Chapter 611: Chapter 611

It was enough to fluster the Death Envoy of the Proud Dream Phantom Clan.

The fortress, now radiating heat on its own, had long been considered the shield of the capital in the Demon Realm. No matter what struck it, it never broke.

On either side stood endlessly high cliffs. The slope was so steep, the sky couldn't even be seen.

Even with an immense reserve of inner force, it was impossible to climb with Wall Gecko Technique. It was one of the many terrain features that had been drastically altered by the battles of monstrous beings.

It had been formed during the late Yuan and early Ming dynasties, when Jang Sam-bong traveled north to send the “Fire Emperor” back to his homeland.

The path led directly to the Black Road of the capital.

As the ground exploded beneath him again, Chi Geuk, Commander of the Chi Geuk Army, curled up the corners of his lips. A flicker of calm returned to his mouth, and he made no effort to sever the rope of the Heavenly Dragon Corps Lord binding him.

Because he already knew. Once you were caught, even Mun Gok of the Six Original Star Lords had to struggle greatly to break free.

‘These bastards came to die. They’re just going to drag me along.’

Just then, the gate of Yongamseong began to open. Black smoke leaked from the cracks in the darkened gate. It was unmistakable—the Lord of Yongamseong could no longer suppress her competitive urge. Because she was one of the Yozoku.

She emerged from the gate.

The Northern King, known as the Gatekeeper of the Demon Realm’s capital.

A terrifying giant. Her body charred black, her skin split like volcanic rock, pale steam seeping from the cracks.

It was the Lord of Yongamseong.

Though she had clearly stepped outside the gate, it felt as though the entire fortress had become even more tightly sealed.

Separate from the hundreds of martial elites of Yongamseong who now stood in formation along the towering walls—Yongamseong itself was being filled with the Northern King’s overwhelming presence.

She took a single step, and the ground cracked apart as pale steam hissed from the fractures. The very earth responded to the heat-infused true energy within her.

A glow came to Chi Geuk’s face.

He could see it now—with the Lord of Yongamseong’s Fire Emperor Eternal Flame Art, she could very well melt the binding ropes of Myeonseung Tusak.

She was a peerless master who could harden fortress walls with her Heat Yang Energy Art.

She even possessed a Heavenly Armor forged close to molten lava. Her reputation for being untouchable by all but the likes of Mun Gok was well-deserved.

Many warriors of the Demon Realm considered her a living volcano. Even if she wasn’t listed among the Six Original Star Lords, it made no difference.

Just as the Blazing Flame God King had once defended the border before being slain by the Divine Sword Corps Master, the Lord of Yongamseong was the one qualified to guard the central capital.

But with her status as a Northern King came immense pride. Enough to forge scarlet magma with mere gestures.

Her roar swept along both cliffs, shredding the rock as it went. The walls struck by the power of the Unified Martial Power shattered with a deafening crash.

Burnt fragments of stone crumbled and fell.

[If you are not one of our people, you shall not pass.]

A living natural disaster.

Yet the Divine Sword Corps’ martial elites charging up the slope did not stop. In fact, they only moved faster.

Their entire bodies began to emit faint, whitish waves. And from above—an even more outrageous sight.

Chi Geuk’s eyes widened.

‘These maniacs... are they trying to get themselves melted alive by charging in first?’

He burst another round wave of martial energy from the Yongcheon point in his sole. Instantly—BOOM—he shot forward, his movement as rapid as a peerless master’s aerial footwork, soaring above the head of the Lord of Yongamseong.

The transcendent Yozoku being, whose entire body seemed composed of volcanic rock, lifted her head, and in that very moment, Chi Geuk sharply flicked his right leg, bound in Myeonseung Tusak.

Wеi Ji-geuk, who had been flying forward while gripping the end of the rope, tilted downward at an angle.

At the same moment, the Lord of Yongamseong’s left arm shimmered.

‘Fire Emperor Eternal Flame Art—Fusion Coal...!’

A strike known for its instant killing power. What came first was the image of her hurling a mass of crimson palm force—and only after came the explosive roar.

Chi Geuk also caught sight of Wеi Ji-geuk, in that same instant, using Bow-Drawn Shadow Leap to spring upward from the waist.

His body and the rope he had just swung formed a perfect vertical line. The Heavenly Dragon Corps Lord, the Northern Slaughter Ghost—his Sensory Path had always been renowned, but it was now even faster.

It was as if his entire body had been filled with light.

The shockwave of her palm force passed just a hair’s breadth from Wеi Ji-geuk’s heels. The atmosphere warped translucently along its path, and the air trembled as if from an earthquake.

Meanwhile, Chi Geuk was reeling from the recoil of his acrobatic maneuver. He was yanked downward by the wave-like surge of Myeonseung Tusak and tumbled headfirst.

He crashed into the ground behind the Lord of Yongamseong. Dirt erupted like thunder. As soon as he hit the earth, he felt the violent tremors—the Divine Sword Corps' martial troops were pounding their feet into the ground.

He rose to his feet as if in a dream. As though he had never fallen at all.

To deny his opponent any opportunity.

Though the technique of Heaven-Cutting, Chance-Linking was passed on to someone else, the mastery of Defensive Meridian Energy was near the level of the Northern King.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

But Wеi Ji-geuk was already lunging toward him, dragging Myeonseung Tusak hard as he came.

The Qi-Charged Sword energy carried by the rope was so vicious it couldn’t be severed. Chi Geuk was lifted by one leg and slammed to the ground with a thud.

Lying there for a moment, he muttered,

“No matter how barbaric the Ming nation may be, this isn’t how you treat a divine envoy. It’s undignified.”

“It’s not a nation. It’s the Divine Sword Corps.”

Wеi Ji-geuk slammed Chi Geuk’s face into the dirt with one hand. That hand contained terrifying force, and his voice, perfectly even in tone, flowed out like a martial breath.

“You’re not a divine envoy—you’re a pest spreading war and disease.”

“True, the Blue Ranks of the Heavenly Dragon Corps I killed must be worm food by now. I still see them in my dreams. Want me to show you?”

From between the fingers clamped around his face, Chi Geuk’s eyes flared with a colorless glow.

Unwaking Drunkenness. A clan illusion technique from the Dream Phantom lineage. A spell potent enough to plunge even the Wudang Sect Leader into mental deviation under command of the Little Lord of Yeoryeong.

It was a move prepared precisely for this moment, in case he were captured by Wеi Ji-geuk.

But unlike Hyun Gong Zhenin and his disciple, there was no emotional connection between them. Not even a flicker of sentiment.

“A man talking nonsense like a bitch.”

Divine Sword Corps – Jeong Clan Movement Art

Chapter of Hundredfold Crown Protection

The illusion technique surged toward Wеi Ji-geuk’s upper dantian—but was violently repelled with a metallic ring.

At the same time, the hand grasping Chi Geuk’s face grew impossibly heavy. His sharp nose caved in, and a grotesque cracking echoed from his cheekbones and skull.

The pressure from Wеi Ji-geuk’s palm was monstrous.

Chi Geuk's eyeballs slowly began to bulge out of their sockets.

The refined, elegant face that always seemed as if dreaming in ancient splendor—its serenity scattered like mist.

He hastily spread his sensory perception. The Dream Phantom Body was capable of entering the dreams of enemies and devouring the deity within their upper dantian. His sensory perception detached from his body like a wandering soul, overseeing the battlefield from above.

‘What is the Lord of Yongamseong doing...?!’

She was the master of the final gateway leading to the Black Road of the capital.

It was said she stood on equal footing with Mun Gok of the Six Original Star Lords.

Without a transcendent master of equal or greater strength, no matter how many enemies came, she would burn them down like dry straw. That’s why the Southern Emperor, right after swaying Mun Gok with the Whirling Wind Hollow, had reached out to the Lord of Yongamseong next.

She was more than capable of holding the line alone—at least until Northern Kings like Great King Vajra, the Sage Sword Lord of Goyo, or Aisin Gioro Heukhwan arrived.

He could see it clearly with his sensory perception.

Seonmok Lord Cheon So-so had attempted to block the Lord of Yongamseong’s right arm with both hands—only to have it frozen solid.

Then Bukgung Ah, the Mistress of Yeouicheon, slammed her long leg down like a scythe and shattered Cheon So-so’s frost-covered right arm.

Meanwhile, Haho Wi-jin, the Cheonrim Commander, relentlessly pummeled the Lord of Yongamseong’s abdomen with flaming fists—evading a counterattack from her left hand with a simple tilt of the head, like a fluttering leaf.

It was an absurdly bold use of internal energy. A level of skill that should have been suppressed by her Celestial Armor was instead fully unleashed.

Their cooperative assault in this short-term battle flowed with terrifying naturalness.

And from each of their bodies, faint white mist-like energy began to emerge. Though they had trained in different sects, their cohesion was that of sworn siblings.

In the next instant, Bukgung Ah, whose thigh had been clamped in the searing jaws of the Lord of Yongamseong, drove her palm like a blade into the side of the giant’s head, crushing it with a single blow.

Not even a groan escaped her lips.

Black swords, mere weapons or combat tools, dared to strike at a king.

It was Ipwang Fortress.

“You’ve got to be kidding me...!”

At that moment, Chi Geuk slammed his own right foot with his left.

Myeonseung Tusak had begun to apply weighted acupuncture to immobilize him.

With a sickening crack of flesh and bone, his ankle snapped.

But even that fleeting moment of self-liberation was not enough.

The voice was deathly cold.

He had to meet eyes with Wеi Ji-geuk, now fully immersed in a killing aura.

It was the first time the Lord of the Heavenly Dragon Corps had openly shown intent to kill.

“The Ming Cult Leader, now aligned with the Southern Emperor, has taken the Acting Master. We must bring him back. You’ll spend the rest of your life in Ipwang Fortress.”

“As you already know, our destination is the capital of the Demon Realm—the Black Capital. Before we strike the heads of the Southern Emperor and the Ming Cult Leader, we’re going to ask: Where is the Acting Master?”

“You... you mustn’t ever...!”

Wеi Ji-geuk calmly hushed him with a soft "shhh" into his ear.

The hand gripping Chi Geuk’s head channeled power from the True Wall of Formless Ultimate Fist: Boundless Neutrality.

“This Celestial Armor is disgustingly durable... but seems to crumple nicely, just like your personality. I’ve dealt with many . You don’t have to break them. Just apply pressure. Humans die easily.”

Kgggh, kgggaaaaahhhh!

As a long scream mixed with the northern gale—

Seventeen layered ripples unfurled far above, and a barrage of black-bladed swords streaked through the air like crimson smoke, slamming directly into the fortress wall.

The shockwave was terrifying.

The massive stone wall collapsed. The martial troops lining the ramparts fell with it.

A man in a black and red robe soared overhead like a bat.

It was an uncannily emotionless version of Void Sky Ascension. It was clear from the start—he had no intention of confronting the Lord of Yongamseong directly.

[You’re preserving Northern King-level force by leaving me behind...?!]

Her cry was drowned out by the thunder of marching feet.

Hundreds of blue-robed warriors split left and right, charging up the sloped road.

The martial force of the Divine Sword Corps moved like rising clouds. Not a single one glanced toward the Northern King locked in combat with the Great Warriors.

Chi Geuk, pinned beneath the Heavenly Dragon Corps Lord’s hand, didn’t either.

No matter what techniques or forbidden methods he tried to apply to his arm, he left only shallow scratches—unable to move it at all, like the unshakable ridge beam of a fortress.

The dignity in Chi Geuk’s voice dissolved.

Only ragged, forcibly expelled breaths and pitiful, high-pitched sounds came out.

“No matter how tough the armor you wear, it doesn’t matter. It’s always been this way.”

Wеi Ji-geuk whispered into ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) Chi Geuk’s ear.

The Dream Phantom man’s once-beautiful eyes, now crushed and ruined, were held pitifully between the calloused fingers of his captor.

He couldn’t even display emotion—like a man trapped in a dream.

“There are few in the martial world who enjoy a full lifespan.”

At last, his small head was crushed together with its protective aura.

A short, dull crack echoed from his skull. It was instant death.

The final image reflected in Chi Geuk’s pupils:

Several more black figures soared through the night like meteors. A short-haired girl sprinted like a cat, a spiraling vortex of destructive force coiled in one hand.

All of it led toward the Chi Geuk King he served, toward the Southern Emperor he had followed.

The Dream Messenger of Whirling Wind Hollow was dead.

An essential scout was utterly destroyed.

“...But the Master of the Divine Sword Corps—he’s a bringer of good death. No regrets at the end. Unlike you.”

Blood dripped from the tips of Wеi Ji-geuk’s fingers as he slowly rose. The air hissed with heat from the friction of his internal energy.

What remained on the ground was a crushed head and four intact limbs—a corpse ready to fertilize the Demon Realm’s earth.

The Divine Sword Corps had broken through the final gate of the Demon Realm.

They were on their way home.