Chapter 616 – Three Swords (9)

The Fighting God.

Before the Fighting God’s return formation could emit massive vibrations, he had broken through space himself and emerged. It was a body where the Northern natural body realm had surpassed some critical point.

He was said to be a being whose every movement was natural. Enough for the descendants of the old Yuan Dynasty to call him by the epithet байгаль (nature).

At this moment.

From the ivory altar on which the limping man stood.

To Young Heavenly Demon Invincible’s silver mask and purple robes, everything was tinged with gentle ash gray. The seven shadows surrounding her also darkened.

The Demon-Subduing Hall filled entirely with Northern Kings. This was the scene that unfolded as soon as the Fighting God’s voice flowed out.

He didn’t emit energy waves.

Rather, nearby clusters of light were being sucked into the massive limping man. Starting with the lantern flames that had dimly illuminated the surroundings in the wide hall.

Conversely, the limping man revealed nothing.

Far from emitting anything, he absorbed. There were no power waves whatsoever. Only some gravitational force that distorted even providence existed.

“……”

Slowly.

Everything in the palace lost its color. The hall that had already been dim. Each distinct hue flew away like a lie.

The Fighting God’s face also revealed only his lips as if he had drawn down shadows.

It was a scene like a faded painting.

Only four things maintained their color within it.

The pure white undergarments that Young Heavenly Demon Invincible wore under her purple robes and her skin. The dark clouds that the Southern Emperor wrapped around his entire body like an emperor’s ceremonial dress. Finally, the giant warhorse that Northern Blade rode and the crescent blade that Upright Star held.

The other Northern Kings couldn’t escape the black and white painting. But each was clearly revealing their presence. Because they too were transcendents.

Kings who could each influence the entirety of Black Capital from where they sat at any time.

After standing blankly for some time, wondering what he was thinking, the Southern Emperor quietly asked.

“Was there no hardship on your journey?”

“It was quite rough. I think there were about ten dragons whose snouts I grabbed and tore off. I wonder if I’ll meet another friend like Qian-ling.”

The Fighting God answered amicably with archaic speech and behavior. He was literally unrestrained. He seemed like he would immediately become chatty if he had a proper drink.

Northern Blade slowly opened his mouth from one side.

“…I hoped you wouldn’t come.”

The Fighting God’s thick lips curved up. It was a smile that revealed even his molars through his teeth.

“I was just about to talk about you anyway. The Southern Emperor has taken in a precious person. It’s skill I find hard to match.”

Conversely, Northern Blade’s face was dry and tasteless.

He said.

“I decided to lend strength to the founding. I will obtain autonomous territory.”

“Your aspiration to reclaim customs?”

“The demon realm has already been tainted by you people. The only one who reveres martial arts alone without being constrained by anything is rather the Northern Emperor who came from the south. But since it’s been revealed that even his Divine Sword Group cannot handle the demon realm alone, I intend to obtain wide territory of my own.”

“Divine Sword Group? I see.”

The gray-skinned limping man slowly nodded his head.

He seemed to have grasped all the events that had occurred through a single story. As if some insight had reached a supernatural realm.

But no one found his behavior strange.

The Fighting God continuing to speak slowly in the ash-colored landscape.

“A strong one is coming.”

“That would be the Divine Sword Group Leader. The very next generation after the ruined sword Yong Hye-myeong.”

One of the Northern Kings surrounding the altar answered. In a very aged voice, with strangely clumsy Chinese.

“The arrogant Shame Extreme King trusted her Heaven Steel Light Armor too much, and was so surprised that her upper and lower body separated. This is exactly the shock I spoke of. She was such a fool that she couldn’t deploy Transcendent Martial Art, and the Divine Sword Group Leader was too fast. Her funeral will also end swiftly like a ray of light.”

Dharma King.

He came from the west. The last leader of Potala Palace, which had been annihilated by Young Heavenly Demon Invincible.

He continuously looked back and forth between Young Heavenly Demon Invincible and the Fighting God. The pupils in his shadowed face flashed, hoping for a collision between the two monsters.

Of course, he was of a status where it was fine to reveal such blatant signs.

Because he had ascended to the position of Northern King while seeking asylum from Tibet to the demon realm. The Fighting God had even welcomed him.

—It’s right to accept anyone who needs a new homeland.

The Fighting God protected him. There was no reason to spare words. From the beginning, Dharma King was a madman who had entered Bright Wind Spirit wanting to kill Young Heavenly Demon Invincible horribly.

“Through that Transcendent Martial Art, I could see it. The Divine Sword Group Leader’s life is worth considering. That’s how people should live. Looking only forward, there’s no behind. We should evaluate this highly.”

While saying this, Dharma King glanced at Young Heavenly Demon Invincible once more. With interest seeping into his voice, somehow seeming to overlay her with Jeong Yeon-shin.

Under Young Heavenly Demon Invincible’s silver mask, her lips slowly moved.

“It’s not a life for a rat to discuss.”

“Are you upset? My words must have been irritating. This king ultimately found out about your remaining life, and told Literary Star my speculation that the Divine Sword Group Leader would be like you too. Literary Star sold your name instead of mine for some reason, but I laughed until my back broke like Shame Extreme.”

“……”

“Anyway, this king is perfectly alive, so in the end you’re not a heavenly demon. If you were truly a demon sent from heaven, you would have struck regardless of what happened to the formation.”

The provocation was rambling.

A master of Esoteric Great Mudra and Five Thunder Divine Palm. One whose eyes were always rolled back.

He paid no attention to the war taking place outside Black Capital Old Palace, that is, in Black Capital. It was from thinking it was already a won battle.

Lu Ban Heavenly Emperor restrained him.

“Qian-ling’s Transcendent Martial Art would still remain. Since the formation must definitely be activated again, Dharma King should exercise restraint.”

The most solemnly echoing voice in the hall. It meant there were things to conclude before committing suicide. Of course, Dharma King didn’t connect provoking Young Heavenly Demon Invincible to suicide.

“I’m already exercising restraint.”

He simply answered politely.

“Right now Black Capital’s martial army is like rice ears. Their necks are falling off well as if the Mid-Autumn Festival has been moved up. Yet we’re chattering with internal energy breathing while pouring out our entire body’s power. And to a mad Ming Cult Leader wearing Desolate Fortress’s purple robes at that… Though the formation must be activated once more, I’d like to reconsider.”

It was Bright Wind Spirit.

Meanwhile, the Fighting God stared down at Young Heavenly Demon Invincible and asked casually.

“Can you use such a formation once more? The Southern Emperor would have understood and informed you, but I’m in a state affected by Qian-ling’s Myriad Curve. I’ll soon be banished inside the Gate.”

“I’m already preparing. Don’t interfere.”

She was still standing before the altar, but had never once looked up at the limping man.

With long, dense eyelashes quietly lowered. Because if their eyes met, she might release her own restraints.

The giant limping man smiled faintly.

“You look very laborious. The sight of constructing an invisible formation… Isn’t it an absurdly complex technique?”

“Do you put effort into fighting?”

At Young Heavenly Demon Invincible’s retort, the Fighting God’s fangs were greatly revealed. Laughter tinged with amusement. It was then that the Southern Emperor, who had been watching them, quietly opened his mouth.

“The Northern Kings must prepare the next formation, so I’d like to request a sortie.”

Dharma King immediately picked up the words.

“Right words. At this rate, even holding a funeral of light like Shame Extreme King would take ages. I respectfully request to be freed. The Divine Sword Group Leader is the fastest chief mourner under heaven, but if this king joins forces with Heaven Palace King, we can kill most cruelly.”

The Southern Emperor’s breath that had been flowing like smoke suddenly thickened.

“You cannot handle it.”

“If the Divine Sword Group Leader were in perfect condition, this king would have devised the thirty-six stratagems until my back broke. But it was Shame Extreme whose erector spinae separated, so how much strength would remain? Now the Divine Sword Group is like orphans who have lost their parents. But we are beasts. Therefore, their sorrow is our joy. Moreover, Southern Emperor, didn’t your schemes and machinations even bind the Wudang Sect Leader to the Ming imperial family?”

“You overestimate your own ability.”

It was Upright Star’s words, holding the reddish shaft of her crescent blade to her chest.

She was leaning her back against a pillar behind the altar, occasionally casting her gaze toward the night sky-like vast ceiling.

It was behavior that familiarly accepted the situation of the Fighting God being nearby.

The Fighting God laughed.

“Among you, only the Southern Emperor and Northern Blade are worth handling that Divine Sword Group Leader friend alone. Even then, calculating the odds of victory is another matter. So if I disappear midway, you must definitely join forces.”

The limping man earnestly advised as if he were some neighborhood gang leader. His speech and behavior were like addressing childhood friends.

—Disappear midway.

Words with the late Emperor Qian-ling’s Transcendent Martial Art in mind. His Myriad Curve distorted space from all directions like Six Harmonies or Nine Palaces, and ultimately threw the Fighting God somewhere beyond the Gate.

One move containing an emperor’s lifetime was like that.

“One opportunity left.”

The Fighting God thumped his own chest.

For some reason, regret was faintly crystallized on his lips. A sign as if he was about to lose a kindred spirit.

How much utility would the time that Emperor Qian-ling had secured have? At least the Northern Kings in this place couldn’t fathom it.

Only the Southern Emperor and Northern Blade had a vague guess. Due to the three strikes of Enter The Dao Transcend Together that had earlier shattered Shame Extreme King body and all.

Lu Ban Heavenly Emperor said in an aged voice.

“Divine Thief died to that friend.”

He was the Yuan Dynasty’s last leader who had undergone rejuvenation twice in his obsession with the resentment of a ruined nation, and there was no variation in his voice. No compassion or affection leaked out either.

The Fighting God was different.

“……”

The friendly giant limping man said nothing for a while. He was simply calm. It was also an expression that he had noticed that fact as soon as he came out from beyond the Gate.

“I suppose I’ll have to settle one thing before going.”

He slowly moved his mouth.

“Dragon Sound.”

Dragon Sound Sasa King, who had been standing silently until now, slowly raised her head. She was slightly apart from the other Northern Kings, even if minutely.

It was a distance of not even half a chi, but among peerless masters, it was also a gap that could determine life and death.

“…Fighting God.”

“Don’t you now share purpose with us?”

The Fighting God’s question echoed quietly in the palace. Instantly the ash-colored atmosphere rippled faintly, and nearby sounds subsided like a lie.

As if the nearby air had naturally lent its ear to the rough voice.

No particular energy barrier was deployed. The atmosphere had simply changed naturally.

At this moment, only the Southern Emperor Northern Blade and Dragon Sound Sasa King were permitted to speak, and Dragon Sound Sasa King said while tying her long flowing hair back.

“I was considering whether to disrupt the formation at the end… but you came out first from your side. How did you know?”

“However beautiful this land’s wilderness may be, there’s no scenery that needs to be observed as closely as a friend’s complexion.”

“Upper energy center insight is still amazing. You’re indeed our clan’s god.”

“The Southern Emperor would have already noticed. Since he has an emperor’s caliber, he would have wanted to observe you to the end, but… there’s no time to hear why your intention changed here.”

The next moment, the Fighting God was standing before Dragon Sound Sasa King’ face. The movement of a being called a god was thus without context.

Not only had he felt signs of betrayal himself, but even his lightness skill movement line wasn’t read by anyone.

“…!”

Dragon Sound Sasa King retreated with a whoosh to secure a combat range befitting her large frame, but the Fighting God advanced in step with her half-step backward.

Exactly the same stride and speed. The ultra-close combat distance didn’t decrease at all.

An instant’s gap.

Kugugung—!

Dragon Sound Sasa King, who caused an earthquake in the palace with her retreat footwork, lifted both hands for a moment. Guarding beside her forehead with her left hand and raising her right hand before her chin, she activated Heaven Steel Light Armor.

At the same time, the Fighting God’s hazily tinged hand trajectories banged open her two elbows and struck down in succession to her sides.

Bang bang bang bang bang bang!

Consecutive explosive sounds burst out. The palace’s atmosphere was roughly sucked in.

The force that embedded in succession was enough to scrape away even ridges, but all that explosive force was transcendentally condensed. Dragon Sound Sasa King’ body repeatedly shook like an earthquake.

Though it was ultra-close range combat with extremely narrow spacing, every strike seemed like it had been struck with force from afar.

An absurdly bizarre harmony.

Moreover, no recoil could harm Black Capital Old Palace.

“Kuhak…!”

Blood burst from the mouth of Dragon Sound Sasa King, whose posture had completely collapsed.

Whether there was an internal energy barrier or not, he had purely battered and neutralized her with explosive force. Of course, both her arm joints and her pelvis hip bones were shattered.

He had virtually destroyed her limbs along with her Heaven Steel Light Armor.

It was a plain short decisive battle.