Chapter 517: Sunset (8)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 517: Sunset (8)
Ink-black dusk swirled across the sky in pale, hazy curves. Below, the ground crackled and spat dust under the same currents, utterly devoid of sunlight.
No vegetation grew here.
There was no vitality.
A desolate aura saturated the rough terrain, swept only by howling, dust-laden winds that carved long furrows into the earth. It was hard to believe a mountain-sized flood dragon had been here just moments ago.
Where on earth was this place?
They said it was beyond the "gate." Was it even the same world? Or was it some bizarrely twisted version of the Peach Blossom Spring, where legends claimed immortals lived and befriended the stars?
Jeong Yeon-shin did not know. Nor did he bother asking anyone present.
'It's not my concern.'
Abbot Beomheo’s words—telling him to live in the Jianghu of humans—echoed constantly in his mind. Yet, his silence was also demanded by the beings standing right before his eyes.
Three Commanders of the Divine Sword Corps.
This was a sight impossible to witness outside the gate.
Conflicting emotions swelled within Jeong Yeon-shin. On one hand, the heavy pressure of demonstrating his martial achievements to the past Commanders of the Divine Sword Corps. On the other, the audacious expectation of a junior waiting to see what they would reveal in return.
The atmosphere was peaceful, but far from still.
A moment like this would never come again.
Even if he eased his anxious curiosity by questioning Ma Yeon-jeok and Yong Hee-myung, it would only satisfy his petty mind for a fleeting moment. He was a Purple Rank who would soon step out into the dusty, chaotic Jianghu. It was only right to focus entirely on absorbing this fated encounter.
In the corner of Jeong Yeon-shin's vision, the severed heads of the Commander of the Netherflow Unit, the Commander of the Searing Abyss Unit, and the Commander of the Heaven-Aligned Wing still hung. It was an image seared into his mind, unlikely to fade anytime soon.
Therefore, this place was less a realm "beyond the gate" and more a training ground.
A crucible meant to forge Jeong Yeon-shin—who would soon step to the forefront of the world as the leader of the main fortress—into a perfected Divine Sword.
Haa—
After steadying his breath through the respiration of the Law-Transcending Halo Qi, he finally spoke. White steam plumed from his lips.
"What do we start with?"
Shin Cheon-hwa answered immediately. She unclasped her hands from behind her back, her wide purple sleeves fluttering in the wind.
Her long, pitch-black hair blended seamlessly into the dusk of this land. Every aspect of her presence radiated the absolute dignity of a Commander from two generations past of the Divine Sword Corps.
[The basics start with the Body Protection Scripture. Your footwork, movement technique, and lightness skill,] Shin Cheon-hwa said. [All of those harmonize with your well-tempered body in an almost uncanny way. They are all martial arts you created yourself, correct?]
"Yes."
Jeong Yeon-shin gave a small nod. A faint smile touched the sharp corners of Shin Cheon-hwa's eyes.
[You have walked a path perfectly suited to your talent. Had you learned the Ma Clan's Harmonious Bloom Divine Art, it would have been difficult to achieve such results at your age. You have done exceptionally well. Keep going just like that.]
Ma Yeon-jeok, who had been closely examining his grandson's physique, chimed in.
"Excellent advice. Take it to heart, coming from someone who abandoned the Desolate Shin Clan's Great Sage Martial Scripture without even mastering it."
[The Tyrannical Way of the Harmonious Bloom Divine Art suited that Ma Clan brat perfectly. It makes sense that he didn't even glance at the martial arts of the Radiant Sword Unit, despite hailing from there,] Shin Cheon-hwa retorted, the corner of her mouth curving upward.
[But you are different. You can turn your gaze in any direction. The very framework of your martial arts consists entirely of your own techniques. Naturally, no matter what you add to it, your core will not be shaken. For example...]
Whoosh!
Suddenly, a dry wind swirled around her with a low hum. Her purple robes billowed like a dancer's before vanishing into thin air.
Along with her body.
In the next instant, Jeong Yeon-shin stepped backward. An instantaneous retreat footwork. It was the Radiant Wing Sixth Step, the very same technique he had displayed during the Great War of the Desolate Fortress.
Paaang—!
The crisp sound of tearing air erupted as Shin Cheon-hwa materialized right where he had just been standing.
Her forward footwork, which seemed to compress space itself, clashed against Jeong Yeon-shin's Radiant Wing Sixth Step. In a split second, the fronts of their robes brushed past each other and parted, releasing a crackling burst of blue lightning.
It was the violent aftermath of footwork from the Peerless Realm colliding.
[Normally, this would be the end of a single exchange.]
Shin Cheon-hwa's intent spread as rapidly as if she were constantly maintaining the Unified Martial Transcendence. The telepathic voice struck Jeong Yeon-shin's mind with the speed of a lightning flash.
[But what if, unbelievably, a consecutive strike follows? If the opponent is someone capable of matching the Castle Lord for an extended time, or if you are being double-teamed, it is entirely possible.]
At the exact point where Shin Cheon-hwa and Jeong Yeon-shin's gazes met—
Fwoosh!
As the pale currents and lightning dispersed in all directions, a figure shimmered into existence from the side.
Jeong Yeon-shin's eyes widened slightly. Even without a shred of prior coordination, Yong Hee-myung had seamlessly closed the distance.
Shin Cheon-hwa's intent poured into his mind.
[At that moment, you shouldn't just move your legs. After your feet, it's the turn of your entire body—your movement technique.]
With his body still tilted backward from executing the Radiant Wing Sixth Step, Jeong Yeon-shin faced the strike of the current Commander of the Divine Sword Corps.
Perhaps this was the prelude to a true duel for the position of Commander.
Following Yong Hee-myung's hand gesture, his sleeve rose in a graceful, dance-like motion. In that instant, a miraculous whirlwind whipped up from the hem of his robe, rushing fiercely toward Jeong Yeon-shin.
It was an ambiguous force—neither palm wind nor sword wind.
Yet the sound of it tearing through the air was deafening.
Kwiuuuung!
The very atmosphere shook with translucent ripples. The violent vibrations flowed in a single direction, converging entirely upon Jeong Yeon-shin.
The blade-like winds took on a faint but dense form, threatening to trap and shred his entire body.
'If I get hit, I die...!'
Jeong Yeon-shin had already absorbed the recoil of his retreat footwork with the fine muscles in his knees.
The Jeong Family Dynamic Art.
In an instant, he ruthlessly stimulated the Xuehai and Liangqiu points on both sides of his knees. The force of the Radiant Wing Sixth Step awakened the acupoints across his entire body. Then, the fluid motions of the Wind God Movement Technique naturally arose.
His body spun violently as he bounced slightly to the side.
It was a hair-thin evasion.
Flap-flap-flap!
His purple-tinted hem, blending with the dusk, brushed against the pale whirlwind. It was eerily similar to the movement Yong Hee-myung had used to dodge Ma Yeon-jeok's strike earlier.
Soon, his instantly tattered hem hummed with energy as it repaired itself.
Step.
He landed, widening the distance to the side.
Jeong Yeon-shin glanced at the ground where he had just been standing.
It had been reduced to ruins.
The earth was deeply hollowed out over a vast area, with long furrows running in all directions as if struck by a compressed typhoon, carving a pattern resembling a mandala.
The brief, casual strikes of the Commanders of the Divine Sword Corps had caused this devastation.
And within that terrifying exchange, Jeong Yeon-shin's own techniques had mixed in. Extremely, incredibly naturally.
"..."
He couldn't help but feel a strange swell of emotion.
[Well done,] Shin Cheon-hwa continued, casually brushing her hair back. [When you connect all your techniques like that, you gain a composure you didn't have before. There's a reason they are grouped together under the Body Protection Scripture. Since the three are not fundamentally different, they must always be melted into one.]
"What about the lightness skill...?"
At Jeong Yeon-shin's question, Shin Cheon-hwa laughed.
[Do you intend to keep fighting the two of us? If the Commander of the Divine Sword Corps dies, that battlefield dies too. Once you pull back, you must regroup with your subordinates. Retreat footwork doesn't end with a single step.]
"Hmm..."
In that moment, Jeong Yeon-shin couldn't help but think of Emperor Geonreung.
If that were true, did the death of the Emperor—who had fought a life-and-death duel with the Fighting God—have no meaning other than temporarily blocking the southward advance of the entire Northern Jianghu...?
[A lightness skill is used for such necessities. Or when catching enemies off guard with movements that transcend their imagination.]
"...I understand," Jeong Yeon-shin replied reluctantly, still wondering if there was another way to utilize a lightness skill.
In that brief moment, countless branches of inspiration lit up and split off within his mind.
Radiant Wing Step, Wind God, Ten-Mile Light Grace.
The movements of these absolute masters—beings on the level of the Commanders of the Divine Sword Corps—stimulated Jeong Yeon-shin's Upper Dantian, just as they always did.
Furthermore, their strikes carried clear intentions. The subtle shifts of their muscles, the distortion of the shockwaves, the precise direction of their attacks—all of it.
Even this brief exchange of moves was more than enough to keep his martial arts endlessly honed.
The footwork, movement technique, and lightness skill he originally possessed would gradually transform into techniques of absolute composure.
Perhaps they would evolve in a direction that might allow him to close the two-year gap between himself and the Heaven-Smiling Invincible in a single step when they inevitably met again.
Fwoooosh!
It wasn't over.
Jeong Yeon-shin had to evade the relentless strikes raining down from Shin Cheon-hwa and Yong Hee-myung in all directions.
Shin Cheon-hwa's offensive was at least manageable, as she had already consumed a massive amount of internal energy executing Void Displacement. However, he could never afford to take Yong Hee-myung's techniques with his physical body. If he couldn't counter them, evasion was the only answer.
Several tense moments flashed by, and just as many destructive mandalas were engraved into the earth.
[Next is the Body Protection Qi.]
"Wait." Suddenly, Yong Hee-myung stopped Shin Cheon-hwa. "This is strange. Body Protection Qi right after the Body Protection Scripture. It looks to me like you're trying to teach my deputy something odd."
[Something odd?]
"I mean, aren't you prioritizing survival over killing? This training method... doesn't it smell like the incense of a memorial service for an old person about to ascend to heaven again?" Yong Hee-myung asked elegantly, clasping his hands behind his back.
Shin Cheon-hwa grinned.
[Quite a sharp insight. No wonder you were able to take that Ma Clan brat's Sword of Divine Attainment.]
"I handed it over myself because there was no one else to trust. You're spouting trivial nonsense." Even his maternal grandfather, Ma Yeon-jeok, joined the fray.
The opinions of the three Commanders of the Divine Sword Corps tangled together in bickering.
Jeong Yeon-shin did not bother to intervene. Instead, he mentally reviewed the exchange of the Body Protection Scripture they had just shared. The Purple Gentleman was accustomed to standing tall and alone.
'No matter when it is completed, the remaining four steps to the Radiant Wing Tenth Step will be...'
Regardless of what anyone said, he absorbed the teachings of the past Commanders in his own way. His head felt feverishly hot with inspiration.
'Strictly as forward footwork.'
By the time Jeong Yeon-shin finished his review, their debate had also come to an end.
[Have you absorbed my advice well? I trust you kept the meaning of each part of the Body Protection Scripture in mind?]
"Yes," Jeong Yeon-shin answered confidently.
[Indeed, there is nothing like the repulsive force of Body Protection Qi to gauge a martial artist's caliber. Let us see what you've got.] Shin Cheon-hwa gestured with her chin toward Ma Yeon-jeok. [Brat, give him a strike.]
"What?" Ma Yeon-jeok asked in a flat voice.
But Shin Cheon-hwa's reply came without hesitation.
[Repulsive force, strength, absorption, the direction of the energy waves, the endurance of the internal energy barrier... There is much to verify. You, overflowing with strength, are perfect for this. Measure it yourself with your own hands.]
"That actually makes sense."
Step.
"Better this old man than a ghost who died of old age," Ma Yeon-jeok muttered as he walked toward Jeong Yeon-shin.
To Jeong Yeon-shin's ears, a strange emotion lingered in his grandfather's voice. It seemed he had braved many battlefields alongside Shin Cheon-hwa, the woman who so casually called him a "brat." She didn't bother using any special titles for the current Commander of the Divine Sword Corps or Jeong Yeon-shin, either. It felt as though she was simply doing what needed to be done.
From the side, Yong Hee-myung agreed.
"This is definitely necessary. Unless you're that old man Hyeon-gong of the Wudang Sect, it's hard to tear through the Northern mounted martial arts with your bare body. If a Body Protection Qi comparable to our Demonfolk friends' 'Heavenly Silk Light Armor' were to emerge from our main fortress, there could be no greater luxury."
There was no time to ask about this "Heavenly Silk Light Armor."
"Will you receive it?" Ma Yeon-jeok asked cautiously, his right hand already raised.
Instead of answering his grandfather, Jeong Yeon-shin recalled the Tang Clan siblings bathed in the moonlight.
Instantly, the Body Protection Qi that had already been transparently enveloping his entire body began to emit a soft halo of light.
Wuuuuuuung!
"Since a real fight would be more chaotic than this, I will strike with a force appropriate for the situation."
Was he slightly hesitant to strike his own grandson? Ma Yeon-jeok furrowed his brow as he spoke, but his hand was already dyed in a vivid blue flame.
"Harmonious Bloom Smoke and Ash Method, Piercing Longevity."
Unbelievable things were happening one after another.
Jeong Yeon-shin had not expected such a detailed analysis to take place.
The three past Commanders of the Divine Sword Corps were poised to completely seal every single gap in the martial artist known as the Flash Art. It felt as though they believed a martial artist who would lead the main fortress alone ought to be nothing less than flawless.
Yet, for some reason, it was not an entirely pleasant feeling.
'If I take this hit, even if I examine my grandfather's Body Protection Qi with the Nine-Fold Overlap Brilliant River...'
Before his heavy thoughts could even finish, the entire world was dyed in a blinding blue light.
As his grandfather Ma Yeon-jeok's hand reached out toward Jeong Yeon-shin, it didn't even make a sound.
This was the very end of his true closed-door training.