Chapter 383 – Under Heaven (7)

The divine sword Remaining Thunder returned to Jeong Yeon-shin’s hand. It had flowed back from the Golden Wing Sect Leader’s abdomen like water.

The sky above Yunhui Peak.

The two people remained suspended.

Whoosh.

The Golden Wing Sect Leader, her entire body wreathed in blue flames, slightly lowered her head toward Jeong Yeon-shin.

The flames that scattered from her neck like feathers when she nodded. She resembled the incarnation of the golden pheasant that devours dragons.

Rather than auspicious, she exuded an extremely high transcendence.

“That was quite sharp.”

A clear voice softly rang out.

Jeong Yeon-shin glanced at the Golden Wing Sect Leader’s narrow abdomen.

It was visible through the blue flames.

A faint bloodstain had seeped into her golden front panel. The trace of the Mind-controlling sword. It seemed her skin had been slightly torn. That was all.

‘This is an absurd protective energy.’

The speed and intensity of her internal energy barrier, and her ability to absorb and disperse force were tremendous. She was incomparable to any enemy he had faced before.

Swish.

Sichuan’s foremost beauty extended her hand.

She appeared to be targeting Jeong Yeon-shin’s brow. Golden waves spread from the tips of her white fingers.

The energy wave that had earlier bound Jeong Yeon-shin’s body like a statue. The fierce wind that had been violently lifting both their clothes suddenly subsided.

Blue light flashed in Jeong Yeon-shin’s eyes.

‘Judgment Qilin, incantation variation.’

White and red energy waves surged like waves from his hand gripping the sword, extending to the sword edge.

Brilliant River and Blood Energy. Not simultaneous operation. In that brief moment, he had continuously alternated between raising the energy waves.

The veins on Jeong Yeon-shin’s hand writhed.

The divine sword Remaining Thunder, wrapped in red and white currents, greatly struck upward against the golden waves.

Splat!

The golden waves scattered like foam to the left and right.

The divine skill that blocked the movement of true energy in the opponent’s body had been broken for the second time.

But the Golden Wing Sect Leader’s beautiful face remained expressionless. Only her jet-black bob hair rippled upward in the returning gale.

She moved her lips.

It was as swift as if she had deployed oral technique.

“Stitching Sound.”

A crystalline voice echoed in multiple layers. As if several Golden Wing Sect Leaders had spoken simultaneously. The characteristic incantation of spell martial arts.

In the blink of an eye, a massive golden light cluster arose from her palm in the form of a ring.

It was semi-transparent yet incredibly dense. In an instant, it swelled like a tidal wave and engulfed Jeong Yeon-shin as it passed.

Suddenly, all the true energy flowing through his body froze in place.

‘It’s different now.’

Jeong Yeon-shin thought.

The Golden Wing Sect Leader’s quality had changed with the short incantation “Stitching Sound.” Her presence had become as faint as if she had entered another world.

Like a ghost manifesting. It was similar to what he had once felt from the Zhuge Clan Leader.

Spell martial art True Dragon Heaven-Treading Divine Technique.

It seemed to be a state that made the blocking technique stronger and faster. It was using the power of the Dragon-Slaying Heaven-Treading Technique in a lethal way.

Unlike the Zhuge Clan Leader, she hadn’t separately prepared formations, spell techniques, or dharma treasures.

Whoosh!

The Golden Wing Sect Leader’s face filled Jeong Yeon-shin’s vision. Void treading. She had raised her leg upward to close the distance with Jeong Yeon-shin.

They were suddenly close. Her hand, wrapped in brilliant golden light, pressed the void in front of Jeong Yeon-shin’s abdomen.

At that spot, golden radiance split vertically like lightning, flickering violently.

She struck without even touching. It was a distance strike.

Boom!

A hazy shockwave swept the sky.

Jeong Yeon-shin’s form was driven vertically into the ground. His back collided violently with the earth, making a thud— sound before bouncing back up in an instant.

He naturally raised his body with the Iron Plate Bridge technique. Blood trickled from his lips.

[TL Note-  “Iron Plate Bridge” – a martial arts technique where one falls backward with a straight body, similar to dropping a metal plate, but without letting the head or back touch the ground.]

Jeong Yeon-shin had somehow managed not to lose his grip on Remaining Thunder’s hilt.

The ground around his feet trembled with a faint earthquake. It was the aftermath of the distance strike he had just endured. Even after channeling considerable force into the ground, this was the result.

His abdomen ached. The sensation of muscles tearing from side to side while simultaneously twisting in different directions.

His fascia had ruptured. At least his internal organs, momentarily compressed, had returned to their original shape. That was the power of the Jeong Family Dynamic Technique at its pinnacle.

Yunhui Peak.

He had returned to the hill where the martial competition had begun.

The scene was different from before. The crowd that had filled the mountainside now had gaps here and there. The Emei monks were also nowhere to be seen.

Jeong Yeon-shin clutched his abdomen with true energy while looking ahead.

Swish.

His eyes met those of the Golden Wing Sect Leader as she landed softly. Her golden eyes, which had taken on a golden hue, seemed to be urging surrender.

None among the crowd dared to speak.

This was Sichuan’s foremost beauty visiting the gathering of Sichuan people. It was different from when the Ten Perfections Sect Leader was present.

“I’ll forgive you once. Make yourself into a net.”

The Golden Wing Sect Leader said in a low voice.

The same words as before. The role of binding the rain dragon’s movements with the Myriad Heavens Flower Rain. In her mind, there seemed to be no concept of people. Only the image of the dragon was vivid.

Jeong Yeon-shin slowly opened his mouth.

“A technique that blocks the movement of true energy. Is it martial arts?”

“It’s spell martial arts.”

She answered readily. An attitude without any wariness.

It didn’t just come across as the leisure of an absolute being. Jeong Yeon-shin thought the Golden Wing Sect Leader was quite skilled at provocation.

“Why don’t you use it on the rain dragon instead of trying to capture the Myriad Heavens Flower Rain?”

“Spells don’t work on it.”

The Golden Wing Sect Leader replied matter-of-factly.

Jeong Yeon-shin inwardly nodded. It made sense that techniques manipulating natural qi wouldn’t work on a mystical creature at the pinnacle of strength beyond human comprehension.

It seemed that only internal energy techniques originating from true energy absorption, internal energy skills, could damage it. This was something worth knowing when considering the purple martial world.

“Last time, didn’t you say my Myriad Heavens Flower Rain lacked depth?”

“Depth, yes? For catching people it’s fine. But dragons are different in size, so power is important.”

“Why are you so determined to catch the rain dragon?”

“Because that’s the way things are. Why are you curious? Do you want to join?”

The Golden Wing Sect Leader asked with a slightly slurred pronunciation. She had already pressed the cracked side of her gourd to her lips.

She seemed to be trying to lick up all the wine that had formed like dew.

Thud.

Jeong Yeon-shin silently took a step forward while staring at her. He could still sense her ghostly or smoke-like faint presence… While displaying conduct that suggested she existed alone in the world, she was maintaining the “Stitching Sound” state. So that she could subdue him at any moment.

“So the Dragon-Slaying Heaven-Treading Technique has two forms. When facing people, you combine mystical spell martial arts, and when hunting mystical creatures, you use pure energy alone.”

Jeong Yeon-shin said with clear eyes. The Golden Wing Sect Leader, who had removed her lips from the gourd, nodded.

“Yes. The two together are the True Dragon Heaven-Treading Divine Technique.”

“My martial arts aim for short decisive battles. For now, I don’t have many variations.”

“I already guessed that. Why are you telling me?”

“Martial artists value appearances.”

Jeong Yeon-shin spoke while thinking of the Tang siblings. In this moment, the stability of the common people was secondary. 

The enemy of the Dragon Phoenix Twin Poisons. He intended to take revenge as a martial artist with Remaining Thunder in hand. That was why he had specifically mentioned the Lightning Genius martial lineage. It was the face-saving characteristic of martial artists.

Perhaps sensing his killing intent, the Golden Wing Sect Leader furrowed her brow.

“What about the Tang children if you die… How are the Tang children? Are they well? Or should I recruit the Tang Clan Leader?”

There was no answer.

Jeong Yeon-shin’s body distorted and disappeared from its spot.

Jjeoooong—!

The sight of him bringing down his sword right before the Golden Wing Sect Leader’s eyes. Dirt rose like waves on both sides of Remaining Thunder’s pure white blade.

A semi-transparent shockwave spread immediately afterward, violently shaking the ground.

It was just the beginning.

The two people’s hands and feet became entangled. The sword light of Remaining Thunder continuously flashed.

The Dragon-Slaying Heaven-Treading Technique’s golden waves, emitting terrifying pressure, intertwined with the sword energy waves of the Brilliant River and Blood Energy. The sight of white and red threads unraveling from within the golden mist.

Jjeojeojeong! Boom!

It was different from before. This wasn’t an exchange of brief strikes.

Jeong Yeon-shin poured out all the forms of the Thunder Annihilation Sword Style.

After closing the distance between his sword and the Golden Wing Sect Leader with Judgment Qilin, even if only briefly, he unleashed the compressed power in his sword with the second form, Advancing Thunder, amid the storm of energy waves that roughly scraped his skin.

Whenever the Golden Wing Sect Leader’s hands, wrapped in golden light, exploded with energy waves like thunderbolts, he scattered the shockwaves with the counterattack form, Brilliant Sword Like Scales, drawing chaotic trajectories from the red flower of the Great Flame Dragon.

Boom!

Suddenly his vision shook. Right after being swept by a golden wave that had suddenly risen, the Golden Wing Sect Leader’s fist was embedded in Jeong Yeon-shin’s solar plexus.

The circular shockwave spreading from her fist surface endlessly dug into the ground at both their feet, making a cracking sound.

The True Dragon Heaven-Treading Divine Technique’s Stitching Sound state. A powerful blocking technique wielded with lightning speed.

Cough—

Jeong Yeon-shin coughed blood.

In his momentarily dazed mind, the faces of the Tang siblings flashed and disappeared. Along with the protective energy of starlight they had given him in clusters.

He thought: Not yet.

“Your endurance is… Should I use a blade? Your swordsmanship is more marvelous.”

Just as the Golden Wing Sect Leader, who had widened her round eyes even further, was muttering, Jeong Yeon-shin struck her hand with his left elbow with a bang! and released Remaining Thunder from his right hand.

“Mind-controlling sword? No.”

Woong—!

Along with the Golden Wing Sect Leader’s crystalline voice, another golden light cluster swept the surroundings.

Jeong Yeon-shin caught Remaining Thunder, which was falling powerlessly, and spun in place.

Jjeojeong!

It was the Thunder Annihilation Sword Style again.

His hand began to tremble slightly. With each exchange, the impact accumulated. Each of the Golden Wing Sect Leader’s strikes was overwhelmingly powerful.

He sensed that if he allowed a hit without immediately channeling the foot energy through his entire musculature, the struck area would explode.

Splat—!

The Golden Wing Sect Leader’s distance strike erupted at close range. The flesh of Jeong Yeon-shin’s right shoulder and left thigh burst with blood.

His wrist was becoming increasingly unresponsive.

His meridians felt like they would tear. The battle itself was like a hell of endurance.

Time, which had never been on his side since birth, was wrapping his body and mind in a dull sensation. He couldn’t count how many forms had passed.

Only his heightened senses burned hot.

His entire body seemed to be turning white from the Baihui acupoint. Even the body hair was thoroughly analyzing the energy waves emitted by his opponent as they brushed against him.

How was the true energy blocking accomplished? Was the Golden Wing Sect Leader’s energy, said to break even a rain dragon’s scales, really just this powerful? If he were to deploy the Luminous Wheel that Transcends Law Energy here, how would it collide with the Dragon-Slaying Heaven-Treading Technique?

His vision grew hazy.

Only the trajectories drawn by the Golden Wing Sect Leader’s hands and feet remained clear.

Each time the True Dragon Heaven-Treading Divine Technique’s Dragon-Climbing Heaven-Treading Art climbed his back with extreme speed, Jeong Yeon-shin’s blue eye light scanned the positions of her inner psoas muscle, knee, and forefoot.

It was his usual habit. All the forms were gradually being engraved in his unconscious.

The familiar state of no-self was approaching.

No immediate victory was in sight. Only one theme was becoming increasingly clear in his mind.

He thought: What would Bodhidharma and Zhang Sanfeng do?

Would even the grand masters who wielded Buddhist dharma power and Taoist Three Pure Powers in their lifetimes inevitably lose to the master of the Dragon-Slaying Heaven-Treading Technique?

‘That can’t be right.’

Then he should consider.

What is martial arts?

This seemingly trivial question brushed Jeong Yeon-shin’s mind for the first time.

Something clearly different from before was stimulating his head with a tingling sensation. It was a thought that had arisen following the thread of the theme.

The hundred years of effort by a tiger versus a person’s one year of diligence.

‘Is time really so important…?’

Haa—

Just as he was beginning to forget inhalation and exhalation.

The tremendous impact that swept his entire body awakened his consciousness. An explosion originating from the Golden Wing Sect Leader’s palm technique. Lightning-like vibrations raced from the sword through his hands and feet.

“I’m done now.”

The Golden Wing Sect Leader, who had pushed Jeong Yeon-shin far away, said. A faint bewilderment crossed her golden eyes before disappearing.

“What…?”

“That should be enough punishment. If you won’t listen to me, don’t come back to Sichuan.”

Sichuan’s foremost beauty said.

Jeong Yeon-shin tilted his head slightly to the side. His hair, now deeply stained with blood, brushed down his shoulder, but he felt no particular pain from the wound where bone was exposed.

There are occasional rumors of martial artists who, having their enlightenment interrupted, harbor resentment and take their own lives.

Jeong Yeon-shin did not understand. Even now, he felt the same.

His talent is like lightning. It illuminates even his unconscious mind. He never missed or forgot any clues.

The surroundings had begun to darken with twilight.

Jeong Yeon-shin slowly parted his lips.

“One second.”

“Huh?”

“Let’s compete with just one move. A life-or-death duel.”

“No. Do it with that old Pure Demon guy. I’m tired of this.”

Rustle.

The Golden Wing Sect Leader turned her body. The ground, deeply furrowed all over as if plowed by a giant, was lightly stepped on by her shoes.

Jeong Yeon-shin bit his lip imperceptibly.

The Golden Wing Sect Leader’s Dragon-Climbing Heaven-Treading Art is an unparalleled divine technique. It can even use propulsive energy waves as lightness skill.

In Jeong Yeon-shin’s current physical state, he couldn’t keep up. Even if he used the Ten Li Gentle Light, it would be the same.

“Let’s not meet again.”

It was right after she said that.

Rumble—

Military energy stirred faintly from the surroundings. The energy of a group. An enormous number of internal energy waves faintly cut through the atmosphere.

There was a killing intent to slay the enemies gathered on this mountainside. It wasn’t just one or two – there seemed to be easily hundreds.

It was a dragnet.

There were many types of energy waves Jeong Yeon-shin had experienced before.

The energy heavily pressing down on the atmosphere was from the Tyrant Sword Sect, the demonic energy spreading fiercely like countless blades was from the Pure Demon Alliance, the massive military energy emitted along with the clanking of armor was from the Ten Perfections Sect, the hunters displaying free-spirited internal energy with all sorts of strange weapons were from the Golden Wing Sect…

And it wasn’t just them. Such numbers couldn’t be gathered without mobilizing the sects under them.

There were also signs of many ronin mixed in, selling their sword skills for some food and copper.

The situation that had started as a martial arts competition was rapidly changing course. It was entering a completely new phase.

[The Golden Wing Sect Leader’s game ended earlier than expected! While those monk b*st*rds from Emei and Qingcheng are squabbling below, I must kill the Radiant Demon Wing Leader!]

At the vast peak of Yunhui Mountain.

As if activating the Form Transposition, the Ten Perfections Sect Leader split into three and appeared leading countless people.

It was a martial arts army.

Most did not line up to ascend. Those who rose from all directions began to densely fill the surroundings as they landed.

Incredibly concentrated energy waves. The sight of vegetation cutting itself and withering entered Jeong Yeon-shin’s eyes.

“……”

He was surrounded.

The Golden Wing Sect Leader had not yet left. She was looking at Jeong Yeon-shin intently with her body turned slightly.

The Ten Perfections Sect Leader was picking up the scattered eighteen types of weapons one by one.

A dragnet of elite masters from the Thirteen Evil Sects was in position. Two Walls Sword Lord had suffered deep internal injuries from the Golden Wing Sect Leader, and Venerable Cypress Flame was hard to find, perhaps having belatedly chased after the Pure Demon Alliance Leader.

It was a desperate situation.

He had long anticipated that such a situation could arise.

In the chaotic times of Sichuan, he had simply prioritized the opportunity to behead the three Thirteen Evil Sects leaders above all else.

Because there was no chance of victory in a faction war. And he couldn’t abandon the Tang family in their difficult situation.

[Even if he leaves, we must behead that fellow. If we let him live here, who knows what future troubles he’ll bring.]

The Ten Perfections Sect Leaders said. Jeong Yeon-shin looked them over one by one as if sweeping.

“Answering a martial arts challenge letter with a dragnet… You’ve completely abandoned your dignity.”

[You have to weigh the importance of matters. A youngster is still a youngster.]

“Your Great Turtle Breathing Art was quite accomplished. Do you know the Divine Hero of Desolate Fortress’ Radiant Demon Wing? He’d be your match. Unlike you, he’s not the type to play dead…”

[……]

Apart from the Ten Perfections Sect Leader’s silence, the cool twilight light cast over Yunhui Peak gradually deepened. The internal energy waves of those forming the encirclement were extremely dense.

It was enough to create a massive invisible energy barrier. At some point, even the wind had stopped blowing.

It was simply quiet.

“Flower Shadow King. I am the sect leader of the Sword Veneration Sect, which learned swordsmanship from the Tyrant Sword Sect and established a branch in Luzhou.”

A swordsman with a scar on his cheek stepped forward.

“As a leader under the Divine Sword Group, declare that you will no longer interfere in Sichuan’s martial world.”

“Bring an official document with a seal and say that. Then I’ll listen.”

Jeong Yeon-shin spoke slowly while standing motionless.

‘Could it be…?’

Even as hundreds of pairs of eyes scanned his body, he was feeling a strange sensation. His heartbeat was intense.

The pulsing movement was also strong. For the first time in his life, he felt an enormous excitement. It was the first time he couldn’t believe his own intuition.

‘Really?’

Self-questioning was meaningless.

They’re coming.

From far away.

Familiar energy waves and unfamiliar presences, mercilessly cutting through his widely spread senses and surging in.

It was an incredibly fast speed.

Had they departed together from one place? How could that be possible?

“Famine has covered the world for a long time. The time has come to shake off the oppression of Desolate Fortress. The separation of government and martial arts… The martial world of the realm will begin to cut off the Divine Sword Group’s fingers one by one…”

At that moment.

On the outskirts of the encirclement.

Bang!

A large flag was planted diagonally. Instantly, a blue cloth flap fluttered long with an incredibly fierce recoil.

Six characters were engraved on it. The strokes at the ends of the characters were written in a light style as if they would fly away.

Divine Sword Group, Burning Abyss Squad.

“Divine Sword Group, Burning Abyss Squad…?”

A martial artist in the dragnet muttered blankly. It was the squad famous as Desolate Fortress’ foremost elite guards.

Soon after.

Bang! Bang—!

Blood Guardian Squad.

Limitless Hall.

Dust rose up like a waterfall in reverse. Flags being planted one by one, or simultaneously, as if surrounding the dragnet.

Without exception, tremendous vibrations originating from internal energy cultivation swept in all directions. While the encirclement had frozen still, Yunhui Peak continued to shake.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Rumble—!

Divine Sword Squad, Netherworld Flow Squad, Wish-fulfilling Spring, Heavenly Dragon Squad, Law Enforcement Squad, Forest-Treading Squad, Immortal Tree Spirit, Azure Sky, Annihilation Team…

The frost-like silence was continuously shattered. But no master dared to speak.

They could only look around hurriedly in silent shock. As if mere flags were something that surpassed even divine martial arts.

And then.

Boom—!

A flag planted beside Jeong Yeon-shin. The flagpole shook roughly, unable to withstand the impact. The dim orange sunlight swept over the words “Divine Sword Group Radiant Demon Wing” engraved on it.

He raised his head.

Beyond the flags fluttering in the strong wind.

The formless energy waves emitted by over a dozen people overlapped like a tidal wave. Figures walking with the setting sun at their backs. Pitch-black sleeve hems fluttered from all directions.

[TL Note- Sichuan’s evil path is done for good.]