Chapter 280 – Martial Might (8)

It was the moment after Bong-gong closed his eyes.

From the snow-covered peak’s edge, a whitish shockwave erupted in a long burst.

Boom—!

Snowflakes swirled in a massive straight line. It was the aftermath of a lightness skill leap. Bong-gong’s subordinates forming the formation reacted instantly.

“Cross formation! First unit, draw swords; second unit, load arrows!”

“Strike! Do not die in vain!”

Ten figures each drew swords and arrows.

The sound of their long, ashen hands slicing the air was fierce.

Their faces showed great panic, as if unaccustomed to being intercepted by lightness skills, yet the cold energy waves spreading from their bodies revealed the prowess of Thirteen Evil Sect warriors.

They were Dark Night Palace disciples, skilled in archery martial arts capable of dominating even close range.

Rustle.

Jeong Yeon-shin turned without bothering to unsheathe his sword.

Perhaps it was because he had reached a rank that even warriors trained by great sects rarely impressed. Drawing his blade again felt awkward.

‘How much longer will the Group Leader need to recover?’

Now, Jeong Yeon-shin’s body was near perfection. He had never felt this light in his life.

The lake’s mystical power had swiftly healed him. Thanks to the Desolate Fortress Leader’s Moon Harmony Technique resonating with it.

It had melded into his wheel more than expected. Enough to craft a new lightness skill, inspired by Cheong Myeong’s brother.

A grateful matter. Thinking of the Fortress Leader tickled his heart.

‘It has been a while since I last saw her.’

At that moment.

From above his head.

“What was that? What was that? What just happened—?”

A graceful shadow descended, pushing aside the starlight.

Even in the night air, her bright red robes fluttered like a bat’s wings, her ideally balanced supreme master’s frame exuding a bewitching energy wave.

The Seventh Apostle’s appearance was that natural.

Whoosh!

From her left hand, reddish air assembled in a strange motion.

Folding and swirling on itself, it gained elasticity, then transformed into a refined flow of energy waves. The air tore apart. It seemed to scream.

An instant.

The Seventh Apostle landed both feet in the peak’s center.

Rustle.

With a casual flick of her left hand, as if swatting a trivial fly, a red curtain billowed in all directions.

An overwhelming internal energy release. Her power swept the surroundings like a blade-woven robe.

Slash—!

Blood spurted everywhere. Ten bodies, cleaved to the bone, scattered in pieces.

“These vermin are noisy.”

Bloodstains on the snow spread like rose dye.

Stepping on the white and red ground, the Seventh Apostle raised a corner of her mouth.

Her gaze remained fixed on Jeong Yeon-shin. Even as she struck, it was so.

“What was that lightness skill? I hesitated while coming to help. Even the Apostles dreaded Ten Li One Kill.”

Jeong Yeon-shin gazed at her silently for a moment. He had grown used to the Seventh Apostle tailing him.

In moments like this, it no longer felt strange, so he recalled something else.

Her display.

First, her energy release had grown more precise. Its density had risen further.

Her martial arts had become even stronger.

What battles had she faced in his absence? Perhaps she truly had massacred part of Blood Flame Sect’s clan, triggering Shaanxi’s Twin Flame Blood Spirit Formation.

Her form, honed in peak conditions, befitted a martial maniac.

‘Still, I might win now. In a direct confrontation.’

He thought.

His completed martial arts were shaping Jeong Yeon-shin into a formidable warrior.

In one-on-one scenarios, he rarely needed to fear for his survival.

Only the arrival of a rare peerless master or a great sect’s deliberate scheme could threaten him. Even in the vast, perilous realm, it was so.

Now was no different.

Facing a Blood Flame Sect apostle, he felt no tension.

He simply saw the Seventh Apostle fully. Strong, beautiful, mad.

“Hm?”

After staring at Jeong Yeon-shin oddly, she tilted her head slightly.

“Anyway… a martial art tracing constellations, that was your lightness skill. It deserves to be etched in my eyes alone.”

“You arrived at the right time.”

Jeong Yeon-shin met her gaze calmly before speaking.

“I said I would repay you. Do not run.”

“Do not run?”

For a moment, the Seventh Apostle’s body trembled. Her curved lips seemed to brighten.

Jeong Yeon-shin furrowed his brow.

“No. Just while I repay you.”

At once, the expression vanished from the Seventh Apostle’s face.

“Repay? Not just tossing it out as a formality? To ease your debt, right? No, no. Repayment without your heart is not repayment. I have something more precious than Demon Blood Technique now.”

“The grace of saving my uncle, Radiant Demon Wing, and the Return Wing Corp cannot be repaid with formality. It was as if you saved my life too. I want to settle an old debt.”

Jeong Yeon-shin spoke blankly, swallowing his shock inwardly. His proposal had been outright rejected.

He inwardly repeated that Ultimate Thunder might outshine Dull Flowers Gathering at the Crown.

“Hard to believe. You only pushed me away when I was not Lady Ye.”

The Seventh Apostle spoke dryly.

Her snow-white face had a cold texture like snow spread across a mountain ridge, revealing her enigmatic and unpredictable personality.

“You’re not just pretending to be sincere? Prove it.”

Rustle.

The snow made a soft sound. She took a step.

She began approaching slowly. With a crunching sound.

A bearer of lethal martial arts closing the distance. Something no master would welcome.

Jeong Yeon-shin stood rooted, measuring the gap.

Then he sank into thought. How should he avoid resembling his father?

He must cherish not just blood ties but also the bonds of sect kinship. It meant facing their debts honorably.

Rustle, rustle.

The distance to the Seventh Apostle shrank. Desolate Fortress’s black robe and Blood Flame Sect’s pure red robe drew near.

Five steps, seven steps… the quiet sound of snow being trod filled the night air. Her eyes grew large enough to seem like rubies. Jeong Yeon-shin did not move.

He saw heat stirring in her pale face and the supreme master’s piercing gaze. She was now within reach.

Swish.

Their robes brushed in the breeze. Their collars touched.

Too close. He could feel her pulse at her neck. Jeong Yeon-shin barely restrained himself from striking.

He must not mirror his callous father. The Seventh Apostle would not harm him. In hindsight, she never had.

‘I must not treat a benefactor coldly. I should embrace her like Mother did.’

Jeong Family Dynamic Technique was the foundation of the current Radiant Demon Wing Leader. Denying its essence here would trap him in contradiction when grasping peerless enlightenment, he sensed.

Even if it led to an early death, it mattered. He needed to speak of his short life with pride someday.

It was a tale to one day tell his mother.

Then.

His ear suddenly tickled. A breath laced with mischievous laughter.

At the same time.

Four sharp teeth and a soft sensation pressed in. Cool yet warm. The Seventh Apostle had bitten his nape.

Her slender breath broke finely between the hairs on his neck. Along with the feel of her slightly parted lips. How did she withstand the power in his Luminous Wheel Technique?

‘What is this?’

As Jeong Yeon-shin wondered, a mighty surge of energy waves rose in his grip.

The ever-ready Brilliant River, fueled by constant will, was poised to erupt anytime.

Rustle.

At that moment, the Seventh Apostle stepped back. A red smile on her lips.

“You were serious? My cute Grandmaster.”

Jeong Yeon-shin furrowed his brow.

“Is this a provocation, claiming you’ll take my neck with martial arts? Even if you try to absorb my energy, you’ll end up succumbing to my spiritual power.”

“I do not use Star Absorption Great Technique. I was born with talent as noble as yours. Cannot you tell from my energy reserves? It rivals that Hwangbo vermin you took as a subordinate.”

“Do not call him vermin carelessly.”

He warned. A manner unique to Radiant Demon Wing.

The Seventh Apostle seemed unbothered by the rebuke. She merely brushed back her ebony hair.

“Your life, talent, and nature resemble a comet. So noble and lofty, they cannot stay hidden.”

She said.

“This mission is nearly done, right? I plan to follow you.”

Hard to believe.

A powerful ally’s joining was foretold. Not a welcome one. He would be lucky if his seniors did not slay her. Jeong Yeon-shin shook his head.

“The Divine Sword Group Leader will recover soon. Stay away if you do not want to die.”

“Then I will wait in Xiangyang.”

“Are you a wanderer?”

“No. I have tasks wherever I go. Wait just a bit.”

The Seventh Apostle whispered. A sleek smile gleamed with madness. A hint of cold killing intent flickered.

Come to think of it, Blood Flame Sect’s branches spanned the realm, outnumbering its Apostles, they said. Jeong Yeon-shin tilted his head slightly. Could it be?

“And.”

She moved her lips.

“Your lightness skill. Our sect—no, Blood Flame Sect’s Rakshasa Earth-Shrinking Technique is near divine skill. Your sprint was perfect, but if you retract the suction stance faster when lifting your rear foot, you could sustain it longer. I came to tell you this. You could manage it right away.”

Invaluable advice. The realm’s Apostles were famed for their elusive protective skills.

Concepts and subtleties he had not devised in a short time were honed over ages. Enough to refine his newborn lightness skill under winter starlight.

He shook his head as if unimpressed.

“Presumptuous words. Leave now, Seventh Apostle of Blood Flame Sect.”

“I will stay a bit longer. Shall we watch the stars together? Your lightness skill might get better.”

“In Shaanxi, you spoke of Demon Blood Technique’s spine meridian mantra. Blood-Warming Essence Preservation, you called it. Conversely, the imagery brushing the conception meridian should be cool. Differing from the spine meridian mantra…”

“Ahhh! Stop—!”

The Seventh Apostle covered her ears and shouted.

“I said I would kill you! I will kill you but I will not!”

Her bright red robes flapped wildly like her rambling.

Rakshasa Earth-Shrinking Technique.

Wicked energy waves scattered the snow chaotically. Faint bloodlight flickered around her legs.

Her power, fueling movement, surged within and without, and with a stomp, her form cleaved the distant sky in an instant.

Whoosh—!

The red figure vanished among the stars. A protective skill seen anew after crafting his lightness art.

She had said to retract the suction stance swiftly to transfer impact to the ground.

“No big deal.”

Jeong Yeon-shin muttered, like a monk banishing an evil spirit. She would keep following?

His eyebrow twitched slightly. The Mount Hua Sect Leader’s words surfaced suddenly.

He had said Swimming Heaven Sword ghost of Heart Martial Alliance followed him. The sword-flight master who dealt a critical blow to Tyrant Sword Sect’s Ghost Soul Divine Sword.

‘It was when I refined Thunder-annihilation sword technique.’

Did she bear a grudge after losing a bet? To settle it with her own hands through fair martial contest. Most warriors thought that way, he had said.

Three Thirteen Evil Sect factions had aligned to assassinate him then. Eyes on the Radiant Demon Wing Leader grew ever more numerous.

The Dark Night Palace Leader, gravely wounded by the Divine Sword Group Leader, would not overlook Jeong Yeon-shin either.

There was also Heart Martial Alliance’s eldest son, who lost his betrothed to the current Radiant Demon Wing Leader. And the young successor of the Beggar Sect, wielding mighty martial forces.

‘It is not over. There must be more.’

Jeong Yeon-shin glanced at the strewn corpses and turned away.

Rustle.

The soft snow clumps crunched under his leather boots. A strange sensation pressed beneath.

Like a thunderbolt tied by debts, its form and timing unknown. He steadily advanced toward the martial world’s heart.

***

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Translated by Nine Heavens!

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***

Back at Heaven’s Pillar Sect, he received odd looks.

Warm air enveloped him the moment he entered the formation, along with gazes like dew on the village foliage.

“We never imagined a way to counter Ten Li One Kill like that. We are endlessly grateful to the current Radiant Demon Wing Leader.”

“The village’s fear has greatly lifted. How can we repay…”

Noble clan masters descended from towering trees. The aloof stares once cast on the Desolate Fortress group, as if they were old stumps, were nowhere to be found.

A crowd simply surrounded their benefactor.

Jeong Yeon-shin first checked on his comrades.

Cheong Myeong, once distanced by Heaven’s Pillar Sect, pushed through the throng toward him. His face bore deep emotion.

“It feels like yesterday when I taught you our clan’s movements, and now you have mastered all three protective skills. Footwork, divine movement, lightness skill.”

“I named it Ten Li Gentle Light.”

Jeong Yeon-shin spoke as squad leader.

Cheong Myeong’s lips parted slightly, then curved into a faint smile.

“It seems the sect leader has gone to prepare a grand gesture… I too wish to give something.”

“The fortress’s administration office said they are preparing rewards for the Shaanxi feats. We return once the Group Leader recovers.”

The Radiant Demon Wing Leader ordered.

By now, a strange tone had begun to lace his voice. Something unique to those unrivaled in the realm.

A breeze brushed the grass suddenly, lightly scattering the hem of his pitch-black robe.

Ssss—

The robe that once grazed the floor during his ascension now fluttered at his ankles. Its black hue had deepened.

[TL Note- This chapter was quite something.]