The Ultimate Martial Way is a technique of time.

Its forging requires long years, and its invocation demands prolonged breathing of internal energy. Naturally, the clash of absolute masters was also a battle of intuition, of reading each other’s subtle cues and rhythm.

It takes a long time.

Even the peerless masters of the Black Blade Palace did the same.

They filled their entire meridians with internal energy to prepare for intense motion, locked their consciousness into the Divine Core atop the upper dantian, and endlessly refined the precision of micro-muscle control essential for striking with ultimate martial techniques—like ascetic training behind closed doors.

To make every strike align perfectly with the opponent’s movements and the battlefield environment.

In short, they prepare to fight while already channeling the Ultimate Martial Way.

It is the final technique that pierces through the entirety of one’s life with a single hand. Inevitably, it burdens the entire body immensely. Thus, to draw forth one’s life outside of the world is profoundly difficult.

Only a rare few exceptions can deploy the Ultimate Martial Way in a fleeting instant.

However, the peerless masters of the Black Blade Palace breathed for a different reason. It was to ensure the complete destruction of the revived Northern Emperor who had returned from death.

They were looking at each other’s defensive energy and life force as though facing monsters.

“......”

The sky was reddish.

The glowing embers of the Ultimate Martial Way—Dragon Sword, Forgotten Homeland—that Yong Hui-myeong had unleashed were mingled with the clouds. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

Perhaps they had surged with the cold northern wind. The aftermath of the sword energy, which had felt like the breath of a dragon, had tinged the entire landscape red. It felt like an untimely sunset had arrived.

Even the black fog that had surrounded them like an abyss couldn’t veil the sky.

Even the mist of internal energy meant to amplify the Northern Emperor’s martial arts had been pushed back by the shockwaves released by Yong Hui-myeong.

It was the most overwhelming sword wind Jeong Yeon-shin had ever experienced. In truth, it made sense not to expect anything more from Yong Hui-myeong.

The Southern Emperor, too, seemed to perceive this clearly. Rather than continuing to be wary of Yong Hui-myeong, he casually brought up a different matter.

[Paehyeop Ma Yeon-jeok... I failed to account for the Divine Sword Corps Master-level variable. An inevitable outcome.]

As always, a voice without highs or lows. But faintly, ever so faintly, there was a trace of sentiment.

Meanwhile, the Dharma King and Heavenly Patriarch Noban stood stunned amid the thick martial currents of the Ultimate Martial Way. The disbelief was plain, especially on the Dharma King’s face.

[Heaven, Earth, North, Blade, Family...!]

The martial current of one who had been a god of war had just been crushed under a transcendent pressure.

Even without martial sense, anyone could feel it. A presence that had once filled the entire demonic realm was now reduced to hollow emptiness.

Then—

Yong Hui-myeong stepped forward with a faint smile.

“Over in a blink, huh? Well, at his age, if he reversed his aging, I suppose that’s the least he could do.”

He loosely held the Divine Ascension Sword, recently retrieved from Jeong Yeon-shin, hanging it diagonally.

“Well, in any case...”

While the other peerless masters were deepening their breath dozens of times to refine their Ultimate Martial Way, Yong Hui-myeong was instead calming the residual shock of having invoked it through deep inner breathing.

And when he regained his usual relaxed expression, it was as though his exhausted essence, energy, and spirit meant nothing.

“If we drag this out, I’ll be the one who collapses from fatigue.”

He began walking toward the three supreme enemies. It was an utterly natural sight, to the point of seeming unreal.

Jeong Yeon-shin, who had been worrying about his grandfather, had no choice but to send a rapid voice transmission.

—What are you doing?

—I’m afraid I no longer fit into this feast of absolute masters. Thanks to that fellow Yeom Jeong and the two Northern Kings, I’ve grown rather weary... more than that, what you’re preparing for, your first move, is too vast. It has the opposite nature to Entry into the Moon—so you’ll need time.

Absurd words. Jeong Yeon-shin lightly clenched and unclenched the hand flickering with deep blue heat.

The entire ruins trembled violently, and even the pitch-black mist rippled like waves.

Rumble—

It could easily be mistaken for an attack, yet the Southern Emperor made no move. It meant he was pouring transcendent concentration into Jeong Yeon-shin—unshaken even by the slightest feint.

Yong Hui-myeong was the same.

—Don’t be reckless. Everyone here knows you’re the most powerful one on this field. If that emperor of the foreign race didn’t have the Black Blade Formation, this fight would be twice as easy... seriously.

—It’s enough that you help refine the precision of my move. Please, just wait.

—Sorry, but I can’t. As it is, this isn’t a three-on-two fight. It’s just you bearing all of them. Watch carefully.

Yong Hui-myeong’s words slowed.

—...what it means to be the Divine Ascension Swordmaster.

That was the end.

No more voice transmission. Like a sound cave crumbling under starlight.

And then, Yong Hui-myeong was already swinging the Divine Ascension Sword in front of the Southern Emperor. A ghost-like transformation. A trail of residual images shimmered with iridescent hues.

Dragon Suppression Sword, Ten Thousand Intentions Control the Dragon Sword.

Falling Form: Single Slash of Nature.

Boom—!

It was instantaneous. A light flick of the blade, like a teacher’s ruler, was followed by a blast—but even that sound was swallowed by a suppressed shockwave and devoured by the Southern Emperor’s black mist.

Black fragments scattered like feathers, swaying to the sides.

It was Heavenly Disruption Armor for sure.

Within that moment, the Southern Emperor’s intent rippled.

[Useless.]

“Is that so?”

Even just from his purple silhouette, it was clear. Yong Hui-myeong was smiling.

By then, the blast forces from the Dharma King and Heavenly Patriarch Noban on either side of him were warping space—but upon striking the armor fragments, they dissolved like a gentle breeze.

The Divine Ascension Swordmaster’s finesse.

At the same time, Yong Hui-myeong leapt back and spun like a whirlwind. With a tremendous air-splitting sound, the white blade of the Divine Ascension Sword drew a circle—two shockwaves clashed and exploded.

The Dharma King’s punch, rushing in with a chain strike. And Heavenly Patriarch Noban’s feather attack that had halted while preparing his Ultimate Martial Way.

Amidst it all, the ragged sleeve of violet fluttered like a dance. The flapping sound was intense.

Kwaaak—

The tattered leather shoe of the Divine Ascension Swordmaster carved a deep groove in the ground, sliding all the way to Jeong Yeon-shin’s feet. In a flash, he had exchanged moves with all three Northern Kings.

Then Yong Hui-myeong smiled lightly and said,

“Stole one breath.”

It was undoubtedly a major gain. The enemy’s breathing for the Ultimate Martial Way had likely been disturbed, even slightly.

At that moment—

[I beg you, stop tormenting him...!]

Fwooooosh!

A fierce wind suddenly burst in from all sides. An elegant countercurrent of high-level lightness technique. The Dharma King, who had closed the gap to Yong Hui-myeong, swung a blindingly glowing palm.

It erupted from his only remaining arm.

[Eradication of Resentment and Extinguishing Light Technique.]

The space around the Dharma King’s palm shimmered slightly.

Yong Hui-myeong glanced down at the palm reaching for his solar plexus—but failed to respond with the speed expected of the Divine Sword Corps Master.

Only the soundless collapse of his chest reflected in his widened pupils, split vertically.

That was the limit of the Divine Swordmaster’s perfection.

The white-glowing palm penetrated his protective energy like dew. An unbelievable sight. The pressure of the Ultimate Martial Way unleashed by the Dharma King had an eerie quality.

At the same time, the Dharma King’s arm shook along with the force of the strike.

Eight-Wing Step.

Bang!

As soon as Jeong Yeon-shin stamped the ground, the Dharma King’s chin snapped upward and his entire body lifted.

Even the whites of the old monk’s eyes flipped for a moment, and within that short span, a faint smile formed on the Dharma King’s lips—like a Buddha statue. As if he, too, had stolen a breath.

No.

Jeong Yeon-shin had already used shockwave propulsion to arrive at the Dharma King’s side like a fire arrow. The delayed backlash from his movement swept away the blackened air.

The Dharma King’s forehead, marked with a red imprint, wrinkled upward at the same moment.

[You ruined monk...!]

Eight-Wing Step is a footwork technique. The strike at the moment of advance comes only with the shockwave from the step.

It was a true forward step meant solely for attack.

Screeeeech!

Jeong Yeon-shin’s knee crashed into the Dharma King’s ribs through Heavenly Disruption Armor. By then, the surroundings were filled with sword-shaped starlight, numbering in the dozens.

They were Heavenly Patriarch Noban’s sword energies, just about to strike Jeong Yeon-shin.

In that instant, Jeong Yeon-shin’s hand clenched lightly—just like when Tang Clan Leader Tang Unhwang gripped a hammer.

At the same time, dry stone dust from the ground rose like a dragon surge, swept up by a myriad of petals and shooting upward, striking the underside of the sword energies.

Kwachachachachang!

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

With the sound of iron plates being hammered, an enormous shockwave erupted. Shards of blast force scattered like monochrome flower petals.

Heavenly Patriarch Noban, catching one shard with a firm hand, spun in a full circle.

His sword energy deflected Yong Hui-myeong’s approaching strike with the Divine Ascension Sword at a diagonal. Sparks and orange flares burst in a stream.

Joint assault.

Amidst it, Jeong Yeon-shin’s eyes gleamed with a cold blue glow as he shot through like a ray of light. The Divine Ascension Sword flowed like water from Yong Hui-myeong’s hand to Jeong Yeon-shin’s grip, and rose diagonally across Heavenly Patriarch Noban’s chest.

In the blink of an eye, the overwhelming sword force gouged a deep groove into the Heavenly Disruption Armor and carved it into his body.

The sword technique soared skyward.

Jeong Yeon-shin immediately leapt forward and reclaimed the Divine Ascension Sword, clashing head-on with the Southern Emperor’s jet-black hand blade. It was a low defensive stance that intercepted the ultimate palm technique, Sword-Soul Method, aimed at Jeong Yeon-shin’s lower body.

Boom—!

A heavy shockwave lifted the ground like a tidal wave.

Suspended midair, Yong Hui-myeong steadied himself with Sky Suspension Step and was pushed back about ten steps, letting out a laugh of amusement. He glanced sideways at Jeong Yeon-shin behind him.

Ssssh.

He landed beside Jeong Yeon-shin. The faded violet sleeve of his robe drifted down slowly, like a crane’s wing.

Yong Hui-myeong flicked the Divine Ascension Sword at his feet and said,

“Our timing’s not bad. That’s harder to pull off than it looks.”

“The Divine Ascension Sword responds well to its master.”

“Hm?”

By then, they were surrounded from three sides.

The Emperor of the Demonic Realm and the two Northern Kings had naturally encircled Jeong Yeon-shin and Yong Hui-myeong, and by now, the overwhelming pressure pressed upon every inch of space.

Even the stones rolling at their feet crumbled under the weight.

Crack—

A hollow sound.

The Ultimate Martial Way was now fully loaded on all sides.

This wasn’t some hastily prepared absolute technique. Except for Yong Hui-myeong, both sides had tacitly allowed each other complete readiness. Each believed that fully unleashing their life’s martial path would ensure they wouldn’t lose.

Despite the earlier exchange leaving the Dharma King and Heavenly Patriarch Noban affected, no one would call it unfair.

For Jeong Yeon-shin, who now had to face three peerless Ultimate Martial Way techniques, the burden was slightly lessened.

Suddenly, Yong Hui-myeong asked,

“Confident?”

But Jeong Yeon-shin only glanced at the spot where the torn violet robe was self-repairing over his chest and quietly countered,

“You didn’t bleed, did you?”

“Watch your mouth.”

Yong Hui-myeong shook his head.

“If even a single drop had spilled, the whole city would have responded. There aren’t many places with formations this intricate.”

“Then it’s fine.”

Jeong Yeon-shin calmly scanned the surroundings.

The three supreme enemies.

Surprisingly, it was the Dharma King who stood out most. He was still breathing heavily, wrapped in white radiance over his remaining hand.

Yong Hui-myeong pointed him out as well.

“That bald monk’s Ultimate Martial Way... it’s dangerous.”

The palm force persisted—like one of those rare techniques that change the very space itself. That was the strength of Eradication of Resentment and Extinguishing Light Technique.

But ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) Jeong Yeon-shin soon turned his gaze to the Southern Emperor.

And murmured quietly,

“What’s he waiting for?”

[The pillar of this nation, that which can suppress every variable. The final piece given to me.]

The Southern Emperor’s voice echoed, low and resonant.

[Ultimate Martial Way Mun Gok's.]

A suppressed intent exploded like a roar, ripping through the Southern Emperor’s black fog.

Even the air trembled—then a massive shadow crushed all reverberations and landed at one side of the battlefield.

Kuwaaaaaaaaaang—!

An overwhelming gust swept across the entire space. The already-ruined terrain shattered once more like a spiderweb.

Liu Yuan Star Lord, Mun Gok.

Even with one eye and part of his head lost, he smiled gracefully like a scholar. Emitting transcendent pressure from his whole body, he greeted Jeong Yeon-shin with familiarity.

[Have you been well?]

“......!”

[As you can see, I’ve been busy. You’ve surrounded yourself with excellent subordinates.]

His voice filled the battlefield like thick ink.

No room left to breathe. His Ultimate Martial Way, was just that—it suppressed all energy emissions and only allowed close-range combat against the mightiest of external energy users. A pure battlefield of brute strength.

It was also a technique meant to counter the second Ultimate Martial Way Jeong Yeon-shin had prepared.

Deployed without hesitation.

The height of thoroughness. Perhaps because it also affected allies, the Southern Emperor had yet to activate his own Southern Facing Domination.

As Yong Hui-myeong quietly moved to block the space between Mun Gok and the Southern Emperor, the Southern Emperor’s voice dropped heavily.

[Mun Gok, your senses have dulled. Even your Heavenly Disruption Armor seems nearly extinguished. Was it a brutal battle?]

Mun Gok’s wide lips curved faintly upward.

It was a clear smile of affirmation, and the Southern Emperor continued immediately.

[What are you carrying on your back?]

Suddenly, a cold silence spread from Mun Gok’s broad back.

A young man in black robes clung to his wide shoulder like a shadow using Wall Gecko Technique. He grinned, a blue hero’s band tied around his forehead.

“You’ve got to let some surprises slide. You’ve had more than a few Grand Masters coming at you.”

Even as he spoke, there was no trace of aura. As if all energy had been sealed. Even when the demon sword in Hyeon Won-chang’s hand scraped down Mun Gok’s throat and dropped—no energy sign.

It was as though the blade had passed through space itself, carving a thin line into the flesh of the mightiest external energy master.

In the blink of an eye, Yong Hui-myeong grabbed Hyeon Won-chang by the collar and pulled him back, while Mun Gok’s fist turned like lightning and smashed into the void.

Kuwaaaang!

The shockwave alone crushed Hyeon Won-chang’s ribs, bursting out dark crimson blood. The tempo of the scene turned frantically urgent. Then came Yong Hui-myeong’s voice, calm but resolute.

“From now on, the succession of the Divine Ascension Sword begins. The condition is victory.”

“Then...”

Jeong Yeon-shin slowly parted his lips. But the voice that followed didn’t come from his throat—it came from the Divine Core at the top of his dantian.

[I will go first.]

As he forced himself not to worry for Hyeon Won-chang—

Ssssh—

There was a sensation of overlapping on the back of his hand. Not a sword, but an old man’s hand grasped Jeong Yeon-shin. The hand of a youthful elder who had achieved eternal life through the path of a chivalrous wanderer.

As he recalled them both, pale lights burst from Jeong Yeon-shin’s grip, shooting in every direction. It was a blast force that could rival the Ultimate Martial Way—possible only by weaving the lives of others into his own.

Screeeeeeeeeeeech!

Sharp sounds carved themselves across the space from intense friction. The atmosphere tainted by the Southern Emperor’s black fog was now overlaid with deep blue, as if by dark pigment.

The faint lights rose to the sky and solidified into a gentle glow. Like constellations, clusters of sword-force shockwaves fixed themselves above.

A new night devoured the battlefield, and even the spectators’ shadows narrowed and stretched like swords. Among them, the Dharma King quickly drew breath, trying to keep his hand’s pure white radiance from fading.

He was forced to release his own intent into the air, undeniably and openly.

[The Demonic Realm’s intelligence network is the emperor’s twin! Empty—utterly empty...! We must prepare differently...!]

[Wide Great Ultimate.]

Beneath a sky now stained with black demonic energy and bluish sacred force—

Jeong Yeon-shin now held a single sword, blazing with dark cyan flame.

This very moment, the sword domain expanded into the vast plains. Within it, he held every secret of the sword he had ever encountered in the world of martial arts.

[Silent Luminescent Blaze Sword Alchemy.]

—Constellation of the Blade.