Chapter 157: Seventh Young Lady (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 157: Seventh Young Lady (3)
It was a brief moment, no longer than the time it took to blink twice.
Yet, for a supreme expert who had achieved the Unity of Essence, Qi, and Spirit and mastered the Butterfly Metamorphosis of Mystic Time, it was more than enough.
After seventeen clashes, Namgung Jun slashed through the claw qi rushing at him from the flank—a spinning, five-layered assault.
Enveloped in the thick Cloud Mantle Embracing Sorrowful Thunder, Namgung Jun readjusted his grip on the Eternal Righteous Sword.
Without giving him a single moment to swing, the Seventh Young Lady thrust her left palm forward in rapid succession, unleashing a massive wave of Palm Force.
Pang!
Namgung Jun swung the Eternal Righteous Sword—which had been pointing downward—straight up, slicing the Palm Force vertically. His hair whipped violently in the wind.
The split Palm Force tore past his left and right, gouging the earth on both sides and leaving deep trenches in its wake.
The residual shockwaves buffeted his body, but they did nothing more than cause the cloud-like Qi of his Cloud Mantle Embracing Sorrowful Thunder to ripple.
She is strong.
The vibration traveling up the blade felt strangely sticky. If not for the grip strength he had tempered with the Sword-Root Foundation Art, he might have lost his hold on the Eternal Righteous Sword.
Having withstood her onslaught, Namgung Jun was inwardly astonished.
She said she’s lived for eighteen years, just like me.
Her martial prowess, which far surpassed her age, was astonishing enough, but the refined instinct that flashed through her strikes and the seamless connection between her forms were particularly outstanding.
The woman before him clearly possessed a sublime talent, one capable of overwhelming an expert far above her level through sheer, innate instinct.
In terms of internal energy, I am clearly outmatched.
Throughout his travels in the Jianghu, he had rarely felt disadvantaged in internal energy. Not only had he gained a massive amount from opening his Nine Yin Severed Meridian, but he had also consumed precious spirit elixirs that ordinary martial artists could search for their entire lives and never find.
Namgung Jun possessed internal energy that could rival almost any middle-aged supreme expert, but the Seventh Young Lady was even more formidable.
Every time he blocked her internal energy, which surged down his blade like a raging tide, his insides shook violently.
Kwaaaaang!
With a single, casual wave of her hand, dozens of nearby trees were pulverized. Furthermore, because her internal energy was a tangled mix of Yin and Yang, it displayed a power far greater than ordinary energy of the same level.
A Nine Yang Severed Meridian in a woman's body.
Just what kind of methods had the Sun-Moon Demonic Cult employed to keep her alive?
Although he could not guess the exact means, one thing was absolutely clear.
Her claim to have the full, undivided support of the Sun-Moon Demonic Cult was no bluff. To obtain countless spirit elixirs, great arts, demonic arts, and the Yin energy required to resist the Nine Yang Severed Meridian, countless women must have been sacrificed to the Star-Absorbing Great Art.
In terms of sheer depth of internal energy, the Seventh Young Lady definitely held the upper hand.
She is probably much closer to overcoming her severed meridian than I am.
Jjeok!
A pair of delicate, jade-like hands tore through the fierce wind pressure.
Her snow-white hand slid down, pressing firmly against the Eternal Righteous Sword in a move that precisely exploited a transition in his sword path to redirect its force.
For a moment, the form of his Vast Sky Boundless Sword Technique wavered, but Namgung Jun's fluid movements seamlessly guided it back into a clear, steady flow.
The Seventh Young Lady, who had been aiming for his neck with her bared fingernails, raised her eyebrows in surprise.
"I thought I had broken your form."
"With just that? Not a chance."
Pulling her left hand back, she extended a long, crane-like leg, her movements blurring at the edges. In an instant, her figure seemed to stretch as her wide sleeves fluttered like wings, effortlessly slipping past his swirling sword strikes.
"This is enough of a taste."
Hwareuk!
Jjeojeok!
Waves of opposing Qi erupted from her loosely hanging hands.
An immense Scorching Yang Qi, born from her Nine Yang Severed Meridian.
And a Yin Cold Qi, accumulated through spirit elixirs or the Star-Absorbing Great Art.
She conjured the Scorching Yang Qi and the Yin Cold Qi simultaneously. A vivid flame ignited in her left hand while a dark, shadowed frost settled over her right.
The ominous energies emanating from the flame and frost were all too familiar.
"The Sun Wheel True Formula and... the Moon Wheel True Formula?"
These were peerless arts of the Sun-Moon Demonic Cult, which only a select few at the very top could learn. Aside from the Cult Leader, perhaps only the Grand Envoy of Radiance and the Left and Right Envoys had mastered them.
One thing was certain: this was absolutely not a martial art that could be learned by a mere candidate for succession who had not yet been named Young Cult Leader.
At Namgung Jun's murmur, the smile on her face faded slightly.
"How do you know that? You shouldn't have had any chance to encounter these arts."
"You... you aren't just some illegitimate child. You have the caliber of the next Cult Leader."
"How strange. For all the Azure Heaven Association's might, you know far too much about our Cult."
Heat and cold surged toward his blade, which was wrapped in an indigo mist.
Namgung Jun's sleeve, brushed by her left hand, froze and crumbled into tiny pieces. Meanwhile, the extended Eternal Righteous Sword split her blazing, fireball-like Palm Force into three, parrying her right hand away.
Sparks and ice shards scattered in all directions like delicate flower petals.
Amidst the debris, Namgung Jun thrust his sword forward in a single, long strike. The Qi from his Heaven-Pillar Resolute Advance Movement Art swelled like a massive pillar, pushing aside everything in its path.
Huwuk!
She overlapped her hands to block the thrust aimed at her solar plexus, her hair whipping wildly upward. But she didn't stop at merely blocking the sword.
In a split second, she twisted her wrists, pressed both palms against the flat of his blade, and injected her Yin and Yang internal energy simultaneously.
In an instant, the Eternal Righteous Sword flickered violently with an indigo light. She injected her energy in seven short, distinct bursts, suggesting she wasn't trying to force a direct clash but was instead applying the subtle principles of the Internal Heavy Hand Technique.
Jjeoooong!
The veins on Namgung Jun's right hand bulged as he gripped the hilt. The moment he tightened his hold on the Eternal Righteous Sword, a sharp, ringing sound erupted—the sound of seven metallic clashes overlapping as one.
Kureureung!
Immediately after, a violent shockwave erupted in seven layers, centered on the hilt of the Eternal Righteous Sword. Mere exposure to this wave of Qi caused the surrounding air to warp chaotically.
Even the Cloud Mantle Embracing Sorrowful Thunder protecting him vibrated violently.
Seeing Namgung Jun casually shake off the force, her eyes flashed with an ominous light.
"You layered your sword technique's Qi onto the hilt to counter me in that brief instant? Even a supreme expert who has mastered the Butterfly Metamorphosis of Mystic Time couldn't react that fast. No... that wasn't a reaction. That was pure technique."
"Your manipulation of internal energy is remarkable. Truly insidious."
Even as they spoke, the man and woman were striking at each other's vital points, dividing a single split second into dozens of fragments.
Tearing through the air, the Eternal Righteous Sword pivoted sharply, aiming for her neck. Snapping her head back, she pulled her sculpted neck out of the blade's path and launched a kick.
Her toe shot up from below, deflecting the Eternal Righteous Sword upward before twisting like a serpent to strike at his dantian. While suspended in midair, she unleashed kicks with both feet, her right charged with Scorching Yang Qi and her left with Yin Cold Qi.
Jjeojeojeok!
Thick ice filled the cracks in the shattered earth, while immense heat saturated the air, deepening the ripples warping the atmosphere. Even as her strikes transformed the terrain by the second, his sword path, drawn with stubborn resolve, continued to radiate a brilliant blue light.
Hwaaaak!
Tearing through claw qi woven as densely as a spiderweb, cold and heat assaulted Namgung Jun's face. Dozens of hand shadows, claw qi, and Palm Forces composed of Scorching Yang Qi and Yin Cold Qi tangled chaotically, pouring down as a single mass. Though they seemed to clash and repel one another, they maintained a bizarre harmony.
Luminous Arch Supreme Tangled Hand.
Moon Ballad, Sun Discourse.
It was her ultimate technique, precisely timed to exploit the brief disruption in his breathing.
Gazing at the dazzling haze of light that instantly filled his vision, Namgung Jun readjusted his sword.
If I counter half-heartedly or clash head-on, I’ll get entangled in the form itself.
Having instantly seen through her intent, Namgung Jun executed an Earth-Trembling Stomp.
Unlike his violently fluttering sleeves, the Eternal Righteous Sword danced with nimble ferocity. The sword strikes curved like a stream, seemed to sink deep, then surged violently upward like a waterfall. With dozens of variations occurring in a single sword path, the tangled strikes multiplied like vines.
Vast Sky Boundless Sword Technique.
Azure Flash.
Dozens of simultaneous variations interlocked, triggering an endless chain of transformations. It was as if hundreds of flowers were blooming at once.
Kwagagagang!
The chaotic variations of the Azure Flash violently disrupted the harmony of the Moon Ballad, Sun Discourse. It was like a succession of surging waves gradually swallowing a massive pillar of fire.
Kwareureung!
Dozens of explosions erupted around them in rapid succession. Depending on the nature of each blast, some spots froze solid while others burst into flames. Through a continuous cycle of burning, freezing, and melting, the lush green forests and grey boulders of Mount Emei were transformed into a dark red quagmire in an instant.
Kugugung!
Amidst the devastated landscape, only the man and the woman danced—a beautiful yet desperate waltz. The blue sword strikes dispersed the mist, while her fingernails and palms, dyed blue and red, once again painted the air in chaotic colors.
"Namgung Jun!"
Letting out a laugh mixed with a high-pitched cry, her hands split into dozens of afterimages.
Jjwaaaang!
The clash of Yin and Yang energies erupted again and again, endlessly dispersing massive waves of Qi. She did not yield in the slightest, even when facing the strikes of the Vast Sky Boundless Sword Technique.
Her intuitive talent for martial arts is monstrous.
Namgung Jun focused on her movements. She countered his sword techniques, which flowed from the foundation of the Vast Sky Boundless Sword Technique, with the agile and profound artistry of her hand-to-hand combat.
She was compensating for a lack of experience with pure intuition, and her sensory responses were dazzling. The caliber of her raw talent was on an entirely different level.
If she continues to grow like this... she will become the next Demon God.
Namgung Jun had always considered the current Demonic Cult Leader to be his greatest enemy—the one known as one of the Two Ultimates, who vied for the title of the world's greatest alongside the Kunlun Secret Vein Master.
But looking at the Seventh Young Lady, his thoughts changed.
The current Seventh Young Lady, the Sun-Moon Demonic Cult, the Nine Yang Severed Meridian, and time. If these factors aligned, she might one day become a new demon who surpassed the Two Ultimates.
Naturally, the Cult Leader he had fought in his past life came to mind.
"Huu."
Namgung Jun took a long, deep breath, regulating his internal energy.
He himself had undergone absurd growth. His recent circumstances made that clear. Not much time had passed since he achieved the Three Flowers Gather at the Crown—less than a year. Yet, he had repeatedly faced and triumphed over supreme experts ranked higher than him.
The Great-Dusk Spear Paragon, whom he had fought recently, was one of the most prominent supreme experts in the Jianghu. Among those who had achieved the Three Flowers Gather at the Crown, very few could have claimed victory against him. That was why the Jianghu was once again astonished by the feats of Namgung Jun, who had only recently become a supreme expert.
Strictly speaking, the Great-Dusk Spear Paragon was someone who had reached the pinnacle of the Three Flowers Gather at the Crown and was already eyeing the Five Qis Converging at the Origin.
Yet, the Seventh Young Lady held even someone like the Great-Dusk Spear Paragon beneath her.
It was as if she alone was bending the flow of time to her will.
"You are already eyeing the Five Qis Converging at the Origin."
"You aren't that far off either," she replied. "If you had grown up in our Cult, you might have already become a peerless expert."
Looking at her, Namgung Jun had to admit it.
Until now, the person he believed to possess the greatest talent was Lee Se-ha. But seeing her now, the Seventh Young Lady's talent was a cut above even his.
Even without factoring in the Nine Yang Severed Meridian, her sheer talent for martial arts made her a vessel capable of aiming for the title of the world's greatest. Given the right fortuitous encounters, heavenly luck, and circumstances, she might even peer into the realm beyond.
The look in Namgung Jun's eyes shifted.
The moment a vivid killing intent flared in his blue eyes, her gaze and expression changed as well.
"To take you with me, I'll have to go all out."
Her movements, which had been alternating between the Luminous Arch Supreme Tangled Hand and other peerless arts of the Sun-Moon Demonic Cult, completely transformed.
This martial art is...!
Though it was an art he had never seen before, Namgung Jun was certain.
It was her own unique martial art.