Chapter 290 – Lotus (9)

As soon as Jeong Yeon-shin returned to the Gongya family estate, he sent out a white swallow messenger to inform his senior black-ranks of the situation. At the same time, he broadly expanded his energy sense to scan the surroundings.

His identity had been discovered by the Yan Family’s First Fist. Assessing the repercussions of that was the priority.

Perhaps due to his improved martial arts attainment, he felt the power imbued in Zhuge Clan Leader’s gaze even more intensely.

Honestly, it did not approach the realm of humanity. He was someone who had become a peerless master by refining martial arts Jeong Yeon-shin had never encountered to the extreme.

‘It doesn’t seem like she revealed my identity.’

Jeong Yeon-shin thought.

The black-ranks of Desolate Fortress are at the pinnacle of the martial world.

They are greatly feared yet receive treatment befitting their status in any martial sect.

While the sect leaders of major factions are perceived as distant existences like mountain peaks obscured by clouds, the supreme masters just below them are a tangible threat.

It was a status representing a major sect.

The current Radiant Demon Wing Leader’s rank was no less than the Gongya and Gui family heads revered in Shanxi.

If his identity had been revealed, there should have been an uproar by now. At the very least, some suspicious signs should have appeared.

‘The Yan Family’s First Fist’s temperament seemed to have changed a lot. Still, it’s hard to know for certain.’

Valor Fist Lord Yan Hwa-ryeon.

She was Zhuge Clan Leader’s companion.

The look in her eyes when they met had been strange, but he couldn’t blindly trust that. He had to consider the possibility of Zhuge Clan Leader appearing at the Gongya family estate.

Fortunately, his accursed upper dantian was denying that possibility, but even so.

His immediate survival was at stake. Just imagining the worst case scenario made cold sweat run down his spine.

For the first time during a mission, he deeply worried about dying prematurely due to external factors. He had heard that several of his black-rank seniors from previous generations had died during missions.

Crack.

How should he respond to a peerless master’s mystical martial arts?

Jeong Yeon-shin sat cross-legged on a smooth wooden chair, making cracking sounds as he wrapped his thumb with his fist.

‘I’ll have to utilize footwork, lightness skills, and body techniques. Somehow close the distance and land a single decisive strike on a vital point. Whether with Thunder-Annihilation Sword Style or Brilliant River.’

It wouldn’t be as simple as what immediately came to mind. Even Desolate Fortress, which dealt with intelligence, had few clues about Zhuge Clan Leader’s martial arts.

The nature, trajectories, and directions of his techniques were all like that. Unlike an absolute being, he was an insidious character.

Wind and Rain Transformation.

The only information was that he could summon wind and rain close to natural disasters. It was right to formulate battle tactics assuming he was facing the forces of nature.

Fortunately, he had the constellation lightness skill he had derived from Cheong Myeong’s younger brother.

He had to assess his chances by incorporating all the martial arts he had created so far into his protective energy technique.

Hoo―

As his thoughts progressed, Jeong Yeon-shin’s breathing deepened.

Long inhalations and exhalations intertwined into a single passage, drawing his consciousness inward. Mental cultivation. It was a meditation method devised by wise monkeys.

The image of Zhuge Clan Leader, with whom he had exchanged a single move at the Martial Alliance meeting, gradually became clearer.

Inhumanly cold eyes, elegant fan feathers, a strange energy circulation as if existing alone in the world, the enormous gaze he had felt just recently…

As the image intensified, it approached with an overwhelming size. It was suffocating.

His heart pounded repeatedly as he visualized hundreds of branching trajectories through Ten Li Gentle Light, Myriad Heavens Flower Rain, and Thunder-Annihilation Sword Style.

He freshly realized that he might die regardless of his upper dantian.

‘Hm?’

Amidst that, a familiar energy wave suddenly entered his perception. It was unconsciously received with a warm feeling.

It couldn’t be helped. It was an energy wave that bloomed like the light of dawn, following the verses he had painstakingly composed while thinking of monkeys.

His mind instantly became calm.

Family had arrived. It was Radiant Demon Wing’s presence.

***

Read only at nineheavens.org

Translated by Nine Heavens!

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***

The Radiant Demon Wing colleagues who couldn’t keep up with Ten Li Gentle Light belatedly gathered. The cozy brown room filled with powerful energy waves.

Hyeon Won-chang, Shin So-bin, Lazy Flame Dragon, and Zhuge Qing-ya sat around a square table along with their squad leader.

Since his identity had been discovered by Yan Hwa-ryeon, there was no reason to act overly cautious.

As soon as she leaned back in her chair, Shin So-bin opened her mouth.

“Senior Poppy caused trouble. I clearly tried to stop him, but he didn’t even pretend to listen and barged in. It’s not the first time this has happened. Speaking of which, the palanquin victory procession last time… mmph.”

A transparent haze rippled around her and her mouth froze. It seemed her acupoint had been sealed.

Faint heat rose from the fingertips of Lazy Flame Dragon sitting next to her. He had suddenly unleashed a finger wind.

It was a common sight. Radiant Demon Wing was originally famous for being combative.

Jeong Yeon-shin, sitting at the head seat, tilted his head slightly to the side.

“Palanquin victory procession?”

“It was quite a splendid event. Not something worth paying attention to from the squad leader’s position. It was entertainment for the subordinates who completed their mission.”

Lazy Flame Dragon said, blowing on his fingers to extinguish the steam.

The dark circles under his eyes had deepened slightly, as if he hadn’t been sleeping well lately, but his face was unusually solemn.

Jeong Yeon-shin let it be. There were many accumulated issues.

“The Desolate Divine Hero doesn’t look well. Did something happen?”

He asked as the squad leader.

Hyeon Won-chang smiled faintly on one side. He looked somewhat deflated, which was unlike him, but the answer came from Lazy Flame Dragon.

“His face was pale white from when we set out. Well, if anything serious happened, he’d surely tell us. While making a big fuss about it.”

“Is he really alright?”

Only after Jeong Yeon-shin asked again did Hyeon Won-chang open his mouth.

“The squad leader need not be concerned. I just don’t have good memories of my homeland.”

“How regrettable. It seems the Great Tongue Sword and this young master have something in common.”

There was no one to respond to Lazy Flame Dragon’s languid quip. He chuckled to himself, then glanced at Jeong Yeon-shin and made an “oops” expression, but even that didn’t elicit a reaction.

The conversation among the youthful members of Radiant Demon Wing quickly moved on to the next topic.

“I exchanged moves with the Yan Family’s First Fist. Zhuge Clan Leader wasn’t there.”

Jeong Yeon-shin said.

Shin So-bin and Lazy Flame Dragon immediately reacted.

“You mean Valor Fist Lord Yan Hwa-ryeon saw the squad leader? Everything’s ruined. Because of Senior Poppy too…!” … “That’s nothing. Now that I think about it, our squad leader’s situation is much bigger. Anyway, how did it go? You must have blown off one of her arms? She might already be paying the ferryman of the River Styx.”

Jeong Yeon-shin didn’t answer and suddenly looked at Zhuge Qing-ya.

He had told her about the mission before departing from the main branch. However, he hadn’t received a proper response yet.

“It’s regrettable.”

He said.

“……”

Zhuge Clan Leader’s daughter lowered her long eyelashes.

Brushing her black hair tied with white silk behind her neck, she bowed her head slightly towards Jeong Yeon-shin at the head seat.

Tranquil Depth Gaze Zhuge Qing-ya.

She was the younger sister of Fan Dragon Zhuge Xian. She had been instrumental in helping Jeong Yeon-shin complete his Eye Technique.

“…It should have been done at the Martial Alliance meeting.”

A low voice flowed from her lips as she raised her head.

“He was already walking the path of demonic cultivation when I was young. Countless collateral relatives were sacrificed. He used my eyes to observe the results of implanting new energy circulation pathways for mystical martial arts in their bodies, and over a hundred starved to death as he studied freely switching between the life and death gates of formations. They were all used to perfect his martial arts.”

Zhuge Qing-ya continued with difficulty.

“…I saw countless living bodies being torn apart. Extracting methods to break martial arts through autopsies was actually easier. My brother learned formations amidst corpses.”

“So that Fan Dragon b*st*rd wasn’t raised entirely gently.”

Lazy Flame Dragon said with a long yawn. The way he nodded vaguely suggested he had seen similar things in the Hwangbo family.

He had said before that martial families couldn’t be called righteous factions.

The topic moved on in a somewhat heavy atmosphere.

“I heard you knocked out the Shanxi aristocrats. Will it restrict your movements to that extent?”

“The big guy seemed to see my face when his eyes rolled back… but what does that matter? How could the worthless eyes of lowly creatures capture this young master’s precious face? Even the squad leader’s appearance doesn’t mean much, right?”

“…Find a separate safe house and lay low. It’s dangerous here. This is no place to wander around with shoddy disguises anymore. I’ll call for you separately if there’s a use for you.”

“Just make sure to stock up on alcohol. I have plenty of herbs.”

“You sure like your herbs.”

***

It was two days later.

Was it fate? They say the major events of the martial world unfold indifferently like the great flow of the Yangtze River. Jeong Yeon-shin felt a fierce twist of fortune.

Corpses were strung up in a row in the marketplace north of Pingyang Prefecture where the Gongya family was based.

Ominous rumors spread. Among those tied to stakes was said to be the body of a peerless handsome young man holding a fan.

The local officials of Pingyang Prefecture remained silent.

It was hard to know whether they had been bribed with wealth hard to refuse during the famine, or if their lives were being held hostage by extremely powerful masters. Either case seemed plausible.

Martial Alliance.

Tyrant Sword Sect, Yu Ling, and the newly established Transcendence City Sect.

The behind-the-scenes struggle between major factions had surfaced.

As the Tyrant Sword Sect and Yu Ling drew their swords to drive out the Martial Alliance situated at the edge of Shaanxi, Zhuge Clan Leader’s Transcendence City Sect had finally risen up.

To anyone watching, they appeared to be on the same side, with this occurring amidst their own power struggle.

Many people witnessed the placard hung above the corpses’ heads.

―The self-proclaimed Martial Alliance shall not interfere with Transcendence City Sect’s affairs. Who else but myself dares to claim to be the legitimate successor of the Zhuge martial lineage? Only Valor Fist Lord Yan Hwa-ryeon has fully inherited the history of the Yan family’s fist arts.

It was said to be written in a majestic calligraphy style brimming with intimidation.

The Zhuge Clan Leader, with an appearance that seemed to transcend the mortal realm, had personally written it while treading on air.

There was an addendum as well.

―Transcendence City Sect has truly established its foundation, and thus wishes to recruit those of outstanding talent into its ranks. We shall observe the Shanxi martial arts tournament.

The Martial Alliance’s pursuit squad that had received news of Transcendence City Sect’s establishment was instead annihilated by him.

Among them was Zhuge Clan Leader’s own son, and the corpse of Fan Dragon Zhuge Xian was secretly moved by his sister and her companions under the cover of night.

To the annex of Sky-Jade Sect Leader Geom Woon-bi at the Gongya family estate.

“A pursuit squad had to be sent. Even if there was no chance of victory, it’s the same. Leaking martial arts? Those martial world b*st*rds would rather have their own blood drawn.”

There was no inflection in Lazy Flame Dragon’s tone. Of the three who had formed a friendship centered around Azure Qilin Namgung Se-jin, two had died.

“It’s as if they’re mocking my short-lived fate. Those b*st*ds who used to prattle on about the Four Books and Five Classics with healthy bodies.”

Rustle.

The corpse lowered by Zhuge Qing-ya’s trembling hands.

His pale face with features as if carved stood out. His body had been preserved by Zhuge Clan Leader’s exquisite acupoint sealing.

He must have done so to display Transcendence City Sect’s power, but thanks to that, Fan Dragon was still handsome.

Even the hand firmly gripping the blood-stained fan still looked strong.

The current Radiant Demon Wing Leader had stepped on that White Crane Fan to cut down the Tyrant Sword Sect’s Elder Overseer’s body.

―I’m glad I could be of help. It wasn’t exactly a pleasant memory, but the ways of the world are truly mysterious.

Those were Zhuge Xian’s parting words as he reminisced about their first encounter playing with fans. A martial artist’s death was this empty.

The expression disappeared from Jeong Yeon-shin’s face as he looked down at him.

***

“It’s been a very long time. I didn’t expect the Gui family head to personally come.”

“My son who inherited the lineage has ended up in that state. Of course I had to come. I’m not blaming the Gongya family head.”

It was under the silently clamorous moonlight.

Supreme masters who had reached middle age cut through the bright night air. Two figures with large builds.

The dark blue atmosphere distorted at their unhindered footsteps.

“I heard you took in a new guest?”

“It’s a blessing for our main family. He seems to be about the same age as my son, but he wields a sword like a master.”

“I’ve heard. Sky-Jade Sect Leader Geom Woon-bi. They say he’s acquainted with the Yan Family’s First Fist. If he’s that talented, he could knock out this family head’s son in one strike. I intend to meet him and question him thoroughly.”

“That won’t do. You seem to have come with a purpose, so let this Gongya Mo guess your intentions. You mean to use your son as an excuse to snatch away our family’s guest…”

“The Gongya family head’s words are not very pleasant. I intend to punish him. Using all the skills of the Shanxi Gui family if necessary.”

“Preposterous! This is not a general’s residence. Much less a bandit stronghold in the green forest. To begin with, Gui Yitai’s conduct is infamous for being like a turtle with a rotten shell. If you intend to rashly draw your sword against the future of a heavenly talent, this Gongya Mo will not stand idly by.”

“How amusing. Do you still think the Gongya family is the main martial lineage of Shanxi? Even after seeing Transcendence City Sect’s might.”

There was a dignity unique to aristocrats in their articulate argument.

As quality silk robes scattered the moonlight and refined protective energy postures demonstrated the status of family heads counted among the best in Shanxi, it was then.

Boom―

The threshold of a hall the two were passing by suddenly shook.

Boom boom boom!

The vibrations that suddenly arose spread rapidly.

The tremors that raced from the threshold to the rafters and even the roof tiles began to shake even the main beam as if hit by a strong wind.

“What is this? You dare set a trap?”

“Nonsense! Over there! Towards the annex!”

The Gongya family head’s figure pointed to a distant spot in the air.

At the same time.

Whoosh―!

From that point, dozens of strands of pale smoke shot high into the sky. It was an incredibly mystical energy wave that had been released without restraint.

The unique aura of an extremely high-level mystical skill.

A faintly white energy current swirled in a large spiral, scraping the atmosphere. Each time the energy created friction with itself, the white light intensified.

Luminous Wheel that Transcends Law Technique. Radiant Demon Wing―Brilliant River.

“Urgh…!”

“What! What’s happening!”

All the martial artists who had been sleeping in the Gongya family estate woke up with a start.

The shockwave of the powerful true energy, which felt as if it would slice their skin, was calling to them.

It was close to a command from a powerful figure.

The Radiant Demon Wing Leader no longer concealed his energy.