Chapter 505: The Great War of the Desolate Fortress (5)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 505: The Great War of the Desolate Fortress (5)
The Martial World.
It was a land of madmen.
Not only did all manner of bizarre and extraordinary martial arts exist, but their foundational mnemonics often stemmed from concepts that ordinary minds could scarcely comprehend.
In particular, the majority of the martial arts hailed as divine ultimate techniques possessed an arrogance—a madness—that sought to equate the practitioner with nature itself.
Countless figures sought to transcend common sense and reach the Martial Apex.
Just as superstitious Taoists sought eternal youth through human sacrifice or extreme fasting, the Way and the Martial Apex were not so different in their demands.
It was a state of attaining the supreme realm of humanity. An object of intense, all-consuming greed.
Even after the silver-flowing river within the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor—discovered just a few years ago—was dried up by a single strike from the Heaven-Smiling Invincible, the two concepts remained inextricably linked.
Swoosh!
The same held true for the experts of the Thirteen Heavens who had recently been sweeping through Xiangyang.
Having just witnessed the words, actions, and techniques of the Wilderness Sunfall, the hundreds of experts present flashed their colorless eyes, retreating to a safer distance.
Their gazes locked onto the sight before them: the Lord of the Martial Dragon Association and the Leader of the Horde of Demons Green Forest surrounding Jeong Yeon-shin from the front and back.
"How brutal. Is the Jianghu dying...?" a rogue swordswoman in yellow robes muttered, her arms crossed as she stood vertically, feet planted firmly against the fortress wall.
Near the main gate.
The figure of Jeong Yeon-shin—who had suspended countless weapons in the air like a metallic cloud—was reflected in her eyes, along with the gazes of both the young and old of the martial world.
"What kind of technique is that? How many profound principles did he mix into a single move?"
"It seems he intends to reach the Martial Apex, just like our Lord."
"Nine, twelve, eighteen... the subtle directions total thirty-six. Each weapon pointing in a different direction... How can a human's upper dantian achieve such a feat...?"
These were the muttered disbeliefs of the nearby Martial Dragon Association experts—the public enemies of the martial world.
The Black, Blue, and White-ranked martial artists of the Desolate Fortress lined up atop the walls also paused their onslaught for a moment.
Most of their gazes followed the direction of the young man in purple, froze in shock, and then slowly returned to Jeong Yeon-shin. He stood perfectly still, staring blankly at the severed heads of his unit commanders.
The winter of this famine year was close to a bitter freeze.
A wind, colder than any that had ever blown through Xiangyang, seeped through the hundreds of floating weapons, emitting a cracking sound like the earth splitting open.
It was the aftermath of the frigid air clashing with the violently vibrating, heat-generating internal power.
Meanwhile, the area around the fortress walls surged with countless waves of telepathic transmissions.
— Myriad Blossoms Rain? No, is it "that man's" Piercing Thrust Sword Sea? I can't even tell if it's Unified Martial Transcendence or not.
— Lord! Pin that purple-robed bastard down! We'll experience it firsthand and pass down the knowledge!
— Give us underlings a chance too!
— Madmen.
But that hesitation lasted only a moment.
Rumble!
First, dozens of them kicked off the dry earth, the sturdy fortress walls, and slender tree branches.
The madmen rushed toward Jeong Yeon-shin, shattering the frost around them in large, expanding rings. Most were the lunatics of the Martial Dragon Association.
Swoosh—!
They moved in various ways—some flipping through the midair, others shooting forward in straight lines like loosed arrows. All kinds of martial arts were embedded in their movements.
The Flowing Force Body Art of the destroyed Gongson Clan, the Mountain-Treading Body Shift derived from the late Jegal Clan Leader's counter-technique against the Ak Family Spear, single-inheritance lineages from all over the martial world, and even the lay martial arts of some of the Nine Sects.
Some had already closed in on Jeong Yeon-shin, executing heavy footwork to deliver sword strikes—an offensive form mixed with the Infinite Steps of the late Namgung's First Sword.
The momentum that instantly weighed down the air resembled the Imperial Sword Form.
The very atmosphere distorted along the contours of their bodies.
This was the countermeasure of the Sword House, activated beforehand. They had fully mobilized the true qi of the Body Protection Scripture, preparing for swift evasion in advance.
It wasn't just the Martial Dragon Association.
Swoooosh!
There were also those who, rather than bypassing the lone purple-robed figure, shot translucent shockwaves of sword strikes or arrow-like sword qi from a distance.
The technique Jeong Yeon-shin displayed brought to mind the world-renowned divine ultimate techniques.
It ignited the competitive spirit of these martial artists, detaching them from the grim reality of the battlefield as they wondered what would happen if their own skills clashed with a supreme martial art.
Thus, Jeong Yeon-shin faced the martial world in front of the main gate of the Desolate Fortress, the air thick with the metallic scent of blood.
Whirrrrrr!!
The weapons of the Myriad Blossoms Rain left faint, luminous trails as they surrounded him, but only for a brief moment. With an expressionless face, Jeong Yeon-shin lightly flicked his left hand.
Crunch—
"……!"
In an instant, crude axe blades embedded themselves into the lower abdomens of four swordsmen who had been on the verge of hacking him to pieces with the Namgung Clan's ultimate technique.
This happened despite all of them having gracefully evaded the Myriad Blossoms Rain using the footwork of the Infinite Steps.
It was an unbelievable movement.
At the same time, blue veins bulged across the back of Jeong Yeon-shin's hand and index finger. The axes suddenly trembled violently, entirely severing the upper bodies of the four swordsmen before soaring into the sky.
Crack-crack-crack!
It was the sound of ribs completely shattering.
Blood splattered in all directions like a reverse waterfall.
That wasn't the end.
In that instant, dozens of others tore through the splattering blood to pounce on Jeong Yeon-shin, their relentless movements oozing the self-confidence unique to top-tier experts.
Step.
The Lord of the Martial Dragon Association, Hyeokryeon Pung-wol, had leisurely taken a step, closing the distance to within ten paces of Jeong Yeon-shin.
With that, the purple-robed youth's counterattack would be blocked, and this bizarre space of Myriad Blossoms Rain would turn into a playground for the martial artists.
Even amidst this, Jeong Yeon-shin's pitch-black eyes still reflected the severed heads of his senior unit commanders.
"Lord Jeong, keep your composure...!"
Suddenly, a dark figure plunged from the air, only for his pitch-black prosthetic leg to be blocked by Hyeokryeon Pung-wol's thick forearm. At the point of impact, a gale swept outward with a deafening roar, scraping the ground.
Clang—!
It was the Master of the Martial Apex Hall of the Divine Sword Corps.
He was the one with the deepest knowledge of martial arts among the leadership of the Wish-for-Peace One Sword Hall.
He knew how flawed martial arts became when executed in a state of lost reason.
Only amateurs were swept away by a strongman's rage. The true terror of an expert lay in calculations as meticulous as a woven net and the precise management of internal power.
Unless it was some heterodox martial art that unleashed its true power only when one lost their sanity, there was no technique that grew stronger simply through anger.
"Alone? You've got guts."
As Hyeokryeon Pung-wol's large mouth curled into a smirk beneath his lightly raised forearm—
Splat!
Drops of blood pattered down around them.
It was as if a dark cloud, heavy with rain, had suddenly burst.
That unpoetic rhythm faintly swallowed the sickening sound of dozens of bodies being ground into flesh and bone in the sky above.
Using his high-level eye technique, the Master of the Martial Apex Hall witnessed the scene reflected in Hyeokryeon Pung-wol's eyes.
Those who had swarmed toward Jeong Yeon-shin like a horde of locusts were nowhere to be seen. Not even their corpses remained intact.
Shhhhh—
The clear winter sunlight pouring from the sky refracted through the reddish bone fragments, which naturally fell into the sea of weapons, becoming part of the Myriad Blossoms Rain.
"……."
It looked as though a pale rust had formed over the space of floating iron controlled by the purple-robed youth. Naturally, its density had increased slightly.
It was dense enough that the waves of released force and sword qi rushing in from afar in sharp zig-zag patterns crumbled and vanished with a crisp rustling sound upon impact.
It was entirely different from the conventional Flash Art Lineage.
Any martial artist would recognize it as a martial art designed for prolonged battle. Thus, at this moment, the only ones rushing in from afar once again were the experts of the Martial Dragon Association.
The rest quickly bypassed the main gate one after another, and as the Desolate Fortress martial artists responded, the battlefield was once again filled with the violent sounds of clashing steel.
Swoosh— Clang!
While orange sparks erupted in all directions, flickering like stars in broad daylight—
"...This is not a technique meant for a quick battle," said the Leader of the Horde of Demons Green Forest, who faced Jeong Yeon-shin from a distance.
He was now completely at one with his warhorse, generating heavy vibrations.
The ground shook as if facing a typhoon, and the air rippled translucently. Dozens of internal energy circulation methods manifested simultaneously. It was the precursor to Unified Martial Transcendence.
Just like that, Je Gang-cheon's life-saving herb was also fully prepared.
Rumble—
[We must finish this quickly. You two generals, handle the Divine Spear of the Desolate Fortress. Naturally, you must not hesitate to launch a joint attack.]
His telepathic voice carried a tremor like an earthquake.
From his evasion of Jeong Yeon-shin's earth-shaking sound art earlier using sheer horsemanship, to his current imposing appearance, no one looked at the Leader of the Horde of Demons Green Forest as a mere human anymore.
Like the Lord of the Martial Dragon Association and the purple-robed expert of the Desolate Fortress, he was akin to a living natural disaster.
Ak Su-rim pointed her spear toward the remaining three experts of the Horde of Demons Green Forest. She seemed to have taken up the vanguard position for Jeong Yeon-shin.
Behind them, the Master of the Martial Apex Hall was holding off Hyeokryeon Pung-wol, but with every clash of blows, his prosthetic leg sank heavily into the earth, leaving him on the verge of losing his balance.
"Martial Apex, thanks to you, I'm a step late. It seems that bandit bastard is going to take the initiative. If I join the joint attack here, I won't be able to save face before the Dragon Clan fellow, so I suppose I'll have to play with you for a bit."
Thud! Clang! Boooom—!
Fragments of released force flew in all directions, gouging deep craters into the ground as a powerful energy swept across the earth, raising a thick screen of dust.
The mouth of the Lord of the Martial Dragon Association—whose hands and feet had blurred into motion—still wore a smile. His eyes, glowing with a white light, continuously scanned the sea of weapons with genuine admiration.
Of course, he did not miss the movements of the Master of the Martial Apex Hall either.
"Your defensive forms are truly solid. The two great lineages of the Desolate Fortress... Flash Art, which is purely offensive, and Martial Apex, which is defensive. Today, Xiangyang will lose both of these fascinating grandmasters. What a pity."
"……."
Those who silently shielded Jeong Yeon-shin's front and rear—they, too, were seniors of the Wish-for-Peace One Sword Hall.
Jeong Yeon-shin had become acquainted with most of his Black-ranked seniors after the mobilization order issued by the current Commander of the Divine Sword Corps.
Even if they didn't all openly show their affection, they had saved Jeong Yeon-shin's life in Sichuan and shared life-and-death moments together.
It was just that, at this moment, they could not share death with the two severed heads swaying at Je Gang-cheon's waist, bobbing in accordance with the waves of energy.
Rumble!
The sound of horse hooves turned into rolling thunder.
[Lord Jeong, it would be best for you to give up. The Desolate Fortress is finished, and this is the tide of the times born from a chaotic age.]
Je Gang-cheon began to charge atop his warhorse, wielding a massive axe. He looked poised to trample Ak Su-rim underfoot.
At the same time, the top experts of the Horde of Demons Green Forest split to his left and right, rushing toward Ak Su-rim first, clearly aiming to eliminate any variables beforehand.
Their figures, each transformed into streaks of silver light, tore heavily through the air as if executing a mounted charge even without steeds.
The sky also darkened.
Whoooooosh!
It was due to the experts of the Martial Dragon Association who had come to violate the Gold-Piercing Martial Library of the Desolate Fortress. The remaining members were descending directly upon Jeong Yeon-shin's head.
As if they had activated a sword formation in midair, a wave of translucent energy blocked out the sunlight, casting a massive shadow over the battlefield.
They were fully prepared. Since the Leader of the Horde of Demons Green Forest had unleashed his Unified Martial Transcendence, they saw no reason to hold back.
It was just as Ak Su-rim, baring her teeth like a lioness, shifted her spear shaft to one hand and swung it behind her back.
Swish.
With a brief gesture from Jeong Yeon-shin, the hundreds of weapons filling the air in all directions vanished simultaneously from their spots.
At the same time, the energy barrier that had cast an untimely dusk over his head was torn wide open.
Splat-splat-splat-splat-splat!!
Over a hundred bodies exploded like bursts of cannon fire.
Bones and flesh imbued with the history of the world's martial arts split, exploded, and were pulverized once more by the recoil of the shockwaves. The clear sunlight filtered through the rising mist of blood as it drifted down.
It was the absolute annihilation of the Martial Dragon Association.
Only then did the ground supporting Jeong Yeon-shin's feet collapse with a deafening bang. It was the delayed result of the propulsion shockwaves emitted by the hundreds of weapons.
Thus, the sea of weapons was pinned to the sky like a cluster of stars, before beginning to rain down toward the main fortress walls in streaks of faint silver light, as if their trajectories had been predetermined from the start.
Rooooooar—!
Meanwhile, only eighteen weapons remained near Jeong Yeon-shin, and Je Gang-cheon's mounted charge had already reached his immediate vicinity.
Swish.
In that instant, Jeong Yeon-shin gently pushed Ak Su-rim aside.
Without a shred of agitation, she spun and drifted out of the way.
Immediately after, the eighteen weapons floating as if to guard Jeong Yeon-shin met the sunlight, dyeing the surroundings pure white. In that split second—
Crack—
It was as if the world itself had blinked.
For before anyone knew it, Jeong Yeon-shin and Je Gang-cheon had swapped places, and ten of the eighteen weapons had shattered into pieces, scattering across the earth.
On the other hand, not a single scratch was to be found on either of their bodies. Only their appearances had slightly changed.
Je Gang-cheon spoke.
"...Did you evade my strike just to take that?"
Jeong Yeon-shin did not answer, but in his right hand was the rope binding the heads of his two seniors.
Severed heads that would not have remained intact had they clashed head-on. Turning his head to glance at Jeong Yeon-shin's back, Je Gang-cheon let out a hollow laugh.
"From the sound art to the Myriad Blossoms Rain... you have wasted far more energy than I have. How do you plan to handle the aftermath?"
"……."
"Am I the only enemy Xiangyang faces right now?" Je Gang-cheon continued. "Hundreds of those who hold a grudge against the Desolate Fortress will gaze upon your corpse today. Even if they scaled the walls earlier, they will soon return here."
At that moment, Jeong Yeon-shin, who had been silently looking down at the heads of his deceased seniors, finally spoke.
His face constantly alternated between subtle mourning and expressionless rage, shifting like a mask in the art of face-changing. It was pure madness.
"Return?"
"Hmm...?"
"Who?"
At his words, Je Gang-cheon suddenly fell silent.
To the south of the main fortress.
That was the direction where the sea of weapons had just plunged like a comet. The presence of the Thirteen Heavens crowd and the rogue martial artists had completely vanished, as if they had never been there at all.
At the same time, a vast silence descended. It was like a sunset, filling every corner of the world without leaving a single empty space.