Chapter 513: Sunset (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 513: Sunset (4)
Jeong Yeon-shin stood blankly, his quiet gaze fixed on the Desolate Fortress banner he had fashioned and hurled just moments ago.
Yet, among the sea of Jianghu martial artists watching the main gate from a distance, not a single soul dared to stir.
The Wilderness Sunfall, Jeong Yeon-shin.
As the soft winter wind began to blow once more, the hem of his purple robe fluttered. The long garment was no longer pristine.
Unlike when he had first appeared at the start of the battle, the fabric was now violently stained with splatters of crimson blood.
At this moment, the young man blocking the main gate of the Desolate Fortress was—in both name and reality—an absolute authority standing at the very forefront of the Jianghu's oppression.
"……"
No one stepped forward to break the banner fashioned from Ak Su-rim's spear.
The overwhelming aura the Jianghu martial artists had unleashed to flaunt their presence was now utterly eclipsed.
Rustle.
The only one moving—and leisurely at that—was a woman in a purple robe, her long hair fluttering in a single ponytail.
Before anyone knew it, she had incredibly knocked Tidal Fist Heaven unconscious. She bound him to a high mound of earth, commanding the soil like a god of the earth.
She was the only one to capture a peerless master of the enemy side alive.
Even the aura that had boiled the winter air like a searing hell had vanished without a trace.
It was a feat accomplished in the very midst of battle.
By plucking the air pressure with her fingers as if playing a guqin, she had sealed seventy-five of Tidal Fist Heaven's acupoints.
It ensured that even his monstrous, fervent yang energy had no choice but to fade away.
[So, you are the Flash Art.]
Shin Cheon-hwa, standing side by side with Jeong Yeon-shin, slowly parted her lips. A bold, resonant voice vibrated in tandem.
It laid bare her inquisitive nature without any filter.
[Your name?]
"I am Yeon-shin of the Jeong clan, from Xinye County, Henan."
[Smoldering smoke? Who on earth names a child that?]
"My father did…"
[What a bastard.]
"He has already passed away."
[I can't say I'm particularly sorry.]
"Please forgive me for not showing proper etiquette immediately."
Jeong Yeon-shin spoke while keeping his eyes fixed on the banner he had planted.
He had no intention of looking away.
He had just spoken of the Desolate Fortress's prestige with his own mouth. With the severed heads of his fallen seniors behind him, it was only right to carry himself with the dignity of a Purple Rank.
Glancing at him, Shin Cheon-hwa whispered softly.
[Your shoulders are quite broad.]
Her voice matched her carefree temperament strangely well. However, Jeong Yeon-shin intuitively knew she wasn't merely commenting on his physical build.
It was a compliment from an ancient Purple Rank to Jeong Yeon-shin—an acknowledgment that he was worthy of wearing the purple robe.
Yet, Jeong Yeon-shin did not turn his head.
He had just been informed of his helper's identity by the Grand Steward. The former Commander of the Divine Sword Corps from two generations back.
She was a legendary figure he had never even dreamed of meeting. But precisely because of that, he believed she would understand the way her distant junior was conducting himself now.
The main fortress has just conceded Xiangyang, Jeong Yeon-shin thought. There could be no more room for the Jianghu to look down on them.
Without hesitation, he took a step forward. He moved toward the formation of the Jianghu crowd, who were nervously looking back and forth between the banner and him.
Whoosh!
In the next instant, Jeong Yeon-shin was standing right beside the banner.
"……!"
The Jianghu martial artists at the front recoiled. Gasps escaped from all around—a spasmodic reaction triggered by their heightened senses.
In the Jianghu, failing to react instantly to the movements of the strong meant forfeiting one's life.
The sharp exhalations of internal energy they released were their bodies' instinctive demands to immediately activate their body protection scriptures.
The Desolate Fortress and the Murim.
A relationship that had clashed for ages under the banners of public peace and non-interference between the government and the martial world.
The Jianghu did not consist solely of great sects.
There were subordinate sects bound to giant factions, lay sects connected to prestigious lineages, single-successor martial lineages, and the small-to-medium sects that densely populated the vast land.
They were the true Jianghu Murim, living closest to the common people. In terms of sheer numbers, they far surpassed the great sects.
That everyday Murim was now directly confronting the Desolate Fortress.
The crowd that had been surging forward as if to besiege the main fortress at any moment spanned from the absolute peak to the very bottom of the Jianghu.
Every single one of them believed they possessed the courage, influence, and martial arts to violate Xiangyang.
I must inflict a definitive shame upon them...
Jeong Yeon-shin thought, his mind gradually growing hazy.
Although the Thunder Immortal Treasure Wine was excellently boosting his vitality and healing his internal injuries, it was, at its core, an aged alcohol.
Naturally, because the medicinal properties were infused within the alcohol itself, he could not simply disperse the drunkenness with his internal energy.
This was why he had to wrap things up here quickly.
"A master who has resolved to fight,"
Jeong Yeon-shin began slowly, addressing the martial artists who stared at him in silence with varying expressions,
"is bound to perceive even a split second as an eternity."
"……"
"If you require more time to think, then as people of the Jianghu, you must be third-rate weaklings unworthy of speaking with me…"
He continued calmly.
"Stand before me as commoners. I shall cherish and protect you."
Rustle—
The moment Jeong Yeon-shin finished speaking, the banner that had been fluttering relentlessly draped itself over the spear shaft like a bird folding its wings.
It was an outrageous insult.
To the people of the Jianghu, at least, there could be no more humiliating ultimatum.
A deathly silence began to spread.
The expressions of the sect leaders who had brought their disciples, the heads of martial clans dressed in matching attire as if they had plotted to overthrow the Desolate Fortress together, and other powerful figures who valued their reputation above life itself grew visibly uncomfortable.
This was true even though the Jianghu crowd blanketing Xiangyang now numbered in the thousands.
Crumble.
Stone dust trickled down like powder from the roofs of the houses where they stood so loftily.
Though signs of their body protection scriptures flaring up appeared everywhere, not a single person actually leaped forward.
They merely projected a silence that felt heavier with every passing second.
The traces of the martial arts unleashed by the Deputy Commander of the Divine Sword Corps lay bare before the eyes of the Jianghu. Both that sight and his status as a Purple Rank represented the sheer might of the Desolate Fortress.
[Ahahaha!]
Amidst the low laughter that Shin Cheon-hwa suddenly burst into, their pride was pushed to the very edge of the cliff. Yet, not a single person dared to step before Jeong Yeon-shin. They maintained their silence—a silence that signified the death of the Jianghu.
Jeong Yeon-shin spoke once more.
"Though I gave you the chance, the banner remains unbroken."
He gripped the flagpole planted in the path leading to the main gate of the Desolate Fortress with one hand. It was the weapon of the First Divine Spear of the Desolate Fortress. In that instant, Jeong Yeon-shin felt it.
The breath of Ak Su-rim—who had just crushed the head of a peak master of the Horde of Demons Green Forest with a single hand in the distance—was flowing through his palm as well.
Just like before.
Just like when he had attempted to seize the initiative at the Sect Founding Ceremony.
Whoosh!
Jeong Yeon-shin summoned the wind of the Wind God Movement Technique throughout his entire body. Instantly, a gale billowed from the wide folds of his purple robe.
"Therefore, here and now,"
Crack!
The deeply embedded spear shaft was ripped from the ground by his hand.
In the silence where not a single breath of a Jianghu martial artist's internal energy could be felt, a silver light flowed violently along the flagpole where Je Gang-cheon's head was impaled.
"I declare the victory of the Desolate Fortress," Jeong Yeon-shin said.
The moment those words left his lips, the Jianghu martial artists in the distance flinched one after another. His words reached them even without him having to project them through Six Harmonies Sound Transmission.
Sam-bok of the Netherflow Unit, who had been standing blankly on the distant wall of the main gate, hurriedly spoke up.
[They lacked the body protection scripture to come and break the banner, but the true qi that sharply honed their senses was still very much alive.]
His tone sounded as if he were reciting a record of events. Naturally, his voice was amplified by internal power.
Thus, the marketplace of Xiangyang, which had once bustled with the sounds of common life, remained silent for a long time under the hushed presence of the Jianghu martial artists.
* * *
The road leading to the main gate of the Desolate Fortress.
Step.
One by one, the Jianghu martial artists who had been lingering at the edge of the path turned back.
The official road of Xiangyang was wide enough for four four-horse carriages to run abreast.
The entire city had undergone a monumental transformation over the years due to the construction of the Desolate Fortress. Consequently, the backs of the Murim martial artists, carrying a humiliation that reached the heavens, were visible all at once.
Most of them did not even make a sound as they walked. If they had any sense of shame, they had to tread lightly.
All that remained where they had stood was the mark where the Desolate Fortress banner had been planted.
The winter sunlight poured over the retreating backs of the Jianghu Murim, casting a highly transparent yet hollow texture.
The voice of the Blue-Ranked warrior, Sam-bok, mingled with it.
[Every single one of your faces that stepped into Xiangyang today! They will all be engraved in the minds of the Main Fortress Chief Steward's Office, who have mastered the divine ultimate technique of the Ordered Eye! Act rashly, and you will leave a legacy of shame for generations to come!]
Jeong Yeon-shin could feel the resentment in that voice.
Even without looking, his sense of qi told him. The severed head of the Commander of the Netherflow Unit, which Jeong Yeon-shin had sent up earlier, was cradled in Sam-bok's arms.
Had the main fortress's forces been even slightly intact, they would have hunted those people down immediately, Jeong Yeon-shin thought.
For now, I must remain standing here.
He could not carelessly leave the front of the fortress gate.
Not even a single stray mouse could be allowed inside.
Even if he crushed the heads of those who couldn't break a single flagpole, if the family of a main fortress martial artist was harmed, it would be a defeat in this great sect war.
"I am truly grateful, but you did not have to go this far. The Thunder Immortal Treasure Wine is a liquor granted only to the Purple Ranks…"
The voice belonged to the Commander of the Azure Sky Unit, who had sat down cross-legged at his feet before he knew it.
Jeong Yeon-shin had just used the medicinal energy of the Thunder Immortal Treasure Wine to assist the Commander of the Azure Sky Unit and the Master of the Martial Apex Hall with their Grand Heavenly Cycles.
It was also after he had extended his sense of qi far and wide to confirm the safety of the Chief Steward's Office. Jeong Yeon-shin shook his head and spoke.
"The medicine I received from you, Senior, back when I was a White Rank, was the very first spirit elixir of my life."
"What a bastard."
The Commander of the Azure Sky Unit muttered under his breath. It was the same curse directed at the Manor Master of the Xinye County Jeong Family.
Jeong Yeon-shin pretended not to hear and spoke.
"The battle has been long. Please head to the inner castle first and tend to the battlefield."
"Understood, Deputy Commander."
Whoosh!
Supporting the Master of the Martial Apex Hall, the Commander of the Azure Sky Unit leaped over the fortress gate and vanished.
Even then, the Master of the Martial Apex Hall remained unconscious.
Jeong Yeon-shin had personally guided the flow of internal energy for his Great Heavenly Cycle earlier. It was a small price to pay considering the Master had stood alone to block the Lord of the Martial Dragon Association.
[By nature, war is like this.]
Just then, Shin Cheon-hwa suddenly draped her arm over Jeong Yeon-shin's shoulder.
[The aftermath always feels much longer than the battle itself.]
Rustle.
The Deputy Commander of the Divine Sword Corps naturally slipped away, letting her hand merely brush past his shoulder. It was a movement as smooth as flowing water, combining the Wind God Movement Technique and the Radiant Wing Step.
Shin Cheon-hwa showed her interest.
[Indeed, these are martial arts I haven't seen before. They suit your body perfectly. Just like how grandparent and grandchild seem to resemble each other, yet don't.]
"I understand that you, Senior of two generations past, are already deceased. How long... will that Nascent Soul last?"
[A quarter of an hour, and perhaps a bit more? Why? Are you sad to see me go?]
"If you have any words to leave for the Castle Lord or your clan, I will convey them."
[I appreciate the thought, but no. The breed known as the Commander of the Divine Sword Corps never leaves regrets behind when they die. Yes, if you ever find the leisure in the future... take a look at what the wick of a candle that has completely burned itself out looks like.]
She grinned after saying that.
As if they had been together from the very beginning.
The conversation between the Purple Ranks of the main fortress skipped over many details in this manner.
This was because both possessed extremely developed upper dantians, and Jeong Yeon-shin felt as though his ancient senior's eye technique could pierce even the heavens.
Shin Cheon-hwa, who was openly scanning his body from head to toe, curled her lips upward once more. In that instant, a pitch-black current flickered within her eyes.
[It's a pity we don't have much time. There are a few things I wanted to teach you... for instance, how to use your body as the Commander of the Divine Sword Corps.]
"I have already received some guidance from both the former and current commanders."
[That's not what I mean. When one carries oneself as a person of high caliber, there are appropriate tricks to it... No, wait, that Ma family brat has never had the capacity to teach anyone in his entire life...]
The ancient Commander of the Divine Sword Corps.
Her thoughts were incredibly free-spirited. So much so that they made the mountains of corpses lining both sides of the Desolate Fortress's main gate wall seem utterly insignificant.
[Right.]
Just then, Shin Cheon-hwa snapped her fingers. At the exact same moment, Jeong Yeon-shin opened his mouth.
[Shall we go take a look at their faces together? Though we'll have to come back after 'just a brief glance' anyway.]
"Do you also know the art of Void Displacement, Senior?"
Their voices intertwined.
The battlefield, where the scent of blood began to spread like an early-descending sunset.
Jeong Yeon-shin suddenly recalled the Grand Steward's words.
Ma Yeon-jeok and Yong Hee-myung.
The two hidden swords were said to be together.