Chapter 758 – Three Radiances Demon (4)

Xiahou Wei-jin abruptly asked again.

“The ten thousand martial military forces have given up on reviving…? What does that mean?”

“They experienced something horrific. If I had to guess, being killed in every possible way by the greatest master of external martial arts in history…”

Cheong Myeong’s tone was ordinary, but that very quality seemed to draw the attention of the Martial Gods who had been staring only at each other.

“……”

They slowly turned their heads.

Not only the Fighting God from the north, but also the old woman who carried herself as a tribal deity.

In that instant, the wind brushing against Lazy Flame Dragon’s skin vanished without a trace.

Their upper energy center spirituality spread out like force fields. The moment his gaze met theirs, it felt like all under heaven had stopped. Even with Lazy Flame Dragon’s heightened upper energy center senses, the feeling was overwhelming.

‘To suddenly find myself where the greatest under heaven are contending.’

He fell uncharacteristically silent. He even lowered the single-leg stance he habitually maintained. His feet settled into a proper, balanced posture.

A ready stance that had subtly shifted to allow him to respond in any way.

He muttered unconsciously.

“You want me to hold back something like that…?”

“It would be even better if you win. That old woman is the second biggest variable after the World Tree’s fruit itself.”

Cheong Myeong’s reply was immediate.

“Once a life-and-death duel breaks out, you should think of it as facing the Martial Way of the Ming Dynasty itself.”

Lazy Flame Dragon nodded and countered.

“We’re supposed to kill this nation’s history?”

“That would be even better.”

It was a conversation held in the presence of an existence equivalent to the Ming Dynasty’s founding ancestor. As Xiahou Wei-jin stood speechless, the old woman’s wrinkled lips moved.

“How ill-mannered.”

Though she must have assessed Lazy Flame Dragon’s martial prowess, she didn’t even grant him a glance. To her, only the words and actions of her fellow tribespeople seemed to hold meaning.

“Child of the Heavenly Pillar Sect, is that how your sect taught you?”

“But I was born and raised in Xiangyang.”

Cheong Myeong uttered these words with a laugh. To Lazy Flame Dragon’s upper energy center, they registered as falsehood. Yet at the same time, they also felt sincere.

It was the kind of mentality required to master the Divine Sword Group’s Jeong Family Dynamic Technique. A bizarre art that demanded affirmation of esoteric Code like ‘I am your home.’ They said Cheong Myeong had already glimpsed its ultimate realm.

Lazy Flame Dragon smiled crookedly.

“Jianghu people are all complicated individuals, making it truly difficult to unite their wills… Yet you people accomplished such a difficult task. I congratulate you on becoming a public enemy of the martial world.”

Finally, he added as if chewing on a soft candy.

“World Tree.”

“……”

Clan Leader Wei Yeon reacted.

Rustle.

She slowly straightened her back.

‘Preposterous.’

In that instant, Lazy Flame Dragon deliberately and significantly lowered his upper energy center spirit’s energy sensation. It was to dull his perception of Wei Yeon’s overwhelming presence.

He had an intuition that if he didn’t do this, his strikes would be delayed every time.

An unnecessary measure for those blessed with ordinary talent through great fortune. Feeling the weariness of a genius, he feigned calm and asked.

“Listen, Seniors. From what I heard before, she wasn’t at this level, was she? I received reports from the Nether Stream ghosts too.”

“Perhaps, soon…”

Xiahou Wei-jin opened his mouth, his tone grave.

“She may regain her youthful body.”

By then, unbelievably, Wei Yeon had turned her back to the Fighting God. A gesture meaning she deemed it safe to show him her back.

“This Central Plains.”

She said, facing Lazy Flame Dragon’s group.

“Is the true child of my husband and me.”

“I won’t deny that, but then you’re just a parasite sucking your own child’s lifeblood…”

“The problem lies with the meaningless thirst for fame of martial forest clans like yours. The desires of insignificant humans chaotically disturbing this land that should fade away with its noble history.”

“So we are the demons of this land?”

Lazy Flame Dragon asked again, but Wei Yeon only glanced at him briefly with indifferent eyes. Then she answered in archaic speech.

“Indeed, you are the demons.”

A voice devoid of high or low pitch solidified in the air. Precisely above Lazy Flame Dragon’s crown point. Wei Yeon was standing on her hands, pressing his Baihui acupoint with just her index finger.

“The vessel is serviceable.”

Why was that? Her voice sounded somewhat younger. Just as Lazy Flame Dragon stiffened his neck with force, wrapping his head in the semi-transparent flames of his protective energy, the Heavenly King Energy Silk…

“Wandering Star is not one to move according to your will.”

Her words continued slowly.

“Even the tribe cannot discern that man’s lies. He possesses the ‘Return to Origin’ to that degree.”

“……!”

She seemed to perceive everything.

Even future events Lazy Flame Dragon himself could scarcely anticipate.

Though Cheong Myeong had placed his Desolate Sword against the inverted Wei Yeon’s chin, she merely spoke indifferently. As if she had finally developed an interest in Lazy Flame Dragon.

“Be certain of nothing regarding Wandering Star. Whether he harbors vengeance against you for destroying the Great Righteous Orthodox Alliance, or whether he has truly renounced everything merely to leave a name behind… These are matters beyond your knowing.”

“It’s a mess.”

“So is the world.”

Wei Yeon’s lips moved.

“Great hopes steal away even the time to prepare for death. Your current conduct is precisely that. All of it is unnecessary strife, entirely wasted time.”

Simultaneously, a change occurred. Even with his dulled energy sensation, Lazy Flame Dragon clearly felt it. Her lips were beginning to stretch taut over newly elastic skin.

‘Is Rejuvenation progressing? Right here, right now?’

Anyone would be astonished.

Simultaneously, a dumbfounded sound came from nearby.

“No, oh, heavens…”

It was Xiahou Wei-jin.

“The scroll… the portrait in the ‘Great Ming Code’ scroll…!”

This was his state despite having hazy energy vortexes gathered in his fists. ‘Great Ming Code.’ The historical text that any household affluent enough to buy books would acquire first.

The portraits of the founding Emperor and Empress were drawn with antique, simple strokes. Images suitable for hanging as scrolls. Though damaging them was treated as high treason, they were deliberately disseminated in this form.

As if they must be remembered by all.

Someone like Xiahou Wei-jin would surely have hung not just the text of the ‘Great Ming Code,’ but also its illustrations as scrolls, treating them as scripture.

Rustle.

Wei Yeon applied pressure with the finger pressing Lazy Flame Dragon’s crown point. Simultaneously, she admonished Xiahou Wei-jin in a sorrowful tone.

“Return to the tree. The great cause you follow is an illusion. No matter how deeply you contemplate, all under heaven will not be revived.”

Those words.

Lazy Flame Dragon perceived their sincerity. No matter how he assessed it with his upper energy center. It was enough to make Xiahou Wei-jin’s eyes tremble on the spot.

“Clan Leader…!”

He leaped without hesitation and struck Wei Yeon’s abdomen. The shockwave that erupted from his fist overturned the ground, and Lazy Flame Dragon seized Wei Yeon’s finger with a grappling technique that shot up like sparks, all while hearing Xiahou Wei-jin’s cry.

“What in blazes is happening?!”

Finally came Cheong Myeong’s Radiant Art Sword strike.

Hwaak!

A sword move aimed at severing Wei Yeon’s neck in an instant, but Lazy Flame Dragon felt the captured finger twitch in his grasp. An energy release, pushing against his grip and his crown point like a fully powered palm strike.

‘Natural State!’

Instantly, cracks spread across Lazy Flame Dragon’s skull with a kwadeuk sound, and Wei Yeon, carried by a favorable wind, flew back to her original position.

“If the end of life is filled only with regret and attachment, how futile such a life would be…”

Her murmur as she landed, showing them her back. By then, air was exploding from all over Xiahou Wei-jin’s body. He seemed to be beginning to approach the great accomplishment realm of the Jeong Family Dynamic Technique.

“How can you be so closed-minded! With Lord Jeong’s aptitude, the greatest in history, might there not be a way?!”

“Can that child accomplish what even Sanfeng could not?”

“Shut your damned mouth! Now I see you are one who would defile the very foundation of the tribe! Even if I die here, I will ensure you fall with me!”

Simultaneously, a transparent fluid trickled from Lazy Flame Dragon’s ear. It was the fluid that had been protecting the brain inside his skull like a protective energy.

“…It’s not even the river of the Three Paths.”

He unabashedly wiped his ear with the back of his hand.

Then he gestured with his chin towards the tree stump opposite them. It was where the Fighting God reclined.

“You were the stronger one, so is it right to pass this burden to us?”

The Fighting God smiled faintly.

“There are no absolutes in life-and-death duels. Had I fought that old woman ten times, I would have lost three.”

Lazy Flame Dragon’s head tilted askew.

“And yet you’re called the Fighting God.”

“The old woman’s Martial Way has passed its peak, and she is reversing time through the tree. Having won three times, losing once is permissible.”

The Fighting God spoke as if he held no attachments. Of course, whether that was truly the case was unknown. Without taking his eyes off Wei Yeon, Lazy Flame Dragon asked again.

“…You won three times? In one bout?”

It was preposterous.

Lazy Flame Dragon had already faced countless unified noble clans. Beings whose accumulated energy and even upper energy center spirit occasionally returned near their original state.

The greatest among the tribe would surely receive the best replenishment. To have defeated her to death three times, each time she returned to peak condition, was staggering, when a single bout alone could lead to exhaustion.

“It is a feat possible for your lord as well.”

The Fighting God continued, his expression inscrutable.

“You must decide the match swiftly. Before Lightning Genius emerges, having become one with the tree.”

“What a terrifying thing to say…”

Lazy Flame Dragon couldn’t finish his words.

Thud.

Because of the face of Wei Yeon, who had turned around.

She was a completely different woman. A significant portion of her wrinkles had smoothed away, and elasticity had returned to her skin. She was an unbelievably beautiful middle-aged swordswoman.

And the feeling was that the transformation wasn’t stopping.

Wei Yeon spoke.

“It is the Divine Tree’s function.”

“Quite brazen, aren’t you? Rejuvenating with energy stolen from all under heaven.”

“Child of the Hwangbo family, what will you do if I told you this function could also protect your child?”

Lazy Flame Dragon flinched. Simultaneously, all expression vanished from his face.

“…What do you know?”

“Can a child born bearing both scorching heat and icy whiteness be whole? Can one master the harmony of Yin and Yang from within the womb? She is surely fated to die young, like Desolate Day Extinction. You and your wife were negligent.”

It was already a life-and-death confrontation.

Because they were individuals possessing the highest echelons of Jianghu intelligence, dialogue was inevitable.

Simultaneously, it was a standoff where the slightest lapse in mental focus would mean death from a single strike.

Amidst this, without even wielding particularly profound martial power, Wei Yeon had been assailing Lazy Flame Dragon with countless feints and killing points. This had been the case from the moment they faced each other until now.

“……”

“Consider it carefully. If you agree, I shall make you one of the Four Great Protectors. The title ‘Heavenly Yang Fist Marquis’ would suit you.”

Thud.

She walked forward, her long green hair flowing. She held a single slender wooden sword pointing downward, and her presence swelled with each step.

“This is the nation where I sowed the seeds. The right to harvest the fruit is also mine.”

By then, Lazy Flame Dragon had lowered his upper energy center’s energy sensation to the level of a common stone… to a state no different from Hyeon Won-chang’s.

Hwareureuk!

His true energy seethed like a volcano within the Major Heavenly Circulation of the Jeong Family Dynamic Technique. With the light in his eyes extinguished, he glanced alternately at Cheong Myeong and Xiahou Wei-jin.

“You two move first. I will…”

His voice cracked as the wooden sword slowly tore through space. The scene of Wei Yeon thrusting her sword towards Cheong Myeong’s throat.

Kwang!

Xiahou Wei-jin’s leg, which had kicked up towards the sword blade like a ray of light, was severed by the recoil force, and fragments of his stone prosthetic leg flew in all directions.

The space was momentarily shrouded in pale dust.

When it cleared in less than a blink, Wei Yeon’s face was even younger. Most of her wrinkles had disappeared. So too had the skin on the calf that had hooked onto Xiahou Wei-jin’s chest with an instantaneous back kick… it now gleamed with a blade-like luster.

Zzjeeeeeeeong!

Xiahou Wei-jin’s ribs caved inwards in a straight line. Simultaneously, a sharp shockwave burst forth, and Xiahou Wei-jin was sent flying backward like a pebble, painting a bloody trail torn by sword energy over a distance of more than a hundred zhang.

Sssshhhk!

Wei Yeon, stepping on a drop of that blood as if it were a portrait, distanced herself from Cheong Myeong’s slashing sword. Her steps left behind a wisp of a gentle breeze.

Just as Lazy Flame Dragon began to ignite a pure white flame but then halted…

Rustle.

A woman in the prime of her youth stood upon the vine-covered earth.

“……”

She possessed eyes sharp enough to slice.

A peerless beauty. It was hard to believe this was the same Wei Yeon from before. Her ears, lifted vividly, and her green hair that billowed like a celestial maiden’s robes.

Cheong Myeong spoke.

“This is…”

His usually carefree demeanor seemed tinged with remoteness. They needed to stop the unprecedented entity known as the Unified Desolate Day Extinction before its birth, yet instead found themselves blocked by a transcendent being.

‘Empress Wei Yeon.’

Rejuvenation, achieved at last.

The strong sought to surpass the Martial Ultimate.

All under heaven, where strange and unfathomable powers had reached their zenith.

“…Was that the face she had when she met the Founding Emperor too?”

Lazy Flame Dragon muttered quietly, steadying his internal energy breathing.

Wei Yeon’s lips quivered slightly.

“Submit to the Main Trunk. This is but a trifle. I can also arrange for your family to be the very last to meet their end.”

Her voice was astonishingly young and crystalline. Lazy Flame Dragon smiled wryly.

“Ah, with my sanity as the price…?”

“It is a great transaction of life. The only things a person receives for free are the kindness of parents and spouse.”

Her voice felt like providence itself, being carved into all creation. Even the cool breeze seemed to press down on Lazy Flame Dragon’s head, urging him to submit to Wei Yeon.

Words from an existence that had rejuvenated right before his eyes.

There were few greater mysteries in the martial world. At most, perhaps the ‘Shedding Mortal Coil and Transforming Bones’ when a transcendent breaks their limits. She was worthy of speaking of life’s transactions.

“Still, a Jianghu person who possesses a sect is different.”

Lazy Flame Dragon shook his head. And then he continued. Unbeknownst to him, a brilliant, flame-like, pure white light had filled his eyes.

“With reverence for the Sect Founder.”

After raising his energy sensation to its absolute limit. Countless streams of information pierced into the upper energy center of his Scorching Divine Meridian. The next moment, he looked down in the same direction as Wei Yeon.

“I pay my respects…”

Kwaaaaaaaaaaang!

The vine-covered ground was ripped apart.

As if hundreds of cannonballs had erupted from beneath the earth. The vicinity grew thick with smoke. Within it, a figure stood, leisurely fluttering scholarly robes.

A gaunt giant.

Through the gaps in the violently churning smoke.

Peerless masters holding Bell Willow Leaf Sabers were captured in each of his hands. He also held another person’s neck in his mouth… three Nine Complete Guests in total. None of them moved.

Lazy Flame Dragon scrutinized the giant’s body with his blazing, amplified energy sensation. Simultaneously, he doubted his own senses for the first time.

“What in the world…”

His energy sensation, which could distinctly perceive the energy waves flowing from the Twelve Regular Meridians, the 365 acupoints, and the even more numerous minor meridians, each separately. This ability to predict opponents’ movements and sever their fighting paths was the reason he enjoyed it. It was also why the character for ‘Lazy’ was in his epithet.

Because he never needed to train hard.

Now it was different.

‘Is that even a person?’

He couldn’t distinguish. Because even the muscles were filled with energy. That giant had no distinction of acupoints. It was as if all the muscles in his body were the meridians and acupoints.

The intense, peculiar aura emanating from the corpses made him reluctant to look closely.

A Demon Among Demons.

A Heretical Demon among Heretical Demons.

Amidst this, the figure spoke respectfully to Lazy Flame Dragon and Cheong Myeong.

“The orthodox successor of the Jeong Family Dynamic Technique humbly asks the collateral branches for directions.”

Despite holding a person in his mouth, his pronunciation remained clear and distinct. It suggested his tongue muscles had also reached a realm beyond ordinary Code.

“If I head to the center, may I be able to see the Sect Founder? Once the direction is determined, this humble one will handle the rest…”

“……”

No one answered, but the figure nodded to himself. Immediately after, he struck the air with the back of his hand.

There was no great roar.

In that instant, all the barriers of the World Tree, from the Seventh Wall to the First Wall, completely collapsed.