Chapter 119
Boundless Azure Sky (1)
Sadun Plain, stretching across the western reaches of Gyun County in Hubei Province.
Low hills rose sporadically throughout the vast plain.
And atop every hill that stood even slightly higher than its surroundings, a flag had been planted.
The color and design of the flags differed depending on their location.
Some bore the symbols of the Sun Moon Demonic Cult, while others represented the Wudang Sect.
BOOOOM! KWAAAANG!
Violent explosions of qi erupted across the battlefield.
The hills trembled under the shockwaves, and the flags quivered as though they might be torn from the earth at any moment.
“Press forward! This position must be held!”
“Disciples of the Four Elements Sword Sect! Raise your swords high!”
The battlefield was already filled with deafening roars and the clash of steel.
Ordinary voices were swallowed up instantly.
Yet the shouts infused with internal energy carved their presence clearly into the air, bolstering the morale of allies.
Originally, Sadun Plain had been the fastest route between Hubei and Shaanxi Provinces.
Because of that, countless footprints and wagon tracks had once marked the land.
Now the plain was covered only in muddy blood, abandoned weapons, and corpses whose owners would never reclaim them.
The Sadun Plain had become a battlefield.
At first, the fighting had been scattered skirmishes centered around the Wudang Sect's affiliated families in northwestern Hubei.
Gradually, however, the conflict escalated.
Now it had grown into a full-scale war between sects.
CRAAAAAANG!
High in the heavens, where two peerless masters crossed swords—
Sun's End Demon King and Sword True Man.
Brilliant starlight shone vividly despite the broad daylight.
Far below, countless martial artists mixed together in a frenzy of slaughter, severing throats and scattering blood across the earth.
The war unfolding upon Sadun Plain was a battle of a scale rarely seen even within the Jianghu.
Because of that, supreme experts who were seldom encountered appeared throughout the battlefield.
The Seven Swords of Wudang.
The Mirror Masters of the Sun Moon Demonic Cult.
The leaders of the Demonic Cult's subordinate martial forces.
The supreme experts of both sides were locked in fierce clashes, concentrating solely on restraining and killing their counterparts.
They understood all too well what would happen if even a single supreme master gained freedom on a battlefield of this scale.
Such a person could alter the entire course of the war.
“Primordial Heavenly Venerable!”
One of the Seven Swords of Wudang, Sword Child of the Breaking Army, Hyeonmo Jinin, cried out urgently.
Sweat rolled down Hyeonmo's forehead as he deflected three incoming swords one after another.
He was currently facing a combined assault from the Tenth Mirror Master and two Myeonggyowi commanders.
Those two commanders were trusted subordinates of the Mirror Master and had each reached the peak of the Transcendent Realm.
Shaking them off won't be easy. To think two Myeonggyowi commanders would suddenly join the battle...
Had he not practiced the martial arts of Wudang, which excelled at prolonged battles and defensive warfare, enduring such pressure would have been impossible.
Even so, he was nearing his limit.
Slash!
The Tenth Mirror Master's sword grazed his shoulder.
Hyeonmo did not even blink.
Instead, he thrust the Songmun Ancient Sword forward.
Ordinarily, it would have been a move of mutual destruction—sacrificing flesh to shatter bone.
But the two commanders supporting the Mirror Master from either side had no intention of allowing that.
CLANG!
The two commanders crossed their swords simultaneously and blocked Hyeonmo's thrust.
As they naturally retreated after deflecting the attack, the Tenth Mirror Master immediately surged forward again and resumed his relentless offensive.
That had been his strategy all along.
The two commanders handled defense entirely while he focused solely on cutting down Hyeonmo.
Then—
Hyeonmo Jinin. I'm coming.
A sword light stained with azure suddenly stirred behind Hyeonmo's back like a bolt of lightning.
Its trajectory twisted with terrifying ferocity, as though it would pierce straight through Hyeonmo himself.
Yet Hyeonmo ignored the incoming strike and continued facing forward.
Even while angling his sword to block one commander's claw technique, he casually waved his left hand and traced a palm-sized circle.
Wudang Cotton Palm.
A gentle palm force burst from Hyeonmo's hand.
At the same moment, the azure sword light swept past his neck and shot toward the two commanders.
KRAAAAASH!
The Wudang Cotton Palm and the lightning-like sword strike were unleashed almost simultaneously.
“Ugh!”
“...!”
The two commanders reacted as quickly as they could.
But they failed to stop both attacks.
They were blasted backward, coughing fountains of blood as they tumbled across the ground.
The strike had not killed them.
Yet the internal injuries they suffered were severe enough that their coordinated assault would never flow as smoothly as before.
“You bastards!”
Even as the two commanders were sent flying, the Tenth Mirror Master instantly grasped the situation and targeted Hyeonmo's exposed neck.
CRAAANG!
At that precise moment, someone closed the distance and knocked aside the Mirror Master's sword.
It was Lee Seha.
In a calm voice, he asked,
“Hyeonmo Jinin, are you alright?”
“Thanks to you, I've regained my breath.”
There was no bravado in Hyeonmo's words.
Merely buying him a brief moment had already allowed him to completely stabilize his breathing.
As expected of Wudang, a sect widely regarded as unmatched under heaven in prolonged battles and defensive warfare.
Even from the perspective of someone fighting beside them, the endurance of Wudang disciples was nothing short of astonishing.
One moment they appeared exhausted.
The next, they had somehow recovered their original rhythm and strength.
Despite being heavily outnumbered by the Sun Moon Demonic Cult, they continued to endure.
That resilience was undoubtedly a result of the unique characteristics of Wudang's martial arts.
“Need a hand?”
Lee Seha asked as he looked at the two commanders.
Their faces had darkened from internal injuries, yet they had already steadied their breathing and once again taken positions before and beside the Tenth Mirror Master.
Hyeonmo shook his head.
“Go help Senior Brother Hyeonpung. That side is more urgent!”
Lee Seha looked in the direction Hyeonmo indicated.
Hyeonpung, leader of the Seven Swords of Wudang and the Greedy Wolf Sword Child, was simultaneously facing two supreme experts.
Even the combined assault of the two experts had failed to break through Hyeonpung’s ironclad defense.
But that was all.
Hyeonpung was merely holding them off; he showed no opportunity to launch a counterattack of his own.
For now, his defense remained flawless.
But no one could know when it might finally crack.
It was only natural for an available supreme expert to provide assistance.
Whoosh!
After confirming Hyeonpung’s situation, Lee Seha expanded his senses and surveyed the battlefield.
“A chaotic melee... and we're losing ground.”
The battle situation was unfavorable.
The Heavenly Sword Hall had joined the fight, but their arrival had done little more than slightly pull back a war that was steadily tilting against them.
The Heavenly Sword Hall was undoubtedly a powerful force.
Yet the martial armies of the Sun Moon Demonic Cult were equally formidable.
Their reinforcement had merely narrowed a gap that had already grown far too large.
If Jun were here, he would have been a tremendous help.
The moment Lee Seha thought of Namgung Jun, his sword wavered ever so slightly.
Several days ago, when he had received the report that Namgung Jun had fallen off a cliff together with the Divine Thief, it had felt as though heaven and earth had turned upside down.
After regaining his composure, he had immediately led the Heavenly Sword Hall in a search of Wudang Mountain.
But they could not continue searching indefinitely.
Urgent requests for reinforcements from the front lines could not be ignored.
After all, the Heavenly Sword Hall's original mission had been to support the Wudang Sect.
In the end, they had entrusted the search to Wudang and marched toward Sadun Plain.
Lee Seha was both Namgung Jun’s master and the Lord of the Heavenly Sword Hall.
He could not abandon his assigned duty.
This had been the best choice available to him.
Yet Lee Seha never believed that something had happened to Namgung Jun.
His disciple was not someone who would perish from merely falling off a cliff.
The other members of the Heavenly Sword Hall believed the same and continued fighting.
More than anything, Lee Seha wanted to end this battle quickly and return to Wudang Mountain.
“My disciple...”
Just as Lee Seha stepped forward while thinking of Namgung Jun—
“Cheugun Yuhee. It has been a long time. Is this our first meeting since the battle of Jonghyeong Valley?”
A middle-aged man stepped into his path, blocking his advance toward Hyeonpung while he cut down demonic cultists along the way.
It was the Ninth Mirror Master of the Sun Moon Demonic Cult.
“Heavenly Sword Hall Lord. Your eyes, once always calm and unshakable, are wavering. That is a rare sight indeed. What has caused such a change?”
“That is none of your concern.”
Lee Seha immediately turned and clashed with the Ninth Mirror Master.
***
The Heavenly Sword Hall was operating in separate squads.
The battlefield was simply too vast for a single formation to alter the overall flow of the war.
There were indeed a handful of forces in the Jianghu capable of changing an entire battlefield through formation techniques alone.
Unfortunately, the Heavenly Sword Hall was not one of them.
Thus, they split into smaller groups and moved wherever the fighting was fiercest, reinforcing critical positions.
The battlefield contained not only Wudang disciples but also disciples from Wudang's affiliated families.
There was no safe place anywhere.
Everywhere required assistance from the warriors of the Heavenly Sword Hall.
Clang!
Gong Junam’s massive greatsword intercepted every saber strike aimed at the Wudang disciples.
Meanwhile, Heo Il, who had been cleverly hiding behind Gong Junam’s enormous frame, suddenly shot forward.
His swift sword flashed.
“Urgh!”
“Damn it!”
As Heo Il seized control of the battle's momentum, Man Yewon and Yu Geunsu, who had been waiting nearby, joined the attack and cut down the demonic cultists one by one.
The four moved as though they shared a single body.
Together they formed a squad and roamed across the battlefield.
“We've been running all over the place, but things don't seem to be improving at all.”
“The battlefield is a giant monster. Sometimes no matter how hard we work, it barely shows.”
At Heo Il’s words, Gong Junam added,
“Save your breath. Even talking is a luxury.”
Looking around, Yu Geunsu whispered,
“It feels like we're gradually being pushed back.”
***
At that very moment, Namgung Jun arrived at Sadun Plain.
Having sprinted without rest using his movement techniques, he calmed his slightly heated breathing while observing the battlefield.
Not good.
Even with the Heavenly Sword Hall’s arrival, the battle was clearly unfavorable.
This battlefield contained not one but two peerless masters.
Beneath them stood numerous supreme experts.
A master who had reached the realm of Three Flowers Gather at the Crown could exert enormous influence during a sect war.
But on a battlefield of this scale, that influence naturally diminished.
However... the battlefield has become stagnant.
In a situation like this, a single supreme expert still possessed the potential to shake the balance of war.
Then...
Alone would not be enough.
Naturally, he would need the strength of his comrades.
Namgung Jun carefully surveyed the battlefield.
Here and there, he spotted members of the Heavenly Sword Hall.
Deep within the battlefield, he even saw his master fighting an opponent.
Then—
A path connected itself before his eyes like a constellation.
No.
Perhaps it was more accurate to call it a sword path.
A massive sword trajectory capable of piercing through the entire battlefield appeared before him.
If the Heavenly Sword Hall could become a single sword and thrust through that path—
Victory was entirely possible.
Namgung Jun decided to unite the Heavenly Sword Hall into one blade and become the sword tip that would pierce the battlefield.
“It must be fast.”
“It must be devastating.”
“It must display overwhelming power.”
The five sword arts he currently possessed were not enough.
They could certainly carve through the battlefield.
But the time required, the stamina consumed, and the expenditure of internal energy would be completely different.
To become a sharp sword tip capable of piercing the entire battlefield alone—
He needed a new sword art.
“The time has come.”
As if making a vow to himself, azure qi surged throughout Namgung Jun’s body.
BOOM!
Kicking off the ground powerfully, Namgung Jun shot forward and began carving a path through the battlefield.
It was not the Thirteen Lightning Thunder Swords.
Nor was it the Heavenly Wind Sword Art.
He did not employ any sword art he had learned thus far.
Instead, he sprinted while performing an overwhelmingly powerful sword dance, just as he had done before—when he had forgotten form, forgotten insight, and ultimately forgotten even himself.
At that moment, all the insights accumulated within his mind began to stir.
Among them, two shone brighter than all the rest.
Azure Sky Reaching the Void.
And Unhindered Through All Things.
Those two insights began to awaken.