely managed to defend himself, but he could not withstand the absurd force of the sword. Strictly speaking, he lacked the time to gather his true qi. His hand, which had stopped after carving a long furrow into the ground, trembled slightly from the recoil.
“An amateur who hasn't even achieved the unity of essence, qi, and spirit, yet you managed to...”
It was the Blade-Net Venerable of Heaven's Bane. Without finishing his sentence, he unleashed a wave of energy from his entire body. He was one of the Five Sword Masters of the Heavens, said to be capable of rivaling the Unit Commanders of the Divine Sword Corps.
Instantly, Yu-hyeon's face turned pale.
It was the beginning of a fierce battle.
Whitish waves of internal power exploded in all directions, and the elite swordsmen of Heaven's Bane formed a massive encirclement. Within it stood the Thunder Sword, Tang Un-hwang, the Blade-Net Venerable, Yu-hyeon, Heonwon Chang, and Shin So-bin, whose blue robe's hem trailed down to her trousers.
Shin So-bin, who had approached with her short hair fluttering, stared intently at Lingering Thunder. Her large eyes trembled.
“Why, why...”
Heonwon Chang glanced at her. “You came at the right time. This thing won't budge at all...”
“This... it's really it. It's truly Lingering Thunder.”
“Try pulling it. You've mastered both the Vast Art Formula and the Jeong Family Dynamic Art, so you might be able to do something. Aren't you the alter ego of the Unit Commander—no, the Acting Corps Commander?”
“This can't be... It shouldn't be like this...” Shin So-bin took a faltering step back. The rustling sound of her footstep echoed hollowly.
The hair near her ears was pushed up by a faint glow. The true qi of the Vast Art Formula that filled her entire body was leaking out.
Heonwon Chang's brow furrowed, a rare sight. “We don't know when the First Sword of the Outer Paths might strike. I'll hold off the small fry, so hurry.”
“Our Unit Commander said he was going to Shaanxi next year to see his nephew...” Shin So-bin's voice trembled.
She was different from her usual self. Gone was the resolute woman born to the most prestigious family in the Desolate Fortress.
Heonwon Chang raised his voice. “Can't you feel Deputy Unit Commander Ak's energy? Expand your sense of qi further! Up there, the sorcerers of Taemo Mountain Fortress are testing the waters. On top of that, they say even that True Blood witch has arrived, and Senior Blue-Eyed Demon Sword said he could hear the drunken ramblings of the Divine Beggar of the Great Wilds, the Beggar Sect Leader.”
“Ah...”
“Even the Dark Sky Emperor is a supernatural entity who wields a Nascent Soul just like the Perfected Ancient Sword! Right now, we can't handle those Five Sword Masters of the Heavens without Senior Divine Spear! And what about the Myriad Blossoms Rain that's about to sweep in? Everyone is gathering here right now!”
The geniuses of the world and peerless masters, the blood ghosts known to be noble by birth, the sorcerers who had mastered profound collaborative arts to summon lightning and ice, and the experts of Heaven's Bane who, like Heonwon Chang, had lived cradling blades since childhood...
The Murim.
It was a place where power attracted power. No matter how vast Hangzhou was, this remained true. A land where immense martial power gathered was bound to be filled with conflict sooner or later. Most of them would want to try pulling out Lingering Thunder at least once.
This marketplace would soon...
...become a battleground for living, breathing natural disasters.
In a brief moment, focus returned to Shin So-bin's eyes. Her pale hand, covered in calluses, moved toward Lingering Thunder.
The true qi originating from the Vast Art Formula circulated through her body via the mnemonics of the Jeong Family Dynamic Art. At this moment, her aura was closer to Jeong Yeon-shin's than any of the experts nearby.
Swoosh.
It was a land filled with those whose upper Dantian intuition was highly developed. Those who were unleashing their moves with flashing eyes thanks to their immense internal energy mastery all cast their gazes toward Shin So-bin, even as they executed their techniques.
At that moment, before she could even wrap her hand around Lingering Thunder, the ground cracked open with a sharp creak.
“...!”
Lingering Thunder had released a faint wave of energy.
A vibration spread from the ground where the pure white blade was embedded. The dust kicked up by the various experts was pushed back in concentric circles like waves. It was a massive, silent ripple.
Her eyes widening, Shin So-bin quickly took a step back using the Radiant Wing Step.
In an instant, Lingering Thunder warped, then soared into the air with a monstrous roar like a dragon's cry.
Rumble—!
Transforming into a beam of light in an instant, the divine sword drew a massive arc of unfathomable height and vanished into the distant sky.