Chapter 518: Chapter 518

The sky above was dim, streaked with dusky gray currents that swirled in slow turbulence. Without any real sunlight, the land below occasionally spat out dust with a dry shhhk.

Only a barren, gritty surface covered the ground, filled with an eerie, lifeless air. The only thing abundant here was the long gusts of dry wind that scraped across the land.

It was hard to believe this was where the colossal flood dragon had just been.

Where exactly was this place?

They’d said it was “beyond the gate.” But was it even the same world? Or was it some twisted version of that fabled peach blossom paradise where the immortals were said to live among the stars?

Jeong Yeon-shin didn’t know.

But he didn’t bother to ask anyone present.

It’s not my jurisdiction.

The words Master Beomheo had once spoken to him—telling him to live in the world of men—kept echoing through his mind. That, and the overwhelming presence of the figures surrounding him.

Three Singeom Masters.

A sight impossible to witness beyond the gate.

Jeong Yeon-shin found himself struck by conflicting emotions.

A weighty pressure to prove his worth before the past Singeom Masters—and on the other hand, a subtle thrill of a younger disciple anticipating what these legendary seniors might show him in return.

Calm, yet not serene.

Moments would never come again.

Even if he tried to express the curiosity and concern swirling in his chest to Ma Yeon-jeok and Yong Hui-myeong, it would only lighten the burden in his own petty heart.

He was a Violet, soon to return to the raging rivers and winds of Jianghu. What mattered now was devoting himself fully to the extraordinary opportunity granted in this moment.

In one corner of Jeong Yeon-shin’s vision still hung the severed heads of Master Myeong-ryu, Subcommander Soyeon, and Suncheon Lord. An imprint burned into his mind, unlikely to fade.

Because of that, this place felt less like a realm beyond and more like a training ground.

A space that would forge him—Jeong Yeon-shin, future leader of the home fortress—into a completed Divine Sword.

He focused his breath through the Rays of Mastery Breathing Technique for a while. As pale mist curled from the corners of his lips, he spoke slowly.

“What do we begin with?”

At his words, Shin Cheonhwa immediately opened her mouth. At some point, she had dropped her hands from behind her back, her violet robe billowing widely.

Her long, pitch-black hair flowed like ink into the dusk of this world—every part of her presence a testament to her status as a former Singeom Master.

[The foundation is your bodily movement—your footwork, stepping, and movement techniques.]

[All of them seem unnaturally harmonious with your well-honed body. I assume they’re all your original creations?]

Jeong Yeon-shin gave a small nod. A faint smile curled at the corners of Shin Cheonhwa’s sharp eyes.

[You’ve walked a path that fits your talent perfectly. Had you studied the Ma Clan’s Harmonized Energy Techniques, you likely wouldn’t have reached this level at your age. Keep doing what you’ve been doing. You’ve done well.]

At that, Ma Yeon-jeok—who had been carefully observing his grandson’s entire body—spoke up.

“A sound piece of advice. Listen well—this is from someone who neither mastered nor even bothered with the Ma Clan’s Supreme Martial Scriptures.”

[That brat from the Ma Clan was well-suited for a conqueror’s path. Even though he came from the Radiant Sword Corps, he didn’t spare a single glance at their techniques.]

Shin Cheonhwa curled one corner of her mouth as she spoke.

[But you’re different. You can look in any direction you want. The structure of your martial arts is built entirely from your own foundation. So even if you add techniques from elsewhere, your core won’t be shaken. For example...]

Suddenly, dry wind began spiraling toward her in a vortex. Her violet robe danced wildly before vanishing into the air.

In the very next instant, Jeong Yeon-shin had already taken a step back. An immediate retreat—Six Steps of Hwanik, a technique he had once used during the Grand Pavilion Duel.

The sound burst through the air as Shin Cheonhwa’s body appeared where he had just been.

It was a clean clash between her advancing step—compressed into space—and his Six Steps of Hwanik. In the blink of an eye, their robes brushed and then tore apart, triggering a ripple of electric-blue sparks.

Such was the aftermath of two supreme-level footwork techniques colliding.

[Normally, this would be considered one exchange.]

As she said this, her Will of the Moonless Dance surged outward, as if it were constantly unfolding in real-time. It struck Jeong Yeon-shin’s ears with the force of a lightning bolt.

[But what if, incredibly, the next strike came immediately after? Say your opponent has long experience fighting alongside the Lord of the Fortress—or you’re being attacked in tandem. It could happen.]

With the burst of lightning-like energy, pale currents spread in all directions. From the side, a shadowy figure flickered into view.

Jeong Yeon-shin’s eyes widened slightly.

Though they hadn’t coordinated this beforehand, Yong Hui-myeong had stepped in close.

Shin Cheonhwa’s will poured in again.

[That’s when you can’t just move your legs. After the feet, it’s the whole body—your full movement technique.]

His body was already tilted back from initiating Six Steps of Hwanik.

Now, Jeong Yeon-shin faced a strike from the current Singeom Master.

Perhaps it was a prelude to inheriting the Master’s position.

Following Yong Hui-myeong’s hand movement, his sleeve rose in a graceful arc like a dancer’s gesture. From that motion alone, a swirling force erupted and hurtled toward Jeong Yeon-shin.

It was neither palm wind nor sword wind—something between.

Even the sound of the air breaking was violent.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

The air quivered, half-translucent, and all the concentrated force converged on Jeong Yeon-shin in a straight line.

Blade-like gusts with visible forms enclosed him—about to strike from all sides.

If I take that hit, I die...!

He was already locking the recoil from his retreating step using the fine muscles in his knees.

Jeongga Internal Technique.

In an instant, he stimulated the Sea of Blood and Yang Hill points on both knees, using the force of Six Steps of Hwanik to awaken the pressure points across his whole body. Naturally, the Wind Body movement technique activated.

His body twisted violently, bouncing to the side in a sharp spiral.

A near-perfect dodge.

His violet robe, blending into the dusk, brushed against the pale whirlwind. The motion was similar to what Yong Hui-myeong had shown earlier when struck by Ma Yeon-jeok.

In the next instant, the tattered hem of his robe trembled and began to restore itself, as if alive.

He landed at a distance.

Jeong Yeon-shin glanced briefly at the spot where he had just been standing.

The earth had caved in across a vast area, and long trenches had erupted in every direction like the spokes of a mandala—each line tracing the path of compressed typhoon-force wind.

This was the aftermath of just a few short exchanges between Singeom Masters.

And Jeong Yeon-shin’s technique had been part of it—seamlessly, effortlessly.

He couldn’t help but feel something stir within him.

Shin Cheonhwa swept her hair back loosely as she continued.

[If you link every technique together like that, you'll find room to breathe where there was none before. There's a reason it's called the Preservation Meridian Technique. The three must always flow as one, because they are never truly separate.]

“The light body arts...?”

At Jeong Yeon-shin’s question, Shin Cheonhwa smiled.

[Are you planning to keep fighting the two of us? When a Singeom Master dies, the battlefield dies with them. If you've pulled out, you should regroup with your subordinates. Retreating footwork isn’t just about taking a single step back.]

For a moment, Jeong Yeon-shin couldn’t help but recall the Emperor of Gunreung.

Then does the death of the sovereign who fought the Battle God to the death mean nothing beyond stalling the northern martial world’s southern advance?

[That’s exactly what light body arts are for. Either that, or to strike where your enemies never imagined you could reach.]

Jeong Yeon-shin answered reluctantly, still pondering if there wasn’t another way to apply the light body arts.

In that brief moment, countless branches of inspiration sparked through his mind like light woven from intuition.

Hwanik Steps. Wind Body. Ten-Li Radiant Stride.

The movements of the absolute-level Singeom Masters always stirred his Upper Dantian.

Even their techniques carried clear intentions. The slight shifts in their muscles, the disruption of their kinetic flow, the direction of their techniques—everything.

Even these brief exchanges had already oiled the gears of Jeong Yeon-shin’s martial arts more than enough.

His existing footwork, movement arts, and light body techniques would surely evolve into methods that offered genuine flexibility and control.

Maybe, when the day came that he met So Cheonmujuk again, this very direction would be what allowed him to close the two-year gap between them in a single step.

And that wasn’t the end of it.

Jeong Yeon-shin had to evade strikes from both Shin Cheonhwa and Yong Hui-myeong from all directions.

Though Shin Cheonhwa’s offensive—after exhausting her internal energy through the use of the Formless Void—was manageable, Yong Hui-myeong’s techniques were another matter entirely. They had to be dodged, not blocked.

Several dangerous moments passed, and with each one, countless mandala-shaped markings etched themselves into the ground.

[Next is the Internal Defense Technique.]

Suddenly, Yong Hui-myeong stopped Shin Cheonhwa.

“This seems odd. Moving from the Preservation Meridian Technique to Internal Defense? Sounds to me like you're trying to teach my deputy something strange.”

“Aren’t you prioritizing survival over killing? This method reeks of the incense offered at the altar of some old master about to ascend to the heavens.”

His hands behind his back, Yong Hui-myeong asked the question with a noble grace.

Shin Cheonhwa chuckled.

[Insightful, as always. No wonder you were worthy of taking the Bladeheart Sword.]

“I gave it up because there was no one else I could trust. And now you’re ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ here talking nonsense.”

Even his maternal grandfather, Ma Yeon-jeok, chimed in.

The three Singeom Masters' opinions tangled together.

Jeong Yeon-shin didn’t bother wedging himself into their conversation. Instead, he focused on reviewing the sequence they had just covered in the Preservation Meridian Technique. The violet-robed gentleman was used to walking the solitary path.

‘Four steps remain before I complete the Hwanik Ten Steps...’

No matter what anyone said, he internalized the teachings of the former Masters in his own way. His head was burning hot.

‘All forward-step movements, without exception.’

By the time Jeong Yeon-shin finished reviewing, their argument had also ended.

[Did you internalize my advice? I trust you kept in mind the significance of each part of the Preservation Meridian Technique?]

Jeong Yeon-shin answered with confidence.

[Good. There's no better way to judge a martial artist's instinct than through the recoil resistance of their Internal Defense. Let’s see it properly now.]

Shin Cheonhwa gestured toward Ma Yeon-jeok with her chin.

[Hey brat, hit him once.]

Ma Yeon-jeok asked in a flat tone. But Shin Cheonhwa responded without a hint of hesitation.

[Recoil resistance, strength, absorption, the directional flow of energy, the endurance of the inner energy barrier... there’s a lot to assess. And you're perfect for it, with all that excess strength. Use your hands and feel it out.]

“That’s... not wrong.”

Better an old man than a dead one. Ma Yeon-jeok murmured as he walked toward Jeong Yeon-shin.

To Jeong Yeon-shin, his grandfather’s voice carried a strange tone of reflection—as if he and Shin Cheonhwa had weathered countless battlefields together, calling each other “brat” all the while.

For example, she used no special titles when speaking to either the current Singeom Master or Jeong Yeon-shin. She simply did what needed to be done.

Off to the side, Yong Hui-myeong nodded in agreement.

“This is necessary. Unless you’re the old man from Wudang, it’s hard to counter northern cavalry martial arts unarmed. If, by any chance, this fortress can produce Internal Defense to rival the Celestial Steel Armor of our Yozok friends, that would be quite the luxury.”

There wasn’t even time to ask about that so-called Celestial Steel Armor.

“Shall I strike you now?”

Ma Yeon-jeok raised his right hand and asked gently.

Instead of answering, Jeong Yeon-shin thought of the moonlit Tang siblings.

In that moment, the Internal Defense that had already wrapped around his entire body began to emit a faint glow.

“In real battle, most strikes won’t hit clean. So I’ll use a force appropriate to the situation.”

Perhaps hesitant to use his hand directly, Ma Yeon-jeok furrowed his brow slightly as he continued speaking. Meanwhile, his hand was already tinged with an icy blue flame.

“This is the Blended Smoke and Ash Method. ‘Lifethread Pierce.’”

Unbelievable things were happening one after another.

Jeong Yeon-shin hadn’t expected such a meticulous analysis.

The three former Singeom Masters were working together as if determined to seal every opening left in the martial artist known as Seomye.

As if a warrior who would lead the fortress alone ought to be made whole .

And yet, it didn’t feel entirely pleasant.

‘If I get hit by this, I should be able to examine Grandfather’s Internal Defense as the Ninefold Return Barrier...’

Before his heavy thoughts could even finish—

The world turned blue.

Ma Yeon-jeok’s hand extended toward him, without so much as a thunderclap.

It was the final act of a true reclusive training.