Chapter 341 – Ranking Battle (2)

The realm where mind and internal energy become one.

Jeong Yeon-shin knew that unity of essence, energy, and spirit wasn’t always a good thing. Just look at the deceased Murong family head.

Despite knowing about dharma power martial arts, he unconsciously activated the Heavenly Demon Armor, losing his breath. To Jeong Yeon-shin, who used the ultimate move of the Thunder Annihilation Sword Style, Azure Flame Solar Eclipse.

At this moment, shattering the roof of the Administration Office building was certainly not his intention.

It was due to the Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown state that kept forming and dissipating. There was no issue with the current Radiant Demon Wing Leader’s character, which was like clear water and a polished mirror.

As blue and dark gray roof tile fragments fell around with rough friction sounds, Jeong Yeon-shin took one step of the Radiant Wing Step.

Thud.

Formless energy waves immediately surged from beneath his feet, pushing dust particles to the left and right. It was like a scene of a large whitish curtain being torn apart on both sides.

‘This is a problem,’ the young man thought.

All movements must be thoroughly controlled by his consciousness. Martial arts that escape control are useless in contests between masters.

This is because the exchange of hand techniques occurs extremely quickly, and the precision of forms determines life and death.

Fortunately, there was a solution. The recoil from bone transformation could be resolved by eating well, they said.

It was advice from the former Divine Sword Group Leader. It meant that since his body and energy could now handle the spirit of the upper dantian, taking care of nutrition would suffice.

Indeed, the intervals at which Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown became disrupted had lengthened.

It must have been thanks to eating a massive amount of smoked wild boar on the way down to Xiangyang. Jeong Yeon-shin, freshly feeling the dignity of Desolate Fortress’s senior, looked around.

The top floor of the Administration Office building. It was a meeting hall resembling the Wish for Peace Sword Hall.

The entrance was blocked by silver curtains hanging down in rows, and ancient stone sculptures of dragons and phoenixes were placed here and there.

“Radiant Wing Step?”

“It’s the orthodox version. Not a branch martial art.”

There were seven people.

Those seated around a large stone round table turned their gazes to Jeong Yeon-shin.

The air in the corner of the hall where he had landed instantly heated up.

Only two figures had sprung to their feet as if to face an enemy attack, while the other five merely turned their heads while leaning back against marble backrests.

Their attitude showed no concern whether the roof flew off or not.

Saaaa—

Semi-transparent currents rippled.

It felt like outdoor air warmed by summer sunlight. The energy waves in the gazes of the seven men and women were tremendous.

Though there didn’t seem to be anyone with yang energy cultivation like Lazy Flame Dragon, the density of the internal energy waves overlapping and intertwining like smoke at this moment was extremely high.

Even peerless masters die from the joint attack of supreme masters in this world.

They say that when three or more Black-ranks gather, that place becomes Desolate Fortress.

How many were there now?

Standing motionless, Jeong Yeon-shin swallowed a groan with an expressionless face. The pressure originating from the respected seniors pushed against his skin down to his muscles.

Even after undergoing bone transformation, the path forward seemed dim, making this place perhaps the most dangerous in the world if it were enemy territory.

How powerful must Desolate Fortress be, having never once dispersed its forces due to something that took precedence over the welfare of common people?

While pondering this, he decided for just a brief moment not to reveal his identity.

It was the only way to deal with a guest who carelessly spoke of the Fortress Lord and pretend to know nothing.

It was then.

From the head seat at the round table, the large man who had been watching him with a solemn gaze, Grand Administrator Lim Jin-myeong, opened his mouth surrounded by a beard as if seeking opinions from those around.

“Was that truly the Radiant Wing Step?”

The vibration in his voice pushed back the air.

It was the formless power that Jeong Yeon-shin had felt before. The Grand Administrator also possessed martial arts that wouldn’t lose to most squad leaders.

As soon as he spoke, Yue Shou-lin, Jin Myeong-jo, and Woon So-yu parted their lips.

“He looks incredibly powerful. I wondered how bold he must be, but he’s strong enough to come alone.”

“…If Lightning Genius’s secret techniques have leaked.”

“We should interrogate him. Capture should come first, I believe. Though it won’t be easy…”

The last to speak was Law Enforcement Squad Leader Woon So-yu.

She was standing with her hand on her sword hilt.

The leader of the squad that enforces Desolate Fortress’s laws. She had competed with him at Jeong Yeon-shin’s Black-rank promotion ceremony.

She was a swordsman whose straight posture suited her well.

Sharp ears like precious swords and beautiful features, with long hair swaying beneath. It was a prelude to drawing her sword. Even before the blade was unsheathed, a chilling sword wind was flowing out.

No one addressed the hostile intruder.

This was Desolate Fortress’s temperament.

There is no negotiating with an opponent who strikes first. Because enemies surround them in all eight directions of the martial world.

***

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Translated by Nine Heavens!

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***

“I heard that Desolate Fortress martial artists are suffering outside Xiangyang, and today’s incident shows how the martial world treats this place these days. What commotion is this in broad daylight? An ignorant powerful figure barging into Desolate Fortress’s meeting hall.”

A middle-aged man sitting next to the Grand Administrator spoke nonchalantly.

He had a handsome appearance with somewhat long ears. Anyone could see he was a high official.

His silk official robes, which allowed one to guess his status at a glance, matched his languid expression.

The handle of the precious sword at his waist was smoothly worn, showing traces of long exposure to an internal energy-filled grip.

“This is all because the Fortress Lord is absent. No matter how high the status of a military leader, they should stay in their position to boost the morale of their forces… How can she empty the main fortress when there are no purple-rank peerless masters in the fortress? This cannot be. She should have at least informed the Grand Administrator or Desolate Divine Spear.”

He blamed the Desolate Fortress Lord in archaic speech. His finger pointed accusingly at Jeong Yeon-shin.

“In the end, hasn’t my trip been in vain? I don’t know what King Qiong-ming will think. The situation where the king’s letter with ‘personal’ written on it has been unopened for days, and the appearance of someone like this.”

A status of delivering the king’s letter that only the Desolate Fortress Lord could open, with martial arts on par with Black-rank supreme masters.

This was extremely rare. It wouldn’t make sense unless he was a direct descendant of a king appointed by the imperial court.

“……”

Silence flowed.

This was a gathering of martial arts masters.

As far as Jeong Yeon-shin knew, less than half the people here weren’t eccentric.

At this moment when abusive language toward the Fortress Lord had been uttered, attention inevitably focused on the unacceptable conduct rather than the identity of the unknown intruder.

The Grand Administrator in the head seat… The middle-aged man who had spoken recklessly sat to his left, and to the Grand Administrator’s right sat a black-haired girl with a serious expression.

It was Desolate Divine Spear Yue Shou-lin. The way she fidgeted with her fingers suggested she wanted to grasp her spear right away.

“Sword Prestige Duke, please be mindful of your words. Our Fortress Lord is also treated as a king by the Emperor.”

The Grand Administrator spoke in a calm tone.

The middle-aged man called Sword Prestige Duke snorted.

“How many squad leaders of the Divine Sword Group are being wasted here? If you had listened to me without this delay, we would have long since taken the heads of those degenerates and more.”

“We don’t know how much force will be needed for such dangerous territory. The range is also extremely wide. If we subtract the forces that must be kept at the main fortress, there’s not much leeway…”

“That standing force nonsense again.”

The Sword Prestige Duke waved his hand as if disgusted.

“What meaning does that principle have now? When the Desolate Fortress Lord has left her seat. Do you intend to stubbornly adhere to tradition even as the world looks down on Desolate Fortress? The warmth from where she lay her body has long since dissipated. The Grand Administrator and Divine Spear need to make a decision…”

Unpredictable conduct.

Jeong Yeon-shin didn’t know what was happening. But perhaps it was time to reveal himself.

‘He must be from the Forbidden City clan in Beijing.’

Jeong Yeon-shin guessed the man’s identity. As he felt the Luminous Wheel energy explosively expanding in his thigh muscles and extending down to the Yongquan acupoint in his heel.

A cool yet hot sensation raced through his blood vessels. It activated without him truly intending it.

Lightness skill, Ten Li Gentle Light.

His body spontaneously manifested the image formed in his unconscious.

The ground beneath his feet caved in greatly. With a cracking sound, the stone floor was crushed, and dust and debris burst out, leaving a circular shockwave.

Simultaneously, a hazy radiance clung to his heels.

Bang!

It surged forward as if tearing through space.

As the round table in the meeting hall rapidly grew larger in his vision, fierce winds brushed past his ears, sweeping his hair back.

Amid the wind cutting his face like a blade, various scenes were captured in his eyes.

When Law Enforcement Squad Leader Woon So-yu drew her sword from the closest distance.

Blood Extreme Demon Jin Myeong-jo, wrapped entirely in black robes, gathered his refined energy waves as soon as his gaze met Jeong Yeon-shin’s, and behind him, Yue Shou-lin fully revealed her eyes with pitch-black lightning seeming to flash in them.

Meanwhile, Woon So-yu was drawing a dark trajectory with a sword strike befitting her alias of Black Cloud Sword Absolute.

The sword that had sprung from her waist drew a diagonal line. Jeong Yeon-shin would have to pass her first to reach the side of the head seat at the round table.

‘One exchange.’

Jeong Yeon-shin did not stop his rush.

Boom—

Just before the Law Enforcement Squad Leader’s sword brushed his Adam’s apple, he pressed down on the flat of the blade with his palm.

The formless sword wind enveloping the blade violently churned as if trying to tear his grip, but his body had already dispersed the energy concentrated in his palm into five streams, breaking apart the sword strike’s energy waves strand by strand.

A loud noise erupted in that brief moment. It was like rough paper being torn.

An exchange of hand techniques occurring in an extremely minute realm.

It took only an instant from pressing the sword with his palm to greatly deflecting it to the side.

Space opened up completely as he rushed forward. Even as Jeong Yeon-shin’s sleeve was shredded and flew up, unable to withstand the impact of the collision, not a single drop of blood was spilled.

“…!”

The gazes of the Radiant Demon Wing Leader and Law Enforcement Squad Leader, which had rapidly drawn closer, met.

Woon So-yu’s eyebrows rose. By the time her noble clan’s eyes belatedly flashed with blue streaks of light to discern the other’s identity, Jeong Yeon-shin had already passed to her left.

The breaking method had been nearly perfect. Its execution was chillingly instantaneous.

In a realm of extreme speed where the surroundings seemed very slow.

The air in the hall changed. There was no one present who couldn’t see a single exchange. The young man stepped onto the massive round table, leaving behind countless questions, surprises, and bewilderment.

Crack—

Cracks spread from where his foot stepped on the round table.

Long fissures were etched in all directions. As if racing with the leg brushing through the air.

Swish!

Several streams of light brushed his right arm like cool flames. It was the attacks of those who hadn’t recognized Jeong Yeon-shin.

Sharp threads and sword energies were pushed back behind him. Not one properly touched the constellation-like haze enveloping Jeong Yeon-shin’s heels.

The young man who had unhesitatingly passed through those chilling flashes extended one leg.

It looked as if he was going to land by stepping on the Sword Prestige Duke’s sword hilt with a leg technique. A trajectory like a ray of light. The rebound of world-class lightness skill was properly applied.

With a boom and vibration, hazy dust rose from all directions.

As he stepped on the end of the Sword Prestige Duke’s sword hilt, which had been drawing on the round table, and pushed it back down, the shockwave that arose from the point of impact roughly swept up through the hall. Tremendous destructive power swept the surroundings.

“……”

A heavy silence pressed down on the presences around. Only the desolate sound of stone fragments falling could be heard.

“Your words are excessive.”

Even among kings, none would dare speak of the Fortress Lord’s bedding— Jeong Yeon-shin spoke quietly as he lowered his leg.

The Grand Administrator, who had suddenly stood up right beside him, wore a strange expression.

He examined the young man’s features with eyes like those of a ginseng digger who had discovered a century-old root. It seemed he was confirming his identity after sensing the Luminous Wheel energy.

Yue Shou-lin, who had somehow come up to beneath the Grand Administrator’s bushy beard, looked up at Jeong Yeon-shin without even blinking.