Chapter 535 – Jianghu Name Record

The head of the Wudang Sect.

For generations, they were known for their quietude, resembling the blue mountains themselves.

They inherited not blood, but the immortal spirit of Mount Wudang.

They all grew up breathing in clouds quietly draped over the slopes, just flowing with the years, and were called immortals for it.

Unfathomable martial arts, even harder-to-guess character.

This is how the world saw the Wudang Sect Leader, and it was the truth. For a very long time, they were regarded as absolute beings lost in white clouds.

The current Immortal Profound Void was no exception.

At least, not until the day he sank silently into deviation of mind.

Now, no one in the hall would call him “Immortal” any longer.

At this moment, as the blade driven through the ground pinned Super Mad Dream Demon in agony between a circle of blue flames and a disciple driven to death’s edge, that much was clear.

The old Taoist’s face was quite blank.

Kaaaaaah!

Super Mad Dream Demon writhed violently.

Both sides of his pale white neck were deeply split open. The scream came from wrenching, intense pain.

The usual sinister air of the Dream Demon Body had vanished. Even the bamboo hat imitating the Heaven Conquering Sect’s style was crushed at the back of his head, and he kept convulsing without end.

*This, this energy…!*

Pierced through below the ribs by the Pine Gate Ancient Sword.

Super Mad Dream Demon’s hand kept trembling toward the sword hilt, again and again failing to grasp it.

He could not pull it out.

The sword’s intensely divine aura was searing his flesh and bone, hissing as it burned.

*How is he still alive?*

One particularly young-looking among the hundred Wudang disciples muttered, only to shut their mouth at once, realizing the answer on their own.

“Union of essence, energy, and spirit,” meant the body’s qi was close to primordial energy. That explained the tenacity of a top master’s life force.

In fact, Super Mad Dream Demon, through long effort, had lured the Wudang Sect Leader into deviation of mind. Unless the wound was fatal, he could not die with a single blow.

Persistence was only natural.

“No, it isn’t him holding on. Lord Jeong made him that way. A supreme master makes no mistakes in their moves.”

A middle-aged Taoist, Wudang’s acting leader Jade Cliff Immortal, spoke with a stiff face, leading the formation encircling the clearing.

Wuuuung!

At his signal, the Seven Seats Hidden Heaven formation formed by a hundred Wudang experts undulated like a shallow mountain stream.

Their movements were smooth as water.

By now, they had smoothly isolated Profound Void and Super Mad Dream Demon from the tremendous war horse of the north.

[…]

Wild, low breathing came from the horse, as tall as a man’s head.

It was more a beast than an ordinary horse, yet it served its master with utter submission even while giving off a massive energy.

Upon the saddle of that gigantic beast,

The hulking figure in a bamboo hat slowly lowered his gaze.

Even that subtle movement set off small ripples throughout the space.

Mostly the sound of dust scuffing underfoot: some of the younger Taoists had unconsciously shifted their stances.

But on Jade Cliff Immortal’s face, nothing but implacable composure could be seen, like a boulder on the slopes of Wudang.

“Why does one who must face nations come to this place?”

The Northern Blade of All Under Heaven.

The further north you went in those vast lands, the more weight that name carried. Even among the upper echelons of the martial world, few had constant reason for concern about it.

Above the many powerful, there was the imperial army of Ming, and the world of the Central Plains itself was endless.

But those who’d visited the northern jianghu saw it differently.

To the select few who’d seen beyond the nation’s borders, the “Northern Blade” was a power that profoundly shaped the martial world of the center.

Among the truly peerless, those whose nickname began with “North” were rare.

One exception: the Northern Light Fist King of the ancient sects.

“I know who you are. Among those who’ve experienced the northern jianghu, no one does not know the Northern Blade, no matter your true name.”

Jade Cliff Immortal raised his peach-garden power as he continued. At his feet, the mist of clouds started to swirl in a wide circle.

Ssssss—

[Wudang. That is how you are to us, as well.]

The giant with the crescent blade, voice as thunderous as a shockwave, no artifice to his speech. This time, none of the Wudang disciples reacted to his words.

There was a reason.

Jade Cliff’s eyes lingered a moment on the blue taiji on the ground, then flicked to Jeong Yeon-shin, standing on the Pine Gate Ancient Sword’s hilt.

He then looked steadily at the Northern Blade, as though their prior exchange had never occurred.

“Whatever business brings the northern jianghu here…”

[Speak.]

“Do not interfere in Wudang’s affairs.”

Resolute words.

The giant in the bamboo hat tilted his head ever so slightly.

His features, distorted with strange aura, could not be clearly seen. It was the look of a man who had just heard something irrational—a man capable of perfectly rational thought.

[There is another outsider. That one… number eight, from the southern warriors.]

“I do not follow. In any case, that purple-robed one from Desolate Fortress is—”

He paused a moment, then spoke with finality.

“Not an outsider.”

He turned his head.

In his eyes was a young man standing on the Pine Gate Ancient Sword hilt, with a vast, faintly blue-burning taiji spread beneath.

‘The Blue Flame Formation…’

The radius had closed to about ten zhang.

But now the Wudang disciples stood arrayed around the very circumference of that pattern—and yet, not a whiff of the usual crushing pressure of Wudang’s formation arts remained.

In fact, it felt as if each could move freely, unbound by the formation.

Jeong Yeon-shin, Lightning Genius.

He had unraveled the mystery of the taiji that resonated with Wudang’s secret arts. No one could guess the precise effect, only that he must have once deeply studied with a Wudang master.

The Pine Gate Ancient Sword was the same. The pine tree pattern on the hilt was faded. Not a recent motif. Yet the engraved lines felt deeply familiar—the path of a Wudang blade.

Jade Cliff spent a brief moment recalling various possible connections.

‘With whom have you exchanged knowledge?’

It could not be of the Yun or Ok generation. For one of this era in Wudang, only Jeong Yeon-shin could have surpassed generational limits.

In which case, at least he’d rank with the Grand Masters of Wudang.

If with one already dead, perhaps even higher.

Any such Wudang master would rather die than be coerced. The significance of Jeong Yeon-shin’s symbolic balance of knowledge thus soared further.

Later, carefully, he would have to ask.

‘With which Immortal did you share martial learning…?’

A most important affair—for Wudang, for the balance of the world. Connections with one who commands the Divine Sword Group are always a matter of destiny-shifting weight.

Jade Cliff shelved his complex thoughts.

He gave a short command.

“Disciples must not allow outside interference.”

Wuuuuuuuuung!

Cold wind blew in fine lines, skimming earth and robes, scattering brittle pine needles in the crystalline air.

Wudang faced the Northern Blade.

The warhorse, facing that pressure full-on, shivered.

Phurrrrr—

Strangely, the colossal beast tossed its dark mane suddenly. A deep, rumbling laugh rolled from under the Northern Blade’s hat.

Still the same taciturn air. But now, even in the heart of Mount Wudang, he expressed his satisfaction openly.

[As you wished.]

The Northern Blade’s gaze shifted.

[I’ll stay out. Don’t block my sight.]

Jeong Yeon-shin’s opponent now was only the Wudang Sect Leader, no longer himself.

* * *

Jeong Yeon-shin stood on the Pine Gate Ancient Sword’s hilt, gazing down for a long time.

Super Mad Dream Demon’s face was growing faint, his vision blurring as blood pulsed from his mouth.

‘He’ll be dead soon.’

No matter how rare the tenacity of a supreme master’s life force, the strike he had dealt with the Pine Gate Ancient Sword was mixed with many things.

Jeong Yeon-shin spoke slowly.

“If you wish me to descend, I will.”

Those words, of course, were for Profound Void Immortal.

By his side, the great Taoist. The chill in the air was like a storm cloud dragged down from the sky.

Clearly, he was angry.

‘But—’

Why, then, had Profound Void not already intervened for Super Mad Dream Demon? He could have tossed Jeong Yeon-shin aside and simply fled, yet he remained.

At that moment:

“Why.”

Profound Void’s wrinkled lips moved.

“Why did you not strike at once…? As the master of Desolate Fortress, you don’t compromise on what you believe right. This one, by every sign, is a demon, and you must certainly have some resentment toward me. Even setting aside the latter, you have every reason to kill.”

“Even if I cut his throat,”

Jeong Yeon-shin continued slowly,

“It should be after convincing the Sect Leader. This wretched demon has one value. Namely, that the Sect Leader’s heart is shaken because of him.”

“Why should that matter to you?”

“It isn’t my problem. But it is the world’s.”

“……!”

The matter between Profound Void and Super Mad Dream Demon was, in the end, a personal problem between master and estranged disciple. But Jeong Yeon-shin, in front of the Wudang leader, spoke for the world.

“In my experience, deviation of mind is a swamp. If I had simply cut him down without warning, the Sect Leader’s heart would have been dragged into an abyss. That would be a loss to the common people of this land. The weight is different.”

He said quietly.

“This goes for his martial arts, as well.”

“Martial arts?”

“No one suffering deviation of mind for so long can have undamaged meridians. By my observation, the Wudang Sect Leader is on par with the Shaolin Abbot. But right now, you’re half a realm below Grand Master Beomheo. Strictly speaking… at least half a step.”

That is how it seems to me.

At once, startled breaths rang out all around. Even the Wudang immortals, high above the clouds, could not be free from the awe of their leader.

For the first time, Jeong Yeon-shin felt the attention of those around him, but he hid it well.

‘Truth is truth.’

Such is the burden of an adult.

It might be easier to care for nothing, like a child, but Jeong Yeon-shin, having broken his own heart demons, had chosen to bear the weight of the Divine Sword Group.

A loyal servant of the nation must withstand rumor and distortion.

“When you crossed swords with me, even with my arm bound, you continued for three days. Wudang’s endurance is legendary, but even so, you exceeded a day. Now is the time to break your deviation of mind.”

Profound Void made no answer.

Perhaps debate over martial arts level meant nothing to a Wudang grandmaster.

“And after, come out into the world with me.”

Jeong Yeon-shin’s tone remained even.

“There are things that must be protected, things that require our attention. If you give me your word, I’ll restore this disciple’s mind and show you a martial realm above your own right here.”

“……!”

The air grew cold as ice. The Acting Divine Sword Group Leader had made a declaration that would shake the world to its core.

Jeong Yeon-shin alone moved within it. He slowly lifted a hand.

Kooooong—

From below the slopes, a roll of thunder surged upward from Wudang’s Sword Release Pond.

It was the signal.

Divine Sword, Remaining Thunder.