Chapter 273 – Martial Might

Cheong Myeong’s sect and homeland, he had said.

The Radiant Demon Wing’s Blue-Eyed Demon Sword was openly called the foremost blue-robed swordsman.

A mysterious master who always seemed jovial yet occasionally revealed a chilling demeanor. Despite ample merits and renown, he did not vie for the black robe rank alongside Jeong Yeon-shin.

Not even a trace of regret existed. It signified an exceptional capacity.

“Nothing has changed. It was always like this.”

Upon reaching his homeland, he gazed upward with a somewhat sour expression. Cheong Myeong’s discomfort was a rare sight in itself.

Jeong Yeon-shin followed his gaze. Toward an entrance so uniquely mystical it hardly resembled a sect’s gate.

‘A faction of noble lineages.’

Flanked by towering jagged rocks, the center shimmered with sunlight breaking into a grassy hue.

Thick woody vines were woven high like a fortress wall.

At least five jang tall, it felt eerily natural. The overwhelming scale seemed imbued with nature’s dignity.

Without Cheong Myeong’s guidance, one would not have thought it a gate.

It bordered on the power of a formation. No one could find it easily.

“In my lifetime, I end up at Heaven’s Pillar Gate. Even spreading a heavenly net would not catch it.”

“They call it a fortress blessed by nature.”

Lazy Flame Dragon and Hyeon Won-chang spoke. They carried a small two-person palanquin at the squad leader’s command.

Inside sat the Divine Sword Group Leader, and Lazy Flame Dragon bore a mildly displeased look while following orders.

A duty in place of the recuperating Divine Sword Squad.

They had fallen to the archery martial arts of Dark Night Palace, honed for maximum ambush efficiency. Normally, the Divine Sword Squad would accompany the Divine Sword Group Leader.

Yet Jeong Yeon-shin’s recuperation took precedence over theirs, and Heaven’s Pillar Sect was not a faction that permitted many entrants.

“So.”

Lazy Flame Dragon glanced at Cheong Myeong.

“How do we get in?”

“They have to open it from within.”

Cheong Myeong replied leisurely, turning to Jeong Yeon-shin.

“My sect is inherently arrogant by nature, so they might act quite rudely…”

It was in the Divine Sword Group Leader’s presence. Not a private setting, hence the formal tone.

Jeong Yeon-shin nodded calmly.

“Those slow-witted often possess patience and ingenuity. Did this squad leader not know that? Many of the world’s great warriors have the right to act haughtily. Besides, are we not the ones seeking Heaven’s Pillar Sect’s aid?”

Cheong Myeong chuckled.

With the same expression he used to pat Jeong Yeon-shin’s shoulder back when he was a white robe, as if watching a junior through strange times.

“Let us call them then.”

“Good.”

Right after the squad leader’s approval.

Cheong Myeong pursed his lips and whistled. A clear sound, like blowing a slender flute, spread out, laced with power waves.

It seemed he employed a special incantation. Leaves danced as the energy waves brushed up the verdant wall.

Shin So-bin, standing beside Jeong Yeon-shin, let out a small gasp.

They waited about a quarter-hour.

“Exiled disciple Cheong Myeong.”

A resonant, archaic voice rang out.

Atop the fortress of ancient tree trunks. A man stood sideways on a slanting tree, looking down at the group.

He wore a bow across his back and a sword at his waist with natural ease. Long, dark green hair flowed down, complementing his pale face.

He spoke.

“For what purpose have you returned to the divine pillar?”

It sounded like an old dialect, with a melodic lilt threading through the words.

Unlike the unified tone widespread during the Ming Dynasty’s founding under imperial might. It seemed their own vernacular.

“Exiled disciple?”

Hyeon Won-chang echoed blankly. Lazy Flame Dragon, fiddling with the palanquin’s handle ahead, raised an eyebrow slightly.

“Senior Demon Sword?”

Shin So-bin, guarding the squad leader’s side, parted her lips faintly.

Among the Radiant Demon Wing masters, she appeared the most shocked, while Jeong Yeon-shin alone remained composed. So what.

A sly smile formed on Cheong Myeong’s lips.

“Junior Jeong, your tongue has sharpened.”

“You are not my senior brother. Did you not leave the sect forever? What face brings you back?”

“Jeong Nan-song.”

“You had better answer straight. Dark figures roam our mountain, digging it up. You abandoned the duty of guarding the World Tree, so it would not be strange if you were now a Dark Night Palace lackey. Who knows the truth?”

“To ask of truth… Not words fit for our clan’s mouth. Unless you slacked in refining the clan’s eye techniques.”

“Truly speechless! You are right!”

The exchange ended there. The man called Jeong Nan-song said he must consult the sect elders’ intentions.

His descent below the wooden wall was swift yet aloof.

A demeanor rare in the martial world. The Radiant Demon Wing showed little reaction.

“Plain-spoken.”

Hyeon Won-chang remarked. His expression was somewhat dazed.

Cheong Myeong shrugged.

“I said they would not be friendly. As you see, I am close to a traitor to my sect.”

“A traitor? Your limbs and meridians are intact. Being exiled seems odd too.”

Shin So-bin asked, gently rubbing her own wrist.

Even Shaolin, famed for justice and compassion, shattered the dantian and severed the meridians of exiled disciples.

Lest their profound skills be misused against doctrine and teachings. Most strict martial world factions were the same.

Cheong Myeong touched the back of his head, tied with a hood.

“They must have erased my name from the sect registry after I left. It feels a bit bitter.”

“You did not know you were exiled? Then it was not some grave crime?”

Shin So-bin countered, brows furrowed in disbelief.

She flicked her long braid back, irritation toward Heaven’s Pillar Gate seeping through.

“It is so, but it was deserved.”

“Why?”

“It is a faction dedicated to guarding the World Tree’s core. They call it a duty, not something lightly revered. They find their clan’s essence and tradition there. They even disdain the Han-mixed imperial family. They are not warm to Desolate Fortress either. White Cat, as a Shin Clan lady, you must have heard roughly?”

“Ah…”

“Being a martial world faction, some warriors seek ultimate might in real combat, and while they do not stop those who leave, they do not welcome their return. It is a betrayal of loyalty. That vast village is so insular.”

“Does that not make bringing Senior Demon Sword pointless?”

Lazy Flame Dragon interjected abruptly, wearing an annoyed look.

“Then is he not just a hindrance to the squad leader’s recuperation?”

“Without me, you would hardly see the gatekeeper’s face. The formations along the mountain slopes were already unwinding into paths. Our squad leader must have sensed it.”

“Hm.”

Jeong Yeon-shin nodded at Cheong Myeong’s calm reply, ignoring the Divine Sword Group Leader’s noisy presence.

His direct superior sat cross-legged in the palanquin, snoring. His strength seemed thoroughly drained.

Shin So-bin spoke with a curious expression.

“The Group Leader must trust the squad leader greatly. I thought he was not one to let himself go like that.”

“We only met once.”

Jeong Yeon-shin replied with a face of disagreement.

The Divine Sword Group Leader’s condition was worse than expected.

He occasionally coughed up blood, a steep price for piercing the joint attack of two Thirteen Evil Sect leaders and inflicting critical wounds.

Even short journeys required immense effort.

Then.

Rustle—

The thick vine wall blocking their view parted. A profoundly mystical sight.

It opened to the sunlight as if possessing a will, reminiscent of the Desolate Fortress Leader’s inner sanctum.

For a while, only the sound of foliage brushing together filled the mountain air.

“A precious one from the secular world has come.”

An aged woman’s voice resounded. An odd tone. It sounded like someone valued only in the secular world had arrived.

“Young supreme master, I am Cheong Bo-hwa of Heaven’s Pillar Sect.. I act as sect leader.”

***

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Translated by Nine Heavens!

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***

White sunlight streamed through the vanishing wall’s gaps.

Jeong Yeon-shin looked directly at the figure emerging with the light. The power of his Lowly Revelation technique, refining his eyes, was untouched by glare.

An elderly swordmaster with an upright posture, white hair hanging loose, and a Transcendent Flight technique that bore no weight on the grass reflected clearly.

Even the glint in her blue eyes and her simple green robe.

‘Strong. An extraordinarily powerful supreme master. How old could she be?’

Her power defied measurement. The air warped with her limbs’ movements, as if she had spent boundless years refining her energy.

Her amassed strength might have reached the body’s limits. Controlling such power like a breeze bespoke immense inner mastery.

He parted his lips slowly.

“…Radiant Demon Wing Leader Jeong Yeon-shin.”

“My great-grandson’s superior, I see. That large, unstable man there must be the Divine Sword Group Leader.”

Cheong Bo-hwa, stepping before Jeong Yeon-shin, spoke.

Her voice, too, sang like a melody, resonating deeper than Jeong Nan-song, Cheong Myeong’s former junior.

‘Senior Cheong Myeong’s great-grandmother.’

Jeong Yeon-shin alternately gazed at the expressionless great-grandson.

No hint of emotion showed. A deep rift seemed to linger between them.

Cheong Bo-hwa, eyeing Jeong Yeon-shin more closely than her great-grandson, spoke.

“It happens across generations now and then. This time, it seems you brought a skill unknown to the Central Plains. Martial arts newly sprouted from the Ming Dynasty’s order, I mean.”

“They say the world’s martial arts stem from Shaolin on Mount Song. It may not be so novel.”

“Then I cannot let you near the lake. Such are this sect’s rules.”

“Then I will test your sect’s discernment.”

“Words befitting a grandmaster. Understand this. Even the Desolate Fortress Leader cannot forcibly bend our rules. A shred of conscience dwells in her, as a noble clan lineage.”

A firm statement. Even as her lips moved, the soft wrinkles at her eyes’ edges remained still.

Only her steadily gleaming blue eyes studied Jeong Yeon-shin ceaselessly.

Jeong Yeon-shin met her gaze quietly.

“Is it enough to demonstrate my martial arts’ perfection in three sparring matches?”

“Indeed. We advance our martial arts by shunning the culture rooted in this land. Disciples vividly recalling the distant past detest the tyranny of Yuan, Song, and early Ming peoples. Even if it makes us frogs in a well, it cannot be helped.”

The leader of Heaven’s Pillar Sect continued slowly.

“If your unique martial arts transcend our clan’s boundaries… We will duly reward you for broadening our horizons. Access to the lake is but part of it; we intend to offer experiences you have not had.”

“So be it.”

As Jeong Yeon-shin prepared to assume a stance.

Cheong Bo-hwa shook her head.

“Are you not a Desolate Fortress black robe? We know what we must. It would be mismatched.”

“I do not understand what caliber you mean.”

“Your caliber is too high, so I fear the essence would blur if an adult joined a children’s fight. I sense energy waves akin to yours in those you brought. The perfection of martial arts should rightly be judged by practitioners, not grandmasters.”

“Children and adults…”

Jeong Yeon-shin nodded and stepped back.

Shin So-bin, beside him, shot her peer squad leader an incredulous glance, but the Radiant Demon Wing Leader paid no heed to the child’s look.

‘If it is the martial arts of the mysterious Heaven’s Pillar Sect…’

The Linked Path Celestial Sword, Moon-Shielding Heaven Technique, and Threefold Forest Steps were famed.

Each renowned as profound as the divine arts of the orthodox sects.

Now it seemed their reputation stemmed from the prowess of disciples who left despite exile, but what of the noble lineages honing martial arts solely at the main sect?

Typically, Jeong Yeon-shin’s martial arts drew attention alongside their inherent might.

This was the first time his unique skills would be directly compared to another school.

“Let us begin now.”

The Radiant Demon Wing Leader, arms crossed in his pitch-black sleeves, spoke.