Chapter 195 – Lightning-Annihilation Sword Style (3)

“This old uncle’s getting on in years. I forgot something important.”

Taoist Cheon Ju said, glancing down at Yu Hyeon. They had just left Fragrant Melody Courtyard, where the Desolate Fortress envoys were staying.

Amid the calm footfalls of the uncle and nephew on the ochre earth tinged with Mid-Autumn Festival hues, they spoke quietly.

“Ah… You said you had other business with Yeon-shin. If you forgot, doesn’t that mean it wasn’t there?”

Yu Hyeon tilted his head slightly, raising his jet-black eyebrows as he asked.

His Sword Saint uncle was renowned for his sternness even within the sect.

He never forgot duties and held Mount Hua disciples to the same exacting standards he set for himself.

Outside, he was a refined swordmaster; within the sect, a living Yama.

‘I might get ordered to secluded training when we return. He even shared swordplay with Yeon-shin.’

Yu Hyeon’s lips drooped listlessly.

His uncle had shown an unusually lenient side to Jeong Yeon-shin—a rare occurrence.

Earning the Sword Saint’s favor as a swordmaster was no easy feat. Harder than finding real plum blossoms on Mount Hua’s barren peaks, some might say.

Lower-ranked disciples back home might feel envy if they saw it.

Just as Yu Hyeon himself, becoming the sect leader’s disciple young, had been an outsider among peers.

‘Doesn’t Desolate Fortress have that? He’s more extreme than me, yet he gets along with his subordinates. That they’re White Qilin and Lazy Flame Dragon is absurd.’

Noticing his nephew’s odd mood, the uncle patted Yu Hyeon’s head once.

“Weren’t you amazed by the Radiant Demon Wing Leader’s sword refinement?”

Taoist Cheon Ju recalled Jeong Yeon-shin. A strange boy. No longer the white-robed warrior under Ma Jin’s protection in Xi’an.

He’d grown remarkably, beyond imagining what trials he’d faced.

Should he be grateful such uncanny talent belonged to Desolate Fortress? Had it emerged in the unorthodox or evil factions, it’d be a calamity for the martial world.

Yu Hyeon’s fair face turned sulky.

“I can forge a double-edged blade, not just single-edged. I’ve already mastered the first ten techniques of the Plum Blossom Sword Technique.”

“You say that after seeing the Radiant Demon Wing Leader’s sword techniques? Handling such potent energy waves is a long ordeal for you. Ten years too early.”

“Yeon-shin lives several times faster than me, sure. But ten times? I don’t know. No, I’d rather not know—it hampers my focus. It just breeds impatience.”

“Comparison breeds inner demons. Stack your efforts silently, and one day your sword will bloom with dusk’s glow. Good—you’ve grasped the essence of wall-facing training. Settle the Violet Cloud Pill’s energy in your body once we return. I’ll prepare fasting pills.”

“Uncle?”

Their uncle-nephew bond was longstanding. After a few more playful exchanges, the crux emerged.

Yu Hyeon adjusted the white cap atop his topknot.

Venting inferiority about his friend’s talent had even mussed the Taoist symbol.

“You meant to tell Yeon-shin about the Tyrant Sword Leader?”

“Yes.”

Taoist Cheon Ju lightly rubbed near his side. Yu Hyeon, watching with shadowed eyes, spoke.

“Will that man strike Zhongnan again? He’s practically unmatched now…”

“The Qingcheng Sect Leader has passed. Facing him, I found his sword techniques tempered by providence. Had it not been below our main peak, my heart, not the Plum Blossom Sword Formation, would’ve been cut. The Tyrant Sword Leader has become a peerless swordmaster capable of anything. Our sect must prepare. He’ll rise again… a sword storm will sweep Shaanxi.”

The Sword Saint’s tone was unusually grave. Yu Hyeon glanced back suddenly.

“He’s Yeon-shin’s nemesis. Shouldn’t we turn back now and…”

“It’s better told later. A swordmaster facing a duel must temper mind and body. I fear the nemesis tale might dull his blade.”

“Ah.”

Yu Hyeon nodded as if convinced, then paused.

“They say one strike from the Sword Star splits peaks… Well, a Desolate Fortress black-rank should manage face-saving. The Alliance Leader wouldn’t use assassins either.”

The issue’s my meager skill. The young Taoist muttered self-deprecatingly, then looked up.

“By the way, I heard the Tang Clan’s arrived. Why so late? After the Opening Tournament…”

“Sichuan’s in chaos too. The Pure Demon Alliance’s key masters fell to Jeong Yeon-shin, and the Ten Perfections Sect Leader’s in critical condition, they say. For the Tang Clan to dominate Sichuan, surpassing the Dragon-Phoenix Alliance would’ve sufficed… but lately, it’s unified into a single faction, the Golden Wing Sect, not the Alliance. Resistance must’ve been fierce. I don’t know why the Tang Family Head came to Hanzhong in person.”

Then.

Taoist Cheon Ju’s eyes darkened mid-conversation.

“Yu Hyeon.”

“Yes?”

“From afar, the Radiant Demon Wing Leader’s energy wave ripples like a tempest. Something’s afoot.”

***

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Translated by Nine Heavens!

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***  

Meanwhile

Jeong Yeon-shin advanced with Zhuge Qing-ya.

Time was scarce.

The window when family head-level figures were absent was less than half an hour, she’d said. Zhuge Qing-ya didn’t know where they were.

She only guessed they might be at Clear Crane Tower’s top floor, before the Alliance headquarters.

A place where high figures like Yan Hwa-ryeon secretly indulged in revelry.

A Desolate Fortress Leader couldn’t handle family heads.

It was obvious. A clear fact.

Three Leaders at the black-rank’s edge had jointly attacked the Hwangbo Family Head.

Just as Jeong Yeon-shin had swiftly felled foes of similar prowess, he could fall the same way.

Near-purple-rank masters were absolute feudal lords anywhere in the martial world, it was said.

Due to rank and status, figures like the Zhuge and Murong Family Heads, observing the Opening Tournament, looked down on the boy.

Natural, given his age and standing.

‘Must seize it before they return.’

The boy thought.

Failing to secure Azure Qilin’s body in time would make it a reckless strike against the Zhuge Family without solid cause.

He’d be cornered. Right now, Jeong Yeon-shin was invading the Zhuge Family’s core within the Alliance.

Even if the Zhuge Family Head’s fan took his head, none could object.

Such was martial world logic.

After some outlaws, branded traitors, escaped annihilation with elusive movement techniques, the imperial court outwardly distanced itself from Desolate Fortress.

Due to dynastic dignity, Desolate Fortress’s foes weren’t deemed rebels.

In the end, only power remained between the martial world and Desolate Fortress. Thus, the Martial Alliance formed.

With the Alliance now established.

The Eight Families’ heads united could challenge Desolate Fortress.

Martial artists with cause and might could do anything. This wasn’t ordinary.

Hence, Desolate Fortress’s leadership sent the unprecedentedly new talented Radiant Demon Wing Leader—to break the Alliance’s morale preemptively.

Now, the endgame.

A race against time.

Tap!

Dust rose with each ground strike. Walls and pavilions flashed by.

He had to draw the crowd’s eyes while running. Even as a one-off mission, it was immensely difficult.

Reason and rage tangled. Though he grounded his energy control in logic, he felt aging at intervals.

It was as if sharp maple leaves pierced his head.

A clear tinnitus, movements laced with killing intent, energy waves steeped in fury, an upper dantian gleaming colder than reason.

“The main gate… an intruder…!”

“With the young lady!”

“A hostage?”

“It’s the Radiant Demon Wing Leader! Deploy full force!”

Many blocked his lightness technique dash. Seven in the front line, with more charging from behind in layers.

Their green robes bore a white crane on the left chest. None showed a hint of underestimating the boy.

Zhuge Family’s Virtuous Heaven Squad. A gender mixed martial force. Each flashed remarkable energy gleam.

They excelled in formation martial arts, it was said. The family’s elite.

Whoosh!

An artificial wind rose from their bodies. A tangible energy wave. It billowed like clouds, brushing skin.

Clearly, a refined formation activated. Likely the famed Cloud Soul Severing Formation.

Not a typical formation.

It didn’t rely on mechanical traps or surroundings, resonating their cultivated internal energy techniques in specific positions to boost power and slow foes, he’d heard.

Yue Shou-lin, the Desolate Fortress Divine Spear, had warned him before departure.

—If they know your energy nature and use weird sword formations? Don’t charge in—shatter their energy wave first. When I trashed their base and earned blue rank, I nearly crossed the Three Rivers alone showing off to those sneaky Zhuge b*st*rds. Don’t you do it. They’re damn petty. Their joint attacks are a mess.

The senior, whose demeanor belied his age, seemed to chatter in his ear.

A martial force like a family’s face matched the might of Desolate Fortress’s Divine Sword Squad.

Tremendous power. Even briefly holding a black-rank supreme master would convince anyone.

That wouldn’t do.

‘Fast.’

Shattering their energy wave was vague. Means were rare. But Jeong Yeon-shin had a fitting method.

Whoosh!

A jet-black gale coiled around his black robe’s trouser hem. The Luminous Wheel Technique raced to his calf’s Middle Capital acupoint, scattering as light.

In an instant, the three acupoints around his ankle donned formless armor.

Emission incantation. A stride born from the Lord of Desolate Fortress’s wine cup stirred.

‘Radiant Wing Step.’

Boom!

A step piercing momentum to create an opening. A wave of energy spread from his planted foot.

A colorless ripple pushed the air. A fleeting moment.

It reached the dense energy wave the seven warriors exhaled, unraveling it outward as if reversed.

Formation logic is intricate. Resonance from each axis birthed power.

For a versatile formation like the Virtuous Heaven Squad’s Cloud Soul Severing Formation, it intensified. In an instant, their strength dispersed.

Pine needles floating above their heads began settling like fluff.

Ten paces from the Radiant Demon Wing Leader.

“…!”

Zhuge Family’s Virtuous Heaven Squad. Twitching eyebrows or faintly gaping mouths, yet they didn’t halt their charge.

The family’s resilience? Their spirit as kin was formidable. They surged like honed, cutting winds.

The dust from each step was clear. Refined movement techniques.

Their skill matched. The formation’s axis seemed poised to realign. Pine needles scattered again from the reviving energy wave among them.

Restoring it just before clashing would be ideal; even if not, they’d hold their ground with resolve.

Their paths might tangle with comrades rushing from behind.

Fine.

The boy thought.

The true threat was the returning Zhuge Family Head.

A small Desolate Fortress contingent, secretly trailing to ensure the youngest Leader’s safety, hadn’t intervened even against the Heart Martial Alliance horde.

But it’d differ with family head-level foes.

It could escalate into a faction war, intent aside. He had to finish before it grew messy.

‘Movement technique, Wind Body.’

Snap!

He sharply contracted the tibialis anterior muscle from toes to calf with energy.

Full-body micro-muscles pulsed between contraction and expansion. Fallen leaves swirled beneath his feet.

As a gust brushed his eyelids, the Virtuous Heaven Squad’s faces loomed suddenly. He closed in fast.

Before the Cloud Soul Severing Formation could recover. In a flash, Zhuge Qing-ya’s presence lagged behind with the onlookers.

“Draw swords!”

The lead Virtuous Heaven Squad master shouted like a battle cry.

Though shock lingered on her slender face, she leaped gracefully, thrusting her sword.

Her trailing leg aligned with the blade. Turning herself into an arrow, she honed the sword strike’s energy wave into a single line. A deeply cultivated stance of sword-body unity.

Papapak!

The foes fanning left and right closed in like a phoenix’s wings.

Even without formation finesse, they struck jointly with exceptional spacing. Narrow sword tips from their Heron Peak Swords split pine needles and maple leaves.

The piercing energy waves rustled like leaves clashing. The air rang coldly.

No carelessness. A life-or-death strike.

Within the upper dantian’s accelerating sensitivity, like a beam of light.

The boy realized anew.

His name now resounded across all realms.

Not a late-blooming talent famed only in South Zhili’s Clear Night Valley, nor a rising master called king solely in insular Sichuan.

He’d fully entered the martial world’s domain in Hanzhong.

A supreme master watched by the martial world today.

The realm’s forests of blades and mountains of swords no longer saw him as a boy. As they honored masters, lesser foes would risk their lives too.

Black-rank peers would prepare killing techniques from the start. Conquering the Opening Tournament ended any chance for flukes.

To survive the martial world’s bloodthirsty sword forests aiming to kill the Radiant Demon Wing Leader, he’d face them head-on—or die like his past foes.

The Virtuous Heaven Squad master’s strike bearing down told him so. The air’s sharp texture grazed his skin.

‘Eternal Blossom Fist.’

The boy planted the Luminous Wheel Technique in his right scapula’s Heavenly Ancestor acupoint, contracting his biceps.

In the instant micro-movements of muscle and meridians amplified internal energy, a power surge erupted fiercely.

The Luminous Wheel Technique burst like a thunderbolt from his back. His right fist tore the air apart.

With the fist technique’s energy wave brushing his ears, he surged sideways.

Second Technique, Advancing Thunder.

Kwaaang—!

The punch swallowed even the recoil and soared. Shattered sword fragments mingled into the gale.

Sunlight reflected off the metal shards swept across the Virtuous Heaven Squad master’s face.

Midair, she spiraled down like a leaf, gasping futilely as if her sternum had caved under the energy emission’s direct hit. Unable to withstand Advancing Thunder’s aftermath.

The boy didn’t pause at her shrill cry. Joint sword strikes pierced a single breath. Three from the left, three from the right.

Movements honed to hunt high-level masters were apt. Too late to maneuver.

No triumph gleamed on their faces. Expressions thrusting swords at point-blank range were impassive.

Even at a glance, they exerted full effort to leave no gaps in their sword momentum.

The boy unclenched the fist he’d raised. As five fingers spread, the sword fragments scattering light halted in place.

The Lesser Yin, Labor Palace, and Middle Finger acupoints in his palm flared hot instantly. Absorption and emission incantations struck a delicate balance.

‘If the martial world fully regards me as the Radiant Demon Wing Leader, I’ll act with the refinement of one.’

Myriad Heavens Flower Rain.

A clash without retreat between the Zhuge Family and the Radiant Demon Wing Leader. Jeong Yeon-shin’s steps blazed with radiant streaks, true to his name.