Chapter 581 – Fierce Fire (5)

Southern Emperor.

One who casts his gaze downward from the highest position. He was called Southern Emperor because he always looked toward the south.

The northern strongest possessed dignity.

The sight of clans devouring clans to fill their bellies was utterly disgusting to him.

Yao tribe. The demonic barbarian clans. Words given by the southerners. But the northern jianghu people actually took such derogatory terms as pride. Saying they were words that proved fear.

To the Southern Emperor, it was a climate that endlessly diminished his dignity. It was also something unacceptable to a born ruler.

—It would be better to chew on rough wild boar hide instead. If digested with internal energy, there’s nothing that can’t be eaten.

He was once called “iron-beaten wild boar hide” by his clan comrades. Otherwise known as Aisin-Gioro Nurhaci.

He desired fertile land.

Though all lands rust from famine, the north that had been barren from the beginning was different from the Ming Dynasty where the elf people had settled. Moreover, even the cause of the world’s famine lay in the Ming Dynasty.

Always.

Always having to look down upon the south.

This was the reason he became the Fighting God’s right arm.

Whoosh!

At this moment he was facing a giant man-horse pair in the wilderness, but even the overwhelming presence of the Northern Blade under heaven could not affect the Southern Emperor’s Natural Form.

Natural Form.

The appearance of a tall human shadow standing peacefully.

But it was a martial arts realm known as legend among the northern Yao tribes. A posture of standing blankly with extreme naturalness.

It has abilities.

No interference is received when deploying techniques. The same applies even when creating domains of mystical martial arts.

It was an insight gained from once deeply contemplating the great cause of the clans, and the reason for the saying that beneath the northern strongest’s feet lies hell itself.

Such rumors had recently become established as maxims of the northern jianghu.

One cannot deploy Natural Form with a spirit. This is because the body is surrounded by extremely powerful will.

In other words, the Southern Emperor manifested now was his true body.

The Northern Blade also knew this.

He looked down at the Southern Emperor from atop his incredibly high warhorse. Then he slowly opened his mouth.

[…I have sealed Yelu as Ruinous Star. He is now among the Six Star Lords, so I cannot let you kill him.]

The Northern Blade’s rumbling words were dismissed by the Southern Emperor in a single phrase.

“Nonsense.”

[He is one who will someday inflict fatal wounds on the Fighting God and help restore our land to its original form. On that day, the demon realm will regain its original brave customs. And the Northern Kings will become even stronger through endless battles among themselves.]

To those words, the Southern Emperor quietly asked.

“Brave customs? What is brave about clans dying of starvation?”

[The spirit of the clans was always bold and fierce. But the Fighting God intends to take the furnace called the Ming Dynasty in the future and pour our noble spirit into it to melt it away. This cannot be tolerated.]

“The conversation goes in circles, so I’m sick of it. Anyway, that’s all you can do. Standing there like a tower of corpses.”

The Southern Emperor answered leisurely.

He had secretly subjugated the various territories of the southern jianghu without anyone knowing, installed his niece as territorial lord, and thus brought down most of the Ming Dynasty jianghu with just one finger from the shadows.

Not much remained.

When the Ming Cult Leader, accepted as one of the Northern Kings out of necessity, brought about the Fighting God’s second coming, the Southern Emperor intended to gladly abandon the name of northern strongest.

And as the Fighting God’s most powerful weapon, he would bring down the Great Wall.

His words continued slowly.

“That’s enough now. Time wasting ends here.”

Whoosh!

Suddenly pitch-black mist arose and surrounded the Southern Emperor’s body without gaps. In its wake, the nearby sunlight bent crookedly in the opposite direction.

Bewildering Emotion.

The northern strongest’s Heaven Silk Steel Armor.

Just raising his protective energy greatly had distorted natural laws. It meant he would no longer maintain a standoff.

“A sapling of a Martial God has risen from the southern tribes. Northern King Yelu is such a person. He must be torn apart and killed.”

[That cannot be.]

The Northern Blade was stubborn. Instantly the Southern Emperor’s voice became gentle.

“Then I won’t scheme against Yelu for now. But you too must be feeling it. That the balance of the battlefield has collapsed.”

[It’s still uncertain.]

“Yelu is one who has crossed countless battles like us. At this rate, he might kill our land instead of the Fighting God.”

[……]

“You wouldn’t want ruins either. Even if your will has left the Fighting God, shouldn’t the clans be protected?”

His pale breath undulated like a snake swimming through darkness. The reason the Southern Emperor was deliberately facing the Northern Blade despite being able to leave by any means.

It was to persuade him.

He knew the Northern Blade’s nature of being favorable toward the strong.

Through such a long standoff, they would make each other aware of their strength again and recognize their common purpose together. Thus advancing toward the path of demon realm unification.

Other matters were not important.

The Northern Blade’s course of action was what mattered most to the demon realm.

[Those words.]

There was a reaction. The powerfully rumbling voice had descended like a cave’s gentle breeze.

[Are correct.]

Instantly the Northern Blade’s warhorse snorted, and its rough breath spread greatly into the sky where sunset was beginning to fall.

“Old comrade, that’s enough.”

The Southern Emperor smiled.

“Now let’s go. It’s time to look back at the threats to the clans.”

The next moment, two things happened simultaneously.

Woooong—

The Southern Emperor’s vision expanded endlessly to survey the vast plain thoroughly, while at the same time his body began to quietly cross Clear Light Plain.

Wolf-Gazing Eyes.

A unique eye technique. Created by himself as the Fighting God’s most lethal weapon to survey all battlefields.

It has only one ability.

If the line of sight is clear, even if the distance reaches the horizon, it rapidly magnifies as if right before one’s eyes. Crossing plains is nothing at all.

A divine eye technique absolute for field battles. Emperor Qian-ling once created war martial arts that separately raised mists of internal energy, being wary of his eyes.

‘But Emperor Qian-ling was killed by the Fighting God.’

Now there was nothing that could block the Southern Emperor’s Wolf-Gazing Eyes, and at this moment, the first thing reflected in his endlessly magnified vision was some woman.

Instantly, the pitch-black clouds surrounding the Southern Emperor’s body rippled faintly as if smiling.

A young woman wearing bright red robes.

Though clearly smaller in build than Yelu, somehow Yelu could be seen. Had she trained Bone-Shrinking Arts to the limit? The bone structure was surprisingly similar… Shoulders that stretched straight to both sides, then drew truly three-dimensional curves upon reaching the upper arms. Also, a back curved well so that the meridians surrounding the Gate of Life acupoint could race smoothly.

Besides that, other body lines that seemed faintly insignificant yet appeared perfect to internal energy masters…

It was exactly the same physique that the Southern Emperor’s original spirit had first seen in King Yelu, feeling it beautiful as a martial artist.

‘Yelu, it’s Yelu again. You are precisely the southern jianghu.’

Without hesitation, he opened Bright Wind Spirit’s sound caves.

—It’s time to gather. Kill the strangers.

Whispers resonating low in the vast sound transmission space.

The Southern Emperor’s voice spread not only through Bright Wind Spirit connected to his powerful subordinates, but also to Bright Wind Spirit where the Northern Kings had gathered. He didn’t care that Yelu would hear immediately.

He thought. This is my naadam (festival).

Meanwhile, Upright Star and Literary Star leaving the plain were reflected beyond the red woman’s shoulders. Each bore the appearance of having fought fierce battles.

The Southern Emperor asked through thousand-li sound transmission.

—Upright Star, Literary Star. Are you fleeing?

Immediately the two’s answers returned.

—Shut up!

—Yes, we were defeated.

A moment of silence swept the wilderness, and the Southern Emperor’s transmission continued only to Literary Star.

—You were defeated?

—They were absurdly strong. Seeing how they unified such individually distinct people into one martial lineage, the contemporary Divine Sword Group Leader is indeed a monster.

—Are you withdrawing from this battle?

—I’ll wait and see. Originally I intended to go around to Ice Breathing Mountain to observe the Divine Thief… but the pursuit is fierce. As Mozi said, rest is the beginning of all things.

That was all.

The retreat of the two absolute masters brought another surprise to the Southern Emperor, but he took no particular measures in that direction.

Even though eight Desolate Fortress warriors including the red woman were pursuing the two Six Star Lords.

There was nothing that could be done about Six Star Lords who had decided to retreat.

With the downfall of Divine Beggar Zhu Guang, the only southern jianghu person under heaven who could have held them back, all possibilities had disappeared.

A person who was a Great Warrior, not a substitute warrior.

Unless a successor appeared to inherit that old Great Warrior’s sprint, the lightness skill mobility of the northern six stars would never again be stopped by external force.

Therefore.

Flutter—

At this moment, the Southern Emperor was falling from the distant sky toward Literary Star’s head. While making the dark clouds wrapped around his entire body flutter like imperial ceremonial robes.

The place where Clear Light Plain’s final battle continued.

The most tumultuous location.

Kugugugugung!

Literary Star’s son among the Six Star Lords, the massive Lord of Heartless Prison mounted on a giant black horse, was overturning the plain with his cavalry forces. He was the man with the finest appearance on the battlefield.

Facing them were over a hundred masters with rainbow-colored cold energy wrapped around their entire bodies.

Northern Sea Ice Palace. The royal family of the outer regions.

Originally they had agreed to support Ming Cult Leader Western Heaven Dark King, but for some reason they were turncoats who had attached themselves to Yelu.

At this moment, they were with a youth who kept chewing frozen poppies.

That man.

He was the figure who entered the Southern Emperor’s eyes most prominently.

He stood out the most.

The shadows settled lightly but languidly beneath his eyes, contrasting with his extremely splendid martial arts.

But if that were all, it would be nothing.

At this moment, the problem was not only the power of blazing yang that twisted the atmosphere thickly and swirled from his fingertips, but also his movements that cleverly drew out the cavalry forces while creating gaps.

As the Ice Palace’s masters penetrated those empty spaces and struck with frost-laden hands, Yao tribe warriors fell from their horses in succession.

Frost that burst like foam with fierce ripples among the horse hooves. Naturally, the surface of the sandy ground froze white with crackling sounds.

‘Lazy Flame Dragon of the Hwangbo family.’

A born turncoat. A brat who deserved contempt.

But his movements gracefully cutting through the waves of men and horses were surprising. All those movement lines were ultimately smashing the cavalry forces.

He controlled the battlefield at will.

Before martial prowess, it was a matter of natural talent—inborn battle sense dominating the battlefield.

The Southern Emperor had seen such talent before.

In Emperor Qian-ling, the Ming Cult Leader, and the Fighting God.

Whether to bring him into his grasp or crush him into a handful of blood was something to be decided here.

Thud!

Therefore, as soon as he landed in the middle of the battlefield, he silently struck with both hands. Pitch-black Heaven Silk Steel Armor was rippling from both arms like a fairy’s garment edges.

Military Armor Transformation Dark Deep Thunder.

The Southern Emperor’s protective energy split into dozens of streams like dark lightning and extended outward, and the Ice Palace masters who had widened their eyes at the sudden intrusion were only momentary.

“…!”

The wolf pelts they wore were torn to shreds with crackling friction sounds. The internal energy barriers of ice arts, which had special strengths in defense, couldn’t hold out for even a moment.

Flesh and bone fragments that had once been human rolled down onto the frozen sandy ground.

Woooooooong!

Soon those swept up in the void absorption were buried into the ground from all directions.

Each became part of a formation that enhanced the northern strongest’s energy waves while being buried. While retaining their lifetime’s internal energy intact.

The same role as the towers of corpses erected throughout northern cities.

When Lazy Flame Dragon began turning his body toward them from afar, the Southern Emperor slid across the ice like a ghost while striking the void once each.

Bang! Kwaaang—!

There were men and women whose heads burst from his hand blades as soon as he charged in.

The realm of northern Natural Form. Having no awkwardness in any body movement meant, conversely, that enemies were caught by every strike like fate.

[Second Palace Master of Ice Palace’s Left Protector. Based on the southern jianghu name records, same rank as sixty-nine.]

Before long, the largest man-horse pair on the battlefield stood beside the Southern Emperor. The Northern Blade under heaven. His gaze was assessing the identity and martial prowess of the just-killed corpses.

[This one is the Second Palace Master’s Right Protector. Equal to eighty.]

The companionship of Southern Emperor and Northern Blade.

The momentum of Literary Star Army surrounding the vicinity exploded like an active volcano. Roars and horse hoof sounds began to cover the battlefield with incomparably greater resonance than before.

The full strength that could only be countered by joint attacks from some of the Imperial Three Great Masters or Three Regional Great Generals… Even then, the Great Wall could remain intact only because the Northern Blade had been hostile to the Fighting God from some point.

A path was opened in a straight line.

It was impossible to oppose.

Bang! Kwaaang—!

The bodies of Ice Palace masters wearing wolf leather burst like firecrackers, and those who hesitated on their own from the Northern Blade’s momentum without making any moves, then had their heads plucked by the Southern Emperor and fell.

“First Army Commander, retreat…”

“It’s him we’ve only heard about! Southern Emperor, the Southern Emperor is…!”

Thus the path created by the northern strongest led straight toward the Ice Palace Master’s one and only companion.

“I thought I might achieve some merit.”

It was when a faint smile formed beneath Lazy Flame Dragon’s shadowed eyes.

“Turncoat.”

The Southern Emperor, who had somehow reached right before Lazy Flame Dragon’s nose, looked down at him with his massive build and spoke.

“Come with me. I know what method can properly heal your body.”

“…!”

“If you refuse, you’ll die here.”

At the words that flowed out matter-of-factly, Lazy Flame Dragon’s eyes widened. For a moment, time on the battlefield seemed to stop.

But soon his eyes curved languidly like poppy fragrance.

An absurdly radical proposal.

What could be so urgent for someone called the northern strongest? Probably the Southern Emperor too was feeling it.

The natural disaster approaching from outside this plain.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the same time.

In the pure white space where Literary Star, Upright Star, and the seven squad leaders had been fighting.

Jin Myeong-jo was floating in the void, looking down with an expression of having aged several years in just a few moments.

‘Damn it all.’

The woman in red robes who had suddenly appeared—the Seventh Apostle—had completely changed the flow of battle.

Though she looked exactly like the Acting Group Leader, her temperament was entirely different. Where Jeong Yeon-shin had restraint and calculation, she had only pure destructive impulse.

But that impulse had been precisely what was needed.

[Silent Night, Watchtower.]

Jin Myeong-jo’s mental command controlling the Dark Night Blood-Gleaming Demon Swords resonated once more.

The formless swords bent and twisted to protect the squad leaders as they pressed their advantage against the retreating Six Star Lords.

‘At least we’re winning now.’

But Jin Myeong-jo couldn’t shake the feeling that something much larger and more dangerous was approaching.

The sounds of battle from the plain below were growing louder.

And in the distance, he could sense the overwhelming presence of the Southern Emperor himself entering the fray.

‘The real war is just beginning.’

The Seventh Apostle’s mad laughter echoed through the white space as she pursued Literary Star with relentless fury.

Jin Myeong-jo sighed and prepared for what was to come.

The northern strongest and the Divine Sword Group were about to clash in earnest.

And he had the sinking feeling that not all of them would survive what was coming.

The Desolate Fortress warriors had proven their strength against individual Six Star Lords.

But against the combined might of the Southern Emperor and Northern Blade?

That would be a test unlike any they had faced before.

Jin Myeong-jo gripped his formless swords tighter and prepared to descend into the chaos below.

The fate of the northern expedition—and perhaps the entire jianghu—would be decided in the next few moments.

The fierce fire of battle was about to consume everything in its path.