Chapter 538: Chapter 538

The clearing was silent.

Not only the hundred Wudang masters who had encircled and isolated the pair of riders, but even Bukdo, who would occasionally mutter incomprehensible things, merely looked down from atop his horse.

The raggedly robed old Daoist and the peerlessly handsome youth. The deputy of the Divine Sword Hall silently waited for the Wudang Head Master, who had first spoken of rest.

There had been a similar moment in the distant past.

The former Head Master and the story of the unruly hero Ma Yeon-jeok. Among the great sects’ warriors, not one in the martial world was unaware of that incident.

Whenever people of such status clashed, the incident would inevitably become widespread, and the disciples of Wudang, who could be considered the parties involved, couldn’t help but recall the Taiji in this moment.

And now, after so many twists and turns—

To many, Jeong Yeon-shin was the true master of the Divine Sword Hall. Merely calling him a deputy was no longer fitting. He had the strength to stand in place of the greatest authority in the martial world.

The snort of a massive warhorse rang out eerily.

The gaze of the northern martial world made a sound of its own. Though the Wudang disciples, who had already formed a sword formation, did not avert their eyes from Bukdo, it was clear that most of their spiritual perception was drawn to Jeong Yeon-shin and Hyun Gong.

Suddenly, the Wudang Head Master pulled his foot out of the earth.

A mound of dirt clung to his robe, dirtying it, but Hyun Gong’s face remained calm. In fact, it showed signs of limbering up. Soon after, Hyun Gong asked Jeong Yeon-shin evenly.

“How long do you intend to keep it floating? Surely you're not trying to provoke Bindo’s heart demon.”

“This feels more comfortable.”

Jeong Yeon-shin replied briefly.

Floating in the air above one side of his head was a stone box—an ability of void manipulation.

It had been with him even before he engraved the blue Taiji on the ground, and it had remained by his side even during the exchange of hands with Hyun Gong.

Some Wudang disciples, only now realizing its presence, gasped softly. It was simply beyond belief—unless he had trained in Yang’s Dual-Heart Technique or something similar.

The Wudang Head Master quietly asked.

His aged voice held many questions, as though he could see through all that Jeong Yeon-shin had experienced from Hangzhou until now.

Unlike before, when he had openly revealed his emotions, he was now becoming harder and harder to read. A small but definite change.

Jeong Yeon-shin began to speak without pause.

“I don’t think it’s ever felt heavy.”

“And not cumbersome either?”

Hyun Gong pressed again. At that moment, Jeong Yeon-shin’s lips curled slightly. A flawless smile like that of Yong Hui-myeong, the Divine Sword Hall’s master of this generation.

“There’s no reason for it to be. It supports me instead.”

“The ancient sword... Hyeon Ryeo is propping you up a little, is it? That stone box—could it be a stepping stone for your heart?”

“I think of it as another kind of Wild.”

For a moment, a faint pine scent drifted from Hyun Gong’s sword. Like the famed Sword Fragrance of the Huashan School’s sword arts.

But there was a difference.

This was a precursor of Heart Sword—a realm where the swordsman’s will directly influenced their opponent. One had to be thoroughly trained in profound cultivation to reach this state.

It was similar in some ways to the Heavenly Pole Sect Master, who was skilled in countless techniques, but it had a different texture.

“That box, for me, is a dam. A boulder that blocks the heart. A heart demon I must clear away as soon as possible. The problem is simply that it’s too large and too heavy.”

Hyun Gong spoke slowly, glancing at the paradoxically weightless stone box that floated in Jeong Yeon-shin’s void manipulation.

Jeong Yeon-shin replied briefly.

At that moment, faint smile lines creased Hyun Gong’s eyes. A smile formed from both the madness of his heart demon and the brilliance of the Wudang Head Master.

Their exchange was calm and composed.

Yet the air around them was still drawn taut. The atmosphere was akin to the silence before thunder strikes the cliffs.

Everyone present knew.

This was no martial match that pulled its punches.

A transcendent of the Dao who had fallen into inner demons, and a warlike deputy of the Divine Sword Hall stood opposed. It would be no surprise if limbs went flying.

“Hyeon Ryeo lived and died as a martial artist. His end was that of a chivalrous warrior, but not a Daoist. So too were the disciples of Wudang who died in the north alongside ‘Mun.’ All of them... even though they ate, studied, and laughed through the years with this old Daoist.”

Hyun Gong raised the Songmun ancient sword to middle guard as he spoke.

“So leave Bindo alone. The current Wudang Head Master is not like Elder Beomha. A petty man with a small heart, and a coward who is gravely lacking.”

A breeze stirred suddenly, scraping across the dirt ground.

And gradually, it thickened into a translucent shroud, wrapping the entire space.

It was nature’s will.

Hyun Gong had already inscribed a massive Taiji within his mindscape.

A realm where one becomes the axis between Heaven and Earth. Even without drawing circles with his sword, he could summon the power of nature.

Naturally, the amount of power that could be drawn at once had limits. But in terms of inner energy endurance, he was likely the only one among the Five Great Swords who could rival Yong Hui-myeong.

“...Wudang has a kind Head Master.”

Jeong Yeon-shin thought to himself as he reversed his grip on Yeorae. That ability must not be allowed to enter the Ten Silk Brocades.

The Wudang’s Ten Silk Brocades.

Like Phantom Steel, it was a peerless art that could be layered. If unleashed from Hyun Gong’s hand, it would inevitably manifest in terrifying form.

When Jeong Yeon-shin had fallen into inner demons, a single use of that technique had nearly killed him.

‘And the Head Master...’

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

He could unleash techniques requiring massive energy without preparation. Because his lower abdomen had become one with nature itself, he could omit the completion process of ultimate moves.

Which is why—despite not being a body focused on swift swordplay—he was still fast. Like now.

With a single step, he swung the Songmun ancient sword from close range. Right before Jeong Yeon-shin’s eyes. A massive shockwave belatedly blasted out from Hyun Gong’s back.

Twenty-five violent shockwaves struck Jeong Yeon-shin’s hand, which gripped the reversed sword. The number of currents carried in just one sword strike.

The sword technique of the Five Great Swords. He had fully grasped even the most minute details of Jeong Yeon-shin’s gripping method from a previous clash.

Though he didn’t show it outwardly, Jeong Yeon-shin nearly lost hold of Yeorae.

‘I gripped it in a way that should’ve made blocking easier, and still—’

Jeong Yeon-shin let the sword go lightly. In the next instant, he slipped past Hyun Gong’s side with a movement like a spiraling swallow.

Yeorae spun like a blade of grass caught in the wind, coiling around both Hyun Gong’s sword and body, chasing after Jeong Yeon-shin.

During that motion, a pale sword wind rose along the blade.

Not only Hyun Gong’s robe, but even the ground was torn into a wide circle.

Thus, Yeorae surged for a brief moment, then landed back in Jeong Yeon-shin’s grip with a solid thunk, humming deeply.

Once again, it was swordsmanship of the Five Great Swords.

The silence deepened among the onlookers.

The two had exchanged a single move and now stood back to back.

Jeong Yeon-shin’s clothing was intact. In contrast, Hyun Gong’s body bore fine cuts.

The guardian energy technique, Black Jade Solitary Robe, worn by the Wudang Head Master, had not fully restored itself after being damaged once by the Phantom Steel of Fist Flame.

Now it was breaking again, scattering shard-like fragments across his body.

Jeong Yeon-shin spoke slowly.

“Did you not rest properly?”

“There was no dignity left to even straighten my robes.”

Hyun Gong answered in a low voice.

Then, he asked Jeong Yeon-shin:

“The circle surrounding us... this blue flame—it seems to have a special ability, does it not?”

A bluish circle, spanning a radius of over ten jang, glowed with a flickering flame—almost as if in response to Hyun Gong’s aged yet clear voice.

“This is the South Blossom Vast Tai Chi.”

Jeong Yeon-shin spoke. Hyun Gong’s reply followed immediately.

“South Blossom... Vast? As in, shining widely to the south?”

“Hangzhou lies to the south of here. It's where Master Jade Sword’s will rests.”

His answer was simple and sincere.

From the very beginning of this journey, Jeong Yeon-shin's focus had been entirely on Jade Sword.

In one way or another, he had been trying to deliver the box to Wudang's Sect Leader. With that intent, he drew the circle—and something responded.

The ability to harmonize all techniques.

It was the reason he could face Hyun Gong even while holding the box suspended in the air using Void-Grasping Technique.

At that moment, Jeong Yeon-shin stood still inside the circle, the embodiment of Tai Chi itself.

No matter what technique he unleashed next, there was no burden.

As though invoking a sacred scripture at will, inside the blue flame of Tai Chi, every technique Jeong Yeon-shin possessed naturally flowed into the next.

Just like a high-level Daoist who, after a lifetime of cultivation, reached the peak of Yang Intent Internal Skill.

This was the reward Jeong Yeon-shin received for enduring the image of himself as an old man. Even now, mysterious spiritual power poured into him from the blazing blue Tai Chi.

Perhaps that’s why Hyun Gong’s mind had begun to return. The energies—beyond even Jeong Yeon-shin’s ability to comprehend—had intertwined as one, along with sacred power.

Yet, within that clarity, there was no trace of Jang Sam-bong.

The essence of the South Blossom Vast Tai Chi etched into Jeong Yeon-shin's mind was distilled into just those two words.

The highest sword. The chivalrous hero longed for by the commoners of Hangzhou, and the boy flung into the martial world under the name of the Jeong Family.

Perhaps that was why—

“South... South... The meaning of ‘Hyunryeo’ was...”

Hyun Gong’s eyes began to lose focus as he murmured again the word for "south." Meanwhile, Jeong Yeon-shin, as the acting leader of the Divine Sword Corps, calmly analyzed the technique he had just employed.

We exchanged only a few strikes, but the density of each technique was immense. Is there any strain on my body?

There truly was none.

All he felt was the gentle caress of wind across his body.

A tickling sensation on his skin. Whether it was sorcery or pure martial technique, even he couldn’t be sure, but not once did the warning of sorcerers’ tragic ends—like what Shin Cheonhwa had once described—cross his mind.

Suddenly, her evaluation of Wudang’s sacred techniques echoed in his mind.

—It’s Jang Sam-bong’s martial art, after all.

South Blossom Vast Tai Chi was no different. A martial art composed of Seomye and Jade Sword. At some point, within the blue flame of Tai Chi, Jeong Yeon-shin began to glimpse infinite possibilities.

Because the spiritual resonance of Wudang's Sect Leader had completely dissipated.

Even if I set aside the fundamental rise in passive flow, as long as I don’t step outside the circle... I can apply this ability to Moonless Void Dance too...

A scene took shape in his mind.

Before the Grandmaster of the Demonic Cult—So Cheonmujuk—whose body was cloaked in shadowy flames, Jeong Yeon-shin laid down a blazing blue Tai Chi.

It was a martial art bound together by fated ties she never possessed, retrieving Baek Mi-ryeo.

Jeong Yeon-shin wondered. It just might.

“This energy is profound. Too intense to be mere sacred power... and too thick to be what the Three Pure Ones use...”

Hyun Gong muttered to himself.

Now, the old Daoist's face was furrowed with both madness and clarity, layered together like the Tai Chi itself. It seemed innate to his disposition. But clearly, he was far more stable than before.

From a distance, Bukdo whispered.

It was unclear whom he was addressing.

The ambient natural energy that had cloaked the area in a translucent haze dispersed. The clearing returned to a calm state on its own.

Hyun Gong and Jeong Yeon-shin slowly turned to face each other. Their soles scraped softly against the torn, disordered earth.

“South Blossom... Thank you, for giving it such a name. And perhaps because of the fire I’ve basked in, strangely enough... the fog in my mind feels like it’s beginning to lift. My heart has yielded to you.”

The words slipped out of Jeong Yeon-shin before he realized, but he caught himself and let them fade. Then, he settled things. He would consider this his win in their bet.

Their conversation was as natural as the clouds gently blanketing Wudang’s foothills.

The situation changed quietly—yet drastically. It was a world where none were anything less than monstrous prodigies.

All things were decided by the shift of their inner hearts. Like a tranquil river bending in a thousand directions.

And among all martial artists, there were few in the world who had ever seen both the Sect Leader of Wudang and the Acting Master of the Divine Sword Corps in their right minds—let alone together.

The only thing that hadn’t changed was the beautiful young man still moaning, impaled on the ancient pine sword.

Cho Gwangmongma stared at Jeong Yeon-shin and Hyun Gong in disbelief. Even as Jeong Yeon-shin appeared before him like a lie and gripped his head—

“Quiet now. Be good.”

Jeong Yeon-shin had never once spared an enemy’s life before. The awkwardness was only natural. He had to think of the old guard dog they raised at the Jeong Family estate just to soothe his opponent.

That’s when it happened.

—The Sect Leader of Wudang shall obey the Imperial Command!

A woman’s voice rang out.

Overbearing and thunderous. It [N O V E L I G H T] echoed from a hilltop across the way—so overbearing, in fact, it was hard to believe she had truly addressed the Sect Leader of Wudang.

The disciples, who had long fallen into silence, froze—Jeong Yeon-shin included.

He silently questioned.

And then, the approaching figure from afar froze the moment she laid eyes on Jeong Yeon-shin.