Chapter 21
Chapter 21
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 21
Chapter Title: Gate of Mouth Calamity
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Western Heaven Lady. Plum Blossom Sword Queen. Huashan’s Greatest Sword.
All these titles referred to one person: the Crimson Flower Divine Sword.
The Western Heaven Lady was a nickname born from how the battlefield skies where she appeared would bloom with the aura of her Purple霞 Divine Sword, dyeing them in sunset hues.
The Plum Blossom Sword Queen compared her to the queen of swords for unleashing Huashan Sect’s signature Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Sword Forms on a world-shaking scale.
And the Greatest in Huashan’s Greatest Sword didn’t merely mean the top of her generation in Huashan—it signified standing at the pinnacle of the sect’s thousand-year history.
As one could tell from her flashy titles compared to things like Reborn Divine Farmer or Farmer Hero, the Crimson Flower Divine Sword was Huashan’s greatest genius in history.
She had mastered all three of Huashan’s supreme sword arts—the Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Sword Forms, Jade Maiden Divine Sword, and Purple霞 Divine Sword—unifying them into a single transcendent martial art. The title of Divine Sword was well deserved.
Sure, I’d mocked her, asking what kind of sword god she was when she couldn’t even beat the Sword Emperor. But it remained an unchangeable fact that she was a once-in-a-millennium prodigy in the realm of the sword.
Like all of the Three Heavens Seven Absolutes, the Crimson Flower Divine Sword was a powerhouse who could reign as the world’s greatest swordsman—or even the world’s greatest martial artist—no matter which era she was dropped into.
However, in this current age, aspiring to be the world’s greatest was impossible with the unprecedented absolute being at humanity’s peak: the Heavenly Demon. And in the sword’s domain, there was the unprecedented genius who had reached its limits: the Black Mysterious Sword Emperor.
And among all people, the Crimson Flower Divine Sword—who had maintained a kind attitude even toward the crazy one-armed lunatic who’d buried an axe in my shoulder and slapped my face—showed negative emotions solely toward the Black Mysterious Sword Emperor.
Being a natural pushover, she never drew her sword or raised her fist against him. Instead, she consistently ignored everything he did, making her hostility clear that way.
Even that was unprecedented, leaving her fellow Three Heavens Seven Absolutes bewildered by her cold demeanor.
Of course, one might ask what was so special about a righteous faction member disliking someone who’d once led the evil faction. But the Crimson Flower Divine Sword had even more reason to hate the Black Mysterious Sword Emperor.
As with most such cases, it stemmed from enmity between her sect, Huashan, and the Sword Emperor.
Before becoming the Demonic Heaven Lord, the young Black Mysterious Sword Emperor had roamed the land with just a single sword at his side, like any greenhorn martial artist.
The difference from typical novices was that while they caused trouble at roadside inns or got into scraps with those trying to stop them, he sought out the pinnacle powers of the jianghu—the Nine Great Sects, Five Great Families, and more—to wreak havoc upon.
Huashan had been one of the major sects caught up in his widespread rampage across the Central Plains.
What made him truly vile was his habit of exchanging a few moves with his martial opponents, mimicking their techniques, and then crushing them with their own arts.
Imitating the forms of martial techniques was something even I could do. But reading the intent behind them, reverse-engineering the vital energy circulation paths, and even deducing the incantations—that was only possible for the Black Mysterious Sword Emperor.
As if to proclaim it to the world, he had stormed Huashan alone and dismantled the Plum Blossom Sword Formation formed by twenty-four Plum Blossom Sword Experts... using his own Plum Blossom Sword Formation.
I’m not misstating it as the Plum Blossom Sword Formation by mistake.
He had faced the formation of twenty-four swords wielded by those experts by floating twenty-four formless swords in midair, countering it with an identical “sword formation.”
Huashan’s thousand-year martial legacy had been utterly denied by a mere junior not even past his teens, in less than a quarter-hour.
Waves from behind naturally push forward ones aside—that’s the way of rivers. But the Black Mysterious Sword Emperor’s existence was like a sudden tsunami crashing into a nobly flowing stream.
An unbearable humiliation for a martial artist, for a martial sect.
In the end, Huashan had declared ten years of closed-door seclusion because of that incident.
“Come to think of it, Huashan’s seclusion should be lifting soon.”
The Crimson Flower Divine Sword, who had spent her childhood confined to Huashan, entered Chongmu Academy—the world’s foremost martial arts academy under the Righteous Heaven Alliance—upon her debut and immediately distinguished herself, earning the title of leader among the rising stars.
It might pale compared to the Sword Emperor’s youthful exploits, but it was still a successful entry into the jianghu.
Rumor had it that the Fiery Beggar Hero and the Crimson Flower Divine Sword had known each other since their Chongmu Academy days. I was curious what they were up to now, too.
“Mister, do you know anyone in the Beggars’ Sect? Apparently, Hu-gae just barely took second place at this year’s Chongmu Tournament. His nickname’s Hero, right?”
For that reason, at this very moment, I found myself in serious contemplation.
“And do you know what new title Hu-gae earned this time? Jade Dragon! Jade Dragon! Normally, titles like that go to those pale-faced Jeonma Clan young masters, you know? If he’s that handsome, I wanna see him at least once tooo... Oh, and this is the new Jianghu Heroes Card set from Golden Dragon Merchant Association—they even made separate cards for Jade Dragon, Hu-gae, and Hero—”
Why in the world was I hearing all this from this girl’s mouth?
I barely resisted the urge to plug my ears.
Though my limbs’ bones had healed cleanly, I still had to lie in bed for another full week.
The Blood Boiling Fire Path mimicked the Blood Heaven Divine Demon’s Reverse Blood Devil Body to amplify internal energy.
It was a technique no one but me—an absolute realm master who had focused on the essence of the body among vitality, energy, and spirit—could have attempted.
Because it momentarily reversed the flow of all the body’s acupoints, readjusting them took time.
I’d allotted a full month to reset my acupoints, heal my internal injuries, and stabilize my dantian. But with the Divine Physician at my side, my condition was nearly perfect after just seven days.
And during those seven days I diligently did rehab training, Dugu Yuyeon visited the Divine Physician’s clinic without fail every single day, chattering away like some harmful bird.
I finally couldn’t take it anymore and said something.
“Hang on, why’s Fiery Beggar... Hu-gae just Hu-gae, but I’m ‘mister’? That guy’s the same age as me.”
“Uh... Isn’t your title Farmer Hero? Not that dragon-something would be different, but titles with ‘hero’ in them just make you seem kinda old...?”
“This damn...”
It was the moment I once again felt the deep-seated flaw in my title.
As I scowled fiercely, Dugu Yuyeon awkwardly scratched the back of her white head.
“Ehehe. That’s not the only reason, though—it just gives off that vibe. Like your inner self seems mature? Oh, that’s a compliment! It means you come across as grown-up!”
Her pupils narrowed along with her gently curving eyes.
Despite her light tone, it was a remark that pierced right through the fourteen-year-old shell worn by the Wudang Ghost Axe.
Oddly out of character for my boisterous self, I caught a glimpse in Dugu Yuyeon’s deep pupils of something akin to her father’s presence.
“You’re here again? I told you not to come.”
“Eeei. Grandpa finds it a hassle to go back and forth to my room, too. It’s way better if I come here—no need for his bad knee to trek around, right?”
“I just came back from checking your room for you, you brat. How’d you shake off that skinny long-nosed bastard?”
“Secret!”
Dugu Yuyeon pressed a finger to her pink lips and grinned with a cheeky “hee.”
The Divine Physician grumbled as if accustomed to it, took her pulse, and applied acupuncture.
“Eugh. This really tastes awful...”
“Drink it quick. The effect fades if it cools. You don’t know the value of good medicine...”
Dugu Yuyeon wrinkled her pale brow, gulped down the brown decoction, stuck out her tongue, and pretended to gag.
[Yuyeon! Yuyeon, whereaaare yooou~?]
A slurred Six Harmonies Divine Voice called from afar. It was the Thunderbolt Spear’s voice. He was belatedly searching for her.
“Then I’ll be off, mister. See you tomorrow!”
“No need to...”
Dugu Yuyeon dashed out the door without waiting for a reply.
[The Lord summons you.]
Once her presence had completely vanished, a coldly sunken woman’s voice rang in my ear.
It wasn’t Six Harmonies Divine Voice—just plain telepathy.
I stood, rotating my arm in circles.
The Divine Physician, fanning the medicine boiler, spoke without looking my way.
“Today?”
“Yes. My body’s back to full strength now.”
“Go, then.”
His indifferent voice continued.
“And don’t die.”
“I’ll try.”
Stepping outside, I saw a woman standing blankly in front of the building.
Her face was hidden by a bamboo hat with thick black silk veiling it, and her entire body save her hands was wrapped in combat attire. But the thin, clinging fabric revealed her feminine curves perfectly.
At both hips hung curved daggers—oddly bent blades. The only exposed skin on her hands was darkly tanned, as if from the sun.
“Follow me.”
“Where exactly are we headed?”
“Do you need to know that?”
“Yes. I thought I was meeting the Black Mysterious Sword Emperor alone, but what if a bunch of your righteous lady assassins are hiding behind pillars or something?”
The woman leading the way halted.
“First, the Lord does not resort to cowardly tricks. There are no assassins.”
“You must not have been trapped in those bandits’ Heavenly Net Earthly Web. Wasn’t it the Black Mysterious Sword Emperor who ordered that?”
“Second. Show respect when addressing the Lord.”
“I’m already calling him Sword Emperor. What more do you want? Should I just call him Dugu Somebody?”
Tangible killing intent rose from the woman’s body. I’d deliberately used a flippant tone to provoke her, and it had worked perfectly.
“Even with one arm missing.”
Cold fury boiled over in her tone.
“It won’t stop me from kneeling before the Lord.”
In that instant, the woman’s figure vanished.
As a one-armed expert, she wasn’t wrong.
Missing one arm doesn’t pose much issue for kneeling.
But conversely, it turns everyday life into a hassle outside of kneeling.
Can’t use both hands, have to dress with telekinesis, can’t do most manual tasks... Anyway, it sucks. Speaking from experience.
I closed my eyes wordlessly, then murmured softly.
“Behind.”
The next moment, my elbow shot out like a cannonball, striking her face with the boom of a drum.