Divine Hand Hegemon King resembled Lazy Flame Dragon.
Not just in appearance, but in temperament as well. He waved his hand dismissively as soon as he heard Jeong Yeon-shin's harsh words.
Still casually crouching on the high tree branch.
"I came thinking the Immortal Tree Spirit Squad Leader was being manipulated by Peng Yu-lan, but it seems it was the opposite, so I'm relieved. Things have worked out well."
"…?"
"Something that doesn't understand shouldn't be used freely. Especially troublesome items like the World Tree sapling."
Since it could shake the foundation of this formation— he concluded with a somewhat weary expression.
Speech and conduct where age and youth coexisted.
That feeling emanated even from his face that resembled Lazy Flame Dragon.
His countenance was without a single wrinkle, as if testifying to his high martial arts, but the expression he wore was closer to that of an old man in the back room who found everything cumbersome.
Jeong Yeon-shin didn't particularly like this appearance. His grandson, the opium poppy addict, would not enjoy such longevity.
He glanced at Peng Yu-lan's head sprawled at his feet.
The gazes of the Two Kings and Three Lords surrounding them followed Jeong Yeon-shin's eyes exactly.
Peng Yu-lan's face pressed against the dirt ground with an expression far from elegant, the corpses of the Secret Realm Peng Family's old masters beginning to emit a foul stench from all directions of the wide mountain path, the ground gradually being dyed a dull crimson red…
"I asked if you've harmed any other Desolate Fortress martial artists."
Jeong Yeon-shin said.
Hwangbo Gon smiled slightly as if troubled. Even the way he curled up the corner of his mouth was similar to Lazy Flame Dragon.
"That's difficult to answer. There have been too many whose heads I've turned to mush over the years."
"Come down."
"No, calm down. A peerless swordsman like you should carry a heavy sword."
Hwangbo Gon leaped down from the tree branch.
Thud.
His yellow sleeve hem rose magnificently and then settled.
The sight of clothes imbued with internal energy assisting his movements. It seemed he was activating the Elegant Algae Divine King Martial Art of the Hwangbo family, but there was a depth visible that Jeong Yeon-shin had never felt from Lazy Flame Dragon.
While showing frivolous speech and conduct, he wasn't neglecting his defense against Jeong Yeon-shin. It was befitting of an experienced former-generation master.
"Hmm… how can a human body be so…"
The former Hwangbo family head, now standing face to face with Jeong Yeon-shin, stroked his chin.
His gaze, sweeping up and down briefly, was as sharp as a blade, different from his drooping eyes that seemed to find everything bothersome.
"…Looking back now, I haven't killed anyone since the Immortal Tree Spirit Squad Leader entered this land. It's because things were already quite orderly. Does that answer your question? But more importantly…"
He showed no particular interest in Jeong Yeon-shin's question. Hwangbo Gon was only interested in the Radiant Demon Wing Leader's body woven through bone transformation.
"It's even more impressive up close."
"What?"
"I too experienced transformation in my prime, but your body seems explicitly designed to easily accommodate certain meridians. I don't know how that's possible, but…"
Jeong Yeon-shin didn't answer and raised his head.
Two powerful figures were visible.
On one side, a shabby old man lying diagonally on a rock on a distant ridge was staring in this direction, while on the other, an old Taoist wearing a jade-colored robe was silently looking down at Jeong Yeon-shin while floating in the air.
Ghost Lord Man Hou-gai and Shadow Lord Empty True Person.
Their energy waves were intense.
Former masters who had formed the order of the Two Kings and Three Lords with their status counted among the top five in the formation.
Powerful figures who could have easily harmed the Desolate Fortress squads, including the missing Obeying Heaven Wing.
He needed to hear answers from them too. Whatever words came out of their lips, his upper dantian would reveal the truth.
But Jeong Yeon-shin didn't open his mouth again. He merely nodded his head upward as if urging an answer.
He had seen the former-generation masters of this formation exploiting the common people.
With the death of Obeying Heaven Wing Leader Ha Do-woon now almost a certainty, he had no desire to respect the age of these monstrous old beings.
"…Conduct close to tyrannical martial arts."
Divine Hand Hegemon King Hwangbo Gon's muttering also failed to reach the ears of the Radiant Demon Wing Leader.
"..."
Jeong Yeon-shin silently stared at the two old masters from within the transparent flower bud of Ultimate Thunder.
Saaaa—
There was a pressure that naturally spread without him even having to deliberately raise it. The sight of the air undulating here and there was terrifying.
A spirit that didn't shy away from fighting again.
The Luminous Wheel in his heart, temporarily thinned, was not a concern for him.
Even though the internal energy consumed while annihilating the old masters of the Secret Realm Peng Family, including Ghost Cry Hegemon King and Wind Lord, was enormous, that sense of emptiness couldn't overcome Jeong Yeon-shin's feelings upon hearing the news of his senior's death.
Heat extended to the tips of his hair. He just didn't show it.
'Just let one of them be guilty.'
It was just as he was unconsciously thinking this.
The old man lying on the rock on the far ridge, Ghost Lord Man Hou-gai, suddenly showed a slight smile.
A sense of weathered leisure was felt.
Was it because of the distance that would take someone unfamiliar with martial arts a full hour to traverse?
"The later waves of the Yangtze push the earlier waves, they say, and now the distant later waves of the martial world are pressing this beggar."
"..."
"No, listen here. With the head of Ghost Cry Hegemon King at your feet, who would easily open their mouth when you glare so fiercely? Anyway, these Desolate Fortress seeds, whenever they see martial artists…"
In that moment, the sword in Jeong Yeon-shin's grip disappeared, leaving behind a tremendous air-splitting sound.
Right after the wind streams, unraveled like rough threads, swept up his trouser hem with a whoosh, the Mind-controlling Sword that had instantly pierced the void in a straight line was embedded in the rock where Ghost Lord had been lying, creating a circular shockwave.
Kwaaaang!
The rock shattered into pieces with the explosion.
Fragments that looked heavy even at a glance rolled down the distant slope. For a brief moment, dull noises continuously arose.
"..."
A few breaths of time were dyed with a clamorous silence.
The blue eyes of Immortal Tree Spirit Squad Leader Cheon So-so, standing behind Jeong Yeon-shin, slightly widened, and Forest-Treading Squad Leader Xiahou Wei-jin ruffled the back of his own head, which had once been grabbed and pressed down by Ma Yeon-jeok.
Soon after.
"Huh, really, these youngsters who become powerful at a low age."
Ghost Lord Man Hou-gai landed before Jeong Yeon-shin's eyes, cutting through the faint dust.
His movements were as elusive as befitting his alias of Ghost Lord. The sharp energy waves characteristic of the Beggar Sect's Protective Energy spread from the straw mat the old man was wearing… His expression wasn't good.
Did he feel he had suffered extreme humiliation? His eye sockets were already sunken, giving him a gloomy impression, but the gaze with which he now stared at Jeong Yeon-shin was even more desolate.
Man Hou-gai opened his mouth.
"Is that how they teach negotiation in Desolate Fortress?"
"I heard the Beggar Sect teaches begging before martial arts."
"What?"
"The old one hasn't learned the posture of a lesser."
Jeong Yeon-shin replied calmly. Man Hou-gai immediately furrowed his wrinkled brow.
"I can guess that your energy is exhausted after annihilating the Ghost Cry Peng Family, so what can you gain by provoking us? The Immortal Tree Spirit Squad Leader and Forest-Treading Squad Leader don't look particularly well either, so at best it would be mutual destruction…"
Flap!
The old beggar, in the middle of his words, suddenly turned around and struck out with his palm.
Simultaneously, a ray of light that had rushed in from afar drawing a white line tore through Man Hou-gai's shoulder blade and embedded itself in Jeong Yeon-shin's waist scabbard with a kwang!
It was a flying sword. The divine sword made by the Tang siblings fit reasonably well into the scabbard of the Flowing Star Sword.
Due to the weakened Luminous Wheel, it didn't have the speed and power it had when it pierced through Ghost Cry Hegemon King's body.
But it was sufficient as a threat. At a glance, it might make one think that a junior well-versed in etiquette had held back.
In any case, the Ghost Lord had shown an unusual reaction. But the old beggar only reddened his face without uttering any other words.
That was all he could do if he wanted to maintain his dignity.
Jeong Yeon-shin, who had already gathered the colorless lotus of Ultimate Thunder, quietly parted his lips.
"Answer my question."
"…In this formation, I have not privately crossed hands with any Desolate Fortress seed."
Man Hou-gai said.
Jeong Yeon-shin stood motionless, stroking the hilt of the divine sword.
His upper dantian, fully heated through the deployment of Fan Dragon Treading Lotus Technique, Ultimate Thunder, and Fan Dragon Treading Lotus Technique again, detected no falsehood.
Xiahou Wei-jin and Cheon So-so, as renowned clan members with high cultivation who were skilled at piercing through truth, seemed to feel the same.
He raised his head.
His gaze met that of Shadow Lord Empty True Person, who was floating in the void.
The old Taoist looked at Jeong Yeon-shin with eyes so deep that the word profound came to mind, then silently shook his head. Similarly, no malicious intent was felt.
That was enough.
Jeong Yeon-shin had no interest in the personal secrets of Ghost Lord, Shadow Lord, and Divine Hand Hegemon King. It was sufficient to gather his Desolate Fortress comrades and return safely.
"Seniors, please bring your subordinates. It's time for us to leave."
He continued without turning back, while remaining wary of the three old masters.
"Are the martial artists of Immortal Tree Spirit and Forest-Treading unharmed?"
"Immortal Tree Spirit is safe. The children who were captured by the Secret Realm Peng Family were periodically checked by Peng Yu-lan."
The presence of Cheon So-so nodding slightly behind his back. She seemed to be looking at Peng Yu-lan's head sprawled on the ground.
There must have been many twists and turns until the World Tree sapling was reclaimed, and Jeong Yeon-shin, freshly feeling the weight of the missions carried out by his Black-rank colleagues, heard Xiahou Wei-jin's gruff answer.
"Forest-Treading will gather when called."
"Let's return."
Jeong Yeon-shin said.
The manner of addressing the whereabouts of seniors with long years of service, and the Immortal Tree Spirit Squad Leader and Forest-Treading Squad Leader nodding without hesitation to such conduct.
A gleam crossed Divine Hand Hegemon King Hwangbo Gon's eyes.
"There's one thing I'd like to ask."
"…?"
"About the World Tree sapling that should be in the Immortal Tree Spirit Squad Leader's bosom. What do you intend to do with it?"
"We'll go outside and ask the Fortress Lord for her decision."
Jeong Yeon-shin said.
The change from informal to formal speech was natural.
The current Radiant Demon Wing Leader was not ignorant of propriety, and after all, the other party was the grandfather of his comrade.
"Why is your speech like that? Informal speech suits you better. Being a Black-rank of Desolate Fortress isn't a position to consider hierarchy."
"Because one of my subordinates is your grandson."
"Hmm? I find that hard to believe. A Desolate Fortress martial artist emerging from among the degenerates of the main family…?"
Hwangbo Gon, who chuckled, stroked his chin. He didn't seem to be particularly interested. But a deeper affection was evident in his eyes.
"Anyway, this is troublesome. The rain dragon has long since disappeared, so this formation will soon vanish as well…"
"That's not my concern. I intend to take care of the common people and leave."
"Are you saying there's a way out?"
"Yes."
"The power of the World Tree sapling is only to sever space. Unless it's someone like the Desolate Fortress Lord, it would be difficult for the Immortal Tree Spirit Squad Leader to draw out any other utility from it…?"
He was subtly following closely, as if intending to accompany them to the village where Xiahou Wei-jin was serving as chief.
"There is a method."
"Has a peerless master of spell martial arts come with you? Come to think of it, it's truly strange. You said you entered thanks to the Golden Wing Sect Leader opening a gap in the formation, didn't you? But why hasn't that monstrous figure shown herself yet?"
He talks a lot.
It was completely opposite to Ghost Lord and Shadow Lord, who had suddenly turned and disappeared.
Feeling a temperament similar to the opium poppy addict who would be in the distant Desolate Fortress, Jeong Yeon-shin thought that unlike himself, the bloodline must have been thickly continued.
Thud.
The sound of footsteps on the earth rang out softly, and as wind streams cooled and rose from the ground heated with blood.
"I hesitate to say this as it might be deceptive."
"Hmm?"
"Your family has fallen."
"This Radiant Demon Wing Leader is truly remarkable. Such a young friend is so considerate."
"Yes."
"Well, the rise and fall of great families is like a spinning wheel. Having reached the state of washing my hands in the golden basin, I don't have any particular attachment."
"The crime of privately mobilizing commoners for labor."
"…?"
"It was treated as treason. They suffered annihilation by the main fortress."
"Hmm…?"
"The only bloodline left to you is my subordinate."
"..."
Radiant Demon Wing Leader, Forest-Treading Squad Leader, Immortal Tree Spirit Squad Leader, Divine Hand Hegemon King.
The four people descended the mountain.
Leaving behind the gazes of spectators who had been repeatedly astonished by the earth-shaking battle, like footprints.