Chapter 301 – Lotus (20)

Jeong Yeon-shin felt relieved.

It was after Lazy Flame Dragon, Hyeon Won-chang, and Shin So-bin had accepted Slaughter Chivalry’s invitation. Zhuge Qing-ya seemed to have disappeared as soon as her father manifested.

This was fortunate. He didn’t want to show her the sight of her father being injured or killed.

Even if she herself wished for her father’s death after Fan Dragon closed his eyes, it was still this way.

‘Because they’re family.’

It was also fortunate that the other three weren’t here.

He couldn’t predict how the battle would unfold. Even with his upper dantian’s abilities turning his mind white, this remained true.

Perhaps it meant that the forms of mystical martial arts he would face approached infinity.

[That sword technique is intriguing.]

A transparent gaze was felt. From Zhuge Clan Leader floating in the air.

Their eyes met directly.

‘What is this.’

In that moment, his mind turned ice-cold. It was the upper dantian’s resonance. Due to the overflowing spirituality characteristic of a peerless master, he could sense the other’s emotions.

If an ice sheet were to flow like a waterfall, would it feel like this?

Madness.

All sorts of mental images arose. For a brief moment, even Yan Hwa-ryeon’s face seemed to flash by.

But it quickly sank into unrecognizable thoughts and bluntly gathered emotional clusters. His inner self was like a deep sea with a raging typhoon.

‘He’s not in his right mind.’

Yet the eyes of Zhuge Clan Leader that appeared in his vision were calm. They could be described as clear as a mirror.

He approached the fight with a chilling composure, yet his grand actions were driven by madness. His purpose was unclear.

But now was not the time to contemplate this.

[Are you trying to recreate that? The day of Hwangbo Clan Leader’s slaughter.]

Zhuge Clan Leader spoke with his mouth covered by the White Crane Fan.

[Three exceptionally powerful black-ranks have gathered. Putting aside all other concerns of the world.]

“You know well. Leave your last words. This will spread as all sorts of gossip in the mouths of spectators. That’s why I’m maintaining appearances now. Unlike you, Desolate Fortress must also look good to the common people.”

Yue Shou-lin said as she twirled her silver spear to the side. Her hair was fluttering pitch-black in the whirlwind she had created.

Zhuge Clan Leader laughed.

[I am different from that one.]

“I know. You, without shame, colluded with two of the Thirteen Evil Sects. Tyrant Sword Sect and Yu Ling. I wonder how many dharma treasures and riches you’ve consumed to weave such a domain. Your skill in producing effects proportional to what you invest is also remarkable.”

Her eyes were constantly scanning the surroundings. While continuing to move her lips. How did she endure under Sword Star?

‘She’s buying time. Like surveying the terrain.’

Jeong Yeon-shin thought as he gripped Northern Light Divine Sword, imbued with the energy of Demon Destroying Azure Unyielding Technique.

He knew why Zhuge Clan Leader’s mystical arts became infinitely powerful. Zhuge Qing-ya had told him. That he had sacrificed even his clan members to refine his martial arts.

He was originally a peerless master of mystical martial arts. The direction of his strengthening was different.

Sssss—

He dried his heel, which had become damp from stepping on some Gui person, with samadhi true fire.

Immediately, steam rising from his leather shoes brushed against his ankle. It was both hot and cool.

This was a battle where even a small state of disorder could lead to a fatal wound.

The snow-white robe of Zhuge Clan Leader floating before his eyes neither became stained nor wavered in the energy waves. Was even his protective energy woven with mystical techniques?

[Lightning Genius. You have forgotten my words.]

The samadhi true fire seemed to have caught his attention. Zhuge Clan Leader’s eyes turned to Jeong Yeon-shin again.

—Such behavior that cannot distinguish between heaven and earth is not good. You will die away from home prematurely. Even a flower that blooms once in a thousand years is meaningless if it does not bloom. Even if your talent is discussed throughout the ages, many masters will not look upon you favorably.

The upper dantian’s ability immediately pulled out what had happened at the Martial Alliance meeting. It was Zhuge Clan Leader’s words.

[Yue Shou-lin, thank you for buying time.]

Zhuge Clan Leader, turning his gaze back to Yue Shou-lin, said.

[Have you sufficiently analyzed the mystical formation? I have now completed my calculations. You never dreamed that you would be counter-attacked, but thanks to that, I have gained time to activate my optimal state.]

“What?”

As her dense eyebrows rose, Zhuge Clan Leader removed the fan from his lips.

Following an extremely gentle hand gesture, the tip of the White Crane Fan’s ribs drew a curve in the air with a faint afterimage.

At the moment when the mystical formation that semi-transparently surrounded the entire Gongya Family estate hummed loudly and resonated greatly.

[Wen Zhong Returns. Yin and Yang Divine Whip.]

[TL Note-  A fictional character from the classic Chinese novel “Fengshen Yanyi” (Investiture of the Gods). This character is described as having a third eye on his forehead and powerful magic abilities and eventually becomes a Taoist Deity.]

Woong—

He spoke not only with his lips but also with his energy. The extreme of oral techniques. Dozens of melodic murmurs overlapped extremely rapidly like a peerless swift sword.

Those who had not cultivated sensory techniques would only perceive it as thunder. It was said that the incantations of mystical techniques gain power when they emerge into the world.

Wen Zhong was the name of a Taoist lightning deity when he was human, and the Yin and Yang Whip was the whip he wielded.

Crack! Rumble!

It was a moment.

The antique feathers of the White Crane Fan split strand by strand.

The ten ribs that had formed the fan separated like daggers and began to make a tremendous sound.

Scattering above Zhuge Clan Leader’s shoulders and containing extremely powerful internal energy, they surrounded him with long strands of energy like threads pulled from a thunder cloud. They were a faint colorlessness.

The Zhuge Clan’s secret fan technique, Yin and Yang Divine Whip.

It unfolded before one could even blink.

The threads surrounding the peerless handsome man wearing a black hat and white robe, swaying like the hem of a fairy’s ceremonial robe. An extraordinarily transcendent quality spread.

“Universal Transformation Divine Skill’s Yin and Yang Divine Whip?!”

At that moment, Yue Shou-lin’s eyes, which had also dyed her silver spear pitch-black, stood on end.

Even after preparing to unleash the Yue Family Spear to the extreme, she couldn’t hide her surprise.

“You can unfold that without the help of clan members? The reason you’ve been still all this time was to fully incorporate the formation into your body…?”

[While you were devising methods to break me down, would I have remained still? In any case, my true self must remain extremely powerful.

To guard against extreme variables like Dark Night Palace’s Ten Li One Kill. Don’t you also have such absolute techniques?]

Zhuge Clan Leader slightly turned his wrist.

[Therefore, now I am the Zhuge Clan.]

In that moment, a colorless net was etched in all directions. It was a wide-area absolute technique attacking all three leaders at once… In a battle of martial arts masters, since examining the opponent must come first if the superiority is clear, the first strike is usually the role of the inferior.

The world of supreme masters opened in the Gongya Family estate where everyone held their breath.

Rumble!

The wind and thunder were deafening.

It was the first time in his life.

Jeong Yeon-shin faced a strike coming at him with killing intent from a purple-rank domain. No, it would be more accurate to say that a completely different speed unfolded before his eyes.

The Northern Light Divine Sword, which he had already raised upward, turned blue. It was after extending the energy structure of mystical dharma power to the blade.

Jeong Yeon-shin’s senses now no longer distinguished between hand and sword.

The sword technique named Demon Destroying Azure Unyielding Sword, created to attack Zhuge Clan Leader, etched a long blue trajectory.

Boom!

He cut through one strand of the Yin and Yang Divine Whip and met the second strand head-on.

The friction force penetrating the blade was tremendous.

It felt as if rough flames were descending to his grip. He was a peerless master who had refined orthodox martial arts to the extreme, even if with a wicked heart.

The demon-destroying power generated by dharma power only had a slight advantage in compatibility. It was different from the mystical martial arts of others he had encountered before.

But perhaps even that slight advantage irritated the absolute being.

[Grand Thunder.]

A colorless pillar from the sky connected to the ground.

As the strongly fluctuating air scattered Jeong Yeon-shin’s hair, it seemed to have divided five strands among the three people.

It was an extremely swift strike that felt more like being etched than falling.

But the upper dantian burning in Jeong Yeon-shin’s mind had already penetrated the flow of fluctuating energy in all directions.

He also recognized that the attack technique would divide according to the target’s position.

‘Crown.’

Zzzzzzzzzang—!

He blocked it by crossing his left arm and Northern Light Divine Sword.

There was a creaking sound from inside his body. His forearm was bent diagonally, stretching even the ligaments.

His mind turned white. The dharma power couldn’t completely absorb the instantaneous impact. Terrifying pain rushed up to his head.

[Hooh.]

The reaction was different. Radiant Demon Wing Leader deflected the sword with an indifferent face. While protecting his body with Luminous Wheel that Transcends Law Technique and Jeong Family Dynamic Technique.

Amidst the residual energy waves scattering like flower petals, enhancing the swordsman’s appearance, Zhuge Clan Leader, who had let out a low exclamation, flicked his index finger upward.

In the prison of five strands of threads raised by his other hand, Jin Myeong-jo was moving with a faint ink-like darkness, being hindered from casting his techniques.

Perhaps the previous injury had burst open, as bright red blood was dripping. His gathered grip looked as if he was holding an invisible sword.

‘If Senior Jin were at full strength…!’

Just as energy waves were about to explode from Jeong Yeon-shin’s heel.

The Yin and Yang Divine Whip responded to Zhuge Clan Leader’s gesture. It was a finger pointing that appeared segmented due to its lightning-like speed.

When two strands collided with each other, lightning flashed, and one strand struck the ground with a tremendous force.

Crackle! Boom—!

Lightning born from friction swept through with a blue hue. Along with rocks that were flung out with a force like a catapult. Terrifying energy was loaded. Brilliant River burst from Jeong Yeon-shin’s left hand facing it.

Kwaaaang—!

Thick stone fragments scattered mixed with fire.

‘At this rate, compatibility is useless.’

As Jeong Yeon-shin, narrowing his eyes, was adjusting his grip on Northern Light Divine Sword.

The skin on his face tingled, and simultaneously, another explosion of electricity and rock fragments occurred. Attacks filling his vision like disasters continued in succession.

The continuously bursting shockwaves were tremendous.

It felt like being dropped in the middle of a battlefield. All directions were precisely calculated like a maze.

He doesn’t directly apply mystical attack techniques to Blood Guardian. He only puts power into the aftermath that cannot be broken down. He was worthy of being called the incarnation of Zhuge Liang in life-or-death martial arts battles.

But his gaze had actually turned straight ahead. His eyes, following the faint movements of Yue Shou-lin who had become a spear immortal, glowed with a green light.

Most of the threads of the Yin and Yang Divine Whip were colliding with her. Each collision spread earthquakes in all directions.

Bang—!

Heaven-shaking and earth-moving.

It was literally so.

Heaven and earth trembled. It was a battle unlike any Jeong Yeon-shin had experienced.

[As expected.]

And finally.

[You first. Desolate Spear.]

Zhuge Clan Leader descended. His wide sleeves fluttered like the wings of a giant white crane.

Step.

Darkness rose from the tip of his foot as he elegantly touched the ground. This was while looking at Jeong Yeon-shin who had suddenly planted his sword in the ground.

The domain of Zhuge Clan Leader covering the sky became slightly dimmer. Had he drawn greatly on the power of the mystical formation integrated with his body?

Something unfolded.

A single extremely short step changed the structure of natural energy.

[Falling.]

A loud noise rang out as if lightning was falling in streams.

The air severely distorted in various places, and at the moment Jeong Yeon-shin raised Northern Light Divine Sword, everything around him disappeared.

The last thing imprinted on his retina was the face of a girl with wide eyes, moving her lips to say something.

—Formation! It’s a formation! Sky-Connecting Falling Formation…!

‘Senior Yue.’

Darkness fell in an instant. He felt nothing. Rather, because of that, a clear disconnection was perceived.

Jeong Yeon-shin immediately observed his internal and external states.

The Luminous Wheel rotating in his heart, the still elastic meridians and small vessels throughout his body, the pulsation of heated muscle bundles, the difference in length between inhalation and exhalation, the presence of others outside…

‘This is not an illusion.’

When he strongly activated his eye technique, a blue light rose hazily.

The contrast became clear. It was a space surrounding him like a dark sky. The sense of distance was strange.

Swish!

Even as he stepped with true step and swung his sword, he couldn’t move from his spot. Only the air brushing against his skin rippled faintly.

That’s right. He was in place.

Jeong Yeon-shin’s senses, sharpened like a divine sword, properly dissected the current state.

‘Sky-Connecting Falling Formation, you say?’

He had heard of it. A secret formation technique that the entire Zhuge clan could only deploy at the main house. Now used by Zhuge Clan Leader to create a one-on-one situation.

In the world of mystical martial arts, it was said to have a status comparable to Mount Hua Sect’s Plum Blossom Sword Formation or Wudang Sect’s Profound Void Sword Formation.

Fine. It didn’t matter. He didn’t know what was happening outside.

Getting out was the priority.

***

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Translated by Nine Heavens!

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***

Doong—

When he clenched his hand once, a drum sound rang from inside his body… A brilliant light arose within him, and powerful force began to race through his twelve main meridians and all the small vessels in his body.

‘Kuk!’

The pain of tearing blood vessels was worse than before. Was it due to the gap in energy accumulation between when he went to get his niece Hye-ah’s medicine and now?

Strain proportional to the increased power was imposed. It felt as if he had received Brilliant River into his body without filtering.

Just as he was considering whether to withdraw the activation.

The twelve main meridians and three hundred and sixty-five acupoints tightened with a soft texture.

The warmest feeling he knew, the oldest one, came down from the sky and embraced him tightly. Mother. It was the profound meaning of the Jeong Family Dynamic Technique that had achieved great accomplishment simultaneously with completion.

Kwaaaa—!

The power of body protection handled the cracks that had arisen in his body. The meridians and small vessels contained the violent force of the full-body Brilliant River as it was.

‘Brilliant River, Ultimate Thunder.’

From the Yongquan acupoint at the bottom of his feet.

Woong—!

Energy waves spread in dozens of concentric circles.

From his body, dim clusters of light swayed in the form of large leaves.

While emitting tremendous vibrations outward. It was crackling like colorless lightning.

And finally.

Hwak!

A translucent flower bud completely surrounded Jeong Yeon-shin’s entire body.

‘Mother.’

Please break through my limits.

He slowly took a step. Toward Yue Shou-lin.

The mud ground beneath his feet greatly cracked as if hit by a thunderbolt, and a thunder-like resonance spread from the large flower bud.

Soon after, the flower bud enveloping his entire body split wide open.

Woooooong—!

From the zenith of the dark sky, cracks of light began to race in all directions.

Petals of the barrier descending greatly in the same form as the blooming of Ultimate Thunder.

Fragments of energy that violently collided up and down occasionally sparked purple sparks before shattering.

Jeong Yeon-shin’s eyes, flashing with blue light, absorbed the energy structure revealed piece by piece through the collapse.

Kung—

The sky opened.

[Hmm?]

Zhuge Clan Leader’s mental energy resonated strongly. Along with the greatly stirring presence of those around.