Chapter 481 – Ultimate Wickedness (6)

How many days had passed?

Jeong Yeon-shin couldn’t tell.

It was after racing along the river and crossing several mountain ridges. Fighting alongside the Seventh Apostle against Invincible.

His meridians were already in tatters from several fierce battles. Not only his meridians and blood vessels, but even his purple robe, which rarely tore, had a section ripped away at the abdomen.

Fierce winds swept through the gaps between his crimson blood-stained abdominal muscles. Without joint attacks, it would have been impossible to even confront her.

Sharp pain that felt like it would tear him apart at any moment tormented his entire body.

Separate from the stinging reality that felt like blades filled his entire body, he felt as if he had been throwing punches and swinging swords while lost in a trance for an immeasurably long time. Perhaps it was because he was facing a figure who was like a symbol of chaotic times.

It was an unnamed gorge. Sunlight poured down like long blade edges from the cliffs that rose on both sides of the valley.

Jeong Yeon-shin stood treading on Remaining Thunder below, delivering several punches.

Bang! Crack!

Transparent shockwaves scraped against the cliff walls.

It was the aftermath of powerful energy emission. Each time they exploded, stone dust scattered in all directions, and caves shaped like fallen crescent moons were carved along the cliff faces that had been scraped away with fierce friction sounds.

Jeong Yeon-shin and the Seventh Apostle.

And Ming Cult Leader Invincible.

The three people kicked off the void, ran along walls, and crossed like beams of light while treading on sparsely jutting tree branches between cliffs.

Following tremendous air-splitting sounds, their purple, red, and pure white forms mixed hazily while occasionally bursting forth crimson blood.

Splash!

Invincible tore away a handful of the Seventh Apostle’s side and passed by. Instantly, white airflow swirled like thread, then struck the Seventh Apostle’s skin with a crack.

It was a move that temporarily blocked the overwhelming regenerative abilities of the Pure Blood Body.

Ming Cult’s Bare Hand Demon Technique.

Blood scattered in long streams along her fingers that had turned transparent like ice.

Low laughter flowed from beyond the fluttering hem of her windflower robe along with her pure white scarf.

Though she had never claimed to be the Heavenly Demon herself, it was the mockery of one who had been called heaven’s mistake since before Jeong Yeon-shin even entered the martial world.

Whatever way it concluded, it would ultimately be a battle that would shake the world’s political situation.

‘Strong.’

Jeong Yeon-shin thought as he pulled the Seventh Apostle’s shoulder back.

She had been swaying as if about to fall, but the moment Jeong Yeon-shin’s hand touched her, she spread both arms wide behind her back as if touching fire.

Immediately with a fluttering sound, the hem of her bright red Pure Blood Robe spread like a bat’s wings and remained in the void—it was the Graceful Body Technique of the Blood Flame Church, counted among the world’s supreme lightness skills.

She was actually more energetic than Jeong Yeon-shin.

Her remaining stamina was different. It must have been thanks to her regenerative abilities.

Swish.

Jeong Yeon-shin descended from Remaining Thunder and kicked the sword handle with a tap.

Instantly, semi-transparent ripples burst from the contact point at his toe tip in concentric circles, and Remaining Thunder, which had torn through the air and surged forward, embedded itself with a bang in Invincible’s abdomen as she had just turned around.

Vermillion sparks rippled.

Crack crack crack crack crack!

The sound of several layers of pottery fragments breaking in succession.

The formless protective energy that Invincible wore had shattered against the divine sword.

Though breath burst from between her lips as she was pushed back briefly, what was actually pierced was only the hem of Invincible’s windflower robe, not her belly.

Through that gap, only her snow-white abdominal muscles and the shadows that had traced subtle contours downward were visible. There was no telling how many layers of invisible internal energy barriers she had overlaid.

‘Impregnable…’

The body that the Ming Cult Leader had cultivated was like that. Not only had she already reached the pinnacle of close combat, but she freely treaded the void and made a mockery of distance.

Truly overwhelming.

She actively responded to all variables and applied all sorts of necessary variations to existing martial arts. At some point, it had become difficult to catch up with punches and kicks. It was because her body movements themselves had changed.

Flutter!

Jeong Yeon-shin wrapped one arm around the Seventh Apostle’s waist and supported his body in the air.

Advanced lightness techniques like Soaring Void Step inevitably had slower reaction speeds unless one’s Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown state was considerably solid, but thanks to her enduring, he was able to wage such a battle.

“You’re being considerate of me.”

The Seventh Apostle smiled smoothly.

Whether she was rotating her Great Circulation to its limit while engaging in battle, her skin from the nape of her neck to her face, which had originally been white, was now flushed red.

Jeong Yeon-shin thought it was tremendous fighting spirit.

“You can go harder. It’s a life-and-death duel, after all.”

She said while breathing roughly with reddish breath due to blood technique breathing.

Jeong Yeon-shin himself felt awkward even while cooperating in joint attacks. Even though sharp pain was setting in and he had the life-and-death enemy called Invincible before his eyes.

If he hadn’t seen gentleness in Taoist Three Peak’s taiji, if Baek Mi-ryeo’s safety hadn’t been at stake, it would have been difficult to be this natural.

He pondered.

Invincible’s unity of spirit, energy, and body wasn’t solid either, so how was she freely roaming the void?

[To show this level of swordsmanship even while dying…]

Her Six Harmonies Voice that had let out a long breath resonated trapped in the gorge crevices. Energy that was not demonic but infinitely close to natural earth energy.

Invincible was operating strange internal power against Jeong Yeon-shin.

Just as he had created the Luminous Wheel Technique and Demon Extermination Light Trace, Invincible had overcome the conflicting situation with techniques of “Divine Spirit Communion” that unraveled dharma power and infinitely pure internal energy. It was literally the qualities of a grandmaster.

[Since the cave of Zhang Sanfeng.]

Invincible grasped Remaining Thunder’s blade with one hand and brought it down. Her sleeve hem woven from grayish-white fur made a soft sound.

[We shared affection through long days and nights together, so isn’t it too much toward your elder sister?]

She spouted absurd words.

Jeong Yeon-shin thought of his next move without caring about his ears becoming muffled. She was an opponent difficult to damage with ordinary techniques.

‘I don’t have the strength to activate Radiant Taiji. Enter the Path and Transcend Together is impossible to execute. Then…’

All sorts of fighting techniques began to tangle in Jeong Yeon-shin’s mind, drawing colorless trajectories.

“Elder sister?”

Meanwhile, the Seventh Apostle asked back. Invincible nodded.

“If we’ve shared that much private talk and martial discourse, it should be seen as connected by bonds thicker than blood. Unlike you, it was at an equal level.”

A voice tinged with laughter.

It didn’t matter to Jeong Yeon-shin either way. The longer he was allowed even a few breaths of time, the more his energy would increase.

The immediate problem was whether he could display martial prowess capable of affecting the Ming Cult Leader with his limited internal energy breathing.

And.

Jeong Yeon-shin’s upper dantian derived an answer.

‘Impossible.’

An unbelievable answer.

It was the natural flow of consciousness imbued with spirituality. The always accurate insight. It wasn’t like that damned part that had broken through limits whenever he was cornered.

[Your flesh is tingling, you’re examining me deeply?]

Then Invincible, who had exchanged some dialogue with the Seventh Apostle, spoke to Jeong Yeon-shin.

[You won’t be able to win. Thanks to you two, I’ve now become a body that can’t live even half a year. Releasing the restraints intermittently has already made me this way.]

Her words and actions were candid.

Restraints regarding martial arts and the body are usually accepted as more intimate than any affair of the martial world.

It’s like not asking another martial artist what their sect’s life-saving ultimate technique is. It also proved how arrogant the current Ming Cult Leader was.

“Your restraint.”

Jeong Yeon-shin parted his lips while overlapping his body beside the Seventh Apostle.

“Is it a great technique that prolongs life at the cost of martial prowess?”

[Brother Jeong, wouldn’t that naturally be the case?]

Invincible replied, slightly raising one corner of her mouth. It read as meaning that only heaven could constrain her, and Jeong Yeon-shin found himself unconsciously sympathizing with those words.

Perhaps it was because he momentarily overlapped her with himself. Despite feeling very melancholy, there was nothing that bothered him.

Jeong Yeon-shin slowly opened his mouth.

“You’re the same as me.”

[Hm?]

Invincible’s eyelids rose minutely. It must have been due to words and actions she had never experienced from Jeong Yeon-shin.

The current Ming Cult Leader only sought sympathy and understanding, and had never shown hostile attitudes toward him.

It wasn’t Jeong Yeon-shin’s concern.

What he wanted right now was hardly grand or great.

“You too must have things that make a possibly short life meaningful. Radiant Demon Wing is that for me. If you return Sister Baek, I won’t pursue you further.”

[……]

A moment of silence flowed.

Invincible rolled Remaining Thunder’s sword energy in her palm while staring intently at Jeong Yeon-shin with eyes where blue light flashed.

That alone made the gorge quiet.

Martial sorcery techniques that summoned wind and rain.

It was a realm that held even the fierce winds that had been rushing in while roughly sweeping the cliff faces in her grasp. She had silenced great nature without emitting even a trace of demonic energy.

She stood upright treading the void without opening her tightly closed lips. She gave the feeling of being wrapped in silence throughout her body.

Heavenly Demon.

Was she in a state where the restraints were released now, or had she put them back on?

It was impossible to guess.

Either seemed plausible.

“Regrettably.”

Invincible slowly moved her lips.

“I also have something quite urgent, so it’s difficult to share hearts with you any further.”

“I’ll recite the final verse for you.”

Jeong Yeon-shin spoke candidly. He had voiced the words of the Luminous Wheel Technique that she hadn’t heard completely. For a moment, Invincible’s pupils, like melted night sky lightning, trembled minutely.

She had been obsessed with finding out Jeong Yeon-shin’s heart to an eerie degree.

Her subtle interest in the energy cultivation technique he had created was also for that reason. It should have been enough to shake her composure even slightly.

But Invincible soon shook her head.

“I’ve changed my mind. I won’t listen.”

She said.

That was the end of it.

[Your purple is solitary and complete.]

At some point, Invincible’s voice, which had changed to vocal speech, began to echo like a reverberation. Once again it was Six Harmonies Voice.

[But that’s why you have no backing. Because you yourself are your own backing.]

That was an assertion.

Words and actions that infinitely respected Jeong Yeon-shin while looking down on the great faction called Desolate Fortress to the end.

“Dodge.”

Jeong Yeon-shin whispered in the Seventh Apostle’s ear, then stepped on her feet and soared upward. The sound of air tearing with a whoosh.

Transparent colorless leaves bloomed like lotus flowers from his entire body as he activated Thunder Annihilation, and the sky was enveloped in the hazy mist of true energy that she had released beyond Invincible’s shoulder.

Instantly the sunlight was blocked and the surroundings darkened.

Rumble!

In a flash it rapidly thickened, becoming a sea of clouds that flickered blue like clouds containing lightning.

The range was tremendously wide. It stretched long enough to completely fill the gorge, and Jeong Yeon-shin very naturally thought of the words “unavoidable.”

Above his head.

Invincible stood with her back to the blue sea of lightning.

[In three years.]

Her voice continued ominously. Only the Six Harmonies Voice was clear amid the flashy gleaming radiance.

[You’ll be able to break through even such ultimate techniques with a smile. I know best. In the world, only I can dig deepest into your heart. So for now, let’s stop here…]

There seemed to be killing intent, yet there wasn’t.

Even though it wouldn’t be a strike that would end with just suppression, did she think that if it were Jeong Yeon-shin, he would somehow find a gap and survive appropriately?

‘Lowly Revelation Technique…!’

It was when Jeong Yeon-shin’s eye light deepened to a snow-white radiance.

Suddenly Invincible’s following words became blurred.

Woooom.

Beyond the dark clouds she was spreading above her head.

Something appeared faintly.

Something that scattered gentle light like moonlight.

But it wasn’t the moon.

It instantly took the form of a long sword, then descended like a dream while splitting the entire sea of lightning.