Chapter 264 – The Master of the Martial Book

One year ago, the Yu Ling Leader of the Thirteen Evil Sects issued a command to his successor.

“Study the martial world thoroughly. The realm is vast.”

It was amid orchestrating a grand scheme.

The Young Lord accepted this not-so-novel directive anew.

His master often imbued a single remark with profound intent.

Failure to grasp the underlying meaning meant exclusion from his side. There had been about five previous Young Lords.

While tirelessly working to fulfill the long-standing plan to destroy Desolate Fortress, it was only proper to first scrutinize the imperial sword.

He came to know of Lightning Genius Jeong Yeon-shin. It began with the life-and-death duel between Desolate Fortress and the Namgung Family.

His achievements were astonishing. Not merely the victory in the duel, but the fact that he earned the favor of such a formidable rival left one utterly dumbfounded.

Azure Qilin Namgung Se-jin was a figure whom the young masters of various great factions regarded as a rival in the martial world’s race for dominance.

In a world where heroes vied for supremacy, he stood ahead in reputation and talent. The name Brilliant River was a legacy other contenders could not attain in life.

Lightning Genius’s encounter with the Seventh Apostle of the Blood Flame Sect also sparked envy among the young warriors of the evil outer path.

The starting point of the affair between Desolate Fortress and Namgung was her abduction of Lightning Genius.

Yet Jeong Yeon-shin returned in fine form, stronger than before. Examining their subsequent paths revealed some overlapping routes.

“She was a figure of note from the start. As a warrior, she reached an absurdly early pinnacle, yet was she not born with the noblest blood in the Blood Flame Sect? With the True Blood Physique, standing above all blood techniques in the realm, her contact with Lightning Genius, rumored to rival a grandmaster in talent…”

“Keep it in mind. It is beyond our control now.”

The Young Lord received various reports matter-of-factly.

“With the Desolate Fortress Leader personally showing up to annihilate the Blood Flame Sect’s main base, rashly framing her might turn her gaze toward us. The time is not yet ripe. Regardless, the decline of the Fortress Leader and the world tree is near. No need to provoke a martial god on the cusp of transcendence. Focus on Xinjiang rather than Xiangyang. That young cult leader, I mean.”

“Your command will be obeyed.”

The era when Desolate Fortress oppressed the Ming Dynasty’s martial world.

Outlaws could not thrive. Wisdom gleaned from texts and scrolls was valued as highly as martial prowess.

Yu Ling prized both. It was a great faction adept at schemes and intrigue.

The Young Lord inherited that disposition.

Was it the arrogance that naturally cloaked one who wielded both word and sword? Or perhaps a reluctance to heed an entity entering from beyond the martial world’s order?

Even after witnessing the downfall of previous Young Lords, he somewhat dismissed Lightning Genius’s extraordinariness. Azure Qilin and the Seventh Apostle? Were they not from declining sects?

The martial world’s sky was vast. It held countless comets. The rise of new talents was a frequent occurrence.

With an attitude he should not have harbored, he delayed his master’s task. Once Lightning Genius donned the black robe, he adopted the stance of one savoring an intriguing tale.

A third-party perspective. The Young Lord of the Thirteen Evil Sects’ evil outer path faction did not wish to expose his petty true face. He aimed to handle Lightning Genius’s affairs leisurely.

“The imperial sword must not grow this strong. Uproot it entirely.”

And so it came to this.

Boom!

Yu Ling’s secret technique, the Dark Motion Time Leap Method, split a brief moment into dozens of fragments.

The time it took for an image reflected in the eyes to register in the mind.

Right after the Radiant Demon Wing Leader, whose form seemed segmented, severed the Water King Sect Leader’s right arm and, in a single clash, split the upper body of the protector guarding the Young Lord.

A white storm rose on the snowfield, scattering sunlight. The shockwave slicing through flesh was truly immense.

Lightning Genius Jeong Yeon-shin.

He grew rapidly larger in the Young Lord’s vision.

Was it because this moment was so fleeting? The black robe, stretching like lightning without even swaying, left an impression.

A colossal lotus of lightning enveloped his body, rippling colorlessly, unmistakably akin to a monstrous force.

Lightning Genius did not turn to confirm the clash’s outcome.

It was fine. In truth, the protector, ranked among Yu Ling’s mightiest, failed to serve as a decisive weapon in a faction war.

She turned toward her Young Lord before collapsing. Instant death. Their gazes never met.

The Young Lord suddenly wondered.

‘How many supreme masters capable of facing a Desolate Fortress black robe alone does he cut down?’

And he asked himself.

‘Did I call him a sprout? Referring to him…’

Could one slay the Ghost White Divine Sword by borrowing a single move from the Swimming Heaven Sword Ghost?

Could one settle a match with the Shaanxi Top Demon under the assumption of opposing energy?

Impossible. A skill permitted only to a mistake of the heavens.

Something he had unwittingly buried deep within.

The Young Lord finally fully grasped jealousy and envy. It came with the terrifying thrill of the sword light charging toward him.

Unassailable. That infuriatingly refined and youthful face was swiftly obscured.

Wielding the sword indifferently with fluttering black sleeves was overwhelming. A blue streak of light filled his vision like lightning.

Splat!

***

Snowflakes swirled along the ridge.

Dry pine needles carried by the white mountain wind clashed and fell. The crisp winter sound resounded vividly over the snowfield ridge.

The battle ceased. It was after two supreme masters worthy of challenging a Desolate Fortress black robe fell.

An extreme swordmaster lay motionless, head buried in the snow.

A figure who greatly aided the Young Lord’s dominance in the martial world met his end. A chillingly cold death.

On one side, Water King Sect Leader Wei Shi-he clutched his empty right shoulder, eyes rolled back.

His body had stiffened entirely in death. The aftermath of the Radiant Demon Wing Leader’s sword strike had worsened his critical injury. He seemed to have lost his life to unbearable pain.

And the Young Lord lay on the ground.

“Guh, guhaha…”

The noble’s silk robe was slashed diagonally. The trace of a sword strike that surged like lightning.

Blood seeped from the razor-sharp trajectory. A fatal wound hard to reverse. A sword path bridging this world and the Three Rivers of the underworld.

The Young Lord coughed up blood once before parting his lips with effort.

“Why… did you not slay me with one strike…?”

“The thousand-year Ginseng.”

Jeong Yeon-shin answered calmly.

The flower of Ultimate Thunder that had enveloped him had vanished. With his current skill, sustaining it longer was difficult.

He first had to endure the pain rising in his organs, as if his acupoints were constricting and his minor vessels tearing.

‘It hurts.’

He never showed it. With enemies still strewn across the land, he ought to feign strength if nothing else.

“Speak. Where is it?”

“Guh, guh… Even if I die here, you cannot handle the Tyrant Sword Sect Leader. Even if you escape down the mountain… our Leader will seek vengeance. This affair… was ordered by my master from the start.”

“Thank you.”

“…!”

Jeong Yeon-shin paid no heed to the Young Lord’s wide-eyed expression. Feeling a mystical aura emanating from his chest, he snatched a wooden box upward.

He had been activating the Lowly Revelation Technique up close. The flow of energy had caught his eye.

“Truly… a monster beyond compare…”

The Young Lord let out a hollow laugh. Then he continued.

“Obtaining it is not the end. Rather, in the martial world, it is the beginning. Protecting it will be the greater challenge. I hear the Mount Hua Sect Leader has arrived… With the Mount Hua Sword Saint bedridden now, I wonder if they will permit you the elixir.”

“Is it not just one root? My companion said the earth’s veins lead to the elixir.”

“…”

The suddenly mentioned Jang Sun-il flinched from behind. Jeong Yeon-shin ignored it and raised his sword. He added slowly.

“Rarely does one offer medicine alongside a disease, yet you are more generous than the heavens.”

“They say you excel at twisting people’s insides… Finish it.”

It was the moment the Young Lord twisted his lips upward.

A thud echoed bleakly. The Northern Light Sword pierced his torso and plunged into the snow.

The hands of Desolate Fortress warriors were said to be no less ruthless than the military. Jeong Yeon-shin was no exception. There was no mercy for the Thirteen Evil Sects’ Young Lord who exploited his niece’s life.

Red blood soaked the snow around his back.

To the masters’ ears, the faint sound of melting snow mingled with the Young Lord’s small laugh.

“Radiant Demon Wing Leader… You are not a sprout. You are a divine elixir.”

“What.”

“And elixirs growing in the martial world are usually…”

Plucked by someone’s hand. The Young Lord could not finish. The Radiant Demon Wing Leader had pulled the sword from his abdomen upward.

A great groan erupted. Losing strength entirely, he exhaled only rasping breaths.

The Young Lord chuckled weakly. His jealousy knows no end.

Crunch.

Jeong Yeon-shin turned silently. It was after confirming the moment his breath ceased.

He shook the Northern Light Sword once sharply.

Drip drip.

Blood sprayed in a straight line. Some warriors of the Water King Sect and Thirteen Evil Sects recoiled in premature alarm.

Not the behavior of those who had reigned as strongmen in a vast region.

Was Ultimate Thunder that striking? Even the white path warriors remaining on the ridge grew cautious.

He had no leisure to spare them a glance. Even a single swing brought immense recoil.

Hundreds of needles seemed to stab his arm’s interior, and enduring the nagging pain left no room to notice others. He had to move his legs, pretending strength.

“Let us go.”

He spoke to Jang Sun-il and the Bei Gong siblings standing afar.

This time, their reactions diverged oppositely. The Ice Palace nobles’ expressions differed from Jang Sun-il’s.

They could not mirror the dazed herb gatherer boy. Their distinct features revealed profound emotion, even a hint of admiration.

“I hope you visit the Ice Palace someday.”

“The Palace Lord would suppress even a temperament sharper than an icicle blade.”

The four’s steps continued quietly.

None dared pursue.

For a while, only the crunch of snow underfoot sounded. Behind the white footprints trailed a serene silence.

***

Read only at nineheavens.org

Translated by Nine Heavens!

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***

Using dharma power, he broke through the array. It was after the Bei Gong siblings’ renewed gasps of awe.

The brief respite did not last.

The moment the transparent barrier lifted, chaos unfolded again. The clash of energy waves roared.

Snow clumps fell from tall cypress and pine branches.

The battle sparked by rumors of the thousand-year Polygonum neared its end.

“Get out! Get away!”

“Fleeing is right! We cannot face that!”

“The Fourth Apostle of the Blood Flame Sect!”

Amid hundreds of presences strewn like weeds, an especially sinister energy wave surged upward.

Terrifying speed. A chaotic power fluctuation, like a giant bat, rippled swiftly.

It raced up the steep terrain as if it were flat. It felt almost like flight, and its path aimed at Jeong Yeon-shin’s group.

Nearly a straight line. As if honed by extraordinarily acute senses.

Countless presences met death. Without slowing, it reaped dozens of lives per strike.

The Fourth Apostle of the Blood Flame Sect, they said. A fitting prowess indeed. That was the problem. With his current internal injuries, victory was uncertain.

“Take cover.”

Jeong Yeon-shin said, eyes narrowing.

He gazed at the opposite hill. It would come from there. A matter of life and death.

“And.”

He spoke again. Without waiting for a reply, he gestured briefly toward his satchel.

Clatter.

The true energy wave of Myriad Heavens Flower Rain pulsed from his grip. Books drawn from the satchel floated upward, pages fluttering in the air.

Herb gatherer Jang Sun-il’s mouth parted slightly. The books swirling around Jeong Yeon-shin held a strange mystique.

“Sun-il, you said your family’s enemy was an evil sect. Take one. It might help. I cannot give you the elixir.”

“Yes, yes…?”

The moment Jang Sun-il asked blankly.

A massive shockwave resounded from the opposite hill.

Boom!

A recoil from a lightness technique dash. A figure in a red robe soared like a falcon. A man with jet-black hair like ebony.

“Right on target.”

Eyes gleaming red as if congealed with blood swept over the group. Blood dripped from both arms.

A formidable energy wave cloaked his body, with faint blood-red currents flashing sporadically in a translucent vortex. He seemed capable of anything.

Indeed, he had slain dozens in one sweep on his ascent.

Even Desolate Fortress’s black robe supreme masters would need full preparation against such a foe. It had to be so if he was the Blood Flame Sect’s Fourth Apostle.

“The description falls short! I must kill that fire b*st*rd!”

The Fourth Apostle shouted gleefully from midair, looking down at Jeong Yeon-shin. His toothy grin was utterly sinister. He seemed ready to strike boldly at any moment.

“Grandmaster, the one impersonating the Sect Leader is targeting you. If you don’t come with me…”

Then.

Hum.

The sky darkened. Red light rose from the earth.

They met dreamlike from above and below. The Fourth Apostle’s waist was at the center. Like a horizon.

A reddish sunset bloomed along the dimly stretched boundary. Shock spread across the Fourth Apostle’s face.

“Violet Dawn Divine Technique…!”

In an instant, his body split in two.

Splat!

Blood scattered like petals. The gruesome sight felt like refined artistry. Utterly surreal.

Jeong Yeon-shin could not confirm the Fourth Apostle’s end. It was wiser to heed the plum blossom scent silently approaching from his side.

The Mount Hua Sect Leader, Brilliant Jade Sword God Lu Xia. Her clear breath accompanied a whisper brushing his ear.

“Complete Compendium of Evil Sect Annihilation, Draft. Authored by Lightning Genius. Section on the Thirteen Evil Sects…?”

The Radiant Demon Wing Leader knew what she saw without turning. It must be the table of contents in one of the books spread around him. It comprised six parts.

1. Tyrant Sword Sect  

2. Blood Flame Sect  

3. Heart Martial Alliance  

4. Ten Perfections Sect  

5. Pure Demon Alliance  

6. Yu Ling  

“What is this…?”

Doubt tinged Lu Xia’s voice.