Temperament, speech, eyes.
Jung Yeonshin had been adept at discerning others' true intentions since childhood.
There had been no shortage of times when he had to gauge the mood in advance.
Like the time his eldest brother called him out to play with the village children, only for him to find a crude sign planted in the agreed clearing that read, "The one who ate his mother."
Now, with the Baihui Acupoint on his head fully opened to the extreme, what would happen?
The thoughts of an absolute master, one who was close to divinity in the martial world, seeped into him—fragments of those thoughts, at least.
'He doesn't see me as a person.'
At this moment, from the eyes of the leader of the Golden Wings Sect, he sensed profound emptiness.
A temperament that refused to acknowledge the existence of equals. She saw Jung Yeonshin not as a person but as something precious, a valuable object.
A divine weapon to serve as the core of the Flood Dragon's execution. A net that the heavens had meticulously woven.
Her inquiry about marriage had merely been to confirm whether he had a cumbersome spouse hindering her objectives.
A sword meant to be wielded and swung at will could not remain sheathed.
The eccentric words and actions of the Golden Wings Sect's leader carried the weight of an unfathomable life.
Jung Yeonshin silently gazed at her before parting his lips.
"Let go."
He completely suppressed the power of Full Sky Flower Rain residing in his grasp. In any case, it was already sealed by the interlocked fingers of the Golden Wings Sect's leader, rendering it unusable.
Kugung—
The loud noise of shattered wooden debris and broken tiles scattered across the floor, but he paid no attention to his surroundings.
Instead, he focused on the sensation within his grasp.
The energy wave of Heavenly Dragon Slaughtering Art coiling around the Golden Wings Sect's leader's arm.
Like an invisible lightning strike, its sheer repelling force ceaselessly stimulated the Radiant Wheel Energy hidden deep within his meridians.
The air trembled—ziiiing—with the forceful recoil.
If she made a firm decision here and struck properly, he would lose a hand.
Just like the Profound Martial Alliance's leader, whose arm had been torn off by his maternal grandfather, Ma Yeonjeok.
'The rumors were true. A martial art that annihilates mystical energy.'
Just as Radiant Wheel Energy exerted a certain level of counterforce against internal energy techniques, demonic arts, and destructive arts, Heavenly Dragon Slaughtering Art was an ultimate technique meant to crush all auspicious energies in the world.
A hasty analysis was not enough to engage it in battle.
His primary martial arts were Infinite Blossom Fist Strike and Sword Thunder Flash Art, both of which were highly specialized in utilizing Radiant Wheel Energy.
He could not afford to mix in a different type of energy.
An absolute master could not be approached with such crude tricks.
'If I could block the very approach of her energy itself….'
Jung Yeonshin was just recalling Heavenly Demon Armor of the Murong Clan's leader when—
"You had no reason to come as a spy."
The Golden Wings Sect's leader withdrew her hand and spoke indifferently.
As if all the skill he had shown with Full Sky Flower Rain had been unnecessary effort.
She had acted this way from the moment their eyes met.
No warrior in the martial world gets angry at a weapon. She had not displayed the slightest hostility from start to finish.
A sect leader as peculiar as her sect.
"Your name?"
The Golden Wings Sect's leader asked.
She was small. Even with her hair slightly lifted, she barely reached Jung Yeonshin's chest.
But there was nothing frail about the way she looked up at him. A transcendent being. An absolute master.
Draped in a magnificent red-gold robe, like the feathers of a phoenix, her very presence seemed to command silence from her surroundings.
"Tang Manyun."
Jung Yeonshin replied.
He had chosen to masquerade as a rising martial artist from the Tang Clan.
His appearance was far removed from Radiant Demon Squad's leader, and by inheriting the martial prowess of Blood Preservation Squad's leader Jin Myungjo, he had ensured not even a trace of Radiant Wheel Energy leaked out.
Even if someone suspected him by recalling Lightning Genius, it did not matter.
He had already seen through the nature of the Golden Wings Sect's leader—a person indifferent to everything.
'It won't take long.'
The master of Full Sky Flower Rain had stepped onto the tightrope, waiting until he could meet his seniors.
* * *
A nameless rising star.
Heaven Spanning Net, destined to shackle the struggles of the Flood Dragon, had taken human form.
He was bound to become a topic of conversation.
People freely discussed the matter—inside the grand hall, along the walls, in the streets.
Even three days after the incident, the fervor had not died down. There were simply too many people coming and going.
"I heard the Guardian got humiliated?"
"Serves him right. At least that precious elixir won't be wasted on that poison freak."
"How strong was that guy, Tang Manyun?"
"Go to Golden Wings Hall and see for yourself. You won't believe the tricks he pulled with Full Sky Flower Rain."
"This is why the orthodox sects are insufferable. There's no end to their parade of deceased predecessors and inherited secret arts."
"They say his appearance is more remarkable than his martial skills."
"Apparently, the Sect leader kept him close. I'd like to see for myself."
"Enough. The Guardian has been glaring inside the Sect leader's Hall ever since."
Among the countless factions in the martial world, Golden Wings Sect was a sect of lunatics obsessed with slaying dragons.
Their disposition was different from that of martial artists who practiced demonic arts.
Each of them had chosen the path of martial arts to slay mystical creatures, driven by tragic pasts, grand ambitions, and complex motives.
No one questioned Jung Yeonshin's origins.No one tried to understand his intentions.
They merely provided him with the front room of the Golden Wings Sect's leader's residence and kept a strict watch to prevent any reckless movements.
Except for one person.
Wanyang, Spirit-Melting Divine Fist. A man who deceived guests under the guise of a servant named Wanyang.
"Are you truly a stranger?"
"…Yes."
"I'm telling you, yes."
It was in the clearing beside the sect leader's hall.
The Tang Clan's short twin siblings responded indifferently to Wanyang's interrogation, their arms crossed.
Even as the unique, chilling energy wave of the Golden Wings Sect's Guardian shattered and crushed the scattered stones at their feet, the boy and girl in green silk robes deliberately avoided making eye contact with him.
They were born noble. Even as their clan fell into ruin, their minds and spirits refused to submit entirely.
"Are you saying there was a successor of Full Sky Flower Rain that even you two didn't know about? Does that make any sense?"
"We never knew anything. Not that Grandfather, the Grand Elder, colluded with the Blood Flame Cult's leader, nor that the Golden Wings Sect would go so mad as to commit atrocities even the Ming Cult wouldn't dare."
Venomous Phoenix tossed a stone into the air and caught it as he spoke.
Seated lazily beside, Venomous Dragon let out a smirk.
Wanyang's brow twitched.
"Shut up."
Pashak—
The stone that Venomous Phoenix had been toying with crumbled mid-air.
Striking the spirit through intent. The level of Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown, where supreme masters could harm others with their internal energy without any visible signs.
Even those belonging to prestigious sects would find such a skill incomprehensible.
Only then did a faint trace of tension appear on the twins' faces.
"That Full Sky Flower Rain, isn't it more likely that the Lightning Genius of Desolate Fortress used some strange trick to infiltrate as a spy? Everyone here knows the shameful history of the Tang Clan. Didn't your clan even revere the Radiant Demon Squad's leader as your mentor? If you don't speak the truth, you will suffer the consequences."
Wanyang spoke in a low voice.
Venomous Phoenix forced a grin.
"Even spitting on your own face has its limits."
"What did you say?"
"Isn't the Golden Wings Sect's leader well-versed in illusionary martial arts? This damn sect is filled with people capable of seeing through Face-Stealing Disguise. Do you really think someone could sneak in here, fool you all, and pretend to be a nonexistent person?"
"The ones truly curious should be us."
Venomous Dragon casually added.
No warrior of the unorthodox and orthodox realms would simply accept a sharp remark at face value.
Most martial artists, when faced with biting words, would rather draw their swords than continue talking.
Wanyang was no different.
A master of Fist and Leg Arts, he unleashed a semi-transparent aura outside his body.
At that moment, the air wavered as if unseen flames had ignited.
"You brats will only speak properly after experiencing Muscle-Tearing and Bone-Dislocation Technique. After all, the Flood Dragon is far more interested in energy than your pathetic flesh and bones."
"Wanyang, that's enough. The great endeavor is imminent. Instead of inviting misfortune, shouldn't we be praying for good omens?"
A gray-haired old man, carrying a greatsword on his back, spoke.
It was Left Guardian, Armor Piercing Divine Sword.
The clearing beside the sect leader's hall was not occupied by Wanyang and the Twin Venoms of the Tang Clan alone.
There were nearly three hundred people present, most of the senior warriors and young martial artists comprising the Golden Wings Sect's main force, along with masters from the Ten Perfection Sect, each clad in armor and wielding one of eighteen different weapons.
Beneath their feet, the clearing was lined with stakes and massive stones placed in all directions, forming an enormous circular formation of ancient, indecipherable script.
A sacrificial formation for human offerings.
A grand ritual to unseal the world where the Flood Dragon lay hidden.
While the Golden Wings Sect and the masters of the Ten Perfection Sect stood at the perimeter of the formation, the Tang twins and several dozen elite internal energy practitioners were surrounded at the very center, encircled by the demonic faction warriors on both sides.
They could not resist.
Their meridians had already been thoroughly sealed, making it impossible to gather internal energy.
At last, Wanyang, dropping his shoulders loosely, withdrew his aura.
"Well, even if that guy was truly the Radiant Demon Squad's leader, what difference would it make? He has already stepped into the land of death."
"With this level of force, we could march on Desolate Fortress, not just hunt the Flood Dragon."
One of the Golden Wings Sect's martial artists made a jest.
The Tang twins cast a cold gaze at her.
"Guess you haven't heard the rumors?"
"The Dark Flame King beheaded the Murong Clan's leader."
Venomous Dragon spoke.
"That's obviously just a baseless tale. Do you know how far it is from Shaanxi to here? If rumors are a snowball, then the truth is just a pebble hidden inside. It's not like it happened right in front of us."
"You're still young, so you take every rumor in the martial world at face value."
When the Golden Wings Sect's martial artist replied with a smirk, laughter erupted from various directions.
The Flood Dragon Hunt.
A grand undertaking unseen for millennia was about to begin.
Each person, in their own way, eased their tension, some through silent meditation, others through idle chatter.
"Leave them be. At the very least, the Right Guardian must believe that. He was completely overshadowed by that rising star, Tang Manyun. Both in martial prowess and appearance."
Venomous Phoenix patted Venomous Dragon on the shoulder.
Swoosh—
The fury of a supreme master erupted in silence.
Wanyang, still wearing an impassive expression, extended both hands toward the twins.
A faint shimmer of heat waves rippled at his fingertips, a sign of intensely compressed shockwave force.
His arms surged forward, as if ready to rip through space itself.
But before they could reach their targets, a large hand, clad in pristine white gloves, seized both of his wrists.
Tak.
"How dare…!"
Wanyang started to curse but shut his mouth.
The one who had stopped the attack of one of the Golden Wings Sect's strongest guardians.
A middle-aged man clad in gleaming white armor smiled faintly at him.
"Enough. Don't taint the great undertaking with misfortune."
Kung—
The suppressed shockwave from their hands burst into the air. The ground trembled violently for a moment, yet the sacrificial formation remained completely unaffected.
The extreme refinement of internal energy flow had forcibly drained the power from Wanyang's grip and dispersed it into the sky.
Yet, the middle-aged man who displayed martial prowess beyond human limits did not release any discernible energy.
Despite overpowering one of the two Grand Guardians of the Golden Wings Sect purely through martial principle, he remained still.
He was the leader of the Ten Perfection Sect.
A former Great General of the North, who had retired and founded a sect, a supreme master.
The one who, even after suffering an ambush by the Blood Flame Cult's leader, counterattacked, allowing Tyrant Hero to take the Blood Flame Cult's leader down with him.
'They said he had faded into obscurity…'
Wanyang swallowed hard.
The Ten Perfection Sect's leader's towering physique was overwhelming. One of his ears had been completely sliced off, as if by a sword, but rather than looking grotesque, his presence exuded the spirit of an undefeated warlord.
Even without unleashing his energy, his terrifying aura was etched into the air itself.
Yet his gaze was gentle—ox-like eyes that carried an oddly chilling gleam.
Wanyang remained silent and stepped back, while the Tang twins, maintaining their usual arrogant demeanor, cast a brief glance toward the Golden Wings Sect's leader's quarters.
"..."
They waited in silence for the Golden Wings Sect's leader.
Then, after a quarter of an hour, the woman in the red-gold robe emerged, accompanied by an unrivaled beauty of a young man, Jung Yeonshin.
"It begins."
The very moment the tip of her embroidered shoes stepped onto the edge of the sacrificial formation, thunderous rumbles erupted from beneath the ground.
The ancient inscriptions of the formation began to rotate slowly, accompanied by the sound of shifting earth.
A pinnacle of mysticism.
A gateway into an entirely different realm of the martial world.
However, rather than excitement, Jung Yeonshin reaffirmed what he had spent days verifying.
"The ones offered as sacrifices, they won't lose their lives, right?"
"Yes."
—Until they fall into the Flood Dragon's maw.
The Golden Wings Sect's leader's dry response overlapped with Invincible Laughing Heaven's transmitted voice.
That was the end of the sect leader's reply.
But the Young Lord of the Ming Cult added one more thing.
—Will you be able to do it? No matter how much you practiced at the Blood Flame Cult's main altar…
Jung Yeonshin did not answer.
The words of Invincible Laughing Heaven, who was far away, were of no importance.
What mattered was that once the formation was activated, if he did not see his senior warriors alive within it—
'My body reinforcement technique must be more tyrannical than Heavenly Demon Armor…'
Suppressing his thoughts, he glanced at the Golden Wings Sect's leader, standing within the formation.
She was an enigmatic figure.
For three days, she had not spoken a single word to him, sharing only silent meals.
To her, he was nothing more than a spectacle and a weapon. She had no vigilance toward him at all.
Three things had led to her negligence.
His deceptive rebirth, his status as a treasure of Desolate Fortress, and the nearly unrivaled martial supremacy of the Golden Wings Sect's leader in this land.
—Eastern Pillar of Western Xia, the Hidden Cry of Vastness, the Forbidden Sight Under Customary Rule…
Her voice rang out like a resplendent song.
An incantation uttered through Six Harmonies Voice Transmission, the sacrificial formation's inscriptions began rotating ever faster.
The leader of the Ten Perfection Sect stood guard beside her.
Jung Yeonshin closed his eyes.
He recalled the Lord of Desolate Fortress.
He thought of the profound mysteries of Heart-Sword Unification, passed down through her whispers.
At the same time, he fully perceived and seized the sect leader's energy waves, which now spread in all directions.
Wuuuuung—!
A radiant brilliance, akin to sunlight, flickered within his Baihui Acupoint.
He absorbed every mnemonic verse and intent embedded within the sacrificial formation, drawing them into his mind.
Which point should he break the flow of energy?
Which axis should he fix his internal energy to?
Which intent should he use to manipulate his power and achieve the desired result?
His consciousness surged like a flash of lightning.
He did not bother comprehending what was beyond understanding.
There was only one thing he needed to extract.
To select the individuals who would accompany him through the Flood Dragon's formation.
That alone was sufficient.
He did not need to fully comprehend the formation.
His upper dantian ignited.
The aptitude of one who lived a day as if it were ten years swept across the vast sacrificial formation in its entirety.
Reducing hundreds of years of the sect leader's efforts to meaningless ash.
Piiik—
At the same moment, above their heads—
A white swallow soared from the distant sky, then hovered in place, drifting through the air.
Tied loosely to its slender leg, a single scroll fluttered, shifting with the sunlight.