Chapter 394 – Carpet (3)

Shockwaves rippled through the air multiple times.

Woooong—

The dark arrow, trampled by the intruder, trembled violently. Despite being pressed down from above, it couldn’t move forward.

Energy waves spreading in concentric dark circles.

It was a strange occurrence.

The Young Palace Leader of Dark Night Palace had released his bowstring immediately after precisely measuring the intruder’s presence.

The Pure Imperial Phoenix Bow Technique of the Dark Night martial lineage is an orthodox martial art that allows no shortcuts to achievement. It was different from the many deviant cultivation methods of the Thirteen Evil Sects.

A martial art of patience. The very act of shooting an arrow was an extremely precise form.

‘How did he move…?’

The Young Palace Leader’s eyes scanned the intruder.

Not only the impact point but even the moment of hitting had been foreseen.

The fact that the arrow was placed beneath the foot, rather than the body or leg, proved that the opponent’s protective technique had created a remarkable harmony in an instant.

Could his movements have somehow distorted time itself?

The Young Palace Leader inwardly shook his head. This person was neither the Shaolin Abbot nor the Zhuge Clan Leader.

Having seen them in his childhood, those who became noble through martial prowess, he could tell. In terms of age, the intruder seemed much younger.

It was then.

The arrow being stepped on by the young man in mid-air suddenly twitched violently. It slowly tilted vertically, then plunged into the marble floor, piercing it completely.

Bang!

The tail decorated with ornate feathers trembled.

In that moment, the royal descendant of the faded clan realized. The reason the intruder had momentarily trapped the arrow beneath his foot with waves of leg energy. He had been savoring the arrow’s energy waves like a dish.

He seemed to have thoroughly examined the principles and structure of the energy imbued in the arrow shaft with his energy sense.

What assessment had he made?

A strange sensation raced down the Young Palace Leader’s spine. He slowly opened his mouth.

“I suppose there’s no need for formalities when facing clan annihilation.”

“……”

The young man who had descended silently looked around without responding.

Sunlight flowing through the thick dust illuminated his features dreamlike. Just like his earlier movements. A face that blurred the boundary between dream and reality.

The Young Palace Leader was silent for a moment. This was not the appearance he had imagined before shooting the arrow.

It was then.

The subordinate who had been loading his bow beside him exclaimed in a low voice.

“You don’t know your place! Even if we’re enemy factions, anyone with a sense of propriety wouldn’t behave this way! Do you realize you’re acting like a vulgar ruffian…?!”

Dark Night Palace is a major faction that serves the legitimate line of the faded clan. The Young Palace Leader’s right-hand man is like a trusted servant to the royal descendant.

A status requiring proficiency in both civil and martial arts. Externally, he frequently conveys his lord’s words.

He had mastered spell martial arts that add weight to speech and conduct, an art that could make listeners pause in thought at least once.

It was possible to buy time for the Young Palace Leader, who might be disoriented in the chaos, to reload his bow.

Just as the subordinate finished speaking and turned to the Young Palace Leader with a meaningful glance.

Crack—!

The Young Palace Leader’s bow shattered. It happened right after a wind strike extended from the intruder’s index finger from a distance. The subordinate stared blankly at the wooden fragments rising like dust.

It was a terrifying self-assurance. He placed no room for doubt in his own character. An extremely tyrannical temperament.

Either way, it would weigh heavily. Whether he was well aware of being a ruffian, or never thought of himself that way at all.

‘This person won’t be easily affected by spell martial arts that target the mind…!’

The problem started with his martial presence.

The wind strike that had just shattered the bow was truly like lightning. There was an insurmountable gap in the speed of internal energy deployment.

The Young Palace Leader shook his head at his subordinate.

“I sense an extremely rare peerless eye technique. We’ve already entered his field of vision. Don’t rashly make a move.”

“Meanwhile.”

Jeong Yeon-shin, who had been staring at them intently, parted his lips.

“Is that a grotesque bird?”

The bird perched on the Young Palace Leader’s shoulder fluttered its wings in place. Several gray feathers fell in all directions.

It looked like a small crane. Only the color of its feathers was different.

“Ah.”

A faint smile formed on the Young Palace Leader’s lips.

“So this child was your objective.”

“I heard it’s used to send letters to the Dark Night Palace Leader.”

Jeong Yeon-shin’s transparent gaze fixed on the Young Palace Leader. A look that precluded any questions about willingness to surrender.

The Young Palace Leader stared at him as if looking at an inferior, while inwardly swallowing hard.

‘Clearly a swordsman…’

The breadth of his sword energy was unfathomable. The range of his forms seemed to extend beyond not only the throne behind him but even past the hall.

Immeasurable.

He had experienced something similar before. From peerless swordsmen whose aliases were known to all.

They were individuals possessing sword energy that could cut mountains, peerless supreme sword techniques, and movement techniques close to teleportation.

Though the Young Palace Leader’s martial achievement and talent were counted among the best of his generation in the Thirteen Evil Sects, it meant little now.

He felt that the moment he raised his hand to break the grotesque bird’s neck, his own neck would fly off. Despite being a good seven zhang apart.

The royal descendant of the clan opened his mouth with difficulty.

“Who are you?”

“Radiant Demon Wing Leader of Desolate Fortress.”

Jeong Yeon-shin answered slowly. The Young Palace Leader’s eyelids rose slightly.

“Your martial presence exceeds the rumors. Your spirit and temperament are also impressive.”

“Your eye technique is deeply accomplished.”

“How strange to feel pleased by praise from a lowly one. You’ve come to take the grotesque bird, haven’t you? Will you leave if I hand it over nicely?”

The Young Palace Leader asked. At that moment, his trusted subordinate’s head turned sharply toward him.

The only way to directly deliver letters to the Dark Night Palace Leader is through the grotesque bird. It’s an extremely precious mystical creature and sacred object of Dark Night Palace.

It can only be tamed by those who possess both martial arts passed down exclusively to the Palace Leader’s direct line and noble bloodline, and once tamed, the grotesque bird has the habit of finding its masters wherever they are.

It was incomparable to messenger pigeons that easily get lost or become prey to birds of prey.

“The damage to the disciples is severe. Even now, terrible energy waves are shaking the ground. Still, it’s fortunate that they’ve spared the vegetation since noble clans are involved.”

The Young Palace Leader spoke calmly. The subordinate bowed his head.

“You’re mistaken.”

Jeong Yeon-shin said. He had been sensing the spirituality connecting the grotesque bird and the Young Palace Leader… Could this be the legendary gu poison? It’s a secret technique of noble clans. He had the feeling that if he cut off the Young Palace Leader’s head, the grotesque bird would die.

“Mistaken?”

“You are traitors guilty of plundering. Even if you escape execution here, you won’t avoid arrest.”

Jeong Yeon-shin said.

He felt no particular emotion from the Young Palace Leader’s speech and conduct. This was because he had seen countless starving people outside.

The famine that had struck the country was an unprecedented natural disaster compared to the gathering of Black-ranks, yet numerous martial sects, close to armed clans, had filled their bellies through plunder. Dark Night Palace was no exception.

“Now I truly feel it. Desolate Fortress has finally reached our main headquarters.”

The Young Palace Leader slowly caressed the broken bow. It was an extremely elegant gesture.

Rumble—

The roaring sound gradually drew closer. Tremendous vibrations continuously shook the great hall.

A cataclysm had come to the Thirteen Evil Sects.

Twelve Black-ranks, plus the swordsman standing before him.

Jeong Yeon-shin was demanding surrender with an expressionless face. The pressure was enormous. The Young Palace Leader finally dropped the broken bow.

“Arrest me first.”

***

Read only at nineheavens.org

Translated by Nine Heavens!

https://discord.gg/XC9DTsTQ9Z

***

Rumors spread like a storm.

The great battle at Yunhui Peak in Sichuan. The impact stemming from the content and outcome of the battle was enormous. Some became targets in the martial world as their names suddenly became more widely known.

The Lightning Genius martial lineage was a prime example.

“It’s already over! We’re too late!”

A girl in white martial attire shouted self-deprecatingly. Her long braided hair swayed atop a fine horse.

It was White Cat Shin So-bin.

On the official road with barren forests stretching on both sides.

Hyeon Won-chang, with a blue hero’s scarf tied around his forehead, shook his head from the front.

“What can we do when the Squad Leader’s lightness skill is too fast? It’s incomparable to us on horseback.”

“It’s because worthless Blue-ranks and White-ranks held us back.”

A man with a bright blue robe casually draped over his shoulders like a blanket mocked languidly. Radiant Demon Wing’s Lazy Flame Dragon. A faint shadow had formed beneath his eyes.

Shin So-bin’s gaze hardened.

“What did you say?”

“Thanks to my energy accumulation, my lightness skill isn’t much worse than the Squad Leader’s. If I had left first, I would have been down there long ago.”

“That’s ridiculous. Is swift lightness skill all that matters?”

“A novice has quite the long tongue.”

“In the end, I would have met the Squad Leader first, right? Rather than a drunkard and opium addict layabout, the head disciple of the Lightning Genius martial lineage would have moved much more diligently.”

“Head disciple…? Have you been initiated into Flame River?”

“I have no interest in branch martial arts.”

“You’re a good talker. The next Great Tongue Sword was right here.”

Hyeon Won-chang just grinned without intervening. Jeong Yeon-shin’s martial arts take short decisive battles as their essence.

No matter what the youngster and opium addict babbled, the one who could use the Radiant Art Bond exceptionally was predetermined.

“I wonder if news of the Squad Leader has reached the main fortress. It’s been about a week since we encountered him, so the storm should be reaching Xiangyang by now…”

“I wish I could split my body in two.”

“Why?”

“I absolutely must see the Elder Council Head’s face. I still can’t quite believe it…!”

“Right now, there must be fierce debates happening in the main fortress. While the Black-rank gathering is unbelievably satisfying, it’s clearly madness.”

Their movement didn’t stop.

Occasionally their southward pace slowed. This was because many masters with keen intelligence, sharp eyes, and great courage frequently came to challenge them.

“Desolate Fortress, Radiant Demon Wing?”

“What about it?”

“Judging by your appearance, you must be a wastrel from the Hwangbo family. I have no business with you, so step aside.”

“What?”

“Let the one who has learned the Lightning Genius martial lineage step forward. I must see for myself the martial arts that defeated the phoenix of the Golden Wing Sect.”

It was happening even now.

A faint smile curved Lazy Flame Dragon’s eyes. His dark eye shadows deepened slightly, as if he might lie in a coffin at any moment.

In contrast, a fiery energy rose from his entire body like a wildfire, shaking his robe hems.

“…I see I’m not qualified. I apologize for my rudeness.”

The swordsman with his face hidden by a bamboo hat made a fist-palm salute and retreated.

This had happened repeatedly.

As vast as the land was, all sorts of characters existed. Even those well-versed in rumors rarely properly understood their own place.

It was partly because they had formed a group of just three. The veteran masters of the Radiant Demon Wing, including Blue Eyed Demon Sword and Bewitching Sword Demon, had suddenly received a letter from some Investigating Censor and gone up to Beijing.

This was after confirming Jeong Yeon-shin’s safety.

Shin So-bin’s brow furrowed.

“How about we chase after them and make an example? This isn’t the first or second time.”

“Are you going to behead them?”

An unfamiliar voice naturally interjected.

“…!”

The group alertly raised their heads.

A handsome man with a magnanimous impression was casually sitting on a tree branch, emitting absolutely no presence of energy waves.

Any knowledgeable master would have guessed. It was the realm of returning to ordinary at the pinnacle.

Surprise crossed the faces of Shin So-bin and Hyeon Won-chang. Not because of the man’s unfathomable realm. His face. It was because of his features that were remarkably similar to Lazy Flame Dragon’s.

The man smiled.

“I owe the Radiant Demon Wing Leader for the dragon formation. Now I see he’s even prepared his disciples. Truly impressive.”

“…Who are you?”

Lazy Flame Dragon asked blankly.

“I came to relay a message from your Squad Leader and to see my grandson’s face… but it seems I’ve come to the wrong place.”

Divine Hand Hegemon King Hwangbo Gon said.

***

The main headquarters of Dark Night Palace.

The Netherworld Flow Squad Leader decided to stay in the gray forest. To bind those who hadn’t learned martial arts with ropes and hand them over to the authorities.

That wasn’t the end.

Many martial artists were mobilized to evacuate the common people of the faded clan. They said it was in the opposite direction from the entrance.

Similarly blocked by an invisible formation, it had withstood the squad leaders’ forms multiple times. It seemed all the dharma treasures typically possessed by a major faction had been poured into it.

“Lightning Genius, would you like to try? Breaking through is just a matter of time, but…”

“I’ll first try to sever the connection between the grotesque bird and the Young Palace Leader. The Group Leader’s safety is the priority.”

“I’ll go around and check.”

Throughout this, the Young Palace Leader remained silent. With his eyes half-closed, he even withstood the Heavenly Dragon Squad Leader’s bone-crushing technique.

Jeong Yeon-shin asked despite knowing:

“Why go to such lengths?”

“A lowly one wouldn’t understand.”

As the Young Palace Leader calmly retorted.

The forest where they had emerged outside the hall.

Whoosh—… Suddenly the sky split left and right. Sunlight pouring in vastly. The formation had been completely torn from the back.

“Is this truly Dark Night Palace?”

“It appears so.”

The voices of an elderly woman and a young man.

Two silhouettes flew in with the sunlight at their backs. Ancient-looking monk’s robes and Taoist robes fluttered long.

The most noble ones in the martial world.

Heavy energy waves descended, broadly enveloping the void. The eyes of several Black-ranks widened.

“We were waiting for you to finish your recuperation… didn’t expect you to leave so early.”

“I’ve considered the merits of the descendant of the Tyrant Hero at the Yunhui Peak battle. You are indeed the legitimate successor of the Mount Hua Agreement.”

Emei and Qingcheng.

The sect leaders of the Nine Sects descended before Jeong Yeon-shin with void treading.