Chapter 189
The Mount Hua Sect's 'Blue Wind Sword' Jin Muhyeok stepped forward.
A prodigy who had already mastered the Thirteen Swords of Mount Hua at the age of twenty-eight, blue energy rippled at the tip of his blade.
Beside him stood Namgung Ak, the young leader of the Namgung Clan, holding his sword—someone he had previously faced once before.
His sword intent had grown even sharper than in the past.
Uncheongja of the Wudang Sect stood calmly in perfectly spotless white robes, a long sword slung over his shoulder.
His swordsmanship was famed for being as natural as flowing water, yet completely unpredictable.
Behind them stood Jeong Soyeon, 'Purple Radiance Sword Elegance' of Emei, Wi Baeksan, the 'Black Iron Sword' of Zhongnan, Kang Jincheon, the 'Thunder Sound Sword' of Qingcheng, and others.
"Are you the renowned new generation of experts from the Evil Path Association?"
Jin Muhyeok, the Blue Wind Sword, asked.
"You all appear to be about our age, but your sword intent is quite formidable. What sort of sorcery have you used?"
At that, Lee Rin let out a slight scoff.
"Isn't it just that your own talent is lacking, so we must seem exceptional by comparison?"
At Lee Rin's provocation, the twenty young orthodox elites all hardened their expressions.
"How arrogant. You fiends from the unorthodox sects. You'll die within a breath!"
The grand title of 'orthodox' vanished, and the twenty experts attacked at once.
Sword ki, blade force, and fist winds poured down like a torrential storm.
Yet Lee Rin and Gu Janghu were not flustered.
They were experts who had recently reached the supreme peak, thanks to Jaseong.
[Lee Rin. I'll go first.]
Gu Janghu brandished both his swords.
The secret ultimate move of the Guryong Clan, the Guryong Flying Blade, melded into his swordplay.
Shuaaaak!
His sword writhed like a dragon, burrowing through the net of enemy blades.
The orthodox experts were thrown off by the unpredictable trajectory.
At the same moment, Lee Rin stretched out her hand.
Dozens of silver needles shot from her fingertips.
The Heavenly Physician's Needle Technique she had learned from the Eternal Divine Physician blossomed into a deadly killer's weapon in that instant.
Pishushuk!
"Kyaaaagh!"
At the vanguard, Jeong Soyeon of Emei was struck by the silver needles and collapsed.
A strike that pierced her vital point with precise accuracy.
"Damn it!"
"Watch out! Hidden weapons!"
While the orthodox experts hesitated, Gu Janghu surged into their ranks.
Skeok!
Another fell, cut down by Gu Janghu's sword.
"They're not ordinary opponents!"
"Surround them! Don't give them an opening!"
The orthodox experts reformed their formation and attacked.
But—
"Ice Lord Asura Sword Art ultimate move—Ice-Blood Fills the Heavens!"
Lee Rin's pupils glowed blue.
Wuuuuuung!
An intense cold erupted from her body.
The Ice-Blood Divine Arts of North Sea Ice Palace exploded with the supreme peak of internal power.
Kwakwakwa!!!!
Because of it, the feet of the incoming orthodox experts froze to the ground, frost forming upon their sword hilts.
"U-uuugh! My body...!"
"So cold—!"
In an instant, their surroundings transformed into a frigid snowfield.
The slowed orthodox experts became nothing more than easy targets for Gu Janghu.
"I'll finish this."
Gu Janghu moved like a shadow.
Sasak! Sasak! Sasak!
With every flash of light, one adversary fell.
Frozen by Lee Rin's chill, then cut down by Gu Janghu's blade.
Twenty young orthodox elites were being overrun by just two people.
"We've truly grown stronger. Thanks to the Sect Leader."
Gu Janghu muttered as he shook blood from his sword.
Lee Rin exhaled a frosty breath, smiling.
Having defeated all twenty young orthodox elites, their gazes turned beyond the battlefield, toward the place where the greatest energies clashed.
There, waiting, was their lord, Jaseong.
"That's Jaseong!"
"Catch the Evil Path Association Leader! There's a fortune on his head!"
The elite experts of the Murim Alliance spotted Jaseong and swarmed like bees—swordmasters from Mount Hua, taoists from Wudang, and boxers from the Hwangbo Clan as well.
Dozens of experts deemed 1st-rate tightened the encirclement, exuding murderous intent.
A critical situation, blades and spear tips hemming in from every direction.
Yet Jaseong's expression was relaxed to the point of boredom.
His eyes did not focus on the charging enemies.
As if he were swatting away a swarm of bothersome flies, he simply readjusted his grip on his sword.
"Heaven Evading Clone Step."
Jaseong murmured quietly.
Golden ki soared from his dantian at that moment.
Shushushuk!
The space seemed to distort, and vague afterimages formed to Jaseong's left and right.
In an instant, the afterimages solidified.
Two clones appeared—identical faces, identical presence to Jaseong himself.
"Wh-what...?!"
The attacking orthodox experts' eyes widened in shock.
This was no mere illusion technique.
The presence from all three Jaseongs was unmistakably real.
It was a miraculous martial art only achievable by one who had reached the Transformation Realm.
"Sweep them away."
At the command of the true Jaseong, the two clones moved simultaneously.
Shuaaaaaak!
Three swords slashed through the air.
Black fire and golden sword aura merged into a massive storm.
'Heaven Evading Flash Sword, Third Stroke—Hundred Descending Calamities!'
Kwakwakwaka-kwang!
With a thunderous roar like lightning crashing down, the orthodox formation scattered like autumn leaves.
"Gyaaagh!"
"Ahhh! My arm!"
Those caught in the sword aura's wake could barely even scream, rolling to the ground.
Swords were snapped, armor ripped apart.
Dozens of experts were neutralized in a single coordinated harmony.
Jaseong cut across the battlefield, splattering blood.
His gaze was fixed on a single location.
Past the battlefield, atop the elevated dais, stood the root of this entire disaster.
Alliance Leader of the Murim Alliance, Namgung Cheon-rui.
He was watching the battlefield below with a blank expression, hands folded behind his back.
He did not even blink in the face of the hellish slaughter unfolding before him—a chilling coldness.
Looking at him, boiling emotion surged in Jaseong's chest.
'If I just kill him... everything ends.'
Jaseong's gaze burned with murderous resolve.
He focused his internal energy into his legs.
'Shadowless Body Technique, variant form—Shadowless Lord's Bullet Shade.'
Bang!
The ground caved as Jaseong's body shot out like a shell.
He leapt through the air, heading straight at the dais where Namgung Cheon-rui stood.
The distance closed in an instant.
The tip of the Wicked Flame Sword targeted Namgung Cheon-rui's neck.
"Die, Namgung Cheon-rui!"
Jaseong's shout thundered across the battlefield.
It happened at that moment.
Chang—!
A sword flew in from somewhere, blocking Jaseong's path.
It was no mere sword strike.
The force was at once gentle and weighty, like an entire grove of blossoming plum trees barring his way, deflecting Jaseong's sword aura.
"?!"
In mid-air, Jaseong twisted his body and landed backward.
His wrist tingled.
Even though it had been a surprise attack, his opponent had met him head-on—an expert among experts.
"This young man's martial arts are truly earth-shaking."
When Jaseong raised his head, an old man stood between him and Namgung Cheon-rui.
On the hem of the white taoist robe, red plum blossoms were embroidered, and his white hair was neatly combed back.
Mount Hua Sect Leader, Sword Immortal of Plum Blossom, True Person Cheongho.
A towering figure of the orthodox martial world, a supreme expert who pursued Tao through the sword.
He had blocked Jaseong's way.
Looking at him, Jaseong slowly spoke.
"I, as the Evil Path Association Leader, gained an opportunity and became the Eternal Divine Physician's direct disciple. My master once told me: one of the few uncorrupted figures among the orthodox is the Mount Hua Sect Leader."
"......."
"Then why have you sided with that hypocrite up there?"
At Jaseong's question, True Person Cheongho nodded with a bitter expression.
"I know that Alliance Leader Namgung has committed unforgivable sins."
"And yet you still block my way?"
True Person Cheongho raised his sword and settled into the Central Eye Stance.
"You are the head of the unorthodox sects. One cannot punish evil with evil. If you destroy the Murim Alliance, the jianghu will lose its order and descend into even greater chaos. I am here to prevent that."
"Order, you say..."
Jaseong let out a mirthless laugh.
"If that so-called order means slaughtering innocents and spreading drugs throughout the Central Plains for your own profit... then that order is better destroyed."
A black haze rose all over Jaseong's body.
The demonic ki of the Wicked Flame Sword and the immortal energy of the Heaven Evading Celestial Formula swirled together in an uncanny wave.
"Come. I'll show you that the name of the Mount Hua Sect is not in vain."
At the tip of True Person Cheongho's sword, a vision of red plum blossoms bloomed.
It was the leading stance of Mount Hua's ultimate sword art, the Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Sword Art.
Before him, Jaseong opened the immortal gate within himself.
'Celestial Gate Opening Art. Tenth Gate- Heaven's Gate—open.'
From the First to the Tenth Gate, they opened in an instant.
He did not open to the Eleventh Gate, reserving his final power for when facing Namgung Cheon-rui.
Kwaaaa!
An explosive surge of energy burst from Jaseong's body.
The atmosphere vibrated, stones on the ground shooting upward.
"Here I come!"
Jaseong kicked off the ground.
His movement form became a beam of light, hurtling toward True Person Cheongho.
'Heaven Evading Flash Sword Second Form—Ultimate Heaven Evading Shadowless Slash.'
Jaseong's sword stabbed in at a speed invisible to the eye.
A killer thrust that skipped across space, targeting the opponent's vital point.
Yet True Person Cheongho was unshaken.
He smoothly swept his blade in a circle.
"Plum Blossom in Full Bloom."
Dozens of plum blossoms blossomed in mid-air.
Petals formed of sword aura wrapped around Jaseong's sword strike.
A fierce thrust caught in gentle sword ki, its trajectory lost.
Chaeng! Chaechaechaeng!
Jaseong's sword was deflected by True Person Cheongho's blade.
Softness overcoming strength, the essence of "flexible subdues the rigid."
'Truly worthy of being Mount Hua's Sect Leader. Then how about this?'
Jaseong unleashed Heaven Evading Phantom Step.
His body split into dozens, surrounding True Person Cheongho.
A multitude of Jaseongs raised their swords in unison.
"Hundred Descending Calamities!"
Sword strikes as if a hundred bolts of lightning fell at once, raining from all directions.
A perfect, inescapable encirclement attack.
True Person Cheongho's eyes narrowed.
"They're but phantoms."
He closed his eyes.
Rather than relying on sight, he tracked Jaseong's energy through his mind's eye.
Among all the killing intent, he found the one true murderous intent.
"Found it."
True Person Cheongho raised his sword vertically.
"Plum Blossom Righteous Spirit!"
A burst of red energy erupted from his body.
It became a vision of a giant plum tree.
Its branches stretched out, sweeping away all of Jaseong's phantoms.
Peopeong! Peong! Peong!
The images vanished like smoke.
And the real Jaseong's sword met True Person Cheongho's blade head-on.
Kwaaaang!
An immense shockwave blew both men backward.
"......"
Jaseong shook out his wrist.
True Person Cheongho's internal energy was deep and steady.
Unshaken, like a millennia-old tree.
True Person Cheongho's eyes also flashed sharply.
A faint tremor ran through his hands.
"Already at such a realm at a young age... The rumors that you have reached the Transformation Realm were true."
True Person Cheongho nodded as if in recognition.
"But you are still green. You may have power, but you lack skill in wielding that power."
"Old men really do love their lectures before dying."
Jaseong readied his stance again.
In truth, True Person Cheongho was indeed a worthy candidate for the title of the World's Greatest.
'So he, too, has seen the Transformation Realm.'
Yet Jaseong still didn't open the Eleventh Gate Opening Heaven.
For behind True Person Cheongho, Namgung Cheon-rui had quietly drawn his sword, waiting for a chance.
'Then... there's no other way.'