Chapter 638 – Big Dipper Hundred Stars

A steep mountain ridge.

Small spring breezes buried themselves in the earth and rustled before scattering. The forest of only bare branches was filled with people.

Three thousand martial army forces.

They were a dragnet by their very existence.

Just by standing there blankly, they created thread-like furrows in the earth. Each was an extraordinary power wave.

They could also be seen as a colony of long centipedes sprouting like seedlings in famine-stricken land. It looked even more so when observed from afar.

Mountain paths widely opened by collective explosive force.

Countless baggage carts were placed on them. It was a cluster of trading companies that were bound to follow large-scale military forces.

Though the village people far below the mountain path were looking up at them with fearful faces, the trading company leaders only gazed at the centipede-like martial army forces.

“It’s quite a spectacle when you look at it like this.”

“Of course. Profound Martial Alliance has long been the world’s greatest in this area. Supply elixirs brewed like alcohol, Sima Unorthodox Path’s battlefield martial arts, sword formations more powerful the more people there are, training speed of martial soldiers… If it weren’t for the north and Desolate Fortress, they would have founded a nation long ago.”

“But is it okay to expand their power this much?”

“Why?”

“They’ve long ignored official tribute, yet neither the imperial house nor nearby powerful clans give them any pressure…”

“What mind would those people have now? They’d be busy realizing that the Divine Sword Group’s vacant position can’t be filled with imperial forces alone.”

Several trading company leaders discussed world politics freely without even minding the martial army forces. Because each either had accumulated much rice in their main companies, or had established equal relationships with Profound Martial Alliance as great trading company leaders.

People who adorned themselves in colorful silk clothing, even though it was becoming difficult to even raise silkworms.

Among them were elderly and middle-aged people, and there were also young men and women regardless of gender who had seized great opportunities in chaotic times. They were all people who feared no bandits with decent martial arts in addition to commercial talent.

“The person worth obtaining while bringing such a large group, is it really Profound Martial Alliance’s Sword Venerable? That madman?”

“It’s a world where strongmen are most precious. Moreover, if it’s to bring back the sword ghost of Five Qi Return to Origin who originally belonged to the Alliance… would three visits be a problem? It’s worth laying out three thousand forces like a carpet.”

“The leading figures are truly remarkable. Not only the next Profound Martial Alliance leader and Light Blade Venerable, but even the ‘Fallen Military King’ in such a place…”

The end of the mountain path where the trading company leaders’ gazes were directed.

A man and two women with different appearances stood on an isolated hill.

It was also in front of some earth hut. An earthen wall smooth as if hardened by the heat of very refined Three Samadhi Fire, with a house that wove a roof of dried straw and reeds on such earthen walls.

“They said it was the dwelling of a peerless madman obsessed with swords…?”

One trading company leader said bewilderedly.

Step.

Because of the clothing of the woman who came out of the strange earth hut. Her appearance wearing a white headband on her forehead and rough hemp clothes. Anyone could see she looked closer to an herb gatherer.

The expressions of the three people who encountered her also changed slightly.

Among them, the young woman who carried a narrow blade on her back muttered quietly.

“I can’t believe it…”

Phoenix-Slaying Crimson Blade Gun Yu-rin.

She had long been the Profound Martial Alliance leader’s only successor, and at this moment was in a position to approach the earth hut’s herb gatherer by one step.

Step.

“I never thought you’d really be recuperating in such a place… No matter how severe your internal injuries, you could have recovered much faster if you’d returned to the Alliance.”

Gun Yu-rin spoke politely with a face lightly touched by bewilderment, but the herb gatherer just stared at her intently.

Soon it was a beauty wearing an imposing great sword who spoke to the herb gatherer, a blade user with long hair neatly tied down.

Light Blade Venerable Geum Min.

“Swimming Heaven.”

Only after Geum Min’s low call rang out did the herb gatherer slowly part her lips.

“Geum family.”

“Let’s return to the Alliance. The times are chaotic.”

“I was organizing insights here. Consider me expelled.”

It meant she wouldn’t go.

The trading company leaders who had been straining their hearing with true energy from afar couldn’t help but stir. Because if the monster of Qi-Controlled Sword didn’t return to Profound Martial Alliance, they’d have to calculate the political situation differently.

That’s how it had to be to unfold ambitions in an era where all sorts of strongmen were in disorder.

Geum Min shook her head.

“Didn’t you go into hiding when rumors spread that Jeong Family’s Lightning Genius was killed by Heaven Conquering Sect Leader? Swimming Heaven, that was a false rumor. Lotus Nezha is alive and well and went up north.”

Rumble…

A strange vibration spread like a landslide suppressed by something. It occurred at the village entrance below, originating from a sword stuck with only its hilt visible in one side of the well at its center.

Though it was nearly two hundred zhang away, the resonance was deep. For a moment, even the centipede-like extended martial army forces swayed slightly.

“……”

Not only the herb gatherer but none among Profound Martial Alliance’s numerous uninvited guests turned their gaze to the village below the hill.

It was natural.

The mad Sword Venerable who had tasted all of Sima Unorthodox Path’s pleasures had revealed the earth-shaking realm of Qi Controlling Sword. Anyone had to hold their breath.

Geum Min’s eyes narrowed.

“Has the skill of Five Qi Return to Origin matured in the meantime…? There was worth in hiding.”

“You must return…!”

Gun Yu-rin from the side joined Geum Min’s soliloquy, but Baek Seo-gun cut off those words.

“Lightning Genius is alive and went north? Tell me more.”

“The Divine Sword Group took over the northern demon realm, replacing the imperial forces. The Central Plains jianghu is empty. Our Alliance has observed this situation for a very long time and recently reached a conclusion.”

Geum Min continued slowly.

“To fence off the eastern edge of Shandong and be self-sufficient.”

“Self-sufficient? Are you insane?”

“They say madness is like illness, and it seems to have transferred to you, Swimming Heaven. Without going mad, it’s hard to survive in today’s jianghu. The world has become that chaotic too.”

“The imperial forces’ slow feet is nothing unusual, but what will you do when the Divine Sword Group comes south again? That would be sect annihilation.”

“It’s a choice between two options. Will we endlessly have our lifeblood sucked by the already half-ruined Ming imperial house, or will we plan for our own safety like other major sects?”

“Light Blade Venerable Geum Min, seeing even your wisdom has clouded, chaotic times are indeed chaotic times.”

“Consider the distance from the demon realm to here. The Divine Sword Group’s southward movement will inevitably take a long time. Or they might perish while undertaking northern expedition.”

The trading company leaders aligned with Profound Martial Alliance judged the same. Since commercial logistics fluctuated according to the situation north and south of the Great Wall, they were more knowledgeable about demon realm affairs than most Central Plains jianghu people.

Fighting God, Six Star Lords, Divine Thief, all sorts of fantastical Northern Kings and Great Warriors, martial army forces achieving invincibility with Heaven Still Light Armor and Bright Wind Cave…

Could the enemy nation’s jianghu that even coveted the Great Wall possibly be weaker than Ming Dynasty jianghu? Even if the Divine Sword Group returned by heavenly fortune, most would be in tatters.

“It wouldn’t be strange if most of Desolate Fortress’s strength had vanished.”

Geum Min spoke calmly.

Whether Jeong Yeon-shin could return safely was a great problem to begin with, and most gossip-mongers had already excluded the existence called Desolate Day Extinction from Ming Dynasty jianghu. There were those who compared him to a comet that shone brilliantly and disappeared.

Gun Yu-rin interjected.

“The Divine Sword Group’s vacancy is frighteningly large anyway. There’s the fact that all the earth’s energy has withered, and it’s also a big problem that among the Beijing masters who came down to handle Central Plains security, there’s only King Qiong-ming as a peerless master. In this vast land, how can they handle all those jianghu people? It’s hard enough to feed and clothe disciples under their tutelage, so how can they pay that enormous tribute?”

“So?”

“After such a long time has passed, would there be anyone in the returning Divine Sword Group with wisdom broad enough to handle such a world? Those guys are just swords. Unlike major sects like us that are large and powerful, they’re faithful weapons of the Ming Dynasty who have never once thought of founding a nation.”

It wasn’t just Profound Martial Alliance’s thinking.

It was a judgment that implicitly dominated all of jianghu.

Some high officials who had heard of Six Star Lords’ monstrous aspects from imperial masters who came down to the Central Plains.

Those who naturally feared the north, Ming Dynasty’s old enemy.

Even martial jianghu people who became endlessly stronger as disputes increased.

Everyone’s judgment of Desolate Fortress Divine Sword Group was the same as Gun Yu-rin’s story. Whether they lamented that jianghu’s great star had set, or drew swords taking advantage of chaotic times.

Gun Yu-rin raised both hands to the mad herb gatherer.

“Please return to the Alliance. Whether it’s jianghu people rising as heroes from various lands, or the soulless world’s greatest sword, or World Tree’s Four Great Dharma Protectors said to suddenly pop out of walking trees… jianghu has become bleaker and more dangerous than before.”

“……”

“The Central Plains is now a wasteland. Each for their own survival. We need the Sword Venerable. And this person is…”

Gun Yu-rin’s hand spread wide, then moved smoothly as if introducing the man who had been standing blankly in the back throughout.

“He’s someone who came from the Sword Venerable’s hometown, Xinye County in Henan Province. They say he was deep in the mountains… literally a hidden sage.”

The man’s skin was ash-colored.

He had let down pure white hair close to disheveled to his back, and his unusually sharp ears somewhat matched his gaunt appearance.

He met Baek Seo-gun’s eyes with pupils that seemed made of ash powder, then slowly asked.

“Is your Eight Illusions Divine Art useful?”

It was a cracked voice.

* * *

Ground cracked like famine-stricken land was swept by gentle spring breeze. Light dust settled like mist then decomposed without trace, and as many footsteps as those sand grains were endlessly filling the vicinity.

A very complex alley.

The surroundings were full of antique halls, and Dark Path’s martial ruffians came and went through Beijing nobles’ land as if it were their own home, as if they were kings of the streets.

A place that had once been the Ming Dynasty’s capital.

Now it was merely part of the martial jianghu.

“What is it, what’s happening?”

“Strange people from the Forbidden City direction came here…!”

“Forbidden City? From those ruins?”

Vast Beijing was under the rule of Dark Path major sects. The imperial masters who had protected the capital for long years had been swept away by human-shaped natural disasters and had long become fertilizer for barren land.

Jianghu people who increased as rice stalks disappeared from the earth. It was hard to tell where martial people ended and those who had become bandits from exhaustion with hunger began.

They had divided territories in Beijing as they pleased and were living by occupying the storehouses of masterless estates as their own. The owners of many mansions changed frequently, of course.

The same was true of the former Chief Eunuch’s magnificent hall.

Bang!

Some person in black clothing kicked open precious rosewood gates and entered. At the same time, he shouted.

“Divine Sword Group! It’s the Divine Sword Group…!”

A reaction returned from the outer courtyard’s edge, from a pavilion known as the place where the Divine Sword Group Acting Leader and former Chief Eunuch had once shared drinks.

“What nonsense are you talking?”

Some middle-aged man with a face flushed red from intoxication asked back. His appearance was of red official robes roughly draped over his shoulders as if trying to imitate a person of power.

At the same time, a respectful voice approached from far away.

“Reporting to the Northern Emperor, it’s a voice I know. In his youth, this Demon Contempt Blade had control over Jinan and Northern Zhili. The person over there talking about nonsense is the sect leader of Red Crane Sect based in Jinan land, who once participated in the Dragon Phoenix Assembly…”

Suddenly.

It was then that a wall was lifted like paper without any warning. A truly surreal sight. Dirt fell thudding down under hands that had penetrated to the end of the long stone wall.

“It’s been a long time.”

A thick voice continued slowly.

“Since I luckily passed the examination and came down, then was discovered and expelled. It’s the first time since then.”

Perhaps because he had the sunset at his back, he only appeared darkly. An absurdly massive human shadow. Some giant’s shadow was opening a path for a handsome young man in purple robes.