Chapter 248 – Punishment, Fate (5)

An order to apprehend a fourth-rank official fell from the lips of an evil faction leader.

“What?”

Was such a thing possible? It was an action so unbelievable that even facing it head-on, one could hardly accept it.

In that instant, Regional Magistrate Wang Wei-xiu’s jet-black eyebrows drew together. What did this lowly wretch just say?

The investigating officer reacted first. It was right after she cautiously observed the stern eyes of Jeong Yeon-shin sitting before her.

“Take cover!”

The red tassel tied to the hilt of her sword flared upward. Her left hand gripped the handle, unleashing a powerful wave of energy.

It was the unsheathing stance of the Golden Collar Autumn Flower Sword Technique.

A renowned sword art among the elite of Beijing, practiced by those of high status, it released petal-shaped energy waves that swept the surroundings once unleashed.

It was a sword skill favored and refined by the upper echelons of Beijing, where high-ranking officials abounded.

“The Radiant Arts Squad Leader is fearsomely powerful. But his internal and external injuries are severe! Either way, we must deal with the head first!”

She urgently grasped the sword hilt with her right hand.

From the ceiling to the floor below.

A white light suddenly flashed in a long streak.

A soft swish sounded.

It grazed the investigating officer’s shoulder and settled. There was no notable presence. It was as if a cold, chilling killing intent had merely traced a single arc.

Beyond the faint white haze, Hyeon Won-chang, who had lowered his body with one knee bent, revealed the fluttering knot of his heroic headband at the back of his head.

His expression was impassive. The tip of his blade, untainted by a single drop of blood, rested on the floor.

Beside him, the investigating officer’s right arm fell.

A spray erupted.

“Aaagh—!”

Blood belatedly burst from her shoulder. It was the aftermath of a killing sword refined to a terrifyingly smooth degree.

Hyeon Won-chang had infused his swordsmanship into the Radiant Arts Technique.

He had incapacitated the investigating officer overseeing the thousand-year city of Xi’an with a single strike. In terms of concealing his presence and delivering a fatal blow, he was the best in Radiant Demon Wing.

It was undeniably the realm of Desolate Fortress’s blue rank. All of Radiant Demon Wing followed their squad leader with unwavering resolve.

“Stop!”

Regional Magistrate Wang Wei-xiu, awkwardly rising, shouted loudly.

It was not a reprimand directed at the Radiant Arts Squad Leader. He raised his hand backward, halting his mounted warriors who were about to push through the inn’s entrance.

“The one who felled Ghost White Divine Sword speaks of instant death. You rabble should fulfill your duty as subordinates and lower your weapons. Do you intend to harm me?”

“Some officials have decent instincts, huh.”

Cheong Myeong, who had appeared out of nowhere, spoke with a faint smile. He descended swiftly and naturally.

The movement technique of the Elf Clan resembled that of an assassin yet carried a forceful strength.

A white gleam flashed from the blade he lightly pressed against Wang Wei-xiu’s neck.

“…”

An even deeper silence fell over the already quiet inn. The motion of dust particles stood out in the faint sunlight filtering through the window frame.

The magistrate’s warriors, who had pushed up to the entrance, froze in their tracks. Their faces bore varied shades of shock.

Wang Wei-xiu swallowed a groan.

“Your discipline pierces the heavens. You’re no ordinary evil faction rabble. Who are you people?”

“That’s not for you to know.”

Jeong Yeon-shin, seated alone, spoke calmly.

Wang Wei-xiu let out a wry laugh.

He understood the value of supreme martial artists as much as he wielded his own high authority.

A man who commanded elite warriors of a major faction without so much as lifting a finger before his eyes.

It was an extraordinary position, even encompassing both government and martial worlds.

While his personal martial prowess and experience might fall short of the Thirteen Evil Sects or the Nine Sect leaders, he possessed power close to theirs.

Facing him directly made it clear. The investigating officer, who had once looked down on disciples of the seven great sects, was now writhing on the ground in agony from a single strike.

Thus, Wang Wei-xiu puffed out his chest even more boldly.

It was a world of the strong devouring the weak. In an era where one’s presence testified to their worth, surviving this situation meant wrapping his authority in finer silk.

Unlike the Yunyang Prefecture magistrate, who had died silently with his sinister nature, he was different.

His background, diplomacy, and the caliber of his base city were far superior.

He recited as if chanting poetry.

“Do you know what you’ve just done and where? I am a man born and raised in the Wang Clan of Beijing’s chancellors, one who has personally witnessed the emperor’s sword dance, close to divine might. The emperor himself bestowed my rank and graced me with words that he would remember my face. No matter how supreme your martial prowess or how many subordinates you command, in broad daylight, you dare to touch me…”

At that moment.

The beautiful woman standing beside the Radiant Arts Squad Leader parted her lips. She too exuded a stern aura, her voice as cold as a northern blizzard.

“You’re the one who can’t fathom what you’ve said or where. It may be hard for officials across the realm to instantly update the wanted posters of seventeen faces, but you’ve made quite a fool of yourself.”

“Seventeen? What nonsense is a mere attendant spouting…”

Wang Wei-xiu abruptly shut his mouth.

A brief silence followed.

The prowess to face Ghost White Divine Sword, peculiar behavior, a demeanor that dismissed a regional magistrate, an exceedingly youthful appearance, seventeen names… He was no fool.

The panic rising in his mind slowly turned to fear, racing toward the back of his head.

“There seems… to have been a misunderstanding.”

Magistrate Wang shifted his tone. He had no choice.

He had walked into the tiger’s maw of his own accord.

Ridiculous indeed. Could there be anything more absurd in the world?

To confess crimes to the newly appointed squad leader of Desolate Fortress, whose momentum was at its peak, especially after gaining immense fame for dominating the Alliance-Opening War.

A soft rustle sounded.

He clasped his hands and raised them in a salute.

Though it was a courtesy that typically did not involve bowing, he lowered his head deeply.

He shed the arrogance of a noble lineage and high-ranking official from his demeanor. He humbled himself as if facing the late empress dowager.

“The vast expanse of Shaanxi has become a paradise for evil factions. The annihilation of Zhongnan was that devastating. As an official seeking survival, there was no other way…”

A sharp slice sounded!

A dark energy wavered near one of Wang Wei-xiu’s ears. It was the manifestation of supreme true energy.

A thread-like force, as if drawn from an abyss, severed his ear and sank into the pooling blood.

“Don’t sully the ears of the one before you. It feels the same.”

Baek Mi-ryeo extended and then curled her pale fingers. Meanwhile, Wang Wei-xiu’s excuses turned into screams.

Even as he writhed alongside the groaning investigating officer, the escort warriors dared not rush in. This was because Magistrate Wang had earlier displayed utmost deference.

“What is this…”

The leader in the dark teal uniform at the inn’s entrance muttered in bewilderment. The scene unfolded contrary to all expectations.

They had assumed drinks would be shared, but blood had splattered instead. In the midst of supreme masters beyond their reach, there was nothing they could do.

Only the sunlight, shining through with indifferent brightness, remained.

They were bound one by one.

***

Read only at nineheavens.org

Translated by Nine Heavens!

https://discord.gg/XC9DTsTQ9Z

***

With the bloodshed as a turning point, events that should have occurred naturally gained momentum.

The regional magistrate and investigating officer were locked in the inn’s underground storage. It was tantamount to imprisonment. There, they would face Ghost White Divine Sword, now bereft of both arms.

Meanwhile, Shin So-bin and Kang Chang-mu returned with various documents.

Scrolls detailing the actions of Xi’an Prefecture officials, seized from the government office with the stealth of their movement techniques.

The faces of the magistrate and investigating officer, now fully grasping the situation, turned ashen.

What had their conduct been in the presence of a Desolate Fortress squad leader?

There was no room for excuses. Fear that spouting sophistry might cost them their heads stiffened their expressions.

“With not just one but a whole chain involved, executing them might be more trouble than it’s worth. The Eastern Depot’s already groaning about it. Eunuch Ming Ye has completely fallen from power.”

Cheong Myeong, squatting on the musty underground floor, spoke as if to himself.

“Please, just kill me! Release my vital points, and I’ll end it myself!”

He had exploited the emperor’s bestowed rank for personal gain and deceived the masses. The grave crimes of Xi’an officials would not end with mere execution.

The laws of the Great Ming were exceedingly strict, potentially warranting the execution of three generations. If the matter reached Beijing, their entire families might face punishment.

Wang Wei-xiu pleaded to bury everything with his own life.

But the timing was poor.

They had already slipped from the Radiant Demon Wing Leader’s focus.

“What to do? It’s beyond my authority.”

Cheong Myeong smiled faintly.

Above their heads, on the inn’s first floor.

Having finished interrogating Ghost White Divine Sword, Baek Mi-ryeo reported to Jeong Yeon-shin, blood dripping from her fingertips.

“It won’t be easy. Zhongnan disciple Jeong Hye is…”

The young Radiant Demon Wing Leader felt an immense exhaustion. His body seemed to grow heavier by the moment.

He hadn’t shown it to his comrades, but the recoil was severe. The drawback of explosive martial arts prioritizing short-term combat hit him painfully.

Immediately after imprisoning the officials, a message from Blood Guardian Squad Leader Jin Myeong-jo via Desolate Fortress’s secret channels added to the complications.

[Shaanxi Linzhao Prefecture: Tyrant Sword Sect Leader has emerged from the main sect. Heading south alone. At a speed his subordinates cannot follow.]

[Shaanxi Hanzhong Prefecture: Blood Flame Sect’s First Apostle has appeared. Moving north with terrifying lightness skill.]

[Central Shaanxi Fengxiang Prefecture: The first sword of Yu Ling Leader has emerged. Shaanxi’s top demon Wei Ke-xiang has destroyed Mount Hia Sect’s Plum Blossom Sword Formation and escaped.]

[Mount Hua Sect Leader, Brilliant Jade Sword God Lady Lu Xia, has descended the mountain wielding the Violet Mist Divine Sword.]

‘Something must be prepared. Whether recovery or crafting the fourth sword form.’

The price of facing top-tier masters was justified, yet he was born with a fate to shatter such natural limits.

Shaanxi was a battleground for major factions.

He could face more supreme masters at any moment.

‘I need to devise the next form of the Lightning-Annihilation Sword Technique. A sword form that won’t strain my body.’

He had no shortage of ideas.

By now, the elements that could inspire Jeong Yeon-shin were boundless.

Rumors of orthodox martial lineages like Shaolin and Wudang, the principles of various martial arts overheard from Desolate Fortress’s blood kin and seniors, even the breezes brushing his skin from time to time.

The upper dantian, glowing white in his mind, whispered to him. Nothing is impossible for you.

‘It has to be that way. You, at least, must say so.’

As he organized the inspirations flashing through his head, his gaze settled on Baek Mi-ryeo’s lips.

“Hm…?”

Suddenly, a jolt like lightning struck his crown point. A tingling sensation surged, and Jeong Yeon-shin’s vision tilted sideways.

His sight blurred simultaneously. It came with the muffled cry of Baek Mi-ryeo echoing in his ears.

“Lightning Genius!”

***

Nine days prior, at the Radiant Demon Wing Hall.

Lady Ye of the Martial Alliance had grown quite close to the unnamed disciples of Radiant Demon Wing. Her approachable nature, as she smiled and approached them practicing the Radiant Arts Technique, played a significant role.

Desolate Fortress was a belligerent faction. It had to be, by its very nature. Conflicts resolved through combat in the Moonless Training Ground were frequent.

A martial group of martial artists who hunted other martial artists.

The children accepted Lady Ye, who stood alongside their seniors, without issue.

Naturally, they often shared stories about their squad leader.

Gathered in a huddle at the training ground, the children told the beautiful and powerful guest many things.

Since the Desolate Fortress Lord had officially brought her into the main sect, they had no suspicion she’d harm their squad leader.

“If big brother Squad Leader doesn’t inherit the Ma Clan… maybe it’s because there’s no need? With that face, that age, that prowess, and the fortress lord’s favor, what could he lack? Plus, the Ma Clan already has a set heir. Ma Se-in, they call him. He’s known as the Shield Hero now.”

“He’s pretty close with the squad leader.”

“He’s a good person! It’s his mother who’s the problem.”

Right, exactly. They nodded among themselves. It was right after they’d roughly told Lady Ye their squad leader’s whereabouts.

“Mother?”

“She’s so rotten she once tormented the squad leader. There was a big incident last time, and now she’s confined to a corner of the Ma Clan, I heard? She’s from a branch of the imperial family. Her name’s Zhu Lianting.”

“Zhu Lianting…?”

That afternoon.

The right arm of Lady Zhu Lianting, leaning in a quiet pavilion, flew off. A loud scream mingled with the sunset glow of Desolate Fortress.

[TL Note- Zhu Lianting just cant stop taking L’s.]

Just as her neck was about to be severed, the current Ma Clan Lord, wearing a pitch-black prosthetic arm, descended like a bolt of light and deflected Lady Ye’s hand blade.

Thus, her second attempt ended in failure.

Glancing at her opponent’s face, she showed no lingering attachment.

With steps hard to discern as fleeing or strolling, she drifted away gracefully, leaving only a torn sleeve in Ma Jin’s Radiant Demon Technique. Ma Jin, too, made no effort to pursue.

“As the fortress lord warned. The Martial Alliance’s Internal Grand Strategist, was it? Hard to read her intentions.”

“Dullard, there’s no one in the world as straightforward as me.”

That was the end of her words.

Lady Ye vanished without a trace from Desolate Fortress’s main fortress.