Chapter 136 – Return of the Storm

Read only at nineheavens.org

Translated by Nine Heavens!

https://discord.gg/XC9DTsTQ9Z

***

Jeong Yeon-shin peered into the core of the blue flames.

While the blue-colored divine technique burned like terrifying Samadhi True Fire, the Blood Flame Sect Leader was struggling like the Ten Perfections Sect Leader before.

The blade stuck in Ma Yeon-jeok’s abdomen couldn’t move.

The demon-destroying power suppressed the enemy’s true qi, and Ma Yeon-jeok’s solid abs along with his three meridian force contained the enemy’s hand.

He had completely sealed off any chance of escape.

“AAAAHHHHH!”

The scream bursting through pale lips was fierce.

The Blood Flame Sect Leader’s body couldn’t manifest its regeneration ability.

The flames were burning away even the blood that was the foundation of blood techniques, strand by strand.

The Blood Flame Sect Leader’s entire body burned together with Ma Yeon-jeok. Blue, ever bluer.

“Sect Leader!”

“Lord Sect Leader!”

It was the Blood Swordmasters who had been focused on blocking Jeong Yeon-shin. The situation had changed.

They stamped their feet, using lightness technique to head toward the two supreme masters, leaving the boy behind.

But they were too late. The boy was faster.

BOOM!

His black robe fluttered violently along with surging waves of energy.

In the moment all fighting had paused, Jeong Yeon-shin’s form charged like a ray of light.

CLANG!

With just one deflection technique he shattered the sword that belatedly tried to block his path.

The boy kicked off the ground, piercing through the scattered silver fragments of the iron sword.

Straight ahead was the blue flame Ma Yeon-jeok had created. It was a martial art he had created himself. He knew it better than anyone.

He had vaguely imagined martial arts reaching its peak would take such form, and now the scene he had pictured appeared before his eyes.

Along with his grandfather’s wound.

Ma Yeon-jeok had grabbed the Blood Flame Sect Leader’s head at close range to seal off his regeneration ability.

That was the only way.

The Blood Flame Sect Leader’s techniques that seemed supernatural were different from ordinary Blood Flame Sect disciples.

Anyone could see it was a mystical power created by the upper dantian he had cultivated. It had to be handled starting from the hundred meetings point and upper dantian.

Ordinary force wasn’t enough. Power of opposition was needed, and Ma Yeon-jeok had mastered and revealed his grandson’s Demon Destroying Azure Unyielding Palm.

And so now.

The dying Blood Flame Sect Leader’s struggle was a supreme master’s death throes. At completely point-blank range.

His hand that had pierced Ma Yeon-jeok’s abdomen unleashed heavy energy waves of internal heavy palm technique.

He was managing to threateningly raise the Ten Perfections Sect Leader’s energy, but clumsily.

The boy could see everything.

WHOOSH!

A storm-like gust urgently brushed past Jeong Yeon-shin’s ears.

The headwind from his rapid movement seemed to press into the boy’s very heart.

‘No.’

It was his grandfather. He couldn’t lose him to such a blood demon. Even if it were fate, now wasn’t the time.

It should be after his own death, when he hadn’t overcome his constitution.

Thud! Thud!

The feeling of leaving footprints on the ground was clear. He was running towards the azure flame, with his eyes fixed on them.

He recalled the sunset that had gently flowed through the Jeong Family estate when he was creating the Jeong Family Dynamic Technique.

A faint orange light had spread lonely across the window bars.

The brushstrokes he had made while longing for his mother had resonated alone in the dim light.

Then he would suddenly climb into bed, curl up and fall asleep.

He didn’t want to experience that again.

‘Move.’

The luminous wheel in his heart responded.

While accumulated internal injuries weighed heavily on his whole body’s meridians, the wheel of light began to spin.

It was the full-body circulation of the Luminous Wheel That Transcends Law.

HUM.

An extremely white true qi light wrapped around his skin. It was a crudely raised protective qi armor.

The azure flames already filled his vision completely.

Jeong Yeon-shin arrived first. Only the boy was a master capable of entering the energy waves of Demon Destroying Azure Unyielding Palm.

Thanks to the dharma power imbued in the protective qi wrapping his whole body. He took another step forward like that.

Whoosh!

He entered the blue world.

Immediately, his gaze met a pair of red eyes. It was the Blood Flame Sect Leader.

The light dwelling in his pupils was fading.

He had already absorbed the Ten Perfections Sect Leader’s profound energy.

He didn’t seem to have leisure to perform blood qi absorption on Ma Yeon-jeok.

‘You…come here…’

The Blood Flame Sect Leader’s lips moved. It was toward Jeong Yeon-shin.

It seemed he wanted to say something.

The boy quickly planted his foot. While gripping the Desolate sword’s energy in his right hand.

Perhaps due to the urgent situation? The Blood Flame Sect Leader was foolish.

Before belatedly trying to speak, he should have first withdrawn the internal heavy palm technique he was using on the grandfather before his grandson’s face.

Jeong Yeon-shin put strength into his grip on the sword handle and swung his arm. Swift sword Technique.

His thumb and index finger were appropriately relaxed. These were sword principle that had now begun unconsciously imbuing every sword strike.

SWOOSH!

A thin trajectory rushed through the flames. The white blade that extended forward passed through his neck.

The Desolate sword’s strike development was extremely smooth.

There wasn’t even the sensation of hitting a true qi shield. It seemed to have all been burned away by Demon Destroying Azure Unyielding Palm.

A body helplessly collapsing below the head.

The Blood Flame Sect Leader’s blood-red robe, which had been fluttering endlessly, finally stopped moving.

But the Blood Flame Sect Leader was indeed not of human descent.

The head held in Ma Yeon-jeok’s seemingly frozen grip slowly curled its lips upward.

While furrowing his brow, he spoke once more with just lip movements.

‘My stepdaughter is coming. I am different from your kind. I will never die.’

Jeong Yeon-shin paid no mind. He quickly unleashed a second sword strike.

This strike was swift yet extremely careful.

Before the Blood Flame Sect Leader’s body could fully collapse, he stepped to the side and cut vertically.

Splat!

The enemy’s arm that had been stuck in his grandfather’s abdomen fell off.

He had simultaneously executed the swift sword and the absorption technique.

The spurting blood turned to mist within the blue flames.

Jeong Yeon-shin hurriedly embraced Ma Yeon-jeok while moving his left hand.

He tried to seal acupoints to stop the bleeding from the abdominal penetrating wound.

It didn’t work well, but he forcibly pushed in the Luminous Wheel That Transcends Law to stop the bleeding.

Ma Yeon-jeok’s meridians and acupoints had already lost elasticity. No true qi could be felt either.

The peak-level Demon Destroying Azure Unyielding Palm was fading.

The blue flames that had covered the entire space turned to heat haze and flew up.

The boy in the black robe felt the skin of his grandfather whom he was supporting.

It was very rough. His once robust body had become completely emaciated as if it had never been otherwise.

The state of his neck with all moisture seemingly lost. Vitality was disappearing from his grandfather’s body… slowly.

A wrinkled hand was placed on Jeong Yeon-shin’s crown. It was very warm.

That was the end.

The Blood Flame Sect Leader’s head fell to the ground, and no more sounds could be heard.

Ma Yeon-jeok’s heartbeat also stopped.

‘Ah.’

Jeong Yeon-shin’s eyes went wide.

He stood still until the Blood Flame Sect disciples began wailing at the revealed scene.

While endlessly stimulating his grandfather’s whole body meridians and heart with the Luminous Wheel That Transcends Law’s power.

“The Sect Leader is an immortal deity! Recover his body!”

“The Sect Leader lives! His energy is clearly present!”

“Leave immediately! Open a path quickly!”

While the Tang Clan masters were blocking the Blood Swordmasters’ approach.

The Ten Perfections Sect warriors wearing all manner of armor suddenly began withdrawing.

Their Movement Technique movements were extremely orderly as they used lightness technique to return exactly the way they had come.

The Ten Perfections Sect Leader seemed to have survived. He hadn’t died from the brief absorption.

The Tang Clan’s experts pursued them, their presence piercing Jeong Yeon-shin’s senses.

He paid no attention. His mind was detached from the battlefield.

Nevertheless many gazes were directed at him.

Lightning Genius Jeong Yeon-shin. The boy wearing Desolate Fortress’s black robe.

He had breached the realm of peerless masters and returned.

Following the scene of killing Moon Gazing Spear, he had created another miracle.

Now, though he stood still alone amid fierce battle, he exuded presence.

He received gazes of reverence, interest and hostility regardless of friend or foe.

Clatter—

Tang Yun-hwang’s steel petals swept away Blood Flame Sect disciples while protecting Jeong Yeon-shin.

He had prioritized faith with the boy over revenge for his wife.

But current Jeong Yeon-shin didn’t even have the leisure to be grateful.

While embracing Ma Yeon-jeok, he poured in nearly half of the Luminous Wheel That Transcends Law energy he could currently operate.

‘Please.’

In the realm of swordsmanship there is a term called living sword.

The internal energy techniques of Buddhist sects are said to not only harm but also benefit all living beings, like the Buddha’s compassionate hand.

Divine power is always mentioned when discussing the miracles of the Living Sword.

Since his grandfather had also carved dharma power martial arts throughout his body by cultivating Demon Destroying Azure Unyielding Palm, he thought perhaps he could somehow extend his lifeline.

He spun the wheel for a long time with a desperate heart. He wrung out all his energy.

Until the Blood Swordmasters were annihilated, the Ten Perfections Sect’s remaining warriors disappeared without trace, and finally the various servants and warriors who had come from the Tang estate cleaned up the battlefield.

More time passed after that.

“Hmm…”

Sighs entered his ears several times.

The Tang Clan doctors approached and took Ma Yeon-jeok’s pulse many times.

Then they shook their heads, paid respects and left.

The sun set.

His grandfather didn’t move.

When the boy suddenly came to his senses, Ma Yeon-jeok’s body had been laid out on a luxurious marble platform. He didn’t know when it had been moved. Jeong Yeon-shin found himself blankly sitting in place.

“You say it was stolen? The Blood Flame Sect Leader’s corpse?”

“Forgive us, Clan Leader. We were heading to the forge to burn it in the furnace when…”

“You couldn’t even resist?”

“She was an incredibly powerful one.”

“Describe her appearance.”

“A woman wearing a crimson robe. She wore an eyepatch of precious material on her left eye, and her other pupil was very red. I suspect she was the Blood Flame Sect’s Seventh Apostle.”

[TL Note- I guess her eyes did not heal after all.]

“…Any special characteristics?”

“She was smiling, but seemed to not even notice us. She also muttered words we couldn’t understand. But this seems no ordinary matter.”

“Speak.”

“Well… she said ‘Bring the Grandmaster back? I’ll be Sect Leader.'”

Jeong Yeon-shin ignored the immediately meaningless conversation.

He staggered to his feet. The ground felt unusually hard.

The boy took in his peacefully lying grandfather with blank eyes.

“Teacher.”

Tang Yun-hwang who had been speaking with his subordinate hurriedly approached. He looked up at the boy with sorrowful gaze.

It was the great hero’s bearing the Tang Clan Leader possessed. He slowly lowered his gaze together with Jeong Yeon-shin.

A great warrior lay with closed eyes.

Tyrant Hero, Ma Yeon-jeok.

The old master aged seventy-six years.

In the end he had ascended to immortality and gone to the realm of immortals. He had only wished to take one of his grandson’s enemies with him.

He had worn purple robes at age thirty, and was called Divine Sword until reaching his seventieth year.

Though emaciated like a dried corpse, he looked as if he might rise and draw his sword once more.

“Senior, rest in peace.”

Tang Yun-hwang slightly lowered his eyes and bowed his head.

The Tang Clan family members lined up on both sides performed martial salutes toward the former Divine Sword Group Leader.

They were paying respects to him as benefactor of the family along with Lightning Genius.

That’s when it happened.

COUGH―!

The dried corpse coughed.

* * *

Read only at nineheavens.org

Translated by Nine Heavens!

https://discord.gg/XC9DTsTQ9Z

***

One day later.

A notice was posted throughout Sichuan Province.

It was text posted on all manner of official roads and marketplaces to widely announce something. The paper was very thick.

[…Therefore we are forming the Martial Alliance at the Mid-Autumn Festival. We hope all heroes of the murim will welcome this joyous occasion…

…We hereby invite noble martial artists to the Alliance’s opening ceremony…

…Young talents who will become pillars of the martial world will also grace the occasion.

Cloud Sword Dragon Wei Zhi Myo-hwa, Little Sword Queen Qu Su-yu, Mount Hua Hidden Dragon Liu Xuan, …Lightning Genius Jeong Yeon-shin…]

“They wrote down the titles of all the famous masters whether it be Nine Great Sects or Eight Families. The same for sect leaders. But isn’t it laughable? Talking about young talents, what gives them the right to arbitrarily invite a Desolate Fortress master?”

It was Lazy Flame Dragon who now completely acted like a native martial artist.

For once he stood straight without swaying.

He intently stared at Jeong Yeon-shin who sat calmly in a chair.

Right in front of the boy who was briefly scanning one sheet of paper, Ma Yeon-jeok lay between golden silk bedding.

It was a large room.

The wooden carvings decorating various places were extremely magnificent.

They were images of tortoises, cranes, deer and such. The landscape painting hanging on the side wall also appeared to be precious artwork.

They were paintings and carvings symbolizing longevity. It was the Tang Clan’s careful consideration.

“Well, that’s nice.”

Lazy Flame Dragon looked over those symbols of the ten traditional symbols of longevity once. It was quite a strange gaze.

Meanwhile, Jeong Yeon-shin unhesitatingly burned the notice he had received from him.

Whoosh!

The Samadhi True Fire raised between his index and middle fingers turned even the ashes into a single stream of smoke… At the same time the boy lightly waved his hand. Myriad Heavens Flower Rain’s emission technique. The faint smoke flew out the window.

Lazy Flame Dragon glanced at the boy whose expression had sunk. Then he deliberately opened his lips glibly.

“Hey, I went out of my way to bring that to you.”

“Bring lunch instead. And grandfather’s rice porridge too.”

***

Read only at nineheavens.org

Translated by Nine Heavens!

https://discord.gg/XC9DTsTQ9Z

***