Temperament, manner of speech, eyes.
Jeong Yeon-shin had been skilled at discerning others' true intentions since childhood.
He had many occasions when he needed to read the atmosphere in advance.
Like when his eldest brother once called him to play with the village children, but instead of children at the appointed clearing, there was a crudely planted sign reading "The One Who Ate His Mother."
What about now, when the Baihui acupoint in his head was extremely open?
The inner thoughts of absolute beings in the martial world, said to be close to divine spirits, flowed in. At least fragments of their minds.
'She doesn't see me as human.'
In this moment, he sensed profound emptiness in the eyes of the Golden Wing Sect Leader.
A temperament that refused to acknowledge equals. She seemed to regard Jeong Yeon-shin not as a person but as a precious object.
Because he would be the core spirit vessel for hunting the rain dragon. A net beautifully crafted by heaven.
The question about marriage was merely to confirm whether he had a companion who might interfere with her purpose.
After all, a sword meant to be wielded as needed shouldn't remain in its scabbard. The Golden Wing Sect Leader's strange words and conduct reflected her life, which was difficult to fathom.
Jeong Yeon-shin gazed at her silently before parting his lips.
"Let go."
He completely subdued the power of the Myriad Heavens Flower Rain in his grasp. It was a secret technique rendered useless anyway due to being blocked by the Golden Wing Sect Leader's interlocked fingers.
Kuguung—
All sorts of wooden fragments and tile pieces scattered noisily throughout the hall, but he paid no attention to his surroundings. Instead, he focused on the sensation between his fingers.
The energy waves of the Dragon-Slaying Heaven-Treading Technique surrounding the Golden Wing Sect Leader's arm.
Like an invisible lightning bolt, it continuously stimulated the Luminous Wheel energy deeply hidden in his meridians with tremendous repulsive force. It came with a rebound that cut through the air with a ziiing sound.
If she were to make up her mind resolutely here and properly strike, he would have to give up one of his hands. Just like the Profound Martial Alliance Leader whose arm was torn off by his grandfather Ma Yeon-jeok.
'It's just as the rumors say. Energy that annihilates mystical forces.'
Just as the dharma power of the Luminous Wheel Technique exerted somewhat antagonistic effects against spell techniques, demonic techniques, and even fist techniques, the Dragon-Slaying Heaven-Treading Technique was specialized in crushing all auspicious energies in the world.
This meant he shouldn't confront it with incomplete analysis.
His main martial arts were the Eternal Blossom Fist and Thunder Annihilation Sword Style, both specialized for using Luminous Wheel energy.
They shouldn't be filled with other types of true energy. A peerless master was not someone who could be approached with such mixed energies.
'If I were to completely block the approach of energy itself…'
As Jeong Yeon-shin was recalling the Murong family head's Heavenly Demon Armor.
"There was no need to come as a spy."
The Golden Wing Sect Leader who had withdrawn her hand spoke dryly. As if to say he had gone to unnecessary trouble after mastering the Myriad Heavens Flower Rain to such an extent.
She had been like that since they made eye contact. No martial artist would get angry at a weapon.
She consistently showed no hostility whatsoever. It befitted the leader of a strange sect.
"Your name?"
The Golden Wing Sect Leader asked.
She was small. Her head, slightly raised, barely reached Jeong Yeon-shin's chest. But her demeanor as she looked up at him was far from delicate.
Transcendent. Peerless master. From her body draped in luxurious golden-red robes like phoenix feathers, only her temperament that demanded silence from her surroundings stood out.
"Tang Man-yan."
Jeong Yeon-shin answered.
He had decided to pose as a rising master of the Tang family.
This was possible thanks to his appearance being far removed from the current Radiant Demon Wing Leader, and having inherited the divine skill techniques of Blood Guardian Leader Jin Myeong-jo to completely conceal the energy waves of the Luminous Wheel.
Even if someone were to suspect he might be Radiant Demon Wing Leader Lightning Genius, it would be fine. This was after seeing through the temperament of the Golden Wing Sect Leader, who was indifferent to everything.
'It won't take long.'
The master of the Myriad Heavens Flower Rain decided to walk a tightrope. Until he found his seniors.
***
***
A rising talent of unknown origin.
The Thousand Heaven Earth Net that would seal the rain dragon's movements had manifested in human form. It was bound to become the talk of the town immediately.
All sorts of people freely discussed it in the main hall, on the walls, and on the streets.
The excitement hadn't died down even three days after the incident. This was due to the many people coming and going.
"I heard Wan Yang got a taste of his own medicine?"
"Good. Precious elixirs won't be wasted on the Poison Twins."
"This Tang Man-yan fellow, how powerful was he?"
"Go to the Golden Wing Hall and see for yourself. What wonders he worked with the Myriad Heavens Flower Rain."
"That's why the righteous path fellows are so annoying. Whether it's ancient ancestors or disciples under their robes, something endless keeps emerging."
"They say his appearance is even more extraordinary than his martial arts."
"I heard the Sect Leader keeps him close? I'd like to see him once."
"Forget it. Wan Yang is glaring with his eyes wide open at the Sect Leader Hall."
Righteous and evil path martial forces.
The Golden Wing Sect is a sect of madmen obsessed with dragon-slaying. Their temperaments differ even from demonic practitioners who cultivate demonic arts.
Each had taken up martial arts to kill spirit beasts due to their own strange circumstances, purposes, and grand ambitions.
No one asked about Jeong Yeon-shin's background. Nor did they try to discern his intentions.
They simply gave him the front room of the Sect Leader's residence and were cautious not to let him move around carelessly.
Except for one person.
Right Guardian Dragon Spirit Divine Fist Wan Yang. The one who deceived guests by posing as an attendant named Wan Yang.
"Are we truly meeting for the first time?"
"…Yes."
"That's what I said."
It was at an open space beside the Sect Leader Hall.
The small Tang twins nonchalantly endured Wan Yang's interrogation with his arms folded.
Even as the terrifying energy waves characteristic of the Golden Wing Sect's Right Guardian tore and crushed the dirt and stones scattered at his feet, the boy and girl dressed in green silk didn't bother to meet Wan Yang's gaze.
They were born noble. Direct descendants of Sichuan's foremost clan. Even though their family was in decline, their minds and bodies hadn't been completely subjugated.
"You're saying there was a master of the Poison King who cultivated the Myriad Heavens Flower Rain without your knowledge? Does that make sense?"
"We never knew anything. Not that our Great Grandfather had joined hands with the Blood Flame Cult Leader, nor that the Golden Wing Sect would do something even the Ming Cult wouldn't dare, going beyond madness."
Poison Phoenix said while throwing a small stone up and catching it. Poison Dragon, who was sitting casually nearby, smirked.
Wan Yang's eyebrow twitched.
"Shut up."
Crack—
The stone piece that had been toyed with in Poison Phoenix's hand shattered in mid-air.
Injuring with intent. The realm where supreme masters who have achieved Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown harm people with internal energy without any warning signs.
A sight that would appear incomprehensible even to those from major sects… Only then did a faint tension appear on the siblings' faces.
"Could that Myriad Heavens Flower Rain be from Desolate Fortress's Lightning Genius, who came as a spy with some strange transformation? No one here is ignorant of the Tang family's disgrace.
Didn't you take the Lightning Genius child as your family's teacher? If you don't speak truthfully, I'll break your meridians."
Wan Yang said in a low voice. Poison Phoenix forced a smile.
"There's a limit to spitting on your own face."
"What did you say?"
"Isn't the Golden Wing Sect Leader also proficient in spell martial arts? People who can recognize skin masks are everywhere in this cursed Golden Wing Sect. What kind of person could deceive your eyes, come all the way here, and pretend to be someone who doesn't exist?"
"What we're really curious about is you."
Poison Dragon added casually.
There are no martial artists of either righteous or evil paths who would calmly accept the truth. Martial ruffians faced with piercing words typically draw their swords rather than continue the conversation.
Wan Yang was no different.
As a master of fist techniques, he revealed semi-transparent energy outside his body. Suddenly, the air rippled as if an invisible fire were burning.
"It seems you need to experience bone-breaking to speak truthfully. Anyway, the rain dragon will be more interested in your energy than your insignificant bones and flesh."
"Right Guardian, that's enough. We're on the eve of a great undertaking. When we should be seeking auspicious omens, there's no reason to create ill omens."
An old man with a large sword on his back said. It was Left Guardian Iron Pillar Divine Sword.
The Right Guardian and the Dragon Phoenix Twin Poisons weren't the only ones at the vast open space beside the Sect Leader Hall.
Nearly three hundred people had gathered, including elderly masters and young warriors of the Golden Wing Sect's main forces, as well as masters of the Ten Perfections Sect wearing various armors and wielding eighteen types of weapons.
Beneath the ground they stood on, stakes pointing in all directions, boulders, and unrecognizable ancient characters formed a large circular formation.
A spell formation for human sacrifice.
It was a formation to open the world where the rain dragon was hiding.
While masters of the Golden Wing Sect and Ten Perfections Sect filled the edges of the formation, dozens of internal energy masters including the Tang siblings were surrounded by the forces of the two major Thirteen Evil Sects sects in the center of the formation.
They couldn't resist. This was because their acupoints had been thoroughly sealed, making it impossible to draw up their energy.
Soon, Wan Yang, who had lowered both shoulders casually, withdrew his momentum.
"Indeed. Even if he were the Radiant Demon Wing Leader, what would it matter? He's stepped into a place of death."
"With this much force, we could attack Desolate Fortress itself, couldn't we?"
A Golden Wing Sect master threw out a joke. The cold gazes of the Tang siblings swept over her.
"Haven't you heard the rumors? The Flower Shadow King beheaded the Zhuge Clan Leader."
Poison Dragon said.
"That must be just a rumor. Consider the distance from Shanxi to here. If rumors are like snowballs, the truth is just a single stone hidden inside. It's not like it happened right before our eyes."
"Being young, you believe the martial world's rumors at face value."
As the Golden Wing Sect master responded glibly, laughter erupted from various places.
Dragon hunting.
They were facing an unprecedented undertaking of the ages. They each relieved their tension by falling into meditation or exchanging jokes in their places.
"Leave him be. At least that Wan Yang character needs to believe that. He was completely outmatched by this new talent called Tang Man-yan. In both martial arts and appearance."
Poison Phoenix patted Poison Dragon's shoulder.
Swoosh—
The supreme master's rage occurred silently. Wan Yang, with an indifferent expression, extended both hands toward the siblings.
A faint haze rippled at his fingertips. It was the aftermath of extremely condensed energy.
His two arms advanced as if about to tear through space. Until both hands were successively caught by a large hand wearing a white glove.
Thud.
"How dare…!"
Wan Yang was about to curse but closed his mouth.
The one who had blocked the strike of the Golden Wing Sect's formidable guardian. A middle-aged man wearing pure white armor smiled faintly at him.
"That's enough. Don't bring negativity to our great undertaking."
Boom—
A suppressed shockwave spread from their hands into the void. The ground shook violently for a moment, but it had no effect on the spell formation.
This was because the flow of internal energy that had reached the extreme of technique forcibly took the power from Wan Yang's grasp and dispersed it into the air.
Yet the middle-aged man who had displayed this marvel beyond human limits didn't emit any energy waves. He had pinned down one of the Golden Wing Sect's two great guardians with martial principles alone.
He was the Ten Perfections Sect Leader.
The master of the Thirteen Evil Sect's Ten Perfections Sect.
A peerless master who had retired from being a northern general and established a sect.
The one who had launched a counterattack despite being ambushed by the Blood Flame Cult Leader, allowing the Tyrant Hero to reach a draw with the Blood Flame Cult Leader.
'He's fallen they said…'
Wan Yang swallowed his saliva.
The Ten Perfections Sect Leader's tall build overwhelmed Wan Yang. One of his ears was cut off as if sliced by a sword, but rather than looking disfigured, he first emanated the spirit of an invincible general.
He was creating a terrifying presence in the void without even revealing his energy.
Yet his eyes were kind. Only his pupils, like those of a bull, contained a strangely chilling light.
Wan Yang retreated silently, and the Tang siblings maintained their usual arrogant posture while glancing at the Golden Wing Sect Leader's residence.
"..."
They waited for the Golden Wing Sect Leader in silence.
And after about two hours, a woman in golden-red robes appeared, accompanied by an extraordinarily handsome young man. It was the Golden Wing Sect Leader and Jeong Yeon-shin.
"We begin."
As soon as the toe of her embroidered shoe stepped on the edge of the spell formation, thunder and lightning roared from beneath the ground.
The patterns of the formation began to rotate slowly with the sound of soil being crushed.
It was the height of mysticism.
Entering a completely different martial world.
But rather than feeling excitement, Jeong Yeon-shin asked once more what he had confirmed over several days.
"Those being offered as sacrifices, is it true they won't lose their lives?"
"Yes."
—Until they fall into the rain dragon's mouth.
The dry voice of the Golden Wing Sect Leader and the sound transmission of Invincible Yelü Zhen rang out simultaneously.
The Golden Wing Sect Leader's answer ended there.
Meanwhile, the Ming Cult's Young Sect Leader added one more line.
—Can you do it? Even though you've done it at the Blood Flame Cult's main branch…
Jeong Yeon-shin didn't answer… The words of Invincible Yelü Zhen, who was far away, were of no importance. More important was what would happen after this formation unfolded. If he didn't see his living seniors there.
'My protective energy, more tyrannically than the Heavenly Demon Armor…'
Swallowing his thoughts with effort, he glanced at the Golden Wing Sect Leader who had stepped onto the formation. She was a strange figure.
For three days, she hadn't spoken a word to Jeong Yeon-shin and only shared meals with him. He was thoroughly regarded as merely eye candy and a weapon. The Golden Wing Sect Leader didn't guard against him at all.
Three things had led to her carelessness.
The bone transformation that caught her off guard, Blood Extreme Demon whose very existence was a treasure of Desolate Fortress, and the Golden Wing Sect Leader's martial arts level, which was close to invincible in this land.
—"Western River and Eastern Tianzhu, the grandeur of hidden sounds, prohibited viewing according to precedent...."
[TL Note- Tianzhu is the Chinese name for India.]
The Golden Wing Sect Leader's voice rang out melodiously like a song.
Spell incantations uttered with six-directional spirit energy. The patterns of the formation began to rotate faster in place. The Ten Perfections Sect Leader stood beside her as a guardian.
Jeong Yeon-shin closed his eyes.
He thought of the Desolate Fortress Lord. He recalled the subtleties of the Mind sword passed down through her whispers.
Simultaneously, his consciousness captured and seized all the energy waves of the Golden Wing Sect Leader spreading in all directions at this moment.
Wooong—!
A sun-like radiance flickered in the Baihui acupoint in his head.
He absorbed and drew into his mind all the incantations and mental imagery embedded in the spell formation.
Where to break the true energy, which axis to fix internal energy on for what effect, and with what mental imagery to move power to achieve the intended purpose.
His consciousness raced like lightning.
He didn't try to comprehend the incomprehensible parts. There was only one thing he needed to take.
Selecting the people who would accompany him into the rain dragon's formation from this place. That alone was enough. There was no need to understand the entire formation.
His upper dantian burned. The talent that lived ten years in a day swept through the vast spell formation that had unfolded.
Turning the Golden Wing Sect Leader's hundreds of years of time into meaningless ashes.
Squeak—
At the same time, above their heads.
From the distant sky, a white swallow flew in and then hovered in place in the air.
A scroll roughly tied to its slender leg fluttered, alternately blocking the sun.