Chapter 455: Den of Demons (8)
A fishy smell permeated the river breeze. Even the sunlight that tyrannically covered the vast expanse of water could not dispel the scent of the rivers and lakes.
Only the pure white clouds gazed down calmly at the flowing river.
The Mount Hua Sect Leader shouldered that sky.
“……”
Brilliant Jade Sword God Lady Lu Xian was facing Dark Heaven Emperor Cho Yeol in midair. She held her blood-tinged sword in an elegant posture.
Her white socks trod about a hundred zhang above the center of the Zhejiang River. Literally, high in the sky. Extremely fierce winds were swirling around.
Using Void Soaring Step to lightly float her body, and displaying Protective Energy Stepping to walk on air-truly a transcendent realm.
Her form remained motionless in midair. This was because she had reached the point of regulating her internal energy breathing after exchanging moves.
Hwaak-
Her jet-black hair and pale pink Taoist robe fluttered roughly, but Lady Lu Xian’s breath remained as gentle as a spring breeze.
Only an occasional flow of reddish energy passing through her lips and nose. It was Mount Hua Sect’s secret technique, Purple Mist Divine Energy.
She glanced down briefly.
At a point quite far from the dock where a child was splashing water.
Jjeoeoeoeng!
The thrusting strike of Jeong Yeon-shin, which she had seen during the Mount Hua Agreement sparring, was being deflected downward by Heaven Conquering Sect Leader’s sword strike.
It was the moment when Jeong Yeon-shin’s sword attack had momentarily hesitated after breaking through protective energy, and Heaven Conquering Sect Leader had seized that instant and struck down with a downward slash.
Different from the Sword Empress who could only endure.
One who could still wield his sword even after being directly hit by a formidable thrusting strike. A swordsman who had just created another cliff of water.
The direction of his left-handed thrusting strike was strictly confined to his opponent, yet its influence spread vastly across the Zhejiang River. Truly, he was of the unorthodox path.
After that, Jeong Yeon-shin was put on the defensive.
That was the scene visible to Lady Lu Xian. The young man in the purple robe began to be pushed back on the river.
His back turned against waves that were explosively surging due to sword energy waves. The swords of the two clashed, drawing hundreds of silver trajectories, and these paths dimmed only to shine again, bursting with sounds like temple bells.
And streams of blood rose.
Most were wounds inflicted on Jeong Yeon-shin. Despite being able to control his entire body at will thanks to creating extraordinary divine techniques, once bleeding began, it simply wouldn’t stop. Even his brilliantly shining purple robe was gradually becoming tattered.
In a way, this was a natural scene.
Among all those collectively referred to as the absolute masters of the Thirteen Heavens, there were very few who were known to be capable of challenging Divine Sword Group Leader Yong Hye-myeong alone.
This was especially true for those who had trained in sword techniques. One had to have become legendary through achievements like slaying previous generations of transcendent masters or monsters with incredible strength.
Heaven Conquering Sect Leader was such a figure. He was invariably mentioned whenever enthusiasts discussed the world’s finest sword.
That made Jeong Yeon-shin all the more impressive.
How many people in the world could exchange swords with the Unorthodox Path’s Finest Sword to this extent? Lady Lu Xian, who was observing the two with her energy sense, felt like rubbing her eyes in disbelief.
‘However, what bothers me is…’
Just as she slightly tilted her white neck to one side.
[You’re acting leisurely.]
Cho Yeol remarked with an expressionless face.
“So are you, Elder.”
Lady Lu Xian stretched her waist slightly with a seemingly smiling face.
Outwardly, she appeared to be acting leisurely, but in reality, this was different. It was a gesture to dissipate the impact accumulated in her lower back.
The martial sorcery of Dark Heaven Emperor was closer to a natural disaster than an art.
Just blocking it with a single sword was miraculous. This was true even for the Purple Mist Sword of the current Mount Hua Sect Leader, which had reached a transcendent realm. Naturally, she could not afford to be leisurely.
She deliberately stalled for time.
“What do you intend to do by summoning a rain dragon to this land? Even if it’s you, Elder, you cannot control a dragon at will.”
[The Dragon Control Ritual Formation is sufficient.]
“What…?”
[I’m the one who’s curious. How is it that the Mount Hua Sect Leader, who should have no want for anything thanks to the numerous lay disciple sects, trusts that young purple so much? Did you spend more time together than is known?]
Cho Yeol maintained his composure even after witnessing his son being cut in two and killed.
An unbreakable stillness. At first glance, he seemed to feel no emotion at all.
“Lightning Genius? We haven’t known each other for very long.”
Lady Lu Xian casually received his words.
“I’m the one with questions. I’ve never heard of any exchanges between Taimo Mountain Castle and Heaven Conquering Sect…”
[That child.]
Cho Yeol indifferently uttered only what he wanted to say.
[His martial arts are absurdly advanced for his young age. His color hasn’t been determined yet.]
“Color?”
[Do you think that purple robe of Desolate Fortress suits that child?]
“That doesn’t seem like something appropriate to say about a country’s sword, does it?”
Lady Lu Xian subtly shook the arm holding her sword. An arm movement that swayed as if almost dancing. She had almost completely dissipated the energy waves from the martial sorcery they had clashed with earlier.
The conversation, which held no particular meaning for her, was about to conclude.
But Cho Yeol, like a martial sorcery practitioner who paid attention to all things under heaven, seemed to find some interest in this situation.
[If that child had worn the Great Darkness Robe of the Ming Cult, or if he had donned the Pure Blood Vast Flame Robe hidden by the Blood Flame Cult Leader…]
A faint smile suddenly appeared on Cho Yeol’s lips.
[What would have become of this rotten country?]
“Is daydreaming your hobby?”
[Can you feel that child’s killing intent? It was already thick and dense before seeing High Sword’s head, but now it’s as if he’s become an Asura incarnate. What is chivalry, what are the common people… Yes, it’s natural to question the banners you uphold. The anguish of that child reaches the ears of this ancient noble clan member.]
That was the end of it.
Cho Yeol spoke no more.
He stared at Lady Lu Xian silently for a moment, then slowly shook his head.
And began to draw up his energy. The white robe symbolizing the world’s finest martial sorcerer fluttered violently.
Lady Lu Xian, who had been silent for a while, twisted her lips aggressively.
“How many ritual formations do you have left?”
[It would be difficult for you to count.]
“It’s just techniques for preserving your own safety, isn’t it? However many you’ve stored up, it’s meaningless.”
[Only preserving my own safety?]
A mocking gleam flickered in Cho Yeol’s eyes, which now glowed with a blue radiance.
[Are you any different? High Sword was an exceptionally young child even among the Nine Great Sects. Those who truly place chivalry above their own lives, like that boy, are few throughout history.]
Cho Yeol had confirmed this over a lifetime longer than even Wudang’s founding patriarch. Not righteousness, but honor.
That was the value truly pursued by the so-called prestigious orthodox sects. All acts of chivalry were merely self-satisfaction.
That was all. He had spoken too much.
[Extreme Radiance.]
The noble clan grandmaster slightly raised his exquisite face. His jawline, more distinct yet dreamier than the horizon behind him, stood out prominently.
[Ice Pillar.]
Incantations flowed repeatedly from his mouth. The spells used by practitioners of martial sorcery when deploying their arts.
Cho Yeol didn’t cast just one sorcery. He recited incantations multiple times with the Six Harmonies Voice that made his words overlap and resonate, and that resonance rapidly completed his transcendent martial sorcery.
Kwakwakwakwakwakwa!
From below, immensely massive pillars of water surged up. Not just one, but many. Like dragons ascending to heaven, with their long bodies emitting sounds like waterfalls, they shook the air.
The speed at which they grew in size within an instant was terrifying. The water’s surface was completely dyed with dark shadows.
Lady Lu Xian was no less mysterious.
When Cho Yeol uttered his incantations, she rotated the true energy of her Purple Mist Divine Technique dozens of times within her body.
The realm of Full-Body Circulation that far transcended the Great Circulation. Then, the moment Lady Lu Xian took a step in midair, her body left a dim sunset-like afterimage and she was swinging her sword in front of Cho Yeol.
Mount Hua’s Hidden Steps had been deployed as Void Treading Step, tearing through space.
Kwaaaaang-!
In an instant, the water pillars that had risen to block the space between the two froze white and shattered into countless pieces.
Lady Lu Xian momentarily had to feel an impact as if she had struck dozens of layers of ten-thousand-year cold iron.
It was extremely heavy. Ice imbued with immensely powerful energy.
Soon after, they melted back into streams of water and began to swirl around Cho Yeol. Freezing and thawing at will.
Though martial sorcery practitioners, who make up just a handful compared to the size of the world, are said to wield heaven-defying arts, Dark Heaven Emperor Cho Yeol’s martial sorcery clearly transcended normal principles.
Beyond that.
A slight surprise flashed in Cho Yeol’s eyes.
[Your sword talent is also impressive. So there were people in the Nine Great Sects besides North Veneration South Honor.]
North of the Yangtze River is the venerated Shaolin of Mount Song, and in the south, Wudang stands loftily. And there was Mount Hua.
Kwaaaaaaaa-!
Lady Lu Xian paid no heed. The water pillars that had begun to pursue her were already a considerable threat.
The sight of them swelling in size while roaring with sounds like waterfalls, reminiscent of water dragons, was fearsome enough, but all the water pillars chased after Lady Lu Xian like beams of light as she changed direction with all sorts of trajectories, leaving afterimages with her Hidden Steps.
Each one of them was slightly inferior to or perhaps comparable to the sword energy of the Diancang Sect Leader. Judging by the terrifying energy accumulation of the noble clan grandmaster, this seemed entirely plausible.
One who had lived in the era of Taoist Three Peak.
[Convergent Annihilation.]
Dark Heaven Emperor Cho Yeol flashed his blue-tinged eyes from between the dozen or so water dragons formed by martial sorcery. His posture, with hands behind his back, exuded transcendence.
Jjeojeojeojeojeong!
The sword strike unleashed by Lady Lu Xian drew dozens of trajectories.
Within the light streams that flickered with deep red radiance, ice chunks split with roaring sounds. White frost fragments scattered meaninglessly toward the river.
She wielded her sword in a state of no-self.
Until the dusk that had risen from beyond the horizon dyed the river with darkness.
Her hair scattered purple fragments along with the elegant sword paths, and the teachings of the thousand-year martial lineage of the orthodox main sect increasingly calmed Lady Lu Xian’s mind into deep tranquility.
A state that penetrates all the studies of Taoist sects like Mount Hua and Wudang in a single line.
Mirror-like mind.
She stood alone, lofty.
Not concerned with the outcome of this battle. Simply forging her heart into a single sword.
Lady Lu Xian suddenly thought, this won’t do, I need to win.
[You too are worthy of being called a monster of incredible strength.]
A voice suddenly resonated.
When Lady Lu Xian came to her senses, she realized she had not allowed a single strike for quite some time.
She had continuously suppressed the dragon-like martial sorcery with just a single sword. The fishy smell of the Zhejiang River had been pushed away by the thick plum fragrance. In terms of time, it had been immense.
She had managed to hold back Dark Heaven Emperor until the transcendent swordsmen could settle their duel.
She had only been pushed down.
All the way to the dock where a very young boy had been splashing water.
Two scenes were reflected in Lady Lu Xian’s field of vision.
On one side was a blue sword gleam that had somehow approached very close, and on the opposite side was the face of a child looking at her blankly. Heaven Conquering Sect Leader and a commoner.
Kwakwakwa-!
In the center, Jeong Yeon-shin was rushing in, bursting through the water.
He was in tatters.
His upper body was nearly naked. Only the sleeve with the character “Desolate” embroidered on it remained intact.
His hair was matted down with crimson blood, covering one eye, while the other eye looked terribly fierce. It would be correct to say his killing intent was thick.
‘This situation!’
Lady Lu Xian instantly grasped the situation.
Heaven Conquering Sect Leader was targeting her. True to the unorthodox path, it was an opportunity to easily kill the Mount Hua Sect Leader with a thrusting strike.
From above, Dark Heaven Emperor’s water dragons were now plunging down, wrapped in blue lightning.
But Jeong Yeon-shin’s run, stained with killing intent, closed the distance across the water path.
Kwiyuuuuung!
The sound of the air distorting.
He was incredibly fast. Even by the standards of transcendent masters’ eye techniques. The sight of someone who had become enraged by the behavior of those who threatened Lady Lu Xian’s life after abandoning their one-on-one duel.
The subtlety had vanished from his originally straightforward lightness technique. It was a marvel that completely evaporated the slight waste that must inevitably exist in human steps.
The waves that had been surging from his heels sank downward, and the space he had left behind was also faintly distorted. His trajectory was aimed at Heaven Conquering Sect Leader.
Lady Lu Xian, in time that had been slowly segmented again into instants, anticipated the outcome.
‘Fatal wound for Heaven Conquering Sect Leader…!’
And then the unorthodox path’s finest sword’s strike would pierce through her waist. At this moment, Lady Lu Xian was busy shattering two of Dark Heaven Emperor’s water dragons with her Purple Mist Sword.
The child sitting at the dock next to them would not even leave a corpse as he would be swept away by Heaven Conquering Sect Leader’s sword energy waves.
It was then.
Lady Lu Xian intuited with her transcendent realm eye technique.
Suddenly, like a coincidence, the child reflected in Jeong Yeon-shin’s eyes, and then the purple sleeve reflected in that child’s eyes…
It must have been unintentional. Jeong Yeon-shin’s foot changed direction.
One step.
Jeong Yeon-shin, who had trampled the water in the form of a great concentric circle, struck upward with his palm against Lady Lu Xian’s abdomen. His other arm was pushing up the child with a gentle neutralizing palm technique.
While unleashing such explosive force, he wrapped both people in the gentle true energy of his divine technique. Among them, one stream of energy sealed Lady Lu Xian’s acupoints. It was literally a lightning-fast internal energy release.
“…!”
For the first time, astonishment settled on Lady Lu Xian’s face.
And they were immediately propelled upward by Jeong Yeon-shin’s immense palm strength.
Jjeoeoeoeoeooeng-!
Lady Lu Xian disappeared into the air along with the child in an instant.
Acupoint sealing might not mean much to a transcendent master, but at least for a brief time, movement would be difficult. But it would be possible to save the child.
Soon after, Jeong Yeon-shin, due to the inevitable rebound of his lightness technique, stepped onto the water surface where she had been.
Puhuk-
It was an instant. A sword penetrating deep into his waist. In that moment, the sword energy wave that swirled like a typhoon from its handle deflected the Divine Sword Remaining Thunder that was falling to the water’s surface like a thunderbolt.
It was Heaven Conquering Sect Leader’s strike.
A price that had to be paid. After all, the thrusting strike of the unorthodox path’s finest sword was as swift as the lightness technique Jeong Yeon-shin had just stepped on.
The sword of Heaven Conquering Sect Leader, who had long been acknowledged as a legendary swordsman, still existed above Jeong Yeon-shin’s level, even though he had grown repeatedly during life-and-death duels.
“…What an unlucky day.”
The blind swordsman, frowning, smoothly pulled out his sword and retreated far back. Then he firmly pressed down the conical hat that had fallen behind his neck onto his head.
Kwaaaaaaaaaa-!
Behind him, the water dragons, which had further increased in size, completely entangled with each other and plunged downward. It looked just like a mountain of ice created by the Jade Emperor in the sky.
“……”
Now Jeong Yeon-shin was incapable of resistance. It felt like experiencing the combined attack of Divine Sword Group Leader Yong Hye-myeong and the Zhuge Family Head who was not a monkey by birth.
The sunset glow that had been pouring down from above darkened like pitch black, and the massive ice mountain, raising a mist-like cloud, dyed the water’s surface white.
Kung!
A tremendous shock struck.
As Jeong Yeon-shin was plunged downward, further downward below the river water after being crushed by the entire ice mountain, a stream of voice penetrated his ear.
[The death of the newly appointed Purple Rank must be widely announced.]
It was the voice of the Taimo Mountain Castle Lord.
* * *
……
[Hey, Brother Yeon-shin, do you know how many days have passed?]
A woman’s prudent whisper tickled his mind. It happened just as Jeong Yeon-shin, who had been lying on the stone floor, was regaining consciousness, and her ghost-like insight had activated even before he could lift his eyelids.
Ming Cult Leader Invincible Yelu Zhen.
Unlike what one would expect from the world’s finest genius. She was still annoyingly cunning.
[Watching you recover, I find your body more monstrous than Heaven Conquering Sect Leader’s sword technique. As I mentioned briefly before, those acupoints and muscles… and that energy flow pathway, what kind of intent was used to weave it? Even the Ming Cult’s finest divine technique, the Noble Phoenix Divine Form, would be inferior. I’d love to strip off your clothes and…]
Jeong Yeon-shin shook his head. Simultaneously, a terrible pain surged from the trapezius muscle below the back of his neck.
It was a muscle governing the rotation of the neck, and it seemed to have ended up in this state from trying to follow Heaven Conquering Sect Leader’s sword strike.
The inside of his throat was also rough. Saliva didn’t go down well.
And…
His grip felt empty.
‘Ah.’
He thought of Divine Sword Remaining Thunder, which had flown far away toward Hangzhou.
With that trajectory and force, it would have reached the city center and beyond. There was a high possibility that someone unrelated to the Tang siblings had picked it up.
“…How much time has passed? Why didn’t you take my head with Form Shifting Void?”
[Hmm?]
Yelu Zhen twisted one corner of her mouth.
Looking down at Jeong Yeon-shin with her hands behind her back like a high official.
She had long black hair, dark as the night sky due to her immense demonic energy, and the swaying ends of her hair seemed to mock Jeong Yeon-shin.
[Unless you respond to this cult leader’s questions, I don’t feel like giving you straightforward answers right now. We should respect each other.]
“I heard you’ve lived about three years longer than me.”
[So?]
“Your name means ‘Laughing at Heaven,’ but you’ve wasted your years.”
[Who do you think raised you to become who you are?]
“You’re not on my level. Don’t talk to me anymore.”
[Hey……]
Jeong Yeon-shin let Ming Cult Leader’s words drift past. Suddenly, his surroundings caught his eye.
The stone surfaces were all dark and gloomy, suggesting that there might be a cave below the river.
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