Chapter 473: Chapter 473

The three divided spaces merged into one.

The impact, akin to a natural disaster, had collapsed all surrounding walls and ceilings, revealing the transformed landscape.

It was too vast to be called a gorge. A seemingly endless plain stretched between two towering cliffs.

Brilliant sunlight poured down like a tidal wave.

“...Even if a wyrm with the Dragon Pearl were to thrash about, there would still be room left.”

Yangwall Sword Sovereign Cheongsu Jin-in murmured.

A wyrm holding the legendary Dragon Pearl—such a being, on the verge of ascending to a true dragon, was nearly akin to a flood dragon.

Naturally, among all spiritual beasts, it would be one of the largest. Given that this land was the stronghold of the Dark Heaven Emperor Cho Ryeol, the symbolism was notable.

Suddenly, the blue-hued treasured sword, a symbol of Mount Cheongseong, resonated with a hum. A sight of extraordinary significance had entered Cheongsu Jin-in’s view.

The back of a young man, draped in violet robes, with long, jet-black hair cascading down his back.

Beyond him, Open Faction’s Drunken Beggar King and Dark Heaven Emperor Cho Ryeol faced each other, encircled by a massive, circular formation of spellcraft, its faint luminescence swirling as it rotated.

A heavy vortex of energy accompanied it.

The Hundred-Year Grand Formation, Hoeryong Arts.

The spellwork had already progressed significantly—the waves of energy radiating from the formation were truly immense. On one side, a woman in a pure white cloak of fluttering silk was locking gazes with Ipwang Fortress’ Violet Commander.

In terms of sheer presence, they were two of the most dominant figures on this battlefield. It was as if they were completely unaffected by the Emptiness Annihilation Realm, much like Jeong Yeon-shin at this very moment.

‘Those two... somehow resemble each other. Even though their temperaments are complete opposites...’

Cheongsu Jin-in glanced sideways and spoke.

Yulha Nangnang’s voice lingered in the air like an invisible fragrance.

By the time the sound faded, she had already crossed a distance of thirty paces in a single bound. The fragrance of the Mount Hua Sect followed in her wake.

A flowing pink robe brushed elegantly through the air before fluttering beside Jeong Yeon-shin.

Yulha Nangnang asked bluntly, not even waiting for a reply as she examined Jeong Yeon-shin’s left shoulder. She pressed her index and middle fingers together and lightly traced along it like a swift blade.

A sword-gesture fingertip technique, honed to its peak through the supreme mastery of the Zahasim Method. A form of meridian diagnosis. With just a touch, she could instantly discern the state of his energy flow.

Jeong Yeon-shin, who had been observing both the Peerless Heaven’s Invincible and the Dark Heaven Emperor simultaneously, finally let out a faint smile.

“Thanks to your concern, I’ve fully recovered.”

“That was sheer luck. Truly fortunate.”

At last, Yulha Nangnang’s voice softened just slightly.

Until this moment, she had been taut like a silk-threaded sword, but after confirming the well-being of her junior, she had regained her natural composure as Mount Hua’s Grandmaster.

The immortals of the Nine Great Sects.

They could not simply be dismissed as mere martial artists. Every one of them whom Jeong Yeon-shin had encountered had been the same. And among them, the Mount Hua Sect was exceptional.

Yulha Nangnang, Yu Hyeon, and the Mount Hua Sword Hermit Cheon Ju-jin had all shared deep camaraderie with Jeong Yeon-shin.

Yulha Nangnang parted her lips.

“...Your presence feels different now. You’ve gained steel, yet you remain composed. You finally carry the scent of a real man.”

Perhaps she had finally let go of the weight in her heart. She seemed to have returned to her natural self, enjoying her own teasing.

Her eyes, as clear and radiant as a setting sun, turned toward the Peerless Heaven’s Invincible and the Dark Heaven Emperor.

“You are the fastest to move on our side, one worthy to represent a major sect like Ipwang Fortress. If I had to guess... the old spellcaster’s Gongwol Dance would be useless to you.”

Yulha Nangnang spoke gently.

Jeong Yeon-shin did not refute it. Fortunately, her Three Flowers Gathering Essence was still intact, though he could sense her effort not to disrupt the unity of her mind, spirit, and body.

He once again swept his senses over the scene behind him.

Starting with Abbot Beomheo.

The Shaolin abbot sat cross-legged in the air.

Like an unopened lotus bud, the old monk’s entire body was enveloped in energy.

The density of his internal energy was staggering. His accumulated reserves were at a level Jeong Yeon-shin had never encountered before.

Even after reaching the Half-Step Return to the Origin Realm, his presence remained extraordinary, surpassing even terms like Three Flowers Gathering Essence or Five Energies Converging into the Origin.

Earlier, Abbot Beomheo had entrusted his formation position to another and closed his eyes before Yulha Nangnang even examined Jeong Yeon-shin’s arm.

The abbot had already sensed the Violet Commander’s recovery before anyone else and had settled into meditation. The rumors of him mastering the Six Divine Powers of Buddhism might indeed be true.

Even Jeong Yeon-shin, who naturally adapted to the Gongwol Dance of the Dark Heaven Emperor, could not ignore his presence.

He was the absolute sovereign whom countless scholars of the martial world revered as the greatest among the orthodox factions.

‘He’s entrusting me...?’

Jeong Yeon-shin took a step forward and brushed the surface of the Thunderous Blade.

At the same time, he sent a sound transmission to the monk behind him.

—Not at all. In fact, you are incredibly fast. I now believe the rumors comparing your pupils to the Reverse Tendon Mirror.

A reply came instantly. Their bond, forged through their shared connection with Mount Hua’s medicinal elixirs, was calm and familiar.

Jeong Yeon-shin understood the monk’s words. Though he had arrived early, the Dark Heaven Emperor’s preparations, carrying the weight of countless years, were closer to completion.

The Shaolin Abbot was harmonizing his essence, energy, and spirit not as a man, but as if preparing for the emergence of a flood dragon. His perspective was on an entirely different level.

Jeong Yeon-shin, still facing forward, flinched slightly at the fingertips. There was an irregularity in Aksurim’s breathing that was not normally present.

The fluctuations of energy carried through his exhale were intermittently breaking apart.

—Was it the Dark Heaven Emperor’s doing?

—It’s nothing serious.

The response from Ipwang Divine Spear was laced with a faint chuckle. The relief in his tone was evident. Jeong Yeon-shin inwardly shook his head.

—It seems significant. Do not push yourself.

—The Violet Commander himself has traveled far to retrieve just one of his subordinates. If we manage to break through the old monster and the young Heavenly Demon watching us, even the Blue Ranks carrying out missions in remote places like Guangdong will be immensely boosted in morale. The other sects will hold back. We cannot return empty-handed. We must succeed.

—I’ll handle the small fry. Not a single spark will reach you.

Aksurim’s tone was cheerful.

But Jeong Yeon-shin now understood sorcerers well.

Unlike martial artists who prioritized their internal energy circulation, they were different.

They extended their power outward, wielding techniques that could summon storms and shake the heavens. The efficacy of their cultivation often surpassed even the sharpest of sword formations. And for a grand sect like Taemosan Fortress, this held even truer.

Aksurim, already wounded from facing Won Yeong-shin of the Dark Heaven Emperor.

Could he truly handle the amassed forces of such a vast faction in their own stronghold? Their accumulated spell formations, arcane tools, and refined techniques were already complete.

‘If the battle goes wrong...’

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

He envisioned the possibility of losing another.

Reducing their numbers was the right decision. As much as the manifestation of a flood dragon was beyond human control, so too was the immediate danger to Aksurim’s life. Jeong Yeon-shin subtly shifted his stance.

[What is that Songmoon Ancient Sword?]

A voice resonated beside him.

The Dark Heaven Emperor extended his grotesquely distorted hand, shrouded in thick, dark lightning.

In an instant, an overwhelming surge of energy stormed forward. Streaks of vivid blue thunder spread in all directions like unraveling threads, while the ground erupted in a series of deep, heavy fractures with a resounding crack.

A translucent shockwave exploded from the Dark Heaven Emperor’s abdomen. A leg-based force technique, Earth Splitting Shockwave. A heavy force surged up Jeong Yeon-shin’s leg as he extended his kick.

At the end of the blazing trajectory of his right foot, the Dark Heaven Emperor’s upper body was being torn apart.

‘I can’t afford to take a hit. His Original Shadow is too resilient.’

As he withdrew his leg, Jeong Yeon-shin thought to himself.

[The energy of a Grandmaster-ranked shockwave, the flow of techniques and forms at their peak, Three Flowers Gathering Essence in its great completion... Adjusting to the Emptiness Annihilation Realm is crucial.]

Had the Dark Heaven Emperor analyzed him mid-counterattack? As if he were some kind of mechanical formation rather than a human, the Original Shadow muttered an incomprehensible thought before dissipating like mist.

While some of the high-level warriors from Taemosan Fortress inhaled sharply in shock,

far in the distance, another silhouette began flickering into shape in the form of the Dark Heaven Emperor.

Just how many arcane treasures and formations had been buried throughout Hangzhou? His ability to mold another Original Shadow flowed as naturally as water. It formed right behind Abbot Beomheo.

The instant it took form, its head was crushed and split vertically in two. A strike from Jeong Yeon-shin’s backward-propelled palm attack and Yulha Nangnang’s sword, which she had closed the distance to unleash.

The air was harshly scraped, creating an acute tearing sound, while the fragments of shattered stone, which had been scattered by Hwan-gang’s earlier shockwave, were pushed aside like waves.

“There’s no end to this.”

Yulha Nangnang murmured, having naturally taken up a protective stance near Abbot Beomheo.

The absolute masters of spell martial arts had joined forces. In this moment, no one could predict from which direction or what kind of attack would come next, forcing them into a tense confrontation.

And above all, the Dark Heaven Emperor, who could endlessly create Original Shadows, was the greatest problem. It was clear he had constructed a fortress solely for defense. That was why Abbot Beomheo had assumed a seated meditation stance.

Jeong Yeon-shin furrowed his brow slightly.

Should he wait for his allies to be fully prepared?

Even now, the Drunken Beggar King was weaving between the Dark Heaven Emperor’s true body, swapping places as he disrupted the spell formation.

Endless firestorms rained from the sky, illuminating the ground, while the earth itself, resembling the Blade Forest Hell, trembled with countless massive stone blades rising skyward in a ceaseless surge.

A transcendent assault.

Each time the Drunken Beggar King leaped through the air to evade, a searing blue flame struck his abdomen.

The Dark Heaven Emperor’s signature ultimate technique—Astral Fire Inferno Method. With every exchange, the air itself contorted into a distorted, semi-transparent mass. The sheer heat was monstrous.

Yet, the Dark Heaven Emperor remained at ease.

It was as though his mind was split into several independent parts, executing four different tasks at once.

He was simultaneously launching dozens of spell techniques at the Drunken Beggar King, reciting incantations at the heart of the grand formation to sustain the Hoeryong Arts, endlessly creating Original Shadows near where the Grandmasters of the Nine Great Sects had gathered, and constantly adjusting the long-laid invisible formations to interfere with the intruders' senses.

As if he had deeply delved into the secret arts of the Wudang Sect’s Yang Intent Technique.

“Just let me have my drink in peace!”

In contrast, the Drunken Beggar King, having suffered a severe sword wound earlier from the Heavenly Extremity Lord, was still trapped within the realm of Emptiness Annihilation. He was unable to land any significant blows, merely circling the Dark Heaven Emperor’s vicinity, barely avoiding a fatal strike.

As the uphill battle continued—

“The time for the Flood Dragon’s manifestation has come.”

“At last... finally...!”

The spellcasters of Taemosan Fortress, who rarely revealed their emotions, muttered as they expanded their encirclement.

The Corpse Warriors, thought to have been eradicated, began closing in from all directions. Their bluish-tinged skin, skeletal frames, and exposed bones were covered in a ghostly aura.

Overflowing Corpse Grand Law—the ultimate form of counter-heaven cultivation, focusing all power into bodily reinforcement and durability.

On one side, Cheongsu Jin-in began drawing his sword, unleashing a mass of sword energy that spread like a swelling stormcloud.

Yulha Nangnang’s gaze brushed the back of Jeong Yeon-shin’s head, while Aksurim planted his spear into the ground, accumulating an overwhelming wave of force.

Meanwhile, Abbot Beomheo had, at some point, begun shaking the very air around him with his mere presence.

From a strategic perspective, Jeong Yeon-shin stood at the very front.

[If I were to be in the same space as that ancient bastard.]

Blocking his path, the Peerless Heaven’s Invincible tilted her head slightly. Was it provocation? Her jet-black hair, dark as the deepest night sky, cascaded over her pristine white robes as she spoke.

[You should have realized that it makes prolonged battles significantly easier. What was your real plan?]

She was calmly questioning him in the presence of the great martial lords who could engage in endless combat with their profound mastery.

Everyone present was thinking the same thing.

‘Is that why he seems so relaxed?’

Jeong Yeon-shin pondered.

With so many supreme masters gathered, the interplay of energy and footwork became increasingly intricate. The trajectories of those who had mastered the Gongwol Dance contained transformations beyond imagination.

Ending the battle quickly would be difficult. That was why he had to be wary of his own blind spots.

He glanced at the two before him.

The Peerless Heaven’s Invincible, silently watching him. And beyond her shoulder, the faintly visible true form of the Dark Heaven Emperor.

‘Come to think of it.’

The Peerless Heaven’s Invincible had not witnessed it. The way Jeong Yeon-shin had clashed against the Heavenly Extremity Lord.

The moment their confrontation began, she had withdrawn her projection.

Why, he did not know.

As he took a step forward, the Dark Heaven Emperor’s Original Shadow suddenly appeared beside him, hands clasped behind its back.

[Beomheo is correct.]

[My preparations span centuries. Do not interfere.]

A voice, as cold as a winter wind, spread through the air.

Jeong Yeon-shin, without even turning his head, calmly extended his hand.

From a distance, Thunderous Blade was drawn into his palm.

At the same time, he murmured inwardly.

‘Vast Grand Ultimate.’

At that moment, Jeong Yeon-shin’s body blurred and distorted—

And in an instant, he had bypassed the Peerless Heaven’s Invincible entirely and stepped directly into the very center of the Hoeryong Arts Formation.

He had plunged straight in, face-to-face with the true form of the Dark Heaven Emperor.

Jeong Yeon-shin’s white-glowing eyes locked onto the Dark Heaven Emperor’s gaze at a point-blank range.

Before his arm, holding the Thunderous Blade, even fully extended,

[Heaven’s Blade Void Severance.]

A faint, dreamlike silver line appeared on the Dark Heaven Emperor’s throat.

The sound of space itself splitting came a fraction of a second later.

KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA—!!

Immediately, a vortex of air was violently sucked into the wake of the slash.

The aftershock of a single sword strike.

In that brief instant, Jeong Yeon-shin had already passed the ancient transcendent.

With a flick of his wrist, he shook off the blood from Thunderous Blade.

Behind him, the Dark Heaven Emperor’s head rolled across the dirt.