Chapter 580 – Fierce Fire (4)

Spirituality.

It transforms iron swords into divine swords and martial arts into divine arts. It also elevates the abilities of all techniques to another level.

Originally, it is invisible like pure energy.

Nevertheless, there are exceptions.

Those masters who have realized supreme principles and embodied them within their bodies are such cases.

The extremely few strong ones whose smallest exhale and even fingertip movements are part of divine arts. They can create something with distinct form using the spirituality accumulated over a lifetime.

A space where natural laws are twisted by martial arts, sword blades that cut through anything, some transcendent ability, or near-absolute defensive techniques…

What happens when such spiritualities at their peak collide with each other?

The answer existed at Clear Light Plain in the north.

The vast plain that endlessly crossed like a broad sword blade between Yeoktru Castle and Ice Breathing Mountain. It was the battle of beings who had dyed the entire area within a radius of ten li at its center completely white.

Jin Myeong-jo honestly thought it was fucking annoying.

This space, the excessive position that didn’t suit him, and the overwhelming battle he couldn’t handle.

‘I want to wash my hands of this and retire.’

In some void of the pure white space.

He breathed soundlessly while surveying below.

Naturally, he was transparently hiding his body with the survival technique Shadow Stealth, floating with void-treading steps like a winged bat, yet there was no one looking up at him.

Perhaps it was because he had somehow come to breathe through all his body’s acupoints rather than his nose and mouth. In any case, it was fortunate. At this moment, there were nothing but monsters below.

Zzeojeojeojeong! Hwaaak—!

As soon as the ten human shadows in total clashed, they scattered and became entangled in breathtakingly complex movement patterns of body techniques.

Each time, shock waves that rose to the sky, sweeping over Jin Myeong-jo’s impassively hardened face.

His porcelain-white skin had long since turned even paler.

‘How did those b*st*rds start fighting with Yao tribe monsters?’

He must not be discovered.

He was Blood Guardian because he cherished his body. Being of insignificant birth even among blood demons, he didn’t have strong regenerative abilities like the nobles of the Blood Flame Cult.

Moreover, he was now desperately maintaining the seven Dark Night Blood-Gleaming Demon Swords he had supplied.

If his concentration on the formless swords wavered even slightly at this moment, the faces of the elf squad leaders he had wanted to smash at least once would really be shattered.

By none other than the fists of Literary Star of the Six Star Lords.

Huuuuuung!

A giant fist barely grazed past Wish-fulfilling Spring Leader Beigong Ya’s high nose tip.

In that recoil, semi-transparent cutting winds swept like beast’s teeth with a whoosh, and Beigong Ya’s legs shot up whitishly as she bent her waist to the limit.

Kwang!

Leg technique that burst shock waves from her thick elbow.

Instantly, her trouser hem burned blue-green, revealing bare skin. It was the recoil of Heaven Silk Steel Armor.

Hwaaaaaak!

Ripples spread below that, drawing chaotic spirals in the pure white sandy ground.

Terrifying leg power that was clearly derived from elixirs. Was it really because she was born of some northern royal family?

‘I can’t even help…!’

Jin Myeong-jo almost covered his ears with both hands, but as always, his body moved opposite to his mind. He painfully raised his long index finger connected to the Dark Night Blood-Gleaming Demon Swords.

Beigong Ya’s leg technique clearly aimed for the opponent’s dislocation but failed.

The giant Literary Star was still striking Beigong Ya’s body with his intact hand.

It was natural if it was natural. He was said to be the one who had torn off Jeong Yeon-shin’s right arm.

Jin Myeong-jo’s blood-red eyes rippled thickly like a ghost with fear.

[Silent Night, Watchtower.]

Ssss!

The dark red formless sword in Beigong Ya’s hand bent on its own and blocked Literary Star’s hand blade.

Immediately, a tremendous roar burst and fierce recoil rushed into Jin Myeong-jo’s head.

Of course, Literary Star’s strike that might have crushed Beigong Ya only resulted in bouncing her away. A divine form disappearing while creating cave-like furrows in the white sand.

‘Damn painful!’

Jin Myeong-jo shot out thirty zhang forward without even having time to curse.

Thud.

Where he had been, a large-framed Yao woman was already standing in the void. The sight of her driving a red crescent blade into Jin Myeong-jo’s afterimage. It was an ambush technique of Towering Yellow Ten Knots.

If Guan Yu had been reborn as a Yao tribesman, would he be like her? She was no different from a War God.

Among them, Six Star Lord Upright Star clicked her tongue at her own missed strike.

[Was that curved blade just now operated at the level of Mind-Controlling Sword…? Absurd.]

Soon after, she muttered. I’ll have to kill that one first.

Crack—

It was the sound of Upright Star chewing a pill.

The stench of corpses spread.

Her energy waves that had been gradually weakening began to surge while scattering orange sparks in the air.

Towers of corpses commonly seen in northern cities—the pill’s identity was a collection of innate true energy derived from there.

Meanwhile, Jin Myeong-jo melted into the void again with Shadow Stealth. He hid by completely blocking all his body’s meridians with blood art true energy. It was a desperate return to truth.

He inwardly gritted his teeth.

‘That pill is the problem.’

It constantly restored Upright Star’s body and energy to their original state.

Naturally, it couldn’t restore even the spirituality of her upper energy center.

It was just that Upright Star’s own upper energy center was cultivated to be monstrously tenacious, and this combined with the pill’s abilities to create the aspect of an untiring monster.

Unlike the somewhat sluggish Literary Star, she was the strongest being in this space.

There existed mysteries drenched in blood in the northern martial world. Just as the Ming Dynasty martial world had Great Rejuvenation Pills and all sorts of treasures.

Moreover, due to the Transcendent Martial Art called ‘Towering Pillar Great Genesis,’ any techniques other than straight-line attacks lost their power before her.

It was a skill that made the time spent by jianghu people learning all sorts of feints and variations useless.

‘Can I steal that pill from that monster unless it’s a curved trajectory technique?’

In the urgent situation, Jin Myeong-jo was skeptical.

Then.

Momentarily, Upright Star swung her large crescent blade outward, and with a bang! explosive sound, a gaunt old swordsman appeared with his sword extended… The sword tip was matched against the blade tip of the crescent blade. A scene like the tricks of a marketplace opera troupe.

The Sword Star had chased Upright Star with void-treading steps and ambushed her, she had unleashed a deadly counterattack technique, and again the Sword Star had defended against that counterattack just before collision.

Upright Star laughed.

[I like your fighting spirit. But old friend, your sword has become much lighter. Light enough that you can no longer withstand me.]

“Who is your friend?”

The old swordsman answered in a calm voice. Unlike the echo resonating from Upright Star’s body, it was a raw human voice.

The Sword Star’s Transcendent Martial Art had fulfilled its purpose by saving the lives of the seven squad leaders several times and disappeared.

Originally, it would have been a life-saving ultimate technique that created gaps for deadly counterattacks.

‘Damn it.’

Jin Myeong-jo felt dizzy.

This world of such monsters didn’t suit him.

The situation below was also problematic.

Literary Star, who had one eyeball plucked out by Forest Treading Squad Leader Xiahou Wei-jin, revealing a large eye socket.

Despite his absurdly large build, he moved fastest on the sandy ground. Naturally, the largely torn air made low roars like a giant’s bass voice.

Uuuuuuuu—!

Each time he burst the clan martial art Nine Marsh Energy outside his body, the squad leaders were swept away in the space that surged like a tidal wave, and the Nine Marsh Hand unleashed with extremely tyrannical advancing footwork was unstoppable.

Martial arts that swung his long, giant arms in fifteen different forms to generate irresistible shock waves.

Zzeojeok!

Right now, Xiahou Wei-jin and Cheon So-so, whose bodies were caught on his respective arms, had their protective energy shattered transparently once again.

Even his slowed movements after deploying Transcendent Martial Art were at that level.

[Watchtower.]

Jin Myeong-jo’s mental command controlling the Dark Night Blood-Gleaming Demon Swords resonated.

The formless swords bent on their own from the two squad leaders’ grips to the Heaven Silk Steel Armor of the giant arms, scattering blue-green flames. Subsequently, ominous cutting sounds descended. Sword strikes like skinning prey.

Goooo— Maaaa— Daaa—

Xiahou Wei-jin’s killing intent-filled battle cry resonated.

Soon, he and Cheon So-so had escaped from Literary Star’s arms. The dark red misty swords wavered in the grips of the two squad leaders who spun like leaves with Wind God body technique.

Similarly, curved sword strikes burst shock waves at Literary Star’s ankles.

Zzeojeong!

Literary Star swayed extremely slightly. Meaningful damage had been inflicted. Black ranks could handle any weapon.

But Jin Myeong-jo was puzzled.

The elf squad leaders were among the most unlucky groups under heaven. Why were they fighting as if possessed by gods? If their breathing was disrupted even briefly, their necks would be torn off by Literary Star’s grip.

‘Because the Acting Group Leader was seriously injured?’

For some reason, no other reason came to mind.

Of course, it wasn’t only the two squad leaders who were angry.

Thud! Thudthud!

That enigmatic Ultimate Martial Hall Master was unleashing attack techniques with full power, his arm muscles bulging. He was stepping on Literary Star’s back like a crane with his completely burned prosthetic leg.

It was unlike someone versed in defensive martial arts, but looking closely, all his strikes carried Jeong Yeon-shin’s characteristic short decisive battle temperament.

‘The end times. This is a problem.’

Jin Myeong-jo worried.

If he retrieved the Dark Night Blood-Gleaming Demon Swords distributed to the squad leaders, he too could step forward.

But his martial prowess wasn’t stronger than the formless swords wielded nobly by seven squad leaders. That’s why the current situation had been created.

[Old friend, I pity the years you’ve been beaten. In the war called life, what meaning is there in distinguishing between evil arts and orthodox martial arts?]

At some point, after the Sword Star was bounced outside the pure white space by Upright Star’s great strike.

Beigong Ya’s robust body visibly creaked with constantly dislocated joints.

On one side, Dragon Treading Squad Leader Wei Zhi-ji boldly fell into energy circulation while standing. It was a battle posture that could be called possessed by ghosts, a bearing that didn’t care whether he died on the spot or not.

Meanwhile, Resonance Spirit Squad Leader Yun So-yu was leaning on her sword like a staff.

It was because her lumbar vertebrae had finally been shattered by Literary Star. She was now enduring by creating a skeleton with protective energy, and it was fortunate she hadn’t reached instant death.

Thud Thud Thud! Zzeojeok!

The afterimages created by the seven squad leaders and two monsters entangling and scattering gradually thickened. The pure white sandy ground was collapsing.

The more this happened, the greater the pressure felt by Jin Myeong-jo and the squad leaders became.

They were being pushed back.

Slowly but surely, the gap in the fight was widening. Perhaps because they were Six Star Lords of the same faction, Literary Star and Upright Star’s coordination was surprisingly well-matched.

[Watchtower, watchtower, watchtower…!]

The shadows around Jin Myeong-jo’s eyes, who had been coordinating the formless swords with burning mental commands, deepened.

‘If we could have divided into groups of two to face them…!’

That would have made it somewhat easier to handle.

Upright Star’s Towering Pillar Great Genesis and Literary Star’s Mencius Steadfast Solid. Two fully deployed Transcendent Martial Arts were dominating the battlefield. By rendering feints and long-range attack techniques powerless respectively.

Such repeated battles were dropping the strong ones’ minds into a swamp of selfless absorption.

Slowly.

They had forgotten how many exchanges they had made.

The red spear strikes of the crescent blade and giant gestures spread hazily, while darker red sword strike groups and whitishly glowing footsteps arose like phantoms.

It wasn’t just Jin Myeong-jo.

Everyone’s consciousness was slowly sinking.

Toward death.

That’s when it happened.

Suddenly, red clothing edges fluttered in the void, brushing past Literary Star’s face.

Rustle—

A human shadow that had suddenly intruded landed on Literary Star’s shoulder. Footsteps as if a noble had come out for a stroll. It was lightness skill mysterious enough to be counted among the finest under heaven.

Lustrous black hair flowed down like a dream despite being disheveled, and madness rippled in ruby-red eyes. She was absurdly beautiful.

The same bone structure as Jeong Yeon-shin.

Was it the Acting Group Leader?

All the squad leaders thought so in their blurred vision. Even Jin Myeong-jo was similarly mistaken for a moment.

Unless one had a considerably mad disposition and deranged qualities, one couldn’t mimic and construct the Acting Group Leader’s bone structure.

“You?”

When the black-haired, red-eyed woman looked down at Literary Star and spoke irritably.

Zzeojeojeojeong! Thud Thud Thud Thud—!

During the fierce battle, similar phrases flashed through each squad leader’s mind. It was the ability of upper energy centers already elevated to the extreme.

‘Let’s go.’

Their thoughts overlapped.

The seven began to move identically, surrounding Literary Star and Upright Star.

[…If you operate internal energy through the above pathways, urgency is embedded when extending a single fist. Roughly clench the fist and just extend it earnestly. The mental command is to safely cross time. Only then does the solid explosive power of the second technique Advancing Thunder sprout from the grip.]

Gripping formless swords using the formula of the Eternal Blossom Fist as the gripping method.

[The single thought of moving alone in a stopped world. I am not fast. It’s pitiful that the world is slower than me. Before this fleeting stroll ends, it would be good to catch anyone and see the conclusion.]

While closing distance with Radiant Wing Five Steps.

[The mental image of falling between stepping stones of time. Embed despair in your legs and twist your body, then the distant wind rises from your feet to support your lumbar vertebrae. The body transforms into wind that flows as impermanently as time.]

With rotating body movements like the introduction to Wind God body technique, they burst the accumulated Radiant Art Bond shock waves.

[Watchtower… damn.]

The moment Jin Myeong-jo, who had been hanging in the void, vertically plunged his body down.

The Lightning Genius lineage sprouted the temperament of prestigious great sects like North Reverence South Honor.

[TL Note- North Reverence refers to Shaolin, South Honor refers to Wudang.]

Hwaaaaaaaaak!

Upright Star and Literary Star, who had been natural disasters themselves, retreated as if by magic.

Even Literary Star was being shattered as his shoulder shook with bangs from the kicks of the woman in bright red robes.

Jin Myeong-jo landed on the ground with a thud, creating foam in the pure white sand. Simultaneously, his surroundings were dyed darkly. Silent Night. True to its name of quiet night.

“……”

Radiant Art Bond’s white shock waves spread hazily from the squad leaders’ bodies like dawn sunlight.

An appearance like dawn or sunset. At this moment, eight Jeong Yeon-shins stood before the eyes of the Six Star Lords absolute masters.

Upright Star, who had been staring at them intently, spat out.

[You become stronger as time passes. It seems you’ve created war martial arts in the south too.]

[Without needing to mention Confucius and Mencius, Upright Star surely knows well the strategic value we possess. Even if you win here, if you lose even one limb… No.]

Instantly, Literary Star, who had grabbed Seventh Apostle’s ankle like lightning, threw her far away.

Blood was already gushing from his shoulder, though no one present knew how the Heaven Silk Steel Armor had been penetrated.

[This Heaven Silk Steel Armor will need further reinforcement now. That woman, and of course marking you as a person requiring special attention… In any case, it was a good fight.]

His words as he smiled grimly were the end.

The two Six Star Lords judged quickly like generals who had fought a hundred battles and suddenly disappeared, and Jin Myeong-jo, who had been designated by Literary Star, fell into contemplation with an indifferent face.

‘Damn…’

Whoosh!

The other squad leaders generated propulsive shock waves in both feet. Though their bodies could collapse at any moment, perhaps because their fighting spirit was elevated, killing intent glittered around each of their eyes.

“We don’t have time to dawdle here. As if those b*st*rds would really retreat.”

“We should pursue. Kill them if possible.”

Jin Myeong-jo, who glanced back, saw seven Jeong Yeon-shins in his eyes.

He thought. Indeed fucking annoying.

But at this moment, the seven squad leaders and one Divine Sword Squad Leader harbored the same question.

The Lightning Genius Martial Lineage techniques deeply reflected upon at the gap between life and death.

Themes like time, years, earnestness, impermanence had approached them with fresh significance. It was an inevitable situation.

Why.

Why were all the mental images like that?

The reason for fundamentally pursuing short decisive battles?

There were times when they casually dismissed it as just due to temperament, but now it was something that needed to be understood.