Monochrome Sovereign [EN]: Chapter 985

After briefly greeting Gong Gong and finishing his report on the Cheonghae matter, Yeon Ho-Jeong headed straight to the Yeon family residence.

Although he held the position of Vice Commander of the Black Dragon Unit, no one was monitoring his every move anymore.

‘How strange.’

While no one was watching him directly, many were glancing at him.

Yeon Ho-Jeong sensed something was off.

‘The number of hostile gazes has increased quite a bit.’

Openly hateful looks. It felt like more than just dislike; it was as if they were disgusted.

‘I suppose it can’t be helped.’

Most welcomed his return, but there were still those who disapproved of Yeon Ho-Jeong’s decision to transfer to the Black Path [a faction known for its darker, more ruthless martial arts].

That was understandable. Many White Path [a faction known for its righteous martial arts] members had lost their lives to Black Path members. Of course, the opposite was also true, but the magnitude of hatred couldn’t be compared by who suffered more.

‘I felt sorry because of this.’

His father came to mind.

His father’s name was famous even in the Central Plains [the heartland of the martial world]. He was the head of the Six Great Families, the father of the youngest Saintly Celestial [a title for an exceptionally powerful martial artist], and rumors were spreading throughout the world that he himself had reached the Supreme Extremity [the highest level of martial arts mastery].

Naturally, by now, no one could carelessly touch the Yeon family.

To provoke the Yeon family was no different than challenging the entire martial world.

Right now, there were two supreme masters who had broken through to the Supreme Extremity within the Yeon family. The Yeon family’s own military strength was considerable, but if those two masters decided to act, it would be no different than two or three major sects moving.

Moreover, the Yeon family itself was a family serving the Martial Alliance, and the eldest son was the Vice Commander of the Black Dragon Unit.

In other words, they had strong support from both the Black and White Paths. It was not easy to attack such a family rashly.

However, as the head of a family who had lived uprightly his entire life, he would not be pleased to receive hateful gazes for something he did not do. Of course, he wouldn’t be shaken by such things, but he certainly wouldn’t feel good about it.

‘I’m always being unfilial, now as ever.’

Still, it was fortunate that his father understood.

Yeon Ho-Jeong believed that his decision, while it might not completely unite the two forces of the Black and White Paths, would exert a powerful force against the Three Teachings [a collective term for the major religious and philosophical schools of thought].

With such a bitter feeling, he entered his residence.

Shhh!

A sword, like a snake flicking its tongue, was menacingly aimed at Yeon Ho-Jeong’s neck.

Clang!

He quickly raised the back of his hand to deflect the sword, and in an instant, a heavy greatsword, filled with fiery power, came crashing down horizontally.

Yeon Ho-Jeong was inwardly surprised.

The force of the blade, which had been without any presence, suddenly unleashed its fire and was swung with great power.

Furthermore, in that fleeting moment, the shift in momentum was like lightning. Even the leaders of the Nine Great Sects [the most powerful martial arts schools] could not easily do such a thing.

Clang!

He lowered the Azure Dragon Axe to block the blade.

The reverberation traveling up the spear was tremendous. Within that reverberation was a penetrating force, as if thousands of needles were piercing through.

‘…!’

Yeon Ho-Jeong was surprised once again.

The essence of this swordsmanship was to quickly and fiercely cleave the enemy in an instant. Rather than generating power from the fire itself, the core of the Soaring Thunderfire Blade [a specific sword technique] was to amplify the blade’s power through the condensed explosion of fire.

But now?

‘Such precise and sharp penetrating force!’

Chiiiik!

The fire that had penetrated the Azure Dragon Axe scattered into a white haze.

He was surprised by the momentary attack of the penetrating fire, but that was because the opponent’s swordsmanship was different from before and showed abilities he had not displayed before. This level of penetrating force was extremely familiar to Yeon Ho-Jeong.

The moment Yeon Ho-Jeong swung the Azure Dragon Axe to try and knock his opponent away.

Whoosh!

A swordsman, approaching like a sharp wind, unleashed three swords.

Yeon Ho-Jeong’s eyes flashed.

‘Sword Qi?’

The scattering swords, each of the three swords that had split like illusions, contained a chilling sword qi [a form of energy used in martial arts].

Rather than trying to cut a range beyond the reach of the sword with formless sword qi, they had embedded powerful sword qi within the sword itself. They had condensed the sword qi to greatly amplify the sword’s power.

Yeon Ho-Jeong’s left hand moved.

Clang! Bang!

He deflected the swordsman with the Azure Dragon Axe in his right hand and struck the three swords with his left hand’s Heaven-Shaking Palm [a specific palm technique].

“…?!”

Yeon Ho-Jeong’s eyes widened once more.

Even though he had struck with the Heaven-Shaking Palm imbued with Yellow Dragon Energy [a specific type of internal energy], the sword’s power did not disappear.

No, the sword qi imbued in the sword had disappeared. It was natural since it had collided with the palm’s force.

However, the sword qi that had disappeared from the sword was now rapidly rotating around the swordsman’s body.

Three streams of sword qi swirled around his body. The translucent gray sword qi was like a ghost wandering in this world.

‘What is that?’

It was an ability he had never shown before.

What was curious was why he was continuing this action, which consumed a considerable amount of internal energy.

Whoosh!

The sky darkened.

Excitement filled Yeon Ho-Jeong’s face as he raised his head.

‘These guys, look at them?!’

The swordsman, who had been knocked back, charged again, bringing down a mountain-pressing strike, and surprisingly, the fire blazing around the blade was abundant.

The overflowing fire consumed the air and displayed even more brilliant power with each passing moment. It was so powerful that even a master with insufficient internal energy would suffer burns just by being nearby.

And that wasn’t all.

If fire covered the sky, then a ghost stirred the earth.

The swordsman, who was wrapped in something that was either a ghost or a spirit, swung his sword in a low stance, and the sword qi, bent at the end of the slash, came to life greatly.

It was a sword qi that resembled a giant scythe. It was the grim reaper’s sword to harvest lives.

Yeon Ho-Jeong’s hands moved once more.

With the Azure Dragon Axe, he greatly reduced the power of the Rising Dragon Stance [a specific axe technique] and struck upwards, and with his left fist, he spread the power of the True Evil Fist [a specific fist technique] widely and struck downwards.

Clang!

A brilliant explosion resounded.

The force spreading in all directions emitted colorful lights. It was a magnificent clash that evoked admiration just by watching.

At that moment, Yeon Ho-Jeong’s eyes met the swordsman’s.

His face was pale as he was pushed back, but his eyes shone even more sharply.

It wasn’t just his eyes that shone sharply. The shattered scythe-shaped sword qi approached his body and, rotating alongside the existing three sword qi, was protecting its master.

‘That guy?’

Yeon Ho-Jeong’s eyes became serious.

The more sword qi wrapped around the swordsman’s body, the darker and more powerful the swordsman’s aura became.

The unique, solid, and sharp aura was gone, and he had become a ghost, darker than the night sky and harder than cold steel.

Flash!

Yeon Ho-Jeong’s eyes blazed with fire.

‘Fast!’

He had been standing loosely, but when he unleashed his sword, he was already half a foot away from his face.

It had been a long time since he had seen such a fast quick sword. In terms of speed alone, he had rarely seen a master who could swing with such physical speed, except for the Saintly Celestial.

It was a quick sword at the top level of the martial world. It wasn’t just fast; the sword qi flowing from the tip of the sword was aimed at his Heavenly Prominence Point [a vital point on the body]. It meant that it was also precise.

Clang!

For the first time, Yeon Ho-Jeong took a step forward, flicking the sword blade with his finger and swinging the Azure Dragon Axe at the swordsman.

Whoooom!

The air seemed to hold its breath.

The Azure Dragon Axe, swung as if to split a mountain, contained a different level of force than the previous swordsman’s single strike.

The actual power was lower than the force. Because Yeon Ho-Jeong’s will was such, the Azure Dragon Axe was emitting a force much stronger than its power.

However, in a battle between masters, the force itself was another attack. If the mind wavered due to the destructive force, there would be problems in the deployment of martial arts.

The swordsman’s expression did not change.

He momentarily wavered at the sight of the force approaching like a tidal wave, but he immediately moved his legs and sword.

Clang! Whoosh!

Yeon Ho-Jeong exclaimed in admiration.

He instantly turned outward and pierced the axe blade with the tip of his sword, and the piercing point was the meridian point of power generation.

The axe’s force shrank, and the swordsman, who had imbued the sword with the force that had shrunk, dynamically swung two swords.

Clang!

He deflected the swordsman with a heavy True Evil Fist, but the impact remaining on his fist was considerable.

‘Amazing.’

The sword’s power had increased as much as the sword qi wrapped around his body.

Not only that, but he had also taken the formless force imbued in the axe and amplified the sword’s power once more.

‘How is this even possible?’

Sword qi was a part of oneself, but the opponent’s force was the opponent’s.

Yet, he was showing a swordsmanship that wrapped all of that around himself and generated explosive power. Before his growth, he could not have imagined that such a sword technique existed.

Whirr! Whirr! Whirr!

Fire, like a whirlwind, rose from three directions in the air, sharpening its edges and aiming at Yeon Ho-Jeong.

Even though it was piercing, it felt like it was cutting. Even though he hadn’t actually swung a sword, it was as if three streams of sword strikes were pouring down.

Clang!

He swung the Azure Dragon Axe to extinguish the fire, but the greatsword that followed was already striking Yeon Ho-Jeong’s collarbone.

This method of approaching silently and attacking like lightning was similar to the essence of the Ghost Sword among the Ghostly Swords [a specific sword technique].

Conversely, the swordsman’s martial arts were similar to the Soaring Thunderfire Blade, which freely manipulated blade power with the explosive force of fire.

Thud!

Before he could swing the greatsword, he stepped into his opponent’s space and rammed him with his shoulder.

Both the swordsman and the swordsman retreated backward and took their stances. Judging by their pale complexions, it seemed that they had consumed considerable power, if not suffering internal injuries.

Whoooosh.

The wind blew.

The hot air scattered, and a cold chill instantly enveloped the surroundings.

“Impressive.”

Yeon Ho-Jeong was genuinely impressed.

“I didn’t know you would grow this much, and in such an unexpected direction.”

The swordsman, Gang Ryang, said, panting.

“As expected. I expected that I wouldn’t be able to inflict even a single wound, but I didn’t know that the martial arts I had worked so hard to cultivate would be blocked so easily.”

The swordsman, Jin Yang, grumbled.

“See, what did I tell you? I told you not to do this kind of embarrassing thing. How can we possibly beat the Saintly Celestial?”

“If we were fighting to win, we would have offered him poisoned wine. This is proof, proof.”

“What more do you need to prove to that inhuman person?”

Gang Ryang looked at Yeon Ho-Jeong and smiled.

“I told you to at least reach the level of my sister before I returned, right?”

“…!”

The corners of Yeon Ho-Jeong’s mouth lifted.

“Did you really try to achieve that?”

“If you give us homework, we have to solve it somehow. So, how does it look? The place is too small to show everything, but you should be able to see our skills, right, brother?”

“Honestly, you’re still not a match for Muk Bi.”

“…Damn it, is that so?”

“However, I think you’ve gotten very close.”

“…!”

“Especially, the fact that the two of you actively accepted each other’s martial arts and created almost new martial arts is amazing. Your future potential is limitless.”

Yeon Ho-Jeong grinned.

“You haven’t finished all the homework, but you’ve done some advance study a few steps ahead.”

Proudness appeared on Gang Ryang and Jin Yang’s faces.

Thump.

Yeon Ho-Jeong, having put down the Azure Dragon Axe, embraced the two of them tightly.

“You’ve worked hard. It’s good to see you again.”

Gang Ryang, flustered by the sudden hug, coughed and grumbled.

“If we hadn’t shown you this much, you wouldn’t have been happy to see us, right?”

“You made us train like crazy as soon as you came back, you jerk.”

“….”

“But you’ve improved, right? Then that’s all that matters.”

“It’s hard to be around you, that’s why.”