Ghost Roar Tyrant King, Radiant Demon Squad's leader, Wind Lord.
Ghost Roar Tyrant King and Wind Lord had the Radiant Demon Squad's leader trapped between them, while the rest of the Twin Kings and Three Lords looked down on them.
"..."
Jung Yeonshin slowly ran his hand down the blade. Like the shattered Beiming Sword from before, he could feel the endlessly intersecting wave patterns.
It seemed to be a design born from the special forging technique of the Tang Clan, known as a secret technique.
'The material is True Silver Ore.'
A metal said to be found only in this place.
It was a rare weapon.
A blade about a foot and a half in length, with a silver handle to match.
A subtle radiance continuously flowed across the blade's surface. No matter what kind of martial arts the Lightning Genius wielded, it would move like an extension of his own limbs.
A sword that needed no taming.
"It's been a while since I've seen such a fast Sword Control with Energy technique. It could even be compared to the One Kill Every Ten Li of the Dark Night War."
"The weight of accumulated years is not thick. For heaven to place such a person in Desolate Fortress…"
"Words are just words, huh? You sure have a roundabout way of calling someone young."
The voices rang from above.
It was a conversation between the former Hwangbo Clan's leader, Divine Hand King, and the Kunlun Sect's Shadow Lord. The sinister gaze of the Ghost Lord from the Beggars' Sect, lying on a large rock by the ridge, could also be felt.
Everything exuded an invisible pressure.
But Jung Yeonshin merely lifted his eyelids slightly.
His gaze was not on the Twin Kings and Three Lords, whom he had no prior acquaintance with, but on the sworn enemy of his sect, the one who claimed to have slain Desolate Fortress' Obeying Heaven Squad's leader.
Ghost Roar Tyrant King, Peng Yuran.
Haa—haa—
The blood pouring from her pierced abdomen was gradually stopping.
With an unseen wave of internal energy, white mist seeped from both sides of her lips and dispersed into the air.
Her abdominal artery, spleen acupoint, and even her spine must have been torn apart along with her organs, yet she was slowly straightening her back.
And still, she gripped the massive greatsword, so large that it seemed impossible to wield with one hand.
The smoke rising from her entire body was beginning to turn the surroundings murky white, as though at any moment, a lethal blade aura could burst forth.
An absolute force.
'She's activating martial arts. Five Tiger Gate-Cleaving Sword.'
Jung Yeonshin saw through her state. A warrior who had refined Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown to an extraordinary level.
The moment she suffered the strike from the sword, she used colorless internal energy to reconstruct the shape of her bones within her back and the structure of her organs within her abdomen.
A level where internal energy could take physical form, an extreme feat that exuded overwhelming vitality.
An immense reservoir of cultivated energy and profound inner techniques.
They say true masters do not die easily, and indeed, she was befitting of one who held the greatest influence within this vast battlefield.
But she would not live long. No matter how powerful internal energy was, it could never completely replace a person's bones and flesh.
"What…? Peng… Peng Mae…!"
A desperate cry.
It was the Wind Lord, Lee Shi-myung. Behind Jung Yeonshin, he had been tending to the internal injuries he sustained from the sword strike, only to belatedly realize the severity of Peng Yuran's wounds.
The former leader of the Peng Clan, the Ghost Roar Tyrant King of the celestial realm, had been injured by some fledgling from Desolate Fortress who had just entered the outer world of Jianghu…?
It made no sense.
Even the spectators who had fled down the mountain upon the arrival of the Twin Kings and Three Lords were now halting their steps mid stride, turning back with utterly shocked expressions.
"The former leader of the Peng Clan… just how old is she?"
Jung Yeonshin suddenly asked.
"..."
Wind Lord did not answer, merely glaring at him.
A stance measuring the distance and openings in the swordplay. True to his reputation as the right-hand man of the Ghost Roar Tyrant King, he did not allow his rage to dictate his movements.
Above them, perched atop a high tree branch, the Divine Hand King grinned. Even without seeing, Jung Yeonshin could tell from his presence alone that his smirk resembled that of the Lazy Flame Dragon.
"There's no point in counting the years. The number is simply too high."
The former Hwangbo Clan's leader spoke.
A man whose true thoughts were hard to read. But Jung Yeonshin did not particularly care.
"A foolish old man running his mouth."
He parted his lips while locking eyes with Peng Yuran. She narrowed her eyes, taking slow, deep breaths to regulate her inner energy.
It seemed she had already grasped Jung Yeonshin's predicament, hesitating to make a move because all of the Twin Kings and Three Lords were gathered.
Jung Yeonshin continued speaking.
"You could have spent your meaningless remaining years in peace… yet you mocked the death of another squad leader in front of the Radiant Demon Squad's leader."
"You bastard!"
Behind him, Lee Shi-myung's fury erupted.
Hwaak—!
Jung Yeonshin felt the kick rushing toward his back. The force was immense. The air split violently, and even the hem of his robe was tugged forward by the sheer wind pressure.
Wind Lord's Wind-Blossom Four-Wheel Kick.
Just as he wanted.
With all the Twin Kings and Three Lords present, creating an unpredictable stalemate, Jung Yeonshin had to eliminate the Ghost Roar Tyrant King and Wind Lord first—at any cost.
'Die.'
Jung Yeonshin twisted his waist.
Following the rotation of his body, his left palm sliced through the air, imbued with lethal intent.
A strike of Radiant River, meant to kill in an instant.
Though he appeared youthful, the boy had failed to maintain his composure after witnessing the death of his fellow squad leader.
He showed no outward signs, but his heart was a raging inferno, burning fiercely like dry firewood set ablaze.
At that moment—
Ghost Roar Tyrant King, Peng Yuran's eyes flashed open.
She was a seasoned warrior who had watched Jianghu for a long time. She had witnessed countless scenes where an unforeseen god of death arrived and took the life of a martial artist.
The sudden intrusion of an unpredictable master, a technique unusually failing at a crucial moment, one's own energy responding a step too late—like a cough before an execution… She deeply understood how fleeting the life of a Jianghu warrior was, how they could vanish like mayflies at any moment.
Today would be her last.
Peng Yuran did not deny the death that arrived without warning on a seemingly ordinary day. Death was an old companion to martial artists.
She fully embraced the inevitable, the unstoppable finale, which surged over her like a twisted kind of pleasure.
'But I cannot go in vain.'
Even if it meant mutual destruction, she had to take someone with her.
A young man as striking as that fledgling from Desolate Fortress, he would make a fine companion to cross the River of Three Crossings together.
And if the journey across the river grew dull, perhaps she could lure him in as a concubine.
She aimed her greatsword at the young man, who had just turned away from her.
'How dare you.'
Earlier, Peng Yuran had exchanged several blows with Jung Yeonshin and acknowledged him as an opponent.
That was why she did not turn her head, even upon hearing the cry of the Forest Striding Squad's leader.
It was not just because of the Radiant Demon Squad's leader's unnervingly captivating face.
Wooong—
Five layers of energy waves coiled around the blade in the shape of translucent rings.
The Forty-Five Forms of the Five Tiger Gate-Cleaving Sword—when executed in a single strike, it manifested this pressure.
A supreme technique she had spent decades refining to counter the Heaven-Flipping Dragon Cleave of the Golden Wings Sect's leader.
Surpassing Limits Martial Arts. Dragon Emerges, Heavens Roar Canon.
With her current condition, using it even twice would lead to her death. But there was no other method to take this unparalleled youth from Desolate Fortress as a companion to the afterlife.
Her final opponent was that formidable.
'Let's go together.'
She smiled faintly as she slowly, ever so slowly, extended her blade.
Lee Shi-myung was blocking his retreat.
She could afford to concentrate entirely on the precision of her strike.
Even with only two opponents positioned before and behind, the situation felt as though he were utterly surrounded.
"...!"
At that moment, as he stretched his leg toward Jung Yeonshin in the center, Wind Lord Lee Shi-myung's eyebrows twitched.
Radiant Demon Squad's leader, who should have undoubtedly sensed Peng Yuran's blade aura, was instead spinning even faster in that fleeting instant.
Gracefully twisting, his empty palm unleashed a terrifying spiral gust of wind.
For a brief moment, Wind Lord Lee Shi-myung couldn't determine who Jung Yeonshin was targeting.
'Where is the strike aimed…?'
The motion of the stance was too extended. That diagonal trajectory, passing over Lee Shi-myung's foot, wouldn't counter Wind-Blossom Four-Wheel Kick.
Unless—if he were disregarding Lee Shi-myung entirely and using the rotation to attack Peng Yuran behind him.
And then—
"...!"
The overwhelming presence of the Radiant Demon Squad's leader had blinded him.
Too late, Lee Shi-myung lifted his head in alarm, only to be swallowed by a massive shadow.
[You disgrace to the clan!]
A roar like thunder.
An internal voice—Words of the Heart.
The combined effect of Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown and a massive reservoir of cultivated energy, exploding into a lion's roar within the mind.
Forest Striding Squad's leader, Xiahou Wei-jin, was plummeting toward Wind Lord at terrifying speed.
—You only need to examine the Bladder Meridian among the Twelve Major Meridians once more. Slightly open the Large Intestine Acupoint below the waist, tense the rectus abdominis at the front, and the method of internal energy circulation will appear different. The energy flow will move naturally, akin to a self-propelled strike.
A moment of supreme speed.
A memory surfaced in Xiahou Wei-jin's mind—advice from a junior, spoken to him long ago.
Even as it left Jung Yeonshin's lips, it had already sounded like a mnemonic verse.
For someone of renowned lineage, Xiahou Wei-jin had been born with an unusually large frame. His vulnerability had always been his movement technique.
He had followed his junior's words precisely, training repeatedly, until he had reached today.
'I can make it in time.'
His massive eyes locked onto his target below.
He was within striking distance.
Ku-goooong—
The very air around Peng Yuran's blade trembled with an enormous, translucent quake.
Just as Wind Lord's foot was about to strike the back of Jung Yeonshin's neck—
Xiahou Wei-jin loosened the muscles in his glutes and pelvis. At the same time, he shifted the internal energy stored in his Kidney Acupoint on his right waist and exploded it through all the meridians in his body.
Exactly as his junior had advised.
—By doing so, the energy descending to the plantar fascia will naturally gain elasticity.
He had become the dominant seat of the Lightning Genius' lineage.
Hwaaah—!
An immense force surged from his feet.
A pale shockwave erupted from his massive frame, scattering dust in all directions.
Amidst the dust storm, Xiahou Wei-jin's leather boot stomped down on Wind Lord's knee like a falling thunderbolt.
'When did he…?!'
Crack—
As Lee Shi-myung's eyes shook in sheer disbelief, Jung Yeonshin never stopped moving for even an instant.
He continued spinning, transferring the full force of his rotation into his left hand.
Limit Releasing Technique, Radiant River.
From the moment Peng Yuran raised her sword, he had anticipated Xiahou Wei-jin's intervention.
That man was an old senior of her sect.
There was no doubt he would clear away an obstacle like Wind Lord.
Now, as her sword aura bore down upon him, Jung Yeonshin extended his palm.
Five translucent rings of compressed internal energy.
A violent, colorless current, as though a typhoon had been refined into a singular form.
Without hesitation, Jung Yeonshin detonated the Radiant River.
Kwaaaaaang—!
The atmosphere distorted in an instant.
Beyond the colossal wave of upturned earth, Peng Yuran's face became visible.
Her lips curled into a faint smile as she whispered:
"Take on 'Dragon Emerges, Heavens Roar Canon'."
'There's more.'
Jung Yeonshin's eyes narrowed.
Five rings.
As soon as they touched Jung Yeonshin's tensile force, they unraveled their form and scattered into dozens of fragments.
And at this moment, they were surging toward him, each one exploding with a piercing sound, like the howling spirits of tigers.
It bore a striking resemblance to Full Sky Flower Rain, the supreme technique that the leader of Golden Wings Sect had once sought.
Yet, it was different from Jung Yeonshin's own technique.
Within each fragment, a distinct trajectory existed. Every single piece followed a different path, targeting the vital acupoints of his entire body with the speed of flashing light.
It was astoundingly complex, a testament to the years of mastery that Ghost Roar Tyrant King had accumulated.
And in truth, it was exactly that.
Peng Yuran swung her greatsword lazily, as if a wandering noble intoxicated by pleasure, recalling her past.
She had to. Surpassing Limits Martial Arts was a secret technique built upon the weight of years. Its key insights resided in the past she had lived.
'It was enjoyable.'
Spending nights with companions she fancied, taking a sip of wine, and closing her eyes—the sharp trajectories of the Five Tiger Gate-Cleaving Sword would roam through her vacant mind, and then, she would suddenly break through to the next level.
Step by step, Ghost Roar Tyrant King had advanced this far, with her mind fixed solely on the leader of Golden Wings Sect.
Kuuuuuu—!
As a deafening resonance rippled through the air—
'Forty-five.'
Jung Yeonshin's icy gaze flickered.
Through Heaven-Piercing Technique, information flooded his mind in an instant. His eyes, shifting subtly up, down, left, and right, captured every trajectory within his field of vision. Within his mind, he calculated the force and direction of every fragment.
It felt as though a constellation was being engraved into his brain.
As he raised his sword, a thought surfaced unconsciously—Was my reaction speed always this fast?
Saaaaaak!
His sword vanished, leaving behind a streak of white light.
The vibration transmitted from the blade down to his feet cracked the ground, while the air in front of him split apart with a deafening Zzzzzzt— sending the white fragments of 'Dragon Emerges, Heavens Roar Canon' scattering in all directions.
A handful, five or six, still managed to break through, slicing through Jung Yeonshin's flesh and drawing blood as they passed.
They tore straight through the faint sword wind he had created with a single slash.
"The Five Tiger Gate-Cleaving Sword is structured into five sets of nine forms each. A total of forty-five sword techniques. That's not something most would dare to take head-on…"
High above, atop a towering tree branch, the Divine Hand King murmured leisurely, as though a gambler spectating a duel.
But his words trailed off.
The mountain path had fallen utterly silent.
The exchange of real techniques had concluded.
Three steps ahead of Jung Yeonshin, Peng Yuran stood still, motionless.
Her entire body was riddled with dozens of holes.
"I watched carefully."
Jung Yeonshin spoke.
"Thanks to you, I've filled in a few decades."
"..."
All around them, white dandelion seeds drifted down in shimmering waves.
They had been swept into the air when Jung Yeonshin's sword had slashed upward.
The traces of Full Sky Flower Rain glimmered under the fractured sunlight.