Chapter 754 – Ashes (7)

Literary Star walked.

World Tree’s ten thousand-plus martial military forces.

He turned his back on countless bone fragments and flesh pieces, but his shoulders were too solid to collapse under that killing karma’s weight.

Only slow.

One step at a time.

Heavy legs moved slowly. The recoil from repeatedly stepping forward with Nine Constellation Demon Power Step’s advancing footwork that transcended even sound with his overwhelming massive frame, like mechanism formations.

His body was like the nearby ruins.

Tssss.

Whitish steam rose not only from the Yongquan acupoints on his soles but also from his thighs. Moving with difficulty as if mechanism formations overused, or as if mountain ridges were tied to his ankles.

Literary Star thought.

‘It’s been a while since feeling this bad.’

Exhausted Nine Constellation Energy, release force that seeped to the bones, muscle strands that endured innumerable Internal Force Layering techniques, the body that became battered because of it…

Though he had been wounded in all kinds of ways by the blacks who learned Jeong Family Dynamic Technique, it exceeded that time’s Black Capital Great Battle. At least regarding acupoints, fine meridians, internal organs, and such.

It was natural.

What he faced alone was the martial military forces stationed at the world’s edge.

He shouldn’t have rushed originally.

What’s important when facing martial military forces is lightning skill. Though he should have repeatedly struck and withdrawn with overwhelming movement, Literary Star didn’t do so because time was precious.

If Fighting God had unluckily watched, he might have laughed. Asking if he was imitating Martial Valley’s quick decisive battle so foolishly.

“……”

Literary Star’s thick lips twitched as if about to rise. He thought. Whose quick decisive battle did I imitate?

‘…Must hurry.’

Jeong Yeon-shin’s safety must not be unstable.

For governance after everything ended. In the future all under heaven he envisioned, there had to be Desolate Fortress Lord Lightning Genius.

“Northern strategist.”

Even if a forest made of blades surged like waves to block the front…

“Stop.”

A voice cutting through air by the ear. Smooth as jade beads.

Literary Star furrowed his brow. Vision that had been blurring hazily opened somewhat. Along with a scene of a blade mountain sword forest sporadically unfolding.

World Tree’s masters.

All with the appearances of young men and women.

With just nine people, accumulated energy waves matched the martial military forces. Some had even boldly nocked arrows to bowstrings. They seemed confident they could pierce through Mencius Unwavering’s now somewhat faded Lion’s Roar afterglow.

‘Seventeen Hall Masters.’

He had learned World Tree’s master organization through Yu Ling.

They said they modeled it after Divine Sword Group’s seventeen great captains. Seventeen Hall Masters who gained all kinds of abilities through unity… in other words, World Tree’s black ranks.

Trudge.

Literary Star didn’t stop walking. He only gradually drew closer from two hundred-some zhang distance. Simultaneously, the other side also took ready stances one by one, yet everyone’s expression was calm.

“Mirror-like water has nothing on them.”

Literary Star’s question, glancing at the nine people’s expressions, continued lowly.

“Is it because you’ve transcended death?”

“Tribeless one, you come here even knowing that?”

A woman who held a blade unusually large for noble clans on one shoulder asked. Literary Star nodded.

“I know my newly served lord is over there.”

Literary Star slowly narrowed the distance while jerking his chin forward. Beyond the enemies’ shoulders, the most mysterious place of all time approached.

A tree that entirely covered the horizon and rose to the clouds.

A feeling as if the giant Pangu from old legends might live there. The reverberations of all kinds of battles spread like thunder.

The woman at the vanguard asks.

“Tribeless one, is Desolate Day Extinction truly your lord…?”

“Your side knows too, doesn’t it? Intelligence shouldn’t fall short of Yu Ling’s.”

“We know it’s a relationship that wouldn’t be enough even as irreconcilable enemies. Do your hearts truly fit together? Are you unified like us tribes? To have such a great enemy as a confidant… Desolate Day Extinction’s heart should be received as much as Desolate Fortress, yet is that possible?”

A voice imbued with sound technique.

The more it repeated, the more his head ached faintly. Wind art that shook the upper energy center. Originally a trick he wouldn’t care about even without separate internal energy barriers.

It works on the current Literary Star.

From the woman’s blade handle, semi-transparent air rippled with a weeing sound, and Literary Star knew it was the noble clans’ Wind Companion Four Absolutes art.

‘Not Wind King, but General.’

The talent of commanding spirituality dwelling in nature like a close friend, divided into four grades like Desolate Fortress’s white-blue-black-purple.

Companion, Blade, General, King.

King-grade art was the great achievement realm.

The more achievement rose, the more extraordinary one became. Didn’t Northern Blade read even the earth’s memory with Earth King art?

Blue-rank noble clans were mostly masters who refined ‘Wind Blade.’ Talent bestowed by heaven that boosted not only protective nerve and release force but even defensive martial grass with wondrous gales.

Immortal Tree Spirit Leader Cheon So-so and Forest Treading Squad Leader Xiahou Wei-jin had learned Wind General. After refining Jeong Family Dynamic Technique, it was confirmed that Law Enforcement Squad Leader Woon So-yu also reached the same achievement.

Natural talent.

Literary Star didn’t have it.

Abstract things didn’t resonate with him. He was busy agonizing over what a better life for people was.

‘How could nature dwell at a desk?’

Trudge.

Another step.

The nine Hall Masters were right there. His ears became muffled. Meaning he had weakened enough for his body to be affected by their accumulated energy waves.

Without caring, he extended his hand.

Literary Star had already entered accelerated time with Nine Constellation Demon Power Step. The blade the woman at the vanguard swung bounced off his elbow, and her arm was caught in his grip. The palm being torn to shreds by protective strong energy Pale Dew Divided Light’s blue light cluster was simultaneous.

It was because even Heavenly Steel Light Armor was stripped off while crushing and killing ten thousand military forces. But there was no pain. Because sensation had dulled.

“Ultimately…!”

The woman spat words in an instant, yet he couldn’t hear in his physical state. Only the head of a man charging in from the opposite side was caught in his left hand.

When he applied force, it exploded.

“……!”

Accumulated energy waves carrying blood splattered in all directions, and enemies sprinted forth while using those blood drops as Grass Treading Step… Though he merely crushed the head with protective strong energy, tingling rose in his grip. Same for the right hand that tore off the woman’s arm. Excessive rebound for tearing a person apart. Originally there should be no feeling at all.

‘Though these people’s Wind General seems to be low grade.’

Even so, they were formidable. ‘Unity’ evenly raised energy and spirit while protecting even the body with regeneration ability. Such was the power World Tree bestowed on them.

A land that lost sound.

Literary Star met their blades swinging in with all kinds of trajectories. He asked while adjusting his throat with feeling.

“Why don’t the Nine Complete Guests come?”

Above the Seventeen Hall Masters were Nine Complete Guests. World Tree’s recluse masters who used deeper achievement sound techniques. They said all were immortal like Blood Flame Cult Leader, substituting for Desolate Fortress purple-rank.

Even counting excluding Three Direction Generals, Imperial Three Great Masters, and Four Great Protectors, suffocating forces.

But the Seventeen Hall Masters didn’t answer even while their bodies burst with Literary Star’s every single fist. He muttered while crushing and trampling enemies’ heads with giant fist horns. It was to consciously exhale internal energy breath.

“I was curious about strategy… but there was no need to ask.”

It was while gripping one Hall Master’s neck and swinging him like an iron pillar. When the atmosphere shattered with kwang kwang rebound force and even the ground sank, Literary Star turned his head.

The path he had passed.

World Tree masters who again filled the horizon stood. Trampling with Grass Treading Step themselves who became whole from underground together with faintly grown sprouts, undulating like a thicket.

The ten thousand military forces Literary Star had annihilated before.

“……”

The sky glimpsed upward was packed with countless metal objects. The scene of weapons World Tree shot up instead of arrows raining down. Dazzlingly reflecting moonlight in the sky, it was obviously supply without needing thought.

His ears briefly opened.

“…Because we cannot allow you to tread the main trunk, we invested maximum forces. If an eternal battlefield, it will be a fighting ground befitting the northern colossal demon.”

The woman whose arm Literary Star tore earlier was speaking gently. She had somehow regained an arm that returned like a tree trunk, though bare flesh.

“But reconsider. How much does Desolate Fortress trust you? You merely follow because it’s the Lord’s decision. Loyalty that receives no reward is pitiful. Throughout history it was always so.”

Kuguugugugugung!

Countless weapons like swords, blades, spears, and bows stuck into the martial military forces’ feet. The overlapping vibrations were so strong that Literary Star felt his soles itch even with dulled sensation.

The woman said.

“You are an outsider. You can’t become anything.”

“The moon is bright.”

Literary Star felt along with his non-sequitur answer.

Mencius Unwavering’s afterglow had already vanished without a trace. Only appropriately humid spring wind blew emptily.

* * *

Grand Administrator Lim Jin-ming trod on wind. Lightness Skill shooting from World Tree’s dizzyingly high midpoint to the southern wilderness.

Almost like walking on empty air. Possible thanks to the scar-covered woman running through the atmosphere alongside him. Her Wind General art reached the realm of implementing peerless lightness skill limited to protective nerve.

“Former Burning Abyss Squad Leader, are you alright?”

His words broke off because he was engulfed in tremendous gales. But former Burning Abyss Squad Leader Woon Yu-jeong was befitting a mixed-blood noble clan of Desolate Fortress Woon Family.

“If you’re asking about World Tree’s tricks trying to enter my upper energy center, I’m very alright. I had no particular connection with that tree from the start, and was a child cast out by the family anyway.”

Her answer was light.

Lim Jin-ming nodded. When she distanced from the main family long ago after sending a love letter to Annihilation Seat Shin Cheon-hwa, she would have been this lighthearted too.

“Most of all, Jeong Family Dynamic Technique was huge. That a day would come in my life when I’d regain essence-energy-spirit unity realm… Want to hear once?”

Simultaneously an unfamiliar sensation stimulated Lim Jin-ming’s ear. A feeling like wind currents plucking strings while making metallic sounds.

—Northwest direction, we failed to kill Gao Yao Holy Sword Lord. Lazy Flame Dragon’s recovery is excessively fast.

—Clan Leader, being killed by Fighting God for the third time. Total five hundred eighty exchanges… It’s not narrowing! Fighting God is also becoming more formidable!

Lim Jin-ming realized he had entered World Tree’s voice transmission space. A state of eavesdropping, literally wiretapping. An ability bestowed by Woon Yu-jeong’s essence-energy-spirit unity. She was even utilizing Clan Leader Wei Yeon’s Wind King art.

—What happened to White Complete Guest and Black Complete Guest? Why hasn’t even Red Complete Guest returned from Yingtian Prefecture despite being dispatched? That area’s cities are already…

—Reporting observations. Some blue-green embers, and a rainbow rising and setting as if heaven toys with them… The three Complete Guests keep repeating death. Every time they revive, energy wave fragments sweep through…

—Grand Administrator Lim Jin-ming heading south! Must stop him!

All were greatly helpful information. Even more so because battlefield assessment was a field strategist’s basic skill.

‘Still somewhat overwhelming though. The battlefield is too wide.’

Lim Jin-ming unconsciously tried to wipe his eye corners with the back of his hand then stopped. Because Radiant Art Bond’s light cluster was dwelling in that hand. His mind became alert. At least fortunate that the destination rapidly approached.

“We’ve arrived!”

Soon they plunged to the ground. The position was accurate. Literary Star’s giant was swimming while making craters amid a crowd of forest-like masters.

Lim Jin-ming shouted.

“Hey there, wicked brush!”

“Careful…!”

Woon Yu-jeong sharply pulled Lim Jin-ming, and an arrow shot like a light beam grazed his ear. Belatedly a sharp sword wind struck. The archery attack’s aftermath was tremendous.

It wasn’t the end.

Lim Jin-ming’s vision entirely blurred as if meeting a tidal wave. It was a tidal wave of arrows. Right after easily a thousand archery masters plucked bowstrings in rapid fire. As if the Milky Way rose from the ground.

‘How should I evade that, let alone approach…!’

At this moment.

A wilderness full only of strong ones. Most would be sensing time slowly with upper energy centers elevated to extremes.

The side trying to convey Jeong Yeon-shin’s arrangement.

The side trying to stop it… Clearly the latter’s advantage. Insufficient hands were Desolate Fortress’s chronic problem. The more all under heaven headed toward chaos, the more so.

Moreover.

—Golden Thunder was there! Believed to have completely recovered from wounds received from the colossal demon…!

—Ah, I’ll handle this poorly!

Those words rang right by Lim Jin-ming. Empty air drifting through the instant. A golden-hued youth who manifested with dazzling lightning branches gripped Lim Jin-ming’s hand at overwhelming speed. Instantly golden lightning blazed up. Strangely no burning pain was felt.

Kwaaaaaaaang!

Radiance merely exploded from overlapping hands and drove into the ground. Like sparks deflecting cannonballs.

—Why is this bouncing?

—Golden Thunder elder…?

It was an instant.

Suddenly time seemed to stop. Lim Jin-ming truly felt so. Because nothing moved.

The cluster of divine archery arrows rising backward like the Milky Way, noble clan masters endlessly pushing toward Literary Star, World Tree’s weapons repeatedly raining from the sky.

Lim Jin-ming lowered his gaze to the ground while embraced by Woon Yu-jeong.

“……”

Whitish twilight bloomed.

It was Jeong Yeon-shin’s form. An appearance rippling like a mirage due to hazy light clusters. At this moment standing before Literary Star.

Instantly Literary Star staggered.

Thud.

He finally knelt on one knee, feeling like an iron tower collapsing. A scene where luckily a posture of showing respect was established.

Silence was thick.

Wind King art voice transmissions cut off. Not only Seventeen Hall Masters but none among the ten thousand-plus martial military forces moved.

Suddenly Lim Jin-ming wondered. What did they experience from the Lord on this land?

[You.]

Jeong Yeon-shin’s voice rumbled.

[Lower yourself too much. Mencius said, a person who bends himself has difficulty straightening others.]

Literary Star twitched neck muscles trying to raise his head. That appearance was somewhat horrific. Because all skin was peeled, revealing bright red flesh. Heavenly Steel Light Armor had already vanished without trace.

“I learned so too, but all under heaven was always vast. Sword Heaven was also a corner of that all under heaven. How could I always keep Mencius’s words?”

[Martial forest people must practice differently.]

“……”

[If you bend yourself, you make others bend too. With all your heart.]

Literary Star didn’t answer. He merely raised his lips hazily.

His head wouldn’t quite rise. Thanks to that perhaps, Jeong Yeon-shin who trudged close could point at his crown.

It was the Baihui acupoint.

Kureung…

Suddenly vibrations coursed through Literary Star’s massive frame. By appearance it seemed like transmitting energy waves through the Laogong acupoint in his grip, yet Jeong Yeon-shin’s primordial spirit only calmly moved his mouth.

[A person who devotes their heart knows their own nature, and a person who knows their nature….]

“…knows heaven.”

Literary Star’s answer seemed to flow out unconsciously. Lim Jin-ming knew those were Mencius’s words, yet strangely felt an upper energy center sensing them like martial arts instructions.

[Thus though one evades calamity heaven sends down.]

“Before calamity invited oneself, one cannot scheme for life.”

At that moment Jeong Yeon-shin was glancing not at Literary Star but at World Tree behind him. To Lim Jin-ming it was a familiar gaze. Because it seemed to view something about to be destroyed.

Keugeungng…

It rang from Literary Star’s body. Movements of acupoints and muscles. Though a human body, it was a sound like steel crumbling.

In an instant Lim Jin-ming’s upper energy center blazed like a book made of light then wrote down four characters of intuition.

Seizing Womb (奪胎). Bone Transformation (換骨).