Monochrome Sovereign [EN]: Chapter 1267

It would be too late to depart with the troops.

Yeon Ho-Jeong rushed forward faster than anyone. In his hand was his ever-reliable friend, the Azure Dragon Axe, and his two legs became the wind that always supported his heavy destiny.

While the forces of the Moyong Clan and the Sangmu Alliance, as well as three combat units of the Black Emperor Castle, were crossing the river and heading north with the fast ships of the Yangtze River.

He was already turning his direction towards Shaanxi, having passed Hubei.

‘I don’t tire.’

Having ascended to the Supreme [a high level of martial arts mastery], his body was perfected, and natural energy constantly invigorated his body.

Even when he had just reached the Supreme, he never tired. Unless he was severely injured in battle or his inner energy was extremely depleted, he traversed the continent at a speed unimaginable to ordinary people.

Now, after countless battles and enlightenment, his martial arts had developed, he had awakened the Yellow Dragon, and thanks to his fight with the Blood Demon Cult Leader, he had risen to a realm beyond limits.

Yeon Ho-Jeong finally realized that he had stepped into an unknown realm.

‘A realm I’ve never seen before.’

During the Black Emperor era, when Moyong Gun and Tang Gwan fought against Sa Mun-Hyang.

When the two were knocked out and he fought Sa Mun-Hyang alone, he saw a realm of light that was difficult to describe in words.

Looking back now, that was the realm just before awakening the Yellow Dragon. Of course, it would have been different from the Yellow Dragon of now, and although it was before awakening the Yellow Dragon, his martial arts at the time were enough to contend for the title of the strongest in the world.

Comparing himself then and now, it could be said that the path diverged from the moment he reached the Supreme.

No, there was a big difference from when he trained in the Five Great Divine Arts of the Yeon family. He had just been living without properly understanding it until now.

‘Now I know. I have changed.’

Even if he had killed Sa Mun-Hyang in his past life and gained greater enlightenment, it would have been difficult to obtain the same strength as now.

That’s right. It’s now.

Now, as he heads to another battlefield, now, as he thinks that his lifelong nemesis, Sa Mun-Hyang, might appear there.

Right now, Yeon Ho-Jeong was able to calmly cool his boiling emotions and once again contemplate himself.

‘It’s constantly deepening.’

Fighting that Yul Dae-Geuk, he saw the infinite possibilities of the Yellow Dragon.

That one experience was showing him a path of infinity that transcended talent.

‘I am the wind.’

Yellow Dragon Footwork, Yellow Dragon Divine Art.

A name shows the mystery of making the intangible tangible. That is why names are important, whether it is martial arts, a technique, or even a person.

However, now, Yeon Ho-Jeong was feeling that he was beginning to break away from even that realm.

To be precise, he was breaking away from the common sense of the concept he had thought was the truth.

‘If you see things properly, there is no doubt, and if there is no doubt, you can believe it wholeheartedly. To believe wholeheartedly is to observe properly, and to observe properly is to realize that I and things are not different.’

Crossing mountains and rivers, leaping over villages, Yeon Ho-Jeong’s enlightenment only deepened.

Whoooom!

The Yellow Dragon Divine King Energy, which had been united, split into two again.

The energy that had been separated into the Yellow Dragon and the Divine King merged again, giving an unbelievable sense of unity.

Separation and unification occur endlessly. It was dangerous because it was a fluid change, but Yeon Ho-Jeong did not think it was dangerous.

Just naturally.

Just like the true energy with spirituality, he left the flow of true energy to the divine art and looked back at himself for a long time.

Whoosh!

When he stepped down and looked at the world, he was standing on a high mountain peak.

‘How much time has passed?’

In the chain of enlightenment, the energy of nature nourished and then vanished from his body hundreds, thousands of times.

He felt somewhat hazy, but at the same time, everything he saw was perfectly perceived.

Yeon Ho-Jeong was momentarily flustered, but soon he felt that even that flustered feeling was gradually being dismantled flexibly.

At that moment, his master’s voice came to mind.

‘One who has realized all the reason in the universe is perfect and cannot exist in this world. This world is a world of flesh where all sorts of irrational and imperfect entities accumulate and are maintained under the flow of heavenly principles.’

Yeon Ho-Jeong tilted his head without realizing it.

Did his master say such things? It was a strange yet familiar saying, so much so that he wondered why he had forgotten it until now.

Perhaps it was because his interest, both then and now, was focused only on strength.

To become stronger and take revenge, to become stronger and not waver.

To become stronger and find his true self.

His master’s words continued.

‘Everyone is born with the potential to become great. However, if one does not become great, is that person’s life wrong? What is the standard for being great?’

Yeon Ho-Jeong answered without realizing it.

“I don’t know, Master.”

It was as if he could hear his master’s laughter.

‘To shed the flesh and become a complete spirit is death, so shedding the flesh by realizing reason and shedding the flesh by being killed by a bandit’s sword are ultimately no different. Yet, we try to realize it. Even though death is the end. Why do you think that is?’

Again, Yeon Ho-Jeong answered.

“I don’t know that either.”

His master replied.

‘Because life is completed by the moments that people and beasts live. Therefore, people live. If the end of an individual is determined, and only that is important, there is no reason for everyone to be born differently. Difference is precious because it is different, it is variable, and it is also immutable.’

It was the kind of thing that enlightened Taoists would say. It was hard to imagine that his master had said it.

That was why Yeon Ho-Jeong could feel his master’s presence in those words.

‘Become higher and deeper. It is difficult to define life in human language. In the end, this Evil God Martial Art is like the many desires of life created during this time of turmoil. You, who have obtained a chapter of history, must know why this martial art was created and awaken to its meaning.’

Yeon Ho-Jeong answered again.

“I know now.”

His master’s voice became firm.

‘If you have realized that, then you know life. Do not stagnate any longer. You must not stop. To prove the life you have realized with your body, you must not rest even at this moment.’

A smile spread across Yeon Ho-Jeong’s face.

He was confused as to whether these words were truly his master’s or if they were created by his subconscious.

But that didn’t matter. What mattered was that these words were necessary for him now.

Don’t stop, keep running. The people who will complete your life are waiting for you.

Flash!

The golden light emanating from Yeon Ho-Jeong’s body soared high into the sky.

It looked like a dragon, and also like a giant golden tornado.

Whoosh!

All his senses began to reactivate.

The haziness disappeared, and his five senses became extremely sensitive. The spreading golden wind expanded his senses endlessly, capturing an ominous wind.

Yeon Ho-Jeong’s eyes deepened.

“Shanxi, is it?”

That’s right.

In the past few days, he had been running and running, and without realizing it, he had fallen into a swamp of enlightenment.

He should have been running towards Shaanxi, but now he had arrived in Shanxi.

He hadn’t taken the wrong path. His subconscious, the Yellow Dragon Divine King Art, had led its master to a place where there was a more greedy and dangerous prey.

‘The evil energy is denser in Shaanxi. But I came here.’

The subconscious shifted to consciousness, giving him infinite power.

It was the divine energy of the expanding upper dantian [an energy center in the body]. Yeon Ho-Jeong knew. If the spiritual power of the upper dantian was developed to its limit, like that Tongcheon Jin-in in the past, he would be able to receive heavenly energy and see into the future.

‘It’s a power I can’t control. But it’s okay. The fact that this power has come to me now means that it’s meant to be.’

The Yellow Dragon Divine King Energy separated and then merged again, and then separated again.

The more the merging and separation repeated, the more powerful the Yellow Dragon Energy became, and the deeper the Divine King Energy became.

Such a mysterious enlightenment may have temporarily raised his spiritual power to the realm of a half-immortal.

‘Another wind is blowing from Sichuan. It must be the Tang Clan Leader and Senior Yin Je. The acrid poison scent is very strong. That wind has already created a huge whirlwind in the middle of Shaanxi.’

It was an unbelievable realm.

He could feel everything as he saw it. He couldn’t see any further, but even now, he was worthy of being called a divine being.

And that power slowly began to dissipate the moment Yeon Ho-Jeong realized that he was ‘human.’

The poison scent in Shaanxi, the heavenly melody, was no longer felt. His eyes were getting brighter, but it felt like the surroundings were getting darker.

“It’s okay.”

Yeon Ho-Jeong smiled.

“I can’t save the world alone, nor do I need to.”

Sichuan, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Hebei.

The countless relationships he had built while traveling around the Central Plains were struggling in various places.

He had to trust them. He had to move forward while trusting them.

To the place where he needed to be now.

Thud. Flutter!

The moment he lightly leaped, he descended at a terrifying speed.

Yeon Ho-Jeong’s eyes blazed.

Wham!

He powerfully kicked off the ground and was already tens of yards away.

The legendary Shrinking Earth Technique [a technique that allows one to travel great distances quickly], and at its extreme speed. His dash, like a true Taoist technique of folding the earth and moving, completely transcended human common sense, the common sense of martial artists.

It was then.

‘Fire.’

Two huge flames were reflected in Yeon Ho-Jeong’s golden divine eyes.

‘North, and west.’

The fire in the north was ferocious, and the fire in the west was sacred. Their sizes were similar.

‘Gicheonung, the Cult Leader.’

It was then.

Whoosh!

Like a weightless fire, Gicheonung, who had come at a speed almost equal to Yeon Ho-Jeong’s, was filled with excitement.

“I felt a familiar energy covering the whole world and chased after it, and it was you?”

“You’ve come?”

“Amazing. I could feel your energy from hundreds of miles away. What on earth has happened?”

Cha Geuk-Pyeong was running far behind. He couldn’t keep up with Gicheonung’s speed.

Yeon Ho-Jeong turned his gaze back to the north.

“Let’s head to the battlefield now. The density of the evil energy is not as high as in Shaanxi, but the condensed firepower is clearly alive.”

“Were you going to strike Shaanxi?”

“I was, but I decided to send only the Black Emperor Castle troops there. The Sichuan forces led by the Tang Clan, as well as Senior Yin Je, and probably even Gang Ryang and Jin Yang, have gone to Shaanxi.”

Gicheonung’s eyes shook.

“How did you know that…?”

“Let’s go.”

Bang! Bang! Bang!

It seemed like he was lightly stepping, but he was already thirty or forty yards away.

Gicheonung’s face was filled with shock.

‘What on earth!?’

He was completely different from when they had last met.

It wasn’t just that his footwork was faster, but the atmosphere he exuded and the density of the true energy he emitted were different.

‘It’s as if he has completely merged with nature for a moment…’

A shocking sight that made him forget even his anger and regret for a moment.

However, Gicheonung did not forget what he had to do.