Chapter 772 – To My Younger Brother, From The Heavenly Demon (5)

The central village of the Main Tree.

Perhaps it was because of Taoist Sanfeng’s overwhelming presence.

Once the Central Plains’ greatest sanctuary, it was now a gathering place for the rare powerhouses of jianghu. A land where those difficult to assemble had come together. A place where those difficult to sit alongside were looking at each other.

“Silent Lord, I am Elder Council Head Namgung. As you know, I came as reinforcements with many martial comrades from the World Tree’s southwest end. Though my family has been trampled, reputation and duty remain…”

“State your business only.”

“I have final words for White Qilin of Obeying Heaven Wing. Can you wake him and make room? This old one knows propriety and keeps proper conduct… But over there, that strange man has caught my eye since the armistice. Did the Tyrant Hero have a hidden son…?”

“White Qilin of Obeying Heaven Wing slaughtered over two thousand World Tree masters with a single sword, then fell into deep sleep and was carefully transported. No one should disturb his rest, and Lord Ma is Lord Ma.”

A night sky before the end. Grudges mixed into the dim air, and in the faintly pouring moonlight, distinctions between sects blurred. There were no relationships that couldn’t converse.

A briefly permitted leisure.

Jeong Yeon-shin was with two people.

A man and woman with rarely sleek and long limbs, completed as warriors. The first people the Desolate Fortress Lord would discuss the situation with were only the Divine Sword Group Leader and Deputy Leader.

Yue Shou-lin, who could only be called a woman now, silently gazed at the Namgung elder council head, then furrowed her brow.

“Fortress Lord, wouldn’t it be better to send down the riffraff even now?”

It was an unfamiliar honorific because of the occasion. Jeong Yeon-shin did not answer immediately.

He only examined her purple robe with exposed bare skin in places. Traces of being torn and pierced, covered in blood. He wondered if a day would come when he could bestow new robes.

Master Beom-heo and Taoist Sanfeng told Jeong Yeon-shin to settle his life, but what Jeong Yeon-shin truly needed to resolve was separate. The lingering attachments of those who had been by his side. Their lives.

He slowly opened his mouth.

“…The tree will retaliate. The Grand Administrator and Vice Administrator anticipated wide-area Form Shifting Void.”

“Should I block it?”

Yue Shou-lin asked naturally, but Jeong Yeon-shin shook his head.

“Senior, conserve your strength. Where numbers are meaningless…”

“I thought the same.”

Yue Shou-lin nodded with a slight smile, her old appearance showing. Jeong Yeon-shin spoke quietly.

“From the World Tree’s Myriad View Place, I could see outside, but last night I deliberately didn’t watch senior. I only saw Spear King Yue Bei-jang come to find you.”

The old monster who had utterly destroyed the Shandong Yue Family long ago. Even after losing an arm to Jeong Yeon-shin, he hadn’t acknowledged his niece Yue Shou-lin.

“Ah, that man.”

Yue Shou-lin chuckled.

“He came after hearing rumors about me, saying before the world ends, let’s go pay respects to the family graveyard? Offering to teach the latter half of Yue Family Spear for free.”

“How did senior respond?”

Jeong Yeon-shin asked quietly.

Rustle.

Yue Shou-lin extended her long spear-wielder’s fingers toward the night sky.

“I threw the Family Head Ink Refined Spear. Toward Shandong, over there.”

How far would that spear fly?

A question he’d wanted to ask Yue Shou-lin while writing the Jeong Family Dynamic Technique Dream Flight volume. Now Jeong Yeon-shin knew for certain. Her heart was clearer and more resolute than his own spirit.

On the other hand, the person beside her needed no asking.

“……”

Jeong Yeon-shin glanced at the Pure Blood Brilliant Flame Robe worn by the Divine Sword Deputy Leader. Robes that mixed with the dark wind and appeared as dark purple. That cool feeling suited Jin Myeong-jo quite well.

Jeong Yeon-shin carefully opened his mouth.

“…I spoke separately with the Desolate Jeok Family Head senior, and decided to make those robes the main castle’s purple robes. He said it was a wedding gift.”

But it seemed to matter little to Jin Myeong-jo. He was feeling the tree with half-opened eyes.

“Fortress Lord.”

Jin Myeong-jo’s mouth moved slowly.

“Presenting the Fruit Wine may prove difficult.”

“As expected of senior. Were you contemplating a way to cut the tree?”

“…With my meager ability as mixed blood, the moment I assist in tree-cutting, I’ll likely be absorbed by the tree. Sweeping down the World Tree’s clans was only a temporary measure. Though it was certainly necessary.”

Jeong Yeon-shin smiled faintly.

Then he gripped Jin Myeong-jo’s arm once and passed by. Yet Jin Myeong-jo’s body showed no reaction whatsoever.

“……!”

Dharma power was completely contained as learned from Jin Myeong-jo. So now it was reversed. Jin Myeong-jo’s obsession with the Fruit Wine made Jeong Yeon-shin understand the blood demon confronting dharma power.

‘If I fully feel such concern, I ultimately won’t be able to take the Ten Steps.’

Jeong Yeon-shin moved his steps as if fleeing.

Then he picked up the Seven Apostle from a broken and dented tree trunk.

“Come here.”

She who had been lying with the Divine Sword Group flag as bedding smoothly overlapped her body with Jeong Yeon-shin’s shadow. Tickling Jeong Yeon-shin’s ankle with ebony-like hair.

—This is a hero’s hair.

Her transmission sounded somewhat faint.

What she’d displayed earlier was Transcendent Martial Art reaching Emperor Qian-ling’s level. No matter how pure her blood body, recovering in just a few days would be difficult. Only her appearance was intact.

“You must live.”

Jeong Yeon-shin continued calmly.

“Though you cannot hunt down and kill every villain in the world, if they change their minds even slightly, the common people can live better. You’re the beginning. You must never break…”

—What about you? Won’t you break either?

He silently turned his steps.

Step.

It was immediately where Lazy Flame Dragon and Wandering Star faced each other. Also where old Desolate Fortress black-ranks like former Radiant Demon’s first group guarded Azure Qilin’s coffin.

An old man who might be encountered once a day on busy official roads spread both arms wide.

“The Desolate Fortress Lord under heaven has come to see this common mortal of a spring dream.”

They said he ate the same food as common people and starved equally. Perhaps because of that, he had the most shabby and gaunt face in the entire venue.

Only a single sword and blade stood out. Even more so because his attire was shabby like a peasant army soldier.

‘Must not be deceived by appearances.’

Jeong Yeon-shin’s intelligence network now rivaled the world’s best.

Thirteen Evil Sects’ Spirit Orders were in his grasp, and various Desolate Fortress branches and Nether Stream secret lines were recovering. From Myriad View Place, he’d even observed the Hao Sect’s residence. Naturally he knew Wandering Star’s true martial arts.

—Through experiences of starving, mastered Absorption Technique. The only one who could challenge Yong Hye-myeong in a prolonged battle.

Jeong Yeon-shin glanced at the weapons tied at his waist and asked.

“You want me to teach you the Tree Severing formula?”

Wandering Star’s lips rose.

“While at it, couldn’t I also receive an opportunity for revenge? This old one lost quite a lot to this friend.”

Suddenly wind blew fiercely.

It was late spring breeze that couldn’t bloom any sprouts. The wind’s trailing end was cold like autumn after harvest, but the jianghu people here were only monsters impervious to cold and heat who didn’t need to adjust their collars.

That must be why mockery dwelled in Wandering Star’s eyes. Emperor Li Chuang, Wandering Star. The old master with appearance no different from a peasant spoke.

“…I was faster.”

Jeong Yeon-shin asked quietly back.

“About what?”

“About King Ting whom we boiled and ate with Six Star Lord Martial Star. You and Desolate Fortress encountered him several times. Yet did nothing. Only received promises of supplies.”

Prince Ting Zhu Tai-yi.

A person Jeong Yeon-shin remembered too. Once he’d left a good impression. Naturally that wasn’t the case anymore.

Wandering Star spoke as if he knew as much.

“I was aware that holes sometimes opened in Desolate Fortress’s intelligence. You people truly didn’t know. How Prince Ting amassed his storehouses, by what means he indulged in luxury, and how much tribute he collected even though common people couldn’t secure meals… And when we who solved all these matters boiled and ate him together with extremely starving people, the well-fed and warm-backed Desolate Fortress and jianghu pointed fingers at us.”

Wandering Star pointed at himself and laughed heartily.

“Those bastards eat human flesh!”

“……”

“I didn’t particularly care about that, but this old one’s mistake was falling out of favor with jianghu people. Dealing with prestigious clans with base tactics, extracting previous family heads from the Eight Families, and showing chameleon-like conduct to Desolate Fortress that only pursued great matters. Just bothersome.”

Wandering Star tapped his toe tip here and there before Lazy Flame Dragon. That alone made Lazy Flame Dragon’s eyes shine as if his spirit was greatly stimulated. It seemed Wandering Star was making threats filled with resentment, while Lazy Flame Dragon trained with a nearly dead body.

“Thus I obtained no information. Until utterly trampled by that Hwangbo Family traitor friend who led the Yao Tribe martial forces… So how could I not have lingering attachment?”

Wandering Star shrugged and added.

“I just became ashes of an era that briefly burned.”

A voice cracked like plowing bare earth.

A chilling silence spread. A voice that resonated with souls in a different way from Divine Demon Mad Silence Sect Leader, an orator seemingly born with vocal arts.

Jeong Yeon-shin spoke quietly.

“You must follow me.”

Chuckling slowly, Wandering Star opened his mouth.

“In the streets where I lived as a child, there were always ruffian big brothers just like you. When things got slightly wrong, they’d tell me to follow to a secluded back alley… I learned well how to get beaten there.”

If I get beaten wrong by you, I’ll follow the ladies…

The talkative old man walked beside Jeong Yeon-shin contrary to his own words. His bearing was like a powerful person tired of all matters, yet also like a half-corpse seeking a place to lie down.

‘No need for sympathy.’

Because most jianghu people who lost their sects to long famine and repeated fights belonged to one of the two.

Yawn…

Jeong Yeon-shin said to Lazy Flame Dragon, who yawned as if tension released.

“I want to know your name.”

“First, take this.”

Lazy Flame Dragon’s hand blurred.

Instantly, a beam of light struck down with its sheath at Jeong Yeon-shin’s side waist. Looking down, it was Remaining Thunder.

Jeong Yeon-shin’s lips rose faintly.

“…The gold strands increased. No longer dull.”

“That thing was damn heavy.”

Lazy Flame Dragon who spat out the double-meaning complaint wiggled his lame leg.

“A name, a name…”

“There’s no time.”

“Then it’s awkward to state suddenly. Somehow it’s a bit heavy to blurt out carelessly. Above all… it’s ambiguous whether my name has surpassed the Hwangbo Family name’s reputation.”

“It won’t.”

Jeong Yeon-shin only stated fact. Naturally Lazy Flame Dragon’s lips twisted crookedly.

“How very kind of you.”

“Your dream is big. When the world’s end is imminent, how can an individual surpass a family’s name?”

“Then I’ll die as a lazy burning bastard. With my temperament, I’ll never forgive my family forever. If I suddenly mature, my martial arts might decline.”

A casual refusal. It was the same for Lazy Flame Dragon who spoke and Jeong Yeon-shin who heard. Jeong Yeon-shin turned away without regret. Even to him, Lazy Flame Dragon as Lazy Flame Dragon was enough.

‘…Is that wrong?’

Did Azure Qilin Namgung Se-jin and Fan Dragon Zhuge Xian know Lazy Flame Dragon’s real name? A name not even in Spirit Order information, perhaps because he was erased from the Hwangbo Family from birth.

Jeong Yeon-shin trampled the small regret into the dirt floor and said.

“I’ll be back.”

“Somehow it leaves a bad taste. Come back without foolish thoughts.”

“I’ll handle it myself.”

Jeong Yeon-shin glanced at Sun Direction Great General and Moon Direction Great General. Demon Realm Emperor Black Return, Great King Vajra, and Gao Yao Holy Sword Lord surrounded the two generals and only gave Jeong Yeon-shin looks.

Wandering Star who’d been following tossed out.

“Passed well. If you try to bring even those with little connection into your life, you’ll end up on the throne. Well, this old one embraced too much though—”

Jeong Yeon-shin replied indifferently.

“You should have embraced your wives well.”

“……”

His steps continued… already toward the faded monarch surrounded by Shaolin monks. Even from outside the encirclement, Jeong Yeon-shin’s skin felt pressed down, it was indeed the One Hundred Eight Arhat Formation. It seemed to overflow with power even after crushing Southern Splendor Vast Taiji.

Jeong Yeon-shin approached them and spoke.

“Master Beom-ryeol.”

“Broken Monk Eye suffices.”

The answer of an expelled monk with disheveled long hair hanging roughly.

Hell Spring Beom-ryeol’s eyes were brilliant even today. Though Buddhism considers tonsure the beginning of transcendence, Beom-ryeol seemed to have no earthly attachments.

Jeong Yeon-shin carefully asked.

“The Abbot Master…?”

The whereabouts of Divine Monk Master Beom-heo that he couldn’t ask his maternal grandfather first.

“Coincidentally, he had words to convey to the Fortress Lord.”

Beom-ryeol continued indifferently.

“Everyone has a day to raise a teacup.”

In that instant, Jeong Yeon-shin recalled Master Beom-heo’s story heard amid gentle tea fragrance.

—The day life’s thickness surpasses innate genius, the day it becomes as deep as tea steeped to its fullest… try to live so such a moment can come.

Jeong Yeon-shin slowly shook his head.

“I still don’t understand.”

“My senior brother’s Zen dialogue was always treated as upper dantian training methods at the temple.”

Beom-ryeol laughed heartily and said.

“Meaning the longer you think, the more you lose. Though sometimes that was also senior brother’s intent, which is the irritating part.”

“…Has the Abbot Master entered nirvana?”

Jeong Yeon-shin asked, but Beom-ryeol only smiled faintly. As if he wouldn’t discuss sect matters further.

‘Maternal grandfather would be the same.’

Jeong Yeon-shin glimpsed Ma Yeon-jeok’s back in the distance.

A figure with arms crossed facing Taoist Sanfeng. Despite Wudang’s Great Harmony Seven Venerable Stars being restless, he seemed unconcerned. Thus Ma Yeon-jeok consistently kept his back turned from his maternal grandson.

Ma Yeon-jeok only conversed with Taoist Sanfeng.

“Are you truly Zhang Sanfeng?”

“Though going round and round is Taiji, each color differs… You haven’t refined demonic energy, so why is your mind-body in such state? Is it because the era is the Demon Realm?”

“If it’s protective strong energy that mustn’t be touched, just break the neck without touching. I just need to guard against old era martial arts you possess. Coincidentally, thanks to that bastard Sword Inmortal who died first without dignity, I know a bit. The dances of those mad dogs.”

“Marvelous indeed. Even someone like you has various sorrows.”

“Yes, your wrinkles and breathing… certainly a human body. A body that will break when smashed.”

Dialogue not communicating with each other. Common behavior for peerless masters, but the figures facing off weren’t ordinary.

Tyrant Hero Ma Yeon-jeok.

Examined Taoist Sanfeng with eye techniques.

A still overwhelmingly robust back. Jeong Yeon-shin intuited. His maternal grandfather was avoiding him.

Probably because he’d incurred an unpayable debt.

To Ascending Heaven Fierce Dragon Ma Yeon-jeok and Eternal Fist Demon Beom-heo, who formed a connection, practically sworn enemies.

He must also know Jeong Yeon-shin and Master Beom-heo shared affection no less than grandfather and grandson. Was he rarely ashamed?

‘The gates…’

An era’s difficult problem. Even Tyrant Hero Ma Yeon-jeok’s back looked small. A man who discussed chances of victory even before the greatest swordsman of all time.

Around then, Grand Administrator Lim Jin-ming approached and asked his necessary questions to the faded monarch.

“Though you were revived as a branch avatar, the World Tree’s assassination plan failed. I’m curious about the tree’s next plan… by chance, do you have any conjecture? You must speak before being deemed useless and returning to soil.”

The faded monarch.

Creating afterimages of guard nerves throughout his body, yet all those vibrations only dug into the ground. Showing no movement whatsoever. As if his body was bound by giant prayer beads.

Kugugugugugugung!

“This One Hundred Eight Arhat Formation.”

He gestured with his chin toward the surrounding Shaolin monks and said.

“Would never lose to any villain and ultimately send the opponent to the Repentance Hall. That much won’t differ in the future… but it’s not a means to face the World Tree.”

Lim Jin-ming bowed to the approaching Jeong Yeon-shin, then asked the faded monarch.

“Why is that?”

“As you know, there are only two opponents now. Zhang Sanfeng and the Main Tree.”

The faded monarch’s two pupils reflected different scenes.

Taoist Sanfeng making eye contact with Ma Yeon-jeok as if viewing a curious seed. The Main Tree’s sprouts undulating leaves like flame at the Literary Star’s feet.

“The One Hundred Eight Arhat Formation… is indeed an ancient temple bell that can suppress anything. However, no suppression works on the World Tree. Cutting is the only solution.”

One who experienced Taoist Sanfeng’s era in his later years.

Unlike the venue where masters’ characteristic restrained tension had settled, the faded monarch’s eyes clearly held urgency. His following voice was the same.

“Until the tree bark splits, all the world’s myriad combined attacks are useless. The current Zhang Sanfeng is the same. This moment is why you have limited time.”

Lim Jin-mig’s expression became grave.

“The Wudang founding ancestor’s emergence was sufficiently alarming to us too. The Main Tree even more so. Even just moving tree roots would be like dozens of flood dragons. But that’s why it’s questionable…”

“Speak.”

“Taoist Sanfeng is briefly blocked by himself, but the World Tree itself has completely ceased movement. Why is that?”

“One is blocked by my later years’ number one under heaven. Who stopped the other?”

The faded monarch’s rhetorical question. Words meaning the current era’s number one under heaven, the previous Desolate Fortress Lord. Lim Jin-ming’s silence followed.

***

Jeong Yeon-shin knew. If the World Tree’s main body began moving from the start, the particularly massive Hangzhou flood dragon would become nothing.

Martial God Wei Gun-hye.

Characters engraved in Ming history. The same for Desolate Fortress warriors. A name unscathed by any literary hack’s schemes.

So no one worries about her. Just as no one doubted his survival when Jeong Yeon-shin was trapped in the World Tree.

That was the existence called Desolate Fortress Lord.

‘So even I must worry about Master.’

Jeong Yeon-shin was different.

Not just because he knew how things were flowing.

Rather for a private reason… because his young master’s image was vivid. The appearance of a girl struggling to wield an immature sword, gulping down tree sap.

Jeong Yeon-shin placed his voice on Bright Wind Cave.

—So-bin.

—I hear you well. I am already in Henan Province. The whole world is in chaos.

—What about master?

—Beyond my eye technique’s measure. There seems to be no particular wounds yet. The world’s third sword who lost then found her soul is frighteningly powerful, not shedding a single drop of blood. Until now, it’s been the previous Fortress Lord who turned mountain peaks and basins into plains.

Jeong Yeon-shin asked late with his back to the One Hundred Eight Arhat Formation.

—You?

—…I haven’t made a single strike, you know? Just running with World’s Fastest Technique drains my energy. Do you miss your first disciple?

A voice with laughter like a breeze. Jeong Yeon-shin nodded.

—I miss you. I’ll come see you soon.

Shin So-bin’s words stopped.

Come to think of it, Lightning Genius martial lineage successors were weak to affection. Only Jeong Yeon-shin’s words continued calmly.

—Maintain distance well. If you die, this fight loses meaning. At least to me.

—Hard to call myself first disciple if I can’t measure conventional fighting distance.

That was it.

Jeong Yeon-shin let Shin So-bin’s voice go from his ears without regret, and Shin So-bin returned to her original role. The mission of leading Wei Gun-hye to a certain land.

“……”

Jeong Yeon-shin briefly looked back at the scenery behind him. The horizon where pitch-black night air and gentle moonlight created equilibrium. At that dim boundary line, those he’d passed flickered like embers. As if to burn eternally.

He muttered somewhat dazedly.

“One step to here.”

“Hm?”

Wandering Star asked back, but Jeong Yeon-shin silently turned his back on them. While weaving a book in his mind. An imaginary tome with nothing written on any page.

“Then what can we do?”

“Eat some sweets.”

Lim Jin-ming and the faded monarch’s conversation faintly dug into his ears. Together with the presence of Baek Seo-gun standing awkwardly between them like his own life.

Kwaaak!

Jeong Yeon-shin roughly gripped Wandering Star’s nape. Before he could say anything, with his opposite hand he roughly drew Remaining Thunder. Resulting in a sword stroke like someone who became the Orthodox Path’s Greatest Sword.

Simultaneously.

“I understand what you’re scheming. If you insist on walking that path…”

A voice coolly digging into his ears. Taoist Sanfeng’s voice continued over the distorted scenery.

“You yourself may come to be called the Heavenly Demon of this era. At least all creation will perceive it so. Taoists who read heavenly signs will see it that way too.”

“You only live once. Isn’t there only one important thing?”

The tree roots’ Form Shifting Void. Jeong Yeon-shin stepped into the hazily rippling space and concluded.

“How do I view the world?”

Thud.

That single step overlapped with thunder. It spread from the sky. Jeong Yeon-shin knew without confirming. Footprint shapes were engraved in the dim sea of clouds.

It was a precursor to Transcendent Martial Art.