Jung Yeonshin sharply extended his heightened perception in all directions.
The lines created by countless weapons touched his skin with a chilling sensation, and the techniques to counter them painted radiant images in his mind.
The eyes of the Ten Perfection Sect's leaders widened.
Whoosh!
Jung Yeonshin, spinning the pole of his Fang Tian Halberd with one hand, smoothly twisted his waist.
The long spear naturally traced an extended arc as it swept backward.
Thud!
A powerful shockwave erupted. One of the Ten Perfection Sect's leaders, who had been charging from the rear, had his abdomen pierced.
A furrow of torn-up earth stretched wildly as he charged forward. The spear that had run through his back scattered a semi-transparent gust of wind. It was a spear strike of unmistakable force.
Jung Yeonshin slightly furrowed his brows in thought. The old lady wielded it even more sharply.
[That spear strike, my…!]
[What is happening?!]
Releasing his grip on the spear pole, Jung Yeonshin caught an axe that had fallen from the sky and hurled it forward.
As soon as his fingers let go of the axe handle, propulsion energy burst from his palm like a colorless flame, and the head of a Ten Perfection Sect's leader wielding a shield exploded on the spot.
Boom!
The intense shockwave ripped through the ground in all directions. Shattered rock fragments shot up like artillery shells.
[What the…?!]
Just as the remaining enemies' consciousness converged into pure shock, Jung Yeonshin gathered his Radiant Wheel Energy into the Yongcheon Acupoint at his foot. He rode the wind, spinning in place.
The encirclement formed by the Ten Perfection Sect's leaders was already doomed. Even if it were any leader of the demonic faction, it would be the same.
Surpassing Limits Martial Arts.
It was the enemy's last resort. In truth, since experiencing rebirth, Jung Yeonshin had never been pushed this far before.
If he could break this formation here, he would win. It meant he would counter the decades of experience held by the Ten Perfection Sect's leaders.
Kwaaaaang!
He struck down one opponent's segmented whip with a palm infused with internal energy. Simultaneously, Jung Yeonshin executed a gravity manipulation technique.
He embedded the force within his strike into the segmented whip, transmitting the energy all the way to his enemy's grip.
The dust around them parted to the sides like waves, and the fingers of the man holding the segmented whip twitched.
Once again, he used the Golden Flow Hand. He reversed the grip on an iron whip, snatched it away, and immediately hurled it at another Ten Perfection Sect's leader holding a sword, forcefully restraining him.
In his other hand, he spun a club in a dazzling reverse grip and struck yet another foe in the solar plexus.
Clang!
A brief vibration traveled up to his elbow. It was intensely strong. He had properly unleashed his staff techniques. The man he struck wavered like rippling water.
[Ugh!]
A Ten Perfection Sect's leader skilled in bare-handed combat. The one who served as the foundation of their formation staggered and groaned.
The force overlapped with his Nascent Spirit, transmitting the impact directly to his true body. It was due to the connection through spiritual energy.
[How dare a mere brat…!]
Jung Yeonshin faced the enemies who regenerated and charged at him once again.
Thud!
He caught hold of a thrusting spear. It wasn't difficult.
It was because he had replicated the exact same grip technique and energy wave pattern within his palm. There was no resistance.
He deflected the spear shaft sideways. The neck of the man who had been swinging a hook behind him was impaled by it instead. Immediately, the air erupted with a violent explosion.
[This… This can't be!]
The bare-handed Ten Perfection Sect's leader unleashed his internal energy. Streams of internal energy extended toward his phantoms.
At some point, Jung Yeonshin noticed the distorted, bewildered expression on his opponent's face.
He took a step forward. Behind him, afterimages of his body lingered.
A colorless wave of power generated by his body had thickened to an extreme, yet he moved at a speed far surpassing it.
It was the Shape-Shifting and Position-Switching Technique.
[...!]
A space that had become sluggish, as if submerged in a swamp, yet, within this transcendent domain where the flow of time differed from the outside world,
Jung Yeonshin's pupils gleamed with a piercing blue light as they swiftly scanned his surroundings.
Every weapon hurtling toward his body, poised to slice and shatter him, further fanned the flames of his battle instinct.
Swish! Clang! Kwaaaaaaang—!
Hundreds of intersecting trajectories collided.
Jung Yeonshin claimed every weapon wielded by the Ten Perfection Sect's leaders as his own.
It was as if he were possessed. There was no gap where a technique should transition into the next.
He snatched an incoming spear, slammed it down, deflected a strike so another enemy would be impaled, and then wielded swords, axes, and staffs he seized, embedding them into others through complex trajectories.
Each time, the ground of the mountain peak trembled and collapsed.
His afterimages blurred the battlefield. Along the intricate arcs of the dozens of techniques he unleashed, a massive luminous web was inscribed in the air.
And finally, he stood face-to-face with the real Ten Perfection Sect's leader.
Jung Yeonshin's scattered afterimages converged into one, and his hand reached the man's abdomen.
A powerful vortex of internal energy, layered twice, swirled within his palm. The ground beneath them groaned as it was violently torn apart.
"This is over."
[What…?!]
"There's nothing more to see in your technique."
Kwaaaaaaaaang—!
A thunderous roar as if a lightning bolt had struck the earth. The dirt rose like a tidal wave, swallowing the surroundings whole.
The body of the Ten Perfection Sect's leader was hurled away like an arrow, fragments of his shattered protective energy dispersing into the dust.
Like stars fading into the distant clouds.
"..."
From some point on, the crowd had fallen silent, frozen as if turned to ice.
Even among the grandmasters perched on high branches with their arms crossed, none moved.
Those seated within luxurious sedan chairs, shaded under silk canopies, had ceased their fanning.
Though the movements of absolute masters were as swift as lightning, the flow of the battle had become perceptible.
The frequent hesitations of the Ten Perfection Sect's leaders toward the end of the fight made it so.
Shaaah—
Smoke thickly veiled the hillside, as if a cloud had settled upon the peak. Murmurs erupted from all around.
A demand surged through the mountain air—people clamoring for a glimpse of the final result.
Bang!
A massive cloud of dust unraveled like a vortex. A gleaming white divine sword shot through the sky and lodged itself into the scabbard of the Radiant Demon Squad's leader.
Like ripples spreading across a lake's surface, the dust cleared, revealing the scene in stark clarity.
The Radiant Demon Squad's leader, resting one hand on the divine sword's guard, gazed ahead.
Blood dripped from various parts of his body, yet he did not look broken.
With long, jet-black hair cascading down, he resembled a noble of the Blood Flame Cult.
Opposite him, the Ten Perfection Sect's leader lay sprawled out, limbs splayed.
His once-iconic armor had been stripped away, its shattered fragments reflecting sunlight across the battlefield.
A divine artifact that had never lost its luster, even caked in dirt, had been utterly destroyed.
Only one remained.
There were no more phantoms.
Cough!
The supreme Ten Perfection Sect's leader, lying on his back, spat blood. The sight sealed the silence of the onlookers.
"Is it over? I thought I was watching celestial warlords fight…"
"My lord! What happened?!"
"…The Radiant Demon Squad's leader, he alone… stands."
"The Dark Flame King has won!"
"No way, could the Heavenly Lord of Ten Thousand Soldiers have…!"
The crowd in the back, unable to fully see the battlefield, grew rowdier, though those of higher status in the front remained still, their expressions grave.
Messenger hawks and spirit birds flapped their wings as they soared skyward.
The leader of the Ten Perfection Sect had been defeated by the squad leader of Desolate Fortress.
The martial world would tremble.
"A mere shadow has finally crawled all the way up here."
The fallen Ten Perfection Sect's leader slowly spoke. He wasn't looking at Jung Yeonshin, but at the distant sun.
A lord among transcendent beings, his pupils, swirling with blackened energy, allowed him to gaze directly at the blinding sunlight.
"Truly, an absurd reality."
He murmured.
Supreme Master, Ten Perfection Sect's leader.
His entire energy flow was gradually fading, yet his internal breathing remained deep.
Even as his voice scraped through a throat filled with blood, it barely wavered.
Jung Yeonshin gazed at him impassively before finally speaking.
"You should have expected this."
"...Expected what?"
"The parasites that feast on the people have even corrupted the warriors of their own sect. This wasn't a mere duel."
"Then what was it?"
"A nation's punishment."
"Ha…! I should have expected punishment?"
The Ten Perfection Sect's leader let out a burst of laughter.
"That's absurd from the start. No matter how powerful the Divine Sword Order may be, it is divided into seventeen factions. If the martial sects of Jianghu unite even slightly, they can easily avoid annihilation and instead become the real threat. Any sect that houses supreme masters would naturally look down on you."
"The tongue of a corpse is long indeed."
Jung Yeonshin dismissed his protests as nothing more than results laid bare. His voice was calm. The Ten Perfection Sect's leader could say no more.
"...."
"Now die."
As if his words were a decree.
Slowly.
The breath of the Ten Perfection Sect's leader ceased. The dense energy that had poured from his body vanished as if it had never existed.
A corpse remained.
"Sect Leader!"
"General! Great General!"
The Ten Perfection Sect's disciples below clanked in their armor as they rushed forward. Jung Yeonshin paid them no mind.
Killing the remaining leaders of the demonic sects came first. He had to conserve his strength.
At that moment.
"Radiant Demon Squad's leader!"
One of the men examining the Ten Perfection Sect's leader's corpse shouted. His raised face was filled with fury. His eyes gleamed with venom.
"We are not the main force of the sect!"
"...?"
"Aren't you curious? Where have the countless subordinate sects under the main sect, Pure Demon Alliance, and Golden Wings Sect disappeared to? Where have the forces allied with Yeoryeong Sect and the Tyrant Sword Tribe been hiding? Why has no one revealed themselves…?!"
The man, as if consumed by rage, spewed words—only to be struck down at the nape and collapse. The one who struck him was a fellow disciple standing beside him.
"We apologize, Radiant Demon Squad's leader. You are the rightful victor of this duel."
He offered a fist salute in respect.
"We will now retrieve our leader's corpse and leave."
Jung Yeonshin, who had been staring at him in silence, turned away. They were from the demonic faction. Even if he interrogated them, they would reveal no further information.
Still, he counted the moments inwardly. If the leaders of the Pure Demon Alliance or the Golden Wings Sect failed to appear, he would descend the mountain immediately.
He imbued his voice with Radiant Wheel Energy and spoke.
[The next traitor, step forward.]
Whoosh—
A gust of wind swept up the hill, carrying fallen leaves as it soared into the air. The tattered hem of his blood-stained black robe flapped violently.
* * *
The leaders of Qingcheng Sect and Emei Sect had taken refuge inside a cave along the nearby cliffs.
The disciples escorting the Ten Perfection Sect's leader had been far from elite warriors, and the leaders of Pure Demon Alliance and Golden Wings Sect had yet to show themselves. They couldn't afford to expose their backs.
Rumble—
Yet, even the grandmasters of the Nine Great Sects, those revered as immortals and bodhisattvas, couldn't escape the aftershocks of the duel.
Because of the spectators stomping and clamoring above, bits of rock occasionally crumbled over them.
It was madness.
"The Radiant Demon Squad's leader really won. I can't believe it."
"It's strange. To have such mastery at his age… It's like Bodhidharma himself has reincarnated."
"This is beyond what we saw at the Hanzhong Murim Alliance. We might as well consider that another purple star has emerged in Desolate Fortress."
Every word they spoke dripped with astonishment and disbelief.
These were the younger generation's prodigies speaking—Red Cloud Dragon of Qingcheng Sect, Golden Staff Divine Lady of Emei, and Little Sword Queen of Mount Dianqing.
"...."
The Qingcheng and Emei Sect's leaders sat cross-legged at the cave entrance, remaining silent.
Only the quiet breeze that brushed against the rock face stirred the folds of their robes.
"Abbott."
A young man clad in a white robe, with ears sharp like blades, Qingcheng Sect's leader, called for Baek Yak, the Emei Sect's leader. She turned her head.
"Speak."
"I will step forward in the next duel."
"The young man will not allow it. Despite his gentle nature, he is sharp in his decisions."
"A child must follow the words of an elder. That is the natural order and law of the world."
"A child? Outwardly, there is no youth more formidable than him."
The Qingcheng Sect's leader did not respond.
The Ten Perfection Sect's leader had been sent to the afterlife. The Radiant Demon Squad's leader of Desolate Fortress had done more than his share.
If he continued to defeat the leaders of the demonic faction in succession, he would gain unparalleled fame.
However, they could not allow him to gamble his life on a mere possibility.
At that moment.
Whoooosh—!
A chilling aura surged into the cave, sending a shiver down their spines.
For a moment, it felt as if the world had darkened. An overwhelming demonic energy. It had appeared suddenly.
"The leader of the Pure Demon Alliance! Disciples, enter meditation!"
"Do not utter a word!"
The dueling grounds. A distant hill of Mount Meishan's cloudy peak.
A black-robed old man was striding forward, parting the mist.
His footsteps left darkened imprints in the earth, and despite being hundreds of feet away, his ominous aura spread forth, suffocating all around him.
Rumble.
His black energy waves partially obscured the sunlight. The sky dimmed and flickered.
The former master of the Pure Demon Alliance.
He looked like the earthly incarnation of the Underworld Flame King. His mere presence commanded silence from the crowd.
The Qingcheng Sect's leader rose gracefully, like a painting come to life. The edge of his robe flickered with alternating blue and red energies.
"Abbott, I will take my leave now."
"…Hmm."
Jung Yeonshin, now face-to-face with the leader of the Pure Demon Alliance, seemed precariously vulnerable.
Unlike the elder, whose demonic energy swirled like a raging catastrophe, the young man merely stood there, surveying his surroundings.
[They say you dared to call me a monkey. Is that why you stand there so disrespectfully?]
"Old man, you've come at the right time."
[Your perception is laughable. Do you think this humble self is on the same level as some fallen imperial dog?]
The voice of the Pure Demon Alliance's leader carried a maelstrom of demonic energy, surging outward in all directions.
It was the very definition of dominance. His overwhelming energy flow had no obstructions.
"There's something I need to hear from you."
The moment the Radiant Demon Squad's leader finished speaking.
Vwoooom!
The countless weapons scattered across the hill simultaneously rose into the air.
A scene familiar to the crowd.
Every weapon began spinning of its own accord, slowly encircling the Radiant Demon Squad's leader and the Pure Demon Alliance's leader.
It was an eerie harmony.
Was it the Full Sky Flower Rain technique? Or the profound principles of sword mastery? It was impossible to tell.
Crackle— Crackle—
Between the floating blades, a sacred white light flickered.
It leaped from weapon to weapon before vanishing, resembling bolts of lightning.
As several monks of the Emei Sect watching from the cliff gasped and uttered, "Amitabha…"
The Pure Demon Alliance's leader barely parted his lips.
"…Let's just say I lost."
Step.
The Qingcheng Sect's leader, who had just been about to leap forward, hesitated.