novelburst
Chapter 115
Chapter 115
Chapter 115 – Divine Technique (3)
***
Jeong Yeon-shin landed naturally while lowering his hand. He didn’t need to take more than a few steps.
The hem of his fluttering blue robe briefly wrapped around his legs before unfurling.
‘Demon Destroying Azure Unyielding Palm… truly counters masters of the demonic path.’
He confirmed its effectiveness matched the name he gave it. It had a very advantageous compatibility against demonic path internal energy.
When limited to specific opponents, perhaps he could even match masters one level above.
“Huu…”
The Pure Demon Alliance master gave a large exhale of air. A death breath. With his head crushed, he lost his balance.
His body staggered for a moment, it couldn’t withstand the whirlwind of energy.
The cape covering below his shoulders clung limply to his back.
Whoosh!
Fragments of unreleased internal energy swirled like a breeze. Slowly, his body fell backward with eyes wide open.
Thud!
A heavy vibration arose. It was on a fairly steep downward slope. His whole body slid down slightly before stopping.
Instant death.
“…!”
The formation of warriors chasing behind suddenly halted. There were about fifteen of them.
Their legs casting lightness techniques suddenly tensed up.
Faces suddenly hardened. In that brief moment they alternately looked at the corpse and Jeong Yeon-shin. All eyes moved while showing shock.
Kwaaak!
Those who hurriedly stopped maintained a distance of ten steps.
“Sir Jeong!”
Hyeon Won-chang’s shout rang from behind. It was filled with joy.
Jeong Yeon-shin turned his body while facing the enemies.
The bearing of a strong person began seeping from his conduct. Desolate Fortress’ golden embroidery brushed past the enemy group’s view.
“What is this…”
When one man muttered in bewilderment, Jeong Yeon-shin and Hyeon Won-chang’s gazes met.
For a moment Hyeon Won-chang opened his eyes extremely wide, then immediately showed a grin.
“It is! It truly is! For a moment I doubted my eyes!”
He came running while laughing heartily. Not much time had passed since they’re eyes met. Due to the short distance, they quickly stood face to face.
Jeong Yeon-shin felt relieved seeing him. At least Hyeon Won-chang was alive.
“Sir Hyeon.”
“How delightful this is! I thought I wouldn’t survive today!”
“I don’t see any injuries. No internal injuries?”
Jeong Yeon-shin asked while forcefully suppressing his joy. Hyeon Won-chang’s smile deepened.
“Of course not. Don’t I have some skill in protective qi? This Desolate Divine Hero’s internal energy shield won’t be pierced by unnamed warriors. Anyway, how amazing that you found this place! This is truly a hidden mysterious place like no other. You really came. Though I waited eagerly.”
“That…”
“Anyway, it seems the main fortress sent reinforcements, and that’s great! To think you’d be included! But what happened with the Namgung family? Did you defeat Azure Qilin? You must have won to be here. That’s fantastic! You, Sir Jeong, are definitely a future candidate for the title of the best in the world.”
His joy was clearly evident in his inability to contain himself. A smile bloomed across Hyeon Won-chang’s whole face.
The hero’s band he usually boasted about was torn somewhere, and his eyebrows curved amusingly below his cleanly exposed forehead.
Then he slightly tilted his body and peeked at the Pure Demon Alliance master sprawled behind Jeong Yeon-shin.
“That guy there. No, that b*st*rd was the Dark Path Palm Killer, a demonic path master of the Pure Demon Alliance. They say he’s a palm technique master who could kill three people with one palm strike. But he couldn’t withstand one of your fist techniques!”
While saying this, he took a step to the side.
Thud!
Hyeon Won-chang placed his hand on Jeong Yeon-shin’s shoulder. It was on the trapezius muscle making a right angle below his neck.
Not hiding his emotion, he massaged it like giving a massage, while raising his lips in satisfaction.
“Dark Path Palm Killer my ass. His crown opened wide in death.”
“…”
“What a satisfying end.”
Jeong Yeon-shin said nothing. He was already used to Hyeon Won-chang’s dull nerves.
The words referencing the hundred meeting points surely weren’t intentional.
The boy turned again.
“More importantly, those guys.”
He said. His view captured those who had been chasing Hyeon Won-chang.
They were ones who hadn’t dared move while the two conversed.
As if devising strategies against an invincible master, they were whispering among themselves.
Hyeon Won-chang opened his mouth with a snicker. He looked very natural acting as a guard while having Jeong Yeon-shin as an ally.
“They’re trash from Sichuan’s Sect of Brilliant Prosperity. Their sect leader stabbed Senior Baek in the back.”
“You mean Senior Baek Mi-ryeo?”
Jeong Yeon-shin’s voice sank. The scenes he saw with his upper dantian flashed through his mind.
Many seniors had their backs cut and stabbed. He remembered the appearance of Baek Mi-ryeo with her exceptionally white skin.
Cheong Myeong’s clear abdominal muscles were also split by sword marks.
It wasn’t foresight. It seemed to show the City of Renowned Craftsmen’s current situation.
“How could that happen? With Senior Baek’s martial prowess she could single-handedly exterminate several minor sects. Was it… betrayal?”
“What betrayal.”
Hyeon Won-chang sneered. It wasn’t directed at Jeong Yeon-shin.
It was mockery ridiculing the enemies unable to move before them.
“What would our fortress trust? Just look at Sir Jeong who suffered at the hands of the Namgung family. Moreover, if they’re sects between righteous and evil, isn’t it strange for us to give trust?”
“Then?”
“We never trusted them from the start. It was obvious they came as servants of the Thirteen Evil Sects. The problem was just being attacked from three sides. Pure Demon Alliance and Ten Perfections Sect. With two of Sichuan’s Thirteen Evil Sects attacking from both sides, how could we have strength to guard against others’ techniques? Several had no choice but to expose their backs.”
He truly wasn’t cursing. His words sank gloomily at the end.
“Senior Cheong Myeong and Senior Baek… took sword wounds while saving me. Because of one worthless person in the Radiant Demon Wing’s group…”
It was something he had to blame himself for. Jeong Yeon-shin didn’t try to awkwardly comfort him.
The image was clear of the Desolate Hero protecting commoners with his bare body from Xuzhou’s Blood Flame Sect members.
He was someone with chivalry. It meant his inner self was stronger than anyone’s.
***
Read only at nineheavens.org
Translated by Nine Heavens!
https://discord.gg/XC9DTsTQ9Z
***
“Why were you being chased alone? What about the other seniors?”
Jeong Yeon-shin quietly asked.
“I should start by saying the City of Renowned Craftsmen is divided into four areas.”
Hyeon Won-chang answered. With the smile gone from his face.
“Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter. Though they said it’s separated in a line, this is what could be called the entrance, Spring Area. Radiant Demon Wing is heading toward the Winter Area.”
“You were left alone?”
“Hasn’t it been quite a while since we set out on our mission? Since they could notice Radiant Demon Wing’s whereabouts becoming unclear from outside, someone was needed to guide any reinforcements that might come. Though uncertain… We are Desolate Fortress after all.”
The pride seeping from those words was tremendous. It suited the man who called himself a Desolate Divine Hero.
“Look how well it turned out, being able to meet up with you? Meanwhile I was hiding my body at the entrance to the Spring Area. Though I got discovered by those trying to exploit Spring Area’s blacksmiths and had to run around here and there.”
“Is there a reason the Radiant Demon Wing headed to the edge of the City of Renowned Craftsmen?”
“They say the all-male performance troupes of Haedong use this curse.”
[TL Note- Haedong is the poetic name for Korea.]
“…?”
“They say ‘make them eat sh*t’ meaning to interfere, Senior Cheong Myeong suggested to our sect leader that since two of the Thirteen Heavens seem to be aiming for the City of Renowned Craftsmen’s Winter Area, shouldn’t Desolate Fortress rightfully seize it?”
Blue Eyed Demon Sword Cheong Myeong was a swordsman competing for first in blue-rank.
He could imagine him smiling gently while delivering harsh words even while wounded.
“It’s an incident where the Ten Perfections Sect, Pure Demon Alliance, and Sichuan sects between righteous and evil conspired together. Targeting this City of Renowned Craftsmen and the Tang Clan Leader. We just got entangled in this dirty business while trying to question the Tang Clan Leader. From up on that cliff to here.”
Hyeon Won-chang said while pointing at the high ceiling with his finger.
“We got dragged into this conflict. How could they leave the Radiant Demon Wing be like they would any other ordinary sect? With uncontrollable masters gathered at the enemies’ target location, how could those demonic path b*st*rds let us leave be, peacefully?”
“…”
“They also struck first due to misunderstanding. But once blood was shed, the situation devolved into chaos. It’s not like we just took it either. Afterwards, well, naturally they had no choice but to keep pushing forward saying whatever…”
Hyeon Won-chang trailed off. It meant they were being pushed from Spring Area to Winter Area both willingly and unwillingly.
It was no different from saying there was non-stop fighting. How many would be injured and die in the process.
Though his words seemed like jokes, that was the evil path and martial world.
“What was the battle situation like?”
“They would attack again after about half an hour of stalemate. Even I barely escaped. That’s when the two seniors were injured.”
Hyeon Won-chang’s expression grew gloomy again. Jeong Yeon-shin slowly nodded.
‘Good.’
He grasped the situation. Now they had to advance.
That’s when it happened.
“Ex-excuse me.”
Jeong Yeon-shin raised his head. One of the Sect of Brilliant Prosperity men had called him. He seemed to be attempting negotiation.
“Young master of Desolate Fortress. There seems no need to see blood unnecessarily. We will withdraw.”
The man wearing a dust-covered silk martial robe continued speaking.
“With golden embroidery, aren’t you a noble person? We only have the crime of following Pure Demon Alliance’s coercion. Please be understanding.”
It was a strange attitude. As if trying to maintain pride while begging, he kept his waist straight.
Sichuan murim’s characteristic closed nature showed through.
“…”
Jeong Yeon-shin’s eyes swept over them once.
Every one of them avoided meeting his gaze and turned their heads slightly. They looked like people familiar with the martial world’s law of survival of the fittest.
‘Said to be between righteous and evil.’
There are many neutral sects in the world. Those who move according to sect interests from the boundary between righteous and evil paths.
They said to think of them as evil sects watching the government’s mood. Those were Cheong Myeong’s words.
Jeong Yeon-shin slowly parted his lips.
“You chose the wrong side this time. You crossed the line.”
“Shall we kill them?”
Lazy Flame Dragon’s voice rang out. It was behind his neck.
He could feel it without turning around.
The Return Wing Corps masters were lined up behind his back. They had been there since Jeong Yeon-shin started talking with Hyeon Won-chang.
That was why the Sect of Brilliant Prosperity warriors who didn’t know what to do finally stepped forward first.
While explaining the situation to Jeong Yeon-shin, Hyeon Won-chang had also been glancing back, but when he saw Lazy Flame Dragon he opened his mouth in shock.
“The Hwangbo young master…?!”
“You know me. I don’t remember your name. Only vaguely recall your face.”
“What, what is this?”
The boy calmly opened his mouth.
“Sir Hyeon.”
“Sir Jeong, but these people…”
“How severe are Senior Radiant Demon Wing’s people’s injuries? The worst one.”
“…Senior Oh lost her left arm.”
For a moment Jeong Yeon-shin felt intense pain in his lower lip. He had unconsciously bit it.
It was because he immediately thought of the blue senior called Oh Wol-hyang. She was a middle-aged woman who treated him like a son.
“Return Wing Corps.”
The boy called as if reciting.
Saaaa?
For a moment Hyeon Won-chang saw an illusion of Lightning Genius’ blue robe being dyed red.
It was a vision like wearing the Blood Flame Sect Grand Master’s pure blood robe.
‘His internal energy realm is advancing to the next stage…!’
He thought. He was extremely surprised.
The Demon Roaring Blood Force’s qi energy spread irregularly from Jeong Yeon-shin’s body.
It was a colorless heat haze rising ominously moment by moment.
He raised it intentionally. It was to gain an evil path-like quality.
They had to advance forward, but the City of Renowned Craftsmen was a closed city.
Leave enemies behind their backs? Anyone would call it foolish judgment. No matter the numbers.
It was a moment requiring a decision as Desolate Fortress’ leader.
Slowly.
Jeong Yeon-shin parted his increasingly reddened lips.
“Kill them. Kill them All.”
Step.
After giving the order, the boy began walking down the path alone.
It was toward the village where City of Renowned Craftsmen Spring Area’s civilian houses were gathered.
Walking straight while receiving the subtle lighting of the underground city, he received no one’s interference.
Swish! Boom!
“Kuhek!”
“You, you b*st*rds…!”
The air heated up intensely. Lazy Flame Dragon who immediately leaped forward crushed the enemies’ heads with his fists.
Distorted wind spread explosively. Within it, White Qilin Namgung Hwa-shin’s azure sword energy soared in all directions.
It was the Boundless Sky Sword technique used at the peak of skill.
While the Return Wing Corps masters’ sword wind blew sharply cutting down enemies, the Tang Clan warriors including Tang Li-li and Tang Li-hua, and the Beggar Sect masters blankly stared at Jeong Yeon-shin’s back.
The path was opening wide. Only the footsteps of the boy walking through the center rang out clearly alone.
“Return Wing Corps’ Lightning Genius.”
Senior Beggar slowly muttered.
Meanwhile, in the distance.
“Ah.”
The voice was crystal clear. It was close to a moan of admiration.
It was atop a high stone wall.
The Blood Flame Sect’s Seventh Apostle brushed her long black hair back over her shoulder.
She had completely contained her terrifying qi energy.
Lying sideways on a protruding rock, she stared at her small sect leader with a face lost in ecstasy.
“You changed again. My Grand Master.”
She moved her ruby-like lips.
Staying there, she didn’t move for a long while. She watched her young Grand Master to the end with red eyes.
She watched, savouring the sight before her – his perfectly refined body, his noble blood technique qi energy, and his calm steps after ordering a massacre.