Chapter 473 – Peerless Grand Battle (8)

The head of Dark Heaven Emperor rolling, followed by his collapsing body.

Thud.

“……”

In that moment, all directions froze. Even the movements of Taimo Mountain Castle’s masters who had been deploying formations by spreading internal energy’s blue lightning like a net suddenly ceased.

Amidst the enormously vast silence sweeping across the ground, from the foot of the hill where he had been honing sword energy, Two Walls Sword Master’s voice rang out dazedly.

“Did he kill him…?”

None other than the Qingcheng Sect Leader revealed his shock and relief without reservation. There was reason he couldn’t help it.

Current Hangzhou.

Throughout this vast land, vegetation was withering and small streams were drying up. Commoners who had encountered strange phenomena everywhere had begun visiting official temples, various famous monasteries, and other Taoist temples to pray for the city’s peace.

It wasn’t the wrath of the Jade Emperor or mountain gods.

Those knowledgeable about martial affairs knew that all these events were caused by the Taimo Mountain Castle Lord’s martial sorcery. Those present here knew this without question.

Every time Dark Heaven Emperor wielded a technique, gardens of several large mansions turned into wastelands. The same applied to uncultivated fields or mountains. This was because the massive sorcery formation drew and used natural energy.

Transcendent masters of noble clans would inevitably sense such patterns more clearly.

And now.

The inhalation flow generated by the Dragon Summoning Ritual Formation had stopped. The ancient characters emitting a faint light while rotating made rustling sounds beneath stone fragments.

The biting wind that had been tearing through the ears of various noble clans had also disappeared, and the martial sorcery formation that had been sucking in natural energy through Dark Heaven Emperor no longer devoured its prey.

It merely rotated futilely, making a sound like several bundles of paper being torn.

Hangzhou had come back to life.

“Fortunate, truly fortunate.”

Two breaths after Dark Heaven Emperor’s head had fallen, Two Walls Sword Master’s face showed admiration. This was extremely rare. The current Qingcheng Sect Leader was known for having a temperament like the late winter of Qingcheng Mountain.

“Yes, was that just the Transcendent Martial Art of the new purple…!”

Admiration was evident in his exclamation. The tense standoff seemed meaningless now. It couldn’t be helped.

A transcendent master’s Transcendent Martial Art is treated as top secret in all major factions of the world. Though rumors occasionally circulate, it rarely manifests even in honor duels between sects.

Being literally a life-saving ultimate technique, it represents the culmination of one’s martial arts.

There’s rarely an opportunity to witness it. Even the Nine Great Sects’ leaders are no exception. They merely continue to refine their own studies.

Saaaa—

Halfway up the hill that Jeong Yeon-shin had passed by and climbed.

Invincible stood motionless.

Her hand was slightly raised, smooth as white porcelain. Between her fingers, black flames flickered, spilling embers like crow’s feathers.

Ming Cult’s Samadhi True Fire that Jeong Yeon-shin would have faced if he had targeted her.

[Transcendent Martial Art?]

She muttered.

[How could you have mastered Transcendent Martial Art……]

Her mental intent trembled slightly. The corner of the mouth of this absolute master, who had always acted as Ming Cult’s supreme leader without ever claiming to be the Heavenly Demon, lost its mocking smile.

Meanwhile, Jeong Yeon-shin slightly lowered his eyelids.

He sensed various presences. The touch of his purple sleeve slightly flowing down to the handle of Remaining Thunder, the head of Dark Heaven Emperor rolling on the ground before stopping after hitting a rock, the gaze of Invincible staring blankly at him from the foot of the hill…

‘Dark Heaven Emperor is certainly dead.’

He had definitely cut through fabric.

The sensation of cutting through blood vessels and bones still lingered in his hand gripping Remaining Thunder. In that fleeting moment, Dark Heaven Emperor had clearly shown surprise. He had also confirmed the sight of him wiggling his fingers as if trying to deploy a defensive technique.

Now not even primordial energy could be felt.

He had spoken of a hundred-year grand plan.

The physical body that had lived for years beyond Jeong Yeon-shin’s reach was definitely dead. Killed by the strike of Enter the Path and Transcend Together.

‘But.’

Why didn’t it feel like it was over? Even the Dragon Summoning Ritual Formation’s martial sorcery array spread beneath his feet had subsided.

Step.

Jeong Yeon-shin slowly turned around. Beggar Sect Leader Divine Beggar was looking at him with a strange expression. He seemed very surprised, and somewhat perplexed.

“…You show no hesitation in revealing your life-saving ultimate technique. There are quite many eyes watching here. The characteristics of your Transcendent Martial Art could become known throughout the world.”

“Aren’t we pursuing a great undertaking together, Senior?”

“Hmm……”

The corner of the Beggar Sect Leader’s mouth twitched.

Jeong Yeon-shin swallowed the words that his Transcendent Martial Art wouldn’t be limited to just one. There was no need to provide such intimate information about Desolate Fortress’s purple to the Dragon Head Sect Leader who claimed to survey the martial world.

Even if he was a respectable senior, the same principle applied.

‘More importantly.’

Jeong Yeon-shin slightly narrowed his brow.

Cloud-like fatigue was cutting through his muscles and acupoints. The Luminous Wheel that had been vigorously rotating in his heart temporarily ceased moving, like a waterwheel with its water channel cut off. This was natural.

The reason transcendent masters don’t easily deploy Transcendent Martial Art.

It’s literally a life-saving ultimate technique. A means to dramatically reverse a situation where one is pushed to the brink of death. The recoil is inevitably strong.

It was the same as when he had taken the Heaven Conquering Sect Leader’s arm. Even now, it wasn’t easy to maintain balance while standing. He needed time, even just a moment, to examine his body. The problem was Invincible at the foot of the hill.

Just then.

A transparent body fragrance wafted in from the side.

Swish.

The sound of wide, thin trouser hems brushing against the instep. A white-socked foot stepped on the ground beneath a pale pink Taoist robe.

It was Brilliant Jade Sword God.

She had boldly passed by Invincible and climbed up. This was something difficult to even attempt without an extremely extraordinary protective stepping technique, yet she immediately wrapped her arm around Jeong Yeon-shin’s waist in a nonchalant manner.

In that moment, their garments softly crumpled with a “sarak” sound. As if trying not to cause any shock to her junior’s body, even her small gesture was imbued with the mystery of flower shadow.

The courtesy of a martial world senior was evident. It was reverence toward Jeong Yeon-shin.

“This way.”

Brilliant Jade Sword God said.

Whoosh—!

The next moment, Jeong Yeon-shin was standing at the foot of the hill.

It was after his vision had distorted once. He had been moved down to the foot of the hill by Mount Hua’s Dark Fragrance Step. Yet no particular recoil penetrated his body.

This was because Brilliant Jade Sword God had directed even the reverse wind caused by the movement technique away from their bodies.

[……]

Until then, Invincible had not made a move… She seemed to be sinking into deep contemplation. A face strangely devoid of soul. She appeared somewhat dazed, unlike someone who supposedly mocked heaven.

“Yeon-shin.”

Meanwhile, Brilliant Jade Sword God gently pressed Jeong Yeon-shin’s shoulder and seated him in place.

“Take deep breaths. Yes, like that.”

She encourages his breathing with a voice tinged with laughter.

Befitting a senior who had achieved Transcendent Martial Art first. While greatly surprised by Enter the Path and Transcend Together, she seemed to have deeply penetrated Jeong Yeon-shin’s physical condition.

Furthermore, she didn’t seem to expect any more roles from him.

It was right after she had embraced him at close range. Naturally, she could more than adequately assess the aftermath of Enter the Path and Transcend Together.

Jeong Yeon-shin accepted Brilliant Jade Sword God’s kindness. This was because something still didn’t feel right, even though Dark Heaven Emperor had died. He also had to consider the complex and variable attack techniques of Invincible.

“I’ll rest briefly.”

“Why don’t you try to get some sleep? I’ll stand guard for you.”

Simultaneously.

The corpse of Dark Heaven Emperor on top of the hill turned to dust. Another aftermath of Enter the Path and Transcend Together. The power of Remaining Thunder, layered with cascading energy, combined with Fan Dragon Flower Treading Technique that made his body itself a sword, had created sword power comparable to a natural disaster.

Some teachings of the Thirteen Evil Sects’ sect leaders were partially mixed in. Jeong Yeon-shin’s introductory skill for Transcendent Martial Art left no lingering problems.

The silence around them deepened.

* * *

“Huh…!”

Two Walls Sword Master, who had glimpsed that scene from a distance, began to sigh but then hardened his expression.

Jjeojeojeojeojeong! Kwang!

Bluish sword energy spread like clouds. Dozens of lightning bolts rushing in from all directions were crammed into it, bursting with blue sparks.

‘Why?’

He had begun to wield his sword again from the formation of Taimo Mountain Castle masters, but his previous movements wouldn’t return. Though his sword should flash like a beam of light, it was somewhat sluggish.

This was extremely strange. Unlike the martial sorcery formation that had disappeared, Dark Heaven Emperor’s Transcendent Martial Art, the Realm of Void Extinction, was still deployed. It made no sense.

“What is this…!”

There wasn’t even time to say more.

Two Walls Sword Master was still in a diminished state, and the masters of Taimo Mountain Castle had firmly reinforced their techniques despite Dark Heaven Emperor’s death.

The Wall Penetrating Nine Palaces Formation, which rapidly gathered strength as numbers increased. Despite spreading a net of blue lightning beneath their feet, they showed a faintly embarrassed look.

Among them, all sorts of overlapping thunderous sounds.

The ground continuously shook. Lightning bolts and Samadhi True Fire pouring toward Two Walls Sword Master, stone pillars rising from the ground like mechanical formations, all spread desperate power waves.

Scorched stone powder and bright red embers bounced in all directions. On one side, Yue Shou-lin, who had been circling her spear in a circle, was piercing and bursting through the chest of a master.

“What is this?! Why is this happening!”

She shouted nervously after having looked at Jeong Yeon-shin with satisfaction from a distance. This was because her Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown had also not returned.

The group sensed something strange.

The Realm of Void Extinction remained unchanged. That was the anomaly. Everyone had witnessed Jeong Yeon-shin’s transcendent movements earlier, which made it even more so.

In one corner of the ravine that had become a vast plain.

Jeong Yeon-shin sitting cross-legged, Divine Monk Beomheo, and Brilliant Jade Sword God standing guard while surveying the surroundings. Even Invincible standing motionless without taking any retaliatory measures or actions was strange.

The battlefield of transcendent masters was so mysterious.

“Cho Yeol has certainly died…!”

Two Walls Sword Master spat out a cold sound. Something everyone in the venue had confirmed. Desolate Fortress’s purple had not deployed Transcendent Martial Art in vain. Dark Heaven Emperor’s main body’s life thread had been cut, and his physical body had prematurely turned to soil and scattered on the ground.

Yet outside where Brilliant Jade Sword God’s protection was needed, it was still a battlefield with fierce roaring sounds.

Then suddenly.

[Of course.]

A low chuckle echoed like an echo.

[Only the young Ming Cult Leader of this age would not meet death after facing such a Transcendent Martial Art unexpectedly.]

It was at the top of the hill where Enter the Path and Transcend Together had been activated. Suddenly, snow-white bone powder gathered riding a whirlwind, and then took the form of a skeletal human figure as if creating a spirit projection.

A skeletal body with bones quickly and naturally assembled as if only a moment had passed. Simultaneously, a divine energy wave swept across the ground in concentric circles.

Rustle.

The wind sound was desolate.

The eye sockets of the white skull were filled with dark blue flames. It was like the ghost fire that creatures from stories, like mountain spirits, were said to carry instead of eyeballs.

In that moment, whitish frost spread in all directions with a “jjeojeok” sound, and the warmth that had been clinging to the early east wind turned into ice-cold air. As if Hangzhou had transformed into the North Sea.

[The youngster of Desolate Fortress has cut off my old breath, so I will never again be able to touch the Three Peak Rock of Wudang Mountain with my skin. It’s quite regrettable.]

A dry mental intent scratched the atmosphere. It was Dark Heaven Emperor’s voice.

Literally an extraordinary event. Perhaps it couldn’t even be described merely as extraordinary.

The sight of one born as a human discarding his fabric. Not the legendary ascension where spiritual attainment reaches heaven and rises above clouds, but transcending the principle of life and death here on the land of Hangzhou.

Flutter—

Suddenly, a pure white windflower robe descended from the void and wrapped around the skeletal shoulders.

Was it a dharma treasure? The thick ribs were concealed by the folds of a long robe, and even just that gave the impression of overlaying hundreds of layers of protective strong energy.

There was no need for a separate King of Hell from the underworld. His appearance and energy were entirely like that.

“Defying heaven to reach the realm of ascension……”

Brilliant Jade Sword God briefly exhaled coldly. Her white sock-covered foot, after briefly looking at both Jeong Yeon-shin and Divine Monk Beomheo, twitched on the ground.

What do the Taoist martial lineages of the world pursue?

Immortality and ascension.

When Mount Hua’s Purple Dawn Divine Skill reaches great accomplishment, one doesn’t age, and when deeply mastering the principle of taiji in the Wudang lineage, injuries become rare.

The martial sorcery techniques that are difficult to separate from Taoists pursue the same goal.

The extreme spirit projection was the result.

[Hangzhou.]

Wuuung—

A sphere emitted a crystal-like radiance above the hand of the white skeletal figure.

[I shall substitute.] 

Like a soul contained within, something like internal energy swirled inside the platinum-colored inner core that sparkled.

Like primordial energy extracted separately, the vitality flowing densely from it. At this moment, the frosty strong wind couldn’t approach just that area.

It was as if Dark Heaven Emperor’s life thread had been shaped into a spherical form.

Until then, Invincible, who had been motionless, suddenly looked up at him from the foot of the hill. As if she had withdrawn the Six Harmonies Voice characteristic of martial sorcery practitioners, her voice flowed from her lips.

“How does the sensation feel now?”

[Dense.]

The energy sense of a transcendent master surpasses the five senses that humans are born with. The same applies to a spirit projection.

Because all perceptive abilities are replaced by energy sense, there’s no susceptibility to methods that disturb sensations, like illusion swords. Even empty strikes won’t work.

“That’s not the form of a human.”

[Did Zixiu teach you that way? The flesh that appears to your eyes is all like an illusion.]

“Our lineages are quite different. Our cult doesn’t place Zhuangzi above the Heavenly Demon.”

[How Ming Cult-like.]

Simultaneously, Dark Heaven Emperor’s skeletal hand dropped the inner core.

In that moment, a sunset-colored slash tore through the air and struck toward the sphere, but after being slowed by internal energy barriers deployed successively by Invincible and Dark Heaven Emperor, it scattered like flower petals.

The eyes of Brilliant Jade Sword God, who had extended her sword from the foot of the hill, rose sharply.

Swish.

The inner core that had fallen to the hill disappeared as if melting into the air. It had hidden itself in the gaps between wind streams like Form Shifting Void.

Soon after, the vast martial sorcery formation appeared again and began to rotate in a circle, and in that way, it rapidly swelled its size while swallowing its own tail.

Wuuuuuuuuung—!

It took only a moment to cross over the ravine and even cover the mountain ridge.

The sky darkening.

A sound like lightning tearing through space came from beyond distant clouds. Immediately, the eyelids of Jeong Yeon-shin, who was sitting beside Brilliant Jade Sword God, rose.

A thunderous roar that shook the atmosphere was approaching. Though his ears felt foggy as if covered in mist, he vaguely sensed it was the sound of something’s roar.

Jeong Yeon-shin settled the recoil elasticity within his body with the Jeong Family Dynamic Technique and stood up.

Then he glanced down.

‘Abbot.’

He could see Divine Monk Beomheo, who hadn’t moved. Had he anticipated this situation that eventually arrived? The old monk with no arms was now sitting on a colorless flower.

Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown literally refers to the shape of three flowers overlapping. It was a flower composed of tremendous true energy.

[Come down.]

Among them, Dark Heaven Emperor’s Six Harmonies Voice pierced through the void.

[Three Peak.]