Chapter 541 – Jianghu Name Record (7)

Zhongnan affiliated disciple Pan Wu-ri.

One of those who had attacked Jeong Hye died to the Plum Blossom Sword. The remaining two were struck with blood paralysis on the spot and stiffened like trees, then were dragged away by the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Even their arterial blood hadn’t been point-pressed.

“It’s all a misunderstanding! I became a spy of this nation’s jianghu of my own accord! I was never successfully recruited in the end!”

“I am the same. It’s just that the circumstances are coincidentally awkward, but regarding the north, I’m prepared to say anything…”

Each of their words flowed like a clear mountain stream. But there was no one to listen. The conduct of seasoned jianghu people didn’t work at all before Beijing officials.

A cunning imperial family noble master with long ears muttered bleakly.

“False.”

It was a voice as resolute as the night sky covering the assembly’s heads.

The boy who had taken the lead in rescuing Jeong Hye sheathed his sword silently. The milky-white blade that hid itself in the scabbard with a click. It was the sect leader’s sword of Mount Hua Sect, also famously known by another name, Purple Mist Divine Sword.

Naturally, the owner of that sword was Yu Hyeon, who had taken on the role of Mount Hua’s acting sect leader at an unprecedentedly young age.

“…It’s fortunate. Yeon-shin has already experienced life’s rough adversities.”

After stroking Jeong Hye’s head once, he silently disappeared into the night air.

The boy’s temperament, who had grown much taller, was different from before. Taciturn yet heavy. Enough that he wouldn’t even return Wei Zhi-myo-hwa’s cupped hand salute.

“Plum Blossom big brother…?”

Jeong Hye called out to Yu Hyeon softly, but Wei Zhi-myo-hwa shook her head.

“Leave him be. Mount Hua Sect has experienced strange events recently. According to rumors, Jade Flame Sword God has disappeared, but only the Mount Hua people would know those intimate circumstances.”

“Ah…”

“Our sect must first focus on our sect’s affairs. First, please forgive me for not being able to treat fourth martial aunt as a child. Though it’s terribly regrettable to say…”

Wei Zhi-myo-hwa’s calm reprimand fell upon Jeong Hye.

“At the very least, fourth martial aunt must not forget what you experienced from Yu Ling’s demons. How much blood was spilled that day? How many of our sect’s hidden merits were injured?”

The child with the highest seniority in Zhongnan Sect. Zhongnan Cave’s Jeong Hye was certainly a sensible girl. That’s why today’s incident was all the more incomprehensible.

Now many people in the vicinity were viewing Jeong Hye as something of a troublemaker.

An immature child whom no measures could be taken against due to the Acting Divine Sword Group Leader. An explosive that couldn’t be carelessly touched.

“If you move alone at night like this and meet with mishap, you can imagine what would happen not only to our sect but to the jianghu including Young Hero Jeong. You’re already wise, after all. And yet… fourth martial aunt?”

Wei Zhi-myo-hwa hesitated.

Jeong Hye, who had been listening to her words glumly.

Now she was different. She had somehow fallen into a trance-like state. The child’s eyes had lost focus.

[Come here.]

The voice rang out once more. Only Jeong Hye heard it. It was an attraction that had been repeated several times through the child’s upper dantian.

Jeong Hye stretched out her arm as if bewitched by something.

Swish.

The small hand touched the large rock.

Mount Zhongnan’s Whistling Zero Rock.

At this moment, while countless masters’ energy waves swept over that rock, a resonant wave of power arose from Jeong Hye’s tiny palm.

The energy waves of Zhongnan’s Taiyi Cultivation Technique were added.

Crack.

It was a sound from the rock. The fine cracks that had been minutely carved in the large boulder split wide open, and from those gaps, some three or four sheets of paper shot up riding the energy waves. As if Taiyi Cultivation Technique’s true energy had been the key.

“…!”

The imperial side reacted first.

Flutter!

A giant woman closed the distance. Though not a eunuch, she was someone Emperor Qian-ling had exceptionally appointed as Grand Eunuch. The atmosphere trembled at her crimson fluttering sleeve edges.

Without even giving orders to her subordinates, she snatched the bundle of papers. Immediately, a reverse wind burst with a whoosh and roughly swept Jeong Hye’s hair backward.

But there was no one present who hadn’t learned eye techniques. There were quite many masters who could stretch the time of impact on skin endlessly long.

It was but an instant until the papers that had been fluttering in the air for a moment came into view of many in the assembly. Precisely, the dense writing on the first sheet was etched like a painting.

[Some enlightenments are like the seeds of dandelions. They arise suddenly and disappear quickly, thus making the moment worth a thousand gold.

The insight that came to me is the same, so there is no leisure.

I now ascend to heaven.

But with the premonition that brushed my mind, I am certain that a disciple of our sect will find this secret transmission within three years.

Child who broke the rock with strong Taiyi Cultivation Technique.

You must protect it well.

Until a swordsman who can speak with the dead comes to find it.

Until a figure appears who can cherish worldly connections and exchange questions and answers with history.

That person is this era’s Greatest Sword Under Heaven.

If there is good intent, they will cut down the chaotic times with a single sword technique.]

“The Zhongnan Sword Immortal’s…?!”

Many people murmured from a distance.

Numerous martial artists had been surrounding the vicinity. Each had appeared like ghosts. Naturally, they were only renowned jianghu masters famous enough to be assigned quarters at the Heavenly Classic Martial Arts Examination.

Without exception, they had quickly pursued the sudden commotion. Naturally, they would inevitably possess outstanding eye techniques.

The jianghu of famine years.

A world where the value of powerful martial arts had risen to the heavens’ end. Jianghu people now had to seize rice grains with force.

One scene was etched in the colorless pupils of such beings.

“The dead Zhongnan Sword Immortal…”

Had discussed the world’s greatest sword technique.

The foundation of sword techniques to pacify chaotic times. Moreover, it belonged to an immortal who had cut through the gates of Mount Zhongnan’s supernatural monsters and transcended.

Who wouldn’t covet it?

“……”

Those who had been murmuring grew quiet.

Gazes being sucked into the Grand Eunuch’s grasp.

The mountain foot’s wind was no longer tranquil. It bent and curved strangely in all directions. A mysterious air current.

The most dignified figure was naturally the Zhongnan Sect Leader.

Wei Zhi-myo-hwa opened her lips with clear eyes.

“Grand Eunuch, this is our sect’s document discovered by a Zhongnan disciple. Please give it to me.”

The Grand Eunuch did not answer.

She merely drew an arc with her lips, a smile as sharp as her own ears. But when Wei Zhi-myo-hwa silently met her gaze, she slowly answered.

“The reason the new emperor revived Zhongnan lies in this hand. You, Zhongnan Sect Leader, should know shame.”

The conduct of Beijing’s foremost authority figure wasn’t high-handed. It felt plain, merely discussing facts, and thus sounded even more authoritative. Enough to make the jianghu people surrounding the vicinity hesitate.

“……”

Then Jeong Hye lightly tugged at Wei Zhi-myo-hwa’s sleeve edge and whispered innocently.

“Sect Leader martial sister, I want to go back to that school. It seems shame has other meanings too.”

For a moment the Grand Eunuch hesitated, but she ultimately did not give the bundle of papers to Wei Zhi-myo-hwa. The jianghu people’s gazes remained fixed there without even the slightest movement.

The silence lengthened.

No one moved rashly.

Even treasure maps marking the tombs of famous masters often caused bloodbaths in the jianghu.

But what if the treasure itself appeared before one’s eyes rather than a tomb? If one was confident in their protective techniques, they might somehow steal the papers and enter deep mountains and valleys.

The jianghu people of the Heavenly Classic Martial Arts Examination.

Their expressionless faces told the story. It was certain they were all feeling the same impulse at this moment.

‘If a fight breaks out, fragments of considerable explosive force will fly.’

It was when Wei Zhi-myo-hwa was hiding Jeong Hye behind her back.

Suddenly the moon disappeared from the night sky. The whitish clouds that had been holding light also darkened.

It was a scene where some dark curtain covered the sky, and below it, some human shadow stood upright with both feet together. Standing on one of the Grand Eunuch’s shoulders.

“…!”

It was a woman.

She had extremely long hair flowing down to her waist, and though it was ashen gray like ash, it glistened.

A feeling as if she herself emitted dark radiance. Moreover, in the woman’s grasp, the moonlight that had been pouring down until just before was gently gathered.

As if stolen from the sky.

Or as if the moonlight interfering with concealment was bothersome.

They said the Five Greatest Swords cut through natural law. At this moment, her snow-white hand also appeared to distort the principles of all creation.

Had they faced each other head-on it might have been different, but the Grand Eunuch, who had suddenly given her back to the woman appearing from behind, stiffened like an old tree. Because the energy waves carried in the woman’s soles had point-pressed her blood vessels.

“Divine, Theft…!”

One imperial master groaned like a moan.

Divine Theft.

A pawn of the northern jianghu. Her real name was unknown.

A peerless master who had taken all sorts of precious things from the Ming Dynasty beyond the Great Wall, and had even evaded Emperor Qian-ling’s eyes.

“Many. Bothersome.”

Her voice tickled the skin like silk made of night sky. For a moment, many in the assembly swayed in place. Just hearing her voice had shaken the true energy in their upper dantians.

But the woman’s gaze lingered briefly in another direction. Until she suddenly swung her long leg lightly as if taking a stroll.

Thwack!

The Grand Eunuch’s head exploded.

The blood scattered in the darkness illuminated nothing. It only briefly touched the woman’s white ankle and settled down.

She lightly stepped on the headless body and disappeared as if buried in the night air. Having somehow snatched the bundle of papers the Grand Eunuch had been holding.

Peerless great thief.

The king of clans born with Dream Demon Body.

She never strikes more than twice.

This was the only iron rule of Divine Theft known to the jianghu. Why she maintained such conduct, no one knew. She was just accepted as an eccentric like many other peerless masters.

Thud.

The Grand Eunuch’s body sprawled out.

The dirt ground gradually turning dark red was no longer the Ming Dynasty’s jianghu. It was closer to the northern lands said to be dry and barren.

Whoosh!

“I came leisurely when asked to just grace the occasion… I was late.”

An old woman with a sword appeared at that place. From the direction Divine Theft had been looking. None other than Sword Empress Jin Xuan-chan, the Diancang Sect Leader.

Soon the old woman’s face, after glancing at the Grand Eunuch’s corpse, began to smooth out its wrinkles.

Reverse aging returning youth, temporarily but rapidly recovering youth. Before long, she had become a young woman with a somewhat dogmatic impression.

It was a unique skill of the Diancang Sect Leader.

“To let the fierce beast escape like this, what face could I show that fallen wretch of the Ma family…”

Muttering with a young voice while kicking the ground. Instantly the ground sank down.

Bang!

A form shooting out whitely into the darkness. Storms swept in all directions, roughly scraping the ground.

That was the beginning.

“Follow! It was certainly the Diancang Sect Leader!”

“Diancang…? If the Sword Empress has moved, doesn’t that mean there’s a chance of victory?”

“They say even the Desolate Fortress Lord struggled with the numbers of Dali Kingdom! Whether it’s true or not, I don’t know…!”

Transparent propulsive energy waves exploded everywhere. The jianghu people disappeared into the darkness one after another, following Divine Theft and the Sword Empress.

The ripple effect of the treasure containing sword-wielding methods – that is, the sword treasure left by the Zhongnan Sword Immortal – was exactly like that.

“The Grand Eunuch has…!”

“Send word to His Majesty! First, we pursue!”

Rumble—

Dust clouds hazily wavered above the full moon that had regained its light. The cold winter night air was pushed back with a whoosh by the heat emitted by the jianghu people.

The heroes of chaotic times pursue the world’s greatest.

The direction was north.

* * *

Since ascending to purple rank, Jeong Yeon-shin had never ridden a horse. Even without repeatedly flying with sword riding and resting, the lightness skill Ten-Li Gentle Light made him faster than a fine steed.

The luminous wheel constantly turning in his heart also granted unlimited endurance.

It was the same now.

Boom— Boom—

Thunderous sounds exploded beneath his feet at fairly long intervals. The hazy light clusters of Ten-Li Gentle Light continuously scattered left and right.

Jeong Yeon-shin turned his head slightly to the side and asked.

“Can you endure it?”

“Of course. Where else could such an opportunity exist?”

Shin So-bin, carried on his back, answered readily. She was firmly gripping Jeong Yeon-shin’s waist with both knees, and at this moment, even in the realm of tremendously fast speed, she constantly wiggled both feet.

Minute movements.

She was embodying every bit of the rough propulsive energy waves that forcefully penetrated her entire body. The achievement of Ten-Li Gentle Light couldn’t help but continuously improve.

Naturally, it was an opportunity of the ages.

Without exaggeration, most warriors would covet it.

But Shin So-bin posed a question mixed with laughter.

“You didn’t select me as a Divine Sword Squad member, right? Are you taking me along because you feel sorry?”

“No, just.”

Jeong Yeon-shin mumbled his words. Shin So-bin was the pillar of the Radiant Art Bond that Radiant Demon Wing displayed in group battles. Naturally, she couldn’t be completely taken away.

However, today’s companionship was entirely because of Wudang Sect. A place where all disciples bore the faces of ancient sword immortals. That sight had been a gentle shock.

Jeong Yeon-shin wanted to teach Shin So-bin a little more. After all, hadn’t he learned much from his seniors beyond the gates?

So he briefly made her a companion.

He sent the other Radiant Demon Wing members like Cheong Myeong back with some request. Immortal Profound Void had agreed to accompany them to Mount Zhongnan.

Meanwhile, when he spoke of teaching Shin So-bin, all the Radiant Demon Wing masters’ expressions became strange, but Jeong Yeon-shin wanted to become independent from Cheong Myeong’s help, which he had been deliberately avoiding. Because he was an adult.

White Swallow had also long since flown away with a letter tied to its leg. The destination was Desolate Fortress’s main castle. It wasn’t an urgent matter right now.

Suddenly Shin So-bin turned her head back.

“Hey.”

She asked while gently removing Jeong Yeon-shin’s hair that had stuck to her face.

“That name record. How important is it?”

[More than anything else under heaven.]

A weighty answer returned without delay. It was a voice that rang out from the pair of man and horse that had been following Jeong Yeon-shin.

“That much? There were some unexpected names though.”

[That is an elimination ranking, and the Fighting God possesses the same book. The bloodbath that will blow over your jianghu in the future will also be based on that name record.]

“So it’s a strategic treasure. For something like that, Beggar Sect Leader grandfather wasn’t written in it at all.”

[Beggars are not great warriors. Since they have no minimum honor, they’re not in the name record either. They’re just separately recognized as extremely troublesome beings.]

“Ah…”

[You may ask more.]

Northern Blade was originally a taciturn being.

But whenever the name record became a topic, he mysteriously became more active. Moreover, he sometimes used strangely refined speech.

A fact that occasionally felt eerie. Because he was a monster who didn’t even reveal his face.

Jeong Yeon-shin didn’t mind.

What was important right now were the black seniors.

Wish Fulfilling Spring Leader and Dragon-Treading Squad Leader, who were said to be captured while branded as traitors.

‘Is that the place?’

Before they knew it, a magnificently built barracks was right before them. A military camp filled with extremely stern energy waves, but at a glance it felt closer to jianghu martial world than military.

Indeed, countless familiar power fluctuations could be felt.

It wasn’t his immediate concern.

Crash!

Jeong Yeon-shin landed while splitting the ground.