Chapter 546: The Demon Realm
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 546: The Demon Realm
Jeong Yeon-shin lightly clenched his fist.
He had stopped halfway through the starting stance of the Infinite Flower of Time Hand's Fist Flower—a technique that dispersed True Qi before delivering a blow. In that instant, the wind tangled in the dry brush burst outward with a sharp whoosh.
At the same time, the Grand Empress Dowager's gaze, which had been tickling his senses, was crushed. It was a presence that, though invisible, had undeniably been there.
"Huh?"
Shin So-bin, who was walking shoulder-to-shoulder with him and carefully placing each step, opened her eyes wide.
"Lord Jeong, should I stop practicing my lightness skill?"
"No. The wind was just a bit stubborn."
Jeong Yeon-shin brushed it off vaguely.
After studying him closely for a moment, Shin So-bin resumed walking, her movements carrying the subtle principles of the Ten-Mile Light Grace.
"Our Shin Family's Martial Scripture of the Great Sage is quite effective against Qi deviation."
Rustle.
Between her heels and the hem of her pants, a faint, white shockwave from the Vast Art Formula connected once more.
Those thread-like wisps of white smoke were the profound secrets of the Propulsion Shockwave, jointly devised by Jeong Yeon-shin, Yong Hee-myung, Ma Yeon-jeok, and Shin Cheon-hwa.
Shin So-bin clasped her hands behind her back with mock solemnity and offered a bright smile.
"I haven't mastered it deeply, but if you ask, Lord Jeong, our Clan Head will gladly hand it over."
"It's not demonic possession."
"You've been through so much on the front lines, Lord Jeong. Besides, they say people who are truly sick in the head never realize they're sick."
"I think we can drop that subject."
Jeong Yeon-shin spoke softly. He had suddenly remembered hurling harsh words at the Wudang Sect Leader.
Come to think of it, he had also made a drunken blunder upon first meeting the Perfected Ancient Sword. Wudang was truly the sect that had contributed the most to his Night Shame Leg Technique.
'I could probably improve my mastery of the leg technique even further... If I blend it with the Radiant Wing Step, it might yield some decent movements.'
Jeong Yeon-shin's train of thought ended there.
Under a sky where the moonlight drifted down like sparkling dust mixed with ebony, his vision suddenly opened up.
A long earthen rampart began to overlap against the distant horizon.
It was a wall of truly bizarre architecture. Curved, undulating patterns, resembling characters from antiquity, were carved into its dark ocher surface.
An immense presence of people could be felt from within.
It was far beyond the scale of a mere village; the sheer numbers were extraordinary.
Having passed even the northern Hocheon Fortress and Seulhae Pass, this was practically the first northern city Jeong Yeon-shin had ever set foot in.
["Yeokru Fortress. The most wretched dregs of our land gather there."]
The voice echoed from behind him like a scraping wind across the wilderness. It was North Blade, mounted on his warhorse.
From beneath his extremely wide-brimmed bamboo hat, calm words flowed from a face that seemed to warp the very air around it.
["Mostly fugitives who crossed over from your lands. Han rogue cultivators selling their swordplay in search of a home, and Brightfolk cowards who can no longer call themselves bright. The name 'Yeokru' attached to that fortress represents the chin-flick of our clan, looking down on the humans of your land as mere servants."]
Jeong Yeon-shin merely tilted his head slightly to the side and spoke.
"What is your reason for tagging along all this time? Your real purpose, I mean. I think it's about time you told me."
["I told you, it is because of the God of War. As for the rest, it is for you, who have just set foot on this vast land, to discover for yourself..."]
"If you don't explain in detail, I will cut you down before I enter."
Jeong Yeon-shin knew. When the Grand Empress Dowager's gaze had swept over them like the wind, North Blade's massive hand had twitched, just as his own had.
A being who had once been the left arm of the Fighting God.
Even if no immediate falsehood or hostility could be felt, he was extremely dangerous.
Naturally, Yeon-shin could not keep him at his back forever. The Commander of the Divine Sword Corps' journey through the Jianghu could not be so careless.
North Blade spoke slowly.
["...Despite holding a high position, you know how to distinguish between true courage and reckless bravado. A rare virtue in our land, and likely the same in your Jianghu. This is also why I chose you."]
He possessed a chilling insight. Jeong Yeon-shin had rarely met anyone like him since the Grand Lady of the Deep Martial Alliance.
Furthermore, North Blade possessed ultimate martial power. If he refused to state his purpose to the end, he was formidable enough that it would be best to shake him off right here.
Beside them, Shin So-bin pursed her lips ambiguously, as if she had something to say but didn't, likely because this matter was beyond her scope of knowledge.
Slide.
Jeong Yeon-shin placed his palm on the hilt of Lingering Thunder. It was the same gesture any martial artist would make to issue a warning.
But when the one taking that starting stance was the Acting Commander of the Divine Sword Corps, the weight of the gesture was on an entirely different level.
Even North Blade had to prepare himself thoroughly, despite being famous as one of the few top-tier Strange, Violent, Chaotic, and Supernatural beings of the north.
Boom!
The massive Crescent Blade was drawn and brought down, unleashing a gale. The formless Saber Qi, naturally infused within the gusts of wind, violently tore up the dirt ground.
And there, in the center of the pattern carved like a temple mandala, North Blade, holding his Crescent Blade at a diagonal angle, looked down at Jeong Yeon-shin from atop his warhorse.
The sheer size of both man and horse was so monstrously large that his presence felt entirely inhuman.
"..."
Northern martial arts.
Jeong Yeon-shin's eyes narrowed.
For some reason, there was no trace of regularity in the Saber Qi. It was impossible to even guess what kind of strike would come next, or at what speed and trajectory.
It was as if there were no fixed forms, much like the Demonlight Formula of the Demonlight Wing.
'A Formless Style...?'
It was difficult to hastily gauge his chances of victory. He felt he could certainly win, yet there was a lingering sensation that a stroke of bad luck could somehow result in defeat. It was a truly novel feeling.
Jeong Yeon-shin wondered if all northerners possessed this kind of temperament.
Then, North Blade muttered briefly.
["This is a pointless confrontation."]
"I told you to state your purpose clearly."
["My task is to guide the Six in preparation for the future return of the God of War. You possess the talent."]
"Guide? Where to?"
["To a higher place."]
Jeong Yeon-shin knew what North Blade's reference to him meant.
The Six.
Setting aside how accurate the bastard's eye was, it meant that if he took five more steps from here, he would be the greatest in the Jianghu.
Jeong Yeon-shin smiled faintly.
"You are mistaken."
["About what?"]
"The banner of the Desolate Fortress comes first. Ensuring that the lives of innocent people are not ruined by thugs is my priority. That is the path of the Main Fortress's White-Blue-Black-Purple. In the first place, I have never aimed to be the world's greatest."
["Then you must have set your sights on being the greatest of all time. With your achievements and talent, there is no way you haven't envisioned your future."]
"No, just..."
Jeong Yeon-shin slowly parted his lips. Strangely, he felt talkative. Whether it was because Shin So-bin was by his side or because he had overcome his demonic possession, he couldn't tell.
"As I keep walking, I'll probably pass whatever 'greatest' there is."
"Since there are so many troublesome bastards in the way," Jeong Yeon-shin concluded. His tone was remarkably casual.
For the first time, North Blade fell silent.
Shin So-bin also took a small breath and held it for a moment.
It was likely because they knew exactly what kind of powerhouses roamed the world. It was Jeong Yeon-shin who naturally continued the conversation.
"But more importantly..."
["...Speak of anything. You may speak to me without reservation."]
North Blade's attitude shifted slightly.
The feeling of a man observing Jeong Yeon-shin from a step back suddenly felt much closer. It was a small but profound change.
Jeong Yeon-shin asked bluntly.
"What's this about?"
["Your attitude of using martial arts as a tool for the people's livelihood is just like the God of War in his youth. I respect you, and I hope you perish together with him."]
North Blade went a step further. The winter wind warped across his face as he spoke of mutual destruction without hesitation, making it look as if he were smiling.
Jeong Yeon-shin did not bother to ask what his story was, or why he had betrayed the Fighting God. There was something else he needed to know right now.
"Are there many like you in the north?"
["Extremely few. However, if they employ schemes... the masters of the military territories who could plot against you or me easily number more than ten. Such is the power that fought the Ming Dynasty—which was built by completely crushing your Jianghu—to a standstill at the Great Wall."]
It was only natural that the northern lands were strong.
Why had the southern lands been in such disarray with Jianghu sects? It was because the national power of the mighty Ming Dynasty had been concentrated on the northern plains.
It was a matter of state level, far transcending the martial world of the Jianghu. Thus, Jeong Yeon-shin's question lay elsewhere.
"The masters of the military territories?"
["Those who command the lords of the military camps. They are otherwise called Kings, and they are a mix of those who worship the God of War and those who oppose him."]
"Are they peerless experts?"
["Indeed. Since many of their great warriors communicate through the wind, they have severed countless heads of the Ming Dynasty's great warriors through coordinated attacks and military maneuvers where distance is meaningless. Of course, there were exceptionally strong individuals on your side as well, so we suffered heavy casualties too."]
The Northern Kings under the Fighting God.
The powerhouses of the Ming Dynasty who had blocked such peerless experts.
'If they were exceptionally strong...'
Jeong Yeon-shin immediately thought of two groups: the Three Great Masters of the Imperial Family and the Three Defense Generals. The former were already famous, and as for the latter, he had heard of them from Emperor Geonreung back when he wore the purple robe.
The Emperor had said that if the Lord of the Desolate Fortress hadn't stopped him, he would have appointed Jeong Yeon-shin to one of the seats of the Three Defense Generals.
Those six.
They were the powerhouses who had defended the long Great Wall to the end during Emperor Geonreung's lifetime. It was said that the experts of the Ju family who followed them had also willingly died beneath the northern winds.
—"The Three Defense Generals are loyal. Regardless of what happens to the imperial throne, each of them guards their respective passes of the Great Wall. On the other hand, the Three Great Masters of the Imperial Family, despite receiving the titles of the Three Masters of Reverent Rites, possess the temperament of Jianghu martial artists. They do nothing but wander endlessly through the northern lands where the Late Emperor passed away. It is truly a damn shame."
Those were the words of Grand Governor Jeon U-rip. He had even asked Yeon-shin to bring them back, by force if necessary, should he happen to encounter them.
His request had been bold.
—"Let the Flash Art of the Jeong Clan do as he pleases."
For the voice of the Grand Empress Dowager had already echoed in the wind this morning. It was an imperial decree from the highest elder of the imperial family, permitting Jeong Yeon-shin's northern campaign.
Jeong Yeon-shin cleared his thoughts.
"It seems your Northern Kings communicate by manipulating the wind like the Brightfolk. If I make a reckless move, could I end up surrounded by multiple peerless experts?"
["Of course. You must study the geography carefully. How many military camps are nearby, and how many Kings are roaming the vicinity. Know this: even in that Yeokru Fortress right now, there are two lords and one Northern King. One of those lords is likely Ma Ma-gwang-myeol, whom you drove away."]
"I understand."
By now, Jeong Yeon-shin was engaging in the conversation completely as the Commander of the Divine Sword Corps. His calm, probing demeanor made it seem as though he had never intended to dismiss North Blade in the first place.
Just as Yong Hee-myung had swept through the Net of Heaven and Earth of the Thirteen Heavens in the south, the time would come for him to gallop across the northern lands.
Perhaps in the near future.
'No matter how treacherous this land may be.'
This might well be the final destination of his long journey through the Jianghu.
At a time when a significant portion of the heterodox sects had lost their power, if the northern threat were to vanish, the burden of stabilizing the people's livelihood that the Desolate Fortress had carried would also be greatly reduced.
For the national power of the Ming Dynasty would then spread throughout the entire Jianghu.
Of course, Jeong Yeon-shin could not pacify the north alone. It was something no one had ever accomplished; rather, for the time being, he had to traverse this land like a ghost to prevent the Northern Kings from converging on him.
Now, with Yeokru Fortress—the first true gateway city to the north—right before his eyes, Jeong Yeon-shin suddenly felt a wave of fatigue.
If he let his thoughts wander too far, he felt he might suffocate under the weight of being someone who would, in one way or another, sway the fate of a massive empire.
At that moment, North Blade spoke.
["You will certainly need my help. Permit me to accompany you. I will not harm you or your companions until the God of War arrives."]
"No."
Jeong Yeon-shin slowly shook his head.
He was not alone.
When he descended from Mount Wudang, he had sent a mobilization order to the Divine Sword Squad of the Divine Sword Corps through the Demonlight Wing.
It was a message summoning many of the martial artists belonging to the Divine Sword Squad, which had been newly reorganized under his direct command.
The strongest martial unit among the seventeen units.
They would be the quickest to march north.
There was no sect under heaven that could stop the Divine Sword Squad led by the Commander of the Divine Sword Corps. At least, not on their own.
'But...'
Would the same hold true in an entirely different world? The stage was different now.
Touch.
That was why Jeong Yeon-shin lightly touched Shin So-bin's shoulder at this moment. A sliver of worry. The anxiety that his comrades might die in vain on a mission he had forged in his capacity as the Commander of the Divine Sword Corps.
"Unit Commander...?"
Shin So-bin looked up at him. Her use of his old title meant she was slightly flustered.
"Since the imperial experts who were at the Great Wall have gone down to Beijing, the commoners will be safer."
Rustle—
His hand brushed past the tips of Shin So-bin's hair, moving directly toward the bundle she carried over one shoulder.
"The imperial family failed in this land. So now, it's time to take over."
He pulled out the Four Treasures of the Study, including paper, brush, and ink. Then, using Void Grab to suspend them all in the air before him, he slowly began to write.
The opening line read as follows:
[ To the Unit Commanders, For Your Eyes Only. To my esteemed seniors. ]