Chapter 729 – Time Limit (4)

Seven in total.

Unfamiliar old men. Their energy waves were strong.

At each of their feet, the rough wilderness ground rippled and cracked. Complex emotions showed on their faces as they looked at Jeong Yeon-shin. It seemed they had heard from Elder Council Lord Shin Byeok about the change in the lord’s seat.

The atmosphere rippled following those gazes. Along with pressure surging forward.

Whoosh.

Hazy heat hazes rippled like summer sunlight, but it wasn’t just a matter of accumulated energy. It was merely habit.

A battle stance of drawing powerful true energy to just before release. A breathing method constantly preparing for something other than humans. In a place where feints don’t work and surprise attacks are meaningless.

They don’t do this in the Central Plains. Such martial power waves themselves are rude. That’s why he could guess how the old men had lived.

They would have released their full power at every moment.

‘It’s not their true intent, but I’m in a situation of being tested.’

Therefore, Jeong Yeon-shin quickly rose from the drinking table. It was an attitude showing no respect whatsoever to those who had been sitting with him. Even though they were respectively Seven New Enemies of Defeated Desolation’s Sky Trampling Palace Master, the faded monarch, Martial Dragon Alliance Leader, and Profound Martial Alliance’s Sword Venerable.

“Leaving behind peerless masters for those old folk whose energy has merely inflated…”

Helian Feng-yue muttered. His tone was deliberately nonchalant as if he hadn’t heard the gate severing oral instructions, but Jeong Yeon-shin answered without even looking back.

“In my opinion, the title of peerless master should no longer be used for just anyone. There should be different qualifications.”

“Mm?”

“The meaning of peerless was that they would be unmatched in the world, but now there are too many.”

“I don’t understand your intent. What are you trying to say?”

“Since there’s no great difference in physical prowess, those whose minds are ordinary should be lowered. Yes, most masters aren’t peerless but ordinary mediocre.”

The internal energy breathing of most seated around the drinking table wavered slightly.

Because they were Desolate Fortress Lord’s words.

Jeong Yeon-shin had inherited the position of a master who had been the world’s greatest for hundreds of years. There were few eccentrics who would raise objections to that personnel matter. Great weight was placed on all his words and actions.

Even more so when it came to stories about warriors.

It was enough for Helian Feng-yue to subtly open his mouth at this moment.

“What use is it to demote masters? It’s World Tree’s fault for working so that not a bit of power under heaven returns to the earth. Though I don’t know how many people like that fellow were lucky enough to benefit…”

He gestured with his chin across. It was where the sleeveless-robed youth, Sky Trampling Palace Master, was absorbed with unfocused eyes.

A fist technique practitioner who was said to have greatly awakened from a spirit that came up from a mountain valley one day and reached the peerless realm.

It was part of what happened after World Tree began endlessly extracting earth energy.

Not only that, but the same was true of Divine Mad Silence Sect Master Wol-yo, who now survived with only his head, and ‘Sword King Buddha,’ who newly ascended to one of World’s Five Swords while wandering jianghu alone.

‘It might be my karma.’

Jeong Yeon-shin thought. How many peerless masters had been killed by him so far? Now they couldn’t be counted on two hands.

Just having insight into such grand cycles meant Helian Feng-yue wasn’t ordinary. He was indeed a transcendent disease insect.

Meanwhile, at this moment, Sky Trampling Palace Master, who met eyes with Helian Feng-yue, was said to have come to deliver a martial challenge letter to Divine Sword Group Leader and became Seven New Enemies of Defeated Desolation. Though he seemed to have something in common with Helian Feng-yue at a glance, at this moment the youth was only disgusted.

“Don’t talk to me. You’re jianghu’s great shame, so just sharing a table is bestowing embarrassment upon me.”

“It seems you accumulated your middle energy center with your liver and gallbladder.”

“How dare you call anyone a coward? When you can’t do anything once you meet Divine Sword Group Leader… On the other hand, I truly intended to compare martial arts with that jianghu history incarnate and die in defeat. Before starving to death in the mountains.”

Meanwhile, Jeong Yeon-shin clasped both hands together. Because the Elder Council’s old masters had already approached within reach, he momentarily thought it was Golden Wing Sect’s Dragon-Severing Scale-Treading Body Art. Because their movements were graceful as if treading not on the ground but on the scales of monsters and spirits.

“…I am Jeong family Lightning Genius.”

“This insignificant old man once held the position of Dragon Treading Leader.”

An extremely hoarse voice. An old man with pitch-black rope wound round and round on his right arm asked.

“You’re the stronghold’s lord now?”

“I’ve been honored with that position.”

Jeong Yeon-shin noticed a few spots engraved on his Adam’s apple instead of wrinkles. Traces where some poison had corroded even through protective strong energy.

“Honored.”

The former Dragon Treading Leader muttered.

“If someone is truly honored by that position, they shouldn’t sit in it. So you must certainly be a person qualified for the lord’s seat. And you must be.”

“I’m sorry. To us, Desolate Fortress Lord meant a person, not a position.”

A woman covered in scars pulled the former Dragon Treading Leader back and interjected.

Her appearance stood out especially even in the Elder Council. A face that looked to be in her late thirties, with limbs forged long like iron pillars.

She had to be a master of protective nerves and leg techniques. Then she would be the former Burning Abyss Leader.

‘A mixed-blood noble clan?’

Even so, in temperament she only appeared as an old woman of her age. Jeong Yeon-shin felt the completely shattered balance of essence, energy, and spirit.

The aftermath of straining to focus on accumulating energy even when she should have stopped breathing exercises. She had lived in a place where such power was needed.

“Moreover.”

She moved her lips.

“Since the current stronghold Elder Council consists only of those whose minds are hazy as fog… I hope the lord will graciously overlook this. They’re merely old people who couldn’t adapt to the changed world.”

She appeared more mentally sound than any current black rank. Jeong Yeon-shin inwardly thought it fortunate and slowly opened his mouth.

“There’s a battlefield I wish to bring you elders to.”

Jeong Yeon-shin hid carefulness behind a calm expression. Because this was a story that should be told while serving at least tea and snacks. Honestly, there was no propriety.

‘There are even those who cast opposing votes during maternal grandfather’s Divine Sword Group Leader ballot.’

He wondered if he should cut off Grand Empress Dowager Wei Yeon’s gaze right now. Because there was no good in humiliating the enemy faction’s leader.

Nevertheless, Jeong Yeon-shin committed the rudeness with a calm face.

“There will be no occasion to return to the stronghold. Preparations for the gate have been made, so you elders must act entirely as my swords.”

“Desolate Fortress Lord indeed.”

The Elder Council’s old masters acknowledged him.

That was the end of it. He didn’t know how it happened. The former Burning Abyss Leader only asked with a smiling face.

“Still, you seem to be a thinking person, so may I ask how you plan to block the gate…?”

“We were just discussing that part.”

Jeong Yeon-shin said while glancing behind him. It was the direction where the ordinary mediocre who had shared drinks sat. Some of the Elder Council’s old masters seemed to recognize the faded monarch.

“I’ll ask for your understanding for a moment. Let’s continue the conversation later.”

“…Yes, we have much to learn anyway.”

The former Burning Abyss Leader turned her body along with the other old masters. Among them was an old swordsman wearing three swords, a noble clan woman with a massive build like old Xiahou Wei-jin, and a man who had no arms but instead wrapped an absurdly long soft sword around himself like a celestial maiden’s robes.

Judging by their energy waves, they were old monsters who had respectively held positions of Law Enforcement Leader, Dragon Forest Leader, and Wish-Fulfilling Spring Lord. They were beginning to ask this and that of Shin Byeok and Yue Shou-lin who had brought them.

“Yue girl, you’re Divine Sword Group Leader?”

“It turned out that way.”

“Why not Elder Council Lord…”

That they didn’t even number more than ten was likely an old characteristic of the faction called Desolate Fortress.

Jeong Yeon-shin drew the footprints of the former seventeen leaders who had already entered eternal rest beneath his eyes. And slowly returned to the drinking table while overlapping their steps.

* * *

All that scene was reflected in Wei Yeon’s eyes.

Those who had killed even monsters and spirits with technique and accumulated energy that reached pure mastery, even if their unity of essence, energy, and spirit was broken.

If it was Desolate Fortress Elder Council, they were forces capable of resisting unified tribes. It was natural to mobilize as much as their capabilities allowed.

‘But what about the gate?’

She remembered what Jeong Yeon-shin had been like right after the gate severing.

That well-forged body had seemed about to burst like a firecracker at any moment. It was only fortunate he didn’t die; he couldn’t repeatedly deploy such technique without any price.

Moreover, at the drinking table Jeong Yeon-shin had prepared were only those who truly pursued the infinite extreme.

The infinite extreme was ultimately said to be returning to origin.

Looking into one’s own essence. Right now, the foundation of those seated at that drinking table was Unorthodox Path. Self-preservation was their essence.

If it hadn’t been so, they wouldn’t have accompanied him as if being dragged there. If they had been truly excellent warriors, they would have been killed maintaining their pride until death.

Reciting oral instructions would be futile.

Even now it was so.

Among them, the most insignificant Sky Trampling Palace Master had even started drunken behavior. His face reddened from not bothering to suppress the alcohol at all, only pronouncing clearly as he babbled.

“My family was in Xi’an’s Lianhu County.”

He spoke while fingering his empty cup.

“It was a fairly large merchant house, but it went completely bankrupt because we couldn’t supply grain to the magistrate on time. It was a big deal… The famine was just beginning to start, and Xi’an’s seven major Unorthodox Path sects were very violently buying up food. My father couldn’t meet the deadline.”

Jeong Yeon-shin listened silently.

And he moved as if to fill Sky Trampling Palace Master’s cup, but Sky Trampling Palace Master raised his hand to stop him.

“After our family fortunes declined, my family used mountains, streams, plants and trees as bedding to escape a sect called Mantis Sword Sect. Mantis Sword Sect was originally like neighbors, but they tried to not only seize our family’s land but even commit murder and extermination. If it was karma, it was karma. Because we knew they were Unorthodox Path who extorted common people but turned a blind eye.”

“……”

“So I abandoned the merchant path and devoted myself to my family’s martial arts, making the deep mountain valleys my training ground. It was martial arts no different from basic skills, but I had considerable talent. The strangely dense earth energy raised my achievements at an unbelievable speed. After my parents died of grief first, I thought I was a genius of all ages.”

Boredom formed in Wei Yeon’s wrinkled eyes. Jianghu’s crumbs. One who picked up World Tree’s deeds like rice cake crumbs.

How long did she have to watch?

Though she needed to confirm Jeong Yeon-shin’s final movement.

Even amid that, Sky Trampling Palace Master’s words continued.

“Still, once such martial arts dwelled in my body, I became a warrior. Because I was that sincere about training. But when I came down from the mountain, Mantis Sword Sect was gone. They said some boy wearing Desolate Fortress’s white martial robes had exterminated them. It was absurd. Though shameless, I wished he had come a bit earlier.”

“That was me.”

“I know. Anyway, I immediately went back up the mountain and fell into a state of selflessness. Since I had become strong, I wanted to become even more formidable. As I’ve said repeatedly, unlike Martial Dragon Alliance Leader, this body was a warrior. Still is. But… gradually the mushrooms, medicinal herbs, and wild beasts worth plucking disappeared. Amid that, rumors spread that Divine Sword Group Leader Fallen Sword had inflicted fatal injuries on Martial Dragon Alliance Leader and Dark Night Palace Lord, and news also came up that Lightning Genius had annihilated Xi’an’s seven Unorthodox Path sects… the storm kept intensifying.”

[TL Note- Xi’an is Shaanxi’s capital.]

Sky Trampling Palace Master spoke while turning his empty cup. For some reason, Wei Yeon felt his words were heading toward the end.

“From the beginning, I was a common commoner. Of a status that could only long most for Desolate Fortress. With such origins, as the nearby mountains, streams, plants and trees withered… it was clear I would soon starve to death. Suddenly sensing all under heaven had a time limit, I thought I’d have no regrets even if I died competing with Divine Sword Group Leader. With the cradle of martial arts that had protected the nation. Because all that remained in my life was my commoner origins and martial arts.”

Soon Sky Trampling Palace Master raised his head.

“But now before my eyes is Desolate Fortress Lord.”

“Your tongue is long.”

“Will you give me a drink?”

As he suddenly held out his cup, Jeong Yeon-shin tilted the gourd toward him. Famous Henan liquor Dukang wine flowed like a stream.

“I’ve been well treated.”

Sky Trampling Palace Master downed the cup in one go and wiped his lips.

“In return, I will show you the method to survive eternally.”

“You…?”

“As I’ve said repeatedly, I was a commoner. Among jianghu people, the only existences worth keeping in mind were Desolate Fortress Lord and Divine Sword Group Leader. As it happens, a person who combines both is right before me.”

Soon he added. Therefore you are the incarnation of jianghu’s murim…

Step.

And as soon as he rose from his seat, he became hazy, then appeared before the gate made of low fog. It was honest and straightforward advancing footwork.

Jianghu martial forest full of madmen.

Wei Yeon’s eyes, looking down at the wilderness, widened.

Momentarily her pupils grew hazy. Because the light of released energy that shouldn’t have formed in her pupils formed across the distant distance. By the time a single leaf fell from World Tree due to the vibration that suddenly arose, no fog remained in the wilderness.

Only the sleeveless-robed man was looking back at Jeong Yeon-shin.

“I ask today’s jianghu.”

Sky Trampling Palace Master moved his lips slowly.

“Am I a peerless master?”

It was a question asked in a plain tone. Jeong Yeon-shin gazed at him blankly with an unreadable face, then slowly nodded his head.

“You are.”

Sky Trampling Palace Master’s lips drew an arc.

Starting from the edges of that smile, he began scattering like a distant cluster of stars. Soon Sky Trampling Palace Master’s body crumbled like powder and rode the spring wind, rising like a constellation reaching midday noon.

“……”

The place where he disappeared.

Wei Yeon suddenly realized only after broadening her vision even further. That across from Desolate Fortress Elder Council, with the drinking table in the middle, the current Desolate Fortress masters were arrayed in rows.

They were kneeling on one knee centered on Jeong Yeon-shin.

Hundreds of masters. Desolate Fortress’s previous and current generations were in one place. Golden Thunder Viscount, who had been watching that scene with his hand on Wei Yeon’s shoulder, said.

“That seems to be that Sky Trampling Palace Master fellow’s return to origin.”

Wei Yeon turned her gaze toward Desolate Fortress’s old masters.

Perhaps because they had been faded in the gate for so long, their long robes had no colors like white, blue, or black. They just looked like grayish-white plain clothes. A transcendent temperament like time-polished monks.

Therefore Jeong Yeon-shin also seemed like a Buddhist grand master who had let down worries worth his hair length.

Step.

Jeong Yeon-shin slowly turned around.

Fragments of the shattered gate shimmered over his shoulder. Faint moisture had formed in his eyes. To Wei Yeon, he appeared like Zhang Sanfeng who had expressed emotions without restraint.

A Taoist who had been merely ordinary. An old fellow who rejoiced at a secretly drunk cup of wine and grew angry like fire when a knight-errant died.

“Huh?”

Suddenly Golden Thunder Viscount gasped.

Because Jeong Yeon-shin, who had suddenly turned his head, made eye contact with them across the distant distance.

Instantly, in the earth energy World Tree had raised high, a demonic energy seemingly carved into all things in the very distant past rumbled like laughter.

“Three is too many.”

A resonance across vast ages. It was like the universe’s tongue movement, but seemed to be transmitted only to World Tree. Because Desolate Fortress Lord Jeong Yeon-shin was calmly opening his mouth.

“Advance.”