Chapter 263 – Ascension (13)

The wheel formation battle continued.

Dozens of warriors circled Jeong Yeon-shin in a wide ring, rotating ceaselessly.

They blocked the Radiant Demon Wing Leader’s Myriad Heavens Flower Rain and restricted his freedom of movement.

The front and rear lines alternated frequently, with only eight approaching at a time to encircle him. Truly from all eight directions.

The Water King Sect Leader’s fist techniques, now cautious, bore the brunt of the heavy strikes.

Though white path warriors attacked from the outer perimeter, it was not enough to sway the battle.

Boom! Clang clang clang!

Each time the Brilliant River in his left hand grazed the air, white snow exploded upward.

A single strike burst two or three bodies along with their weapons. Blood splattered across the snow, raising white steam.

Only the Myriad Heavens Flower Rain was sealed by the front line’s rotation.

Nearby rocks shattered into fragments, and thick ancient trees collapsed from their roots alongside severed limbs.

The Thirteen Evil Sects’ masters, once bearing inhuman killing intent, began showing signs of exhaustion.

The Brilliant River’s consecutive strikes must have been beyond their expectations.

They seemed relieved it was not a technique that could explode endlessly like sword energy.

Due to its strong recoil, gaps existed between each strike.

Blood trickled from Jeong Yeon-shin’s upper body, wrapped in bandages beneath his robe.

This wheel formation was designed from the outset to counter the Radiant Demon Wing Leader. Three major factions of the Thirteen Evil Sects had united with dozens of warriors.

With the Water King Sect Leader, arguably the strongest among their subordinate factions, present, enduring this effortlessly would mean Jeong Yeon-shin was the Desolate Divine Sword or the Divine Sword Squad Leader.

A one-on-one life-and-death duel was a different realm.

Boom! Slash!

The moment he unleashed the ever-active Brilliant River again, spear thrusts from behind grazed his back.

A sharp pain flared.

He had twisted his body to avoid penetration.

As he prepared to counter with the Light Sword’s Gentle Blade strike, another front line pushed through the Brilliant River’s energy waves, stepping over blood, bone fragments, and some thirty corpses to deliver sword and saber blows.

Jeong Yeon-shin swung the Northern Light Sword directly.

Clang clang clang!

The wind of energy waves roaring in his ears was deafening.

It was the Thunder-Annihilation Sword Technique’s Nine Verdant Rivers Form, unleashing accumulated energy waves, but they now rotated their front lines frequently to minimize the damage of each strike.

They were on the verge of retreating before clashing blades. Their petty tricks were shallow.

‘It is endless.’

White trajectories of clashing weapons, opaque gusts of palm winds, blood and flesh scattering in fierce exchanges…

A scene that imposed silence even on onlookers.

The Radiant Demon Wing Leader of this era moved like a god of martial arts.

With his robe’s front undone, blood staining the bandages on his upper body red, he relentlessly unleashed earth-shaking destructive force.

Despite the wheel formation’s relentless replenishment from all eight directions, he allowed no decisive blow.

His movement patterns were so mystical they almost seemed beautiful.

“A supreme master specialized in short battles, they said…”

The Young Lord’s slender fingers tapped the armrest.

“His foot technique grows stronger over time. We must harshly reprimand those gathering frontline intelligence.”

“A supreme master of Desolate Fortress’s black robe caliber naturally possesses some divine ability. His stamina is clearly waning. His wounds are noticeably numerous. At this rate, he will at best perish alongside the wheel formation.”

The black-robed woman guarding the palanquin said.

The Young Lord shook his head.

“Protector So, step in. Did I not tell you before? We must beware of that monstrous strength’s ‘ascension.’ His studies differ, but he is akin to the Ming Cult’s young leader. Beyond the grasp of mortals like us. A sprout like that must be cut down in time.”

“If I leave, who will protect you, Young Lord?”

Protector So Yun-ryeo asked bluntly. A dizzying smile formed on the Young Lord’s lips.

“Then you must return unscathed, Protector. You alone are responsible for my safety. Besides, you cannot lose out there.”

“…I will return. Stay vigilant.”

The next moment, a sword appeared in So Yun-ryeo’s grip where none had been. Her sword draw was like a flash of light.

At the same time, her form vanished.

Boom!

A fierce wind belatedly blew. The terrifying reverse gust of her lightness technique scattered the piled snow, carving concentric patterns.

In an instant, So Yun-ryeo crossed over thirty zhang, slashing downward at the Radiant Demon Wing Leader.

Behind her, the energy wave trails of her sword strike exploded in blue streaks.

The Young Lord smiled faintly at Lightning Genius.

“I heard of his encounter with the Azure Qilin. The ferry toll for the Three Rivers of the underworld, replaced by such rampant use of the Brilliant River…”

Then.

Jeong Yeon-shin sidestepped half a pace while swinging the Northern Light Sword widely, forcing the enemies back.

Did they think the end was near? The wheel formation’s masters and the Water King Sect Leader did not charge immediately. Wei Shi-he even smiled alone.

“Truly astounding. You could leave Desolate Fortress now and found your own faction. How you refined such unique martial arts… It is a pity your life ends here.”

“Water King Sect Leader. There was an order to end this.”

It was when So Yun-ryeo, landing on one side of the wheel formation, spoke.

***

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Translated by Nine Heavens!

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***

Thump.

A massive pulse surged from Jeong Yeon-shin’s body.

In that moment, a resonance none else felt set his upper dantian ablaze in white.

The speed of thought in his mind accelerated like lightning, then kept accelerating further.

Even the energy wave fragments brushing his ears colorlessly seemed slow.

‘It is indeed a crisis.’

Jeong Yeon-shin thought, suppressing sharp pain.

The martial world was a forest of monsters.

Its nature, like a snake, forbade any single tree’s dominance.

It quietly coiled around a sapling that rapidly stood out, watching, then tightened abruptly once the prey grew enough to be fully ensnared.

In the distant past, the Shaanxi First Demon had been slain by Desolate Fortress’s Young Leader.

Jeong Yeon-shin’s crisis was inevitable. Though the degree differed, had not all black robes faced this?

Thus, the Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown was necessary. A state where swift energy control allowed escape even from such suffocating wheel formations of great factions.

The value of a supreme master, called a foe of ten thousand, was said to shine in agile evasion.

‘But…’

His upper dantian, denying him a long life, was a shackle even for the Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown.

He had pondered in secluded training.

‘If my heavenly fate prevents the unity of spirit and energy…’

—I will ascend a stronger path.

Hum.

The moment he reaffirmed his resolve, the Dharma Luminous Wheel Technique filling all his acupoints reacted.

The inner energy temperament within him split into opposites.

Auspicious and sinister true energy churned violently in his body.

His innate sense unraveled the sorcery array’s mantra, melting its principles into his entirety, fully mastering and embodying the martial logic he had perfected.

The luminous wheel in his heart spun fiercely.

Boom. With a drum-like sound, an unfathomable force surged from his twelve meridians and every minor vessel. It felt as if his body might tear apart.

It was fine. His mother was embracing him. His body, forged by the Jeong Family Dynamic Technique, withstood the recoil.

Even this was a fleeting instant. He had prepared the activation amid the fierce battle.

He wielded true energy as delicately as fabric.

He etched a map of consistent inner energy control into the nerves scattering from his mind to his body, structuring it to ignite with intent as the wick.

He tried, and it worked. He was never dull in matters of martial arts.

‘Now, here, I unleash it.’

The Dharma Luminous Wheel Technique’s hue vanished. The energy waves of the refined Brilliant River, once flowing white from his body, turned transparent.

The polished Brilliant River’s aura rippled silently through hundreds of meridians, emitting immense vibrations from his skin.

In that fleeting moment, Jeong Yeon-shin steeled his mind clearly. He reaffirmed the intent to meld into the true energy structure and inner energy flow as the finishing touch.

One temperament stood out vividly. The imagery of the Three Rivers of the underworld, a one-way path with no return.

In an instant, the snowfield spread white beneath his feet lost its light.

Woo woo woo woo!

It was a profoundly strange sight.

The outlines of energy, stretching outward like transparent leaves from his body, reflected as is.

Bursting ceaselessly alone, it resembled a lifeless lightning venting fury.

From the colorless lightning encircling Jeong Yeon-shin’s body, a thunderous rumble spread.

The Radiant Demon Wing Leader stood within a vast flower of lightning.

A single blossom. It was a qigong replacing the Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown, a lotus adrift on the Three Rivers, a lightning ceaselessly flashing before death.

And it was Lightning Genius Jeong Yeon-shin himself.

Brilliant River, Ultimate Thunder.

“…”

He gripped the sword slightly downward.

Boom!

With a dull roar, the ground beneath his feet caved as if struck by lightning.

Not a trace of snow remained. The aftermath of a small movement revealed dry, moistureless yellow earth.

At the same time, excruciating pain engulfed his right arm entirely.

It felt as if it were being torn off. Even unleashing such profound sword force, his body could not endure it.

It was not yet usable for multiple strikes.

‘I need proper protective energy. At least a divine technique.’

Jeong Yeon-shin shifted only his eyes, locking onto the Water King Sect Leader and the intruding swordswoman in turn.

The Water King Sect Leader stared at him with a mix of doubt and shock. As if facing something unfathomable in the martial world.

The black-robed swordswoman’s face was relatively calm. It seemed her natural disposition.

‘Keep the clash short.’

Little time remained. It was incomparable to maintaining the constant activation of the Brilliant River palm technique. A martial art mirroring its creator’s roots. Still a fleeting, terminally limited span.

The time his mother could embrace him had limits. The longer it activated, the greater the recoil he would face.

He felt it instinctively. Only the span of a single exhalation was granted.

Beyond that, lingering would render him unable to withstand the recoil.

Half a breath.

His consciousness plunged into an abyss. He entered a state of selfless focus. Jeong Yeon-shin could regulate his mind’s state at will.

‘Three moves to end it.’

He did not bother opening his mouth.

He simply stepped forward, sword in hand. A faint crunch sounded briefly beneath his feet.

The surroundings blurred, and the Water King Sect Leader’s bold face filled his vision. Fierce wind roared behind him.

Unfazed by the man’s startled expression, he swung upward. The wide-eyed Water King Sect Leader could not instantly adapt to the sudden speed.

His attempt to raise both hands in defense appeared sluggish. By black robe standards, he was the weakest.

Had Senior Jin of the Blood Guardian Squad felt this way watching him during his ascension?

The wheel formation warriors around were worse. Slugs unable to roll.

They could no longer enter Jeong Yeon-shin’s time. Banished from the realm of one-on-one.

‘First move.’

A strange sensation. His body followed his mind’s speed remarkably well.

The upper dantian blooming with a flower of light and the body wreathed in transparent lightning flowers felt somewhat aligned.

Before the Water King Sect Leader’s hands could fully generate defensive energy waves, the Northern Light Sword grazed his right shoulder.

It was as if the air was sucked into the cool, fan-shaped trajectory. Soon, a deafening explosion roared like a thunderclap.

Jeong Yeon-shin raised the sword and turned his step. He only saw the strike’s aftermath begin to crush the Water King Sect Leader’s shoulder.

The blast had not fully resounded. Without confirming, he kicked off toward the side.

The intruding black-robed swordswoman charged in. She was formidable.

Wielding a heavy sword with thick muscles, she slashed downward, a storm of powerful energy waves sweeping outward.

Snow surged violently from the ground.

The two swordmasters closed in rapidly.

Their eyes met, and they understood each other’s intent.

‘One clash to decide.’

Jeong Yeon-shin twisted his leaping step.

His body spun with the sword. Black robes fluttered fiercely, stirring a dragon’s ascent with the blade. At that moment, the two swords clashed horizontally and vertically.

There was no struggle. The silver vortex shattered her heavy sword outright. The force amassed in the strike, the level of foot technique, was different.

The black-robed swordswoman’s eyes widened for the first time.

In the supreme masters’ realm, it happened in an instant. Even the metal fragments from her chewed-up sword were crushed and repelled by the Northern Light Sword’s pressure.

She should not have clashed head-on; a single misjudgment decided the outcome. The sword’s whirlwind, spun in one rotation, swept through her and her heavy sword.

Boom boom boom.

The earth trembled.

The terrifying sword strike’s wave shook the snowfield. As blood etched the sky, the snow consumed by the giant lightning flower burned away without a trace.

The realm of ascension. Forcibly breaking into the true black robe’s world. Ultimate Thunder—Brilliant River’s full-body constant activation.

Thud.

The Radiant Demon Wing Leader’s steps, exhaling two-thirds of a breath, never paused.

They headed straight for Yu Ling’s Young Lord, still unable to grasp the situation. In this moment, Jeong Yeon-shin was a silently bursting thunderbolt.