Chapter 472: The Peerless Grand Festival (7)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 472: The Peerless Grand Festival (7)
The space that had been fractured into three sections finally merged into one.
The true terrain revealed itself only after an explosive release of power, akin to a natural disaster, obliterated the surrounding walls and ceilings.
To call it a canyon would be a gross understatement—it was far too vast. It was an endless plain stretching between a pair of towering cliffs.
Bright sunlight poured down upon them like a tidal wave.
"...Even if a Hornless Dragon grasping a wish-fulfilling jewel were to thrash about in here, there would still be room to spare," muttered Perfected Cheongsu, the Twin-Wall Sword Lord.
A Hornless Dragon holding a wish-fulfilling jewel from the legends—an imugi on the very verge of ascension—was a being just a single step away from becoming a Flood Dragon.
Naturally, its sheer size would rank among the largest of all spirit beasts. Considering this land was the stronghold of Dark Sky Emperor Cho-yeol, that was a rather significant detail.
Wuuung.
Suddenly, the bluish precious sword symbolizing Mount Qingcheng let out a resonant hum. An extraordinary sight had caught Perfected Cheongsu's eye.
It was the back of a young man with long, pitch-black hair, clad in purple robes.
Beyond him, Ju Gwang-singae, the leader of the Beggar Sect, and Dark Sky Emperor Cho-yeol stood facing one another. A massive, circular spell formation surrounded them, spinning as it cast a faint, eerie glow.
Heavy, swirling currents of air accompanied its rotation.
The Hundred-Year Great Law: Dragon Summoning Formula.
Perhaps because the spell was already well underway, the waves of internal power radiating from the formation were truly immense. The same could be said for the woman in the pure white cloak, who was currently locking eyes with the Desolate Fortress's Purple Rank from the sidelines.
In terms of sheer presence, her realm was rivaled by none on this plain. It was as if she were completely unaffected by the Void Extinction Realm—just like Jeong Yeon-shin, the Wilderness Sunfall, at this very moment.
‘Those two... somehow, they resemble each other. Even though their temperaments are polar opposites...’
Perfected Cheongsu glanced to his side and spoke.
"Sect Leader?"
"I must go."
Lady Yul-ha's voice lingered in the air like an invisible fragrance.
Before he even realized it, she had closed a distance of thirty paces in a single breath. It was the Mount Hua Dark Fragrance Drift.
Her pale pink robes brushed elegantly through the air, fluttering grandly as she came to a stop beside Jeong Yeon-shin.
"Your arm?" Lady Yul-ha asked abruptly.
Without waiting for an answer, she examined his left shoulder. Pressing her index and middle fingers together, she lightly swept them down his arm like a swift sword.
It was the Sword Secret Finger of a peerless master who had cultivated the Divine Art: Purple Mist Divine Art to its absolute peak. Through this method of pulse-taking, she instantly felt just how perfectly restored Jeong Yeon-shin's acupoints were.
Jeong Yeon-shin, who had been keeping both the Heaven-Smiling Invincible and the Dark Sky Emperor firmly in his sights, offered a faint smile.
"Thanks to your concern, I have fully recovered."
"It is a blessing from heaven. What a relief."
Finally, Lady Yul-ha's voice softened slightly.
Up until that moment, her tone had been as sharp and tense as a drawn Thread Sword. Only now, after confirming her junior's safety, did she regain the natural, serene temperament of the Mount Hua Sect Leader.
The immortals of the Nine Sects.
One could not view them with the typical cynicism reserved for ordinary martial artists. Every single one of them Jeong Yeon-shin had met was like this. The Mount Hua Sect, in particular, was special.
Lady Yul-ha, Yu-hyeon, and the Perfected Heavenly Pillar of Mount Hua had all shared deep bonds of friendship with him.
Lady Yul-ha parted her lips.
"...Your aura has changed beyond recognition. You possess great fortitude, yet there is a certain gentleness to you. You've truly begun to carry yourself like a man."
Perhaps she had finally shed her burden of worry, for she seemed to have returned to her usual, playful self. The Mount Hua Sect Leader's eyes, glowing with a clear red light like the sunset, turned toward the Heaven-Smiling Invincible and the Dark Sky Emperor.
"Since you are more than capable of representing a great faction like the Desolate Fortress, your strike will likely be the fastest among us. Judging by your temperament... it seems the old sorcerer's Unified Martial Transcendence is useless against you," Lady Yul-ha spoke softly.
Jeong Yeon-shin did not deny it. Fortunately, her Three Flowers Gathering at the Peak seemed to be holding strong, but he could sense her straining to keep her state of Unity of Essence, Qi, and Spirit from collapsing.
He swept his sense of Qi over the scene unfolding behind him once more.
Starting with Abbot Beomheo.
The Shaolin Abbot was seated in midair.
Wuuung.
A profound energy enveloped the old monk's entire body like a massive lotus bud.
The density of his internal power was thrillingly high. The sheer volume of his accumulated Qi was at a level Jeong Yeon-shin had never encountered before.
Even though he must have reached the Return to Simplicity, his extraordinary nature could not be hidden. It was to the point where it was difficult to describe him even using terms like Three Flowers Gathering at the Peak or Five Qi Converging to the Origin.
Earlier, Abbot Beomheo had entrusted the vanguard to Jeong Yeon-shin and closed his eyes even before Lady Yul-ha could examine his left arm.
He had taken the lotus position after noticing, before anyone else, that the newly appointed Purple Rank's body had fully recovered. Perhaps the rumors that he had mastered the Buddhist Six Supernatural Powers were true.
He was currently adapting his body to the Dark Sky Emperor's Unified Martial Transcendence—a phenomenon that even Jeong Yeon-shin had to naturally accept.
He was truly worthy of being the absolute master whom countless gossips throughout the Jianghu hailed as the greatest of the Righteous Faction.
‘Trusting in me...?’
Jeong Yeon-shin stroked the hilt of Lingering Thunder as he stepped forward. At the same time, he sent a telepathic transmission to Abbot Beomheo behind him.
—Abbot, am I late?
—Not at all. In fact, you were incredibly fast. It makes me believe the rumors that your dynamic art is comparable to the Muscle Tendon Changing Classic.
The reply came instantly. Having formed a bond through the Mount Hua Agreement, the Abbot's tone was calm and comfortable.
Jeong Yeon-shin understood Abbot Beomheo's words. He had certainly arrived early, but he could read the underlying implication: the Dark Sky Emperor's preparations, spanning countless years, were closer to absolute perfection.
The current Shaolin Abbot was tuning his Essence, Qi, and Spirit with a Flood Dragon in mind, not a human. His perspective was on an entirely different level.
"Flash Art!"
It was Ak Su-rim's shout.
Jeong Yeon-shin's fingertips twitched as he stood with his back turned. He had detected an unusual irregularity in Ak Su-rim's breathing.
The waves of internal power carried in her exhalations were cutting out intermittently.
—Was it the Dark Sky Emperor's doing? he asked quietly.
—It's nothing, came the playful reply from the Divine Spear of the Desolate Fortress, a member of the Divine Sword Corps. He could feel the forced relief in her tone. Jeong Yeon-shin shook his head inwardly.
—Your injuries seem severe. Please do not overexert yourself.
—The situation is that a Purple Rank of the main fortress has personally marched all this way to save a single subordinate. If we break through that old monster watching you like a hawk and the young Heavenly Demon, even the Blue Ranks on missions in remote areas like Guangdong will have their morale boosted sky-high. The other sects will be forced to keep their heads down. We can't return empty-handed. We must succeed.
—Senior.
—I'll handle the small fry. Not a single spark will touch you.
Ak Su-rim's tone was cheerful.
But Jeong Yeon-shin understood sorcerers well now. They were fundamentally different from martial artists, who prioritized the circulation of True Qi within their own bodies.
They were a breed that projected their internal power outward to summon wind and rain. The sheer effectiveness of their coordinated attacks was bound to be incomparably superior to any sword formation. This was especially true for a great sect like Taemo Mountain Fortress.
Ak Su-rim had already suffered internal injuries from facing the Dark Sky Emperor's Nascent Soul.
Could she withstand the combined might of a massive sect gathered at their own stronghold? Especially when the accumulation of dharma treasures, spell formulas, and mystical arts that sorcerers always droned on about would have already been fully prepared.
‘If something goes wrong during the battle...’
In that brief moment, he imagined the pain of losing someone once again.
It was definitely best to thin their numbers. Just as preventing the manifestation of a Flood Dragon—a force too difficult for humans to withstand—was important, Ak Su-rim's life, hanging in the balance right beside him, was equally precious.
Jeong Yeon-shin shifted his stance slightly.
[What is that Songmun Ancient Sword?]
The voice echoed from right beside him.
The Dark Sky Emperor was reaching out with a distorted hand, shrouded in thick, heavy lightning.
In an instant, an overwhelming wave of energy swept over them. Streaks of deep blue lightning surged in all directions like unraveled threads, and the ground ruptured in thick, consecutive bursts with sharp crackling sounds.
At the same time—
Boom!
A translucent shockwave exploded from the Dark Sky Emperor's abdomen. It was the shockwave of a kicking technique. A heavy, rebounding energy surged up the leg of Jeong Yeon-shin, who had already extended his foot.
At the end of his right foot's trajectory, having rushed forward like a beam of light, the Dark Sky Emperor's upper body was torn to absolute shreds.
‘I must not let him hit me. It is a solid Nascent Soul.’
Having completely shattered his opponent's body, Jeong Yeon-shin thought to himself as he withdrew his foot.
[A force of release on par with a Nascent Soul, the flow of forms and techniques at the absolute peak, the Three Flowers Gathering at the Peak at the stage of great completion... Adjusting the Void Extinction Realm is essential.]
Had he deeply analyzed him even while taking the counterattack? Muttering incomprehensible thoughts as if he were a mechanical formation rather than a human, the Dark Sky Emperor's Nascent Soul dispersed like smoke.
As some of the masters of Taemo Mountain Fortress gasped here and there, far behind them, another shimmering figure began to take the shape of the Dark Sky Emperor.
Just how many dharma treasures and formations had he planted in the land of Hangzhou to fashion a Nascent Soul as naturally as flowing water? It appeared right behind Abbot Beomheo.
Tz-tz-tz-tzing!
The moment it appeared, its head was crushed and split vertically. It was the combined result of Jeong Yeon-shin's Air-Hitting Palm, thrown backward without him even looking, and the sword strike of Lady Yul-ha, who had instantly closed the distance using the Dark Fragrance Drift.
The air scraped violently, creating a sharp, piercing screech. The stone fragments that had showered the ground in the aftermath of the Brilliant River were pushed to both sides like crashing waves.
"There is no end to this," muttered Lady Yul-ha, who had naturally taken up the role of Abbot Beomheo's Dharma Protector.
She was right.
The absolute masters of sorcery and martial arts had joined hands. Since no one knew when, from which direction, or what kind of offensive technique would strike at any given moment, they were falling into a deadly stalemate.
The Dark Sky Emperor, who could fashion Nascent Souls indefinitely, was a massive problem in and of himself. It had to be assumed that he had constructed a fortress purely for defense. There was a profound reason Abbot Beomheo had taken the lotus position.
Jeong Yeon-shin furrowed his brow slightly.
Should he wait for his allies to be fully prepared? Even at this very moment, Ju Gwang-singae was weaving through the spell formation, clashing directly with the Dark Sky Emperor's true body.
Tz-tz-tz-tzing! Boom!
Fiery lightning continuously fell from the sky, illuminating the ground as the earth writhed endlessly, thrusting up hundreds of stone blades like the Sword Tree Hell.
A transcendent offensive technique.
Whenever Ju Gwang-singae kicked off the air to evade, a deep blue flame would strike his abdomen as if by magic.
It was the Sunflower Hellfire Style, known as the Dark Sky Emperor's signature technique. Every time they exchanged blows, the air warped translucently due to the monstrous heat.
The Dark Sky Emperor was perfectly composed.
It was as if his mind were split into several compartments, allowing him to perform four tasks simultaneously.
While raining dozens of sorcery techniques down on Ju Gwang-singae, he chanted the mantras to advance the Dragon Summoning Formula in the center of the spell formation. He continuously fashioned Nascent Souls where the Nine Sects' leaders were gathered, and constantly adjusted the formless formations he had laid down since ancient times, keeping the intruders' senses of Qi on high alert.
It was as if he had deeply delved into the functions of the Wudang Sect's Dual-Principle Mind Art.
"Just let me have a drink!"
On the other hand, Ju Gwang-singae had previously suffered a severe sword wound from the Lord of Heaven's Bane and was currently trapped in the domain of the Void Extinction Realm. He was merely circling the Dark Sky Emperor without landing any meaningful blows, looking as though he might suffer a fatal wound at any moment.
As the battle on the sloping hill dragged on without progress...
"The time for the Flood Dragon's manifestation has come."
"Finally... at last...!"
The sorcerers of Taemo Mountain Fortress, who rarely revealed their thoughts, muttered as they widened their encirclement.
The jiangshi, whose lineage was said to have been severed long ago, closed in from all directions. They were walking corpses with exposed skin and bones, wrapped in a sickly bluish energy.
They were the essence of the heaven-defying cultivation known as the Overflowing Jiangshi Technique, with all their functions concentrated purely on the Body Protection Scripture and physical durability.
On one side, Perfected Cheongsu began to release a cloud-like sword Qi from his singular blade.
While Lady Yul-ha's gaze fell upon the back of Jeong Yeon-shin's head, Ak Su-rim slammed her spear shaft against the ground, gathering a powerful shockwave.
At some point, Abbot Beomheo had begun to vibrate the very air with his sheer presence alone.
In terms of formation, Jeong Yeon-shin stood at the very front.
[If I am in the same space as the old man of the Cho clan,]
The Heaven-Smiling Invincible, who blocked his path, tilted her head to one side. Was it a provocation? Her pitch-black hair, like a dark night sky, cascaded down, brushing against her pure white robes.
[You must have known that a prolonged battle becomes much easier for us. What are you plotting?]
She asked Jeong Yeon-shin quietly, standing before the absolute masters of the Nine Sects—beings said to be capable of wielding their martial arts for thousands of years through their pure and profound techniques and principles.
A prolonged battle.
Everyone here was thinking the same thing.
‘Is that why they are so composed?’
Jeong Yeon-shin thought.
When so many peerless masters gathered, their combat intervals and energy waves became intricately entangled. The forms of the eccentrics who had achieved Unified Martial Transcendence were bound to stretch out with variations beyond imagination.
Ending the fight quickly was bound to be difficult. It was a situation where one had to watch their own back first.
Jeong Yeon-shin took both of them in at a single glance.
The Heaven-Smiling Invincible, who was staring at him intently, and the true body of the Dark Sky Emperor, faintly visible over her shoulder.
‘Come to think of it.’
The Heaven-Smiling Invincible had not seen how Jeong Yeon-shin and the Lord of Heaven's Bane fought. This was because she had withdrawn her illusion the moment the two of them faced off.
Whatever her reason was, it was none of Jeong Yeon-shin's concern.
Step.
Just as he took a step forward, the Dark Sky Emperor's Nascent Soul suddenly appeared at Jeong Yeon-shin's flank, its hands clasped behind its back.
[Beomheo is right.]
"……."
[My preparation is a grand plan spanning hundreds of years. Do not dare to interfere.]
A telepathic thought as cold as a winter wind spread outward. Without even turning his head, Jeong Yeon-shin silently opened his hand. From afar, Lingering Thunder was drawn directly into his palm.
At the same time, he muttered inwardly:
‘Great Taiji.’
In an instant, Jeong Yeon-shin's body blurred and warped. He completely bypassed the Heaven-Smiling Invincible blocking his path and stepped directly into the dead center of the Dragon Summoning Formula's spell formation.
He had charged straight ahead. Jeong Yeon-shin's eyes, flashing with a pure white light, were engraved into the pupils of the Dark Sky Emperor's true body from point-blank range. It took only a split second for his arm holding Lingering Thunder to melt into the air.
[Enter the Way: Unified Transcendence.]
A faint, dreamlike white line appeared across the Dark Sky Emperor's neck. The sound of space tearing apart echoed a moment later.
Rumble, rumble, rumble—!!
Immediately, the air surged like a tempest, violently sucked into the trajectory of that single strike. Having bypassed the old transcendent in a brief instant, Jeong Yeon-shin gave Lingering Thunder a light flick.
Thud.
Behind him, the Dark Sky Emperor's head rolled onto the dirt ground.