Along the perimeter of the formation, which continued to rotate in a large circular motion, a hazy white light streamed out in streaks.
It was a tangible wave of energy, imbued with the function of blocking external interference.
The swallow circling in the sky ultimately failed to land.
Not only was it difficult to grasp the exact function of the spell formation, but the ground was also filled with extremely dangerous entities surrounding its master.
Piii—
The winged spiritual creature blinked its small, pitch-black eyes as it gazed down at its master.
Though it had finally arrived after sensing a presence it hadn't felt for a long time, its master—who was naturally reckless—had once again gotten involved in something that made it difficult to approach.
The mystical swallow of Desolate Fortress instinctively felt it.
If it carelessly approached the formation, it might never be able to deliver the wooden fragment tied to its leg.
The creature's tiny eyes darted back and forth between its master, its master's shadow, the Golden Wings Sect's leader, the Ten Perfection Sect's leader standing nearby, and the presence approaching from a distance at an incredible speed—an entity that was utterly untouchable.
"The Net."
At that moment, the Golden Wings Sect's leader spoke.
From within the faint white light of the spell formation, the small, pale face of the most beautiful woman in Sichuan, who had been resting with her eyes closed, took on an aura of transcendence as she opened them to look at Jung Yeonshin.
Her sharp, sculpture-like features were bathed in sunlight, which blended with the formation's radiance, creating a dreamlike impression.
"Before you meet the Flood Dragon, you should reflect on your Full Sky Flower Rain."
The Net.
That was how the Golden Wings Sect's leader referred to Jung Yeonshin.
It was neither a friendly term nor an exaggerated title. She truly had no interest in his actual identity or background.
She treated him as if he were a mere object, something completely inanimate.
"Now, of all times?"
Jung Yeonshin asked briefly. Over the three days he had sat across from the Golden Wings Sect's leader, he had heard nothing from her.
A faint glimmer appeared in her downcast, light-brown eyes, as if she were a cultivator recollecting enlightenment.
"Timing isn't important. A grand awakening is like thunder on a clear day."
"Explain in detail."
Jung Yeonshin urged her in a calm tone, having a vague sense of what she was implying.
'Has she seen through me?'
The one and only flaw in his martial arts.
"You insolent brat. I have reminded you countless times, yet that whelp still speaks so—"
"Stay your hand, Wanyang."
One of the pillars of the spell formation, Wanyang, the Right Guardian, glared at Jung Yeonshin with clear disapproval, but aside from a single martial artist who seemed to be Wanyang's trusted aide, no one from the Golden Wings Sect paid any attention to him.
Jung Yeonshin was merely fulfilling his role as the prodigy who had refined Full Sky Flower Rain after the fall of the Tang Clan's leader.
A branch family of the Tang Clan, which had been all but destroyed by the Golden Wings Sect, the key figure in the Flood Dragon hunt, an exceptional talent, he had to abandon etiquette and conventions. It was no easy feat.
Thus, even when Jung Yeonshin displayed a somewhat disrespectful attitude, the people of the Golden Wings Sect simply let it be.
Instead, the high-level masters of the Ten Perfection Sect, each adorned with various weapons, were watching Wanyang, Spirit-Melting Divine Fist for his reaction.
Judging from their murmurs, it seemed that Lu Zhuxia, the leader of their combat division and wielder of Moonlight Spear, had once suffered a complete defeat at Wanyang's hands.
"Full Sky Flower Rain. I've seen it multiple times before it was lost."
The Golden Wings Sect's leader elegantly flicked her silk sleeve within the formation.
"Yours is mere technique. You precisely operate the mnemonic verse for absorption and dispersion, mimicking the legendary Full Sky Flower Rain from stories. It's like using an exceptionally strong Void Grasp to imitate Energy-Controlled Sword."
"So?"
"You wield that skill too easily, which means your martial arts lack true dedication. You won't be able to hold the Flood Dragon for long."
"Dedication?"
"Full Sky Flower Rain is a technique where a Tang Clan master unleashes a lifetime's worth of poison arts and hidden weapon techniques in a single moment, like a river of stars. It is martial arts forged through the weight of years. A natural prodigy like you would struggle to understand it."
Her uniquely dry, emotionless voice pricked at Jung Yeonshin's nerves.
It was as if the Golden Wings Sect's leader was asking with her gaze, Have you ever poured your entire soul into martial arts?
Golden-Winged Bird.
She was the one who had named her sect after the legendary bird that devours dragons.
As the strongest martial artist in Sichuan's Murim, her gaze fully penetrated Jung Yeonshin's nature, despite him concealing his energy and identity.
If his mind, energy, and spirit were not already approaching unification, she might have even discerned his lifespan.
The young man slowly parted his lips.
"Isn't this all meaningless talk? When we have a grand undertaking ahead?"
"Sometimes, there are those who leap over the years they should have endured in an instant, like that child from the Ming Cult."
Her words suggested that this was nothing more than whimsical advice, leaning on an insignificant possibility. She turned her head back toward the spell formation.
"...."
Suddenly, Jung Yeonshin recalled a rumor, one that claimed the Golden Wings Sect's leader had lived longer than the Ming Dynasty itself.
While the great sects that made up the Nine Great Sects, the Eight Clans, and the Thirteen Celestial Demons had changed over the ages, the Dragon Slayer Alliance, the predecessor of the Golden Wings Sect, had never ceased to be one of Murim's dominant forces, much like Shaolin and Wudang.
She had surely seen multiple leaders of the Tang Clan come and go. And the Full Sky Flower Rain they had displayed.
"Why didn't you collaborate with the ancestors of the Tang Clan who had mastered the true Full Sky Flower Rain?"
Jung Yeonshin asked.
With her light-brown eyes now completely fixed on the formation, the Golden Wings Sect's leader barely moved her lips in response.
"I did. Once."
"Once?"
"The timing was never right again. That Flood Dragon's formation never stays in one place."
"Then why push forward with the plan when my Full Sky Flower Rain doesn't satisfy you?"
"Because I'm stronger than I was back then. You just need to hold it down from time to time."
"...."
"Do not approach the Flood Dragon. Your body… I see no traces of a usable protective energy technique. You'll be torn apart by a single breath."
She was telling him to execute his martial arts from as far away as possible. It was also the very same provocation he had suffered at the hands of the Ming Cult's Young Lord not long ago.
'Him or this one…'
Age alone made one a sage.
For Jung Yeonshin, who had primarily honed close-combat martial arts such as barehanded techniques and swordsmanship, this was unfamiliar advice.
A heat he had never felt before slowly rose within his chest. At that moment, the Ten Perfection Sect's leader, who had been standing to the side with his arms crossed, approached with a hearty laugh.
"The inheritor of Full Sky Flower Rain!"
"Ten Perfection Sect's leader."
"You're younger than I expected. These are strange times indeed, so even the Tang Clan produces hidden dragons."
"Younger?"
"I've heard that Invincible Laughing Heaven, Dark Flame King, and the Seventh Apostle of Blood Flame Cult have begun to be called the Five Peerless of Resplendence alongside two young disciples from the orthodox sects, but now that I see you, it seems there are actually six. At the very least, that Sword Marquis of Peng Clan must be inferior to you."
A supreme master, proficient in all eighteen weapons, with a background in the military.
The stereotype that he would be taciturn was immediately shattered. The way he counted on his fingers was almost innocent.
Unlike his first impression, he seemed to be a man who enjoyed talking.
It was clear from how he continued his speech without waiting for Jung Yeonshin's response—"But it is not yet your era."
"The breath of a Flood Dragon, long of body, is said to have the power to destroy a nation. It might very well be one of the evil spirits that drove the heaven-descended clans from their homelands, so a whelp like you has no place interfering."
Draped in pure white armor, much like a ceremonial robe, he appeared immensely large.
His height was nearly on par with Jung Yeonshin's, but up close, he exuded an overwhelming presence, like a living fortress.
In sheer size alone, Xiahou Wei-Jin, the missing leader of the Forest Striding Squad, would surpass him.
However, the Ten Perfection Sect's leader carried the transcendent aura unique to supreme masters, an overwhelming atmosphere that made it seem as if anything was possible.
"Be content with supporting from the rear. Even then, your name will be etched into the history of Murim, and beyond that, the world itself."
His old-fashioned manner of speech, reminiscent of a great general of the military, suited him perfectly. Not merely because of his martial prowess but because of his very nature.
Despite reportedly suffering severe aftereffects from his battle with the Blood Flame Cult's leader, his piercing gaze gleamed with interest as he observed Jung Yeonshin.
"The world…?"
Jung Yeonshin repeated to himself. The Ten Perfection Sect's leader slowly nodded, his arms still crossed.
"The Golden Wings Sect is hosting an event unlike anything in its history. They have thrown open the great doors beneath their plaque and welcomed guests inside, setting all of Murim astir. Even a young disciple from the Beggars' Sect came. That says enough, doesn't it?"
Hu-gae, struck unconscious by Full Sky Flower Rain, left in a comatose state.
Jung Yeonshin made no effort to recall the man's face and simply gazed silently at the Ten Perfection Sect's leader.
"You, whelp, wouldn't understand. The magnitude of what it means for the Flood Dragon's hunt to reach the imperial family and the many mystical clans."
"Quiet."
The Golden Wings Sect's leader silenced him with a slight glance.
Light filled the surroundings.
Like unraveling threads, streams of white light continuously poured forth from the formation, growing denser with each passing moment.
The flow of spell-based martial arts seemed to be reaching its peak.
Jung Yeonshin scanned the energy radiating from the formation with his consciousness, sensing the prelude to its activation.
Since its founding, the Golden Wings Sect had spent centuries preparing for this grand endeavor, and now, it was on the verge of fruition.
"No telling where we'll fall. Even if you die, consider it fate."
Swish.
The Golden Wings Sect's leader's crimson sleeves brushed against her waist as they descended.
The Golden Wings Sect disciples and the Ten Perfection Sect disciples standing atop the formation adjusted their grips on their weapons, producing a clattering sound.
Throughout the area, the sound of energy vibrating filled the air as masters clad themselves in colorless protective energy.
The elite masters of the great sects of the demonic faction, preparing for battle with expressions alight with excitement. A sight rarely seen outside of Desolate Fortress.
"Spirit-Melting Divine Fist, don't take it too hard. You are, after all, the vanguard general. You bear many lives upon your shoulders."
"You honor me, Ten Perfection Sect's leader."
Uuuuuuuuung—!
The surrounding light rapidly intensified. A resounding reverberation, like the cry of a dragon, filled the open ground. It was nothing natural to the mortal world.
"It's starting! It's begun!"
"Are they really leaving for the Immortal Realm where the Flood Dragon resides?"
"How could mere humans ascend like the immortals…! And not just one or two of them!"
Hundreds.
From along the massive walls of the Golden Wings Sect, those who had been silently observing now began to reveal their presence one by one.
Outsiders unaffiliated with either of the two great sects present.
They were too far away to interfere with the activation of the formation.
Most were merely spectators who had come upon hearing rumors, now left in shock. Some, however, turned back immediately, sending messenger birds or dispersing through the air with their light movement techniques.
Just as the Ten Perfection Sect's leader had said, all of Murim's attention was about to be drawn here.
"So, you're saying that two major sects of the demonic faction are gathered in one place?"
"And that's not all. The Golden Wings Sect appears to have completely emptied itself—even both of its Two Guardians are here!"
"Madness… They're really going to make history."
Soon.
Something was about to happen.
By that time, Jung Yeonshin had already completed his analysis of the spell formation.
Like a mechanical device interlocking in his mind, he precisely grasped the formation's functions and consciously extracted only the necessary information.
The wheel of light embedded in his heart began to turn.
Sword of the Heart.
Invisible streams of internal energy surged forth from Jung Yeonshin's entire body.
Dozens of streams of energy. Without a sound, Jung Yeonshin intertwined himself with the flow of power constructing the spell formation, seamlessly seizing control of the spell-based martial arts from the Golden Wings Sect's leader.
The Tang siblings have already been caught as sacrificial offerings for the formation. Separating them is impossible.
His thoughts converged into a single, piercing conclusion.
—Pull the Tang siblings to his side, while ensuring the two sect leaders are excluded.
Jung Yeonshin's will immediately became the guiding intent that governed martial arts, surging into the spell formation.
At that moment, the ancient script etched in a circular pattern on the ground trembled violently.
"...?"
The Golden Wings Sect's leader, who had been resting her eyelashes neatly closed, suddenly opened her eyes. She immediately sensed the anomaly.
It was impossible not to.
The core equations forming the spell formation were being shattered and displaced, replaced with an entirely different set of spells.
However, Jung Yeonshin had acted on the assumption that supreme masters executed their techniques the moment they perceived an irregularity.
Uuuuuuuuung—!
The formation had already been activated.
Dozens of luminous threads stretched from the circular boundary, undulating outward in all directions, while the crisp, late-winter breeze that had been skimming through the air gradually faded, concealing all traces of movement.
The surroundings blurred.
"You…!"
With wide eyes locked onto Jung Yeonshin, for the first time, the Golden Wings Sect's leader's voice carried emotion.
An instant passed. It was truly a fleeting moment.
Yet, the scenery surrounding Jung Yeonshin had completely changed.
Towering ancient trees stretching endlessly into the sky, an overpoweringly thick scent of vegetation, and dozens of people with strange attire murmuring around them—Iron Tribe warriors, a sight exceedingly rare in the world.
A supernatural event.
Would such a phenomenon ever occur again in this world?
At this moment, only the Tang siblings and Wanyang, the Spirit-Melting Divine Fist remained unchanged at Jung Yeonshin's side.
They could not conceal their shock.
Or rather, only Venomous Dragon and Venomous Phoenix, the Tang siblings, showed such bewilderment. Wanyang, on the other hand, seemed to feel both confusion and an odd sense of exhilaration.
Uuuung—
"This power… Yes, we've arrived properly…!"
A faintly glowing, colorless energy shrouded his entire body.
It was immensely powerful. The very air trembled around him.
His internal energy had returned home, incomparable to before.
Wanyang laughed.
"Even the sect leader makes mistakes. I must interrogate those wretched fools and deliver them to her."
While the unfamiliar Iron Tribe warriors around them flinched,
"Hey."
Wanyang turned his head slightly toward Jung Yeonshin, his posture utterly indifferent.
Even though he had once been forced back by Jung Yeonshin during the Full Sky Flower Rain incident.
"Do not, under any circumstances, defy my orders. You will be punished severely."
It was a command. And Jung Yeonshin could guess why.
At this very moment, as he delved into his inner being, he too felt an unexplainable surge of exhilaration.
'A Flood Dragon's formation? This place… what is it…?'
The core of his internal energy. The ring of light dwelling in his heart.
Beyond the radiant wheel that had always been there, for a brief moment, another wheel of pure radiance appeared, only to vanish again.
Leaving behind a resonance that sent shudders through his entire body.
An unimaginable possibility.
A second ring.