Chapter 611 – Three Swords (4)

Until now, the Desolate Fortress had mostly engaged in defensive battles. This was true for missions encompassing the people’s livelihood, as well as the Desolate Fortress Great War that now seemed like the distant past.

But now it was different.

It was a wave offensive.

Molten Rock Castle Lord had ultimately fled.

The area beside his crown was shattered like stone fragments, yet he had still shaken off the three black ranks and distanced himself with peerless lightness skills. Like a quick-thinking general of the military.

In reality, he was equivalent to the Three Regional Great Generals who guarded the Ming Dynasty’s Great Wall. Because he was already a military king of the Qing Dynasty whose founding was planned around the Southern Emperor.

A peerless master.

The fleeing side changed course dozens of times, ascending and descending heaven and earth.

Even if the pursuer and pursued were equal, it was naturally advantageous for the side leading the direction. The occasional surprise restraining techniques were also masterful, and being Yao tribe, they possessed supreme vitality.

In other words, absolute freedom.

The authority of Yao tribe members whose martial arts had reached mastery.

The only things that could kill them were their own competitive spirit and situations they couldn’t retreat from. This was a fact naturally accepted by squad leaders under the Divine Sword Group.

A leadership with only Namgun Hwa-shin and Hyeon Won-chang as novice black ranks. They calmly trampled Molten Rock Castle and advanced.

“We should have killed him when he charged at us.”

“Still, he’s a king in name. He won’t be able to flee from Black Capital either. He’ll fall together with the capital if it falls.”

The conversation between Wei Zhi-ji and Beigong Ya.

But only Molten Rock Castle Lord was permitted to flee. Molten Rock Castle’s martial army forces were greatly swept away once by the Divine Sword Squad Leader’s formless sword bombardment, and a second time by the Divine Sword Group’s martial army forces wearing Radiant Art Bond. They had even tried to perish together against that flow.

Yao tribe jianghu people mad with competitive spirit.

None survived.

They had broken through before reinforcements arrived.

Behind the five hundred Divine Sword Group members, only darkly rising smoke remained. Molten Rock Castle’s sky, which had always rippled hazily, was further distorted by Radiant Art Bond shock waves, and the Divine Sword Group faced the demon realm’s capital after their ceaseless sprint.

Those who had lost Jeong Yeon-shin. Those who inherited Jeong Yeon-shin.

The black swords who learned what they hadn’t known were sharper than ever. Having annihilated jianghu sects more than once or twice, they had also grown dull to the smell of blood.

As soon as they crossed the slope, a vast plain spread out far below. It was land backed by a tributary of the Black Dragon River.

There was a darkish waterway.

Wide enough to contain two or three decent sailing ships with room to spare, yet what actually floated on the surface were black scales and bone fragments.

Occasionally large waves would rise from the empty water and crash into the dirt ground. Then they would spit out white foam and sink back into the river.

Even though it wasn’t the sea.

Splash, splash…

It could be heard faintly from afar.

Perhaps due to the heavily settled air? It sounded like waves, but also like someone striking leather, and could be heard as the percussion of some giant tapping their own skin.

Conversely, there was no human noise. The great city that stood majestically in a vast circle with the river behind it was only quiet.

It was the Southern Emperor’s territory.

The black capital. Black Capital.

About two thousand li northeast from Ming Dynasty’s Beijing, over three hundred li southeast from the nearest main stream of the Black Dragon River.

Naturally, it was land closer to Russia than the Ming Dynasty.

From the moment it entered view, it displayed overwhelming scale. Because tens of thousands of pavilions were each arranged neatly in rows and columns.

Demon realm jianghu people called it.

The giant Pangu’s Go board. The giant’s Go board first described in the old Wu Dynasty’s “Record of Three and Five Calendars.”

Roofs that rose like swords without exception, obsessively neat city districts and waterways. All pavilion complexes were arranged with official roads opened in “井” patterns on the outside.

It was absurdly orderly. The Southern Emperor’s temperament was clearly reflected.

Meanwhile, on the hill overlooking Black Capital at a glance.

“To think we’d reach the demon realm’s capital in our lifetime…”

The black-robed swordsman muttered. With jet-black hair tied down in a single strand like a soft sword, and his hand placed on the sword hilt of his white waist belt.

Radiant Sword Squad Leader Hak So-seon.

She was in the vanguard alongside other squad leaders.

The lips of Cheon So-so standing beside her slowly parted.

“There was talk that this was the Southern Emperor’s formation. That all the land could supply true energy to the ruler like Body-Crossing Power Transmission.”

“Chang’an City was said to be like that… until the first Heavenly Demon pushed it away.”

It was Wei Zhi-ji’s soliloquy as he stepped forward one pace from the formation. He soon crouched in place and glared at Black Capital with drowsy eyes.

“…I don’t feel anything. I don’t even know if there are people. The streets are too quiet.”

Assessing the enemy.

It had already begun. In martial terms, it was the process of weaving breaking techniques. Most black ranks were familiar with and skilled at such analysis.

The same was true for Azure Sky Squad Leader Han Cheol-mok, who had been muttering only the formulas of the Jeong Family Dynamic Technique like Buddhist scriptures throughout their advance to Black Capital. Though he was quite tall, he stood on tiptoes to heighten his eye technique’s field of vision.

“Did they evacuate all those common people? There must be over a hundred thousand – how could such a thing…”

It meant three things.

The Southern Emperor’s terrifying governance, the intelligence capability that clearly understood the Divine Sword Group’s movements through Bright Wind Spirit, and fundamentally the emperor’s caliber of caring terribly for his people.

It was eerie.

The effect of surprise was already gone.

They just had to settle the match before more Northern Kings flocked to Black Capital.

But Wish-fulfilling Spring Leader Beigong Ya rather raised the corners of her mouth. While positioned in the center of the formation alongside the expressionless Annihilation Team Leader Shin Hwang.

“The Divine Sword Group must have been scary after all. Rather, this is good. The common people won’t get involved.”

“I will infiltrate and bring the heads of the Ming Cult Leader and Southern Emperor.”

A handsome youth who would have just entered his mid-twenties stepped forward.

With pupils that were clear to the point of madness rippling, and absurdly well-trained lean muscles visible between his sleeves. As always, the bearing of a genius swordsman.

“A body raised as the main family’s Hidden Sword, I see now it was for today. One of me is sufficient to be crushed like jade.”

White Qilin Namgung Hwa-shin’s voice was calm and pleasant to hear, but no one reacted.

Since the Desolate Fortress Great War, there were virtually no black ranks who listened earnestly to the Obeying Heaven Wing Leader’s words. They only periodically requested medicines good for treating obsessive martial disorders from the medical hall.

From the beginning, their command authority lay elsewhere. In the Divine Sword Group Leader’s absence, the Acting Group Leader; when even the Acting Group Leader was absent, the Divine Sword Squad Leader.

Instantly, all Divine Sword Group warriors’ gazes converged in one direction. Toward Jin Myeong-jo sitting perched on the only boulder.

“……”

He was rolling stone fragments in his grip with an expressionless face. A quiet rustling sound slowly leaked out.

It was the same face since right after Ming Cult Leader Young Heavenly Demon Invincible had visited Yeoktru Castle. The Divine Sword Prisoner he had difficulty dealing with had also disappeared somewhere long ago upon facing Black Capital.

Jin Myeong-jo was the only warrior among them who had achieved Crimson Moon Dance. Finally, Hyeon Won-chang casually threw out a question from among the black ranks.

“What do we do now?”

“…Commanding all military units is beyond my capability. I don’t know you people well. I’ve never taken interest.”

It was a voice like ice breaking.

Jin Myeong-jo, who answered quietly, turned his gaze back to distant Black Capital.

A blood demon secretly despised even within the Desolate Fortress. The complex city districts were etched one by one in his red pupils. Like Go stones being placed on a giant board.

A territory of twilight.

Looking down at the bright Ming Dynasty from barren darkness. Precisely, the vital point under heaven that the Fighting God and Southern Emperor had long recognized.

“The entire city feels like it’s preparing for something.”

Ultimate Martial Master Geum Cheong-won slowly nodded his dark prosthetic leg. He continued slowly.

“Defending against us isn’t the only purpose. They’re definitely combining it with something else. For instance… something like the Fighting God’s manifestation.”

Then suddenly.

The city’s outskirts brightened with bluish light.

Kurrung!

Untimely thunder fell.

The left side of the endlessly extended fortress walls was scorched black. Following lightning that had connected from the sky to Black Capital like tree branches.

Soon after, in the place where blue lightning had unraveled like thread, stood a woman of tremendous height.

She wasn’t Yao tribe.

Deep shadows were carved around her eyes, and her nose bridge was unusually thick yet high. Her attire was also exotic.

She had wrapped blue silk around her waist, then draped cloth over her shoulder and worn it down below.

She was dignified.

Using precious cloth pieces as clothing. Attire far from battle. Precisely the special ceremonial dress of Tianzhu (India).

She slowly moved her lips.

“I nearly went straight to Molten Rock Castle.”

A voice clear as bell sounds.

Though no upper energy center will or large Six Harmonies Battle Voice had spread, it was a voice that climbed the distant hill and clearly penetrated the Divine Sword Group warriors’ ears.

Because her bottomless internal energy had resonated the atmosphere.

“Without knowing you had already destroyed it.”

Clearly a Northern King of Bright Wind Spirit. Seeing her appearance, anyone could guess her status.

Great King Vajra.

She came from Bodhidharma’s homeland and pitied the famine of the entire world. Therefore, while wandering the world, she had been fascinated by the northern Fighting God.

She was a transcendent of Thunder Lightning Energy Arts.

It was said that if a warrior trained in metalwork faced her, defeat was impossible.

Unless one was a peerless master, the class didn’t match, so naturally it was Jin Myeong-jo’s turn. Instantly his body became hazy on the hill’s rock.

Whoosh!

He stood on the plain spread between the ridge and the center of Black Capital. It was ghostly lightness skill.

“You may go no further.”

Simultaneously, an aged voice stopped Jin Myeong-jo. Exactly one hundred steps ahead.

Bang!

A great sword nearly one chi (about 32cm, Ming Dynasty) wide was deeply embedded in the cracked earth. An old man had somehow appeared in the plain, holding the giant sword hilt upside down like a staff.

Clearly a height four or five heads taller than Jin Myeong-jo, with slightly tilted features centered around thick facial skin. The wrinkles on his forehead and sword scars that had penetrated his eyes also stood out.

His bleached white hair fluttered without luster.

Jin Myeong-jo stared at him intently, then slowly opened his mouth.

“Gao Yao Holy Sword Lord.”

“That’s right. I dominate the laws of this jianghu, and I have no intention of permitting your advance.”

The Yao tribe old swordsman’s words were very calm. Unsuitably so for his impressive large frame.

Gao Yao.

The legendary magistrate of the ancient Shun Dynasty. Adding Holy Sword to that meant he was the most noble among all Yao tribe swordsmen under heaven.

It was an epithet originating from the Fighting God who understood Central Plains history. Since he was entrusted with this land’s order at the Fighting God’s request, he could be called an inspector general with royal rank.

His Five Punishments Prison Divine Sword Formation was unpretentiously tyrannical divine art, said to have only Literary Star among the Six Star Lords capable of receiving it head-on.

Jin Myeong-jo slowly nodded.

“There was intelligence from the main fortress’s Nether Stream Squad. If you hand over only what we must take, we have no intention of settling grudges with you.”

“What you must take?”

“The Fighting God’s return formation, Ming Cult Leader Dark Heaven West King bound alive, and the Southern Emperor’s head.”

All conditions that would shake the world.

Yellow cracks spread from Gao Yao Holy Sword Lord’s thick mouth. It was a Yao tribe smile.

“Good boldness.”

It was right after he quietly muttered.

“You came surprisingly fast for a first journey. This has become troublesome.”

It echoed from inside the city gates. Similarly in Chinese. But that pronunciation was much clearer than Great King Vajra’s and Gao Yao Holy Sword Lord’s.

Kugugung—

The central gates made of steel began boldly opening. Demon realm jianghu people had no concept of defending cities.

Thus.

In the place where both gates opened wide, a giant man revealed himself. With the most overwhelming presence encompassing the ridge, plain, and castle side at this moment.

“Hmm.”

In refined scholar’s robes like those of Beijing’s Hanlin Academy scholars, holding a large judge’s brush in one hand. A weapon in the form of a very large skewer that would look like a brush if its size were reduced.

Perhaps because his grip was so large and fierce?

Ink was dripping from the judge’s brush tip, but in his hands it truly looked like a brush.

“…Well then.”

Literary Star among the Six Star Lords opened his mouth.

“Before battle begins, I’ll make one thing known. It seems few know the truth besides the Divine Sword Group’s black ranks, and I tend to use everything available…”

At the same time, his judge’s brush was swung toward the fortress wall. It was literally “one brush stroke.” There were thick characters being carved as if everyone should see them.

Divine Sword Group Leader Lightning Genius.

Regarding his lifespan, West Heaven Bright King said:

Heaven is heartless…

Bang!

It was the sound of Jin Myeong-jo stomping Literary Star’s judge’s brush and driving it into the fortress wall. Thick cracks raced in all directions along the stone wall.

An obvious trick to lower the morale of the powerful Divine Sword Group forces. Literary Star smiled broadly.

“Breaking a scholar’s brush.”

“Don’t act rashly. You’ll die.”

‘I will.’

Jin Myeong-jo said while looking up at Literary Star.

[Silent Night.]

And from the start, it was Crimson Moon Dance.

In an instant, dark red mist rippled in sword form from his hands, and somehow swallowed even the collision sound as it deflected Gao Yao Holy Sword Lord’s great sword that had rushed behind him.

“…!”

While Gao Yao Holy Sword Lord’s eyes widened.

Whiiiiiiik—!

A sharp noise rose long from the ridge on the opposite side of the city. It was the whistling arrow of Divine Sword Squad member April Palace Ghost Wi Ye-ryeong from Radiant Demon Wing origin.

* * *

A mountain path where birdsong was leisurely like flutes.

The one-armed storyteller wearing a bamboo hat said.

“This isn’t such simple swordwork. You only saw me disappear so you wouldn’t know, but if you could go wherever you wanted with just blade work, why would spell martial arts exist? Like all of life, you sometimes fall into valleys, occasionally encounter wild beasts, and rarely have strange paths open like this. You need luck.”

“……”

“Don’t be so calm. You’ve become too mature as a person. Rather, spit out some curses.”

“Less useful.”

“…That was good motivation. Just watch. It’ll be just a moment.”