Chapter 473: The Peerless Grand Festival (8)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 473: The Peerless Grand Festival (8)
The Dark Sky Emperor’s body collapsed, following his rolling head.
Thud.
"..."
In an instant, the world froze. The experts from Taemo Mountain Fortress, who had been weaving a net of blue lightning out of their internal energy to deploy their formation, ground to a sudden halt.
As an immensely heavy silence swept over the earth, the voice of Perfected Clear Water, who had been honing his sword qi at the foot of the hill, rang out blankly.
"Was he... slain?"
For the leader of the Qingcheng Sect, of all people, to openly display such shock and relief—he had good reason.
Look at Hangzhou as it stood now. Across the vast land, vegetation had withered and streams had run dry. Facing these widespread anomalies, the commoners had flocked to Guandi Temples, renowned Buddhist monasteries, and various Taoist shrines to pray for the city's salvation.
This was not the wrath of the Jade Emperor or the Mountain God.
Anyone well-versed in the affairs of the Jianghu knew this catastrophe was the work of the Master of Taemo Mountain Fortress's sorcery. This was especially true for the martial artists gathered here.
Every time the Dark Sky Emperor unleashed an ultimate move, the lush gardens of several sprawling manors would instantly turn into barren wastelands. The same fate befell uncultivated fields and wild hills. The massive spell formation was violently drawing upon the natural Qi of the world.
A peerless expert of the Brightfolk felt this phenomenon even more vividly.
And now, the relentless absorption of the Dragon Summoning Formula Formation had stopped. The ancient characters that had been rotating with a faint glow crumbled into dust beneath the stone debris with a soft rustle.
The howling wind that had torn through the ears of the Brightfolk like a scream vanished. The spell formation, which had been devouring natural Qi using the Dark Sky Emperor as a medium, could no longer swallow its prey.
It merely spun in vain, making a sound like sheets of paper tearing into shreds.
Hangzhou had come back to life.
"What a relief. What a true relief."
About two breaths after the Dark Sky Emperor's head fell, pure admiration washed over Perfected Clear Water's face. This was an extremely rare sight. The current leader of the Qingcheng Sect was famous for having a temperament as cold and unyielding as late winter on Mount Qingcheng.
"Indeed, was that the Unified Martial Transcendence of the newly appointed Purple Rank...!"
His exclamation was filled with pure awe. The tense standoff that had been stretched to its absolute limit felt utterly meaningless now. It was only natural.
The Unified Martial Transcendence of a peerless expert was treated as a top-secret technique among all the great sects of the world. Even if rumors occasionally circulated, it rarely manifested—even in duels where the very honor of a sect was on the line.
It was, quite literally, a life-saving herb—the absolute culmination of all the martial arts one possessed.
There was simply no opportunity to witness it. Even the leaders of the Nine Sects were no exception; each of them merely focused on refining their own martial attainments in secret.
Swoosh—
On the mountainside of the hill that Jeong Yeon-shin had bypassed and climbed, the Heaven-Smiling Invincible stood in a daze.
Her hand, as smooth as white porcelain, was slightly raised. Pitch-black flames flickered between her fingers, shedding sparks like crow feathers.
It was the Ming Cult's Samadhi True Fire—the very flame Jeong Yeon-shin would have had to face had he targeted the Heaven-Smiling Invincible instead.
[Unified Martial Transcendence?] she muttered. [How could you... Unified Martial Transcendence...]
Her telepathic will trembled slightly. The sneer had completely vanished from the lips of the absolute ruler who, despite never claiming the title of Heavenly Demon, had always reigned as the supreme sovereign of the Ming Cult.
Meanwhile, Jeong Yeon-shin slightly lowered his eyelids.
He could sense the various presences around him. The sensation of his purple sleeve slipping down to brush against the hilt of Lingering Thunder. The head of the Dark Sky Emperor, which had rolled across the ground before clattering to a halt against a stone. The gaze of the Heaven-Smiling Invincible, staring blankly at him from below the hill...
‘The Dark Sky Emperor is definitely dead.’
He had certainly severed the flesh.
The tactile sensation of cutting through blood vessels and bone still lingered in his grip on Lingering Thunder. In that fleeting moment, the Dark Sky Emperor had clearly shown surprise. Jeong Yeon-shin had even seen the man's fingers twitch, as if desperately trying to deploy a defensive move.
Now, not even a trace of Innate True Energy could be felt from the corpse.
The Emperor had spoken of a grand plan spanning hundreds of years. The body that had lived through ages Jeong Yeon-shin could not even fathom was definitely dead. Slain by a single strike of Enter the Way: Unified Transcendence.
‘But.’
Why didn't it feel like it was over? Even though the spell formation of the Dragon Summoning Formula beneath his feet had faded...
Step.
Jeong Yeon-shin slowly turned around. Ju Gwang-singae, Leader of the Beggar Sect, was looking at him with a strange expression. He seemed highly astonished, yet also somewhat bewildered.
"...You show no hesitation in revealing your life-saving herb. There are many eyes watching here. The characteristics of your Unified Martial Transcendence could be exposed to the entire world."
"Are we not plotting a great undertaking together?"
"Hmm..."
The Beggar Sect Leader's lips twitched.
Jeong Yeon-shin swallowed the words that his Unified Martial Transcendence would not stop at just one. There was no need to share the confidential secrets of a Desolate Fortress Purple Rank with the Dragon Head Leader, a man who sought to govern the entire martial world.
Even if he was a highly respected senior.
‘More importantly...’
Jeong Yeon-shin slightly furrowed his brow.
A cloud-like fatigue was carving through his muscles and acupoints. The halo that had been spinning furiously in his heart stopped moving for a moment, like a waterwheel whose river had suddenly run dry. It was only natural.
This was the exact reason peerless experts did not easily unleash their Unified Martial Transcendence.
It was literally a life-saving herb. A final means to drastically overturn a situation when pushed to the absolute brink of death. The backlash was bound to be severe.
It was just like when he had severed the arm of the Lord of Heaven's Bane. Even now, it was difficult to keep his balance and remain standing; he needed at least a quarter of an hour to properly examine his body. But the immediate problem was the Heaven-Smiling Invincible below the hill.
Just then, a clear, subtle scent wafted from his side.
Rustle.
The soft sound of wide, thin trouser hems brushing against the top of a foot. Beneath a light pink Taoist robe, feet clad in traditional socks stepped lightly onto the ground.
It was Lady Yul-ha.
She had boldly climbed up, completely bypassing the Heaven-Smiling Invincible. It was a feat difficult to even attempt without an extremely extraordinary Body Protection Scripture, yet she casually reached out and wrapped her arm around Jeong Yeon-shin's waist.
In an instant, with a soft rustle, their robes crumpled together. As if to avoid causing any shock to her junior's exhausted body, even the subtle mysteries of the Harmony Realm were infused into her small, gentle movement.
It showed the profound courtesy of a Jianghu senior. It was a display of her respect and affection for Jeong Yeon-shin.
"This way," Lady Yul-ha said softly.
Whoosh!
The next moment, Jeong Yeon-shin was standing at the foot of the hill.
His vision had distorted for only a brief moment. She had moved them to the bottom of the hill using the Mount Hua Dark Fragrance Drift. Despite the rapid movement, no significant backlash penetrated his body.
This was because Lady Yul-ha had seamlessly redirected even the headwind caused by her Body Protection Scripture away from them.
[...]
Even then, the Heaven-Smiling Invincible did not make a move.
She seemed to be gradually falling into a deep meditation. Her face was strangely devoid of its usual soul. Looking somewhat dazed, she did not seem like the arrogant ruler rumored to mock the heavens.
"Yeon-shin."
Lady Yul-ha gently pressed down on Jeong Yeon-shin's shoulders, guiding him to sit.
"Take a deep breath. Yes, just like that."
With a voice tinged with a warm smile, she encouraged his breathing.
She was indeed a senior who had achieved Unified Martial Transcendence long before him. While she was immensely shocked by his Enter the Way: Unified Transcendence, she also seemed to have perfectly seen through Jeong Yeon-shin's fragile physical state.
Furthermore, Lady Yul-ha did not seem to expect him to play any further role in the battle.
Having just held him close, she could naturally fathom the severe aftermath of Enter the Way: Unified Transcendence.
Jeong Yeon-shin accepted Lady Yul-ha's kindness. Even though the Dark Sky Emperor was dead, something still felt incredibly off. He also had to consider the complex and volatile offensive capabilities of the Heaven-Smiling Invincible.
"I will rest for a moment."
"Why don't you try to get some sleep? I will stand guard for you."
At the same time, up on the hill, the corpse of the Dark Sky Emperor crumbled into dust.
This was yet another aftermath of Enter the Way: Unified Transcendence. Under the power of Ultimate Lightning, where the Brilliant River overlapped like a crashing waterfall, the Fan Dragon Lotus Art—which treated the body itself as a sword—had unleashed a sword force akin to a natural disaster.
It was partially mixed with the teachings of the Lord of the Tenth Sect of the Thirteen Heavens. Jeong Yeon-shin's introductory technique of Unified Martial Transcendence left absolutely no loose ends.
The surrounding silence deepened.
* * *
"Ah...!"
Glancing at the sight from a distance, Perfected Clear Water let out a sigh before hardening his lips.
Clang! Boom!
A bluish sword qi spread out like rolling clouds. Dozens of fiery thunderbolts rushing from all directions slammed into it, bursting into deep blue sparks.
‘Why?’
He began to wield his sword once more against the formation of the Taemo Mountain Fortress experts, but his previous fluid movements would not return. Though his sword should have flashed like a beam of light, it felt sluggish.
It was incredibly bizarre. Unlike the spell formation that had vanished, this meant that the Unified Martial Transcendence: Realm of Void Extinction was still actively deployed. It made absolutely no sense.
"What in the world...!"
He had no time to say anything more.
Perfected Clear Water was still in a weakened state, and the experts of Taemo Mountain Fortress tightened their grip once more, even though the Dark Sky Emperor had just met his death.
The Nine Extremes Thunderbolt Formation rapidly grew in power as their numbers increased. Even with the net of blue lightning spread beneath their feet, they wore faint looks of dismay.
Amidst it all, a deafening roar of overlapping explosions echoed.
The ground shook continuously. The fiery thunderbolts and Samadhi True Fire pouring toward Perfected Clear Water, along with the stone pillars erupting from the ground like deadly mechanism formations, unleashed desperate waves of internal power.
Scorched stone dust and bright red sparks flew in all directions. On one side, Ak Su-rim stopped spinning her spear in a circle and viciously pierced through the chest of an expert, blowing it apart.
"What is this?! Why is it still like this?!" she shouted irritably, interrupting her warm gaze toward Jeong Yeon-shin from afar. It was because her Three Flowers Gathering at the Peak had not returned either.
The group finally sensed that something was deeply amiss.
There was no change in the Realm of Void Extinction. That, in itself, was the anomaly. This was especially true since everyone had just witnessed Jeong Yeon-shin's transcendent martial prowess slay the caster.
Jeong Yeon-shin and Abbot Beomheo sat cross-legged on one side of the canyon—which had been leveled into a vast flatland—while Lady Yul-ha stood guard over them, scanning the surroundings. Even the Heaven-Smiling Invincible, who stood blankly without taking any retaliatory action, was bizarre.
The battlefield of peerless experts was just that mysterious and unpredictable.
"Cho-yeol has clearly passed away...!" Perfected Clear Water groaned.
It was something everyone present had confirmed. The Desolate Fortress Purple Rank had by no means unleashed his Unified Martial Transcendence in vain. The Dark Sky Emperor's life force had been severed, and his physical body had prematurely turned to dust, smeared across the ground.
Yet, outside the protective perimeter Lady Yul-ha had established, the battlefield still raged with violent roars.
Then, suddenly.
[Of course.]
A low chuckle echoed like a reverberating whisper in their minds.
[There is likely no sorcerer who would not meet death after facing such a Unified Martial Transcendence out of the blue, save for the young Ming Cult Leader of this generation.]
It came from the hill where Enter the Way: Unified Transcendence had been unleashed. Suddenly, pure white bone dust gathered on a whirlwind, quickly taking the shape of a skeletal human, as if a Nascent Soul were being forged.
The skeletal body assembled itself as quickly and naturally as if a mere instant had passed. At the same time, a divine wave of energy swept across the ground in concentric circles.
Rustle.
The sound of the wind was desolate.
The eye sockets of the white skull were filled with dark blue flames. They burned like the ghostly fires that the demons and monsters of legend carried in place of eyes.
In an instant, pale frost crackled and spread in all directions. The warmth clinging to the tail end of the early spring wind turned into air as cold as ice. It was as if Hangzhou had been transformed into the frozen North Sea.
[Since the brat of the Desolate Fortress has severed my ancient breath of life, I shall never again touch the Sambong Rock of Mount Wudang with my own skin. It is deeply regrettable.]
A dry telepathic will scraped against the air. It was the voice of the Dark Sky Emperor.
It was, quite literally, an extraordinary marvel. It was not enough to describe it as merely bizarre.
The sight of one born as a human completely casting off their flesh... It was not Feathered Ascension, where one's enlightenment reached the heavens to rise above the clouds, but a complete transcendence of common sense right here on the soil of Hangzhou.
Flutter—
Suddenly, a pure white cape descended from the air, wrapping around his skeletal shoulders.
Was it a Dharma Treasure? His thick ribs were hidden beneath the folds of the heavy robe, but that alone conveyed a sensation as if hundreds of layers of Body Protection Qi had been added to his form.
He was the very image of Yama, the King of the Underworld. His appearance and demeanor were entirely so.
"Reaching the Ascension Realm through Defying Heaven..." Lady Yul-ha groaned softly.
Alternating her gaze between Jeong Yeon-shin and Abbot Beomheo for a moment, her feet clad in traditional socks twitched against the ground.
What did the Taoist martial lineages of the world pursue?
Eternal youth and Feathered Ascension.
If one mastered the Mount Hua Sect's Purple Mist Divine Art, they would not age; if one deeply acquired the principles of Taiji in the Wudang Sect, they would rarely be harmed.
The goal pursued by sorcery martial arts—which were inseparable from Taoism—was no different.
The ultimate Nascent Soul was the result.
[Hangzhou.]
Hum—
Above his skeletal white palm, a sphere radiated a brilliant luster.
[I must take its place.]
It was an inner core flashing with a platinum light, looking as if it contained a soul, with a swirling energy trapped inside.
A dense vitality flowed out of it, as if Innate True Energy had been extracted and condensed. At this moment, the frosty gale could not even approach its vicinity.
It was as if the Dark Sky Emperor's very life force had been molded into a round sphere.
The Heaven-Smiling Invincible, who had remained perfectly still until then, suddenly looked up at him from the bottom of the hill. Perhaps having dropped the Six Harmonies Sound Transmission unique to sorcerers, her actual voice flowed from her lips.
"How do your senses feel right now?"
[Vivid.]
A peerless expert's sense of Qi surpassed the innate five senses of a human. The senses of a Nascent Soul were the exact same.
Because all physical perception was replaced by the pure sense of Qi, they would never fall prey to techniques that disrupted the senses, such as the Illusion Sword. Feints would not work either.
"You do not look human."
[Did Jahu teach you that? The flesh reflected in your eyes is nothing but an illusion.]
"Our sects are completely different. Our cult does not place Zhuangzi above the Heavenly Demon."
[How typical of the Ming Cult.]
At the same time, the Dark Sky Emperor's skeletal hand dropped the inner core.
At that exact moment, a sunset-colored slash tore through the air and lunged toward the sphere. However, after being slowed down by the internal energy barriers deployed in turn by the Heaven-Smiling Invincible and the Dark Sky Emperor, the slash scattered harmlessly like flower petals.
At the foot of the hill, Lady Yul-ha, who had thrust her sword, narrowed her eyes.
Slide.
The inner core falling toward the hill vanished as if dissolving into thin air. It hid itself in the gaps between the wind currents, much like Void Displacement.
Soon after, the vast spell formation revealed itself once more. It began to rotate in a circle, rapidly expanding as it bit its own tail.
Hummmmmmm—!
It took only an instant for the formation to cross the canyon and cover even the mountain ridges.
The sky was immediately dyed a dark, murky hue.
Beyond the distant clouds, a sound like lightning tearing through space echoed. Immediately, the eyelids of Jeong Yeon-shin, who was sitting beside Lady Yul-ha, snapped open.
A roar that shook the atmosphere like thunder was rapidly approaching. His ears felt muffled, as if shrouded in fog, but he instinctively sensed it was some kind of monstrous roar.
Jeong Yeon-shin calmed the backlash within his body using the Jeong Family Dynamic Art and forced himself to stand up.
Then, he glanced down.
‘Abbot.’
He saw Abbot Beomheo, who had remained entirely motionless. Had he anticipated that things would eventually turn out like this? The armless old monk was now sitting atop a colorless flower.
Three Flowers Gathering at the Peak was, quite literally, a shape where three flowers overlapped. It was a lotus made of monstrously dense true qi.
[Descend.]
Amidst this oppressive atmosphere, the Dark Sky Emperor's Six Harmonies Sound Transmission pierced through the air.
[Sambong.]