Chapter 165
'Talking to the Wicked Flame Sword?'
Heavenly Black Sword Venerable doubted his ears when he heard Jaseong's low voice.
The next moment, an even more astonishing event unfolded.
Fwooooosh!!!
The blade of the Wicked Flame Sword flickered with black flames, and then, at last, formed the shape of a black dragon.
In exchange for taking all of Jaseong's innate true ki, the divine artifact of the Celestial Realm entrusted its master with its full power.
In that state, Jaseong lowered his stance.
Every movement, every subtlety of the Heaven Evading Flash Sword unified as one within his mind.
All Streams Return To The Source.
All swords become one.
"Heaven Evading Flash Sword's secret essence: Heaven Evading Shadow Annihilation Sword."
Kwaaaaaa!
With Jaseong's single step forward, the world itself was erased in white.
An absolute speed that even sound could not follow. An eerie sensation as if space itself was being sliced.
In front of that, Heavenly Black Sword Venerable squeezed out his last remaining strength.
"Heavenly Black World-Destroying Sword!"
His blade tore through the darkness, surging towards Jaseong's light.
Changrang!!!!
The two blades collided in midair.
A point where golden light, the black dragon's flames, and Heavenly Black Sword Venerable's darkness converged as one.
In that moment, the air around the dueling ground twisted. The clash of their energies produced a tremendous pressure that weighed down on the land.
The green stone slabs of the dueling platform began to crack minutely, and the surrounding trees shook as if swept by a violent storm.
Even the martial artists observing had to retreat a step from the aftermath.
And then, the following instant—
"......!"
"......!"
"......!"
Everyone in the vicinity, holding their breath, gazed at the platform where Jaseong and Heavenly Black Sword Venerable stood with blades locked together.
Jaseong's eyes flashed.
'That was my final blow with all my strength, and... he blocked it?!'
Even while gravely wounded and his inner power depleted, Heavenly Black Sword Venerable had blocked an attack at the transformation realm's peak.
He truly was worthy of the title as the finest sword-wielder of the unorthodox faction.
However, just as Jaseong was about to swallow the blood rising in his throat and prepare his next move—
Thud.
Heavenly Black Sword Venerable's blade dropped lifelessly from his hand.
Slump!
Heavenly Black Sword Venerable collapsed to his knees and fell over. His body had finally reached its limit.
"Black Star Sect's Sect Leader, Heavenly Black Sword Venerable... defeated."
The arbiter's voice trembled.
A silence fell over the dueling ground. Not even a cheer was heard.
The match had been so utterly overpowering that all had lost their words.
'Heavenly Black Sword Venerable has... lost?'
'One of the Five Great Evil Ones of the unorthodox alliance, among the best in the sword's realm, lost?!'
'And to a youth not even yet thirty!'
'What kind of monster—what sort of prodigy came from nowhere?!'
The unorthodox martial artists in the stands looked at each other with incredulous expressions.
So too did the greatest experts of the alliance who had competed in the duels.
Yet not one of them could deny it.
Hao Sect Leader Jaseong. He had become the final victor of the dueling competition among the greatest experts of the unorthodox alliance.
Only then did Jaseong swiftly close the opened meridians. At that moment, a surge of blood threatened to burst from within.
But Jaseong did not reveal it outwardly. With a composed expression, he walked at a slow pace to the center of the dueling platform.
Then he raised the Wicked Flame Sword high, declaring:
"By the rules of the duel, I—as the Sect Leader—shall become the new Evil Path Association Leader."
The momentum radiating from Jaseong's whole being engulfed the White Crane Temple.
With that proclamation, the balance of the martial world began to shift once again.
* * *
After the duels with the top experts of the unorthodox alliance ended in this way—
Jaseong forced himself to walk upright toward the guest house.
He felt the shocked and awestruck gazes of the other unorthodox warriors pouring down his back, but right now, he had no energy left to accept any of it.
Creak—thud.
As soon as he closed the heavy wooden door and set the latch, the pain he had suppressed crashed down like a collapsing dam.
"Krrgh...!"
Jaseong's knees hit the floor with a thud. At the same time, a mouthful of dark red blood gushed from his lips.
This was no ordinary internal injury.
Eleventh Gate—Heavens' Opening.
This was the price for forcibly channeling the powers of the Celestial Realm through a merely supreme peak-level body.
His veins burned as if set alight, and the emptiness left by the innate ki that the Wicked Flame Sword had taken made his recovery even slower.
"Haa... haa..."
Jaseong steadied himself against the floor, gasping for breath.
His vision faded red, then flashed to white, over and over.
That was when—
Crash!
The locked door burst open, and familiar voices were heard.
"Sect Leader!"
"Great hero!"
Hyang-I and Lee Rin.
Upon seeing Jaseong heading alone to the guest house, a bad feeling prompted them to rush after him.
And their premonition proved true. Seeing Jaseong collapsed and coughing blood, the faces of both women went ashen as a sheet.
"Heavens... there's so much blood...!"
Lee Rin screamed and rushed in to support Jaseong.
Hyang-I, too, frantically fumbled for a blood-staunching pill from her bosom.
"Sect Leader, please take this medicine first!"
But Jaseong raised a bloodied hand to stop her.
"I'm fine... No need for medicine."
"But...!"
"This is not an ordinary injury, but the cost for forcibly unleashing my strength. And considering I defeated the greatest unorthodox experts with nothing more than these wounds, I'd say I got off easy, don't you think?"
Jaseong gave a wry smile despite his pain.
His body was screaming, but Jaseong's mind was clearer and sharper than ever.
In fact, a joy so overwhelming that it made him forget even his pain boiled up in his chest like molten lava.
'At last... I did it.'
A faint smile touched the corner of the bloodstained lips.
Tianxia Association Leader.
Hao Sect Leader.
And now, the Evil Path Association Leader.
The great Black Path union that dominated the Central Plains, the largest intelligence agency, and the alliance representing all unorthodox martial artists—these three titanic forces that ruled the darkness of the martial world were now all within Jaseong's grasp.
This was no mere worldly authority. It was the absolute power necessary to oppose—or rather, to overwhelm—those hypocritical orthodox sect fiends who trampled his family and drove his master to death.
'Elder brother, sister-in-law... are you watching? I've come this far.'
Jaseong's eyes burned crimson.
Murong Clan, Hebei Peng Clan, Zhongnan Sect, and the Demonic Cult—the names of his enemies flashed across his mind.
Now, there was no need for him to flee or hide ever again.
He now possessed the strength to stand—no, to surpass—the Murim Alliance itself.
'Soon—very soon. I will bring down the great fortress you piled up, stone by stone, with my own hands.'
Jaseong closed his eyes and began channeling the Heaven Evading Celestial Formula—to mend the torn meridians, gather the scattered energy, and prepare for the next battle.
* * *
At that very moment, in the Celestial Realm.
A heavenly palace amid golden clouds. Lü Dongbin, the Sword Immortal, was gazing down on the world through the crystal sphere.
Within the crystal sphere unfolded the image of Jaseong proclaiming himself the Evil Path Association Leader with the Wicked Flame Sword held high—and also, the sight of Jaseong now collapsed, coughing blood.
"So fast. Much faster than expected..."
A flicker of surprise and complex emotion crossed Lü Dongbin's deep eyes.
The Heaven's Mandate bestowed upon Jaseong was 'Elimination of the Giant of Evil'.
The order to abolish the great pillars of evil disturbing the Central Plains, to restore the broken balance.
It was a mission that could take decades, even a lifetime.
Yet Jaseong's rate of growth had far surpassed Lü Dongbin's expectations.
Both his absorption of the Heaven Evading Way's martial arts and his ability to unite forces.
Though Lü Dongbin had watched countless executors of Heaven's Mandate in the Celestial Realm, so few had surpassed human limits in such a short time.
"At this rate... perhaps this time, he truly will reach the final stage of the Heaven's Mandate..."
Lü Dongbin stroked his beard and murmured. Slowly, he rose from his seat and stepped out of the palace.
The Celestial Realm sky shone golden as always, but far beyond the horizon, black clouds were beginning to gather.
"What do the Eight Immortals think of this?"
Lü Dongbin spoke softly toward the sky.
No sooner had he finished speaking than the space around him shivered, and seven lights appeared.
Han Jongli, Zhang Gwaro, Nam Chaehwa, Ha Seon-go, Lee Cheolgwe, Cho Gukgu, Han Sangja.
The seven immortals of the Eight Immortals, excluding Lü Dongbin himself, revealed themselves.
"Dongbin, the executor of Heaven's Mandate you have chosen... We, too, are watching him,"
Han Jongli said, waving his fan.
"He does show the finest achievement among all executors of the Heaven's Mandate so far," added Lee Cheolgwe. Han Sangja nodded in agreement.
"But it is not yet time to rest easy. The brighter the light, the darker the shadow. The villains who disturb the Celestial Realm are surely preparing new schemes,"
Han Sangja warned.
Lü Dongbin silently nodded, eyes fixed on Jaseong within the crystal sphere.
"Let us hope... that this executor of Heaven's Mandate endures to the end."
His gaze carried expectation, anxiety, and an ineffable sense of compassion.
* * *
At the same time, in the most remote and shadowed corner of the Celestial Realm.
A palace wreathed in black mist.
There, the Heavenly Demons who once stained the world below with blood were gathered, watching Jaseong.
The mood among them was nothing short of grim.
"That bastard... is growing stronger too quickly."
The First Generation Heavenly Demon, seated upon the throne, muttered coldly, displeasure thick in his voice.
Jaseong becoming the Evil Path Association Leader meant that the unorthodox alliance—power the Demonic Cult should have claimed—had fallen into Jaseong's hands.
"Sword Immortal's plans are more elaborate than we thought. To nurture such a monster..."
The Fifth Generation Heavenly Demon responded with a voice tinged in complaint, drumming his fingers irritably on the table.
"Meanwhile, wasn't the problem that the opportunity we sent, at the cost of our causality, ended up somewhere useless?"
The Seventh Generation Heavenly Demon laughed with a twisted smirk.
"Elders, the Sicuan Tang Clan head, Tang Tian-yue—he's too shortsighted! Gaining the Millennium Poison Pearl, such a once-in-an-era opportunity, and he thought he had avenged his only son by defeating a mere Hao Sect Leader. He should have used it for a far greater scheme."
Once, the Heavenly Demons had sent down the Millennium Poison Pearl to the world as a stroke of fortune to counter Jaseong.
They hoped Tang Tian-yue, who acquired it, would kill Jaseong, but he was satisfied with getting petty revenge by taking out a former Hao Sect Leader.
In the end, Jaseong suffered no harm whatsoever.
"Fool. To do so little with such a power."
The Fifth Generation Heavenly Demon clicked his tongue in irritation as he frowned.
The First Generation Heavenly Demon raised a hand, calling for silence.
When the assembly quieted, he spoke gravely.
"That's all in the past. The key issue is what happens henceforth."
His blood-red eyes glared at Jaseong within the crystal sphere.
"That brat now holds the Evil Path Association as well. If left unchecked, not only will the Demonic Cult's resurgence be impossible, but every scheme we painstakingly constructed will be ruined. We must prepare a new opportunity."
"There must be no mistakes this time."
"Indeed. This time... we will grant an even stronger, even more destructive opportunity that will surely crush him."
"Then what sort of opportunity would suit?"
The Heavenly Demons put their heads together in deep deliberation, seeking a new move to counter the Sword Immortal's executor and drive the world below back into chaos.
Their wicked laughter rumbled quietly from within the darkness.