Chapter 649 – Big Dipper Hundred Stars (12)

This was after all eight directions became silent along with the flickering and disappearing of Jeong Yeon-shin, whether mirage or reality.

Dan Jeong-jeong began walking habitually along the rough mountain path. A dark mountain. After meeting the Divine Sword Group Acting Leader’s apparition and Qinling Mountain Range becoming extremely silent.

Official roads.

Things that had become meaningless at some point.

But now there seemed to be paths protected by officials. Though the ominousness of Heavenly Demon lineage still rippled in the night air like a dragon’s tongue, it still felt safe.

‘What is this…?’

Was this also the Heavenly Demon’s deception? Or upper energy center insight?

Dan Jeong-jeong gripped her Desolate Sword tightly. Like the main fortress warriors who had scattered to various parts of the Central Plains at this moment, whether alive or dead.

This was the domain of demons said to mock even heaven.

If she didn’t guard against it to the point of feeling foolish, she didn’t know when she might be played in the Ming Cult Leader’s palm. Wasn’t she a great enemy who had survived by mocking him despite clashing with Jeong Yeon-shin several times?

‘Now jianghu rabble with nothing to worry about are chattering that Lord Jeong was either the Ming Cult Leader’s puppet or concubine.’

But nothing happened. Until she reached below the cliff of Mount Hua’s Wild Goose Fall Peak, no one attacked.

Only the Divine Sword Group Acting Leader, whether apparition or reality, manifested before her eyes again.

“Roughly organized.”

He leaned his back diagonally against a stone wall with greenish moss marks remaining.

Rustle.

His wide purple robe pressed against the wall surface, and that sound felt very surreal. Different from when he had intervened in Hwangbo family affairs as a blue rank warrior.

“What do you mean by organized…?”

Dan Jeong-jeong couldn’t understand. Anyone would be like this.

‘If it’s the Heavenly Demon’s apparition, I should be wary.’

But she unconsciously released the internal energy breath of Moon Spirit Harmony Knot. The ends of her short hair that had been rippling with energy waves immediately settled. Like a lion whose mane had disappeared.

‘The Fortress Lord told me not to release it.’

But if one was from Desolate Fortress, it couldn’t be helped. Anyone would be like this seeing purple robes. Even Jeong Yeon-shin seemed accustomed to such reactions.

“That internal energy Cultivation technique, what relationship does it have with Master’s Moon Spirit Harmony Knot… No.”

The peerless handsome young man representing a sect naturally continued speaking.

“First I need to hear about what happened after the Divine Sword Group went north. I haven’t been down long, so I’m unfamiliar with Central Plains affairs.”

“It does seem to be real…?”

“Insubordination?”

“No, no!”

Dan Jeong-jeong reflexively waved her hands while feeling like she had fallen into a dream. If even she was like this, what about jianghu people who hadn’t considered the Divine Sword Group important?

The heart of the first Heavenly Demon’s tomb.

Dan Jeong-jeong began telling her story without being wary of any attacks.

“So it was from last winter. According to what I heard from the General Administration people, news from the feudal kings who had promised to send food was cut off one by one. That was exactly when rumors spread that Lord Jeong had died in the north…”

“The imperial house?”

“Supply amounts were inconsistent. Whether His Majesty the Emperor was being capricious or other power holders intervened, I don’t know. Then…”

Dan Jeong-jeong gulped down dry saliva. Because she had recalled extreme situations while exhausted from long fighting. But Jeong Yeon-shin calmly urged her on.

“Continue.”

“His Majesty King Qiong-ming was staying in the Fortress Lord Hall protecting the main fortress, but he suddenly left after receiving some communication. Taking even the imperial forces guarding the main fortress.”

“And so.”

“He didn’t return. Until the families under the main fortress and remaining blue ranks, white ranks, and unnamed disciples were scattered by the Seven New Enemies of Defeated Desolation…”

“Seven New Enemies of Defeated Desolation?”

“Destroy and desolate. They’re emerging strongmen. They started being praised everywhere as heroes who collapsed Desolate Fortress. Soon they’ll be names ringing throughout Shaanxi land too.”

Dan Jeong-jeong’s throat trembled slightly.

Around then, Jeong Yeon-shin’s repetition had sunk low.

“Praised.”

“Among some jianghu people. Among common people, I saw cases where they were harmed for openly emphasizing the enemy character when using it.”

“What about Desolate Ma Family Head? He would have been the supreme master among warriors remaining at the main castle.”

“I don’t know. The jianghu people’s siege came rushing frantically…”

Starting from those words, Dan Jeong-jeong began rambling.

“A skinny old man with a spear on his back suddenly demanded they bring Desolate Divine Spear and deployed a terrifying ultimate technique. The General Administration scribes said it was former Spear King’s Transcendent Martial Art… An old master from past generations we didn’t even know was alive, who pierced a path wide enough for carriages from the main fortress’ front gate to the inner castle with one spear strike…”

[TL Note- Hope MC puts Nano Machine as a arm collector to shame and starts collecting heads.]

Suddenly.

An earthquake that seemed to shake all of Qinling Mountain Range occurred.

Rumble!

Cliffs that had stood like heaven’s folding screen dropped rocks of various sizes like vomit, and beneath the two people’s feet, dry earth crust surged unevenly.

The night air also suddenly thickened.

Because dark demonic energy seeped out like smoke from all mountain slopes. Black mist endlessly swelling as if trying to match the sky’s size.

At the same time, an overwhelming presence swept up Dan Jeong-jeong’s spine and disappeared. Naturally, tremendous trembling ran down her backbone.

It was then that some woman’s voice rumbled.

[Soon the Form-shifting Void formation will be completely constructed. All vermin in the vicinity will gather in one place and kill each other as they have until now.]

‘Ming Cult Leader…?!’

[Their innate energy, blood, and resentment will make the sect founding patriarch’s primordial soul somewhat closer to life. That’s what happens when you properly awaken the magical formation spread across Qinling Mountain Range. Now the sword discussion of Ancient-Present Three Powers will take place. The sect founding patriarch, me, and you…]

Arrogance, madness, chaos.

Perhaps because she was concentrating on formation techniques, her breathing was disturbed. Her voice also trembled slightly.

Not human.

An atmosphere that felt sacred beyond being demon-like. Both her ramblings and harmony with Qinling Mountain Range were like that.

“Lord Jeong! The Ming Cult Leader is…!”

But Dan Jeong-jeong couldn’t finish her words. Because Jeong Yeon-shin had suddenly looked at the left thicket made of bare branches.

Crack.

Two old men appeared through the dark grass with one footstep sound. There was no presence except for the sound of breaking branches.

One had a long spear dangling behind his back, and another was sitting in a luxurious four-person palanquin being supported by servants deploying Grass Treading.

The person who had deliberately stepped on branches was the old man carrying the spear.

Extreme rebellious spirit suppression.

If they seriously went into seclusion, they were old monsters no one could find. Jianghu people were said to be like sandy plains spread in lake water, with many such former masters.

“Let me ask for directions.”

The old man with the spear suddenly said.

“……”

“How should one reach martial extremity without starving?”

It was a question that felt like a lifelong topic. Naturally, one would call him mad. At the same time, a moan flowed from Dan Jeong-jeong’s teeth as she fully confirmed his appearance.

“Former Spear King…!”

“Child, you seem to know me, but you’re wrong.”

The spear-carrying old man showed a skull-like smile with his gaunt face.

“The epithet honoring the ancient greatest spear Yue Saint Emperor is Spear King. That was the name Desolate Divine Spear would have obtained when she learned the Yue family head’s secret transmission, but that child merely watched her family’s decline instead of becoming family head. That is, the current Spear King doesn’t exist.”

Spear King Yue Bi-gang.

As Dan Jeong-jeong knew, he was Desolate Divine Spear Yue Shou-lin’s uncle. He had competed with Yue Shou-lin’s father for the position of previous Yue family head and lost, then secretly disappeared with a copy of Yue Family Spear’s initial techniques from the family’s secret archives.

And dozens of years later, he had broken his brother’s spear in a surprise one-on-one duel. Though the Yue family deployed their full power in a dragnet, there was no way a peerless master determined to become elusive could be caught.

The reason the Yue family hadn’t wielded power like other Eight Great Families. Naturally, Jeong Yeon-shin would also roughly know this.

He asked indifferently.

“Old monster, was Desolate Fortress the place you went to break your retirement?”

“Child resembling Ma family’s brat, my question came first. How should a person reach the martial way’s end without starving?”

The only Ma family member the former Spear King would bother mentioning was Lightning Genius. Dan Jeong-jeong, who had been glaring at Yue Bi-gang with eyes mixed with deep fear and anger, unconsciously swallowed empty breath. A real old monster.

Yue Bi-gang spoke as if telling old stories to his grandson.

“The answer is set. One must be strong enough that strongmen offer rice grains themselves. The end of this chaotic era will be like that. A world where peerless masters engage in life-and-death battles over a few grain-cutting pills, and rusty blades are stuck in plains instead of reeds.”

Rustle.

The old man drew his black spear below his shoulder. Dan Jeong-jeong flinched simultaneously. Ink Refined Spear. One of the weapons that had pacified Desolate Fortress during the Divine Sword Group’s absence.

“You must guess that today’s world has a time limit. In such a world, strongmen have only one task. To starve to death as late as possible within their power’s reach.”

“I’m an old man who just holed up in Kaifeng Qing family’s household accumulating money, but I’m on my way back from seeing Divine Sword Squad at Zhongnan Mountain. They had well-honed momentum.”

The person accompanying Spear King Yue Bi-gang, the old man on the luxurious palanquin, slowly continued.

“Seeing that Enter The Divine Sword, it seems you’ve inherited the group leader position. Unfortunately, you’ll remain a Divine Sword Group Leader inferior to Fallen Sword. At least while he was there, it was peaceful times.”

Desolate Fortress was also intact. The old man in the palanquin’s words went only that far.

He had briefly revealed some grudge with Yong Hye-myeong. Like how Spear King had bothered mentioning Lightning Genius.

Dan Jeong-jeong bit her lower lip urgently because she felt tears welling up.

‘Kaifeng Qing Family Head…!’

He was called the upper realm’s Emperor Qian-ling. A great merchant who had learned martial arts.

The greatest person of a historic great city and an old man wealthier than any king, who might have eaten more elixirs than anyone except Emperor Qian-ling and Grand Empress Dowager. Though he called himself a merchant and had never interfered in jianghu affairs, it seemed different when it came to the Heavenly Demon’s legacy.

“……”

Before long, terrifying silence was surrounding the rocky mountain. The simplest thing happening in Qinling Mountain Range. They intended to eliminate stronger competitors in advance.

Each had come to jianghu with their own stories.

Thus the world doesn’t permit anyone’s solo dominance. Just as jianghu bore the name martial forest, beings called super masters or peerless masters continuously appeared regardless of generation.

This won’t do.

Dan Jeong-jeong had lived through the era when three purple ranks made names throughout all directions. Ma Yeon-jeok, Shin Byeok, Yong Hye-myeong. It was relatively recent.

It was openly discussed. That was Desolate Fortress’s golden age.

In contrast, the current Jeong Yeon-shin was alone. Like the main fortress warriors who would have been scattered from glorious Desolate Fortress to all corners of the world.

“Lord Jeong! First retreat leaving me behind, then one by one…!”

Yue Bi-gang and Kaifeng Qing Family Head were among the most overwhelming strongmen in this ‘Qinling Mountain Range Rebellion’. They could be called three pillars along with the rumored shed-shell Profound Martial Alliance Leader. Three people who had established themselves as unapproachable orders in the Heavenly Demon legacy competition.

Forgotten strongmen were trying to act as masters of the new era. If it had been Desolate Fortress before the chaotic times, three purple ranks could have drawn their blades at once and still had strength left.

But the Jeong Yeon-shin reflected in Dan Jeong-jeong’s eyes was alone, shaking his head at the old monsters.

“Kaifeng Qing Family Head, is it enjoyable to act as a strongman at that age?”

“It’s not such a problem. Survival of the fittest has been providence throughout ancient and modern times. All people live like that too.”

“The people were never weak. Because there was the main fortress. You always realize that only when it’s time to die.”

[Now it’s done. Do you discuss life and death with your tongue?]

An echo flowed from Yue Bi-gang’s body as he pointed his Ink Refined Spear at Jeong Yeon-shin. Dan Jeong-jeong intuited. It was just before the manifestation of the initial technique that had once pierced through all of Desolate Fortress main fortress.

Even Kaifeng Qing Family Head had stood up from his palanquin. If swept into a long battle of peerless masters like this, Dan Jeong-jeong would disappear without leaving even a piece of skin.

‘Too late…!’

She widened her eyes. Because someone had to witness the Divine Sword Group Leader’s final moments.

But it was meaningless.

The three peerless masters suddenly disappeared without any warning, and Dan Jeong-jeong’s eye technique couldn’t even capture their afterimages.

Suddenly the mountain peak behind her was crushed into five grooves. It was Mount Hua’s Wild Goose Fall Peak cliff, and it seemed like a giant of unimaginable size had grasped it. Naturally, huge rock fragments and stone powder fell like landslides.

[Nation Piercing.]

[Life Swallowing Death Stripping.]

Spear King Yue Bi-gang and Kaifeng Qing Family Head’s wills loudly tore at her ears.

Clouds were torn to shreds and thunder fell. Though hard to believe, it would have been the collision sound of explosive forces.

At the same time.

Rumble!

Pressure that pressed down and carved away the vast stone paths of the rocky mountain. While the geological structure layered in yellow earth and gray-white was nakedly revealed, the ground sank centered on where Dan Jeong-jeong stood.

It seemed the collision’s aftermath had only avoided her.

‘Lord Jeong…?!’

The next moment, the three appeared on the sunken ground like lies. At a distance where Dan Jeong-jeong could properly examine their appearance, barely ten zhang apart.

Boom boom boom boom boom!

Only then did ash-colored tsunamis explosively surge here and there. Dust originating from the rocky mountain’s fragments.

Dan Jeong-jeong, who immediately looked down searching for Jeong Yeon-shin, closed her slightly open mouth.

The purple robe was intact.

Under Jeong Yeon-shin’s sleeve that had been lifted to his elbow, bright red blood was dripping from the hand holding Desolate Sword. Undoubtedly wounds the Divine Sword Group Leader had sustained.

The two old men facing him were different.

They had no hands to drop blood. All four arms had disappeared. Even the cut surfaces were different. There were parts cut smoothly like glass, while rough surfaces existed as if brutally torn or mercilessly slashed. Another cut surface looked like it had been carved dozens of times mockingly.

An absurd sight.

This wasn’t one person’s swordsmanship.

“……”

Suddenly Dan Jeong-jeong’s upper energy center insight manifested.

Spear King, Kaifeng Qing Family Head, and Dan Jeong-jeong.

The three people’s pupils were like mirrors surrounding Jeong Yeon-shin from three sides. In Spear King’s eye-light gradually fading to colorless was wrinkle-free Ma Yeon-jeok, in the light-lost Kaifeng Qing Family Head’s eyes was lip-raised Yong Hye-myeong, and in Dan Jeong-jeong’s pupils was somehow a one-armed man in bamboo hat she had never seen.

Starlight was still pouring down.

It showed no signs of stopping.

[Heavenly Demon.]

The Divine Sword Group Leader exhaled white breath like a winter night. Along with will that had somehow deepened.

[I have urgent business to attend to.]

[TL Note- Arm collector it is then.]