Chapter 396 – Carpet (5)

The chirping sound from afar didn’t stop with just once. Once, then again… followed by several overlapping calls. There were at least two birds.

The Elder Council Head paused.

“……”

The debate among the leadership in the meeting hall, discussing the dismissal of the Divine Sword Group Leader and alternatives with legitimate authority, also ceased.

The long cries meant only one thing.

Mystical swallows raised through clan secret techniques by the Desolate Xiahou family. They symbolized high-ranking officials belonging to the Divine Sword Group. Below Black-rank, none dared to possess them.

The Xiahou family head’s large ears perked up like blades. He was a rare figure in the martial world who knew all the mystical creatures of Desolate Fortress.

As everyone’s attention turned to the Xiahou family head, he slowly opened his half-closed eyes and spoke.

“It’s the Blood Guardian Squad Leader’s Black Swallow. Not just one. There’s also the Heavenly Dragon Squad Leader’s Sky Swallow, and the Divine Sword Vice Leader’s Lightning Swallow. Among the future Three Black-ranks, two are the youngest there, so they would naturally serve as messengers, but why not the Azure Sky old lady…?”

“She’s experienced. She must have worried about losing the letter.”

“Then it must be an important matter. Since the assembly order was issued in Sichuan, there should be news about the Radiant Demon Wing Leader. Wasn’t he assigned the biggest mission recently?”

“Since the Black-ranks gathered, it must have concluded one way or another.”

“Finally…”

Various expressions of expectation and anxiety passed among them.

Ma Jin extended his metallic blue hand upward. An artificial limb made by the Iron Clan craftsmen of Sichuan.

The five fingers, said to be more difficult to handle than any divine martial arts with ordinary internal energy cultivation, spread wide. In that moment, semi-transparent energy rose from his heart.

Boom!

The center of the ceiling shattered. Large and small fragments fell down.

Above the heads of the leadership, each with their wide energy barriers deployed, three swallows descended against the blue sky. They passed through the hole without surprise, befitting mystical creatures.

The Grand Administrator Lin Jin-ming gestured to a White Martial Artist standing nearby.

“Inform the craftsmen. Tell them it’s about the roof, they’ll understand.”

Then he extended his hand toward the void.

A sky-blue swallow landed on his arm with a peep. It was the Divine Sword Vice Leader Yue Shou-lin’s “Lightning Swallow.” It had a message tube attached to its leg, larger than its body.

The Grand Administrator immediately took out a scroll from the tube and unfolded it. Dense clusters of writing were revealed.

It was close to illegible cursive script. It seemed to directly transcribe the flow of mental imagery into text.

He shook his head.

“Shin family head, let’s switch.”

Shin Seol-ha, who was on one side, nodded. She had just received a letter from the Xiahou family head. It was a document from the Blood Guardian Squad Leader.

The document brought by the Heavenly Dragon Squad Leader’s white swallow was placed between the Xiahou family head and the Ma family head.

The Elder Council Head at the head seat folded his arms.

He was already seated in his place. He stared at the younger subordinates with sharp eyes.

The old man, the only one with higher rank than the Grand Administrator in the Grand Administrator’s Office meeting hall, urged them with just his gaze while keeping his mouth shut.

“I’ll report immediately.”

Grand Administrator Lin Jin-ming said as he unfolded the Blood Protection Squad Leader’s report.

The letter was filled with elegant writing. A semi-cursive style with appropriately flowing strokes at the ends. Even at a glance, it seemed to contain only necessary information.

The Grand Administrator’s eyes scanned the text.

“…Obeying Heaven Wing Leader Ha Do-woon, died during a mission in the Golden Wing Sect’s formation. The murderer was… Ghost Cry Hegemon King Peng Yu-lan.”

His voice was unwavering. It befitted a supreme master famous for his civil and martial excellence and iron-blooded temperament.

Others were different. Sighs spread throughout.

Everyone knew the former Peng family head. The reason they didn’t burst into indignation upon hearing the sad news. They were overwhelmed by the name of the peerless master.

In an environment where even the immortals of the Nine Sects kept their distance from Desolate Fortress, along with the disappearance of the Divine Sword Group Leader, there were only calamities throughout the world.

Even the leadership of the main fortress couldn’t help but feel suffocated. Someone muttered like a groan.

“Sichuan was truly a hell.”

“The Immortal Tree Spirit Squad Leader and Forest-Treading Squad Leader are safe. Also…”

“What?”

The Grand Administrator didn’t answer immediately. He seemed to have experienced unexpected ups and downs. On the opposite side, the Xiahou family head, who had been huddling with Ma Jin, widened his eyes.

“The Radiant Demon Wing Leader defeated Peng Yu-lan! He beheaded the old monster of the Peng family alone!”

His large hand pounded Ma Jin’s artificial limb with a clanging sound. The crowd stirred with the heavy vibration.

“That child defeated another of the Eight Great Clans’ heads?”

“The Peng family martial arts are of the orthodox lineage. If the former Eight Great Clans’ head were alive, he would have been slightly superior to the Murong family head…”

As the Elder Council martial artist who had called him a “child” was directly hit by Ma Jin’s energy and fell backward with a thud, Shin family head Shin Seol-ha, who had furrowed her brow on one side, parted her lips.

She had been reading Yue Shou-lin’s letter, which was close to a cipher, without hesitation.

“The decisiveness to settle grudges on the spot.”

It was a strange monologue. It ended with just those brief words.

As if trying to lighten the mood stemming from Obeying Heaven Wing Leader’s death, someone joked with her.

Asking if she wasn’t being overly generous to the squad leader who had her daughter as a subordinate. It was a comment mixed with lingering amazement at the Radiant Demon Wing Leader’s achievements.

“……”

The Shin family head didn’t answer. Her lips slightly parted, she couldn’t hide her trembling eyes.

“A divine position that will establish the main fortress’s prestige throughout the world.”

Shin Seol-ha was the head of Desolate Fortress’s foremost family. She had cultivated the eye technique of a renowned clan that had produced Elder Council Heads for generations.

No matter how messy Yue Shou-lin’s letter was, it was possible to decipher it in the time it took to drink a cup of tea.

She had already read it all.

“An achievement that no one can easily match.”

It was as she continued speaking.

Rustle.

Meanwhile, the Grand Administrator put down the Blood Protection Squad Leader’s letter on the table.

It was right after he had engraved all the contents in his eyes in a short time. His hand, tempered through both martial arts and writing, trembled slightly.

“Th-this is…”

As the Grand Administrator stammered, the Elder Council Head, who had been looking down at them, showed a questioning expression.

“Why do you stop in the middle of your report? I understand there’s a mix of bad news and good news. And I know how much the Shin family head cherishes her daughter’s superior.”

“……”

“Yes, in one way, it’s right. Lightning Genius is indeed the future of our main fortress. They say he entered with White Robe, who just recently donned the black robe.”

The Elder Council Head, leaning against his chair, looked at him sternly.

“There must be more about the squad leaders’ actions until they gathered. Don’t hesitate. Should this old man read it myself?”

The Grand Administrator’s pupils regained focus. Then, from his mouth fell a thunderbolt delivered in a measured tone.

“…After driving away the Ten Perfections Sect and Pure Demon Alliance that were threatening the Tang family alone, he hosted a martial competition with the cooperation of Emei and Qingcheng. He defeated the Ten Perfections Sect Leader, Pure Demon Alliance Leader, and Golden Wing Sect Leader in succession. The Pure Demon Alliance Leader fled on the spot, and the Blood Guardian Squad Leader confirmed the deaths of the Ten Perfections Sect Leader and Golden Wing Sect Leader…”

It was a single breath.

This was a gathering where even attendants fainted from just the presence. With only masters of excellent sensory paths present, no one could have misheard.

The moment the Grand Administrator finished speaking, time froze in the meeting hall, and the Elder Council Head’s gaze struck down like lightning on the letter on the table.

“…!”

The words of Blood Extreme Demon Jin Myeong-jo.

Only the part discussing the deaths of the Thirteen Evil Sects leaders had different handwriting. The elegant semi-cursive had changed to upright regular script.

The four characters “Radiant Demon Wing Leader” placed before the Ten Perfections Sect Leader and Golden Wing Sect Leader’s departures for the netherworld. It spoke the undeniable truth. From the Blood Protection Squad Leader, who was said to be the foremost in dignity and fortitude in Desolate Fortress.

“…The Black-ranks gathered there. Thirteen squad leaders, excluding those who followed the main fortress’s foremost hidden sword and the Fortress Lord to the World Tree, annihilated three of the Thirteen Evil Sects and are now heading northeast.”

The Grand Administrator said.

But the leadership of Desolate Fortress no longer opened their mouths.

The eyes of the current Divine Sword Group Leader, who wasn’t present, devoured the meeting hall.

The achievements of the young squad leader that would shake the world, the power of the Divine Sword Group that had been buried in the long years since the founding of the country. An overwhelming thrill wrapped around and raced through the gathering.

Why the Ten Perfections Sect?

Why gather there?

It was because it was a land of many ups and downs. Sichuan, where six major factions coexisted. A midpoint for squad leaders who went on missions to both Ming and beyond.

Starting with the annihilation of the aggressive Ten Perfections Sect, they displayed the power of the squad leaders in that chaotic land. So that the martial world, which had begun to view Desolate Fortress as merely a supply warehouse, would pause.

It didn’t take long for a commotion to arise.

Suddenly, Ma family head Ma Jin burst into laughter. Despite having just received news of Obeying Heaven Wing Leader’s death, no one could stop him.

Veins bulged on the wrinkled back of the Elder Council Head’s hand as he pressed on the table. It wasn’t disdain or anger.

He was an old man who revered Desolate Fortress more than anyone. The grip strength originating from an unfathomable surge crushed the table.

Crack—

“I must go to Beijing. Family heads, prepare.”

“What do you intend to do?”

The Grand Administrator asked. The Elder Council Head answered without even looking at him.

“Something has come up that we need to prepare for. Let’s go see the extraordinary powers of the imperial court.”

“…I will stay and guard the main fortress.”

The Grand Administrator said.

***

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Translated by Nine Heavens!

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***

The inner chamber of Dark Night Palace.

It was a place where all sorts of bows, long and short, were displayed.

Jeong Yeon-shin sat facing the two sect leaders. They had a small tea table in the center. Fragrant steam brushed past his face and rose.

None of the three touched their teacups. They had just begun discussing the past of his maternal grandfather, which Jeong Yeon-shin didn’t know, and the story of the Mount Hua Agreement.

The two sect leaders seemed to have made a very significant decision.

They had added meaningful words earlier.

If he heard this story today, whatever Jeong Yeon-shin would do from now on would become much easier.

“It was when this old nun was young. Seven disciples from the Nine Sects gathered in one place. They were already called world-class talents at that time.”

Venerable Cypress Flame said.

Herself and the previous Qingcheng Sect Leader.

Wudang’s High Sword.

The teacher of Mount Hua’s Jade Flame Sword God.

Sword Empress of Diancang.

Shaolin Abbot.

Beggar Sect Leader.

“We feared nothing. We didn’t even glance at the Dragon Phoenix Gathering, and we repeatedly gathered and dispersed as we traveled the martial world as heroes. At that time, we weren’t human but dragons. Yes, at least that’s how we viewed ourselves.”

They were the successors who would inherit the lineage of the Nine Sects. The little immortals of the martial world whom everyone admired. In other words, they were called the sect leaders’ talents of mountain sects.

They only had eyes for each other.

“That was until we met a handsome young man from Desolate Fortress. It was after the death of the teacher of the Dragon-Slaying Alliance, who was recently killed by the Golden Wing Sect Leader during the unification process of the Dragon-Slaying Alliance.”

The killing of the Thirteen Evil Sects leaders.

It was a period when pride in martial arts was rising above cultivation.

Young supreme masters with abundant vitality met. A natural sequence followed.

“The beggar youth, who is now the Beggar Sect Leader, said that since the Desolate Ma family’s martial arts were tyrannical, there was no need to share wine. It was a provocation, asking if he wasn’t always mentally confused.”

“How inferior.”

Jeong Yeon-shin, who had reflexively retorted, inwardly tilted his head. Is this the time for me to judge others?

“Inferior, you say?”

“…Don’t adults who meet for the first time build friendships through wine cups? I don’t understand the behavior of deliberately making enemies…”

“The Taoist can say that. Laozi also said that one who doesn’t make enemies is invincible.”

Two Walls Sword Lord said from one side, raising the corner of his mouth. He held Jeong Yeon-shin’s character in extremely high regard.

Similarly, Venerable Cypress Flame also showed a smile. While quietly drinking in the dharma power flowing from Jeong Yeon-shin’s body instead of the tea.

“Anyway, the response from the Desolate Fortress youth was scathing. He said he was talking nonsense because he would likely lose even in a fist fight.”

Venerable Cypress Flame’s kind voice couldn’t properly convey young Ma Yeon-jeok’s words and actions.

Jeong Yeon-shin felt even more ashamed because of this. What would have happened to the Ma family if not for him and Ma Se-in?

‘I must rely only on myself.’

He forcibly suppressed his sense of shame.