Chapter 203 – Radiant Demon Wing (4)

“Amusing.”

The Desolate Fortress Lord moved her lips slowly.

“She knows not her own ruin.”

She reclined obliquely, using the brown sheen of ancient tree trunks as a bed.

Her hair flowed down her neck to her lower back, settling like long blades of grass. She gave no impression of vulnerability.

Even lying in a form hardly resembling a stance, it was so.

A serene temperament lingered on her face as she turned her head slightly.

A gaze that summoned silence.

Her verdant eyes fixed beyond the shoulders of the three Leaders, unwavering. A terrifying tension blossomed in an instant.

The stillness seemed laden with pressure. The surrounding air felt as if it tightened tautly.

“Ruin?”

Jeong Yeon-shin repeated inwardly.

He considered his master perhaps the most tranquil presence in the martial world.

Her perspective as a peerless master surely rivaled the martial world’s pinnacle. She overlooked all creation.

The Desolate Fortress Lord’s aura was both pure and lofty. The notion of her harboring enmity toward anyone scarcely crossed his mind.

Even when she wielded her sword against the Blood Flame Sect Leader and the Pure Demon Alliance Lord, it had been so.

It felt like fulfilling a necessary task. As if she walked a separate realm alone.

Thus, the word “ruin” struck him as puzzling.

Had the Martial Alliance’s envoys offended her? Or did she share a grudge with the Ye Clan?

“I must question the Family Head.”

Lady Ye murmured. Protecting the kids is not enough.

She stood at Jeong Yeon-shin’s rear flank.

Her tone was lower than usual, and even Lady Ye, typically bold and self-centered, seemed tense in this moment. It was only natural.

“I pay my respects to the revered Desolate Fortress Lord.”

Rustle.

The sound of robes brushing.

Lady Ye performed a salute toward the Desolate Fortress Lord.

Her presence was light. She raised a clasped-fist salute with the poised movement technique unique to her.

She maintained composure despite hearing “ruin.” It was a remarkable resolve. Even facing death if the Lady struck would be unavoidable.

“With a noble birth, I have heard much. I wished to see what you think. By great fortune—truly heavenly fortune—I was curious how you would safeguard the treasure you hold.”

Lady Ye spoke.

“…”

Sunlight melted into the Desolate Fortress Lord’s eyes. The rays from the window blended into a verdant gleam.

Did she see through the Alliance envoy’s intent? It struck through intuition. Eyes harboring an overwhelming abyss.

The air seemed to clarify under the noble clan’s gaze.

She parted her lips.

“Speak more.”

“If I die by your strike now, it proves my deceit; if I leave alive, it shows my heart is pure. Your eyes are especially famed among us. They see through people and time.”

“You judge me.”

“Seeing it firsthand, I know it is true. If these eyes see no use for me with your treasure, my life ends here. If I survive, I may observe you.”

“Bold. You would make my eyes your mirror?”

“That proof holds the value of my life.”

Lady Ye’s words were polished. Her demeanor carried an unprecedented refinement of a noble lineage.

Her smooth voice lacked its former levity. Even Jeong Yeon-shin, listening, was slightly surprised.

The Desolate Fortress Lord tilted her head faintly.

“Your hands bear the remnants of your foster father. What became of him?”

“He was erased from the world. He will never touch my treasure again.”

“I command you not to call it yours.”

“Nor is it yours.”

Lady Ye’s voice ended sharply. She countered and fell silent.

Such words were unfit to utter before the martial world’s near-supreme master. Silence spread like ice.

“What is this?”

The exchange planted doubt in Jeong Yeon-shin. Lady Ye’s behavior felt familiar.

Even with a different voice and appearance, something stirred in his memory.

A natural hypothesis arose, but he dismissed it as too absurd.

The Blood Flame Sect’s Seventh Apostle as the Martial Alliance’s Grand Internal Strategist? How could she mask her nature and evade even the Sword Star’s eyes?

Even Jeong Yeon-shin, wielding the Luminous Wheel Technique, had sensed nothing. Not even when their hands touched.

“Could it be?”

His eyes narrowed.

“I extinguished with my own hands one who granted me favor. Now, my remaining life’s purpose is singular. I… I hope to survive here. I hope my desire to refine this gem is pure.”

Lady Ye’s voice tickled the air. It lacked her usual confidence, tinged instead with longing and aspiration.

She was detached, as if entrusting her neck to a scoundrel’s blade. One could imagine her lips pursed thinly just from hearing it.

At that moment, a young girl’s voice, brimming with energy, rang out.

“Listening to this, she’s utterly insolent, isn’t she?”

Swish.

A fearsome energy wave sliced through the space. Silver light scattered around, brushing the sunlight pouring through the window.

In the brief instant Jeong Yeon-shin turned, a spear blade rested against Lady Ye’s neck.

Yue Shou-lin, the Desolate Fortress Divine Spear, had struck. The unleashed energy wave, delayed, sent both women’s hair fluttering.

“Do not act rudely.”

Yue Shou-lin continued, holding her long spear single-handedly.

Deputy Leader of the Divine Sword Squad.

The frost from her weapon was extraordinary.

The white spear gleam glowed as if compressing sunlight.

Brandishing a blade before the Desolate Fortress Lord was not discourteous. Unlike ordinary power holders, she faced no threat, a tradition rooted in old customs. Black-rank masters held such discretionary power, judging situations to wield weapons as needed.

“Her speech is vulgar. Fitting for a vassal beneath our clan.”

Xiahou Wei-zhen, the Forest-Treading Leader, stood behind Lady Ye.

His massive fist hovered slightly, poised to crush her head at any moment.

Colorless energy waves leaked from his hand’s gaps, as if warning. Only the Lady’s engagement in dialogue spared her immediate execution.

A display of Desolate Fortress’s might.

Even Jeong Yeon-shin would struggle to survive there.

If he traded places with Lady Ye, he would need to prepare for death. Three black-ranks and the Desolate Fortress Lord.

It was no exaggeration to call it the martial world’s most perilous space. Yue Shou-lin’s earlier warmth—“Jeong Yeon-shin, Jeong Yeon-shin”—now felt far from trivial.

Rustle.

Zhuge Qing-ya, behind him, edged closer to Jeong Yeon-shin. The unfolding scene seemed to frighten her.

Understandable. Jeong Yeon-shin had not anticipated this turn either.

Amid it, the Desolate Fortress Lord’s voice resounded.

“You overestimate my eyes. The Blade of Extinction is light. It sways with my will, so you must prove your worth.”

“I will do anything. If I can stay by your side, anything.”

Lady Ye spoke.

The Lady’s clear voice returned promptly.

“Endure at headquarters. You must not harm anyone. Your treatment will be decided later.”

She would not execute her now.

“What your eyes see in me.”

Lady Ye parted her lips, lifting the corners of her mouth.

“I am not a vile presence to you or your treasure, am I? That suffices for now. I am very, very pleased. To feel delight from you.”

“I said not to act insolently.”

Yue Shou-lin frowned as she spoke. Still gripping her spear shaft, the energy wave on the blade drew a blood mark on Lady Ye’s nape.

A technique distinct from the Radiant Demon Wing Leader’s full-body emission. Energy rising with intent had sharpened the edge itself.

A testament to the three-flower convergence realm.

Lady Ye paid it no mind. Even as white and red contrasted beneath her slender jaw, she spoke her piece.

In a remarkably gentle tone.

“I learned two things. How scarce Desolate Fortress’s hands are in these times, and how dearly you cherish the treasure you hold. It eases and troubles my heart, but for now, I must be content with this.”

She smiled faintly.

“I am grateful for your leniency. I will conduct myself with care while here.”

“Depart with the Zhuge Family’s child.”

The Desolate Fortress Lord commanded with an expressionless face. A decision on the Alliance envoys’ treatment. She permitted them entry into Desolate Fortress.

Yue Shou-lin’s spear traced a dazzling arc as it withdrew.

“Stay out of sight if you can.”

She spat the words.

Lady Ye, smiling silently, glanced at Jeong Yeon-shin before turning away.

The ends of her eye patch, draped with her ebony hair, fluttered white. The more he observed, the more familiar her demeanor became.

“Could it be?”

Within the new Radiant Demon Wing Leader’s mind.

A thread of suspicion sprouted.

Swish.

Jeong Yeon-shin suddenly felt pressure on his sleeve. A small hand tugged him. Turning, he saw Zhuge Qing-ya.

The girl, who had unconsciously gripped his robes, parted her lips anxiously.

The audience with the Desolate Fortress Lord might end without her speaking a word.

“I offer greetings to the Desolate Fortress Lord! This girl is Zhuge Qing-ya of the Zhuge Family, and I humbly request to serve as a guest martial artist under the Radiant Demon Wing…”

“Permitted.”

Zhuge Qing-ya’s face brightened as she followed Lady Ye down, startled into releasing Jeong Yeon-shin’s sleeve. She seemed intent on waiting below.

Even with just a brief reply, it was so. A testament to the Desolate Fortress Lord’s influence.

Her single word stood above Desolate Fortress’s laws.

Held in absolute trust. Such were her eyes.

All deliberation and procedure at headquarters paled beneath them. A fact well-known even to the Alliance, it appeared.

“Her mind is wild.”

Xiahou Wei-zhen muttered.

Only then.

A space for the Lady and black-ranks alone formed.

***

Read only at nineheavens.org

Translated by Nine Heavens!

https://discord.gg/XC9DTsTQ9Z

***

Yue Shou-lin and Xiahou Wei-zhen did not question what had transpired. The stance of Desolate Fortress’s supreme masters.

If it were a matter to command, the Lady would inform them first; otherwise, as subordinates, they refrained from prying.

Jeong Yeon-shin resolved to set aside his doubts in this setting.

The new Radiant Demon Wing Leader finally approached the Desolate Fortress Lord closely.

Rustle.

He knelt on his left knee slowly. Alongside his two seniors.

With one knee on the ground, he raised a clasped-fist salute with both hands—a courtesy Desolate Fortress martial artists offered only to their Lady.

“Deputy Leader of the Divine Sword Squad, Yue Shou-lin, reports to the Lady. Together with the Forest-Treading Leader, we escorted the Radiant Demon Wing Leader to headquarters. Three from the Forest-Treading Squad sustained minor injuries, but there were no fatalities.”

“The Forest-Treading Leader greets the Lady’s esteemed presence. There were no incidents.”

The two Leaders spoke.

Desolate Fortress was fundamentally a faction straddling the imperial court and martial world. It bore traits of both military and martial traditions.

While it had laws like a military order, return reports followed no fixed format.

Xiahou Wei-zhen’s blunt words alone showed as much.

That was likely the utmost courtesy he could muster.

By contrast, Yue Shou-lin’s formal demeanor struck Jeong Yeon-shin as novel. Draped in her black bob and robes, she signaled the next report with her eyes.

If she became the next Divine Sword Squad Leader, might the unit’s spirit grow livelier?

“Senior Yue might be my fiercest rival.”

Jeong Yeon-shin thought this as he spoke.

“…The Radiant Demon Wing Leader reports his return. I triumphed in the Martial Alliance’s Opening Tournament. White Qilin Namgung Hwa-shin, seconded from Pure Heaven Wing as a guest martial artist, and two others returned safely.”

“You may raise your head.”

The sunlight streaming from ahead was dazzling. A voice tinged with solar gleam brushed his ears.

“Radiant Demon Wing Leader, look into my eyes.”

At last.

Jeong Yeon-shin faced the Lady’s pale visage.

She slowly raised her torso. Her outstretched legs drew inward.

The wide, palace-like sleeves of her pale green robes brushed the tree bark, producing a soft sound as she sat cross-legged.

The Desolate Fortress Lord parted her lips slowly.

“You have achieved a merit worthy of praise. You may choose your reward.”

Jeong Yeon-shin fell silent briefly. Though her familiar face and lips were no longer strange, he instinctively grew cautious.

Even without her insistence, her presence compelled careful speech.

Her features and aura, as if descended from beyond the mortal realm, fostered such an atmosphere.

Yet he had to speak his mind. Lessons from Hyeon Won-chang and Lazy Flame Dragon taught him so. Zhuge Xian and Zhuge Qing-ya had imparted wisdom too.

The new Radiant Demon Wing Leader opened his mouth slowly, gazing up at the Desolate Fortress Lord.

“I do not wish to choose. May I not have them all?”

“…!”

Yue Shou-lin’s lips moved soundlessly, forming, “Are you mad?”

Xiahou Wei-zhen turned to the rookie junior with widened eyes.

Yet Jeong Yeon-shin remained audacious.

With a small gesture, he drew a book from his robes. In the stillness, only the rustle of paper against his black robe sounded.

The Desolate Fortress Lord’s gaze brushed the words “Breaking Guide.” A fleeting moment.

Then.

She smiled faintly.