Chapter 716 – Stone Sword Group (6)

The realm of selflessness.

The state of forgetting oneself. A condition commonly experienced by many masters.

This was even more true for those about to undergo great ascension. Stories of losing oneself while wielding a sword and suddenly finding that a single sword stroke could split rivers.

Yue Shou-lin was different.

Since leaving the Shandong Yue family, the spear prodigy under heaven had fallen to being a common person. She had never once fallen deeply into the realm of selflessness.

She could not forget herself. How could she let it slip from her mind?

All manner of regrets and sorrows would cover her body like a sleeping bag, then rise up to the crown of her head.

Sometimes the common quagmire that people fall into.

For some, it becomes unsatisfactorily concluded relationships, and for others, it becomes self-reproach for carelessly missing some opportunity.

Such emotions swirling with the dark night air would keep sleep at bay.

Yue Shou-lin had experienced all of this.

‘Always.’

If she hadn’t felt disgusted with the worldliness peculiar to the Eight Families, if she hadn’t neglected her birth family while being bewitched by the concept of chivalry, and thus had at least learned the latter part of Yue Family Spear before leaving.

During the long life of serving four successive Divine Sword Group Leaders for generations, if she could have protected the countless comrades who had passed away in that long life…

A chain of what-ifs. She was no different from common people.

Despite always doing her best.

Sometimes she felt as if the pulse of life had been cut off. Regrets and sorrows, life itself that would suddenly surge in and disappear, then become some unknowable rock mass pressing down on her heart.

They said that even as people’s age increased, their hearts often remained childlike. Because Yue Shou-lin was the same, her rejuvenation was extreme.

She regretted from time to time.

Had she missed something big at home? Was that why she couldn’t find peace?

Thus at this moment, Yue Shou-lin seemed to be having a lucid dream even while fallen into the realm of selflessness. She was briefly confused whether it was a dream or if she had entered the mental image of the secret manual written by the grandmaster.

‘Both. I had a feeling something would happen.’

While deeply reading Jeong Yeon-shin’s diary, the place her consciousness flew to like Zhuangzi’s butterfly was a manor that was small if small, large if large. It was a quiet countryside.

It was extremely vivid.

Certainly it must be a space of mental imagery.

The reason was simple.

It was because Jeong Yeon-shin’s devotion was poured into the newly written Jeong Family Dynamic Technique Dream Flight Chapter. A grandmaster’s devotion naturally became spirituality.

It was also thanks to Yue Shou-lin empathizing deeply with affection for Jeong Yeon-shin’s life. When the child completely immersed herself in the child’s life, the grandmaster’s spirituality permeated her upper energy center spirit. Yue Shou-lin had fallen into such a vivid dream.

She stood blankly holding only a single spear in her grasp. Her face was somewhat dazed.

“……”

The spacious front courtyard of the Jeong family manor.

It was the same as the place described in the book. It felt as if she had delved endlessly into the secret manual and traveled back through time.

She could even hear sounds.

Creak.

A swing that might be enjoyed during the Dragon Boat Festival swayed hanging from a pair of long ropes. The bright moonlight gently poured down along the swing ropes. Below it stood a child with gaunt cheeks and bloodshot eyes.

If you subtracted about seven years from fifteen-year-old White rank Jeong Yeon-shin, he would look like this.

‘Swing, moonlight, insomnia.’

It was the essence of Jeong Family Dynamic Technique.

“Hello.”

When the child waved his hand, Yue Shou-lin also greeted him in return. Then she asked.

“Why are you doing that?”

“Yes. I’m waiting for Mother.”

The child’s answer.

A strange way of speaking with an indifferent expression. It meant young Jeong Yeon-shin was truly like this. Because this place was the past that Jeong Yeon-shin’s brushwork had unraveled.

Yue Shou-lin’s expression became ambiguous.

“Your mother…”

“She went boating in Suzhou. Father told me so.”

“That damned bastard?”

“I know he’s a drunkard. How old do you think I am?”

The child said.

“Mother just went boating today. And she won’t come back.”

“You wait until this hour knowing it’s a lie?”

“This is my play. It’s also training.”

Moonlight poured down on the child.

In an instant, eight-year-old Jeong Yeon-shin became White rank Lightning Genius. Jeong Yeon-shin from his initiation period. He was at a similar eye level to Yue Shou-lin. Like a page of the Jeong Family Dynamic Technique secret manual had turned.

It contrasted with Yue Shou-lin’s life, which couldn’t move to the next page. She muttered.

“What does this mean…?”

“Greetings. I am Lightning Genius.”

The boy was polite. It was the same as the mental image Yue Shou-lin had read from the Jeong Family Dynamic Technique Dream Flight Chapter. Very enthusiastic about everything, even showing glimpses of some charming ambition.

“What are you doing here?”

“I’m worrying.”

“About what?”

“As a newcomer, it would be proper to inquire about the welfare of the Administrative Department clerks, wouldn’t it? I heard that those who hold personnel authority are truly kings under heaven, but I’m a bit embarrassed.”

It meant he lived with such feelings.

The Jeong Yeon-shin here could only reveal his true heart. Because Jeong Family Dynamic Technique was a compilation of his past life.

Yue Shou-lin became somewhat amused. Jeong Yeon-shin was someone who poured out his innermost thoughts first.

“Are you embarrassed about greetings? Why?”

“Because I’ve never done it before.”

But the past Jeong Yeon-shin had done quite well.

Until his nature was revealed, the Administrative Department clerks had been most fond of him. Yue Shou-lin also knew this from rumors.

Suddenly the White rank Lightning Genius who had tilted his head grew slightly larger. Naturally he began fluttering his blue robe. It was when he first met Divine Sword Vice-Leader Yue Shou-lin.

Blue rank Jeong Yeon-shin stared intently at Yue Shou-lin and muttered quietly.

“You seem quite cool…”

“Is this really training?”

It was a moment when she wondered if there could be another such plaything under heaven.

Suddenly black robes spread out long. Before she knew it, Black rank Jeong Yeon-shin was standing desolately. With a height taller than Yue Shou-lin, not even glancing at her, muttering with a blood-covered face.

“I wish you would just die already. I’m sick of it.”

At this point, Yue Shou-lin also felt something strange.

Jeong Family Dynamic Technique was both a dynamic technique and a cultivation technique. All the mental images of the secret manual were being manifested in such a dreamlike space? It meant something unusual was happening to Yue Shou-lin in reality.

Internal martial masters were beings who manifested strong hearts in their bodies. Yue Shou-lin’s body, which had immersed itself in Jeong Family Dynamic Technique to the point of assimilation, might be changing along with the mental image Jeong Yeon-shin at this moment. While consuming the martial power she had accumulated in her lifetime like a wick.

‘I did boast to the Administrative Department about having quite a big feeling… but why do I really feel like I’m becoming stronger? I still don’t understand anything.’

Stagnation.

Her life remained the same. Her life attitude was also unchanged. The only change was reading the young man’s diary dozens of times.

Why was it?

Yue Shou-lin slowly met eyes with Black rank Jeong Yeon-shin, and the boy whose limbs had grown considerably replied briefly.

“Well.”

Was it her imagination?

It was a tone that said this series of events was natural.

Rustle.

What appeared the next moment was a Purple rank young man. Unlike before, the focus in his eyes was clear. In the eyes looking down at Yue Shou-lin, even colorless light was blazing ceaselessly.

As if the real Jeong Yeon-shin had manifested.

Yue Shou-lin asked.

“What is all this now?”

“Isn’t it a panorama of life?”

“Am I dying?”

“The past senior is dying, and a new senior is breaking out of seclusion. You’ve simply seen my past because of Jeong Family Dynamic Technique. Originally, there’s no one who truly stagnates. Because time ripens the fruit called people.”

Her face was colored with bewilderment.

“I had nothing? Eating Wall Valley Pills instead of rice, circulating Great Circulation instead of sleeping, reading the books you gave me, playing around with my spear a bit… It’s no different from what I’ve repeated for decades. Each day was simple like a leisurely person. Though special feelings did come up each time.”

“We decided to call that training.”

“Really nothing has changed. From holding onto the tail end of the past, wondering what if this or what if that. I never progressed at all. That’s probably why my spear work was slow too.”

Yue Shou-lin rambled like she was drunk rather than in a dream. But Jeong Yeon-shin only stared at her intently. Only after creating several breaths of silence did he slowly open his mouth.

“They say life is made of countless choices, but it seems meaningless in jianghu.”

“……?”

“Because death accepts no choices. Good deeds and regrettable ones, whether shot quickly or crawled slowly. In the end, all choices arrive at the River of Three Crossings.”

Then Jeong Yeon-shin’s finger pointed at his feet, then toward the distant void. A trajectory drawing an endless straight line. It meant his own life would also someday reach the underworld. In a way, it was like a single fighting path extending infinitely.

For reasons unknown to herself, Yue Shou-lin closed her lips. It was also simultaneous that she suddenly realized her eye level had become high enough to be almost similar to her junior’s.

“That spear.”

The young man gestured with his chin toward Yue Shou-lin’s grasp.

“How far will it fly?”

It was a question with a predetermined answer.

* * *

Pitch-black darkness rippled.

It was the Ma Family’s thunder prison. The figure who awoke from the dream staggered in place before supporting her body with the spear shaft in her hand.

Thud.

It was only an instant before Ki Dae-seung’s sound transmission from Desolate Fortress Administrative Department penetrated into the thunder prison. His voice was full of surprise.

[The changes in the former Divine Sword Vice-Leader have been confirmed through the Administrative Department’s Clear Eyes, and it’s judged that massive martial power has been lost. It will take time to replenish with energy circulation.]

“Right.”

[As previously discussed, we will activate the Nine Palace Star Falling Illumination Formation. How much true energy should we supplement? Additionally, the formation foundations were half-destroyed by the past Desolate Fortress Great War and the Seven New Enemies of Defeated Desolation rebellion, so the formation’s remaining power is currently about fifty percent. As you know, ten percent equals two Forest Treading Leaders. Is it alright to open the formation’s accumulated energy power up to ten percent…?]

“Give it all.”

[…I receive the command. Available time is one double hour. Based on a peerless master who has just learned the formation’s oral instructions. After that, it will scatter as natural energy.]

The figure shook her head in the darkness, and with that head shake, the shadow of her long hair rippled slowly.

“I need twenty hours. Include that in your calculations.”

[Activating the formation, position is the Ma Family’s thunder prison. Beginning true energy supply…! Please note that Radiant Demon and Obeying Heaven’s power comes first!]

Great sects’ main mountains have absolute formations installed that can even prevent the collapse of mountain peaks. This activation had already been observed from Mount Hua.

What about the World’s Greatest Sect?

Few people had heard Annihilation Seat Shin Cheon-hwa’s story up close.

“Isn’t it a waste? There are several geniuses obsessed with training, and in the midst of that, they carelessly discard the power spilled in the training grounds? Spell practitioners can’t stand such things. A rival like that fellow wouldn’t be able to use it since he’s not the type to count seventeen types of energy release one by one, but who knows. Those wolf-like bastards might even attack the inner fortress. When Shou-lin, you reach the peerless realm, handle it.”

At this moment.

Rummmmmmmble!

Thunder arose from underground.

The residual power spilled by the seventeen generations of warriors. The power that had been absorbed by the formation encompassing all of Desolate Fortress and sleeping under each military group’s pavilion.

It comes.

The two wings of Desolate Fortress, Radiant Demon Wing and Obeying Heaven Wing training grounds came first. In the darkness, the figure holding a long spear struck the spear shaft down once more.

Thud!

Heavy vibrations spread, and power racing underground like lightning drawn to a lightning rod.

[The uninvited guests have detected the anomaly. Activating in succession. Dragon Treading, Wish-Fulfilling, Radiant Sword, Ultimate Martial, Azure Sky.]

The military group pavilions throughout the inner fortress shook violently as if hit by an earthquake. The vibrations were gentle enough to reach down to the Demon Family’s thunder prison.

The figure struck the ground once more like a flag bearer holding a banner. While drawing the power that had penetrated through the Yongquan acupoint under her feet up to her energy center.

Thud.

[… Annihilation, Neither Stream, Law Enforcement, Spirit Resonance. All formation foundations are intact. Now if there are no additional comments, I won’t stop.]

Thud.

[Burning Abyss, Immortal Tree, Forest Treading.]

When Ki Dae-seung’s report reached that point, Desolate Fortress became momentarily quiet. Because the vibrations had grown increasingly stronger. The vast fortress was shaking in its entirety.

The entrance going up from the thunder prison to the outside was also filled with grayish-white dust, and amidst that, only two sounds were distinct.

Thud.

[Blood Guardian, Iron Demon.]

Thud.

[…Divine Sword.]

The sound transmission ceased.

The stairs going up to the outside.

Long legs emerged from the thunder prison’s darkness and climbed up.

Rustle.

Black trouser hems hung over white calves. Because the clothing didn’t fit her height. The black robe’s sleeves that should have come down long also fluttered around her waist sash.

Even at the moment the woman holding a long spear behind her back walked out of the pitch-black shadows.

Step.

Hair that had grown long like silk threads was pulled up strand by strand into the shadowy shade, then scattered down to the back of the woman who had stepped on another stair.

It was because she had thrown it up like shooting a spear from her position. Simultaneously, she who had been fragmented with afterimages mounted the spear shaft.

Yue Family Spear. General’s Thunder Call.

The long spear became a dark parabolic line and rose to the sky. A speed that transcended even the roar arising from propulsive energy waves.

Tremendously fast.

In an instant, the woman’s surroundings blurred, then her vision cleared starting from a point of sunlight. Before she knew it, she was at the center of Desolate Fortress. The faces of the uninvited guests gathered in spots rapidly grew larger.

Suddenly the woman’s flesh-colored instep lightly kicked up the bottom surface of the spear shaft. The realm where all things seemed slow. It was also an instant before the spear that seemed ready to advance endlessly tilted downward.

Just like that, it pierced through Lady Go from crown to bottom and struck with a clang into Desolate Fortress’s central training ground.

Whoooooooosh!

The marble dust raised by the recoil swept the vicinity hazily.

The next moment, the woman standing on the tip of the spear shaft was looking down at the uninvited guests. Martial Dragon Alliance Leader and Profound Martial Alliance Leader had naturally risen from their seats. Those looking up at the woman of the black spear with rarely stiffened faces.

“……”

Her skin was reddish and heated. Literally flesh-colored. It directly proved intense Great Circulation, and she was closer to an incarnation of martial arts than a person. Even the black robe that clung to her as if the gracefully sculpted body was burdensome.

The person who first opened his mouth in the silence was naturally Light Blade Venerable Jin Min.

She parted her lips. That was as far as it went.

Faster than that, the woman who had approached within two steps was kicking up Jin Min’s abdomen.

Paaaaaaaaak!

The sound of skin bursting along with protective strong energy. The bare foot that had instantly penetrated through to Jin Min’s back and surged up. The woman’s toes were erected like spear points.

It flew to the River of Three Crossings.

It was an expulsion to instant death.