* * *
The leader of the Ten Perfection Sect was slaughtered.
Alongside his crushing defeat at the hands of the Radiant Demon Squad's leader, it was an incident that would shake the entire martial world.
However, there was no drastic reversal of the battlefield. The battlefield itself was vast, but more than that, there were simply too many entangled combatants.
Boom! Boom! Claaaang!
Blades scattered cold light in all directions. The weapons wielded by the hundreds of warriors from the Heaven-Spanning Net formed an endless forest of steel, like the Sword Hell of the Underworld.
Each one of them had refined martial arts that easily surpassed the height of an average person. Their swift forms rushed toward the squad leaders of the Divine Sword Order, not only from all directions but even from the sky above.
The earth shook with deafening explosions, the wind shrieked as it was torn apart. Crisscrossing like an inescapable net, countless voices carried through the chaos.
— Southwest, relative to Lightning Genius. The Ten Perfection Sect's armored warriors have formed a sword formation. Oh, look at that, they're using Energy Transmission Through Barriers? They must be out of their minds. We need to break their necks before things get annoying.
— The Scorching Abyss Squad's leader is nearby.
— I'm heading there now.
Countless robes fiercely swept through both the ground and the air.
Terror and malice intertwined. As heads were pierced and limbs were severed by the squad leaders, anguished screams rang out. At the same time, surviving warriors, brimming with internal energy, pushed forward the half-dead bodies of their comrades.
"If we use the Sequential Battle Formation, we win! Forget acupoint strikes or swordplay! Just sever their tendons and push them off the cliff...!"
"They're human just like us! They're not peerless masters!"
"Exactly, at best, they've gathered around a dozen top elites from the outdated Nine Great Sects!"
"You're killing morale, what are you thinking?!"
At this moment, the vast Heaven-Spanning Net, forming a massive circular formation on the hill, was desperately pressing forward against the squad leaders of the Divine Sword Order.
Because they knew.
The hands of Desolate Fortress were infamous. The massacre of the Hwangbo Clan under the pretense of civil exploitation had awakened the vigilance of the entire martial world.
Though the incident had taken place in Shandong, near the northern edge of the country, the story had long since spread as far as Sichuan.
If they didn't win, they would be annihilated.
"The Desolate Divine Spear is barehanded combat! Right now, immediately, Guhhk...!"
"Those who have mastered Rigid Internal Energy Technique, head over there! The Immortal Spirit Wood Squad's leader's Ice Soul energy is running rampant!"
Splaaash! Rumble—!
Waves of translucent force clashed endlessly, and as they exploded with deafening booms, shattered fragments of metal were sent flying, drenched in blood.
Even warriors of the martial world were not free from the madness of mass combat. Even more so for those who belonged to the demonic faction.
The Heaven-Spanning Net had originally gathered to take down three peerless masters. Countless experts still stood behind the crumbling frontlines, flashing their blades.
'It'll be fine.'
Jung Yeonshin stood in the heart of the violent battlefield.
Feeling the formidable energy waves of his seniors against his skin, he let the long crimson glow of his sword, Yurei, extend further.
— Can you handle it? Just hold on a little longer. If it's me, Ruyi Spring Squad's leader, and the Annihilation Squad...
A girl's voice brushed softly against his ears. Jung Yeonshin didn't take his eyes off the battlefield as he infused energy into his throat.
— Senior Ak.
— Hm?
— I'm fine, but you must remain unharmed.
He said what he had wanted to say to his grandmother.
Perhaps it moved her, as Ak Surim's response was momentarily cut off.
Jung Yeonshin didn't mind. His eyes had already locked onto Golden Wings Sect's leader, who had fully turned toward him.
She slowly opened her mouth.
"Your Sword Domain is quite dense. It feels slightly longer than before."
"Step in."
Jung Yeonshin spoke.
The surrounding seniors had cleared space for them. There was no need to give her time to analyze him. If anything, it should be the opposite.
Step.
Golden Wings Sect's leader nodded slightly and took a step forward, muttering softly to herself. I've grown tired of you too.
Her lips moved again.
[Extreme Life.]
Clawing at fate. What could that mean?
Whooong—
With the reverberation of her incantation, faint golden ripples swept across the ground like invisible waves on a lake.
"...!"
Jung Yeonshin sensed the shifting natural energy, enclosing him in a massive hemispherical dome.
It was another spell-art martial technique, but on a completely different scale. The effect was the same.
Whoooooooong—!
The dim glow of the setting sun vanished. In an instant, day and night reversed, and in the blink of an eye, the surroundings were painted deep blue.
A miracle akin to the creation of heaven and earth.
Beneath the altered sky, the battlefield disappeared entirely, replaced by the sudden emergence of a forest, trees, and rocky terrain, as though painted with a brush.
In the distant foothills, a massive cave yawned open, black as an abyss.
The scenery was strikingly similar to what he had seen in the Flood Dragon's Formation. All traces of others had vanished.
In the end, only two remained.
Boom!
The moment the spell-art martial technique activated, Jung Yeonshin had already closed the distance, his sword strike crashing against Golden Wings Sect's leader's arm.
By then, her forearm was already engulfed in blue flame, extending from her elbow to her fingertips, scattering feather-like wisps of azure energy.
It was an unbelievably fast protective energy technique.
Her robe's sleeve shimmered with an orange luster, dust flowing down its fabric. Not a single speck of filth clung to her pristine eyelashes as they curved slightly in Jung Yeonshin's direction.
"I visualized the homeland of my prey."
She spoke.
Jung Yeonshin realized it instinctively. This wasn't a physical relocation but a momentary severance from the surrounding world.
If one could expand a Formless Sword Art to an absurd extent and overlay it upon space, would it result in something like this?
The illusions of forests and boulders, the very ground beneath their feet, all carried the Golden Wings Sect's leader's energy. A supreme technique beyond words.
Nothing more needed to be said.
"Is it Surpassing Limits Martial Arts?"
Jung Yeonshin murmured as he gazed down at her.
His grip on Yurei' sword wave was still firm, yet the Golden Wings Sect's leader's arm did not budge an inch. It was like pushing against a wall.
It hadn't always been like this.
With Surpassing Limits Martial Arts reaching the pinnacle of both martial and mystical arts, the moment she unfolded this space like a grand formation barrier, her strength had transformed as well.
Was that why she had the luxury to boast?
"I deceived providence to turn you into a dragon. Here, you are a Flood Dragon."
Her small voice carried a hint of pride.
From what Jung Yeonshin had experienced, those who had reached the realm of peerless masters were often eager to flaunt their techniques to those capable of grasping their depths.
They were the kind who enjoyed debating martial supremacy above all else. The Golden Wings Sect's leader was no exception.
It was said that Heavenly Dragon Slaughtering Art was a supreme technique designed to hunt Flood Dragons.
If she had imbued Jung Yeonshin with the essence of a dragon within this mystical domain, it made sense that she could afford a few leisurely words, because she had completely reduced him to prey.
Jung Yeonshin slowly opened his mouth. On the day when countless black-clad seniors arrived, today, he had to truly take a step into the realm of purple.
A few words could broaden his understanding of supreme techniques—this was, in a sense, a rare fortune.
"You just said you deceived providence. Among the Thirteen Celestial Demons, the Heavenly Extreme Sect's leader is known as a swordsman who severs principles. Are your Surpassing Limits Martial Arts and his sword arts natural opposites?"
"Never seen him before."
Had he touched a nerve? A low yet resolute answer returned. Jung Yeonshin stored the possibility firmly in his mind.
With the Splendid Wings Step mnemonic verse, he quickly shifted a step sideways.
Kuaaaang—!
A massive pressure grazed his cheek. The aftershock of the Golden Wings Sect's leader's punch.
The force erupting from her fist blasted the air itself away, carving a massive, feather-like trench into the ground below.
The terrifying suction force swept up a few strands of Jung Yeonshin's hair and scattered them.
Through that narrow gap, her gaze seemed to say—Your head is far too lofty for your station.
Snap!
Jung Yeonshin's body blurred where he stood. Ten Li Radiance Step, an instant movement technique. The dazzling white gleam of Yurei slashed across her side in a perfect straight line.
At that moment, a harsh, grinding sensation shot through his blade, and a massive vibration coursed from the hilt to his grip.
Sparks of blue protective energy scattered in all directions, distorting his vision.
Too shallow.
As he passed fully beyond the Golden Wings Sect's leader, her slightly wavering hand reached toward him, clawing at the air.
Boom!
A blinding golden radiance exploded against the back of his black robe.
A resounding puh-uck! echoed as waves of energy rippled outward in perfect concentric circles. Upon impact, three streaks of splitting force, sharp as a raptor's talons, tore into his flesh.
Jung Yeonshin swallowed his groan. Amid the searing pain jolting through his mind, he retraced the sensation—the air brushing his skin, the ground beneath his feet, the slashing energy that had torn into his back.
The strike had covered a wide area. His tendons and meridians had been disturbed so severely that even Jung Clan Movement Arts couldn't stitch them together immediately.
Flaaap!
At that moment, the Golden Wings Sect's leader spun through the air, her robe flaring wide like wings of orange light.
Heaven-Piercing Dragon Scales Technique.
The gap between them vanished in an instant.
A radiant Silk-Spinning Force shot forth as she twisted her body. Her leg filled Jung Yeonshin's vision.
He thrust his arm outward to counter.
Claaang—!
Tsk.
A heat like raging flames surged through his bones. The force of their clash locked his hand and her leg in a deadlock.
Even though he had met her attack head-on with Infinite Blossom Fist Strike's direct force wave, his body was still pushed slightly to the side.
The impact of her kick was overwhelming.
Behind him, the sand adorning the Surpassing Limits Martial Arts domain billowed violently, forming waves that crashed down.
Boom!
At that moment, the Golden Wings Sect's leader caught his descending sword between both hands.
The blue flames flickering across her body instantly scattered his pale sword aura.
"Your heart… Impressive. It's as grand as a dragon's internal elixir."
Her golden eyes traced across Jung Yeonshin's chest. Raising one leg, she exuded an aura of absolute confidence. The temperament of a Golden Winged Bird that devoured dragons.
Her gaze was chillingly steady, there was no mistaking it. She was a predator staring down her prey.
"You were right."
"Hm?"
"Your Heavenly Dragon Slaughtering Art perceives me as a Flood Dragon. The impact of your strikes is on a whole different level… Surpassing Limits Martial Arts is closer to a mystical formation than mere martial arts. So this was possible."
"Of course, it's a technique meant to shatter the scales of a Flood Dragon."
The Golden Wings Sect's leader spoke as if it were obvious.
At that moment, golden mist unfurled from her body, standing against the backdrop of a vast grassland. The figures of both warriors, who had momentarily withdrawn their stances, blurred and intertwined once more.
Zzzzzzeong—! Kuaaaang!
She unleashed fists, kicks, and claw techniques in fluid succession. Jung Yeonshin countered with Sword Thunder Flash Art and Infinite Blossom Fist Strike, weaving dozens of intricate trajectories with both hands.
Sword and hand clashed like falling meteors, their bodies continuously crossing paths.
Whenever their energy waves collided head-on, distant boulders shattered into fragments, exploding skyward.
Twenty exchanges passed in an instant.
Whoooong—
Suddenly, a massive radiance engulfed the Golden Wings Sect's leader's hands, shaped like the talons of a great raptor.
It was internal energy solidified into golden armaments.
Each time she swung them, after already catching Yurei with her bare hands—Jung Yeonshin's robes began to tear apart.
Rumble!
Even the aftershock of a single strike carved razor-sharp scars across the earth. Neither their swords nor claws left a single patch of untouched ground.
With each exchange, blood flowed as wounds deepened across Jung Yeonshin's body.
His Wind Body movement technique was half a breath slower than her Heaven-Piercing Dragon Scales Technique, and her relentless kicks disrupted even Ten Li Radiance Step, drastically shortening the battle's range.
Jung Yeonshin needed a longer sequence to generate the energy required to counter her Heaven-Flipping Dragon Cleave.
Yet, gradually, a flicker of surprise entered the Golden Wings Sect's leader's eyes.
Her Surpassing Limits Martial Arts overturned the surrounding area with profound internal energy, bending providence itself through an incredibly intricate mystical formula.
It was an art that temporarily planted a dragon's essence within the opponent's body, an absolute defiance of reason. Just unleashing it once required months of recovery.
'And yet, how…?'
Her Heavenly Dragon Slaughtering Art unmistakably perceived Jung Yeonshin as a Flood Dragon.
Not only was she overwhelming him with sheer strength and speed, but even the briefest force emitted from her kicks unraveled his energy defenses entirely, striking directly into his body.
Every technique she used functioned as a countermeasure. The fight should have ended long ago.
'He's adapting to my counters.'
Radiant Demon Squad's leader, Jung Yeonshin.
Boom! Ku-goong—!
Even as his body shook violently from narrowly deflecting her claw and kick attacks, he was deciphering how to combat a martial art fundamentally opposed to his own.
Despite his body being battered, his momentum never faltered.
Each time their attacks collided or brushed past, he subtly adjusted the internal energy structure of his techniques, an unnerving display of battle insight.
By the time they reached a hundred exchanges, his blade, sharp and relentless, had finally managed to graze her shoulder, slicing through the edge of her sleeve.
And then, at last—
Kwakwakwakwa—!
The moment the Radiant Demon Squad's leader detonated his internal energy through the Yongcheon Acupoint at the sole of his foot and launched his knee like a bolt of lightning, the Golden Wings Sect's leader found herself staring blankly at her opponent's elegant face.
As if he was on the brink of encountering some profound revelation, his lips, tinged with a captivating crimson hue, curved into a faint arc.
It was the madness of a prodigy walking the path of martial supremacy.