Chapter 278 – Martial Might (6)

An assassin from the Thirteen Evil Sects faced the Desolate Fortress squad leader.

Dark Night Palace’s Infinite Unit was among the realm’s top assassination groups. Its members were not mere tools but assassins rivaling the martial world’s elite.

This inevitably meant they possessed vast knowledge. They even considered the possibility that the Radiant Demon Wing Leader had entered Heaven’s Pillar Sect, home to the World Tree’s lake.

“…”

Son Sang-myeong steadied his agitation with a silent exhale, then closely observed the youthful figure before him.

An assassin’s approach varied depending on the opponent’s martial arts and prowess. Certainty was essential.

‘A realm capable of walking on water, with black trousers.’

Through the slit of a long cotton cloth, tightly woven abdominal muscles peeked out. He wore only bandages roughly wrapped over black martial trousers.

Bluish moonlight draped from his shoulders to his arms. Each time his toes slowly lifted from the water’s surface, transparent ripples spread in circles.

No room for doubt.

‘The features of facial description match.’

Illustrations failed to capture his appearance fully. Yet he was unmistakably the Radiant Demon Wing Leader.

Rumored to have no peers his age except the Ming Cult’s young master and Blood Flame Sect’s monster.

In truth, at an age hard to place alongside Socheon Mu-Jeok or the Seventh Apostle, whispers suggested his talent might surpass theirs.

[TL Note- I’m note sure if Socheon Mu-jeok is the actual name of Ming Cult’s Young lord or just a nickname, but i have translated it as a name for now, it may change in the future if we get more context.]

He was even said to be an orthodox martial artist advancing toward perfection in all combat skills.

Therein lay the current Radiant Demon Wing Leader’s dazzling strength.

‘A figure amassing stable power faster than any unorthodox fiend.’

The might of orthodox martial arts beyond a certain realm was renowned in martial history. His senses could be unimaginably sharp.

Given he was soaking in the lake, he must have sustained internal injuries from his Shaanxi journey. What to do?

“Dark Night Palace, I presume.”

The foremost figure of Desolate Fortress’s Radiant Demon Wing asked quietly.

A chill ran through Son Sang-myeong.

He did not answer. Warming his chilled nape with energy, he pondered how to apply the Pursuit Fragrance for Ten Li One Kill.

It was fleeting. An assassin’s thoughts were instinctual.

He spoke.

“A clan matter.”

“…!”

The back of the white-robed woman spying on the Radiant Demon Wing Leader flinched. Her reaction was terribly slow.

Dark Night Palace, honed by worldly strife, had long surpassed Heaven’s Pillar Sect in combat strength.

As she twisted her waist and swung her left hand upward, Son Sang-myeong seized her forearm and pressed a dagger to her nape.

A powerful surge of energy waves pulsed from his deathly pale, ashen grip.

Whoosh!

Their collars fluttered briefly. Incomplete energy waves dissipated colorlessly.

Heaven’s Pillar Sect’s Moon-Shielding Heaven Technique could not even take form.

The subdued warrior trembled slightly.

“Clumsy Threefold Forest Steps and shallow internal energy stand out. That dead golden hair is a symbol of clan intermarriage. You are Gi Geom-hyang’s disciple.”

Son Sang-myeong continued, moving only his lips.

“Son Hye-hyang. I heard you are my seventh cousin. My great-grandfather was your great-great-grandfather… Your attainment is pitiful. Had it been Blue-Eyed Demon Sword, it might have differed.”

[TL Note- Wouldn’t it a distant uncle, rather than a cousin? I’m not sure why author said cousin.]

“Dark Night Palace, Son Sang-myeong…! Let go!”

“Your spirited outburst is laughable. Unlike your mouth, your body does not budge an inch. Heaven’s Pillar Sect remains a mere flowerbed, oblivious to the impending annihilation, waving arms like leaves in training.”

Soon after, Son Sang-myeong fixed his gaze on the Radiant Demon Wing Leader.

‘Six zhang away, on water… I cannot reach him instantly. Treading Duckweed Across Water cannot be a swift method.’

Their eyes met—the young squad leader’s.

His own reflection in those pitch-black eyes felt alien. Skin as if dusted with ash, unusually dim.

In those mirror-like pupils, Son Sang-myeong wore a vile, expressionless mask.

The face of one resolved to die was less resolute than he imagined. He felt it himself.

“If you do not wish to become Ten Li One Kill’s target, stay out of it. Many black-rank supreme masters have perished by it since ancient times. All were blade-wielders famed in martial history.”

Son Sang-myeong whispered.

A provocation. No martial world master lacked pride.

He needed to draw this refined prodigy as close as possible. The distance was still insufficient for Pursuit Fragrance.

Splash.

The Radiant Demon Wing Leader stepped forward, parting his lips.

“You mean my seniors.”

“I have lived long. Their shocked faces remain vivid. Those who reigned invincible with honor and martial arts, slowly gazing down at the arrow shaft in their chest…”

A dry chuckle laced Son Sang-myeong’s voice.

He continued.

“Our sect’s Ten Li One Kill is an unrivaled secret art. Since the early Ming era, it first scarred the renown of supreme masters who ruled absolutely.”

“You sure you have lived long? Your energy reserves do not seem impressive. It must not grow with accumulation. This is my first time witnessing it.”

The Radiant Demon Wing Leader tilted his head slightly as he approached.

“…Your group leader struck our former leader. A grave mistake. It hastened a long-delayed grand plan. Heaven’s Pillar Sect’s annihilation is the first step. We need that World Tree lake you stand upon.”

Each word narrowed the gap.

Son Sang-myeong’s eyes grew colder. An assassin’s sense of distance rivaled any swordsman’s.

He felt the pulsing energy waves each time the Radiant Demon Wing Leader’s bare, veined feet parted the water. Overwhelmingly dense.

No matter.

His goal was not victory. It was mutual destruction. He came prepared to die.

For Dark Night Palace, crippled by its leader’s mortal wound, to pierce Desolate Fortress’s black-rank, it had to be so.

Silently.

He slowly gathered energy in his hand. Dust flowing through his sleeve settled into his grip.

Ssss—

The moment the wind teasing the moonlight quieted.

Suddenly, the Radiant Demon Wing Leader’s footing blurred. An abrupt leg technique. A massive spray rose with his kick.

A transparent, razor-sharp wave surged through the gap, tearing through the air with ferocious speed, like a fired explosive.

The water current, imbued with a supreme master’s energy, was itself akin to a slashing strike.

Boom—!

“Guh…!”

As Son Sang-myeong flung dust over Son Hye-hyang’s head.

[TL Note- Dust= Pursuit Fragrance for the Ten Li One kill.]

The wave’s crest flickered like blue flames, then accelerated like sparks from lightning.

The sound of rending air was deafening. Too late, Son Sang-myeong recalled the principle of Myriad Heavens Flower Rain. But it was indeed too late.

Slash!

An instant. The elongated water stream bisected his vision. Droplets splashing before him flickered with moonlight.

The Dark Night Palace assassin’s final thought was a hope that even a speck of Pursuit Fragrance had landed.

***

Read only at nineheavens.org

Translated by Nine Heavens!

https://discord.gg/XC9DTsTQ9Z

***

The subsequent teaching occurred by the lakeside. Moist breezes swept through the foliage.

Dewdrops, glowing faintly, rolled off leaves and grass at intervals.

A clear voice rang out.

“Your movements pierce the essence of noble clan lightness skills, so aligning your feet with water using Yongquan acupoint energy should not be hard. Indeed. For you, the current Radiant Demon Wing Leader, walking on water was never difficult. The challenge of stepping firmly is the same for anyone.”

The Divine Sword Group Leader spoke, lying on his side. Facing away from the shore.

Propping his head on one arm, he resembled a leisurely scholar reading. Unrestrained.

To Jeong Yeon-shin, it seemed a state where body and mind were unbound by anything.

‘Harmony of mind and body unbound.’

Desolate Fortress’s highest figures carried themselves so freely. His maternal grandfather Ma Yeon-jeok and black-rank top master Yue Shou-lin were similar, differing only in temperament from the Divine Sword Group Leader.

Jeong Yeon-shin learned a master’s dignity from them. Desolate Fortress’s rare figures acted as their hearts willed under the banner of protecting the common folk.

‘Protecting the masses well too.’

Jeong Yeon-shin thought.

A place tied to his life’s goal. Desolate Fortress’s purple-rank representative. The Divine Sword Group Leader’s bearing and energy waves etched vividly into his sight.

Eyes tinged blue by the Lowly Revelation Technique closely traced his superior’s habitual gestures, energy waves in his meridians, and muscle structure.

A peerless realm fit to hold the World Tree’s fruit.

To grasp the principle of a crescent moon waxing full, to widen the Baihui acupoint like an absolute fate, one must reach that man’s realm.

“I understand you are doing this with many eyes watching.”

The Divine Sword Group Leader glanced back, gesturing with his eyes as he spoke.

“Your gaze is quite burdensome. Are all young ones like this now? Utterly bold, I say.”

“My apologies.”

“Do not say what you do not mean. Your eyes are sparkling.”

The Divine Sword Group Leader spoke with a faintly uneasy look. He is not learning something strange, is he?

A concern lost on the young Radiant Demon Wing Leader. Jeong Yeon-shin merely gazed at him with a pure expression.

Rustle.

Sighing, the Divine Sword Group Leader sat up.

“My desire to give a gifted junior even one more thing is immense.”

“This junior’s vessel is sufficiently empty.”

“Do not speak so calmly. You already seem diligent, making my regret greater. Regardless, this squad leader was privately taught a lineage’s sole martial tradition from Dragon Ring Sect. Understand I cannot pass on just anything. Senior Tyrant Hero likely did not wish to burden a precious grandson with a brutal martial arts’ side effects, and my reason differs slightly.”

“So it is one?”

“A unique, incomplete lightness skill. It suits your taste. They say if completed, it would display the era’s greatest sprint… But much of its principle was lost, leaving only a few techniques.”

Dusting off his purple sleeves, the Divine Sword Group Leader grinned.

“A tale from long ago. Listen.”

Late Yuan era, an Iron Clan blacksmith who settled in the Central Plains with noble clans coveted the Yellow Dragon’s horn.

The reason was not passed down. Whether dragons truly existed as mystical beings was unknown.

No one knew if the blacksmith saw a dragon or was simply enthralled by ancient tales.

Only stories remained of supreme clans descending, bringing all manner of monstrous wonders.

The blacksmith roamed the martial world to hunt a dragon. He befriended countless warriors and chivalrous knights, honing lightness skills and martial arts.

His life’s goal was to approach a dragon and break its horn, requiring refined techniques.

He forged bonds with knights and refined martial arts through unorthodox warriors.

In time, he exchanged with orthodox sect immortals, eventually meeting Kunlun Sect’s Yong Myeong-jin famed for aerial movement techniques.

Survival was prized in that era. If hearts aligned, martial arts were shared.

Here, the blacksmith wove noble clan steps and Iron Clan’s vigorous footwork into a teaching from Yeong Myeong-jin’s Eight Dragon Forms, creating ‘Dragon Ascent Lightness Skill.’

A forging master seeking martial renown, he became a grandmaster himself.

He boldly declared he would snap a dragon’s horn and left, never returning.

Whether he crafted a divine weapon or how his tale ended was unrecorded.

Only that Yeong Myeong-jin preserved his Dragon Ascent Sprint manual remained.

The manual weathered time.

Seized by Ming Sect during Kunlun’s annihilation, it passed to the imperial court, then to the current Divine Sword Group Leader’s hands, losing much along the way.

The Divine Sword Group Leader’s tale ended there.

Jeong Yeon-shin wore an odd expression.

“A wandering martial art.”

“Its essence vanished, leaving only concepts of body and energy control. Is that what you wanted?”

“The story appeals to me. That blacksmith must have neared his goal, whatever it was. Since he never returned.”

Jeong Yeon-shin spoke softly.

A martial art yielding great effect upon completion was protective aura. It could vastly extend Supreme Thunder’s time limit.

Yet protective aura required encompassing the whole body.

To perfect it in the realm of divine arts, it had to be built stitch by stitch. A long-term endeavor.

“With Treading Duckweed Across Water as your foundation, I will recite it now. By the way…”

The Divine Sword Group Leader raised an eyebrow. Beyond Jeong Yeon-shin’s shoulder, toward Son Hye-hyang’s back as she went to report across the lake.

He had lain relaxed even as Dark Night Palace’s assassin struck.

“That Son girl seems interested in you. No thought to bond?”

“Pardon?”

“Rest for a martial artist must unite body and mind. Peace shared with a partner is worth more than gold. Like spreading a bedroll in your head. For someone like you, always running, it might be especially vital.”

“Are you wed?”

“No. Who knows when I will die? Why make someone a widow?”

“What…?”

“At purple-rank in Desolate Fortress, enemies are too many to count. If I announced washing my hands of blood, every thug in the realm would swarm, vowing to take my head.”

“I will become purple-rank too. I plan to challenge you within two years.”

The Divine Sword Group Leader raised a corner of his mouth.

“Two years, I cannot say, but you might become a purple-rank stronger than me. If you keep easing your tension like now. Then, starting a family might suit.”

“Ah…”

Jeong Yeon-shin’s mouth parted slightly. The Divine Sword Group Leader continued.

“You are not just cooling your body in the lake, are you? Mental strain is hard to soothe with energy meditation. Your baffled look just now was amusing. To face Ten Li One Kill, keep body and mind relaxed like that. It is a fearsome art.”

The exchange of techniques flowed naturally like ripples.

Days passed thus.

The World Tree lake swallowed and spat out full moons, and Jeong Yeon-shin’s legs grew longer over seven moonlit nights, embracing another peerless secret art. On the calm water’s surface.

By then, Heaven’s Pillar Sect was swept into chaos. The Divine Sword Group Leader spoke casually.

“Inherit my lineage. I will give you more than Grandpa Ma did.”