The sequential battle continued.
Dozens of martial artists moved in a large circle around Jung Yeonshin, endlessly revolving.
They blocked the Full Sky Flower Rain of the Radiant Demon Squad's leader and restricted his mobility.
The formation constantly divided into front and rear lines, with only eight people pressing in at a time to maintain the encirclement, an attack from all eight directions.
The Fist-and-Staff Technique of the Suwang Sect's leader, who had taken a defensive stance, was in charge of delivering powerful strikes.
The martial artists attacked from the outskirts, but their impact on the battle was negligible.
Boom! Crash!
Every time the Radiant River in his left hand swept through the air, a blizzard of white snow exploded upward.
With a single strike, he burst two or three bodies along with their weapons.
The blood sprayed across the snowy ground, sending up white steam.
Only the Full Sky Flower Rain was sealed off due to the rotation of the formation.
Nearby boulders were shattered into fragments, and even ancient trees with thick trunks were broken along with several limbs.
The high-level masters of the Thirteen Celestial Demons, who carried an almost inhuman killing aura, gradually began to reveal expressions of shock.
Even they had not anticipated the consecutive strikes of the Radiant River.
It was fortunate for them that it was not an ultimate technique that could be continuously detonated like sword energy.
Due to its high recoil, there was an unavoidable gap between each strike.
Even within the long robe, Jung Yeonshin's upper body, wrapped in bandages, was stained with increasing streams of blood.
From the start, the Rotating Wheel Formation had been designed to counter the Radiant Demon Squad's leader. Three of the Thirteen Celestial Demons' great sects had combined forces, sending dozens of martial artists.
Among them was the Suwang Sect's leader, considered one of the strongest under their command. If Jung Yeonshin could endure this without issue, he would truly be the leader of the Divine Sword Order.
A duel to the death was on a completely different level.
Kwaaaang! Swoosh!
The ever-present Radiant River detonated once more, just as spears from the rear brushed against his back.
A numbing pain arose.
Even so, he had twisted his body to avoid being pierced through.
As he attempted to parry the incoming strikes of the Radiant Sword Like Phosphorescence, another formation surged forward through the blood and bone fragments scattered within the shattered waves of the Radiant River.
They trampled over the thirty-nine corpses as they thrust their swords and sabers at him.
Jung Yeonshin immediately swung his Beiming.
Clang!
The howling winds of the shattered wave roared in his ears.
Just now, he had unleashed Nine Azure Rivers, a sword technique that erupted with accumulated kinetic energy.
But his enemies had begun to rotate their lines at a moment's notice to minimize the damage from his single strikes.
They withdrew before even crossing swords.
Their tricks were shallow.
There's no end to this.
The interwoven flashes of weapons, the blindingly fast palm strikes, the splattered blood and flesh within the relentless battle…
Even those who merely observed the battle were forced into silence.
At this moment, the leader of the Radiant Demon Squad moved like the incarnation of martial prowess.
His robe, now loosened, revealed his upper body, stained red from bleeding through the bandages. He relentlessly unleashed earth-shattering destruction.
Even as the Rotating Wheel Formation continued replenishing its forces, he did not allow a decisive strike to land.
His movements were so miraculous that they were almost beautiful to behold.
"A grandmaster specialized in short-term decisive battles, indeed…"
The long fingers of the young lord of Yeoryeong Sect tapped lightly against the armrest.
"His shockwaves are growing stronger. We need to severely reprimand those who gathered intelligence on him from the front lines."
"If he is an elite of Desolate Fortress-level strength, he must possess at least one supernatural ability. His stamina is clearly declining. The wounds on his body are becoming more visible. At this rate, he will, at best, perish together with the Rotating Wheel Formation."
A woman dressed in black, guarding the palanquin, spoke.
The young lord shook his head.
"Protector So, please step in. I told you before, didn't I? We must be wary of that monster's Ascension. He may have trained in a different style, but he is of the same caliber as the Young Lord of the Ming Cult. We ordinary humans cannot fathom their kind. Such talent must be severed before it fully blooms."
"And if I disappear, who will protect you?"
Protector So Yun-ryeo asked bluntly.
The young lord's lips curled into a faintly dangerous smile.
"That's why you must return unharmed. You are the only one I trust with my safety, Protector So. Besides, there is no way you would lose there."
"…I will return. Stay on guard at all times."
In the next moment, a sword appeared in So Yun-ryeo's hand, though she had not been holding one before.
Her sword draw was as fast as lightning.
At the same time, her body vanished.
Kwaaaaak—!
A fierce wind howled belatedly. The terrifying aftershock of her movement scattered the piled snow, engraving circular patterns upon the ground.
In an instant, she had crossed thirty yards, bringing her sword down upon the leader of the Radiant Demon Squad.
Behind her, the traces of her sword's kinetic energy exploded in a straight line of blue eruptions.
The young lord of Yeoryeong Sect glanced at the Lightning Genius and smirked.
"You heard about the Azure Qilin. I wonder if all the toll fees for the River of Three Crossings can be covered by that excessively squandered Radiant River…"
At that moment.
Jung Yeonshin sidestepped by half a step while sweeping his Beiming wide to force the surrounding enemies back.
Perhaps they thought the end was near.
The high-level warriors in the Rotating Wheel Formation and the Suwang Sect's leader hesitated to immediately charge in.
Wei Si-hyuk, standing alone, even allowed himself a faint smile.
"Truly astonishing. You could leave Desolate Fortress right now and establish your own sect. How did you refine such an unparalleled martial art? It's a shame that your life will end here."
"Suwang Sect's leader. The order to end this has been given."
Just then, So Yun-ryeo, who had landed on one side of the Rotating Wheel Formation, spoke.
Thump—
A heavy pulse erupted from within Jung Yeonshin's body.
At that moment, an imperceptible resonance ignited his upper dantian in a blinding white flame.
His thoughts accelerated at the speed of lightning, continuously quickening again and again.
The fragments of shattered kinetic force sweeping past his ears seemed to move in slow motion.
This is indeed a crisis.
Jung Yeonshin suppressed the sharp pain and pondered.
The martial world was a forest of monsters.
It did not allow a single tree to grow unchecked.
When a sapling that stood out too quickly began to take root, the predators silently coiled around it, waiting until it grew enough to be fully ensnared before tightening their grip.
Just as, long ago, the squad leader of Desolate Fortress' Scorching Abyss Squad had been slain by Shaanxi's Number One Demon.
Jung Yeonshin's crisis was inevitable.
Every warrior of Desolate Fortress had undergone similar trials, to varying degrees.
That was why Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown was necessary.
Through rapid energy circulation, he could escape even from a suffocatingly tight encirclement like this one.
It was said that the true worth of a grandmaster, who stood above all others, shone through their exceptional evasive abilities.
However…
Jung Yeonshin's upper dantian, which denied him a long lifespan, was also a shackle when it came to Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown.
During his secluded training, he had reached a conclusion.
If my destiny prevents the unity of essence, energy, and spirit…
—Then I shall ascend to an even greater path.
Wooong.
The moment he reaffirmed his resolve, the Transcending Law Radiant Wheel within his meridians responded.
The energy coursing through his body divided into two extremes.
An auspicious and an ominous energy clashed violently within.
His innate intuition unraveled the mnemonics of sorcery, embedding them into his body.
He completely mastered and embodied the martial principles he had accumulated.
The radiant wheel within his heart spun with immense force.
A deep duuuung— The sound of a drum resonated as an immeasurable force surged through the Twelve Major Meridians and the countless minor channels of his entire body. It felt as though his insides would be torn apart at any moment.
But it was fine. His mother was embracing him. His body, forged through the Jung Clan Movement Arts, withstood the recoil.
Even this happened in the blink of an eye. He had already prepared the technique mid-battle.
He channeled his energy with the precision of weaving fine silk.
He had engraved a structured flow of internal energy onto his nervous system, spreading from his mind to his entire body. Once the intent was ignited as a wick, the technique would activate.
And so it did. He had never been slow when it came to martial mastery.
'Now, here, I will invoke it.'
The colors of the Transcending Law Radiant Wheel vanished. The kinetic waves of the Radiant Arts Secret, which had been flowing white from his body, turned transparent.
The refined energy of Radiant River rippled soundlessly through hundreds of meridian points, unleashing an overwhelming vibration against his skin.
Jung Yeonshin focused his mind in that fleeting instant. He recalled the intent that must serve as the final brushstroke upon the structure of his energy flow.
One singular image surfaced vividly in his mind— The River of Three Crossings, a path to the afterlife from which there was no return, whether one fell into it or tried to cross it.
At that moment, the snowfield beneath his feet lost all color.
Wuuuuuuuuung—!
It was a sight beyond comprehension.
The outline of the energy flowing outward from his body took on a transparent, leaf-like shape.
It detonated endlessly on its own, resembling lightning stripped of its vitality, unleashing its resentment.
Encasing Jung Yeonshin's entire body, the colorless thunderlight radiated a thunderous resonance.
Within that massive flower of lightning, the leader of the Radiant Demon Squad stood.
A single blossom.
It was a martial art that replaced Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown, a lotus drifting along the River of Three Crossings, a thunderbolt flashing relentlessly at the brink of death.
It was also Jung Yeonshin himself, Lightning Genius.
Radiant River, Ultimate Thunder.
"..."
He slightly lowered his grip on his sword.
Kwaaak!
With a dull roar, the ground beneath his feet caved in as if struck by lightning.
The snow had utterly vanished, leaving behind only dry, cracked earth.
At the same time, an unbearable pain coiled around his entire right arm.
It felt as if it was being torn apart. His own body could not endure the force of his technique.
It was not yet something he could use multiple times.
'I need a proper defensive technique. At the very least, it must be a divine skill.'
Jung Yeonshin shifted his gaze, locking onto the Suwang Sect's leader and the newly arrived swordswoman.
The Suwang Sect's leader watched him with a mixture of disbelief and shock, as if he were witnessing something beyond the world's logic.
The black-clad swordswoman, by contrast, remained composed. It seemed to be her natural disposition.
The exchange must be brief.
There was little time left. Compared to maintaining the Radiant River in an ever-active state, this was an entirely different burden.
This martial art, born in the image of its creator, was still a temporary force.
The time his mother could embrace him was limited. The longer he maintained the technique, the greater the recoil would be.
He understood this instinctively. Only the span of a single exhalation was permitted.
If he hesitated beyond that, he would no longer be able to withstand the recoil.
'Half a breath.'
His consciousness plunged into an abyss. He entered a trance of pure focus. Jung Yeonshin could regulate his state of mind at will.
'I will end this in three techniques.'
There was no need to speak.
He merely gripped his sword and took a single step forward.
For a brief moment, the snow beneath his feet let out a soft crunch.
Then, the surroundings blurred. The thick-lined face of the Suwang Sect's leader filled his vision.
Behind him, fierce winds howled.
Without concern for his opponent's stunned expression, Jung Yeonshin lifted his sword.
The Suwang Sect's leader's eyes widened in shock. He failed to adapt immediately to the sudden change in speed.
Raising both hands in an attempt to defend, his movements appeared sluggish.
For someone of his caliber, his reaction was remarkably slow.
'If this was how Senior Jin of the Blood Preservation Squad saw me when I was first ascending…'
The martial artists forming the Rotating Wheel Formation were even worse. They were worms, unable to crawl.
They no longer belonged to Jung Yeonshin's time. They had been expelled from his domain of battle.
'First Technique.'
It was a strange sensation.
His body perfectly followed the speed of his thoughts.
It was as though the shining flower of his upper dantian and the colorless lightning encasing his body were becoming one.
Before the Suwang Sect's leader could fully form his defensive energy, the Beiming grazed his right shoulder and sliced upward.
The air was sucked into the blade's arc, forming a chilling fan-shaped trajectory.
Then, an explosion erupted, akin to a thunderstrike.
Jung Yeonshin turned his step, keeping his sword raised.
He caught a glimpse of the Suwang Sect's leader's shoulder being torn apart by the residual force of his strike.
The blast had not even fully resounded before Jung Yeonshin kicked off the ground toward his next opponent.
The black-clad swordswoman had intercepted his path.
She was truly formidable.
Her greatsword, honed through the Heavy Sword Style, swung down with immense strength, unleashing a storm of kinetic force.
Snow billowed from the ground, driven by her sheer power.
The two swordsmen closed in rapidly.
In the instant their gazes met, they understood each other's intent.
One exchange shall determine the outcome.
Jung Yeonshin twisted his step mid-leap.
In that moment, his entire body spiraled along with his sword.
His black robes whipped violently as his blade surged like a dragon's ascent.
The two swords clashed.
There was no struggle for dominance.
A silver whirlwind shattered her greatsword instantly.
The force behind the strike, the sheer level of kinetic energy, they were worlds apart.
For the first time, the black-clad swordswoman's eyes widened.
Within the realm of grandmasters, victory and defeat were decided in an instant.
Even the metal fragments of her broken sword, crushed by the pressure of the Beiming, were forcibly repelled.
She should never have met his blade head-on.
A single misjudgment had sealed the battle.
The swirling motion of his sword cleaved through both her and her weapon.
Gu-gu-guung—
The earth trembled.
The terrifying impact of his sword reverberated across the snowy field.
Blood painted the sky.
The blizzard swallowed within the massive flower of lightning was incinerated without a trace.
This was the domain of Ascension.
He had forcibly shattered the world of True Black.
Ultimate Thunder—Radiant River, unleashed in full.
Thud.
Jung Yeonshin exhaled about three-quarters of his breath.
His steps never stopped.
He advanced directly toward the young lord of Yeoryeong Sect, who had yet to fully grasp the situation.
At this moment, Jung Yeonshin was the unrelenting thunderstorm.
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