Chapter 185: The Emperor's Heavenly Thunder (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 185: The Emperor's Heavenly Thunder (4)
A pristine, blindingly white snowscape.
The vast land, where only ice and snow existed, was bitterly cold.
Namgung Jun stared blankly at the endless snowy plain. He knew this wasn't reality. This place was his deepest inner self—his mindscape.
Originally, his mindscape had been a world of open blue skies, but it had transformed due to the rampage of the Nine Yin Severed Meridian.
Crunch.
As Namgung Jun took a step, a fierce blizzard whipped around him. A biting, razor-sharp wind clawed at his body. The cold seeped into his organs, a sickening chill, as if icicles were being shoved deep inside him.
Even so, Namgung Jun walked on, silent and slow.
Even as his body froze white and his senses gradually faded, he pressed forward with stubborn resolve.
He could only do so because of a tiny ember he could faintly feel in his chest. The warmth spreading from that ember was the driving force that allowed him to move, however slowly.
Relying on that single thread of warmth, Namgung Jun pushed through the endless snow and ice.
He didn't know which way to go to escape this dreadful snowscape. He couldn't tell if he was walking in a straight line or veering off course.
Yet, Namgung Jun did not hesitate.
"You haven't changed a bit, Master. Anyone else would have looked back by now."
When had she appeared?
Before he knew it, a figure was walking shoulder-to-shoulder beside him.
She wore sky-blue martial robes, a jovial-looking youth with an eyepatch covering one eye. The words Southern Heaven were grandly embroidered on her right shoulder. Though she appeared no older than twenty, the light in her remaining eye shone with the brilliance of a seasoned master.
It was a face he had yearned to see, a voice he had sorely missed.
"Ryeong."
With a faint smile, Hahu Ryeong rested her hand on the hilt of her sword. The gesture reminded him of how she used to mimic even his smallest habits.
A smile spread across Namgung Jun's lips as he recalled the memories of his past life.
"Master. Can you really be satisfied with this?"
"With what?"
"You made the eradication of the Sun-Moon Demonic Cult your life's work. That's why you chose the name Jun." Hahu Ryeong continued walking as she spoke. "In the end, you failed. It seems both your lives are fated to end in failure."
"No matter how righteous the destination, the journey is meaningless if you walk a crooked path. That was the very first lesson I taught you."
"You've already died once, and now you're about to die again. It would be natural for your convictions to waver by now."
"What is a mere death to me?" Namgung Jun chuckled, looking at the last disciple of the Namcheon Palace. "My sole duty is to walk the righteous path until the very end, even if I fall short."
The path of chivalry was not one he walked alone. In the past, in the present, and in the future, someone's footsteps would always follow. At first, they would trace the footprints left before them. Even if those footprints vanished, they would leave new ones of their own.
In that way, the path would slowly but surely connect, growing clearer with time.
He had no doubt that, even if it wasn't him, the path trodden by countless chivalrous heroes would eventually lead to true chivalry.
"I am no pioneer. I am merely a single chivalrous hero. I have no reason to fear failure."
Even amidst the howling blizzard, Namgung Jun's heavy voice echoed with absolute clarity across the snowy plain.
"Master, you always seem so gentle, but you're hopelessly stubborn about things like this. It's almost a terrifying obsession." Hahu Ryeong stared intently at Namgung Jun before bursting into a hearty laugh. Her laughter, which seemed to quiet the blizzard, was laced with a deep longing. "That's why I respected you. It's why I followed in your footsteps."
Hahu Ryeong looked at Namgung Jun's chest.
"The chivalry you held within was a torch for us, warming our bodies and guiding us."
The sole remaining ember in Namgung Jun's chest. His last disciple called it chivalry.
"Master." Hahu Ryeong pointed behind him.
Namgung Jun turned, and his eyes trembled.
Countless people were following him, every one of them a familiar face, their smiles warm and nostalgic.
They were the disciples of the Namcheon Palace.
"Yu-seon, Ho Yul-su, Jin Muk..." Namgung Jun's voice faltered as he called out the names of the disciples he met eyes with.
But they didn't stop. They walked right past him, pressing forward and lightly placing their hands on his shoulders and arms as they went.
It was a silent cheer, urging him on.
With every warm touch, the ice and frost covering Namgung Jun melted away.
"You all! Where are you going?!" he cried, turning hurriedly to look at the disciples who had already passed.
Their backs grew fainter as they advanced, drifting further away. Some took the form of blue lightning. Others, a sky-blue mist. As they faded, they melted the surrounding snowscape.
"You said that the one who illuminates chivalry with a prosperous light is the Prosperous King," Hahu Ryeong said as her hand finally touched Namgung Jun's shoulder. "Now, it is time to go beyond the Prosperous King and become the Emperor who suppresses the Demonic Path."
Her figure, too, began to scatter into indigo mist.
"Just as you were once called the Sword Emperor. Can you do it?"
Feeling the lingering touch of his countless disciples, the master's stiff lips slowly curved into a smile.
"I never said I had given up. Of course I can."
With Hahu Ryeong's gentle smile as the last thing he saw, Namgung Jun's consciousness faded.
* * *
It's cold.
Emerging from his mindscape, Namgung Jun realized he was back in reality. The bitter cold, the snowscape, the conversation with Hahu Ryeong… it had all taken place within his mind.
The conversation, in particular, felt exceptionally real. It didn't feel like a mere illusion conjured by an inner demon.
Is it because I mastered the Spear King Azure Aura?
The Spear King Azure Aura was the martial art that connected him and Hahu Ryeong. The martial insight and spirituality embedded within its mnemonic formula had likely given her form inside his mindscape.
My disciples… thank you.
Even back in reality, he could still feel the gazes and touches of his disciples cheering him on. The Yin Cold Qi of the Nine Yin Severed Meridian was still encroaching upon his entire body, but he no longer felt the dreadful cold from before.
I can do it now.
He had used almost all his internal energy to save the frozen commoners. Only a tiny amount remained, pooled at the very bottom of his empty dantian.
Hum!
The internal energy squirmed, responding to his will.
It was not the Heavenly Thunder True Yang Formula, the Spear King Azure Aura, or the Taiji Taoyuan Technique.
Following a completely new path of circulation, the trace amount of internal energy slowly began to move.
[Though lightning strikes from the high heavens, the sound of thunder reaches the hearts of all who dwell upon the earth.]
Beginning with the newly formulated mnemonic, his internal energy gradually transformed. The original Heavenly Thunder True Yang Formula unleashed Thunder Qi as multiple thin, intertwined bolts of lightning.
However, the Thunder Qi now racing through his meridians was different.
Dozens of slender strands of Thunder Qi were interwoven with an energy resembling sky-blue clouds. The two energies repeatedly tangled and separated before finally stabilizing into a single form.
Rumble!
A single, thick bolt of lightning filled his meridians, like a divine dragon soaring through the heavens. His internal energy, which had previously shown hints of blue or sky-blue, now radiated a pure azure hue.
[The thunder scattered from the emperor's fingertips shall pierce ten thousand miles of clouds, splitting the heavens to bestow a profound light.]
The internal energy, weak at first, gradually grew in volume. Regaining vitality through the new mnemonic and martial insight, it cleanly pierced through the dreadful Yin Cold Qi blocking its path.
Rumble!
Every time the new Thunder Qi collided with the Yin Cold Qi, a loud roar erupted from within him, but Namgung Jun's expression remained serene. The new Thunder Qi tore the Yin Cold Qi to shreds with overwhelming power, minimizing the burden and backlash on his body.
Trailing a long tail, the thick Thunder Qi melted his frozen meridians. Having reclaimed dominance in an instant, the azure Thunder Qi coursed through every corner of his body, shattering the Yin Cold Qi.
[The sound of thunder is a sob that speaks for the groans of the weak, and the profound light is a torch that illuminates chivalry; thus, the lightning in the high heavens is simply righteous.]
Whoosh!
Hot steam billowed from Namgung Jun's entire body as he circulated his qi. The ice that had covered him vanished, and the freezing air around him gradually grew warm.
Boom!
A massive roar erupted from within him.
Having melted all his frozen meridians, the azure Thunder Qi surged toward the fifth severed meridian of the Nine Yin Severed Meridian. Though it was not his intention, the azure Thunder Qi moved on its own, relentlessly battering the blocked channel.
It was as if it needed that space to achieve completion. The azure Thunder Qi, moving of its own accord, was filled with a profound spirituality.
Crash!
The process of opening the meridian began, yet Namgung Jun's face remained peaceful. He was so deeply immersed in creating a completely new heart method that he didn't even register the attempt.
Simultaneously with the azure Thunder Qi's relentless assault, the mnemonic formula of the new heart method was reaching its conclusion.
[The heavenly thunder that harbors prosperity has nowhere it cannot reach across the nine provinces and eight wildernesses; this is the chivalry of the Emperor who wishes to embrace the world.]
With the completion of the final mnemonic, the events of his mindscape rose to his thoughts. The conversation with Hahu Ryeong, the touch of the disciples who had departed before him, the footprints they had left behind.
This became the very Intent that would form the core of the new heart method.
The Intent, the mnemonic, the martial insight, and his energy became one.
BOOM!
At that moment, the fifth severed meridian shattered.
Yet, the azure Thunder Qi showed no signs of stopping. Swallowing the energy released from the broken meridian, it swelled in size and began to course through his body once more, sweeping straight toward the sixth severed meridian.
At the same time, the name of the new heart method echoed in Namgung Jun's mind.
[Emperor Heavenly Thunder Divine Art.]
He had finally woven three heart methods into a single divine art.
A strand of azure Thunder Qi coiled around Namgung Jun as he circulated his qi, resembling a small dragon.
RUMBLE!
When the Emperor Heavenly Thunder Divine Art broke through even the sixth severed meridian…
…the azure Thunder Qi gathered above Namgung Jun's crown split into five strands, each radiating a different color.
RUMBLE!
The five-colored lightning formed a circular ring, generating an extraordinary thunderous roar.
Blue, red, black, white, and yellow. The five colors of Thunder Qi were flawlessly fused. It looked like a five-colored thunder flower sculpted from lightning.
Hummmmm!
A powerful vibration erupted from his Baihui Acupoint. The five-colored lightning broke down its boundaries and merged into one.
A single ring of majestic azure lightning.
Rippling heavily while emitting a brilliant, solemn radiance, it looked almost like an emperor's ceremonial crown.
With the azure ring at its center, the surrounding Natural Qi surged violently and began to be sucked into Namgung Jun.
It was the sign of the Five Qis Converging at the Origin.