Chapter 262: Advent of the Divine Dragon (18)

The Yue Maiden Sword Sutra is an extremely inconvenient swordsmanship.

For each technique, the most suitable sword has different length, weight, and shape, so some techniques weren’t even touched.

It didn’t even distinguish between swords and sabers, so as Namgung Shinjae said, it must have been swordsmanship from that distant past when the two weren’t different and were just called blades.

Hmm. Sword Friend, Sword Acquaintance, whatever. I’ll even go as far as Sword Enemy, Sword Nemesis.

He seemed knowledgeable about swords, but he was wrong this time.

The Yue Maiden Sword didn’t use various blades.

It was just that what was held in hand was a sword.

Long branches, short branches, swaying willow branches and pokers and iron rods, even without blades, single-edged or double-edged, they were swords simply because they were held in hand.

Suddenly Qing realized she was standing in front of a wall.

A wall so high it completely blocked her view.

A barrier that cut off the world, built up to the end of the sky so you couldn’t know what existed beyond it, making it impossible to look over.

She sees a huge iron gate there.

So wide you’d have to run to reach the sides, with countless enormous hinges twice Qing’s body size extending endlessly upwards.

Qing bursts into laughter.

Despite its solemn appearance, the tiny things densely attached catch her eye.

Various shapes and languages of no entry signs are messily attached, this isn’t some modern art.

Okay. So this is the phenomenon of crossing the wall?

There’s really a wall? If I open the gate and go out, it’ll be the Transcendent Realm?

Then, I should go out.

Qing clapped her hands to dust them off, then firmly pressed both palms against it.

And pushed with all her might.

Creeeeak, the gate lets out a dull scream.

Qing pushes the gate with all her strength.

And then suddenly a voice is heard.

Hey, are you trying to go beyond?

When Qing turned her head, a girl holding a beautifully extended tree branch was looking at her. It was so well-formed that even though it was just a piece of wood, it was enviable.

Hmm, could you be Lady Jiutian Xuannü?

Is that important? But, are you going to go out? Do you know what’s out there? Aren’t you afraid? Don’t you know they say it’s dangerous outside the blanket? If even outside the blanket is like that, are you going to go out there?

Qing hesitates.

Oh. This. Is this perhaps a bit dangerous.

At this, the child bursts into laughter.

Beyond there is a world of starlight. Here. Listen.

How great the enormous malice waiting just for you, longing to devour you, is beyond there.

From beyond the wall, a huge roar shakes the earth. A howl like malice itself.

It’s a voice calling Qing.

Telling her to come quickly. That it’s waiting for her.

Threatening that the paltry pain she’s felt in life was mere play that can’t be called pain at all, that it will trap her in that eternal pain where she can’t die even if all her organs are torn out and displayed separately.

Qing’s legs trembled uncontrollably. Not just her legs.

Her hands, body, chin couldn’t control their shaking, her teeth chattering, because she was scared, so afraid of what lurked beyond there.

See? Isn’t it better to just wait quietly?

If you wait, won’t a solution fly to you someday? A mission to reach the Transcendent Realm will appear someday, so instead of crossing this wall where you don’t know what’s lurking beyond, where you can’t even peek a hair’s breadth, why not just wait safely in here?

However, though Qing trembled, she didn’t collapse or sit down.

Qing looked at the child again. And shook her head.

What? I thought you were Lady Jiutian Xuannü. You weren’t.

At this, the child suddenly grew into a woman’s form. An extremely beautiful girl, with amazing beauty that’s always there when looking in the mirror, startling every time you see it. A beauty that never gets boring no matter how much you look, always thrilling.

Qing reaches out towards herself. Give it to me.

But Qing’s mirror image shakes her head, steps back and moves away, trying to dissuade Qing.

Not yet. Let’s wait. If we wait, it will be resolved.

Can you really handle that, that malice beyond?

Qing smiles even with her still trembling body.

I told you to give it to me but you won’t. Even if you don’t give it, it’s mine anyway?

And then suddenly a sword is in Qing’s hand.

An unsightly broken rusty sword.

Right. It’s been a while. Moonlight Sword must be hungry too. I guess I haven’t fed it because I was thoughtless.

Tomorrow is always scary. Unknown malice has always been in tomorrow.

But have I ever peeked at tomorrow in advance?

The reason I couldn’t die, couldn’t die, was because tomorrow will be okay. Right.

Maybe tomorrow I can catch even one mouse with this. I might be able to get even one silver coin from a kind passerby. If I fill up cultivation points and raise one more star, maybe I can kill even the king beggar.

So it will be okay.

When was I not afraid, but as I’ve done well until now, I’ll be able to do well in the future too.

Qing raised her hand high.

Though still afraid and trembling, but still, somehow it seems like it will work out. Because I think I can do it.

Qing’s hand fell.

Moonlight Sword sprinkles piercingly blue moonlight.

A slash appears on the huge barrier wall.

Guwoong, the sound of the world tilting. Slowly falling backwards, the huge barrier wall toppling over, kwang, the sound of a whole world collapsing. Dust filling the space between heaven and earth thickly.

As it gradually settles, beyond there.

What? There’s nothing. It wasn’t much.

Qing smiled a pretty smile.

Ximen Surin suddenly stood up.

Like this, so suddenly?

The masters in the VIP seats all stood up and anxiously watched the sight of a martial artist in childhood finally breaking out of their shell.

The faint starlight revealed to the world for the first time, the complete moment when a martial artist shines on their own, shaped by their heart’s image.

The audience all hold their breath.

Though they don’t know about martial studies, they know something extraordinary is happening at this moment.

Because it’s the moment of a star’s birth, when a new star settles in the vast universe and spews out its color for the first time.

And so the divine sage lets out its first cry.

In that moment, the watching crowd exhaled all the air in their lungs at once with a “Huk”.

All that remains is one sword.

Clearly there’s a woman holding a sword but when you look at the woman you can’t see the sword, and when you look at the sword you can’t see the woman, so there’s no distinction between the two, person and sword are one, completed in the form of a swordsman holding a sword.

A person who is a sword, a sword who is a person, dances.

The True Qi in Qing’s dantian all collided, crumpled and crushed together while making a fuss to go out first.

At the moment of first coalescing into starlight, this moment is the proof of existence that absolutely can’t be missed, whether Daoist immortal energy or demonic energy from demonic arts. So all the True Qi is released at once.

Gently undulating, a slow sword swirling. Sword energies of various colors, warm yellow like the setting sun, hopeful spring green, pitch black tenacious resentment, coldly white and chilly cold energy. And red that’s unmatched in lewdness. Petals of five colors are released.

The five directions’ colors, the five that are the basis of all colors, meaning all colors under heaven.

Thousands and tens of thousands of sword energies scatter like flower petals, flowing gently, tangling with each other and frolicking, whirling and surging, a dance of colors that just brilliantly illuminates all directions.

A spectacular sight that seems like it will continue forever, that you wish would continue.

But beauty is always fleeting, so it eventually withers and falls.

The colors that filled heaven and earth vanish.

An “Ah” of regret bursts out from everyone at once, and the whole world is full of disappointment.

And in the center, Qing opened her eyes.

“Hoo. Well, it wasn’t much.”

“Miss Ximen? Just now, what on earth…”

Gongson Yoye’s voice trembled with excitement.

Because she couldn’t believe the sight she saw with her own eyes.

“That martial art just now, what on earth was that?”

Looking at Gongson Yoye who asked urgently, Qing just tilted her head.

“Hm? Did I do something? Sorry, was I standing blankly during the match? But I crossed the wall now, that’s what I’m saying. Now I, Transcendent Qing, will you call me Transcendent Qing? Then let’s try again-“

Qing staggered and sat down.

Like after finishing Flowing Willow Soft Refinement training, all the muscles in her entire body went on strike at once, screaming as if saying “This is the limit now, just kill me.”

“Uh, huh?”

Qing tried to forcibly get up by circulating True Qi, but was flustered by her empty dantian. Her dantian was really completely empty without even a handful of True Qi, not even the faint inner force to take one breath.

Since Qing had never emptied her dantian this much in her life, she was all the more flustered.

All that remained was the rock-like Heaven-Shattering Demonic Qi firmly stuck and not listening at all. Though it’s the same as not having it since she can’t use it anyway. Even the very small part that was moving disappeared, so what’s this? Does becoming Transcendent initialize your resources?

It empties them instead of filling them?

“Hmm. Um. I don’t think I can continue the match. Sorry. Just when things were getting exciting I have to drop out. Excuse me, judge-“

Just as Qing was about to call the judge to declare defeat.

With a rumbling vibration, the ship arena shook and swayed, then collapsed and poured down with a crash.

Splash, Qing fell into the Grand Canal waterway.

Fortunately, large and small pieces of wood filled the water surface floating, so when Qing was about to grab one sturdy piece and hang on-

No way! It was as if all of Qing’s muscles shouted like that.

After unconsciously displaying divine presence far beyond her realm, her whole body’s muscles were abused to torture levels.

Qing’s muscles spewed out that resentment on their owner, so the muscles’ revenge appeared as one of the world’s most terrible pains called cramps.

“Ack! Cramp! Cramp! Urp, urf, gulp, cramp! Help!”

Not just arms and legs, but shoulder and back muscles and even neck muscles went crazy unleashing their resentment. Even jaw muscles, why, why are jaw muscles cramping!

Though Qing didn’t know, jaw cramps are actually quite a common symptom. It can sometimes happen if you eat too passionately.

The part Qing should be surprised about isn’t the jaw muscles but the abs. Cramps in the rectus abdominis muscles are truly rare.

“Urgh, puh, gulp, pahah, kuk, kkeuk.”

With her convulsing jaw muscles, Qing couldn’t even scream properly and just swallowed water until her stomach was about to burst. Then water went up her nose and her windpipe burned as if on fire, her mind was completely blank, help, someone help…

As Qing was about to lose consciousness, she seemed to see her master’s face somehow.

It was the grand and miserable ending of the martial arts competition.

Originally, there was a procedure for the winner and runner-up to greet everyone after the martial arts competition ended.

But thanks to Qing dismantling the ship arena too quickly, the procedure was canceled.

As an aside, the Murim Alliance staff members screamed sincerely.

First, the Military Department members who had to make plans from scratch and control people again since all the procedures were messed up screamed.

And the General Affairs Department who were planning to neatly disassemble the ship arena and sell the lumber couldn’t even scream from cosmic terror.

“Huh, me? I did that?”

Qing blinked her eyes.

Sword-Body Unification? I merged with a sword?

Does that make sense?

How can a person merge with a sword?

Seeing “that expression”, Ximen Surin was discouraged.

This is, hopeless.

It seems what was inside just accidentally spilled out in a state of no-self.

Still, even if she doesn’t remember herself, she displayed it with her body once, so it can be seen as very good fortune, a good thing that happened.

Still, she’s an admirable disciple for achieving the Transcendent Realm.

With this, the record for youngest Transcendent is also renewed.

The female martial artist Ximen Qing achieved it at exactly twenty years old, to be eternally recorded in martial arts history!

Fortunately, Qing’s disgraceful behavior wasn’t recorded.

It was a ridiculous disgrace where the holder of the marvelous achievements of youngest Hidden Dragon Martial Arts Competition winner, first female martial artist winner, simultaneously breaking the records for youngest to achieve Transcendent Realm martial artist and youngest female martial artist, almost drowned immediately from the rebellion of her whole body’s muscles.

Fortunately it was lucky that Ximen Surin, who was watching Qing’s condition, immediately flew over riding her sword and fished out her disciple with the precise strikes of nuclear weapons she had become skilled at.

It was almost the most regrettable story in martial arts history.

There would have been meaningless words of “if only” about the past, like if only the Divine Maiden Sect disciple hadn’t drowned then, wouldn’t the second Celestial Martial Emperor, the Celestial Martial Empress, have appeared in the world?