Chapter 97 – Divine Sword Squad (3)

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Translated by Nine Heavens!

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***

Jeong Yeon-shin didn’t particularly mind.

The Divine Sword Group Leader hadn’t made him retreat because of some promised reward. It had simply turned out that way.

What struck him more was the disconnect between the Group Leader’s multifaceted personality.

The absolute master, who had displayed divine might, was now speaking like a frivolous person. It was truly awkward.

“Group Leader, you pulled a trick. You deceived him.”

Yeon Soha frowned as she continued speaking.

“I knew it would be like this. It’s always like this. The ones who bring shame to the main squad are Grandmother Evil and the Group Leader. You’re lowering your dignity to rock bottom in front of a junior you just met.”

“No, it wasn’t a lie.”

The Divine Sword Group Leader shook his head.

“Lightning Genius. I hope you don’t misunderstand. I was talking about a relationship with the Divine Sword Group. It’s something worth being proud of…”

“Such shamelessness. Seems convenient for treating the internal injuries from the fierce battle.”

Yue Shou-lin, standing with one leg bent, said with a smirk. Her demeanor was akin to that of a town ruffian.

With a girl’s face, seemingly as young as Jeong Yeon-shin’s, she mocked the Divine Sword Group Leader. The boy thought she was peculiar too.

“This Group Leader keeps his promises. How about this, come travel with us in the main squad until we pass Xiangyang?”

“Can’t go to the main fortress. We still have ongoing duties. It’s always like this… no time to rest.”

Yeon Soha quickly interjected.

“…”

Jeong Yeon-shin didn’t answer. He simply stared blankly at the Divine Sword Group Leader.

As their gazes met, the Group Leader slightly turned his head, adjusting his purple garments—a stark contrast to his appearance during battle.

That’s when it happened.

It started subtly.

Jeong Yeon-shin suddenly felt vibrations beneath his feet. They were different from the aftershocks of the battle.

It was a strange rumbling, rising from far away. Slowly, faintly, it layered and dug into the soles of their feet.

“Ah…?”

Yue Shou-lin’s face changed to bewilderment.

The sound coming from above was unsettling and gradually growing louder.

In less than a breath, everyone present seemed to sense it.

Simultaneously, the crowds stretched along the ridge began to scatter, shouting.

“Mountain god…! The mountain god is angry!”

“Could this be divine punishment for Desolate Fortress’ evil deeds?”

“Landslide! It’s a landslide!”

Voices from those tied to the Namgung Family of Huizhou mixed in, but no one paid them attention.

“Should we leave now?”

Yue Shou-lin’s dazed mumbling marked the start. Energy waves rose from the bodies of Divine Sword Group masters, including Yeon Soha and the Group Leader.

“This is all because the Group Leader had such a flashy fight with the Namgung Family Head…”

“Move to the rear! Take care of White Qilin first!”

The word landslide was right. Dust rose from several huge peaks flanking Clear Night Valley.

It was an extremely thick, massive yellow-brown dust cloud. Rocks and soil began sliding down together.

Rumble!

Jeong Yeon-shin glanced sideways at Namgung Hwa-shin. A senior member of the Divine Sword Group with a towering physique was carrying him like a bundle.

The duel’s end had been caused by nature itself—a disaster brought on by the fierce battle between the Divine Sword Group Leader and the Namgung Family Head.

‘With human bodies, they created a natural disaster.’

Pak!

Jeong Yeon-shin ran alongside the senior carrying Namgung Hwa-shin. The senior was a handsome middle-aged man.

He smiled at Jeong Yeon-shin, then startled upon seeing Ma Yeon-jeok keeping pace beside the boy.

“What are you doing? Did you trade your martial energy for a slug’s?”

Yue Shou-lin, running ahead, called back sharply.

With a spear strapped to her small back, she appeared the most composed among the Divine Sword Group warriors.

Even while running, she kept turning her body this way and that. Only her face, that of a young girl, betrayed her composed demeanor.

The faintly smiling Divine Sword Group Leader, however, was the problem.

His movements were sluggish. Considering his martial arts supremacy, it was hard to believe. 

He actually seemed to be struggling to keep up.

His ki energy, once neat and orderly, was now tangled like thread.

Jeong Yeon-shin’s eyes widened slightly.

The Group Leader’s internal injuries are severe. 

‘The qi consumption too… I can’t even estimate it.’

He recalled the moment after the Namgung Family Head’s death. Yue Shou-lin had casually told the Group Leader to compose his breathing technique.

In broad daylight, with countless martial artists watching, what must have been the weight carried by the strongest warrior under the Desolate Fortress Lord?

Jeong Yeon-shin newly realized the position of Desolate Fortress.

They must not show weakness to anyone.

Showing vulnerability in front of the various martial arts sects? From that moment, the challenges Desolate Fortress would face…

‘It’s unimaginable.’

The boy thought.

And he became completely certain. The Divine Sword Group Leader was now hiding his internal injuries with superhuman endurance and martial might.

He imagined the other side of the duel that ended with overwhelming speed. There must have been a desperate all-out effort by the Group Leader.

They said each of the Eight Family Heads could act as an absolute being in the murim.

Could any warrior face the Namgung Family Head and remain unscathed? Besides the transcendent Desolate Fortress Lord, no one came to mind.

Even with his very limited knowledge, that seemed true throughout the central plains.

The Divine Sword Group Leader escaping with just severe internal injuries was an almost unrealistic existence.

“Group Leader, shall I carry you?” Yeon Soha asked lightly.

***

Read only at nineheavens.org

Translated by Nine Heavens!

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***

Jeong Yeon-shin wasn’t the only one who noticed. The Divine Sword Group was Desolate Fortress’ premier fighting force. Many among them possessed insight no less sharp than the boy’s.

Even though their leader didn’t openly show his condition, they couldn’t fail to perceive the unnatural state of the purple-robed master.

Several members had already quietly surrounded the Divine Sword Group Leader.

“Hmm. That would be too conspicuous,” the Group Leader muttered, not denying his state.

“Don’t talk to me, all of you. It’s difficult,” he said, forcing himself onward while joking. His thick thighs moved his body with sheer physical strength.

Despite his scholarly appearance, his physique was robust and highly trained. Yet his qi energy, which should have supported him, seemed absent.

STEP!

Jeong Yeon-shin moved slightly forward, observing up close. 

It became clearer. Each step the Group Leader took was heavy. At this point, it wasn’t a matter of skill—it was pure stamina being tested.

Rumble!

“We need to get somewhere out of sight quickly,” Yeon Soha muttered, her voice strained amid the thunderous sounds following them.

Though she appeared to be among the youngest members of the Divine Sword Group, her light and airy demeanor had vanished.

Yue Shou-lin was no different. Her gaze frequently darted toward the Group Leader as she irritably flicked strands of hair away from her face.

“Faster! We don’t know how far this will spread!”

“All those over there… are they from Desolate Fortress? Already here?”

Among the paths weaving through Clear Night Valley’s ridges and ravines, numerous warriors were fleeing.

Every one of them was trained in lightness skills. Their sidelong glances toward the Desolate Fortress masters, including the Group Leader, held an unsettling air.

Huizhou of South Zhili was Namgung Family territory. How many among the fleeing martial artists harbored grudges against the lineage members who had died today?

And how many were bound by ties of mutual interest, anger, or loyalty?

“If we could just perform a single true qi circulation, it would get better…” Yue Shou-lin bit her lip slightly.

The Divine Sword Group’s speed was too slow for their reputation. It was clear they were matching the Group Leader’s pace, burdened as he was by internal injuries.

“Only the Group Leader himself could manage that while using lightness skills,” Yeon Soha whispered as her eyes scanned the surroundings.

Among the fleeing warriors, some had enough composure to observe. That made their current pace dangerous.

At this speed, if the Divine Sword Group stayed within sight of their peers, suspicions would inevitably grow.

‘It’s fortunate we’re far enough away. Even masters couldn’t hear ordinary voices at this distance.’

But it would be better if they were in the presence of common people instead. The head of Desolate Fortress’ Divine Sword Group could not appear weak before martial artists.

Boom! Rumble!

Now, even the inner walls of the ravine were collapsing. Nature’s wrath, triggered by martial arts, pressed forward as an unstoppable disaster.

Jeong Yeon-shin observed the expressions of the Divine Sword Group masters. Their composure—once strong enough to joke even in calamity—was slipping.

This was a crisis. With the eyes of the martial world fixed on this incident, no small number of enemies would seek to exploit any weakness in Desolate Fortress.

‘Assumptions and certainty are worlds apart.’

Could two or three of the Eight Family Heads working together to kill the Divine Sword Group Leader? 

Anyone could speculate about that.

But actually showing weakness was another matter entirely. The time and place were critical.

“Group Leader, breathe properly! We’re in big trouble! After all the chaos you’ve caused!”

“There’s an enormous number gathered here. Seems like three or four of the Thirteen Evil Sects came to watch. If things go wrong, there’s a crowd of b*st*rds who’d attack us first in a joint effort. Without the Group Leader, it’s immediate bloodshed.”

“Baek Girin will surely die.”

The Divine Sword Group masters, including Yeon Soha, called out desperately through their breaths.

It was almost comical. Jeong Yeon-shin thought this calmly. Shouldn’t they just use sound transmission instead?

The Group Leader chuckled, summoning strength into his body. His long breaths escaped through tightly clenched lips.

He looked like a wounded tiger pretending to be unscathed while fleeing.

Packs of wildcats were scattering in all directions. Desolate Fortress, by its very nature, was an enemy of the entire murim.

Even the Nine Orthodox Sects, like Zhongnan and Shaolin, who treated Jeong Yeon-shin cordially, would not hesitate to show hostility.

“Grandfather.”

“Speak, Yeon-shin.”

Ma Yeon-jeok answered calmly. Despite the situation, he ran with the ease of an unorthodox immortal.

“Can’t you use lightness skills while circulating true qi to calm internal injuries? You’re a purple master, after all.”

Jeong Yeon-shin asked directly. At the purple level, one should have cultivated all three dantians to their peak.

Dividing energy usage was entirely within the realm of mastery.

“…It’s difficult right now.”

Ma Yeon-jeok fell silent for a moment before speaking again.

“Ma family martial arts are rough and fast. They build quickly and disperse just as swiftly. Unlike the orthodox techniques of the Nine Sects, maintaining consistency is difficult. It’s easier to gain power in youth but hard to sustain.”

“That’s why you’ve been Group Leader since your green youth,” Yue Shou-lin quipped, now closer.

Ma Yeon-jeok’s eyes bulged. “Green youth? Yue family brat, back then you were a snot-nosed kid yourself!”

“Must be nice, being old. And what’s with ‘green youth’ and ‘snot-nosed’? Let’s maintain some dignity, former Group Leader,” she retorted before her gaze shifted.

Her eyes met Jeong Yeon-shin’s through her flowing hair. She flicked her jet-black strands, darker than her black robe.

“Hey, kid. You’ve got a way, right? You’ve been rolling those sharp eyes around since earlier.”

“…Yes.”

“Come to think of it, you seem good with your upper dantian. Your hand movements showed it. Your time perception was strange despite not entering the realm of ascension. Right! Hurry! Do it quickly!”

The reverse-aged Yue Shou-lin indeed had exceptional vision.

Jeong Yeon-shin paused, considering. Yue Shou-lin chattered urgently.

“Why? What’s the problem?”

“Having the Group Leader entrust his life gate to a martial artist he just met…”

“What do you mean?”

The one who asked was the Divine Sword Group Leader. By now, his breathing had grown visibly rough.

Simultaneously, warning voices rang out from either side of the Divine Sword Group’s formation.

“They’re from the Martial Dragon Association? They’re coming down the ravine, intent on checking things out. If the Group Leader released one burst of energy, they’d turn back immediately.”

“The Deep Martial Alliance is also on the upper left. And there’s the Female Spirit and Blood 

Flame Sect too. Those blood demons never seem to be eradicated.”

Among them were four of the Thirteen Evil Sects.

Yue Shou-lin pressed closer to Jeong Yeon-shin. Her qi energy carried a faint but distinct fragrance.

“Lightning Genius. Is that blue robe and flashy golden ‘Desolate’ character just decoration? If you don’t trust yourself, what can you trust? Group Leader, say something. This kid’s qi sense is extraordinary!”

“Lightning Genius. This seat permits you to lay hands on my precious body,” the Group Leader quipped, playful even in crisis.

Yue Shou-lin grabbed Jeong Yeon-shin’s hand and guided it to the Group Leader’s back without hesitation.

Her small hand, returned to a young girl’s form, was unexpectedly soft.

‘The calluses are shallow. Reverse aging isn’t all good,’ 

Jeong Yeon-shin thought as he raised the Jeong family’s qi circulation technique.

For reverse aging to completely erase a body trained through years of hard work, it was something to be considered only in old age.

Perhaps because they had crossed a significant mountain, Jeong Yeon-shin’s thoughts wandered even as he placed his hand on the Group Leader’s back.

‘Old age…? Right. First, I want to grow old.’

The boy wished for it.

He needed to survive long enough to contemplate the topic Azure Qilin had left behind.

***

Read only at nineheavens.org

Translated by Nine Heavens!

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***

Edited by Mgt