Chapter 238 - Opening the Eyes (2)

It was the quietest spot on the battlefield.

Many people lined the gorge, watching. The spectators outnumbered the members of the evil and unorthodox factions.

The leaders of Xi’an’s seven great sects had arranged it that way to consolidate their control.

"..."

Wi Ilhwa could not answer.

Her enemy had guessed exactly right. Her supreme eye technique was famous throughout Xi’an. Even while fighting the Sword Demon Sect leader, he had been studying her, the leader of the Remnant-Revering Earth Sect.

The sun had already moved far past its zenith. The winter sunlight settled with an unusual weight. The brush below the gorge swayed to the screams of the disciples being slaughtered behind her.

A parched vitality flowed through the dry gorge. The ridge connecting Great Moon Gorge to the Guanzhong Plain stood out like a blade.

'That move he just showed.'

That spectacle of countless afterimages.

It had nothing to do with the internal energy he had cultivated. His very sense of how to use his body was different.

The Dark Movement, Time-Transcending Sight Art had confirmed it. With a body trained by methods she could not fathom, he moved steadily through countless possible postures. This was entirely a matter of innate talent.

Calling him a prodigy was not enough. Unprecedented through the ages. The phrase could well be applied to this person.

She even felt a surge of envy utterly unsuited to her circumstances. What must it feel like to go through life with senses like his?

And so Wi Ilhwa, leader of the Remnant-Revering Earth Sect, accepted her enemy’s identity.

He truly was a captain of the Divine Sword Squad.

The Martial Alliance’s founding ceremony in Hanzhong had spread the name Lightning Genius. The Alliance’s headquarters stood in Hanzhong, Shaanxi. Rumors had reached the sect leaders, who were likewise natives of Shaanxi.

Among those scarcely believable rumors was one concerning his age. The current captain of the Radiant Demon Squad was said to be exceedingly young.

Many still disbelieved it. The world was vast, and sources of information were unreliable.

But if it were true...

If he really had attained the Desolate Fortress’s Black rank at such a young age, his talent had to be extraordinary. That held true no matter how distinguished his origins. He could only be considered one of the martial world’s mysteries.

The person before her was precisely that. His aptitude for using his body alone had put him beyond the Dark Movement, Time-Transcending Sight Art. His handsome features still bore traces of youth.

The band of radiant swordsmen who had appeared before him with the cry of a whistling arrow were also worthy of being called the Desolate Fortress’s elite.

If this bastard was not the current captain of the Radiant Demon Squad, no one could be.

A half-baked member of the martial world had ruined her life. A fence-sitter with one foot in officialdom and the other in the martial world had interfered in Xi’an’s affairs.

Full of his own importance, he had dared obstruct the seven great sects.

"You..."

Wi Ilhwa’s brows began to rise sharply. Rage overcame panic. Her angry expression twisted like an evil spirit’s.

"Did you not expect this? After ruining so many people’s livelihoods?"

Jung Yeonshin, captain of the Radiant Demon Squad, asked calmly.

He, too, was angry.

He had no interest in this rabble. He felt he was doing this only because it was his mission. Originally, he had hoped these bastards would bring the Tyrant Sword Tribe’s Elder Council Leader.

Ghost-Soul Divine Sword Yeo Sohyang. She was said to oversee all the evil and unorthodox factions aligned with the Tyrant Sword Tribe.

She would know the whereabouts of the missing Zhongnan disciples.

Even if she played the immortal indifferent to the mortal world, she would show herself once he disposed of the rabble gathered here.

'So she was the one who surveyed the Jeong Clan Estate’s earth veins.'

That was a separate grudge from the one he bore the Tyrant Sword Tribe Lord.

Only the Ghost-Soul Divine Sword occupied Jung Yeonshin’s mind now. The eye technique he would soon complete was likewise focused entirely on crushing her.

The Tyrant Sword Tribe Elder Council Leader. The Tyrant Sword Tribe Lord’s nursemaid.

These so-called seven great sects of Xi’an were stepping stones that deserved punishment. He had long since seen through their intention to kill him as an offering to secure their dominion over Xi’an.

They treated the lives of common people just as lightly. He had to finish things here and make the Ghost-Soul Divine Sword come to him.

TAP.

He kicked aside a fragment of the Sword Demon Sect leader’s blade. The golden sunlight suffusing the grains of sand fractured in every direction.

Wi Ilhwa suddenly shrieked.

"Such lawlessness is intolerable! How dare a martial artist from another region!"

"This standoff has dragged on."

Ignoring her words, Jung Yeonshin drew his sword and lowered it.

Xi’an, Shaanxi, had been the capital of countless states. It was more than worthy of a captain-level mission. The seven great unorthodox sects were tremendously famous as well.

Now that the scale of his work had grown so enormously, completing even a single mission seemed to take a great deal of time.

This would not do. Swift, decisive battles were a guiding principle of Jung Yeonshin’s life.

He smoothly raised his sword toward the heights of the gorge as the people of the great city of Xi’an looked down. Northern Radiance’s snow-white tip pointed at the sky.

It was a high guard, the blade brushing the hair beside his ear. Waves of force rising from his entire body pushed the thin dust outward in every direction.

Sword Thunder, Ridge-Cleaving Form. Qilin’s Judgment.

"Now..."

Jung Yeonshin slowly parted his lips.

"I will take no more than ten breaths."

* * *

Xiangyang, Huguang Province.

The Desolate’s Ma Clan had undergone a tremendous upheaval.

Ju Yeonjeong, who had used the imperial Eight Methods of the Golden Immortal as leverage, had been expelled. Driven out completely. It could rightly be called a fall from power.

Even her status as a collateral member of the Imperial bloodline meant nothing. The prestige of the retired clan head, who had turned back the years, was supreme.

Something no one had anticipated had occurred.

Indomitable Hero Ma Yeonjeok had returned. Looking exactly as he had in his prime years ago, he was a peerless master like tempered steel.

"Th-that... What in the world...?"

"Good heavens. It was true."

"Then what I witnessed really happened!"

"But how?"

"You know nothing. The current captain of the Radiant Demon Squad..."

"Shut up! Is this something to blabber about?"

An old divine sword had been reforged, filled with formidable power. His return had taken place in utmost secrecy. For now, the world must not know.

Kept secret, the Indomitable Hero’s martial prowess would have limitless uses throughout the martial world.

He would become the most powerful hidden blade in existence. The Desolate Fortress had gained a mighty fighting force at a time when it was at a disadvantage.

Only the Ma household knew of the Indomitable Hero’s Rejuvenation.

Even those who had followed Ju Yeonjeong had crippled their own energy cores at a single word from the retired clan head. There was no need to worry about anyone leaking the secret. Their silence could be trusted.

Meanwhile, Ma Clan head Ma Jin stood at a crossroads.

He pondered his choice even as he walked, the empty left sleeve of his black robe flapping loosely. The promotion ceremony was over, and the remaining warriors of each combat unit had begun departing on missions.

His heart felt as empty as the fortress’s deserted streets.

'The Movement Art...'

The book in his right hand felt heavy. It was a secret manual newly written by his nephew, Jung Yeonshin.

It was not the original, which addressed all the minute meridians and pressure points throughout the body. It recorded only the framework forming the Movement Art’s principal flow. In other words, it was closer to a greatly diminished version.

It had been created because the boy’s uncle and grandfather were reluctant to share his divine technique with the clan. Jung Yeonshin had given it to them.

—This might actually be better. It is easier to learn. I assure you, even a monkey could master it.

It had arrived with a letter written in a calm, steady hand, the day before his nephew officiated at the promotion ceremony as captain of the Radiant Demon Squad.

Because of the matter’s importance, the azure-eyed demonic swordsman Chung Myung had delivered it personally.

The cheerful, bright, yet strangely sharp noble-race swordsman had worn a peculiar expression, somewhere between a smile and a grimace.

Ma Jin had paid it no mind. As the former captain, he was accustomed to the inscrutable Chung Myung. They had exchanged brief pleasantries and parted.

And he had regretted it bitterly.

Thinking of his nephew, Ma Jin wished he had at least gone to see his face.

He had been terribly busy with matters both public and private. Purging Ju Yeonjeong’s faction and assessing everyone’s merits and faults had consumed a great deal of time.

It had been necessary to restore the clan’s standing. Only now had he found a little breathing room.

STEP.

He entered the now-silent inner fortress. His surroundings brightened, pure-white marble walls enclosing him on every side.

He had reached the fortress master’s residence, the quietest place in the Desolate Fortress.

Six guards smoothly raised their hands in silent martial salutes.

He passed with only a nod. Hell Slaughterer Ma Jin was, by nature, an arrogant supreme master. He only ever found himself at a loss before his nephew, who stirred his old guilt.

The guards lowered their hands as though accustomed to it.

Ma Jin paused briefly.

'Wait... Did Yeonshin perhaps learn it from me? I heard people were saying he takes after the Ma bloodline...'

He climbed the stairs with that idle thought. The winding staircase ended at the top of the inner fortress, before a massive stone door. It, too, was marble.

It was the finest black stone, once used only by the fallen Duan royal house. Its profound blackness suited the silence of the inner fortress.

The fortress master’s office.

The door opened with a deep rumble. The remote manipulation was utterly effortless. Even Ma Jin, who had once been capable of challenging Ak Surim, felt a renewed sense of awe.

'It has been a long time since I was here, too.'

He straightened his empty sleeve and crossed the threshold.

The clear scent of woodland wafted over him. Tree trunks twisted like dragons filled his view.

Though the beginning of winter had passed, green leaves spread in every direction. The lush scent of vegetation was fragrant without being overpowering.

Familiar figures sat to either side.

But Ma Jin looked only straight ahead as he lowered himself onto one knee, raising his hands together in the Desolate Fortress’s formal salute.

"I pay my respects to the fortress master."

"Ma Clan head."

A crystalline voice rang out.

It was the Desolate Fortress Master.

She sat at an angle upon a thick tree trunk. Her cascading green hair possessed something beyond mere luster. It made anyone who saw her feel that she was the most exalted being under heaven.

So did her eyes, which seemed to hold the depths of a forest. The principles of all creation swirled within her dark-green irises.

Ma Jin bowed his head deeply.

"Oh, the eunuch’s here?"

The cheerful voice came from his left. Ma Jin shifted his gaze slightly. A girl in a long black robe sat cross-legged there. A long spear lay carelessly behind her.

She glanced at him too, sunlight rippling softly through her short black hair.

It was the Desolate Divine Spear, Ak Surim.

Ma Jin knitted his brows.

"What brings the Divine Sword deputy commander here?"

"I’m being punished. You haven’t heard?"

"What for?"

"I had a fight with that Ye girl from the Alliance. She was trying to hang around Lightning Genius. She’d been getting on my nerves ever since she was rude to the fortress master."

Ak Surim spoke casually.

The furrow between Ma Jin’s brows deepened.

"Someone from the Alliance is after Yeonshin?"

"It was quite a sight. If you’re going to act as his uncle, you’ll have to do a better job of fending them off. Not long ago, the Shin family was talking about sending a matchmaker. You know anyone who isn’t exceptionally noble-minded and openhearted won’t do as his spouse, don’t you? Do your job properly. Though what our Lightning Genius wants matters most, of course."

Ak Surim’s frown gave way to an upturned smile. She seemed to be deliberately provoking someone.

Even when a throat cleared like a tiger’s growl from the opposite side, she kept her bright smile. She looked rather defiant.

'Isn’t she describing herself?'

Ma Jin knew that look well. The Desolate Divine Spear had been just like this when the Indomitable Hero was her superior. She would never relinquish her rebellious streak, even if it killed her.

Considering his father’s temperament and Ak Surim’s talent, it was only natural.

"Did you kill her?"

"No. Her martial arts were absurdly powerful. If I’d gone all out, I could have crippled an arm or a leg, but I stopped partway through. Not of my own accord..."

Ak Surim trailed off, turning her gaze forward. Across from her, with the silent Desolate Fortress Master between them, the Indomitable Hero sat cross-legged, his eyes sharp.

A certain stubbornness seemed to overflow from his handsome, strongly defined face. He was Ma Jin’s father, restored to youth.

His father had apparently intervened in the incident. He had probably sent some chilling sound transmission.

How dare you break the law in this august presence? I shall punish you severely. Ma Jin could imagine it without hearing another word. His father had always been that way.

'When he ought to punish himself first...'

Ma Jin inwardly shook his head.

How could a man with that temperament be entrusted with a mission directly affecting the nation’s safety?

The current clan head was the only sensible person in the Ma clan. Truly lamentable. He did not even care to ask why they were meeting with the fortress master.

"I have come to make a report."

Ma Jin addressed the fortress master.

"Our house has acquired a new hereditary martial art. As this is a matter I ought to report, I requested an audience both to inform you and to inquire after your well-being."

The Desolate Fortress Master was a Martial God. She oversaw all martial learning incorporated into the fortress.

She had the right to examine every martial art in the Gold-Piercing Martial Repository, the Divine Sword Squad, and the clans under the fortress. The same applied when a newly created martial art was brought into their ranks.

It required the Desolate Fortress Master’s permission. The practice had begun when the fortress was founded after the establishment of the dynasty, to compile its martial learning into a unified whole.

Now it had become custom.

"A great blessing for the Ma clan."

Her lips moved.

"Tell me what it is."

"... The Movement Art."

Ma Jin answered with his body bowed low.

The Desolate Fortress Master’s eyes vanished briefly behind her fine lashes. She had closed them once, then opened them again.

Sunlight scattered by the leaves settled around her eyes. Deep shadows played beneath their lovely contours.

Her snow-white face radiated a beauty that testified to her peerless martial prowess.

Her expression remained unreadable.

She parted her lips.

"You mean Lightning Genius’s art?"

"Yes. The Ma clan has received his kindness."

"You are right. It will suit the Divine Art of United Splendor."

"I regret that the many affairs of my clan prevent me from remaining in your presence longer. Having made my brief report, I shall take my leave."

Custom was only custom. The fortress master stood above the law. When the captains and clan heads reported a new martial art, that was the end of it.

She did not actually examine every art. The report was ceremonial.

That was easier for her subordinates, too. The fortress master’s appraisal could make even supreme masters nervous.

Ma Jin rose smoothly, book in hand.

Even if this was a diminished manual, it was still the Movement Art. The opening passage, which established the martial art’s intent, was identical to the original.

It was the same first page that Ma Jin and Ma Yeonjeok had read together in Sichuan. In other words, it recounted his nephew’s personal history.

'The Ma clan’s shame can be known throughout the world. But the guiding principles containing Yeonshin’s intent... Yes, he said it was like a diary.'

Ma Jin felt relieved too soon.

That relief lasted only until the fortress master’s clear voice rang out.

"Bring it here."