Chapter 559 – Five Swords, Six Stars (6)

In the mental transmission space of the Bright Wind Spirit, the ‘Fighting God’s laws’ were denied.

While the old woman of the Six Star Lords called ‘Upright Star’ and the Fighting God’s strategist remained silent for some reason.

—King Yelu, come to Hezhou. I will personally bend bones for you without putting forward a great warrior.

—How many years have you lived so far?

—There are Six Star Lords even among those who avoid the Fighting God! Won’t you come with me to kill Finance Star!?

Many Northern Kings spoke to Jeong Yeon-shin, but he no longer answered.

There would no longer be occasions where Northern Kings would just put forward great warriors and stand with their hands behind their backs. At least the Northern Kings who faced Jeong Yeon-shin would have to do so.

But the Southern Emperor was bold.

He neither threatened Jeong Yeon-shin out of anger, nor tried to refute his words in any other way.

He merely spoke to other Northern Kings in a calm tone. As if it didn’t matter even if life-and-death enemies heard.

—I advise the southern comrades. If you have not been deceived by Yelu’s words, you should completely secure the Northern Sea Ice Palace as reinforcements on our side. The power of the contemporary Northern Sea Ice Palace Lord will become a shield of eternal snow for the Fighting God who will return in the future.

After his voice left the Sound Cave with words like a notification.

Dragon Sound Sasa King conveyed news. That Imperial Three Great Master’s Yu Xiong-gong had escaped from the Southern Emperor’s territory together with Divine Beggar.

In other words, they had properly fled.

“You must have felt it too, but there is not just one Sound Cave in the Bright Wind Spirit. Among them, several that could be called Northern Kings’ private channels are not easily eavesdropped upon either. It’s different from the Southern Emperor’s which prioritizes the speed of mental transmission.”

She said.

Jeong Yeon-shin listened silently then opened his mouth.

“Your attitude has changed. Weren’t you the Southern Emperor’s confidant?”

“Confidant? A Northern King to a Northern King…?”

Dragon Sound Sasa King burst into loud laughter.

Her war horse also neighed while lying with its head resting on its master’s thigh.

It was literally a spirit creature. Judging by how it reacted to Dragon Sound Sasa King’s every move.

Did she use cavalry martial arts like Northern Blade?

Come to think of it, Jeong Yeon-shin knew little about Dragon Sound Sasa King’s inner energy breathing.

It was different from Shame Extreme King, who was famous for protective energy throughout the demon realm.

If she was a Northern King possessing Transcendent Martial Art, she would certainly be a master who had stepped on the edge of some divine ultimate technique.

Of course, there would be occasions to confirm it somehow. Whether as ally or enemy. As always, life’s small paths would be manifold.

‘I should also decide on my next realm.’

The path to creating a third ring of accumulated energy following the considerably deepened second ring of the luminous wheel in his heart.

The path to challenging the dharma power of the Bodhidharma Realm he had briefly experienced thanks to Golden Wing Sect Lord’s Transcendent Martial Art in Sichuan.

It didn’t matter which he reached. As long as he could jump without hesitation into great cities where multiple Northern Kings resided.

The foundation was the Luminous Wheel Technique.

Step.

Jeong Yeon-shin turned his back on Dragon Sound Sasa King, who was chattering to her war horse with an exasperated tone.

“Dragon Sound and Shame Extreme should completely draw in the Ice Palace Lord… Isn’t this practically an order? King Yelu might misunderstand. The Southern Emperor’s arrogance grows thicker with each passing year.”

She too seemed to have dipped her feet in the heart demons that Jeong Yeon-shin had unleashed like Yu Ling Leader.

From the beginning, there couldn’t have been no dissatisfaction in the hearts of the belligerent Northern Kings.

In southern terms, it was like the Thirteen Evil Sects Leaders being bound as the same clan while suppressing their fierce natures.

‘I didn’t employ any special schemes. Yu Ling Leader would have been the same.’

Jeong Yeon-shin slowly walked toward the Ice Palace Lord couple. The Ice Emperor and Lazy Flame Dragon. Their whispering voices gradually grew thicker.

“I shouldn’t invite him to the Northern Sea. I thought of taking him in as a guest once because of his facial features. Ah, the old man blocks again. Covering his king’s face with sword wind.”

“Wife, you don’t need to be so wary.”

“Husband?”

“Rather than the insidious Southern Emperor, that fellow might be better. His body is also handsome.”

“Isn’t a masked person insidious?”

“Well, there’s such a thing as temperament, isn’t there? Don’t I see people well? Just the ones filtered out in your wife’s palace…”

“The reason the character for ‘divine’ is attached to Scorching Divine Meridians is that. Your husband’s upper dantian is the best.”

“That’s not it.”

Radiant Demon Wing and the Divine Sword Squad, Lazy Flame Dragon of the Ice Palace.

Already comrades and family who had crossed life and death together several times. If it weren’t Desolate Fortress but another sect, they could be called martial brothers.

That’s why he didn’t harbor groundless suspicions. The sight of serving another as lord was merely absurd.

If it had been father Jeong Pan Yue, he would have called him a fool, but that was precisely Desolate Fortress’s chivalrous heroes and the martial world’s brothers.

‘The Grand Administrator said he gave a mission.’

The mission content was life extension. Literally continuing one’s life. Lazy Flame Dragon seemed to have sought that method in the Ice Palace.

“……”

Though arranged like a noble son, his hair somehow looked disheveled, and pale blue silk clothing suited him as if it were his own.

The ice flower petals held between his teeth at some point seemed not like poppy but like the soul of the Northern Sea Ice Palace Lord.

The woman standing one step ahead of him.

Her position alone unmistakably made her Lazy Flame Dragon’s master.

Her alien yet distinct facial lines would originally have evoked favor from Jeong Yeon-shin.

They were features resembling Wish Fulfilling Spring Leader Beigong Ya, a senior he respected. But at this moment, the Ice Palace Lord’s black hair flowing down to her ankles and fluttering seemed like a flag. A flag that had conquered Lazy Flame Dragon while provoking Jeong Yeon-shin.

She slowly moved her lips.

“Your business?”

It was an attitude of wariness toward King Yelu.

The Northern Sea Ice Palace Lord’s blue eyes were now flashing like flames of colorless fire. Jeong Yeon-shin intuited.

That if they exchanged moves here, he would win with difficulty, but several of his limbs would fly off, and the Ice Palace Lord would inevitably die.

“Let’s talk briefly.”

He said.

Saaaa—

Sword wind imbued with mystical energy waves hazily colored Jeong Yeon-shin’s entire body.

It was while Sword Saint Hyeon So-baek’s blade wind blocked the Ice Palace Lord’s peerless eye techniques. Jeong Yeon-shin only turned his head slightly to the side and politely bowed silently.

“That old man isn’t your subordinate, is he? That’s the feeling.”

The Ice Palace Lord’s question. Jeong Yeon-shin asked lowly in return.

“Is Lazy Flame Dragon your subordinate?”

“No.”

“Then…?”

“How could my husband be a subordinate? He’s half of me.”

Rustle… Was it because of the extreme Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown that the Ice Palace Lord had achieved? Due to true energy flowing according to her heart, her lower abdomen’s garment edges crumpled slightly for an instant, and Jeong Yeon-shin felt extremely faint energy waves there.

“…!”

The most noble mystery.

Something that hadn’t existed in the knowledge Jeong Yeon-shin had directly seen and expanded. Something unexpected that he hadn’t anticipated. It was precisely the movement of a fetus.

There was no meddling among Radiant Demon Wing’s comrades. Immediately he struck mental transmission down on Lazy Flame Dragon like lightning.

—You, you.

Can you live long?

He almost blurted that out, but it ended with rare stuttering. Because that shouldn’t be done in front of a child.

He didn’t even make the mouth shape to scold Lazy Flame Dragon.

Jeong Yeon-shin had no experience, so he became extremely cautious.

Even if it was mental transmission that even peerless masters couldn’t eavesdrop on, he wondered if it might somehow affect the baby. So he became quiet like a bear that had swallowed honey.

It was the first time in his life.

“Why are you speechless…?”

When the Ice Palace Lord, who had originally feared nothing under heaven, tilted her head curiously, and the shadows under Lazy Flame Dragon’s eyes, who had nothing to say to his direct superior, deepened awkwardly.

“I will.”

Jeong Yeon-shin slowly opened his mouth.

“Become another father to that child. If you two permit it, I’ll take this as proof of alliance.”

Strange emotions were swirling in his heart.

Wonder toward the faint energy waves of the child like a new sprout, the jealousy he had always harbored toward Lazy Flame Dragon, and vicarious satisfaction and relief, finally all sorts of thoughts tangled like thread that even he couldn’t understand.

One who had formed a true family.

Perhaps Lazy Flame Dragon was a better grand master than Jeong Yeon-shin.

Then the Ice Palace Lord suddenly said with her blue pupils.

“You’ll become my concubine? I welcome it.”

“No.”

“Then a guardian? You’ll become like a teacher…? Your Return to Origin is solid, so I can’t gauge it. How good this would be for my child.”

Then.

“I.”

He was the Ice Palace Lord’s First Husband.

He couldn’t deploy mental transmission that didn’t burst with energy waves like Jeong Yeon-shin.

The Ice Palace Lord’s First Husband and King Yelu sharing some mental transmission? It was needless to say a strange affair. So Lazy Flame Dragon spoke with his own voice.

“I think it would be good.”

The poppy addict was smiling.

Not the crooked smile of before.

* * *

There were Taoists wandering the wilderness with only a single sword each.

About twenty in total, they never stopped or rested even when the occasional cool northern wind whooshed and raised dust.

Gaunt ones like old trees.

It was because food wasn’t abundant. Even Jade Valley Pills were precious.

Their long limbs and dark eye light of colorless intensity proved they were noble swordsmen. Moreover, conversations showing familiarity with the affairs of the northern jianghu were evidence of a great sect.

None other than the Nine Great Sects.

Among them, Kongtong and Mount Heng.

“Unification of the demon realm’s south…”

“It’s an alliance of King Yelu, Dragon Sound Sasa King, and the Ice Palace Lord. Northern King Yelu is the central figure, and he extracted a non-aggression pact from Shame Extreme King. Dragon Sound Sasa King entered the alliance on condition of not killing that fellow. For the Southern Emperor, it’s like losing the Ice Palace he had worked hard to draw in.”

“Young Heavenly Demon Invincible must have stayed put.”

“When our Mount Heng investigated, they said the Ming Cult’s Void Destruction City that King Yelu invaded was completely empty…”

“Did Yelu head north immediately after?”

“Yes. We don’t know what will happen afterward. Unless the sect leaders come, there’s absolutely no way to approach closely…”

“Isn’t support coming from Desolate Fortress? They should join us today, and then many things will become possible.”

“Mm, Wish Fulfilling Spring and Dragon-Treading Squad are old allies. If they join us too, it will be sufficient to observe Yelu.”

“Divine Sword Squad? Not completely incompetent. I was disappointed because there were no sect leaders, but…”

A voice that interjected in the middle.

It wasn’t the voices of the Kongtong and Mount Heng Taoists.

The reaction was immediate.

Shing!

Twenty-two Taoists smoothly drew their swords and spun around.

Gray worn garment edges fluttering as if caressing strong winds. Before they knew it, they were scattered sporadically, having trapped two large human shadows in the middle.

Demon-Subduing Sword Formation and Remnant Sword Wall.

The sword formations of Kongtong and Mount Heng respectively rumbled and created semi-transparent energy waves. They had instantly prepared for full battle.

But the Taoists’ complexions weren’t bright.

Each possessed eye techniques that could see through shadows in the dust, and they even had broad knowledge.

As elite swordsmen of the nine sects, they had also honed extremely sensitive energy senses.

“Giant Wave King, Mad Demon Divine King…!”

The royal titles of the human shadows that had somehow positioned themselves in the center of the group of swordsmen.

There were two Northern Kings.

Both exceeded seven feet in height.

They were absolute beings who respectively ruled lands called Wild Ridge and Bent Ridge, and twins born from the same womb on the same day and hour.

They discussed being the world’s greatest through joint attacks, and it was said none could oppose them unless they reached the realm of the Six Star Lords. It was rumor spread like common knowledge in the northern jianghu.

“You were too carefree.”

“The demon realm is no longer a land that tolerates such movements… Didn’t you know?”

Gradually subsiding dust.

As the two Northern Kings’ appearances were fully revealed, the Taoists of the nine sects fell silent.

“……”

Their faces were distorted to one side, and their builds were gigantic like siege towers used to attack castle walls.

Their skin was so thick it looked like they wore leather armor.

The protective energy covering them in faint colorless hues was like iron armor, and the texture visible from outside glimmered alienated as if it were something beyond the human world.

Heaven Silk Steel Armor.

“How long has it been…? Since we went out personally, alone, without sending great warriors.”

“Come to think of it, when Qian-ling charged up was good.”

“Well, we always thought of death then.”

“I want to be drenched in Yelu’s blood quickly. He’ll surely restore the spirit I lost.”

“Shouldn’t killing the traitorous Ice Palace Lord come first? Our priest said so. Don’t let her and the Scorching Divine Meridians’ child be born. Other Northern Kings would have heard similar words.”

“You too need to smear Yelu’s blood on your body. Your spirit is terrible.”

… Northern Kings who were on their way to plot against King Yelu.

Kugugung! Kugugugugung—!

As conversation continued, invisible pressure pressed down on the land that was nothing but dust.

Their voices settling like a type of sound technique. Hundreds of cracks were spreading from the ground.

“They said Yelu’s old great warrior is a strong one like a Northern King, but I think he’s a famous blade master from the south.”

“If an old man accumulated strength to that age, it’s possible. He might be a sword of the south.”

“If it’s the Five Greatest Swords under Heaven, it’s a name worth risking one’s neck to break.”

“I don’t know if he’s that level. Look at the Wudang Sect Leader, wasn’t he toyed with by the Divine Theft’s disciple? He falls far short of the Six Star Lords.”

Nothing special about it.

Their own story takes priority immediately, and it feels like they’re crushing enemies to death as an afterthought.

Kheuk!

Indeed, the swordsmen of Mount Heng and Kongtong were suddenly spitting blood from the natural disaster that had struck.

Each withstanding pressure that seemed like they might die at any moment through means like energy transformation, soft protective breathing, or solid horse stance.

Because of this, one swordsman who had been naturally mixed among them stood out.

Appearing as if he had been there from the beginning with his bamboo hat lowered, he seemed to be pondering what rhythm to match the surrounding Taoists’ wretched state.

“It’s not time yet…”

“One-armed?”

Giant Wave King’s muttering.

At some point, both Northern Kings’ gazes had fallen on that swordsman, but the three people’s eyes never met. Because cloudy cataracts filled the eyes under the bamboo hat.

“This is embarrassing. I’m quite clumsy at dance moves.”

He who smiled awkwardly placed his hand on his sword hilt for only a moment.

Crack—!

Space split above the cracks that had remained only on the ground. A distortion like a sword strike. In that pale straight line, the necks of both Northern Kings were caught.

Blood burst forth with a splash.

As if semi-transparent trajectories had crossed over internal energy barriers and been carved into their skin.