Chapter 279 – Martial Might (7)

“I have already learned from the Fortress Leader.”

Jeong Yeon-shin replied calmly.

Inherit my lineage. It was not likely an offer to form a master-disciple bond. Desolate Fortress’s code forbade such ties between its core warriors.

This stemmed from a fear that personal attachments might sway their duties. Only the Desolate Fortress Leader was free from this code, and Jeong Yeon-shin had received her teachings.

“There is a blind spot in the fortress’s code.”

The Divine Sword Group Leader raised a corner of his mouth.

“What you learn does not make you anyone’s disciple, so you can learn anything from anyone. It means no martial lineages overlap.”

Jeong Yeon-shin did not respond. He simply gazed at his direct superior with wide eyes.

A purple-rank peerless master discussing a loophole in the code.

“Hm? What is it?”

The Divine Sword Group Leader rubbed his slender jawline with a slightly uneasy expression.

A poetic flair emanated from the purple robe steeped in moonlight. It was elegant.

Before his knee ached, Jeong Yeon-shin had not felt this way, but now it was different.

‘Living like that leaves no regrets.’

The conduct of the Divine Sword, representing Desolate Fortress, was indeed unrestrained. Unbound. The term was “unimpeded.”

He had learned this while studying Buddhist martial arts to refine his techniques. Was such bearing necessary to reach a peerless realm?

His niece Jeong Hye and the fortress’s seniors had taught him much. Humility and freedom. Jeong Yeon-shin clasped his fists in salute.

With calm thoughts. As Hye-a’s uncle, who drank the Fortress Leader’s wine, he should act maturely.

“I appreciate your offer, Group Leader, but I must decline. Refining completed martial arts to suit my body holds little value. The Fortress Leader’s Moon Harmony Technique was the same.”

“Huh?”

“It must originate from my own hands, so this junior is unfit to inherit your lineage. Even if I learned your martial arts, it would evolve differently.”

The Divine Sword Group Leader. Leader of the Divine Sword Group’s seventeen generations.

A deeply intertwined bond. Meant to be seen until their last breath, so no need to clash with the current purple-rank.

A lineage was a practitioner’s tradition and identity. No one wished their martial arts to be wholly altered in succession.

Jeong Yeon-shin had already forged his own lineage. There was no place for Dragon Ring Sect.

“Hm.”

The Divine Sword Group Leader tilted his head slightly.

Unlike Desolate Fortress’s mightiest sword, his playful demeanor did not feel merely light.

“Your premise differs. Plenty would eagerly take it.”

“My apologies.”

“No one else catches my eye, but if I grow truly desperate, I will seek you again.”

Lying back with arms as a pillow, the Divine Sword Group Leader clicked his tongue.

“A bit regrettable. I might die in some wilderness without leaving a successor… Well, my stake in your lightness skill is a fraction, so it is fine. You will perfect it soon enough.”

“Die in the wild? Even purple-rank masters do that?”

“Did not the fortress’s elder council leader nearly meet that fate? When a peerless master faces two peers, death can come vainly. The realm does not permit one’s sole dominance. It is damnably vast. How many monsters in cities and hills claim to be Thirteen Evil Sect lords or orthodox sect leaders?”

Lying on the ground with legs crossed, he wiggled his foot.

“No need to reach faction leaders. Human nature resists. They seek gain by any means. Even a peerless master is not easily tolerated. Formations, joint strikes, assassin arts, black-rank group assaults, ultra-long-range archery energy release… Radiant Demon Wing Leader, the realm is vast, and you have not seen half of it.”

“Does twanging a bowstring count as energy release?”

Jeong Yeon-shin asked quietly.

An answer came promptly, casual in tone.

“Of course. Archery martial arts are not to be underestimated. Bows have been the supreme weapon since ancient times. Techniques wielding bow and string with internal energy span ages. If centered in a formation of keen-eared archery masters…”

He shuddered exaggeratedly.

“No idea how I survived to wear this purple robe. I faced it once. Without Dragon Ring Sword leaping out instantly, I would have been done. This was back when I was a black-rank. I almost died because I was so angry that I couldn’t fight back.  Looking back, it was likely their second strike.”

Dragon Ring Sword.

Likely a rainbow-hued blade of internal energy. Supremely mystical, shown during his life-or-death duel with the Namgung Clan Leader.

Jeong Yeon-shin parted his lips quietly.

“They say a senior’s brother died to Ten Li One Kill.”

“Blue-Eyed Demon Sword’s sibling? Quite a famous tale. Who knew a lethal art targeting supreme masters would pierce a novice? I hear it stirred the region. Be cautious. It has unpredictability, and its speed and ferocity make its path uncertain.”

“I will heed it.”

The current Radiant Demon Wing Leader replied calmly.

***

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Translated by Nine Heavens!

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***

“At Martial Dragon Association, there is Namgung’s First Sword. White Qilin’s uncle.”

A serene graveyard. Cheong Myeong’s voice echoed softly over the sprawling grass.

The Radiant Demon Wing Leader and Radiant Demon Wing’s top sword stood side by side. Beneath a night sky so deep the full moon had vanished.

Stars spread wide, emitting faint light, like dew on a night’s edge.

“He told me. Forget your brother to master swordsmanship. Said I was bound by a free spirit. Then he struck my chest with a sword.”

“Sounds like grasping at clouds. A swordsman just needs skilled hands.”

Jeong Yeon-shin replied blankly on purpose.

The Cheong Myeong he knew was a figure of mysterious past like Baek Mi-ryeo, the hardest to read in Radiant Demon Wing.

A senior who trusted and aided him from their first meeting with a mix of cheer and guile. Grief did not suit him.

Cheong Myeong chuckled, his hood’s tail faintly rising blue.

“Need a good body too. Swordsmen are warriors.”

Jeong Yeon-shin fell silent. Was he alluding to his brother’s failure to dodge Ten Li One Kill?

Suddenly, Cheong Myeong clasped his hands behind his neck. A pose Lazy Flame Dragon often took, gazing skyward.

“You know stars have energy, right? Sometimes waves descend.”

“Indeed.”

“Sometimes they fade and dim. Our clan calls them dead stars. When the moon hides, we name them after departed kin. Cheong Su is around there.”

Cheong Myeong pointed into the distance.

An imprecise direction, hard to discern.

Jeong Yeon-shin could see deeply and finely but lacked the sight to focus on dim stars.

That was a noble clan master’s feat.

“Well, it was a chaotic era, so a natural end, I think. Can a warrior hope for a good death? Not dying in the wild is fortune enough. Cheong Su’s body was not intact enough to recover.”

“I will make sure they suffer the same fate..”

“Perhaps. One strike, gone without pain. The real pain was mine. You be careful, Squad Leader. If you die young, I must lead Radiant Demon Wing, and I cannot handle these sturdy troublemakers now.”

Starlight danced in Cheong Myeong’s mystical blue eyes.

Jeong Yeon-shin gazed at his senior and subordinate swordsman, then nodded.

“I will not die young.”

That was it.

The current Radiant Demon Wing Leader then informed Heaven’s Pillar Sect’s leadership.

He conveyed a certain intent and met fierce opposition.

“It cannot be.”

“They are moments from pinpointing our location. They must have probed the terrain endlessly. As when you entered, your movements cannot be free, Radiant Demon Wing Leader.”

“Many elders oppose. Should you not at least hear them?”

“It is beyond qualification. Is it not the village’s survival at stake? How many children have died already?”

Dust from an assassin’s hand at the World Tree lake was the issue.

Unanimously deemed Pursuit Fragrance for Ten Li One Kill. Stepping beyond the formation might draw a fatal strike.

That the village’s exposure was a minor matter came with it.

“The dead do not speak.”

Jeong Yeon-shin muttered to himself as he set out. One hand wielded the Demon-Destroying Azure Unyielding Palm energy.

A commotion erupted behind, but he paid it no mind. He was an adult.

***

[You have emerged.]

A voice tinged with laughter boomed as if encircling all directions. A chilling winter wind pressed against his skin.

Sixfold Sound Transmission. The speaker’s position was elusive. A supreme master’s domain.

[I am Bong-gong of Dark Night Palace, named Go Hwi-il.]

“Go Hwi-il. Cheong Su’s killer.”

Jeong Yeon-shin murmured, breaking through the village’s magical formation.

Bong-gong.

[TL Note- Bong-gong means selfless service to the public or public duty.]

Akin to Buddhist terms like Devoted Service, Selfless Duty, or Guardian Duty.

In the martial world, it often denoted a sect role.

One who prioritized the sect over personal gain, holding near-supreme authority under the leader.

[We have no grudge, but… you are the last disciple of a woman who betrayed our clan. A status deserving death.]

He casually insulted the Desolate Fortress Leader.

A deep grudge seemed to linger among noble clans, but Jeong Yeon-shin had his own concern. This wretch insulted the Fortress Leader.

[The current empire and Desolate Fortress birthed this chaos.

Even ten li around is in turmoil, tainting the moon symbolizing our clan.]

“A coward talks much.”

[Chaos Echoes Ten Li, One Arrow Cleanse the Moon. Our sect’s secret art. Its essence is wiping you out with one arrow, so know it well.]

A haughty voice rang via Sixfold Sound Transmission.

Jeong Yeon-shin closed his eyes.

Sensing vibrations through his skin, he began tracing the invisible sound’s origin relentlessly.

A complete backtrack. His upper dantian’s perception raced.

He sifted through a single voice refracted by countless energy walls.

Ssss—!

An inaudible shockwave. Resonating in the realm of energy waves.

His senses sped like light past ridges, forests, stone walls, and branches, bending in myriad directions.

And finally.

‘Found it.’

His perception opened wide at a stone peak.

A figure loosing a bowstring amid ten in formation.

A robust upper body. Immense energy waves erupted from him. Ten Li One Kill was unleashed.

Force swirling from long fingers shattered like a storm.

Cracks raced from the ground to surrounding stone walls, spiraling energy waves tearing Heaven’s Pillar Mountain’s boulders apart.

The aftermath alone razed the area. Explosive bombardment paled in comparison.

‘It is coming.’

Was the arrow shaft iron-clad? In an instant, a cold texture surged with a shockwave tail.

Even with his upper dantian ablaze, it felt blindingly fast. Unblockable.

A direct hit meant instant death. A sword strike would shatter both blade and body.

A vast path of light etched into his mind.

His upper dantian had long glowed white. The current Radiant Demon Wing Leader, dubbed Lightning Genius, manipulated thought speed. Time around his body slowed.

Ten Li One Kill held sword-flight principles, they said. Energy-guided archery. He had to move when altering its course was impossible.

Jeong Yeon-shin segmented a near-instant into dozens of points. He measured infinitesimal time.

‘Now.’

He leaned forward slightly. His heart’s wheel already spun.

Within his reinforced twelve meridians and full-body acupoints, Luminous Wheel Technique surged ceaselessly.

It locked his neck firmly, gathering star-like energy at the Chengfu, Yinmen, Weizhong acupoints from thigh to calf, and Yongquan at his soles.

His energy path was perfectly woven. He knew the intent to infuse.

The decisive essence. The imagery of supreme martial arts.

‘A dead star. Touching the night air, no matter where.’

Rustle.

He moved his legs. Breathing with divine skill.

The next moment, an earthquake erupted beneath. His vision shifted instantly.

Below, a monstrous shockwave twisted with faint light. His feet trod star shadows.

Whoosh—!

He felt gazes from within the formation—Heaven’s Pillar Sect and Radiant Demon Wing—looking up at him.

He soared along the mountain. Faint light trailed from his toes. Luminous Wheel Technique imbued his lightness skill.

The glow’s edge, unfurling like thin cloth, palely stained ridges, old trees, and massive rocks.

The night mountainside soaked in faint energy light.

So it was when his foot struck the next ground. He unleashed another light in an instant.

Rising straight with dim radiance, he resembled a constellation circling the mountain.

Boom—!

A massive roar echoed from far below. Ten Li One Kill, unable to shift its path.

Jeong Yeon-shin ignored it. He raced through a night piled like bedding. With soaring exhilaration.

His vision narrowed hazily, as if woven by typhoon strands. The forest scenery shifted endlessly.

The wind on his face felt almost plush in its speed.

Then, after his fifth step.

Rustle.

Atop a massive stone peak.

He stepped amid a cluster of cold energy waves. A man loading an arrow stood at the center of a ten-man formation.

Dark Night Palace’s Bong-gong. Pale skin as if steeped in moonlight, with a refined jawline. His long robe’s hem was ashen.

Their eyes met.

“…!”

The rabble around shouted something, unheard.

Time to counter. The enemy could strike fatally anytime. No room for breath.

Jeong Yeon-shin took another step. Dry wind flowed from the Northern Light Sword now gripped in his hand.

The lightness skill was swordsmanship itself. Whoosh—wrapped in faint wind, he passed the formation’s edge.

Bong-gong Go Hwi-il flinched. A diagonal slash behind him flickered white.

Clink.

The Radiant Demon Wing Leader sheathed his sword without looking back. The black robe’s hem, once flared grandly, settled.

“That lightness skill… how…”

The voice from Sixfold Sound Transmission. The faltering, collapsing Bong-gong of Dark Night Palace muttered vainly.

A fatal wound promised death soon. Jeong Yeon-shin glanced at him, hand on his sword’s guard.

“You said Chaos Echoes Ten Li, One Arrow Cleanse the Moon. Chaos rings ten li, so what can an arrow do?”

“Radiant Demon Wing Leader…! Do not mock our secret art. This is merely my…”

“You asked about my lightness skill, so I answered.”

The Bong-gong of Dark Night Palace faced his end. Go Hwi-il shut his mouth.

The current Radiant Demon Wing Leader moved his lips.

A tiny voice sounded. Near a whisper, yet it made the Bong-gong’s long ears twitch.

Then.

“Ha, indeed… you are Desolate Fortress’s seventeen treasured swords…”

After a brief hollow laugh, Bong-gong Go Hwi-il’s eyes lost focus. He met death slowly creeping in.

Repeating the foe’s words that bitterly mocked him to the end.

Ten Li Turmoil. Dead Star’s Gentle Light.

Though ten li roars in chaos,

The starlight remains serene.