Chapter 132 – Azure Flame (5)

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Translated by Nine Heavens!

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***

“Myriad Heavens Flower Rain! Don’t throw hidden weapons!”

“We must eliminate them quietly… Argh!”

Unexpected groans and screams rang out in the banquet hall.

The blades that had been thrown were now swirling like a typhoon.

The large room was engulfed in a chaotic storm of energy.

Amid the splattering blood, no one was capable of displaying their martial prowess.

Jeong Yeon-shin who had mastered Myriad Heavens Flower Rain became the natural enemy of hidden weapon masters. No one could approach.

He didn’t even look back. The Supreme Elder’s condition was the highlight.

As if his meridians had been burned by the Luminous Wheel’s dharma power, the old man slumped in his chair, groaning in pain.

Jeong Yeon-shin extended his left hand to the side while grabbing the back of the ugly old man’s neck with his right hand and met his eyes.

“Where is our Elder Council Leader?”

The boy asked directly. The moment he confirmed the spy’s identity, some feeling brushed his upper dantian.

As death approached, his crown’s hundred meetings point grew increasingly efficacious.

Though it still granted spiritual insights randomly, the connections and frequency were gradually progressing.

Hehe.

The Supreme Elder laughed. Though meeting Jeong Yeon-shin’s eyes, his gaze seemed fixed on some distant point.

“Do you know why the Tang Clan practices hidden weapons and poison techniques?”

His voice was clear despite his condition. He didn’t seem to expect an answer.

The old man slowly continued.

“Because there are fewer casualties compared to sword battles. The essence of Tang Clan martial arts has no clashing. It was our ancestor’s wisdom, worried that blind swordplay would cut off family lifelines. The variables inherent in sword techniques are like trembling flower petals – even if a strong one wields the sword, they could meet their end at the hands of a weak one’s fortunate timing.”

“In other words, I understand. You were involved with Elder Council Leader and the Thunderclap Bombs.”

Jeong Yeon-shin didn’t listen to the Supreme Elder’s words.

He had already pressed his fingers to the acupoints on the back of old man’sneck.

He had to be wary of the poison techniques the man mentioned. The Supreme Elder could now only move his mouth.

The old man seemed unconcerned. He just kept talking with a slight smile.

“The desire to protect one’s family is like the unyielding fruit. We endure the criticism of using cowardly methods for the sake of our descendants’ safety and happiness. The Tang Clan’s martial arts were born from the ancestors’ wish to abandon the pursuit of fame and focus on the well-being of their descendants.”

He was indirectly saying that they would stop at nothing to achieve their goals.

These were the scions of prestigious families Jeong Yeon-shin had encountered often. They were skilled at packaging themselves plausibly.

“You know no shame. The dharma power burned away your demonic path internal force. I can prove my qi’s ability anytime, so you have only two choices.”

The boy spoke calmly. There was no need to continue further.

Suicide or confession. Those were the only ends fitting for a prestigious sect’s warrior who had schemed treacherously.

The Supreme Elder’s wrinkled lips rose. At last his gaze met Jeong Yeon-shin’s.

“You don’t seem foolish, but appear rushed. There’s no leisure in your eyes. What chases you? You caught the assassin, and my son is a fine bastard who chose loyalty over family reputation.”

“…”

“Ah… I see. You’re a once-in-a-millennium child. You have no time. Heaven is not fair.”

It wasn’t a sarcastic remark. It felt like the monologue of an old man who had grown numb to the passage of time.

At the point Myriad Heavens Flower Rain returned to the Tang Clan, Supreme Elder Tang Tai-du had lost his life’s driving force.

Rather, achieving his ultimate goal left him drained.

His lifelong wish had been fulfilled through a boy with no connection to the family.

Moreover, the secret technique was passed to the son he had firmly rejected.

How must he feel? But Jeong Yeon-shin wasn’t curious. He had only realized something shocking.

The old man knew. This body’s constitution.

The hand gripping Tang Tai-du’s wrinkled nape tightened.

The boy’s calm eyes rose slightly.

‘The Blood Flame Sect was right.’

The Elder Council Leader of the main fortress was a peerless swordsman in purple.

They said he was an old master comparable to Nine Great Sects’ leaders.

If not for his own will, his martial prowess would have made him disappear from the martial world.

Now he understood. The Blood Flame Sect Leader had fully survived and joined hands with Tang Tai-du.

The upper dantian’s intuition, the Elder Council Leader’s disappearance, Tang Tai-du’s cultivated demonic path internal energy, suspicions of the Tang Clan producing thunderclap bombs- everything unraveled at once.

Meanwhile, the Myriad Heavens Flower Rain sweeping in all directions through the banquet hall subsided.

No one was left standing.

The Tang Clan masters who had faced the natural enemy divine technique each lay sprawled with non-trivial wounds.

Though some knelt on one knee, they weren’t in any condition to move easily.

Even the dancers and musicians in the center had been Tang Clan warriors. They had collapsed after being hit by their own hidden weapons.

Tang Tai-du’s smile deepened as he glanced over Jeong Yeon-shin’s shoulder from the head seat.

“Talent of a thousand ages…! Child of Desolate Fortress. You are truly like a comet.”

“You’ve lost your mind.”

The boy’s quiet retort didn’t stop Tang Tai-du’s rambling.

His identity as a spy had been revealed, and his lifelong wish had been fulfilled meaninglessly.

His aimless voice rang out aged.

“It is your heavenly mandate to shine through martial arts, then fade with time. Seeing you up close makes it even clearer. The Reverse Origin Three Yang Technique distinguishes medicine and poison from a distance. That body diagram was wrong. A body that compresses two hundred years into twenty, heaven’s impartial principles clearly manifest through you. Truly abeautiful martial talent.”

“…”

“I understand why evil sect spawn covet you. Any who lead sects would do the same. The Lord of Desolate Fortress, that fox-like woman from the Classic of Mountains and Seas must cherish you dearly. How soft is her embrace?”

“She is my master. Don’t speak of her.”

Tang Tai-du chuckled.

“A child like you finds it hard to grow up straight in this world, but it’s truly a miraculous thing. Anyway, you’re right. I don’t have many options for how to handle this situation. If I think of the family, I should beg for leniency. If rumors spread that the Tang Clan colluded with the Blood Flame Sect, it would be a disaster, wouldn’t it?”

“Tell me. Where is he?”

“You ask for his location without asking if he’s alive or dead… Your tone is so confident. How fascinating. That must also be the power of the upper dantian, right? I want to open your head and study it. The study of blood techniques is urgent.”

Madness flashed in his aged pupils. He truly had lost his mind… At this point it was beyond Jeong Yeon-shin’s realm to handle.

He couldn’t torture a prestigious family’s Supreme Elder in the heart of their sect either.

“Enough. Don’t speak.”

The boy didn’t hesitate to grab the old man’s nape and drag him.

***

Read only at nineheavens.org

Translated by Nine Heavens!

https://discord.gg/XC9DTsTQ9Z

***

Tang Tai-du who had been neutralized by directly facing the Luminous Wheel was pulled along helplessly.

Step.

They passed by the Supreme Elder’s fallen elite masters who lay groaning.

No one blocked them. It was the bearing of a black-rank master substituting for the leader of a sect’s elites.

Tang Tai-du’s golden robe hem dragged under Jeong Yeon-shin’s hand.

It wasn’t time to act completely arrogant.

Jeong Yeon-shin propped Tang Tai-du against a pillar of the banquet hall.

The old man looked up at the boy once while chuckling.

“Your actions are firm yet you know conduct. You’re not just a fool who relies on martial talent.”

“Be quiet.”

He replied calmly.

Jeong Yeon-shin had been mindful of reputation since entering Desolate Fortress.

It was to rise to the Divine Sword Group Leader’s hierarchy. The words about knowing conduct were right.

The boy had no intention of creating disadvantageous situations for himself.

Creak.

He opened the door alone and stepped out. Servants holding wine bottles and dishes looked on startled.

They seemed to have been lingering outside the door at the sounds of fierce battle’s force waves.

Jeong Yeon-shin calmly opened his mouth.

“Please summon the Clan Leader. Something unfortunate has happened.”

“Y-yes, understood!”

No one dared peek inside.

The Clan Leader who had received the entry technique to Myriad Heavens Flower Rain had declared.

That Desolate Fortress’s Lightning Genius was a teacher to the Sichuan Tang Clan.

Meaning he wasn’t an outsider to the family.

The Tang Clan motto of returning kindness twofold and grudges tenfold meant clearly distinguishing between favors and grudges.

Jeong Yeon-shin who had gained high status in the Tang Clan became a difficult existence for the Tang Clan members.

His special status as a Desolate Fortress warrior became meaningless.

Two servants hurried away with quick steps.

Swoosh.

Jeong Yeon-shin leaned against the door pillar.

He didn’t move for half an hour except slightly raising his head.

The boy blankly watched the summer sunlight being buried in twilight.

Along with dusk, a whitish halo spread.

Like a translucent blanket covering Jeong Yeon-shin’s whole body, it dyed his hair a faint reddish brown.

Shadows fell on his high bridge of nose.

The three remaining servants stood respectfully while stealing glances at the boy.

Though maintaining the elegant conduct of prestigious family servants, they managed to cast looks.

“…”

Jeong Yeon-shin’s bearing with the wheel dwelling in his body had changed from before. His presence grew clearer with each passing day.

His features too. He was a boy in his growth period.

The bloodline of his mother Ma Yeon-sang, who they said had fallen for the Jeong family head called Half Devil, was gradually deepening.

Jeong Yeon-shin knew his appearance was quite good.

Though it wasn’t particularly moving, that was the truth.

If it would help in reaching the Divine Sword Group Leader’s seat, he was willing to use this face.

Just as he had mastered the art of hospitality through sword discussion.

‘She said to grow out my hair after becoming a master.’

Perhaps due to the servants’ glancing eyes? The Lord of Desolate Fortress’s words suddenly came to mind then faded.

The boy inwardly shook his head to scatter the idle thoughts. He had only kept them in his heart. They were frivolous notions now.

That’s when.

‘Ah.’

He sensed presences from afar. Jeong Yeon-shin immediately lowered his gaze.

Three small figures were approaching. They seemed to have deliberately left their attendants behind.

The Clan Leader and Dragon Phoenix Twin Poisons siblings.

They now appeared quite close.

With talk spreading that the siblings would begin competing for succession, it meant the family was returning to normal.

One could tell just from the Tang siblings’ expressions. Their delicate faces were very peaceful yet full of vitality.

“Benefactor, what’s the matter…?”

As Tang Li-li asked demurely, Jeong Yeon-shin glanced at her before bowing to the Clan Leader.

He had to deliver bad news to those who had found peace. It was a pity.

―The Supreme Elder was a Blood Flame Sect spy.

He sent the sound transmission. Poison Lord Tang Yun-hwang’s eyes widened like they would tear.

* * *

Supreme Elder Tang Tai-du had been an extremely supreme martial artist.

To neutralize him with a single palm strike, without the principle of mutual destruction, was something that could only be discussed at the level of a purple-ranked expert.

That was the principle.

The Luminous Wheel’s dharma power.

Tang Yun-hwang had received the technique directly by touching hands with Jeong Yeon-shin’s heart.

He knew the mystical feeling imbued in the Luminous Wheel’s force. Seeing the force waves demonstrated before his eyes made things even clearer.

“Imprison the Supreme Elder… and prepare to execute his great crime by dismemberment.”

Poison Lord Tang Yun-hwang’s order was stern.

He didn’t hide it. He fully exposed his father’s crimes that had become the family’s shame.

While thanking Jeong Yeon-shin for his consideration in informing through sound transmission, he did his utmost to reveal the full truth of the incident.

Poison Lord.

It meant a noble skilled in poison techniques. He was a great hero true to his title.

The Clan Leader’s conduct rather brought unity to the Tang Clan warriors.

The Supreme Elder’s authority crumbled, and once again the Clan Leader came to govern the household.

Things proceeded rapidly.

The Tang Clan masters upheld the Clan Leader’s orders. Dozens of elite warriors combed the surroundings.

It was to find the cave imprisoning Desolate Fortress’s Elder Council Leader.

The extraordinary movements of the Nine Heavens Body Technique spread everywhere.

They were masters who had cultivated the Tang Clan’s secret eye techniques. Even the unique qi sense of the Reverse Origin Three Yang Technique was mobilized.

Once the Clan Leader stopped hiding the incident, the Supreme Elder’s hideout where he had fallen silent seemed about to be discovered soon.

Meanwhile, Jeong Yeon-shin received various pills through servants. It was Tang Yun-hwang’s repayment of grace.

The boy immediately had Namgung Hwa-shin and Hyeon Won-chang transport the medicines.

It was for the seniors lying in sickbeds at Desolate Fortress’s Kuizhou branch.

“Take care until I return. Setting aside the Ten Perfections Sect Leader, who knows how the Pure Demon Alliance Leader will act? I’ll quickly return after opening seventy percent of my true strength.”

Those were Hyeon Won-chang’s farewell words as they parted briefly.

They were right.

Now that Ma Yeon-jeok’s whereabouts were unclear, there were no masters at the Tang Clan where Jeong Yeon-shin was staying who could handle the Thirteen Evil Sects leaders.

They had to assume the Pure Demon Alliance Leader and Blood Flame Sect Leader would appear in some way.

This Tang estate too held both vigor and tension.

Even the sunlight brushing the rafters cleanly seemed to weigh heavily on the family members’ shoulders.

‘I must get stronger.’

Jeong Yeon-shin had been focusing on energy accumulation while spinning the wheel.

In the center of the training ground with stone steps extending in all directions… The wind sweeping up dirt and leaves converged into the boy’s body.

The stability of the Luminous Wheel That Transcends Law with dharma power ability was incomparable to ordinary cultivation techniques.

Woosh―!

Just spinning the wheel gathered energy incomparable to before.

Meanwhile Jeong Yeon-shin’s mind completely dismantled the martial arts of three major factions.

Blood Flame Sect, Pure Demon Alliance, Ten Perfections Sect.

He had already experienced them sufficiently.

There was precedent of successfully countering techniques by gambling on one move against a Tyrant Sword Sect elder.

Then, what if he prepared from the start?

Until now in his life, he had never focused on countering techniques while taking a stance in advance.

He didn’t know how effective it would be against peerless masters like the Thirteen Evil Sects leaders. But Jeong Yeon-shin did his best.

‘Even against opponents two or three levels above me, if I strike their weak point, I can close the gap by one move.’

He dismantled each energy wave of their energy techniques, Body Protection Technique movements, fist stances and sword techniques they had shown.

It was a process of newly establishing footwork to tear through gaps, and systematizing how to emit the Luminous Wheel’s energy waves in what flow against which opponents.

The upper dantian in his head frequently blazed white. While anticipating short decisive battles.

***

Read only at nineheavens.org

Translated by Nine Heavens!

https://discord.gg/XC9DTsTQ9Z

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