Chapter 764 – Three Radiances Demon (10)

Dream Flight Yue Shou-lin stared for a moment at the spot where powder scattered. She held her Enter The Divine Spear diagonally downward in one hand.

The fake Enter The Divine Sword lay there alone.

That was all.

She turned around.

‘Need to clean up from here.’

Even if her formidable enemy had regained his senses and died, she felt no great emotion.

In Yue Shou-lin’s mind was a massive bundle of robes. White and blue threads mixed evenly with black ones.

A tumultuous jianghu. Was Praising Earth Sword Duke the only one who died in vain? How many of their junior martial brothers’ and sisters’ robes had been torn over time?

She slowly opened her mouth.

“Are you sleeping?”

The words were directed at Seventh Apostle.

Using a thick banner as a blanket, she lay on the scarred vines.

The banner’s three-character name enveloped her.

Divine Sword Group.

She had thrown it when Seventh Apostle staggered upon landing. It was absurd how she stubbornly refused to dismiss her energy robes until then. Conduct unsuited to an urgent battlefield. An eccentric act befitting a Blood Flame Cult noble.

Kwakwakwakwakwakwa—!

In the center of the land where a massive whirlwind endlessly ground against the vines.

Now her face was deeply asleep.

“In the middle of a battlefield… Is this dignified conduct by her standards too?”

At a glance, she even looked like a corpse. Because her internal energy breathing was monstrously deep while her face was deathly pale.

It was the Transcendent Martial Art that manifested Blood Flame Cult Leader Lightning Genius.

Her energy and spirit were depleted.

The only thing intact was her well-maintained body. Even this would have been impossible without a True Blood Body.

—Sam-bok and So-ha, guard her.

Immediately, two figures in blue ranks bounced from the semi-transparent vortex and stood beside Seventh Apostle.

Though they were battered, their breathing was calm and deep. Among them, the short blue warrior Sam-bok took out some clothing from his pack.

“What are you doing?”

“The banner’s wide. She can change inside it. Though I don’t know when she’ll wake.”

“……?”

“How could a Transcendent Martial Art become our Lord…”

Sam-bok muttered while his colorless eye radiance flickered. The young blues were those born with sensitive upper energy centers even within Desolate Fortress. Their intuition had to be good.

Yeon So-ha wore an “oops” expression.

‘These dying youngsters…’

Yue Shou-lin shook her head while completing her Major Heavenly Circulation standing. Youngsters these days never learned to examine their own bodies first. The problem above all was that even the current Desolate Fortress Lord was a youngster.

She instructed curtly.

“If she happens to regain consciousness, ask whether she managed to absorb any of the World Tree’s spirituality. From what I saw, it seemed to get sucked toward her palms but then scattered around.”

Yeon So-ha asked back with his blood-stained face.

“Wouldn’t it be better if she didn’t wake up…?”

“What?”

“She’ll definitely charge toward the center, and attempting that place with this level of energy will get her killed, right? Even here is quite a demon realm.”

“Don’t worry about accumulated energy. You’re here, aren’t you?”

The two youths who realized their role included being subjected to energy absorption just like Praising Earth Sword Duke’s broken unification nodded with an “ah.”

The Divine Sword Group’s Resonance Spirit had withdrawn from combat. Because they had poured most of their energy into Literary Star’s Bone Transformation at Jeong Yeon-shin’s summons. They had effectively tied up the final stages of transformation.

‘Are they earning their keep…?’

Yue Shou-lin assessed what could and couldn’t be used as weapons.

Even at this moment, World Tree masters intruded into the whirlwind of thousands using lightness skill, making the vortex denser.

Desolate Fortress warriors cutting them down and expelling them from the whirlwind.

That vast whirlwind had long taken on a silver tint. The repeatedly accumulated shockwaves began returning with earth-shaking power in every single strike and punch.

Radiant Art Formation.

It was the only martial art for prolonged group combat in the Lightning Genius martial lineage. Most had achieved great mastery of Radiant Art Formation among the twelve formations.

Achievement came easily.

As long as one wished for Jeong Yeon-shin’s footsteps, which had rushed forward like a light about to be extinguished, to continue for a long time.

Taha—!

Blue-rank warrior Crimson Day Sword’s battle cry resonated through the dark vines.

Though the lineage’s practitioners were now masters of quick decisive battles, they often planted long-battle intent in their own muscles and acupoints. Once release force arose, it swelled like a campfire.

And it didn’t go out.

Kwakwakwakwakwa—!

The storm of collective lightness skill shifted entirely. A gradual but clearly visible movement. Naturally toward the center.

It was the same even when World Tree masters activated their regeneration abilities time and again. With the One Hundred Eight Arhats suppressing Southern Splendor Vast Taiji now, no group could surpass the Divine Sword Group masters in pure release force output.

Kwang! Kwakwakwang! Puhwak—!

The arrows shooting down from the World Tree’s peak were blocked by the blood demons of Desolate Fortress’s Jeok Family with their bodies. Heaven-reaching Bow Count’s ultra-long-range archery was torn apart alternately by Blood King and Jin Myeong-jo, crushing the release force.

Thus it became a typhoon endlessly sucking in the World Tree’s forces. Even though Nether Stream Leader Baek Mi-ryeo had disappeared without a trace long ago.

Yue Shou-lin dropped over a hundred masters like falling leaves with one spear throw and said:

“Myeong-jo.”

—Yes?

“You’re okay even when you’re not okay, right?”

—Yes.

“Was it called the Pure Blood Brilliant Flame Robe? Wearing that makes you no different from Blood Flame Cult Leader. You’ll keep going for decades more with me.”

—…Yes.

“You can keep handling it, right? Those ants that won’t die even when trampled, whether Nine Complete Guests or the Seventeen Halls, keep drawing them all out and tying them down. So the center isn’t disturbed.”

Yue Shou-lin already had her back to the vortex. Jin Myeong-jo’s characteristically monotone voice returned.

—Please go.

“Yeah.”

Yue Shou-lin threw Enter The Divine Spear with a kwang and mounted it. A spear that repeatedly accelerated while bursting dozens of ripples in an instant.

Naturally her vision blurred briefly.

She penetrated all the tree barriers in the northeast direction with a roar. It was natural for the Divine Sword Group Leader who had decided to move alone.

—Group Leader, please check on the Deputy Grand Administrator. There’s been no response from him since a while ago. After his last request to tell him Lord Jeong’s small habits…

When Grand Administrator Lim Jin-ming’s voice followed through Bright Wind Cave, Yue Shou-lin was already descending through the First Wall’s growth ring at the World Tree’s midsection.

Thud.

As soon as she stepped on the ground, she gripped Enter The Divine Spear behind her.

The scenery was different.

A vast plaza spread wide, low-lying grass, brick palace complexes surrounded by stone walls, vines and trees rising high in all directions, bloody flesh and bone fragments, once again a World Tree masters’ dragnet too numerous to count like a forest, and in the middle of it all, a giant with pale arms hanging down…

And within the dusk that lay like fog.

Jeong Yeon-shin was silently looking up at the giant. He held a sword of true energy blazing with dark blue color.

* * *

He’s fake.

That was Yue Shou-lin’s insight upon seeing Jeong Yeon-shin. She had an intuition that man wouldn’t enjoy Five Cloud Mountain Vegetable Dish.

‘Primordial spirit…? No matter how I look, it’s a human body, so how did they make something like that?’

On the other hand, the formless sword manifested in his hands emitted true energy waves. The groves in the plaza were lying down on their own, and the sword’s waves heavily pushed against Yue Shou-lin’s purple robe.

Tak, tadak.

The sound of firewood scattering.

Yue Shou-lin gripped her spear firmly.

‘It’s at the level of constantly deploying Imperial Sword Form.’

She could feel her robe being compressed against her frontal skin.

It was puzzling how Jeong Yeon-shin’s enemies had faced such a thing until now.

It was then.

—The Group Leader has arrived.

It was Literary Star’s transmission.

Yue Shou-lin asked back while feeling countless gazes converging on her.

—You’re not dead?

—Every slash really hurt. Even when they tore off my arms, they pounced as if reassembled with Jeong Family Dynamic Technique… It was overwhelming.

An appearance where his entire body’s skin was filled with long lacerations as if whipped. The wounds in various places crackled like embers as if to sever his body.

Literary Star’s body.

They said his Bone Transformation rivaled even the greatest throughout all time.

Whether the sword strikes that carved such external wounds on that body, or the body that received the formless sword Starry Night with bare flesh, both were transcendent.

—Can you fight more?

—I need to rest a bit. Please buy me time to breathe.

It was a humble voice. Without pretense, like a student who came to compete in literature with his teacher. Yue Shou-lin slowly turned her head.

She saw a mountain of people.

Endlessly towering ancient trees and brick houses exuding the passage of time, a plaza where even sloped ground was only a low hill.

Every space her vision reached was packed with people. So the opponents didn’t look like crowds. They only seemed like a cluster of sharp groves like swords.

‘Endlessly from the entrance…’

It felt like declaring a sect extermination war against an entire nation.

“Divine Sword Group Leader Dream Flight.”

The man who strode toward her was the same. With gorgeous golden hair rippling like molten pure gold and calm eyes. A dignity suited to a nation’s chancellor or civil minister position.

“This humble one uses the name Qian So-ming of the Qian Family, and serves as Grand Administrator of the World Tree’s Law Enforcement Department.”

Grand Administrator Qian So-ming spoke while respectfully raising his hands together.

“Since the Group Leader has come all this way, I must say—let’s end the war. Movements targeting our tree have been detected in the Western Regions’ jianghu. We must prevent the Central Plains from filling with other foreign peoples.”

“You want to end the war?”

“Haven’t both sides lost much? Between us and you, I wish to propose a pact of non-aggression toward the tree city. One that won’t become meaningless like the government non-aggression treaty…”

Yue Shou-lin also raised her hand.

Her left hand gripping the head of Divine Demon Mad Silence Master Wol-yo. She moved her lips.

“Speak.”

[If you would speak prettily, a more beautiful melody would emerge…]

The head-only Wol-yo began generating murky vibrations with his entire skull. His mouth opened simultaneously.

“Regrettably.”

Grand Administrator Qian So-ming’s face was calm. Even as he tapped the ground with his toe tips.

When Wol-yo’s mouth fully opened, some torrential arrows rained down before him and erected a lightning-like barrier.

Zzzejejejejejejejejong—!

Sonic technique energy waves scattered along with fragments of tremendous shockwaves. Yue Shou-lin’s black hair and purple robes also fluttered violently as if to be buried in the dusk.

Without blinking once, she penetrated the opponent’s defensive method. While glancing at the hundreds of arrows that had somehow been embedded between the two.

Like bars sealing away the sinister, they were shot from the World Tree’s peak. It was a technique forming a membrane with the arrows’ release force.

A feeling comparable to any transcendent master’s defensive technique. If they were unified archery masters, they could deploy it endlessly.

“…Allies are this important, you see. It’s not a position one can walk alone without support.”

Grand Administrator Qian So-ming spoke from beyond the field of arrows.

“Though jianghu is gathering here, the limits are clear. Even the most important Nine Great Sects’ leaders are busy just guarding their own regions. As for those whose whereabouts have been confirmed through the tree’s branches… yes, six.”

“……”

“Mount Hua’s Lady Lu Xian is near Beijing. She’s busy unfolding Purple Cloud sword techniques against the strange spirits that finally emerged from the gates. She’s not someone who can focus on subjugating our tree while overlooking commoners being devoured before her eyes. She’s a foolish person.”

He folded his fingers one by one.

“Zhongnan Sect’s Cloud Sword Dragon is someone who needs more refinement. I was personally curious whether her martial arts would rise to the rank of Nine Great Sects’ leader first, or whether all under heaven would meet its end first… Likewise, Qingcheng’s leader, Taoist Qingshu, is excluded from the six since he’s our main force.”

“Whether they’re here or not.”

“Kongtong’s Later Heaven Light Saint is surprisingly resisting unification while suppressing the vast warfare in Gansu Province, and Mount Emei’s Thunder Clarity Guanyin is another product of the chaotic times… busy preventing Sword King Buddha from challenging Desolate Fortress.”

Yue Shou-lin glanced over Qian So-ming’s shoulder, who could revive even if immediately killed. Literary Star stood motionless like a standing corpse, while the World Tree’s Jeong Yeon-shin seemed to have regained energy and was slowly raising Starry Night.

Wuuuung—

The characteristic resonance of Fan Dragon Flower Treading Technique.

The weapon fragments scattered everywhere reacted. Slowly rising with faint vibrations. With the mighty ability of controlled sword, the divine art Myriad Heavens Flower Rain was about to unfold.

‘Planning to trap and kill?’

The noble clan members in the dragnet seemed to have no intention of interfering in the two’s fight. It was as if they intended to use Literary Star as that Jeong Yeon-shin’s touchstone.

When Yue Shou-lin’s eyebrows twitched.

“Ah, Diancang Sword Empress is coming this way, but… the internal injuries from the northern Divine Thief seem severe. Her speed simply won’t pick up. Compared to that, Mount Heng’s Blade Palm Immortal is much faster, so he already set foot in South Zhili territory earlier. Right now…”

Under the World Tree masters’ transcendent support, Qian So-ming’s leisurely continued story stopped.

What report did he receive? His muttering leaked out.

“Substitution…? With who?”

Kurerererung!

The blade fragments that had been rising with wide-area Fan Dragon Flower Treading Technique stopped with a thud. They were struck by an invisible force field, then finally braked. The sight of them falling limply soon after was the same.

It was disrupted with energy waves. Absurdly powerful hegemon martial arts. A third party’s intervention.

“How dare.”

It rang from the distant sky.

“Someone.”

A voice like a lion’s roar.

In that instant, Yue Shou-lin heard fragments of all kinds of transmissions. The World Tree’s Wind King technique’s wide transmission network was being incinerated by something. Along with blue light falling vertically from the World Tree’s peak to here.

—That person must not intervene! Heaven-reaching Bow Count, respond immediately!

—Be quiet. You’re breaking my concentration.

—Grand Administrator, evade! If we don’t withdraw forces, the Divine Tree’s accumulated energy will be meaninglessly consumed…!

Yue Shou-lin turned her head to the side. A familiar face was looking at her.

“……”

“Is that you, Dream Flight?”

The man who had earned the alias Ominous Dream from the World Tree asked himself with that day’s face.

“What crazy things are happening now?”