* * *
Jung Yeonshin felt relieved.
This was after Lazy Flame Dragon, Heon Wonchang, and Shin So-bin had accepted the invitation of Chivalrous Slayer. Zhuge Qing-ya had seemed to disappear the moment her father made his presence known.
It was an immense relief. She didn't want to witness her father being wounded and dying.
Even after the passing of Fan Dragon Zhuge Hyun, even if she had wished for her father's death herself.
'Because he is family.'
It was also fortunate that the other three were not present.
He couldn't predict how the battle would unfold. Even as his mind turned white from the power surging through her upper dantian, the uncertainty remained.
Perhaps it meant that the forms of sorcery and martial techniques he would have to face were close to infinite.
[That swordsmanship skill, it intrigues me.]
He felt a transparent gaze. It came from Zhuge Clan's leader, who was floating in midair.
Their eyes met directly.
'What is…'
At that moment, his mind turned ice-cold. It was the resonance of his upper dantian. Due to the overwhelming spiritual presence unique to absolute masters, his emotions seeped into him.
If an ice sheet were to flow like a waterfall, would it feel like this?
Madness.
Countless images surfaced. In an instant, he even glimpsed Eun Hwaryun's face.
However, it was immediately swallowed by an indistinguishable stream of thoughts and dull clusters of emotion. His inner world resembled the deep sea in the midst of a typhoon.
'He's insane.'
Yet, the eyes of Zhuge Clan's leader, visible within his field of vision, remained calm. The phrase "as clear and still as a mirror" came to mind.
He engaged in battle with a cold tranquility, yet his grand trajectory veered toward madness. His objective was unknown.
But this was no time to ponder.
[Are you attempting to recreate that? The day of the Hwangbo Clan's leader's execution.]
Zhuge Clan's leader spoke, covering his mouth with a white crane fan.
[It is said that three exceptionally powerful dark forces have gathered, forsaking all else in the world.]
"You know well. If you have any last words, say them now. This will spread like wildfire among those who relish gossip. That's the only reason I'm maintaining appearances right now. Unlike you lot, Desolate Fortress has to keep up a good image with the common folk."
Ak Surim twirled her silver spear in circles. The whirlwind she created made her jet-black hair billow wildly.
Zhuge Clan's leader laughed.
[I am not the same as that man.]
"I know. You, without shame, colluded with two of the Thirteen Celestial Demons. Tyrant Sword Tribe, Yeoryeong Sect. Just how much sacred artifacts and wealth have you devoured to weave such a domain? I can't even begin to imagine. Your skill at wringing out efficiency from every drop is impressive, too."
Her eyes ceaselessly scanned the surroundings. Her lips moved constantly. How did she hold herself back under the Sword Saint?
'She's stalling. As if mapping the terrain.'
Jung Yeonshin gripped Beiming, which was imbued with the energy of the Demon-Slaying Azure Steel Palm, as she thought.
He understood why Zhuge Clan's leader's sorcery was infinitely strengthening. Zhuge Qing-ya had spoken of it, he had sacrificed even his own blood relatives in his pursuit of martial prowess.
He had already been an absolute master of both sorcery and martial arts. The direction of his growth had simply diverged.
Ssss—
He stepped on the damp ground where some members of the Gui Clan had fallen, drying his heel with the Three Samadhi True Fire.
Steam rose from his leather shoe, brushing against his ankle. It was both hot and chilling.
Even the slightest misstep in such a battle could lead to mortal wounds.
The hem of Zhuge Clan's leader's pristine white robes did not bear a single speck of dirt, nor did it waver in the turbulence of energy. Was even his protective forcefield constructed through sorcery?
[Lightning Genius. You have forgotten my words.]
The flickering of the Three Samadhi True Fire seemed to have caught his attention. Zhuge Clan's leader's gaze shifted back to Jung Yeonshin.
—Acts that blur the distinction between heaven and earth are not wise. You will meet an early demise. Even the most unique of talents is meaningless if it fails to blossom. No matter how extraordinary your potential, true masters will never look upon you kindly.
The power of his upper dantian instantly dredged up events from the Murim Alliance. It was Zhuge Clan's leader's voice.
[Ak Clan girl. I appreciate the time you have bought me.]
Turning his gaze back to Ak Surim, Zhuge Clan's leader spoke.
[Have you fully grasped the sorcery formation? I have completed my calculations for the spellcraft. You never imagined that you would be counterattacked instead, did you? Thanks to you, I have secured the time needed to activate my peak state.]
"What?"
Her finely drawn eyebrows shot up. Zhuge Clan's leader removed the fan from his lips.
With a delicate movement of his hand, the edge of his white crane fan traced an arc through the air, leaving a faint afterimage in its wake.
The moment the spell formation, which enveloped the entirety of the Gongya Clan's domain in a translucent barrier, resonated loudly—
[Wenzhong Returns, Divine Male and Female Whips.]
Wooong—
Not only his lips but also his internal energy reverberated with the incantation. The pinnacle of the Art of Lip Synchronization. Dozens of syllables overlapped in rapid succession like the strokes of an unparalleled swift sword.
To those untrained in sensory refinement, it would have sounded like nothing more than a thunderous roar. It was said that the true power of a spell's incantation was only unleashed when it was spoken into the world.
Wenzhong was the name of a Daoist thunder god when he was still human, and the Male and Female Whips were his weapons.
Crackle! Rumble!
It happened in an instant.
The elegant feathers of the white crane fan split apart strand by strand.
The ten ribs of the fan detached like daggers, emitting an immense roar.
Scattering over Zhuge Clan's leader's shoulders, they carried an astonishingly potent internal energy, weaving elongated threads of energy like strands pulled from thunderclouds. A murky, colorless force.
Zhuge Clan's secret ultimate art, Divine Male and Female Whips.
It was deployed in less than the blink of an eye.
Surrounding the absolute human clad in a black hat and white robes, the flowing threads resembled celestial silk adorning a fairy's robe. An overwhelmingly transcendent aura radiated.
"The Divine Male and Female Whips of Universal Enlightenment Divine Art?!"
At that moment, Ak Surim, who had already darkened her silver spear to pitch-black, widened her eyes.
Despite having fully prepared to unleash the pinnacle of the Ak Clan's spear techniques, she couldn't hide her astonishment.
"You're deploying that without the aid of your household? So you were staying still all this time to fully integrate the formation into your own body…?"
[Did you think I would simply stand idle while you devised ways to counter me? My true form must be strong, regardless. If I am to guard against ultimate techniques like the One Kill Every Ten Li of the Dark Night War, then what of you? Surely, you possess such absolute techniques as well.]
Zhuge Clan's leader lightly twisted his wrist.
[Thus, I alone am the Zhuge Clan.]
In an instant, a colorless web materialized across all directions. A wide-range technique that targeted all three major adversaries simultaneously.
In battles among martial masters, if superiority was clear, then observing the opponent was the priority. Thus, the first strike rarely belonged to the weaker combatant.
Within the Gongya Clan's silent domain, a realm of transcendence unfolded.
Rumble!
The wind and thunder roared.
For the first time in his life, Jung Yeonshin faced a killing strike within a domain of purple energy. No, rather, it would be more accurate to say that he was witnessing an entirely different speed of combat.
Beiming, already raised to strike upward, turned a brilliant blue. The divine power of his sacred internal energy extended into the sword's blade.
At this moment, Jung Yeonshin's senses no longer distinguished between his hand and his sword.
The swordsmanship he had devised for Zhuge Clan's leader's downfall, which she named Demon-Slaying Azure Steel Sword, carved a long, blue trajectory.
Boom!
He split one strand of Divine Male and Female Whips and clashed against a second.
The friction surging along the blade was overwhelming.
Flames, rough as a clenched fist, seemed to descend upon his grasp. Even if his heart was tainted, he was still an absolute master who had refined orthodox martial arts to their extreme.
The power of divine energy, which manifested the function of demon eradication, granted only a slight advantage in elemental affinity. It was different from the sorcery and martial arts he had encountered before.
Yet, perhaps even that had offended the eyes of the absolute being.
[Grand Thunder.]
A pillar of colorless light, born from the heavens, stretched down to the earth.
The violently surging air scattered Jung Yeonshin's hair, as if the five streaks had been evenly divided among the three of them.
The attack was so extraordinarily fast that it felt as if it was being engraved rather than falling.
But Jung Yeonshin's upper dantian, ignited in his mind, had already pierced through the turbulent currents of energy in all directions.
He realized that the initial strikes would split according to their target's position.
'Baihui Acupoint.'
ZZZZZZZHHH—!
He blocked it, crossing his left arm and Beiming.
A cracking sound came from within his body. His forearm twisted at an angle, overstretching his tendons.
His vision turned white. The divine power had failed to completely absorb the instantaneous impact. The excruciating pain surged up to his head.
[Oh?]
The presence had changed. The Radiant Demon Squad's leader brushed away his sword with an indifferent expression, fortifying himself with the Transcending Law Radiant Wheel and Jung Clan Movement Arts.
Amidst the scattered aftershocks, which danced like flower petals, making the swordsman's stance appear even more refined, Zhuge Clan's leader let out a quiet exclamation and flicked his index finger upward.
Within the five-strand prison he had conjured, Jin Myungjo moved in a hazy darkness, his spellcasting disrupted.
Blood, bright red, dripped steadily, perhaps from a wound reopened. His clenched hand looked as if it were gripping an invisible sword.
'If Senior Jin were at his full strength…!'
Just as the power wave was about to explode from Jung Yeonshin's heels—, Zhuge Clan's leader's gesture caused the Divine Male and Female Whips to react. His finger flicked at a speed so fast that it appeared fragmented.
Two strands collided, sending a brilliant flash of lightning, while one streak struck the ground with overwhelming force.
CRACK! BOOM—!
Lightning, born from friction, blazed a vivid blue. It struck alongside massive chunks of rock, flung with the force of a catapult. A terrifying destructive force followed. From Jung Yeonshin's left hand, a constant Radiant River erupted.
KAAAAAANG—!
Thick stone debris mixed with fire and scattered in all directions.
'At this rate, elemental affinity is meaningless.'
As Jung Yeonshin narrowed his eyes and readjusted his grip on Beiming—
The moment his face tingled, another explosion of lightning and rock fragments erupted. The attacks, filling his vision like a calamity, continued relentlessly.
The repeated shockwaves were staggering.
It felt as though he had been thrown into the center of a battlefield, where every direction was intricately calculated like a precise combat strategy.
The sorcery attacks never directly targeted the Radiant Demon Squad's leader. Instead, the overwhelming collateral force was enough to render them unavoidable.
A perfect imitation of Zhuge Wuhou's martial style in a life-and-death duel.
And yet, his gaze remained fixed forward, his glowing green pupils following the blurred movements of Ak Surim, who had become the spear-wielding Immortal Sage.
Most of the strands of Divine Male and Female Whips clashed against her. Each collision sent tremors rippling outward.
ZZZZZZHHH—!
Heaven and earth quaked.
It was, quite literally, earth-shattering.
Jung Yeonshin had never experienced a battle like this before.
[As expected.]
And finally.
[You first, Desolate Divine Spear.]
Zhuge Clan's leader descended. His wide sleeves billowed like the enormous wings of a white crane.
SABAK.
A shadow arose beneath his feet as he elegantly touched the ground. He was staring at Jung Yeonshin, who had suddenly planted his sword into the earth.
The vast domain Zhuge Clan's leader had spread over the sky had grown fainter. Had he exerted too much of the sorcery formation he had merged with his body?
Something was unfolding. A single, minuscule step shifted the natural structure of the world.
[Zero Fall.]
Like bolts of lightning raining down, an ear-splitting roar rang out.
The air distorted violently in various places, and as Jung Yeonshin raised Beiming, everything around him disappeared.
The last thing imprinted on his retinas was a girl's face, eyes wide, lips forming words.
—Formation! It's a formation! Heaven-Piercing Zero Fall Formation…!
'Senior Ak.'
Darkness fell in an instant. He felt nothing at all. And because of that, he keenly perceived an absolute severance.
Jung Yeonshin immediately examined his body, inside and out.
The spinning wheel within his heart, the still-resilient meridians coursing through his body, the pulsing heat of his muscles, the subtle differences in his inhales and exhales, the presences outside…
'It's not an illusion.'
As he forcefully activated the Heaven-Piercing Technique, a faint bluish glow flickered.
Light and dark became clearer. A space surrounded him like a darkened sky. The sense of distance felt unnatural.
SLAK!
Even as he stepped forward, he could not break free. Only a faint ripple of air brushed against his skin.
Yes, he was trapped.
With the sharp focus of a divine sword, Jung Yeonshin grasped the reality of his situation.
'Heaven-Piercing Zero Fall Formation?'
He had heard of it. A secret formation that could only be deployed by the entire Zhuge Clan at their ancestral grounds.
And yet, it was now being used by Zhuge Clan's leader to isolate him one-on-one.
Within the realm of sorcery martial arts, this was a formation comparable to Mount Hua's Plum Blossom Formation or Wudang's Xuanxu Sword Formation.
Fine. It didn't matter. He had no idea what was happening outside.
Escaping was the priority.
WOOONG—
As he clenched his fist, a deep, resonant drum sounded within his body.
Radiant light flared inside him, and a colossal force surged through his twelve meridians and every fine vessel in his body.
'Ugh!'
The pain of his veins being torn was even more severe than before. Was it because the gap between his current energy reserves and the last time he retrieved medicine for his niece, Hye-ah, had grown?
The strain increased in direct proportion to his enhanced strength. It felt as if he were absorbing the Radiant River's energy unfiltered.
For a brief moment, he hesitated—should he halt the activation?
But then, his twelve meridians and three hundred sixty-five acupoints tightened with a soft, familiar sensation.
The warmest, most ancient feeling he knew descended from the heavens, embracing him.
His mother.
The ultimate secret of Jung Clan Movement Arts, fully perfected at last.
KAAAAAAAAAA—!
The function of body preservation endured the fractures within his body. His meridians and fine vessels completely absorbed the violent force of the Radiant River.
'Radiant River, Ultimate Thunder.'
From the Yongcheon Acupoint beneath his feet—
WOOOONG—!
The energy wave expanded outward in dozens of concentric ripples.
A hazy brilliance unfurled around him, taking the shape of enormous leaves.
It radiated an uncontrollable vibration outward. It exploded like a colorless lightning bolt.
And then—
FWOOOSH!
A translucent flower bud fully enveloped Jung Yeonshin's entire body.
'Mother.'
Please, break my limits.
He slowly took a step forward. Toward Ak Surim.
The muddy ground beneath his feet caved in as if struck by a thunderbolt, and a deep rumble spread outward from the massive flower bud.
Then, the bud surrounding his body fully bloomed.
WOOOOOOOOOONG—!
From the apex of the darkened sky, radiant cracks surged outward in all directions.
The descending petals of the Ultimate Thunder mirrored its blossoming.
As the fragments of energy clashed above and below, purple sparks flashed intermittently before shattering.
Jung Yeonshin's glowing blue eyes absorbed the fully exposed structure of the collapsing formation.
KUNG—
The sky opened.
[Hmm?]
Zhuge Clan's leader's consciousness vibrated intensely, mingling with the murmuring presence of those around him.
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