Chapter 160: Journey on the Lake (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 160: Journey on the Lake (2)
Upon entering Guizhou Province, Namgung Jun blazed through the steep, mountainous terrain.
Since every second counted, he had split off from the Azure Firmament Hall to travel alone. He intended to reach the battlefield first and buy time for the others to arrive.
I was lucky. If it hadn't been for Heungmun, or if I had tried to return by a different route, reuniting with the Heavenly Sword Hall would have been impossible.
Whoosh!
Both of Namgung Jun's sleeves fluttered wildly like flags. A heavy, biting wind whipped against him, but his figure shot forward without a moment’s hesitation. This was thanks to his mastery of the Heaven-Pillar Resolute Advance Movement Art, which allowed him to harness the headwind itself as a force to propel him forward, increasing his speed.
Even so, the tension on his face showed no signs of easing.
Master.
The distance wasn't impossibly vast, but it wasn't short, either. Even with the speed of a supreme expert, it was highly uncertain whether he would arrive in time. Every fraction of a second mattered.
Looking out over the endlessly winding mountain ranges, Namgung Jun felt a burning need to further refine his lightness skill.
If not for the insights I gained at Chaohu Lake, I might have been too late.
Leaping from one slope to the next, he constantly replayed the enlightenment he'd gained at Chaohu Lake in his mind. He was trying to squeeze out even a sliver more speed, to refine his movement even while pushing his lightness skill to its absolute limit.
Re-examining his lightness skill naturally led him to reflect on his Infinite Steps and the Heaven-Pillar Resolute Advance Movement Art. While it was important to master footwork, movement arts, and lightness skills individually, the true power of a Lightness Movement Art was only revealed when these three previously separate disciplines finally merged into one. For this reason, the techniques of prestigious sects with deep histories were designed to interlock, creating a powerful synergistic effect.
Whoosh!
Namgung Jun’s vision blurred as he sliced smoothly through the wind. The rugged, rolling hills and fields before him suddenly began to resemble a single, vast lake—just like the clear waters of that day he had run alongside the old physician.
It’s so far.
Back then, the lake had felt quite small and narrow, as familiar as a puddle children playfully leap over on a rainy day. Was it his current anxiety that made this landscape feel so endlessly distant, as if he could never reach the other side? Because of it, his current speed felt agonizingly slow.
This was despite the fact that he was gradually accelerating with each breath, continuously refining his insights and retracing the principles of Infinite Steps and the Heaven-Pillar Resolute Advance Movement Art.
Once again, it was a matter of the mind.
Even in his past life, he had reached the peerless realm and disciplined his mind countless times. Yet despite that experience, there were still endless moments when his inner peace was shaken and thrown into turmoil.
In a way, it was only natural.
Because that is the life of a martial artist—no, the life of a human.
One could never speak of eternal peace and stability. Did the world and all its creation not constantly change? To be fixed and unchanging was not the way of living, breathing things. That was why, even after countless years, humans continued to train, striving to keep their minds deep and tranquil.
In a sense, life itself was one giant form of cultivation.
Namgung Jun realized anew how lacking his own cultivation and enlightenment truly were, even with the overwhelming advantage of his past-life memories.
I am not a perfect being. And that is perfectly natural.
What mattered was accepting his shortcomings and continuing to move forward.
Steadfastly and uprightly.
Just like the life he wished to lead.
"Phew."
A long, thin breath escaped his lips, melting into the turbulent air around him.
By the time the air that had absorbed his breath grew calm, Namgung Jun had shot far into the distance, his figure now hazy and ethereal.
He moved like the water mist drifting over the ripples of Chaohu Lake.
*
The leader of the Fourth Battle Unit, the Fourth Unit Leader, slowly opened his eyes.
"What is the situation?"
"Reports confirm we've pinned down the Heavenly Sword Hall at Mount Tangmun. They had been constantly moving to avoid a direct fight, but they should be fully engaged by now."
"A fair amount of time has passed, yet you've only managed to pin them down?"
"Yes. The Heavenly Sword Hall proved far stronger than our intelligence suggested. More importantly, the Heavenly Sword Hall Master's wits allowed them to evade two of our initial schemes without taking significant damage."
One of the Fourth Unit Leader's eyes twitched as he listened, but he simply nodded.
"No matter. The remnants of the Heavenly Sword Hall are of no consequence."
His eyes gradually began to gleam with a deep indigo hue. Fully imbued with the power of an eye technique fueled by profound internal energy, they stared precisely beyond the mountain slopes. There, the demonic practitioners of the Fourth Battle Unit had deployed a Joint Attack Formation, seizing control of the area.
The Black Cloud Wandering Maiden was resisting, her blade repeatedly deflecting the attacks of the demonic practitioners.
"Lee Se-ha. You have grown even stronger. Are you already on the verge of the Five Qis Converging at the Origin? Truly remarkable talent."
Even from this distance, he could feel her strength. Having personally clashed swords with her in the past, he could sense her growth even more vividly.
"I should have killed her when she was first appointed Hall Master. But the Martial Conquest Hall Master interfered, and she slipped through my fingers."
The Azure Heaven Association's Heavenly Sword Hall Master had become incredibly powerful, so much so that he could no longer even recall the name of her predecessor. That was how overwhelming Lee Se-ha’s achievements had been.
Lee Se-ha's sword has grown truly sharp. It is a serious threat.
She was now strong enough to face not only the leaders of the Nine Cult-Protecting Guards but even the leaders of the Battle Units. The Battle Unit leaders were all individuals standing at the very peak of the Three Flowers Gather at the Crown, any of whom could ascend to the realm of a peerless expert at any moment. Considering that Lee Se-ha's peers were still regarded as rising stars, her progress was utterly shocking.
With such achievements at her age, if she were given just a few more years, the Azure Heaven Association might gain another peerless expert.
Such an absurdly powerful talent had to be eliminated at all costs. It was well worth deploying the entire Fourth Battle Unit to ensure the annihilation of both the Heavenly Sword Hall and Lee Se-ha.
Whoosh!
A massive amount of Demonic Qi gathered around the Fourth Unit Leader as he radiated a clear, murderous intent. With him at the center, the masters of the Demonic Path belonging to the Fourth Battle Unit were constructing a formation. The yin and yang energies flowing from the bodies of the cross-legged demonic masters converged upon the Fourth Unit Leader.
He, too, sat cross-legged, focusing all his effort on managing the surging energy channeled to him through the formation’s profound principles. The density and scale of the energy swirling within the formation were so immense that the very ground beneath it shook.
The Heaven-Piercing Vast-Cannon Formation.
It was an ultra-long-range offensive formation of the Sun-Moon Demonic Cult. The expert at its center would monopolize the full power generated by dozens of practitioners to unleash a single, devastating strike. A colossal amount of energy would then pour down in a straight line toward a designated target, appearing as a massive beam or a thick pillar of light.
In essence, it was a long-range bombardment of highly condensed internal energy.
A strike from the Heaven-Piercing Vast-Cannon Formation was nearly impossible to react to, even with the heightened perception of a supreme expert. And even if one did react, the speed at which the energy was gathered and discharged made it extremely difficult to evade with a Lightness Movement Art.
Originally, the Heaven-Piercing Vast-Cannon Formation was designed to drain the strength of peerless experts or wound them. But against supreme experts below that level, it is instantly lethal.
The Fourth Unit Leader intended to use the formation to obliterate Lee Se-ha from a great distance. Of course, he could have faced her in direct combat, but he had no intention of doing so. Using the Heaven-Piercing Vast-Cannon Formation guaranteed her death.
Although he would have to recuperate for over ten days as a consequence, such a backlash was a small price to pay. There was no need to take unnecessary risks—such as letting Lee Se-ha escape or sustaining an unexpected injury—that could derail his plans. The Fourth Unit Leader had chosen the formation as a cautious and foolproof means to eliminate her.
Rumble!
Feeling the energy surging through his body, the Fourth Unit Leader urged his subordinates.
"The preparation is taking too long! Channel more of your internal energy!"
"Understood!"
At his command, the density of the Qi Waves gathering in the Heaven-Piercing Vast-Cannon Formation grew even thicker.
*
Slash!
Imbued with a blue mist, Lee Se-ha's sword descended in a vertical slash. It seemed to sink softly, yet it cleanly sliced the demonic practitioner in her path in two. But before she could recover her stance, three others immediately blocked her way from different directions.
It was the Joint Attack Formation of the Fourth Battle Unit. The multi-layered encirclement thoroughly suppressed the momentum of her sword. Even so, they were hard-pressed to block her free-flowing sword strikes.
This is like trying to catch smoke with my bare hands!
This isn't the Heavenly Thunder True Yang Sword Technique! She's using a completely different sword art from what our intelligence said…!
It must be the sword technique rumored to have been used by the Azure Star Sword.
Lee Se-ha's true strength was at least two levels higher than they had anticipated. Her growth was impressive, but the new martial art she wielded was exceptionally fierce.
Despite her unexpected power, the Joint Attack Formation of the Fourth Battle Unit did not collapse. These were the elites of the Fourth Battle Unit, a step above the Nine Cult-Protecting Guards. While they might not be able to kill Lee Se-ha, they were successfully pinning her down.
Of all times for this to happen.
Lee Se-ha and the Heavenly Sword Hall were on their way back from a mission. Although they had recovered to some extent, they were not in peak condition. This was especially true for Lee Se-ha, who had been fighting supreme experts.
Jun's Vast Sky Boundless Sword Technique is helping me once again.
Recently, her achievements had risen dramatically, and the greatest influence on this was the Vast Sky Boundless Sword Technique. The sword art her disciple had created was truly marvelous. In addition to the five sword techniques that served as its foundation, it contained the essence of countless sword styles wielded by the Cloud Ranks of the Heavenly Sword Hall.
Studying each of those styles naturally led her to reflect on her own sword. Through this process, Lee Se-ha was breaking through her barriers. She felt the realm of Five Qis Converging at the Origin, which had once seemed so vague, drawing closer bit by bit. Though she had only grasped a faint clue, it was an immense achievement.
Yet, the best part wasn't the profound enlightenment. It was knowing this was a sword technique her disciple had created while thinking of his master. The more she practiced it, the more deeply she could feel her disciple's heart.
As she trained, Lee Se-ha felt the loneliness that had long haunted a corner of her heart since her clan's extermination begin to fade. In its place, she filled the void with her disciple's presence. She could slowly forget the concept of being a "Lone Soul."
It is all thanks to my disciple.
Lee Se-ha recited her own mnemonic for the Vast Sky Boundless Sword Technique.
Namgung Jun. My disciple.
It was a line not found in the secret manual, one she had created herself while training. The Vast Sky Boundless Sword Technique, unleashed while thinking of her disciple, grew stronger and stronger.
Slash!
As she cut down another demonic practitioner who threw himself at her, Lee Se-ha was suddenly struck by a wave of anxiety. A massive, vivid sense of foreboding washed over her, sending an inexplicable chill down her spine. Her intuition, sharpened as she drew closer to the Five Qis Converging at the Origin, screamed warnings.
Lee Se-ha instinctively raised her head.
A light?
An indigo light twinkled in the far reaches of the sky. From this distance, it was just a tiny cluster of light, like a star, but Lee Se-ha was certain.
Could it be…! The Heaven-Piercing Vast-Cannon Formation!
Having fought the Sun-Moon Demonic Cult before, she knew of it. Hadn't several Hall Masters who once shook the world vanished without a trace because of that very formation?
Lee Se-ha stared at the surrounding demonic practitioners with wide eyes.
They're willing to die just to take me with them!
By the time she hastily tried to turn, her surroundings were already dyed in indigo. Soon, the entire landscape was stripped of its color, blanketed in an overwhelming indigo glow.
Too late.
At that moment, a hazy trail of light swept across the ground, leaving a gentle wake in its path.
It came with a faint voice transmission.
– Master.
A hazy, indigo-blue wave of qi glided smoothly across the indigo-dyed ground. The Qi Wave from his lightness skill, rising like a thick bank of water mist, warmly enveloped Lee Se-ha in an instant.
Simultaneously, a colossal pillar of indigo light plunged vertically down upon the entire area.
It was like a spear of light hurled by a divine general from the heavens.
KRA-BOOM!
A deafening roar shook heaven and earth, as if to swallow everything whole.